•Ÿ DYNAMICS OF NEW ENGLAND TRANSCENDENTALISM IN BENJAMIN ORANGE FLOWER’S ARENA (1889-1909) Paul Purushottam Reuben A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate School of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of . DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY August 1970 HOMING GREEN STAifc tWERSTTYUBRARY I <k © 1971 PAUL PURUSHOTTAM REUBEN ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ABSTRACT In this investigation the author studied an editor, a magazine and a movement. The editor was Benjamin Orange Flowerj the magazine the Arena, published at Boston between 1889 and 1909; and the movement was New England Transcendentalism, The procedure was to examine the biographical and mental make up of the editor, who had the chief influence on the Arena and was its guiding spirit. Secondly, the purpose and method of the magazine was investigated. Finally, the articles in the forty-one volumes of the magazine were studied to group together works dealing with the reassessment of Transcen­ dentalism and its major exponents. The Arena was no ordinary magazine. In the words of Flower, the magazine sought to"cultivate intellectual hospitality" and tried to be "the meeting place of fearless thinkers." These were •bvious from the wide range of topics discussed. Important for the author was the timing of the birth of the magazine in December, 1889. It is generally assumed that Transcenden­ talism, as a movement and as a moral force, declined during the early 1860s. The first number of the Arena appeared approximately twenty- five years later. A quarter of a century was taken to be an adequate span of time for the appearance of signs of a revival of interest in the movement. Through a survey of the magazine, the author was convinced that new interest in Transcendentalism was widespread. Flower, through editorials, articles and reviews, propogated and encouraged a revival of interest in and appreciation of the move­ ment and its chief exponents. Twenty-five articles in the Arena were individual studies »f Emerson, Thoreau and Whitman. Almost an equal number of works were studies of the different aspects of Transcendentalism. Of particular interest to the author were the contributions of Hindu and Buddhist religions. The influence of Far Eastern religions on Transcendentalism is well known. It was concluded that the renewed interest in these religions was closely tied to the revival of Transcendental ideals. Working with the premise that any idealistic philosophy is in essence a religious philosophy, the author found in the Arena a fertile field for the discussion of religious issues. An ethical and moral tone pervaded the pages of the Arena, a tone set by its editor. Therefore the assessment of the Transcendentalists was mainly related to ethical and religious aspects of their concepts of life. lii The Transcendentalists* faith in the ideals of democracy was adequately reflected in the goals of the Arena« The editor found strength in Emerson’s faith in all men as capable of living accord- ing to reason. Emerson inspired Flower at every stage of the latter’s career, and the editor, in return, prophesied that Emerson would loom "the most commanding of all the giants of his day because his thought was most cosmic and his philosophy and ethical generalisations the most in harmony with the broadening concepts of advancing civi­ lizations." Flower used Emersonian terms in setting the guiding policy of the Arena. The goals of the magazine were to "agitate, to compel men to think; to point out wrongs ... to impress higher ideas on the plastic mind of childhood." The author concluded that the articles in the Arena showed distinct signs of a renewal of interest in Transcendentalism and the related idealism of the ancient doctrines of India. The magazine’s editor, Flower, served as the revivalist of a new interest in idealism, which turned for its inspiration to New England Transcendentalism. IV ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Dr. Alma J. Payne introduced, me to Editor Benjamin Orange Flower and the Arena. For three years I worked as her research assistant investigating for her the position and the role of women in the forty-one volumes of the Arena. Familiarity soon led to a deep interest in Flower and his magazine. I had early decided to study New England Transcendentalism and make it the subject of my doctoral dissertation. I was, therefore, very pleased when Dr. Payne suggested a study of Transcendentalism in Flower’s Arena. I must thank Dr. Payne for giving this study a direction and a purpose. I must also thank Dr. Robert R. Hubach and Dr. Ray B, Browne for their excellent suggestions and comments during the preparation and writing of the dissertation, I owe a debt of thanks to the United States Educational Foundation in India for selecting me as the Fulbright scholar in English for 1966, and to the State Department for providing for my maintenance in the United States during 1966-67 through the Smith-Mundt grant. At Bowling Green my thanks go to the host of librarians and researchers who were always eager to help me, and. also to the Dean and staff of the Graduate School for their many kindnesses. Finally, I must thank my wife for her patience, understanding and encouragement. V TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER Page I INTRODUCTION ................... ....................... 1 II BENJAMIN ORANGE FLOWER AND THE ARENA ................... 6 Ill RALPH WALDO EMERSON. ........ .................. 23 IV HENRY DAVID THOREAU AND WALT WHITMAN................... 50 V TRANSCENDENTALISM, HINDUISM AND BUDDHISM ............. 81 VI CONCLUSION .............................................. 113 NOTES ...................................................... 117 BIBLIOGRAPHY................................................ 127 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION The term "New England Transcendentalism" was given to the various expressions of idealism, between 1830 and I860, centered in and around New England. There was no consistent philosophy among its chief exponents and, therefore, it is advantageous, as others have done before, to refer to them as belonging to the same "movement", for in spite of differences, they shared a common impulse. Said Emerson in the opening number of the Dial: "This spirit of the time is in every form a protest against usage and a search for principles." This general spirit of unrest and hostility found diverse expressions and, therefore, they were lumped together under the protective covering of the term Transcendentalism. This term, understandably, was variously defined. It was described (l) as a philosophy: Transcendentalism ... is the recognition in man of the capacity of knowing truth intuitively, or of attaining a scientific knowledge of an order of existence transcending the reach of the senses, and of which we can have no sensible experience. (2) as an expression of religious faith: Literally, a passing beyond all media in the approach to the Deity, Transcendentalism contained an effort to establish, mainly by a discipline of the intuitive faculty, direct intercourse between the soul and God, 3 (3) and as a reform movement: 2 Transcendentalism was not speculative but essentially practical and reformatory Octavius B, Frothingham, who wrote the history of the movement as a sympathetic admirer, said: Transcendentalism was a distinct philosophical system. Practically it was an assertion of the inalienable worth of man; theoretically it was an assertion of the immanence of divinity in instinct, the transference of supernatural attributes to the natural constitution of man­ kind. ... It is usually spoken of as a philosophy. It is more justly regarded as a gospel. As a philosophy it is ... so far Prom uniform in its structure that it may rather be considered several systems in one,-5 The religious aspect of the movement is of fundamental importance, especially, for the purposes of this study. This aspect of the movement was highlighted in the definition of Frances Tiffany: First and foremost, it can only be rightly conceived as an intellectual, aesthetic, and spiritual ferment, not a strictly reasoned doctrine. It was a Renaissance of conscious, living faith in the power of reason, in the reality of spiritual insight, in the privilege, beauty, and glory of life. Moreover, the New England Transcendentalists strived for the practical application of their idealism. The resultant practical idealism had its seed in the Puritan inheritance. H. C. Goddard said that it was "a blending of Platonic metaphysics and the Puritan spirit, of a philosophy and a character ... taking place at a definite time, in a specially fertilized soil, under >7 particular conditions." The truth remains that, in spite of 3 its eclectic nature, Transcendentalism remained a native product. Charles Dickens aptly said in his American Notes: "If I were a Bostonian, I think I would be a Transcendentalist." By their births and local habitat, Emerson and Thoreau, were New England Transcendentalists. But what of Whitman? He has been included in this study for reasons which are best elaborated by Charles R. Metzger, who said: ...the epithet transcendentalist indicates more than mere geographical, historical or social distinction. ... (it) indicated a special cast of mind, one that has revealed many interesting and rewarding insights into a number of matters.0 According to Metzger, Whitman’s most obvious connection with New England Transcendentalism was through his discipleship to Emerson. Metzger said: Both Emerson and Whitman were extreme radical Protestants. Like Emerson, Whitman objected to the dominion of institutions over religious experience. ... Like Thoreau he was secular in the special sense of denying the church as the principal agency of salvation. ... Along with Emerson he chose to extend radical Protestant religion till it embraced art and the artist, and like Thoreau he judged art and the artist as these were instrumental in achieving salvation here. Whitman had further ties with Emerson and Thoreau in his indebtedness to ancient Indian idealism. The Leaves of Grass depended heavily, for its sources, on the Bhagvad Gita, a book which had earlier inspired both Emerson and Thoreau.