142 BIRBS AND POETS 



no such thing, for instance, as deep insight into the 

 mystery of Creation, without integrity and simpli- 

 city of character. 



In the highest mental results and conditions the 

 whole being sympathizes. The perception of a cer- 

 tain range of truth, such as is indicated hy Plato, 

 Hegel, Swedenborg, and which is very far from what 

 is called "religious" or "moral," I should regard as 

 the best testimonial that could be offered of a man's 

 probity and essential nobility of soul. Is it possible 

 to imagine a fickle, inconstant, or a sly, vain, mean 

 person reading and appreciating Emerson? Think 

 of the real men of science, the great geologists and 

 astronomers, one opening up time, the other space ! 

 Shall mere intellectual acumen be accredited with 

 these immense results? What noble pride, self- 

 reliance, and continuity of character underlie New- 

 ton's deductions ! 



Only those books are for the making of men into 

 which a man has gone in the making. Mere pro- 

 fessional skill and sleight of hand, of themselves, 

 are to be apprised as lightly in letters as in war 

 or government, or any kind of leadership. Strong 

 native qualities only avail in the long run; and the 

 more these dominate over the artificial endowments, 

 sloughing or dropping the latter in the final result, 

 the more we are refreshed and enlarged. Who has 

 not, at some period of his life, been captivated by 

 the rhetoric and fine style of nearly all the popular 

 authors of a certain sort, but at last waked up to 

 discover that behind these brilliant names was no 



