We can not secure the great man’s arrival, but when he has come
we can show that we know him and appreciate him, as the bees
know and appreciate the one who is, of all others, most valuable
to the hive. When “Dexter,” the famous race-horse owned by
Robert Bonner, was found drawing a clay-cart, and the signs of
speed in him were unmistakable, what a world of excitement there
was! No harness was too fine, no stable too good for him. He had
valets to attend his most delicate wants--watchers by night and
by day. I do not say there was the slightest unappropriateness
in this. I merely ask if the man of wonderful possibilities is
not of as much account and deserving of as much care as the
wonderful horse. The great man, or man of genius, will forego
yachts and palaces and the muniments of wealth, tho he could
enjoy them. What he needs at once is that sure provision which
shall give him subsistence and leave him free from worldly toil
and worry, as a prerequisite to prosecuting his work.--JOEL
BENTON, _Lippincott’s_.
(1299)