I have sometimes amused myself by endeavoring to fancy what would be the fate of any individual gifted, or rather
accursed, with an intellect very far superior to
that of his race. Of course, he would be conscious of his superiority;
nor could
he (if otherwise constituted as man is) help manifesting
his consciousness. Thus he would make himself enemies at all points. And
since
his opinions and speculations would widely differ from
those of all mankind — that he would be considered a madman, is
evident. How horribly painful such a condition! Hell could
invent no greater torture than that of being charged with abnormal
weakness
on account of being abnormally strong.
In like manner, nothing can be clearer than that a very generous spirit — truly
feeling what all
merely profess — must inevitably find itself misconceived
in every direction — its motives misinterpreted. Just as
extremeness of intelligence would be thought fatuity, so
excess of chivalry could not fail of being looked upon as meanness in
its last
degree: — and so on with other virtues. This subject is a
painful one indeed. That individuals have so soared above the
plane of their race, is scarcely to be questioned; but, in
looking back through history for traces of their existence, we should
pass
over all biographies of “the good and the great,” while we
search carefully the slight records of wretches who died in
prison, in Bedlam, or upon the gallows.