Essays By Ralph Waldo Emerson Part 21

[Footnote 388: Sapor. A Persian monarch of the fourth century who defeated the Romans in battle.]

[Footnote 389: The Cid. See "Rodrigo," in _Heroism_, 313.]

[Footnote 390: Julius Caesar. See note on "Caesarian," 384.]

[Footnote 391: Scipio. (See note 205.)]

[Footnote 392: Alexander. Alexander, King of Macedon, surnamed the Great. In the fourth century before Christ he made himself master of the known world.]

[Footnote 393: Pericles. See note on _Heroism_, 352.]

[Footnote 394: Diogenes. (See note 267.)]

[Footnote 395: Socrates. (See note 187.)]

[Footnote 396: Epaminondas. (See note 329.)]

[Footnote 397: My contemporaries. Emerson probably had in mind, among others, his friend, the gentle philosopher, Th.o.r.eau.]

[Footnote 398: Fine manners. "I think there is as much merit in beautiful manners as in hard work," said Emerson in his journal.]

[Footnote 399: Napoleon. (See note 273.)]

[Footnote 400: n.o.blesse. n.o.bility. Why does Emerson use here the French word?]

[Footnote 401: Faubourg St. Germain. A once fas.h.i.+onable quarter of Paris, on the south bank of the Seine; it was long the headquarters of the French royalists.]

[Footnote 402: Cortez. Consult a history of the United States for an account of this Spanish soldier, the conqueror of Mexico.]

[Footnote 403: Nelson. Horatio Nelson, an English admiral, who won many great naval victories and was killed in the battle of Trafalgar in 1805.]

[Footnote 404: Mexico. The scene of Cortez's victories.]

[Footnote 405: Marengo. The scene of a battle in Italy in 1800, in which Napoleon defeated the Austrians with a larger army and made himself master of northern Italy.]

[Footnote 406: Trafalgar. A cape on the southern coast of Spain, the scene of Nelson's last great victory, in which the allied French and Spanish fleets were defeated.]

[Footnote 407: Mexico, Marengo, and Trafalgar. Is this the order in which you would expect these words to occur? Why not?]

[Footnote 408: Estates of the realm. Orders or cla.s.ses of people with regard to political rights and powers. In modern times, the n.o.bility, the clergy, and the people are called "the three estates."]

[Footnote 409: Tournure. Figure; turn of dress,--and so of mind.]

[Footnote 410: Coventry. It is said that the people of Coventry, a city in England, at one time so disliked soldiers that to send a military man there meant to exclude him from social intercourse; hence the expression "to send to Coventry" means to exclude from society.]

[Footnote 411: "If you could see Vich Ian Vohr with his tail on." Vich Ian Vohr is a Scotch chieftain in Scott's novel, _Waverley_. One of his dependents says to Waverley, the young English officer: "If you Saxon duinhe-wa.s.sal [English gentleman] saw but the Chief with his tail on." "With his tail on?" echoed Edward in some surprise.

"Yes--that is, with all his usual followers when he visits those of the same rank." See _Waverley_, chapter 16.]

[Footnote 412: Mercuries. The word here means simply messengers.

According to Greek mythology, Mercury was the messenger of the G.o.ds.]

[Footnote 413: Herald's office. In England the Herald's College, or College of Arms, is a royal corporation the chief business of which is to grant armorial bearings, or coats of arms, and to trace and preserve genealogies. What does Emerson mean by comparing certain circles of society to this corporation?]

[Footnote 414: Amphitryon. Host; it came to have this meaning from an incident in the story of Amphitryon, a character in Greek legend. At one time Jupiter a.s.sumed the form of Amphitryon and gave a banquet.

The real Amphitryon came in and a.s.serted that he was master of the house. In the French play, founded on this story, the question is settled by the a.s.sertion of the servants and guests that "he who gives the feast is the host."]

[Footnote 415: Tuileries. An old royal residence in Paris which was burned in 1871.]

[Footnote 416: Escurial, or escorial. A celebrated royal edifice near Madrid in Spain.]

[Footnote 417: Hide ourselves as Adam, etc. See Genesis iii. 8.]

[Footnote 418: Cardinal Caprara. An Italian cardinal, Bishop of Milan, who negotiated the famous concordat of 1801, an agreement between the Church and State regulating the relations between civil and ecclesiastical powers.]

[Footnote 419: The pope. Pope Pius VII.]

[Footnote 420: Madame de Stael. (See note 361.)]

[Footnote 421: Mr. Hazlitt. William Hazlitt, an English writer.]

[Footnote 422: Montaigne. A French essayist of the sixteenth century.]

[Footnote 423: The hint of tranquillity and self-poise. It is suggested that Emerson had here in mind a favorite pa.s.sage of the German author, Richter, in which Richter says of the Greek statues: "The repose not of weariness but of perfection looks from their eyes and rests upon their lips."]

[Footnote 424: A Chinese etiquette. What does Emerson mean by this expression?]

[Footnote 425: Recall. In the first edition, Emerson had here the word "signify." Which is the better word and why?]

[Footnote 426: Measure. What meaning has this word here? Is this the sense in which we generally use it?]

[Footnote 427: Creole natures. What is a creole? What does Emerson mean by "Creole natures"?]

[Footnote 428: Mr. Fox. Charles James Fox, an English statesman and orator of the eighteenth century.]

[Footnote 429: Burke. Both Fox and Burke opposed the taxation of the American colonies and sympathized with their resistance; it was on the subject of the French Revolution that the two friends clashed.]

[Footnote 430: Sheridan. Richard Brinsley Sheridan, an Irish dramatist, member of the famous Literary Club to which both Fox and Burke belonged.]

[Footnote 431: Circe. According to Greek legend, Circe was a beautiful enchantress. Men who partook of the draught she offered, were turned to swine.]

[Footnote 432: Captain Symmes. The only real personage of this group.

He a.s.serted that there was an opening to the interior of the earth which was stocked with plants and animals.]

[Footnote 433: Clerisy. What word would we be more apt to use here?]

[Footnote 434: St. Michael's (Square). St. Michael's was an order inst.i.tuted by Louis XI. of France.]

[Footnote 435: Cologne water. A perfumed water first made at the city of Cologne in Germany, from which it took its name.]