to Concord to see Emerson. He entered into the working life at the
Farm, but always, as it seemed to me, with the same reserve and
attitude of observation. He was the dove floating in the air, not yet
finding the spot on which his foot might rest.

"The impression that I gathered from my intercourse with him, which
was boyishly intimate and affectionate, was that of all 'the apostles
of the newness,' as they were gayly called, whose counsel he sought,
Brownson was the most satisfactory to him. I thought then that this
was due to the authority of Brownson's masterful tone, the
definiteness of his views, the force of his 'understanding,' as the
word was then philosophically used in distinction from the reason.
Brownson's mental vigor and positiveness were very agreeable to a
candid mind which was speculatively adrift and experimenting, and, as
it seemed to me, which was more emotional than logical. Brownson,
after his life of varied theological and controversial activity, was
drawing toward the Catholic Church, and his virile force fascinated
the more delicate and sensitive temper of the young man, and, I have
always supposed, was the chief influence which at that time affected
Hecker's views, although he did not then enter the Catholic Church.

"He was a general favorite at Brook Farm, always equable and playful,
wholly simple and frank in manner. He talked readily and easily, but
not controversially. His smile was singularly attractive and
sympathetic, and the earnestness of which I have spoken gave him an
unconscious personal dignity. His temperament was sanguine. The whole
air of the youth was that of goodness. I do not think that the
impression made by him forecast his career, or, in any degree, the
leadership which he afterwards held in his Church. But everybody who
knew him at that time must recall his charming amiability.