Democratic Sentinel, Volume 10, Number 6, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 March 1886 — EMERSON’S PURSE. [ARTICLE]

EMERSON’S PURSE.

Tlie Annoyance That the Philosopher Unclerw. nt Wlille in a Vermont Village. A yonng man in New York has among his most cherished possessions a letter written nearly twenty-one years ago by Ralph Waldo Emerson. It was sent bv the philoaoper to the young man’s mother under rather singular circumstances. “I never saw Emerson but once,” said the possessor of the letter the other day, “and then I was too young to remember much about him. When 1 was a child he came to our town in Vermont to lecture, and was invited by my m6ther to spend the night at our house. An odd thing happened after the lecture. As he was leaving the lecture-hall his pocket-book was either lost or stolen. It contained the amount paid him for the lecture, and some money and other things besides. He came to our house, but said nothing about his loss that night. I remember that I was in the dining-room the next morning when he came in. The impression left on my mind is that he was a wonderfully tall man with a kindly face. He came into the dining-room and took me up in his arms, and, lifting me up as far above his head as he could, he said: “ ‘Where did you get those big blue eyes ? ’ “1 don’t remember whether he ate pie for breakfast. If he did, it was provided especially for him, as that article was never served at that meal in our house. After breakfast Mr. Emerson asked to see my mother alone. Then he explained the misfortune that had befallen him—that he had lost all his money—and apologized for being under the necessity of asking for a small loan. This, of course, was promptly made. The next day or the day after he returned the money loaned. Here is the letter he wrote, ” and the speaker handed out the following letter, written by Mr. Emerson’s own hand: “He lav an House, Albany, Jan. 13, 1864. — Hear Mrs. : I inclose $lO, the sum you so kindly lent me, witli my best thanks; but am still vexed with clouding your pure hospitality by sympathy for such au absurd mishap. “In the bare chance that the wallet should be picked up by an honest finder, I add, what I believe I told you, that there was no name; it was a common purplish one, containing the uncounted bills which Mr. had just given me, and perhaps $25 or S2B more, two or three bills being of the Concord (Mass.) Bank, some postage stamps, and a blank check on the Atlantic Bank, Boston. Ido not think of any other means of identification, and I am quite sure none will be wanted. But I am sorry I did not say to you that I had rather lose it than have it advertised in any manner. “I recollect your house and its inhabitants with great pleasure, and I hope I may see you again. If you are in my neighborhood it will give me great pleasure to show you my household. One of these days Willie (one cf the lady’s sons) will come to see me on his way to Cambridge, I hope, if Cambridge mends its faults and desires the best boys. But the boys of this day, as I told yon, seem to me to have a proud future before them. Yours with kindest regard, R. W. Emerson. “Mrs. .” The letter was written on heavy linen paper, in an irregular but easily legible hand. “I never saw Mr. Emerson afterward,” the young man continued. “Whether Cambridge mended its ways or Hot, I did not go there, nor did my brother. Perhaps, though, we were not the ‘ best boys. ’ I often thought I should like to go to Concord, reoall this occurrence to Mr. Emerson’s mind, and introduce myself as the boy whom he lifted in his arms, and whose blue eyes he spoke of. But I never did. And I never heard the lost wallet was recovered.”—Boston Globe.