April 4
That cheap piece of tinkling brass which the farmer hangs about his cow’s neck has been more to me than the tons of metal which are swung in the belfry.
Thoreau was of course a spiritual man. But he was not much of a churchgoer, not a fan of institutions at all. The bells rang on Sunday morning, and the good citizens of Concord dutifully marched to church at the appointed hour -- while HDT was apt to find worship at any one of the twenty-four hours, any day of the week.
The oft-repeated example of this finds Thoreau on his deathbed, where his aunt asks him "Henry, have you made your peace with God?" And he replies: "I was not aware that we had quarreled."
And as to the sound of the cowbells, Thoreau doubtless appreciated the simple, local labors of the farmer and the ensuing dairy products. And as to cows, let's not forget that they spend a good deal of their time out of doors, ruminating, meditating -- chewing the cud, so to speak. That's an animal to admire.
One more story about HDT and churchbells. Thoreau's neighbor and mentor, Ralph Waldo Emerson, is set to give an address at the Concord Unitarian Meeting House to commemorate the abolition of slavery in the West Indies. There are five or six young men at the meeting house who are reluctant to ring the bell without permission (abolition being a highly controversial topic in 1844). So Thoreau took it upon himslef -- permission or no -- to ring the churchbell that day.
The oft-repeated example of this finds Thoreau on his deathbed, where his aunt asks him "Henry, have you made your peace with God?" And he replies: "I was not aware that we had quarreled."
And as to the sound of the cowbells, Thoreau doubtless appreciated the simple, local labors of the farmer and the ensuing dairy products. And as to cows, let's not forget that they spend a good deal of their time out of doors, ruminating, meditating -- chewing the cud, so to speak. That's an animal to admire.
One more story about HDT and churchbells. Thoreau's neighbor and mentor, Ralph Waldo Emerson, is set to give an address at the Concord Unitarian Meeting House to commemorate the abolition of slavery in the West Indies. There are five or six young men at the meeting house who are reluctant to ring the bell without permission (abolition being a highly controversial topic in 1844). So Thoreau took it upon himslef -- permission or no -- to ring the churchbell that day.
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