"
This line of thought logically resulted also in a kind of pessimism. He
seemed at times to despise human nature. Somewhere about 1860 he wrote
to a friend, "There is not one man in twenty that is worth the ground he
stands on"; and speaking of Napoleon he affirms that, in the well-nigh
universal negligence and inefficiency of mankind, we cannot be too
thankful for this prompt and ready actor. No one who realizes the hard
and bitter struggle for daily bread with which three-fourths of the
human race are constantly occupied, would have written such a sentence.
The transition from optimism to pessimism is very much like that from
democracy to imperialism. [Footnote: The peculiar type of Emerson's
optimism is illustrated in his poem called "Sea Shore" where he makes a
fine catalogue of the gifts and advantages which the ocean brings to
mankind, but says nothing of the terrible destructive power of the sea.
He forgot that his old friend the Greek represented Neptune as even more
cruel than the god of war. Did this man of heroic nature lack the
courage to face tragedy?]
We regret to see him deciding the discovery of etherization in favor of
his brother-in-law, Dr. Jackson; a question which a Congressional
committee found itself unable to determine.
He had one trait of character which his biographers have not mentioned,
and which might pass by the name of incredulity.
Pages:
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115