To most English minds, perhaps, the term pessimism suggests nothing like a philosophic creed or a speculative system. As a familiar word in popular literature it appears to signify a certain way of looking at the things of life, a temper of mind with its accompanying intellectual predisposition. In everyday language a man is a pessimist who habitually emphasises the dark and evil aspects of life, who is quick to see that its boasted possessions are marred by numerous ills, and is ever reminding us that progress brings more bane than blessing in its train./ Men of this cast of mind meet us in all walks of life; as well in private society as in the conspicuous regions of literature and politics. We do not think of them as a school adopting certain first principles in common, but rather as a peculiar make of person characterised by a kind of constitutional leaning to a gloomy view of the world and its affairs.
Yet it may be assumed that a considerable number of