Early Letters of George William Curtis | Page 6

observed of all observers.
"In the midwinter we had a fancy-dress ball in the parlors of the
Pilgrim House, when the Shaws and Russells, generous friends of the
association, came attired as priests and dervishes. The beautiful Anna
Shaw was superb as a portly Turk in quilted robe, turban, mustache,
and cimeter, and bore herself with grave dignity.
"George W. Curtis, as Hamlet, led the quadrille with Carrie Shaw as a
Greek girl. His sad and solemn 'reverence' contrasted charmingly with
her sunny ease. He acted the Dane to the life, his bearing, the
melancholy light in his eyes, his black-plumed head-cover, and his
rapier glittering under his short black cloak, which fell apart in the
dance, were all perfect. It was a picture long to be remembered, and as
long as I could watch these two I had no desire to take part in the dance
myself."
Another phase of Curtis's life at Brook Farm she also mentions, and it
gives a new insight into his character. The occasion described was a
social Sunday evening spent in the parlor of the Eyrie:

"At supper it was whispered that George W. Curtis would sing at the
Eyrie, upon which several young men volunteered to assist with the
dishes. My services were also cordially accepted.... And now we
ascended the winding, moonlit path to the Eyrie, where Curtis was
already singing. We went up the steps of the building cautiously, lest a
note of the melody which floated through the open French windows
should be lost to us. Entering the large parlor, we found not only the
chairs and sofas occupied, but the floor well covered with seated
listeners.
"I did not at first recognize the operatic air, so admirably modified and
retarded it was, and its former rapid words replaced by a sad and
touching theme, which called for noble endurance in one borne down
by suffering. The accompaniment consisted of simple chords and
arpeggios, a very plain and sufficient background. Curtis, though not
yet twenty--not nineteen, if I remember rightly--had a grave and mature
appearance. He was full of poetic sensibility, and his pure, rich voice
had that sympathetic quality that penetrates to the heart.... Curtis was
not ever guilty of singing a comic song. It would indeed have been
most inappropriate to our intensely earnest mood. Often his brother
would join him in a duet with his agreeable tenor.
"Low praises and half-spoken thanks were murmured as the grave and
gracious young friend, at the expiration of an hour, swung round on the
piano-stool and attempted to make his exit."
In his "Cheerful Yesterdays," Colonel T.W. Higginson has described
the same life as an onlooker. Although not a member of the community
at Brook Farm, he was somewhat in sympathy with it--at least, with the
people of whom it was composed. At the time he was living in
Brookline and teaching the children of a cousin. "Into this summer
life," he writes, "there occasionally came delegations of youths from
Brook Farm. Among these were George and Burrill Curtis, and Larned,
with Charles Dana--all presentable and agreeable, but the first three
peculiarly costumed. It was then very common for young men in
college and elsewhere to wear what were called blouses--a kind of
hunter's frock, made at first of brown holland, belted at the waist, these
being gradually developed into garments of gay-colored chintz,
sometimes, it was said, an economical transformation of their sisters'
skirts or petticoats. All the young men of this party but Dana wore

these gay garments, and bore on their heads little round and visorless
caps with tassels."
"I was but twice at Brook Farm," Higginson continues, "once driving
over there to a fancy ball at 'the Community,' as it was usually called,
where my cousin Barbara Channing was to appear in a pretty Creole
dress made of madras handkerchiefs. She was enthusiastic about Brook
Farm, where she went often, being a friend of Mrs. Ripley.... Again, I
once went for her in summer and stayed for an hour, watching the
various interesting figures, including George William Curtis, who was
walking about in shirtsleeves, with his boots over his trousers, yet was
escorting a young maiden with that elegant grace which never left him.
It was a curious fact that he, who was afterwards so eminent, was then
held wholly secondary in interest to his handsome brother Burrill,
whose Raphaelesque face won all hearts, and who afterwards
disappeared from view in England. But if I did not see much of Brook
Farm on the spot, I met its members frequently at the series of exciting
meetings for Social Reform in Boston."
Other reminiscences of Brook-Farmers tell of the Curtis brothers and
their active part in the amusements of the place. They were leaders
among the young people,