He puts down his hand to pull up a
weed. Behind that is a second; behind the second is a third; behind the
third a fourth; and beyond that a thousand and four." Who can doubt that
this was a personal experience with him, as it has been with some
others?
There are many anecdotes of his good sense and sagacity, and the
following is perhaps equal to any of them. One summer there was a
camp-meeting of spiritualists at Walden Pond, and every evening they
held an entertainment of speeches, singing and music, to which a small
admittance-fee was charged. It happened, however, that the picnic
pavilion was situated close to Mr. Emerson's land, and numbers of
Concord people went out of curiosity and leaning against his fence heard
and saw everything that went on. A committee of spiritualists
consequently called on Mr. Emerson and requested permission to collect
fees from those who stole their entertainment in this manner. At first
thought this might not seem to be unreasonable; but Emerson replied,
"No, I have always enjoyed the privilege of walking upon my neighbors'
fields, and I cannot now refuse the same right to them." Could a chief
justice have decided the case better?
Emerson's _no_ was always decisive, and if one person could not
induce him to change his mind I do not believe twenty millions would
have succeeded in doing so. When he was involved in a lawsuit regarding
some property, and the suggestion was made that he should compromise it,
he said: "By no means.
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