"EMERSON, THE NEW ENGLAND PROPHET."

Otago Witness, Issue 2579, 19 August 1903, Page 16

"EMERSON, THE NEW ENGLAND PROPHET."

LECTURE BY SIR ROBERT STOUT, j As was anticipated, the hall of St. j Andrew's Church wag crowded on Thursday ' evening, when Sir Robert Stout delivered a | lecture on the "subject of' "Emerson, the j New England Prophet." The Rev. Dr Waddell picsidsd, and felicitously intro- | duced the speaker. ' Sir Robert Stout dealt with the subject ' in a way that must have delighted all lovers of Emerson, and have gone far to win him more disciples. Looking, he said, into the i history of our race, the men that had had , the best influence on the best of mankind [ had been those who were called prophets or > beers, and the fame of tht-=e wise lucn , would live when that of meie mouey-seekers : was forgotten. Let them but look .at the names that had survived in Greece, in China, and in a.l nations. These prophets . were inspired men with a message for j humanity, and belonged to all humanity j and not to one race or dime. In America one appeared 100 years ago— Ralph Waldo Euicrboji. — unique in his iufluei^-j amoiif* the society of gifted men m Boston, and wiio?e message was heaid and leoeived far beyond America. Who had not met yonie- | one who had bpc-n stimulated by his works? But his personslity was greater than his ' booki. The lecturer quoted many eminent , writers who bore testimony to Emerson's charm of personality. Carlyle was greatly ! impressed by hiiri « hen Kmci-ion u>iie<l him, and the lattrr uiiT-t indeed have ma<lo [ a good nnijre^=:on. for Einer-oa said, " Carlj'le is s.o amiable that I love h'in," and some M»itor<- did not have the t-aine expe-ricnte. J. R. Lowell said • "Ihere is no man living to •••■horn a.s a writer many of , v- feel and thankfully acknowledge so great j nn iudebtednci-i for noble impulse": : we look unon him a,* one of the few men of genius our race has produced, and tln-io is no better testimony than his ma=terly ' power of fecuudating other minds." Emer- j son captivated the British aristocrat as well as the simplest workman. He towered among intellectual giants, and all who came into contact with him fell under his spell. Oliver Wendell Holme? said a child's education should begin 200 year-, before it was i born. Emotion's began about that time, j said the lecturer, for he had eight generations of thinking, high-minded clergymen j sis his ancestors. His father «as pallor of

the Harvard Unitarian Church, and later was appointed to a church in Boston, but died when Emerson was eight years old, and left the family very poor. .Emerson's grandfather used to pray that pone of the family might lie wealthy.' This prayer was fulfilled. Emerson's mother was obliged to keep a boarding-house, and her five sons acted as her domestic servants. Ralph and Edward Emerson had but one overcoat between them, a subject of derision among their follows. Emer-on, however, at length got to Harvard University, but always in poverty. There he> was appointed" the President's freshman, and later on secured the appointment of waiter (so saving board). I Then he secured a £10 scholarship, and gradually, by self-help and reliance, tho family were able to live comfortably. Emerson's university career was not brilliant. He was not strong physically, and was modest and retiring. He impressed his companions with his sweetness and life. I He next went school-teaching, and made it i. pay; but was determined to be a Unitarian - minister, and at 20 began to study theology. After three yenrs he was licensed to preach, j aud in 1829 was installed as minister of the I socond church in Boston, marrying in the s.a:ne year. His ministry was a success; he was beloved by his parishioners, and hi 3 pulpit ministrations were delightful. Like his father, he was on the side of liberty, and his church was the first in Boston where an an ti -slavery lecture was delivered, ir 1837. Then came a crisis in lis life. His wife died, and he resigned nis pulpit, feeling dii»inclinod to conduct th,e communion service, and charges of heresy were in the air. After his resignation all kiuds of charges were made against him, but William Taylor, a lesdmg Methodist preacher in Boston, knen his worth when he said : "If Emerson to hell he will change the climate there, and the tide of immigration will iet that way.' 1 The year later Emerson failed for Europe to see the writer in the Edinburgh Re\iews, whom he called his *" Germanic new light." ThL? was Thomas Caclylr-., but Einer=on reached Europe before he knew his name. Carlyla called hi 3 \isicor "a supernal virion." Emerson a!=o fir. « visited Landor, Coleridge, and 'Wordsworth, but Carlyle mc-t impressed him. On his reiurn to Boston he be-gan a new career, at the age of about 30 : henceforth lie was to be a lecturer and writer. His iifo hold two aspects— tho man of action and the man of thought. His activity was not confined to lecturing, but ha took part in social work, founding societies aud -journals, protesting against wrongs to Cherokee Indiana, etc., and in tho anti-slavery que?lion ho took a very decided course, and but for his efforts Lincoln could not have i=sued his famous emancipation proclamation Such examples of Emerson's activity i- he wed that he vas no mere traiisee-n-cl--Mitali->t, ever looking at the star.3. His literary work was not large. Looking a.t volume 121 of Hansard from July 2 to August 16, 1902, Hie lecturer raid 'he found Emcraou's literary work would not amount to more than a quarter of that volume, and that work extended over 50 years. Enieiton lived Ull 1882, nearly reaching his seventy-ninth year. The far-reaching influence of .his work it was almost impossible to cftimate His poems were full of thought, aud the verification «as limpid.

He was correctly called "a pcet but not a singer." What ende-ared him to rho world was the performance of hia prophetic function and his great moral teaching. Inspiration was in all his pages, and if he hadlaid all tho literatures untkr contribution, ha was still original. The lecturer drew spe-o:al attention to two of Emerson's works, "English Traits" and "Conduct of Life" (by Carlylo considered his greatest work). , Emerson, be said, paid a second visit to1 England, seeing on that occasion many distinguished men. He loved the English, and . after his review of English traits, came to I the conclusion England was still the best of 1 nations. This, however, was nearly 60 years* ago. The lecturer also quoted from tho essay on " Culture." " Trust in Yourself," he said, was Emerson's messago to humanity. We had ne-?d of an Emerson nowadays. Men were struggling and striving after ■wealth, position, and renown, and too oftea their methods were not moial. "Hitch you? waggo,n to a star," was j3nierson's advice. It was a century since ac was born and 21 years Bince he passed away, but .the memory of Emerson remained, and would remain. At Hi© conclusion of the lecture, which, was followed by prolonged applause, the Chairman, on behalf of the oommittee of tli© Walker Street Free Readiug Room and! Mission Hall (to whicii the prcce-eds are to be devoted), and on behalf of the audience, conveyed to .Sir Robert Sfcout a very heartyvote of thanks for his kindness in lecturing for them.

A small syndicate is being formed in, Tima.ru to provide funde to prospect, by boring, some coal measures at the foot of the Hunters Hilk, behind Makikihi. There are indications of coal, fireclay, and building sandstone. Some rough pottery specimens that have been burned indicate that Borne of the clays, of which there is a large quatity, are eminently suitable for making sanitary pipes, burning hard and glazing well.

Chief-detective M'Grath said in the Wellington Magistrate's Court on Monday morning that droves of racecourse '" gucssers," spielers, and various other species of rogues duly qualified to coma under the Vagrant Act were arriving in. Wellington, and the police intended to make things so interesting for them that they would fitop using tl>e city as a. eanlva of operations. James M'MiUau, a smartVydros'jod young follow, Was the case in point, and he was sentenced to thrc-a months' imprisonment for being an idle and disorderly person with no lawful visible means of support.

Advice ao Mothers. — Aie you broken in ycur rest by a sick cliiUl suffering with tho pain of cutting teeth? Go at once to a. chemist and get a bottle of Mrs "Winslow's Soothing Syrup. It will relieve the poop sufferer immediately. It is perfectly haxmlesa and pleasant to ■taste, it produces natural, quiet sleep, by relieving the child from pain, and tho little cherub awakes "as bright a3 a. button." It soothe? the child, it softens tba gums, allays all pain, relieves wind, regulates ,he bowels, and is the best-known remedy for dysentery and diarrhoea, whether arising from; teething or other can -as. Jin Wmslow'a Soothing Syrup is sold by Medicine dealers every T^hcre,