he can not consent to leave his tasks for the work in which his zealous friend would engage him. He says that even Boston would serve the things of daily life, and forget all but the material ends of existence; and declares that "Things are of the snake." So long as the spirit of reform was low, there was no hope; and he must rest his faith in the divine fires within the souls of men, which can not be quenched. Seeing the evils and corruptions of the time, he lost faith in the state and in all outward methods of growth and moral power. His own method, his own faith, was this: "Let man serve law for man, Live for friendship, live for love, As the agitation proceeded, and brave men took- part in it, and it rose to a spirit of moral grandeur, he gave a heartier assent to the outward methods adopted. His faith in Brown, his immediate insight into the rare qualities of that true hero, gave him a greater zeal and a larger confidence in the spirit and purposes of the North. Few literary men, with natures so meditative and withdrawn from all material pursuits, have given so much thought and effort to such a cause. A student, a poet, a seer, the spiritual interpreter of our times, with no capacity for joining in the conflicts of men, he yet looked with eager eyes upon every phase of this great movement, watched it with growing hope, had faith in the triumph of freedom and love, gave such aid as he could and all his sympathies, to those seeking the emancipation of the poor and oppressed. THE XI. IN WAR-TIME. HE hour of peril to great truths is the hour that tries men's souls. The peril to liberty Emerson plainly saw as slavery gained in power, and as compromise after compromise was made to it. He was no leader in the actual strife, but his spoken and printed. word became plainer and more pertinent to the hour as the years went on and the peril deepened. He took part in January, 1861, at the annual meeting of the Massachusetts Anti-slavery Society, in Boston. The speakers were often disturbed by a mob, and it was with great difficulty they could be heard. Emerson was frequently interrupted by hisses and other demonstrations of disapproval. He said that slavery is based on a crime of that fatal character that it decomposes men. 66 "The barbarism which has lately appeared wherever that question has been touched, and in the action of the states where it prevails, seems to stupefy the moral sense. The moral injury of slavery is infinitely greater than its pecuniary and political injury. I really do not think the pecuniary mischief of slavery, which is always shown by statistics, worthy to be named in comparison with this power to subvert the reason of men; so that those who speak of it, who defend it, who act in its behalf, seem to have lost the moral sense.' In speaking of the threatened secession, he used these emphatic words, appropriate for the hour and occasion: "In the great action now pending, all the forbearance, all the discretion possible, and yet all the firmness will be used by the rep 1 In Harper's Monthly for May, 1881, M D. Conway describes a visit to Carlyle, and the reading of a letter "the Chelsea sage' " had just received from Emerson, who took him to task for his criticisms of the American people. resentatives of the North, and by the people at home. No man of patriotism, no man of natural sentiment, can undervalue the sacred Union which we possess; but if it is sundered, it will be because it had already ceased to have a vital tension. The action of to-day is only the ultimatum of what had already occurred. The bonds had ceased to exist, because of this vital defect of slavery at the South, actually separating them in sympathy, in thought, in character, from the people of the North; and then, if the separation had gone thus far, what is the use of a pretended tie? As to concessions, we have none to make. The monstrous concession made at the formation of the Constitution is all that ever can be asked; it has blocked the civilization and humanity of the times to this day." He The war made a great impression on him, and gave him a stronger faith in mankind. He found the people truer than he had expected, and was alike astonished and gladdened by the uprising at the North. It gave him a new idea of the relations of men to each other, of the value of the state, and of the solidarité of the race. During the earlier part of the war he spoke often on Sundays for Theodore Parker's society. After the battle of Bull Run, in a lecture delivered there, he said the judgment of God had come upon the people for their sins; but he said the struggle for freedom was developing a heroism and a moral grandeur noble to see. had despaired of the nation before; but now he saw a purpose and devotion real and sublime, the promise of a better time to come. He said the people must be reverent and considerate and humble, under the circumstances of this judgment, and spoke with great confidence of Mr. Lincoln and his ability. In other lectures, at this time, he expressed his confidence in the idea of the Union and his new hope for the principles of the Republic. He was touched by the eagerness and discretion of the young men, the pure patriotism and consecration which was shown in so many instances, and the moral devotion of the people. As never before, he came to have faith in his country, to believe in her ideas, and to trust her future. He saw a new promise for morality and ideas in the heroic spirit of the North, and found himself in the fullest sympathy with the purposes of the hour. In February, 1862, he was invited to Washington to give an anti-slavery lecture. He spoke in the Smithsonian-Institution building, on American Civilization, to a very large audience. Lincoln and his cabinet, and most of the other official persons in the capital, attended. Lincoln was much impressed by the lecture; and the next day Seward introduced him to Emerson. They had a long conference on the subject of slavery. The impression this lecture made was thus described by a local newspaper: "The audience received it, as they have the other anti-slavery lectures of the course, with unbounded enthusiasm. It was in many respects a wonerful lecture; and those who have often heard Mr. Emerson said it was one of his very best efforts, and that he seemed inspired through nearly the whole of it, especially the part referring to slavery and the war." In this lecture1 Emerson gave a sketch of the influences that go to the production of civilization, and said it "implies a facility of association, power to compare, the ceasing from fixed ideas." It is always the result of growth caused by some "novelty that astounds the mind, and provokes it to dare to change." Of the aids to development have been proximity to the sea-shore, climate, position of woman, and diffusion of knowledge. He pointed out the influence of material causes, even though so often dwelling upon the power of ideas. He says "the effect of a framed or stone house is immense on the tranquillity, power, and refinement of the builder. The road is a benefactor, missionary, wealthbringer, maker of markets, and a vent for industry. We must all the time depend on the elements, use their power, and get the aid of their strength. When we learn to use the elements, to secure their aid in doing our work, propelling our ships, and in sending our mes sages, then civilization has been made fully possible. Complexity of organization, making a close dependence of all parts of society on all others, produces civilization. There can, however, be no high civility without a deep morality; and on that civilization depends. As our 1 Printed in the Atlantic Monthly for April, 1862. physical success depends on our implicit acceptance of the laws of nature, so our moral success depends on our acceptance of principles. We must hitch our wagon to a star, and work for those interests which the divinities honor and promote, justice, love, freedom, knowledge, utility. The true test of civilization is the kind of man the country turns out. There is an immense material advantage and prosperity possessed by this country; but the industry, skill, sobriety, and morality of the people are a better promise. The appearance of great men, the movement of great ideas, overtops in importance all mechanical advancement. The country where knowledge can not be diffused, where liberty is attacked and woman not respected, is not civil, but barbarous; and no advantages of soil, climate, or coast can resist these suicidal mischiefs. He then turned to the Southern States, showed that they had trampled on morality, in denying a man's right to labor. The power and advantages of labor were shown, and its importance as an element of civilization. Two states of civilization, the one respecting labor, and the other based on slavery, we have tried to hold together. They do not agree, and all are anxious over the aspects of the war. America means opportunity, the last effort of Divine Providence in behalf of the human race; and a slavish following of precedents should not guide its destinies. The evil contended against has taken alarming proportions, and we must strike directly at the cause. The dangers have been clearly shown, there have been warnings enough. Slavery concealed nothing, and we knew where it would lead. "In this national crisis, it is not argument that we want, but that rare courage which dares commit itself to a principle, believing that nature is its ally, and will create the instruments it requires, and more than make good any petty and injurious profit · which it may disturb. There never was such a combination as this of ours, and the rules to meet it are not set down in any history. We want men of original perception and original action, who can open their eyes wider than to a nationality, namely, to a |