his native land. He was so inspired by its atmosphere of freedom and hope and its suggestions of economy of life, that he came to America to gain a liberal education. That accomplished, he was determined to translate the book, which had been his inspiration, into the Russian tongue, that the young men might read it and assimilate its hopeful, vital lessons from nature and simple life. In addition to the valuable studies in natural history, for these are what “Walden” primarily affords, besides the practical and sage advice on material life, well illustrated by epigram and personal anecdote, there are some clever life-sketches, cartoons and photographs. With a realism worthy of Balzac, he describes the Collins family, from whom he bought the boards for his lodge;—“At six I passed him and his family on the road. One large bundle held all,—bed, coffee-mill, looking-glass, hens,—all but the cat, she took to the woods and became a wild-cat and, as I learned afterwards, trod in a trap set for woodchucks, and so became a dead cat at last.” With similar compound of humor and realism, he introduced the family of shiftless John Field; his wife “with the never-absent mop in one hand and yet no effects of it visible anywhere.”
Cape Cod excels in light sketches, semi-humorous, semi-sympathetic. Valuable as a naturalist's
