Brook Farm: Historic and Personal Memoirs Part 22

We desire to know through your own candid view of your prospects, as well as present condition, whether we may be justified in so disposing our affairs as to ultimately join your a.s.sociation. At present I am laboring on my farm, near Cincinnati, having no definite plan of future action.

Please write me definitely upon what terms we may join you, how much I must put into the a.s.sociation to secure the support of my family and myself--it being understood that we take hold as the rest of you do.

Besides my wife I have a son sixteen years of age, another eleven, a third seven and a daughter four. We are all healthy, and I believe are about as well disposed as most families to live by our own personal exertions.

Yours very respectfully,

WILLIAM H. BRISBANE.

_Verbatim Letter._

BOSTON Ma.s.s. Feb. 23 1844.

_Mr. Ripley_ DIR SIR I was requsted to pit the following on paper for the consideration of your society. R. H. wife and four children the oldest ten the youngest thre the two eldest boys, the two youngest girles. Furniture wile consist of thre beds and bedding one bedstead one tabel and workstand six or eight chairs crockery ware &c. Tooles and machinery as follows 1 planing machine 1 upright boaring machine 1 circular saw, irons for an upright saw morticing machine 1 turning lathe and belting 1 doz of hand screws 1 copper pot to make varnish in, two dimejons 3-5 gls. each for varnish and oil tooles for cutting bench screws &c likewise 1 cow 3 cosset sheep 1 yew & 2 wethers the cow 11 years old and little lame in one foot otherways a veryry good cow, also a verry light handcart. There are other articles not mentioned perhaps that might be usful to the a.s.sociation that would be thrown in for the benefit of all.

The a.s.sociation can consider the above articles and select wat articles would be usful or beneficial and let me know their action thereon at the next meeting of the a.s.sociation If I should be called to visit my family before the next meeting you will pleas direct a line to me.

Yours--

ROBERT DAY.

The Brook Farm wits would say that the writer of the above letter should go to college "for a _spell_."

_Seeking Success in Life._

LOCKPORT, Oct. 28, 1842.

DEAR FRIENDS, if I may so call you: I read in the New York _Tribune_ a piece taken from the _Dial_, headed "The West Roxbury Community." Now what I want to know is, can I and my children be admitted into your society, _and be better off than we are here?_ I have enough of the plainest kind to eat and wear. I have no _home_ but what we hire from year to year. I have _no property_ but movables, and not a cent to spare when the year comes round. I have _three children_, two boys and one girl: the oldest fourteen, the youngest nine. Now I want to educate them. How shall I do it in the country? There is no chance but ordinary schools. To move into the village I could not bring the year round, and the danger they would be exposed to without a father to restrain their wanderings, would be an undertaking more than I dare attempt.

Now if you should presume to let me come, where can I live? Can our industry and economy clothe us for the year? Can I keep a cow? How can I be supplied with fire in that _dear place?_ How can I _pay my school bills?_ How can I find all the necessary requisites for my children to advance in learning? If I should wish to leave in two or three or five years, could I and mine, if I paid my way whilst there? If you should let me come, and I _think best to go, how shall I get there?_ What would be my _best and cheapest route?_

How should I proceed with what I have here, sell all off or bring a part? I have three beds and bedding, one cow and ordinary things enough to keep house. My children are all called tolerable scholars. My daughter is the youngest; _the neighbors call her an interesting child._ I have no pretensions to make; my only object is to _enjoy the good of the society_ and have my children _educated and accomplished._

Am I to send my boys off to work alone, or will they have a _kind person_ to say, "_Come boys_," and _relieve me from the heavy task of bringing up my boys_ with nothing to _do it with?_

If your religion has a name I should like well enough to know it; if not, and the substance is love to G.o.d and good-will to men, my mind is well enough satisfied. I have reflected on this subject ever since I read the article alluded to, and now I want you to write me _every particular;_ then if you and I think best, in the spring I will come to you. We are none of us what may be called weakly. I am forty-six years old; able to do as much every day as to spin what is called a day's work--not that I expect you spin much there, only that is the amount of my strength as it now holds out.

I should wish to seek _intelligence_, as you must know 1 lack greatly, and I _cannot endure the thought_ my children must lack as greatly, whilst mult.i.tudes are going so far in advance, no better qualified by nature than they. I want you to _send me quite a number of names of your leading characters_. If it should seem strange to you that I make the demand, I will explain it to you when I get there. I want you to answer _every item_ of this letter and as much more as _can have any bearing on my mind_, either way, whether you accept this letter _kindly or not_. I want you to write an answer without delay! Are there meetings for _us to attend?_ Do you have singing schools?

I do thus far feel friendly to your society.

Direct your letter to, etc.

M. R. JOHNSON.

_A Southern Applicant._

ALEXANDRIA, BENTON CO., ALA., July 13, 1845.

_Mr. G. Ripley,_

DEAR SIR: Will you step aside for a moment from the many duties, the interesting cares and soul-stirring pleasures of your enviable situation, and read a few lines from a stranger? They come to you, not from the cold and sterile regions of the North, nor from the luxuriant yet untamed wilds of the West, but from the bright and sunny land where cotton flowers bloom, where nature has placed her signet of beauty and fertility. Yes, sir; the science that the immortal Fourier brought to light has reached the far South, and I trust has warmed many hearts, and interested many minds; but of ours alone will I write.

It is to me the dawn of a brighter day than has ever yet risen upon the world--a day when man shall be redeemed from his more than "Egyptian bondage" and stand erect in moral, intellectual and physical beauty.

I have lived forty years in the world, and divided that time between the eastern, middle and southern states--have seen life as exhibited, in city and country, have mingled with the most intelligent and with the unlettered rustic--have marked society in a variety of phases, and find, amid all, that selfishness has warped the judgment, chilled the affections and blunted all the finer feelings of the soul. I am weary and worn with the heartless folly, the wicked vanity and shameless iniquity which the civilized world everywhere presents. Long have I sighed for something higher, n.o.bler, holier than aught found in this world, and have sometimes longed to lay my body down where the weary rest, that my spirit might dwell in perfect harmony. But since the beautiful science of unity has dawned upon my mind, my heart has loved to cherish the bright antic.i.p.ations of hope, and I see in the dim distance the realization of all my wishes. I see a generation coming on the arena of action bearing on their brows the impress of their n.o.ble origin, and cultivating in their hearts the pure and exalted feelings that should ever distinguish those who bear the image of their Maker.

a.s.sociation is destined to do much for poor, suffering humanity--to elevate, refine, redeem the race and restore the purity and love that made the bowers of Eden so surpa.s.singly beautiful. You, sir, and your a.s.sociates are pioneers in a n.o.ble reform. May the blessing of G.o.d attend you.

I am anxious to be with you for various reasons. The first is: I have two little daughters whom I wish to bring up amid healthful influences, with healthful and untrammelled bodies, pure minds and all their young affections and sympathies cl.u.s.tering around their hearts. I never wish their minds to be under the influence of the G.o.d of this generation--fashion--nor their hearts to become callous to the sufferings of their fellows. I never wish them to regard labor as degrading, nor poverty as a crime. Situated as I am I cannot rear them in health and purity, and, therefore, I am anxious to remove them from the baneful influences that surround them. Again: I look upon labor as a blessing, and feel that every man and woman should spend some portion of each day in healthful employment. It is absolutely necessary to health, and is also a source of enjoyment, even in isolation; how much would that pleasure be increased could I have several kindred spirits around me with whom I could interchange thought, and whose feelings and desires flow in the same channel as my own! O, sir! I must live, labor and _die_ in a.s.sociation.

Again: my heart is pained with the woes of my fellows--with the distressing poverty and excessive labor which are bearing to the grave a portion of the human family. Gladly would I bear my part in raising them to a higher and happier condition; and how can I better do this than by uniting myself with the n.o.ble reformers of Brook Farm, where caste is thrown aside, and rich and poor const.i.tute one family. I have not a large fortune, but sufficient to live comfortable anywhere. A large part of it is now invested in houses and lands in Georgia. Such is the low price of cotton that real estate cannot be sold at this time without a serious sacrifice. Most of my Georgia property rents for more than the interest of its cost at 8 per cent. I have also houses and land in this state, but cannot for the above named reason find a purchaser. Therefore, if I go into a.s.sociation I shall be obliged to leave some of my possessions unsold, and be content to receive the rent until I can effect a sale.

I have no negroes--thank G.o.d. Now if you are not full at Brook Farm, and do not object to myself, wife and two daughters, one four years and the other six months old, presenting ourselves as candidates for admission, and $2500 or $3000 will be sufficient for an initiation fee, I shall, as soon as I can arrange my affairs, be with you.

I will thank you to write to me, informing me with how much ready cash, with an income of $500 or $600 per year, I can be received. Mrs. Clarke and myself will wish to engage daily in labor. We both labored in our youth--we wish to resume it again.

Very respectfully,

John Clarke.

The following letter is in ma.n.u.script without date and is

_One of Mr. Ripley's Replies_.

Dear Sir:--It gives me the most sincere pleasure to reply to the inquiries proposed in your favor of the 3d inst. I welcome the extended and increasing interest which is manifested in our apparently humble enterprise, as a proof that it is founded in nature and truth, and as a cheering omen of its ultimate success. Like yourself, we are seekers of universal truth. We worship only reality. We are striving to establish a mode of life which shall combine the enchantments of poetry with the facts of daily experience. This we believe can be done by a rigid adherence to justice, by fidelity to human rights, by loving and honoring man as man, and rejecting all arbitrary, fact.i.tious distinctions.

We are not in the interest of any sect, party or coterie; we have faith in the soul of man, in the universal soul of things, and trusting to the might of a benignant Providence which is over all, we are here sowing in weakness a seed which will be raised in power. But I need not dwell on these general considerations with which you are doubtless familiar.

In regard to the connection of a family with us, our arrangements are liberal and comprehensive. We are not bound by fixed rules which apply to all cases. The general principle we are obliged to adhere to rigidly is not to receive any persons who would increase the expenses more than the revenue of the establishment. Within the limits of this principle we can make any arrangement which shall suit particular cases.

A family with resources sufficient for self-support, independent of the exertion of its members, would find a favorable situation with us for the education of its children, and for social enjoyment. An annual payment of $1000 would probably cover the expenses of board and instruction, supposing that no services were rendered to diminish the expense. An investment of $5000 would more than meet the original outlay required for a family of eight persons; but in that case an additional appropriation would be needed, either of productive labor or cash, to meet the current expenditures. I forward you herewith a copy of our Prospectus, from which you will perceive that the whole expense of a pupil, without including board in vacations, is $250 per annum; but in case of one or more pupils remaining with us for a term of years, and a.s.sisting in the labor of the establishment, a deduction of $1 or $2 per week would be made, according to the services rendered, until such time as their education being so far completed, they might defray all their expenses by their labor.

In the case of your son fifteen years of age, it would be necessary for him to reside with us for three months at least, and if at the end of that time his services should be found useful, he might continue by paying $150 or $200 per annum, according to the value of his labor, and if he should prove to have a gift for active industry, in process of time, he might defray his whole expenses, complete his education and be fitted for practical life.

With the intelligent zeal which you manifest in our enterprise, I need not say that we highly value your sympathy. I should rejoice in any arrangement which might bring us into closer relations. It is only from the faith and love of those whose hearts are filled with the hopes of a better future for humanity, that we look for the building up of our "City of G.o.d." So far we have been prospered in our highest expectations. We are more and more convinced of the beauty and justice of our mode of life. We love to breathe this pure, healthy atmosphere; we feel that we are living in the bosom of nature, and all things seem to expand under the freedom and truth which we worship in our hearts.

I should regret to think that this was to be our last communication with each other. May I not hope to hear from you again--and with the sincere wish that your views of the philosophy of life may bring you still nearer to us, I am, with great respect,

Sincerely your friend,

Geo. Ripley.

_From a Lady Teacher_.

New York, March 18, 1843.

Dear Sir: For the last ten years I have been employed as a teacher in a boarding school in this city. A year ago the lady with whom I was a.s.sociated died, and though I do not love business as such, there were many and weighty reasons why it seemed right for me to commence a school of my own. I have had during the winter past a school of twenty-three pupils consisting of children and youth. My success. .h.i.therto in teaching, in my own judgment, has been dependent on an earnestness of manner, a sincere love of knowledge and a deep interest in the welfare of the young. I know how to work and would not fear to undertake any kind of household occupation which devolves upon woman.