
39 
THOREAU. 
By L. CONRAD HARTLEY. March 20th, 1906. 
Thoreau was born on 12th July, 1817. His father, a pencil- 
maker, was a quiet, steady, plodding, reliable man, of French 
extraction. His mother was a tall, handsome woman,—intel- 
lectual, quick-witted, and a good talker. Thoreau’s birth-place 
was Concord, 20 miles north-east of Boston. When Thoreau 
was a boy, Concord was a scattered village of about 2,000 in- 
habitants, mostly plain, frugal folk, prizing literature and 
learning, rather than courting wealth and show. In 1833, 
Thoreau was sent to Harvard University, and it isrecorded that 
it was mainly owing to R. W. Emerson’s influence that he was 
enabled to stay at College, where his strong individualistic 
tendencies were marked,—of fearless thought, of deep question- 
ing as to social and religious matters,—a sceptic in a sincere 
and not in a vicious sense. He was reserved, and already his 
stern ideals made him difficult to approach, for he demanded 
from others the sincerity and care he meted out to them. In 
1837, he leaves Harvard—he is now 20 years of age, and in the 
following year he ‘‘ keeps school” at Concord Academy along 
with his brother John. He also tries his hand at his father’s 
business of pencil-making, but he is so little in harmony with 
the spirit which actuated most commercial transactions, that 
he betakes himself to that study of nature to which he is fore- 
ordained. 
This is the period when the great transcendental movement 
is gathering force. Nothing more natural than that Thoreau, 
with his fixity of purpose, should join the ranks of those who 
were studying and already preaching a regeneration ; for years 
before he had decided toso pursue this life of his as to conserve 
what is truly profitable. In 1840, we find him admitted to the 
inmost circle of those sincere, earnest ones—men and women— 
who centred at Emerson’s house in Concord. Their aim was to 
_ purify and simplify life and thought, and in this atmosphere 
of direction he meets such as Emerson, Channing, Margaret 
Fuller, Amos Alcott, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and other thought- 
ful souls. Even amongst these Thoreau is invested with a 
