LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE RALPH WALDO EMERSON Frontispiece From a daguerreotype in 1847, now in the pos- THE OLD MANSE From a photograph A. BRONSON ALCOTT 74 250 From a photograph in 1875 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH F there be power in good intention, in fidelity IF and in toil, the North wind shall be purer, the stars in heaven shall glow with a kindlier beam, that I have lived. I am primarily engaged to myself to be a public servant of all the gods, to demonstrate to all men that there is intelligence and good will at the heart of things, and ever higher and yet higher leadings. These are my engagements; how can your law further or hinder me in what I shall do to men? ... Wherever there are men, are the objects of my study and love. Sooner or later all men will be my friends and will testify in all methods the energy of their regards. Such is the hero's attitude in facing life, Emerson said, in one of his early lectures. After his death, forty years later, his friend Dr. Holmes in writing of him said, "Consciously or unconsciously men describe themselves in the characters they draw. One must have the mordant in his own personality or he will not take the color of his subject," and the Doctor goes on to show how well the test applies to his prose, and especially to his verse. And as for the North wind and the stars, Emerson held their |