On the other hand, she reproduced a
truth, whose germ had just been imbibed from others, moulded after her
own image and quickened by her own life, with marvellous rapidity. And
the presence of congenial minds so stimulated the prolific power of
her imagination, that she was herself astonished at the fresh beauty
of her new-born thoughts. 'There is a mortifying sense,' she writes,
'of having played the Mirabeau after a talk with a circle
of intelligent persons. They come with a store of acquired
knowledge and reflection, on the subject in debate, about
which I may know little, and have reflected less; yet, by
mere apprehensiveness and prompt intuition, I may appear their
superior. Spontaneously I appropriate all their material, and
turn it to my own ends, as if it was my inheritance from
a long train of ancestors. Rays of truth flash out at the
moment, and they are startled by the light thrown over their
familiar domain. Still they are gainers, for I give them new
impulse, and they go on their way rejoicing in the bright
glimpses they have caught. I should despise myself, if I
purposely appeared thus brilliant, but I am inspired as by a
power higher than my own.
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