
41 
cynical misanthrope about him. He is in Concord almost every 
day, often visiting his father’s house. His friends—real friends 
—are welcome to Walden Hut, though he hits hard at the 
inquisitive who were merely curious to see him in his shanty. 
He was in no real sense opposed to civilisation, with its material 
forces, but he sees the underside of civilisation and deplores 
the motive power behind agencies, which with a purer direction 
would have much happier issues to their works. He condemns 
this race for wealth, where men are made into machines and 
have no time to think, he cries out for less speed, more freedom 
—while you are glorying in your power, your inventions, and 
your philanthropies, you never see that it is in your power to so 
elevate all that life will be glorious and divine. 
Several influences determined his withdrawal to Walden. In 
the first place he revolted from the pure, cold, anatomical 
reasonings of Emersonian philosophy—his poetic soul weuld 
freeze if he could not withdraw within (to employ his own 
epigram) ‘‘ the impenetrable shield of himself.’’ Then again, 
the death of his brother John was a fearful blow to him, for 
they had been inseparable ; and lastly his passionate love of 
nature. 
I hold that the philosophy of life given in “‘ Walden” is 
sound. His reply to those who say that civilisation is only 
bringing out the resources of nature is—that all this work only 
brings with it its own Nemesis of increased toil, and that it 
would be far better for man to work less — that our ‘‘damna- 
bly industrious labourer ’’ would be better for more basking in 
the sun instead of work, work, work, and then no time for 
thought save of more work. 
America, in Thoreau’s days, is taking her great strides, but 
there is the jarring sound of the predominant dollar, men’s 
lives are blasted by the din; injustice is growing; the weeds 
of greed, artifice, and external show are choking the seeds of 
spiritual growth in men. Creed and dogma, as well as the hard- 
bound business men, suffer under his hands—he creates quite 
as much consternation amongst saints as sinners, and the men 
of narrow philanthropy would hide as he holds up to light their 
meanness and inconsistency, and glorifies simplicity and sin- 
cerity in word and deed. He is an individualist par excellence. 
While democratic institutions are growing apace, we need the 
spirit of Thoreau—much of this spirit—else the strain will be too 
much to bear. He says to all—abide in a stern, simple self- 
respect, you can elevate and sustain yourself, stand by your 
hardy, native vigour as a man—simplify—yours is the virtue— 
hold to it. 
