The Arkansaw traveler., 1884-09-06
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Vr93 Leesase 1{ j9 novel nr. EmeEsons yonss snEpassed man'.
 skree score and ion. lis inesllectua
 aksisiV covszs sAe uAeaa period inssrvn'
 iag heluen Ais easly manhocd and his sssensy-6rst year. Ya cannot 6nd in what | have knoWn of tAis sisne any ed- dence sAas the comnuniay e larre tsls itse6 either wiser CT sa1er fnr hh pres- ence. lf this wAs true d the hus;psss vosid it vas equally trae q the wosld d fashion. K renemher tightly, tksre were many yean ef his kss in uAicA Ais words and wosks were valued hy vesy small number cf people. Even the recognized literary Insn ot the time paid him little attention. The elder Dana. in those days at least veuld havs classsa him with other eccentric disturbsrs of peace and rsligioa. Comelius (. Feltoa, while proiessos of Crsek at Harvard, wrote aosice of one of his bools. which Ae compared sc the eraaee peel and tho water measioaed by ptckens' LiAele Mar chioness with the explanation that " if yoa make believe very much, it is vesy good" remember having been sharply called to aceoant s~me fogsy.6ve years ago tor advising an acquaintance to at- tend the hsU course of lectures which hs gave in New York, and l remember thinking that from an esthodox point of view l had been . little impfuden; in doing Q. h those days and loag altsr Cambsidge held him in doubtful and superxtitious consideration, the wotld of fashion only in .Sare intervals knew enough of him 10 laugh at him. it would be instructive tor us to compare Mir. Emerson's attitude towasd society with that of Masgares Fuller, in the dAys when each had a position of strangeness and novelty. should say that Mr. Elm erson's patient and cautious nature made his position less aggressive one than tha, ot his brilliant contemporary. Mar gaset's eloquenee. which gave expression to tkc quick and vehement action of her mind. was less favorable ,o the formation of reserved judgment than ~as Mir. Em- ersons more deliberate speech. On the other hand, we must remember that Mafssret's encounter with the society oi youth was more of a hand-,o- h and hgh, than Mir. Emerson was called on to maintain. The fact of her sea aggravated in her case the displeasure which the worshipers of custom always visit upon innovaiors. Her critical attitude. hes authoritative manner. and her somewhat novel method ot imparting what she knew, brought upon her a wrath and ridicule which Mir. Emerson was not likely to encounter.
 A solemn sauvisy was his saved by an oyerspreading cheeriulness, and an eye in which severity of observation and
 kindness of judgment were strangely blended. These traits of person and character made Mir. Emefson's . relations
 and those around him smoother al the start. and the severe sentiments which he
 sometimes illuminated took by surprise those who looked into his genial coun. tenance. Mir. Emersoa revived the dead
 forms of his time, showing neither feaf
 nor favor 10 what he found amlss. A single hgnfe was he in hi. brave crusade
 for, though the heid vas full ot fighters,
 no. one followed his device, What could give one man the courage to expose so
 many shsSns! Ills knowledge of the 1 value of what he had to give sustained
 him. The tzfdiness cf the attachment to Mir. Emerson Of the recognition to
 which he was entitled IS easily explained
 by the fact sha, he. like some of hts peers, had to teach Bew valuation to the community which assumed io judge
 him. Certain forms of belief of resson- ing. of expression, had ln the minds ot
 men become so hardened out oi second
 nature into seeond death tha, the fossilised community had gro~n incapable of en- teftAining a novelty. To it religion
 meant catechism and creed. Mir. Emefson wrought alone his manner of work was individual, and he held to Il. never borrowing pzrker's hammer or
 Phillips flashing artillery. This vas the
 record of a subtle solvent which changed enmi,y into friendship and the utter of ridieuie into the p.san of praise.
 Mir. Emesson's power ot critical ap- preciatioa is nowhere more fully shown than in has " English Traits-" From the
 stadious and lxborious seclusion oi his Coaco1d home he vent .n is4j to the
 worlds metropolis to London and iis kindred cities. Recognition he found, and of the best. The book s,ai,ies us by is. trenchant statements, which GU, deep down the middle of English character It Is no less remarkable for the grasp and comprehension w,th which il presents the strong and redeeming points of the
 taNS MI. F-uSSs0o uoos tbs Fnkhsu led by coarse logic to worship wealth as the absolute test and criterion of mesii. lie finds them much given, also, to the god Bsag. whom he chafitabiy recognizes as an aaeient Nosse dsisy. Well does he remark that the EagIssh have great range of scale from fKiyoliiy 10 exquis,ie refinement. Since the days when this book vas written the attitude of Great
 Britain io the req of the world has changed, not altogether ios tho bssier. She then appeared as the uncompsomis. ing 6oe of slavery. She has since appear cd as its apoIoYfss. Since the dsys of which Mir. EmeTson wrote, the pseced- esee which he gives to the English eds- cation, aathorshsp and s1holasship is no longer 10 be conceded. American edu- cation is found to develop the fzeuities