CONTENTS. RALPH WALDO EMERSON:-His Life, Genius, and Writings: I A Biographical Sketch LETTER TO THe Rev. Dr. SpRAGUE, with Reminiscences of the Rev. Ezra Ripley, D.D., 1848 LETTERS TO ALEX. IRELAND, 1833 to 1873 TRIBUTES TO EMERSON: Addresses by Dr. Ellis, Judge Hoar, and Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, at the Meeting Emerson at Home, Sketches by G. W. Curtis, A. B. "Emerson and Carlyle," by J. R. Lowell Articles on Emerson in English and American Periodicals 334 RALPH WALDO EMERSON. HE grave has scarcely closed over the THE remains of the great man whose renown all over the world is more firmly established than that of any Englishman of his time,* when the news comes to us that the foremost thinker and philosopher of America has joined the ranks of the majority. America has produced great soldiers, distinguished men of science, and poets of worldwide fame, but it is not too much to say that since the Declaration of Independence no man has so powerfully influenced the intellect of the nation as Ralph Waldo Emerson. On Thursday night, April 27th, at nine o'clock, at his house in Concord, Mass., surrounded by those dearest to him, this great man B * Charles Darwin died April 19th, 1882. peaceably departed. He leaves a widow, a son— parted. Dr. Edward Emerson, of Concord, and two daughters. The eldest, Ellen his devoted and helpful companion whenever he left home, his amanuensis in later years, and, as he sometimes lovingly called her, his "memory "-is unmarried. The youngest, Edith, is married to Colonel W. H. Forbes, of Milton Hill, Mass., and has several children. When they visited England in 1872, bringing their children with them, Mr. Carlyle sat for a likeness, with Emerson's grandson, Ralph, then a fine boy of twelve or thirteen, standing by his knee. Ralph Waldo Emerson, the most original and independent thinker and greatest moral teacher that America has produced, was born at Boston on May 25th, 1803. He was a legitimate product of Puritanism As far back as his family is traced it has been represented by ministers of the old faith of New England, the founder of it having voyaged thither with his congregation from Gloucestershire, in England, in 1635, and each of these ministers was associated with some phase of that faith, whether Calvinism, Universalism, or Unitarianism. He sprang on both sides from clerical stock, and his ancestry forms an indispensable explanation and background of every page of his 1. writings. (The Emerson family were intellectual, eloquent, with a strong individuality of character, robust and vigorous in their thinking-practical and philanthropic. (His father was the Rev. William Emerson, pastor of the First (Unitarian) Church of Boston, and was noted for his vigorous mind, earnestness of purpose, and gentleness of manner. The boy lost his father when he was but eight years old. His mother was described as "a woman of great sensibility, modest, serene, and very devout. She was possessed of a thoroughly sincere nature, devoid of all sentimentalism, and of a temper the most even and placid-(one of her sons said that in his boyhood, when she came from her room in the morning, it seemed to him as if she always came from communion with God)-possessed great patience and fortitude, had the serenest trust in God, was of a discerning spirit, and a most courteous bearing, one who knew how to guide the affairs of her house, and to exercise the sweetest authority. Both her mind and her character were of a superior order, and they set their stamp upon manners of peculiar softness and natural grace and quiet dignity. Her sensible and kindly speech was always as good as the best instruction; her smile, though it was ever ready, was a reward. Her dark, liquid eyes, from which old age did not take away |