248 INDOOE STUDIES 



restore me to my proper atmosphere. But to this 

 day I am aware that a suggestion, of Emerson's 

 manner often crops out in my writings. His mind 

 was the firmer, harder substance, and was bound to 

 leave its mark upon my own. But, in any case, 

 my debt to him is great. He helped me to better 

 literary expression, he quickened my perception of 

 the beautiful, he stimulated and fertilized my reli- 

 gious nature. Unless one is naturally more or less 

 both of a religious and of a poetic turn, the writings 

 of such men as Emerson and Carlyle are mainly lost 

 upon him. Two thirds of the force of these writers, 

 at least, is directed into these channels. It is the 

 quality of their genius, rather than the scope and 

 push of their minds, that endears them to us. 

 They quicken the conscience and stimulate the 

 character as well as correct the taste. They are 

 not the spokesmen of science or the reason, but of 

 the soul. 



About this period I fell ia with Thoreau's " Wal- 

 den," but I am not conscious of any great debt to 

 Thoreau : I had begun to write upon outdoor themes 

 before his books fell into my hands, but he un- 

 doubtedly helped confirm me in my own direction. 

 He was the intellectual child of Emerson, but 

 added a certain crispness and pungency, as of wild 

 roots and herbs, to the urbane philosophy of his 

 great neighbor. But Thoreau had one trait which 

 I always envied him, namely, his indifference to 

 human beings. He seems to have been as insensi- 

 ble to people as he was open and hospitable to 



