,riverside ,edition ,,lectures ,,and ,,biographical ,,sketches ,,being ,,volume ,x4 ,,of ,,emerson',s ,,complete ,,works ,,lectures ,,and ,,biographical ,,sketches ,,by ,,ralph ,,waldo ,,emerson ,,boston ,,houghton1 ,,mifflin ,,and ,,company ,,new ,,york3 #aa ,,east ,,seventeenth ,,street ,the ,riverside ,press1 ,cambridge #ahhd ,copyright1 #ahhc1 ,,by ,,edward ,w4 ,,emerson4 ,all rights reserved4 ,the ,riverside ,press1 ,cambridge3 ,electrotyped and ,printed by ,h4 ,o4 ,houghton ,co4 ,,note4 ,,of the pieces included in this volume the following1 namely1 those from the 8,dial10 8,character10 8,plutarch10 and the biographical sketches of ,dr4 ,ripley1 of ,mr4 ,hoar1 and of ,henry ,thoreau1 were printed by ,mr4 ,emerson before ,i took any part in the arrangement of his papers4 ,the rest1 except the sketch of ,miss ,mary ,emerson1 ,i got ready for his use in readings to his friends or to a limited public4 ,he had given up the regular practice of lecturing1 but would sometimes1 upon special request1 read a paper that had been prepared for him from his manuscripts1 in the manner described in the preface to 8,letters and ,social ,aims10--some former lecture serving as a nucleus for the new4 ,some of these papers he afterwards allowed to be printed2 others1 namely1 8,aristocracy10 8,education10 8,the ,man of ,letters10 8,the ,scholar10 8,historic ,notes of ,life and ,letters in ,new ,england10 8,mary ,moody ,emerson10 are now published for the first time4 ,j4 ,e4 ,,cabot4 ,,contents4 ,,page ,,demonology #g ,,aristocracy #cc ,,perpetual ,,forces #fi ,,character #ia ,,education #abc ,,the ,,superlative #aeg ,,the ,,sovereignty ,,of ,,ethics #age ,,the ,,preacher #bjg ,,the ,,man ,,of ,,letters #bbi ,,the ,,scholar #bdg ,,plutarch #bge ,,historic ,,notes ,,of ,,life ,,and ,,letters ,,in ,,new ,,england #cje ,,the ,,chardon ,,street ,,convention #cdi ,,ezra ,,ripley1 ,d4 ,d4 #cee ,,mary ,,moody ,,emerson #cga ,,samuel ,,hoar #dje ,,thoreau #dai ,,carlyle #dec ,,demonology4 ,,night-,,dreams trace on ,memory's wall ,shadows of the thoughts of day1 ,and thy fortunes as they fall ,the bias of thy will betray4 ,in the chamber1 on the stairs1 ,lurking dumb1 ,go and come ,lemurs and ,lars4 ,,demonology4#a ,,the name ,demonology covers dreams1 omens1 coincidences1 luck1 sortilege1 magic1 and other experiences which shun rather than court inquiry1 and deserve notice chiefly because every man has usually in a lifetime two or three hints in this kind which are specially impressive to him4 ,they also shed light on our structure4 ,the witchcraft of sleep divides with truth the empire of our lives4 ,this soft enchantress visits two children lying locked in each other's arms1 and carries them asunder by wide spaces of land and sea1 and wide intervals of time3-- 8,there lies a sleeping city1 ,god of dreams6 ,what an unreal and fantastic world ,is going on below6 ,within the sweep of yon encircling wall ,how many a large creation of the night1 ,wide wilderness and mountain1 rock and sea1 ,peopled with busy1 transitory groups1 ,finds room to rise1 and never feels the crowd40 ',tis superfluous to think of the dreams of multitudes1 the astonishment remains that one should dream2 that we should resign so quietly this deifying ,reason1 and become the theatre of delirious shows1 wherein time1 space1 persons1 cities1 animals1 should dance before us in merry and mad confusion2 a delicate creation outdoing the prime and flower of actual nature1 antic comedy alternating with horrid pictures4 ,sometimes the forgotten companions of childhood reappear3-- 8,they come1 in dim procession led1 ,the cold1 the faithless1 and the dead1 ,as warm each hand1 each brow as gay1 ,as if they parted yesterday30-- or we seem busied for hours and days in peregrinations over seas and lands1 in earnest dialogues1 strenuous actions for nothings and absurdities1 cheated by spectral jokes and waking suddenly with ghastly laughter1 to be rebuked by the cold1 lonely1 silent midnight1 and to rake with confusion in memory among the gibbering nonsense to find the motive of this contemptible cachinnation4 ,dreams are jealous of being remembered2 they dissipate instantly and angrily if you try to hold them4 ,when newly awaked from lively dreams1 we are so near them1 still agitated by them1 still in their sphere1--give us one syllable1 one feature1 one hint1 and we should repossess the whole2 hours of this strange entertainment would come trooping back to us2 but we cannot get our hand on the first link or fibre1 and the whole is lost4 ,there is a strange wilfulness in the speed with which it disperses and baffles our grasp4 ,a dislocation seems to be the foremost trait of dreams4 ,a painful imperfection almost always attends them4 ,the fairest forms1 the most noble and excellent persons1 are deformed by some pitiful and insane circumstance4 ,the very landscape and scenery in a dream seem not to fit us1 but like a coat or cloak of some other person to overlap and encumber the wearer2 so is the ground1 the road1 the house1 in dreams1 too long or too short1 and if it served no other purpose would show us how accurately nature fits man awake4 ,there is one memory of waking and another of sleep4 ,in our dreams the same scenes and fancies are many times associated1 and that too1 it would seem1 for years4 ,in sleep one shall travel certain roads in stage-coaches or gigs1 which he recognizes as familiar1 and has dreamed that ride a dozen times2 or shall walk alone in familiar fields and meadows1 which road or which meadow in waking hours he never looked upon4 ,this feature of dreams deserves the more attention from its singular resemblance to that obscure yet startling experience which almost every person confesses in daylight1 that particular passages of conversation and action have occurred to him in the same order before1 whether dreaming or waking2 a suspicion that they have been with precisely these persons in precisely this room1 and heard precisely this dialogue1 at some former hour1 they know not when4 ,animals have been called 8the dreams of nature40 ,perhaps for a conception of their consciousness we may go to our own dreams4 ,in a dream we have the instinctive obedience1 the same torpidity of the highest power1 the same unsurprised assent to the monstrous as these metamorphosed men exhibit4 ,our thoughts in a stable or in a menagerie1 on the other hand1 may well remind us of our dreams4 ,what compassion do these imprisoning forms awaken6 ,you may catch the glance of a dog sometimes which lays a kind of claim to sympathy and brotherhood4 ,what6 somewhat of me down there8 ,does he know it8 ,can he too1 as ,i1 go out of himself1 see himself1 perceive relations8 ,we fear lest the poor brute should gain one dreadful glimpse of his condition1 should learn in some moment the tough limitations of this fettering organization4 ,it was in this glance that ,ovid got the hint of his metamorphoses2 ,calidasa of his transmigration of souls4 ,for these fables are our own thoughts carried out4 ,what keeps those wild tales in circulation for thousands of years8 ,what but the wild fact to which they suggest some approximation of theory8 ,nor is the fact quite solitary1 for in varieties of our own species where organization seems to predominate over the genius of man1 in ,kalmuck or ,malay or ,flathead ,indian1 we are sometimes pained by the same feeling2 and sometimes too the sharp-witted prosperous white man awakens it4 ,in a mixed assembly we have chanced to see not only a glance of ,abdiel1 so grand and keen1 but also in other faces the features of the mink1 of the bull1 of the rat1 and the barn-door fowl4 ,you think1 could the man overlook his own condition1 he could not be restrained from suicide4 ,dreams have a poetic integrity and truth4 ,this limbo and dust-hole of thought is presided over by a certain reason1 too4 ,their extravagance from nature is yet within a higher nature4 ,they seem to us to suggest an abundance and fluency of thought not familiar to the waking experience4 ,they pique us by independence of us1 yet we know ourselves in this mad crowd1 and owe to dreams a kind of divination and wisdom4 ,my dreams are not me2 they are not ,nature1 or the ,not-me3 they are both4 ,they have a double consciousness1 at once sub- and objective4 ,we call the phantoms that rise1 the creation of our fancy1 but they act like mutineers1 and fire on their commander2 showing that every act1 every thought1 every cause1 is bipolar1 and in the act is contained the counteraction4 ,if ,i strike1 ,i am struck2 if ,i chase1 ,i am pursued4 ,wise and sometimes terrible hints shall in them be thrown to the man out of a quite unknown intelligence4 ,he shall be startled two or three times in his life by the justice as well as the significance of this phantasmagoria4 ,once or twice the conscious fetters shall seem to be unlocked1 and a freer utterance attained4 ,a prophetic character in all ages has haunted them4 ,they are the maturation often of opinions not consciously carried out to statements1 but whereof we already possessed the elements4 ,thus1 when awake1 ,i know the character of ,rupert1 but do not think what he may do4 ,in dreams ,i see him engaged in certain actions which seem preposterous1--out of all fitness4 ,he is hostile1 he is cruel1 he is frightful1 he is a poltroon4 ,it turns out prophecy a year later4 ,but it was already in my mind as character1 and the sibyl dreams merely embodied it in fact4 ,why then should not symptoms1 auguries1 forebodings be1 and1 as one said1 the moanings of the spirit8 ,we are let by this experience into the high region of ,cause1 and acquainted with the identity of very unlike-seeming effects4 ,we learn that actions whose turpitude is very differently reputed proceed from one and the same affection4 ,sleep takes off the costume of circumstance1 arms us with terrible freedom1 so that every will rushes to a deed4 ,a skilful man reads his dreams for his self-knowledge2 yet not the details1 but the quality4 ,what part does he play in them1--a cheerful1 manly part1 or a poor drivelling part8 ,however monstrous and grotesque their apparitions1 they have a substantial truth4 ,the same remark may be extended to the omens and coincidences which may have astonished us4 ,of all it is true that the reason of them is always latent in the individual4 ,goethe said3 8,these whimsical pictures1 inasmuch as they originate from us1 may well have an analogy with our whole life and fate40 ,the soul contains in itself the event that shall presently befall it1 for the event is only the actualizing of its thoughts4 ,it is no wonder that particular dreams and presentiments should fall out and be prophetic4 ,the fallacy consists in selecting a few insignificant hints when all are inspired with the same sense4 ,as if one should exhaust his astonishment at the economy of his thumb-nail1 and overlook the central causal miracle of his being a man4 ,every man goes through the world attended with innumerable facts prefiguring 7yes1 distinctly announcing7 his fate1 if only eyes of sufficient heed and illumination were fastened on the sign4 ,the sign is always there1 if only the eye were also2 just as under every tree in the speckled sunshine and shade no man notices that every spot of light is a perfect image of the sun1 until in some hour the moon eclipses the luminary2 and then first we notice that the spots of light have become crescents1 or annular1 and correspond to the changed figure of the sun4 ,things are significant enough1 ,heaven knows2 but the seer of the sign1--where is he8 ,we doubt not a man's fortune may be read in the lines of his hand1 by palmistry2 in the lines of his face1 by physiognomy2 in the outlines of the skull1 by craniology3 the lines are all there1 but the reader waits4 ,the long waves indicate to the instructed mariner that there is no near land in the direction from which they come4 ,belzoni describes the three marks which led him to dig for a door to the pyramid of ,ghizeh4 ,what thousands had beheld the same spot for so many ages1 and seen no three marks6 ,secret analogies tie together the remotest parts of nature1 as the atmosphere of a summer morning is filled with innumerable gossamer threads running in every direction1 revealed by the beams of the rising sun4 ,all life1 all creation1 is tell-tale and betraying4 ,a man reveals himself in every glance and step and movement and rest3-- 8,head with foot hath private amity1 ,and both with moons and tides40 ,not a mathematical axiom but is a moral rule4 ,the jest and byword to an intelligent ear extends its meaning to the soul and to all time4 ,indeed1 all productions of man are so anthropomorphous that not possibly can he invent any fable that shall not have a deep moral and be true in senses and to an extent never intended by the inventor4 ,thus all the bravest tales of ,homer and the poets1 modern philosophers can explain with profound judgment of law and state and ethics4 ,lucian has an idle tale that ,pancrates1 journeying from ,memphis to ,coppus1 and wanting a servant1 took a door-bar and pronounced over it magical words1 and it stood up and brought him water1 and turned a spit1 and carried bundles1 doing all the work of a slave4 ,what is this but a prophecy of the progress of art8 ,for ,pancrates write ,watt or ,fulton1 and for 8magical words0 write 8steam20 and do they not make an iron bar and half a dozen wheels do the work1 not of one1 but of a thousand skilful mechanics8 8,nature10 said ,swedenborg1 8makes almost as much demand on our faith as miracles do40 ,and ,i find nothing in fables more astonishing than my experience in every hour4 ,one moment of a man's life is a fact so stupendous as to take the lustre out of all fiction4 ,the lovers of marvels1 of what we call the occult and unproved sciences1 of mesmerism1 of astrology1 of coincidences1 of intercourse1 by writing or by rapping or by painting1 with departed spirits1 need not reproach us with incredulity because we are slow to accept their statement4 ,it is not the incredibility of the fact1 but a certain want of harmony between the action and the agents4 ,we are used to vaster wonders than these that are alleged4 ,in the hands of poets1 of devout and simple minds1 nothing in the line of their character and genius would surprise us4 ,but we should look for the style of the great artist in it1 look for completeness and harmony4 ,nature never works like a conjuror1 to surprise1 rarely by shocks1 but by infinite graduation2 so that we live embosomed in sounds we do not hear1 scents we do not smell1 spectacles we see not1 and by innumerable impressions so softly laid on that though important we do not discover them until our attention is called to them4 ,for ,spiritism1 it shows that no man almost is fit to give evidence4 ,then ,i say to the amiable and sincere among them1 these matters are quite too important than that ,i can rest them on any legends4 ,if ,i have no facts1 as you allege1 ,i can very well wait for them4 ,i am content and occupied with such miracles as ,i know1 such as my eyes and ears daily show me1 such as humanity and astronomy4 ,if any others are important to me they will certainly be shown to me4 ,in times most credulous of these fancies the sense was always met and the superstition rebuked by the grave spirit of reason and humanity4 ,when ,hector is told that the omens are unpropitious1 he replies1-- 8,one omen is the best1 to fight for one's country40 ,euripides said1 8,he is not the best prophet who guesses well1 and he is not the wisest man whose guess turns out well in the event1 but he who1 whatever the event be1 takes reason and probability for his guide40 8,swans1 horses1 dogs and dragons10 says ,plutarch1 8we distinguish as sacred1 and vehicles of the ,divine foresight1 and yet we cannot believe that men are sacred and favorites of ,heaven40 ,the poor shipmaster discovered a sound theology1 when in the storm at sea he made his prayer to ,neptune1 8,o ,god1 thou mayst save me if thou wilt1 and if thou wilt thou mayst destroy me2 but1 however1 ,i will hold my rudder true40 ,let me add one more example of the same good sense1 in a story quoted out of ,hecateus of ,abdera3-- 8,as ,i was once travelling by the ,red ,sea1 there was one among the horsemen that attended us named ,masollam1 a brave and strong man1 and according to the testimony of all the ,greeks and barbarians1 a very skilful archer4 ,now while the whole multitude was on the way1 an augur called out to them to stand still1 and this man inquired the reason of their halting4 ,the augur showed him a bird1 and told him1 #8,if that bird remained where he was1 it would be better for them all to remain2 if he flew on1 they might proceed2 but if he flew back they must return4' ,the ,jew said nothing1 but bent his bow and shot the bird to the ground4 ,this act offended the augur and some others1 and they began to utter imprecations against the ,jew4 ,but he replied1 #8,wherefore8 ,why are you so foolish as to take care of this unfortunate bird8 ,how could this fowl give us any wise directions respecting our journey1 when he could not save his own life8 ,had he known anything of futurity1 he would not have come here to be killed by the arrow of ,masollam the ,jew4'0 ,it is not the tendency of our times to ascribe importance to whimsical pictures of sleep1 or to omens4 ,but the faith in peculiar and alien power takes another form in the modern mind1 much more resembling the ancient doctrine of the guardian genius4 ,the belief that particular individuals are attended by a good fortune which makes them desirable associates in any enterprise of uncertain success1 exists not only among those who take part in political and military projects1 but influences all joint action of commerce and affairs1 and a corresponding assurance in the individuals so distinguished meets and justifies the expectation of others by a boundless self-trust4 8,i have a lucky hand1 sir10 said ,napoleon to his hesitating ,chancellor2 8those on whom ,i lay it are fit for anything40 ,this faith is familiar in one form1--that often a certain abdication of prudence and foresight is an element of success2 that children and young persons come off safe from casualties that would have proved dangerous to wiser people4 ,we do not think the young will be forsaken2 but he is fast approaching the age when the sub-miraculous external protection and leading are withdrawn and he is committed to his own care4 ,the young man takes a leap in the dark and alights safe4 ,as he comes into manhood he remembers passages and persons that seem1 as he looks at them now1 to have been supernaturally deprived of injurious influence on him4 ,his eyes were holden that he could not see4 ,but he learns that such risks he may no longer run4 ,he observes1 with pain1 not that he incurs mishaps here and there1 but that his genius1 whose invisible benevolence was tower and shield to him1 is no longer present and active4 ,in the popular belief1 ghosts are a selecting tribe1 avoiding millions1 speaking to one4 ,in our traditions1 fairies1 angels and saints show the like favoritism2 so do the agents and the means of magic1 as sorcerers and amulets4 ,this faith in a doting power1 so easily sliding into the current belief everywhere1 and1 in the particular of lucky days and fortunate persons1 as frequent in ,america to-day as the faith in incantations and philters was in old ,rome1 or the wholesome potency of the sign of the cross in modern ,rome1--this supposed power runs athwart the recognized agencies1 natural and moral1 which science and religion explore4 ,heeded though it be in many actions and partnerships1 it is not the power to which we build churches1 or make liturgies and prayers1 or which we regard in passing laws1 or found college professorships to expound4 ,goethe has said in his ,autobiography what is much to the purpose3-- 8,i believed that ,i discovered in nature1 animate and inanimate1 intelligent and brute1 somewhat which manifested itself only in contradiction1 and therefore could not be grasped by a conception1 much less by a word4 ,it was not god-like1 since it seemed unreasonable2 not human1 since it had no understanding2 not devilish1 since it was beneficent2 not angelic1 since it is often a marplot4 ,it resembled chance1 since it showed no sequel4 ,it resembled ,providence1 since it pointed at connection4 ,all which limits us seemed permeable to that4 ,it seemed to deal at pleasure with the necessary elements of our constitution2 it shortened time and extended space4 ,only in the impossible it seemed to delight1 and the possible to repel with contempt4 ,this1 which seemed to insert itself between all other things1 to sever them1 to bind them1 ,i named the ,demoniacal1 after the example of the ancients1 and of those who had observed the like4 8,although every demoniacal property can manifest itself in the corporeal and incorporeal1 yes1 in beasts too in a remarkable manner1 yet it stands specially in wonderful relations with men1 and forms in the moral world1 though not an antagonist1 yet a transverse element1 so that the former may be called the warp1 the latter the woof4 ,for the phenomena which hence originate there are countless names1 since all philosophies and religions have attempted in prose or in poetry to solve this riddle1 and to settle the thing once for all1 as indeed they may be allowed to do4 8,but this demonic element appears most fruitful when it shows itself as the determining characteristic in an individual4 ,in the course of my life ,i have been able to observe several such1 some near1 some farther off4 ,they are not always superior persons1 either in mind or in talent4 ,they seldom recommend themselves through goodness of heart4 ,but a monstrous force goes out from them1 and they exert an incredible power over all creatures1 and even over the elements2 who shall say how far such an influence may extend8 ,all united moral powers avail nothing against them4 ,in vain do the clear-headed part of mankind discredit them as deceivers or deceived1--the mass is attracted4 ,seldom or never do they meet their match among their contemporaries2 they are not to be conquered save by the universe itself1 against which they have taken up arms4 ,out of such experiences doubtless arose the strange1 monstrous proverb1 #8,nobody against ,god but ,god4'0#b ,it would be easy in the political history of every time to furnish examples of this irregular success1 men having a force which without virtue1 without shining talent1 yet makes them prevailing4 ,no equal appears in the field against them4 ,a power goes out from them which draws all men and events to favor them4 ,the crimes they commit1 the exposures which follow1 and which would ruin any other man1 are strangely overlooked1 or do more strangely turn to their account4 ,i set down these things as ,i find them1 but however poetic these twilights of thought1 ,i like daylight1 and ,i find somewhat wilful1 some play at blindman's-buff1 when men as wise as ,goethe talk mysteriously of the demonological4 ,the insinuation is that the known eternal laws of morals and matter are sometimes corrupted or evaded by this gipsy principle1 which chooses favorites and works in the dark for their behoof2 as if the laws of the ,father of the universe were sometimes balked and eluded by a meddlesome ,aunt of the universe for her pets4 ,you will observe that this extends the popular idea of success to the very gods2 that they foster a success to you which is not a success to all2 that fortunate men1 fortunate youths exist1 whose good is not virtue or the public good1 but a private good1 robbed from the rest4 ,it is a midsummer-madness1 corrupting all who hold the tenet4 ,the demonologic is only a fine name for egotism2 an exaggeration namely of the individual1 whom it is ,nature's settled purpose to postpone4 8,there is one world common to all who are awake1 but each sleeper betakes himself to one of his own40#c ,dreams retain the infirmities of our character4 ,the good genius may be there or not1 our evil genius is sure to stay4 ,the ,ego partial makes the dream2 the ,ego total the interpretation4 ,life is also a dream on the same terms4 ,the history of man is a series of conspiracies to win from ,nature some advantage without paying for it4 ,it is curious to see what grand powers we have a hint of and are mad to grasp1 yet how slow ,heaven is to trust us with such edge-tools4 8,all that frees talent without increasing self-command is noxious40 ,thus the fabled ring of ,gyges1 making the wearer invisible1 which is represented in modern fable by the telescope as used by ,schlemil1 is simply mischievous4 ,a new or private language1 used to serve only low or political purposes2 the transfusion of the blood2 the steam battery1 so fatal as to put an end to war by the threat of universal murder2 the desired discovery of the guided balloon1 are of this kind4 ,tramps are troublesome enough in the city and in the highways1 but tramps flying through the air and descending on the lonely traveller or the lonely farmer's house or the bank-messenger in the country1 can well be spared4 ,men are not fit to be trusted with these talismans4 ,before we acquire great power we must acquire wisdom to use it well4 ,animal magnetism inspires the prudent and moral with a certain terror2 so the divination of contingent events1 and the alleged second-sight of the pseudo-spiritualists4 ,there are many things of which a wise man might wish to be ignorant1 and these are such4 ,shun them as you would the secrets of the undertaker and the butcher4 ,the best are never demoniacal or magnetic2 leave this limbo to the ,prince of the power of the air4 ,the lowest angel is better4 ,it is the height of the animal2 below the region of the divine4 ,power as such is not known to the angels4 ,great men feel that they are so by sacrificing their selfishness and falling back on what is humane2 in renouncing family1 clan1 country1 and each exclusive and local connection1 to beat with the pulse and breathe with the lungs of nations4 ,a ,highland chief1 an ,indian sachem or a feudal baron may fancy that the mountains and lakes were made specially for him ,donald1 or him ,tecumseh2 that the one question for history is the pedigree of his house1 and future ages will be busy with his renown2 that he has a guardian angel2 that he is not in the roll of common men1 but obeys a high family destiny2 when he acts1 unheard-of success evinces the presence of rare agents2 what is to befall him1 omens and coincidences foreshow2 when he dies banshees will announce his fate to kinsmen in foreign parts4 ,what more facile than to project this exuberant selfhood into the region where individuality is forever bounded by generic and cosmical laws8 ,the deepest flattery1 and that to which we can never be insensible1 is the flattery of omens4 ,we may make great eyes if we like1 and say of one on whom the sun shines1 8,what luck presides over him60 ,but we know that the law of the ,universe is one for each and for all4 ,there is as precise and as describable a reason for every fact occurring to him1 as for any occurring to any man4 ,every fact in which the moral elements intermingle is not the less under the dominion of fatal law4 ,lord ,bacon uncovers the magic when he says1 8,manifest virtues procure reputation2 occult ones1 fortune40 ,thus the so-called fortunate man is one who1 though not gifted to speak when the people listen1 or to act with grace or with understanding to great ends1 yet is one who1 in actions of a low or common pitch1 relies on his instincts1 and simply does not act where he should not1 but waits his time1 and without effort acts when the need is4 ,if to this you add a fitness to the society around him1 you have the elements of fortune2 so that in a particular circle and knot of affairs he is not so much his own man as the hand of nature and time4 ,just as his eye and hand work exactly together1--and to hit the mark with a stone he has only to fasten his eye firmly on the mark and his arm will swing true1--so the main ambition and genius being bestowed in one direction1 the lesser spirits and involuntary aids within his sphere will follow4 ,the fault of most men is that they are busybodies2 do not wait the simple movement of the soul1 but interfere and thwart the instructions of their own minds4 ,coincidences1 dreams1 animal magnetism1 omens1 sacred lots1 have great interest for some minds4 ,they run into this twilight and say1 8,there's more than is dreamed of in your philosophy40 ,certainly these facts are interesting1 and deserve to be considered4 ,but they are entitled only to a share of attention1 and not a large share4 ,nil magnificum1 nil generosum sapit4 ,let their value as exclusive subjects of attention be judged of by the infallible test of the state of mind in which much notice of them leaves us4 ,read a page of ,cudworth or of ,bacon1 and we are exhilarated and armed to manly duties4 ,read demonology or ,colquhoun's ,report1 and we are bewildered and perhaps a little besmirched4 ,we grope4 ,they who love them say they are to reveal to us a world of unknown1 unsuspected truths4 ,but suppose a diligent collection and study of these occult facts were made1 they are merely physiological1 semi-medical1 related to the machinery of man1 opening to our curiosity how we live1 and no aid on the superior problems why we live1 and what we do4 ,while the dilettanti have been prying into the humors and muscles of the eye1 simple men will have helped themselves and the world by using their eyes4 ,and this is not the least remarkable fact which the adepts have developed4 ,men who had never wondered at anything1 who had thought it the most natural thing in the world that they should exist in this orderly and replenished world1 have been unable to suppress their amazement at the disclosures of the somnambulist4 ,the peculiarity of the history of ,animal ,magnetism is that it drew in as inquirers and students a class of persons never on any other occasion known as students and inquirers4 ,of course the inquiry is pursued on low principles4 ,animal magnetism peeps4 ,it becomes in such hands a black art4 ,the uses of the thing1 the commodity1 the power1 at once come to mind and direct the course of inquiry4 ,it seemed to open again that door which was open to the imagination of childhood--of magicians and fairies and lamps of ,aladdin1 the travelling cloak1 the shoes of swiftness and the sword of sharpness that were to satisfy the uttermost wish of the senses without danger or a drop of sweat4 ,but as ,nature can never be outwitted1 as in the ,universe no man was ever known to get a cent's worth without paying in some form or other the cent1 so this prodigious promiser ends always and always will1 as sorcery and alchemy have done before1 in very small and smoky performance4 ,mesmerism is high life below stairs2 ,momus playing ,jove in the kitchens of ,olympus4 ',tis a low curiosity or lust of structure1 and is separated by celestial diameters from the love of spiritual truths4 ,it is wholly a false view to couple these things in any manner with the religious nature and sentiment1 and a most dangerous superstition to raise them to the lofty place of motives and sanctions4 ,this is to prefer halos and rainbows to the sun and moon4 ,these adepts have mistaken flatulency for inspiration4 ,were this drivel which they report as the voice of spirits really such1 we must find out a more decisive suicide4 ,i say to the table-rappers3-- 8,i well believe ,thou wilt not utter what thou dost not know1 ,and so far will ,i trust thee1 gentle ,kate40 ,they are ignorant of all that is healthy and useful to know1 and by laws of kind1--dunces seeking dunces in the dark of what they call the spiritual world1--preferring snores and gastric noises to the voice of any muse4 ,i think the rappings a new test1 like blue litmus or other chemical absorbent1 to try catechisms with4 ,it detects organic skepticism in the very heads of the ,church4 ',tis a lawless world4 ,we have left the geometry1 the compensation1 and the conscience of the daily world1 and come into the realm or chaos of chance and pretty or ugly confusion2 no guilt and no virtue1 but a droll bedlam1 where everybody believes only after his humor1 and the actors and spectators have no conscience or reflection1 no police1 no foot-rule1 no sanity1--nothing but whim and whim creative4 ,meantime far be from me the impatience which cannot brook the supernatural1 the vast2 far be from me the lust of explaining away all which appeals to the imagination1 and the great presentiments which haunt us4 ,willingly ,i too say1 ,hail6 to the unknown awful powers which transcend the ken of the understanding4 ,and the attraction which this topic has had for me and which induces me to unfold its parts before you is precisely because ,i think the numberless forms in which this superstition has re-appeared in every time and every people indicates the inextinguishableness of wonder in man2 betrays his conviction that behind all your explanations is a vast and potent and living ,nature1 inexhaustible and sublime1 which you cannot explain4 ,he is sure no book1 no man has told him all4 ,he is sure the great ,instinct1 the circumambient soul which flows into him as into all1 and is his life1 has not been searched4 ,he is sure that intimate relations subsist between his character and his fortunes1 between him and his world2 and until he can adequately tell them he will tell them wildly and fabulously4 ,demonology is the shadow of ,theology4 ,the whole world is an omen and a sign4 ,why look so wistfully in a corner8 ,man is the ,image of ,god4 ,why run after a ghost or a dream8 ,the voice of divination resounds everywhere and runs to waste unheard1 unregarded1 as the mountains echo with the bleatings of cattle4 ,,footnotes3 ,footnote #a3 ,from the course of lectures on 8,human ,life10 read in ,boston1 #ahci-dj4 ,published in the ,north ,american ,review1 #ahgg4 ,footnote #b3 ,goethe1 ,wahrheit und ,dichtung1 ,book xx4 ,footnote #c3 ,heraclitus4 ,,aristocracy4 ,,but if thou do thy best1 ,without remission1 without rest1 ,and invite the sunbeam1 ,and abhor to feign or seem ,even to those who thee should love ,and thy behavior approve2 ,if thou go in thine own likeness1-- ,be it health or be it sickness1-- ,if thou go as thy father's son1 ,if thou wear no mask or lie1 ,dealing purely and nakedly1--4444 ,,aristocracy4#d ,,there is an attractive topic1 which never goes out of vogue and is impertinent in no community1--the permanent traits of the ,aristocracy4 ,it is an interest of the human race1 and1 as ,i look at it1 inevitable1 sacred and to be found in every country and in every company of men4 ,my concern with it is that concern which all well-disposed persons will feel1 that there should be model men1--true instead of spurious pictures of excellence1 and1 if possible1 living standards4 ,i observe that the word gentleman is gladly heard in all companies2 that the cogent motive with the best young men who are revolving plans and forming resolutions for the future1 is the spirit of honor1 the wish to be gentlemen4 ,they do not yet covet political power1 nor any exuberance of wealth1 wealth that costs too much2 nor do they wish to be saints2 for fear of partialism2 but the middle term1 the reconciling element1 the success of the manly character1 they find in the idea of gentleman4 ,it is not to be a man of rank1 but a man of honor1 accomplished in all arts and generosities1 which seems to them the right mark and the true chief of our modern society4 ,a reference to society is part of the idea of culture2 science of a gentleman2 art of a gentleman2 poetry in a gentleman3 intellectually held1 that is1 for their own sake1 for what they are2 for their universal beauty and worth2--not for economy1 which degrades them1 but not over-intellectually1 that is1 not to ecstasy1 entrancing the man1 but redounding to his beauty and glory4 ,in the sketches which ,i have to offer ,i shall not be surprised if my readers should fancy that ,i am giving them1 under a gayer title1 a chapter on ,education4 ,it will not pain me if ,i am found now and then to rove from the accepted and historic1 to a theoretic peerage3 or if it should turn out1 what is true1 that ,i am describing a real aristocracy1 a chapter of ,templars who sit indifferently in all climates and under the shadow of all institutions1 but so few1 so heedless of badges1 so rarely convened1 so little in sympathy with the predominant politics of nations1 that their names and doings are not recorded in any ,book of ,peerage1 or any ,court ,journal1 or even ,daily ,newspaper of the world4 ,i find the caste in the man4 ,the ,golden ,book of ,venice1 the scale of ,european chivalry1 the ,barons of ,england1 the hierarchy of ,india with its impassable degrees1 is each a transcript of the decigrade or centigraded ,man4 ,a many-chambered ,aristocracy lies already organized in his moods and faculties4 ,room is found for all the departments of the ,state in the moods and faculties of each human spirit1 with separate function and difference of dignity4 ,the terrible aristocracy that is in nature4 ,real people dwelling with the real1 face to face undaunted3 then1 far down1 people of taste1 people dwelling in a relation1 or rumor1 or influence of good and fair1 entertained by it1 superficially touched1 yet charmed by these shadows3--and1 far below these1 gross and thoughtless1 the animal man1 billows of chaos1 down to the dancing and menial organizations4 ,i observe the inextinguishable prejudice men have in favor of a hereditary transmission of qualities4 ,it is in vain to remind them that nature appears capricious4 ,some qualities she carefully fixes and transmits1 but some1 and those the finer1 she exhales with the breath of the individual1 as too costly to perpetuate4 ,but ,i notice also that they may become fixed and permanent in any stock1 by painting and repainting them on every individual1 until at last ,nature adopts them and bakes them into her porcelain4 ,at all events ,i take this inextinguishable persuasion in men's minds as a hint from the outward universe to man to inlay as many virtues and superiorities as he can into this swift fresco of the day1 which is hardening to an immortal picture4 ,if one thinks of the interest which all men have in beauty of character and manners2 that it is of the last importance to the imagination and affection1 inspiring as it does that loyalty and worship so essential to the finish of character--certainly1 if culture1 if laws1 if primogeniture1 if heraldry1 if money could secure such a result as superior and finished men1 it would be the interest of all mankind to see that the steps were taken1 the pains incurred4 ,no taxation1 no concession1 no conferring of privileges never so exalted would be a price too large4 ,the old ,french ,revolution attracted to its first movement all the liberality1 virtue1 hope and poetry in ,europe4 ,by the abolition of kingship and aristocracy1 tyranny1 inequality and poverty would end4 ,alas6 no2 tyranny1 inequality1 poverty1 stood as last and fierce as ever4 ,we likewise put faith in ,democracy2 in the ,republican principle carried out to the extremes of practice in universal suffrage1 in the will of majorities4 ,the young adventurer finds that the relations of society1 the position of classes1 irk and sting him1 and he lends himself to each malignant party that assails what is eminent4 ,he will one day know that this is not removable1 but a distinction in the nature of things2 that neither the caucus1 nor the newspaper1 nor the ,congress1 nor the mob1 nor the guillotine1 nor fire1 nor all together1 can avail to outlaw1 cut out1 burn1 or destroy the offense of superiority in persons4 ,the manners1 the pretension1 which annoy me so much1 are not superficial1 but built on a real distinction in the nature of my companion4 ,the superiority in him is inferiority in me1 and if this particular companion were wiped by a sponge out of nature1 my inferiority would still be made evident to me by other persons everywhere and every day4 ,no1 not the hardest utilitarian will question the value of an aristocracy if he love himself4 ,for every man confesses that the highest good which the universe proposes to him is the highest society4 ,if a few grand natures should come to us and weave duties and offices between us and them1 it would make our bread ambrosial4 ,i affirm that inequalities exist1 not in costume1 but in the powers of expression and action2 a primitive aristocracy2 and that we1 certainly1 have not come here to describe well-dressed vulgarity4 ,i cannot tell how ,english titles are bestowed1 whether on pure blood1 or on the largest holder in the three-per-cents4 ,the ,english government and people1 or the ,french government1 may easily make mistakes2 but ,nature makes none4 ,every mark and scutcheon of hers indicates constitutional qualities4 ,in science1 in trade1 in social discourse1 as in the state1 it is the same thing4 ,forever and ever it takes a pound to lift a pound4 ,it is plain that all the deference of modern society to this idea of the ,gentleman1 and all the whimsical tyranny of ,fashion which has continued to engraft itself on this reverence1 is a secret homage to reality and love which ought to reside in every man4 ,this is the steel that is hid under gauze and lace1 under flowers and spangles4 ,and it is plain that instead of this idolatry1 a worship2 instead of this impure1 a pure reverence for character1 a new respect for the sacredness of the individual man1 is that antidote which must correct in our country the disgraceful deference to public opinion1 and the insane subordination of the end to the means4 ,from the folly of too much association we must come back to the repose of self-reverence and trust4 ,the game of the world is a perpetual trial of strength between man and events4 ,the common man is the victim of events4 ,whatever happens is too much for him1 he is drawn this way and that way1 and his whole life is a hurry4 ,the superior man is at home in his own mind4 ,we like cool people1 who neither hope nor fear too much1 but seem to have many strings to their bow1 and can survive the blow well enough if stock should rise or fall1 if parties should be broken up1 if their money or their family should be dispersed2 who can stand a slander very well2 indeed on whom events make little or no impression1 and who can face death with firmness4 ,in short1 we dislike every mark of a superficial life and action1 and prize whatever mark of a central life4 ,what is the meaning of this invincible respect for war1 here in the triumphs of our commercial civilization1 that we can never quite smother the trumpet and the drum8 ,how is it that the sword runs away with all the fame from the spade and the wheel8 ,how sturdy seem to us in the history1 those ,merovingians1 ,guelphs1 ,dorias1 ,sforzas1 ,burgundies and ,guesclins of the old warlike ages6 ,we can hardly believe they were all such speedy shadows as we2 that an ague or fever1 a drop of water or a crystal of ice ended them4 ,we give soldiers the same advantage to-day4 ,from the most accumulated culture we are always running back to the sound of any drum and fife4 ,and in any trade1 or in law-courts1 in orchard and farm1 and even in saloons1 they only prosper or they prosper best who have a military mind1 who engineer in sword and cannon style1 with energy and sharpness4 ,why1 but because courage never loses its high price8 ,why1 but because we wish to see those to whom existence is most adorned and attractive1 foremost to peril it for their object1 and ready to answer for their actions with their life4 ,the existence of an upper class is not injurious1 as long as it is dependent on merit4 ,for so long it is provocation to the bold and generous4 ,these distinctions exist1 and they are deep1 not to be talked or voted away4 ,if the differences are organic1 so are the merits1 that is to say the power and excellence we describe are real4 ,aristocracy is the class eminent by personal qualities1 and to them belongs without assertion a proper influence4 ,men of aim must lead the aimless2 men of invention the uninventive4 ,i wish catholic men1 who by their science and skill are at home in every latitude and longitude1 who carry the world in their thoughts2 men of universal politics1 who are interested in things in proportion to their truth and magnitude2 who know the beauty of animals and the laws of their nature1 whom the mystery of botany allures1 and the mineral laws2 who see general effects and are not too learned to love the ,imagination1 the power and the spirits of ,solitude2--men who see the dance in men's lives as well as in a ball-room1 and can feel and convey the sense which is only collectively or totally expressed by a population2 men who are charmed by the beautiful ,nemesis as well as by the dire ,nemesis1 and dare trust their inspiration for their welcome2 who would find their fellows in persons of real elevation of whatever kind of speculative or practical ability4 ,we are fallen on times so acquiescent and traditionary that we are in danger of forgetting so simple a fact as that the basis of all aristocracy must be truth1--the doing what elsewhere is pretended to be done4 ,one would gladly see all our institutions rightly aristocratic in this wise4 ,i enumerate the claims by which men enter the superior class4 #a4 ,a commanding talent4 ,in every company one finds the best man2 and if there be any question1 it is decided the instant they enter into any practical enterprise4 ,if the finders of glass1 gunpowder1 printing1 electricity1--if the healer of small-pox1 the contriver of the safety lamp1 of the aqueduct1 of the bridge1 of the tunnel2 if the finders of parallax1 of new planets1 of steam power for boat and carriage1 the finder of sulphuric ether and the electric telegraph1--if these men should keep their secrets1 or only communicate them to each other1 must not the whole race of mankind serve them as gods8 ,it only needs to look at the social aspect of ,england and ,america and ,france1 to see the rank which original practical talent commands4 ,every survey of the dignified classes1 in ancient or modern history1 imprints universal lessons1 and establishes a nobility of a prouder creation4 ,and the conclusion which ,roman ,senators1 ,indian ,brahmins1 ,persian ,magians1 ,european ,nobles and great ,americans inculcate1--that which they preach out of their material wealth and glitter1 out of their old war and modern land-owning1 even out of sensuality and sneers1 is1 that the radical and essential distinctions of every aristocracy are moral4 ,do not hearken to the men1 but to the ,destiny in the institutions4 ,an aristocracy is composed of simple and sincere men for whom nature and ethics are strong enough1 who say what they mean and go straight to their objects4 ,it is essentially real4 ,the multiplication of monarchs known by telegraph and daily news from all countries to the daily papers1 and the effect of freer institutions in ,england and ,america1 has robbed the title of king of all its romance1 as that of our commercial consuls as compared with the ancient ,roman4 ,we shall come to add 8,kings0 in the 8,contents0 of the ,directory1 as we do 8,physicians10 8,brokers10 etc4 ,in simple communities1 in the heroic ages1 a man was chosen for his knack2 got his name1 rank and living for that2 and the best of the best was the aristocrat or king4 ,in the ,norse ,edda it appears as the curious but excellent policy of contending tribes1 when tired of war1 to exchange hostages1 and in reality each to adopt from the other a first-rate man1 who thus acquired a new country1 was at once made a chief4 ,and no wrong was so keenly resented as any fraud in this transaction4 ,in the heroic ages1 as we call them1 the hero uniformly has some real talent4 ,ulysses in ,homer is represented as a very skilful carpenter4 ,he builds the boat with which he leaves ,calypso's isle1 and in his own palace carves a bedstead out of the trunk of a tree and inlays it with gold and ivory4 ,epeus builds the wooden horse4 ,the ,english nation down to a late age inherited the reality of the ,northern stock4 ,in #acgc1 in writs of summons of members of ,parliament1 the sheriff of every county is to cause 8two dubbed knights1 or the most worthy esquires1 the most expert in feats of arms1 and no others2 and of every city1 two citizens1 and of every borough1 two burgesses1 such as have greatest skill in shipping and merchandising1 to be returned40 ,the ancients were fond of ascribing to their nobles gigantic proportions and strength4 ,the hero must have the force of ten men4 ,the chief is taller by a head than any of his tribe4 ,douglas can throw the bar a greater cast4 ,richard can sever the iron bolt with his sword4 ,the horn of ,roland1 in the romance1 is heard sixty miles4 ,the ,cid has a prevailing health that will let him nurse the leper1 and share his bed without harm4 ,and since the body is the pipe through which we tap all the succors and virtues of the material world1 it is certain that a sound body must be at the root of any excellence in manners and actions2 a strong and supple frame which yields a stock of strength and spirits for all the needs of the day1 and generates the habit of relying on a supply of power for all extraordinary exertions4 ,when ,nature goes to create a national man1 she puts a symmetry between the physical and intellectual powers4 ,she moulds a large brain1 and joins to it a great trunk to supply it2 as if a fine alembic were fed with liquor for its distillations from broad full vats in the vaults of the laboratory4 ,certainly1 the origin of most of the perversities and absurdities that disgust us is1 primarily1 the want of health4 ,genius is health and ,beauty is health and virtue is health4 ,the petty arts which we blame in the half-great seem as odious to them also2--the resources of weakness and despair4 ,and the manners betray the like puny constitution4 ,temperament is fortune1 and we must say it so often4 ,in a thousand cups of life1 only one is the right mixture1--a fine adjustment to the existing elements4 ,when that befalls1 when the well-mixed man is born1 with eyes not too dull nor too good1 with fire enough and earth enough1 capable of impressions from all things1 and not too susceptible1--then no gift need be bestowed on him1 he brings with him fortune1 followers1 love1 power4 8,i think he'll be to ,rome ,as is the osprey to the fish1 who takes it ,by sovereignty of nature40 ,not the phrenologist but the philosopher may well say1 ,let me see his brain1 and ,i will tell you if he shall be poet1 king1 founder of cities1 rich1 magnetic1 of a secure hand1 of a scientific memory1 a right classifier2 or whether he shall be a bungler1 driveller1 unlucky1 heavy1 and tedious4 ,it were to dispute against the sun1 to deny this difference of brain4 ,i see well enough that when ,i bring one man into an estate1 he sees vague capabilities1 what others might1 could1 would1 or should do with it4 ,if ,i bring another man1 he sees what he should do with it4 ,he appreciates the water-privilege1 land fit for orchard1 tillage1 pasturage1 wood-lot1 cranberry-meadow2 but just as easily he foresees all the means1 all the steps of the process1 and could lay his hand as readily on one as on another point in that series which opens the capability to the last point4 ,the poet sees wishfully enough the result2 the well-built head supplies all the steps1 one as perfect as the other1 in the series4 ,seeing this working head in him1 it becomes to me as certain that he will have the direction of estates1 as that there are estates4 ,if we see tools in a magazine1 as a file1 an anchor1 a plough1 a pump1 a paint-brush1 a cider-press1 a diving-bell1 we can predict well enough their destination2 and the man's associations1 fortunes1 love1 hatred1 residence1 rank1 the books he will buy1 the roads he will traverse are predetermined in his organism4 ,men will need him1 and he is rich and eminent by nature4 ,that man cannot be too late or too early4 ,let him not hurry or hesitate4 ,though millions are already arrived1 his seat is reserved4 ,though millions attend1 they only multiply his friends and agents4 ,it never troubles the ,senator what multitudes crack the benches and bend the galleries to hear4 ,he who understands the art of war1 reckons the hostile battalions and cities1 opportunities and spoils4 ,an aristocracy could not exist unless it were organic4 ,men are born to command1 and--it is even so--8come into the world booted and spurred to ride40 ,the blood royal never pays1 we say4 ,it obtains service1 gifts1 supplies1 furtherance of all kinds from the love and joy of those who feel themselves honored by the service they render4 ,dull people think it ,fortune that makes one rich and another poor4 ,is it8 ,yes1 but the fortune was earlier than they think1 namely1 in the balance or adjustment between devotion to what is agreeable to-day and the forecast of what will be valuable to-morrow4 ,certainly ,i am not going to argue the merits of gradation in the universe2 the existing order of more or less4 ,neither do ,i wish to go into a vindication of the justice that disposes the variety of lot4 ,i know how steep the contrast of condition looks2 such excess here and such destitution there2 like entire chance1 like the freaks of the wind1 heaping the snow-drift in gorges1 stripping the plain2 such despotism of wealth and comfort in banquet-halls1 whilst death is in the pots of the wretched1--that it behooves a good man to walk with tenderness and heed amidst so much suffering4 ,i only point in passing to the order of the universe1 which makes a rotation1--not like the coarse policy of the ,greeks1 ten generals1 each commanding one day and then giving place to the next1 or like our democratic politics1 my turn now1 your turn next1--but the constitution of things has distributed a new quality or talent to each mind1 and the revolution of things is always bringing the need1 now of this1 now of that1 and is sure to bring home the opportunity to every one4 ,the only relief that ,i know against the invidiousness of superior position is1 that you exert your faculty2 for whilst each does that1 he excludes hard thoughts from the spectator4 ,all right activity is amiable4 ,i never feel that any man occupies my place1 but that the reason why ,i do not have what ,i wish1 is1 that ,i want the faculty which entitles4 ,all spiritual or real power makes its own place4 ,we pass for what we are1 and we prosper or fail by what we are4 ,there are men who may dare much and will be justified in their daring4 ,but it is because they know they are in their place4 ,as long as ,i am in my place1 ,i am safe4 8,the best lightning-rod for your protection is your own spine40 ,let a man's social aims be proportioned to his means and power4 ,i do not pity the misery of a man underplaced3 that will right itself presently3 but ,i pity the man overplaced4 ,a certain quantity of power belongs to a certain quantity of faculty4 ,whoever wants more power than is the legitimate attraction of his faculty1 is a politician1 and must pay for that excess2 must truckle for it4 ,this is the whole game of society and the politics of the world4 ,being will always seem well2--but whether possibly ,i cannot contrive to seem1 without the trouble of being8 ,every ,frenchman would have a career4 ,we ,english are not any better with our love of making a figure4 8,i told the ,duke of ,newcastle10 says ,bubb ,doddington in his ,memoirs1 8that it must end one way or another1 it must not remain as it was2 for ,i was determined to make some sort of a figure in life2 ,i earnestly wished it might be under his protection1 but if that could not be1 ,i must make some figure2 what it would be ,i could not determine yet2 ,i must look round me a little and consult my friends1 but some figure ,i was resolved to make40 ,it will be agreed everywhere that society must have the benefit of the best leaders4 ,how to obtain them8 ,birth has been tried and failed4 ,caste in ,india has no good result4 ,ennobling of one family is good for one generation2 not sure beyond4 ,slavery had mischief enough to answer for1 but it had this good in it1--the pricing of men4 ,in the ,south a slave was bluntly but accurately valued at five hundred to a thousand dollars1 if a good field-hand2 if a mechanic1 as carpenter or smith1 twelve hundred or two thousand4 ,in ,rome or ,greece what sums would not be paid for a superior slave1 a confidential secretary and manager1 an educated slave2 a man of genius1 a ,moses educated in ,egypt8 ,i don't know how much ,epictetus was sold for1 or sop1 or ,toussaint l',ouverture1 and perhaps it was not a good market-day4 ,time was1 in ,england1 when the state stipulated beforehand what price should be paid for each citizen's life1 if he was killed4 ,now1 if it were possible1 ,i should like to see that appraisal applied to every man1 and every man made acquainted with the true number and weight of every adult citizen1 and that he be placed where he belongs1 with so much power confided to him as he could carry and use4 ,in the absence of such anthropometer ,i have a perfect confidence in the natural laws4 ,i think that the community1--every community1 if obstructing laws and usages are removed1--will be the best measure and the justest judge of the citizen1 or will in the long run give the fairest verdict and reward2 better than any royal patronage2 better than any premium on race2 better than any statute elevating families to hereditary distinction1 or any class to sacerdotal education and power4 ,the verdict of battles will best prove the general2 the town-meeting1 the ,congress1 will not fail to find out legislative talent4 ,the prerogatives of a right physician are determined1 not by his diplomas1 but by the health he restores to body and mind2 the powers of a geometer by solving his problem2 of a priest by the act of inspiring us with a sentiment which disperses the grief from which we suffered4 ,when the lawyer tries his case in court he himself is also on trial and his own merits appear as well as his client's4 ,when old writers are consulted by young writers who have written their first book1 they say1 ,publish it by all means2 so only can you certainly know its quality4 ,but we venture to put any man in any place4 ,it is curious how negligent the public is of the essential qualifications of its representatives4 ,they ask if a man is a republican1 a democrat8 ,yes4 ,is he a man of talent8 ,yes4 ,is he honest and not looking for an office or any manner of bribe8 ,he is honest4 ,well then choose him by acclamation4 ,and they go home and tell their wives with great satisfaction what a good thing they have done4 ,but they forgot to ask the fourth question1 not less important than either of the others1 and without which the others do not avail4 ,has he a will8 ,can he carry his points against opposition8 ,probably not4 ,it is not sufficient that your work follows your genius1 or is organic1 to give you the magnetic power over men4 ,more than taste and talent must go to the ,will4 ,that must also be a gift of nature4 ,it is in some2 it is not in others4 ,but ,i should say1 if it is not in you1 you had better not put yourself in places where not to have it is to be a public enemy4 ,the expectation and claims of mankind indicate the duties of this class4 ,some service they must pay4 ,we do not expect them to be saints1 and it is very pleasing to see the instinct of mankind on this matter1--how much they will forgive to such as pay substantial service and work energetically after their kind2 but they do not extend the same indulgence to those who claim and enjoy the same prerogative but render no returns4 ,the day is darkened when the golden river runs down into mud2 when genius grows idle and wanton and reckless of its fine duties of being ,saint1 ,prophet1 ,inspirer to its humble fellows1 baulks their respect and confounds their understanding by silly extravagances4 ,to a right aristocracy1 to ,hercules1 to ,theseus1 ,odin1 the ,cid1 ,napoleon2 to ,sir ,robert ,walpole1 to ,fox1 ,chatham1 ,mirabeau1 ,jefferson1 ,o',connell2--to the men1 that is1 who are incomparably superior to the populace in ways agreeable to the populace1 showing them the way they should go1 doing for them what they wish done and cannot do2--of course everything will be permitted and pardoned1--gaming1 drinking1 fighting1 luxury4 ,these are the heads of party1 who can do no wrong1--everything short of infamous crime will pass4 ,but if those who merely sit in their places and are not1 like them1 able2 if the dressed and perfumed gentleman1 who serves the people in no wise and adorns them not1 is not even not afraid of them1 if such an one go about to set ill examples and corrupt them1 who shall blame them if they burn his barns1 insult his children1 assault his person1 and express their unequivocal indignation and contempt8 ,he eats their bread1 he does not scorn to live by their labor1 and after breakfast he cannot remember that there are human beings4 ,to live without duties is obscene4 #b4 ,genius1 what is so called in strictness1--the power to affect the ,imagination1 as possessed by the orator1 the poet1 the novelist1 or the artist1--has a royal right in all possessions and privileges1 being itself representative and accepted by all men as their delegate4 ,it has indeed the best right1 because it raises men above themselves1 intoxicates them with beauty4 ,they are honored by rendering it honor1 and the reason of this allowance is that ,genius unlocks for all men the chains of use1 temperament and drudgery1 and gives them a sense of delicious liberty and power4 ,the first example that occurs is an extraordinary gift of eloquence4 ,a man who has that possession of his means and that magnetism that he can at all times carry the convictions of a public assembly1 we must respect1 and he is thereby ennobled4 ,he has the freedom of the city4 ,he is entitled to neglect trifles4 ,like a great general1 or a great poet1 or a millionaire1 he may wear his coat out at elbows1 and his hat on his feet1 if he will4 ,he has established relation1 representativeness4 ,the best feat of genius is to bring all the varieties of talent and culture into its audience2 the mediocre and the dull are reached as well as the intelligent4 ,i have seen it conspicuously shown in a village4 ,here are classes which day by day have no intercourse1 nothing beyond perhaps a surly nod in passing4 ,but ,i have seen a man of teeming brain come among these men1 so full of his facts1 so unable to suppress them1 that he has poured out a river of knowledge to all comers1 and drawing all these men round him1 all sorts of men1 interested the whole village1 good and bad1 bright and stupid1 in his facts2 the iron boundary lines had all faded away2 the stupid had discovered that they were not stupid2 the coldest had found themselves drawn to their neighbors by interest in the same things4 ,this was a naturalist4 ,the more familiar examples of this power certainly are those who establish a wider dominion over men's minds than any speech can2 who think1 and paint1 and laugh1 and weep1 in their eloquent closets1 and then convert the world into a huge whispering gallery1 to report the tale to all men1 and win smiles and tears from many generations4 ,the eminent examples are ,shakspeare1 ,cervantes1 ,bunyan1 ,burns1 ,scott1 and now we must add ,dickens4 ,in the fine arts1 ,i find none in the present age who have any popular power1 who have achieved any nobility by ennobling the people4 #c4 ,elevation of sentiment1 refining and inspiring the manners1 must really take the place of every distinction whether of material power or of intellectual gifts4 ,the manners of course must have that depth and firmness of tone to attest their centrality in the nature of the man4 ,i mean the things themselves shall be judges1 and determine4 ,in the presence of this nobility even genius must stand aside4 ,for the two poles of nature are ,beauty and ,meanness1 and noble sentiment is the highest form of ,beauty4 ,he is beautiful in face1 in port1 in manners1 who is absorbed in objects which he truly believes to be superior to himself4 ,is there any parchment or any cosmetic or any blood that can obtain homage like that security of air presupposing so undoubtingly the sympathy of men in his designs8 ,what is it that makes the true knight8 ,loyalty to his thought4 ,that makes the beautiful scorn1 the elegant simplicity1 the directness1 the commanding port which all men admire and which men not noble affect4 ,for the thought has no debts1 no hunger1 no lusts1 no low obligations or relations1 no intrigue or business1 no murder1 no envy1 no crime1 but large leisures and an inviting future4 ,the service we receive from the great is a mutual deference4 ,if you deal with the vulgar1 life is reduced to beggary indeed4 ,the astronomers are very eager to know whether the moon has an atmosphere2 ,i am only concerned that every man have one4 ,i observe however that it takes two to make an atmosphere4 ,i am acquainted with persons who go attended with this ambient cloud4 ,it is sufficient that they come4 ,it is not important what they say4 ,the sun and the evening sky are not calmer4 ,they seem to have arrived at the fact1 to have got rid of the show1 and to be serene4 ,their manners and behavior in the house and in the field are those of men at rest3 what have they to conceal8 what have they to exhibit8 ,others ,i meet1 who have no deference1 and who denude and strip one of all attributes but material values4 ,as much health and muscle as you have1 as much land1 as much house-room and dinner1 avails4 ,of course a man is a poor bag of bones4 ,there is no gracious interval1 not an inch allowed4 ,bone rubs against bone4 ,life is thus a ,beggar's ,bush4 ,i know nothing which induces so base and forlorn a feeling as when we are treated for our utilities1 as economists do1 starving the imagination and the sentiment4 ,in this impoverishing animation1 ,i seem to meet a ,hunger1 a wolf4 ,rather let us be alone whilst we live1 than encounter these lean kine4 ,man should emancipate man4 ,he does so1 not by jamming him1 but by distancing him4 ,the nearer my friend1 the more spacious is our realm1 the more diameter our spheres have4 ,it is a measure of culture1 the number of things taken for granted4 ,when a man begins to speak1 the churl will take him up by disputing his first words1 so he cannot come at his scope4 ,the wise man takes all for granted until he sees the parallelism of that which puzzled him with his own view4 ,i will not protract this discourse by describing the duties of the brave and generous4 ,and yet ,i will venture to name one1 and the same is almost the sole condition on which knighthood is to be won2 this1 namely1 loyalty to your own order4 ,the true aristocrat is he who is at the head of his own order1 and disloyalty is to mistake other chivalries for his own4 ,let him not divide his homage1 but stand for that which he was born and set to maintain4 ,it was objected to ,gustavus that he did not better distinguish between the duties of a carabine and a general1 but exposed himself to all dangers and was too prodigal of a blood so precious4 ,for a soul on which elevated duties are laid will so realize its special and lofty duties as not to be in danger of assuming through a low generosity those which do not belong to it4 ,there are all degrees of nobility1 but amid the levity and giddiness of people one looks round1 as for a tower of strength1 on some self-dependent mind1 who does not go abroad for an estimate1 and has long ago made up its conclusion that it is impossible to fail4 ,the great ,indian sages had a lesson for the ,brahmin1 which every day returns to mind1 8,all that depends on another gives pain2 all that depends on himself gives pleasure2 in these few words is the definition of pleasure and pain40 ,the noble mind is here to teach us that failure is a part of success4 ,prosperity and pound-cake are for very young gentlemen1 whom such things content2 but a hero's1 a man's success is made up of failures1 because he experiments and ventures every day1 and 8the more falls he gets1 moves faster on20 defeated all the time and yet to victory born4 ,i have heard that in horsemanship he is not the good rider who never was thrown1 but rather that a man never will be a good rider until he is thrown2 then he will not be haunted any longer by the terror that he shall tumble1 and will ride2--that is his business1--to ride1 whether with falls or whether with none1 to ride unto the place whither he is bound4 ,and ,i know no such unquestionable badge and ensign of a sovereign mind1 as that tenacity of purpose which1 through all change of companions1 of parties1 of fortunes1--changes never1 bates no jot of heart or hope1 but wearies out opposition1 and arrives at its port4 ,in his consciousness of deserving success1 the caliph ,ali constantly neglected the ordinary means of attaining it2 and to the grand interests1 a superficial success is of no account4 ,it prospers as well in mistake as in luck1 in obstruction and nonsense1 as well as among the angels2 it reckons fortunes mere paint2 difficulty is its delight3 perplexity is its noonday3 minds that make their way without winds and against tides4 ,but these are rare and difficult examples1 we can only indicate them to show how high is the range of the realm of ,honor4 ,i know the feeling of the most ingenious and excellent youth in ,america2 ,i hear the complaint of the aspirant that we have no prizes offered to the ambition of virtuous young men2 that there is no ,theban ,band2 no stern exclusive ,legion of ,honor1 to be entered only by long and real service and patient climbing up all the steps4 ,we have a rich men's aristocracy1 plenty of bribes for those who like them2 but a grand style of culture1 which1 without injury1 an ardent youth can propose to himself as a ,pharos through long dark years1 does not exist1 and there is no substitute4 ,the youth1 having got through the first thickets that oppose his entrance into life1 having got into decent society1 is left to himself1 and falls abroad with too much freedom4 ,but in the hours of insight we rally against this skepticism4 ,we then see that if the ignorant are around us1 the great are much more near2 that there is an order of men1 never quite absent1 who enroll no names in their archives but of such as are capable of truth4 ,they are gathered in no one chamber2 no chamber would hold them2 but1 out of the vast duration of man's race1 they tower like mountains1 and are present to every mind in proportion to its likeness to theirs4 ,the solitariest man who shares their spirit walks environed by them2 they talk to him1 they comfort him1 and happy is he who prefers these associates to profane companions4 ,they also take shape in men1 in women4 ,there is no heroic trait1 no sentiment or thought that will not sometime embody itself in the form of a friend4 ,that highest good of rational existence is always coming to such as reject mean alliances4 ,one trait more we must celebrate1 the self-reliance which is the patent of royal natures4 ,it is so prized a jewel that it is sure to be tested4 ,the rules and discipline are ordered for that4 ,the ,golden ,table never lacks members2 all its seats are kept full2 but with this strange provision1 that the members are carefully withdrawn into deep niches1 so that no one of them can see any other of them1 and each believes himself alone4 ,in the presence of the ,chapter it is easy for each member to carry himself royally and well2 but in the absence of his colleagues and in the presence of mean people he is tempted to accept the low customs of towns4 ,the honor of a member consists in an indifferency to the persons and practices about him1 and in the pursuing undisturbed the career of a ,brother1 as if always in their presence1 and as if no other existed4 ,give up1 once for all1 the hope of approbation from the people in the street1 if you are pursuing great ends4 ,how can they guess your designs8 ,all reference to models1 all comparison with neighboring abilities and reputations1 is the road to mediocrity4 ,the generous soul1 on arriving in a new port1 makes instant preparation for a new voyage4 ,by experiment1 by original studies1 by secret obedience1 he has made a place for himself in the world2 stands there a real1 substantial1 unprecedented person1 and when the great come by1 as always there are angels walking in the earth1 they know him at sight4 ,effectual service in his own legitimate fashion distinguishes the true man4 ,for he is to know that the distinction of a royal nature is a great heart2 that not ,louis ,quatorze1 not ,chesterfield1 nor ,byron1 nor ,bonaparte is the model of the ,century1 but1 wherever found1 the old renown attaches to the virtues of simple faith and staunch endurance and clear perception and plain speech1 and that there is a master grace and dignity communicated by exalted sentiments to a human form1 to which utility and even genius must do homage4 ,and it is the sign and badge of this nobility1 the drawing his counsel from his own breast4 ,for to every gentleman1 grave and dangerous duties are proposed4 ,justice always wants champions4 ,the world waits for him as its defender1 for he will find in the well-dressed crowd1 yes1 in the civility of whole nations1 vulgarity of sentiment4 ,in the best parlors of modern society he will find the laughing devil1 the civil sneer2 in ,english palaces the ,london twist1 derision1 coldness1 contempt of the masses1 contempt of ,ireland1 dislike of the ,chartist4 ,the ,english ,house of ,commons is the proudest assembly of gentlemen in the world1 yet the genius of the ,house of ,commons1 its legitimate expression1 is a sneer4 ,in ,america he shall find deprecation of purism on all questions touching the morals of trade and of social customs1 and the narrowest contraction of ethics to the one duty of paying money4 ,pay that1 and you may play the tyrant at discretion and never look back to the fatal question1--where had you the money that you paid8 ,i know the difficulties in the way of the man of honor4 ,the man of honor is a man of taste and humanity4 ,by tendency1 like all magnanimous men1 he is a democrat4 ,but the revolution comes1 and does he join the standard of ,chartist and outlaw8 ,no1 for these have been dragged in their ignorance by furious chiefs to the ,red ,revolution2 they are full of murder1 and the student recoils1--and joins the rich4 ,if he cannot vote with the poor1 he should stay by himself4 ,let him accept the position of armed neutrality1 abhorring the crimes of the ,chartist1 abhorring the selfishness of the rich1 and say1 #8,the time will come when these poor enfans perdus of revolution will have instructed their party1 if only by their fate1 and wiser counsels will prevail2 the music and the dance of liberty will come up to bright and holy ground and will take me in also4 ,then ,i shall not have forfeited my right to speak and act for mankind4' ,meantime shame to the fop of learning and philosophy who suffers a vulgarity of speech and habit to blind him to the grosser vulgarity of pitiless selfishness1 and to hide from him the current of ,tendency2 who abandons his right position of being priest and poet of these impious and unpoetic doers of ,god's work4 ,you must1 for wisdom1 for sanity1 have some access to the mind and heart of the common humanity4 ,the exclusive excludes himself4 ,no great man has existed who did not rely on the sense and heart of mankind as represented by the good sense of the people1 as correcting the modes and over-refinements and class-prejudices of the lettered men of the world4 ,there are certain conditions in the highest degree favorable to the tranquillity of spirit and to that magnanimity we so prize4 ,and mainly the habit of considering large interests1 and things in masses1 and not too much in detail4 ,the habit of directing large affairs generates a nobility of thought in every mind of average ability4 ,for affairs themselves show the way in which they should be handled2 and a good head soon grows wise1 and does not govern too much4 ,now ,i believe in the closest affinity between moral and material power4 ,virtue and genius are always on the direct way to the control of the society in which they are found4 ,it is the interest of society that good men should govern1 and there is always a tendency so to place them4 ,but1 for the day that now is1 a man of generous spirit will not need to administer public offices or to direct large interests of trade1 or war1 or politics1 or manufacture1 but he will use a high prudence in the conduct of life to guard himself from being dissipated on many things4 ,there is no need that he should count the pounds of property or the numbers of agents whom his influence touches2 it suffices that his aims are high1 that the interest of intellectual and moral beings is paramount with him1 that he comes into what is called fine society from higher ground1 and he has an elevation of habit which ministers of empires will be forced to see and to remember4 ,i do not know whether that word ,gentleman1 although it signifies a leading idea in recent civilization1 is a sufficiently broad generalization to convey the deep and grave fact of self-reliance4 ,to many the word expresses only the outsides of cultivated men1--only graceful manners1 and independence in trifles2 but the fountains of that thought are in the deeps of man1 a beauty which reaches through and through1 from the manners to the soul2 an honor which is only a name for sanctity1 a self-trust which is a trust in ,god himself4 ,call it man of honor1 or call it ,man1 the ,american who would serve his country must learn the beauty and honor of perseverance1 he must reinforce himself by the power of character1 and revisit the margin of that well from which his fathers drew waters of life and enthusiasm1 the fountain ,i mean of the moral sentiments1 the parent fountain from which this goodly ,universe flows as a wave4 ,,footnotes3 ,footnote #d3 ,first read as a lecture--in ,england--in #ahdh2 here printed with additions from other papers4 ,,perpetual ,,forces4 ,,more servants wait on man ,than he'll take notice of4 ,,ever the ,rock of ,ages melts ,into the mineral air ,to be the quarry whence is built ,thought and its mansions fair4 ,,perpetual ,,forces4#e ,,the hero in the fairy tales has a servant who can eat granite rocks1 another who can hear the grass grow1 and a third who can run a hundred leagues in half an hour2 so man in nature is surrounded by a gang of friendly giants who can accept harder stints than these1 and help him in every kind4 ,each by itself has a certain omnipotence1 but all1 like contending kings and emperors1 in the presence of each other1 are antagonized and kept polite and own the balance of power4 ,we cannot afford to miss any advantage4 ,never was any man too strong for his proper work4 ,art is long1 and life short1 and he must supply this disproportion by borrowing and applying to his task the energies of ,nature4 ,reinforce his self-respect1 show him his means1 his arsenal of forces1 physical1 metaphysical1 immortal4 ,show him the riches of the poor1 show him what mighty allies and helpers he has4 ,and though ,king ,david had no good from making his census out of vain-glory1 yet ,i find it wholesome and invigorating to enumerate the resources we can command1 to look a little into this arsenal1 and see how many rounds of ammunition1 what muskets and how many arms better than ,springfield muskets we can bring to bear4 ,go out of doors and get the air4 ,ah1 if you knew what was in the air4 ,see what your robust neighbor1 who never feared to live in it1 has got from it2 strength1 cheerfulness1 power to convince1 heartiness and equality to each event4 ,all the earths are burnt metals4 ,one half the avoirdupois of the rocks which compose the solid crust of the globe consists of oxygen4 ,the adamant is always passing into smoke2 the marble column1 the brazen statue burn under the daylight1 and would soon decompose if their molecular structure1 disturbed by the raging sunlight1 were not restored by the darkness of the night4 ,what agencies of electricity1 gravity1 light1 affinity combine to make every plant what it is1 and in a manner so quiet that the presence of these tremendous powers is not ordinarily suspected4 ,faraday said1 8,a grain of water is known to have electric relations equivalent to a very powerful flash of lightning40 ,the ripe fruit is dropped at last without violence1 but the lightning fell and the storm raged and strata were deposited and uptorn and bent back1 and ,chaos moved from beneath1 to create and flavor the fruit on your table to-day4 ,the winds and the rains come back a thousand and a thousand times4 ,the coal on your grate gives out in decomposing to-day exactly the same amount of light and heat which was taken from the sunshine in its formation in the leaves and boughs of the antediluvian tree4 ,take up a spadeful or a buck-load of loam2 who can guess what it holds8 ,but a gardener knows that it is full of peaches1 full of oranges1 and he drops in a few seeds by way of keys to unlock and combine its virtues2 lets it lie in sun and rain1 and by and by it has lifted into the air its full weight in golden fruit4 ,the earliest hymns of the world were hymns to these natural forces4 ,the ,vedas of ,india1 which have a date older than ,homer1 are hymns to the winds1 to the clouds1 and to fire4 ,they all have certain properties which adhere to them1 such as conservation1 persisting to be themselves1 impossibility of being warped4 ,the sun has lost no beams1 the earth no elements2 gravity is as adhesive1 heat as expansive1 light as joyful1 air as virtuous1 water as medicinal as on the first day4 ,there is no loss1 only transference4 ,when the heat is less here it is not lost1 but more heat is there4 ,when the rain exceeds on the coast1 there is drought on the prairie4 ,when the continent sinks1 the opposite continent1 that is to say1 the opposite shore of the ocean1 rises4 ,when life is less here1 it spawns there4 ,these forces are in an ascending series1 but seem to leave no room for the individual2 man or atom1 he only shares them2 he sails the way these irresistible winds blow4 ,but behind all these are finer elements1 the sources of them1 and much more rapid and strong2 a new style and series1 the spiritual4 ,intellect and morals appear only the material forces on a higher plane4 ,the laws of material nature run up into the invisible world of the mind1 and hereby we acquire a key to those sublimities which skulk and hide in the caverns of human consciousness4 ,and in the impenetrable mystery which hides--and hides through absolute transparency--the mental nature1 ,i await the insight which our advancing knowledge of material laws shall furnish4 ,but the laws of force apply to every form of it4 ,the husbandry learned in the economy of heat or light or steam or muscular fibre applies precisely to the use of wit4 ,what ,i have said of the inexorable persistence of every elemental force to remain itself1 the impossibility of tampering with it or warping it1--the same rule applies again strictly to this force of intellect2 that it is perception1 a seeing1 not making1 thoughts4 ,the man must bend to the law1 never the law to him4 ,the brain of man has methods and arrangements corresponding to these material powers1 by which he can use them4 ,see how trivial is the use of the world by any other of its creatures4 ,whilst these forces act on us from the outside and we are not in their counsel1 we call them ,fate4 ,the animal instincts guide the animal as gravity governs the stone1 and in man that bias or direction of his constitution is often as tyrannical as gravity4 ,we call it temperament1 and it seems to be the remains of wolf1 ape1 and rattlesnake in him4 ,while the reason is yet dormant1 this rules2 as the reflective faculties open1 this subsides4 ,we come to reason and knowledge2 we see the causes of evils and learn to parry them and use them as instruments1 by knowledge1 being inside of them and dealing with them as the ,creator does4 ,it is curious to see how a creature so feeble and vulnerable as a man1 who1 unarmed1 is no match for the wild beasts1 tiger1 or crocodile1 none for the frost1 none for the sea1 none for a fog1 or a damp air1 or the feeble fork of a poor worm1--each of a thousand petty accidents puts him to death every day1--is yet able to subdue to his will these terrific forces1 and more than these4 ,his whole frame is responsive to the world1 part for part1 every sense1 every pore to a new element1 so that he seems to have as many talents as there are qualities in nature4 ,no force but is his force4 ,he does not possess them1 he is a pipe through which their currents flow4 ,if a straw be held still in the direction of the ocean-current1 the sea will pour through it as through ,gibraltar4 ,if he should measure strength with them1 if he should fight the sea and the whirlwind with his ship1 he would snap his spars1 tear his sails1 and swamp his bark2 but by cunningly dividing the force1 tapping the tempest for a little side-wind1 he uses the monsters1 and they carry him where he would go4 ,look at him2 you can give no guess at what power is in him4 ,it never appears directly1 but follow him and see his effects1 see his productions4 ,he is a planter1 a miner1 a shipbuilder1 a machinist1 a musician1 a steam-engine1 a geometer1 an astronomer1 a persuader of men1 a lawgiver1 a builder of towns2--and each of these by dint of a wonderful method or series that resides in him and enables him to work on the material elements4 ,we are surrounded by human thought and labor4 ,where are the farmer's days gone8 ,see1 they are hid in that stone-wall1 in that excavated trench1 in the harvest grown on what was shingle and pine-barren4 ,he put his days into carting from the distant swamp the mountain of muck which has been trundled about until it now makes the cover of fruitful soil4 ,labor hides itself in every mode and form4 ,it is massed and blocked away in that stone house1 for five hundred years4 ,it is twisted and screwed into fragrant hay which fills the barn4 ,it surprises in the perfect form and condition of trees clean of caterpillars and borers1 rightly pruned1 and loaded with grafted fruit4 ,it is under the house in the well2 it is over the house in slates and copper and water-spout2 it grows in the corn2 it delights us in the flower-bed2 it keeps the cow out of the garden1 the rain out of the library1 the miasma out of the town4 ,it is in dress1 in pictures1 in ships1 in cannon2 in every spectacle1 in odors1 in flavors1 in sweet sounds1 in works of safety1 of delight1 of wrath1 of science4 ,the thoughts1 no man ever saw1 but disorder becomes order where he goes2 weakness becomes power2 surprising and admirable effects follow him like a creator4 ,all forces are his2 as the wise merchant by truth in his dealings finds his credit unlimited1--he can use in turn1 as he wants it1 all the property in the world1--so a man draws on all the air for his occasions1 as if there were no other breather2 on all the water as if there were no other sailor2 he is warmed by the sun1 and so of every element2 he walks and works by the aid of gravitation2 he draws on all knowledge as his province1 on all beauty for his innocent delight1 and first or last he exhausts by his use all the harvests1 all the powers of the world4 ,for man1 the receiver of all1 and depositary of these volumes of power1 ,i am to say that his ability and performance are according to his reception of these various streams of force4 ,we define ,genius to be a sensibility to all the impressions of the outer world1 a sensibility so equal that it receives accurately all impressions1 and can truly report them without excess or loss as it received4 ,it must not only receive all1 but it must render all4 ,and the health of man is an equality of inlet and outlet1 gathering and giving4 ,any hoarding is tumor and disease4 ,if we were truly to take account of stock before the last ,court of ,appeals1--that were an inventory6 ,what are my resources8 8,our stock in life1 our real estate1 is that amount of thought which we have had10--and which we have applied1 and so domesticated4 ,the ground we have thus created is forever a fund for new thoughts4 ,a few moral maxims confirmed by much experience would stand high on the list1 constituting a supreme prudence4 ,then the knowledge unutterable of our private strength1 of where it lies1 of its accesses and facilitations1 and of its obstructions4 ,my conviction of principles1 that is great part of my possessions4 ,certain thoughts1 certain observations1 long familiar to me in night-watches and daylights1 would be my capital if ,i removed to ,spain or ,china1 or1 by stranger translation1 to the planet ,jupiter or ,mars1 or to new spiritual societies4 ,every valuable person who joins in an enterprise1--is it a piece of industry1 or the founding of a colony or a college1 the reform of some public abuse1 or some effort of patriotism1--what he chiefly brings1 all he brings1 is not his land or his money or body's strength1 but his thoughts1 his way of classifying and seeing things1 his method4 ,and thus with every one a new power4 ,in proportion to the depth of the insight is the power and reach of the kingdom he controls4 ,it would be easy to awake wonder by sketching the performance of each of these mental forces2 as of the diving-bell of the ,memory1 which descends into the deeps of our past and oldest experience and brings up every lost jewel2 or of the ,fancy1 which sends its gay balloon aloft into the sky to catch every tint and gleam of romance2 of the ,imagination1 which turns every dull fact into pictures and poetry1 by making it an emblem of thought4 ,what a power1 when1 combined with the analyzing understanding1 it makes ,eloquence2 the art of compelling belief1 the art of making peoples' hearts dance to his pipe6 ,and not less1 method1 patience1 self-trust1 perseverance1 love1 desire of knowledge1 the passion for truth4 ,these are the angels that take us by the hand1 these our immortal1 invulnerable guardians4 ,by their strength we are strong1 and on the signal occasions in our career their inspirations flow to us and make the selfish and protected and tenderly-bred person strong for his duty1 wise in counsel1 skilful in action1 competent to rule1 willing to obey4 ,i delight in tracing these wonderful powers1 the electricity and gravity of the human world4 ,the power of persistence1 of enduring defeat and of gaining victory by defeats1 is one of these forces which never loses its charm4 ,the power of a man increases steadily by continuance in one direction4 ,he becomes acquainted with the resistances1 and with his own tools2 increases his skill and strength and learns the favorable moments and favorable accidents4 ,he is his own apprentice1 and more time gives a great addition of power1 just as a falling body acquires momentum with every foot of the fall4 ,how we prize a good continuer6 ,i knew a manufacturer who found his property invested in chemical works which were depreciating in value4 ,he undertook the charge of them himself1 began at the beginning1 learned chemistry and acquainted himself with all the conditions of the manufacture4 ,his friends dissuaded him1 advised him to give up the work1 which was not suited to the country4 ,why throw good money after bad8 ,but he persisted1 and after many years succeeded in his production of the right article for commerce1 brought up the stock of his mills to par1 and then sold out his interest1 having accomplished the reform that was required4 ,in each the talent is the perception of an order and series in the department he deals with1--of an order and series which pre-existed in nature1 and which this mind sees and conforms to4 ,the geometer shows us the true order in figures2 the painter in laws of color2 the dancer in grace4 ,bonaparte1 with his celerity of combination1 mute1 unfathomable1 reads the geography of ,europe as if his eyes were telescopes2 his will is an immense battery discharging irresistible volleys of power always at the right point in the right time4 ,there was a story in the journals of a poor prisoner in a ,western police-court who was told he might be released if he would pay his fine4 ,he had no money1 he had no friends1 but he took his flute out of his pocket and began to play1 to the surprise1 and1 as it proved1 to the delight of all the company2 the jurors waked up1 the sheriff forgot his duty1 the judge himself beat time1 and the prisoner was by general consent of court and officers allowed to go his way without any money4 ,and ,i suppose1 if he could have played loud enough1 we here should have beat time1 and the whole population of the globe would beat time1 and consent that he should go without his fine4 ,i knew a stupid young farmer1 churlish1 living only for his gains1 and with whom the only intercourse you could have was to buy what he had to sell4 ,one day ,i found his little boy of four years dragging about after him the prettiest little wooden cart1 so neatly built1 and with decorations too1 and learned that ,papa had made it2 that hidden deep in that thick skull was this gentle art and taste which the little fingers and caresses of his son had the power to draw out into day2 he was no peasant after all4 ,so near to us is the flowering of ,fine ,art in the rudest population4 ,see in a circle of school-girls one with no beauty1 no special vivacity1--but she can so recite her adventures that she is never alone1 but at night or at morning wherever she sits the inevitable circle gathers around her1 willing prisoners of that wonderful memory and fancy and spirit of life4 ,would you know where to find her8 ,listen for the laughter1 follow the cheerful hum1 see where is the rapt attention1 and a pretty crowd all bright with one electricity2 there in the centre of fellowship and joy is ,scheherazade again4 ,see how rich life is2 rich in private talents1 each of which charms us in turn and seems the best4 ,if we hear music we give up all to that2 if we fall in with a cricket-club and see the game masterly played1 the best player is the first of men2 if we go to the regatta1 we forget the bowler for the stroke oar2 and when the soldier comes home from the fight1 he fills all eyes4 ,but the soldier has the same admiration of the great parliamentary debater4 ,and poetry and literature are disdainful of all these claims beside their own4 ,like the boy who thought in turn each one of the four seasons the best1 and each of the three hundred and sixty-five days in the year the crowner4 ,the sensibility is all4 ,every one knows what are the effects of music to put people in gay or mournful or martial mood4 ,but these are the effects on dull subjects1 and only the hint of its power on a keener sense4 ,it is a stroke on a loose or tense cord4 ,the story of ,orpheus1 of ,arion1 of the ,arabian minstrel1 are not fables1 but experiments on the same iron at white heat4 ,by this wondrous susceptibility to all the impressions of ,nature the man finds himself the receptacle of celestial thoughts1 of happy relations to all men4 ,the imagination enriches him1 as if there were no other2 the memory opens all her cabinets and archives2 ,science her length and breadth1 ,poetry her splendor and joy and the august circles of eternal law4 ,these are means and stairs for new ascensions of the mind4 ,but they are nowise impoverished for any other mind1 not tarnished1 not breathed upon2 for the mighty ,intellect did not stoop to him and become property1 but he rose to it and followed its circuits4 8,it is ours while we use it1 it is not ours when we do not use it40 ,and so1 one step higher1 when he comes into the realm of sentiment and will4 ,he sees the grandeur of justice1 the victory of love1 the eternity that belongs to all moral nature4 ,he does not then invent his sentiment or his act1 but obeys a pre-existing right which he sees4 ,we arrive at virtue by taking its direction instead of imposing ours4 ,the last revelation of intellect and of sentiment is that in a manner it severs the man from all other men2 makes known to him that the spiritual powers are sufficient to him if no other being existed2 that he is to deal absolutely in the world1 as if he alone were a system and a state1 and though all should perish could make all anew4 ,the forces are infinite4 ,every one has the might of all1 for the secret of the world is that its energies are solidaires2 that they work together on a system of mutual aid1 all for each and each for all2 that the strain made on one point bears on every arch and foundation of the structure4 ,but if you wish to avail yourself of their might1 and in like manner if you wish the force of the intellect1 the force of the will1 you must take their divine direction1 not they yours4 ,obedience alone gives the right to command4 ,it is like the village operator who taps the telegraph-wire and surprises the secrets of empires as they pass to the capital4 ,so this child of the dust throws himself by obedience into the circuit of the heavenly wisdom1 and shares the secret of ,god4 ,thus is the world delivered into your hand1 but on two conditions1--not for property1 but for use1 use according to the noble nature of the gifts2 and not for toys1 not for self-indulgence4 ,things work to their ends1 not to yours1 and will certainly defeat any adventurer who fights against this ordination4 ,the effort of men is to use them for private ends4 ,they wish to pocket land and water and fire and air and all fruits of these1 for property1 and would like to have ,aladdin's lamp to compel darkness1 and iron-bound doors1 and hostile armies1 and lions and serpents to serve them like footmen4 ,and they wish the same service from the spiritual faculties4 ,a man has a rare mathematical talent1 inviting him to the beautiful secrets of geometry1 and wishes to clap a patent on it2 or has the fancy and invention of a poet1 and says1 #8,i will write a play that shall be repeated in ,london a hundred nights2' or a military genius1 and instead of using that to defend his country1 he says1 #8,i will fight the battle so as to give me place and political consideration2' or ,canning or ,thurlow has a genius of debate1 and says1 #8,i will know how with this weapon to defend the cause that will pay best and make me ,chancellor or ,foreign ,secretary4' ,but this perversion is punished with instant loss of true wisdom and real power4 ,i find the survey of these cosmical powers a doctrine of consolation in the dark hours of private or public fortune4 ,it shows us the world alive1 guided1 incorruptible2 that its cannon cannot be stolen nor its virtues misapplied4 ,it shows us the long ,providence1 the safeguards of rectitude4 ,it animates exertion2 it warns us out of that despair into which ,saxon men are prone to fall1--out of an idolatry of forms1 instead of working to simple ends1 in the belief that ,heaven always succors us in working for these4 ,this world belongs to the energetical4 ,it is a fagot of laws1 and a true analysis of these laws1 showing how immortal and how self-protecting they are1 would be a wholesome lesson for every time and for this time4 ,that band which ties them together is unity1 is universal good1 saturating all with one being and aim1 so that each translates the other1 is only the same spirit applied to new departments4 ,things are saturated with the moral law4 ,there is no escape from it4 ,violets and grass preach it2 rain and snow1 wind and tides1 every change1 every cause in ,nature is nothing but a disguised missionary4 ,all our political disasters grow as logically out of our attempts in the past to do without justice1 as the sinking of some part of your house comes of defect in the foundation4 ,one thing is plain2 a certain personal virtue is essential to freedom2 and it begins to be doubtful whether our corruption in this country has not gone a little over the mark of safety1 so that when canvassed we shall be found to be made up of a majority of reckless self-seekers4 ,the divine knowledge has ebbed out of us and we do not know enough to be free4 ,i hope better of the state4 ,half a man's wisdom goes with his courage4 ,a boy who knows that a bully lives round the corner which he must pass on his daily way to school1 is apt to take sinister views of streets and of school-education4 ,and a sensitive politician suffers his ideas of the part ,new ,york or ,pennsylvania or ,ohio are to play in the future of the ,union1 to be fashioned by the election of rogues in some counties4 ,but we must not gratify the rogues so deeply4 ,there is a speedy limit to profligate politics4 ,fear disenchants life and the world4 ,if ,i have not my own respect ,i am an impostor1 not entitled to other men's1 and had better creep into my grave4 ,i admire the sentiment of ,thoreau1 who said1 8,nothing is so much to be feared as fear2 ,god himself likes atheism better40 ,for the world is a battle-ground2 every principle is a war-note1 and the most quiet and protected life is at any moment exposed to incidents which test your firmness4 ,the illusion that strikes me as the masterpiece in that ring of illusions which our life is1 is the timidity with which we assert our moral sentiment4 ,we are made of it1 the world is built by it1 things endure as they share it2 all beauty1 all health1 all intelligence exist by it2 yet we shrink to speak of it or to range ourselves by its side4 ,nay1 we presume strength of him or them who deny it4 ,cities go against it2 the college goes against it1 the courts snatch at any precedent1 at any vicious form of law to rule it out2 legislatures listen with appetite to declamations against it1 and vote it down4 ,every new asserter of the right surprises us1 like a man joining the church1 and we hardly dare believe he is in earnest4 ,what we do and suffer is in moments1 but the cause of right for which we labor never dies1 works in long periods1 can afford many checks1 gains by our defeats1 and will know how to compensate our extremest sacrifice4 ,wrath and petulance may have their short success1 but they quickly reach their brief date and decompose1 whilst the massive might of ideas is irresistible at last4 ,whence does the knowledge come8 ,where is the source of power8 ,the soul of ,god is poured into the world through the thoughts of men4 ,the world stands on ideas1 and not on iron or cotton2 and the iron of iron1 the fire of fire1 the ether and source of all the elements is moral force4 ,as cloud on cloud1 as snow on snow1 as the bird on the air1 and the planet on space in its flight1 so do nations of men and their institutions rest on thoughts4 ,,footnotes3 ,footnote #e3 ,reprinted from the ,north ,american ,review1 ,no4 #abe1 #ahgg4 ,,character4 ,,shun passion1 fold the hands of thrift1 ,sit still1 and ,truth is near2 ,suddenly it will uplift ,your eyelids to the sphere3 ,wait a little1 you shall see ,the portraiture of things to be4 ,,for what need ,i of book or priest ,or ,sibyl from the mummied ,east ,when every star is ,bethlehem ,star1-- ,i count as many as there are ,cinquefoils or violets in the grass1 ,so many saints and saviours1 ,so many high behaviours4 ,,character4#f ,,morals respects what men call goodness1 that which all men agree to honor as justice1 truth-speaking1 good-will and good works4 ,morals respects the source or motive of this action4 ,it is the science of substances1 not of shows4 ,it is the what1 and not the how4 ,it is that which all men profess to regard1 and by their real respect for which recommend themselves to each other4 ,there is this eternal advantage to morals1 that1 in the question between truth and goodness1 the moral cause of the world lies behind all else in the mind4 ,it was for good1 it is to good1 that all works4 ,surely it is not to prove or show the truth of things1--that sounds a little cold and scholastic1--no1 it is for benefit1 that all subsists4 ,as we say in our modern politics1 catching at last the language of morals1 that the object of the ,state is the greatest good of the greatest number1--so1 the reason we must give for the existence of the world is1 that it is for the benefit of all being4 ,morals implies freedom and will4 ,the will constitutes the man4 ,he has his life in ,nature1 like a beast3 but choice is born in him2 here is he that chooses2 here is the ,declaration of ,independence1 the ,july ,fourth of zology and astronomy4 ,he chooses1--as the rest of the creation does not4 ,but will1 pure and perceiving1 is not wilfulness4 ,when a man1 through stubbornness1 insists to do this or that1 something absurd or whimsical1 only because he will1 he is weak2 he blows with his lips against the tempest1 he dams the incoming ocean with his cane4 ,it were an unspeakable calamity if any one should think he had the right to impose a private will on others4 ,that is the part of a striker1 an assassin4 ,all violence1 all that is dreary and repels1 is not power but the absence of power4 ,morals is the direction of the will on universal ends4 ,he is immoral who is acting to any private end4 ,he is moral1--we say it with ,marcus ,aurelius and with ,kant1--whose aim or motive may become a universal rule1 binding on all intelligent beings2 and with ,vauvenargues1 8the mercenary sacrifice of the public good to a private interest is the eternal stamp of vice40 ,all the virtues are special directions of this motive2 justice is the application of this good of the whole to the affairs of each one2 courage is contempt of danger in the determination to see this good of the whole enacted2 love is delight in the preference of that benefit redounding to another over the securing of our own share2 humility is a sentiment of our insignificance when the benefit of the universe is considered4 ,if from these external statements we seek to come a little nearer to the fact1 our first experiences in moral as in intellectual nature force us to discriminate a universal mind1 identical in all men4 ,certain biases1 talents1 executive skills1 are special to each individual2 but the high1 contemplative1 all-commanding vision1 the sense of ,right and ,wrong1 is alike in all4 ,its attributes are self-existence1 eternity1 intuition and command4 ,it is the mind of the mind4 ,we belong to it1 not it to us4 ,it is in all men1 and constitutes them men4 ,in bad men it is dormant1 as health is in men entranced or drunken2 but1 however inoperative1 it exists underneath whatever vices and errors4 ,the extreme simplicity of this intuition embarrasses every attempt at analysis4 ,we can only mark1 one by one1 the perfections which it combines in every act4 ,it admits of no appeal1 looks to no superior essence4 ,it is the reason of things4 ,the antagonist nature is the individual1 formed into a finite body of exact dimensions1 with appetites which take from everybody else what they appropriate to themselves1 and would enlist the entire spiritual faculty of the individual1 if it were possible1 in catering for them4 ,on the perpetual conflict between the dictate of this universal mind and the wishes and interests of the individual1 the moral discipline of life is built4 ,the one craves a private benefit1 which the other requires him to renounce out of respect to the absolute good4 ,every hour puts the individual in a position where his wishes aim at something which the sentiment of duty forbids him to seek4 ,he that speaks the truth executes no private function of an individual will1 but the world utters a sound by his lips4 ,he who doth a just action seeth therein nothing of his own1 but an inconceivable nobleness attaches to it1 because it is a dictate of the general mind4 ,we have no idea of power so simple and so entire as this4 ,it is the basis of thought1 it is the basis of being4 ,compare all that we call ourselves1 all our private and personal venture in the world1 with this deep of moral nature in which we lie1 and our private good becomes an impertinence1 and we take part with hasty shame against ourselves3-- 8,high instincts1 before which our mortal nature ,doth tremble like a guilty thing surprised1-- ,which1 be they what they may1 ,are yet the fountain-light of all our day1 ,are yet the master-light of all our seeing1-- ,uphold us1 cherish1 and have power to make ,our noisy years seem moments in the being ,of the eternal silence1--truths that wake ,to perish never40 ,the moral element invites man to great enlargements1 to find his satisfaction1 not in particulars or events1 but in the purpose and tendency2 not in bread1 but in his right to his bread2 not in much corn or wool1 but in its communication4 ,not by adding1 then1 does the moral sentiment help us2 no1 but in quite another manner4 ,it puts us in place4 ,it centres1 it concentrates us4 ,it puts us at the heart of ,nature1 where we belong1 in the cabinet of science and of causes1 there where all the wires terminate which hold the world in magnetic unity1 and so converts us into universal beings4 ,this wonderful sentiment1 which endears itself as it is obeyed1 seems to be the fountain of intellect2 for no talent gives the impression of sanity1 if wanting this2 nay1 it absorbs everything into itself4 ,truth1 ,power1 ,goodness1 ,beauty1 are its varied names1--faces of one substance1 the heart of all4 ,before it1 what are persons1 prophets1 or seraphim but its passing agents1 momentary rays of its light8 ,the moral sentiment is alone omnipotent4 ,there is no labor or sacrifice to which it will not bring a man1 and which it will not make easy4 ,thus there is no man who will bargain to sell his life1 say at the end of a year1 for a million or ten millions of gold dollars in hand1 or for any temporary pleasures1 or for any rank1 as of peer or prince2 but many a man who does not hesitate to lay down his life for the sake of a truth1 or in the cause of his country1 or to save his son or his friend4 ,and under the action of this sentiment of the ,right1 his heart and mind expand above himself1 and above ,nature4 ,though ,love repine1 and ,reason chafe1 ,there came a voice without reply1-- 8',tis man's perdition to be safe1 ,when for the truth he ought to die40 ,such is the difference of the action of the heart within and of the senses without4 ,one is enthusiasm1 and the other more or less amounts of horsepower4 ,devout men1 in the endeavor to express their convictions1 have used different images to suggest this latent force2 as1 the light1 the seed1 the ,spirit1 the ,holy ,ghost1 the ,comforter1 the ,dmon1 the still1 small voice1 etc41--all indicating its power and its latency4 ,it is serenely above all mediation4 ,in all ages1 to all men1 it saith1 ,i am2 and he who hears it feels the impiety of wandering from this revelation to any record or to any rival4 ,the poor ,jews of the wilderness cried3 8,let not the ,lord speak to us2 let ,moses speak to us40 ,but the simple and sincere soul makes the contrary prayer3 #8,let no intruder come between thee and me2 deal ,,thou with me2 let me know it is thy will1 and ,i ask no more4' ,the excellence of ,jesus1 and of every true teacher1 is1 that he affirms the ,divinity in him and in us1--not thrusts himself between it and us4 ,it would instantly indispose us to any person claiming to speak for the ,author of ,nature1 the setting forth any fact or law which we did not find in our consciousness4 ,we should say with ,heraclitus3 8,come into this smoky cabin2 ,god is here also3 approve yourself to him40 ,we affirm that in all men is this majestic perception and command2 that it is the presence of the ,eternal in each perishing man2 that it distances and degrades all statements of whatever saints1 heroes1 poets1 as obscure and confused stammerings before its silent revelation4 ,they report the truth4 ,it is the truth4 ,when ,i think of ,reason1 of ,truth1 of ,virtue1 ,i cannot conceive them as lodged in your soul and lodged in my soul1 but that you and ,i and all souls are lodged in that2 and ,i may easily speak of that adorable nature1 there where only ,i behold it in my dim experiences1 in such terms as shall seem to the frivolous1 who dare not fathom their consciousness1 as profane4 ,how is a man a man8 ,how can he exist to weave relations of joy and virtue with other souls1 but because he is inviolable1 anchored at the centre of ,truth and ,being8 ,in the ever-returning hour of reflection1 he says3 #8,i stand here glad at heart of all the sympathies ,i can awaken and share1 clothing myself with them as with a garment of shelter and beauty1 and yet knowing that it is not in the power of all who surround me to take from me the smallest thread ,i call mine4 ,if all things are taken away1 ,i have still all things in my relation to the ,eternal4' ,we pretend not to define the way of its access to the private heart4 ,it passes understanding4 ,there was a time when ,christianity existed in one child4 ,but if the child had been killed by ,herod1 would the element have been lost8 ,god sends his message1 if not by one1 then quite as well by another4 ,when the ,master of the ,universe has ends to fulfill1 he impresses his will on the structure of minds4 ,the ,divine ,mind imparts itself to the single person3 his whole duty is to this rule and teaching4 ,the aid which others give us is like that of the mother to the child1--temporary1 gestative1 a short period of lactation1 a nurse's or a governess's care2 but on his arrival at a certain maturity1 it ceases1 and would be hurtful and ridiculous if prolonged4 ,slowly the body comes to the use of its organs2 slowly the soul unfolds itself in the new man4 ,it is partial at first1 and honors only some one or some few truths4 ,in its companions it sees other truths honored1 and successively finds their foundation also in itself4 ,then it cuts the cord1 and no longer believes 8because of thy saying10 but because it has recognized them in itself4 ,the ,divine ,mind imparts itself to the single person3 but it is also true that men act powerfully on us4 ,there are men who astonish and delight1 men who instruct and guide4 ,some men's words ,i remember so well that ,i must often use them to express my thought4 ,yes1 because ,i perceive that we have heard the same truth1 but they have heard it better4 ,that is only to say1 there is degree and gradation throughout ,nature2 and the ,deity does not break his firm laws in respect to imparting truth1 more than in imparting material heat and light4 ,men appear from time to time who receive with more purity and fulness these high communications4 ,but it is only as fast as this hearing from another is authorized by its consent with his own1 that it is pure and safe to each2 and all receiving from abroad must be controlled by this immense reservation4 ,it happens now and then1 in the ages1 that a soul is born which has no weakness of self1 which offers no impediment to the ,divine ,spirit1 which comes down into ,nature as if only for the benefit of souls1 and all its thoughts are perceptions of things as they are1 without any infirmity of earth4 ,such souls are as the apparition of gods among men1 and simply by their presence pass judgment on them4 ,men are forced by their own self-respect to give them a certain attention4 ,evil men shrink and pay involuntary homage by hiding or apologizing for their action4 ,when a man is born with a profound moral sentiment1 preferring truth1 justice and the serving of all men to any honors or any gain1 men readily feel the superiority4 ,they who deal with him are elevated with joy and hope2 he lights up the house or the landscape in which he stands4 ,his actions are poetic and miraculous in their eyes4 ,in his presence1 or within his influence1 every one believes in the immortality of the soul4 ,they feel that the invisible world sympathizes with him4 ,the ,arabians delight in expressing the sympathy of the unseen world with holy men4 ,when ,omar prayed and loved1 ,where ,syrian waters roll1 ,aloft the ninth heaven glowed and moved ,to the tread of the jubilant soul4 ,a chief event of life is the day in which we have encountered a mind that startled us by its large scope4 ,i am in the habit of thinking1--not1 ,i hope1 out of a partial experience1 but confirmed by what ,i notice in many lives1--that to every serious mind ,providence sends from time to time five or six or seven teachers who are of the first importance to him in the lessons they have to impart4 ,the highest of these not so much give particular knowledge1 as they elevate by sentiment and by their habitual grandeur of view4 ,great men serve us as insurrections do in bad governments4 ,the world would run into endless routine1 and forms incrust forms1 till the life was gone4 ,but the perpetual supply of new genius shocks us with thrills of life1 and recalls us to principles4 ,lucifer's wager in the old drama was1 8,there is no steadfast man on earth40 ,he is very rare4 8,a man is already of consequence in the world when it is known that we can implicitly rely on him40 ,see how one noble person dwarfs a whole nation of underlings4 ,this steadfastness we indicate when we praise character4 ,character denotes habitual self-possession1 habitual regard to interior and constitutional motives1 a balance not to be overset or easily disturbed by outward events and opinion1 and by implication points to the source of right motive4 ,we sometimes employ the word to express the strong and consistent will of men of mixed motive1 but1 when used with emphasis1 it points to what no events can change1 that is1 a will built on the reason of things4 ,such souls do not come in troops3 oftenest appear solitary1 like a general without his command1 because those who can understand and uphold such appear rarely1 not many1 perhaps not one1 in a generation4 ,and the memory and tradition of such a leader is preserved in some strange way by those who only half understand him1 until a true disciple comes1 who apprehends and interprets every word4 ,the sentiment never stops in pure vision1 but will be enacted4 ,it affirms not only its truth1 but its supremacy4 ,it is not only insight1 as science1 as fancy1 as imagination is2 or an entertainment1 as friendship and poetry are2 but it is a sovereign rule3 and the acts which it suggests--as when it impels a man to go forth and impart it to other men1 or sets him on some asceticism or some practice of self-examination to hold him to obedience1 or some zeal to unite men to abate some nuisance1 or establish some reform or charity which it commands--are the homage we render to this sentiment1 as compared with the lower regard we pay to other thoughts3 and the private or social practices we establish in its honor we call religion4 ,the sentiment1 of course1 is the judge and measure of every expression of it1--measures ,judaism1 ,stoicism1 ,christianity1 ,buddhism1 or whatever philanthropy1 or politics1 or saint1 or seer pretends to speak in its name4 ,the religions we call false were once true4 ,they also were affirmations of the conscience correcting the evil customs of their times4 ,the populace drag down the gods to their own level1 and give them their egotism2 whilst in ,nature is none at all1 ,god keeping out of sight1 and known only as pure law1 though resistless4 ,chteaubriand said1 with some irreverence of phrase1 ,if ,god made man in his image1 man has paid him well back4 8,si ,dieu a fait l'homme son image1 l'homme l'a bien rendu40 ,every nation is degraded by the goblins it worships instead of this ,deity4 ,the ,dionysia and ,saturnalia of ,greece and ,rome1 the human sacrifice of the ,druids1 the ,sradda of ,hindoos1 the ,purgatory1 the ,indulgences1 and the ,inquisition of ,popery1 the vindictive mythology of ,calvinism1 are examples of this perversion4 ,every particular instruction is speedily embodied in a ritual1 is accommodated to humble and gross minds1 and corrupted4 ,the moral sentiment is the perpetual critic on these forms1 thundering its protest1 sometimes in earnest and lofty rebuke2 but sometimes also it is the source1 in natures less pure1 of sneers and flippant jokes of common people1 who feel that the forms and dogmas are not true for them1 though they do not see where the error lies4 ,the religion of one age is the literary entertainment of the next4 ,we use in our idlest poetry and discourse the words ,jove1 ,neptune1 ,mercury1 as mere colors1 and can hardly believe that they had to the lively ,greek the anxious meaning which1 in our towns1 is given and received in churches when our religious names are used3 and we read with surprise the horror of ,athens when1 one morning1 the statues of ,mercury in the temples were found broken1 and the like consternation was in the city as if1 in ,boston1 all the ,orthodox churches should be burned in one night4 ,the greatest dominion will be to the deepest thought4 ,the establishment of ,christianity in the world does not rest on any miracle but the miracle of being the broadest and most humane doctrine4 ,christianity was once a schism and protest against the impieties of the time1 which had originally been protests against earlier impieties1 but had lost their truth4 ,varnhagen von ,ense1 writing in ,prussia in #ahdh1 says3 8,the ,gospels belong to the most aggressive writings4 ,no leaf thereof could attain the liberty of being printed 7in ,berlin7 to-day4 ,what ,mirabeaus1 ,rousseaus1 ,diderots1 ,fichtes1 ,heines1 and many another heretic1 one can detect therein60 ,but before it was yet a national religion it was alloyed1 and1 in the hands of hot ,africans1 of luxurious ,byzantines1 of fierce ,gauls1 its creeds were tainted with their barbarism4 ,in ,holland1 in ,england1 in ,scotland1 it felt the national narrowness4 ,how unlike our habitual turn of thought was that of the last century in this country6 ,our ancestors spoke continually of angels and archangels with the same good faith as they would have spoken of their own parents or their late minister4 ,now the words pale1 are rhetoric1 and all credence is gone4 ,our horizon is not far1 say one generation1 or thirty years3 we all see so much4 ,the older see two generations1 or sixty years4 ,but what has been running on through three horizons1 or ninety years1 looks to all the world like a law of ,nature1 and 'tis an impiety to doubt4 ,thus1 'tis incredible to us1 if we look into the religious books of our grandfathers1 how they held themselves in such a pinfold4 ,but why not8 ,as far as they could see1 through two or three horizons1 nothing but ministers and ministers4 ,calvinism was one and the same thing in ,geneva1 in ,scotland1 in ,old and ,new ,england4 ,if there was a wedding1 they had a sermon2 if a funeral1 then a sermon2 if a war1 or small-pox1 or a comet1 or canker-worms1 or a deacon died1--still a sermon3 ,nature was a pulpit2 the churchwarden or tithing-man was a petty persecutor2 the presbytery1 a tyrant2 and in many a house in country places the poor children found seven sabbaths in a week4 ,fifty or a hundred years ago1 prayers were said1 morning and evening1 in all families2 grace was said at table2 an exact observance of the ,sunday was kept in the houses of laymen as of clergymen4 ,and one sees with some pain the disuse of rites so charged with humanity and aspiration4 ,but it by no means follows1 because those offices are much disused1 that the men and women are irreligious2 certainly not that they have less integrity or sentiment1 but only1 let us hope1 that they see that they can omit the form without loss of real ground2 perhaps that they find some violence1 some cramping of their freedom of thought1 in the constant recurrence of the form4 ,so of the changed position and manners of the clergy4 ,they have dropped1 with the sacerdotal garb and manners of the last century1 many doctrines and practices once esteemed indispensable to their order4 ,but the distinctions of the true clergyman are not less decisive4 ,men ask now1 8,is he serious8 ,is he a sincere man1 who lives as he teaches8 ,is he a benefactor80 ,so far the religion is now where it should be4 ,persons are discriminated as honest1 as veracious1 as illuminated1 as helpful1 as having public and universal regards1 or otherwise2--are discriminated according to their aims1 and not by these ritualities4 ,the changes are inevitable2 the new age cannot see with the eyes of the last4 ,but the change is in what is superficial2 the principles are immortal1 and the rally on the principle must arrive as people become intellectual4 ,i consider theology to be the rhetoric of morals4 ,the mind of this age has fallen away from theology to morals4 ,i conceive it an advance4 ,i suspect1 that1 when the theology was most florid and dogmatic1 it was the barbarism of the people1 and that1 in that very time1 the best men also fell away from theology1 and rested in morals4 ,i think that all the dogmas rest on morals1 and that it is only a question of youth or maturity1 of more or less fancy in the recipient2 that the stern determination to do justly1 to speak the truth1 to be chaste and humble1 was substantially the same1 whether under a self-respect1 or under a vow made on the knees at the shrine of ,madonna4 ,when once ,selden had said that the priests seemed to him to be baptizing their own fingers1 the rite of baptism was getting late in the world4 ,or when once it is perceived that the ,english missionaries in ,india put obstacles in the way of schools1 7as is alleged17--do not wish to enlighten but to ,christianize the ,hindoos1--it is seen at once how wide of ,christ is ,english ,christianity4 ,mankind at large always resemble frivolous children3 they are impatient of thought1 and wish to be amused4 ,truth is too simple for us2 we do not like those who unmask our illusions4 ,fontenelle said3 8,if the ,deity should lay bare to the eyes of men the secret system of ,nature1 the causes by which all the astronomic results are effected1 and they finding no magic1 no mystic numbers1 no fatalities1 but the greatest simplicity1 ,i am persuaded they would not be able to suppress a feeling of mortification1 and would exclaim1 with disappointment1 #8,is that all8'0 ,and so we paint over the bareness of ethics with the quaint grotesques of theology4 ,we boast the triumph of ,christianity over ,paganism1 meaning the victory of the spirit over the senses2 but ,paganism hides itself in the uniform of the ,church4 ,paganism has only taken the oath of allegiance1 taken the cross1 but is ,paganism still1 outvotes the true men by millions of majority1 carries the bag1 spends the treasure1 writes the tracts1 elects the minister1 and persecutes the true believer4 ,there is a certain secular progress of opinion1 which1 in civil countries1 reaches everybody4 ,one service which this age has rendered is1 to make the life and wisdom of every past man accessible and available to all4 ,socrates and ,marcus ,aurelius are allowed to be saints2 ,mahomet is no longer accursed2 ,voltaire is no longer a scarecrow2 ,spinoza has come to be revered4 8,the time will come10 says ,varnhagen von ,ense1 8when we shall treat the jokes and sallies against the myths and church-rituals of ,christianity--say the sarcasms of ,voltaire1 ,frederic the ,great1 and ,d',alembert--good-naturedly and without offence3 since1 at bottom1 those men mean honestly1 their polemics proceed out of a religious striving1 and what ,christ meant and willed is in essence more with them than with their opponents1 who only wear and misrepresent the name of ,christ4444 ,voltaire was an apostle of ,christian ideas2 only the names were hostile to him1 and he never knew it otherwise4 ,he was like the son of the vine-dresser in the ,gospel1 who said ,no1 and went2 the other said ,yea1 and went not4 ,these men preached the true ,god1--,him whom men serve by justice and uprightness2 but they called themselves atheists40 ,when the highest conceptions1 the lessons of religion1 are imported1 the nation is not culminating1 has not genius1 but is servile4 ,a true nation loves its vernacular tongue4 ,a completed nation will not import its religion4 ,duty grows everywhere1 like children1 like grass2 and we need not go to ,europe or to ,asia to learn it4 ,i am not sure that the ,english religion is not all quoted4 ,even the ,jeremy ,taylors1 ,fullers1 ,george ,herberts1 steeped1 all of them1 in ,church traditions1 are only using their fine fancy to emblazon their memory4 ',tis ,juda1 not ,england1 which is the ground4 ,so with the mordant ,calvinism of ,scotland and ,america4 ,but this quoting distances and disables them3 since with every repeater something of creative force is lost1 as we feel when we go back to each original moralist4 ,pythagoras1 ,socrates1 the ,stoics1 the ,hindoo1 ,behmen1 ,george ,fox1--these speak originally2 and how many sentences and books we owe to unknown authors1--to writers who were not careful to set down name or date or titles or cities or postmarks in these illuminations6 ,we1 in our turn1 want power to drive the ponderous ,state4 ,the constitution and law in ,america must be written on ethical principles1 so that the entire power of the spiritual world can be enlisted to hold the loyalty of the citizen1 and to repel every enemy as by force of ,nature4 ,the laws of old empires stood on the religious convictions4 ,now that their religions are outgrown1 the empires lack strength4 ,romanism in ,europe does not represent the real opinion of enlightened men4 ,the ,lutheran ,church does not represent in ,germany the opinions of the universities4 ,in ,england1 the gentlemen1 the journals1 and now1 at last1 churchmen and bishops1 have fallen away from the ,anglican ,church4 ,and in ,america1 where are no legal ties to churches1 the looseness appears dangerous4 ,our religion has got on as far as ,unitarianism4 ,but all the forms grow pale4 ,the walls of the temple are wasted and thin1 and1 at last1 only a film of whitewash1 because the mind of our culture has already left our liturgies behind4 8,every age10 says ,varnhagen1 8has another sieve for the religious tradition1 and will sift it out again4 ,something is continually lost by this treatment1 which posterity cannot recover40 ,but it is a capital truth that ,nature1 moral as well as material1 is always equal to herself4 ,ideas always generate enthusiasm4 ,the creed1 the legend1 forms of worship1 swiftly decay4 ,morals is the incorruptible essence1 very heedless in its richness of any past teacher or witness1 heedless of their lives and fortunes4 ,it does not ask whether you are wrong or right in your anecdotes of them2 but it is all in all how you stand to your own tribunal4 ,the lines of the religious sects are very shifting2 their platforms unstable2 the whole science of theology of great uncertainty1 and resting very much on the opinions of who may chance to be the leading doctors of ,oxford or ,edinburgh1 of ,princeton or ,cambridge1 to-day4 ,no man can tell what religious revolutions await us in the next years2 and the education in the divinity colleges may well hesitate and vary4 ,but the science of ethics has no mutation2 and whoever feels any love or skill for ethical studies may safely lay out all his strength and genius in working in that mine4 ,the pulpit may shake1 but this platform will not4 ,all the victories of religion belong to the moral sentiment4 ,some poor soul beheld the ,law blazing through such impediments as he had1 and yielded himself to humility and joy4 ,what was gained by being told that it was justification by faith8 ,the ,church1 in its ardor for beloved persons1 clings to the miraculous1 in the vulgar sense1 which has even an immoral tendency1 as one sees in ,greek1 ,indian and ,catholic legends1 which are used to gloze every crime4 ,the soul1 penetrated with the beatitude which pours into it on all sides1 asks no interpositions1 no new laws1--the old are good enough for it1--finds in every cart-path of labor ways to heaven1 and the humblest lot exalted4 ,men will learn to put back the emphasis peremptorily on pure morals1 always the same1 not subject to doubtful interpretation1 with no sale of indulgences no massacre of heretics1 no female slaves1 no disfranchisement of woman1 no stigma on race2 to make morals the absolute test1 and so uncover and drive out the false religions4 ,there is no vice that has not skulked behind them4 ,it is only yesterday that our ,american churches1 so long silent on ,slavery1 and notoriously hostile to the ,abolitionist1 wheeled into line for ,emancipation4 ,i am far from accepting the opinion that the revelations of the moral sentiment are insufficient1 as if it furnished a rule only1 and not the spirit by which the rule is animated4 ,for ,i include in these1 of course1 the history of ,jesus1 as well as those of every divine soul which in any place or time delivered any grand lesson to humanity2 and ,i find in the eminent experiences in all times a substantial agreement4 ,the sentiment itself teaches unity of source1 and disowns every superiority other than of deeper truth4 ,jesus has immense claims on the gratitude of mankind1 and knew how to guard the integrity of his brother's soul from himself also2 but1 in his disciples1 admiration of him runs away with their reverence for the human soul1 and they hamper us with limitations of person and text4 ,every exaggeration of these is a violation of the soul's right1 and inclines the manly reader to lay down the ,new ,testament1 to take up the ,pagan philosophers4 ,it is not that the ,upanishads or the ,maxims of ,antoninus are better1 but that they do not invade his freedom2 because they are only suggestions1 whilst the other adds the inadmissible claim of positive authority1--of an external command1 where command cannot be4 ,this is the secret of the mischievous result that1 in every period of intellectual expansion1 the ,church ceases to draw into its clergy those who best belong there1 the largest and freest minds1 and that in its most liberal forms1 when such minds enter it1 they are coldly received1 and find themselves out of place4 ,this charm in the ,pagan moralists1 of suggestion1 the charm of poetry1 of mere truth1 7easily disengaged from their historical accidents which nobody wishes to force on us17 the ,new ,testament loses by its connection with a church4 ,mankind cannot long suffer this loss1 and the office of this age is to put all these writings on the eternal footing of equality of origin in the instincts of the human mind4 ,it is certain that each inspired master will gain instantly by the separation from the idolatry of ages4 ,to their great honor1 the simple and free minds among our clergy have not resisted the voice of ,nature and the advanced perceptions of the mind2 and every church divides itself into a liberal and expectant class1 on one side1 and an unwilling and conservative class on the other4 ,as it stands with us now1 a few clergymen1 with a more theological cast of mind1 retain the traditions1 but they carry them quietly4 ,in general discourse1 they are never obtruded4 ,if the clergyman should travel in ,france1 in ,england1 in ,italy1 he might leave them locked up in the same closet with his 8occasional sermons0 at home1 and1 if he did not return1 would never think to send for them4 ,the orthodox clergymen hold a little firmer to theirs1 as ,calvinism has a more tenacious vitality2 but that is doomed also1 and will only die last2 for ,calvinism rushes to be ,unitarianism1 as ,unitarianism rushes to be pure ,theism4 ,but the inspirations are never withdrawn4 ,in the worst times1 men of organic virtue are born1--men and women of native integrity1 and indifferently in high and low conditions4 ,there will always be a class of imaginative youths1 whom poetry1 whom the love of beauty1 lead to the adoration of the moral sentiment1 and these will provide it with new historic forms and songs4 ,religion is as inexpugnable as the use of lamps1 or of wells1 or of chimneys4 ,we must have days and temples and teachers4 ,the ,sunday is the core of our civilization1 dedicated to thought and reverence4 ,it invites to the noblest solitude and the noblest society1 to whatever means and aids of spiritual refreshment4 ,men may well come together to kindle each other to virtuous living4 ,confucius said1 8,if in the morning ,i hear of the right way1 and in the evening die1 ,i can be happy40 ,the churches already indicate the new spirit in adding to the perennial office of teaching1 beneficent activities1--as in creating hospitals1 ragged schools1 offices of employment for the poor1 appointing almoners to the helpless1 guardians of foundlings and orphans4 ,the power that in other times inspired crusades1 or the colonization of ,new ,england1 or the modern revivals1 flies to the help of the deaf-mute and the blind1 to the education of the sailor and the vagabond boy1 to the reform of convicts and harlots1--as the war created the ,hilton ,head and ,charleston missions1 the ,sanitary ,commission1 the nurses and teachers at ,washington4 ,in the present tendency of our society1 in the new importance of the individual1 when thrones are crumbling and presidents and governors are forced every moment to remember their constituencies2 when counties and towns are resisting centralization1 and the individual voter his party1--society is threatened with actual granulation1 religious as well as political4 ,how many people are there in ,boston8 ,some two hundred thousand4 ,well1 then so many sects4 ,of course each poor soul loses all his old stays2 no bishop watches him1 no confessor reports that he has neglected the confessional1 no class-leader admonishes him of absences1 no fagot1 no penance1 no fine1 no rebuke4 ,is not this wrong8 is not this dangerous8 ',tis not wrong1 but the law of growth4 ,it is not dangerous1 any more than the mother's withdrawing her hands from the tottering babe1 at his first walk across the nursery-floor3 the child fears and cries1 but achieves the feat1 instantly tries it again1 and never wishes to be assisted more4 ,and this infant soul must learn to walk alone4 ,at first he is forlorn1 homeless2 but this rude stripping him of all support drives him inward1 and he finds himself unhurt2 he finds himself face to face with the majestic ,presence1 reads the original of the ,ten ,commandments1 the original of ,gospels and ,epistles2 nay1 his narrow chapel expands to the blue cathedral of the sky1 where he 8,looks in and sees each blissful deity1 ,where he before the thunderous throne doth lie40 ,to nations or to individuals the progress of opinion is not a loss of moral restraint1 but simply a change from coarser to finer checks4 ,no evil can come from reform which a deeper thought will not correct4 ,if there is any tendency in national expansion to form character1 religion will not be a loser4 ,there is a fear that pure truth1 pure morals1 will not make a religion for the affections4 ,whenever the sublimities of character shall be incarnated in a man1 we may rely that awe and love and insatiable curiosity will follow his steps4 ,character is the habit of action from the permanent vision of truth4 ,it carries a superiority to all the accidents of life4 ,it compels right relation to every other man1--domesticates itself with strangers and enemies4 8,but ,i1 father10 says the wise ,prahlada1 in the ,vishnu ,purana1 8know neither friends nor foes1 for ,i behold ,kesava in all beings as in my own soul40 ,it confers perpetual insight4 ,it sees that a man's friends and his foes are of his own household1 of his own person4 ,what would it avail me1 if ,i could destroy my enemies8 ,there would be as many to-morrow4 ,that which ,i hate and fear is really in myself1 and no knife is long enough to reach to its heart4 ,confucius said one day to ,ke ,kang3 8,sir1 in carrying on your government1 why should you use killing at all8 ,let your evinced desires be for what is good1 and the people will be good4 ,the grass must bend1 when the wind blows across it40 ,ke ,kang1 distressed about the number of thieves in the state1 inquired of ,confucius how to do away with them4 ,confucius said1 8,if you1 sir1 were not covetous1 although you should reward them to do it1 they would not steal40 ,its methods are subtle1 it works without means4 ,it indulges no enmity against any1 knowing1 with ,prahlada that 8the suppression of malignant feeling is itself a reward40 ,the more reason1 the less government4 ,in a sensible family1 nobody ever hears the words 8shall0 and 8sha'n't20 nobody commands1 and nobody obeys1 but all conspire and joyfully co-operate4 ,take off the roofs of hundreds of happy houses1 and you shall see this order without ruler1 and the like in every intelligent and moral society4 ,command is exceptional1 and marks some break in the link of reason2 as the electricity goes round the world without a spark or a sound1 until there is a break in the wire or the water chain4 ,swedenborg said1 that1 8in the spiritual world1 when one wishes to rule1 or despises others1 he is thrust out of doors40 ,goethe1 in discussing the characters in 8,wilhelm ,meister10 maintained his belief that 8pure loveliness and right good-will are the highest manly prerogatives1 before which all energetic heroism1 with its lustre and renown1 must recede40 ,in perfect accord with this1 ,henry ,james affirms1 that 8to give the feminine element in life its hard-earned but eternal supremacy over the masculine has been the secret inspiration of all past history40 ,there is no end to the sufficiency of character4 ,it can afford to wait2 it can do without what is called success2 it cannot but succeed4 ,to a well-principled man existence is victory4 ,he defends himself against failure in his main design by making every inch of the road to it pleasant4 ,there is no trifle1 and no obscurity to him3 he feels the immensity of the chain whose last link he holds in his hand1 and is led by it4 ,having nothing1 this spirit hath all4 ,it asks1 with ,marcus ,aurelius1 8,what matter by whom the good is done80 ,it extols humility1--by every self-abasement lifted higher in the scale of being4 ,it makes no stipulations for earthly felicity1--does not ask1 in the absoluteness of its trust1 even for the assurance of continued life4 ,,footnotes3 ,footnote #f3 ,reprinted from the ,north ,american ,review of ,april1 #ahff4 ,,education4 ,,with the key of the secret he marches faster ,from strength to strength1 and for night brings day1 ,while classes or tribes too weak to master ,the flowing conditions of life1 give way4 ,,education4 ,a ,,new degree of intellectual power seems cheap at any price4 ,the use of the world is that man may learn its laws4 ,and the human race have wisely signified their sense of this1 by calling wealth1 means1--,man being the end4 ,language is always wise4 ,therefore ,i praise ,new ,england because it is the country in the world where is the freest expenditure for education4 ,we have already taken1 at the planting of the ,colonies1 7for aught ,i know for the first time in the world17 the initial step1 which for its importance might have been resisted as the most radical of revolutions1 thus deciding at the start the destiny of this country1--this1 namely1 that the poor man1 whom the law does not allow to take an ear of corn when starving1 nor a pair of shoes for his freezing feet1 is allowed to put his hand into the pocket of the rich1 and say1 ,you shall educate me1 not as you will1 but as ,i will3 not alone in the elements1 but1 by further provision1 in the languages1 in sciences1 in the useful and in elegant arts4 ,the child shall be taken up by the ,state1 and taught1 at the public cost1 the rudiments of knowledge1 and1 at last1 the ripest results of art and science4 ,humanly speaking1 the school1 the college1 society1 make the difference between men4 ,all the fairy tales of ,aladdin or the invisible ,gyges or the talisman that opens kings' palaces or the enchanted halls underground or in the sea1 are only fictions to indicate the one miracle of intellectual enlargement4 ,when a man stupid becomes a man inspired1 when one and the same man passes out of the torpid into the perceiving state1 leaves the din of trifles1 the stupor of the senses1 to enter into the quasi-omniscience of high thought1--up and down1 around1 all limits disappear4 ,no horizon shuts down4 ,he sees things in their causes1 all facts in their connection4 ,one of the problems of history is the beginning of civilization4 ,the animals that accompany and serve man make no progress as races4 ,those called domestic are capable of learning of man a few tricks of utility or amusement1 but they cannot communicate the skill to their race4 ,each individual must be taught anew4 ,the trained dog cannot train another dog4 ,and ,man himself in many races retains almost the unteachableness of the beast4 ,for a thousand years the islands and forests of a great part of the world have been filled with savages who made no steps of advance in art or skill beyond the necessity of being fed and warmed4 ,certain nations with a better brain and usually in more temperate climates1 have made such progress as to compare with these as these compare with the bear and the wolf4 ,victory over things is the office of man4 ,of course1 until it is accomplished1 it is the war and insult of things over him4 ,his continual tendency1 his great danger1 is to overlook the fact that the world is only his teacher1 and the nature of sun and moon1 plant and animal only means of arousing his interior activity4 ,enamored of their beauty1 comforted by their convenience1 he seeks them as ends1 and fast loses sight of the fact that they have worse than no values1 that they become noxious1 when he becomes their slave4 ,this apparatus of wants and faculties1 this craving body1 whose organs ask all the elements and all the functions of ,nature for their satisfaction1 educate the wondrous creature which they satisfy with light1 with heat1 with water1 with wood1 with bread1 with wool4 ,the necessities imposed by this most irritable and all-related texture have taught ,man hunting1 pasturage1 agriculture1 commerce1 weaving1 joining1 masonry1 geometry1 astronomy4 ,here is a world pierced and belted with natural laws1 and fenced and planted with civil partitions and properties1 which all put new restraints on the young inhabitant4 ,he too must come into this magic circle of relations1 and know health and sickness1 the fear of injury1 the desire of external good1 the charm of riches1 the charm of power4 ,the household is a school of power4 ,there1 within the door1 learn the tragi-comedy of human life4 ,here is the sincere thing1 the wondrous composition for which day and night go round4 ,in that routine are the sacred relations1 the passions that bind and sever4 ,here is poverty and all the wisdom its hated necessities can teach1 here labor drudges1 here affections glow1 here the secrets of character are told1 the guards of man1 the guards of woman1 the compensations which1 like angels of justice1 pay every debt3 the opium of custom1 whereof all drink and many go mad4 ,here is ,economy1 and ,glee1 and ,hospitality1 and ,ceremony1 and ,frankness1 and ,calamity1 and ,death and ,hope4 ,every one has a trust of power1--every man1 every boy a jurisdiction1 whether it be over a cow or a rood of a potato-field1 or a fleet of ships1 or the laws of a state4 ,and what activity the desire of power inspires6 ,what toils it sustains6 ,how it sharpens the perceptions and stores the memory with facts4 ,thus a man may well spend many years of life in trade4 ,it is a constant teaching of the laws of matter and of mind4 ,no dollar of property can be created without some direct communication with nature1 and of course some acquisition of knowledge and practical force4 ,it is a constant contest with the active faculties of men1 a study of the issues of one and another course of action1 an accumulation of power1 and1 if the higher faculties of the individual be from time to time quickened1 he will gain wisdom and virtue from his business4 ,as every wind draws music out of the olian harp1 so doth every object in ,nature draw music out of his mind4 ,is it not true that every landscape ,i behold1 every friend ,i meet1 every act ,i perform1 every pain ,i suffer1 leaves me a different being from that they found me8 ,that poverty1 love1 authority1 anger1 sickness1 sorrow1 success1 all work actively upon our being and unlock for us the concealed faculties of the mind8 ,whatever private or petty ends are frustrated1 this end is always answered4 ,whatever the man does1 or whatever befalls him1 opens another chamber in his soul1--that is1 he has got a new feeling1 a new thought1 a new organ4 ,do we not see how amazingly for this end man is fitted to the world8 ,what leads him to science8 ,why does he track in the midnight heaven a pure spark1 a luminous patch wandering from age to age1 but because he acquires thereby a majestic sense of power2 learning that in his own constitution he can set the shining maze in order1 and finding and carrying their law in his mind1 can1 as it were1 see his simple idea realized up yonder in giddy distances and frightful periods of duration4 ,if ,newton come and first of men perceive that not alone certain bodies fall to the ground at a certain rate1 but that all bodies in the ,universe1 the universe of bodies1 fall always1 and at one rate2 that every atom in nature draws to every other atom1--he extends the power of his mind not only over every cubic atom of his native planet1 but he reports the condition of millions of worlds which his eye never saw4 ,and what is the charm which every ore1 every new plant1 every new fact touching winds1 clouds1 ocean currents1 the secrets of chemical composition and decomposition possess for ,humboldt8 ,what but that much revolving of similar facts in his mind has shown him that always the mind contains in its transparent chambers the means of classifying the most refractory phenomena1 of depriving them of all casual and chaotic aspect1 and subordinating them to a bright reason of its own1 and so giving to man a sort of property1--yea1 the very highest property in every district and particle of the globe4 ,by the permanence of ,nature1 minds are trained alike1 and made intelligible to each other4 ,in our condition are the roots of language and communication1 and these instructions we never exhaust4 ,in some sort the end of life is that the man should take up the universe into himself1 or out of that quarry leave nothing unrepresented4 ,yonder mountain must migrate into his mind4 ,yonder magnificent astronomy he is at last to import1 fetching away moon1 and planet1 solstice1 period1 comet and binal star1 by comprehending their relation and law4 ,instead of the timid stripling he was1 he is to be the stalwart ,archimedes1 ,pythagoras1 ,columbus1 ,newton1 of the physic1 metaphysic and ethics of the design of the world4 ,for truly the population of the globe has its origin in the aims which their existence is to serve2 and so with every portion of them4 ,the truth takes flesh in forms that can express it2 and thus in history an idea always overhangs1 like the moon1 and rules the tide which rises simultaneously in all the souls of a generation4 ,whilst thus the world exists for the mind2 whilst thus the man is ever invited inward into shining realms of knowledge and power by the shows of the world1 which interpret to him the infinitude of his own consciousness1--it becomes the office of a just education to awaken him to the knowledge of this fact4 ,we learn nothing rightly until we learn the symbolical character of life4 ,day creeps after day1 each full of facts1 dull1 strange1 despised things1 that we cannot enough despise1--call heavy1 prosaic1 and desert4 ,the time we seek to kill3 the attention it is elegant to divert from things around us4 ,and presently the aroused intellect finds gold and gems in one of these scorned facts1--then finds that the day of facts is a rock of diamonds2 that a fact is an ,epiphany of ,god4 ,we have our theory of life1 our religion1 our philosophy2 and the event of each moment1 the shower1 the steamboat disaster1 the passing of a beautiful face1 the apoplexy of our neighbor1 are all tests to try our theory1 the approximate result we call truth1 and reveal its defects4 ,if ,i have renounced the search of truth1 if ,i have come into the port of some pretending dogmatism1 some new church or old church1 some ,schelling or ,cousin1 ,i have died to all use of these new events that are born out of prolific time into multitude of life every hour4 ,i am as a bankrupt to whom brilliant opportunities offer in vain4 ,he has just foreclosed his freedom1 tied his hands1 locked himself up and given the key to another to keep4 ,when ,i see the doors by which ,god enters into the mind2 that there is no sot or fop1 ruffian or pedant into whom thoughts do not enter by passages which the individual never left open1 ,i can expect any revolution in character4 8,i have hope10 said the great ,leibnitz1 8that society may be reformed1 when ,i see how much education may be reformed40 ,it is ominous1 a presumption of crime1 that this word ,education has so cold1 so hopeless a sound4 ,a treatise on education1 a convention for education1 a lecture1 a system1 affects us with slight paralysis and a certain yawning of the jaws4 ,we are not encouraged when the law touches it with its fingers4 ,education should be as broad as man4 ,whatever elements are in him that should foster and demonstrate4 ,if he be dexterous1 his tuition should make it appear2 if he be capable of dividing men by the trenchant sword of his thought1 education should unsheathe and sharpen it2 if he is one to cement society by his all-reconciling affinities1 oh6 hasten their action6 ,if he is jovial1 if he is mercurial1 if he is great-hearted1 a cunning artificer1 a strong commander1 a potent ally1 ingenious1 useful1 elegant1 witty1 prophet1 diviner1--society has need of all these4 ,the imagination must be addressed4 ,why always coast on the surface and never open the interior of nature1 not by science1 which is surface still1 but by poetry8 ,is not the ,vast an element of the mind8 ,yet what teaching1 what book of this day appeals to the ,vast8 ,our culture has truckled to the times1--to the senses4 ,it is not manworthy4 ,if the vast and the spiritual are omitted1 so are the practical and the moral4 ,it does not make us brave or free4 ,we teach boys to be such men as we are4 ,we do not teach them to aspire to be all they can4 ,we do not give them a training as if we believed in their noble nature4 ,we scarce educate their bodies4 ,we do not train the eye and the hand4 ,we exercise their understandings to the apprehension and comparison of some facts1 to a skill in numbers1 in words2 we aim to make accountants1 attorneys1 engineers2 but not to make able1 earnest1 great-hearted men4 ,the great object of ,education should be commensurate with the object of life4 ,it should be a moral one2 to teach self-trust3 to inspire the youthful man with an interest in himself2 with a curiosity touching his own nature2 to acquaint him with the resources of his mind1 and to teach him that there is all his strength1 and to inflame him with a piety towards the ,grand ,mind in which he lives4 ,thus would education conspire with the ,divine ,providence4 ,a man is a little thing whilst he works by and for himself1 but1 when he gives voice to the rules of love and justice1 is god-like1 his word is current in all countries2 and all men1 though his enemies1 are made his friends and obey it as their own4 ,in affirming that the moral nature of man is the predominant element and should therefore be mainly consulted in the arrangements of a school1 ,i am very far from wishing that it should swallow up all the other instincts and faculties of man4 ,it should be enthroned in his mind1 but if it monopolize the man he is not yet sound1 he does not yet know his wealth4 ,he is in danger of becoming merely devout1 and wearisome through the monotony of his thought4 ,it is not less necessary that the intellectual and the active faculties should be nourished and matured4 ,let us apply to this subject the light of the same torch by which we have looked at all the phenomena of the time2 the infinitude1 namely1 of every man4 ,everything teaches that4 ,one fact constitutes all my satisfaction1 inspires all my trust1 viz41 this perpetual youth1 which1 as long as there is any good in us1 we cannot get rid of4 ,it is very certain that the coming age and the departing age seldom understand each other4 ,the old man thinks the young man has no distinct purpose1 for he could never get anything intelligible and earnest out of him4 ,perhaps the young man does not think it worth his while to explain himself to so hard and inapprehensive a confessor4 ,let him be led up with a long-sighted forbearance1 and let not the sallies of his petulance or folly be checked with disgust or indignation or despair4 ,i call our system a system of despair1 and ,i find all the correction1 all the revolution that is needed and that the best spirits of this age promise1 in one word1 in ,hope4 ,nature1 when she sends a new mind into the world1 fills it beforehand with a desire for that which she wishes it to know and do4 ,let us wait and see what is this new creation1 of what new organ the great ,spirit had need when it incarnated this new ,will4 ,a new ,adam in the garden1 he is to name all the beasts in the field1 all the gods in the sky4 ,and jealous provision seems to have been made in his constitution that you shall not invade and contaminate him with the worn weeds of your language and opinions4 ,the charm of life is this variety of genius1 these contrasts and flavors by which ,heaven has modulated the identity of truth1 and there is a perpetual hankering to violate this individuality1 to warp his ways of thinking and behavior to resemble or reflect their thinking and behavior4 ,a low self-love in the parent desires that his child should repeat his character and fortune2 an expectation which the child1 if justice is done him1 will nobly disappoint4 ,by working on the theory that this resemblance exists1 we shall do what in us lies to defeat his proper promise and produce the ordinary and mediocre4 ,i suffer whenever ,i see that common sight of a parent or senior imposing his opinion and way of thinking and being on a young soul to which they are totally unfit4 ,cannot we let people be themselves1 and enjoy life in their own way8 ,you are trying to make that man another you4 ,one's enough4 ,or we sacrifice the genius of the pupil1 the unknown possibilities of his nature1 to a neat and safe uniformity1 as the ,turks whitewash the costly mosaics of ancient art which the ,greeks left on their temple walls4 ,rather let us have men whose manhood is only the continuation of their boyhood1 natural characters still2 such are able and fertile for heroic action2 and not that sad spectacle with which we are too familiar1 educated eyes in uneducated bodies4 ,i like boys1 the masters of the playground and of the street1--boys1 who have the same liberal ticket of admission to all shops1 factories1 armories1 town-meetings1 caucuses1 mobs1 target-shootings1 as flies have2 quite unsuspected1 coming in as naturally as the janitor1--known to have no money in their pockets1 and themselves not suspecting the value of this poverty2 putting nobody on his guard1 but seeing the inside of the show1--hearing all the asides4 ,there are no secrets from them1 they know everything that befalls in the fire-company1 the merits of every engine and of every man at the brakes1 how to work it1 and are swift to try their hand at every part2 so too the merits of every locomotive on the rails1 and will coax the engineer to let them ride with him and pull the handles when it goes to the engine-house4 ,they are there only for fun1 and not knowing that they are at school1 in the court-house1 or the cattle-show1 quite as much and more than they were1 an hour ago1 in the arithmetic class4 ,they know truth from counterfeit as quick as the chemist does4 ,they detect weakness in your eye and behavior a week before you open your mouth1 and have given you the benefit of their opinion quick as a wink4 ,they make no mistakes1 have no pedantry1 but entire belief on experience4 ,their elections at base-ball or cricket are founded on merit1 and are right4 ,they don't pass for swimmers until they can swim1 nor for stroke-oar until they can row3 and ,i desire to be saved from their contempt4 ,if ,i can pass with them1 ,i can manage well enough with their fathers4 ,everybody delights in the energy with which boys deal and talk with each other2 the mixture of fun and earnest1 reproach and coaxing1 love and wrath1 with which the game is played2--the good-natured yet defiant independence of a leading boy's behavior in the school-yard4 ,how we envy in later life the happy youths to whom their boisterous games and rough exercise furnish the precise element which frames and sets off their school and college tasks1 and teaches them1 when least they think it1 the use and meaning of these4 ,in their fun and extreme freak they hit on the topmost sense of ,horace4 ,the young giant1 brown from his hunting-tramp1 tells his story well1 interlarded with lucky allusions to ,homer1 to ,virgil1 to college-songs1 to ,walter ,scott2 and ,jove and ,achilles1 partridge and trout1 opera and binomial theorem1 ,csar in ,gaul1 ,sherman in ,savannah1 and hazing in ,holworthy1 dance through the narrative in merry confusion1 yet the logic is good4 ,if he can turn his books to such picturesque account in his fishing and hunting1 it is easy to see how his reading and experience1 as he has more of both1 will interpenetrate each other4 ,and every one desires that this pure vigor of action and wealth of narrative1 cheered with so much humor and street rhetoric1 should be carried into the habit of the young man1 purged of its uproar and rudeness1 but with all its vivacity entire4 ,his hunting and campings-out have given him an indispensable base3 ,i wish to add a taste for good company through his impatience of bad4 ,that stormy genius of his needs a little direction to games1 charades1 verses of society1 song1 and a correspondence year by year with his wisest and best friends4 ,friendship is an order of nobility2 from its revelations we come more worthily into nature4 ,society he must have or he is poor indeed2 he gladly enters a school which forbids conceit1 affectation1 emphasis and dulness1 and requires of each only the flower of his nature and experience2 requires good-will1 beauty1 wit1 and select information2 teaches by practice the law of conversation1 namely1 to hear as well as to speak4 ,meantime1 if circumstances do not permit the high social advantages1 solitude has also its lessons4 ,the obscure youth learns there the practice instead of the literature of his virtues2 and1 because of the disturbing effect of passion and sense1 which by a multitude of trifles impede the mind's eye from the quiet search of that fine horizon-line which truth keeps1--the way to knowledge and power has ever been an escape from too much engagement with affairs and possessions2 a way1 not through plenty and superfluity1 but by denial and renunciation1 into solitude and privation2 and1 the more is taken away1 the more real and inevitable wealth of being is made known to us4 ,the solitary knows the essence of the thought1 the scholar in society only its fair face4 ,there is no want of example of great men1 great benefactors1 who have been monks and hermits in habit4 ,the bias of mind is sometimes irresistible in that direction4 ,the man is as it were born deaf and dumb1 and dedicated to a narrow and lonely life4 ,let him study the art of solitude1 yield as gracefully as he can to his destiny4 ,why cannot he get the good of his doom1 and if it is from eternity a settled fact that he and society shall be nothing to each other1 why need he blush so1 and make wry faces to keep up a freshman's seat in the fine world8 ,heaven often protects valuable souls charged with great secrets1 great ideas1 by long shutting them up with their own thoughts4 ,and the most genial and amiable of men must alternate society with solitude1 and learn its severe lessons4 ,there comes the period of the imagination to each1 a later youth2 the power of beauty1 the power of books1 of poetry4 ,culture makes his books realities to him1 their characters more brilliant1 more effective on his mind1 than his actual mates4 ,do not spare to put novels into the hands of young people as an occasional holiday and experiment2 but1 above all1 good poetry in all kinds1 epic1 tragedy1 lyric4 ,if we can touch the imagination1 we serve them1 they will never forget it4 ,let him read 8,tom ,brown at ,rugby10 read 8,tom ,brown at ,oxford10--better yet1 read 8,hodson's ,life0--,hodson who took prisoner the king of ,delhi4 ,they teach the same truth1--a trust1 against all appearances1 against all privations1 in your own worth1 and not in tricks1 plotting1 or patronage4 ,i believe that our own experience instructs us that the secret of ,education lies in respecting the pupil4 ,it is not for you to choose what he shall know1 what he shall do4 ,it is chosen and foreordained1 and he only holds the key to his own secret4 ,by your tampering and thwarting and too much governing he may be hindered from his end and kept out of his own4 ,respect the child4 ,wait and see the new product of ,nature4 ,nature loves analogies1 but not repetitions4 ,respect the child4 ,be not too much his parent4 ,trespass not on his solitude4 ,but ,i hear the outcry which replies to this suggestion3--,would you verily throw up the reins of public and private discipline2 would you leave the young child to the mad career of his own passions and whimsies1 and call this anarchy a respect for the child's nature8 ,i answer1--,respect the child1 respect him to the end1 but also respect yourself4 ,be the companion of his thought1 the friend of his friendship1 the lover of his virtue1--but no kinsman of his sin4 ,let him find you so true to yourself that you are the irreconcilable hater of his vice and the imperturbable slighter of his trifling4 ,the two points in a boy's training are1 to keep his naturel and train off all but that3--to keep his naturel1 but stop off his uproar1 fooling and horse-play2--keep his nature and arm it with knowledge in the very direction in which it points4 ,here are the two capital facts1 genius and drill4 ,the first is the inspiration in the well-born healthy child1 the new perception he has of nature4 ,somewhat he sees in forms or hears in music or apprehends in mathematics1 or believes practicable in mechanics or possible in political society1 which no one else sees or hears or believes4 ,this is the perpetual romance of new life1 the invasion of ,god into the old dead world1 when he sends into quiet houses a young soul with a thought which is not met1 looking for something which is not there1 but which ought to be there3 the thought is dim but it is sure1 and he casts about restless for means and masters to verify it2 he makes wild attempts to explain himself and invoke the aid and consent of the bystanders4 ,baffled for want of language and methods to convey his meaning1 not yet clear to himself1 he conceives that though not in this house or town1 yet in some other house or town is the wise master who can put him in possession of the rules and instruments to execute his will4 ,happy this child with a bias1 with a thought which entrances him1 leads him1 now into deserts now into cities1 the fool of an idea4 ,let him follow it in good and in evil report1 in good or bad company2 it will justify itself2 it will lead him at last into the illustrious society of the lovers of truth4 ,in ,london1 in a private company1 ,i became acquainted with a gentleman1 ,sir ,charles ,fellowes1 who1 being at ,xanthus1 in the gean ,sea1 had seen a ,turk point with his staff to some carved work on the corner of a stone almost buried in the soil4 ,fellowes scraped away the dirt1 was struck with the beauty of the sculptured ornaments1 and1 looking about him1 observed more blocks and fragments like this4 ,he returned to the spot1 procured laborers and uncovered many blocks4 ,he went back to ,england1 bought a ,greek grammar and learned the language2 he read history and studied ancient art to explain his stones2 he interested ,gibson the sculptor2 he invoked the assistance of the ,english ,government2 he called in the succor of ,sir ,humphry ,davy to analyze the pigments2 of experts in coins1 of scholars and connoisseurs2 and at last in his third visit brought home to ,england such statues and marble reliefs and such careful plans that he was able to reconstruct1 in the ,british ,museum where it now stands1 the perfect model of the ,ionic trophy-monument1 fifty years older than the ,parthenon of ,athens1 and which had been destroyed by earthquakes1 then by iconoclast ,christians1 then by savage ,turks4 ,but mark that in the task he had achieved an excellent education1 and become associated with distinguished scholars whom he had interested in his pursuit2 in short1 had formed a college for himself2 the enthusiast had found the master1 the masters1 whom he sought4 ,always genius seeks genius1 desires nothing so much as to be a pupil and to find those who can lend it aid to perfect itself4 ,nor are the two elements1 enthusiasm and drill1 incompatible4 ,accuracy is essential to beauty4 ,the very definition of the intellect is ,aristotle's3 8that by which we know terms or boundaries40 ,give a boy accurate perceptions4 ,teach him the difference between the similar and the same4 ,make him call things by their right names4 ,pardon in him no blunder4 ,then he will give you solid satisfaction as long as he lives4 ,it is better to teach the child arithmetic and ,latin grammar than rhetoric or moral philosophy1 because they require exactitude of performance2 it is made certain that the lesson is mastered1 and that power of performance is worth more than the knowledge4 ,he can learn anything which is important to him now that the power to learn is secured3 as mechanics say1 when one has learned the use of tools1 it is easy to work at a new craft4 ,letter by letter1 syllable by syllable1 the child learns to read1 and in good time can convey to all the domestic circle the sense of ,shakspeare4 ,by many steps each just as short1 the stammering boy and the hesitating collegian1 in the school debate1 in college clubs1 in mock court1 comes at last to full1 secure1 triumphant unfolding of his thought in the popular assembly1 with a fullness of power that makes all the steps forgotten4 ,but this function of opening and feeding the human mind is not to be fulfilled by any mechanical or military method2 is not to be trusted to any skill less large than ,nature itself4 ,you must not neglect the form1 but you must secure the essentials4 ,it is curious how perverse and intermeddling we are1 and what vast pains and cost we incur to do wrong4 ,whilst we all know in our own experience and apply natural methods in our own business1--in education our common sense fails us1 and we are continually trying costly machinery against nature1 in patent schools and academies and in great colleges and universities4 ,the natural method forever confutes our experiments1 and we must still come back to it4 ,the whole theory of the school is on the nurse's or mother's knee4 ,the child is as hot to learn as the mother is to impart4 ,there is mutual delight4 ,the joy of our childhood in hearing beautiful stories from some skilful aunt who loves to tell them1 must be repeated in youth4 ,the boy wishes to learn to skate1 to coast1 to catch a fish in the brook1 to hit a mark with a snowball or a stone2 and a boy a little older is just as well pleased to teach him these sciences4 ,not less delightful is the mutual pleasure of teaching and learning the secret of algebra1 or of chemistry1 or of good reading and good recitation of poetry or of prose1 or of chosen facts in history or in biography4 ,nature provided for the communication of thought1 by planting with it in the receiving mind a fury to impart it4 ',tis so in every art1 in every science4 ,one burns to tell the new fact1 the other burns to hear it4 ,see how far a young doctor will ride or walk to witness a new surgical operation4 ,i have seen a carriage-maker's shop emptied of all its workmen into the street1 to scrutinize a new pattern from ,new ,york4 ,so in literature1 the young man who has taste for poetry1 for fine images1 for noble thoughts1 is insatiable for this nourishment1 and forgets all the world for the more learned friend1--who finds equal joy in dealing out his treasures4 ,happy the natural college thus self-instituted around every natural teacher2 the young men of ,athens around ,socrates2 of ,alexandria around ,plotinus2 of ,paris around ,abelard2 of ,germany around ,fichte1 or ,niebuhr1 or ,goethe3 in short the natural sphere of every leading mind4 ,but the moment this is organized1 difficulties begin4 ,the college was to be the nurse and home of genius2 but1 though every young man is born with some determination in his nature1 and is a potential genius2 is at last to be one2 it is1 in the most1 obstructed and delayed1 and1 whatever they may hereafter be1 their senses are now opened in advance of their minds4 ,they are more sensual than intellectual4 ,appetite and indolence they have1 but no enthusiasm4 ,these come in numbers to the college3 few geniuses3 and the teaching comes to be arranged for these many1 and not for those few4 ,hence the instruction seems to require skilful tutors1 of accurate and systematic mind1 rather than ardent and inventive masters4 ,besides1 the youth of genius are eccentric1 won't drill1 are irritable1 uncertain1 explosive1 solitary1 not men of the world1 not good for every-day association4 ,you have to work for large classes instead of individuals2 you must lower your flag and reef your sails to wait for the dull sailors2 you grow departmental1 routinary1 military almost with your discipline and college police4 ,but what doth such a school to form a great and heroic character8 ,what abiding ,hope can it inspire8 ,what ,reformer will it nurse8 ,what poet will it breed to sing to the human race8 ,what discoverer of ,nature's laws will it prompt to enrich us by disclosing in the mind the statute which all matter must obey8 ,what fiery soul will it send out to warm a nation with his charity8 ,what tranquil mind will it have fortified to walk with meekness in private and obscure duties1 to wait and to suffer8 ,is it not manifest that our academic institutions should have a wider scope2 that they should not be timid and keep the ruts of the last generation1 but that wise men thinking for themselves and heartily seeking the good of mankind1 and counting the cost of innovation1 should dare to arouse the young to a just and heroic life2 that the moral nature should be addressed in the school-room1 and children should be treated as the high-born candidates of truth and virtue8 ,so to regard the young child1 the young man1 requires1 no doubt1 rare patience3 a patience that nothing but faith in the remedial forces of the soul can give4 ,you see his sensualism2 you see his want of those tastes and perceptions which make the power and safety of your character4 ,very likely4 ,but he has something else4 ,if he has his own vice1 he has its correlative virtue4 ,every mind should be allowed to make its own statement in action1 and its balance will appear4 ,in these judgments one needs that foresight which was attributed to an eminent reformer1 of whom it was said 8his patience could see in the bud of the aloe the blossom at the end of a hundred years40 ,alas for the cripple ,practice when it seeks to come up with the bird ,theory1 which flies before it4 ,try your design on the best school4 ,the scholars are of all ages and temperaments and capacities4 ,it is difficult to class them1 some are too young1 some are slow1 some perverse4 ,each requires so much consideration1 that the morning hope of the teacher1 of a day of love and progress1 is often closed at evening by despair4 ,each single case1 the more it is considered1 shows more to be done2 and the strict conditions of the hours1 on one side1 and the number of tasks1 on the other4 ,whatever becomes of our method1 the conditions stand fast1--six hours1 and thirty1 fifty1 or a hundred and fifty pupils4 ,something must be done1 and done speedily1 and in this distress the wisest are tempted to adopt violent means1 to proclaim martial law1 corporal punishment1 mechanical arrangement1 bribes1 spies1 wrath1 main strength and ignorance1 in lieu of that wise genial providential influence they had hoped1 and yet hope at some future day to adopt4 ,of course the devotion to details reacts injuriously on the teacher4 ,he cannot indulge his genius1 he cannot delight in personal relations with young friends1 when his eye is always on the clock1 and twenty classes are to be dealt with before the day is done4 ,besides1 how can he please himself with genius1 and foster modest virtue8 ,a sure proportion of rogue and dunce finds its way into every school and requires a cruel share of time1 and the gentle teacher1 who wished to be a ,providence to youth1 is grown a martinet1 sore with suspicions2 knows as much vice as the judge of a police court1 and his love of learning is lost in the routine of grammars and books of elements4 ,a rule is so easy that it does not need a man to apply it2 an automaton1 a machine1 can be made to keep a school so4 ,it facilitates labor and thought so much that there is always the temptation in large schools to omit the endless task of meeting the wants of each single mind1 and to govern by steam4 ,but it is at frightful cost4 ,our modes of ,education aim to expedite1 to save labor2 to do for masses what cannot be done for masses1 what must be done reverently1 one by one3 say rather1 the whole world is needed for the tuition of each pupil4 ,the advantages of this system of emulation and display are so prompt and obvious1 it is such a time-saver1 it is so energetic on slow and on bad natures1 and is of so easy application1 needing no sage or poet1 but any tutor or schoolmaster in his first term can apply it1--that it is not strange that this calomel of culture should be a popular medicine4 ,on the other hand1 total abstinence from this drug1 and the adoption of simple discipline and the following of nature1 involves at once immense claims on the time1 the thoughts1 on the life of the teacher4 ,it requires time1 use1 insight1 event1 all the great lessons and assistances of ,god2 and only to think of using it implies character and profoundness2 to enter on this course of discipline is to be good and great4 ,it is precisely analogous to the difference between the use of corporal punishment and the methods of love4 ,it is so easy to bestow on a bad boy a blow1 overpower him1 and get obedience without words1 that in this world of hurry and distraction1 who can wait for the returns of reason and the conquest of self2 in the uncertainty too whether that will ever come8 ,and yet the familiar observation of the universal compensations might suggest the fear that so summary a stop of a bad humor was more jeopardous than its continuance4 ,now the correction of this quack practice is to import into ,education the wisdom of life4 ,leave this military hurry and adopt the pace of ,nature4 ,her secret is patience4 ,do you know how the naturalist learns all the secrets of the forest1 of plants1 of birds1 of beasts1 of reptiles1 of fishes1 of the rivers and the sea8 ,when he goes into the woods the birds fly before him and he finds none2 when he goes to the river bank1 the fish and the reptile swim away and leave him alone4 ,his secret is patience2 he sits down1 and sits still2 he is a statue2 he is a log4 ,these creatures have no value for their time1 and he must put as low a rate on his4 ,by dint of obstinate sitting still1 reptile1 fish1 bird and beast1 which all wish to return to their haunts1 begin to return4 ,he sits still2 if they approach1 he remains passive as the stone he sits upon4 ,they lose their fear4 ,they have curiosity too about him4 ,by and by the curiosity masters the fear1 and they come swimming1 creeping and flying towards him2 and as he is still immovable1 they not only resume their haunts and their ordinary labors and manners1 show themselves to him in their work-day trim1 but also volunteer some degree of advances towards fellowship and good understanding with a biped who behaves so civilly and well4 ,can you not baffle the impatience and passion of the child by your tranquillity8 ,can you not wait for him1 as ,nature and ,providence do8 ,can you not keep for his mind and ways1 for his secret1 the same curiosity you give to the squirrel1 snake1 rabbit1 and the sheldrake and the deer8 ,he has a secret2 wonderful methods in him2 he is1--every child1--a new style of man2 give him time and opportunity4 ,talk of ,columbus and ,newton6 ,i tell you the child just born in yonder hovel is the beginning of a revolution as great as theirs4 ,but you must have the believing and prophetic eye4 ,have the self-command you wish to inspire4 ,your teaching and discipline must have the reserve and taciturnity of ,nature4 ,teach them to hold their tongues by holding your own4 ,say little2 do not snarl2 do not chide2 but govern by the eye4 ,see what they need1 and that the right thing is done4 ,i confess myself utterly at a loss in suggesting particular reforms in our ways of teaching4 ,no discretion that can be lodged with a school-committee1 with the overseers or visitors of an academy1 of a college1 can at all avail to reach these difficulties and perplexities1 but they solve themselves when we leave institutions and address individuals4 ,the will1 the male power1 organizes1 imposes its own thought and wish on others1 and makes that military eye which controls boys as it controls men2 admirable in its results1 a fortune to him who has it1 and only dangerous when it leads the workman to overvalue and overuse it and precludes him from finer means4 ,sympathy1 the female force1--which they must use who have not the first1--deficient in instant control and the breaking down of resistance1 is more subtle and lasting and creative4 ,i advise teachers to cherish mother-wit4 ,i assume that you will keep the grammar1 reading1 writing and arithmetic in order2 'tis easy and of course you will4 ,but smuggle in a little contraband wit1 fancy1 imagination1 thought4 ,if you have a taste which you have suppressed because it is not shared by those about you1 tell them that4 ,set this law up1 whatever becomes of the rules of the school3 they must not whisper1 much less talk2 but if one of the young people says a wise thing1 greet it1 and let all the children clap their hands4 ,they shall have no book but school-books in the room2 but if one has brought in a ,plutarch or ,shakspeare or ,don ,quixote or ,goldsmith or any other good book1 and understands what he reads1 put him at once at the head of the class4 ,nobody shall be disorderly1 or leave his desk without permission1 but if a boy runs from his bench1 or a girl1 because the fire falls1 or to check some injury that a little dastard is inflicting behind his desk on some helpless sufferer1 take away the medal from the head of the class and give it on the instant to the brave rescuer4 ,if a child happens to show that he knows any fact about astronomy1 or plants1 or birds1 or rocks1 or history1 that interests him and you1 hush all the classes and encourage him to tell it so that all may hear4 ,then you have made your school-room like the world4 ,of course you will insist on modesty in the children1 and respect to their teachers1 but if the boy stops you in your speech1 cries out that you are wrong and sets you right1 hug him6 ,to whatsoever upright mind1 to whatsoever beating heart ,i speak1 to you it is committed to educate men4 ,by simple living1 by an illimitable soul1 you inspire1 you correct1 you instruct1 you raise1 you embellish all4 ,by your own act you teach the beholder how to do the practicable4 ,according to the depth from which you draw your life1 such is the depth not only of your strenuous effort1 but of your manners and presence4 ,the beautiful nature of the world has here blended your happiness with your power4 ,work straight on in absolute duty1 and you lend an arm and an encouragement to all the youth of the universe4 ,consent yourself to be an organ of your highest thought1 and lo6 suddenly you put all men in your debt1 and are the fountain of an energy that goes pulsing on with waves of benefit to the borders of society1 to the circumference of things4 ,,the ,,superlative4 ,,when wrath and terror changed ,jove's regal port ,and the rash-leaping thunderbolt fell short4 ,for ,art1 for ,music overthrilled1 ,the wine-cup shakes1 the wine is spilled4 ,,the ,,superlative4#g ,,the doctrine of temperance is one of many degrees4 ,it is usually taught on a low platform1 but one of great necessity1--that of meats and drinks1 and its importance cannot be denied and hardly exaggerated4 ,but it is a long way from the ,maine ,law to the heights of absolute self-command which respect the conservatism of the entire energies of the body1 the mind1 and the soul4 ,i wish to point at some of its higher functions as it enters into mind and character4 ,there is a superlative temperament which has no medium range1 but swiftly oscillates from the freezing to the boiling point1 and which affects the manners of those who share it with a certain desperation4 ,their aspect is grimace4 ,they go tearing1 convulsed through life1--wailing1 praying1 exclaiming1 swearing4 ,we talk1 sometimes1 with people whose conversation would lead you to suppose that they had lived in a museum1 where all the objects were monsters and extremes4 ,their good people are phnixes2 their naughty are like the prophet's figs4 ,they use the superlative of grammar3 8most perfect10 8most exquisite10 8most horrible40 ,like the ,french1 they are enchanted1 they are desolate1 because you have got or have not got a shoe-string or a wafer you happen to want1--not perceiving that superlatives are diminutives1 and weaken2 that the positive is the sinew of speech1 the superlative the fat4 ,if the talker lose a tooth1 he thinks the universal thaw and dissolution of things has come4 ,controvert his opinion and he cries 8,persecution60 and reckons himself with ,saint ,barnabas1 who was sawn in two4 ,especially we note this tendency to extremes in the pleasant excitement of horror-mongers4 ,is there something so delicious in disasters and pain8 ,bad news is always exaggerated1 and we may challenge ,providence to send a fact so tragical that we cannot contrive to make it a little worse in our gossip4 ,all this comes of poverty4 ,we are unskilful definers4 ,from want of skill to convey quality1 we hope to move admiration by quantity4 ,language should aim to describe the fact4 ,it is not enough to suggest it and magnify it4 ,sharper sight would indicate the true line4 ',tis very wearisome1 this straining talk1 these experiences all exquisite1 intense and tremendous1--8,the best ,i ever saw20 8,i never in my life60 ,one wishes these terms gazetted and forbidden4 ,every favorite is not a cherub1 nor every cat a griffin1 nor each unpleasing person a dark1 diabolical intriguer2 nor agonies1 excruciations nor ecstasies our daily bread4 ,horace ,walpole relates that in the expectation1 current in ,london a century ago1 of a great earthquake1 some people provided themselves with dresses for the occasion4 ,but one would not wear earthquake dresses or resurrection robes for a working jacket1 nor make a codicil to his will whenever he goes out to ride2 and the secrets of death1 judgment and eternity are tedious when recurring as minute-guns4 ,thousands of people live and die who were never1 on a single occasion1 hungry or thirsty1 or furious or terrified4 ,the books say1 8,it made my hair stand on end60 ,who1 in our municipal life1 ever had such an experience8 ,indeed1 ,i believe that much of the rhetoric of terror1--8,it froze my blood10 8,it made my knees knock10 etc4--most men have realized only in dreams and nightmares4 ,then there is an inverted superlative1 or superlative contrary1 which shivers1 like ,demophon1 in the sun3 wants fan and parasol on the cold ,friday2 is tired by sleep2 feeds on drugs and poisons2 finds the rainbow a discoloration2 hates birds and flowers4 ,the exaggeration of which ,i complain makes plain fact the more welcome and refreshing4 ,it is curious that a face magnified in a concave mirror loses its expression4 ,all this overstatement is needless4 ,a little fact is worth a whole limbo of dreams1 and ,i can well spare the exaggerations which appear to me screens to conceal ignorance4 ,among these glorifiers1 the coldest stickler for names and dates and measures cannot lament his criticism and coldness of fancy4 ,think how much pains astronomers and opticians have taken to procure an achromatic lens4 ,discovery in the heavens has waited for it2 discovery on the face of the earth not less4 ,i hear without sympathy the complaint of young and ardent persons that they find life no region of romance1 with no enchanter1 no giant1 no fairies1 nor even muses4 ,i am very much indebted to my eyes1 and am content that they should see the real world1 always geometrically finished without blur or halo4 ,the more ,i am engaged with it the more it suffices4 ,how impatient we are1 in these northern latitudes1 of looseness and intemperance in speech6 ,our measure of success is the moderation and low level of an individual's judgment4 ,doctor ,channing's piety and wisdom had such weight that1 in ,boston1 the popular idea of religion was whatever this eminent divine held4 ,but ,i remember that his best friend1 a man of guarded lips1 speaking of him in a circle of his admirers1 said3 8,i have known him long1 ,i have studied his character1 and ,i believe him capable of virtue40 ,an eminent ,french journalist paid a high compliment to the ,duke of ,wellington1 when his documents were published3 8,here are twelve volumes of military dispatches1 and the word glory is not found in them40 ,the ,english mind is arithmetical1 values exactness1 likes literal statement2 stigmatizes any heat or hyperbole as ,irish1 ,french1 ,italian1 and infers weakness and inconsequence of character in speakers who use it4 ,it does not love the superlative but the positive degree4 ,our customary and mechanical existence is not favorable to flights2 long nights and frost hold us pretty fast to realities4 ,the people of ,english stock1 in all countries1 are a solid people1 wearing good hats and shoes1 and owners of land whose title-deeds are properly recorded4 ,their houses are of wood1 and brick1 and stone1 not designed to reel in earthquakes1 nor blow about through the air much in hurricanes1 nor to be lost under sand-drifts1 nor to be made bonfires of by whimsical viziers2 but to stand as commodious1 rentable tenements for a century or two4 ,all our manner of life is on a secure and moderate pattern1 such as can last4 ,violence and extravagance are1 once for all1 distasteful2 competence1 quiet1 comfort1 are the agreed welfare4 ,ever a low style is best4 8,i judge by every man's truth of his degree of understanding10 said ,chesterfield4 ,and ,i do not know any advantage more conspicuous which a man owes to his experience in markets and the ,exchange1 or politics1 than the caution and accuracy he acquires in his report of facts4 8,uncle ,joel's news is always true10 said a person to me with obvious satisfaction1 and said it justly2 for the old head1 after deceiving and being deceived many times1 thinks1 8,what's the use of having to unsay to-day what ,i said yesterday8 ,i will not be responsible2 ,i will not add an epithet4 ,i will be as moderate as the fact1 and will use the same expression1 without color1 which ,i received2 and rather repeat it several times1 word for word1 than vary it ever so little40 ,the first valuable power in a reasonable mind1 one would say1 was the power of plain statement1 or the power to receive things as they befall1 and to transfer the picture of them to another mind unaltered4 ',tis a good rule of rhetoric which ,schlegel gives1--8,in good prose1 every word is underscored20 which1 ,i suppose1 means1 ,never italicize4 ,spartans1 stoics1 heroes1 saints and gods use a short and positive speech4 ,they are never off their centres4 ,as soon as they swell and paint and find truth not enough for them1 softening of the brain has already begun4 ,it seems as if inflation were a disease incident to too much use of words1 and the remedy lay in recourse to things4 ,i am daily struck with the forcible understatement of people who have no literary habit4 ,the low expression is strong and agreeable4 ,the citizen dwells in delusions4 ,his dress and draperies1 house and stables1 occupy him4 ,the poor countryman1 having no circumstance of carpets1 coaches1 dinners1 wine and dancing in his head to confuse him1 is able to look straight at you1 without refraction or prismatic glories1 and he sees whether you see straight also1 or whether your head is addled by this mixture of wines4 ,the common people diminish3 8a cold snap20 8it rains easy20 8good haying weather40 ,when a farmer means to tell you that he is doing well with his farm1 he says1 8,i don't work as hard as ,i did1 and ,i don't mean to40 ,when he wishes to condemn any treatment of soils or of stock1 he says1 8,it won't do any good40 ,under the ,catskill ,mountains the boy in the steamboat said1 8,come up here1 ,tony2 it looks pretty out-of-doors40 ,the farmers in the region do not call particular summits1 as ,killington1 ,camel's ,hump1 ,saddle-back1 etc41 mountains1 but only 8them 'ere rises10 and reserve the word mountains for the range4 ,i once attended a dinner given to a great state functionary by functionaries1--men of law1 state1 and trade4 ,the guest was a great man in his own country and an honored diplomatist in this4 ,his health was drunk with some acknowledgment of his distinguished services to both countries1 and followed by nine cold hurrahs4 ,there was the vicious superlative4 ,then the great official spoke and beat his breast1 and declared that he should remember this honor to the latest moment of his existence4 ,he was answered again by officials4 ,pity1 thought ,i1 they should lie so about their keen sensibility to the nine cold hurrahs and to the commonplace compliment of a dinner4 ,men of the world value truth1 in proportion to their ability2 not by its sacredness1 but for its convenience4 ,of such1 especially of diplomatists1 one has a right to expect wit and ingenuity to avoid the lie if they must comply with the form4 ,now1 ,i had been present1 a little before1 in the country at a cattle-show dinner1 which followed an agricultural discourse delivered by a farmer3 the discourse1 to say the truth1 was bad2 and one of our village fathers gave at the dinner this toast3 8,the orator of the day3 his subject deserves the attention of every farmer40 ,the caution of the toast did honor to our village father4 ,i wish great lords and diplomatists had as much respect for truth4 ,but whilst thus everything recommends simplicity and temperance of action2 the utmost directness1 the positive degree1 we mean thereby that 8rightly to be great is not to stir without great argument40 ,whenever the true objects of action appear1 they are to be heartily sought4 ,enthusiasm is the height of man2 it is the passing from the human to the divine4 ,the superlative is as good as the positive1 if it be alive4 ,if man loves the conditioned1 he also loves the unconditioned4 ,we don't wish to sin on the other side1 and to be purists1 nor to check the invention of wit or the sally of humor4 ',tis very different1 this weak and wearisome lie1 from the stimulus to the fancy which is given by a romancing talker who does not mean to be exactly taken1--like the gallant skipper who complained to his owners that he had pumped the ,atlantic ,ocean three times through his ship on the passage1 and 'twas common to strike seals and porpoises in the hold4 ,or what was similarly asserted of the late ,lord ,jeffrey1 at the ,scottish bar1--an attentive auditor declaring on one occasion after an argument of three hours1 that he had spoken the whole ,english language three times over in his speech4 ,the objection to unmeasured speech is its lie4 ,all men like an impressive fact4 ,the astronomer shows you in his telescope the nebula of ,orion1 that you may look on that which is esteemed the farthest-off land in visible nature4 ,at the ,bank of ,england they put a scrap of paper that is worth a million pounds sterling into the hands of the visitor to touch4 ,our travelling is a sort of search for the superlatives or summits of art1--much more the real wonders of power in the human form4 ,the arithmetic of ,newton1 the memory of ,magliabecchi or ,mirandola1 the versatility of ,julius ,csar1 the concentration of ,bonaparte1 the inspiration of ,shakspeare1 are sure of commanding interest and awe in every company of men4 ,the superlative is the excess of expression4 ,we are a garrulous1 demonstrative kind of creatures1 and cannot live without much outlet for all our sense and nonsense4 ,and fit expression is so rare that mankind have a superstitious value for it1 and it would seem the whole human race agree to value a man precisely in proportion to his power of expression2 and to the most expressive man that has existed1 namely1 ,shakspeare1 they have awarded the highest place4 ,the expressors are the gods of the world1 but the men whom these expressors revere are the solid1 balanced1 undemonstrative citizens who make the reserved guard1 the central sense1 of the world4 ,for the luminous object wastes itself by its shining1--is luminous because it is burning up2 and if the powers are disposed for display1 there is all the less left for use and creation4 ,the talent sucks the substance of the man4 ,superlatives must be bought by too many positives4 ,gardens of roses must be stripped to make a few drops of otto4 ,and these raptures of fire and frost1 which indeed cleanse pedantry out of conversation and make the speech salt and biting1 would cost me the days of well-being which are now so cheap to me1 yet so valued4 ,i like no deep stakes4 ,i am a coward at gambling4 ,i will bask in the common sun a while longer4 ,children and thoughtless people like exaggerated event and activity2 like to run to a house on fire1 to a fight1 to an execution2 like to talk of a marriage1 of a bankruptcy1 of a debt1 of a crime4 ,the wise man shuns all this4 ,i knew a grave man who1 being urged to go to a church where a clergyman was newly ordained1 said 8he liked him very well1 but he would go when the interesting ,sundays were over40 ,all rests at last on the simplicity of nature1 or real being4 ,nothing is for the most part less esteemed4 ,we are fond of dress1 of ornament1 of accomplishments1 of talents1 but distrustful of health1 of soundness1 of pure innocence4 ,yet nature measures her greatness by what she can spare1 by what remains when all superfluity and accessories are shorn off4 ,nor is there in nature itself any swell1 any brag1 any strain or shock1 but a firm common sense through all her elephants and lions1 through all her ducks and geese2 a true proportion between her means and her performance4 ,semper sibi similis4 ,you shall not catch her in any anomalies1 nor swaggering into any monsters4 ,in all the years that ,i have sat in town and forest1 ,i never saw a winged dragon1 a flying man1 or a talking fish1 but ever the strictest regard to rule1 and an absence of all surprises4 ,no2 nature encourages no looseness1 pardons no errors2 freezes punctually at #cb1 boils punctually at #bab2 crystallizes in water at one invariable angle1 in diamond at one1 in granite at one2 and if you omit the smallest condition the experiment will not succeed4 ,her communication obeys the gospel rule1 yea or nay4 ,she never expatiates1 never goes into the reasons4 ,plant beechmast and it comes up1 or it does not come up4 ,sow grain1 and it does not come up3 put lime into the soil and try again1 and this time she says yea4 ,to every question an abstemious but absolute reply4 ,the like staidness is in her dealings with us4 ,nature is always serious1--does not jest with us4 ,where we have begun in folly1 we are brought quickly to plain dealing4 ,life could not be carried on except by fidelity and good earnest2 and she brings the most heartless trifler to determined purpose presently4 ,the men whom she admits to her confidence1 the simple and great characters1 are uniformly marked by absence of pretension and by understatement4 ,the old and the modern sages of clearest insight are plain men1 who have held themselves hard to the poverty of nature4 ,the firmest and noblest ground on which people can live is truth2 the real with the real2 a ground on which nothing is assumed1 but where they speak and think and do what they must1 because they are so and not otherwise4 ,but whilst the basis of character must be simplicity1 the expression of character1 it must be remembered1 is1 in great degree1 a matter of climate4 ,in the temperate climates there is a temperate speech1 in torrid climates an ardent one4 ,whilst in ,western nations the superlative in conversation is tedious and weak1 and in character is a capital defect1 nature delights in showing us that in the ,east it is animated1 it is pertinent1 pleasing1 poetic4 ,whilst she appoints us to keep within the sharp boundaries of form as the condition of our strength1 she creates in the ,east the uncontrollable yearning to escape from limitation into the vast and boundless2 to use a freedom of fancy which plays with all the works of nature1 great or minute1 galaxy or grain of dust1 as toys and words of the mind2 inculcates the tenet of a beatitude to be found in escape from all organization and all personality1 and makes ecstasy an institution4 ,religion and poetry are all the civilization of the ,arab4 8,the ground of ,paradise10 said ,mohammed1 8is extensive1 and the plants of it are hallelujahs40 ,religion and poetry3 the religion teaches an inexorable destiny2 it distinguishes only two days in each man's history1 the day of his lot1 and the day of judgment4 ,the religion runs into asceticism and fate4 ,the costume1 the articles in which wealth is displayed1 are in the same extremes4 ,thus the diamond and the pearl1 which are only accidental and secondary in their use and value to us1 are proper to the oriental world4 ,the diver dives a beggar and rises with the price of a kingdom in his hand4 ,a bag of sequins1 a jewel1 a balsam1 a single horse1 constitute an estate in countries where insecure institutions make every one desirous of concealable and convertible property4 ,shall ,i say1 further1 that the orientals excel in costly arts1 in the cutting of precious stones1 in working in gold1 in weaving on hand-looms costly stuffs from silk and wool1 in spices1 in dyes and drugs1 henna1 otto and camphor1 and in the training of slaves1 elephants and camels1--things which are the poetry and superlative of commerce4 ,on the other hand1--and it is a good illustration of the difference of genius1--the ,european nations1 and1 in general1 all nations in proportion to their civilization1 understand the manufacture of iron4 ,one of the meters of the height to which any civility rose is the skill in the fabric of iron4 ,universally1 the better gold1 the worse man4 ,the political economist defies us to show any gold-mine country that is traversed by good roads3 or a shore where pearls are found on which good schools are erected4 ,the ,european civility1 or that of the positive degree1 is established by coal-mines1 by ventilation1 by irrigation and every skill--in having water cheap and pure1 by iron1 by agriculture for bread-stuffs1 and manufacture of coarse and family cloths4 ,our modern improvements have been in the invention of friction matches2 of ,india-rubber shoes2 of the famous two parallel bars of iron2 then of the air-chamber of ,watt1 and of the judicious tubing of the engine1 by ,stephenson1 in order to the construction of locomotives4 ,meantime1 ,nature1 who loves crosses and mixtures1 makes these two tendencies necessary each to the other1 and delights to re-enforce each peculiarity by imparting the other4 ,the ,northern genius finds itself singularly refreshed and stimulated by the breadth and luxuriance of ,eastern imagery and modes of thinking1 which go to check the pedantry of our inventions and the excess of our detail4 ,there is no writing which has more electric power to unbind and animate the torpid intellect than the bold ,eastern muse4 ,if it come back however to the question of final superiority1 it is too plain that there is no question that the star of empire rolls ,west3 that the warm sons of the ,southeast have bent the neck under the yoke of the cold temperament and the exact understanding of the ,northwestern races4 ,,footnotes3 ,footnote #g3 ,reprinted from the ,century of ,february1 #ahhb4 ,,the ,,sovereignty ,,of ,,ethics4 ,,these rules were writ in human heart ,by ,him who built the day2 ,the columns of the universe ,not firmer based than they4 ,,thou shalt not try ,to plant thy shrivelled pedantry ,on the shoulders of the sky4 ,,the ,,sovereignty ,,of ,,ethics4#h ,,since the discovery of ,oersted that galvanism and electricity and magnetism are only forms of one and the same force1 and convertible each into the other1 we have continually suggested to us a larger generalization3 that each of the great departments of ,nature--chemistry1 vegetation1 the animal life--exhibits the same laws on a different plane2 that the intellectual and moral worlds are analogous to the material4 ,there is a kind of latent omniscience not only in every man but in every particle4 ,that convertibility we so admire in plants and animal structures1 whereby the repairs and the ulterior uses are subserved1 when one part is wounded or deficient1 by another2 this self-help and self-creation proceed from the same original power which works remotely in grandest and meanest structures by the same design1--works in a lobster or a mite-worm as a wise man would if imprisoned in that poor form4 ',tis the effort of ,god1 of the ,supreme ,intellect1 in the extremest frontier of his universe4 ,as this unity exists in the organization of insect1 beast and bird1 still ascending to man1 and from lower type of man to the highest yet attained1 so it does not less declare itself in the spirit or intelligence of the brute4 ,in ignorant ages it was common to vaunt the human superiority by underrating the instinct of other animals2 but a better discernment finds that the difference is only of less and more4 ,experiment shows that the bird and the dog reason as the hunter does1 that all the animals show the same good sense in their humble walk that the man who is their enemy or friend does2 and1 if it be in smaller measure1 yet it is not diminished1 as his often is1 by freak and folly4 ,st4 ,pierre says of the animals that a moral sentiment seems to have determined their physical organization4 ,i see the unity of thought and of morals running through all animated ,nature2 there is no difference of quality1 but only of more and less4 ,the animal who is wholly kept down in ,nature has no anxieties4 ,by yielding1 as he must do1 to it1 he is enlarged and reaches his highest point4 ,the poor grub1 in the hole of a tree1 by yielding itself to ,nature1 goes blameless through its low part and is rewarded at last1 casts its filthy hull1 expands into a beautiful form with rainbow wings1 and makes a part of the summer day4 ,the ,greeks called it ,psyche1 a manifest emblem of the soul4 ,the man down in ,nature occupies himself in guarding1 in feeding1 in warming and multiplying his body1 and1 as long as he knows no more1 we justify him2 but presently a mystic change is wrought1 a new perception opens1 and he is made a citizen of the world of souls3 he feels what is called duty2 he is aware that he owes a higher allegiance to do and live as a good member of this universe4 ,in the measure in which he has this sense he is a man1 rises to the universal life4 ,the high intellect is absolutely at one with moral nature4 ,a thought is imbosomed in a sentiment1 and the attempt to detach and blazon the thought is like a show of cut flowers4 ,the moral is the measure of health1 and in the voice of ,genius ,i hear invariably the moral tone1 even when it is disowned in words2--health1 melody and a wider horizon belong to moral sensibility4 ,the finer the sense of justice1 the better poet4 ,the believer says to the skeptic3-- 8,one avenue was shaded from thine eyes ,through which ,i wandered to eternal truth40 ,humility is the avenue4 ,to be sure1 we exaggerate when we represent these two elements as disunited2 every man shares them both2 but it is true that men generally are marked by a decided predominance of one or of the other element4 ,in youth and in age we are moralists1 and in mature life the moral element steadily rises in the regard of all reasonable men4 ',tis a sort of proverbial dying speech of scholars 7at least it is attributed to many7 that which ,anthony ,wood reports of ,nathaniel ,carpenter1 an ,oxford ,fellow4 8,it did repent him10 he said1 8that he had formerly so much courted the maid instead of the mistress0 7meaning philosophy and mathematics to the neglect of divinity74 ,this1 in the language of our time1 would be ethics4 ,and when ,i say that the world is made up of moral forces1 these are not separate4 ,all forces are found in ,nature united with that which they move3 heat is not separate1 light is not massed aloof1 nor electricity1 nor gravity1 but they are always in combination4 ,and so moral powers2 they are thirsts for action1 and the more you accumulate the more they mould and form4 ,it is in the stomach of plants that development begins1 and ends in the circles of the universe4 ',tis a long scale from the gorilla to the gentleman--from the gorilla to ,plato1 ,newton1 ,shakspeare--to the sanctities of religion1 the refinements of legislation1 the summits of science1 art and poetry4 ,the beginnings are slow and infirm1 but it is an always-accelerated march4 ,the geologic world is chronicled by the growing ripeness of the strata from lower to higher1 as it becomes the abode of more highly-organized plants and animals4 ,the civil history of men might be traced by the successive meliorations as marked in higher moral generalizations2--virtue meaning physical courage1 then chastity and temperance1 then justice and love2--bargains of kings with peoples of certain rights to certain classes1 then of rights to masses1--then at last came the day when1 as the historians rightly tell1 the nerves of the world were electrified by the proclamation that all men are born free and equal4 ,every truth leads in another4 ,the bud extrudes the old leaf1 and every truth brings that which will supplant it4 ,in the court of law the judge sits over the culprit1 but in the court of life in the same hour the judge also stands as culprit before a true tribunal4 ,every judge is a culprit1 every law an abuse4 ,montaigne kills off bigots as cowhage kills worms2 but there is a higher muse there sitting where he durst not soar1 of eye so keen that it can report of a realm in which all the wit and learning of the ,frenchman is no more than the cunning of a fox4 ,it is the same fact existing as sentiment and as will in the mind1 which works in ,nature as irresistible law1 exerting influence over nations1 intelligent beings1 or down in the kingdoms of brute or of chemical atoms4 ,nature is a tropical swamp in sunshine1 on whose purlieus we hear the song of summer birds1 and see prismatic dew-drops--but her interiors are terrific1 full of hydras and crocodiles4 ,in the pre-adamite she bred valor only2 by-and-by she gets on to man1 and adds tenderness1 and thus raises virtue piecemeal4 ,when we trace from the beginning1 that ferocity has uses2 only so are the conditions of the then world met1 and these monsters are the scavengers1 executioners1 diggers1 pioneers and fertilizers1 destroying what is more destructive than they1 and making better life possible4 ,we see the steady aim of ,benefit in view from the first4 ,melioration is the law4 ,the cruelest foe is a masked benefactor4 ,the wars which make history so dreary1 have served the cause of truth and virtue4 ,there is always an instinctive sense of right1 an obscure idea which animates either party and which in long periods vindicates itself at last4 ,thus a sublime confidence is fed at the bottom of the heart that1 in spite of appearances1 in spite of malignity and blind self-interest living for the moment1 an eternal1 beneficent necessity is always bringing things right2 and1 though we should fold our arms1--which we cannot do1 for our duty requires us to be the very hands of this guiding sentiment1 and work in the present moment1--the evils we suffer will at last end themselves through the incessant opposition of ,nature to everything hurtful4 ,the excellence of men consists in the completeness with which the lower system is taken up into the higher--a process of much time and delicacy1 but in which no point of the lower should be left untranslated2 so that the warfare of beasts should be renewed in a finer field1 for more excellent victories4 ,savage war gives place to that of ,turenne and ,wellington1 which has limitations and a code4 ,this war again gives place to the finer quarrel of property1 where the victory is wealth and the defeat poverty4 ,the inevitabilities are always sapping every seeming prosperity built on a wrong4 ,no matter how you seem to fatten on a crime1 that can never be good for the bee which is bad for the hive4 ,see how these things look in the page of history4 ,nations come and go1 cities rise and fall1 all the instincts of man1 good and bad1 work1--and every wish1 appetite1 and passion1 rushes into act and embodies itself in usages1 protects itself with laws4 ,some of them are useful and universally acceptable1 hinder none1 help all1 and these are honored and perpetuated4 ,others are noxious4 ,community of property is tried1 as when a ,tartar horde or an ,indian tribe roam over a vast tract for pasturage or hunting2 but it is found at last that some establishment of property1 allowing each on some distinct terms to fence and cultivate a piece of land1 is best for all4 8,for my part10 said ,napoleon1 8it is not the mystery of the incarnation which ,i discover in religion1 but the mystery of social order1 which associates with heaven that idea of equality which prevents the rich from destroying the poor40 ,shall ,i say then it were truer to see ,necessity calm1 beautiful1 passionless1 without a smile1 covered with ensigns of woe1 stretching her dark warp across the universe8 ,these threads are ,nature's pernicious elements1 her deluges1 miasma1 disease1 poison2 her curdling cold1 her hideous reptiles and worse men1 cannibals1 and the depravities of civilization2 the secrets of the prisons of tyranny1 the slave and his master1 the proud man's scorn1 the orphan's tears1 the vices of men1 lust1 cruelty and pitiless avarice4 ,these make the gloomy warp of ages4 ,humanity sits at the dread loom and throws the shuttle and fills it with joyful rainbows1 until the sable ground is flowered all over with a woof of human industry and wisdom1 virtuous examples1 symbols of useful and generous arts1 with beauty and pure love1 courage and the victories of the just and wise over malice and wrong4 ,nature is not so helpless but it can rid itself at last of every crime4 ,an ,eastern poet1 in describing the golden age1 said that ,god had made justice so dear to the heart of ,nature that1 if any injustice lurked anywhere under the sky1 the blue vault would shrivel to a snake-skin and cast it out by spasms4 ,but the spasms of ,nature are years and centuries1 and it will tax the faith of man to wait so long4 ,man is always throwing his praise or blame on events1 and does not see that he only is real1 and the world his mirror and echo4 ,he imputes the stroke to fortune1 which in reality himself strikes4 ,the student discovers one day that he lives in enchantment3 the house1 the works1 the persons1 the days1 the weathers--all that he calls ,nature1 all that he calls institutions1 when once his mind is active are visions merely1 wonderful allegories1 significant pictures of the laws of the mind2 and through this enchanted gallery he is led by unseen guides to read and learn the laws of ,heaven4 ,this discovery may come early1--sometimes in the nursery1 to a rare child2 later in the school1 but oftener when the mind is more mature2 and to multitudes of men wanting in mental activity it never comes--any more than poetry or art4 ,but it ought to come2 it belongs to the human intellect1 and is an insight which we cannot spare4 ,the idea of right exists in the human mind1 and lays itself out in the equilibrium of ,nature1 in the equalities and periods of our system1 in the level of seas1 in the action and reaction of forces4 ,nothing is allowed to exceed or absorb the rest2 if it do1 it is disease1 and is quickly destroyed4 ,it was an early discovery of the mind1--this beneficent rule4 ,strength enters just as much as the moral element prevails4 ,the strength of the animal to eat and to be luxurious and to usurp is rudeness and imbecility4 ,the law is3 ,to each shall be rendered his own4 ,as thou sowest1 thou shalt reap4 ,smite1 and thou shalt smart4 ,serve1 and thou shalt be served4 ,if you love and serve men1 you cannot1 by any hiding or stratagem1 escape the remuneration4 ,secret retributions are always restoring the level1 when disturbed1 of the ,divine justice4 ,it is impossible to tilt the beam4 ,all the tyrants and proprietors and monopolists of the world in vain set their shoulders to heave the bar4 ,settles for evermore the ponderous equator to its line1 and man and mote and star and sun must range with it1 or be pulverized by the recoil4 ,it is a doctrine of unspeakable comfort4 ,he that plants his foot here1 passes at once out of the kingdom of illusions4 ,others may well suffer in the hideous picture of crime with which earth is filled and the life of society threatened1 but the habit of respecting that great order which certainly contains and will dispose of our little system1 will take all fear from the heart4 ,it did itself create and distribute all that is created and distributed1 and1 trusting to its power1 we cease to care for what it will certainly order well4 ,to good men1 as we call good men1 this doctrine of ,trust is an unsounded secret4 ,they use the word1 they have accepted the notion of a mechanical supervision of human life1 by which that certain wonderful being whom they call ,god does take up their affairs where their intelligence leaves them1 and somehow knits and co-ordinates the issues of them in all that is beyond the reach of private faculty4 ,they do not see that ,he1 that ,it1 is there1 next and within2 the thought of the thought2 the affair of affairs2 that he is existence1 and take him from them and they would not be4 ,they do not see that particulars are sacred to him1 as well as the scope and outline2 that these passages of daily life are his work2 that in the moment when they desist from interference1 these particulars take sweetness and grandeur1 and become the language of mighty principles4 ,a man should be a guest in his own house1 and a guest in his own thought4 ,he is there to speak for truth2 but who is he8 ,some clod the truth has snatched from the ground1 and with fire has fashioned to a momentary man4 ,without the truth1 he is a clod again4 ,let him find his superiority in not wishing superiority2 find the riches of love which possesses that which it adores2 the riches of poverty2 the height of lowliness1 the immensity of to-day2 and1 in the passing hour1 the age of ages4 ,wondrous state of man6 never so happy as when he has lost all private interests and regards1 and exists only in obedience and love of the ,author4 ,the fiery soul said3 8,let me be a blot on this fair world1 the obscurest1 the loneliest sufferer1 with one proviso1--that ,i know it is ,his agency4 ,i will love him1 though he shed frost and darkness on every way of mine40 ,the emphasis of that blessed doctrine lay in lowliness4 ,the new saint gloried in infirmities4 ,who or what was he8 ,his rise and his recovery were vicarious4 ,he has fallen in another2 he rises in another4 ,we perish1 and perish gladly1 if the law remains4 ,i hope it is conceivable that a man may go to ruin gladly1 if he see that thereby no shade falls on that he loves and adores4 ,we need not always be stipulating for our clean shirt and roast joint per diem4 ,we do not believe the less in astronomy and vegetation1 because we are writhing and roaring in our beds with rheumatism4 ,cripples and invalids1 we doubt not there are bounding fawns in the forest1 and lilies with graceful1 springing stem2 so neither do we doubt or fail to love the eternal law1 of which we are such shabby practisers4 ,truth gathers itself spotless and unhurt after all our surrenders and concealments and partisanship--never hurt by the treachery or ruin of its best defenders1 whether ,luther1 or ,william ,penn1 or ,st4 ,paul4 ,we answer1 when they tell us of the bad behavior of ,luther or ,paul3 8,well1 what if he did8 ,who was more pained than ,luther or ,paul80 ,shall we attach ourselves violently to our teachers and historical personalities1 and think the foundation shaken if any fault is shown in their record8 ,but how is the truth hurt by their falling from it8 ,the law of gravity is not hurt by every accident1 though our leg be broken4 ,no more is the law of justice by our departure from it4 ,we are to know that we are never without a pilot4 ,when we know not how to steer1 and dare not hoist a sail1 we can drift4 ,the current knows the way1 though we do not4 ,when the stars and sun appear1 when we have conversed with navigators who know the coast1 we may begin to put out an oar and trim a sail4 ,the ship of heaven guides itself1 and will not accept a wooden rudder4 ,have you said to yourself ever3 #8,i abdicate all choice1 ,i see it is not for me to interfere4 ,i see that ,i have been one of the crowd2 that ,i have been a pitiful person1 because ,i have wished to be my own master1 and to dress and order my whole way and system of living4 ,i thought ,i managed it very well4 ,i see that my neighbors think so4 ,i have heard prayers1 ,i have prayed even1 but ,i have never until now dreamed that this undertaking the entire management of my own affairs was not commendable4 ,i have never seen1 until now1 that it dwarfed me4 ,i have not discovered1 until this blessed ray flashed just now through my soul1 that there dwelt any power in ,nature that would relieve me of my load4 ,but now ,i see4' ,what is this intoxicating sentiment that allies this scrap of dust to the whole of ,nature and the whole of ,fate1--that makes this doll a dweller in ages1 mocker at time1 able to spurn all outward advantages1 peer and master of the elements8 ,i am taught by it that what touches any thread in the vast web of being touches me4 ,i am representative of the whole2 and the good of the whole1 or what ,i call the right1 makes me invulnerable4 ,how came this creation so magically woven that nothing can do me mischief but myself1--that an invisible fence surrounds my being which screens me from all harm that ,i will to resist8 ,if ,i will stand upright1 the creation cannot bend me4 ,but if ,i violate myself1 if ,i commit a crime1 the lightning loiters by the speed of retribution1 and every act is not hereafter but instantaneously rewarded according to its quality4 ,virtue is the adopting of this dictate of the universal mind by the individual will4 ,character is the habit of this obedience1 and ,religion is the accompanying emotion1 the emotion of reverence which the presence of the universal mind ever excites in the individual4 ,we go to famous books for our examples of character1 just as we send to ,england for shrubs which grow as well in our own door-yards and cow-pastures4 ,life is always rich1 and spontaneous graces and forces elevate it in every domestic circle1 which are overlooked while we are reading something less excellent in old authors4 ,from the obscurity and casualty of those which ,i know1 ,i infer the obscurity and casualty of the like balm and consolation and immortality in a thousand homes which ,i do not know1 all round the world4 ,and ,i see not why to these simple instincts1 simple yet grand1 all the heights and transcendencies of virtue and of enthusiasm are not open4 ,there is power enough in them to move the world2 and it is not any sterility or defect in ethics1 but our negligence of these fine monitors1 of these world-embracing sentiments1 that makes religion cold and life low4 ,while the immense energy of the sentiment of duty and the awe of the supernatural exert incomparable influence on the mind1--yet it is often perverted1 and the tradition received with awe1 but without correspondent action of the receiver4 ,then you find so many men infatuated on that topic6 ,wise on all other1 they lose their head the moment they talk of religion4 ,it is the sturdiest prejudice in the public mind that religion is something by itself2 a department distinct from all other experiences1 and to which the tests and judgment men are ready enough to show on other things1 do not apply4 ,you may sometimes talk with the gravest and best citizen1 and the moment the topic of religion is broached1 he runs into a childish superstition4 ,his face looks infatuated1 and his conversation is4 ,when ,i talked with an ardent missionary1 and pointed out to him that his creed found no support in my experience1 he replied1 8,it is not so in your experience1 but is so in the other world40 ,i answer3 ,other world6 there is no other world4 ,god is one and omnipresent2 here or nowhere is the whole fact4 ,the one miracle which ,god works evermore is in ,nature1 and imparting himself to the mind4 ,when we ask simply1 8,what is true in thought8 what is just in action80 it is the yielding of the private heart to the ,divine mind1 and all personal preferences1 and all requiring of wonders1 are profane4 ,the word miracle1 as it is used1 only indicates the ignorance of the devotee1 staring with wonder to see water turned into wine1 and heedless of the stupendous fact of his own personality4 ,here he stands1 a lonely thought harmoniously organized into correspondence with the universe of mind and matter4 ,what narrative of wonders coming down from a thousand years ought to charm his attention like this8 ,certainly it is human to value a general consent1 a fraternity of believers1 a crowded church2 but as the sentiment purifies and rises1 it leaves crowds4 ,it makes churches of two1 churches of one4 ,a fatal disservice does this ,swedenborg or other who offers to do my thinking for me4 ,it seems as if1 when the ,spirit of ,god speaks so plainly to each soul1 it were an impiety to be listening to one or another saint4 ,jesus was better than others1 because he refused to listen to others and listened at home4 ,you are really interested in your thought4 ,you have meditated in silent wonder on your existence in this world4 ,you have perceived in the first fact of your conscious life here a miracle so astounding1--a miracle comprehending all the universe of miracles to which your intelligent life gives you access1--as to exhaust wonder1 and leave you no need of hunting here or there for any particular exhibitions of power4 ,then up comes a man with a text of #a ,john v4 #g1 or a knotty sentence from ,st4 ,paul1 which he considers as the axe at the root of your tree4 ,you cannot bring yourself to care for it4 ,you say3 8,cut away2 my tree is ,ygdrasil--the tree of life40 ,he interrupts for the moment your peaceful trust in the ,divine ,providence4 ,let him know by your security that your conviction is clear and sufficient1 and if he were ,paul himself1 you also are here1 and with your ,creator4 ,we all give way to superstitions4 ,the house in which we were born is not quite mere timber and stone2 is still haunted by parents and progenitors4 ,the creeds into which we were initiated in childhood and youth no longer hold their old place in the minds of thoughtful men1 but they are not nothing to us1 and we hate to have them treated with contempt4 ,there is so much that we do not know1 that we give to these suggestions the benefit of the doubt4 ,it is a necessity of the human mind that he who looks at one object should look away from all other objects4 ,he may throw himself upon some sharp statement of one fact1 some verbal creed1 with such concentration as to hide the universe from him3 but the stars roll above2 the sun warms him4 ,with patience and fidelity to truth he may work his way through1 if only by coming against somebody who believes more fables than he does2 and1 in trying to dispel the illusions of his neighbor1 he opens his own eyes4 ,in the ,christianity of this country there is wide difference of opinion in regard to inspiration1 prophecy1 miracles1 the future state of the soul2 every variety of opinion1 and rapid revolution in opinions1 in the last half-century4 ,it is simply impossible to read the old history of the first century as it was read in the ninth2 to do so you must abolish in your mind the lessons of all the centuries from the ninth to the nineteenth4 ,shall ,i make the mistake of baptizing the daylight1 and time1 and space1 by the name of ,john or ,joshua1 in whose tent ,i chance to behold daylight1 and space1 and time8 ,what anthropomorphists we are in this1 that we cannot let moral distinctions be1 but must mould them into human shape6 8,mere morality0 means1--not put into a personal master of morals4 ,our religion is geographical1 belongs to our time and place2 respects and mythologizes some one time and place and person and people4 ,so it is occasional4 ,it visits us only on some exceptional and ceremonial occasion1 on a wedding or a baptism1 on a sick-bed1 or at a funeral1 or perhaps on a sublime national victory or a peace4 ,but that be sure is not the religion of the universal unsleeping providence1 which lurks in trifles1 in still1 small voices1 in the secrets of the heart and our closest thoughts1 as efficiently as in our proclamations and successes4 ,far be it from me to underrate the men or the churches that have fixed the hearts of men and organized their devout impulses or oracles into good institutions4 ,the ,church of ,rome had its saints1 and inspired the conscience of ,europe--,st4 ,augustine1 and ,thomas ,kempis1 and ,fnelon2 the piety of the ,english ,church in ,cranmer1 and ,herbert1 and ,taylor2 the ,reformed ,church1 ,scougal2 the mystics1 ,behmen and ,swedenborg2 the ,quakers1 ,fox and ,james ,naylor4 ,i confess our later generation appears ungirt1 frivolous1 compared with the religions of the last or ,calvinistic age4 ,there was in the last century a serious habitual reference to the spiritual world1 running through diaries1 letters and conversation--yes1 and into wills and legal instruments also1 compared with which our liberation looks a little foppish and dapper4 ,the religion of seventy years ago was an iron belt to the mind1 giving it concentration and force4 ,a rude people were kept respectable by the determination of thought on the eternal world4 ,now men fall abroad1--want polarity1--suffer in character and intellect4 ,a sleep creeps over the great functions of man4 ,enthusiasm goes out4 ,in its stead a low prudence seeks to hold society staunch1 but its arms are too short1 cordage and machinery never supply the place of life4 ,luther would cut his hand off sooner than write theses against the pope if he suspected that he was bringing on with all his might the pale negations of ,boston ,unitarianism4 ,i will not now go into the metaphysics of that reaction by which in history a period of belief is followed by an age of criticism1 in which wit takes the place of faith in the leading spirits1 and an excessive respect for forms out of which the heart has departed becomes most obvious in the least religious minds4 ,i will not now explore the causes of the result1 but the fact must be conceded as of frequent recurrence1 and never more evident than in our ,american church4 ,to a self-denying1 ardent church1 delighting in rites and ordinances1 has succeeded a cold1 intellectual race1 who analyze the prayer and psalm of their forefathers1 and the more intellectual reject every yoke of authority and custom with a petulance unprecedented4 ,it is a sort of mark of probity and sincerity to declare how little you believe1 while the mass of the community indolently follow the old forms with childish scrupulosity1 and we have punctuality for faith1 and good taste for character4 ,but ,i hope the defect of faith with us is only apparent4 ,we shall find that freedom has its own guards1 and1 as soon as in the vulgar it runs to license1 sets all reasonable men on exploring those guards4 ,i do not think the summit of this age truly reached or expressed unless it attain the height which religion and philosophy reached in any former age4 ,if ,i miss the inspiration of the saints of ,calvinism1 or of ,platonism1 or ,buddhism1 our times are not up to theirs1 or1 more truly1 have not yet their own legitimate force4 ,worship is the regard for what is above us4 ,men are respectable only as they respect4 ,we delight in children because of that religious eye which belongs to them2 because of their reverence for their seniors1 and for their objects of belief4 ,the poor ,irish laborer one sees with respect1 because he believes in something1 in his church1 and in his employers4 ,superstitious persons we see with respect1 because their whole existence is not bounded by their hats and their shoes1 but they walk attended by pictures of the imagination1 to which they pay homage4 ,you cannot impoverish man by taking away these objects above him without ruin4 ,it is very sad to see men who think their goodness made of themselves2 it is very grateful to see those who hold an opinion the reverse of this4 ,all ages of belief have been great2 all of unbelief have been mean4 ,the ,orientals believe in ,fate4 ,that which shall befall them is written on the iron leaf2 they will not turn on their heel to avoid famine1 plague1 or the sword of the enemy4 ,that is great1 and gives a great air to the people4 ,we in ,america are charged with a great deficiency in worship2 that reverence does not belong to our character2 that our institutions1 our politics1 and our trade1 have fostered a self-reliance which is small1 liliputian1 full of fuss and bustle2 we look at and will bear nothing above us in the state1 and do exceedingly applaud and admire ourselves1 and believe in our senses and understandings1 while our imagination and our moral sentiment are desolated4 ,in religion too we want objects above2 we are fast losing or have already lost our old reverence2 new views of inspiration1 of miracles1 of the saints1 have supplanted the old opinions1 and it is vain to bring them again4 ,revolutions never go backward1 and in all churches a certain decay of ancient piety is lamented1 and all threatens to lapse into apathy and indifferentism4 ,it becomes us to consider whether we cannot have a real faith and real objects in lieu of these false ones4 ,the human mind1 when it is trusted1 is never false to itself4 ,if there be sincerity and good meaning--if there be really in us the wish to seek for our superiors1 for that which is lawfully above us1 we shall not long look in vain4 ,meantime there is great centrality1 a centripetence equal to the centrifugence4 ,the mystic or theist is never scared by any startling materialism4 ,he knows the laws of gravitation and of repulsion are deaf to ,french talkers1 be they never so witty4 ,if theology shows that opinions are fast changing1 it is not so with the convictions of men with regard to conduct4 ,these remain4 ,the most daring heroism1 the most accomplished culture1 or rapt holiness1 never exhausted the claim of these lowly duties1--never penetrated to their origin1 or was able to look behind their source4 ,we cannot disenchant1 we cannot impoverish ourselves1 by obedience2 but by humility we rise1 by obedience we command1 by poverty we are rich1 by dying we live4 ,we are thrown back on rectitude forever and ever1 only rectitude1--to mend one2 that is all we can do4 ,but that the zealot stigmatizes as a sterile chimney-corner philosophy4 ,now the first position ,i make is that natural religion supplies still all the facts which are disguised under the dogma of popular creeds4 ,the progress of religion is steadily to its identity with morals4 ,how is the new generation to be edified8 ,how should it not8 ,the life of those once omnipotent traditions was really not in the legend1 but in the moral sentiment and the metaphysical fact which the legends enclosed--and these survive4 ,a new ,socrates1 or ,zeno1 or ,swedenborg1 or ,pascal1 or a new crop of geniuses like those of the ,elizabethan age1 may be born in this age1 and1 with happy heart and a bias for theism1 bring asceticism1 duty1 and magnanimity into vogue again4 ,it is true that ,stoicism1 always attractive to the intellectual and cultivated1 has now no temples1 no academy1 no commanding ,zeno or ,antoninus4 ,it accuses us that it has none3 that pure ethics is not now formulated and concreted into a cultus1 a fraternity with assemblings and holy-days1 with song and book1 with brick and stone4 ,why have not those who believe in it and love it left all for this1 and dedicated themselves to write out its scientific scriptures to become its ,vulgate for millions8 ,i answer for one that the inspirations we catch of this law are not continuous and technical1 but joyful sparkles1 and are recorded for their beauty1 for the delight they give1 not for their obligation2 and that is their priceless good to men1 that they charm and uplift1 not that they are imposed4 ,it has not yet its first hymn4 ,but1 that every line and word may be coals of true fire1 ages must roll1 ere these casual wide-falling cinders can be gathered into broad and steady altar-flame4 ,it does not yet appear what forms the religious feeling will take4 ,it prepares to rise out of all forms to an absolute justice and healthy perception4 ,here is now a new feeling of humanity infused into public action4 ,here is contribution of money on a more extended and systematic scale than ever before to repair public disasters at a distance1 and of political support to oppressed parties4 ,then there are the new conventions of social science1 before which the questions of the rights of women1 the laws of trade1 the treatment of crime1 regulation of labor1 come for a hearing4 ,if these are tokens of the steady currents of thought and will in these directions1 one might well anticipate a new nation4 ,i know how delicate this principle is1--how difficult of adaptation to practical and social arrangements4 ,it cannot be profaned2 it cannot be forced2 to draw it out of its natural current is to lose at once all its power4 ,such experiments as we recall are those in which some sect or dogma made the tie1 and that was an artificial element1 which chilled and checked the union4 ,but is it quite impossible to believe that men should be drawn to each other by the simple respect which each man feels for another in whom he discovers absolute honesty2 the respect he feels for one who thinks life is quite too coarse and frivolous1 and that he should like to lift it a little1 should like to be the friend of some man's virtue8 for another who1 underneath his compliances with artificial society1 would dearly like to serve somebody1--to test his own reality by making himself useful and indispensable8 ,man does not live by bread alone1 but by faith1 by admiration1 by sympathy4 ',tis very shallow to say that cotton1 or iron1 or silver and gold are kings of the world2 there are rulers that will at any moment make these forgotten4 ,fear will4 ,love will4 ,character will4 ,men live by their credence4 ,governments stand by it1--by the faith that the people share1--whether it comes from the religion in which they were bred1 or from an original conscience in themselves1 which the popular religion echoes4 ,if government could only stand by force1 if the instinct of the people was to resist the government1 it is plain the government must be two to one in order to be secure1 and then it would not be safe from desperate individuals4 ,but no2 the old commandment1 8,thou shalt not kill10 holds down ,new ,york1 and ,london1 and ,paris1 and not a police or horse-guards4 ,the credence of men it is that moulds them1 and creates at will one or another surface4 ,the mind as it opens transfers very fast its choice from the circumstance to the cause2 from courtesy to love1 from inventions to science1 from ,london or ,washington law1 or public opinion1 to the self-revealing idea2 from all that talent executes to the sentiment that fills the heart and dictates the future of nations4 ,the commanding fact which ,i never do not see1 is the sufficiency of the moral sentiment4 ,we buttress it up1 in shallow hours or ages1 with legends1 traditions and forms1 each good for the one moment in which it was a happy type or symbol of the ,power1 but the ,power sends in the next moment a new lesson1 which we lose while our eyes are reverted and striving to perpetuate the old4 ,america shall introduce a pure religion4 ,ethics are thought not to satisfy affection4 ,but all the religion we have is the ethics of one or another holy person2 as soon as character appears1 be sure love will1 and veneration1 and anecdotes1 and fables about him1 and delight of good men and women in him4 ,and what deeps of grandeur and beauty are known to us in ethical truth1 what divination or insight belongs to it6 ,for innocence is a wonderful electuary for purging the eyes to search the nature of those souls that pass before it4 ,what armor it is to protect the good from outward or inward harm1 and with what power it converts evil accidents into benefits2 the power of its countenance2 the power of its presence6 ,to it alone comes true friendship2 to it come grandeur of situation and poetic perception1 enriching all it deals with4 ,once men thought ,spirit divine1 and ,matter diabolic2 one ,ormuzd1 the other ,ahriman4 ,now science and philosophy recognize the parallelism1 the approximation1 the unity of the two3 how each reflects the other as face answers to face in a glass3 nay1 how the laws of both are one1 or how one is the realization4 ,we are learning not to fear truth4 ,the man of this age must be matriculated in the university of sciences and tendencies flowing from all past periods4 ,he must not be one who can be surprised and shipwrecked by every bold or subtile word which malignant and acute men may utter in his hearing1 but should be taught all skepticisms and unbeliefs1 and made the destroyer of all card-houses and paper walls1 and the sifter of all opinions1 by being put face to face from his infancy with ,reality4 ,a man who has accustomed himself to look at all his circumstances as very mutable1 to carry his possessions1 his relations to persons1 and even his opinions1 in his hand1 and in all these to pierce to the principle and moral law1 and everywhere to find that1--has put himself out of the reach of all skepticism2 and it seems as if whatever is most affecting and sublime in our intercourse1 in our happiness1 and in our losses1 tended steadily to uplift us to a life so extraordinary1 and1 one might say1 superhuman4 ,,footnotes3 ,footnote #h3 ,reprinted from the ,north ,american ,review1 of ,may1 #ahgh4 ,,the ,,preacher4 ,,ascending thorough just degrees ,to a consummate holiness1 ,as angel blind to trespass done1 ,and bleaching all souls like the sun4 ,,the ,,preacher4#i ,,in the history of opinion1 the pinch of falsehood shows itself first1 not in argument and formal protest1 but in insincerity1 indifference and abandonment of the ,church or the scientific or political or economic institution for other better or worse forms4 ,the venerable and beautiful traditions in which we were educated are losing their hold on human belief1 day by day2 a restlessness and dissatisfaction in the religious world marks that we are in a moment of transition2 as when the ,roman ,church broke into ,protestant and ,catholic1 or1 earlier1 when ,paganism broke into ,christians and ,pagans4 ,the old forms rattle1 and the new delay to appear2 material and industrial activity have materialized the age1 and the mind1 haughty with its sciences1 disdains the religious forms as childish4 ,in consequence of this revolution in opinion1 it appears1 for the time1 as the misfortune of this period that the cultivated mind has not the happiness and dignity of the religious sentiment4 ,we are born too late for the old and too early for the new faith4 ,i see in those classes and those persons in whom ,i am accustomed to look for tendency and progress1 for what is most positive and most rich in human nature1 and who contain the activity of to-day and the assurance of to-morrow1--,i see in them character1 but skepticism2 a clear enough perception of the inadequacy of the popular religious statement to the wants of their heart and intellect1 and explicit declarations of this fact4 ,they have insight and truthfulness2 they will not mask their convictions2 they hate cant2 but more than this ,i do not readily find4 ,the gracious motions of the soul1--piety1 adoration1--,i do not find4 ,scorn of hypocrisy1 pride of personal character1 elegance of taste and of manners and pursuit1 a boundless ambition of the intellect1 willingness to sacrifice personal interests for the integrity of the character1--all these they have2 but that religious submission and abandonment which give man a new element and being1 and make him sublime1--it is not in churches1 it is not in houses4 ,i see movement1 ,i hear aspirations1 but ,i see not how the great ,god prepares to satisfy the heart in the new order of things4 ,no ,church1 no ,state emerges2 and when we have extricated ourselves from all the embarrassments of the social problem1 the oracle does not yet emit any light on the mode of individual life4 ,a thousand negatives it utters1 clear and strong1 on all sides2 but the sacred affirmative it hides in the deepest abyss4 ,we do not see that heroic resolutions will save men from those tides which a most fatal moon heaps and levels in the moral1 emotive and intellectual nature4 ,it is certain that many dark hours1 many imbecilities1 periods of inactivity1--solstices when we make no progress1 but stand still1--will occur4 ,in those hours1 we can find comfort in reverence of the highest power1 and only in that4 ,we never do quite nothing1 or never need4 ,it looks as if there were much doubt1 much waiting1 to be endured by the best4 ,perhaps there must be austere elections and determinations before any clear vision4 ,no age and no person is destitute of the sentiment1 but in actual history its illustrious exhibitions are interrupted and periodical1--the ages of belief1 of heroic action1 of intellectual activity1 of men cast in a higher mould4 ,but the sentiment that pervades a nation1 the nation must react upon4 ,it is resisted and corrupted by that obstinate tendency to personify and bring under the eyesight what should be the contemplation of ,reason alone4 ,the ,understanding will write out the vision in a ,confession of ,faith4 ,art will embody this vanishing ,spirit in temples1 pictures1 sculptures and hymns4 ,the senses instantly transfer the reverence from the vanishing ,spirit to this steadfast form4 ,ignorance and passion alloy and degrade4 ,in proportion to a man's want of goodness1 it seems to him another and not himself2 that is to say1 the ,deity becomes more objective1 until finally flat idolatry prevails4 ,of course the virtuous sentiment appears arrayed against the nominal religion1 and the true men are hunted as unbelievers1 and burned4 ,then the good sense of the people wakes up so far as to take tacit part with them1 to cast off reverence for the ,church2 and there follows an age of unbelief4 ,this analysis was inevitable and useful4 ,but the sober eye finds something ghastly in this empiricism4 ,at first1 delighted with the triumph of the intellect1 the surprise of the results and the sense of power1 we are like hunters on the scent and soldiers who rush to battle3 but when the game is run down1 when the enemy lies cold in his blood at our feet1 we are alarmed at our solitude2 we would gladly recall the life that so offended us2 the face seems no longer that of an enemy4 ,i say the effect is withering2 for1 this examination resulting in the constant detection of errors1 the flattered understanding assumes to judge all things1 and to anticipate the same victories4 ,in the activity of the understanding1 the sentiments sleep4 ,the understanding presumes in things above its sphere1 and1 because it has exposed errors in a church1 concludes that a church is an error2 because it has found absurdities to which the sentiment of veneration is attached1 sneers at veneration2 so that analysis has run to seed in unbelief4 ,there is no faith left4 ,we laugh and hiss1 pleased with our power in making heaven and earth a howling wilderness4 ,unlovely1 nay1 frightful1 is the solitude of the soul which is without ,god in the world4 ,to wander all day in the sunlight among the tribes of animals1 unrelated to anything better2 to behold the horse1 cow and bird1 and to foresee an equal and speedy end to him and them2--no1 the bird1 as it hurried by with its bold and perfect flight1 would disclaim his sympathy and declare him an outcast4 ,to see men pursuing in faith their varied action1 warm-hearted1 providing for their children1 loving their friends1 performing their promises1--what are they to this chill1 houseless1 fatherless1 aimless ,cain1 the man who hears only the sound of his own footsteps in ,god's resplendent creation8 ,to him1 it is no creation2 to him1 these fair creatures are hapless spectres3 he knows not what to make of it4 ,to him1 heaven and earth have lost their beauty4 ,how gloomy is the day1 and upon yonder shining pond what melancholy light6 ,i cannot keep the sun in heaven1 if you take away the purpose that animates him4 ,the ball1 indeed1 is there1 but his power to cheer1 to illuminate the heart as well as the atmosphere1 is gone forever4 ,it is a lamp-wick for meanest uses4 ,the words1 great1 venerable1 have lost their meaning2 every thought loses all its depth and has become mere surface4 ,but religion has an object4 ,it does not grow thin or robust with the health of the votary4 ,the object of adoration remains forever unhurt and identical4 ,we are in transition1 from the worship of the fathers which enshrined the law in a private and personal history1 to a worship which recognizes the true eternity of the law1 its presence to you and me1 its equal energy in what is called brute nature as in what is called sacred4 ,the next age will behold ,god in the ethical laws--as mankind begins to see them in this age1 self-equal1 self-executing1 instantaneous and self-affirmed2 needing no voucher1 no prophet and no miracle besides their own irresistibility1--and will regard natural history1 private fortunes and politics1 not for themselves1 as we have done1 but as illustrations of those laws1 of that beatitude and love4 ,nature is too thin a screen2 the glory of the ,one breaks in everywhere4 ,every movement of religious opinion is of profound importance to politics and social life2 and this of to-day has the best omens as being of the most expansive humanity1 since it seeks to find in every nation and creed the imperishable doctrines4 ,i find myself always struck and stimulated by a good anecdote1 any trait of heroism1 of faithful service4 ,i do not find that the age or country makes the least difference2 no1 nor the language the actors spoke1 nor the religion which they professed1 whether ,arab in the desert1 or ,frenchman in the ,academy4 ,i see that sensible men and conscientious men all over the world were of one religion1--the religion of well-doing and daring1 men of sturdy truth1 men of integrity and feeling for others4 ,my inference is that there is a statement of religion possible which makes all skepticism absurd4 ,the health and welfare of man consist in ascent from surfaces to solids2 from occupation with details to knowledge of the design2 from self-activity of talents1 which lose their way by the lust of display1 to the controlling and reinforcing of talents by the emanation of character4 ,all that we call religion1 all that saints and churches and ,bibles from the beginning of the world have aimed at1 is to suppress this impertinent surface-action1 and animate man to central and entire action4 ,the human race are afflicted with a ,st4 ,vitus' dance2 their fingers and toes1 their members1 their senses1 their talents1 are superfluously active1 while the torpid heart gives no oracle4 ,when that wakes1 it will revolutionize the world4 ,let that speak1 and all these rebels will fly to their loyalty4 ,now every man defeats his own action1--professes this but practises the reverse2 with one hand rows1 and with the other backs water4 ,a man acts not from one motive1 but from many shifting fears and short motives2 it is as if he were ten or twenty less men than himself1 acting at discord with one another1 so that the result of most lives is zero4 ,but when he shall act from one motive1 and all his faculties play true1 it is clear mathematically1 is it not1 that this will tell in the result as if twenty men had co-operated1--will give new senses1 new wisdom of its own kind2 that is1 not more facts1 nor new combinations1 but divination1 or direct intuition of the state of men and things8 ,the lessons of the moral sentiment are1 once for all1 an emancipation from that anxiety which takes the joy out of all life4 ,it teaches a great peace4 ,it comes itself from the highest place4 ,it is that1 which being in all sound natures1 and strongest in the best and most gifted men1 we know to be implanted by the ,creator of ,men4 ,it is a commandment at every moment and in every condition of life to do the duty of that moment and to abstain from doing the wrong4 ,and it is so near and inward and constitutional to each1 that no commandment can compare with it in authority4 ,all wise men regard it as the voice of the ,creator himself4 ,i know there are those to whom the question of what shall be believed is the more interesting because they are to proclaim and teach what they believe4 ,all positive rules1 ceremonial1 ecclesiastical1 distinctions of race or of person1 are perishable2 only those distinctions hold which are in the nature of things1 not matters of positive ordinance4 ,as the earth we stand upon is not imperishable1 but is chemically resolvable into gases and nebul1 so is the universe an infinite series of planes1 each of which is a false bottom2 and1 when we think our feet are planted now at last on adamant1 the slide is drawn out from under us4 ,we must reconcile ourselves to the new order of things4 ,but is it a calamity8 ,the poet ,wordsworth greeted even the steam-engine and railroads2 and when they came into his poetic ,westmoreland1 bisecting every delightful valley1 deforming every consecrated grove1 yet manned himself to say3-- 8,in spite of all that ,beauty may disown ,in your harsh features1 ,nature doth embrace ,her lawful offspring in man's art1 and ,time1 ,pleased with your triumphs o'er his brother ,space1 ,accepts from your bold hands the proffered crown ,of hope1 and smiles on you with cheer sublime40 ,and we can keep our religion1 despite of the violent railroads of generalization1 whether ,french or ,german1 that block and intersect our old parish highways4 ,in matters of religion1 men eagerly fasten their eyes on the differences between their creed and yours1 whilst the charm of the study is in finding the agreements and identities in all the religions of men4 ,what is essential to the theologian is1 that whilst he is select in his opinions1 severe in his search for truth1 he shall be broad in his sympathies1--not to allow himself to be excluded from any church4 ,he is to claim for his own whatever eloquence of ,st4 ,chrysostom or ,st4 ,jerome or ,st4 ,bernard he has felt4 ,so not less of ,bishop ,taylor or ,george ,herbert or ,henry ,scougal4 ,he sees that what is most effective in the writer is what is dear to his1 the reader's1 mind4 ,be not betrayed into undervaluing the churches which annoy you by their bigoted claims4 ,they too were real churches4 ,they answered to their times the same need as your rejection of them does to ours4 ,the ,catholic ,church has been immensely rich in men and influences4 ,augustine1 ,kempis1 ,fnelon1 breathe the very spirit which now fires you4 ,so with ,cudworth1 ,more1 ,bunyan4 ,i agree with them more than ,i disagree4 ,i agree with their heart and motive2 my discontent is with their limitations and surface and language4 ,their statement is grown as fabulous as ,dante's ,inferno4 ,their purpose is as real as ,dante's sentiment and hatred of vice4 ,always put the best interpretation on a tenet4 ,why not on ,christianity1 wholesome1 sweet and poetic8 ,it is the record of a pure and holy soul1 humble1 absolutely disinterested1 a truth-speaker and bent on serving1 teaching and uplifting men4 ,christianity taught the capacity1 the element1 to love the ,all-perfect without a stingy bargain for personal happiness4 ,it taught that to love him was happiness1--to love him in other's virtues4 ,an era in human history is the life of ,jesus2 and the immense influence for good leaves all the perversion and superstition almost harmless4 ,mankind have been subdued to the acceptance of his doctrine1 and cannot spare the benefit of so pure a servant of truth and love4 ,of course a hero so attractive to the hearts of millions drew the hypocrite and the ambitious into his train1 and they used his name to falsify his history and undo his work4 ,i fear that what is called religion1 but is perhaps pew-holding1 not obeys but conceals the moral sentiment4 ,i put it to this simple test3 ,is a rich rogue made to feel his roguery among divines or literary men8 ,no8 ,then 'tis rogue again under the cassock4 ,what sort of respect can these preachers or newspapers inspire by their weekly praises of texts and saints1 when we know that they would say just the same things if ,beelzebub had written the chapter1 provided it stood where it does in the public opinion8 ,anything but unbelief1 anything but losing hold of the moral intuitions1 as betrayed in the clinging to a form of devotion or a theological dogma2 as if it was the liturgy1 or the chapel1 that was sacred1 and not justice and humility and the loving heart and serving hand4 ,but besides the passion and interest which pervert1 is the shallowness which impoverishes4 ,the opinions of men lose all worth to him who perceives that they are accurately predictable from the ground of their sect4 ,nothing is more rare1 in any man1 than an act of his own4 ,the clergy are as like as peas4 ,i cannot tell them apart4 ,it was said3 ,they have bronchitis because they read from their papers sermons with a near voice1 and then1 looking at the congregation1 they try to speak with their far voice1 and the shock is noxious4 ,i think they do this1 or the converse of this1 with their thought4 ,they look into ,plato1 or into the mind1 and then try to make parish mince-meat of the amplitudes and eternities1 and the shock is noxious4 ,it is the old story again3 once we had wooden chalices and golden priests1 now we have golden chalices and wooden priests4 ,the clergy are always in danger of becoming wards and pensioners of the so-called producing classes4 ,their first duty is self-possession founded on knowledge4 ,the man of practice or worldly force requires of the preacher a talent1 a force1 like his own2 the same as his own1 but wholly applied to the priest's things4 ,he does not forgive an application in the preacher to the merchant's things4 ,he wishes him to be such a one as he himself should have been1 had he been priest4 ,he is sincere and ardent in his vocation1 and plunged in it4 ,let priest or poet be as good in theirs4 ,the simple fact that the pulpit exists1 that all over this country the people are waiting to hear a sermon on ,sunday1 assures that opportunity which is inestimable to young men1 students of theology1 for those large liberties4 ,the existence of the ,sunday1 and the pulpit waiting for a weekly sermon1 give him the very conditions1 the he wants4 ,that must be filled1 and he is armed to fill it4 ,let him value his talent as a door into ,nature4 ,let him see his performances only as limitations4 ,then1 over all1 let him value the sensibility that receives1 that loves1 that dares1 that affirms4 ,there are always plenty of young1 ignorant people1--though some of them are seven1 and some of them seventy years old1--wanting peremptorily instruction2 but1 in the usual averages of parishes1 only one person that is qualified to give it4 ,it is only that person who concerns me1--him only that ,i see4 ,the others are very amiable and promising1 but they are only neuters in the hive1--every one a possible royal bee1 but not now significant4 ,it does not signify what they say or think to-day2 'tis the cry and the babble of the nursery1 and their only virtue1 docility4 ,buckminster1 ,channing1 ,dr4 ,lowell1 ,edward ,taylor1 ,parker1 ,bushnell1 ,chapin1--it is they who have been necessary1 and the opinions of the floating crowd of no importance whatever4 ,i do not love sensation preaching1--the personalities for spite1 the hurrah for our side1 the review of our appearances and what others say of us6 ,that you may read in the gazette4 ,we come to church properly for self-examination1 for approach to principles to see how it stands with us1 with the deep and dear facts of right and love4 ,at the same time it is impossible to pay no regard to the day's events1 to the public opinion of the times1 to the stirring shouts of parties1 to the calamities and prosperities of our town and country2 to war and peace1 new events1 great personages1 to good harvests1 new resources1 to bankruptcies1 famines and desolations4 ,we are not stocks or stones1 we are not thinking machines1 but allied to men around us1 as really though not quite so visibly as the ,siamese brothers4 ,and it were inhuman to affect ignorance or indifference on ,sundays to what makes our blood beat and our countenance dejected ,saturday or ,monday4 ,no1 these are fair tests to try our doctrines by1 and see if they are worth anything in life4 ,the value of a principle is the number of things it will explain2 and there is no good theory of disease which does not at once suggest a cure4 ,man proposes1 but ,god disposes4 ,we shall not very long have any part or lot in this earth1 in whose affairs we so hotly mix1 and where we feel and speak so energetically of our country and our cause4 ,it is a comfort to reflect that the gigantic evils which seem to us so mischievous and so incurable will at last end themselves and rid the world of their presence1 as all crime sooner or later must4 ,but be that event for us soon or late1 we are not excused from playing our short part in the best manner we can1 no matter how insignificant our aid may be4 ,our children will be here1 if we are not2 and their children's history will be colored by our action4 ,but if we have no children1 or if the events in which we have taken our part shall not see their solution until a distant future1 there is yet a deeper fact2 that as much justice as we can see and practise is useful to men1 and imperative1 whether we can see it to be useful or not4 ,the essential ground of a new book or a new sermon is a new spirit4 ,the author has a new thought1 sees the sweep of a more comprehensive tendency than others are aware of2 falters never1 but takes the victorious tone4 ,for power is not so much shown in talent as in tone4 ,and if ,i had to counsel a young preacher1 ,i should say3 ,when there is any difference felt between the foot-board of the pulpit and the floor of the parlor1 you have not yet said that which you should say4 ,inspiration will have advance1 affirmation1 the forward foot1 the ascending state2 it will be an opener of doors2 it will invent its own methods3 the new wine will make the bottles new4 ,spirit is motive and ascending4 ,only let there be a deep observer1 and he will make light of new shop and new circumstance that afflict you2 new shop1 or old cathedral1 it is all one to him4 ,he will find the circumstance not altered1 as deep a cloud of mystery on the cause1 as dazzling a glory on the invincible law4 ,given the insight1 and he will find as many beauties and heroes and strokes of genius close by him as ,dante or ,shakspeare beheld4 ,a vivid thought brings the power to paint it2 and in proportion to the depth of its source is the force of its projection4 ,we are happy and enriched2 we go away invigorated1 assisted each in our own work1 however different1 and shall not forget to come again for new impulses4 ,the supposed embarrassments to young clergymen exist only to feeble wills4 ,they need not consider them4 ,the differences of opinion1 the strength of old sects or timorous literalists1 since it is not armed with prisons or fagots as in ruder times or countries1 is not worth considering except as furnishing a needed stimulus4 ,that gray deacon or respectable matron with ,calvinistic antecedents1 you can readily see1 could not have presented any obstacle to the march of ,st4 ,bernard or of ,george ,fox1 of ,luther or of ,theodore ,parker4 ,and though ,i observe the deafness to counsel among men1 yet the power of sympathy is always great2 and affirmative discourse1 presuming assent1 will often obtain it when argument would fail4 ,such1 too1 is the active power of good temperament4 ,great sweetness of temper neutralizes such vast amounts of acid6 ,as for position1 the position is always the same1--insulting the timid1 and not taken by storm1 but flanked1 ,i may say1 by the resolute1 simply by minding their own affair4 ,speak the affirmative2 emphasize your choice by utter ignoring of all that you reject2 seeing that opinions are temporary1 but convictions uniform and eternal1--seeing that a sentiment never loses its pathos or its persuasion1 but is youthful after a thousand years4 ,the inevitable course of remark for us1 when we meet each other for meditation on life and duty1 is not so much the enjoining of this or that cure or burning out of our errors of practice1 as simply the celebration of the power and beneficence amid which and by which we live1 not critical1 but affirmative4 ,all civil mankind have agreed in leaving one day for contemplation against six for practice4 ,i hope that day will keep its honor and its use4 ,a wise man advises that we should see to it that we read and speak two or three reasonable words1 every day1 amid the crowd of affairs and the noise of trifles4 ,i should say boldly that we should astonish every day by a beam out of eternity2 retire a moment to the grand secret we carry in our bosom1 of inspiration from heaven4 ,but certainly on this seventh let us be the children of liberty1 of reason1 of hope2 refresh the sentiment2 think as spirits think1 who belong to the universe1 whilst our feet walk in the streets of a little town and our hands work in a small knot of affairs4 ,we shall find one result1 ,i am sure1--a certain originality and a certain haughty liberty proceeding out of our retirement and self-communion1 which streets can never give1 infinitely removed from all vaporing and bravado1 and which yet is more than a match for any physical resistance4 ,it is true that which they say of our ,new ,england strum1 which will never let us stand or sit1 but drives us like mad through the world4 ,the calmest and most protected life cannot save us4 ,we want some intercalated days1 to bethink us and to derive order to our life from the heart4 ,that should be the use of the ,sabbath1--to check this headlong racing and put us in possession of ourselves once more1 for love or for shame4 ,the ,sabbath changes its forms from age to age1 but the substantial benefit endures4 ,we no longer recite the old creeds of ,athanasius or ,arius1 of ,calvin or ,hopkins4 ,the forms are flexible1 but the uses not less real4 ,the old heart remains as ever with its old human duties4 ,the old intellect still lives1 to pierce the shows to the core4 ,truth is simple1 and will not be antique2 is ever present1 and insists on being of this age and of this moment4 ,here is thought and love and truth and duty1 new as on the first day of ,adam and of angels4 8,there are two pairs of eyes in man2 and it is requisite that the pair which are beneath should be closed when the pair that are above them perceive2 and that when the pair above are closed1 those which are beneath are opened40 ,the lower eyes see only surfaces and effects1 the upper eyes behold causes and the connection of things4 ,and when we go alone1 or come into the house of thought and worship1 we come with purpose to be disabused of appearances1 to see realities1 the great lines of our destiny1 to see that life has no caprice or fortune1 is no hopping squib1 but a growth after immutable laws under beneficent influences the most immense4 ,the ,church is open to great and small in all nations2 and how rare and lofty1 how unattainable1 are the aims it labors to set before men6 ,we come to educate1 come to isolate1 to be abstractionists2 in fine1 to open the upper eyes to the deep mystery of cause and effect1 to know that though ministers of justice and power fail1 ,justice and ,power fail never4 ,the open secret of the world is the art of subliming a private soul with inspirations from the great and public and divine ,soul from which we live4 ,,footnotes3 ,footnote #i3 ,originally written as a parlor lecture to some ,divinity students1 in #ahfg2 afterwards enlarged from earlier writings1 and read in its present form at the ,divinity ,chapel1 ,cambridge1 ,may #eth1 #ahgi4 ,reprinted from the ,unitarian ,review for ,january1 #ahhj4 ,,the ,,man ,,of ,,letters4 ,,on bravely through the sunshine and the showers1 ,time hath his work to do1 and we have ours4 ,,so nigh is grandeur to our dust1 ,so near is ,god to man2 ,when ,duty whispers low #8,thou must1' ,the youth replies1 #8,i can4' ,,the ,,man ,,of ,,letters4 ,,an ,,address ,,delivered ,,before ,,the ,,literary ,,societies ,,of ,,waterville ,,college1 #ahfc4 ,,gentlemen ,,of ,,the ,,literary ,,societies3-- ,some of you are to-day saying your farewells to each other1 and to-morrow will receive the parting honors of the ,college4 ,you go to be teachers1 to become physicians1 lawyers1 divines2 in due course1 statesmen1 naturalists1 philanthropists2 ,i hope1 some of you1 to be the men of letters1 critics1 philosophers2 perhaps the rare gift of poetry already sparkles1 and may yet burn4 ,at all events1 before the shadows of these times darken over your youthful sensibility and candor1 let me use the occasion which your kind request gives me1 to offer you some counsels which an old scholar may without pretension bring to youth1 in regard to the career of letters1--the power and joy that belong to it1 and its high office in evil times4 ,i offer perpetual congratulation to the scholar2 he has drawn the white lot in life4 ,the very disadvantages of his condition point at superiorities4 ,he is too good for the world2 he is in advance of his race2 his function is prophetic4 ,he belongs to a superior society1 and is born one or two centuries too early for the rough and sensual population into which he is thrown4 ,but the ,heaven which sent him hither knew that well enough1 and sent him as a leader to lead4 ,are men perplexed with evil times8 ,the inviolate soul is in perpetual telegraphic communication with the source of events4 ,he has earlier information1 a private despatch which relieves him of the terror which presses on the rest of the community4 ,he is a learner of the laws of nature and the experiences of history2 a prophet surrendered with self-abandoning sincerity to the ,heaven which pours through him its will to mankind4 ,this is the theory1 but you know how far this is from the fact1 that nothing has been able to resist the tide with which the material prosperity of ,america in years past has beat down the hope of youth1 the piety of learning4 ,the country was full of activity1 with its wheat1 coal1 iron1 cotton2 the wealth of the globe was here1 too much work and not men enough to do it4 ,britain1 ,france1 ,germany1 ,scandinavia sent millions of laborers2 still the need was more4 ,every kind of skill was in demand1 and the bribe came to men of intellectual culture1--,come1 drudge in our mill4 ,america at large exhibited such a confusion as ,california showed in #ahdi1 when the cry of gold was first raised4 ,all the distinctions of profession and habit ended at the mines4 ,all the world took off their coats and worked in shirt-sleeves4 ,lawyers went and came with pick and wheelbarrow2 doctors of medicine turned teamsters2 stray clergymen kept the bar in saloons2 professors of colleges sold cigars1 mince-pies1 matches1 and so on4 ,it is the perpetual tendency of wealth to draw on the spiritual class1 not in this coarse way1 but in plausible and covert ways4 ,it is charged that all vigorous nations1 except our own1 have balanced their labor by mental activity1 and especially by the imagination1--the cardinal human power1 the angel of earnest and believing ages4 ,the subtle ,hindoo1 who carried religion to ecstasy and philosophy to idealism1 produced the wonderful epics of which1 in the present century1 the translations have added new regions to thought4 ,the ,egyptian built ,thebes and ,karnak on a scale which dwarfs our art1 and by the paintings on their interior walls invited us into the secret of the religious belief whence he drew such power4 ,the ,greek was so perfect in action and in imagination1 his poems1 from ,homer to ,euripides1 so charming in form and so true to the human mind1 that we cannot forget or outgrow their mythology4 ,the ,hebrew nation compensated for the insignificance of its members and territory by its religious genius1 its tenacious belief2 its poems and histories cling to the soil of this globe like the primitive rocks4 ,on the south and east shores of the ,mediterranean ,mahomet impressed his fierce genius how deeply into the manners1 language and poetry of ,arabia and ,persia6 ,see the activity of the imagination in the ,crusades3 the front of morn was full of fiery shapes2 the chasm was bridged over2 heaven walked on earth1 and ,earth could see with eyes the ,paradise and the ,inferno4 ,dramatic 8mysteries0 were the entertainment of the people4 ,parliaments of ,love and ,poesy served them1 instead of the ,house of ,commons1 ,congress and the newspapers4 ,in ,puritanism1 how the whole ,jewish history became flesh and blood in those men1 let ,bunyan show4 ,now it is agreed that we are utilitarian2 that we are skeptical1 frivolous2 that with universal cheap education we have stringent theology1 but religion is low4 ,there is much criticism1 not on deep grounds1 but an affirmative philosophy is wanting4 ,our profoundest philosophy 7if it were not contradiction in terms7 is skepticism4 ,the great poem of the age is the disagreeable poem of 8,faust10--of which the 8,festus0 of ,bailey and the 8,paracelsus0 of ,browning are ,english variations4 ,we have superficial sciences1 restless1 gossiping1 aimless activity4 ,we run to ,paris1 to ,london1 to ,rome1 to ,mesmerism1 ,spiritualism1 to ,pusey1 to the ,catholic ,church1 as if for the want of thought1 and those who would check and guide have a dreary feeling that in the change and decay of the old creeds and motives there was no offset to supply their place4 ,our industrial skill1 arts ministering to convenience and luxury1 have made life expensive1 and therefore greedy1 careful1 anxious2 have turned the eyes downward to the earth1 not upward to thought4 ,ernest ,renan finds that ,europe has thrice assembled for exhibitions of industry1 and not a poem graced the occasion2 and nobody remarked the defect4 ,a ,french prophet of our age1 ,fourier1 predicted that one day1 instead of by battles and cumenical ,councils1 the rival portions of humanity would dispute each other's excellence in the manufacture of little cakes4 8,in my youth10 said a ,scotch mountaineer1 8a ,highland gentleman measured his importance by the number of men his domain could support4 ,after some time the question was1 to know how many great cattle it would feed4 ,to-day we are come to count the number of sheep4 ,i suppose posterity will ask how many rats and mice it will feed40 ,dickens complained that in ,america1 as soon as he arrived in any of the ,western towns1 a committee waited on him and invited him to deliver a temperance lecture4 ,bowditch translated ,laplace1 and when he removed to ,boston1 the ,hospital ,life ,assurance ,company insisted that he should make their tables of annuities4 ,napoleon knows the art of war1 but should not be put on picket duty4 ,linnus or ,robert ,brown must not be set to raise gooseberries and cucumbers1 though they be excellent botanists4 ,a shrewd broker out of ,state ,street visited a quiet countryman possessed of all the virtues1 and in his glib talk said1 8,with your character now ,i could raise all this money at once1 and make an excellent thing of it40 ,there is an oracle current in the world1 that nations die by suicide4 ,the sign of it is the decay of thought4 ,niebuhr has given striking examples of that fatal portent2 as in the loss of power of thought that followed the disasters of the ,athenians in ,sicily4 ,i cannot forgive a scholar his homeless despondency4 ,he represents intellectual or spiritual force4 ,i wish him to rely on the spiritual arm2 to live by his strength1 not by his weakness4 ,a scholar defending the cause of slavery1 of arbitrary government1 of monopoly1 of the oppressor1 is a traitor to his profession4 ,he has ceased to be a scholar4 ,he is not company for clean people4 ,the worst times only show him how independent he is of times2 only relieve and bring out the splendor of his privilege4 ,disease alarms the family1 but the physician sees in it a temporary mischief1 which he can check and expel4 ,the fears and agitations of men who watch the markets1 the crops1 the plenty or scarcity of money1 or other superficial events1 are not for him4 ,he knows that the world is always equal to itself2 that the forces which uphold and pervade it are eternal4 ,air1 water1 fire1 iron1 gold1 wheat1 electricity1 animal fibre1 have not lost a particle of power1 and no decay has crept over the spiritual force which gives bias and period to boundless nature4 ,bad times1--what are bad times8 ,nature is rich1 exuberant1 and mocks at the puny forces of destruction4 ,man makes no more impression on her wealth than the caterpillar or the cankerworm whose petty ravage1 though noticed in an orchard or a village1 is insignificant in the vast exuberance of the summer4 ,there is no unemployed force in ,nature4 ,all decomposition is recomposition4 ,war disorganizes1 but it is to reorganize4 ,weeks1 months pass--a new harvest2 trade springs up1 and there stand new cities1 new homes1 all rebuilt and sleepy with permanence4 ,italy1 ,france--a hundred times those countries have been trampled with armies and burned over3 a few summers1 and they smile with plenty and yield new men and new revenues4 ,if churches are effete1 it is because the new ,heaven forms4 ,you are here as the carriers of the power of ,nature1--as ,roger ,bacon1 with his secret of gunpowder1 with his secret of the balloon and of steam2 as ,copernicus1 with his secret of the true astronomy2 as ,columbus1 with ,america in his log-book2 as ,newton1 with his gravity2 ,harvey1 with his circulation2 ,smith1 with his law of trade2 ,franklin1 with lightning2 ,adams1 with ,independence2 ,kant1 with pure reason2 ,swedenborg1 with his spiritual world4 ,you are the carriers of ideas which are to fashion the mind and so the history of this breathing world1 so as they shall be1 and not otherwise4 ,every man is a scholar potentially1 and does not need any one good so much as this of right thought4 8,calm pleasures here abide1 majestic pains40 ,coleridge traces 8three silent revolutions10 of which the first was 8when the clergy fell from the ,church40 ,a scholar was once a priest4 ,but the ,church clung to ritual1 and the scholar clung to joy1 low as well as high1 and thus the separation was a mutual fault4 ,but ,i think it is a schism which must be healed4 ,the true scholar is the ,church4 ,only the duties of ,intellect must be owned4 ,down with these dapper trimmers and sycophants6 let us have masculine and divine men1 formidable lawgivers1 ,pythagoras1 ,plato1 ,aristotle1 who warp the churches of the world from their traditions1 and penetrate them through and through with original perception4 ,the intellectual man lives in perpetual victory4 ,as certainly as water falls in rain on the tops of mountains and runs down into valleys1 plains and pits1 so does thought fall first on the best minds1 and run down1 from class to class1 until it reaches the masses1 and works revolutions4 ,nature says to the ,american3 8,i understand mensuration and numbers2 ,i compute the ellipse of the moon1 the ebb and flow of waters1 the curve and the errors of planets1 the balance of attraction and recoil4 ,i have measured out to you by weight and tally the powers you need4 ,i give you the land and sea1 the forest and the mine1 the elemental forces1 nervous energy4 ,when ,i add difficulty1 ,i add brain4 ,see to it that you hold and administer the continent for mankind4 ,one thing you have rightly done4 ,you have offered a patch of land in the wilderness to every son of ,adam who will till it4 ,other things you have begun to do1--to strike off the chains which snuffling hypocrites had bound on the weaker race40 ,you are to imperil your lives and fortunes for a principle4 ,the ambassador is held to maintain the dignity of the ,republic which he represents4 ,but what does the scholar represent8 ,the organ of ideas1 the subtle force which creates ,nature and men and states2--consoler1 upholder1 imparting pulses of light and shocks of electricity1 guidance and courage4 ,so let his habits be formed1 and all his economies heroic2 no spoiled child1 no drone1 no epicure1 but a stoic1 formidable1 athletic1 knowing how to be poor1 loving labor1 and not flogging his youthful wit with tobacco and wine2 treasuring his youth4 ,i wish the youth to be an armed and complete man2 no helpless angel to be slapped in the face1 but a man dipped in the ,styx of human experience1 and made invulnerable so1--self-helping4 ,a redeeming trait of the ,sophists of ,athens1 ,hippias and ,gorgias1 is that they made their own clothes and shoes4 ,learn to harness a horse1 to row a boat1 to camp down in the woods1 to cook your supper4 ,i chanced lately to be at ,west ,point1 and1 after attending the examination in scientific classes1 ,i went into the barracks4 ,the chamber was in perfect order2 the mattress on the iron camp-bed rolled up1 as if ready for removal4 ,i asked the first ,cadet1 8,who makes your bed80 8,i do40 8,who fetches your water80 8,i do40 8,who blacks your shoes80 8,i do40 ,it was so in every room4 ,these are first steps to power4 ,learn of ,samuel ,johnson or ,david ,hume1 that it is a primary duty of the man of letters to secure his independence4 ,stand by your order4 ',tis some thirty years since the days of the ,reform ,bill in ,england1 when on the walls in ,london you read everywhere placards1 8,down with the ,lords40 ,at that time1 ,earl ,grey1 who was leader of ,reform1 was asked1 in ,parliament1 his policy on the measures of the ,radicals4 ,he replied1 8,i shall stand by my order40 ,where there is no vision1 the people perish4 ,the fault lies with the educated class1 the men of study and thought4 ,there is a very low feeling of duty3 the merchant is true to the merchant1 the noble in ,england and ,europe stands by his order1 the politician believes in his arts and combinations2 but the scholar does not stand by his order1 but defers to the men of this world4 ,gentlemen1 ,i am here to commend to you your art and profession as thinkers4 ,it is real4 ,it is the secret of power4 ,it is the art of command4 ,all superiority is this1 or related to this4 8,all that the world admires comes from within40 ,thought makes us men2 ranks us2 distributes society2 distributes the work of the world2 is the prolific source of all arts1 of all wealth1 of all delight1 of all grandeur4 ,men are as they believe4 ,men are as they think1 and the man who knows any truth not yet discerned by other men1 is master of all other men so far as that truth and its wide relations are concerned4 ,intellect measures itself by its counteraction to any accumulation of material force4 ,there is no mass which it cannot surmount and dispose of4 ,the exertions of this force are the eminent experiences1--out of a long life all that is worth remembering4 ,these are the moments that balance years4 ,does any one doubt between the strength of a thought and that of an institution8 ,does any one doubt that a good general is better than a park of artillery8 ,see a political revolution dogging a book4 ,see armies1 institutions1 literatures1 appearing in the train of some wild ,arabian's dream4 ,there is a proverb that ,napoleon1 when the ,mameluke cavalry approached the ,french lines1 ordered the grenadiers to the front1 and the asses and the savans to fall into the hollow square4 ,it made a good story1 and circulated in that day4 ,but how stands it now8 ,the military expedition was a failure4 ,bonaparte himself deserted1 and the army got home as it could1 all fruitless2 not a trace of it remains4 ,all that is left of it is the researches of those savans on the antiquities of ,egypt1 including the great work of ,denon1 which led the way to all the subsequent studies of the ,english and ,german scholars on that foundation4 ,pytheas of gina was victor in the ,pancratium of the boys1 at the ,isthmian games4 ,he came to the poet ,pindar and wished him to write an ode in his praise1 and inquired what was the price of a poem4 ,pindar replied that he should give him one talent1 about a thousand dollars of our money4 8,a talent60 cried ,pytheas2 8why1 for so much money ,i can erect a statue of bronze in the temple40 8,very likely40 ,on second thoughts1 he returned and paid for the poem4 ,and now not only all the statues of bronze in the temples of gina are destroyed1 but the temples themselves1 and the very walls of the city are utterly gone1 whilst the ode of ,pindar1 in praise of ,pytheas1 remains entire4 ,the treachery of scholars6 ,they are idealists1 and should stand for freedom1 justice1 and public good4 ,the scholar is bound to stand for all the virtues and all the liberties1--liberty of trade1 liberty of the press1 liberty of religion1--and he should open all the prizes of success and all the roads of ,nature to free competition4 ,the country complains loudly of the inefficiency of the army4 ,it was badly led4 ,but1 before this1 it was not the army alone1 it was the population that was badly led4 ,the clerisy1 the spiritual guides1 the scholars1 the seers have been false to their trust4 ,rely on yourself4 ,there is respect due to your teachers1 but every age is new1 and has problems to solve1 insoluble by the last age4 ,men over forty are no judges of a book written in a new spirit4 ,neither your teachers1 nor the universal teachers1 the laws1 the customs or dogmas of nations1 neither saint nor sage1 can compare with that counsel which is open to you4 ,no1 it is not nations1 no1 nor even masters1 not at last a few individuals or any heroes1 but himself only1 the large equality to truth of a single mind1--as if1 in the narrow walls of a human heart1 the wide realm of truth1 the world of morals1 the tribunal by which the universe is judged1 found room to exist4 ,our people have this levity and complaisance1--they fear to offend1 do not wish to be misunderstood2 do not wish1 of all things1 to be in the minority4 ,god and ,nature are altogether sincere1 and ,art should be as sincere4 ,it is not enough that the work should show a skilful hand1 ingenious contrivance and admirable polish and finish2 it should have a commanding motive in the time and condition in which it was made4 ,we should see in it the great belief of the artist1 which caused him to make it so as he did1 and not otherwise2 nothing frivolous1 nothing that he might do or not do1 as he chose1 but somewhat that must be done then and there by him2 he could not take his neck out of that yoke1 and save his soul4 ,and this design must shine through the whole performance4 ,sincerity is1 in dangerous times1 discovered to be an immeasurable advantage4 ,i distrust all the legends of great accomplishments or performance of unprincipled men4 ,very little reliance must be put on the common stories that circulate of this great senator's or that great barrister's learning1 their ,greek1 their varied literature4 ,that ice won't bear4 ,reading6--do you mean that this senator or this lawyer1 who stood by and allowed the passage of infamous laws1 was a reader of ,greek books8 ,that is not the question2 but to what purpose did they read8 ,i allow them the merit of that reading which appears in their opinions1 tastes1 beliefs1 and practice4 ,they read that they might know1 did they not8 ,well1 these men did not know4 ,they blundered2 they were utterly ignorant of that which every boy or girl of fifteen knows perfectly1--the rights of men and women4 ,and this big-mouthed talker1 among his dictionaries and ,leipzic editions of ,lysias1 had lost his knowledge4 ,but the ,president of the ,bank nods to the ,president of the ,insurance ,office1 and relates that at ,virginia ,springs this idol of the forum exhausted a trunkful of classic authors4 ,there is always the previous question1 ,how came you on that side8 ,you are a very elegant writer1 but you can't write up what gravitates down4 ,it is impossible to extricate oneself from the questions in which our age is involved4 ,all of us have shared the new enthusiasm of country and of liberty which swept like a whirlwind through all souls at the outbreak of war1 and brought1 by ennobling us1 an offset for its calamity4 ,war1 seeking for the roots of strength1 comes upon the moral aspects at once4 ,in quiet times1 custom stifles this discussion as sentimental1 and brings in the brazen devil1 as by immemorial right4 ,the war uplifted us into generous sentiments4 ,war ennobles the age4 ,we do not often have a moment of grandeur in these hurried1 slipshod lives1 but the behavior of the young men has taught us much4 ,we will not again disparage ,america1 now that we have seen what men it will bear4 ,battle1 with the sword1 has cut many a ,gordian knot in twain which all the wit of ,east and ,west1 of ,northern and ,border statesmen could not untie4 ,i learn with joy and with deep respect that this college has sent its full quota to the field4 ,i learn with grief1 but with honoring pain1 that you have had your sufferers in the battle1 and that the noble youth have returned wounded and maimed4 ,the times are dark1 but heroic4 ,the times develop the strength they need4 ,boys are heroes4 ,women have shown a tender patriotism and inexhaustible charity4 ,and on each new threat of faction1 the ballot of the people has been unexpectedly right4 ,but the issues already appearing overpay the cost4 ,slavery is broken1 and1 if we use our advantage1 irretrievably4 ,for such a gain1 to end once for all that pest of all our free institutions1 one generation might well be sacrificed2 perhaps it will2 that this continent be purged and a new era of equal rights dawn on the universe4 ,who would not1 if it could be made certain that the new morning of universal liberty should rise on our race by the perishing of one generation1--who would not consent to die8 ,,the ,,scholar4 ,,for thought1 and not praise1 ,thought is the wages ,for which ,i sell days1 ,will gladly sell ages ,and willing grow old1 ,deaf and dumb1 blind and cold1 ,melting matter into dreams1 ,panoramas which ,i saw1 ,and whatever glows or seems ,into substance1 into ,law4 ,,the sun and moon shall fall amain ,like sowers' seeds into his brain1 ,there quickened to be born again4 ,,the ,,scholar4 ,,an ,,oration ,,delivered ,,before ,,the ,,washington ,,and ,,jefferson ,,societies ,,at ,,the ,,university ,,of ,,virginia1 #bh,,th ,,june1 #ahgf4 ,,gentlemen3 ,the ,athenians took an oath1 on a certain crisis in their affairs1 to esteem wheat1 the vine and the olive the bounds of ,attica4 ,the territory of scholars is yet larger4 ,a stranger but yesterday to every person present1 ,i find myself already at home1 for the society of lettered men is a university which does not bound itself with the walls of one cloister or college1 but gathers in the distant and solitary student into its strictest amity4 ,literary men gladly acknowledge these ties which find for the homeless and the stranger a welcome where least looked for4 ,but in proportion as we are conversant with the laws of life1 we have seen the like4 ,we are used to these surprises4 ,this is but one operation of a more general law4 ,as in coming among strange faces we find that the love of letters makes us friends1 so in strange thoughts1 in the worldly habits which harden us1 we find with some surprise that learning and truth and beauty have not let us go2 that the spiritual nature is too strong for us2 that those excellent influences which men in all ages have called the ,muse1 or by some kindred name1 come in to keep us warm and true2 that the face of ,nature remains irresistibly alluring4 ,we have strayed from the territorial monuments of ,attica1 but here still are wheat and olives and the vine4 ,i do not now refer to that intellectual conscience which forms itself in tender natures1 and gives us many twinges for our sloth and unfaithfulness3--the influence ,i speak of is of a higher strain4 ,stung by this intellectual conscience1 we go to measure our tasks as scholars1 and screw ourselves up to energy and fidelity1 and our sadness is suddenly overshone by a sympathy of blessing4 ,beauty1 the inspirer1 the cheerful festal principle1 the leader of gods and men1 which draws by being beautiful1 and not by considerations of advantage1 comes in and puts a new face on the world4 ,i think the peculiar office of scholars in a careful and gloomy generation is to be 7as the poets were called in the ,middle ,ages7 ,professors of the ,joyous ,science1 detectors and delineators of occult symmetries and unpublished beauties2 heralds of civility1 nobility1 learning and wisdom2 affirmers of the one law1 yet as those who should affirm it in music and dancing2 expressors themselves of that firm and cheerful temper1 infinitely removed from sadness1 which reigns through the kingdoms of chemistry1 vegetation1 and animal life4 ,every natural power exhilarates2 a true talent delights the possessor first4 ,a celebrated musician was wont to say1 that men knew not how much more he delighted himself with his playing than he did others2 for if they knew1 his hearers would rather demand of him than give him a reward4 ,the scholar is here to fill others with love and courage by confirming their trust in the love and wisdom which are at the heart of all things2 to affirm noble sentiments2 to hear them wherever spoken1 out of the deeps of ages1 out of the obscurities of barbarous life1 and to republish them3--to untune nobody1 but to draw all men after the truth1 and to keep men spiritual and sweet4 ,language can hardly exaggerate the beatitude of the intellect flowing into the faculties4 ,this is the power that makes the world incarnated in man1 and laying again the beams of heaven and earth1 setting the north and the south1 and the stars in their places4 ,intellect is the science of metes and bounds2 yet it sees no bound to the eternal proceeding of law forth into nature4 ,all the sciences are only new applications1 each translatable into the other1 of the one law which his mind is4 ,this1 gentlemen1 is the topic on which ,i shall speak1--the natural and permanent function of the ,scholar1 as he is no permissive or accidental appearance1 but an organic agent in nature4 ,he is here to be the beholder of the real2 self-centred amidst the superficial2 here to revere the dominion of a serene necessity and be its pupil and apprentice by tracing everything home to a cause2 here to be sobered1 not by the cares of life1 as men say1 no1 but by the depth of his draughts of the cup of immortality4 ,one is tempted to affirm the office and attributes of the scholar a little the more eagerly1 because of a frequent perversity of the class itself4 ,men are ashamed of their intellect4 ,the men committed by profession as well as by bias to study1 the clergyman1 the chemist1 the astronomer1 the metaphysician1 the poet1 talk hard and worldly1 and share the infatuation of cities4 ,the poet and the citizen perfectly agree in conversation on the wise life4 ,the poet counsels his own son as if he were a merchant4 ,the poet with poets betrays no amiable weakness4 ,they all chime in1 and are as inexorable as bankers on the subject of real life4 ,they have no toleration for literature2 art is only a fine word for appearance in default of matter4 ,and they sit white over their stoves1 and talk themselves hoarse over the mischief of books and the effeminacy of book-makers4 ,but at a single strain of a bugle out of a grove1 or at the dashing among the stones of a brook from the hills2 at the sound of some subtle word that falls from the lips of an imaginative person1 or even at the reading in solitude of some moving image of a wise poet1 this grave conclusion is blown out of memory2 the sun shines1 and the worlds roll to music1 and the poet replaces all this cowardly ,self-denial and ,god-denial of the literary class with the conviction that to one poetic success the world will surrender on its knees4 ,instantly he casts in his lot with the pearl-diver and the diamond-merchant4 ,like them he will joyfully lose days and months1 and estates and credit1 in the profound hope that one restoring1 all-rewarding1 immense success will arrive at last1 which will give him at one bound a universal dominion4 ,and rightly2 for if his wild prayers are granted1 if he is to succeed1 his achievement is the piercing of the brass heavens of use and limitation1 and letting in a beam of the pure eternity which burns up this limbo of shadows and chimeras in which we dwell4 ,yes1 ,nature is too strong for us2 she will not be denied2 she has balsams for our hurts1 and hellebores for our insanities4 ,she does not bandy words with us1 but comes in with a new ravishing experience and makes the old time ridiculous4 ,every poet knows the unspeakable hope1 and represents its audacity4 ,i am not disposed to magnify temporary differences1 but for the moment it appears as if in former times learning and intellectual accomplishments had secured to the possessor greater rank and authority4 ,if this were only the reaction from excessive expectations from literature1 now disappointed1 it were a just censure4 ,it was superstitious to exact too much from philosophers and the literary class4 ,the ,sophists1 the ,alexandrian grammarians1 the wits of ,queen ,anne's1 the philosophers and diffusion-societies have not much helped us4 ,granted1 freely granted4 ,men run out of one superstition into an opposite superstition1 and practical people in ,america give themselves wonderful airs4 ,the cant of the time inquires superciliously after the new ideas2 it believes that ideas do not lead to the owning of stocks2 they are perplexing and effeminating4 ,young men1 ,i warn you against the clamors of these self-praising frivolous activities1--against these busybodies2 against irrational labor2 against chattering1 meddlesome1 rich and official people4 ,if their doing came to any good end6 ,action is legitimate and good2 forever be it honored6 right1 original1 private1 necessary action1 proceeding new from the heart of man1 and going forth to beneficent and as yet incalculable ends4 ,yes2 but not a petty fingering and running1 a senseless repeating of yesterday's fingering and running2 an acceptance of the method and frauds of other men2 an overdoing and busy-ness which pretends to the honors of action1 but resembles the twitches of ,st4 ,vitus4 ,the action of these men ,i cannot respect1 for they do not respect it themselves4 ,they were better and more respectable abed and asleep4 ,all the best of this class1 all who have any insight or generosity of spirit are frequently disgusted1 and fain to put it behind them4 ,gentlemen1 ,i do not wish to check your impulses to action3 ,i would not hinder you of one swing of your arm4 ,i do not wish to see you effeminate gownsmen1 taking hold of the world with the tips of your fingers1 or that life should be to you as it is to many1 optical1 not practical4 ,far otherwise3 ,i rather wish you to experiment boldly and give play to your energies1 but not1 if ,i could prevail with you1 in conventional ways4 ,i should wish your energy to run in works and emergencies growing out of your personal character4 ,nature will fast enough instruct you in the occasion and the need1 and will bring to each of you the crowded hour1 the great opportunity4 ,love1 ,rectitude1 everlasting ,fame1 will come to each of you in loneliest places with their grand alternatives1 and ,honor watches to see whether you dare seize the palms4 ,i have no quarrel with action1 only ,i prefer no action to misaction1 and ,i reject the abusive application of the term practical to those lower activities4 ,let us hear no more of the practical men1 or ,i will tell you something of them1--this1 namely1 that the scholar finds in them unlooked-for acceptance of his most paradoxical experience4 ,there is confession in their eyes1 and if they parade their business and public importance1 it is by way of apology and palliation for not being the students and obeyers of those diviner laws4 ,talk frankly with them and you learn that you have little to tell them2 that the ,spirit of the ,age has been before you with influences impossible to parry or resist4 ,the dry-goods men1 and the brokers1 the lawyers and the manufacturers are idealists1 and only differ from the philosopher in the intensity of the charge4 ,we are all contemporaries and bones of one body4 ,the shallow clamor against theoretic men comes from the weak4 ,able men may sometimes affect a contempt for thought1 which no able man ever feels4 ,for what alone in the history of this world interests all men in proportion as they are men8 ,what but truth1 and perpetual advance in knowledge of it1 and brave obedience to it in right action8 ,every man or woman who can voluntarily or involuntarily give them any insight or suggestion on these secrets they will hearken after4 ,the poet writes his verse on a scrap of paper1 and instantly the desire and love of all mankind take charge of it1 as if it were ,holy ,writ4 ,what need has he to cross the sill of his door8 ,why need he meddle with politics8 ,his idlest thought1 his yesternight's dream is told already in the ,senate4 ,what the ,genius whispered him at night he reported to the young men at dawn4 ,he rides in them1 he traverses sea and land4 ,the engineer in the locomotive is waiting for him2 the steamboat is hissing at the wharf1 and the wheels whirling to go4 ',tis wonderful1 'tis almost scandalous1 this extraordinary favoritism shown to poets4 ,i do not mean to excuse it4 ,i admit the enormous partiality4 ,it only shows that such is the gulf between our perception and our painting1 the eye is so wise1 and the hand so clumsy1 that all the human race have agreed to value a man according to his power of expression4 ,for him arms1 art1 politics1 trade waited like menials1 until the lord of the manor should arrive4 ,even the demonstrations of nature for millenniums seem not to have attained their end1 until this interpreter arrives4 8,i10 said the great-hearted ,kepler1 8may well wait a hundred years for a reader1 since ,god ,almighty has waited six thousand years for an observer like myself40 ,genius is a poor man and has no house1 but see1 this proud landlord who has built the palace and furnished it so delicately1 opens it to him and beseeches him to make it honorable by entering there and eating bread4 ,where is the palace in ,england whose tenants are not too happy if it can make a home for ,pope or ,addison or ,swift or ,burke or ,canning or ,tennyson8 ,or if wealth has humors and wishes to shake off the yoke and assert itself1--oh1 by all means let it try6 ,will it build its fences very high1 and make its ,almacks too narrow for a wise man to enter8 ,will it be independent8 ,i incline to concede the isolation which it asks1 that it may learn that it is not independent but parasitical4 ,there could always be traced1 in the most barbarous tribes1 and also in the most character-destroying civilization1 some vestiges of a faith in genius1 as in the exemption of a priesthood or bards or artists from taxes and tolls levied on other men2 or in civic distinction2 or in enthusiastic homage2 or in hospitalities2 as if men would signify their sense that genius and virtue should not pay money for house and land and bread1 because they have a royal right in these and in all things1--a first mortgage that takes effect before the right of the present proprietor4 ,for they are the ,first ,good1 of which ,plato affirms that 8all things are for its sake1 and it is the cause of everything beautiful40 ,this reverence is the re-establishment of natural order2 for as the solidest rocks are made up of invisible gases1 as the world is made of thickened light and arrested electricity1 so men know that ideas are the parents of men and things2 there was never anything that did not proceed from a thought4 ,the scholar has a deep ideal interest in the moving show around him4 ,he knew the motley system in its egg4 ,we have--have we not8--a real relation to markets and brokers and currency and coin4 8,gold and silver10 says one of the ,platonists1 8grow in the earth from the celestial gods1--an effluxion from them40 ,the unmentionable dollar itself has at last a high origin in moral and metaphysical nature4 ,union ,pacific stock is not quite private property1 but the quality and essence of the universe is in that also4 ,have we less interest in ships or in shops1 in manual work or in household affairs2 in any object of nature1 or in any handiwork of man2 in any relation of life or custom of society8 ,the scholar is to show1 in each1 identity and connexion2 he is to show its origin in the brain of man1 and its secret history and issues4 ,he is the attorney of the world1 and can never be superfluous where so vast a variety of questions are ever coming up to be solved1 and for ages4 ,i proceed to say that the allusions just now made to the extent of his duties1 the manner in which every day's events will find him in work1 may show that his place is no sinecure4 ,the scholar1 when he comes1 will be known by an energy that will animate all who see him4 ,the labor of ambition and avarice will appear fumbling beside his4 ,in the right hands1 literature is not resorted to as a consolation1 and by the broken and decayed1 but as a decalogue4 ,in this country we are fond of results and of short ways to them2 and most in this department4 ,in our experiences1 learning is not learned1 nor is genius wise4 ,the name of the ,scholar is taken in vain4 ,we who should be the channel of that unweariable ,power which never sleeps1 must give our diligence no holidays4 ,other men are planting and building1 baking and tanning1 running and sailing1 heaving and carrying1 each that he may peacefully execute the fine function by which they all are helped4 ,shall he play1 whilst their eyes follow him from far with reverence1 attributing to him the delving in great fields of thought1 and conversing with supernatural allies8 ,if he is not kindling his torch or collecting oil1 he will fear to go by a workshop2 he will not dare to hear the music of a saw or plane2 the steam-engine will reprimand1 the steam-pipe will hiss at him2 he cannot look a blacksmith in the eye2 in the field he will be shamed by mowers and reapers4 ,the speculative man1 the scholar1 is the right hero4 ,he is brave1 because he sees the omnipotence of that which inspires him4 ,is there only one courage and one warfare8 ,i cannot manage sword and rifle2 can ,i not therefore be brave8 ,i thought there were as many courages as men4 ,is an armed man the only hero8 ,is a man only the breech of a gun or the haft of a bowie-knife8 ,men of thought fail in fighting down malignity1 because they wear other armor than their own4 ,let them decline henceforward foreign methods and foreign courages4 ,let them do that which they can do4 ,let them fight by their strength1 not by their weakness4 ,it seems to me that the thoughtful man needs no armor but this--concentration4 ,one thing is for him settled1 that he is to come at his ends4 ,he is not there to defend himself1 but to deliver his message2 if his voice is clear1 then clearly2 if husky1 then huskily2 if broken1 he can at least scream2 gag him1 he can still write it2 bruise1 mutilate him1 cut off his hands and feet1 he can still crawl towards his object on his stumps4 ,it is the corruption of our generation that men value a long life1 and do not esteem life simply as a means of expressing a sentiment4 ,the great ,english patriot ,algernon ,sidney wrote to his father from his prison a little before his execution3 8,i have ever had in my mind that when ,god should cast me into such a condition as that ,i cannot save my life but by doing an indecent thing he shows me the time has come when ,i should resign it40 ,beauty belongs to the sentiment1 and is always departing from those who depart out of that4 ,the hero rises out of all comparison with contemporaries and with ages of men1 because he disesteems old age1 and lands1 and money1 and power1 and will oppose all mankind at the call of that private and perfect ,right and ,beauty in which he lives4 ,man is a torch borne in the wind4 ,the ends ,i have hinted at made the scholar or spiritual man indispensable to the ,republic or ,commonwealth of ,man4 ,nature could not leave herself without a seer and expounder4 ,but he could not see or teach without organs4 ,the same necessity then that would create him reappears in his splendid gifts4 ,there is no power in the mind but in turn becomes an instrument4 ,the descent of genius into talents is part of the natural order and history of the world4 ,the incarnation must be4 ,we cannot eat the granite nor drink hydrogen4 ,they must be decompounded and recompounded into corn and water before they can enter our flesh4 ,there is a great deal of spiritual energy in the universe1 but it is not palpable to us until we can make it up into man4 ,there is plenty of air1 but it is worth nothing until by gathering it into sails we can get it into shape and service to carry us and our cargo across the sea4 ,then it is paid for by hundreds of thousands of our money4 ,plenty of water also1 sea full1 sky full2 who cares for it8 ,but when we can get it where we want it1 and in measured portions1 on a mill-wheel1 or boat-paddle1 we will buy it with millions4 ,there is plenty of wild azote and carbon unappropriated1 but it is nought till we have made it up into loaves and soup4 ,so we find it in higher relations4 ,there is plenty of wild wrath1 but it steads not until we can get it racked off1 shall ,i say8 and bottled into persons2 a little pure1 and not too much1 to every head4 ,how many young geniuses we have known1 and none but ourselves will ever hear of them for want in them of a little talent6 ,ah1 gentlemen1 ,i own ,i love talents and accomplishments2 the feet and hands of genius4 ,as ,burke said1 8it is not only our duty to make the right known1 but to make it prevalent40 ,so ,i delight to see the ,godhead in distribution2 to see men that can come at their ends4 ,these shrewd faculties belong to man4 ,i love to see them in play1 and to see them trained3 this memory carrying in its caves the pictures of all the past1 and rendering them in the instant when they can serve the possessor2--the craft of mathematical combination1 which carries a working-plan of the heavens and of the earth in a formula4 ,i am apt to believe1 with the ,emperor ,charles ,v41 that 8as many languages as a man knows1 so many times is he a man40 ,i like to see a man of that virtue that no obscurity or disguise can conceal1 who wins all souls to his way of thinking4 ,i delight in men adorned and weaponed with manlike arts1 who could alone1 or with a few like them1 reproduce ,europe and ,america1 the result of our civilization4 ,it is excellent when the individual is ripened to that degree that he touches both the centre and the circumference1 so that he is not only widely intelligent1 but carries a council in his breast for the emergency of to-day2 and alternates the contemplation of the fact in pure intellect1 with the total conversion of the intellect into energy2 ,jove1 and the thunderbolt launched from his hand4 ,perhaps ,i value power of achievement a little more because in ,america there seems to be a certain indigence in this respect4 ,i think there is no more intellectual people than ours4 ,they are very apprehensive and curious4 ,but there is a sterility of talent4 ,these iron personalities1 such as in ,greece and ,italy and once in ,england were formed to strike fear into kings and draw the eager service of thousands1 rarely appear4 ,we have general intelligence1 but no ,cyclop arms4 ,a very little intellectual force makes a disproportionately great impression1 and when one observes how eagerly our people entertain and discuss a new theory1 whether home-born or imported1 and how little thought operates how great an effect1 one would draw a favorable inference as to their intellectual and spiritual tendencies4 ,it seems as if two or three persons coming who should add to a high spiritual aim great constructive energy1 would carry the country with them4 ,in making this claim of costly accomplishments for the scholar1 ,i chiefly wish to infer the dignity of his work by the lustre of his appointments4 ,he is not cheaply equipped4 ,the universe was rifled to furnish him4 ,he is to forge out of coarsest ores the sharpest weapons4 ,but if the weapons are valued for themselves1 if his talents assume an independence1 and come to work for ostentation1 they cannot serve him4 ,it was said of an eminent ,frenchman1 that 8he was drowned in his talents40 ,the peril of every fine faculty is the delight of playing with it for pride4 ,talent is commonly developed at the expense of character1 and the greater it grows1 the more is the mischief and misleading2 so that presently all is wrong1 talent is mistaken for genius1 a dogma or system for truth1 ambition for greatness1 ingenuity for poetry1 sensuality for art2 and the young1 coming up with innocent hope1 and looking around them at education1 at the professions and employments1 at religious and literary teachers and teaching1--finding that nothing outside corresponds to the noble order in the soul1 are confused1 and become skeptical and forlorn4 ,hope is taken from youth unless there be1 by the grace of ,god1 sufficient vigor in their instinct to say1 8,all is wrong and human invention4 ,i declare anew from ,heaven that truth exists new and beautiful and profitable forevermore40 ,order is heaven's first law4 ,these gifts1 these senses1 these facilities are excellent as long as subordinated2 all wasted and mischievous when they assume to lead and not obey4 ,what is the use of strength or cunning or beauty1 or musical voice1 or birth1 or breeding1 or money1 to a maniac8 ,yet society1 in which we live1 is subject to fits of frenzy2 sometimes is for an age together a maniac1 with birth1 breeding1 beauty1 cunning1 strength and money4 ,and there is but one defence against this principle of chaos1 and that is the principle of order1 or brave return at all hours to an infinite common-sense1 to the mother-wit1 to the wise instinct1 to the pure intellect4 ,when a man begins to dedicate himself to a particular function1 as his logical1 or his remembering1 or his oratorical1 or his arithmetical skill2 the advance of his character and genius pauses2 he has run to the end of his line2 seal the book2 the development of that mind is arrested4 ,the scholar is lost in the showman4 ,society is babyish1 and is dazzled and deceived by the weapon1 without inquiring into the cause for which it is drawn2 like boys by the drums and colors of the troops4 ,the objection of men of the world to what they call the morbid intellectual tendency in our young men at present1 is not a hostility to their truth1 but to this1 its shortcoming1 that the idealistic views unfit their children for business in their sense1 and do not qualify them for any complete life of a better kind4 ,they threaten the validity of contracts1 but do not prevail so far as to establish the new kingdom which shall supersede contracts1 oaths1 and property4 8,we have seen to weariness what you cannot do2 now show us what you can and will do10 asks the practical man1 and with perfect reason4 ,we are not afraid of new truth1--of truth never1 new1 or old1--no1 but of a counterfeit4 ,everybody hates imbecility and shortcoming1 not new methods4 ,the astronomer is not ridiculous inasmuch as he is an astronomer1 but inasmuch as he is not an astronomer4 ,be that you are3 be that cheerly and sovereignly4 ,plotinus makes no apologies1 he says roundly1 8the knowledge of the senses is truly ludicrous40 8,body and its properties belong to the region of nonentity1 as if more of body was necessarily produced where a defect of being happens in a greater degree40 8,matter10 says ,plutarch1 8is privation40 ,let the man of ideas at this hour be as direct1 and as fully committed4 ,have you a thought in your heart8 ,there was never such need of it as now4 ,as we read the newspapers1 as we see the effrontery with which money and power carry their ends and ride over honesty and good-meaning1 patriotism and religion seem to shriek like ghosts4 ,we will not speak for them1 because to speak for them seems so weak and hopeless4 ,we will hold fast our opinion and die in silence4 ,but a true orator will make us feel that the states and kingdoms1 the senators1 lawyers and rich men are caterpillars' webs and caterpillars1 when seen in the light of this despised and imbecile truth4 ,then we feel what cowards we have been4 ,truth alone is great4 ,the orator too becomes a fool and a shadow before this light which lightens through him4 ,it shines backward and forward1 diminishes and annihilates everybody1 and the prophet so gladly feels his personality lost in this victorious life4 ,the spiritual nature exhibits itself so in its counteraction to any accumulation of material force4 ,there is no mass that can be a counterweight for it4 ,this makes one man good against mankind4 ,this is the secret of eloquence1 for it is the end of eloquence in a half-hour's discourse1--perhaps by a few sentences1--to persuade a multitude of persons to renounce their opinions1 and change the course of life4 ,they go forth not the men they came in1 but shriven1 convicted1 and converted4 ,we have many revivals of religion4 ,we have had once what was called the ,revival of ,letters4 ,i wish to see a revival of the human mind3 to see men's sense of duty extend to the cherishing and use of their intellectual powers3 their religion should go with their thought and hallow it4 ,whosoever looks with heed into his thoughts will find that our science of the mind has not got far4 ,he will find there is somebody within him that knows more than he does1 a certain dumb life in life2 a simple wisdom behind all acquired wisdom2 somewhat not educated or educable2 not altered or alterable2 a mother-wit which does not learn by experience or by books1 but knew it all already2 makes no progress1 but was wise in youth as in age4 ,more or less clouded it yet resides the same in all1 saying ,ay1 ay1 or ,no1 no to every proposition4 ,yet its grand ,ay and its grand ,no are more musical than all eloquence4 ,nobody has found the limit of its knowledge4 ,whatever object is brought before it is already well known to it4 ,its justice is perfect2 its look is catholic and universal1 its light ubiquitous like the sun4 ,it does not put forth organs1 it rests in presence3 yet trusted and obeyed in happy natures it becomes active and salient1 and makes new means for its great ends4 ,the scholar then is unfurnished who has only literary weapons4 ,he ought to have as many talents as he can2 memory1 arithmetic1 practical power1 manners1 temper1 lion-heart1 are all good things1 and if he has none of them he can still manage1 if he have the main-mast1--if he is anything4 ,but he must have the resource of resources1 and be planted on necessity4 ,for the sure months are bringing him to an examination-day in which nothing is remitted or excused1 and for which no tutor1 no book1 no lectures1 and almost no preparation can be of the least avail4 ,he will have to answer certain questions1 which1 ,i must plainly tell you1 cannot be staved off4 ,for all men1 all women1 ,time1 your country1 your condition1 the invisible world1 are the interrogators3 ,who are you8 ,what do you8 ,can you obtain what you wish8 ,is there method in your consciousness8 ,can you see tendency in your life8 ,can you help any soul8 ,can he answer these questions8 can he dispose of them8 ,happy if you can answer them mutely in the order and disposition of your life6 ,happy for more than yourself1 a benefactor of men1 if you can answer them in works of wisdom1 art1 or poetry2 bestowing on the general mind of men organic creations1 to be the guidance and delight of all who know them4 ,these questions speak to ,genius1 to that power which is underneath and greater than all talent1 and which proceeds out of the constitution of every man3 to ,genius1 which is an emanation of that it tells of2 whose private counsels are not tinged with selfishness1 but are laws4 ,men of talent fill the eye with their pretension4 ,they go out into some camp of their own1 and noisily persuade society that this thing which they do is the needful cause of all men4 ,they have talents for contention1 and they nourish a small difference into a loud quarrel4 ,but the world is wide1 nobody will go there after to-morrow4 ,the gun they have pointed can defend nothing but itself1 nor itself any longer than the man is by4 ,what is the use of artificial positions8 ,but ,genius has no taste for weaving sand1 or for any trifling1 but flings itself on real elemental things1 which are powers1 self-defensive2 which first subsist1 and then resist unweariably forevermore all that opposes4 ,genius has truth and clings to it1 so that what it says and does is not in a by-road1 visited only by curiosity1 but on the great highways of nature1 which were before the ,appian ,way1 and which all souls must travel4 ,genius delights only in statements which are themselves true1 which attack and wound any who opposes them1 whether he who brought them here remains here or not2--which are live men1 and do daily declare fresh war against all falsehood and custom1 and will not let an offender go2 which society cannot dispose of or forget1 but which abide there and will not down at anybody's bidding1 but stand frowning and formidable1 and will and must be finally obeyed and done4 ,the scholar must be ready for bad weather1 poverty1 insult1 weariness1 repute of failure1 and many vexations4 ,he must have a great patience1 and ride at anchor and vanquish every enemy whom his small arms cannot reach1 by the grand resistance of submission1 of ceasing to do4 ,he is to know that in the last resort he is not here to work1 but to be worked upon4 ,he is to eat insult1 drink insult1 be clothed and shod in insult until he has learned that this bitter bread and shameful dress is also wholesome and warm1 is in short indifferent2 is of the same chemistry as praise and fat living2 that they also are disgrace and soreness to him who has them4 ,i think much may be said to discourage and dissuade the young scholar from his career4 ,freely be that said4 ,dissuade all you can from the lists4 ,sift the wheat1 frighten away the lighter souls4 ,let us keep only the heavy-armed4 ,let those come who cannot but come1 and who see that there is no choice here1 no advantage and no disadvantage compared with other careers4 ,for the great ,necessity is our patron1 who distributes sun and shade after immutable laws4 ,yes1 he has his dark days1 he has weakness1 he has waitings1 he has bad company1 he is pelted by storms of cares1 untuning cares1 untuning company4 ,well1 let him meet them4 ,he has not consented to the frivolity1 nor to the dispersion4 ,the practical aim is forever higher than the literary aim4 ,he shall not submit to degradation1 but shall bear these crosses with what grace he can4 ,he is still to decline how many glittering opportunities1 and to retreat1 and wait4 ,so shall you find in this penury and absence of thought a purer splendor than ever clothed the exhibitions of wit4 ,i invite you not to cheap joys1 to the flutter of gratified vanity1 to a sleek and rosy comfort2 no1 but to bareness1 to power1 to enthusiasm1 to the mountain of vision1 to true and natural supremacy1 to the society of the great1 and to love4 ,give me bareness and poverty so that ,i know them as the sure heralds of the ,muse4 ,not in plenty1 not in a thriving1 well-to-do condition1 she delighteth4 ,he that would sacrifice at her altar must not leave a few flowers1 an apple1 or some symbolic gift4 ,no2 he must relinquish orchards and gardens1 prosperity and convenience2 he may live on a heath without trees2 sometimes hungry1 and sometimes rheumatic with cold4 ,the fire retreats and concentrates within into a pure flame1 pure as the stars to which it mounts4 ,but1 gentlemen1 there is plainly no end to these expansions4 ,i have exhausted your patience1 and ,i have only begun4 ,i had perhaps wiselier adhered to my first purpose of confining my illustration to a single topic1 but it is so much easier to say many things than to explain one4 ,well1 you will see the drift of all my thoughts1 this namely--that the scholar must be much more than a scholar1 that his ends give value to every means1 but he is to subdue and keep down his methods2 that his use of books is occasional1 and infinitely subordinate2 that he should read a little proudly1 as one who knows the original1 and cannot therefore very highly value the copy4 ,in like manner he is to hold lightly every tradition1 every opinion1 every person1 out of his piety to that ,eternal ,spirit which dwells unexpressed with him4 ,he shall think very highly of his destiny4 ,he is here to know the secret of ,genius2 to become1 not a reader of poetry1 but ,homer1 ,dante1 ,milton1 ,shakspeare1 ,swedenborg1 in the fountain1 through that4 ,if one man could impart his faith to another1 if ,i could prevail to communicate the incommunicable mysteries1 you should see the breadth of your realm2--that ever as you ascend your proper and native path1 you receive the keys of ,nature and history1 and rise on the same stairs to science and to joy4 ,,plutarch4 ,the soul ,shall have society of its own rank3 ,be great1 be true1 and all the ,scipios1 ,the ,catos1 the wise patriots of ,rome1 ,shall flock to you and tarry by your side ,and comfort you with their high company4 ,,plutarch4#aj ,,it is remarkable that of an author so familiar as ,plutarch1 not only to scholars1 but to all reading men1 and whose history is so easily gathered from his works1 no accurate memoir of his life1 not even the dates of his birth and death1 should have come down to us4 ,strange that the writer of so many illustrious biographies should wait so long for his own4 ,it is agreed that he was born about the year #ej of the ,christian era4 ,he has been represented as having been the tutor of the ,emperor ,trajan1 as dedicating one of his books to him1 as living long in ,rome in great esteem1 as having received from ,trajan the consular dignity1 and as having been appointed by him the governor of ,greece4 ,he was a man whose real superiority had no need of these flatteries4 ,meantime1 the simple truth is1 that he was not the tutor of ,trajan1 that he dedicated no book to him1 was not consul in ,rome1 nor governor of ,greece2 appears never to have been in ,rome but on two occasions1 and then on business of the people of his native city1 ,chronea2 and though he found or made friends at ,rome1 and read lectures to some friends or scholars1 he did not know or learn the ,latin language there2 with one or two doubtful exceptions1 never quotes a ,latin book2 and though the contemporary1 in his youth or in his old age1 of ,persius1 ,juvenal1 ,lucan and ,seneca1 of ,quintilian1 ,martial1 ,tacitus1 ,suetonius1 ,pliny the ,elder and the ,younger1 he does not cite them1 and1 in return1 his name is never mentioned by any ,roman writer4 ,it would seem that the community of letters and of personal news was even more rare at that day than the want of printing1 of railroads and telegraphs1 would suggest to us4 ,but this neglect by his contemporaries has been compensated by an immense popularity in modern nations4 ,whilst his books were never known to the world in their own ,greek tongue1 it is curious that the 8,lives0 were translated and printed in ,latin1 thence into ,italian1 ,french1 and ,english1 more than a century before the original 8,works0 were yet printed4 ,for whilst the 8,lives0 were translated in ,rome in #adgj1 and the 8,morals10 part by part1 soon after1 the first printed edition of the ,greek 8,works0 did not appear until #aegb4 ,hardly current in his own ,greek1 these found learned interpreters in the scholars of ,germany1 ,spain and ,italy4 ,in ,france1 in the middle of the most turbulent civil wars1 ,amyot's translation awakened general attention4 ,his genial version of the 8,lives0 in #aeei1 of the 8,morals0 in #aegb1 had signal success4 ,king ,henry ,,iv4 wrote to his wife1 ,marie de ,medicis3 8,vive ,dieu4 ,as ,god liveth1 you could not have sent me anything which could be more agreeable than the news of the pleasure you have taken in this reading4 ,plutarch always delights me with a fresh novelty4 ,to love him is to love me2 for he has been long time the instructor of my youth4 ,my good mother1 to whom ,i owe all1 and who would not wish1 she said1 to see her son an illustrious dunce1 put this book into my hands almost when ,i was a child at the breast4 ,it has been like my conscience1 and has whispered in my ear many good suggestions and maxims for my conduct and the government of my affairs40 ,still earlier1 ,rabelais cites him with due respect4 ,montaigne1 in #aehi1 says3 8,we dunces had been lost1 had not this book raised us out of the dirt4 ,by this favor of his we dare now speak and write4 ,the ladies are able to read to schoolmasters4 ',tis our breviary40 ,montesquieu drew from him his definition of law1 and1 in his ,penses1 declares1 8,i am always charmed with ,plutarch2 in his writings are circumstances attached to persons1 which give great pleasure20 and adds examples4 ,saint ,evremond read ,plutarch to the great ,cond under a tent4 ,rollin1 so long the historian of antiquity for ,france1 drew unhesitatingly his history from him4 ,voltaire honored him1 and ,rousseau acknowledged him as his master4 ,in ,england1 ,sir ,thomas ,north translated the 8,lives0 in #aegi1 and ,holland the 8,morals0 in #afjc1 in time to be used by ,shakspeare in his plays1 and read by ,bacon1 ,dryden1 and ,cudworth4 ,then1 recently1 there has been a remarkable revival1 in ,france1 in the taste for ,plutarch and his contemporaries2 led1 we may say1 by the eminent critic ,sainte-,beuve4 ,m4 ,octave ,grard1 in a critical work on the 8,morals10 has carefully corrected the popular legends and constructed from the works of ,plutarch himself his true biography4 ,m4 ,levque has given an exposition of his moral philosophy1 under the title of 8,a ,physician of the ,soul10 in the ,revue des ,deux ,mondes2 and ,m4 ,c4 ,martha1 chapters on the genius of ,marcus ,aurelius1 of ,persius1 and ,lucretius1 in the same journal2 whilst ,m4 ,fustel de ,coulanges has explored from its roots in the ,aryan race1 then in their ,greek and ,roman descendants1 the primeval religion of the household4 ,plutarch occupies a unique place in literature as an encyclopdia of ,greek and ,roman antiquity4 ,whatever is eminent in fact or in fiction1 in opinion1 in character1 in institutions1 in science--natural1 moral1 or metaphysical1 or in memorable sayings1 drew his attention and came to his pen with more or less fulness of record4 ,he is1 among prose-writers1 what ,chaucer is among ,english poets1 a repertory for those who want the story without searching for it at first hand1--a compend of all accepted traditions4 ,and all this without any supreme intellectual gifts4 ,he is not a profound mind2 not a master in any science2 not a lawgiver1 like ,lycurgus or ,solon2 not a metaphysician1 like ,parmenides1 ,plato1 or ,aristotle2 not the founder of any sect or community1 like ,pythagoras or ,zeno2 not a naturalist1 like ,pliny or ,linnus2 not a leader of the mind of a generation1 like ,plato or ,goethe4 ,but if he had not the highest powers1 he was yet a man of rare gifts4 ,he had that universal sympathy with genius which makes all its victories his own2 though he never used verse1 he had many qualities of the poet in the power of his imagination1 the speed of his mental associations1 and his sharp1 objective eyes4 ,but what specially marks him1 he is a chief example of the illumination of the intellect by the force of morals4 ,though the most amiable of boon-companions1 this generous religion gives him aperus like ,goethe's4 ,plutarch was well-born1 well-taught1 well-conditioned2 a self-respecting1 amiable man1 who knew how to better a good education by travels1 by devotion to affairs private and public2 a master of ancient culture1 he read books with a just criticism2 eminently social1 he was a king in his own house1 surrounded himself with select friends1 and knew the high value of good conversation2 and declares in a letter written to his wife that 8he finds scarcely an erasure1 as in a book well-written1 in the happiness of his life40 ,the range of mind makes the glad writer4 ,the reason of ,plutarch's vast popularity is his humanity4 ,a man of society1 of affairs2 upright1 practical2 a good son1 husband1 father1 and friend1--he has a taste for common life1 and knows the court1 the camp and the judgment-hall1 but also the forge1 farm1 kitchen and cellar1 and every utensil and use1 and with a wise man's or a poet's eye4 ,thought defends him from any degradation4 ,he does not lose his way1 for the attractions are from within1 not from without4 ,a poet in verse or prose must have a sensuous eye1 but an intellectual co-perception4 ,plutarch's memory is full1 and his horizon wide4 ,nothing touches man but he feels to be his2 he is tolerant even of vice1 if he finds it genial2 enough a man of the world to give even the ,devil his due1 and would have hugged ,robert ,burns1 when he cried3-- 8,o wad ye tak' a thought and mend60 ,he is a philosopher with philosophers1 a naturalist with naturalists1 and sufficiently a mathematician to leave some of his readers1 now and then1 at a long distance behind him1 or respectfully skipping to the next chapter4 ,but this scholastic omniscience of our author engages a new respect1 since they hope he understands his own diagram4 ,he perpetually suggests ,montaigne1 who was the best reader he has ever found1 though ,montaigne excelled his master in the point and surprise of his sentences4 ,plutarch had a religion which ,montaigne wanted1 and which defends him from wantonness2 and though ,plutarch is as plain-spoken1 his moral sentiment is always pure4 ,what better praise has any writer received than he whom ,montaigne finds 8frank in giving things1 not words10 dryly adding1 8it vexes me that he is so exposed to the spoil of those that are conversant with him40 ,it is one of the felicities of literary history1 the tie which inseparably couples these two names across fourteen centuries4 ,montaigne1 whilst he grasps tienne de la ,boce with one hand1 reaches back the other to ,plutarch4 ,these distant friendships charm us1 and honor all the parties1 and make the best example of the universal citizenship and fraternity of the human mind4 ,i do not know where to find a book--to borrow a phrase of ,ben ,jonson's--8so rammed with life10 and this in chapters chiefly ethical1 which are so prone to be heavy and sentimental4 ,no poet could illustrate his thought with more novel or striking similes or happier anecdotes4 ,his style is realistic1 picturesque and varied2 his sharp objective eyes seeing everything that moves1 shines1 or threatens in nature or art1 or thought or dreams4 ,indeed1 twilights1 shadows1 omens and spectres have a charm for him4 ,he believes in witchcraft and the evil eye1 in demons and ghosts1--but prefers1 if you please1 to talk of these in the morning4 ,his vivacity and abundance never leave him to loiter or pound on an incident4 ,i admire his rapid and crowded style1 as if he had such store of anecdotes of his heroes that he is forced to suppress more than he recounts1 in order to keep up with the hasting history4 ,his surprising merit is the genial facility with which he deals with his manifold topics4 ,there is no trace of labor or pain4 ,he gossips of heroes1 philosophers and poets2 of virtues and genius2 of love and fate and empires4 ,it is for his pleasure that he recites all that is best in his reading3 he prattles history4 ,but he is no courtier1 and no ,boswell3 he is ever manly1 far from fawning1 and would be welcome to the sages and warriors he reports1 as one having a native right to admire and recount these stirring deeds and speeches4 ,i find him a better teacher of rhetoric than any modern4 ,his superstitions are poetic1 aspiring1 affirmative4 ,a poet might rhyme all day with hints drawn from ,plutarch1 page on page4 ,no doubt1 this superior suggestion for the modern reader owes much to the foreign air1 the ,greek wine1 the religion and history of antique heroes4 ,thebes1 ,sparta1 ,athens and ,rome charm us away from the disgust of the passing hour4 ,but his own cheerfulness and rude health are also magnetic4 ,in his immense quotation and allusion we quickly cease to discriminate between what he quotes and what he invents4 ,we sail on his memory into the ports of every nation1 enter into every private property1 and do not stop to discriminate owners1 but give him the praise of all4 ',tis all ,plutarch1 by right of eminent domain1 and all property vests in this emperor4 ,this facility and abundance make the joy of his narrative1 and he is read to the neglect of more careful historians4 ,yet he inspires a curiosity1 sometimes makes a necessity1 to read them4 ,he disowns any attempt to rival ,thucydides2 but ,i suppose he has a hundred readers where ,thucydides finds one1 and ,thucydides must often thank ,plutarch for that one4 ,he has preserved for us a multitude of precious sentences1 in prose or verse1 of authors whose books are lost2 and these embalmed fragments1 through his loving selection alone1 have come to be proverbs of later mankind4 ,i hope it is only my immense ignorance that makes me believe that they do not survive out of his pages1--not only ,thespis1 ,polemos1 ,euphorion1 ,ariston1 ,evenus1 etc41 but fragments of ,menander and ,pindar4 ,at all events1 it is in reading the fragments he has saved from lost authors that ,i have hailed another example of the sacred care which has unrolled in our times1 and still searches and unrolls papyri from ruined libraries and buried cities1 and has drawn attention to what an ancient might call the politeness of ,fate1--we will say1 more advisedly1 the benign ,providence which uses the violence of war1 of earthquakes and changed water-courses1 to save underground through barbarous ages the relics of ancient art1 and thus allows us to witness the upturning of the alphabets of old races1 and the deciphering of forgotten languages1 so to complete the annals of the forefathers of ,asia1 ,africa and ,europe4 ,his delight in poetry makes him cite with joy the speech of ,gorgias1 8that the tragic poet who deceived was juster than he who deceived not1 and he that was deceived was wiser than he who was not deceived40 ,it is a consequence of this poetic trait in his mind1 that ,i confess that1 in reading him1 ,i embrace the particulars1 and carry a faint memory of the argument or general design of the chapter2 but he is not less welcome1 and he leaves the reader with a relish and a necessity for completing his studies4 ,many examples might be cited of nervous expression and happy allusion1 that indicate a poet and an orator1 though he is not ambitious of these titles1 and cleaves to the security of prose narrative1 and only shows his intellectual sympathy with these2 yet ,i cannot forbear to cite one or two sentences which none who reads them will forget4 ,in treating of the style of the ,pythian ,oracle1 he says3-- 8,do you not observe1 some one will say1 what a grace there is in ,sappho's measures1 and how they delight and tickle the ears and fancies of the hearers8 ,whereas the ,sibyl1 with her frantic grimaces1 uttering sentences altogether thoughtful and serious1 neither fucused nor perfumed1 continues her voice a thousand years through the favor of the ,divinity that speaks within her40 ,another gives an insight into his mystic tendencies3-- 8,early this morning1 asking ,epaminondas about the manner of ,lysis's burial1 ,i found that ,lysis had taught him as far as the incommunicable mysteries of our sect1 and that the same ,dmon that waited on ,lysis1 presided over him1 if ,i can guess at the pilot from the sailing of the ship4 ,the paths of life are large1 but in few are men directed by the ,dmons4 ,when ,theanor had said this1 he looked attentively on ,epaminondas1 as if he designed a fresh search into his nature and inclinations40 ,and here is his sentiment on superstition1 somewhat condensed in ,lord ,bacon's citation of it3 8,i had rather a great deal that men should say1 ,there was no such man at all as ,plutarch1 than that they should say that there was one ,plutarch that would eat up his children as soon as they were born1 as the poets speak of ,saturn40 ,the chapter 8,on ,fortune0 should be read by poets1 and other wise men2 and the vigor of his pen appears in the chapter 8,whether the ,athenians were more ,warlike or ,learned10 and in his attack upon ,usurers4 ,there is1 of course1 a wide difference of time in the writing of these discourses1 and so in their merit4 ,many of them are mere sketches or notes for chapters in preparation1 which were never digested or finished4 ,many are notes for disputations in the lecture-room4 ,his poor indignation against ,herodotus was perhaps a youthful prize essay3 it appeared to me captious and labored2 or perhaps1 at a rhetorician's school1 the subject of ,herodotus being the lesson of the day1 ,plutarch was appointed by lot to take the adverse side4 ,the plain-speaking of ,plutarch1 as of the ancient writers generally1 coming from the habit of writing for one sex only1 has a great gain for brevity1 and1 in our new tendencies of civilization1 may tend to correct a false delicacy4 ,we are always interested in the man who treats the intellect well4 ,we expect it from the philosopher1--from ,plato1 ,aristotle1 ,spinoza and ,kant2 but we know that metaphysical studies in any but minds of large horizon and incessant inspiration have their dangers4 ,one asks sometimes whether a metaphysician can treat the intellect well4 ,the central fact is the superhuman intelligence1 pouring into us from its unknown fountain1 to be received with religious awe1 and defended from any mixture of our will4 ,but this high ,muse comes and goes2 and the danger is that1 when the ,muse is wanting1 the student is prone to supply its place with microscopic subtleties and logomachy4 ,it is fatal to spiritual health to lose your admiration4 8,let others wrangle10 said ,st4 ,augustine2 8,i will wonder40 ,plato and ,plotinus are enthusiasts1 who honor the race2 but the logic of the sophists and materialists1 whether ,greek or ,french1 fills us with disgust4 ,whilst we expect this awe and reverence of the spiritual power from the philosopher in his closet1 we praise it in the man of the world2--the man who lives on quiet terms with existing institutions1 yet indicates his perception of these high oracles2 as do ,plutarch1 ,montaigne1 ,hume and ,goethe4 ,these men lift themselves at once from the vulgar and are not the parasites of wealth4 ,perhaps they sometimes compromise1 go out to dine1 make and take compliments2 but they keep open the source of wisdom and health4 ,plutarch is uniformly true to this centre4 ,he had not lost his wonder4 ,he is a pronounced idealist1 who does not hesitate to say1 like another ,berkeley1 8,matter is itself privation20 and again1 8,the ,sun is the cause that all men are ignorant of ,apollo1 by sense withdrawing the rational intellect from that which is to that which appears40 ,he thinks that 8souls are naturally endowed with the faculty of prediction20 he delights in memory1 with its miraculous power of resisting time4 ,he thinks that 8,alexander invaded ,persia with greater assistance from ,aristotle than from his father ,philip40 ,he thinks that 8he who has ideas of his own is a bad judge of another man's1 it being true that the ,eleans would be the most proper judges of the ,olympic games1 were no ,eleans gamesters40 ,he says of ,socrates1 that he endeavored to bring reason and things together1 and make truth consist with sober sense4 ,he wonders with ,plato at that nail of pain and pleasure which fastens the body to the mind4 ,the mathematics give him unspeakable pleasure1 but he chiefly liked that proportion which teaches us to account that which is just1 equal2 and not that which is equal1 just4 ,of philosophy he is more interested in the results than in the method4 ,he has a just instinct of the presence of a master1 and prefers to sit as a scholar with ,plato1 than as a disputant2 and1 true to his practical character1 he wishes the philosopher not to hide in a corner1 but to commend himself to men of public regards and ruling genius3 8for1 if he once possess such a man with principles of honor and religion1 he takes a compendious method1 by doing good to one1 to oblige a great part of mankind40 ',tis a temperance1 not an eclecticism1 which makes him adverse to the severe ,stoic1 or the ,gymnosophist1 or ,diogenes1 or any other extremist4 ,that vice of theirs shall not hinder him from citing any good word they chance to drop4 ,he is an eclectic in such sense as ,montaigne was1--willing to be an expectant1 not a dogmatist4 ,in many of these chapters it is easy to infer the relation between the ,greek philosophers and those who came to them for instruction4 ,this teaching was no play nor routine1 but strict1 sincere and affectionate4 ,the part of each of the class is as important as that of the master4 ,they are like the base-ball players1 to whom the pitcher1 the bat1 the catcher and the scout are equally important4 ,and ,plutarch thought1 with ,ariston1 8that neither a bath nor a lecture served any purpose1 unless they were purgative40 ,plutarch has such a keen pleasure in realities that he has none in verbal disputes2 he is impatient of sophistry1 and despises the ,epicharmian disputations3 as1 that he who ran in debt yesterday owes nothing to-day1 as being another man2 so1 he that was yesterday invited to supper1 the next night comes an unbidden guest1 for that he is quite another person4 ,except as historical curiosities1 little can be said in behalf of the scientific value of the 8,opinions of the ,philosophers10 the 8,questions0 and the 8,symposiacs40 ,they are1 for the most part1 very crude opinions2 many of them so puerile that one would believe that ,plutarch in his haste adopted the notes of his younger auditors1 some of them jocosely misreporting the dogma of the professor1 who laid them aside as memoranda for future revision1 which he never gave1 and they were posthumously published4 ,now and then there are hints of superior science4 ,you may cull from this record of barbarous guesses of shepherds and travellers1 statements that are predictions of facts established in modern science4 ,usually1 when ,thales1 ,anaximenes or ,anaximander are quoted1 it is really a good judgment4 ,the explanation of the rainbow1 of the floods of the ,nile1 and of the remora1 etc41 are just2 and the bad guesses are not worse than many of ,lord ,bacon's4 ,his ,natural ,history is that of a lover and poet1 and not of a physicist4 ,his humanity stooped affectionately to trace the virtues which he loved in the animals also4 8,knowing and not knowing is the affirmative or negative of the dog2 knowing you is to be your friend2 not knowing you1 your enemy40 ,he quotes ,thucydides' saying that 8not the desire of honor only never grows old1 but much less also the inclination to society and affection to the ,state1 which continue even in ants and bees to the very last40 ,but1 though curious in the questions of the schools on the nature and genesis of things1 his extreme interest in every trait of character1 and his broad humanity1 lead him constantly to ,morals1 to the study of the ,beautiful and ,good4 ,hence his love of heroes1 his rule of life1 and his clear convictions of the high destiny of the soul4 ,la ,harpe said that 8,plutarch is the genius the most naturally moral that ever existed40 ',tis almost inevitable to compare ,plutarch with ,seneca1 who1 born fifty years earlier1 was for many years his contemporary1 though they never met1 and their writings were perhaps unknown to each other4 ,plutarch is genial1 with an endless interest in all human and divine things2 ,seneca1 a professional philosopher1 a writer of sentences1 and1 though he keep a sublime path1 is less interesting1 because less humane2 and when we have shut his book1 we forget to open it again4 ,there is a certain violence in his opinions1 and want of sweetness4 ,he lacks the sympathy of ,plutarch4 ,he is tiresome through perpetual didactics4 ,he is not happily living4 ,cannot the simple lover of truth enjoy the virtues of those he meets1 and the virtues suggested by them1 so to find himself at some time purely contented8 ,seneca was still more a man of the world than ,plutarch2 and1 by his conversation with the ,court of ,nero1 and his own skill1 like ,voltaire's1 of living with men of business and emulating their address in affairs by great accumulation of his own property1 learned to temper his philosophy with facts4 ,he ventured far1--apparently too far1--for so keen a conscience as he only had4 ,yet we owe to that wonderful moralist illustrious maxims2 as if the scarlet vices of the times of ,nero had the natural effect of driving virtue to its loftiest antagonisms4 8,seneca10 says ,l',estrange1 8was a pagan ,christian1 and is very good reading for our ,christian pagans40 ,he was ,buddhist in his cold abstract virtue1 with a certain impassibility beyond humanity4 ,he called pity1 8that fault of narrow souls40 ,yet what noble words we owe to him3 8,god divided man into men1 that they might help each other20 and again1 8,the good man differs from ,god in nothing but duration40 ,his thoughts are excellent1 if only he had the right to say them4 ,plutarch1 meantime1 with every virtue under heaven1 thought it the top of wisdom to philosophize yet not appear to do it1 and to reach in mirth the same ends which the most serious are proposing4 ,plutarch thought 8truth to be the greatest good that man can receive1 and the goodliest blessing that ,god can give40 8,when you are persuaded in your mind that you cannot either offer or perform anything more agreeable to the gods than the entertaining a right notion of them1 you will then avoid superstition as a no less evil than atheism40 ,he cites ,euripides to affirm1 8,if gods do aught dishonest1 they are no gods10 and the memorable words of ,antigone1 in ,sophocles1 concerning the moral sentiment3-- 8,for neither now nor yesterday began ,these thoughts1 which have been ever1 nor yet can ,a man be found who their first entrance knew40 ,his faith in the immortality of the soul is another measure of his deep humanity4 ,he reminds his friends that the ,delphic oracles have given several answers the same in substance as that formerly given to ,corax the ,naxian3-- 8,it sounds profane impiety ,to teach that human souls e'er die40 ,he believes that the doctrine of the ,divine ,providence1 and that of the immortality of the soul1 rest on one and the same basis4 ,he thinks it impossible either that a man beloved of the gods should not be happy1 or that a wise and just man should not be beloved of the gods4 ,to him the ,epicureans are hateful1 who held that the soul perishes when it is separated from the body4 8,the soul1 incapable of death1 suffers in the same manner in the body1 as birds that are kept in a cage40 ,he believes 8that the souls of infants pass immediately into a better and more divine state40 ,i can easily believe that an anxious soul may find in ,plutarch's chapter called 8,pleasure not attainable by ,epicurus10 and his 8,letter to his ,wife ,timoxena10 a more sweet and reassuring argument on the immortality than in the ,phdo of ,plato2 for ,plutarch always addresses the question on the human side1 and not on the metaphysical2 as ,walter ,scott took hold of boys and young men1 in ,england and ,america1 and through them of their fathers4 ,his grand perceptions of duty lead him to his stern delight in heroism2 a stoic resistance to low indulgence2 to a fight with fortune2 a regard for truth2 his love of ,sparta1 and of heroes like ,aristides1 ,phocion and ,cato4 ,he insists that the highest good is in action4 ,he thinks that the inhabitants of ,asia came to be vassals to one1 only for not having been able to pronounce one syllable2 which is1 ,no4 ,so keen is his sense of allegiance to right reason1 that he makes a fight against ,fortune whenever she is named4 ,at ,rome he thinks her wings were clipped3 she stood no longer on a ball1 but on a cube as large as ,italy4 ,he thinks it was by superior virtue that ,alexander won his battles in ,asia and ,africa1 and the ,greeks theirs against ,persia4 ,but this ,stoic in his fight with ,fortune1 with vices1 effeminacy and indolence1 is gentle as a woman when other strings are touched4 ,he is the most amiable of men4 8,to erect a trophy in the soul against anger is that which none but a great and victorious puissance is able to achieve40--8,anger turns the mind out of doors1 and bolts the door40 ,he has a tenderness almost to tears when he writes on 8,friendship10 on the 8,training of ,children10 and on the 8,love of ,brothers40 8,there is no treasure10 he says1 8parents can give to their children1 like a brother2 'tis a friend given by nature1 a gift nothing can supply2 once lost1 not to be replaced4 ,the ,arcadian prophet1 of whom ,herodotus speaks1 was obliged to make a wooden foot in place of that which had been chopped off4 ,a brother1 embroiled with his brother1 going to seek in the street a stranger who can take his place1 resembles him who will cut off his foot to give himself one of wood40 ,all his judgments are noble4 ,he thought1 with ,epicurus1 that it is more delightful to do than to receive a kindness4 8,this courteous1 gentle1 and benign disposition and behavior is not so acceptable1 so obliging or delightful to any of those with whom we converse1 as it is to those who have it40 ,there is really no limit to his bounty3 8,it would be generous to lend our eyes and ears1 nay1 if possible1 our reason and fortitude to others1 whilst we are idle or asleep40 ,his excessive and fanciful humanity reminds one of ,charles ,lamb1 whilst it much exceeds him4 ,when the guests are gone1 he 8would leave one lamp burning1 only as a sign of the respect he bore to fires1 for nothing so resembles an animal as fire4 ,it is moved and nourished by itself1 and by its brightness1 like the soul1 discovers and makes everything apparent1 and in its quenching shows some power that seems to proceed from a vital principle1 for it makes a noise and resists1 like an animal dying1 or violently slaughtered20 and he praises the ,romans1 who1 when the feast was over1 8dealt well with the lamps1 and did not take away the nourishment they had given1 but permitted them to live and shine by it40 ,i can almost regret that the learned editor of the present republication has not preserved1 if only as a piece of history1 the preface of ,mr4 ,morgan1 the editor and in part writer of this ,translation of #agah4 ,in his dedication of the work to the ,archbishop of ,canterbury1 ,wm4 ,wake1 he tells the ,primate that 8,plutarch was the wisest man of his age1 and1 if he had been a ,christian1 one of the best too2 but it was his severe fate to flourish in those days of ignorance1 which1 'tis a favorable opinion to hope that the ,almighty will sometime wink at2 that our souls may be with these philosophers together in the same state of bliss40 ,the puzzle in the worthy translator's mind between his theology and his reason well reappears in the puzzle of his sentence4 ,i know that the chapter of 8,apothegms of ,noble ,commanders0 is rejected by some critics as not a genuine work of ,plutarch2 but the matter is good1 and is so agreeable to his taste and genius1 that if he had found it1 he would have adopted it4 ,if he did not compile the piece1 many1 perhaps most of the anecdotes were already scattered in his works4 ,if ,i do not lament that a work not his should be ascribed to him1 ,i regret that he should have suffered such destruction of his own4 ,what a trilogy is lost to mankind in his ,lives of ,scipio1 ,epaminondas1 and ,pindar6 ,his delight in magnanimity and self-sacrifice has made his books1 like ,homer's ,iliad1 a bible for heroes2 and wherever the ,cid is relished1 the legends of ,arthur1 ,saxon ,alfred and ,richard the ,lion-hearted1 ,robert ,bruce1 ,sydney1 ,lord ,herbert of ,cherbury1 ,cromwell1 ,nelson1 ,bonaparte1 and ,walter ,scott's ,chronicles in prose or verse1--there will ,plutarch1 who told the story of ,leonidas1 of ,agesilaus1 of ,aristides1 ,phocion1 ,themistocles1 ,demosthenes1 ,epaminondas1 ,csar1 ,cato and the rest1 sit as the bestower of the crown of noble knighthood1 and laureate of the ancient world4 ,the chapters 8,on the ,fortune of ,alexander10 in the 8,morals10 are an important appendix to the portrait in the 8,lives40 ,the union in ,alexander of sublime courage with the refinement of his pure tastes1 making him the carrier of civilization into the ,east1 are in the spirit of the ideal hero1 and endeared him to ,plutarch4 ,that prince kept ,homer's poems not only for himself under his pillow in his tent1 but carried these for the delight of the ,persian youth1 and made them acquainted also with the tragedies of ,euripides and ,sophocles4 ,he persuaded the ,sogdians not to kill1 but to cherish their aged parents2 the ,persians to reverence1 not marry their mothers2 the ,scythians to bury and not eat their dead parents4 ,what a fruit and fitting monument of his best days was his city ,alexandria1 to be the birthplace or home of ,plotinus1 ,st4 ,augustine1 ,synesius1 ,posidonius1 ,ammonius1 ,jamblichus1 ,porphyry1 ,origen1 ,aratus1 ,apollonius and ,apuleius4 ,if ,plutarch delighted in heroes1 and held the balance between the severe ,stoic and the indulgent ,epicurean1 his humanity shines not less in his intercourse with his personal friends4 ,he was a genial host and guest1 and delighted in bringing chosen companions to the supper-table4 ,he knew the laws of conversation and the laws of good-fellowship quite as well as ,horace1 and has set them down with such candor and grace as to make them good reading to-day4 ,the guests not invited to a private board by the entertainer1 but introduced by a guest as his companions1 the ,greek called shadows2 and the question is debated whether it was civil to bring them1 and he treats it candidly1 but concludes3 8,therefore1 when ,i make an invitation1 since it is hard to break the custom of the place1 ,i give my guests leave to bring shadows2 but when ,i myself am invited as a shadow1 ,i assure you ,i refuse to go40 ,he has an objection to the introduction of music at feasts4 ,he thought it wonderful that a man having a muse in his own breast1 and all the pleasantness that would fit an entertainment would have pipes and harps play1 and by that external noise destroy all the sweetness that was proper and his own4 ,i cannot close these notes without expressing my sense of the valuable service which the ,editor has rendered to his ,author and to his readers4 ,professor ,goodwin is a silent benefactor to the book1 wherever ,i have compared the editions4 ,i did not know how careless and vicious in parts the old book was1 until1 in recent reading of the old text1 on coming on anything absurd or unintelligible1 ,i referred to the new text and found a clear and accurate statement in its place4 ,it is the vindication of ,plutarch4 ,the correction is not only of names of authors and of places grossly altered or misspelled1 but of unpardonable liberties taken by the translators1 whether from negligence or freak4 ,one proof of ,plutarch's skill as a writer is that he bears translation so well4 ,in spite of its carelessness and manifold faults1 which1 ,i doubt not1 have tried the patience of its present learned editor and corrector1 ,i yet confess my enjoyment of this old version1 for its vigorous ,english style4 ,the work of some forty or fifty ,university men1 some of them imperfect in their ,greek1 it is a monument of the ,english language at a period of singular vigor and freedom of style4 ,i hope the ,commission of the ,philological ,society in ,london1 charged with the duty of preparing a ,critical ,dictionary1 will not overlook these volumes1 which show the wealth of their tongue to greater advantage than many books of more renown as models4 ,it runs through the whole scale of conversation in the street1 the market1 the coffee-house1 the law courts1 the palace1 the college and the church4 ,there are1 no doubt1 many vulgar phrases1 and many blunders of the printer2 but it is the speech of business and conversation1 and in every tone1 from lowest to highest4 ,we owe to these translators many sharp perceptions of the wit and humor of their author1 sometimes even to the adding of the point4 ,i notice one1 which1 although the translator has justified his rendering in a note1 the severer criticism of the ,editor has not retained4 8,were there not a sun1 we might1 for all the other stars1 pass our days in the ,reverend ,dark1 as ,heraclitus calls it40 ,i find a humor in the phrase which might well excuse its doubtful accuracy4 ,it is a service to our ,republic to publish a book that can force ambitious young men1 before they mount the platform of the county conventions1 to read the 8,laconic ,apothegms0 and the 8,apothegms of ,great ,commanders40 ,if we could keep the secret1 and communicate it only to a few chosen aspirants1 we might confide that1 by this noble infiltration1 they would easily carry the victory over all competitors4 ,but1 as it was the desire of these old patriots to fill with their majestic spirit all ,sparta or ,rome1 and not a few leaders only1 we hasten to offer them to the ,american people4 ,plutarch's popularity will return in rapid cycles4 ,if over-read in this decade1 so that his anecdotes and opinions become commonplace1 and to-day's novelties are sought for variety1 his sterling values will presently recall the eye and thought of the best minds1 and his books will be reprinted and read anew by coming generations4 ,and thus ,plutarch will be perpetually rediscovered from time to time as long as books last4 ,,footnotes3 ,footnote #aj3 ,this paper was printed as an introduction to ,plutarch's ,morals1 edited by ,professor ,william ,w4 ,goodwin1 ,boston1 #ahga4 ,,historic ,,notes ,,of ,,life ,,and ,,letters ,,in ,,new ,,england4 8,,of old things all are over old1 ,of good things none are good enough2-- ,we'll show that we can help to frame ,a world of other stuff40 ,,for ,joy and ,beauty planted it ,with faerie gardens cheered1 ,and boding ,fancy haunted it ,with men and women weird4 ,,historic ,,notes ,,of ,,life ,,and ,,letters ,,in ,,new ,,england4 ,,the ancient manners were giving way4 ,there grew a certain tenderness on the people1 not before remarked4 ,children had been repressed and kept in the background2 now they were considered1 cosseted and pampered4 ,i recall the remark of a witty physician who remembered the hardships of his own youth2 he said1 8,it was a misfortune to have been born when children were nothing1 and to live till men were nothing40 ,there are always two parties1 the party of the ,past and the party of the ,future2 the ,establishment and the ,movement4 ,at times the resistance is reanimated1 the schism runs under the world and appears in ,literature1 ,philosophy1 ,church1 ,state1 and social customs4 ,it is not easy to date these eras of activity with any precision1 but in this region one made itself remarked1 say in #ahbj and the twenty years following4 ,it seemed a war between intellect and affection2 a crack in nature1 which split every church in ,christendom into ,papal and ,protestant2 ,calvinism into ,old and ,new schools2 ,quakerism into ,old and ,new2 brought new divisions in politics2 as the new conscience touching temperance and slavery4 ,the key to the period appeared to be that the mind had become aware of itself4 ,men grew reflective and intellectual4 ,there was a new consciousness4 ,the former generations acted under the belief that a shining social prosperity was the beatitude of man1 and sacrificed uniformly the citizen to the ,state4 ,the modern mind believed that the nation existed for the individual1 for the guardianship and education of every man4 ,this idea1 roughly written in revolutions and national movements1 in the mind of the philosopher had far more precision2 the individual is the world4 ,this perception is a sword such as was never drawn before4 ,it divides and detaches bone and marrow1 soul and body1 yea1 almost the man from himself4 ,it is the age of severance1 of dissociation1 of freedom1 of analysis1 of detachment4 ,every man for himself4 ,the public speaker disclaims speaking for any other2 he answers only for himself4 ,the social sentiments are weak2 the sentiment of patriotism is weak2 veneration is low2 the natural affections feebler than they were4 ,people grow philosophical about native land and parents and relations4 ,there is an universal resistance to ties and ligaments once supposed essential to civil society4 ,the new race is stiff1 heady and rebellious2 they are fanatics in freedom2 they hate tolls1 taxes1 turnpikes1 banks1 hierarchies1 governors1 yea1 almost laws4 ,they have a neck of unspeakable tenderness2 it winces at a hair4 ,they rebel against theological as against political dogmas2 against mediation1 or saints1 or any nobility in the unseen4 ,the age tends to solitude4 ,the association of the time is accidental and momentary and hypocritical1 the detachment intrinsic and progressive4 ,the association is for power1 merely1--for means2 the end being the enlargement and independency of the individual4 ,anciently1 society was in the course of things4 ,there was a ,sacred ,band1 a ,theban ,phalanx4 ,there can be none now4 ,college classes1 military corps1 or trades-unions may fancy themselves indissoluble for a moment1 over their wine2 but it is a painted hoop1 and has no girth4 ,the age of arithmetic and of criticism has set in4 ,the structures of old faith in every department of society a few centuries have sufficed to destroy4 ,astrology1 magic1 palmistry1 are long gone4 ,the very last ghost is laid4 ,demonology is on its last legs4 ,prerogative1 government1 goes to pieces day by day4 ,europe is strewn with wrecks2 a constitution once a week4 ,in social manners and morals the revolution is just as evident4 ,in the law courts1 crimes of fraud have taken the place of crimes of force4 ,the stockholder has stepped into the place of the warlike baron4 ,the nobles shall not any longer1 as feudal lords1 have power of life and death over the churls1 but now1 in another shape1 as capitalists1 shall in all love and peace eat them up as before4 ,nay1 government itself becomes the resort of those whom government was invented to restrain4 8,are there any brigands on the road80 inquired the traveller in ,france4 8,oh1 no1 set your heart at rest on that point10 said the landlord2 8what should these fellows keep the highway for1 when they can rob just as effectually1 and much more at their ease1 in the bureaus of office80 ,in literature the effect appeared in the decided tendency of criticism4 ,the most remarkable literary work of the age has for its hero and subject precisely this introversion3 ,i mean the poem of ,faust4 ,in philosophy1 ,immanuel ,kant has made the best catalogue of the human faculties and the best analysis of the mind4 ,hegel also1 especially4 ,in science the ,french savant1 exact1 pitiless1 with barometer1 crucible1 chemic test and calculus in hand1 travels into all nooks and islands1 to weigh1 to analyze and report4 ,and chemistry1 which is the analysis of matter1 has taught us that we eat gas1 drink gas1 tread on gas1 and are gas4 ,the same decomposition has changed the whole face of physics2 the like in all arts1 modes4 ,authority falls1 in ,church1 ,college1 ,courts of ,law1 ,faculties1 ,medicine4 ,experiment is credible2 antiquity is grown ridiculous4 ,it marked itself by a certain predominance of the intellect in the balance of powers4 ,the warm swart ,earth-spirit which made the strength of past ages1 mightier than it knew1 with instincts instead of science1 like a mother yielding food from her own breast instead of preparing it through chemic and culinary skill1--warm negro ages of sentiment and vegetation1--all gone2 another hour had struck and other forms arose4 ,instead of the social existence which all shared1 was now separation4 ,every one for himself2 driven to find all his resources1 hopes1 rewards1 society and deity within himself4 ,the young men were born with knives in their brain1 a tendency to introversion1 self-dissection1 anatomizing of motives4 ,the popular religion of our fathers had received many severe shocks from the new times2 from the ,arminians1 which was the current name of the backsliders from ,calvinism1 sixty years ago2 then from the ,english philosophic theologians1 ,hartley and ,priestley and ,belsham1 the followers of ,locke2 and then ,i should say much later from the slow but extraordinary influence of ,swedenborg2 a man of prodigious mind1 though as ,i think tainted with a certain suspicion of insanity1 and therefore generally disowned1 but exerting a singular power over an important intellectual class2 then the powerful influence of the genius and character of ,dr4 ,channing4 ,germany had created criticism in vain for us until #ahbj1 when ,edward ,everett returned from his five years in ,europe1 and brought to ,cambridge his rich results1 which no one was so fitted by natural grace and the splendor of his rhetoric to introduce and recommend4 ,he made us for the first time acquainted with ,wolff's theory of the ,homeric writings1 with the criticism of ,heyne4 ,the novelty of the learning lost nothing in the skill and genius of his relation1 and the rudest undergraduate found a new morning opened to him in the lecture-room of ,harvard ,hall4 ,there was an influence on the young people from the genius of ,everett which was almost comparable to that of ,pericles in ,athens4 ,he had an inspiration which did not go beyond his head1 but which made him the master of elegance4 ,if any of my readers were at that period in ,boston or ,cambridge1 they will easily remember his radiant beauty of person1 of a classic style1 his heavy large eye1 marble lids1 which gave the impression of mass which the slightness of his form needed2 sculptured lips2 a voice of such rich tones1 such precise and perfect utterance1 that1 although slightly nasal1 it was the most mellow and beautiful and correct of all the instruments of the time4 ,the word that he spoke1 in the manner in which he spoke it1 became current and classical in ,new ,england4 ,he had a great talent for collecting facts1 and for bringing those he had to bear with ingenious felicity on the topic of the moment4 ,let him rise to speak on what occasion soever1 a fact had always just transpired which composed1 with some other fact well known to the audience1 the most pregnant and happy coincidence4 ,it was remarked that for a man who threw out so many facts he was seldom convicted of a blunder4 ,he had a good deal of special learning1 and all his learning was available for purposes of the hour4 ,it was all new learning1 that wonderfully took and stimulated the young men4 ,it was so coldly and weightily communicated from so commanding a platform1 as if in the consciousness and consideration of all history and all learning1--adorned with so many simple and austere beauties of expression1 and enriched with so many excellent digressions and significant quotations1 that1 though nothing could be conceived beforehand less attractive or indeed less fit for green boys from ,connecticut1 ,new ,hampshire and ,massachusetts1 with their unripe ,latin and ,greek reading1 than exegetical discourses in the style of ,voss and ,wolff and ,ruhnken1 on the ,orphic and ,ante-,homeric remains1--yet this learning instantly took the highest place to our imagination in our unoccupied ,american ,parnassus4 ,all his auditors felt the extreme beauty and dignity of the manner1 and even the coarsest were contented to go punctually to listen1 for the manner1 when they had found out that the subject-matter was not for them4 ,in the lecture-room1 he abstained from all ornament1 and pleased himself with the play of detailing erudition in a style of perfect simplicity4 ,in the pulpit 7for he was then a clergyman7 he made amends to himself and his auditor for the self-denial of the professor's chair1 and1 with an infantine simplicity still1 of manner1 he gave the reins to his florid1 quaint and affluent fancy4 ,then was exhibited all the richness of a rhetoric which we have never seen rivalled in this country4 ,wonderful how memorable were words made which were only pleasing pictures1 and covered no new or valid thoughts4 ,he abounded in sentences1 in wit1 in satire1 in splendid allusion1 in quotation impossible to forget1 in daring imagery1 in parable and even in a sort of defying experiment of his own wit and skill in giving an oracular weight to ,hebrew or ,rabbinical words2--feats which no man could better accomplish1 such was his self-command and the security of his manner4 ,all his speech was music1 and with such variety and invention that the ear was never tired4 ,especially beautiful were his poetic quotations4 ,he delighted in quoting ,milton1 and with such sweet modulation that he seemed to give as much beauty as he borrowed2 and whatever he has quoted will be remembered by any who heard him1 with inseparable association with his voice and genius4 ,he had nothing in common with vulgarity and infirmity1 but1 speaking1 walking1 sitting1 was as much aloof and uncommon as a star4 ,the smallest anecdote of his behavior or conversation was eagerly caught and repeated1 and every young scholar could recite brilliant sentences from his sermons1 with mimicry1 good or bad1 of his voice4 ,this influence went much farther1 for he who was heard with such throbbing hearts and sparkling eyes in the lighted and crowded churches1 did not let go his hearers when the church was dismissed1 but the bright image of that eloquent form followed the boy home to his bed-chamber2 and not a sentence was written in academic exercises1 not a declamation attempted in the college chapel1 but showed the omnipresence of his genius to youthful heads4 ,this made every youth his defender1 and boys filled their mouths with arguments to prove that the orator had a heart4 ,this was a triumph of ,rhetoric4 ,it was not the intellectual or the moral principles which he had to teach4 ,it was not thoughts4 ,when ,massachusetts was full of his fame it was not contended that he had thrown any truths into circulation4 ,but his power lay in the magic of form2 it was in the graces of manner2 in a new perception of ,grecian beauty1 to which he had opened our eyes4 ,there was that finish about this person which is about women1 and which distinguishes every piece of genius from the works of talent1--that these last are more or less matured in every degree of completeness according to the time bestowed on them1 but works of genius in their first and slightest form are still wholes4 ,in every public discourse there was nothing left for the indulgence of his hearer1 no marks of late hours and anxious1 unfinished study1 but the goddess of grace had breathed on the work a last fragrancy and glitter4 ,by a series of lectures largely and fashionably attended for two winters in ,boston he made a beginning of popular literary and miscellaneous lecturing1 which in that region at least had important results4 ,it is acquiring greater importance every day1 and becoming a national institution4 ,i am quite certain that this purely literary influence was of the first importance to the ,american mind4 ,in the pulpit ,dr4 ,frothingham1 an excellent classical and ,german scholar1 had already made us acquainted1 if prudently1 with the genius of ,eichhorn's theologic criticism4 ,and ,professor ,norton a little later gave form and method to the like studies in the then infant ,divinity ,school4 ,but ,i think the paramount source of the religious revolution was ,modern ,science2 beginning with ,copernicus1 who destroyed the pagan fictions of the ,church1 by showing mankind that the earth on which we live was not the centre of the ,universe1 around which the sun and stars revolved every day1 and thus fitted to be the platform on which the ,drama of the ,divine ,judgment was played before the assembled ,angels of ,heaven1--8the scaffold of the divine vengeance0 ,saurin called it1--but a little scrap of a planet1 rushing round the sun in our system1 which in turn was too minute to be seen at the distance of many stars which we behold4 ,astronomy taught us our insignificance in ,nature2 showed that our sacred as our profane history had been written in gross ignorance of the laws1 which were far grander than we knew2 and compelled a certain extension and uplifting of our views of the ,deity and his ,providence4 ,this correction of our superstitions was confirmed by the new science of ,geology1 and the whole train of discoveries in every department4 ,but we presently saw also that the religious nature in man was not affected by these errors in his understanding4 ,the religious sentiment made nothing of bulk or size1 or far or near2 triumphed over time as well as space2 and every lesson of humility1 or justice1 or charity1 which the old ignorant saints had taught him1 was still forever true4 ,whether from these influences1 or whether by a reaction of the general mind against the too formal science1 religion and social life of the earlier period1--there was1 in the first quarter of our nineteenth century1 a certain sharpness of criticism1 an eagerness for reform1 which showed itself in every quarter4 ,it appeared in the popularity of ,lavater's ,physiognomy1 now almost forgotten4 ,gall and ,spurzheim's ,phrenology laid a rough hand on the mysteries of animal and spiritual nature1 dragging down every sacred secret to a street show4 ,the attempt was coarse and odious to scientific men1 but had a certain truth in it2 it felt connection where the professors denied it1 and was a leading to a truth which had not yet been announced4 ,on the heels of this intruder came ,mesmerism1 which broke into the inmost shrines1 attempted the explanation of miracle and prophecy1 as well as of creation4 ,what could be more revolting to the contemplative philosopher6 ,but a certain success attended it1 against all expectation4 ,it was human1 it was genial1 it affirmed unity and connection between remote points1 and as such was excellent criticism on the narrow and dead classification of what passed for science2 and the joy with which it was greeted was an instinct of the people which no true philosopher would fail to profit by4 ,but while society remained in doubt between the indignation of the old school and the audacity of the new1 a higher note sounded4 ,unexpected aid from high quarters came to iconoclasts4 ,the ,german poet ,goethe revolted against the science of the day1 against ,french and ,english science1 declared war against the great name of ,newton1 proposed his own new and simple optics3 in ,botany1 his simple theory of metamorphosis2--the eye of a leaf is all2 every part of the plant from root to fruit is only a modified leaf1 the branch of a tree is nothing but a leaf whose serratures have become twigs4 ,he extended this into anatomy and animal life1 and his views were accepted4 ,the revolt became a revolution4 ,schelling and ,oken introduced their ideal natural philosophy1 ,hegel his metaphysics1 and extended it to ,civil ,history4 ,the result in literature and the general mind was a return to law2 in science1 in politics1 in social life2 as distinguished from the profligate manners and politics of earlier times4 ,the age was moral4 ,every immorality is a departure from nature1 and is punished by natural loss and deformity4 ,the popularity of ,combe's ,constitution of ,man2 the humanity which was the aim of all the multitudinous works of ,dickens2 the tendency even of ,punch's caricature1 was all on the side of the people4 ,there was a breath of new air1 much vague expectation1 a consciousness of power not yet finding its determinate aim4 ,i attribute much importance to two papers of ,dr4 ,channing1 one on ,milton and one on ,napoleon1 which were the first specimens in this country of that large criticism which in ,england had given power and fame to the ,edinburgh ,review4 ,they were widely read1 and of course immediately fruitful in provoking emulation which lifted the style of ,journalism4 ,dr4 ,channing1 whilst he lived1 was the star of the ,american ,church1 and we then thought1 if we do not still think1 that he left no successor in the pulpit4 ,he could never be reported1 for his eye and voice could not be printed1 and his discourses lose their best in losing them4 ,he was made for the public2 his cold temperament made him the most unprofitable private companion2 but all ,america would have been impoverished in wanting him4 ,we could not then spare a single word he uttered in public1 not so much as the reading a lesson in ,scripture1 or a hymn1 and it is curious that his printed writings are almost a history of the times2 as there was no great public interest1 political1 literary1 or even economical 7for he wrote on the ,tariff71 on which he did not leave some printed record of his brave and thoughtful opinion4 ,a poor little invalid all his life1 he is yet one of those men who vindicate the power of the ,american race to produce greatness4 ,dr4 ,channing took counsel in #ahdj with ,george ,ripley1 to the point whether it were possible to bring cultivated1 thoughtful people together1 and make society that deserved the name4 ,he had earlier talked with ,dr4 ,john ,collins ,warren on the like purpose1 who admitted the wisdom of the design and undertook to aid him in making the experiment4 ,dr4 ,channing repaired to ,dr4 ,warren's house on the appointed evening1 with large thoughts which he wished to open4 ,he found a well-chosen assembly of gentlemen variously distinguished2 there was mutual greeting and introduction1 and they were chatting agreeably on indifferent matters and drawing gently towards their great expectation1 when a side-door opened1 the whole company streamed in to an oyster supper1 crowned by excellent wines2 and so ended the first attempt to establish sthetic society in ,boston4 ,some time afterwards ,dr4 ,channing opened his mind to ,mr4 and ,mrs4 ,ripley1 and with some care they invited a limited party of ladies and gentlemen4 ,i had the honor to be present4 ,though ,i recall the fact1 ,i do not retain any instant consequence of this attempt1 or any connection between it and the new zeal of the friends who at that time began to be drawn together by sympathy of studies and of aspiration4 ,margaret ,fuller1 ,george ,ripley1 ,dr4 ,convers ,francis1 ,theodore ,parker1 ,dr4 ,hedge1 ,mr4 ,brownson1 ,james ,freeman ,clarke1 ,william ,h4 ,channing1 and many others1 gradually drew together and from time to time spent an afternoon at each other's houses in a serious conversation4 ,with them was always one well-known form1 a pure idealist1 not at all a man of letters1 nor of any practical talent1 nor a writer of books2 a man quite too cold and contemplative for the alliances of friendship1 with rare simplicity and grandeur of perception1 who read ,plato as an equal1 and inspired his companions only in proportion as they were intellectual1--whilst the men of talent complained of the want of point and precision in this abstract and religious thinker4 ,these fine conversations1 of course1 were incomprehensible to some in the company1 and they had their revenge in their little joke4 ,one declared that 8,it seemed to him like going to heaven in a swing20 another reported that1 at a knotty point in the discourse1 a sympathizing ,englishman with a squeaking voice interrupted with the question1 8,mr4 ,alcott1 a lady near me desires to inquire whether omnipotence abnegates attribute80 ,i think there prevailed at that time a general belief in ,boston that there was some concert of doctrinaires to establish certain opinions and inaugurate some movement in literature1 philosophy1 and religion1 of which design the supposed conspirators were quite innocent2 for there was no concert1 and only here and there two or three men or women who read and wrote1 each alone1 with unusual vivacity4 ,perhaps they only agreed in having fallen upon ,coleridge and ,wordsworth and ,goethe1 then on ,carlyle1 with pleasure and sympathy4 ,otherwise1 their education and reading were not marked1 but had the ,american superficialness1 and their studies were solitary4 ,i suppose all of them were surprised at this rumor of a school or sect1 and certainly at the name of ,transcendentalism1 given nobody knows by whom1 or when it was first applied4 ,as these persons became in the common chances of society acquainted with each other1 there resulted certainly strong friendships1 which of course were exclusive in proportion to their heat3 and perhaps those persons who were mutually the best friends were the most private and had no ambition of publishing their letters1 diaries1 or conversation4 ,from that time meetings were held for conversation1 with very little form1 from house to house1 of people engaged in studies1 fond of books1 and watchful of all the intellectual light from whatever quarter it flowed4 ,nothing could be less formal1 yet the intelligence and character and varied ability of the company gave it some notoriety and perhaps waked curiosity as to its aims and results4 ,nothing more serious came of it than the modest quarterly journal called 8,the ,dial0 which1 under the editorship of ,margaret ,fuller1 and later of some other1 enjoyed its obscurity for four years4 ,all its papers were unpaid contributions1 and it was rather a work of friendship among the narrow circle of students than the organ of any party4 ,perhaps its writers were its chief readers3 yet it contained some noble papers by ,margaret ,fuller1 and some numbers had an instant exhausting sale1 because of papers by ,theodore ,parker4 ,theodore ,parker was our ,savonarola1 an excellent scholar1 in frank and affectionate communication with the best minds of his day1 yet the tribune of the people1 and the stout ,reformer to urge and defend every cause of humanity with and for the humblest of mankind4 ,he was no artist4 ,highly refined persons might easily miss in him the element of beauty4 ,what he said was mere fact1 almost offended you1 so bald and detached2 little cared he4 ,he stood altogether for practical truth2 and so to the last4 ,he used every day and hour of his short life1 and his character appeared in the last moments with the same firm control as in the mid-day of strength4 ,i habitually apply to him the words of a ,french philosopher who speaks of 8the man of ,nature who abominates the steam-engine and the factory4 ,his vast lungs breathe independence with the air of the mountains and the woods40 ,the vulgar politician disposed of this circle cheaply as 8the sentimental class40 ,state ,street had an instinct that they invalidated contracts and threatened the stability of stocks2 and it did not fancy brusque manners4 ,society always values1 even in its teachers1 inoffensive people1 susceptible of conventional polish4 ,the clergyman who would live in the city may have piety1 but must have taste1 whilst there was often coming1 among these1 some ,john the ,baptist1 wild from the woods1 rude1 hairy1 careless of dress and quite scornful of the etiquette of cities4 ,there was a pilgrim in those days walking in the country who stopped at every door where he hoped to find hearing for his doctrine1 which was1 ,never to give or receive money4 ,he was a poor printer1 and explained with simple warmth the belief of himself and five or six young men with whom he agreed in opinion1 of the vast mischief of our insidious coin4 ,he thought every one should labor at some necessary product1 and as soon as he had made more than enough for himself1 were it corn1 or paper1 or cloth1 or boot-jacks1 he should give of the commodity to any applicant1 and in turn go to his neighbor for any article which he had to spare4 ,of course we were curious to know how he sped in his experiments on the neighbor1 and his anecdotes were interesting1 and often highly creditable4 ,but he had the courage which so stern a return to ,arcadian manners required1 and had learned to sleep1 in cold nights1 when the farmer at whose door he knocked declined to give him a bed1 on a wagon covered with the buffalo-robe under the shed1--or under the stars1 when the farmer denied the shed and the buffalo-robe4 ,i think he persisted for two years in his brave practice1 but did not enlarge his church of believers4 ,these reformers were a new class4 ,instead of the fiery souls of the ,puritans1 bent on hanging the ,quaker1 burning the witch and banishing the ,romanist1 these were gentle souls1 with peaceful and even with genial dispositions1 casting sheep's-eyes even on ,fourier and his houris4 ,it was a time when the air was full of reform4 ,robert ,owen of ,lanark came hither from ,england in #ahde1 and read lectures or held conversations wherever he found listeners2 the most amiable1 sanguine and candid of men4 ,he had not the least doubt that he had hit on a right and perfect socialism1 or that all mankind would adopt it4 ,he was then seventy years old1 and being asked1 8,well1 ,mr4 ,owen1 who is your disciple8 ,how many men are there possessed of your views who will remain after you are gone1 to put them in practice80 8,not one10 was his reply4 ,robert ,owen knew ,fourier in his old age4 ,he said that ,fourier learned of him all the truth he had2 the rest of his system was imagination1 and the imagination of a banker4 ,owen made the best impression by his rare benevolence4 ,his love of men made us forget his 8,three ,errors40 ,his charitable construction of men and their actions was invariable4 ,he was the better ,christian in his controversy with ,christians1 and he interpreted with great generosity the acts of the 8,holy ,alliance10 and ,prince ,metternich1 with whom the persevering doctrinaire had obtained interviews2 8,ah10 he said1 8you may depend on it there are as tender hearts and as much good will to serve men1 in palaces1 as in colleges40 ,and truly ,i honor the generous ideas of the ,socialists1 the magnificence of their theories1 and the enthusiasm with which they have been urged4 ,they appeared the inspired men of their time4 ,mr4 ,owen preached his doctrine of labor and reward1 with the fidelity and devotion of a saint1 to the slow ears of his generation4 ,fourier1 almost as wonderful an example of the mathematical mind of ,france as ,la ,place or ,napoleon1 turned a truly vast arithmetic to the question of social misery1 and has put men under the obligation which a generous mind always confers1 of conceiving magnificent hopes and making great demands as the right of man4 ,he took his measure of that which all should and might enjoy1 from no soup-society or charity-concert1 but from the refinements of palaces1 the wealth of universities1 and the triumphs of artists4 ,he thought nobly4 ,a man is entitled to pure air1 and to the air of good conversation in his bringing up1 and not1 as we or so many of us1 to the poor-smell and musty chambers1 cats and fools4 ,fourier carried a whole ,french ,revolution in his head1 and much more4 ,here was arithmetic on a huge scale4 ,his ciphering goes where ciphering never went before1 namely1 into stars1 atmospheres1 and animals1 and men and women1 and classes of every character4 ,it was the most entertaining of ,french romances1 and could not but suggest vast possibilities of reform to the coldest and least sanguine4 ,we had an opportunity of learning something of these ,socialists and their theory1 from the indefatigable apostle of the sect in ,new ,york1 ,albert ,brisbane4 ,mr4 ,brisbane pushed his doctrine with all the force of memory1 talent1 honest faith and importunacy4 ,as we listened to his exposition it appeared to us the sublime of mechanical philosophy2 for the system was the perfection of arrangement and contrivance4 ,the force of arrangement could no farther go4 ,the merit of the plan was that it was a system2 that it had not the partiality and hint-and-fragment character of most popular schemes1 but was coherent and comprehensive of facts to a wonderful degree4 ,it was not daunted by distance1 or magnitude1 or remoteness of any sort1 but strode about nature with a giant's step1 and skipped no fact1 but wove its large ,ptolemaic web of cycle and epicycle1 of phalanx and phalanstery1 with laudable assiduity4 ,mechanics were pushed so far as fairly to meet spiritualism4 ,one could not but be struck with strange coincidences betwixt ,fourier and ,swedenborg4 ,genius hitherto has been shamefully misapplied1 a mere trifler4 ,it must now set itself to raise the social condition of man and to redress the disorders of the planet he inhabits4 ,the ,desert of ,sahara1 the ,campagna di ,roma1 the frozen ,polar circles1 which by their pestilential or hot or cold airs poison the temperate regions1 accuse man4 ,society1 concert1 co-operation1 is the secret of the coming ,paradise4 ,by reason of the isolation of men at the present day1 all work is drudgery4 ,by concert and the allowing each laborer to choose his own work1 it becomes pleasure4 8,attractive ,industry0 would speedily subdue1 by adventurous scientific and persistent tillage1 the pestilential tracts2 would equalize temperature1 give health to the globe and cause the earth to yield 8healthy imponderable fluids0 to the solar system1 as now it yields noxious fluids4 ,the hyna1 the jackal1 the gnat1 the bug1 the flea1 were all beneficent parts of the system2 the good ,fourier knew what those creatures should have been1 had not the mould slipped1 through the bad state of the atmosphere2 caused no doubt by the same vicious imponderable fluids4 ,all these shall be redressed by human culture1 and the useful goat and dog and innocent poetical moth1 or the wood-tick to consume decomposing wood1 shall take their place4 ,it takes sixteen hundred and eighty men to make one ,man1 complete in all the faculties2 that is1 to be sure that you have got a good joiner1 a good cook1 a barber1 a poet1 a judge1 an umbrella-maker1 a mayor and alderman1 and so on4 ,your community should consist of two thousand persons1 to prevent accidents of omission2 and each community should take up six thousand acres of land4 ,now fancy the earth planted with fifties and hundreds of these phalanxes side by side1--what tillage1 what architecture1 what refectories1 what dormitories1 what reading-rooms1 what concerts1 what lectures1 what gardens1 what baths6 ,what is not in one will be in another1 and many will be within easy distance4 ,then know you one and all1 that ,constantinople is the natural capital of the globe4 ,there1 in the ,golden ,horn1 will the ,arch-,phalanx be established2 there will the ,omniarch reside4 ,aladdin and his magician1 or the beautiful ,scheherezade can alone1 in these prosaic times before the sight1 describe the material splendors collected there4 ,poverty shall be abolished2 deformity1 stupidity and crime shall be no more4 ,genius1 grace1 art1 shall abound1 and it is not to be doubted but that in the reign of 8,attractive ,industry0 all men will speak in blank verse4 ,certainly we listened with great pleasure to such gay and magnificent pictures4 ,the ability and earnestness of the advocate and his friends1 the comprehensiveness of their theory1 its apparent directness of proceeding to the end they would secure1 the indignation they felt and uttered in the presence of so much social misery1 commanded our attention and respect4 ,it contained so much truth1 and promised in the attempts that shall be made to realize it so much valuable instruction1 that we are engaged to observe every step of its progress4 ,yet in spite of the assurances of its friends that it was new and widely discriminated from all other plans for the regeneration of society1 we could not exempt it from the criticism which we apply to so many projects for reform with which the brain of the age teems4 ,our feeling was that ,fourier had skipped no fact but one1 namely ,life4 ,he treats man as a plastic thing1 something that may be put up or down1 ripened or retarded1 moulded1 polished1 made into solid or fluid or gas1 at the will of the leader2 or perhaps as a vegetable1 from which1 though now a poor crab1 a very good peach can by manure and exposure be in time produced1--but skips the faculty of life1 which spawns and scorns system and system-makers2 which eludes all conditions2 which makes or supplants a thousand phalanxes and ,new ,harmonies with each pulsation4 ,there is an order in which in a sound mind the faculties always appear1 and which1 according to the strength of the individual1 they seek to realize in the surrounding world4 ,the value of ,fourier's system is that it is a statement of such an order externized1 or carried outward into its correspondence in facts4 ,the mistake is that this particular order and series is to be imposed1 by force or preaching and votes1 on all men1 and carried into rigid execution4 ,but what is true and good must not only be begun by life1 but must be conducted to its issues by life4 ,could not the conceiver of this design have also believed that a similar model lay in every mind1 and that the method of each associate might be trusted1 as well as that of his particular ,committee and ,general ,office1 ,no4 #bjj ,broadway8 ,nay1 that it would be better to say1 ,let us be lovers and servants of that which is just1 and straightway every man becomes a centre of a holy and beneficent republic1 which he sees to include all men in its law1 like that of ,plato1 and of ,christ4 ,before such a man the whole world becomes ,fourierized or ,christized or humanized1 and in obedience to his most private being he finds himself1 according to his presentiment1 though against all sensuous probability1 acting in strict concert with all others who followed their private light4 ,yet1 in a day of small1 sour and fierce schemes1 one is admonished and cheered by a project of such friendly aims and of such bold and generous proportion2 there is an intellectual courage and strength in it which is superior and commanding2 it certifies the presence of so much truth in the theory1 and in so far is destined to be fact4 ,it argued singular courage1 the adoption of ,fourier's system1 to even a limited extent1 with his books lying before the world only defended by the thin veil of the ,french language4 ,the ,stoic said1 ,forbear1 ,fourier said1 ,indulge4 ,fourier was of the opinion of ,st4 ,evremond2 abstinence from pleasure appeared to him a great sin4 ,fourier was very ,french indeed4 ,he labored under a misapprehension of the nature of women4 ,the ,fourier marriage was a calculation how to secure the greatest amount of kissing that the infirmity of human constitution admitted4 ,it was false and prurient1 full of absurd ,french superstitions about women2 ignorant how serious and how moral their nature always is2 how chaste is their organization2 how lawful a class4 ,it is the worst of community that it must inevitably transform into charlatans the leaders1 by the endeavor continually to meet the expectation and admiration of this eager crowd of men and women seeking they know not what4 ,unless he have a ,cossack roughness of clearing himself of what belongs not1 charlatan he must be4 ,it was easy to see what must be the fate of this fine system in any serious and comprehensive attempt to set it on foot in this country4 ,as soon as our people got wind of the doctrine of ,marriage held by this master1 it would fall at once into the hands of a lawless crew who would flock in troops to so fair a game1 and1 like the dreams of poetic people on the first outbreak of the old ,french ,revolution1 so theirs would disappear in a slime of mire and blood4 ,there is of course to every theory a tendency to run to an extreme1 and to forget the limitations4 ,in our free institutions1 where every man is at liberty to choose his home and his trade1 and all possible modes of working and gaining are open to him1 fortunes are easily made by thousands1 as in no other country4 ,then property proves too much for the man1 and the men of science1 art1 intellect1 are pretty sure to degenerate into selfish housekeepers1 dependent on wine1 coffee1 furnace-heat1 gas-light and fine furniture4 ,then instantly things swing the other way1 and we suddenly find that civilization crowed too soon2 that what we bragged as triumphs were treacheries3 that we have opened the wrong door and let the enemy into the castle2 that civilization was a mistake2 that nothing is so vulgar as a great warehouse of rooms full of furniture and trumpery2 that1 in the circumstances1 the best wisdom were an auction or a fire4 ,since the foxes and the birds have the right of it1 with a warm hole to keep out the weather1 and no more1--a pent-house to fend the sun and rain is the house which lays no tax on the owner's time and thoughts1 and which he can leave1 when the sun is warm1 and defy the robber4 ,this was ,thoreau's doctrine1 who said that the ,fourierists had a sense of duty which led them to devote themselves to their second-best4 ,and ,thoreau gave in flesh and blood and pertinacious ,saxon belief the purest ethics4 ,he was more real and practically believing in them than any of his company1 and fortified you at all times with an affirmative experience which refused to be set aside4 ,thoreau was in his own person a practical answer1 almost a refutation1 to the theories of the socialists4 ,he required no ,phalanx1 no ,government1 no society1 almost no memory4 ,he lived extempore from hour to hour1 like the birds and the angels2 brought every day a new proposition1 as revolutionary as that of yesterday1 but different3 the only man of leisure in his town2 and his independence made all others look like slaves4 ,he was a good ,abbot ,sampson1 and carried a counsel in his breast4 8,again and again ,i congratulate myself on my so-called poverty1 ,i could not overstate this advantage40 8,what you call bareness and poverty1 is to me simplicity4 ,god could not be unkind to me if he should try4 ,i love best to have each thing in its season only1 and enjoy doing without it at all other times4 ,it is the greatest of all advantages to enjoy no advantage at all4 ,i have never got over my surprise that ,i should have been born into the most estimable place in all the world1 and in the very nick of time too40 ,there's an optimist for you4 ,i regard these philanthropists as themselves the effects of the age in which we live1 and1 in common with so many other good facts1 the efflorescence of the period1 and predicting a good fruit that ripens4 ,they were not the creators they believed themselves1 but they were unconscious prophets of a true state of society2 one which the tendencies of nature lead unto1 one which always establishes itself for the sane soul1 though not in that manner in which they paint it2 but they were describers of that which is really being done4 ,the large cities are phalansteries2 and the theorists drew all their argument from facts already taking place in our experience4 ,the cheap way is to make every man do what he was born for4 ,one merchant to whom ,i described the ,fourier project1 thought it must not only succeed1 but that agricultural association must presently fix the price of bread1 and drive single farmers into association in self-defence1 as the great commercial and manufacturing companion had done4 ,society in ,england and in ,america is trying the experiment again in small pieces1 in co-operative associations1 in cheap eating-houses1 as well as in the economies of club-houses and in cheap reading-rooms4 ,it chanced that here in one family were two brothers1 one a brilliant and fertile inventor1 and close by him his own brother1 a man of business1 who knew how to direct his faculty and make it instantly and permanently lucrative4 ,why could not the like partnership be formed between the inventor and the man of executive talent everywhere8 ,each man of thought is surrounded by wiser men than he1 if they cannot write as well4 ,cannot he and they combine8 ,talents supplement each other4 ,beaumont and ,fletcher and many ,french novelists have known how to utilize such partnerships4 ,why not have a larger one1 and with more various members8 ,housekeepers say1 8,there are a thousand things to everything10 and if one must study all the strokes to be laid1 all the faults to be shunned in a building or work of art1 of its keeping1 its composition1 its site1 its color1 there would be no end4 ,but the architect1 acting under a necessity to build the house for its purpose1 finds himself helped1 he knows not how1 into all these merits of detail1 and steering clear1 though in the dark1 of those dangers which might have shipwrecked him4 ,,brook ,,farm4 ,the ,west ,roxbury association was formed in #ahda1 by a society of members1 men and women1 who bought a farm in ,west ,roxbury1 of about two hundred acres1 and took possession of the place in ,april4 ,mr4 ,george ,ripley was the ,president1 and ,i think ,mr4 ,charles ,dana 7afterwards well known as one of the editors of the ,new ,york ,tribune71 was the secretary4 ,many members took shares by paying money1 others held shares by their labor4 ,an old house on the place was enlarged1 and three new houses built4 ,william ,allen was at first and for some time the head farmer1 and the work was distributed in orderly committees to the men and women4 ,there were many employments more or less lucrative found for1 or brought hither by these members1--shoemakers1 joiners1 sempstresses4 ,they had good scholars among them1 and so received pupils for their education4 ,the parents of the children in some instances wished to live there1 and were received as boarders4 ,many persons attracted by the beauty of the place and the culture and ambition of the community1 joined them as boarders1 and lived there for years4 ,i think the numbers of this mixed community soon reached eighty or ninety souls4 ,it was a noble and generous movement in the projectors1 to try an experiment of better living4 ,they had the feeling that our ways of living were too conventional and expensive1 not allowing each to do what he had a talent for1 and not permitting men to combine cultivation of mind and heart with a reasonable amount of daily labor4 ,at the same time1 it was an attempt to lift others with themselves1 and to share the advantages they should attain1 with others now deprived of them4 ,there was no doubt great variety of character and purpose in the members of the community4 ,it consisted in the main of young people1--few of middle age1 and none old4 ,those who inspired and organized it were of course persons impatient of the routine1 the uniformity1 perhaps they would say1 the squalid contentment of society around them2 which was so timid and skeptical of any progress4 ,one would say then that impulse was the rule in the society1 without centripetal balance2 perhaps it would not be severe to say1 intellectual sans-culottism1 an impatience of the formal1 routinary character of our educational1 religious1 social and economical life in ,massachusetts4 ,yet there was immense hope in these young people4 ,there was nobleness2 there were self-sacrificing victims who compensated for the levity and rashness of their companions4 ,the young people lived a great deal in a short time1 and came forth some of them perhaps with shattered constitutions4 ,and a few grave sanitary influences of character were happily there1 which1 ,i was assured1 were always felt4 ,george ,w4 ,curtis of ,new ,york1 and his brother1 of ,english ,oxford1 were members of the family from the first4 ,theodore ,parker1 the near neighbor of the farm and the most intimate friend of ,mr4 ,ripley1 was a frequent visitor4 ,mr4 ,ichabod ,morton of ,plymouth1 a plain man formerly engaged through many years in the fisheries with success1--eccentric1 with a persevering interest in ,education1 and of a very democratic religion1 came and built a house on the farm1 and he1 or members of his family1 continued there to the end4 ,margaret ,fuller1 with her joyful conversation and large sympathy1 was often a guest1 and always in correspondence with her friends6 ,many ladies1 whom to name were to praise1 gave character and varied attraction to the place4 ,in and around ,brook ,farm1 whether as members1 boarders1 or visitors1 were many remarkable persons1 for character1 intellect1 or accomplishments4 ,i recall one youth of the subtlest mind1 ,i believe ,i must say the subtlest observer and diviner of character ,i ever met1 living1 reading1 writing1 talking there1 perhaps as long as the colony held together2 his mind fed and overfed by whatever is exalted in genius1 whether in ,poetry or ,art1 in ,drama or ,music1 or in social accomplishment and elegancy2 a man of no employment or practical aims1 a student and philosopher1 who found his daily enjoyment not with the elders or his exact contemporaries so much as with the fine boys who were skating and playing ball or bird-hunting2 forming the closest friendships with such1 and finding his delight in the petulant heroisms of boys2 yet was he the chosen counsellor to whom the guardians would repair on any hitch or difficulty that occurred1 and draw from him a wise counsel4 ,a fine1 subtle1 inward genius1 puny in body and habit as a girl1 yet with an aplomb like a general1 never disconcerted4 ,he lived and thought1 in #ahdb1 such worlds of life2 all hinging on the thought of ,being or ,reality as opposed to consciousness2 hating intellect with the ferocity of a ,swedenborg4 ,he was the ,abb or spiritual father1 from his religious bias4 ,his reading lay in schylus1 ,plato1 ,dante1 ,calderon1 ,shakspeare1 and in modern novels and romances of merit4 ,there too was ,hawthorne1 with his cold yet gentle genius1 if he failed to do justice to this temporary home4 ,there was the accomplished ,doctor of ,music1 who has presided over its literature ever since in our metropolis4 ,rev4 ,william ,henry ,channing1 now of ,london1 was from the first a student of ,socialism in ,france and ,england1 and in perfect sympathy with this experiment4 ,an ,english baronet1 ,sir ,john ,caldwell1 was a frequent visitor1 and more or less directly interested in the leaders and the success4 ,hawthorne drew some sketches1 not happily1 as ,i think2 ,i should rather say1 quite unworthy of his genius4 ,no friend who knew ,margaret ,fuller could recognize her rich and brilliant genius under the dismal mask which the public fancied was meant for her in that disagreeable story4 ,the ,founders of ,brook ,farm should have this praise1 that they made what all people try to make1 an agreeable place to live in4 ,all comers1 even the most fastidious1 found it the pleasantest of residences4 ,it is certain that freedom from household routine1 variety of character and talent1 variety of work1 variety of means of thought and instruction1 art1 music1 poetry1 reading1 masquerade1 did not permit sluggishness or despondency2 broke up routine4 ,there is agreement in the testimony that it was1 to most of the associates1 education2 to many1 the most important period of their life1 the birth of valued friendships1 their first acquaintance with the riches of conversation1 their training in behavior4 ,the art of letter-writing1 it is said1 was immensely cultivated4 ,letters were always flying not only from house to house1 but from room to room4 ,it was a perpetual picnic1 a ,french ,revolution in small1 an ,age of ,reason in a patty-pan4 ,in the ,american social communities1 the gossip found such vent and sway as to become despotic4 ,the institutions were whispering-galleries1 in which the adored ,saxon privacy was lost4 ,married women ,i believe uniformly decided against the community4 ,it was to them like the brassy and lacquered life in hotels4 ,the common school was well enough1 but to the common nursery they had grave objections4 ,eggs might be hatched in ovens1 but the hen on her own account much preferred the old way4 ,a hen without her chickens was but half a hen4 ,it was a curious experience of the patrons and leaders of this noted community1 in which the agreement with many parties was that they should give so many hours of instruction in mathematics1 in music1 in moral and intellectual philosophy1 and so forth1--that in every instance the new comers showed themselves keenly alive to the advantages of the society1 and were sure to avail themselves of every means of instruction2 their knowledge was increased1 their manners refined1--but they became in that proportion averse to labor1 and were charged by the heads of the departments with a certain indolence and selfishness4 ,in practice it is always found that virtue is occasional1 spotty1 and not linear or cubic4 ,good people are as bad as rogues if steady performance is claimed2 the conscience of the conscientious runs in veins1 and the most punctilious in some particulars are latitudinarian in others4 ,it was very gently said that people on whom beforehand all persons would put the utmost reliance were not responsible4 ,they saw the necessity that the work must be done1 and did it not1 and it of course fell to be done by the few religious workers4 ,no doubt there was in many a certain strength drawn from the fury of dissent4 ,thus ,mr4 ,ripley told ,theodore ,parker1 8,there is your accomplished friend ----1 he would hoe corn all ,sunday if ,i would let him1 but all ,massachusetts could not make him do it on ,monday40 ,of course every visitor found that there was a comic side to this ,paradise of shepherds and shepherdesses4 ,there was a stove in every chamber1 and every one might burn as much wood as he or she would saw4 ,the ladies took cold on washing-day2 so it was ordained that the gentlemen-shepherds should wring and hang out clothes2 which they punctually did4 ,and it would sometimes occur that when they danced in the evening1 clothes-pins dropped plentifully from their pockets4 ,the country members naturally were surprised to observe that one man ploughed all day and one looked out of the window all day1 and perhaps drew his picture1 and both received at night the same wages4 ,one would meet also some modest pride in their advanced condition1 signified by a frequent phrase1 8,before we came out of civilization40 ,the question which occurs to you had occurred much earlier to ,fourier3 8,how in this charming ,elysium is the dirty work to be done80 ,and long ago ,fourier had exclaimed1 8,ah6 ,i have it10 and jumped with joy4 8,don't you see10 he cried1 8that nothing so delights the young ,caucasian child as dirt8 ,see the mud-pies that all children will make if you will let them4 ,see how much more joy they find in pouring their pudding on the table-cloth than into their beautiful mouths4 ,the children from six to eight1 organized into companies with flags and uniforms1 shall do this last function of civilization40 ,in ,brook ,farm was this peculiarity1 that there was no head4 ,in every family is the father2 in every factory1 a foreman2 in a shop1 a master2 in a boat1 the skipper2 but in this ,farm1 no authority2 each was master or mistress of his or her actions2 happy1 hapless anarchists4 ,they expressed1 after much perilous experience1 the conviction that plain dealing was the best defence of manners and moral between the sexes4 ,people cannot live together in any but necessary ways4 ,the only candidates who will present themselves will be those who have tried the experiment of independence and ambition1 and have failed2 and none others will barter for the most comfortable equality the chance of superiority4 ,then all communities have quarrelled4 ,few people can live together on their merits4 ,there must be kindred1 or mutual economy1 or a common interest in their business1 or other external tie4 ,the society at ,brook ,farm existed1 ,i think1 about six or seven years1 and then broke up1 the ,farm was sold1 and ,i believe all the partners came out with pecuniary loss4 ,some of them had spent on it the accumulations of years4 ,i suppose they all1 at the moment1 regarded it as a failure4 ,i do not think they can so regard it now1 but probably as an important chapter in their experience which has been of lifelong value4 ,what knowledge of themselves and of each other1 what various practical wisdom1 what personal power1 what studies of character1 what accumulated culture many of the members owed to it6 ,what mutual measure they took of each other6 ,it was a close union1 like that in a ship's cabin1 of clergymen1 young collegians1 merchants1 mechanics1 farmers' sons and daughters1 with men and women of rare opportunities and delicate culture1 yet assembled there by a sentiment which all shared1 some of them hotly shared1 of the honesty of a life of labor and of the beauty of a life of humanity4 ,the yeoman saw refined manners in persons who were his friends2 and the lady or the romantic scholar saw the continuous strength and faculty in people who would have disgusted them but that these powers were now spent in the direction of their own theory of life4 ,i recall these few selected facts1 none of them of much independent interest1 but symptomatic of the times and country4 ,i please myself with the thought that our ,american mind is not now eccentric or rude in its strength1 but is beginning to show a quiet power1 drawn from wide and abundant sources1 proper to a ,continent and to an educated people4 ,if ,i have owed much to the special influences ,i have indicated1 ,i am not less aware of that excellent and increasing circle of masters in arts and in song and in science1 who cheer the intellect of our cities and this country to-day1--whose genius is not a lucky accident1 but normal1 and with broad foundation of culture1 and so inspires the hope of steady strength advancing on itself1 and a day without night4 ,,the ,,chardon ,,street ,,convention4 ,,the ,,chardon ,,street ,,convention4#aa ,,in the month of ,november1 #ahdj1 a ,convention of ,friends of ,universal ,reform assembled in the ,chardon ,street ,chapel in ,boston1 in obedience to a call in the newspapers1 signed by a few individuals1 inviting all persons to a public discussion of the institutions of the ,sabbath1 the ,church and the ,ministry4 ,the ,convention organized itself by the choice of ,edmund ,quincy as ,moderator1 spent three days in the consideration of the ,sabbath1 and adjourned to a day in ,march of the following year1 for the discussion of the second topic4 ,in ,march1 accordingly1 a three-days' sessions was holden in the same place1 on the subject of the ,church1 and a third meeting fixed for the following ,november1 which was accordingly holden2 and the ,convention debated1 for three days again1 the remaining subject of the ,priesthood4 ,this ,convention never printed any report of its deliberations1 nor pretended to arrive at any result by the expression of its sense in formal resolutions2--the professed objects of those persons who felt the greatest interest in its meetings being simply the elucidation of truth through free discussion4 ,the daily newspapers reported1 at the time1 brief sketches of the course of proceedings1 and the remarks of the principal speakers4 ,these meetings attracted a great deal of public attention1 and were spoken of in different circles in every note of hope1 of sympathy1 of joy1 of alarm1 of abhorrence and of merriment4 ,the composition of the assembly was rich and various4 ,the singularity and latitude of the summons drew together1 from all parts of ,new ,england and also from the ,middle ,states1 men of every shade of opinion from the straitest orthodoxy to the wildest heresy1 and many persons whose church was a church of one member only4 ,a great variety of dialect and of costume was noticed2 a great deal of confusion1 eccentricity1 and freak appeared1 as well as of zeal and enthusiasm4 ,if the assembly was disorderly1 it was picturesque4 ,madmen1 madwomen1 men with beards1 ,dunkers1 ,muggletonians1 ,come-outers1 ,groaners1 ,agrarians1 ,seventh-day-,baptists1 ,quakers1 ,abolitionists1 ,calvinists1 ,unitarians and ,philosophers1--all came successively to the top1 and seized their moment1 if not their hour1 wherein to chide1 or pray1 or preach1 or protest4 ,the faces were a study4 ,the most daring innovators and the champions-until-death of the old cause sat side by side4 ,the still-living merit of the oldest ,new ,england families1 glowing yet after several generations1 encountered the founders of families1 fresh merit1 emerging1 and expanding the brows to a new breadth1 and lighting a clownish face with sacred fire4 ,the assembly was characterized by the predominance of a certain plain1 sylvan strength and earnestness1 whilst many of the most intellectual and cultivated persons attended its councils4 ,dr4 ,channing1 ,edward ,taylor1 ,bronson ,alcott1 ,mr4 ,garrison1 ,mr4 ,may1 ,theodore ,parker1 ,h4 ,c4 ,wright1 ,dr4 ,osgood1 ,william ,adams1 ,edward ,palmer1 ,jones ,very1 ,maria ,w4 ,chapman1 and many other persons of a mystical or sectarian or philanthropic renown1 were present1 and some of them participant4 ,and there was no want of female speakers2 ,mrs4 ,little and ,mrs4 ,lucy ,sessions took a pleasing and memorable part in the debate1 and that flea of ,conventions1 ,mrs4 ,abigail ,folsom1 was but too ready with her interminable scroll4 ,if there was not parliamentary order1 there was life1 and the assurance of that constitutional love for religion and religious liberty which1 in all periods1 characterizes the inhabitants of this part of ,america4 ,there was a great deal of wearisome speaking in each of those three-days' sessions1 but relieved by signal passages of pure eloquence1 by much vigor of thought1 and especially by the exhibition of character1 and by the victories of character4 ,these men and women were in search of something better and more satisfying than a vote or a definition1 and they found what they sought1 or the pledge of it1 in the attitude taken by individuals of their number of resistance to the insane routine of parliamentary usage2 in the lofty reliance on principles1 and the prophetic dignity and transfiguration which accompanies1 even amidst opposition and ridicule1 a man whose mind is made up to obey the great inward ,commander1 and who does not anticipate his own action1 but awaits confidently the new emergency for the new counsel4 ,by no means the least value of this ,convention1 in our eye1 was the scope it gave to the genius of ,mr4 ,alcott1 and not its least instructive lesson was the gradual but sure ascendency of his spirit1 in spite of the incredulity and derision with which he is at first received1 and in spite1 we might add1 of his own failures4 ,moreover1 although no decision was had1 and no action taken on all the great points mooted in the discussion1 yet the ,convention brought together many remarkable persons1 face to face1 and gave occasion to memorable interviews and conversations1 in the hall1 in the lobbies1 or around the doors4 ,,footnotes3 ,footnote #aa3 ,the ,dial1 vol4 iii41 p4 #ajj4 ,,ezra ,,ripley1 ,d4 ,d4 ,,we love the venerable house ,our fathers built to ,god3 ,in ,heaven are kept their grateful vows1 ,their dust endears the sod4 ,from humble tenements around ,came up the pensive train ,and in the church a blessing found ,that filled their homes again4 ,,ezra ,,ripley1 ,d4 ,d4#ab ,,ezra ,,ripley was born ,may #a1 #agea 7,o4 ,s471 at ,woodstock1 ,connecticut4 ,he was the fifth of the nineteen children of ,noah and ,lydia 7,kent7 ,ripley4 ,seventeen of these nineteen children married1 and it is stated that the mother died leaving nineteen children1 one hundred and two grandchildren and ninety-six great-grandchildren4 ,the father was born at ,hingham1 on the farm purchased by his ancestor1 ,william ,ripley1 of ,england1 at the first settlement of the town2 which farm has been occupied by seven or eight generations4 ,ezra ,ripley followed the business of farming till sixteen years of age1 when his father wished him to be qualified to teach a grammar school1 not thinking himself able to send one son to college without injury to his other children4 ,with this view1 the father agreed with the late ,rev4 ,dr4 ,forbes of ,gloucester1 then minister of ,north ,brookfield1 to fit ,ezra for college by the time he should be twenty-one years of age1 and to have him labor during the time sufficiently to pay for his instruction1 clothing and books4 ,but1 when fitted for college1 the son could not be contented with teaching1 which he had tried the preceding winter4 ,he had early manifested a desire for learning1 and could not be satisfied without a public education4 ,always inclined to notice ministers1 and frequently attempting1 when only five or six years old1 to imitate them by preaching1 now that he had become a professor of religion he had an ardent desire to be a preacher of the gospel4 ,he had to encounter great difficulties1 but1 through a kind providence and the patronage of ,dr4 ,forbes1 he entered ,harvard ,university1 ,july1 #aggb4 ,the commencement of the ,revolutionary ,war greatly interrupted his education at college4 ,in #agge1 in his senior year1 the college was removed from ,cambridge to this town4 ,the studies were much broken up4 ,many of the students entered the army1 and the class never returned to ,cambridge4 ,there were an unusually large number of distinguished men in this class of #aggf3 ,christopher ,gore1 ,governor of ,massachusetts and ,senator in ,congress2 ,samuel ,sewall1 ,chief ,justice of ,massachusetts2 ,george ,thacher1 ,judge of the ,supreme ,court2 ,royall ,tyler1 ,chief ,justice of ,vermont2 and the late learned ,dr4 ,prince1 of ,salem4 ,mr4 ,ripley was ordained minister of ,concord ,november #g1 #aggh4 ,he married1 ,november #af1 #aghj1 ,mrs4 ,phebe 7,bliss7 ,emerson1 then a widow of thirty-nine1 with five children4 ,they had three children3 ,samuel1 born ,may #aa1 #aghc2 ,daniel ,bliss1 born ,august #a1 #aghd2 ,sarah1 born ,april #h1 #aghi4 ,he died ,september #ba1 #ahda4 ,to these facts1 gathered chiefly from his own diary1 and stated nearly in his own words1 ,i can only add a few traits from memory4 ,he was identified with the ideas and forms of the ,new ,england ,church1 which expired about the same time with him1 so that he and his coevals seemed the rear guard of the great camp and army of the ,puritans1 which1 however in its last days declining into formalism1 in the heyday of its strength had planted and liberated ,america4 ,it was a pity that his old meeting-house should have been modernized in his time4 ,i am sure all who remember both will associate his form with whatever was grave and droll in the old1 cold1 unpainted1 uncarpeted square-pewed meeting-house1 with its four iron-gray deacons in their little box under the pulpit1--with ,watts's hymns1 with long prayers1 rich with the diction of ages2 and not less with the report like musketry from the movable seats4 ,he and his contemporaries1 the old ,new ,england clergy1 were believers in what is called a particular providence1--certainly1 as they held it1 a very particular providence1--following the narrowness of ,king ,david and the ,jews1 who thought the universe existed only or mainly for their church and congregation4 ,perhaps ,i cannot better illustrate this tendency than by citing a record from the diary of the father of his predecessor1#ac the minister of ,malden1 written in the blank leaves of the almanac for the year #agce4 ,the minister writes against ,january #cast3 8,bought a shay for #bg pounds1 #aj shillings4 ,the ,lord grant it may be a comfort and blessing to my family40 ,in ,march following he notes3 8,had a safe and comfortable journey to ,york40 ,but ,april #bdth1 we find3 8,shay overturned1 with my wife and ,i in it1 yet neither of us much hurt4 ,blessed be our gracious ,preserver4 ,part of the shay1 as it lay upon one side1 went over my wife1 and yet she was scarcely anything hurt4 ,how wonderful the preservation40 ,then again1 ,may #eth3 8,went to the beach with three of the children4 ,the beast1 being frightened when we were all out of the shay1 overturned and broke it4 ,i desire 7,i hope ,i desire it7 that the ,lord would teach me suitably to repent this ,providence1 to make suitable remarks on it1 and to be suitably affected with it4 ,have ,i done well to get me a shay8 ,have ,i not been proud or too fond of this convenience8 ,do ,i exercise the faith in the ,divine care and protection which ,i ought to do8 ,should ,i not be more in my study and less fond of diversion8 ,do ,i not withhold more than is meet from pious and charitable uses80 ,well1 on #aeth ,may we have this3 8,shay brought home2 mending cost thirty shillings4 ,favored in this respect beyond expectation40 #afth ,may3 8,my wife and ,i rode together to ,rumney ,marsh4 ,the beast frighted several times40 ,and at last we have this record1 ,june #dth3 8,disposed of my shay to ,rev4 ,mr4 ,white40 ,the same faith made what was strong and what was weak in ,dr4 ,ripley and his associates4 ,he was a perfectly sincere man1 punctual1 severe1 but just and charitable1 and if he made his forms a strait-jacket to others1 he wore the same himself all his years4 ,trained in this church1 and very well qualified by his natural talent to work in it1 it was never out of his mind4 ,he looked at every person and thing from the parochial point of view4 ,i remember1 when a boy1 driving about ,concord with him1 and in passing each house he told the story of the family that lived in it1 and especially he gave me anecdotes of the nine church members who had made a division in the church in the time of his predecessor1 and showed me how every one of the nine had come to bad fortune or to a bad end4 ,his prayers for rain and against the lightning1 8that it may not lick up our spirits20 and for good weather2 and against sickness and insanity2 8that we have not been tossed to and fro until the dawning of the day1 that we have not been a terror to ourselves and others20 are well remembered1 and his own entire faith that these petitions were not to be overlooked1 and were entitled to a favorable answer4 ,some of those around me will remember one occasion of severe drought in this vicinity1 when the late ,rev4 ,mr4 ,goodwin offered to relieve the ,doctor of the duty of leading in prayer2 but the ,doctor suddenly remembering the season1 rejected his offer with some humor1 as with an air that said to all the congregation1 8,this is no time for you young ,cambridge men2 the affair1 sir1 is getting serious4 ,i will pray myself40 ,one ,august afternoon1 when ,i was in his hayfield helping him with his man to rake up his hay1 ,i well remember his pleading1 almost reproachful looks at the sky1 when the thunder gust was coming up to spoil his hay4 ,he raked very fast1 then looked at the cloud1 and said1 8,we are in the ,lord's hand2 mind your rake1 ,george6 ,we are in the ,lord's hand20 and seemed to say1 8,you know me2 this field is mine1--,dr4 ,ripley's1--thine own servant60 ,he used to tell the story of one of his old friends1 the minister of ,sudbury1 who1 being at the ,thursday lecture in ,boston1 heard the officiating clergyman praying for rain4 ,as soon as the service was over1 he went to the petitioner1 and said1 8,you ,boston ministers1 as soon as a tulip wilts under your windows1 go to church and pray for rain1 until all ,concord and ,sudbury are under water40 ,i once rode with him to a house at ,nine ,acre ,corner to attend the funeral of the father of a family4 ,he mentioned to me on the way his fears that the oldest son1 who was now to succeed to the farm1 was becoming intemperate4 ,we presently arrived1 and the ,doctor addressed each of the mourners separately3 8,sir1 ,i condole with you40 8,madam1 ,i condole with you40 8,sir1 ,i knew your great-grandfather4 ,when ,i came to this town1 your great-grandfather was a substantial farmer in this very place1 a member of the church1 and an excellent citizen4 ,your grandfather followed him1 and was a virtuous man4 ,now your father is to be carried to his grave1 full of labors and virtues4 ,there is none of that large family left but you1 and it rests with you to bear up the good name and usefulness of your ancestors4 ,if you fail1 ,ichabod1 the glory is departed4 ,let us pray40 ,right manly he was1 and the manly thing he could always say4 ,i can remember a little speech he made to me1 when the last tie of blood which held me and my brothers to his house was broken by the death of his daughter4 ,he said1 on parting1 8,i wish you and your brothers to come to this house as you have always done4 ,you will not like to be excluded2 ,i shall not like to be neglected40 ,when 8,put0 ,merriam1 after his release from the state prison1 had the effrontery to call on the doctor as an old acquaintance1 in the midst of general conversation ,mr4 ,frost came in1 and the doctor presently said1 8,mr4 ,merriam1 my brother and colleague1 ,mr4 ,frost1 has come to take tea with me4 ,i regret very much the causes 7which you know very well7 which make it impossible for me to ask you to stay and break bread with us40 ,with the ,doctor's views it was a matter of religion to say thus much4 ,he had a reverence and love of society1 and the patient1 continuing courtesy1 carrying out every respectful attention to the end1 which marks what is called the manners of the old school4 ,his hospitality obeyed ,charles ,lamb's rule1 and 8ran fine to the last40 ,his partiality for ladies was always strong1 and was by no means abated by time4 ,he claimed privilege of years1 was much addicted to kissing2 spared neither maid1 wife1 nor widow1 and1 as a lady thus favored remarked to me1 8seemed as if he was going to make a meal of you40 ,he was very credulous1 and as he was no reader of books or journals1 he knew nothing beyond the columns of his weekly religious newspaper1 the tracts of his sect1 and perhaps the ,middlesex ,yeoman4 ,he was the easy dupe of any tonguey agent1 whether colonizationist or anti-papist1 or charlatan of iron combs1 or tractors1 or phrenology1 or magnetism1 who went by4 ,at the time when ,jack ,downing's letters were in every paper1 he repeated to me at table some of the particulars of that gentleman's intimacy with ,general ,jackson1 in a manner that betrayed to me at once that he took the whole for fact4 ,to undeceive him1 ,i hastened to recall some particulars to show the absurdity of the thing1 as the ,major and the ,president going out skating on the ,potomac1 etc4 8,why10 said the ,doctor with perfect faith1 8it was a bright moonlight night20 and ,i am not sure that he did not die in the belief in the reality of ,major ,downing4 ,like other credulous men1 he was opinionative1 and1 as ,i well remember1 a great browbeater of the poor old fathers who still survived from the #aith of ,april1 to the end that they should testify to his history as he had written it4 ,he was a man so kind and sympathetic1 his character was so transparent1 and his merits so intelligible to all observers1 that he was very justly appreciated in this community4 ,he was a natural gentleman1 no dandy1 but courtly1 hospitable1 manly and public-spirited2 his nature social1 his house open to all men4 ,we remember the remark made by the old farmer who used to travel hither from ,maine1 that no horse from the ,eastern country would go by the doctor's gate4 ,travellers from the ,west and ,north and ,south bear the like testimony4 ,his brow was serene and open to his visitor1 for he loved men1 and he had no studies1 no occupations1 which company could interrupt4 ,his friends were his study1 and to see them loosened his talents and his tongue4 ,in his house dwelt order and prudence and plenty4 ,there was no waste and no stint4 ,he was open-handed and just and generous4 ,ingratitude and meanness in his beneficiaries did not wear out his compassion2 he bore the insult1 and the next day his basket for the beggar1 his horse and chaise for the cripple1 were at their door4 ,though he knew the value of a dollar as well as another man1 yet he loved to buy dearer and sell cheaper than others4 ,he subscribed to all charities1 and it is no reflection on others to say that he was the most public-spirited man in the town4 ,the late ,dr4 ,gardiner1 in a funeral sermon on some parishioner whose virtues did not readily come to mind1 honestly said1 8,he was good at fires40 ,dr4 ,ripley had many virtues1 and yet all will remember that even in his old age1 if the fire-bell was rung1 he was instantly on horseback with his buckets and bag4 ,he showed even in his fireside discourse traits of that pertinency and judgment1 softening ever and anon into elegancy1 which make the distinction of the scholar1 and which1 under better discipline1 might have ripened into a ,bentley or a ,porson4 ,he had a foresight1 when he opened his mouth1 of all that he would say1 and he marched straight to the conclusion4 ,in debate in the vestry of the ,lyceum1 the structure of his sentences was admirable2 so neat1 so natural1 so terse1 his words fell like stones2 and often1 though quite unconscious of it1 his speech was a satire on the loose1 voluminous1 draggle-tail periods of other speakers4 ,he sat down when he had done4 ,a man of anecdote1 his talk in the parlor was chiefly narrative4 ,we remember the remark of a gentleman who listened with much delight to his conversation at the time when the ,doctor was preparing to go to ,baltimore and ,washington1 that 8a man who could tell a story so well was company for kings and ,john ,quincy ,adams40 ,sage and savage strove harder in him than in any of my acquaintances1 each getting the mastery by turns1 and pretty sudden turns3 8,save us from the extremity of cold and these violent sudden changes40 8,the society will meet after the ,lyceum1 as it is difficult to bring people together in the evening1--and no moon40 8,mr4 ,n4 ,f4 is dead1 and ,i expect to hear of the death of ,mr4 ,b4 ,it is cruel to separate old people from their wives in this cold weather40 ,with a very limited acquaintance with books1 his knowledge was an external experience1 an ,indian wisdom1 the observation of such facts as country life for nearly a century could supply4 ,he watched with interest the garden1 the field1 the orchard1 the house and the barn1 horse1 cow1 sheep and dog1 and all the common objects that engage the thought of the farmer4 ,he kept his eye on the horizon1 and knew the weather like a sea-captain4 ,the usual experiences of men1 birth1 marriage1 sickness1 death1 burial2 the common temptations2 the common ambitions2--he studied them all1 and sympathized so well in these that he was excellent company and counsel to all1 even the most humble and ignorant4 ,with extraordinary states of mind1 with states of enthusiasm or enlarged speculation1 he had no sympathy1 and pretended to none4 ,he was sincere1 and kept to his point1 and his mark was never remote4 ,his conversation was strictly personal and apt to the party and the occasion4 ,an eminent skill he had in saying difficult and unspeakable things2 in delivering to a man or a woman that which all their other friends had abstained from saying1 in uncovering the bandage from a sore place1 and applying the surgeon's knife with a truly surgical spirit4 ,was a man a sot1 or a spendthrift1 or too long time a bachelor1 or suspected of some hidden crime1 or had he quarrelled with his wife1 or collared his father1 or was there any cloud or suspicious circumstances in his behavior1 the good pastor knew his way straight to that point1 believing himself entitled to a full explanation1 and whatever relief to the conscience of both parties plain speech could effect was sure to be procured4 ,in all such passages he justified himself to the conscience1 and commonly to the love1 of the persons concerned4 ,he was the more competent to these searching discourses from his knowledge of family history4 ,he knew everybody's grandfather1 and seemed to address each person rather as the representative of his house and name1 than as an individual4 ,in him have perished more local and personal anecdotes of this village and vicinity than are possessed by any survivor4 ,this intimate knowledge of families1 and this skill of speech1 and still more1 his sympathy1 made him incomparable in his parochial visits1 and in his exhortations and prayers4 ,he gave himself up to his feelings1 and said on the instant the best things in the world4 ,many and many a felicity he had in his prayer1 now forever lost1 which defied all the rules of all the rhetoricians4 ,he did not know when he was good in prayer or sermon1 for he had no literature and no art2 but he believed1 and therefore spoke4 ,he was eminently loyal in his nature1 and not fond of adventure or innovation4 ,by education1 and still more by temperament1 he was engaged to the old forms of the ,new ,england ,church4 ,not speculative1 but affectionate2 devout1 but with an extreme love of order1 he adopted heartily1 though in its mildest form1 the creed and catechism of the fathers1 and appeared a modern ,israelite in his attachment to the ,hebrew history and faith4 ,he was a man very easy to read1 for his whole life and conversation were consistent4 ,all his opinions and actions might be securely predicted by a good observer on short acquaintance4 ,my classmate at ,cambridge1 ,frederick ,king1 told me from ,governor ,gore1 who was the ,doctor's classmate1 that in college he was called ,holy ,ripley4 ,and now1 in his old age1 when all the antique ,hebraism and its customs are passing away1 it is fit that he too should depart1--most fit that in the fall of laws a loyal man should die4 ,,footnotes3 ,footnote #ab3 ,this sketch was written for the ,social ,circle1 a club in ,concord1 now more than a century old1 and said to be the lineal descendant of the ,committee of ,safety in the ,revolution4 ,mr4 ,emerson was a member for many years and greatly valued its weekly evening meetings1 held1 during the winter1 at the houses of the members4 ,after the death of ,dr4 ,ripley1 an early member and connected with him by marriage1 ,mr4 ,emerson was asked to prepare the customary ,memoir for the ,club ,book4 ,footnote #ac3 ,rev4 ,joseph ,emerson4 ,,mary ,,moody ,,emerson4 ,,the yesterday doth never smile1 ,to-day goes drudging through the while1 ,yet in the name of ,godhead1 ,i ,the morrow front and can defy2 ,though ,i am weak1 yet ,god1 when prayed1 ,cannot withhold his conquering aid4 ,ah me6 it was my childhood's thought1 ,if ,he should make my web a blot ,on life's fair picture of delight1 ,my heart's content would find it right4 ,but ,o1 these waves and leaves1-- ,when happy1 stoic ,nature grieves1-- ,no human speech so beautiful ,as their murmurs mine to lull4 ,on this altar ,god hath built ,i lay my vanity and guilt2 ,nor me can ,hope or ,passion urge1 ,hearing as now the lofty dirge ,which blasts of ,northern mountains hymn1 ,nature's funeral high and dim1-- ,sable pageantry of clouds1 ,mourning summer laid in shrouds4 ,many a day shall dawn and die1 ,many an angel wander by1 ,and passing1 light my sunken turf1 ,moist perhaps by ocean surf1 ,forgotten amid splendid tombs1 ,yet wreathed and hid by summer blooms4 ,on earth ,i dream2--,i die to be3 ,time6 shake not thy bald head at me4 ,i challenge thee to hurry past1 ,or for my turn to fly too fast4 ,,lucy ,,percy1 ,countess of ,carlisle1 the friend of ,strafford and of ,pym1 is thus described by ,sir ,toby ,matthews3 8,she is of too high a mind and dignity not only to seek1 but almost to wish1 the friendship of any creature4 ,they whom she is pleased to choose are such as are of the most eminent condition both for power and employment1--not with any design towards her own particular1 either of advantage or curiosity1 but her nature values fortunate persons4 ,she prefers the conversation of men to that of women2 not but she can talk on the fashions with her female friends1 but she is too soon sensible that she can set them as she wills2 that pre-eminence shortens all equality4 ,she converses with those who are most distinguished for their conversational powers4 ,of ,love freely will she discourse1 listen to all its faults and mark its power3 and will take a deep interest for persons of celebrity40 ,,mary ,,moody ,,emerson4#ad ,i ,,wish to meet the invitation with which the ladies have honored me by offering them a portrait of real life4 ,it is a representative life1 such as could hardly have appeared out of ,new ,england2 of an age now past1 and of which ,i think no types survive4 ,perhaps ,i deceive myself and overestimate its interest4 ,it has to me a value like that which many readers find in ,madame ,guyon1 in ,rahel1 in ,eugnie de ,gurin1 but it is purely original and hardly admits of a duplicate4 ,then it is a fruit of ,calvinism and ,new ,england1 and marks the precise time when the power of the old creed yielded to the influence of modern science and humanity4 ,i have found that ,i could only bring you this portrait by selections from the diary of my heroine1 premising a sketch of her time and place4 ,i report some of the thoughts and soliloquies of a country girl1 poor1 solitary1--#8a goody' as she called herself1--growing from youth to age amid slender opportunities and usually very humble company4 ,mary ,moody ,emerson was born just before the outbreak of the ,revolution4 ,when introduced to ,lafayette at ,portland1 she told him that she was 8in arms0 at the ,concord ,fight4 ,her father1 the minister of ,concord1 a warm patriot in #agge1 went as a chaplain to the ,american army at ,ticonderoga3 he carried his infant daughter1 before he went1 to his mother in ,malden and told her to keep the child until he returned4 ,he died at ,rutland1 ,vermont1 of army-fever1 the next year1 and ,mary remained at ,malden with her grandmother1 and1 after her death1 with her father's sister1 in whose house she grew up1 rarely seeing her brothers and sisters in ,concord4 ,this aunt and her husband lived on a farm1 were getting old1 and the husband a shiftless1 easy man4 ,there was plenty of work for the little niece to do day by day1 and not always bread enough in the house4 ,one of her tasks1 it appears1 was to watch for the approach of the deputy-sheriff1 who might come to confiscate the spoons or arrest the uncle for debt4 ,later1 another aunt1 who had become insane1 was brought hither to end her days4 ,more and sadder work for this young girl4 ,she had no companions1 lived in entire solitude with these old people1 very rarely cheered by short visits from her brothers and sisters4 ,her mother had married again1--married the minister who succeeded her husband in the parish at ,concord1 ,dr4 ,ezra ,ripley1 and had now a young family growing up around her4 ,her aunt became strongly attached to ,mary1 and persuaded the family to give the child up to her as a daughter1 on some terms embracing a care of her future interests4 ,she would leave the farm to her by will4 ,this promise was kept2 she came into possession of the property many years after1 and her dealings with it gave her no small trouble1 though they give much piquancy to her letters in after years4 ,finally it was sold1 and its price invested in a share of a farm in ,maine1 where she lived as a boarder with her sister1 for many years4 ,it was in a picturesque country1 within sight of the ,white ,mountains1 with a little lake in front at the foot of a high hill called ,bear ,mountain4 ,not far from the house was a brook running over a granite floor like the ,franconia ,flume1 and noble forests around4 ,every word she writes about this farm 78,elm ,vale10 ,waterford17 her dealings and vexations about it1 her joys and raptures of religion and ,nature1 interest like a romance1 and to those who may hereafter read her letters1 will make its obscure acres amiable4 ,in ,malden she lived through all her youth and early womanhood1 with the habit of visiting the families of her brothers and sisters on any necessity of theirs4 ,her good will to serve in time of sickness or of pressure was known to them1 and promptly claimed1 and her attachment to the youths and maidens growing up in those families was secure for any trait of talent or of character4 ,her sympathy for young people who pleased her was almost passionate1 and was sure to make her arrival in each house a holiday4 ,her early reading was ,milton1 ,young1 ,akenside1 ,samuel ,clarke1 ,jonathan ,edwards1 and always the ,bible4 ,later1 ,plato1 ,plotinus1 ,marcus ,antoninus1 ,stewart1 ,coleridge1 ,cousin1 ,herder1 ,locke1 ,madame ,de ,stal1 ,channing1 ,mackintosh1 ,byron4 ,nobody can read in her manuscript1 or recall the conversation of old-school people1 without seeing that ,milton and ,young had a religious authority in their mind1 and nowise the slight1 merely entertaining quality of modern bards4 ,and ,plato1 ,aristotle1 ,plotinus1 how venerable and organic as ,nature they are in her mind6 ,what a subject is her mind and life for the finest novel6 ,when ,i read ,dante1 the other day1 and his paraphrases to signify with more adequateness ,christ or ,jehovah1 whom do you think ,i was reminded of8 ,whom but ,mary ,emerson and her eloquent theology8 ,she had a deep sympathy with genius4 ,when it was unhallowed1 as in ,byron1 she had none the less1 whilst she deplored and affected to denounce him4 ,but she adored it when ennobled by character4 ,she liked to notice that the greatest geniuses have died ignorant of their power and influence4 ,she wished you to scorn to shine4 8,my opinion10 she writes1 7is7 8that a mind like ,byron's would never be satisfied with modern ,unitarianism1--that the fiery depths of ,calvinism1 its high and mysterious elections to eternal bliss1 beyond angels1 and all its attendant wonders would have alone been fitted to fix his imagination40 ,her wit was so fertile1 and only used to strike1 that she never used it for display1 any more than a wasp would parade his sting4 ,it was ever the will and not the phrase that concerned her4 ,yet certain expressions1 when they marked a memorable state of mind in her experience1 recurred to her afterwards1 and she would vindicate herself as having said to ,dr4 ,r---- or ,uncle ,l---- so and so1 at such a period of her life4 ,but they were intensely true when first spoken4 ,all her language was happy1 but inimitable1 unattainable by talent1 as if caught from some dream4 ,she calls herself 8the puny pilgrim1 whose sole talent is sympathy40 8,i like that kind of apathy that is a triumph to overset40 ,she writes to her nephew ,charles ,emerson1 in #ahcc3--8;,i could never have adorned the garden4 ,if ,i had been in aught but dreary deserts1 ,i should have idolized my friends1 despised the world and been haughty4 ,i never expected connections and matrimony4 ,my taste was formed in romance1 and ,i knew ,i was not destined to please4 ,i love ,god and his creation as ,i never else could4 ,i scarcely feel the sympathies of this life enough to agitate the pool4 ,this in general1 one case or so excepted1 and even this is a relation to ,god through you4 ',twas so in my happiest early days1 when you were at my side40 ,destitution is the ,muse of her genius1--,destitution and ,death4 ,i used to propose that her epitaph should be3 8,here lies the angel of ,death40 ,and wonderfully as she varies and poetically repeats that image in every page and day1 yet not less fondly and sublimely she returns to the other1--the grandeur of humility and privation1 as thus2 8,the chief witness which ,i have had of a ,god-like principle of action and feeling is in the disinterested joy felt in others' superiority4 ,for the love of superior virtue is mine own gift from ,god40 8,where were thine own intellect if others had not lived80 ,she had many acquaintances among the notables of the time2 and now and then in her migrations from town to town in ,maine and ,massachusetts1 in search of a new boarding-place1 discovered some preacher with sense or piety1 or both4 ,for on her arrival at any new home she was likely to steer first to the minister's house and pray his wife to take a boarder2 and as the minister found quickly that she knew all his books and many more1 and made shrewd guesses at his character and possibilities1 she would easily rouse his curiosity1 as a person who could read his secret and tell him his fortune4 ,she delighted in success1 in youth1 in beauty1 in genius1 in manners4 ,when she met a young person who interested her1 she made herself acquainted and intimate with him or her at once1 by sympathy1 by flattery1 by raillery1 by anecdotes1 by wit1 by rebuke1 and stormed the castle4 ,none but was attracted or piqued by her interest and wit and wide acquaintance with books and with eminent names4 ,she said she gave herself full swing in these sudden intimacies1 for she knew she should disgust them soon1 and resolved to have their best hours4 8,society is shrewd to detect those who do not belong to her train1 and seldom wastes her attentions40 ,she surprised1 attracted1 chided and denounced her companion by turns1 and pretty rapid turns4 ,but no intelligent youth or maiden could have once met her without remembering her with interest1 and learning something of value4 ,scorn trifles1 lift your aims3 do what you are afraid to do3 sublimity of character must come from sublimity of motive3 these were the lessons which were urged with vivacity1 in ever new language4 ,but if her companion was dull1 her impatience knew no bounds4 ,she tired presently of dull conversations1 and asked to be read to1 and so disposed of the visitor4 ,if the voice or the reading tired her1 she would ask the friend if he or she would do an errand for her1 and so dismiss them4 ,if her companion were a little ambitious1 and asked her opinions on books or matters on which she did not wish rude hands laid1 she did not hesitate to stop the intruder with 8,how's your cat1 ,mrs4 ,tenner80 8,i was disappointed10 she writes1 8in finding my little ,calvinist no companion1 a cold little thing who lives in society alone1 and is looked up to as a specimen of genius4 ,i performed a mission in secretly undermining his vanity1 or trying to4 ,alas6 never done but by mortifying affliction40 ,from the country she writes to her sister in town1 8,you cannot help saying that my epistle is a striking specimen of egotism4 ,to which ,i can only answer that1 in the country1 we converse so much more with ourselves1 that we are almost led to forget everybody else4 ,the very sound of your bells and the rattling of the carriages have a tendency to divert selfishness40 8,this seems a world rather of trying each others' dispositions than of enjoying each others' virtues40 ,she had the misfortune of spinning with a greater velocity than any of the other tops4 ,she would tear into the chaise or out of it1 into the house or out of it1 into the conversation1 into the thought1 into the character of the stranger1--disdaining all the graduation by which her fellows time their steps3 and though she might do very happily in a planet where others moved with the like velocity1 she was offended here by the phlegm of all her fellow-creatures1 and disgusted them by her impatience4 ,she could keep step with no human being4 ,her nephew ,r4 ,w4 ,e4 wrote of her3 8,i am glad the friendship with ,aunt ,mary is ripening4 ,as by seeing a high tragedy1 reading a true poem1 or a novel like #8,corinne1' so1 by society with her1 one's mind is electrified and purged4 ,she is no statute-book of practical commandments1 nor orderly digest of any system of philosophy1 divine or human1 but a ,bible1 miscellaneous in its parts1 but one in its spirit1 wherein are sentences of condemnation1 promises and covenants of love that make foolish the wisdom of the world with the power of ,god40 ,our ,delphian was fantastic enough1 ,heaven knows1 yet could always be tamed by large and sincere conversation4 ,was there thought and eloquence1 she would listen like a child4 ,her aspiration and prayer would begin1 and the whim and petulance in which by diseased habit she had grown to indulge without suspecting it1 was burned up in the glow of her pure and poetic spirit1 which dearly loved the ,infinite4 ,she writes3 8,august1 #ahdg3 ,vale4--,my oddities were never designed--effect of an uncalculating constitution1 at first1 then through isolation2 and as to dress1 from duty4 ,to be singular of choice1 without singular talents and virtues1 is as ridiculous as ungrateful40 8,it is so universal with all classes to avoid contact with me that ,i blame none4 ,the fact has generally increased piety and self-love40 8,as a traveller enters some fine palace and finds all the doors closed1 and he only allowed the use of some avenues and passages1 so have ,i wandered from the cradle over the apartments of social affections1 or the cabinets of natural or moral philosophy1 the recesses of ancient and modern love4 ,all say--,forbear to enter the pales of the initiated by birth1 wealth1 talents and patronage4 ,i submit with delight1 for it is the echo of a decree from above2 and from the highway hedges where ,i get lodging1 and from the rays which burst forth when the crowd are entering these noble saloons1 whilst ,i stand in the doors1 ,i get a pleasing vision which is an earnest of the interminable skies where the mansions are prepared for the poor40 8,to live to give pain rather than pleasure 7the latter so delicious7 seems the spider-like necessity of my being on earth1 and ,i have gone on my queer way with joy1 saying1 8,shall the clay interrogate80 ,but in every actual case1 'tis hard1 and we lose sight of the first necessity1--here too amid works red with default in all great and grand and infinite aims4 ,yet with intentions disinterested1 though uncontrolled by proper reverence for others40 ,when ,mrs4 ,thoreau called on her one day1 wearing pink ribbons1 she shut her eyes1 and so conversed with her for a time4 ,by and by she said1 8,mrs4 ,thoreau1 ,i don't know whether you have observed that my eyes are shut40 8,yes1 ,madam1 ,i have observed it40 8,perhaps you would like to know the reasons80 8,yes1 ,i should40 8,i don't like to see a person of your age guilty of such levity in her dress40 ,when her cherished favorite1 ,e4 ,h41 was at the ,vale1 and had gone out to walk in the forest with ,hannah1 her niece1 ,aunt ,mary feared they were lost1 and found a man in the next house and begged him to go and look for them4 ,the man went and returned saying that he could not find them4 8,go and cry1 #8,elizabeth6'0 ,the man rather declined this service1 as he did not know ,miss ,h4 ,she was highly offended1 and exclaimed1 8,god has given you a voice that you might use it in the service of your fellow-creatures4 ,go instantly and call #8,elizabeth' till you find them40 ,the man went immediately1 and did as he was bid1 and having found them apologized for calling thus1 by telling what ,miss ,emerson had said to him4 ,when some ladies of my acquaintance by an unusual chance found themselves in her neighborhood and visited her1 ,i told them that she was no whistle that every mouth could play on1 but a quite clannish instrument1 a pibroch1 for example1 from which none but a native ,highlander could draw music4 ,in her solitude of twenty years1 with fewest books and those only sermons1 and a copy of 8,paradise ,lost10 without covers or title-page1 so that later1 when she heard much of ,milton and sought his work1 she found it was her very book which she knew so well1--she was driven to find ,nature her companion and solace4 ,she speaks of 8her attempts in ,malden1 to wake up the soul amid the dreary scenes of monotonous ,sabbaths1 when ,nature looked like a pulpit40 8,malden1 ,november #aeth1 #ahje4--,what a rich day1 so fully occupied in pursuing truth that ,i scorned to touch a novel which for so many years ,i have wanted4 ,how insipid is fiction to a mind touched with immortal views6 ,november #afth4--,i am so small in my expectations1 that a week of industry delights4 ,rose before light every morn2 visited from necessity once1 and again for books2 read ,butler's ,analogy2 commented on the ,scriptures2 read in a little book1--,cicero's ,letters1--a few3 touched ,shakspeare1--washed1 carded1 cleaned house1 and baked4 ,to-day cannot recall an error1 nor scarcely a sacrifice1 but more fulness of content in the labors of a day never was felt4 ,there is a sweet pleasure in bending to circumstances while superior to them4 8,malden1 ,september1 #ahjg4--,the rapture of feeling ,i would part from1 for days more devoted to higher discipline4 ,but when ,nature beams with such excess of beauty1 when the heart thrills with hope in its ,author1--feels that it is related to him more than by any ties of ,creation1--it exults1 too fondly perhaps for a state of trial4 ,but in dead of night1 nearer morning1 when the eastern stars glow or appear to glow with more indescribable lustre1 a lustre which penetrates the spirit with wonder and curiosity1--then1 however awed1 who can fear8 ,since ,sabbath1 ,aunt ,b---- the insane aunt was brought here4 ,ah6 mortifying sight6 instinct perhaps triumphs over reason1 and every dignified respect to herself1 in her anxiety about recovery1 and the smallest means connected4 ,not one wish of others detains her1 not one care4 ,but it alarms me not1 ,i shall delight to return to ,god4 ,his name my fullest confidence4 ,his sole presence ineffable pleasure4 8,i walked yesterday five or more miles1 lost to mental or heart existence1 through fatigue1--just fit for the society ,i went into1 all mildness and the most commonplace virtue4 ,the lady is celebrated for her cleverness1 and she was never so good to me4 ,met a lady in the morning walk1 a foreigner1--conversed on the accomplishments of ,miss ,t4 ,my mind expanded with novel and innocent pleasure4 ,ah6 were virtue1 and that of dear heavenly meekness attached by any necessity to a lower rank of genteel people1 who would sympathize with the exalted with satisfaction8 ,but that is not the case1 ,i believe4 ,a mediocrity does seem to me more distant from eminent virtue than the extremes of station2 though after all it must depend on the nature of the heart4 ,a mediocre mind will be deranged in either extreme of wealth or poverty1 praise or censure1 society or solitude4 ,the feverish lust of notice perhaps in all these cases would injure the heart of common refinement and virtue40 ,later she writes of her early days in ,malden3 8,when ,i get a glimpse of the revolutions of nations--that retribution which seems forever going on in this part of creation1--,i remember with great satisfaction that from all the ills suffered1 in childhood and since1 from others1 ,i felt that it was rather the order of things than their individual fault4 ,it was from being early impressed by my poor unpractical aunt1 that ,providence and ,prayer were all in all4 ,poor woman6 ,could her own temper in childhood or age have been subdued1 how happy for herself1 who had a warm heart2 but for me would have prevented those early lessons of fortitude1 which her caprices taught me to practise4 ,had ,i prospered in life1 what a proud1 excited being1 even to feverishness1 ,i might have been4 ,loving to shine1 flattered and flattering1 anxious1 and wrapped in others1 frail and feverish as myself40 ,she alludes to the early days of her solitude1 sixty years afterward1 on her own farm in ,maine1 speaking sadly the thoughts suggested by the rich autumn landscape around her3 8,ah6 as ,i walked out this afternoon1 so sad was wearied ,nature that ,i felt her whisper to me1 #8,even these leaves you use to think my better emblems have lost their charm on me too1 and ,i weary of my pilgrimage1--tired that ,i must again be clothed in the grandeurs of winter1 and anon be bedizened in flowers and cascades4 ,oh1 if there be a power superior to me1--and that there is1 my own dread fetters proclaim1--when will ,he let my lights go out1 my tides cease to an eternal ebb8 ,oh for transformation6 ,i am not infinite1 nor have ,i power or will1 but bound and imprisoned1 the tool of mind1 even of the beings ,i feed and adorn4 ,vital1 ,i feel not3 not active1 but passive1 and cannot aid the creatures which seem my progeny1--myself4 ,but you are ingrate to tire of me1 now you want to look beyond4 ',twas ,i who soothed your thorny childhood1 though you knew me not1 and you were placed in my most leafless waste4 ,yet ,i comforted thee when going on the daily errand1 fed thee with my mallows1 on the first young day of bread failing4 ,more1 ,i led thee when thou knewest not a syllable of my active ,cause1 7any more than if it had been dead eternal matter17 to that ,cause2 and from the solitary heart taught thee to say1 at first womanhood1 ,alive with ,god is enough1--'tis rapture4'0 8,this morning rich in existence2 the remembrance of past destitution in the deep poverty of my aunt1 and her most unhappy temper2 of bitterer days of youth and age1 when my senses and understanding seemed but means of labor1 or to learn my own unpopular destiny1 and that--but no more2--joy1 hope and resignation unite me to ,him whose mysterious ,will adjusts everything1 and the darkest and lightest are alike welcome4 ,oh6 could this state of mind continue1 death would not be longed for40 8,i felt1 till above twenty years old1 as though ,christianity were as necessary to the world as existence2--was ignorant that it was lately promulged1 or partially received40 ,later3 8,could ,i have those hours in which in fresh youth ,i said1 ,to obey ,god is joy1 though there were no hereafter1 ,i should rejoice1 though returning to dust40 8,folly follows me as the shadow does the form4 ,yet my whole life devoted to find some new truth which will link me closer to ,god4 ,and the simple principle which made me say1 in youth and laborious poverty1 that1 should ,he make me a blot on the fair face of his ,creation1 ,i should rejoice in ,his will1 has never been equalled1 though it returns in the long life of destitution like an ,angel4 ,i end days of fine health and cheerfulness without getting upward now4 ,how did ,i use to think them lost6 ,if more liberal views of the divine government make me think nothing lost which carries me to ,his now hidden presence1 there may be danger of losing and causing others the loss of that awe and sobriety so indispensable40 ,she was addressed and offered marriage by a man of talents1 education1 and good social position1 whom she respected4 ,the proposal gave her pause and much to think1 but1 after consideration she refused it1 ,i know not on what grounds3 but a few allusions to it in her diary suggest that it was a religious act1 and it is easy to see that she could hardly promise herself sympathy in her religious abandonment with any but a rarely-found partner4 8#ahjg4 ,jan4 #ai1 ,malden alluding to the sale of her farm4 ,last night ,i spoke two sentences about that foolish place1 which ,i most bitterly lament1--not because they were improper1 but they arose from anger4 ,it is difficult1 when we have no kind of barrier1 to command our feelings4 ,but this shall teach me4 ,it humbles me beyond anything ,i have met1 to find myself for a moment affected with hope1 fear1 or especially anger1 about interest4 ,but ,i did overcome and return kindness for the repeated provocations4 ,what is it8 ,my uncle has been the means of lessening my property4 ,ridiculous to wound him for that4 ,he was honestly seeking his own4 ,but at last1 this very night1 the bargain is closed1 and ,i am delighted with myself3--my dear self has done well4 ,never did ,i so exult in a trifle4 ,happy beginning of my bargain1 though the sale of the place appears to me one of the worst things for me at this time40 8,jan4 #ba4 ,weary at times of objects so tedious to hear and see4 ,o the power of vision1 then the delicate power of the nerve which receives impressions from sounds6 ,if ever ,i am blest with a social life1 let the accent be grateful4 ,could ,i at times be regaled with music1 it would remind me that there are sounds4 ,shut up in this severe weather with careful1 infirm1 afflicted age1 it is wonderful1 my spirits3 hopes ,i can have none4 ,not a prospect but is dark on earth1 as to knowledge and joy from externals3 but the prospect of a dying bed reflects lustre on all the rest4 8,the evening is fine1 but ,i dare not enjoy it4 ,the moon and stars reproach me1 because ,i had to do with mean fools4 ,should ,i take so much care to save a few dollars8 ,never was ,i so much ashamed4 ,did ,i say with what rapture ,i might dispose of them to the poor8 ,pho6 self-preservation1 dignity1 confidence in the future1 contempt of trifles6 ,alas1 ,i am disgraced4 ,took a momentary revenge on ---- for worrying me40 8,jan4 #cj4 ,i walked to ,captain ,dexter's4 ,sick4 ,promised never to put that ring on4 ,ended miserably the month which began so worldly4 8,it was the choice of the ,eternal that gave the glowing seraph his joys1 and to me my vile imprisonment4 ,i adore ,him4 ,it was ,his will that gives my superiors to shine in wisdom1 friendship1 and ardent pursuits1 while ,i pass my youth1 its last traces1 in the veriest shades of ignorance and complete destitution of society4 ,i praise ,him1 though when my strength of body falters1 it is a trial not easily described40 8,true1 ,i must finger the very farthing candle-ends1--the duty assigned to my pride2 and indeed so poor are some of those allotted to join me on the weary needy path1 that 'tis benevolence enjoins self-denial4 ,could ,i but dare it in the bread-and-water diet6 ,could ,i but live free from calculation1 as in the first half of life1 when my poor aunt lived4 ,i had ten dollars a year for clothes and charity1 and ,i never remember to have been needy1 though ,i never had but two or three aids in those six years of earning my home4 ,that ten dollars my dear father earned1 and one hundred dollars remain1 and ,i can't bear to take it1 and don't know what to do4 ,yet ,i would not breathe to ---- or ---- my want4 ',tis only now that ,i would not let ---- pay my hotel-bill4 ,they have enough to do4 ,besides1 it would send me packing to depend for anything4 ,better anything than dishonest dependence1 which robs the poorer1 and despoils friendship of equal connection40 ,in #ahcj1 in one of her distant homes1 she reproaches herself with some sudden passion she has for visiting her old home and friends in the city1 where she had lived for a while with her brother ,mr4 ,emerson's father and afterwards with his widow4 8,do ,i yearn to be in ,boston8 ',twould fatigue1 disappoint2 ,i1 who have so long despised means1 who have always found it a sort of rebellion to seek them8 ,yet the old desire for the worm is not so greedy as mine to find myself in my old haunts40 #ahcc4 8,the difficulty of getting places of low board for a lady1 is obvious4 ,and1 at moments1 ,i am tired out4 ,yet how independent1 how better than to hang on friends6 ,and sometimes ,i fancy that ,i am emptied and peeled to carry some seed to the ignorant1 which no idler wind can so well dispense40 8,hard to contend for a health which is daily used in petition for a final close40 8,am ,i1 poor victim1 swept on through the sternest ordinations of nature's laws which slay8 yet ,i'll trust40 8,there was great truth in what a pious enthusiast said1 that1 if ,god should cast him into hell1 he would yet clasp his hands around ,him40 8,newburyport1 ,sept4 #ahbb4 ,high1 solemn1 entrancing noon1 prophetic of the approach of the ,presiding ,spirit of ,autumn4 ,god preserve my reason6 ,alone1 feeling strongly1 fully1 that ,i have deserved nothing2 according to ,adam ,smith's idea of society1 #8done nothing2' doing nothing1 never expect to2 yet joying in existence1 perhaps striving to beautify one individual of ,god's creation4 8,our civilization is not always mending our poetry4 ,it is sauced and spiced with our complexity of arts and inventions1 but lacks somewhat of the grandeur that belongs to a ,doric and unphilosophical age4 ,in a religious contemplative public it would have less outward variety1 but simpler and grander means2 a few pulsations of created beings1 a few successions of acts1 a few lamps held out in the firmament enable us to talk of ,time1 make epochs1 write histories1--to do more1--to date the revelations of ,god to man4 ,but these lamps are held to measure out some of the moments of eternity1 to divide the history of ,god's operations in the birth and death of nations1 of worlds4 ,it is a goodly name for our notions of breathing1 suffering1 enjoying1 acting4 ,we personify it4 ,we call it by every name of fleeting1 dreaming1 vaporing imagery4 ,yet it is nothing4 ,we exist in eternity4 ,dissolve the body and the night is gone1 the stars are extinguished1 and we measure duration by the number of our thoughts1 by the activity of reason1 the discovery of truths1 the acquirement of virtue1 the approach to ,god4 ,and the gray-headed god throws his shadows all around1 and his slaves catch1 now at this1 now at that1 one at the halo he throws around poetry1 or pebbles1 bugs1 or bubbles4 ,sometimes they climb1 sometimes creep into the meanest holes--but they are all alike in vanishing1 like the shadow of a cloud40 ,to her nephew ,charles3 8,war2 what do ,i think of it8 ,why in your ear ,i think it so much better than oppression that if it were ravaging the whole geography of despotism it would be an omen of high and glorious import4 ,channing paints its miseries1 but does he know those of a worse war1--private animosities1 pinching1 bitter warfare of the human heart1 the cruel oppression of the poor by the rich1 which corrupts old worlds8 ,how much better1 more honest1 are storming and conflagration of towns6 ,they are but letting blood which corrupts into worms and dragons4 ,a war-trump would be harmony to the jars of theologians and statesmen such as the papers bring4 ,it was the glory of the ,chosen ,people1 nay1 it is said there was war in ,heaven4 ,war is among the means of discipline1 the rough meliorators1 and no worse than the strife with poverty1 malice and ignorance4 ,war devastates the conscience of men1 yet corrupt peace does not less4 ,and if you tell me of the miseries of the battle-field1 with the sensitive ,channing1 7of whose love of life ,i am ashamed71 what of a few days of agony1 what of a vulture being the bier1 tomb1 and parson of a hero1 compared to the long years of sticking on a bed and wished away8 ,for the widows and orphans--,o1 ,i could give facts of the long-drawn years of imprisoned minds and hearts1 which uneducated orphans endure6 8,o ,time6 ,thou loiterer4 ,thou1 whose might has laid low the vastest and crushed the worm1 restest on thy hoary throne1 with like potency over thy agitations and thy graves4 ,when will thy routines give way to higher and lasting institutions8 ,when thy trophies and thy name and all its wizard forms be lost in the ,genius of ,eternity8 ,in ,eternity1 no deceitful promises1 no fantastic illusions1 no riddles concealed by thy shrouds1 none of thy ,arachnean webs1 which decoy and destroy4 ,hasten to finish thy motley work1 on which frightful ,gorgons are at play1 spite of holy ghosts4 ',tis already moth-eaten and its shuttles quaver1 as the beams of the loom are shaken4 8,sat4 #be4 ,hail requiem of departed ,time6 ,never was incumbent's funeral followed by expectant heir with more satisfaction4 ,yet not his hope is mine4 ,for in the weary womb are prolific numbers of the same sad hour1 colored by the memory of defeats in virtue1 by the prophecy of others1 more dreary1 blind and sickly4 ,yet ,he who formed thy web1 who stretched thy warp from long ages1 has graciously given man to throw his shuttle1 or feel he does1 and irradiate the filling woof with many a flowery rainbow1--labors1 rather--evanescent efforts1 which will wear like flowerets in brighter soils2--has attuned his mind in such unison with the harp of the universe1 that he is never without some chord of hope's music4 ',tis not in the nature of existence1 while there is a ,god1 to be without the pale of excitement4 ,when the dreamy pages of life seem all turned and folded down to very weariness1 even this idea of those who fill the hour with crowded virtues1 lifts the spectator to other worlds1 and he adores the eternal purposes of ,him who lifteth up and casteth down1 bringeth to dust1 and raiseth to the skies4 ',tis a strange deficiency in ,brougham's title of a ,system of ,natural ,theology1 when the moral constitution of the being for whom these contrivances were made is not recognized4 ,the wonderful inhabitant of the building to which unknown ages were the mechanics1 is left out as to that part where the ,creator had put his own lighted candle1 placed a vice-gerent4 ,not to complain of the poor old earth's chaotic state1 brought so near in its long and gloomy transmutings by the geologist4 ,yet its youthful charms as decked by the hand of ,moses' ,cosmogony1 will linger about the heart1 while ,poetry succumbs to ,science4 ,yet there is a sombre music in the whirl of times so long gone by4 ,and the bare bones of this poor embryo earth may give the idea of the ,infinite far1 far better than when dignified with arts and industry3--its oceans1 when beating the symbols of ceaseless ages1 than when covered with cargoes of war and oppression4 ,how grand its preparation for souls1--souls who were to feel the ,divinity1 before ,science had dissected the emotions1 and applied its steely analysis to that state of being which recognizes neither psychology nor element4 8,september1 #ahcf4 ,vale4 ,the mystic dream which is shed over the season4 ,o1 to dream more deeply2 to lose external objects a little more6 ,yet the hold on them is so slight1 that duty is lost sight of perhaps1 at times4 ,sadness is better than walking talking acting somnambulism4 ,yes1 this entire solitude with the ,being who makes the powers of life6 ,even ,fame1 which lives in other states of ,virtue1 palls4 ,usefulness1 if it requires action1 seems less like existence than the desire of being absorbed in ,god1 retaining consciousness4 ,number the waste-places of the journey1--the secret martyrdom of youth1 heavier than the stake1 ,i thought1 the narrow limits which know no outlet1 the bitter dregs of the cup1--and all are sweetened by the purpose of ,him ,i love4 ,the idea of being no mate for those intellectualists ,i've loved to admire1 is no pain4 ,hereafter the same solitary joy will go with me1 were ,i not to live1 as ,i expect1 in the vision of the ,infinite4 ,never do the feelings of the ,infinite1 and the consciousness of finite frailty and ignorance1 harmonize so well as at this mystic season in the deserts of life4 ,contradictions1 the modern ,german says1 of the ,infinite and finite40 ,i sometimes fancy ,i detect in her writings1 a certain--shall ,i say--polite and courtly homage to the name and dignity of ,jesus1 not at all spontaneous1 but growing out of her respect to the ,revelation1 and really veiling and betraying her organic dislike to any interference1 any mediation between her and the ,author of her being1 assurance of whose direct dealing with her she incessantly invokes3 for example1 the parenthesis 8,saving thy presence1 ,priest and ,medium of all this approach for a sinful creature60 8,were it possible that the ,creator was not virtually present with the spirits and bodies which ,he has made3--if it were in the nature of things possible ,he could withdraw himself1--,i would hold on to the faith1 that1 at some moment of ,his existence1 ,i was present3 that1 though cast from ,him1 my sorrows1 my ignorance and meanness were a part of ,his plan2 my death1 too1 however long and tediously delayed to prayer1--was decreed1 was fixed4 ,oh how weary in youth--more so scarcely now1 not whenever ,i can breathe1 as it seems1 the atmosphere of the ,omnipresence3 then ,i ask not faith nor knowledge2 honors1 pleasures1 labors1 ,i always refuse1 compared to this divine partaking of existence2--but how rare1 how dependent on the organs through which the soul operates6 8,the sickness of the last week was fine medicine2 pain disintegrated the spirit1 or became spiritual4 ,i rose1--,i felt that ,i had given to ,god more perhaps than an angel could1--had promised ,him in youth that to be a blot on this fair world1 at ,his command1 would be acceptable4 ,constantly offer myself to continue the obscurest and loneliest thing ever heard of1 with one proviso1--,his agency4 ,yes1 love ,thee1 and all ,thou dost1 while ,thou sheddest frost and darkness on every path of mine40 ,for years she had her bed made in the form of a coffin2 and delighted herself with the discovery of the figure of a coffin made every evening on their sidewalk1 by the shadow of a church tower which adjoined the house4 ,saladin caused his shroud to be made1 and carried it to battle as his standard4 ,she made up her shroud1 and death still refusing to come1 and she thinking it a pity to let it lie idle1 wore it as a night-gown1 or a day-gown1 nay1 went out to ride in it1 on horseback1 in her mountain roads1 until it was worn out4 ,then she had another made up1 and as she never travelled without being provided for this dear and indispensable contingency1 ,i believe she wore out a great many4 8#ahcc4 ,i have given up1 the last year or two1 the hope of dying4 ,in the lowest ebb of health nothing is ominous2 diet and exercise restore4 ,so it seems best to get that very humbling business of insurance4 ,i enter my dear sixty the last of this month40 8#ahce1 ,june #af4 ,tedious indisposition3--hoped1 as it took a new form1 it would open the cool1 sweet grave4 ,now existence itself in any form is sweet4 ,away with knowledge2--,god alone4 ,he communicates this our condition and humble waiting1 or ,i should never perceive ,him4 ,science1 ,nature1--,o1 ,i've yearned to open some page2--not now1 too late4 ,ill health and nerves4 ,o dear worms1--how they will at some sure time take down this tedious tabernacle1 most valuable companions1 instructors in the science of mind1 by gnawing away the meshes which have chained it4 ,a very ,beatrice in showing the ,paradise4 ,yes1 ,i irk under contact with forms of depravity1 while ,i am resigned to being nothing1 never expect a palm1 a laurel1 hereafter40 8#ahbf1 ,july4 ,if one could choose1 and without crime be gibbeted1--were it not altogether better than the long drooping away by age without mentality or devotion8 ,the vulture and crow would caw caw1 and1 unconscious of any deformity in the mutilated body1 would relish their meal1 make no grimace of affected sympathy1 nor suffer any real compassion4 ,i pray to die1 though happier myriads and mine own companions press nearer to the throne4 ,his coldest beam will purify and render me forever holy4 ,had ,i the highest place of acquisition and diffusing virtue here1 the principle of human sympathy would be too strong for that rapt emotion1 that severe delight which ,i crave2 nay for that kind of obscure virtue which is so rich to lay at the feet of the ,author of morality4 ,those economists 7,adam ,smith7 who say nothing is added to the wealth of a nation but what is dug out of the earth1 and that1 whatever disposition of virtue may exist1 unless something is done for society1 deserves no fame1--why ,i am content with such paradoxical kind of facts2 but one secret sentiment of virtue1 disinterested 7or perhaps not71 is worthy1 and will tell1 in the world of spirits1 of ,god's immediate presence1 more than the blood of many a martyr who has it not40 8,i have heard that the greatest geniuses have died ignorant of their power and influence on the arts and sciences4 ,i believe thus much1 that their large perception consumed their egotism1 or made it impossible for them to make small calculations40 8,that greatest of all gifts1 however small my power of receiving1--the capacity1 the element to love the ,all-perfect1 without regard to personal happiness3--happiness8--'tis itself40 ,she checks herself amid her passionate prayers for immediate communion with ,god2--8,i who never made a sacrifice to record1--,i cowering in the nest of quiet for so many years2--,i indulge the delight of sympathizing with great virtues1--blessing their ,original3 ,have ,i this right80 8,while ,i am sympathizing in the government of ,god over the world1 perhaps ,i lose nearer views4 ,well1 ,i learned his existence a priori4 ,no object of science or observation ever was pointed out to me by my poor aunt1 but ,his ,being and commands2 and oh how much ,i trusted ,him with every event till ,i learned the order of human events from the pressure of wants40 8,what a timid1 ungrateful creature6 ,fear the deepest pit-falls of age1 when pressing on1 in imagination at least1 to ,him with whom a day is a thousand years1--with whom all miseries and irregularities are conforming to universal good6 ,shame on me who have learned within three years to sit whole days in peace and enjoyment without the least apparent benefit to any1 or knowledge to myself2--resigned1 too1 to the memory of long years of slavery passed in labor and ignorance1 to the loss of that character which ,i once thought and felt so sure of1 without ever being conscious of acting from calculation40 ,her friends used to say to her1 8,i wish you joy of the worm40 ,and when at last her release arrived1 the event of her death had really such a comic tinge in the eyes of every one who knew her1 that her friends feared they might1 at her funeral1 not dare to look at each other1 lest they should forget the serious proprieties of the hour4 ,she gave high counsels4 ,it was the privilege of certain boys to have this immeasurably high standard indicated to their childhood2 a blessing which nothing else in education could supply4 ,it is frivolous to ask1--8,and was she ever a ,christian in practice80 ,cassandra uttered1 to a frivolous1 skeptical time1 the arcana of the ,gods3 but it is easy to believe that ,cassandra domesticated in a lady's house would have proved a troublesome boarder4 ,is it the less desirable to have the lofty abstractions because the abstractionist is nervous and irritable8 ,shall we not keep ,flamsteed and ,herschel in the observatory1 though it should even be proved that they neglected to rectify their own kitchen clock8 ,it is essential to the safety of every mackerel fisher that latitudes and longitudes should be astronomically ascertained2 and so every banker1 shopkeeper and wood-sawyer has a stake in the elevation of the moral code by saint and prophet4 ,very rightly1 then1 the ,christian ages1 proceeding on a grand instinct1 have said3 ,faith alone1 ,faith alone4 ,,footnotes3 ,footnote #ad3 ,aunt of ,mr4 ,emerson1 and a potent influence on the lives of him and his brothers4 ,this paper was read before the 8,woman's ,club10 in ,boston1 in #ahfi1 under the title 8,amita10 which was also the original superscription of the 8,nun's ,aspiration10 in his ,poems2 a rendering into verse of a passage in ,miss ,emerson's diary4 ,part of this poem forms the motto of this chapter4 ,,samuel ,,hoar4 ,magno se judice quisque tuetur2 ,victrix causa deis placuit sed victa ,catoni4 ,a ,,year ago1 how often did we meet ,beneath these elms1 once more in sober bloom1 ,thy tall1 sad figure pacing down the street1 ,and now the robin sings above thy tomb6 ,thy name on other shores may ne'er be known1 ,though ,rome austere no graver consul knew1 ,but ,massachusetts her true son shall own2 ,out of her soil thy hardy virtues grew4 ,she loves the man that chose the conquered cause1 ,with upright soul that bowed to ,god alone2 ,the clean hands that upheld her equal laws1 ,the old religion ne'er to be outgrown2 ,the cold demeanor1 the warm heart beneath1 ,the simple grandeur of thy life and death4 ,f4 ,b4 ,,sanborn4 ,april1 #aheg4 ,,samuel ,,hoar4 ,,speech ,,at ,,concord1 ,,mass41 #d,,th ,,nov4 ,,election ,,day1 #ahef4 ,,here is a day on which more public good or evil is to be done than was ever done on any day4 ,and this is the pregnant season1 when our old ,roman1 ,samuel ,hoar1 has chosen to quit this world4 ,ab iniquo certamine indignabundus recessit4 ,he was born under a ,christian and humane star1 full of mansuetude and nobleness1 honor and charity2 and1 whilst he was willing to face every disagreeable duty1 whilst he dared to do all that might beseem a man1 his self-respect restrained him from any foolhardiness4 ,the ,homeric heroes1 when they saw the gods mingling in the fray1 sheathed their swords4 ,so did not he feel any call to make it a contest of personal strength with mobs or nations2 but when he saw the day and the gods went against him1 he withdrew1 but with an unaltered belief4 ,all was conquered prter atrocem animum ,catonis4 ,at the time when he went to ,south ,carolina as the ,commissioner of ,massachusetts1 in #ahdd1 whilst staying in ,charleston1 pending his correspondence with the governor and the legal officers1 he was repeatedly warned that it was not safe for him to appear in public1 or to take his daily walk1 as he had done1 unattended by his friends1 in the streets of the city4 ,he was advised to withdraw to private lodgings1 which were eagerly offered him by friends4 ,he rejected the advice1 and refused the offers1 saying that he was old1 and his life was not worth much1 but he had rather the boys should troll his old head like a foot-ball in their streets1 than that he should hide it4 ,and he continued the uniform practice of his daily walk into all parts of the city4 ,but when the mob of ,charleston was assembled in the streets before his hotel1 and a deputation of gentlemen waited upon him in the hall to say they had come with the unanimous voice of the state to remove him by force1 and the carriage was at the door1 he considered his duty discharged to the last point of possibility4 ,the force was apparent and irresistible2 the legal officer's part was up2 it was now time for the military officer to be sent2 and he said1 8,well1 gentlemen1 since it is your pleasure to use force1 ,i must go40 ,but his opinion was unchanged4 ,in like manner now1 when the votes of the ,free ,states1 as shown in the recent election in the ,state of ,pennsylvania1 had disappointed the hopes of mankind and betrayed the cause of freedom1 he considered the question of justice and liberty1 for his age1 lost1 and had no longer the will to drag his days through the dishonors of the long defeat1 and promptly withdrew1 but with unaltered belief4 ,he was a very natural1 but a very high character2 a man of simple tastes1 plain and true in speech1 with a clear perception of justice1 and a perfect obedience thereto in his action2 of a strong understanding1 precise and methodical1 which gave him great eminence in the legal profession4 ,it was rather his reputation for severe method in his intellect than any special direction in his studies that caused him to be offered the mathematical chair in ,harvard ,university1 when vacant in #ahjf4 ,the severity of his logic might have inspired fear1 had it not been restrained by his natural reverence1 which made him modest and courteous1 though his courtesy had a grave and almost military air4 ,he combined a uniform self-respect with a natural reverence for every other man2 so that it was perfectly easy for him to associate with farmers1 and with plain1 uneducated1 poor men1 and he had a strong1 unaffected interest in farms1 and crops1 and weathers1 and the common incidents of rural life4 ,it was just as easy for him to meet on the same floor1 and with the same plain courtesy1 men of distinction and large ability4 ,he was fond of farms and trees1 fond of birds1 and attentive to their manners and habits2 addicted to long and retired walks2 temperate to asceticism1 for no lesson of his experience was lost on him1 and his self-command was perfect4 ,though rich1 of a plainness and almost poverty of personal expenditure1 yet liberal of his money to any worthy use1 readily lending it to young men1 and industrious men1 and by no means eager to reclaim of them either the interest or the principal4 ,he was open-handed to every charity1 and every public claim that had any show of reason in it4 ,when ,i talked with him one day of some inequality of taxes in the town1 he said it was his practice to pay whatever was demanded2 for1 though he might think the taxation large and very unequally proportioned1 yet he thought the money might as well go in this way as in any other4 ,the strength and the beauty of the man lay in the natural goodness and justice of his mind1 which1 in manhood and in old age1 after dealing all his life with weighty private and public interests1 left an infantile innocence1 of which we have no second or third example1--the strength of a chief united to the modesty of a child4 ,he returned from courts or congresses to sit down1 with unaltered humility1 in the church or in the town-house1 on the plain wooden bench where honor came and sat down beside him4 ,he was a man in whom so rare a spirit of justice visibly dwelt1 that if one had met him in a cabin or in a forest he must still seem a public man1 answering as sovereign state to sovereign state2 and might easily suggest ,milton's picture of ,john ,bradshaw1 that 8he was a consul from whom the fasces did not depart with the year1 but in private seemed ever sitting in judgment on kings40 ,everybody knew where to find him4 ,what he said1 that would he do4 ,but he disdained any arts in his speech3 he was not adorned with any graces of rhetoric1 8,but simple truth his utmost skill40 ,so cautious was he1 and tender of the truth1 that he sometimes wearied his audience with the pains he took to qualify and verify his statements1 adding clause on clause to do justice to all his conviction4 ,he had little or no power of generalization4 ,but a plain way he had of putting his statement with all his might1 and now and then borrowing the aid of a good story1 or a farmer's phrase1 whose force had imprinted it on his memory1 and1 by the same token1 his hearers were bound to remember his point4 ,the impression he made on juries was honorable to him and them4 ,for a long term of years1 he was at the head of the bar in ,middlesex1 practising1 also1 in the adjoining counties4 ,he had one side or the other of every important case1 and his influence was reckoned despotic1 and sometimes complained of as a bar to public justice4 ,many good stories are still told of the perplexity of jurors who found the law and the evidence on one side1 and yet ,squire ,hoar had said that he believed1 on his conscience1 his client entitled to a verdict4 ,and what ,middlesex jury1 containing any ,god-fearing men in it1 would hazard an opinion in flat contradiction to what ,squire ,hoar believed to be just8 ,he was entitled to this respect2 for he discriminated in the business that was brought to him1 and would not argue a rotten cause2 and he refused very large sums offered him to undertake the defense of criminal persons4 ,his character made him the conscience of the community in which he lived4 ,and in many a town it was asked1 8,what does ,squire ,hoar think of this80 and in political crises1 he was entreated to write a few lines to make known to good men in ,chelmsford1 or ,marlborough1 or ,shirley1 what that opinion was4 ,i used to feel that his conscience was a kind of meter of the degree of honesty in the country1 by which on each occasion it was tried1 and sometimes found wanting4 ,i am sorry to say he could not be elected to ,congress a second time from ,middlesex4 ,and in his own town1 if some important end was to be gained1--as1 for instance1 when the county commissioners refused to rebuild the burned court-house1 on the belief that the courts would be transferred from ,concord to ,lowell1--all parties combined to send ,mr4 ,hoar to the ,legislature1 where his presence and speech1 of course1 secured the rebuilding2 and1 of course also1 having answered our end1 we passed him by and elected somebody else at the next term4 ,his head1 with singular grace in its lines1 had a resemblance to the bust of ,dante4 ,he retained to the last the erectness of his tall but slender form1 and not less the full strength of his mind4 ,such was1 in old age1 the beauty of his person and carriage1 as if the mind radiated1 and made the same impression of probity on all beholders4 ,his beauty was pathetic and touching in these latest days1 and1 as now appears1 it awakened a certain tender fear in all who saw him1 that the costly ornament of our homes and halls and streets was speedily to be removed4 ,yet how solitary he looked1 day by day in the world1 this man so revered1 this man of public life1 of large acquaintance and wide family connection6 ,was it some reserve of constitution1 or was it only the lot of excellence1 that with aims so pure and single1 he seemed to pass out of life alone1 and1 as it were1 unknown to those who were his contemporaries and familiars8 ,the following sketch of ,mr4 ,hoar from a slightly different point of view1 was prepared by ,mr4 ,emerson1 shortly after the above speech appeared in 8,putnam's ,magazine0 7,december1 #ahef71 at the request of the ,editor of the 8,monthly ,religious ,magazine10 and was printed there1 ,january1 #aheg4 ,it is here appended as giving some additional traits of a characteristic figure which may serve as a pendant in some respects to that of ,dr4 ,ripley4 ,mr4 ,hoar was distinguished in his profession by the grasp of his mind1 and by the simplicity of his means4 ,his ability lay in the clear apprehension and the powerful statement of the material points of his case4 ,he soon possessed it1 and he never possessed it better1 and he was equally ready at any moment to state the facts4 ,he saw what was essential and refuted whatever was not1 so that no man embarrassed himself less with a needless array of books and evidences of contingent value4 ,these tactics of the lawyer were the tactics of his life4 ,he had uniformly the air of knowing just what he wanted and of going to that in the shortest way4 ,it is singular that his character should make so deep an impression1 standing and working as he did on so common a ground4 ,he was neither spiritualist nor man of genius nor of a literary nor an executive talent4 ,in strictness the vigor of his understanding was directed on the ordinary domestic and municipal well-being4 ,society had reason to cherish him1 for he was a main pillar on which it leaned4 ,the useful and practical super-abounded in his mind1 and to a degree which might be even comic to young and poetical persons4 ,if he spoke of the engagement of two lovers1 he called it a contract4 ,nobody cared to speak of thoughts or aspirations to a black-letter lawyer1 who only studied to keep men out of prison1 and their lands out of attachment4 ,had you read ,swedenborg or ,plotinus to him1 he would have waited till you had done1 and answered you out of the ,revised ,statutes4 ,he had an affinity for mathematics1 but it was a taste rather than a pursuit1 and of the modern sciences he liked to read popular books on geology4 ,yet so entirely was this respect to the ground plan and substructure of society a natural ability1 and from the order of his mind1 and not for 8tickling commodity10 that it was admirable1 as every work of nature is1 and like one of those opaque crystals1 big beryls weighing tons1 which are found in ,acworth1 ,new ,hampshire1 not less perfect in their angles and structure1 and only less beautiful1 than the transparent topazes and diamonds4 ,meantime1 whilst his talent and his profession led him to guard the material wealth of society1 a more disinterested person did not exist4 ,and if there were regions of knowledge not open to him1 he did not pretend to them4 ,his modesty was sincere4 ,he had a childlike innocence and a native temperance1 which left him no temptations1 and enabled him to meet every comer with a free and disengaged courtesy that had no memory in it 8,of wrong and outrage with which earth is filled40 ,no person was more keenly alive to the stabs which the ambition and avarice of men inflicted on the commonwealth4 ,yet when politicians or speculators approached him1 these memories left no scar2 his countenance had an unalterable tranquillity and sweetness2 he had nothing to repent of1--let the cloud rest where it might1 he dwelt in eternal sunshine4 ,he had his birth and breeding in a little country town1 where the old religion existed in strictness1 and spent all his energy in creating purity of manners and careful education4 ,no art or practice of the farm was unknown to him1 and the farmers greeted him as one of themselves1 whilst they paid due homage to his powers of mind and to his virtues4 ,he loved the dogmas and the simple usages of his church2 was always an honored and sometimes an active member4 ,he never shrunk from a disagreeable duty4 ,in the time of the ,sunday laws he was a tithing-man2 under the ,maine ,law he was a prosecutor of the liquor dealers4 ,it seemed as if the ,new ,england church had formed him to be its friend and defender2 the lover and assured friend of its parish by-laws1 of its ministers1 its rites1 and its social reforms4 ,he was a model of those formal but reverend manners which make what is called a gentleman of the old school1 so called under an impression that the style is passing away1 but which1 ,i suppose1 is an optical illusion1 as there are always a few more of the class remaining1 and always a few young men to whom these manners are native4 ,i have spoken of his modesty2 he had nothing to say about himself2 and his sincere admiration was commanded by certain heroes of the profession1 like ,judge ,parsons and ,judge ,marshall1 ,mr4 ,mason and ,mr4 ,webster4 ,when some one said1 in his presence1 that ,chief ,justice ,marshall was failing in his intellect1 ,mr4 ,hoar remarked that 8,judge ,marshall could afford to lose brains enough to furnish three or four common men1 before common men would find it out40 ,he had a huge respect for ,mr4 ,webster's ability1 with whom he had often occasion to try his strength at the bar1 and a proportionately deep regret at ,mr4 ,webster's political course in his later years4 ,there was no elegance in his reading or tastes beyond the crystal clearness of his mind4 ,he had no love of poetry2 and ,i have heard that the only verse that he was ever known to quote was the ,indian rule3 8,when the oaks are in the gray1 ,then1 farmers1 plant away40 ,but ,i find an elegance in his quiet but firm withdrawal from all business in the courts which he could drop without manifest detriment to the interests involved 7and this when in his best strength71 and his self-dedication thenceforward to unpaid services of the ,temperance and ,peace and other philanthropic societies1 the ,sunday ,schools1 the cause of ,education1 and specially of the ,university1 and to such political activities as a strong sense of duty and the love of order and of freedom urged him to forward4 ,perfect in his private life1 the husband1 father1 friend1 he was severe only with himself4 ,he was as if on terms of honor with those nearest him1 nor did he think a lifelong familiarity could excuse any omission of courtesy from him4 ,he carried ceremony finely to the last4 ,but his heart was all gentleness1 gratitude and bounty4 ,with beams ,december planets dart1 ,his cold eye truth and conduct scanned2 ,july was in his sunny heart1 ,october in his liberal hand4 ,,thoreau4 ,a ,,queen rejoices in her peers1 ,and wary ,nature knows her own1 ,by court and city1 dale and down1 ,and like a lover volunteers1 ,and to her son will treasures more1 ,and more to purpose1 freely pour ,in one wood walk1 than learned men ,will find with glass in ten times ten4 ,,it seemed as if the breezes brought him1 ,it seemed as if the sparrows taught him1 ,as if by secret sign he knew ,where in far fields the orchis grew4 ,,thoreau4#ae ,,henry ,,david ,,thoreau was the last male descendant of a ,french ancestor who came to this country from the ,isle of ,guernsey4 ,his character exhibited occasional traits drawn from this blood1 in singular combination with a very strong ,saxon genius4 ,he was born in ,concord1 ,massachusetts1 on the #abth of ,july1 #ahag4 ,he was graduated at ,harvard ,college in #ahcg1 but without any literary distinction4 ,an iconoclast in literature1 he seldom thanked colleges for their service to him1 holding them in small esteem1 whilst yet his debt to them was important4 ,after leaving the ,university1 he joined his brother in teaching a private school1 which he soon renounced4 ,his father was a manufacturer of lead-pencils1 and ,henry applied himself for a time to this craft1 believing he could make a better pencil than was then in use4 ,after completing his experiments1 he exhibited his work to chemists and artists in ,boston1 and having obtained their certificates to its excellence and to its equality with the best ,london manufacture1 he returned home contented4 ,his friends congratulated him that he had now opened his way to fortune4 ,but he replied1 that he should never make another pencil4 8,why should ,i8 ,i would not do again what ,i have done once40 ,he resumed his endless walks and miscellaneous studies1 making every day some new acquaintance with ,nature1 though as yet never speaking of zology or botany1 since1 though very studious of natural facts1 he was incurious of technical and textual science4 ,at this time1 a strong1 healthy youth1 fresh from college1 whilst all his companions were choosing their profession1 or eager to begin some lucrative employment1 it was inevitable that his thoughts should be exercised on the same question1 and it required rare decision to refuse all the accustomed paths and keep his solitary freedom at the cost of disappointing the natural expectations of his family and friends3 all the more difficult that he had a perfect probity1 was exact in securing his own independence1 and in holding every man to the like duty4 ,but ,thoreau never faltered4 ,he was a born protestant4 ,he declined to give up his large ambition of knowledge and action for any narrow craft or profession1 aiming at a much more comprehensive calling1 the art of living well4 ,if he slighted and defied the opinions of others1 it was only that he was more intent to reconcile his practice with his own belief4 ,never idle or self-indulgent1 he preferred1 when he wanted money1 earning it by some piece of manual labor agreeable to him1 as building a boat or a fence1 planting1 grafting1 surveying1 or other short work1 to any long engagements4 ,with his hardy habits and few wants1 his skill in wood-craft1 and his powerful arithmetic1 he was very competent to live in any part of the world4 ,it would cost him less time to supply his wants than another4 ,he was therefore secure of his leisure4 ,a natural skill for mensuration1 growing out of his mathematical knowledge and his habit of ascertaining the measures and distances of objects which interested him1 the size of trees1 the depth and extent of ponds and rivers1 the height of mountains1 and the air-line distance of his favorite summits1--this1 and his intimate knowledge of the territory about ,concord1 made him drift into the profession of land-surveyor4 ,it had the advantage for him that it led him continually into new and secluded grounds1 and helped his studies of ,nature4 ,his accuracy and skill in this work were readily appreciated1 and he found all the employment he wanted4 ,he could easily solve the problems of the surveyor1 but he was daily beset with graver questions1 which he manfully confronted4 ,he interrogated every custom1 and wished to settle all his practice on an ideal foundation4 ,he was a protestant outrance1 and few lives contain so many renunciations4 ,he was bred to no profession2 he never married2 he lived alone2 he never went to church2 he never voted2 he refused to pay a tax to the ,state2 he ate no flesh1 he drank no wine1 he never knew the use of tobacco2 and1 though a naturalist1 he used neither trap nor gun4 ,he chose1 wisely no doubt for himself1 to be the bachelor of thought and ,nature4 ,he had no talent for wealth1 and knew how to be poor without the least hint of squalor or inelegance4 ,perhaps he fell into his way of living without forecasting it much1 but approved it with later wisdom4 8,i am often reminded10 he wrote in his journal1 8that if ,i had bestowed on me the wealth of ,crsus1 my aims must be still the same1 and my means essentially the same40 ,he had no temptations to fight against1--no appetites1 no passions1 no taste for elegant trifles4 ,a fine house1 dress1 the manners and talk of highly cultivated people were all thrown away on him4 ,he much preferred a good ,indian1 and considered these refinements as impediments to conversation1 wishing to meet his companion on the simplest terms4 ,he declined invitations to dinner-parties1 because there each was in every one's way1 and he could not meet the individuals to any purpose4 8,they make their pride10 he said1 8in making their dinner cost much2 ,i make my pride in making my dinner cost little40 ,when asked at table what dish he preferred1 he answered1 8,the nearest40 ,he did not like the taste of wine1 and never had a vice in his life4 ,he said1--8,i have a faint recollection of pleasure derived from smoking dried lily-stems1 before ,i was a man4 ,i had commonly a supply of these4 ,i have never smoked anything more noxious40 ,he chose to be rich by making his wants few1 and supplying them himself4 ,in his travels1 he used the railroad only to get over so much country as was unimportant to the present purpose1 walking hundreds of miles1 avoiding taverns1 buying a lodging in farmers' and fishermen's houses1 as cheaper1 and more agreeable to him1 and because there he could better find the men and the information he wanted4 ,there was somewhat military in his nature1 not to be subdued1 always manly and able1 but rarely tender1 as if he did not feel himself except in opposition4 ,he wanted a fallacy to expose1 a blunder to pillory1 ,i may say required a little sense of victory1 a roll of the drum1 to call his powers into full exercise4 ,it cost him nothing to say ,no2 indeed he found it much easier than to say ,yes4 ,it seemed as if his first instinct on hearing a proposition was to controvert it1 so impatient was he of the limitations of our daily thought4 ,this habit1 of course1 is a little chilling to the social affections2 and though the companion would in the end acquit him of any malice or untruth1 yet it mars conversation4 ,hence1 no equal companion stood in affectionate relations with one so pure and guileless4 8,i love ,henry10 said one of his friends1 8but ,i cannot like him2 and as for taking his arm1 ,i should as soon think of taking the arm of an elm-tree40 ,yet1 hermit and stoic as he was1 he was really fond of sympathy1 and threw himself heartily and childlike into the company of young people whom he loved1 and whom he delighted to entertain1 as he only could1 with the varied and endless anecdotes of his experiences by field and river3 and he was always ready to lead a huckleberry-party or a search for chestnuts or grapes4 ,talking1 one day1 of a public discourse1 ,henry remarked1 that whatever succeeded with the audience was bad4 ,i said1 8,who would not like to write something which all can read1 like ,robinson ,crusoe8 and who does not see with regret that his page is not solid with a right materialistic treatment1 which delights everybody80 ,henry objected1 of course1 and vaunted the better lectures which reached only a few persons4 ,but1 at supper1 a young girl1 understanding that he was to lecture at the ,lyceum1 sharply asked him1 8,whether his lecture would be a nice1 interesting story1 such as she wished to hear1 or whether it was one of those old philosophical things that she did not care about40 ,henry turned to her1 and bethought himself1 and1 ,i saw1 was trying to believe that he had matter that might fit her and her brother1 who were to sit up and go to the lecture1 if it was a good one for them4 ,he was a speaker and actor of the truth1 born such1 and was ever running into dramatic situations from this cause4 ,in any circumstance it interested all bystanders to know what part ,henry would take1 and what he would say2 and he did not disappoint expectation1 but used an original judgment on each emergency4 ,in #ahde he built himself a small framed house on the shores of ,walden ,pond1 and lived there two years alone1 a life of labor and study4 ,this action was quite native and fit for him4 ,no one who knew him would tax him with affectation4 ,he was more unlike his neighbors in his thought than in his action4 ,as soon as he had exhausted the advantages of that solitude1 he abandoned it4 ,in #ahdg1 not approving some uses to which the public expenditure was applied1 he refused to pay his town tax1 and was put in jail4 ,a friend paid the tax for him1 and he was released4 ,the like annoyance was threatened the next year4 ,but1 as his friends paid the tax1 notwithstanding his protest1 ,i believe he ceased to resist4 ,no opposition or ridicule had any weight with him4 ,he coldly and fully stated his opinion of the company4 ,it was of no consequence if every one present held the opposite opinion4 ,on one occasion he went to the ,university ,library to procure some books4 ,the librarian refused to lend them4 ,mr4 ,thoreau repaired to the ,president1 who stated to him the rules and usages1 which permitted the loan of books to resident graduates1 to clergymen who were alumni1 and to some others resident within a circle of ten miles' radius from the ,college4 ,mr4 ,thoreau explained to the ,president that the railroad had destroyed the old scale of distances1--that the library was useless1 yes1 and ,president and ,college useless1 on the terms of his rules1--that the one benefit he owed to the ,college was its library1--that1 at this moment1 not only his want of books was imperative but he wanted a large number of books1 and assured him that he1 ,thoreau1 and not the librarian1 was the proper custodian of these4 ,in short1 the ,president found the petitioner so formidable1 and the rules getting to look so ridiculous1 that he ended by giving him a privilege which in his hands proved unlimited thereafter4 ,no truer ,american existed than ,thoreau4 ,his preference of his country and condition was genuine1 and his aversation from ,english and ,european manners and tastes almost reached contempt4 ,he listened impatiently to news or bonmots gleaned from ,london circles2 and though he tried to be civil1 these anecdotes fatigued him4 ,the men were all imitating each other1 and on a small mould4 ,why can they not live as far apart as possible1 and each be a man by himself8 ,what he sought was the most energetic nature2 and he wished to go to ,oregon1 not to ,london4 8,in every part of ,great ,britain10 he wrote in his diary1 8are discovered traces of the ,romans1 their funereal urns1 their camps1 their roads1 their dwellings4 ,but ,new ,england1 at least1 is not based on any ,roman ruins4 ,we have not to lay the foundations of our houses on the ashes of a former civilization40 ,but1 idealist as he was1 standing for abolition of slavery1 abolition of tariffs1 almost for abolition of government1 it is needless to say he found himself not only unrepresented in actual politics1 but almost equally opposed to every class of reformers4 ,yet he paid the tribute of his uniform respect to the ,anti-,slavery party4 ,one man1 whose personal acquaintance he had formed1 he honored with exceptional regard4 ,before the first friendly word had been spoken for ,captain ,john ,brown1 he sent notices to most houses in ,concord that he would speak in a public hall on the condition and character of ,john ,brown1 on ,sunday evening1 and invited all people to come4 ,the ,republican ,committee1 the ,abolitionist ,committee1 sent him word that it was premature and not advisable4 ,he replied1--8,i did not send to you for advice1 but to announce that ,i am to speak40 ,the hall was filled at an early hour by people of all parties1 and his earnest eulogy of the hero was heard by all respectfully1 by many with a sympathy that surprised themselves4 ,it was said of ,plotinus that he was ashamed of his body1 and 'tis very likely he had good reason for it1--that his body was a bad servant1 and he had not skill in dealing with the material world1 as happens often to men of abstract intellect4 ,but ,mr4 ,thoreau was equipped with a most adapted and serviceable body4 ,he was of short stature1 firmly built1 of light complexion1 with strong1 serious blue eyes1 and a grave aspect1--his face covered in the late years with a becoming beard4 ,his senses were acute1 his frame well-knit and hardy1 his hands strong and skilful in the use of tools4 ,and there was a wonderful fitness of body and mind4 ,he could pace sixteen rods more accurately than another man could measure them with rod and chain4 ,he could find his path in the woods at night1 he said1 better by his feet than his eyes4 ,he could estimate the measure of a tree very well by his eye2 he could estimate the weight of a calf or a pig1 like a dealer4 ,from a box containing a bushel or more of loose pencils1 he could take up with his hands fast enough just a dozen pencils at every grasp4 ,he was a good swimmer1 runner1 skater1 boatman1 and would probably outwalk most countrymen in a day's journey4 ,and the relation of body to mind was still finer than we have indicated4 ,he said he wanted every stride his legs made4 ,the length of his walk uniformly made the length of his writing4 ,if shut up in the house he did not write at all4 ,he had a strong common-sense1 like that which ,rose ,flammock the weaver's daughter in ,scott's romance commends in her father1 as resembling a yardstick1 which1 whilst it measures dowlas and diaper1 can equally well measure tapestry and cloth of gold4 ,he had always a new resource4 ,when ,i was planting forest trees1 and had procured half a peck of acorns1 he said that only a small portion of them would be sound1 and proceeded to examine them and select the sound ones4 ,but finding this took time1 he said1 8,i think if you put them all into water the good ones will sink20 which experiment we tried with success4 ,he could plan a garden or a house or a barn2 would have been competent to lead a 8,pacific ,exploring ,expedition20 could give judicious counsel in the gravest private or public affairs4 ,he lived for the day1 not cumbered and mortified by his memory4 ,if he brought you yesterday a new proposition1 he would bring you to-day another not less revolutionary4 ,a very industrious man1 and setting1 like all highly organized men1 a high value on his time1 he seemed the only man of leisure in town1 always ready for any excursion that promised well1 or for conversation prolonged into late hours4 ,his trenchant sense was never stopped by his rules of daily prudence1 but was always up to the new occasion4 ,he liked and used the simplest food1 yet1 when some one urged a vegetable diet1 ,thoreau thought all diets a very small matter1 saying that 8the man who shoots the buffalo lives better than the man who boards at the ,graham ,house40 ,he said1--8,you can sleep near the railroad1 and never be disturbed3 ,nature knows very well what sounds are worth attending to1 and has made up her mind not to hear the railroad-whistle4 ,but things respect the devout mind1 and a mental ecstasy was never interrupted40 ,he noted what repeatedly befell him1 that1 after receiving from a distance a rare plant1 he would presently find the same in his own haunts4 ,and those pieces of luck which happen only to good players happened to him4 ,one day1 walking with a stranger1 who inquired where ,indian arrow-heads could be found1 he replied1 8,everywhere10 and1 stooping forward1 picked one on the instant from the ground4 ,at ,mount ,washington1 in ,tuckerman's ,ravine1 ,thoreau had a bad fall1 and sprained his foot4 ,as he was in the act of getting up from his fall1 he saw for the first time the leaves of the ,arnica mollis4 ,his robust common sense1 armed with stout hands1 keen perceptions and strong will1 cannot yet account for the superiority which shone in his simple and hidden life4 ,i must add the cardinal fact1 that there was an excellent wisdom in him1 proper to a rare class of men1 which showed him the material world as a means and symbol4 ,this discovery1 which sometimes yields to poets a certain casual and interrupted light1 serving for the ornament of their writing1 was in him an unsleeping insight2 and whatever faults or obstructions of temperament might cloud it1 he was not disobedient to the heavenly vision4 ,in his youth1 he said1 one day1 8,the other world is all my art2 my pencils will draw no other2 my jack-knife will cut nothing else2 ,i do not use it as a means40 ,this was the muse and genius that ruled his opinions1 conversation1 studies1 work and course of life4 ,this made him a searching judge of men4 ,at first glance he measured his companion1 and1 though insensible to some fine traits of culture1 could very well report his weight and calibre4 ,and this made the impression of genius which his conversation sometimes gave4 ,he understood the matter in hand at a glance1 and saw the limitations and poverty of those he talked with1 so that nothing seemed concealed from such terrible eyes4 ,i have repeatedly known young men of sensibility converted in a moment to the belief that this was the man they were in search of1 the man of men1 who could tell them all they should do4 ,his own dealing with them was never affectionate1 but superior1 didactic1 scorning their petty ways1--very slowly conceding1 or not conceding at all1 the promise of his society at their houses1 or even at his own4 8,would he not walk with them80 8,he did not know4 ,there was nothing so important to him as his walk2 he had no walks to throw away on company40 ,visits were offered him from respectful parties1 but he declined them4 ,admiring friends offered to carry him at their own cost to the ,yellowstone ,river1--to the ,west ,indies1--to ,south ,america4 ,but though nothing could be more grave or considered than his refusals1 they remind one1 in quite new relations1 of that fop ,brummel's reply to the gentleman who offered him his carriage in a shower1 8,but where will you ride1 then80--and what accusing silences1 and what searching and irresistible speeches1 battering down all defenses1 his companions can remember6 ,mr4 ,thoreau dedicated his genius with such entire love to the fields1 hills and waters of his native town1 that he made them known and interesting to all reading ,americans1 and to people over the sea4 ,the river on whose banks he was born and died he knew from its springs to its confluence with the ,merrimack4 ,he had made summer and winter observations on it for many years1 and at every hour of the day and night4 ,the result of the recent survey of the ,water ,commissioners appointed by the ,state of ,massachusetts he had reached by his private experiments1 several years earlier4 ,every fact which occurs in the bed1 on the banks1 or in the air over it2 the fishes1 and their spawning and nests1 their manners1 their food2 the shad-flies which fill the air on a certain evening once a year1 and which are snapped at by the fishes so ravenously that many of these die of repletion2 the conical heaps of small stones on the river-shallows1 the huge nests of small fishes1 one of which will sometimes overfill a cart2 the birds which frequent the stream1 heron1 duck1 sheldrake1 loon1 osprey2 the snake1 muskrat1 otter1 woodchuck and fox1 on the banks2 the turtle1 frog1 hyla and cricket1 which make the banks vocal1--were all known to him1 and1 as it were1 townsmen and fellow-creatures2 so that he felt an absurdity or violence in any narrative of one of these by itself apart1 and still more of its dimensions on an inch-rule1 or in the exhibition of its skeleton1 or the specimen of a squirrel or a bird in brandy4 ,he liked to speak of the manners of the river1 as itself a lawful creature1 yet with exactness1 and always to an observed fact4 ,as he knew the river1 so the ponds in this region4 ,one of the weapons he used1 more important to him than microscope or alcohol-receiver to other investigators1 was a whim which grew on him by indulgence1 yet appeared in gravest statement1 namely1 of extolling his own town and neighborhood as the most favored centre for natural observation4 ,he remarked that the ,flora of ,massachusetts embraced almost all the important plants of ,america1--most of the oaks1 most of the willows1 the best pines1 the ash1 the maple1 the beech1 the nuts4 ,he returned ,kane's 8,arctic ,voyage0 to a friend of whom he had borrowed it1 with the remark1 that 8,most of the phenomena noted might be observed in ,concord40 ,he seemed a little envious of the ,pole1 for the coincident sunrise and sunset1 or five minutes' day after six months3 a splendid fact1 which ,annursnuc had never afforded him4 ,he found red snow in one of his walks1 and told me that he expected to find yet the ,victoria regia in ,concord4 ,he was the attorney of the indigenous plants1 and owned to a preference of the weeds to the imported plants as of the ,indian to the civilized man1 and noticed1 with pleasure1 that the willow bean-poles of his neighbor had grown more than his beans4 8,see these weeds10 he said1 8which have been hoed at by a million farmers all spring and summer1 and yet have prevailed1 and just now come out triumphant over all lanes1 pastures1 fields and gardens1 such is their vigor4 ,we have insulted them with low names1 too1--as ,pigweed1 ,wormwood1 ,chickweed1 ,shad-blossom40 ,he says1 8,they have brave names1 too1--,ambrosia1 ,stellaria1 ,amelanchier1 ,amaranth1 etc40 ,i think his fancy for referring everything to the meridian of ,concord did not grow out of any ignorance or depreciation of other longitudes or latitudes1 but was rather a playful expression of his conviction of the indifferency of all places1 and that the best place for each is where he stands4 ,he expressed it once in this wise3--8,i think nothing is to be hoped from you1 if this bit of mould under your feet is not sweeter to you to eat than any other in this world1 or in any world40 ,the other weapon with which he conquered all obstacles in science was patience4 ,he knew how to sit immovable1 a part of the rock he rested on1 until the bird1 the reptile1 the fish1 which had retired from him1 should come back and resume its habits1 nay1 moved by curiosity1 should come to him and watch him4 ,it was a pleasure and a privilege to walk with him4 ,he knew the country like a fox or a bird1 and passed through it as freely by paths of his own4 ,he knew every track in the snow or on the ground1 and what creature had taken this path before him4 ,one must submit abjectly to such a guide1 and the reward was great4 ,under his arm he carried an old music-book to press plants2 in his pocket1 his diary and pencil1 a spy-glass for birds1 microscope1 jack-knife1 and twine4 ,he wore a straw hat1 stout shoes1 strong gray trousers1 to brave scrub-oaks and smilax1 and to climb a tree for a hawk's or a squirrel's nest4 ,he waded into the pool for the water-plants1 and his strong legs were no insignificant part of his armor4 ,on the day ,i speak of he looked for the ,menyanthes1 detected it across the wide pool1 and1 on examination of the florets1 decided that it had been in flower five days4 ,he drew out of his breast-pocket his diary1 and read the names of all the plants that should bloom on this day1 whereof he kept account as a banker when his notes fall due4 ,the ,cypripedium not due till to-morrow4 ,he thought that1 if waked up from a trance1 in this swamp1 he could tell by the plants what time of the year it was within two days4 ,the redstart was flying about1 and presently the fine grosbeaks1 whose brilliant scarlet 8makes the rash gazer wipe his eye10 and whose fine clear note ,thoreau compared to that of a tanager which has got rid of its hoarseness4 ,presently he heard a note which he called that of the night-warbler1 a bird he had never identified1 had been in search of twelve years1 which always1 when he saw it1 was in the act of diving down into a tree or bush1 and which it was vain to seek2 the only bird which sings indifferently by night and by day4 ,i told him he must beware of finding and booking it1 lest life should have nothing more to show him4 ,he said1 8,what you seek in vain for1 half your life1 one day you come full upon1 all the family at dinner4 ,you seek it like a dream1 and as soon as you find it you become its prey40 ,his interest in the flower or the bird lay very deep in his mind1 was connected with ,nature1--and the meaning of ,nature was never attempted to be defined by him4 ,he would not offer a memoir of his observations to the ,natural ,history ,society4 8,why should ,i8 ,to detach the description from its connections in my mind would make it no longer true or valuable to me3 and they do not wish what belongs to it40 ,his power of observation seemed to indicate additional senses4 ,he saw as with microscope1 heard as with ear-trumpet1 and his memory was a photographic register of all he saw and heard4 ,and yet none knew better than he that it is not the fact that imports1 but the impression or effect of the fact on your mind4 ,every fact lay in glory in his mind1 a type of the order and beauty of the whole4 ,his determination on ,natural ,history was organic4 ,he confessed that he sometimes felt like a hound or a panther1 and1 if born among ,indians1 would have been a fell hunter4 ,but1 restrained by his ,massachusetts culture1 he played out the game in this mild form of botany and ichthyology4 ,his intimacy with animals suggested what ,thomas ,fuller records of ,butler the apiologist1 that 8either he had told the bees things or the bees had told him40 ,snakes coiled round his leg2 the fishes swam into his hand1 and he took them out of the water2 he pulled the woodchuck out of its hole by the tail and took the foxes under his protection from the hunters4 ,our naturalist had perfect magnanimity2 he had no secrets3 he would carry you to the heron's haunt1 or even to his most prized botanical swamp1--possibly knowing that you could never find it again1 yet willing to take his risks4 ,no college ever offered him a diploma1 or a professor's chair2 no academy made him its corresponding secretary1 its discoverer1 or even its member4 ,perhaps these learned bodies feared the satire of his presence4 ,yet so much knowledge of ,nature's secret and genius few others possessed1 none in a more large and religious synthesis4 ,for not a particle of respect had he to the opinions of any man or body of men1 but homage solely to the truth itself2 and as he discovered everywhere among doctors some leaning of courtesy1 it discredited them4 ,he grew to be revered and admired by his townsmen1 who had at first known him only as an oddity4 ,the farmers who employed him as a surveyor soon discovered his rare accuracy and skill1 his knowledge of their lands1 of trees1 of birds1 of ,indian remains and the like1 which enabled him to tell every farmer more than he knew before of his own farm2 so that he began to feel a little as if ,mr4 ,thoreau had better rights in his land than he4 ,they felt1 too1 the superiority of character which addressed all men with a native authority4 ,indian relics abound in ,concord1--arrow-heads1 stone chisels1 pestles1 and fragments of pottery2 and on the river-bank1 large heaps of clam-shells and ashes mark spots which the savages frequented4 ,these1 and every circumstance touching the ,indian1 were important in his eyes4 ,his visits to ,maine were chiefly for love of the ,indian4 ,he had the satisfaction of seeing the manufacture of the bark-canoe1 as well as of trying his hand in its management on the rapids4 ,he was inquisitive about the making of the stone arrow-head1 and in his last days charged a youth setting out for the ,rocky ,mountains to find an ,indian who could tell him that3 8,it was well worth a visit to ,california to learn it40 ,occasionally1 a small party of ,penobscot ,indians would visit ,concord1 and pitch their tents for a few weeks in summer on the river-bank4 ,he failed not to make acquaintance with the best of them2 though he well knew that asking questions of ,indians is like catechizing beavers and rabbits4 ,in his last visit to ,maine he had great satisfaction from ,joseph ,polis1 an intelligent ,indian of ,oldtown1 who was his guide for some weeks4 ,he was equally interested in every natural fact4 ,the depth of his perception found likeness of law throughout ,nature1 and ,i know not any genius who so swiftly inferred universal law from the single fact4 ,he was no pedant of a department4 ,his eye was open to beauty1 and his ear to music4 ,he found these1 not in rare conditions1 but wheresoever he went4 ,he thought the best of music was in single strains2 and he found poetic suggestion in the humming of the telegraph-wire4 ,his poetry might be bad or good2 he no doubt wanted a lyric facility and technical skill1 but he had the source of poetry in his spiritual perception4 ,he was a good reader and critic1 and his judgment on poetry was to the ground of it4 ,he could not be deceived as to the presence or absence of the poetic element in any composition1 and his thirst for this made him negligent and perhaps scornful of superficial graces4 ,he would pass by many delicate rhythms1 but he would have detected every live stanza or line in a volume1 and knew very well where to find an equal poetic charm in prose4 ,he was so enamored of the spiritual beauty that he held all actual written poems in very light esteem in the comparison4 ,he admired schylus and ,pindar2 but1 when someone was commending them1 he said that schylus and the ,greeks1 in describing ,apollo and ,orpheus1 had given no song1 or no good one4 8,they ought not to have moved trees1 but to have chanted to the gods such a hymn as would have sung all their old ideas out of their heads1 and new ones in40 ,his own verses are often rude and defective4 ,the gold does not yet run pure1 is drossy and crude4 ,the thyme and marjoram are not yet honey4 ,but if he want lyric fineness and technical merits1 if he have not the poetic temperament1 he never lacks the causal thought1 showing that his genius was better than his talent4 ,he knew the worth of the ,imagination for the uplifting and consolation of human life1 and liked to throw every thought into a symbol4 ,the fact you tell is of no value1 but only the impression4 ,for this reason his presence was poetic1 always piqued the curiosity to know more deeply the secrets of his mind4 ,he had many reserves1 an unwillingness to exhibit to profane eyes what was still sacred in his own1 and knew well how to throw a poetic veil over his experience4 ,all readers of 8,walden0 will remember his mythical record of his disappointments3-- 8,i long ago lost a hound1 a bay horse and a turtle-dove1 and am still on their trail4 ,many are the travellers ,i have spoken concerning them1 describing their tracks1 and what calls they answered to4 ,i have met one or two who have heard the hound1 and the tramp of the horse1 and even seen the dove disappear behind a cloud2 and they seemed as anxious to recover them as if they had lost them themselves40#af ,his riddles were worth the reading1 and ,i confide that if at any time ,i do not understand the expression1 it is yet just4 ,such was the wealth of his truth that it was not worth his while to use words in vain4 ,his poem entitled 8,sympathy0 reveals the tenderness under that triple steel of stoicism1 and the intellectual subtility it could animate4 ,his classic poem on 8,smoke0 suggests ,simonides1 but is better than any poem of ,simonides4 ,his biography is in his verses4 ,his habitual thought makes all his poetry a hymn to the ,cause of causes1 the ,spirit which vivifies and controls his own3-- 8,i hearing get1 who had but ears1 ,and sight1 who had but eyes before2 ,i moments live1 who lived but years1 ,and truth discern1 who knew but learning's lore40 ,and still more in these religious lines3-- 8,now chiefly is my natal hour1 ,and only now my prime of life2 ,i will not doubt the love untold1 ,which not my worth nor want have bought1 ,which wooed me young1 and wooes me old1 ,and to this evening hath me brought40 ,whilst he used in his writings a certain petulance of remark in reference to churches or churchmen1 he was a person of a rare1 tender and absolute religion1 a person incapable of any profanation1 by act or by thought4 ,of course1 the same isolation which belonged to his original thinking and living detached him from the social religious forms4 ,this is neither to be censured nor regretted4 ,aristotle long ago explained it when he said1 8,one who surpasses his fellow-citizens in virtue is no longer a part of the city4 ,their law is not for him1 since he is a law to himself40 ,thoreau was sincerity itself1 and might fortify the convictions of prophets in the ethical laws by his holy living4 ,it was an affirmative experience which refused to be set aside4 ,a truth-speaker he1 capable of the most deep and strict conversation2 a physician to the wounds of any soul2 a friend1 knowing not only the secret of friendship1 but almost worshipped by those few persons who resorted to him as their confessor and prophet1 and knew the deep value of his mind and great heart4 ,he thought that without religion or devotion of some kind nothing great was ever accomplished3 and he thought that the bigoted sectarian had better bear this in mind4 ,his virtues1 of course1 sometimes ran into extremes4 ,it was easy to trace to the inexorable demand on all for exact truth that austerity which made this willing hermit more solitary even than he wished4 ,himself of a perfect probity1 he required not less of others4 ,he had a disgust at crime1 and no worldly success would cover it4 ,he detected paltering as readily in dignified and prosperous persons as in beggars1 and with equal scorn4 ,such dangerous frankness was in his dealing that his admirers called him 8that terrible ,thoreau10 as if he spoke when silent1 and was still present when he had departed4 ,i think the severity of his ideal interfered to deprive him of a healthy sufficiency of human society4 ,the habit of a realist to find things the reverse of their appearance inclined him to put every statement in a paradox4 ,a certain habit of antagonism defaced his earlier writings1--a trick of rhetoric not quite outgrown in his later1 of substituting for the obvious word and thought its diametrical opposite4 ,he praised wild mountains and winter forests for their domestic air1 in snow and ice he would find sultriness1 and commended the wilderness for resembling ,rome and ,paris4 8,it was so dry1 that you might call it wet40 ,the tendency to magnify the moment1 to read all the laws of ,nature in the one object or one combination under your eye1 is of course comic to those who do not share the philosopher's perception of identity4 ,to him there was no such thing as size4 ,the pond was a small ocean2 the ,atlantic1 a large ,walden ,pond4 ,he referred every minute fact to cosmical laws4 ,though he meant to be just1 he seemed haunted by a certain chronic assumption that the science of the day pretended completeness1 and he had just found out that the savans had neglected to discriminate a particular botanical variety1 had failed to describe the seeds or count the sepals4 8,that is to say10 we replied1 8the blockheads were not born in ,concord2 but who said they were8 ,it was their unspeakable misfortune to be born in ,london1 or ,paris1 or ,rome2 but1 poor fellows1 they did what they could1 considering that they never saw ,bateman's ,pond1 or ,nine-,acre ,corner1 or ,becky ,stow's ,swamp2 besides1 what were you sent into the world for1 but to add this observation80 ,had his genius been only contemplative1 he had been fitted to his life1 but with his energy and practical ability he seemed born for great enterprise and for command2 and ,i so much regret the loss of his rare powers of action1 that ,i cannot help counting it a fault in him that he had no ambition4 ,wanting this1 instead of engineering for all ,america1 he was the captain of a huckleberry-party4 ,pounding beans is good to the end of pounding empires one of these days2 but if1 at the end of years1 it is still only beans6 ,but these foibles1 real or apparent1 were fast vanishing in the incessant growth of a spirit so robust and wise1 and which effaced its defeats with new triumphs4 ,his study of ,nature was a perpetual ornament to him1 and inspired his friends with curiosity to see the world through his eyes1 and to hear his adventures4 ,they possessed every kind of interest4 ,he had many elegancies of his own1 whilst he scoffed at conventional elegance4 ,thus1 he could not bear to hear the sound of his own steps1 the grit of gravel2 and therefore never willingly walked in the road1 but in the grass1 on mountains and in woods4 ,his senses were acute1 and he remarked that by night every dwelling-house gives out bad air1 like a slaughter-house4 ,he liked the pure fragrance of melilot4 ,he honored certain plants with special regard1 and1 over all1 the pond-lily1--then1 the gentian1 and the ,mikania scandens1 and 8life-everlasting10 and a bass-tree which he visited every year when it bloomed1 in the middle of ,july4 ,he thought the scent a more oracular inquisition than the sight1--more oracular and trustworthy4 ,the scent1 of course1 reveals what is concealed from the other senses4 ,by it he detected earthiness4 ,he delighted in echoes1 and said they were almost the only kind of kindred voices that he heard4 ,he loved ,nature so well1 was so happy in her solitude1 that he became very jealous of cities and the sad work which their refinements and artifices made with man and his dwelling4 ,the axe was always destroying his forest4 8,thank ,god10 he said1 8they cannot cut down the clouds60 8,all kinds of figures are drawn on the blue ground with this fibrous white paint40 ,i subjoin a few sentences taken from his unpublished manuscripts1 not only as records of his thought and feeling1 but for their power of description and literary excellence3-- 8,some circumstantial evidence is very strong1 as when you find a trout in the milk40 8,the chub is a soft fish1 and tastes like boiled brown paper salted40 8,the youth gets together his materials to build a bridge to the moon1 or1 perchance1 a palace or temple on the earth1 and1 at length the middle-aged man concludes to build a wood-shed with them40 8,the locust z-ing40 8,devil's-needles zigzagging along the ,nut-,meadow brook40 8,sugar is not so sweet to the palate as sound to the healthy ear40 8,i put on some hemlock-boughs1 and the rich salt crackling of their leaves was like mustard to the ear1 the crackling of uncountable regiments4 ,dead trees love the fire40 8,the bluebird carries the sky on his back40 8,the tanager flies through the green foliage as if it would ignite the leaves40 8,if ,i wish for a horse-hair for my compass-sight ,i must go to the stable2 but the hair-bird1 with her sharp eyes1 goes to the road40 8,immortal water1 alive even to the superficies40 8,fire is the most tolerable third party40 8,nature made ferns for pure leaves1 to show what she could do in that line40 8,no tree has so fair a bole and so handsome an instep as the beech40 8,how did these beautiful rainbow-tints get into the shell of the fresh-water clam1 buried in the mud at the bottom of our dark river80 8,hard are the times when the infant's shoes are second-foot40 8,we are strictly confined to our men to whom we give liberty40 8,nothing is so much to be feared as fear4 ,atheism may comparatively be popular with ,god himself40 8,of what significance the things you can forget8 ,a little thought is sexton to all the world40 8,how can we expect a harvest of thought who have not had a seed-time of character80 8,only he can be trusted with gifts who can present a face of bronze to expectations40 8,i ask to be melted4 ,you can only ask of the metals that they be tender to the fire that melts them4 ,to nought else can they be tender40 ,there is a flower known to botanists1 one of the same genus with our summer plant called 8,life-,everlasting10 a ,gnaphalium like that1 which grows on the most inaccessible cliffs of the ,tyrolese mountains1 where the chamois dare hardly venture1 and which the hunter1 tempted by its beauty1 and by his love 7for it is immensely valued by the ,swiss maidens71 climbs the cliffs to gather1 and is sometimes found dead at the foot1 with the flower in his hand4 ,it is called by botanists the ,gnaphalium leontopodium1 but by the ,swiss ,edelweisse1 which signifies ,noble ,purity4 ,thoreau seemed to me living in the hope to gather this plant1 which belonged to him of right4 ,the scale on which his studies proceeded was so large as to require longevity1 and we were the less prepared for his sudden disappearance4 ,the country knows not yet1 or in the least part1 how great a son it has lost4 ,it seems an injury that he should leave in the midst his broken task which none else can finish1 a kind of indignity to so noble a soul that he should depart out of ,nature before yet he has been really shown to his peers for what he is4 ,but he1 at least1 is content4 ,his soul was made for the noblest society2 he had in a short life exhausted the capabilities of this world2 wherever there is knowledge1 wherever there is virtue1 wherever there is beauty1 he will find a home4 ,,footnotes3 ,footnote #ae3 ,part of this paper was the ,address delivered by ,mr4 ,emerson at the funeral of ,mr4 ,thoreau1 in ,may1 #ahfb4 ,in the following summer it was enlarged and printed in the 8,atlantic ,monthly0 in its present form4 ,footnote #af3 ,walden3 p4 #bj4 ,,carlyle4 ,,hold with the ,maker1 not the ,made1 ,sit with the ,cause1 or grim or glad4 ,,carlyle4#ag ,,thomas ,,carlyle is an immense talker1 as extraordinary in his conversation as in his writing1--,i think even more so4 ,he is not mainly a scholar1 like the most of my acquaintances1 but a practical ,scotchman1 such as you would find in any saddler's or iron-dealer's shop1 and then only accidentally and by a surprising addition1 the admirable scholar and writer he is4 ,if you would know precisely how he talks1 just suppose ,hugh ,whelan 7the gardener7 had found leisure enough in addition to all his daily work to read ,plato and ,shakspeare1 ,augustine and ,calvin1 and1 remaining ,hugh ,whelan all the time1 should talk scornfully of all this nonsense of books that he had been bothered with1 and you shall have just the tone and talk and laughter of ,carlyle4 ,i called him a trip-hammer with 8an olian attachment40 ,he has1 too1 the strong religious tinge you sometimes find in burly people4 ,that1 and all his qualities1 have a certain virulence1 coupled though it be in his case with the utmost impatience of ,christendom and ,jewdom and all existing presentments of the good old story4 ,he talks like a very unhappy man1--profoundly solitary1 displeased and hindered by all men and things about him1 and1 biding his time1 meditating how to undermine and explode the whole world of nonsense which torments him4 ,he is obviously greatly respected by all sorts of people1 understands his own value quite as well as ,webster1 of whom his behavior sometimes reminds me1 and can see society on his own terms4 ,and1 though no mortal in ,america could pretend to talk with ,carlyle1 who is also as remarkable in ,england as the ,tower of ,london1 yet neither would he in any manner satisfy us 7,americans71 or begin to answer the questions which we ask4 ,he is a very national figure1 and would by no means bear transplantation4 ,they keep ,carlyle as a sort of portable cathedral-bell1 which they like to produce in companies where he is unknown1 and set a-swinging1 to the surprise and consternation of all persons1--bishops1 courtiers1 scholars1 writers1--and1 as in companies here 7in ,england7 no man is named or introduced1 great is the effect and great the inquiry4 ,forster of ,rawdon described to me a dinner at the table d'hte of some provincial hotel where he carried ,carlyle1 and where an ,irish canon had uttered something4 ,carlyle began to talk1 first to the waiters1 and then to the walls1 and then1 lastly1 unmistakably to the priest1 in a manner that frightened the whole company4 ,young men1 especially those holding liberal opinions1 press to see him1 but it strikes me like being hot to see the mathematical or ,greek professor before they have got their lesson4 ,it needs something more than a clean shirt and reading ,german to visit him4 ,he treats them with contempt2 they profess freedom and he stands for slavery2 they praise republics and he likes the ,russian ,czar2 they admire ,cobden and free trade and he is a protectionist in political economy2 they will eat vegetables and drink water1 and he is a ,scotchman who thinks ,english national character has a pure enthusiasm for beef and mutton1--describes with gusto the crowds of people who gaze at the sirloins in the dealer's shop-window1 and even likes the ,scotch night-cap2 they praise moral suasion1 he goes for murder1 money1 capital punishment1 and other pretty abominations of ,english law4 ,they wish freedom of the press1 and he thinks the first thing he would do1 if he got into ,parliament1 would be to turn out the reporters1 and stop all manner of mischievous speaking to ,buncombe1 and wind-bags4 8,in the ,long ,parliament10 he says1 8the only great ,parliament1 they sat secret and silent1 grave as an ecumenical council1 and ,i know not what they would have done to anybody that had got in there and attempted to tell out of doors what they did40 ,they go for free institutions1 for letting things alone1 and only giving opportunity and motive to every man2 he for a stringent government1 that shows people what they must do1 and makes them do it4 8,here10 he says1 8the ,parliament gathers up six millions of pounds every year to give to the poor1 and yet the people starve4 ,i think if they would give it to me1 to provide the poor with labor1 and with authority to make them work or shoot them1--and ,i to be hanged if ,i did not do it1--,i could find them in plenty of ,indian meal40 ,he throws himself readily on the other side4 ,if you urge free trade1 he remembers that every laborer is a monopolist4 ,the navigation laws of ,england made its commerce4 8,st4 ,john was insulted by the ,dutch2 he came home1 got the law passed that foreign vessels should pay high fees1 and it cut the throat of the ,dutch1 and made the ,english trade40 ,if you boast of the growth of the country1 and show him the wonderful results of the census1 he finds nothing so depressing as the sight of a great mob4 ,he saw once1 as he told me1 three or four miles of human beings1 and fancied that 8the airth was some great cheese1 and these were mites40 ,if a tory takes heart at his hatred of stump-oratory and model republics1 he replies1 8,yes1 the idea of a pig-headed soldier who will obey orders1 and fire on his own father at the command of his officer1 is a great comfort to the aristocratic mind40 ,it is not so much that ,carlyle cares for this or that dogma1 as that he likes genuineness 7the source of all strength7 in his companions4 ,if a scholar goes into a camp of lumbermen or a gang of riggers1 those men will quickly detect any fault of character4 ,nothing will pass with them but what is real and sound4 ,so this man is a hammer that crushes mediocrity and retention4 ,he detects weakness on the instant1 and touches it4 ,he has a vivacious1 aggressive temperament1 and unimpressionable4 ,the literary1 the fashionable1 the political man1 each fresh from triumphs in his own sphere1 comes eagerly to see this man1 whose fun they have heartily enjoyed1 sure of a welcome1 and are struck with despair at the first onset4 ,his firm1 victorious1 scoffing vituperation strikes them with chill and hesitation4 ,his talk often reminds you of what was said of ,johnson3 8,if his pistol missed fire he would knock you down with the butt-end40 ,mere intellectual partisanship wearies him2 he detects in an instant if a man stands for any cause to which he is not born and organically committed4 ,a natural defender of anything1 a lover who will live and die for that which he speaks for1 and who does not care for him or for anything but his own business1 he respects2 and the nobler this object1 of course1 the better4 ,he hates a literary trifler1 and if1 after ,guizot had been a tool of ,louis ,philippe for years1 he is now to come and write essays on the character of ,washington1 on 8,the ,beautiful10 and on 8,philosophy of ,history10 he thinks that nothing4 ,great is his reverence for realities1--for all such traits as spring from the intrinsic nature of the actor4 ,he humors this into the idolatry of strength4 ,a strong nature has a charm for him1 previous1 it would seem1 to all inquiry whether the force be divine or diabolic4 ,he preaches1 as by cannonade1 the doctrine that every noble nature was made by ,god1 and contains1 if savage passions1 also fit checks and grand impulses1 and1 however extravagant1 will keep its orbit and return from far4 ,nor can that decorum which is the idol of the ,englishman1 and in attaining which the ,englishman exceeds all nations1 win from him any obeisance4 ,he is eaten up with indignation against such as desire to make a fair show in the flesh4 ,combined with this warfare on respectabilities1 and1 indeed1 pointing all his satire1 is the severity of his moral sentiment4 ,in proportion to the peals of laughter amid which he strips the plumes of a pretender and shows the lean hypocrisy to every vantage of ridicule1 does he worship whatever enthusiasm1 fortitude1 love1 or other sign of a good nature is in a man4 ,there is nothing deeper in his constitution than his humor1 than the considerate1 condescending good-nature with which he looks at every object in existence1 as a man might look at a mouse4 ,he feels that the perfection of health is sportiveness1 and will not look grave even at dullness or tragedy4 ,his guiding genius is his moral sense1 his perception of the sole importance of truth and justice2 but that is a truth of character1 not of catechisms4 ,he says1 8,there is properly no religion in ,england4 ,these idle nobles at ,tattersall's--there is no work or word of serious purpose in them2 they have this great lying ,church2 and life is a humbug40 ,he prefers ,cambridge to ,oxford1 but he thinks ,oxford and ,cambridge education indurates the young men1 as the ,styx hardened ,achilles1 so that when they come forth of them1 they say1 8,now we are proof2 we have gone through all the degrees1 and are case-hardened against the veracities of the ,universe2 nor man nor ,god can penetrate us40 ,wellington he respects as real and honest1 and as having made up his mind1 once for all1 that he will not have to do with any kind of a lie4 ,edwin ,chadwick is one of his heroes1--who proposes to provide every house in ,london with pure water1 sixty gallons to every head1 at a penny a week2 and in the decay and downfall of all religions1 ,carlyle thinks that the only religious act which a man nowadays can securely perform is to wash himself well4 ,of course the new ,french revolution of #ahdh was the best thing he had seen1 and the teaching this great swindler1 ,louis ,philippe1 that there is a ,god's justice in the ,universe1 after all1 was a great satisfaction4 ,czar ,nicholas was his hero2 for in the ignominy of ,europe1 when all thrones fell like card-houses1 and no man was found with conscience enough to fire a gun for his crown1 but every one ran away in a coucou1 with his head shaved1 through the ,barrire de ,passy1 one man remained who believed he was put there by ,god ,almighty to govern his empire1 and1 by the help of ,god1 had resolved to stand there4 ,he was very serious about the bad times2 he had seen this evil coming1 but thought it would not come in his time4 ,but now 'tis coming1 and the only good he sees in it is the visible appearance of the gods4 ,he thinks it the only question for wise men1 instead of art and fine fancies and poetry and such things1 to address themselves to the problem of society4 ,this confusion is the inevitable end of such falsehoods and nonsense as they have been embroiled with4 ,carlyle has1 best of all men in ,england1 kept the manly attitude in his time4 ,he has stood for scholars1 asking no scholar what he should say4 ,holding an honored place in the best society1 he has stood for the people1 for the ,chartist1 for the pauper1 intrepidly and scornfully teaching the nobles their peremptory duties4 ,his errors of opinion are as nothing in comparison with this merit1 in my judgment4 ,this aplomb cannot be mimicked2 it is the speaking to the heart of the thing4 ,and in ,england1 where the morgue of aristocracy has very slowly admitted scholars into society1--a very few houses only in the high circles being ever opened to them1--he has carried himself erect1 made himself a power confessed by all men1 and taught scholars their lofty duty4 ,he never feared the face of man4 ,,footnotes3 ,footnote #ag3 ,from a letter written soon after ,mr4 ,emerson's visit to ,carlyle in #ahdh4 ,read before the ,massachusetts ,historical ,society at their meeting after the death of ,carlyle1 ,february1 #ahha4 ,published in their ,proceedings1 and also in 8,scribner's ,magazine10 ,may1 #ahha4 ,,transcriber',s ,,notes ,simple typographical errors have been silently corrected2 unbalanced quotation marks were remedied when the change was obvious1 and otherwise left unbalanced4 ,punctuation and spelling were made consistent when a predominant preference was found in the original book2 otherwise they were not changed4 ,inconsistent hyphens left as printed4