The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-01-11

could not infect other people with his
own enthusiasm for Alcott was u grief
to Emerson. 1.-THE almost universal
rejection Of this man by men Of parts.
Carlyle and Browning inclusive. and by
| women Of piety, might make one de-
! spair Of society" Judge Hoar. tho
brother Of George Frisbic, seems to have
impaired n more mundane character to
the group Of the Concord philosophers.
All the same, their aesthetic teas" fru-
| gal as they must have been. were cal
culated to furnish aliment to the mum
dane cynic. There are passages In these
| journals which, as much rs any In the
published works, go to explain the 1udg-
ment Of the American delivered to Dean
Stanley in the Mediterranean, that EN-
crson was too greeny." and one occa-
sionally returns to Daniel Websters
counter inquiry to Carlyle. when Car
lyle inquired about Emerson: Elmer
son? Do you mean the socinian
preacher?'
| In fact, Emerson was eccentric" in
Arnolds sense Of distance from the
centre" Tho centre was not even Bos-
ton. central as 1t was compared with
Concord. The Boston Mutual Admira-
ton Society OF those days was perhaps
! as central as anything In these United
States. Emerson's enumeration OF 1t,
as reduced to his Saturday dining club.
! shows that its members had some basis
for mutual admiration. "Agassis, APP
plcton, Cabot. Dana, Emerson, Forbes,
Hawthorne. Hedge, Hour. Holmes,
Howe, Longfellow, Lowell, Motley, Nor
ton, Peircc, sumner, Ward. Whipple.
Woodman." The list could not have
been matched in any other American
city In March. 1861. when the cnumera-
ton was made. The Adirondack Club,
which had n few additions and few
omissions, was nevertheless summer
school" of the Boston club. 1t is pleasant
to read that in the Adirondacks. when
the guide thought he could climb GER
| tain bare pine. though at would be aw-
full hard work." Lowell disappeared be-
fore breakfast next morning. returning
to announce that he had climbed II. This
association did the bucolic genius Of En-
erson great good, no doubt. Nevertheless
there are many judgments here which
by no means convey the notion OF cen
trality." one IL always rather sorry
to see Ralph Waldo discoursng OF
plastic or graphic art. the things he
questions really raised by the particu-
lar work Of art. As to music he makes
express and amusing confession. BE
cause I have no ear for music, at the
concert of the Quintctte Club 1t looked
to me as IL the performers were crazy
and all the audience were making be-
iieve crazy in order to soothe the
llunatics and keep them amused This
confession is an avoidance. But even
in literary criticisms one encounters the
note Of provinciality. In spite Of his
own Injunction against the use OF the
superlative degree the warmest other
admirer OF Carlyle's FREDERICK" must
shrink from Emersons eulogy Of IN
fin,tely the witticst book that ever was
written" and so forth In the same
high pitch.
Equally high pitched seems now
l;merson's praise of the first set OF
lTennysons "Idylls of the King" Eng
land Is solvent, no matter what rub
Dish and hypocrisy of l'almerstons and
Malmesburys and Disrael.s she may
have, for here comes Tennysons poem
indicating a supreme social culture, q
perfect insight and the possession OF
all the weapons and all the functions
OF n man, with the skill to WELD them
which Homer, Aristophancs or Dante
had" Not but that Emerson had his
reasons for envying Tennyson's social
culture" There are derogatory judy
ments equally unconventional and more
interesting. For example: II am at q
loss to know why people hold Miss
Austen's novels at SO high n rate. which
seem to me vulgar in tone. sterile in
artistic invention. imprisoned In the
wrctched conventions Of English So
ciety, without genius. wit or knowledge
OF the world. It's the
nympholepsy OF fond despair say
rather. OF an English boarding house
Suicide Is more respectable"
This criticism did not Imply so much
boldncss in 1861 as II does In 1914 In
either case. 1t shows that the critic It.
doing his own thinking and reporting
his own impressions.
Indeed. the perfect sincerity Is a.
! much Il note OF these Emersoniana Us
OF the writings meant for publication
II Emersons intellect was not an en-
tirely achromatic lens. It derived ne
refraction from selfishness or self-con.
ceit. The sincerity and modesty are a.
admirable as the shrewdness. The
reader best read in Emerson Is the
, reader who will take most satisfaction
from surprising Emerson In undress ir
} this volume and finding that he ma,
remain a hero to his valet dc chambre
} To such readers the book may b,
safely commended.