The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1900-02-25
GOLDEN WATER, DE SINGN TREE TALKIY Bird"
Couuaah hu r Il Russell

gospel that Charlotte Bronte was born
to teach.
To render such harsh. unpalatable doc
trine acceptable requires genius of a high
order, such as this woman had. We
should not care for her reasonable hero
ines were they a thought less human than
they are. But we have seen the blood in
their veins. and it was red. Therefore we
know that their philosophy is not cheaply
bought, and we are satisfied Philosophy.
to be worth anything, must be purchased
at a price no less than that which is paid
by Jane Eyre and Lucy snowe Any one
of these frail, resolute beings fashioned
in the very image OF their Trailer, more
resolute creator might echo Henley's
verses:
"out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole
/ thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerabe soul
I'm the fell clutch of circumstance
| have not WINGED nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance,
My head is bloody, but unbewed."
Such doctrine as this is wholesome and
helpful to human nature To state it so
that it convinces without repelling as
Charlotte Bronte did, is indeed 1.-THE equiv
alent OF a great deed" and it deservedly
wins an earthly immortality.
("Shirley." "villette" BY Charlotte
Bronte. The Haworth Edition. With pref
aces by Mrs. Humphry Ward and an in
PRODUCTION and notes; by Clement X
Shorter. Sis per volume. Harper & Bros
For sale by Lowman & Hanford)
-
The vision of plan-ftving and high
thinking is one of the ideals native to
New England blood. In this day and age
of the world nobody tries very hard to put
the theory into practice except by de-
nouncing the customs of those who live
more deliberately than do ourselves. but
nevertheless the notion turks at the back
OF our consciousness that 1t would be a
fine, high, dignified thing to live so abso-
lutely in the world of the mind and soul
that other worlds became as though they
were not. Perhaps to this conviction is
due the perennial acceptance accorded to
books which tell the story of Brook Farm,
that preconcerted effort to take the heaven
of poverty by assault
Mr. Lindsay Swift Is the author OF the
most recent volume of this kind He has
arranged his material In a novel and In
teresting shape. discussing first the in
formal Transcendental Club out of whose
meetings Brook Farm grew: then the
farm itself the buildings. grounds. indus
tries, amusements and customs. the
school and its scholars. Including Georca
William Curtis and Father Hecker. After
this he takes up the members senarateIv
furnishing short character sketch OF
EACH then the visitors. who were many
and notable and last the closing period
of the experiment ana the causes that
led to its abandonment His work ts
thoroughly and admirably done. aIthoush
the book cannot be called inspiring. per-
haps II Is not possible for any one In tho
closing years Of this century conscious ~
the strong pressure of the times tox,ard
materialistic view of the business -,
living, TO write a warmly sympathetic ao-
count OF this little caravan advepturirs,
across the untried desert which lies be-
tween mankind and every trtop.a f" Ger.
tainiy. Mr.. Swift has not done SO He Is
too level-headed and knows too well the
end from the beginning to be the ideal
hiographer OF Brook Farm.
To insure "A more natural union be-
tween intellectual and manual labor than
now exists. to combine the thinker and
the worker, as far as possible. IN the same
individuals 20 guarantee the highest
mental freedom by providing an with
iahor adapted TO their tastes and TALENTS
and securing to them the fruits OF their
industry, to DO away with the necessity
OF mental services by opening the benefits
OF education and the profits OF labor 70
All. ana thus TO prepare n society OF lin
ef"L intelligent and cultivated persons
whose relations with each other n,,,l4
permit more simple ana wholesome lif.
imam can be led amidst the pressure OF our
competitive Institutions" This Wa a.,
platform q tho experiment which f,u.4
when the attempt was made TO carry n
out in the New England Of 1S,o-so .,,,.
people OF simple habits aud hlsh char
acttr. To say this is equivalent 10 saw
ing That sUen programme Win never h.
carried oat eta this side OF the green hrls
ei Paradise. for newer agaln surely vii
The hour and The men meet I'm sprb N,
"4sPieioas combination Nevertheless IN,
experiment has the lasting Interest wbicb
attaches to ad sincere human eYa-, -
taFH drcamstur ialo Ifa-stum
rtrook Farm - Lindsay Swift The
NayTilinn COMPANY S. 90 For sale hv
LcWmaD s Haatari)