New-York daily tribune., 1865-10-26


distant possible heather or not was uDexperimented
though many would have subscribed liberally that
fair trial might be made. 1t was the pentecost oil
Shnsr The day Of utteranees reproduced the day Of
rp' ses aud anagrams and there was nothing 40 simple
that uncia letters and the STYLE OF Dphus ths Lsty.
rnth could not make INTO rldcle Many foreign revo
ntionistg out Of work added to the general misunder
standing their contribution Of broken English In every
most genious form Of fracture All stood ready at
moments notice to reform everything but themselves
Aud we n toH with them, toe.
And take upon = the mystery OF things
As II We were Gods spice"
The portraiture of Mr.. Emerson ia striking, but
perhaps drawn more from the imagination Of the
writer than from the features of the original.
The artistic range Of Emerson is narrow. as every.
well read critic must feel at once and So 70 that VI
Kschylus IL that Of Dante. so is that OF Montague
So is that Schiller is that Of nearly every eK
cept Shakespeare; but there is gauge OF hight 10
less than of breadth Of Individuality web OF com
prehensyenes and above all there ID the standard oi
genctic power the test of the masculine as distinguished
from the receptive minds. There stamin ate plants
in literature that make no fine show Of fruit but with
out whose pollen the QuDessence Of fructifying eold
the garden had been barren. Eme' sons mind is EN-
phaically Of these and there is no man TO whom
our aesthetic culture owes 10 much. 1he Puritan revo'
hsd made us enthusiastically. and the Revelation pot
cay independent but were stll socially and intel
ecuolly oored 10 English thought. till Emerson cut
the cable and gave chance at the dangers aud the
gorics Of blue water. No man young enough 10 nave
felt II forget 10 be grateful for the mental
and moral nudge which be received from the writings
af bis hie minded and brave spirited coantrymap
That we agree with him. or that hc always egrees with
himself Is aside from the question; but that he @onsss
In something that are the better for having aWaA
ened, whether that something be OF opposition or as
sent that lie speaks always 10 Whnt highest and eaS
selfish in u.s. few Americans Of the generation younger
than his own would be disposed TO deny lis oratlon
before the Phi Beta Kappa Society at Cambridge soue
thirty years ago. event without any iCrmer par
alle IN our literary annals. scene to be always treat
ure in the memory for iis picturesqueness ana lis m
splation. What crow ded and bregthless aisles wPa
windows clustering with eager heads what enthusiasm
approval. what grim silence OF f)regone dsseht
Ii YGnkee yersion Of lecture by AbeaId, our
Harvard parallel to the last public appearances oi
ficLte.
Mr.. Thoreau is more happily delineated by the
critic who appears TO have gained true perception
of the Walden Pond philosopher, in spite of the
iusory vail which his adnlators have thrown
around his remains since his deccase.
lie seems 10 us 10 have been q man with 30 high
conce Of himself that he accepted without question,
log, and insisted our accepting. his defects ana
weaknesses OF character as virtues and powers peculiar
TO himself Was lie indo!ent, he finds Lone of tho nc
tiyes which attract o. employ the rest Of mankind
worthy Of him. Wa he waiting In the qualities that
make success IL is success that 10 oOntempthle ana
lot hima elf that lacks perstenoy aud purpose Was
be poor. money was an nnmiAed e'h. Dld his we
seem selfish one, be condemns doing good as one OF
tho weakest Of supeTsti0ns. To bo OF use was with
him the most killing bait Of tie willy tempter Useless
He bad faculty OF generalization from outside
Of himself nj least no experience which would supply
the material Of such, aid bo makes hiS own Nbim tie
law, bis own range the horizon OF The universe lie
condemns a world. the ho.iowness OF whose satisfac.
tions he had had the means Of testing and we
recognize ApemnL;us behind The mack oI iimon lie
had little active imagiratnn OF toe receptive he lad
much. His appreciation Is Of The highest quality; his
critical power from want Of contpuity Of mind very
limited and made uate. He somewhere cites siuis .
from Ossan example Of the superiority Of the osd
poetry TO the new though even were the historic ev
.fuu ~, lhpiV
those poems should Dc conclusive OF their modernness
lie had artistic power sgch controls great work
to the balance o! ccmpetoness bat exquisite
echancal ski In the shaping Of sentences and para
graphs nofe raroy) short bits OF verse for the e1'
prossion of detached thought sentiment, oT image
His works give one the feeling Of sky fall Of ssrs.-
thin high overhead and frecked thicky with spots Of
soated brightness bot whether these have any mutual
relation with each other bnye any concern with our
mundane mat II for the most part matter of con.
lecture. Ie.-astrology as yoi. and not uonomy.
1 Is is curious considering what 1boTeau sferward
became that be was not by Iaiure an observer. He
only the things he looked fnr. ond was lees poet
than naturalist TIN be bail: bis Walden shaniy. le
did net know that the hickory grew In Concord. TIL
he went 10 Maine lie had never seen pho ghorescent
wood phenomenon early familiar 70 most country
boys At forty he sp"als of The seeding OF The pine
a new discovery, though one should have thought that
ito gold dust OF blowing pollen mst. have ea.er drawn
his eve Neither his attention Dor his genius Of the
,pontane1us hind. lie discovered nothing. lie
thought everything discovery II his own from moon
light "a the plnntn. Of Gcor1s ADD nuts ~ squirrels
This IL defect IN bis character, but one Of his chief
charms a wIi;r E.cything grows fresh under his
hand. lie delged IN hi. mind and nsiarei be panted
thom with MI manner Il native nLd foreign seeds and
reaped nfsduously. tie Vas not merely 6Olitlry. be
world be isolated and succetded at last IN almost per
sEsding himself t.e, be was aut1ehihonous Heyalned
lever ihing III proportion As be fanoed ~ 10 be eICln
sively his own. He complsil; IN Whdsr' that
there s pQ yte IN coucVrd With whom he cof1 rak 81
iOcliial hteia,drc though the man was living within
two miles of his hut wnO bad introduced him u It,
frtel a.
painful In reading him. lie lacked that generosity
of "oOr muuicaiion" which Johnson admired Ia
Burke De Qumcey tells - tat Wordsworth was
impatient when any one else spoke 4 mountains. as
} ii he boi peculiar property In them. And We can
readily urdeta nd why 1t should be so no one Is s9s
fed with anotheT's appreciation Ol bs misress But
Iiar,nn seems 20 haye priced LOFTY way Of thinking
fen we should be inclined 10 call II remote 0nel not
80 much because II good in itself as because he
wished few TO share Il Will bin. II seems now and
,hen "a If be did not seek 10 lure others mp above our
lover region Of turmoil" but to leave bis own cut
on the mountain peak the fret climber Tbs itch OF
originality n;, cts his thought and style To be misty
Il not 10 be mystic. lie tu.ls comnOnpGces end for
end and fanoes II makes something new 0f them. As
We walk aovn P.rl 81, our eye "a caught ny Dr.
Wiadships dumb bells, one Of which bears an
inscription tcsiityinS that 1t is the heaviest
ever put at arms length BY any athlete. aud In
reading Mr. 1horcaus books we cannot help feeling as
II be som, times invited attention to particular
sophism vi paradox ss the biggest yet msintaiDe! by
any single writer He seeks at all risks for perversiy
Of thought, ard reyNes tie age of conosnI while he
fancies himself gong ba.k 10 pro-casscal nature.
day" he says passed In the society of those Greek
sages such described IN iho Banquet Of AcBophon.
would not be comparable with the dry wit Of decayod
cranberry vines and the fresh Attic salt Of tie
beds" II /. much the True that no loves a. tho
Out-of the.Way. As the Brazen Ago shows Itself In
other men by e1aggeration Of Phrase so in him BY
ex ravaganoe Of statement He wishes always TO trump
your suit AMI To ruT when you least expect H. Do you
love Mature because che IN beautiful lie viii ind
better argument IA her ugness Are you tired of the
artificial mani lie instantly dresses you up m ideal
in Penobscot Indian and attributes 10 this creature