ecause it is not, like Emerson's, in constant touch with active
duty and fresh observation.

His ideal includes worship, but to this he brings above all the quality
of sincerity. He will not observe a sacrament which has lost its
significance to him. He will not use language of a personal God which is
not natural to him, nor affirm a certainty as to immortality when his
conviction is not always clear. But he has the profoundest sense and the
simplest expression of that reality which we call "the presence of God in
man." In him it is not involved with miracle or metaphysic; it is a
personal experience, the source of humility, energy, and peace. "I
recognize the distinction of the outer and inner self; the double
consciousness that within this erring, passionate, mortal self sits a
supreme, calm, immortal mind, whose powers I do not know, but it is
stronger than I; it is wiser than I; it never approved me in any wrong; I
seek counsel of it in my doubts; I repair to it in my dangers; I pray to
it in my undertakings. It seems to me the face which the Creator
uncovers to his child."

Emerson represents thought in its highest form--perception, vision. The
world interpreted by such vision supplies motive, support, and rapture.
He is essentially and above all a poet, and to whoever can follow him he
opens a celestial world in which the homeliest earthly fact is irradiated
by indwelling divinity.

Emerson's escape from evil is by rising to such a height of contemplation
that evil is seen as only an element of good. He sits like an
astronomer, viewing the procession of the worlds in their sublime
harmony. For most men, the jar and dust of daily life largely shut out
that glorious view. They catch hope and strength from the voice of the
seer upon his heights. But they need other help; they need some one by
their side; they need the love of a stronger brother, who takes their
hand. This men found in Jesus the friend of sinners, who went about
doing good; they idealized it as Christ--a divinity who took upon him the
form of a servant. The higher stooping to the lower is still the world's
salvation.

In teaching, Emerson generalized for all men from his own experience. He
said, "Be yourself! Follow the law of your own nature. Trust the
all-moving Spirit. Be above convention and rule, above vulgarities and
insipidities. Give way to the God within you!"

Literally obeyed, it was insufficient advice for most men