Henry David Thoreau 191 



touch of interest they acquire at the thought 

 that the man himself is preaching to an audi- 

 ence of people who consider him little better 

 than a madman. Unquestionably he was a 

 true lover of nature. 



The quality which we should call mystery in 

 a painting, and which belongs so particularly 

 to the aspect of the external world and to its 

 influence upon our feelings, was one which he 

 was never weary of attempting to reproduce in 

 his books. The significance of nature's ap- 

 pearances, their unchanging strangeness to the 

 senses and the thrilling response they awaken 

 in the mind of man, continued to surprise and 

 stimulate his spirits. He writes to a friend: 

 "Let me suggest a theme for you to state to 

 yourself precisely and completely what that 

 walk over the mountains amounted to for you, 

 returning to this essay again and again until 

 you are satisfied that all that was important in 

 your experience is in it. Don't suppose that 

 you record it precisely the first dozen times you 

 try, but at 'em again; especially when, after 

 a sufficient pause, you suspect that you are 

 touching the heart or stomach of the matter. 



