Notwithstanding the many undeniable instances of the precocity of
men of genius, it is nevertheless true that early cleverness gives
no indication of the height to which the grown man will reach.
Precocity is sometimes a symptom of disease rather than of
intellectual vigour. What becomes of all the "remarkably clever
children?" Where are the duxes and prize boys? Trace them through
life, and it will frequently be found that the dull boys, who were
beaten at school, have shot ahead of them. The clever boys are
rewarded, but the prizes which they gain by their greater quickness
and facility do not always prove of use to them. What ought rather
to be rewarded is the endeavour, the struggle, and the obedience;
for it is the youth who does his best, though endowed with an
inferiority of natural powers, that ought above all others to be
encouraged.
An interesting chapter might be written on the subject of
illustrious dunces--dull boys, but brilliant men. We have room,
however, for only a few instances. Pietro di Cortona, the painter,
was thought so stupid that he was nicknamed "Ass's Head" when a
boy; and Tomaso Guidi was generally known as "Heavy Tom" (Massaccio
Tomasaccio), though by diligence he afterwards raised himself to
the highest eminence.
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