and General Charles Russell Lowell. Mrs. Josephine Shaw Lowell has made
for herself a lasting name by her philanthropies, and her generous
interest in all good causes. Mrs. Shaw wrote the biography of her son
Robert, which was published in the work devoted to the Harvard graduates
who fell in the Civil War.

The real effect of Brook Farm, and that movement of which it was a part,
can be rightly understood only when there is taken into consideration what
they did for such persons as Shaw, Curtis, Barlow, Lowell, and Mrs.
Lowell. These persons were trained by Brook Farm and Transcendentalism;
and their aspirations, philanthropies, chivalrous spirit, and romantic
courage were fostered and developed by them. The tone and quality of
Shaw's courage, and of his heroic effort for the colored men, found in
Brook Farm their motive and incentive; and in Brook Farm because it
represented a phase of life much larger than itself, one that fosters the
noblest faith in men and in the spiritual future of humanity. Of Barlow
and Lowell it may be also said that their heroism and their patriotism
were the legitimate products of that movement whose hope and faith were
the inspiration of their youth. To this source was due Barlow's love of
justice, his unflinching courage in opposing self-seekers and partisan
patriots, and his trust in the ultimate worth of what is right and true.

The letters printed in this volume have a large interest as indications of
how George William Curtis was making ready for his life-work. His
independence, his love of humanity, his courage in maintaining his own
convictions, his chivalrous and romantic spirit, his literary skill and
charm, his profound spiritual convictions, that would not be limited by
any sectarian bounds, all find expression here in such form as to give
sure promise for his future. It was a somewhat erratic kind of training
which Curtis received; but for him it was better than any college of his