The Arkansaw traveler., 1885-03-28
ADAMS AND EMERSON.
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 M JoAn Adams was the psageaitoF of . line of marked men, all fellowin9 with unequal paces in his steps, EmeFsoA wal the eminent close of series of men from whom he drNw the caaxactegissica se6nad by a long process oi selection. Dr, Holmes has touched with skill upon the race and class qualities which found their cnnsnmmate flower h thls last oi . lire of preachers, and any student cl New England life is likely to halt before the interesting problem of Emerson's en- vironment and derivation. John Adams had completed his public life when Em- eTson vas born. The profession which he had refused, because he knew himself made sos ether things, was still the lead ing profession, and Emerson, growing up in its traditions, vas to let k slip from his shoulders as cloak when he should stand up under a sell. ordination, or fl one chooses, under laytng.on os unseen hands. The deseent nom ministers vas something more than matter of hsredt- tary influence; sor Emersons thought, even when inccnoclAstic, may fairly be taken as the outcome Of that spirit ot in- tellectuaiism which ministers. more than any others, had kep, in New England. As John Adams was the incarnation of political New England, SO Emerson was the finest product of free-thinking New England, which had found no subject outside the range of it's speculation. The two were both critical men. Adams came to the front In the crisis ot polticai independence Emerson in the crisis ot religious independence. Theodore Parker was the wind which stoEmed againSt the conventionally religious man, and only made him draw his cloak closer abou, him, while Emerson, shining and smll. ing, made him loosen his robes and bare himself to the outer air.
 The visit of Emerson to England was the return of New England to the mother country in a more emphatic sort than was Hawthorue's. Never does England seem further away from America than when one is reading English Traits" Below the surface of shrewd observ .tiou one may catch sight Of the spirit ol England driven across the Atlantic two hundred years before, given new environment, set upon the same questions. bus bidden ask them la the open sis, and getting ifs an- swer in such wise as 10 make everything strange when revi,iting ils old haun,s The individuality of Emerson testing and trying England Is sharp enough, If one looks only fot that, but is is easy also to resolve 1t into speakership for new people.
 It is, however, In the attitude of Finer son towards his own countFymen that his person aIity is most interesting. With all his written and spoken words concerning America-and it is impossible to read hts May Day without perceiving how gre | a relief 10 him was ihe return of peace after separating war--one fails to find the evidence of any passionate devotion to his country. The service which John Adams rendered iH h:; loyalty .n the nation, which he saw less by imagio Q s,ion than by heroic. sturdy realization os the facts of human life about him, Sas such service as racked the giver. Emerson, in speaking of the volume of " Letters and Social Aims" which Schmid, introduced to the German public. used the expres- sion "village thoughts" A piece of slightly conscious humility mus, not be taken graveiy, yet the estimate really does partially set of Emerson s defec, on this s,de. He was a, home In Concord. Anywhere else he was stranger. Even Boston was place to visit, though he gave that city an affection which Is em- bodied in some noble verses. The oc- casional giimpses which Dr Holmes gives of the poe, on his travels in hls own country serve 70 deepen the impression which one forms of the purely spectacu. lar shape of the country in MT. Elmer sons vision. He was not indifferent to the struggles going on, and yet they were rather disturbances to his spirit than signs c: lie -hich 9nirkensd his own pulse.