Volume II Part 6 (1/2)

[Footnote C: The Dorr rebellion.]

VIII.

SOCIALISM.

In the preceding extracts will have been noticed frequent reference to the a.s.sociation Movement, which, during the winter of 1840-41, was beginning to appear simultaneously at several points in New England.

In Boston and its vicinity several friends, for whose characters Margaret felt the highest honor, and with many of whose views, theoretic and practical, she accorded, were earnestly considering the possibility of making such industrial, social, and educational arrangements, as would simplify economies, combine leisure for study with healthful and honest toil, avert unjust collisions of caste, equalize refinements, awaken generous affections, diffuse courtesy, and sweeten and sanctify life as a whole. Chief among these was the Rev. George Ripley, who, convinced by his experience in a faithful ministry, that the need was urgent for a thorough application of the professed principles of Fraternity to actual relations, was about staking his all of fortune, reputation, position, and influence, in an attempt to organize a joint-stock community at Brook Farm. How Margaret was inclined to regard this movement has been already indicated. While at heart sympathizing with the heroism that prompted it, in judgment she considered it premature. But true to her n.o.ble self, though regretting the seemingly gratuitous sacrifice of her friends, she gave them without stint the cheer of her encouragement and the light of her counsel. She visited them often; entering genially into their trials and pleasures, and missing no chance to drop good seed in every furrow upturned by the ploughshare or softened by the rain. In the secluded yet intensely animated circle of these co-workers I frequently met her during several succeeding years, and rejoice to bear testimony to the justice, magnanimity, wisdom, patience, and many-sided good-will, that governed her every thought and deed. The feelings with which she watched the progress of this experiment are thus exhibited in her journals:--

'My hopes might lead to a.s.sociation, too,--an a.s.sociation, if not of efforts, yet of destinies. In such an one I live with several already, feeling that each one, by acting out his own, casts light upon a mutual destiny, and ill.u.s.trates the thought of a mastermind. It is a constellation, not a phalanx, to which I would belong.'

'Why bind oneself to a central or any doctrine? How much n.o.bler stands a man entirely unpledged, unbound! a.s.sociation may be the great experiment of the age, still it is only an experiment. It is not worth while to lay such stress on it; let us try it, induce others to try it,--that is enough.'

'It is amusing to see how the solitary characters tend to outwardness,--to a.s.sociation,--while the social and sympathetic ones emphasize the value of solitude,--of concentration,--so that we hear from each the word which, from his structure, we least expect.'

'On Friday I came to Brook Farm. The first day or two here is desolate. You seem to belong to n.o.body--to have a right to speak to n.o.body; but very soon you learn to take care of yourself, and then the freedom of the place is delightful.

'It is fine to see how thoroughly Mr. and Mrs. R. act out, in their own persons, what they intend.

'All Sat.u.r.day I was off in the woods. In the evening we had a general conversation, opened by me, upon Education, in its largest sense, and on what we can do for ourselves and others.

I took my usual ground: The aim is perfection; patience the road. The present object is to give ourselves and others a tolerable chance. Let us not be too ambitious in our hopes as to immediate results. Our lives should be considered as a tendency, an approximation only. Parents and teachers expect to do too much. They are not legislators, but only interpreters to the next generation. Soon, very soon, does the parent become merely the elder brother of his child;--a little wiser, it is to be hoped. ---- differed from me as to some things I said about the gradations of experience,--that ”to be brought prematurely near perfect beings would chill and discourage.” He thought it would cheer and console. He spoke well,--with a youthful n.o.bleness. ---- said ”that the most perfect person would be the most impersonal”--philosophical bull that, I trow--”and, consequently, would impede us least from G.o.d.” Mr. R. spoke admirably on the nature of loyalty.

The people showed a good deal of the _sans-culotte_ tendency in their manners,--throwing themselves on the floor, yawning, and going out when they had heard enough. Yet, as the majority differ from me, to begin with,--that being the reason this subject was chosen,--they showed, on the whole, more respect and interest than I had expected. As I am accustomed to deference, however, and need it for the boldness and animation which my part requires, I did not speak with as much force as usual. Still, I should like to have to face all this; it would have the same good effects that the Athenian a.s.semblies had on the minds obliged to encounter them.

'Sunday. A glorious day;--the woods full of perfume. I was out all the morning. In the afternoon, Mrs. R. and I had a talk.

I said my position would be too uncertain here, as I could not work. ---- said:--”They would all like to work for a person of genius. They would not like to have this service claimed from them, but would like to render it of their own accord.” ”Yes,”

I told her; ”but where would be my repose, when they were always to be judging whether I was worth it or not. It would be the same position the clergyman is in, or the wandering beggar with his harp. Each day you must prove yourself anew.

You are not in immediate relations with material things.”

'We talked of the principles of the community. I said I had not a right to come, because all the confidence in it I had was as an _experiment_ worth trying, and that it was a part of the great wave of inspired thought. ---- declared they none of them had confidence beyond this; but they seem to me to have.

Then I said, ”that though I entirely agreed about the dignity of labor, and had always wished for the present change, yet I did not agree with the principle of paying for services by time;[A] neither did I believe in the hope of excluding evil, for that was a growth of nature, and one condition of the development of good.” We had valuable discussion on these points.

'All Monday morning in the woods again. Afternoon, out with the drawing party; I felt the evils of want of conventional refinement, in the impudence with which one of the girls treated me. She has since thought of it with regret, I notice; and, by every day's observation of me, will see that she ought not to have done it.'

'In the evening, a husking in the barn. Men, women, and children, all engaged. It was a most picturesque scene, only not quite light enough to bring it out fully. I staid and helped about half an hour, then took a long walk beneath the stars.'