Page:Thoreau - His Home, Friends and Books (1902).djvu/70

50 The following year, September 18, 1840, the above advertisement is repeated with the addendum: "Henry D. Thoreau will continue to assist in the Classical Department."

John taught English and mathematics and seems to have won the enthusiasm and love of his pupils in larger measure than his more gifted, yet more reserved, brother. Extracts from a journal of one of the resident pupils, to be mentioned in the next chapter, record many instances of the cordial, considerate attentions of John to the boys, his cooperation in their tasks and games, and his opportune fig or orange shyly bestowed upon some pupil who was under ban of mild punishment, which meant abstinence from delicacies of food. Like all the family, John was a good musician and the brothers delighted to sing together. One who knew Henry recalls that, after the death of John, he often refused to sing, though love for music remained a master-passion of his life. In "A Week" Thoreau makes definite reference to the gentle influence of John;—"and his cheerful spirit soothed and reassured his brother, for wherever they meet, the Good Genius is sure to prevail." Companions in lofty thoughts and practical home-life, they were, as well, comrades in nature-study and search for Indian relics. In his journals, Henry