Chapter Ralph Waldo Emerson of Index by Simonds History of American Literature

"lyceum," as it was usually called, had grown into popular esteem. Throughout New England, Mr. Emerson was looked upon as the most eminent lecturer in the field. His tours were extended through the middle west as far as St. Louis; and to this day in thriving Illinois and Indiana towns, one may hear it mentioned with complacent local pride that in such or such a year Emerson spoke there.

The Lectures.

The unmethodical manner in which these lectures were prepared is perhaps exaggerated by those who have dwelt on this feature of Emerson's work. From his commonplace book, or journal, Emerson culled the ideas, epigrammatically recorded, which touched his theme; and thus he built the discourse -- almost haphazard, it would seem to a formal writer, without the usual regard to logic or coherence in composition. Yet these sharp, short, often paradoxical sentences, weighty with truth, yet brilliant with their illuminating thought, keenly witty and delicately fanciful, made a most effective appeal to the audiences prepared to appreciate them. They stirred the minds and kindled the souls of many. It was a new voice in the land, a challenge and a prophecy, which came to have vital force in the intellectual and moral growth of thoughtful Americans in that generation.

There was no vociferousness in Emerson's lecturing. Calm, simple, almost monotonous in delivery, without gestures, he read from his notes with deliberation and with frequent pauses; but his voice was melodious and resonant, and all agree in the charm felt by his auditors. He did not prolong his discourse to weariness; at the end of the sixty minutes, without peroration, without climax, he stopped. Lecturing he found laborious; he followed it from necessity. And yet in spite of the discomforts of long journeys and of unhomelike inns, he enjoyed, too, the freedom of expression on the platform. It more than supplied the opportunities of his old Boston pulpit, and immeasurably amplified the congregation of his hearers, for to the last Mr. Emerson remained a preacher.

The Essays.

The First Series of Emerson's Essays appeared in 1841. It included these now familiar discourses: History, Self-Reliance, Compensation, Spiritual Laws, Love, Friendship, Prudence, Heroism, The Over-Soul, Circles, Intellect, and Art. These were for the most part transcripts from his lectures. The favorite doctrines appear felicitously expressed.

"Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string."

"whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist."

"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds."

"To be great is to be misunderstood."

"Insist on yourself; never imitate."¹

In such compact, oracular utterances, Emerson loved to crowd his thought. Taken from their immediate setting, they appear yet more paradoxical than when read in their connection. These brief and startling epigrams illustrate both the strength and the weakness of this author's style. Many of these statements are debatable; extreme application of every precept to the general conduct could hardly result in anything but confusion and turmoil. Nevertheless, these ideas were intensely stimulating, and if they made readers think, so much the better. Agreement with the writer's thought was by no means essential. Trust thyself! was the burden of his teaching. Even to our generation these Essays of Emerson are illuminating and quickening epistles which have their greatest value, perhaps, in arousing and confirming a wholesome independence of mind.