New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1884-12-10
ourth dimension Of mental space, Hawthorne who


Thoreau, tho nulliner Of civilization who insisted
on nibbling his asparagus at tho wrong end to say
nothing OF idolatcrs and echoes" Thorcau IN pro-
sentcd in another passage as that unique ind''
yidual. half college graduate and half Algonquin,
the Robinson Crusoc Of Walden Pond. who carried
out n school-boy within TO its full proportions, ana
tod the story Of Nature In undress as only ono VINO
had hidden in her bedroom could have told ~
Nothing was farther from Emerson himself than
whimsical eccentrtcity or chur ish aus'eIltN put
there was occasionally an air of bravndo IN Aone ol
his followers II they had taken out pa'eht LOT
| some knowing machine which was TO give them
monopoly of iis products They claimed more TOT
| each other than was reasonabe-so much occasion-
| allv that their prctensions became ridiculous One
| was tempted 10 ask what foflorn hope nave
! you lcdf What immortal book have you Wrl!uen
| What great discovery have YOU made VIZ
| heroic tnsk Of any kind have You performs,
There was too much talk about earnrstn's' auu w.
| itte real work done. Aspiration too ifHi,nty
got ns far as tho nlpenstpck and tho biandy flask,
but crossed no dang ofcya''c' ana Sealo1 nP
arluous summit IL short. there was k,nd OF
rrnnaccndcntnliT dieitantc'm which bc.
tfnyrd itself by phra,coogy ns datinctiVo ~ 'nat
| Of Tho Della Cruecana Of nh earlier tine
! Emerson himself has written with aontlo hnmor
Of tho impractical cgpcrimcntcrs who wonld con-
strnct working world with tho lay hgnfo' ih'f
had put together. instead of noah aud blood men
nnd women aud children with all their consehlth
and acquired perycrmtics; aud DIR. Holmes "a only
his faithful echo. But both recognized the noble
purposes which instigaied most OF the unwise en-
thusiasts and the practical good which hnally
came out of their Efforts Emersons Nature was
| q publication which startled and animated small
circle of believers some time before the
delivery of the Grafton on The American
Scholar" and of this remarkable utterance pr'
Holmes gives delightful and sympathetic
analysis, followed by Renaissance in the very
finest vein of the Autocrat:
Mr. Bowen the Professor Of Natural Theology
and Moral Philosophy in Harvard Uniyer'iiy,
treated this singular seml-phllosophlcal, seh-
poetcal little book in long article IN the mrs
tan Examiner" headed Iranscendental-
ISM" and published in the January number
for 1887. T 9 acute aud learned Professor
meant 10 deal fairly with his subject. Bur If one
has ever seen saGacious pointer making the
acquaintance of a boX-t1rtoise. he Will have an
idea of the relations he ween the reviewer ana the
reviewed as they appear IN this article. Inc pro
lessor turns the book over ana over h'pectS IL
from plastTOn 10 car1p1cc, 80 10 speak. ana ,o1k1
for openings every NlIre' s'h'thn' suCccS,i",,'i
sometimes in VAN. tie h1ds gpot WrIilnt aili
sound philosophy, passages OF grnat foTce ara
beauty o. expression. mlIred bv obScuritV. Under
assumptions and auits of STYLE lie was not any
more IAN fhc rest of rs acclmated 10 the LINER
souian atmosphere ; aud after some not UNJUST or
unkind comments with winch many readers .WhI
heartily agree cOnic,ScS his bcwlldennent, Saving
"On reviewing what we have already sald OF
this singular work tho criticism seems 10 De
cOuched in contradictory terms we can OILY AZ
lege II excuse ne fact that the booh Is contra
dictlOn IN ITSELF
We are not sure but that I'm reviewing Emcrsons
Dhos .phy from tie outside Or. Holmes gives
clearer and even iuster account OF it than we can
find in the writings 0f the inner ring Of disciples
whom he STYLE, the al pts III, statement of I'm
er-ons religious position is certainly ainri'e,
and 1t derives special value from tie eXplana''o
Of the prevailing doctrines. motions AMI "A hons in
theology. aud tils religions teAper OF COOL BpNto1
socIctv against winch tie "g'1'ie icolociast
made such a striking and such gOod-tcmporrd pro-
test. Tho cllptor on Emer'ons poetry Is
one of the most hn.hlnt AMI thorodTh OF
the book. "Pletry u 20 prose remarks Or.
Holmes. what he so-cailed fail dress of the bail
room is to he palmer garments Of Che household
and the street Fail dress we cali it, l, 50 full
of beauty that 1t cmlot hpl 10 ali, AMI the rci
daucy Of nature overflow. the narrowed margin OF
SATIN velvet II recoIciles u TO ia approach 10
nudity by the richness Of its dmpery AMI orna-
ments" The diamond necklace excuses the liberal
allowance OF u1dIsIusel nature and so the poet
reveals himself under the protection Of TIC flowers
and jewels of ms vocabulary. The bioEraphcr cites
IN illustration a prose sentence from nmcI-
sons Works and Days. and the same
thought "in full dreas" In his sonnet entitled
days. "Cmdcrcha at the Gre de- h, cNclaims,
and " cinderella al the princes ball!' But he
.i3cs the great difference Of imagery AID style,
there Is the significant difference that m tAo so1-
net the poet reveals himself rs he could not IN the
prosaic ouu. 80 t-reyeJtion Is the divine II Int OF
the poet aud in FINER ons verse it Il s-nally free
and abundant In his prose Ia g. very rrticelt on
certain personal matters; bU ho turns To rhy thmic
utcrance and the condolences bust forth:
Emerson is II, essentially a po! that whole pages
of his are Ike many lltauics of alternating
chan and rccitatOns His thoughts slip on aud
cl tncr lieht Rhythmic robes jus a. the MOOD take
him, as was shown Ia the passage have quoted in
prose and IN verse. MANY of tn mcitlcai prcludeS
TO his lectures are vi. liied and condensed alb
~tract of the leading doctrine of thc disc )ur,e.
They a curious instance oi survival; the lee
turcr once Il preacher, ~tlll wants his text and
finds his scriptulal motto IN his own Rhythmic IN
,piratlon.
In cons dcrng whether Emerson shall be ranked
among the great poets or not, we may take his own
rule that "thc great pDafs are 10 ba gcd by the
frame of mi 81 thry induce" Tried by this test We
must pronouce him one Of the most remarkable
pocis ia the language; though tho precise rank Of
poets is POM OF very unstable equilibrium. I'm
crson surely lifts his reader into h{her region Of
thought and feeling. The difference between his
poetry aud that of the contemporaries with whom
he would ia urAlly be compared Is that OF algebra
and arithmetic. He deals largely in general
symbols and ab,tlaction3. The multitude
Of mankind care more for two and two than for
the symbols Of undetermined amounts:
Emerson is a citizen of the universe who Ia,
taken up his residence for fcw days and nights in
histfaVeling caravans nv between tho two inns
tAat hang out the signs OF Venus and Mars. Tins |
little planet could not provincial ~ such man. |
Tie multi plea portable is for the every day use
Of every day earth people. but the symbols ne deals
wICh are too vast, sometimes, we must own, 100
que. for the uulumnated TER st rlal and aith-
nctical Intelligence. one cannot help feel |
ing that he might have dropped ~ upon |
Us from remote centre OF spiritual |
life, where. instead of addition AMI sub !
traction, children were taught Quatcrniors, and |
where the fourth dimension Of space was az ia |
marly known 10 everybody a q foot-ne tsurc or a |
yaId-stlck IS 10 US. Not that he himself dealt IN |
the higher OF the lower mathematics, but hc saw |
the In den spiritual meaning OF tam IS a. IrDcss'
CavleY or PrnlessOr SYIvcsicr see The mcanlng u |