Lidian Jackson Emerson writes to her husband Ralph Waldo on 10 January:
We had a meeting of the wise men and their admirers on Sunday evening—(Mr Wright [Henry G. Wright] was in Boston) and though I do not believe many were edified all must have been amused. The subject (proposed the week before, they said) was the methods in practice required by the new principles—so as you may suppose, all the wild schemes were talked over again, and the poor human race are to be allowed in future, if they would walk in innocence, to walk in no clothing but white linen spun by their own hands. No more hats or shoes—and I fear on reconsideration of the decision we must give up even linen and ress as did the sinless inhabitants of Eden—for how can we spin without a sin-made wheel—how can we raise flax without guilt-stained-iron to dig the ground? Mr Lane [Charles Lane] affirms that when we are innocent there will be no need of warm cloaks boots or umbrellas—we shall be at such perfect liberty so independent of times and seasons, that we can well wait within doors till the weather be fine & the walking good. Mr Alcott [A. Bronson Alcott] was descanting on the iniquity of formal exchange—“brother should give to brother all superfluity—brother should be free to take whatever he wanted of brother wherever he could find it” &c—I answered “that might do, Mr A if there were but two people in the world”—and was going on to say it would be difficult to adjust such proceedings for the convenience of all concerned—when Mr Lane with a most inspiring animation exclaimed—There are but two people in the world the me and the not me. I cannot tell why I was delighted to be so interrupted—though my forthcoming wisdom was stifled in the birth—this speech suggested that which I cannot express—a deeper truth than my understanding can shape into words only a passing glimpse, however—Once before, Mr Lane uttered such an eloquent sentence against a doctrine of my advancing (that seeing it was a hopeless task to try to purify the doings of the race — or to do without all things because unclean from contact with those who produce them we had best only try to keep our own souls pure), as to make me glad to be so overthrown. I was acquiescing in my defeat and did not intend to rise again—when Rockwood Hoar came in and set me up by saying what I had just said, only in a more counsellor-like fashion. He manfully kept this ground all the evening against Mr Lane & Mr Alcott too. Mr Alcott proposes to abridge labour and live a life of ease and independence by certain ways of proceeding, one of which is to make your own chairs in a form of simple elegance and cover them with linen of your own spinning & weaving. When I said with a sigh that I would rather be excused from washing those linen covers preferring to dust common painted chairs, he said “O but we will contrive a way to simplify washing.[”] No one ‘spoke in the meeting’ except those I have named & Mr Hosmer [Edmund Hosmer] who leaned to the common sense side. Henry said a few words, though, deep for my comprehension.
(The Selected Letters of Lidian Jackson Emerson, 114)
