The Portland daily press., 1883-09-17
Emerson on Everett.

All his auditors felt the extreme beauty and
dignity of the manner, and even the coarsest
were contented to 60 punctually to listen for
the manner, when they had found out that the
subject matter was not for them. In the lee
pleased himself with the play of detailing cru
dition in style of perfect simplicity. in the
pulpit, (for he was then clergyman) he made
amends to himself and his auditor for the self
denial of the professors chair, and, still with
an infantine simplicity Of manner, he gave the
reins to his horid, quaint and affluent fancy.
Then was exhibited all the richness of a
rhetoric which we have never seen rivaled in
this country. Wonderful how memorable were
words made which were only pleasing
pictures, and covered no new or valid
thoughts! He abounded in sentences, in
wit. in satire, in splendid allusion, in quotation
parable, and even in sort of defying exrsri-
ment OF his own wit and skill in
giving an oracular weight 10 Hebrew
or Rabbinical words,-feats which NO man
could COZ, tottsr accomplish, such was his
his manner. All his sr,ech ws1 music, and
with such variety and invention that the ear
was never tired Especially oautiful were his
pc otic quotations. He delighted in quoting
Milton, and with such sweet modulation that
hetco oemed to give as much beauty az he bor-
rowed; and whatsver he hes quoted will be
rememt bred by any who heard him with in
separable a. &c citation with his voice and genius.
He had nothing in common with vulgarity
and infrmity, but, speaking, walking, sit
ting, was as much ale of and uncommon es
star. The smallest anecdot, of his
Behavior or conversation was eagerly caught
and repeated, and every young scholar could
recite brilliant sentences from his eermons,
with mimicry, &C ID or bad, or his voice. This
influence went much farther, for he who was
heard with such throbbing hearts and spark
ling eyes in the Lighted and crowded churches
did not let go his hearers when the church
ws5 dismissed, but the bright image Of that
eloquent form followed the boy home to his
bed-ohamt 5r; and not sentence was written
in academic exercises, not defamation
attempted In the college chapel, but showed
the omnipresence of his genius to youthful
heads. 1his made every youth his defender,
and boys filed their mouths with arguments to
prove that the orator had heart. This as q
triumph of rhetoric. 1t ws1 not the intsllec-
tual Q<1fhe moral principles which he had to
tsach.B1 1t was not thoughts. When Massa-
chusetts was full OF his fame 1t YVES not con-
tended that he had thrown any truths into
circulation. But his rower lay in the magic
OF form; 1t YVES In the graces Of manner, In q
new perception OF Grecian beauty to which
he had opened our eyes. There was that fin
ish about this person which is about women,
and which distinguishes every piece of genius
from the works of talent: these last are more
or less matured in every degree of completeness
according to the time bestowed on them, but
works Of genius in their first and slightest
form are still wholes. In every public dis.
course there was nothing left for the indul-
gence of his hearer, no marks of late hours
and anxious, unfinished study; but the god
dess OF grace had breathed on the work last
fragrancy and glitter.-Ralph Waldo Emerson,
in October Atlantic.