Page:Thoreau - His Home, Friends and Books (1902).djvu/202

176 nobility of character during the years of health, these qualities were yet more in evidence in his months of illness. His letters reveal almost constant cheerfulness and serenity. After reading these, it is easy to understand his sister's statement,—"During seventeen months never a murmur escaped him. I wish I could describe the wonderful simplicity and childlike trust with which he accepted every experience." He applied fully that philosophy which he had collated. Industrious to the last day of his life, he read many books, revised his manuscripts, and talked with family and friends. He was vitally interested in the beginnings of the war, declaring he was "sick for his country," and should never recover while the war lasted. He bore his debility and suffering like a hero but his attitude was more than mere resignation. There was the nobler element of contentment and faith. He was grateful for the years that he had enjoyed and knew that his time of revelation had come. He told Alcott,—"I leave the world without a regret." His serene faith never wavered. To Parker Pillsbury, who inquired concerning Thoreau's belief in the hereafter, he calmly and gently replied,—"My friend, one world at a time." To the well-meaning but bigoted Calvinist, who asked if he had made his peace with God, his answer was