196 The Life Worth Living 



In the case of Thoreau so great a show of 

 doctrine contrary to what the world believed, 

 demanded some practical outcome. If nothing 

 were to be done but build a shanty at Walden 

 Pond, we have heard too much of these decla- 

 rations of independence. That the man wrote 

 some books is nothing to the purpose, for the 

 same has been done in a suburban villa. That 

 he kept himself happy is perhaps a sufficient 

 excuse, but it is disappointing to the reader. 

 We may be unjust, but when a man despises 

 commerce and philanthropy and has views of 

 good so soaring that he must take himself 

 apart from mankind for their cultivation, we 

 will not rest content without some striking act. 

 And it was not Thoreau 's fault if he were not 

 martyred ; had the occasion come, he would 

 have made a noble ending. He made one 

 practical appearance on the stage of affairs, and 

 strangely characteristic of the man. It was 

 forced on him by his calm but radical opposi- 

 tion to negro slavery. "Voting for the right 

 is doing nothing for it," he says; "it is only 

 expressing to men feebly your desire that it 

 should prevail." "I do not hesitate to say," 



