272 EARLY SPRING IN MASSACHUSETTS. 
With many men their fine manners are a lie 
all over, a skin coat or finish of falsehood. They 
are not brave enough to do without this sort of 
armor which they wear night and day. 
March 30, 1840. Pray what things interest 
me at present ? A long soaking rain, the drops 
trickling down the stubble, while I lay drenched 
on a last year’s bed of wild oats by the side of 
some bare hill, ruminating. These things are 
of moment. To watch tnis crystal globe just 
sent from heaven to associate with me. While 
these clouds and this sombre drizzling weather 
shut all in, we two draw nearer and know one 
another. The gathering in of the clouds with 
the last rush and dying breath of the wind, and 
then the regular dripping of twigs and leaves 
the country over, give the impression of inward 
comfort and sociableness. The drenched stub¬ 
ble and trees that drop beads on you as you 
pass, their dim outline seen through the rain on 
all sides drooping in sympathy with yourself, 
these are my undisputed territory, this is na¬ 
ture’s English comfort. The birds draw closer 
and are more familiar under the thick foliage, 
composing new strains on their roosts against 
the sunshine. 
March 30, 1841. I find my life growing slov¬ 
enly when it does not exercise a constant super¬ 
vision over itself. Its deeds accumulate. Next 
