36 
WALDEN. 
at what a sacrifice this advantage is at present obtained, 
and to suggest that we may possibly so live as to secure 
all the advantage without suffering any of the disadvan¬ 
tage. What mean ye by saying that the poor ye have 
always with you, or that the fathers have eaten sour 
grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge ? 
“ As I live, saith the Lord God, ye shall not have oc¬ 
casion any more to use this proverb in Israel.” 
“ Behold all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, 
so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth 
it shall die.” 
When I consider my neighbors, the farmers of Con¬ 
cord, who are at least as well off as the other classes, I 
find that for the most part they have been toiling twenty, 
thirty, or forty years, that they may become the real 
owners of their farms, which commonly they have in¬ 
herited with encumbrances, or else bought with hired 
money, — and we may regard one third of that toil as 
the cost of their houses, — but commonly they have not 
paid for them yet. It is true, the encumbrances some¬ 
times outweigh the value of the farm, so that the farm 
itself becomes one great encumbrance, and still a man is 
found to inherit it, being well acquainted with it, as he 
says. On applying to the assessors, I am surprised to 
learn that they cannot at once name a dozen in the 
town who own their farms free and clear. If you would 
know the history of these homesteads, inquire at the 
bank where they are mortgaged. The man who has 
actually paid for his farm with labor on it is so rare that 
every neighbor can point to him. I doubt if there are 
three such men in Concord. What has been said of the 
merchants, that a very large majority, even ninety-seven 
in a hundred, are sure to fail, is equally true of the 
