Page:Thoreau - His Home, Friends and Books (1902).djvu/41

Rh In varied ways the Thoreau family received due quota of stimulus from these conditions and, in turn, contributed to the civic, intellectual and social activity of Concord. Probably no household found greater delight in studying nature, in fostering the educative and sanative effects of outdoor life, when such interests were scantily encouraged. To all movements for reform and betterment, they gave zealous service. While Henry Thoreau, by his peculiar temperament and deep earnestness, was separated from some social phases of Concord life yet a recognition of its opportunities and influence tinctured all his writings. His aspirations for his home-village reached an acme of ideality in the plan, outlined in "Walden," for a university, in a new, broad sense, with Concord as its centre. The scheme was nebulous yet it revealed foresight and strong optimism. Possibly, the plan may have been suggested by the historical fact that twice in the history of Harvard College, during times of danger in the Revolution, the faculty and students had migrated to Concord and there, for several weeks, had left the intellectual and vivacious marks of a college atmosphere. Some of Thoreau's ideas, mystic and iconoclastic then, have been embodied in the aims of modern culture, and have found expression in progressive clubs in scores of American