And this is what is
meant by drudgery."
Two lines in the last volume voice the new spirit of growth and action:--
"I am never at anchor, I never shall be;
I am sailing the glass of infinity's sea."
_The Dial_ afforded an outlet for the enthusiasms, the aspirations, the
ideals of life, during a critical period in New England's renaissance. No
other periodical during an equal time has exerted more influence on the
trend of American literature.
BROOK FARM.--In 1841 a number of people, headed by GEORGE RIPLEY
(1802-1880), a Unitarian clergyman, purchased a tract of land of about two
hundred acres at West Roxbury, nine miles from Boston. This was known as
Brook Farm, and it became the home of a group who wished to exemplify in
real life some of the principles that _The Dial_ and other agencies of
reform were advocating.
[Illustration: POOL AT BROOK FARM]
In _The Dial_ for January, 1842, we may find a statement of the aims of the
Brook Farm community. The members especially wanted "_leisure to live in
all the faculties of the soul_" and they determined to combine manual and
mental labor in such a way as to achieve this result. Probably the majority
of Americans are in sympathy with such an aim.
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