The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1891-09-20
EMERSON AGAIN.
sr.rrnEw WISH sept. Il. ,ssl

SEATTLE. Wash. Sept. II, issL
To TIE EDITOR: There has been such lively
interest shown in the study OF Emerson that
venture the words on this subject which would
Be accorded TO the one who opens debate l
wish 70 assure you that the privilege VIII be
used with eli high regard and due respect for
what has been said. This will the more respect
fully be done in view OF the fsct that You have
honored our reading community with de-
cision from your standpoint Il will be in
harmony with your desire for & candid tnTesti-
CATION and careful, discriminating thought that
there be few things said in closing. This, too. Is
the more freely offered account OF the fact thar
were the discussion left where IL now Is Mr.
Emerson would Be left IL wrong light We
Americans believe that il Is just TO
any man that he have that place
on any question which he wishes
for himself Mr.. Emerson has chosen his p ace;
shall ne not be allowed the honor OF keeping it?
Would II not now Be very injurious 70 his memory
10 allow any partissns for known purposes 70
deprive him of the honor OF the place which he
deliberately chose for HIMSELF Ii this may De
done with Emerson. what assurance has any
other man that he viii not be treated in the
same way when IL suits the purpose or convent
ence OF any sect or party to do sog Emerson was
man capable of judging for himself as TO what
place he wished history 70 accord him; ana ne
has left Us in no donbt as 20 what that place Is
He says that the world will leave every man 70
set his own rate salt will certainly accept your
measure of your doing and being, whether you
sneak about aud deny your own name, or
whether you see your work produced to the
coneave of the heavens. one with the revoiu-
tons of the stars"
Believing this, he could afford to refuse to be
linked with any form of religion, and trust his
reputation to his own merit, and pay the same
respect to the heather that he did TO the divine
writer's of both Testamsnts. He could oppose
the teachings of Jesus Christ, or speak OF them
with a lofty air of patronage, just as he would
speak of Plato or Seneca He could throw aside
with learned disdain all the Holy Scriptures,
and reduce revelation to mere necromancy, for
tune telling, seeking answers to sensual ques-
tons, and the ike. tSee essay, "Over-Soul'1
Emerson was not the man TO occupy both sides
OF any question. What fine things he either
said or did were never intended By him 70 favor
Christ or any doctrine He ever taught
Emerson meant to allow credit to Chris
tianity or to its founder for anything he might
accomplish. This was his glory: shall he now
be robbed of his laurels7 ] am quite well aware
that there Is ever tiInid class OF professors OF
religion who think that it would add much 70
Christianity If only the illustrious names OF
literature could all be attached to IL as en-
dorsers. Such persons imagine that they are
doing good service by watching TO catch any
word that may fall from infiel lips that may
look like concessions TO Christianity. And these
words are repeated with emphasis as If coming
from the pages OF Inspiration. Christianity is
no; in need OF anything OF this kind; and il 1t
were. It would be very serious injustice to
men like Emerson 10 try TO make them serve
purpose when dead that they studi-
ously refused while living. Person
ally We may deeply regret the fact
that many men Ike Emerson, Aaron Burr and
the greatest living champion of infdelity,
though springing from clerical stock, used their
best efforts in trying TO destroy the spiritual
cradle in which they were rocked. But our
deep regrets should not keep Us from remember
ing that these men simply used the divine pre-
regotive which is accorded to every moral being
on the globe,-that of choosing their own atti-
tude towards God and His truth.
Let II be remembered here that the judgment
of Emerson, as rendered by Hawthorne, Long
fellow, Lowell, Whittier, Matthew Arnold and
Holmes, is not the Judgment OF candid, unbi-
ased critics, but that of ardent admirers. When
we come 70 Judge a man, and assign him place
in the world Of letters shall our standard be
that OF few OF his intimate friends, shall We
go deeper than sentimental friendship
and guard our reputation for let
tiers by the decision of competent
judges! Men of sound learning and scholarship
are becoming painfully aware of the fact that
our national reputation is in jeopardy, and
every year Is becoming more endangered from
the lack Of some Thomas Darlington Macaulay
to bring TO swift Judgment class OF over-puHed.
over-estimated writers who have been worked
for more than they are worth In the interest in
some school or creed. II Emersons talents were
for sale, and the Unitarian church succeeded in
purchasing them, the world should know it; for
| Il il one thing to be O man of letters, o man
among scholars, and quite another thing to be
the mere organ and inspirer Of some religious
| faction. For one, wish here aud now to enter
my most emphatic protest against any such use
hair ms n M nnr nj latfa n
| should bring the blush of shame to every honest
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