Memoirs of Margaret Fuller Ossoli, Vol. II | Page 5

the printed page;
for they felt that systematic results were not yet to be looked for, and
that in sallies of conjecture, glimpses and flights of ecstasy, the
"Newness" lifted her veil to her votaries. Thus, by mere attraction of
affinity, grew together the brotherhood of the "Like-minded," as they
were pleasantly nicknamed by outsiders, and by themselves, on the
ground that no two were of the same opinion. The only password of
membership to this association, which had no compact, records, or
officers, was a hopeful and liberal spirit; and its chance conventions
were determined merely by the desire of the caller for a "talk," or by
the arrival of some guest from a distance with a budget of presumptive
novelties. Its "symposium" was a pic-nic, whereto each brought of his
gains, as he felt prompted, a bunch of wild grapes from the woods, or
bread-corn from his threshing-floor. The tone of the assemblies was
cordial welcome for every one's peculiarity; and scholars, farmers,
mechanics, merchants, married women, and maidens, met there on a
level of courteous respect. The only guest not tolerated was intolerance;
though strict justice might add, that these "Illuminati" were as
unconscious of their special cant as smokers are of the perfume of their
weed, and that a professed declaration of universal independence

turned out in practice to be rather oligarchic.
Of the class of persons most frequently found at these meetings
Margaret has left the following sketch:--
'"I am not mad, most noble Festus," was Paul's rejoinder, as he turned
upon his vulgar censor with the grace of a courtier, the dignity of a
prophet, and the mildness of a saint. But many there are, who, adhering
to the faith of the soul with that unusual earnestness which the world
calls "mad," can answer their critics only by the eloquence of their
characters and lives. Now, the other day, while visiting a person whose
highest merit, so far as I know, is to save his pennies, I was astounded
by hearing him allude to some of most approved worth among us, thus:
"You know we consider those men insane."
'What this meant, I could not at first well guess, so completely was my
scale of character turned topsy-turvy. But revolving the subject
afterward, I perceived that WE was the multiple of Festus, and THOSE
MEN of Paul. All the circumstances seemed the same as in that Syrian
hall; for the persons in question were they who cared more for doing
good than for fortune and success,--more for the one risen from the
dead than for fleshly life,--more for the Being in whom we live and
move than for King Agrippa.
'Among this band of candidates for the mad-house, I found the young
poet who valued insight of nature's beauty, and the power of chanting
to his fellow-men a heavenly music, above the prospect of fortune,
political power, or a standing in fashionable society. At the division of
the goods of this earth, he was wandering like Schiller's poet. But the
difference between American and German regulations would seem to
be, that in Germany the poet, when not "with Jove," is left at peace on
earth; while here he is, by a self-constituted police, declared "mad."
'Another of this band was the young girl who, early taking a solemn
view of the duties of life, found it difficult to serve an apprenticeship to
its follies. She could not turn her sweetness into "manner," nor cultivate
love of approbation at the expense of virginity of heart. In so called
society she found no outlet for her truest, fairest self, and so preferred
to live with external nature, a few friends, her pencil, instrument, and
books. She, they say, is "mad."
'And he, the enthusiast for reform, who gives away fortune, standing in
the world, peace, and only not life, because bigotry is now afraid to

exact the pound of flesh as well as the ducats,--he, whose heart beats
high with hopes for the welfare of his race, is "mad."
'And he, the philosopher, who does not tie down his speculation to the
banner of the day, but lets the wings of his thought upbear him where
they will, as if they were stronger and surer than the balloon let off for
the amusement of the populace,--he must be "mad." Off with him to the
moon! that paradise of noble fools, who had visions of possibilities too
grand and lovely for this sober earth.
'And ye, friends, and lovers, who see, through all the films of human
nature, in those you love, a divine energy, worthy of creatures who
have their being in very God, ye, too, are "mad" to think they can walk
in the dust, and yet shake it from their feet when they come upon the