He conducted it thus First he spake of beautiful and
primitive creed of the Greek, content with and relying on
Nature, Zeus ruling sky, Poseidon the blue waters, and
Pluto the mine Hades or land of disembodied spirits.
The Hamadryad and Faun in the wood the world all as
God willed it. Next the Christian Nature a snare and
enemy, faith and stern World fight through life. Its debasement
under the dominant sway of Rome. Then, (and the noblest
part of the Lecture,) of our Age. Of it daring, sceptical question-
ing All (which forms the great attraction of the Faust of Goethe);
of its brain-traps to turn each element to an artisan for the
benefit of man and acquisition of dollars, of young Men born as
[unclear word], with Knives in their brain ; of it being the age of
Tools; and of the highway feudal baron now a Capitalist and Monopoly
ogre of mens lives and limbs. Of the wondrous apropos-ness of each
invention the telegraph just when needed when the World could
not do without it Of California, and the army of pioneers
there, each man a walking American constitution; knowing
his rights political and natural. Of Owen and Fourier, he
spoke with respect he had not the heart to laugh at them
men who had striven, believed and hoped. They point out an
evil and a monstrous one, and in this are more to be honored
than those who cry Peace peace, when there is no peace!
Lastly he spake of talk of Revolution, and said that when
| Page |
| Title: | Thomas Butler Gunn Diaries, Volume One: page eighty-one |
| Description: | Describes the contents of Ralph Waldo Emerson's lecture. |
| Date: | 1850-01-29 |
| Subject: | Emerson, Ralph Waldo; Gunn, Thomas Butler; Lectures and lecturing |
| Coverage (City/State): | [New York, New York] |
| Scan Date: | 2011-02-07 |
| Volume |
| Title: | Thomas Butler Gunn Diaries, Volume One |
| Description: | Details Gunn's first year living in the United States, including his experiences with boarding house living in Jersey City and New York City, looking for work as an artist and a writer, publishing his first book ""Mose Among the Britishers"" and brief visits to Philadelphia and Boston. |
| Subject: | Boardinghouses; Books and reading; Drawing; Gunn, Thomas Butler; Publishers and publishing; Theater; Travel |
| Coverage (City/State): | New York, New York; Jersey City, New Jersey; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Boston, Massachusetts |
| Note: | Thomas Butler Gunn was born February 15, 1826, in Banbury, England, and came to New York in 1849. During the Civil War he worked as a correspondent for the New York Tribune and the New York Evening Post. He returned to England in 1863, and died in Birmingham in April 1903. The collection includes twenty-two volumes of his diaries, including newspaper clippings, letters, photographs, sketches, and various other items inserted by Gunn. Diary entries date from July 7, 1849, to April 7, 1863, and include his experiences with the New York publishing and literary world, his descriptions of boarding houses, his travels throughout the United States, and his experiences traveling with the Federal army as a Civil War correspondent. |
| Publisher: | Missouri History Museum |
| Rights: | Copyright 2011 Missouri History Museum. |
| Source: | Page images, transcriptions, and metadata of the Thomas Butler Gunn diaries have been provided by the Missouri History Museum. |
