son objects to, we might object in turn, at least conveys a realistic account of the social conditions that prevailed in Emerson's day and still prevail. It is a fact that the wicked succeed, by any accepted standard of success, while the good all too often come to grief. ^* The real "fallacy" of organized religion, we might argue in opposition to Emerson, lies in its appeal to the poor to postpone their revenge to the next life—a counsel of political submission, transparently designed to divert their sense of injustice into the politically innocuous channel of piety and prayer. Why should they have to wait for their reward? Why should they be discouraged— except that the vision of a heavenly reward, of theologically deferred gratification, serves to shore up the existing structures of social injustice—from taking matters into their own hands? Why should social justice be left up to God? Popular religion, we can agree, concedes too much to conventional ideals of success, but Emerson's criticism of those ideals seems to lead to political consequences even more deplorable than the consequences entailed by an uncritical affirmation of them. Popular preaching at least nourishes a justifiable feeling of resentment. Emerson, on the other hand, assures the dispossessed that justice actually reigns, when common sense tells us that it is everywhere in hiding. Emerson is a Pollyanna after all. What can his wildly optimistic assessment of the situation possibly mean? That virtue is its own reward? Cold comfort!

Emerson himself is well aware of these objections. The distinction between more and less—the inequitable distribution not only of wealth but of intelligence, beauty, and imagination—seems to be a "radical tragedy of nature." "How can Less not feel the pain; how not feel indignation or malevolence towards More?" Evil all too often goes unpunished, as far as we can see. "We feel defrauded of the retribution due to evil acts, because the criminal adheres to his vice and contumacy and does not come to a

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Those who still cling to the misconception that early evangelical Protestantism celebrated worldly success as the visible sign of salvation will be surprised to hear that popular preaching, on the contrary, stressed the disparity between the obvious injustice that confronted people in this world and the heavenly justice to come. Only the more liberal churches, in Emerson's time, had dropped this theme in favor of an emphasis on the social "improvements" that would eventually assure comfort, if not prosperity, for all.

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