l being in him. I think I
have always had a pretty soft shell, so to speak, hardly enough lime and
grit in it, and at times I am aware that such is the fact to this day.
Well, Emerson found my intellectual shell very plastic; I took the form
of his mould at once, and could not get away from him; and, what is
more, did not want to get away from him, did not see the need of getting
away from him. Nature herself seemed to speak through him. An intense
individuality that possesses the quality of lovableness is apt to impose
itself upon us in this way. It was under this spell, as you know, that
I wrote "Expression," of which I have told you. The "Atlantic," by the
way, had from the first number been a sort of university to me. It had
done much to stimulate and to shape my literary tastes and ambitions. I
was so eager for it that when I expected it in the mail I used to run
on my way to the post office for it. So, with fear and trembling, I sent
that essay to its editor. Lowell told a Harvard student who was an old
schoolmate of mine that when he read the paper he thought some young
fellow was trying to palm off an early essay of Emerson's upon him as
his own, and that he looked through the "Dial" and other publications in
the expectation of finding it. Not succeeding in doing so, he concluded
the young man had written it himself. It was published in November,
1860, and as the contributors' names were not given at that time, it was
ascribed to Emerson by the newspaper reviewers of that number. It went
into Poole's Index as by Emerson, and later. Professor Hill

(Some years ago I took it upon myself to let Professor Hill know the
real author of "Expression." He appeared grateful, though some what
chagrined, and said the error should be corrected in the next edition.
Mr. Burroughs smiled indulgently when he learned of my zeal in the
matter: "Emerson's back is broad; he could have afforded to continue to
shoulder my early blunders," he said. C. B.)

of Harvard, quoted a line from it in a footnote in his "Rhetoric," and
credited it to Emerson. So I had deceived the very elect. The essay had
some merit, but it reeked with the Emersonian spirit and manner. When
I came to view it through the perspective of print, I quickly saw that
this kind of thing would not do for me. I must get on ground of my own.
I must get this Emersonian musk out of my garments at all hazards. I
concluded to bury my garments in the earth, as it were, and