told him his duty, he did not hesitate.

Soon he was practically deserted by Emerson and his coterie, by some of
the associates and pupils of the school, and boarders, who were scared
out of their propriety by the fear of losing social caste, and they
showed their disfavor by leaving him alone; but, intrenched as he was,
and surrounded by a multitude of friends, new and old, and many
secretly admiring his intrepid spirit, they could only vent their
disfavor in sly sneers and hints that Mr. Ripley, and, of course, his
followers with him, had fallen from their high estate. Yes, they who
sat near by on the fences and crowed reform the loudest--they who had
never soiled their ink-stained fingers with the grass-green sod of old
Brook Farm in practical example of work--found most fault with him,
because he chose to remain and risk his social standing still more than
he had already done, in his magnificent work and experiment.

In order to show more clearly some of the philosophy under which the
leaders of Brook Farm based the changes in their theories and
organization, let us pause a few moments to give a slight sketch of the
growth of human society from its primitive formation to the present
time, trusting that the time spent on it may not be unworthily used,
and the patience of those to whom these ideas are old is asked for the
benefit of others to whom they are new.

It is evident that, at some time, there was a beginning of social life.
To those who have full faith in the Mosaic record it was in the Garden
of Eden; but that may be considered as before society, as such, was
fairly begun. It was the very dawn of the childhood of our race. To
those who recognize the fact that the primitive man was a weak,
unskilled, uncultivated savage, the conclusion must come that the first