This fearful word was next softened into
pantheism, then to German mysticism,
Neo-Platonism ; and many other epithets
were experimented with by clerical and
literary reviewers, until it was finally
mellowed into Transcendentalism, where
their bewildered pens found rest. The
Unitarian clergy were and have always
been a company of cultivated men,
rather independent thinkers, and already
without the pale of canonical churches,
it was easy for them to take a forward
step. One by one they and their fol-
lowers accepted Emerson as the prophet
of a new spirit in religion ; prophet also
of a new insight into nature, into his-
tory, into conduct, and the poet of the
ideal in all human relations and activi-
ties. Whether the Emersonian insights



Emerson s Influence on Young Men

and ideals were altogether new and orig-
inal is immaterial. From everlasting
to everlasting, truth and beauty exist the
same. They do become dull and trite
by reiteration in a traditional language
and require from time to time a fresh
statement. This Emerson gave us in a
rich and striking form, unencumbered
by prolixity, logic or authorities. He
took the shorter way to men's minds, —
the road of the self-illuminated spirit
speaking to the highest in other selves.
