Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1880-08-06
Ralph Waldo Emerson.

recoBniIou Vi some distinguished
kind. To the reverence due to clas.
and exalted thinking. we join the uni.
versal respect paid t, old age. As tho
years of survival grow naturally fewer
We grudge the dimiuution and rate
them IA cOstlier and costlier. 1t is enc.
tumary to say that the dominant Liter.
AIRY taste is insufficient and of dnh,oue
accuracy. Carprs urge, sometimes
with II show Of reason, that we are Ev.
ing in an age of loose thinking. which
is perhaps worse than no thinking NJ
ali. In time of rank and I'll ,rescant
production, the eye may be beuuiIed
INTO keeping at Il low angle while stnr.
dier aud statelicr growths are NEG.
lected The phenomenon is that, man.
ger our shallowDess and merely mann.
featured letters, - thinker like Emerson
-honld get such hold of the public
heart ana head. a writer is not to be
fairly estimated by what his literary
fellows say Of him. Their tribnte is
partly "a matter of good breeding:
pa thy it is extor'ed by IL prot, ssionaI
sense OF veracious criticism, and
through fralty to the Guild. TTs Liter.
arg WorM has taken the pains, upon
| tins anniversary occasion, to evoke
from various veil known persons their
estimate of Mr.. Emerson. We prefer
tn think rather Of the fealty of those
who are not distinguished. The praise
of the aca iemy is worth having, but
not less the praise o. the factory. the
farm and the workshop. And, after
all, if we consider the nature and con.
! iitions OF literary fame, we shall tiud
that it's gist Is lot so much in the an.
proval of the select few as in the
pluudits Of the many. The great repu.
tatlons are won from the masses of
bu"k-readera and not from the thin
ranks Of the book-rhakers. The i'm
m"rtaliries come OF universal suffrage.
Mr.. Em-rson's books are popular in
the best sense OF the word. They are
not II, cepted through the Bullying If q
conventional hurrah. Each reader
| ,ho loves them does SO in private
personal way, ard would not abate lot
Of his admiration, though all the rest
If mankind SHOULD conclude to read
them no Ill re- He has given bonds to
sincerity He ia safe from indiscrimi.
uate sccerrance. He would hot be
afraid to dIsca'd whole chapters, il
they did not recommend themselves to
us conscientious approval. He is not
,llsmnyed ii he encounters that which
lie does not easily comprehend or
cannot comprehend ut all. The
pbscnrity Of this paragraph is to
he pardoned for the lucltilty of that
which follows it. A fresh char m. u new
grace smiles welcome us eAcn success
sIve page il turned. There il music if,
at the moment, there be no point blank
meaning; ALI, there is the swiftly recur-
ring eplgram which tells us everything
, in y breath, and, having done its or.
rand, makes room for the next one.
Then, too. strangely mingling with
reconcile speculation and with those
ornamental illustrations which the i'm
aginatiun of the writer supplies, there
Is u pervadiny aud almost homely COM
III, u sense; while the expression which
had been little eniYmatic becomes
plaiu to simplicity. The difficulty of
perusiHg Emerson intelligeutly has
been strangely exaggerated, and we
have gone on talking Of it, because We
talked Of it in the beginning. He who
has long read him has little or no en-
barrassm-nt IN finding out what the
philosopher and poet would be at
There arc no my steries of character to
puzzle those who have long been
friends; and respectful familiarity ao.
customs us to the nomenclature and
methods of books which have won
household place with us. The perfect
veracity of Emerson makes oil equal
with his otherwise unequal moods. II
lie rises into rarefed atmosphere OF
subtle discrimination, we go with him,
but with all his love of tho superterres-
trial, his speech il often like the speech
Of iustics, ANA has o Doric flavor OF
the fresh. ploughed earth. Ii he loves
Nature as the mother Of all beauty, ne
loves her not less as the source OF all
utility, as the original force OF all the
economies of life; Us the producer OF
that which we eat AID drink and are
clothed withal. So it is with his esti-
mates of man and of society. he hes
few words to waste upon folly, but for
ali wisdom, in every possible form OF
speech or deed, II smlling respect WHOM
cneers us and makes US think less
meanly of the soul.
We are not afraid OF the future OF
people which has called for many edi.
lions. luxurious or plain, of Emersons
works. The trash which Is printed IL
infinite in bulk and meets certain
mean aud diseased appetite, or the
caterers would not supply it. But leu
ns not dwell TOO apprehensively upon
this dep,avity of relish! For more than
forty years one of our wisest men mas
not failed to find an audience, and mas
grown larger and larger in the eyes Oh
the thong htiul and sincere; until now
become patriarch, he can say nothing
to hich great troop is not wiling 70
listen. He has won our hearts py
sweeter amiability than ever phiioso,
pher before attained; he has rcconciied
us to the accidents of life by showing
how impotent they are to disturb tne
equilibrium of the wise; he has cor
rected our sense of the proportions o.
things. of events. OF fortunes; ana II
he bus touched our foibles it has peen
with tender finger, and implied apoI'
"gies which made reproof easy to gear.
Lastly, he furnishes us with the ra,s
example of a serene and beautiful Olo