called “The Transcendental Club” by the world; sometimes, by Mr. Alcott, “The Symposium Club;” and occasionally, by its members, “The Hedge Club,” because its meetings were often adapted to suit the Rev. F. H. Hedge’s occasional visits to Boston. This association met once a month or thereabouts for several years.
In 1839 the theme of a much-desired journal constantly appears in the manuscript diary of Mr. Alcott, both in connection with this club and with his own meditations. Thus he writes (March 12, 1839), “Before long a journal will be circulating the thoughts which are now talked about in private circles,”[1] — yet this he says evidently in his general attitude of prophet and seer, without more definite forecast.
Soon after (March 27), he writes: —
“Brought home with me Brownson’s ‘Boston Quarterly Review,’ for April. This is the best journal now current on this side of the Atlantic, but falls far below the idea of the best minds among us. Its circulation is limited. A better work will appear before long. Some of the freest pens now lie idle for want of a channel. … The ‘Christian Examiner’ is timid and conservative.”[2]
Again, in his record of a meeting of the club, May 8, 1839, it appears that the first topic of discussion was “The Present Temper of our Jour-
