Page:Familiar letters of Henry David Thoreau.djvu/118

 94 YEARS OF DISCIPLINE. [1843,

for service, dancing like sea-fowl over the surf, and ships afar off going about their business.

Waldo and Tappan carried me to their Eng lish alehouse the first Saturday, and Waldo spent two hours here the next day. But Tap- pan I have only seen. I like his looks and the sound of his silence. They are confined every clay but Sunday, and then Tappan is obliged to observe the demeanor of a church-goer to pre vent open war with his father.

I am glad that Channing has got settled, and that, too, before the inroad of the Irish. I have read his poems two or three times over, and par tially through and under, with new and increased interest and appreciation. Tell him I saw a man buy a copy at Little & Brown s. He may have been a virtuoso, but we will give him the credit. What with Alcott and Lane and Haw thorne, too, you look strong enough to take New York by storm. Will you tell L,, if he asks, that I have been able to do nothing about the books yet ?

Believe that I have something better to write you than this. It would be unkind to thank you for particular deeds.