LITERARY NOTES. [FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.] Paris, November 7.

Waikato Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2103, 31 December 1885, Page 2

LITERARY NOTES. [FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.] Par is, November 7.

iNrKLLir.Evci; ought not to be measured after the volume of the biain, according to Dr. Bloch, as other factors enter into the explanation of intellcctu.il variation of individuals and races There is a lin it and a w eight below winch the brain ceases to be intelligent Below 32 dunces it is the mobt c unplete ldiotcy, but when the weight flue tuates between 43 and Gl ounces, in the cM<-e of two men .almost equal in intelli K'i'ncf, one is forced to conclude tlut the weight of brain is not the sole factor iv flucncing the development of mind. Below is the weight of biain of some celebrated men, m ounces :— Schiller, (53 ; Spur/.heiui, 5 1 ; Daniel Welvter, 52V ; Ag issiz, 52 f ; Dr. Chalmers, 52; Grote (histomn), 4!)j ; Whcwall, 19} ; L'eh s?, 47A. Those of (Jumiweli and Byron ire "reported" to have exceeded C> ( >. Cnvier'swas OH The mdinaiy mean weight of Innuui bi un is 4'H. Ti)>> brain of lijnnett, the phy-ici in, weighed 17oz , and th.it of Aberciombio, tlie natutalist, 02J, Yet in whvt did their Mini of knowledge, not celebrity— leside ? [n w h \t does inti'llectu tl siipei ioi ity cm-1-.t ? The most lllnstiiou-, sp^culists p i^e^ only i sm ill intelligence, but that is accomp uned bygic.it perseverance or tenacity. Ludi of learned lmnbei in the h-ud do not constitute intelligence. M'nioiy is not to bo compared to the creitive faculty. It is the aptitude to associate ideas ii-id seue then l elation-, that constitutes the formula to niea-. ire intelligence. It was tho possession of this aptitude which made Goethe i< cognise the analogy b 'tween the fl >wer and the leaf; Ocuen b-'tu ecu the skull and the vertebra; ; and D ivy between potash and the metallic oxides. When Newton ideiitilied the fall cf an apple w ith tiic attractions e\eicised on the c.vith l»y c^stnl bodies the same faculty was bi ought into play. A distinguished man can have a small biain; the latter even may want its complete development, and yet its posessor can give proof of intelligence. Corneille, Byron, and Alfred dp Mu-set wrote very remmkable works though still young, Again, the brain of some infants displayed extraordinaiy precocity. At the ago of thiec years, Mo/.ait climbed to the piano to remain several hours playing harmonies ; at live, he composed mennets, very accurate and melodious, while maiking the biitli of Ins futuic style. At twelve ho composed his first opera. Pascal, when aged twelve yeais, unaided, woiked solutions up to the 1 32nd ]>ieposition of Euclid ; at sixteen he wrote in Latin his famous treatu-o on conic sections. Alirabaau was an orator at nine years an( l Monge wag a Piofcssor of Physics at sixteen. Men of oidmaiy intelligence can have rery laige brain*. Of l~>o brains of Scotch .aitt/.ans, tho heaviest was that of a tailor, G2o/.s. Thoheivie-t brain yet known bolonged to a bnckin iker n imed Moi i is who died m the University College Hospital. It weighed G7o/s. He comma. iced life as a poacher; could neither re id nor viite, had a good memoi y, and an itch for politics. The biain of Joachim, the giant, weighed only Sljozs. Borca lays down, '.it its full development, the m^au avenge weight of brain foi a man is 50>zs., and for a worn m, 44 4 ! ..z5. M. Lebon affirms, the tost of superior intelligence in races lies in the gi eater volume of the skull. But the skulls of geologic men are l.irgo, and prehistoric man was not iPimilc ible for intelligence. Country have the head largei than city people. In antiquity, as in our days, theie aie ceitain epochs when more icmarkablc individuals occur than at otlieid. For example ; the tgei of Pericles Alexander, Augustus, Kli/,abeth, Fiancois I, Louis X[V, ifcc. But it is not the volume of the bi'.un which explains why these great men swaimed at epochs. The physical biain lequues blood to feed it, aud to inamtiiu its vitality, so the intelligence of the brain demands its specific aliment. Now tho bi.un is a soil; it produces a thousand times more than it receives, and the sejtl to .sow theieinis " work," without which, the best oiganiscd brain will produce nothing. Beofchovon was not as precocious as Mo/ nt; itwis only by constant beatings his t.ither could get him to commence the study of music and practice the piano. Later, bis genius was aroused by study. Meyeibeer became gu-at, only by applica Mon ; his first successful woik "Rohi-it lo Diablo," was wntteu wlv.ni he was 37 years of ago ; he studied, th it is, impregnated his brain, with Italian music ; hence, the dial actor of his compositions, GormanItalian. All great men have studied, have drawn from diveis souices the sentiments, movements, thoughts, and images, which ought to embellish their outbursts of genius. It was thus with Shakespeare, CohiciUp, Racine, La Fontaine, Columbus, and Galileo. By study, that is to say, "work," im presMons accumulate in the brain, leave their maik theie, volnntanly or not, and remain fixed in memory. In the Will oiganised bi aid nothrig is lost, all is ab-.orliod and n*i nil ited. Men of geniu.s do not. pmdu'C witn the same rapidity. B ule iv wis often thiHi> houis seeking for a ihyme. Lt'i'i.nt/. smi tiMies rein lined three consent' ve d iys mil nights, in the i,un°. arm chair seeing the solution of » problem. Milheioe -"cnbbled ovei a ream of piper to in iki\ md l^iuike a single stinzi, And Teii'ivsiin t\k"s after him. Newton, often, when yft'Ui ig up, was struck with a thought, anil ieii)>ined for hours sitting on the side of his bed thinking. No one, not even Swed'»nb >rg, was a more prolific writer th in Voltaire; yet he confessed, '' my tragedies arc written, but not yet made : my cub of six days gestation requires six months licking.' Rousseau could only conceive his subjects among woods and rocks ; he composed them when lying awake in his bed, often six nights ho turned them in his head, and then noted them on paper. Fenelon wrote Ins Telemachus without a single ernsuro in the manuscript ; Balzac next to ruined his publishers by his pi ess coirpctions, while Lope do Vega could wiito a thousand voises por day. When Montaigne wrote, ho shut himself up in an old tower, to induce intellectual digestion. Bossuet, when preparing an oration— like Pericles he always road — selected a cold room, and wrapped Jus head np m flannel, whilo Schiller composed with his feet in ice. M. Gaborol furnishes some inteiosting details on the private lifo of Calvin, who, when he quitted Catholicism, sacrificed an opulent living. In 1"535, Calvin ai lived at Strasbourg in a state of penury. Yet he afterwards not only protected the Ropublic of Geneva, but governed it. Ho returned to Geneva in l'ifl. Tho migistrates fui-ni-<hed his lv>iv-.o; the furniture consisted af two beds, four do.al tables, two stools, a sculptured chair— now conserved in the cathedial, and twelve rickety benches for visitois. In this homo Calvin resided 23 years. Ha had only a salary of GOOOfrs. a year. Yet expended the greater portion on tho pooi pnvately. Tho magistrates learning M Cilvm was ill from privation, they made him a present of f>Ofrs ; this he declined, ho nistoad they bought him a cask of wine, and hoped he would use the most of it himself Calvin was a martyr to headaches, tertian fever, gout, .asthma, und spitting of blood. Still In not Him loss g<i\e foui lessons weekly to DOO students, and preached twice every Sunday. Ofton he had to ii"'nin th'ity-^ix hours without food, drinking mil' cold water to l ehev c his headache. Calvin desired that no monument, no insciiption should bo plaood ovei his vmahis and it has baon so faithfully ronp-jcted, that tho exaot spot of his gravo is unkiiown. Tradition indicates a flag with '.J.O." theion. The ..fficiil re/ish-T uf Oalv in'c death nr^rM ? lOC'id-" : " He has gone to God the 27th M>iy of tho piesenk yu.ir"(ls(il.) When the Duko of Suvoy informed Paul IV, of Calvin* death,

His Holme**, with a sigh, observed: " What constituted the power of that proud hoi otic was that money und honouid wero nothing in his evos," M. Jametol, in his description of tho Corea, remuks tint champ iguo is rather freely drunk bv tho n itive-i, who, it appe.us, are the greatest drunk.irdi in the o^ttetne East ; they aio not yet accustomed to opium, but make up for it hy indulgence in nee-brandy. Tho distilleries n-o up "<o muc'i ii'-e that when a b.id harvest sets in tl.e Government clones these establishments to p'inrd agam-t f.innne. When a Core.m will not sell his products to .\ Japanese, at the price offeied, the htter complain^ to the .iiithoiitics who compel the term-* proposed to be accepted. Baton de (ii.mcey's "Visit to Uncle .Sam," contains many wwe observations mixed with .iimwuß and witty deductions. The Fie-icli have bxn provided with many b ><>k-i on Ameiica, and perhips the l>j->t is by Ltbouhye, who never \is-ted the State. The Buon sketches .1 half dozen typicil pnrtiaits, and maintuns t!ie men are better than then- m-tiUtions and tho individual th.m the ma*-. The Buon, who is a r ly-ih-it, considers th- institutions will inevitably spoil the nation. The not least humourous put of tho volume is wheie the IWon ventilates his Eisir"->li. He concludes th.it "a twuity thousand doll U" m m '' applied to a ji.d^'e implies not his income but the figme for which ho may be enrupted. Also, when a huntsman is colloquially said to be a pood "hunter," the B iron laughs at tho idea, of cilhnsr a man a "hoise." However, to mi^tike the Pikuus for the name of a- man did not prevent the monkey in the fable from being witty. M. Paandrillart his been officially delegated to study the " Avjncultmal Population of France, '' Iho be&t means to retain the peasant in the rural districts, and to rendi-r thuir existence more supportable. He stites, tli.it buf >ie 17sO, the majority of tho Fiencli peasantiy lived only on bit ley and oaten bit id; their dunk was water. Not a few hid to exist on hteeped bran, tint which augmented tho infant death iate Kirely fieir houses had a gl^s witidm. and often a stable 01 a bain was the dwelling place. The small holding? weie faiily cultivated, bu ( . one half of the produce went to pay t.\o->. Tho only to id-, wvic tlio-,<j connecting 1 the large tnvns X luLution did not e\ist, and wherj it did, th" schoolmaster was more lirnoi mt tluit th". tm,nls. The author st.ites th it today mtomperince is the bane of the lural districts; the numb ;r of public-houses is legion ; they destioy work nii,' habit-, and chp >j)ulate thp. p.uwhes. Not p'lmuy uistiiutiou, Lvit asfrn-iilturvl education, is what the farming population has neod of. In a very intpiestin^ essiy on Shalespere, JSI. Henn Coohiu ob->oi yes th it the life of William Shakspcio now b^lonsrs to covt.uu est ibliihcd history ; one can henceforth concjive liovv that Mngular life was formed. Tt bprun# from the people, for Shaks)>ere speaks fora whole people. He cwie on the threshold of the Middle \5> I s, tho ir md full to abundance of the th'j'ights and imxges which then ttoniwhed in the soul of the nation, and he tr.ive th.it ovetHowing thought a form, marvellous in its force and its wuiety. He i, true to rui al experience, he leave-, tho mysteiy of life as he found it ; indulges mno theories, but simply give-, the fact, the thing itself. The "Deiniers Joins dv Consultat," by Claude F.iuriel, Private Secretary to I'\iii3he\ the tenible Minister of Police undei Napoleon I, tieats of the intrigues organised by Napoleon to mike himself Kmpeior. He connived with the enemies of tho Republic at home and those of Franco abroad, to up.-et that regime. The sole obstacles to Napoleon's ambition were (Jeneials l J ichcgiu and Moreau. In older to become Mini-ter of Police, Fouche" oiganisod a fupposcd conspiracy on thopu't of the above generals and (icoigo Cadoud.il. The conspirators never met, but they and a host of otheis were not the less swept into the net. Pichegiu felt himself doomed ; he was found one morning mysteiiously sti.mgled in his cell, for that was one of the form-, of torture applied to the prisoners, as well as warming them before a fiery furnace and fixing the thumbs between the screws foi tlu tagger musket flint. This in 180"). Moieau was sentenced to two yearn'iinpusonment—" tho f.,uno penalty as a simple lobber of pocket-handkerchiefs " exclaimed Napoleon, as he chased the judge ftom his presence. Mote in was banished; he joined tho Allies later, and was killed at the battle of Lsip/.ig by a French cannonball. Napoleon was the first to notice through hia glass tho fall of Moreau.