The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1876-01-02
SOME NEW BOOKS.
Mr.. Bmerson's Latest ESSAYS.

MIR. Bmerson's Latest ESSAYS.
A recent collection of Essays by RALPH
WALDO EMEHsON lies before us, entitled Letters
and Social Aims u. X. 0sgood Coz. Some Of
them have already appeared In the Atlantic
MONTHLY. we believe, and some are quite new.
The subjects are Poetry and Imagination"
"Social Aims" "Eloquence," Resources"
1.-THE Comic" "Quotation and Orielnality,"
progress OF Culture" Persian Poetry" In
spiration," "Greatness," and "Immortality."
The whole forms a small volume OF about three
hundred pages, which is uniform in appearance
with the authors previous publications. It Is
printed with similar type, on similar Witty
brown paper, with similar narrow margins, slml-
lar Rreen-rlbbed cloth binding, and similar air
OF severe prlmness. But for the date on the
title page, one might readily suppose It had
been issued thirty years ago, In the days
when Ticknor Co. we're In their prime,
and when not only Emerson, but Longfellow,
and Hawthorne, and Holmes, and Lowell began
to be literary gods, and the North American
ReptetC was their prophet.
There Is a sort OF fitness In thus retaining for
Mr.. Emerson's book this old fashioned appear
ance. II suits him, as the long and frequent
italics and capitals suit the writer's OF George
Washington's time. He has not changed his style
since be frst began to appear In print. His SEN
fences are as short and jerky as ever, making his
pages look like a corduroy road. His favorte
IT'S, instead OF IL Ia, still Its head at fire.
quent intervals az II the apostrophe wore a
criminal, aud the had been erected as a gal
lows to hang II on. His oracular method OF ut
terance is the same, and he shows the same In
difference to the logical sequence Of thought.
Nor are the old familiar authors neglected, quo
tatons from them seasoning the original IN tier
as plentifully as In d lys OF yore. Now, IA then,
the reader lays down the book no wiser than he
took 1t up, but with deusive conviction that
he has been engaged In improving his mind.
Mr. Emerson's success as an author Is CON
vlncing refutation Of the Islander that the man
OF culture Is not appreciated among us. For no
IL above all man of culture. He has been all his
life a student and the companion OF students.
lie has read extensively, and he has had leisure
to reflect uDon what he has read, and then
| write out his reflections. Thus bis essays a
succession OF thoughts on all sorts Of subjects
| a. they have occurred to him, sitting In his IL
brary chair, either alone or In the society Of his
| chosen friends. They contain many excellent
| ideas, gracefully and often forcibly exercised,
| and are useful as storehouse Of quotations, for
the reason that every paragraph is independent OF
| every other paragraph, and complete in itself,
| like each several bead In a necklace. For the
same reason they are excellent aftcr-diunor
| reading. You can begin anywhere and leave of
| anywhere, ludtuerently, WITHOUT rcghru 10 inc
| demands OF logic, for logic Is not there.
| Itlsto be regretted, considering the estimation
| In which Mr.. Emerson Ia held az writer. that
| he has not set better example TO his admirers.
His En.llsh IA not always pure, nor his scholir-
ship thorough. lie quotes incessantly, but of.e n
| inaccuratey; he cannot relate an anecdote OF
any length without spelling II, aud he complete
ly wants the FIRST req islte Of essayist, clear
| ness of purpose. lie has h I'd lmltntors who have
copied his faults, without attaining his merits q.
| and fanciod themseyo. his equals when they
were only his coun.erfeits. Fortunately, the
public has had the shrewdness to detect the
imposture, so that, after all, no great harm has
been done, except to young writer's.
When we say that Mr.. Enerson's English Is
not pure we mean that he has not that hnc
sense OF genuine English which prevents him
from using words which are not English, or using
| English words out OF their meaning. Thus he
says: 1.-THE restraining grace OF common sense
IA the mark OF all the vita minds" giving to
| valid" its antiduated Latin Specification. The
mountains begin to dlslimn," "a II dis
| linn" were neuter verb. The senses i'm
prison us, and help them with mCtrts
as linitdry." IAN thinking Is analogizing,
and It's the use OF life to learn me'onomV'-
which TO the ordinary reader Is unintelgible. 1t
Is very dsagreeable chapter OF history, and
| accuses tne hlLnOr hS well as tne tunes. inc
dearth ~ design accuses the penury Of intellect"
where accuses" Is taken IN It's French sense
OF indicating. ut IA not STYLE or rhymes or a
new image, more or less, that imports, int sIut-
ty"-meiniu, by "sanitY," hellth. "Men are
made up u p0tnc,s'-tnat l., powers. " rhe
prestige OF ph0ouic inspirat n - "phionic' Is
Greek word, meaning fond OF strife Quota
ton confess nferiorty," instead Of "is a con-
fcssion Of inferlority. And so on. and so on.
This want OF scholarly 1lolity ana OF rcvcr-
encc for the true English ldiom IL strikngy
shown In a passage from Hcde's Ecclt siastical
Chronicles. with which the essay On Immortal
ity opens II Is the reported speech of an Anglo
Saxon noble in u council called by KING Edwin
to deliberate about hearing the Christian mis-
slonaries. Mr. Emerson renders Il thus:
The present life OF man. King, compared with that
space Of TINE beyond - winch We nave n9 certainty
with your generals anl minister The hearth haze ~
s9or ne Of rain and snow are Sirn wl.6ou OWEN b,
The chilling snpS" e sTT3% enters At Ss dgo
other. Whilst II stays In our mansion IT feels not en-,
,sf la. si Ssen eS no s s 'oi a ITO e s
srcary Tempest irsm Sn,n Il hai r.SaPsd ana w. Dc
ignorant % the stare VII c preceded our present exist
feel that ths new iaa eau give Il, more cr.aAy It
deserves 10 Oe received
How utterly destitute this elegant discourse Is
OF that English spirit and colorln-, which should
max an Anglo-Saxon, Will b tier appear by con
trasting wish it the version which Mr.. Greene
gives I'm his History OF tn, English People -
So seems TIC lie Of m a. O King. rs a spirrow'-
nj nit through the nll, when You sitting nc me 10 M
water ud', win 90" I'm are Ashiei On me hearth
put the les RAIN wituJut. Ia" sparrow nct ma
one DOOR, n tarrrs Tor nome % in the lisut and
heat OF the hearth nre, an then nslug lurt rO tt
otltr Y.nlshe3 iuto the "lnir. 0arkless, wn'nce u
50 ttrrl Tor a nom 70 tnr nae 90 in uu
sgh,, hut what before II, what Hit+t 70, KNOW not
II th new c. lcAing tells Us aIg ctr.ainY Vt ta,sc,
| let us fOAOW IL.
with a similar disregard for the genius OF Ian
/ guaae, Mr.. Emerson says that "Mahomet"
wrote the following words in the Koran
On the dy of resurrection osr who have In lulgrt
IN culr wlh Dr. called to tia door of parldl- 40.
have shat ~ tlcii faces whoa thf, reach 10. AgNL
their turning back they WA be cllct 10 another
door, aud again on reaching No. W sec tclused agalnt
I | thelL ant 80 on, al utguttnt, wliduul eua.
The name OF the author OF the Koran Il