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diff --git a/old/53683-0.txt b/old/53683-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 65e02b9..0000000 --- a/old/53683-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,5680 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Bronson Alcott's Fruitlands, by -Clara Endicott Sears and Louisa M. Alcott - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - -Title: Bronson Alcott's Fruitlands - -Author: Clara Endicott Sears - Louisa M. Alcott - -Release Date: December 7, 2016 [EBook #53683] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BRONSON ALCOTT'S FRUITLANDS *** - - - - -Produced by Richard Tonsing and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - - - - - - - - - BRONSON ALCOTT’S - FRUITLANDS - - -[Illustration: - - THE OLD HOUSE AT FRUITLANDS, HARVARD, MASSACHUSETTS - - In front are the mulberry trees planted by the philosophers for the - propagation of silkworms. -] - - - - - BRONSON ALCOTT’S FRUITLANDS - - - COMPILED BY - CLARA ENDICOTT SEARS - - WITH - _TRANSCENDENTAL WILD OATS_ - - BY - LOUISA M. ALCOTT - -[Illustration] - - BOSTON AND NEW YORK - HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY - The Riverside Press Cambridge - 1915 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - COPYRIGHT, 1876, BY LOUISA M. ALCOTT; 1904, BY JOHN S. P. ALCOTT; 1915, - BY CLARA ENDICOTT SEARS - - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED - - _Published May 1915_ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - NOTE - - -I desire to express my thanks to Mr. John S. Pratt Alcott, of Brookline; -Mr. F. B. Sanborn, of Concord; Dr. Joseph Wiswall Palmer, of Fitchburg; -and Mr. Alvin Holman, of Leominster, for facts and data concerning the -Consociate Family at Fruitlands, and for their assistance in collecting -and acquiring the greater part of the original furniture which was there -in the days of the Community. - -And I further thank Mr. John S. Pratt Alcott for the privilege of -including Louisa’s and Anna’s Diaries at Fruitlands, and Mr. Alcott and -Messrs. Little, Brown & Company for the use of Louisa M. Alcott’s -_Transcendental Wild Oats_. - - CLARA ENDICOTT SEARS. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - FOREWORD - - -For many years articles have appeared from time to time in magazines and -books regarding the Community at Fruitlands, but it has remained for -Miss Sears to gather them together with infinite patience for -publication, and this little book is the result, the first connected -story of the life and beliefs of that little Community which tried so -hard to live according to its ideals in spite of criticism and censure -and whose members nearly starved as a result of their devotion. - -A great deal of credit is due to Miss Sears for her success in gathering -material to make this story of Fruitlands so complete, and I take this -opportunity, as the oldest surviving member of the Alcott family, of -expressing to her our gratitude for the very interesting and complete -account of the Fruitlands experiment. - - JOHN S. P. ALCOTT. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CONTENTS - - - INTRODUCTION xiii - - I. A NEW EDEN 1 - - II. THE FOUNDING OF FRUITLANDS 21 - - II. BROOK FARM AND FRUITLANDS 35 - - IV. THE MAN WITH THE BEARD 53 - - V. SUMMER SUNSHINE 68 - - VI. FATHER HECKER’S DESCRIPTION OF FRUITLANDS 75 - - VII. ANNA ALCOTT’S DIARY AT FRUITLANDS 86 - - VIII. LOUISA MAY ALCOTT’S DIARY AT FRUITLANDS 106 - - IX. AUTUMN DISAPPOINTMENT 112 - - X. IN AFTER YEARS 130 - - XI. TRANSCENDENTAL WILD OATS. BY LOUISA MAY ALCOTT 145 - - APPENDIX: CATALOGUE OF THE ORIGINAL FRUITLANDS LIBRARY 175 - - - - - ILLUSTRATIONS - - - THE OLD HOUSE AT FRUITLANDS, HARVARD, MASSACHUSETTS _Frontispiece_ - - In front are the mulberry trees planted by the - philosophers for the propagation of silkworms. - - - A. BRONSON ALCOTT AT THE AGE OF 53 4 - - _From the portrait by Mrs. Hildreth._ - - - ABIGAIL MAY, MRS. A. BRONSON ALCOTT 4 - - _From a daguerreotype._ - - - THE SMALL ENTRY WHERE THE VALUABLE BOOKS WERE KEPT 10 - - - THE STUDY 28 - - A bust of Socrates stands on the fine old Dutch - highboy that Joseph Palmer brought from No Town. - - - CHARLES LANE 42 - - - THE SMALL DINING-ROOM 48 - - Around this table the philosophers discussed their - deepest problems. - - - NANCY AND JOSEPH PALMER 56 - - - THE REFECTORY, ALSO USED AS A KITCHEN 68 - - - ISAAC T. HECKER 76 - - - LOUISA, ANNA, AND ABBA MAY ALCOTT 88 - - - THE COMMUNITY SETTLE 100 - - - WHERE ABBA MAY’S STOCKING WAS HUNG THE NIGHT BEFORE HER 106 - BIRTHDAY - - Anna’s bedroom is on the right, next to Mrs. - Alcott’s. The portraits of the “Little Women” hang - on the wall. - - - THE OUTER KITCHEN 116 - - - CHARLES LANE’S ROOM 124 - - The old cowhide trunk, in which some of the most - valuable of the books were shipped from London; also - the old chest in which the linen was kept. The - spinning-wheel belonged to a former owner. - - - THE BEDROOM 128 - - Where Mr. Alcott nearly succumbed to his despair at - the failure of his “New Eden.” - - - ORCHARD HOUSE AT CONCORD, MASSACHUSETTS 172 - - The Alcott home of later years. - - - - - INTRODUCTION - - -Longfellow wrote:— - - “All houses wherein men have lived and died - Are haunted houses. Through the open doors - The harmless phantoms on their errands glide, - With feet that make no sound upon the floors. - - “We meet them at the doorway, on the stair, - Along the passages they come and go, - Impalpable impressions on the air, - A sense of something moving to and fro. - - * * * * * - - “We have no title-deeds to house or lands; - Owners and occupants of earlier dates - From graves forgotten stretch their dusty hands, - And hold in mortmain still their old estates. - - “The spirit world around this world of sense - Floats like an atmosphere, and everywhere - Wafts through these earthly mists and vapors dense - A vital breath of more ethereal air.” - -I found myself reciting these lines whenever my eyes rested upon the old -house of Fruitlands. From my terrace on the hill I looked down upon it -with mixed feelings of pity, awe, and affection. It seemed like a -Presence, a ghost of the Past, that compelled the eyes to gaze at it -persistently. In the warm joyousness of the spring sunshine, or when the -cold mists of autumn crept across the valley, it conveyed to me the same -sense of desolation, of mystery, of disillusionment. Its broken windows -looked like hollow eyes sunken in an ashen and expressionless face. -Within its walls life and death had come and gone;—laughter and the -sound of weeping had echoed through the quaint, low-ceilinged rooms. It -had been the sheltering home of British yeomen. Its heavy chestnut beams -bore record of the virgin forests of the Colonies. The thrill of -patriotism had vibrated there when the sword of the Revolution swept the -land, and the sound of drum and fife, leading the hurrying feet of eager -volunteers to Concord and Lexington, must have reached the quiet -hillside and stirred the hearts of those listening in the doorway. Those -were the brave and vital days of its youth. In seed-time and harvest it -had smiled upon the valley, its shingles warm and ruddy with ochre-red. -At Yule-tide the log had been chosen with fitting ceremony and placed -within the broad and spacious chimney. The old and the young had feasted -and made merry to the sound of the crackling fire-music. Who can tell -what memories of happiness and romance the old house contains? - - * * * * * - -Then came a period of quiet years, when the meadows and pastures grew -rich and fertile, the upturned soil yielded abundant harvests, and the -branches of the apple trees hung heavy with fruit. But it was when the -old house had begun to settle and look decrepid, and its floors had -become shaky and uneven, that its door opened wide to its supreme -experience. Then Fruitlands was exalted into the New Eden. The two names -came to it simultaneously. It was to pulsate with lofty ideals and -altruistic aspirations. For one perfect summer and mellow autumn its -running brook, its shady grove, its fertile meadows and sloping pasture, -its western view, so beautiful at sundown, of Wachusett and Monadnoc, -and the chain of purple hills, were to be the inspiration of a group of -individuals then known as the transcendental philosophers, and through -them Fruitlands became famous. Within its walls great questions were -discussed, great hopes for the betterment and enlightenment of mankind -were generated. Alcott, Charles Lane, Wright, Bower, Emerson, Hawthorne, -Channing, Thoreau, and many others went in and out of its doors; and -last, but not least, the child, Louisa May Alcott, who later became our -well-loved New England authoress, and Joseph Palmer, a Crusader in -spirit as well as in actions, who suffered for his principle of wearing -a beard at a time when it was looked upon as a badge of scorn and -contempt, and which won for him the name of “the Old Jew.” When the -beautiful dream was over; when the New Eden proved to be only an empty -mockery of the vision it had once inspired; when the great experience -had ended in failure, then the old house sagged pitifully as if its -heart had broken: the winter storms and summer rains of the succeeding -years washed all color from its face: it became gray and haggard. Joseph -Palmer and his wife lingered on in old age, and then passed out into the -Beyond. Their children and grandchildren clung to the place for a space -of years, but its history was over. It was left desolate and abandoned. - - * * * * * - -So as I looked down on it from my terrace on the hill, pitying its -infinite loneliness, the thought came to me that I must save it. If for -a time it had borne the semblance of a New Eden, then that time must be -honored, and not forgotten. I longed to see it smiling again upon the -valley in its glowing coat of ochre-red. The fine old chimneys must be -put back in their places from which they had been ruthlessly torn down -to make room for stoves. The hollow eyes must gleam again with -window-panes; the sound of voices must ring once more through the empty -rooms. In the future it must be cherished for its quaintly interesting -history. If that history was full of pathos, if the great experiment -enacted beneath its roof proved a failure, the failure was only in the -means of expression and not in the ideal which inspired it. Humanity -must ever reach out towards a New Eden. Succeeding generations smile at -the crude attempts, and forthwith make their own blunders, but each -attempt, however seemingly unsuccessful, must of necessity contain a -germ of spiritual beauty which will bear fruit. Let no one cross the -threshold of the old house with a mocking heart. Looking back from our -present coigne of vantage, we, too, cannot but smile at the childlike -simplicity and credulity, and the lack of forethought of those -unpractical enthusiasts. But let it be the smile of tenderness and not -of derision. In this material age we cannot afford to lose any details -of so unique and picturesque a memory as that of A. Bronson Alcott and -the “Con-Sociate Family” at Fruitlands. - - - - - BRONSON ALCOTT’S - FRUITLANDS - - - - - I - - A NEW EDEN - - -The following account of the Fruitlands Community is largely a -compilation of writings regarding it by eye-witnesses and those in close -touch with its members. This is the surest way of forming a just -estimate of the experiment and the characters involved. - -Mr. Frank B. Sanborn, in his book entitled “Bronson Alcott,” describes -in a few short sentences the circumstances which led up to the formation -of the Community, and this is what he says:— - -“James Pierrepont Greaves was an Englishman born in 1777, who at the age -of forty went to reside in Switzerland with Pestalozzi, for four years, -and there adopted, a few years before young Alcott did, the chief ideas -of Pestalozzi, as to the training of children. Returning to England in -1825, he gradually formed a circle of mystics and reformers, in London -and its vicinity, who were, like himself, interested in the early -instruction and training of children. Hearing from Harriet Martineau, -upon her return from America in 1837, of Mr. Alcott’s Temple School at -Boston, and thinking more favorably of it than Miss Martineau did, Mr. -Greaves opened a correspondence with the American Pestalozzi, and -received from him some of his books,—Miss Peabody’s ‘Records of a -School,’ and Mr. Alcott’s ‘Conversations on the Gospels.’ From these -books, and from his correspondence, Mr. Greaves and his friends, William -Oldham, Mrs. Chichester, Charles Lane, Heraud, and others, formed so -high an estimate of Bronson Alcott’s talents and character, that they -named for him the English school they were about establishing near -London, and called it ‘Alcott House.’ They also urged Mr. Alcott to -visit them in England and to take part in their schemes and labors. He -was well inclined to do this; and in 1842 he set sail for London, where, -late in May, he received a hearty welcome from his correspondents and -their circle, with the exception of Mr. Greaves, who had died earlier in -the same year.” - -Mr. Emerson furnished the money for Mr. Alcott’s trip to England. The -following letter was written by Bronson Alcott to his cousin Dr. William -Alcott:— - - * * * * * - - ALCOTT HOUSE, - HAM COMMON, SURREY, - June 30, 1842. - -... I am now at Alcott House, which is ten miles from London; where I -find the principles of human culture, which have so long interested me, -carried into practical operation by wise and devoted friends of -education. The school was opened five years ago and has been thus far -quite successful. It consists of thirty or more children, and some of -them not more than three years of age,—all fed and lodged at the House. -The strictest temperance is observed in diet and regimen. Plain bread -with vegetables and fruits is their food, and water their only drink. -They bathe always before their morning lesson, and have exercises in the -play-grounds, which are ample, besides cultivating the gardens of the -institution. They seem very happy and not less in the school-room than -elsewhere. - -Mr. Wright has more genius for teaching than any person I have before -seen—his method and temper are admirable, and all parties, from -assistants, of which there are several, to the youngest child delight in -his presence and influence. He impersonates and realizes my own idea of -an education, and is the first person whom I have met that has entered -into this divine art of inspiring the human clay, and moulding it into -the stature and image of divinity. I am already knit to him by more than -human ties, and must take him with me to America, as a coadjutor in our -high vocation, or else remain with him here. But I hope to effect the -first. - - * * * * * - -_The Healthian_ is edited here by Mr. Wright and Mr. Lane, and they -contribute to almost every reform journal in the kingdom. They are not -ignorant of our labors in the United States, almost every work of any -value I find in the library at Alcott House,—your own works, those of -Mr. Graham (a vegetarian), besides foreign authors not to be found with -us. I shall bring with me many books, both ancient and modern, on my -return to America. - - * * * * * - -It was during his sojourn in England in 1842 that the idea of creating -“a New Eden,” as he loved to call it, took firm root in Alcott’s mind. A -more quaintly unique character than his cannot be found in all the -annals of our literary history. His unquenchable aspirations after the -ideal life caught the imagination of men and women ready to break away -from the narrowing tendency of the Orthodox faith of the time. He was -both loved and derided. A transcendentalist pure and simple; -unpractical; a dreamer and visionary in every sense of the word; yet his -mind emitted flashes of genius so unerring and decisive as to elicit the -spontaneous admiration of Ralph Waldo Emerson and impel him to write in -his journal the following tributes:— - -[Illustration: - - A. BRONSON ALCOTT AT THE AGE OF 53 - - From the portrait by Mrs. Hildreth. -] - -[Illustration: - - ABIGAIL MAY, MRS. A. BRONSON ALCOTT - - From a daguerreotype. -] - -“The comfort of Alcott’s mind is, the connection in which he sees -whatever he sees. He is never dazzled by a spot of colour, or a gleam of -light, to value the thing by itself; but forever and ever is -prepossessed by the individual one behind it and all. I do not know -where to find in men or books a mind so valuable to faith in others. - -“For every opinion or sentence of Alcott a reason may be sought and -found, not in his will or fancy, but in the necessity of Nature itself, -which has daguerred that fatal impression on his susceptible soul. He is -as good as a lens or a mirror, a beautiful susceptibility, every -impression on which is not to be reasoned against, or derided, but to be -accounted for, and until accounted for, registered as an indisputable -addition to our catalogue of natural facts. There are defects in the -lens, and errors of retraction and position, etc., to be allowed for, -and it needs one acquainted with the lens by frequent use, to make these -allowances; but ‘tis the best instrument I have met with.”[1] - -Footnote 1: - - Emerson’s _Journal_, 1856. - - * * * * * - -“Once more for Alcott it is to be said that he is sincerely and -necessarily engaged to his task and not wilfully or ostentatiously or -pecuniarily. Mr. Johnson at Manchester said of him, ‘He is universally -competent. Whatever question is asked, he is prepared for.’ - -“I shall go far and see many, before I find such an extraordinary -insight as Alcott’s. In his fine talk last evening, he ran up and down -the scale of powers with much ease and precision as a squirrel the wires -of his cage, and is never dazzled by his means, or by any particular, -and a fine heroic action or a poetic passage would make no impression on -him, because he expects heroism and poetry in all. Ideal Purity, the -poet, the artist, the man must have. I have never seen any person who so -fortifies the believer, so confutes the skeptic. And the almost uniform -rejection of this man by men of parts, Carlyle and Browning inclusive, -and by women of piety, might make one despair of society. If he came -with a cannonade of acclaim from all nations, as the first wit on the -planet, these masters would sustain the reputation; or if they could -find him in a book a thousand years old, with a legend of miracles -appended, there would be churches of disciples; but now they wish to -know if his coat is out at the elbows, or whether somebody did not hear -from somebody, that he has got a new hat etc. He has faults, no doubt, -but I may safely know more about them than he does; and some that are -most severely imputed to him are only the omissions of a preoccupied -mind.”[2] - - * * * * * - -“Last night in the conversation Alcott appeared to great advantage, and -I saw again, as often before, his singular superiority. As pure -intellect I have never seen his equal. The people with whom he talks do -not ever understand him. They interrupt him with clamorous dissent, or -what they think verbal endorsement of what they fancy he may have been -saying, or with ‘Do you know Mr. Alcott I think thus and so,’—some whim -or sentimentalism, and do not know that they have interrupted his large -and progressive statement; do not know that all they have in their baby -brains is incoherent and spotty; that all he sees and says is like -astronomy, lying there real and vast, every part and fact in eternal -connection with the whole, and that they ought to sit in silent -gratitude, eager only to hear more, to hear the whole, and not interrupt -him with their prattle. It is because his sight is so clear, commanding -the whole ground, and he perfectly gifted to state adequately what he -sees, that he does not lose his temper when glib interlocutors bore him -with their dead texts and phrases.—Power is not pettish, but want of -power is.”[2] - -Footnote 2: - - Emerson’s _Journal_, 1856. - - * * * * * - -“Yesterday Alcott left me after three days spent here. I had laid down a -man and had waked up a bruise, by reason of a bad cold, and was lumpish, -tardy and cold. Yet I could see plainly that I conversed with the most -extraordinary man and the highest genius of the time. He is a man. He is -erect; he sees, let whoever be overthrown or parasitic or blind. Life he -would have and enact, and not nestle into any cast-off shell or form of -the old time, and now proposes to preach to the people, or to take his -staff and walk through the country, conversing with the school-teachers, -and holding conversations in the villages. And so he ought to go, -publishing through the land his gospel like them of old time.”[3] - -Footnote 3: - - Emerson’s _Journal_, 1857. - - * * * * * - -It was not unnatural that these gifts, fully acknowledged by so eminent -a man as Emerson, should have won to him the respect and devotion of -these Englishmen, who were living in the same atmosphere of thought in -which Bronson Alcott lived and moved and had his being. And so after -much discussion and many plans, illumined by great hopes and a deep -enthusiasm, Charles Lane and Mr. Alcott collected a valuable library of -books mostly on mysticism and all occult subjects for the future Eden, -and with William Lane, who was Charles Lane’s son, Wright, and Samuel -Bowers, sailed for America, their immediate destination being the home -in Concord where Mrs. Alcott and her daughters, then very young, were -waiting to receive them. - -Concord named the strangers “the English Mystics” and received them -cordially into the inner circle of literary men which formed the group -now spoken of as the “Concord Philosophers.” Emerson, Thoreau, -Hawthorne, Ellery Channing, and others became their friends, and -listened to their plans for forming universal brotherhood. Emerson’s -description of Charles Lane was this:— - - * * * * * - -“A man of fine intellectual nature, inspired and hallowed by a profound -faith. This is no man of letters, but a man of ideas. Deep opens below -deep in his thought, and for the solution of each new problem, he -recurs, with new success to the highest truth, to that which is most -generous, most simple, and most powerful; to that which cannot be -comprehended, or overseen, or exhausted. His words come to us like the -voices of home out of a far country.” - - * * * * * - -In the mean time the trunks containing the books chosen in England with -so much care were opened, and lists were made of their contents. It was -either Emerson or Thoreau who inserted a notice of them in “The Dial,” -the famous periodical to which the literary men and women of this noted -circle contributed. It ran thus: “Mr. Alcott and Mr. Lane have recently -brought from England a small, but valuable library, amounting to about -1000 volumes, containing undoubtedly a richer collection of mystical -writers than any other library in this country. To the select library of -the late J. P. Greaves, ‘held by Mr. Lane in trust for universal ends,’ -they have added many works of a like character, by purchase or received -as gifts. In their Catalogue ... they say, ‘The titles of these books -are now submitted, in the expectation that this Library is the -commencement of an Institution for the nurture of men in universal -freedom of action, thought, and being. We print this list, not only -because our respect is engaged to views so liberal, but because the -arrival of this cabinet of mystic and theosophic lore is a remarkable -fact in our literary history.’” - -Mr. Sanborn, referring to this library in his “Bronson Alcott,” says: -“It was this collection which, in the summer of 1843, occupied a hundred -feet of shelving in the old red farmhouse at Fruitlands.” - -[Illustration: - - THE SMALL ENTRY WHERE THE VALUABLE BOOKS WERE KEPT -] - - * * * * * - -The problem of where to establish the New Eden became the great and -vital question of the moment. Many suggestions were offered from many -quarters, but the great impediment to a definite decision was the lack -of funds. Mr. Alcott had no money to spare to put into a farm such as -they required, and the group of friends were interested, but not wholly -convinced of the feasibility of the scheme, and hung back when it came -to a question of investment. This very doubt fanned the flame of desire -in Mr. Alcott and Charles Lane to prove to the world the value of their -cherished dream. So it came about that Charles Lane took the burden of -paying for a farm on his own shoulders, and he wrote the following -letter to Mr. Alcott’s brother, Junius Alcott, on March 7, 1843:— - -“I hope the little cash I have collected from my London toils will -suffice to redeem a small spot on the planet, that we may rightly use -for the right owner. I would very much prefer a small example of true -life to a large society in false and selfish harmony. Please put your -best worldly thoughts to the subject and favor me with your view as to -how and where we could best lay out $1800 or $2000 in land, with -orchard, wood, and house. Some of the land must be now fit for the -spade, as we desire to give all animals their freedom. We feel it -desirable to keep within the range of Mind and Letters; or rather to -keep refinement within our range, that we may be the means of improving -or reproving it, without being injured by it.” - -Before this Mr. Alcott had written a letter to Isaac T. Hecker, later -known as Father Hecker, head of the Paulist Brotherhood, and in it he -described the idea they had in mind. At that time Father Hecker was at -Brook Farm, but was restless and dissatisfied with the life there, -craving a more ascetic existence; and knowing this, Alcott felt -confident of his sympathy and stated the salient points of the scheme to -him:— - -Our purposes, as far as we know them at present, are briefly these:— - - * * * * * - -First, to obtain the free use of a spot of land adequate by our own -labor to our support; including, of course, a convenient plain house, -and offices, wood-lot, garden, and orchard. - -Secondly, to live independently of foreign aids by being sufficiently -elevated to procure all articles for subsistence in the productions of -the spot, under a regimen of healthful labor and recreation; with -benignity toward all creatures, human and inferior; with beauty and -refinement in all economics; and the purest charity throughout our -demeanor. - -Should this kind of life attract parties toward us—individuals of like -aims and issues—that state of being itself determines the law of -association; and the particular mode may be spoken of more definitely as -individual cases may arise; but in no case, could inferior ends -compromise the principles laid down. - -Doubtless such a household, with our library, our services and manner of -life, may attract young men and women, possibly also families with -children, desirous of access to the channels and fountains of wisdom and -purity; and we are not without hope that Providence will use us -progressively for beneficial effects in the great work of human -regeneration, and the restoration of the highest life on earth. - -With the humane wish that yourself and little ones may be led to confide -in providential Love, - - I am, dear friend, - Very truly yours, - A. BRONSON ALCOTT. - -February 15, 1843. - - * * * * * - -Finally a decision was arrived at, and in a letter to Mr. Oldham, -Charles Lane narrates how it came about. It was written from Concord, -May 31, 1843:— - - * * * * * - -MY DEAR FRIEND:— - -... Mr. Alcott and I walked up the river to a place called the Cliffs, -where is a young orchard of 16 acres and woodland below. He came home -with his head full of poetic schemes for a cottage, etc., on this spot. -I, however, came home first and found that a man had been sent by the -young man who walked with me to Southborough, having a farm to sell at -Harvard, 14 miles off. He proposed to take me directly to see it, but I -was fatigued, so Samuel Larned, the visitor who came up with Mr. Wright, -went in the waiting vehicle. The next morning being very fine Mr. Alcott -and I walked there, not knowing his name, but we ascertained it to be -Wyman; we saw his place, consisting of 90 acres, 14 of them wood, a few -apple and other fruit trees, plenty of nuts and berries, much of the -land very good; the prospect from the highest part very sublime. The -house and barn very poor, but the water excellent and plentiful. The -capabilities are manifold, but the actualities humble. For the whole he -asked 2700 dollars, which being beyond my means, we had much talk when -he offered to sell the land for 1800 dollars and to lend us the -buildings gratis for a year. I should observe it is extremely retired, -there being no road to it. On these terms we have closed. He gives us -the few crops he has just planted and grass to a considerable amount -will soon be cut. I have slept a night or two there. William and two -friends (Larned and Abram Everett, called the “Plain Man” in the -_Vermont Telegraph_) and a hired man remain there, and the family are to -start early to-morrow morning, so now for plenty of work of all sorts. -Ninety acres; much of it first rate; some worth 100 dollars per acre, -the whole 20 dollars per acre; would that some of the English honest -half-starved were on it! This, I think you will admit, looks like an -attempt at something which will entitle transcendentalism to some -respect for its practicality.... We have very much to do, but the -occasions are opportune. I think Mr. Emerson is not so well pleased with -our departure as he would be with our company, but as he did nothing to -keep us we must go. It appeared to me that for the hopefulness of many, -it was needful we should make a movement of some kind this year, even -though we fail; and Providence seems really to have worked for us.... - -I thank you very much for the £10; the note arrived very opportunely to -enable Mr. A. to quit Concord, to do which all his debts must be paid, -and I need not tell you on whom that falls. Our transactions at present -leave me about 500 dollars in debt, but every one says we have made a -good bargain in the purchase of the land. I seriously hope we are -forming the basis for something really progressive, call it family or -community, or what you will.... - -We have now plenty of work to do and how we get on I shall faithfully -report, though the pen will not do much at present.... - - Believe me, dear friend, - Yours steadfastly in the spirit, - CHARLES LANE. - - * * * * * - -Mr. Sanborn, who above all others has an intimate knowledge of what the -situation was, having in later years learned much concerning it from -Emerson and Alcott and others of that time, makes this comment in his -“Bronson Alcott”:— - -“After looking at several places in Concord and elsewhere, Lane decided -to buy the Wyman farm at Harvard, two miles from the village of that -name, but less than a mile from Still River, another village in the same -township. Alcott would have chosen the Cliffs in Concord, a favorite -resort of Thoreau and the Emerson family, and Emerson would have -preferred to retain his friend in his own town; but Lane had rather -avoided Emerson, as not ascetic enough for his abstemious habits, and -seems to have been not unwilling to withdraw Alcott from what he -regarded as an unfavorable influence.” - -But when it was all settled, Alcott and his English Mystics entered into -their plan with a touching enthusiasm. Before them lay vistas of glowing -possibilities. They dreamed dreams and saw visions of a “Peace on Earth, -Good Will towards Men” such as had never before been realized. There was -much to be done and they were eager to begin,—the days were none too -long in which to collect the necessary things before moving to Harvard. -So Charles Lane persuaded Samuel Bowers to write to Oldham a description -of the farm, he himself being too busy to do so. And Bowers writes as -follows:— - -“Charles Lane wished me to sketch to you the material picture of -Fruitlands and the adjoining scene, but I am unqualified to do justice -to the subject. The property is very compact and may be a very beautiful -domain. It is part a hill sloping down to more valley. Several springs -gush out from the side of the hill and the water is very good—better I -think than is common in Massachusetts. The soil varies much, but the -average quality is, I considerately judge, twice, if not thrice as good -as that of Tytherley.[4] There is about 14 acres of woodland all in the -vale and adjoining is the Nashua River, on the other side of which, -where the receding lands gently rise, stands a Shaker village (Shirley), -its extended orchards, corn and grass lands. There is in view a long and -high range of hills, one of which, and that the highest, is famous for -having been the resort of an Indian sachem. The hill is called -Wachusett. Altogether the scene reminded me strongly of the Vale of -Evesham, in Worcestershire, where seen when one approaches it from -Oxford.” - -Footnote 4: - - The location of Owen’s Harmony Hall in England. - -It is quite evident that Oldham had written a letter to Charles Lane -warning him against assuming too great responsibility in this venture. -The question as to whether many enthusiasts would join the Community was -a very crucial one, since it was on this expectation that they based -their plans of running the farm free of debt. In answering the letter he -asks Oldham to forward certain money due to him. And in his explanation -says:— - -“I do not see any one to act the money part but myself.” (This refers to -the land for the Fruitlands experiment.) “Mr. Alcott cannot part with -me. I deem him too sincere and valuable to quit him, and besides there -is nothing in the country so well as we can show if we be faithful; but -rents, debts, and mortgage would destroy us. As to the recruits you -speak of, are they good for anything? Are they worth the small passage -money you name? Truly if they are some of them you have at Alcott House, -I think we should not be much aided by their presence. - -“Understand, we are not going to open a hospital. We are more -Pythagorean than Christs, we wish to begin with the sound rather than to -heal the sick. There is grand work here to be done and I must not trifle -with it.” - -This matter of getting the right kind of persons to join the Community -required a keen insight into human nature, and on this point Mr. Alcott -was not very strong. His own sincerity and depth of purpose were so -great that he looked for these same attributes in every one who -approached him, and often failed to detect the superficial qualities -that lurked underneath the surface enthusiasm of some of his followers. -At this time Transcendentalism was rife through the land. Some called it -“the Newness.” The expression “Apostles of the Newness” was heard on all -sides. They could be recognized by their long hair, Byronic collars, -flowing ties, and eccentric habits and manners. Nothing seemed too -excessive to prove their emancipation from the shackles of -conventionality. One day three young men of this kind turned up at Mr. -Emerson’s at Concord and entered into an animated conversation with him -on his front porch. With them freedom of thought and allegiance to “the -Newness” took the strange form of preceding every remark, however -trivial, with resounding oaths, which so startled the passers-by, and -Mr. Emerson as well, that he hastily invited them to move round to the -back of the house where the vibrations of their sulphurous ejaculations -might roll harmlessly across the meadow instead of exploding in through -the windows of the houses near by. - -That Mr. Emerson was deeply interested in the experiment of creating the -“New Eden” at Harvard is shown by the fact that a deed of the land was -made out in his name as trustee for Charles Lane. He and Thoreau and the -rest of the Concord circle viewed the departure with a mixture of -interest, curiosity, and anxiety. On June 10, 1843, Emerson wrote to -Thoreau:— - -“From Mr. Alcott and Mr. Lane at Harvard, we have yet heard nothing. -They went away in good spirits, having sent Wood Abram and Larned and -William Lane before them, with horse and plough, a few days in advance, -to begin the spring work. Mr. Lane paid me a long visit, in which he was -more than I had ever known him gentle and open; and it was impossible -not to sympathize with and honor projects that so often seem without -feet or hands.” - - - - - II - - THE FOUNDING OF FRUITLANDS - - -The original members of the Community that started the unique experiment -were Mr. Alcott, his wife, and four small daughters, the Englishman -Charles Lane and his son William, H. C. Wright (for a short time) and -Samuel Bower, Isaac T. Hecker, of New York, Christopher Greene and -Samuel Larned, of Providence, Abraham Everett and Anna Page, Joseph -Palmer, of Fitchburg, and Abram Wood. The transcendentalism of this last -individual showed itself chiefly in insisting upon twisting his name -hind side before and calling himself “Wood Abram.” As this he was always -known at Fruitlands. These members did not all arrive at once, but came -within a short time of each other. Wright had shown some dissatisfaction -already in the extreme asceticism of the plan of life adopted by Mr. -Alcott at Concord and he refused to be a regular member of the -Fruitlands Community on this account. In writing to Oldham on the -subject Charles Lane says: “I can see no other reason but the simplicity -and order to which affairs were coming (in the cottage); no butter nor -milk, nor cocoa, nor tea, nor coffee. Nothing but fruit, grain, and -water was hard for the inside; then regular hours and places, cleaning -up scraps, etc., was desperate hard for the outside.” - -When finally the move from Concord to Harvard was made, Mr. Alcott took -what furniture he could with him, such as beds, etc., and the rest was -supplied by Joseph Palmer, who carted his over from his old Homestead at -No Town outside of Fitchburg. - -Shortly after the move, Charles Lane sat down and wrote to Thoreau a -description of Fruitlands: - - * * * * * - - FRUITLANDS, June 7, 1843. - -It is very remotely placed, without a road, surrounded by a beautiful -green landscape of fields and woods, with the distance filled up with -some of the loftiest mountains in the State. At present there is much -hard manual labor, so much that, as you see, my usual handwriting is -very greatly suspended. Our house accommodations are poor and scanty; -but the greatest want is good female society. Far too much labor -devolves on Mrs. Alcott. Besides the occupations of each succeeding day, -we form in this ample theatre of hope, many forthcoming scenes. The -nearer little copse is designed as the site of the cottages. Fountains -can be made to descend from their granite sources on the hill-slope to -every apartment if desired. Gardens are to displace the warm grazing -glades on the South, and numerous human beings instead of cattle, shall -here enjoy existence. - - * * * * * - -On the estate are about 14 acres of wood,—a very sylvan realization, -which only wants a Thoreau’s mind to elevate it to classic beauty. The -farther wood offers to the naturalist and the poet an exhaustless haunt; -and a short cleaning up of the brook would connect our boat with the -Nashua. Such are the designs which Mr. Alcott and I have just sketched, -as resting from planting we walked around this reserve. - - * * * * * - -Though to me our mode of life is luxurious in the highest degree, yet -generally it seems to be thought that the setting aside of all impure -diet, dirty habits, idle thoughts, and selfish feelings is a source of -self-denial scarcely to be encountered, or even thought of, in such an -alluring world as this. - - * * * * * - -In the course of the next few weeks Lane wrote with much detail to -Oldham:— - - * * * * * - - FRUITLANDS, HARVARD, MASS., - June 16, 1843. - -MY DEAR FRIEND:— - -The morning being rainy I have taken advantage of the suspension of -outdoor labours to sit down and have a little chat with you of and -concerning our doings and progress. The day after I wrote you last all -the household effects and all the household were mounted on wheels and -trundled to this place; the old little cottage being left as clean as a -new book by Mrs. Alcott’s great energy. The day was sharp and cold for -the season, but the weather has since come out fine and warm, some days -hot. We have all been busily engaged in manual operations in the field, -house, wood yard, etc. Planting, ploughing, sowing, cleaning fruit -trees, gardening, chopping, sawing, fitting up, etc., etc., have gone at -a rapid rate, as the place was in a very slovenly condition. When tired -we have taken a look round the estate to see what was growing, learn the -shape of it, and its capabilities with more minuteness. It seems to be -agreed on all hands, and we have opinions from many practical men, that -we have not made a bad exchange, even in the commercial sense, of our -cash for land. Only think, brother Oldham, ninety acres, every one of -which may, in a short time, and without much outlay, be brought into a -state fit for spade culture; and much of it very good land, obtained at -the rate of 20 dollars or only _four pounds per acre freehold_. -Recollect, too, this includes fuel and some building material, for there -are 14 acres of wood, including many trees of edible nuts, and still -only 30 miles from a metropolitan city of 110,000 inhabitants.[5] The -land is most beautifully disposed in hill and valley, and the scenery is -of a sublime and elevating character. Water abundant and excellent and -the springs being on the hill, it may be conveyed anywhere about the -place for irrigation, etc. As is common in this district, the principal -part is meadow and pasture; but we shall go on ploughing up as much as -possible, sowing crops of clover or buckwheat, and turning them in, so -as to redeem the land without animal manures, which in practice I find -to be as filthy as in idea. The use of them is disgusting in the -extreme. At present, we have about 4 acres in Maize, 1½ in Rye, 1½ in -Oats, 1 in Barley, 2 in Potatoes, nearly 1 in Beans, Peas, Melons, -Squashes, etc.; there will be some Buckwheat, Turnips, etc., making in -all about 11 acres arable. We have no Wheat this year. The grass -promises well, and we may possibly cut 200 dollars’ worth; but by hired -teams we are now turning up one piece of 8 or 9, and another of 5 acres, -and mean to attack another 4 or 5 for our next year’s homestead or -garden, should we obtain the means of building. The hillside of 12 or 14 -acres pasture is also to be ploughed, directly, if we can; so that the -work of reclamation will go rapidly forward. There is a large piece of -peat land, as black as ink, which, mixed with sand, makes a most -productive soil, valued at 200 to 300 dollars per acre; and there is -sand on our lot within 100 yards. We have been much plagued, and a -little cheated, with the cattle, but our stock is now reduced to one -yoke of oxen. - -Footnote 5: - - Boston. - -Besides Mr. Alcott, his Wife and Children, myself and William, who is -very efficient and active, we have only a Mr. Larned and Abraham [Abram -Everett]—who appears in the _Vermont Telegraph_ as the “Plain Man.” -Larned was many months at West Roxbury, is only about 20 years of age, -his father was a merchant, and he has been a counting-house man and is -what the world calls genteel. Abraham is about 42, a cooper by trade, -but an excellent assistant here, very faithful to every work he -undertakes, very serious, has had rather deep experience, having been -imprisoned in a mad house by his relations because he had a little -property, but still he is not a spiritual being, at least not -consciously and wishfully so. - -I have exchanged more letters with Samuel Bower and he promises to come -here to-morrow. If his real state bears out his writings, I think he may -be added to the family, otherwise he thinks of looking at Roxbury for -the purpose of finding a home there.... - -Mr. Alcott is as persevering in practice as last year we found him to be -in idea. To do better and better, to _be_ better and better, is the -constant theme. His hand is everywhere like his mind. He has held the -plough with great efficiency, sometimes for the whole day, and by the -straightness of his furrow may be said to be giving lessons to the -professed ploughmen, who work in a slovenly manner. We have called in -the aid of a carpenter who has made simple shelves for our books, and -for the first time our library stands upright as it should do. It -occupies about 100 feet of shelves. - - * * * * * - - June 28, 1843. - -On the 19th I received your very kind and newsful letter of the first -instant enclosed in Mrs. Chichester’s. Mr. Bower, having kept his -promise, was here, and I read much of it at breakfast, having also -another visitor from Brook Farm, Mr. Hecker [Isaac T. Hecker]. All were -much interested in the facts reported, and Saml. Bower heard your -remembrances fresh from your pen. You affect him more than any other -person. In your next, you will perhaps devote a slip to him and I will -forward it. He, Larned and Hecker visited the Shakers and were much -attracted by them. Larned who, on common report, used to oppose them, -talks of joining them, so pleasant is their society; at least at -first.... - -If I were not at this moment surrounded by so much that is beautiful in -the present, hopeful in the future and ennobling in the act, your -affectionate invitation to Ham would seriously touch me. But by God’s -blessing something shall be done _here_ which shall reach you _there_. -_If we can aid the people in any way to let self be conquered, we shall -do something._ Lust abounds and love is deserted. Lust of money, of -food, of sexuality, of books, of music, of art,—while Love demands the -powers devoted to these false ends. I thank you for your hint respecting -worldliness. I believe I am getting on safe ground if I am not already -landed. From, or in England you say, I should expect nothing, and I am -now in the same predicament here. Every farthing I had is now either put -in or involved in this affair, and more, for I have put my hand to two -rather large bills; silly enough, you will say. In a few weeks I expect -to be literally pennyless, and even unable for want of stage hire to -travel to Boston if you send me ever so many orders, of which you -discover I have been so neglectful. No; I think I am now out of the -money world. Let my privation be ever so great, I will never make any -property claim on this effort. It is an offering to the Eternal Spirit, -and I consider that I have no more right than any other person; and I -have arranged the title deeds, as well as I could, to meet that end. I -could only consent to return to England on condition of being held free, -like a child, from all money entanglements. As no person or association -can guarantee this for me, I think it would be better to remain here -where the simple wants can be so easily met, and where there is much -opportunity for doing good, and more hope as the outward conditions are -so beautifully free. Would that you were here for a month; we have now -the most delightful steady weather you can conceive; we are all dressed -in our linen tunics, Abraham is ploughing, Larned bringing some turf -from the house, Alcott doing a thousand things, Bower and I have well -dug a sandy spot for carrots, the children and Lady are busy in their -respective ways, and some hirelings are assisting.... Now that -something, though little, is doing, you will find my expressions more -peaceful. Con-fi-dence in Love I hope will ne’er be wanting in your -affectionate friend, - - CHARLES LANE. - -[Illustration: - - THE STUDY - - A bust of Socrates stands on the fine old Dutch highboy that Joseph - Palmer brought from No Town. -] - - * * * * * - - FRUITLANDS, HARVARD, MASS., - July 30, 1843. - -DEAR FRIEND:— - -... A few days after I wrote you Samuel Bower joined us and has steadily -and zealously entered into all the works and speculations we have in -hand and mind. Mr. Hecker, a very spiritual-minded young man, also has -been with us. He is partner with his brothers at New York in a very -extensive baking and corn mill business. He has resided several months -at W. Roxbury, but is by no means satisfied with their schoolboy -dilettante spiritualism. He will, I believe, go to New York to clear up -if possible with his family as to the relations on which they are in -future to stand to each other. They appear to be so loving and united a -family with such strong human attachments that, although he has done -much towards breaking away, I fear that in the desire to bring his -brothers further into the inner world, he will himself be detained. - -Mr. Alcott and I returned last evening from a short visit to Boston to -purchase a few articles, and while there we went out one evening to -Roxbury[6] where there are 80 or 90 persons playing away their youth and -daytime in a miserably joyous, frivolous manner. There are not above -four or five who could be selected as really and truly progressing -beings. Most of the adults are there to pass “a good time”; the children -are taught languages, etc.; the animals (in consequence I believe solely -of Mr. George Ripley’s tendency) occupy a prominent position, there -being no less than 16 cows, besides 4 oxen, a herd of swine, a horse or -two, etc. The milk is sold in Boston, and they buy butter to the extent -of 500 dollars a year. We had a pleasant summer evening conversation -with many of them, but it is only in a few individuals that anything -deeper than ordinary is to be found. The Northampton Community is one of -industry, the one at Hopedale aims at practical theology, this of -Roxbury is one of taste; yet it is the best which exists here, and -perhaps we shall have to say it is the best which can exist. At all -events we can go no further than to keep open fields, and as far as we -have it open house to _all_ comers. We know very well that if they come -not in the right name and nature they will not long remain. Our dietetic -system is a test quite sufficient for many. As far as acres of fine land -are concerned, you may offer their free use to any free souls who will -come here and work them, and any aid we can afford shall be freely -given. The aid of sympathetic companionship is not small, and that at -least we can render. To bridge the Atlantic is a trifle if the heart is -really set on the attainment of better conditions. Here are they freely -presented, at a day’s walk from the shore, without a long and expensive -journey to the West. Please to advertise these facts to all youthful men -and women; for such are much wanted here. There is now a certain -opportunity for planting a love colony, the influence of which may be -felt for many generations, and more than felt; it may be the beginning -for a state of things which shall far transcend itself. They to whom our -work seems not good enough may come and set out a better. - -Footnote 6: - - Brook Farm. - -I should mention to you that passing his door Mr. Theodore Parker came -to the Community in the evening and again in the morning. He is a very -popular man at present and has a congregation at Roxbury, but being -unwell by reason of close study, he will sail to Europe on the 1st -September. He will remain in Germany for three or four months, and -afterwards as long in England. No doubt you will see him and render him -all the service you can.... At present we are not sought by many -persons, but the value in our enterprise depends not upon numbers so -much as upon the spirit from which we can live outwardly and in all -relations true to the intuitions which are gifted to us. We must not -forget how great have been the works done by individuals, and in the -absence of what are usually called facilities. Our obstacles are, I -suppose, chiefly within, and as these are subdued we shall triumph in -externalities. I could send you a description of works and crops, our -mowing, hoeing, reaping, ploughing in tall crops of clover and grass for -next year’s manure, and various other operations, but although they have -some degree of relation to the grand principle to which they are -obedient, they are worth little in the exoteric sense alone. Perhaps the -external revelations of success ought always to be kept secret, for -every improvement discovered is only turned to a money making account -and to the further degradation of man, as we see in the march of science -to this very moment. If we knew how to double the crops of the earth, it -is scarcely to be hoped that any good would come by revealing the mode. -On the contrary, the bounties of God are already made the means by which -man debases himself more and more. We will therefore say little -concerning the sources of external wealth until man is himself secured -to the End which rightly uses these means.... - -Mr. Charles Stearns Wheeler, the eminent Greek student, who went from -here to Germany last summer, died at Leipsic[7] in June, age 26. He was -one of Mr. Emerson’s great hopes. - -Footnote 7: - - This should be Rome. - -Samuel Bower continues with us, but he is not so happy in body or mind -as he ought to be: a letter from you in the universal spirit would cheer -him up. He confesses to the possession of a little Nomadic blood in his -veins. He thinks Mr. Alcott is arbitrary or despotic, as some others do, -but I shall endeavour (and, I think, not in vain) to urge him to the -noblest conduct of which our position is capable. He must not complain -nor walk off, but cheerfully amend whatever is amiss. I suppose your -letter has failed at the post somewhere, but I have inquired fully on -this side. With assurances of continued affection to yourself and all -friends on the divine ground, - - I remain, dear Oldham, - Truly yours, - CHARLES LANE. - - - - - III - - BROOK FARM AND FRUITLANDS - - -There is so much confusion in the minds of many regarding the difference -of aim existing in the Community at Brook Farm and that of Fruitlands -that it seems well to insert here a well-authenticated account of Brook -Farm and also an extract from a letter written by John Sullivan Dwight -who was a member. - -Brook Farm was a Community established in West Roxbury, Massachusetts, -in 1841. “The head of the Community was George Ripley, formerly a -Unitarian clergyman in Boston, who had been in 1836 one of the Founders -of the Transcendental Club with Emerson, Hedge, Alcott, and others. -Associated with Ripley in the Brook Farm enterprise were Nathaniel -Hawthorne, Charles A. Dana, John S. Dwight, and other well-known men. -They bought a farm comprising some 200 acres. Its object was the -establishment of an ‘agricultural, literary, and scientific school or -college.’ - -“Several trades beside agriculture were carried on and a number of -children were received as pupils, instruction being furnished in ancient -and modern languages, history, mathematics, moral philosophy, music, -drawing, etc. It was designed to substitute coöperative for selfish -competition, and to dignify bodily labor by uniting it with the -intellectual and spiritual life. The Community was at first organized as -a joint-stock company, each subscriber being guaranteed 5 per cent per -annum on his shares. In 1847 the experiment, having proved a failure -financially, was given up. - -“Life at Brook Farm, especially during the first years of enthusiasm, -had idyllic and romantic aspects. In its palmiest state the Community, -including school children and boarders, numbered about 150 souls. -Kitchen and table were in common; very little help was hired, but -philosophers, clergymen, and poets worked at the humblest tasks, milking -cows, pitching manure, cleaning stables, etc., while cultivated women -cooked, washed, ironed, and waited on table. All work, manual or -intellectual, was credited to members at a uniform rate of ten cents an -hour.” - - * * * * * - -John Sullivan Dwight wrote of Brook Farm:— - -“I remember the night of my first arrival at Brook Farm. It had been -going all summer. I arrived in November. At that time it was a sort of -pastoral life, rather romantic, although so much hard labor was involved -in it. They were all at tea in the old building, which was called the -Hive. In a long room at a long table they were making tea, and I sat -down with them. When tea was over they were all very merry, full of -life; and all turned to and washed the dishes, cups and saucers. All -joined in,—the Curtis brothers, Dana and all. It was very enchanting, -quite a lark, as we say. Much of the industry went on in that way, -because it combined the freest sociability with the useful arts.” - -Robert Carter, a co-editor with James Russell Lowell of a magazine -called _The Pioneer_ in 1843, wrote an article called “The Newness” in -after years, describing Fruitlands and Brook Farm. Of the latter he -says:— - -“It was a delightful gathering of men and women of superior cultivation, -who led a charming life for a few years, laboring in its fields and -philandering in its pleasant woods. It was little too much of a picnic -for serious profit, and the young men and maidens were rather unduly -addicted to moonlight wanderings in the pine grove, though it is -creditable to the sound moral training of New England that little or no -harm came of these wanderings—at least, not to the maidens. Brook Farm, -however, was not the only Community which was founded by the disciples -of the ‘Newness.’ There was one established in 1843 on a farm called -Fruitlands, in the town of Harvard, about forty miles from Boston. This -was of much more ultra and grotesque character than Brook Farm. Here -were gathered the men and women who based their hopes of reforming the -world and of making all things new on dress and on diet. They revived -the Pythagorean, the Essenian, and the Monkish notions of Asceticism -with some variations and improvements peculiarly American. The head of -the institution was Bronson Alcott, a very remarkable man, whose -singularities of character, conduct, and opinion would alone afford -sufficient topics for a long lecture. His friend Emerson defined him to -be a philosopher devoted to the science of education, and declared that -he had singular gifts for awakening contemplation and aspiration in -simple and in cultivated persons.... His writings, though quaint and -thoughtful, are clumsy compared with his conversation, which has been -pronounced by the best judges to have been unrivalled in grace and -clearness. Mr. Alcott was one of the most foremost leaders of the -‘Newness.’ He swung round the circle of schemes very rapidly, and after -going through a great variety of phases he maintained, at the time of -the foundation of ‘Fruitlands,’ that the evils of life were not so much -social or political as personal, and that a personal reform only could -eradicate them; that self-denial was the road to eternal life, and that -property was an evil, and animal food of all kinds an abomination. No -animal substance, neither flesh, fish, butter, cheese, eggs, nor milk, -was allowed to be used at ‘Fruitlands.’ They were all denounced as -pollution, and as tending to corrupt the body, and through that the -soul. Tea and coffee, molasses and rice, were also proscribed,—the last -two as foreign luxuries,—and only water was used as a beverage. - -“Mr. Alcott would not allow the land to be manured, which he regarded as -a base and corrupting and unjust mode of forcing nature. He made also a -distinction between vegetables which aspired or grew into the air, as -wheat, apples, and other fruits, and the base products which grew -downwards into the earth, such as potatoes,[8] beets, radishes, and the -like. These latter he would not allow to be used. The bread of the -Community he himself made of unbolted flour, and sought to render it -palatable by forming the loaves into the shapes of animals and other -pleasant images. He was very strict, rather despotic in his rule of the -Community, and some of the members have told me they were nearly starved -to death there; nay, absolutely would have perished with hunger if they -had not furtively gone among the surrounding farmers and begged for -food. - -Footnote 8: - - This was a mistake on Mr. Carter’s part, as they ate potatoes freely. - -“One of the Fruitlanders took it into his head that clothes were an -impediment to spiritual growth, and that the light of day was equally -pernicious. He accordingly secluded himself in his room in a state of -nature during the day, and only went out at night for exercise, with a -single white cotton garment reaching from his neck to his knees. - -“Samuel Larned lived one whole year on crackers, and the next year -exclusively on apples. He went to Brook Farm after the collapse of the -Fruitlands Community, and when that also failed he went South, married a -lady who owned a number of slaves, and settled there as a Unitarian -minister.” - -In this same article Mr. Carter asserts that Fourierism brought Brook -Farm into disrepute at the end, and that a large wooden phalanstery, in -which members had invested all their means, took fire and burned to the -ground just as it was completed. Upon this catastrophe the association -scattered in 1847. Nathaniel Hawthorne lost all his savings in the -enterprise. While he was at Brook Farm he looked after the pigsties. - -In contrast to this is the full account of the object and aim of -Fruitlands. - -The following letter on The Consociate Family Life was written to A. -Brooke of Oakland, Ohio, and published in the _Herald of Freedom_, -September 8, 1843:— - - * * * * * - -DEAR SIR: Having perused your several letters in the _Herald of -Freedom_, and finding, moreover, a general invitation to correspondence -from “persons who feel prepared to coöperate in the work of reform upon -principles” akin to those you have set forth, I take this public means -of communicating with one, who seems to be really desirous of aiding -entire human regeneration. - -After many years passed in admiration of a better order in human -society, with a constant expectation that some beginning would shortly -be made, and a continued reliance that some party would make it, the -idea has gradually gained possession of my mind, that it is not right -thus to linger for the leadings of other men, but that each should at -once proceed to live out the proposed life to the utmost possible -extent. Assured that the most potent hindrances to goodness abide in the -Soul itself; next in the body; thirdly in the house and family; and in -the fourth degree only in our neighbors, or in society at large; I have -daily found less and less reason to complain of public institutions, or -of the dilatoriness of reformers of genetic minds. - -Animated by pure reform principles, or rather by pure creative spirit, I -have not hesitated to withdraw as far and as fast as hopeful prudence -dictated from the practices and principles of the Old World, and acting -upon the conviction that whatever others might do, or leave undone, -however others might fail in the realization of their ideal good, I, at -least, should advance, I have accordingly arrived in that region where I -perceive you theoretically, and I hope, actually dwell. I agree with you -that it would be well to cross the ocean of Life from the narrow island -of selfishness to the broad continent of universal Love at one dash; but -the winds are not always propitious, and steam is only a recent -invention. I cannot yet boast of a year’s emancipation from old England. -One free step leads to another; and the third must necessarily precede -the fourth, as the second was before the third. - -A. Bronson Alcott’s visit to England last year opened to me some of the -superior conditions for a pure life which this country offers compared -to the land of my nativity and that of your ancestors. My love for -purity and goodness was sufficiently strong it seems to loosen me from a -position as regards pecuniary income, affectionate friends, and mental -liberty, which millions there and thousands here might envy. It has -happened however that of the many persons with whom Mr. Alcott hoped to -act in conjunction and concert, not one is yet fully liberated by -Providence to that end. So that instead of forming items in a large -enterprise, we are left to be the principal actors in promoting an idea -less in extent, but greater in intent, than any yet presented to our -observation. - -[Illustration: - - CHARLES LANE -] - -Our removal to this estate in humble confidence has drawn to us several -practical coadjutors, and opened many inquiries by letter for a -statement of our principles and modes of life. We cannot perhaps turn -our replies to better account, than to transcribe some portions of them -for your information, and we trust, for your sincere satisfaction. - -You must be aware, however, that written words cannot do much towards -the elucidation of principles comprehending all human relationships, and -claiming an origin profound as man’s inmost consciousness of the ever -present Living Spirit. A dwelling together, a concert in soul, and a -consorting in body, is a position needful to entire understanding, which -we hope at no distant day to attain with yourself and many other sincere -friends. We have not yet drawn out any preordained plan of daily -operations, as we are impressed with the conviction that by a faithful -reliance on the Spirit which actuates us, we are sure of attaining to -clear revelations of daily practical duties as they are to be daily done -by us. When the Spirit of Love and Wisdom abounds, literal forms are -needless, irksome or hinderative; where the Spirit is lacking, no -preconceived rules can compensate. - -To us it appears not so much that improved circumstances are to -meliorate mankind, as that improved men will originate the superior -condition for themselves and others. Upon the Human Will, and not upon -circumstances, as some philosophers assert, rests the function, power -and duty, of generating a better social state. The human beings in whom -the Eternal Spirit has ascended from low animal delights or mere human -affections, to a state of spiritual chastity and intuition, are in -themselves a divine atmosphere, they are superior circumstances and are -constant in endeavoring to create, as well as to modify, all other -conditions, so that these also shall more and more conduce to the like -consciousness in others. - -Hence our perseverance in efforts to attain simplicity in diet, plain -garments, pure bathing, unsullied dwellings, open conduct, gentle -behavior, kindly sympathies, serene minds. These, and several other -particulars needful to the true end of man’s residence on earth, may be -designated the Family Life. Our Happiness, though not the direct object -in human energy, may be accepted as the conformation of rectitude, and -this is not otherwise attainable than in the Holy Family. The Family in -its highest, divinest sense is therefore our true position, our sacred -earthly destiny. It comprehends every divine, every human relation -consistent with universal good, and all others it rejects, as it -disdains all animal sensualities. - -The evils of life are not so much social, or political, as personal, and -a personal reform only can eradicate them. - -Let the Family, furthermore, be viewed as the home of pure social -affections, the school of expanding intelligence, the sphere of unbought -art, the scene of joyous employment, and we feel in that single -sentiment, a fulness of action, of life, of being, which no scientific -social contrivance can ensure, nor selfish accident supply. - -Family is not dependent upon numbers, nor upon skill, nor riches, but -upon union in and with that spirit which alone can bless any enterprise -whatever. - -On this topic of Family association, it will not involve an entire -agreement with the Shakers to say they are at least entitled to deeper -consideration than they yet appear to have secured. There are many -important acts in their career worthy of observation. It is perhaps most -striking that the only really successful extensive Community of -interest, spiritual and secular, in modern times was established by A -Woman. Again, we witness in this people the bringing together of the two -sexes in a new relation, or rather with a new idea of the old relation. -This has led to results more harmonic than anyone seriously believes -attainable for the human race, either in isolation or association, so -long as divided, conflicting family arrangements are permitted. The -great secular success of the Shakers; their order, cleanliness, -intelligence and serenity are so eminent, that it is worthy of enquiry -how far these are attributable to an adherence to their peculiar -doctrine. - -As to Property, we discover not its just disposal either in individual -or social tenures, but in its entire absorption into the New Spirit, -which ever gives and never grasps. - -While we write, negotiations are entertained for our removal to a place -of less inconvenience, by friends who have long waited for some proof of -a determination to act up to the idea they have cherished. Many, no -doubt, are yet unprepared “to give up all and follow him” (the Spirit) -who can importantly aid in the New Advent, and conscientiously -accomplish the legal processes needful under the present circumstances. -We do not recognize the purchase of land; but its redemption from the -debasing state of _proprium_, or property, to divine uses, we clearly -understand when those whom the world esteems as owners are found -yielding their individual rights to the Supreme Owner. Looking at the -subject practically in relation to a climate in which a costly shelter -is necessary, and where a family with many children has to be provided -for, the possibility of at once stepping boldly out of the toils into -which the errors of our predecessors have cast us, is not so evident as -it is desirable. - -Trade we hope entirely to avoid at an early day. As a nursery for many -evil propensities it is almost universally felt to be a most undesirable -course. Such needful articles as we cannot yet raise by our own hand -labor from the soil, thus redeemed from human ownership, we shall -endeavor to obtain by friendly exchanges, and, as nearly as possible, -without the intervention of money. - -Of all the traffic in which civilized society is involved, that of human -labor is perhaps the most detrimental. From the state of serfdom to the -receipt of wages may be a step in human progress; but it is certainly -full time for taking a new step out of the hiring system. - -Our outward exertions are in the first instance directed to the soil, -and as our ultimate aim is to furnish an instance of self-sustaining -cultivation without the subjugation of either men or cattle, or the use -of foul animal manures, we have at the outset to encounter struggles and -oppositions somewhat formidable. Until the land is restored to its -pristine fertility by the annual return of its own green crops, as sweet -and animating manures, the human hand and simple implement cannot wholly -supersede the employment of machinery and cattle. So long as cattle are -used in agriculture, it is very evident that man will remain a slave, -whether he be proprietor or hireling. The driving of cattle beyond their -natural and pleasurable exertion; the waiting upon them as cook and -chambermaid three parts of the year; the excessive labor of mowing, -curing, and housing hay, and of collecting other fodder, and the large -extra quantity of land needful to keep up this system, form a -continuation of unfavorable circumstances which must depress the human -affections so long as it continues, and overlay them by the injurious -and extravagant development of the animal and bestial natures in man. It -is calculated that if no animal food were consumed, one-fourth of the -land now used would suffice for human sustenance. And the extensive -tracts of country now appropriated to grazing, mowing, and other modes -of animal provision, could be cultivated by and for intelligent and -affectionate human neighbors. The sty and the stable too often secure -more of the farmer’s regard than he bestows on the garden and the -children. No hope is there for humanity while Woman is withdrawn from -the tender assiduities which adorn her and her household, to the -servitudes of the dairy and the flesh pots. If the beasts were wholly -absent from man’s neighborhood, the human population might be at least -four times as dense as it now is without raising the price of land. This -would give to the country all the advantages of concentration without -the vices which always spring up in the dense city. - -[Illustration: - - THE SMALL DINING-ROOM - - Around this table the philosophers discussed their deepest problems. -] - -Debauchery of both the earthly soil and the human body is the result of -this cattle keeping. The land is scourged for crops to feed the animals, -whose ordures are used under the erroneous supposition of restoring lost -fertility; disease is thus infused into the human body; stimulants and -medicines are resorted to for relief, which end in a precipitation of -the original evil to a more disastrous depth. These misfortunes which -affect not only the body, but by reaction rise to the sphere of the -soul, would be avoided, or at least in part, by the disuse of animal -food. Our diet is therefore strictly the pure and bloodless kind. No -animal substances, neither flesh, butter, cheese, eggs, nor milk, -pollute our table or corrupt our bodies, neither tea, coffee, molasses, -nor rice, tempts us beyond the bounds of indigenous productions. Our -sole beverage is pure fountain water. The native grains, fruits, herbs, -and roots, dressed with the utmost cleanliness and regard to their -purpose of edifying a healthful body, furnish the pleasantest refections -and in the greatest variety requisite to the supply of the various -organs. The field, the orchard, the garden, in their bounteous products -of wheat, rye, barley, maize, oats, buckwheat, apples, pears, peaches, -plums, cherries, currants, berries, potatoes, peas, beans, beets, -carrots, melons, and other vines, yield an ample store for human -nutrition, without dependence on foreign climes, or the degeneration of -shipping and trade. The almost inexhaustible variety of the several -stages and sorts of vegetable growth, and the several modes of -preparation, are a full answer to the question which is often put by -those who have never ventured into the region of a pure and chaste diet: -“If you give up flesh meat, upon what then can you live?” - -Our other domestic habits are in harmony with those of diet. We rise -with early dawn, begin the day with cold bathing, succeeded by a music -lesson, and then a chaste repast. Each one finds occupation until the -meridian meal, when usually some interesting and deep-searching -conversation gives rest to the body and development to the mind. -Occupation, according to the season and the weather, engages us out of -doors or within, until the evening meal,—when we again assemble in -social communion, prolonged generally until sunset, when we resort to -sweet repose for the next day’s activity. - -In these steps of reform we do not rely as much on scientific reasoning -of physiological skill, as on the Spirit’s dictates. The pure soul, by -the law of its own nature, adopts a pure diet and cleanly customs; nor -needs detailed instruction for daily conduct. On a revision of our -proceedings it would seem, that if we were in the right course in our -particular instance, the greater part of man’s duty consists in leaving -alone much that he is in the habit of doing. It is a fasting from the -present activity, rather than an increased indulgence in it, which, with -patient watchfulness tends to newness of life. “Shall I sip tea or -coffee?” the inquiry may be. No; abstain from all ardent, as from -alcoholic drinks. “Shall I consume pork, beef, or mutton?” Not if you -value health or life. “Shall I stimulate with milk?” No. “Shall I warm -my bathing water?” Not if cheerfulness is valuable. “Shall I clothe in -many garments?” Not if purity is aimed at. “Shall I prolong my dark -hours, consuming animal oil and losing bright daylight in the morning?” -Not if a clear mind is an object. “Shall I teach my children the dogmas -inflicted on myself, under the pretence that I am transmitting truth?” -Nay, if you love them intrude not these between them and the Spirit of -all Truth. “Shall I subjugate cattle?” “Shall I trade?” “Shall I claim -property in any created thing?” “Shall I interest myself in politics?” -To how many of these questions could we ask them deeply enough, could -they be heard as having relation to our eternal welfare, would the -response be “Abstain”? Be not so active to do, as sincere to be. Being -in preference to doing, is the great aim and this comes to us rather by -a resigned willingness than a wilful activity;—which is indeed a check -to all divine growth. Outward abstinence is a sign of inward fulness; -and the only source of true progress is inward. We may occupy ourselves -actively in human improvements;—but these unless inwardly well-impelled, -never attain to, but rather hinder, divine progress in man. During the -utterance of this narrative it has undergone a change in its personal -expression which might offend the hypercritical; but we feel assured -that you will kindly accept it as unartful offering of both your friends -in ceaseless aspiration. - - CHARLES LANE, - A. BRONSON ALCOTT. - -HARVARD, MASS., - August, 1843. - - - - - IV - - THE MAN WITH THE BEARD - - -No satisfactory record of Fruitlands could be written without giving an -account of Joseph Palmer, the man with the beard. He filled an important -place in the life of the Community, and is one of those picturesque -characters which must always stand out vividly in the history of -Fruitlands. He came of fine, sturdy English stock which emigrated to -this country in 1730. His grandfather taught school in Newton, -Massachusetts, for twenty years. His father fought in the Revolution, -and he himself was a soldier in the War of 1812. He was an eccentric -character, but steadfast and upright, and immovable when it came to his -principles. Wearing a beard became a fixed idea with him, and neither -the law of the land nor the admonitions of the church could make him -falter in his determination to claim freedom of action in this respect. -He suffered ridicule, insolence, and persecution to a degree that was -amazing, and which revealed the fact that in spite of a seemingly -greater enlightenment on the part of the public, the same tendency, -which drove the people to persecute so-called witches, and Shakers, and -harmless persons with a little different viewpoint from their own, was -still alive, and ready to flame forth as fiercely as ever. - -On one occasion, before the Fruitlands days, he went into a church in -Fitchburg where the holy Communion was being celebrated. He knelt with -the rest only to be given the shock of humiliation at being ignored and -passed over by the officiating clergyman. Cut to the quick at such -injustice, and with the blood surging to his face, he arose and strode -up to the Communion table where the Sacraments were, and lifting the cup -to his lips drank from it, and turning to the shocked and abashed -clergyman and his congregation shouted in a loud voice and with flashing -eyes: “I love my Jesus as well, and better, than any of you do!” - -A beard at that time was only worn by the Jews, and that was the real -reason for this persecution, and it caused him to be called “Old Jew -Palmer,” though there was not a drop of Jewish blood in his veins. He -carried on his farm at No Town very successfully and sold his beef at -the Fitchburg Market. No Town was a “gore” of unreclaimed land outside -of Fitchburg and Leominster in old Colonial days, a large tract of which -had been granted to Captain Noah Wiswell, his maternal grandfather, by -the General Court of the Province of Massachusetts for bravery in the -wars against the Indians. Joseph Palmer inherited it. It belonged to no -township, and therefore was not taxed. So when he married the widow -Tenney rumors circulated through Fitchburg that the marriage was not -legal because he did not publish the banns at the meeting-house -according to law, there being no meeting-house at No Town. But -investigation proved the marriage legal because he had published the -banns in his own handwriting on a large piece of paper which he had -tacked to the trunk of a fine old pine tree which grew near his house. - -Joseph Palmer’s wife before her first marriage was Nancy Thompson. She -was a third cousin to Count Rumford, who was Benjamin Thompson, of -Woburn, in Colonial days, but who returned to England after the -evacuation of the British, and on account of services rendered to the -Government was knighted by George III, and afterward given the title of -Count Rumford by the reigning king of Bavaria, and was well known -throughout Europe as a scientist, philosopher, and savant. - - * * * * * - -A reporter of the _Boston Daily Globe_ in 1884 interviewed Joseph -Palmer’s son, Dr. Palmer, of Fitchburg, and herein are inserted extracts -from the interview:— - -“The older inhabitants of Harvard, Sterling, Leominster, Fitchburg, and -other neighboring towns can remember ‘Old Jew Palmer,’ who fifty years -ago was persecuted, despised, jeered at, regarded almost as a fiend -incarnate; who was known far and wide as a human monster, and with whose -name mothers used to frighten their children when they were unruly. - -“‘Old Jew Palmer,’ as he was universally called, was the most abused and -persecuted man these parts ever knew, and all because he insisted upon -wearing a beard. But many who in those days looked upon the subject of -this sketch as a social outcast have lived to see whiskers common and -fashionable. - -“With a view of getting at the facts of the persecution of Mr. Palmer -but fifty years ago, his only son, Dr. Thomas Palmer, a well-known -dentist of Fitchburg, was interviewed, and the doctor talked earnestly -and vigorously about his father’s career, for he had seen the time when -his schoolmates shunned him and made his boyhood days miserable, railing -at him because his father wore a beard. But now the doctor looks back -upon those days proudly, as he realizes that his sire was right and that -the world has indorsed the ways and ideas of the old man, instead of the -old man bowing to the absurd whim of the world.” - -[Illustration: - - JOSEPH PALMER -] - -[Illustration: - - NANCY PALMER -] - -Said Dr. Palmer:— - -“Father left No Town early in the thirties and moved to Fitchburg into a -house where the City Hall now stands. He wore at that time a long beard, -and he and Silas Lamson, an old scythe-snath maker of Sterling, were the -only men known in this section of the country as wearing beards. -Everybody shaved clean in those days, and to wear whiskers in any form -was worse than a disgrace, it was a sin. Father was hooted at on the -street, talked about at the grocery, intimidated by his fellow-men and -labored with by the clergy to shave, but to no purpose. The stronger the -opposition, the firmer his determination. He was accosted once by Rev. -George Trask, the anti-tobacconist, who said indignantly: ‘Palmer, why -don’t you shave and not go round looking like the devil?’ He replied: -‘Mr. Trask, are you not mistaken in your comparison of personages? I -have never seen a picture of the ruler of the sulphurous regions with -much of a beard, but if I remember correctly, Jesus wore a beard not -unlike mine.’ That squelched Trask and he left. - -“Well, public sentiment against the man and beard grew stronger, and -personal violence was threatened. One day, as father was coming out of -the old Fitchburg Hotel, where he had been to carry some provision, he -then being in the butchering business, he was seized by four men, whose -names I have not in mind now, who were armed with shears, lather, and -razor, their intention being to shave him, as the sentiment of the -populace was that that beard must come off at the hands of the wearer, -possibly at the hands of some one, anyway. Why, there are men living -to-day, old associates of his, who still cling to that old idea and will -not wear a beard. These four men laid violent hands upon him and threw -him heavily on the stone steps, badly hurting his back. The assaulted -party was very muscular, and struggled to free himself, but to no -purpose, until he drew from his vest pocket an old, loose-jointed -jack-knife, with which he struck out left and right and stabbed two of -them in the legs, when the assailants precipitately departed without -cutting a hair. He was afterwards arrested for committing an unprovoked -assault, and ordered by Justice Brigham to pay a fine, which he refused -to do, as he claimed to be acting for the maintenance of a principle. He -was thrown into jail, where he remained over a year. He was lodged with -the debtors. One day Jailer Bellows came in with several men to shave -him. He threw himself on his back in his bunk, and when they approached, -he struck out with his feet, and after he had kicked over a few of them -they let him and his beard alone. He wrote letters to the Worcester -_Spy_, complaining of the treatment the prisoners received, which I used -to carry to the office for him, receiving them when I carried him his -meals, for we hired a tenement next to the jail. For this the jailer put -him in a sort of dungeon down below, and one day when I went to the -jail, he heard my step and called out: ‘Thomas, tie a stone to a string -and swing it by the window so that I can catch it’; which I did, and -pulled up a letter for High Sheriff Williams, in which he complained of -his treatment. The sheriff ordered him back to his old quarters. Why, -old Dr. Williams of Leominster told father once that he ought to be -prosecuted and imprisoned for wearing a beard. In after years, when -whiskers became fashionable, father met a minister who had upbraided him -years before for wearing them, and as this same minister had rather a -luxuriant growth, he went up to the man of God and stroking his -whiskers, said to him, ‘Knoweth that thy redeemer liveth?’ He claimed to -be the redeemer of the beard. - -“Father was a reformer; was early in the field as an anti-slavery man -and as a total abstinence advocate. He was well acquainted with -Phillips, Garrison, and other prominent Abolitionists. I remember going -with him once to an anti-slavery convention in Boston. As we walked up -Washington Street, the people would stop, then run ahead, wait for us to -come up, and finally the crowd around us was so great that the police -had to come to the rescue. Why was it? Oh, it was the same old beard. It -was so unusual to see a man wearing one, and especially such a one as he -sported. Why, he was looked upon as a monstrosity. When asked once why -he wore it, he said he would tell if any one could tell him why some men -would, from fifty-two to three hundred and sixty-five times a year, -scrape their face from their nose to their neck. He never would furnish -liquor for men in the hay-field, and for this reason had hard work to -gather crops; but they would have rotted before he would have backed -down and sacrificed his principle. He was the first man in this section -to give up that old custom. He was interested in all reformatory ideas, -and was associated with A. Bronson Alcott in forming that Community in -Harvard at Fruitlands which had for its object a more quiet and -unostentatious way of living than the world offered. He went to Harvard -in 1843. The Community did not flourish, and father bought the farm. -Ralph Waldo Emerson, as trustee, at that time held the deed of -‘Fruitlands.’ I remember that when father refused to furnish liquor for -the hay-makers he had to hire boys. One mother refused to let her lad -work for him, saying that ‘He was too mean to allow the boys a little -liquor’! - -“Such was the interesting account given by the venerable doctor of a -condition of affairs existing in this community but a comparatively few -years ago; but the average person of to-day would not believe, without a -full explanation of the sentiment prevailing at that time, that within -so recent a period a man would not only be insulted and persecuted, but -actually mobbed, as was the victim of this foolish and intolerant -community.” - - * * * * * - -While in prison Palmer kept a diary, in which, under date of July 21, -1830, occurs this account of the sort of persecution he had from the two -fellow-prisoners who occupied the same cell with him. One of them -asserted that if the other prisoner would attack him and cut his beard -off, he would look on all the time and then swear that it had never -happened, and that anyway he could get enough money collected anywhere -on the street to pay the damages for the act. The jailer coming to the -door at this moment overheard the remark and with a resounding oath -agreed with him, and added, “And pretty quick, too!” Then he began to -curse and swear at Palmer, and vowed that they would get his beard off -soon, and even suggested that the other prisoners should cut it off of -him in his sleep. One of these prisoners was named Dike. The jailer -continued to pour volley after volley of oaths at the unfortunate man, -and finally spat on him repeatedly. This happened when Palmer’s cell was -being whitewashed and the three inmates were temporarily removed to -another cell. When they were taken back to their customary quarters, -Dike found that the jailer had taken his razor away, which turned his -wrath in a new direction, and Palmer writes that as a result “Before -bedtime, he was as good as a man ought to be to another, and talked very -freely with me on the Power and Goodness of God and on the Holy -Scriptures.” - -Here is an entry on Wednesday, September 22, 1830:— - -“I called out to some one in the hall. Wildes, the jailer, opened the -door in the entry next to my door and said: ‘What do you want?’ I was -just going to ask him for a little water to use until I could get some -tea from Wilson, and he let a pail full come in at the door, with great -force. It didn’t wet me much, as I see it was coming, and having seen -them throw cider and water in the prisoners’ faces before. It caused me -to start so quickly that there did but little go into my face, and on my -clothes, but it went more than half the length of the room. I split -three crackers and put them to soak where there was considerable water -standing on the floor, as I could see no chance of getting any more -soon. I got a quart jug filled with water out of the other room to wet -some bread which was all the water or drink of any kind that I had since -last Thursday morning when I used the last of my tea, and I had tried -ever since last Sunday morning to get some and could not. I thought I -must suffer very much soon if there wasn’t some attention, and being -satisfied that there were some in Prison who were suffering greatly, I -thought it time to give a signal of distress to the Public, which I -immediately did by the cry of murder in the Gaol, which I continued at -the window that somebody might come up while the door was open that -would grant some assistance for the pay. About seven o’clock just as I -was going to take my crackers off the floor, Bellows and Wildes came -into the room and several others. I stepped to the table and took the -lines I had written to send to Mr. Wilson, and asked them if I could get -any one of them to go for me if I would pay them for it. Bellows said, -‘Yes, I’ll take care of you!’ Bellows and Wildes then seized me by the -collar, shook and jarred me with great fury through the entries, and -dragged me down the stairs. I tried to speak to the people who stood by -to take the paper I had in my hand to carry to Mr. Wilson. Bellows then -took me by the hair and shook me furiously as I suppose to prevent my -speaking to them. I then cried Murder. He then let me go, and I told -them that I wanted to get some person to take the paper I had in my hand -and go about 100 rods of an errand, and I would pay them well for it, -for I hadn’t had anything to drink since last week, nor I couldn’t get -any. They put me into the South Middle room below and gave me a pail of -water. I told Wildes and C. B. that I wanted they should let me have my -things, for I hadn’t eaten anything since yesterday morning. They took -the other three prisoners out of the room and shut the blinds.” - - * * * * * - -Palmer was kept in solitary confinement from September 22 to December -25. - - * * * * * - - December 30, 1830. - -“In the afternoon Calvin Willard, Ashel Bellows, Wildes, and Lawyer -Goodwin, with four or five other gentlemen, came in. Willard said, ‘How -do you do, Palmer?’ I said, pretty tolerable well for me except I have -got a bad cold. One of the men, which I took to be Esqre. Weed said to -me: ‘Why don’t you go out? What do you stay here for? Why don’t you pay -up the demand and go out?’ I said I have no way to pay it. Goodwin said: -‘A man from Fitchburg told me to-day that he has from ten to fifteen -hundred dollars property.’ Willard said: ‘I always took him to be a man -of property.’ One of the men said: ‘I think there ought to be some -measures taken to secure the board if he stops here.’ I said: I board -myself and have hard work to get it in here for the money. One said: -‘How much was your fine?’ I said, Ten dollars, I believe it was.” - - * * * * * - - Saturday, January 1, 1831. - -“Since the first of December I haven’t bought me anything from Bellows, -and they haven’t brought me anything but eight Bushels and one hod of -coal, and they used two Bushels of that when they whitewashed the room, -except what I took to make one fire. Thomas brought me my water. I was -out of my room three and a half days to have it whitewashed, and I have -now a half Bushel of coal which brings it to seven and a half Bushels I -have burnt the past month while I was in the room.” - - * * * * * - - April 11, 1831. - -“Food for the day:— - - “Breakfast: 5 ounces of brown bread - “Dinner: 5¼ ounces of brown bread - 3½ ounces of beef meat - 3½ ounces of potato - 3¾ ounces of soup.” - -“He far out-stayed his sentence because he had to pay for all his food, -drink, and coal for heating, and he considered they cheated him, so he -refused to go. The sheriff and jailers, tired of having him there, -begged him to leave. Even his mother, Margaret Palmer, wrote to him ‘Not -to be so set.’ But nothing could move him. He said they had put him in -there, and they would have to take him out, as he would not walk out. -They finally carried him out in his chair and placed it on the -sidewalk.” - - * * * * * - -Shortly after leaving the jail at Worcester Palmer heard of the proposed -Community of Fruitlands, and being much interested in all reforms, he -offered to run the farm without pay and went there at the very start. He -took some fine old furniture with him from No Town to help furnish the -house, and whenever anything was needed in the way of farm implements, -etc., he would drive over to No Town and bring it back with him. When -the Community of Fruitlands failed, he bought the place and carried on a -strange sort of Community of his own for upwards of twenty years. -Emerson visited him afterwards, and a motley collection of reformers, -wayfarers, and a host of tramps found a welcome by his fireside. - -Any one driving by the old North Leominster graveyard will see a stone -monument adorned with the head of a man with a flowing beard. On it is -written:— - - JOSEPH PALMER - - died - - October 30, 1875 - - Aged 84 years, 5 months - -Underneath the carved head is written:— - - Persecuted for - - Wearing the Beard - - - - - V - - SUMMER SUNSHINE - - -It was now July and all the days were full of healthful occupations—the -weather was perfect. The philosophers had planted three mulberry trees -next the front door, and they had set out apple trees and pear trees -below the house on the slope of the hill. They put the mulberry trees so -near the house that when they grew, the roots almost unsettled the -foundations, and the fruit trees were planted in just the wrong place to -permit of luxuriant growth; but they never knew it, and at the time they -pictured to themselves the full-grown trees with branches overladen with -the luscious ripening fruit. And now they all had gotten their linen -suits designed by Mr. Lane:—loose trousers, tunic-ed coats and -broad-brimmed linen hats like Southern planters. The Alcott girls, Anna, -Beth, Louisa, and three-year-old baby May were in linen bloomers, and so -were Mrs. Alcott (protesting!) and poor Miss Page, who was summarily -dismissed from Fruitlands for having eaten fish. - -[Illustration: - - THE REFECTORY, ALSO USED AS A KITCHEN -] - -Many visitors came and went. Parker Pillsbury often came, his mind full -of the anti-slavery question. The Concord circle of friends looked in -upon them off and on, and Channing spoke afterwards of conversations -held in a small dining-room next to the front door, and, as Mr. Sanborn -says in his account of it, “The library of rare books from London stood -proudly on its hundred feet of new shelves in the small front entry of -the old house, proclaiming the atmosphere of ‘Mind and Letters.’” - -Emerson came and afterwards wrote in his “Journal” on July 8, 1843:— - -“The sun and the evening sky do not look calmer than Alcott and his -family at Fruitlands. They seemed to have arrived at the fact—to have -got rid of the show, and so to be serene. Their manners and behavior in -the house and the field were those of superior men—of men at rest. What -had they to conceal? What had they to exhibit? And it seemed so high an -attainment that I thought—as often before, so now more, because they had -a fit home, or the picture was fitly framed—that these men ought to be -maintained in their place by the country for its culture. - -“Young men and young maidens, old men and women, should visit them and -be inspired. I think there is as much merit in beautiful manners as in -hard work. I will not prejudge them successful. They look well in July; -we will see them in December. I know they are better for themselves than -as partners. One can easily see that they have yet to settle several -things. Their saying that things are clear, and they sane, does not make -them so. If they will in very deed be lovers, and not selfish; if they -will serve the town of Harvard, and make their neighbors feel them as -benefactors wherever they touch them,—they are as safe as the sun.” - -Mr. Sanborn, referring to the remark, “We will see them in December,” -says: “This passage indicates that Emerson with his fatal gift of -perception had long since seen the incongruity between Alcott and Lane. -At this time all was still fair weather at the Fruitlands Eden, although -the burden of too much labor, of which Lane had written to Thoreau in -June, had been falling more and more heavily on Mrs. Alcott and her -daughters, Anna, then twelve, and Louisa, not quite eleven. As they did -so much of the domestic drudgery, Mrs. Alcott doubtless thought it no -more than right that her English guests, both there and at Concord, -during the seven months that Lane and his son were in their household, -should pay their share of the family expenses.” - - * * * * * - -The house at times was very overcrowded and the children had their beds -up in the garret. But Anna begged hard for a tiny room adjoining Mrs. -Alcott’s, and great was the joy she took in it. Of course it all was -very primitive. The men bathed in the brook in the early morning and the -shower-baths that Anna speaks of in her diary were accomplished -thus:—rough clothes-horses covered with sheets were put in a circle and -the bathers stood hidden within, while Mr. Alcott, mounted on some -wooden steps, poured water from a pitcher through a sieve on their head. -(This was told the author by an old lady who when very young went to -visit the children.) - -Hired laborers and beasts of burden were against the principles of the -Community, but in order to make headway against the advancing season -they seemed to be a necessity. This concession, however, troubled the -philosophers, and it was decided to carry out the original plan and rely -wholly on the spade instead of the plough, even at a cost of valuable -time. The results were rather disastrous: Charles Lane’s hands became -sore and painful, and lame backs seriously interfered with progress. -Sobered by this new experience, the philosophers met in conclave, and as -a result Joseph Palmer, who always came to the rescue in trying -situations, went to No Town and brought back his plough and yoke of -oxen, as he called it—it really was an ox and a cow which he had trained -to work together. Besides the outdoor work much writing was done -indoors. Charles Lane and Bower wrote prolifically to different papers. -The _Herald of Freedom_, the _Vermont Telegraph_ and the _New York -Tribune_ of that summer are full of their writings. - - * * * * * - -Mr. Alcott’s Diary furnishes clear evidence of his purposes and hopes:— - -“I would abstain from the fruits of oppression and blood, and am seeking -means of entire independence. This, were I not holden by penury -unjustly, would be possible. One miracle we have wrought nevertheless, -and shall soon work all of them: Our wine is water, flesh, bread—drugs, -fruits; and we defy meekly the satyrs all, and Æsculapians. The Soul’s -banquet is an art divine.... This Beast named Man has yet most costly -tastes, and must first be transformed into a very Man, regenerate in -appetite and desire, before the earth shall be restored to fruitfulness, -and redeemed from the curse of his cupidity. Then shall the toils of the -farm become eloquent and invigorating leisures; Man shall grow his -orchards and plant his gardens—an husbandman truly, sowing and reaping -in hope, and a partaker in his hope. Labor will be attractive; life will -not be worn in anxious and indurating toils; it will be a scene of mixed -leisure, recreation, labor, culture. The soil, grateful then for man’s -generous usage, debauched no more by foul ordures, nor worn by -cupidities, shall recover its primeval virginity, bearing on its bosom -the standing bounties which a sober and liberal Providence ministers to -his heed—sweet and invigorating growths, for the health and comfort of -the grower.” - - * * * * * - -Mr. Sanborn, commenting on this, remarks:— - -“It was in the spirit of the passages just quoted from Alcott’s -diary ... and not from the ordinary Fourieristic notions about -attractions and destinies and coöperative housekeeping that Alcott -undertook his experiment at ‘Fruitlands.’” - - * * * * * - -Alcott’s theory of human life was thus set down in his Diary:— - -“I have been (as is ever the habit of my mind) striving to apprehend the -real in the seeming, to strip ideas of their adventitious phrases, and -behold them in their order and powers. I have sought to penetrate the -showy terrestrial to find the heavenly things; I have tried to translate -into ideas the language and images of spirit, and thus to read God in -his works. The outward I have seen as the visible type of the inward. -Ever doth this same nature double its divine form, and stand forth—now -before the inner, now before the outer sense of man—at once substance -and form, image and idea, so that God shall never slip wholly from -consciousness of the Soul. Faith apprehends his agency, even in the -meanest and most seemingly trivial act, whenever organ or matter undergo -change of function or mode of form,—Spirit being all in all. Amidst all -tumults and discomfitures, all errors and evils, Faith discerns the -subtle bond that marries opposite natures, clinging to that which holds -all in harmonious union. It unites opposites; it demolishes opposing -forces. It melts all solid and obstinate matters. It makes fluid the -material universe. It hopes even in despair, believes in the midst of -doubts, apprehends stability and order even in confusion and anarchy, -and, while all without is perturbed and wasting, it possesses itself in -quietude and repose within. It abides in the unswerving, is mighty in -the omnipotent, and enduring in the eternal. The soul quickened by its -agency, though borne on the waves of the mutable and beset by the winds -of error and the storms of evil, shall ride securely under this -directing hand to the real and the true. In the midst of change, it -shall remain unchanged. For to such a faith is the divine order of God -made known. All visible things are but manifestations of this order. -Nature, with all its change, is but the activity of this power. It flows -around and obeys the invisible self-anchored spirit. Mutability to such -a vision, is as the eddy that spirit maketh around its own self-circling -agency, revealing alike in the smallest ripple and the mightiest surges -the power that stirreth at the centre.” - - - - - VI - - FATHER HECKER’S DESCRIPTION OF FRUITLANDS - - -[Isaac Thomas Hecker was born in New York in 1819. Two years after his -experience at Brook Farm and Fruitlands he entered the Roman Catholic -church, and in 1849 he was ordained a priest. Later he founded the -Paulist Fathers. He died in 1888. The following extracts are taken from -a contemporary record of his impressions while in the socialistic -community.] - -“Fruitlands,” so called because fruit was to be the principal staple of -daily food, and to be cultivated on the farm, was a spot well chosen; it -was retired, breathing quiet and tranquillity. No neighboring dwelling -obstructed the view of Nature, and it lay some distance even from a -bypath road, in a delightful solitude. The house, somewhat dilapidated, -was on the slope of a slowly ascending hill; stretched before it was a -small valley under cultivation, with fields of corn, potatoes, and -meadow. In the distance loomed up on high “Cheshire’s haughty hill,” -Monadnoc. Such was the spot chosen by men inspired to live a holier -life, to bring Eden once more upon earth. These men were impressed with -the religiousness of their enterprise. When the first load of hay was -driven into the barn and the first fork was about to be plunged into it, -one of the family took off his hat and said, “I take off my hat, not -that I reverence the barn more than other places, but because this is -the first fruit of our labor.” Then a few moments were given to silence, -that holy thought might be awakened. - - * * * * * - - July 7, 1843. Brook Farm. - -I go to Mr. Alcott’s next Tuesday, if nothing happens. I have had three -pairs of coarse pants and a coat made for me. It is my intention to -commence work as soon as I get there. I will gradually simplify my dress -without making any sudden difference, although it would be easier to -make a radical and thorough change at once than piece by piece. But this -will be a lesson in patient perseverance to me. All our difficulties -should be looked at in such a light as to improve and elevate our minds. - -I can hardly prevent myself from saying how much I shall miss the -company of those I love and associate with here. But I must go. I am -called with a stronger voice. This is a different trial from any I have -ever had. I have never had that of leaving kindred, but now I have that -of leaving those whom I love from affinity. If I wished to live a life -the most gratifying to me, and in agreeable company, I certainly would -remain here. Here are refining amusements, cultivated persons—and one -whom I have not spoken of, one who is too much to me to speak of, one -who would leave all for me. Alas! him I must leave to go. - -[Illustration: - - ISAAC T. HECKER -] - - * * * * * - -“[In this final sentence, as it now stands in the diary and as we have -transcribed it, occurs one of those efforts of which we have spoken to -obliterate the traces of this early attachment. ‘Him’ was originally -written ‘her,’ but the _r_ has been lengthened to an _m_, and the _e_ -dotted, both with care which overshot their mark, by an almost -imperceptible hair’s breadth. If the nature of this attachment were not -so evident from other sources, we should have left such passages -unquoted; fearing lest they might be misunderstood. As it is, the light -they cast seems to us to throw up into fuller proportions the kind and -extent of the renunciations to which Isaac Hecker was called before he -had arrived at any clear view of the end to which they tended.]”[9] - -Footnote 9: - - Walter Elliott’s _Life of Father Hecker_. - - * * * * * - - Fruitlands, July 12. - -Last evening I arrived here. After tea I went out in the fields and -raked hay for an hour in company with the persons here. We returned and -had a conversation on clothing. Some very fine things were said by Mr. -Alcott and Mr. Lane. In most of their thoughts I coincide; they are the -same which of late have much occupied my mind. Alcott said that “to -Emerson the world was a lecture room, to Brownson a rostrum.” - -This morning after breakfast a conversation was held on Friendship and -its laws and conditions. Mr. Alcott places Innocence first; Larned, -Thoughtfulness; I, Seriousness; Lane, Fidelity. - - * * * * * - - July 13. - -This morning after breakfast there was held a conversation on the -Highest Aim. Mr. Alcott said it was Integrity; I, Harmonic being; Lane, -Progressive being; Larned, Annihilation of self; Bower, Repulsion of the -evil in us. Then there was a confession of the obstacles which prevent -us from attaining the highest aim. Mine was the doubt whether the light -is light; not want of will to follow, or light to see. - - * * * * * - - July 17. - -I cannot understand what it is that leads me, or what I am after. Being -is incomprehensible. What shall I be led to? Is there a being whom I may -marry and who would be the means of opening my eyes? Sometimes I think -so, but it appears impossible. Why should others tell me that it is so, -and will be so, in an unconscious way, as Larned did on Sunday last, and -as others have done before him? Will I be led home? It strikes me these -people here, Alcott and Lane, will be a great deal to me. I do not know -but they may be what I am looking for, or the answer to that in me which -is asking. - -Can I say it? I believe it should be said. Here I cannot end. They are -too near me; they do not awaken in me that sense of their high -superiority which would keep me here to be bettered, to be elevated. -They have much, very much. I desire Mr. Alcott’s strength of -self-denial, and the unselfishness of Mr. Lane in money matters. In both -these they are far my superior. I would be meek, humble, and sit at -their feet that I might be as they are. They do not understand me, but -if I am what my consciousness, my heart, lead me to feel,—if I am not -deceived,—why, then I can wait. Yes, patiently wait. Is not this the -first time since I have been here that I have recovered myself? Do I not -feel that I have something to receive here, to add to, to increase my -highest life, which I have never felt anywhere else? - -Is this sufficient to keep me here? If I can prophesy, I must say no. I -feel that it will not fill my capacity. Oh God! strengthen my -resolution. Let me not waver, and continue my life. But I am sinful. Oh -forgive my sins! what shall I do, O Lord! that they may be blotted out? -Lord could I only blot them out from my memory, nothing would be too -great or too much. - - * * * * * - - July 18. - -I have thought of my family this afternoon, and the happiness and love -with which I might return to them. To leave them, to give up the idea of -living with them again.—Can I entertain that idea? Still, I cannot -conceive how I can engage in business, share the practices, and indulge -myself with the food and garmenture of our home and city. To return -home, were it possible for me, would most probably not only stop my -progress, but put me back. It is useless for me to speculate upon my -future. Put dependence on the spirit which leads me, be faithful to it, -work and leave results to God. If the question should be asked me, -whether I would give up my kindred and business and follow out this -spirit life, or return and enjoy them both, I could not hesitate a -moment, for they would not compare—there would be no room for choice. -What I do I must do, for it is not I that do it; it is the spirit. What -that spirit may be is a question I cannot answer. What it leads me to do -will be the only evidence of its character. I feel as impersonal as a -stranger to it. I ask who are you? Where are you going to take me? Why -me? Why not some one else? Alas! I cry, who am I and what does this -mean? And I am lost in wonder. - - * * * * * - - Saturday, July 21. - -Yesterday, after supper, a conversation took place between Mr. Alcott, -Mr. Lane, and myself; the subject was my position with regard to my -family, my duty, and my position here. Mr. Alcott asked for my first -impressions as regards the hinderances that I have noted since coming -here. I told him candidly they were: - -First, his want of frankness; 2d, his disposition to separateness rather -than win co-operation with the aims in his own mind; 3d, his family who -prevent his immediate plans of reformation; 4th, the fact that his place -has very little fruit on it, when it was and is their desire that fruit -should be the principal part of their diet; 5th, my fear that they have -too decided tendency toward literature and writing for the prosperity -and success of their enterprise. - - * * * * * - -[From this on, the diary is full of questionings and unrest. Should he -return to his family and live as an ordinary man, or should he listen to -the urge of the spirit within and seek further for the light? These and -other questions pursued him night and day. Finally he came to a -conclusion.] - - * * * * * - - July 23. - -I will go home, be true to the spirit with the help of God, and wait for -further light and strength.... I feel that I cannot live at this place -as I would. This is not the place for my soul.... My life is not theirs. -They have been the means of giving me much light on myself, but I feel I -would live and progress more in a different atmosphere. - - * * * * * - -[It is interesting to note that after his return home he continued the -diet which was used at Fruitlands. The account of his life states: “One -of the first noteworthy things revealed by the diary, which from this -time on was kept with less regularity than before,—is that Isaac not -only maintained his abstemious habits after his return, but increased -their vigor.”] - - * * * * * - - August 30. - -If the past nine months or more are any evidence, I find that I can live -on very simple diet—grains, fruit, and nuts. I have just commenced to -eat the latter; I drink pure water. So far I have had wheat ground and -made into unleavened bread, but as soon as we get in a new lot, I shall -try it in the grain. - - * * * * * - -Hecker had evidently at this time a practical conviction of the truth of -a principle which, in after years, he repeated in the form of a maxim of -the Transcendentalists: “A gross feeder will never be a central -thinker.” It is a truth of the spiritual no less than of the -intellectual order. A little later we come upon the following profession -of a vegetarian faith:— - -“Reasons for not eating animal food. - -“It does not feed the spirit. - -“It stimulates the propensities. - -“It is taking animal life when the other kingdoms offer sufficient and -better increment. Slaughter strengthens the lower instincts. It is the -chief cause of the slavery of the kitchen. - -“It generates in the body the diseases animals are subject to, and -encourages in man their bestiality. - -“Its odor is offensive and its appearance unæsthetic.” - - * * * * * - -Mr. Alcott’s death in 1888 was the occasion of reminiscences from Father -Hecker, from which a few extracts are taken:— - -“When did I first know him? Hard to remember. He was the head of -Fruitlands, as Ripley was of Brook Farm. They were entirely different -men. Diogenes and his tub would have been Alcott’s ideal if he had -carried it out. Ripley’s ideal would have been Epictetus. Ripley would -have taken with him the good things of this life. Alcott would have -rejected them all.” - -“How did he receive you at Fruitlands?” - -“Very kindly, but from mixed and selfish motives. I suspect he wanted me -because he thought I would bring money to the Community. Lane was -entirely unselfish.” - -“Alcott was a man of great intellectual gifts or acquirements. His -knowledge came chiefly from experience and instinct. He had an -insinuating and persuasive way with him.” - -“What if he had been a Catholic, and thoroughly sanctified?” - -“He could have been nothing but a hermit like those of the fourth -century—he was naturally and constitutionally so odd. Emerson, Alcott, -and Thoreau were three consecrated cranks.” - - * * * * * - -Here also are two interesting passages from the “Life of Father Hecker,” -and a few memoranda of private conversations:— - -“Somebody once described ‘Fruitlands’ as a place where Mr. Alcott looked -benign and talked philosophy, while Mrs. Alcott and the children did the -work. Still to look benign is a good deal for a man to do persistently -in an adverse world, indifferent for the most part to the charms of -‘divine philosophy,’ and Mr. Alcott persevered in that exercise until -his latest day.” - -“He was unquestionably one of those who like to sit upon a platform,” -wrote at the time of his death, one who knew Alcott well, “and he may -have liked to feel that his venerable aspect had the effect of a -benediction.” “But with this mild criticism, censure of him is well-nigh -exhausted.” - -“Fruitlands was very different from Brook Farm—far more ascetic.” - -“You didn’t like it?” - -“Yes; but they did not begin to satisfy me. I said to them: If you had -the Eternal here, all right, I would be with you.” - -“Had they no notion of hereafter?” - -“No, nothing definite. Their idea was human perfection. They set out to -demonstrate what man can do in the way of the supremacy of the spiritual -over the animal; All right, I said, I agree with you fully. I admire -your asceticism; it is nothing new to me; I have practiced it a long -time myself. If you can get the Everlasting out of my mind, I’m yours. -But I know that I am going to live forever.” - -“What did Mr. Alcott say when you left?” - -“He went to Lane and said, ‘Well, Hecker has flunked out. He hadn’t the -courage to persevere. He’s a coward.’ But Lane said, ‘No; you’re -mistaken. Hecker is right. He wanted more than we had to give him.’” - - - - - VII - - ANNA ALCOTT’S DIARY AT FRUITLANDS - - - 1843. - -This morning I rose pretty early. After breakfast I read and wrote -stories. In the afternoon I wrote some letters, And the following ode to -Louisa:— - - Louisa dear - With love sincere - Accept this little gift from me. - It is with pleasure - I send this treasure - And with it send much love to thee. - - Sister dear - Never fear. - God will help you if you try. - Do not despair, - But always care - To be good and love to try. - - * * * * * - - June 6, 1843. - -Having been busy helping arrange things for moving last Thursday, we -left Concordia later for Harvard. I walked part of the way, the distance -being 14 miles from Concord to Harvard. I felt sad at the thought of -leaving Concord and all my little friends, the birth-place of Abba where -I had spent many happy hours; but Father and Mother and my dear sisters -were going with me, and that would make me happy anywhere, I think. We -arrived at our new home late in the afternoon. Our first load of -furniture had come before us. We found Christy, Wood Abraham, and -William all here. Mother was well pleased with the house. There is no -beauty in the house itself, but to look out on three sides, you can see -mountains, hills, woods, and in some places the Still River may be seen -through the trees. At some distance are the Shaker Villages. On the -whole, I like the house very well. After eating our supper we fixed our -beds and went early to bed. Having no time to put up the bedsteads, we -slept on the floor which made my back lame. Friday and Saturday in -working and arranging the house in order. To-day in the morning I -cleared the table and washed the dishes, being washing day. I washed -with Mother and got dinner. In the afternoon I sewed and read. I did not -do much this evening, for I went to bed when I had finished the dishes. -The men have been planting to-day corn, and cutting wood and fixing -round about the house out of doors. - - * * * * * - - Wednesday, 11. - -I began my school to-day. We commenced by singing, “When the day with -rosy light.” It seemed so pleasant to sing with my sisters. After -singing I wrote my journal and the girls wrote in their books. They then -studied arithmetic lesson. I then gave them a recess, after which they -spelt, read and Louisa recited geography. At eleven the school was -dismissed. In the afternoon I sewed for my dolly and took care of Abba, -then all went to walk in the woods. It was quiet and beautiful there and -I felt a calmness in myself. The sun was shining and the birds were -singing in the branches of the high trees. It was so beautiful it seemed -as if God was near me. I made some oak leaf wreaths, one for father and -one for mother, and stuck flowers in them. They looked very pretty -indeed. Then we returned from our walk and prepared for supper. In the -evening I sang with Christy, William, mother, and sisters. - - * * * * * - - Thursday, 8. - -To-day I gave the children lessons this morning. In the afternoon I -wrote. Christy is going to teach me arithmetic and composition, and the -subject upon which I am to write is our plan of life. The part I wrote -on to-day was flesh-eating. I will write it in here. - -[Illustration: - - ABBA MAY ALCOTT -] - -[Illustration: - - LOUISA MAY ALCOTT -] - -[Illustration: - - ANNA BRONSON ALCOTT -] - - - COMPOSITION - -Life was given to the animals not to be destroyed by men, but to make -them happy, and that they might enjoy life. But men are not satisfied -with slaying the innocent creatures, but they eat them and so make their -bodies of flesh meat. O how many happy lives have been destroyed and how -many loving families have been separated to please an unclean appetite -of men! Why were the fruits, berries and vegetables given us if it was -intended that we should eat flesh? I am sure it was not. We enjoy the -beautiful sights and thoughts God has given us in peace. Why not let -them do the same? We have souls to feel and think with, and as they have -not the same power of thinking, they should be allowed to live in peace -and not made to labour so hard and be beaten so much. Then to eat them! -eat what has had life and feeling to make the body of the innocent -animals! If treated kindly, they would be kind and tame and love men, -but as they now are abused and cruelly treated they do not feel the -feeling of “love” towards men. Besides flesh is not clean food, and when -there is beautiful juicy fruits who can be a flesh-eater? - - * * * * * - -In the evening I sang again as I did last night. - - * * * * * - - Friday, 9. - -After breakfast, it being my day for dishes, I cleared up the table. At -eleven I had my composition lesson. In the afternoon I sewed, read and -played. I sewed in the evening and went to bed early. - - * * * * * - - Saturday, 10. - -This morning father and Mr. Lane went to visit the Shakers in Harvard -town. I did the chamber work and then worked and made some bread for -dinner, and prepared things ready for it. In the afternoon I laid down, -it being very warm out, and read in “Devereux” which pleased me very -well. It rained hard and steadily for some time. Father and Mr. Lane -returned late in the afternoon. They brought home sweet things they had -purchased of the Shakers. We played out on the grounds a little while -and then I read and went to bed early. - - * * * * * - - Sunday, 11. - -I read until 10 o’clock when we had reading. In the afternoon I read, -wrote and had my lessons with Christy. In the evening I received a note -from mother accompanied by a roll containing some wafers and some note -paper. It was as follows:— - - * * * * * - -DEAR ANNA: - -I send you a little note paper and a few wafers. You have so much to do -lately that I cannot expect you to write often to me, but you must not -forget that this is a little duty of yours that gives me a great deal of -happiness. This last word reminds me of one of father’s beautiful -selections to-day. - - “Happiness is like the bird - That broods above its nest - And feels beneath its folded wings - Life’s dearest and its best.” - -I am sure I feel as if I could fold my arms around you all, and say from -my heart, “Here is my world within my embrace.” Let us try, dear Anna, -to make it a good and beautiful world,—that when we are called to leave -it we may be fit to join the good and beautiful of another sphere. - - All things proclaim - In the valley and plain - That God is near. - Hills, vales and brooks, - Sweet words and looks, - Cast out all fear. - - Be the dove of our ark, - Dear Anna remark - You’re my eldest and best, - Now you know all the rest, - - So farewell dear, - God is near, - No evil fear, - Be happy here. - - MOTHER. - -I love to receive letters from mother. She always writes me such dear -kind notes. - - * * * * * - - Monday, 12. - -This morning mother baked. I read. Mrs. Lovejoy and Mrs. Willard came -here to see mother. In the afternoon I read and wrote, and took a walk -with the girls into the woods. In the evening I played and had a shower -bath, and then went to bed. - - * * * * * - - Tuesday, 13. - -Mrs. Willard came here and helped mother wash to-day. I helped her some. -In the morning I took care of Abba and wrote some. In the afternoon I -played, studied, and worked. When Mrs. Willard went home Louisa and I -walked with her to learn the way to the house where she lives, for as -she took some sewing to do for mother, we wanted to know the way there. -We saw some young women braiding straw hats. One of them did it very -fast indeed. I think I should like to know how to make hats. Their -mother asked us to come and see them (her name is Willard) and mother -said we might go. We rode home with Mr. Wyman. When we got here we found -two young ladies and a girl who came to see us. They soon went home. I -ate my supper and soon after it went to my bed. - - * * * * * - - Wednesday, 14. - -I ironed to-day with mother, and read some. I have not very much to say -and so I will write a French fable. [Here a fable is written out in very -good French.] - - * * * * * - - Thursday, 15. - -This morning I felt quite unwell, so I laid down and saw Louisa keep -school for Lizzie and Abba. I read in “Tales of a Traveller” most all -the morning. In the afternoon I had a composition lesson, and then saw -father and Abraham winnow some corn and some barley. I then rode to the -mill with him and took Abba with us. I never saw a mill working before -that I recollect. I sewed when I came home and in the evening talked. - - * * * * * - - Friday, 16. - -Uncle Christy went to Boston this morning. As I was running to bid him -good-bye my foot slipped and I fell down on my back. It hurt me a good -deal and I had a pain in my side. In the afternoon I went to bed and -read. When I got up I fainted. I went to my bed early. - - * * * * * - - Saturday, 24. - -This was Lizzie’s birthday. I arose before five o’clock and went with -mother, William, and Louisa to the woods where we fixed a little pine -tree in the ground and hung up all the presents on it. I then made a -wreath for all of us of oak leaves. After breakfast we all, except -Abraham, marched to the wood. Mr. Lane took his fiddle with him and we -sang first. Then father read a parable, and then this ode which he wrote -himself. I will write it on the next page. Father then asked me what -flower I should give Lizzie on her birthday. I said a rose, the emblem -of Love and Purity. Father also chose a rose. Louisa said a -Lily-of-the-Valley, or innocence,—Mother said she should give her a -Forget-me-not, or remembrance. Christy said the trailing Arbutus, the -emblem of perseverance. Mr. Lane gave her a piece of moss, or humility. -Abba gave her a Wakerobin. I do not know what that means. We then sang. -Lizzie looked at her presents and seemed much pleased. Mother gave her a -silk thread balloon, I a fan, Louisa a pin-cushion, William a book, Abba -a little pitcher. Mr. Lane wrote some lines of poetry which I will write -in here:— - - - TO ELIZABETH - - Of all the year the sunniest day - Appointed for thy birth - Is emblem of the longest stay - With us upon the earth. - - Now dressed in flowers - The merry hours - Fill up the day and night. - May your whole life - Exempt from strife - Shine forth as calm and bright. - - FRUITLANDS. - -Here is father’s:— - - - BIRTHDAY ODE - - I - - Here in the grove - With those we love, - In the cool shade - Near mede and glade - With clover tints ore’laid— - A haunt which God ourselves have made— - The trees among - With leaves are hung. - On sylvan plat, - On forest mat, - Near meadow sweet - We take our seat, - While all around - Swells forth the sound - Our happy hearts repeat. - The wood and dell - Our joy to tell - The morning, and - Our peace to share, - Flows by his cool - A balmy school, - The Sun his fires - His kindled iris - Not yet inspires - In mid-noon blaze - His scorching rays, - But all is calm and fresh and clear - And all breathes peace around us here. - - II - - Wake, wake harmonious swell - Along this deep sequestered dell, - Along the grass and brake, - And where the cattle slake - Their thirst, when glides - Adown the sloping sides - In ceaseless frit - The wizard rivulet, - And let the spring maze - Join with violin note - In hymning forth our praise - From forth melodious throat - Our holy joy to tell. - - III - - Father’s here - And Mother dear - And sisters all, - The short and tall, - And Father’s friends - Whom Briton lends - To noblest human ends, - With younger arm - From Brooklet farm, - But absent now - At yonder plough - With shining, cleaving share - Upturning to the upper air - The obstinate soil, - The sober son of hardy toil. - - IV - - Here, here we all repair - Our hope and love to share, - To celebrate - In rustic state - Midst this refulgent whole - The joyful advent of an angel soul - That twice four years ago - Our mundane world to know - Descended from the upper skies - A presence to our veriest eyes - And now before us stands - And asketh at our bounteous hands - Some token of our zeal, - In her most holy weal - Before us stands arrayed - In garments of a maid. - Untainted and pure her soul - As when she left the whole - That doeth this marvelling scene - And day by day doth preach - The gospel meant for each - That on this solid sphere - For mortal’s ear. - - V - - Then take our tokens all - From great and small - And close that noblest treasure beat - That in your heart doth sleep. - Mind what the spirit saith - And plight therein thy faith, - My very dear Elizabeth, - Nor let the enemy wrest - The heavenly harvest from that field, - Nor tares permit to sow, - Nor hate, nor woe - In the pure soil God’s grace itself would sow;— - But bloom and open all the day - And be a flower that none shall pluck away, - A rose of Fruitland’s quiet dell, - A child intent on doing well - Devout secluded from all sin - Fragrance without and fair within - A plant matured in God’s device - An Amaranth in Paradise. - - * * * * * - - Monday, 17 July, 1843. - -This morning, not feeling well, I did not join the singing class, but -kept my bed till after breakfast. We had no lessons to-day and I sewed. -I believe I will write a story called The May Morning. - - - A FABLE - _The May Morning_ - -Early one morning in May a father conducted his son Theodore into the -garden of a rich man which the boy had never yet seen. The garden was -situated at a distance from the city, and it was adorned with all sorts -of shrubs and plants, beds of flowers and fruit trees, shady alleys and -pleasant groves. Through the middle of the garden wandered a pellucid -stream which fell from a rock and formed a large pool at its foot. In -the cool dell the water turned a mill. In the most beautiful spot in the -garden were seats entwined with roses and verdant bowers. - -Theodore could not satiate his eyes with the charms of the place. He -walked beside his father mostly in silent amaze, but sometimes he would -exclaim: “O Father, how lovely and beautiful is this garden!” - -When they had seen many things and were weary with their walk the father -conducted the boy through the plantations to the fall of a stream and -they sat down on the brow of a hill. Here they listened to the roaring -of the water which tumbled foaming from the ledge of the rocks, and in -the surrounding thickets were perched nightingales which mingled their -strains with the hoarse murmur of the fall. And Theodore thought he -never yet had heard nightingales sing so delightfully. While they thus -sat and listened they heard the voice of a man and the voices of -children. They were the children of the miller, a boy and a girl, and -they were leading their old blind grandfather between them, and telling -him about the beautiful shrubs and flowers by the wayside, and amusing -the old man by their lively and simple prattle. - -They conducted him to a seat in an arbor and kissed him, and ran about -the garden to gather flowers and fruit for him. But the old man smiled, -and when he was alone he uncovered his head and prayed with a cheerful -countenance. Then the hearts of Theodore and his father overflowed, and -they offered up prayer and praise with the old man, and Theodore was -overcome by his feelings so that he could not repress his tears. - -The children soon afterwards appeared, and they shouted from afar, and -they brought sweet-smelling flowers and ripe fruit to their blind -grandfather. But Theodore said to his father as they were returning -home, “O what a delightful, what a happy morning!” - - - THE FOUNTAIN - - “The little fountain flows - So noiseless through the wood - The wanderer tastes repose - And from its silent flood - Learns meekly to do good.” - -It’s short, but I thought it was very pretty. - - * * * * * - - Tuesday, 18. - -This morning after doing my work I had lessons. I wrote some in my -journal and did some sums. In the afternoon I went blue-berrying with -Lizzie and picked nearly, if not quite, a quart. I read in the evening. - - * * * * * - - Wednesday, 19. - -We had a descriptive lesson this morning and each of us wrote a -description of Fruitlands. - -I wrote the following one:— - - - “FRUITLANDS” - -It is a beautiful place surrounded by hills, green fields and woods, and -Still River is at some distance flowing quietly along. Wachusett and -Monadoc Mountains are in sight, and also some houses and fields of -grain. The house itself is now very pleasantly situated. It has a -vegetable garden behind it and some fruit trees. On the left a hill on -the top of which are pastures and a road. In front is a small garden, -and fields and a house at some distance. On the right is a large barn, -grain and potato field, woods and mountains. There are many pleasant -walks about Fruitlands, and berry fields, though the berries are not yet -quite ripe. - -It is a pleasant place to live in, I think. - -[Illustration: - - THE COMMUNITY SETTLE -] - - * * * * * - - Thursday, 20. - -I had my lesson this morning with Mr. Lane and I did some sums with -fractions. I never did any till Mr. Lane began to teach me, and I think -I have learned more lately than I ever did before. I think I understand -what I learn too. In the afternoon I had my shower bath and sewed. Mrs. -Lovejoy came here to see Mother and brought her little baby with her. I -took care of it a good deal. Charlotte and Ellen Dudley came to see me -and went to Mrs. Barnard’s of an errand with me. I there became -acquainted with Adelaide Barnard. We all went into the schoolhouse and -played together. In the evening I sewed a little bit and then went to -bed. - - * * * * * - - Sunday, 23. - -I did not feel well this morning, so I did not attend the readings, but -read in Miss Edgeworth’s “Belinda.” In the afternoon I sewed some and -mother finished “Sowing and Reaping” aloud. I then went to look for -blueberries, but did not find but a very few. When I returned I had -supper and after that I read. - - * * * * * - - Monday, 24. - -I had no lessons to-day, Mr. Lane being unwell and father busy. Mother -washed and Louisa and I helped her. I then shelled some peas for dinner. -Yesterday Christy went away. He will return sometime I guess. In the -afternoon I read part of “Mademoiselle Panache.” I then wrote my journal -and took care of Abba. William and I then ironed till we went to supper. -In the evening I looked for berries and went pretty early to bed. - - * * * * * - - Tuesday, 25. - -This morning I had lessons by myself. I did a French lesson and wrote in -my journal. I then sewed some. In the afternoon I made some little -presents to give Abba as to-morrow is her birthday. I then raked hay. In -the evening I read in “Motherless Ellen.” - - * * * * * - - Wednesday, 26. - -Abba’s birthday. We did not do anything to celebrate except that I put -some presents into her stocking last night and she found them there this -morning. After breakfast father and Mr. Lane started for Boston with Mr. -Hecker. We had no lessons. I washed, and the three other children went -to a mill for a walk. I arranged a room for myself. It is to be my room -and I to stay by myself in it. I then set the dinner table. The children -did not return till after dinner. I had a bath and then arranged some -pictures for my scrap-book. As Mother was going into the fields to help -with the hay, I joined her, and after working there some time went with -Louisa to look for berries. We found about a pint. In the evening I read -in “Motherless Ellen” some more. - -I rose pretty early this morning and having bathed and dressed sat down -to write my journal. Having done so I went downstairs and eat breakfast. -After I had done I went with Louisa and William to pick blackberries. We -got about two quarts. When we returned I read and then worked with -William. In the afternoon I wrote and went to Mrs. Lovejoy’s. I then had -a bath and wrote, after which I read in the newspapers. In the evening I -played. - - - POETRY - - I never cast a flower away - The gift of one who cared for me - A little flower—a faded flower - But it was done reluctantly. - - I never looked a last adieu - To things familiar but my heart - Shrank with a feeling almost pain - Even from their lifelessness. - - I never spoke the word farewell - But with an utterance faint and broken - A heart with yearning for the time - When it should never more be spoken. - - * * * * * - - September, 6. - -I think the world would be a very dismal world without books. I could -not live without them. I take so much pleasure in reading beautiful -stories and poetry. I like to hear beautiful words and thoughts. -Beautiful is my favorite word. If I like anything I always say it is -beautiful. It is a beautiful word. I can’t tell the color of it. Louisa -and I took a walk. It was pleasant if it had only been a little warmer. -When we returned we sat in our chamber. I wrote down all the beautiful -names we could think of, and in the evening wrote the colors of them. - - * * * * * - -[Here Anna’s journal written at Fruitlands comes to a sudden ending. -Numberless pages have been torn out carefully, and Mr. Alcott’s -handwriting appears in footnotes here and there, showing that it was he -who destroyed the story of the later days of Fruitlands written from his -youthful daughter’s pen. It is one more proof of the intensity of his -feelings regarding Fruitlands, and the bitter disappointment that Time -never softened. His own journal written there has also been destroyed. -It seems as if that experience of failure was too heartrending to him to -allow the world to share it. We only get glimpses here and there with -which to construct a picture of the New Eden where these -Transcendentalists worked out a beloved theory and found it wanting. We -have the account of the start, so full of enthusiasm and ecstatic -hopefulness. The curtain has been drawn over the rest as carefully as -was possible. Her journal starts again in 1846, but it does not state -the month. In it she mentions a point which reveals something of Mr. -Alcott’s philosophy. She says: “Father said that if a person wanted a -thing very much and thought of it a great deal, that they would probably -have it.”] - - - - - VIII - - LOUISA MAY ALCOTT’S DIARY AT FRUITLANDS[10] - - -_September 1st._—I rose at five and had my bath. I love cold water! Then -we had our singing-lesson with Mr. Lane. After breakfast I washed -dishes, and ran on the hill till nine and had some thoughts,—it was so -beautiful up there. Did my lessons,—wrote and spelt and did sums; and -Mr. Lane read a story, “The Judicious Father.” How a rich girl told a -poor girl not to look over the fence at the flowers, and was cross to -her because she was unhappy. The Father heard her do it, and made the -girls change clothes. The poor one was glad to do it, and he told her to -keep them. But the rich one was very sad; for she had to wear the old -ones a week, and after that she was good to shabby girls. I liked it -very much, and I shall be kind to poor people. - -Footnote 10: - - When she was ten years old. - -Father asked us what was God’s noblest work. Anna said _men_, but I said -_babies_. Men are often bad; babies never are. We had a long talk, and I -felt better after it, and _cleared up_. - -[Illustration: - - WHERE ABBA MAY’S STOCKING WAS HUNG THE NIGHT BEFORE HER BIRTHDAY - - Anna’s bedroom is on the right, next to Mrs. Alcott’s. The portraits - of the “Little Women” hang on the wall -] - -We had bread and fruit for dinner. I read and walked and played till -supper-time. We sung in the evening. As I went to bed the moon came up -very brightly and looked at me. I felt sad because I have been cross -to-day, and did not mind Mother. I cried, and then I felt better, and -said that piece from Mrs. Sigourney, “I must not tease my mother.” I get -to sleep saying poetry,—I know a great deal. - - * * * * * - -_Thursday, 14th._—Mr. Parker Pillsbury came, and we talked about the -poor slaves. I had a music lesson with Miss P. I hate her, she is so -fussy. I ran in the wind and played be a horse, and had a lovely time in -the woods with Anna and Lizzie. We were fairies, and made gowns and -paper wings. I “flied” the highest of all. In the evening they talked -about travelling. I thought about Father going to England, and said this -piece of poetry I found in Byron’s poems:— - - “When I left thy shores, O Naxos, - Not a tear in sorrow fell; - Not a sigh or faltered accent - Told my bosom’s struggling swell.” - -It rained when I went to bed and made a pretty noise on the roof. - - * * * * * - -_Sunday, 24th._—Father and Mr. Lane have gone to N. H. to preach. It was -very lovely.... Anna and I got supper. In the eve I read “Vicar of -Wakefield.” I was cross to-day, and I cried when I went to bed. I made -good resolutions, and felt better in my heart. If I only _kept_ all I -make, I should be the best girl in the world. But I don’t, and so am -very bad. - -(Poor little sinner! She says the same at fifty.—L. M. A.) - - * * * * * - -_October 8th._—When I woke up, the first thought I got was, “It’s -Mother’s birthday: I must be very good.” I ran and wished her a happy -birthday, and gave her my kiss. After breakfast we gave her our -presents. I had a moss cross and a piece of poetry for her. - -We did not have any school, and played in the woods and got red leaves. -In the evening we danced and sung, and I read a story about -“Contentment.” I wish I was rich, I was good, and we were all a happy -family this day. - -We sang the following song: - - - SONG OF MAY - - Hail, all hail, thou merry month of May, - We will hasten to the woods away - Among the flowers so sweet and gay, - Then away to hail the merry merry May— - The merry merry May— - Then away to hail the merry merry month of May. - - Hark, hark, hark, to hail the month of May, - How the songsters warble on the spray, - And we will be as blith as they, - Then away to hail the merry merry May— - Then away to hail the merry merry month of May. - -I think this is a very pretty song and we sing it a good deal. - - * * * * * - -_Thursday, 12th._—After lessons I ironed. We all went to the barn and -husked corn. It was good fun. We worked till eight o’clock and had -lamps. Mr. Russell came. Mother and Lizzie are going to Boston. I shall -be very lonely without dear little Betty, and no one will be as good to -me as Mother. I read in Plutarch. I made a verse about sunset:— - - “Softly doth the sun descend - To his couch behind the hill, - Then, oh, then, I love to sit - On mossy banks beside the rill.” - -Anna thought it was very fine; but I didn’t like it very well. - - * * * * * - -_Friday, Nov. 2nd._—Anna and I did the work. In the evening Mr. Lane -asked us, “What is man?” These were our answers: A human being; an -animal with a mind; a creature; a body; a soul and a mind. After a long -talk we went to bed very tired. - - * * * * * - -(No wonder, after doing the work and worrying their little wits with -such lessons.—L. M. A.) - - * * * * * - -A sample of the vegetarian wafers used at Fruitlands:— - - Vegetable diet - and sweet repose. - Animal food and - nightmare. - - Pluck your body - from the orchard; - do not snatch it - from the shamble. - - Without flesh diet - there could be no - blood-shedding war. - - Apollo eats no - flesh and has no - beard; his voice is - melody itself. - - Snuff is no less snuff - though accepted from - a gold box. - - * * * * * - -_Tuesday, 20th._—I rose at five, and after breakfast washed the dishes, -and then helped mother work. Miss P. is gone, and Anna in Boston with -Cousin Louisa. I took care of Abba (May) in the afternoon. In the -evening I made some pretty things for my dolly. Father and Mr. L. had a -talk, and father asked us if _we_ saw any reason for us to separate. -Mother wanted to, she is so tired. I like it, but not the school part or -Mr. L. - - * * * * * - -_Eleven years old. Thursday, 29th._—It was Father’s and my birthday. We -had some nice presents. We played in the snow before school. Mother read -“Rosamond” when we sewed. Father asked us in the eve what fault troubled -us most. I said my bad temper. - -I told mother I liked to have her write in my book. She said she would -put in more, and she wrote this to help me:— - -“DEAR LOUEY,—Your handwriting improves very fast. Take pains and do not -be in a hurry. I like to have you make observations about our -conversations and your own thoughts. It helps you to express them and to -understand your little self. Remember, dear girl, that a diary should be -an epitome of your life. May it be a record of pure thought and good -actions, then you will indeed be the precious child of your loving -mother.” - - * * * * * - -_December 10th._—I did my lessons, and walked in the afternoon. Father -read to us in dear “Pilgrim’s Progress.” Mr. L. was in Boston and we -were glad. In the eve father and mother and Anna and I had a long talk. -I was very unhappy, and we all cried. Anna and I cried in bed, and I -prayed God to keep us all together. - - - - - IX - - AUTUMN DISAPPOINTMENT - - -As any one knows who has any experience in farming, the true farmer -spirit shows itself in the man who accepts the disappointment of a -meagre crop in spite of his dreams of a plentiful harvest, and working -diligently, gets what he can from it. - -The crops at Fruitlands underwent many vicissitudes. No sooner did a -crop show some sort of promise than they turned it back into the earth -again, in order to enrich the soil, they said. This method did not tend -to fill the winter storehouse with the needed vegetables, and a faint -suggestion of disillusionment began to creep into the perfect harmony of -the consociate family as autumn approached. Early in September Mr. -Alcott and Charles Lane went on a trip in search of recruits. They went -to Providence and had an evening’s conversation with Mrs. Newcomb and -some of her friends, during which Mr. Alcott said that, as competition -had made facilities so great, they might take that opportunity to go on -to New York. Charles Lane then spoke up and said there was no other -objection than lack of means, whereupon the company contributed the -necessary amount. In writing to Oldham about it, Charles Lane passes -comment on what he saw: “We went to the Graham House to breakfast where -we found some people half if not quite alive” and again: “The number of -living persons in the 300,000 inhabitants of New York is very small.” -During this visit they went to see Mrs. L. M. Child, who gave the -following account of it: - -“A day or two after [Theodore] Parker left, Alcott and Lane called to -see me. I asked, ‘What brings you to New York?’ ‘I don’t know,’ said Mr. -Alcott; ‘it seems a miracle that we are here.’ Mr. Child and John Hopper -went to hear a discussion between them and W. H. Channing. I asked Mr. -Child what they talked about. ‘Lane divided man into three states,—the -disconscious, the conscious, and the unconscious. The disconscious is -the state of the pig; the conscious is the baptism by water; and the -unconscious is the baptism by fire.’ I laughed, and said, ‘Well, how did -the whole discussion affect your mind?’ ‘Why, after I heard them talk a -few minutes, I ‘ll be cursed if I knew whether I had any mind at all.’ -J. H. stayed rather longer, though he left in the midst. He said they -talked about mind and body. ‘What did they say?’ ‘Why, Channing seemed -to think there was some connection between mind and body; but those -Boston folks, so far as I could understand ‘em, seemed to think the body -was all sham!’” - -There is a story that on their return from New York they went by steamer -to New Haven. All the money that had been contributed by Mrs. Newcomb -and her friends had gone, but that did not trouble the philosophers. -They boarded the boat quite serenely and when it started sat on deck -enjoying the breeze. The ticket-man came to each passenger for his -ticket, and when he came to Mr. Alcott and Mr. Lane, sitting there in -their linen suits, he asked them for theirs. Quite undisturbed Mr. -Alcott replied that they had no money or scrip, but they would quite -willingly pay their way by addressing the passengers and crew with a -little conversation in the saloon. It is said that in reply the language -of the ticket-man was not as civil as it should have been. - -It was all very pleasant, this wandering off and showing their linen -tunics to the world and holding conversations to enlighten people in -regard to the future wonders of the New Eden, but the day they left -Fruitlands Joseph Palmer was off attending to his cattle at No Town, and -the crop of barley had been cut and was waiting to be harvested. Poor -Mrs. Alcott looked at it with anxious eyes. The granary was almost empty -and this barley meant food. She could forget herself, but she could not -ignore the needs of her children. Christopher Greene and Larned and -Bower were also away. The barley lay there with no one to bring it in to -a safe shelter. The next day she looked at it again with a sinking -heart. As the afternoon waned, black clouds covered the sky and flashes -of lightning rent seams through them with terrifying rapidity. Then Mrs. -Alcott made a quick decision. Gathering all the baskets she could find, -she carried them to the barley-field with the help of the children, and -in hot haste they gathered the barley into the baskets and dragged them -to the granary, and then ran back as fast as they could for more. Thus -they worked with all their strength, and when the storm broke, they had -saved enough to last them for at least a few weeks. - -So if Mrs. Alcott lacked, as Lane said, spiritual insight, she -fortunately for them had practical foresight, from which they all reaped -a benefit. - - * * * * * - -The following letter to Mr. Oldham is suggestive of the trend of affairs -in the community:— - - * * * * * - - FRUITLANDS, HARVARD, MASS., - September 29, 1843. - -On our arrival at home we learnt that in our absence several friends and -strangers had called, amongst them S. Bower, Parker Pillsbury, and an -acquaintance, Mr. Hamond of New Ipswich in New Hampshire State. Thinking -the latter worth seeing we went to visit him, a distance of about -twenty-five miles. He is married to an exoteric wife of some good -household qualities; he has built with his own hands a smart cottage, -being an expert workman, and has moreover a respectable talent for -portrait painting which he estimates humbly without a consciousness of -humility. Next to Edward Palmer, he is a person who, I should think, -would make one with us. He introduced us at two houses to four females -who vitally considered constitute with himself the whole of the town. -Our visit there will do some good, for though they have read my letters -printed last winter in the newspapers, yet the presence of a living -person is much more real a thing. I saw their good intentions were -greatly encouraged. I could not dissuade the oldest from promising never -to taste flesh again, which I was rather inclined to on account of her -years.... - -On Saturday last Anna Alcott most magnanimously walked her little legs -fourteen miles in about five hours down to old Concord, where our -friends appear to have been pretty somnolent since our departure. On -Tuesday we returned on foot, and accomplished somewhat towards the -liberation of the animals by a heroine of thirteen. Mr. Emerson is, I -think, quite stationary: he is off the Railroad of Progress, and merely -an elegant, kindly observer of all who pass onwards, and notes down -their aspect while they remain in sight; of course, when they arrive at -a new station they are gone from and for him. I see Mr. John Sterling -dedicates his new tragedy of “Strafford” to him: no very alarming honor! -I suppose that Thomas Carlyle, with all his famous talking, does not yet -_actually_ lead the people out of their troubles. These worthy and -enlightened scribblers will do little to save the nation. Some there are -I hope of more real solid metal.... - -[Illustration: - - THE OUTER KITCHEN -] - -Samuel Bower has not yet had your note, as I am not sure where he is. He -could not, it seems, long endure Joseph Palmer’s offer of land, etc., it -was so solitary. He called here when we were on our long journey on his -way to Lowell, the Manchester of New England. If his aims are high and -his head clear, or his hands effective, he will not be able to wander -far from us; but a wanderer it is certain he must be allowed to be. -Abraham [Abram Everett] comes and goes with some regard to the law -within him; he is now busy with our latter hay, the maize, buckwheat, -etc. - -What is to be our destiny I can in no wise guess. Mr. Alcott makes such -high requirements of all persons that few are likely to stay, even of -his own family, unless he can become more tolerant of defect. He is an -artist in human character requiring every painter to be a Michael -Angelo. He also does not wish to keep a hospital, nor even a school, but -to be surrounded by Masters—Masters of Art, of the one grand Art of -human life. I suppose such a standard would soon empty your Concordium -as well as every other house, which I suppose you call by insinuation -“Discordiums,” or, more elegantly, “Discordia.” I propose to pass at -least another winter in New England to know more averagingly what they -are, as the last was particularly severe. I have gone about on these -several journeys in the simple tunic and linen garments and mean to keep -them on as long as I can. We have had a fine summer of three months, and -a fine autumn seems on hand. Sharp frost this morning, yet we took our -bath as usual out-of-doors in the gray of the morn at one-half past -five. Health, the grand external condition, still attends me, every -stranger rating me ten or twelve years younger than I am; so that if -such are the effects of climate I may indeed be happy, for my -youthfulness is not all appearance—I _feel_ as buoyant and as boyish as -I look, which I find a capital endorsement to my assertions about diet, -etc. It staggers the sceptical and sets their selfish thoughts to -work.... - -Hoping that all minds are thus laboring, let us, my dear friend, act as -if all good progress depended upon us and unfailingly present a clean -breast to Eternal Love, shedding forth our full measure in the clearest -Light; in which I am - - Thine truly, - CHAS. LANE. - -Abraham just notifies me there is work in the field, so I must go. - - * * * * * - -Joseph Palmer had offered his old house at No Town to Samuel Bower as a -refuge in which to test his theory of the benefits to be derived from -accustoming the body to live without the enervating burden of clothing. -Bower’s experiences in this line at Fruitlands had not been satisfactory -or convincing, as it was only at night that he could make the -experiment, and then they insisted on his donning a white garment for -his peregrinations in the open. Even this caused agitation in the -neighborhood, and tales of a white ghost wandering over the hillside -caused much alarm, and several times a posse went out from the village -to look into the matter. At No Town he could be in solitude. While there -he wrote a number of articles for the _Liberator_, in one of which he -predicted the full regeneration of man, “if we can rid the kitchen of -its horrors and keep our tables free from the mangled corse.” - - * * * * * - -In another letter Lane writes to Oldham:— - - * * * * * - -... At present I am situated thus. All the persons who have joined us -during the summer have from some cause or other quitted, they say in -consequence of Mr. Alcott’s despotic manner, which he interprets as -their not being equal to the Spirit’s demands. Joseph Palmer, who has -done, and is doing our farmwork for love, still remains in the same -relation as he ever did. - -Palmer says that having once declared this land free we should never go -back, at least until the work has been fairly tested. Under all this it -should be stated that Mrs. Alcott has no spontaneous inclination towards -a larger family than her own natural one, of spiritual ties she knows -nothing, though to keep all together she does and would go through a -good deal of exterior and interior toil. I hoped I had done with -pecuniary affairs, but it seems I am not to be let off. The crops, I -believe, will not discharge all the obligations they were expected to -liquidate, and against going further into debt I am most determinately -settled.... You will perceive that I have, like yourself, a small peck -of troubles; not quite heavy enough to drive me to a juncture with our -friends, the Shakers, but sufficiently so to put the thought into one’s -head, as you perceive. In the midst of all these events and of William’s -illness, who is in bed eight or ten days with a sort of bilious fever, I -am not without the consolatory hope that some measure of Spirit -utilitary is bound up with our obscure doings. - - Yours most affectionately, - CHARLES LANE. - -At a late visit on foot to Roxbury, I found the numbers at Brook Farm -considerably diminished. I don’t know what they will say to my letter if -they see it in _The New Age_, but never mind. - - * * * * * - -From now on clashing of wills disturbed the serenity of Fruitlands. -Charles Lane, despondent over the course of events and the sense of -failure, and seeing further financial complications in store for him, -began seriously to consider the plan of life adopted by the Shakers -whose well-filled corn-bins and full-rigged haylofts bespoke a system -which provided plenty for man and beast, and gave time for alternate -work and meditation. He began to talk of this to Mr. Alcott and urged -him toward a more monastic life, and then suggested that they should -join them. That he had great influence with Mr. Alcott is evident, and -Mrs. Alcott, who fully realized this, grew restless and then alarmed. - -In writing to Oldham, Lane kept dwelling upon Mrs. Alcott. Once he -wrote: “Mrs. Alcott has passed from the ladylike to the industrious -order, but she has much inward experience to realize. Her pride is not -yet eradicated and her peculiar maternal love blinds her to all -else—whom does it not so blind for a season?”[11] - -Footnote 11: - - Sanborn’s _Bronson Alcott_. - -And he ascribes the failure of other persons to join the experiment -largely to Mrs. Alcott, “who vows that her own family are all that she -lives for.” No such narrow purpose, Lane adds, has inspired him; and he -blames Mr. Alcott for listening too much to his family affections, and -regarding too much what that guardian angel of middle-class England, -Mrs. Grundy, will say. - -In speaking of Mr. Alcott, he complains that “constancy to his wife and -inconstancy to the Spirit have blurred over his life forever.” - -Poor Mrs. Alcott, poor “Marmee,” as her daughters called her!—in her -loyalty she had almost worked her fingers to the bone with no thanks for -it. Her days had passed without any help to lighten the manual labor. At -first they said that not a lamp could lighten Fruitlands because the oil -contained animal fat, and only bayberry candles could be used, and only -a few of them. But Mrs. Alcott then rebelled. How could she sew and mend -the clothes with such poor light? There seemed some sense in this, so -one small lamp was brought to Fruitlands just for her. The philosophers -tried sitting in the dark, but one by one would try to find some pretext -to join her at the sewing-table, and Mrs. Alcott’s lamp burned bright -and steady, an emblem of her own true and faithful heart. - -Ellery Channing said: “Mrs. Alcott was one of the most refined persons -of my acquaintance. She told me years afterwards that in 1843–44 she -feared for her husband’s sanity; he did such strange things without -seeming to know how odd they were; wearing only linen clothes and canvas -shoes, and eating only vegetables.” - - * * * * * - -November 26, 1843, Lane wrote to Oldham from Fruitlands:— - -“What with agitations of mind and ills of body, I have passed a less -happy time than usual. William was ill a whole month with a low fever so -that he could not even sit up in bed for one minute. I had to nurse him -while plagued with hands so chapped and sore that I was little more -capable than the patient. Then came Mr. [Samuel J.] May’s announcement -that he should not pay the note to which he had put his hand; so that -money affairs and individual property come back again upon me for a -season. Thereupon ensued endless discussions, doubts, and anticipations -concerning our destiny. These still hang over us. But in the midst of -them Mrs. Alcott gives notice that she concedes to the wishes of her -friends and shall withdraw to a house which they will provide for -herself and her four children. As she will take all the furniture with -her, this proceeding necessarily leaves me alone and naked in a new -world. Of course Mr. A. and I could not remain together without her. To -be ‘that devil come from Old England to separate husband and wife,’ I -will not be, though it might gratify New England to be able to say it. -So that you will perceive a separation is possible. Indeed, I believe -that under the circumstances it is now inevitable.” - - * * * * * - -Mr. Sanborn says in his “Memoirs of Bronson Alcott”:— - -“Those who read Louisa’s ‘Transcendental Wild Oats’ will see by her -names ‘Timon Lion’ for Lane, and ‘Abel Lamb’ for Alcott, that she looked -on her father as rather the victim of Lane in the ‘Fruitlands’ failure. -Without conceding this, the impartial observer will say that Lane had -the stronger will, and the far more prosaic nature; that he decided most -of the questions for his associates in both countries, and that he was -rather a hard person to get on with. Neither his first wife, nor Wright, -nor Mrs. Alcott, nor Alcott himself, nor the Harvard Shakers, nor -finally Oldham, could quite suit him. He over-persuaded Alcott, who was -a good farmer and mechanic, to adopt impossible modes of working the -‘Fruitlands’ farm, and much of their whimsies in dress and food seem to -have come from Lane and his English friends. Mrs. Alcott, when -reëstablished in a home of her own at Concord, early in 1845, offered -Lane a home there, and he tried it for a time in the next summer, but -still complained, as he had at ‘Fruitlands,’ that she wished to keep her -family small, and made it uncomfortable for guests. Knowing Mrs. -Alcott’s character well, in the last twenty years of her life, I cannot -believe that this was ever true of her. She was hospitality itself, -whether poor or rich; and it must have been Lane’s own individualism -that made him dissatisfied. - -[Illustration: - - CHARLES LANE’S ROOM - - The old cowhide trunk, in which some of the most valuable of the books - were shipped from London; also the old chest in which the linen was - kept. The spinning-wheel belonged to a former owner. -] - -“The rigors of a New England winter promoted the dissolution of the -‘Fruitlands’ Community, but did not alone break it up. A lack of -organizing power to control the steady current of selfishness, as well -as the unselfish vagaries of his followers, was the real cause. Nothing -in fact could be more miserable than the failure of this hopeful -experiment.” - - * * * * * - -Mr. Alcott had written in his diary of Emerson:—“It is much to have the -vision of the seeing eye. Did most men possess this, the useful hand -would be empowered with new dexterity also. Emerson sees me, knows me, -and more than all others helps me,—not by noisy praise, not by low -appeals to interest and passion, but by turning the eye of others to my -stand in reason and the nature of things. Only men of like vision can -apprehend and counsel each other. A man whose purpose and act demand but -a day or an hour for their completion can do little by way of advising -him whose purposes require years for their fulfilment. Only Emerson, of -this age, knows me, of all that I have found. Well, every one does not -find _one_ man, one _very man through and through_. Many are they who -live and die alone, known only to their survivors of an after-century.” - - * * * * * - -How he recalled that now! He was tossed in mind and troubled beyond -measure. All his beautiful dreams were melting away one by one. -Everything seemed to be falling from his grasp. Most of the crops had -failed;—the enthusiastic lovers of “The Newness” had proved themselves -false and had slipped away as the cold weather approached. All his -wonderful plans had come to naught. He had promised to the world the -vision of a new Eden: he had believed it could exist: he had worked for -it with his whole soul: he had nothing to show for it but failure. Would -his friend Emerson stay by him in his anguish? He believed he would, and -yet how meet his friend? How face the world? - -The cold penetrated the old house. William Lane lay ill in his room and -his father watched over him. All were heavy-hearted. It was as late as -January that Charles Lane and his son moved to the Shakers. After that -Mr. Alcott retired to his room, as he thought, to face the end. Mr. -Sanborn tells us: “The final expulsion from this Paradise nearly cost -Mr. Alcott his life. He retired to his chamber, refused food, and was on -the point of dying from grief and abstinence, when his wife prevailed on -him to continue longer in this ungrateful world.” - -This prayer was written in his diary after leaving Fruitlands: “Light, O -source of light! give Thou unto thy servant, sitting in the perplexities -of this surrounding darkness. Hold Thou him steady to Thee, to truth, -and to himself; and in Thine own due time give him clearly to the work -for which Thou art thus slowly preparing him, proving his faith -meanwhile in Thyself and in his kind.” - - * * * * * - -“Shall I say with Pestalozzi that I was not made by this world, nor for -it,—wherefore am I placed in it if I was found unfit? And the world that -found him thus asked not whether it was his fault or that of another; -but it bruised him with an iron hammer, as the bricklayer breaks an old -brick to fill up a crevice.” - - * * * * * - -“That is failure when a man’s idea ruins him, when he is dwarfed and -killed by it; but when he is ever growing by it, ever true to it, and -does not lose it by any partial or immediate failures,—that is success, -whatever it seems to the world.” - -In speaking of the Fruitlands experiment Mr. Sanborn says:— - -“It brought its own compensations, and left the whole Alcott family -richer and not poorer for this romantic experience with its sad -termination. It prepared Alcott to face more patiently the storms of -later life, and to train his daughter, who was his best single gift to -the world, better for her conspicuous service. And ‘Fruitlands’ will be -remembered, perhaps longer than most of the adventures that awaited this -romantic household in its voyage of life.... - -“There was some foundation for Alcott’s despair at ‘Fruitlands,’ and -with the ill success that followed him after the flourishing Temple -School in Boston. Emerson, the gentlest and least exacting of men, -looking at his friend’s situation a few years after the ‘Fruitlands’ -experiment, wrote in his private journal— - -[Illustration: - - THE BEDROOM - - Where Mr. Alcott nearly succumbed to his despair at the failure of his - “New Eden” -] - -“‘The plight of Mr. Alcott! The most refined and the most advanced soul -we have had in New England; who makes all other souls appear slow and -cheap and mechanical; a man of such courtesy and greatness that in -conversation all others, even the intellectual, seem sharp, and fighting -for victory and angry,—while he has the unalterable sweetness of a muse! -Yet because he cannot earn money by his talk or his pen, or by -school-keeping, or bookkeeping, or editing, or any kind of -meanness,—nay, for this very cause that he is ahead of his -contemporaries, is higher than they, and keeps himself out of the shop -condescensions and arts which they stoop to,—or, unhappily, need not -stoop to, but find themselves, as it were, born to; therefore it is the -unanimous opinion of New England judges that this man must die! We do -not adjudge him to hemlock or garroting,—we are much too hypocritical -and cowardly for that. But we not less surely doom him by refusing to -protest against this doom, or combine to save him, and to set him in -employments fit for him and salutary for the State.’” - - * * * * * - -The poem written by Mr. Alcott, with the title “The Return,” may -fittingly close this chapter:— - - “As from himself he fled - Outcast, insane, - Tormenting demons drove him from the gate: - Away he sped, - Casting his joys behind, - His better mind: - Recovered, - Himself again, - Over his threshold led, - Peace fills his breast, - He finds rest, - Expecting angels his arrival wait.” - - - - - X - - IN AFTER YEARS - - -More than thirty years after the Fruitlands failure, Mrs. Caroline -Sherman, of Chicago, heard from Mr. Alcott its story as he came to view -it in later years. She says:— - -“One day at Concord Mr. Alcott consented to give his experience at -Fruitlands, and for two hours he entertained the little company with the -happiest of humor, as he told the story of his effort to realize an -ideal community. Together with Charles Lane, he purchased a location on -the north side of a sandy hill in Harvard, and started out with the idea -of welcoming hospitably to their community any human being who sought -admission. Mr. Alcott described the various sorts of quaint characters -who came to live with them, lured by the charms of Utopia and Arcadia -combined. Only a vegetable diet was allowed; for the rights of animals -to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness formed a fundamental -principle in their constitution. This not only cut them off from beef, -but from milk and eggs. The milk belonged to the calf, and the chicken -had a right to its existence as well as the infant. Even the -canker-worms that infested the apple trees were not to be molested. They -had as much right to the apples as man had. Unfortunately farm -operations were not started until well into June, and the only crop -raised that was of value as dependence was barley; but the philosophers -did not flinch at the thought of an exclusively barley diet. Now and -then they gave a thought as to what they should do for shoes when those -they now had were gone; for depriving the cow of her skin was a crime -not to be tolerated. The barley crop was injured in harvesting, and -before long actual want was staring them in the face. This burden fell -heaviest upon Mrs. Alcott, for, as housewife, it was her duty to prepare -three meals a day. They remained at Fruitlands till mid-winter in dire -poverty, all the guests having taken their departure as provisions -vanished. Friends came to the rescue, and, concluded Mr. Alcott, with a -tone of pathos in his voice: ‘We put our four little women on an -ox-sled,[12] and made our way to Concord. So faded one of the dreams of -my youth. I have given you the facts as they were; Louisa has given the -comic side in “Transcendental Wild Oats”; but Mrs. Alcott could give you -the tragic side.’” - -Footnote 12: - - As a matter of fact they did not go to Concord on the ox-sled, but to - Still River, where they lived for a year in the house called the - “Brick Ends,” belonging to the Lovejoy family. They then moved to - Concord where Orchard House now stands as a memorial to the later - years. - - * * * * * - -The odes addressed to Alcott by Thoreau and Lowell should be recalled in -connection with these reminiscences of his later years:— - - - THE HILLSIDE HOUSE - - BY HENRY DAVID THOREAU - - Here Alcott thought,—respect a wise man’s door! - No kinder heart a mortal form e’er held; - Its easy hinges ope forevermore - At touch of all,—or fervid Youth or Eld. - - A mounting sage was he, and could essay - Bold flights of hope, that softly fed his tongue - With honey; then flew swift that happy day, - As tranced in joy on his pure themes we hung. - - He knew the Scholar’s art; with insight spent - On Plato’s sentence, that best poesy, - And calm philosophy, his soul intent - Cleared the grey film of Earth and Air and Sea. - - He might have lapsed,—but Heaven him held along,— - Or splendrous faded like some sunset dream; - But long shall live! though this bare, humble song - Gains not his dignity,—nor rounds its theme. - - He’ll dwell (doubt not) in that fond, wished-for Land, - Where the broad Concave’s stars unquailing bloom; - The guest of angels, that consolers stand,— - Sweetly forgot in light Earth’s lowly tomb. - - Then may I wait, dear Alcott, of thy court, - Or bear a mace in thy Platonic reign! - Though sweet Philosophy be not my forte, - Nor Mincio’s reed, nor Learning’s weary gain. - - - ODE TO ALCOTT[13] - - BY JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL - - Hear him but speak, and you will feel - The shadows of the Portico - Over your tranquil spirit steal, - To modulate all joy and woe - To one subdued, subduing glow; - Above our squabbling business hours, - Like Phidian Jove’s, his beauty lowers, - His nature satirizes ours; - A form and front of Attic grace, - He shames the higgling market-place, - And dwarfs our more mechanic powers. - - What throbbing verse can fitly render - That face so pure, so trembling-tender? - Sensation glimmers through its rest, - It speaks unmanacled by words, - As full of motion as a nest - That palpitates with unfledged birds; - ‘Tis likest to Bethesda’s stream, - Forewarned through all its thrilling springs, - White with the angel’s coming gleam, - And rippled with his fanning wings. - - * * * * * - - Himself unshaken as the sky, - His words, like whirlwinds, spin on high - Systems and creeds pellmell together; - ‘Tis strange as to a deaf man’s eye, - While trees uprooted splinter by, - The dumb turmoil of stormy weather; - Less of iconoclast than shaper, - His spirit, safe behind the reach - Of the tornado of his speech, - Burns calmly as a glowworm’s taper. - -Footnote 13: - - From “Studies for Two Heads.” - -As Mr. Alcott suffered acutely from the disastrous ending of the -Fruitlands Community, so also did Charles Lane. The cherished ideal of -the regeneration of the world by a vivid example was shattered beyond -repair. Saddened and disillusioned he returned to Alcott House in -England. - -In writing to Thoreau from London, in 1848, Emerson gives a description -of him. He says: “I went last Sunday for the first time to see Lane at -Ham, and dined with him. He was full of friendliness and hospitality; -has a school of sixteen children, one lady as matron, then Oldham. This -is all the household. They looked just comfortable.” The matron here -spoken of was undoubtedly a Miss Hannah Bond, who had lived at Owen’s -Community at Harmony Hall, and in due time Lane cast aside his -antagonism to family ties and married her. But from his letters to -Joseph Palmer, it is evident that his experience in life never allowed -him freedom from questions of money and property. He had sunk his all in -the experiment at Fruitlands, as “an offering to the Eternal Spirit.” -One feels a note of bitterness in him from a letter written by Wright to -Oldham in which he says: “I have been told that Mr. Lane says Alcott is -an unpractical dreamer, or something tantamount thereto. Alas! how far -shall we have to go to find those who will deliver the same opinion of -C. L. [Charles Lane] and W. O. [William Oldham] and others whom I could -mention! Sometimes I almost suspect that of myself. The world has -decided pretty truly. I begin to respect its decision and to suspect my -own.” - -And from the following paragraph the pain and disheartenment of a -disappointed life shows itself with infinite pathos, as Wright says: -“Somehow or other I seem to have made up my mind that it is for me to -die, to which I look forward with hope rather than terror.” “What have I -ever done?” he asks, and responds bitterly, “Nothing, absolutely -nothing! I have dreamed only of great deeds. Let me never attempt again -what is beyond my being’s power.” - - * * * * * - -Fruitlands was left in the hands of Joseph Palmer, who bought it of -Charles Lane. The latter, fully aware of the shrewd common sense that -lurked beneath an eccentric exterior, urged Joseph Palmer to join him in -founding a larger Community, connecting a farm in Leominster with that -of Fruitlands as a plant on which to work out a scheme that would -promise some measure of success. They drew up the following paper and it -was duly signed and sealed:— - - * * * * * - -Whereas it is desireable to form Associations of well disposed persons -for the supply of their physical and mental requirements, for the -support of a free school for youth, and a home for the aged, destitute -and indigent, and Whereas a capital of one hundred dollars for each -associate is deemed sufficient for beginning such an Association, We, -the undersigned do agree to the purchase of estates in Leominster and -Harvard, Massachusetts, for the purpose of forming such an Association -which we propose to commence on the first of January next, to the amount -of five thousand dollars capital, afterwards to be extended by the -addition of new shares for the purchase of more real estate at the -discretion of the shareholders assembled on the first Monday in January -in each year, so that all persons interested shall hold equal rights by -possessing one share only. The property now in hand for this purpose -consists of Land and Buildings in Leominster and Harvard, together about -190 acres with Stock, Tools, Provisions, etc., needful for carrying out -the said design held in the name of Joseph Palmer. - - JOSEPH PALMER. - CHARLES LANE. - -August 18, 1846. - -But this same shrewd common sense evidently stood in the way of bringing -this plan into actual existence, for Charles Lane writes a letter -complaining that so much time has been wasted in considering it that he -can no longer remain in America, and he sails for England leaving his -son William with the Shakers. It is a noticeable proof of the confidence -the members of the Community placed in Joseph Palmer that not only -Charles Lane wanted him as an associate, but also Samuel Bower, who -urged him to join him in founding a Community in a more temperate -climate where he could carry out his convictions regarding the casting -aside of all outer clothing. But Palmer had seen enough of the -Transcendentalists to make him realize the advantages of running his own -Community, which he did for upwards of twenty years in a strange, -haphazard sort of fashion. He had no name for it, and he never sought -recruits, but he never closed his door to the wayfarer, and two large -iron pots, one full of baked beans, and the other full of potatoes, -stood always ready for the poor and hungry. And so in a humble way, -Joseph and Nancy Palmer carried out some of the ideals started at -Fruitlands by the Transcendentalists. Calvin Warner lived there off and -on for many years, and old Widow Webber sought refuge there, and many -came and went. The Harvard people called it a home for tramps and called -him “Old Jew Palmer”; but any one who takes the trouble to look closely -into his life finds in him a stalwart character full of fibre and -unswerving courage, with a very real and abiding religious faith. - -He was a fighter for his rights, to the end. The right of way belonging -to Fruitlands crossed old Silas Dudley’s land to the highway. A -continuous battle raged concerning that right of way, and so fierce did -it become that when after a heavy snowstorm Joseph Palmer started to -shovel the snow off of it, old Silas Dudley shovelled it back again. -They kept at it there all day, both irate old men holding out with a -grim determination to win. As neither succeeded in gaining advantage, -they sent for Mr. Emerson to come and settle the question, which he did. - -Quaint old times, quaint old people,—we are grateful for just such -pictures of the past! - - * * * * * - -The following letters were found by a grandson of Joseph Palmer among -some old papers at Fruitlands. - - NEW YORK, Sept. 10, 1846. - -_To Joseph Palmer_, - _Still River_, - _Harvard, Mass._ - -DEAR FRIEND:— - -I owe you a severe scolding, and as I always endeavor to pay my debts, -here goes. You detained me so long that my school is broken up, the -weeds are shoulder high at the door, and my utility in this direction is -at an end. Hereafter do not be so dilatory. The good you desire to do -will forever escape undone if you are so very, very, very cautious. Yet -I am not for haste or for a magnificent work. But having really made -your decision and concluded your plan, carry it out faithfully and -confidingly on such a scale as you know you can stand by. - -I read the Prospectus to several, and none objected. If your Leominster -friends have any truth in them, now it will be known. I have written to -D. Mack, and have tried to interest some others, and I really think if -you could keep me in New England the next winter, the foundation of a -rational, soulful, simple Association might be laid. If you had not kept -me so long, this might have been possible, but now it seems to be my -destiny to obey the manifold and unceasing calls of the Spirit through -William Oldham, and return to Alcott House, where your letters will find -me, and I hope you will take time to write me all interesting -particulars. Perhaps I may work better on that side. At all events, I -can assure you I shall continue to take as deep, as active, and as -direct an interest in the Leominster and Harvard Association as if I -were present. Now that matters are arranged a little more suitably to my -nature, I shall work for it with greater freedom and potency. We should -help all men out of their false positions, whatever they are, as fast as -we can. - -Please do not fail to see Edmund Hosmer, and commune freely with friend -Emerson. Give my kind remembrances to your wife and daughter, to Mr. -Holman, to Thomas and his wife, to Calvin, and all the faithful hearts -in your circle. I shall endeavor to write a little history of -Fruitlands, past and future, so pray supply me with all the facts as -they arise. I hope there will be plenty of good names to put in my book. - -I have faith that I shall see you again, but when I cannot guess. Before -that time I trust a faithful band will be congregated. I do not care how -few, if they be but good and true. Have your son and daughter signed the -Prospectus? Mack may come next to make the casting vote, or some other -one on whom you could rely. - -I _know_ that you and I, S. Ford, and your daughter could carry the -design through, if we should have the happiness to be thrown together. -God knows and disposes, and blesses all the earnest, in which company -may you ever be found with - - Your resigned brother, - CHARLES LANE. - -You have given William his letter, I suppose. See him as often and cheer -him as much as you can. - -Plenty of people from Brook Farm in consequence of the changes there -would be glad to come. The industrials are all obliged to leave. They -apply to the N. A. Phalanx, but there is no room for them. Let your plan -be known and the house may be filled. - -I believe I shall sail in the Diadem for Liverpool in a day or two. - - * * * * * - -AT MR. MOORE’S, KNOWLES PLACE, DAVIDSON STREET, EAST MERRIMACK STREET, - LOWELL, NOV. 6, 1849. - -FRIEND PALMER,— - -Having removed to reside in Lowell it may be well to inform you of the -change. Perhaps you sometimes come so far in this direction—if so it -would be cause of regret to me not to see you. Now, of course, I _shall_ -see you if you visit L. whilst I locate in it. - -Since conversing with you I have meditated much on the great step in -progress which I am incessantly reminded it is my interest and duty to -make. But how make it? When? Where? and with whom? or, whether alone? On -this subject so important to me, to you and to society, I have many new -facts and estimates of facts all tending to induce, I trust, early and -beneficial action. How far you might be disposed to coincide with me I -know not, nor how far your long experience might modify my intentions if -communicated. I should certainly like to confer with you at length and -without reservation. For such a purpose writing is quite inadequate, so -I shall not attempt any statement of my views, etc., herein. One thing, -however, I may say, which is that I am fully and I believe finally fixed -in the conviction that no Association of persons can be brought to -inhabit Fruitlands or your place at Leominster founding itself on those -bases and conditions which six years ago were so frequently discussed by -us. Be sure C. Lane can send you nobody from England, and I am unaware -that there is in this country any one Realist enough to _proceed with -the natural economies far enough to satisfy your just expectations_. - -I shall most assuredly, if the Infinite Spirit wills, make my home in -the open heavens and resume the right so long in abeyance of being -naturally and therefore well and sufficiently clothed. The true question -is a proper Individualism and nothing that is good and desirable in -Socialism can come but after this. This is universally and ethically -incontrovertible and physically the solution waits our action. You have -long stood on the threshold and best know whether you are prepared now -to pass over it and give up your localized and civilized life. I think I -am quite clear that it will be necessary to stand within circumstances -having less pressure. Suitable natural conditions are indispensable and -are to be provided at whatever cost of relinquishment of current -enjoyments. - - Yours faithfully, - SAML. BOWER. - - * * * * * - - London, Sept. 29, 1849. - -_To Joseph Palmer_, - _Still River_, - _Harvard, Mass._ - -DEAR FRIEND PALMER:— - -If there was a possibility of sending me here only six or seven acres of -our old Fruitlands, you should hear no more of me as a claimant. - -As this cannot be, and I am once more adrift in consequence of the lease -of our house and grounds having been sold, I hope you will have -prosperity enough in the culture to release yourself gradually from my -encumbrance whereby I may be enabled just to pay the rent on an acre or -two to cultivate with my own hands. - -Do not let me ask in vain for a good long letter narrating all your -local news since I left your hill regions. Mr. Emerson will inform you -of William’s movements and convey any letters or messages to me. I -suppose Dr. Thomas has made a pretty handsome fortune by this time in -setting people’s mouths in tune and that he will retire to Fruitlands to -make sure of it. - - Yours faithfully, - CHARLES LANE. - - * * * * * - - LONDON, Sept. 16, 1851. - -_To Dr. Thomas Palmer_, - _Fitchburg, Mass._ - -DEAR FRIEND:— - -As I am not so certain of reaching your father through the post-office -as you, I enclose this note to say that I should feel obliged if you -would have the goodness to discharge my claim. Some two or three years -have passed since I thought I should no more trouble Mr. Emerson on the -subject, which is one among the reasons for urging a settlement. Your -business I am sure has been too successful to make it needful to go out -of the family for the cash, or at all events for much of it. The farm -has been prosperous, and though your father does not aim at commercial -profits, yet his industry and integrity bring them to him. I feel it is -but as yesterday I and your father went from Harvard to Fitchburg with -the cattle. Oh, how hot! I am differently employed now, but I still -desire the field and the garden. If I had such a spot here as Fruitlands -I should not quit it, but enjoy a life fruitful in all good. Pray, in -this matter of the mortgage attend to the request and give my best -regards to your father, from whom I should much like to have a letter. - - Yours truly, - CHARLES LANE. - - - - - XI - - TRANSCENDENTAL WILD OATS - - - BY - - LOUISA MAY ALCOTT - - - ORIGINAL CHARACTERS OF TRANSCENDENTAL WILD OATS - - TIMON LION _Charles Lane._ - HIS SON _William Lane._ - ABEL LAMB _A. Bronson Alcott._ - SISTER HOPE _Mrs. Alcott._ - HER DAUGHTERS _The Alcott girls._ - JOHN PEASE _Samuel Bower._ - FOREST ABSALOM _Abram Everett._ - MOSES WHITE _Joseph Palmer._ - JANE GAGE _Anna Page._ - - - A CHAPTER FROM AN UNWRITTEN ROMANCE - -On the first day of June, 184-, a large wagon, drawn by a small horse -and containing a motley load, went lumbering over certain New England -hills, with the pleasing accompaniments of wind, rain, and hail. A -serene man with a serene child upon his knee was driving, or rather -being driven, for the small horse had it all his own way. A brown boy -with a William Penn style of countenance sat beside him, firmly -embracing a bust of Socrates. Behind them was an energetic-looking -woman, with a benevolent brow, satirical mouth, and eyes brimful of hope -and courage. A baby reposed upon her lap, a mirror leaned against her -knee, and a basket of provisions danced about at her feet, as she -struggled with a large, unruly umbrella. Two blue-eyed little girls, -with hands full of childish treasures, sat under one old shawl, chatting -happily together. - -In front of this lively party stalked a tall, sharp-featured man, in a -long blue cloak; and a fourth small girl trudged along beside him -through the mud as if she rather enjoyed it. - -The wind whistled over the bleak hills; the rain fell in a despondent -drizzle, and twilight began to fall. But the calm man gazed as -tranquilly into the fog as if he beheld a radiant bow of promise -spanning the gray sky. The cheery woman tried to cover every one but -herself with the big umbrella. The brown boy pillowed his head on the -bald pate of Socrates and slumbered peacefully. The little girls sang -lullabies to their dolls in soft, maternal murmurs. The sharp-nosed -pedestrian marched steadily on, with the blue cloak streaming out behind -him like a banner; and the lively infant splashed through the puddles -with a ducklike satisfaction pleasant to behold. - -Thus these modern pilgrims journeyed hopefully out of the old world, to -found a new one in the wilderness. - -The editors of _The Transcendental Tripod_ had received from Messrs. -Lion & Lamb (two of the aforesaid pilgrims) a communication from which -the following statement is an extract:— - -“We have made arrangements with the proprietor of an estate of about a -hundred acres which liberates this tract from human ownership. Here we -shall prosecute our effort to initiate a Family in harmony with the -primitive instincts of man. - -“Ordinary secular farming is not our object. Fruit, grain, pulse, herbs, -flax, and other vegetable products, receiving assiduous attention, will -afford ample manual occupation, and chaste supplies for the bodily -needs. It is intended to adorn the pastures with orchards, and to -supersede the labor of cattle by the spade and the pruning-knife. - -“Consecrated to human freedom, the land awaits the sober culture of -devoted men. Beginning with small pecuniary means, this enterprise must -be rooted in a reliance on the succors of an ever-bounteous Providence, -whose vital affinities being secured by this union with uncorrupted -field and unworldly persons, the cares and injuries of a life of gain -are avoided. - -“The inner nature of each member of the Family is at no time neglected. -Our plan contemplates all such disciplines, cultures, and habits as -evidently conduce to the purifying of the inmates. - -“Pledged to the spirit alone, the founders anticipate no hasty or -numerous addition to their numbers. The kingdom of peace is entered only -through the gates of self-denial; and felicity is the test and the -reward of loyalty to the unswerving law of Love.” - -This prospective Eden at present consisted of an old red farmhouse, a -dilapidated barn, many acres of meadow-land, and a grove. Ten ancient -apple-trees were all the “chaste supply” which the place offered as yet; -but, in the firm belief that plenteous orchards were soon to be evoked -from their inner consciousness, these sanguine founders had christened -their domain Fruitlands. - -Here Timon Lion intended to found a colony of Latter Day Saints, who, -under his patriarchal sway, should regenerate the world and glorify his -name for ever. Here Abel Lamb, with the devoutest faith in the high -ideal which was to him a living truth, desired to plant a Paradise, -where Beauty, Virtue, Justice, and Love might live happily together, -without the possibility of a serpent entering in. And here his wife, -unconverted but faithful to the end, hoped, after many wanderings over -the face of the earth, to find rest for herself and a home for her -children. - -“There is our new abode,” announced the enthusiast, smiling with a -satisfaction quite undamped by the drops dripping from his hat-brim, as -they turned at length into a cart-path that wound along a steep hillside -into a barren-looking valley. - -“A little difficult of access,” observed his practical wife, as she -endeavored to keep her various household gods from going overboard with -every lurch of the laden ark. - -“Like all good things. But those who earnestly desire and patiently seek -will soon find us,” placidly responded the philosopher from the mud, -through which he was now endeavoring to pilot the much-enduring horse. - -“Truth lies at the bottom of a well, Sister Hope,” said Brother Timon, -pausing to detach his small comrade from a gate, whereon she was perched -for a clearer gaze into futurity. - -“That’s the reason we so seldom get at it, I suppose,” replied Mrs. -Hope, making a vain clutch at the mirror, which a sudden jolt sent -flying out of her hands. - -“We want no false reflections here,” said Timon, with a grim smile, as -he crunched the fragments under foot in his onward march. - -Sister Hope held her peace, and looked wistfully through the mist at her -promised home. The old red house with a hospitable glimmer at its -windows cheered her eyes; and, considering the weather, was a fitter -refuge than the sylvan bowers some of the more ardent souls might have -preferred. - -The new-comers were welcomed by one of the elect precious,—a regenerate -farmer, whose idea of reform consisted chiefly in wearing white cotton -raiment and shoes of untanned leather. This costume, with a snowy beard, -gave him a venerable, and at the same time a somewhat bridal appearance. - -The goods and chattels of the Society not having arrived, the weary -family reposed before the fire on blocks of wood, while Brother Moses -White regaled them with roasted potatoes, brown bread and water, in two -plates, a tin pan, and one mug; his table service being limited. But, -having cast the forms and vanities of a depraved world behind them, the -elders welcomed hardship with the enthusiasm of new pioneers, and the -children heartily enjoyed this foretaste of what they believed was to be -a sort of perpetual picnic. - -During the progress of this frugal meal, two more brothers appeared. One -a dark, melancholy man, clad in homespun, whose peculiar mission was to -turn his name hind part before and use as few words as possible. The -other was a bland, bearded Englishman, who expected to be saved by -eating uncooked food and going without clothes. He had not yet adopted -the primitive costume, however; but contented himself with meditatively -chewing dry beans out of a basket. - -“Every meal should be a sacrament, and the vessels used should be -beautiful and symbolical,” observed Brother Lamb, mildly, righting the -tin pan slipping about on his knees. “I priced a silver service when in -town, but it was too costly; so I got some graceful cups and vases of -Britannia ware.” - -“Hardest things in the world to keep bright. Will whiting be allowed in -the community?” inquired Sister Hope, with a housewife’s interest in -labor-saving institutions. - -“Such trivial questions will be discussed at a more fitting time,” -answered Brother Timon, sharply, as he burnt his fingers with a very hot -potato. “Neither sugar, molasses, milk, butter, cheese, nor flesh are to -be used among us, for nothing is to be admitted which has caused wrong -or death to man or beast.” - -“Our garments are to be linen till we learn to raise our own cotton or -some substitute for woollen fabrics,” added Brother Abel, blissfully -basking in an imaginary future as warm and brilliant as the generous -fire before him. - -“Haou abaout shoes?” asked Brother Moses, surveying his own with -interest. - -“We must yield that point till we can manufacture an innocent substitute -for leather. Bark, wood, or some durable fabric will be invented in -time. Meanwhile, those who desire to carry out our idea to the fullest -extent can go barefooted,” said Lion, who liked extreme measures. - -“I never will, nor let my girls,” murmured rebellious Sister Hope, under -her breath. - -“Haou do you cattle’ate to treat the ten-acre lot? Ef things ain’t -‘tended to right smart, we shan’t hev no crops,” observed the practical -patriarch in cotton. - -“We shall spade it,” replied Abel, in such perfect good faith that Moses -said no more, though he indulged in a shake of the head as he glanced at -hands that had held nothing heavier than a pen for years. He was a -paternal old soul and regarded the younger men as promising boys on a -new sort of lark. - -“What shall we do for lamps, if we cannot use any animal substance? I do -hope light of some sort is to be thrown upon the enterprise,” said Mrs. -Lamb, with anxiety, for in those days kerosene and camphene were not, -and gas unknown in the wilderness. - -“We shall go without till we have discovered some vegetable oil or wax -to serve us,” replied Brother Timon, in a decided tone, which caused -Sister Hope to resolve that her private lamp should be always trimmed, -if not burning. - -“Each member is to perform the work for which experience, strength, and -taste best fit him,” continued Dictator Lion. “Thus drudgery and -disorder will be avoided and harmony prevail. We shall rise at dawn, -begin the day by bathing, followed by music, and then a chaste repast of -fruit and bread. Each one finds congenial occupation till the meridian -meal; when some deep-searching conversation gives rest to the body and -development to the mind. Healthful labor again engages us till the last -meal, when we assemble in social communion, prolonged till sunset, when -we retire to sweet repose, ready for the next day’s activity.” - -“What part of the work do you incline to yourself?” asked Sister Hope, -with a humorous glimmer in her keen eyes. - -“I shall wait till it is made clear to me. Being in preference to doing -is the great aim, and this comes to us rather by a resigned willingness -than a wilful activity, which is a check to all divine growth,” -responded Brother Timon. - -“I thought so.” And Mrs. Lamb sighed audibly, for during the year he had -spent in her family Brother Timon had so faithfully carried out his idea -of “being, not doing,” that she had found his “divine growth” both an -expensive and unsatisfactory process. - -Here her husband struck into the conversation, his face shining with the -light and joy of the splendid dreams and high ideals hovering before -him. - -“In these steps of reform, we do not rely so much on scientific -reasoning or physiological skill as on the spirit’s dictates. The -greater part of man’s duty consists in leaving alone much that he now -does. Shall I stimulate with tea, coffee, or wine? No. Shall I consume -flesh? Not if I value health. Shall I subjugate cattle? Shall I claim -property in any created thing? Shall I trade? Shall I adopt a form of -religion? Shall I interest myself in politics? To how many of these -questions—could we ask them deeply enough and could they be heard as -having relation to our eternal welfare—would the response be ‘Abstain’?” - -A mild snore seemed to echo the last word of Abel’s rhapsody, for -Brother Moses had succumbed to mundane slumber and sat nodding like a -massive ghost. Forest Absalom, the silent man, and John Pease, the -English member, now departed to the barn; and Mrs. Lamb led her flock to -a temporary fold, leaving the founders of the “Consociate Family” to -build castles in the air till the fire went out and the symposium ended -in smoke. - -The furniture arrived next day, and was soon bestowed; for the principal -property of the community consisted in books. To this rare library was -devoted the best room in the house, and the few busts and pictures that -still survived many flittings were added to beautify the sanctuary, for -here the family was to meet for amusement, instruction, and worship. - -Any housewife can imagine the emotions of Sister Hope, when she took -possession of a large, dilapidated kitchen, containing an old stove and -the peculiar stores out of which food was to be evolved for her little -family of eleven. Cakes of maple sugar, dried peas and beans, barley and -hominy, meal of all sorts, potatoes, and dried fruit. No milk, butter, -cheese, tea, or meat appeared. Even salt was considered a useless luxury -and spice entirely forbidden by these lovers of Spartan simplicity. A -ten years’ experience of vegetarian vagaries had been good training for -this new freak, and her sense of the ludicrous supported her through -many trying scenes. - -Unleavened bread, porridge, and water for breakfast; bread, vegetables, -and water for dinner; bread, fruit, and water for supper was the bill of -fare ordained by the elders. No teapot profaned that sacred stove, no -gory steak cried aloud for vengeance from her chaste gridiron; and only -a brave woman’s taste, time, and temper were sacrificed on that domestic -altar. - -The vexed question of light was settled by buying a quantity of bayberry -wax for candles; and, on discovering that no one knew how to make them, -pine knots were introduced, to be used when absolutely necessary. Being -summer, the evenings were not long, and the weary fraternity found it no -great hardship to retire with the birds. The inner light was sufficient -for most of them. But Mrs. Lamb rebelled. Evening was the only time she -had to herself, and while the tired feet rested the skilful hands mended -torn frocks and little stockings, or anxious heart forgot its burden in -a book. - -So “mother’s lamp” burned steadily, while the philosophers built a new -heaven and earth by moonlight; and through all the metaphysical mists -and philanthropic pyrotechnics of that period Sister Hope played her own -little game of “throwing light,” and none but the moths were the worse -for it. - -Such farming probably was never seen before since Adam delved. The band -of brothers began by spading garden and field; but a few days of it -lessened their ardor amazingly. Blistered hands and aching backs -suggested the expediency of permitting the use of cattle till the -workers were better fitted for noble toil by a summer of the new life. - -Brother Moses brought a yoke of oxen from his farm,—at least, the -philosophers thought so till it was discovered that one of the animals -was a cow; and Moses confessed that he “must be let down easy, for he -couldn’t live on garden sarse entirely.” - -Great was Dictator Lion’s indignation at this lapse from virtue. But -time pressed, the work must be done; so the meek cow was permitted to -wear the yoke and the recreant brother continued to enjoy forbidden -draughts in the barn, which dark proceeding caused the children to -regard him as one set apart for destruction. - -The sowing was equally peculiar, for, owing to some mistake, the three -brethren, who devoted themselves to this graceful task, found when about -half through the job that each had been sowing a different sort of grain -in the same field; a mistake which caused much perplexity, as it could -not be remedied; but, after a long consultation and a good deal of -laughter, it was decided to say nothing and see what would come of it. - -The garden was planted with a generous supply of useful roots and herbs; -but, as manure was not allowed to profane the virgin soil, few of these -vegetable treasures ever came up. Purslane reigned supreme, and the -disappointed planters ate it philosophically, deciding that Nature knew -what was best for them, and would generously supply their needs, if they -could only learn to digest her “sallets” and wild roots. - -The orchard was laid out, a little grafting done, new trees and vines -set, regardless of the unfit season and entire ignorance of the -husbandmen, who honestly believed that in the autumn they would reap a -bounteous harvest. - -Slowly things got into order, and rapidly rumors of the new experiment -went abroad, causing many strange spirits to flock thither, for in those -days communities were the fashion and transcendentalism raged wildly. -Some came to look on and laugh, some to be supported in poetic idleness, -a few to believe sincerely and work heartily. Each member was allowed to -mount his favorite hobby and ride it to his heart’s content. Very queer -were some of the riders, and very rampant some of the hobbies. - -One youth, believing that language was of little consequence if the -spirit was only right, startled new-comers by blandly greeting them with -“Good-morning, damn you,” and other remarks of an equally mixed order. A -second irrepressible being held that all the emotions of the soul should -be freely expressed, and illustrated his theory by antics that would -have sent him to a lunatic asylum, if, as an unregenerate wag said, he -had not already been in one. When his spirit soared, he climbed trees -and shouted; when doubt assailed him, he lay upon the floor and groaned -lamentably. At joyful periods, he raced, leaped, and sang; when sad, he -wept aloud; and when a great thought burst upon him in the watches of -the night, he crowed like a jocund cockerel, to the great delight of the -children and the great annoyance of the elders. One musical brother -fiddled whenever so moved, sang sentimentally to the four little girls, -and put a music-box on the wall when he hoed corn. - -Brother Pease ground away at his uncooked food, or browsed over the farm -on sorrel, mint, green fruit, and new vegetables. Occasionally he took -his walks abroad, airily attired in an unbleached cotton _poncho_, which -was the nearest approach to the primeval costume he was allowed to -indulge in. At midsummer he retired to the wilderness, to try his plan -where the woodchucks were without prejudices and huckleberry-bushes were -hospitably full. A sunstroke unfortunately spoilt his plan, and he -returned to semi-civilization a sadder and wiser man. - -Forest Absalom preserved his Pythagorean silence, cultivated his fine -dark locks, and worked like a beaver, setting an excellent example of -brotherly love, justice, and fidelity by his upright life. He it was who -helped overworked Sister Hope with her heavy washes, kneaded the endless -succession of batches of bread, watched over the children, and did the -many tasks left undone by the brethren, who were so busy discussing and -defining great duties that they forgot to perform the small ones. - -Moses White placidly plodded about, “chorin’ raound,” as he called it, -looking like an old-time patriarch, with his silver hair and flowing -beard, and saving the community from many a mishap by his thrift and -Yankee shrewdness. - -Brother Lion domineered over the whole concern; for, having put the most -money into the speculation, he was resolved to make it pay,—as if -anything founded on an ideal basis could be expected to do so by any but -enthusiasts. - -Abel Lamb simply revelled in the Newness, firmly believing that his -dream was to be beautifully realized and in time not only little -Fruitlands, but the whole earth, be turned into a Happy Valley. He -worked with every muscle of his body, for _he_ was in deadly earnest. He -taught with his whole head and heart; planned and sacrificed, preached -and prophesied, with a soul full of the purest aspirations, most -unselfish purposes, and desires for a life devoted to God and man, too -high and tender to bear the rough usage of this world. - -It was a little remarkable that only one woman ever joined this -community. Mrs. Lamb merely followed wheresoever her husband led,—“as -ballast for his balloon,” as she said, in her bright way. - -Miss Jane Gage was a stout lady of mature years, sentimental, amiable, -and lazy. She wrote verses copiously, and had vague yearnings and -graspings after the unknown, which led her to believe herself fitted for -a higher sphere than any she had yet adorned. - -Having been a teacher, she was set to instructing the children in the -common branches. Each adult member took a turn at the infants; and, as -each taught in his own way, the result was a chronic state of chaos in -the minds of these much-afflicted innocents. - -Sleep, food, and poetic musings were the desires of dear Jane’s life, -and she shirked all duties as clogs upon her spirit’s wings. Any thought -of lending a hand with the domestic drudgery never occurred to her; and -when to the question, “Are there any beasts of burden on the place?” -Mrs. Lamb answered, with a face that told its own tale, “Only one -woman!” the buxom Jane took no shame to herself, but laughed at the -joke, and let the stout-hearted sister tug on alone. - -Unfortunately, the poor lady hankered after the flesh-pots, and -endeavored to stay herself with private sips of milk, crackers, and -cheese, and on one dire occasion she partook of fish at a neighbor’s -table. - -One of the children reported this sad lapse from virtue, and poor Jane -was publicly reprimanded by Timon. - -“I only took a little bit of the tail,” sobbed the penitent poetess. - -“Yes, but the whole fish had to be tortured and slain that you might -tempt your carnal appetite with that one taste of the tail. Know ye not, -consumers of flesh meat, that ye are nourishing the wolf and tiger in -your bosoms?” - -At this awful question and the peal of laughter which arose from some of -the younger brethren, tickled by the ludicrous contrast between the -stout sinner, the stern judge, and the naughty satisfaction of the young -detective, poor Jane fled from the room to pack her trunk and return to -a world where fishes’ tails were not forbidden fruit. - -Transcendental wild oats were sown broadcast that year, and the fame -thereof has not yet ceased in the land; for, futile as this crop seemed -to outsiders, it bore an invisible harvest, worth much to those who -planted in earnest. As none of the members of this particular community -have ever recounted their experiences before, a few of them may not be -amiss, since the interest in these attempts has never died out and -Fruitlands was the most ideal of all these castles in Spain. - -A new dress was invented, since cotton, silk, and wool were forbidden as -the product of slave-labor, worm-slaughter, and sheep-robbery. Tunics -and trowsers of brown linen were the only wear. The women’s skirts were -longer, and their straw hat-brims wider than the men’s, and this was the -only difference. Some persecution lent a charm to the costume, and the -long-haired, linen-clad reformers quite enjoyed the mild martyrdom they -endured when they left home. - -Money was abjured, as the root of all evil. The produce of the land was -to supply most of their wants, or be exchanged for the few things they -could not grow. This idea had its inconveniences; but self-denial was -the fashion, and it was surprising how many things one can do without. -When they desired to travel, they walked, if possible, begged the loan -of a vehicle, or boldly entered car or coach, and, stating their -principles to the officials, took the consequences. Usually their dress, -their earnest frankness, and gentle resolution won them a passage; but -now and then they met with hard usage, and had the satisfaction of -suffering for their principles. - -On one of these penniless pilgrimages they took passage on a boat, and, -when fare was demanded, artlessly offered to talk, instead of pay. As -the boat was well under way and they actually had not a cent, there was -no help for it. So Brothers Lion and Lamb held forth to the assembled -passengers in their most eloquent style. There must have been something -effective in this conversation, for the listeners were moved to take up -a contribution for these inspired lunatics, who preached peace on earth -and good-will to man so earnestly, with empty pockets. A goodly sum was -collected; but when the captain presented it the reformers proved that -they were consistent even in their madness, for not a penny would they -accept, saying, with a look at the group about them, whose indifference -or contempt had changed to interest and respect, “You see how well we -get on without money”; and so went serenely on their way, with their -linen blouses flapping airily in the cold October wind. - -They preached vegetarianism everywhere and resisted all temptations of -the flesh, contentedly eating apples and bread at well-spread tables, -and much afflicting hospitable hostesses by denouncing their food and -taking away their appetites, discussing the “horrors of shambles,” the -“incorporation of the brute in man,” and “on elegant abstinence the sign -of a pure soul.” But, when the perplexed or offended ladies asked what -they should eat, they got in reply a bill of fare consisting of “bowls -of sunrise for breakfast,” “solar seeds of the sphere,” “dishes from -Plutarch’s chaste table,” and other viands equally hard to find in any -modern market. - -Reform conventions of all sorts were haunted by these brethren, who said -many wise things and did many foolish ones. Unfortunately, these -wanderings interfered with their harvest at home; but the rule was to do -what the spirit moved, so they left their crops to Providence and went -a-reaping in wider and, let us hope, more fruitful fields than their -own. - -Luckily, the earthly providence who watched over Abel Lamb was at hand -to glean the scanty crop yielded by the “uncorrupted land,” which, -“consecrated to human freedom,” had received “the sober culture of -devout men.” - -About the time the grain was ready to house, some call of the Oversoul -wafted all the men away. An easterly storm was coming up and the yellow -stacks were sure to be ruined. Then Sister Hope gathered her forces. -Three little girls, one boy (Timon’s son), and herself, harnessed to -clothes-baskets and Russia-linen sheets, were the only teams she could -command; but with these poor appliances the indomitable woman got in the -grain and saved food for her young, with the instinct and energy of a -mother-bird with a brood of hungry nestlings to feed. - -This attempt at regeneration had its tragic as well as comic side, -though the world only saw the former. - -With the first frosts, the butterflies, who had sunned themselves in the -new light through the summer, took flight, leaving the few bees to see -what honey they had stored for winter use. Precious little appeared -beyond the satisfaction of a few months of holy living. - -At first it seemed as if a chance to try holy dying also was to be -offered them. Timon, much disgusted with the failure of the scheme, -decided to retire to the Shakers, who seemed to be the only successful -community going. - -“What is to become of us?” asked Mrs. Hope, for Abel was heart-broken at -the bursting of his lovely bubble. - -“You can stay here, if you like, till a tenant is found. No more wood -must be cut, however, and no more corn ground. All I have must be sold -to pay the debts of the concern, as the responsibility rests with me,” -was the cheering reply. - -“Who is to pay us for what we have lost? I gave all I had,—furniture, -time, strength, six months of my children’s lives,—and all are wasted. -Abel gave himself body and soul, and is almost wrecked by hard work and -disappointment. Are we to have no return for this, but leave to starve -and freeze in an old house, with winter at hand, no money, and hardly a -friend left; for this wild scheme has alienated nearly all we had. You -talk much about justice. Let us have a little, since there is nothing -else left.” - -But the woman’s appeal met with no reply but the old one: “It was an -experiment. We all risked something, and must bear our losses as we -can.” - -With this cold comfort, Timon departed with his son, and was absorbed -into the Shaker brotherhood, where he soon found that the order of -things was reversed, and it was all work and no play. - -Then the tragedy began for the forsaken little family. Desolation and -despair fell upon Abel. As his wife said, his new beliefs had alienated -many friends. Some thought him mad, some unprincipled. Even the most -kindly thought him a visionary, whom it was useless to help till he took -more practical views of life. All stood aloof, saying: “Let him work out -his own ideas, and see what they are worth.” - -He had tried, but it was a failure. The world was not ready for Utopia -yet, and those who attempted to found it only got laughed at for their -pains. In other days, men could sell all and give to the poor, lead -lives devoted to holiness and high thought, and, after the persecution -was over, find themselves honored as saints or martyrs. But in modern -times these things are out of fashion. To live for one’s principles, at -all costs, is a dangerous speculation; and the failure of an ideal, no -matter how humane and noble, is harder for the world to forgive and -forget than bank robbery or the grand swindles of corrupt politicians. - -Deep waters now for Abel, and for a time there seemed no passage -through. Strength and spirits were exhausted by hard work and too much -thought. Courage failed when, looking about for help, he saw no -sympathizing face, no hand outstretched to help him, no voice to say -cheerily, - -“We all make mistakes, and it takes many experiences to shape a life. -Try again, and let us help you.” - -Every door was closed, every eye averted, every heart cold, and no way -open whereby he might earn bread for his children. His principles would -not permit him to do many things that others did; and in the few fields -where conscience would allow him to work, who would employ a man who had -flown in the face of society, as he had done? - -Then this dreamer, whose dream was the life of his life, resolved to -carry out his idea to the bitter end. There seemed no place for him -here,—no work, no friend. To go begging conditions was as ignoble as to -go begging money. Better perish of want than sell one’s soul for the -sustenance of his body. Silently he lay down upon his bed, turned his -face to the wall, and waited with pathetic patience for death to cut the -knot which he could not untie. Days and nights went by, and neither food -nor water passed his lips. Soul and body were dumbly struggling -together, and no word of complaint betrayed what either suffered. - -His wife, when tears and prayers were unavailing, sat down to wait the -end with a mysterious awe and submission; for in this entire resignation -of all things there was an eloquent significance to her who knew him as -no other human being did. - -“Leave all to God,” was his belief; and in this crisis the loving soul -clung to this faith, sure that the Allwise Father would not desert this -child who tried to live so near to Him. Gathering her children about -her, she waited the issue of the tragedy that was being enacted in that -solitary room, while the first snow fell outside, untrodden by the -footprints of a single friend. - -But the strong angels who sustain and teach perplexed and troubled souls -came and went, leaving no trace without, but working miracles within. -For, when all other sentiments had faded into dimness, all other hopes -died utterly; when the bitterness of death was nearly over, when body -was past any pang of hunger or thirst, and soul stood ready to depart, -the love that outlives all else refused to die. Head had bowed to -defeat, hand had grown weary with too heavy tasks, but heart could not -grow cold to those who lived in its tender depths, even when death -touched it. - -“My faithful wife, my little girls,—they have not forsaken me, they are -mine by ties that none can break. What right have I to leave them alone? -What right to escape from the burden and the sorrow I have helped to -bring? This duty remains to me, and I must do it manfully. For their -sakes, the world will forgive me in time; for their sakes, God will -sustain me now.” - -Too feeble to rise, Abel groped for the food that always lay within his -reach, and in the darkness and solitude of that memorable night ate and -drank what was to him the bread and wine of a new communion, a new -dedication of heart and life to the duties that were left him when the -dreams fled. - -In the early dawn, when that sad wife crept fearfully to see what change -had come to the patient face on the pillow, she found it smiling at her, -saw a wasted hand outstretched to her, and heard a feeble voice cry -bravely, “Hope!” - -What passed in that little room is not to be recorded except in the -hearts of those who suffered and endured much for love’s sake. Enough -for us to know that soon the wan shadow of a man came forth, leaning on -the arm that never failed him, to be welcomed and cherished by the -children, who never forgot the experiences of that time. - -“Hope” was the watchword now; and, while the last logs blazed on the -hearth, the last bread and apples covered the table, the new commander, -with recovered courage, said to her husband,— - -“Leave all to God—and me. He has done his part, now I will do mine.” - -“But we have no money, dear.” - -“Yes, we have. I sold all we could spare, and have enough to take us -away from this snowbank.” - -“Where can we go?” - -“I have engaged four rooms at our good neighbor, Lovejoy’s. There we can -live cheaply till spring. Then for new plans and a home of our own, -please God.” - -[Illustration: - - ORCHARD HOUSE AT CONCORD, MASSACHUSETTS - - The Alcott home of later years -] - -“But, Hope, your little store won’t last long, and we have no friends.” - -“I can sew and you can chop wood. Lovejoy offers you the same pay as he -gives his other men; my old friend, Mrs. Truman, will send me all the -work I want; and my blessed brother stands by us to the end. Cheer up, -dear heart, for while there is work and love in the world we shall not -suffer.” - -“And while I have my good angel Hope, I shall not despair, even if I -wait another thirty years before I step beyond the circle of the sacred -little world in which I still have a place to fill.” - -So one bleak December day, with their few possessions piled on an -ox-sled, the rosy children perched atop, and the parents trudging arm in -arm behind, the exiles left their Eden and faced the world again. - -“Ah, me! my happy dream. How much I leave behind that never can be mine -again,” said Abel, looking back at the lost Paradise, lying white and -chill in its shroud of snow. - -“Yes, dear; but how much we bring away,” answered brave-hearted Hope, -glancing from husband to children. - -“Poor Fruitlands! The name was as great a failure as the rest!” -continued Abel, with a sigh, as a frostbitten apple fell from a leafless -bough at his feet. - -But the sigh changed to a smile as his wife added, in a half-tender, -half-satirical tone,— - -“Don’t you think Apple Slump would be a better name for it, dear?” - - * * * * * - -[After so many years Louisa Alcott very naturally forgot a few -unimportant details when she wrote “Transcendental Wild Oats,” yet they -are important enough to set straight. Papers lately found show the exit -from Fruitlands to have taken place in January. She also speaks of -stoves in the old house. This is a mistake. The old chimney was taken -down by Joseph Palmer’s grandson, Mr. Alvin Holman, many years after the -Fruitlands Community was broken up.] - - - THE END - - - - - APPENDIX - - - - - CATALOGUE OF THE ORIGINAL FRUITLANDS LIBRARY - - - Hexapla; the Greek text of the New Testament with six English Versions - in parallel columns. 4to. London. 1840. - - Confucii Sinarum Philosophus. Folio. 1787. - - The Laws of Menu. Translated by Sir William Jones. - - The Desatir; Sacred Writings of the Ancient Persian Prophets. Persian - and English. Bombay. 1818. - - The Divine Pymander of Hermes Trismegistus. London. 1650. - - Juliana’s Revelation of Divine Love. 1670. - - St. Bridget’s Revelations. Nuremberg. 1500. - - Behmen’s Works. Theosophia Revelata, das ist alle Gottliche Schriften - des Jacob Behmens. With Life, etc., edited by J. G. Gechtels. 1 - vol., folio. 4,500 pages. 1715. - - —— The Rev. William Law’s edition, containing the Aurora or Morning - Red; the Three Principles; Man’s Threefold Life; Answer to the Forty - Questions concerning the Soul; Signatura Rerum; The Four - Complexions; The Mysterium Magnum, etc. 4 vols. 4to. London. 1764. - - —— Signatura Rerum; Supersensual Life, etc. 4to. London. 1781. - - —— Way to Christ. London. 1775. - - —— Teutonic Philosophy. London. 1770. - - —— Life, by Francis Okely. Northampton. 1780. - - —— Theosophick Philosophy Unfolded, by Edward Taylor. London. 1691. - - Behmen’s Works. Epistles and Apologies, by John Sparrow. London. 1662. - - Graber and Gichtel. Kurze Eroffnnug und Unweisung der dreyen Pincipien - und Welten in Menschen. Berlin. 1779. - - H. Jansen. A Spiritual Journey. 4to. London. 1659. - - Lamy. La Vie de St. Bernard. 4to. Paris. 1648. - - Henrico Khurrath. Amphitheatrum Sapientiæ Æternæ. Folio. Magdeburg. - 1602. - - Molinos’ Spiritual Guide. Dublin. 1798. - - S. Pordage. Mundorum Explicatio. London. 1663. - - J. Pordage. Theologia Mystica. London. 1683. - - DeSales’ Introduction to a Devout Life. London. 1686. - - Matthew Weyer’s Narrow Path of Divine Truth. London. 1683. - - Important Truths relating to Spiritual and Practical Christianity. - London. 1769. - - Unpremeditated Thoughts of God. - - H. Hugonis Pia Desideria. London. 1677. - - Theologiæ Pacificæ itemque Mysticæ. Amstelodami. 1622. - - Immanuel. By S. S. London. 1669. - - A. Bourignon. Light in Darkness. London. 1703. - - —— Solid Virtue. London. 1699. - - —— Life and Sentiments. London. 1699. - - —— Light of the World. London. 1696. - - Madame Guyon. Poésies et Cantiques Spirituels. Cologne. 1722. - - Madame Guyon. Life by Brooke. Bristol. 1806. - - —— Lettres Chrétiennes, etc. 5 vols. London. 1767. - - —— Les Opuscules Spirituels. 2 vols. Paris. 1790. - - —— Life. 3 vols. Paris. 1791. - - —— Polemics. London. 1841. - - —— Selections in German. Manheim. 1787. - - Fénelon’s Dissertation on Pure Love. London. 1750. - - —— Account of Madame Guyon. London. 1759. - - —— Justifications de Madame Guyon. Paris. 1790. - - —— Maxims of the Saints. London. 1698. - - —— Dialogues of the Dead. 2 vols. Berwick. 1770. - - —— Lives and Maxims of Ancient Philosophers. London. 1726. - - Thomas à Kempis. Imitation of Christ. By Dr. Stanhope. London. 1759. - - William Law. Way to Divine Knowledge - - —— Spirit of Prayer. - - —— Spirit of Love. - - —— Christian Perfection. - - —— Serious Call. - - —— Letters. - - —— Appeal. - - —— Answer to Dr. Trapp. - - —— Case of Reason. - - —— Remarks on the Fable of the Bees. 1 vol. - - —— Tracts. - - —— Christian’s Manual (extracts). - - —— Reply to the Bishop of Bangor on the Sacrament. 1719. - - —— Spiritual Fragments (extracts). - - —— Jordani Brunonis Opera. Paris. 1654. Swedenborg. Arcana Cœlestia. - - —— Heavenly Doctrine. Cambridge. 1820. - - —— Heaven and Hell. London. 1823. - - Coleridge. Biographia Literaria. 2 vols. N. York. 1817. - - —— Aids to Reflection. Burlington. 1829. - - —— Friend. Burlington. 1831. - - Graeve’s Manuscripts. 12 vols. 4to. 1828 to 1842. - - —— Maxims. London. 1826. - - Novalis Schriften. Berlin. 1836. - - Lane’s Third Dispensation. London. 1841. - - Alcott’s Conversations with Children on the Gospels. 2 vols. Boston. - 1836. - - —— Record of a School. Boston. 1835. - - Krummacher’s Parabeln. 2 vols. Essen. 1840. - - Spinoza’s Works and Epistles. 4to. 1777. - - Malebranche’s Search after Truth. 2 vols. London. 1695. - - —— Christian Conferences. London. 1695. - - Wilmott’s Lives of the Sacred Poets. London. 1834. - - G. Herbert’s Poems. London. 1835. - - R. Crashaw’s Steps to the Temple. London. 1670. - - Thomas Fletcher’s Purple Island. London. 1783. - - Giles Fletcher’s Christ’s Victory. London. 1783. - - Quarles’s Emblems and Hieroglyphics. London. 1680. - - —— Divine Fancies. London. 1680. - - Huarte’s Wits Commonwealth, or Politeuphuia. London. 1598. - - Southcott’s Tracts. - - Dr. A. Bury’s Naked Gospel. 4to. London. 1691. - - Bromley’s Sabbath of Rest, etc. London. 1761. - - Robert Barclay’s Apology. London. 1765. - - N. Robinson’s Christian Philosopher. London. 1758. - - Poiret. On the Restoration of Man. London. 1713. - - —— Divine Economy. London. 1713. - - Virgin in Eden. London. 1741. - - Rev. R. Clarke. Gospel of the Daily Service. London. 1767. - - —— Jesus the Nazarene. London. 1770. - - —— Spiritual Voice. London. 1700. - - Tracts. By Jane Lead. - - Boehms’ History of Pietism. London. 1707. - - Franck. Pietas Hallensis. London. 1705. - - Pascal’s Thoughts on Religion. London. 1806. - - P. Buchius on the Divine Being. London. 1693. - - Bellarmine’s Soul’s Ascension to God. London. 1703. - - R. Wilkinson’s Saint’s Travel to Canaan. London. 1650. - - Man before Adam. London. 1656. - - T. Hartley’s Paradise Restored. London. 1764. - - J. Serjeant’s Transnatural Philosophy. London. 1700. - - Henry More. Platonic. Cambridge. 1642. - - —— Works. Folio. London. 1642. - - Universal Restitution. London. 1761. - - Peter Sterry on the Freedome of the Will. Folio. London. 1675. - - Pathomachia, or the Battell of Affections shadowed by a faigned siedge - of the Citie Pathopolis. 4to. London. 1631. - - L. Howell’s Desiderius, or the Original Pilgrim. London. 1716. - - Bernard’s Isle of Man. London. 1803. - - Olbia, or the New Island. 4to. London. 1600. - - Ramsey’s Philosophical Principles of Natural and Revealed Religion. - Glasgow. 2 vols. 4to. 1748. - - Justus Lipsius. On Constancy. London. 1654. - - General Delusion of Christians. London. 1714. - - Norris. On Love. London. 1723. - - —— Amoris Effigies, of Waring. London. 1744. - - —— On Matrimony. 2 vols. London. 1739. - - —— Ideal World. 2 vols. London. 1701. - - Wither’s Britain’s Remembrancer. London. 1628. - - Dr. Bryom’s Miscellaneous Poems. 2 vols. Manchester. 1773. - - Du Bartas’ Divine Weekes and Workes. By Josiah Sylvester. 670 pages. - Folio. London. 1641. - - Verstegan’s Restitution of Decayed Intelligence. 4to. London. - - Rei Rusticæ Auctores Latini Veteres. M. Cato, L. Columella, M. Varo. - Palladius. 1595. - - Tusser’s Husbandry. London. 1744. - - Evelyn. Kalendarium Hortense. London. 1699. - - Porphyry on Abstinence from Animal Food. By T. Taylor. London. 1823. - - Tyron. Averroeana, or Letters from Averroes. London. 1687. - - Tyron. Way to Health. London. 1697. - - —— Knowledge of Man’s Self. London. 1703. - - —— Letters, Philosophical, Theological, and Moral. London. 1700. - - —— Self-Knowledge. London. 1703. - - —— On Dreams. London. 1691. - - Newton’s Return to Nature. London. 1811. - - Sir J. Floyer’s Ψυχρολουσία. London. 1732. - - R. T. Claridge’s Hydropathy. London. 1842. - - J. H. Cohausen. Hermippus Redivivus. London. 1771. - - Thomas Stanley’s History of Philosophy. 750 pages. Folio. London. 1700. - - Jamblichus on the Mysteries. Translated by T. Taylor. - - —— Life of Pythagoras. By T. Taylor. - - Dacier’s Lives of Pythagoras and Hierocles. London. 1707. - - Plato’s Works, containing with the fifty-five Dialogues and twelve - Epistles the substance of nearly all the existing Greek MSS. - Commentaries and scholia on Plato. By Thomas Taylor. 5 vols. 4to. - London. 1804. - - Plotinus. Select Works. By T. Taylor. London. 1817. - - —— On Suicide. By T. Taylor. London. 1834. - - Proclus. Commentaries on Euclid, by T. Taylor. 2 vols. 4to. London. - 1788. - - —— Six Books on Plato’s Theology. By T. Taylor. 2 vols. 4to. London. - 1816. - - —— Commentaries on the Timæus of Plato. By T. Taylor. 2 vols. 4to. - London. 1820. - - —— Fragments. By T. Taylor. London. 1825. - - —— Ten Doubts, etc. London. 1833. - - Stanhope’s Epictetus. London. 1721. - - Xenophon’s Banquet. By Dr. Welwood. London. 1710. - - Dr. J. Welwood’s Essay on Socrates. London. 1710. - - Xenophon’s Memoirs of Socrates. By Sarah Fielding. London. 1788. - - Plutarch’s Morals. 5 vols. London. 1694. - - —— Lives. By Langhorn. 8 vols. London. 1821. - - Seneca’s Morals. London. 1688. - - Marcus Antonius. London. 1534. - - Julii Pacii a Berega in Porphyii Isagogen et Aristotelis Organum. 4to. - Geneva. 1605. - - Aristotle’s Metaphysics. By T. Taylor. 4to. London. 1801. - - —— 4to. Greek and Latin. (Jul. Pacius.) Geneva. 1605. - - —— Greek and Latin (Jul. 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