e lesson of self-reliance, which he is never tired of inculcating,
is repeated and enforced in the Essay on "Greatness."

"There are certain points of identity in which these masters agree.
Self-respect is the early form in which greatness appears.--Stick to
your own; don't inculpate yourself in the local, social, or national
crime, but follow the path your genius traces like the galaxy of
heaven for you to walk in.

"Every mind has a new compass, a new direction of its own,
differencing its genius and aim from every other mind.--We call this
specialty the _bias_ of each individual. And none of us will ever
accomplish anything excellent or commanding except when he listens
to this whisper which is heard by him alone."

If to follow this native bias is the first rule, the second is
concentration.--To the bias of the individual mind must be added the
most catholic receptivity for the genius of others.

"Shall I tell you the secret of the true scholar? It is this: Every
man I meet is my master in some point, and in that I learn of
him."--

"The man whom we have not seen, in whom no regard of self degraded
the adorer of the laws,--who by governing himself governed others;
sportive in manner, but inexorable in act; who sees longevity in his
cause; whose aim is always distinct to him; who is suffered to be
himself in society; who carries fate in his eye;--he it is whom we
seek, encouraged in every good hour that here or hereafter he shall
he found."

What has Emerson to tell us of "Inspiration?"

"I believe that nothing great or lasting can be done except by
inspiration, by leaning on the secret augury.--

"How many sources of inspiration can we count? As many as our
affinities. But to a practical purpose we may reckon a few of
these."

I will enumerate them briefly as he gives them, but not attempting to
reproduce his comments on each:--

1. Health. 2. The experience of writing letters. 3. The renewed
sensibility which comes after seasons of decay or eclipse of the
faculties. 4. The power of the will. 5. Atmospheric causes, especially
the influence of morning. 6. Solitary converse with nature. 7. Solitude
of itself, like that of a country inn in summer, and of a city hotel
in winter. 8. Conversation. 9. New poetry; by which, he says, he means
chiefly old poetry that is new to the reader.

"Every book is good