The Newtown bee. (Newtown, Conn.) 1877-current, 1906-04-06

such an economy and will persist until
IL mas ann1htlated itself or another
evil. The pendulum always swings
Zoo far-that is, it seems to, yet the
exaRgeration at both ends compels at
tentiOn and makes for moderation.
Europe often went from long faced as
ceticism to demoralizing licentious-
ness; and society learned at it's own
expense that neither was good. The
and fire are blessings; they destroy
those institutions and things that
ought not to continue. Man is selfish,
he seeks his own betterment and in
being and acting on selfish basis he is
altruistic. He wishes his property
protected, bis rights respected, hence
his whole effort and influence though
emanating from small motive works
for the betterment of society. Thus
evil men compel justice, for that is ne
cessary to trade and the pursuit of
happiness, and therefore all the forces
OF evil tend to abolish evil and to es-
tabl1sh righteousness. According to
recent medical theories, the liquor
traffic is being done away by it's own
harmful results. Drunkards kill
themselves. hence natural selection is
here operative to increase the sons of
sober men. Drunkenness is its own
cure. Emerson may be criticised for
his extreme individualism, yet this
criticism
OvERLOOKs EMERsON's SOCIALISM,.
He says, time and again, that only
what is true of all is great in excell-
ence; and still more that the mass
does not progress regardless of individ-
ua!s and vice versa. A man never ex-
cells without affecting for good the
whole race, nor can he rise without q
foundation which he has In common
with bis time and nation. Perfection
in bulk is essential to perfection in
spots.
Emerson was more sane and hopeful
than preachers of his day, no matter
more optimistic than the average
preacher of to-day. The extreme lit
eralism Of the first half of the nine
teenth century tended to upset and
make blessed. Belief in hell of fire
made men forget that punishment is
melted out according to merit on earth.
And SO it is with reward. A man of
worth may be poor and unheralded by
position or fame, yet he has his re-
ward, which comes to him in the ap-
prevail of his conscience, in the approx
al of all truth, everywhere.
On first and casual reading of the
opening chapters of the ''Law of Com
pensation," one may be tempted to
think that Emerson was prejudiced
against the preaching of bis day. Per-
haps he was in a measure prejudiced,
yet his attack was irresistibly exact
and wholesome. We shall let Emer-
son state his own case.
ever since I was a boy, I have
wished to write q discourse on COM
pensation: for it seemed to me when
very young that on this subject life
was ahead OF theology and that people
knew more than preachers taught"
(see note 13). In the next paragraph
we read, ~ was lately confirmed in
these desires by hearing sermon at
church. The preacher, man esteem
ed for his orthodoxy, unfolded in the
ordinary manner the doctrine of the
Last Judgement. He assumed that
world; that the wicked are successful;
that the good are miserable; and then
urged from reason and from Scripture
a compensation to be made to both
parties in the next life." (see note 14).
And again ''The fallacy lay in the i'm
mense concession, that the bad are
that justice is not done
now. The blindness of the preacher
consisted in deferring to the base esti-
mate of the market of what consti-
tutes manly success, instead of con-
fronting and convicting the world
from the truth; announcing the pres
ence Of the soul, the omnipresence of
the soul, and SO establishing the
standard of good and ill, of success
and falsehood. "(see note 15). Thus hav-
ing introduced his subject, Emerson
makes us to see that the claw of
is to be translated in
terms of the present tense.
THERE is NO ESCAPING GOD.
Not only is he not deceived but also he
Is not thwarted. He made laws and
these laws must be, are owed by all
men and things. Action and reaction
are to be seen In every manifestation
and must needs suffer the penalty of
lnfraction of law in every case. The
universe is whole and cannot be
parted: Men have been trying ito act |
partially, to Sunder, to appropriate: |
Tor example, to crafty the senses; we
sever the pleasures of the senses from
The needs Of the character" lsee note
10y. And still more, men fail to see
that In seeking only a part they lose
'he whole. "All things are moral"
see note 17). Frenchmen and Ameri-
'ans, as such, are dying out because
hey DO not, as races, reproduce them
'elves. The race that does not live
lp to it's full privilege becomes ex-
inct. Russia is trying to blot out in
[iVidualltY and freedom, yet her ty-
amy is creating its own cure. Thus
n all things and everywhere a great
eveline process is going on constant
?. Nature, cities, nations, men, all
re under law. Action and reaction
ever fail. Physical science is the by
othesis OF this truth, history the
roof of it.
Especially do we see in the individual