



The Service

by Henry David Thoreau




Contents

 I. Qualities of the Recruit
 II. What Music Shall We Have?
 III. Not How Many, But Where the Enemy Are




I.
Qualities of the Recruit


     _Spes sibi quisque._ Virgil
     Each one his own hope.

The brave man is the elder son of creation, who has stept buoyantly
into his inheritance, while the coward, who is the younger, waiteth
patiently till he decease. He rides as wide of this earth’s gravity as
a star, and by yielding incessantly to all the impulses of the soul, is
constantly drawn upward and becomes a fixed star. His bravery deals not
so much in resolute action, as healthy and assured rest; its palmy
state is a staying at home and compelling alliance in all directions.
So stands his life to heaven, as some fair sunlit tree against the
western horizon, and by sunrise is planted on some eastern hill, to
glisten in the first rays of the dawn. The brave man braves nothing,
nor knows he of his bravery. He is that sixth champion