great measure, was an unconscious application of
memory or experience. Bees and ants and birds often far outdo savage
men in ingenuity of construction. The red Indians in their persistent
use of flimsy, cheerless bark wigwams, were far behind the beaver or
oriole as regards dwellings; in this respect the Indian indicated mere
instinct of a low order, as all do who live in circles of mere
tradition.

Now to advance what seems a paradox, it is evident that even what we
regard as inspired genius comes to man in a great measure from
Instinct, though as I noted before it is aided by reflection. As the
young bird listens to its mother and then sings till as a grown
nightingale it pours forth a rich flood of varying melody; so the poet
or musician follows masters and models, and then, like them,
_creates_, often progressing, but is never _entirely_ spontaneous or
original. When the artist thinks too little he lacks sense, when he
thinks too much he loses fire. In the very highest and most strangely
mysterious poetical flights of SHELLEY and KEATS, or WORDSWORTH, I
find the very same Instinct which inspires the skylark and
nightingale, but more or less allied to and strengthened by Thought or
Consciousness. If human Will or Wisdom alone directed _all_ our work,
then every man who had mere patience might be a great original genius,
and it is indeed true that Man can do inconceivably more in following
and imitating genius than has ever been imagined. However, thus far
the talent which enables a man to write such a passage as that of
TENNYSON,

"The tides of Music's golden sea
Setting towards Eternity,"

results from a development of Instinct, or an intuitive perception of
the Beautiful, such as Wordsworth believed existed in all things which
enjoy sunshine, _life_, and air. The poet himself cannot _explain_ the
processes, though he may be able to analyze in detail how or why he
made or found a thousand other things.

It is not only true that Genius originates in something antecedent to
conscious reflection or intellect, but also that men have produced
marvelous works of art almost without knowing it, while others have
shown the greatest incapacity to do so after they had developed an
incredible amount of knowledge. Thus Mr. WHISTLER reminded RUSKIN that
when the world had its greatest artists, there were no critics.

And it is well to remember that while the Greeks in all their glory of
Art and Poetry were unquesti