Emerson's Essays Part 8

[Footnote 326: Plutarch. (See note 264.)]

[Footnote 327: Brasidas. This hero, described by Plutarch, was a Spartan general who lived about four hundred years before Christ.]

[Footnote 328: Dion. A Greek philosopher who ruled the city of Syracuse in the fourth century before Christ.]

[Footnote 329: Epaminondas. A Greek general and statesman of the fourth century before Christ.]

[Footnote 330: Scipio. (See note 205.)]

[Footnote 331: Stoicism. The stern and severe philosophy taught by the Greek philosopher Zeno; he taught that men should always seek virtue and be indifferent to pleasure and happiness. This belief, carried to the extreme of severity, exercised a great influence on many n.o.ble Greeks and Romans.]

[Footnote 332: Heroism is an obedience, etc. In one of his poems Emerson says: "So nigh is grandeur to our dust, So near is G.o.d to man, When Duty whispers low, 'Thou must,' The youth replies, 'I can.'"

[Footnote 333: Plotinus. An Egyptian philosopher who taught in Rome during the third century. It was said that he so exalted the mind that he was ashamed of his body.]

[Footnote 334: Indeed these humble considerations, etc. The pa.s.sage, like many which Emerson quotes, is rendered inexactly. The Prince says to Poins: "Indeed these humble considerations make me out of love with my greatness. What a disgrace it is to me to remember thy name! or to know thy face to-morrow! or to take note how many pairs of silk stockings thou hast, that is, these and those that were thy peach-colored ones! or to bear the inventory of thy shirts, as, one for superfluity and another for use!" Shakespeare's Henry IV., Part II. 2, 2.]

[Footnote 335: Ibn Hankal. Ibn Hankul, an Arabian geographer and traveler of the tenth century. He wrote an account of his twenty years' travels in Mohammedan countries; in 1800 this was translated into English by Sir William Jones under the t.i.tle of _The Oriental Geography of Ibn Hankal_. In that volume this anecdote is told in slightly different words.]

[Footnote 336: Bokhara. Where is Bokhara? It corresponds to the ancient Sogdiana.]

[Footnote 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.]

[Footnote 338: John Eliot. Give as full an account as you can of the life and works of this n.o.ble Apostle to the Indians of the seventeenth century.]

[Footnote 339: King David, etc. See First Chronicles, 11, 15-19.]

[Footnote 340: Brutus. Marcus Junius Brutus, a Roman patriot of the first century before Christ, who took part in the a.s.sa.s.sination of Julius Caesar.]

[Footnote 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 Ca.s.sius was defeated by Octavius and Antony, friends of Caesar.]

[Footnote 342: Euripides. A Greek tragic poet of the fifth century before Christ.]

[Footnote 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 pa.s.s his vote upon me.' Having thus said, he went his way; and the people followed him, leaving his accusers declaiming to themselves."]

[Footnote 344: Socrates. (See note 187.)]

[Footnote 345: Prytaneum. A public hall at Athens.]

[Footnote 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."]

[Footnote 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.]

[Footnote 348: Epaminondas. (See note 329.)]

[Footnote 349: Olympus. A mountain of Greece, the summit of which, according to Greek mythology, was the home of the G.o.ds.]

[Footnote 350: Jerseys. Consult a history of the United States for a full account of Washington's campaign in New Jersey.]

[Footnote 351: Milton. (See note 151.)]

[Footnote 352: Pericles. A famous Greek statesman of the fifth century before Christ, in whose age Athens was preeminent in naval and military affairs and in letters and art.]

[Footnote 353: Xenophon. A Greek historian of the fourth century before Christ.]

[Footnote 354: Columbus. Give an account of his life.]

[Footnote 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."]

[Footnote 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.]

[Footnote 357: Hampden. John Hampden was an English statesman and patriot who was killed in the civil war of the seventeenth century.]

[Footnote 358: Colossus. The Colossus of Rhodes was a gigantic statue--over a hundred feet in height--of the Rhodian sun G.o.d. It was one of the seven wonders of the world; it was destroyed by an earthquake about two hundred years before Christ.]

[Footnote 359: Sappho. A Greek poet of the seventh century before Christ. Her fame remains, though most of her poems have been lost.]

[Footnote 360: Sevigne. Marquise de Sevigne was a French author of the seventeenth century.]

[Footnote 361: De Stael. Madame de Stael was a French writer whose books and political opinions were condemned by Napoleon.]

[Footnote 362: Themis. A Greek G.o.ddess. The personification of law, order, and justice.]

[Footnote 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."]

[Footnote 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.]

[Footnote 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.]

[Footnote 366: Let them rave, etc. These lines are misquoted, being evidently given from memory, from Tennyson's Dirge. In the poem occur these lines: "Let them rave. Thou wilt never raise thine head From the green that folds thy grave-- Let them rave."

MANNERS.

[Footnote 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.]

[Footnote 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.]

[Footnote 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.]

[Footnote 370: Borgoo. A province of Africa.]

[Footnote 371: Tibboos, Bornoos. Tribes of Central Africa, mentioned in Heeren's Historical Researches.]

[Footnote 372: Honors himself with architecture. Architecture was a subject in which Emerson was deeply interested. Read his poem, _The Problem_.]

[Footnote 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.]

[Footnote 374: Sir Philip Sidney. (See note 356.)]

[Footnote 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.]

[Footnote 376: Masonic sign. A sign of secret brotherhood, like the sign given by one Mason to another.]

[Footnote 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."]

[Footnote 378: Gentilesse. Gentle birth and breeding. Emerson was very fond of the pa.s.sage on "gentilesse" in Chaucer's _Wife of Bath's Tale_.]

[Footnote 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.]

[Footnote 380: G.o.d knows, etc. Why is this particularly true of a republic such as the United States?]

[Footnote 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.]

[Footnote 382: The sense of power. "I like people who can do things," wrote Emerson in his journal.]

[Footnote 383: Lundy's Lane. Give a full account of this battle in the War of 1812.]

[Footnote 384: Men of the right Caesarian pattern. Men versatile as was Julius Caesar, the Roman, famous as a general, statesman, orator, and writer.]

[Footnote 385: Timid maxim. Why does Emerson term this saying "timid"?]

[Footnote 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.]

[Footnote 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_.]

[Footnote 388: Sapor. A Persian monarch of the fourth century who defeated the Romans in battle.]

[Footnote 389: The Cid. See "Rodrigo," in Heroism, 313.]

[Footnote 390: Julius Caesar. See note on "Caesarian," 384.]

[Footnote 391: Scipio. (See note 205.)]

[Footnote 392: Alexander. Alexander, King of Macedon, surnamed the Great. In the fourth century before Christ he made himself master of the known world.]

[Footnote 393: Pericles. See note on Heroism, 352.]

[Footnote 394: Diogenes. (See note 267.)]

[Footnote 395: Socrates. (See note 187.)]

[Footnote 396: Epaminondas. (See note 329.)]

[Footnote 397: My contemporaries. Emerson probably had in mind, among others, his friend, the gentle philosopher, Th.o.r.eau.]

[Footnote 398: Fine manners. "I think there is as much merit in beautiful manners as in hard work," said Emerson in his journal.]

[Footnote 399: Napoleon. (See note 273.)]

[Footnote 400: n.o.blesse. n.o.bility. Why does Emerson use here the French word?]

[Footnote 401: Faubourg St. Germain. A once fashionable quarter of Paris, on the south bank of the Seine; it was long the headquarters of the French royalists.]

[Footnote 402: Cortez. Consult a history of the United States for an account of this Spanish soldier, the conqueror of Mexico.]

[Footnote 403: Nelson. Horatio Nelson, an English admiral, who won many great naval victories and was killed in the battle of Trafalgar in 1805.]

[Footnote 404: Mexico. The scene of Cortez's victories.]

[Footnote 405: Marengo. The scene of a battle in Italy in 1800, in which Napoleon defeated the Austrians with a larger army and made himself master of northern Italy.]

[Footnote 406: Trafalgar. A cape on the southern coast of Spain, the scene of Nelson's last great victory, in which the allied French and Spanish fleets were defeated.]

[Footnote 407: Mexico, Marengo, and Trafalgar. Is this the order in which you would expect these words to occur? Why not?]

[Footnote 408: Estates of the realm. Orders or cla.s.ses of people with regard to political rights and powers. In modern times, the n.o.bility, the clergy, and the people are called "the three estates."]

[Footnote 409: Tournure. Figure; turn of dress,--and so of mind.]

[Footnote 410: Coventry. It is said that the people of Coventry, a city in England, at one time so disliked soldiers that to send a military man there meant to exclude him from social intercourse; hence the expression "to send to Coventry" means to exclude from society.]

[Footnote 411: "If you could see Vich Ian Vohr with his tail on." Vich Ian Vohr is a Scotch chieftain in Scott's novel, Waverley. One of his dependents says to Waverley, the young English officer: "If you Saxon duinhe-wa.s.sal [English gentleman] saw but the Chief with his tail on." "With his tail on?" echoed Edward in some surprise. "Yes--that is, with all his usual followers when he visits those of the same rank." See Waverley, chapter 16.]

[Footnote 412: Mercuries. The word here means simply messengers. According to Greek mythology, Mercury was the messenger of the G.o.ds.]

[Footnote 413: Herald's office. In England the Herald's College, or College of Arms, is a royal corporation the chief business of which is to grant armorial bearings, or coats of arms, and to trace and preserve genealogies. What does Emerson mean by comparing certain circles of society to this corporation?]

[Footnote 414: Amphitryon. Host; it came to have this meaning from an incident in the story of Amphitryon, a character in Greek legend. At one time Jupiter a.s.sumed the form of Amphitryon and gave a banquet. The real Amphitryon came in and a.s.serted that he was master of the house. In the French play, founded on this story, the question is settled by the a.s.sertion of the servants and guests that "he who gives the feast is the host."]

[Footnote 415: Tuileries. An old royal residence in Paris which was burned in 1871.]

[Footnote 416: Escurial, or escorial. A celebrated royal edifice near Madrid in Spain.]

[Footnote 417: Hide ourselves as Adam, etc. See Genesis iii. 8.]

[Footnote 418: Cardinal Caprara. An Italian cardinal, Bishop of Milan, who negotiated the famous concordat of 1801, an agreement between the Church and State regulating the relations between civil and ecclesiastical powers.]

[Footnote 419: The pope. Pope Pius VII.]

[Footnote 420: Madame de Stael. (See note 361.)]

[Footnote 421: Mr. Hazlitt. William Hazlitt, an English writer.]