“So as I said, in the early days of chassidus, the primacy of learning Torah was set aside in favor of learning “chassidus”. R’ Chaim Volozhin bemoaned this fact.”
And as I said, you get your ideas of what Chasidus is about from outsiders. And when confronted with facts that don’t match up, new theories are born.
Obviously, elements of Chasidus were able to spread faster than the teaching of Torah. So yes, those towns that were hitherto known as Ameratzim, and can afford few Masechtos and whose townfolk weren’t able to engulf themselves in long hours of Torah study, were now touched by the spark of Chasidus.
This shows you again that Chasidishe things don’t take much time. That’s why busy peasant-folk can get involved, and why serious scholars aren’t slowing their pace of learning; but rather all of their previous activities became re-invigorated.
Surely it would be great to open a large Yeshiva in every town, but it’s impossible and Reb Chaim Velozhener didn’t either do that. Do you think that when Chasidus came about they threw out two thirds of the town’s Shas? Or just maybe, that’s what they always had, and then Chasidus came in as well.
Early Hisnagdus was based on not interacting directly with the leaders of whom the complaints were lodged against, as much as some leaders have tried. The next generation, after having met many Rabbonim have walked back much of the complaints. But once you are already set up as a camp against something you look for things to complain about.
Hungarians were also sceptic about Chasidus, but it looked very different, and they therefore accepted over time whatever they chose to accept. Sefardim, too, relate to Chasidish Sefarim as they do to any other Sefer, without the preconceived negativity.