Emerson's Essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson (book series to read txt) 📖
- Author: Ralph Waldo Emerson
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[336] Bokhara. Where is Bokhara? It corresponds to the ancient Sogdiana.
[337] Bannocks. Thick cakes, made usually of oatmeal. What does Emerson mean by this sentence? Probably no person ever met his visitors, many of whom were "exacting and wearisome," and must have been unwelcome, with more perfect courtesy and graciousness than Emerson.
[338] John Eliot. Give as full an account as you can of the life and works of this noble Apostle to the Indians of the seventeenth century.
[339] King David, etc. See First Chronicles, 11, 15-19.
[340] Brutus. Marcus Junius Brutus, a Roman patriot of the first century before Christ, who took part in the assassination of Julius Cæsar.
[341] Philippi. A city of Macedonia near which in the year 42 B.C. were fought two battles in which the republican army under Brutus and Cassius was defeated by Octavius and Antony, friends of Cæsar.
[342] Euripides. A Greek tragic poet of the fifth century before Christ.
[343] Scipio. (See note 205.) Plutarch in his Morals gives another version of the story: "When Paetilius and Quintus accused him of many crimes before the people; 'on this very day,' he said, 'I conquered Hannibal and Carthage. I for my part am going with my crown on to the Capitol to sacrifice; and let him that pleaseth stay and pass his vote upon me.' Having thus said, he went his way; and the people followed him, leaving his accusers declaiming to themselves."
[344] Socrates. (See note 187.)
[345] Prytaneum. A public hall at Athens.
[346] Sir Thomas More. An English statesman and author who was beheaded in 1535 on a charge of high treason. The incident to which Emerson refers is one which showed his "pleasant wit" undisturbed by the prospect of death. As the executioner was about to strike, More moved his head carefully out of reach of the ax. "Pity that should be cut," he said, "that has never committed treason."
[347] Blue Laws. Any rigid Sunday laws or religious regulations. The term is usually applied to the early laws of New Haven and Connecticut which regulated personal and religious conduct.
[348] Epaminondas. (See note 329.)
[349] Olympus. A mountain of Greece, the summit of which, according to Greek mythology, was the home of the gods.
[350] Jerseys. Consult a history of the United States for a full account of Washington's campaign in New Jersey.
[351] Milton. (See note 151.)
[352] Pericles. A famous Greek statesman of the fifth century before Christ, in whose age Athens was preëminent in naval and military affairs and in letters and art.
[353] Xenophon. A Greek historian of the fourth century before Christ.
[354] Columbus. Give an account of his life.
[355] Bayard. Chevalier de Bayard was a French gentleman of the fifteenth century. He is the French national hero, and is called "The Knight without fear and without reproach."
[356] Sidney. Probably Sir Philip Sidney, an English gentleman and scholar of the sixteenth century who is the English national hero as Bayard is the French; another brave Englishman was Algernon Sidney, a politician and patriot of the seventeenth century.
[357] Hampden. John Hampden was an English statesman and patriot who was killed in the civil war of the seventeenth century.
[358] Colossus. The Colossus of Rhodes was a gigantic statue—over a hundred feet in height—of the Rhodian sun god. It was one of the seven wonders of the world; it was destroyed by an earthquake about two hundred years before Christ.
[359] Sappho. A Greek poet of the seventh century before Christ. Her fame remains, though most of her poems have been lost.
[360] Sevigné. Marquise de Sevigné was a French author of the seventeenth century.
[361] De Staël. Madame de Staël was a French writer whose books and political opinions were condemned by Napoleon.
[362] Themis. A Greek goddess. The personification of law, order, and justice.
[363] A high counsel, etc. Such was the advice given to the Emerson boys by their aunt, Miss Mary Moody Emerson: "Scorn trifles, lift your aims; do what you are afraid to do; sublimity of character must come from sublimity of motive." Upon her monument are inscribed Emerson's words about her: "She gave high counsels. It was the privilege of certain boys to have this immeasurably high standard indicated to their childhood, a blessing which nothing else in education could supply."
[364] Phocion. A Greek general and statesman of the fourth century before Christ who advised the Athenians to make peace with Philip of Macedon. He was put to death on a charge of treason.
[365] Lovejoy. Rev. Elijah Lovejoy, a Presbyterian clergyman of Maine who published a periodical against slavery. In 1837 an Illinois mob demanded his printing press, which he refused to give up. The building containing it was set on fire and when Lovejoy came out he was shot.
[366] Let them rave, etc. These lines are misquoted, being evidently given from memory, from Tennyson's Dirge. In the poem occur these lines:
Thou wilt never raise thine head
From the green that folds thy grave—
Let them rave."
MANNERS
[367] The essay on Manners is from the Second Series of Essays, published in 1844, three years after the First Series. The essays in this volume, like those in the first, were, for the most part, made up of Emerson's lectures, rearranged and corrected. The lecture on Manners had been delivered in the winter of 1841. He had given another lecture on the same subject about four years before, and several years later he treated of the same subject in his essay on Behavior in The Conduct of Life. You will find it interesting to read Behavior in connection with this essay.
[368] Feejee islanders. Since this essay was written, the people of the Feejee, or Fiji, Islands have become Christianized, and, to a large extent, civilized.
[369] Gournou. This description is found in A Narrative of the Operations and Recent Discoveries within the Pyramids, by Belzoni, an Italian traveler and explorer.
[370] Borgoo. A province of Africa.
[371] Tibboos, Bornoos. Tribes of Central Africa, mentioned in Heeren's Historical Researches.
[372] Honors himself with architecture. Architecture was a subject in which Emerson was deeply interested. Read his poem, The Problem.
[373] Chivalry. Chivalry may be considered "as embodying the Middle Age conception of the ideal life of ... the Knights"; the word is often used to express "the ideal qualifications of a knight, as courtesy, generosity, valor, and dexterity in arms." Fully to understand the order of Knighthood and the ideals of chivalry, you must read the history of Europe in the Middle Ages.
[374] Sir Philip Sidney. (See note 356.)
[375] Sir Walter Scott. (1771-1832). His historical novels dealing with the Middle Ages have some fine pictures of the chivalrous characters in which he delighted.
[376] Masonic sign. A sign of secret brotherhood, like the sign given by one Mason to another.
[377] Correlative abstract. Corresponding abstract name. Sir Philip Sidney, himself the ideal gentleman, used the word "gentlemanliness." He said: "Gentlemanliness is high-erected thoughts seated in a heart of courtesy."
[378] Gentilesse. Gentle birth and breeding. Emerson was very fond of the passage on "gentilesse" in Chaucer's Wife of Bath's Tale.
[379] Feudal Ages. The Middle Ages in Europe during which the feudal system prevailed. According to this, land was held by its owners on condition of certain duties, especially military service, performed for a superior lord.
[380] God knows, etc. Why is this particularly true of a republic such as the United States?
[381] The incomparable advantage of animal spirits. Why does Emerson regard this as of such importance? In his journals he frequently comments on his own lack of animal spirits, and says that it unfits him for general society and for action.
[382] The sense of power. "I like people who can do things," wrote Emerson in his journal.
[383] Lundy's Lane. Give a full account of this battle in the War of 1812.
[384] Men of the right Cæsarian pattern. Men versatile as was Julius Cæsar, the Roman, famous as a general, statesman, orator, and writer.
[385] Timid maxim. Why does Emerson term this saying "timid"?
[386] Lord Falkland. Lucius Cary, Viscount Falkland, was an English politician who espoused the royalist side; he was killed in battle in the Civil War.
[387] Saladin. A famous sultan of Egypt and Syria who lived in the twelfth century. Scott describes him as possessing an ideal knightly character and introduces him, disguised as a physician and also as a wandering soldier in his historical romance, The Talisman.
[388] Sapor. A Persian monarch of the fourth century who defeated the Romans in battle.
[389] The Cid. See "Rodrigo," in Heroism, 313.
[390] Julius Cæsar. See note on "Cæsarian," 384.
[391] Scipio. (See note 205.)
[392] Alexander. Alexander, King of Macedon, surnamed the Great. In the fourth century before Christ he made himself master of the known world.
[393] Pericles. See note on Heroism, 352.
[394] Diogenes. (See note 267.)
[395] Socrates. (See note 187.)
[396] Epaminondas. (See note 329.)
[397] My contemporaries. Emerson probably had in mind, among others, his friend, the gentle philosopher, Thoreau.
[398] Fine manners. "I think there is as much merit in beautiful manners as in hard work," said Emerson in his journal.
[399] Napoleon. (See note 273.)
[400] Noblesse. Nobility. Why does Emerson use
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