So far as
I know he never visited at the houses of his neighbors and
never went to town-meeting. The latter was a deadly sin in
the eyes of his democratic neighbors. Mr. Emerson induced
him, one evening, to be one of a small company at his house.
But Hawthorne kept silent and at last went to the window and
looked out at the stars. One of the ladies said to the person
next her: "How well he rides his horses of the night." He
was very fond of long walks, and of rowing on the river with
Thoreau and Ellery Channing.
The Old Manse was built in 1759 by the Rev. Daniel Bliss
for his daughter Phoebe on her marriage to the Rev. William
Emerson. She was grandmother of Waldo Emerson. Her second
husband was the Rev. Dr. Ripley.
I knew Henry Thoreau very intimately. I went to school with
him when I was a little boy and he was a big one. Afterward
I was a scholar in his school.
He was very fond of small boys, and used to take them out
with him in his boat, and make bows and arrows for them, and
take part in their games. He liked also to get a number of
the little chaps of a Saturday afternoon and take them out
in his boat, or for a long walk in the woods.
Pages:
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132