Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III "the Hypocritic Dats" When Emerson settled in Concord in the house which was his home thereafter, lying on the outskirts of the village and not far from woods and wild pasture, he found himself in a situation well adapted to his needs and was perhaps more truly among his own people than he had ever been. The long association of his family with the town and his frequent residence there had made him acquainted with the community almost family by family; he was neither a stranger nor among strangers, but was felt by all to belong there as one of themselves. He led the ordi- nary life of a democratic citizen, interesting himself in his neighbours and in town affairs; notwithstanding the unpopularity of his opinions, he was deeply respected, and on the few occasions when any annoyance was directed against him, it was obviated by his friends without any intervention of his own. He lectured for his fellow-citizens at least once every year. He served on the board of the School Committee and of the Library, was one of the managers of the Lyceum, a member of the Social Circle, and on all proper occasions took the public part of a leading citizen and was often the spokesman of the town. He attended the town-meeting, though he rarely took part in it. He liked to meet men of all sorts in their natural pursuits andoccupations, and enjoyed the rough reality of their personalities ; he observedthem more closely than was realized, and in his walks or in the stage-coach, which was then the means of communication with Boston, or in his commonplace contact with them in small affairs, he had ample opportunity for democratic fraternalism. He was, however, a minister and a scholar, and knew and" respected the barrier thus established between him 1 and them, and did not attempt to mix w... --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.