Westport High School - Herald Yearbook (Kansas City, MO)

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20 THEWESTPORT HIGH SCHOOL HERALD. transcendentalism of the Orient. He presents always in his best essays an unique combination of the true and his individual version. That characteristic for which Emerson has been most severely criticised is his unsympa- thetic style, which grew directly out of one of the fundamental principles of his ethics-the belief that the present thought should always be expressed without ,regard for consistency or for consequences. Another point of criticism is his 'habit of co-mplacently waiving aside the cherished tenets of his fathers for those which he considered more important. He also culti- vated a petulant irreverence. But in all these he is natural, direct, and original. He seeks for no 'effects and, although his terse, trenehant sentences startle and electrify, the easy flow of his eloquence composes and satisfies. In- some respects Emerson is among the greatest of American poets, but as a philoso- pher he is at his best. A readingof his Rep- resentative Men will give a very clear under- standing of one phase of his philosophy. In it he coneeives. great men as the inspired instru- ments through which great ideas are expressed rather than as the originators of such ideas. The world is made up of the great Over So-ul, of which each human soul is a part 5 but in great men is centered a larger share, by which virtue they are able to comprehend and explain phenomena which might remain unheeded by the ordinary mind. He thinks the example of their lives rather than their actual deeds affects the tide of events. This book is characteristic 5 but in America it is not generally' conceded the best, although it won him fame in Europe. The American likes him best asthe clear expounder of the good and beautiful, as the candid judge, condemning all that is weak and foolish, praising all that is noble and pure, always founding his decisions on a clear under- standing of the principles that underlie condi- tions, and, although often harshly iconoclastic, he is at all times kindly disposed. As a theologian he found sympathy for the greater part of his life with the Unitarians. His ethics and his relieion he mingled verv . D C - closelv. He believed in the possible perfection of every man as he believed in the absolute pur- ity of Jesus, and held it incumbent upon each to seek to attain that development of soul which the Nazarene had attained. For the strict fo-rms of the Christian Church he had no sym- pathy, for which reason he had found it neces- sary to resign his Congregational pastorate. Relying upon the sufficiency of the inner light to direct proper actions, he recognized no abso- lute external authority. ' r When Emerson tried to purify the stagnant waters of Western thought by the crystal drops of Eastern mysticism, he failed 5 but out of this failure have come many benefits, not alone in his actual productions, but, too, in the suggest- iveness of his work and the contagion of his spirit. l A Alberta Cooke, 05. - THE BEGINNING OF SAMANTHA AND JOSIAH'S WEDDING TRIP. Samantha and Josiah were sitting together one evening after all the work was done on the farm, and they seemed unsually quiet. Saman- tha had been trying to carry on a 'conversation for seine time, but without success, as Josiah seemed lost in thought. I Josiah was a tall, lanky man, who seemed all arms and legs and who didnjt know' what to do with them. He had a thin crop of yellow hair and a sc-rawny bunch of sandy whiskers, which he a.lways stroked when thinking deeply. He was one of those happy-go-lucky, good- natured men who always have a good word for everyone and everything. Samantha, on the other hand, was altogether different. She was short, fat, and dumpy, with her dark hair drawn in a tight little knot at the back of her head. She was a nervous, fidg- ety little woman, who loved a good time. An occasional little spat with her husband was not distasteful to her, and it is a question as to who usually came out ahead. After thinking deeply for some time, Josiah seemed to have arrived at a conclusion. It was

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hanges an in- int of ulture, nd for uses as ad the the re- ver be- never ay. t com- of the to for 1 could And came a contin- rnained .turally as the ned by f a suf- 'esulted me peo- mscinat- an in- . The ig only period hd gar- can lay d itself ields of rtellect- of nov- i much arac-ter. to and zentury, 3, C011- 'hteenth THE WESTPORT HIGH SCHOOL HERALD. 19 century. An intellectual revolution has again been going on among the people. Never before was the public so intelligent and never before was the world of readers so extensive. Greater and more important political and social changes have continued to develop the mind of the aver- age individual. And the great increase in wealth has only added an advancement in the culture and refinement of the people. Again is the demand for books fast exceed- ing the supply and again has the publisher be- come the only means of filling the wants of the public. The competition between publishers has become stronger, and as a result of this com- petition has grown the rapid advancement in the price and in the quantity of literary mate- rial. Again have commercial interests forced genius into the background and again has book- making become a business. But with this spirit 0-f commercialism hold- ing all things in its grasp, may we not hope that a. demand fo-r genius will arise and that true art may again find its place 5 that we may look forward to the coming of writers who care not for themselves, but who write because they are prompted by a superior intellect, by an un- common vigor of mind, by great and peculiar gifts of nature, which we call genius? Have we not a right to expect the return of an Augustan age of literature, to which even great- er geniuses will contribute even greater master- pieces? In future years will not thispeace and prosperity afford opportunity for a greater in- telligence and culture in the people at large? And may not these be new forces which go to the making of a higher degree of excellence from which genius itself may arise? ' N ettie llfiedenmann. Prof. E. 'A. Huppert, supervisor of draw- ing, judged the wo-rk of the pupils in the Art department. Mary Abercrombie received the first highest honor for her life-size charcoal drawings from the cast of St. John by Donatello. 9 EMERSON. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, American literature was undergoing a radical change: writers and readers alike began to re- volt against the prevailing style. Intellectually, America was now as closely bound to the mother country as she had been politically in the old colonial. days, she needed as yet another Dec- laration of Independence to become entirely free. A few patriots ardently championed the cause, but with little success, it remained for Emerson to liberate American thought in his address, The American Scholarf delivered at Cambridge in eighteen hundred thirty-seven. The force of his appeal was wonderful, he was hailed as a liberate-r, and henceforth his writ- ings were to have an important and direct bear- ing on our literature. Thus was the great phi- losopher of 'the West first made known to the world. ' I ' In eighteen hundred thirty-sin Emerson had published his first wo-rk, entitled Nature,,' which, although it created but little impression then, is now considered an epoch-making book, his conversion to transcendental philoso-phy prompted the writing of this essay, as it did all of his others. Those advocates of a new school ha.d for the most part allied themselves to this system of ethics. But Eme-rson found himself the natural leader of this group, and in Na- turev the first tru-e western interpretation of this eastern doctrine was given. In this work, however, his sentiments were in advance of the peo-ple. It took his Cambridge o-ration to gain him recognition. In the West, transcendentalism realized in Emerson its truest and most faithful disciple. It did not long remain as a forceful doctrine in America, but it awakened a great philoso-pher and furnished an avenue for some of the most sublime thoughts t.hat have lighted the produc- tions of American authors. In his interpretation of this system, he dif- fers slightly from its mystic founders. He combines with his ideal standard a stern prac- tical rectitude, inherited from his Puritan an- cestry. He seems never able to accept the pure

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rfection ite pur- on each l which 2 strict io sym- t neces- storate. ar light io abso- tagnant ,li drops of this .lone in suggest- of 'his .f'05. AND ogether on the Saman- :rsation Josiah seemed what to yellow hiskers, deeply. , good- ord for ogether ly, with knot at is, fidg- Le. AH Nas not 1 as to Josiah It was THE WESTPORT HIGH SCHOOL HERALD. 21 not his nature to be sudden. He looked up at Samantha and said, with a slow drawl: aSay, Simantliy, we've been married just thirty-two years to-day? Right ye air, J osiah, right ye air, and wejve-lived right here on this old farm ever since, and we ive been right happy, too. C4That is right, we have, Simanthy 3 but donft you think it 's about time we ire going on a wedding-trip? You know we-D GA wedding-trip! the very idee! To go away an' leave this farm to go to rack an' ruin an, have our children a-running wild without no mother-why, Josiah Hodunk, who is gone an' put such a notion in yer head ?', uNow, Simanthy, there ain't no use in yer flaring up like thet. We 've got plenty of money and that we didn't have when we got married, ani I think it is about time wejre a-goin, somewhere, so let's pack our duds an' go up to New York fer a couple of weeks? They had to argue about so long, o-f course, before they came to- a conclusion 5 then Saman- tha, who was longing to go but thought it her duty to stay home, said, after thinking a short time: Well, Josiah, since ye hev set yer mind on going, I 'spect I 'll hev to go 'long with ye to take ca.re of ye. There is no telling what you 'd do when ye get up there with that crowd? 'fNow, S'manthy, yer talkin' sense, now-'F f'Well, ye needn't git so 'lated over it that ye hev to tangle my yarn all upfi C'Say, Simanthy, I reckon ye hain't never been out of this little vill-D Why, Josiah Hodunk, hainit ye got no memory? Didnit I go up to J akersville thir- teen years ago, an, that 's eighteen miles from hercfi So ye did, I'd ,most forgotten about it, but ye know it ainit a big place-7' Not a big place? Why, Josiah, it is got three grocery stores? Samantha leaned back satisfied. HWcll, S'manthy, ye hainit never been to New York, ani I hey twice. Ye know the first. time I went I got kind of broke in ter the ter- rible crowds always in the streets. The next time, ye remember, I took Uncle Hiram with me. He ain't never been there before? Here Josiah chuckled softly to himself and began to stroke his whiskers meditatively. When we got down town on the main streets .the usual crowd was there chasing back and for'ards, and Uncle Hiram, he walked on just bewildered for awhile. He ainit never seen such crowds before 3 but suddenly he gasped for breath -Josiah stopped again to chuckle more a.udibly this time-athen he just sort of plant- ed himself and said: :Ye look here, Josiah Hodunk, I may be a big fool, but I hain't a-goin, to take a nuther step till this procession gits byfi' Here Josiah let out two or three guffaws and went out to tell Bill and Maria, the head farm-hands, about the coming trip. Just one week later Samantha a.nd Josiah found themselves on a train going at full speed. Samantha was quite nervous and did not at- tempt to hide it, but Josiah sat beside her with the air of a man who owned the whole railroad. He had been to New York twice. c'Say, Josiah, see tha.t ,ere cloud yonder? That looks like rain. I wonder if Maria will remember to shut the chickens up in the north coop, the other one is leaky, and I 'm sure Bill 's goin? to forget to 'give that medicine to the sick cow, and, oh-'P N ow, Simantha, whatis the use in a-wor- riing over things that can't be helped now, if- ' Josiah Hodunk, hev you gone an' lost my sky blue umbrellar that I've had ever since Mary Susan died ? I Well, S'manthy, I put it here in the cor- ner of this here seat, but I don't- Oh, here it is I said Josiah, with a sigh of relief. It7s slipped under the seat-I 'll fish her out , come on, come on-Gosh I here she is. NI hope Maria wonit put Sammy's best shoes on every day. I hev told her not to, but she 's- Oh, dear! where's my campfire bot- tle? Josiah, hev ye gone an' lost that? That bottle 's been in our family over fifty years. After some time Josiah found it and all