AWAY WITH GENEALOGIES. 13 



week I saw for the first time these hills and 

 water- worn vales; these trees and moss-covered 

 boulders. Sixteen years a fourth of a life- 

 time ! What changes have been wrought ! What 

 ambitions have been quenched ! What un- 

 dreamed of happenings have come to be ! 



Sanborn, in his "Life of Thoreau," which I 

 have just finished, deals too much with the gene- 

 alogies of the citizens of Concord, treating of 

 them as far back towards Adam as he was able 

 to find data. I draw the line at genealogies. 

 What matters it to me who was Thoreau's, or 

 Emerson's great grandmother on his father's 

 side, or great uncle on his mother's side ? What 

 I looked for and desired in the book was an ac- 

 count of the personality, the daily life, the deeds 

 of Thoreau himself, not those of his ancestry. 



What matters it to me who was my great, 

 great grandfather ? I do not even know his 

 name or his vocation. I only know that some- 

 where he existed ; else this body and soul of 

 mine would not have come together. Perhaps I 

 should revere my ancestor for the simple rea- 

 son that if he had not been I would not be. The 



