crude mass of facts and i)lienoinena, when one can directly seize their es- 

 sence and meaning, as the evening wind seizes the fragrance of a whole 

 meadow full of flowers, without disturbing root, stalk or petal? 



I believe the first appearance of Mr. Emerson's jiame in the Proceed- 

 ings of this Society, since his election to membership, is in the announce- 

 ment of his death. But he was one of the few Americans who have de- 

 servedly gained the name of a philosopher, in both its original and its ac- 

 quired sense. A lover of wisdom, he also searches with keen insight be- 

 hind phenomena into the mystery of causation and the vmity of law; and 

 he converts all knowledge into value by showing its uses in the pro- 

 duction and perfecting of the ideal life. "To live with the gods" and 

 " to keep the divinity within us free from harm," was the lofty aspiration 

 of ancient wisdom ; and "the science of living " has not yet advanced 

 beyond these maxims of the Stoics, which seem identical in purpose with 

 the Hebrew and Christian ideal of a pure heart and a life fashioned in the 

 image of the Highest. Though our great good friend has not wrought as 

 an organizer of knowledge, he has accomplished the larger work of pro- 

 foundly stimulating the human mind and turning it to noble pursuits; and 

 he has illuminated the whole field of research. Structure in his view was 

 always inferior to function, and function to purpose or spirit. As an in- 

 terview^er of nature and of the soul, his olfice was to report — to interpret the 

 universe to man, and man to himself. In all this there are no finalities ; 

 since, as J. S. Mill remarks, "On all great subjects there is always some- 

 thing more to be said." But many a coming seer will find a fountain of 

 light for cleansing his eyes from earth-dust in the rays that stream from 

 the mind of Ralph Waldo Emerson. 



Stated Meetiu'j, Nov. 17, 1882. 



Present, 9 members. 



Vice-President, Mr. Pkice, in the Chair. 



Letters of acknowledgment were received from the Koyal 

 Society, Upsal (xv., 3; 104-108^; Swiss Society of Natural 

 Science (107, 108); Society of Physics and Natural History, 

 Geneva (xv., 3; 106-108; List of Members); Royal Society of 

 London (xv., 3; 107-109); and Cincinnati Observatory (65- 

 80, 88, 92, 107, 110). 



Letters of Envoy were received from the Royal Academy 

 of Stockholm ; Royal Society of Upsal, dated June 15, 1882 ; 



