Essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson

[367] The essay on Manners is from the Second Series of Essays, published in 1844, three years after the First Series. The essays in this volume, like those in the first, were, for the most part, made up of Emerson's lectures, rearranged and corrected. The lecture on Manners had been delivered in the winter of 1841. He had given another lecture on the same subject about four years before, and several years later he treated of the same subject in his essay on Behavior in The Conduct of Life. You will find it interesting to read Behavior in connection with this essay.

[368]Feejee islanders. Since this essay was written, the people of the Feejee, or Fiji, Islands have become Christianized, and, to a large extent, civilized.

[369]Gournou. This description is found in A Narrative of the Operations and Recent Discoveries within the Pyramids, by Belzoni, an Italian traveler and explorer.

[370]Borgoo. A province of Africa.

[371]Tibboos, Bornoos. Tribes of Central Africa, mentioned in Heeren's Historical Researches.

[372]Honors himself with architecture. Architecture was a subject in which Emerson was deeply interested. Read his poem, The Problem.

[373]Chivalry. Chivalry may be considered "as embodying the Middle Age conception of the ideal life of ... the Knights"; the word is often used to express "the ideal qualifications of a knight, as courtesy, generosity, valor, and dexterity in arms." Fully to understand the order of Knighthood and the ideals of chivalry, you must read the history of Europe in the Middle Ages.

[374]Sir Philip Sidney. (See note 356.)

[375]Sir Walter Scott. (1771-1832). His historical novels dealing with the Middle Ages have some fine pictures of the chivalrous characters in which he delighted.

[376]Masonic sign. A sign of secret brotherhood, like the sign given by one Mason to another.

[377]Correlative abstract. Corresponding abstract name. Sir Philip Sidney, himself the ideal gentleman, used the word "gentlemanliness." He said: "Gentlemanliness is high-erected thoughts seated in a heart of courtesy."

[378]Gentilesse. Gentle birth and breeding. Emerson was very fond of the passage on "gentilesse" in Chaucer's Wife of Bath's Tale.

[379]Feudal Ages. The Middle Ages in Europe during which the feudal system prevailed. According to this, land was held by its owners on condition of certain duties, especially military service, performed for a superior lord.

[380]God knows, etc. Why is this particularly true of a republic such as the United States?

[381]The incomparable advantage of animal spirits. Why does Emerson regard this as of such importance? In his journals he frequently comments on his own lack of animal spirits, and says that it unfits him for general society and for action.

[382]The sense of power. "I like people who can do things," wrote Emerson in his journal.

[383]Lundy's Lane. Give a full account of this battle in the War of 1812.

[384]Men of the right Cæsarian pattern. Men versatile as was Julius Cæsar, the Roman, famous as a general, statesman, orator, and writer.

[385]Timid maxim. Why does Emerson term this saying "timid"?

[386]Lord Falkland. Lucius Cary, Viscount Falkland, was an English politician who espoused the royalist side; he was killed in battle in the Civil War.

[387]Saladin. A famous sultan of Egypt and Syria who lived in the twelfth century. Scott describes him as possessing an ideal knightly character and introduces him, disguised as a physician and also as a wandering soldier in his historical romance, The Talisman.

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

[389]The Cid. See "Rodrigo," in Heroism, 313.

[390]Julius Cæsar. See note on "Cæsarian," 384.

[391]Scipio. (See note 205.)

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

[393]Pericles. See note on Heroism, 352.

[394]Diogenes. (See note 267.)

[395]Socrates. (See note 187.)

[396]Epaminondas. (See note 329.)

[397]My contemporaries. Emerson probably had in mind, among others, his friend, the gentle philosopher, Thoreau.

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

[399]Napoleon. (See note 273.)

[400]Noblesse. Nobility. Why does Emerson use here the French word?

[401]Faubourg St. Germain. A once fashionable quarter of Paris, on the south bank of the Seine; it was long the headquarters of the French royalists.

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

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

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

[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.

[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.