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Article ON THE INFELICITIES OF THE LEARNED. ← Page 2 of 3 →
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On The Infelicities Of The Learned.
taste , and the voice of praise unhappily continues not long enough for the eager appetite of conscious deserving . In the sphere of private life they are still more to be pitied . " A wise or learned man is seldom regarded as such by his family or intimate acquaintance . Mingling with them in all the common occurrences of life , they are insensible to the splendour of his talents , from the immediate and constant view which they have of his habits and
defects . It is well , indeed , if his attainments and favourite studies are not made the subject of their sarcasms , from the little benefit they are found to have on his morals or his circumstances . Hence it is that we seldom see the wife and children of a scholar , or a mathematician , partial to the classics or the mathematics . Learned persons have seldom been happy in their domestic
relations . Socrates is an ancient and memorable instance ; and among the moderns the number is not small that mi ght be adduced to confirm this remark . Our Hooker , to whom the title of judicious has been universally conceded , was blessed with a wife equal to that of the Athenian sage . Milton had his domestic troubles in abundance , and Dryden was singularly unhappy in the fate of his favourite son .
And those who have not experienced misfortunes of such peculiar weight as " these , have yet been mortified by the acute consideration that they should leave behind them children , whose habits or imbecility would disgrace their names . In looking over the long catalogue of eminent literary men , we shall find very few whose posterity followed them in the honourable path which Jed them to the Temple of Fame . Father and son shining with a similar radiance in the world of letters exhibit a phasnomenon very rarely the object of admiration .
The man of great intellectual endowments , of a keen , penetratinogenius , and a mind enriched with an ample store of various learning , is an object , viewed at a distance , of respect and astonishment . We can hardly imagine it possible that such an one should feel as mankind in common feel , that he should have the infirmities of other men , or that the ordinary misfortunes of life should afflict him , as they do souls of less capacity and firmness of texture .
It will be found ,, however , that of the distressed children of men , a very large number-is made up of this particular class . To preach fortitude and contempt of . misfortune is easy ; but to practise the precept is a difficulty that increases in proportion to the mental improvement of the sufferer . Ordinary minds feel in an ordinary manner , and have recourse for relief to ordinary means . This is not the
case of elevated understandings . They cannot but feel the superiority of their situation ; and the ambition which it inspires in them of pre-eminence in their profession , gives to every depressing occurrence of life a weight and consequence tenfold more heavy and serious than it would to therest of the world . The povertof the learned is an old themeon which
y , many pathetic declamations have been composed , and many curious anecdotes nave been compiled . It is , in fac' , an inseparable attendant of the Profession , and will continue to furnish matter of complaint to the poet and rhapsodist , and subjects for biographers , to the end of the
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On The Infelicities Of The Learned.
taste , and the voice of praise unhappily continues not long enough for the eager appetite of conscious deserving . In the sphere of private life they are still more to be pitied . " A wise or learned man is seldom regarded as such by his family or intimate acquaintance . Mingling with them in all the common occurrences of life , they are insensible to the splendour of his talents , from the immediate and constant view which they have of his habits and
defects . It is well , indeed , if his attainments and favourite studies are not made the subject of their sarcasms , from the little benefit they are found to have on his morals or his circumstances . Hence it is that we seldom see the wife and children of a scholar , or a mathematician , partial to the classics or the mathematics . Learned persons have seldom been happy in their domestic
relations . Socrates is an ancient and memorable instance ; and among the moderns the number is not small that mi ght be adduced to confirm this remark . Our Hooker , to whom the title of judicious has been universally conceded , was blessed with a wife equal to that of the Athenian sage . Milton had his domestic troubles in abundance , and Dryden was singularly unhappy in the fate of his favourite son .
And those who have not experienced misfortunes of such peculiar weight as " these , have yet been mortified by the acute consideration that they should leave behind them children , whose habits or imbecility would disgrace their names . In looking over the long catalogue of eminent literary men , we shall find very few whose posterity followed them in the honourable path which Jed them to the Temple of Fame . Father and son shining with a similar radiance in the world of letters exhibit a phasnomenon very rarely the object of admiration .
The man of great intellectual endowments , of a keen , penetratinogenius , and a mind enriched with an ample store of various learning , is an object , viewed at a distance , of respect and astonishment . We can hardly imagine it possible that such an one should feel as mankind in common feel , that he should have the infirmities of other men , or that the ordinary misfortunes of life should afflict him , as they do souls of less capacity and firmness of texture .
It will be found ,, however , that of the distressed children of men , a very large number-is made up of this particular class . To preach fortitude and contempt of . misfortune is easy ; but to practise the precept is a difficulty that increases in proportion to the mental improvement of the sufferer . Ordinary minds feel in an ordinary manner , and have recourse for relief to ordinary means . This is not the
case of elevated understandings . They cannot but feel the superiority of their situation ; and the ambition which it inspires in them of pre-eminence in their profession , gives to every depressing occurrence of life a weight and consequence tenfold more heavy and serious than it would to therest of the world . The povertof the learned is an old themeon which
y , many pathetic declamations have been composed , and many curious anecdotes nave been compiled . It is , in fac' , an inseparable attendant of the Profession , and will continue to furnish matter of complaint to the poet and rhapsodist , and subjects for biographers , to the end of the