Emerson is invariably described as a
" cheerful and optimistic man. Do you
think he had never suffered from those
blows of fortune that attend mankind,
and from which it rarely escapes? It
could not be ; but he buried his sorrows
a little deeper than other men, and un-
covered no wounds for the sake of a
cheap sympathy. His habitual smile
disarmed inquiries as to health, his for-
tune and his sorrows. That serene smile
guarded an inner chamber more securely
than an army. If he had known pov-
erty, this poor orphan who drove his
mother's cow to pasture beyond Boston
[57]



Remembrances of Kmerson

Common ; if he had struggled with ill
health ; if he had suffered the sharpest
anguish of the heart, — the loss of his
youthful bride and then of a beloved
child (the "hyacinthine boy**); if he
had endured for many years the derision
and all but persecution of the so-called
scholars, theologians, and critics of the
country, he made no sign of anger or
perturbation. He buried all such acci-
dents under a magnanimous composure,
as under a mantle of deep, soft snow.
