Bronson Alcott writes in his journal:
I asked Thoreau if it were not proof of our inefficiency that we had not as yet attracted some fine soul, some maid from the farmer’s hearth or youth from farm or workshop, to our houses, and found a proof undeniable of having a positive and real existence here in this world, in this 19th century, in this winter of 1848, in this little centre of Concord, Mass.
(The Journals of Bronson Alcott, 204)
