I Was Acquainted With Mr. Emerson,
And By Reputation Knew Him Well.
Among us in England he is
regarded as transcendental and perhaps even as mystic in his
philosophy.
His "Representative Men" is the work by which he is
best known on our side of the water, and I have heard some readers
declare that they could not quite understand Mr. Emerson's
"Representative Men." For myself, I confess that I had broken down
over some portions of that book. Since I had become acquainted
with him I had read others of his writings, especially his book on
England, and had found that he improved greatly on acquaintance. I
think that he has confined his mysticism to the book above named.
In conversation he is very clear, and by no means above the small
practical things of the world. He would, I fancy, know as well
what interest he ought to receive for his money as though he were
no philosopher, and I am inclined to think that if he held land he
would make his hay while the sun shone, as might any common farmer.
Before I had met Mr. Emerson, when my idea of him was formed simply
on the "Representative Men," I should have thought that a lecture
from him on the war would have taken his hearers all among the
clouds. As it was, I still had my doubts, and was inclined to fear
that a subject which could only be handled usefully at such a time
before a large audience by a combination of common sense, high
principles, and eloquence, would hardly be safe in Mr. Emerson's
hands.
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