The Letters of William James, Vol. 2James, William
Philosophy
The Letters of William James, Vol. 2
James, William
Intellectuals -- United States; James, William, 1842-1910; Philosophers -- United States; Psychologists -- United States
Mrs. Gibbens speaks with great pleasure of your friendly visits, and I
should think you might find Mrs. Merriman good company. I hope you are
getting through the winter without any bronchial trouble, and I hope
that neither the influenza nor the bubonic plague has got to Cambridge
yet. The former is devastating Europe. If you see dear Dr. Driver, give
him our warmest regards. One ought to stay among one's own people. I
seem to be mending--though very slowly, and the least thing knocks me
down. This noon I am still in bed, a little too much talking with the
Myerses yesterday giving me a strong pectoral distress which is not yet
over. This dictation begins to hurt me, so I will stop. My spirits now
are first-rate, which is a great point gained.
Good-bye, dear old man! We both send our warmest love and are, ever
affectionately yours,
Wm. James.
_To Hugo Münsterberg._
CARQUEIANNE, _March 13, 1900_.
DEAR MÜNSTERBERG,--Your letter of the 7th "ult." was a most delightful
surprise--all but the part of it which told of your being ill again--and
of course the news of poor Solomons's death was a severe shock.... As
regards Solomons, it is pathetically tragic, and I hope that you will
send me full details. There was something so lonely and self-sustaining
about poor little S., that to be snuffed out like this before he had
fairly begun to live in the eyes of the world adds a sort of tragic
dramatic unity to his young career. Certainly the _keenest_ intellect we
ever had, and one of the loftiest characters! But there was always a
mysterious side to me about his mind: he appeared so critical and
destructive, and yet kept alluding all the while to ethical and
religious ideals of his own which he wished to live for, and of which he
never vouchsafed a glimpse to anyone else. He was the only student I
have ever had of whose criticisms I felt afraid: and that was partly
because I never quite understood the region from which they came, and
with the authority of which he spoke. His surface thoughts, however, of
a scientific order, were extraordinarily _treffend_ and clearly
expressed; in fact, the way in which he went to the heart of a subject
in a few words was masterly. Of course he must have left, apart from his
thesis, a good deal of MS. fit for publication. I have not seen our
philosophical periodicals since leaving home. Have any parts of his
thesis already appeared? If not, the whole thing should be published as
"Monograph Supplement" to the "Psychological Review," and his papers
gone over to see what else there may be. An adequate obituary of him
ought also to be written. Who knew him most intimately? I think the
obituary and a portrait ought also to be posted in the laboratory. Can
you send me the address of his mother?--I think his father is dead. I
should also like to write a word about him to Miss S----, if you can
give me her address. If we had foreseen this early end to poor little
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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