Essays

[Footnote 244: Palmyra, a ruined city of Asia situated in an oasis of the Syrian desert, supposed to be the Tadmor built by Solomon in the wilderness (_II. Chr._, viii. 4).] [Footnote 245: "Vain, very vain, my weary search to find That bliss which only centers in the mind.... Still to ourselves in every place consign'd, Our own felicity we make or find." GOLDSMITH (and JOHNSON), _The Traveler_, 423-32. "He that has light within his own clear breast May sit i' th' center, and enjoy bright day; But he that hides a dark soul, and foul thoughts, Benighted walks under the mid-day sun; Himself in his own dungeon." MILTON, _Comus_, 381-5. Compare also _Paradise Lost_, I, 255-7.] [Footnote 246: Vatican, the palace of the pope in Rome, with its celebrated library, museum, and art gallery.] [Footnote 247: Doric, the oldest, strongest, and simplest of the three styles of Grecian architecture.] [Footnote 248: Gothic, a pointed style of architecture, prevalent in western Europe in the latter part of the middle ages.] [Footnote 249: Never imitate. Emerson insists on this doctrine.] [Footnote 250: Shakespeare (1564-1616), the great English poet and dramatist. He is mentioned in Emerson's writings more than any other character in history, and is taken as the type of the poet in his _Representative Men_. "O mighty poet! Thy works are not as those of other men, simply and merely great works of art; but are also like the phenomena of nature, like the sun and the sea, the stars and the flowers,--like frost and snow, rain and dew, hailstorm and thunder, which are to be studied with entire submission of our own faculties, and in the perfect faith that in them there can be no too much or too little, nothing useless or inert,--but that, the further we press in our discoveries, the more we shall see proofs of design and self-supporting arrangement where the careless eye had seen nothing but accident!"--DE QUINCY.] [Footnote 251: Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), American philosopher, statesman, diplomatist, and author. He discovered the identity of lightning with electricity, invented the lightning-rod, went on several diplomatic missions to Europe, was one of the committee that drew up the Declaration of Independence, signed the treaty of Paris, and compiled _Poor Richard's Almanac_.] [Footnote 252: Francis Bacon (1561-1626), a famous English philosopher and statesman. He became Lord Chancellor under Elizabeth. He is best known by his _Essays_; he wrote also the _Novum Organum_ and the _Advancement of Learning_.] [Footnote 253: Sir Isaac Newton. (See note 53.)] [Footnote 254: Scipio. (See note 205.)] [Footnote 255: Phidias (500?-432? B.C.), famous Greek sculptor.] [Footnote 256: Egyptians. He has in mind the pyramids.] [Footnote 257: The Pentateuch is attributed to Moses.] [Footnote 258: Dante (1265-1321), the greatest of Italian poets, author of the _Divina Commedia_.] [Footnote 259: Foreworld, a former ideal state of the world.] [Footnote 260: New Zealander, inhabitant of New Zealand, a group of two islands lying southeast of Australia.] [Footnote 261: Geneva, a city of Switzerland, situated at the southwestern extremity of Lake Geneva.] [Footnote 262: Greenwich nautical almanac. The meridian of the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, near London, is the prime meridian for reckoning the longitude of the world. The nautical almanac is a publication containing astronomical data for the use of navigators and astronomers. What is the name of the corresponding publication of the U.S. Observatory at Washington?] [Footnote 263: Get the meaning of these astronomical terms.] [Footnote 264: Plutarch. (50?-120? A.D.), Greek philosopher and biographer, author of _Parallel Lives_, a series of Greek and Roman biographies. Next after Shakespeare and Plato he is the author most frequently mentioned by Emerson. Read the essay of Emerson on Plutarch.] [Footnote 265: Phocion (402-317 B.C.), Athenian statesman and general. (See note 364.)] [Footnote 266: Anaxagoras (500-426 B.C.), Greek philosopher of distinction.] [Footnote 267: Diogenes (400?-323?), Greek cynic philosopher who affected great contempt for riches and honors and the comforts of civilized life, and is said to have taken up his residence in a tub.] [Footnote 268: Henry Hudson (---- - 1611), English navigator and explorer, discoverer of the bay and river which bear his name.] [Footnote 269: Bering or Behring (1680-1741), Danish navigator, discoverer of Behring Strait.] [Footnote 270: Sir William Edward Parry (1790-1855), English navigator and Arctic explorer.] [Footnote 271: Sir John Franklin (1786-1846?), celebrated English navigator and Arctic explorer, lost in the Arctic seas.] [Footnote 272: Christopher Columbus (1445?-1506), Genoese navigator and discoverer of America. His ship, the Santa Maria, appears small and insignificant in comparison with the modern ocean ship.] [Footnote 273: Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821), Emperor of France, one of the greatest military geniuses the world has ever seen. He was defeated in the battle of Waterloo by the Duke of Wellington, and died in exile on the isle of St. Helena. Emerson takes him as a type of the man of the world in his _Representative Men_: "I call Napoleon the agent or attorney of the middle class of modern society.... He was the agitator, the destroyer of prescription, the internal improver, the liberal, the radical, the inventor of means, the opener of doors and markets, the subverter of monopoly and abuse.... He had the virtues of the masses of his constituents: he had also their vices. I am sorry that the brilliant picture has its reverse."] [Footnote 274: Comte de las Cases (not Casas) (1766-1842), author of _Mémorial de Sainte-Hélène_.] [Footnote 275: Ali, Arabian caliph, surnamed the "Lion of God," cousin and son-in-law of Mohammed. He was assassinated about 661.] [Footnote 276: The county of Essex in England has several namesakes in America.] [Footnote 277: Fortune. In Roman mythology Fortune, the goddess of fortune or chance, is represented as standing on a ball or wheel. "Nec metuis dubio Fortunæ stantis in orbe Numen, et exosæ verba superba deæ?" OVID, _Tristia_, v., 8, 8. ]