Rensselaer Republican, Volume 17, Number 22, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 February 1885 — Genius and Age. [ARTICLE]

Genius and Age.

It was not till lie was 42 years of age that Hawthorne believed that he had written something which would in all probability catch the general ear; and the appearance of “Mosses from an Old Manse” in 1846 justified, and probably more than justified, his always modest expectations. It can hardly be doubted that, if a man is to achieve the highest and most enduring kind of success in the composition of prose romances, he has a far better-chance of attaining that result if he lies fallow for many years, and only ventures on a great effort when he has reached maturity. Hawthorne was 46 years of age when he gave to the world that wonderful study of human nature, “The Scarlet Letter,” and at once stood in the front rank of living writers of ilctioH. Fielding was nearly the same age when he wrote “Tom Jones.” Scott was even older when he wrote “Waverley,” and Richardson was past 50 when he achieved notoriety with “Pamela.” Thackeray, it is true, wrote “Vanity Fair” when he was 35, but he, too, had reached the same age as Hawthorne—when the latter wrote “The Scarlet Letter ” before producing “ Esmond ” and “The Newcomes. ” George Eliofrmight be cited as another instance of the truth that before people can compose novels of lasting value into which a knowledge of humatt nature enters they must themselves have lived. —London Standard.