I have quoted these views, not because of the solidity of Mailaender’s arguments, but merely because this pessimistic philosopher proved himself to be more consistent than his predecessors. While Schopenhauer and Hartmann, both so firmly convinced of the non-existence of happiness and the vast preponderance of suffering in all imaginable conditions of life, lived out their lives, Mailaender, true to his principles, committed suicide when barely thirty-five years of age. This is probably not a solitary instance. Under the influence of pessimism, a certain number of young persons, especially those whose mental equilibrium is not very firmly established, follow in the tragic footsteps of Mailaender. Some commit suicide, while others abstain from taking part in the perpetuation of the race. Others, but these are not many, curtail their existence by dissipation, thinking life not worth the care of it. A modern writer of great talent, Maeterlinck, echoes the pessimism of the present generation. “It is plain,” he says,[248] “that from one point of view humanity will always seem wretched, and as though being dragged towards a fatal precipice, since it will ever be doomed to disease, to the inconstancy of matter, to old age and to death.” “Yes, human life as a whole is sad, and it is easier, I may almost say pleasanter, to discuss and expose its dark side, than to enumerate its consolations and make the best of them. The miseries of life are many, obvious, and never failing; whereas the consolations, or rather the reasons which cause us to fulfil with alacrity the duty of living, are rare, hard to seek, and precarious.” Although pessimism has been greatly developed and widely spread during the nineteenth century, dissentient voices in opposition to this negative attitude towards the things of this world have not been wanting. Take the views of the German poet, Robert Hammerling,[249] who reproaches the pessimistic philosophers with ignoring the attitude of mind of the majority of mankind who ask but one thing,—life—life at any price and under any conditions. Against this sentiment all dogmatic arguments are useless, for, according to Hammerling, the question of pleasure and pain is a matter of feeling and not of reason. Now, with regard to the general feeling of humanity, there can be no doubt—it is frankly optimistic.