{"id":"01KG6GMPGS00G6DV2EHKZ210DD","cid":"bafkreifiixknjwbjt2t5s3bxmben2lpzkhvh5x7xs4sgl2jdocv6osp5oi","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":4231,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T03:55:03.879Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 1","source_file":"01KG6FXSCNX5F3D880P3YP3PKR","start_line":4171,"text":"Twenty-four hours have elapsed since writing the foregoing. I have just\r\nreturned from the haymow, charged more and more with love and admiration\r\nof Hawthorne. For I have just been gleaning through the Mosses, picking\r\nup many things here and there that had previously escaped me. And I\r\nfound that but to glean after this man, is better than to be in at the\r\nharvest of others. To be frank (though, perhaps, rather foolish),\r\nnotwithstanding what I wrote yesterday of these Mosses, I had not then\r\nculled them all; but had, nevertheless, been sufficiently sensible of\r\nthe subtle essence in them, as to write as I did. To what infinite\r\nheight of loving wonder and admiration I may yet be borne, when by\r\nrepeatedly banqueting on these Mosses I shall have thoroughly\r\nincorporated their whole stuff into my being--that, I cannot tell. But\r\nalready I feel that this Hawthorne has dropped germinous seeds into my\r\nsoul. He expands and deepens down, the more I contemplate him; and\r\nfurther and further, shoots his strong New England roots into the hot\r\nsoil in my Southern soul.\r\n\r\nBy careful reference to the table of contents, I now find that I have\r\ngone through all the sketches; but that when I yesterday wrote, I had\r\nnot at all read two particular pieces, to which I now desire to call\r\nspecial attention--_A Select Party_ and _Young Goodman Brown_. Here, be\r\nit said to all those whom this poor fugitive scrawl of mine may tempt to\r\nthe perusal of the Mosses, that they must on no account suffer\r\nthemselves to be trifled with, disappointed, or deceived by the\r\ntriviality of many of the titles to these sketches. For in more than one\r\ninstance, the title utterly belies the piece. It is as if rustic\r\ndemijohns containing the very best and costliest of Falernian and Tokay,\r\nwere labelled ‘Cider,’ ‘Perry,’ and ‘Elderberry wine.’ The truth seems\r\nto be, that like many other geniuses, this Man of Mosses takes great\r\ndelight in hoodwinking the world,--at least, with respect to himself.\r\nPersonally, I doubt not that he rather prefers to be generally esteemed\r\nbut a so-so sort of author; being willing to reserve the thorough and\r\nacute appreciation of what he is, to that party most qualified to\r\njudge--that is, to himself. Besides, at the bottom of their natures, men\r\nlike Hawthorne, in many things, deem the plaudits of the public such\r\nstrong presumptive evidence of mediocrity in the object of them, that it\r\nwould in some degree render them doubtful of their own powers, did they\r\nhear much and vociferous braying concerning them in the public pastures.\r\nTrue, I have been braying myself (if you please to be witty enough to\r\nhave it so), but then I claim to be the first that has so brayed in this\r\nparticular matter; and, therefore, while pleading guilty to the charge,\r\nstill claim all the merit due to originality.\r\n\r\nBut with whatever motive, playful or profound, Nathaniel Hawthorne has\r\nchosen to entitle his pieces in the manner he has, it is certain that\r\nsome of them are directly calculated to deceive--egregiously deceive,\r\nthe superficial skimmer of pages. To be downright and candid once more,\r\nlet me cheerfully say, that two of these titles did dolefully dupe no\r\nless an eager-eyed reader than myself; and that, too, after I had been\r\nimpressed with a sense of the great depth and breadth of this American\r\nman. ‘Who in the name of thunder’ (as the country people say in this\r\nneighbourhood), ‘who in the name of thunder, would anticipate any marvel\r\nin a piece entitled _Young Goodman Brown_?’ You would of course suppose\r\nthat it was a simple little tale, intended as a supplement to _Goody Two\r\nShoes_. Whereas, it is deep as Dante; nor can you finish it, without\r\naddressing the author in his own words--‘It shall be yours to penetrate,\r\nin every bosom, the deep mystery of sin.’... And with Young Goodman,\r\ntoo, in allegorical pursuit of his Puritan wife, you cry out in your\r\nanguish:--\r\n\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 1"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG6GKYHNAM1VYWNQPKZMEK86","peer_type":"section","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG6FXSCNX5F3D880P3YP3PKR","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG2T49K0H5GDRB0G4YDTPG8H","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG6GMPGXFKQ4435SH57ME072","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T03:55:08.185Z","ts":"2026-01-30T03:55:16.170Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}