New-York tribune., 1841-11-01
MIR. EMERSON'S GRAFTON.

MIR. EMERSON'S GRAFTON.
TAG Msrnoo oF NsrusK: A. orat on before tn" soci
ETY. ofthe Ajelp% in WltersiIe College, Maine, Aug
~, lril By RALPH WALDO EMEEsos. Boston: :
G.. Smpkinr
Who is Rlph Waldo Emerson and what he i
need not be explained to the intelligent OF
our readers, neither need they be told how he
thinks and writes Many regard him a, almost
lunu,ic; some az an ufecter Of quaint phraseology
and giddy pnradoxes wherewth to conceal com
monpace or borrowed IDEAS; bu, the larger mum
Der of those vino have studied him passing vol,
regard him a. one Of the most gifted, original and
bounteeus spirits OF the age Eccentric in express
sion he certainly is, sometimes to the sacrifice OF
perspicuity; but how shall new thoughts be clothed
in perfectly plain and trite expressions But dis.
cussion or apology is aside from present pur
pose. We propose rather lew extracts from this
new dissertation Here is one:
LITERARY ANNIVERSARIES.
q sometimes believe that our literary annycrsa-
ries will presently greater importance, as
the eyes of men open 10 their capabilities. Here
nav Sc, of distinctions, new order of ideas
prevail. Here, we Sc, bound to the respectable
ity of wealth. and bound to the prctensions Of
law and the church. The bigot must cease to be
q bigot today. Into our charmed circle. power
came, entor; and the surdest defender of exist
ing institutions feels the terrific iniammlbility OF
this air which condenscs heat in eve'y corner that
may restore 10 the elements the fabrics Of ages
Nothing solid is secure; every thing tits and
rocks Even the scholar is not safe he too Is
searched and revised. l. his learning dead l.
he living in his memory The power Of mind i
not mor,itica,i,. but life But come forth thou
curious child hithor. thou loving. all-hopine
poet hher thou tender, doubling heart who
hast not yet found anv place in the worlds
market tit for thee; any wares VIII ch thou could>t
buy or sellso large i thy love and ambition
thine and not their, is the hou Smoothe lhy brow.
aud hope AMI love ON, cor thu kim! heaven u,tiiic-
the, aud The whole world feels thai thou only arr
in the right
MPERFECTIoT OF MAN.
4" W. demand of men II richness and universal
ity we do not find Great me- do not content US
/, is their solitude, not their force, that makes
them con,picuou There is somewhat INDECENT
and tedious about ih-m They are poorly tied to
one bought. Ii they are prophets, they cgo-
tiss if polite and various. they are shallow. How
1ardily men arrive a. any thought, The crystal
sphere 81 thought Is c.ncenirIcnl rs the scolo
scal structure of the globe As all our soils ard
rocks liz IN st'ata, concentric strata, 50 do all
mems liinking- atcrally, never verticaIy.-
Here comes by great nquiSitor with auger and
plumh-hre and will bore Ar,c>lan vel! through
all our conventions and theories, and pierce to the
core u( things. But soon he probes one
crust, behold eime, pumb-linc and philosopher,
all take IA lateral direction, in spit" of ali resist,
ancc, AS if some strong wind took every thing oil
its feet and if you come month aitet month To see
what progress our reormer has made-not an
inch has he pierced-you still find him with new
words in the old place. floating about in new parts
of the same old vein or crust The new book says
: | will give YOU the key to NATURE. and we expect
TO go like thunderbolt TO the centre. But the
thunder is surface phenomenon. makes a skin
deep cut, and so does the sage. The wedge turns
out 10 be a rocket Thus man lasts but very
little while, for his monomanla becomes inSupport
ably tedious is u few months. II is with every
book and person; and yet-and yet-we do not
take up a new book NEE, new man without
pulse-beat of expectation And this discomfort
with the poor and pinched result. this invincibr
hope of more adequate interpreter, is the sure
prediction of his advent
NATURE AND MAN.
hat no single end NAV be selected and nature
Judged thereby. appears from this that ii man
- N'''Ntbcl'N dS lut tlu, uEc IL NC hSsullltt
1hat the hnal cause OF the world is TO make hoy
OF wise or beautiful men, VIC see that it has no;
succeeded. Read alternately IN natural and in
civil history treatise of astronomy. for example
with volume ot Preach Memories pour Ser-rir.
When we have spent wonder in computing
this was,etul hospitality with which boon nature
turns of new ;irmamcnts without end into her wide
common, as fast as the madreporcs make coral
suns and planets hesptable 10 souls-and then
shorten the sight 10 look into tins court Of Louis
Quatorzc. and see the game that Is PLAYED there
duke aud marshal, abb6 and madame-a gambling
liable where each is laying traps for the other
where the end is ever by some lie or fetch to
Wit your rival and rum him with this solemn icp in
wig and stars--the king; can hardly help ask
ing if this planet is fair specimen OF the SO gene
rous astronomy, and if so, whether the experiment
have not failed, and whsther it be quite worth
while TO make more and glui the nnocent space
with so poor an Article
thiRk we feel not much otherwise if. instead
of beholding fosish nations, We take the grea; and
wise men. the emineat souls and narrowly inspect
their biography. None OF them seen BY himself
and his performance compared with his promise or
idea, will justly the cost Of that enormous appa
ra,u, OF means by which thi, spotted and defective
person was al last procured.
To questions Of this sert, nature replies. |
grow. | grow Ali is nascent infant. When we
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