the Thoreau Log.
1835
Æt. 18.
13 January 1835. Cambridge, Mass.

Thoreau checks out Recollections of Mirabeau, and of the two first legislative assemblies of France by Etienne Dumont and Historical researches on the conquest of Peru, Mexico, Bogota, Natchez, and Talomeco, in the thirteenth century, by the Mongols, accompanied with elephants by John Ranking from Harvard College Library.

(Companion to Thoreau’s Correspondence, 287)
17 January 1835. Cambridge, Mass.

Thoreau submits an essay on the prompt “Of keeping a private journal or record of our thoughts, feelings, studies, and daily experience, — containing abstracts of books, and the opinions we formed of them on first reading them,” for a class assignment given him on 20 December 1834. Thoreau is also given the prompt for his next essay, “We are apt to become what others (however erroneously) think us to be: hence another motive to guard against the power of others’ unfavorable opinion,” due on 31 January.

(Thoreau’s Harvard Years, part 2:8; Early Essays and Miscellanies, 8-9)
20 January 1835. Cambridge, Mass.

Thoreau checks out Oeuvres, volumes 1 and 2 by Jean Racine from Harvard College Library (Companion to Thoreau’s Correspondence, 287).

27 January 1835. Cambridge, Mass.

At a meeting of the Institute of 1770, Thoreau debates the topic “Is political eminence more worthy of admiration than literary?” With the help of some volunteers, Thoreau discusses the affirmative, but the negative gets the decision. Institute member Frederic Huidekoper lectures on “Education” at the meeting as well.

(The Transcendentalists and Minerva, 1:82)
31 January 1835. Cambridge, Mass.

Thoreau submits an essay on the prompt “We are apt to become what others, (however erroneously) think us to be; hence another motive to guard against the power of others’ unfavorable opinion,” for a class assignment given him on 17 January. Thoreau is also given the prompt for his next essay, “On what grounds may the form, ceremonies and restraints of polite society be objected to? Speak of some of them. What purpose are they intended to answer?” due on 14 February.

(Thoreau’s Harvard Years, part 2:8; Early Essays and Miscellanies, 9-11)
10 February 1835. Cambridge, Mass.

Thoreau checks out Euripides’ Alcestis and Ion from Harvard College Library (Companion to Thoreau’s Correspondence, 287).

Thoreau also attends a meeting of the Institute of 1770, in which the topic “Is the immense mass of Literature of the present day beneficial?” is debated and Edward Henry Kettel lectures on the “Character of Washington” (The Transcendentalists and Minerva, 1:82).

14 February 1835. Cambridge, Mass.

Thoreau submits an essay on the prompt “On what grounds may the forms, ceremonies, and restraints of polite society be objected to? Speak of some of them. What purposes are they intended to answer?,” for an assignment given him on 31 January. Thoreau is also given the prompt for his next essay, “Explain the phrases, a man of business, a man of pleasure, a man of the world,” due on 28 February.

(Thoreau’s Harvard Years, part 2:8; Early Essays and Miscellanies, 11-12)
17 February 1835. Cambridge, Mass.

Thoreau checks out The dignity of human nature. Or, A brief account of the certain and established means for attaining the true end of our existence, volume 2 by James Burgh from Harvard College Library (Companion to Thoreau’s Correspondence, 287).

24 February 1835. Cambridge, Mass.

Thoreau checks out Peter Langtoft’s Chronicle, (as illustrated and improv’d by Robert of Brunne) from the death of Cadwaladen to the end of K. Edward the First’s reign, volume 1 from Harvard College Library (Companion to Thoreau’s Correspondence, 287).

Thoreau also attends a meeting of the Institute of 1770 in which the topic “Is War or Peace preferable to develop the powers of the mind?” is debated and Institute member John F. W. Lane lectures on the “manners and customs of the Italians” (The Transcendentalists and Minerva, 1:82).

25 February 1835. Cambridge, Mass., University Hall, room 7.

Thoreau and other sophomores are examined by the Committee of the Board of Overseers on three parts of Richard Whately’s Elements of Rhetoric. Committee members are John Brazer, Ezra S. Gannett, Sidney Willard, Ellis G. Loving, and Ralph Waldo Emerson (Thoreau’s Harvard Years, part 1:5, 15).

28 February 1835. Cambridge, Mass.

Thoreau writes a college essay, “Explain the phrases.—a man of business, a man of pleasure, a man of the world,” for an assignment of 14 February. Thoreau is also given the prompt for his next essay, “State what you understand by the following epithets applied to certain ages of the world: The dark Age, the Augustan Age, the Golden Age, the fabulous Age, this enlightened Age,” due on 14 March.

(Thoreau’s Harvard Years, part 2:8; Early Essays and Miscellanies, 13-14)
3 March 1835. Cambridge, Mass.

Thoreau checks out The Miscellaneous Works of Oliver Goldsmith, volume 3 from Harvard College Library (Companion to Thoreau’s Correspondence, 287).

10 March 1835. Cambridge, Mass.

Thoreau attends a meeting of the Institute of 1770 in which the topic “Are temperance Societies as now conducted likely to produce more evil than good?” is debated and a lecture is given on “Sleep.” Thoreau is chosen to debate next meeting’s topic, “Ought capital punishment to be abolished?”.

(The Transcendentalists and Minerva, 1:82)
14 March 1835. Cambridge, Mass.

Thoreau finishes the second term of his sophomore year, ranking seventh in a class of 44 students. He earned 1,538 points, for a grand total of 7,744. Starts his third term, taking the following classes:

  • Mathematics taught by Benjamin Peirce; reading An Elementary Treatise on Mechanics by John Farrar
  • Greek composition, grammar, and antiquities taught by Cornelius C. Felton; reading Euripides’ Alcestis
  • Latin composition taught by Charles Beck; reading Seneca’s Medea and Horace’s epistles and satires
  • English taught by Edward T. Channing with weekly declamation and bi-weekly themes; reading Richard Whately’s Logic
  • French taught by Francis Surault
(Thoreau’s Harvard Years, part 1:15-16)
17 March 1835. Cambridge, Mass.

Thoreau checks out the Edinburgh Review, or critical journal, volumes 35 and 48, from Harvard College Library (Companion to Thoreau’s Correspondence, 287).

Spring 1835. Concord, Mass.

Thoreau’s family moves to his aunt Maria’s house (Journal, 8:65).

20 April 1835. Concord, Mass.

Thoreau muses about Sunday afternoons at his father’s house in Concord:

  ’Twas always my delight to monopolize the little Gothic window which overlooked the kitchen-garden, particularly of a Sabbath afternoon; when all around was quiet, and Nature herself was taking her afternoon nap,—when the last peal of the bell in the neighboring steeple,

    ‘swinging slow with sullen roar,’

had ‘Left the vale to solitude and me,’ and the very air scarcely dared breathe, lest it should disturb the universal calm. Then did I use, with eyes upturned to gaze upon the clouds, and, allowing my imagination to wander, search for flaws in their rich drapery, that I might get a peep at that world beyond, which they seem intended to veil from our view. Now is my attention engaged by a truant hawk, as, like a messenger from those ethereal regions, he issues from the bosom of a cloud, and, at first a mere speck in the distance, comes circling onward, exploring every seeming creek, and rounding every jutting precipice. And now, his mission ended, what can be more majestic than his stately flight, as he wheels around some towering pine, enveloped in a cloud of smaller birds that have united to expel him from their premises.

(Henry D. Thoreau, 152)
21 April 1835. Cambridge, Mass.

Thoreau checks out The plays of William Shakespeare, volumes 1, 3, and 4 from Harvard College Library (Companion to Thoreau’s Correspondence, 287). While he reads over the next few days, he copies extracts from “Dr. Johnson’s Preface” of volume 1 into a notebook.

(The Transcendentalists and Minerva, 1:130-1)

  At a meeting of the Institute of 1770, Thoreau debates the topic “Ought capital punishment to be abolished?” (The Transcendentalists and Minerva, 1:82).

5 May 1835. Cambridge, Mass.

Thoreau checks out Life of Geoffrey Chaucer, volumes 1 and 2 by William Godwin from Harvard College Library (Companion to Thoreau’s Correspondence, 287). While he reads over the next few days, he copies extracts from volume 2 (as well as volumes 3 and 4, which he didn’t take out of the library) into a notebook.

(The Transcendentalists and Minerva, 1:131-3)

Thoreau is absent from a meeting of the Institute of 1770 in which Institute member Charles Theodore Russell lectures on “Poetry.” He is selected to debate and lecture at the next meeting (The Transcendentalists and Minerva, 1:82).

19 May 1835. Cambridge, Mass.

Thoreau is absent from a meeting of the Institute of 1770 in which Institute member Samuel Treat lectures on the “Fine Arts” (The Transcendentalists and Minerva, 1:82).

23 May 1835. Cambridge, Mass.

Thoreau submits an essay on the prompt “‘One of a cold & of a constant mind/ Not quickened into ardent action soon/ Nor prompt for petty enterprise; yet bold,/ Fierce when need is, and capable of all things.’ Philip Van Artevelde. Distinguish between this & other kinds of energetic character, and speak of one or more in history who answer to the above description” for a class assignment given him on 9 May. Thoreau is also given the prompt for his next essay, “Select some historical era which has particularly interested you, and show what constituted its interest. Was it a Romantic period or warlike or peaceful or politically important or an Age of Discovery – or of the Elegant Arts” due on 6 June.

(Thoreau’s Harvard Years, part 2:9; Early Essays and Miscellanies, 16-19)
ca. 25 May to June 1835. Cambridge, Mass.

Thoreau copies extracts from Outre-mer; a pilgrimage beyond the sea by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, likely borrowed from the library of the Institute of 1770, into a notebook (The Transcendentalists and Minerva, 1:133-9, 42-3).

ca. 1 June 1835. Cambridge, Mass.

Thoreau copies extracts from The Headsman; or, the Abbaye des Vignerons. A Tale by James Fenimore Cooper, likely borrowed from the library of the Institute of 1770, into a notebook (The Transcendentalists and Minerva, 1:139-40).

2 June 1835. Cambridge, Mass.

Thoreau is tardy to a meeting of the Institute of 1770 along with six other Institute members (The Transcendentalists and Minerva, 1:82).

ca. 4 June 1835. Cambridge, Mass.

Thoreau copies extracts from The Crayon miscellany. No. 2 containing: Abbotsford and Newstead Abbey by Washington Irving, likely borrowed from the library of the Institute of 1770, into a notebook (The Transcendentalists and Minerva, 1:140-2).

9 June 1835. Cambridge, Mass.

Thoreau checks out Johan Scapula’s Lexicon Græco-Latinum from Harvard College Library (Companion to Thoreau’s Correspondence, 287).

10 June 1835. Cambridge, Mass.

Thoreau attends a meeting of the Institute of 1770 in which the topic “Are the measures of the Abolitionists justifiable?” is debated (The Transcendentalists and Minerva, 1:82).

16 June 1835. Cambridge, Mass.

Thoreau checks out A history of Harvard University by Benjamin Peirce from Harvard College Library (Companion to Thoreau’s Correspondence, 287).

Thoreau attends a meeting of the Institute of 1770 in which Henry Vose lectures on “Drama” and Charles Stearns Wheeler lectures on “Anonymous Criticism” (The Transcendentalists and Minerva, 1:83).

27 June 1835. Cambridge, Mass.

Thoreau finishes his third term and his sophomore year, earning 1,290 points. His grand total of 9,034 points ranks him eleventh out of 46 sophomores and wins him a part in the Exhibition of 13 July (Thoreau’s Harvard Years, part 1:15).

28 June 1835. Cambridge, Mass.

Thoreau starts the first term of his junior year, rooming alone in Hollis no. 31 and taking the following classes:

  • Greek composition with Cornelius C. Felton; reading Homer’s Iliad
  • Latin composition with Charles Beck with “extemporaneous translation into Latin”; reading D. Junii Juvenalis Satirae expurgatae. Accedunt notae anglicae. In usum scholae bostoniensis. Cura F. P. Leverett
  • Theology with Henry Ware; reading A view of the evidences of Christianity by William Paley and The analogy of religion, natural and revealed, to the constitution and course of nature by Joseph Butler
  • Mental Philosophy with Joel Giles; reading The principles of moral and political philosophy by Paley and Elements of the philosophy of the human mind by Dugald Stewart
  • English with Edward T. Channing (bi-weekly themes) and Forensics with Channing and Giles
  • French with Francis Surault
  • German with Hermann Bokum
(Thoreau’s Harvard Years, part 1:16; A Catalogue of Officers and Students of Harvard University for the Academical Year 1835-36, 16)
30 June 1835. Cambridge, Mass.

Thoreau attends a meeting of the Institute of 1770 in which Williams (the record does does specify which one; Henry, William Pinckney, Francis Stanton, or Edward Pinckney) lectures on “Eloquence” and Horace Morison reads a poem on “Genius,” to much applause (The Transcendentalists and Minerva, 1:83).

13 July 1835. Cambridge, Mass.

Thoreau performs a Greek dialogue, “Decius and Cato,” with Manlius Stimson Clarke at a Harvard Exhibition (Emerson Society Quarterly 8 (3rd Quarter 1957):28):

ΔΙΑΛΟΓΟΣ

Δεκιος  Clarke, Manlius S.
Κατων  Thoreau, David H.

ΔΕΚΙΟΣ  Ό Καισαρ σε χαιρειν διακελευεται.

ΚΑΤΩΝ  Ειδυνατον ηω φιλους εμου σψακτους χαιρειν διακελευεσθαι, τουτο κεχαρισμενον αν έιη. Ου την προσαγορεθεαν βουλην χρη;

ΔΕΚΙΟΣ  Προσ σε λεγειν αψικνουμαι. Ό Καισαρ τα πραγματα σοι κακως εχειν αισθανεται, και δε αυιῳ σε μεγα ποιουνιι μελει της σης σωτηριας.

ΚΑΤΩΝ  Το αυτο εμοι και τῃ Ρωμῃ ειμαρμενον εστι, ει ό Καιουρ εμε σωζειν βουλεται κελευς αυτον ου την πατριδα πορθειν, συμεν ψρασαι τουτο τῳ αυτοκρατορι, και εμε δυσχεραινειν τον βιον όν αυτος διδοναι εχει.

ΔΕΚΙΟΣ  Ή Ρωμη και ή βουλη εκδοτους τῳ Καισαρι εαυτουσ ποιουσι, Οι αρχοντες και οί ήγεμονες, των αυτου νικωντων τε θριαμβων αυτον εμποδε ζοντες, ετελευτων. Δια τι προς τον Καισαρα κατατιθεναι χαριν ψεθγεις;

ΚΑΤΩΝ  Συρ λογος αυτος τουτο διακωλυει.

ΔΕΚΙΟΣ  ώ Κατον, κελευομαι προσψιλως σε των βουλευματων αποτρεπειν. Τον επικειμενον σοι κινδυνον διασκοπει τον τε αλεθρον εν τω νυν απειλουντι σοι. Πλειστων τιμων παρα των πολιτων απολαυσεις ειμονον προσχωρειν προς τε τον Καισαρα κατατιθεναι χαριν βουλῃ. Ή Ρωμη χαρει και σε ύπερτατον βροτων αναβλεφει.

ΚΑΤΩΝ  Λλις των τοιουτων, ου προσδοκαν τον βιον επι τοιοισδε εμοι προς ηκει.

ΔΕΚΙΟΣ  Ό Καισαρ τας σας αρετας γνωριζει, διοτι την σην σωτηριαν πολλου τιμα αυτῳ επιστελλε επι ποσῳ δεξαιτ, αν σε όμολογιας τε εκτιθει.

ΚΑΤΩΝ  Κελευε μεν αυτον τους λοχους διαπεμπειν την δε τῃ δημοκρα τιᾳ ελευθερια αποδεδοναι, και τα πεπραγμανα αναψερειν προς το συγκλητον, τουτων πειρι μενων, εγω προς αυτον ψιλιαν πραξω.

ΔΕΚΙΟΣ  ώ Κατον, παντες την σην σοψιαν αγαν επαιωουσι.

ΚΑΤΩΝ  Κελευε μεν αυτον, εμης φωνης, ουψιλουσης τους εν κακοις αλοντας απολυειν και αμαρτηματα καλλυνειν, εγωγε επι τοβημα αυτου χαριν αναβησομαι και τον δημον πειοω αυτῳ άμαρτηματα συγγινωσκειν.

ΔΕΚΙΟΣ  Τῳ νικωντι ταδε επη πρεπει.

ΚΑΤΩΝ  ω Δεκιε, ταυτα τα επη Ρωμαιῳ πρεπει.

ΔΕΚΙΟΣ  Τι εστι Ρωμαιος τῳ Καισαρι εχθρος.

ΚΑΤΩΝ  Μειζων του Καισαρος, ό φιλος της αρετης εστι.

ΔΕΚΙΟΣ  Μιμνησκου ίνα τοπου, Ουτικης ειναι, μικρης βουλης προεδρεθειν. Ουκ νου εν τῃ αγορᾳ, παντων των Ρωμαιων επιφωνουντων, δημηγορεις.

ΚΑΤΩΝ  Αυτον τουτο δια μνημης εχειν χρη ός ήμας δευρο αγει: Το του Καισαρου ειψος την της Ρωμης βουλην ωλεγωσε. Φευ, ή τουδε νικη και ή ευτυχια σε τα ομματα εκστα τικον εξαπατουσι, ει αυτον καλος οκοπεις, με – μολυσμενος φονῳ, προδοσιᾳ, θεοσυλιᾳ, και μιασμασι ών την μνημην μονην θαμβων ψανησεται, συνοιδα εμαυτῳ δυστανῳ και εχθετῳ κακοις φαινομενῳ, αλλα προς των θεων ομνυμι ότι εχατων μυριαδων κοσμων προς φερομενων, ουκ όδε Καισαρ ειην.

ΔΕΚΙΟΣ  Τοι αυτην αποκρισιν τῳ Καιραι ό Κατων, απομεμπει, αντι παντων των αυτου ευμενων προνοιων της σε φιλιας εκουσιως προςψερομενης;

ΚΑΤΩΝ  Αυτου προνοια ύβριστικη και μεταια εστιν. ώ ύπερηφαρε ανερ, οί θευι εμου προνοιαν εχουσι, ει ό Καισαρ την μεγαλοψυχιαν επιδεικ νυναι βουλεται, δει αυτον προνοιαν τωνδε εμων φιλων εχειν, και ευ θρησθαι τῃ δυναστεια κακως ειλημενῃ

ΔΕΚΙΟΣ  Δια την σην αδαματην καρδιαν επιλανθανει σε. θνητον οντα. Εισπιπτεις τον συν ολεθρον. Λλις των τοιουτων, οτε απαγγελλω πως ταυτη ή πρεσβεια διαπραττεται πασα ή Ρωμη δακρυα θιζει.

[Translation by Prof. Albert Merriman of Trinity College:]

DECIUS  Caesar bids you hail [to be well].

CATO  If it were possible to bid my slain friends to be well, it might be welcome. Ought you not to address the Senate?

DECIUS  I come to speak to you. Caesar perceives your affairs to go badly, and since he sets great store by you, he is concerned with your well being.

CATO  I share the same fate as Rome. If Caesar wishes to preserve me, bid him not to destroy his country. Tell this to the dictator, and that I scorn the life which he has to give.

DECIUS  Rome and the [Roman] Senate have given themselves up entirely to Caesar. [But] the archons [counsuls?] and the generals [tribunes?] have persisted in impeding his victories and triumphs. Why do you avoid laying up this merit with Caesar?

CATO  Your word itself [i.e., your very speech] prevents this.

DECIUS  Cato, I bid you kindly to turn from your designs. Consider the dangers overhanging you and the destruction presently threatening you. You will enjoy many honors at the hands of the citizens, if only you are willing to accede and earn Caesar’s gratitude. Rome will rejoice and look up to you as the highest of mortals.

CATO  Enough of such remarks. It does not befit me to expect [await] life on such terms.

DECIUS  Caesar is acquainted with your merits; wherefore [that is why] he values your well-being highly. inform him at what price he may receive you [i.e., your political support], and proclaim your terms of agreement.

CATO  Bid him to disperse his legions and return its freedom to the Republic, and to refer his deeds to the Senate. This done, I will make [enter upon] friendship with him.

DECIUS  Cato, all praise your wisdom too highly!

CATO  Bid him, since my voice loves not those apprehended in evil, to remove and rectify his sins. I will mount the rostrum for his sake and will persuade the people to pardon his errors.

DECIUS  It is the conqueror that these words befit.

CATO  Decius, these words befit a Roman.

DECIUS  Why is a Roman an enemy to Caesar?

CATO  Greater than Caesar, he [i.e., a Roman] is the friend of virtue.

DECIUS  Remember where you are, that you are of Utica, that you are chairman of a small junta. You do not now stir the people in the Forum, all Romans shouting assent.

CATO  He who drove us to it should remember this: The sword of Caesar has diminished the Senate of Rome. Alas! His victory and luck deceive your eyes wildly; if you regard him rightly, he is stained with murder, treason, sacrilege, pollution, of whose memory alone he will appear to be terrified. I am conscious that I appear unhappy and exposed to misfortunes, but I swear before the gods that if one hundred times ten thousand honors were offered to me, I would not be this Caesar.

DECIUS  Is such the answer Cato returns to Caesar in return for [view of] all his gracious consideration [forethought], when his friendship is voluntarily offered you?

CATO  His forethought is insulting and vain. Arrogant man! The gods have forethought for me; if Caesar wishes to show his high-mindedness, he must have forethought for these friends of mine and use well the power so wrongly seized.

DECIUS  Because of your hard heart you forget that you are mortal. You are rushing to your destruction. Enough of such words! When I report back how my embassy has fared, all Rome will shed tears.

(Emerson Society Quarterly 8 (3rd Quarter 1957):23-6)
September 1835. Cambridge, Mass.

Thoreau writes an essay on the prompt “The comparative moral policy of severe and mild punishments” (Early Essays and Miscellanies, 21-23).

3 September 1835. Cambridge, Mass.

Thoreau checks out The ancient history of the Egyptians, Carthaginians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Medes & Persians, Macedonians, and Grecians, atlas and volume 1 by Charles Rollin, Homeri Ilias cum brevi annotatione curante C. G. Heyne, volume 1, and The Canterbury tales of Chaucer; with an essay on his language and versification, an introductory discourse, notes and a glossary by Tho. Tyrhitt, Esq., volumes 1, 2, and 5 from Harvard College Library.

(Companion to Thoreau’s Correspondence, 287-8)
16 September 1835. Cambridge, Mass.

Thoreau attends a meeting of the Institute of 1770 in which the topic “Whether the banishment of Napoleon to St. Helena was justifiable” is debated (The Transcendentalists and Minerva, 1:83).

17 September 1835. Cambridge, Mass.

Thoreau checks out The light of nature pursued, volume 2 by Abraham Tucker from Harvard College Library (Companion to Thoreau’s Correspondence, 287).

18 September 1835. Cambridge, Mass.

Thoreau submits an essay on the prompt “‘I live like a Prince: not indeed in the pomp of greatness, but in the pride of liberty; master of my books, master of my time.’ Speak of the privileges and pleasures of a literary man” for a class assignment given him on 4 September.

Thoreau is also given the prompt for his next essay, “Of taking opinions on trust. When necessary? When safe? When dangerous?” due on 2 October (Thoreau’s Harvard Years, part 2:9; Early Essays and Miscellanies, 19-21).

28 September 1835. Cambridge, Mass.

Charles Stearns Wheeler checks out American ornithology, or, The natural history of the birds of the United States, volume 5 by Alexander Wilson for Thoreau from Harvard College Library (Companion to Thoreau’s Correspondence, 287).

29 September 1835. Cambridge, Mass.

Thoreau attends a meeting of the Institute of 1770 in which the topic “Whether the emigration of foreigners into our country is evil or not?” is debated (The Transcendentalists and Minerva, 1:83).

5 October 1835. Cambridge, Mass.

Thoreau checks out New and improved grammar of the Italian Language by Gasparo Grimani from Harvard College Library (Companion to Thoreau’s Correspondence, 287).

13 October 1835. Cambridge, Mass.

Thoreau attends a meeting of the Institute of 1770 in which the topic “Has the form of government of the U. S. A. a greater appearance of stability than any other?” is debated (The Transcendentalists and Minerva, 1:83).

16 October 1835. Cambridge, Mass.

Thoreau submits an essay on the prompt “What is meant by popular feeling? How are we to know what it is on any subject? Is it less likely to be safe and just than that of the few? Does it cause more harm when left to take its own course than when interfered with?” for a class assignment given him on 2 October.

Thoreau is also given the prompt to his next essay, “Of the feelings with which a laboring man and a scholar are supposed to regard each other’s occupation,” due on 30 October (Thoreau’s Harvard Years, part 2:9; Early Essays and Miscellanies, 23-4).

27 October 1835. Cambridge, Mass.

Thoreau attends a meeting of the Institute of 1770 in which a lecture is given on “Astronomy” and the topic “Should the people ever inflict punishment upon an individual without granting him a regular trial?” is debated (The Transcendentalists and Minerva, 1:83).

29 October 1835. Cambridge, Mass.

Thoreau checks out Ancient history of the Egyptians, Carthaginians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Medes & Persians, Macedonians, and Grecians, volume 3 by Charles Rollin from Harvard College Library (Companion to Thoreau’s Correspondence, 287).

5 November 1835. Cambridge, Mass.

Thoreau checks out Ancient history of the Egyptians, Carthaginians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Medes & Persians, Macedonians, and Grecians, volumes 4-8 by Charles Rollin from Harvard College Library (Companion to Thoreau’s Correspondence, 287).

10 November 1835. Cambridge, Mass.

Thoreau attends a meeting of the Institute of 1770 in which Edward Augustus Renouf reads passages from A Few Weeks in Paris during the Residence of the Allied Sovereigns in that Metropolis by Theodore Lyman and the topic “Ought gambling to be punished as a criminal offence?” is debated (The Transcendentalists and Minerva, 1:83).

24 November 1835. Cambridge, Mass.

Thoreau attends a meeting of the Institute of 1770 in which Stone (either Henry O. or Thomas W., the record does not state which) lectures on “Witchcraft” and the topic “Ought the military law to bind all classes?” is debated (The Transcendentalists and Minerva, 1:83).

27 November 1835. Cambridge, Mass.

Thoreau submits an essay on the prompt “The ways in which a man’s style may be said to offend against simplicity” for a class assignment given him on 13 November.

Thoreau is also given the prompt for his next essay, “At what period of life or in what kind of pursuits are we most exposed to be absorbed in the present? And how are our minds affected by being thus engrossed?” due on 18 December (Thoreau’s Harvard Years, part 2:10; Early Essays and Miscellanies, 24-6).

2 December 1835. Canton, Mass.

Thoreau leaves Harvard temporarily to keep school for seventy pupils under Orestes Brownson. During his stay, which lasts six weeks, he also studies German (Thoreau’s Harvard Years, part 1:16; The Correspondence of Henry David Thoreau, 19; Thoreau, 57-62).

6 December 1835. Cambridge, Mass.

The first term of Thoreau’s junior year ends. He earns 1,322 points for a grand total of 10,261, ranking him fourteenth out of 44 juniors (Thoreau’s Harvard Years, part 1:16).

12 December 1835. Canton, Mass.

Thoreau sends an assignment in Moral or Intellectual Philosophy to Harvard College that is valued at 8 points, bringing his total up to 10,269 (Thoreau’s Harvard Years, part 1:16).

19 December 1835. Canton, Mass.

Thoreau sends an English composition to Harvard that is valued at 21 points, bringing his total up to 10,290 (Thoreau’s Harvard Years, part 1:16).




Log Pages

Donation

$