EARLY SPRING IN MASSACHUSETTS. 265 
How hard it is to be greatly related to man¬ 
kind. They are only our uncles and aunts and 
cousins. I hear of some persons greatly re¬ 
lated, but only he is so who has all mankind for 
his friend. Our intercourse with the best grows 
soon shallow and trivial. They no longer in¬ 
spire us. After enthusiasm comes insipidity. 
The sap of all noble schemes drieth up, and the 
schemers return again and again in despair to 
“ common sense and labor.” If I could help 
infuse some life and heart into society, should I 
not do a service ? Why will not the gods mix a 
little of the wine of nobleness with the air we 
drink ? let virtue have some firm foothold in 
the earth ? Where does she dwell ? Who are 
the salt of the earth ? May not Love have 
some resting-place on the earth as sure as the 
sunshine on the rock ? The crystals imbedded 
in the cliffs sparkle and gleam from afar, as 
if they did certainly enrich our planet, but 
where does any virtue permanently sparkle and 
gleam ? She was sent forth over the earth too 
soon, before the earth was prepared for her. 
Rightfully we are to each other the gate of 
heaven and redeemers from sin, but how we 
overlook these lowly and narrow ways. We 
will go over the bold mountain tops without 
going through the valleys. Men do not, after 
all, meet on the ground of their real acquaint- 
