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"The Correspondence of Thomas Carlyle and Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1834-1872, Vol II."


Emerson or you do not know;--and as a corollary this _second_
question: What is the essential difference between _white_ (or
brown-gray-white) Indian Meal and _yellow_ (the kind we now have;
beautiful as new Guineas, but with an ineffaceable tastekin of
_soot_ in it)?--And question _third,_ which includes all: How to
cook _mush_ rightly, at least without bitter? _Long_-continued
boiling seems to help the bitterness, but does not cure it. Let
some oracle speak! I tell all people, our staff of life is in
the Mississippi Valley henceforth;--and one of the truest
benefactors were an American Minerva who could teach us to cook
this meal; which our people at present (I included) are
unanimous in finding nigh uneatable, and loudly exclaimable
against! Elihu Burritt had a string of recipes that went through
all newspapers three years ago; but never sang there oracle of
longer ears than that,--totally destitute of practical
significance to any creature here!
And now enough of questioning. Alas, alas, I have a quite other
batch of sad and saddest considerations,--on which I must not so
much as enter at present! Death has been very busy in this
little circle of ours within these few days.


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