You've never really spent much time with infants and young children have you? Empathy is a skill we learn in order to survive in our social system. It is not something we are born with. We are born as bundles of pure self without any sense of other things as independent things that exist even when we can't perceive them (let alone other independent selves like us). As we mature, empathy is a choice we cultivate in our selves. I may believe that most people are basically good (or want to be good) and everyone has the potential to be good, but no one is born "good". When we are born, good and bad are concepts that have no meaning to us beyond what is good or bad specifically and only for ourselves.

Literally everyone from more than 200 years ago would seem, at best, quirky by modern standards. Measuring by a modern stick is like measuring ants in miles. You can definitely do that, no one will stop you, some might even come to watch, but you’re setting yourself up for a frustrating experience.

“He improved for the times” is a far more useful way to see it, imo.