CONCORD, September 19, 1854.
DEAR SIR,--I am glad to hear from you and the Plymouth men again. The
world still holds together between Concord and Plymouth, it seems. I
should like to be with you while Mr. Alcott is there, but I cannot
come next Sunday. I will come Sunday after next, that is, October 1st,
if that will do; and look out for you at the depot. I do not like to
promise more than one discourse. Is there a good precedent for two?
* * * * *
The first of Thoreau's many lecturing visits to Worcester, the home of
his friend Blake, was in April, 1849, and from that time onward he
must have read lectures there at least annually, until his last
illness, in 1861-62. By 1854, the lecturing habit, in several places
besides Concord, had become established; and there was a constant
interchange of visits and excursions with his friends at Worcester,
Plymouth, New Bedford, etc. Soon after the publication of "Walden," in
the summer of 1854, Thoreau wrote these notes to Mr. Blake, touching
on various matters of friendly interest.