Hegel and His New England Echo [pp. 56-61]

6o HEGEL AKD HIS NEW EKGLAKD EcHo. [April,
he says, " I become a transparent ~yeball," in his essay on Nature.
We wonder, when he wrote that, whether he was not bilious and
his "eyeball" bloodshot as he looked at it in the glass? How
can the practical and usually sensible New-Englander be enchanted by such crazy poetry as the following?
"The clouds are rich and dark, the air serene
So like tbe soul of me, what if`twere me
Was Emerson drinking when he thus could not tell whether
the clouds and the air were himself or not? No, he was a sober
man. Was he insane, or was he merely writing this transcendental stuff to make a name as an original thinker? We know
that Seneca says, "Nullum magnum ingenium sine quadam mixtura insani~." We know that men have burned temples and
leaped int~) volcanoes, impelled by a desire for notoriety, the
morganatic sister of fame. Has the New-Englander been copying Hegel for the same motive?
Saying, Sweetheart! the old mystery remains
If! am I, thou, thou or thou art I?"
If Enierson could not really tell the difference between himself
and his sweetheart, she should have boxed his ears to bring him
back to his senses and a knowledge of his distinct personality.
He should have taken counsel with his dog to get proof of the
identity about which he is always in doubt:
If it be I, he'll wag his little tail;
And if it be not I, he'll loudly bark and wail."
The dog might be a better authority than the "clouds" or the
"sweetheart."
The fact is, the New-Englander out-Hegels Hegel in fantastic
expressions. Hege 1 is dry and logical. His style is sober, his
opinions themselves are the monstrosities of his system but his
argumentation is consecutive, and he insists on convincing his
audience. Emerson disclaims any such purpose. "Do not set
the least value on what I do, or the least discredit on what I do
not, as if I pretended to settle anything as true or false. I unsettle all things. N9 facts are to me sacred; none are profane;
I simply experiment, an endless seeker, with no Past at my
back." * Here is a confession for a pretended philosopher to
make! He has nothing to give to hungering humanity. He
means to unsettle convictions, disturb the peace and happiness of
minds, and give nothing in return. He has n~ reverence for the
hoary and venerable past with its creeds and churches, some of
* Essay on Circles.