New-York tribune., 1882-04-28


osed;nglv To the last his cure is reported to have
no.n erect and his step firm, the chief sign Of his
rumerous wears being faling;of in his powers OF
roemorv The man who said " or immortality tine
soul when well employed is incurious must nave
waited for the end with perfect calmness ana SELF
rossession certain that immortality VIII come 10
such as are fit for IT,"
Such is sketch of the lfe of man VINO not only
exercised marked influence upon the lh'eicc'ual
cultare of this country but who IL one OF group OF
men enually distinguished whom the pubic Is ac-
customed TO class together, for no better reason
nerbaps. than because they were friends and some
~ thom re,ghnors There was literary colony at
Concord but it can hardly be said that there was
Concord school-nut even the fraternal relations
NJ the Brook Farm Association could make tho
poets reformers philosophers constituting IL aiike
nor did they care to be. But the pubic, WHICH
was not nice and was hardly well-nformed enough
,o make critical distinctions called them all Tran
scendentalists. Whatever was odd or strange IN
on;nion or speech was set down as Transcendental
and therefore rncomprehensbe, if not ridiculous
IL NAV surprise some to be told that Mr. Emerson
as not aTranscendentallst at allat least, was not
ca regarded by thuse best versed in the Kantian
system. Indeed il has been juGiciously remarked
that he was not metaphyscian or philosopher
and that the actual traits OF his character clearly
rank him among poets or literary men," lie was
ANYTHING but man Of system. His warmest ad-
mirers have found in him what Mr.. Illggnson calls
"a tantazing fragncntariness' He was never
afraid of contradictlng himself. and he deemed con-
sistency to be the vice of little minds" 10 speak
the thought of to-day was enough for him, Wild no
fear that the thought of Tomorrow may contradict
if. This fidelity to his best intutions made Tyn
dali regard hIm as a profoundly religious man
really undaunted by the discoveries OF science past
present or prospective; one by whom scientific
perceptions are continually transmitted into the
finer forms and warmer hues of an ideal world"
Emerson" wrote Miss Martincau to her friend
Atkinson IN 1s47 is engaged Qecturng) deep at
present but hopes to come to Amblesde by and by.
He is free if any man is" She adds in her auto
biography: Mr. Emerson did come. 1t was a
great pleasure to me to have for my guest one OF
the most honored of my American hosts, and to find
him rs full as ever of the sincerity and serenity
which had inspired Inc with cordial q reverence
twelve wears before" Sincerity and seronity" is
a comprehensive phrase. but the warmcst admirers
of Mr. Emerson would think it incomplete unless
they wero permitted to add sweetness to 1t.
Several OF Mr.. Emerson's works have been trans
lated into foreign languages; into French by D.
En- Montcgut and NJ. X Eyma ard into German
by several hands An interesting essay upon MS
genius by Herman Grimm Is spoken OF. HIS WORKS
have been frequently reprinted in London, and
particularly in Bohns Library.
Mr. Emerson outlived most of his old associates in
that literary work which made the period from
1880 10 1910 notable and the effect of which was
felt through many succeeding years. lie follows
Hawthorne aud Ripley and Margaret Fuller and
Thoreau and his brothers Charles and Wlliam-of
all that earnest s1cicty of West Roxbury Alcott
III. A. ,t-;l. of
these men TO American literature are considered as
unwrtten. it will be understood how valuable they
are. Still more valuable will they appear if taken
igto account are the spirit which they have excited,
the tastes which they have fOsered. the purposes
which they have strengthened; and all tho culture
and all Sic wise life which was called, however inn
prorerlv. American Transcendentalism.
II is stated upon the authority Of Mr.. Acott that
y biography Of Mr. Emerson will be prepared by an
intimate friend, Boston gentleman of literary
reDutation who has been engaged for about two
wears. with the assistance of Mr. Emerson and
his family, in gathering and arranging the
material On the 22d of NAV, 1850, The
Lif,rarV World (Boston devoted the greater part of
its pages to tributes to Emerson in the shape OF
poems by Margaret j. Preston, Lucy Larcom. Will
liam S Shurtleff. Roso Terry Cooke. Charlotte
Fiske Bates w. l.. Shoemaker. Paul Ill. Hayne and
Hiram Rich, ana prose articles ny tne new III -
A. Bartol Colonel T. W. Higginson, the Rev DIR.
+. H. Hedge, Walt Whitman, George William Curtis,
George W. Cooke and others Among the tributes
was this from Whittier " No living poet of the
EnQlish-speaking tongue has written verses bearlng
more distinctly than his the mark OF Immortality.
I'm mis- prose works all must recognize his Keen in-
sight, WISDOM fine scnse OF hunor. large tolerance
aud love of nature in her simplest as well as gIah-
est aspects-an inmitabe combination of practical
sagacity profound reflection and mystical intui-
i,,,U x.raft IL
The Lterdry HOrId are given herewith