EMERSON'S TRIBUTE TO ENGLAND. (To vas EDITOR or T. e.
spEcterox."3 Sra,—Touching the manifestation of the sympathy of the Americans with our nation in the present grave crisis in our history, it may not be inappropriate at this Virus to recall the words of one of their greatest philosophers and men of letters —Ralph Waldo Emerson—spoken in the Free Trade Hall in Manchester in November, 1847, at a meeting held under the auspices of the Manchester Athenaeum, Sir Archibald Alison, the historian, being in the chair, and Richard Cobden and other notabilities being present :--.
"I feel in regard to this aged England, with its possessions, honours, and trophies, and also with the infirmities of a thousand years gathering around her, irretrievably committed as she now is to many old customs which cannot suddenly be changed: pressed upon by transitions of trade, and new and all incalculable modes, fabrics, arta, machines, and competing populations—I see her not dispirited, not weak, but well remembering that she has seen dark days before; indeed, with a kind of instinct that she seas a little bettor in a cloudy day, and that in storm of battle and calamity, she has a secret vigour and a pulse like a cannon. I see her in her old age, not decrepit, but young, and still daring to believe in her power of endurance and expansion. Seeing this, I say, All hail ! mother of nations, mother of heroes, with strength still equal to the time; still wise to entertain and swift to execute the policy which the mind and heart of mankind requires in the present hour. . . . So be it! So let it be."
Shirley, Warwickshire.
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