chain which links the heavens with earth--the world of beings
subject to one law." In his reflections Emerson, unlike Plato, is
not afraid to ride Arion's Dolphin, and to go wherever he is
carried--to Parnassus or to "Musketaquid."

We see him standing on a summit, at the door of the infinite
where many men do not care to climb, peering into the mysteries
of life, contemplating the eternities, hurling back whatever he
discovers there,--now, thunderbolts for us to grasp, if we can,
and translate--now placing quietly, even tenderly, in our hands,
things that we may see without effort--if we won't see them, so
much the worse for us.

We see him,--a mountain-guide, so intensely on the lookout for
the trail of his star, that he has no time to stop and retrace
his footprints, which may often seem indistinct to his followers,
who find it easier and perhaps safer to keep their eyes on the
ground. And there is a chance that this guide could not always
retrace his steps if he tried--and why should he!--he is on the
road, conscious only that, though his star may not lie within
walking distance, he must reach it before his wagon can be
hitched to it--a Prometheus illuminating a privilege of the Gods-
-lighting a fuse that is laid towards men. Emerson reveals the
less not by an analysis of itself, but by bringing men towards
the greater. He does not try to reveal, personally, but leads,
rather, to a field where revelation is a harvest-part, where it
is known by the perceptions of the soul towards the absolute law.
He leads us towards this law, which is a realization of what
experience has suggested and philosophy hoped for. He leads us,
conscious that the aspects of truth, as he sees them, may change