minds and thoughts of men is truly remarkable. The circle of his influence grows continually wider and wider. He appeals to the most various and diverse natures. The greatest and the humblest unite in paying him homage. He fascinates and inspires the hearts and souls of all. The men and women of two continents come to his writings with the feeling that a new world has been discovered, and a new era opened in their lives. They peruse his works with a delight and an avidity unaroused and unsatisfied by any other author, ancient or modern. The sanest, the soberest, the most 'practical' lawyers, doctors, statesmen, philosophers, business men-those are among the unnumbered hosts of those throughout the world who confess themselves the eager, devoted students and admirers of the inspiring Emerson. His words are on every tongue. His sentences illumine the pages and adorn the speeches of the greatest writers and orators."

About the time I got his letter, I heard from Bishop Spaulding, one of the most eminent Catholic prelates in this country, who has lately earned public gratitude by an important service to public order, that Emerson was a favorite author of his also. This is his letter. It is written with some reserve, as would be expected from one to whom the Church is the final authority on all such questions. I am told that Bishop Spaulding is called by the men of his own faith "the Catholic Emerson," and that they deem it a title of high honor.

ST. MARY'S CATHEDRAL, PEORIA, ILL., April 14, 1903.

MY DEAR SENATOR HOAR:-I send you this brief word on Emerson.

Emerson is the keenest, the most receptive, the most thoughtful mind we have had; and whatever his limitations, his failures to get at the profoundest and therefore the most interesting truth, he is, and probably will continue to be for a long time, the most vital force in American literature. His influence will outlast that of Carlyle and Ruskin. His sanity, his modesty, his kindliness are greater; he is more hopeful and consequently more helpful than they. He himself says we judge of a man's wisdom by his hopefulness; and so we may give him a place among the world's wise men.

(Signed)

Very sincerely yours,

I. L. SPAULDING.

Constantine Pobedonostzeff, since the death of Alexander II., has been the power behind the throne in Russia. At the first meeting of Alexander III. with his councillors, he told the Emperor that all liberal measures and all constitutions were a delusion; that no constitution was fitted to Russia except the will of an autocrat, directed by his own sense of responsibility to the Almighty. He holds that not only the political conduct, but the religious faith of the people must be ordered from the throne. Six words Obey or die; believe or die".

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all the constitution, statute, or bill of rights for an empire that holds one sixth of the people of the globe. I suppose his single will, influencing that of the Emperor, and compelling submission from the whole people, has been, for nearly a quarter of a century, the most powerful single will on the face of the earth. Yet his favorite author is Emerson. He has enriched Russian literature by several translations. The first book he translated was Thomas à Kempis's Imitation of Christ, and the next was Emerson's "Works and Days."

A little time ago, at my request, he sent for the Concord Library a volume of his translation into Russian, with an autograph letter and his own portrait. I was told by our representative at St. Petersburg that he was much delighted by my request which led him to send them. This is the letter with which he accompanied the book:

SIR: It is true that having been from my youth a constant reader and admirer of Ralph Waldo Emerson, I one day undertook the translation of one of his essays, "Works and Days," taken from the book, Society and Solitude. The work had for me a particular interest, since it is not easy to express in a foreign language the original style of the author. The work, published in 1874, was reprinted in a collection of my essays which appeared in 1896, in Mos

COW.

The Hon. Andrew White, whose stay at St. Peters

burg, unhappily too short, has left with me the most agreeable memories, probably had this work in view when he mentioned my fondness for Emerson in an article in the Century Magazine.

If my book should answer the idea of Senator Hoar, I desire to send it to you, Monsieur, with the request that you transmit it to the Library at Concord with my most sincere compliments.

Accept, Monsieur, the expression of my most respectful regards,

(signed)

CONST. POBEDONOSTZEFF.

The 17th of May, 1898, PETERSBURG.

TO MONSIEUR HERBERT PIERCE.

In 1833, three years before he wrote Nature, Mrs. Ripley said of him, "We regard him still, more than ever, as the apostle of the Eternal Reason."

When Dean Stanley was in this country he took special pains to inform himself of the history and present condition of our religious denominations. The result of his observation was, that whatever might be the sect or creed of the clergymen, they all preached Emerson.

It were a sorry story for humanity if these eternal verities had been uttered by but one voice, or had waited from the beginning for any one voice to utter them. They were revealed to humanity in the morning of creation. The revelation will continue until time shall be no more. What is best in humanity answered in the beginning, and will answer to the

end. The lesson is that the common virtues, the common hopes, the common loves, the common faiths of mankind are the foundations on which the Universe is builded and are the things that shall endure. There is a diversity of gifts, but the same spirit. There is a difference of language, but the same message. Emerson says, "he is base—that is the one base thing of the universe to receive benefits, and render none." "Noblesse oblige," says the chivalrous proverb of France. "To whom much is given, of him much shall be required," say the Hebrew Scriptures. Emerson tells us that beauty, love, and truth are one. He is only another witness that faith, and hope, and love are the pillars on which all things rest, and that they abide. Their identity the Church has striven for ages to express in the great doctrine of the Trinity. Emerson also tells us that they are one with duty and with joy. What is that but to say with the Assembly's catechism that the chief end of man is to "glorify God and to enjoy him forever"? Thank God if it be true that these are the eternal commonplaces, and that the humblest individual soul as well as the greatest, by virtue of its birthright as a child of the Infinite Soul, is able to comprehend them and to trust them.

But above all these, comprehending them all, is his perception of a presence that I hardly know how and that it sometimes seems he did not like to name. I asked a famous preacher what it was that he thought Emerson saw more clearly than other

to name,