Through acquaintance with Thurlow Weed my father came to know Mr.
Greeley and through Mr. Greeley he came to know Dr. George Ripley and
the circle of literary folk in Boston of which he was the center. Boston
was not at that time a literary city. If there was a seat of literature
in America, then, it was to be found in Philadelphia, there being very
little visible evidence of literary activity, in the three-hilled town;
no Old Corner Book Store, no publishing house like Ticknor and Fields,
no _Scarlet Letter_, no _Atlantic Monthly_ and no _Evening Transcript_,
subsequently one of the best newspapers from a literary point of view
this country ever had. There was, however, at the period referred to,
about 1840, a coterie of brilliant intellectual people in Boston and
Cambridge many of whom attained, later, some degree of eminence in the
literary world.

These were young men and women of fine culture, liberal in opinion and
animated by a new spirit of the times which was in this country first
manifested in their midst. At that period a wave of interest in what was
then known as social reform swept over France and Germany and reached
our shores in Massachusetts Bay, eventually extending all through the
north and northwest, conveying new social and political ideas to
thousands of intelligent Americans. These new ideas were discussed at
the meetings of the thinking young folk above referred to, at which
meetings they also held other high debates on matters philosophic,
poetic, educational, etc. They eventually established a periodical as
their organ called _The Dial_, a publication which immediately
attracted wide attention by the admirable literary style of its articles
as well as by their originality and commanding interest. _The Dial_
had the effect of imparting greater cohesion to the company of editors,
contributors and others interested in its publication, and these