ARNOLD'S VIEW OF EMERSON AND CAELYLE 149 



"make what contortions he will, can only bring to 

 light his own individuality." Of men of the Emer- 

 sonian and Wordsworthian stamp, this is preemi- 

 nently true; and it is this which finally interests us 

 and gives the totality of impression in their works. 

 The flavor of character is over all; the features of 

 the man are stamped upon every word. From this 

 point of view, much faultless and forcible writing 

 — the writer always under the sway of Arnold's law 

 of pure and flawless workmanship — is destitute of 

 intrinsic style, because it is destitute of individual- 

 ity. In the case of Emerson, the only new thing in 

 the book is the man; this is the surprising discov- 

 ery, but this makes all things new; we see the 

 world through a new personal medium. 



Everything Emerson wrote belongs to literature, 

 and to literature in its highest and most serious 

 mood. If not a great man of letters, then a great 

 man speaking through letters, and delivering him- 

 self with a charm and a dignity few have equaled. 

 We cannot deny him literary honors, though we 

 honor him for much more than his literary accom- 

 plishments. No more could a bird fly without 

 wings than could Emerson's thought have reached 

 and moved Arnold, in his early Oxford days, with- 

 out rare qualities of literary style. 



All Emerson's aspirations were toward greatness 

 of character, greatness of wisdom, nobility of soul. 

 Hence, in all his writings and speakings, the great 

 man shines through and eclipses the great writer. 

 The flavor of character is stronger than the flavor of 

 letters, and dominates the pages. 



