HENRY THOREAU
could. No, he was not disagreeable. I learned to understand him later. I think that he was then in the green-apple stage."
Another scholar,1 who was more with Henry, told a different story, remembering both brothers with great affection and gratitude. He said that after morning prayers, one or other of the brothers often made a little address to their scholars, original and interesting, to put their minds in proper train for the day's work. Henry's talks especially remain with him: on the seasons, their cause, their advantages, their adaptation to needs of organic life; their beauty, which he brought actually into the school-room by his description; on design in the universe, strikingly illustrated for children's minds; on profanity, treated in a way, fresh, amusing, and sensible.2 At these times you could have heard a pin drop in the school-room. More than this, he won
23
