The high ideal they
carried as their standard lifted them over many of the littlenesses and
annoyances of daily life without a disturbing thought.
I find in the _Harbinger_ of December 20, 1845, one of the very
few special allusions to Brook Farm life, and it is so much to the
point that I copy it entire:--
"We speak no less for the whole associative movement in this country
than for ourselves when we beseech our friends who are looking upon our
operations not to judge of our principles or our purposes by any
immediate results which they may have witnessed. The question is often
asked of us whether our present mode of life answers our expectations--
whether Association is found to be valuable in practice as it seems to
be correct in theory, and the like. But all such inquiries betray an
ignorance of the actual condition of the enterprise. They suppose the
organizations which have gone into effect in different parts of the
country are true specimens of the plans of Association. This is far
from being the case. We do not profess to be able to present a true
picture of associative life. We cannot give the remotest idea of the
advantages which the combined order possesses over the ordinary
arrangements of society.
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