Ralph Waldo Emerson writes in his journal:
As Linnaeus delighted in finding that seven stamened flower which alone gave him a seventh class, or filled a gap in his system, so I know a man who served as intermediate between two notable acquaintances of mine, not else to be approximated: & W. E. C. [William Ellery Channing] served as a companion of H.D.T; & T. of C . . .
It is curious that Thoreau goes to a house to say with little preface what he has just read or observed, delivers it in lump, is quite inattentive to any comment or thought which any of the company offer on the matter, nay, is merely interrupted by it, &, when he has finished his report, departs with precipitation.
(The Journals and Miscellaneous Notebooks of Ralph Waldo Emerson, 14:74, 76)
