106 Company and Solitude 



be spent in formulating phrases that are 

 empty; but meeting you while on their 

 way, as here at the stile, they bless you with 

 weighty words and leave you wiser than be- 

 fore. We cannot " keep" such company ; 

 it is vouchsafed to no one as an e very-day 

 feature of his life ; but it may sparkle through 

 his years, here and there, like flakes of gold 

 in quartz. 



I have argued in this strain for years, find- 

 ing no one to agree ; yet every year strengthens 

 my conclusions. Of course, folks will not 

 cease to " call" until the crack of doom, and 

 many will be on their way to their neighbors 

 when they hear it. They hold themselves 

 as philanthropic people, but I would that 

 every one was to a greater extent misan- 

 thropic rather. Speaking for myself, it is a 

 positive pleasure, whenever I think of it, 

 that I grew up a savage. The plain, modest, 

 and compact flower of misanthropy has been 

 too long neglecled. Plant it where it will 

 be most often seen, and let its blossoms in- 

 fluence our lives to a greater symmetry. 



