New-York tribune., 1876-05-16

tuol life of Eew-England, OF which Nj. fTothing-
ham treats in this volume. has long been waiting
for its historian While il lasted is true character
was ,flc understood its deep and ahidiuginucnces
wholly unsuspected, beyond the immediate circle Of
its heroes and heroues and their more or less intel
Igent followers Wheu these withdrew from the
field disappointed, but few of them iaithleSS To
their earnest aims the clouds Of great struggle
were already rising over the political horizon; otuer
and swfter changes in the direction OF huhiah
thought and the character of human thth have sue
cceded; and no ono now living, whose memory can
not intcliicently span the period between 1880 and
1919 will be in the least degree able 10 comprehend
the devotion which gathered Ground the Irauscen-
dental movement, or the mingled contempt and rage
which IL provoked.
Although the practical form which it finally as
smned was confined to New England, and chiefly 10
Massachusetts,. the early agitators for EmancI'uoh
Peace aud WOmaus Rights were. almost without OK
ccption in full accordance with ITS spirit ana pah'eH
the seeds of a fresh and ardent sympathy wher-
ever they went. We know of communities II New.
Jersey. Peuusy lyania and Delaware in which mum
bers OF TLe Uidi were circulated as treasures and
many OF IFS most inspiring utterances copied i'll man
uscript; where a vague sense Of some coming good
and glory for Man thrilled the bosoms Of young and
old. where aspiration awakened out Of indifference,
snd faith freed from her mechanical fetteIs as by
single strong blow, burned with a strength which
seemed sufficient TO create their own fufillmcnt 1t
was spiritual revival in the nOblest sense, and few
of those who experienced it even through the misty
haf-grasp of the childish nature have lost the feel
ing of conservation which then came upon their
lives A very few, indeed, seem TO have developed
uhmnglcd acid out OF the early sweetness, and have
become the very opposite of what they then believed
themselves TO be,-swingmg from the fullneSs OF
faith in humanity to a practical denial OF faith i'll
Int t,at- IN
strength OF the movement.
70 the Transcendentalists We owe first vital
revolution in thought In Literature especially the
period Of their ot that OF the beginning OF free
and independent achievement; in Religion, their
npparent anagonisin has been. resolved by the sub
sequent enlightenment OF nearly al sectS, into colt
siderable degree of harmony; and their social eX-
pertinent though unsuccessful was the precursor of
many earnest efforts in the direction, nOtwth-
standing their different character Thus, to some
extent they represented occult desires of the race
which were even then widely didused and have since
shot into the hight Stripped of all its exaggerated
or rimpracticable features the movement rested on
sufficient basis Of truth. At this day, there will be
few we imagine to dispute the sincerity OF It's lead
ers or to deny their heroic courage.
Mr. Frothingham's work is a largely-conceived
comprehensive outline Of the history OF Tran
scendentalism We should call it a history phllo-
characterization in bis preface. He deals with the
growth of ideas, and the lives of men as they are
nodded 10y those ideas rather than with the details
of the movement. as represented in events encoun-
ters and collected incidents. He has adhered 10
this plan from first TO last with admirable con-
sistency and he cannot fail to satisfy all those who
desire TO see the very pulse Of the machine the
existing vital force to which 1t was attached. and
which exists none the less since the connection was
severed
lie begins with an examination Of the ideas Of
Kant and their influence on the mind of Germany,
esneeally AZ considered in their relation to Kants
predecessors in philosophy This followed by ac
count of the later German schools the corresponding
development il France and the remarkable embod
Inent Of the transcendental philosophy i'll England
in the person of Coeridge. We have seldom found
more compact and lucid presentation of subject
which is so hedged about with difficulty. Mr.
Frothngham has a faculty of extracting the
central idea from an intellectual system, and COM
pressing il into few keen epigrammatic sentences.
He is as terse as Emerson, if not eloquent, and
possesses a greater power of consecutive, self
evolved thought. His preliminary history of
Transcendentalism before its first mystic root
pierced the hard soil of NewEngland, occupies more
than one-fonrth of the volume; but thoughtful
reader would be willing to spare page of it. As
specimen Of its clear, compressed style. we take the
following
Hume taking Locke at his word that all knowledge
came rom experience, that the nlpd was passive re-
cipent OF impr ssons, with independent inte
substratn, reasoned that mind was hctl0h ana taxing
Terkeev at Iis word tina. the outward world had 10
material existence, and no apparent existence eAcept 10
perception, he reasoned that mater was he.io
Mind and matter both being fcuons' there could be no
certain knowledge; truth was uailaluanie heas were
illusions. The opposing schools Of philosophers an
initiated each otler, and the result was skepclsln
started Kant on his long ana severe cOuIsc or
n,ost riIes c@n!d sustain itself that Descartes
causatv ufmty substance, time. space, are indepcn-
dent Of experience without experience they would
not exist and experience takes from them lol III ObN
Nat Locke Gas wr0ns in asserting that M IDEAS Olg-
mated in exDerruce aud rcsOl able INTO 1t, since
the IDEAS of causalty substance, uty aud ODcS Ger
fspiV dd not So l1pac and were receivable.
IfIs ide 10 dispute whether knowledge from
anOtBer-IOm without through stusduoH oI
from within through intuition the everlasting Datte
between idealism and spiriuasm and material
ism cIn never victory 10 either SIDE MlLd ana
uuiverse geucc and pCrcnce suppose each Other;
neither alone operative To produce KNOWLEDGE. hnOW
edge Is the product Oi their mutual cooperation NINA
them Object and subject, sterile by themselves become
tpowicdge but ono only aud hat produced by the
taizaton, 70 speak, that results from the combined
elements.
Reaching bis main subject, Mr.. rockingham be-
gins by boldly declaring that there never was such
thing as Transcendentasm out Of New-Engand. In
Germany and France there was transcendental
philosophy, held by cultivated men and taught in
schools but il never exercised any practical effect
society. In England the same philosophy affected
only poetry and art But in NeN-Engand the i'm
ported ideas took immediate hold Of the lives of men
and women. The philosophy became an active So
cial element, and made its heaven and new
earth visible, if but for moment, and in wiutry
season There was, in fact, other part of the
world where transcendental philosophy could work
;tsclf ont into nractical results Life there was