In a passage in his "Days from a Diary"1 he definitely alludes somewhat disparagingly to "those French Eclectics." But this — so far as one is able by a cursory survey to discover - is the only explicit reference in his writings to French philosophers of the early nineteenth century. Alcott, in fact, appears to be the only one of the New-England Transcendentalists, whom we have under consideration, who was impatient of the philosophy of the French Eclectics and antagonistic toward their disposition to temporize, compromise, mediate. But this after all is not strange; for all through life Alcott was a thorough-going idealist, an out-and-out extremist, not likely to feel drawn toward a philosophy distinguished for moderation and half-measures. Alcott, too, was primarily a talker, a conversationalist, an utterer of "oracles," rather than a deep student of philosophy and letters; and although he may have had no conscious sympathy with Cousin, Jouffroy, or even Fourier, he indubitably voices some of these philosophers' ideas which were in the air in New England during his time. And, finally, his explicit disparaging allusion to the writings of the French Eclectics indicates, in itself, if not sympathy at least some measure of familiarity with them. As a contributor to The Dial, as the founder of the Fruitlands community, and as a reformer with the most sanguine Transcendental tendencies, Alcott stands enrolled as one of the chief figures of the Transcendental Movement in New England. Emerson, in a letter from Concord to an English friend, thus aptly characterizes our New-England oracle: "About this time, or perhaps a few weeks later, we shall send you a large piece of spiritual New England in the shape of A. Bronson Alcott, who is to sail for London about the 20th of April, and whom you must not fail to see, if you can compass it. A man who cannot write, but whose conversation is unrivalled in its way; such insight, such discernment of spirit, such pure intellectual play, such revolutionary impulses of thought. Whilst he speaks he has no peer, and yet, all men say, ' such partiality of view.' I, who hear the same charge always laid at my own gate, do not so readily feel that fault in my friend. But I en 1 Days from a Diary, A. B. Alcott. See The Dial, April, 1842. treat you to see this man. Since Plato and Plotinus we have not had his like." 1 This "large piece of spiritual New England," this self-appointed oracle" of his time, was born at Wolcott, Connecticut, November 20, 1799. He was of humble extraction, the son of a farmer, and his first experience of life was gained as a pedler in the South. About 1828 he became an educational reorganizer and established in Boston a school2 which attracted much attention. His teaching was largely conversational; specimens of his socratic pedagogical talks are to be found in his "Conversation with Children on the Gospel," which appeared in 1836. Some of the ornaments which adorned the walls of his unique school in Masonic Temple, Boston, were: a head of Jesus, a bust of Plato, bust of Socrates, bust of Milton, and a picture of Dr. Channing. Emerson wrote in his Journal concerning the reform educator: "Alcott declares that a teacher is one who can assist the child in obeying his own mind, and who can remove all unfavorable circumstances. He measures ages by leaders, and reckons history by Pythagoras, Plato, Jesus." But Alcott's methods, although commendably lofty, proved to be too impractical; his school fell out of favor; and so, abandoning it, he removed to Concord. During his stay at Concord, the storm-center of New-England Transcendentalism, he disseminated all sorts of Utopian views on theology, education, society, vegetarianism, and what not. He gave now and then lectures which won quite widespread attention by virtue of their benignity and originality. In 1842, however, our visionary departed for England. Returning a few months later with some English friends he endeavored to found a kind of phalanstery, called Fruitlands, near the village of Harvard in Massachusetts. The farm, located between Worcester and Nashua, some thirty miles from Boston, lay on a hillside gently sloping toward the Nashua River; it was a remote place, without a road, surrounded by a beautiful landscape of NewEngland woods and fields, an ideal sylvan spot for the realization of Utopian views. But the family, which never numbered more 1 From a letter of Emerson to Stirling, Concord, April 1, 1842. 2 Cf. Record of a School, by Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, J. Munroe & Co. Boston, 1835. than twelve, did not hold together more than six months. The experiment, like the other Transcendental company- - the Brook Farm Society, was an outgrowth of the psychical upheaval of the time, and especially of the French philosopher Fourier's ideal of co-operation in phalansteries. The spirit which animated the little colony is aptly set forth in the following passage from an article in The Dial of April, 1843: "The inner nature of every member of the Family is at no time neglected. A constant leaning on the living spirit within the soul should consecrate every talent to holy uses, cherishing the widest charities. The choice Library is accessible to all who are desirous of perusing these records of piety and wisdom. . . . Pledged to the spirit2 alone, the founders can anticipate no hasty or numerous accession to their numbers. In addition to his distinction as master of a Pestalozzian school and founder of a Fourierian phalanstery, Alcott is noteworthy for his contributions to The Dial. In his articles for this organ we find set forth the acme of New-England idealism; but it is idealism divorced from common sense and without the saving grace of humor. The series of papers under the title of "Days from a Diary," magniloquent in tone, unsystematic in thought, highfalutin in sentiment, constitute the most memorable of his Dial effusions. We might give as Alcott's favorite authors, Plato, Pythagoras, and Swedenborg; and the names of the first two one comes across frequently in the pages of Cousin and Jouffroy. Emerson, of course, was Alcott's criterion among New-England colleagues. The way, indeed, in which he blends Emersonian optimism and idealism is particularly characteristic. We quote a significant passage apropos of aspiration: "She (aspiration) would breathe life, organize light; her hope is eternal; a never-ending, still-beginning quest of the Godhead in her own bosom." It is interesting to compare with this passage some analogous lines from Cousin: "Inspiration is accompanied with that forcible emotion, which bears the soul away from its ordinary and subaltern state and disengages from it the sublime and godlike portion of its nature.' 1 Cf. The Dial, April, 1843, Catalogue of Books. 2 Cf. Social Tendency, The Dial, July, 1843. 993 For his sermonizing spirit this somewhat elementary yet quite well-meaning philosopher of Concord is as remarkable as for anything. When he begins to preach he forthwith appears, as if by some occult right, in his natural element. The following specimens of his proficiency along the sermonizing line are superb enough to make the ordinary mind at least temporarily start and stare: Step by step one climbs the pinnacles of existence; life itself is but the stretch for that mountain of holiness. Opening here with humanity, 'tis the aiming at divinity in ever-ascending circles of aspiring and endeavor. Who ceases to aspire dies. Our pursuits are our prayers, our ideals our gods." 66 Alcott, in short, appears to have been an innocent attitudinizer and moralizer. Without accurate scholarship or profound learning, he yet honestly endeavored, in his own high and simple way, to lead a life of self-culture and self-development. Emerson somewhat unaccountably pronounced him a most extraordinary man, the highest genius of his time; and beyond doubt he was a pure and upright personality, of an idealistic Transcendental bent, who lived a more or less serene and benevolent life. His prime defect obviously lies in the fact that he did not possess a sufficiently large bump of sanity. A little more study at first hand of the writings of the very French Eclectics whom he disparages, and sympathy with their clear and level-headed common sense, might have saved him from being, as he at times was, the butt of merriment. Such statements as these betray him, "Identity halts in diversity.” "The poles of things are integrated.” 4. RALPH WALDO EMERSON As time passes Emerson's utterances in the field of American literature, unlike those of his fellow Transcendentalists, tend to take higher and more enduring place. He was the finest flower 1 of at least six generations of refined culture and pious living, a profound and independent lover of truth and beauty in philosophy and literature, the personal friend of such idealists as Wordsworth and Carlyle. He was, in short, a kind of felicitous blend of the Hebrew, the Greek, and the Yankee. He was not merely "the Poet and Seer" of the Transcendental Movement in New England of his time, he has become as well no small figure in world literature. The Bible and Shakspere, Plato and Swedenborg, were his paragons. He was, withal, undoubtedly acquainted with the writings of the French Eclectics, and was one of the chief factors in effecting the efflorescence of Idealism, or Transcendentalism, here in America. We find several instances of Emerson's familiarity with the writings of the French philosophers with whom we are especially concerned. He was, in the first place, one of the assistant editors of The Dial- the chief organ of New-England Transcendentalism - for two years, from 1840 to 1842, and was editor-in-chief of the paper, after the resignation of Margaret Fuller, from 1842 to 1844. During his office as editor of The Dial there appeared on the pages of this periodical various references to the writings of French philosophers,1 three concerning Cousin, two concerning Jouffroy, and at least one concerning Fourier. In addition to these instances from The Dial of Emerson's acquaintance with the writings of French philosophers, we come across in his essays in the Complete Works edition, published by Houghton, Mifflin and Company, several passages in the course of which along with cursory references to such writings as those of the Veddas, and the Laws of Menu, of Heraclitus, Plato, Pythagoras, Plotinus, Marcus Aurelius, Swedenborg, Böhme, Kant, Fichte, Hegel, Berkeley, Cudworth, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Carlyle, and others — he makes several definite allusions to Cousin, Fourier, and others. Insomuch as these definite allusions to French philosophers have direct bearing on the subject at hand, we cite at random a few of them. In the essay entitled "Intellect" in the Essays, First Series, we find Emerson writing as follows: A new doctrine seems at first a subversion of all our opinions, tastes, and manner of living. Such has Swedenborg, such has Kant, such has Coleridge, such 1 1 Q. v. pages 70 and 71 in Chapter on Margaret Fuller. |