St. Paul daily globe., 1894-08-19
THOSE VsH0M HE HAS
EHsCg.EsESDs,


In the Peoples church there is a
memorial window in memory OF Ralph
Waldo Emerson, placed there, as the
Inscription states, "by those whom he
has helped" Could roll be made of
lhe men and women of forty OF more
years who, in this and other countries.
looking back on the books which they
are conscious exercised a strong forina.
tive influence in the development Of
their character. would join in the senti-
menr of those who placed this memorial
window, the roll would be one than
which there could be no higher, or
nobier. or more enduring tribute to the
philosopher of Concord.
No writer of modern times-certainly
no American writer-haS so touched
the deeper thought of men and women
as Emerson has. He came to the young
of his generation as he will come TO the
young of succeeding generationS-the
kindly, earnest, wide-syed teacher,
awakening their aspirations, opening
TO them larger views of life. its duties
and its responsibilities, and stirring
lHOSC uCCpCl anu
thoughts which are so potent in the
formation of character. As we go over
the list of his contemporaries who wrote
and shaped the young literature OF
America, and while we yield to each
tue tull acknowledgment OF helpful
ness. we see that Emerson stands among
them ali distinctively the teacher and
helper. Eminent as Webster was as &
statesman, Emerson was the greater
statesman, because he taught those fun
damental truths of character on which
states must be founded if they are TO
be enduring.
The fields of Hawthorne, and oI
useful as they were, were more the
flower gardens of our literature wher
compared with Emerson's. in which
was grown that solid mental fooC
which goes to the making of character
Lowell. with his thought-laden words
both of prose and verse. stands neares
to Emerson of all that bright galaxy
striking. as he always did, those chords
i'll the souls of men which respond t.
appeals to the best that is in them.
Emerson helped his generation, as h
will help all succeeding generations o
young men and women whose good for
tune it is to be attracted or directed tt
him, in many ways. He came to the
young, distrustful of their own powers
| fearing to express the thought tha
came to them lest it might invite ridi
| cuie, telling them to be self-rellant. t
| believe their own thought, and trust it
| and speak it, aud be true to it and tn
| conviction out of which it came. In hi
"Self-Reliance' he made his youn!
readers acquainted with themselves an
their possibilities, if they relied upol
themselves and thus developed the bes
which was in them. His constant in
| junction was to be true to themselves
and most or all ''when the whole cry O
voices is Oh the other side"
In "C0mpensation" he taught the in
fisXibiity and ineXorableness of law
Justice is not postponed. A perfec
equity adjusts its balance in all parts 0
| life. The dice of God are alway
! loaded" "CauSe and effect
means and ends, seed and fruit, canno
he severed, for the effect already bloom
i'll the cause, the end pre-eXists in th
means. the fruit in the seed" He thu
helped US to know that there can be II
trifiing with the eternal verities; tha
| sin INDUCED is not forgiven, but leave
| its enduring scars on character. An
so through that list of memorable essay
he tells those deep and vital truth
which, if learned and applied to huma
conduct. help the learners to highe
realization OF life. to better sense o
their relations to it and to their feiloN
creatures, broadening their menta
| horizon and elevating their spritua
view. Among all the men who hav
sent messages to their fellow men i
this or any other time, Emerson stand
| out e-eminently the Helper.