THE RANDALL FAMILY 109
singular to see all mankind longing for the Utopian de- lights of brotherly love, which it seems to require but an effort of the will to attain, yet is almost impossible to reach ? How interesting an object is man at a safe and goodly distance, and how generally a bore in actual fellow- ship ! But my paper gives out. I hope you can soon make us a visit. I have put a new and handsome iron bed in the chamber where you sleep, with a brisk spring, and very convenient, and so ingeniously made that, by pulling out a pin, the frame suddenly leaps forward like a trap, and snaps off the head of the person who lies asleep.
Yours truly,
J. W. Randall.
I hope you will find Mr. Thoreau a pleasant companion. I have met him at Mr. Hoar's, and was pleased with the accuracy of his botanical observations. He seemed to know what he knew — by no means, I think, the most common of characteristics.
��Boston, Feb. 5th, 1857. Dear Frank,
I write to you the earlier, supposing that you find things a little new in Concord, and probably like to hear from old friends. . . .
Belinda and I went to hear Thalberg a few nights ago, who plays with more taste and less labor than the other pianoforte players that I have heard. He has an interesting countenance, not wholly unlike that of Dr. Gay. We have also heard Mozart's Requiem per- formed by the Handel and Haydn Society, a composition in which we were much disappointed. It seems to me to
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