New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-10-23


lis ESSAYS are all carefully revised again and
again. correct ted, wrought over, portions uIoPpen,
and new ma ter added He is unsparlng 1T hls
corrections striking ont sentence alter sentence
and paragraphs disappear from time 10 tlme. ms
manuscript Is every where crowded WIN tSa, 20
not covered with these evidences oil MS u'iIsoh'
revision.
HIS concentrated sentences are Moubtless wrought
ont one Nv one IN hls lonely walks, or III the jnlet
nf Ills study aud worked over M ms inihd nui tnc
wnr,s perfectly fit the thought. hls "oIGs aIo
tbus nackad and crammed with thought. Such u
Method has filed his pages with quotaD,e seuun'Ts
and prOverbial expressions, that Jam az We N, 49,
nhnut a sub ect into a dozen words. In no "lher
writer are there so many sentences which complete
the subject. aud which Will stand; unNuppoIleu dnu
alone. AS vudIcatiUns OF the autnof 'nouIH.' hu
ESSAY packed full 81 such sen ences Is lafu reag
or each reader must JOIN sentence 10 SENTENCE anu
SIMPLY the connections himself His ESSAYS are
remarkable for their quick, sharp, lntellNe Sch-
fences found every where through Us "I,IngS.
There is an abiuptnesS about MS h'tiuou' ln"i
partly comes OF his hablis 81 composition, anu
uartly from his manner of eXhanstlng an ldea III
few intensely condensed expressions, ana 'nth piss
mg Immediately to the next Nuhlect "nlch ocTm an;
From ihe centre of one idea he passes, without
nutcc to the ~ core OF the next; anu ho a'to"PV
is made to show their relations.
The consideration of EmerSons religious views Is
pursued at ample length. and with carefnlness OF
let all to which such extracts as we can hnd room
for will do scamt Justice. The subject however Is
too important TO DO passed over and we present
accordingly few significant passages:
The fact that Emerson early Withdrew from the
chm, ch and that hr has gradually abandoned the
award Ops,,r, ances of religion has led many 10
regard him a aCePilc, or III some way as Il us
heleveT. IL was not from anV d"uhis, however,
about spiritual truths, that caused nun TO ABANDON
religions forms aud 10 reject the historic faith oi
his time. Ii va, an excess OF iaith I'D SlI,HIli
trutls which made him scetdic toward all that ls
outward and formal. His ecepticlsln Is that OF the
mystic not that Oi the mateIaiisl or agnoNtic. lie
has not iected the truths of ie1Son, Dht he uds
ieircted the dogmns aud the historic claims OF
'hrisrianity. I'm abandoning formal prayer, he
dill not cease to believe IN prayer as communion
with God or i'm mans need of divine guiance. In
TACT he has been intoxicated with the Things ol the
soul: aud he has lived III tue highest atmosphere ol
iaIth and DEVOTION
To class Emerson as champion Of any party in
religion would he unjust. No man has deeper con
victions than he but he does not no d them as 10y
the charm of any sec arlan maine. lie secs OH an
sides respects the truthful in all sccta loves the
good in al religions. He * not even CHRISTIAN III
any patty spnSe whatever. nor hy any means a
lelpcier If CHI stiauty. much less us Zoe lie sees
the good in II, recognizes It's graf service Ia tne
medication of pare. spiritual religion ana Io'e
morality, loves MS LOFTY spirit OF tfn'h nnu ueNo-
tun hut he Is not carried away ny II, VIII NV "C-
cept ITS dIctatou. he committed 10 us dei'hco
tie Is not IA system-buIlder hndS Htle interest III
the Problems winch divide sects and FcgloN IFo'ii
each other A theOlO glcll student from Harvard
once went to him with an account 0l tue uueItncrs
of opinion there Among tho Unitarian DIVINITY
discussions" sad he; but still, u does seem lie
plorable that there is such tendency IN some
people to cieeds which would take man pacf =" I've
chimpanIer. ! have very good grounds I"i pcIiB
Unitarian and n TTinitaran too. I1ieed not ulhne
forever AZ loaf bur eat 1t. and thank N0l Tor ~
and earn another In the same spirit. he eAptcNocu
n.tu>elf toward tie larger question OF the re
atrIns OF systems of thought to rach ON r.
when he sad: see no objection 10 beiug
called Il platonIst, a CHRISTIAN, or any O'hel
affirmative ndme,-and no good IN ntsa,,o ,
hi, attitude toward religion Is character
istIc OF Leasing, H,rlrr Gorthe and CARLYLE Less
mg's t,athan the Wise was great lesson va
comparative religious showing that the rss nee al
All lalths is the same. In the second part ol MS
"Wrh.m Melster" GOcth" GOES even farther.
WHEN he writes of the three reVeIenCes, aud ie o.
uIles the spirit of worship instead Ut the history ol
religion. Even SchleernacEer rejected the ms
tnric aud found Chr stianity, not IN literary
records but i'll the attainment OF freedom hy ih'
soul and Hrgel maze tins Thought the basis oil ms
philosophy OF history. lierdrr went So Jar az To
ak # Chri>tanI would "ot pass away ~ oiuef
historic religions have done, and higher form oi
faith succeed to II. rhou2h Carlyle praised ChiiN-
family as tho RELIGION of sorrow and sci-rrnuncla-
tou, yet lie did 1t IN a spirit which showed now
little he cared for the GU ward rms. lie saw IA
religion not church. not an historic iaiih Int
me uninu of the soul with Got through lntnitnn.
whirb is DOS ,De 10 all men. and which aLHuls and
condemns every other worship. ,
The uearmr,S of tod the sacredness OF the divine
laws. the rarchins presence OF the spr'tn
world the >ublIuity and awful sanctlty of those
hours when the soul Is hrd with the divine spfll,
the authority of tine religious sentiment anu tne
|
worlds great religious teachers. These trnths he
huds 10 he perfectly natural to man; theV ma
| their authority IN the relations OF mdn 10 lh9
| Cosm,s lie finds in Christianity their trurst and
| most slrltual expression and hence ne loves MS
teachings a ccpts its spirit, rJOl"es III IFS moral
| cnnuuests. When it attempts to make Tn, sc scnt-
| m,uLs synnn ymous with person. book or history,
he repudiaes IT'S teaching aud rejects Its influence
| as pcinicIOus. He l. thoroughly Chr stan IN MS
acceptance of those great truths Of the SPIRITUAL ne
which nave given Christianity ~ nilocnce m the
world; but ali that Is special supernatural, an h"t
tatlve he rejects. The soul Is ITS own dul horty ali
worlds ale one. the same religious sentiments ana
| truths appear under whatever giIO OF sect. lie
! LIVES the Christian spirit when genninriY mani
f,strd AZ profound conviction aud sense o. spur t.
! ual teal;tIrs, as high, conn andlna enthusiasm
for what is right and holy; but all there l. ~ ~
worthy Of nOucr and respect comes from q nm,
| vcrsal religious sentiment 10 has no power III AMI
of itself a. historic mode OF worship, to charm
| and inspire tue soul oi man.
The question of Emerson's pantheism occupies no
little space in the 10 ,k and Mr.. Cooke seems TO be
III some GOubt what answer TO give to IT.
| Emerson teaches that God is the III stance OF the
universe the material out OF which all Things are
iormed, and the lIle which anImdtrs all which eN-
lists. Not only the substance OF the universe, 50
! that all things whatsoever partako OF ms nature
! an beng, hut also the fountain IN man, that we
| call TIL. soul lie says with fichte, that all cN-
| l,tence in time has ITS root III higher existence
abuve time that strictly speaking there IS but
| one lie one IN .maiIng power, one living reason
and thai the greatest ct errors ana this true ground
0l all error is the drkIsIon of the individual that
! he exist, 1--we, thlnk ana ACT ~ Hllh~fl nc
first of tuOugnt and beng, The slaTtng-po nj ana
| substance ut once Ihe subject and on"ct OF sprcH
lat,nn IL the one true and absolutely self existent
! beng The God who all hearts sreI. And that
| each individual moment OF mans lie gu earth IL
! contained within the development oil the one
! original divine life; that whatever meets The
view and seems beyond that one lIe, IS not beyond
# BAT within II mat Ia see things ruiy, means 10
+, e hem only IN ant through tie one original mo
that the hghi and life of religion, light anl lie Ut
God is the only light aud lile tue only sciences
and the only virtue,al thus is rs true u Emerson
, as 10 FIchte
He accepts the truth there is in both thesm and
panthrisn. recognizing alike the abs0lul" UNITY ana
| the endless diversity OF the manifestation. The
! plntn,isn OF the tneUOgIans and philosophers
) however never had AN existence rs an historical
FAM b; ami he has been too earnest believer to
| accept anything shadowy and unreal. lie has
! avoided alike the antnropomoTphisn OF the theIstc
! faiths. and the failure TO recognize transcend
: emf unity which has been the defect of the pan