Page:Anti-slavery and reform papers by Thoreau, Henry David.djvu/12



character and opinions of Henry David Thoreau have for the most part been a stumbling-block to the judgment of his critics. As the early naturalists were puzzled to account for the peculiar structure of the bat, which did not readily adapt itself to their established system of classification, so the literary critics have been perplexed and baffled by the elusive qualities of this unique personality, who flits unclassified along the confines of civilization and wildness. One who was "bred to no profession; who never married; who lived alone; who never went to church; who never voted; who refused to pay a tax to the State; who ate no flesh, who drank no wine, who never knew the use of tobacco; and though a naturalist, used neither trap nor gun,"—it is evident that such a man must appear unreasonable and contumacious to those who have never seriously questioned the shibboleths of social order and respectability. If an individual finds himself in conflict with society, it is assumed to be the fault of the individual; he is perverse, or idle, or selfish, or cynical, and the duties of B