Page:Thoreau - His Home, Friends and Books (1902).djvu/96

76 groundless indignation which we symbolized by kindling the spoils of sacked premises on the steps. It probably occurred to him that fools might rush in where angels were not in the habit of going. We recollect that he declined to accompany several fools of this description, who rushed late, all in a fine condition of contempt, with Corybantic gestures, into morning prayers,—a college exercise which we are confident was never attended by angels."

A letter from another classmate, James Richardson of Dedham, refers cordially to their friendly relations and Thoreau's absence, a natural inference, from "Mr. Quincy's Levees" and the entertainments of the class. In this letter is also reference to Thoreau's "part" in the "performances" of Commencement. Whatever had been his delinquencies, he regained sufficient rank to have place in the Commencement conference. Significant were his utterances upon the theme, "The Commercial Spirit," at this early time in his life before he had felt the influence of his later philosopher-friends. Emphasizing as his key-note "freedom of thought and action," he urged elevation of purpose and spirit: "Let men, true to their natures, cultivate the moral affections, lead manly and independent lives; let them make riches the means and not the