THE LIFE WORTH LIVING. 1 87 



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 mar- 

 tyred ; 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 opposition to negro 

 slavery. " Voting for the right is doing noth- 

 ing for it," he says ; " it is only expressing 

 to men feebly your desire that it should pre- 

 vail." " I do not hesitate to say," he adds, 

 " that those who call themselves abolitionists 

 should at once effectually withdraw their sup- 

 port both in person and property from the gov- 



