Miscellanies (Emerson)

The year after Mr. Emerson’s death, Mr. Cabot, in editing his works, gathered into a volume the occasional writings which had never been included in previous editions, although six of them had been printed, either as pamphlets or in periodicals, long before, by the author. These were the Sermon on The Lord’s Supper, the Historical Address at Concord in 1835, that at the dedication of the Soldiers’ Monument there in 1867, and that on Emancipation in the British West Indies, the Essay on War, and the Editors’ Address in the Massachusetts Quarterly Review. “American Civilization” had been a portion of the article of that name in the Atlantic in 1862. “The Fortune of the Republic” also had been printed as a pamphlet in 1874. Mr. Cabot said in his prefatory note, “In none was any change from the original form made by me, except in the ‘Fortune of the Republic,’ which was made up of several lectures, for the occasion upon which it was read.” This was after Mr. Emerson was no longer able to arrange his work and his friends had come to his aid.

The speeches at the John Brown, the Walter Scott, and the Free Religious Association meetings had been printed, probably with Mr. Emerson’s consent. The other pieces included by Mr. Cabot, namely, the speeches on Theodore Parker, the Emancipation Proclamation, Abraham Lincoln, at the Harvard Commemoration, “Woman,” the addresses to Kossuth, and at the Burns Festival, had not been published.

All that were in Mr. Cabot’s collection will be found here, although the order has been slightly changed. To these I have added Mr. Emerson’s letter to President Van Buren in 1838, his speech on the Fugitive Slave Law in Concord soon after its enactment, that on Shakspeare to the Saturday Club, and his remarks at the Humboldt Centennial, and at the dinner to the Chinese Embassy; also the addresses at the consecration of Sleepy Hollow Cemetery and at the opening of the Concord Free Public Library. The oration before the New England Society of New York in 1870, printed by them in their recent volume, is not included, as most of the matter may be found in the Historical Discourse at Concord and in the essay “Boston,” in Natural History of Intellect.

I have given to the chapters mottoes, the most of them drawn from Mr. Emerson’s writings.

EDWARD W. EMERSON.

CONTENTS

PAGE

I. THE LORD’S SUPPER 1

II. HISTORICAL DISCOURSE AT CONCORD 27

III. LETTER TO PRESIDENT VAN BUREN 87

IV. EMANCIPATION IN THE BRITISH WEST INDIES 97

V. WAR 149

VI. THE FUGITIVE SLAVE LAW—ADDRESS AT CONCORD 177

VII. THE FUGITIVE SLAVE LAW—LECTURE AT NEW YORK 215

VIII. THE ASSAULT UPON MR. SUMNER 245

IX. SPEECH ON AFFAIRS IN KANSAS 253

X. JOHN BROWN—SPEECH AT BOSTON 265

XI. JOHN BROWN—SPEECH AT SALEM 275

XII. THEODORE PARKER 283

XIII. AMERICAN CIVILIZATION 295

XIV. THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION 313

XV. ABRAHAM LINCOLN 327

XVI. HARVARD COMMEMORATION SPEECH 339

XVII. DEDICATION OF THE SOLDIERS’ MONUMENT IN CONCORD 347

XVIII. EDITORS’ ADDRESS 381

XIX. ADDRESS TO KOSSUTH 395

XX. WOMAN 403

XXI. CONSECRATION OF SLEEPY HOLLOW CEMETERY 427

XXII. ROBERT BURNS 437

XXIII. SHAKSPEARE 445

XXIV. HUMBOLDT 455

XXV. WALTER SCOTT 461

XXVI. SPEECH AT BANQUET IN HONOR OF CHINESE EMBASSY 469

XXVII. REMARKS AT ORGANIZATION OF FREE RELIGIOUS ASSOCIATION 475

XXVIII. SPEECH AT SECOND ANNUAL MEETING OF FREE RELIGIOUS ASSOCIATION 483