Page 55, note 1. George Steevens, 1737-1800, a commentator on Shakespeare. His edition, with the help of Dr. Johnson, appeared in 1773, revised and enlarged in 1778. He did other important editorial work. Page 66, note 2. It is probable this reference was to Christopher Pearse Cranch, Pearse Cranch, 1815-1892. He worked as a painter in Italy, New York, and Paris. His work deserved Parker's praise. He was also a poet, and published much, including "The Bird and the Bell" and "Ariel and Caliban." Page 66, note 3. This younger man, it may be assumed, was either James Russell Lowell or George William Curtis. Page 67, note 4. It may be possible to guess who was meant by this scathing criticism, but it could be nothing more than conjecture. Page 70, note 5. Under the title of "Ethnical Scriptures" Emerson gave much attention in "The Dial" to the religious writings of India, Persia, China, and other oriental countries. The first of these appeared in the very first number edited by him, that for July, 1842, and was a series of selections from the "Veeshnoo Sarma." The issue for January, 1843, contained selections from Manu, and that for July, first using the general title of Ethnical Scriptures, was extracted from the Desatir. Other selections were from the Kings, Preaching of Buddha, Hermes Trismegistus, and the Chaldean Oracles. Some of these selections were made by Thoreau. This was one of the earliest attempts in this country to make the public familiar with the sacred books of the world, other than the Hebrew and Christian. Page 71, note 6. In later editions this sentence reads, "I am glad to the brink of fear." 66 Page 74, note 7. This was perhaps at a meeting of the Boston Association of Ministers after the Di vinity School Address. Cabot says in the Memoir, page 334, that " among the ministers who came together at the Thursday lecture there was a good deal of stir, which communicated itself to the circles they influenced. Hard words were said, and when the address appeared in print it was sharply attacked in the Daily Advertiser by Andrews Norton." Page 75, note 8. James Usher, 1580-1656, was archbishop of Armagh, intimately connected with the University of Dublin, founded by his uncle Henry Usher, also archbishop of Armagh. Usher was a theologian of prominence. John Selden, 1584–1654, was a famous jurist, antiquary, and oriental scholar, whose Table-talk is one of the famous English books. See John Selden and his Table-Talk, by Robert Waters, for an interesting account of him and his relations to Usher. Inigo Jones, the famous English architect, 1572-1651, designed many important buildings, and planned the repairs of St. Paul begun in 1633. Page 85, note 9. These were the lectures now published in the Conduct of Life. Page 114, note 10. This line was afterwards changed to "Has turned my child's head?" Page 115, note 11. These lines were revised to read, "To vision profounder, Man's spirit must dive; His aye-rolling orb At no goal will arrive." Page 115, note 12. These lines now read, Page 118, note 13. This line now reads, "He who loves, of gods or men." Page 119, note 14. Emerson uses these and other names in a symbolical and mystical sense. They are names from mythology, legend, early poetry or biography. Most of them have been explained in William Sloane Kennedy's "Clews to Emerson's Mystic Verse," published in The American Author for June, 1903. They have also been elaborately interpreted in The Arena by Charles Malloy. III WILLIAM ELLERY CHANNING Parker had already spoken of Dr. Channing in a sermon on the occasion of his death. The present survey of his life, character, and works was called out by the appearance of an elaborate biography: Memoir of William Ellery Channing, with Extracts from his Correspondence and Manuscripts. In three volumes. Boston, Crosby and Nichols, 1848. This memoir was prepared by a nephew, William Henry Channing, whose biography has been extendedly written by O. B. Frothingham. Parker's review of this memoir was published in the Massachusetts Quarterly Review for September, 1848. Miss Cobbe included it in her second volume, entitled Critical Writings. Page 156, note 1. It has been often asserted that Thomas Jefferson had children by the negro women slaves on his plantation at Monticello. The proof has not been furnished, though the gossip has been persistent. "The chief offender among newspapers was the Richmond Recorder, edited by a Scotchman named Callender, who sought an asylum in this country to escape punishment for libels published in England. He was not here long before he was arrested and imprisoned under the sedition act and was one of those whom Jefferson pardoned on the day that he became president. This incident brought him personally to Jefferson's acquaintance, and for a time he proved to be useful to the Democratic leaders as a writer. Jefferson defended and shielded him as long as his patience would permit, and aided him from time to time with loans of money that were never repaid, but was finally compelled to repudiate him, when Callender turned upon his benefactor. He was the author of several miserable scandals about Washington. He attempted to blackmail Jefferson into making him postmaster at Richmond, but Jefferson had the moral courage to refuse, even though he knew what to expect, and the penalty of his refusal was the publication of a series of the most revolting stories about his private life, which were copied into the Federalist newspapers of the northern states with what President Cleveland called 'ghoulish glee.' Some of these stories were based upon local gossip at Charlottesville, and doubtless had a slender vein of truth, a meagre excuse for existence, but Callender's vulgar and malicious mind magnified and distorted them. Jefferson never stooped to a denial, and his political opponents chose to interpret his silence as an admission of guilt. He was probably no more immoral than Franklin, Washington, Hamilton, and other men of his time. He was neither a St. Anthony nor a Don Juan. Judged by the standard of his generation, his vices were those of a gentleman, and such as did not deprive him of the respect and confidence of the community. "The scandals circulated by the Federalist newspapers were so generally believed that Thomas Moore, the famous Irish poet, accepted them as true, and, visiting the United States during the period of Jefferson's presidency, wrote some verses of which the following is a sample: "The patriot, fresh from Freedom's councils come, "This poem may be found in the London edition of the Poetical Works of Thomas Moore published in 1853, and is embellished by a foot-note explaining that the President of the United States was referred to. "The local traditions attributed to Jefferson the paternity of a distinguished man of the generation following him who was prominently identified in the development of the west, and whose mother, famous for her beauty and attractions, lived near Monticello. Her husband was a disolute wretch and abandoned her to the protection of friends. Jefferson looked after her interests, advised her concerning the management of her little property, educated her son, appointed him to office, pushed him into political prominence, furnished him opportunities for advancement, and showed an affectionate solicitude for his welfare. It is charitable to suppose that this was due to a friendly rather than a paternal interest. "In early days, and up to a recent period, nearly every mulatto by the name of Jefferson in Albemarle county, and they were numerous, claimed decent from the Sage of Monticello, which gratified their pride but seriously damaged his reputation. Jefferson does not appear to have taken notice of these scandals, except in a single instance. During the campaign of 1804 a respectable mulatto living in Ohio, named Madison Jennings, boasted that he was a son of the president and Sally Jennings, who was one of his slaves, and Jefferson invoked his carefully kept record of vital statistics at Monticello to prove an alibi. The date of Madison Jennings' birth made it impossible for Jefferson to have been his father, and Edward Bacon, the overseer of the plantation, made a statement to a |