As I count it the greatest honor and happiness of my life to have known Mr. Emerson, I gladly accede to a request for such recollections as may be of interest to the young readers for whom I write.
My first remembrance is of the morning when I was sent to inquire for little Waldo, then lying very ill.
His father came to me so worn with watching and changed by sorrow that I was startled, and could only stammer out my message.
"Child, he is dead," was his answer.
Then the door closed and I ran home to tell the sad tidings. I was only eight years old, and that was my first glimpse of a great grief, but I never have forgotten the anguish that made a familiar face so tragical, and gave those few words more pathos than the sweet lamentation of the Threnody.
Later, when we went to school with the little Emersons in their father`s barn, I remember many happy times when the illustrious papa was our good playfellow.
Often piling us into a bedecked hay-cart, he took us to berry, bathe, or picnic at Walden, making our day charming and memorable by showing us the places he loved, the wood-people Thoreau had introduced to him, or the wild flowers whose hidden homes he had discovered. So that when years afterward we read of "the sweet Rhodora in the wood" and "the burly, dozy humblebee," or laughed over "The Mountain and the Squirrel," we recognized old friends, and thanked him for the delicate truth and beauty which made them immortal for us and others.
When the book-mania fell upon me at fifteen I used to venture into Mr. Emerson`s library and ask what I should read, never conscious of the audacity of my demand, so genial was my welcome.
His kind hand opened to me the riches of Shakespeare, Dante, Goethe and Carlyle, and I gratefully recall the sweet patience with which he led me round the book-lined room, till "the new and very interesting book" was found; or the indulgent smile he wore when I proposed something far above my comprehension.
"Wait a little for that," he said. "Meantime try this, and if you like it, come again."
For many of these wise books I am waiting still, very patiently, because in his own I have found the truest delight, the best inspiration of my life.
When these same precious volumes were tumbled out of the window while his house was burning some years ago, as I stood guarding the scorched, wet pile, Mr. Emerson passed by, and surveying the devastation with philosophic calmness, only said in answer to my lamentations--
"I see my library under a new aspect. Could you tell me where my good neighbors have flung my boots?"
In the tribulations of later life, this faithful house-friend was an earthly Providence, conferring favors so beautifully that they were no burden, and giving such sympathy in joy and sorrow that very tender ties were knit between this beneficent nature and the grateful hearts he made his own.
Acquaintance with such a man is an education in itself, for "the essence of greatness is the perception that virtue is enough," and living what he wrote, his influence purified and brightened like sunshine.
Many a thoughtful young man and woman owe to Emerson the spark that kindled their highest aspirations, and showed them how to make the conduct of life a helpful lesson, not a blind struggle.
"For simple maids and noble youth
Are welcome to the man of truth;
Most welcome they who need him most,
They feed the spring which they exhaust,
For greater need
Draws better deed."
He was in truth, like his own Saadi, "a cheerer of men`s hearts."
Friendship, Love, Self-Reliance, Heroism and Compensation among the essays have become to many readers as precious as Christian`s scroll, and certain poems live in the memory as sacred as hymns, so helpful and inspiring are they.
No better books for earnest young people can be found. The truest words are often the simplest, and when wisdom and virtue go hand in hand, none need fear to listen, learn and love.
The marble walk that leads to his hospitable door has been trodden by the feet of many pilgrims from all parts of the world, drawn thither by their love and reverence for him. In that famous study his town`s people have had the privilege of seeing many of file great and good men and women of our time and learning of their gracious host the finest lessons of true courtesy.
I have often seen him turn from distinguished guests, to say a wise or kindly word to some humble worshipper, sitting modestly in a corner, content merely to look and listen, and who went away to cherish that memorable moment long and gratefully,
Here, too, in the pleasant room with the green hills opposite, and the pines murmuring musically before the windows, Emerson wrote essays more helpful than most sermons; lectures which created the lyceum; poems full of power and sweetness; and better than song or sermon has lived a life so noble, true and beautiful that its wide-spreading influence is felt on both sides of the sea.
