24.It appears from "Letchford's Plain Dealings concerning New England," that the church in Concord was the first in the colony that adopted the practice of catechising the children on Sundays. "The unmarried people," he says, "were also required to answer questions, after which Mr. Bulkeley gave expositions and made applications to the whole congregation." And this practice soon found its way into all the churches, became a part of the Sunday service in the church, in the family at last. From these it passed, subsequently, into the schools, a part of Saturday forenoon being devoted to recitations, and where the parents were of different persuasions, the teachers heard these from the Westminster, or Church of England catechisms, accordingly. Some of us remember committing both to memory, and having the benefit of so much comparative divinity as these furnished at that early age.
24.It appears from "Letchford's Plain Dealings concerning New England," that the church in Concord was the first in the colony that adopted the practice of catechising the children on Sundays. "The unmarried people," he says, "were also required to answer questions, after which Mr. Bulkeley gave expositions and made applications to the whole congregation." And this practice soon found its way into all the churches, became a part of the Sunday service in the church, in the family at last. From these it passed, subsequently, into the schools, a part of Saturday forenoon being devoted to recitations, and where the parents were of different persuasions, the teachers heard these from the Westminster, or Church of England catechisms, accordingly. Some of us remember committing both to memory, and having the benefit of so much comparative divinity as these furnished at that early age.
Sunday, 19.
Our instincts are idealists. Contradicting impressions of the senses, they prompt us forth to the noblest aims and endeavors. Aspirants for the best, they prick us forward to its attainment, the more successfully as our theories of life lift us above the planes of precedent and routine, whereon the sensesconfine us, to the mount of vision and of renovating ideas. Nor are these too lofty or too beautiful to be unattainable. 'Tis when practice strays wide and falls below that they appear visionary and fall into disrepute. Only those who mount the summits command the valleys at their base.
"When we ourselves from our own selves do quit,And each thing else, then an all-spreading loveTo the vast universe our soul doth fit,Makes us half equal to all-seeing Jove;Our mighty wings, high-stretched, then clapping light,We brush the stars, and make them seem more bright."
"When we ourselves from our own selves do quit,And each thing else, then an all-spreading loveTo the vast universe our soul doth fit,Makes us half equal to all-seeing Jove;Our mighty wings, high-stretched, then clapping light,We brush the stars, and make them seem more bright."
"When we ourselves from our own selves do quit,
And each thing else, then an all-spreading love
To the vast universe our soul doth fit,
Makes us half equal to all-seeing Jove;
Our mighty wings, high-stretched, then clapping light,
We brush the stars, and make them seem more bright."
Enthusiasm is essential to the successful attainment of any high endeavor; without which incentive one is not sure of his equality to the humblest undertaking even. And he attempts little worth living for if he expects completing his task in an ordinary life-time. His translation is for the continuance of his work here begun, but for whose completion time and opportunity were all too narrow and brief. Himself is the success or failure. Step by step one climbs the pinnacles of excellence; life itself is but the stretch for that mountain of holiness. Opening here with humanity, 'tis the aiming at divinity in ever-ascending circles of aspiration and endeavor. Who ceases to aspire, dies. Our pursuits are our prayers; our ideals our gods. And the more persistent our endeavors to realize these, the less distant they seem. They were not gods could we approach them at once. We were the atheists of oursenses without them. All of beauty and of beatitude we conceive and strive for, ourselves are to be sometime. Man becomes godlike as he strives for divinity, and divinity ever stoops to put on humanity and deify mankind. Character is mythical. The excellent are unapproachable save by like excellence. A person every way intelligible falls short of our conception of greatness; he ceases to be great in our eyes. God is not God in virtue of attributes, but of the mystery surrounding these. Could we see through the cloud that envelopes our apprehensions, he were here, and ourselves apparent in his likeness. "God," says Plato, "is ineffable, hard to be defined, and having been discovered, to make fully known."
"He is above the sphere of our esteem,And is best known in not defining him."
"He is above the sphere of our esteem,And is best known in not defining him."
"He is above the sphere of our esteem,
And is best known in not defining him."
Any attempted definition would include whatsoever is embraced within our notion of Personality,—would exhaust our knowledge of nature and of ourselves. Only as we become One Personally with Him do we know Him and partake of his attributes.
"In the soul of man," says Berkeley, "prior and superior to intellect, there is a somewhat of a higher nature, by virtue of which we are one, and by means of which we are most clearly joined to the Deity. And as by our intellect we touch the divine intellect, even so by our oneness, 'the very flower of our essence,' as Proclus expresses it, we touch the First One. Existenceand One are the same. And consequently, our minds participate so far of existence as they do of unity. But it should seem the personality is the indivisible centre of the soul, or mind, which is a monad, so far forth as she is a person. Therefore Person is really that which exists, inasmuch as it partakes of the divine unity. Number is no object of sense, but an act of the mind. The same thing in a different conception is one or many. Comprehending God and the creatures in one general notion, we may say that all things together make one universe. But if we should say that all things make one God, this would indeed be an erroneous notion of God, but would not amount to atheism, so long as mind, or intellect, was admitted to be the governing part. It is, nevertheless, more respectful, and consequently the truer notion of God, to suppose Him neither made up of parts, nor himself to be a part of any whole whatsoever."
THE SEARCH AFTER GOD.25"I sought Thee round about, O thou my God!In thine abode,I said unto the earth, 'Speak, art thou He?'She answered me,'I am not.' I inquired of creatures allIn generalContained therein; they with one voice proclaimThat none amongst them challenged such a name."I asked the seas and all the deeps below,My God to know;I asked the reptiles and whatever isIn the abyss;Even from the shrimp to the leviathanInquiry ran,—But in those deserts which no line can sound,The God I sought for was not to be found."I asked the air if that were He? but, lo,It told me, No.I from the towering eagle to the wrenDemanded thenIf any feathered fowl 'mongst them were such?But they all, muchOffended with my question, in full choirAnswered, 'To find thy God thou must look higher.'"I asked the heavens, sun, moon and stars; but theySaid, 'We obeyThe God thou seek'st.' I asked what eye or earCould see or hear;What in the world I might descry or knowAbove, below?With an unanimous voice, all these things said,'We are not God, but we by Him were made.'"I asked the world's great universal massIf that God was?Which with a mighty and strong voice repliedAs stupefied,'I am not He, O man! for know that IBy Him on highWas fashioned first of nothing, thus inflated,And swayed by Him by whom I was created.'"I sought the court, but smooth-tongued flattery thereDeceived each ear:In the thronged city there was selling, buying,Swearing and lying,—In the country, craft in simpleness arrayed;And then I said,'Vain is my search, although my pains be great,Where my God is there can be no deceit.'"A scrutiny within myself I thenEven thus began:'O man, what art thou?' What more could I say,Than dust and clay?Frail mortal, fading, a mere puff, a blastThat cannot last,—Enthroned to-day, to-morrow in an urn,Formed from that earth to which I must return."I asked myself, what this great God might beThat fashioned me?I answered, the all-potent, solely immense,Surpassing sense,Unspeakable, inscrutable, eternal,Lord over all;The only terrible, strong, just and true,Who hath no end, and no beginning knew."He is the well of life, for He doth giveTo all that liveBoth breath and being; he is the CreatorBoth of the water,Earth, air and fire; of all things that subsist,He hath the list;Of all the heavenly host, or what earth claims,He keeps the scroll, and calls them by their names."And now, my God, by thine illumining grace,Thy glorious face(So far forth as it may discovered be)Methinks I see;And though invisible and infiniteTo human sight,Thou in thy mercy, justice, truth, appearest,In which to our weak senses thou com'st nearest."O, make us apt to seek and quick to findThou God most kind!Give us love, hope, and faith in thee to trust,Thou God most just!Remit all our offences, we entreat,Most Good, most Great!Grant that our willing, though unworthy quest,May through thy grace admit us 'mongst the blest."
THE SEARCH AFTER GOD.25"I sought Thee round about, O thou my God!In thine abode,I said unto the earth, 'Speak, art thou He?'She answered me,'I am not.' I inquired of creatures allIn generalContained therein; they with one voice proclaimThat none amongst them challenged such a name."I asked the seas and all the deeps below,My God to know;I asked the reptiles and whatever isIn the abyss;Even from the shrimp to the leviathanInquiry ran,—But in those deserts which no line can sound,The God I sought for was not to be found."I asked the air if that were He? but, lo,It told me, No.I from the towering eagle to the wrenDemanded thenIf any feathered fowl 'mongst them were such?But they all, muchOffended with my question, in full choirAnswered, 'To find thy God thou must look higher.'"I asked the heavens, sun, moon and stars; but theySaid, 'We obeyThe God thou seek'st.' I asked what eye or earCould see or hear;What in the world I might descry or knowAbove, below?With an unanimous voice, all these things said,'We are not God, but we by Him were made.'"I asked the world's great universal massIf that God was?Which with a mighty and strong voice repliedAs stupefied,'I am not He, O man! for know that IBy Him on highWas fashioned first of nothing, thus inflated,And swayed by Him by whom I was created.'"I sought the court, but smooth-tongued flattery thereDeceived each ear:In the thronged city there was selling, buying,Swearing and lying,—In the country, craft in simpleness arrayed;And then I said,'Vain is my search, although my pains be great,Where my God is there can be no deceit.'"A scrutiny within myself I thenEven thus began:'O man, what art thou?' What more could I say,Than dust and clay?Frail mortal, fading, a mere puff, a blastThat cannot last,—Enthroned to-day, to-morrow in an urn,Formed from that earth to which I must return."I asked myself, what this great God might beThat fashioned me?I answered, the all-potent, solely immense,Surpassing sense,Unspeakable, inscrutable, eternal,Lord over all;The only terrible, strong, just and true,Who hath no end, and no beginning knew."He is the well of life, for He doth giveTo all that liveBoth breath and being; he is the CreatorBoth of the water,Earth, air and fire; of all things that subsist,He hath the list;Of all the heavenly host, or what earth claims,He keeps the scroll, and calls them by their names."And now, my God, by thine illumining grace,Thy glorious face(So far forth as it may discovered be)Methinks I see;And though invisible and infiniteTo human sight,Thou in thy mercy, justice, truth, appearest,In which to our weak senses thou com'st nearest."O, make us apt to seek and quick to findThou God most kind!Give us love, hope, and faith in thee to trust,Thou God most just!Remit all our offences, we entreat,Most Good, most Great!Grant that our willing, though unworthy quest,May through thy grace admit us 'mongst the blest."
THE SEARCH AFTER GOD.25
"I sought Thee round about, O thou my God!In thine abode,I said unto the earth, 'Speak, art thou He?'She answered me,'I am not.' I inquired of creatures allIn generalContained therein; they with one voice proclaimThat none amongst them challenged such a name.
"I sought Thee round about, O thou my God!
In thine abode,
I said unto the earth, 'Speak, art thou He?'
She answered me,
'I am not.' I inquired of creatures all
In general
Contained therein; they with one voice proclaim
That none amongst them challenged such a name.
"I asked the seas and all the deeps below,My God to know;I asked the reptiles and whatever isIn the abyss;Even from the shrimp to the leviathanInquiry ran,—But in those deserts which no line can sound,The God I sought for was not to be found.
"I asked the seas and all the deeps below,
My God to know;
I asked the reptiles and whatever is
In the abyss;
Even from the shrimp to the leviathan
Inquiry ran,—
But in those deserts which no line can sound,
The God I sought for was not to be found.
"I asked the air if that were He? but, lo,It told me, No.I from the towering eagle to the wrenDemanded thenIf any feathered fowl 'mongst them were such?But they all, muchOffended with my question, in full choirAnswered, 'To find thy God thou must look higher.'
"I asked the air if that were He? but, lo,
It told me, No.
I from the towering eagle to the wren
Demanded then
If any feathered fowl 'mongst them were such?
But they all, much
Offended with my question, in full choir
Answered, 'To find thy God thou must look higher.'
"I asked the heavens, sun, moon and stars; but theySaid, 'We obeyThe God thou seek'st.' I asked what eye or earCould see or hear;What in the world I might descry or knowAbove, below?With an unanimous voice, all these things said,'We are not God, but we by Him were made.'
"I asked the heavens, sun, moon and stars; but they
Said, 'We obey
The God thou seek'st.' I asked what eye or ear
Could see or hear;
What in the world I might descry or know
Above, below?
With an unanimous voice, all these things said,
'We are not God, but we by Him were made.'
"I asked the world's great universal massIf that God was?Which with a mighty and strong voice repliedAs stupefied,'I am not He, O man! for know that IBy Him on highWas fashioned first of nothing, thus inflated,And swayed by Him by whom I was created.'
"I asked the world's great universal mass
If that God was?
Which with a mighty and strong voice replied
As stupefied,
'I am not He, O man! for know that I
By Him on high
Was fashioned first of nothing, thus inflated,
And swayed by Him by whom I was created.'
"I sought the court, but smooth-tongued flattery thereDeceived each ear:In the thronged city there was selling, buying,Swearing and lying,—In the country, craft in simpleness arrayed;And then I said,'Vain is my search, although my pains be great,Where my God is there can be no deceit.'
"I sought the court, but smooth-tongued flattery there
Deceived each ear:
In the thronged city there was selling, buying,
Swearing and lying,—
In the country, craft in simpleness arrayed;
And then I said,
'Vain is my search, although my pains be great,
Where my God is there can be no deceit.'
"A scrutiny within myself I thenEven thus began:'O man, what art thou?' What more could I say,Than dust and clay?Frail mortal, fading, a mere puff, a blastThat cannot last,—Enthroned to-day, to-morrow in an urn,Formed from that earth to which I must return.
"A scrutiny within myself I then
Even thus began:
'O man, what art thou?' What more could I say,
Than dust and clay?
Frail mortal, fading, a mere puff, a blast
That cannot last,—
Enthroned to-day, to-morrow in an urn,
Formed from that earth to which I must return.
"I asked myself, what this great God might beThat fashioned me?I answered, the all-potent, solely immense,Surpassing sense,Unspeakable, inscrutable, eternal,Lord over all;The only terrible, strong, just and true,Who hath no end, and no beginning knew.
"I asked myself, what this great God might be
That fashioned me?
I answered, the all-potent, solely immense,
Surpassing sense,
Unspeakable, inscrutable, eternal,
Lord over all;
The only terrible, strong, just and true,
Who hath no end, and no beginning knew.
"He is the well of life, for He doth giveTo all that liveBoth breath and being; he is the CreatorBoth of the water,Earth, air and fire; of all things that subsist,He hath the list;Of all the heavenly host, or what earth claims,He keeps the scroll, and calls them by their names.
"He is the well of life, for He doth give
To all that live
Both breath and being; he is the Creator
Both of the water,
Earth, air and fire; of all things that subsist,
He hath the list;
Of all the heavenly host, or what earth claims,
He keeps the scroll, and calls them by their names.
"And now, my God, by thine illumining grace,Thy glorious face(So far forth as it may discovered be)Methinks I see;And though invisible and infiniteTo human sight,Thou in thy mercy, justice, truth, appearest,In which to our weak senses thou com'st nearest.
"And now, my God, by thine illumining grace,
Thy glorious face
(So far forth as it may discovered be)
Methinks I see;
And though invisible and infinite
To human sight,
Thou in thy mercy, justice, truth, appearest,
In which to our weak senses thou com'st nearest.
"O, make us apt to seek and quick to findThou God most kind!Give us love, hope, and faith in thee to trust,Thou God most just!Remit all our offences, we entreat,Most Good, most Great!Grant that our willing, though unworthy quest,May through thy grace admit us 'mongst the blest."
"O, make us apt to seek and quick to find
Thou God most kind!
Give us love, hope, and faith in thee to trust,
Thou God most just!
Remit all our offences, we entreat,
Most Good, most Great!
Grant that our willing, though unworthy quest,
May through thy grace admit us 'mongst the blest."
25.By Thomas Heywood, 1590.
25.By Thomas Heywood, 1590.
MESSRS. ROBERTS BROTHERS' PUBLICATIONS.
TABLETS.
By A. BRONSON ALCOTT.
CONTENTS.
BOOK I.—Practical.—The Garden. Recreation. Fellowship. Friendship. Culture. Books. Counsels.
BOOK II.—Speculative.—Instrumentalities. Mind. Genesis. Metamorphoses.
"This book of practical and speculative essays invites us to the sunshine, the delightful atmosphere, 'the cool retreats,' and the quiet of the country."—Cincinnati Chronicle.
"Like 'Walden,' it will be bought and read, year by year, by the select few for whom it was written."—Hartford Courant.
"This book addresses us in a tone of remarkable serenity and repose, strangely contrasting with the lively bustle of the age and land we live in."—New York Times.
"The moral qualities of Mr. Alcott have probably more to do with the secret of his influence than his peculiar mental endowments. Every page of his writings evinces a singularly pure and unworldly character. They appear more like leaves torn from some fragrant antique volume, than the products of this competitive, rapacious age. They transport us to some peaceful island beyond the reach of the ambitions and rivalries of the day. He lives in a serene atmosphere, free from all secular perturbations. No earthly stain discolors the spotless whiteness of his soul. It is no wonder that he is listened to in speechless reverence by an esoteric circle, and that his words are clothed with an authority beyond the power of gaudy rhetoric or purely intellectual demonstration."—New York Tribune.
1 vol. 16mo. Cloth, gilt top, $1.50; with photographic title and portrait, $2.00; same, gilt edges, $2.50.
Sold everywhere. Mailed, postpaid, by the Publishers,
ROBERTS BROTHERS,Boston.
"Make their acquaintance; for Amy will be found delightful, Beth very lovely, Meg beautiful, and Jo splendid!"—The Catholic World.
LITTLE WOMEN. ByLouisa M. Alcott. In Two Parts. Price of each $1.50.
"Simply one of the most charming little books that have fallen into our hands for many a day. There is just enough of sadness in it to make it true to life, while it is so full of honest work and whole-souled fun, paints so lively a picture of a home in which contentment, energy, high spirits, and real goodness make up for the lack of money, that it will do good wherever it finds its way. Few will read it without lasting profit."—Hartford Courant.
"Little Women.By Louisa M. Alcott. We regard these volumes as two of the most fascinating that ever came into a household. Old and young read them with the same eagerness. Lifelike in all their delineations of time, place, and character, they are not only intensely interesting, but full of a cheerful morality, that makes them healthy reading for both fireside and the Sunday school. We think we love "Jo" a little better than all the rest, her genius is so happy tempered with affection."—The Guiding Star.
The following verbatim copy of a letter from a "little woman" is a specimen of many which enthusiasm for her book has dictated to the author of "Little Women:"—
——March 12, 1870.
Dear Jo, or Miss Alcott,—We have all been reading "Little Women," and we liked it so much I could not help wanting to write to you. We thinkyouare perfectly splendid; I like you better every time I read it. We were all so disappointed about your not marrying Laurie; I cried over that part,—I could not help it. We all liked Laurie ever so much, and almost killed ourselves laughing over the funny things you and he said.
We are six sisters and two brothers; and there were so many things in "Little Women" that seemed so natural, especially selling the rags.
Eddie is the oldest; then there is Annie (our Meg), then Nelly (that's me), May and Milly (our Beths), Rosie, Rollie, and dear little Carrie (the baby). Eddie goes away to school, and when he comes home for the holidays we have lots of fun, playing cricket, croquet, base ball, and every thing. If you ever want to play any of those games, just come to our house, and you will find plenty children to play with you.
If you ever come to ——, I do wish you would come and see us,—we would like it so much.
I have named my doll after you, and I hope she will try and deserve it.
I do wish you would send me a picture of you. I hope your health is better, and you are having a nice time.
If you write to me, please direct —— Ill. All the children send their love.
With ever so much love, from your affectionate friend,
Nelly.
Mailed to any address, postpaid, on receipt of the advertised price.
ROBERTS BROTHERS,Publishers,
Boston
AN OLD-FASHIONED GIRL.By Louisa M. Alcott.With Illustrations. Price $1.50.
"Miss Alcott has a faculty of entering into the lives and feelings of children that is conspicuously wanting in most writers who address them; and to this cause, to the consciousness among her readers that they are hearing about people like themselves, instead of abstract qualities labelled with names, the popularity of her books is due. Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy are friends in every nursery and schoolroom, and even in the parlor and office they are not unknown; for a good story is interesting to older folks as well, and Miss Alcott carries on her children to manhood and womanhood, and leaves them only on the wedding-day."—Mrs. Sarah J. Hale in Godey's Ladies' Book.
"We are glad to see that Miss Alcott is becoming naturalized among us as a writer, and cannot help congratulating ourselves on having done something to bring about the result. The author of 'Little Women' is so manifestly on the side of all that is 'lovely, pure, and of good report' in the life of women, and writes with such genuine power and humor, and with such a tender charity and sympathy, that we hail her books with no common pleasure. 'An Old-Fashioned Girl' is a protest from the other side of the Atlantic against the manners of the creature which we know on this by the name of 'the Girl of the Period;' but the attack is delivered with delicacy as well as force."—The London Spectator.
"A charming little book, brimful of the good qualities of intellect and heart which made 'Little Women' so successful. The 'Old-Fashioned Girl' carries with it a teaching specially needed at the present day, and we are glad to know it is even already a decided and great success."—New York Independent.
"Miss Alcott's new story deserves quite as great a success as her famous "Little Women," and we dare say will secure it. She has written a book which child and parent alike ought to read, for it is neither above the comprehension of the one, nor below the taste of the other. Her boys and girls are so fresh, hearty, and natural, the incidents of her story are so true to life, and the tone is so thoroughly healthy, that a chapter of the 'Old-Fashioned Girl' wakes up the unartificial better life within us almost as effectually as an hour spent in the company of good, honest, sprightly children. The Old-Fashioned Girl, Polly Milton, is a delightful creature!"—New York Tribune.
"Gladly we welcome the 'Old-Fashioned Girl' to heart and home! Joyfully we herald her progress over the land! Hopefully we look forward to the time when our young people, following her example, will also be old-fashioned in purity of heart and simplicity of life, thus brightening like a sunbeam the atmosphere around them."—Providence Journal.
Mailed, postpaid, on receipt of the advertised price, by the Publishers,
ROBERTS BROTHERS,
Boston
"Miss Alcott is really a benefactor of Households."—H. H.
LITTLE MEN: Life at Plumfield with Jo's Boys. ByLouisa M. Alcott. With Illustrations. Price $1.50.
"The gods are to be congratulated upon the success of the Alcott experiment, as well as all childhood, young and old, upon the singular charm of the little men and little women who have run forth from the Alcott cottage, children of a maiden whose genius is beautiful motherhood."—The Examiner.
"No true-hearted boy or girl can read this book without deriving benefit from the perusal; nor, for that matter, will it the least injure children of a larger growth to endeavor to profit by the examples of gentleness and honesty set before them in its pages. What a delightful school 'Jo' did keep! Why, it makes us want to live our childhood's days over again, in the hope that we might induce some kind-hearted female to establish just such a school, and might prevail upon our parents to send us, 'because it was cheap.'… We wish the genial authoress a long life in which to enjoy the fruits of her labor, and cordially thank her, in the name of our young people, for her efforts in their behalf."—Waterbury American.
"Miss Alcott, whose name has already become a household word among little people, will gain a new hold upon their love and admiration by this little book. It forms a fitting sequel to 'Little Women,' and contains the same elements of popularity.… We expect to see it even more popular than its predecessor, and shall heartily rejoice at the success of an author whose works afford so much hearty and innocent enjoyment to the family circle, and teach such pleasant and wholesome lessons to old and young."—N. Y. Times.
"Suggestive, truthful, amusing, and racy, in a certain simplicity of style which very few are capable of producing. It is the history of only six months' school-life of a dozen boys, but is full of variety and vitality, and the having girls with the boys is a charming novelty, too. To be very candid, this book is so thoroughly good that we hope Miss Alcott will give us another in the same genial vein, for she understands children and their ways."—Phil. Press.
A specimen letter from a little woman to the author of "Little Men."
June 17, 1871.
Dear Miss Alcott,—We have just finished "Little Men," and like it so much that we thought we would write and ask you to write another book sequel to "Little Men," and have more about Laurie and Amy, as we like them the best. We are the Literary Club, and we got the idea from "Little Women." We have a paper two sheets of foolscap and a half. There are four of us, two cousins and my sister and myself. Our assumed names are: Horace Greeley, President; Susan B. Anthony, Editor; Harriet B. Stowe, Vice-President; and myself, Anna C. Ritchie, Secretary. We call our paper the "Saturday Night," and we all write stories and have reports of sermons and of our meetings, and write about the queens of England. We did not know but you would like to hear this, as the idea sprang from your book; and we thought we would write, as we liked your book so much. And now, if it is not too much to ask of you, I wish you would answer this, as we are very impatient to know if you will write another book; and please answer soon, as Miss Anthony is going away, and she wishes very much to hear from you before she does. If you write, please direct to —— Street, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Yours truly,
Alice——.
Mailed to any address, postpaid, on receipt of the advertised price, by the Publishers,
ROBERTS BROTHERS,Boston
Transcriber's NoteSilently changed mismatched single/double quotes.The typesetter varied usage of "'T is" and "'Tis". I have changed all occurrences to the latter.Page 192: For the paragraph starting "One's foes…", I moved the final quote to the end of the paragraph. I found this quoted in two other sources: "An Oracle of our Day,"The Century: A Popular Quarterly,Vol. 5, 1873, p. 517, and Franklin Benjamin Sandborn and William Torrey Harris,A. Bronson Alcott: His Life and Philosophy, Vol. 2, 1893, p. 411.Spelling and word usage retained as they appear in the original publication, except as follows:PAGEFROMTOvCrashaws's Ideal WomanCrashaw's Ideal Woman67winters' primewinter's prime136he is an antedotehe is an antidote144metaphysical renasissancemetaphysical renaissance153system and termologysystem and terminology163commending absoluteismcommending absolutism164conspire in the fulfimentconspire in the fulfilment184indigo, vermillionindigo, vermilion190she becomes petulentshe becomes petulant203returning to consciousnsssreturning to consciousness238revelations and arcanasrevelations and arcana
Transcriber's Note