H D THOREAU

How tenderly Thoreau himself could treat his unhappy fellow men was seen by Moncure Conway (that generous Virginian who emancipated his own slaves) in the second interview he ever had with the Concord hermit. It was in 1853, when Conway was opening his acquaintance with Concord and its men of genius. He had made an appointment to walk in the woods with Thoreau, but something had happened in the interval:--

I found the Thoreau's (at their new house near the railroad station) agitated by the arrival of a fugitive from Virginia, who had come to their door at day break. Thoreau took me to a room where his excellent sister, Sophia, was ministering to the fugitive, who recognized me as one he had seen in Virginia. He was alarmed, but his fears passed into delight when, after talking with him about our County, I certified his genuineness. I observed the tender and lowly devotion of Thoreau to the African. He now and then drew near to the trembling man, and with a cheerful voice bade him feel at home, and have no fear that any power should again wrong him. That whole day he mounted guard over the fugitive was got off to Canada, and I enjoyed my first walk with Thoreau.

F. B. Sanborn 1917
The life of Henry David Thoreau