Her eyes are
lifted and her hands crossed upon her bosom. The features seem hardly
material, such a fineness and spiritual light transfigure them. It is
the greatest picture I ever saw."
A fragment of a letter suggests a lecture and a great innovation.
"My husband bought a ticket for himself, and went with me!! Mr. Alcott
spent an evening with us a week or more ago, and was very interesting;
telling, at my request, about his youth, and peddling, etc. There were
six ladies and six gentlemen present last Monday evening. They
assembled at Mr. Stone's. Miss Hannah Hodges, Mrs. J. C. Lee, and two
ladies whom I did not know, besides Mrs. Stone and myself; Mr.
Frothingham, Mr. William Silsbee, Mr. Shackford, of Lynn, Mr. Pike,
Mr. Streeter, and my husband, besides Mr. Stone and his son. Mr.
Alcott said he would commence with the Nativity, and first read
Milton's Hymn. Then he retreated to his corner, and for about an hour
and three quarters kept up an even flow of thought, without a word
being uttered by any other person present. Then Mr. Stone questioned
him upon his use of the word 'artistic;' which provoked a fine
analysis from him of the word 'artist' as distinguished from
'artisan.' I thought the whole monologue very beautiful and clear.
This evening Mr. Thoreau is going to lecture, and will stay with us.
His lecture before was so enchanting; such a revelation of nature in
all its exquisite details of wood-thrushes, squirrels, sunshine, mists
and shadows, fresh, vernal odors, pine-tree ocean melodies, that my
ear rang with music, and I seemed to have been wandering through copse
and dingle! Mr.
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