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Eng *by Geo E Perine NYºrk.

FIFTY YEARS AMONG AUTHORS
BOOKS AND PUBLISHERS.
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N E W Y O R K :
Copyright, 1884, by
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LONDON : S. LOW, SON & CO.
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C O N T ENT S.
INTRODUCTORY. A Book Clerk at Fifteen—Why and how
this Volume was written—Early Business Career—Becomes a Book
Publisher — Origin of Bancroft's California Bookstore–Author's
removal to New York—Continues a Successful Book Publisher—
The Book Publisher's Festival—United States Agent for Paris Ex-
position—The Century Club—Commodore Vanderbilt's Steamship—
William Orton and other Friends. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . * * * g º e º 'º $ tº e & 21
HENRY IVISON. Early apprenticeship to William Williams of
Utica—Opens a book store in Auburn—S. Wells Williams—Ex-Gov.
Throop, and the Albany Regency—President Van Buren on a fence
—Mr. Seward and Washington Irving—Ivison removes to New
York—Mark H. Newman & Co.—Newman & Ivison—Sad death of
John C. Ivison—l vison, Phinney, Blakeman & Co.—The thirty-day
credit system—He astonishes Trubner & Co., London—Immense sales
of School-books—Retires with an ample fortune. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
*
WILLIAM H. SEWARD. Early recollections of Mr Seward—
He meets General Lafayette and Washington Irving—Elected Gov-
ernor of New York—Seward, Weed, and Greeley–Writes Life of
John Quincy Adams—General Taylor advised—Solomon Northrup
kidnapped—Murder of the Van Nest family—Eloquent defense of
William Freeman—The Trial published in book form—Gladstone's
compliment—Irrepressible Conflict and IIigher Law—J. G. Whit-
tier's poetical tribute—Author appointed U. S. dispatch agent—
Attempted assassination of Mr. Seward — Dr. Verdi's thrilling ac-
count—Interesting anecdotes—Wonderful journey around the world
—Mr. Seward's death—His monument in Madison Square. . . . . . .56
HARPER & BROTHERS. First call on Harper & Brothers—
Their early business hours—Anecdotes of their early home—James
Harper's fund of Humor—Elected Mayor—His lesson to hackmen—
Accident causing his death—John Harper's fondness for horses—Will
[vii)
8 CONTENTS.
not work on Sunday—Honored life and peaceful death—Wesley
Harper the beloved brother—First visit to a theatre—Fletcher Har-
per's great achievement——Thurlow Weed's shrewdness—Fletcher
Harper’s noted Monday dinners— His death greatly mourned—The
present firm—Traditions of the founders. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
S. G. GOODRICH. Peter Parley’s celebrated stories for chil-
dren—Mr. Goodrich's first experience as a publisher—Is sold himself
instead of the book McFingal—Early aid to Nathaniel Hawthorne
—How Twice Told Tales was published—A child thinks Peter
Parley a humbug—Older heads disenchanted—His Natural History
and Prof. Agassiz—Drinks wine with Walter Scott—Lockhart's
opinion of Cooper's novels—Wonderful circulation of Peter Parley’s
Tales—Mr. Goodrich's sudden death... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
FRANK B. GOODRICH. Dick Tinto and New York Times—
The Court of Napoleon—Beauties, Wits and Heroines—Women of
Beauty—Magnificent Tribute Book—Literary talents inherited...123
HORACE GREELEY. Horace Greeley’s New Yorker—Founder
of the New York Tribune—Meets Thomas McElrath—Writes Author
about Loco-Focos—Solon Robinson’s Hot Corn—His American Con-
flict—Recollections of a Busy Life—Home at Chappaqua–Phoebe
Cary visits Him—His Opinion of Thurlow Weed—Robert Bonner
Captures Horace Greeley—How Greeley and McElrath crossed a
Ferry–Closing Incidents of his Life—Death of Horace Greeley—
Banker Poet Stedman's Tribute to his Memory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
THOMAS McELRATH. McElrath and Bangs–First American
reader of “Don Juan *—Practices Law with Judge Daly—Enters
Methodist Book Concern—-Partnership with Horace Greeley—Great
success of the Tribune—Prominent Seward Whig–Tribune Building
Destroyed by Fire—Escape of R. M. Strebeigh–McElrath as an
Author—President of Nassau Bank—Official Positions—Anecdote of
Greeley–Preparing Reminiscences. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT. The foremost American citi-
zen— Grand reception at the State Capitol—Visits Governor Tilden—
Habits of daily life—City and country–Never knew a sick day—
His Autobiography—History of the United States—Library of Poetry
and Song—Picturesque America—President of Century Club—Grand
testimonial by its members—His Opinion of Tilden and Hayes—Prob-
ably voted for Tilden—“Thanatopsis”—“A Pagan Poem "-"The
Waterfowl"—Relations with Weed and Greeley–Statute of Mazzini
— Delivers his last Oration — Fatal accident to Mr. Bryant — His
Death—Impressive Funeral Services—Feeling Address by his Pastor,
Rev. Dr. Bellows—Commemorative Services. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
D. APPLETON & CO. . The Infinitely Great and the Infinitely
Little—Daniel Appleton and Jonathan Leavitt--A Sailor calls for a
Peck of Gospel Seeds—William H. Appleton's Two Voyages to
CONTENT'S. 9
Europe—Interesting Anecdotes—Timely Advice of a Friend—A Cor.
dial Appleton Embrace—Daniel Appleton goes to Europe–Astonishes
John Bull—Secures great Bargains in Paris–Author's first Call or,
the Appleton's—Publication of Picturesque America—The American
Cyclopedia—Cost Over Half a Million Dollars—Enormous Sales—
Pusey and Darwin raise a Storm—Warning from Bishop Whitting
ham — Immense Sale of Seward’s Travels — General Sherman on
Book Canvassers—Beaconsfield's Lothair Secured by Cable—Profes-
SOr, Youman's Scientific Enterprise—John A. Appleton's business
Habits and Christian Character—Generous Church Contributions—
“John was the best of all of us.”—His peaceful Death. . . . . . . . . . . 173
GEORGE RIPLEY AND CHAIRLES A. D.A.N.A. Mr. Dana
suggests a new Cyclopedia—Becomes, with George Ripley an Editor in
chief—“A walking Cyclopedia "-The American Cyclopedia illustra-
ted—Quarter of a million dollars copyright—Literary Editor of
the Tribune—Death of Mr. Ripley—Only Poem ever written by him
—Mr. Dana Assistant Secretary of War—Return to Journalism—
Purchases the New York Sun–Dana's Household Book of Poetry—
“The Sun which Shines for all.”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
ROBERT BONNER. Founding the Ledger—A Million Dollars
Paid for Advertising–His Country Seat for Sale, Mosquitos, Fever
and Ague included—His Pluck and Persistency Captures Fanny Fern
—Brilliant List of Contributors—Pays Henry Ward Beecher $30,000
for writing ‘‘Norwood”—Fanny Fern's Child and Grandchild Con-
tributors—Bonner's Liberality to Authors—His Novel Way of Adver-
tising—The Ledger Captures Fletcher Harper's Children—Bonner's
Two Mottoes—His Test of Authors by their MISS.—Why he Drives
Fast Horses—Generous Aid to Mr. Beecher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
FANNY FERN.—Fanny Fern's bright and pungent Sketches—
Witty, tender and touching—I living in destitution in Boston—A
Proposition which surprises her—Oliver Dyer, the Friend in Need—
How Derby & Miller became her Publishers—Why she called herself
Fanny Fern—Great success of ber first Book—Spliloquy to her old
Inkstand—Fanny Fern sends Burglars after Bonner—Visits Beecher's
early Home—Beecher's Recollections of Fanny Fern's School Days—
Letters to her Publisher—Supposed Portrait of her Brother, N. P.
Willis—“I like you and your writings.”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20S
JAMES PARTON. A modern Plutarch—First literary effort—
N. P. Willis his first patron—Mason Brothers’ liberal offer—Writes
Ilife of Horace Greely—His other famous biographies—A pains-taking
Historian with “British pluck.”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .220
THOMAS BAILEY AI, DRICH, Calls On the Author With his
first Verses—A Friend who never had so much of one Thing he
wanted so little of Becomes Reader of AlSS. for his Publisher—Gets
Five Dollars for “Baby Bell ”—The young autocrat Editor taken by
Surprise—Desk of Edgar Allen Poe–Aldrich pays for his Morning
10 CONTENTS
Naps—How Carleton's Trade-Mark was selected—The “Story of a
Bad Boy,” his own Career—Hawthorne's delicate Tribute—Mement.c
to his first Publisher—Nocturne. . . . . . . . . . . . . © e º 'º gº e e º 'º e s e º a º e < * 227
GEORGE W. CARLETON. Publisher, Author and Artist—
Two Little Cherubs with a big load to carry—Immortalization of
Miss Flora McFlimsey, of Madison Square—Authorship disputed—
Carleton adds fuel to the fire—Professor Ingraham's Tragic Death—
Publishes Aldrich’s “True Love,” and finds his Trade-mark—Victor
Hugo’s “Les Miserables,” and Michelet's Translations—Carleton in
the Crockery business—Artemus Ward takes Brandy and Water—
Lecture to Brigham Young and One Wife—Enormous sale of Josh
Billings' Alminax. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
AILICE AND PHOEBE CARY. Sweet and Musical Name—
Alice Earns Her first Ten Dollars–Pictures of Memory—Griswold,
Greeley and Whittier—Noted Literary Writers—Reminiscences of
Savage and Wight—Mary Clemmer's Memorial—Alice Cary Wades
in Clover—Her Countless Little Namesakes—The Carys at Husking
Bee—Phoebe Cary’s Witticisms—The Yankee in China—Her Beauti-
ful Hymn “Nearer Home”—Monument to the Cary Sisters. . . . . . 245
H. O. HOUGHTON.—HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & CO. River-
side Press and its founder—The “Printer's Devil” and Noah Web-
ster—Young Houghton becomes Editor—Burning of the Ocean
Monarch—Houghton raises his first Capital—Timely aid from Ala-
bama—‘‘I married your Wife's Cousin "-Founds the Riverside Press
Consolidation of Firms—Atlantic Monthly is Born—Meets Alice and
Phoebe Cary–Three Famous Festivals—Whittier Dinner–Holmes'
Breakfast—Stowe Party—Disappointed lady Contributors—Riverside
Press Employees—Cambridge a Happy Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
JOHN WILEY. John Wiley a familiar name — His Father
travels with Cooper—Publishes his ‘‘ Spy' and Pioneer ‘’—The
Bread and Cheese Club—Bryant, Paulding, Halleck among the Mem.
bers—John Jacob Astor too poor to buy eggs—Forms Partnership
with Putnam—Publishes John Ruskin's Works—Successful Pub-
lisher—His Golden Wedding. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292
GEORGE PALMER PUTN AM. In the Front Rank of Publish-
ers—Fellow Clerk with William II. Appleton—Becomes an Author at
Eighteen—Starts a Branch in London—Effectually refutes Allison,
the Historian—Bayard Taylor applies for aid—Beginning of a long.
lived Friendship—Edgar A. Poe astonishes the Natives—James Rus-
sell Lowell's Fal) les—The ‘‘ Wide Wide World '' and ‘‘Providence "
—Becomes Irving's Publisher—Astonishes John Bull with “Sketch
Book”—Establishes Putnam's Magazine—First Advocate of Inter-
national Copyright—Prince Albert, Irving and Putnam—Irving's
First and only Love—Thackeray Lectures at Yonkers—Mr. Putnam's
contents. 11
Sudden Death Mourned and Greatly Regretted—G. P. Putnam's
Sons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • e o e s - e < * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 299
GEORGE BANCROFT. Bancroft's History began fifty years
ago—Author states his plans at the outset—His steady application
and persistence—Important literary assistance in Europe—Meets
Thiers, Guizot and other historians—Lord Byron gives him Don
Juan—Makes an Effective revenue Collector—Gives Hawthorne his
first clerkship—Prescott's Appeal and Daniel Webster's rebuff—Ban-
croft and Emerson, like brothers—Meets Washington Irving in
France—Sees the Sketch-book in MS.—Mr. Bancroft's great library
—Its possible destination—Founds the United States Naval Academy
—Completes his History of the United States. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321
GEORGE WILLIAM CHILDS. Name of Mr. Childs a household
word–Becomes a bookseller's clerk—Author first meets him—Metes
out retributive Justice—Gives a great banquet at Continental—Early
characteristics of Childs—He never lost a friend—Despises meanness
and hates a liar—-‘‘ I shall yet be owner of the Public Ledger’—
Publishes Dr. Kane's famous book—Allibone's great Dictionary of
Authors—-Mr. Child’s boundless Charities—Interesting letters re-
ceived at the Banquet—Wonderful Success of the Ledger—Haw-
thorne sends Childs the Scarlet Letter—James T. Fields gives its
History—Death of William D. Ticknor—Nathaniel IIawthorne soon
follows—Charles Dickens invites Childs to Gad's Hill—Childs erects
a Monument to Poe — Childs and Drexel not unlike Cheery ble
Brothers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . & º gº tº sº e º 'º º ºs e º a 333
HENRY J. RAYMOND. Four great Editors who became Au-
thors, Bryant, Greeley, Weed and Raymond—Founding the “New
York Times”—Raymond contributes “all he owed ” to the Capital
Stock—George Jones an Albany Bookseller—Raymond elected Lieut
Governor of New York—Challenged by William L. Yancey—Ex-
tracts from Raymond's Journal—Nominates Andrew Johnson for
Vice-President—Great Sale of Raymond’s “Life of Lincoln "-Fare.
well Dinner—Miles O’Reilly got all down and more too—Beecher's
Letter to Dana—Raymond's Speech at Dickens' Banquet—His sudden
death—Beecher's Eloquent Tribute at his Funeral. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353
GEORGE JONES. George Jones assumes control of the Times
—When $100,000 would have been cheap—Edwin B. Morgan his
chief associate—Breaks up the Tammany Ring—Tweed wanted to
buy the Times—Not for sale at any price—The Tribute Book—Hud-
Son's Splendid Tribute to Jones. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363
CHEVALIER WIKOFF. ThurlOW Weed’s Letter about Wikoff
—The Latter's Courtship of Jane Gamble—Becomes a Roving Diplo-
matist—Meets Many Celebrities—James Gordon Bennett Startles
Him—Brings Fanny Ellsler to America—Charles Sumner and Fanny
12 CONTENTS.
Ellsler—Intimate Friend of Napoleon–Chevalier Wikoff finds his
Publisher—The Consequences of his Courtship—Imprisoned for
Abduction—lkeminiscences of an Idler—Dies at Brighton. . . . . . . 368
G. & C. MERRIAM. Author first meets them forty years
ago—George Merriam surprises the author—A great undertaking—
Well advertised—Get the Best—Three thousand engravings added—
Untold number of copies sold—Busy fingers of girls, women and men
—George Merriam visits negro schools and churches——“Do it now ’’
—“Dome it now *—“Do it yesterday ”—A good man dies—Present
members of the firm—Splendid Summary of the Unabridged. . . .377
J. B. LIPPINCOTT. Early Business Experience—Buys out
Grigg & Elliott—Important Publications—Pronouncing Gazetteer of
the World—Secures Publications of Prescott's Works—Angry War
Threats of Southerners—Lippincott's long look ahead—Builds Spa-
cious New Quarters—Allibone's Dictionary of Authors—Discovers
“Ouida” to be a Woman—“Held in Bondage”—Prefers Thack-
eray's writings to all others—Mr. Lippincott a good traveler...... 382
AUGUSTA J. EVANS WILSON. A. Young Southern Author
ess MS. of “Beulah. ” accepted—A fiery Young Southerner—
“Didn't I tell you so 7”—Immense Success of “Beulah. ”—Macaria
appears in War Time—Liberality of Lippincott—“A Lady is waiting
to see you ’’—The Author agreeably surprised—St. Elmo–Washti-
Infelice—Nearly $100,000 Copyright—Happy Home in Mobile—
Woman Suffrage—Good Influence of her Books. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389
JOHN ESTEN COOKE. Best representative of Southern Au-
thorship—Whole cdition of first book burned—Novelist, Historian
and Biographer——An Author with many Publishers—Poets and Poe-
try of the South—Stonewall Jackson's Life written on the Battlefield
—General Dee gives His Consent—“I have Loved thee ever dearly,
Florence Vane"—Washington Irving's gardener says, “It’s Twins !
It's Twins !”—Anecdotes of Thackeray and G. P. R. James—His
happy Home in Virginia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400
B. P. SHILLABER (MRs. PARTINGTON). How Mrs. Partington
looks—Ancient Motherly Woman with Cap and Spectacles—Wonder-
ful Popularity of her Sayings—The Origin of her Book—How a
Bonanza struck the author—ltich as Wanderbilt or Gould—Artemus
MIRIAM BERRY WHITCHER (WIDow BEDOTT). Joseph
Neal’s Charcoal Sketches—Charles Dickens appropriates them—
George P. Putnam's Statement—“Widow Bedott’ discovered—
Miriam Berry, a young country girl, the author—“Bursting into fits
CONTENTS. 13
of laughter"—Alice B. Neal becomes Alice B. Haven–Popularity of
“Cousin Alice ’’—One hundred thousand Bedott Papers sold—
“Widow Bedott " a household god. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413
GEORGE D. PRENTICE (PRENTICIANA). Prentice and the
Louisville Journal—Brilliant wit in paragraphs—A few Specimen
Bricks—Encourages young Writers—Author first meets Prentice—
Prentice defies Mike Walsh—“You have skinned me from the Crown
of my head to the sole of my feet "-" I cannot kill a disarmed man "
Prentice gives Whittier his first start—“We’ve shared each other's
Smiles and tears”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 419
CHARLES G. HALPINE (MILES O’REILLY). A Young Irish
Poet appears—Chuck full of Wit and Humor—Lyrics by the Letter
“H”—“Haul down the Starry Flag”—Sambo's right to be kilt—
Private Miles O’Reilly settles it—Major Halpine warns Lincoln—A
night ride with Miles O'Reilly—“Oh Chemisette the fairest yet "-
Miles O’Reilly elected Register of New York—Halpine's unexpected
Death—Forney's Tribute to his Memory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 426
JOEL CHANDLER HARRIS. Best Delineator of Negro Cha-
racter—A Successful Writer of African Humor—Author of “Uncle
itemus” not born in Africa—Folk-lore in the Old Plantation—Squir-
rels, Jay-birds, and Wood-peckers—A Printing-Office in the Woods—
General Sherman wipes it out—William H. Seward teaches School
in Georgia—Harris meets author of Major Jones' Courtship—Charles
A. Dana and John Bigelow—Wonderful Tar Baby Story. . . . . . . . 433
CHARLES SCRIBNER. A. C. ARMSTRONG. Baker &
Scribner embark in the Book Business—The old Brick Church and
Times Building—Andrew Armstrong as a young man—Wonderful
Success of Headley's Books—N. P. Willis, Queer Book Titles—Ik
Marvel a Successful Author—A $100,000 Undertaking—Death of
Challos Scribner—Marion Harland’s “Common Sense”—Death of
Blair Scribner and Edward Seymour—Encyclopedia Britannica—
Five Million Dollars' Worth Sold—Charles Scribner's Sons. . . . . . . 441
THE BEECHER FAMILY. Lyman Beecher and his Gifted
Children—Remarkable family of Authors—Six Sermons on Intempe-
rance—The aged Pastor's Return—A young Wife at seventy-five—
Catherine Beecher as an Author—Gayest, kindest and merriest of
Women—Tragic Death of her Lover–Her success as a Teacher—
Yankee Girls go West to get married—Edward Beecher as an Author
—“We’re going to give you Hell to-morrow"—A religious and com-
mercial standpoint—George Beecher’s wonderful Memory—How
Henry Ward was cheated—Tragic Death of George Beecher. . . . . 446
HARRIET BEECHER STOWE. Harriet Beecher Stowe's fame
as an Author—Immense Sale of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin ‘’—Its Publi-
Cation in all Languages—Magnificent Testimonial to its Author--
14 CONTENTS.
“Uncle Tom was given to me”. – “I will have some supper "—Arch:
bishop Whateley, Gladstone and Dean Alford–They praise “The
Minister's Wooing ”—Professor Stowe an Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . 452
HENRY WARD BEECHER. Henry Ward Beecher as an Au-
thor–Great Success of his Star Papers—Beecher and Randolph the
Publisher—Beecher's fame in England—Rev. Dr. Parker's Testi-
mony—Rather be executed than read the Book—How Henry Ward
began to buy Books – Martin Van Buren hears him preach –
“Trousers did not set very well’—Beecher's attachment to Bonner
—He smokes cigars with Stanton—Washington Irving hears bass to
the tune of Thunder—A Texas Tribute to Henry Ward Beecher—
Charles Beecher as an Author—Henry Ward Beecher and his Nephew
—Mrs. Beecher's “Dawn to Daylight"—"Motherly Talks"—“All
around the House”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . *e e º gº tº € 9. § & & © tº B & 461
GEORGE E. BAKER. A. Political PHistorian and Modern Bos-
well—Life and Works of Seward—Founder of Prison Association—
Disbursing Agent for State Department—An Excitement in the Cab-
inet—Author startles Government Officials—James Gordon Bennett,
Sen.—“I guess it's true, we'll prent it.”—Kossuth makes Daniel Web-
ster Weep—Greeley proposes Bryant for Secretary of State—Splen-
did Tribute to Seward's Works. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 477
FRANK B. CARPENTER. A great Historical Painter—Opens
a Studio in New York—Conceives a Grand Picture—Friends appear
in Time of Need—Reception by President Lincoln—“We will turn
you loose in here "—The Cry of Ethiopia for Help-Pope's Disaster
at Bull Run–Emancipation Proclamation Issued—Immense Sale of
the Picture—Mrs. Thompson's Munificent Gift—Original Painting
presented to the Government—Abraham Lincoln and Artemus Ward
—Six Months in the White House. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 485
JEFFERSON DAVIS. “Rise and Fall Of the Confederate GOV-
ernment”—A Visit to Jefferson Davis—Hospitable Reception at
Beauvoir—A Yet Unfinished Book—Judge Tenny Comes to the Res-
cue—Sarah A. Dorsey's Bequest—The Ex-President's Compliment-
ary Letter—Ravages of Yellow Fevor—Noble Action of Northern
People—A new Version of the Capture of Davis—Beautiful Home at
Beauvoir. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 493
ALEXANDER. H. STEPHENS. Stephens hears Seward Speak
in 1854.—A Visit to Liberty Hall—it does not Belie its Name—“Re-
tract, or I'll Cut '-' Never ! Cut ’’—Devotion of Former Slaves to
“Mars Aleck’—John Quincy Adams writes Verses to Stephens—
The latter ()pposes the War, then follows his State—Becomes Vice-
President of Confederacy—Negro not equal to White Man—Illinois
“All Noise ’’—Speech on Carpenter's Picture—His Death while Gov-
ernor of Georgia—Eloquent Tribute to His Memory. . . . . . . . . . . . . 500
THURLOW WEED. Albany Evening Journal Fifty Years ago
A Modern Warwick—Wiley & Putnam's London House—Thurlow
CONTENTS. 15
Weed's Autobiography—Walking Barefoot through the Snow—Ad-
vocates School Libraries—Paulding and the Dutchman's Fireside—
Thurlow Weed writes a novel—Fenimore Cooper gets a Verdict—
Noble Charity to Edwin Croswall—Thurlow Weed Barnes' Final Me-
moir Thurlow Weed and Abraham Lincoln. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 506
LEE AND SHEPARD. A well known and popular Firm—
William Lee as Clerk and Partner—HIe Sells out for $65,000—John
P. Jewett and “Charlie” Shepard—Lee and Shepard become Part-
ners—Anecdote of Emerson—“I am waiting for the inspiration ”—
“Mrs. Emerson wants some Money to-day”—Phillips Sampson & Co.
decline “Uncle Tom’—Mrs. Stowe writes “IDred” and takes a Glass
of Wine—The Origin of the “Atlantic Monthly’—Prescott, the His-
torian, changes Publishers—Underwood as an Author—President
Wayland finds a Publisher—“Oliver Optic's '' popularity—Lee,
Shepard & Dillingham. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 517
ELIZABETH CLEMENTINE RINNEY. Mother of Stedman
the Poet—Marries an Ambassador to Italy—The centre of Literary
Society—Griswold's Tribute to her Genius—She spends a day with
the Brownings—Browning's Romantic Marriage—Beautiful Tribute
from her Son. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 526
FDMUND CLARENCE STEDMAN. The Poet as a Lad—Re-
lated to Distinguished Authors—Famous Yale Class of '53—Sceks his
Fortune in New York—Wakes up to find himself Famous—Old
January and Young May—Challenged to fight a Duel—Romantic
ending of Diamond Wedding—Ballad of Lager Bicr—How old
Brown took Harper's Ferry—First meets Bayard Taylor and Stod-
dard—Wall Street's place in Poetry—New Literary Enterprise. .. 530
FREDERICK S. COZZENS. Pleasant Memoirs—Irving, Hal-
leck and Thackeray–The Sparrowgrass Papers—The Horse that had
the Heaves—Richard Hayward and his Friends—Irving's opinion of
Sparrowgrass—“It Drops from him like Whiskey *—Thackeray at
the Century Club—“The Song that Martin Luther Sung’’—Washing-
ton and Astor's Spectacles—“Please give me some Gapes”—Hal-
leck's opinion of Cozzens—“To my big Sweetheart”—“But the Bit-
ter keeps on and on ". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .". . . . . . . . 538
ELIZABETH OAKES SMITH. Literary Celebrities Forty Years
Ago—“The Sinless Child”—Charles Fenno Hoffman—Edgar Allan
Poe's Criticisms—“Gentle she was and full of Love"—Poe Talks
about the “Raven’—A Love-letter to the Poet—Mrs. Smith as an
Author—Tribute from George D. Prentice. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 545
ABRAHAM HART. Popular Publisher of Standard Works
Books—A Clerk at Thirteen—A. Partner at Eighteen—A stage-coach
full of Books—Triumph over Harpers—Fenimore Cooper makes a
failure—David Crockett “ Fodder, or no fodder”—Crockett's Adven:
16 CONTENTS.
tures in Texas–Captain Marryat makes a failure—Fanny Kemble's
Portrait on a finger-nail–Longfellow collects copyright promptly-
Griswold and his poetical volumes—Grand Dinner to Abraham Hart,
Washington Irving and Moses Thomas—Abraham Hart's quiet
Retirement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 550
HENRY CAREY BAIRD. Becomes Partner at Twenty—Earliest
Publisher of technical books—A Student of Political Economy—
Fenimore Cooper—Dr. Francis Lieber—“No, Right without, its
Duty”—“No Duty without its Right '-Baird meets William
Wordsworth–Copyright Laws a bundle of Absurdities. . . . . . . . . . 558
MARION HARLAND. A. call from the Father of the Author—
“Marion Harland ” a young Virginian—Enormous sale of “Alone”—
“The Hidden Path,” another success—Tribute of Anna Cora
Ritchie—A big fire and an Author's loss—“Common sense in the
Household "-What one Publisher gains another loses—Copyright of
one book, and Governor's salary—A Christmas visit to Richmond—
Letter from Marion Harland to her first Publisher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 563
MIRIAM COLES HARRIS. How Manuscripts should come to
Publishers—Rejected by one House, Accepted by Another—A. Heroine
without a Name—“Rutledge” an instantaneous Success—Attributed
to many Authors—Her Portrait in “Wanity Fair”—Mrs. Harris a suc-
cessful Writer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 568
MARY J. HOLMES. Immense Sale of her Novels—Large Sums
received in Copyright—A Precocious Writer—Early Marriage and
Literary Success—Income from Authorship, Ten Thousand a Year—
Why so Popular an Author—Like Topsy, “She growed so "–The
Author's Elegant Home—Beautiful Tribute from her Pastor... . . .571
ALFRED S. BARNES. Friendship of Half a Century—Singular
Coincidences—Young Barnes finds a New Home—Begins his Book
Career—Professor Charles Davies—Becomes a School-Book Can-
vasser—Afterwards a Large Publisher—His Motto—“Good Books
Only ”—A Successful Book House—Retires from Active Business—A
Silver Wedding. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 575
CHARLES S. FRANCIS. A Book Publisher Eighty years old—
A famous Boston house—Shakespeare Works and “Mother Goose ’’
—De Witt Clinton, Aaron Burr and Audubon—A thousand-dollar
publication—Southern planters buy expensive books—“A new home,
who'll follow"—A notable Bookseller's Festival—“I say, Mister, I
guess you're stuck ſ”—Washington Irving's famous Speech—Mr.
Francis gives a Toast. 580
J. S. REDFIELD. Another Veteran of the Book Trade—
William Gilmore Simms anſl his Romances—Rufus W. Griswold's
friendly aid to Authors—Edgar Allan Poe finds a Publisher— Red-
contRNTs. 17
field's defense of Griswold—“Give these young Scriblers Jesse’—
Poe tells how he wrote the “Raven”—“You have more Brass in
New York than we in Philadelphia. ". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 585
DANIEL BIXBY. A Publisher can keep a Hotel—A famous
liter:, ry Resort—Fenimore Cooper's city Home—Fitz Greene Hal-
leck, and the Astors—Interesting Letter to Bixby—He meets Lon-
don Celebrities—“You see him before you now '-Bixby's Retire-
ment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 590
RICHARD HENRY STODDARD. Mary Russell Mitford's Trib-
ute—Writes for Jack Downing’s “Rover"—Finds a Friend in N. P.
Willis—Meets a Friend in Bayard Taylor—“I am he ”—“My name
is Stoddard ”—Stoddard receives his first Ten Dollars—Prints it Book
and sells two Copies—Baron Humboldt and Bayard Taylor—Loves
and Heroines of the Poets—Oliver B. Bunce and “Don’t "–Wittiest
Woman in America—Distinguished Compliment from Bryant—The
Wife of a Poet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 595
REW. S. IRENAEUS PRIME, D.D. Five Generations of a Book-
Making Family—An Author who never sought a Publisher—Author-
ized Life of Professor Morse—Dr. Prime on his Travels—A thousand
a year from Harpers—How a Profound Secret is Kept—Printing Of-
fice Destroyed by fire—Narrow Escape of the Editors—Quick Writ-
ing and Quick Printing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..604
REV. HENRY MARTYN FIELD, D. D. The Observer and the
Evangelist—Early Life of Dr. Field–First Visit Abroad—Is a Wit-
ness of the French Revolution of 1848—“Letters from Rome *—Be-
comes an Editor in New York “History of the Atlantic Telegraph”
and other Books—Becomes a Great Traveller—Journey round the
World—Publishes “From the Lakes of Killarney to the Golden
Horn ?–" From Egypt to Japan’—“On the Desert,” and “Among
the Holy Hills.” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 610
WILLIAM D. TICKNOR. A. Publisher half a Century Ago—
Begins to issue Belles-lettres Books—Pays Tennyson the first Copy-
right—Manufacturing and Financial Partner—Intimate Relations
with Hawthorne—“The Life of Franklin Pierce, I believe *-Haw-
thorne's Travelling Companions—The “Old Corner Book-Store.”.616
JAMES T. FIELDS. The Author's Friend, the Poet Publisher
—Literary Landmark of Boston—“This is the new Sensation book”
—Young Field's early literary Habits—E. P. Whipple's interesting
Reminiscences—“A few Verses for a few Friends”—Literary Circles
thirty years ago—Letters to Miss Mitford—Retires from publishing
Books—Successful career as a Lecturer—Death, and tributes to his
Memory Memories of George William Curtis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 619
SOME WASHINGTON FRIENDS. Hawthorne's early Friend
—How “Twice-Told Tales" was published—“We were lads to-
2
18 CONTENTS.
gether ”—“Journal of an African Cruiser”—Hawthorne's 1 st Visit
to Washington—Interesting letter from Commodore Bridge—What
I saw in London—First Life of General Pierce—IIawthorne Writes
another–On the Ocean with Beecher and Chapin–Beecher sea-sick
but “Always abounding”—Secretary of Chinese Embassy–Chilton's
Author and Artist Friends—Anecdote of Thackeray– “Rnick
Knacks from the Editor's Table "—Shelley's Widow in love with
Irving—Amusing Anecdote of Elliott—The progress of half a Cent-
ury—Interesting letter from Frances E. Spinner—How an old Court
was abolished and a new one Created—“A woman's Letter from
Washington ’’—Mary Clemmer and Charles Sumner—A Novelist and
a Poct—Death of Mary Clemmer Hudson—The Librarian of Con-
gress—Spofford's long Experience—The right Man in the right
Place. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . * & g º º is g º & tº 4 tº º 630
NEW YORK WETERANS OF THE BOOK TRADE. A. Pat-
riarch among Publishers—A School-teacher turns Bookseller—Cheap-
est book ever Published—Pluck and Enterprise Successful—Books
for Sunday School Libraries—Peter Carter and Scotia's Bards—Ran-
dolph's Letter to Irenaeus—A Favorite Bookstore for New Yorkers—
Two Donkeys for Motive Power—Randolph a Good Talker—“What
an Old Fellow You Are P’—Van Nostrand's Military Books—Impor-
tant Engineering Works—A Monarch in his Chosen Field—A fam-
ous Law-Book House—Favorite resort of brilliant Lawyers—A. book
Clerk leaves the printing trade Agreeable relations with Authors—
An historical Book House—The record of many Firms—“In print
or out of print”—Oldest Book Printer in America—Trow’s City Di-
rectory–Made University Printer—-John Keese, the Witty Auction-
eer—Fried, Roasted and Stewed—Charles Collins continues Busi-
ness alone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . tº e g o a º ºs s sº a s e º e s tº e s a e 649
JAMES R. RANDALL. The Author of “My Maryland”—A
Reconstructed Rebel—“I see Thee ever in my Dreams”—Massa-
chusetts Troops through Baltimore—A Famous Poem in Half an
Hour–One Hundred Dollars in Confederate Money—He heard it
Sung by a Russian Girl—An incident at Arlington. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 661
MARY ASHLEY TOWNSEND. “The Most Brilliant Woman
in New Orleans”—An Author meets Her First Publisher—“Xariffa.”
and the “Captain's Story"—“And You Should Kiss My Eyelids”—
Down the Bayou and other Poems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 667
LITTLE, BROWN & CO. Oldest book house in Boston—
Augustus Flagg becomes a Partner—Death of James Brown—“The
Business he loved so well’=Hillard's Memoir of Brown—Mr. Flagg
assumes Control—Active Career for quarter of a Century—Anecdote :
of Charles Sampson—Important Publications of the house—Russell
of Charleston, and Berry of Nashville–Anecdotes of Story and
Kent—“And then look out for thunder ſ”—Choate not to be dunned
for 3,000 years—Augustus Flagg retires from Business. . . . . . . . . . 670
JOHN BIGELOW. The Pathfinder to the Rocky Mountains—
Charles A. Dana Protests—Bigelow has his Way—Both friends of
CONTENTS. 19
Tilden—United States Minister to France—Extraordinary Discovery
of Franklin's MSS.—Bigelow Edits Franklin's Autobiography—
Friendly Advice to the Author. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... º e º e º e º ºs º º e º is e º ºs 676
PARKE GOD WIN. Interesting History of France—George
Ripley's Literary Tributc.—“Out of the Past"—Fine Sonnet to James
T. Fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . {{S}
GEORGE WILLIAM CURTIS. The Howadji calls on Harper
& Brothers—“Stop, Young Man, don’t be in such a Hurry"—Lotus-
Eating and Kensett—The humorous Potiphar Papers—The Lovely
Young Maiden “Prue " — Editor-in-Chief of Harper's Weekly—
Author, Journalist, Statesman and Orator. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 683
BENSON J. LOSSING. A. “Pictorial Author ‘’—The Field-
Book of the Revolution—General Putnam chased by British
Troopers—Artistic and literary Life—Anecdote of Daniel Appleton—
Contracts with George W. Childs—General Robert E. Lee and wife—
Lossing's History of New York City. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6S6
MIRIAM FLORENCE LESLIE (FRANK LESI/IE). “From
Gotham to the Golden Gate”—The Founder of Illustrated Journal-
ism—Commodore Wanderbilt and Saratoga Lake—“Go to my Office
and sit in my place"—“I hear you want a good deal of Money"—A
fifty thousand dollar Friend in time of need—Excitement caused by
Garfield's Death—A Brave Woman and the Printer's Strike—Rev.
Dr. Deems and Rev. Dr. Talmadge—Thomas Nast and Jos. Keppler
Employed by Leslie—A Woman's capacity for Business. . . . . . . . . 692
WILLIAM A. HAMMOND, M. D. An eminent Surgeon in a
new Tole—“Knows how to tell a Story"—Suppresses his first
Nove—Great Book on Nervous Diseases—Dismissed as Surgeon-
General—Restored to Office by Act of Congress—“The best Friend
the Soldier had"—“A long-delayed but complete Triumph.”. . . .697
FRANK WINCENT, JR. The Land of the White Elephant—
Nehemiah Adams and the “Golden Fleece’—One Hundred and
Fifty Thousand Miles of Travels—“As many Burmese Wives as I
wanted ”—“Through and through the Tropics”—Wonderful ruins
of Cambodia—“New York the best place of all.”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .701
ROSWELL SMITH-THE CENTURY CO. One of the pro-
jectors of the “Century"—Bold enterprise in the publishing business
—“What hath God Wrought !”—Dr. Holland an experienced Jour-
nalist—Great Success of the “Century"—Sport with Gun and Rod
—President, Secretary, Treasurer and Editors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 704
SOME GENERALS WHO BECAME AUTHORS. The hero of
Lundy's Lane—Author calls on the Lieutenant General—“How do
you spell it, sir?” Interesting Letter to Thurlow Weed. Sherman's
20 CONTENTS.
Army marching into Washington—The General salutes Secretary
Seward—Sherman’s “Memoirs written by himself”—General Joe
Johnston a modest Historian—Interesting letter from General Sher-
man—“Military Operations of General Beauregard ”—An “Indepen-
dent’’ opinion of the book—Editor of the Evangelist interviews Gen.
eral Beauregard—“Oh, yes—I 'ear of Li-I spek of 'im to Bo’rgar.”
An interesting Biography—Rev. D. X. Junkin, D.D.—A Presiden-
tial Candidate—“The Democrats have made no Mistake this time ’’
— The Battle of Gettysburgh—“Trust in God and fear moth-
ing.”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x < * * * * * * g º & © e º 'º & tº º gº º 709
CONCLUSION. My Publisher's Reminder—T. S. Arthur—Anna
C. Botta—Laura C. Holloway—Rossiter Johnson—Richard B. Kim-
ball—Albert Mathews—O. J. Victor—Metta Victoria Victor—Pro-
fessor O. W. Wight—Emma De Long—Barry Gray—Curtis Guild—
Jane Crawford Campbell—Ann S. Stephems—A. S. Roe—John Sav-
age—Charles Nordhoff—General A. S. Webb—Margaret J. Preston
—Madame A. de Chaudron—Maria Darrington Deslonde—Mary E.
Bryan—Henry Watterson—R. M. Johnston—Madame Le Wert—A.
J. Requier—H. L. Flash—Paul H. Hayne—Gail Hamilton....... 719
INTRODUCTORY.
A Book Clerk at Fifteen— Why and How this Volume
- was Written— Early Business Career—Becomes a
Book Publisher— Origin of Bancroft's California
JBookstore—Author’s Removal to New York—Con-
tinues a successful Book Publisher—The Book Pub-
łisher’s Festival— United States Agent for Paris Ec-
position—The Century Club— Commodore Vander-
bilt’s Steamship — William Orton and other Friends.
ON the 10th of September, 1883, occurred the fiftieth
anniversary of the day on which I was apprenticed to
the bookselling business. Fifty years before, I had entered
the bookstore of H. Ivison & Co., of Auburn, N. Y., to
learn the business, for which I had a natural liking and in
which I have been engaged to the present time.
It had been my purpose, at the suggestion of my chil-
dren, to collect and place in order the numerous data and
memoranda accumulated during my long and not unevent-
ful life in the book world, that they would have what
gratification and possible aid, my experience, through two
busy generations might afford. My plan was to take ad-
vantage of the perfection attained in stenography and by
the use of the type-writer give each of my children a copy
of my reminiscences.
In the progress of my labor of love I submitted my
manuscript to some of my most intimate friends, who in-
sisted on a multiplication of copies beyond the prov-
ince of the active type-writer. Added to this, my friend
Carleton became so interested in the matter that he begged
that he might publish the work in book form, and the
[21]
22 INTRODUCTORY.
result is the issue of this volume of my Recollections and
Experiences. Thus an old Publisher makes his maiden
bow to the public as an Author |
Auburn, as I recollect it, was an incorporated village
of about five thousand inhabitants, and the bookstores
consequently were not on a very large scale. Our store
was well appointed, with a fair assortment of miscel-
laneous books and stationery, to which was added a book-
bindery in the rear.
Although it was originally intended that I should also
learn the bookbinder's trade, my employer soon ascer-
tained that I ‘‘ couldn’t bind worth a cent,” but was better
adapted to wait on customers in the store—to sell books
rather than to bind them. About four months later he
wrote my mother as follows:
“Auburn, Jan. 4th, 1834.
“To Mrs. DERBy : - .
- “Your son James has been with us a sufficient length of time,
for him to determine whether he will be satisfied with the book
business, and whether he will be sufficiently fond of it to warrant
him in pursuing it. We are of opinion that if a boy is attached
to his business he will in variably succeed, provided he has health
and opportunities; if he is indifferent he never will succeed. As
far as I have conversed with James he appears to think that he
will be satisfied, and I am happy in saying that I have no cause
for complaint in relation to him. With exertions which he has
it in his power to make, he bids fair to become a useful man. It
remains for you to determine whether he will still continue with
us. We can arrange hereafter in relation to the terms.”
“Respectfully, * H. I & Co.”
** H. IVISON O.”
* Fifty years later Mr. Ivison writes me as follows:
“12 West 48th Street, New York, Jan. 16, 1884.
‘‘DEAT JAMES : -
“I return the letters and papers much as you left them. You
see I do not improve in my hand writing; that of yours is ex-
cellent. I wish you every success with your enterprise.
- “Yours, HI. IVISON.”
INTHODUCTORY. 23
My mother called without delay and closed the con-
tract with Mr. Ivison, which was that I should devote my-
Self during business hours to their interests, and receive a
Salary of fifty dollars per annum, including board in my
employer's family. Business hours in those days included
all the hours from 7 A.M. until 9 o'clock in the evening.
The bookstores were the natural resorts for the intelli-
gent class of the community, who usually met there to dis-
cuss the topics of the day or to learn of what was new in
the book world, and among those who frequented our store
were the professors and students of the Auburu Theologi-
cal Seminary, who were good patrons as well. The books
most in demand besides theological and school books
were the then famous Waverly novels and the works of
Fenimore Cooper and Washington Irving.
After four years’ experience in the bookselling business
Mr. Ivison associated with himself a partner, from Conn.,
who very soon made it anything but agreeable for me to re-
main with the new firm. My experience, however, soon gave
me employment in the rival bookstore, then carried on by
the Hon. Ulysses F. Doubleday, a prominent politician who
had been twice elected to Congress from the Auburn district.
On leaving my first employer, I received the following:
“To all whom it may concern.
“The bearer of this letter, James C. Derby, has been in my
employ as a clerk during the last four years and I can cheerfully
recommend him as a young man, honest and industrious, of good
moral character and habits and of sound principles. I have al-
ways found him trustworthy, and consider him as being possessed
of fair business talents and as being a good salesman.
sº ‘‘ H. Ivison, J.R.
“Auburn, Nov. 23, 1837.”
I remained with Mr. Doubleday about one year, when
Mr. Ivison invited me to return to my “first love,” he
having severed his partnership with the gentleman from
24 INTRODUCTORY.
Connecticut. My year with Mr. Doubleday was very
pleasant, and, I believe, profitable to both parties. One of
my daily companions was his son Abner, then preparing
for the West Point Military Academy, from which he grad-
uated with honor a few years later.”
On leaving Mr. Doubleday (who soon after retired from
the bookselling business), he gave me the following letter :
“Auburn, August 31, 1838.
“This may certify that Mr. James C. Derby has been employed
as a clerk in my bookstore for the past year, and by his activity,
zeal and attention to my i terests, has merited my highest appro-
Dation. He re-enters the employment of H. Ivison in consequence
of my discontinuance of business.
‘‘ U. F. DOUBLEDAY.”
After my re-engagement with Mr. Ivison, he placed me
in full charge of the bookstore, he devoting a large portion
of his time to the book bindery, now grown to large propor-
tions. In the year 1838 I was deputed by my employer to
visit the East to purchase fresh supplies of stock. This
was no small undertaking, as the journey had to be made
by stage coach, there being, in those days, no railroads.
It took about three days to reach New York city, and
having no experience whatever in this new undertaking
Mr. Ivison placed me in charge of Edward Bright, then
of the firm of Bennett & Bright, booksellers, Utica, N. Y.,
under whose guidance and in whose company I proceeded
on this, my first visit to the Metropolis. -
Mr. Bright subsequently retired from the book business,
to enter the ministry. He removed soon after to New York,
* Captain Doubleday afterwards became famous as one of the
heroic defenders of Fort Sumter, under Major IRobert Anderson,
and still later was promoted to the rank of major-general for
bravely leading the Union column at Gettysburg after General Rey-
molds was killed and Generals Hancock and Sickles were wounded.
General Doubleday published through Harper & Brothers, in
1876, his “Reminiscences of Fort Sumter in 1861.”
Q& X?-1 OJO ſ] OſOXHJL NI
ai uniduos on ‘son pooš usao Kut (111A “aq
I plmo AA oldtºplbuoun Aoti put ‘5uguſt (duod uſ pouyuj od on 5ugulou
sº a latt] put ‘AAoti 0.10U pop, Ulu I jouj ou] Jo posſiddu Loudos
Jou suss I quill 10,1501 ÅItto I puu ‘Uthyduo ou O oun qu od on sluod
-dt oral]] su olors tº loy 5uſtodo ult oug os súAA odoun ºutſ, odojoq
A\ouxI 19 Aou I ‘oloul pollu is put: ‘opulC) ‘snclunloo ol ouoš OAbtl
bIno (Is I lollito illuouſ tº poa II.tu put Ál (IoII tou Jold J. Suppuunsillſ AA
-10u ‘jo'ſ ‘soo!dsnu oſquio Auſ Ala., Iopun oliou, ssoupsno onuſ ouoã
oAttſ I st! Juouſ OAA) put silio & oAg log on unuoo on si dºus.toulºud
Jno pub ‘‘Iſ ‘ūOSIAI H St Jould led AIA NInſ’ uſ XI.10 V AoN uſ
posutto.ind Nools Aou ol Quo uu (Ill A poliodo o Attu put: “Au Polano (I
‘I n go put is plo oth at “oo y AqioGſ o ºſ Jo tung put outtu
ou] lapun SSouſsnq ol uſ juſ]]oš uſ popoooons \sul qu o Aut] I , ,
‘OFST ‘ung snăuv poltºp ‘5uſ AOIIop oth OUIn ºt;UA 4t,
IOUI]OU KUU on tro111. A S.Iollo otla 3UOUIt pug I ‘poultoſ StºA
"Oº V Aq.[O(I O ſº Jo tu.Ig otll ‘Totilled [t]oods St. [tº] ideo
quoſoſuns 3 (Inu(II,Iluoo UOSIAI (IN put ‘U.Inqu W. 11; polluo
-00 a.Iols Nood to thout loy 5uſtiodo pooj tº trou A ‘OfST KInſ
[1] [In XIIolo 5USuutºut st; tıosſ AI ITU (In IA pout. Quo. I
‘(IO letſ].In J Nºods I Ulotſ A Jo Stouslland polou ou'l Jo
1sotti (Ill A lotu 1stU I so ſo OAl Osotil UI out on euo oſqt,
-IOUIotti tº slºw tº Idiopt[IUCI put XLION AON on di.I] KIN
to III9IYIQ (IVIVAACICI, ,
'sillo & Kindl K.I.O.A.,,
'Juſã (I 3.10.x suo Issoidu.If K (II at (I) SKUAA Kubuſ
uſ poAoud ooups a Acq mow put: “uttu 5uno Á JoAoſo ÁloA tº od on no Á
qušnot!) I Aoux I 'a Mut no A. su dº.11 out, Jo Shuopiouſ otly go top,
-ooHooo..I tº piaſ A os Jirºu o Aºti I a..Aopioq n, Utop I qua ‘s.Ito A U on OSoul
uſt|1|A Toulošo, XLIO U AoN or 5ultuoo Ino Jo uot looſiodol jouſhsſ p
t; oat; it I "Sita \ uon nodu Juſãf.1%I ºy Jyotitioq Jo ULig otl) Jo Ouo st
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26 INTRODUCTORY.
My book business was successful from the start, and
continued so until my removal to New York thirteen years
later. My two brothers soon followed me in the same line,
having been trained mostly by myself in the methods of
buying and selling books.
The following letter, written by my mother in 1844,
was published in One of the religious papers at the
time.
A MOTHER'S ADVICE TO HER CHILDREN-BOOKSELLERs—ON THE
PUIRCFIASING AND VENIDING PERNICIOUS BOOKS.
“As you are soon going on your accustomed journey, I will
ask you once more to consider my plea regarding the policy and
character of some portion of your business. The selecting of
books for a reading community is a peculiar responsibility; and if
the matter therein contained be good in its wholesale and retail
consequences, it will rise up for you, if bad, against you, even
here in this partly Christianized America.
“You now stand upon the pivot of general improvement in al-
most everything, and it is your special province to go forward in
this particular branch of progression, provided your religious
principles, high moral character, and self-denial be such as should
be worthy the patronage and confidence of the world, and more
especially your own conscience.
“Consider now, I pray you, and take the choice whether you
will be men who greatly improve and exalt the moral faculties and
unsubdued hearts of this intelligent but inconsistent people, whose
God and kingdom should not be of this world—or as one regard-
less, principally of all that is, has been, and will be said, but who
is in favor of many good operations, and lielp to sustain and en-
courage orthodox institutions, yet at the same time are trafficking
the disgusting, heart-sickening literature of moral corruption,
which of its own inherent nature, undermines more or less the
very ground-work of those blessed institutions, which you other-
wise help and wish to have supported, and which are our own
individual, as well as national safety, and the strength and hope
of perpetual happiness—Strange contradiction And is this all
for money? Can it be? Think of the impolicy and sin of an im-
purs press and those who sustain it!
“I intend to be brief but plain, and how can I let you alone as
INTRODUCTORY. 27
long as a mother's blood runs in my veins, and my heart is con-
strained by the love of Christ to act for the good of souls.
“The mind of man is a soil that God has made highly produc-
tive of greatness and goodness provided it is beneath the refresh-
ing showers of healthful and exalting influences ; and it is your
peculiar privilege to administer, in the books you put into their
hands, such influences to fallen and rebellious man. . . . .
. . . . . I would, ther fore, have you come out on the right
and on the Safe side, and to extend your usefulness, make your
principles publicly known and your reasons for them, then your
names may be written in letters of gold, as the first booksellers re-
solved to put nothing but that which is good and healthful upon
your shelves and counters.
“Your affectionate mother,
‘‘ LEZETTA DERBY.”
We were not unmindful of the advice of our mother, and
I can confidently say that in the long and varied experi-
ence of my brothers and myself, not a single volume has
ever been sold of a doubtful moral tendency.
Early in the year 1844, my first publication made its
appearance in a small but meat volume bearing the title
“Conference Hymns, with Tunes, adapted to Religious Meet-
ings for Prayers.” The authors were Rev. Josiah Hopkins,
I). D., then pastor of the First Presbyterian Church at
Auburn, and Henry Ivison, Jr., who about that time
had removed to New York. Mr. Ivison was leader of
the choir in the church of which Dr. Hopkins was pas-
tor. A single copy of this book still remains in my pos-
Session.
In March, 1848, Norman C. Miller,” one of my trusted
clerks, who understood very thoroughly all the details in the
printing and binding of books, was made a partner in my
business.
Up to the year 1853 inclusive, the firm of Derby &
* Mr. Miller is now connected with the extensive New York
book-bindery of John A. Somerville, whose father, the late James
Somerville, was one of my earliest and most valued friends.
28 INTRODUCTORY.
Miller had printed and published more than one hundred
different books, consisting of school and law publications,
standard histories, biographies, and miscellaneous Works
of a popular nature, among them were the “Life of General
Zachary Taylor,” prepared for us by Henry Montgomery,
editor of the Auburn Journal, soon after the General’s
nomination to the Presidency. The books were brought
out in attractive styles, and met with very large Sales.
It is an interesting fact that for forty years—through
ten presidential elections,—I have published or had charge
of the publications of the lives of one or more of the several
candidates for the Presidency; the first, General Harrison
in 1840, and the last, General Hancock in 1880.
Another successful venture was the publication of the
“Lives of Mary and Martha Washington,” by Margaret
C. Conkling. This work was the first biographical account
of the mother and wife of George Washington, published
in book form, and was written in the graceful style, which
that author inherits.
Miss Conkling was also the author of a novel, “Isabel,
or Trials of the Heart,” and a translation of Florian’s
“History of the Moors of Spain,” both works having been
published by Harper & Brothers, the latter being adopted
into their School District Library Series. Miss Conk-
ling resided near Auburn with her father, Hon. Alfred
Conkling, at his beautiful residence, Melrose, overlooking
the placid waters of Owasco Lake. He was at that time
a judge of the United States District Court, a position
which his grandson, Alfred Conkling Coxe, now holds.
Soon after the succession of Millard Fillmore to the pre-
sidency, Judge Conkling was appointed United States
Minister to Mexico. He was one of my earliest patrons,
and a good adviser at the commencement of my business
career. He was the author of the best Admiralty Practice
known to the courts. His son, Roscoe Conkling, was then
a youngster residing with his father, bidding fair at that
INTRODUCTORY. 29
early day to become what he now is, an eminent statesman
and famous lawyer.
Another successful book was Seward’s “Life of John
Quincy Adams,” published soon after the death of Mr.
Adams.
Among the other popular publications of Derby & Mil-
ler which reached the sale of forty thousand or more copies,
may be mentioned Headley’s “Life of the Empress Joseph-
ine” the “Life of Rev. Andoniram Judson,” “Lives of
the three Mrs. Judsons,” “Jenkins’ History of the War
with Mexico’—and last, but not least, “Fern Leaves,” by
Fanny Fern, referred to elsewhere.
Of the “Life of George Washington, by Jared
Sparks, L.L. D.,” a very large number were sold, so large
that a complimentary letter was received by the publishers
from that eminent historian.
Among the important law-books published, were
the “New Clerks’ Assistant, or Every Man his own Law-
yer,” by John S. Jenkins, of which more than thirty thou-
sand copies were sold ; “The General Statutes of New
York with notes and references by Samuel Blatchford,
Esq.” The latter was a personal and political friend,
then a practicing lawyer in Auburn. He removed his large
legal business to New York a few years later.
Upon his subsequent advancement to his present eminent
position, as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the
United States, I sent him a congratulatory note, to which
he responded as follows:
“New York City, March 15th 1882.
“My dear friend Derby:
“Nothing could be more acceptable to me than your kind
words. Old friends and old wine are not picked up in a day.
You have known me and watched me for nearly forty years, and
to have ‘God speed' from you, is to have true gold.
“Wery sincerely yours,
“SAMUEL BLATCHFORD.”
30 INTRODUCTORY.
The firm of Derby & Miller also published the first vol.
ume of “Blatchford’s United States Circuit Court Reports”
—the subsequent volumes of which have been published by
Baker, Voorhis & Co. Another important law-book was
“The New York Civil and Criminal Justice,” edited by the
late Christopher Morgan, and Clarence A. Seward, Esq.,
who, like Mr. Blatchford, subsequently removed to New
York city. . . .
Goodrich’s “History of all Nations ° an account of
which is given elsewhere, was, I believe, the first subscrip-
tion book published west of New York City.
In the year 1847, I was nominated by a Whig County
Convention and elected—Treasurer of the county of Cay-
uga—the first Whig ever elected to that office in that
county. On the same ballot, -one of which is now in my
possession—are the names of John Young, for Governor,
Hamilton Fish, for Lieutenant Governor, Millard Fillmore,
for Comptroller, and Christopher Morgan, for Secretary of
State. It was the latter’s brother, Colonel Edwin B. Mor-
gan, who rescued Charles Summer from the cruel attack by
Preston Brooks of South Carolina ; Colonel Morgan was a
member of Congress at the time and present when the
assault was made.
Edwin B. Morgan was one of my most valued friends
for nearly half a century. At the time of his death, he
was one of the two largest owners of The New York Times,
being one of its founders. Col. Morgan, in connection
with the late William E. Dodge, caused to be erected a
new library building for the Auburn Theological Seminary,
each giving $100,000 for that purpose.
Mr. Fish was subsequently elected Governor of Now
York, then U. S. Senator, and afterwards became Secre-
tary of State under President Grant. He has thus been
crowned with the highest honors in the gift of the people,
save only that of President of the United States. Millard
Fillmore was elected Vice President on the ticket with
INTROL) UCTORY. 31
General Taylor, the following year, and became President
on the death of the latter in 1850.
Early in the year 1852 when the gold fever excitement
was at its height in California, my brother George, then
head of the firm of G. H. Derby & Co., in the book-selling
business at Buffalo, N. Y., in connection with myself, at
that time his partner, decided to start a branch book and
stationery store in San Francisco, which had then just
emerged from scarcely more than a Mexican settlement to a
thriving young city. We believing, as the result finally
proved, that it would be a profitable undertaking, it was
decided to stock the store with about five thousand dollars
worth of merchandise, and the goods were duly shipped, by a
sailing vessel, around Cape Horn. At the same time our
firm sent to San Francisco to take charge of the business
two of their clerks, Hubert H. Bancroft and George L.
Renney, both of whom my brother had trained to the book
business in Buffalo. Before the goods arrived in San Fran-
cisco, however, the young men, who were already there, re-
ceived the sad news of the unexpected death of my brother,
of cholera, in September of that year. * As it became
necessary to settle up my brother’s estate with dispatch,
the administrator directed an immediate sale of the con-
signment, the avails of which were subsequently sent
to Buffalo to my brother’s family. Young Bancroft and
his fellow clerk continued business in San Francisco, on
their own account, in a modest way.
In 1855 my brother’s widow determined to assist
this enterprise and carry out her late husband’s plan
in regard to the founding of a book and stationery
store in San Francisco. She therefore advanced a loan
* “He possessed all the requisite elements of character, both in-
tellectual and moral, and was also a Christian gentleman, faithful
in all the relations of life, and beloved by all who knew him. It
is believed that the mother of the Derby Brothers is entitled to
much credit for their success in business.”—From Blake’s “Bio-
graphical Dictionary.”
32 INTRODUCTORY.
of all her available funds,--about $10,000—to her brother,
Hubert H. Bancroft, for that purpose. He came east
to Buffalo and brought with him to New York a let-
ter of introduction from Mrs. Derby to her late hus-
band’s friend John C. Barnes, at that time of the firm
of Ames, Herrick & Barnes, and brother of A. S. Barnes
the well known publisher. Mr. Barnes took a lively
interest in young Bancroft, introducing him to many
of the old publishing houses of New York, who at once
gave him all the business credit he desired. Thus the San
Francisco house of EI. H. Bancroft & Co. was started, an
immense business was built up, and Mr. Bancroft, in a
few years, found himself possessed of an ample fortune.
The book and stationery store and publishing house of
Bancroft & Co. is to day the most extensive establishment
west of New York, and has a reputation and trade in the
Old World which rivals that of the largest Eastern houses.
Giving place to his younger brother Albert L., to attend
to the active business management of the concern, and leav-
ing in the firm sufficient capital, Hubert H. Bancroft was
enabled to Satisfy a desire for foreign travel, intellectual
culture and literary fame, the outgrowth of which was,
after twenty years of persevering research and hard study,
his elaborate “History of the Pacific States of North
America,” now in the course of publication.
Young Bancroft early saw the importance of preserving
the pre-historical records of the Pacific States. He saw
also how important it was to Secure, as early as possible, the
material for a history of this new Empire, as there were
but few living witnesses who knew where the Mexican
manuscripts were to be found. He began to purchase
everything that could be found pertaining to the Pacific
Slope, Mexico, and Central America. In this way he
secured over ten thousand volumes, purchasing every book,
map and manuscript printed or written in this territory or
Empire relating to it, that could be found in Mexico,
Central America, or in the Eastern States, even visiting
INTRODUCTORY. 33
Europe several times in search of needed material. He
also secured from the pioneers and settlers many interest-
ing reminiscences.
Hubert H. Bancroft came to my brother in Buffalo a
Buckeye boy of eighteen years, with no other capital than
health, perseverance, industry and integrity; and although
self-educated, he now ranks with the few famous histori-
ans of our day. He has erected a fire-proof building for
his library of books and manuscripts pertaining to Amer-
ica, which consists of over 36,000 volumes, the building
and books costing him over half a million dollars.
In the early part of my clerkship with H. Ivison & Co., I
became seriously ill from a severe attack of fever, so ill,
that it was deemed best that I should be removed to my
mother's residence, in Moravia, a quiet village, about six-
teen miles from Auburn. Although convalescent I was
unable to sit upright, so I was taken in a close carriage,
in charge of a young physician who conveyed me in
safety to my mother’s care, through whose careful nurs-
ing I soon recovered, and returned to business. A few
years later that same physician removed to Buffalo,
where, in 1852, he, in counection with Dr. Austin Flint,
attended my brother George in his last illness—this young
physician was Frank H. Hamilton, who afterwards with
his celebrated collaborator, removed to New York City,
where both became eminent in their profession.
The assassination of President Garfield, and his long
attendant sufferings, brought this eminent surgeon promi-
nently before the nation, and Frank Hastings Hamilton,
the youthful doctor of my boyhood days, is now acknowl-
edged one of the most celebrated surgeons in this country.
He is the author of several valuable medical works, the
most important of which is, a “Treatise on Fractures and
Dislocations,” which has also been translated and pub-
lished in the French and German languages.
In the month of December, 1853, having disposed of
my interest in the Auburn store, I established myself in
34 INTRODUCTORY.
New York City as a publisher, at No. 8 Park Place, the
late George P. Putnam occupying, at that time, an adjoin-
ing store.
I received a friendly welcome from the book trade and
editorial fraternity, and soon had an abundant supply of
manuscripts from authors in every department of literature.
I early secured as a critical reader, the late George Ripley,
then the literary editor of the New York Tribune, who was
not only a good judge but a safe adviser as to the best kind
of books to publish, and as the MSS. multiplied I engaged
Thomas Bailey Aldrich, as an assistant reader.
In the year 1855, Edwin Jackson, who had been brought
up to the book publishing business in the establishment
of H. and E. Phinney of Cooperstown, then famous as
publishers of Quarto Bibles and school books—became my
associate in business, and the firm of Derby & Jackson was .
established. *
Derby & Jackson, had a prosperous career until 1861,
when they discontinued business. Their list of publica-
tions at the time numbered more than three hundred vol-
umes, most of them new and successful books, by American
authors, who afterwards became famous, and of many of
whom I give an account elsewhere. In addition to these
original authors, we were the publishers of the works of
Joseph Addison, Oliver Goldsmith, Henry Fielding, Tobias
Smollett, Laurence Sterne, Dean Swift, Samuel Johnson,
Daniel De Foe, Charles Lamb, William Hazlitt, Thomas
Hood, Leigh Hunt, Captain Marryat, Jane Austen, Char-
lotte Bronte, Hannah More, Jane Porter, Ann Radcliffe,
Francis Burney, Lord Chesterfield, Madam de Stael, Mon-
taigne, La Fontainë, Chateaubriand, Pascal, Fenelon, and
other standard classics, in all over two hundred volumes,
issued in uniform library editions, in fine bindings, which
soon became well known in the book world.
The most delightful occasion which I can recall in my
publishing career is that of the complimentary fruit and
flower festival, given to authors by the New York book
INTRODUCTORY. 35
publishers, in September, 1855. The gathering took place
at the Crystal Palace, which had been erected in Reservoir
Square, under the direction of the American Institute,
through whose courtesy the exceptional accommodations
for the festival were secured. The whole scene itself was
one of great splendor, and will linger long in the memory
of those who participated. Such a gathering was unpre-
cedented then, and has never been equaled since. With
Several of my contemporary publishers, I was one of the
vice-presidents of the occasion.
Among the distinguished authors were the following :
Rev. William Adams, D. D., Thomas Bailey Aldrich, George
Bancroft, William Cullen Bryant, Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, Cath-
erine E. Beecher, Rev. Horace Bushell, D. D., Rev. J. L. Blake,
D. D., Alice and Phoebe Cary, George William Curtis, Lydia Maria
Childs, Henry C. Carey, James E. Cooley, Frederick S. Cozzens,
T. R. Conrad, Rev. George B. Cheever, D. D., Rev. E. H. Chapin,
D. D., Rev. Orville Dewey, D. D., Professor Charles Davies,
Judge Charles P. Daly, Fanny Fern, Caroline Gilman, S. G. Good-
rich, Richard Hildreth, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Fitz Greene
Halleck, Washington Irving, Caroline M. Kirkland, James Rus-
sel Lowell, B. J. Lossing, J. P. Kennedy, Henry W. Longfellow,
Prof. S. F. B. Morse, John L. Motley, Maria J. McIntosh, Rev.
W. H. Milburn, Rev. Samuel Osgood, D. D., James Parton, T.
Buchanan Read, Rev. Edward Robinson, D. D., Professor Benja-
min Silliman, Frederick Saunders, Rev. Gardner Spring, D. D.,
Richard Henry Stoddard, Catherine M. Sedgwick, Rev. W. B.
Sprague, D. D., Ann S. Stephens, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Eliza-
beth Oakes Smith, Seba Smith, H. R. Schoolcraft, H. T.
Tuckerman, Rev. S. H. Tyng, D. D., Bayard Taylor, John G.
Whittier, N. P. Willis, and Rev. Theodore D. Woolsey, D. D.
About six hundred invited guests were present, chiefly
authors and booksellers. Mr. William H. Appleton, Pre-
sident of the Publishers’ Association was made chairman,
and in his opening address said :
“Under the guise of a light floral banquet, it is very possible
that we may be inaugurating a new era in the history of that trade
36 INTRODUCTORY.
which ministers to the intellectual wants of a great and powerful
people. Our present social gathering of authors and publishers,
may lead to unanticipated results. It can hardly fail to promote
a good understanding among those who exert an important in-
fluence on the education of the national mind, to elevate their
views, and give additional union and vigor to their efforts, in the
great cause to which they are devoted.
“Sensible of the importance of the bookselling trade, considered
simply as a branch of industry, and aware that many of its most
important general concerns have hitherto been left to chance or
the narrow views of private interests, a number of the booksellers
of this city decided to form the present association, not to con-
trol or influence their brethren, but to accept the charge of such
general interests as are usually confided to similar associations by
other trades, guilds and professions. I am happy to announce to
you that the effort on our part has met with a cordial response
from our brethren throughout the country, who have promptly
recognized the absolute necessity of such an association by fur-
nishing material for its first operations in the great trade sale
which is now just terminated. Hence the genial gathering of
kindred spirits to which I now bid you welcome—an assemblage
such as this country has never seen before, where genius sitting
in its appropriate high place at the banquet, looks down with kind
regard on the ministers of its power, and where female talent and
beauty, hitherto excluded from such festivities, shed a holy and
ennobling influence over the scene. In the name of the associa-
tion, ladies and gentlemen, I bid you welcome.”
Mr. Appleton was followed by the secretary, the late
George P. Putnam, who, in responding to the toast
“American Literature,” opened an admirable address, as
follows : -
“We do not, in proposing the regular toasts, offer our re-
spected guests choice Johannisberger or Imperial Tokay or spark-
ling Catawba, with which to pledge us, for we booksellers are law-
abiding citizens. (Cheers.) But though we provide only such juice
of the grape as is pure, beyond suspicion, and in its original pack-
ages, yet that we trust the flavor of the mocha—the celestial bev-
erage—or the crystal Croton, or better than all, the inspiration of
the sentiments themselves, and the presence of those who so emi-
INTRODUCTORY. 37
nently illustrate them, will touch responsive chords in generous
hearts, and prompt the eloquence of tongues of some whose names
are as familiar in our mouths as household words. (Applause.)
“Eighteen years ago a gathering of authors and booksellers took
place at the old City Hotel. Our recently-formed association came
to the sensible conclusion that it was quite time to have another
such a caucus, or rather mass meeting. The interests of writers,
publishers and sellers of books are daily growing in magnitude
and importance, and these interests are and should be mutual and
identical. Friendly social intercourse between each other is one
of the prominent objects of the association of publishers, and
surely it is pleasant, proper, and profitable to extend and strength-
en this intercourse between publishers and authors. (Cheers.) On
the occasion referred to, in March, 1837, it was remarked by Mr.
John Keese, speaking of the progress of American literature, that
“our once infant intellect now walks with giant strides.’”
Mr. James T. Fields read an exceedingly humorous
poem, adapted to the occasion.
Among the notable speeches made on that occasion one
of them is still fresh in my memory—that of Rev. E. H.
Chapin, responding to the toast : “JEditors of the News-
paper Press—Guardians of our Literature and sentinels
on the watch-towers of our Liberties, they wield a power
which might dethrone a monarch or elevate a people.”
Dr. Chapin’s address, which occupied nearly an hour,
electrified the audience, who were spell-bound, by his elo-
quence and the power of his speech, which was a masterpiece
of oratory. He had not written a word on the morning of
the day on which it was delivered. Before preparing it
he went down to the office of Harper & Brothers to see a
power-press and to gather inspiration by looking at the
machinery. He was conducted over the establishment by
one of the members of the firm, and the result proved the
use which he made of the information thus obtained. By
some mistake the same toast was sent to Rev. Henry Ward
Beecher, and to which he expected to respond. I recall
now how unequal to his usual efforts Mr. Beecher’s
address appeared at that time, he said but little—and
38 INTRODUCTORY.
that little was disappointing to such an audience. In
a recent conversation with Mr. Beecher, referring to
this event, he said : “Thirty years ago, Chapin and I
were invited to speak at the booksellers’ festival. By
some mistake the toast to which we were expected to
respond was sent to us both. He preceded me, and he made
a speech that was like a fourth of July pyrotechnic exhi-
bition. The whole heaven was full of rockets, it was a
brilliant, magnificent speech. When I found he had had
my toast, and used it all up, I saw it left me nothing, and
the only thing for me to do was to get up, own the corn,
and sit down again.”
The celebrated author and orator Rev. W. H. Mil-
burn, responded to the toast, “ The Clergy—Promoters
of useful intelligence and Christian patriotism, their in-
fluence on the minds of men should entitle them to the
gratitude of all sensible booksellers.” In his response, the
eloquent blind preacher said :
‘‘ Gentlemen booksellers, the leaves that you scatter are from
the tree whose fruit is for the healing of the nations. Gentlemen
publishers, the well-heads opened in your press-rooms may send
forth streams to refresh and gladden the homes of a continent, so
that the parched land shall become as a pool, and the thirsty land,
springs of water, and in the habitations of dragons, where each
lay, shall be grass with weeds and rushes.
“But if I magnify the office of a maker and seller of a book,
how much more the authors. As Wolfe sadly and sweetly recited
‘ Gray's Elegy' upon the St. Lawrence the night before his glorious
fall on the Plains of Abraham, he said, ‘I would rather have the
honor of writing that poem than taking Quebec to-morrow.”
“Were I to paraphrase his thought to my wish it would be
thus: Could I have written the ‘Sketch-Book' (turning to Mr.
Irving), or could I have sung that ode commencing ‘The groves
were God’s first temples' (turning to Mr. Bryant), cheerfully would
I go through life, binding this badge of infirmity upon my brow,
to wear it as a crown ; or groping in the unbroken darkness, so
were it the Father's will, for threescore years and ten of man's
appointed time !”
INTRODUCTORY. 39
Soon after the close of the festival I proposed to Mr.
Milburn to publish a collection of his lectures, which had
become very popular in all parts of the country. Among
other topics of which they were composed, were those on
“The Symbols of Early Western Character,” “The Tri-
umphs of Genius over Blindness,” “An Hour's Talk about
Women,” and “Early Discoveries in the South West”—
Mr. Milburn accepted the proposal, and Derby & Jackson
published for him in 1859, a volume comprising these lec-
tures under the general title of “The Rifle, Axe, and
Saddle-Bags.” Two years later we published for him an-
other volume of an autobiographical character, entitled
“Ten Years of Preacher-Life,” which was very entertain-
ing, giving a graphic account of the early struggles of
Methodist preachers in the far South-west. Another vol-
ume followed in 1860, with the title “Pioneers, Preachers,
and People of the Mississippi Valley.” All these volumes
were well received by the critics and the public, and passed
through several editions.
Mr. Milburn has recently been delivering a new course
of lectures in some of the Southern States, where he has
passed a great portion of his interesting ministerial life.
In referring to The Publisher’s Festival, the late Morton
McMichael, then the distinguished editor of the Philadel-
phia Worth American, gave the following account in that
paper December 14, 1855:— *
“The last time we had the pleasure of seeing Washington
Irving was at the publisher's festival in New York, in the autumn
of 1855. All who were present on that occasion will remember
how fresh was his appearance, and how genial his manner, and
with what a hearty welcome he greeted the friends, old and young,
who gathered around him. Among the former was our townshman,
Mr. Moses Thomas, and in reference to the interview between
these gentlemen, the American Publisher's Circular said :—
“One of the interesting incidents at the recent festival was the
meeting of Washington Irving with his old friend Moses Thomas,
the veteran and much-respected ex-publisher of Philadelphia.
40 INTRODUCTORY.
Mr. Irving, in his younger days, had been intimate with Mr.
Thomas, and cherished for him the highest regard, but it so hap-
pened that they had not met for more than a quarter of a century.
A month or two later Mr. Irving addressed the following letter
to Mr. Thomas which we are tempted to reprint as at once showing
his disinclination to public display, and his cordial recognition
of the claims of private friendship:-
“Sunnyside, Dec. 14, 1855.
“MY DEAR THOMAs,
“I thank you heartily for your kind and hospitable invitation
to your house, which I should be glad to accept did I propose
attending the Godey complimentary dinner, but the annoyance I
suffer at dinners of this kind in having to attempt speeches, or
bear compliments in silence has made me abjure them altogether.
The publishers’ festival at which I had the great pleasure of meet.
ing you was an exception to my rule, but only made on condition
that I would not be molested by extra civilities. I regret that on
that occasion we were separated from each other, and could
not sit together and talk of old times. However, I trust we shall
have a future opportunity of so doing. I wish when you visit
New York you would take a run up to ‘Sunnyside.” The cars
will set you down within ten minutes walk of my house, where
my “woman kind' will receive you (figuratively speaking) with
open arms, and my dogs will not dare to bark at you.
- “Yours, ever very truly,
“Moses Thomas, Esq. WASHINGTON IRVING.”
During my winter in Washington in 1862, I saw much
of the late Emmanuel ſleutze, the famous historical artist,
whose genial friendship I had enjoyed for many years in
New York. He was at that time under contract with the
government to paint his wonderful mural picture, “West-
ward the Star of Empire takes its way,” for which he was
paid $20,000.
One day while in his studio, the artist said to me :
“Derby, I want your beard for one of my figures in the
picture, and if you will sit for me, I will paint your por-
trait,” which proposition, on such flattering terms, I read-
ily accepted. The portrait is now in the possession of my
family, a copy of the beard he transferred to one of the
INTRODUCTORY. 41
pioneers of the emigrant train. The painting itself adorns
the walls of the Capitol at Washington, placed above the
magnificent marble stairway at the north end of the west
corridor of the House of Representatives.
About this time I occasionally met at Leutze’s studio
Nathaniel Hawthorne, while sitting for his portrait. He
conceived as great a liking for the famous artist, as the
painter did for the great romancer. In April, 1862,
Hawthorne wrote his friend, James T. Fields, as fol-
lows :
“I stay here only while Leutze finishes a portrait which I
think will be the best ever painted of the same unworthy subject.
One charm it must needs have—an aspect of immortal jollity and
well-to-doness; for Leutze, when the sitting begins, gives me a
first-rate cigar, and when he sees me getting tired he brings out a
bottle of splendid champagne, and we quaffed and smoked yes-
terday, in a blessed state of mutual good-will, for three hours and
a half, during which the picture made a really miraculous pro-
gress. Leutze is the best of fellows.”
On the 9th of October, 1865, I was appointed by the
Government, United States General Agent of the Paris
Exposition of 1867, and although not familiar with the
duties which such a position devolved upon me, and Con-
gress being very late in providing the necessary appropri-
ation for the expenses attendant upon such an undertak-
ing, the American display at the Exposition was very grat-
ifying to the country, which had so recently emerged
from an exhausting civil war.
The products of every State except one were on exhi-
bition at Paris, and the American exhibitors carried off
some of the most important prizes awarded in this compe-
tition of the best products of all nations. This satisfactory
result was reached by the care taken, in surrounding my-
self with competent committees, specially qualified to ad-
vise in the selection of exhibits belonging to each group
and class. Among my advisory committee were the fol-
42 INTRODUCTORY.
lowing well known gentlemen, each of whom was chair-
man of one of the ten respective groups: William J. Hop-
pin, Charles A. Joy, Richard M. Hunt, Elliot C. Cowdin,
Samuel B. Ruggles, Francisco W. Evans, Frederick Law
Olmsted, William S. Carpenter, Thomas McElrath and
Charles L. Brace, For the success of the Paris Universal
Exposition of 1867, much is also due to Hon. John Bige.
low, at that time United States Minister at Paris, and to
N. M. Beckwith, Esq., United States Commissioner Gen-
eral, without whose early, able and persistent efforts, the
|United States would have been without representation.
A complete account of the Origin, progress and result
of the Exposition has been published by the government, in
six large volumes. At the close of the Exposition I re-
ceived from the French Government, a gold medal and also
one in bronze with the following inscription.
Napoleon III. Empereur.
Exposition Universelle de MDCCCLXVII a Paris.
J. C. Derby.
Pour Services Rendus.
In the year 1855, I was elected a member of the Cent-
ury Association, or as it is more commonly called “The
Century Club.”
This association, which was organized in the year 1846,
was originally composed of one hundred members, from
whence it derives its name. The members as a rule are
composed of artists, authors, publishers, Scientists and
other gentlemen of culture and literary taste. Its first
president was the late Gulian C. Verplanck, who died in
1870, full of years and literary honors. His successor, the
Hon. George Bancroft, resigned, soon after his appoint-
ment as United States Minister to Berlin. William Cul-
len Bryant was clected to fill the vacancy, remaining in
that office until his death in 1879, when Daniel Hunt-
ington was elected to succeed him. Mr. Huntington
INTRODUCTORY. 43
is also president of the National Academy of Design,
of which institution I became a “Fellow ’’ in the year
1860.
Mr. Huntington was one of the original founders of
the Century, and with Mr. A. B. Durand, the venerable
artist, Mr. John H. Gourlie, well known among men of
letters, and Mr. W. J. Hoppin, who fills the post of
“Chargé d’ Affaires” of the United States Government
at London with so much credit, alone survive. Since I
was admitted to the Club one hundred and thirty members
have died, all but eight of whom joined since my admis-
sion to membership. Among them I recall many well
known in artistic, literary, scientific, legal and mercantile
circles, most of whom were my valued and personal
friends.
Of the many privileges of which during my business
career, I have been a sharer, I look back to none fraught
with more pleasure, profit and advantage, than my mem-
bership with the Century Association.
In the year 1864, while holding a confidential position
under the Government, I was deputed by the Secretary
of State to deliver to Commodore Vanderbilt, the following
resolutions, which had been passed by Congress, and ele-
gantly engrossed and mounted in a handsome frame :
“A RESOLUTION PRESENTING THE THANKS OF CONGRESS
TO CORNELIUS WANDERBILT FOR A GIFT OF THE STEAM-
SHIP VANDERBILT.
“Whereas Cornelius Wanderbilt, of New York, did,
during the spring of eighteen hundred and sixty-two, make
a free gift to his imperiled Qountry of his new and stanch
steamship “Vanderbilt,’ of five thousand tons burden,
built by him with the greatest care, of the best materials,
at a cost of eight hundred thousand dollars, which steam-
ship has ever since been actively employed in the service
of the Republic against the Rebel devastations of her com-
44 INTRODUCTORY.
merce, and whereas the said Cornelius Vanderbilt has in
no manner sought any requital of his munificent gift nor
any official recognition thereof;
“Therefore, Resolved, by the Senate and House of Rep-
resentatives of the United States of America in Congress
assembled, That the thanks of Congress be presented to
Cornelius Vanderbilt for his unique manifestation of a fer-
vid and large-souled patriotism.
“And, be it further Resolved, That the President of the
|United States be requested to cause a gold medal to be
struck, which shall fitly embody an attestation of the
nation’s gratitude for this gift ; which medal shall be for-
warded to Cornelius Vanderbilt ; a copy of it being made
and deposited for preservation in the Library of Congress.
“Approved, January 28, 1864.
“ABRAHAM LINCOLN,
‘‘ President.
- ‘‘ SCHUYLER COLFAx,
“Speaker of the House of Representatives.
“PI. HAMLIN,
“Vice-President of the United States and
President of the Senate.
“W. HUNTER,
- ‘‘ Chiof Clerk.
“Executed at the Department of State by Henry Westerland.”
In accordance with instructions, I conveyed the same,
and after reading it carefully, the Commodore looked at
me and said, in his well known decided manner : “Con-
gress be damned/ I never gave that ship to Congress.
When the Government was in great straits for a suitable
vessel of war, I offered to give the ship if they did not care
to buy it ; however, Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Wells think it
was a gift, and I suppose I shall have to ‘let her go.’”
The medal referred to in the resolution was not ready
for a long time afterwards; it was subsequently delivered,
INTRODUCTORY. 45
however, and was very elegant, bearing the following
inscription :
A GRATEFUL Country. To HER GENEROUS SON,
CoRNELIUS WANDERBILT. (His profile.)
Reverse side:
BIS DAT QUITEMPORI DAT.
1865.
(SHIP,) (SLAVE,) (LIBERTY,) (EAGLE.)
The proffer of the vessel happened in this wise :
On the 14th of May, 1863, Commodore Wanderbilt
wrote a letter to the late W. O. Bartlett, a gentleman of
well known and wise diplomacy, father of the present
Judge Willard Bartlett, in which he said that he had offer-
ed to dispose of the ocean steamer “Wanderbilt’’ to the
Government, but had received no answer to his communi-
cation. -
He further added :
“You are authorized to renew this proposition with such ad-
ditions thereto as are hereinafter set forth. I feel a great desire
that the government should have the steamer “Wanderbilt,’ as
she is acknowledged to be as fine a ship as floats the ocean, and,
in consequence of her great speed and capacity would, with a
proper armament, be of more efficient service in keeping our coast
clear of piratical vessels than any other ship. Therefore you are
authorized to say, in my behalf, that the government can take
this ship at a valuation to be determined by the Hon. Robert F.
Stockton of New Jersey, the only ex-commodore in the navy, and
any two commodores in the service to be selected by the govern-
ment; and if this will not answer, will the government accept her
as a present from their humble servant ?
- “Yours very respectfully,
** C. WANDERBILT.”
Owing to the fact that a portion of the “Wanderbilt’s ”
machinery was above deck and would be exposed to the
enemy’s shot, the Navy Department was for a time unwil-
46 INTRODUCTORY.
ling to accept this vessel, but afterwards, when better pro-
vided with long range cannon, which would enable her to
use her own guns at a safe distance from those of the ene-
my, she was accepted by the Government, converted into
a powerful man-of-war and sent upon a cruise in search of
privateers. - :
The vessel did excellent service, and proved a most
valuable acquisition to the navy. The gift was worth in
money, not far from three-quarters of a million of dollars.
My acquaintance with the late William Orton began
in 1850, when he was a clerk for my brother George, then
a bookseller at Geneva, N. Y. When my brother removed
to Buffalo he placed young Orton in charge of his Geneva
store, and it was afterwards conducted by the firm of
Prince, Orton & Miller. After the death of my brother
in 1852, the business at Buffalo and Geneva was carried on
under the style of Derby, Orton & Co., the firm consisting
of William Orton, N. C. Miller and myself; Mr. Orton
having taken charge of the Buffalo store. Subsequently
the business was removed to New York, continuing under
the style of Miller, Orton & Co., until 1857, when the firm
went into liquidation. -
Soon after this Mr. Orton became managing clerk for J.
G. Gregory & Co., where he developed a marked and ex-
quisite talent in the art of fine book-making, he was the
embodiment of industry and cultivated taste and a thorough
hater of all vicious literature.
Mr. Orton soon became active in politics; being a man
of fine personal appearance and a good debater, he was
elected to the Common Council of New York, where his
first undertaking was the exposure of the many fraudulent
practices of the city government.
He was appointed by President Lincoln collector of in-
ternal revenue for one of the New York districts, where he
displayed a rare capability for finance which soon led to
his appointment by President Lincoln, on the recommen-
INTRODUCTORY. 47
dation of Secretary Chase, to the important position of
United States Commissioner of Internal Revenue.
Subsequently the Western Union Telegraph Co. offered
him the position of vice-president, which he accepted,
and filled with such entire satisfaction to the directors
that he was soon elected president of that great company.
From this time forth Mr. Orton became a recognized power
in the great enterprises of the day. This was so evident to
him that he had a profound sense of the trust and honor
of his position ; his devotion took on a new intensity, of
which but very few fully knew or understood. His ad-
ministration was energetic, brilliant and successful; no one
could watch him closely without feeling that the brain
which worked so intensely was in constant danger.
The over-worked man finally broke down, and the world
lost by the death William Orton, a man of sterling charac-
ter and Christian manhood, one that it could ill afford to
Spare.
In the year 1860 the firm of Derby & Jackson pub-
lished a volume entitled “Five Years in China, with some
account of The Great Rebellion under the insurgent chief
Tai-Ping-Wong.” The author of this book, Rev. Charles
Taylor, M.D., was my schoolmate more than half a cen-
tury ago, when his father, the Rev. Oliver S. Taylor, M.D.,
—to whom the volume was dedicated—was a teacher in the
Auburn Academy, and one of whose pupils a few years
later was Frederick W. Seward, late Assistant Secretary of
State. w
Iteverend Dr. Oliver S. Taylor, is still living in Auburn,
in the one hundredth year of his age.” In recent letters
received from him he says:—
“Although my health is good, yet my right arm and
hand are much disabled, and on most occasions I am unable
to write a legible hand. Though my mind and memory
remain in a good state, as you know I have been long deaf,
* He was born in Tecember, 1784.
48 INTRODUCTOIRY.
and now my eyes are failing very fast, so that Ifear I shall
be utterly blind.” . . . . “I’ve worked harder than
any man I ever knew. I have never been sick but a day
and a half in my life, and that was seventy-three years ago,
and I want you to know that nine of us, five daughters
and four sons, all were strictly temperate, total abstainers
from alcohol and tobacco in every form. The ages of six of
us average ninety years and ten months each.”
Dr. Taylor graduated from Dartmouth College in 1808.
His health still remains good. It is believed that he is
the oldest inhabitant in the State of New York, and the
oldest college graduate in America.
Both Mr. Carleton, and myself were at one time asso-
ciated in a business way with the celebrated photographic
artist Napoleon Sarony. The portrait on steel of Geo.
W. Carleton, which graces this book from Sarony’s photo-
graph, I can vouch for as a “speaking likeness” of my
Publisher, who has modestly consented to thus let his
genial face be seen “as others see it.” He alone is respon-
sible for the introduction of the Author’s portrait, also
from a Sarony imperial, as a frontispiece.
I am greatly indebted to Mr. S. B. Noyes, the accom-
plished librarian of the Brooklyn Library, for his courtesy
in furnishing me with valuable books of reference, and
especially for that noble monument of his scholarly taste,
the “Catalogue of the Brooklyn Library,” which is so
admirably classified by “Authors, Titles, Subjects and
Classes,” in a folio volume of over eleven hundred pages.
To Miss Mary F. Seymour, the head of a large and
well-equipped stenographic and type-writing bureau, well
known as a skillful stenographer, and also for her rare
culture and correct literary taste, I am indebted for relief
from many of the laborious details which the preparation
of a work of this nature necessarily involves.
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I.
HENRY IVISON.
Early apprenticeship to William Williams of Utica—Opens
a book store in Auburn—S. Wells Williams—Eac- Gov.
Throop, and the Albany Regency—President Van
Buren on a fence—Mr. Seward and Washington Ir-
wing—Ivison removes to Wew York—Mark H. New-
man dà Co.—Wewman dº Ivison—Sad death of John
C. Ivison—Ivison, Phinney, Blakeman dº Co.— The
thirty day credit system--He astonishes Trubner dé
Co., London—Immense sales of school-books—Retires
with an ample fortune.
HENRY IVISON recently retired with an ample fortune
- from the head of a firm, undoubtedly the largest
School-book publishing house in the world. It is pleasant
to write thus of him, who took me as an apprentice, when
a youngster to learn the business of book-selling.
Mr. Ivison came to this country from Scotland in the
year 1820, in company with his father’s family, but they,
returning soon to their native land, left their boy behind,
to learn the trade of book-binding, apprenticing him for
that purpose to William Williams, of Utica, then the
largest book-seller west of Albany. It was with William Wil-
liams, that the late Thuriow Weed at one time Worked as
a journeyman printer.
3 [49]
50 HENRY IWISON.
Young Ivison was received into the family of his em.
ployer where he was treated as one of the children, Mr.
Williams having conceived a fancy for him, because of his
tender years, and from the fact of his being left alone, a
young stranger in a strange country. He remained with
his employer for nine years, and then, in the year 1829,
after he had served his apprenticeship, he said to Mr. Wil-
liams, “Now I am out of my time, I hardly know what is
the best thing for me to do.” Mr. Williams replied, saying,
“Henry, keep right on and remain with my family. I
should be glad to have you continue in my employ.”
About the year 1830, Mr. Williams had occasion to visit
the western part of the state, and stopping at Auburn, he
there met his old friend, the late James S. Seymour, then
Cashier of the Bank of Auburn, a man of great worth and
influence. Mr. Seymour asked, “Haven’t you a young
man you could send out here to start a book store ?” There
were stores already located there of that nature, but they
were not satisfactory to the better class of people, especially
to the professors and students of the Auburn Theological
Seminary, in which Institution Mr. Seymour held an official
position. Mr. Williams at once replied, “I think I have
a person with me who would suit you—a young man just
out of his time with me.”
After the return of Mr. Williams to Utica, he called
young Ivison into his office and said to him, “Henry, I
think I have got an opportunity for you to go into busi-
ness. A friend of mine at Auburn wants another book
store there.” Mr. Ivison replied, that he had no experi-
ence in a book store, although he did know how to bind
books. “That is true,” said Mr. Williams, “but you.
can soon learn. You can go right into my store to-morrow
morning, and my head clerk will give you all the facilities
you need to get acquainted with the details of the book-
selling business.”
Accordingly Mr. Ivison spent about six months at this
new business, and then went with a letter of introduction
FIENIRY IVISON. 51
to Mr. Seymour at Auburn, who had agreed to furnish six-
teen hundred dollars capital, the net profits to be divided
equally between them. Mr. Williams purchased the first
stock for the young book-seller, and with it sent his son
Wells, who had experience in the book store. Mr. Ivison
was about two years his senior. Rev. S. Wells Williams,
D. D., subsequently went to China as missionary printer,
becoming famous as the historian of that country, and
useful as a diplomat in negotiations made from time to
time between China and our own country. His work “The
Middle Kingdom,” has become the best authority on all
that pertains to the Celestial Empire. His recent death
while President of the American Bible Society, caused uni-
versal regret.
He remained with Mr. Ivison several months, leaving him
then, to prosecute the venture alone. A large business was
built up, not only in Auburn, but embracing surrounding
territory. The store at Auburn had only one counter, but
one side was completely filled with books. One morning,
a green, country-looking young man walked in, and looked
around among the books on the shelves, and was finally
attracted by a copy of Thucydides. Calling for Mr. Ivison
he asked, “Will you please tell me what kind of book is
that Thuck-a-di-des l’
Mr. Ivison relates a good story of a visit of President
Martin Van Buren to Willow Brook, the residence of Go-
vernor Throop, near Auburn. He was accompanied by
what was called the Albany Regency, a syndicate of re-
nowned politicians, consisting of Azariah C. Flagg, William
L. Marcy, Silas Wright, and Edwin Croswell (editor of the
Albany Argus). The Governor owned a large and well-
cultivated farm on the banks of Owascó Lake, near Auburn,
and was anxious to have the President view the beauties of
the place. After walking half way around it, they all
climbed a fence, and sat down on the top rail to rest.
“Throop P’ said the President, “ have you a map of this
place 2° “I think I have at the house !” was the reply of
52 HENRY IWISON.
the Governor. “Well,” continued the President, “If you
have no objection I will look at the map for the rest of it.
I have traveled quite far enough.” The Regency then ad-
journed to the house for refreshments.
I remember one day, Mr. Seward, then Governor of the
State, came into the store, accompanied by a fine-looking
gentleman. The former asked Mr. Ivison if he had a
copy of Washington Irving’s latest work, receiving an
answer in the affirmative, at the same time being furnished
with a copy which he purchased, turned to his com-
panion and said, “I want your autograph in the book.”
The gentleman then took a pen from Mr. Ivison’s desk,
and writing his name in the volumes, handed them to Mr.
Seward. That was the first time I had ever seen Washing-
ton Irving.
After a moderately successful business of sixteen years,
Mr. Ivison removed to New York. During one of his busi-
ness trips to that city, he became acquainted with Mark H.
Newman, then a successful school-book publisher. Mr.
Ivison not only bought supplies from Mr. Newman, but
books purchased at other houses were packed there.
Mr. Newman’s health at that time was very poor. One
day he saw Mr. Ivison carrying large parcels to be packed
at his store, and stopping him said, “Ivison, I see you are
not afraid to carry your own bundles. Now I want just
such a good strong man as you are to come to New York,
and help me, as my health is failing, and you have health,
experience and capacity.” Mr. Ivison replied that there
were two obstacles to overcome before he could give a posi-
tive answer: One was, the necessity of consulting his
wife, and the other, the question of capital. Mrs. Ivison
favored the removal to New York. The next question was :
What to do with the Auburn Store.
It was finally decided that Mr. Ivison’s brother, John,
should take charge of it, and continue the business. The
latter was a young man at that time, about the same age
as myself, and formerly a fellow clerk in his brother's
HENRY IVISON. 53
book store. He was very fond of hunting, and one day
went alone to shoot ducks on one of the neighboring lakes.
On the following day, his body was found near his boat,
with his unloaded gun, evidently accidentally discharged.
Thus a bright and promising young man was suddenly
ushered into another world, leaving a fond young wife, and
infºnt son ; the latter, thirty years later, also became a
bookseller in Auburn.
In the year 1846, Mr. Ivison removed with his family
to New York, becoming a partner with Mr. Newman, con-
tributing a moderate amount of capital—the style of the
firm being Mark H. Newman & Co. The most important
books published by them, were Saunders’ Readers, the first
consecutive set of readers published in this country, be-
ginning with the primer and spelling-book, and then graded
from that, up to five readers in the set. The sale of these
books was very large at that time, and has steadily in-
creased each year, until the sale of the Series is enormous.
At the expiration of five years, a new partnership for
three years was formed, under the firm name of Newman
& Ivison, but before the end of the first year, the senior
partner died, leaving the business entirely in Mr. Ivison’s
hands, who carried it on in accordance with the partnership
articles, by the consent of Mr. Newman’s executor. Mr.
Ivison then bought out the entire interest of the concern,
re-organizing the business, and admitting thereto, H. F.
Phinney, of Cooperstown, N. Y., an experienced book-
seller, and son-in-law of J. Fenimore Cooper. The firm of
Ivison & Phinney is perhaps better known to-day, than any
other with which Mr. Ivison has been associated.
Mr. Phinney’s health failing, Mr. Birdsey Blakeman,
Augustus C. Taylor and Mr. Ivison’s oldest son, David B.,
the latter having been born at Auburn when I was a clerk
for his father and member of the household, were admitted
as partners in the year 1866, the firm being known as
Ivison, Phinney, Blakeman & Co. One of the first acts
of the new concern was to reduce the length of credits to
54 FIENRY IVISON.
wholesale buyers. Instead of allowing the usual six months’
credit on purchases, the time was reduced to thirty days,
a change which has proved of great benefit both to buyer
and seller, bringing all transactions so much nearer to a
cash basis, large sums having been previously lost by too
extended credits.
Their example in this respect has been generally fol-
lowed by the school-book publishers.
When Mr. Ivison visited London, in the year 1866,
soon after the close of the civil war, he called upon Messrs.
Trubner & Co., from whom his firm had purchased large
quantities of paper, and owing to the great scarcity of
rags in America, saved thereby from ten to fifteen per
cent. On giving a large Order for further supplies, Mr.
Trubner said :
“What on the face of the earth do you do with all the
paper you buy of us * s -
“We make it into school-books,” answered Mr. Ivison.
Said Mr. Trubner: “I should think that you had school-
books enough to furnish the whole world.”
Messrs. Trubner & Co. themselves were publishers of a
series of school-books in use largely throughout Great
Britain, and Mr. Trubner told Mr. Ivison that their firm
published more School-books than any one else in London
or elsewhere.
Mr. Ivison told him in return, that of Saunders’ Pic-
torial Primer, they never put on the press at one time less
than 100,000. Saunders’ readers have had a phenomenal
sale ; perhaps the largest of any series ever published.
The present firm of Ivison, Blakeman, Taylor & Co.
publish more than three hundred different school-books,
among them Webster’s School Dictionary, Dana's Geology,
Gray’s Botany, Robinson's Mathematics, Fasquelle’s French
Course, Wells’ Scientific Series, and the famous Spencerian
copy-books, and last but not least, Swinton’s series of
School Readers, the Sales of which have reached a magni.
2
HENRY IVISON. 55
tude that would astonish my readers, were I permitted to
give them.
Mr. Swinton is the author of several interesting volumes
on the late Civil War, which have been received with
marked favor in military circles. He was military editor
and army correspondent of the N. Y. Times, and was
present at many of the battles which he vividly describes.
Successful school-book publishing represents immense
capital, Sagacity and enterprise. Mr. Ivison attributes the
success of his firm, under the blessing of Providence, to
steady industry, economy, strict adherence to the one line
of publication undertaken, without turning to the right
hand or to the left, to the avoidance of all speculations,
liberal and judicious advertising, well-organized agency
plans and thoughtful treatment of their patrons.
Mr. Ivison being no longer in active business life, re-
sides part of his time at his elegant residence in New
York, and during the summer at his charming home at
Stockbridge, Mass. In closing this sketch of one I have
known so well for more than half a century, I will add
what is fittingly said of him in the language of another:
“Among the characteristics of Mr. Ivison’s business life,
the finest qualities of head and heart were ever con-
spicuous. To his partners and employees he was like the
head of a family, and his sunny influence pervaded every
department of the concern. It is said that he never had a
harsh word with a partner; that he never sued or was sued
in his life ; and that no piece of his business paper ever
passed maturity. Those who succeed him will still have
the benefit of his counsel and experience, Mr. Ivison will
carry with him into his retirement the cordial wishes for
many years of health and happiness of the trade and of
hosts of people who have received instruction from some
one or more of the text-books which have borne his name.”
II.
WILLIAM H. SEWARD.
Early recollections of Mr. Seward–He meets General
Lafayette and Washington Irving—Flected Governor
of New York—Fails to be nominated President—Sew-
ard, Weed and Greely—Receives John Quincy Adams
—General Taylor advised—Solomon Worthrup kid-
mapped—Murder of the Van West family—Eloquent
defense of William Freeman—Gladstone's compli-
ment—Irrepressible conflict and higher law—Anecdotes
—J. G. Whittier's poetical tribute—Author appointed
U. S. dispatch agent—Attempted assassination of
Mr. Sewardſ—Dr. Verdi’s thrilling account—Interest-
Žng anecdotes— Wonderful journey around the world—
JMr. Seward’s Death—His Monument in Madison
Square.
SHOULD I dwell longer on this record of my recollec-
tions of William H. Seward, than, perhaps, that of
any other person of whom I may write, it is because I knew
him so well in my boyhood days, my early manhood and
later years. He was my life-long friend and patron, and I
do not hesitate to say that I owe more to his kindness and
friendship than to any other man I ever knew.
In the year in which I was apprenticed to Mr. Ivison,
Mr. Seward had formed a partnership in law with Nelson
Beardsley, under the firm name of Seward & Beardsley.
At that time I was but fifteen years of age. I well remem-
ber the little white building, with green blinds, on South
Street, where they had their law office. It was only one
story in height, without any attempt at ornament or dis-
[56]


WILLIAM H. SEWARD. 57
play. Wood stoves were used to heat the building, as in
those days the use of coal and steam for heating purposes
was unknown in that locality. -
Mr. Beardsley retired from the practice of law many
years since, in order to devote himself to his large finan-
cial interests, and his duties at the Cayuga County National
Bank, of which he has been president for more than forty
years. Mr. Beardsley was at one time a special partner
of mine in connection with Dr. Sylvester Willard of the
same city. They are still living at Auburn, two of the
wealthiest and most respected of its citizens. They have
been my steadfast friends for more than half a century.
Mr. Seward, although a young man, had just served a
term as State Senator at Albany, and returned to Auburn,
where he resumed his practice. It was about this time
that he delivered an eloquent eulogy on General Lafayette,
whom he had met the year previous in Paris.
In his autobiography Mr. Seward speaks of his last in-
terview with Lafayette, which occurred in 1833, as fol-
lows:
“I took my leave of the General and his family that
night at ten o’clock, preparatory to a departure at six the
next morning. I was surprised while taking my coffee be-
fore daylight, by a summons to his bedroom, where I found
him in a white flannel underdress, engaged with his corre-
spondence, of which he showed me a letter which he had
just received from Madame Malibran. I said to him, “We
constantly cherish a hope that you will come back to the
United States.” *
“‘My dear Sir,” said Lafayette, ‘it would make me
very sad to think I should never see America again, but
you know how it is. I am confined to France for two or
three years by my office as a member of the House of Dep-
uties; and in that time what may happen only God
knows l’ With these words he threw his arms around me,
and kissing me affectionately, bade me good-bye. He died
during the next year.”
3%
58 WILLIAM H. SEWARD.
Auburn about this time was but a village of some 5,000
inhabitants and the book store was generally the resort of
cultivated men of the stamp of Mr. Seward. As a clerk
there I often waited upon him, especially when any new or
important book was received and appeared for sale.
Cooper’s novels, especially the “Last of the Mohicans”
and “The Spy,” the Waverly novels and the new volumes
by Washington Irving, were the books most sought after
among the current literature of the day. Mr. Seward’s
purchases, however, were of books of the more solid kind—
the classics, history and law books. The young men who
were interested in politics gathered around him with much
devotion as their leader. In those days parties were classi-
fied as Whigs and Loco-Focos. Mr. Seward had received
the nomination for Governor in the year 1834; he was de-
feated, however, by William L. Marcy. He was nomi-
nated again for the same office in 1838, and elected over
Governor Marcy by a majority of over 10,000. The elec-
tion was a very exciting one, and as we had no railroads
or telegraphs, it was some days before the result could be
positively ascertained.
Although not of age, and consequently not a voter my-
self, I was nevertheless very much interested in the success
of the Whigs. On the Friday night succeeding the three
days’ election which began on Tuesday, myself with other
of Mr. Seward’s neighbors and friends, was with him in
the office of the Auburn Journal, the Whig organ of the
county. All were waiting with much anxiety for the re-
turns from the counties in western New York, or, as the
phrase went, “the returns from over Cayuga bridge.” They
were at last received by special messenger, assuring Mr.
Seward’s election as Governor beyond all doubt. I can well
recall the expression Mr. Seward used as he read the mes.
sage, “God bless Thurlow Weed I owe this result to
him.”
The Whig paper issued an extra headed : “Go ring
the bells and fire the guns and fling the starry banner out,
WILLIAM H. SEWARD. 59
the Empire State is redeemed.” A procession of the friends
of the then newly elected Governor called upon him at his
residence. A hundred guns were fired on successive days
as the returns from different parts of the State increased
his majority, and thus William H. Soward became Gover-
nor of the Empire State at the early age of thirty-seven,
being the youngest Governor ever elected in the State.
Mr. Seward was again elected Governor in 1840, at the
time General Harrison was elected President. I had just
become a voter, and, like many young Whigs, was in-
strumental in organizing glee clubs, where campaign songs
were sung. The most popular of these, which was sung
at all the Whig conventions, was the following:
“What has caused this great Commotion,
Motion, motion ?
Our country through 2
It is the ball a-rolling on—
CHORUS:
“For Tippecanoe and Tyler, too,
For Tippecanoe and Tyler, too.
And with them we’ll beat little Wan,
Wan, Wan, Van is a used-up man;
And with them we'll beat little Wan.”
“Who shall we have for our Governor,
Governor, Governor ?
Who, tell me, who 8
Let's have Bill Seward, for he's a team.
“For Tippecanoe and Tyler, too, etc.”
At the close of Mr. Seward’s term as Governor, he again
resumed his law practice in Auburn.
In the year 1843, the Venerable John Quincy Adams,
who had been President of the United States before Andrew
60 WILLIAM. H. SEWARD.
Jackson, came to Auburn to visit Mr. Seward. On his
arrival he was escorted to the Seward residence by a large
gathering of the people, including those from neighboring
towns. The speech of welcome as delivered by Mr. Seward,
which I remember, was a most eloquent one, Mr. Adams
being evidently much affected by the reception tendered
him and the feeling of affection manifested by those around
him.
As is well known John Quincy Adams, although an
Fx-President of the United States, was again elected to
Congress. While serving in that office he was suddenly
stricken down in the very act of rising in debate. He died
shortly after, his last words being : “This is the last of
earth. I am content.”
Mr. Seward was invited by the Legislature of the State
of New York to deliver a Eulogy on the deceased Ex-
President before that body. He accepted the invitation
and delivered his oration in the State Capitol at Albany.
It is a singular circumstance—indeed a striking coinci-
dence—that a quarter of a century later, Charles Francis
Adams, the son of John Quincy Adams, was also invited
by the Legislature of the State of New York to deliver a
Bulogy on the death of Mr. Seward, to which eloquent ad-
dress, it was my privilege to listen.
Soon after the death of Mr. Adams, I proposed to Mr.
Seward to write for publication, a life of John Quincy
Adams. Although much engrossed in legal business he
accepted my offer and undertook the work. He was greatly
assisted in its production by the Rev. John M. Austin, a
writer of several popular books, and in whom Mr. Seward
had the utmost confidence. The work reached a sale of
over 40,000 copies. This was one of my earlier successes as
a publisher of that class of books.
Booksellers throughout the State of New York became
very much interested in the passage by the Legislature of a
measure, in the year 1841, relative to libraries for the public
schools, which had been recommended by Governor Seward.
WILLIAM H. SEWARD. 61
The sum of $55,000 was to be annually appropriated for
five years, provided each school district where the appro-
priation was allowed, raised an amount equal to that ap
portioned to them by the State.
The act was passed, and became a rich harvest for Messrs.
Harper and Bros., then, as now, the leading publishers in
this country. They issued from their press with great
rapidity, over two hundred volumes, in the Yarious depart-
ments of science, history, biography and travels, especially
designed for school libraries. As an equal sum was raised
by each school district, the amount disbursed was an inter-
esting item to booksellers in those days. *
During Mr. Seward’s administration as Governor, the
legislature also enacted a law on his recommendation to es-
tablish a depository for the preservation of specimens
illustrative of the natural history of the State.
The Geological Survey which was made in accordance
with the provisions of this law, saved the people, Mr.
Seward said, millions of dollars in proving that there were
no coal regions in New York State, thus preventing ex-
pensive explorations and useless mining.
Another result of the Geological Survey was the pub-
lication of thirteen large quarto volumes to which Mr.
Seward prepared an elaborate introduction which he called
“ Notes on New York,” somewhat after the plan of Jeffer-
son’s “ Notes on Virginia.” This historical essay is written
in a style of admirable clearness and abounds in valuable
information.* He was greatly aided in the preparation of
this State paper by his private Secretaries, Samuel Blatch-
ford, then of Albany, and Henry Underwood of Auburn.
The former was afterwards Mr. Seward’s law-partner, and
at present an associate justice of the United States Supreme
Court at Washington.
In the years 1847-8 the whole country was electrified by
* See Seward's Works, lately published by Houghton, Mifflin &
Co., in 5 vols.
62 WILLIAM H. SEWARD.
the brilliant war victories achieved by General Taylor, over
the Mexican forces. He became immensely popular with
the people, and was early considered the most available
Whig candidate for the Presidency, Mr. Seward favoring
his nomination. He was elected over General Cass, the
Democratic candidate for the same honor. At that time,
Mr. Seward represented New York State in the United
States Senate, and became the chief adviser of the new
President. Immediately after the termination of the
Mexican war, my firm engaged the services of Henry
Montgomery, then editor of the Auburn Morning Journal,
to write a biography of General Zachary Taylor, or “Old
Rough and Ready,” as he was called by his admirers. This
book, which was a stirring account of the General’s brave
achievements, became very popular, and had an extensive
sale, receiving the approval of the latter and friends. Soon
after the inauguration of General Taylor, it was my good
fortune to have the pleasure of his acquaintance, through
the kindness of Mr. Seward, who presented me to the
President one day at the White House. I was also most
fortunate in this visit to Washington in seeing and hearing
for the last time, those great men, Henry Clay, John C.
Calhoun, and Daniel Webster. Mr. Calhoun died a year
after, and the other two illustrious statesmen two years
later.
While Mr. Seward was Governor of the State of New
York, a law was enacted on his recommendation for the
recovery of colored citizens of the State, kidnapped into
slavery. It was under the provisions of this act, that in
January, 1853, H. B. Northrup, of Washington County,
N. Y., procured the liberty of Solomon, a colored man,
formerly living as a member of his family, who twelve years
previous had been inveigled to the City of Washington and
there kidnapped and sold into slavery.
Although a freeman, Solomon was sold under the
hammer by slave-traders and taken south as far as Louisi-
ana. His whereabouts were providentially discovered and
WILLIAM. H. SEWARD. 63
immediate measures were taken to restore him to freedom.
On his return north, by the aid of his former employer, he
prepared a narrative, relating to his twelve years of cap-
tivity, under the title of “Twelve Years a Slave,” by
Solomon Northrup.
This book was brought out by my firm, and Solomon’s
thrilling experiences caused quite a sensation among the
reading community, the book meeting with a rapid and
large sale.
Another important book published by Derby & Miller
about that time was entitled—“The Trial of William Free-
man, reported and edited by Hon. B. F. Hall.”
It will be pertinent to my subject to mention this trial,
giving a brief synopsis of the facts in the case, which will
show to my readers how strongly the character of William
H. Seward partook of those higher qualities of true man-
hood which are seldom found among men.
William Freeman at one time, previous to the perpe-
tration of the horrible deed described below, had been com-
mitted to jail, charged with horse-theft, and being con-
victed, was sentenced to the State prison for the term of
five years, although it was subsequently proved he was
entirely innocent of the act. The boy, knowing his inno-
cence, and Smarting under his unjust incarceration, was
not a willing prisoner, and consequently was frequently
punished for his disobedience. It was on one of these
occasions that he was brutally struck on the head with
a piece of board in the hands of one of the keepers. This
cruel treatment evidently affected his reason to some
extent, or, to use his own description, ‘‘knocked all the
hearing off, so it never came back again.” That blow, no
doubt, was the indirect cause of the horrible butchery of
the Van Nest family, which occurred a short time after the
prisoner’s discharge from the State prison.
As soon as his term of imprisonment expired, he was
permitted to go at large. Some time afterwards he visited
the home of the Van Nests, asking them for pay for five years'
64. WILLIAM EI. SIEWARD.
work. Having had nothing to do with his imprisonment,
and not owing him the money, they naturally refused to
accede to his strange demand. He departed much incensed
at their refusal. That same day he sharpened a large
carving-knife, and fastening it to the end of a long pole,
returned at night to the Van Nest farm-house, just as the
family were about preparing to retire. Meeting them one
by one as he entered the dwelling, he stabbed five in turn
to death, and then fled the county, escaping on One of the
horses, which he took from the stable. He was found in
Oswego County, about forty miles distant, and conveyed
back to Auburn, where he was met by a mob that had
assembled to mete out summary vengeance upon the prepe-
trator of such diabolical work. Being at that time a per-
sonal friend of the sheriff, I assisted him in arranging for
the safety of the colored boy, by taking him, by a back
entrance, into the County Jail. The prisoner thus, by a
ruse, escaped death at the hands of the infuriated throng,
though I was necessarily locked up with him. To my
question why he had committed the dreadful deeds, be
simply 1 eplied, “I wanted my pay.” After the mob had
dispersed, the sheriff released me from my voluntary im-
prisonment. The trial of this negro was conducted by
John Van Buren, Attorney-General of the State, for the
prosecution, and William H. Seward appeared for the de-
fense, without fee or reward, thus consuming his valuable
time, as it then seemed, to no purpose.
Mr. Seward early became satisfied that Freeman was
an irresponsible person, and notwithstanding the indig-
nation which the people would and did visit upon him,
he decided to act as was natural to him—on the side of
humanity. This determination on his part caused the ut-
most excitement. He was denounced publicly and pri-
vately, and his friends, including Thurlow Weed, remon-
strated with him, saying that to attempt the defense was
but to incur public odium. But all in vain; he was doter-
WILLIAM H. SEWA R.D. 65
mined to do his duty. In a letter to Thurlow Weed, dated
Auburn, May 29, 1846, he says:
“There is a busy war around me, to drive me from defending
and securing a fair trial for the negro Freeman. People now rejoico
that they did not lynch him, but they have all things prepared for
an ando-da-fé, with the solemnities of a mock trial. No priest (except
one Universalist”) no Levite, no lawyer, no man, no woman, has vis-
ited him. He is deaf, deserted, ignorant, and his conduct is unex-
plainable on any principle of sanity. It is natural that he should
turn to me to defend him. If he does, I shall do so. This will raise
a storm of prejudice and passion, which will try the fortitude of my
friends. But I shall do my duty. I care not whether I am ever to
be forgiven for it or not.”
Mr. Seward, actuated by the highest motives govern-
ing humanity, closed his most remarkable defense by an
address to the jury, which, as a specimen of forensic elo-
quence has seldom if ever been surpassed. -
Soon after Charles Sumner's return from Europe in
1849, at a gathering of some of his friends in Boston, he
spoke of William E. Gladstone, then the coming man in
Great Britain, as the most accomplished orator in Europe.
Mr. Sumner said he heard Mr. Gladstone give his opinion
of Mr. Seward’s argument in the Freeman defense as
follows: “Mr. Seward’s argument in the Freeman case is
the greatest forensic effort in the English language.” . An
English gentleman present replied: “The greatest ? Mr.
Gladstone, you forget Erskine.” “No,” replied Glad-
stone, “I do not forget Mr. Erskine. I repeat, Mr.
Seward’s argument is the greatest forensic effort in the
English language.”
The following extracts are from Mr. Seward’s defense
of William Freeman:
“For William Freeman as a murderer I have no commission to
speak. If he had silver and gold accumulated with the frugality of
Croesus, and should pour it at all my feet, I would not stand an hour
* Rev. John M. Austin.
66 WILLIAM II. SEWARD.
between him and the avenger. But for the innocent it is my right,
my duty to speak. If this sea of blood was innocently shed, then it
is my duty to stand beside him mutil his steps lose their hold upon
the scaffold.
“I should be guilty of murder if in my present relation I saw the
executioner waiting for an insane man, and failed to say, or failed to
do in his behalf all that my ability allowed. I think it has been proved
of the prisoner at the bar, that during all this long and tedious trial
he has had no sleepless nights, and that even in the day-time when
he retires from these halls to his lonely cell, he sinks to rest like a
wearied child on the stone floor, and quietly slumbers till roused by
the constable with his staff, to appear again before the jury. His
counsel enjoy no such repose. Their thoughts by day and their
dreams by night are filled with oppressive apprehension that through
their inability or neglect he may be condemned. I am arraigned
before you for undue manifestations of zeal and excitement. My
answer to all such charges shall be brief. When this cause shall have
been committed to you I sha}] be happy indecd if it shall appear that
my only error has been that I have felt too much, thought too
intensely or acted too faithfully.
# >; * # *
“I plead not for a murderer. I have no inducement, no motive to
do so. I have addressed my fellow citizens in many various rela-
tions when rewards of wealth and fame awaited me. I have been
cheered on other occasions by manifestations of popular approbation
and sympathy, and where there was no such encouragement I had at
least the gratitude of him whose cause I defended. But I speak now
in the hearing of a people who have prejudged the prisoner, and con-
demned me for pleading in his behalf. He is a convict, a pauper, a
negro, without intellect, sense or emotion. My child with an affec-
tionate smile, disarms my careworn face of its frown whenever I
cross my threshold. The beggar in the street obliges me to give,
because he says—‘God bless you,” as I pass. My dog caresses me
with fondness if I will but smile on him. My horse recognizes me
when I fill his manger. But what reward, what gratitude, what
sympathy can I expect here ? There the prisoner sits. Look at him.
Look at the assemblage around you. Listen to their ill suppressed
consures and their excited fears and tell me where among my neigh-
bors or my fellow-men, where even in liis heart, I can expect to find
the sentiment, the thought, not to say of reward or of acknowledg:
ment, but even of recognition. I sat here two weeks during the pre-
liminary trial. I stood here between the prisoner and the jury nine
hours, and pleaded for the wretch that he was insane and did not
WILLIAM. H. SEWARD. - 67
even know he was on trial, and when all was done, the jury thought,
at least eleven of them thought, that I had been deceiving them or
was self-deceived. They read signs of intelligence in his idiotic
smile and of cunning and malice in his stolid insensibility. They
read a verdict that he was sane enough to be tried—a contemptible
compromise verdict in a capital case, and then they looked on, with
what emotions God and they only know, upon his arraignment. The
District Attorney, speaking in his adder ear, bade him rise, and
reading to him one indictment asked him whether he wanted a trial,
and the poor fool answered : ‘No.’ Have you counsel ? ‘No.’ And
they went through the same mockery, the prisoner giving the same
answers, until a third indictment was thundered in his ears, and he
stood before the court silent, motionless and bewildered. Gentle-
men, you may think of this evidence what you please, bring in what
verdict you can, but I asseverate before Heaven and you that to the
best of my knowledge and belief, the prisoner at the bar does not at
this moment know why it is that my shadow falls on you instead of
his own.” -
The prisoner, however, notwithstanding the efforts of
his eloquent defender, was found guilty and sentenced to
be hanged. Subsequently, the former judgment having
been set aside by the Supreme Court, a new trial was
granted, and Mr. Seward was to have appeared for the
prisoner again, but before the new trial had been commenced
Freeman was visited by the Circuit Judge who tried him,
and examined with reference to his mental condition, in
order to determine the propriety of a second trial before
the court. -
The prisoner was found to be in a gradual decline of
health and strength, and as unconcerned regarding his fate
as when upon trial for his life. The judge then declined
to re-open the case; the prisoner was never retried, and died
shortly after.
After his death a post-mortem examination was called
for by the whole community, as those who believed in his
guilt as a responsible being were anxious to know the real
truth of the case, which medical science alone could reveal.
Dr. A. Brigham, the State Superintendent of the Lunatic
Asylum at Utica, being summoned after the autopsy, gave
6S WILLIAM II. SEWARD.
an elaborate opinion, of which the following is a brief ex-
tract :
“His appearance since his trial has been that of a person nearly
bereft of his intellect. I saw him the last week in June, and found
him more demented than he was the year previous. During the trial
he was almost totally deaf and speechless, and apparently affected by
general paralysis. Never scarcely have I seen such a mere fragment
of humanity, so far as mind was concerned. At the time of the trial
of Freeman, I was confident that he was insane and that the heinous
Crime he committed was the consequence of mental derangement. I
can now have no rational doubt of the correctness of that opinion.”
Dr. Blanchard Fosgate, of Auburn, himself an author
and a writer of a volume on the Philosophy of the Mind,
well says in a letter : .#
“How much the cause of justice and philosophy is indebted to
the unwearied perseverance of the eminent advocate, who withstood
the tide of popular indignation in conducting the prisoner's defense,
is left for other hands to register ; but true it is, that over prejudice
and error, science has gloriously triumphed, saving in this instance
by its generous application, the life of an unaccountable agent from
sacrifice.”
Two of Mr. Seward’s most famous expressions are those
known as “The Irrepressible Conflict ’’ and “The Higher
Law.” One contained in a speech delivered before the
United States Senate in the year 1850; the other in an ad-
dress at Rochester, N. Y., 1858. -
It has been asserted that both these sentiments had been
used on some previous occasion, and were therefore not
original with Mr. Seward; but it is not generally known
that he uttered the same expressions in speeches made, one
at Cleveland, Ohio, October 26th, 1848, in which he says:
“There are two antagonistical elements of society in America—
freedom and slavery. Freedom is in harmony with our system of
government and with the spirit of the age, and is, therefore, passive
and quiescent. Slavery is in conflict with that system, with justice
and with humanity, and is, therefore, organized, defensive, active,
and perpetually aggressive.” -
WILLIAM H. SEWARD. 69
Although this speech was delivered during the cam-
paign of 1848, while General Taylor was running for the
Presidency, the bitter attacks on the Sentiments as quoted
were not made until he delivered his Rochester speech in
1858, when the Democratic papers attacked him bitterly.
Again, in a letter written from Albany, March, 1840,
he asks : “Why should an American hate foreigners ?”
Then says: “For myself, so far from hating any of my
fellow citizens, I should shrink from myself if I did not
recognize them all as worthy of my constant solicitude, to
promote their welfare and entitled of right by the Consti-
tution and laws and by the higher law of God himself to
equal rights, equal privileges, and equal political favor as
citizens of the State with myself.”
The famous so-called “Higher Law Speech" was made by
Mr. Seward, March 11, 1850, on the admission of California
to the Union. Although the same sentiment was expressed
in 1840, it then attracted but little attention, as the ques-
tion of slavery had not been agitated. The following are
the words which produced such a sensation throughout the
country, and for which Mr. Seward was condemned by all
the pro-slavery journals and politicians. “But there is a
higher law than the Constitution which regulates our
authority over the domain, and devotes it to the same noble
purpose.” The anti-slavery people, more especially among
the Methodist churches, sustained Mr. Seward. The Rev.
Wm. Hosmer, editor of the Northern Christian Advocate,
was the author of a volume entitled, “The Higher Law,” in
which he sustains the position taken by Mr. Seward. The
volume was well received, especially among the denomina-
tion to which Mr. Hosmer belonged.
Mr. John W. Forney, in his Anecdotes of Public Men,
says: “I heard an ancedote of Mr. Seward’s patient
temperament a few days ago, that deserves mentioning.
In June of 1856, after Preston S. Brooks committed his
brutal assault on Charles Sumner, Mrs. Seward was ex-
ceedingly anxious for the safety of her husband, and ad-
70 wiLLIAM. H. SEWARD
vised him to protect himself. “Well, my dear,” was the
answer, “what shall I do * I am a man of peace ; I
never reply to personal attacks. How am I to defend my-
self 2 Shall I go to the Senate with a musket or rifle on
my shoulder 2 If I use pistols, I am sure you will not ask
me to shoot anybody without notice. You say no. Well
then, it will be my duty, if I carry revolvers, to lay them
on my Senatorial desk so that all men may see that I am
ready to kill anybody at a moment's notice. I think this
is my best weapon,” he said, as he closed the interview and
picked up a whip he carried as a metaphorical help to the
old horse that carried him, to the Capitol.
Ex-Senator Gwin, of California, tells the following anec-
dote of Mr. Seward, which illustrates his power at the din-
ner-table :
“When Seward came into the Senate, I also entered
there. It was about the year 1850. He was re-elected,
and so was I. He was very much disliked in the Senate,
when I found him there, as an Abolitionist.
“Seward said to me one day when we were trying to get
through some measures for the development of California,
‘Mr. Gwin, I want you to invite me to dinner at your
house with your leading Southern Senators.”
“‘ I said, ‘Seward, I'm afraid they won’t come.”
“‘Oh yes,” said he, they will if you invite them.
When we get at your table, I will manage them.” -
‘‘I went to Butler, of South Carolina, and to other
Senators and said, ‘I want you to come to my house to
dinner, and Seward is going to be there too.”
“They came, and it was wonderful to see how that little
fellow Seward managed that table. I never saw his equal
at a dinner-table.” -
“He could tell tales that would make everybody laugh,
and a good many of them were about himself. He would
reflect on himself. In point of fact, Seward was a wonder-
ful man, both as a table companion and as a student.”
As soon as Mr. Lincoln had been formally notified of his
WILLIAM. H. SEWARD. 7|
election as President of the United States, he offered to Mr.
Seward the chief position in his Cabinet, that of Secretary
of State, which was accepted. At the Chicago Convention
which nominated Mr. Lincoln, Mr. Seward received the
largest number of votes on the first ballot. Mr. Lincoln
was finally nominated and subsequently elected,
Hon. William M. Evarts, chairman of the New York
delegation, made on that occasion the following eloquent
address, which well represented the feelings of the Repub-
licans of the Empire State :
“The State of New York by a full delegation with complete
unanimity of purpose at home, came to this convention and present-
ed to its choice, one of its citizens who had served the state from
boyhood up, who had labored for and loved it. We came from a
great state with as we thought, a great statesman, and our love of
the great republic from which we are all delegates, the great Ameri-
can Union, and our love of the great Republican party of the Union
and our love of our statesman and candidate, made us think that we
did our duty to the country and the whole country in expressing our
preference for him. For it was from Gov. Seward that most of
us learned to love republican principles, and the Republican party.
His fidelity to the country, the constitution and the laws, his fidelity
to the party and the principle that the majority govern, his interest
in the advancement of our party to its victory, that our country may
rise to its true glory, induces me to assume to speak his sentiments
as I do indeed the opinion of our whole delegation when I move you
as I do now that the nomination of Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois, as
the Republican candidate for the suffrages of the whole country for
the office of Chief Magistrate of the American Union, be made
unanimous.”
The disappointment of Mr. Seward’s friends was even
greater than his, in the failure of a nomination, so confi-
dently expected by all. The following is a brief response
to my letter to him : - - *
“Auburn, May 27th, 1860.
“MY DEAR DERBy :
“The kindness of my friends overwhelms me. You are one of
the earliest and most constant and among the most esteemed.
- “Faithfully, -
“WILLIAM. H. SEWARD.”
72 WILLIAM H. SEWARD.
There is little doubt that the active opposition of Hor-
ace Greeley caused Mr. Seward’s defeat. The former had
grievances, which were set forth in his famous letter dis-
solving the firm. { -
Mr. Julius J. Wood, an old and devoted friend of Mr.
Seward’s, has recently told me that the latter related to
him the occasion of the receipt of the celebrated document
known as the Seward, Weed and Greely letter. He said
that Mr. Seward, after reading it, told his wife that Mr.
Greeley was in a pet ; that he was dissatisfied and angry,
but that he would get over it, saying which he threw the
letter into the waste-basket ; but Mrs. Seward’s quiet intel-
ligence saw that it meant more than he thought and she
carefully put it away for future possible reference.
Mr. Weed first saw the letter in the New York Times,
where it was published by Mr. Raymond, who had called
on his return from the Chicago Convention and made a
copy of the celebrated epistle, so carefully preserved by Mrs.
Seward. .
On January 12, preceding the inauguration, Mr. Seward,
still Senator of the United States, and being, as supposed, the
mouth-piece of the incoming administration, made that
memorable speech in the Senate “On the state of the
Union,” which created a profound impression throughout
the country.
IHe commenced as follows: “I avow my adherence to the
Union, with its integrity and with all its parts, with my
friends, with my party, with my State, with my country,
or without either, as they may determine, in every event,
whether of peace or of War, with overy consequence of
honor or dishonor, of life or death.” The speech closed
with these words: “I certainly shall never, directly or indi-
rectly, give my vote to establish or sanction slavery in the
common territories of t e United States, or anywhere else
in the world.” -
A writer in one of the N. Y. papers describes the scene
as follows:
WILLIAM. H. SEWARD. 73
“Mr. Seward's speech was the event of the week, and is the topic
of discussion in all political circles. The scene before and during
the delivery of Llle speech was almost unparalleled in the Senate. By
ten o'clock every seat in the galleries was filled, and by eleven the
cloak-rooms and all the passages were choked up and a thousand
men and women stood outside of the doors waiting to catch the
words of the speaker when he should commence. Several hundred
gentlemen came on from Baltimore to hear it, and the curiosity
among all the Southern men here, to listen to it was intense. The
southern Senators and Representatives paid the utmost attention and
the galleries were as quiet as their suffocaling condition would war-
rant. It was the fullest house of the Session and by far the most
respectful one. During the delivery of portions of the speech, Sena-
tors were in tears, when the sad picture of the country divided into
two confederacies was prescuted, Mr. Crittenden, Senator from Ken-
tucky, who sat immediately before the Orator was completely over-
come by his emotion and bowed his white head and wept.”
The following glowing tribute by Whittier, indicates
the enthusiasm which this speech created among the friends
of liberty, throughout the country :—
TO WILLIAM H. SEWARD.
“ Statesman, I thank thee —and if yet dissent
Mingles, reluctant, with my large content,
I cannot censure, what was nobly meant.
But, while constrained to b \ld even Union less,
Than Liberty and Truth and Righteousness,
I thank thee in the Sweet and holy name
Of peace, for wise calm words that put to shame
Passion and party. Courage may be shown
Not in defiance of the wrong alone ;
He may be bravest who, unweaponed, bears
The olive branch, and strong in justice, spares
The rash wrong-doer, giving widest scope
To Christian charity and generous hope,
If, without damage to the sacred cause
Of freedom and the safe-guard of its laws—
If without yielding that for which alone
We prize the Union, thou cans’t save it now
From a baptism of blood, upon thy brow
A wreath whose flowers no earthly soil has known,
Woven of the beatitudes, shall rest ;
And the peace-maker be forever blest l”
4
74 WILLIAM. H. SEWARD.
During the summer of 1861, I was appointed by Mr.
Seward, Librarian of the Department of State at Washing.
tou, which brought me into confidential relations with the
Secretary. While filling this office, he frequently intrusted
me with important despatches to our ministers abroad,
which I was to submit to Mr. Lincoln for his approval,
before they were forwarded to their respective destinations.
I usually called on the President for this purpose
about noon, his hour for luncheon, and was at such times
struck at the simple repast of a sandwich and a cup of tea,
with which that great man refreshed himself, while looking
over the despatches. This was generally done in a cursory
manner. Once he remarked that “Mr. Seward knew what
was the right thing to say, and how to say it.”
In the month of November, 1861, Captain Wilkes, of
the U. S. steamer, San Jacinto, intercepted the British
mail packet boat, Trent, arresting James M. Mason, of
Va., and John Slidell, of La., late U. S. Senators from
their respective states, but at the time of their arrest,
ambassadors from the Confederate States to England and
France. The captives were sent to Fort Warren, near
Boston, where political prisoners were confined. When the
arrest became known by the British Government prepara-
tions for war were at once made. The Secretary of the
Navy, Gideon Welles, publicly applauded the action of
Wilkes, and even the House of Representatives did the
same. The Whole country was elated at what was deemed
an important capture. Mr. Seward, on the contrary, said
that a great blunder had been committed, and resolved that
the captives should be returned to the protection of the
British Fiag. -
President Ilincoln and Charles Sumner, then chairman
of the Committee of Foreign Relations, both concurred in
this resolution of Mr. Seward. I first learned of the decis-
ion of the Government on being sent for by the Secretary
to read with him, for verification, a copy of his letter to
Lord Lyons, then British ambassador to this country.
WILLIAM H. SEWARD. 75
Much surprised at the nature of the despatch, F quickly
saw the wisdom of the course Mr. Seward intended to pursue.
The moneyed interest of the country having become
alarmed at the prospect of a war with Great Britain, gold
had reached a fabulous figure.
The news soon spread to Wall Street. “Bull Run
Russell,” as the correspondent of the London Times was
called, telegraphed to a friend in New York, “Act as
though you heard good news.” Mr. Russell was known to
be on intimate terms with Lord Lyons, aud, as a natural
consequence, received the earliest information concerning
the amicable settlement of, perhaps, the most formidable
question arising with any foreign government during the
period of the civil war.
On the 7th day of April, 1865, I was appointed by Mr.
Seward U. S. Despatch Agent at New York, the most val-
uable appointment within the gift of the Secretary of State.
As few are aware of the duties of such an office, the follow-
ing extracts from the letter of instructions accompanying
my appointment may be interesting.
“Department of State, Washington, April 7th, 1865.
“JAMES C. DERBY, Esq.,
U. S. Despatch Agent,
New York.
“SIR.—
“You are hereby appointed despatch agent of the department at
New York. . . . The following is a statement of the principal
duties pertaining to your office and of the instructions by which you
will be governed in its administration. You will receive from
Europe, the East and from South America all despatches or other
packages directed to this department and transmit them with all
possible despatch by mail, or through one of the express lines, and
will attend to the transmission of all despatches and other matter
from this department to the legations, consuls and commercial agents
of the United States abroad. . . . It will be necessary that you
should make an arrangement with the post-office in New York, by
which all despatches directed to your care may be delivered to you
immediately after their arrival, that no loss of opportunity may occur
76 WILLIAM H. SEWARD.
for their speedy transmission to the points to which they are addres-
sed, and to enable you to be punctual in the discharge of this par-
ticular duty it will be necessary for you to keep yourself advised of
all anticipated departures of vessels, so that advantage may be
taken of the earliest opportunities. You will keep a tabular state-
ment of all matter sent to you from this department, noting the date
and mode of transmission and take monthly returns of them in book
form. In case of detention of the steamers or packets at quarantine,
the despatches are to be sent for at the expense of the department. The
despatches from the department consist principally of communica-
tions and newspapers to the Ministers, Consuls and Commercial
Agents of the United States abroad. . . . It is highly important
that the department should receive the despatches, as early as prac-
ticable, after their arrival, and you will adopt such means as will
enable you to obtain them at least as carly as private letters are
obtained. . . . You are to consider your duties confidential and
keep all despatches remaining over, in your possession. That you
may receive all practicable facilities, a letter has been addressed to
the Post-Master of your City, and one is hereby inclosed to the Col.
lector of Customs at New York, asking such aid on the part of their
respective offices, as may be necessary for the prompt discharge of
your duties.
I am sir,
Your obedient servant,
(Signed) F. W. SEWARD,
Assistant Secretary.
Among the earliest despatches forwarded by me to
London was the following to Minister Adams, via Portland,
the only steamer leaving on that day—which the New
York papers published at the time.
“Washington, April 15th. The sad duty devolves upon me to
announce the assassination of the President at Ford's Theatre last
night, by a pistol shot, from a person who entered the box for the
purpose. The assassin Óscaped, but it is supposed has been arrested.
The President dicd at 7:30 o'clock this morning. Vice-President
Johnson has assumed the functions of President, having been sworn
in by the Chief Justice. About the same time an attempt was made
by (it is believed) a different person to assassinate Mr. Seward, but
the murderer only succeeded in inflicting painful and severe wounds
principally upon his face.”
WILLIAM II. SEWARD. s 77
“Mr. F. W. Seward was beaten over the head with a heavy
weapon in the hands of the person who attacked his father, and
grievously hurt. His brother was also wounded by the dagger of
the assassin, as was Mr. Hansell, a messenger of the department who
was with the secretary and the male nurse in attendance.”
(Signed) WILLIAM HUNTER,
Acting Secretery of State.
A short time previous to this attempted assassination
Mr. Seward was violently thrown from his carriage, strik-
ing on his face and breaking his jaw-bone; his son, F. W.
Seward, then became acting Secretary of State, and sent
the following despatch to Minister Adams :
Department of State, Washington, April 10th, 1865.
SIR —I regret to state that a serious accident has cccurred to the
Secretary of State and that his injuries are so severe as to render it
impossible for the present, that he should give any attention to mat-
ters of official business. It is hoped that in a few days he will so far
have recovered from its effects as to be able to resume in some de-
gree his official duties. Your recent despatches will then be submit-
ted to him. Until that time their consideration is necessarily
deferred. -
I am, sir, your obedient scrvant,
F. W. SEWARD, Acting Secretary.
Dr. Verdi, the family playsician had just returned from
dressing the fearful wound when he was again suddenly
summoned to a more dreadful sight. The following is
ſ).R. WERDI'S ACCOUNT OF THE ATTEMPTED ASSASSINA-
TION OF ME, SEWARD AND SONS.
$ * * * * * * *
“When I reached the door of Mr. Seward, I ascended quickly
and when I got up stairs I met the blanched face of Mrs. Seward,
who, in an agonized tone, said—“Look to Mr. Seward l’ Mr. Sew-
ard lay on his bed with pallid face and half closed eyes, he looked
like an exsanguinated corpse. In approaching him my feet went
deep in blood. Blood was streaming from an extensive gash in the
swollen cheek, the cheek was now laid open and the flap hung loose
on his neck. With prompt applications of ice-water I checked the
hemorrhage and then examined the extent of the wound. The gash
78 WILLIAM H. SEWARD.
commenced from the high cheek-bone down to the neck in a semi-
circular form towards the mouth, it was probably five inches long
and two inches deep. It was a frightful wound. It seemed as if
the jugular vein or the carotid artery must be wounded, so great was
the loss of blood. I was greatly relieved to find that they were not.
Mrs. Seward and her daughter almost paralyzed, were waiting and
watching for my first word. Relieved to see that the secretary had
so miraculously escaped the severing of those two vital vessels, I
said : “Mr. Seward, even in your misfortune I must congratulatc
you, the assassin has failed and your life is not in danger.” He could
not speak, but he made a sign with the hand for his wife and daugh-
ter to approach, took hold of their hands, and his cyes only spoke
and bid them hope. I had hardly sponged his face from the bloody
stains and replaced the flap, when Mrs. Seward, with an intense look
called me to her. “Come and see Frederick,” said shë. Somewhat
surprised, I said, “What is the matter with Frederick 7" In a pain-
ful whisper she muttered, “He is badly wounded, I fear.” With-
out adding another word I followed her to the next room, where I
found Frederick bleeding profusely from the head. He had a
ghastly appearance, was unable to articulate, gave me a smile of
recognition and pointed to his head. There I found a large wound
a little above the forehead and somewhat on the left of the median
line, and another further back on the same side. The cranium had
been crushed in, in both places, and the brain was exposed. The
wounds were bleeding profusely, but the application of cold water
pledgets soon stopped the Imemorrhage. I feared these wounds would
prove fatal. Mrs. Seward was again haunting me with that intense
look of silent anxiety. I gave her words of cncouragement. I feared
they were unmeaning words. Again she drew me to her with that
look I had seen in the other room. As I approached almost bewil.
bered she said, “Come and see Augustus.” “For Heaven's sake,
Mrs. Seward, what does this mean : " I followed her in another room
on the same floor and there found Augustus with two cuts on his
forehead and one on his right hand. They were superficial. As I
turned to Mrs. Seward to give her a word of comfort she said,
“Come and see Mr. Robinson.” I ceased wondering, my mind
became as if paralyzed ; mechanically I followed her and examined
Mr. Robinson. He had four or five cuts on his shoulders. They
were superficial. Again I turned to Mrs. Seward as iſ asking, “Any
more ?” yet unbelieving that any more could be wounded. She
answered my look. “Yes, one more.” In another room I found
Mr. Hansell, piteously groaning on the bed. He said he was wounded
in the back. I stripped him, and found a deep gash just above the
small of the back, near the spine. I thrust my finger in the wound
WILLIAM H. SEWARD. 79
evidently made by a large bladed knife, and found that it followed a
rib, but had not penetrated the viscera. Here was another miracu-
ſous escape. . . Let us now recur to some of the chief incidents
of the attempted assassination. At or about ten o’clock of the even-
1ng of the 14th of April, thirty minutes after I had left Mr. Seward,
the bell of his house gave a ring. William Wells, a colored lad,
who usually attended the door, answered that ring. A man holding
a little package in his hands, presented inimself, saying, I must go up
to Mr. Seward, to deliver him the medicine and a message from Dr.
Verdi. The lad tells him he cannot go up, but would deliver both
medicine and message himself. No, the stranger cannot trust the
important message, he must go up himself. In vain the lad remon-
strates. In his testimony before the court he states, “I told him he
, could not go up it, was against my orders. That if he would give
me the medicine I would tell Mr. Seward how to take it.” That
would not do, he started to go up. Finding that he would go up, I
stepped past him and went up the steps before him. Then thinking
that such might be the orders of Dr.Verdi and that I was interfering,
I begged him to excuse me. I became afraid he might tell Mr.
Seward and the doctor of my interference. He answered, “All
right.” As he stepped heavily, I told him to walk lightly so as not
to disturb the secretary. In the adjacent room to Mr. Seward's
Frederick is lying on the sofa, resting. He hears steps and voices
ascending, he comes out on the landing and there meets the stranger.
Frederick inquires, “What do you want 7” “I want to see Mr.
Seward, I have medicine and a message to deliver from Dr. Verdi.”
“My father is asleep, give me the medicine and the directions, I will
take them to him.” “No, I must see him, I must see him,” he
repeats in a determined manner. “You cannot see him; you cannot
see him. I am the proprietor here. I am Mr. Seward's son. If you
cannot leave them with me you cannot leave them at all.” The man
still insists. Frederick still refuses. The determined tone of Fred-
erick causes the man to hesitate, he even turns to go down stairs, the
lad preceding, telling him to walk lightly. He descends four or five
steps, when suddenly he turns back and springs upon Frederick,
giving him a blow—doubtless with the heavy pistol, on the head, that
fells him to the ground. The lad seeing the brutal assault runs down
crying “Murder I Murder l’” He flies to the corner—Genl. Augur's
headquarters. He finds no guard. In the meanwhile, Robinson, the
nurse in attendance on Mr. Seward, hearing the unusual noise, Opens
the door and sees the stranger and Frederick thrown on his hands
and bleeding; before he has time for thought the assassin is on him,
striking him to the ground, he quickly rises but before he can clinch
with him, the assassin is on Mr. Seward, who having awakened and
80 WILLIAM H. SEWARD.
comprehending the scene at once had risen in his bed. The assassin
plunges an immense knife in Mr. Seward's face, he attempts another
strike at his neck, but Robinson is upon him and the knife is par-
tially arrested. He tries to disengage himself from Robinson by
striking him with the knife over the shoulders.
The daughter, who, too, is watching in the dimly lighted room,
screams “help * and “murder l’” . . . Lewis Payne is arrested
under suspicious circumstances. William Wells, the colored Jad,
was sent for; being shown to a room containing several people, he is
asked if he recognizes the assassin among them 7 No, he does not
see him. Several other people are then brought in, when suddenly
he walks towards I_ewis Payne, and in an excited manner exclaims,
“There he is l I knew I could never forget that lip.” The recogni-
tion was complete. Mr. Seward lay prostrate, his wounded cheek
had tumified and inflamed. His nervous system had received such
a shock that even without that excessive loss of blood, had dimin.
ished the natural resources for action. His sleep was restless and
interrupted by terrible dreams. We feared that even his strong
constitution would finally yield. But no—his power of existence
was truly extraordinary it was principally due to his mental strength.
This man, so foully dealt with, would struggle and conquer in adver-
sity. He treated his case from a high standpoint of philosophy. He
spoke of it as of an historical fact, avoiding individualism, and
treated it as another instance of the madness that overcomes weak
minds in great national convulsions. It was sublime to hear this
stricken-down man with jaws screwed together by surgical art, speak-
ing through a hole made in the apparatus that held his mouth fast,
not a word for himself but the words of a sound philosopher who will
not despise human nature for the act of a madman. With nothing
but misery, suffering agony, and with death staring him in the face,
he was calm, submissive, even forbearing. All his solicitude was
about his son. Of the calamity to Mr. Lincoln, his fellow-co-laborer,
he knew nothing for several days. The wounds of Frederick excited
the greatest solitude. The brain was exposed in both places, in the
anterior one fully a square inch of the membranes of the brain were
exposed to view. A lacerated vessel on the interior surface of the
cranium would from time to time bleed so profusely as to put his
life in imminent jeopardy, and yet it could not be reached for a liga-
ture. We were constantly kept in fearful apprehension of these
hemorrhages. With noble fortitude did that family bear the anxie-
ties and the fatigues of this long and sad period ; Mrs. Seward, so
delicate in frame, so feeble in health, unceasingly supervising all the
nursing that required such fine judgment and unremitting care.
Human endurance, however, has its limits, and Mrs. Seward finally
WILLIAM. H. SEWARD. 81
succumbed. The little flame that lighted that body expired on the
21st of June. . Like her life, her death was the calmness of a heaven-
born spirit. Overcome by these multiplied trials her daughter at
length sank into a nervous fever that consumed her. Her body could
not bear whatever soul had borne, and in a year's time she added one
more to the number of victims to the terrible plot of Booth, Surratt
and Payne.” -
Mr. Seward’s only allusion to “casualties” which de-
prived the department of the services of both secretary and
assistant secretary of state for several weeks, was drawn out
by way of an excuse for an omission to fully acknowledge
the manifold expressions which were transmitted to the
department from governments, public authorities, civic,
ecclesiastical, educational corporations and associations as
well as from public assemblies of citizens, and from individ-
ual citizens, of their feeling of sympathy and condolence
which the government and the people of the United States
in the calamity which they had suffered in the lamented
death of the late president, Abraham Lincoln. “Owing,”
says Mr. Seward, “to some peculiar casualties, the effi-
ciency of the department was impaired at the time the des-
patches were received, and they obtained only a simple and
formal acknowledgment from the presiding secretary.”
Mr. A. D. F. Randolph, the well-known publisher, al-
ways a great admirer of Mr. Seward’s statesmanship, ad-
dressed to him, on several occasions, well-turned sonnets.
The following appropriate poetic tribute was at the
close of his long term of service as Secretary of State :
W. H. S.
“Eight years of service, such as greatest kings
Might seek, yet be unable to perform ;
Thou hast rode out from first to last the storm
That shook the Nation. Now the day that brings
To all the land the crowning act of Peace
Takes off thy burden, gives thee glad release.
How through these years in silence has thou borne,
The cruel doubt, the slanders of debate—
The assassin's knife, and keener blade of scorn
4*
82 WILLIAM H. SEWARD.
Wielded by party in its narrow hate,
How couldst thou pause each step to vindicate
Of thy surpassing work 2 Lo it is done,
Freedom enshrined in our regenerate state,
And they who were divided made as one.”
March 4th, 1869.
Mr. F. B. Carpenter, the artist, in a letter to the W.
Y. Independent, describing a visit to Mr. Seward, in July,
1870, thus vividly pictures the latter’s residence at Auburn:
“South Street a brick house of the style of forty or fifty years
ago, painted yellow, large, roomy, most hospitable looking, situated
in the midst of some three acres of lawn and shubbery, a row of Lom-
bardy poplars like grim sentinels bordering the street in front of the
house, couchant lions in stone crowning the solid columns which
support the iron gates, a broad carriage-way, and stone stables in the
rear—such were the outward appearance and surroundings of the
home of Ex-Secretary Seward.
“The ‘gates’ to this delightful retreat seemed ever ‘ajar.” Dis-
tinguished strangers, friends and neighbors were constantly calling
to pay their respects to the venerable statesman, who, at the age of
seventy, bore so remarkably the years and cares of his eventful life.
“The house is a museum of curiosities. Relics, mementoes, testi-
monials, innumerable works of art abounded everywhere. In the
reception-room are the family portraits. Those of Mr. Seward's father
and mother at once attract the visitor, not alone on account of the
quaint costumes and the striking resemblance disclosed between
father and son, but for the remarkable character and sweetness of
expression embodied in the countenance of Mr. Seward’s mother. It
was one of the faces that always arrest attention—a face sure to lin-
ger long afterward in the memory.”
Notwithstanding the injuries received at the time of
his attempted assassination in 1865 (from the effects of
which he still suffered), his infirmities and his advanced
age, Mr. Seward started on a journey around the world in
the year 1870, which he completed the following year, then
returning to Auburn, where he passed the remaining days
of his long and patriotic life. -
The reception tendered him all along the route of his
WILLIAM H. SEWARD. 83
travels was remarkable. In almost every clime he was
greeted with enthusiastic demonstrations by the people
generally, and was the recipient of many affecting marks
of individual esteem. By sovereigns and ministers he was
universally welcomed as one with whom they had been in
friendly intercourse ; and not only was every courtesy ex-
tended to him by his own countrymen whom he met
abroad, but the various nations through which he jour-
meyed seemed to vie with each other in doing him honor.
Once in 1871, during Mr. Seward’s remarkable journey,
he said : “Passing through the great library of an English
nobleman with Sir Henry Holland, we came upon an al-
cove, where an author sat surrounded by a pile of tomes.
“There,' said Sir Henry, ‘is an illustration of the methods
of the human intellect. That is the way books are made
—out of books. Here are 800,000 volumes on these
shelves, slowly and laboriously reproduced out of each
other during successive centuries. And they will continue
for centuries to come, evolving others in which an original
thought or fact will be the exception, while the great mass
of their ideas will be selected, copied and rearranged with
more or less skill from their predecessors.”
“‘And that,’ he added, ‘induces me to think that the
destruction of the Alexandrian library, that the world la-
ments, was, perhaps, no great calamity after all. Probably
nearly every valuable thought in it has reappeared since
somewhere else.’”
At another time he said : “In Guadalaxara, Mexico,
there is a great treasure, which the world passes by un-
noticed and unknown. The convents and colleges there
were two centuries accumulating libraries containing all
manner of rare and valuable books and manuscripts, in va-
rious languages and on all subjects. When the revolution
took place these institutions were broken up, their prop-
erty confiscated and their libraries became the property of
the several States. So the State of Jalisco found itself
the possessor of a vast accumulation of books, containing
84 WILLIAM. H. SEWA RD.
a multitude of duplicates. These duplicates it would glad.
ly sell or exchange and still retain a library such as few
European capitals can boast. But Guadalaxara is so re-
mote, so cut off from communication with the literary
world, that the great treasure still rests there, in the dim
and dusty seclusion of the upper rooms of the university.”
After finishing his wonderful sight-seeing abroad, he
decided to write an account of his travels, in response to
an evident popular desire for the same. Seward’s Travels
Around the World, edited by his adopted daughter, Olive
Risley Seward, was the result of this conclusion ; they were
published in 1873, by D. Appleton & Co., at which time I
was connected with that house. It had an immense sale,
yielding the estate a copyright of more than fifty thousand
dollars. *
In the year 1871, I received a letter from Mr. Seward,
an extract from which is given below.
“I am clearing away from my table an accumulated
business and correspondence, with a view, if I can find the
necessary aid, to prepare an account, not of my life and
times, but of my own particular part in the transactions
and events of the period in which I have lived.”
He soon after began his autobiography and told the
story of his life down to his 34th year. It was his intention
to complete the work, but his death left it unfinished. This
autobiography is incorporated with a memoir of Mr.
Seward’s life by his son Frederick W. Seward, published by
D. Appleton & Co., in the year 1877. The second volume,
completing this most interesting biography, we may hope
soon to see from the pen of this worthy and accomplished
son, who was associated so long with his father as assistant
Secretary of State, and which position he subsequently
filled under the Hon. William M. Evarts, with great credit
to himself and satisfaction to the public.
The death of Mr. Seward, occurred on the 10th of
October, 1872. His funeral was attended by a large con-
course of his neighbors and distinguished friends from all
WILLIAM EH. SEWARD. 85
parts of the States. The tomb in which his remains rest,
In Fort Hill Cemetery, at Auburn, is of white marble, sup:
porting a cross upon which rests a wreath of Oak and laurel.
At the head is a cinerary urn of classic design, around
which is entwined a vine of ivy.
On the face of the tomb is simply inscribed :
WILLIAM H. SEWARD,
BORN MAY 16th, 1801. DIED OCTOBER 10TH, 1872.
On the base of the urn is the inscription which he
desired : - *
“He was faithful.”
Passing up Broadway, to Madison Square Park, one of
the first objects of interest to attract the attention is the
fine bronze statue erected to the memory of Mr. Seward by
prominent citizens of New York.
The commission to produce this monument was given to
Mr. Randolph Rogers, a personal friend of the subject of
his model; and of his work, the London Art Journal says:
“The sculptor has executed a life-like portrait statue
of the late eminént American Statesman, Mr. Seward. The
statue is in every way naturalistic, there has been no at-
tempt to make it anything but a portrait of the man, and
this it may fairly lay claim to. He is seated in an attitude
of meditation, and in a costume, such as in all probability,
he was daily accustomed to wear.”
The statue was completed and formally presented to the
city the 28th of September, 1876, before assembled thou-
sands, who witnessed the unveiling. Hon. John Bigelow,
making the formal presentation of the statue on the part
of the citizens, the Mayor, Hon. W. H. Wickham, accept-
ing the same in the name of the city. The orator of the
day was Hon. William M. Evarts. The inscriptions are
of the simplest nature. On the upper tablet is inscribed
the name, William H. Seward, on the larger tablet beneath
—Governor—United States Senator—Secretary of State.
III,
HARPER & BROTHERS.
Fºrst call on Harper dº Brothers—Their early business
hours—Anecdotes of their early home—James Harper's
jºund of Humor— Elected Mayor–His lesson to ſlack-
men—Accident causing his death—John Harper's
fondness for horses— Will not work on Swaday—
Honored life and peaceful death—Wesley Harper the
beloved brot/ver—Prst visit to a theatre— Fletcher Har.
per’s great achievement—Thurlow Weed's Shrewdness
—Fletcher Harper’s noted Monday dinners—His death
greatly mourned—The present firm—Traditions of the
founders.
MY acquaintance with the house of Harper & Brothers
began in the year 1838, when I was a clerk for Mr.
Henry Ivison, who at that time was a bookseller and book-
binder in the village of Auburn, N. Y., and who probably
never dreamed that he would eventually become the head
of the largest school-book house in the world. In the year
mentioned, Mr. Ivison sent me to New York, having Con-
fidence in my knowledge of the trade, to lay in a stock for
his book-store, and gave me a letter of introduction to the
Harpers. At that time they were doing business at 82
Cliff Street. I shall never forget the feeling of awe with
which I entered their door and presented my letter, nor
the kindness and cordiality with which they welcomed the
youngster on his first visit to the great city, put him at his
ease, and made him feel at home. The impression made
upon me at that moment will never be effaced from my
[86]

FIARPIER A NID BROTHERS. 87
memory; and I recall now, as though it were but yesterday,
the pleasant Smile and courteous manner with which I was
greeted by each of the four brothers. The acquaintance
and friendship thus begun suffered no interruption during
the lifetime of the brothers, and have continued on in the
most pleasant and cordial relations with their successors.
In the year 1840 I began business on my own account
in Auburn, and had occasion to visit New York twice a
year for the purchase of supplies. Of course, no booksel-
ler’s stock was complete without the publications of Har-
per & Brothers, and for many years I was one of their con-
stant customers. However early in the morning I might
call, I rarely failed to find each member of the firm at his
post. This habit of business punctuality clung to them
through life ; and thinking of it reminds me of an inci-
dent of his clerkship in the house, told me, not long since,
by a member of the present firm. In common with his
cousins, he was not quite so rigid as were his father and
uncles in observing the homely old proverb that inculcates
the advantages of being early at business. Sauntering into
the counting-room about nine o’clock one morning, smok-
ing a cigar, he was thus greeted by his uncle John :
“When your father and I were of your age, Joe, we used
to be at the office at half-past seven, and remain until six.”
“All right, Uncle John,” replied the young scion ; “ you
did it so that we might not be obliged to do it when it
came our turn.” “Yes,” said Uncle James, ‘‘ and I sup-
pose, Colonel, the boy will make it up by leaving earlier.”
The Colonel evidently felt that the point was against him,
and, with a comical look of reproof at the incorrigible over
his glasses, he resumed the reading of his Courier d' En-
quirer. -
The four brothers, to whom I was thus pleasantly in-
troduced nearly half a century ago, were the children of
Joseph Harper, the eldest son of James Harper, a native of
England, who came to this country about the middle of
the last century, and settled as a schoolmaster at Newtown,
88 HARPER AND BROTHERS.
Ilong Island, where he married. His body rests beneath
the pulpit of the Sands Street M. E. Church, in Brooklyn,
which, in all its mutations, has preserved the plainness and
simplicity of the good old-fashioned Methodist Meeting-
house. Joseph, who was born in 1766, was a sort of uni-
versal genius. He was a house carpenter by trade, culti-
wated a small farm, and, for the convenience of his neigh-
bors, kept a small retail store in one room of his house. In
his absence the store was tended by his wife. The old
homestead, somewhat altered, is still standing at Middle
Village, and the farm forms part of the Lutheran Cemetery
in that town.
The carpenter’s trade was not very lucrative, but inci-
dentally it helped Joseph Harper to what was better than
a fortune, an excellent wife. While engaged in building a
house for a well-to-do Dutch farmer of the vicinage, the
young man fell in love with his employer’s daughter, a
comely young damsel. Her father, a sturdy Lutheran,
objected to the match on religious grounds, there being
a strong prejudice against the followers of Wesley among
the Dutch burghers at that time. But the young man’s
affection was returned ; the father at length yielded, and
in April, 1792, Elizabeth Kolyer became Mrs. Joseph Har-
per. Soon after her marriage she joined the Methodist
communion ; and to the day of her death she continued
to exemplify the beauty and Sweetness of a pure, simple
and devout Christian character.
Their house was always open to the visits of Methodist
preachers, who were welcomed with open-handed hospital-
ity. The best room was reserved for them, and it was called
“the Preacher’s bed-room.” In it stood a high-post bed-
stead ; a snow-white counterpane, fragrant with the odor
of lavender, covered the bed, and the room was pervaded
with an air of simplicity and comfort. Every quarter-day,
the presiding elder was made at home in their house, and
treated with as much reverence and respect as if he had
bcen the Archbishop of Canterbury; indeed, he was a sort
HARPER AND BROTHERS. 89
of pope in those days, and wielded an authority, which has
become a matter of tradition. As a rule, the preachers
were men of fine physique, earnest, genial, and kindly,
delightful guests and not insensible to the charms of hos-
pitable entertainment.
The following incident will serve to illustrate Mr.
Harper’s strength of character. One day he was remon-
strating kindly with a neighbor who was given to indulg-
ence to strong drink, when the latter, looking him full in
the face, interrupted him with : “Neighbor Harper, you
don’t like the taste of liquor, but you are as much a slave
to tobacco as I am to rum, and you couldn’t break off that
habit any more than I could break off drinking.” Mr.
Harper made no immediate reply, but the retort made a
deep impression on his mind. He thought the matter over,
and determined that no self-indulgence on his part should
be an excuse to his neighbor. That very day he put his
pipes and tobacco away on the topmost shelf of the closet
above the old-fashioned kitchen fire-place ; and from that
time to the day of his death, nearly thirty years after, he
eschewed the use cf tobacco. The self-denial, as every one
who has been addicted to the habit knows, was a severe test
of resolution. Mr. Harper said nothing about it, but
quietly and conscientiously carried out the idea long after-
wards expressed by Emerson :
“Nor knowest thou what argument
Thy life to thy neighbor's creed hath lent.”
Of the four brothers the first to quit the paternal roof
was James, the eldest. He chose to become a printer, and
at the age of sixteen was apprenticed to Messrs. Paul and
Thomas, whose place of business was at the corner of Bur-
ling Slip and Water Street, New York. His next brother,
John, soon followed him, and was apprenticed to a printer
by the name of Jonathan Seymour. Both the brothers,
being young men of great energy, capacity, and courage,
9() HARPER AND BROTHERS.
and possessing a noble ambition to excel in everything
which they undertook, soon became accomplished workmen.
James was acknowledged to be the best and quickest press-
man in New York. at a time when steam had not been
applied to machinery. One of his fellow apprentices was
Thurlow Weed, and the young men formed a warm friend-
ship, which was broken only by death. Late in life Mr.
Weed, speaking of these early days, said of James Harper :
“It was the rule of his life to study not how little he could
work, but how much. Often, after a good day’s work,
he would say to me, ‘Thurlow, let’s break the back of
another token [250 impressions]—just break its back.' I
would generally consent reluctantly ‘just to break the
back' of the token ; but James would beguile me, or laugh
at my complaints, and never let me off until the token was
completed, fair and square. It was a custom with us in
summer to do a fair half-day’s work before the other boys
and men got their breakfast, James and I would meet by
appointment in the gray of the morning, and go down to
the printing-room. A pressman who could do twenty, or
even ten per cent, more work than usual was always sure
of a position. James Harper, Tom Kennedy (long since
dead), and I, made the largest bills in the city. We often
earned as much as fourteen dollars each per week—liberal
wages when you remember that good board could then be
obtained for ten dollars per month.”
James Harper possessed an inexhaustible fund of hu-
mor, was very fond of harmless jokes, and, like President
Lincoln, was a genius in the art of telling a good story
or apt anecdote. He would keep the counting-room in
a roar with his shrewd and witty sayings. It used to be
playfully said of him that although he was a strict
“ teetotaler,” he was hardly ever known to be “sober.”
It was characteristic of him to approach a person, whether
friend or stranger, in an odd and eccentric, but always
genial way.
James Harper was elected Mayor of New York in 1844,
HARPER AND BROTHERS. 91
and many stories are current that illustrate his humorous
eccentricities. There was an ordinance then in force, or
rather on the books, for it was constantly disregarded, that
hackmen should not board the River or Sound boats as
they came to their wharves. Rival hackmen, in their eager-
ness to capture a fare, were accustomed to board the steam-
ers with the ferocity of an old-time press-gang, seize their
victims and carry them by main force to their hacks. One
morning James Harper arrived in New York by the Al-
bany boat. The hackmen sprang on board, shouting,
“Carriage, sir! carriage, sir!” thrusting their cards into
the very faces of the passengers. James engaged seven or
eight carriages. “Yes, my son,” he replied to their im-
portunities, “ certainly, give me your card ; and as he
beamed benevolently upon them through his spectacles,
they thought they had captured a most affable old gentle-
man, who was taking carriages for a large party. On reach-
ing the dock, he got into the last carriage, and ordered the
driver to take him to the City Hall. There he gave the
cards to his clerk, imposed a fine on each of the hackmen,
and directed that their licenses should be revoked.
I will give one more instance of the sly humor, in
which James Harper delighted to indulge : One day it fell
to him to entertain a visitor at the office, who had come
in with no object save to satisfy his curiosity; one of those
dull-witted “bores * to whom the parody of Ben Jonson's
famous line might be aptly applied :
“He was not for a time, ºut for all day.
After a great many questions about the business and
the part taken by the several brothers, the visitor remarked:
“You say, Mr. Harper, that your brother John sees to the
accounts, that your brother Wesley superintends the cor-
respondence, and that your brother Fletcher keeps the
business moving ; but you haven’t told me what you do.”
“Oh,” replied Mr. James Harper, “they leave me an
92 |HARPER AND BROTHERS.
enormous amount of work. I have more to do than all of
them put together.” -
“Indeed That is very curious. Allow me to ask
what it is P’’
“Why, my dear sir, between you and me, they leave
me to entertain the bores.” '',
The obtuse visitor appeared to consider this a most
capital joke, and was the only one who heard it without
perceiving its application.
James Harper was tall and athletic, and to the last
noted for his great physical strength. His kindly humor,
his generosity, and affability endeared him greatly to all
with whom he came in contact. It was his daily custom to
pass from one department to another of the business estab-
lishment, chatting and jesting with the men, women, and
children at their work, and having a pleasant word for
each. He knew by name the persons employed in the
various departments, interested himself in their family his-
tories, and won their confidence.
On the 25th of March, 1869, Mr. James Harper went
to his place of business in his usual health and spirits.
He had almost completed his seventy-fourth year, but he
was as erect of figure and as buoyant of spirit as a boy.
After making his usual visit to the departments, he took
his leave, as it proved, forever. On his way up town he
sat for his photograph, the best and most characteristic
ever taken of him. Then having dined, he drove out with
his daughter. When at Forty-fourth street, and nearing
Central Park, the pole of the carriage suddenly broke, and
the horses, though docile and well-trained, were frightened,
and at once were beyond control. Mr. Harper was thrown
violently to the pavement, and was taken up insensible.
He was so seriously injured that he was carried into St.
Luke’s Hospital, where he died two days after the accident,
without having regained consciousness. It was remarked
that for Some time previous to this sad occurrence Mr.
IIarper had omitted at family prayers the petition to be
HARPER AND BROTHERS. 93
delivered from sudden death, and when asked for an ex- .
planation he had replied, “The Lord knows best.”
The death of Mr. James Harper was deeply lamented,
and his funeral drew together a very large attendance; but
the most touching tribute to his memory was paid by the
poor men and women whose affections had been won by his
sympathy and charities, and who bent to kiss his calm,
benignant face as he lay in his coffin.
John Harper, or “the Colonel,” as he was familiarly
called, attended to the finances of the firm. This would
have been of itself business enough for any ordinary man ;
but the Colonel also took in, as a sort of by-play, the pur-
chase of the large supplies of printing paper and other
materials used in the manufacture of books. While an ap-
prentice he had acquired the reputation of being an excel-
lent compositor and accurate proof-reader. “At an early
age,” says one who knew him well, “he developed that
intuitive taste in typography which was so marked that as
long as he remained in active life at the office a specimen
page of every important book issued by Harper & Brothers
was always submitted to him for examination. He was
quick to detect a typographical error. If there was but a
single mistake in a page, were it nothing but a turned letter,
his keen eye was almost sure to catch it. He was especially
critical in the matter of title-pages; and it was characteris-
tic of him that whenever one was submitted to his inspec-
tion he always felt in his waistcoat-pocket for his pencii
before looking at it. Not infrequently a title-page was
revised a dozen times before it received his imprimatur.”
The striking habit of his mind was that of quick de-
cision. He never hesitated, and with him to plan was to
execute. A remarkable instance of this quickness of pur-
pose was his action immediately after the great fire of 1853.
It so happened that on the day of this disaster I was sitting
in the counting-room of Harper & Brothers, negotiating
for the use of some of their stereotype plates. The four
brothers were present, with several of the sons. Suddenly
94 II AR PEIR AND BROTHERS.
everyone was startled by the cry of “Fire;” and in an
instant the whole building seemed to be in a blaze. It was
soon evident that little could be saved ; and having satisfied
themselves that everyone employed in the establishment
was safe, the four brothers joined the excited throng in the
street, and calmly watched the heroic but futile efforts of
the firemen to quench the flames. -
John Harper was the first to break the silence, as they
stood together. Drawing out his watch, he remarked, in
as cool a voice as if he were sitting in his parlor, that it was
time to go to dinner, and that it would be well for the firm
to meet at his house in the evening for consultation. At
this conference it was decided that, although there was an
ample competency on which they could retire, the business
was too valuable to be given up, especially as they all had
sons to follow in their footsteps. “We must show them
that we are not old fogies,” said Mr. John Harper.
Temporary arrangements were made at once to carry on
the business; and the erection of the large buildings now
occupied by the firm was immediately begun. The plans
were designed by Mr. John Harper, and the buildings were
constructed under his personal supervision. It is said that
he went over the whole establishment only once after its
completion.
I find in the Booksellers' Advertiser of January, 1834,
the following statement :-
We have ascertained that the number of works printed
and published by Harper and Bros., is 234, making 413
volumes, a single set of which cost, at trade price, $252.38.
Of Harper's, 192 volumes, from 18mo to 8wo are stereo-
typed, and the stereotype plates alone, exclusive of copy-
right, paper, printing, and binding, could not have cost
less than $75,000.
Ten years ago these brothers worked the press with their
own hands, and it is within that time that they have com-
menced publishing, now they give constant employment to
nearly 200 persons, and, indirectly, to many more. They
EIARPER AND BROTHERS. 95
are diffusing knowledge to millions, and their names
are familiar wherever the English language is spoken. So
much for industry, enterprise, and perseverance. Let not
other worthy, but less successful publishers beforgotten, as
honest Dogberry says, “Comparisons are odorous.”
Twenty years later the number of publications published
by Harper and Bros., had reached fully two thousand.
These were all destroyed by the fire. Thirty years later from
the latter date (January, 1884), the list of books published
by them numbered fully five thousand different works. By
a singular coincidence the last book published by the
original firm of Harper and Bros., was “Seneca’s Morals,”
with notes by Bishops Hurst and Whiting. This was May
26, 1877, Fletcher Harper dying on the 29th of May, 1877.
It will be remembered that “Seneca’s Morals'' was the first
book published by J. & J. Harper.
Mr. John Harper was very fond of horses, and his
familiar figure was seen almost every afternoon as he took
his daily drive through Central Park and in the roads
beyond. He was one of the earliest owners of a fast team
in New York, and often entered into a friendly trial of
speed with Robert Bonner or the late Commodore Vander-
Uilt.
Neither he nor his brothers ever worked on Sunday,
even during their apprenticeship. It is told of him that
one Saturday afternoon, when he was a journeyman printer
in the employment of Jonathan Seymour, he was informed
that he was expected to work the next day on the cata-
logue of an auction sale; which was to be held on the follow-
ing Monday. “That I will not do,” was the sturdy,
though respectful reply, “I will forfeit my papers, but I
will not work on Sunday.” When the clock struck twelve
that night, John Harper laid down his composing stick,
and went home, regardless of a threat to discharge him.
On Monday morning Mr. Seymour, who admired the pluck
and moral courage displayed by the young man, apologized
for having spoken harshly to him, and made him foreman
96 HIARPER AND BROTHERS.
of a department. When in business for himself Mr.
Harper never allowed any work to be done in the estab-
lishment on Sunday ; and this has uninterruptedly con-
tinued to be the rule of the office.
One Saturday afternoon the Colonel, then in the mellow
autumn of his life, and his two sons were enjoying their
after-dinner cigars together, when the old gentleman
inquired whether they were going to attend church all day
on the morrow. “Well,” said the elder son, “I think I
shall go to church in the morning, and in the afternoon
take a ‘constitutional in the Park.” “Tut, tut !” replied
the Colonel, “when I was a young man of your age I
worked fourteen hours every week day. After all that, on
Sundays I went to Sunday-School in the morning at nine
o'clock, and to church at half-past ten. I came home to an
early dinner, and again attended Sunday-school and church
in the afternoon; and, very likely, I went to church in the
evening. What do you think of that, young gentlemen?”
“Well, father,” answered the younger son, “I dare say
we shall be saying the same thing to our children one of
these days.” “You impudent young heathen,” replied the
Colenel with an amused smile, “I have the truth on my
side.”
George William Curtis says, in the “Editor's Easy
Chair,” that when James Harper met with his fatal acci-
dent, “John’s self-command withheld all excessive expres-
sion or loud lamentation, but those who knew the intensity
of his nature and the closeness of the life-long affection,
and the undisturbed harmony of their common interests
and purposes for more than fifty years, knew also the cruelty
of the blow, and watched painfully the result. From that
moment his active interest in business declined. He
continued, indeed, to appear for a little time at the office,
but one day in returning home he had a slight attack,
which seemed to him possibly to indicate some failure of
his powers, and nothing in all his life was more character-
istic than the injunction which he then laid upon his part-
HARPER AND BROTHERS. 97
ners that he was never again to be consulted upon the
conduct of the business. During the leisure of his last
years he found enjoyment in driving, until a severe stroke
of paralysis deprived him even of that pleasure and finally
rendered him helpless. He lived, however, to be nearly
eighty years old, when he met a peaceful death.”
At a meeting of the book trade association, held on
Saturday, April 24, 1875, Mr. A. D. F. Randolph, in his
eloquent eulogy upon the life of Mr. Harper, said, “To
prosecute successfully, as he did, the details of his business,
required conspicuous ability and untiring industry ; nay,
he must have possessed absolute genius. He lived to see
mighty results as the fruit of his arduous labors. He lived
to see the business of a small upper room in Dover Street
grow into the magnificent proportions of that in Franklin
Square. Throughout his entire business career he has
maintained the integrity of his name and the noble sim-
plicity of his character, and deservedly reaped the reward
which he labored for, by seeing completed the house of
which he had laid the foundation. It seemed a beautiful pic-
ture to see this man, after enduring and overcoming many
trials and disasters, sitting in the twilight of life waiting
for the opening of the gateway through which he was to
pass to meet his Maker.” -
Joseph Wesley Harper, the third of the four brothers,
was of slighter physique than the rest. It is told that when
he was a child an old Presiding Elder said to his mother,
“Sister Harper, why don’t you give one of your boys to
the Lord, to be a preacher ?” “Why,” said she, “that is
just what I expected to do, and I have already selected one of
them.” “Which one have you selected ?” inquired the
gratified Elder. “I have selected Wesley,” was the reply.
“And why Wesley rather than James, or John, or Fletch-
er " “Oh well,” replied Mrs. Harper, “Wesley seems to
be the most feeble and delicate in health, and he is rather
lazy—” Then, perceiving from the Elder's perplexed and
rather mortified look that he had put a wrong interpreta-
5
98 FIATRIPER AND BROTHERS.
tion on her motives, she hastened to add : “I thought that
if I gave Wesley to the Lord, he would take him and make
him over again, so that he would be all right.”
Gentle, refined, and affectionate in spirit, Wesley pos-
sessed a natural inclination to the literary culture which
distinguished him in after life. His mind was quick, sub-
file, and at the same time broad and Catholic. He had an
intimate acquaintance with the productions of the best
authors, and few men were better read in the current liter-
ature of the day. As his part of the business, he for many
years managed the literary department, receiving authors’
manuscripts, and frequently reading them himself. His
manner was invariably courteous and affable, and no one
could be long in his presence without feeling at home.
The most sensitive author found in him a sympathetic
friend and adviser. If a MS. was to be declined, the decli-
nation was always made in the kindest manner, and the
disappointment softened, not infrequently, with sugges-
tions and advice that gave the unsuccessful applicant fresh
heart and hope. Wesley also attended to the literary cor-
respondence of the house, in which position he was suc-
ceeded by his son, Joseph W. Harper, Jun., one of the
senior members of the present firm.
For several years previous to his death Wesley was in
feeble health. One afternoon his three brothers paid him
a visit at his house. What took place during that inter-
view has never been told. It was the last meeting of the
four on earth. The next day James met with the fatal
accident already described. Wesley, deeply affected by the
break in the harmonious circle of brotherhood, predicted
that he would be the next to go. The heart trouble, from
which he had long suffered, became rapidly worse ; and on
the 14th of February, 1870, the “best beloved” of the
four brothers passed quietly away. A little after sunrise
he asked that the window should be opened ; then, after
taking a slight refreshment, he thanked his attendants
with his usual courtesy, lay back on the pillow, closed his
HARPER AND BROTHERS. 99
eyes and died. Four of the pall-bearers at his funeral were
men who had been for many years in the employment of
the firm.
The late Dr. George Ripley, who was for a long time a
reader of manuscripts for the Harpers, was brought into
intimate personal relations with Wesley ; and I take pleas-
ure in transferring to these pages the following just and
heartfelt tribute from the pen of one who knew him so well.
Writing to Mr. Joseph W. Harper, Jun., from Catania,
Sicily, in March, 1870, Dr. Ripley says: “One of the last
visits which I made before leaving New York was to the sick
chamber of the invalid. I did not bid him a formal fare-
well, for he appeared so full of cheerfulness and courage,
that I could not bring myself to believe that he would not
recover strength and remain with us a few years more. My
hope was strong that I should yet look upon his kindly
face again. But now that he has gone from us forever, I
look back upon that visit with peculiar gratification. It
left an impression on my mind which I shall always love to
cherish. It blends graciously with the recollections that
remain after the twenty years during which I felt myself
honored with his intimacy. He was constantly the same
to me from the first to the last of our acquaintance. I
never heard a passionate or inconsiderate word from his
lips. Without any formal demonstrations, his manners
were of the very cssence of kindness. His conversation
never failed to be pleasant and instructive, in harmony
with his candid and affectionate bearing, and enlivened
with quiet humor that sprang from the gentleness and
goodness of his nature. It is a great consolation, in the
loss which we suffer in common, that this whole earthly
course has left so serene and pure an image in the mem-
*. 33
Ory.
As a young man Wesley Harper visited a theatre but
once, and his experience, as described by himself in later
life, was anything but agreeable. “One evening,” he said,
“some of the boys persuaded me to go to the theatre with
100 FIARPER AND BIROTHERS.
them. We went together and took our seats in the pit.
The performance had not begun. The people were assem-
bling, and my companions sat joking and laughing ; but I
could not enter into their fun. A dreadful feeling came
over me. It seemed as though all the prayers of my
mother, all the instructions of my father, rushed across my
mind at once. I felt as though I was at the very mouth of
perdition, and that I could hardly hope to escape alive. At ,
length, I could endure it no longer, and, remembering that
the hour of family prayer was approaching, I seized my
hat and fled from the house.” He did not enter a theatre
again till many years afterward. His children say, that
while this story of his boyhood illustrates the reverent sim-
plicity and filial devotion which never left him, yet he
really possessed a thorough acquaintance with the best plays
and a keen appreciation of the highest dramatic represen-
tation.
In the simple Methodist Church in Sands Street, Brook-
lyn, where, beneath the pulpit, lie the remains of his stur-
dy English ancestor, James Harper, and where six gener-
ations of the family have worshipped, there is a mural
tablet with this inscription :
JOSEPH WESLEY HARPER,
Born DEC. 25, 1801.
DIED FEB. 14, 1870.
“Everybody who knew him loved him ; everybody, that is, who
loved modesty and generosity and honor.” -
These words were written by a great master of fiction, in
affectionately describing his hero—one of the sweetest ideals
in English literature. And who shall say that Colonel
Newcome, in his manliness, simplicity, and reverence, does
PIARPER AND BROTHERS. 101
not represent to us many noble souls who have departed
this life in God’s faith and fear 2
Fletcher Harper, the youngest member of the firm, was
the last to go. His death occurred on the 29th of May,
1877. The first break in the family of brothers had deeply
affected the remaining three ; the death of Wesley was a
peculiarly personal loss to Fletcher, the affection between
them having been very strong ; and after the Colonel had
passed away, Fletcher appeared to lose interest in his
life-long business. He rarely visited the office after that
bereavement. I last saw him in the summer of 1876, play-
ing croquet with his grandchildren at his beautiful summer
residence at Irvington-on-the-Hudson. I had known him
nearly forty years, and during all that time he was to me a
wise counsellor and a good friend.
Fletcher Harper possessed great administrative abil-
ities. His judgment was quick, decisive, and rarely at
fault. Writing soon after his death, Mr. George William
Curtis said of him : “In all his business relations, Fletcher
Harper showed the quality of a great administrator. He
was a man of the truest modesty, and gayly said that he
was a ‘passable' man of business; but he would have been
distinguished in any chief public trust demanding immense
energy, sagacity, quick and unerring judgment, and easy
and efficient mastery of men. He had the instinct of a
leader. He knew at once what was to be done, and his
shrewd estimate of men enabled him to choose his instru-
ments. . . . Fletcher Harper was always quiet, and
appeared always to be at leisure ; but his electrical energy,
his controlling will, made him seem, for all that, the
organizing force of the huge factory that swarmed and
hummed around him. . . . Like all such masterful
men, he abhorred ruts and routine, and was constantly
and quietly testing the readiness and intelligence of those
around him. He dropped a pregnant hint. The hearer
saw the scope and purpose, made thorough and ample pre-
paration, supposing the thing was to be done. Mr. Harper
102 HARPER AND BROTHERS.
came, saw with satisfaction that a hint could be correctly
taken, but announced that the thing would not be done.
What he wanted were the habit and faculty of readiness,
and thus he surrounded himself with minute-men.”
When John C. Spencer was Secretary of State at Al-
bany, in 1839, it became his duty to supervise the Selec-
tion of books for the School District libraries. The alert
mind of Fletcher Harper saw the opportunity for an im-
bortant stroke of business, and, going to his brother James,
he said, “Boss, give me a letter to your friend Thurlow
Weed, and ask him to introduce me to Mr. Spencer.”
Armed with this letter, the ‘‘ boy,” as James called him,
took the next boat for Albany, and on arriving there put
up at the old Eagle Tavern. He then sauntered out to find
Mr. Weed, who was then editor of the Albany Journal, and
a man of very great influence Mr. Weed received him in
the kindest manner, and having read James Harper’s letter,
said :
“Well, Fletcher, I shall be very glad to do what I can
for you for your own sake, as well as on account of my dear
friend, your brother. Now, Mr. Spencer is a very difficult
man to approach. He is very sensitive and always Suspi-
cious of possible jobs; he requires to be approached with
some delicacy and caution.” He then added, suddenly,
“Why I he is coming to my house to-night. The Gover-
nor will be there, and the ILieutenant-Governor, and Mr.
Spencer and some Senators and assemblymen.”
Said Fletcher, impulsively, “That is the very time I
can meet him.”
Mr. Weed shook his head and said, “Now, don’t be in
such a hurry, my boy ; don’t be in such a hurry. I will
manage that. I don’t think it would answer for you to
meet him at my house. Let me arrange it for you.”
Accordingly, during the evening, and in the presence
of a number of friends, but not directly to Secretary Spen-
cer, Mr. Weed casually remarked that he had had a pleas-
ant interview that day with a young man from New York,
HARPER AND BROTHERS. 103
a hard-working, intelligent, industrious, straightforward
young printer, and that he was the youngest brother of his
old friend and fellow-pressman, James Harper. Mr. Spencer,
overhearing Mr. Weed's remarks about the young man—as
he intended he should—turned to Mr. Weed and said :
“Who is this wonderful young man, this young printer?
Where is he, and why didn’t you have him here to-
night P’’
Said Mr. Weed, “Why, Mr. Spencer, he is very sensi-
tive. He has come to Albany expressly to see you on
business.”
“Then, why not have him here to-night P’’ asked Mr.
Spencer.
“Because,” said Mr. Weed, “ he is not that kind of a
man, and he is too proud to avail himself of a social occa-
sion for business purposes.” -
The secretary immediately said, “Well, you make me
very desirous of seeing him. We must see him early to-
morrow. Bring him up ; where is he P’’
“He is down at the Eagle Tavern,” said Mr. Weed.
“I will bring him up to-morrow ; but mind, he is very
proud and very sensitive.”
Accordingly, the next day, Mr. Weed presented him to
Scretary Spencer. The Secretary was very favorably dis-
posed towards him. He said, “I understand, my young
friend, that you want to furnish the State with the school
district library books.”
Fletcher replied, “Yes, that is what I have come for,
Mr. Secretary.”
“How do you propose to do it P’’ asked Mr. Spencer.
“I propose to do it under your direction,” said
Fletcher.
“You haven’t all the books,” said Mr. Spencer.
“We will buy them, then,” replied Fletcher.
“But suppose you cannot buy them?” said Mr. Spencer.
“We will make arrangements about it of some kind,”
said Fletcher. Ts
104 HAIRPER AND BROTHERS.
“How about the price P’’ asked Mr. Spencer.
“That,” said Fletcher, looking the Secretary squarely
in the face, “you shall decide. Whatever arrangements
you may make will be satisfactory to my brothers and to me.
We shall put ourselves in your hands.”
The result of this interview was that Mr. Spencer gave
the house the making and supplying of what soon became
known in every household in New York State as “Har-
per's School District Library.” \ .
“Many of the elements that make a good diplomatist,”
says a writer that knew Fletcher Harper, “entered into
his mental composition. On one occasion, early in our
civil war, the publication of Harper's Weekly was suspended
by order of Secretary Stanton, on account of the printing
of some views of our works before Yorktown, which Mc-
Clellan was then besieging. Following the order was a
telegram from the Secretary, stating that the firm had been
guilty of “giving aid and comfort to the enemy” (an offense
punishable with death), and requesting that some member
of the firm should immediately proceed to Washington
—whether to suffer that extreme penalty being left in
doubt. The delicate mission devolved upon Fletcher Har-
per. He found the Secretary of War in a very belligerent
mood ; but before five words had been exchanged he con-
trived to put Mr. Stanton on the defensive, on a matter en-
tirely foreign to the object of his visit. Before leaving the
War office he secured the revocation of the order of suspen-
sion, and received the Secretary's thanks for the support
which the Weekly was rendering the country and the gov-
ernment.”
Harper’s Weekly was the creation of Fletcher Harper. It
was essentially his enterprise, and until within a few months
of his death the best energies of his controlling mind were
devoted to its managemeut. The first editor of the Weekly
was the late Mr. Theodore Sedgwick. Early in the war,
Mr. George William Curtis became the political editor of
the paper, a position which he continues to hold with com-
FIARPER AND BEOTHERS, 105
manding ability. About fourteen years ago Mr. S. S.
Conant succeeded Mr. Henry M. Alden as its “executive”
editor, on the transfer of the latter to the editorship of the
Magazine. - -
The idea of the Magazine originated with James Har-
per, but the management of this most successful and widely
circulated periodical was by common consent left in the
hands of Fletcher Harper, as later was that of the Weekly
and the Bazar. As a political journal the Weekly has
been a strong advocate of the principles and course of the
Republican party ; but it has always maintained the char-
acter of an independant observer of politics, and refused
to be bound by party trammels, or to be considered a
party “ organ.” -
One of the most touching tributes to the memory of
Fletcher Harper was from the pen of Mr. Curtis, in the
“Easy Chair;” and I cannot forbear quoting a portion of
it :
“The tributes to him on all sides agreed in the recog-
nition of his remarkable power and strength of nature—a
noble manliness made sweet and mild by the freshest affec-
tion and the most tender sympathy. His modesty, like all
his qualities, partook of a native greathess. He resolutely,
but with entire unostentation, pursued his way. He never
held an office or wished for one. He was not seen on pub-
lic meetings or on great occasions; and no man of equal
mark in the city more instinctively avoided every kind of
notoriety. His home, thronged with affectionate kindred,
was happy beyond the common lot ; and at his hospitable
table sat friends from far and near, to whom his sweet and
sunny welcome was a bemediction like the summer air.
Time passed ; his brothers—the cheery James, the indomit-
able John, the gracious Wesley—died. The famous brother-
hood was dissolved, and Fletcher stood alone amid his
memories and younger men. Too strong to despond, with
a high and keen relish for life, he yet could not but feel,
- 5%
106 IHARPER AND BROTHERS.
3 y 9
‘The old order changeth, giving place to new.
The tie between him and Wesley had been peculiarly
tender ; and as Fletcher sometimes sat in the office, where
for a long life they had been so intimately associated, and
gazed out of the window, with musing and melancholy eyes,
his strong face seemingly steeped in infinite tenderness of
feeling, one who had known them long and knew his heart
who remained, could but interpret his looks in the words
of Henry Vaughn : -
“They are all gone in the world of light
And I alone sit lingering here :
Their very memory is fair and bright
And my sad thought doth clear.
I see them walking in an air of glory,
Whose light doth trample on my days—
My days which are at best but dull and hoary,
Mere glimmerings and decays,’”
I have dwelt thus long on my recollections of these well-
known gentlemen, not merely because they were my fast
friends, but because the story of their career is instructive
in many ways. They cared not so much about business
success, or the accumulation of wealth, as of leading happy
and useful lives. Success and wealth came to them, but
neither was the chief object of their ambition. The present
firm name was adopted in 1833. It is a singular fact that
the “American Cyclopædia,” which Contains more than
twenty-three thousand titles of subjects, gives but one title
of a business firm, and that reads “Harper and Brothers.”
The reason for this exception is probably the fact that the
four brothers acted as a unit in all their business transac-
tions. They were known, individually, as exemplary
Christian gentlemen ; but, collectively, the brothers were
inseparable. Their firm name was probably more widely-
known among English-speaking people than that of any
Other business house in existence. Their business was con-
ducted on the basis of absolute trust and confidence in each
EIA REPER AND BROTHERS. 107
other. There was no system of checks between them, and
no necessity for One. So close, indeed, was the intimacy,
and so unbounded the common confidence, that for many
years no accounts were kept between the brothers. Each
one took what he needed for himself, and the others
neither knew nor cared to know how much each one drew
out for his own use. This state of affairs continued till
within ten years of the death of James Harper.
No enterprise was ever undertaken which any one of
them disapproved. Of this, the establishment of the
Bazar is a notable illustration. The project originated, as
already mentioned, with Fletcher Harper; the others were
at first indifferent to it. At length, he said he was so sure
of its success, that, if the others were willing, he would
undertake it alone. But John Harper said, “No ; we
have never done anything separately ; we won’t make this
an exception. I think brother Fletcher shall have his way,
and we will start the Bazar.” It was sometimes asked,
“Which is the Mr. Harper, and who are the brothers?” and
the invariable answer was, “Either one is Harper and the
rest are the brothers.” As Mr. Curtis aptly said : “With
them honors were easy, and it was hard to say where James
ended, and John, Wesley, and Fletcher began.” The divis-
ion of labor, by which each superintended certain depart-
ments of the establishment, was one that grew naturally out
of their individual tastes.
The four brothers were lifelong and consistent members
of the Methodist Episcopal Church ; but they were men of
broad, catholic minds, and their predilections for their own
form of religious worship did not prejudice them against
other forms. Their ardent veneration for Wesley descended
to their children, several of whom, I may add, have dis-
played, perhaps, an even closer conformity to the example
and the spirit of his ecclesiastical teaching, by adhering to
the church in whose communion the great reformer lived
and died. They all shared the happy faculty of leaving
business behind them when they left the office. There was
108 HARPER AND BROTHERS.
no trace of asceticism in their character. For many years
Fletcher Harper's informal Monday dinners drew around
his hospitable board many of the literary men of the day.
Clergymen were frequent guests at these pleasant entertain-
ments. Among them were the Rev. Dr. Prime, of the New
York Observer (who succeeded Lewis Gaylord Clark as edi-
tor of the “Drawer" in Harper's Magazine); the Rev. Dr.
M“Clintock, the eminent Methodist divine and scholar; the
Rev. Dr. Samuel Osgood; the Rev. Dr. Milburn, the blind
preacher ; the Rev. Father Cumming, of St. Stephen’s, and
many others, whose anecdotes of books and authors were a
delight to hear. -
The attachment of the four brothers to the persons
in their employment was remarked by every one who was
at all familiar with their establishment ; and, in turn,
they were served with a fidelity and zeal that spring from
reciprocal good-will and confidence alone. Many men and
women have been for years in their employment, and have
been followed by their children and grandchildren. I
remember being in the office one day when old Mr. Far-
rington, still hale, despite the weight of years, came in to
remind Mr. Fletcher Harper that it was just fifty years
ince he had entered the service of J. & J. Harper.
It is a pleasant thing for me to say of the present firm”
that the friends of the four brothers are also their own.
It is enough that a man enjoyed the friendship and esteem
of the founders of the house to establish like relations with
their successors. I may mention, as an illustration, the
case of Mr. Sampson Low, the venerable English pub-
lisher, who became the London agent of the house in 1845,
and whose personal as well as business relations with the
four brothers were always most friendly and confidential,
More than once, since the death of Fletcher Harper, Mr.
* The firm at present consists of PHILIP J. A., FLETCHER, Jr.,
JosLPH WESLEY, Jr., JoHN WESLEY, and Joseph ABNER HARPER,
all sons of the founders of the firm, and J. HENRY HARPER, the
latter a grandson of FLETCHER HARPER.
FIA RPER AND BROTHERS. 109
Low has asked to be relieved from his agency; but the
present firm invariably replied that they were unwilling to
sever the relations so long ago established, and maintained
with mutual regard and confidence. They sent him, when
he had reached the ripe age of eighty-three, an assistant,
to relieve him of the hard work of the position, but declined
to accept his resignation. I am also permitted to mention
having seen a letter from Mr. William C. Prime to Mr.
Joseph W. Harper, Jun., in which the writer, after allud-
ing in feeling terms to his long friendship with the broth-
ers and the present firm, expresses his regret that he has
no sons to continue that friendship with the coming gene-
ration. •
Thus pleasantly do the present members of the firm
maintain the traditions of its founders. The atmosphere
of kindly sentiment remains unchanged; and in conclud-
ing these desultory recollections I cannot do better than
quote the lines written by Mr. Curtis, which are inscribed
above the fireplace of the private office in Franklin Square,
and which seem to me to express, in the most felicitous
manner, the traditional spirit of the house :
“My flame expires; but let true hands pass on
An unextinguished torch from Sire to Son.”
IV.
S. G. GOODRICH-F. B. GOODRICH.
Peter Parley’s celebrated stories for children—Mr. Good-
ºrich's first ea perience as a publisher—Is sold himself
ânstead of the book Me Fingal—Early aid to Nathaniel
Hawthorne–How his Twige Told Tales were published
—A child thinks Peter Parley a humbug—Older heads
disenchanted—His Natural History and Prof. Agassiz
— Drinks wine with Walter Scott—Lockhart’s opinion
of Cooper’s novels— Wonderful circulation of Peter
Parley's Tales—Mr. Goodrich's sudden death.
ORTY years ago “Peter Parley's Tales, or Stories for
Children,” were the best known and most popular
books for young people published at that time.
The author, whose real name was Samuel G. Goodrich,
was at one time a publisher and bookseller himself. In
the year 1820 he published an edition of The Poetical
Works of Jno. Trumbull, LL.D., which contained the
famous epic of McFingal. -
- It is stated in the memoir, which prefaces the edition,
that it was first published at Hartford before the close of
the year 1782, and as no author at that period was entitled
by law to the copyright of his productions, the work
soon became the prey of every printer and bookseller.
Among more than thirty different editions, one only at
any subsequent time was published with the permission or
even the knowledge of the writer, and the poem remained
the property of newsmongers, hawkers, peddlers and petty
shopmen. For this Mr. Goodrich paid the author one
[110]
S. G. GOODRICH. 111
thousand dollars and one hundred copies of the work for the
copyright.
Booksellers advised him against the venture, but he
secured subscriptions enough, as he supposed, to indemnify
himself against any loss; but when the book was published
fully one-half of the subscribers declined to take the work.
It has been frequently said, especially among writers
themselves, that publishers always profit by the productions
of authors, while the latter generally receive Jittle, if any,
compensation for their literary efforts. So thought Col.
Trumbull, the poet, who surmised he had sold the copy-
right for his poems too cheap and that his publisher had
made too good a bargain ; but the result proved that Mr-
Goodrich was sold instead of the books, there being no de-
mand for the poems.
To Mr. Goodrich belongs the credit of first introducing
Nathaniel Hawthorne to the public in book form. He tells
how this was accomplished in his interesting “Recollections
of a Lifetime,” as follows:
“I had seen some anonymous publications which seemed to me
to indicate extraordinary powers. I inquired of the publishers as to
the writer and through them a correspondence ensued between me
and ‘N. Hawthorne.” This name I considered a disguise, and it was
not till after many letters had passed, that I met the author, and
found it to be a true title, representing a very substantial personage.
At this period he was unsettled as to his views ; he had tried his
hand in literature, and considered himself to have met with a fatal
rebuff from the reading world. His mind vacillated between various
projects, verging, I think, toward a mercantile profession. I com-
bated his despondence, aud assured him of triumph, if he would
persevere in a literary career. He wrote numerous articles, which
appeared in the Token (an annual edited by Mr. Goodrich); occasion-
ally an astute critic seemed to see through them, and to discover the
soul that was in them; but in general they passed without notice.
“Such articles as Sights from a Steeple,’ ‘Sketches beneath an
Umbrella,” “The Wives of the Dead,” “The Prophetic Pictures,’ now
universally acknowledged to be productions of extraordinary depth,
meaning and power, extorted hardly a word of either praise or blame,
while columns were given to pieces since totally forgotten. I felt
112 S. G. GOODIRIC II.
annoyed, almost angry, indeed, at this. I wrote several articles in
the papers, directing attention to these productions, and finding no.
echo of my views, I recollect to have asked John Pickering to read
some of them, and give me his opinion of them. He did as I request-
ed ; his answer was that they displayed a wonderful beauty of style,
With a kind of double vision, a sort of secoºd sight, which revealed,
beyond the outward forms of life and being, a sort of Spirit World,
somewhat as a lake reflects the earth around it and the sky above it.
He was right no doubt at that period, but ere long a large portion of
the reading world obtained a new sense—how or where, or whence,
is not easily determined—which led them to study the mystical, to
divebeneatlı and beyond the senses, and to discern, gather and cher-
ish gems and pearls of price in the hidden depths of the soul.
“Hawthorne was in fact, a kind of Wordsworth in prose : less
kindly, less genial toward mankind, but deeper and more philosophi-
cal. Iſis fate was similar : at first he was neglected, at last he had
worshippers.
‘‘ In 1837, I recommended Mr. Hawthorne to publish a volume
comprising his various pieces, which had appeared in the Token and
elsewhere. He consented, but as I had ceased to be a publisher, it
was difficult to find anyone who would undertake to bring out the work.
I applied to the agent of the Stationers’ Company, but he refused,
until at last I relinquished my copyright on such of the tales as I had
published, to Mr. Hawthorne, and joined a friend of his in a bond
to indemnify them against loss, and thus the work was published by
the Stationers' Company under the title of ‘Twice Told Tales,' and
for the author's benefit. It was deemed a failure for more than a
year, when a breeze seemed to rise and fill its sails, and with it, the
author was carried on to fame and fortune.”
The following letter from Hawthorne to Mr. Goodrich,
the original of which is lying before me, and a copy of
which is given on another page, refers to the offer of the
first of his productions published in the Token. The
• ‘ Provincial Tales,” to which Hawthorne refers, are un-
doubtedly the “Twice Told Tales” above mentioned, only
they appeared six years later than their author hoped, and
under another and far better title.
2.
-2

S. G. GOOD RICH. 113
“Salem, May 6th, 1830.
DEAR SIR —
“I send you the two pieces for the token. They were ready some
days ago, but I kept them in expectation of hearing from you. I have
complied with your wishes in regard to brevity. You can insert
them (if you think them worthy a place in your publication) as by the
author of ‘Provincial Tales'—such being the title I propose to give
my volume. I can conceive no objection to your designating them
in this manner, even if my tales should not be published as soon as
the Token, or, indeed, if they never see the light at all. An unpub-
lished book is not more obscure than many that creep into the world,
and your readers will suppose that the ‘Provincial Tales’ are among
the latter. :-
I am, eic.,
NATH. HAwTHoRNE.”
“S. G. GooDRICH, Esq.”
During the seven years which elapsed between the date
of this letter and the appearance of “Twice Told Tales,”
it would seem that Mr. Goodrich procured considerable
literary work for Hawthorne, which was not all to his taste,
which he looked upen as drudgery—as well he might—and
in which, in consequence, he did not succeed.
In certain publications of late date, language is attrib-
uted to Hawthorne at this period, which, for the honor of
literature, it would have been better to suppress. Haw-
thorne complains that he is under-paid, half-paid, and,
in some cases, unpaid, and speaks slightingly of the one
man out of two, who gave him an opportunity with the
public, and who at this very time was doing all in his
power to hasten the appearance of Hawthorne's collected
works. -
The following letter from Commodore Horatio Bridge,”
Hawthorne's classmate and lifelong friend, to Mr. Frank
B. Goodrich, should set this scandalous battle at rest for-
eVel' :
* Ex Paymaster United States Navy.
114 S. G. GOOD RICH.
‘‘ Hamilton House,
* “Washington, Feb. 2nd, 1884.
“F. B. GooDRICH, Esq.,
New York.
“DEAR SIR :—
“I have received yours of the 31st ultimo, and am able to give you
what I think very correct information about the publication of the
first series of ‘Twice Told Tales.’ It seems to me that any reflec-
tion cast upon the prices paid by your father to Mr. Hawthorne for
his writings would be unfair, for they were doubtless what he, at that
time, felt justified in giving. . . . - -
“The time came when it seemed desirable that these tales and some
new matter which Mr. Hawthorne had ready should be published in
a volume, and he told me that he had applied to your father to pub-
lish such a work, which plan he seemed to entertain favorably. But
the delay was so great that Mr. Hawthorne became a good deal
depressed. From my intimacy with him since boyhood I felt that
this discouragement would have an unfavorable influence upon his
future, and I determined, without his knowledge, to ascertain the
true cause of the delay. Accordingly I wrote to Mr. Goodrich on
the subject. The enclosed is a copy of his reply, by which you will see
that the want of a guaranty against loss was the obstacle to the pub-
lication. The necessary guaranty I at once gave, only requiring that
it should be kept secret from Mr. Hawthorne for a time, as his sensi-
tiveness to pecuniary obligation was such that I feared he would
refuse to have the book published under such conditions. It was only
after the success of the volume was sufficient to show that no one in
any way connected with it had lost money, that Hawthorne learned
how the publication had been secured. These circumstances may
account for any seeming discrepancies in Mr. Hawthorne's expres-
sions of his obligation to your father.
“If you have ‘The Snow Image' at hand, you will see what the
relations of Mr. Hawthorne and myself were, and that they justified
me in doing everything in my power to hasten the fulfillment of my
boyish prophecy. As you may suppose, my action was prompted
much more by a desire to give Hawthorne reputation, than to secure
for him the small profit he would derive from the percentage.
“I have written you very frankly, for I thought you would like
to know exactly how matters stood.
“Very truly yours, &c., &c.
H. BRIDGE.”
S. G. GOOD RICH. 115
The following is the reply by Mr. Goodrich to Mr.
Bridge's letter in reference to the delay spoken of above :
“Boston, Oct. 20th, 1836.
“DEAR SIR :—
“I received your letter in regard to our friend Hawthorne. It will
cost about $450 to print 1,000 volumes in good style. I have seen a
publisher and he agrees to publish it if he can be guaranteed $250 as
an ultimate resort against loss. If you will find that guarantee, the
thing shall be put immediately in hand. I am not now a publisher,
but I shall take great interest in this work and I do not think the:e
is any probability that you will ever be called upon for a farthing.
The generous spirit of your letter is a reference.
“I only wish to know if you will take the above risk. The publi-
cation will be solely for the benefit of Hawthorne, he receiving 10
per cent. On the retail price—the usual terms.
“I am yours resp'y,
S G. GOODRICH.
“Horatio BRIDGE, Esq.,
Augusta, Maine.”
It is difficult to conceive what could have been the mo-
tive for the printing of some of Hawthorne's petty com-
plaints during the period which preceded the appearance
of this book.
After retiring from the publishing business Mr. Good-
rich devoted his time to authorship, becoming the most
voluminous of any American author, the series of Peter
Parley's juvenile books alone embracing more than 100
volumes, comprising histories, travels, geographies, and
illustrating the arts and sciences. In addition to these
there are fully as large a number in the various departments
of educational literature. -
The first volume of Peter Parley’s series was entitled
Tales of Peter Parley about America, published in 1827.
It was quickly followed by Tales of Peter Parley about
Europe, Parley's Winter Evening Tales, Parley's Asia,
Parley's Africa, Parley's Sun, Moon and Stars, and many
others. -
Their great popularity in this country led to their pub-
116 S. G. GOOD RICH.
lication on the other side. Mr. Tegg, a London publisher,
undertook their re-publication and paid Mr. Goodrich a
moderate sum for the Sale of the same ; this soon ceased,
however, as Tegg found it easy to have volumes prepared by
other writers using the name and fame of Peter Parley, to
create a large circulation. Mr. Goodrich also published
school histories of the United States, England, France,
Greece and Rome, the sale of which has been as large as
50,000 volumes annually, the copyrights received remain-
ing for many years a source of income to his family.
In a little volume entitled Peter Parley’s Geography
for Children, is a picture representing him sitting in a
chair, with his lame foot bound up, and a crutch at his
side, while he is saying to to the boys around, “Take care,
don’t touch my gouty toe ; if you do, I won’t tell you any
more stories.” Of this work more than 2,000,000 copies
were sold, and, of course, Peter Parley and his crutch were
pretty generally associated together in the minds of
children,
To represent what an impression this picture produced
in the minds of young people, it will be well to give Peter
Parley’s own words:
“On another occasion,” he says, “I think at Savannah, a gentle-
man called upon me, introducting his two grandchildren who were
anxious to see Peter Parley. The girl rushed up to me, and gave me
a ringing kiss at once. We were immediately the best friends in the
world. The boy on the contrary held liimself aloof and ran his eye
over me up and down, from top to toe. He then walked around
surveying me with the most scrutinizing gaze. After this he sat
down, and during the interview took no further notice of me. At
parting he gave me a keen look but said not a word. The next day
the gentleman called and told me that his grandson, as they were
on their way home, said to him —‘Grandfather, I wouldn’t have
anything to do with that man ; he ain't Peter Parley.’ “How do you
know that ?’ said the grandfather. “Because,” said the boy, “he
hasn’t got his foot bound up, and he don't walk with a crutch l’”
Indeed the impression of the little boy was shared by
S. G. GOODRICH. 117
others than himself, and some, even among older persons,
think still of Peter Parley as lame, with a gouty toe and
crutch. *
In the year 1850, Mr. Goodrich completed a work on
an extensive scale, entitled : “A History of All Nations,”
the publication of which, in two large octavo volumes, pro-
fusely illustrated, had been undertaken by the firm of
Wilkins, Carter & Co., now Rice, Kendall, & Co., a large
paper house in Boston. But one volume of the work was
published, when the author was appointed by President
Fillmore, United States Consul in Paris. Mr. Goodrich,
before leaving the country to fill his official position, met
me in New York, and completed negotiations with me to
undertake the publication of this work, as it was out of the
line of business of the then publishers, who desired the
change as much as he did. In consequence, the transfer
Was then made.
This was the first subscription book published by my
firm, Derby & Miller, and the price, although placed at a
high figure, did not prevent the sale of tens of thousands
of copies. It was a good work, well illustrated, and gave
Satisfaction to purchasers. *
In 1859, after my removal to New York, the firm of
* Mr. Augustus Gaylord, an old and valued friend, writes me
under date of Oct. 18th, 1883:-“A disillusion of childhood—which
to this day I scarcely recall without a sigh—hangs around the old
Nassau street office—in whis wise : An early boyhood’s book lies
vividly before me now as then, Peter Parley's Tales,’ in which hour
after hour my youthful soul delighted, with its frontispiece—a long-
haired, quaker-hatted venerable old man, Crutch at his side, ban-
daged foot extended on a chair, with the added Warning to a group
of eager children, ‘Don’t hurt my sore toe or I'll not tell you another
story.’ Tender sympathy for the old gentleman had filled my heart
all the way to manhood, until meeting him by engagement at your
office, on his return from Europe, I was introduced by you to the
Parisian dressed and hatted S. G. Goodrich, with his neatly dressed
and curly wig–as the veritable Peter Parley. The shock was severe,
but it never dethroned my ideal—and . When later, after pleasant
acquaintance we had a laugh over my disillusion, I told him I had
thereby the pleasure of the two friends—but always separate and dis-
tinct.”
118 S. G. GOODRICH.
Derby & Jackson became his publishers, issuing from our
press the last two of Peter Parley's Tales ever written by
him, entitled, “The Balloon Travels of Robert Merry and
his Young Friends over various Countries of Europe ’’ and
“Gilbert Goahead’s Adventures and Travels in Foreign
Parts.” These were soon followed by a more pretentious
volume, the descriptive title of which was as follows:–
“Peter Parley's Thousand and One Stories of Fact and Fancy,
Wit and Humor, Rhyme, Reason and Romance. Edited by S. G.
Goodrich. The intention of this book is to bring whole libraries
into a single volume—to furnish a mental meal for every day, every
hour, -for every taste, humor, age, caprice—a book of books for the
grave and gay, the old and young ; therefore we have Science and
Philosophy, Rhyme and Reason, Wit and Wisdom, Fact and Fancy,
which put together as they come, produce a sort of intellectual plum
pudding, inas: much as the whole is peppered and spiced with puns,
conundrums, drolleries, and other ‘Milledulcia to say nothing of a
garnish of three hundred engravings.” *
The very last book ever written by Mr. Goodrich, as well
as the most important and extensive, was entitled : “Illus-
trated Natural History of the Animal Kingdom ; being a
Systematic and Popular Description of the Habits, Struc-
ture, and Classification of Animals, from the highest to the
lowest forms, with their relation to Agriculture, Com-
merce, Manufactures, and the Arts, by S. G. Goodrich
(Peter Parley), with 1,500 engravings.”
This work, which was sold by subscription only, reached
the sale of many thousand copies, was dedicated to Professor
Louis Agassiz—himself, perhaps, at that time the greatest
authority on natural history. He was then a professor in
Harvard University. I took a copy of this book with a note
of introduction from Mr. Goodrich to Professor Agassiz,
who seemed greatly pleased with the popular arrangement
of the work, and admired the attractive appearance of its
mechanical execution as well as the pertinent illustrations.
He gave me a strong letter of indorsement, commending
S. G. GOOD RICH. 119
the work to the patronage of the public. This was the
first and only time I met this distinguished scholar.
Mr. Goodrich was a good and racy talker, and related
many anecdotes of distinguished people he had met.
Among others was his first meeting with Sir Walter
Scott. At that time the author of “Waverley ‘’ was clerk
of a court consisting of three judges, who were them-
selves distinguished in literature. On one occasion he
dined with J. G. Lockhart, the son-in-law of Sir Walter Scott.
Among the guests were Sir Walter and William Blackwood,
the founder of Blackwood's Magazine. After dinner both
Lockhart and Blackwood told stories, thus passing a pleas-
ant half-hour. The wine at last was rather low, and, Mr.
Goodrich says, the host ordered the servant to bring more,
but Sir Walter said :
‘‘No, no, Lokert ’—such was his pronunciation of his
son-in-law’s name—“we have had enough ; let us go and
see the ladies.” And so they went into the parlor.
On another occasion Mr. Goodrich related to me a con-
versation he had with the same parties on the merits of J.
Fenimore Cooper, who was then just publishing his famous
novels. Mr. Goodrich gives the following interesting
account of this talk in his “Recollections,” before referred
to, as follows:–
Mr. Lockhart said :—“I have lately been reading an exceedingly
clever American novel, entitled ‘The Pioneers ' by Cooper. His
descriptive power is very great, and I think he has opened a new
field of romance, especially in the hunters along the frontier, who ir.
their intercourse with Savages have become half savages themselves.
This border life is full of incident, adventure and poetry, while the
character of Leather-stocking is original and striking.”
“I have not seen ‘The Pioneers,’” said Scott, “but I have read
The Pilot,” by the same author, which has just been published. It is
very clever, and I think it will turn out that his strength lies in
depicting sea life and adventures. We really have no good sea tales,
and here is a wide field open to a man of true genius.”
120 S. G. GOODRICH.
In the year 1859, Mr. Goodrich decided to retire from
active work in authorship. He had a competence which he
derived from his copyrights, and therefore made up his
mind that he would enjoy, as far as his health would per-
mit, the fruits of his literary work. He arranged with me
for a desk in our publishing office on Broadway. “Just
to have a place,” as he said, “where I can meet friends and
write occasional letters,” his residence being then on Ninth
Street.
On the 9th day of May, 1860, he bade us good-bye
according to his usual custom, as he left the store for home.
The next morning I was startled to read of his sudden
death, which occurred early in the evening from heart
disease. -
During one of our conversations, he had informed me
that in early life he had been troubled with an organic
affection of his heart. In the spring of 1832, he traveled
in Europe consulting the most eminent specialists of
London, Paris and Edinburgh, in diseases of the heart.
He was informed by Baron Louis and others that with care
he might live twenty years longer. He did live nearly
thirty years longer.
From a collection of old letters placed at my disposal,
I derive some interesting details of Mr. Goodrich’s early
life. It seems that when, at the age of twenty-nine years,
he made a voyage to England, he went armed with very
flattering credentials for so young a man. Oliver Wolcott,
Governor of Connecticut, spoke of him as “a gentleman
of good habits and perfect integrity,” and again as “pos-
sessing unusual industry and perseverance, and being of
accomplished manners and address.” John Quincy Adams
sent him three letters. Dewitt Clinton presented him to
John Jacob Astor; Timothy Pitkin to Richard Rush ;
Benjamin Silliman spoke of his family as “ having been
long distinguished for worth and respectability.” At a
later period, Daniel Webster, in an autograph letter of four
pages, introduced him to Lord Ashley, as “the author of
S. G. GOODRICH. 121
the various publications which have appeared under the
name of Peter Parley.”
From the same album I take the following letters and
fragments of letters, addressed to Mr. Goodrich :
“CLAPTON, June 20th, '47.
“DEAR SIR:—
“We are very much pleased to be made aware that you are now
in town. We are extremely busy people, as you will believe, and
yet are always glad to make the acquaintance of the good and the
great, and can manage to find time for that. We like our friends to
come to us in the evening. Can you come on Sunday ? We are
very old-fashioned folks, and on Sundays take tea at six o'clock.
Your coming will delight and amaze the children. They have seen
so many pictures of Peter Parley and know him so well by idea.
“I am, dear sir,
Yours truly,
MAIRY How ITT.”
“Gore House, Sept. 30th, 1842.
‘‘DEAR SIR :—
“I cannot consign to your care a parcel and letter for Mr. Sigour-
ney without thanking you for the charming little volume you were
so obliging as to send me. I have perused it with great pleasure, as
I have every word from your gifted pen, and hope you will do me
the favor of calling on me again, that I may repeat to you in person,
the satisfaction we have all had in making your acquaintance. Count
d'Orsay and Miss Power unite with me in kind regards, and I
remain, Dear sir,
Very truly yours,
M. BLESSINGTON.”
Among the “letters connected with Mr. Goodrich’s
editorship of the Token I find one from G. W. Doane (then
rector of Trinity, in Boston, and afterwards Bishop of New
Jersey), speaking of the Token for that year as an “exquis-
ite volume,” but deploring a typographical error in a poem
contributed by him ; one from Bryant declining, for want
of time, a “liberal offer * to illustrate an engraving by
Hatch from a design by Inman, but stating that he would
rather write for the Token than any other annual ; one
&
122 S. G. GOOD RICH.
from John Quincy Adams offering a fable ; one from
Hannah F. Gould sending eight articles, from which the
editor was to choose one ; another from Jared Sparks pro-
posing a sketch of a scene on the North River, to be en-
graved on steel, &c. &c.
Rufus W. Griswold says in his Poets and Poetry of
America:—
“Mr. Goodrich has been a liberal patron of Anherican authors
and artists; and it is questionable whether any other person has done
as much to improve the style of the book manufacture, or to promote
the arts of engraving. It is believed that he has put in circulation
more than two millions of volumes of his own productions; all of
which inculcate pure morality and cheerful views of life. His style
is simple and unaffected ; the flow of his verse, melodious ; and his
subjects generally, such as he is capable of treating most success-
fully.”
The experience of Mr. Goodrich as an author was, in
one respect, remarkable, I may say, altogether exceptional.
Some two hundred Parley books, more or less fraudulent,
have been published in this country and in England, in-
cluding annuals, gifts, almanacs, visits, peeps, and rose-
buds. *
An edition of one of these in sheets, was sent from
London to New York, where it was intended to bind them,
and then throw them upon the market. They were seized
and held, however, and the English pirates compelled to
pay a round sum to get their property back. The princi-
pal foreign offender in this respect was Thomas Tegg (as
has been mentioned), as publisher, and one George
Mogridge, better known as “Old Humphrey,” as author.
A spurious and mutilated edition of “Recollections of a
Lifetime” appeared in New York a quarter of a century
after Mr. Goodrich's death, with a new and deceptive title-
page. The Parley books have been translated into, and
published in, nearly every foreign language, including
modern Greek and Persian. A New York firm occasion-
ally sends a few hundred copies of one of them to Japan.
FRANK B. GOOD RICH. . 123
Blind asylums print, from time to time, a few hundred
copies of the same book in raised characters, free of copy-
right.
Of the genuine issue not far from eleven millions of
volumes have been sold up to the present time.
FRANK. B. GOODRICH.
Dick Tinto and Wew York Times—The Court of Wapoleon
— Beauties, Wits and JHeroines— Women of Beauty—
Magnificent Tribute Book— Literary talents inherited.
OON after the establishment of the New York Daily
Times, its readers became interested in the bright and
sparkling letters from its Paris correspondent, which were
signed Dick Tinto, the nom-de-plume of Frank B. Good-
rich, the only son of Samuel G. Goodrich (Peter Parley).
These letters created sufficient interest in the public mind
to warrant their publication by the Harpers.
Mr. Goodrich returned to New York the following
year, when my firm engaged him to prepare for publica-
tion a work to be entitled “The Court of Napoleon,”
somewhat after the plan of Griswold's “Republican Court
of Washington.” -
The Emperor Louis Napoleon, during Mr. Goodrich's
stay in Paris, was in the height of his popularity, the
Second Empire being then the glory of every Frenchman.
John S. C. Abbott had written for the Harpers his fa-
mous Life of the Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, which, my
bookselling readers will remember, met with an enormous
sale. This was in the year 1856, and it being a prosperous
year, it was thought a good time to undertake the publica-
tion of the following:
124 ERAINEC B. GOOD RICH.
THE COURT OF NAPOLEON ;
SOCIETY UNDER THE FIRST EMPIRE,
WITH
SIXTEEN PORTRAITS OF ITS BEAUTIES, WITS AND
- HEROINES.
The plan of this work is to present in one view the pas-
sage of French society from the confusion into which it
was thrown by the Revolution, to a regular and normal
situation, under the dictatorship of Napoleon. The various
periods treated of are illustrated by their remarkable wo-
men—the Reign of Terror by its heroines—the directory
by its celebrated beauties—the Consulate and Empire by
the wits and belles of the Imperial Era.
(1.) CHARLOTTE CORDAY,
(2.) MADAME ROLAND,
(3.) MADAME TALLIEN, *
(4.) MADAME RăCAMIER, whose love was sought by Napoleon and
Lucien Bonaparte, Bernadotte, Murat, Junot, the Mont-
morencies (father and son), Augustus, Prince of Prussia,
and Lord Wellington, and “whose beauty threw at her
feet every man who had once looked upon her.”
(5.) PAULINE BONAPARTE, the most beautiful princess in Europe,
and whose fantastic and uncontrollable caprices gave her
t brother constant annoyance.
(6.) Caºise BONAPARTE, wife of Murat and Queen of Na-
pleS.
(7.) Jose PHINE,
(8.) MARIE LOUISE, -
(9.) HORTENSE DE BEAUHARNAIS, daughter of Josephine and
mother of Louis Napoleon and the Count de Morny.
(10) GRACE INGERSOLL, the Belle of New Haven, transferred by
marriage to France, and Subsequently one of the beauties
who frequented the Court of the Tuileries.
: the two Empresses.
FRANK B. GOOD RICH. 125
(11.) M'LLE DU Colom BIER, Napoleon's first love, with whom he
used to eat cherries at six in the morning.
(12.) MADAME REGNAULT DE ST. JEAN DANGELY, a peerless
beauty, one of whose replies to Napoleon has become his
torical. Napoleon said to her at a ball, “Do you know,
Madame Regnault, that you are looking much older ?”
She answered at once, and in the hearing of an hundred
ladies and gentlemen, “The observation which you have
done me the honor to make, sire, might possibly have
given me pain, had I arrived at a period when youth is
regretted.” She was twenty-eight years old.
(13.) MADAME JUNOT, DUCHESS D’ABRANTES. This lady refused
Napoleon's brother in marriage ; her brother would not
accept Napoleon's sister, Pauline, and her mother,
Madame de Permon, refused Napoleon himself. The first
daughter, Josephine Junot, was Napoleon's first god-
child.
(14.) MADAME DE STAſſL, the first literary woman of the age.
(15.) M'LLE LENORMAND, the sibyl of the 19th century, and the
intimate confidant of Josephine ; of whom it was said that
“she contrived to obtain credence in an age which neither
believed in God and his angels, nor the devil and his
imps.”
16,) Mº GEORGES, the tragic actress and the protégée of Na-
poleon. .
The book is printed on a new font of pica type, cast
purposely for it, upon extra-sized and calendered paper,
made to order, and bound in real Turkey antique, with
original designs by Somerville. The illustrations, from
original portraits in the galleries of the Luxembourg and
Versailles, sixteen in number, are executed by M. Jules
Champagne, the most celebrated artist, in his line, in Paris,
and as will be seen by the extract from a letter just received
from him, are each one colored by hand :
From the Engraver's Letter to the Author.
“The filling of your order of 6,000 copies—96,000 faces to be col-
ored by hand—requires, as you must suppose, immense labor, and
no little time. Still I hope to be able to execute your commands by
the date specified.
“It is not the pecuniary advantage which I may derive from this
126 FRAN K. B. GOOD RICH.
work which led me to undertake it ; it was the hope that, with your
aid, I may create for myself an honorable artistic reputation in your
country Signed, JULES CHAMPAGNE.”
From a Letter from Dr. Wm. E. Johnson, a distinguished American
physician, resident at Paris, to the Author.
“I saw the first proofs of your engravings to-day. They are
truly exquisite. I have never seen anything more perfect. On the
whole, and with the finest engravings of Paris daily before my eyes
for comparison, I find myself able to say that M. Champagne has
perfectly succeeded in producing an exceptional work.”
Mr. Goodrich performed his part in the most creditable
manner, and the paper-makers, printers and binders united
in their efforts to make The Court of Napoleon the most
superb illustrated volume yet produced in America.
Three years later, Mr. Goodrich prepared for my firm a
companion volume, uniform in size and price, entitled,
Women of Beauty and Heroism, from Semiramis to Eugénie,
a portrait gallery of female loveliness, achievement and
influence. It was illustrated with nineteen superb steel
engravings. .
In 1865 the same author prepared a volume entitled The
Tribute Book, of which an extended account is given in
the sketch of Mr. George Jones of the Times.
Mr. Goodrich inherits much of the talent of his cele-
brated father—a pleasant and genial gentleman, who is
always welcome where he most delights to be, amidst
literary circles and in the homes of culture and refinement.
I may add, that, among other literary enterprises with
which Mr. Goodrich has been identified, was a translation
into English of the writings of the celebrated French author
Honore de Balzac, which G. W. Carleton & Co. undertook,
in 1860, to introduce to American readers. The enterprise,
however, not proving successful, Was relinquished after five
novels were published.
W.
HORACE GREELEY—THOMAS MCELRATH,
Horace Greeley’s New Yorker—Founder of the Wew York
Tribune—Meets Thomas McElrath— Writes Author
about Loco-Focos—Solon Robinson’s Hot Corn—His
American Conflict—Recollections of a Busy Life—
Home at Chappaqua—Phoºbe Cary Visits Him—His
Opinion of Thurlow Weed—Robert Bonner Captures
Horace Greeley–How Greeley and McElrath crossed
a Ferry—Closing Incidents of His Life—Death of
Pſorace Greeley–Banker Poet Stedman’s Tribute to
his Memory.
NEARLY fifty years ago, I became a subscriber to the
New Yorker, a weekly newspaper, edited and pub-
lished by Horace Greeley. Ten years later, while a book-
seller at Auburn, I became a correspondent of Mr. Greeley’s
and the agent to obtain subscribers to his paper in that
section.
Mr. Parton, in his biography of Horace Greeley, says
the Wew Yorker was incomparably the best newspaper of
its kind ever published in this country,” in which opinion
I fully coincide. It seemed to fill a void for the tastes of a
class of readers who were inclined to well-written original
articles, and literary matter selected with such great taste
and care, while the current news of the day was sufficient
to meet the wants of the general readers of the paper.
My first acquaintance with Mr. Greeley commenced in
1841, the year in which the Wew Yorker was discontinued,
and our friendly relations continued uninterrupted to the
day of his death.
[127]
128 HORACE GREELTEY.
The Wew Yorker was published on the credit system,
which was the rule with nearly all newspapers in those days,
the present cash in advance system not being so vigorously
adhered to as at present, and if I remember rightly, was
then unknown. The large losses occurring from non-pay-
ing subscribers caused the collapse of a good newspaper,
which had become a general favorite throughout the
country. - • *
In the same year of the failure of the New Yorker,
Mr. Greeley founded the New York Tribune, which soon
became the favorite newspaper of the booksellers, and
especially the publishers of books.
In the month of July of the same year, he associated
himself with Thomas McElrath, who had been a book-pub-
lisher under the firm name of McElrath & Bangs. As both
Mr. Greeley and Mr. McElrath became authors of books, as
well as publishers of newspapers, and the name of the firm
was soon familiar to the public, their articles of agreement
may be of sufficient interest to give to my readers.
“The undersigned has great pleasure in announcing to his
friends and the public, that he has formed a co-partnership with
Thomas McElrath, and that the Tribune will hereafter be published
by himself and Mr. M. under the firm of Greeley & McElrath.
The principal editorial charges of the paper will still rest with
the subscriber ; while the entire business management of the con-
cern henceforth devolves upon his partner.
“This arrangement, while it relieves the undersigned from a
large portion of the labors and cares which have pressed heavily
upon him for the last four months, assures to the paper efficiency
and strength in a department where they have hitherto been
needed ; and I cannot be mistaken in the trust that the accession
to its conduct of a gentleman who has twice been honored with
their suffrages for an important station, will strengthen the
Tribune in the confidence and affections of the Whigs of New
York,
“Respectfully,
PIORACE GREELEY.
“July 31st, 1841.”
HORACE GREE ſ, EY. 129
Mr. McElrath was as thorough a business man as his
partner was a journalist, and their firm continued pub-
lishers of the Tribune until it was merged into the Tribune
Association, when Mr. Charles A. Dana became the man-
aging editor, and a brilliant staff of other writers was added
to the corps of editors, Mr. McElrath retiring from the
paper.
During my residence at Auburn, I was an occasional
correspondent of the Editor of the Tribune, having identi-
fied myself actively with the Whig party and with Mr.
Greeley, a warm admirer of Henry Clay. The following is
one of Mr. Greeley’s characteristic letters, of which I have
the original in his familiar chirography.
“New York, Oct. 3, 1846.
“J. C. DERRY:
“l)EAR SIR :—We have not quite got things in shape yet, but
we shall do so by the close of next week. Our nominations are
generally good, and things are working well. But we must cal-
culate on 4,000 against us in the city on account of Nativeism and
the clamor against “niggers.” If we get off with that number we
shall have done well, but I do not despair of doing still better.
We have a report to-day that the Natives have induced a promi-
nent Loco-Foco to accept their nomination for Governor. I hope
this is so. They have been trying Ogden Edwards, but I rather
guess he is off. Let me hear how matters shape, when the Locos
make their nomination and whether the old Hunkers go in for
Wright generally. I am afraid you won't make the best nomina-
tion for Senator, but hope for the best. Give us the best you can
do this fall. Yours,
(Signed) HORACE GREELEY.
“P. S.–I have at last noticed your Seward's eloquent defense
of William Freeman, and mean to say more about it, if I ever find
room.”
The above was doubtless more easily deciphered than
that referred to in the following amusing anecdote :
The editor of the Tribune was once invited to lecture in
6%
130 HORACE GREELEY.
Sandwich, Illinois. In reply to the invitation, he is re-
ported to have said :
“DEAR SIR—I am overworked and growing old I shall be
sixty next February 3. On the whole it seems I must decline to
lecture henceforth, except in this immediate vicinity, if I do at ali.
I cannot promise to visit Illinois on that errand—certainly not
IłO W. . “Yours,
- HoRACE GREELEY.
M. B. CASTLE,
Sandwich, Ills.
This letter, though intelligible enough in print, seemed
hieroglyphics to the lecture committee of the town of
Sandwich. They finally succeeded, as the story runs,
with the aid of several experts, in deciphering its contents,
to their evident satisfaction, as the annexed reply will show:
“Sandwich, Ill., May 12.
“HoRACE GREELEY.
DEAR SIR:—Your acceptance to lecture before our association
next winter came to hand this morning. Your penmanship not
being the plainest, it took some time to translate it, but we suc-
ceeded, and would say your time, 3d of February, and terms, $60,
are entirely satisfactory. As you suggest, we may be able to get
you engagements in this immediate vicinity ; if so, we will advise
you. “Yours respectfully,
M. B. CASTLE.
In the year 1853 Solon Robinson, agricultural editor of
the New York Tribune, and subsequent author of an im-
portant agricultural work, entitled Facts for Farmers,
wrote occasional sketches in the city editor’s department.
One of these sketches, Hot Corn, struck a popular
chord and became famous, and it proved to be the nucleus
of a book of city sketches, originally published in the Tri-
bune, comprising stories of city life among the poorer
classes, written in a style that touched the hearts of the
people. -
HORACE GREELEY. 131
The book was published under the title, Hot Corn ; or,
Life Scenes in New York, and reached in six months the
phenomenal sale, for such a book, of more than fifty thou-
Sand copies.
Mr. Greeley was the author of several books. His first
volume, Hints toward Reform, was published in 1850, by
Harper & Bros., they agreeing to pay the author ten cents
per copy, provided the latter paid for the stereotype plates.
The sale of the book brought him a sufficient sum to reim-
burse him for his outlay.
His next book, entitled Glances at Europe, was made
up from his letters to the Tribune while traveling abroad.
He was paid about five hundred dollars copyright on that
volume, without incurring any pecuniary risk. Mr. Greeley
very naively says: “Had the work been profounder and
less deserving, I presume it would not have sold so well.”
Mr. Greeley also prepared an enlarged edition of Epes
Sargent’s Life of Henry Clay, which my firm published in
1852. Although the sale was not large, the book gave
satisfaction to the friends of Mr. Clay, who died during
the same year.
The most important and valuable book written by Mr.
Greeley was entitled The American Conflict. It was pub-
lished in two octavo volumes, and although the price was
ten dollars, reached a sale exceeding one hundred and fifty
thousand copies of the first volume, it having been issued
before its author went upon the bail-bond of Jefferson
Davis, an act which caused the loss of the sale of many
thousand volumes, as many of the subscribers having become
incensed at Mr. Greeley’s action, refused to take the second
volume. The firm of Derby and Miller had the agency
and management for the sale of the work in New York and
adjoining states, therefore, I speak from experience of the
great popularity of the work when it first appeared.
Mr. Greeley accepted an offer from the publishers to
write the book without consulting any of his friends; the
consequence was that he agreed to prepare the work in too
132 FIORA C E GREELEY.
short a time, receiving but a very moderate royalty on the
sales, probably not one-quarter of the sum which he could
have received from responsible publishers.
I saw much of Mr. Greeley in those days and remember
very well how greatly he was taxed by the exacting clamor
of the publishers for copy. The writing of this book was a
great strain on his already overtaxed brain.
In the summer of 1864 Mr. Greeley was attacked with
severe illness, something akin to brain fever ; the slow
progress of the war and great loss of life in the sanguinary
battles, had made a deep impression upon him and tempo-
rarily laid him up from active work.
While confined at his residence at Chappaqua by this
illness, I was invited by the late Phoebe Cary (who, with
her sister Alice, were his devoted friends) to go with her
to see the sick editor at his home. Arriving there we first
saw his wife in the approaches of the house ; Mrs. Greeley
informed us that her husband could not be seen ; however,
through a little persuasion on the part of Miss Cary, she
relented, and we were directed how and where to find the
invalid. We found him seated beside a little stream near
by, without coat or hat, with rod and line—fishing. He
seemed pleased to see us and invited us to dinner. After
spending a pleasant day, he said he felt well enough to re-
turn to the city with us, which he did, the same afternoon,
the receipt of good rews from the seat of war having greatly
cheered him.
During the year 1868, an inducement of a peculiar kind
was advertised in the Tribune. In spite of the protesta-
tion of Mr. Greeley, the offer was made of a portrait of the
chief editor of the paper, on the following conditions:
“The publishers of the New York Tribune having received many
inquiries from time to time for a good likeness of the editor, have
made an arrangement with Messrs. Derby & Miller to furnish
copies of Ritchie's engraving, from a photograph by Brady, which
will be sent to such subscribers of the Tribune as wish it, on the
HORACE GREELEY. 133
conditions below. This is much the best likeness of Mr. Greeley
that has been engraved. The print sells for one dollar. Each
subscriber who sends us ten dollars for the Daily, four dollars for
the Semi-Weekly, or two dollars for the Weekly Tribune, the paper
to be sent by mail, and who requests the engraving at the time of
subscribing, will have a copy carefully mailed, post-paid, to his
address. One will likewise be sent to any person who forwards a
club of ten or more semi-weeklies at our club rates and asks for
the portrait at the time of remitting. We do not propose this as
a premium, but to gratify the many friends of the Tribune, who
feel a desire to possess a good likeness of its founder.”
It was a most excellent portrait of the most famous
Editor living and greatly prized by the Tribune subscribers,
In one of the chapters of Mr. Greeley’s book, “Recol-
lections of a Busy Life,” which series of sketches he said
he wrote because Mr. Bonner urged and paid him to do so,
he described his former friend, the late Thurlow Weed, as
tall, robust, dark-featured, shrewd, resolute and 770% over
scrupulous. Mr. Bonner informs me that Mr. Greeley
originally wrote unscrupulous, and that he returned it to
have the expression omitted or modified. The latter at
first hesitated to make any change whatever in his text, but
subsequently wrote it as now printed.
I know, that notwithstanding Mr. Greeley’s unkind
feelings towards Mr. Weed, in the later years of his life,
they were not reciprocated by the latter ; on the contrary,
Mr. Weed always spoke of him in the kindest and most
friendly manner. But death buries all political animosi-
ties. Mr. Weed acted as one of the pall-bearers at Mr.
Greeley’s funeral. -
These “Recollections of a Busy Life” were first pub-
lished in the Ledger, for which Mr. Greeley received a lib-
eral sum. They were subsequently published in book
form, yielding their author an additional copyright on all
that were sold.
When Robert Bonner wanted Mr. Greeley to write these
Recollections for the Ledger, he was well aware that the
134 FIORACE GREELEY.
latter nearly always needed money, and made him an offer of
a certain sum. Greeley said he would think about it. Bon-
ner knew that if the latter talked with his friends, they
would tell him that it ought to go in the Tribune, as it
would increase its circulation very much. Bonner saw this,
but Greeley did not ; so, having invited the latter to break-
fast the next morning, Bonner drew up a check for the
whole sum he had offered him and laid it on Greeley’s plate
so that he would see it when he sat down. Greeley found
the check there, and the temptation of receiving all of that
ready money was too great for him to resist, and thus Bon-
ner carried his point, as usual. -
Mr. Beecher once told me a characteristic anecdote
about Greeley; he said, “I at one time chanced to be travel-
ing in the same direction with Horace Greeley. As we were
passing through some little town, he looked out of the win-
dow and said, ‘I lectured in thistown once and I had very
good success.’ Said I, ‘Mr. Greeley, what do you call
Success in a lecture ?’ ‘Well,” said he, ‘Where more folks
stay in than go out.’” §
I have excellent authority for the authenticity of the
following incident. Horace Greeley and Thomas McEl-
rath, once stopped at the hotel in Columbia, a village on
the Delaware River, some distance below the Water Gap.
Mr. Greeley talked and wrote all night and tradition
saith he got one subscriber. While they were waiting
at Stroudsburg, after arriving at the river bank they
signaled for a boatman to bring them over, and a man in
his shirt-sleeves responded. While crossing, Greeley said,
“ Ferryman, you don’t know that you have the honor of
carrying Mr. McElrath, of the New York Tribune,” and Mr.
McElrath responded, “and you have also the higher honor of
crossing with Horace Greeley.” The boatman said, “Gen-
tlemen, perhaps you don’t know that you have the honor
of being ferried over by Judge Ribble,” which was a fact,
Greeley, as we know, was at one time a great admirer
of Mr. Seward, as well as of Mr. Weed, and before the dis-
HORACE GREELEY. 135
solution by him of the firm of Seward, Weed & Greeley,
he wrote, under date of February 8th, 1855, to his friend
Mr. George E. Baker, then a member of the assembly at
Albany, as follows:– -
“Weed is a giant. I went up to Albany to see if I could be of
any use, but I could not. I could do more good here. Weed
loves those who never seem to oppose his will, but he is after all
the greatest man we have left, Seward not excepted.”
In August, 1872, I visited Auburn to show Mr. Seward
the first proof pages of his Travels around the World, the
completion of which he did not live to see. One evening,
while sitting with him looking out at a procession going to
the Greeley Ratification Meeting, Mr. Seward became very
thoughtful and said but little ; which was to the effect that
never in his life had he put any obstacle in Mr. Greeley’s
way and certainly should not begin now. He died the fol-
lowing month and Mr. Greeley two months later.
Hon. F. W. Seward states in his recent interesting
biography of his father, that—
“Mr. Weed in the year 1839, while Seward was Governor,
during his frequent visits at the Governor's mansion, brought
with him a slender light-haired young man, stooping and near-
sighted, rather unmindful of forms and social usages, yet sin-
gularly clear, original and decided in his political views and
theories—this was Horace Greeley. He had been brought to
Albany by Mr. Weed to conduct a new campaign paper called The
Jeffersonian, which was published at the State Capital, while
The New Yorker continued to be published at New York, with Mr.
Greeley as editor of both papers, making his trips to and from
the two cities twice a week. -
Among Mr. Greeley’s eccentricities, was one on the
subject of agriculture, which he believed, much to the
amusement of his friends, he was quite a proficient in ;
and his book, “What I know about Farming,” published
by G. W. Carleton, in 1872, caused considerable comment
among his readers. -
Mr. Greeley, in his “Recollections of a Busy Life"
136 HORACE GREELEY.
closes the chapter on the founding of the Tribune, as fol.
lows:–
“Fame is a vapor; popularity an accident; riches take wings;
the only earthly certainty is oblivion; no man can foresee what a
day may bring forth, while those who cheer to-day will curse to-
morrow ; and yet I cherish the hope that the journal I projected
and established, will live and flourish long after I shall have
moldered into forgotten dust, being guided by a larger wisdom, :
more unerring Sagacity to discern the right, though not by a more
unfaitering readiness to embrace and defend it at whatever per-
sonal cost; and that the stone which covers my ashes may bear to
future eyes, the still intelligible inscription, ‘Founder of the New
York, Tribune.’”
The inscription thus desired by the eminent editor is
not only the motto of the paper he founded, but the tall
and massive building of the Tribune Association, erected
by his successor, is a noble monument to its illustrious
founder. -
On the evening of the 20th of November, 1872, the life
of Horace Greeley ceased, and with his death a great jour-
malist passed away. His funeral was the most imposing
ever witnessed in New York, the services being held at
Rev. Dr. E. H. Chapin's church, of which he was a mem-
ber ; Rev. Henry Ward Beecher assisted Dr. Chapin in the
funeral addresses. Among the distinguished mourners
were President Grant, Vice-President Wilson, Chief Justice
Chase, the Governors of several States, and a number of
senators and members of Congress.
Mary Clemmer, in one of her interesting letters to the
New York Independent, after Mr. Greeley’s death, pays the
following beautiful tribute to his memory :-
“There were years, and these the ones in which his toils
pressed heaviest, when, through stress of circumstences, Mr.
Greeley scarcely had a home. Some of his books were written
amid discouragements and in discomfort which would have
appalled and paralyzed any man less a Cato in his mold. Many
IHORACE GREELEY. 137
homes, bright, genial, full of gentle hearts, opened to him; but
they were not his own.
“Women gifted, good, and beautiful trusted him, cared for him,
and ministered in many ways to his weary life. No man could
have felt more exquisitely than he, the ministries of such souls.
No woman ever was his personal friend, trusting him, caring for
him who was not helped by every word and deed of his com-
panionship toward the truest and noblest womanhood. No praise
higher than this can woman offer to the memory of man. His
friendships were catholic, comprehensive and abiding. They held
within their steadfast range some of the most illustrious as well as
some of the most purely and sweetly domestic women of his time.
Amid these, while his wife afar vainly pursued the mirage of
health, he stood in fact a homeless and solitary man. But he
never faltered in his work. He never swerved in his allegiance.
He loved one woman, was true to her. She was the wife of his
youth and the mother of his children. When her last struggle
came, as he said, “in the darkest hour'; when for thirty sleep-
less nights and days he watched the last earthly light go out in
the lustrous eyes which had enchanted and enchained his heart for
more than thirty years, he felt his own life wane with it ; and
when it had gone he knew had gone also, both his power and his
desire to live.”
The following interesting reminiscences, addressed to
the Tribune by Bayard Taylor, long one of the editors, and
at the time of Mr. Greeley’s death residing abroad, are
extracts from the memorial volume published by the
Tribune Association.
‘‘I first saw Mr. Greeley in June, 1844, when I was a boy of
nineteen. I applied to him for an engagement to write letters to
the Tribune from Germany. His reply was terse enough. “No
descriptive letters l’ he said, ‘I am sick of them. When you
have been there long enough to know something, send to me, and
if there is anything in your letters, I will publish them.’ I waited
nearly a year and then sent seventeen letters which were published.
They were shallow enough I suspect ; but what might they not
have been without warning : Toward the end of 1847, while !
was engaged in the unfortunate enterprise of trying to establish a
weekly paper in Phoenixville, Penc., I wrote to him —foreseeing
138 BIORACE GREELEY.
the failure of my hopes—asking his assistance in procuring literary
work in New York. He advised me (as I suspect he had advised
thousands of young men) to stay in the country. But I had stayed
in the country, and a year too long ; so another month found me
in New York in his office with my story of disappointment and
my repeated request for his favorable influence. “I think you
are mistaken,” he said, “but I will bear you in mind, if I hear of
any chance.” Six weeks afterward, to my great surprise (for I
supposed he had quite forgotten me), he sent me and offered me
a place on the Tribune, I worked hard and incessantly during the
summer of 1848, hearing never a word of commendation or en-
couragement ; but one day in October, he suddenly came to my
desk, laid his hand upon my shoulder and said, ‘You have been
faithful; but now you need rest. Take a week’s holiday and go
into New England.’ I obeyed, and found on my return, that he
had ordered my salary to be increased. I think none of his
associates at that time ever wrote a line which he did not critic-
ally read. His comments sometimes seemed rough, but they were
always wholesome and almost invariably just. Once he called me
to his room, pointed to a poem of mine which had just appeared
in a literary magazine, and abruptly asked: “Why did you pub-
lish that gassy stuff º' My indignation was even greater than my
astonishment. I retorted fiercely : ‘Mr. Greeley, I should feel
hurt by your question, if I had any respect whatever for your
judgment in regard to poetry l’ He smiled a sad, forgiving
smile and said nothing. Years afterward, I saw that he was
right; the poem was only a piece of sounding rhetoric, for which
“gassy' was perhaps a coarse, but certainly not an inappro-
priate epithet.”
The following poetical tribute from the banker-poet,
E. G. Stedman, who was at one time on the editorial staff
of the Tribune is a fitting conclusion to my recollections of
Horace Greeley. -
“Earth, let thy softest mantle rest,
This wearied child to thee returning,
Whose youth was nurtured at thy breath
Who loved thee with much tender yearning !
HORACE GREELEY. 139
He knew thy fields and woodland ways,
And deemed thy humblest son his brother ;
Asleep, beyond our blame or praise,
We yield him back, O, gentle Mother 1
“Of praise, of blame, he drank his fill ;
Who has not read the lifelong story Ż
And dear we hold his fame, but still
The man was dearer than his glory.
And now to us are left alone,
The closet where his shadow lingers,
The vacant chair—that was a throne—
The pen, just fallen from his fingers.
“Wrath changed to kindness on that pen ;
Though dipped in gall it flowed with honey;
One flash from out the cloud, and then
The skies with smile and jest were sunny.
Of hate he surely lacked the art,
Who made his enemy his lover ;
O, reverend head and Christian heart 1
Where now their like the whole world over ?
“He saw the goodness, not the taint,
In many a poor do-nothing creature,
And gave to sinner and to Saint,
But kept his faith in human nature ;
Perchance he was not worldly-wise,
Yet he who noted, standing nearer,
The shrewd, kind twinkle in his eyes,
For every weakness held him dearer.
“Alas ! that unto him who gave
So much, so little should be given l
Himself alone, he might not save
Of all for whom his hands had striven.
Place, freedom, fame, his work bestowed ;
Men took, and passed, and left-him lonely :
What marvel, if beneath his load,
At times he craved for justice only l
140 HORACE GREELEY.
“Yet thanklessness, the serpent's tooth,
His loftly purpose could not alter ;
Toil had no power to bend his youth,
Or make his lusty manhood falter ;
From envy's sling, from slander's dart,
That armored soul the body shielded,
Till one dark sorrow chilled his heart,
And then he bowed his head and yielded.
“Now, now we measure at its worth
The gracious presence gone forever ;
The wrinkled East, that gave him birth,
Ilaments with every laboring river ;
Wild moan the free winds of the West,
For him who gathered to her prairies
The sons of men, and make each crest
The haunt of happy household fairies.
“And anguish sits upon the mouth
Of her who came to know him latest ;
His heart was ever there, O, South !
He was thy truest friend and greatest |
He shunned thee in thy splendid sham,
He stayed thee in thy voiceless sorrow ;
The day thou shalt forget his name,
Fair South, can bave no sadder morrow.
“The tears that fall from eyes unused—
The hands above his grave united—
The words of men whose lips he loosed,
Whose cross he bore, whose wrongs he righted—
Could he but know, and rest with this l
Yet stay, through death's low-lying hollow,
His one last foe's insatiate hiss
On that benignant shade would follow !
“Peace while we shroud this man of men
Let no unhallowed word be spoken
He will not answer thee again,
His mouth is sealed, his wand is broken.
Engraved by Geº E. Fer neiſewºrk

THOMAS McELRATIH. 141
Some holier cause, some waster trust
Beyond the vail, he doth inherit,
O, gently, Earth, receive his dust,
And Heaven soothe his troubled Spirit !”
asººmsºmºsºmsºmºsº,
THOMAS MCELRATH.
McElrath and Bangs—First American reader of “ Don
Juan *—Studies Law with Judge Daly—Enters
Methodist Book Concern—Partnership with Horace
Greeley—Great Success of the Tribune—Prominent
Seward Whig–Tribune Building Destroyed by Fire
—Escape of R. M. Strebergh—McElrath as an Author
— President of Wassau Bank—Official Positions—
Anecdote of Greeley—Preparing Reminiscences.
Mojº than fifty years ago, the firm of McElrath &
Bangs were publishers of school and religious books
in the city of New York. It is nearly half a century since
I knew them as a firm, and became a purchaser of their
publications. I have heard Mr. McElrath say that he
was the first person in the United States who read the
11th, 12th, and 13th cantos of Lord Byron’s “Don Juan.”
Carey & Lea received an advance copy, which, before
cutting the leaves, was sent to the then famous printing
office of William Brown, in Philadelphia, where it was
immediately given out to thirty or forty compositors, and
within thirty-six hours an American edition was on sale at
the book-stores. This was in 1823, and Mr. McElrath,
then a lad in the office, read the proofs.
Later on, young McElrath moved to New York, where he
was employed in the large printing-offices of the Methodist
Book Concern, chiefly as proof-reader. He afterwards
learned the bookselling business, becoming head salesman
in the same large establishment. .
142 THOMAS McELRATH.
In the year 1828 he entered into partnership with
Lemuel Bangs, as general booksellers and publishers of
religious and school books. Mr. Bangs afterwards became
well-known to the bookselling fraternity by his connection
with the book trade-sales of New York.
After the dissolution of the firm, Mr McElrath con-
tinued the book publishing business on his own account,
until a fire destroyed the building he occupied in Ann
Street, by which he lost his entire stock. He then resolved
to abandon the book business and devote himself to the
practice of law, for which he had already prepared him-
self, both in Pennsylvania and New York. One of his first
law partners was Charles P. Daly, now Chief Justice of the
Court of Common Pleas.
Mr. McElrath early became identified with the Whig
party, having united his political fortunes with his life-
long friend, the late William H. Seward. He was elected
to the Legislature in 1838, the same year that Mr. Seward
was elected Governor of the State, and I believe he is now
the only survivor of the thirteen members representing with
him the city of New York in the Assembly of 1839.
It will thus be seen that by experience in printing, in
publishing, and in politics, Mr. McElrath entered upon
the task of establishing the New York Daily Tribune on a
business basis not lightly prepared to assume that duty.
The famous firm of Greeley & McElrath was established in
1841, as publishers of the New York Tribune, their part-
nership continuing for the period of sixteen years.
On assuming charge as publisher, Mr. McElrath made
public the following card :
“The undersigned, in connecting himself with the conduct of
a public journal, invokes a continuance of that courtesy and good
feeling which has been extended to him by his fellow citizens.
Having heretofore received cvidence of kindness and regard from
the conductors of the Whig press of this city, and rejoicing in the
friendship of most of them, it will be his aim in his new vocation
to justify the kindness and strengthen and increase those friend-
THOMAS McELRATEI. 143
ships. His hearty concurrence in the principles, political and
moral, on which the Tribune has thus far been conducted, has been
a principal incitement to the connection here announced, and the
statement of this fact will preclude the necessity of any special
declaration of opinions. With gratitude for past favors, and an
anxious desire to merit a continuance of regard, he remains, the
public's humble servant,
- THOMAS McELRATH.”
On Saturday morning, July 31, the notice of copart-
nership appeared editorially in the Tribune, and the part-
nership thus consummated lasted over sixteen years. Mr.
McElrath was an excellent business man ; prompt, ener-
getic, methodical, and the business affairs of the Tribune
were soon reduced to clearness and order.
In Mr. Greeley’s autobiography he pays a warm tribute
to the business abilities of his partner. “He was,” says
Mr. Greeley, “so safe and judicious, that the business
never gave me any trouble and scarcely required of me a
thought during that long era of all but unclouded prosper-
ity.” -
Hudson, in his “History of Journalism,” in giving a
history of the New York Tribune, says:
“The Tribune, like some of its predecessors, survived assaults
and persecutions; but as we have said, it lacked a business manager
to aid its editor in perfecting his plans and to reap the advantages
of surrounding circumstances. Thomas McElrath was the needed
man. Educated a lawyer, and having been a book publisher,
active and intelligent, he took hold of the business details of the
establishment with energy. It is but justice to Mr. McElrath to
say that a large portion of the success of the Tribune was due to
his skill.” -
Mr. Parton, also, in his interesting Life of Greeley, says
of Mr. McElrath :
“A strict disciplinarian, a close calculator, a man of method
and order, experienced in business, Mr. McElrath possessed in an
144 THOMAS MCELRATH.
eminent degree the very qualities in which the editor of the
Tribune was most deficient. Roll Horace Greeley and Thomas
McElrath into one, and the result would be a very respectable ap-
proximation to a perfect man. The two, united in partnership,
have been able to produce a very respectable approximation to a
perfect newspaper. As Damon and Pythias are the types of per-
fect friendship, so may Greeley and McElrath be a perfect part-
nership ; and one may say with a sigh at the many discordant
unions the world presents, “Oh I that every Greeley could find his
McElrath, and blessed is the McElrath that finds his Greeley !”.'
Mr. Greeley himself, in a published letter, said:
“But I was not made for a publisher ; indeed, no man was
ever qualified to edit and publish a daily paper, such as it must be,
to live in these times ; and it was not until Mr. Thomas McElrath,
whom I had barely known as a member of the publishing firm
over whose store I first set type in this city, but who, now a
lawyer in good standing and practice—made me a voluntary and
wholly unexpected proffer of partnership in my still struggling
but hopeful enterprise, that it might be considered fairly on its
feet. He offered to invest two thousand dollars as an equivalent
to whatever I had in the business, and to devote his time and
energy to its management, on the basis of perfect equality in
ownership and in sharing the proceeds. This I very gladly ac-
cepted ; and from that hour my load was palpably lightened.”
And again, in 1845 he pays the following tribute to Mr.
McElrath : w
“In the fall of 1841 a kind Providence impelled Mr.
Thomas McElrath, formerly a bookseller, then a lawyer
and Master in Chancery, to call on me and suggest the idea
of partnership. I gladly closed with him on any terms,
and from that day to this not another hair has been worn
off my head by the aching puzzle of studying out the
means of paying off to-morrow’s note.”
The Sacramento Bee celebrated its twenty-fifth anniver-
sary on the evening of February 6, 1882. In the course of
his speech on the occasion, the veteran editor, James Mc-
Clutchy, said :
THIOMAS MCELRATH. 145
“It is the financial hand that wins and smooths the road to
prosperity. I said to Horace Greeley, when he was here many
years ago : ‘Mr. Greeley, you have established a great journal.”
‘No, sir,’ he answered, not I, but my business partner, Mr. Mic-
Elrath has. To him is due the honor. I merely write for it.’”
On February 5th, 1845, the Tribune building was en-
tirely destroyed by fire. Mr. Robert M. Strebeigh, a
nephew of Mr. McElrath, was at that time a clerk in the
Tribune office, and now well known in business and social
circles in this city. He once gave me the following interest-
ing account of that catastrophe .
He said the fire occurred about 4 o’clock, just after the
morning edition of the paper had been worked off, so that
the subscribers were served on that day, and through the
enterprise of Thomas McElrath the paper appeared as usual
on the following morning. As soon as he knew of the fire
he secured type and paper at 30 Ann Street, and by good
management there was no interruption of publication.
Nothing was saved except the books and papers that were
locked in the safe.
The fire originated through the carelessness of a boy,
who had built a fire in the stove of the publication office.
He allowed loose papers that had been used for kindling to
remain by the stove. They became ignited and communi-
cated with other inflammable material of the office. The
stove was located at the foot of a private stairway that led
up to a bedroom in the second story, which was occupied
by William H. Graham, New York agent for Graham's
Magazine, and himself.
They were aroused by the crackling of the fire as it
entered their room. There was no means of escape but by
a leap from the window. They both sprang from the win-
dow in their night clothes into the snow that had been
heaped in the yard. They walked through the basement
from the back yard to the front of the building, and by the
time they reached the sidewalk the blaze was issuing from
every window of the front of the building.
7
146 THOMAS MCIELRATH.
There was a heavy fall of snow the day before, and
through the snow about eighteen inches deep, these young
gentlemen walked, all accoutred as they were, Graham to
the Merchants’ Hotel in Courtland St., and Strebeigh to his
uncle McElrath's, who then resided in Church St., College
Green. The iron gate, about ten feet high, in front of the
residence, was locked, and Strebeigh, being in a hurry,
instead of ringing the bell was obliged to climb over the
gate. He afterwards wondered how he did it, and well he
may. He certainly could not accomplish such a feat
In OW.
From an account of the fire, which appeared in a New
York paper some time after its occurrence, written I was
informed by Mr. Augustus Maverick, author of “Raymond
and New York Journalism,” the following extract is given :
“The building was now only a heap of ruins. At eight o'clock,
looking on from the brink of the fiery chasm whence smoke and
steam still ascended, I saw Greeley trudging through two or three
feet of snow, his partner Thomas McElrath, to whom Greeley has
repeatedly attributed his success of the Tribune, just at that moment
coming up, and the two advanced to the end of the gap which
held all that was left of the Tribune establishment, and I standing
by the side of Greeley, put to him this question: -
“‘Well, Mr. Greeley, what are you going to do º Will the Tri-
bune be published again º'
“Greeley replied, with that curious corrugation of the brow
which always indicated any perturbation in his mind, and in that
old falsetto tone which gave such ear-piercing expression to any
one that may afflict him : ‘I-do-o-nt-know.’ Just then he turned
to McElrath with a woebegone expression, and said :
“‘Well, Mr. McElrath, this is a pretty clean smash! What shall
we do º' The former replied, “Get out the paper to-morrow
morning as usuall' It was done. The indomitable energy of Mr.
McElrath caused the paper to appear at the regular time the next
morning, and the event proved the best kind of advertisement,
for it brought the Tribune literally a thousand compliments, and
gave its manager a lasting reputation for energy and enterprise.”
THOMAS MCEL RATH. 147
The following is from Mr. Greeley's humorous reflec-
tions over the fire appeared in the columns of the Tribune
on the morning after the catastrophe
“We would not indulge in unnecessary sentiment, but even
the old desk at which we sat, the ponderous inkstand, the familiar
faces of files of correspondence, the choice collection of pamph-
lets, the unfinished essay, the charts by which we steered... ean
they all have vanished, never more to be seen 2 Truly, your fire
makes clean work, and is, of all executive officers, super eminent.
Perhaps the last choice batch of letters may be somewhere on the
file ; we are almost tempted to cry, “Devil! find it up ! Poh
it is a mere cinder now ; some
“‘Fathoms deep my letter lies ;
Of its lines is tinder made.”
“No Arabian tale can cradle a wilder fiction, or show better how
altogether illusory life is. Those solid walls of brick ; those five
decent stories ; those steep and difficult stairs ; the swing doors;
the sanctum, scene of many a deep political drama, of many a
pathetic tale, utterly whiffed out, as one summarily snuffs out a
spermaceti on retiring for the night.”
Mr. McElrath was elected president of the Nassau Bank
at its organization in 1853—the year in which I established
myself in New York. This bank was largely represented
by the book and paper trade, counting among that frater-
nity, as directors, the President, the Vice-President Augus-
time Smith, of the large paper warehouse of John Campbell
& Co., later Campbell, Hall & Co., and now Augustine
Smith & Co.”
Among other directors were Lemuel Bangs, Mr. McEl-
rath’s former partner, J. S. Redfield, a well known pub-
lisher of some of the most popular books of the day, and
* Mr. Smith is still, thirty years later, holding the same posi.
tion, and it is more than probable that no one in the book or
paper business has had greater experience or more knowledge of
the business resources of all merchants engaged in those trades.
148 THOMAS MoEL RATH.
W. E. Dean, an extensive printer and publisher of books
for more than half a century, who died in the year 1879 at
the advanced age of 91 years. He was one of the most
noted veterans of the trade.
Mr. McElrath has filled many positions of responsibility
and honor. He has been a member of the Common Coun-
cil of New York, a member of the Board of Education,
United States General Appraiser of the District of New
York, appointed by Abraham Lincoln. He was also one
of the commissioners of the Paris Exposition in 1867, for
which I became United States agent by appointment of
William H. Seward, then Secretary of State. He was also
a United States commissioner to the Vienna Exposition of
1873, where he greatly distinguished himself by his valua-
ble assistance to the United States exhibitors. In the
year 1834 he was elected a trustee of the Public School
Society of New York, his first colleagues being the
Eſon. William Beach Lawrence, editor of Wheaton’s Inter-
national Law, and Ex-Governor Hamilton Fish ; he was
appointed by Governor Fish State Director of the old
Bank of America; was elected Corresponding Secretary
of the American Institute ; was appointed by the Presi-
dent and confirmed by the Senate, Chief United States
Appraiser for the Port of New York, holding that office
under the administrations of Presidents Johnson and
Grant, and organized the Appraisers’ Department substan-
tially as it exists at the present time ; by President Grant
he was appointed to act with the Hon. John Jay as special
commissioner to adjust and superintend the American
Department of the famous Vienna Exposition ; and in 1876
was the Secretary and Executive officer of the New York
State Commission at the Centennial Exhibition in Phila-
delphia.
Mr. McElrath is also an author—his Dictionary of
Commerce, a large octavo volume, having been published
in 1871. It was well received by the commercial commun-
ity, and although an expensive Volume, a second edition
THOMAS MCELRATH. 149
was quickly called for. It is regarded as authority on
commercial questions in all the courts. -
Mr. George Ripley in his notice of this work in The
Tribune, says:
“No single volume that we are acquainted with comprises with-
in the same compass so great a variety of facts in the range of its
specialty, or so amply rewards the inquirer for the trouble of con-
sulting its pages. The prominent features of the work are orig-
inality, clearness and brevity. . . . The definitions, in general,
are remarkable for their precision and neatness.”
It is intimated and may be expected that Mr. McElrath
will yet put on record in detail as known only to himself
the history of the great journal to whose foundation and
early fortunes he devoted his prime. This will be but
doing late justice to himself, and I do not doubt that the
public will be much interested in a narrative unfolding the
primal origin and development of a newspaper foremost in
its class and of such world-wide renown as the AWew York:
Tribune. . -
Cornelius Matthews, in an article published in the
Manhattan Magazine, incidentally introduces the name of
Mr. McElrath, and says:
“Ever honored, the ex president of the Nassau Bank still lives
among us to celebrate his golden wedding and to look upon a
career of honor, as bookseller, lawyer, politician, financier and
journalist without a stain.”
Mr. McElrath is at present connected with the National
Park Bank of this city. His long career as a business man
is one of unblemished record. I have known him intini-
ately in a business and social way for nearly half a century,
and count it an honor to be numbered among the many
friends who respect and esteem him.
WI.
WILLIAM (ULLEN BRYANT.
The foremost American citizen—Grand reception at the
State Capitol— Visits Governor Tilden—Habits of
daily life— City and country—Wever knew a sick day
—His Autobiography—History of the United States—
JLibrary of Poetry and Song—Picturesque America—
President of Century Club— Grand testimonial by its
members—Opinion of Tilden and Hayes—Probably
voted for Tilden— Thanatopsis—“A Pagan Poem "-
The Waterfowl—Relations with Weed and Greeley—
Statue of Mazzini–Delivers his last Oration—Fatal
Accident to Mr. Bryant—His Death—Impressive
JFuneral Services— Feeling Address by his Pastor,
JRev. Dr. Bellows— Commemorative Services.
AMON G my treasured memories are the years of my ac-
quaintance with William Cullen Bryant, whose
friendship I greatly valued. He was, in my opinion, not
only one of the foremost Americans, but, at the time of his
death, at the very front. No other private citizen has ever
before received the honors shown him at the State Capitol
in 1874, while a guest of his life-long friend, Governor
Tilden. Mr. Bryant accepted an invitation to visit the
Legislature, then in session. As he entered the Senate
Chamber, the Senators rose in a body to receive him, Sen-
ator Robertson, now Collector of the Port of New York
speaking as follows:
“Mr. PRESIDENT—I have the honor to present to you the most
distinguished citizen of our State—I might say of our country—
William Cullen Bryant.
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WILLIAM C. BRY ANT. 151.
Lieutenant-Governor Dorsheimer, who presided, then
invited Mr. Blyant to a seat on his right, and when all were
again seated, said:
“SENATORS 1
“You have sought for this opportunity to pay a signal tribute
of respect to one of your fellow-citizens. Honors like this have
hitherto been reserved for those who have risen to eminence in the
public service ; nor do I recall an instance in the history of any
State in which our language is spoken, where they have been con-
ferred upon a man of letters. But henceforth it will be known
that New York, recognizing that States are governed not by stat-
utes alone and still less by the sword, gives her highest honors to
the poet as well as the law-giver and the soldier. I need not re-
call to you the career of your guest. Every American knows the
incidents of that long and honorable life. Still less need I im-
press upon you the merits of his writings. You remember the
glowing words with which in his youth he taught the love of na-
ture and the Christian’s faith. You have all seen him seated
among the lengthening shadows of evening, and heard him repeat
in English as pure as the English of Addison and Goldsmith,
Homer's undying song. I know I utter your heartfelt wishes
when I express the hope the blessings which have been so abund-
antly given to him may be continued, and that his life may still
be spared to the country whose institutions he has defended,
whose liberties he has widened and whose glories he has increased.
Senators, I present to you William Cullen Bryant.”
A portion of Mr. Bryant’s eloquent response was as
follows:
“MR. DoRSHEIMER, and Gentlemen of the Senate:—You will
pardon me, if, on rising, I say a few words in acknowledgment of
the honor conferred upon me, I find myself somewhat embarrassed
on account of the novelty of the oceasion. I see before me the
representatives of the different parts of our great, powerful and
populous State. I see men who come from our rich and beautiful
valleys, from the grand and picturesque mountain regions of the
north of the State, from the banks of our glorious rivers, from
the borders of our inmense lakes, from populous towns and
152 WILLIAM C. BRY ANT.
pleasant villages ; towns that are seats of trade and industry;
cities noisy with the bustle of business and commerce, or resounding
with the clash of looms, or the blows of ponderous hammers in
our manufacturing establishments. You come, gentlemen, as
representatives of the arts, of the wealth and industry of this
great State. On my part I have nothing to offset against this
great array except what you see before you, and that is an object
certainly disproportionately small compared with this imposing
ceremony. I have nothing to say, therefore, except to return my
thanks for the great honor you have done me, and to add my
wishes for your future career.”
On entering the Assembly Chamber, the Speaker ad-
dressed Mr. Bryant as one, “who as poet, journalist, Sage,
statesman and man, had written his name in ineffaceable
letters on the anuals of his country and in the hearts of
his countrymen,” to which the latter feelingly responded.
One day, in conversation with the venerable and highly-
honored poet, concerning the public reception tendered
him by the representatives of the Empire State, he
expressed his gratification in his usual quiet manner of
speech, to which I ventured to reply, that his friends were
equally pleased, as the honors shown him were reciprocal.
In the year 1877, having read a paragraph in one of the
daily papers referring to Mr. Bryant’s health, remarkable
for one so advanced in life—he being at that time nearly
eighty years old, and none of his friends having ever known
of his being sick for a single day—I determined to, and
did, write him in relation to the habits of his daily life,
the following letter, although not aware at the time of his
having Written to any one else on the same subject :—
“ June 8th, 1877.
“MY DEAR MR. BRYANT, -
“The enclosed cutting, which is going the rounds of the Press,
brings up the question so often from my older and younger boys,
children and grandchildren, who have been taught to love and
revere your name, why it is that one of your advanced years is so
WILLIAM C. BRY ANT. 153
greatly favored with health and long life, when that life has
been one of toil and study. My reply to them in brief, is that
Mr. Bryant has taken care of his bodily health by regular and tem-
perate habits. Would it be asking too much, my dear friend, for
a brief letter from you, in reply to the suggestions which are thus
made : Such a letter would be invaluable to present and future
youth and young men. -
“Yours faithfully,
J. C. DERBY.”
To the letter the following replies were received :-
“Itoslyn, L. I., N. Y., July 11th, 1877.
“DEAR MR. DERBY, -
“I wrote some time since the kind of letter which you suggest,
concerning my habits of life. It was addressed to Mr. Joseph
Richards, and published at the time in the Journal of Health. I
would have answered your note earlier and sent you a copy of my
letter, if I could have laid my hands on it, but I have not yet
found it. I do not care to write another, lest it should seem like
thrusting myself before the public. I shall look further for the
letter. Yours truly,
W. C. BRY ANT.’”
“Roslyn, L.I., N. Y., July 11th, 1877.
“ DEAR MR. DERBY, -
“I can find but one copy of my letter to Mr. Richards, and
that I wish to keep, though I have a suspicion that the e are
others among my papers somewhere. I have copied the letter for
you, and send it with this that you may do what seems to you
good, with the copy. Yours truly,
W. C. IBRYANT.”
The following is the letter referred to :
“New York, March 30, 1871.
“DEAR SIR:—I promised some time since to give you some
account of my habits of life, so far, at icast, as regards diet, exer-
cise and occupation. I am not sure that it will be of any use to
7+
154 - WII, LIAM. C. BRY ANT.
you, although the system, which I have for many years observed,
seems to answer my purpose very well. I have reached a pretty
advanced period of life without the usual infirmities of old age,
and with my strength, activity and bodily faculties generally in
pretty good preservation. How far this may be the effect of my
way of life, adopted long ago and steadily adhered to, is perhaps
uncertain. I rise eaſy ; at this time of the year, about half-past
five; in summer, half or even an hour earlier. Immediately, with
very little encumbrance of clothing, I begin a series of exercise, .
for the most part designed to expand the chest and at the same
time call into action all the muscles and articulations of the body.
These are performed with dumb-bells—the very lightest—covered
with flannel, with a pole, a horizontal bar and a light chair swung
round my head. After a full hour, and sometimes more, passed
in this manner, I bathe from head to foot. When at my place in
the country. I sometimes shorten my exercise in the chamber, and
going out, occupy myself for half an hour or more in some work
which requires brisk motion. After my bath, if breakfast be not
ready, I sit down to my studies till I am called. My breakfast is
a simple one-hominy and milk, or, in place of hominy, brown
bread or oatmeal or wheaten grits, and, in season, baked sweet
apples ; but animal food I never take at breakfast. Tea and cof-
fee I never touch at any time. Sometimes I take a cup of choco-
late, which has no narcotic effect and agrees with me very well.
At breakfast I often take fruit, either in its natural state or freshly
stewed. After breakfast I occupy myself for a time with my stu-
dies, and then, when in town, I walk down to the office of the
Evening Post, nearly three miles distant, and after about three
hours, return, always walking, whatever be the state of the
weather. In the country I am engaged in literary tasks until a
feeling of weariness drives me out in the open air, and I go upon
my farm or into the garden and prune the trees or perform some
other work about them which they need, and then go back to my
books. I do not often drive out, preferring to walk. In the
country I dine early, and it is only at that meal that I take either
meat or fish, and of these but a moderate quantity, making my
dinner mostly of vegetables. At the meal which is called tea, I
only take a little bread and butter, with fruit, if it be on the table.
In town, where I dine later, I take but two meals a day. Fruit
makes a considerable part of my diet, and I eat it at almost any
hour of the day without inconvenience. My drink is water ; yet
WILLIAM C. BRYANT. 155
I sometimes, though rarely, take a glass of wine. I never meddle
with tobacco, except to quarrel with its use. That I may rise
early, I go to bed early ; in town as early as ten ; in the country
somewhat earlier. For many years I have avoided in the evening
every kind of literary occupation which tasks the faculties, such
as composition, even to the writing of letters, for the reason that
... it excites the nervous system and prevents sound sleep. My
brother told me not long since that he had seen in a Chicago news-
paper a paragraph in which it was said that I was in the habit of
taking quinine as a stimulant, that I have depended upon the ex-
citement which it caused in writing my verses, and that in conse-
quence of using it in that way I had become as deaf as a post. As
to my deafness, you know that to be false, and the remainder of the
story is equally so. I abominate all drugs and narcotics and have
always carefully avoided everything which spurs nature to exer-
tions that it would not otherwise make. Even with my food I do
not take the usual condiments, such as pepper and the like.
‘‘ I am, sir, truly yours, .*
** W. C. BRYANT.”
Hon. John Bigelow, at one time associated with Mr.
Bryant as one of the editors of the New York Evening
Post, meeting him not long before his death after a pro-
longed separation, questioned him particularly concerning
his health. The latter replied: “It is so perfect I hardly
dare to speak of it, and I am not conscious from one week
to another of any physical sensation I would have different.”
Although Mr. Bryant was a great reader and especially
of the trying Greek language, he always read with the
naked eye, never during his long life having used eye-
glasses of any kind whatever. -
The power of endurance and vitality exhibited by so
aged a man, seem not only remarkable, but truly wonder-
ful, when we take into consideration his close application
to literary pursuits of a nature which would affect the con-
stitution of a robust person of even younger years.
It was the invariable custom of Mr. Bryant to walk to
and from his house in Sixteenth Street to his office down
town, a distance of Some six miles. Every day, no matter
156 WILLIAM C. BRY ANT.
what the weather was, through a blinding Snow-storm, a
gale of wind, the pouring rain, or under a hot summer Sun
he might be seen cheerfully plodding along in the direc-
tion of his office or his home. One windy, disagreeable
day in March, on One of these journeys, he stopped in to
See me, and as he entered the office door, the wind playing
havoc with his white beard, he quoted these lines of Gray:
“Loose his beard and hoary hair,
Streamed like a meteor in the troubled air.”
I suggested that Halleck’s “Winds of March" were very
appropriate for the occasion. He at Once quoted the open-
ing lines of the verses as follows:–
“The winds of March are humming
Their parting song, their parting song,
And summer skies are coming,
And days grow long, and days grow long.”
I said to him that the Home Journal in the days of
Morris and Willis quoted the poem with every advent of
March. He replied it would be a good thing for the Post
to do, and he would attend to it.
During one of my conversations with Mr. Bryant, I
tried to impress upon him the importance of a record of
his eventful life, which could not fail to be of great inter-
est, not alone to all of his friends, but to the public gener-
ally; in other words, it would be a most desirable thing to
do if he would prepare an autobiography, even though it
be published posthumously. A few days subsequently the
following letter came to me :-
“Cummington, Mass., August 7th, 1874.
“ MY DEAR MR. DERBY : y
“I have thought of what you suggested to me. I find that in
what I shall have to tell I do not remember what relates to others
with whom I have been thrown into contact, so minutely and
accurately as I could wish. I shall be almost confined to my own
WII, LIAM C. BRY ANT. 157
adventures and affairs, and of these a good deal that is peculiar
and characteristic is rubbed off by the lapse of time. I see that
the writing of my biography will make a mere egotist of me, and
I cannot consent to appear in that character in my lifetime. If I
write anything of the kind it must appear after I have dis-
appeared, provided that anybody shall then think worth while to
publish it. I am, Sir, truly yours,
, W. C. BRY ANT. "?
In the years 1874–5 Mr. Bryant commenced to write an
autobiography, but after completing a few pages of his
early iife, he ceased, and it was never continued.”
Bryant’s History of the United States, although pur-
porting to have been written by him, was in reality the
work of another excellent writer, in whose ability Mr.
Bryant reposed the utmost confidence. The latter agreed
in his contract to write a general introduction, and to read
the proof of all the pages, which he very carefully attended
to up to the time of his death, at which time I believe but
two of the four volumes had been published. He wrote to
his friend, Miss Dewey :
“I suppose you see that I am to be responsible for a popular
History of the United States, written by Mr. Sidney Howard Gay.
It is to be illustrated and to fill three or four octavo volumes.”
Another volume, known as Bryant's Library of Poetry
and Song, was a collection made from favorite poets, but
the selection was not made by him. He did, however,
write an introduction for the work, for which he was paid
but a moderate price. The book has had a very large sale.
A small royalty on all copies sold—and it was Mr. Bryant’s
name which gave it its popularity—would have yielded him
a handsome sum in copyright. -
The name of Mr. Bryant was frequently sought for by
authors and publishers to introduce literary undertakings;
* Parke Godwin’s “Life of Bryant,” vol. I., pp. 1–37.
158 WILLIAM C. BIRY ANT.
and he was ever ready to give its influence to aid authors,
especially young writers of merit in both prose and poetry.
The most important publication for which Mr. Bryant
unhesitatingly stood sponsor, was the superbly illustrated
Picturesque America, published by D. Appleton & Co. This
elegant work, which cost to produce over $100,000, was
projected by the late George S. Appleton and Oliver B.
Bunce, both gentlemen of fine artistic taste. The latter,
however, did most of the literary work, for which Mr.
Bryant gives due credit in the introductory pages. The
only literary work done on this publication by the latter
was the writing of the introduction and the reading of the
proof-sheets, according to agreement with the publishers.
Among the names of the founders of the Century Club
organized in 1846, will be found that of William Cullen
Bryant, who, at the time of his death, was its President.
On the occasion of his seventieth birthday, in 1864, his
fellow-members resolved to give him a testimonial to which
the principal literary and artistic circles were invited. In
response to this invitation, a large gathering of several
hundred ladies and gentleman assembled to offer congratu-
lations to the “Patriarch Among Poets.”
At the gathering Hon. George Bancroft, then President
of the Century, happily stated in addressing the assembly,
that “the object of the meeting was primarily the career of
their guest as a poet that we celebrate; while the mountains
and the ocean side ring with the tramp of cavalry, and the
din of cannon, we take a respite in the Serene regions of
ideal pursuits.” He also spoke of Mr. Bryant’s love of nature,
of his personal life, which had been one continuous record
of patriotism and integrity. Among the poetical tributes
received were those from Bayard Taylor, Oliver Wendell
Holmes, George H. Boker, Richard H. Stoddard, Julia Ward
Howe, John Greenleaf Whittier. A characteristic address
was delivered by Ralph Waldo Emerson. Letters of regret
were received from Richard H. Dana. Edward Everett,
Henry W. Longfellow, John Pierpont, Gulian C. Verplanck
WILLIAM C. BRY ANT. 159
(First President Century Club), Fitz Greene Halleck,
Charles Sprague and James Russell Lowell, whose spirited
poem was read on the occasion.
In the year 1876 the candidates for the Presidency of
the United States were Samuel J. Tilden and Rutherford
B. Hayes. Until the formation of the Republican party
Mr. Bryant and Mr. Tilden acted together in the Demo-
cratic party, and notwithstanding their subsequent sepa-
ration in politics they continued their intimate personal
relations. The New York Evening Post was, at that time,
considered the Republican organ, being extensively read
by that class of voters who usually supported the nominees
of that party. As late in the Presidental Campaign as
August of that year The Post had given to its readers no
indications of its preference for either candidate. This
was a matter of comment among many of Mr. Bryant’s
friends, and as he was then absent at his residence at Cum-
mington, Massachusetts, I ventured to write him on the
subject, intimating that the readers of The Evening Post,
who were generally guided in their political actions by its
teachings, had as yet failed to see that it had taken any
stand on such an important question as the Presidency, and
suggesting that a letter from him on the subject would be
most timely.
Mr. Bryant’s reply was as follows:–
“Cummington, Mass., Aug. 28th, 1876.
“To J. C. DERBY, Esq.
“DEAR SIR :
“I do not wonder that many thoughtful persons are undecided
as to which candidate they shall support in the coming election
of President. Both parties profess to aim at the same ends.
Which has the best candidate, and which can be most depended
upon to adopt and enforce the necessary measures 3 are the ques-
tions which people are asking. If you look only to the candidate,
Mr. Tilden is the best—the most of a statesman, the soundest and
most enlarged in opinions, and, I think, of the finest character.
If you look at the parties by which the candidates are brought
| 60 WILLIAM C. BRY A.N.T.
forward, the Republican party is most to be relied on, although
both parties, judged by the proceedings of their representatives
in Congress, are greatly degenerate, and whichever of them obtains
the ascendency, those who look for a complete, radical, thorough
reform, will be disappointed. Some changes will doubtless be
made for the better, but those who expect all abuses in the admin-
istration of the government to be dome away, will find their mis-
take.
“As to the hard-money question, it seems to me that it is safest
with the republicans. The democratic party of the west are deep-
ly infected with the inflation heresy. It is now smothered tem-
porarily, but as soon as the election is over it will break out again
with violence. The republican party is most free from its
influence.
“As to the Civil Service reform, which both parties profess to
desire, Mr. Tilden has not pledged himself to abstain from the
vicious practice of turning out indiscriminately all whom he shall
find in office, in case he is elected. He only promises to look
carefully into their characters and qualifications.
“I infer that all whom he finds in office must go out. Who
will answer for him that all whom he appoints will be worthy of
their places & Thousands and tens of thousands will flock to
Washington for these places, all of them good democrats, and it
will be absolutely astonishing if a large number of those who are
appointed do not turn out to be rogues. Hayes, who only prom-
ised to send adrift the unworthy, will have an easier task and
leisure to exercise a just discrimination.
“As to the revenue laws, which are, without doubt, one cause
of the hard times, neither Mr. Tilden or Mr. Hayes have spoken
of any reform to be made. Perhaps the chance of an enlightened
revision of thcse laws is best in case the democrats obtain the
ascendancy, but how slight the prospect of such a revision is, I
leave to be inferred from the late proceedings of the democratic
House of Representatives.
“You see, therefore, that when we come to compare the prospect
of reform under one of the two parties with that under the other, a
man who is slow in forming conclusions might be forgiven for
hesitating. Yet the greater number of those dissatisfied republi-
cans who came to the Fifth Avenue Conference, including most of
the wisest heads among them, have acquiesced in the nomination
of Hayes. The Cincinnati Convention did not give them all they
wi'i. LIAM C. BRYANT. 161
wanted, but came so near to it that they thought it was the wisest
course to be content, and not to separate from the party with
which they had hitherto acted. I thought the same thing in
regard to The Evening Post—namely, that it would not be well
to detach itself from the party which had carried the country
through the civil war until it was forced to do so by signs of de-
generacy.
“There may have been some things in the Post which I have
not agreed with altogether, being at so great a distance from it
that I could not be expected to influence it in everything, but in
the main it has treated Mr. Tilden with marked respect.
“Yours truly,
‘‘ W. C. BRYANT.”
A few days later Mr. Bryant addressed to me another
letter on the same subject as follows:
“Cummington, September 4th.
“I did not write my previous letter for publication, and beg
that you will not let the press get hold of it. I have a fear also
that I may have done injustice to Mr. Tilden in regard to the
reformation of the civil service. If so, his letter of acceptance
was the cause. I looked it over, for some condemnation of the
practice, so long followed, of turning out of office all the men of
the beaten party after an election. I found no such condemna-
tion, and inferred that he meant to leave himself at liberty to fol-
low the practice. I have since learned that he hits, in many
instances, appoinfed men of the republican party to offices in his
gift, solely on account of their competency and character. This
was nobly done, but he will have great difficulty in resisting the
pressure which will be brought to bear upon him in order to force
him to make a clean sweep of the public offices, and fill them with
men of his own party. I am willing, however, to take what I
have heard as a proof of Mr. Tilden's present disposition, and hope
that it will not be overcome by the force which will assuredly be
brought against it.”
These letters were shown to a few of our mutual friends,
but agreeably to Mr. Bryant's request were not made pub-
lic through the press. Mr. Parke Godwin, in his most
162 WILLIAM. C. BIRY ANT".
interesting biography of Mr. Bryant, states that it was not
known for which candidate Mr. Bryant cast his ballot.
My own private opinion is that he voted for the candidate
who was elected.
Mr. Godwin also informs me that Mr. Bryant asked
him for three electoral ballots with the Democratic electors;
one he wanted for Mr. Kline and the other for another
neighbor. Mr. Godwin afterward asked Mr. Kline how he
voted. He said he voted the ticket Mr. Bryant handed
him. Mr. Godwin subsequently asked Mr. Bryant if he
voted the ticket he had handed him. Mr. Bryant replied
“Oh you know the ballot is a secret institution.”
I have in my possession copies of both Thanatopsis and
The Waterfowl in the handwriting of Mr. Bryant. Un-
doubtedly of all his poems Thanatopsis, or a View of Death,
is the best known. It has been a favorite of mine
from my earliest years. Speaking with Mr. Bryant con-
cerning the effect the reading of his poem had upon my-
self and family, he said he regarded it as but a youthful
effort—he being at the time but eighteen years old—and
he gave you the impression that he did not consider it
equal to some of his more mature productions.
The well-known poet, Richard H. Stoddard, in his arti-
cle on the death of Mr. Bryant, written for the New York
Evening Post, speaks of the poem as follows:
“‘Thanatopsis" is to me the most remarkable poem that was
ever written by a young man. I know of nothing like it in Eng-
lish literature; nothing that is at once so grave, so sustained, so
mature and so universal. The feeling which pervades it, the
solemn reflection which inspires it, belongs to all humanity and to
all time, and is apart from and beyond all religions. The truthful
lesson of the nothingness of life is the silent teaching of nature,
It could not have been written in the Old World, where the con-
ception of the poet would have been limited by circumscribed
areas of burial and known periods of time. It demanded a New
World of vast dimensions and unknown antiquity, a primeval
wilderness that was once populous with forgotten races of men.
WILLIAM C. H.RY ANT. 163
Such a world stretched from the shores of the Atlantic to those of
the Pacific at the beginning of the present century, and waited for
a poet to grasp the secret of its solitude.”
Some critics have condemned it because of the absence
of any recognition of the Deity. Henry Ward Beecher de-
nounced it from Plymouth pulpit, calling it, if my mem-
ory serves me correctly, “A Pagan Poem,” because there
is no mention of the immortality of the soul or recognition
of the Christian religion ; but then Mr. Beecher, although
a great preacher, is not a poet, and Mr. Bryant was, and
perhaps availed himself of what is called a poetical license.
Mr. George William Curtis summarizes his idea of Mr.
Bryant’s meaning as follows:
“I linger upon it, because it was the first adequate poetic voice
of the solemn New England spirit; and in the grandeur of the
hills, in the heroic Puritan tradition of sacrifice and endurance in
the daily life, saddened by imperious and awful theological dog-
ma, in the hard circumstance of the pioneer household, the con-
test with the wilderness, the grim legends of Indians and war,
have we not some outward clue to the strain of Thanatopsis, the
depthless and entrancing sadness, as of inexorable fate, that mur-
murs like the autumn wind through the forest, in the melancholy
cadences of this hymn to Death Ž"
Rev. Dr. Prime of the New York Observer, recently told
me that Mr. Bryant road the manuscript of Rev. Dr. Joseph
Alden's Evangelical treatise on “ The Religious Life,”
and at the latter’s request wrote the following introduction
to the book, which Dr. Prime says was never excelled in
the same number of lines by any uninspired man :
“This character, of which Christ was a perfect model, is, in it-
self, so attractive, so altogther lovely, that I cannot describe in lan-
guage the admiration with which I regard it; nor can I express
the gratitude I feel for the dispensation which bestowed that
example on mankind; for the truths which he taught and the
sufferings he endured for our sakes. I tremble to think what the
164 WILLIAM. C. IBRY ANT.
world would be without him. Take away the blessing of the
advent of his life and the blessings purchased by his death, in
what an abyss of guilt would man have been left . It would seem
to be blotting the sun out of the heavens—to leave our system of
worlds in chaos, frost and darkness.
“In my view of the life, the teachings, the labors and the suf-
ferings of the blessed Jesus, there can be no admiration too pro-
found; no love of which the human heart is capable too warm ; no
gratitude too earnest and deep of which he is justly the object.
It is with sorrow that my love for him is so cold and my gratitude
so inadequate. It is with sorrow that I see any attempt to put
aside His teachings as a delusion to turn men's eyes from His ex-
ample, to meet with doubt and denial the story of His life.
“For my part, if I thought that the religion of skepticism were
to gather strength and prevail, and become the dominant view of
mankind, I should despair of the fate of mankind in the years
that are yet to come.”
“The Waterfowl,” which is here inserted, is regarded
by critics as ranking next to “Thanatopsis” in poetical
merit.
TO A WATERFOWL,
“Whither, 'midst falling dew,
While glow the heavens with the last steps of day,
Far, through their rosy depths dost thou pursue
Thy solitary way?
“Wainly the fowler's eye
Might mark thy distant flight to do thee wrong,
As darkly seen against the crimson sky
Thy figure floats along.
“Seek'st thou the plashy brink
Of weedy lakes, or marge of river wide;
Or where the rocking billows rise and sink
On the chafed ocean side 8
“There is a power whose care
Teaches thy way along that pathless coast-
WILLIAM C, BRY ANT. 165
The desert and illimitable air—
Lone wandering, but not lost.
“All day thy wings have fanned
At that far height, the cold thin atmosphere,
Yet stoop not weary to the welcome land,
Though the dark night is near.
“And soon that evil shall end;
Soon shalt thou find a summer home and rest,
And scream among thy fellows; reeds shall bend
Soon, o'er thy sheltered nest.
“Thou'rt gone, the abyss of heaven
Hath swallowed up thy form; yet on my heart
Deeply hath sunk the lesson thou hast given
And shall not soon depart.
“He who, from zone to zone,
Guides through the boundless sky thy certain flight—
In the long way that I must tread alone,
Will lead my steps aright.”
There were some changes made in both “Thanatopsis "
and “The Waterfowl'' by their author, as explained by him
in the following letter to Richard H. Dana –
“You are quite right in regard to the alteration of the word
‘pierce' to the word ‘traverse' in my poem of “Thanatopsis.” I
must have the original word restored. But in regard to the
change made in the Waterfowl,” in which the line now stands:–
‘As darkly seen against the crimson sky,” instead of ‘As darkly
painted on the crimson sky,” please read what I have to say in
excuse. I was never satisfied with the word ‘painted,” because
the next line is—- Thy figure floats along.” Now, from a very
early period—I am not sure that it was not from the very time I
wrote the poem—there seemed to me an incongruity between the
idea of a figure painted on the sky and a figure moving, ‘floating '
across its face. If the figure were painted, then it would be fixed.
The incongruity distressed me and I could not be easy until I had
made the change. I preferred a plain, prosaic expression to a
166 WILLIAM. C. BRY ANT.
picturesque one, which seemed to me false. “Painted ' expresses
well the depth and strength of color which fixed my attention
when I saw the bird—for the scene was founded on a real incident
—but it contradicted the motion of the winds and the progress of
the bird through the air. So you have my defense.”
It is a curious and strange fact that the three most
famous of American journalists were not on speaking
terms with each other up to the time of their deaths. As
a matter of course, reference is made to William Cullen
Bryant, Thurlow Weed, and Horace Greeley. Of these
three, Mr. Weed was the last to go. Of the first two
named, neither had ever spoken to the other. Mr. Bryant
told me once that Mr. Weed had been pointed out to him,
and that was the only time he ever remembered seeing him.
It was a matter of much regret among the friends of these
great men, that they should entertain such feelings towards
each other. They had been early arrayed against each
other politically, and their methods in politics were at vari-
ance, one of them being much more of a partisan than the
other. Introducing the matter to Mr. Bryant one day, I
said that the friends of both felt as though the time had
arrived for them to at least recognize each other, although
differing so greatly in political methods. I said I happened
to know that Mr. Weed was anxious to become on friendly
terms with all his former political adversaries, and men-
tioned the fact of his being a pall-bearer at the funeral of
Horace Greeley, notwithstanding the animosity of the latter
towards him during his political life. I further said I should
be glad to be the medium of bringing about an interview
between him and Mr. Weed. Mr. Bryant listened to me in
silence, then slowly raising his clear grey eyes to mine said,
“Blessed are the Peacemakers”—he paused for a moment
or two, when I said “Well ?” “for they shall see”—he
stopped again and suddenly arising from his seat, left me
saying, “Not yet ; not yet !”
Referring to the matter again one evening at the Cen-
WILLIAM C. BRY ANT. 167
tury Club, he said to me, “I suppose if Mr. Weed should
call upon me, I would have to see him.” My reply was,
“I do not think Mr. Weed would call, unless I could bear
to him a message that you would be glad to see him if he
did call.” Just then our attention being attracted in
another direction, our conversation was interrupted and I
never had another opportunity to speak with him again
upon the subject. -
The last time I saw Mr. Bryant alive, was the fatal day
on which he was overcome with exhaustion after his oration
on the occasion of the unveiling of the statue of Mazzini
at the Central Park. Having walked from his residence
to his office in the Evening Post Building, on that exces-
sively hot day in the month of June, returning on his way
home he called to see me about his contract with the pub-
lishers of the History of the United States, which he had
left with me two days previous for inspection, some changes
having been made as regards terms in the original contract.
He looked even then exhausted and seemed in haste to get
to his home. I made some suggestions concerning the con-
tract, which, after thanking me, he said he would attend
to on the morrow. But alas ! To him the morrow never
C8,1]] G.
In Mr. Parke Godwin’s biography, the following account
is given of the accident which befell him.
“Mr. Bryant partook of a slight luncheon at mid-day, and soon
after was driven in his own carriage to Central Park, where a
statue was to be raised to Mazzini, the Italian author and patriot.
A great crowd was already gathered. The day was warm and the
sun shone so brightly when he advanced to make his address,
that a friend insisted upon holding an umbrella over him. He
spoke feebly at first, but with more animation as he began the im-
passioned paragraph with which he closed with the following
apostrophe to the impersonation of Civil and Religious Liberty.
“‘Image of the illustrious champion of civil and religious
liberty, cast in enduring bronze to typify the unperishable renown
of thy original l Remain for ages yet to come where we place
168 WILLIAM C. BRY ANT.
thee, on this resort of millions. Itemain till the day shall dawn—
far distant though it may be—when the rights and duties of
human brotherhood shall be acknowledged by all the races of man-
kind.” -
‘‘These were the last words he was destined to address to his
fellow men. In speaking them he stepped forth and stood with
his uncovered head exposed to the full glare of the sunlight.
When he ceased speaking, it was observed by a great many per-
sons present, that he seemed weak and exhausted, and he should
have been allowed to depart for his home at once. But a gentle-
man with whom he had a slight acquaintance, Mr. James Grant
Wilson, invited him to go to his house, at a considerable distance
across the Park. He accepted the invitation, and it is said that
as he walked along he conversed about the statues, the birds, the
trees, and other objects in a chatty way, particularly with a little
girl, a daughter of Mr. Wilson, whom he questioned as to her
knowledge of the names of birds and trees. Going up the steps
of the house, Mr. Wilson went forward to open the door, but he
had scarcely done so when Mr. Bryant fell directly backward, and
struck his head with some degree of violence upon the stone of
the steps. A gentleman who was passing on the streets, saw the
accident and hasteued to offer his services; at the same time the
servants of the house appeared and Mr. Bryant was carried into
the parlor and laid on a sofa in a state of insensibility. Mrs.
Wilson had some ice-water brought with which she bathed his
head. The sufferer murmured ‘Don’t,” but exhibited no signs of
consciousness. He at last recovered enough to sit up, and a glass
of iced sherry was offered him, which he drank. This seemed to
revive him a good deal, and he put his hand to his head, moaning,
• My head Î my poor head | I don’t feel well.” Mr. Wilson
suggested his going up-stairs to bed, and asked where his medical
adviser could be found ; but all offers of assistance were declined.
The one thought that seemed to possess his mind was that of get-
ting home.”
Dr. Gray, his family physician, was of the opinion that
Mr. Bryant’s fall caused an injury of the brain from which
he at no time expected his patient to recover. This
injury was such that a younger and a stronger man could
scarcely have survived it. The swoon preceding the fall
WILLIAM C. BRY ANT. 169
was caused by a diminution or interruption of the heart or
respiratory organs. -
Mr. Bryant lingered for fourteen days in this twilight
state between life and death, when, at half-past five, on
the morning of June 12th, 1878, he fell asleep and passed
away. The report of his death produced a general expres-
sion of sorrow. All classes of the people seemed to feel
spontaneously, that they had lost one who was as he had
often been called “ the first citizen of the Republic.”
On the 12th of November, 1878, the members of the Cen-
tury Club had a meeting to commemorate the death of their
late President. The rooms were adorned with several por-
traits of Mr. Bryant and paintings by members, illustrating
some of his poems. Original poems written for the occasion
were read by Bayard Taylor, R. H. Stoddard, E. C. Sted-
man and a most eloquent oration delivered by Hon. John
Bigelow.
The funeral of Mr. Bryant took place on the morning
of June 14th, 1878, at All Souls’ Church in New York
city. The church was crowded by his hosts of neighbors
and friends, who knew the poet so well while living.
The funeral address was delivered by his pastor and
life-long friend, the Rev. Henry W. Bellows, D.D., who
closed his remarks with these appropriate words:
“We are about to bear his remains to their quiet and green
resting place, by the side of his beloved wife and the good angel
of his life, in Roslyn, L. I. Let me read in conclusion the war-
rant for this step in his own poem, June, which I am persuaded
you will feel to be a fitting conclusion to these memorial services:
‘I gazed upon the glorious sky,
And the green mountains round,
And thought that when I came to lie
At rest within the ground,
'Twere pleasant that in flowery June,
When rooks send up a cheerful tune.
And groves a cheerful sound,
170 WILLIAM G. BRYANT.
The sexton's hand, my grave to make,
The rich, green mountain turf should break.
* A cell within the frozen mould,
A coffin borne through sleet,
And icy clods above it rolled,
While fierce the tempest beat—
Away !—I will not think of these;
Blue be the sky and soft the breeze,
Earth green beneath the feet,
And be the damp mould gently pressed
Into my narrow place of rest.
“There through the long, long summer hours,
The golden light should lie,
And thick young herbs and groups of flowers
Stand in their beauty by.
The oriole should build and tell
His love-talk close beside my cell;
The idle butterfly
Should rest him there, and there be heard
The housewife bee and humming bird.
“And what if cheerful shouts at noon
Come from the village sent;
Or song of maids, beneath the moon,
With fairy laughter blent ?
And what if in the evening light,
Betrothed lovers walk in sight
Of my low monument ?
I would the lovely scene around
Might know no sadder sight or sound.
* I know that I no more should see
The season's glorious show;
Nor would its brightness shine for me,
Nor its wild music flow ;
But if around my place of sleep,
The friends I love should come to weep,
They might not haste to go.
Soft airs, and song, and light and bloom,
Should keep them lingering by my tomb.
WILLIAM C. BRY ANT. 171
* These to their softened hearts should bear
The thought of what has been,
And speak of one who cannot share
The gladness of the scene;
Whose part in all the pomp that fills
The circuit of the summer hills,
So that his grave is green;
And deeply would their hearts rejoice,
To hear again his living voice.’”
George William Curtis, the graceful orator, in his com-
memorative address at the Acadamy of Music, before the
New York Historical Society, December 30th 1883, speaks
thus eloquently of his cherished friend :
“This great and distinguished assembly is in itself an impos-
ing tribute to the memory of an illustrious man. But even more
impressive than this presence of genius and distinction of charac-
ter and intelligence is the absence of one citizen—that venerable
figure which had come to represent in this community all the civic
graces and virtues and from whose temperate lips on every occa-
sion of literary and patriotic commemoration of political emergency
or of public appeal, we have been accustomed to hear the fitting
words of counsel, of encouragement, of consolation. When Cooper
died, the restless city paused to hear Bryant's words of praise and
friendship. When Irving followed Cooper, all hearts turned to
Bryant and it was before this society, and in this place that he
told the story of Irving's life. Now Bryant has followed Cooper
and Irving the last of that early triumvirate of American litera-
ture, not less renowed than the great triumvirate of American
politics, and he whose life began before the century, leaves behind
but one of his early literary contemporaries, the venerable poet,
Dana, friend of Bryant’s youth, at an age prolonged beyond four-
score and ten.
“An old age serene and bright,
And lovely as a Lapland night.
“The editor who published Thanatopsis sixty-one years ago, has
seen its author ‘join the innumerable caravan, and lie down to
pleasant dreams.” But a thousand eloquent and reverent voices of
the press and the pulpit, of the college and club, of Orator and
172 WILLIAM C. BRY ANT.
poet, from the sea-coast to the prairies have spoken for him who
spoke for all. There was no eminent American upon whom the
judgment of his countrymen would be more immediate and unani-
mous. The broad and simple outline of his character and career
had become universally familiar, like a mountain or the sea, and in
speaking of him, I but repeat the thought of every American, and
register a judgment already pronounced. A patriarch of our lit-
erature, and in a permanent sense the oldest of our poets, a scholar
familiar with many languages and literatures, finely sensitive to
the influence of nature and familiar with trees and birds and flow-
ers, he was especially fitted, it might be thought, for scholarly
seclusion and the delights of the strict literary life. But he who
melodiously marked the solitary way of the waterfowl through
the rosy depth of the glowing heaven, and on the lonely New Eng-
land hills,
“Rock-ribbed and ancient as the sun,”
saw in the river and valley, forest and Ocean, only the solemn
decoration of man's tomb, the serious musing country boy felt also
the magic of human sympathy, the impulse of his country, the
political genius of his race, and the poet became distinctively an
American and a public political leader.” -
The late George Ripley’s estimate of Mr. Bryant is well
expressed in the following draft of an epitaph which was
found among the former’s papers after his death :
SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF
W. C. B.
IN ORDEIR OF TIME AND EXCELLENCE OF GENIUS
ONE OF THE FATHERS OF AMERICAN POETRY:
A WIRITER OF CONSUMMATE ENGLISH PROSE: BY HIS
WISDOMI A NID INSIGHT A JOURNALIST OF
MASTERLY POWER ;
THOUGH EIOLDING NO PUBLIC OFFICE, A STATESMAN
OF INCORRUPTIBLE INTEGRITY, OF LOFTY PATRIOT- .
ISM, AND OF SUPREME DEVOTION TO THE
- HIGHEST INTEREST'S OF HIS COUNTIRY.
A8 A MAN, AUSTERE, RELIGIOUS, SELF-CONTAINED ;
HIS LIFE WAS AN ExPRESSION OF HIS POETRY,
HIS DEATH AN ILLUSTRATION OF THE
SPIRIT OF ‘‘THANATOPSIS.”
B. Nov. 3, 1794.
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WII.
D. APPLETON & C0.
The Infinitely Great and the Infinitely Little–Daniel Ap.
pleton and Jonathan Leavitt—A Sailor calls for a
Peck of Gospel Seeds— William H. Appleton's Too
Woyages to Europe—Interesting Anecdotes—Timely
Advice of a Friend—A Cordial Appleton Embrace—
Daniel Appleton goes to Europe—Astonishes John
Bull—Secures great Bargains in Paris—Author's first
Call on the Appletons—Publication of Picturesque
America—The American Cyclopedia—Cost over Half
a Million Dollars—Enormous Sales—Pusey and Dar-
win raise a Storm— Warning from Bishop Whitting-
ham—Immense Sale of Seward's Travels—General
Sherman and Book Canvassers — Beaconsfield’s
Lothair Secured by Cable—Professor Youman’s Sci.
entific Enterprise—John A. Appleton’s business Habits
and Christian Character—Generous Church Contré-
butions—“John was the best of All of us ”—His peace-
ful Death.
& 4 THE infinitely great and the infinitely little * charac-
terize two of the publications of this great publish-
ing house. I refer, of course, to the American Cyclopedia
and their first publication, Daily Crumbs.
The house of D. Appleton & Co. stands without a rival
in America and probably in the world, in the variety and
entirety of its publications. Other houses may have a
larger list of miscellaneous and standard publications, and
[173]
174 D. APPLETON & CO.
two at least have as large a list of school-books, but the
publications of the house of D. Appleton & Co. represent
the whole range of literature, from a spelling-book of which
a million copies are annually sold, to the monumental
cyclopedia of which a million dollars’ worth are sold each
year. In costly and elegantly illustrated books and com-
prehensive lists of scientific works, they stand without a
peer Having known the venerable founder as well as the
other senior members of the house nearly half a century, I
can write understandingly, especially as I was connected
with them in an important department for more than ten
years.
Daniel Appleton, unlike the founders of Harper & Bros.’
establishment, was not trained, as they were, from the
start, in the publishing and printing business. He was
for several years a dry-goods merchant in Boston ; from
thence he removed to and established himself in business
in New York in the year 1825. He first located at No. 16
Exchange place, then opposite the post-office, and the Ex-
change building, now the Custom House. In those days
this was a fashionable quarter of the city for retail trade.
On his arrival there he induced his brother-in-law, Jona-
than Leavitt, then a bookbinder at Andover, Mass., to
join him, he furnishing the capital and becoming a special
partner in the book-selling business. The store in Ex-
change place was divided in two parts, and as business
prospered, a few years later Mr. Appleton’s eldest son,
William, then a minor, but now the present senior of the
firm, took charge as a clerk of the bookselling department.
The term of partnership of five years having expired,
Mr. Leavitt thought he could carry on the business without
any further aid of capital from Mr. Appleton, and it was
agreed that the stock should be divided equally between
them according to the quantity. After the division
was made, Mr. Leavitt continued the bookselling business
on his own account, corner of Broadway and John Street,
securing the Services of the late George P. Putnam, then a
D. APPLETON & CO. 175
youngster of about sixteen years, who afterwards became
so famous in the world of letters and books. Mr. Leavitt
was the father of George A. Leavitt, formerly of the well
known publishing firm of Leavitt & Allen, but now—as
he has been for many years—at the head of the book trade-
sale firm of George A. Leavitt & Co. Daniel Appleton
afterwards removed with his stock to what was then known
as Clinton Hall, in Beekman street, where he established
himself as a bookseller.
He had been successful in his undertaking thus far and
decided to make a verture in the book publishing business.
His first publication bears the imprint of 1831, a little
miniature volume, entitled Crumbs from the Master’s
Table. It was but three inches square and half an inch
thick and contained one hundred and ninety-two pages.
The book has been long out of print. A copy was obtained,
however, a few years since, by an advertising paragraph,
stating that the firm would give a copy of the largest book
they published in exchange for a copy of the first. The
paragraph attracted the attention of an old lady in Mary-
land, who sent the book, and the firm sent her in return a
volume twenty times the size. Mr. William H. Appleton
had this precious relic handsomely rebound and fitted to a
velvet-lined silver box and keeps it carefully guarded at his
house.
The next publication was a similar sized volume of the
same nature, entitled Gospel Seeds. A little anecdote is
connected with the issue of this book. A government ves-
sel had arrived in port and the sailors had been paid off.
Their direct course toward Broadway was up Beekman
street. One of them, who was pretty well intoxicated,
while passing the store saw the little placard “Gospel
Seeds for sale here.” The sailor reeled into the store and
wanted to know how much they were a peck.
The third book published was entitled Refuge in Time
of Plague and Pestilence. This was in 1832, the year that
the Asiatic cholera raged so fearfully throughout the coun-
176 D. A PPLETON & CO.
try. The little volume had an immense sale, many mis-
taking it, no doubt, for a treatise on that terrible disease,
when in truth it was a devotional volume, pointing out
Christ as the refuge. These three tiny volumes were very
appropriate in those times. But little more was done in
publication of books for some time thereafter, Mr. Apple-
ton confining himself to the importation of European pub-
lications and jobbing American books.
William II. Appleton, the present senior member, once
told me that about that time, and, indeed, for some time
previous, he had been very anxious to go to Europe, and his
father promised him that when he was twenty-one years of
age he should go. That time had arrived, and his father
kept his word faithfully. He soon after embalked for
Liverpool in a Sailing vessel. She made the remarkable pas-
Sage of eighteen days, all the sails having been set untrl the
ship arrived. Young Appleton had no letters, but went on
his own account. On his arrival in London he called to
See, among others, the Senior Mr. Longman, who was then
quite an old man. The house had been in existence nearly
one hundred and fifty years. Mr. Appleton says that he can
well remember the senior Longman's surprise, when he had
presented his card and learned his business. It seemed so
strange to him that one so young had come so far to transact
business, without having had any European experience what-
ever. He was very cordial, however, and introduced him to
his son, William Longman, with whom he became very inti-
mate. At that time they used to have dinners over their
place in Paternoster Row. Young Appleton was invited
to dine any day and made it a point to go at least once a
week. He there met quite a number of authors from time
to time, and, among others, Tom Moore, with whom he
frequently conversed. He also met the original John Mur-
ray, Lord Byron’s publisher, but the former was not spe-
cially cordial.
While in London, the “Book of Beauty” had just been
published, and in time for Christmas sales. It was an
D. A PPLETON & CO. 177
expensive book, and many of my bookselling readers will
remember the favor with which the beautiful volume was
received. Mr. Appleton had no authority to buy books,
but he induced the publisher to sell him one thousand
copies on time, notwithstanding his father had no credit
with them. He wrote his father what he had done and
that he must carry out his undertaking. His father was
very much alarmed, because the amount was considerable
for the house to carry at that time. On the arrival of the
Book of Beauty in New York, they were immediately dis-
posed of to the booksellers. -
Mr. Appleton was so much pleased with the venture
that he wrote his son that he might travel on the continent
for three months, where he soon went, first visiting Leip-
sic, becoming acquainted with Tauchnitz, publis er of the
Hebrew Bible and the long series of Greek and Latin clas-
sics. He formed quite intimate relations with the old
gentleman. The latter had one peculiar eccentricity—he
was always smoking his white clay pipes, and after smoking
one a little while he would lay it down anywhere he hap-
pened to be, on a desk, chair, or window-sill. He never
used them but once, and the store and his house were liter-
ally strewn with pipes. After travelling through the con-
tinent Mr. Appleton returned home.
A year later he was sent over to Europe again to buy
books with sufficient letters of credit. On his voyage he
became acquainted with Mr. George B. Blake, of Boston,
a large dry-goods merchant. On their arrival in London,
they lodged at a hotel on Ludgate Hill, Mr. Blake was a
man of wide experience and a large buyer. After learning
the state of affairs in the business world, Mr. Blake advised
Mr. Appleton not to buy anything at present, and acting
under his advice, he made no purchases, but soon returned
with Mr. Blake in a sailing vessel. In order to expend no
money unnecessarily he took with him but two pounds for
incidental expenses, after having paid his passage.
After he got on board ship he found the vessel filled
178 D. APPLETON &; CO.
with representatives of mercantile houses in New York and
Boston.
To pass the time away they used to play wingt-et-un,
or some simple game, and his two pounds did not last long,
so he was obliged to use little I. O. U’s. The wagers were
from ten to twenty cents. His paper issues were very con-
siderable in number, but very small in sum total. His fel-
low passengers were very agreeable, lively and full of hope.
One morning about sunrise, as they were nearing the coast,
Some young men bantered him upon the large amount of
paper he had out. Mr. Appleton said to them he would
wager that as soon as they landed they would learn that
there were not more than two of the great houses they rep-
resented who had not failed. Mr. Appleton further said
that there were two houses that he knew had not : one
was his father’s, and the other that of his room-mate, George
B. Blake, as neither house owed anything, having bought
nothing. .
The New York Courier and Enquirer, then the leading
commercial paper, controlled by the late James Watson
Webb, had sent out his dispatch boat to get the news. The
vessel had made a long trip—some forty-five days. When
the reporter got on board, he told the captain that there
was a terrible state of things on shore. All the banks were
broken Mr. Blake, hearing the conversation, jumped from
his berth and said, “Did you say all the banks had
failed ? Surely not the Boston Banks.” “Yes,” replied
the reporter; “they were the first to fail.” “Then, said Mr.
Blake, “it is indeed dreadful, they did not fail during the
late war.” This was in 1837, the time of the great finan-
cial disaster. As soon as they got hold of the city papers
they found that all the houses represented by these return-
ing buyers except those of Mr. Appleton and Mr. Blake
had failed disastrously.
At that time it was customary to land in small boats
at Whitehall street. Appleton walked from there up
Broadway. As he approached his father's store, then on
D. APPI,ETON & CO. 179
Broadway, near John street, he saw him waiting for him
to come up. His father, instead of holding out his hand
to greet him, as he expected said, “William, have you
bought anything P’’ The latter replied, “Not a penny’s
worth.” His father then quickly said, “Come to my
arms ' Come to my arms l’ A quite unexpected and ulu-
usual greeting, my readers who knew him will say, for one
of so stern a mould and so noted for reserve as Daniel
Appleton. Young Appleton gained great credit for his
foresight, for he says it would have gone very hard with
their house had he gone into debt at that time.
Soon after Mr. Appleton’s return from Europe he said
to his father, “Now the business is good and your affairs
are in pretty Snug shape, I think you ought to go to Europe
and take mother and sister with you.” They finally con-
sented to go. This sister was married while abroad in
Wales to James E. Cooley, well known to booksellers as the
head of the book trade-sale firm of Cooley & Bangs, after-
wards Cooley, Keese & Hill. Mr. Cooley was the author
of a book published by the Appletons : The American in
Egypt. He was also elected New York State Senator. He
died during the past year in Florence, Italy, where he had
resided for many years. He was the father-in-law of
George A. Leavitt before referred to.
One day while in London Mr. Daniel Appleton called
upon a Mr. Duncan, then a book-publisher of some renown,
doing business in Paternoster Row. He was a publisher
of an edition of the Hebrew Bible, of which Mr. Appleton
wanted several hundred copies, but desired a credit of three
or four months. Mr. Duncan declined to sell on time, tell-
ing Mr. Appleton that he had made up his mind not to
give a credit to any Americans again, as he had lost too
much money by them already. Mr. Appleton replied, “Do
you say you have lost a great deal of money by American
booksellers ?” Duncan then said, “Yes I do !” “Well,”
said Mr. Appleton, “if you will make out your account
against any or all the American booksellers by whom you
180 - D. APPLETON & CO.
have lost money, limited as my available means are at
present, I will give you a draft for the whole amount at
once.” Mr. Duncan, with much surprise, then said, “What
do you mean P. The amount due from them is too large. You
could not possibly pay it.” Mr. Appleton said, “Let me
have the accounts and I will lay them at once.” Mr.
Duncan then presented the names and the amounts due
from the American debtors. After Mr. Appleton had
looked over the list, he said, “These are not Americans !
Every one of them are Englishmen who are brought up
here in Paternoster Row, and sent to America to act as
your agents for the sale of your books. I don’t propose to
pay for them / I want the accounts against the American
booksellers | Mr. Duncan, thus brought to bay, said, “Mr.
Appleton, you have got me this time ; there is a difference,
and you shall have all the books and credit desired ”
Mr. Appleton, while in London, established an agency
at 16 Little Britain for the house, which has continued to
be the London branch of D. Appleton & Co. until this
day. He afterwards went to Paris. While there he saw
on the Quai Voltaire, on the river, a large collection of
books exposed for sale in the open air. Among others
there was a large collection of illuminated manuscripts and
missals made by the priests in the monasteries, and with-
out knowing anything special about them, except that they
were regarded as very rare, bought enough to fill several
cases of them and sent them to America. He wrote his
son to be sure and not give them away cheap, because they
were very scarce and there were no such collections in
America. When received, they were opened and exposed
to view a few at a time. They were eagerly purchased, and
the profit on those few books paid all the expenses of Mr.
Appleton and family in their trip to Europe. -
In the year 1838, Mr. William H. Appleton became a
partner with his father, the firm then becoming D. Apple-
ton & Co. About this time I first met these two gentle-
men at their then well-equipped wholesale bookstore, hav-
JD. A PPLETON & CO. 181
ing called to purchase a bill of books for H. Ivison & Co.,
for whom I was then a clerk at Auburn, N. Y. The
kindly face of Daniel Appleton is fresh in my memory as I
presented my credentials. William II. Appleton was then
twenty-four years old, and very politely introduced me to
his brother John, then a clerk and head Salesman.
The firm at that time had but a moderate list of their
own publications, but were jobbers in domestic and import-
2d books. I can remember very well the patience and per-
Suasiveness with which the head salesman wrote down my
orders.
Before his clerkship it seems Mr. John Appleton wanted
to get away from home and strike out for himself, and had
gone with his father's permission to seek his fortune in the
wilds of Michigan, and at that early day he once told
me found more wild-cat banks and fever and ague than
lucrative business. After he had been absent some time,
his father said to his brother William, ‘‘How in the world
can I get John back * I don’t like to have him so far away
in that distant western country.” William said to his
father, “I will tell you what to do Don’t pay his next
draft. ” He did not. John came back quick enough, and
soon afterward entered the store as leading clerk.
Ten years later Mr. Daniel Appleton retired from busi-
ness. He had seen the house which he had founded and
which had grown rich and prosperous under his manage-
ment, established on a solid basis. He desired that his
name should be retained in the firm as long as it lasted.
At his request his son William promised never to sign a
check or a note without the name ‘‘Daniel Appleton ’’
written in full, and that promise has been faithfully kept
up to the present time.
The firm was re-organized the same year with William
II. Appleton at its head, and his brothers John A. and Daniel
Sidney associated with him as partners. Mr. D. Sidney
Appleton first represented the house in Europe, giving
much satisfaction to the firm by his intelligent manage-
182 - D. APPLETON & CO.
ment of the firm’s interests abroad for several years. On
inis return he took charge of the manufacturing depart-
ment after they established their own printing-house and
bindery. The year following Daniel Appleton died, deeply
lamented by all who had the pleasure of his personal
acquaintance. He did not live to see the colossal propor-
tions of the present firm, now so widely known both in
Europe and America,
One summer afternoon, in the year 1857, I was riding
towards home on the Hudson River Railroad. Mr. William
H. Appleton, who was a fellow-passenger and resident of
the same town, showed me the first printed pages of the
first volume of a new Cyclopedia which his house proposed
to publish in sixteen large octavo volumes. As so great an
enterprise required a good deal of money, I suggested to
Mr. Appleton that this was a pretty big undertaking for
the times, as we were then in what was called the panic
year. Mr. Appleton thought they could stand it, blue as
the outlook was for business, and stand it they did, and
stood it they have without a day’s interruption in their
prosperous career, although in that year many banks and
large busines; houses failed. Mr. George Ripley and Mr.
Charles A. Dana were to be the editors, and the New
American Cyclopedia was completed in sixteen volumes
in about six years, notwithstanding the interruption of
business by the great Civil War. Of this Cyclopédia
tens of thousands of sets were sold. Fifteen years later,
the firm decided, in consequence of the great changes
made by the wars of Europe and Anerica in geographical
boundaries and political conditions, as well as of the great
advances made in the scientific world, to re-issue the cyclo-
pedia with the modified title of the “American Cyclo-
pedia,” which, like the old cyclopedia, was to be completed
in sixteen volumes, under the same editorship, but, unlike
that edition, fully illustrated with over six thousand en-
gravings and maps.
The same year, 1872, I became manager of the bound
L). APPLETON & CO. 183
book subscription department of the firm. Mr. William
H. Appleton, who may be called the literary father of the
“American Cyclopedia,” said to me one day, “Derby,
we’re going to publish a new edition of the cylopedia, as
you are already aware, which will cost probably not less
than half a million. Do you think you can swing it in your
department P* I told him I thought I could. He said he
doubted it, but that I might try. And try I did, and suc-
ceeded, I believe, to the satisfaction of the firm as well as
myself. The work was published in bi-monthly volumes
and completed in 1876. Each volume cost the publishers
more than thirty thousand dollars, and the completed work
over half a million dollars, not counting the manufacture
of the books. Of course no house, except one of large
resources, could carry out such an undertaking and wait
long for the return of the investment on so large an outlay.
This revised edition of Appleton’s American Cyclo-
pedia has already reached a sale of more than a million
and a half of volumes. The average price being six dollars
per volume. A valuable analytic index supplements the
work, which is spoken of elsewhere.
The “American Annual Cyclopedia” was begun in the
year 1861, and has been continued ever since, under the
editorship of the late Judge William J. Tenney, who died
the past year. This work is uniform in size and price with
the American Cyclopedia, and is a complete record of
the important events occurring throughout the world each
year. Neither this work nor that of the American Cyclo-
pedia could be undertaken without a loss to the publishers
if they depended on their sale in the book-stores. It was
absolutely necessary to make the sales strictly by subscrip-
tion through canvassing agents, and even then, in order to
realize a handsome profit, the installment system was
adopted.
In the year 1865, Mr. George S. Appleton, another
brother, who had been a publisher and bookseller in Phila-
delphia, was admitted into the firm. He was an educated
1S4 D. APPLETON & CO.
gentleman of fine artistic taste, to whom the world is
indebted for those magnificent works published by the firm
—Picturesque America, Picturesque Europe, and Picº
turesque Palestine. Each of these works required an in-
vestment of about a quarter of a million of dollars.
Picturesque America was edited by William Cullen Bryant
and Oliver B. Bunce, the latter having full charge of the
artistic and literary department of the work. Picturesque
Europe was edited by Bayard Taylor, who also wrote some
of the descriptive letterpress. All these works continue
to sell largely and by subscription only. Mr. W. W. Apple-
ton, the Senior member’s oldest son, became a partner in
1868. He is now the recognized manager of the firms
large business.
Mr. George S. Appleton died in 1878 at the age of fifty-
seven, and in his death I lost a good and valued friend.
William H. Seward's Travels around the World, which was
secured by me for publication by D. Appleton & Co., had I
believe the largest sale of any book of travels ever published
in the United States and perhaps in Europe. The pub-
lishers have paid the estate of Mr. Seward more than
$50,000 of copyright on the sales of this book.
General Sherman's Memoirs written by himself reached
a sale of 60,000 copies, notwithstanding the General would
not allow it sold except in the bookstores. I personally
undertook to explain to him the probable increased sale of
the work if sold by canvassers only, but the General said
he had a horror of book agents, and would neither patronize
them nor have his book sold by them. I have no doubt
the sale would have been doubled at least had it been sold
by subscription only. I fear the General was never cut out
for a subscription book-publisher.
Webster’s spelling-book published by this house has pro-
bably had a larger sale than any other book ever published
except the Bible. More than fifty million copies have been
sold, and the sale even now is fully a million copies per year.
They are distributed mostly in the Southern States. This
D. AIPPLETON & CO. 185
book is fitted to the comprehension of the freedmen in the
south who are probably attracted a good deal by the blue
covers, possibly reminding them of the boys in blue who
freed them.
In works of fiction I believe that D. Appleton & Co.
have never published an American novel which has made
what is called a decided hit—in other words, where the sale
has reached tens of thousands. -
The two most popular novels published by them were
Lothair by Disraeli, and Mme. Muhlbach’s “Joseph II.
and His Court.” The contract for Lothair was made by
cable at an expense of £250, the author sending an advance
copy which thus forestalled competing publishers. The
firm hesitated whether to print one or two thousand copies.
They finally settled upon printing two thousand, and what
was their surprise when orders came pouring in until the
sale had reached 80,000 copies. Disraeli was greatly
pleased with the success and wrote a letter of thanks to the
publishers for the successful way it was brought before the
American public.
Mme. Muhlbach’s novels had been offered to almost
every publisher in New York and refused. The year the
civil war closed, Mr. W. W. Appleton, while travelling in
the south, purchased a copy of Joseph II. and His Court.
It was translated by Mme. A. de Chaudron, a resident of
Mobile. The book had been printed and published there
on wretched straw paper, and copyrighted in the Confeder-
ate States. Mr. Appleton was greatly interested in reading
the book, and on returning home recommended the firm to
publish it. It proved to be a great commercial success, and
was followed up by succeeding volumes by the same author,
all of which were immensely popular.
There were two marked events in the history of the
publications of D. Appleton & Co. The first occurred
about the year 1840, when that firm began to publish books
of what was called the Tractarian School. They first
issued Tract No. 90, by Rev. Dr. Pusey. This was followed
186 D. AIPPLETON & CO.
by a large number of volumes by Rev. Drs. Newman, Man-
ning, Maurice, Palmer and others. The publication of
these books produced great excitement in the religious
world. The firm were induced to publish them by Rev.
Dr. Whittingham, then professor in the Theological Semi-
Inary in this city. They were fiercely condemned by leading
influential Protestants for publishing such books, believing
that they had a tendency to proselyte to the Church of
Rome, which, indeed, was true in many cases. The Rev.
Dr. Manning, among others, became a Roman Catholic,
and is now an English cardinal ; while others, influenced
by these writers, were turned from the Presbyterian and
other orthodox churches to the Episcopal Church, which
really was the object of Dr. Whittingham in recommending
their publication.
The other event referred to was the publication of books
in another direction, viz.: the works of Darwin, Spencer,
Huxley, Tyndall and others of that class, which began to
attract much attention from the Christian world. The
religious press especially Warned the public against them.
Mr. William H. Appleton informed me that many well-
meaning, influential Christian gentlemen came to him per-
sonally and entreated him not to publish these works. A
letter was addressed to him by T)r. Whittingham, who had
become bishop of Maryland, warning him that for publish-
1ng the works of Darwin and others he would be punished
in this world and in the world to come. Mr. Appleton
wrote him in reply, asking him if he was also to be held
responsible for the effect of the Pusey books, which were
published under his (the bishop’s) influence, and which had
turned to Rome some Protestants, both clergymen and lay-
men, in the Episcopal Church in our own country as well
as in Europe. Mr. Appleton took the ground, and very
properly, I think, that a publisher's imprint is not an in-
dorsement of the contents of the book, any more than the
editor of an influential paper is responsible for the opinion
of a correspondent. The duty of a publisher of books
I). APPLETON & CO. 187
clearly involves proper watchfulness that nothing innmoral,
improper or irreligious should appear in the books pub-
lished, and there the responsibility ends. Even Darwin,
who gave the name to the Darwinian theory, was eulo-
gized at his death by most of the clergy, and was buried
by the English Church in Westminster Abbey, where his
remains now lie. And yet, strange as it may now appear,
the firm suffered for years from the stigma cast upon them
for having published Darwin’s works.
It was through Professor E. L. Youmans, so well known
in the scientific world, that the house of D. Appleton & Co.
became the publishers of the works of Spencer, Tyndall,
Huxley, Darwin, Lecky, and other advanced thinkers who
have become so popular in this country. In the absence of
an international copyright law the works of these authors
had become the ready prey of any American publisher who
thought he could cover expenses and make a slight profit
by their publication. While other foreign writers were paid
enormous prices for books, many of which had no merit
except their transient popularity, these valuable and endur-
ing Works, involving the toil of years, were stolen with
perfect impunity. Indignant at this injustice, and confi-
dent that these works if properly presented before the pub-
lic would have a ready sale, Mr. Youmans, having secured
the promise of D. Appleton & Co. to pay for them the
same that American authors received, if their sale would
justify it, at once entered into a correspondence with some
of the most eminent foreign scientific writers to secure their
books for publication here. In carrying out these negotia-
tions he made no less than six trips to Europe at his own
expense, and in order to make these works known and fa-
cilitate their sale he devoted much time to the writing of
critical reviews. The success which attended his efforts is
well known to the literary world. The publication of the
works of Herbert Spencer and other scientists by the Ap-
pletons gave rise to a feeling of alarm among some of the
Evangelical people as to their skeptical tendency, and some
188 D. APPLETON & CO.
distinguished writers and preachers expostulated with the
firm as has already been stated for lending their imprint
to such supposed infidel books. Although the members
of the house were very strong church people they felt that
they were not injuring the cause of Christianity by letting
the world know what these scientific thinkers had to say.
Prof. Draper’s History of the Conflict of Science and Re-
ligion enjoys the distinction of having been anathematized
by the Pope and translated into nearly every language on
the face of the earth. -
Professor Youmans has always been an enthusiastic
Supporter of any efforts to popularize science, and with this
end in view, was instrumental in establishing Appleton’s
Popular Science Monthly, which is well known as a journal
devoted to scientific information for the people. Of this
periodical Mr. Youmans has continued to be the editor,
assisted by his brother Dr. W. J. Youmans; from its forma-
tion to the present day it has been a great commercial suc-
cess. Professor Youmans has still farther earned the
gratitude of learned writers by his success in organizing
the International Scientific Series, which by voluntary
agreements secures payment to authors from all countries
who thus reap the advantages of an international copyright
law.
The latest literary success is McMaster’s History of
the People of the United States. A short time since, I
said to Mr. Appleton that I had heard that the book had
been rejected and afterwards accepted. He replied, “The
author sent the book to us for examination and it was
given to our readers who did not report favorably, but ex-
pressed grave doubts of its success if published, It passed
through several hands, as we had some doubts about under-
taking a new history of the United States, being already
the publishers of Bancroft's. We at last gave it to a very
distinguished litterateur and he denounced it, writing an
unfavorable criticism on it. After this, the matter was dis-
cussed somewhat earnestly all around and I proposed to take
D. APPLETON & CO. 189
the manuscript up to my house in the country. It so hap-
pened that on the evening when I took it home with me,
all of the family and several visitors, ladies and gentlemen,
were engaged in reading. After reading a portion of the
MS. I said, ‘ I should like very much if you would let me
read some of the passages from this book ; I would like
your opinion of them.” Mrs. Appleton said, ‘Now don’t
do any such thing ; we are all interested in our books and
don’t want to hear you read from a manuscript.’ Said I,
* Permit me for one moment. If I can’t hold your atten-
tion I’ll give up.’ They all assented, the family especially.
I began to read and kept on reading ; not a voice was heard
but my own. I read on for over two hours, when it was
necessary for me to call for water to clear my throat. They
all pronounced it the most remarkable and most interesting
book they had ever listened to. I continued on after that,
and in the morning put it under my arm, brought it down
to the city and said to the firm, ‘We will publish the
book. Find out where the author is.’ He appeared in a
few days, and proved to be a Professor of Engineering at
Princeton. The book was finally published and a large
sale was almost immediate. I recollect asking Mr. Charles
A. Dana if he had read the book, as I had not seen any
notice of it in his paper. ‘ Read it ! why, I have read
nothing else since I began it !’”
Space will not allow me to speak of the large number
of valuable school-books published by this firm. The mam-
moth factory in Williamsburg, where all their books are
manufactured, employs over six hundred hands.
William Matthews, who has been for so many years at the
head of the bindery, is the author of the interesting article
on “Book-binding” in the American Cyclopedia. His
reputation as master binder of books is universal. When
booksellers advertise elegant and costly books and state
that they are “bound by Matthews” it means with them
the perfection of book-binding.
Soon after the close of the war, when Rev'd J. W.
190 D. APPLETON & CO.
Beckwith became Bishop of Georgia, Mr. William H.
Appleton (who had been his personal friend for many
years) suggested to the Bishop that he would like to com-
memorate his going to Georgia by building for him an
Orphan Home to cost ten thousand dollars. Afterwards,
however, Mr. Appleton, with the Bishop’s hearty concur-
rence, determined to build a Church Home for orphan
girls, daughters of Confederate soldiers. It was to be built
wherever the Bishop fixed his episcopal residence, which
was finally located at Macon, Georgia. The contribution
towards the building was $12,500, with a subsequent endow-
ment of $10,000, the interest of which goes towards the
support of the school. The young Orphans are taught all
kinds of house-work, and are given a plain English educa-
tion. The House is in charge of deaconesses of the Order
of St. Katherine, so named in memory of Mr. Appleton’s
eldest daughter, who had recently died in China. Over
the front entrance is the inscription “ The Appleton
Church Home.” -
Mr. Daniel Appleton was admitted as a partner in 1880”
—his father, John A. Appleton, died on the 13th day of
July, 1881. I had known him for forty-three years of his
business life, and during his later years, I might say inti-
mately. His influence upon me was certainly greater than
that of any other man then living, and in his death I lost
my truest friend. He was revered for his unostentatious
piety, and noted for his sterling integrity of character. In
speaking of him after his death, his brother William said
to me, “John was the best of all of us in religion and
morality; he could not help being a Christian.” One who
knew him well writes: “There were several points in Mr.
Appleton’s character which deserve to be noted. He was
first of all, a devout, consistent Christian, one who was
neither ashamed nor afraid to acknowledge his faith and
* His brother Edward C. Appleton was also admitted Jan. 1st,
1884. -
• D. ATPPLETON & CO. 191
trust in his Saviour, and one who strove to remember
always that he was a steward of God, placed in charge of
large means and opportunities for promoting the spread of
the Gospel and the happiness of his fellow men And he
continued steadfast in this faith, and, when the summons
came, he laid down the burden of life with firm, unwaver-
ing confidence in the mercy of our Heavenly Father in and
through Christ Jesus our Lord.” He was for many years
senior warden of St. John’s Church Clifton, and was one
of its largest benefactors. It may, indeed, be called his
monument. A mural tablet has been erected in the church
of his affections, commemorating his quiet life of faith and
service as a Christian. It was given by the members of
the church, his friends, and the employees in his busi-
IneSS.
In admirable keeping with this inner life of faith Mr.
Appleton always proved himself to be a gentleman of the
truest type. He was uniformly courteous and considerate
toward others, never wounding the feelings of any one,
however obscure or lowly his lot, and always ready with a
pleasant word and kindly act. Though of a rather nervous
temperament, and disliking everything of the nature of
parade or show, he was fond of congenial Society, and took
delight in dispensing cordial and unostentatious hospital-
ity at his beautiful residence on Staten Island. He was a
lover of home and home pleasures, and, as he had been
Specially favored and happy in his marriage, he made his
home the central point of quiet and peaceful enjoy-
ment.
As a basiness man Mr. Appleton was deservedly esteem-
ed, and an honor to the name. He took his full share in
upholding the high reputation which the house of D.
Appleton & Co. has always sustained for integrity and fair-
ness in their wast business transactions.
In the costly and beautiful church edifice which I have
mentioned the following inscription is recorded :
192 D. APPLETON & CO.
THIS TABLET
IS EIRECTED CONJOINTLY BY THE MEMBERS OF
ST. JoHN’s CHURCH AND THE FRIENDS, ATTACHES,
AND EMPLOYES OF THE FIRM OF
D. APPLETON & CO., NEW YORK,
TO COMMEMORATE
AND KEEP IN GRATEFUL REMEMBRANCE
THE LIFE AND SERVICES OF
J O H. N. A D A M S A PPL ET O N
FOR MANY YEARS A WARDEN OF THIS CHURCH
AND AN UNTIRING FRIEND AND
PATRON OF EVERY GOOD AND RIGHTEOTPS CAUSE.
HE WAS BORN AT BoSTON, MASS., JANY. 9TH, 1817,
DIED AT HIS COUNTRY SEAT, RAVENNA, STATEN ISLAND,
JULY 13TH, 1881.
“Mark the perfect man and observe the upright for the end of that
man is peace.”
WIII.
(#E0RGE RIPLEY AND CHARLES A. DANA.
Mr. Dana suggests a new Cyclopedia—Becomes, acăth
George Ripley, Editor in chief—“A walking Cyclo-
pedia, ’’—The American Cyclopedia illustrated— Quar-
ter of a million dollars copyright—Literary Editor
of the Tribune—Death of Mr. Ripley—Only Poem
ever written by him—Mr. Dana Assistant Secretary
of War—Return to Journalism—Purchases the Vevo
York Sun—Dana's Household Book of Poetry—“The
Sun which shines for all.”
THE greatest literary enterprise ever undertaken and
accomplished in America, is undoubtedly the Ameri-
can Cyclopedia, which is referred to in a sketch of the pub-
lishers elsewhere. Rev. O. B. Frothingham, in his “Life
of George Ripley,” says, “That the project of such a work
was conceived by the late Rev. Dr. Hawks.” This is incor-
rect, as shown by the supplementary volume of the Cyclo-
pedia published since Dr. Ripley's death. The New Ameri-
can Cyclopedia in fact, was first suggested to Mr. William
H. Appleton by Charles A. Dana while they were attend-
ing the celebration of the opening of the Chicago and Rock
Island Railroad in the year 1855.
Five large steamboats were filled by prominent capital-
ists and other excursionists on that occasion. The event
was considered sufficiently important for Mr. Appleton to
propose to Mr. Dana to write a full account of the affair
for publication, with suitable illustrations.
Mr. Dana then said to Mr. Appleton, “The best thing
9 - [193]
194 GEORGE RIPLEY AND CHIARLES A. DANA.
for you to do, is to publish instead a Cyclopedia, as ‘Dr.
Francis Lieber's Encyclopedia Americana’ is out of date,
and there is a great need of a good American Cyclopedia to
be completed in fifteen or sixteen volumes.” Mr. Appleton
told Mr. Dana he would consider the matter, but nothing
more came of it until the year following, when Mr. Dana
called on Mr. Appleton and repeated what he had said
before, adding, that he was ready to undertake the editor-
ship of such a work.
The firm of D. Appleton & Co., then concluded an ar-
rangement with Mr. Dana, by which they agreed to pay
him a royalty of twelve and one-half cents on each volume
or two dollars the set, in consideration of his editing the
work. After this agreement was consummated Mr. Dana
went to Mr. George Ripley, who at that time was an asso-
ciate editor on The New York Tribune, and proposed that
he should unite as co-editor and share with him equally
the labors and profits of the enterprise.
Dr. Ripley very readily accepted this proposition, and
thus was formed the partnership of the editors in chief of
the New American Cyclopedia. They immediately associ-
ated with them the ablest assistants in every department of
literature obtainable.
Mr. Ripley applied himself more diligently, perhaps, in
directing the progress of the work, in consideration cf
which, he was paid an additional sum by the publishers.
Mr. Dana, however, probably wrote more articles than his
coadjutor.
Both were ripe scholars, familiar with several languages
and all cyclopedias. Probably there could not have been
selected two men so eminently fitted for the work. Their
corps of associate and assistant editors were men of mark
in the various departments of literature. Among others
may be named the late Robert Carter, also Michael Heil-
prin, J. R. G. Hassard and Francis A. Teall.
Horace Greeley once said that the article “United
States,” written by Robert Carter for the Cyclopedia, was
GEORGE RIPLEY AND CHARLES A. DANA. 195
the ablest presentation of that subject he had ever read.
Mr. Heilprin was called the “Walking Cyclopedia” of the
staff; his erudition in matters relating to history, geogra-
phy and philosophy was astonishing, even to the minutest
details. He is probably to-day one of the best Hebrew
scholars in the world. He is at home as well in other Ori-
ental tongues, writing and speaking no less than twelve of
these languages.
Francis A. Teall is another remarkable man. He is a
practical proof-reader and a grammarian who well under-
stands the proper construction of sentences as well as an
adept in Orthography. Think of one man reading every
page, indeed every line in both editions of the cyclopedia,
even to the punctuation 1 Mr. Hassard is and has been
connected with the New York Tribune ever since the cyclo-
pedia was projected and wrote perhaps as large a number
of articles as any other contributor, on subjects on which
he was well informed.
In 1872 a revised edition of the cyclopedia was com-
menced by the same editors, the title being modified by
omitting the word “New.” The American Cyclopedia
was completed in 1876. Among the revisers were Willard
Bartlett, recently elected judge of Supreme Court, Edward
L. Burlingame, now connected with C. Scribner’s Sons,
Hon. T. M. Cooley, LL.D., Prof. John C. Dalton, Eaton S.
Drone, Prof. Austin Flint, Prof. T. Stery Hunt, Prof. Chas.
A. Joy, Prof. J. A. Spencer, Richard A. Proctor, Alfred
H. Guernsey, John G. Shea, LL.D., I. D. Weitelle, A.M.,
Rev. Bernard O’Reilly, D.D., Prof. T. J. Conant, who sub-
sequently prepared a complete index to the sixteen volumes,
and John D. Champlin, Jr., who had the editorship of
over six thousand maps and illustrations, which appeared
for the first time in this edition.
To Prof. Conant, the eminent Hebrew scholar, was
submitted all the articles on theology and the different re-
ligions for verification.
The publishers have already paid a royalty of more than
196 GEORGE RIPLEY AND CHARLES A. DANA.
one hundred thousand dollars each to Mr. Dana and Mr.
Ripley and the latter's estate, -
Mr. Ripley was first prominently known in the literary
world by the publication of “Specimens of Foreign Litera-
ture,” in fourteen volumes. They were known to book-
sellers in 1840 as “Ripley’s Foreign Classics.”
I first became acquainted with Dr. Ripley soon after
his connection with the New York Tribune in the capacity
of literary critic, in the year 1849, a department in journal-
ism created by him and which post he held with such con-
summate ability to the day of his death.
Soon after my removal to New York, in 1853, I engaged
Dr. Ripley, on a stipulated Salary, to become a reader of
MSS. submitted to me for publication. His critical judg-
ment was most excellent, and I generally accepted for pub-
lication such books as he recommended. Curious enough,
the amount paid him was the same that he received annu-
ally from the Tribune for services five years previous.
The following verses, which appeared in the Christian
Eacaminer in May, 1847, are the only lines, so far as is
known, he ever wrote :
“THE ANGELS OF THE PAST.”
“My buried days l—in bitter tears
- I sit beside your tomb,
And ghostly forms of vanished years
Flit through my spirit's gloom.
“In throngs around my soul they press,
They fill my dreamy sight
With visions of past loveliness,
And shapes of lost delight.
“Ilike Angels of the Lord they move
Each on his mystic way,+
These blessed messengers of love,
These heralds of the day.
GEORGE RIPLEY AND CHARLES A. DANA. 197
“And as they pass, the conscious air
Is stirred to music round,
And verily a murmur of harmonious prayer
Is breathed along the ground.
“And sorrow dies from out my heart,
In exhalations sweet, .
And the bands of life which she did part
In blessed union meet.
“The past and future o'er my head
Their sacred grasp entwine,
And the eyes of all the holy dead
Around, before me shine.
“And I rise to life and duty,
From nights of fear and death,
With a deeper sense of beauty,
And fuller strength of faith.”
The following, which were found among his papers,
copied in his own handwriting, will illustrate the nature
and character of the man :
“My days among the dead are past;
Around me I behold
Where e'er these casual eyes are cast,
The mighty minds of old.
My never-failing friends are they,
With whom I converse day by day.
“My hopes are with the dead; anon
My place with them will be,
And I with them shall travel on
Through all futurity;
Yet leaving here a name I trust,
That shall not perish in the dust.”
After Mr. Dana left the Tribune he became for two years
the Assistant Secretary of War under Secretary Stanton,
where he did good and effective service in his official capa-
198 GEORGE RIPLEY AND CHAIRLIES A. DANA.
city while with the advance lines of the army, securing
thereby the approbation of President Lincoln and the War
Department. -
After the close of the war he returned to journalism,
and, assisted by some prominent capitalists, purchased the
New York Sun, for the sum of one hundred and seventy-
five thousand dollars. The paper at that time was not in
a flourishing condition. Mr. Dana’s Scholarship and great
administrative capacity, in conjunction with Mr. I. W.
Lngland’s well known executive ability, has made this
journal, with a daily circulation of considerably over one
hundred thousand, not only a power among the people, but
a source of great profit to the editor-in-chief, whose last
achievement, recently announced in his paper, is the en-
gagement of each of the foremost writers of fiction, Henry
James, W. D. Howells and Bret Harte, to write a novelette,
soon to appear in the Sunday edition of the Sun, in which
paper Mr. Dana makes a specialty of literary matters.
The elaborate reviews of Mr. M. W. Hazeltine in that
issue are of such marked ability that they have recently
been published in book form by Charles Scribner’s Sons.
In 1856, Mr. Dana collected and edited a Volume of
“Household Poetry,” which has passed through numerous
editions. It is highly commended by Mr. Bryant and Mr.
Whittier, both of whom have edited similar volumes of
Anthology. The following preface indicates the scope and
character of the book.
“The purpose of this book is to comprise within the
bounds of a single volume, whatever is truly beautiful and
admirable among the minor poems of the English language. ,
In executing this design, it has been the constant endeavor
of the editor to exercise a catholic as well as severe taste,
and to judge every piece by its poetical merit only, without
regard to name, nationality or epoch of its author. Espec-
ial care has also been taken to give every poem entire and
unmutilated, as well as in the most authentic form which
could be procured ; although the earliest edition of an
GEORGE RIPLEY AND CHARLES A. DANA. 199
author has sometimes been preferred to a later one in
which the alterations have not always seemed to be improve-
ments.
. “The arrangement of the book will be seen to be some-
what novel, but it is hoped that it may be found convenient
to the reader and not altogether devoid of aesthetic con-
gruity. The editor flatters himself that in classifying so
many immortal productions of genius according to their
own ideas and motives, rather than according to their
chronology, the nativity and sex of their authors or any
other merely external order, he has exhibited the incom-
parable richness of our language in this department of
literature, quite as successfully as if he had followed a
method more usual in such collections.
That every reader should find in these pages, every one
of his favorite poems, is, perhaps too much to expect ; but
it is believed that of those on which the unanimous verdict
of the intelligent has set the seal of indisputable greatness,
none, whether of English, Scotch, Irish or American origin,
will be found wanting. At the same time, careful and pro-
longed research, especially among the writers of the seven-
teenth century and in the current receptacles of fugitive
poetry, has developed a considerable store of treasures
hitherto less known to the general public than to scholars
and limited circles. Of these a due use has been made in
the confident belief that they will not be deemed unworthy
of a place with their more illustrious companions in a book
which aspires to become the familiar friend and companion
of every household.”
John G. Whittier, in his “Songs of Three Centuries “
says, “Dana’s Household Book of Poetry is no misnomer,”
and in his opinion able critics coincide.
Mr. Dana has the ability, but neither time nor taste to
write books; he much prefers to illuminate the minds of
the people through the medium of the “Sun which shines
for all.”
IX.
ROBERT BONNER,
Founding the Ledger—A Million Dollars Paid for Ad-
vertising—His Country Seat for Sale, Mosquitos,
Jſever and Ague included—His Pluck and Persistency
Captures Fanny Fern—— Brilliant List of Contribu-
tors—Pays Henry Ward Beecher $30,000 for writing.
“Norwood”—Fanny Ferns’ Child and Grandchild
Contributors—Bonner's Liberality to Authors—His
Novel Way of Advertising—The Ledger Captures
Fletcher Harper’s Children—Bowner's Two Mottoes—
His Test of Authors by their M.S.— Why he Drives
Past Horses—Generous Aid to Mr. Beecher. .
IN the year 1851, Mr. Robert Bonner became owner of
the Merchants' Ledger, a paper mostly devoted to com-
mercial interests, a portion, however, being made up of
stories and poetry for the family. It had not, at that time,
a large circulation, but was supported mainly by advertising
patronage. On Mr. Bonner's assuming control of the
paper, his ingenious method of advertising, which was
entirely novel in those days, immediately began to attract
attention, but notwithstanding this faculty of his, he soon
decided to make it exclusively a family story paper under
the name of the New York Ledger, and gave notice to each
advertiser as his contract expired of his intended purpose.
I was one of the hast to go, and wondered at the time, how
he could expect to make money without the advertising
|200] -
4…......

ROBERT BONNER. 201
patronage which is usually necessary to sustain any paper :
but Robert Bonner knew what he was about. From the
first issue of the New York Ledger, March 1856, until the
present time, Mr. Bonner has never admitted to its columns
a single advertisement of any kind, although he became the
most famous advertiser in America. The display of adver-
tisements in the different periodicals became the Wonder of
thousands of readers, and made the Ledger the best known
paper published. He has paid alone to the Newspaper
Advertising Agency of S. M. Pettingill & Company, about
a million of dollars for advertising the Wew York Ledger.
In stating that Mr. Bonner admitted no advertisements
in the columns of the Wew York Ledger, I should, perhaps,
make an exception of the following, taken from the New
York Sun, of September 18, 1877, which was also copied
in the Ledger. It attracted a great deal of attention at the
time, it being strikingly characteristic of the honesty and
Quiet humor of its author :
‘‘ AN EIONEST AL) VERTISEMENT.
“The Board of Health have just divulged the following adver-
tisement of Mr. Bonner's country place in Westchester County,
prepared by him and intended to be published last autumn, but
withheld at the solicitation of his neighbors, who were afraid it
might injure the value of property there. It was elicited by the
Board of Health, in their off.cial investigation of the ice-pond
matter at West Morrisania, and is a part of the evidence in that
CàSé
“A Country SEAT FoR SALE where. THERE IS FEveR AND
AGUE.—I hereby offer for sale, my country residence, at West
Morrisania, near Melrose Station, where I have lived for the past
three summers, but do not think I could live much longer. I have
heard that people looking for a place to purchase, could never find
one where they have chills and fever —they always have it about a
mile, a mile and a half or two miles off, but never right there, at .
the place that is for sale. Now I offer for sale a curiosity, some-
thing rare, the precise, exact spot where the fever and ague is. I
will warrant it to be tiere. Three of my children have it; my
gardener has it; my groom has the sure premenitory symptoms
2()2 ROBERT BON NIER.
and I have a sufficient inkling of it myself. Any doctor, with a
large family, who has a specific for fever and ague, would find
this a most eligible situation; the neighborhood is full of the
disease, and if he could keep it out of his own family, it would
give him a reputation which would insure his fortune. Besides
the fever and ague, the estate consists of a fine double house, with
all modern conveniences and improvernents, such as hot and cold
water, furnace, range, &c., and about two acres of land, with a
pretty fair barn and some good box stalls for good horses. It is
really a beautiful place. The grounds are handsomely laid out,
and covered with trees and shrubbery of the choicest kind. These
trees afford not only a delightful shade, but a nice harbor for
mosquitoes. The mosquitoes thus far have not been so much
affected by the fever and ague as to prevent their biting. In fact
it is a good place for mosquitoes. I bought it to please my wife,
and shall leave it to please my whole family. Terms: cash. I am
afraid any security on it would get the fever and ague, and become
shaky. Those wishing to purchase will please apply immediately.
I want to get away from it as fast as Dexter can carry me.
“IROBERT Bon NER.
“Ledger Office, 90 Beekman Street, Sept. 18, 1877.
“P. S. —The town authorities have begun to make alterations
in the street adjoining, and if they drain the place as well as they
do the pockets of the landholders, it may become healthy.”
The Editor of the Sun in printing the preceding says:
“We usually charge a pretty handsome price for the in-
sertion of advertisements ; but if Mr. Bonner has any more
like this we will agree to pay full Ledger rates for the privi-
lege of publishing them.” +
Derby & Miller had recently published a very popular
volume by Fanny Fern entitled Fern Leaves from Fanny’s
Portfolio. This book as I have said elsewhere, became
immensely popular and was all the rage among the book-
buying public. Mr. Bonner decided to secure a story from
that popular authoress, if possible. His first offer to her
was twenty-five dollars a column for a story. She declined
this offer, when he made a second offer of fifty dollars a
column. This offer failed to tempt her. He was still un-
daunted, and proposed seventy-five dollars a column, but
ROBERT L () N N ER. 203
with the same results; the last offer was increased, and
Fanny Fern, greatly admiring the pluck and persistency of
the proprietor of the Ledger, finally concluded to write for
him.
Mr. Bonner without having read a line of the story,
which was entitled, “ Fanny Ford,” and made a little
over ten columns, handed the authoress a check for one
thousand dollars. This sum was a greater amount to him
at that time than one hundred thousand dollars would have
been a few years later. The Ledger soon became famous ;
Fanny Fern was secured as a regular contributor, and up
to the day of her death, her weekly contributions were
eagerly looked for by thousands of readers throughout the
civilized world.
Mr. Bonner soon secured as contributors to the columns
of the Ledger, many of the most famous writers of the day.
Among others, may be mentioned Edward Everett, to
whom he paid ten thousand dollars for the Mount Vernon
papers; George Bancroft, Horace Greeley, William Culien
Bryant, George D. Prentice, Alice and Phoebe Cary, John
G. Saxe, Henry W. Longfellow, Alfred Tennyson, Charles
Dickens, N. P. Willis, James Parton and the presidents of
the twelve leading colleges in this country. The prices
Mr. Bonner has paid for the contributions accepted by him
have been liberal in the extreme. The largest amount paid
to any writer was the sum of thirty thousand dollars,
which Henry Ward Beecher received for his novel of “ Nor-
wood.” He also paid Charles Dickens the sum of five
thousand dollars for the story “ Hunted Down,” which the
latter wrote expressly for the New York Ledger, and which
was completed in three numbers of that paper. -
IHarriet Beecher Stowe has contributed fifteen sketches
to the Ledger to which her name does not appear, but for
which she was paid liberally. Fanny Fern's daughter,
Grace, who married Mortimer Thompson, generally known
as the author of “Doesticks,” was a contributor to the
Ledger for Some time before her death, and now her
204 ROBERT BONNER.
daughter, a young lady of twenty years of age (Fanny
Fern’s grandchild), is a regular contributor to the same
paper. Thus three generations of this talented family
have contributed to the New York Ledger.
Mr. Bonner has always displayed a whole-souled liber.
ality in dealing with authors, as well as a “happy faculty "
as Alice Cary once said, “ of gathering together not only
the best writers in the varied departments of literature,
but of holding them together as one family.”
The success of the New York Ledger is undoubtedly
due to the far-sighted Sagacity of its projector and proprie-
tor, his untiring energy and his novel method of advertis-
ing. He would sometimes secure a whole page or more in
our leading daily papers on which nothing was printed
except three or four lines, recommending the public to read
Mrs. Southworth’s new story, or that of some other writer
whose story was to begin in the Ledger. He was also the
founder of the now quite common plan of publishing as an
advertisement, Several chapters of some story which ended
abruptly by the statement that the rest of the story could
be found in a certain number of the Wew York Ledger,
which of course the interested reader had to buy and con-
tinue to buy until the story was finished.
The late Fletcher Harper, at whose instance Harper’s
Weekly was established, once told Sinclair Tousey, now the
President of the American News Company, that he had to
bring the Ledger home to keep peace in the family—the
beginning of one of these continued stories having been
inserted as an advertisement in the very first number of
Harper’s Weekly.
Mr. Bonner is a self-made man in every sense of the
word. He began life as an apprentice to the printer's
trade in the office of the Hartford Courant, from whence
he removed to New York in 1844, to accept a position as
assistant foreman and proof-reader on The Wew York
Evening Mirror. The earnings which he managed to save
while thus employed and as a correspondent were expended
ROBERT BONNER. 205
in buying The Merchants' Ledger, which became finally
The New York Ledger.
The self-reliance and honesty which characterized him
in his early years, has been strictly adhered to throughout
his long and useful career. He has never given an obliga-
tion for money and never borrowed or owed a dollar. He
has two mottoes, which have guided him in his business
life ; one of which is from St. Paul, “O we no man any-
thing.” The other, from John Randolph, “Pay as
you go.”
Mr. Bonner was at one time the New York correspond-
ent of The Hartford Courant, and his letters attracted
much attention by their crisp statements of facts and lively
discussions of the topics of the times. Nothing appears in
the editorial columns of The Ledger which does not receive
his watchful attention. His ready, and in most instances,
correct judgment as to the merits of an author, are well
known. In a recent conversation with him, in which I
spoke of the advisibility of using type-writing for the copy
of authors’ manuscripts, he said to me, “Oh, pshaw, I
don’t like type-writing ; I would rather see the hand-writ-
ing of the author, as I judge by that, as well as the con-
struction of the sentences, whether the author has any
brains or not.”
“Well, what about Horace Greeley's hand-writing, how
would you judge him P” said I. He replied, “ Brains.”
Mr. Bonner is a liberal contributor to the church, sub-
scribing at one time towards the erection of Rev. Dr. John
Hall's church the sum of one hundred thousand dollars.
It is pretty generally known that Mr. Bonner has the
largest and most valuable collection of trotting horses of
any individual in this country. Among those best known
are the horses Dexter, Rarus, Edwin Forest and the mare
Pocahontas. The question has often been asked, why Mr.
Bonner has invested so much money in horse-flesh. As I
happen to know, he originally did so by thy advice of his
physician, who recommended driving as a cure for his
206 ROBERT BONNER.
over-worked body and brain. Mr. Bonner, being naturally
a great lover of horses, readily took his physician’s advice,
and once in the harness, so to Speak, his ambition to excel
in the speed of his horses was only equalled by that which
he had displayed in making the most successful family
paper known. -
His first purchase happened in this wise : The Hon.
Alexander H. Rice, then Mayor of Boston, afterwards
member of Congress and Governor of Massachusetts, dur-
ing a business call on Mr. Bonner at his office in New
York, mentioned the fact of a span of horses which were
considered the fastest then known in New England. Mr.
Bonner’s ambition was at once aroused and he authorized
Mr. Rice to purchase the team for him. This was the be-
ginning of the formation of his famous stud. By a subse-
quent purchase, he secured the horses Lantern and Light,
behind which I had the pleasure of a drive with their
owner one day to a dinner given to some friends at Yonk-
ers by the author of Sparrowgrass Papers, The distance of
fifteen miles was done in less than one hour without much
effort on a heavy road.
Mr. Bonner now has a large number of horses which he
values at not less than a quarter of a million of dollars.
He paid for Dexter thirty-five thousand dollars, for Rarus
thirty-six thousand dollars, and for Pocahontas forty
thousand dollars. -
The time made by Rarus in the year 1878, wiped out
all previous records of trotting horses, first horse two min-
utes thirteen seconds and a quarter. Mr. Bonner has
to-day three times as many horses that can trot in two
minutes and thirty seconds as there were in the whole
Country twenty-five years ago. He takes no stock in horse-
racing ; and it is to his infinite credit, that his horses have
never been allowed to run for any kind of stake. He de-
rives great pleasure in showing his elegant stables to his
friends, as well as in driving his fast flyers.
In the year 1859 I learned incidentally from Mrs.
*y
ROBERT BONNER. 2(j7
Beecher, that her husband was Sorely perplexed about a
mortgage of ten thousand dollars on his house in Brooklyn
long past due. It seemed strange to me that there were
not rich men enough in Plymouth Church to relieve their
pastor of his burden. I mentioned this circumstance to
Robert Bonner, who was surprised, and said it was a shame
that a man of Mr. Beecher’s greatness should thus be
trammeled by debt. Bonner like, he said, with his usual
prompt decision that he would pay off the mortgage, and
the only condition was secrecy. He drew a check for the
amount, but as that could not be kept a secret, he canceled
it, and handed me the currency, which I deposited with
John E. Williams, then president of the Metropolitan
Bank. He was the only custodian of the Secret except
Mrs. Beecher, and this generous act of Mr. Bonner is now
first made public. When I carried the tidings to Mr.
Beecher, he was overcome by emotion. I can never forget
Mr. Beecher’s few words of grateful recognition as he
pressed my hand.
The circulation of the New York Ledger has reached
as high as three hundred and fifty thousand copies per
week and still continues to be a source of great profit to its
owner, who now, in the enjoyment of excellent health and
the society of his friends, is taking all the comfort his well
earned millions can bring.
NotE.—Mr. Bonner has recently purchased the famous trotter, Maud S.
from William H. Wanderbilt, for the princely sum of forty thousand dol-
lars. In a letter to George H. Stuart, of Philadelphia, declining to permit
Maud S. to be exhibtied at the Fair of the Pennsylvania State Agricultur-
al Society, Mr. Bonner, in speaking of the propriety of allowing speedy
horses to show their natural powers, said: “I once put the following ques.
tions to your friend and my friend, Dr. McCosh : ‘What did the Almighty
endow swift trotting-horses with extraordinary speed for, if it was wrong to
let them indulge in their natural gait? Did He ever make anything for the
use of man of which man is bound to use a mean specimen, when he can
honestly afford to use a good one 2 If so,” I added, ‘then all you clergymen
ought to be confined to broken-down, spavined, and foundered horses.” The
great metaphysician, with a smile, replied: “Those are questions for theo-
logians, like Dr. Hodge,’ the doctor happening to be standing by his side.”
X.
FANNY FERN–JAMES PARTON.
Fanny Fern's bright and pungent Sketches—Witty, tender
and touching—Living in Destitution in Boston–A
Proposition which surprises her—Oliver Dyer, the
Friend in Weed–How Derby & Miller became her
Publishers— Why she called herself Fanny Fern—
Great success of her first Book—Soliloquy to her old
Inkstand—Fanny Fern sends Burglars after Bonner—
Wisits Beecher’s early Home—Beecher’s Recollections
of Fanny Fern's School Days—Letters to her Pub-
lisher—Supposed Portrait of her Brother, W. P. Wil-
lis—“I like you and your writings.”
URING the years 1852–3 nearly all of the newspapers in
the country were printing short, bright and pungent
paragraphs; some of them witty, others very tender and
touching, but all of them written by some unknown person
under the nom de plume of “Fanny Fern.”
As a publisher I had occasion to look over the newspa-
per exchanges quite frequently, and it occurred to me that
these sketches gathered together and published in book
form, could not fail to meet with a popular demand. I
therefore wrote to the then unknown author, addressing
her as “Fanny Fern,” and directing my letter to the care
of the Boston True Flag, for which she was a contributor.
She was at that time a myth to the public, so far as her
real name was concerned. In this letter I proposed the
publication of a volume of the sketches to be collected by
her. My proposition was to pay a royalty of ten cents per
[208]
FANNY FERN. 200
copy for all sold or one thousand dollars for the copyright.
This proposal was a great surprise to her. A year before
she had been living in destitution, her only income for the
support of herself and child consisting of the small pit-
tance of six dollars per week, the combined amounts re-
ceived by her from the two papers, the Boston Olive Branch
and the Boston True Flag, to each of which she was a
weekly contributor. -
The offer as proposed by me was entertained by her,
after consulting with her good friend, Oliver Dyer, then
publisher of the New York Musical World and Times, a
weekly paper, edited by Fanny Fern’s brother, Richard
Storrs Willis.
Mr. Dyer had previously called the attention of Mr.
Willis to these popular sketches, but neither of those gen-
tlemen were then aware that they came from the pen of
the gifted sister of Mr. Willis. The secret was finally dis-
covered through a correspondence revealing the true state
of affairs regarding her needy condition and the small
amount she was earning. Mr. Dyer without delay offered
to double the amount she was receiving, if she would
write exclusively for the Musical World and Times, the
matter to be contributed not to exceed one production each
week of her short sketches, while her contract with the
two Boston papers referred to required at least a column
per week.
Fanny Fern was both surprised and delighted at this
offer and immediately accepted it. The Boston papers, on
finding that they had lost their brilliant contributor,
sought to get her back. She referred the matter to Mr.
Dyer, and by his advice an arrangement was made whereby
she obtained a large and satisfactory increase of salary
from the Olive Branch and the True Flag, and continued
to write for them, until she removed to New York.
Other publishers soon after offered her favorable terms
to publish a volume of the then famous sketches.
Mr. Dyer advised her to accept Derby & Miller’s pro-
210 FANNY FERN.
position to pay her a royalty on each copy sold, the wisdom
of which advice was soon fully demonstrated. Subse-
quently Mr. Dyer informed me that what decided him to
recommend my firm in preference to others, was the enter-
prise and tact we showed in our advertising in the Weekly
Tribune and other papers.
I did not have the pleasure of meeting this brilliant
writer until after the publication of her first volume. I
received, however, the following characteristic letters from
her, previous to our meeting :
“New York, , 1853.
** MR. DERBY :
“DEAR SIR:—Yours and Mrs. Derby’s kind and cordial invi-
tation quite touched my heart (as you know me only through pen
and ink). I wonder if you know how pleasant it is, this personal
interest my publishers take in me ! I like it; and I like you ;
still I can’t come, and I’ll tell you why: When I first astonished
my brother” with my sudden appearance in New York, he got up
a fraternal frown, because I didn't let him know I was coming,
and because (afterward) I would not come directly to his house
with my babyt and traps.
“I took supper with him at Thomson's on Broadway the other
night, and I know from what he said he is little vexed with me
for my obduracy. Well, you see, in such a posture of affairs, if I
come to visit you, shouldn't I catch it? So you must come to New
York for all I see, and call on me—won’t you ? And in the mean-
time believe how much I thank you for an invitation which it
would give me so much real pleasure to accept. I lost my senses
at Castle Garden the other night, what with the moonlight and
the music and the glorious expanse of sky—Oh, wasn't I a happy
Fanny ? I was too happy—I didn’t know what to do with myself,
so when I got home I cried and then I felt be ter. I sha’n’t see
anything I like so well in New York, I'm sure of it, though I’ve
many things to see yet—Greenwood Cemetery for one—I shall go
there this week. My brother was charmed because I was so de-
lighted with a little unpretending church opposite his house, half
hidden by ivy and roses. It is a lovely little place, way up near
the Crystal Palace.
* Richard S. Willis. ł Her daughter Eleanor.
FANNY FERN. 211
“I saw a letter from Orton” to Dyer last week—wasn't it good
and funny ? Men write such capital things to each other. I tell
Dyer to keep it going and let me see the correspondence. Give
my regards to Mr. Miller and tell my dear Jack [a favorite dog]
that I wish he was crouching at my feet this minute. He has a
rival in a little darkie who waits and tends at the house where
I board. His name is George and he has given notice after a
week’s acquaintance with me that when I leave ‘he shall follow
me and be my waiter.” He's about twelve years old. Every
morning he presented his woolly head at my door with a bunch
of flowers—by no means badly got up either. I talk with him to
draw him out; he says “Way down on Swanee River’ is too
common / he don’t like it; “it’s a nigger tune.” I shall do him up
in an article before I get through with him. Poor little Cuffiel
“Just look in the Musical World and Times this week, will
you, and see what Dyer has written. Isn’t he keen 7 Mr. Miller
will tell you about him; he says more original things in half an
hour than I could get off in a year, and then he's good and sin-
cere and independent and dare say what he thinks—I like that ;
I hate pussy cats.
- ** FANNY FERN.”
“My DEAR SIR :
“Fanny does hope to come, before she dies, to see her kind
friends Mr. and Mrs. Derby, but is not able to stay at present,
when she has a dear little girl now in the neighborhood of Boston,
her eldest child, who is situated in this way. I told you some
time since that Mr. Eldrege's parents divided the property be-
tween my two little girls : the old gentleman died two months
since, making it a condition of them receiving the property that
the eldest was still to remain with his wife till her death. The
old lady is over eighty and her physicians say cannot live many
months. When she dies my child comes to me. That event may
happen at any moment, as the old lady is very feeble—in which
case I must go directly over to Boston to claim my child, and see
that matters are properly arranged.
“It was hard work parting from her, for her heart is knit to
mine more strongly than children's are ordinarily—by sympathy
with me in trial and sorrow. I write her often, for it is very dub,
* The late William Orton.
† Her first husband. w
212 FANNY FERN.
for her there. I shall feel unsettled till I get her with me, and
fear to move about much at present for that reason. I thank you
so much for your kindness I should like much to see you in your
pleasant home. Kiss those little house doves and tell them Auet
Fanny will come some time.
“And now about business—I am so glad my book has done so
well. I feel now as though I could lie down to sleep without
feeling that it was a waste of time—on waking up in the night
and thinking over an article for the next morning at the bidding
of some Editor. I think you are right about the profitableness of
book-writing over this newspaper dribbling—I have been ponder-
ing the same thing for some time. I am so glad Mrs. Derby
liked my school article in the O. B.-it was descriptive of a model
school in Boston—taught by an old maid where my child at-
tended. -
“It used to make me squirm to go into it and see the poor
little creatures sitting up as straight as if they were skewered—if
she don’t have to answer for a few crooked spines, my name isn't
Fanny. I wish some old bachelor would save the victims by let-
ting matrimony take the nonsense out of her. I tell you, Mr.
Derby, a woman isn't good for anything till she has been married.
Bless your dear masculine souls, she's just like half a pair of scis-
sors till some priest rivets Hymen's chain around her ; and now
make a bow ! ”
Out of a number of fictitious names from which Fanny
Fern selected her nom de plume she gives in her sketch—
“A Story about Myself”—the following interesting
account :—
“Nobody could be more astonished than I, to find myself
famous; I never dreamed of it, when I sat in a small room, at the
top of the house where I lodged ; scribbling over a sheet of coarse
foolscap with noms de plume, out of which I was to choose one for
my first article—which article I never thought of preserving, any
more than the succeeding ones, supposing my meagre pecuniary
remuneration the only reward I was to hope for. I think the
reason I selected the name ‘Tern' was beeause when a child, and
walking with my mother in the country, she always used to pluck
a leaf of it to place in her bosom, for the sweet odor, and that
FANNY FERN. 213
gloomy morning when I almost despaired of earning bread for my
children, I had been thinking of her, and wishing she were living
that I might lay my head upon her bosom and tell her all my
sorrows; and then memory carried me back, Iscarce knew how, to
those childish days when I ran before her in the woods to pluck the
sweet fern she loved, and then I said to myself my name shall he
‘Fanny Fern,” little dreaming any body would ever know or care
anything about it.”
The title of her first book was “ Fern Leaves from
Fanny's Portfolio,” of which, in less than one year's time
from date of publication, we sold over eighty thousand
copies. A second series followed within a year, and also a
juvenile, entitled, “Little Ferns for Fanny’s Little
Friends.”
The copyright paid her on these volumes amounted to
over $10,000 within two years from date of publication.
She looked upon all her successes calmly, as though it was
something which was to come to her. The manner in which
the sudden change in her circumstances affected her is best
illustrated by the following characteristic sketch in the
New York Ledger, written during the year of her removal
into her own new home, and after a competence was assured
her through her pen :
‘‘ MY OLD INEC-STAND AND I.
“Well, old Ink-stand, what do you think of this 3 Haven’t we
got well through the woods, bey & A few scratches and bruises
we have had to be sure, but what of that ? Didn't you whisper
where we should come out the first morning I dipped my pen in
your sable depths in the sky-parlor of that hyena-like Mrs. Grif-
fin 7 With what an eagle glance she discovered that my bonnet
ribbon was undeniably guilty of two distinct washings, and, em-
boldened by my shilling delaine and the shabby shoes of little
Nell, * inquired, ‘If I intended taking in slop-work into her
apartments º' How distinctly I was made to understand that Nell
was not to speak above a whisper, or in any way infringe upon the
rights of her uncombed, unwashed, unbaptized, uncomfortable
* Her youngest daughter, Eleanor.
214 FANNY FERN.
little Griffins. Poor little Nell, who clung to my gown with
childhood's instinctive appreciation of the hard face and wiry
voice of our jailor. With what venom I overheard her inform
Mr. Griffin that “They must look sharp for the rent of their sky-
parlor, as its tenants lived on bread and milk, and wore her un-
der-clothes rough dry, because she could not afford to pay for
ironing them P Do you remember that, old Ink-stand 2 And do
you remember the morning she informed me as you and I were
busily engaged in our first article that “I must come and scrub the
stairs which led to my room,” and when I ventured humbly to
mention that this was not spoken of in our agreement, do you re-
member the Siddons-like air with which she thundered in our
astonished ears, “Do it or tramp !’
“And do you remember how you vowed “If I did tramp' you
would stand by me, and keep me out of the scrape 2 and haven’t
you done it, old Ink-stand 3 And don't you wish old Griffin, and
all the little Griffins, and their likes, both big and little, here and
elsewhere, could see this bran-new house that you have helped me
into, and the dainty little table upon which I have installed you,
untempted by any new papier-maché modern marvel ? Turn my
back on you, old Ink-stand 2 Not Il Throw you aside for your
shabby exterior, as we were thrown aside when it was like draw-
ing teeth to get a solitary shilling to buy you at a second-hand
shop 8 Perish the thought !
“Yes, old Ink-stand, if Griffin, and all that crew, should see us
now, couldn’t we take the wind out of their sails 2 Couldn't we
come into their front door, instead of their ‘back gate * Didn't
they “always know that there was something in us º' We can
forgive them though, can’t we ? By the title-deed and insurance
policy of this bran new pretty house which their sneers have
helped us into, and whose doors shall always be open to those
who have cheered us on, we'll do it. Dropped many a tear into
you, have I? - • *
“Well, who cares 8 You know very well, that every rough
word aimed at my quivering ears was an extra dollar in my purse,
every rude touch of my little Nell, strength and sinew to my un-
strung nerves and flagging muscles. I say, old Ink-stand, look at
Nell now ! Does any landlady lay rough hands on those plump
shoulders ? Dare she sing and run and jump and play to her
heart's content ? Didn't you yourself buy her that hoop and stick,
and those dolls, and that globe of gold-fish ' Don't you feed and
FAN NY FERN. 215
clothe her every day of her sunshiny life : Haven't you agreed to
do it long years to come 2 And won't you teach her, as you have
Ine, to defy false friends and ill fortune 2 And won’t you be to
my little Nell, a talisman, when my eyes grow dim, and hers
brighten ? Say, old Ink-stand 8"
Her engagement with Mr. Bonner of the New York:
Ledger, was made about this time (1854), and proved to be
lucrative and permanent. Right here it will be proper to
include in these recollections of Fanny Fern some corres-
pondence she had with Mr. Bonner.
In the beginning of the year 1868 she wrote him “ that
she had been writing for the JLedger for fourteen years
without missing a week,” and added, “I must have used
up the dictionary in that time. I haven’t the courage to
examine into it at the commencement of this New Year
which I heartily hope may prove a happy one to you all.
And to tell the truth Ifeel this morning as though I needed
a little patting on the shoulder from some of you to give
me courage to write for this grand new year that is coming.
I try to be able to do you good by some word of mine each
week. Sometimes I receive letters telling me that I have
done so and that is the best and sweetest reward I could
have.”
“Ledger Office, 90 Beekman Street,
“New York, Jan. 10, 1868.
** MY DEAR FANNY :
“So you have been writing for the Ledger, according to your
article for next week, fourteen years. Can it be possible that it is
so long as that ? Well, no matter whether it is or not, it is a
good long while any way, and I enclose a check as a present
to remind you of the event; no, not exactly as a present, for you
might not like to receive it in that way, but as a compensation
for some anonymous paragraphs which I want you to write for the
Ledger whenever you may feel like it. You must frequently see
a paragraph or a sentence in the paper on which you would like
to make a few lines of comment anonymously, particularly if the
subject happens to be about husbands, wives, mothers, girls or
babies. Now I want you to make such an item occasionally with-
216 FANNY FERN.
out your feeling that you are obliged to do it—make one or two
next week or next month, next summer, next year, or now and
then as you may feel like it. -
“If you should send me no more than five during the next year
or two, I'll be satisfied, and if you should send me fifty, I'll take
them just the same. -
“Yours always,
“ROBERT BONNER.”
Having a taste for decorations Mrs. Parton (Fanny
Fern) always succeeded in making her rooms look pretty
and inviting, though made attractive with very inexpensive
articles. She had been visited by burglars five or six times,
and after one of these visits she wrote a humorous para-
graph to the Ledger as follows:— -
“This is the fifth time I have been honored by a visit from
burglars. Being an author and the wife of an author, I can never
cease wondering at this distinguishing mark of their preference.
Now if they want plunder, why not go to headquarters—to Robert
Bonner, for instance. I don’t own a Dexter, nor a Pochahontas,
and a Lantern or Light is the last thing they'd want. I have
neither cashmere shawls nor diamonds. All the silver I ever
owned they relieved me of two years since. Bonds and coupons
I am not so soft as to keep in my desk, which they invariably
turn inside out. There's nothing to pay them for a sixth visit
save our respective manuscripts which I defy them either to seli
or decipher. What there is stunning in the appearance of our
quiet domicile looked at burglar-wise I can’t imagine. Now
there's Secretary Hamilton Fish's house opposite. I don't hear
that they have done anything to that. Why don’t they give him a
turn ? There are plenty of my other neighbors who offer more
inducements than I can hold out ; why then do they always come
to me? Also, how did they know I had gone to Boston for two
days? There I was railing at the storm that kept me a prisoner at
the hotel, in the land of baked beans, while they were blessing
that same howling wind and the rattling windows which deaf-
ened the sound of their thievish footsteps. What did they take?
I'll tell you what they didn't take, for which I get on my knees to
them, whether they are in jail or out. The life of my little grand-
FAN NY FERN. 217
child,” who unsuspectingly ran up-stairs alone, to get some little
plaything, and tripped down singing to say, “She couldn't get the
closet door open.” The wretch was in there. That, taking other
gold, he left the gold that was shining on her flossy hair, is matter
of praise enough for me. -- -
“I wouldn’t lift a finger to point him out if I could, when that
soft, little breathing was so near him and he didn’t stop it for
fear of possible detection. Also I tender him my thanks for so
gently moving my ivy when he escaped out of the window, so
that not a leaf was torn from its stalk. In fact, my indignation,
I think, lighted down upon a certain official at the police station
near, who, when informed of the burglary, coolly remarked, ‘Oh,
yes; Parton's house is entered reg’lar, once a year.’”
Soon after the appearance of this article in the Ledger,
Mr. Bonner’s residence was entered and robbed, the burg-
lars Securing and carrying away all the silver in his house
and making good their escape with the booty.
On the occasion of a summer's journey, Fanny Fern
visited Litchfield, Conn., the birth-place of Henry Ward
Beecher and also the earlier home of his sister Harriet
Beecher Stowe. She thus writes to the New York Ledger
concerning the impressions she received of the place :
“I think Litchfield will do as the early home of Henry Ward
Beecher. I am inspecting its big trees, hearing its birds sing and
watching its sunsets fade, and can well understand how he came
to love all these things so well that neither his pen or his lips can
help chirping spite of the Plymouth Church creed. I can under-
stand how from the healtly ful breath of these hills came the strong
physique which is so seldom married to vigorous mentality. I
looked at the old house where he was born and felt like sitting
down there and challenging its ancient roof to tell me all about
IIarriet Stowe and Henry Ward, not the things that you and I and
all the world know, but the delicious little bits, such as the relic.
hunter delights to pick up for his cabinet, such as the surface eye
never sees or cares to see. But the old roof was silent, though
the ancient tree branches scratched it and swept over it as if to
say, “Wake up ! here is a Beecher Lover, wake up ! and give her a
* Since a regular contributor to the Ledger.
218 FAINNY FERN.
welcome, and tell her something worth coming all these miles
from New York to hear.” But the old house was leaning lazily
on one side with age and it only said, “Our work is over; be sat-
isfied with its results and cherish as I have the gifted children
who one by one have flown away from the parent nest to cheer the
heavy-hearted in cities with their song.’”
To this Mr. Beecher responded in his characteristic
style through the columns of the Ledger, as follows:
“You have done well to try a summer in Litchfield ! It will
surprise you with its charms, if you know how to discover them.
Let me give you a hint or two which I know to be matters well
founded, as I tried them more than forty years ago, yes, fiſty.
“Please go about sundown to the west side of my father's old
house, and sit down on the kitchen door-step when all the folks
have gone to meeting. Let the clock in the kitchen, one of those
old, long, loud ticking clocks, sound its measured beat, while the
frogs in the puddles to the west, if they still exist, tune up
vociferously. Then if you grow a little melancholy, sing ‘Roslyn
Castle 'till you cry, and you will have just such a good time as I
used to. . . . I am afraid those quince trees are all gone from the
north side of the house from which we used to gather barrels of
quinces, and whose early blossoms were so tender and whose
switches were so tough. Ah, those trees used to come home very
near to me ! . . . . . Of course you will often walk under the
great elms in North Street. Tell me whether they really
touch the skies, as it used to seem to me, and if they yet hold
mysterious conversation when the wind moves in their tops and
find out what it is they say, if you can, for I never could.
“Litchfield was famous for good society. I would send you
notes, but you would have to deliver them in the graveyard, always
hospitable to the dead, and unhospitable to the living. And yet
if you should go over to the east of the town, and wandering in
the burial ground you should find a stone marked Roadnia Foote
Beecher, please uncover your head and drive from your mind all
but heavenly thoughts. She will not speak to you, I know she
will not Oh I why should we be left struggling on in this life in
doubt and often in despondency, when one word, one single word
would re-inspire the soul, and that word never be spoken ?
“The dead beneath the sod may be silent; but over our heads
FAINNY FERN. 219
in the Spirit land is there no voice there and none to care and
comfort. 2”
Mr. Beecher once told me that he first met Fanny
Fern in Hartford. He said, “When I was a boy in Col-
lege, she attended Catherine Beecher's school in that city.
The latter kept a whole stable full of horses for the girls to
ride horseback, my sister Harriet among them. I used to
go with Fanny on horseback. She was a blonde, had a
very fair face and flowing flaxen hair. She was quite a be-
witching little creature. One of the prettiest girls in
Hartford.” -
Soon after the publication of Fern Leaves, Mr. Dyer
having become associated with Mason Brothers, the later
volumes of Fanny Fern’s works were published by them.
Among these were the books, Ruth Hall and Rose Clark.
The first-named was something of an auto-biography,
under a veil of fiction. Both volumes were well received,
that of Ruth Hall reaching the sale of over seventy thou-
sand copies.
The acquaintance so pleasantly began with the author
of Fern Leaves and Ruth Hall resulted in a friendship
which remained unbroken up to the day of her lamented
death, which occurred October 10th, 1872.
In the year 1874, the following interesting article ap-
peared in The New York Herald, in a leview of Mr. James
Parton’s Memorial Volume of his wife, the late Fanny
Fern, published by G. W. Carleton & Co.
“We have before us one of the best specimens of woman's
work in the way of essay writing that has ever been published.
It is made up of choice selections from ‘Fanny Fern's ' writings,
including extracts from Fern Leaves,’ books which were the
talk of the country twenty years ago. The interest that was felt
in N. P. Willis' gifted literary sister was as unique as it was in-
tense. Every bit of gossip concerning her was treasured as a
valuable piece of information. That she was an interesting young
widow with curly hair and jaunty withal in her weeds, was of
220 JAMES PARTON.
...)
more consequence than all that could be told of queens and courts.
And so the pseudonym of Sara Willis grew in fame and favor until
the name of ‘Fanny Fern was everywhere a household word.
When her two novels appeared in rapid succession to her other
works they sold largely ; and it will be remembered that her
sketch of Apollo Hyacinth, which was supposed to be a not too
friendly portrait of her brother, the poet journalist, created a
fervor greater than any of Macaulay's vivid pictures were capable
of creating. Fanny Fern's personality was purely womanly. It
was as a woman that she achieved success and marked her per-
sonality deep into all that she did or sought to do. This is well
illustrated by a specimen letter of a kind of which she received
many hundreds ; this one printed by Mr. Parton in his biography
being the only one she preserved. It was as follows : .
“Cincinnati, June 24th, 1854.
“FANNY FERN : -
“I like your writings and you. G. M. S.”
This is the whole story. It was not in her style that
Fanny Fern’s popularity consisted, but simply in that per-
sonality which impelled men to say, “I like your writings
and I like you.”
JAMES PARTON.
A modern Plutarch—Fºrst literary Effort—W. P. Willis
his first partner—Mason Brothers’ liberal offer—
TWrites Life of Horace Greeley–His other famous
biographies—A pains-taking Historican with “British
pluck.”
James Parton may well be called a modern Plutarch.
He has not only written more lives of eminent men than
the famous Plutarch, who flourished nearly two thousand
years ago, but has done his work equally well.
I first became acquainted with Mr. Parton while he was
JAMES PARTON. 221
engaged with Morris & Willis on The Home Journal. This
was thirty years ago. It will be interesting to my readers,
I am sure, to learn the beginnings of Mr. Parton’s literary
efforts and how he came to gravitate to that well known and
fashionable literary journal.
It seems he had an early ambition to become an author.
His first attempt was an essay written to prove that the
author of “Jane Eyre,” which was all the rage in literary
circles at that time was a woman. It will be remembered
that Charlotte Bronte evidently wanted to disguise her sex
in choosing the name of Currer Bell as the ostensible
author. After Mr. Parton had prepared this his first lit-
erary effort, he folded it neatly and enclosed it to “N.
Parker Willis, Esq., Editor of The Home Journal.”
As some of my readers will remember, Mr. Willis at
that time resided in Fourth St. near Washington Square,
where on the front door of his residence, a large plate bore
the single word “Willis.” Instead of mailing his contri-
bution to the editor, the young writer delivered it at Mr.
Willis’ residence. Mr. Parton says he felt so much abashed
at his temerity, that if he could have gotten his essay back
again, he would gladly have burned it.
After this Mr. Parton watched with a good deal of
anxiety each weekly issue of The Home Journal to learn
the fate of his contribution. He says that after waiting a
long time, he had abandoned the idea of its ever appear-
ing. But one Saturday he bought a copy of the paper at a
bookstore kept under the Astor House, and before putting
it in his pocket glanced at the clear, handsome front page
and there was his article ! And not only that, but it was
introduced to the readers by a few lines written by Mr.
Willis calling attention to the article and complimenting
the writer. Mr. Parton described his feelings as ecstatic.
He rushed around to fell his friends of his good fortune.
This was a beginning of what has proved to be a long
and interesting literary career. Mr. Parton continued to
contribute to the Journal, but always anonymously and
222 JAMES PARTON.
without pay, as it was understood at that time that the honor
of appearing in the Home Journal was sufficient compen-
sation for any literary contributions, and I believe the same
custom prevails to this day.
Subsequently the young contributor and famous editor
met by appointment, when an arrangement was made
whereby Mr. Parton became an assistant in editing this re-
nowned paper. He was, I believe, the immediate prede-
cessor in that position of Thomas Bailey Aldrich.
While occupying this post, it was my good fortune to
become acquainted with Mr. Parton. I have known him
pretty well ever since, and watched his literary career, and
truly believe that there is not so industrious and painstak-
ing a writer of good English who has been so long engaged
in writing for the magazines and literary papers in this
country. Most of his contributions are biographical
sketches of eminent or notable men or women. He is the
busiest of men and one of the few writers whose produc-
tions are not only eagerly welcomed, but liberally paid for
by publishers.
There is a curious incident in Mr. Parton’s life, which
gives us an inkling of the origin of his career as a biog-
rapher and how he first became a writer of books. One
day, while employed on the Home Journal, he was sitting
among a group of publishers, who were talking about liter-
ary matters and particularly about some very popular books
that had just been published.
Mr. Parton happened to say, during the conversation,
what an interesting book the life of Horace Greeley would
make, if the facts could be ascertained. He made the
observation without the slightest idea of writing a book, and
had been telling those present about a marative of Horace
Greeley’s youthful days, contributed to the Home Journal
by Amos Bliss, and concluding his remarks as follows:
“No doubt there are fifty other anecdotes and scenes of Hor-
ace Greeley's early life quite as interesting as these, only they have
JAMES PARTON. 223
never been written out. If any one could go to Vermont and New
Hampshire and gather them up, going from house to house and
getting them from the lips of living persons, the whole story
would be as interesting as Franklin's autobiography.”
Some weeks after this conversation Mr. Parton happen-
to meet one of the firm of Mason Bros., who was present
at the gathering referred to, and was startled with a prop-
osition to write a book to be called The Life of Horace
Greeley. Not only was the offer accompanied by a liberal
allowance of copyright, but a generous amount advanced
to enable the author to gather such materials in all parts
of the country where Mr. Greeley had resided, as were nec-
essary to make an exhaustive and interesting life of the
most famous editor then living.
Mr. Parton accepted the proposition and undertook the
work. He says:
“Late one afternoon, I found the editor standing at his desk
in the dismal Tribune editorial rooms of that day, writing with
his usual velocity. For some time after I entered, I stood waiting
for him to cease, or to give some token that he recognized my
presence. He continued, however, to scribble with all his might,
until I addressed him and asked when he would be at leisure to
listen to what I had to say. He remarked that leisure was a com-
modity with which he had no acquaintance. He had had none of
it for years and didn’t think he should ever have any more, but
that he would listen then and there to whatever I had to offer.
As he had already received an intimation of the scheme and ex-
pressed no repugnance to it, I had only to make known my name
in order to explain my business. He said again he had no leisure
and could do nothing to assist the project unless, perhaps, occa-
sionally on Saturday nights, when he had a reception at his house.
I told him that all I wished at present, were the names and resi-
dences of the persons who had known him best from his childhood
up.
“Instantly, before I could get my pencil out of my pocket, he
began to give me the names desired. In the course of ten minutes,
I had a long catalogue written down. Soon after, I made a two
month's tour in New Hampshire, Vermont, New York and Penn-
224 JAMES PARTON.
sylvania collecting the anecdotes and incidents which are recorded
in the early chapters of my Life of Horace Greeley.
“On returning to New York, I bought a complete file of the
Tribune, for the twelve years of its cxistence and borrowed sets of
the Jeffersonian, New Yorker, and Log Cabin. Every number of
these journals I closely examined, and extracted from each every -
lurking atom of biography which it may have contained. It took
me six weeks to do it. Eleven months after I entered upon the
work the manuscript was ready for the printer.
“Before the day of publication—such was the curiosity of the
public concerning the foremost editor of the day—seven thousand
copies of the work were oldered, and in the course of the first few
months about thirty thousand were sold, which, for that day, was
a considerable success.”
This, then was the first book ever written by James Par-
ton. The wide-awake publishers had no cause to regret
their enterprise, the success of which is indicated in Mr.
Parton’s statement above.
Mason Bros., a few years later, retired from the pub-
lishing business to embark in disseminating musical sounds
through Mason and Hamlin’s Cabinet Organs, now so uni-
versally known and prized.
Curiously enough, a decade later, about the year 1865,
my then firm of Derby & Miller, published a new edition
of Parton’s Life of Greeley, thoroughly revised by the
author.
Mr. Parton’s subsequent biographies, all of which have
takon their place among the standard literature of the
country, are well kuown. The most important of them
are, The Life of Benjamin Franklin, The Life of Thomas
Jefferson, The Life of Andrew Jackson, The Life of
Aaron Burr, and The Life of Voltaire. I believe the
most popular of these is The Life of Andrew Jackson,
although the author considers The Liſe of Voltaire, his
master-picce,
To illustrate the care and faithful work which Mr. Par-
ton gives to every subject he undertakes to write about,
JAMES PA RTON. 225
the following extract from his proface to The Life of
Andrew Jackson, is a good example not only for the min-
uteness of its statements, but for the extraordinary research
which it indicates.
“For many months I was immersed in this unique, bewilder-
ing collection, reading endless newspapers, pamphlets, books,
without arriving at any conclusion whatever. If anyone at the
end of a year even, had asked what I had discovered respecting
General Jackson, I might have answered thus: ‘I am given to
understand Andrew Jackson was a patriot and a traitor. He was
one of the greatest of Generals, and wholly ignorant of the art of
war. A writer, brilliant, elegant, eloquent, without being able to
compose a correct sentence, or spell words of four syllables. The
first of statesmen, he never devised, he never framed a measure.
He was the most candid of men and was capable of the pro-
foundest dissimulation. A most law-defying, lºw-obeying citizen.
A stickler for discipline, he never hesitated to disobey his superior.
A democratic autocrat ; an urbane savage ; an atrocious saint.
So difficult is it to obtain information respecting a man whom
two-thirds of his fellow-citizens deified, and the other third vili-
fied, for the space of twelve years or more.” -
The Catalogue Raisonne of authorities prefixed to his
work shows the extraordinary fidelity and magnitude of
his investigations. It consists of more than two hun-
dred volumes consulted. The style is easy and flowing,
warmly colored without extravagance, carrying the reader
with pleasure through nearly two thousand pages filled
with striking incidents and events. One of the volumes
referred to in the preceding catalogue is the following, pub-
lished by my firm nearly thirty years ago. I believe that
Judge Walker, the author of the book, is still residing in
New Orleans. Mr. Parton certainly pays a fine tribute to
the interesting book.
“Jackson and New Orleans ; an authentic Narative of the
Memorable Achievements of the American Army, under Andrew
Jackson, before New Orleans, in the winter of 1814 and 1815. By
10%
226 JAMES PARTON.
Alexander Walker. Derby & Jackson, Publishers. New York,
1856.
(“This work is one of the best executed pieces of American
history in existence; most rich in facts; told with spirit and effect.
It needs only a thorough revision and a slight toning down, here
and there, to be a work of classic excellence. To no single vol-
ume is the author of this work so much indebted as to “Jackson
and New Orleans.” By the older inhabitants of New Orleans, its
great merit has been fully appreciated.”)
In concluding this sketch, it is a pleasure to say, that I
fully coincide with the high opinion of Mr. Parton, as a
writer, from so valuable a literary authority as the following
from the London Atheneum : --"
“He is a painstaking, honest and courageous historian, ardent
with patriotism, but unprejudiced—a writer, in short, of whom
the United States have reason to be proud. With an admirable
truthfulness, and a daring that savors of genuine British ‘pluck,”
Mr. Parton declines to whitewash his hero, preferring to portray
him faithfully; neither palliating the bad, nor exaggerating the
good, of his character.”
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XI.
THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH.
Calls on the Author with his first Verses—A Friend who
never had so much of one Thing he wanted so little of
— Becomes Reader of MSS. for his Publisher—Gets
JFive Dollars for “Baby Bell’— The young autocrat
Jºditor taken by Surprise—Desk of E&gar Allen Poe
—Aldrich pays for his Morning Waps—How Carle-
ton’s Trade-Mark was selected—The “Story of a Bad
Boy' his own Career—Hawthorne's delicate Tribute
—Memento to his first Publisher.
IN the year 1854, soon after I had established myself in
the book publishing business in Nassau street, a pleas
ant looking young man called on me one day, with a small
MS. of his verses, which he desired me to publish.
Iwasalittle surprised, as the youthful aspirant to author-
ship was then barely eighteen years of age ; however, being
pleased with his sprightly address and the neat chirography
of his MS., I glanced over the pages and frankly told him
that it was commercially hazardous for publishers to risk
their money in publishing volumes of poetry, especially of a
beginner and one so young as he. I said to him, however,
that I would submit the MS. to my reader, who was at that
time the late George Ripley, then literary critic of the New
York Th’ibatſme.
This was my first acquaintance with Thomas Bailey
Aldrich, who now ranks among our best American poets.
Young Aldrich called a few days later (trembling, as he
afterwards told me) to learn the reader's opinion of his first
[227]
228 THOMAS BAILEY ALD RICH.
poetical cffort. I had the pleasure of informing him that
it was decidedly favorable, and I would print and publish
a small edition, which I did, under the title of The
Bells, by T. B. A.
The volume was well received by the critics, and al.
though there was not much money in it to either author or
publisher, there was no loss.
An amusing incident occurred just after the publica-
tion of The Bells. A gentleman friend of the author, in
order to get up a boom in the interest of the book, called
at different bookstores and found they had no copies of the
book for sale. On his way down town the next day, he called
again on the same booksellers, who promised to lay in
supplies, as a favorable notice of the book had appeared in
the Thibune and the Evening Mirror.
On the following day, he surprised the clerk in one of
the stores, by telling him he wanted twelve or fifteen cop-
ies. The offer was made to send for them the next day,
but the zealous friend said that would not do, as he wished
to write on the fly-leaf of each book and send them all by
express that afternoon.
While they were talking, the proprietor of the store,
who had heard the conversation, came forward, and said
there were ten or twelve copies under the counter. There
was nothing else to do, but to buy the books. The young
poet in relating this incident to me, afterwards said that his
friend never before had so much of one thing that he
wanted so little of.
Young Aldrich’s next poem had an interesting history.
It was called the Ballad of Baby Bell. The author at that
time was only nineteen years old. He sent it to the Knick-
erbocker Magazine, and to several other leading periodicals,
and finally to the Journal of Commerce, that great com-
mercial paper which is found in the counting-room of all
the leading wholesale merchanus and men of finance.
The young poet soon after received a note from the
editor, Mr. David M. Stone, enclosing five dollars, and
THOMAS HAILEY ALD RICH. 229
saying, that, as a rule, he did not buy poetry for the
Columns of the Journal, that commodity not being adapted
to its commercial columns, but he further wrote, “I like
the poem so much, I will print it.” Aldrich could easily
sell such a poem now for a thousand dollars. The story of
the exquisite Ballad of Baby Bell is founded on fact, the
beautiful child being a near relative of the author.
Young Aldrich was at Portsmouth, N. H., his native
place, preparing for college, when the death of his father
necessitated other arrangements. He was then placed by
his uncle, the late Charles L. Frost, of the firm of Frost &
Forrest, commission merchants, in their counting-room in
New York. But the drudgery of mercantile life did not
suit his poetical fancy, his taste not being adapted to “the
sugar trade and cotton line.”
The Ballad of Baby Bell and other Poems was publish-
ed in 1856 by G. W. Carleton. The volume became very
popular and is now included in a beautifully illustrated
collection of the author's complete poetical writings just
published by Houghton, Mifflin & Co.
On its first appearance, the poem having attracted the
attention of Mr. Frederick S. Cozzens, (whose Sparrow-
grass Papers I had recently published,) he made an ap-
pointment with the young poet to come to his place of
business in Warren St., and meet Fitz Greene Halleck, who
had read the poem, and had written to Mr. Cozzens, ex-
pressing a desire to know the author. Aldrich said that
Halleck was most delightfully kind and complimentary.
Mr. Aldrich’s next venture was a novelette entitled
‘‘IDaisy’s Necklace and what came of it.” This was pub-
lished by my then firm in 1856, and as Mr. Aldrich
was becoming favorably known as an author, I thought
there was little risk in printing two thousand copies. It
was a taking title, sufficiently happy I thought, to sell that
number of copies ; and had previously been printed as a
serial in The Home Jourwal. The book was a failure, but
it is fair to admit the author had little confidence in its
230 THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH.
success. We managed to sell about one half the edition,
the remainder We sold to a neighboring publisher, for a
nominal sum. - -
The purchaser bound the copies up with another work
of the same size entitled “The Stain of Birth,” and letter-
ed the volume, “The Stain of Birth and Daisy’s Necklace.”
Mr. Aldrich picked up the Volume one day on a bookstand
and his disgust at finding himself in such company was
unbounded. I explained to him that it was one of the
Dollar Gift bookstore dodges, the proprietors of which
were constantly buying remainders and when the volumes
were too thin to bring a dollar, would bind two or three
volumes together ; this was the last of “Daisy’s Necklace”
and what came of it. -
Soon after this, young Aldrich decided to retire from
mercantile life and embark in literature as a business. He
was first engaged to write literary notices in The New York:
Evening Mirror, at that time a fashionable afternoon
paper, conducted by Hiram Fuller, the author of the vol-
ume Belle Britain. He died not long ago in London,
where he was conducting The Metropolitan, a weekly news-
paper.
After this Mr. Aldrich engaged with my firm as a
reader of MSS. and other literary work. About this time,
he sent some poems to The Home Journal, which Mr. N.
P. Willis, the editor, introduced to its readers in a very
flattering manner. A habit Mr. Willis always indulged in,
when young writers sent in contributions in prose or
poetry, that he really liked.
Mr. Willis afterwards suggested to his partner, Gen.
Geo. P. Morris, that it would be a good idea for him to see
young Aldrich and secure him if possible as assistant editor
of The Home Journal. Mr. Morris acted upon this hint,
and soon after Mr. Aldrich accepted that position. Mr.
Willis lived at Idle-Wild and came to the city about twice
a month,
The Second year Aldrich was virtually editor-in-chief,
THOMAS BAILEY AI, DRICH. 231
General Morris having gone South on a prolonged trip.
Aldrich was engaged on The Journal about six months be-
fore he saw Mr. Willis.
One day as he sat in the editorial sanctum, stretched
out on three chairs, each foot on a chair, placidly smoking
a cigar and lazily looking over the exchanges, he was
startled by the sudden appearance of a tall, pleasant look-
ing gentleman, who said, “Is this Mr. Aldrich P My name
is Willis.”
The young autocrat of an editor was very much embar-
rassed for the moment, but the famous poet, who was a man
of the world, took the situation in at once, and soon put
him entirely at ease. In less than five minutes, the young
editor felt as if he had known the editor-in-chief all his
life.
The desk at which Mr. Aldrich wrote while with the
Home Journal, was at one time used by James Aldrich,
another poet, but no relation. It had been previously
occupied by Edgar Allen Poe and by James Parton, who
afterwards married Mr. Willis' sister, Fanny Fern. It
is a curious fact and a tradition in the Home Journal office,
that the same desk should have been occupied by these
three distinguished authors, Poe, Parton, and Aldrich. In
a recent number of the Home Journal, a writer who was
an attache of the paper at the time of Aldrich’s sub-editor-
ship, thus speaks of him :
“Aldrich was proud and of an independent spirit. He hated
cant and humilug; was genial, affable, considerate of the rights
and feelings of others, frank, out-spoken; and to a fault was he
generous in his dealings with everybody. It is not surprising that
a man with such traits, backed with a love of truth, and with his
refined poetic temperament, made many friends and kept them.
All of those who worked at neighboring desks with Bailey
Aldrich in the beginning of his career are rejoiced at his advance-
ment in the world of letters, and in worldly matters.”
Mr. Aldrich remained on the Home Journal about three
years, when he, with some young literary associates, be-
232 THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH.
came proprietors of a new paper called the Saturday Press,
Henry Clapp, who was a man well-known at the time in
journalistic circles, was editor in chief. Among the asso.
ciates were Charles F. Brown (“Artemus Ward ”), Fitz-
James O’Brien, George Arnold, Edward Wilkins and Wil-
liam Winter, all of whom are dead except the latter, who
is at the present time the brilliant editor of the dramatic
department of the Wew York Tribune. -
Thore were about twenty young literary people Con-
nected with the Saturday Press. There was no cash book
or other account books kept, thus avoiding the expense of
a book-keeper. Whatever money was received went into
the hands of whichever proprietor happened to be in the
office at the time. Mr. Aldrich once told me that Mr.
Clapp could not sleep in the morning, while he, being
young and in excellent health, slept until about nine
o'clock. Through this habit he got little or nothing of
the money which came in for advertisements, as Mr. Clapp,
being the first on hand, confiscated the receipts.
Soon after this, Mr. Aldrich became connected with
the Atlantic Monthly, as a contributor, and was shortly
considered as a permanent member of the staff. At that
time Phillips, Sampson & Co. were the publishers of this
great magazine and James Russell Lowell editor-in-chief.
Mr. Aldrich has in his possession a very complimentary let-
ter from the latter, accepting his first contribution.
On Mr. Lowell's retirement, Mr. James T. Fields, who
had become one of the publishers of the Atlantic Monthly,
on the failure of its founders, in 1857, became also editor-
in-chief. -
Mr. W. D. Howells, the now popular novelist, was made
assistant editor in 1866, and subsequently succeeded Mr.
Fields, as principal editor. Mr. Howells retired in 1880,
and for the past four years this great exponent of the
best literature of the day, now the property of its present
publishers, Houghton, Mifflin & Co., has been under the
exclusive editorial control of Mr. Aldrich.
THOMAS BAILEY A. L.D HICH. 233
One of Mr. Aldrich’s clever successes was the Persian
poem, which G. W. Carleton published, entitled “The
Course of True Love never did run Smooth.” I Once asked
Mr. Aldrich the origin of Mr. Carleton’s trade-mark, which
then first appeared on the title-page of that book. He told
me it was found looking through an illustrated edition of
Lane's Arabian Nights, where they were searching for
emblem and devices with which to decorate the book, and
among the rest was a little Arabic word which was placed
on the title-page for ornament. Neither author or publish-
er knew its meaning at the time, but it proved to be the
Arabic for “books.”
Mr. Aldrich’s “Story of a Bad Boy,” has been the most
popular of all his writings. It has already passed through
twenty-three large editions. The book gives a very faith-
ful account of the author’s School days. There is very lit-
tle invention in the story. It is indeed a history of his
own career, some of the lesser details and the names only
being fictitious. Most of the localities described were
scenes of his chidhood, and the people who figure in it
were his neighbors and well known towns people.
All Mr. Aldrich’s books, whether prose or poetry, have
a steady and increasing sale.
In one of Nathaniel Hawthorne's letters the following
passage occurs. Such a tribute, from such a source, is
praise indeed : “I have been reading some of Aldrich’s
poems this evening, and find them rich, sweet and im-
aginative in such a degree that I am sorry not to have
fresher sympathies, in order to taste all the delight that
every reader ought to draw from them. I was conscious,
here and there, of a delicacy that I hardly dared to breathe
upon.” +.
The recent elegant edition of Mr. Aldrich’s Poetical
Works, which is so exquisitely illustrated by the Paint and
Clay Club, is open before me as I write. It is the perfec-
tion of typography and binding, never yet surpassed by the
Riverside Press, from whence it comes. I read inscribed
234 THOMAS BAILEY ALD RICH.
on the title-page, “To J. C. Derby, my early friend and
first publisher. T. B. Aldrich.”
Surely no more acceptable memento could have been
given me than this token of remembrance from the Poet-
Editor, whom I first met thirty years ago.
The following lyric from Mr. Aldrich's collection of
poems, entitled, “Flower and Thorn,” is an excellent
example of his lighter manner:
NOCTURNE.
“Up to her chamber window
A slight wire trellis goes,
And up this Romeo's ladder
Clambers a bold white rose.
“I lounge in the ilex shadows,
I see the lady lean,
Unclasping her silken girdle,
The curtain’s folds between.
“She smiles on her white rose lover,
She reaches out her hand,
And helps him in at the window—
I see it where I stand
“To her scarlet lip she holds him,
And kisses him many a time—
Ah, me! it was he that won her
Because he dared to climb l’”
|×
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：
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|-
----
…
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|×
£
：
H.
Eng

XII.
GEORGE W. CARLETON,
Publisher, Author and Artist—Two Little Cherubs with a
big load to carry—Immortalization of Miss Flora
McFlimsey, of Madison Square—Authorship dis-
puted—Carleton adds fuel to the fire—Professsor
Ingraham’s Tragic Death—Publishes Aldrich’s “True
Love,” and finds his Trade-mark— Victor Hugo’s “Les
Miserables,” and Michelet’s Translations—Carleton
£n , the Crockery business — Artemus Ward takes
Brandy and Water—Lecture to Brigham Young and
One Wife—Enormous sale of Josh Billings' Alminaa.
EORGE W. CARLETON may fairly be classed
among the book-publishers of our day who have suc-
ceeded in their career, without what is called any experi-
ence in “learning the trade.” In this respect, his busi-
ness start was not unlike that of Daniel Appleton, Robert
Carter and Charles Scribner, whose names have been so
familiar to the reading public for nearly half a century.
Moreover, he has the advantage over other publishers, of
being an Author himself, and an Artist, and a clever one,
too, in illustrating his own books, chiefly of Travel in
nearly all parts of the world.
George W. Carleton is a native of New York City, and
was educated at the Institution of the celebrated Fran-
cis L. Hawks, D. D., Principal of St. Thomas Hall, at
Flushing, L. I.; but his earliest business education was
with the firm of Burnham, Plumb & Co., at one time about
[235}
236 GEORGE W. CARLETON.
the largest and most important importing and commission
house in New York City.
It was when quite a young man, and employed in
this importing house, that during his leisure hours his
talent for drawing was utilized in designing illustrations
for some of the humorous papers and periodicals of the
day; among others, “The Lantern,” edited by John
Brougham, the actor, “The Picayune,” edited by Chas. E.
Wilbour, “The Young America,” edited by T. W. Strong,
etc., for which amateur work he received a very good in-
come. Some of his designs attracting the attention of Mr.
George Merriam (who had already heard something of
young Carleton’s talent), he asked him one day to design
for his Publishing House, an appropriate illustration for a
heading to an advertisement of Webster’s Unabridged
Dictionary. This artistic effort was successful, and many
of my readers will remember the two little cherubs nearly
weighed down, carrying a big book which was much
larger than themselves. Mr. Carleton’s compensation for
this artistic effort was a copy of “Webster’s Unabridged
T)ictionary,” in full Russia binding.
In the year 1857, Mr. Carleton began the publishing
business, under the firm of Rudd & Carleton. Mr. Edward
P. Rudd, as well as his father, Rev. George R. Rudd, were
both connected with me in business, while I was a resident
of Auburn. Edward P. Rudd died in the year 1861, and
Mr. Carleton thenceforward continued the business alone.
One of his very earliest publications was that celebrated
society poem, by William Allen Butler, then and now a
distinguished lawyer of New York, entitled “ Nothing to
Wear.” Mr. Carleton at first made designs for illus-
trations of the volume, but finally turned them over to
his friend, the artist Augustus Hoppin, who made the
drawings upon Wood. The book became immensely pop-
ular, and although it was issued in the panic year of
1857, amidst the breaking of banks and commercial
houses, it had a large and continued sale. Thus was
GEOIRGE W. CARLETON. 237
immortalized, “Miss Flora McFlimsey, of Madison
Square,” who
“Spent six consecutive weeks without stopping,
In one continuous round of shopping ;
Shopping alone, and shopping together
At all hours of the day, and in all sorts of weather,
For all manner of things a woman can put
On the crown of her head or the sole of her foot,
Or wrap round her shoulders or fix round her waist,
Or that can be sewed on, or pinned on, or laced,
Or tied on with a string, or stitched on with a bow,
In front or behind—above or below :
For bonnets, mantillas, capes, collars and shawls ;
Dresses for breakfasts, and dinners, and balls ;
Dresses to sit in, and stand in, and walk in ;
Dresses to dance in, and flirt in, and talk in ;
Dresses in which to do nothing at all :
Dresses for winter, spring, summer and fall ;
All of them different in color and pattern,
Silk, muslim and lace, crape, velvet and satin.”
Soon after the publication of “Nothing to Wear,” a
curious claim was made by a Miss Peck, a daughter of an
Episcopal clergyman, of Greenwich, Conn., as to the
authorship. She asserted in the public prints and else-
where that she herself was the authoress of the then cele-
brated poem, that she lost it during one of her shopping
excursions in a Madison Avenue stage, where it was prob-
ably found by Mr. Butler. A controversy ensued, which
of course increased the sale of the book. In order to add
fuel to the flame Mr. Carleton offered Mortimer M. Thom-
son, who had become a very popular writer under the
nom de plume of “Doesticks,” one dollar a line for a
humorous poem on the subject in question ; the offer was
accepted, and in less than a week the author received from
the publisher a check for eight hundred dollars, for eight
hundred lines, making four times as much material as the
poem in question, having as its title “Nothing to Say,”
which was something of a misnomer. The book was illus-
238 GEORGE W. CARLETON.
trated by John McLenan, who, at that time, was one of
our most popular comic artists. It is hardly necessary to
add that this book also had an immense Sale.
A quarter of a century ago, Professor J. H. Ingraham
was a most popular writer of sensational novels of the day,
many of them being of what was called “yellow-covered
literature.” He had written, however, a more pretentious
so-called religious novel entitled “The Prince of the House
of David.” It seemed to have struck a popular chord
among the lovers of religious fiction, as nearly a quarter of
a million copies were sold. He had suddenly become of
great repute among publishers, and a manuscript by him,
complete, would have been readily accepted at a large
price. He went to Mr. Carleton, proposing a new book,
for which he wanted about ten thousand dollars—one-third
of which to be paid in advance, and the balance after the
book was published. Upon further inquiry concerning
the nature of the book, Mr. Carleton learned that not one
word of it had been written ; Professor Ingraham, however,
proposed to commence it at once, and finish it as soon as
he arrived at his home in Louisiana, where he was the rec-
tor of an Episcopal Church. “But suppose you don’t live
to complete or even begin the work,” asked Mr. Carleton,
“what then about my three thousand three hundred and
thirty-three dollars ” A satisfactory reply not being given,
Mr. Carleton, of course, declined the proposition. Profes-
Sor Ingraham returned home, and one afternoon, within
three days after his arrival, while changing his coat, a
pistol dropped from his pocket, exploded, and shot him
dead upon the spot. Not one word of the new book had
been written |
Two more of Mr. Carleton's authors met with tragic
deaths. Mansfield T. Walworth, son of the well-known
Chancellor Walworth, of Saratoga, and author of
“ Warwick” and other novels, was shot and instantly
killed by his son, at Leland’s Hotel, in New York; and
the other, Mrs. Julie P. Smith, author of “Widow
GEORGE W. CARLETON. 239
Goldsmith's Daughter ’’ and other popular novels. I had
met Mrs. Smith, three winters previous, in New Orleans,
where her husband had a business house, and was much
impressed with her intelligence and bright conversational
powers. In June, 1883, while driving from her summer
residence in New Hartford, Conn., to the depot for her hus-
band, her horse suddenly started by the road-side, throw-
ing her out of the carriage, and killing her instantly.
It goes without saying, among those familiar with
Book-selling, that Mr. Carleton has been the largest pub-
lisher of sensational books by native American authors in
this country; and, having been identified with nearly all of
the American Comic Writers of the period, his store has
generally been the rallying place of many of the brightest
and most popular humorous men of the day, such as Fitz-
James. O’Brien, Charles G. Halpine (“Miles O’Reilly”),
Charles F. Briggs (“Harry Frauco”), Richard H. Stoddard
Charles F. Brown (“Artemus Ward ”), Frank B. Good-
rich, (“Dick Tinto *), Thomas Bailey Aldrich, Robert H.
Newell (“Orpheus C. Kerr’’), Mortimer M. Thomson,
(“Doesticks”), Henry W. Shaw (“Josh Billings”), Frank
Bellew the artist, and above all, that famous King of all
Bohemia, Henry Clapp, Jr.; and the noonday hour fre-
quently found most of them at Pfaff’s celebrated German
restaurant, in a Broadway basement, near Bleecker-street,
the rendezvous at that day of the so-called Bohemians.
Almost the very first of Mr. Carleton’s publications was
T. B. Aldrich’s little poem, entitled “The Course of True
Love never did Run Smooth.” Mr. Carleton being a Trav-
eller and somewhat familiar with the Arabic language, dis-
covered, in searching with Aldrich, for illustrations
to this book, this strange looking symbol, so well-
known on the Carleton title-pages and advertise-
ments. It is, in fact, an Arabic word signifying B00ks.
Among the most popular works published by Mr. Carle-
ton were the translations from the French of Michelet and
Victor Hugo. The earlier book by the first author,
240 GEORGE W. CARLETON.
‘‘ L'Amour,” met with immense success, and when the
same author’s new book “ La Femme * was written, in order
to supply the early demand for the same, Mr. Carleton
engaged Dr. John W. Palmer, one of the best French
scholars of the day, to translate the work, for which he
was to receive one thousand dollars, the translator agreeing
to forfeit ten dollars per hour, if delayed beyond the seventy-
two hours in which it was agreed to be delivered to Carle-
ton, completely ready for the compositors and printers.
The four hundred and fifty solid pages of the MS. trans-
lation were delivered according to the contract. The book
was stereotyped, printed and bound and nearly twenty
thousand copies sold in less than thirty days; this was truly
a great feat in book-making.
The next successful venture was Victor Hugo’s “Les
Miserables,” and although we were in the midst of the Civil
War, the book made a great hit. It was brought out
with the same expedition as were Michelet's books, one vol-
ume at a time. The sale was not large at first, but the
newspaper critics soon made it popular. Carleton spent
ten thousand dollars in specially advertising it. He soon
felt the effects of his enterprise in the extraordinary demand
for hundreds of thousands of volumes. At the book Trade-
sale of George A. Leavitt & Co., one wholesale dealer pur-
chased twenty-five thousand copies, the largest sale, it is
believed, ever made at auction of any one book.
In this connection a curious incident occurred. The
immense popularity of “Iles Miserables” had attracted the
attention of a Cuban, who called upon Mr. Carleton one
day and proposed to purchase an edition of the work if
rendered into the Spanish language, the books to be ship-
ped to Havana. The Cuban proposed to pay part of the
cost in advance and the remainder on the delivery of the
books. Carleton fulfilled his part of the contract, when
the Cuban directed that the books should be sent down
town, where he desired them packed in hogsheads. This
extraordinary proposition aroused Mr. Carleton's suspi-
GEORGE W. CARLETON. 241
cions. He at once demanded the balance of the money due
or return of portion of stock. The latter request was more
than fulfilled. One can imagine Mr. Carleton’s surprise
when the drayman brought to his store sixteen hogsheads !
He had them stored, expecting daily to hear from the Cu-
ban, who did not put in an appearance, however. The
hogsheads were then opened one after another, when it was
found that Victor Hugo’s novel was the inside layer in each
hogshead, which was, at each end, packed with glass lamp-
chimneys / Thus Mr. Carleton became an involuntary
glassware merchant, spending a good deal of his time in
selling lamp-chimneys. He realized, however, enough
from them to remunerate him for the cost of the books.
The Cuban, who Mr. Carleton says, was a fierce, piratical
looking customer, was never again heard of. It is Sup-
posed that this enterprising Spanish merchant took this
method of smuggling the books into Havana, because the
importation, of Victor Hugo’s works had been interdicted
by the Spanish government. -
The next of French publications which Mr. Carleton
undertook to introduce to the American public, were the
entire novels of the celebrated Balzac, translated by Frank
B. Goodrich, well known as the author of the “Court of
Napoleon,” and other popular works. Mr. Goodrich was a
son of “Peter Parley,” and had recently been the Paris
correspondent of the New York Times, under the nom de
plume of “Dick Tinto.” The work was well done and al-
though Balzac was the most popular novelist in France,
and is even now talked of as the greatest French novelist,
the books proved a failure. After publishing four volumes,
it was evident that Balzac was not adapted to the taste of
American readers, so Mr. Carleton, after losing consider-
able money, relinquished the undertaking. .
Soon after this the New York Tribune appeared one
morning with a bright, amusing and spirited poem, entitled
“The Diamond Wedding,” by E. C. Stedman. It was re-
produced in book form by Mr. Carleton, with humorous
242 GEORGE W. C. AlèI,ETON.
illustrations, and very soon became the talk of the hour.
A further account of this book will be found elsewhere.
Mr. Carleton next made another great and enduring hit
in the publication of “Artemus Ward—His Book.” More
than forty thousand copies were sold within six months
after its issue. My readers will remember the humorous
lectures of Mr. Charles Brown (“Artemus Ward”), which
became so popular throughout the country, and soon placed
him at the front of the humorists of the day. A little in-
cident is told of him, during the days of his great popular-
ity. He was puffing away at a cigar in Mr. Carleton’s
private office, when a telegram was handed him from San
Francisco, wired by Maguire, the manager of the Opera
House of that city, who inquired, “What will you take
for two nights in California * Brown immediately re-
plied by the same messenger, without altering his position
on the sofa, “ Brar dy and water.—A. Ward.” But he did
take something else after all, in the shape of a large sum
of money from his California audiences, where he lec-
tured with pronounced success. The funny dispatch
having been previously printed in the California papers,
made everybody laugh, and all wanted to hear him. When
Artemus Ward was in Utah lecturing, some one spoke
to him about giving a pass to Brigham Young. He im-
mediately wrote a pass, admitting “Brigham Young and
One Wife.”
Among other anecdotes that Mr. Carleton relates about
his comic authors, is, that Charles H. Webb (“John
Paul”) characteristically added on the title-page of one of
his burlesques, “Author of John Paul Sketches, and other
books too humorous to mention.”
Almost every newspaper in the country, publishes fre-
quently some of the quaint sayings of “Josh Billings,”
whose real name is Henry W. Shaw ; the latter says, speak-
ing of his success as an author, that he failed to succeed
until he commenced to spell his words incorrectly ; then
his wise and sententious sayings became immensely popu-
GEORGE W. CAIRLETON. 243
lar. His jokes are always to the point, although told in a
humorous vein. A volume has been published by Mr.
Carleton, entitled “The Life and Adventures of Josh
Billings,” appropriately illustrated, including many of his
quaint sayings. A curious commercial success was Mr.
Carleton’s publication of “Josh Billings' Farmer’s Al-
mimax,” by which he intended to burlesque the old fash-
ioned Farmers' Almanac in vogue half a century ago. Mr.
Carleton first tested the market with only one thousand
copies, which sold but slowly; then two thousand more
were printed, then five thousand, and afterwards ten thou-
sand, until the insatiate public devoured one hundred and
thirty thousand copies the first year ! Altogether, more
than half a million copies have been sold, bringing a net
profit to the publisher and author of over thirty thousand
dollars.
Many of the most popular American novels issued in
this country are those bearing the imprint of G. W. Carleton
& Co. Among others, are the writings of Augusta Evans
Wilson, Mary J. Holmes, M. Virginia Terhune, (“Ma-
rion Harland),” Miriam C. Harris, author of “Rutledge,”
May Agnes Fleming, Richard B. Kimball, and “Edmund
Kirke,” author of “Among the Pines ;” a history of
nearly all being given elsewhere in this work.
The account already given of Mr. Carleton’s successful
authors, would be incomplete without saying something of
our Artistic Author-Publisher himself. As previously
mentioned, Mr. Carleton has been a great traveler, and
has published no less than three volumes of his own adven-
tures, entitled, respectively, “Our Artist in Cuba,” “Our
Artist in Peru,” and “Our Artist in Spain and Algiers.”
In the first-named volume he gives to the reader the follow-
ing characteristic preface :
“With many misgivings the author of this little brochure has
been persuaded to give the prominence of publication to a mere
pocket-book collection of way-side pen and ink sketches, the chance
results of idle moments, sandwiched with such Cuban events as
244 GEORGE W. C. A RLETON.
paring oranges and sipping from their cups of nectar—tearing
through the narrow streets of Havana in ragged volantes—listen-
ing in the soft moonlight, and arm in arm with Cuban senoritas,
to the Artillery band in the Plaza de Armas—assisting with do-
mino and false nose at the masquerades in the Tacon Theatre—
lounging with ices or delicious chocolate at the Cafe Dominica—
dallying with cigar and fragrant coffee after the regulation break-
fast of codfish, garlic and onions—snuffing up the perfumed air
strolling through the golden orange groves of Cafetals, joining in
the battle, murder and sudden death of Marianao cock fights,
vagabondizing along the shady side of Calle Obispo, and so forth,
through all the dolce far nientes of a stranger's drifting life, among
the lights and shadows of the Antilles' Queen. The only merit
the pictures possess, perhaps, is their faithfulness to nature; though
chiefly caricatures, they present such incidents and scenes as every
one, with both eyes open, sees, who visits Cuba, and being sketch-
ed upon the spot with all the clispy freshness of a first impres-
sion, they possess a sort of photographic value, that in spite of
their grotcsqueness, may prove more lasting than the entertain-
ment which their humor offers.”
The volumes consist chiefly of humorous illustrations,
drawn by Mr. Carleton himself, with explanatory notes;
the whole being intended to illustrate the sights and scenes
of his travels, “all of which he saw and part of which he
was.” The reception accorded these books by the public
has been so flattering, that the profit on their sales has
more than reimbursed the author for all his expenses in
going to and returning from those far distant countries
and strange places.
The present firm of G. W. Carleton & Co. comprises
looth himself and Mr. George W. Dillingham, formerly
his head clerk and for many years connected with the pub-
lishing house of Crosby, Nichols & Co., of Boston. Mr.
Dillingham’s experience in the book-selling business having
been large, his admission to the firm of G. W. Carleton &
Co. has added to the business prosperity which has fol-
lowed this young House ever since its establishment.
XIII.
ALICE AND PHOEBE CARY.
Sweet and Musical Wame—Alice Earns Her first Ten Dol-
lars—Pictures of Memory—Griswold, Greeley and
Whittier—Noted Literary Writers—Reminiscences of
Savage and Wight—Alice Cary Wades in Clover—
JHer Countless Little Wamesakes—The Carys at a
JHusking Bee—Phoebe Cary’s Witticisms—The Yankee
in China—Her Beautiful Hymn “Mearer Home”—
Monument to the Cary Sisters.
HE sweet and musical name of Alice Cary has for
years been familiar in many of the households of this
country. Not only her poetry, but her prose, continue to
be read after the lapse of so many years, since her lamented
death. Alice Cary began to write under the signature of
“Patty Lee,” for the Washington National Era, edited by
Dr. Bailey, from whom she received ten dollars, the first
money ever earned by her pen. That paper became famous
by first publishing as a serial “ Uncle Tom’s Cabin ‘’ and
also the first contributions of Gail Hamilton, who has since
become a writer of considerable note.
It was Alice Cary’s writings in the Era, for which she
continued to be a regular contributor, that first attracted
the attention of the poet Whittier. Through the influence
of the late Rufus W. Griswold, the first volume of poems
[245]
246 ALHCE AND PHOEBE CARY.
by Alice and Phoebe Cary was published in Philadelphia.
At the early age of eighteen Alice wrote the “Pictures of
Memory "-copied below—which Edgar Allan Poe pro
nounced one of the very finest poems produced in America.
I, with the majority of Alice Cary’s friends, coincide in the
opinion of that eminent critic. Alice, however, did not so
consider it ; and, when questioned on the subject, said that
she much preferred “An Order for a Picture.”
PICTURES OF MEMORY.
“Of all the beautiful pictures
That hang on Memory's wall,
Is one of a dim old forest.
That seemeth best of all;
Not for its gnarled oaks olden,
Dark with the mistletoe:
Not for the violets golden,
That sprinkle the vale below;
Not for the milk-white lilies
That lean from the fragrant hedge,
Coquetting all day with the sunbeams,
And stealing their golden edge;
Not for the vines on the upland,
Where the bright red berries rest;
Nor the pinks, nor the pale, sweet cowslip,
It seemeth to me the best. *
“I once had a little brother,
With eyes that were dark and deep—
In the lap of that olden forest
He lieth in peace asleep;
Light as the down of the thistle,
Free as the winds that blow,
We roved there the beautiful summers,
The summers of long ago;
But his feet on the hills grew weary,
And one of the autumn eves
I made for my little brother
A bed of the yellow leaves.
ALICE AND PHOEBE CARY. 247
“Sweetly his pale arms folded
My neck in a meek embrace,
As the light of immortal beauty
Silently covered his face;
And when the arrows of sunset
Lodged in the tree-tops bright,
He fell, in his saint-like beauty,
Asleep by the gates of light.
Therefore, of all the pictures
That hang on memory's wall,
The one of the dim old forest
Seemeth the best of all.”
In the year 1849 Alice and Phoebe Cary left their
Western home on a visit to the Eastern cities. They had
already known Mr. Griswold, by correspondence (he re-
siding then in Philadelphia), Horace Greeley and John
G. Whittier. The former was their earliest friend and
devoted himself to their literary welfare until the time of
his death. -
In a volume of poems published by Alice Cary in 1854,
she addresses him as her “dear friend,” in the following
words:
“To RUFUs WILMOT GRISwold.
“You were the first to praise my simple rhymes, years before
I met or dreamed of meeting you; and since we became personally
acquainted you have always been ready to counsel and encourage
me in those literary pursuits to which I was led by the natural
inclination of my mind, and which at too early an age, perhaps,
I adopted as the principal means of hoped for usefulness and hap-
piness. I have been pleased, therefore, with the thought that in
such an inscription as this, I might express something of my grat-
itude to you and my respect for you. I know, indeed, that it is
not an unusual distinction to have been an object of your kindly
interest—that there are many among our young authors who owe
much to your advice and generous aid—so that if all who are in
this way your debtors were so to manifest their feelings, you would
be wearied with such display of their consideration ; yet this is
the only manner in which I can render you homage which is due
248 ALICE AND PHOEBE CARY.
to your genius and worth, especially from me, who am under so
many obligations to you ; and I feel assured that you will receive
my offering with as much satisfaction as if it conferred on you,
more than on myself, a desirable honor.”
Horace Greeley had met the sisters in their Western
home a year or so before their trip to the east, and was able
to give them, on their arrival in New York, seeking, as they
Were, opportunity to make a living by literature, some in-
telligent and friendly advice. He, like Mr. Griswold, was
their valued and trusted friend through their lives. He
thus wrote of the Cary Sisters after their literary venture
had proved a success : -
“Gradually signs of thrift appeared, and eventually they lived
in a house of their own, not large or showy, but comfortable and
paid for by the labor of their hands. Here they received weekly,
without ostentation, literary and artistic guests and dispensed for
many years a quiet, inexpensive hospitality. Their parlor was not
so large as some others, but quite as neat and cheerful, and the
few literary persons or artists who occasionally met at their infor-
mal invitation, to discuss with them a cup of tea and the newest
books, poems and events, might have found many more preten-
tious, but few more enjoyable gatherings. I have a dim recollec-
tion that the first of these little tea parties was held up two flights
of stairs, in one of the less fashionable sections of the city ; but
good things were said there, that I recall with pleasure even yet,
while of some of the company, on whorn. I have not since set cyes,
I cherish a pleasant and grateful remembrance. As their circum-
stances gradually though slowly improved by dint of diligent in-
dustry and judicious economy the yoccupied more eligible quarters,
and the modest dwelling they have for some years owned and im-
proved, in the very heart of this emporium, has long been known
to the literary guild as combining one of the best private libraries
with the sunniest drawing-room (even by gas-light) to be found
between King's Bridge and the Battery.”
Mr. Whittier, in his own inimitable style, thus com.
memorates the impression these Western singers made upon
him, when they first called at his home :
ALICE AND PHOEBE CARY.
“THE SINGERS.
“Years since (but names to me before)
Two sisters sought at eve my door,
Two song-birds wandering from their nest ;
A gray old farm-bouse in the West.
“Timid and young, the elder had
Even then a smile too sweetly sad;
The crown of pain that all must wear
Too early pressed her midnight hair.
“Yet, ere the summer eve grew long,
Her modest lips were sweet with song,
A memory haunted all her words
Of clover-fields and singing birds.
“Her dark, dilating eyes express
The broad horizons of the West;
Her speech dropped prairie flowers; the gold
Of harvest wheat about her rolled.
“Fore-doomed to song she seemed to me;
I queried not with destiny;
I knew the trial and the need,
Yet all the more, I said, God speed I
“What could I other than I did 3
Could I a singing bird forbid
Deny the wind-stirred leaf? Rebuke
The music of the forest brook 8
*
“She went with morning from my door,
But left me richer than before;
Thenceforth I knew her voice of cheer,
The welcome of her partial ear.
“Year passed; through all the land her name
A pleasant household word became;
All felt behind the singer stood -
A sweet and gracious womanhood.
250 ALICE AND PHOEBE CARY.
“Unseen of her her fair fame grew,
The good she did she rarely knew,
Unguessed of her in life the love
That rained its tears her grave above.”
The sisters returned to their western home and made
final arrangements for a removal to New York, where Dr.
Griswold had located himself, to devote themselves to the
labors of their pen. The first year of their residence in
New York was at the American Hotel, then kept by Daniel
13ixby, a former well-known book publisher from Lowell.
His hotel had become the resort of many well-known lit-
erary people, among whom were J. Fenimore Cooper, Fitz
Greene Halleck, and Washington Irving.
Here the sisters resided for several months, and Mr.
Bixby informs me led a very retiring life, constantly
Writing, and secing but few callers. A few years later,
their income from books and contributions to various lit-
erary periodicals, had realized a sufficient sum to purchase
a home. In the year 1855, Mr. Griswold brought to me a
manuscript novel entitled “Married, not Mated,” by Alice
Cary, which was published the following year. My acquaint-
ance with the Cary sisters began in 1854, soon after my
establishing business in New York, and for many years I
found their home a most delightful resort, meeting there
many of the distinguished people of literary tastes, among
others the following : -
Rev. Rufus W. Griswold, D. D., Robert Dale Owen, Henry Ward
Beecher, Anna Dickinson, Mr. & Mrs. O. J. Victor, Mr. & Mrs.
Oliver Johnson, IRobert Bonner, Horace Greeley, Frank B. Car-
penter, Mary Mapes Dodge, Mary Abby Dodge, Mr. & Mrs. D. G.
Croly, Mr. & Mrs. James Parton, Mr. & Mrs. [.. H. Stoddard, Mr.
& Mrs. Bayard Taylor, John Savage, Rev. Charles F. Deems, D.
D., L.L. D., E. C. Stedman, Richard B. Kimball, John G. Whit-
tier, Samuel Bowles, A. D. Iticlyardson and wife, Madame O. W.
Le Vert, Gen. Clinton B. Fisk, Thomas W. Knox, William A.
Seaver, Kate Field, Hon. Thomas A. Jencks, Mary L. Booth,
ALICE AND PHOEBE, CARY. 251
ºr
Sara Helen Whitman, Julius Henri Browne, Dr. J. W. Holcombe,
Hon. Schuyler Colfax, Ole Bull, John Russell Young, H. O.
Houghton, Rev. B. F. Tefft, D. D., Julia Dean, Geo. W. Carle.
ton, George E. Baker, Robert Chambers, LL. D., Prof. R. W.
Raymond, Justin McCarthy, Hon. Henry Wilson, George Ripley,
Edwin H. Whipple, John G. Saxe, IRev. Abel C. Thomas, D. D.,
Rev. Geo. B. Cheever, D. D., Thomas Bailey Aldrich, Rev. Abel
Stevens, D. D., Rev. E. H. Chapin, D. D., Rev. H. M. Field,
D. D., Rev. H. W. Bellows, D. D., Rev. Robert Colyer, George
Perry, Mrs. John C. Fremont, R. W. Gilder, Gen. F. W. Lander,
Gen. S. F. Cary, Prof. R. R. Raymond, Whitelaw Reid, Lucia
Gilbert Runkle, James T. Fields, Frances S. Osgood, Prof. O.
W. Wight, Elizabeth Oakes Smith, Mary Clemmer Ames, Rev. O.
B. Frothingham, Mrs. Abby Hopper Gibbon, Mr. & Mrs. Justin
McCarthy.
In the year 1859 my firm published Alice Cary’s Pic-
tures from Country Life. The volume achieved new honors
for the author at home and abroad. In a review of several
columns in length. The London Literary Gazette takes
occasion to say :
“Every tale in this book might be selected as evidence of
some new beauty or unhackneyed grace. There is nothing feeble,
nothing vulgar, and above all, nothing unnatural or melodramatic.
To the analytical subtlety and marvelous naturalness of the French
school of romance she has added the purity and idealizations of
the home affection and home life belonging to the English ; giv-
ing to both the American richness of color and vigor of outline
and her own individual power and loveliness.”
On the breaking out of the Civil War, I retired from
the publishing business, keeping up, however, my friendly
relations with the Cary sisters. Their subsequent pub-
lishers were George W. Carleton and H. O. Houghton.
Alice writes, October 21st, 1866 : “I have managed with
Carleton about my books. He has been very generous to
me. I like him, and you will.” Many other authors, to
my knowledge, can say as much about this wide-awake and
252 ALICE AND PHOEBE CARY.
liberal publisher. If any one can make a book sell, he
can do it, provided it is a good book.
Mr. John Savage, the poet, perhaps their earliest New
York friend, in a letter just received, gives me the fol-
lowing interesting incidents:
“Before the Cary Sisters came to New York, they had
published—through a Philadelphia House—a volume entitled
“Poems by Alice and Phoebe Cary,” a selection from what they
printed and written. They did not attract attention in their teens;
their poetical faculties developed with their womanhood from the
sights, duties and thoughts connected with practical farm work
and continuously appreciative converse with Nature. Their knowl-
edge and experience of Nature's ways, united to a deep and sen-
sitive love of all that was tender and picturesquely suggestive in
Nature's seasonable varieties and gifts, created a feeling that
amounted to insight, and furnished their writings with unending
resources of attractive figures and pure sentiment. -
“They wrote with great facility in those days, and their
poems exhibited the novelty of rhetoric and pulsation of rhythm
that came more from a quick application of things seen to ideas
felt, and to fervor of appreciation than to books or book ways, or
the mechanism of art. There was a sentiment of melancholy run-
ning through them which was, in my opinion, saddening at times.
This remained a characteristic of Alice to the last. But the senti-
ment was high and pure and the insight of Nature's motives, feel-
ings, longings and rewards, would never permit their identifica-
tion with sentimentalism. One of Alice's poems of this period,
“Pictures of Memory,’ attracted much attention, and prepared the
way for her appearance among the litterati of New York. It is full
of sweetness, melody, thought and imagination. The story—the
death of a little brother, who lies asleep “in the lap of a dim old
forest is exquisitely told—and the gentle resonance of the num-
bers catches the ear and haunts the fancy and memory for many a
day. Just look at it, and read it, and see if you can refrain from
making a sort of musical accompaniment to its passage through
the brain, Edgar A. Poe thought it distinguished by all the higher
elements of poetry, true imagination and the power of exciting
the elevation of the soul. He did not live to see the writer of
whose genius he had thus early in her career expressed so high an
opinion.
ALICE AND PHOEBE CARY. 253
“The Carys came to take permanent residence in New York,
in the spring of 1851. I met Alice and Elmina at one of Miss
Anne C. Lynch's (now Mrs. Botta) literary re-unions on May 17th
of that year. Miss Lynch’s “Saturday evenings,” were quite
famous for years. The hostess, a lady of great poetical gifts,
extensive cultivation, sweet expression, and attractive manners,
gathering around her all that was most prominent and promising in
the paths of literature, fine-arts, music, travel, science, etc., as
well as amateurs in the same, and persons otherwise distinguished
in diplomacy, public affairs and politics. Alice was alluded to on
the occasion as “Our poetess from the West,” or “Our Western
poetess ; ' and I understood she had but recently come to New
York. She was shy and unobtrusive, but keenly observant, at her
first mingling with the acknowledged intellectual and cultured
society, of which she, not far distant, was to become herself an
eminent feature, and later still a beloved central figure. With
increase of reputation, she did not lose her unobtrusive modesty,
but later on there was added to her gentleness of bearing and dig-
nity of character, a , suavity of humor arising from keenness of
observation, the expression of which by her was all the more
enjoyable by contrast with her rigid sense of justice, and earnest
generosity of feeling for others. Her features were very interest-
ing and her piercing yet tender dark eyes, were only less large
and luminous than those of her younger sister, Elmina, who was
very captivating. Phoebe was not in New York then, but soon
joined her sisters. They resided at that time at the residence of
Dr. Rufus W. Griswold, from whom—when strangers to each
other, Alice says (in the dedication of “Clovernook"—her first
New York book) she received the first praise that cheered her
on the path of literature. At Dr. Griswold's they naturally met
literary people of more or less distinction, but in about a year's
time set to house-keeping for themselves in the first suite of
rooms left of the hall, in a newly built apartment house, on
Eighteenth Street, just east of Second Avenue. Several remov-
als of residence followed until they made their permanent dwell-
ing in the house on Twentieth Street, with which their memory is
so intimately associated. One of these removals led to an acci-
dent which might have proved a serious catastrophe. It was in
the house on the south side of Twenty-third Street, a few doors
from Fifth Avenue, where an explosion took place, caused by
bringing a light into a room in which gas had been confined.
254 AI,ICE AND PHOEBE CARY.
Portions of the front wall were blown out and Alice somewhat
injured.
“The acquaintance began at Miss Lynch's ripened into mutual
respect, esteem, confidence and friendship, and I became, in the
early years of their New York life, the frequent, fraternal escort
of one or two of the sisters to theatre, opera, concert, lecture,
etc. On one of the latter occasions, I had the pleasure of intro-
ducing Alice and Thackeray to each other. I remember a quick
reply of Phoebe's coming home from the theatre one night.
Stopping in at Maillard's or Taylor's for coffee or chocolate, I re-
marked that the cup in which the beverage was served had no
handles, ‘Oh, of course not,” said Phoebe, lifting the cup to her
lips, ‘we are expected to handle them ourselves.’ Phoebe had
a dangerous for the droll side of things and people. She had
both humor and wit and a readiness of expression and repartee,
which, possessed by a less genial owner would have needed care-
ful control.
“When Alice came to New York, she had an engagement to
furnish correspondence on literary, social and general topics of
interest to a leading Cincinnati Journal, which felt pride in her
Western origin and rising reputation. She contributed poems to
such periodicals as would pay anything, and soon set about pre-
paring a prose volume of sketches of country life. This was
‘Clovernook, or Recollections of our Neighborhood in the
West,’ published by our friend Redfield, in 1852. While reading
the proof sheets, the thought constantly suggested itself to her
that her experiences of the daily doings and simple manners of
country life would not prove of sufficient general interest to make
them a success. She was, however, happily mistaken, and not
only a second edition was soon called for, but a second series in a
new volume came out the following year. But before the second
‘Clovernook' appeared, and while the critics were acknowledg-
ing the presence among us of a new genius in prose fiction, one
with characteristics as idiosyncratic and distinctive as those of
Hawthorne or Poe in their respective styles, a volume of verse
came from the press which elevated the writer still higher in
critical opinion and the affection of readers. This was “Lyra
and other Poerns, by Alice Cary.” Writers contended in the
spirit of homage to the poet's claim on the country's sense of
pride and on the lovers of poetic literature in general. It was held
that her descriptive powers successfully rivaled Bryant in his
ALICE AND PHOEBE CARY. 255
wnecial line and tistanced every other writer among us. Ripley,
un the Triº une, favorably compared her with Mrs. Browning, or
any other living poetess, for sweetness, pathos and tenderness; and
another writer in Boston, who thought he discovered the influence
of Chaucer and Milton in her writings, felt it impossible to deny
her original and extraordinary powers, or the astonishing rich-
ness and prodigality with which the elements of her genius were
poured forth.
Alice Cary was thenceforward an acknowledged star
in the literary firmament of which every American of taste
and culture was justly proud.
The following letters will be interesting to my readers.
They are principally written from Cincinnati, while mak-
ing a summer visit at the home of a younger and dearly
loved sister, who afterward purchased for their use the
home in East Twentieth Street, which became endeared to
so many by association with their famous Sunday evening
receptions. The first is from Phoebe, and is dated July
2d, 1852 :
“MY DEAR MR. SAVAGE :
“As you did not come to bid us good-by, and as Alice has
written to you without receiving any answer, I almost fear to ad-
dress; but thinking it possible her letter has not reached you, I
will try again. We are here so far inland, and so far from where
the literary do mostly congregate, that we can have no news of
that kind to tell; and as you are quite unacquainted with our city
or its people, I know of nothing of interest to communicate to
you. As for ourselves, we remain in statu quo. Wonder how you
all flourish in New York, and how you manage to get along, now
I am gone. IIave you taken some “savage woman " yet, and
what has become of Stoddard, and Daily, and Dickinson, and all
the “Old Guard,” that used to visit at Miss Lynch's. I will di-
rect this to Mr. Daily's care, for I have forgotten your number,
and if you get it, please let me know, and also if Alice's was re-
ceived. Kindest regards from Alice and Elmina (the younger
sister alluded to), and believe me, your friend always.
“PHEBE CARY.”
256 ALICE AND PII OERE CARY.
“Cincinnati, September 5th, 1852.
“DEAR MR. SAVAGE,-
“Pray pardon my long delay in answering your very kind and
delightful letter. But you must not blame my melancholy so long
as you indulge in the horrible fancies indicated by the skeletons
you sent me. We have had so much sickness here, and I have
been so busy, are the reasons of my silence. But we have thought
of you, and talked of you every day; and yesterday I read to Elmina
your articles in the June and July numbers of the Democratic
Review. I need not say we were pleased—thank you sincerely for
sending them. I expect to be in New York in a month, and
Phebe is there already. Elmina thinks she will pass some weeks
with us this winter; her health is delicate, and I don't like to
leave her. I have been urging her to write (for publication). I
know she could, but she seems to have lost all ambition. My own
health is very good, and I am really growing fat, and with good
health my mind is greatly more checiful. I have not written much
poetry. though I would fain write nothing else. I wrote one poem
yestel day morning, over which El. cried sadly, not for that it was
so touching, I think, but because she does not write. She is the
best girl in the world, but too self-sacrificing. I am writing you
quite a family letter when I should be upon stilts, and try to talk
wisely—but I am not a blue, thank Heaven | We have been read-
ing the ‘Blithesdale Romance,” and were disappointed. Haw-
thorne is great sometimes but ne strikes me as wonderfully un-
equal. It is a glorious evening, and I wish you were here—you
should not say I did not talk. We have beautiful sunsets here,
and the city, as I look out, looks like a picture in its green rim of
hills. As I grow older I love Nature more and more, and above
all the little village where I was born. I think I should find new
beautics everlastingly. The sweet twilightfalleth dimly, as a poetess
would say. I cannot see to write, and so, in the hope of hearing
from you soon, bid you good-by. '
“Most sincerely yours,
** ALICE CARY.”
Prof. O. W. Wight, an eminent scholar and author, now
a resident of Detroit, Michigan, who knew the Cary Sisters
on their first arrival in the East writes me under date of
February 10th, 1884, as follows:
ALICE AND PHOEBE CARY. 257
“I made the acquaintance of both soon after their removal to
New York from the neighborhood of Cincinnati. They were
then young, hopeful, ambitious, frank and unsophisticated in man-
ner. Their verses had already attracted some attention, and men
and women of letters in the metropolis extended to them a wel-
come hand. Of strictly fashionable life they knew nothing and
were never initiated into its mysteries. They were speedily rec-
ognized by the aristocracy of culture, and unhesitatingly received
into its ranks. Publishers were kind to them and thus was open-
ed the way to honorably earn their bread. They were earnest
young women and entered upon a career of literature with cour-
age and energy, at a time when the difficulties in the way were
greater than at present. That was more than thirty years ago.
“Alice was rather tall; somewhat slender, lithe and graceful;
a brunette—a Caucasian brunette—a Persian blonde, with fine,
oval face, large dark eyes, a little oriental in cast of features; in
look, pensive, at times sad, as if wearing an untold sorrow in her
heart. The tones of her voice were pathetic, and while her smile
was pleasant she rarely indulged in laughter. The tenor of her
liſe was serious and she rarely uttered a word of merriment. Wit
she appreciated, but never originated it. He nature responded
more readily to tears than to laughter. Yet there was nothing of
the sentimental lachmyrose about her. Pensiveness was charac-
teristic, running into tone, look, utterance. She was made to
emotionally teach and soothe, rather than to mentally dazzle and
shine.
“Phoebe, on the other hand, was rather short, somewhat stout,
sprightly and vivacious; also a brunette, with massive face, pierc-
ing dark eyes; in look alert, in speech prompt. The tone of her
voice was ringing, clear like a bell. Fun lurked in her features,
ready to spring out upon the beholder. Never have I found a
woman who had so instantaneous a perception of the incongruous,
who gave utterance to it with greater promptness, patness or frol-
icsomeness. She was ‘intolerably witty,” and her ringing, musi-
cal laughter was contagious. The late Rev. Dr. Chapin was alone
her equal in pert, grotesque, innocent cackling, unexpected puns,
uttered with the sharp, prompt volubility of pyrotechnics. Her
conversational powers were very great. Underlying her droll hu-
mor, was good sense and amiability. There was nothing bitter in
her nature. Large. hearted, tender of the feelings of others, she
258 ALICE AND PHICEBE CARY.
was always compassionable and beloved. It is doubtful whether
she was any happier in spirit than her pensive sister.
“Alice and Phoebe completely supplemented each other;
and were entirely devoted to each other; neither would marry,
because they refused to be separated. I lost sight of them during
my absence of nearly half a dozen years in Europe. After my
return my pleasant acquaintance with them was renewed. They had
prospered and moved into a house of their own in Twentieth
Street. Their home was eiegant and abounded in good books.
Around them had gathered a group of congenial friends. Their
Sunday evening receptions were frequented by men and women,
eminent in various walks of life. Nearly every person one met
there had a national reputation of some kind. -
“The Muses presided and the Graces were not absent. The
conversation was of the highest and best, brilliant with wit,
weighty with thought, rich with sentiment, sometimes serious
with erudition, sometimes flashing with repartee. Anecdotes
might be told of these gatherings, which, when some of the still
living actors have departed, may find their way into literary his-
tory. . .
“Years passed away with their wealth of laughter and tears,
and of course the full story of the precious lives of Alice and
Phoebe Cary cannot be told here. Of their last days I could not
speak if I would. The characteristics of their genius, as gathered
from long personal intercourse, rather than from their published
works, may be briefly given.
“The genius of Phoebe was like itself, and could be compared
with nothing else. She would improvise an amusing travesty of
almost any poem placed in her hands, with a by-play of jokes and
puns exploding like bunches of fire-crackers in an empty barrel,
but she needed the stimulus of congenial company to do her best
in this way. Her improvised efforts of the kind were superior to
the published ones. There was a click of steel in her verse and
flashes of wit like the sparks struck from steel with flint. Yet
pathos, tenderness, sweetness, earnestness were not wanting. She
could remember the brook and the forest tree of the farm whence
she sprang, and recall them vividly in genuine pictures of the im-
agination. The school-house, the playground, the early longings
for the unknown and the untried, and many things more, were
transformed into genuine poetry. But I must not forget that I
am writing some brief reminiscences and not exhaustive critiques.
ALICE AND PHOEBE CARY. 259
“The genius of Alice has perhaps been sufficiently described
in giving her portrait. In her poetry, especially as interpreted by
her own voice in reading, was the music of the waterfall, of the
humming of bees, or of the plaintive twitter of birds, the sweetness
of apple blossoms, of the blowing clover, or of the new-mown hay,
the tenderness of the maiden sighing for a love she could not fathom
and could not reveal, the pathos of an unfulfilled life, looking out
with unspeakable sorrow into the spiritual realms that lie shadowy
and shoreless both this side and beyond the portals of eternity.
She lacked the lyric fire and the Greek culture of Mrs. Browning;
she had none of the erotic passion of Sappho; she was the equal of
Mrs. Hemans in pure sentinent and grace of versification; she was
not at all inferior to Mrs. Sigourney in tender song, flowing spon-
taneously from a rich womanly life; with the influences of time
and place, with the inspiring friendship of a Michael Angelo, she
might have been a Wittoria Colonna.”
One of the most affecting duties of my life was arrang-
ing for the funeral services of their youngest sister Elmina,
—who died in 1867. She was one of the most beautiful
women I have ever met—and her early death, though long
looked for, Alice and Phoebe took much to heart. Alice
speaks of her repeatedly in her “Lover's Diary.” We
Selected the site for her burial in Greenwood, where, a few
years later, Alice and Phoebe were laid by her side. The
bearers of the remains of Elmina were Horace Greeley,
Oliver Johnson, Samuel Sinclair and myself. Mr. Johnson
delivered a most touching funeral address.
It was my misfortune to be absent in a distant part
of the country, when both these dear friends of mine sick.
ened and died. A telegram that Alice Cary was dead,
and another, six months later, that Phoebe was dead, was
a double shock to me and my family, all of whom loved
the sisters so well. Alice died on the 12th of February,
1871, her funeral taking place two days later.
Miss Mary L. Booth, Editor of Harper’s Bazaar, and
one of Alice Cary’s most intimate friends, gives the fol-
lowing account of her funeral, in that paper:
26() ALICE AND PHOEBE CARY,
“The 14th of February was a day of storm and immense snow
fall. Through it all hundreds went to the Church of the Strang.
ers, where the services at her obsequies were conducted by her
friend, Rev. Dr. Deems. Early in Dr. Deems’ ministry in New
York, she, took a deep interest in the success of the church that
was to be unsectarian and free for all strangers. -
“It was the last in which she was able to hear the Gospel, but
her intense interest in it deepened to her dying day. Often in
her sickness she expressed the wish that she could contrive some
ay to obtain a church for the congregation, which was then
worshipping in the chapel of the University. When she learned
that Commodore Wanderbilt had given the Mercer Street Church
to Dr. Deems for his Christian work, she was overjoyed into
speechlessness, and could not have been more grateful, if some
great personal favor had been conferred on her. Her anxiety to
be present at the opening exercises was intense, but she could not.
She went into the church at last to lie in quiet and beauty, among
flowers, music and friends, while her pastor, tearfully and heart-
ily interpreted the love and grief of a large assembly, in which
were many poor, some servants, many who loved her in her books,
and almost every woman and man in New York, who is distin-
guished in literature. And while he talked great men bowed
their heads and wept. She was carried to Greenwood, a score of
devoted friends following through the storm, and seeing her
precious dust laid beside that of her sister Elmina.
“Immediately the heavens covered her resting-place with
drapery as white as her soul, and as soft and noiseless as her
charity.”
And thus Alice Cary, lived, died and was buried.
In the memorial volume by Mary Clemmer, which was
written at the request of the Cary Brothers, and which
she has kindly placed at my disposal, I find the following:
“Had Alice Cary married the man she then loved, she never
would have come to New York at all, to coin the rare gifts of her
brain and soul into money for shelter and bread. Business inter-
ests had brought into her western neighborhood a man, at
that time much her superior in years, culture and fortune.
Naturally he sought the society of a young, lovely woman so
ALICE AND PHOEBE CARY. 261
superior to her surroundings and associations. To Alice he was
the man of men. It is doubtful if the most richly endowed man
of the world, whom she met afterwards in her larger sphere, ever
wore, to her, the splendor of manhood which invested this king
of her youth. Alice Cary loved this man, and in the profoundest
sense she never loved another. A proud and prosperous family
brought all their pride and power to bear on a son to prevent his
marrying a girl, to them uneducated, rustic and poor. ‘ I waited
for one who never came back,' she said. “Yet I believed he would
corne, till I read in a paper his marriage to another.” Can you
think what life would be—loving one, waiting for one who would
never come back.
“He did come at last. His wife had died. Alice was dying.
The gray-haired man sat down beside the gray-haired woman. Life
had dealt prosperously with him, as is its wont with men. Suſ-
fering and death had taken all from her, save the lustre of her
wondrous eyes. From her wan and wasted face they shone upon
him full of tenderness and youth. Thus they met, with life be-
hind them—they who parted plighted lovers, when life was
young. He was the man whom slie forgave for her blighted and
weary life, with a smile of parting its divine as ever lit the face of
woman.”
*
Phoebe soon followed her sister to the grave. They
were so unlike in personal appearance, in conversation and
in many of their tastes. In devotion to each other they
were as one. Phoebe was dependent upon Alice, who was
her support and stay. They had trodden the same literary
path together from poverty to competence. Phoebe was
constantly growing in literary strength and had she lived
a few years longer we should have heard much more of
her as a poet. As soon as her death was known, the
daily papers said : “The wittiest woman in America is
dead.”
I remember once having the honor and good fortune to
travel with her as far as her sister’s residence in Indiana,
and through the day and evening of travel, her wit was
continuous as the sparks of the locomotive just ahead.
Mrs. Clemmer says in her “Memorial Volume : ”
262 A LICE AND PIICEH E CA RY.
“Phoebe Cary was the most literal of human beings. Never
did there live such a disenchanter. Hold up to her, in her literal
every-day world, your most precious dream, and in an instant, by
a single rapier of a sentence, she would thrust it through and strip
it of the last vestige of glamour and you would see nothing before
you but a cold, staring fact. It was this tenacious grip on reality,
this keen sense of the ludicrous in the relation between words and
things, which made her the most spontaneous of punsters and a
very queen of parodies.”
A volume of her “Parodies '' was published in the year
1855, by Ticknor & Fields. But Phoebe Cary had two
sides to her talent, many of her poems being of a tender,
pathetic and of a religious nature.
Her famous ‘‘Nearer Home * was written in 1852.
Many variations of the poem have been published. In 1869
she assisted Dr. Deems in the preparation of Hymns for
all Christians for the use of the Church of the Strangers.
At his solicitation she allowed her hymn to go into the
books with this note, “The author desires the following to
be considered hereafter her authorized version.” She spent
days over the fourth stanza, making many alterations be-
fore she could suit herself.
** NEARER HOME.
“One sweetly solemn thought
Comes to me o'er and o'er;
I'm nearer my home to-day
Than I ever bave been before:
“Nearer my Father's house,
Where the many mansions be;
Nearer the great white throne,
Nearer the crystal sea;
“Nealer the bound of life,
Where we lay our burdens down;
Nearer leaving the cross.
Nearer gaining the crown:
ALICE AND PHOEB I. C.A.R.Y. 263
“But the waves of that silent sea
Roll dark before my sight,
That brightly the other side
Break on a shore of light.
“O, if my mortal feet
Have almost gained the brink,
If it be I am nearer home
Even to-day than I think:
“Father, perfect my trust,
Let my spirit feel in death,
That her feet are firmly set
On the Rock of a living faith !”
Dr. Deems once said that Phoebe and Alice Cary were
spiritual Siamese twins. The night after Alice's funeral
he went to the house and found every room opened and
lighted. Phoebe said it was Alice's wish that everything
should be made cheerful when she was gone. The friends
sat and talked during the evening, sometimes laughing
over amusing scenes in which Alice had been concerned.
He then hoped that Phoebe would recover from the great
blow that had fallen upon her, and a plan of literary work
was laid out for her. But it was soon apparent that she
was to follow her sister. She would not work. The fine
glow of her complexion faded, and strands of white began
to appear in her “ midnight hair.” One day he found her
rolling in her bed in an agony of despondency, when he
rallied her by telling her that it was a sin and a shame for
any woman, whose usefulness had gone to the ends of the
earth, and whose words would be repeated forever, to be
giving way to despondency and tried to cheer her by
repeating the following story :
“A gentleman in China, intrusted with packages for a young
man from his friends in the United States, learned that he would
probably be found in a certain gambling-house. He went thither,
but not seeing the young man, sat down and waited, in the hope
that he might come in. The place was a bedlam of noises, men
264 ALICE AND PHOEBE CARY.
getting angry over their cards, and frequently coming to blows.
Near him sat two men—one young, the other forty years of age.
They were betting and drinking in a terrible way, the elder one
giving utterance continually to the foulest profanity. Two games
had been finished, the young man losing each time. The third
game, with fresh bottles of brandy, had just begun, and the young
man sat lazily back in his chair, while the oldest shuffled his
cards. The man was a long time dealing his cards, and the young
man, looking carelessly about the room, began to hum a tune. He
went on, till at length he began to sing the hymn of Phoebe Cary
above quoted. The words, says the writer of the story, repeated
in such a vile place, at first made me shudder. A Sabbath-school
hymn in a gambling den l But while the young man sang, the
elder stopped dealing the cards, stared at the singer a moment,
and, throwing the cards on the floor, exclaimed: “Harry, where
did you learn that tune?’ ‘What tune?’ ‘Why, that one you've
been singing.” The young man said he did not know what he had
been singing, when the elder repeated the words, with tears in
his eyes, and the young man said he had learned them in a Sunday
school in America. “Come,” said the elder, getting up; ‘come,
Harry; here's what I won from you; go and use it for some good
purpose. As for me, as God sees me, I have played my last game,
and drank my last bottle. I have misled you, Harry, and I am
sorry. Give me your hand, my boy, and say that for old America's
sake, if for no other, you will quit this infernal business.” The
gentleman who tells the story (originally published in the Boston
Daily New8) saw these two men leave the gambling house to-
gether and walk away arm in arm; and he remarks: ‘It must be
a source of great joy to Miss Cary to know that her lines, which
have comforted so many Christian hearts, have been the means of
awakening in the breast of two tempted and erring men on the
other side of the globe a resolution to lead a better life.” It was a
source of great joy to Miss Cary as we happen to know. Before
us lies a private letter from her to an aged friend in this city, with
the printed story inclosed, and containing this comment : “I in-
close the hymn and the story for you, not because I am vain of
the notice, but because I thought you would feel a peculiar inter-
est in them when you know the hymn was written eighteen years
ago (1842) in your house. I composed it in the little back third-
story bed-room, one Sunday morning, after coming from church,
f
AI,ICE AND PHOERE CARY. 265
and it makes me very happy to think that any word I could say
has done a little good in the world.’”
Phoebe was at the time of writing this hymn but 17
years of age. This story of a hymn, published in The Wew
York Tribune soon after her death, brought the following
reply :
“SEQUEL TO THE GAMBLER'S STORY.
“To the Editor of the Tribune.
“SIR : Having noticed in the colums of the Tribune a bio-
graphical sketch of Phoebe Cary, which contained an incident
from my letters from China, I think that the sequel to the story
of “ The Gamblers ” may interest her many friends. The old man
spoken of in the anecdote has returned to California, and has become
a hard-working Christian man, while ‘Harry' has renounced
gambling and all its attendant vices. The incident having gone
the rounds of the press, the old man saw it, and finding its
‘credit,” wrote to me about it. Thus Phoebe Cary's poem “One
Sweetly Solemn Thought,” etc., has saved from ruin at least two
who seldom or never entered a house of worship.
- I am yours,
º “RUSSELL H. ConweLL.
“ Traveller Office, Boston, August 9th, 1871.”
When Mr. Whittier published his “Ballads of New
England ” he sent a copy on Christmas, 1869, with the fol-
lowing inscription :
“TO ALICE AND PHOEBE CARY.
“Who from the farm-field singing came,
The Song whose echo now is fame, .
And to the great false city took
The honest hearts of Clovernook,
And made their homes beside the Sea
The trysting-place of Liberty.
JOHN G. WHITTIER.”
Its a singular fact that both the sisters preferred living
in the city to a country residence; even in the suburbs of
12
266 ALICE AND PHOEBE CARY.
New York. They often wondered why any one fond of liter-
ary society like myself should not live in the city and en-
joy cosmopolitan life heartily as they did. And still not
only their prose but their poetry was constantly depicting
country life. They enjoyed country diversions, however,
notwithstanding. I remember on one occasion all three
of the sisters accompanied me on a brief visit to my resi-
dence on the Hudson near Yonkers—it was in the summer
time, and the lawn of clover in front of the house was
fragrant with its blossoms—my wife had hardly greeted
them before Alice sat down on the steps and deliberately
took off her shoes and stockings and literally waded through
the clover. Her Clovernook stories are full of evidence
like this of her natural love of country life. -
When I related this incident to Dr. Deems, he said it
reminded him that Alice in her last illness suffered greatly
from a disease which shortened one limb and subjected her
to intense pain. Once when he was holding her shoulders
and Mrs. Deems was gently but firmly drawing the limb,
Alice said, “One form of my dreams which comes frequent-
ly is that of running rapidly bare-footed, every particle of
ground seeming to tickle every particle of my foot.” This
remark occurred to Dr. Deems when soon after her death
he read the following beautiful line, which Alice had writ-
ten descriptive of her own experience :
“My soul is full of whispered song ;
My blindness is my sight :
The shadows that I feared so long
Are all aglow with light :
And while my pulses feebly beat,
My faith doth so abound
I feel grow firm, beneath my feet,
The green immortal ground.”
An incident is mentioned or a young Southern lady
(now Mrs. Marion J. Verdery, of Augusta, Ga.,) who
from childhood had been a loving student of Alice Cary’s
ALICE AND PHOEBE CARY. 267
poetry, remarking at the funeral, that she believed she
could find each flower of our Middle States and many of
those of the South mentioned with appreciation in some of
Alice Cary's poetry.
Oliver Johnson, the well-known early abolitionist, who
with his wife were intimate and devoted friends of them
both, writes me under date of April 3d, 1884:
“The sisters will ever hold an honored place in my memory.
I never pass through the Fourth Avenue, that my eyes do not seek
the little house near the corner of Twentieth Street, where they
so long resided, and where I was so often a guest. Externally it
does not seem changed since they left it, and I can hardly divest
myself of the feeling that I should find them still there if I should
ring the door-bell and inquire for them. They died too early, be-
fore completely achieving the fame which awaited them; but they
lived long enough to endear themselves not only to their near
friends, but to thousands who never saw them.”
Mary Clemmer writes me under date of March 14th,
1884 : -
*
“You are welcome to any quotation you may wish to make
frcm the Cary Memorial. I narrate that book from my heart as
well as from my memory. It comes from love and truth and if it
can commence to illustrate the life of the dearest woman I have
ever known, it will add to my happiness. I have never ceased to
miss Alice Cary, and all the more that my own life is full and
happy. Nor do I cease to love Phoebe, though in life I was not
so intimately bound to her by the close sympathetic spiritual rela-
tions which bound me to Alice.”
Among those I occasionally met at the Cary's evenings
at home were Mr. and Mrs. O. J. Victor. Coming, as they
all did, from Ohio, and all of them authors, they naturally
were intimate, both in a social and literary way. Metta
Victoria Victor, like Alice, was timid of the public and
was almost a stranger save to the select circle who had the
entree to her pretty home in New Jersey. Between Mrs.
Victor and the Carys the intimacy was that of sisters. The
268 ALICE AND PHOEBE CARY.
last place Phoebe visited, and shortly before her death was
at the Victors’ residence, the terraces, of which both sis-
ters were very fond. They once gave an old-fashioned
“husking bee” in the great barn, at which a hundred
guests were present as “huskers.” Phoebe officiated as a
kind of mistress of ceremonies, and everything was carried
out in true pioneer style—a fiddler on a barrel, an immense
heap of corn on the broad floor, lanterns suspended, husk-
ers on and around the pile and in the adjacent “mows;”
cider and doughnuts for refreshment, and fun ad libiţum,
even to the struggle to get away from the penalty of the
red ears. Alice sought the retirement of the hay mow, but
Phoebe was everywhere, the bright particular star of the
occasion, with her irrepressible humor flashing like fire-
works over all. After the great pile was husked there fol.
lowed the dance on the swept floor, and the breaking up
was not until long after midnight. The next morning
Phoebe returned, laden with huge ears for Horace Greeley,
which he displayed over his desk in his “den.” Greeley
Was to have been present, but was, at the last moment, de-
tained, whereat he swore; and Phoebe took him the ears,
as she averred, to make him “acknowledge the corn” for
Swearing.
In the year 1868, I purchased a fruit farm at Aiken,
S. C., of John E. Marley, a well-known citizen of that place.
I had no intention of residing there at the time, but I soon
found I had the inevitable elephant on my hands which
necessitated my going there to look after the property, not
expecting however to be absent, as I was, for two or three
years. I had been explaining the matter of my purchase
to Phoebe Cary a short time previous. She had never seen
Charles Dickens, and as he was to read one of his Christ-
mas stories at Stein way Hall, we went together to hear lim.
The first words Dickens uttered were : “Marley was dead
to begin with.” Quick as a flash Phoebe turned to me and
asked how I could buy a farm of a dead man 2 Alas ! the
sequel proved I found a very live Marley.
AILICE AND PHOEBE CARY. 269
On the 8th of September, 1866, my wife and myself
celebrated our Silver wedding. One of the pleasant mem-
ories of that gathering is the following impromptu signed
by Phoebe Cary:
“Some five and twenty years ago,
Our time of youth and rapture,
Our bost was a bewitching beau,
The girls all tried to capture.
Our hostess 'twas who won the field ;
All honor then to her be,
She justly takes the prize we yield,
Because she won the Derby.”
I remember one sultry summer forenoon a number of
literary gentlemen were talking together in the front part
of our Nassau Street store, among them John G. Saxe the
witty poet. Soon Alice and Phoebe entered, the latter, as
usual, dressed in a close-fitting bodice. She and Saxe eyed
each other for a moment, when the latter said, “Fie, Miss
Phoebe, why do you dress so closely such sultry weather?
Look at me’ (he had on a linen duster, and was fanning
himself industriously, as usual).
Phoebe replied instanter : “I never feel comfortable
with loose sacks around me.”
On another occasion, as we were sitting around the eve-
ning tea-table, the question arose about the number of
children John Rogers possessed—“ nine small children and
one at the breast.” The company was about evenly divided
whether there were nine or ten. Phoebe was appealed to,
when she said “Ten, of course.”
How do you reach such a positive decision ? “Don’t
nine and one to carry make ten ?”
One evening at a little gathering which was characterized
by great hilarity, one of the quiet parties present who was
not disposed to be merry, was asked the question, “Why
don’t you laugh 2 you sit there just like a post.” “There !”
270 ALICE AND PHOEBE CA RY.
said Phoebe, “She called you a post ; why don’t you rail
at her ſ”
At another time, when the sisters were dining out
where there was plenty of wine on the table, some oue
asked them what kind of wines they kept. “Oh ſ” said
Phoebe, “we drink Heidsec, but we keep mum.”
Mrs. Clemmer relates that Alice’s little visitors were
Sometimes silent ones. Going into her room one day there
Was a row of photographs, all little girls, arranged before her
on her desk. “Whose little girls P’ was the eager question.
“Mine !” was the answer, “ they’re all Alice Cary’s. Take
your choice, the only trouble they make me is, I can’t pos-
sibly get time to write them all. Though I do try to, to the
babies' mothers.” All the portraits had been sent by the
parents of her little namesakes. It may not be inappro-
priate to mention that I am dictating these words to my
youngest child, who bears the name of the poetess, and
from whom she received a golden necklace on the anniver-
sary of her first birthday.
Soon after the death of Phoebe Cary a letter appeared
in the Tribune written by James Somerville, my life-long
friend and a great admirer of the Cary Sisters—suggesting
a monument to their memory. The suggestion was acted
upon at once with success, Mr. F. B. Carpenter, the artist,
taking in charge the raising of funds for that purpose. The
monument is of Quincy granite, and consists of a simple
base and die with cap, together with polished marble.
The whole is plain, simple and durable. Horace Gree-
ley headed the list of subscribers to the fund and expressed
a desire to see the monument erected before he died. This
expectation was not realized, but the work was completed
Soon after his own remains were laid in the same cemetery.
Mr. Greeley had followed to the grave as a pall-bearer each
one of the three sisters. It seemed fitting that he who
through life was so identified with them should find his
last resting-place near by in the same beautiful cemetery.
XIV.
H.O.HOUGHTON-HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & CO.
Riverside Press and its founder—The “Printer’s Devil.”
and Noah Webster— Young Houghton becomes Edi.
tor—Burning of the Ocean Monarch—Houghton
raises his first Capital—Timely aid from Alabama—
“I married your Cousin º-Founds the Riverside
Press—Consolidation of Firms—Atlantic Monthly is
JBorn—Meets Alice and Phoebe Cary—Three famous
JFestivals— Whittier Dinner—Holmes Breakfast—
Stowe Party—Disappointed lady Contributors—
Ičiverside Press Employees—Cambridge a Happy
JHome.
THE name of Henry O. Houghton, and that of the
Ičiverside Press, are synonymous. They may be con-
sidered one and inseparable. The Press is hardly spoken
of Save in connection with its founder—who to-day stands
unchallenged as the first printer in the purely literary,
artistic and aesthetic features of book printing in this coun-
try if not in the world. It is interesting and instructive
for young men to read of the career of Mr. Houghton, from
a printer's boy, who gradually worked his way up to his
present eminent position,-the head of the best appointed
book publishing establishment in America. Mr. Hough-
ton’s early life is not unlike that of Benjamin Franklin and
the late Thurlow Weed, in their career as printers. At the
early age of thirteen he was engaged as “Printer’s Devil.”
in the office of the Burlington Free Press, where he labored
early and late, spending the “long old-fashioned days,”
[271]
272 H. O. HOUGHTON.
as he once said, in manual labor ; but devoting his even-
ings and all other spare moments which were free to him,
to the studies necessary to fit him for college, to enter
which was his chief ambition. Young Houghton’s monot-
Onous life at the printer’s case, was varied one day by a
most curious and interesting incident.
A slight, pale-faced man came into the office where he
was at work, and accosting him, handed him a printed slip
saying, “My lad, when you use these words spell them as
here ; ‘theater ’—‘ center’ and all such words accordingly.”
The stranger was no other than Noah Webster, the great
lexicographer, who was then traveling on foot, visiting the
country printing-offices to persuade the printers to adopt
his fashion of spelling. Could the young “Printer’s
Devil” have looked thirty years into the future he would
have seen himself at the head of a mammoth establishment
turning out thousands upon thousands of Webster’s Una-
bridged Dictionary from his own printing-office and bind-
ery. Mr. Houghton entered college at Burlington, Ver-
mont, with a purse containing just three York shillings,
two of which he used to put his room in order, leaving
him twelve and one half cents, towards his four years’ course
of education. But he appreciated the fact that only by
hard work and diligence could he reach the goal of his
ambition ; therefore, with the aid of a little friendly help,
he was enabled to graduate at the expiration of the four
years, with the honors of Bachelor of Arts. Soon after
receiving this degree, young Houghton engaged with the
Boston. Evening Traveller, as reporter, at a salary of five
dollars per week. He was engaged in setting type for ten
hours of each day, and divided the remainder of the twenty-
four between reporting lectures for the paper and sleep.
He had a very retentive memory, being enabled to write
out the lecture or sermon after one hearing, the editor
being always pleased with the accuracy of his reports. One
day the editor in chief said to Houghton that he was sick
and wanted him to temporarily take his place,—a very re-
H. O. HOUGHTON. 273
sponsible position for so young a person. He did not hesi-
tate, however, to take his seat in the Sanctum as Chief
Editor pro tem. One day as he went home to dinner
he fell in with one of the passengers of the ill-fated
ship “Ocean Monarch,” which had recently been burned
at Sea, who told him some of the particulars of the disaster,
and how cowardly the captain had acted. The latter was
an old man, a broken-down merchant, who had been put in
charge of the ship for the sake of giving him a place. Mr.
Houghton's informant told him that as soon as the ship was
on fire, five or six miles out, the captain got in a small boat
and returned to Liverpool, and when the poor creatures on
board the ship were struggling for their lives he was quiet-
ly eating his dinner in that city. He told him also how
the colored stewardess went into the hold to get out the
powder to prevent the ship from blowing up, risking her
life in so doing. After hearing this pathetic story the
young editor returned to the office and wrote a long ac-
count, in which the captain was severely reprimanded and
the stewardess highly praised. This article created a great
Sensation in Boston at the time. It was supposed to have
been Written by a clergyman who was connected with the
paper. The other city papers criticised it very severely.
“What does a clergyman know about a ship P Pretty man
he is to talk about that,” they said. Soon as the English
papers arrived they were found to criticise the captain as
severely as the Traveller. There were over a hundred
people burned with the ship which tragic event occurred
in 1848. A neighbor of Mr. Houghton’s in Cambridge who
had long resided there was continually chaffing the former
for not having a will of his own. One day talking upon
this subject as usual, he said, “I like to see men speak their
minds. A good many years ago there was an article in the
Boston Traveller of the kind I like, about a shipwreck,
which spoke right out what was meant and gave it to the
captain in the right way.” He went on saying what a good
article that was, Said Mr. Houghton to his tormentor,
12%
27.4 H. O. H.O.U. GIITON.
“I wrote that when I was a boy.” After that there was
no more chaffing about lack of will.
While engaged in the office of the “Traveller,” Mr.
Bolles, of the firm of Freeman & Bolles, then among the
leading printers of Boston, called one day on young Hough-
ton and said to him that his partner desired to sell out his
interest in the firm, and that he should like him to buy it,
and become a partner. Houghton assured Mr. Bolles that
he had no capital; having paid off his college debts he
stood just about even with the world, had no claim on any
one this side of Alabama, and could not see his way clear
to raise the necessary amount of capital.
Mr. Houghton had previously worked for Mr. Bolles,
who was fully convinced as to his capabilities, and urged
him to exert all his energies to raise fifteen hundred dol-
lars, the amount necessary to buy out the interest of Mr.
Freeman. Mr. Houghton agreed to try. The first friend
he called upon offered to lend him his note for one hundred
dollars at six months. Taking the cue from this, he
called on various parties, among others the publishers of
the Traveller, and succeeded in bringing up the amount
raised to five hundred dollars in promissory notes, which
he got discounted at the rate of one per cent a month, net-
ting him in cash much less, owing to the big rate of in-
terest paid. His next move was to write to a friend in
Alabama (whom he had never met but once) in regard to
the matter. His friend replied that he would guarantee
the payment, provided another relative would furnish the
money. A relative of Mr. Houghton did so, making the
capital so far raised about one thousand dollars. Thus
the matter stood until the last day of grace arrived on
which the offer to sell would stand good, and still there
was five hundred dollars lacking. Mr. Houghton was non-
plussed. He could not conceive which way to turn for the
required amount necessary to complete the purchase, and
by this time he had become very anxious to secure what to
him appeared to be a good opening in which to begin a
H. O. EIOUGHTON. 275
business life in the trade he had learned and for which he
had a fancy. While sitting in an upper room of Rand’s
printing-house, he noticed a stranger coming up the stairs
who had inquired for him. -
When he arrived at the spot where Mr. Houghton was
sitting he introduced himself by saying, “I am from New
Hampshire and my name is H I married your cousin,
and I promised my wife, should I visit Boston I would
look you up.” Of course Mr. Houghton was very glad to
make his acquaintance, and after some conversation concern-
ing family matters, spoke of his situation.
“Well !” was the reply, “if five hundred dollars is all
you want, I'll let you have it.” As Mr. Houghton had
never seen the man before, indeed knew nothing of him,
except what he had just learned, he considered the kindly
offer providential and one that he did not hesitate to
promptly accept. His cousin's husband had scarcely gone
down stairs before Mr. Boiles came for his answer.
Mr. Freeman's interest was purchased, when the firm
became Bolles & Houghton. The product of the first year's
business was eighteen thousand dollars, which was consid-
ered marvelous in those days.
The printing-office at this time was removed to Cam-
bridge, Mass. The copartnership existed until the year 1852,
when Mr. Bolles withdrew from the firm, selling out his
entire interest. The style of the firm afterwards became
H. O. Houghton & Co., and in order to secure more desirable
accommodations, the business was removed to the present
site of the Riverside Press, where Mr. Houghton became
the controlling mind, directing all the resources of his
increased capital and educated tastes, to the superior excel-
lence in typography and press work which has become so
famous the world over.
Mr. Houghton's long experience as a manufacturer of
books for other firms had well-fitted him to become a book
publisher, and he soon became convinced that he could
276 H. O. HOUGHTON.
advantageously combine with the Riverside Press the book
publishing business.
Professor O. W. Wight, of New York, a literary
gentleman of some means, began an enterprise of causing
to be stereotyped standard classical works, and farming out
the plates to book publishers, receiving a reasonable per-
centage for their use in return for the capital invested.
In this way the celebrated French classics, Montaigne,
Pascal, De Stael, Voltaire and others were published for
him by Derby & Jackson. Professor Wight afterwards
added to this list the best edition probably ever published
in this country, of Dickens’ works. They were first pub-
lished by W. A. Townsend & Co., and then by John G.
Gregory, both of which firms having discontinued business,
the stereotype plates became the property of Mr. Hough-
ton, and Dickens’ works proved to be the nucleus of the
publishing business which has grown into its present mam-
moth proportions. In 1864 Mr. Houghton formed a part-
nership with Melancthon M. Hurd, of New York, form-
erly a well-known and experienced bookseller in Bridge-
port, when the house of Hurd & Houghton was established
in this city. At the close of the late war Albert G. Hough-
ton, an elder brother of H. O. Houghton, was admitted in
the New York firm. I had known this gentleman, in a
business way, for many years. Early in life he traveled on
horseback from his native Green Mountains to the cotton-
growing State of Alabama, where he organized a large
banking and commission house, in the interests of which
he worked for nearly a quarter of a century, when the war
caused the loss of most of his property. He never had an
enemy, and was much esteemed in all his business relations
in his new field. His death on the 14th of October, 1880,
was a source of regret to his old and new-made friends.
His sons Oscar R. and Albert F. Houghton, are still con-
nected with the firm—the latter having charge of the New
York office. Mr. George H. Mifflin, a graduate of Harvard
EI. O. HOUGHTON. 277
and a gentleman of book-loving tendencies was admitted as
a partner in 1872.
Mr. Mifflin had spent four years at the Riverside Press,
becoming familiar with every detail connected with the
manufacture of books. In 1878, the firm of James R. Os-
good & Co., who were the successors of the old and well-
known house of Ticknor & Fields, was consolidated with
Hurd & Houghton, and H. O. Houghton & Co. The latter
firm confining themselves entirely to the manufacture of
books at the ſºverside Press, where not only all the publi-
cations of Houghton, Miflin & Co., are manufactured, but
those of many other book-publishing firms whose imprint
is well-known in our principal cities. Mr. Osgood with-
drew from the firm on May 1st, 1880, to found the new
publishing house which now bears his name. Mr. Lawson
Valentine, of New York, a business man of large means,
was then admitted as a partner of the firm of Houghton,
Mifflin & Co. The catalogue of the publications of this
house is a study in itself. There is no list of books that
can compare with it in the number and names of the great-
est authors this country has ever produced. In addition
to their famous edition of the British Poets in sixty-eight
volumes and Dickens’ works, and the Waverley Novels, they
are the publishers of the works of James Fenimore
Cooper, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry W. Longfellow,
Ralph Waldo Emerson, John G. Whittier, James Russell
Lowell, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and other celebrated
writers of prose and poetry. Mr. Houghton gives personal
attention to the inimense n\anufacturing interests at the
Riverside Press, as well as at the Boston office. In each
place he may be seen daily giving directions to the various
departments which go to make up the manufacturing and
publishing of books. At the factory there are more than
six hundred hands employed, all of them contented and
prosperous. The firm keeps up the old-fashioned appren-
ticeship system, the boys who come to learn the trade
being indentured and taught the business of printing and
278 H. O. HoughTON.
binding, they generally become master workmen and
rarely desire to leave. When they do, however, they gener-
ally succeed pretty well elsewhere. The Riverside Press
has frequently given parties to the young men who have
completed their seven years apprenticeship. On one of
these occasions, Charles Francis Adams, Professor Long-
fellow, Professor Felton, Oliver Wendell Holmes and other
distinguished people were present. Among others of the
company Mr. Houghton noticed one stranger. Professor
Felton remarked in a speech on this occasion, that he had
lately attended a dinner party at which a number of dis-
tinguished persons were present, among whom were an
English earl and an American shoemaker, and said Mr.
Felton, “It was a query among the company, which was
the most of a gentleman, the earl or the shoemaker.”
While the Professor was speaking some one whispered to
Mr. Houghton, that the stranger was the American Shoe-
maker. After Professor Felton had finished his remarks Mr.
Houghton introduced to the company the American shoe-
maker. The Professor looked up with the greatest sur-
prise and said he had not the slightest idea the man was
present. - -
Professor Felton, as is well known, was a very learned
man, and at this very entertainment Mr. Houghton re-
marked that when Harvard University wanted a good Presi-
dent they would choose him. This was the first sugges-
tion that he should occupy that position, which was sub-
sequently filled by the Professor with so much credit. Mr.
Houghton Once told me that a very pretty young girl came
to him with a manuscript which she said Mr. Longfellow
had read and seemed to like very much, but she herself
would not be surprised if it was rejected. The manuscript
was examined and its publication declined. That very
evening Mr. Houghton happened to call upon Mr. Long-
fellow, they both residing in Cambridge, and on taking his
departure Professor Longfellow followed him outside of the
door, and asked if he would like to publish another book.
H. O. HOUGHTON. 279
“Yes, we are always looking for good books to publish,”
replied the publisher.
The Professor then said, “I have a young friend who
has written a book which I have read and can recommend
to you.” Mr. Houghton toid Mr. Longfellow that he had
seen the young authoress, who had called with her manu-
script, but did not tell him they had that morning refused
the book for satisfactory reasons.
Mr. Whittier and Mr. Houghton were speaking one
day about the success of some persons in awakening sympa-
thy. The former said be had a letter from a woman out
West who stated her case very pathetically. She said she
wanted to buy books to enable her to cultivate her mind,
and she was away from any place where she could get them,
and she was very poor. Mr. Whittier thought it was a
good cause and for charity sent her ten dollars. Soon
after that Mr. Whittier came to Boston where he met T.
W. Higginson. The latter told him that he wanted to be
excused for a little while as he was going to buy a sewing-
machine for a worthy woman out West who had written
him a nice letter and had aroused his sympathy, and he
was going to send her this machine as a contribution.
Whittier asked what her name was, and discovered that it
was the same name as that of the woman who had written
to him. Soon after this he fell in with Gail Hamilton and
she told him of a case in which she had had her sympa-
thies excited and had sent the suffering woman fifty dollars.
On comparing notes they found that they had all been vic-
timized by the same person.
In a recent visit to Boston Mr. Houghton reminded me
of a visit to my office in Nassau Street in 1856 where he met
Fletcher Harper, Professor O. W. Wight, Robert Bonner
and Henry Ward Beecher, the latter two for the first time.
In the evening he accompanied Professor Wight to a party
at Alice Cary’s, on which occasion, he also met for the first
time, the late Bayard Taylor, and his new German bride,
who had just arrived in this country, and many other
280 H. O. HOUGHTON.
literary notables. Mrs. Taylor has just completed the
biography of her eminent and lamented husband. Her
labor of love, in book form, is looked forward to with lively
interest by thousands of Bayard Taylor's friends. .
Mr. Houghton says the acquaintance, began with Alice
and Phoebe Cary on the evening referred to, grew to be a
lasting friendship. A week before the latter died, she
telegraphed Mr. Houghton she would start the next day
for her long promised visit to his Cambridge home. The
following morning she telegraphed again that she was not
able to come any farther than Newport, where she was com-
pelled to stop, and where she died.
Houghton, Mifflin and Co’s editions of Alice and Phoebe
Cary’s Poems have sold largely, and continue to meet with
a steady and unabated demand. The cause of this popu-
larity is well explained by Mr. R. H. Stoddard elsewhere.
A notable and happy custom of Mr. Houghton has been
the giving of dinner, breakfast and garden parties to con-
tributors to the Atlantic Monthly, in celebrating some
seventieth birthday. The Whittier dinner party, the Holmes
breakfast party and the Stowe garden party were all
marked occasions, long to be remembered.
On December 17th, 1877, the seventieth birthday of
John G. Whittier was celebrated at the Hotel Brunswick,
Boston, by a dinner given by H. O. Houghton & Co., at
which there was a gathering of the most noted literary
gentlemen in this country. Among others, the famous
quartette, so celebrated in verse and prose in the
literature of our country. I refer, of course, to Henry W.
Longfellow, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Oliver Wendell Holmes
and John Greenleaf Whittier, the guest of the evening.
Mr. Houghton, presiding as host, in an eloquent address,
began by saying that “the gathering had met to celebrate
the arrival of the twentieth birthday of the Atlantic Month-
ly and the seventieth birthday of their guest.” In his re-
marks Mr. Houghton recalled many interesting reminis-
cences connected with the founding of the Atlantic Monthly.
H. O. HOUGHTON. 281
Its first publishers, as many of my readers will remember,
were Phillips, Sampson & Co., a house of great enterprise
and Sagacity, who were laudably ambitious to gather around
them the greatest authors in poetry and prose, and especial-
ly in New Engiand. Acting, as I did at that time, as their
New York agent, I was familiar with many of their liter-
ary undertakings. The magazine was started in the panic
year of 1857, and notwithstanding the financial condition
of the country, it soon became an established literary insti-
tution; it was originally stereotyped at the Riverside Press,
with the celebrated George Nichols, as proofreader, and is
now manufactured there. Unfortunately the publishers,
Messrs. Phillips and Sampson, the two senior partners,
died soon after the establishment of the magazine ; that
firm then ceased to exist, when the Atlantic Monthly be-
came successively the property of Ticknor & Fields, James
R. Osgood & Co., and finally its present publishers,
Houghton, Mifflin & Co. Mr. Houghton, in closing his
remarks, said:
“During all the years of its existence it has been true to the
principles on which it was founded, which was to make it the
leading organ of the literature, art, science and politics of this
country. While thoroughly New England in its instinct and cus-
toms it has been as broad and powerful as even its great namesake,
the Atlantic Ocean, in its influence upon American literature.”
Mr. Houghton closed his very interesting address with
the following statements which are given by him from the
standpoint of a long and close experience, vividly illus-
trating the career of many publishers, and the experience
of many authors:
“In securing the best results there is need of the combina-
tion of the best business talent with the loftiest efforts of author-
ship. The great merit of the first Napoleon, in the eyes of liter-
ary men of a previous generation, was that he had threatened to
shoot a publisher—possibly because that threat unexecuted, more
282 H. O. HOUGHTON.
than Austerlitz or Waterloo, indicated his courage! But it is not
my purpose, nor does it become me, to defend publishers as a
class against literary men. If I were disposed to do it here it
would be imprudent, as you are ‘too many ” for me. There is,
probably, no business strictly legitimate, so speculative and so un-
certain in its results as that of publishing books. The picture of
the distraught author, with his massive pile of manuscript under
his arm, and his ‘eyes in fine frenzy rolling,” is not more mirth-
provoking or truly harrowing in its effect on the looker on than
that of the publisher, who with his own, or more likely borrowed,
capital strikes hands with him and sits down and counts in
advance the immense profits of the venture, sees visions of brown-
stone fronts, palatial seashore residences and all the paraphernalia
which wealth is apt to inflict upon its possessor. But alas ! the
result is pretty sure to be loss of capital, unpaid printers’ bills,
and the manuscript which came Seething hot from the brain of
the poor author transmuted into cold lead and then con-
signed to a dungeon to await the fame of the resurrection-day, un-
less previously brought out to be melted up in the electrotyper's
furnace. Publishing and authorship must necessarily keep pace
with each other. However antagonistic, they travel under the
same yoke. Even in the two short decades since the Atlantic was
started they have made some progress. It is only a few years
since, not only in the country towns but in the cities, that pills
and poetry, essences and essays, drugs and dramas, were disbursed
over the same counter and by the same hands. In the process of
natural selection it was, perhaps, logical that a decoction of poetry
should be followed by a purgative of pills. The publisher of the
first collected edition of the works of our revered poet was also
the vender of Brandreth pills. He made a fortune, and I leave
you to infer whether it was from the pills or the poetry. But,
notwithstanding all these discouragements, the business of pāb-
lishing books has its uses and its successes, which are not the
result of fortunate ventures, but, as in every other profession or
calling, are only secured by thorough knowledge, patient labor,
and a clear conception of the end to be attained.”
On the conclusion of Mr. Houghton’s remarks he intro-
duced the guest of the occasion. Mr. Whittier arose, be-
coming very much abashed, as it was his nature to be, by
the cheering and long-continued applause of those present,
H. O. HOUGHTON. w 283
He made but few remarks, saying, “My voice is of a tim-
orous nature and rarely to be heard above a breath.” He
then called upon his friend, the poet Longfellow, to read a
poem which he had prepared for the occasion. Mr. W. D.
Howells, who at that time was the editor of the Atlantic
Monthly, then presented Mr. Ralph Waldo Emerson, who
read Whittier's poem “Ichabod,” after which Mr. Howells
introduced Oliver Wendell Holmes, who read one of his
own felicitous poems, pertinent to the occasion.
The following excellent Bagatelle, which appeared in a
Western paper soon after the Whittier festival, is worthy
of ranking with Smith's Rejected Addresses:
“MR. HOUGHTON'S MISTAKE.
“We are glad to learn that the lady contributors to the Atlan-
tic, who did not attend the Whittier dinner were not disappointed.
Indeed, they had intended all along not to be present, and they so
indicated to Mr. Houghton in letters written the very day before
the dinner. ‘ I hear it intimated,” writes Mrs. Stowe, ‘ that I am
to be selected to sit at the right hand of Mr. Whittier. Now, my
dear Mr. Houghton, while I am deeply grateful for the compli-
ment, I cannot accept. I believe in the largest freedom for every-
body, and I am sure the gentlemen who participate in the festivi-
ties would not be pleased to have their programme embarrassed
by the presence of ladies. He, he l I suppose you know what I
mean. One of these days, perhaps, the ladies of the Atlantic will
have a dinner, and I think they are selfish enough to desire to be
alone.’”
Mr. Houghton read the letter and said, passing his hand through
his hair, “I think I have forgotten something. I detect sarcasm
in this.” -
“I am glad, Mr. Houghton,” wrote Harriet Prescott Spofford,
“that you have decided not to call the ladies from their sylvan sol-
itude. I am deeply engaged in studying the peculiarities of some
rushes that grow upon the banks of the beautiful river that rolls
by my door, crystalized at present, by the way—I meat the river
—in the mellowest moonlight that ever sifted its gold upon a
beautiful world; so I couldn't attend anyhow. Thank you for
sending no invitation. It would have embarrassed me greatly.
284 . H. O. HoughTon.
“Have you heard that Mrs. Stowe is about to give a dinner
Are you aware that there is to be a new ladies' magazine 3 But I
cannot write more. Thank you again, and good-bye.”
“I am quite confident, said Mr. Houghton, looking worried,
“that there is an inadvertence somewhere. It's very singular I
did’nt think of these ladies before.” He turned wearily and
opened a letter from Gail Hamilton.
“Well, my boy,” wrote this lady, “ so you're going to give a
dinner, are you ? To Mr. Whittier, the dearest and best for whom
my soul longeth ? And without us ; I didn’t think it of you,
Mr. Houghton. I was about to say I didn’t think anything of you,
but I won’t. You can thank your true goodness for that. O, say
nothing of that last check. Seriously, however, I don’t blame
you. If there's anything unpleasant in this world, it is a woman
in a wide house—I mean in a banquet hall. I will not stop to
argue the wine question; I have no liquid by me ..to create the
necessary inspiration. I suppose it would do no good either—
you men are determined to have your own way always, and ours .
as often as possible. I write to say that I won’t come, and to in-
sist that Mr. Whittier and the rest shall not break their hearts
over it. Sufficient is it on these occasions to break bread, and,
perhaps, also heads. I have just seen a circular in behalf of a new
ladies' magazine. Have you seen it 2 Excuse me now. I have
an engagement to spank the Administration at this very moment.
Do you know, by the way, that Mrs. Spofford is about to give a
grand dinner to the lady contributors of the Atlantic *
“Alas ! for my stupidity l’” remarked Mr. Houghton, his face
growing pale, and his knees knocking together. “This great
moral earthquake will be after me next.”
“Oh, Mr. Houghton,” wrote H. H., enthusiastically, “I am so
pleased to hear of the honor to grand old Mr. Whittier. My
pleasure is only exceeded by my joy that I am not to be there. I
should be highly honored by being permitted to be in such com-
pany, of course, but I am timid, and I fear that literary men do
‘ cut up dreadfully—you will pardon the expression—on these
occasions. Do you know, Mr. Houghton, that Gail Hamilton
talks of starting a magazine 7 and they do say that there is to be
a grand literary reunion at her house, or rather at the house of Mr.
Blaine. I shall not be able to send you anything for some time to
come.”
“Merciful Heavens !” exclaimed Mr. Houghton, “this must
FI. O. HOUGHTON. . 285
be a conspiracy. They are all of them pleased, and yet they all
seem to be contemplating the worst kind of retaliation. I do not
understand this l’”
He turned with a sigh to a letter from Philadelphia. “You
will accept my regrets,” said Rebecca Harding Davis. “I can-
not possibly be present. I have not received my invitation, but
of course it has been delayed in the mail. However, none of that
brilliant gathering will feel my absence. I am not so presuming
as to suppose that such a slight vacancy in so immense a place will
be noticeable. And I do know, Mr. Houghton, that gentlemen
delight to be by themselves at times. I hear IIelen Hunt and
Louisa M. Alcott have put their heads together in behalf of a
ladies' magazine and I understand that Rose Terry is to give a
dinner to several well-known writers of the gentler sex. Such a
magazine might be profitable, and I know the dinner would be
delightful.”
“Now this is dreadful ?” said Mr. Houghton, striking the desk
with his clenched hand. “I have actually been applying the
paper-cutter to my own nose. It is the stupidest thing I ever did
in my life. Why, oh why could I not have seen this result be-
fore ?” He though very fast a moment, and then his face bright-
ened and he laughed right out. “I have it !” he exclaimed.
“Two months hence there shall be a dinner to the lady contribu-
tors of the Atlantic Monthly. It shall be given in honor of Gail
Hamilton's seventieth birthday.”
The Holmes breakfast was the next occasion for a simi-
lar gathering. Although the Autocrat of the Breakfast
Table was born August 29th, so many of his friends
were absent—at the seashore, the springs and in the moun-
tains—the celebration of his seventieth birthday was ac-
cordingly postponed to December 3rd, 1879. Mr. Hough-
ton presided as before and from his address, the following
felicitous words are quoted :
“Some writer has said that a pure despotism and a pure demo-
cracy are identical. We have present here to-day a despot who
rules us with imperial sway, and we all acknowledge his author-
ity, and even claim that it is net his power, but our own, which
he exercises over us. It is our thoughts which he speaks; it is
286 II. O. Holū GHTON.
our humor to which he gives expression; it is the pictures of our
own fancy that he clothes in words, and shows us what we our-
selves thought, and only lacked the means of expressing. We
never realized, until he taught us by his magic power over us,
how much each of us had of genius, and invention, and expres-
sion. And it is especially fitting that we should honor, even in
his own country, a prophet who has revealed to us what wonderful
people we all are. It is also fitting that he who was present at the
christening of The Atlantic Monthly, and gave it its name, should
drink a cup of tea in honor of its attaining its majority, and en-
tering, as we trust upon a new career of usefulness.
“We have had before this, one occasion of celebrating the
threescore and tenth anniversary of one of its leading writers.
These occasions remind us both of the age of The Atlantic and of
the youthfulness of its various contributors. One of the pleasant
reminiscences of this occasion is the fact that most of the leading
contributors, from its start in 1857, are still among its principal
writers. Besides our honored guest, Longfellow, Emerson, Whit-
tier, Lowell and Mrs. Stowe, are still writers, who were among
the original contributors. * e g & 4 * te
“In an old almanac of the year 1809, against the date of
August 29, is the simple entry, “Son born.” The ink with which
that entry was made was blotted with the coarse sand universally
used at that time, and that sand to-day, firmly imbedded in the
ink, still glistens on the record. May the sands of this life, which
blot the record of immortality awaiting our autocrat, be as adhe-
sive, and continue for many years to come to give out its corusca-
tions of light and truth and beauty
“Ladies and gentlemen, I give you as a sentiment, ‘The Auto-
crat of the Breakfast Table. O King ! live forever !’”
At the giving of the toast, those at the table arose
and enthusiastically drank the health of the poet in “The
cup that cheers but not inebriates.” Dr. Holmes imme-
diately read without preface, one of his characteristic
poems, which closed with the following stanzas :
“I come not here your morning hour to sadden,
A limping pilgrim leaning on his staff,
I, who have never deemed it sin to gladden
This vale of sorrows with a wholesome laugh.

H. O. HOUGHTON. 287
“If word of mine another's gloom has brightened,
Through my dumb lips the heaven-sent message came;
If hand of mine another's task has lightened,
It felt the guidance it dares not claim.
“But, O my gentle sisters, O my brothers,
hese thick sown snow-flakes hint of toil's release;
These feebler pulses bid me leave to others
The tasks once welcome; evening asks for peace.
“Time claims his tribute; silence now is golden;
Let me not vex the too-long-suffering lyre;
Though to your love untiring still beholden,
The curfew tells me—cover up the fire.
“And now with grateful Smile and accents cheerful,
And warmer heart than look or word can tell,
In simplest phrase—these traitorous eyes are tearfull–
Thanks, Brothers, Sisters—Children—and farewell!”
Dr. Holmes also gave the following brief reminiscence
of the Atlantic Monthly:
“The establishment of The Atlantic Monthly was due to the
liberal enterprise of the then flourishing firm of Phillips & Samp-
son. Mr. Phillips, more especially, was most active and sanguine.
The publishers were fortunate enough to secure the services of
Mr. Lowell as editor. Mr. Lowell had a fancy that I could be
useful as a contributor, and woke me from a kind of literary
lethargy in which I was half slumbering, to call me to active ser-
vice. Remembering some crude contributions of mine to an old
magazine, it occurred to me that their title might serve for some
fresh papers, and so I sat down and wrote off what came into my
head under the title, The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table. This
series of papers was not the result of an express premeditation,
but was, as I may say, dipped from the running stream of my
thoughts. Its very kind reception encouraged me, and you know
the consequences, which have lasted from that day to this.”
After which a touching poem by Whittier was read by
the late James T. Fields, the verse closing as follows:
288 H. O. HOUGHTON.
“His sparkling surface scarce betrays
The thoughtful tide beneath it rolled,—
The wisdom of the latter days,
And tender memories of the old.
“What shapes and fancies, grave or gay,
Before us at his bidding come!
The Treadmill tramp, the One-Horse Shay,
The dumb despair of Elsie's doom!
“The tale of Avis and the Maid,
. The plea for lips that cannot speak,
The holy kiss that Iris laid
On Little Boston's pallid cheekl
“Long may he live to sing for us
His sweetest songs at evening time,
And, like his Chambered Nautilus,
To holier heights of beauty climb
“Though now unnumbered guests surround
The table that he rules at will,
Its Autocrat, however crowned,
Is but our friend and comrade still.”
Mr. Joseph W. Harper, of Harper & Bros., New York,
who was present, made one of his usual happy impromptu
speeches, which he closed as follows:
“On this occasion it is a very great privilege to join with you,
my good and esteemed friends, the publishers of the Atlantic
Monthly, in honoring your authors. Your catalogue as publishers
and your list of contributors to the Atlantic Monthly (and as a
publisher I say it with honest admiration). are, indeed, a roll of
honorſ But your authors are not yours only; they are the nation's,
because their thoughts and words have become part of the nation's
life. To apostrophize them in the language of a great master,
“Noble and illustrious names! kind friends, teachers, benefactors!
Who shall say that our country, which continues to bring you
such an unceasing tribute of applause, admiration, love, sym-
pathy, does not do honor to the literary calling, in the honor
which it bestows upon you ?’”
H. O. HOUGHTON. 289
The birthday party given to Harriet Beecher Stowe, to
celebrate her seventieth birthday was a continuance of the
festivals to authors, which were begun by a dinner to Mr.
Whittier, in 1877.
The beautiful country-house and grounds of the Hon.
William Claflin, at Newtonville, near Boston, were tendered
for the occasion, which took the form of a garden party,
where I had the pleasure of meeting more than two hun-
dred invited guests on a beautiful day in June, 1882. Most
of those present are names well known in literary circles.
Mr. Houghton presided as at the former festivals, and in-
troduced the exercises by the following eloquent remarks
in his usual happy manner.
“We have met two or three times within the last few years to
set up, as it were, milestones in the lives of some of those who are
justly esteemed the creators of American literature. On this occa-
sion one thought oppresses us all: Two of the most eminent,
whose grace and benignity cheered and exalted our former gather-
ings are with us in bodily presence no more. The voice of our
beloved Longfellow is husbed, but the cadences of his sweet songs
will vibrate in our memories while life lasts. We shall never
look again upon the benign countenance of our revered Emerson,
but his precepts are written, as with the point of a diamond,
upon our hearts.
“We come together again to celebrate a birthday, but what is
the number of the birthday we will not inquire. If we estimate
the age of our beloved guest by the amount of work she has
accomplished, the number of her years would rank with those of
the antediluvians. But if we judge by the vigor and freshness of
her writings, and by her universal sympathy with young and old,
we must say that she has discovered the fountain of perpetual
youth, somewhere else, if not among the everglades of Florida,
where Ponce de Leon sought it in vain. You have all doubtless
heard the apocryphal stories of the difficulties encountered by the
author of Uncle Tom's Cabin in getting a publisher, and of the
marvelous sales of the first editions; but few here probably realize
how great is its circulation to-day. This book began by being a
prophecy, and is now history, and it is the rare felicity of its
author to realize this fact in her own life-time.
290 H. O. HOUGHTON.
“The story has been repeated under every sky, in every land,
and translated into nearly every tongue. Crowned heads, states.
men, scholars, and the people have alike read, wept over, and
applauded the simple story. And to-day our own beloved country
is redeemed. Slavery, with all its attendant evils, has disappeared
forever, and no one, either North or South, desires it back again.
“But the production of “Uncle Tom's Cabin' is not the only
service done to literature by our honored guest. Her other
writings are inimitable in their way, as illustrating New England
life, and teaching the homely virtues of truth and duty; as, for
instance, ‘The Minister's Wooing,” “Old-town Folks,' ‘Sam
Lawson's Fireside Stories,” and the other books which we all
know so well. But as the sun in his meridian splendor eclipses
the orbs of night, so “Uncle Tom,' by 1ts universal human inter-
est, eclipses these other books, which would make the reputation
of any author.”
Mr. Houghton takes great interest in his Cambridge,
home, where the press which he founded has become an
institution of such world-wide reputation.
It is a curious and interesting fact that in Cambridge
where the first University of America was founded, more
than two hundred years ago, three years later the first
book printed in the United States was printed there by
Stephen Daye, whose name has been given to one of the
streets adjacent to the Riverside Press. It was entitled the
Baye Psalm Book, of which a fac-simile was reproduced by
Mr. Houghton in 1862.
On his fiftieth birthday, April 30, 1873, a complimen-
tary entertainment was given the founder by the employees
of the Riverside Press, at which time a beautiful orna-
mental fountain which had been erected in the front of
the Press was inaugurated.
Mr. Houghton once told me that in his experience of
more than thirty years is employer, he had never dis-
charged an employee from the establishment. This ex-
emption comes no doubt from the great care and scrutiny
which he always manifests in engaging employees.
H. O. HOUGHTON. 291
In closing this sketch it may not be amiss to refer to the
pleasant relations which exist between Mr. Houghton and
all those in his employ. In his daily walks through the
printing and binding rooms, he has a kind and encouraging
word for all. In return, his employees are much devoted
to the interests of the Riverside Press.
Mr. Houghton, in one of his published addresses, speaks
as follows of the City of Cambridge, of which he has been
Mayor:
“Throughout our broad land, are scattered cities and towns
which possess special advantages over our own in wealth, popula-
tion, beauty of situation, and in many other respects; but nowhere
can one be found which combines in such harmonious proportion,
all the elements—material, social, literary and religious—which go
to make up the ideal of a comfortable and happy home after the
true New England type.”
XV.
JOHN WILEY.
John Wiley a familiar Wame—His Father travels with
Cooper—-Publishes his “Spy? and “Pioneer”—The
Bread and Cheese Club— Bryant, Paulding, Halleck
among the Members—John Jacob Astor too poor to
buy Eggs—Forms Partnership with Putnam—Pub-
lishes John Ruskin’s Works—Successful Publishers—
His Golden Wedding.
THE name of John Wiley has been familiar to the
literary world for more than half a century. He
was literally born into the bookselling and publishing busi-
ness and has probably been connected with the trade as
boy and iman, longer than any other publisher now living in
this country. Mr. Wiley’s father, Charles Wiley, was a
publisher of books in the early part of the present century.
He was a man of excellent education and of decided literary
taste. It will probably be news to most of my readers to
learn that he was the first publisher of the works of J. Fen-
imore Cooper.
Charles Wiley first became acquainted with that distin-
guished author when traveling in Western New York. He
found in Mr. Cooper an exceedingly pleasant traveling com-
panion, but never dreamed he was the author of any book,
although it seems that he had at that time written Precau-
tion, the publication of which was not a successful under-
taking. Mr. Wiley greeted Mr. Cooper on his arrival one
day in New York, at his office, and was very much sur-
prised when he handed in a manuscript of a novel, which
he said had just been written by himself, entitled “ The
|292]
JOHN WILEY. 293
Spy.” The te: ms of publication were readily agreed upon.
Very soon was issued the first volume of that series of ro-
mances, which made the name of Cooper as famous as that
of the author of the Waverley Novels; this was in 1821, and
here it may be well to mention that Mr. Cooper decidedly
objected to being called the “Sir Walter Scott of America,”
for Mr. Cooper, as was generally known, had a very good
opinion of himself. Next followed “The Pioneers,” in
1823, and the next year he published “The Pilot,” which
was the first of the series of Sea Tales, meeting with an in-
stantaneous and unprecedented success, as did the “Spy,”
both in Europe and America. It was stated that Cooper
wrote this in great haste, because of the recent publication
of Sir Walter Scott’s “Pirate,” a sea tale, but which Cooper
held was not correct in its nautical Incidents and descrip-
tions.
After. Mr. Cooper's novels became so popular, he con-
ceived the idea of publishing a novel anonymously, in order
to judge whether the book would sell on its merits alone,
as well as on his acquired fame. So when the MS. of his
next book, “Lionel Lincoln,” was ready for the printer,
his name was to be omitted entirely, but on the eve of pub-
lication it leaked out that Cooper had written it, when he,
of course, had to acknowledge the authorship. It is well
known that this book was not so successful as its predeces-
sors. Soon after this Mr. Wiley died, and the same year
Lea & Blanchard of Philadelphia became Mr. Cooper's
publishers. When Mr. Cooper’s name first appeared as
an author, it was simply James Cooper, the family name of
Fenimore had been dropped by him for some reason, but
was subsequently restored.
Mr. John Wiley frequently saw Mr. Cooper at his fa-
ther’s store, where he was a great attraction, drawing
around him daily many literary men, among them William
Cullon Bryant, James K. Paulding, afterwards Secretery
of the Navy, Fitz Greene Halleck, for the two latter Mr.
Charles Wiley was their first publisher, Gulian C. Wer-
294 JOHN WILEY.
planck, Chancellor Kent, Durand, the artist, Morse, the
inventor, Mordecai M. Noah, who had recently published
a pamphlet, which created some interest, entitled, “Wall
Street, or ten Minutes Before Three,” William L. Stone,
afterwards author of the “Life of Red Jacket,” which was
published by John Wiley, and many others. Col. Stone
was then editor of the New York Commercial Advertiser.
These authors had a room set apart for them in the
rear of Mr. Charles Wiley’s book-store, Col. Stone and
others were daily visitors there. The room was christened
“The Literary Den.” Mr. John Wiley recollects going in
one night after Colonel Stone, who possessed a good deal
of playful humor, had been there, and found scribbled
on a sheet of paper some verses, the two following first
lines are all of which he remembers :
“One night after, tea, Mr. Editor Stone
Popped into the ‘Den’ of C. Wiley’s alone.”
About this time these same literary gentlemen under
the Cooper leadership, formed what was called the “Bread
and Cheese Club,” being purely a literary club. Their
meetings were held at the Washington Hotel, on Broadway,
corner of Chambers Street. Members were admitted by
bread and cheese. If a name was proposed for admission
to membership, and any cheese was found on the plates,
when the candidate was voted for, he was rejected. Each
member took turns as caterer, wearing a key as his badge
of office.
Mr. Halleck, afterwards a clerk for John Jacob Astor,
frequently visited the store. Mr. John Wiley says that
Halleck related to him a little incident about Mr. Astor,
which occurred just previous to his last illness, illustrating
his economy in respect to his own personal wants. He had
been quite ill, but was convalescing, when his physician ad-
vised him to diet, subsisting chiefly on newly laid eggs.
One of Mr. Astor’s daughters, living at that time up the
Hudson, used to send them to her father daily, which
JoBN wilry. 295
greatly benefited him. One day, however, the Supply was
accidentally not forthcoming, and Mr. Astor said he could
not afford to buy any eggs for his own use. As it is well
known, Mr. Halleck was one of Mr. Astor’s legatees, being
willed the munificent sum of two hundred dollars per year.
It is said, however, that such a sum was left to Mr. Hal-
leck in accordance with a remark once made by him in the
presence of Mr. Astor that he could live on two hundred
dollars per annum.
Mr. Wiley says that when he first knew Mr. Cooper he
was full of life and spirit, of a very happy temperament
and in every way an attractive man. In after years, he
became somewhat morose, feeling that his countrymen did
not appreciate him or his efforts in their behalf when
abroad. On his return in 1838, John Wiley published for
him “A letter to my Countrymen,” in which he gave an
account of the controversy he had with the French Govern-
ment, complaining also of the censures which had been
passed upon it in this country, and of the deference paid to
foreign opinion. The volume was not well received by the
reading public. Soon after this he became involved in a
quarrel with Horace Greeley, Thurlow Weed, James Wat-
son Webb, and William L. Stone, because of some of their
criticisms upon his literary works, particularly his Naval
History, which were the cause of the several libel suits
brought against those editors, and with which the public is
familiar. He said in one of his letters, “I have beaten
every man I have sued who has not retracted his libels.”
Mr. John Wiley commenced business for himself in the
year 1828, becoming the New York agent of Thomas Wardle,
of Philadelphia, who at that time was the principal in porter
of English books. He also became connected as their New
York agent with Carey & Lea, of the same City, then the
leading publishers in America. In 1832 he formed with
George Long, the son of an old New York bookseller of the
same name, the firm George Long, Wiley & Long, and
after the dissolution of that firm, Mr. George P. Putnam,
296 JOHN WILEY.
who had been for many years a clerk for Jonathan Leavitt,
became Mr. Wiley’s partner. Mr. Putnam at that time
had but just attained his majority. He had made up his
mind to go to Europe to see something of the book world
abroad, and while there he formed the acquaintance of the
leading book-publishers in London and elsewhere.
It was about this time, that Washington Irving became
United States Minister to Spain.
Mr. Wiley wrote to Mr. Putnam in London, suggesting
the propriety of a correspondence with Mr. Irving, relative
to the publication of the works of that author in the
American series of the “Library of Choice Reading.” Mr.
Irving had had an arrangement with his publishers,
Carey & Lea, of Philadelphia, by which they agreed to pay
a given sum annually for the right of publishing Irving’s
works. The contract had expired by its own limitation,
and the publishers did not care to renew it, there being
but little demand for the works. On the return of Mr.
Irving to New York, he called upon Wiley & Putnam, with
a view of completing the arrangement with them, for the
publication of his works, but the firm having decided in
1848 to dissolve partnership, the matter was deferred.
Subsequently, Mr. Putnam proposed to Mr. Irving to be-
come his publisher, but at the same time suggesting that
Mr. Wiley should have an equal opportunity to make an
offer, as the arrangement with the firm had been previously
determined on. Mr. Wiley declining to make any pro-
position, the arrangement was then concluded with Mr.
Irving by Mr. Putnam, for the publication of his works,
the result of which undertaking is spoken of in another
chapter.
One of the early undertakings of the firm of Wiley &
Putnam, Was the publication of a series of volumes under
the general title of “The Library of Choice Reading,” above
referred to. Those of my readers who were booksellers and
buyers, about the year 1840, will remember the uniform red-
cloth binding and the popularity of the volumes as they ap-
JOHN WILEY. 297
peared from the press. The series was edited by Evart A.
Duyckinck. One of the volumes of the American Series
was Hawthorne's, “Mosses from an old Manse.” The
series also contained a Volume of Edger Allan Poe, whom
I subsequently met at the store of Wiley & Putnam. Poe
had been previously pointed out to me as the author of the
“Raven,” which was then all the rage. It first appeared
in the American Whig Review, where I first read that
wonderful creation.
At this time I was a bookseller and publisher of books
at Auburn, N. Y., buying considerably of Wiley and Put-
nam. Among other books I remember purchasing was
one thousand copies of Kinglake's brilliant “Eothen ; or,
Traces of Travel brought home from the East,” one of the
library series bearing my imprint as publisher.
After the dissolution of partnership with Mr. Putnam,
Mr. Wiley continued business under his own name, and
has continued the publication of books ever since, admitting
in the year 1865 his son, Charles Wiley, and in 1875 Wil-
liam H. Wiley, the firm now being styled John Wiley &
Sons, whose publications are confined chiefly to scientific
text-books, and industrial works.
Among their miscellaneous publications those of John
Ruskin are the most important on their list. The first
book of Mr. Ruskin published by this firm was Modern
Painters. Mr. Wiley endeavored to open a correspondence
with that eminent but Lccentric author, but received only
a single letter from him. Mr. Ruskin has seemingly
never cared to have anything to do with American publish-
ers nor with anything American. He has been for years
his own publisher though his friend and agent George
Allen, and English booksellers have to purchase their
supplies of Mr. Ruskin direct, and at a nominal dis-
count of not more than ten per cent. Mr. Ruskin, as may
not be generally known, has a great distaste for any
thing American. He is said to have remarked at one
time he would like to see New York blotted out of
12%
29S JOHN WILEY.
existence. Mr. Wiley thinks that this strange feeling
against this country is mainly due to the fact that it is a
new country, Mr. Ruskin believing intensely in all things
old—Ancient Architecture, old Cathedrals, old Ways—
Modern Innovations being very offensive to him. His
work on Modern Painters was written with a view to bring
the artist Turner, in whom he was greatly interested, be-
fore the public.
Copies of the original editions of “The Stones of
Venice” and “The Seven Lamps of Architecture,” when
they can be found in London, bring from three to five hun-
dred dollars for the set of nine volumes. Wiley & Sons'
various editions of Ruskins works have reached a consider-
able Sale in this country.
A year or two since, Mr. John Wiley celebrated his
golden wedding, from which it may be inferred that he is
no longer a young man, but his bright eye, raven hair,
slightly streaked with gray, and elastic step, indicate any
thing but age. I first knew him nearly a half a century
ago. Long may he continue to illustrate the virtues of an
upright man and continue his career as a successful pub-
lisher.

XVI.
(#E0RGE PALMER PUTNAM.
In the Front Rank of Publishers—Fellow Clerk with
William H. Appleton—Becomes an Author at Eigh-
teen—Starts a Branch in London—Effectually refutes
Alison, the Historian—Bayard Taylor applies for
Aid—Beginning of a long-lived Friends/cip—Edgar
A. Poe astonishes the Watives—James Russell Lowell’s
Jºables-— The “TWide Wide TVorld” and “Providence ’’
— Becomes Irving’s Publisher—Astonishes John Bull
with “Sketch-Book "-Establishes Putnam's Magazine
—First Advocate of International Copyright—Prince
Albert, Irving and Putnam—Irving’s First and only
. Love — Thackeray Lectures at Yonkers — Mr. Put-
nam’s Sudden Death Mourned and Greatly Regretted
— G. P. Putnam’s Sons.
N the front rank of our distinguished book-publishers
belongs the honored name of George P. Putnam, who
for nearly half a century gave lustre to the world of letters
and books. From a very early age to the day of his
lamented death, he devoted his business life to the vocation
of his choice.
He was first employed, when about fourteen years of
age, by George W. Bleecker, in a small book-store in New
York, at a yearly salary of twenty-five dollars, exclusive of
board and lodging. He afterwards took a position under
Jonathan Leavitt, where he had special charge of the pub-
lications of Crocker & Brewster of Boston, Mr. Leavitt
being their New York agent, and where at one time Wil-
liam H. Appleton was a fellow clerk.
[299]
300 GEORGE PALMER IPUTN AMI.
In the year 1832, young Putnam began his first literary
work, the compilation of an “Index to Universal History,”
which was the foundation of the important work—“The
World’s Progress,” referred to hereafter. It was printed
and published by Mr. Leavitt, who at that time had asso-
ciated with him as a special partner, the late Daniel
Appleton. The young author was much delighted at the
success of his first venture, the small edition being readily
disposed of.
. His next undertaking was a monthly register of new
publications called The Bookseller’s Advertiser. This was
commenced in January, 1834, when still in his teens, and
was printed by John F. Trow, and lasted until December of
the same year, in which number appeared the following
valedictory :
“With the present number this little journal expires. It was
commenced with the idea that it would be useful, not only to
publishers, but to all who are interested in the literature of the
day, and it is a satisfaction to know that however imperfectly it
has becn conducted amidst other responsibilities, it has been well
received on both sides of the Atlantic, and has been noticed in
complimentary terms by various contemporaries. I resign it
because it cannot be properly attended to without intel ſering
with more legitimate duties or infringing on midnight hours.”
In the year 1836, Mr. Putnam became a partner in the
publishing-house of Wiley & Long, contributing to the
capital stock the sum of one hundred and fifty dollars in
cash ; but what was more important than capital to them at
that time, was his thorough acquaintance with authors and
publishers, which, to the new firm, was invaluable. He was
soon sent to Europe, where he made the acquaintance of
many authors and the more important members of the
book-trade. Establishing on one of his visits to London,
in 1838, a branch-house—Mr. Long having retired—the
thew firm continued in both places as Wiley & Putnam.
This was the first American house over established in Lon-
|ion for the publication of books, Mr. Putnam becoming a
GEORGE PALMER PUTN AM. 301
zealous representative of American interests. It became a
favorite resort for all Americans residing or traveling in
Europe, who were interested in literary matters.
About that time Alison, the celebrated historian, pub-
lished his “History of Europe,” in which appeared many
passages regarding the progress of literature in America,
which were anything but friendly or true. To the state-
ments and assertions made by Alison, Mr. Putnam made
a most effectual reply, in a published volume prepared by
him entitled “American Facts,” in which he proved con-
clusively the ignorance of the famous historian as to the
real condition of American literature. The circulation of
this volume did much to increase respect for the people
of the United States in Europe. Mr. Putnam remained
in charge of the London house until 1848, having resided
there seven consecutive years, after which he returned to
New York. ,
In the year 1847 Mr. Putnam received a call at his
office in Waterloo Place from a young American printer, who
had been making a journey through the continent, and
whose funds were exhausted. Some remittances he had
expected had not come to hand, and he was entirely desti-
tute of the means of support, endeavoring to secure work
at his trade in a London printing office, where he succeed-
ed temporarily, but was thrown out of the first position he
Secured through the jealousy of English compositors, who
were not willing to have in the office a foreigner not belong-
ing to their typographical guild. Mr. Putnam sympathiz-
ing with the young American, gave him temporary clerical
work. This timely assistance laid the foundation of a
friendship, a very close one, which lasted as long as their
lives.
Within a year after the acquaintance thus formed, Mr.
Putnam had the pleasure of publishing the narrative of
this young printer’s trip over the continent under the
title of “Views Afoot, or Europe seen with Knapsack and
Staff,” by Bayard Taylor. On its publication, the English
302 GEORGE PALMER PUTN AM.
reviews gave it unstinted praise. The London Athenaeum
Said :
“That among the hundreds of volumes already issued on the
same subject, Mr. Bayard Taylor's is the best and the liveliest. We
too are richer for his travels by the amount of an earnest, manly
and sensible book. There is nothing more graphic in De Foe.”
At this time young Taylor was but twenty-one years of
age. This, the first volume of his travels, has continued
In demand for more than forty years, reaching a sale of
over one hundred thousand copies. Mr. Putnam continued
the publication of Bayard Taylor’s Travels as they appear-
ed from time to time, all of which met with unvarying suc-
CéSS.
Another visit of a singular character which Mr. Putnam
received about this time, was from Edgar A. Poe. The
latter had brought some notes of introduction to Mr. Put-
nam to whom he represented that he had accidentally
secured from a family in Nantucket, the narrative of a
Nantucket seaman, containing his adventures in the Arc-
tic regions. As the London public were specially excited
at that time in consequence of the expedition of Sir John
Franklin to the polar seas, Mr. Putnam, after glancing over
the MS., which bore on its face an air of realism and
made the story of the discovery of the MS. plausible
enough, accepted and published the book. It was written
in good but rather rough style, such as a Nantucket sea-
man might naturally use. In the haste to get the matter
into type before a certain date, having a connection with
this Arctic expedition, Mr. Putnam had not time to com-
plete the reading of the MS, but sent it at once to the com-
positors. It was not until after the book was published
and he had read the criticism of the volume in the Satur-
day I'eview and other influential journals, that he found it
necessary to read the concluding page which ends as my
readers may remember with the drowning of all, leaving no
GEORGE PALMER PUTN AM. 303
possibility for the narrator to reach home to tell the story,
and the Saturday Review naturally inquired, “What is
this Yankee publisher giving us P” The narrative of
Arthur Gordon Pym was one of the improbable creations
so prolific in Mr. Poe’s brain.
After this, Mr. Putnam never published a book bear-
ing his imprint without first completing the reading of it,
or having it read by a trusty reader, with one exception,
which will be referred to hereafter. In this connection, it
may be well to mention another call made by Mr. Poe on
Mr. Putnam in 1849, soon after the latter’s return to
New York. Poe called at his Broadway book-store
after he had apparently dined a little heavily, sat down
and wrote furiously until long after business hours, when
the porter was obliged to close the store, thus virtually turn-
ing him out. The next morning Poe brought to Mr. Put-
nam the MS. he had just written, and with a good deal of
solemnity declared he had arrived at the solution of the
secret of the Universe, which, when published, would make
millions of dollars for both author and publisher. The
millions were only in Poe's brain, for the first edition of
Eureka, the work in question, was never exhausted by the
current Sales.
lt is an interesting fact to state that the name of Put-
nam is yet connected with the publication of Poe’s works.
The present firm is now issuing a limited edition de luze
for subscribers only. The specimen volumes indicate that
it will not only be the handsomest edition of Poe which
has yet appeared, but one of the most elegant of the much
sought after de lua.e editions of standard authors.
In 1848, Mr. Putnam issued James Russell Lowell’s
Fable for Critics which created at that time something of a
literary sensation.
The volume was affectionately inscribed to Charles F.
Briggs, whose nom de plume “Harry Franco " was then
well known in the literary world. Mr. Briggs was a great
admirer of Mr. Lowell’s genius. It was through him that
304 GEORGE PALMER PUTN AM.
I had the pleasure of an introduction to that distinguished
gentleman now so famous as an author and diplomat, rep-
resenting the United States at the court of St. James, with
credit to himself and honor to his country. The unique
title-page is well worth reproducing here :
# A.
FABLE FOR CRITICS;
OR, BETTER,
A GLANCE
AT A FEW OF OUR LITERARY PROGENIES
(Mrs. Malaprop's word)
FROM
THE TUB OF DIOGENES;
A WOCAL AND MUSlCAL MEDLEY,
THAT IS,
A. SERIES OF JOKES
33p a luonderful Qui,
who accompanies himself with a rub-a-dub-dub, full of spºrt and grace,
on the top of the tub.
Set forth in October, the 31st day,
In the year '48, G. P. Putnam, Broadway.
That popular novel “The Wide Wide World,” by Miss
Warner, had a singular advent into book form. Mr. Put-
nam was interested in the story, but thought it did not
possess the qualities likely to insure its popularity, while
its great length (it contained matter enough for two vol-
umes) was not favorable to its success. His literary advi-
sers all counselled him against it. His mother, however,
happened to get hold of the MS. and after reading it, said
to her son, “George, that is too good a book not to come
into print, you must print it !” He took his mother’s
advice and published it. For months after it was issued,
GEORGE PALMER PUTN AM. 305
Mr. Putnam began to think he would have to charge the
loss account to the score of filial obedience. The book re-
mained stocked upon the shelves apparently without com-
mercial value. His mother tried to cheer him by saying
“ that the book was so good, she was sure that Providence
would aid him in the sale of it.” As a matter of fact,
Providence did help the matter out. The first favorable
review of the work appeared in a Providence paper, and the
first large order that was received was from a Providence
bookseller. The sale in a few months amounted to over
40,000 copies, which yielded, of course, a large profit to both
author and publisher. Miss Warner's next novel, “Quee-
chy,” was nearly as successful ; although these two books
were published more than thirty years ago, they have been
selling steadily ever since. They are almost the only
American novels published one-third of a century ago, that
have a continued sale.
Mr. Putnam about this time published Dr. J. G. Hol-
land’s novel “ Bay Path,” which was as much a failure as
his later works published by Scribner, have been suc-
CéSSGS.
In the year 1854, Mr. David A. Wells became associated
with Mr. Putnam as a special partner. Mr. Wells is the
well known writer on Political Economy and author of
The Year’s Book of Facts. He had had no experience in
bookselling, but wanting to make himself useful as a mem-
ber of the firm, and finding on the books certain uncol-
lected accounts against prominent New York citizens,
he asked his senior in a general way, whether it would not
be a good thing to collect all of the over-due accounts. Mr.
Putnam naturally replied it was a very desirable thing to
do. Thereupon his energetic junior wrote sharp letters to
the delinquents, among whom unfortunately, were a num-
ber of prominent people, including some literary men, who
although responsible, were not generally prompt in the
payment of their accounts, and with whom it was of course
important to keep on good terms. Mr. Putnam Was hor-
306 GEORGE PALMER PUTN AM.
rificq during the next few days to receive indignant calls
from old and responsible citizens to know why they were
thus threatened with the terrors of the law. Most of them
he was of course able to appease with satisfactory explana-
tion. Mr. John Wiley, who was present, said it was the
only time in which he ever saw Mr. Putnam angry, during
the whole of their lifelong acquaintance. It is not sup-
posed that this incident was incorporated in the next edi-
tion of Mr. Wells’ Year Book of Facts. The latter soon
retired from the firm to the more congenial atmosphere of
authorship, in which he now holds a high rank.
The publication of the works of Washington Irving
was the first important undertaking of Mr. Putnam after he
established himself alone in 1848. The volumes which had
previously appeared from Irving’s pen had for three years
been out of print. As previously stated, the Philadelphia
publishers who had had charge of them had not felt suffi-
cient encouragement to undertake the preparation of new
editions. In fact they had practically advised Mr. Irving,
that while his material was certainly very pleasant, and had
met with a fair success, it would hardly be considered as
belonging to permanent literature. Mr. Irving had become
so completely discouraged as to his literary prospects, that
he told one of his nephews, he supposed he would have
to turn his hands to something else for a living, and as his
previous business experience had not given him a very good
idea of his own capacity, he was very much in doubt which
way to turn. At this time of his despondency, came a
proposition from Mr. Putnam to undertake the publication
of the books then in existence, which Mr. Irving readily
accepted. The following are the terms agreed upon as
stated by Pierre M. Irving, in his interesting “Life of
Washington Irving :”
“The agreement with Mr. George P. Putnam, by which Mr.
Irving was to prepare revised copies of all his works for publica-
tion, bears date July 26th, 1848. By this arrangement, which
GEORGE PAI, MER PUTN AM. 307
was to continue for five years, Mr. Putnam was to have the exclu-
sive right of publishing his already published works and writings,
in uniform duodecimo volumes until the whole series was com-
pleted, at such intervals as the publisher might find most advan-
tageous for the mutual interest of the parties. He had the right
also to publish one or more of the works in a larger size and illus-
trated. Mr. Putnam was to be at the whole charge of publication
‘including all the expenses thereto incident,” and was to pay Mr.
Irving twelve and a half per cent. on the retail price of all the
copies sold. The accounts of sales were to be balanced at the end
of the year commencing with July, 1849; and the author was to
receive in notes at four months, the amount accruing to him at the
above rate; but, as Mr. Putnam agreed to pay him in quarterly
payments, one thousand dollars for the first year, fifteen hundred
for the second, and two thousand for the third, fourth and fifth
years, all of which payments were to be made on account of the
percentage above specified, in the confident expectation of the
publisher that the year's receipts would overrun the amount
advanced, and that the author would have a surplus to receive at
the stated period of settlement. In case of a disappointment in
this particular, and that the percentage within the year should
not amount to the sum or sums advanced, the author was not
called upon to refund any part of the advance. In other words,
by this agreement, Mr. Putnam was answerable for the payment
of eight thousand five hundred dollars, the sum provided for in the
several annual advances, whatever be the amount of the percent-
age; but whenever this guarantee of eight thousand five hundred
dollars should be covered by the gross amount of profits received
by Mr. Irving, the advances were to cease; or, if continued at the
stipulated rate, and at the annual settlement, it should appear
that they had overrun the percentage, the author was to refund
the difference.”
It may be interesting to know that at no subsequent
period, did the actual payments for royalty fail to con-
siderably exceed the minimum above-named. Before the
death of Mr. Irving he took pains to make a complete re-
vision of nearly all of his works, adding, omitting and
largely altering them.
In 1857, when Mr. Putnam was in business difficulties,
308 Glº ORGE PALMER PUTN AM.
Mr. Irving stepped forward and took control of the stereo-
type plates which had been Mr. Putnam’s property, advan-
cing upon these plates what money was needed. Mr.
Irving was in a position to purchase the plates, if he de-
sired, and such purchase would have been very advan-
tageous to him. He preferred, however, simply to hold
them for Mr. Putnam, replacing the latter in control, a few
years later. During this time he received numerous propo-
sitions for the transfer of his writings to different houses
in Boston and Philadelphia, but he told Mr. Putnam
subsequently, that as long as a Putnam was in position to
publish, Irving’s writings should be in his hands, thus re-
paying ten years later, the confidence shown by Mr. Put-
nam in 1848.
In 1852, the author wrote his publisher as follows:
“Sunnyside, Dec. 27, '52.
2” >k : :k :k :k >k
“For my own especial part let me say how sensibly I appreciate
the kind tone and expressions of your letter, but as you talk of
obligations to me, I am conscious of none that have not been fully
counter-balanced on your part, and I take pleasure in expressing
the great satisfaction I have derived throughout all our inter-
course, from your amiable, obliging and honorable conduct. In-
deed, I never had dealings with any man, whether in the way of
business or friendship, more perfectly free from any alloy. That
these dealings have been profitable is merely owing to your own
sagacity and enterprise. You had confidence in the continued
vitality of my writings when my former publishers had almost
persuaded me they were defunct. You called them again into
active existence and gave them a circulation that I believe has
surprised yourself. In rejoicing at their success, my satisfaction
is doubly enhanced by the idea that you share in the benefits de-
rived from it.
“Wishing you that continued prosperity in business which your
upright, enterprising, truthful and liberal mode of conducting its
merits is calculated to ensure, I again invoke on you and yours a
happy New Year.”
GEORGE PAI, MEH. P. UTN AM. 309
A letter like this from Mr. Irving, is one that Mr. Put-
nam’s sons may well be proud to inherit.
On going up to Sunnyside one afternoon and finding
Mr. Irving writing at his little pine table, covered with
papers in apparent confusion, there being evidently much
need of space, Mr. Putnam said, “Mr. Ilving, you ought
to have a proper desk for arranging and sifting your mate-
rials. I am going to ask you to let me send you one.”
“Well, Putnam,” said he, “I am afraid it will trouble me
to get accustomed to anything but my old-fashioned table.”
However, Mr. Putnam sent up the desk with the stipula-
tion that the old table should be given to him. At Mr.
Mr. Putnam's next visit, the author was found fumbling
over his manuscripts puzzled to know where he had dis-
posed of his numerous papers, and grumbling dreadfully at
his publisher's liberality. This historic table on which the
works of the great author were written, was given to one
of Mr. Putnam’s sons.
When the artist’s edition of the Sketch-book, which
was so admirably illustrated by Daniel Huntington, F. O.
C. Darley and other well known artists, was published, it
was considered the most beautiful book that had yet been
issued by an American publisher. There were several
applications from the London trade who desired an edition
with their imprint. Among them was the well known firm
of Bell & Daldy, who ordered one thousand copies on which
their name appeared according to arrangement, as publish-
ers. Soon after this order was given, Mr. Putnam met
another London publisher, who, in a boastful tone, said to
him, “You Americans do fair work, but it takes an Eng-
lish house to issue a book like this,” as he took down a copy
of the artist’s edition of Irving’s Sketch-book. “Such beau-
tiful printing and wood drawing I have never seen.” Mr.
Putnam was of course delighted, and after he had explain-
ed that it was his own edition issued in America, the Brit-
ish bookseller enjoyed a laugh at his own expense. It is
estimated that one hundred and seventy-five thousand
310 GEORGE PALM ER PUTN AMI.
dollars have been paid to Washington Irving and his heirs
by George P. Putnam and his sons, for copyright.
The most important of Mr. Putnam’s literary efforts
was the completion of a large octavo Volume, entitled,
“The World’s Progress, an Index to Universal History
and a Cyclopedia of facts, Dates and General Information.”
This immense volume is the outgrowth of the small
undertaking in 1832, before referred to, and is a lasting
monument to Mr. Putnam’s literary intelligence.
Mr. Putnam first met Washington Irving in Europe,
on the 11th of May, 1842, on which occasion there was a
notable gathering of distinguished authors to attend the
annual dinner of the “Literary Fund,” an organization for
dispensing charities to disabled authors; this was the first
appearance of Queen Victoria's young husband Prince
Albert, in his presidential capacity ; he made three
speeches which Mr. Putnam says were more than respect-
able for a Prince, they were a positive success.
Among those present who made speeches were Hallam
and Lord Mahon, the historians, and Campbell and Moore,
the poets. Edward Everett was then the United States
Minister at the Court of St. James, and Washington Irving
was then on his way to Madrid, as Minister to Spain. Mr.
Putnam says the speeches made on that occasion were long
to be remembered ; when the toast to the author of
“Bracebridge Hall” was given the whole audience greeted
that gentleman with rousing cheers. Mr. Irving, as was
well-known by his friends, was anything but a speaker ;
when, therefore, he arose and in his modest and beseech-
ing manner simply said, “I beg to return you my sincere
thanks” his brevity seemed almost ungracious to those
who did not know it was physically impossible for him to
make a speech. Mr. Putnam says an Englishman, who
sat near him said to his neighbor, “Brief l’ “Yes,” was
the reply, “but you can tell the gentleman in the very tone
of his voice.” R
Mr. Putnam in speaking of Mr. Irving's early engage-




GEORGE PALMER PUTN AM. 311
ment, says, that on one occasion a miniature of a young
lady, intellectual, refined and beautiful, was handed to him
by Mr. Irving, with the request that he would have a slight
injury repaired by an artist and a new case made for it, the
old one being actually worn out by much use ; the painting,
which was on ivory, was exquisitely fine. When Mr. Put-
nam returned it to him in a suitable velvet case, he took it
to a quiet corner and looked intently on the face some
minutes, apparently unobserved, his tears falling freely on
the glass as he gazed. This was the miniature of the sister
of the eloquent Ogden Hoffman. Mr. Putnam delicately
suggests that it is for a poet to characterize the nature of
an attachment so loyal, so fresh, and so fragrant forty years
after death had snatched away the mortal part of the object
of affection. It was generally known among the friends of
J. Fenimore Cooper and Mr. Irving that there was for a
time some estrangement between them, but from what
cause it was not known.
Mr. Putnam says that one day after be had com-
menced the publication of the library edition of Cooper’s
works, Mr. Irving was sitting at his desk with his back to
the door, when Mr. Cooper suddenly came in, in his usual
bustling manner, standing at the office entrance talking.
Mr. Irving did not turn and Mr. Cooper did not see him.
Mr. Putnam, acting on the impulse of the moment, simply
said, “Mr. Cooper, here is Mr. Irving ;” the latter turned,
Cooper held out his hand, cordially dashed at once into an
animated conversation, and to Mr. Putnam’s surprise and
delight, took a chair and chatted for an hour on the topics
of the day and some former days. They parted with cordial
good wishes, and Mr. Irving afterwards frequently alluded
to the incident as being a great gratification to him.
Mr. Putnam relates on another occasion, that as Mr.
Irving and himself, while walking up Broadway, were pass-
ing a print window, Mr. Irving's eyes rested on the beauti-
ful engraving “ Christus Consolator.” He stopped and
looked at it intently for some minutes, evidently much
312 GEORGE PAI, MER PUTN AMI.
affected by the genuine inspiration of the artist, in this re-
markable representation of the Saviour as the Consoler of
sorrow-stricken humanity. His tears fell freely. “Pray,
get me that print,” said he ; “I must have it framed for my
sitting-room.” When he examined it more closely and
found the artist's name, “It’s by my old friend Ary
Scheffer,” said he, remarking further, that he had known
Scheffer intimately, and knew him to be a true artist, but
had not expected from him anything so excellent as this.
Mr. Putnam afterwards sent him the companion, “ Christus
Remunerator,” and the pair remained his daily companions
till the day of his death.
Another incident in Mr. Putnam’s recollections of Mr.
Irving, which I find in the Atlantic Monthly of 1860, is
doubly interesting to me. Mr. Thackeray had been invited
to deliver his lecture on “Charity and Humor ’’ at
Yonkers, on the Hudson, of which place I was at that time
a resident. Mr. Thackeray was the guest of Mr. Frederick
S. Cozzens, whose humorous “Sparrowgrass Papers ” my
firm had recently published. Mr. Irving, who had already
met Mr. Thackeray, was present at the lecture. I can well
remember that enjoyable occasion and the circumstances
attending it. These well-known characters are all dead,
first Mr. Irving, then Mr. Thackeray, next Mr. Cozzens,
and last Mr. Putnam. Each died suddenly, without a
moment’s warning.
One of the most important enterprises inaugurated by
Mr. Putnam was the publication of Putnam’s Monthly
Magazine. The idea was conceived by him in the year
1852 of establishing a monthly magazine both entertaining
and practical ; one suited to the family as well as to schol-
ars. The contents were to consist entirely of original mat-
ter, contributed by the best writers in the country, and Mr.
Parke Godwin and Mr. Charles F. Briggs to be the editors.
The magazine was well received, and proved both a literary
and commercial success. I have been looking over more
than seventy letters from distinguished American poets and
GEORGE PALMER PUTN AM. 313
prose writers, promising to contribute to the new magazine
in answer to Mr. Putnam’s prospective circular. Among
others, those of Edward Everett, James K. Paulding, Wil-
liam Cullen Bryant, Fitz Greene Halleck, William Gil-
more Simms, Edwin P. Whipple, Richard H. Dana, Theo-
dore S. Fay, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry W. Long-
fellow. The following from the poet Longfellow is a fair
specimen of those received by the publisher.
“Cambridge, October 22, 1852.
“IDEAR SIR : -
“I shall be very happy to contribute occasionally to the pages
of your magazine, but will do so anonymously. At the same time
I have no objection to have my name mentioned among the list of
contributors if you think it worth while. If you like, I will send
you a poem for your first number. How soon shall you want it 2
“Yours, very truly,
HENRY W. LoNGFELLOW.”
The letter from T. Buchanan Read, the poet-painter,
will be interesting, especially the portion relating to the
Brownings—alluding, as it does, to Mrs. Browning’s
forthcoming poetic novel “Aurora Leigh.”
“Florence, Italy, September 20th, 1854.
“DEAR Mr. PUTNAM :
“The Brownings, the poets, having made inquiries of me in re-
gard to American publishers, I took pride and pleasure in speaking
of your house, as the most desirable in my estimation, especially
for works such as theirs. They told me that they would both
have new volumes ready for the press by the next Spring, and
that they would like to make some arrangements with an Ameri-
can publisher to bring them out simultaneously with their appear-
ance in London, and desired me if I knew you, to inquire what
terms you would be willing to allow them, if you thought worth
while to enter into any arrangement. I promised them to do this,
and if you think it worth while to reply, I will communicate to them
anything you may desire ; or if you prefer, you might address
them directly. Mrs. Browning's poem is a romance in verse,
314 GEORGE PALMER PUTN AM.
which with her reputation in America would sell well. Mr.
Browning's is a volume of lyrics, all new. In addressing you I
am merely fulfilling a request on their part and a promise on
mine. I gather from what they said that they would be glad
also to contribute to your magazine. . . . . . I sincerely
hope your magazine is still successful as it deserves to be. If I can
be of any assistance, you have only to command me. I am happy
to state, that I find at last success attending my studio. I am
full of orders for pictures, so that I feel much more independent
of the pen than heretofore I never did write for money, but I
have before now, been compelled to publish for it. I am now, I
think, beyond the necessity of that. When I sent you that last
poem, you may remember I set no price, intending that you might
pay what you felt inclined to. I will, as soon as I can, get some-
thing not too long for your pages, and send you again on the same
terms. If you were as rich as the Harpers, I might stand on the
price, but under present circumstances, I am willing to write for
you, as it is necessary, on your own terms, for something or noth-
ing, as you may afford, until you find yourself fairly afloat again.
“Very truly,
T. BUCHANAN READ.”
George W. Curtis’ celebrated “Potiphar Papers” and
Frederick S. Cozzens’ equally celebrated “Sparrowgrass
Papers’ were originally contributions to Putnam's Month-
ly Magazine.
Mr. Putnam was the first American publisher of whom
we have any account who took action on the question of
| international Copyright. In 1840, soon after his arrival
in London, he prepared what seems to be the first printed
argument in behalf of that measure, which appeared in
this country. It was issued in pamphlet form under the
title “An Argument in behalf of International Copyright.”
In 1843, Mr. Putnam obtained the signatures of nearly a
hundred publishers, including those interested in the man-
ufacture of books, to a petition he had prepared and which
was duly presented to Congress. It took the broad ground
that the absence of Internation Copyright was actually
injurious to the interest of publishing and to the best
GEORGE PALMER PUTNAM. 315
interest of the people at large. Shortly afterwards, Henry
C. Carey published his “Letters on International Copy-
right,” in which he took the position that the facts and
ideas in a book are the common property of society, and
that property in copyright is indefensible. These antag-
onistic positions are still defended with much persistency,
the former by George Haven Putnam, and the latter by
IIenry Carey Baird. In a recent conversation with each of
these intelligent gentlemen I found them firm in their
belief that each had the right of the argument.
The death of Mr. Putnam occurred at Christmas time in
1872, when the booksellers annually reap their harvest in
the sales of the holiday books. Mr. Putnam had provided
unusual attractions in the way of attractive books, when he
was suddenly stricken down in death, while actively
engaged in his own store. Authors and readers felt that
a prop and guide Was taken from them ; the doors of the
Crowded store were closed ; the mourning family in their
grief cared not that the holiday sales were the event of
the year, but the ever-generous guild of booksellers grasped
the Sad moment to illustrate their affection for the dead.
Henry Holt, Andrew Armstrong and Alfred Houghton pub-
lished a card stating that to the affliction of the family
should not be added the serious financial embarrassment of
having in that busy season the store of the late publisher
closed, and they took upon themselves the work of re-open-
ing the store and carrying on the business for the family.
As an indication of the respect in which Mr. Putnam
was held the following resolutions were passed by the
Publishers’ Board of Trade:
“Resolved: That this Board regards with deep sorrow, the
death of G. P. Putnam, a publisher whose life added dignity to
our calling and whose memory is among the best traditions.
‘‘ Resolved: That we, as his business associates, wish to give
our testimony to that already so copiously given by the press, that
Mr. Putnam's career was one of great advantage to American
letters, and that his example is worthy the emulation of those
316 GEORGE PALMER PUTN AM.
whose function it is to decide what literature shall go before the
public.
“Itesolved : That while his sudden death reminds us of the
uncertainty of our tenure of active effort it equally reminds us
that it is impossible entirely to obliterate the influence of a good
and useful life.
HENRY Ivrson, Pres.
HENRY HolT, Secretary.”
The funeral was largely attended by representative men,
especially those of the literary world. An eloquent sermon
was delivered on the occasion by his pastor, Rev. Dr. J. F.
Elder, who characterized Mr. Putnam’s life as “pure,
patient, gentle, Self-Sacrificing.”
I am permitted to make public the following letters to
the bereaved widow and son, from the late Bayard Taylor,
who knew the deceased more intimately perhaps, than any
other man then living, outside of the family.
“Lausanne, Switzerland,
Jan. 17, 1873.
“MY DEAR MRS. PUTNAM:
“With the sorrow for Mr. Greeley's* loss still upon me,
I can hardly tell you how much I have been shocked and
grieved by this additional blow. . . . . . . It seemed in-
credible that a man like Mr. Putnam, with so much freshness and
energy for his years, such an active habit of life, such temperance
and regularity, could be stricken down so suddenly; to you and
your children the blow must have been awful in its swiftness.
g º ºs e I remember when Washington Irving was called
away by as sudden a summons, how Mr. Putnam spoke of it as a
fortunate death, saying that if men were allowed to choose, the
most would prefer to die as Irving did. He now has been equally
fortunate, and we who have known him so long and intimately,
know that he was always ready for the call. His nature had that
transparent goodness and purity which cannot be hidden : it was
seen of all, and the only thing which seemed disparagement, that
I ever heard said of him was: ‘He's too good a man to be
* Horace Greeley died the month previous.
*
GEOIRG. E. PALM ER PUTN AM. 317
successful in business!” But I consider such a life successful and
noble in the highest sense. Mr. Putnam's personal and moral
influence extended further and was more enduring than he or even
his family could know; and it does not cease with his death.
There is, there must be, some consolation in contemplating the
stainless record of his life even to those who have lost the most
in losing him.”
“MY DEAR HAVEN :
“I did not get the sad news until only three days ago. . . .
This swift death coming so close upon Kensett's (who was also a
dear old friend) and Greeley’s shocks me inexpressibly. At my
age one makes friends slowly and clings all the more strongly to
those with whom so many past experiences have been shared.
Twenty-six years of friendship as well as business relations, taught
me how perfectly I could confide in your father.”
The loss of Mr. Putnam was deeply felt by his many
attached friends, none more so than by William Cullen
Bryant, who wrote the following letter:
“Here, too, the closing days of the year (1872) have been sad-
dened by the deaths of those whom we much prized, suddenly re-
moved in the midst of their usefulness. Kensett, the amiable and
generous artist; Putnam, the liberal minded and kindly bookseller,
and the promoter of every good work; and the much esteemed
treasurer of the Century Association, Priestley, a man of great
worth and intelligence. It is not often we lose, so near to each
other so many deeply and widely mourned. What a fleeting thing
human life is!—like the shadows of a cloud passing swiftly over
the fields leaving behind the flowers which it visits but for an
instant, and the prattling brooks and the pools that give back the
image of the sky, and the song sparrow warbling on its perch, and
the meadow-lark brooding on its nest in the grass—leaving all, all
—and hurrying to be lost on the dim distant hills where the sight
can no longer follow it. I miss Putnam greatly. He published
two of my books and I employed him to get together my Cum-
mington Library—about four thousand volumes. What be did for
me beyond my special directions was judiciously and disinterest
edly done.”
318 GEORGE PALMER PUTN AM.
It can be truly said that Mr. Putnam's life was always
spent more for the benefit of others than for his own
aggrandizement, more for the dissemination of good ideas
than for the accumulation of wealth. Generous and untir-
ing in his devotion to the objects which aroused his en-
thusiasm, the very effort to subordinate his personality to
the general good of booksellers and book-readers will ever
make his name brightly conspicuous in their annals.
In Rev. Dr. Ward’s Review of Thomas Hughes’ “Memoir
of Macmillan,” headed “The Publisher’s Vocation,” the
following tribute to Mr. Putnam is given:
“One recalls the name of several Americans, who have stood
in such relations to authors and readers that their imprint carried
immense influence, making them not only benefactors to authors,
but the purveyors of the best books to those for whom they were
written. Eminent among these was George P. Putnam, who brought
a sensitive conscience and excellent literary taste to the business of
a bookseller and publisher and is always to be named as one of the
best friends American authors ever had. He published books on
their merits and drew around him the men who had something to
say to the public; and the magazine which he started in 1853 is
still remembered, although long ago discontinued, for the noble
character and excellent quality of the contents. He filled out the
idea of what the public needed and had the largeness of concep-
tion requisite to the undertaking, and the proper business capacity
to make it a success. No man knew better how to help authors
forward, or how to furnish the public with readable books of the
best character.”
The present firm consists of George Haven, John Bishop
and Irving Putnam, all of whom inherit the literary qual
ities of their father under the firm style “ G. P. Put
nam's Sons,” and conduct with great success the busi-
ness founded by their father a half a century ago. Since
the death of the latter they have added to their cata-
logue of works in general literature, lists of medical and
educational publications, and have also extended their
business so as to include bookselling and importing as well
GEORGE PALMER PUTNAM. 319
as publishing. In connection with their importing busi-
ness they now have a branch house in London, not far from
the original headquarters of G. P. Putnam, from which,
in 1848 “American Facts * was published.
The talent in the Putnam family is not all confined
to the male branches. Dr. Mary Putnam Jacobi was the
first woman who ever secured admission into the Paris
Ecole de Medecine (in 1864), from which she was graduated
with honors in 1870. She was doing work as a medical
student in Paris during both the Prussian and Commun-
ists’ sieges, and in the interim, while the lecture courses
were closed, she busied herself with work in the hospitals.
She was the first woman who was ever elected a mem-
ber of the Pathological Society, as well as of the New York
Academy of Medicine. All of which seems strange enough
to the writer, who knew her when a young school girl, more
than thirty years ago, while a near neighbor of her father's
at Yonkers, on the Hudson.
The following incident will serve as an example of the
kind of responsibility which sometimes attaches to the
business of supplying libraries. Not long since, a pastor in
a country town wrote G. P. Putnam’s Sons to say that
two hundred dollars had been raised for the town library,
and that, as chairman of the committee, the duty of select-
ing books devolved upon him. He asked the firm to use
their own judgment as to the list, stipulating only that it
should include the writings of Mrs. , one of the
most “sensational * novelists of the day. As her pen was
prolific as well as sensational, a set of her books would have
absorbed a very large proportion of the appropriation, and
it was thought best therefore to query the necessity for
sending this particular set, and to suggest in its place a
selection of really standard works of fiction. A note in
reply was received, somewhat as follows:–
‘‘DEAR SIRS:
“I am exceeedingly indebted for your kind advice in this
matter. Please send in place of Mrs. 's books the volumes
320 GEORGE PALMER PUTN AM.
suggested by yourselves. Being a minister, I have never read any
fiction in my life and know nothing about it, and when some of
my young men mentioned the novels referred to as indispensable,
I supposed they were better than any others.”
For the purpose of presenting in convenient form the
class of information required by such inquirers, a volume
entitled “The Best Reading,” which is of great assistance
to all those needing advice in selecting libraries, was planned
by G. H. Putnam, and prepared by himself, F. B. Per-
kins, and L. E. Jones. The firm has also recently pub-
lished a book by two of the brothers, entitled “Authors
and Publishers,” a manual of suggestions to beginners in
literature, which is considered of great value to all those
who have written, or expect to become authors of books.
XVII.
GEORGE BANCROFT,
Bancroft’s History began fifty years ago—Author states his
plans at the outset—His steady application and perist-
ence—Important literary assistance in Europe—Meets
Thiers, Guizot and other historians—Lord Byron
gives him. Don Juan—Makes an Effective revenue
Collector—Gives Hawthorne his first clerkship—Pres-
cott's appeal and Daniel Webster’s rebuff—Bancrof.
and Emerson, like brothers—Meets Washington Irving
&n France—Sees the Sketch-book in MS.— Mr. Ban-
croft’s great library—Its possible destination—Founds
the United States Naval Academy—Completes his
Płistory of the United States.
JUST fifty years ago, in the month of June, 1834, George
Bancroft published the first volume of his History of
the United States of America.
In his introduction to this volume, the author writes as
follows :
“I have formed the design of writing a History of the United
States, from the Discovery of the American Continent to the pres-
ent time. As the moment arrives for publishing a portion of the
work, I am impressed, more strongly than ever, with a sense of
the grandeur and vastness of the subject ; and am ready to charge
myself with presumption, for venturing on so bold an enterprise.
I can find for myself no excuse, but in the sincerity with which I
have sought to collect truth from trustworthy documents and
testimony. I have desired to give to the work the interest of
[321]
332 GEOIRGE BAN C ROFT.
authenticity. I have applied as I have proceeded, the principles
of historical skepticism, and, not allowing myself to grow weary
in comparing witnesses or consulting codes of laws, I have endeav-
ored to impart originality to my narrative, by deriving it from
writings and sources which were the contemporaries of the events
that are described ; for the work which I have undertaken will
necessarily extend to several volumes. I aim at being concise ;
but also at giving a full picture of the progress of American insti-
tutions. The first volume is now published separately ; and for a
double motive. The work has all eady occasioned long prepara-
tion, and its completion will lequire ful ther years of exertion ; I
have been unwilling to travel so long a journey alone ; and desire,
as I proceed, to correct my own judgment by the criticisms of
candor. I have thought that the public would recognize the sin-
cerity of my inquiries, and that, in those States where the mate-
rials of history have as yet been less carefully collected, and less
critically compared, I should make for myself friends disposed to
assist in placing within my reach the sources of information which
are essential to success.”
The preceding was written half a century ago. It will
be noticed that Mr. Bancroft speaks in his introduction, of
his intention to write this history, “down to the present
time.” In a recent conversation with the venerable his-
torian, he informed mc that he intended oliginally to bring
it down to about the year 1830. I said to him that I
thought the title of his book was something of a misnomer,
inasmuch as he had not written a history of the United
States, but rather a history of the colonies down to the
adoption of the Federal Constitution. He replied that
when he began, he did not expect to finish the history
very soon, but did expect to get along faster than he had,
coming down to near 1830, that is, through the War of 1812–
15, to the time when the old system was broken, and the
old series of Presidents ended. He thinks it can be called
the History of the United States, since he has written the
IIistory of the Constitution, as the history of the United
States begins with the united resistance of the colonies
against Great Britain. IIe said further that he had been
GEORGE BANC ROFT. 323
prevented from an earlier completion by other duties,
which I hereafter refer to.
Nevertheless, Mr. Bancroft has been perfectly steady in
his application to the history, the writing of which he has
pursued for more than fifteen years. The delay is rather
attributable to the pains he has taken in gathering material.
He assured me that his collections for American history
from-say 1760—even further back than that—even to the
early period of the history of the colony of Virginia, down
to the period he has finished, are more complete, more
thorough, and extensive, from all quarters and all coun-
tries, than those of any European work of history for
the same period. Mr. Bancroft also has said to me that he
did not know of anybody that had spent so much time as
he has in getting into their possession, material for the
period of history about which he intended to write.
When abroad, Mr. Bancroft went into the offices of the
libraries of London, remaining until he had taken copies
or made unemoranda of all he needed from them, and so
also in Paris, where he spent days after days, and weeks
after weeks, examining, selecting and having copied, what-
ever proved valuable. Guizot was the first to give the
order for these valuable transcripts, which order was con-
tinued by his successors. Mr. Bancroft examined every-
thing of the slightest interest, until when he came away,
the custodian of the Archives said, “You have everything.
You have not left a single mite.”
Mr. Bancroft said he made this minute examination in
order to be through with all the courts of Europe, for
France is, of all countries, the one whose diplomatic service
is best fulfilled. Mr. Bancroft has, also, letters and docu-
ments pertaining to American history, not only from Eng-
land and France, but from Germany, Prussia and Spain.
When he could not go himself to make these collections,
he sent over the late Mr. Broadhead, who was so well read
in American history, to Holland, and he obtained for Mr.
Bancroft the archives of that country, copies of documents
324 GEORGE BANCROFT.
and letters relating to the history of the revolutionary war.
He procured most of these papers relating to America, from
France, before Thiers came into power, but the latter after
wards helped him by his friendly influence.
Mr. Bancroft said he knew Thiers very well, who, being
aware of the great pains he was taking, one day came and
opened for Mr. Bancroft's use a suite of closets filled with
papers he had collected for his History of the Consulate
and Empire.
De Tocqueville also gave him assistance ; indeed none
of the officials in France refused him anything, copying for
him letters and documents, whether they were for or against
France, Mr. Bancroft did not know whether France was
very kind to us, or whether that country had a little inter-
est of her own that she was looking after. He also received
some assistance in England outside of the public libraries.
Lord Landsdowne, whose ancestors made the treaty of
peace between Great Britain and America, himself brought
to Mr. Bancroft’s house in London, folio after folio, because
he would not trust anyone else, out of which the historian'
copied everything of any importance pertaining to the
War of Independence.
Thus much of Mr. Bancroft’s great and monumental
work of which the literary editor of Harper's Magazine, in
a review of the new revised edition in six volumes,
speaks:
“A comparison of this revised edition impresses us with the
candor, the thoroughness, and the conscientiousness of Mr. Ban-
croft's revision. Every page reveals some touch of the artist's
hand, softening the language where it had run into needless as
perity, but without detracting from its sinewy vigor, pruning re-
dundancies, rounding off or smoothing down ruggedness or infe-
licities, modifying statements so as to cause them to conform more
exactly to newly-discovered evidence—in fine, practically produc-
ing a new work While preserving the substantial integrity of the
old one.”
GEORGE BAINCROFT. 325
It was while connected with the house of D. Appleton
& Co., that it was my good fortune to secure for them the
future publication of “Bancroft's History of the United
States,” a fitting imprint for so great a work.
Mr. Bancroft was graduated from Harvard at the early
age of seventeen. He did not delay in pursuing his studies,
that of history being his special branch, but proceeded at
once to the German Universities, graduating from Gottin-
gen three years later, from whence he received his degrees.
After his graduation, he carefully observed the workings of
the Prussian Government, in the various departments, the
young student little thinking at that time, that half a cen-
tury later he would represent his own country, as minister
to the German Empire.
During these years of study he made the acquaintance
of the most distinguished people, among others, Goethe,
the Von Humboldts, Cousin, Niebuhr, Lamartine and
Migret, the historian, recently deceased.
Mr. Bancroft showed me while in his library at Wash-
ington, the first edition of “ Don Juan,” printed at London
in 1822, in which the author had written, with his own
hand
“To M.R. GEORGE BANCROFT,
from the Author,
NoFL ByRoN, May 22, 1822.”
I asked Mr. Bancroft what were his impressions of Lord
Byron. He replied they were decidedly favorable, besides he
was a very handsome person, his manner was very sprightly,
nothing could exceed the spirit of his conversation, he
talked of himself without reserve, and the utmost freedom,
and of his friends, as well as his enemies. He was travel-
ing at that time near Leghorn, Italy, where Lord Byron
had taken a place for the summer.
After spending five years in Europe, Mr. Bancroft re-
turned to America in 1822, and for a short time filled the
326 GEORGE BANCROFT.
pulpit, preaching several sermons, although not expecting
to enter the ministry.
In 1835 he engaged actively in politics and was appointed
collector at Boston in 1838 by President Van Buren. In
those days the collections for import duties were made by
bonds given to importers, instead of cash, and the loss to
the Government under the collectors who had preceded
Mr. Bancroft, amounted to millions ou millions. He not
alone collected back bonds, which had been looked upon as
worthless, but those received by him from merchants were
paid at maturity. There was not a bad bond during his
time, although in New York and elsewhere the losses from
unpaid bonds reached many millions. Afterwards the cash
system of payments was adopted in all ports of entry where
import duties are collected.
I asked Mr. Bancroft if he had anything to do with the
appointment of Nathaniel Hawthorne in the customs ser-
vice. He replied that almost the first thing he did when
he became collector, was to ask Mr. Hawthorne to accept
a position in the Custom House. Mr. Hawthorne did not
apply for a situation, but Mr. Bancroft, learning incidentally
that he was in need of assistance, immediately offered him
the very best position then Vacant, which he accepted, and
Mr. Bancroft afterwards was able to give him a position
which was paid by fees. The salary was at one time limited
to twenty-five hundred dollars, but the courts set aside that
limitation, saying the officer had a right to all the fees that
were earned, which usually amounted to five thousand
dollars per annum. Mr. Bancroft informed me that one
of Hawthorne's biographers misstated the manner in which
the latter obtained the position. It was Mr. Bancroft’s
own act, and on the impulse of the moment he heard
of Hawthorne's possible need of aid, he took pen and
ink and wrote to him immediately, tendering the posi-
tion. He had known Mr. Hawthorne from the first
time he began to publish in S. G. Goodrich’s “Token.”
He was caught from the beginning by the charm and
GEORGE BANCROFT. - 327
sprightliness of Hawthorne's style, tone of mind and
thought. “Now,” said Mr. Bancroft to me “the following
is perfectly true. What Mr. Hawthorne wanted, was to
retire to Salem, with the Post Office appointment, which
he did not secure, but afterwards getting a small office in
the Salem Custom House. Parties had changed ; the
moment the Democratic party, of which Mr. Hawthorne
and myself were members, went out of power, Pres-
cott, the historian, wrote a letter directed to Daniel
Webster, then Secretary of State, under President Fill-
more, saying, ‘Here is Hawthorne, a man of the highest
merit and letters, a person whom we must not think of
in reference fo party. Do see that he is retained in
the little office he has.” But Webster sent back a furious
answer, being vehemently angry. ‘How can you, a Whig,”
he said, “how can you do such a thing, as to recommend
the continuance in office, of a man of the politics of Haw-
thorne 2''”
Mr. Bancroft’s relations with Prescott were most inti-
mate. He considers him one of the greatest historians.
He told me that Prescott tried to form a close social intimacy
with Hawthorne, but found him of a retiring nature, very
difficult to become acquainted with. Coming into company
he was awkward as could be, not at his ease, not self-pos-
sessed, but he probably got over it afterwalds. While in
office at Boston, Hawthorne's manner while performing his
duties was exemplary. He went right out on the wharf
and gave his personal attention to the details of his work.
Nobody could do it better. Nobody did do it better. Hav-
ing accepted the office he went to work and performed it.
Unluckily he thought he had saved money enough, and
decided to resign the office. Mr. Bancroft begged him not
to do so, entreated him to remain, but all to no purpose,
his resignation being handed in, not long before Mr. Ban-
croft retired. - -
Mr. Bancroft said that Hawthorne kept his own coun-
sel, never talking about his writings. IIc once brought to
328 GEORGE BANCROFT.
him a copy of his first book, “Twice Told Tales,” a
presentation copy with his autograph.
I asked Mr. Bancroft if he knew much about Emerson.
His reply was, they were like brothers, and as Mrs. Emer-
son was an old friend of his wife’s, that made an additional
bond in their attachment for each other. He knew him
first when he was residing in Northampton, where Emer-
son came to preach one Sunday. Mr. Bancroft was de-
lighted with the sermon, and afterwards passed much of
his time with its author, becoming intimately acquainted,
and remaining so up to the time of his death. Mr. Emer-
son frequently visited Mr. Bancroft at Newport, and his
visits were returned. Mr. Bancroft always insisted that
Emerson was the first of our men of letters. There is
nothing, he says, in English literature called Essays, so
excellent as Emerson’s, they are the next best to Bacon’s.
Mr. Bancroft is a great admirer of Emerson’s poetry.
He said the poem called “The Problem,” is grand and
majestic, from beginning to end. In it the writer in front
of the picture of Jeremy Taylor, is musing, considering
whether he will continue a preacher or not. -
“Shall I seek religion in this fixed form, or shall I take
it by divine and heavenly inspiration ?”
“That ” said Mr. Bancroft, “is thoroughly good
poetry; good all the way through.”
“I also asked Mr. Bancroft if he was acquainted with
Washington Irving. He replied, that he knew Irving very
well for long years. He was quite a young man when
Irving burst upon the world. He knew him intimately.
They first met in Paris, where they were constantly
together. Once they went out into the country with each
other, to see the United States minister who had taken a
country seat. This was Albert Gallatin, afterwards famous
as Secretary of the Treasury. At that time Irving had
written Diedrich Knickerbocker, and was writing his
Sketch-book. He had just completed a sketch ; long and
of Supreme merit in thought and style, which Mr. Ban-
GEORGE BANCROFT. 329
croft pronounced beautiful in the extreme. Irving took
him home to his lodgings and read it to him there, at the
same time informing him that he had written it all down
from beginning to end at one sitting, after coming home
from a party. This was a portion of the Sketch-book.
Mr. Bancroft was unable to define to me the extent of
his library—that is in authorities—especially in history.
He has for a long period of years purchased everything of
importance that came to his notice. He never missed an
opportunity of buying books on American history. He
says, however, that no other American library has such a
collection of English, French and other foreign manu-
scripts, and in that respect it is unique.
It is Mr. Bancroft’s hope, that the manuscript collection
at least will be kept together, and that it will ultimately
find its way into the Congressional Library, or some one
of the other great public libraries of the country.
Mr. Bancroft was the real founder of the Naval Academy.
He induced Mr. Marcy, then Secretary of War, to make
over the lands and military buildings at Annapolis, to the
Navy Department. He studied the laws, to see how the
Academy could be established, without further legislation,
as it would not have been possible at that time to have a
Naval Academy, corresponding with the West Point Mili-
tary Academy, established at any Northern port. He had
accumulated by the strictest economy an enormous annount
of savings in the various branches of the Naval Depart-
ment. The great difficulty was to have Congress recognize
what had been done, and this was accomplished after
laborious effort, and the Naval Academy at Annapolis, re-
mains a monument to the foresight of Mr. Bancroft by its
subsequent importance and usefulness. During the ab-
sence of Mr. Marcy, Mr. Bancroft was appointed acting
Secretary of War. This happened at one of the most
important periods in our relations with Mexico, and at a
most critical time he issued the order to General Zachary
Taylor, to make his first important movement, the result
330 GEORGE BANCROFT.
of which was the conquest of Mexico, the annexation of
Texas and the election of General Taylor to the Presidency
of the United States. While holding this cabinet office,
Mr. Bancroft was appointed Minister Plenipotentiary to
Great Britain, which distinguished office he filled with
great credit to himself and his country.
During his residence in England, he made many friends
among men of letters. Returning to the United States in
1849, he took up his residence iu New York, with the
determination, to finish his history of the United States,
the last volume of which was completed forty years after
the publication of the first volume.
The following is from the preface to the sixth volume:
“The present volume completes the History of the American
Revolution, considered in its causes. The three last explain the
rise of the Union of the United States from the body of the people,
the change in the colonial policy of France, and the consequences
of the persevering ambition of Great Britain to consolidate its
power over America. The penal Acts of 1774 dissolved the moral
connection between the two countries, and began the civil war.
Of all persons in England, it was most desirable to have a just
conception of the character of the king. Mr. Everett, when
Minister at the Court of St. James, keeping up in his busiest hours
the habit of doing kind offices, obtained for me from Lady Char-
lotte Lindsay, copies of several hundred notes or abstracts of notes
from George the Third to her father Lord North. Afterwards, I
received from Lady Charlotte herself, communications of great
interest, and her sanction to make such use of the letters as I might
desire, even to the printing of them all. Others written by the king
in his boyhood to his Governor, Lord Harcourt, the latter was so
obliging as to allow me to peruse. tº * e * e
“The relations of France to America were of paramount im-
portance. I requested of Mr. Guizot, then the Minister, authority
to study them in the French Archives. “You shall see everything
that we have,” was his instant answer, enhancing his consent by
the manner in which it was given. The promise was most liberally
interpreted and most fully redeemed by Mr. Mignet, whose good
GEORGE BAN C ROFT. 331
advice and friendly regard lightened my toils, and left me nothing
to desire. Mr. Dumont, the Assistant Keeper of the Archives,
under whose immediate superintendence my investigations were
conducted, aided them by his constant good will. The confidence
reposed in me by Mr. Guizot was continued by Mr. Lamartine, Mr.
Drouyn de Lhuys, and by Mr. de Tocqueville.
“As the Court of France was the centre of European diplo-
macy, the halvest from its Archives was exceedingly great.
“If I have failed in giving a lucid narrative of the events
which led to the necessity of Independence, it is not for want of
diligence in studying the materials, which I have brought together,
or of laborious care in arranging them. The strictest attention
has been paid to chronological sequence, which can best exhibit
the simultaneous action of general causes. The abundance of my
collections has enabled me, in some measure, to reproduce the
very language of every one of the principal actors in the scenes,
which I describe and represent their conduct from their own point
of view. I hope at least it will appear, that I have written with
candor, neither exaggerating vices of character nor reviving
national animosities, but rendering a just tribute to virtue where-
ever found.”
During Mr. Bancroft’s residence in New York, he was
elected President of the Century Club succeeding its first
presiding officer, the late Gulian C. Verplanck, which
office he resigned on his appointment as Minister to Prus-
sia. He was elected an honorary member of the club, and
is the only member that has ever been accorded that dis-
tinguished honor. Mr. Bancroft as we have seen, although
once a politician, was one without reproach—as a states-
man we have had but few his equal, as an orator his
eulogies of President Jackson and President Lincoln are
models of the kind, and as a historian he stands pre-emi-
ment. That learned critic, the late George Ripley, thus
writes :
“Mr. Bancroft's ‘History of the United States' occupies a
very prominent place not only in the historical literature of his
332 GEORGE BANCROFT.
own country, but in that of the world, since it is everwhere a
recognized authority concerning the period which it cover. It is
not merely a narrative, but a philosophic treatise, dealing with
causes and principles as well as events, and tracing with remarka-
ble skill the progress of enlightenment and liberal ideas. It has
been translated into different languages and is especially popular
in Germany.”
Mr. Bancroft resides in Washington during the winter,
and at Newport during the Summer. He is an early riser,
and writes through his amanuensis only during the morn-
ing hours, after which he looks after his flowers, of which
he has a great variety. In the afternoon he generally drives
or rides, and although in his eighty-fifth year frequently
rides more than thirty miles in one day, on horseback. His
health is perfect and his many friends look for its continu-
ance for many years to come.
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XVIII.
(EORGE WILLIAM CHILDS.
Name of Mr. Childs a household word—Becomes a booksel-
!er's Clerk—Author first meets him—Metes out retri-
butive Justice—Gives a great banquet at Continental—
JEarly characteristics of Childs—He never lost a friend
—Despises meanness and hates a liar—“I shall yet be
owner of the Public Ledger”—Publishes Dr. Kane's
famous book—Allibone’s great Dictionary of Authors
—Mr. Childs’ boundless Charities—Interesting letters
received at the Banquet— TVonderful Success of the
Ledger—Hawthorne sends Childs the Scarlet Letter—
James T. Fields gives its History—Death of William
D. Tickmor—Nathaniel Hawthorne soon follows—
Charles Dickens invites Childs to Gad’s Hill— Childs
erects a Monument to Poe—Childs and Dreacel not un-
like Cheeryble Brothers.
LTHOUGH the name of George W. Childs is a house-
hold word in the City of Philadelphia, where he
is known as the owner and manager of that Philadelphia
institution the Public Ledger, what I have to say will be
more in reference to his career as a bookseller and publisher
of books.
It will be seen further on that although he is no longer
connected with the book trade he has used and continues
to use a large portion of his princely income in gathering
round him rare books, rare manuscripts, and an enduring
name as the friend and benefactor of authors, publishers
and booksellers.
1833]
334 GEORGE WILLIAM CHILDS.
Mr. Childs came from Baltimore to Philadelphia when
but fourteen years of age, to seek employment. An entire
stranger in that city, he found a situation in a book-store
kept by Mr. P. Thomson, at the corner of Sixth and Arch
Streets, the compensation agreed upon was three dollars a
week for his services; he was both clerk and errand boy,
working early and late, devoting himself entirely to the ser-
vice of his employer who soon held him in the greatest con-
fidence. After the close of the day’s business young Childs
attended the evening auctions, which were at that time
very frequent in Philadelphia; he showed excellent judg-
ment in his purchases and soon became familiar with the
most profitable books to buy. After about four years' ex-
perience with Mr. Thomson, whose business had increased
under the energetic and intelligent labor of his youthful
assistant, young Childs was further deputed to attend the
book-trade sales in Philadelphia, New York and Boston.
It was while attending these sales that I first met Mr.
Childs, then about eighteen years old, but already a favor-
ite with publishers and book-buyers, who semi-annually
gathered in those cities to purchase supplies at auction.
He soon learned by watching some of the shrewd book-
sellers in attendance at the sales, that the greatest bargains
were made by calling for the balance of the number offered
at the sales. After the books had been “struck down ''
for the quantity desired, the bidder for the balance always
had the preference over any others, I remember one time
young Childs called out for the balance of a certain book
to which he was clearly entitled, and he claimed in no un-
certain tones, his right. Mr. George W. Lord, the auction-
eer, told him he might sit down, that he was getting up a
row and making more noise than all the booksellers in the
room. Mr. Childs thought this was pretty hard, as he was
acting for the best interest of his employer, but after pro-
testing he carried his point. He never forgot this injus-
tice, however, and although not of a revengeful nature,
determined in his own mind that sometime or other retri-
GEORGE WILLIAM CHILDS. 335
butive justice should be meted out to the one who had in.
jured him. When, a few years later, Mr. Lord got into
financial difficulties, Mr. Childs, then in business for him-
self, took special pains to see the principal booksellers and
persuaded them to secure the services, as conductors of the
Philadelphia Trade Sales, of the substantial and well known
firm of Moses Thomas & Sons, who, as my book-selling
readers will remember, so long continued these sales to the
satisfaction of both contributor and buyer.
At the notable banquet given at the Continental Hotel
on the occasion of the opening of the new Ledger Building
in 1867, the Hon. J. J. Stewart, of Baltimore, in his remarks
spoke as follows:
“Character creates confidence in all the relations of life, and
this, I know, is the main reliance of our worthy host. Franklin
is not more emblematic of his craft than the exemplar of his life.
The code of poor Richard is the code of Mr. Childs. Nor did
Poor Richard come to this city in humbler guise than our poor
Baltimore boy who is your host to-day. I have been introduced
to you as the friend of his boyhood—I may add, of his early child-
hood. As such, it is my privilege to say to you that he has been
precisely what you find him to-day. His heart was always larger
than his means, and always will be, let the latter accumulate as
they may. There is but one thing he always despised, and that
is meanness. There is but one character he hates, and that is, a
liar. For all other infirmities he has charity; for all differences
of opinion, eccentricities, and angularities, a cosmopolitan tolera-
tion. When he left Baltimore a little boy, the affectionate regrets
of all his companions followed him to Philadelphia; and the
attachment they felt for him was more like romance than reality
in this everyday world. We are so much in the habit of making
game of all that is best and tenderest in our nature, that it is left
to the dissecting knife alone to lay open the heart of man; yet
who is there here that does not know how good it is to have a
friend ? Here is the boy who has never forgotten the friends of
his childhood, and who is not forgotten by them. Here is the
man whom I have heard some of the Republic's bravest, greatest,
and best citizens proudly claim as a friend this night. I think I
can say with truth, that George W. Child has never lost a friend.
3.36 GEORGE WILLIAM C HII, DS.
“What is the meaning of it? Is there any secret about it?
I will tell you what I know. He is true; and, as you are all wit-
nesses here, he is liberal and kind. I remember that he wrote to
me years ago, when we were both boys, that he meant to prove
that a man could be liberal and successful at the same time.”
This tribute paid to him by the friend of his childhood,
boyhood and manhood, is one that all who know Mr. Childs
will cordially indorse. When about eighteen years old ho
started in business on his own account, having earned and
saved a sufficient sum of money to set up a small news and
book-store, in which he was successful ; and it is a singu-
lar circumstance that the very spot where he first began
business was a small room in the old Public Ledger build-
ing. And it was about that time that he was heard to say
“I shall yet be the owner of the Public Ledgér.”
When about twenty-one years old he entered into the
book publishing business under the firm style of Childs &
Peterson, and ther publications soon became familiar to
the literary world.
One of their most important books was Dr. Kane's
“Arctic Explorations,” in search of the lost Sir John
Franklin, so familiar to the book-reading public of thirty
years ago. Dr. Kane originally intended to write only a
scientific account of his expedition. Mr. Childs persuaded
him, however, to write a popular narrative, blending adven-
ture with scientific exploration. The success of the book
was remarkable ; the sale was so large that Mr. Childs was
enabled to pay the author within one year after the publi-
cation, the enormous copyright of seventy thousand dollars.
Dr. Kane admitted to Mr. Childs that he was right in sug-
gesting a book of a popular nature, instead of purely sci-
entific research, and after completing the MS of his narra-
tive, wrote as follows :-
“MY DEAR CHILDS :
“Here you have the book complete, and poor as it is, it has
been my coffin.”
GEORGE WILLIAM CHILDS. 337
Doubtless the explorer must have had some premonition
of the near approach of the end of his adventurous career,
for he died within one year after receiving the copyright
money.
As soon as Mr. Childs received news of Dr. Kane's
death in Cuba he made arrangements for the funeral, which
was one of the greatest demonstrations ever seen, all the way
from Cuba to the place of his sepulture.
Mr. Childs once said to me that when Dr. Kane's book
was ready for publication, he took a sample copy and went
to New York to solicit orders from the leading booksellers.
The largest house thére declined to negotiate for more than
a few copies, saying “Mr. Childs you won’t sell more than
a thousand copies altogether.” They ordered one hundred
copies to begin with, and soon after to supply the demands
of their customers five thousand copies more.
The next great hit that Mr. Childs made was Parson
Brownlow's book. He understood very well the art of
advertising and had piqued public curiosity to such an ex-
tent that 50,000 copies were ordered before the book was
issued.
Among other important books published were “Peter-
son’s Familiar Science,” of which a quarter of a million
copies have been sold. Also Bouvier’s Law Dictionary and
Sharswood’s Blackstone. The last work is still owned by
Mr. Childs, he farming out to others the right to publish
the same.
The most important book projected by him was “Dr.
Allibone's Dictionary of English and American Authors,”
which massive undertaking has been completed in three
immense volumes costing over sixty thousand dollars. Mr.
Childs gives credit to Mr. J. B. Lippincott, for his enter-
prise and public spirit in completing the last two volumes
of this great work, he having retired from the book pub-
lishing business after the issue of the first volume. It
probably never would have been completed but for the
capital and conſidence of Mr. Lippincott. Mr. S. Austin
15
338 GEORGE WILLIAM CHILDS.
Allibone, the author of this book, is now the honored libra-
rian of the Lenox Library and his immenseliterary creation,
so desirable and valuable to all intelligent people, will be
forever a tribute to his erudition, dulligence and industry,
belonging as it does to the rank of Webster's and Worces-
ter’s Dictionaries and the great Cyclopedias.
Mr. Childs retired from the book publishing business
in the year 1863, a business which he always loved, and for
which he still has a liking, retaining especially an affection
for publishers, booksellers and authors who were esteemed
friends before he embarked in the new enterprise which has
carried him into a princely fortune.
I am acquainted with several at one time prominent and
well-to-do publishers whose business misfortunes reduced
them to dependence, to whose support Mr. Childs contrib-
utes annually and liberally, believing his fortune to have
been given him that he may share it with worthy recipi-
ents of his benevolence, as he once wrote Mr. Stewart,
when a mere boy, he meant to prove, when he became a
man that he could be liberal and successful at the same
time.
The late Colonel J. W. Forney, who knew Mr. Childs
long and intimately, thus writes of him in his interesting
volume ‘‘Anecdotes of Public Men.”
“No charity appeals to Mr. Childs in vain ; no object of
patriotism ; no great enterprise ; no sufferer from misfortune,
whether the ex-Confederate or the stricken foreigner. He enjoys
the confidence of President Grant, and yet was among the first to
send a splendid subscription to the monument to Greeley. He,
more than any other, pushed the subscription of over $100,000
for the family of the dead hero, George G. Meade, and yet Alex-
ander H. Stephens, of Georgia, had no firmer friend. He gave
the latter the first gold watch he ever owned, and since his death
has subscribed five hundred dollars towards the purchase of
‘Liberty Hall,” where the eminent Georgia statesman so long re-
sided. His list of unpublished and unknown benevolence would
give the lie to the poor story that he craves notoriety. When I
GEORGE WILLIAM CHILDS. 339
carried letters from him to Europe in 1867, his name was a talis-
man, and it was pleasant to see how noblemen, like the Duke of
Buckingham, honored the indorsement of an American, who,
thirty years ago, was a poor boy. He made his money himself,
not by speculation or office, and got none by inheritance. He
coins fortune like a magician, and spends it like a man of heart.
He likes society, and lives like a gentleman. He is as temperate
as ever Horace Greeley was, and yet he never denies his friends a
generous glass of wine. His habits are as simple as Abraham
Lincoln's, and yet his residence is a gem, bright with exquisite
decoration and rich in every variety of art. He gives a Christmas
dinner to newsboys and boot-blacks, and dines traveling dukes
and earls with equal ease and familiarity. He never seems to be
at work, goes everywhere, sees everybody, helps everybody, and
yet his great machine moves like a clock under his constant super-
vision.” *
At the banquet held at the Continental Hotel, to which
reference has been already made, to commemorate the com-
pletion of the new Ledger Building.—probably the most
complete newspaper establishment, take it all in all, in the
world,—about five hundred guests were seated at the
tables, representing the press, politics, literature, bankers
and influential men generally. The well-known Mayor Mc-
Michael presided on the occasion ; the addresses given by
him and Mayor Hoffman, of New York, and the eminent
journalists, the late Hon. Joseph R. Chandler and Hon.
James Brooks, were eloquent and impressive in the extreme.
Letters of regret were received and read from President
Johnson, Secretary Seward, Secretary Stanton, General
Grant, Ex-President Fillimore, Chief Justice Chase,
Ralph Waldo Emerson, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Henry W.
Longfellow, and many more distinguished gentlemen re-
nowned in statesmanship and literature.
The following from some of the prominent book-pub-
lishers who had known Mr. Childs long and well, none of
whom are living, go to show their estimate of Mr. Childs
at that time.
34() GEORGE WILLIAM CHILDS.
From George S. Appleton, of D. Appleton & Co.
“New York, June 16, 1867.
“MY DEAR MIR. CHILDs:—
“I congratulate you on having completed the edifice which,
from all accounts is the finest as well as the largest newspaper
office in the United States. I do not know that it is possible for
you to print any more than you do now, but I have no doubt that
this exhibition of extraordinary enterprise will increase your
circulation.
“When the great ledger of life, where all our deeds and
actions are recorded shall be opened, I think that the record of
the Ledger, under your administration will stand higher for purity
of expression and freedom from slander of personal character than
any paper I know of * * .” *
From George P. Putnam, of G. P. Putnam & Son.
“New York, June 12, 1867.
“MY DEAR CHILDS :—
Sk :}; :k: >}: >k 2k >}:
“As a publisher of books, if you had achieved no other suc-
cesses than those connected with the mames of Kane, Bouvier and
Allibone, your name would remain embalmed for posterity; and we
of ‘the trade' all know that in those and other enterprises you
have shown a liberal sagacity, taste and enterprise, rare in our
fraternity. That you should also accomplish a notable advance-
ment in the business machinery and the profitable results of a
daily newspaper was a perfectly logical sequence. Such an enter-
prise as would positively frighten most of us timid and slow
moving old fogies, you in your shrewd energy and wide awake
sagacity enter upon as a pastime. You wave your magic wand
and lo palaces rise and the genui of steam and lightning send
forth from their subterranean cells and lofty attics tens of thou-
sands of daily messages over the continent, and fortune follows
deservedly because you regulate all these powers on liberal prin-
ciples of justice and truth.”
Brom Jas. T. Fields, of Ticknor & Fields.
“Boston, June 5, 1867.
“MY DEAR CHILDS :—
“I wish it were in my power to be with you and your guests
GEORGE WILLIAM CLIILDS. 341
on the happy occasion to which you so kindly invite me. You
will have a grand time, and I would gladly join in it for I know
the excellent ability of Philadelphia to accomplish all that, is best
in the way of hospitality and good cheer.
>k :: >}; :k :*: 2k Sk
“Take then all my best wishes, dear friend, for your continued
success. The Ledger is a capital paper ; make it better still if
possible. Its circulation is among the largest in the world, beat
them all during the coming year. The proprietor is an enter-
prising young man,—and here I stop, wishing and beg to remain
always.”
From Harper & Brothers.
“New York, June 14th, 1867.
“DEAR MR. CHILDS :
“The ‘Brothers’ who now write have been for well nigh half
a century, ‘Brothers of the Craft," and no ordinary obstacle would
prevent them from being present in the City of ‘Brotherly Love'
on an occasion where they would be sure to meet so many of their
old friends and new associate.
º >k Sº :: 3& >k tº: >k
“We pray you to accept our warmest congratulations upon the
completion of your magnificent structure and our most sincere
wishes for your continued prosperity and happiness. You have
richly earned by your persevering industry and enlightened enter-
prise, the decided success which you have so happily achieved.
May it be long continued and even increased, ten-fold and eventu-
ally prove a rich inheritance to your children's children.”
The wonderful commercial success of the Public Ledger
since Mr. Childs became its owner is a matter of history;
a parallel case might well be made of his intimate friend,
Mr. George Jones, of the Wew York Times, who like him
went from the business of bookselling to become controller
of a great and influential newspaper, thus reversing the
usual custom of printers becoming booksellers.
Henry W. Raymond, only son of the late brilliant jour-
nalist of that name, after embarking in the bookselling
business at Chicago, and losing all his patrimony, by the
disastrous failure of his firm, wrote several letters to the
342 GEORGE WILLIAM CIIILDS.
old friends of his father, and the only response received to
the application for advice were from the late Thurlow Weed
and George W. Childs. Mr. Weed gave him some friendly
advice, and Mr. Childs, after ascertaining that young Ray-
mond was in failing health by working beyond his strength
on the editorial columns of the Chicago Tribune, wrote him
to come to Philadelphia and arranged with him to take
charge of that long-established and profitable newspaper
the Germantown Telegraph, which Mr. Childs bought for
the sum of twenty-five thousand dollars, giving it to young
Raymond, the amount to be returned only when the sur-
plus earnings over his family expenses would warrant the
same. Mr. Raymond is now pleasantly and happily set-
tled in Germantown with his family, and is much honored
and respected by those who knew his distinguished father.
It was a pleasure to me to meet Mr. Raymond in Mr.
Childs' office very recently, and to see his remarkable
resemblance to his lamented father.
The library of George W. Childs is perhaps one of the most
remarkable in rare books and manscripts of any individual
library in the country. Space will not allow reference to
but a few of the gems of his collection.
When quite a young man Mr. Childs, was a diligent
reader of the better class of new books as they came from
the press. He was much interested in Hawthorne’s “Scar-
let Letter,” which had just been published. His friend,
the late W. D. Ticknor, presented him with an unbound
copy which he still retains, elegantly bound, with the fol-
lowing letter from the author which will be interesting to
the readers of this foremost romancer.
“Lenox, September 16th, 1851.
“MY DEAR SIR :
“Perhaps it may interest you to know that ‘The Scarlet
Letter' (your favorable opinion of which gratifies me much) is thus
far founded on fact, that such a symbol was actually worn by at least
one woman, in the early times of New England. Whether this
GEORGE WILLIAM CHILDS. 343
personage resembled Hester Prynne in any other circumstances of
her character, I cannot say ; nor whether this mode of ignomin-
ious punishment was brought from beyond the Atlantic, or origi-
nated with the New England Puritans. At any rate, the idea was
so worthy of them that I am piously inclined to allow them all the
credit of it. Respectfully,
NATHL. HAWTHORNE.
“To GEORGE W. CHILDs, Esq.”
To Mr. James T. Fields belongs the credit of bringing
forth to the public, this wonderful romance. In his “Yes-
terdays with Authors,” he says:
“In the winter of 1849, after he (Hawthorne) had been ejected
from the Custem House, I went down to Salem to see and inquire
after his health, for we heard he had been suffering from illness.
He was then living in a modest wooden house in Mall Street, if I
remember rightly the location. I found him alone in a chamber
over the sitting-room of the dwelling ; and as the day was cold
he was hovering near a stove. We fell into talking about his
future prospects, and he was, as I feared I should find him, in a
very desponding mood.
“‘Now,” said I, ‘is the time for you to publish, for I know
during these years in Salem you must have got something ready
for press.” g
“‘Nonsense,” said he, ‘What heart had I to write anything
when my publishers (M. & Co.) have been so many years trying to
sell a small edition of ‘Twice Told Tales " ?
“I still pressed upon him the good chances he would have
now with something new. “Who would risk publishing a book
for me, the most unpopular writer in America. 8 ' ' I would,” said
I, ‘and would print an edition of two thousand copies of any.
thing you write.” “What madness l’ he exclaimed, “ your friend-
ship for me gets the better of your judgment. ‘No, no,” he cou-
tinued, “I have no money to indemnify a publisher's losses on my
account.” I looked at my watch, and found that the train would
soon be starting for Boston, and I knew there was not much time
to lose in trying to discover what had been his literary work dur-
ing these last few years in Salem. I remember that I pressed him
to reveal what he had been writing. He shook his head and gave
me to understand he had produced nothing. At that moment I
344 GEORGE WILLIAM CIHILDS.
caught sight of a bureau or set of drawers near where we were sit-
ting, and immediately it occurred to me that hidden away some-
where in that article of furniture was a story or stories by the
author of ‘Twice Told Tales,” and I became so positive of it that
I charged him vehemently of the fact. He seemed surprised, I
thought, but shook his head again ; and I rose to take my leave,
begging him not to come into the cold entry, saying I would come
back and see him again in a few days. I was hurrying down the
stairs when he called after me from the chamber, asking me to
stop a moment. Then quickly stepping into the entry with a roll
of MS. in his hands, he said, “How in Heaven's name did you
know this thing was there ? As you have found me out, take
what I have written and tell me after you get home and have time
to read it, if it is good for anything. It is either very good or
very bad—I don't know which.” On my way to Boston I read the
germs of “Scarlet Letter;' before I slept that night I wrote him
a note all aglow with admiration of the wonderful story he had
put into my hands, and told him I would come again to Salem
the next day and arrange for its publication. I went out in such
an amazing state of excitement when we met again in the little
house that he would not believe I was really in earnest. He
seemed to think I was beside myself, and laughed sadly at my
enthusiasm. However, we soon arranged for his appearance again
before the public with a book.”
Mr. Fields was an attached and valued friend of Mr.
Childs as long as he lived, and frequently made his home
with the latter when in Philadelphia. They had formed
an intimacy early in life, and began by Mr. Fields bringing
to Mr. Childs a letter of introduction from a mutual friend,
he being at the time in delicate health, and desirous of
going to England in a sailing vessel. Mr. Childs secured
for him a passage on a ship bound for Liverpool, and the
voyage resulted in much benefit to Mr. Fields.
The last time I saw Mr. liawthorne was in New York
at the Astor House, on his way to Washington, in company
with his friend, Mr. Ticknor, with whom he was traveling
south for the benefit of his health.
I was much shocked to read in fue morning papers a
GEORGE WILLIAM CHILDS. 345
few days after that Mr. Ticknor had suddenly died at the
Continental Hotel, Philadelphia. Knowing the friendly
relations of these gentlemen with Mr. Childs, I applied
to him for information concerning the sad event. He
told me that on arrival at Philadelphia they both called
at the Ledger office and seemed to be in good spirits.
This was on Friday. It was arranged by their Philadelphia
friends that they should attend a party to be given the next
evening by Mr. Joseph Harrison. There was much dis-
appointment among those who had gathered at the elegant
residence of the latter gentleman, in not seeing, as they
had expected, the foremost author of America. As no
explanation of their absence had been announced, Mr.
Childs called at the Continental Hotel the following Sun-
day morning, and went directly to the rooms they occu-
pied. He knocked at the door, and receiving no answer
opened it and went in. Mr. Hawthorne was found walking
up and down in a seemingly dazed condition. Mr. Childs
said to him, “Hawthorne, how are you? Where is Ticknor P’’
“They have taken him away,” said he.
“What do you mean?” asked Mr. Childs. “I can’t
understand you.”
“Well,” said Mr. Hawthorne, “it is too bad, he my best
friend on whom I depended, coming here for my benefit,
to please me.”
Mr. Childs thought the man was crazy and went imme-
diately to the office and asked Mr. Duffy, the clerk, what
was the matter. “Where is Mr. Ticknor?” He was in
formed of his death, which had occurred that morning.
Mr. Childs asked, “Where is his body?” “It was taken
early this morning to the undertaker's,” was the reply.
Mr. Childs returned to Mr. Hawthorne, and begged him to
Keep quiet, saying that he would take care of him. He
then went to the undertaker's to see that the body was em-
balmed and properly cared for, and telegraphed Mr.
Ticknor's eldest son, Howard, who came on and took the re-
mains of his father to Boston.
15%
346 GEOIRGl; WILLIAM Cli ILDS.
Mr. Hawthorne tarried a few days in Philadelphia,
when Mr. Childs placed him in charge of a mutual friend,
Bishop Howe, of Pennsylvania, who went with him to
Boston. He died shortly after at Plymouth, N. H., whence
he had gone under the charge of his life-long friend, Ex-
President Franklin Pierce.
Mr. Field, in his “Yesterday with Authors,” thus speaks
of the last letter received, and his last farewell:
“Hawthorne wrote to me from the Continental Hotel dating
his letter “Saturday Evening,” announcing the severe illness of
his companion. He did not seem to anticipate a fatal result, but
on Sunday morning the news came that Mr. Ticknor was dead.
“Hawthorne returned at once to Boston and stayed here over
night. He was in a very excited nervous state and talked inces-
santly of the sad scenes he had just been passing through.
“We sat late together conversing of the friend we had lost, and
I am sure he hardly closed his eyes that night. In the morning
he went back to his own home in Concord.”
The following hearty greeting from the great novelist
speaks for itself:
“Gad's Hill Place,
“Higham by Rochester, Kent,
“Wednesday, 4th November, 1868.
“MY DEAR Mr. CHILDS:
“Welcome to England I Dolby will have told you that I am read-
ing again—on a very fatiguing scale—but that after the end of next
week, I shall be free for a fortnight as to country readings.
“On Monday next I shall be in town, and shall come straight
to pay my respects to Mrs. Childs and you. In the mean time will
you, if you can, so arrange your engagements as to give me a day
or two here in the latter half of this month ? My housekeeper
daughter is away hunting in Hampshire, but my sister-in-law is
always in charge, and my married daughter would be charmed to
come from London to receive Mrs. Childs. You cannot be quieter
anywhere than here, and you certainly cannot have from anyone a
heartier welcome than from me.
“With kind regards for Mrs. Childs,
** Belleve me,
“Faithfully yours always,
“CHARLES DICKENs.”
GEORGE WILLIAM CHILDS. 347
Another gem in the library is a copy of “Hood's Comic
Annual.” This volume was secured for Mr. Childs at a
great cost by Mr. Charles Welford, as there were many
competing bidders among English collectors. It was for-
merly owned by Mr. Dickens and has the following
inscription in the hand-writing of Hood:
“Pshaw! away with leaf and berry,
And the sober-sided cup !
Bring a goblet, and bright sherry!
And a bumper fill me up.
Tho' I had a pledge to shiver,
And the longest ever was—
Ere his vessel leaves our river,
I will drink a health to Boz!
“Here's success to all his antics,
Since it pleases him to roam,
And to paddle o'er Atlantics,
After such a sail at home l—
May he shun all rocks whatever,
And the shallow sand that lurks—
And the passage be as clever
As the best among his works!
** THOS. HooD.”
The window of stained glass put up in Westminster
Abbey, in commemoration of the poets, George Herbert and
William Cowper, was gratefully apprediated by the English
Nation. The erection of this memorial window was sug-
gested by Dean Stanley, and the entire cost was paid by
Mr. Childs.
He has also in his possession the writing desk of Lord
Byron, on which he wrote the celebrated “Don Juan ’’ and
other poems, and upon which is engraved the crest and
monogram of the poet.
On a recent visit to Mr. Childs, he showed me the harp
that Thomas Moore owned at the time of his death and on
which he was accustomed to play and sing:
348 GEORGE WILLIAM CHILDS
“Dear harp of my country, in darkness I found thee,
The cold chain of silence had hung o'er thee long,
When proudly my own island harp I unbound thee,
And woke all thy chords to light, freedom and song.”
The following letter from the greatest of our American
poets was written on his seventieth birthday:
“Cambridge, March 13, 1877.
** MY DEAR Mr. CHILDS:
“You do not know yet, what it is to be seventy years old. I
will tell you, so that you may not be taken by surprise, when your
turn Comes.
“It is like climbing the Alps. You reach a snow-crowned
summit, and see behind you the deep valley stretching miles and
miles away, and before you, other summits, higher and whiter,
which you may have strength to climb, or may not. Then you sit
down and meditate, and wonder which it shall be.
“That is the whole story, amplify it as you may. All that one
can say is, that life is opportunity.
“With seventy good wishes to the dwellers in Walnut Street,
corner of Twenty-second,
“Yours very truly,
“HENRY W. LONGFELLOW.”
In the collection of Mr. Childs is found the following
letter from Edgar Allen Poe to his publishers:
<! “Philadelphia,
“Office Graham's Magazine, August 13, '41.
“Messrs. LEA & BLANCHARD,
“Philadelphia.
“Gentlemen: I wish to publish a new collection of my prose
Tales with some such title as this:—
“The Prose Tales of Edgar A. Poe, including “The Murders
in the Rue Morgue,” the “Descent into The Maelstrom,” and all
his later pieces, with a second edition of the ‘Tales of the Gro-
tesque and Arabesque.” The later pieces will be eight in number,
making the entire collection thirty-three, which would occupy two
thick novel volumes.
“I am anxious that your firm should continue to be my
publishers, and, iſ you be willing to bring out the book, I should
GEORGE WILLIAM CHILDS. 349
be glad to accept the terms which you allowed me before, that is,
you to receive all profits, and allow me twenty copies for distribu-
tion to friends.
“Will you be kind enough to give me an early reply to this
letter, and believe me,
“Yours very respectfully,
** EDGAR A. POE.”
Mr. Poe was at that time editor of Graham's Magazine,
and surely had a very modest estimate of the commercial
value of his afterwards famous productions. Mr. Childs
has the manuscript complete in Mr. Poe's handwriting of
the first tale referred to.
Another illustration of Mr. Childs’ characteristic response
to a suggestion made by myself may be fittingly recorded
here. In the year 1870 I received a letter from my friend
and correspondent James R. Randall, then and now editor
of the “Augusta (Georgia) Chronicle,” stating that he had
just returned from Baltimore, and while there visited the
grave of Edgar Allan Poe, which had not even a headstone
to mark the last resting place of that brilliant author. He
said it was a shame and he thought the attention of Some
public spirited citizen should be called to the neglected
grave—Mr. Randall is the author of the famous “rebel ”
song “Maryland, my Maryland,” and is also, like Mr. Poe
and Mr. Childs, a native of Baltimore. On receiving Mr.
Randall’s letter I immediately sent it to Mr. Childs, who
responded at once, saying that he should take immediate
measures to see that a suitable monument was erected to
the memory of Edgar Allan Poe. He ascertained that
some action had already been taken by a few citizens of
Baltimore but the necessary sum had not been raised. He
then volunteered to pay all the expenses attending the
cost of the monument and did furnish a greater part of the
money on its completion.
There can be hardly any thing more unique or intrinsi-
cally valuable in the way of manuscripts than the original
copy of “Our Mutual Friend.” It is complete and bound
350 GEORGE WILLIAM CHILDS.
in two large quarto volumes. The manuscript is dated
Thursday January 4th, 1866, and signed Charles Dickens.
In the first volume is inserted a letter from Mr. Dickens to
Mr. Childs, which surely indicates the high estimation in
which the great novelist held the latter. Mr. Childs has
in careful keeping autograph letters of the following world
noted authors:—Lord Byron, Tom Moore, Samuel Jolin-
son, William Cowper, Major André, Mr. and Mrs. S. C.
Hall, Charles Lamb, Mary Somerville, Harriet Martineau,
S. T. Coleridge, William Wordsworth, Robert Southey,
Robert Burns, Jane Porter, Hannah More, Leigh Hunt,
Mary Howitt, Mary Russell Mitford, Mary Cowden Clarke,
Samuel Rogers, Dean Swift, Percy Bysshe Shelley, John
Keats, Sir Walter Scott, Lord Nelson, David Hume,
Edmund Burke, Gibbon, Goethe and Voltaire.
My readers will coincide with the following estimate of
the late Professor Joseph Henry of the Smithsonian In-
stitute, in a letter to a distinguished resident of Pllila-
delphia :
“Mr. Childs is a wonderful man. His ability to apply the
power of money in advancing the well-being of his fellow-inen is
unrivalled. He is naturally kind and sympathetic, and these gen-
erous feelings are exalted, not depressed, by his success in ac-
cumulating a fortune.
“He has not only the genius to accumulate power in the form of
money, but also the far more unusual talent of applying it in the
best manner to advance the happiness of himself and the world.
Like man in the classification of animals, he forms a genius in him.
self. He stands alone: there is not another in the wide world
like him.”
In closing this sketch of George W. Childs, it is proper
to speak of his closest friend, Anthony J. Drexcl the well-
known banker, who is in entire sympathy with him in all
his public movements ; he is in many things his counter-
part. He assists some people in whom Mr. Childs does not
feel interested, and Mr. Childs helps others for whom Mr.
GEORGE WILLIAM CHILDS. 351
Drexel has no particular sympathy. Each of these gentle-
men has authority, as a general rule, to put the other down
for a subscription if he be absent and cannot be consulted.
If Mr. Childs puts himself down for one thousand dollars
he feels at liberty to give the name of Mr. Drexel for the
same amount. When Mr. Childs was in Europe Mr.
T)rexel subscribed five thousand dollars in his name and
five thousand dollars for himself for sufferers in the great
Chicago fire.
The Rev. Henry M. Field, D.D., editor of the New
York Evangelist, describes editorially in that paper (Jan-
uary 16, 1879), a visit made by a party of eminent guests of
Mr. Childs, as follows:—
“Among the many notable persons present was Mr. Anthony J.
Drexel, the banker, who is well known for his great wealth, and
also for his large, although wise and discriminating, charities.
The strong friendship which exists between Mr. Drexel and Mr.
Childs is well known in Philadelphia, and is equally honorable to
both. It is sometimes said by foreigners that friendship does not
exist in America; that we are so absorbed in business and money-
making that we have no time to indulge in the pleasure of ſriend-
ship. But if this were true in many cases, here at least is an excep-
tion. It is a remarkable thing that two men, who are apparently
unlike, should contract such a friendship, should share each other's
confidence, and seeing each other daily, should yet never weary
of one another's society, but grow constantly in each other's affec-
tion and esteem. It is certainly a rare instance of friendship, and
as beautiful as it is rare.”
Mr. Drexel and Mr. Childs may well find a parallel in
that of the Cheeryble Brothers in Nicholas Nickleby, who
the author says were drawn from life. “Their liberal
charity, their singleness of heart, their noble nature, their
unbounded benevolence are no creation of the author’s
brain, but are prompting every day (and oftenest by stealth)
some munificent generous deed in that town of which they
are the pride and honor.”
XIX.
HENRY J. RAYMOND,-GEORGE JONES.
Four great Editors who became Authors, Bryant, Greeley,
Weed, and Raymond—Founding the “New York
Times *—Raymond contributes “all he owed ” to the
Capital Stock—George Jones an Albany Bookseller
—Raymond elected Lieut.-Governor of New York—
-—Challenged by William L. Yancey—Ectracts from
JRaymond's Journal—Nominates Andrew Johnson for
Yice-President—Great Sale of Raymond’s “Life of
Lincoln "-Farewell Dinner—Miles O’Reilly got all
down and more too—Beecher’s Letter to Dana—Jęay-
mond's Speech at Dickens' Banquet—His sudden
death—Beecher's Eloquent Tribute at his Funeral.
T has been my good fortune to know, I might safely say,
intimately, the four great editors whose names and
whose fame became national through the journals, of which
they were the controlling spirits as well as through author-
ship, all of them having been writers of books. The young-
est of this celebrated quartette was the first to leave us, and
the oldest at the time of his death the last to go. All of
them were members of the same political party. Two were
practical printers; two were natives of New England and
the others of New York. All of them died in New York,
and their funerals took place in this city at the sanctuaries
where they habitually worshipped. The names of William
Cullen Bryant, Thurlow Weed, Horace Greeley, and Henry
|352]
JHEN BY J. RAY MONID. 353
ſarvis Raymond are recorded in the permanent political and
titerary history of our country.
I had met Mr. Raymond occasionally when an assistant
editor of the New York Tribune with Mr. Greeley, and
became acquainted with him the day the first number of
the Wew York Daily Times was issued. This was ten years
after the first issue of the New York Daily Tribune, which
had proved a great commercial success, its only rival being
the Wew York Herald. The public were ready to welcome
a new daily paper representing the views so clearly set
forth in the prospectus issued by Raymond, Jones & Co.
Mr. George Jones, the managing publisher, then, as he
is now, the largest owner and the controller of the New
York Times, I had known in a business way when a book-
seller in Albany ; he was also at that time a banker and
broker in that city, and it was his capital and the capital
he brought with him which laid the foundation of the
paper, the capital stock of which was $100,000, divided in-
to shares of $1,000 each. The largest shareholders were
Mr. Jones and his banking partner E. B. Wesley, both
of them coming from Albany.
The first number of the New York Daily Times was
issued on Sept. 18, 1851, a morning and evening paper, the
price of which was one cent. It quickly became a favorite
among the better class of readers and was successful from
the start. The par value of one share, being at that time
$1,000, is to-day worth not less than $15,000 per share, in
other words the $100,000 capital is now worth a million and
a half in cash. Soon after the New York Times was known
to have become a rich concern, a friend of Mr. Raymond
asked him one day how much he had contributed to the
capital stock. He replied, “I contributed all that I owed,
and that was a good deal.” The fact was that twenty
shares of the capital stock were given to Mr. Raymond by
his partners without any cash consideration whatever.
With him, then, brains counted as cash. Recently looking
over the bound volumes of the Times, I find in the first
354 HENRY J. RAY MO ND.
number issued, advertisements of IHarper & Bros., D.
Appleton & Co., George P. Putnam, A. D. F. Randolph
and other well known publishers. In the seventh number,
Sept. 26, there is a notice of a meeting held to honor the
memory of J. Fenimore Cooper, who had died the week
previous. More than thirty eminent citizens composed the
meeting which was called together by the late Rufus W.
Griswold, a gentleman always foremost on such occasions.
Among the officers of the meeting were Washington Irving,
James K. Paulding, William Cullen Bryant, Fitz Greene
Halleck and George Bancroft. All of those then present are
dead except the latter and Donald G. Mitchell, Richard B.
Kimball, Parke Godwin and John Bigelow. Mr. Irving, in
a note to Dr. Griswold accepting the chairmanship of the
committee, said: Ö
“Mr. Cooper's death is to me a shock. I saw him the other
day at Putnam’s, our common literary resort, a vely ‘castle of a
man and apparently destined to outlive me, I being several years
his senior.”
In the year 1852, the prosperity of the Times enabled
the proprietors to double its size. Mr. Raymond had so-
cured a brilliant corps of assistant editors, many of whom
were authors of books. Notably Charles F. Briggs, Wil-
liam Henry Hurlbert, Fitz James O’Brien, E. L. Godkin,
R. J. De Cordova, the well-known humorist, and Mr. Ed-
ward Seymour ; the latter afterwards became a partner of
Scribner, Armstrong & Co., and died in the year 1877,
much regretted by all who knew his worth and ability.
In the year 1854, Mr. Raymond was elected Lieutenant
Governor of New York. He made an excellent record as a
presiding officer, and the following year, after having
declined the nomination of governorship, resumed his
duties on the Times, as editor-in-chief.
The Republican party, as is well known, was organized
at Pittsburgh, February, 1856. Mr. Raymond was one of
the most active leaders in its formation, and drew up the
HEN RY J. RAY MOND. 355
address to the people which became the corner-stone of the
great party which grew into power four years later, and
which has controlled the country ever since.
In the year 1860, after the election of Abraham Lin-
coln, when the Southern States began to drift rapidly into
secession, William L. Yancey, of Alabama, the most bril-
liant, eloquent and daring of all the leaders in that event-
ful movement, challenged Mr. Raymond to a discussion on
the bearings of slavery. Mr. Raymond accepted the chal-
lenge, and his series of letters to Mr. Yancey, beginning
November 23, 1860, were considered the ablest presentation
of the great questions of disunion and slavery that had ever
been made. In one of the letters Mr. Raymond made the
following statement :
“I received a private letter not many days ago from an intelli-
gent, upright, fair-minded and influential gentleman, holding high
public station in the State of Mississippi, in which he closed some
remarks on the election by saying :-‘And when I say that I
would regard death by a stroke of lightning to Mr. Lincoln as
just punishment from an offended Deity for his infamous and un-
patriotic avowals, especially those made on a presentation of a
pitcher by some free negroes to Gov. Chase, of Ohio, you may
judge how less just and temperate men feel.” Now I have it on
authority which you would not question, that ‘Mr. Lincoln
never saw Gov. Chase in his life : that he never attended a meet-
ing of negroes, free or slave, in his life ; and that he never saw a
pitcher presented by anybody to anybody.” But the statement
was published originally, so far as I know, in the New York
Herald, and circulated throughout the South. No denial or cor-
rection was allowed to follow it.”
Mr. Raymond was in the habit of recording in a jour-
nal for nearly thirty years, conversations with eminent men
and interesting incidents, among others the following are
of public interest.
“January, 1863–On Thursday, the 15th, I received at dinner
a telegram from Colonel James B. Swain at Washington, ‘Your
brother's corpse is at Belle Plaine. Come immediately.” Know-
356 HENRY J. RAY MOND.
ing that my brother had been sick I made no doubt of the truth
of the message, and at seven the next morning started for Wash-
ington. I arrived in the evening, and failing to see Colonel Swain,
started the next day at eight for Belle Plaine. It was a very cold
day, the boat was crowded with convalescent soldiers from the
hospitals at Washington, and everything conspired with the mel-
ancholy mature of my errand, to make the journey one of discom-
fort. One of my compagnons de voyage, Dr. Dean of Albany, had
entered upon the business of embalming the dead of the army. I
made all necessary inquiries and a rangements regarding my
brother, landed at Belle Plaine and made fruitless inquiries for
his body. I finally walked to the headquarters of General Wads-
worth, in whose division was the brigade to which my brother's
regiment belonged. He received me with great kindness and got
some dinner for me while he sent one of his aids, Colonel Cress,
to make inquiries into the circumstances of my brother's death.
While seated at dinner the aid returned and my brother with him
I had the pleasure of his company during the remainder of my
dinner. As he knew nothing of my errand I puzzled him a good
deal by telling him that his appetite was much better than I
expected to find it, etc. I finally told him the message which had
brought me down. He was a good deal taken aback, but said he
would forgive the blunder, inasmuch as he had secured a visit
from me. It turned out afterwards that Colonel Swain had sent a
message that my brother's corps was at Belle Plaine, and he wished
me to come immediately as he was about to send a boat directly to
that place.”
Mr. Raymond in his journal says he first visited Wash-
ington in 1847, and while there he met Daniel Webster
and in conversation with him said :
“I ventured to express a hope that he would give the world a
philosophical history of Washington's administration, upon which
I had been told he had been engaged, because I thought it would
be desirable for his own fame, and would moreover set up a land-
mark for future ages. Mr. Webster said in reply that he had
contemplated such a work; he had marked out its plan; resolved
to make three volumes of it, divided it into chapters; written a
portion, and made a very copious collection of materials for the
whole work. He stated quite in detail the outline of his plan,
FIENRY J. RA YMOND. 357
saying that he desired neither to make it a mere narration like
Hume, nor a mere biography like Rapin, but to combine the two
and make the whole as vivid and graphic as possible. The per-
sons Washington had grouped around him in council seemed to
command his special admiration, and he expressed a great desire
to paint the scenes presented by their councils with more warmth
than belonged, in his opinion, to Washington's temperament.”
In 1861, Mr. Raymond was elected member of Congress
from the City of New York, where his great ability as a
debater and leader was very soon recognized.
In the same year, at the Republican National Conven-
tion at Baltimore, it was mainly through his efforts as
Chairman of the New York delegation, that Andrew John-
son was nominated for the Vice-Presidency, an action on his
part which he afterwards deeply regretted in consequence
of the subsequent official career of President Johnson.
Early in the year of 1864, Mr. Raymond said to me ore
day that he had prepared a history of the administration
of President Lincoln, which he would like to have pub-
lished. Of course I was glad to become his publisher, and
the book was issued in the spring of that year. The volume
had a moderate sale but proved in the end to be a fortunate
undertaking for the publishers, for at that time I had tem-
porarily resumed business with my former Auburn partner,
Norman C. Miller. In April, the following year, the
excitement produced by the assassination of President
Lincoln, created among the people a lively desire to read
everything accessible concerning that remarkable man.
I called on Mr. Raymond and suggested his revising and
enlarging the volume already published to date. After
some hesitancy, on account of the engrossing cares devolv-
ing upon him, he finally accepted the proposition made
him, relying upon two trained assistants then engaged in
the editorial department of the Times, to aid him in pre-
paring the work. As there were many other announce-
ments and publications of the life of Lincoln, it was neces-
sary to lose no time in the preparation of the proposed
358 FIEN RY J. RAY MOND.
volume. It was written and published in about ninety days
after Mr. Lincoln’s death, and although an octavo volume
the lowest price of which was three dollars, about 65,000
copies were sold in six months. The following explanatory
preface by Mr. Raymond introduced the work :
“During the presidential canvass of 1864, the author of this
work prepared for its publishers a volume upon the administration
of President Lincoln. Its main object was to afford the American
people the materials for forming an intelligent judgment as to the
wisdom of continuing Mr. Lincoln for four years more, in the
presidental office.
“This canvass resulted in his re-election, but he had scarcely
entered upon the duties and responsibilities of his second term,
when his career was closed by assassination. He had lived long
enough, however, to finish the great work which had devolved
upon him. Before his eyes were closed they beheld the overthrow
of the rebellion, the extirpation of slavery, and the restoration,
over all the land, of the authority of the Constitution of the
United States. -
“Not the people of his own country alone, but all the world,
will study with interest the life and public acts of one whose work
was at once so great and so successful. The principles which
guided his conduct and the policy by which he sought to carry
them out—the temper and character which were the secret sources
of his strength—will be sought and found in the acts and words
of his public life. For more truly, perhaps, than any other man
of his own, or of any other time, Mr. Lincoln had but one charac-
ter and one mode of action in public and private affairs. It is the
purpose of this work, so far as possible, to facilitate this inquiry.
Every public speech, message, letter or document of any sort from
his pen, so far as accessible, will be found and included in its
pages. These documents, with the narrative by which they are
accompanied, may, it is hoped, aid the public in understanding
aright the character and conduct of the most illustrious actor in the
most important era in American History.”
After Mr. Raymond’s term of office expired as a represen-
tative of Congress he again returned to his more congenial
duties on the New York Times. He had had enough of
III.N.RY J. RAY MONID. 359
politics, he said, and intended thereafter to devote himself
cmtirely to journalism, which was more to his taste.
On April 18, 1865, Charles Dickens was given a farewell
dinner at Delmonico's by the “New York Press Club.”
It was a very distinguished gathering, at which Horace
Greeley presided. Mr. Raymond made one of his brilliant
speeches, from which the following is a brief extract:
“The most pleasant of my recollections in connection with the
Press of New York is that in that form or organization it has been
our good fortune at various times to greet as guests, and to entertain
with whatever hospitality we were able to extend to them, gentle-
men of distinction and position who did us the honor to visit us
from countries of Europe. I remember almost the first of those
occasions, when that truly great man, then recently expelled
from the office of Governor of Hungary, Kossuth, the exile, came
to this country, charmed so many of our people by the sea-shore
and in the depths of densest wilderness of the West, and in great
cities and everywhere he went, by the silver voice in which he
uttered such sweet words in behalf of liberty and freedom, and by
that sad, solemn eye with which, as our eloquent orator, Rufus
Choate, had said: ' He seemed constantly to be beholding the sad
procession of unnamed demigods who had died for their native
land.” He was one of the most honored guests of the New York
Press. Then came to us and honored us by his presence, as he has
honored England and the world by his services, that great states-
man your people, sir (turning to Mr. Dickens), now honor as the
honor few among their dead or living, Richard Cobden. Then, too,
came to us and greeted us with the right hand of brotherhood,
your great brother in literature, William M. Thackeray. And I
may say that of the many things that touched the hearts of our
people, none touched them more nearly or struck home more
closely than the feeling and eloquent words of the heart in which
he spoke to us of his brother in letters, Charles Dickens.”
In the summer of 1867 he made his arrangements for a
trip to Europe. A farewell dinner was given him at the
“Athenæum Club,” by his fellow-journalists. Mr. Charles
A. Dana presided, and spoke in eloquent terms of the ser-
vices Mr. Raymond had rendered the country. He referred
360 HENRY J. RAY MOND
to his first introduction by Mr. Greeley to Mr. Raymond,
twenty years previous, in a dusty attic in Ann-Street, which
was then the editorial room. Mr. Dana said that he remem-
bered a long talk they had at their first meeting, when they
plunged into German philosophy and metaphysics, subjects
with which they were both familiar. Mr. Robert B. Roose-
velt, so well known in the political and piscatory world,
sang on that occasion to the tune of “Jeannette and Jean-
not ” an impromptu parting song, written by the late
Charles G. Halpine, so well-known as “Miles O’Reilly.”
The song opens as follows:–
“TO RAYMOND ON HIS TRAVELS.
(Air : Jeannette and Jeannot.)
“Oh, your boat is at the pier,
And your passage has been paid,
But before you go, my dearest dear
Accept this serenade
For with friendliness we burn,
And rejoicing come the rhymes,
To toast the health and safe return
Of him who rules the Times, –
To toast the health and safe return
Of him who rules the Times.”
£1. * sk :}; >k >k Sk 2.
After Halpine had finished writing the song and the
toasts had been drank, Mr. George Jones asked him if he
had got it all down. The former quickly replied, “yes,
and m0re too.”
Mr. Beecher sent the following characteristic letter :-
“Peekskill, Thursday, July 11, 1867.
“HoN. CHARLEs A. DANA,
“DEAR SIR:—
“It would give me pleasure, if I were in town, to accept
your invitation to a dinner in honor of Mr. Raymond, before his
departure to Europe. His services to the country during the
great struggle which has hanged the history of this nation were
HEN RY J. RAY MONID. 361
such as to entitle him to the gratitude of every patriot. I shall
not forget the dark periods of that struggle, and I know who they
were who animated the courage of our citizens, who, without
wavering, maintained hope of a favorable result and labored intel-
ligently and bravely for it. ſº & * g
“I desile to express to Mr. Raymond my gratitude for his
firmness, Sagacity and undeviating courage through these trying
periods. Courage is easy now. The whole world is at our back.
Then, the world was against us ; defeats lowered and victories
lingered. Courage then was worth arms and armed men, to it
cause which was to triumph only through much tribulation. I beg
you to convey to Mr. Raymond the expression of my esteem and
my best wishes for his prosperous voyage and speedy return.
“I am truly yours,
‘‘ HENRY WARD BEECHER.”
Mr. Raymond passed the afternoon previous to his death
in Greenwood making arrangements for the re-interment
of his son Walter’s remains, and called at the office of the
Times about six o'clock in the evening. Passing a few
minutes in conversation on matters pertaining to the busi-
ness of the paper, he returned home. After dinner he sat
with his family and some friends until between nine and
ten o’clock, when he left them to attend a political con-
Sultation, and his family saw no more of him until he was
discovered about two o'clock next morning lying in a hall-
way unconscious and apparently dying. He had locked the
outside door and shut the inner one, and was then appar-
ently stricken with the malady that closed his life. The
most eminent medical aid was at once summoned, and the
utmost that science or skill could do was done in vain. He
remained unconscious, and died tranquilly about five o’clock
in the morning. It will not be altogether without interest
in the closing of a painful story to say that the grandfather
and grandmother of Mr. Raymond on his mother's side, as
well as one of his uncles, all died of apoplexy.
The next morning, June 19th, the Times appeared in
full mourning. Suddenly it had lost its founder. His
unexpected death caused, as well it might, a profound sen-
362 PHEN RY J. RAY MOND.
sation. The public were not prepared for such a startling
event which was dwelt upon by the press throughout the
United States, as a national loss to journalism.
His funeral took place June 21st, at the University
Place Presbyterian Church, and was attended by an im-
mense assemblage of neighbors—and friends. Among the
pall-bearers were Thurlow Weed and Horace Greeley. A
long and eloquent funeral address was delivered by the
greatest preacher then living, as he is, in my opinion, the
greatest preacher now living. The following is a brief
extract of Mr. Beecher's eloquent tribute to his deceased
friend :
“There is no power for good that can compare with the Daily
Press; no pulpit like it for disseminating knowledge among men.
And among those who have been the builders of the great moral
agency, this great agency of civilization—not the founders, but
the finishers of the institution—stood Mr. Raymond pre-eminent.
Aside from the general ability with which he conducted the Press,
it is gratifying to remark here how singularly free his whole public
career has ever been from bitterness; how nobly and persistently
he refused to lend his paper to passionate discussions; how he
never lent himself to passionate invective, and never permitted his
paper to be the medium in this respect for others; how sagacious
reasoning and a high moral strength breathed in his words; and
now that he has departed from among us it is gratifying to look
back on his career, and to say that the work he was engaged in, of
giving a higher, a nobler, and a purer moral sentiment to the
Press, covers a multitude of imperfections. This was the work he
was engaged in ; this is the work he did. I have it in my heart to
say here that instability of character in his conduct of the Press
was charged against him. I have heard it said that he was weak,
and never believed in the principles or things he advocated; but I
recall a time when the nation shivered like an aspen leaf; I recall
a time when a man was worth an army—those days when what was
needed most was open, manly, patriotic courage. And you and I
should never forget to be grateful for the example be set to those
brave men who at once pressed to the front through his appeals.
He let his voice ring out clear, and without variability, and withºut
weakness or changing to the very end, and the great conflict for
GEORGE JONES. 363
national life was brought to a successful, a glorious and blessed
termination. If this be instability and variability, oh, that there
had been more such men among us. The services he rendered the
country then should enshrine his memory in our hearts and make
his name dear to us all.” -
The following appeared at the time in the New York
Evangelist written by Rev. H. M. Field, D.D., its well
known editor and a valued friend of Mr. Raymond:
“I spent an hour with Mr. Raymond at his home when the
conversation ran on topics of business to other themes. He had
lately had repeated domestic sorrow, but a few months before he
had stood at the bedside of a dying father, and only a few weeks
before in the very house where we sat a son to whom he was greatly
attached had given up his young soul to God. Such events could
not but produce a deep impression on a thoughtful mind. He
told me he had been reading with interest that little book which
had made so much stir in certain quarters, ‘Gates Ajar.” He
thought our ideas of future life were too shadowy and dim; and he
seemed to be groping after something more definite and real in his
conception of the invisible world. Little did he think he was soon
to enter it, to pass within the veil and to know the great mystery.
What a solace to think of reunion beyond the grave, which can
make the dead forget all the bitterness of past separation.”
GEORGE JONES.
George Jones assumes control of the Times— When $100,000
would have been cheap—Edwin B. Morgan his chief as-
sociate — Breaks up the Tammany Ring — Tweed
wanted to buy the Times—Not for sale at any price—
The Tribute Book—Hudson’s Splendid Tribute to Jones.
AFTER Mr. Raymond's death, his surviving partner
and the principal owner of the Times assumed its entire
control, not only as a publisher, but the sole Supervision of
its editorial columns.
364 GEOIRGE JONES.
For eighteen years, Mr. George Jones had acted with
Mr. Raymond as a unit in the management of that paper.
In all those years there never was an unkind word uttered
by either of them; they had always acted as they had in-
tended to from the start, in perfect harmony.
There was one important occasion on which they differed,
and that was Mr. Raymond’s advocacy of President John-
son’s administration in his reconconstruction policy which
later on was repudiated by Mr. Raymond himself. Mr.
Jones says that he once told Mr. Raymond that he would
rather have given $100,000 than to have had the Times
thus committed. Mr. Raymond, placing his hand on Mr.
Jones' shoulder said in reply, “and that would have been
cheap at that.”
The policies and plans of Mr. Raymond were faithfully
carried out by his friend and late partner. One of his
wishes which he made known to Mr. Jones shortly before his
death, was, that a voluntary advance in salary for some of
the faithful co-workers of the Times should be made for the
excellent work they were doing, that they might thus share
in the general prosperity of the paper. It is hardly neces-
sary to say that Mr. Raymond’s wishes were carried out.
Mr. Jones as we all know has proved to be a sagacious and
astute manager of a great paper. He is to-day, as he was
immediately after Mr. Raymond’s death, the responsible
head of the paper, uninfluenced by partisanship or party
spoils, conservative, yet liberal and progressive.
Mr. Jones’ first great achievement after he assumed the
control of the paper was the exposure of the great Tammany
Ring, 1870–71. Tweed and his fellow county officials had
been robbing the city for years of millions of dollars. It
was Mr. Jones’ long head that laid bare the robbery. A
complete revolution took place in the City and County de-
partments. The thieves were swept from power, becoming
fugitives from justice, and inmates of prisons. A vain
effort was made, not to purchase the silence of the Times,
GEORGE JONES. 365
but the paper itself, for which an enormous sum was offered
by Tweed and his adherents.
The following indignant card was published by Mr.
Jones in the Times of March 28th :
“Believing that the course which the Times is pursuing is
that which the interests of the great body of the public demand,
and that it would be a base betrayal of the public to turn aside
from that course until an honest government and an incorruptible
judiciary are restored to the community, no money that could be
offered should induce me to dispose of a single share of my prop-
erty to the Tammany faction, or to any man associated with it, or
indeed to any person or party whatever, until this struggle is
fought out. I have the same confidence in the integrity and film-
ness of my fellow-proprietors, and believe that they will decline to
sell their honor to a corrupt clique at the instigation of ‘Repub-
licans’ who are as unprincipled as their employers. Rather than
prove false to the public in the present crisis I would, if necessity
by any possibility arose, immediately start another journal to
denounce those frauds upon the people, which are so great a
scandal to the city, and I should carry with me in this renewal of
our present labors the colleagues who have already stood by me
through a long and arduous contest. Even if the Times could be
silenced by some fresh abuse of judicial authority, as I believe it
cannot be, it would not cause a week's cessation of the exposures
of the frauds, which we are now making, committed by the
“Ring.” I have, from the first number of the Times, taken too
active a part in its management, and feel far too deep a solicitude
for its good name, to dishonor it by making it the advocate of
mendacity and corruption. I pledge myself to persevere in the
present contest under all and any circumstances that may arise,
through good report and evil report, in suecess or failure, and
even though the ‘Ring’ and its friends offered me for my inter-
est in the property as many million dollars as they annually
plunder from the city funds, it would not change my purpose.
This determination is, I have every reason to believe, fully shared
by my co-proprietors, and by the staff who act with me in the
paper. GEORGE Jon Es.”
It was clear from this that although Mr. Jones deter-
mined not to abate one jot or title of the exposures he had
366 GEORGE JONES.
commenced of the corruptions of the Tammany leaders,
yet he was not certain of always having control of the
Times so as to be ready to expose their robberies.
But this point was settled on the 19th of July, 1871,
and was thus announced :
“The shares in the New York Times attached to the Raymond
estate, representing about one-third of the property, were yester-
day purchased by Mr. E. B. Morgan, of Aurora, Cayuga county.
Mr. Morgan was an original stockholder, and has been for some
time past one of the managing partners of the paper in conjunction
with Mr. George Jones, another of the original proprietors. These
two gentlemen now hold eighty-two out of the hundred shares of
stock in their own funds. It has been repeatedly asserted that
the Raymond shares were likely to fall into the possession of the
New York “Ring,” and it is in order to assure our friends of the
groundlessness of all such statements, that we make known the
actual facts. The price paid in ready money for the shares in
question was $375,000. Down to the time of Mr. Raymond's
death, the shares liad never sold for more than $6,000 each. Mr.
Morgan has now paid upward of $11,000 each for thirty-four of
them, and this transaction is the most conclusive answer which
could be given to the absurd rumors sometimes circulated to the
effect that the course taken by the New York Times toward the
Tammany leaders had depreciated the value of the property. The
public may feel assured that the Times will not swerve from the
policy which it has long pursued, but it will hereafter be more
persistent than ever in its efforts to bring about those political
reforms which the people require and expect.”
The late Frederick Hudson—long the managing editor
of the New York Herald, in his History of Journalism,
in commenting upon the preceding extraordinary events,
says:
“The Times thus placed entirely under the control of two gen-
tlemen of decided character and energy, the war against the
‘Tammany Ring' was carried on with the utmost vigor, and the
end was the utter annihilation of the immense power the leaders
of the ‘Ring’ had acquired in the metropolis. The particulars
of this extraordinary affair are too fresh in the public mind to
GEORGE JONES. 367
need repeating here. There has been nothing equal to the result
thus obtained in the history of journalism. The developments of
the stupendous corruption in the city government made by the
Times aroused the indig nation of the people through the length
and breadth of the land. The gigantic increase of the city debt,
the enormous wealth acquired in two or three years by a few men
in office: the way the State Legislature was influenced, corrupted
aud controlled, were fully exposed in the Times. It was boldly
and fearlessly done by that paper, and Messrs. Jones and Morgan
deserve well of their country.”
In 1865, Mr. Jones furnished the capital to my firm,
then Derby & Miller, for the publication of “The Tribute
Book,” a sumptuous memorial volume, containing a record
of every form of contributions made by individuals in aid of
suppression of the rebellion. It contained an account of all
that was done by sanitary societies, by benevolent commis-
sions, by women, by children ; of the Sunday-schools that
scraped lint, of the ladies who served in hospitals, of the
committees who fed marching regiments, of the quilting bees
who made havelocks, of the millionaires who gave steam-
ers, of the immense work, in short, done outside of the
wgovernment, work done in most countries, when it is done
at all, by the government itself. The book was illustrated,
printed and bound in the most expensive manner, forming
one large royal octavo volume. It was undertaken, as he
Said, not to make money, but to aid in putting a very re-
markable record in an enduring form. This was his Tri-
bute to the people.
XX,
(HEWALIER WIKOFF.
Thurlow Weed's Letter about Wikoff—The Latter's Court-
ship of Jane Gamble—Becomes a Roving Diplomatist—
Meets Many Celebrities—James Gordon Bennett
Startles Him—Brings Fanny Ellsler to America—
Charles Summer and Fanny Ellsler—Intimate Friend
of Wapoleon–Chevalier Wikoff finds his Publisher—
The Consequences of his Courtship—Imprisoned for
Abduction—Reminiscences of an Idler—Dies at
Brighton.
IN the year 1852, the late Thurlow Weed, then in Europe,
was writing some interesting letters for the Albany
Journal. They attracted a good deal of attention, as they
were all more or less full of interest, none more so than
the one dated Genoa, January 27th, of that year, of which
the following is an extract :
“This being the scene of Mr. Henry Wikoff's attempt to en-
force his marriage with a lady of large fortune, and the place of
his imprisonment, I took occasion to inquire into the facts.
“They strike me as quite curious, so much so indeed as to be
worth repeating, especially as the parties are of our own country.
The history altogether is full of romance (the romance of truth),
but I shall give only a simple narrative :
“‘Chevalier Wikoff,” as he is called, is a Philadelphian, well
educated, with a fine person and attractive manners, who has been
figuring in politics and literature, fashion and frolic for nearly
thirty years, and is pretty well known in Europe and America.
He accompanied Fanny Ellsler to America as her friend and
[368]
CHEVALIER WIKOFF. 369
manager. He was, and some say is, wealthy, but extremely penur-
ious. He sent for the American consul after his arrest and
demanded to be exempted from ordinary process of the law on
the ground that he was employed by Lord Palmerston to promote,
by correspondence, &c., friendly relations between England and
America. But the Sardinian authorities would not listen to this
demand and he was finally induced to employ counsel. He was
committed to prison for a criminal offense, but an effort is making
with a probability of success to get his case on to the civil calen-
dar. This would greatly mitigate his punishment.
“The lady is Miss Jane Gamble, a daughter of John Gamble,
Esq., and a niece of Col. Gamble, of Philadelphia. She came when
a child to England, where she was adopted and educated by her
uncle Mr. Dunlop, a gentleman of fortune. In person she is
small and delicate ; in mind and manners cultivated and accom-
plished ; in conversation spirited and attractive ; in temperament
excitable, but confiding and affectionate. How, it may be asked,
do you know all this 2 It is the result of observation during an
interview of four hours to-day, when Miss Gamble with the ut-
most frankness gave me a free revelation of the origin, progress
and results of her acquaintance with the ‘Chevalier.” And as the
whole matter is in a few days to become judicially public I have
her permission to give the facts to such as feel an interest in them.”
This letter was widely copied in the newspapers through-
out the United States. I was prepared then when Mr.
Wikoff brought me the manuscript of a book entitled, “My
Courtship and its Consequences,” to readily accept the
same for publication. The career of this celebrated “row-
ing diplomatist,” as he was frequently called, had been
extraordinary. He was literally a man of the world. It
was interesting to listen to his reminiscences as related by
himself.
Henry Wikoff was born in Philadelpia, and at an early
age was taken by his father, a prominent citizen of that
city, to Princeton, to prepare for college under the direc-
tion of the Rev. Robert Baird, D. D., whom many of my
readers will remember as a well known Presbyterian clergy-
man, and author of a volume “Religion in America.”
370 CHEVALIER WIKOFF.
In due time young Wikoff entered Yale College, where
he formed a life-long acquaintance with the late John Van
Buren, also with N. P. Willis, whom he describes as hav-
ing at that time “a reputation of rare poetical talent,
although his tone and bearing were aristocratic not unmix-
ed with hauteur.” Young Wikoff was privately dismissed
from Yale in consequence of some irregularities, and after
trying in vain to enter Harvard he found favor with the
celebrated President Nott, of Union College, where he was
graduated in 1831. Soon after this he commenced the
study of law, which proved to be anything but agreeable
to his tastes, as he much preferred to read fiction.
In his Reminiscences, he says :
“‘In the way of general reading at this time I used to
devour Bulwer’s novels; his Pelham enchanted me. I felt a
new master of fiction had appeared, and with a special merit
of his own. It was the vein of Philosophy pervading his writ-
ings which attracted me, and aroused a habit of reflection
vastly beneficial. I believe I derived more instruction in this
way from Bulwer than any author I ever read. He was then little
known, but in later years he developed genius of the highest
order. In history, poetry, oratory, as well as fiction, he gave
indubitable proofs of a master mind.’”
In after years Wikoff met Lord and Lady Bulwer, and
with the latter corresponded frequently. Soon after being
admitted to the Bar he began his travels, first throughout
the United States and afterwards in Europe, where he re-
sided the larger portion of the time, principally in London
and Paris. Throughout his eventful career he met and
became intimate with some of the most distinguished of
the world-noted people. He relates the following incident
which occurred at Dresden half a century ago :
“We had just finished dinner when the card of an American
gentleman was brought in, who desired to pay us a visit. We
welcomed him cordially, and a sprightly conversation followed.
IIe was full of anecdote and piquant remark, displaying acute ob-
CHEVALIER WIKOFF. 371
servation and great independence of character. He was living in
Dresden, studying German and enjoying the gayeties of this
fascinating town. This was my first acquaintance with Samuel
Ward.”%
. The Chevalier gives some exceedingly interesting ac-
counts of his personal relations with Louis Napoleon, the
Countess of Blessington, Lady Bulwer, Count Dorsey,
Fanny Ellsler, Mr. and Mrs. George Grote, the Countess
Guiccioli, Guizot, Louis Phillippe, M. Thiers, Lamartine
and many other celebrities. One of his particular acquain-
tances was the renowned Countess Guiccioli, whom he
often met and talked with him about Lord Byron, show-
ing him some of the poet’s letters to her, among others,
the following:
‘‘DEAREST TERESA :
“You are and ever will be my first thought. But at this mo-
ment I am in a most dreadful state, not knowing which way to
decide, on the one hand fearing that I should compromise you
forever by my return to Ravenna, and on the other dreading I
may lose you, and myself too, and all that I have ever known or
tasted of happiness by never seeing you more. I pray, I implore
you, to be comforted, and to believe I cannot cease to love you but
with my life. BYRON.”
The following stanza from Lord Byron's poem “To the
River Po,” alludes to this celebrated woman :
“Her bright eyes will be imaged on thy stream.
Yes | they will meet the wave I gaze on now;
Mine cannot witness, even in a dream,
That happy wave repass me in its flow,
The wave that bears my tears return no more :
Will she return by whom that wave shall sweep 8
Both tread thy banks, both wander on thy shore—
I by thy source, she by the dark blue deep, 1 ''
* Samuel Ward, who subsequently became so celebrated in
society and literary circles, died recently in Italy.
372 CHEVALHER WIKOFF.
Mr. Wikoff gives a very amusing account of the way he
became acquainted with the late James Gordon Bennett,
with whom he was afterwards so intimately connected.
In the year 1838, the steamship “Sirius” arrived in New
York, and as this was the first ocean steamer from an
English port, the arrival produced considerable excitement.
On her return voyage Mr. Wikoff was a passenger, as was
Mr. Bennett, he says:
“I was startled to hear that Bennett was on board ; for at that
time he gave free scope to his slashing powers and satirical vein,
and every body trenbled lest it might be his turn next. I looked
anxiously round on the upper deck, where I was standing as we
steamed down the bay, and sidling up to a quiet aud inoffensive
looking man near me, said—“l)o you know the editor of the Herald
is on board 8 ' 'I believe he is,” he answered. ‘I only wish I knew
him by sight.” “What for ?’ queried the gentlemanly sort of per-
son I was talking to. “Why, that I might keep out of his way.
He will be sure to stick me in that confounded Herald of his.”
‘He doesn’t confer that favor on everybody,” said my face-
tious friend, laughing. “Egad, I would not trust him.’ “Have you
ever seen him º' I asked. ‘Very frequently,” was the reply.
‘That's lucky; do point the ogre out to me if you see him near
us ' ' I don’t see him, but you may if you look at me ; I am the
editor of the IIerald.’”
The acquaintance thus formed with Mr. Bennott lasted
until the death of the founder of the New York. Herald.
He it was who gave Mr. Wikoff the name of “Chevalier,”
which clung to him as long as he lived.
One of the remarkable episodes of Wikoff’s career was
the manner in which he introduced to the American people
the celebrated danseuse, Fanny Ellsler. Her enthusiastic
reception at the Park Theatre, in New York, in 1840, and
the way she turned the heads of theater-goers throughout
the United States, is a matter of history well remembered
by some of my readers.”
* Simultaneously with the news of the death of Chevalier Wik-
off (May, 1884), the cable brings information that Fanny Ellsler is
dying.
CHEVALIER WIKOFF. 373
Even the late Charles Sumner was among her captives,
judging from the following letter :
“4 Court St., Boston October 11, 1834.
“MY DEAR WIKOFF:
“Stern business (may I use that word in writing to you ?) pre-
vented my sending a line at Niagara, and I now scrawl away hop-
ing this will meet you on your arrival in New York with your
fair charge. I know nothing more of theatricals. Forrest is still
here, but since Mlle. Fanny's last night I have not entered the
house, and shall not again until she returns. Otis is well, but re-
fuses to be comforted ; he still thinks of Paris, and of her who
brought Paris so vividly to the minds of us all . . . . .
“In her last letter Mrs. Grote complains of Fanny's determina-
tion to prolong her stay here, says she has lost her head and that
her splendid Parisian throne is tottering to its fall. I do not be-
lieve this tº º
“What are your plans ? Do you go to Havana 3 In that case I
will introduce you to my friend Osgood the artist, whose reputa-
tion you know. He wishes to paint Mlle. Fanny, and if you can
prevail upon her to sit, you will much oblige him as well as my-
self.
“Remember me most cordially to Mademoiselle and to her
cousin: and believe me faithfully yours and theirs,
“CHARLEs SUMNER.”
The Chevalier was fond of recounting his relations
with Napoleon III., whom he greatly admired. He aided
him in his escape from the prison of Ham, when he was
only Prince Louis Napoleon. He became afterwards on
intimate terms with the ruler of France, at which time he
wrote the biography of the Emperor.
In the year 1854 a stately-looking gentleman called at
my office in Nassau Street, and after stating his name and
his errand, I became aware that the celebrated Chevalier
Wikoff was before me. It was not long before we came to
terms for the publication of “My Courtship and its Conse-
quences,” as will be apparent from the following statement,
which was incorporated in the text of the book :
374 CHEVALIER WIKOFF.
“On my arrival in New York my former coinrades of the press
were right cordial in their printed salutation, and the news no
sooner circulated that I was going to unfold the budget of my
mishaps, then I found myself the sought-for of publishers.
“I thought perchance the ticklish nature of my book might
compel me to take up with a second-class man, but such is the
hot competition now to publish anything likely to sell, that I
found no difficulty in making my choice. Whilst still undecided,
my eye tell upon a book advertisement in one of the newspapers
that was so ingeniously done that my mind was made up or the
spot.
“J. C. Derby is the publisher for me, and I inquired after his
character forthwith. He was all my fancy painted him, and liberak
besides, for he made no difficulty about the terms, and our bargain
was made in a trice. He turned me over at once to his nimble-
handed printers, who began to “set me up" at the rate of forty
pages a day in spite of all his other books on hand.”
The volume had an extraordinary sale ; advance orders
numbering many thousand copies came pouring in.
After the publication of the book, an action was
brought against me for libel by Miss Gamble’s courier
Louis for aspersions on his character in the book, damages
being laid at ten thousand dollars. It was tried before a
court and the jury found for the defendant.
Mr. Wikoff then threatened to sue Thurlow Weed, but
after some explanations such action was abandoned. Mr.
Weed wrote Mr. Wikoff, December 12th, 1854, as follows:
“Miss Gamble in her conversation with me seemed frank, un-
1eserved and sincere, and I certainly left her with a strong belief
in the truthfulness of her statements. The accusation which you
regard as most injurious to your reputation and that which you
are most anxious to repel, is the alleged attempt to use chloroform
while Miss Gamble was in your apartment at Genoa. My recollec-
tion is, that Miss Gamble informed me that after having made a
feint of applying chloroform, you threatened if driven by her re-
fusals to extremity that you would use it in earnest. You informed
ine that Miss Gamble denied having made this statement. If to
CHEVALIER WIKOFF. 375
your denial of this accusation hers is superadded, I am bound to
believe that I misunderstood her in that particular. You deny also
that you followed Miss Gamble from Turin to Genoa, having
arranged with her courier to delay her journey. This conflicts
with Miss Gamble's statement. I only know that I gave the cir-
cumstances substantially as I received them from that lady, who I
am persuaded was sincere in her belief of their truth.
“Respectfully,
Your obedient servant,
THURLOW WEED.”
To those of my readers who are not familiar with Mr.
Wikoff’s relations with Miss Gamble, the following brief
synopsis of his arrest and imprisonment will prove of
interest. In the year 1852, Henry Wikoff was arraigned
at Genoa, Italy, charged with the abduction of his
fiancée, Miss Jane C. Gamble, whom he had known for some
years previous. In 1850, he went to London, resuming a
friendship with her which on account of his long absence
abroad had to a certain degree become broken. Falling
deeply in love, he followed her wherever she went, and his
affection and suit were agreeable, it seems, as she promised
to become his wife, even naming the day for their marriage ;
but as the time approached she offered excuses without
number, for further postponement, which action vexed the
Chevalier to such an extent that he became desperate, and
determined to make her do as he wished. Being foiled so
much, he had at last availed himself of an opportunity to
induce her, with her maid and courier, to enter his apart-
ments at Genoa, where he exacted a promise in writing that
she would marry him at a certain time, which was agreed
upon, and the day named for the wedding. Their parting
after this agreement was made, was pleasant apparently,
and all things seemed well, but the following day Miss
Gamble applied to the British consul preferring a charge
of abduction against the Chevalier. Mr. Wikoff treated
the matter as a joke, and appealed to the American consul,
who offered him his sympathy and protection. However,
376 CHEVALIER WIKOFF.
after a lengthy trial he was found guilty, and was im-
prisoned for fifteen months.
Mr. Wikoff last visited this country in 1880. I was then
connected with the house of D. Appleton & Co., to whom
he submitted the manuscript of his “Reminiscences of an
Idler.” Although an entertaining work it was incomplete,
coming down only to the year 1840, and therefore the firm
declined to publish it. It was subsequently published by
Fords, Howard & Hulbert, of New York.
I saw the Chevalier frequently on this last visit, and al-
though he looked much older than when I first met him, he
was well preserved in his personal appearance. He would
never tell his age. I have learned since his death that at
the time of his last illness he was finishing another volume,
bringing down his career forty years later. Mr. Wikoff
died of paralysis at Brighton, England, on May 3d. 1884.
XXI.
(;, & C. MERRIAM & C0.
JFºrst meets Merriam forty years ago—George Merriam
surprises the author—A great undertaking— Well ad-
vertised–Get the Best— Three thousand engravings
added— Untold number of copies sold—Busy fingers of
girls, women and men—George Merriam visits negro
schools and churches—“ Do it now,” “ Done it now,”
“Do it yesterday”—A good man dies—Present members
of the firm—Splendid Summary of the Unabridged.
IT is just forty years ago since I first visited Springfield,
Massachusetts, to purchase for my Auburn book store
from G. & C. Merriam, a supply of “Chitty Pleadings,”
and other law books then published by them. It was then
I learned for the first time that they had just purchased
from J. S. & C. Adams, publishers, at Amherst, the copy-
right of Noah Webster’s Dictionary, which had been sold
them by Governor Ellsworth, a son-in-law of and executor
of Dr. Webster.
Mr. George Merriam informed me, on the occasion of
the visit referred to, something of the plans which his firm
had in view, to enlarge and improve the great work of
which they had become the sole possessors.
I heard nothing more of this enterprise until three years
later, when the public was treated to the first edition of
Webster's Unabridged Dictionary in one large quarto
volume.
The Messrs. Merriam had secured the services at the
[377]
378 G. & C. MIEIRIRIAM & CO.
outset, of Professor Chauncey A. Goodrich, of Yale Col.
lege, another son-in-law of Dr. Webster, who being
acquainted with the plans of the latter, was well equipped
for the work. He continued to edit the successive editions
up to the time of his death in 1860.
During the last quarter of a century the whole reading
world, wherever the English language is spoken, has been
familiar with the well advertised Webster’s Unabridged
Dictionary, and the familiar apothegm “Get the best.”
The publishers were willing to leave the decision to
others to say which was the best Dictionary, but they did
not fail to make it apparent which was the best, by any
lack of abundant use of printer’s ink in the way of adver-
tising the pre-eminent qualities of this great work.
A thoroughly revised and re-constructed edition, under
the supervision of President Porter, of Yale College, was
brought out in 1864, and within a few years the publishers
have greatly added to the value of the work, not only by a
supplement of nearly 5,000 new words and their definition,
words which have come into use within the past fifteen
years, but also 3,000 engravings and illustrations of the
meaning of the words ; in addition to this a biographical
dictionary of nearly 10,000 world-renowned people.
It would be an interesting item to the public if they
could know the number of copies sold of “Webster’s Un-
abridged.” It is safe to say that the magnitude of its sale
reaches far beyond that of any other book ever published
in any country in the civilized world, of the same price.
By the official action of the officers of the public schools
over 32,000 copies of “Webster’s Unabridged” have been
placed for the use of teachers and scholars.
The dictionary is manufactured at the celebrated River-
side Press, Cambridge, by H. O. Houghton & Co., whose
facilities for turning out the best of printing and binding .
are unequaled. It is a sight to behold the busy fingers of
the girls, Women and men that are employed in the manu-
facture of this book alone.
G. & C. MERRIAM & CO. 379
The editors since Professor Goodrich’s death have been
President Porter, of Yale, Dr. Webster’s son, W. G.
Webster, and other efficient scholars.
Probably the cost of producing “Webster's Un-
abridged ” is greater than that of any other book ever pub-
lished in this country—Appleton’s “American Cyclo-
padia” alone excepted.
I had met Mr. George Merriam occasionally since the
time of my first acquaintance with him, and always found
him the same modest, practical, unassuming man.
The last time that I saw him was at Aiken, S. C., where
he and the late Catherine Beecher were studying a plan to
ameliorate and improve the condition of the colored people,
who had so recently emerged from bondage into freedom,
by education and other means. While there we attended
the negro churches and some negro schools, the buildings
were of logs, erected by carpenters of their own race. Mr.
Merriam was much interested in the simple but excitable
worshippers; and specially in their hymns—many of which
were improvised as they sang. Webster’s Spelling-book
with its blue cover was eagerly studied by all sexes and
ages of the colored people.
Mr. Merriam was noted for his charity and philanthropy,
although he took good care that his left hand should not
know what his right hand did. He was very quick in all
his business methods, one of his favorite customs was to
keep a placard over his desk, reading as follows, “Do it
avow.”
A worthy Quaker once wrote, “I expect to pass through
this world but once, if therefore there be any kindness I
can show, or any good thing I can do to my fellow human
beings let me do it now ; let me not defer nor neglect it,
for I shall not pass this way again.” This motto of “Do
it now,” was a fitting supplement to “Get the best.” Both
had become so habitual in Mr. Merriam’s daily life that his
friends frequently laughingly said to him that the words ex-
pressed nothing new, that he had always “Done it now,”
380 G. & C. MERRIAM & CO.
*
and the only opportunity left for him was to make it read,
“Do it yesterday.”
Mr. Merriam died on the 2nd of June, 1880, in the 78th
year of his age, greatly mourned by the citizens of Spring-
field, of every rank and all ages, by his neighbors and
friends, and everywhere, with sincere regret by those who
knew the man. Surely there could have been no purer,
more upright or useful life, than that which closed when
George Merriam died.
His surviving brothers Charles and Homer (the latter
with whom I had pleasant business relations many years
ago, when he was a bookseller in Troy, N. Y., under the
firm of Merriam, Moore & Co.), associated with themselves
in March, 1882, as partners, Orlando M. Baker and H.
Curtis Rowley, two gentlemen who had for years been con-
nected with the business.
The style of the new firm which has been known half a
century as G. & C. Merriam, became G. & C. Merriam &
Co. Mr. Baker and Mr. Rowley are both well-known to
the leading booksellers throughout the country by their
intelligent and gentlemanly business methods. They are a
most valuable acquisition to the house in the management
of the giant interests which one book entails.
The following summary of Webster’s Unabridged from
a leading Southern journalist well expresses the views of
the general public.
“The derivations and synonyms, the rules for and treatises
upon orthography, etymology and orthoepy, afford boundless
facilities for self-instruction, and the youth who is denied scholas-
tic tuition may pursue his studies alone. Through it he has a
comprehensive insight into the science of our language and in it a
lexicon of all that appertains to other sciences. Three thousand
pictorial engravings supplement worded definitions of terms.
Several hundred quotations of words and phrases from the Greek,
Latin, and modern foreign languages, popular in English com-
position, with their translations into English, form a part of an
appendage to the body of the work. Illustrative quotations from
G. & C. MERRIAM & CO. 3S1
philosopher and poet lend a literary charm to almost every page.
It is an intellectual store-house filled with the artistic, scientific,
historic, and legendary lore of every age and country, convenient
in arrangement, and terse in condensation. It represents a cen-
tury of research, careful thought, and painstaking compilation on
the part of eminent philologists, aided by linguists, and men of
letters in every leading profession and of both English and foreign
tongue.”
The publication of Webster’s Unabridged in popular
form, and its consequent large circulation, seemed to give
a new impulse to linguistic studies, and from the time the
Merriams became the proprietors of the book, it has been
their steady aim to keep the successive editions fully up to
the times by the use of the constantly increasing facilities
for improving such a work, regarding their efforts in its
perfection, publication and success as the great and crown-
ing work of their lives, and their monument in the future,
and desiring so to sustain their own motto, that whoever
should procure a copy of Webster might “get the best.”
XXII.
J. B. LIPPINCOTT.
Early Business Experience—Buys out Grigg & Elliott—
Important Publications—Pronouncing Gazetteer of the
World–Secures Publication of Prescott's Works—
Angry War Threats of Southerners—Lippincott’s long
look ahead—Builds Spacious New Quarters—Allibone's
Dictionary of Authors—Discovers “Ouida’ to be a
Woman—“ Held in Bondage *—Prefers Thackeray's
writings to all others—Mr. Lippincott a good traveler.
OSHUA B, LIPPINCOTT, like the founders of other
large book-publishing concerns, began business in a
small way. At fourteen years of age he became a clerk in
a Philadelphia book-store, where he remained four years,
when the proprietor, having met with business embarrass-
ments, was sold out by his creditors, who bought the pro-
perty for themselves, and young Lippincott, then eighteen
years of age, was placed in charge. This business he con-
ducted until 1836, to the entire satisfaction of the owners,
when he began on his own account (with capital saved from
his earnings), under the style of J. B. Lippincott & Co.
The first publications bearing the imprint of the new
firm appeared in that year. Prayer-books and Bibles were
made their specialty—Mr. Lippincott, who possessed an
intuitive taste for the elegant bindings which afterwards
made his books so famous among booksellers, giving special
attention to the manufacturing department.
Probably the most important event in Mr. Lippincott's
[382]
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JOSHUA B. I,IPPIN COTT. 383
business career was his purchase in 1850, of the entire
stock of books and stationery of Grigg & Elliott, who were
at that time by far the largest wholesale dealers in that
line in America. This purchase was contrary to the advice
of his friends; but, as the capital which he had already
accumulated was ample for the purpose, he determined to
follow the dictates of his own judgment and make the in-
vestment, believing that the business thus acquired, com-
bined with his own, might be made the germ of a publish-
ing house that would have few rivals.
The book-publishing business in Philadelphia was at
this time at a low ebb, but the issues of Messrs. J. B.
Lippincott & Co. had for some years attracted marked
attention on account of their superior mechanical execu-
tion, and, the new organization affording Mr. Lippincott
additional facilities for the exercise of his peculiar abilities
as a publisher, that department of the business grew apace.
Several important government works were intrusted to
him for execution—notably, Schoolcraft's History of the
Indian Tribes, in six folio volumes (the cost of which was
nearly one hundred thousand dollars)—and standard works
and novels followed each other in rapid succession through
the Lippincott press. An interest in the Webster series
of Dictionaries (afterwards transferred to the Messrs.
Merriam, of Springfield) was purchased by him ; and
among his important publications of that day was his
“Pronouncing Gazetteer of the World,” which was pub-
lished at a cost of some fifty thousand dollars, and is yet
without any formidable rival.
The failure in 1857 of Messrs. Phillips, Sampson & Co.,
of Boston, who up to that time had been the publishers of
Prescott's Historical Works (in 15 volumes), threw open
to the competition of different houses an opportunity to
arrange for the future publication of those works. By the
original contract with Phillips, Sampson & Co., Mr. Pres-
cott received a copyright of fifty cents per volume, and
other Boston houses were ready to enter into a similar
384 JOSHU A. B. LIPPIN COTT.
arrangement. Furthermore, a strong local influence favored
the retention of the works in Boston, but the bid of a bonus
of five thousand dollars and a guaranteed copyright of six
thousand dollars per annum secured to Mr. Lippincott the
publication of these important works, the entire copyright
and plates of which subsequently, by actual purchase from
Mr. Prescott’s heirs, became his property. Later a new
edition, with new stereotype plates, revised by Mr. J. Foster
Kirk, Prescott's former secretary, and the author of the
“Life of Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy” (also one
of the important publications of this house), was issued by
J. B. Lippincott & Co.
An incident connected with the negotiations for the
publication of Prescott’s works is worthy of recall. It was
just prior to the breaking out of the civil War. The con-
Servative semi-neutral atmosphere of Philadelphia rendered
that city the favorite purchasing place for the merchants
of the South, whose twelve-month promissory notes were
there freely received in exchange for the products of the
North. Few had heard more of the angry war-threats of
the Southerners—both of the mercantile and of the profes-
sional classes—than had Mr. Lippincott, through whose
establishment (then the principal entrepôt for all kinds of
books used in the South) had for months been pouring
into the Southern States large quantities of the literary
matériel of war, “Tactics” for infantry and cavalry, Trea-
tises on Ordnance, &c., &c., and, in short, great numbers
of books of a warlike character. Keenly apprehensive of
the impending danger, he suggested to Mr. Prescott's execu-
tors that a condition ought to be inserted in the contract
by which that instrument should be annulled in case of a
civil war. This was considered so ridiculously improbable
by the cool-headed Bostonians that one of them at least
utterly refused to sign a contract with such a stipulation ;
but, in deference to Mr. Lippincott's wishes, they consented
to a verbal understanding that in case of war the contract
should be annulled or modified—an understanding that was
JOSHUA. B. LII?PIN COTT. 385
honorably acknowledged when that calamity broke upon
the country.
Meanwhile, the rapidly expanding business of the house
had quite outgrown the capacify of the original premises,
and in 1861 Mr. Lippincott commenced the erection of his
present spacious establishment, at Nos. 715 and 717 Market
Street, which, with its front of about fifty feet, five stories
high, expanding in the printing-office and bindery to a
frontage on Filbert Street of seventy-five feet, six stories in
height, the whole having a total depth of nearly four
hundred feet, is probably the largest book-publishing and
vending house in the world.
Mention has already been made of the issue of Ilippin-
cott’s Pronouncing Gazetteer of the World ; and it is
worthy of note that scarcely was that work published ere
the distinguished editor, Dr. Joseph Thomas, armed with
funds advanced by Mr. Lippincott, was en route for a two
years’ sojourn in Oriental countries, the object being the
construction of a Biographical Dictionary that should hold
the same relation to its department of knowledge as that
held by the Gazatteer to the geography of the world. The
result of the enterprise was the issue, in due time, of Lip-
pincott's Pronouncing Dictionary of Biography and My-
thology, a ponderous royal octavo volume of over two
thousand three hundred pages.
Among the other prominent works that may be found
on the extensive catalogue of J. B. Lippincott & Co’s
publications, are Allibone’s Dictionary of English Literature
and British and American Authors, in three closely-printed
octavo volumes, which aims to furnish the reader with in-
formation concerning all writers of books in the English
language, with a critical account of their works ; a treatise
on “The Principles and Practice of Surgery,” in three
large volumes, by D. Hayes Agnew, M.D., one of the most
celebrated surgeons of America; “Chambers’ Encyclo-
paedia,” in ten volumes, aptly termed in its sub-title “A
Dictionary of Universal Knowledge for the People;” the
3S6 JOSHIUA B, LIPIPIN COTT.
“ United States Dispensatory” (now in its fifteenth edition),
of which more than one hundred thousand copies have been
sold ; a fine edition of Bulwer’s Novels, in forty-seven
volumes; the complete series of Worcester’s Dictionaries,
long and favorably known to the scholars of the country,
and of late rapidly growing into popularity ; an edition of
Scott's Waverley Novels; the romances of Miss de la Ramé,
better known by her non de plume of “Ouida,” etc., etc.
The manner of the introduction of the last-named author
to the American public is not without interest. Some time
prior to or early in the war, when relations between the
business houses of England and America were much less
intimate than at present, Mr. Lippincott happened to meet
in an English magazine a serial story bearing the mom de
plume of “Ouida.” This immediately attracted his atten-
tion, and a perusal of such portions of the story as were
accessible convinced him that the author possessed more
than ordinary abilities as a writer, and he decided to an-
nounce it for republication for the American market. This
was in the good old days when there existed a certain
courtesy in the trade by which a simple announcement by
one publisher of his intention to reissue a foreign work in
this country was recognized as conferring a trade-right to
that work, which other publishers were in honor bound to
respect. A business question, however, arose in making
the aunouncement. In the magazine the story bore the title
“Held in Bondage; or, Granville de Vigne ;” and it oc-
curred to Mr. Lippincott that any work popularly known
under the title “Held in Bondage’’ would immediately be
classed as but another of the many works on American
slavery with which the public were then being surfeited.
Still, some respect must be had for the presumed preference
of the unknown author for the name already adopted, and,
furthermore, the announcement must be so far identified
with the story as to prevent other houses from undertaking
a rival edition. This was accomplished by reversing the
order of the different parts of the title, an arrangement
JOSHUA. B. LIPPIN COTT. 387
which was afterwards sanctioned by the author, and the
story appeared from the Lippincott press as “Granville de
Vigne; or, Held in Bondage.” Prior to that time the
author had been known—when known at all—only as a
writer for magazines, none of her stories having been pub-
lished in book form, and when Mr. Tippincott's announce-
ment came to her knowledge, she addressed him a letter
expressing her surprise and gratification thereat. Nothing,
however, in the characteristics of her communication—
either the literary style or its penmanship—revealed the
sex of the writer; and Mr. Lippincott, in common, as it
afterwards appeared, with all admirers of Ouida’s writings,
classed her among the sterner sex. A pleasant correspond-
ence, therefore, ensued between the firm and ‘‘ L. de la
Ramé, Esq.,” (!) and it was not until Mr. Lippincott's sub-
sequent visit to Europe that he was informed, and by the
publishers of the magazine to which she was a contributor,
that his correspondent was a lady.
Prior to the civil war the business of J. B. Lippincott
& Co. lay mostly south of “Mason and Dixon's line;”
their sales were made upon long credits, and consequently
the breaking out of hostilities in 1861 rendered debts due
the firm amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars
entirely uncollectible. Fortunately, taught by the experi-
ences of 1857, when many of the strongest houses of the
country suffered a financial collapse, Mr. Lippincott had
in the interim been accustomed to make his purchases for
cash, and the crisis incident to the inaugration of the war
found him fully prepared to meet all its attendant exigen-
cies. Adapting with wonderful alacrity the business of
the house to the new condition of things, the firm then
entered upon a career of prosperity that has had few par-
allels in the book-trade, and a brief period more than
sufficed to replace the losses from in the seceded States.
Especially were established at about that time those
close business relations with foreign publishers that have
since resulted in supplying the American market with edi-
3S8 JOSHU A. B. LIPPIN COTT.
tions of the better class of English books, among which
may be cited the elegant issue of Dickens’ Works, in thirty
volumes, and the no less elegant edition of Thackeray's
Works, in twenty-two volumes, of which latter the value
of nearly one hundred thousand dollars has been served to
the American public from this house. “Of all modern
novelists of note,” says Mr. Lippincott, “I prefer the writ-
ings of Mr. Thackeray, and in my judgment his works
will live long after those of any of his contemporaries.”
Several visits have from time to time been made by Mr.
Lippincott to England and the Continent of Europe, one
of which extended to St. Petersburg, Moscow, and Con-
stantinople, another to Egypt and the Holy Land, and a
third to the Spanish Peninsula, etc. To his intimate
friends it is known that the same tireless activity that
characterizes his business career, marks his tours of obser-
vation ; and he is credited with a capacity for traveling
farther and seeing more, in a given time, than falls within
the power of many.
Early in life Mr. Lippincott married Miss Josephine
Craige, an accomplished lady of Philadelphia ; and three
sons, all connected with him in business, and a daughter, the
wife of Mr. J. J. Goodwin, of New York, constitute, with their
children, the descendants of the Philadelphia publishen.
It is due to the subject of this sketch to add, that amid
the multiplicity of his private business cares he has found
time to bestow no inconsiderable attention upon matters of
a more or less public nature. While yet he had scarcely
arrived at middle life he was elected to the Board of Direc-
tors of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad, and subse-
quently accepted like invitations to seats in the director-
ships of the Farmers’ and Mechanics' Bank of Philadel-
phia, of the Philadelphia Saving Fund Society, and of the
Pennsylvania Company for Insurance on Lives and Grant-
ing Annuities, which positions he has held since his first
elections. He is also one of the Board of Trustees of the
University of Pennsylvania.
XXIII.
AUGUSTA J. EWANS WILSON.
A Young Southern Authoress—MS. of “Beulah” accepted
—A Fiery Young Southerner—“ Didn't I tell you so 2°
—Immense Success of “Beulah. ”— Macaria appears
in War Time—Liberality of Lippincott—“A Lady
2s waiting to see you’”—The Author agreeably sur-
prised—St. Elino— Vashti-Infelice—Nearly $100,000
Copyright—Iłappy Home in Mobile— Woman Suf-
..frage—Happy Influence of her Books.
IN the summer of 1859, a young lady of pleasant address
and marked intelligence called at my office in Nassau
Street, and said she had a book in manuscript which she
wished to submit for publication.
After she was seated, I asked her what kind of a book
she had written. She replied it was a novel, and that the
scene was laid in the South, where she resided. I asked if
this was her first effort; she said it was not, that the Har-
pers had published her first book, which was called “ Inez,
a tale of the Alamo,” written when she was in her teens and
when her father was residing in Texas. She went on to
say that the result of her first effort was not very encourag-
ing, as the sale was quite limited. But she was not dis-
couraged, however, as she was dissatisfied herself with
“Inez.” She now thought she had written a story which
the public would read, if she could find a publisher. She
volunteered the information that the book had been offered
elsewhere. She answered very frankly that she had sent the
manuscript some time previous from Mobile, to the Apple-
[389]
39() AUGUSTA. J. EVANS WILSON.
tons, and, calling on them, learned that they would advise
her of their decision as soon as they had seen their reader.
In the afternoon of the same day, the manuscript Wils
returned to her at the St. Nicholas Hotel, with a short
note declining the book. I was pleased with the candid
statements of the young author, and became much inter-
ested in her conversation. After looking over the manu-
script I said I would take it to my home and submit it to
some of the members of the family—which I did, two of
whom, at least, read it besides myself. The verdict was
unanimous as to its merit, and Derby & Jackson soon ar-
ranged for the publication of “Beulah.”
This was a quarter of a century ago, and was the be-
ginning of an eventful and prosperous literary career of
the young authoress Augusta J. Evans.
When Miss Evans called for my decision, she was accon-
panied by her cousin, Colonel John W. Jones, of Georgia,
who was the bearer of the manuscript at the first interview.
Colonel Jones was a fiery young Southerner, and told me
afterwards that although his back was turned while exam-
ining some books on the shelves, he had listened to the
conversation and began to think by my tone and manner
that I also would reject the book, and in case I did, he in-
tended to hurl one of my own publications at my head
Colonel Jones was a most estimable man, devotedly attached
to his cousin. He fell at the head of his regiment at the
sanguinary battle of Gettysburg, fighting for the cause
which both of them believed to be sacred.
Soon as the book was ready for publication, we sent
advance copies to the leading papers for review. The first
notice “Beulah " received was from a Baltimore paper,
which contained a severe and unjust condemnation of the
book. The notice was cut out of the paper and sent to me
by a member of the firm who had rejected the manuscript,
and who knew we were about to publish the book,+and
also that I had great expectations of a sale, with a note,
added : “Didn’t I tell you so?”
AUGUSTA J. EVANS WILSON. 391
(I learned afterwards that the notice referred to was
written by the reader who had recommended the rejection
of the manuscript.)
It was a curious fact that when the book began to sell
largely, the same publishing house ordered as many as one
thousand copies of “Beulah '' at one time. It may not be
out of place to say here that publishers, themselves, espec-
ially larger houses, as a rule seldom read manuscripts offered
them for publication ; time, and possibly their tastes, not
permitting them to do so. They rely greatly on their
manuscript readers, who are usually men of letters or of
literary instinct, whose opinion enables the publisher to
decide.
The notices and reviews of “Beulah,” with the excep-
tion referred to, were nearly all favorable, and especially by
reviewers who read the book and understood its teachings.
John Wood Davidson, in his “Living Writers of the
South,” gives a fair-minded view of the general critical
verdict of the merits of Beulah, as follows :
“The beroine is an intellectual woman, proud, self-reliant, am.
bitious, skeptical and suffering. False pride makes her unhappy
and keeps her so. The problem of the soul and its relations to
God through Christianity are discussed with a striking boldness.
Those problems of psychology, upon which so much is thought
and so little said by every thinking person, are handled with very
clever skill; and something of pedantry perhaps. They are left,
in the end, just where rationalism must, if ever, leave them—at the
gates of prayer. Beulah left them there ; and in the new peace
of soul becomes a better and happier woman. The book was free
from sentimentality—the sentimentality of popular novels—and
this, with the thinking, told in its favor. Beulah was a success,
and deserved to be.”
One of the earliest and most appreciative of the notices
received was from the New York Courier and Enquirer :
it was written by Mr. Spaulding, then one of the assistant
editors of that paper. He became so much interested after
reading the book, that he called personally to learn the ad-
392 A UGUSTA J. EVANS WILSON.
dress of the author, as he wished to express to her
how much the reading of “Beulah' impressed him ; that
he believed such a work was called for, and that the author
had happily shown the way from Skepticism to Chris-
tianity.
I informed him that the author in question was then a
guest at my house. He said he would like very much to
meet her and thank her in person for the benefit that he
himself had received by reading the work. Mr. Spaulding
called, with her permission, and Said to me afterwards, that
it was evident from her conversation that she knew what
she was writing about.
Their sentiments were in entire accord, and culminated
in a friendship which remained unbroken until the War
broke out. He died soon after the close of the internecine
strife. The following notice by one who knew him well
may interest my readers :
“The first editor of the New York World, which was started as
an orthodox religious paper, was Mr. Spaulding, a grave, taciturn
man, of large frame and powerful intellect. When the World fell
into financial straits and threw religion overboard, about 1863,
Mr. Spaulding took a place upon the editorial staff of the Times,
under Henry J. Iłaymond, whose first assistant I then was; and
there he showed himself to be the boldest master of political
invective ever known on the American press. A man of great soul
and honest purpose.”
Early in the year 1861 the Civil War came upon us with
all the attending troubles, temporarily suspending the pub-
lication of books of fiction. Those most in demand outside
of school-books were infantry and cavalry tactics and other
treatises on War. I heard occasionally through the lines
from the gifted young authoress, who sent me in 1863, by
a blockade-runner, via Cuba, a copy of her novel entitled
“Macaria,” published by West & Johnson, then, as now,
well-known booksellers in Richmond, Virginia. The
volume was printed on coarse brown paper, the copyright
A UGUSTA. J. EVANS WILSON. 393
entered according to the Confederate States of America, and
dedicated “to the brave soldiers of the Southern Army.”
The authoress in after years said to me, referring to its first
publication : “It is impossible for me to say what I received
for “Macaria,’ which was published by West & Johnson,
of Richmond, in 1864, and was printed by Walker, Evans
& Cogswell, of Columbia. When Richmond fell, the pub-
lishers owed me a considerable amount in Confederate
money, which of course I never received. After the war
I applied for a settlement. They stated that the books and
accounts had been destroyed, or were so confused that I could
get nothing; hence I lost what was due. Those times were so
dark and full of sorrow that I can recall none of the finan-
cial details, but I presume West & Johnson were too
badly crippled to pay in greenbacks what they owed in
Confederate money. Are you aware that ‘Macaria” was
seized and destroyed by some Federal General who
commanded in Kentucky and Tennessee, and who burned
all the copies—Confederate edition—which crossed from
rebeldom * The book was dedicated to our brave Southern
Army, and was a great favorite in camp and hospital; and
my very heart beat in its pages, coarse and brown though
the dear old Confederate paper was. Some portions of it
were scribbled in pencil while sitting up with the sick
soldiers in the hospital attached to ‘Camp Beulah? near
Mobile.”
On receipt of the copy of “Macaria,” I called upon J.
B. Lippincott, of Philadelphia, the head at that time, as he
is now, of the largest wholesale book establishment in the
country, whose house had purchased thousands of copies
of “Beulah,” and arranged for the publication of “Ma-
caria” in uniform style with the former. It was imme-
diately announced by the publishers as in press, when to the
surprise of both of us, one Michael Doolady, who had re-
ceived a copy of “Macaria through the lines, had printed
and nearly ready for publication five thousand copies of the
same work. I called upon Doolady and asked him what
17%
394 AuſGUSTA J. EVANS WILSON.
copyright he intended to pay the author. He replied
“that the author being an arch rebel was not entitled to
copyright and would receive none.” I immediately advised
Mr. Lippincott of the situation. He came on from Phila-
delphia, and called with me on Doolady, and expostulated
with him upon the injustice of publishing the book when
he had already engaged by contract to do so. It was finally
Settled by Doolady agreeing to pay a royalty to me in trust
for the author on all the copies sold, in consideration of
which Mr. Lippincott withdrew his proposed edition.
The author of “Macaria,” pending these negotiations,
was of course in blissful ignorance of what had transpired.
as no correspondence had passed between us on the sub-
ject. At last the war was over. Mobile was the last of
the cities to fall, and still I heard nothing from the
young authoress with whom I became acquainted six
years previous under the favorable circumstances already
narrated.
Late in the Summer of 1865, while sitting in my private
office, then in Spruce Street, one of the clerks came to me
and said “a lady is waiting to see you at the door.” She
was closely Veiică, and I did not readily recognize her. She
said “Mr. Derby, do you not know me * Knowing well
the familiar voice, I said, “Augusta Evans, is that you ?”
After explaining that she had just arrived by steamer
from Mobile, and expressions of mutual gratification at see-
ing each other again, I said that Mrs. Derby was very anx-
ious to see her, and she must go at once to our home in
Forty-eighth Street. She replied, that she had come on
with one of her brothers, who had been very badly wounded
and he was then sitting on the steps outside. I told her
he would find an excellent nurse in my wife. Then, notic-
ing her attire, I suggested that a new dress and a new bon-
net would not be out of place. The styles of ladies’ wear-
ing apparel having changed since we last saw each other.
She said, “Mr. Derby, my father has lost everything ;
the slaves have been freed, and all our property confiscated.
AUGUSTA J. EVANS WILSON. 39.5
I have no money with which to replenish my wardrobe.”
I then told her for the first time that she had a considera-
ble amount subject to her order, for copyright received on
“Macaria.”
And this is the story of “Macaria,” and how it came to
be published in the United States of America.
The generosity of Mr. Lippincott, whose position enabled
him to compel a copyright so reluctantly paid, was duly
appreciated by the author of “Macaria.” She once wrote:
“I have always felt profoundly grateful to Mr. Lippincott, but
fate has never indulged me in an opportunity of adequately thank-
ing him for his generous and chivalric action, in behalf of an um-
known rebel, who at that period was nursing Confederate soldiers
in a hospital established pear “Camp Beulah.’”
Although “Macaria” was written with the same vigor
and spirit as its predecessor, the painful conditions under
which it was accomplished gave it a tinge of Sorrow and
sadness, which was not found in “Beulah.”
Professor Davidson's opinion of it is graphically de-
Scribed, as follows :
“The story of Macaria is admirably told, and I claim the
privilege of thanking Miss Evans in the name of her thousands of
admirers, for one of the purest, most vigorous and striking fictions
that we have had since “No Name by Wilkie Collins. The
scene painting is in the highest style of literary art. The delinea-
tions are very fine, especially the female characters, which stand
out like classic portraits. The style is elevated—a little ambitious
to be sure—but vigorous and direct. The tone is purity itself. The
pathos is the strong point of the book.
“Throughout the book the allusious are very numerous, always
appropriate, and often very striking ; but are so frequently recon-
dite that the reader must pause a monent to recall the facts re-
ferred to. In a large number of them, the original facts are not
known to the mass of novel-readers at all, so that the whole force
of the allusion is lost until a cyclopedia can be referred to. This
is a grave fault in a book written for the general reader. Most of
the following are of this class — ‘The Arabic Alsirat;’ ‘The
396 AUGUSTA J. EVANS WILSON.
Cridavana Meadows,” “the Seraphim of the East,” “the Laba-
rum of Constantine,” “the fabled Norse Ragnarok,” “the Min-
gard Serpent,’ ‘Mystic Sangraal,’ ‘the trembling Mystãº,”
• The sad-eyed Epoptae,” “the sacred Guomides,” “the lonely
ice-girt Marjelensee,’ ‘Far-famed Circassian of Kabarda,” “Ben-
salem,” “Malbolge,’ ‘Dreary Caverns of the Agathyrsi,” “Dusty
Crypts of Luxor,’ ‘The great Lampadrome of Life,” “the Po-
tent spell of Indian O-UM or Mystic Agla.” Many readers do not
and should not be expected to know about all these things; and
whether they should or not they won’t do it.”
It is natural for critics to Smile at such unheard-of allu-
sions as the preceding, and that parodists should burlesque
the author, as the witty “John Paul’ does in his amusing
brochure of “ St. Twelmo ;” but then the author’s books
continue to sell, as her publishers, G. W. Carleton & Co.,
can testify.
INovel-readers who have not read “ Macaria * will be
staggered no doubt at the oft-repeated recondite references
in the book, and many will call her pedantic. Any one
who has had the opportunity of engaging in Conversation
with this brilliant and learned writer will bear me out in
Saying that she is anything but pedantic. She never makes
an unseemly show of learning, and it is characteristic in her
to talk away from herself. She has been and continues to
be a great student of the classics, and especially archaeology,
including Egyptian lore, and there is no word she makes
use of in her Writings but has a fitting place.
In a recent letter received from her she relates the fol-
lowing interesting incident : -
“No one knows better than yourself how the critics have
assailed me, and how I have fought for standing room, but several
times during the last twenty years, when traveling in railway
cars, it has chanced that strangers sitting in front of me have
amused themselves by discussing my books, and narrating things
which they had heard of me, and listening to all these I have
never yet heard a harsh criticism or an unkind word. Once a lady
remarked that the newspaper stated I had restricted my studies to
AUGUSTA. J. EVANS WILSON. 397
encyclopædias and dictionaries, bºt she doubted it, because there
were some things in ‘St. Elmo' and ‘Macaria” which could not
be found in any cyclopædia, and she had searched many.
“You can imagine how I enjoyed this, from the fact that at
that moment I did not own a Solitary cyclopædia, but soon after
purchased of you Appleton's—the first cyclopædia I ever owned.”
Miss Evans' next book, “ St. Elmo,” was a great
success; every novel-reader was talking about it. Towns,
steamboats, hotels were named after it, and even “ St.
|Elmo punch * became a popular beverage throughout the
South. The author dedicated “ St. Elmo " to me—an
honor which I have never ceased to appreciate.
It was soon followed by “Vashti " and then “Infelice.”
The latter was published in 1875, and is the last from her
pen; and, I regret to say, the last she expects to give to the
public, who would so gladly welcome a new book from her.
Repeated editions of each of her six volumes are steadily
called for, and the copyright already received by her on the
sales approaches one hundred thousand dollars, a pretty
good evidence that some people read her books. She has
been fortunate too, in her liberal-minded Publisher.
Not long since she wrote me :
“With reference to my present Publisher, G. W. Carleton, I
should like the world to know how noble and generous he has al-
ways been to me. . When purchasing the stereotype plates of my
earlier books, he told me that he was obliged to pay so much for
the plates of ‘Macaria” that he could only allow me a moderate
percentage on the future sales. We agreed upon the terms and
signed the contract, which specified a certain percentage on ‘Ma-
caria.” Subsequently, when ‘St. Elmo' and ‘Vashti' had been
published, I one day received a letter from Mr. Carleton, saying
that the sales of the volumes justified him in increasing the per-
centage on ‘Macaria.” From that period until now, in making
his annual settlement of copyright, he has paid me a larger per-
centage on ‘Macaria' than my original contract specified, and
this increase was his own voluntary generous impulse, for I had
never solicited any change of terms. Verily, a Prince of Publish-
ers I”
398 AUGUSTA J. EVANS WILSON.
Miss Evans was married in 1868, to L. M. Wilson,
Esq., one of the most influential citizens of Mobile, who is
naturally very proud of his brilliant wife, and she in the
happy domesticity she so much enjoys.
It has been my good fortune to occasionally visit their
delightful home near the City of Mobile, which a Louis-
ville Cowrier Journal correspondent truly and graphically
describes as follows:
“Her residence fronts on the Spring Hill shell road. Driving
through the gate up a well-kept drive-way over one of the prettiest
lawns I have ever seen, we dismounted in front of her residence.
Grand and majestic old live-oaks, with their guarled and con-
torted branches stretching in every direction, covered with their
tropical garb of long gray moss, were dotted here and there,
seemingly at random, Tall and symmetrical magnolias, magnolia
fuscatas, and various other trees, added to the beauty of the scene.
The yard was ſuil of flowers, rare and radiant, weighting the air
with their rich perfume. Rare geraniums of many kinds, quite a
number in full bloom and of the richest colors, lovely camellias,
the finest varieties of roses, rare and delicate plants of the
tropics, together with the hardier plants of the north, all vied
with each other in beauty and fragrance. After walking through
the grounds feasting our eyes upon their beauty, we walked upon
the veranda, which was fairly covered with flowers, many of them
loaded with blossoms. The house presents a cozy and attractive
appearance that captivates the eye at once. The very place and
all of the surroundings are suggestive of poetry and romance.
Here the flowers were blooming and distilling sweet fragrance,
the mocking-birds were caroling and singing merrily, and all
things spoke of peace and happiness. Here was wealth and
luxury, an embowered home and talent and genius to preside over
all—a fitting home for the gifted authoress of ‘St. Elmo' and
* In felice.” ”
That this gifted author does not take readily to the re-
cent movement to invest her sex with the right of suffrage
is very forcibly illustrated in the remarks of the United
States Senator West, when he says that
A UGUSTA J. EVANS WILSON. C99
“Not one tenth of the mothers and sisters of the Christian
woman in this land want to be turned into politicians. One of the
most gifted of this class of women is the talented Mrs. Augusta
Evans Wilson, who is certainly entitled to speak for the better ele-
ments of her sex. On this question she says, “I think that the
noble and true women of this continent earnestly believe that the
day which invests tiem with the elective franchise, would be the
blackest in the annals of humanity—would ring the death-knell
of modern civilization, national prosperity, social morality and
domestic happiness l and would consign the race to a night of
degradation and horror more appalling than a return to primeval
barbarism. Then every exciting political election would witness
the revolting deeds of the furies who assisted in storming the
Tuilleries ; and repetitions of scenes enacted during the reign of
the Paris Commune would mournfully attest how terrible are
female natures when once per verted.’”
In speaking of her writings Mrs. Evans Wilson once said
to me, that it was a source of great happiness for her to
know of instances where they had done some good in the
world. One was the precious assurance that two men, one
in Europe and another in America, have written her that
her books were the blessed means of reclaiming them from
vice and infidelity ; that owing to her labors they had
become trusting, praying Christians,—and that at their
family altar, prayers were offered for the author—a reward
considered by her inestimable. Another fact which has
given her great comfort, is the power her books have had
over the minds of young people, numbers of whom from all
parts of the United States write her asking advice and guid-
ance in their studies, and thus enabling her to furnish
them lists of good and standard authors.
XXIV.
JOHN ESTEN COOKE.
Best representative of Southern Authorship— Whole edi-
tion of first book burned—Novelist, Historian and
JBiographer—An Author with many Publishers—
JPoets and Poetry of the South—Stonewall Jackson’s
JLife written on the Battlefield—General Lee gives His
Consent—“I have Loved thee ever dearly, Florence
Vane "— Washington Irving’s gardener says, “It’s
Zhoins / It's Twins /*—Anecdotes of Thackeray and
G. P. J. James—His happy Home in Virginia.
OHN ESTEN COOKE of Virginia is perhaps the best
living representative of Southern authors.
Thirty years ago the Harpers printed his first book,
“Leather Stocking and Silk.” The whole edition was
burned in a great fire in 1853, which destroyed the estab-
lishment of the publishers. The volume was re-printed
and published the following year. It was a story of Vir-
ginia, and met with such favor, that it was introduced by
Tauchnitz into his Leipsic series of novels.
Mr. Cooke's latest work is the history of the people of
Virginia in the series of “American Commonwealths” now
in course of publication by Houghton, Mifflin & Co.
Mr. Cooke is the most voluminous of Southern writers.
Besides numerous contributions for magazines and literary
papers he has written more than thirty different works
published in book form. He also glories in the rare dis-
tinction of having had more than fifteen different pub-
lishers. His first, as well as his last novel, bears the im-
[400]
JOIIN ESTEN COOKE. 401
print of his Franklin Square friends. . Mr. Cooke admits
that it is unusual for an author to have so many publishers,
though he assures me that in no case has it been from mis-
understanding, but has arisen from various circumstances
not necessary to mention. I can bear witness to his asser-
tion, as I happen to know that his publishers are his per-
sonal friends, always ready with their imprint for any new
book he may offer.
His third novel, “The Last of the Forresters,” was
published by my firm in 1856. And in 1860 I concluded a
contract with him and the late John R. Thompson to com-
pile a volume entitled “The Poets and Poetry of the South.”
The outbreak of the Civil War put a quietus on that
enterprise. &
In addition to the novelist and historian, Mr. Cooke is
also a biographer. He was well accoutred to write the lives
of Generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson, as he
served during the war under both those Confederate chief-
tains. I can vouch for the great popularity of both bio-
graphies as they were published under my management
while connected with the house of D. Appleton & Co.
“The life of Stonewall Jackson '' was written on the
figld, often with the wind “flaring or making flare his
‘tallow dip.’” He remembers stopping at one time in
the middle of a sentence to go and get shot at by a
party of blue cavalry. Most of the MS. was sent off as
written, but his satchel with the remainder was captured
with his tooth brush-and prayer-book. Several thou-
sand copies were printed in Richmond when Jefferson
Davis conscripted the printers. It was re-written after
General Jackson's death and accepted for publication
by Mr. William H. Appleton, who also proposed to him in
1866 to write the life of General Lee. Mr. Cooke consulted
the General on the subject, knowing that he contemplated
writing his relation to the war himself. General Lee said
to him that the proposed work—should he ever write a his-
tory of the Army of Northern Virginia—would be more of
402 JOHN ESTEN COOKE.
an assistance than hindrance. After General Lee's death
the work was completed. In writing it he had the sympa-
thies and encouragement of General Lee's widow and also
of General Custis Lee, his son.
Four of Mr. Cooke's war novels, “Hammer and Rapier,”
etc., were published about this time, by G. W. Carleton.
Mr. Cooke's brother, Philip Pendleton Cooke, was the
author of the poem “Florence Vane,” which I have always
considered one of the finest in the English language.
Mr. Cooke once told me that when his brother was
eighteen or twenty, he fell in love with his cousin,
Evelina Dandridge—“Florence Ware.” He often rode his
fine black horse, “John Randolph,” on moonlight nights
fifteen miles to see her. He would throw nosegays into her
window and ride home again. Of this boy and girl passion
nothing came. He went to college, she to spend the winter
in Richmond. There she became engaged to and married
R. M. T. Hunter, subsequently the eminent Virginian
statesman. His brother also married in his turn Miss
Burwell of the Valley. It was after his marriage that he
wrote “Florence Vane.” It came to him he said whilst he
was walking in the garden listening to his young wife seated
in a window singing. I give this account of this exquisite
lyric as related to me by Mr. Cooke, and think my readers
will thank me for reproducing it here.
“FLORENCE WANE.
“I loved thee long and dearly,
Florence Vane:
My life's bright dream and early
Hath come again;
I renew, in my fond vision,
My heart's dear pain—
My hopes and thy derision,
Florence Wane.
JOHN ESTEN COOKE. 403
“The ruin, lone and hoary,
The ruin old,
Where thou did'st hark my story,
At even told—
That spot—the hues Elysian,
Of sky and plain—
I treasure in my vision,
Florence Wanel
* Thou wast lovelier than the roses
In their prime;
Thy voice excelled the closes
Of sweetest rhyme;
Thy heart was as a river
Without a main,
Would I had loved thee never,
Florence Wanel
“But fairest, coldest wonder!
Thy glorious clay—
Lieth the green sod under—
Alas, the day !
And it boots not to remember
Thy disdain,
To quicken love's pale ember,
Florence Wane!
“The lilies of the valley
By young graves weep;
The daisies love to dally
Where maidens sleep,
May their bloom, in beauty vying
Never wane,
Where thine earthly part is lying,
Florence Wane!”
Philip Pendleton Cooke died in 1850, at the early age
of thirty-four. He was the author of “Froissart's Ballads,”
and a volume of poems.
Mr. Cooke has always enjoyed the friendship of the
leading literary people of both the North and South.
404 JOHN HST EN COOIKE.
He once related to me a visit which he made with
Evart A. Duyckinck, on Washington Irving in 1859, at
Sunnyside, shortly before the latter's death. Mr. Cooke
says they walked into the grounds and saw a small gentle-
man in black with his back to them. Mr. Duyckinck went
up and spoke to him and he instantly wheeled round with
a smile holding out his hand. “Oh, I thought you were
some of those reporters from New York l’ he said ; after
which he explained that he was often annoyed by intrusive
strangers. Mr. Irving talked in an easy, humorous tone on
any subject suggested, one being the neatness of the
grounds. He said his gardener’s children had been there
that morning and pulled all his roses for a “little fete.”
They were fine attractive girls and his gardener a worthy
man. His wife had recently become a mother again, which
was not an unusual thing for the good woman, and Mr.
Irving said he thought he ought to congratulate him, but
when he told him he was a lucky fellow he gave him a
woeful look and groaned, “It’s twins ! It's twins !” Mr.
Cooke Says Irving told him he had known the Empress
Eugenie when he was United States Minister to Spain.
She was then little Eugenie de Montijo, daughter of
Count de Teba, and often appeared at the masquerades at
Madrid, as a female mousquetaire. She was a fine, buxom
girl, he said laughingly, and when she was a child he had
often taken her on his knee. “When I was in Washing-
ton,” he added, “I often saw old Calderon—the Spanish
minister—and he said one day, ‘Good Heavens, Irving !
Just to think of little Eugenie being an Empress—hum !
hum ! hum !’”
Another of Mr. Cooke's literary friends was the late
G. P. R. James, whose novels were all the rage forty years
ago, as many of my bookselling friends will remember.
He had been appointed British consul at Richmond, and
was a great favorite in society there. Thackeray visited
him on his trip South, but he resented the latter's flings
JOHN ESTEN COOKF. 4()5
at him as a “solitary horseman,” the meaning of which
those who have read James’ novels will understand.
Mr. James once told Cooke of his intention to write
his own memoirs, as he had known many distinguished
people, and of whom he could tell good stories, one of
which he related to the latter. He had been in Bordeaux
many years before, and after strolling all day over the
old town returned to his inn, and having Supped, went to-
ward his chamber. His way led through a long, dark
passage, but he saw some one in front carrying a candle—a
man in black slowly ascending the old-fashioned staircase.
On the landing the man stopped, and holding up his candle
looked at some object. It was a cat lying on a window sill
with a surprised and frightened expression as she fixed her
eyes upon him. The stranger in black looked at the cat
Some time minutely and muttered in a deserted tone,
“Ah Pussy Pussy If you had seen as much trouble as
I have, you would not be surprised at anything.” After
which he went on up the stairs, continued Mr. James, and
as I heard that Irving was in Bordeaux, I said to myself :
“That can be nobody in the world but Irving,” which
turned out to be a fact.
Washington Irving, it may be remembered, was the first
one to encourage Mr. James in the world of fiction, and it
was under his advisement that the latter published his first
volume, the life of ‘‘ Edward, the Black Prince.”
Mr. Cooke remembers many pleasant talks with Thack-
eray during the latter’s visit to Richmond. On one occa-
Sion the latter said, “If I were you I would go on writing.
Some day you will make a fortune. Becky Sharp made mine.
I married early and wrote for bread.” At another time
he spoke of his writings without reserve, as he did of him-
self. He said, “I like Becky Sharp ; she is a Bohemian,
and I prefer Bohemians to other society ; they are more
unconventional, and wear their hair on their shoulders if
they like.” Speaking of his literary habits, he said he al-
ways smoked while writing. Never wrote at night because
406 JOHN ESTEN COOKF.
it kept him from sleeping. He dictated to an amanuensis
the whole of “Esmond’ and “ Pendennis.” Mr. Cooke
told him how much pleased he was to know that the Scene
of his new novel, “The Virginians,” was to be laid in
Virginia, and possibly he might make Yorktown the
demovement.
Mr. Cooke said he felt shocked at having made the latter
suggestion and immediately added that he ought to beg
his pardon. “Beg my pardon P” he asked, apparently Sur-
prised, “At suggesting the surrender of Cornwallis as an
agreeable denouement to you.” Thackeray Said, “It is noth-
ing. I accept Yorktown.” Cooke said to him that he
knew he admired Washington. The former replied that
he was the greatest man that ever lived. And yet if the
Pnglish had caught him they probably would have hanged
him as a rebel. “We had better have lost North Amer-
ica,” said Thackeray emphatically.
Mr. Cooke resides on his beautiful estate in the Sheran-
doah Valley, where his Northern friends often visit him,
returning with delightful impressions of his romantic and
hospitable home, where he lives a happy life with his
children, friends, books, papers and pipe. His motto is
Esperancel
XXV.
FAMOUS HUMORISTS.
B. P. SHILLABER (MRs. PARTINGTON).
How Mrs. Partington looks—Ancient Motherly Woman
with Cap and Spectacles— Wonderful Popularity of
her Sayings—The Origin of her Book—How a Bonanza
struck the Author—Rich as Vanderbilt or Gould—
Artemus Ward—Miles O’Reilly—John G. Saave.
RS. PARTINGTON has been represented as an ancient
motherly woman with cap and spectacles, in the act
of taking a pinch of Snuff, or placidly knitting, as she lec-
tures the mischievous Ike. Her sayings at one time were
copied in all the newspapers of the land, and even at this
day we hear of the humorous utterances and quaint
benevolent remarks with a smile and ofttimes with a
laugh.
In the year 1854, it occurred to me that a collected
volume of these sketches, fittingly illustrated, would make
a pretty good selling book. I accordingly went to Boston
to see Mr. B. P. Shillaber, who at that time was one of the
editors of the Boston Post, and proposed the preparation
of his sketches, and their publication in book form. The
result of my interview is thus graphically set forth in the
following letter just received from him, in response to my
[407]
408 B. P. SEIILLABER.
inquiry, whether he still lived, and further, if he did live.
to refresh my memory as to our first interview.
“ MY DEAR DERBY :
“Mrs. Partington ‘still lives” and thus refreshes your
memory. I did not strike the bonanza but the bonanza
struck me. Mrs. Partington had won her way into public
affection, through the medium of the Post, and I fancied
no wider province for her than simply creating a smile for
the reader of that paper, and such as might be tickled by
her peculiar fancies in other points. Occupying a subor-
dinate position on the paper, I threw the sayings in among
the “All sorts of Paragraphs as fatherless waifs, content
to see them caught up and read with no ambition beyond.
They had thus continued for three years and more, until
what had been commenced as a pleasantry for the moment,
had assumed formidable proportions. So little had I
dreamed of any future use for them, that I failed even to
Scrap them, and thus was taken at great disadvantage when
the bonanza struck me.
“One day I received a startling and, as I thought, rather
ludicrous proposition from a distinguished publishing firm
in Springfield, asking my terms for collecting the ‘ Par-
tington Sayings' for them. Is ubmitted the matter to my
associates, who good-naturedly joined with me in laughing
it down, as your friends will anything that concerns you, if
you encourage them, and sometimes they will if you don’t.
While we were still engaged in pleasant banter about pro-
spective authorship and magnificent returns, the door
opened and some one inquired for me.
“The inquirer was a very pleasant and gentlemanly
stranger, who immediately revealed his business by asking
me, in almost the precise terms of the letter just received,
what I would collect the ‘ Partington Sayings’ for, as-
suring me that he had come from New York solely to see
me with reference to publishing them in a book. Full of
the late feeling regarding the other proposition, and think-
B. P. S.H.II, LABER, 409
ing it might be from the same parties, I laughingly informed
him that I had just received his letter, and had made up
my mind not to enter the publishing field, deeming that
an excess of riches derived therefrom might disturb our
pleasant relations.
“He told me in reply that he had written no letter, but
was Mr. J. C. Derby, of the firm of Derby & Jackson, of New
York, who had determined to publish the book if they could
get the copy, and that rested with me.
“‘Can you be in earnest ?' I said, looking at him
sharply. “Never more so,” he replied.
“‘Well, my dear sir,’ said I, ‘the thing is utterly im-
possible. In the first place, they can’t be collected; and
next, like the Yankee speaking of the defeat at White
Plains, “I don’t take no interest.””
“‘But,” he continued, ‘I’ll make it of interest to you.
See here; if you will collect the copy for a book, for three
hundred pages, in my hand, I'll give you one thousand dol-
lars in cash.’
“‘What l’I yelled, so loud that an office hand who was
trimming the lamps, came out to see what was the matter.
I looked round for some comfortable place to fall on, in
case I fainted ; I looked at him with misty astonishment
and marveled that the maker of so mad a proposition
should bear himself so serenely. ‘Yes,’ said he, ‘ and I’ll
make it stronger by saying, that if you wait its publication,
I will pay you two thousand dollars down besides, after
copyright.”
“‘I can’t decide at once,” I managed to gasp, the sweat
beading my forehead through agitation.
“‘Take your own time,” he said, ‘I am here for this pur-
pose, and here I shall stay, till I get what I came for. I
ann stopping at the Tremont.” He then left me in an aurif-
erous dream.
“‘Now, with Mr. Wanderbilt or Mr. Gould, a slight turn
in the stock market, pouring millions into their coffers,
would not affect them as I was at that offer, so munificent
18
410 B. P. SHILLABER.
as I dreamed it, and I hardly knew how to act. Mr. Derby
was so earnest and positive that his proposition could not
be overlooked or got over, and those most ready to laugh
with me at the absurdity of the first proposition, took a
different view of this, and urged compliance. Home
counsel, with their tender sympathies, settled the matter ;
and yielding gracefully to the tempter, I set about a com-
pilation that, whether good or not, the sale of at least fifty
thousand copies must certify. And thus the ‘Life and
Sayings of Mrs. Partington ’ was issued, with the following
introductory remarks :
“Mrs. Partington once declined an introduction to a
party, because she did not wish to be introduced to any-
one she was not acquainted with. She needs no introduc-
tion now. In all parts of our own land and over the sea,
her name is familiar as a household word ; and ‘ as Mrs.
Partington would say’ forms a tributary clause to many a
good story, or an apology for many a bad one ; a smile at-
tending utterance of the name in evidence of its apprecia-
tion. But a preface of course is expected ; and so, in the
most gentle manner in the world, we will tell you, reader,
a little story about the origin of the Partington sayings,
and why they were said and why they are here collected.
Perhaps you have guessed it all; but it is well to be cer-
tain.
“In the first place they were written as the canine
quadruped is said to have gone to church for fun, for the
author’s own amusement, with a latent hope, however,
half-indulged, that the big world, which the author very
much loves and wishes to please, might see something in
them at which to smile. He was modest in his hope, and
hid himself behind an incognito, impenetrable he thought,
where he could see the effect of his mild Squibs on the
public. The result pleased him, and he kept vigorously
blazing away unseen, as much so as the simple bird that
thrusts its head under a leaf and fancies itself unobserved
B. P. SHILLABER. 411
—until they have arisen to a magnitude that some people
might deem respectable.
“Before the book was published, Derby & Jackson sent
me a check for two thousand dollars, twenty thousand
copies having been ordered. It had a great subsequent
sale. Though ‘Mrs. Partington ’ belongs to a past genera-
tion, there is still a warm interest manifested for her, that
finds expression in demands for her autograph, coupled
with modest requests for a characteristic ‘ sentiment,’
annoying at times, yet pleasant, because one does not like
to be quite forgotten, and—
“‘A memory in gentle hearts,
To me were better fame,
Than all a hollow world imparts
To signalize a name.”
“B. P. SHILLABER.
“Chelsea, April 15th, 1884.”
In the year 1850, Mr. Shillaber started a weekly paper
called the Carpet Bag. It was a humorous sheet, as one
can readily imagine, in which appeared the earliest writ-
ings of John G. Saxe, the witty poet ; Charles G. Halpine
(Miles O’Reilly) and Charles F. Browne (Artemus Ward).
Mr. Halpine was for a short time associate editor with Mr.
Shillaber, where, the latter tells me, he learned to admire
and respect his great genius. A more versatile Writer, he
says, he thinks he never knew, nor one who possessed more
power—often revealed in his strictures upon contempo-
raries—which made him enemies; but they were afraid of
him and rarely struck back. He was a ripe scholar, and
hated the namby-pambyism of the literary press, and the
feeble nothings, as he regarded them, of their contributions.
He was a remorseless writer, and dashed among people
right and left, impaling them upon his pen-point and
showing them no mercy. As a poet he was brilliant and
sensuous; one poem—“An imperfect Hymn to the Types”
412 B. P. SHILLABER.
—was a really sublime effort. He was most fascinating
in his manner, holding every one to his will, whether liking
him or not, and a true friend where he became attached.
He was very classical, had Horace at his finger-ends, and
sported an alias for every phase of his writing. Resulting
from the bitterness of his witticism, he was actually chal-
lenged to a duel, to come off in Canada, by one that he had
excoriated.
Mr. Shillaber says Charles F. Browne came to the
Carpet Bag office from Maine, a shrewd, verdant, good-
natured printer, not out of his time. He gave no early
evidence of hidden genius, and rarely let himself out
beyond joking with his printer associates, and an occasional
short article, modestly submitted, over the signature of
“Ilieut. Chub.” These attracted attention, especially one,
a reprint, where the Battle of Yorktown was described as
the programme of a country muster, and General Wash-
ington, under the influence of liquor, got licked. It was
intensely funny. Browne showed that under a rough
covering there was a big promise. He soon left for New
York, where Mr. Shillaber says he next met him, a year or
two afterwards, transformed into a city buck, associating
with Henry Clapp in editing Vanity Fair, and dined at
Pfaff’s with Ada Clare and the Bohemians. He soon after
went off on his lecturing tour, taking the world captive
under the nom de plume of “Artemus Ward.”
Mr. Shillaber once told me his acquaintance with John
G. Saxe commenced in 1840, when on the Post, he being a
contributor of Sonnets and paragraphs, with an occasional
poem, over the signature of “Axes.” He was young and
full of fire, and his articles had a ring to them that rendered
them admirable. A series of paragraphs, entitled “Saws
Reset ’—controverting old everyday proverbs and showing
their fallacy—were very funny. He was a handsome man,
of tall and commanding figure, and bore himself with a
self-sustained manner, hardly denoting the humorist, but
unbending in a moment with the most genial affability,
MIRIAM BERRY WIHITCIIER. 413
and yielding himself to the association of the moment, de-
lighting the little circle he addressed. Though funny,
there was no mirthful demonstration in him, and he told
his most smile-provoking stories, with the utmost gravity
of demeanor. He was one who well knew the merit of his
own production, and the fact always bears out his assump-
tion regarding them.
MIRIAM BERRY WHITCHER (WIDow BEDOTT)
Joseph Neal’s Charcoal Sketches—Charles Dickens appro-
priates them—George P. Putnam’s Statement—“Widow
Bedott’ discovered—Miriam Berry, a young country
girl, the Author—“ Bursting into fits of laughter’—
Alice B. Weal becomes Alice B. Haven—Popularity of
“ Cousin Alice”— One hundred thousand Bedott
Papers sold—“Widow Bedott " a household god.
M ORE than forty years ago a series of humorous contri-
butions by “Widow Bedott’ began to appearin Weal's
Saturday Gazette, a weekly newspaper published in Phila-
delphia.
Its editor, Joseph C. Neal, was a humorous writer him-
self, of considerable note. His published volume of
“Charcoal Sketches * has been compared favorably by
critics, to the earliest writings of Charles Dickens.
The late George P. Putnam in his “American Facts,”
published in London, in 1846, makes the following state-
ment : -
“Joseph C. Neal, of Philadelphia, published about 1839, a
volume called ‘Charcoal Sketches, with illustrations; his name
appended in full. This volume appears entire, plates and all,
in the middle of “Pickwick Papers,” edited by Charles Dickens,
3 volumes, Loudon, 1841. Mr. Neal, no doubt, would have been
proud of his company, if his patron had not introduced him as a
nameless person 1 ‘A volume has been appended (to make the
414 MIRIAM BERRY WHITCHER.
orthodox three) from an American source,” says the editor; “but
not a syllable about the name, either of author or book!’”
At first the readers of the Gazette attributed the author-
ship of the “Widow Bedott Papers” to Mr. Neal himself,
but the latter was as much in the dark about the authorship
as the public were.
Determined to find the identity of the author, he wrote
to his unknown correspondent and ascertained from her
that she was no widow at all, but a young maiden lady resid-
ing in Central New York, who had never previously written
anything for publication, and was really of a serious turn of
mind. She was astonished on hearing from Mr. Neal of the
great popularity of her sketches, which largely increased
the demand for his Gazette,
Mr. Neal wrote her that he and other critics considered
them the best Yankee dialect stories that had yet appeared,
and instanced “a lady who for several days after reading
one of them, was continually, and often at moments the
most inopportune, bursting into fits of violent laughter.”
Mr. Neal also informed the author that L. A. Godey,
the well-known editor of the “Lady’s Book,” desired to
secure her as a contributor to his magazine. The result
was an engagement on her part to write for both the
monthly magazine and weekly paper, which continued un-
til her death.
The writer of the “Widow Bedott Papers” proved to
be Miriam Berry, of Whitesboro, N. Y. Soon after the
engagements to write for these editors, Miss Berry was
married to Rev. B. W. Whitcher, rector of the Episcopal
Church in the same village, but she died within the year
of her marriage, leaving one child.
The premature death of one who had become so famous
a writer was greatly regretted by tens of thousands of de-
lighted readers.
A collection of the sketches was made by her surviving
friends and ultimately published in a volume bearing my
imprint as its publisher, in 1855.
MIRIAM BERHY WIFIITCHER. 415
In the early part of that year a lady called at my office
in Nassau Street, and introduced herself as Mrs. Alice
B. Haven. She said she had brought me some fugitive
sketches which she desired published in book-form. I
looked over the scrap-book containing the collection and
told her I had never read any of them, but would examine
them with pleasure, and advise her as early as possible
if they were accepted for publication.
Mrs. Haven was at one time a co-editor of the Saturday
Gazette, with Mr. Joseph C. Neal, her first husband. He
having died shortly after their marriage the paper
was soon after discontinued. She, like the author of
“Widow Bedott,” had been an anonymous contributor to
Neal’s Saturday Gazette, and the young editor being
greatly impressed with her contributions opened a corres-
pondence of a personal nature which led to courtship and
Subsequent marriage.
Six years after the death of Mr. Neal, the widow married
Mr. Joshua L. Haven. Mrs. Haven died six years later, not
however without leaving a permanent place in literature.
She wrote under the mom de plume of “Cousin Alice,”
and as a successful writer for the young, her publishers,
D. Appleton & Co., can bear witness to her great popu-
larity. An affectionate memorial volume of Mrs. Haven
was published by that house in 1865.
In accordance with the previous understanding with
Mrs. Haven, I took the sketches home and at night
began to read them to my family circle. This was about
thirty years ago, and I can remember the scene as if it
were yesterday, how one after another of my family be-
gan to laugh as I read on. The first chapter, Hezekiah
Bedott, almost settled the question of publication. The
mirth-provoking stories of the widow became infectious,
and the verdict of acceptance was unanimous.
I wrote to Mrs. Haven the following day, and we soon
agreed upon terms of publication. Mrs. Haven was to
write the preface to the collection and I was to pay the
416 MIRIAM BERRY WIIITCH ER.
usual ten per cent. royalty, bearing all expenses of the
publication myself, the copyright to go to the estate of the
deceased authoress. The book was admirably and fittingly
illustrated by a rising young artist, named Dallas, the
husband of Mary Kyle Dallas, the well-known writer in
Bonner's Ledger.
Before the book was published, the Rev. Mr. Whitcher,
who, after his wife’s death, had become a Roman Catholic
priest, came to me with a proposition to sell out all the
right, title and interest for a specified amount, which, if I
remember right, was the sum of five hundred dollars. I
considered it a very safe venture at the time, and the result
showed that I did not misjudge, as something more than a
hundred thousand copies have been sold.
The “Widow Bedott Papers ” is a live book to-day,
having taken a permanent place in the humorous literature
of the country. Since I commenced these reminiscences a
friend of mine” somewhat familiar with the literature of
the day, writes me as follows :
“Widow Bedott is one of our household gods, and in this
wise. Nearly twenty years ago my mother was something of an
invalid, inclined to be melancholy and depressed in spirits,
although her home and surroundings were very happy. Yet the
thought of declining health and leaving a family of children, and
perhaps too much ‘Doddridge's Rise and Progress of Religion in
the Soul,” Jeremy Taylor's ‘Holy Living and Dying,” Baxter's
“Saints' Everlasting Rest,” and the like kind of reading had a
visibly gloomy effect upon her.
“She had many of the best doctors, and they all disagreed in
locating any disease, but all agreed she was “run down.” One of
them said and prescribed—“Get her to read cheerful books. Get
Widow Bedott. Let her see things that will make her laugh and
get the mind working in different channels.” We followed the
doctor's advice. Father got the book, we read it aloud, we all
laughed to split, and the effect on mother was magical. She im-
proved, and is well and hearty to-day, and is now seventy-six
* George C. White.
MIRIAM BERRY WIFI ITCHER. 417
years old. So, dear friend, you see what we owe you, and the
good you have done, and how “a good name is better than great
riches.’”
The following is the opening chapter of the Widow
Bedott Papers.
“He was a wonderful hand to moralize, husband was, 'specially
after he begun to enjoy poor health. He made an observation
once when he was in one of his poor turns, that I never shall for-
get the longest day I live. He says to me one winter evenin’ as
we was a settin' by the fire, I was a knittin' (I was always a won-
derful great knitter) and he was a smokin’ (he was a master hand
to smoke, though the doctor used to tell him he'd be better off to
let tobacker alone ; when he was well, used to take his pipe and
smoke a spell after he'd got the chores done up, and when he
wa’n’t well, used to smoke the biggest part o’ the time). Well,
he took his pipe out of his inouth and turned towards me, and I
knowed something was comin', for he had a pertikkeler way of
lookin’ round when he was gwine to say anything oncommon.
Well, he says to me, says he “Silly,” (my name was Prissilly
materally, but he giuerally called me “Silly,” cause ’twas handler,
you know). Well, he says to me, says he, “Silly,” and he looked
pretty sollem, I tell you, he had a sollem countenance materally—
and after he got to be deacon 'twas more so, but since he'd lost
his health he looked sollemer than ever, and certingly you wouldent
wonder at it if you know ed how much he underwent. He was
troubled with a wonderful pain in his chest, and amazin’ weakness
in the spine of his back, besides the pleurissy in the side, and
having the ager a conside, able part of the time, and bein’
broke of his rest o' mights 'cause he was so put to ’t for breath
when he laid down. Why it’s an onaccountable fact that when
that man died he hadent seen a well day in fifteen year, though
when he was married and for five or six year after I shouldent
desire to see a ruggeder man than what he was. But the time
I'm speakin' of he'd been out o' health nigh upon ten year, and O
dear sakes | how he had altered since the first time I even see
him That was to a quiltin’ to Squire Smith's a spell afore Sally
was married. I'd no idee then that Sal Smith was a gwine to be
married to Sam Pendergrass. Se'd ben keepin’ company with
Mose Hewlitt, for better’n a year, and everybody said that was a
settled thing, and lo and behold I all of a sudding she up and took
1.8%
418 MIRIAM BERRY WIHITCHER.
Sam Pendergrass. Well, that was the first time I ever see my hus-
Uand, and if anybody’d a told me then that I should ever marry
him, I should a said—but lawful sakes 1 I most forgot, I was
gwine to tell you what he said to me that evenin’ and when a body
begins to tell a thing I believe in finishin' on’t some time or other.
Some folks have a way of talkin’ round and round and lound for
evermore, and never comin' to the pint. Now there's Miss Jin-
kins, she that was Poll Bingham afore she was married, she is the
tejusest individooal to tell a story that ever I see in all my born
days. But I was a gwine to tell you what husband said. He
says to me says he, “Silly,” says I, “What ?' I dident say
‘What, Hezekier 7" for I dident like his name. The first time
I ever heard it I near killed myself a laffin. “Hezekier Bedott,’
says I, ‘well, I would give up if I had sich a name,” but then
you know I had no mole idee o' marryin' the feller than you
have this minnit o' marryin’ the governor. I s' pose you think
it's curus we should a named our oldest son IJezekier. Well,
we done it to please father and mother Bedott, it's father
Bedott's name, and he and mother Bedott both used to think that
names had ought to go down from gineration to glneration. But
we always called him Kier, you know. Speakin' o' Kier, he is a
blessin,” ain’t he 7 and I ain’t the only one that thinks so, I guess.
Now don’t you never tell nobody that I said so, but between you
and me I rather guess that if Kezier Winkle thinks she is a gwine
to ketch Kier Bedott she is a leetle out of her reckonin’. But I
was going to tell what husband said. He says to me, says he,
‘Silly,” I says, says I, “What ?" If I dident say ‘what '
when he said “Silly,’ he’d a kept on saying “Silly,” from time
to eternity. IIe always did, because, you know, he wanted me to
pay pertikkeler attention, and I ginerally did; no woman was ever
more attentive to her husband than what I was. Well, he says to
me, says he, “Silly.” Says I, “What ?" though I’d no idee what
he was gwine to say, dident know but what 't was something
about his sufferings, though he wa'n't apt to complain, but he
frequently used to remark that he wouldent wish his worst enemy
to suffer one minnit as he did all the time, but that can’t be called
grumblin’—think it can' Why, I’ve seen him in sitivations when
you'd a thought no mortal could a helped grumblin' but he dident.
He and me went once in the dead o' winter in a one hoss slay out
to Boonville to see a sister o’ hisen. You know the snow is
amazin’ deep in that section o’ the kentry. Well, the hoss got
stuck in one o' them are flambergasted snow-banks, and there we
GEORG E D. PHENTICE. 419
sot, onable to stir, and to cap all, while we was a sittin' there
husband was took with a diretful crick in his back. Now that was
what I calla perdickerment, don't you ? Most men would a swore,
but husband dident... He only said, says he, “Consarn it.” How did
we get out, did you ask * Why we might a been sittin' there to this
day fur as I know, if there hadent a happened to come along a mess
o' men in a double team and they hysted us out. But I was gwire
to tell you that observation o’ hisen. Says he to me, says he,
‘Silly,” (I could see by the light o' the fire, there dident happen
to be no candle burnin', if I don’t disremember, though my mem-
ory is sometimes ruther forgitful, but I know we wa’n’t apt to
burn candles exceptin’ when we had company) I could see by the
light of the fire that his mind was oncommon solemnized. Says
he to me, says he, “Silly.' I says to him, says I, “What ?" He
says to me, says he, “We’re all poor critters/?
GEORGE D. PRENTICE (PRENTICIANA).
JPrentice and the Louisville Journal—Brilliant wit in
paragraphs — A few Specimen Bricks—Encourages
Ayoung Writers—Author first meets Prentice—Pren-
tice defies Mike Walsh—“You have skinned me
from the crown of my head to the sole of my feet ’’
—“I cannot kill a disarmed man *—Prerºtice gives
TWhittier his first start—“We’ve shared each other’s
smiles and tears.”
HE success which followed the publication of Fanny
Fern’s “Fern Leaves” and Shillaber’s “Mrs. Parting-
ton’’ induced me to propose to the late George D. Prentice
to make a collection of the witty sayings which had eman-
ated daily for nearly forty years in the columns of the Louis-
ville Journal, of which Mr. Prentice was editor in elief.
There was hardly a secular newspaper in the country
which did not habitually copy the brilliant and witty hits,
continuously made by this noted paragraphist, which gave
him a wide reputation. .
420 GEORGE D. PRENTICE.
Mr. Evart A. Duykinck, in his Cyclopedia of American
Literature, said, as long ago as 1855:
“If these Prenticiana of the editor were collected and pub-
lished with appropriate notes, they would form an amusing and
instructive commentary on the management of elections, news-
paper literature and political oratory, of permanent value as a
memorial of the times.”
Mr. Prentice accepted my proposition, and the book
was published in the year 1859, under the title of “Pren-
ticiana ; or, Wit and Humor in Paragraphs.”
In introducing the volume to the public the author, in
his preface, writes :
“Though I have been a public writer from my boyhood, I
offer this volume to my fellow-citizens with a diffidence almost
painful. It is made up of a portion of the paragraphs that I have
written for the Louisville Journal during the last twenty-nine years,
and a few of those written for the New York Ledger within the
last two years.
“A long time ago I was urged often and earnestly to publish
such a volume as this or permit one to be published, but I uni-
formly declined. I should decline still, but for the knowledge
that, if I do not publish my own paragraphs others will, making
the selections with far less regard for the feelings of men who are
now my friends than I choose to exercise.
‘‘I am as well aware as any one can be, that there are just
grounds for grave objection to this book. Probably, in many
things it contains, little else than partisan bitterness will be found.
Still I have carefully excluded, out of deference to the sensibili-
tics of persons whom I now esteem and love, thousands of the very
passages which at the time of their appearance, did most to give
to thc Louisville Journal its fame or notoriety. In many of the
passages here given, I have suppressed names, in order that
there may be no occasion for offense. In regard to my contempo-
raries of the press, who are referred to, I will say, in justice both
to myself and to them, that not more than half of the blows struck
between them and me were mine. I do not think that I have now
a feeling of personal enmity toward any member of the press.
“Many, and perhaps most, of the paragraphs here collected re-
GEORGE D. PRENTIOE. 421
late to the men and measures of former times, but I believe they
all explain themselves. I have no doubt, however, that a very
considerable proportion of them, which perhaps, from partisan
partiality, were deemed ‘good hits” at the time, will, now that the
occasion which called them forth has passed, be read with com-
paratively little interest. I know that such things do not keep
well.
“It is of course impossible for me to remember how far I may
in some trifles have been indebted to suggestions that I found in
the writings of others; but I believe that all which I have here
given is my own. Not a few paragraphs have been keeping their
place in the newspaper press for many years, no one seeming to
have any knowledge of their origin, and very likely they are not
worth my reclaiming.
“The reader will see that, occasionally, to express a thought
or fancy or a conceit mole conveniently, I have put the words in
the form of a dialogue, purporting sometimes to be between two
politicians, sometimes a man and his wife, etc ; but such para-
graphs are not less original, not less my own than the rest.
“The publishers are responsible for the title of this book.”
A few “specimen bricks” of these witty paragraphs
are here submitted.
“A female correspondent suggests a condition on which she
will give us a kiss. We feel in duty bound to say to her, that
kissing is a thing, that, at every proper opportunity, we set our
face against.”
“A western editor boasts that his state furnishes a greater
quantity of oats than any other in the Union. He forgets to say
whether she furnishes a greater number of asses to eat them.”
“A man recently got married in Kentucky one day and hung
himself the next. No doubt he wanted to try the varieties of
noose to see which he liked best.”
“It is exceedingly bad husbandry to harrow up the feelings
of your wife.” &
“The question is often discussed whether the savages enjoy
life. We suppose they do, as they always seem anxious to take it,
when they get a chance.”
“A letter from China says that the Chinese have succeeded by
the skill of their cultivators in producing a new and delicious
422 GEORGE D. PRENTICE.
variety of tea. We suppose they have accomplished this by
crossing their tead.”
“A romantic poet sends us some stanzas addressed to a young
woman and commencing—‘We met as meet the day and night.”
We can’t encourage amalgamation.”
“A man that marries tº widow is bound to give up smoking
and chewing. If she gives up her weeds for him, he should give
up the weed for her.”
“Two cousins named Crickett, were married last week in Jef-
ferson County. We are opposed to cricket matches.”
“Some publishers of periodicals publish on white paper, some
on blue and some on yellow. A large portion of the political
should by all means be of a color that won't Show dirt.”
“‘Will you have the kindness to hand me the butter before
you?” said a gentleman politely at table to an ancient maiden.
‘‘ ‘I am no waiter, sir.”
“‘Well, I think you have been waiting a long time.’”
The publication of this volume brought me into very
pleasant relations with this famous editor, who besides being
a proundunced political writer was also a poet of no mod-
erate claims; in addition to this he was always the encour-
aging friend of every young author of literary promise.
It can be said of Mr. Prentice that he made and unmade
poets and prose writers as well as politicians and statesmen.
He it was that first brought to public notice that sweet
poetess Amelia B. Welby who wrote so many beautiful
poems for his columns, under the signature of “Amelia;”
also Sally M. Bryan, John J. Piatt and Catherine A. War-
field. The latter was introduced to me in a note from Mr.
Prentice, he sending me at the same time the MS. of her
wonderful romance, “The Household of Bouverie,” which
is referred to elsewhere.
Many persons surmised that Mr. Prentice himself wrote
the poems signed “Amelia,” until he denied it one day,
by saying, “I recognize their priceless beauty too well to
spoil it in that way. I never wrote a word in any of her
writings. On the few occasions when she had used a word
which I would not have used, I sent her MS. back with the
GEORGE D. PIRENTHOF. 423
defective word marked, and she corrected the diction her.
self. I never once aided or had occasion to aid.”
I first met Mr. Prentice in 1860, soon after the publi-
cation of his volume, when I had the pleasure of introduc-
ing him at the Century Club and elsewhere in literary
circles.
He was an excellent talker, and being a thorough
Greek and Latin scholar, as well as French and German,
he was at home among his favorite poets, Virgil, Byron
and Shelley. His favorite German author was Jean Paul
Richter ; he always read everything the latter wrote, and
his advice to young writers was to adopt Richter’s style,
if they must have a model. -
Mr. Prentice, like Horace Greeley, was passionately de-
voted to the political fortunes of Henry Clay. Each of
them have written most interesting biographies of that
eminent Kentucky statesman.
At one time, Mike Walsh, a notorious and prominent
Loco Foco (the name given to the Democrats in those days)
by Some action on his part provoked a quarrel with the
Louisville editor, for which he was handled without gloves
in the witty and sarcastic columns of Mr. Prentice’s paper.
Mike Walsh was a member of Congress from New York
City, at the time, and a brave but illiterate man. Mr. Pren-
tice happened to be in Washington during a session of Con-
gress when he met Walsh at a dinner party ; the former
advanced toward and was about to offer his hand to the Irish
politician, when the latter fixing his piercing eyes on him
without offering his hand, exclaimed, “You are George D.
Prentice, are you ?” Mr. Prentice bowed in assent, when
Walsh said, “You must know, sir, that I like you, although
you have skinned me from the crown of my head to the
sole of my feet ; your instrument was so sharp and so skill-
fully used that the operation was rather pleasant than other-
wise.” Of course Mr. Prentice could not help liking his
political foe after this keen and delicate compliment.
About this time an editor of one of the Louisville
424 GEORGE D. PRENTICE.
papers who had become frenzied by a stinging editorial
thrust in the Louisville Journal, with the addition of copi-
ous drafts of the well known Kentucky Bourbon, fired a
shot at Mr. Prentice without the slightest warning, wound-
ing him near the heart. Mr. Prentice instantly threw him
to the ground, disarmed him, and with knife in hand,
held him like a wise in his grasp. A large crowd gathered
around the scene. Nearly every one of them cried out,
“Kill him, kill him l’ Mr. Prentice at once let go his
hold and said, “I cannot kill a disarmed man.”
About the year 1867 Mr. Bonner engaged Mr. Prentice
to write for the New York Ledger once a week a column
under the heading of “Wit and Humor,” which was con-
tinued to the time of his death.
One of Mr. Prentice's literary friends in speaking of
Prenticiana says:
“We see the phenomenon of the poet, the philosopher and the
politician combined in one. Falstaff-like, he is not only witty in
himself, “but the cause that wit is in other men.” So popular is he
as a paragraphist that a volume of his wit and wisdom has been
widely circulated. The many-sided mind that made the masterly
editor and politician has given to Mr. Prentice that universality
of genius that can alone constitute the truly great poet—the pos-
session of that common sense which corrects the erratic caprices
of genius, and gives its true weight and value to every subject and
idea. Such is the kaleidoscopic nature of the brain of George D.
Prentice. His pathos is counter-balanced by his humor; his sub
limity is matched by his wit; the keen subtlety of his sarcasm:
finds its counterpoise in that overwhelming fountain of sentiment,
in whose transiucent depths, gems of beauty dance forever. No
proposition is too broad for his comprehension, no abstraction too
evasive, no flower of fancy too delicate, and no microcosm too
minute for his inspection. In wit he catches a joke in the very
seed, as it were, before it blossoms into a laugh.”
It is not generally known that Mr. Prentice gave our
Quaker poet, John G. Whittier, the first start in his liter-
ary career. In a recent conversation, the latter said :
GEORGE D. PRENTICE. 425
“My first real work was done when George D. Prentice was
editor of the Hartford Review ; although I had written consider-
able before, I wrote and sent him a few things and he encouraged
me, when he recommended me to take his place. The publisher
met me and I went down, and for two years I remained with the
Review.”
Mr. Prentice was a great sufferer from a disease called
‘‘chorea scriptorum,” Sometimes called the writer's cramp,
which shows itself only when the hand tries to write. For
a long time after this trouble began he was able to write
many words with the thumb pressed towards the index
finger when the pen would fly from him as if some one had
struck it.
One morning not long before his death, while suffering
in this way, Mr. Prentice composed a beautiful song, for
his faithful friend Dr. T. S. Bell, who had been his family
physician for nearly forty years. He stepped over to the
Doctor's office and asked him to write something for him,
saying, “It is for you and your wife.”
Mr. Prentice then dictated the following beautiful lines,
which were afterwards set to music by a distinguished
composer.
“We’ve shared each other’s smiles and tears,
Through years of wedded life ;
And love has blessed those fleeting years—
My own and cherished wife.
“And if at times the storm’s dark shroud
Has rested in the air,
Love's beaming sun has kissed the cloud,
And left the rainbow there.
“In all our hopes, in all our dreams,
Love is forever nigh,
A blossom in our path it seems,
A sunbeam in our sky.
426 CHARLES G. HALPINE.
“For all our joy of brightest hue,
Grows brighter in love's smile,
And there's no grief our hearts e'er knew
That love could not beguile.”
CHARLES G. HALPINE (MILES O'REILLY.)
A Young Irish Poet appears— Chuck full of Wit and
Humor—Lyrics by the Letter “ H’”—“ Haul down
the Starry Flag ’’—Sambo’s right to be kilt—Private
Miles O’Reilly settles it—Major Halpine warns Lin-
coln—A night ride with Miſes O’Reilly—“Oh ſ Chem-
*sette / the fairest yet ’’—Miles O'Reilly elected Regis-
ter of Wew York—Halpine’s unea pected Death—
Porney’s Tribute to his Memory.
N the autumn of 1854 a fine-looking young man brought
me a letter of introduction from B. P. Shillaber, of
the Boston Post. The substance of the letter gave me to
understand that the bearer was an educated young Irish-
man who had been employed on the Post and also on the
Carpet Bag. a weekly humorous paper on which both of
them had been associated. - -
The letter also stated that the bearer was not only a
brilliant writer on any subject, but a born poet and a real
genius in wit and humor.
After reading the letter I congratulated Charles G.
IIalpine, for such was his name—better known a few years
later as Miles O’Reilly—on being in possession of so much
literary talent. Young Halpine disclaimed any of the
attributes which the letter conveyed ; he thought it might
be one of Mrs. Partington’s last jokes.
Mr. Halpine, who at that time was about twenty-five
years old, handed me the MS. of some verses, which he
offered to let me have without copyright, if I would risk
an edition at my own expense. I liked the man and his
CHAPLES G. HALPIN E. 427
verses, and published a small edition of them under the
title of “Lyrics, by the letter H.”
The book was published anonymously, for the purpose,
he said, of testing the public pulse as to his poetic talent,
if he had any.
This little volume of poems was the beginning of Hal-
pine’s brilliant literary, military and political career. The
author easily found employment as an editorial writer on
the Herald, Tribune, and Times, where he was liberally
paid for his ably-written editorials. And subsequently
he was connected with several weekly semi-literary papers.
His great versatility of talent enabled him to write on
almost any subject. He was a great favorite of Horace
Greeley, and indeed for that matter, of both Henry J.
Raymond and James Gordon Bennett.
The impulsive young Irish poet on One occasion sent
the editor of the Tribune the following verses, without any
clue to the authorship :
[“The United States cutter Morris has been ordered by Presi-
dent Franklin Pierce to carry Anthony Burns from Boston to
Virginia, to be there enslaved for ever.”]
“Hail to the Stars and Stripes I
The boastful flag all hail
The tyrant trembles now,
And at the sight grows pale ;
The Old World groans in pain,
And turns her eye to see,
Beyond the Western Main,
This emblem of the Free.
“Hail to the Stripes and Stars 1
Hope beams in every ray,
And through the dungeon bars
Points out a brighter way.
The Old World sees the light
That shall her cells illume,
And, shrinking back to night,
Oppression reads her doom.
* >k >k $ * sº
428 CHARLES G. IIALPINE.
“All hail the flaunting lie
The Stals grow pale and dim—
The Stripes are bloody scars,
A lie the flaunting hymn !
It shields a pirate's deck,
It binds a man in chains,
And round the captive's neck
Its folds are bloody stains.
“Tear down the flaunting lie
Half-mast the starry flag
Insult no sunny sky
With this polluted rag
Destroy it, ye who can I
Deep sink it in the waves |
It bears a fellow-man
To groan with fellow-slaves.”
In the first volume of Horace Greeley’s “History of the
American Conflict ’’ the above song is given as a sample of
the spirit aroused by the recent United States law returning
fugitive slaves to their masters. For years Mr. Greeley was
charged with being the author of the verses, and as late
as 1872, when he ran for President, the Southern politi-
cians repeated the story that he originated the “Flaunting
Lie.”
When the war broke out in 1861, Halpine sided with the
Union army, rendering good service with both tongue and
pen, thus illustrating in his own person the apothegm “the
pen is mightier than the sword ; for although he was a
brave and efficient Federal officer, one song of his alone
was probably more effectual in inducing the Irish element
of the country to enlist in the Union army, than all the
recruiting officers in the Empire city.
It is well-known that negroes, especially the liberated
slaves, were very repugnant to Irishmen, who, as a rule,
would neither fight with a negro, or fight for his freedom.
During Major Halpine’s army life in the South, he
assumed, in his correspondence to the Northern papers, the
CHARLES G. HALPINE. 429
soubriquet of “Private Miles O’Reilly,” and was for a long
time believed to be a genuine Milesian private soldier.
It was while playing this role that he wrote the following
song, which became very popular among the Irish, and pro-
duced a revulsion in the feelings towards the contrabands,
who had been armed by the Federal authorities.
“SAMBO’S RIGHT TO BE KILT.
“Some say it is a burnin’ shame
To make the naygurs fight,
An' that the thrade o’ bein’ kilt
Belongs but to the white;
But as for me, upon my sowl,
So liberal are we here, gº
I'll let Sambo be murthered in place o' myself
On every day in the year.
On 6 very day in the year, boys,
An' every hour in the day,
The right to be kilt I’ll divide wid him,
An' divil a word I'll say.
“In battle's wild commotion,
I shouldn’t at all object,
If Sambo's body should stop a ball
That was comin’ for me direct;
An' the prod of a Southern bag'net,
So liberal are we here,
I'll resign and let Sambo take it,
On every day in the year.
On every day in the year, boys,
An' wid none of your nasty pride,
All my right in a Southern bag'net prod,
Wid Sambo I’ll divide.
“The men who object to Sambo
Should take his place an’ fight,
An' its better to have a naygur's hue,
Than a liver that's wake an’ white;
Though Sambo's black as the ace o’ spades,
His finger a trigger can pull,
430 CHARLES G. IHALPINE.
An' his eye runs straight on the barrel sights,
From under its thatch o' wool.
So hear me all, boys, darlin's
Don’t think I'm tippin' you chaff,
The right to be kilt I’ll divide wid him,
And give him the largest half /*
Major Halpine was at one time during the war quar-
tered at Washington, and while there on the staff of Gene-
ral Halleck, then Commander-in-Chief, he had occasion
frequently to call on President Lincoln. On one occasion
the following interview occurred :*
“‘There are two dangers, therefore,” I wound up by saying ;
‘the danger of deliberate political assassination, and the mere
brute violence of insanity.”
“Mr. Lincoln had heard me with a smile, his hands still
locked across his knees, and his body still rocking back and forth
—the common indication thas he was amused. -
“‘Now, as to political assassination,” he said; “do you think
the Richmond people would like to have Hanibal Hamlin here
instead of myself ; In that alternative, I have an insurance on my
life worth half the prairie-land of Illinois. And besides -—this
more gravely—‘if there were such a plot and they wanted to get
at me, no vigilance could keep them out. We are so mixed up
in our affairs, that—no matter what the system established—a con-
spiracy to assassinate, if such there were, could easily obtain a
pass to see me for any one or more of its instruments. To betray
fear of this, by placing guards, and so forth, would only be to
put the idea into their heads, and perhaps lead to the very result
it was intended to prevent. As to the crazy folks, Major, why J
must only take my chances—the worst crazy people I at present
fear being some of my own too zealous adherents. That therg
may be such dangers as you and many others have suggested to
me, is quite possible ; but I guess it wouldn't improve things
any, to publish that we were afraid of them in advance.”
Not long before Mr. Halpine's death I had occasion to
occupy a state-room with him on one of the Albany night
boats. He was in the best of health and buoyant spirits,
* “From Baked Meats of the Funeral,” by Miles O'Reilly.
CHARLES G. IIALPINE. 431
and, as always, a delightful companion. I remember that
although much fatigued after some journeying, I was very
sleepy, but sleep and rest I knew not. He was continually
bibbling over with his native Irish wit, improvising Songs
and relating laughable anecdotes.
I was not aware until that night that he was troubled
with insomnia. A few days later I was painfully startled
in reading in the morning papers the sudden and unex-
pected death of this brilliant man. The following very inter-
esting account of the Sad event was published in a bio-
graphical sketch of Halpine prefacing his poetical works,
which were edited by his friend, Robert B. Roosevelt, and
published by Harper & Bros. in 1869.
“Early in the last week of his life he had written his poem com-
memorative of the Irish Legion, and on his final Saturday he was
at the office of the Citizen until about two o'clock, in gayer humor
and more genial mood than usual, although he was invariably a
charming companion. Later he was attacked with violent pain in
the head and he had recourse to chloroform. The apothecary, by
a well intentioned but unfortunate error, gave him a diluted article
which had no effect, and which he detected as deficient in strength.
Then he sent for more, and under the delusion that it also was
weak or adulterated, while it was actually of full strength, inhaled
too much of it and became insensible. Thus, by a mere accident,
a most important life was taken away from the public at its period
of greatest usefulness. He died ere more than half his natural
term of activity had run, at the age of thirty-nine, at a period
when his faculties were in their most perfect development.”
Some of the poems in the volume referred to were taken
from his “Lyrics of the letter H.” There are a number
of omissions, however ; among others the following exquis-
ite lyric, with which the latter volume opens:
“Oh, Chemisette the fairest yet
That e'er hid bosom purer, whiter
Thou dost not know what envious woe
Thy veiling snow hath given the writer.
432 CHARLES G. HALPINE.
“So neatly frilled—so plumply filled !
And then the eyes that shine above it !
I sing—I long—nor is it wrong—
(At least in song)—dear girl to love it !
“Sweet Chemisette 1 the coral set,
To chain thy folds in gentle duty,
Fling round a glow upon the snow
To heighten so thy blushing beauty;
And ne'er before, on sea or shore,
Did coral feel a softer billow—
Nor could the gold around it rolled,
Though ten times told, deserve the pillow !
“Oh, Chemisette I below thee met,
A rosy ribbon binds her boddice ;
And in her mien is clearly seen
One half the queen, and one the goddess.
Her voice is low, how sweet its flow l—
Her upper lip disdains the under ;
Her hair is like dark waves that strike
A marble cliff and rush asunder.
“Oh I ripening grace l Oh I radiant face l
When love is love, it knows no measure l
Her hands are small, but yet can call
The power of music at their pleasure.
And as they peep from sleeves of deep
Wide guipure lace, “la mode Ramilie,”
Her fingers seem, or else I dream,
Like stamens in the bells of lilies.”
Halpine was also the author of two humorous volumes
entitled “Miles O’Reilly, his book,” and “Baked Meats of
the Funeral.”
“Miles O’Reilly” Halpine became so popular among all
classes of voters, that the year prior to his death he was
elected to the important and lucrative office of Register of
New York, by a majority of over 50,000 over the Tammany
nominee.
Colonel Forney, in his Anecdotes of Public Men, in
JOEL CHANDLER HARRIS. 433
printing the Lines of Miles O’Reilly on the Downfall of
Richmond says, “they are among the most beautiful pro-
ductions in the English language; recalling the handsome
features and royal gifts of Colonel Charles G. Halpine,
who was endeared to so many during his life and who
is still so sincerely mourned.” The following closing lines
of one of Mr. Halpine’s most beautiful poems were written
not long before his death.
“Oh! in many a night of sorrow,
When the hours have no relief,
And the darkness seems to borrow
Deeper shadows from our grief—
Then again, with memory toying,
Comes the vision of the past,
And on these our thoughts employing,
Daylight breaks on us at last.”
*=ºsºsºme
JOEL CHANDLER HARRIS.
Best Delineator of Negro Character—A Successful Writer of
African Humor—“ Uncle Remus’ not born in Africa
—Folk-lore in the Old Plantation—Squirrels, Jay-
birds, and Wood-peckers—A Printing-Office in the
Woods—General Sherman wipes it out— William H.
Seward teaches School in Georgia—Harris meets author
of Major Jones’ Courtship— Charles A. Dana and
John Bigelow— Wonderful Tar Baby Story.
Joſſ CHANDLER HARRIS has recently come to
the front as the very best delineator of Southern
negro character which the country has developed. His
wonderful “Tar Baby” and other dialectie stories, in
which the shrewd wit and sententious sayings of “Uncle
Remus” are given, have never been equaled. The negro
dialect as depicted by him being true to the very life. His
19
434 JOEL CHANDLER HARRIS.
sketches have been copied in the newspapers throughout
the country, and have been read with pleasure and delight,
especially among Southern people or those who have lived
in the South.
Mr. Harris has become a successful writer, not only of
African humor, but, as far as I have read, he pictures
equally well the life and characteristics of the poor whites
in the South. His “Teague Poteet,” recently published
in the Century, I consider the very best description of the
“Moonshiners” and other kindred characters which has
yet been written.
The following interesting item, which originated in a
Kansas City paper, has been going the rounds of the Press,
until it is believed that the statement made is literally
true :
‘‘Joel Charles Harris, the famous humorist of the Atlanta
Constitution, has had a strangely romantic career. His father
was a missionary, and it was at a small town of Booghia, on the
Southern coast of Africa, that Joel was born. He was educated
by his father and acquired a wonderful acquaintance with foreign
languages. He is an adept Sanskrit scholar, and is deeply versed
in Hebraic and Buddhist literature. The sweetly quaint legends
of Indian and Judean mythology bave found their way into his
simple Southern tales, and the spirit of his philosophy is identical
with the teachings of Moses and Buddha.”
I have had the best of opportunities of knowing that
aſ] the Africa Mr. Harris saw when he was born, was in
the State of Georgia.
On my return from a visit to Jefferson Davis, in 1880, I
stopped over in Atlanta, Georgia, to meet Mr. Harris by
appointment, having been in correspondence with him con-
cerning the publication of a volume to be made up of his
plantation stories which had appeared, from time to time,
in the Atlanta Constitution, of which paper he was an
associate editor, and through which he had, unexpectedly,
become famous by his folk-lore sketches. I found Mr.
JOEL CHANIDLER HARRIS. 435
Harris a very agreeable and intelligent gentleman, although
diffident in the extreme. Becoming much interested in my
conversations with him, I asked him to tell me something
about himself.
He told me that he was born in Eatonton, Ga., in the
year 1848, that he early had a great desire, or as he ex-
pressed it, a desperate ambition, to write something that
might appear in print. The people who lived in his
native town seemed to be very much interested in him, and
among those who lost no opportunity to manifest this feel-
ing was Mr. Joseph A. Turner, whom he met on the street.
one day, and received from him a copy of his new paper,
called The Plantation, and when he saw Mr. Turner’s
named printed on the cover it gave him a thrill of delight,
not unmixed with awe, to know that he was on friendly
terms with a real editor. The latter lived on his planta-
tion, a few miles from Eatonton, adjoining that of his
brother, W. W. Turner. (With this gentleman I was
already acquainted, having formerly published a novel
whitten by him called “Jack Hopeton and His Friends,”
and a very clever book it was )
The Turner plantations were known as “Turnwold,”
and there, in 1862, Mr. Joseph A. Turner began the pnb-
lication of the only real country paper that young Harris
had ever seen, then or since, as he told me. It was called
The Countryman, and were modeled, so the prospectus set
forth, after The Rambler, Spectator, and other famous
papers. The printing-office was in the woods, and the
squirrels, the jay-birds and the woodpeckers had a lively
time cracking nuts and pecking away on the roof.
Mr. Harris said the starting of The Countryman was,
a very fortunate thing for him, for in that paper he
chanced to see an advertisement for a boy to learn the
printing trade, which he lost no time in answering in
person and was engaged at once as an apprentice.
He learned very readily to set type, but he said that
was not all he learned, as the Turner Brothers owned two
436 JOEL CHANDLER HARRIS.
of the finest private libraries in the South, containing
about four thousand volumes, and they were open to him
every night. He used to read by a lightwood knot file
until long after all others had gone to bed.
Mr. Harris said he was not sure that the opportunities
afforded him for reading did him as much good as his
associations with the simple-minded country people. He
became also much interested in the negroes, and on the
Turner plantations he heard the legends and folk lore
from the lips of the negroes themselves, which are depicted
in the “Sayings of Uncle Remus.”
All the education that Mr. Harris has received was in
that little country printing-office in the woods, and read-
ing the books from the Turner libraries.
He often made hunting excursions when a youngster
of sixteen, with some of the country people among the
mountains in the adjoining counties, which he enjoyed
very much.
But all of this experience was put an end to by General
Sherman, who marched through Eatonton on his way to
Savannah, wiping out the Turners’ mansions, printing-
office and all.
I was much interested to learn from Mr. Harris that
William H. Seward, when a young man, taught school on
the Turner plantation. I was already aware that when Mr.
Seward was about eighteen years of age he left Union Col-
lege to teach in the South.
George E. Baker, in his interesting Memoirs of Wik-
Hiam H. Seward, relates the following incident :
“In the year 1819, young Seward, who was then in the senior
class and in the eighteenth year of his age, withdrew from college
for about a year, passing six months of the time as a teacher at
the south. The spectacle of slavery could not fail to make a deep
impression on his mind. He witnessed scenes which aroused him
to reflection on the subject and produced the hostility to every
form of oppression which has since become ingrained in his char-
acter. The following is one of the many incidents which occur-
JOEL CHANDLER HARRIS. 437
red to him during his residence there. While traveling in the
interior of the State, he approached a stream spanned by a dilapi-
dated bridge that had become almost impassable. He forded the
river with no little difficulty and met on the opposite side a neglo
woman with an old, blind and worn-out horse, bearing a bag of
corn to the mill. The poor slave was in tears and manifested great
distress of mind. She was afraid to venture on the bridge, aud
the stream seemed too lapid and violent for the strength of her
horse. She was reluctant to return to her master without fulfill-
ing her errand, being fearful of punishment. The heart of the
young Northerner was moved. He went to her assistance and
attempted to lead the horse across the bridge, but the wretched
beast was not equal to the effort. He made a false step, falling
partly through became wedged in among the plank and timber.
Seward tried in vain to extricate him; despairing of success, he
mounted his own horse and rode to the master's residence and
informed him of the accident and attempted to excuse the slave.
In return for his kindness he was met with a volley of impreca-
tions on himself, the slave, the horse, the bridge and all parties
and things concerned. His disgust at this adventure taught him
a lesson of wisdom which he never forgot.”
Soon after the close of the war, young Harris went to
Savannah, where he became associate editor of the Savan-
7tah News ; the editor in chief of which was the late Col-
onel W. T. Thompson, author of “Major Jones’ Court-
ship ’’ and other humorous stories. Mr. Thompson proved
a good friend, and his early encouragement was of great
assistance in the beginning of the young writer’s editorial
and literary career.
Mr. Harris told me that the beginning of the “Uncle
Remus * stories was accidental ; he wrote out two or three
of them as an experiment, they becoming, much to his
Surpriso, immensely popular.
It did not take me long to arrange with Mr. Harris for
the publication of the volume, “Uncle Remus : His Songs
and Sayings, the Folk-Lore of the Old Plantation.” It was
appropriately illustrated by Church and Moser, and pub-
438 JOEL (HANDLER IIARRIS.
lished during the year 1881, by D. Appleton & Co., the
author introducing the book as follows:
“I am advised by my publishers that this book is to be in-
cluded in their catalogue of humorous publications, and their
friendly warning gives me an opportunity to say that however
humorous it may be in effect, its intention is perfectly serious;
and, even if it were otherwise, it seems to me that a volume writ-
ten wholly in dialect must have its solemn, not to say melancholy
features. With respect to the “Folk-Lore ” series, my pur-
pose has been to preserve the legends themselves in their original
simplicity and to wed them permanently to the quaint dialect—if
indeed it can be called dialect—through the medium of which
they have become a part of the domestic history of every Southern
family; and I have endeavored to give to the whole a genuine
flavor of the old plantation.”
A large sale of “Uncle Remus” was immediately
assured. Charles A. Dana, one day while calling at Apple-
ton’s, said to me, “Derby, you have made a great hit.” I
asked him in what way ? He answered, “‘Uncle Remus ;’
it will not only have a large Sale, but an enduring sale.”
A few days later, Mr. John Bigelow dropped in, and made
substantially the same remarks, adding : “It will live as
long as ‘AEsop's Fables.’” The prophetic words of these
well-known critics have thus far proved true. Mr. Harris
writes me that he has a new volume in the press of James
R. Osgood & Co., his present publishers, entitled “Mingo,
and Other Sketches in Black and White,” which will be
looked for with much interest by those who have enjoyed
“Uncle Remus and His Sayings.”
The following Tar-Baby story is taken from “Uncle
Remus’ Folk-Lore of the Old Plantation.”
[To the readers unacquainted with Uncle Remus's Sto-
ries, it may be well to explain that they are supposed to be
told to a little boy on a Southern plantation before the
war, by an old family servant.]
“Didn't the fox never catch the rabbit, Uncle Remus 3" asked
the little boy the next evening.
JOEL CHANIDI, ER HARRIS. 439
“He come mighty nigh it, honey, sho's you bawn—Brer Fox
did. One day atter Brer Rabbit fool 'im wid dat calamus root,
Brer Fox went ter wuk en got 'im some tar, en mix it wid some
turkentine, en fix up a contrapshun wat he call a Tar-Baby, en he
tuck dish yer Tar-Baby en he sot 'er in de big road, en den he lay
off in de bushes for ter see wat de news wuz gwineter be. En he
didn’t hatter wait long, nudder, kaze bimeby here come Brer
Rabbit pacin’ down de road—lippity-clippity, clippity-lippity—
dez ez sassy ez a jay-bird. Brer Fox, he lay low. Brer Rabbit
come prancin' 'long twel he spy de Tar-Baby, en den he fotch up
on his behime legs like he wuz 'stonished. De Tar-Baby, she Sot
dar, she did, en Brer Fox, he lay low.
“‘Mawnin'!' sez Brer Rabbit, sezee—‘nice wedder dis maw-
nin'” sezee.
“Tar-Baby ain’t sayin’ nuthin', en Brer Fox, he lay low.
“‘How duz yo” sym’tums seem ter segashuate 8' sez Brer Rab-
bit, sezee.
“Brer Fox, he wink his eye slow, en lay low, en de Tar-Baby,
she ain't sayin’ nuthin'.
“‘How you come on, den 2 Is you deaf º' sez Brer Rabbit,
sezee. Keze if you is, I kin holler louder,’ sezee.
“Tar-Baby stay still, en Brer Fox, he lay low.
“‘Youer stuck up, dat's w'at you is,” says Brer Rabbit, sezee,
‘en I'm gwinter kyore you, dat’s w'at I’m a gwineter do,” sezee.
“Brer Fox, he sorter chuckle in his stummuck, he did, but
Tar-Baby ain’t sayin’ nuthin'.
“‘I’m gwineter larn you howter talk ter’spectiubble fokes ef
hit's de las’ ack,” sez Brer Rabbit, sezee. “Ef you don’t take off
dat hat en tell me howdy, I’m gwineter bus' you wide open,”
SéZČe.
“Tar-Baby stay still, en Brer Fox, he lay low.
“Brer Rabbit keep on axin' 'im, en de Tar-Baby, she keep on
sayin’ nuthin', twel present’y Brer Rabbit draw back wid his fis’,
he did, en blip he tuck 'er side er de head. Right dar's where he
broke his merlasses jug. His fis' stuck, en he can’t pull loose.
De tar hilt ’im. But Tar Baby, she stay still, en Brer Fox, he lay
low.
“‘Ef you don't lemme loose, I'll knock you agin,’ sez Brer
Rabbit, Sezee, en wid dat he fotch 'er a wipe wid de udder han’,
en dat stuck. Tar-Baby, she ain't sayin’ nuthin', en Brer Fox, he
lay low.
440 JOEL CHANDLER HARRIS.
“‘Tu'n me loose, fol I kick de natal stuffin' outen you,” sez
Brer Rabbit, sezee, but de Tar-Baby, she ain't sayin’ nuthin'. She
des hilt on, en den Brer Rabbit lose de use er his feet in de same
way. Brer Fox, he lay low. Den Brer IRabbit squall out dat ef
de Tar-Baby don't tu'n 'im loose he butt 'er cranksided. En den
he butted, en his head got stuck. Den Brer Fox, he sa’ntered
fort', lookin’ des ez innercent ez wunner yo' mammy's mockin'-
birds.
“‘Howdy, Brer Rabbit,” sez Brer Fox, sezee. “You look sorter
stuck up dis mawnin’,” Sezee, en den he rolled on de groun', en
laft twel he couldn’t laff no mo’. ‘I speck you'll take dinner wid
me dis time, Brer ſtabbit. I done laid in some calamus root, en I
ain't gwineter take no skuse,” sez Brer Fox, sezee.”
Here Uncle Remus paused, and drew a two-pound yam out of
the ashes.
“Did the fox eat the rabbit 8" asked the little boy to whom the
story had been told.
“Dat's all de fur de tale goes,” replied the old man. “He
mout, en den agin he moutent. Some say Jedge B'ar come 'long
en loosed 'im—some say he didn't. I hear Miss Sally callin'. You
better run 'long.”
XXVI.
CHARLES SCRIBNER. A. C. ARMSTRONG. .
Baker & Scribner embark in the Book Buszness—The old
JBrick Church and Times Building—Andrew Arm-
strong as a young man — Wonderful Success of
Beadley’s Books—AW. P. Willis’ Queer Book Titles—
Ik Marvel a Successful Author—A $100,000 Under-
taking—Death of Charles Scribner—Marion Harland's
“Common Sense.”—Death of Blair Scribner and
JEdward Seymour—Encyclopedia Britannica—Five
JMillion Dollars’ Worth Sold—Charles Scribner's Sons.
EITHER member of the firm of Baker & Scribner had
any experience in the book business, when they estab-
lished themselves as publishers, in the year 1846.
Having purchased the entire stock of John S. Taylor,
whose publications were chiefly of a religious nature, they
located themselves in the rear of Rev. Dr. Gardner Spring's
church, between Park Row and Nassau Street, where the
New York Times building now stands.
Mr. Baker had been in the dry-goods business, and Mr.
Scribner a law student, having recently graduated at
Princeton.
The congenial literary tastes of these gentlemen led them
to embark in this new field of enterprise, and thus laid the
foundation of a house which soon secured and has since re-
tained a position in book publishing which has not been
excelled by more than two or three other great houses in
this country.
Soon after their establishment in business, the new firm
[441]
442 CHARLES SCRIBNER.
secured the services of Andrew C. Armstrong, a young man
who had had experience while with James A. Sparks, then
a publisher of church books and also of the Churchman,
which was then edited by the Rev. Dr. Seabury, a sturdy
advocate of the so-called Puseyite books, then being pub-
lished by D. Appleton & Co., and which were attracting
much attention in the religious world.
Soon after young Armstrong became connected with the
house, Baker & Scribner published “Napoleon and his
Marshals,” by J. T. Headley, a book which immediately
became immensely popular. It was soon followed by its .
counterpart in “Washington and his Generals,” and after
that ‘’ The Sacred Mountains.” Of these three works, not-
withstanding they were held very close in the price to book-
Sellers, the marvelous sale of more than a quarter of a million
volumes was made within two years from the date of the
publication. Mr. Headley was a brilliant writer, and
Napoleon, at that time, was all the rage. The “ Sacred
Mountains' was even recommended to congregations by
clergymen from their pulpits. The total sales have ex-
ceeded half a million volumes. º
N. P. Willis was then in the height of his fame, and
was naturally led to Baker & Scribner for his publishers,
as young Armstrong had recently graduated from the
Home Journal office. Although this was nearly forty years
ago, Mr. Armstrong remembers very well the experience of
the house in arranging with Mr. Willis for a new uniform
edition of his prose works, with the attractive and taking
titles of “People I have Met,” “Life Here and There,”
“Famous Places and Persons,” “Letters from Under a
Bridge,” “Out-doors at Idlewild,” &c.
About this time Baker & Scribner arranged with
Donald G. Mitchell (“Ik Marvel ”) to publish his first
work, entitled “The Battle Summer,” being the author’s
personal experience of the Revolution in Paris in 1848.
This book was almost a total failure. His next work,
“Reveries of a Bachelor,” was received with great favor by
&
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CHARLES SCRIBNER. 443
the critics and reading community. It was soon followed
by “Dream Life.” Both of these volumes became very
popular and had a great sale at the time, and still continue
to sell, new and uniform editions having recently been pub-
lished. Mr. Mitchell’s writings are now placed among the
classic publications of the day.
When the late Henry Kernot commenced business in
Broadway, near Bleecker Street, Mr. Mitchell arranged
with him as the up-town publisher (while Stringer & Towns-
end, then occupying the store under Barnum’s Museum,
were the down-town publishers), of a weekly brochure,
entitled The Lorgnette, or Studies of the Town, under the
nom de plume of “John Simon,” of which the following
was the prospectus :
“This is a work for the express entertainment of all spinsters
who wish husbands; all belles who admire their own charms: all
beaux who are captivated with their own portraits; all old ladies
who wish to be young; all authors studious of their own works;
all fashionists in love with their own position; all misses eager to
be seen; all rich men who are lovers of their money; all bache-
lors looking for a fortune; all poets infatuated with their powers;
aIl critics confident of their taste; and all sensible men who are
content to be honest.”
For nearly an entire year the authorship by Mr.
Mitchell was unknown, although many other litterateurs
were named as the editor of this brilliant weekly without
denying the charge.
Mr. Baker died in the year 1850. Mr. Scribner con-
ducted the business for sometime thereafter in his own
Ila, Iſle.
About this time the late Doctor J. G. Holland brought
to Mr. Scribner a letter of introduction from Henry Ward
Beecher, and also a manuscript volume entitled “Timothy
Titcomb's Letters to Young People, Single or Married.”
Doctor Holland frankly told Mr. Scribner that the book
had already been declined by Phillips, Sampson & Co., of
Boston, and by Derby & Jackson, in New York. In ex-
444 CH ARLES SCT-IBN ER.
planation of this it is fair to say that I examined the
manuscript personally and readily saw its Salable qualitics,
but having just closed a contract with Henry Ward
Beecher for his “Lectures to Young Men’’ I deemed it
unwise to publish a book of similar character at that time.
Like Mr. Mitchell’s, Doctor Holland’s first book, “The
Bay Path,” was a failure. This did not deter Mr. Scrib-
ner’s prompt acceptance of the manuscript of “Timothy
Titcomb” for publication. The book immediately capti-
wated the critics and public, and the large sale of more than
one hundred thousand copies soon followed. His next
volume was a poem entitled “Bitter-swect,” soon followed
by “Katrina” and “Mistress of the Manse,” all of which
sold more largely even than ‘‘Timothy Titcomb's Letters.”
The next important publication of Mr. Scribner was an
American edition of Lange's Great Commentary of the
Bible. This was an immense undertaking, requiring an out-
lay of nearly one hundred thousand dollars to produce the
twenty-five large volumes which completed the work.
Lange's Commentary is edited by Rev. Dr. Phillip Schaff
and has proved a great commercial success. About this
time, Mr. Armstrong, who had been with Mr. Scribner, as
before stated, until 1847, was admitted into the firm.
Mr. Charles Scribner died in 1871, having been in active
business for a quarter of a century. His unexpected death
while traveling in Europe was much regretted by the book-
selling fraternity. I had known and respected him, as
well as Mr. Baker, from the time he commenced business.
Mr. Scribner seemed to know by intuition the merits of a
good book. He was conscientious in the highest degree in
giving his imprint to any book published by his house.
After his death the firm was re-organized as Scribner,
Armstrong & Co.
The first great hit of the new firm was a book by
Marion Harland, entitled “Common Sense in the House-
hold.” The author had suggested such a work to her pub-
lisher G. W. Carleton, who did not encourage her in the
&
CHARLES SCRIBNER. 445
undertaking ; but, nothing daunted, she set to work, pre-
pared the MS. and offered it to Scribner, Armstrong & Co.
They accepted it, not expecting, however, to realize more
than a moderate profit. Both author and publishers were
greatly surprised, as the sale reached the extraordinary
figure of nearly 200,000 copies.
Mr. Armstrong retired from the firm in 1878, and since
that period has conducted a successful publishing business
under the name of A. C. Armstrong & Son.
The firm was again re-organized under the style of
Charles Scribner’s Sons, Mr. Scribner’s eldest son, Blair
Scribner, becoming the head. The house was again to
suffer a great loss in the death of this young man, who bid
fair to worthily fill the vacant place left by his father.
His death and that of Mr. Edward Seymour, who had
recently been admitted as a partner, occasioned much sorrow
and regret among all who knew the worth of these intelli-
gent and enterprising gentlemen.
A younger brother, Charles Scribner, now continues the
large business of this concern, under the same style as that
of his predecessors.
The most notable among the publications of the present
firm, is “The Encyclopedia Britannica,” which in one sense
is the greatest #, It may be well
called the cyclopedia for the specialist, treating as it does,
exhaustively, on science, philosophy, history, literature and
biography, an exceptional feature of the last subject being
the absence of any biographical notice of living persons,
no matter how important such a personage may be.
Unlike the other large publishing houses, that founded
by Charles Scribner has never printed or bound a single
volume of its own publications, having no printing-office
or bindery connected with the establishment. This is an
advantage in many respects, as the attention of the house
if not diverted into other channels than that of the publi-
cation of their own books.
XXVII.
THE BEECHER FAMILY.
Lyman Beecher and his Gifted Children—Remarkable
family of Authors—Sia: Sermons on Intemperance—
The aged Pastor's Return—A young Wife at seventy-
five—Catherine Beecher as an Author— Gayest, kindest
and merriest of Women—Tragic Death of her Lover—
JHer success as a Teacher— Yankee Girls go West to
get married—Edward Beecher as an Author— We're
going to give you Hell to-morrow—A religious and
commercial standpoint—George Beecher’s wonderful
Memory—How Henry Ward was cheated—Tragic
JDeath of George Beecher.
THIRTY years ago a writer in the North American
Jeeview said, “The Beecher family almost constitute
a genus by themselves. The same type of mind and style º
is reproduced in the writings of the venerable father and
his singularly gifted children.”
Nearly three decades have passed since the above asser-
tion was made, and many additional volumes have been
given to the world, written by this remarkable family of
authors. There is no record of any such distinction in
letters in this country, or indeed in the world.
I may be allowed to talk of if not for the Beecher
family, as authors of books, inasmuch as I have been the
publisher of works written by at least five of them.
Although I had met and conversed occasionally with the
venerable founder of the family, the late Rev. Lyman
Beecher, D.D., I was familiar with but one of his books,
[446]
THE BEECHER FAMILY. 4.17
and that was his “Six Sermons on Intermperance,” the elo-
quence of which has never been equalled in any discourses
on that subject. “Beecher on Intemperance” was a
familiar volume in book-stores half a century ago.
In Henry Ward Beecher’s “Star Papers,” under the
title of the “Aged Pastor’s Return,” he gives the follow-
ing interesting account of his visit to his native place,
Litchfield, Connecticut, with his venerable father, who had
been absent from his former parish for nearly forty years :
“The next day it was sent out far and wide that Dr. Beecher
was in town. Though the great body of his former parishioners
had passed away, some remained that were old when he preached
here. As we passed the graveyard coming into town, my father,
pointing to it said, ‘There is the congregation to which I preached
when I was here.” Silent now and without memory. The uncon-
scious assembly gave no greeting as we passed, but kept their
long Sabbath without bell or tithing-man l But some yet
remained alive. Men now of fifty years were boys when my father
left. Those who blushed to think of love and husband then, now
rocked their grandchildren's cradle ! Those who were then in
the prime of middle life were now venerable. And, indeed,
Litchfield is the last place in which one should settle who desires
to go early to his rest. It seems difficult to obtain release from
earth on this clear hill-top. Men are counted very young at fifty
and sound at seventy-five, and not very old at eighty. One old
man, near ninety, modestly told us that his mind had been affected
by a shock ; but surely he had more wit and sprightliness, after
all his loss, than most men have to begin with. He was pecu-
liarly thankful that while he was too old to do much himself, God
had been pleased to give him a young wife. She was only seventy-
five, he informed us.
“A man past eighty, going through the streets to visit all the
fathers and mothers in Israel, who had been young in his ministry
there, was a scene not a little memorable.
‘‘ One patriarch, in his ninety-ninth year, when his former
pastor came into the room, spoke not a word, but rose up and
putting his trembling arms about his neck, burst into tears. Did
he seein that moment, as by the opening of a door, all the way he
had walked till that hour, and all the companions who had
448 THE BEECHIER FAMILY.
walked with him ? And did he feel, standing by the venerable
pastor, two old men, how few there were that yet kept step with
him upon the bleak way of life 2
“Passing his own former home, my father broke out with a
swing of his arm, ‘Oh, how many thoughts and associations hang
about that place 1 They fill the air like swarms of bees, and yet
I cannot speak to one of them.”
“The particular errand which brought us to Litchfield was a
lecture. A new organ was to be bought. All Litchfield boys
were permitted to help. Our contribution was asked in the
shape of a lecture, and it was soon done. Then the aged pastor
came forward. A crowd of old and young gathered at the pulpit
stairs to grasp the hand that had baptized them, or had broken to
them the bread of life. It was a scene of few words. One
woman gave her name, but was not recognized in her married
name. She then mentioned her maiden name. That touched a
hidden spring. Both burst into tears but spoke no words. The
history came up instantly before both, but silently, which had
occasioned the preaching of those ‘Six Sermons upon Intemper-
ance.” That volume is in every land on earth, and in many lan-
guages. It is preaching and working with unwasting vigor.
Those that read it know only that it is a cry and pleading that
few men can hear without deep feeling. But not mally know
that it was a cry of love, the utter effort of a heart of love to save
a dear friend imperilled, or two friends, rather closely related.”
Catherine E. Beecher, the eldest child of Lyman
Beecher, was the author of no less than ten different works
published by Harper & Bros. The most popular of these
was “Domestic Economy” and “ Domestic Receipts.”
The annual income from her copyrights enabled her to
exercise those educational charities for which she was
noted. Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, in a recent interesting
interview, said to me :
“My sister Catherine was one of the gayest, kindest
and merriest of women in early life, until the loss of Pro-
fessor Fisher, of Yale College, to whom she was engaged
at the time he was wrecked off the coast of Ireland in the
ship Albion. His tragic end nearly killed her. She used
to be in floods of grief. It nearly upset her faith. Finally,
THE BEECHER FAMILY. 449
she began to feel that her life must be saved by attempting
to do good. This resolution was the means of her going to
teach. She founded the celebrated Hartford Female
Seminary. For all sports and fun, and games and frolics.
writing snatches of poetry and everything of that kind, she
was as finely equipped as any person I ever knew in my
life. She was very industrious, always busy and very faith-
ful, and she was a companion to her older scholars and one
of the merriest of the merry. There was nothing on earth
more delightful and happy than the relations she bore to
her upper classes in school.
There was some theological question up at one time at
Andover, and Dr. Leonard Woods, one of the professors,
had made some statements, which Catherine reviewed and
published it anonymously in one of the magazines. It was
so vigorous that Dr. Woods thought he had found an an-
tagonist worthy of his steel, and elaborately answered it.
Catherine replied, and he answered that, and then, to his
infinite disgust, he found his opponent was a woman, and
he dropped his pen, for at that time people did not think
women were worth much as controversialists.
Catherine afterwards became eminently practical. After
leaving her school she devoted herself to establishing nor-
mal schools in the West. She was very much interested in
sending classes of teachers to the Western States through
Governor Slade of Vermont. Some ridiculed the plan
by saying they never taught a year, as they were all very
soon married off. Governor Slade’s reply was ‘ that is the
best thing about it. You will find every lawyer, physician
and professor all through the West will select one of these
educated Yankee girls. Then when any enterprise requir-
ing public spirit is started, you will find every man who
has married one of these Yankee school-ma’ams will become
an enthusiastic advocate of it.”
All her life long Catherine dreaded pain, and it pleased
God to let her go to sleep without consciousness of feeble-
ness and to wake up in Heaven.”
450 THE BEEC HER FAMILY.
The last time I met Miss Beecher was during her visit
to the South at Aiken in 1870. She was then planning, in
connection with the late George Merriam, the organizing
of outdoor schools to educate young ladies in botany and
floriculture, in which undertaking she was much interested.
Rev. Edward Beecher, D.D., is the author of several
works upon theological subjects, the most prominent of
which are the “Conflict of Ages’ and the “Concord of
Ages,” the latter having been published by my firm in 1860.
His latest work, entitled “Future Retribution,” was
published by the Appletons. A friend, who was con-
nected with the publishers, meeting Rev. Henry Ward,
one day said : ‘‘We’.e going to give you hell to-morrow,
Mr. Beecher.” The Plymouth pastor looked at the speaker
in astonishment, and asked, “What’s up now P’’ ‘‘Oh,”
replied his friend, “I refer to your brother Edward’s book
on “Future Retribution,’ which the Appletons publish
to-morrow.” Mr. Beecher said, “You are getting blas-
phemous.” His friend replied, “I am only following your
pulpit remarks made some years ago.” “But,” said Mr.
Beecher laughingly, “I used them from a religious stand-
point.” “And,” replied the friend, “I used mine from a
commercial standpoint.”
In a recent conversation with the Plymouth pastor about
the several members of his family, he spoke as follows of
his brother, Rev. George Beecher :
“The first year or two of my preaching, I did not enjoy
it. At one time my brother George came to Lawrence-
burgh to preach for the communion season, which lasted
for a week. We preached alternately. When George
preached the first sermon, I came home and said to my
wife : ‘I never felt as much indisposition to go into the
pulpit again as I do now.” But I struggled against it.
The next night I preached, and George came home and
said to his wife : “Well, Sarah, since I have heard Henry
preach I feel as if I had not been called to the ministry.”
“If George had lived he would have been one of the ablest
HARRIET BEECHER STOWE. 451
of the family. He was the next oldest brother to me. He was
naturally very high-strung, of very fine fibre, and in intense
sympathy with all natural sciences. He had a wonderful
memory. He could repeat the Bible from beginning to
end as thoroughly as I cannot. I have heard him give a
sermon on the character of God, which consisted of texts
strung together from the beginning of the Bible to the end,
which such wonderful facility, I never heard the like
before,
“The fact is, I was cheated when I was born. Hattie
Stowe and George took all the memory and left me without
any. I do not dare to lead in the Lord’s Prayer. I couldn't
repeat correctly one commandment from beginning to end.
I cannot repeat a verse of any hymn in the English
language. They could repeat everything they had ever read.
George grew sweeter, deeper and more thoroughly Christ-
like in his nature. He was very fond of flowers and garden-
ing, and had, at Chillicothe, where he was settled, a
charrning garden. He had some cherry trees he was de-
sirous of testing ; on the day of the tragedy, he returned
from market and found the robins were at his cherries. He
took his double-barreled gun with the intention, we suppose,
of shooting them, but never lived to tell what he did. He
had a bad habit of blowing the smoke out of his gun,
and we supposed he undertook to do that, and hit the
trigger and the gun discharged, the whole of the contents
passing through his brain. I had gone out to deliver a
lecture before the Jacksonville college, and my wife, my
cousin and my daughter, Hattie, who was then a baby,
were with me. We were on our way home, and had crossed
the State line of Illinois, and got into Indiana, and were
singing and having a very lively time, when we met old
Daniel Yandes, a Pennsylvania Dutchman whom we knew.
After shaking hands with us in his long-armed way, he
said, ‘ I suppose you have heard the news P’ ‘No,” said
I, ‘what is it P’ ‘Why, your brother George has killed
himself l’” We were all struck so dumb we could not ask
452 TFIE BEECTIER FAMILY.
a question. We started right off, and there wasn’t one
word spoke in the carriage all the way home. The manner
in which he said it led me to suppose that George had de-
liberately committed suicide. It was not until we got
home that we learned what the facts were. The relief was
So great that it almost took away the sting of his death.
I have often had the curiosity to know how George would
have met all the changes that have taken place from that
day to this.”
HARRIET BEECHER STOWE.
Harriet Beecher Stowe's fame as an Author—Immense Sale
of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin *-Its Publication in all
Janguages—Magnificent Testimonial to its Author—
“ Uncle Tom was given to me.”—“I will have some
supper’—Archbishop Whateley, Gladstone and Dean
Alford–They praise “ The Minister’s Wooing ”—
Professor Stowe an Author.
THIS most famous writer of the Beecher family, and
author of the most celebrated work of fiction ever
published in America or indeed in the world during the
present century, first became well known as an author in
1852, when the world-renowned “Uncle Tom’s Cabin ‘’
first appeared as a serial in the National Era, an anti-
slavery paper then published in Washington.
It was afterwards issued in two volumes in book form
by John P. Jewett & Co. The sale of nearly a half million
of copies in this country alone in five years, is without a
parallel ; this was more than thirty years ago, and its sale
has continued unabated, many thousands being sold annu-
ally. That the interest in the story of Uncle Tom does not
readily die out, is manifested by the continual representa-
tions in the theatres, for which it has often been drama-
tized. The sale of “Uncle Tom's Cabin’” in foreign
EIARRIET BEECHER STOWIE. 453
countries is thus graphically described in a long article
published in the Edinburgh Review, of April, 1855.
“The first London edition was published in May, 1852, and
was not large ; for the European popularity of a picture of negro
life was doubted. But in the following September the London
publishers furnished to one house 10,000 copies per day for about
four weeks, and had to employ 1,000 persons in preparing copies
to supply the general demand. We cannot follow it beyond
1852 ; but at that time, more than a million copies had been sold
in England, probably ten times as many as have been sold of any
other work, except the Bible and Prayer Book. In France,
“Uncle Tom ' still covers the shop-windows of the Boulevards,
and one publisher alone, Eustance Barba, has sent out five
different editions in different fol ms. Before the end of 1852, it
had been translated into Italian, Swedish, Danish, Dutch, Flem-
ish, German, Polish and Magyar. There are two different Dutch
and twelve different German translations, and the Italian transla-
tion enjoys the honor of the Pope's prohibition. It has been
dramatized in twenty different forms and acted in every capital in
Europe and in the free States of America.”
The sales abroad have been so large that they cannot be
computed, and on them no copyright returns have ever
been received by the author. She has, however, something
which she values more than copyright, and that is, in addi-
tion to the place assigned her in English literature by the
most eminent critics in the world, the letters and addresses
which she has received from foreign states, cities and
towns as noted below.
The following statement appears in a bibliographical
account prefixed to a late edition of “Uncle Tom's
Cabin,” published by Houghton, Mifflin & Co.
“The next step in the history of “Uncle Tom ' was a
meeting at Stafford House, when Lord Shaftesbury recom-
mended to the women of England, the sending of an
‘ affectionate and Christian address to the women of
America.’ This address, composed by Lord Shaftesbury,
was taken in hand for signatures by energetic canvassers
454 BIARRIET BEECHIER STOWE.
in all parts of England, and also among resident English
on the Continent. The demand for signatures went as
far as the City of Jerusalem. When they were all col-
lected, the document was forwarded to the care of Mrs.
Stowe in America, with a letter from Lord Carlisle, re-
commending it to her to be presented to the ladies of
America in such way as she should see fit.
“It was exhibited first at the Boston Anti-Slavery fair
and now remains in its solid oak case in Mrs. Stowe’s pos-
session, a lasting monument of the feeling called forth by
“Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” It is in twenty-six thick folio vol-
umes, solidly bound in morocco with the American eagle
on each. On the first page of the first volume is the ad-
dress beautifully illuminated on wellum, and following, the
subscriber’s names, filling the volumes. There are five
hundred and sixty-two thousand four hundred and forty-
eight names of women of every rank of life, from the near-
est in rank to the throne of England to the wives and
daughters of the humblest artisan and laborer.”
During a recent visit to Mrs. Stowe at her beautiful
Hartford home, I was favored with an opportunity to ex-
amine the treasures above referred to. I was also both
interested and amazed to see the different editions of Uncle
Tom’s Cabin. Besides the thirty-five different editions
of that work in London and Edinburgh, there were nine-
teen translations in different languages, in which Uncle
Tom appears under the following curious titles. It is called
in French, “La Case de l'Oncle Tom ;” in German,
“Oncle Tom's Hütte ; ” in Danish, “Onkel Tomas; ” in
Dutch, “De Negerhut ; ” in Flemish, “De hut van Onkel
Tom ; ” in Hungarian, “Tama’s Batya ; ” in Italian, “La
Capanna dello Zio Tommaso ; ” in Polish, “ Chata Wuja
Tomasza; ” in Portugese, “A Cabana do Pai Thomaz ; ”
in Spanish, “La Cabana del Tio Tomas; ” in Russian,
“ Khizhina dyadi Toma; ” in Swedish, “Onkel Tom’s
Stuga.”
Blackwood’s Magazine, in an article of more than
HARRIET BEECHER STOWE. 455
thirty pages, devoted to the examination of the literary
merits of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” viewing it solely as a work
of art, thus summed up its opinion of the author :
“Mrs. Stowe is unquestionably a woman of genius, ard that is
a word we always use charily, regarding genius as a thing per Se
different from talent, in its highest developinent, altogether, and
in kind. Quickness, shrewdness, energy, intensity, may and fre-
quently do accompany, but do not constitute genius. Its divine
spark is the direct and special gift of God ; we cannot completely
analyze it, though we may detect its presence and the nature of
many of its attributes, by its action; and the skill of high criticism
is requisite in order to distinguish betweenthe feats of genius and
the operation of talent. Now, we imagine that no person of genius
can read Uncle Tom's Cabin and not feel in glowing contact with
genius—generally gentle and tender, but capable of rising with
its theme into very high regions of dramatic power. This Mrs.
Stowe has done several times in the work before us—exhibiting a
passion, an intensity, a subtle delicacy of perception, a melting
tenderness, which are as far out of reach of mere talent, however
well trained and experienced, as the prismatic colors are out of
reach of the born blind. But the genius of Mrs. Stowe is of that
kind which instinctively addresses itself to the affections ; and
though most at home with the gentler, it can be yet fearlessly
familiar with the fiercest passions which can agitate and rend the
human breast. With the one she can exhibit an exquisite tender-
mess and sympathy ; watching the other, however, with stern but
calm scrutiny and delineating both with a truth and simplicity in
the one case touching, in the other really terrible.”
Mrs. Stowe once said to me, while speaking of her
brother, “Henry wrote me he wouldn’t read Uncle Tom's
Cabin, but he couldn’t help it.’ And said he, “If you ever
write such another book, I will kill you, if I have to go
around the world to find you. You have taken more out
of me than a whole year of preaching I wish that all the
slaveholders in the South and all the Northern sympathiz-
ers with them were shut up for a century and obliged to
read Uncle Tom's Cabin.’ I will say this for Henry. I
456 HARRIET BEECHER STOWE.
never heard him speak a cross word in all my life. I have
been very intimate with him and have seen him under very
trying circumstances. He is the sweetest tempered person,
although he is my brother ; he is a mighty fellow and all
feeling. When he is angry he doesn't say anything; he
shuts his mouth and sits still. Henry doesn’t look like the
traditional idea of the saints, but he is one. Those saints
were generally rolling up their eyes and wearing long faces.
He doesn’t do anything of that kind. He jokes and says
good-natured things. I think good-nature is a virtue. I
consider that God loves good-natured people.”
At the garden party given in honor of Mrs. Stowe to
commemorate her seventieth birthday, in June, 1882, I had
the pleasure of hearing Oliver Wendell Holmes refer to these
different editions of Uncle Tom’s Cabin in foreign langu-
ages, in the following felicitous lines: . .
“If every tongue that speaks her praise,
For whom I shape my tinkling phrase,
Were summoned to the table,
The vocal chorus that would meet,
Of mingled accents, harsh or sweet,
From every land and tribe, would beat
The polyglots of Babel.
“Briton and Frenchman, Swede and Dane,
Turk, Spaniard, Tartar of Ukraine,
Hidalgo, Cossack, Cadi,
IIigh Dutchman and Low Dutchman too,
The Russian serf, the Polish Jew,
Arab, Armenian and Mant choo,
Would shout, “We know the lady I'"
Mr. Beecher, on the occasion referred to above, in his
eloquent and feeling remarks, said : . .
“I don't know whether it is in good taste for any other mem-
ber of my father's family to join in the laudation of Mrs. Stowe,
but if it is, I am a very proper one to do it. I know that for a
long time after the publication of Uncle Tom's Cabin there were a
H A R RIET BEECHER STOWE. 457
great many very wise people who said they knew that she never
wrote it herself, but that I did. The matter at last became so
scandalous that I determined to put an end to it, and therefore I
wrote Norwood.” That killed the thing dead.
>k >< 2k >}: >}. >k >}:
“Now, I think we might have a good cxperience meeting here
this afternoon, if every one would tell under what citcumstances
he read the book, and how he acted. I can still remember plainly
the circumstances under which I finished it. I had got well into
the second volume. It was Thursday. Sunday was looming up
before me, and at the rate at which I was going there would not
be time to finish it before Sunday, and I could never preach till I
finished it. So I set myselſ to it and determined to finish it at
once. I had got a considerable way into the second volume, and I
recommended my wife to go to bed. I didn’t want anybody down
there. I soon began to cry. Then I went and shut all the doors,
for I did not want any one to see me. Then I sat down to it and
finished it that night, for I knew that only in that way should I be
able to preach on Sunday. I know that many of you must have
read it something as I did at that time.”
In one of my conversations with Rev. Henry Ward
Beecher, I asked him to tell me how Mrs. Stowe came to
write the book. He replied, “Sister Harriet said to me one
day, ‘Have you ever seen the National Era P’ (It was an
anti-slavery paper established in Washington.) I said,
‘No, I don’t see it, but I can.” She said, “Dr. Bailey,
the editor, has sent a request to me to write him a story. I
am going to send him one I think that will run through
three or four of the papers.’ That was the beginning of
Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Instead of running through three or
four papers, it ran through about fifty, nearly a year. It
produced such an effect that it was soon published in book
form. It had got up to the point where it could be pub-
lished in book form. Her publisher, John P. Jewett, was
very anxious she should put it into one volume and not by
any means into two, and he got me to write to her. I ac-
cordingly wrote, ‘You know what difficulty there is in
laying before the public any matter that is prejudicial to
20
458 HARRIET BEECHER STOW E.
slavery. You have succeeded in this story, and if you do
not make it too long, I think it will be a book that will
have an important influence.” She never answered my letter
and never said a word, but went on writing until she got to
the end.
“Some one said to Mrs. Stowe one day, ‘I don’t see how
you could have suffered Eva to die.’ ‘Well,” said she,
“I was sick in bed three days after her death.’ The story
was written every week and read in the family before it
went off. Some of them said it was exactly like a history
going on in some neighboring family and the news being
brought over to them every day of how they were getting
on When Eva died, the house was as still and solemn as
at a funeral.”
“Mrs. Stowe always speaks of that book as not being
hers. Sometimes people would speak to her of working up
something else, and would say, ‘You know how it was
with “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” “Well,” she would answer,
‘that wasn’t mino, that was given to me.’”
“The persons in her story were not real, living charac-
ters, except so far as to give her a hint. There was a man
said to be the original of Uncle Tom, who pleased her very
much, and may have contributed one or two ideas. For
one accustomed to writing fiction, only one or two hints
are meeded, and the whole scene pictures itself. Many of
the characters in “Uncle Tom’s Cabin were suggested by
the people in her own house.”
“There was one character named ‘Sam,” who is repre-
sented early in the story as ingeniously assisting the escape
of Eliza. The original of Sam was a very curious fellow.
At one time he was convicted of stealing and was put in
prison at Columbus. He afterwards came back to see us,
and said he had been in the service of the State for a year
or two. On making inquiries we found he had been in the
state prison. Mrs. Stowe once said, ‘I always have been
sorry I let Sam die off, but I had nothing for him to do.
Topsy had an original. She was just such a creature as is
IHARRIET BEECEIER STOWE. 459
described in “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” She lived on Walnut
Hill, Cincinnati. Her name was Celeste.”
“Mrs. Stowe's conversations about negro people, when
she is in a narrative mood, are equal to anything in
“Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” Sojourner Truth once gave Mrs.
Stowe an account of her life. It is a most extraordinary
narrative of events which never could have occurred any-
where except among these American negroes. Mrs. Stowe’s
recital of this story is very touching. When she was in
Rome she related it to Mrs. Browning and the sculptor
Story, at the house of the former. They were so struck
with it, that parties were afterwards formed there to hear
her give narrative accounts of Some of these negro charac-
ters. I have sometimes thought she narrated better than
she wrote.”
After this, I said, “Mr. Beecher, this is very interesting.
Tell me more about your sister's habits while writing.” He
went on to say: “Harriet Stowe's habits in those days were
peculiar. She would owl about all day, go to look at a
picture, get a book, and sit down in a corner and read; if
anyone talked to her she couldn’t hear what was said and
i. not know. In the afternoon she would go to sleep.
About five or six o'clock she would begin to twinkle and
look around and perhaps make some comical remark. To-
wards evening she would commence to talk for two or three
hours, and her conversation was perfectly fascinating. She
had a wonderful memory. She could recite pretty much
all of the English classics, among others passages from
Goldsmith, Dryden, Shakspeare and Milton. I don’t mean
that she could recite the whole of their poems, but passages
that would come in pat. If one was talking about anything
and should say, ‘How does that run ?’ she would catch the
note and recite it. So with the Bible ; she could recite it
almost from beginning to end.
“I remember at one time when she was a child, so young
as to be subject to discipline, her mother for some reason,
boxed her ears and refused to give her any supper. She
460 PHARRIET BEECHER STOWIE.
went out into the garden and picked a lot of quince blos-
soms and brought them up into the chamber where I was,
I believe, in equal disgrace, and commenced pulling off the
petals and eating them, saying : ‘I will have some Sup-
per.’”
Mrs. Stowe’s next novel was called “Dred, a Tale of
the Dismal Swamp,” an interesting account of which is
given in another chapter. This title was subsequently
changed, and it is now published under the name of “Nina
Gordon, a Story of Slavery.”
In the year 1859, my firm became the publishers of her
next book, entitled, “The Minister’s Wooing,” which many
consider her best work next after Uncle Tom. In an unpub-
lished letter of Archbishop Whateley, he pronounces “The
Minister's Wooing ” to be superior, from a literary point of
view, to anything Mrs. Stowe has ever written. Mr. Glad-
stone also wrote that “he had just been reading the book
and expressed himself much delighted with it. He con-
sidered it one of the most charming pictures of Puritan
life possible, and he thought the different characters were
differentiated remarkably well.” Aft
In another letter to Professor Stowe Dean Alford wrote:
“I read the Minister's Wooing with interest and pleasure.
You will allow me to say that I like it best of all Mrs.
Stowe's tales. The picture which it gives of the Calvinis-
tic Life of New England is most interesting and informing.”
Professor Stowe himself is the author of a very able work
on the origin of the Bible, and several theological works.
H E N RY WARD BEECIIER. 461
EHENRY WARD BEECEIER.
Henry Ward Beecher as an Author–Great Success of his
Star Papers—Beecher and Randolph the Publisher—
A Preacher appropriates Beecher’s Sermons—Rather be
eacecuted than read a Book—How Henry Ward began to
buy Books—Martin Van Buren hears him preach—
Trousers did not set very well–Beecher’s attachment to
Bonner—He smokes cigars with Stanton—Washington
Irving hears bass to the tune of Thunder—A Tea as Tri-
bute to Henry Ward Beecher—Charles Beecher as an
Author—Henry Ward Beecher and his Wephew—Mrs.
Beecher’s “Dawn to Daylight.”
NEARLY thirty years ago I became the first New York
publisher of Henry Ward Beecher, by issuing for
him a new book, entitled “Star Papers, or, Experiences of
Art and Nature.” This volume was a collection of his
contributions to the New York Independent. They were
received with so much favor that the author was induced
at the solicitation of many friends to collect them for pub-
lication, and as soon as the volume was ready for sale it
was in great demand, edition after edition following each
other in rapid succession.
The author introduces the volume to his readers, as fol-
lows:
“The author has been saved the trouble of searching for a title
to his book, from the simple circumstance, that the articles of
which the work is made up appeared in the columns of the New
York Independent, with the signature of a star ; and, having been
462 HENRY WARD BEECHER.
familiarly called the STAR ARTICLEs, by way of designation, they
now become, in a book form, STAR PAPERs.
“Only such articles as related to art and to rural affairs have been
published in the volume. It was thought best to put all contro-
versial articles in another, and subsequent volume.
“The letters from Europe were written to home friends, during
a visit of only four weeks; a period too short to allow the subsi-
dence of that enthusiasm, which every person must needs experi-
ence, who, for the first time, stands in the historic places of the
Old World. An attempt to exclude from these letters, any excess
of personal feeling, to reduce them to a more moderate tone, to
correct their judgments, or to extract from them the fiery particles
of enthusiasm, would have taken away their very life.
“The other papers in this volume, for the most part, were writ-
ten from the solitudes of the country, during the vacation of three
summers. I can express no kinder wish for those who may read
them, than that they may be one half as happy in the reading, as I
have been in the scenes which gave them birth.”
A second volume, entitled “New Star Papers, or, Views
and Experiences of Religious Subjects,” which was also
made up from like contributions to the Independent,
followed in 1859. Of this volume the author says in his
preface, “If unworthy of a book form the public has itself
to blame in part, for encouraging a like collection of Star
Papers some years ago.”
His third volume was entitled “ Plain and Pleasant
Talks about Fruits, Flowers and Farming,” which title was
selected by myself. The prefatory remarks in this volume
are in a measure autobiographical, and cannot fail to prove
interesting to the friends of Mr. Beecher, in what he says
of himself when a young minister nearly forty years ago,
then living in Indiana :
“It is now twenty years since we settled at Indianapolis, the
capital of Indiana, a place then of four, and now of twenty-five
thousand inhabitants.” At that time, and for years afterwards,
* In 1859.
HENRY WARD BEECHER. 463
there was not, within our knowledge, any other than political
newspapers in the state—no educational journals, no agricultural
or family papers. The Indiana Journal at length proposed to
introduce an agricultural department, the matter of which should
every month be printed, in magazine form, under the title,
Indiana Farmer and Gardener, which was afterwards changed to the
more comprehensive title, Western Farmer and Gardener. It may be
of service to the young, as showing how valuable the fragments
of time may become if mention is made of the way in which we
became prepared to edit this journal. The continued taxation
of daily preaching, extending through months, and once through
eighteen consecutive months, without the exception of a single
day, began to wear upon the nerves and made it necessary for
us to seek some relaxation. Accordingly we used, after each
week-night's preaching, to drive the sermon out of our heads by
some alterative reading. In the State Library were Laudon's
works, his encyclopædias of horticulture, of agriculture, and of
architecture. We fell upon them, and, for years, almost monopo-
lized them. In our little one-story cottage, after the day's work
was done, we pored over these monuments of an almost incredible
industry, and read, we suppose, not only every line, but much of
it many times over; until, at length, we had a topographical
knowledge of many of the fine English estates—quite as intimate,
we dare say, as was possessed by many of their truant owners. A
scedsman's list, a nurseryman's catalogue, are more fascinating to
us than any story. In this way, through several years, we gradu-
ally accumulated materials and became familiar with facts and
principles which paved the way for editorial labors. Lindley's
‘Horticulture,” and Gray's ‘Structural Botany came in as con-
stant companions. And when, at length, through a friend's
liberality, we became the recipients of the London Gardener's
Chronicle, edited by Professor Lindley, our treasures were inestim-
able. Many hundred times have we lain awake for hours, unable
to throw off the excitement of preaching, and beguiling the time
with imaginary visits to the Chiswick Garden, to the more than
Oriental magnificence of the Duke of Devonshire's grounds at
Chatsworth. We have had long discussions in that little bed-
room at Indianapolis, with Van Mous, about pears, with Sibert
about roses, with Thompson and Knight of fruits and theories of
vegetable life, and with Laudon about everything under the
heavens in the horticultural world. This employment of wasto
464 IHEN RY WAR]) BEEC, IIFER.
hours, not only answered a purpose of soothing excited nerves
then, but brought us into such relations to the material world,
that, we speak with entire moderation, when we say that all the
estates of the richest duke in England could not have given us
half the pleasure which we derived from pastures, waysides and
unoccupied prairies.”
Mr. Beecher has now in his large and choice library
every known treatise on trees, flowers and plants, and at
his beautiful summer residence at Peekskill, on the Hud-
son, over six thousand ornamental shade trees.
“Beecher's Life Thoughts,” a volume of gems selected
by Edna Dean Proctor from his sermons, had an enormous
sale. Although the Plymouth pastor gave his consent that
a volume of that kind might be published, he never received
a penny copyright for it. The same is true of “ Notes of
Plymouth Pulpit,” by Augusta Moore. The two were
published together in England under one title, “Life
Thoughts.”
Mr. Beecher tells an amusing story about my good
friend A. D. F. Randolph. The latter, meeting a friend
of his one day and handing him a small volume said: “Take
this and see how you like it ; I am just bringing it out.”
The friend took it home. The next time Randolph saw
him he asked : “How did you like that little book P’’ “I
always did like it,” was the reply. “What do you mean *
asked Randolph ; “it is a new English book just reprinted
here.” “I mean,” said the man, “I read all of those papers
when they came out in the Independent ; they are all
Beecher’s articles.” Randolph then wrote Mr. Beecher a
letter about it, and said he had no intention of violating
his copyright. Mr. Beecher answered, “Go ahead ' I shall
not object to your publishing it.” In this book there was
no hint given of the authorship.
When Mr. Beecher was in London in 1863, he searched
out the English publisher and said : “What under the
heavens is the reason, when you točk that book of mino,
you did not refer to me P’’ ‘‘I had no intention of defraud-
1H FNRY WA RID BEECIHEIR. 465
ing you,” was the reply, “but if I had printed your name
in the book, other publishers would have known it was an
American book, and they would have printed it too “ —
(another argument for an International copyright).
When Mr. Beecher was in Wales, a little Welsh clergy-
man came to call on him, and in the course of conversation
spoke of being quite familiar with his works, “Life
Thoughts” and “Royal Truths.” It struck him at once
that the clergyman was trying to make out that he knew
more about his writings than he really did. “You refer
to ‘Life Thoughts,’” said Mr. Beecher, “I never wrote a
book with such a title as the latter.” “Oh, yes,” said he, “I
will get it.” He went home and brought back a book with
Mr. Beecher's name on it, different from “Life Thoughts,”
but which was made of whole pages from his sermons, and
called “Royal Truths” He had never seen it or heard of
it before. When he came back to this country he brought
over a copy, and Ticknor, Fields & Co., published it under
the title of “Royal Truths.” “So you see,” said Mr.
Beecher, after relating to me this incident, “I had two
children born and wasn’t aware of it.”
Dr. Joseph Parker, of the City Temple, London, whom
I recently met at Mr. Beecher's beautiful Peekskill resi.
dence, gave me as his opinion that no man has exercised
a more stimulating and ennobling effect upon the pulpit
life and literature of England than Mr. Beecher. IIis
sermons in newspapers and in volumes are to be found in
overy quarter of the old country, and ministers of every
age are not afraid to say that they have founded their min-
istry upon the lines of the illustrious Plymouth Church
pastor. -
Dr. Parker is the author of those well known Evangel-
ical volumes “ Ecce Deus ” and “The Inner Life of
Christ.” -
Another of Mr. Beecher's clerical friends writes:
“As an author, Mr. Beecher may, by the nember of his
20%
466 HIENRY WARD BEECII ER.
works published, justly rank among the most prolific writ-
ers. He is the literary father of thirty-five volumes, and
if the writings published without his sanction should be
added to the list, the number would increase to over fifty.
IHis intenser sympathy with the living questions of the
hour, have been, perhaps, an inevitable hindrance to liter-
ary finish and completeness.”
Mr. Beecher once gave me an account of the origin of
his first book, his “Lectures to Young Men.” It grew
up in his parish. Ministers were accustomed, he said, to
give lectures, and he concluded to give these. One subject
suggested itself after another, and he wrote them all care-
fully. They attracted a good deal of attention at the time.
There was a man in Indianapolis named Cutler, who was
a journeyman in the printing-office of John W. Defrees,
who afterwards became Congressional printer. This Cutler,
who was a member of Mr. Beecher’s church, came to him
at one time and said he would like to start in the publishing
business, and wanted to know if he would give him those
lectures to start on. Mr. Beecher consented to do so, and
an arrangement was made. Cutler was to have the whole
copyright to encourage him, for a term of years. Said Mr.
Beecher, “When I first sat down to prepare them for the
press, I took up the lecture on Industry and Indolence.”
Said I to myself, ‘ I have gone through these with my own
ideas, now perhaps it might be well to see what others have
written also ; it might suggest something.’ I then took up
a work containing two or three sermons on the same sub-
ject by Isaac Barrow, who was a great favorite of mine.
Before I had read them half through, Ifound Barrow had said
all I had, and had said it a great deal better. I then slung
my manuscript under the bookcase and there I left it. A
man by the name of Eckert,” continued Mr. Beecher, “a
harness-maker, was all the time talking to me about some
lectures to young men written by Rev. Mr. Smith of Wash-
ington, and he wanted me to read them. After I had
finished two of the lectures, I said, “My goodness | If
HENRY WARD BEECHER. 467
these lectures can be read with such ardor, I think my poor
little book might as well come out from under the bookcase
there.” So I went on and finished it.”
Beecher’s “Lectures to Young Men” was first published
more than forty years ago. It has gone through many
editions and was published in an enlarged form by my firm
in 1859, and is now published by D. Appleton & Co.
While Mr. Beecher was preaching in Indianapolis, Mar.
tin Van Buren (afterwards President) was passing through
the place, and as he intended to spend Sunday there,
some friends of the former called on him and informed
him that Van Buren would attend services at his church the
next day. “He is certainly welcome,” said Mr. Beecher,
“there is plenty of room there.” “We thought, possibly,
you might like to know it as it might make some difference,”
said one of them. “Oh, no,” said Beecher, “no differ-
ence. I should preach to him just as I would to any other
sinner.” Van Buren attended the service. Mr. Beechey
afterwards met some of the gentlemen who had called upon
him. They were laughing about it, and one of them said,
“Perhaps you would like to hear what the Ex-President
had to say about your sermon. He said he thought your
trousers didn't set very well !”
I once asked Mr. Beecher if he had read all the books
written by his brothers and sisters. He replied “I have
made it a rule of my life to read none of the writings of
my relatives, and with two or three exceptions have
adhered to that rule.” He then related an anecdote of a
man that was condemned to death in Italy for some poli-
tical offense. Numerous petitions were made for his
pardom. His sentence was afterwards commuted, on the,
condition that he should read a certain Voluminous, but
not very entertaining History of Italy. He as a matter
of course chose the latter alternative and commenced
reading the work, and in the course of a week sent in word
that “he would rather be executed.”
To my question as to whether he had read any of
468 IIEN RY WARD BEECHER.
Ouida’s works, he replied : “I have. She is a powerful
writer. Her descriptions of the horse are vigorous enough
to raise a man from the dead. Her writings have not
much repose, they are full of fire and thunder. And that
may be one cause of their popularity.”
I then asked him what were the first books he bought.
He replied : “I early had a passion for books. When I
was in college and had begun to lecture, I was invited to
go to Brattleboro’ to deliver an address at a temperance
celebration on the fourth of July. The honor of an invi-
tation was considered sufficient compensation for the lec-
ture, but they paid me ten dollars for my expenses. I
walked from Amherst to Brattleboro’ and walked back
again. I saved all the money to buy books. When I was
at Amherst I had money sent to me to come home, and I
walked home and saved that money also to buy books. I
had got about two dozen volumes together in flat way.
Among the books obtained in this way were Burke's
works, in three volumes, and John Milton’s poetical works
in two volumes, which I bought in Boston. I remember
those two for this reason : When I graduated there was no
railway to convey anything to Cincinnati, and all freight
going to that city was sent by way of New Orleans. I had
orders from my father to pack my things in a box and send
them in that way, but they never reached their destination.
About two years, or more, after that, a cousin of mine,
David Beecher, was in New Orleans, and as he was going by
an auction shop, he heard an auctioneer shout, ‘Letters
from Lyman Beecher.” He stepped in, bid off the whole
lot, and he found among the books my college exercises.
There had been some misdirection on the box in which
these books were sent, and they were put in a warehouse
and afterwards sold for storage. In this box I had put all
the books in my library and all my college letters and
papers. After I began to write for Mr. Bonner, in the
Ledger, I wrote an article describing my loss. This article
came into the hands of an old merchant, who had bought
|HEN I&Y WARD BEEC HER. 469
my books at the auction in New Orleans. His name was
John Walton, and he did me the kindness to send to me
my copy of John Milton.”
This book Mr. Beecher has now in his possession. He
greatly values it, not only from its romantic history, but
as his first purchase of the beginning of an extensive col-
ſection of standard authors in every department of litera-
ture which now enriches his extensive library.
Mr. Beecher removed to Brooklyn, from Indianapolis,
in the year 1847. That excellent authority the American
Cyclopedia speaks of him as follows:
“Here almost from the outset he began to acquire that reputa-
tion as a pulpit orator which has been maintained and increased
during a quarter of a century. The church and congregation
under his charge are probably the largest in America. He has
always discarded the mere conventionalities of the clerical pro-
fession. In his view humor has a place in a sermon as well as
argument and exhortation. He is fond of illustration, drawing his
material from every sphere of human life and thought; and n is
manner is highly dramatic. Though his keen sense of humor
continually manifests itself, the prevailing impression given by
his discourses is one of intense earnestness. The cardinal idea of
his creed is that Christianity is not a series of philosophical or
metaphysical dogmas, but a rule of life in every phase. Hence
he has never hesitated to discuss from the pulpit the great social
and political questions of the day, such as slavery, intemperance,
licentiousness, the lust for power and the greed for gain. He is
an authority in music, a connoisseur in art, a lover of flowers and
animals, and I may add in addition a bibliophile in the fullest
sense of the word.”
Before Mr. Beecher was installed as the Plymouth
pastor he was examined as to his theology by a Congrega-
tional Council. One of the questions asked him was, “Do
you believe in the perseverance of the Saints * The good
Doctor, who propounded the question, was his college
father, and thinking his son was not doing himself much
credit in the theological line, hoped to put a question
which he could not fail to answer right.
470 HENRY WA RD BEECHIER.
“I was brought up to believe that doctrine,” said Mr.
Beecher, “ and I did believe it till I went out West and
saw how Eastern Christians lived when they went out
there. I confess since then I have had my doubts.”
Mr. Beecher immediately announced in Plymouth pul-
pit the same principles that he had in Indianapolis, name-
ly, his determination to preach Christ among them, not as
an absolute system of doctrines, not as a by-gone historical
personage, but as the living Lord and God, and to bring all
the Ways and usages of Society to the test of His standard.
He announced to all whom it might concern, that he con-
sidered temperance and anti-slavery a part of the gospel of
Christ, and should preach them accordingly.
The New York Tribune, in speaking recently of the
eloquent eulogy of Mr. Beecher on the late Wendell Phil-
lips, says:
“When the life of Henry Ward Beecher comes to be
written after his work is finished, his biographer will not
easily find for him a higher claim to the esteem of his fel-
low-countrymen than is involved in the following sentence
from his discourse of last Sunday: ‘There never has been
a day since J became the pastor of Plymouth Church that
a respectable colored man or woman could not have come
in and taken a seat in this church.” It wears on its face a
commonplace statement, but to all who remember the past
it means that here was a man with courage to preach the
gospel as it was written, at a time when many churches
had agreed to dehumanize the negro.”
Mr. Beecher is very strong in his attachments. In
talking with him on one occasion about Robert Bonner, he
spoke of him as follows:
“I have had a good deal to do with many men, and my
business experience with them has been quite a checkered
one, but I have never been connected with anybody,
friend or stranger in business, who has treated me with
so much generosity or as much delicacy as Robert Bonner.
I always made it a point of honor, never to fail in any en-
HEN RY WARD BEECHER. 471
gagement I made with him, from week to week. Fre-
quently, when it seemed to me that I hadn’t anything to
say, 1 would go right to the office and write, forcing nature,
rather than fail in an engagement made with him. This
is what I would not have done for any other man living.
I shall always retain to my death very warm and grate-
ful appreciation of his services to me. He got out of me
what nobody else could.
“When Bonner proposed that novel, ‘Norwood, to me,
I had no idea of writing it. I was conducting a prayer-
meeting one morning, when a boy came in with a little note
which said, ‘You asked me how much I gave to Edward
Everett for all his writings in the Ledger. I allowed him
$24,000, and if you will write a story for the Ledger’
(covering a given number of columns), ‘I will pay you an
equal amount.” A clap of thunder would not have been
more astounding to me. I laughed as I read the dispatch.
I refused at first, but he continued to talk to me about
it, until finally I agreed to do it. Then I couldn’t get my-
self to begin. I didn’t believe I could accomplish it. It
was entirely out of the line of all my habits of thought.
But Mr. Bonner encouraged me, and I finally commenced
it. When I had got about two-thirds through, he wrote
me a little note one day, saying, ‘When all the matter
which is now in type shall have been published, you will
have fulfilled your part of the contract. I do not wish to
have the book brought to a precipitate close, but I wish
you to go on and complete it as you desire, and I will pay
you $500 for each of the additional chapters.” Of course I
felt as though it would not be honorable to do other than
bring it to a close as quickly as I could consistently with
the story. The sum paid for Norwood amounted to $30,000.”
I once asked Mr. Beecherif he ever indulged in smoking,
and to my question he said :
“After the death of Lincoln, I went to Washington to
preach the funeral sermon of young Dahlgren. President
Johnson and his Cabinet were at the funeral. At the close
472 HEN IRY WARD BEECHER.
of the services the President asked me to call upon him in
the afternoon. Johnson was at that time hanging in the
wind, not knowing which way he should go, and Stanton
and all his Northern friends were extremely anxious that
every influence should be brought to bear upon him to bring
him right. It was on that errand I was sent. Stanton said
to me, ‘Come right down to my house, as soon as you see
him.’ After my interview with Johnson, I went to Stan-
ton’s house the same evening. He introduced me hastily
to his family, then drew me across the hall into his study,
and we sat down to have a right good talk on poetry, liter-
ature and so on. You know how I abhor tobacco in all
its forms. Stanton was staggering under the weight he
was carrying in that war period. He brought out his box
of cigars. I knew instantly that if I refused to smoke, he
would refuse, and have a miserable evening of it; so I
quietly took a cigar. He commenced smoking his. I
played with mine for some time, till I saw that he noticed
that I was not smoking, then I took a match, lighted my
cigar and drew a few puffs every time he looked up. When
I saw his was coming to an end, I quietly hid mine be-
hind a book. He thought I smoked the cigar. Stanton
and asthma are the only influences that have ever induced
me to try to smoke, and I made a poor fist of it every time.”
On another occasion I asked Mr. Beecher if he had ever
met Irving. He said:
“The only time I ever met Washington Irving was at a
dinner given by the printers in New York. I was called
upon to speak. In the remarks I made I had occasion to
allude incidentally to the man who had such a voice that
he said he could sing base to thunder. Irving at that time
had never heard the phrase and it convulsed him. He broke
out into laughter again and again.”
“Brady, the photographer, gave me an account of how
the representations of Irving, which are now universal,
came to be circulated, instead of the one he intended to
send to posterity. The latter, I think, was painted by Inman,
FIEN RY WARD BEECHER. 473
and he was represented as a man in the prime of life, and
very handsome. He refused to sit or have anyone else
paint him. He had a couple of nieces to whom he was
very much attached. On the eve of his going to the West
Indies, thinking they might never, see him again, they per-
suaded him to go down and get them a photograph. He
consented on the condition that they would never part with
it. Brady, to whom he then went, found fault with the
first sitting as imperfect, and he sat the second time. This
picture proved to be a good one. But, said Brady, with a
wink, “I put the first one away and kept it.” The very
week that Irving died he brought out the negative and
commenced issuing the picture of Washington Irving as he
looked in his old age. From that picture, all of the others
have been derived. It is the one that now is universally
prevalent, and has thus defeated Irving's life-long plan of
being known only as he looked in middle life. “What
shadows we are, what shadows we pursue.”
Mr. Beecher has recently returned from a lecturing tour
through the far West and extreme South. He was received
in almost every place he visited with the greatest interest
and sometimes with enthusiasm, especially in the Southern
States, where, a quarter of a century ago, he would net
have been permitted to discourse on any subject what-
€Wel".
To illustrate the great change in public opinion in the
South, the following description of Mr. Beecher from a
recent number of the Teacas Christian Advocate, is a
good example.
“Such eyes, such a brow, such a countenance one does not
often see. The face which the pictorial papers have made so
familiar to the country is dull, heavy, gross. But the face of the
man who stood before us the other night was reverend, spiritual,
majestic, and when in repose as tender as a woman's. His mind is
trained to what would seem the last degree of culture. It obeys
him like a well-oiled machine, without halt or friction. His lan-
guage is pure, beautiful, vigorous and seemingly exhaustless. He
474 IIEN RY WARD BEEC IIBR.
can harness as many adjectives to a noun as one Esquimau does
dogs to his sled, and have some to spare. His powers of illustra-
tion are phenomenal. Through these open windows the light
rushes upon his discourse, no part in obscurity. His delivery is
not that of oratory, as it is commonly understood. It is rather a
sublime kind of talking. Yet from this level he is ready at any
moment to rise. Closely observing him you see a peculiar shrug
of the right shoulder—then look out! The face glows, the
shoulders square themselves, up goes the voice and down comes a
grand period, while you hold your breath until it is over. In
delivering himself upon his audience the whole man comes into
play. You see reason, memory, imagination, judgment, fancy.
You hear wit, humor, sarcasm, pathos, thought, sentiment. You
listen to the eye and the hand as well as to the tongue. Body,
mind and soul speak at once. Every string of the harp is touched.
All the octaves tremble. And whatever the music be the harp is
golden. An old man past seventy, after fifty years of steady labor
standing before an audience for two hours, with so perfect a com-
mand of mind and body as to remain during all that time master
of himself and them, and looking at the end as fresh as at the be-
ginning, is a phenomenon that sets one thinking. What is behind
all that! Men do not come into that power suddenly. Something
behind it there is. What? Culture—long years of culture—cul-
ture for both mind and body. The very sight of such a training
is a lesson to every man who is trying to fill a pulpit.”
Rev. Charles Beecher has written several volumes, one
of which, “Pen Pictures of the Bible ’ was published by
my firm in 1855. He also assisted his brother in preparing
the celebrated Plymouth Collection of Hymns and Tunes,
now in use in the pastor’s church. He was also one of the
authors, in connection with Mrs. Stowe, of “Sunny Mem-
ories of Foreign Lands,” of which I was the New York pub-
lisher in 1854.
It is fitting that the name of Frederick B. Perkins, the
well known librarian of the San Francisco Library, should
be mentioned in this sketch of the Beecher family, his
mother being one of the daughters of Lyman Beecher. Mr.
Perkins’ novel entitled “Scrope, or the Lost Library,”
IIEN RY WARD BEECIIFR. 475
published some years since, was very well received by the
public. He was at one time editor of Putnam's Magazine,
and later associate author with G. Haven Putnam, of the book
entitled “Best Reading.” Rev. Henry Ward Beecher once
said of him, “Fred is a perfect encyclopedia ; aside from a
great deal of useful knowledge, political, scientific and phii-
osophical, he knows more things that are absolutely worth-
Jess than any man living. For instance, about a button
that somebody wore a thousand years ago. He is an arch-
aeologist though of the first water.”
Mrs. Henry Ward Beccher is not without claim to
authorship. In the year 1859 she called upon me with a
manuscript which she told me was a simple record of the
early career of the married life of herself and husband. She
wanted it published anonymously, which I was willing to
do, provided her husband would give his consent. She said
she wanted to keep it a secret from him until the book was
ready. Finally, however, she agreed to see her husband
on the subject, which she did, and told him the conditions
on which the book would be published. He said, “Tell
Derby if he wants to be fool enough to publish a book writ-
ten by my wife, to go ahead.”
Mrs. Beecher bore me the message with a knowing
smile. She said the manuscript was written by her on a
sick bed. It fell into her daughter's hands and pleased her
so well that the latter begged her to publish it. She con-
sulted Mr. Beecher about it and he said that anything that
pleased a young girl of thirteen and without being harm-
ful, must be good. The original title of the book was
“Reminiscences of a Missionary’s Wife.” My firm
issued the volume “From Dawn to Daylight,” which
without any knowledge of its authorship was well received
by the public. Several editions were sold.
Among other favorable notices at the time, is the fol-
lowing written by Robert Bonner.
“‘From Dawn to Daylight, or, The Simple Story of a Western
Home; by a Minister’s Wife.” It is not often that we call attention
476 IIENRY WA RD BEECIHER.
to new books in the Ledger ; but this is a work of such peculiar
interest that we must deviate from our rule. Were the name of the
author given to the public, we think the work would make a decided
sensation. This much, however, we will say of her, that her hus-
band is one of the most distinguished and popular clergymen in
the country, so much so indeed that you can scarcely pick up a
newspaper in which you do not find his name. The book is one
which, as a contemporary remarks, will make the reader the better
for the reading, while at the same time it abounds in entertaining
sketches of experiences and scenes which must interest the general
reader.”
Mrs. Beecher is also the author of two excellent WOl-
umes—“Motherly Talks” and “All around the House,”
both admirably adapted to the use of young housekeepers.
E. Perine New Yºrk
Engºy Geo
& 232 /2,



XXVIII.
(EORGE E. BAKER,
A Political Historian and Modern Boswell—Life and
Works of Seward—Founder of Prison Association—
Disbursing Agent for State Department—An Excite-
ſment in the Cabinet—Author startles Government
Officials—Old James Gordon Bennett—“I guess it’s
true, we'll prent it ’’—Kossuth makes Daniel Webster
Weep— Greeley proposes Bryant for Secretary of State
—Splendid Tribute to Seward's Works.
THE name of George E. Baker may well be classed
among the writers of political literature in this coun-
try. He has made that field of research richer by his
many years of patient toil in gathering together the political
writings of one of the foremost statesmen which this
country has produced. I refer to the works of William H.
Seward, which have just been published in five large
volumes, by Houghton, Mifflin & Co. As Boswell was to
Johnson, so has Mr. Baker been to Seward, the confidential
friend and biographer.
It is just thirty years since J. S. Redfield, formerly a well-
known book publisher, issued in three octavo volumes the
works of William H. Seward, which Mr. Baker modestly
introduces to the public as follows:
“In this collection of Mr. Seward’s works, it is intended to
present to the public, not only with his more elaborate speeches
and writings, but also with his occasional and unstudied efforts.
The principles and measures of public policy, which he has
[477]
478 GEO IRGE E. BAKER.
maintained, receive as clear an illustration from the latter class of
his productions, as from his more systematic and finished perform-
ances. They are accordingly, important at a time when the
political views of Mr. Seward have become the subject of discus-
sion, in every quarter of the Union.
“It has often been regretted that so few of the speeches of the
eminent men of a former age have been preserved. The history of
our own country especially has suffered from this neglect. We
search in vain for the speeches even of James Otis, which, in the
words of one of his contemporaries, ‘Breathed the breath of life
into this Nation.” The facilities of the present day leave no ex-
cuse for a similar meglect in regard to our own orators and
statesmen.
“The editor of these volumes though by no means unconscious
of his slight qualifications for so important a task, has attempted
to collect and prepare for publication the following works of
William H. Seward. A desire to aid in disseminating the doctrines
and principles they contain, as well as to preserve them in a per-
manent form, must plead an apology. For a number of years it
nas been his wish to bring these works before the public. He has
only waited for the time when they could be produced without ex-
citing a suspicion of personal or partisan objects. That time, in
his opinion has arrived. It is, however, perhaps, too much to
expect, even now, a candid hearing from all parties. “Nothing,”
says Mr. Seward in one of his letters, “that I can say or do, or that
can be said or done by my friends, is suffered to pass without ex-
citing alarm, lest it may have an ambitious design that I almost
despise.”
“To the friends of Republican principles, and of the claims of
justice and freedom everywhere, the editor believes these volumes
will be welcome, and to such they are respectfully dedicated. To
the friends of Mr. Seward, also, they will be acceptable as a com-
plete refutation of the various misrepresentations of his acts and
opinions, current in the community, supplying a want long felt
and frequently expressed. To many of these friends the editor
is already indebted for assistance and encouragement in his
undertaking, for which he avails himself in this place to express
his acknowledgments.”
About the same time Mr. Redfield published, in a
smaller volume, a “Life of William H. Seward,” by Mr.
GEORGE E. BAKER. 479
Baker, which was well received by the public. Being a
resident of Auburn at that time and a personal and poli-
tical friend of the subject of Mr. Baker’s memoir, it natur-
ally brought me into a friendly acquaintance with the
latter, who, although a native of Massachusetts, has spent
the larger portion of his life in the State of his adoption.
Indoctrinated in early manhood with the political views
of Horace Mann and Charles Sumner he, on becoming a
citizen of New York, naturally recognized in William H.
Seward, who was then governor of the State, the leader of
political reforms, including the abolition of slavery. Time
and experience, he says, only confirmed his faith. To
make Mr. Seward’s principles known, became the ruling
passion and has been the labor of Mr. Baker’s life. He was
elected to the Legislature of his adopted State from one of
the Brooklyn districts in 1850 as a “Seward Whig,” and in
his speeches and votes maintained the doctrine of Seward-
ism during his legislative career.
In 1854 Mr. Baker was appointed private secretary to
Myron H. Clark, who had been elected governor of the State
on a temperance issue. Governor Clark had little, if any,
experience in administrative duties, and Mr. Baker, being
thoroughly posted in such matters, was considered at one
time as the real acting governor of the State, the Legis-
lature, without opposition, voting him a considerable sum
for services rendered the State.
Mr. Baker was among the founders of the Prison Asso-
Céation of New York in 1844, and was a friend and coad-
jutor of the late Isaac T. Hopper in the reform instituted
by that society. In 1851 he was appointed by the Legisla-
ture to investigate the condition of the State prisons and
spent a good part of the year in the prisons at Auburn,
Sing Sing and Clinton. The report made by him at the
ensuing session of the Legislature and many of the reforms
recommended were afterwards enacted into laws.
When Mr. Seward, in March, 1861, entered upon his
duties as Secretary of State he appointed Mr. Baker to the
480 GEORGE E. BAKER.
responsible office of Disbursing Agent of the Department
of State, which brought him into close relations with all
those engaged in diplomatic service of the United States,
including the charge and disbursement of the Secret Service
Fund. This important position was held by him through
the whole time of Mr. Seward’s official life as Secretary of
State.
He was continued by Mr. Seward’s successor, the Hon.
Hamilton Fish, and held the position during the session of
the Joint High Commission and until July, 1871, when he
resigned to take the office of Comptroller of the District
of Columbia. Under his administration the loans by which
the great improvements in Washington were made were
negotiated through the First National Bank of New York,
of which his son, George F. Baker, is now president.
About the close of the year 1862, owing to the repeated
defeats of the Union Army, a caucus of Republican senators
was held, and passed resolutions advising President Lincoln
to remove the chief member of his Cabinet, they believing
Mr. Seward, by his advice to the President was the cause of
the military disasters. Mr. Seward, hearing of this un-
usual action on the part of the senators, immediately sent in
his resignation, which was quickly followed by that of Mr.
Chase, then Secretary of the Treasury. The result of their
action is explained in the following letters :
“Executive Mansion, Washington, Dec. 20, 1862.
“Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD and Hon. SALMon P. CHASE.
“GENTLEMEN:
“You have respectively tendered me your resignations as Secre-
tary of State and Secretary of the Treasury of United States. I
am apprised of the circumstances which may render this course
personally desirable to each of you; but, after most anxious con-
sideration, my deliberate judgment is, that the public interest
does not admit of it. I, therefore, have to request that you will
resume the duties of your departments respectively.
“Your obedient servant,
** A. LINCOLN.”
GEORGE E. BAKER. 481
“Department of State, Washington, Dec. 21, 1862.
“Sunday Morning.
** MY DEAR SIR :
“I have cheerfully resumed the functions of this department,
in obedience to your command.
“With highest respect, your hunble servant,
“WILLIAM H. SEWARD.
“The President of the United States.”
This digression is made to enable me to state here an
incident which occurred at the time.
Mr. Baker’s confidential relations were of such a nature
that he was aware of this action before it was made public.
He communicated to me by midnight mail the startling
news which I (then the Despatch Agent at New York), at
once communicated to Hiram Barney, then Collector of the
port of New York, Abram Wakeman, Postmaster at New
York, and the late John J. Cisco, then Assistant-Treasurer
of the United States in New York. None of them could
(hardly "believe the startling information so unexpected to
them all. I then called upon Frederick Hudson,” then
managing editor of the New York Herald, and gave him
the information I had received from Mr. Baker. He at
once conducted me to the editor-in-chief, the late James
Gordon Bennett, who at first was not inclined to believe
my informant. Scanning me closely with those penetrat-
ing eyes of his, that could see in two directions, he finally
said, “I guess it’s true; we’ll prent it.”
An extra was immediately gotten out headed “Import-
ant news direct by telegram from Washington.” As the
only information received was communicated in a letter to
mo, I then learned for the first time how important news
from distant places is really written in a newspaper office.
Mr. Baker is full of interesting recollections of eminent
*Author of that interesting volume published by Harrer &
Brothers, “History of Journalism,” and whose tragic death at
Concord many of my readers will remember.
21
482 GEORGE E. BARER.
men ; he said to me recently that after Kossuth's arrival
in this country in 1851, Daniel Webster, then Secretary
of State, in a private letter to a friend, said : “His
presence here will be quite embarrassing (owing to our
friendly relations with Austria), I am at a good deal of a
loss what to do or what to say.” When Kossuth arrived in
Washington, Webster by appointment met him at Mr.
Seward’s house, thus avoiding anything like an official re-
ception of the great Hungarian. Mr. Seward described the
meeting as one of intense feeling on the part of Webster
and Kossuth alike. The latter plead the cause of Hungary
in such eloquent terms as to draw tears from Mr. Webster’s
eyes, while he remarked : “O ! he is a royal fellow !” Mr.
Seward always regarded Kossuth's speech as the most elo-
quent he ever heard. The next day Mr. Webster, accom-
panied by Mr. Seward, presented Kossuth to the President.
Mr. Seward describes Mr. Fillmore’s interview with Kossuth
as cold and formal, in marked contrast with Mr. Webster’s
affecting meeting with him at Mr. Seward’s house.
On another occasion Mr. Seward went with Mr. Baker
to hear Henry Ward Beecher preach, and was filled with
enthusiasm. The next day, meeting Sumner, he said to
him : “You ought to have heard Beecher yesterday.
There was more eloquence in his one sermon than in four-
teen of your orations.”
Mr. Seward and Mr. Sumner were on very intimate
terms while they were Senators. There was always a seat
at Mr. Seward’s table for Mr. Sumner. The former gen-
erally showed his written speeches to the latter, before
he made them in the Senate and invited criticism. Once,
Mr. Sumner induced Mr. Seward to change the verb “loan "
to “lend.” Mr. Sumner was a worshipper of Judge Story,
and Mr. Seward often chaffed the Senator by referring to
Judge Story’s defense of the Fugitive Slave Law in the
Prigg case.
Mr. Baker had been for many years a friend and corre-
spondent of the late Horace Greoley. It will be seen in
GEORGE E. BAEER, 483
one of the following letters, that the latter suggested,
strange to say, William C. Bryant, with whom he never
had any intercourse whatever, for Secretary of State.
“New York, August 17, 1855.
“MY DEAR BAKER:
“I want to suggest a new name for Secretary of State in case
we concede that office (as I think best) to the Democracy. I pro-
pose William C. Bryant. You know I don't like him personally,
nor he me, but I can’t think of any men of greater mark; and I
think he is thoroughly honest and capable. Depend on it, there
are a good many of all parties who would gladly and proudly vote
for him. If we can only keep off the ticket names of all who
want to be put on, I think we must succeed. And I don’t believe
there is a man in the State who has less idea of being a State
officer than Bryant. Don't make us swallow Ben. Butler,” if there
is any help for it. He would go very hard.
“Yours,
“HoRACE GREELEY.”
“New York, June 29, 1852.
‘‘ MY DEAR SIR :
“I can’t make a pyrotechnic ten-minute speech. I can’t say
anything worth hearing unless I have time to say it in my own
way. I was over to Williamsburg last Fall and tried to say somc-
thing, but the chairman put me down as speaking too long, which
I presume was the fact. You must, therefore, excuse me as unfit
for this sort of business, and call in and and our
boys who can melt the 4th of July into Lundy's Lane,” and serve
it up with Chepultepect for gravy. I am nothing in that line.
f “Yours,
“George E. Baker. HoRACE GREELEY.”
Mr. Baker says that Mr. Seward once said to him
“What great men ever made almanacs but Franklin and
Greeley?” and then added that full justice had not been
done to the subject by Mr. Parton in his interesting bio-
graphy. “I had hoped,” said Mr. Seward, “to write the
* Of New York.
f Two of General Scott's battles.
484 GEORGE E. BAKER.
life of Mr. Greeley myself some day, as a labor of love,” and
then he ran a parallel with the two “ philosophers.”
“But,” said Mr. Baker, “Greeley has some striking weak-
nesses.” “So had Franklin,” rejoined Mr. Seward, and
added : “the faults of great men drop out when their his
tory is written.”
Mr. Seward was always much pleased with the selections
made by Mr. Baker, in the volumes of his works. In look-
ing over them on one occasion, he said : “I know why the
Democrats hate me, but I don’t understand why the
Whigs do ſ” On another similar occasion, placing his hand
on the volumes, he said: “These will be good books to die
on. The heresies are all in l’
The Boston Daily Advertiser, in a long review of the
new edition of William H. Seward’s works just completed,
says:
“It is something more than the biography of a man—it is the
biography of a nation. The collection is well edited by Mr. Baker,
and is an important addition to our political literature.”
In a similar extended review the New York Evening
Post closes as follows:
“The reading of Mr. Seward's speeches in the period before
the war is, and will long be a high course of political education.
The record is now complete, and there is hardly any
other similar monument of American statesmanship of more
enduring value for the student of history.”
XXIX.
FRANK B. CARPENTER.
A Great Historical Painter—Opens a Studio in Wew York
— Conceives a Grand Picture—Friends appear in Time
of Need—Reception by President Lincoln—“We will
turn you loose in here”—The Cry of Ethiopia for Help
—Pope’s Disaster at Bull Run—Emancipation Pro-
clamation Issued—Immense Sale of the Picture—Mrs.
Thompson’s Munificent Gift—Original Painting pre-
sented to the Government—Abraham Lincoln and
Artemus Ward—Sia: Months’ in the White House.
RANK B. CARPENTER, whose name is now recorded
among the historical painters of the country, is a
native of Homer, N. Y.
Although his father was a farmer, his young son took
no interest whatever in tilling the soil, and, much against
his father’s wishes, was continually experimenting with a
common house-painter's brush in making portraits. One
day his father, becoming impatient, and wanting his help
for farm work, instead of calling him, went directly to the
attic where the embryo artist was just finishing a picture.
Striding angrily into the room, he suddenly stopped short.
“Who is that ?” he asked abruptly.
“Don’t you know, father?” said the boy, with a roguish
though earnest look.
“It is your mother, I suppose,” replied the father
gruffly, yet honestly, and he was somewhat conscience-
stricken when he saw that his boy, who did not like farm-
ing, could actually make a likeness.
[485]
486 FRANK B. CARP ENTER.
The first sum of money earned by young Carpenter was
ten dollars, when at the age of seventeen he painted the
portrait of Hon. Henry S. Randall. The latter was
afterwards elected Secretary of State, and was also the
author of the interesting and valuable life of Thomas Jef-
ferson, which was published by my firm in the year 1858.
In 1851, Mr. Carpenter opened a studio in New York
City, where he speedily became known as an excellent
portrait painter. The conception of the idea of a picture
representing the President’s Emancipation Proclamation
before the Cabinet, came to him in the latter part of 1863.
To carry out his cherished idea concerning the picture,
two things were necessary : the first, to procure the Presi-
dent’s consent, and the co-operation of his Cabinet, the
second, a sufficient sum of money to enable him to spend
the necessary time in Washington to paint the picture.
Through some intimate friends, and especially Hon. Schuy-
ler Colfax and Hon. Owen Lovejoy, who represented Mr.
Lincoln's district in Congress, Satisfactory arrangement
were made with Mr. Lincoln. The money question had a
curious and almost providential solution. A former ac-
quaintance, whom Mr. Carpenter had not seen for Some years,
happened to be looking with him into a window on Broad-
way, where some pictures were exposed to view. He had
heard that this friend had been successful in business ven-
tures, and there seemed to come into his mind the words
“this man has been sent to you.” Full of this impression,
he laid before the friend the conception of what he wished
to undertake, and being informed of the consent and co-
operation of President Lincoln, his friend said, “You shall
paint the picture. Take plenty of time. Make it the
great work of your life, and draw upon me for whatever
funds you may need.”
On February 4th, 1864, the artist went to Washington
and made all the necessary arrangements for the work he
had to do, and here let me quote from his interesting
FRANK B. CARPENTER. 487
book “Six Months in the White House,” to which I
shall have occasion to refer again.
“The appointed hour found me at the well-remembered door
of the official chamber—that door watched daily with so many
conflicting emotions of hope and fear by the anxious throng regu-
larly gathered there. The President had preceded me and was
already deep in Acts of Congress, with which the writing desk
was strewed awaiting his signature. He received me pleasantly,
giving me a seat near his own arm-chair, and after having read
Hon. Owen Lovejoy's note, he took off his spectacles and said :
“Well, Mr. Carpenter, we will turn you in loose here and try to
give you a good chance to work out your idea.’”
Then, without paying much attention to the enthusias-
tic expression or ambitious desire and purpose of the
artist the proceeded to give him a detailed account of
the history and issue of the great proclamation.
‘‘ ‘It had got to be,” said he, “mid-summer, 1862. Things
had gone on from bad to worse, until I felt that we had reached
the end of our rope on the plan of operations we had been pur-
suing, that we had about played our last card and must change
our tactics or lose the game. I now determined upon the adop-
tion of the emancipation policy; and without consultation with, or
the knowledge of the Cabinet, I prepared the original draft of
the proclamation, and after much anxious thought, called a
Cabinet meeting upon the subject. This was the last of July, or
the first part of the month of August, 1862.' (The exact date he
did not remember.) ‘This Cabinet meeting took place, I think,
upon a Saturday. All were present except Mr. Blair, the Post-
master General, who was absent at the opening of the discussion,
but came in subsequently. I said to the Cabinet that I had re-
solved upon this step, and had not called them together to ask
their advice, but to lay the subject-matter before them : sugges-
tions as to which would be in order after they had beard it read.
Mr. Lovejoy,' said he, was in error when he informed you that
it excited no comment, excepting on the part of Secretary Seward.
Various suggestions were offered. Secretary Chase wished the
language stronger in reference to the arming of blacks. Mr.
Blair, after he came in, deprecated the pºlicy, on the ground that
488 FRANK B. CARPENTER.
it would cost the administration the fall elections. Nothing,
however, was offered that it had not already fully anticipated and
settled in my own mind, until Secretary Seward spoke. He said
in substance : ‘Mr. President, I approve of the proclamation, but
I question the expediency of its issue at this juncture. The de-
pression of the public mind, consequent upon our repeated re-
verses, is so great, that I fear the effect of so important a step. It
may be viewed as the last measure of an exhausted government, a
cry for help ; the government stretching forth its hands to
Ethiopia instead of Ethiopia stretching forth her hand to the
government.” “His idea,” said the President, ‘was that it would be
considered our last shriek, on the retreat.” (This was his precise
expression.) “Now, continued Mr. Seward, ‘while I approve the
measure, I suggest, sir, that you postpone its issue, until you can
give it to the country supported by military success, instead of
issuing it, as would be the case now, upon the greatest disasters
of the war !” Mr. Lincoln continued: “The wisdom of the view
of the Secretary of State struck me with very great force. It was
an aspect of the case that in all my thought upon the subject, I
had entirely overlooked. The result was that I put the draft of
the proclamation aside, as you do your sketch for a picture, wait-
ing for a victory. From time to time I added or changed a line,
touching it up here and there, anxiously watching the progress of
events. Well, the next news we had was of Pope's disaster at
Bull Run. Things looked darker than ever. Finally came the
week of the battle of Antietam. I determined to wait no longer.
The news came, I think, on Wednesday, that the advantage was
on our side. I was then staying at the Soldier's Home (three
miles out of Washington). Here I finished writing the second
draft of the preliminary proclamation, came up on Saturday,
called the Cabinet together to hear it, and it was published the
following Monday.’”
“Having concluded this interesting statement, the Pres-
ident then proceeded to show me the various positions oc-
cupied by himself and the different members of the Cabi-
net, on the occasion of the first meeting. “As nearly as I
remember,” said he, “I sat near the head of the table.
The Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of War
FRANK B. CA RPENTER. 489
were here at my right hand ; the others were grouped at
my left.”
The artist was assigned the state dining-room for a
studio by Mr. Lincoln, and was engaged on the Work, the
dimensions of which are fourteen feet six inches by nine
feet, from February to August, 1864. -
On its completion, by Mr. Lincoln’s consent, it was ex-
hibited for two days in the East room of the White House
to crowds of people. Immediately after the artist entered
into a contract with my firm to have the painting engraved
on steel by A. H. Ritchie, Derby & Miller to be the pub-
lishers. The price paid Mr. Ritchie was six thousand dol-
lars for the steel plate, which occupied him eighteen months
to engrave. For several months after the plate was finished
the orders could only be supplied by printing from the
plate day and night. The subscription list for the engrav-
ing was headed by President Lincoln and his entire Cabi-
net, and before it was closed embraced the names of almost
every distinguished man in the Northern States. Nearly
thirty thousand impressions were printed from the steel
plate, which is now worn out.
In 1877, Mrs. Elizabeth Thompson, a wealthy and pub-
lic-spirited widow lady of New York City, learning that
the painting was still in Mr. Carpenter's possession, fear-
ing its destruction by fire, and considering that the rightful
destination of this painting was in the Capitol at Wash-
ington, as it commemorated an event in our history second
only to that of the Declaration of Independence, recently
purchased the painting for the artist’s price—twenty-five
thousand dollars, and on Lincoln’s birthday, February 12,
1878, it was formally presented to the United States on be-
half of Mrs. Thompson, both Houses of Congress adjourn-
ing in honor of the event.
The painting was placed for the ceremony, over the
Speaker’s desk and chair, occupying considerable space in
front of the Reporters' gallery. The House of Represen-
tatives was crowded with spectators, hundreds being unable
21%
490 FRANK B. CARPENTER.
to gain admittance. The presentation speech was made by
Hon. James A. Garfield on behalf of Mrs. Thompson. He
paid a high compliment to the fidelity of the painting, its
historic value and the generosity of the donor, and then
entered upon an eloquent paneygric of Mr. Lincoln and his
work, followed by individual tributes to the different mem-
bers of the War Cabinet.
The painting was received on behalf of Congress by
Hon. Alexander H. Stephens, late vice-president of the Con-
federate States, who at the beginning of the war announced
“slavery '' to be the “corner-stone of the new confeder-
acy.” It was a sublime sight to see this man on behalf of
the Re-United States, accepting a painting commemorating
the downfall of slavery. Mr. Stephens spoke of Mrs.
Thompson's patriotic action, as the most valuable offering
ever made to the Nation by a private individual. His tri-
bute to Mr. Lincoln and his work was very remarkable,
coming from the vice-president of the defunct Confed-
eracy, and the speech throughout excited the liveliest inter-
est in all who heard it, and was widely commented on by
the newspapers of the country.
The painting was placed in one of the only two vacant
panels in the Capitol, the panel in the eastern staircase of
the House of Representatives. In the panel on the western
side is Leutze’s “Westward the Course of Empire takes its
way.” - ..
Both Houses of Congress passed a joint resolution con-
veying the thanks of Congress to Mrs. Elizabeth Thomp.
son, for her patriotic action in the presentation of the
painting, an honor never before conferred upon any lady.
This entitles her to the privileges enjoyed only by Ex-
Senators, Ex-Members and Ex-Governors, as to admission
to the floor of both Houses. Mrs. Thompson is the only
lady in the United States who can rightfully claim this
privilege and honor.
During Mr. Carpenter’s stay at the White House he had
many pleasant conversations with President Lincoln.
FIRAN K B. CARPENTER. 491
On one occasion the latter said, “There are some
quaint, queer verses written, I think, by Oliver Wendell
Holmes, entitled ‘The Last Leaf,” one of which is to me
inexpressibly touching.” He then repeated from memory
the verse which occurs in about the middle of the poem,
which reads as follows:
“The mossy marbles rest,
On the lips that he has pressed,
In their bloom;
And the names he loved to hear,
Have been carved for many a year,
On the tomb.”
As he finished this verse he said in his emphatic way,
“For pure pathos, in my judgment, there is nothing finer
than those six lines in the English language.” And I
think President Lincoln's judgment coincides with that
of all readers of that exquisite lyric.
On another occasion Mr. Lincoln repeated the lines of
the now famous poem,
“Oh why should the spirit of mortal be proud º'
which the artist wrote down one by one as they fell from
his lips. This beautiful poem soon became famous, although
at that time the author was unknown. It was subsequently
ascertained that it was written by Richard Knox, a young
Scotchman, a contemporary of Sir Walter Scott. This
poem has been published complete in the beautiful Golden
Floral Series by Lee & Shepherd.
After the painting was completed and Mr. Carpenter was
about returning home, the President called on him and
said :
“Well, Carpenter, I must go in and take one more look
at the picture before you leave us.” So saying, he accom-
panied the artist to the East Room, and sitting down in
front of it remained for some time in silence.
492 FRANK B. CA RPENTEU&.
After a while he said, “There is little to find fault
with,” he replied, “the portraiture is the main thing, and
that seems to me absolutely perfect.”
The late Henry J. Raymond once related a curious
anecdote about the Proclamation of Emancipation. He
said that Secretary Chase told him that the President came
into the meeting of the Cabinet after the battle of Antietam,
and said he had come across Something very amusing in one
of Artemus Ward’s letters, and he read it through for the
edification of the Secretaries. He then said he had brought
another document to read to them—not for their advice
and criticism, for his mind was fully made up on the sub-
ject, but for their information.
It was the Proclamation of Emancipation. He said he
had promised himself and his God that if the rebels were
driven out of Maryland he would issue such a proclamation,
and he was about to do it. Mr. Chase said the words “and
my God” were uttered in a low tone, and he thought no
one but himself heard Lhem. Some days after he recalled
them to the President’s notice, and told him. It seemed to
him to indicate that he had issued the Proclamation in
fulfillment of a religious vow. The President half assented
to the inference which Mr. Chase had drawn.
In a copy of Mr. Carpenter’s book, “Six Months at the
White House; or, Inner Life of Abraham Lincoln,” which
lies before me, I find the following inscription :
“To my friend, JAS. C. DERBY, Esq.,
“Who suggested the title of this book, ‘Six Months at the
White House,” and whose constant friendly interest in it from the
beginning, greatly encouraged and helped me in its progress.
** FRANK B. CARPENTER.
“New York, 1869.”
The volume was published by Hurd & Houghton in
the year 1867, and has reached a sale of nearly thirty
thousand copies.
XXX.
JEFFERSON DAWIS-A. H. STEPHENS.
“Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government”—A Visit
to Jefferson Davis—Hospitable Reception at Beauvoir
—A. Yet Unfinished Book—Judge Tenney Comes to
the Rescue—Sarah A. Dorsey’s Bequest—The Ea:-
President’s Complimentary Letter—Ravages of Yel-
low Fever—Woble Action of Northern People—A new
Yersion of the Capture of Davis—Beautiful Home at
JBeauvoir.
IN the year 1875, the house of D. Appleton & Co., with
which I was then connected, entered into an agree-
ment with an authorized agent of Jefferson Davis, to pre-
pare under his dictation a book on the late war between
the States, the title of which, afterwards agreed upon,
being “The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Govern-
ment.” The book was to have been completed in two
years’ time, the publishers agreeing to advance on account
of copyright a specified sum for the services of the agent
referred to, and to defray the expenses of gathering
material for the use of the writer.
The time having expired in which the book was to have
been finished, with but little progress towards its comple-
tion, and the sums advanced, as agreed upon, having con-
siderably increased, without any near prospect of getting
the book, the publishers became concerned, regarding the
non-fulfillment of the contract. In consequence of this I
was deputed by the house to visit Mr. Davis, at his home
in Mississippi, according to the following instructions:
[493]
494 JEFFERSON DAVIS.
“New York, Jan. 28, 1880.
‘‘DEAR MR. DERBY :
“With respect to the unfortunate delay in completing the
work on the Confederacy by Mr. Davis, and the very considerable
amount we have advanced, we wish to say, first; we have extended
the first agreement to suit all parties, and have advanced money
until the sum is too large and we can advance no more. We do
not desire to find fault with any one ; we simply claim that we
are entitled to consideration under the agreement. We do not
wish to push unreasonably our claim. We anxiously desire the
work, but will forego it altogether, if the money we have ad-
vanced is returned to us. You must judge for yourself, but we
think the past clearly shows we can place no confidence in any
future promises. We have every confidence and respect for Mr.
Davis, but do not believe he can ever complete the work on his
present plan. And for this reason we are anxious it should pass
into other hands. It is now two years since Mr. Tenney was with
Mr. Davis and saw the manuscript, and he left with the impres-
sion it would be all completed in from three to six months. We
have no doubt if the material is placed in his hands now, he could
do it within that time. Most truly,
D. APPLETON & Co.”
I started immediately for Beauvoir, the residence of
the ex-President of the Confederate States, arriving there
in February, 1880. Mr. Davis had been prepared by corres-
pondence to expect my arrival, and I was received with
great cordiality at the hospitable mansion of Beauvoir, and
Soon after my arrival we commenced to talk about the book.
I found Mr. Davis in blissful ignorance of the progress
of his work, he trusting entirely to his agent, in whose
literary attainments he placed the utmost confidence, and
towards whom he seemed to cherish the most affectionate
regard.
Mr. Davis had occasionally seen a few pages of the
manuscript, and he said he wished my visit had been
earlier, as the gentleman who had the preparation of the
manuscript in charge, lived at some distance, and he him-
self had been utterly unable to visit him in person.
JEFFERSON DAVIS. 495
According to his request, I called upon this party and
asked to see the manuscript of Mr. Davis' book, which was
reluctantly shown me. I soon saw that there was not
enough copy to make three hundred pages of one volume,
and even that was not in necessary shape. On returning
with the manuscript to Mr. Davis, he seemed greatly sur-
prised at the result of four years’ literary labor, and look-
ing it over said there was hardly any more ready than when
Judge Tenney examined it two years previously.
Mr. Davis took in the situation 'at once, and remarked
that the publishers under the contract which he had
guaranteed, were entitled to the manuscript complete, or
the return of the money advanced by them.* But the
former not being ready, and his large cotton crops requir-
ing all his available means just at that time, it would be
inconvenient to return the latter. He said also he had
made a binding contract with the house which was satis-
factory to him, and he was willing to do anything reason-
able to expedite niatters.
Calling Mr. Davis’ attention to the suggestion made
in my letter of instructions regarding Judge Tenney, as a
competent and ready writer to aid him in completing the
long-delayed work, he said that nothing would please him
better, as he entertained a high regard for the latter's fair-
ness and literary capacity, and he would be glad of his
speedy assistance.
Soon after my return to New York, the publishers
despatched Judge Tenney without further delay to assist
Mr. Davis in the preparation of the manuscript for the
press. It was soon completed, and thus, after the pro-
tracted delay, the book made its appearance. Mr. Davis
introduces his “Rise and Fall of the Confederacy” as
follows:
* Over eight thousand dollars had been advanced towards the
preparation of the work, not a dollar of which had Mr. Davis re-
ceived. It was paid out, however, on his order, to the agent
referred to, and was ultimately deducted from the copyright.
496 JEFFERSON DAVIS.
“The object of this work has been to show, from historical
data, that the Southern States had rightfully the power to with-
draw from a union into which they had, as sovereign communities,
voluntarily entered ; that the denial of that right was a violation
of the letter and spirit of the compact between the States, and that
the war waged by the Federal Government against the seceding
States, was in disregard of the limitations of the Constitution, and
destructive of the principles of the Declaration of Independence.
The author from his official position may claim to have known
much of the motives and acts of his countrymen, immediately
before and during the war of 1861–65, and he has sought to furnish
material for the future historian, who, when the passions and
prejudices of the day shall have given place to reason and sober
thought, may better than a contemporary investigate the causes,
conduct and results of the war.”
Soon after my return home from my business trip to
Beauvoir I received the following letter :
“Beauvoir, Feb. 14th, 1880.
“J. C. DERBY, Esq. :
“My DEAR SIR : I hope your remembrance of your visit to us
may not be exclusively of your business troubles. In that connec-
tion, however, you must have the consolation of having achieved
as much as was practicable to expedite the completion of the prep-
aration of my manuscript for the press. The disappointment felt
by your house at the slow progress of the work was certainly not
greater than my own, and strange as it may appear, I was but lit-
tle better prepared than yourself to find how little had been done
in a form to be sent to the press. It is proper that you should
know that much correspondence to obtain material for the second
volume which is on hand, did not appear in what was submitted
to you, but is valuable and did consume much time. If your
associates can be made ſully to appreciate the difficulties you en-
countered and the obstacles you overcame, they will accord to you
the credit of having achieved as much as was practicable.
Hoping that in the future more efficient conduct of the work may
repay your past disappointments, as far as what is lost may be
compensated for, and that you suffer no further inconvenience
from your recent illness, I am respectfully and cordially,
“Yours,
“JEFFERSON DAVIS.”
JEFFERSON DAVIS. 497
The book, although published at a high price in two
large volumes, met with a large sale, reaching many thou-
Sands of copies.
Judge Tenney, to whose untiring industry was mainly
due the speedy appearance of the book, had been with D.
Appleton & Co. for nearly thirty years, previous to which he
was one of the editors of the New York Evening Post, and
well known in literary circles. In the summer of 1883,
while visiting Mr. Davis, Judge Tenney was taken sick,
and, returning to his home, died most unexpectedly, much
to the regret of all who knew him.
Beauvoir, the home of Jefferson Davis, is situated on
the Gulf of Mexico, midway between Mobile and New Or-
leans. The property was purchased by Mr. Davis from
Mrs. Sarah A. Dorsey soon after her husband’s death, for a
pleasant residence for the summer months; it was not
willed to him by Mrs. Dorsey, as the public generally be-
lieve ; at her death, however, she did will some plantation
property in Mississippi and Louisiana to Mr. Davis, which
will has been contested and is still in the courts. Mrs. Dorsey
was a great admirer of Mr. Davis and sustained with great
ardor the cause of which he was the acknowledged head ;
they were born and lived on neighboring plantations, and
her affection for him was that of a devoted sister. Mrs.
Dorsey was an authoress of some repute ; she was known
in literary circles in New York and elsewhere. She was a
niece of that brilliant writer, Mrs. Catherine A. Warfield,
author of the Household of Bouverie.
The following letters received by me from Mr. Davis
will doubtlessly interest my readers :
“Beauvoir, Feb. 6th, 1874.
“The time is near at hand when frost may be expected at
Memphis, and the effect it produces has usually been felt for
several degrees of latitude south of the place it occurred ; we are
here surrounded by yellow fever, and the circle steadily narrows,
but my residence is so isolated, that we may fairly hope not to be
invaded by the infection. The disease this year, however, has
498 J EFFERSON IDAVIS.
some characteristics hitherto unknown, and the suffering has been
and is mole severe than any previous epidemic. The noble gener-
osity of the northern people in this day of our extreme affliction,
has been felt with deep gratitude, and has done more for the fra-
ternization of which many idly práte, than would many volumes of
rhetorical assurance.”
“Beauvoir, Sept. 4th, 1878.
“Herewith is enclosed the marked article in reference to im-
portant documents on Exhibition in Toledo. Statements in regard
to such mattels are generally so unreliable, that one cannot form a
conclusion from them; for example, in this recital articles are
mentioned as taken by Michigan soldiers at the time of my cap
ture. It may be true that they were taken by Colonel Pritchard,
of Michigan, or his staff-officers, when they pillaged my wife's
trunks after I was imprisoned in Fortress Monroe, or, they may
have been found in a trunk belonging to me, which a party going
from Virginia to Florida had carried to Florida, and left there,
but they were not taken as reported. Again, the government of
the C. S. A. was never transferred to Greensboro, N. C. I stopped
there, after the surrender of Lee, for a conference with J. E.
Johnston and Beauregard, but never designed to establish the
government there, yet, there may be important documents obtained
by means which it is sought to conceal by a misstatement; but of
that I have no power to judge.”
“Beauvoir, Oct. 29th, 1878.
“DEAR SIR:
“When your kind letter of the 15th inst. was received, domes-
tic affliction, in the loss of my last surviving son, who died far
from me, and the serious illness of my wife, who alone of my
family is with me, prevented me from making an early acknowl-
edgment. * º º tº &
Isolation, which has heretofore given security, no longer affords
safety from infection. Creole children and full-blooded negroes,
who were generally exempt from yellow fever, have been in no-
wise spared by this pestilence. These and other characteristics
of this year's disease have caused such discussion without satis-
factory conclusion, as to whether it is pure yellow fever or a com-
bination of that disease with other fevers. The benevolence of your
city and other places can never be forgotten by our people, and will
remain a lasting memorial of the civilization of our day and coun-
try.”
JEFFERSON DAVIS. 499
The following picturesque description of Beauvoir, and
its surroundings, written by Mrs. Frank Leslie, and pub-
lished in her Illustrated Wewspaper of March 24th, 1883,
will no doubt be interesting to many.
“Among my most pleasurable reminiscences, a visit to Beau-
voir, the stately home of Jefferson Davis, is cut in boldest relief.
“It was a balmy March morning—the idea of a balmy morn-
ing in this monster month l—that we left the Crescent City—a
party of a dozen or more en route to Mississippi City, close to
which lies the Davis domain and mansion. The train ran into the
station at Mississippi City, where we found carriages, sent from
Beauvoir, awaiting us.
“Beauvoir is a stately mansion, reminding one of an old Eng-
lish home. It is approached by an avenue of superb and venerable
trees. At the gate, in a spirit of true Southern courtesy, Mrs.
Jefferson Davis awaited us. As we walked up to the old manor-
house, beneath the arching boughs of lordly trees that stood like
sentinels presenting arms as we passed, I felt its fascination to
the full. Ascending a steep flight of steps, we were ushered into
the reception room, an apartment at once as elegant as it is cozy.
A bright log fire smiled on us, and great easy chairs received us
with open arms. Miniatures of many generations gazed at us
from the walls, and books, old and new, were at our beck. Pic-
tures and portfolios, dainty bits of work and all the costly knick-
knackeries that bespeak refinement and culture blossomed in this
charming old room, and as if to complete the picture, a huge
shaggy Newfoundland dog sprawled before the fire, even in his
sleep ever and anon wagging his bushy tail for very hospitality.
“After a delightful chat, Mrs. Davis volunteered to show us her
husband's study—the workshop in which he turned out the ‘His-
tory of the War' —and in which he passes so much of his waking
hours. This sanctum is a verandaed building with a conical roof,
standing apart from the manor-house and in the midst of the most
magnificent trees. The interior presents all the rude reality that
actual work ever imparts, and is lined with two tiers of books.
Everywhere are evidences of Jeff. Davis’ individuality in the form
of pictures and statuettes. Mr. Davis will not permit any profane
hands here, and everything must remain as he leaves it. While
he is closeted in his sanctum no one may disturb him. This law
is Draconian.”
500 AJLEXANDER II. STEPHENS.
ALEXANDER. H. STEPHENS,
Stephens IHears Seward Speak in 1854—A Visit to Liberty
Hall—It does not Belie its Wame—“JRetract, or I’ll
Cut"—“Never / Out”—Devotion of Former Slaves
to “Mars Aleck’” — John Quincy Adams writes
Verses to Stephens—The latter Opposes the War, then
follows his State—Becomes Vice-President of Confed.
eracy—Wegro not equal to White Man–Illinois “ All
Noise”—Speech on Carpenter’s Picture—His Death
while Governor of Georgia—Eloquent Tribute to His
Memory.
IN the year 1854 during a visit to Washington, I first saw
Alexander H. Stephens, then a Member of Congress
from Georgia. He was listening to a speech of William H.
Seward, then U. S. Senator, on what was called the Missouri
Compromise Bill. He at that time, like Mr. Seward, be-
longed with Clay and Webster to the Whig party, which
was destroyed by the repeal of the Compromise bill, and on
the ruins of which party the Republican party was built.
I remember hearing Mr. Stephens while he was conversing
with a fellow-member, a Northern Whig, belonging to what
was then known as the Silver Gray faction of that party.
The conversation of these Congressmen was very bitter to-
wards Mr. Seward, who was at that time very obnoxious to
the Southern Members of Congress.
The next time I met Mr. Stephens was in 1870, at Liberty
Hall, his well-known home at Crawfordsville, Georgia. I
was accompanied in my visit by James R. Randall, then
editor of the Augusta, Ga., Constitutionalist, and an inti-
mate personal and political friend of the Georgia states-
man. Mr. Stephens gave us a cordial greeting, and I was
ALEXANDER. H. STEPHENS. 501
soon made to realize that his hospitable mansion did not
belie its name. I was struck with the personal appearance
of our host, with his boyish stature and delicate frame.
Not long since I met Mr. W. F. Herring, a well-known
Georgian, now living in New York. He said to me that
when a boy in Atlanta he witnessed the attack made on
Mr. Stephens by a desperate man of giant frame. He saw
the strong man’s knife raised above the throat of his weak
and prostrate victim, and heard the hoarse imprecation
with which he said, “Retract, or I’ll cut | * Looking
his foe in the face, the blood streaming from the wounds
he had already received, and the blade about to descend in
a last fatal blow, the almost dying but dauntless man an-
swered, “Never ! Cut !” Mr. Herring says he can never
forget that exhibition of the most utter fearlessness which
human nature can possibly exhibit.
His conversation, like his appearance, was very remark-
able. At that time he could neither stand or walk, being
wheeled about in a chair, or carried by his body servant.
His most remarkable feature was his bright and piercing
eye. His voice was as effeminate as a woman's, except
when aroused in conversation, or in making one of his
brilliant speeches. His former slaves remained with him
as freedmen, and were devoted to the interests of ‘‘ Mars
Aleck,” as they called him.
1 was greatly interested in his anecdotes of public men
whom he had met in Congress, among others, those about
John Quincy Adams, with whom he was on the most
friendly terms. He showed among other mementoes the
following stanzas from Ex-President Adams, who was his
intimate friend:—
“TO ALEXANDER H. STEPHENS, ESQ., OF GA.
“Say, by what sympathetic charm,
What mystic magnet's Secret sway,
Drawn by some unresisted arm
We come from regions far away ?
502 ALEXANDER. H. STEPHENS.
“From North and South from East and West
Here in the people's hall we meet,
To execute their high behest
In council and communion sweet.
“We meet as strangers in this hall,
But when our task of duty's done,
We blend the common good of all,
And melt the multitude in one.
“As strangers in this hall we meet;
But now with one united heart
Whate'er of life awaits us yet,
In cordial friendship let us part.
“JoHN QUINCY ADAMs.”
The following amusing anecdote was related by Mr.
Stephens: “On a certain occasion when the House was
in session, a dispute arose between Hardin and others of
the Illinois delegation as to the proper pronunciation of
the name of their State. Some insisted it was ‘Illinoy,’
others as stoutly that it was ‘Illinois.’ Hardin at length
appealed to the venerable John Quincy Adams. ‘If one
were to judge from the character of the representatives in
this Congress from that state,’ said the old man, with a
malicious smile, ‘I should decide unhesitatingly that the
proper pronunciation was ‘All noise !’” -
During my visit Mr. Stephens presented me with a copy
of his History of the Late War between the States, with
this inscription.
“This work is commended to the careful perusal and study of
his friend J. C. Derby; upon the principles herein presented
depend the future welfare of our country, as well as the hope of
mankind—this at least is the opinion of
AI,ExANDER. H. STEPHENs.”
This work referred to was published in two large vol-
umes and over 100,000 copies were sold.
ALEXANDER. H. STEPHENS. 5()3
I next met Mr. Stephens in Washington, where he had
again taken his seat as representative in Congress as a pro-
nounced Unionist. w
It will be remembered that Mr. Stephens was decidedly
opposed to the secession of his State from the Union, and
threw all his influence against the course adopted, believing
it would be better for the State to remain in the Union
than to follow the action of South Carolina. When, how-
ever, Georgia did secede, Mr. Stephens, like most of the
people believing in the doctrine of States Rights (owing
first allegiance to the State), went with his State out of the
Union.
In his famous speech delivered on the 21st of March,
1861, in Săvannah, he said, “Our new government is
founded upon exactly the opposite idea ; its foundations
are laid, its corner-stone rests upon the great truth, that
the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery—
subordination to the superior race—is his natural and nor-
mal condition.”
It seems strange that in the logic of events Mr. Stephens
should have been selected, when a member of Congress, to
receive from the hands of the donor, F. B. Carpenter’s
picture of the “Emancipation Proclamation,” which duty
he performed in an eloquent speech on the 12th of Febru-
ary, 1878, which opens as follows:
“Mr. President and Mr. Speaker :
“There is but little left to say in the performance of the part
assigned me in the programme arranged for this august occasion.
Upon the merits of the picture and the skill of the artist, my friend
from Ohio (Mr. Garfield) has dwelt at large. I can but indorse
all he has so well said on that subject. As to the munificent gift
of the donor, he has also left me nothing to add. The present of
a twenty-five-thousand-dollar painting to the government well de-
serves commendation. Few instances of this sort have occurred
in the history of our country. I know of none. The example of
504 ALTEXANDER. H. STEPII ENS.
this generous lady in the encouragement of art may well be fol-
lowed by others.
“Mr. President, with regard to the subject of the painting, I
propose, if strength permits, to submit a few remarks; first, as to
the central figure the man, after that, as to the event commemor-
ated. I knew Mr. Lincoln well. We met in the House in Decem-
ber, 1847. We were together during the Thirtieth Congress. I
was as intimate with him as with any other man of that Congress
except one. That exception was my colleague, Mr. Toombs. Of
Mr. Lincoln's general character I need not speak. He was warm-
hearted; he was generous; he was magnanimous, he was most
truly, as he afterwards said on a memorable occasion “With malice
towards none, with charity for all.’”
Although Mr. Stephens had been a great sufferer for
half a century, and had reached the age of threescore and
ten, he was elected Governor of Georgia, over all opposition,
by a majority of sixty thousand votes, living but a short
time, however, after his inauguration. His death was a
national loss, more especially to his State, whom he had
served so long and well. A most Interesting life of Mr.
Stephens has recently been published by J. B. Lippincott
& Co., written by Richard Malcolm Johnston, a gentle-
man of fine literary attainments and a life-long friend of
the subject of his memoir.
Mrs. Mary E. Bryan, editor of the Sunny South, pub-
lished at Atlanta, Georgia, an authoress of considerable
merit, known to me, as a special protége of Mr. Stephens,
writes of his death as follows, “He died just as the day was
breaking. It was the hour he had lately said he looked for
death to come. Once, this winter, a friend took him some
flowers. In the conversation that ensued he spoke of
Henry Timrod's poems—of that saddest, sweetest one, his
favorite, called ‘A Common Thought —the poem Tim-
rod had whispered with husky lips just before he died.
Mr. Stephens repeated it almost in full.
ALEXANDER. H. STEPHENS.
05
“Somewhere on this earthly planet,
In the dust of flowers to be—
In the dewdrop and the sunshine
Waits a solemn hour for me.
“At the wakeful hour of midnight
I behold it dawn in mist;
And I hear a sound of sobbing
Through the darkness, histl oh, hist!
“In a dim and murky chamber
I am breathing life away;
Some one draws a curtain softly,
And I watch the broad'ning day.
“As it purples in the zenith,
As it brightens on the lawn,
There's a hush of death about me,
And a whisper, “He is gone.’”
XXXI.
THURLOW WEEI).
Albany Evening Journal Fifty Years ago—A Modern
Warwick— Wiley & Putnam's London House—
Thurlow Weed's Autobiography— Walking barefoot
through the Snow—Advocates School Libraries—
Paulding and the Dutchman’s Fireside—Thurlow
Weed writes a Wovel—Fennimore Cooper gets a Ver-
dict—Noble Charity to Edwin Croswall—Thurlow
Weed Barnes’ Jºnal Memoir—Thurlow Weed and
Abraham Lincoln.
NEARLY fifty years ago, while residing in Auburn, I
became familiar with the Albany Evening Journal,
the leading Whig paper in the State and a powerful factor
in the politics of the times. It was usually called Thurlow
Weed's paper, and the question was often asked by poli-
ticians on arrival of the Albany paper, “What does Thur-
low say to-day ?” My acquaintance with Mr. Weed dates
back to the fall of 1838, soon after the election of his
friend and protege William H. Seward as Governor of the
State of New York.
Mr. Weed has been called a modern Warwick, which
term is not inaptly applied to one who has been the maker
as well as unmaker of Presidents, Governors and Senators
during more than half a century of an eventful political
life. But Mr. Weed was not always the politician ; he
was a good friend of booksellers and authors, besides being
a great reader of books himself. Thurlow Weed first be-
came an author in 1866; an involuntary one, I might say,
[506]
THU RLOW WIEED. 507
as “Letters from Europe and the West Indies,” written to
the Albany Evening Journal from 1843 to 1852, were
printed and published in an octavo volume at Albany, for
private circulation only, by a few personal friends unbe-
known to the author.
In one of these letters, dated London, July 12th, 1843,
he says of the London house of Wiley & Putnam, just
established by the junior member of that firm :
“I walked through Paternoster Row, among the booksellers,
to-day, and into the London house of Wiley & Putnam, who
you know are leading booksellers and publishers in New York,
and to whom I had a letter from my friends the Harpers. These
gentlemen ale doing much to enforce a knowledge of American
books upon the British public. But they find many discourage-
ments. With the exceptions that exist among enlightened men
of liberal minds, the great mass of Englishmen look upon us as a
people scarcely able to read and comprehend, and much less quali-
fied to write and think, and yet, in iodking upon themselves and
running over the “American Bookseller's Circular,” which these
gentlemen have pushed all over Europe, I was proud of the literary
wealth of my country, and of the array of names we present, that
even British supremacy in letters and science does not cast in the
shade.”
Mr. Weed's next volume was posthumous ; his interest-
ing autobiography was not published until a year after his
death.
I had, on several occasions, conversed with Mr. Weed
in reference to his writing his memoirs. He consented to
do so, and I made, at his request, at least two appoint-
ments for him to receive the stenographer and dictate his
reminiscences; but on each occasion he was unable to give
the necessary attention, owing to some indisposition.
Thus has posterity been deprived of much interesting
political history which was lost to the world when Thurlow
Weed died.
The autobiography referred to was written as dictated by
him, to his daughter Harriet, who was her father’s second self
{508 THURLOW WIEED.
in all his wishes, aims, and desires, while he lived. This
part of the story of Mr. Weed's life is touchingly referred
to in the preface to the Autobiography :
“My father's own story of his life, so far as he committed it to
paper, will be found in this volume. Written at various periods,
and frequently in detached fragments, these reminiscences are
sufficiently full to make, when arranged in due order of time, a
connected narrative of the events and experiences of the years he
dcemed of chuef interest or importance. Failing health prevented
the accomplishment of his purpose to describe, much more fully,
two periods—1842 to 1848 and 1852 to 1860—which are but briefly
alluded to.
“My duties have been confined to the verification of the dates,
and in placing, as far as was practicable, the several Sections of
the manuscript in chronological order. I am under great obliga-
tions to my own and my father's friend, Mr. Frederick W. Sewald,
for the assistance he has afforded me in preparing the volume for
publication. “HARRIET A. WEED.”
“New York, April, 1883.
Even as a youngster Mr. Weed was very fond of books.
In his Autobiography, he says
“I borrowed books wherever I could. I remember to have
heard that a neighbor, some three miles off, had borrowed from a
still more distant neighbor, a book of great interest, and after this
book had been read by those better entitled to the privilege, I
started off, barefooted, in the snow to obtain the treasure. There
were spots of bare ground upon which I would stop to warm my
feet, and there were also along the road occasional lengths of log
fence from which the snow had melted and upon which it was a
luxury to walk. The book was at home, and the good people con-
sented, upon my promise that it should be neither torn nor soiled,
to lend it to me. In returning with the prize I was too happy to
think of the snow or my naked feet. Candles were then among
the luxuries, not necessaries, of life. If boys, instead of going to
bed after dark, wanted to read, they supplied themselves with pine
knots, by the light of which (in a horizontal position) they pur-
THURLOW WBED. 509
sued their studies. In this manner, with my body in the sugar
house and my head out of doors where the fat pine was blazing, I
read with intense interest a ‘History of the French Revolution.’”
When the project for District School Libraries through.
out the State, which Mr. Weed had advocated with so much
earnestness, had become a law by legislative action, Har-
pers’ School District Library received the warm commenda-
tion of Mr. Weed, in an article in the Evening Journal,
which brought forth the following letter :
“New York, Jan. 2nd, 1841.
“THURLow WEED, Esq.,
“DEAR FRIEND:
“Your gratifying letter of the 31st ult. came to hand this mo-
ment. You have indeed made us very happy. This is a glorious
beginning for us, for which we beg you to accept our unbounded
and inexpressible thanks. We feel better and more thankful than
though we had been presented with the sum of five thousand dol-
lars. The ‘Brothers Cheeryble' (if we may be allowed for once
to apply your beautiful compliment to ourselves), will ever remem-
ber your kindness. Individually and collectively wishing a Happy
New Year to the dictator, we remain your obliged friends.
“HARPER & BROTHERs.”
Those of my old bookselling friends who remember the
popular demand for Captain Riley’s Narrative will be in-
terested to know what Wr. Weed says of the way it came
to be published :
“When James and John Harper established a small office of
their own, I reluctantly left- Mr. Seymour's office to take a situa-
tion in that of William A. Mercien in Gold Street, that I might
have Thomas Kennedy, who was considered the best pressman in
New York, as a partner. Here too I found much enjoyment. I
soon became a favorite with Mr. Mercien and always had the best
work in the office. Here Captain Riley's narrative of a remark-
able shipwreck on the Coast of Africa, was first printed. Making
his acquaintance the day he brought the manuscript of his book
to the office, and reading the first chapter, l ventured to suggest
51() THURLOW WIEED.
that it was carelessly written and needed revising, and although
at first annoyed, he finally took it away and availed himself of the
services of a school teacher, who improved the whole narrative in
its style and grammar. The work was a great success, keeping its
author before the people for fifteen or twenty years.”
Again an amusing account is given in which a famous
author and famous publisher were interested parties.
“After reviewing the Dutchman's Fireside,” a novel by Mr.
Paulding, I was subjected to a ludicrous and embarrassing inter-
view with the author. Calling at the Harper's a few days after
my notice appeared, my old friend James, the senior of that house
in taking me by the hand, abruptly said: “You are just in time
to give an account of yourself. Here is Mr. Paulding against
whom you have brought the charge of plagiarism. We generally
swear by the ‘Evening Journal,” but of course you are mistaken
in this case, and I have assured Mr. Paulding that you will cheer-
fully make an apology.” Mr. Paulding very courteously remarked
that he was not conscious of being obnoxious to the grave charge,
but that authors not unfrequently fell into a train of thought
which might subject them to criticism. “That won’t do,” said
Harper, “our friend Weed has either made a great blunder, or he
has found something to justify his accusation; he must, therefore,
either back out, or prove his assertion.” Mr. Paulding politely
expressed a desire to know upon what part of his book the charge
of plagiarism was founded. Harper then produced a copy of the
‘Dutchman's Fireside and I turned to the following:
“‘A bashful man is like a tiger; he makes but one effort and
if that fails slinks away to his jungle and essays not another. I,
myself, have my own experience to vouch for this.”
“I then asked for a copy of Moore’s ‘Life of Byron' and I
turned to a letter of the latter written to Murray in which Byron
said: “With regard to what you say about retouching the Juan
and the hints, it is all very well; but I can’t furbish. I am like
the tiger (in poesy), if I miss the first spring, I go growling back
to my jungle. There is no second.”
After an embarrassing pause, Mr. Paulding frankly admitted
that the criticism was just, but said that while it was quite evi-
dent that he had used both the figure of speech and the language,
he was oblivious while writing of the fact that he was indebted to
THURLOW WIEED. 511
Lord Byron for both. When Mr. Paulding retired I expostulated
with Mr. Harper for placing strangers in a position of such pecu-
liar embarrassment. He replied laughingly, that he supposed he
was putting me in a tight place, but knew that I would work out
of it in some way, but that he regretted having touched Mr.
Paulding on the raw.”
It will be news to most of my readers to learn that Mr.
Weed had composed a novel in his own mind but had never
written it out. His daughter Harriet used to beg of him
to dictate to her so that it might sometime be published.
He had planned the entire plot of the novel and intended
to put it in shape, but never did.
Mr. Weed was a great reader of novels. His favorite
authors were Sir Walter Scott and Charles Dickens.
It is believed that Mr. Weed was the first in this country
to discover the authorship of Waverly, which as is known
was published anonymously. After reading some of that
author’s subsequent novels, acknowledged to be Sir Walter
Scott’s, Mr. Weed insisted that Scott was the author of
“Waverly,” before the latter admitted the authorship.
Mr. Weed preferred Dickens to all other authors, his
works having been read and re-read to him many times, and
was much interested in their circulation, so much so as to
present many sets to those who admired Dickens, but could
not afford to buy his works.
It is well known that J. Fenimore Cooper sued Mr.
Weed repeatedly for libels in reviewing his books. At
one of the trials, while the lawyers were engaged in argu-
ing the case, and the judge afterwards making his charge
to the jury, Mr. Weed was reading Cooper's last novel,
“The Deer Slayer,” in which he became so deeply inter-
osted, he let the trial go on without notice, nor was he
aware it was over until the jury brought in their verdict of
“guilty.” This incident was told afterwards to Mr. Paul
Cooper, nephew of the great novelist, who said he very
512 THUIRT, OW WIEED.
much regretted his uncle did not know about it at the
time.
After Mr. Weed removed to New York, he learned
incidentally that Edwin Croswell, who had been his con-
temporary for so many years as the editor of the Albany
Argus, the organ of the Democratic party of the State of
New York, but who had retired with a competency, had, by
Some unfortunate investments, lost all of his property, in
addition to which misfortune he had recently been pros-
trated by a paralytic stroke. He had requested his creditors
to take his residence, the mortgage on which he was unable
to pay the interest, and cancel the same ; he had also been
compelled to sell his household effects to help liquidate his
indebtedness, and went to live with a married daughter in
New Jersey. As soon as Mr. Weed heard of the trouble of
his former political enemy, he called upon a wealthy friend,
from whom, with some other associates and his own sub-
scription, $10,000 was raised for the benefit of Mr. Croswell.
This money was invested in Government bonds, and
handed to the latter, as a New Year's testimonial, with this
correspondence :
“New York, Jan. 1, 1871.
“DEAR MR. CROSWELL :
“Some of your old friends and neighbors, availing themselves
of the festive season, have united in a testimonial expression of
their sense of your public services and personal character, which,
together with their best wishes for your restored health, will be
presented to you by our mutual friend, Mr. Augustus Schell.
“Yours truly.
THURLOW WIEED.”
“Princeton, N. J., Feb. 7, 1871.
‘‘DEAR MR. WEED :
Our mutual friend, Mr. Augustus Schell, handed me yesterday
your highly esteemed favor of the 1st January ultimo, together
with the valuable testimonial by which it was accompanied, and
to which it refers. I find great difficulty to command fitting
terms of acknowledgment of this generous and liberal offering.
Large as its pecuniary worth is, and as such, a source of grateful
THURLOW WIEED. 513
thanksgiving, it is especially precious in my eyes as an expression
of approval of my public services and personal character, coming
from a body of intelligent and enlightened friends whose good
opinion and favorable judgment are of inestimable value. To you,
my dear Mr. Weed, allow me to say that I feel a particular con-
sciousness of your voluntary kindness and action in this matter,
springing from emotions of an ever-generous nature ; and I beg
you to convey to my friends in your own good time and manner,
my cordial and grateful acceptance of their testimonial.
“Very truly yours,
EDWIN CROSWELL.”
The memoirs of Thurlow Weed by his grandson, Thur-
low Weed Barnes, have recently been published, thus com-
pleting the life history of this venerable printer, journalist,
diplomat and statesman. The work is very ably written.
Mr. Barnes says in the preface :
“In devoting the ensuing pages largely to the period between
1840 and 1882, and more particularly to that between 1850 and
1867, the writer is but carrying out the purpose which his grand-
father cherished. When possible—as it has been often—Mr.
Weed's own words, in well remembered conversations, in news-
paper articles, or in unpublished fragments of autobiography,
have been employed. As frequently the narrative is carried on by
selections from the letters which passed between him and other
public men, written without reserve, and, of course, without a
thought of publication, these letters illumine with wonderful dis-
tinctness and fidelity, not only the characters of those who wrote
them, but the times in which they lived.”
. It will be seen from the following extract from this
interesting volume, what were Mr. Weed's intentions had
he lived to carry them out :
“It was now with abundant leisure and deprived of all other
former methods of occupation, that he began to jot down remin-
iscences of his life, thinking, as his daughter told him, that at
some future day they might interest his children. They were
written without thought of publication. In fact, when he started
for home, he forgot all about the manuscript, which was, how-
22%
514 TIHU RTLOW W EED.
ever, secured by Miss Weed, as she was leaving for the ship.
Then for twenty years it was not mentioned, until one day in
1865, when finding the papers, she took them to him and began
to read them aloud. “What is all that ?" he asked. She recalled
to his mind the neglected narrative, and hoping thus to give him
congenial employment, declared that it ought to be finished and
published. “I don’t know about that,” said he, with a smile.”
“Washington, Dec. 30, 1865.
‘‘ MY DEAIR WEED:
“Our friends are so faithful that we ought to be tolerant of
their weaknesses. They do not see always as we do the wisdom
that lies in the exercise of reasonable self-confidence, especially
where we are dealing with strangers.
“As for writing a book, you ought to leave one. I ought not.
How either could make one without making the other seem respon-
sible, is a difficulty. My book, if I wrote one, would be charged
to you, just as much as if you wrote it, yours, in like manner to
Yı6.
“Perhaps the ostensible link may be severed by death or polit-
ical accident, and it may be well for you to be prepared for it.
“Your faithful friend,
“WILLIAM H. SEWARD.”
“So many friends concurred in this view—that Mr. Weed
should go on with his writing—that finally in 1869, though in
poor health, he took up the work, with his daughter Harriet as
amanuensis. And thus, with the exception of a few introductory
pages, his “Autobiography" was written entirely by dictation,
after he had passed his seventy-first year.
“Often Mr. Frederick W. Seward took Harriet's place. He
had grown up from boyhood as much at ease and as welcome in
Mr. Weed's house as that of his father, dividing his early life be-
tween Auburn and Albany. In the preparation of a volume
requiring constant reference to newspaper files, letters, and public
documents, loss of vision was a very serious deprivation.
“Mr. Seward's genial presence and accurate knowledge of pub-
lic affairs, constituted a refreshing and a sustaining influence.
When he went to Washington in 1867, as Assistant Secretary of
State, the position which he filled during the administration of
Presidents Lincoln and Johnson, the narrative was laid aside un-
THURLOW WIFED. 515
til his return. As time went on it came to be Mr. Weed's hope
that under the Providence by which he was so long and so merci-
fully guided, he might finish the book.”
An interesting incident is told which occurred early in
1863. Mr. Weed was summoned to Washington by a tele-
gram from the President. At the White House, Lincoln,
taking him by the hand in his cordial fashion, said :
“Mr. Weed, we are in a tight place. Money for legit-
imate purposes is needed immediately ; but there is no ap-
propriation from which it can be lawfully taken. I didn’t
know how to raise it, and so I sent for you.”
“How much is required P” asked Mr. Weed.
“Fifteen thousand dollars,” said the President. “Can
you get it P*
“If you must have it at once, give me two lines to
that effect.” g
Mr. Lincoln turned to his desk and wrote a few words
on a slip of paper. Handing it to Mr. Weed, he said,
‘‘ Will that do 2 °
“It will,” said Mr Weed ; “the money will be at your
disposition to-morrow morning.”
On the next train Mr. Weed left Washington, and be-
fore 5 o'clock that afternoon the slip of paper which he
carried in his pocket, and which read as follows:
“Washington, Feb. 19th, 1863.
“MR. WEED: The matters I spoke to you about are import-
ant. I hope you will not neglect them.
“Truly yours,
“A. LINCOLN.”
—was indorsed by fifteen of the richest men in New York,
who subscribed one thousand dollars each. That evening
the fifteen thousand dollars was sent to Washington.
Following the delivery of that inaugural address in 1865,
in which Lincoln, “with malice toward none, with charity
to all,” took up the great work of “healing the nation’s
516 THURLOW WIEED.
wounds,” and “achieving a just and lasting peace,” Thur-
low Weed, in fervent admiration of the sublime spirit
which animated the famous address, wrote a congratulatory
note to the President. “Lincoln,” says Mr. Barnes,
“seems to have felt that nothing which he ever wrote would
sink so deep into the hearts of his countrymen, would live
so long—would so entitle him to the gratitude and admira-
tion of the world, as this same address. Shortly after it
was spoken, and less than a month before his death, he
wrote to Mr. Weed a letter, than which none in this vol-
ume is more worthy to be preserved : ”
“Executive Mansion,
“Washington, D. C., March 15th, 1865.
‘DEAR MR. WEED: Every one likes a compliment. Thank
you for yours on my little notification speech and on the recent
inaugural address.
“I expect the latter to wear as well as-perhaps better than—
anything I have produced; but I believe it is not immediately
popular. Men are not flattercd by being shown that there has
been a difference of purpose between the Almighty and them. To
deny it, however, in this case, is to deny that there is a God gov-
erning the world.
“It is a truth which I thought needed to be told, and as what-
ever of humiliation there is in it falls most directly on myself, I
thought others might afford for me to tell it.
“Truly yours,
** A. LINCOLN.”
º:
--- -
º


XXXII.
LEE AND SHEPARI).
A well-known and popular Firm— William Lee as Clerk
and Partner—He Sells out for $65,000—John P.
Jewett and “ Charlie ’” Shepard—Lee and Shepard
become Partners—Anecdote of Emerson—“I am
waiting for the inspiration ”—“Mrs. Emerson wants
some Money to-day ”—— Phillips dé Sampson decline
“ Uncle Tom *—Mrs. Stove writes “ Dred '' and takes
a Glass of Wine—The Origin of the “Atlantic
Monthly”—Prescott, the Historian, changes Publishers
— Underwood as an Author–President Wayland finds
a Publisher—“ Oliver Optic's '' popularity—Lee,
Shepard dº Dillingham.
THE Boston firm of Lee & Shepard, now so well known
throughout the United States and Dominion of
Canada, have been in business under the present style of
the firm for nearly a quarter of a century.
This house is without doubt the largest concern in New
England which combines the publishing and vending of
books other than their own publications, and, with one
exception, the largest in America. Both of the gentlemen
comprising the firm are well and favorably known among
the book trade in this country, with whom they are so
deservedly popular.
My own pleasant relations and personal friendship with
each of them dates back more than thirty years.
In the year 1848 Mr. William Lee became the junior
partner of the then well-known Boston publishers, Phillips,
[517]
518 \ LEE & SHEPARD.
Sampson & Co. He had begun to learn the bookselling
business when but a youngster of eleven years. His first
employer was Samuel G. Drake, who was not only an anti-
, quarian bookseller, but also a historian of some repute.
Young Lee learned the bookselling business very rapidly,
and when eighteen years old entered the employment of
Phillips & Sampson, who were at that time the most wide-
awake, ambitious, and enterprising publishers in Boston.
About 1854, having commenced business on my own
account in New York, I also became the agent for the sale
of Phillips, Sampson & Co.'s publications, which brought
me into close relation with that firm, and especially with
Mr. Lee, who was considered the active business man of
the house. Mr. Lee's industrious habits and thorough
knowledge of all kinds of books made him a valuable
auxiliary to the house, and up to the time of his retire-
ment an important factor in their eminently successful
Cà l’eel".
In the year 1857, Mr. Lee's health failing from close
application to business, he sold out his entire interest in
the firm to his partners for the sum of $65,000, the largest
portion of which was in promissory notes.
In the spring of 1858, he visited England, France,
Spain and other foreign countries. While in France, he
learned of the death of Mr. Phillips—Mr. Sampson having
died several months before—just as he was starting on a
Second trip to Spain. He thought he would wait until the
next mail from the United States came in, which brought
him the astonishing news that the firm had failed, when
he immediately returned home and found a disasterous
state of things which compelled liquidation.
Three years later in February, 1862, he entered into
partnership with Charles Augustus Billings Shepard, who,
like Mr. Lee, had been brought up in the bookselling busi-
ness, entering when but a youngster the employ of the late
John P. Jewett, who afterwards became famous as the pub-
isher of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.”
LEE &, SHEPARD. 519
Mr. Jewett has said that much of his success in business
was due to his young and energetic clerk, Charlie Shepard.
Mr. Shepard was for a time senior partner of Shepard,
Clark & Brown, who discontinued business in the year
1859. William Lee and Charles Shepard have been inti-
mate friends for nearly half a century and both of them
have a thorough knowledge as well as a gennine love for
the vocation of their calling. They seem to know
intuitively the salable qualities of a book.
Mr. Lee's long connection with Phillips, Sampson &
Co. gave him an opportunity of meeting many of the noted
authors of the day.
In a recent conversation with him he said, while he
was a member of the firm of Phillips, Sampson & Co., they
published Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Essays and also his
“Representative Men.” These books had been previously
published by James Munroe & Co., having met with but
little sale, and as Mr. Emerson owned the plates lie arranged
with the more enterprising firm to publish them. There
was quite a call for his essays, which were out of print, and
Mr. Lee influenced Mr. Phillips to ask Mr. Emerson to
allow them to get out a new edition, which he declined on
the ground that he wanted to make Some alterations, as
Some of them were written when he was quite a young
man. One morning Mr. Phillips said to Mr. Emerson,
“Why not let us print from your plates a small edition of
your essays * The latter replied : “I want to re-write
some and leave out some of them.” Said Phillips : “Why
don’t you do it P You have been saying that for many
months.” “Mr. Phillips,” said Mr. Emerson, in his
peculiar manner of speech, “I am waiting for the inspira-
tion. I can’t do much without the inspiration.” He
made the changes, leaving out some of the minor poems,
after which an edition was printed and sold readily.
Mr. Lee says, when Emerson wanted any copyright
Inoney he would come into Mr. Phillips’ private office and
say : “Mrs. Emerson says she would like to have some
520 I, EE & S.H.E.P.A.R.D.
money to-day, so I told her I would go in and ask the Ba.
rons of Winter Street for a check.” He was in the habit of
designating his publishers in that way, their place of busi-
ness being on Winter Street at that time, -
Soon after Phillips, Sampson & Co. published Cather.
ine Beecher’s “True Remedy for Woman’s Wrongs,” she
called on Mr. Phillips and told him she was authorized to
negotiate with him for the publication of “Uncle Tom's
Cabin.” This was before the author had closed with John
P. Jewett & Co. One day, after she had gone out, Mr.
Phillips called Mr. Lee and said : “William, what do you
think of publishing an anti-slavery story by Harriet Beecher
Stowe? It has been running in the Wational Era, and her
sister says it is a very powerful story.” Mr. Lee said in
reply, that of an anti-slavery novel published in an anti-
slavery newspaper, they never could sell a thousand copies
in book form ; besides, there was so much feeling against
interfering with what was then called “The rights of the
South,” it would not pay. Both Phillips and Sampson were
Democrats; Mr. Lee was a Whig, but the firm agreed never
to let politics interfere with their business. Their firm had
at that time a very large Southern trade, and Mr. Lee argued,
that if they published an anti-slavery novel, it would disturb
their business relations with the South, beyond any compen-
sation that would result from its sale--a purely mercantile
view. Accordingly, the firm declined “Uncle Tom,” and
Mr. Jewett became its publisher. All the members of the
firm lived long enough to regret their great mistake in de-
clining a fortune.
They afterwards became the publishers of Mrs. Stowe's
“Sunny Memories of Foreign Lands,” of which they sold
in one day, fifteen thousand sets; and then, of her “ Dred,
a Tale of the Dismal Swamp.”
Mr. Lee says he heard Mrs. Stowe once say that she
walked the floor and dictated to an amanuensis when she
wrote the latter. She came into the store one day after the
book was written and said to Mr. Phillips : “I’m entirely
LEE & SLIEPAIRD. 521
exhausted l’ Mr. Phillips called Mr. Lee, and said : “Mrs.
Stowe is feeling very much exhausted. She has just fin-
ished her book ‘Dred.” Perhaps if she could get a glass
of wine it would revive her.” Lee put on his hat and went
to the Tremont House to get a bottle of champagne, and on
his return poured out a couple of glasses. Mr. Phillips
took it to her, and he said afterward that Mrs. Stowe was
very grateful and that it had refreshed her very much.
When she was going home she said to Mr. Phillips : “Creat-
ing a story is like bearing a child, and it leaves me in as
weak and helpless a state as when my baby was born.” Her
whole mind was wrought up in the story and she would
pace the floor late at night dictating to her amanuensis.
The book is now published under the title “Nina Gordon.”
Mr. Phillips heard Mrs. Stowe say that when she was about
in the middle of the book the assault on Charles Sumner
took place, and she was so indignant at the outrage, that
instead of carrying out some of her characters and making
them like little Eva, charming and tender, she introduced
this spirit of revenge under the name of the negro Dred.
There were criticisms at the time which stated that she was
not artistic in the formation of her story ; the story bears
internal evidence of the truth of this statement. -
Mr. Francis H. Underwood, who was then connected
with the firm, came in from Cambridge one morning and
said : “The contract for ‘Ferdinand and Isabella and the
‘Conquest of Mexico and of Peru” has run out, and Mr.
Prescott has got a new work under way,” and urged Mr.
Phillips to call on Mr. Prescott at his fine residence in
Lynn. Mr. Prescott frankly told Mr. Phillips that his
contract with the Harpers had run out. He said he felt
bound in courtesy to give them an opportunity to renew
it, but there was nothing to prevent his receiving any prop-
osition for the publication of the new book and a contract
for the old one from any other house. The Harpers were
paying fifty cents per volume copyright on each book they
sold. The wholesale price was one dollar and fifty cents.
522 LEE & SHIET2A RD.
Mr. Phillips then made him a proposition guaranteeing a
sale of twelve thousand sets of “Philip II.,” and that they
would pay him six thousand dollars when the two volumes
were published, and at the end of six months from the day
of their publication six thousand dollars more. For the
other books they offered to pay him a half dollar a volume
on all that were sold. Mr. Prescott was very much pleased
with the proposition. He wrote to the Harpers asking if
they wanted to make a new contract, and intimating that
he would like to receive a proposition guaranteeing the
number of copies they would sell of “Philip II.” They
wrote a very manly business letter back, saying they should
be very glad to renew the contract, that they would sell all
the copies they could, but didn’t feel it was necessary for
them to guarantee any number. Of course, that relieved
Prescott and left him at liberty to make a contract with
Phillips, Sampson & Co. Another provision of that con-
tract was if Phillips, Sampson & Co. didn’t sell that num-
her within the specified time it was their loss. After they
had got the book out and were selling it, Mr. Prescott came
in one day and said, “Will you allow me to take that con-
tract, which we signed the other day ? I want to make an
alteration or two in it and submit it to you.” It was deliv-
cred to him. When he returned it the contract read,
that, in case the publishers did not sell the twelve
thousand volumes of Phillip II., as agreed, they should not
pay any copyright on those volumes until the same accrued
by actual sales. This was entirely voluntary on his part.
T.e work was very successful, and started up the large
sales of the other works of Prescott all over the country.
Mr. Underwood was the original projector of the
Atlantic Monthly but under another title. He first
proposed the plan of the magazine to Mr. Phillips, the se-
nior partner of the firm of Phillips Sampson & Co., of
which *William Lee was the junior member. The latter
strongly advocated the undertaking, and his influence with
* Lee & Shepard.
LEE &; SHEPARD. 523
the firm prevailed. Mr. Underwood was then engaged by
the bouse to open correspondence with leading writers in
this country and Europe, with a view to securing their con-
tributions to the proposed magazine. When the project
finally took shape, a dinner was given by Phillips, Sampson
& Co., at the Parker House, to a number of prominent lit-
erary people, among those present were Longfellow,
Holmes and Lowell. It was decided then and there, on the
proposition of Mr. Underwood, that James Russell Lowell
shou'd be the editor-ir-chief. He also proposed that the
magazine should be called The Orient. Dr. Holmes said
“The Orient is too much affected with the mysticism of
the other side of the world. Why not give it a geographi-
cal name : 776 Atlantic 2 No matter what the name may
be when it is given, after the thing for which it stands has
manifested its quality, then that quality will be transferred
to the name. The Atlantic may mean something or
nothing ; if you can make it a success, it will mean every-
thing.” Afterwards, the publishers and contributors to the
Allantic dined together at Parker’s once a month.
Mr. Underwood is the author of two excellent hand-
books of English and American literature, published by
Lee & Shepard. The latter volume is most worthily
dedicated as follows :
TO
WILLIAM LEE,
AS A TRIBUTE TO THE INTELLIGENCE, UPRIGHTNESS
AND LIBERALITY, MANIFESTED IN HIS
DEALINGS WITH AUTHORS,
AND
AS A RECOGNITION OF HIS CONSTANT FRIENDSIIIP
For Twenty YEARs,
THIS VoIUME IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED,
ISY THE AUTHOR.
When the celebrated Dr. Francis Wayland had finished
his “Life of Dr. Judson,” he invited proposals from all
publishers. Among others, Phillips, Sampson & Co., sent in
524 I, EE &; SHEPARD.
their proposal, to pay 20 per cent. royalty. There was a good
deal of complaint made by the friends of the Baptist houses
when it was decided to give Phillips, Sampson & Co., the
contract. They were called an irreligious house, being the
publishers of Bulwer's and Byron’s works. The charge
started up the old doctor considerably. Mr. Phillips finally
said to him : “Our Mr. Lee is a great orthodox man. We
publish for Dr. Edward Beecher, and Lee goes to his
church.” That settled the case. Mr. Lee carried religion
enough to carry the book. The sale was very large, advance
orders reaching thirty thousand sets,
One of the most famous authors of Lee and Shepard’s
list is J. T. Trowbridge, author of “Father Brighthopes.”
Besides his novels, they publish many of his juvenile books,
Some sixteen volumes, all of which are very popular.
Sophie May is the mom de plume of Rebecca S. Clark; she
is the author of “Little Prudy,” “Dotty Dimple * and
“Flaxy Frizzle.” They are the most popular juvenile books
published in this country at the present time. Lee &
Shepard have published twenty-eight different books of hers
alone. Mr. T. W. Higginson, in an article in the North
American Review, after mentioning the different authors
up to that time, commencing fifteen years ago, speaks of
“Little Prudy’ and gives the author of that series the
highest praise of all.
Speaking of the immense sales of the celebrated Oliver
Optic books, Mr. Lee relates the following incident which
recently occurred, as giving the key-note to their great
popularity :
“One day, about a dozen years ago, the good City of Newbury-
port, was very much excited over the disappearance of a bright ten-
year-old boy, a son of one of the most prominent citizens of the
Merrimac port. Untiring search and widespread inquiry on the
part of anxious persons and sympathetic neighbors were alike una-
valling, until, on the second day, the missing lad reappeared as
suddenly as he had vanished. It then transpired that the boy had
been reading Oliver Optic's books, and had been impelled, not to
LEE & SIHEPARD. 525
fight the red-skinned hair-lifters of the prairie—for his books never
incited a boy to do that-–but to make a pilgrimage to Dorchester,
and visit, at his own home, the author over whose entrancing
pages he had hung with such absorbed interest; and the little
fellow returned from his Mecca strongly impressed and enthusias-
tic in his praises of the personality of the writer whose books are
So familiar to thousands of young readers.”
Of the hundreds of thousands of copies published and
Scattered broadcast through the land, thousands found a
ready market in Sunday school libraries of Western
towns. So clamorous was the demand for these books,
augmented by the fact that the scarcity of public libraries
put them beyond the reach of many, that in some places
the one or two Sunday schools which first placed the
coveted treasures upon their shelves, soon found their
churches far too small to hold their accessions of scholars
from far and near ; and not only did recruits pour in from the
ranks of habitual non-attendants, but there was a general
exodus from the Sunday schools of less enterprising de-
nominations.
“The Golden Floral” is a series of fourteen popular
hymns and ballads, among which are, “Rock of Ages,”
“Nearer, my God, to Thee,” “Abide with me,” and “Oh,
why should the Spirit of Mortal be proud,” which have met
with immense success. This firm claims to be the origin-
ators of this novel way of decorating holiday books.
The New York house of Lee, Shepard & Dillingham,
was merged into that of Charles T. Dillingham in 1875.
Mr. Dillingham is well-known as one of the youngest of our
wholesale booksellers, being the proprietor of one of
the largest jobbing houses in this City. He is still Lee &
Shepard’s representative for their publications, and special
agent for the sale, at the publisher’s prices, of the books of
the leading publishers in New York and Boston.
XXXIII.
A POETESS AND HER SON.
ELIZABETH CLEMENTINE RINNEY.
Mother of Stedman the Poet—Marries an Ambassador to
Italy—The centre of Literary Society—Griswold's
Tribute to her Genius—She spends a day with the
Brownings—J3rowning’s Romantic Marriage— Beau-
tiful Tribute from a Son.
S stated in the sketch of Edmund Clarence Stedman,
that author inherits much of his literary talent from
his mother, who was married for the second time in 1840,
to Hon. William B. Kinney, then the editor of the Wewark
Daily Advertiser, a gentleman well known ill political and
literary circles.
Soon after Mrs. Kinney’s marriage she became the
charming centre of a brilliant literary circle in Newark.
The language of song seems to have been one of the
instincts of her nature, and if she did not actually “lisp
in numbers” her poetical temperament was very early mani-
fest, and has always been very strong.
Rev. Rufus W. Griswold says, in speaking of Mrs. Kin-
ney in his Female Prose Writers of America :
“One of her friends whose opportunities to know are as great
as his acknowledged sagacity of criticism to judge, observes, in a
letter to me, that ‘ decidedly the most free, salient, and character-
[526]
ELIZABETII C LEMENTINE KINNEY. 527
istic effusions, of her buoyant spirit, have been thrown off currente
calamo, in correspondence and intcroourse with her friends.
With a modesty equal to her genius, and an adequate sense of
their fu ction, she never deemed herself of the company of poets;
possessing in a remarkable degree the ‘fatal facility,” she has
written verse from childhood, but never with any of the usual in-
centives, except the desire of utte ance, and the gratification of her
friends. ‘The Spirit of Song,” one of her latest pieces, is but a
simple expression of her habitual feelings on the subject.”
In 1850 Mr. Kinney was appointed charge d’ affaires at
Sardinia, by the new Whig Administration, which his in-
fluential paper had done so much to bring into politi-
cal power.
Soon after Mrs. Kinney’s arrival in Europe with the new
Ambassador she contributed articles for Islackwood’s Mag-
azine and wrote a series of letters to the Newark Advertiser
from Florence, Italy, where she resided for many years.
These letters were collected by her and were ready for pub-
lication by my firm, under the title of “Pictures of Italy,”
when the civil war broke out and we discontinued business.
While in Florence she saw much of the poets Mr. and Mrs.
Browning, the Trollopes and Owen Meredith. Her house
was the well known centre of English and American liter-
ary society.
In an interesting account written for Scribner’s Monthly
of December, 1870, in the article, “A Day with the
Brownings at Pratolino,” Mrs. Kinney says she “spent the
whole day with them in strolling and lounging, admiring
and commenting, poetizing and philosophizing, conversing
and enjoying.” She further says that : “So familiar had
become the united names of these wedded poets, that we
can hardly speak of them separately now, yet never were
two made more dissimilar, in every feature of body and
mind, than Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning, still
never were an endowed couple more truly united than
they.”
Continuing, she says:
528 IELIZABETH CLIEMENTIN E KIN NEY.
“To return to Platolino! The poet's story of his love had
shal pened our appetite, and we gathered at the rustic table in the
glove, where our queen Elizabeth crowned the feast. Recovered
by rest from the morning's fatigue, she was able to join, though
not again to lead, our conversation. Under the stimulus of appe-
tizing viands and good wine in moderation, Robert Browning's
spirits overflowed, even to the confession of telling us their
romance, receiving only from its heroine the slight punishment of
hel, “IRobert, dear ! how could you ?" After lunch we all went
to the brow of the hill, and togethel looked out on that marvel-
ous view, backed by the Apennines in their afternoon glory ;
while before us lay dreamily, under a softening mist veil, Florence
the beautiful, All that Elizabeth Browning said, after gazing a
while in silence, was, “How it speaks to us!”
“We returned to Florence just as the sun was settir g behind
the Tuscan Hills, and the moon mising on our forward path as a
welcome. When we rolled under the arched gateway of Casa
Guidi, a tired voice said, faintly, ‘How I thank you!' While in
heartiest tone Robert Browning repeated, ‘Ay, thanks for a real
pleasure-day !” As for us, we could only claim our right to all the
thanksgiving, and respond, ‘Yes, a day to be remembered, and—"
recorded here !”
The literary public are already aware of the romantic
introduction of Robert Browning to his future wife. Mrs.
Kinney gives the following interesting account of his first
interview and its consequences—the story as told her by the
poet himself:
“Finding that the invalid did not receive strangers, he wrote
her a letter, intense with his desire to see her. She reluctantly
consented to an interview. He flew to her apartment, was admit-
ted by the nurse, in whose presence only could he see the deity at
whose shline he had long worshipped. But the golden opportu-
nity was not to be lost; love became oblivious to any save the
presence of the real of its ideal. Then and there Robert Brown-
ºng poured his impassioned soul into hers; though his tale of love
seemed only an enthusiast's dream. Infirmity had hitherto so
hedged her about, that she deemed herself forever protected from
all assaults of love. Indeed, she felt only injured that a fellow
ET,IZABETH CLEMENTIN E EIN NEY. 529
poet should take advantage, as it were, of her indulgence in grant-
ing him an interview, and requested him to withdraw from her
presence, not attempting any response to his proposal, which she
could not believe in earnest. Of course he withdrew from her
sight, but be withdrew the offer of his heart and hand au contraire,
to repeat it by letter, and in such wise as to convince her how
‘dead in earnest' he was. Her own heart, touched already when
she knew it not, was this time fain to listen, be convinced, and
overcome. But here began the tug of war ! As a filial daughter,
Elizabeth told her father of the poet’s love, of the poet's love in
return, and asked a parent’s blessing to crown their happiness,
At first, incredulous of the strange story, he mocked her; but
when the truth flashed on him, from the new fire in her eyes, he
kindled with rage, and forbade her ever seeing or communicating
with her lover again, on the penalty of disinheritance and banish-
ment forever from a father's love. This decision was founded on
no dislike for Mr. Browning personally, or anything in him, or
his family; it was simply arbitrary. But the new love was
stronger than the old in her—it conquered. On wings it flew to
her beloved, who had perched on her window, and thence bore
her away from the fogs of England to a nest under Italian skies.”
While in Italy Mrs. Kinney published a romance in
verse entitled “Felicita,” and since her return to America
she has published two volumes of poems, besides numerous
contributions of prose and poetry to leading papers and
periodicals. Her son the poet and critic understands bet-
ter than any other person the literary gifts of his mother.
In the collective edition of Edmund Clarence Stedman’s
poetical works published by Houghton, Mifflin & Compa ay,
in 1883, the following filial tribute appears:
TEIIS COLLECTION
IS AFFECTIONATELY AND REVERENTLY
IDEDICATED
TO MY MOTHER,
RN GRATITUDE FOR WEIATSOEVER J INHERIT
OF HER OWN SWEET
GIFT OF SONG.
530 EDMU NID CLARENCE STEL) MANſ.
EDMUND CLARENCE STEDMAN.
The Poet as a lad—Related to Distinguished Authors—
Hamous Yale Class of ’53—Seeks his Fortune in Wew
York— Wakes up to find himself Famous—Old Janu-
ary and Young May—Challenged to Fight a Duel—
JRomantic ending of Diamond Wedding—Ballad of
JCager Bier—How old Brown took Harper's Ferry—
JFirst meets Bayard Taylor and Stoddard— Wall
Street's place in Poetry—Wew Literary Enterprise.
| ORE than forty years ago I had the pleasure of meet-
ing for the first time, Edmund Clarence Stedman,
then but a lad of about seven years. He was on the occa-
sion referred to in charge of his young widowed mother,
Mrs. Elizabeth C. Stedman, who, with her son, was visit-
ing some friends in the then village of Auburn. The em-
bryo poet was at that time too young to “lisp in numbers,”
but his mother was already known among her friends as a
clever writer of verses. Since that time, as we have already
Seen, she has become well and favorably known in literary
circles.
Twenty years later, in 1860, young Stedman had begun
to make his mark in literature, and now, a quarter of a cen-
tury later still, he stands as is well-known in the front rank
of American men of letters.
Besides being the son of a poet, Mr. Stedman is a
great-grandson of Rev. Aaron Cleveland, the New England
divine and poet, and thus related to T. W. Higginson, W.
E. Channing, Bishop Arthur Cleveland Coxe, and Grover
Cleveland, Governor of New York, all of them distin-
guished writers of prose and poetry, or eminent in public
life.
Young Stedman entered Yale College in 1849, and
was a member of the famous class of 1853. Among his class-
EDM UND CHARENCE STED MANſ. 531
mates were President Andrew D. White, of Cornell Univer-
sity, Hon. Wayne McVeigh, late U. S. Attorney-General,
George W. Smalley, the well-known London correspondent
of the New York Tribune, of whom Mr. Stedman speaks
as a superb Greek scholar, Professor Charlton T. Lewis,
editor of Andrew’s Latin Lexicon, Hon. Randall L. Gibson,
at present U. S. Senator from Louisiana, Isaac H. Bromley,
late editor of the New York Commercial Advertiser, the
late Delano A. Goddard, former editor of the Boston Daily
Advertiser, and the late Benjamin K. Phelps, who was
District Attorney for New York at the time of his death.
Young Stedman began his newspaper life at Norwich,
Conn., as early as 1852. He afterwards became editor of the
Herald, at Winsted, Connecticut, in which paper he fre-
quently reviewed the publications of my firm, which were
sent to him for that purpose. Removing to New York in
1855, he became a member of the staff of the New York
Th’ibune in 1859—afterwards joining the editorial staff of
the New York World, and becoming its war correspondent
from 1861 to 1863. His description in that paper of the
battle of Bull Run, was considered, at the time, the most
graphic account given of that disastrous route of the
Union army.
During the last quarter of a century Mr. Stedman has
contributed to Vanity Fair. Putnam’s, Harper's, Scribner's
and the Atlantic Monthlies. He has also contributed
articles to the New York Independent and Worth American
Review, all of them poems or interesting literary essays.
When Mr. Stedman first arrived in New York he was
determined to devote himself to a literary life. He had
Set a high standard at that time, which he determined toº
reach, and events have proved that he has succeeded very
well in the object of his ambition.
For several years he struggled for the support of him
self, young wife, and infant child, managing, however, by
journalistic work to pay his living expenses until the year
1859, when he awoke one morning to find himself famous
532 EDM UND CLARENCE STEDMAN.
as the author of the ‘‘Diamond Wedding,” a poem which
he contributed to the New York Tribune.
This famous poem he hastily wrote as a jeu d'esprit
without thinking of having it published. A friend of his,
E. F. Underhill, at that time a reporter of the Tribune,
took it to Isaac W. England, then city editor, but now
the well known publisher of the New York Sun. The next
day ou" poet was surprised to see on the news bulletins
“Read Stedman’s Great Poem, ‘The Diamond Wedding'
in this evening's paper l’” The poem was republished in the
different city papers, and ran through all the editions of
the Tribºne over and over again. His friend, Underhill,
headed the poem “written eaſpressly for the Tribune,”
when, of course, it was not. The poet looked upon it as a
good joke at the time, as he considered it an inferior order
of poetry, nothing more than a bright piece of society verse.
It was copied throughout America and Europe, and re-
published in book-form by G. W. Carleton & Co.
One cause of the great popularity of this poem was the
extraordinary marriage of the rich Cuban Oviedo to the
beautiful Miss Bartlett. The father of the latter, who was
at that time a lieutenant in the United States Navy, became
very angry about the poem, because of the Sensation it cre-
ated in the fashionable World. He challenged Stedman to
fight a duel, which the latter promptly accepted. Lieuten-
ant Bartlett, however, finally backed out, saying that he
had come to the conclusion that Stedman’s family was not
equal to his in the social world. The following extracts
from the “Diamond Wedding” will indicate the nature
of the poem :
>k >|< :k sk >k sk + st
“But now, True Love, you’re growing old—
Bought and sold, with silver and gold,
Like a house, or a horse and carriage!
Midnight talks,
Moonlight walks;
The glance of the eye and sweetheart sigh
The shadowy haunts with no one by,
EDMUNID CIA RENC E STEDMAN. 533
I do not wish to disparage;
But every kiss
Has a price for its bliss,
In the modern code of marriage;
And the compact sweet
Is not complete,
Till the high contracting parties meet
Before the altar of Mammon:
And the bride must be led to a silver bower,
Where pearls and rubies fall in a shower
That would flighten Jupiter Ammonl
‘‘I need not tell
How it befell
(Since Jenkins has told the story "
Over and over again,
In a style I cannot hope to attain
And covered himself with glory !)
How it befell, one Summer's day,
The King of the Cubans strolled this way, -
King January's his name, they say,
And ſell in love with the Princess May.
The reigning belle of Manhattan;
Nor how he began to smirk and sue,
And dress as lovers who come to woo,
Or as Max Maretzek and Jullien do,
When they sit, full-bloomed, in the ladies’ view,
And flourish the wondrous baton.
>k >k * >k :*: * sk
“She stood such a fire of silks and laces,
Jewels, and golden dressing cases,
And ruby brooches, and jets and pearls,
That every one of her dainty curls
Brought the price of a hundred common girls ;
Folks thought the lass demented
But at last, a wonderful diamond ring,
An infant Koh i-noor, did the thing,
And, sighing with love, or something the same,
(What's in a name !)
The Princess May consented.”
534 EDMUNID CLARENCE STEDM AN.
It is both curious and interesting to note here the hap-
penings of a quarter of a century later. Mrs. Oviedo, who
had become a widow, expressed a desire, when recently in
New York, through a mutual friend, to meet the author of
the “Diamond Wedding.” The poet responded to the lady’s
wish, called and found her to be a very interesting and
beautiful woman. She told the author that she had always
read everything written by him, and had made up her mind
that he would learn some time that she was not so foolish
a woman as she had been when a girl.
(Many of my readers will remember that the latter was
a bride when scarcely out of her teens, while the Cuban
bridegroom was both very old and very rich. The mar-
riage was arranged by her parents, as such important events
often are.) Mr. Stedman also found her to be a highly
cultivated and intelligent lady, very fond of poetry and a
good writer herself. Indeed she has contributed recently
to the Manhattan Magazine, and by a singular coincidence
the same number contained a poem by the author of the
“Diamond Wedding.” Mr. and Mrs. Stedman and Mrs.
Oviedo became very good friends. They afterwards gave
her a complimentary dinner at their residence in Fifty-
fourth street, where among a distinguished assemblage
she was the attraction of the evening. It seemed very
strange to the poet to be sitting, twenty years later, by the
side of the bride of the ‘‘Diamond Wedding.” Since the
occurrence above referred to, Mrs. Oviedo, who had been a
widow for a number of years, has married Baron Won
Glümer, an officer in the Mexican Army, residing in Mexico,
and is contented and happy in her new marriage relations.
Another strange circumstance connected with this cele-
brated marriage was the fact that Lieutenant Bartlett met
his death indirectly through a friendly action of Stedman.
The former went to Washington during the war with letters
to various officials, and also bore one to Stedman (who was
at that time in confidential relations with the government),
and said to him, “during public calamities private emnity
El) MUNID CLARENCE STEDMAN. 535
should cease.” He wanted to get authority from the Navy
Department, to raise a thousand men as mariners, to get
up a naval brigade for use in the Union Army. Stedman
introduced him to Secretary Cameron and Secretary Welles,
who were at that time respective heads of the War and
Navy Departments. He was given by them full authority
to raise a number of troops and start a Naval Brigade. He
was put in charge of the Rip Raps at Fortress Monroe, and
one day, while walking on the battlements, he fell off and
was killed.
Mr. Stedman’s next hit was the amusing “Ballad of
Lager Bier.” That, together with another ballad “How
old Brown took Harper’s Ferry,” were published in book
form by Scribner under the title of “The Tribune Lyrics.”
The ballad of “Old Brown’’ was published while the trial
of the latter was going on, and attracted wide attention.
Mrs. Browning wrote the author from Italy a very compli-
mentary letter about it, and Ralph Waldo Emerson has
paid it the compliment of incorporating it in his “Parnas-
sus.” It was really the first ballad that Stedman ever
wrote, and was the indirect cause of the beginning of a
lasting friendship with Bayard Taylor. The latter, at the
time it was published in the Tribune, was lecturing in the
West, and on several occasions read the ballad to his audi-
ences. When Bayard Taylor returned to New York the
two poets met for the first time. Stedman soon asked him
about Stoddard, the poet, whom he always wanted to know.
The next day Taylor introduced him to the latter and the
two poets became intimate friends ever after.
The death of Bayard Taylor was a great blow to his
brother poets, and both Mr. Stedman and Mr. Stoddard
have in prose and poetry rendered affectionate tributes to
the memory of their friend, the distinguished poet, traveler
and diplomat, whose death created a vacancy in American
literature which has never been filled.
About this time Stedman was appointed a reporter
on the New York Tribune, of which Charles A. Dana was
536 I.DMUND CLARENCE STED MAN.
then the managing editor, at a salary of eighteen dollars a
Week. His first report for that paper was the interesting
account of the death of Washington Irving. The first and
only time the poet saw that noted author, was in his coffin.
A few years later, Mr. Stedman gave up journalism
altogether, in order to devote himself to literature. He
studied very hard and wrote a good deal, but it was not at
that time remumerative. He had saved a thousand dollars
with which to begin operations in Wall Street, where he
Operated and became a popular and successful banker.
Out of the one thousand dollars invested he soon made
from ten to twelve thousand dollars. Mr. Stedman has
often been criticised for being in Wall Street. He has
been there solely for the purpose of having Sundays and
evenings and summer vacations for poetry and critical
literary work, which time he has studiously utilized.
Wall Street has enabled him to accomplish this desire.
Mr. Stedman has never lost any money in his Wall Street
operations, although a heavy sufferer by forgery and fraud
in that locality.
Professor David Swing, of Chicago, at one time criti-
cised Mr. Stedman very severely for his connection with
Wall Street. The latter wrote him a letter explaining his
position, when that distinguished preacher promptly re-
blied, apologizing for what he had Said.
Although Mr. Stedman is a member of the Stock Ex-
change, he has never tried to be a large operator; all he de-
sires is a sufficient income from that direction to enable
him to carry out his literary undertakings. He has, how-
ever, a handsome annual income from the copyright of his
works, which are very popular. His “Victorian Poets”
show him to be a master critic as well as a born poet. He
has constant applications from the magazines and leading
newspapers for poems at his own price. Only a few days
since he furnished Harper & Brothers, at their request, two
short poems for the coming Christmas number of their
magazine. When he took them to the publishers they
EDMUNID CLAIR ENCE STED MAN. 537
asked him how much he wanted. “Well,” said Stedman,
“I will be satisfied with fifty dollars apiece for those little
poems.” The editor looked up and said that was very low;
that he expected he would charge a great deal more for
them.
These poems were written in two evenings, and Sted-
man laughingly says he could have supported his family on
the amount received for them for one month, when strug-
gling for a foothold in the world of letters a quarter of a
century ago.
Mr. Stedman is now at work on a new volume to be en-
titled “Poetry in America,” covering a complete history
of poetry in this country, with selections from the lead-
ing poets. It is to be a companion volume to his “Vic-
torian Poets,” which has been received with such great
favor by the most eminent critics of this country and Eu-
rope.
Another most important literary enterprise is a library
of American literature from the earliest settlement to the
present time, compiled and edited by Edmund Clarence
Stedman and Ellen Mackay Hutchinson, in ten elegant
large octavo volumes of over five hundred pages each, illus-
trated with portraits of distinguished authors. A work
of this kind is urgently called for by the literary intelligence
of the country, and in the competent hands of its accom-
plished editors, a work of great value may be expected.
23*
XXXIV.
FREDERICK S. COZZENS,
Pleasant Memoirs—Irving, Halleck and Thackeray—The
Sparrowgrass Papers— The Horse that had the Heaves
—Richard Hayward and his Friends—Irving's
opinion of Sparrowgrass—“It Drops from him like
Whisky”—Thackeray at the Century Club—“ The
Song that Martin Luther Sang "– Washington and
Astor's Spectacles—“Please give me some Gapes”—
Halleck’s opinion of Co22ens—“ To my big Sweet-
heart”—“But the Bitter keeps on and on.”
AMONG the pleasantest of the memories of my inter-
course with authors are those connected with the
late Frederick S. Cozzens. It was through his friendly
attentions that I first became acquainted with Washington
Irving, Fitz Greene Halleck and Thackeray, with all of
whom he was on intimate terms of friendship, and each of
whom I had the pleasure of meeting at his business office,
or his former residence, Chestnut Cottage, in Yonkers,
where for years he was a near neighbor of mine.
In the year 1856, I published his famous “Sparrow-
grass Papers,” which became immensely popular among
the lovers of humorous literature. The volume was a col-
lection of contributions to Putnam's Monthly Magazine,
depicting in an inimitable manner the experience of a
young city-bred couple in their new home in the country.
Mr. Putnam was also a near neighbor of ours at
Yonkers, and was very much interested in the Sparrow-
grass Papers as they appeared from time to time in the
Magazine. The author, in one of these contributions
[538]
Ffºliº DERICE. S. COZZENS. 539
indulged in the pleasure of making fun of his own pub-
lisher. On one occasion, in the hurry of getting the
Magazine through the press, Mr. Putnam, who was also
the editor, did not always have the opportunity of reading
the material paragraph by paragraph, as was his wont to
do, and it was not until this particular number of the Mag-
azine had been before the public for some days that he
found out it contained quite a good description of his pub-
lisher’s residence in Yonkers, including a very dramatic
narrative of his “ horse with the heaves,” and “ had them
bad.”
Mr. Cozzens’ first published volume was a series of
sketches in prose and verse entitled “Prismatics,” by
Richard Haywarde. It was very handsomely illustrated
from designs by his intimate artist friends, Elliott, Darley,
Kensett, Hicks and Rossiter.
His second volume, the “Sparrowgrass Papers,” was
greatly admired by Washington Irving. Speaking of it one
time, the latter said to me, that he considered it by far the
best representation of the humorous side of country life
which had yet appeared. Mr. Irving also said, he did not
believe my sensational style of advertising the book would
aid in its circulation; a good book, he thought, would al-
ways find its way to public favor without a needless display
of printer’s ink. I afterwards thought how much money
could have been saved by less liberal advertising of the
book, if what the creator of Rip Van Winkle believed to be
true, Was true.
Mr. Cozzens often talked about Irving, to whom he was
much attached. He once said, that when Irving was intro-
duced to D. Cogswell, the first superintendent of the Astor
library, at J. J. Astor’s table, after dinner the latter asked
him, “What do you think of Cogswell ? He is very full, is
he not ?” (of information). “Yes,” replied Irving, “but
it drops from him like whisky from a private still.”
Mr. Cozzens once asked William Cullen Bryant about
Irving's altering the copy, when arranging for the publica-
540 FREDERICK S. COZZENS.
tion of the former’s poems in England. Mr. Bryant said
that he only altered the lines,
“The British soldier trembles,
When Marion's name is told,”
to
“The foeman trembles in his camp,
When Marion's name is told.”
The reason for making this change was the repugnance of
the British publisher to printing any lines reflecting on a
British soldier.
The first time I met Thackeray was at the Century
Club, of which association Mr. Cozzens was one of the earli-
est and most esteemed members. I was introduced by the
latter to the great novelist as his neighbor, publisher and
the banker of his copyright money, when Thackeray said,
“ the amount thus received, with the publisher’s profits,
would make both of you rich.”
The club house was at that time located in Clinton
Place, and was a favorite resort of Thackeray while in New
York. He was the centre of an admiring group of authors,
artists and men of literary tastes. He often favored those
present by singing some of his favorite songs. The following
was one of them.*
“ Doctor Luther—A cool, green glass with a long necked
flask of Rudeshcimer, or a round-shouldered bocksbcutel of Stein
to ‘Doctor Luther.” There are two translations of that famous
Rhine song; the first from of Pynnshurst; the last was given me
by Mr. Thackeray, just before he left us disconsolate. Neither
have appeared in print until now, and why should they? Among
the legends of old wine, and good wine, in good company only,
should Dr. Luther be said or sung.
For the soul's edification
And this decent congregation,
Worthy people! by your grant,
I will sing a holy chant. (bis)
* From Cozzens’ “Wine Press.”
FREDERICK. S. COZZENS. ã41
If the ditty sound but oddly,
'Twas as a Father, wise and godly,
Sang it so, long ago.
Then sing as Dr. Luther sang, as Dr. Luther sang,
“Who loves not wine, women, and song,
He is a fool his whole life long.”
He, by usage patriarchal,
Loved to see the beaker sparkle,
And he thought the wine improved,
Tasted by the lips he loved. (big)
Friends! I wish this custom pious
Daily were adopted by us,
To combine love, song, wine.
And sing as Dr. Luther sang, as Dr. Luther sang,
Who loves not wine, women and song,
He is a fool his whole life long.
Who refuses this our credo,
And demurs to sing as we do;
Were he holy as John Knox,
I’d plonounce him heterodox; (bis)
And from out this congregation,
With a pious commination,
Banish quick the heretic.
Who will not sing as Luther sang, as the
Reverend Doctor Luther sang,
Who loves not wine, women, and song,
He is a fool his whole life long.
Mr. Cozzens said, on one occasion, in December, 1855,
he visited Sunny Side in company with Thackeray. The
day was inexpressibly balmy and beautiful as they rode
along the banks of the Hudson. Thackeray would say:
“This is very jolly, how jolly, how jolly!” as view after
view appeared. They found Irving in fine spirits. Thack-
Gray Said, after looking round the room, “I must make
Some notes of the furniture and other things I see about
me in this room, so that when I write my book on America,
I shall be able to put it all in.” “Ah !” said Irving, catch-
{542 FRED ERICK S. COZZENS.
ing the joke, “you must not forget my nieces,” introduc-
ing them again with mock courtesy, saying : “This is the
one who writes for me ; all my stories are from her pen.
This young lady is the poet of the family; she has a collec-
tion of sonnets that will astonish the world some day.
Another niece of mine is up-stairs, she is the musician and
painter, a great genius, only she has never come out.
Here is a pair of spectacles that belonged to General Wash-
ington, and here is another pair that belonged to John
Jacob Astor. I thought with Washington’s and Astor’s
spectacles, I might be able to see my way pretty clearly
through the world.”
The morning after Thackeray lectured on “Wit and
Humor,” while a guest at the house of Mr. Cozzens,
during breakfast, a little three-year-old daughter of the
latter asked Thackeray to “please give me some gapes.” He
said to her, “If you had been at my lecture last night you
would have had all the ‘gapes” you wanted.”
Fitz Greene Halleck, in a letter to General James
Grant Wilson, who was afterwards the poet’s biographer,
said :
“Allow me to beg you to read Mr. F. S. Cozzens' recently
published volume, ‘The Sayings of Dr. Bushwhacker,” etc., where
you will see and hear the Doctor (assuming that you have known
him more or less intimately), alive and speaking before you. The
‘Faculty Divine,” the power of invention, the wit, the wisdom,
the stories of miscellaneous literature, the doctor did not possess.
Your admiration of all these belongs to Mr. Cozzens, but the doc-
tor dramatically represents them to your perfect delight. I have
long more than fancied, I have felt that Mr. Cozzens, in that
department of genius to which Mr. Irving’s “Knickerbocker”—a
work superior in my estimation to the “Sketch-Book” belongs, is
the best or among the best writers of our time in any language.
Analyze his lines closely and critically, and I have little doubt of
your concurrence in my belief.”
One day Mr. Halleck in talking with Cozzens about
Joseph Rodman Drake said, that after the latter’s proposal
FREDERICK S. COZZENS. 543
to make a poetical firm, many of the croakers were writ-
ten in this wise : he or Drake would furnish a draft of a
poem, and that one or the other would suggest any alter-
ations or enlargements of the idea, a closer clipping of the
wings of fancy ; a little epigrammatic spar upon the heel
of a line.
Mr. Cozzens afterwards said, “I doubt very much
whether I have a right to disclose the methods by which
poets work in their workshops, but as I am only repeating
Halleck’s ideas, I hold it to be no base betrayal of the
craft. To show how delightful these joint labors were to
both of these illustrious men, Halleck told me that, upon
one occasion, Drake, after writing some stanzas and get-
ting the proof from the printer, laid his check down upon
the lines he had written, and, looking at his fellow poet
with beaming eyes said, ‘Oh, Halleck, isn’t this happi-
ness | * *
My firm next published another volume by Mr. Cozzens
entitled “Arcadia; or, a Sojourn among the Blue Noses.”
A charming account of a summer residence in Nova Scotia.
His last literary effort was a memorial of Fitz Greene
Halleck, which was delivered before and printed by the
New York Historical Society a short time previous to his
death.
The following is from the beautiful chapter, “A Leaf
ve
from Child Life,” in the Sparrowgrass Papers :
“We begin to think our eldest is noulishing a secret passion,
under his bell buttons. He has been seen brushing his bair more
than once lately; and not long since, the two youngest came home
from school, crying, without him. Upon investigation we found
our eldest had gone off with a school-girl twice his size; and when
he returned he said he had only gone home with her because she
promised to put some bay rum on his hair. He has even had the
audacity to ask me to write a piece of poetry about her, and of
course I complied.
544 FRED]ERICR. S. COZZENS.
“TO MY BIG SWEETHEART.
“My love has long brown curls,
And blue forget-me-not eyes;
She's the beauty of all the girls—
But I wish I was twice my size;
Then I could kiss her cheek,
Or venture her lips to taste:
But now I only reach to the ribbon,
She ties around her waist.
“Chocolate-drop of my heart
I dare not breathe thy name:
Like a peppermint stick I stand apart
In a sweet but secret flame.
When you look down on me,
And the tassel atop of my cap
I feel as if something had got in my throat
And was choking against the strap.
“I passed your garden, and there
On the clothes line hung a few
Pantalettes, and one tall pair
Reminded me, love, of you;
And I thought, as I swung on the gate,
In the cold by myself alone,
How soon the sweetness of hoarhound dies,
But the bitter keeps on and on.
“It was quite touching to see how solemnly the old soldiers lis-
tened, when this was being read to them; and when I came to the
lines
“I feel as if something had got in my throat,
And was choking against the strap,”
Ivanhoe looked up with questioning eyes as if he would have
said, “How did you know that ?’”
XXXV.
ELIZABETH () AKES SMITH,
Literary Celebrities Forty Years Ago—“The Sinless Child”
—Charles Fenno IIoffman—Edgar Allan Poe's Crit-
àcisms—“ Gentle she was and full of Love '-Poe
Talks about the “Jeaven. ”—A Love-letter to the Poet
—Mrs. Smith as an Author–Tribute from George D.
Prentice.
N the brilliant coterie of men and women who graced the
literary circles of New York forty years ago, none
excelled in intellectual capacity the subject of this sketch.
Elizabeth Oakes Smith began to write verses when a
mere child, and now, at an advanced age, her contributions
to the literary journals and magazines of the day are full of
the grace and beauty that marked her earlier efforts.
Her first literary success was a poem originally contri-
buted to the Southern Literary Messenger, entitled, “ The
Sinless Child,” which, with other of her poems, was subse-
quently collected and issued in one volume, edited by John
Keese, a name well known among the litterati of New York.
The late Charles Fenno Hoffman was a great admirer
of the poem referred to. He once said of it : “Mr.
Keese certainly deserves well of the republic of letters for
bringing out this singularly beautiful poem in its present
dress. His frank and manly preface, with the interesting
accompaniment of John Neal’s biographical sketch and
Tuckerman’s analysis of the genius of the author, awakened
[545]
546 ELIZABETH OAKES SMITH.
in us a strong and lively expectation as to what was to fol-
low ; and so perfect and pleasurable is the realization of
both interest and expectation that we are half-disposed to
cry ‘Eureka l' and declare that The American Poem has
at length been produced by our fair countrywoman.”
When Edgar Allan Poe published his sketches of the
littérati of New York City, in 1846, he placed Mrs. Smith
in the front rank among the poets of this country. He
thus closes the lengthy critical review which he gives to the
author of “The Sinless Child.”
“We proceed to cull from the poem a few brief but
happy passages at random :
“Gentle she was and full of love,
With voice exceeding sweet,
And eyes of dove-like tenderness,
Where joy and sadness meet.
tº * :* 2;
“And wheresoe'er the weary heart
Turns in its dim despair,
The meek-eyed blossom upward looks,
Inviting it to prayer.
2k >}: >k *
“The very winds were hushed to peace
Within the quiet dell,
Or murmured through the rustling bough
Like breathings of a shell.”
#: >k Sk sk
“Bright missals from angelic throngs
In every by-way left—
How were the earth of glory shorn
Were it of flowers bereft l”
With the above quotations of these really noble pass-
ages—noble, because full of the truest poetic energy—we
take leave of the fair authoress. She is entitled, beyond


EI,IZABETH OAKES SMITH. 547
doubt, to all, and perhaps more, than the commendation
she received. Her faults are among the peccadilloes, and
her merits among the sterling excellencies of the muse.”
Edgar Allan Poe was often the guest at the home of Mrs.
Oakes Smith. Talking with her one day about the poet
she said : “I first met him when I was living in Brooklyn.
He called on me with his child-wife, who was very pretty,
she had eyes just like a fawn. She was but sixteen years old
when she married, and talked very little indeed, but had
the greatest admiration for her husband’s genius, and fairly
worshipped him. When I last saw her, she said : ‘I
know I shall die soon ; I know I can’t get well; but I want
to be as happy as possible, and make Edgar happy.”
“Mr. Poe called on me a great many times, and was
always the gentleman. His conversation without being
fluent was ready and pointed ; he could turn a compliment
almost as elegantly as N. P. Willis. Oftentimes, Poe
would converse with me upon literature, metaphysics,
poetry, and everything in that direction, but he never talked
about his immediate surroundings. When he was talking
and interested he had that far-away look which was so usual
with him.”
“The Raven was first published in the Wew York Re-
view. I had not yet seen it, when one evening Charles
Fenno Hoffman caiied with the Review, and read it to me.
He was a fine reader, and read the poem with great feeling.
His reading affected me so much I arose and walked the
floor, and said to him, “It is Edgar Poe himself.” He had
not told me who the author was; indeed, it was published
anonymously. “Well,” said I, “every production of
genius has an internal life as well as its external. Now,
how do you interpret this, Mr. Hoffman?” The latter, who
had had many disappointments and griefs in life, replied,
“It is despair brooding over wisdom.”
The next evening who should call but Mr. Poe. I told
him what Mr. Hoffman had said. Poe folded his arms and
looked down, saying, “That is a recognition.” Soon the
548 ELIZABETH OA KIES SMITIH.
Raven became known everywhere, and everyone was saying
“Nevermore.”
“One afternoon Poe called on me and said, “I find my
Raven is really being talked about a great deal. I was at
the theatre last night, and the actor interpolated the word
“Nevermore,” and it did add force to the sentiment that
was given, and the audience immediately (he looked so
pleased when he said this), evidently took the allusion.”
“One day he said to me, as he rolled up some of his MS.,
“Sometimes I think that all my success is due to my good
penmanship, my writing with such care, finishing my
paragraphs, and the care I take of my manuscript,” which
was really equal to copper-plate.” . .
“A certain lady of my acquaintance fell in love with Poe
and wrote a love-letter to him. Every letter he received
he showed to his little wife. This lady went to his house
one day; she heard Fanny Osgood and Mrs. Poe having a
hearty laugh, they were fairly shouting, as they read over
a letter. The lady listened, and found it was hers, when
she walked into the room and snatched it from their hands.
There would have been a scene with any other woman, but
they were both very sweet and gentle, and there the matter
ended.”
I first became Mrs. Oakes Smith’s publisher in 1854,
My very first publication after my arrival in the City of
New York, was her romance entitled “Bertha and Lily,
or The Parsonage of Beach Glen,” the MS. of which was
strongly recommended to me by the late George Ripley,
who was a great admirer of the intellectual qualities of
the writer. I remember on one occasion, shortly after the
publication of this book, at a social gathering, at the house
of the authoress, Mr. Ripley gave the following toast in
honor of this, my first publication in New York: “In the
stakes may the Derby win.”
The New York Christian Enquirer, which was consid.
ered good literary authority in those days, in a review
of “Bertha and Lily,” said :
ELIZABETH OAKES SMITH. 649
“This book is certainly one of true genius. As might be ex-
pected, coming from the pen of Mrs. Oakes Smith, there is in it at
times, a tinge of transcendentalism; yes, and of spiritualism too;
to say nothing of a strong flavor of Swedenborgianism, all through.
It makes us ask the question, whether sensualism may not be
spiritualized, and so made fascinating? The accomplished
authoress seems to us fo prove the possibility. Still, we repeat,
the book has true genius. Altogether, it is a remarkable book.
It has passages of surpassingly fine writing. It is brimfull of true
poetic sense and feeling, besides some exquisite scraps of genuine
poetry.”
Her next novel published by my firm was a sensational
romance, “The Newsboy,” which in publishers’ parlance,
was a decided hit, the sale reaching many thousands. In
speaking of the authoress, the late George D. Prentice once
Said :
“Mrs. Oakes Smith is one of the truest, as well as one of
the most fearless interpreters of humanity that has yet ap-
peared. Her insight is equally delicate and profound, and
her utterances ring out upon the murky cloud of selfish-
ness that envelopes the race, like the clear tones of a
bugle upon the evening air. Her mind is a charming
compound of instinct and philosophy, inspired by an ex-
quisite poetic sense and luminious with divine intuitions
of all that is holy and beautiful in the potential relations
of man. She is among the sweetest and noblest of the
priestesses who minister at the altar of poor, fallen, yet
radiant human nature.”
Mrs. Smith contributes occasionally some very beautiful
poems to literary journals, and it is understood she is writ-
ing her Reminiscences of Noted Men and Women in the
World of Letters, which cannot fail to be interesting.
XXXVI.
ABRAHAM HART-HENRY CAREY BAIRD.
Popular Publishers of Belles-Lettres Books—A Clerk at
Thirteen—A Partner at Eighteen—A stage-coach full
of Books—Triumphs over Harpers—Fenimore Cooper
makes a failure—David Crockett “Jodder, or no fod-
der”—Crockett’s Adventures in Teacas—Captain Mar-
ryat makes a Failure—Fanny Kemble's Portrait on a
finger-mail—Longfellow collects copyright promptly—
Griswold and his poetical volumes—Grand Dinner
to Abraham Hart, Washington Irving and Moses
Thomas—Abraham Hart’s quiet Retirement.
! THE firm of E. L. Carey and A. Hart was established
in the year 1829, and ten years later were the best-
| known and most popular publishers of belles-lettres books in
America.
Mr. Carey was a son of the celebrated Mathew Carey,
the founder of the business in 1785, and a brother of the
eminent political economist, Henry C. Carey, who was also
a prominent publisher about that time, being the head of
the firm of Carey & Lea.
Abraham Hart was early inducted into the bookselling
business. He was a clerk when a boy at thirteen, and in
business for himself when seventeen years of age, then a
year later became a partner of the late E. L. Carey, and in
the same store he conducted a thriving business for a quar-
ter of a century.
Bdward L. Carey died in the year 1845. The business,
however, was continued by his surviving partner, and Mr.
Carey's nephew, Henry Carey Baird, until 1849, and sub-
|550]
ABRAHAM HAHT. 551
sequently Mr. Hart alone, under the style of A. Hart (late
Carey & Hart), until the year 1845, when he retired with
a competency.
During a recent visit to Philadelphia, Mr. Hart related
to me some of the interesting incidents of his book-publish-
ing career.
In 1836, Carey & Hart had received an advance copy of
Bulwer’s “Rienzi,” from the English publisher, for which
tley paid a liberal sum. The Harpers had also received an
advance copy by the same packet, there being no steamers
in those days; then came the rivalry to see, who would
first supply the market with early copies. Mr. Hart says,
that on the day it was received, they distributed the sheets
of this advance copy among twelve different printers, in
order to produce the book before the Harpers put theirs
on the market ; and by nine o'clock the next morning, the
sheets of the whole edition were delivered to the bunders,
who had the cases already made in shape for binding.
That same afternoon, 500 complete copies were forwarded
to New York booksellers by the mail stage, the only con-
veyance by which they could reach New York by daylight
the following morning, and this could only be accomplished
by hiring all the passenger seats. Mr. Hart was the only
passenger of the stage that morning, the remaining space
in the coach being taken up with Bulwer’s “Rienzi.” The
volume was for sale in all the New York book-stores, one
day earlier than Harpers’ edition of the same work.
Lea & Blanchard were the publishers of Cooper’s now-
els. Mr. Cooper came to Carey & Hart one day with the
manuscript of a novel entitled “Eleanor Wyllis.” The
book was published anonymously ; Mr. Cooper never
acknowledged the authorship, although the copyright was
paid to him for which he receipted in full for his own ac-
count. Mr. Hart believes that Mr. Cooper was the author
of the book, and wished to test its merit without any refer-
ence to the name of the author. It was not a success. My
bjô2 ABRAEIAM HART.
readers will remember an experiment akin to this as re-
lated to me by John Wiley.
Carey & Hart were the publishers of a series of
humorous volumes in illuminated covers which were very
popular in their day; among others, Major Jones’ Court-
ship by W. T. Thompson, Tom Owen, the Bee Hunter,
by T. B. Thorpe.
At an earlier day they published the “Life of David
Crockett,” written by himself (according to the title-page).
This book became famous all over the country. Col.
Crockett, it will be remembered, was at the time a mem-
ber of Congress from Tennessee, an eccentric backwoods-
man. The fact was, that the book was not actually writ-
ten by David Crockett, but for him, by Mathew St. Clair
Clarke, then Secretary of the Senate.
In this book originated the well-known expressions
attributed to David Crockett, “Stand up to the rack, fod-
der or no fodder,” “Be sure you’re right, then go ahead,”
and other sayings, which became household words. Col.
Crockett was interested in the copyright, and enjoyed his
fame as an author very much. Tens of thousands of
copies have been sold, and the sale continues.
The late Richard Penn Smith was in Carey & Hart’s
one day, when Edward L. Carey told him that they had a
large number of copies of Crockett’s “Tour Down East ’’
which didn’t sell. Crockett had just then been executed
by the Mexican authorities at the Alamo, and Mr. Carey
suggested to Mr. Smith, that if they could get up a book
of Crockett’s adventures in Texas, it would not only itself
sell, but get them clear of the other books. They secured
all the works on Texas they could lay their hands on, and
Smith undertook the work. Mr. Carey said he wanted it
done in great haste, and asked him when it would be ready
for the printer; his reply was, “To-morrow morning.”
Smith came up to the contract, and never kept the printer
waiting. The result was that a great many thousands of
ABRA HAM HART. 553
copies of the book were sold and all the balance of the
edition of the “ Tour Down East.”
Among the popular publications issued by this firm,
were Capt. Marryat’s “Peter Simple,” “Jacob Faithful,”
and other of his novels. They became so very popular that
Capt. Marryat decided to come to this country. On the
author's arrival in New York, Carey & Hart, as a com-
pliment, and thinking he might perhaps write more good
selling novels, presented him with a check for two thou-
sand dollars. When he went on to Philadelphia, he called
on his publishers and thanked them, as he did not expect
anything of the kind, considering all American publishers
—Pirates. Notwithstanding this uncomplimentary remark,
they arranged for the publication of his new and last
novel, “Snarleyow; or, The Dog Fiend,” for which they
paid him a copyright ; an unfortunate investment for
them, as it fell almost dead from the press, the author
himself dying soon after. This was about the first copy-
right paid to a foreign author.
Carey & Hart were the publishers of an annual, entitled
“The Gift,” of which 40,000 copies were published and
sold in five years. It was elegantly illustrated by such en-
gravers as Cheney, Dodson and Pease (the former still
living at the age of 90). In one of these gift-books was
a picture of Fanny Kemble, the original of which was
taken from a painting by the great artist—Sully, which he
sketched on his thumb-mail, while she was acting in Phila-
delpha. This was considered a great achievement, as she
declined to have her likeness produced by any process
whatever.
Carey & Hart published the first illustrated edition of
Longfellow’s poetical works, for which they paid the author
five hundred dollars for each thousand copies printed.
The author was very prompt in drawing his copyright
money, on the very day the edition was published. Mr.
Longfellow, about 1844, accepted a proposition from Mr.
Carey, to prepare a volume entitled, “Poets and Poetry of
554 ABRA EIAMI HART.
Europe,” which was eminently successful. It now bears
the imprint of Houghton, Mifflin & Co.
Carey & Hart first proposed to Rufus W. Griswold, to
prepare the “Poets and Poetry of America.” It was an
immense literary and commercial success, and was soon
followed by “Poets and Poetry of England,” “Female
Poets of America,” and “The Prose Writers of America,”
all by the same anthor. They were all successful ventures,
and are standard works to this day.
Mr. Hart informs me that their relations with Rev. Dr.
Griswold were all of the pleasantest kind. He was a care-
ful, plodding, and he believes, a conscientious compiler of
the Several volumes of the Authors of America, bearing his
name as editor.
The World is indebted for the first collected volumes
of Macaulay’s Essays to American enterprise. These
were selected from the Edinburgh Review, and published
in five volumes. There was an immediate and eager
demand for them in this country as well as in England,
but Carey & Hart never sent a copy for sale to Great
Britain, although they were charged with so doing by the
Edinburgh Review — a charge which was indignantly
denied in correspondence with the publishers of the
Jęeview.
To James T. Fields and George P. Putnam, a like
credit is due for the first published volume of the works of
De Quincy and of Thomas Hood, which were selected by
them respectively from the newspapers and periodicals in
which they first appeared.
On the retirement of Mr. Hart from business in 1854, a
complimentary dinner was given him by a committee of
the Philadelphia Book Trade, which was largely attended
and greatly enjoyed by the many friends who were present
on the occasion. The following letter of invitation and two
of the responses from the Senior members of two well-known
firms will interest those who were booksellers thirty years
ago :
ABRAHAM HART. 555
“Philadelphia, May 15th, 1854.
‘‘D EAR SIR:
“The members of the book trade, and its kindred branches,
in this city, as a mark of personal and professional regard for Mr.
A. Hart have tendered him a dinner on the occasion of his retire-
ment from business. He has accepted the invitation, and appointed
Wednesday the 24th inst., as the time most convenient for him-
self. As your company on the occasion will be very gratifying to
the gentlemen who will compose the party, we enclose you a ticket
and trust that your engagements will allow you to be present.
Hoping to hear from you at your earliest convenience,
“We are, very respectfully,
MI. THOMAS,
J. B. LIPPINCOTT,
T. K. Colliss, Committee.
L. A. GoDEY,
MoRTON McMICHAEL. J
“JoHN GRIGG, Esq., and about 200 others.” 9
FROM JAMES HARPER.
“No. 4 Gramercy Park, New York, May 22nd, 1854.
“Allow me to leturn you my cordial thanks for your invita-
tion to be present at the dinner to be given by the ‘Trade ' in
Philadelphia on the 24th inst., as a mark of personal and profes-
sional regard for our old and honored friend, Abraham Hart. I
regret, however, that circumstances beyond my control, compel
me to be in New York on the day referred to. I need not assure
you, gentlemen, of the high esteem I entertain for our friend—an
esteem founded upon personal acquaintance and business relations
which have lasted for a quarter of a century. Nor need I tell you
that I should be proud of the opportunity to give evidence of that
esteem in any and every way. Indeed, gentlemen, so confident
am I thºt our worthy friend could be called upon to fill no post
that he would not occupy with honor to himself, that were I an
inhabitant of the City of Brotherly Love or of your noble Keystone
State, I would “go in 'strongly for his nomination as Mayor of the
City or Governor of the State.
“Accept, gentlemen, for yourselves and for the members of our
Trade whom you represent on this occasion, the assurance of my
most cordial esteem and regard.”
556 ABRAHAM II ART.
FROM WILLIAM H. APPLETON.
“. . . . . Mr. Hart truly retires from business after main-
taining for many years a high position for his uniform gentle-
manly courtesy and honorable dealing.
“It is understood by the members of the trade, how many con-
flicting claims may arise in reference to the publishing of books,
the conflict of editions, and how often self-interest may govern to
the injury of another, and I wish to bear testimony after many
years of intimate business relations with Mr. Hart of his careful
regard to the rights of others, so much to be encouraged and
honored.”
Previous to the festival above referred to, and during
the sale of Mr. Hart’s stereotype plates, not only the fol-
lowing remarks of the former, but those of the late Moses
Thomas were made, and will be interesting to those who
knew the venerable senior of the well known and honor-
able firm of M. Thomas & Sons.
Mr. Hart said: “You Sir, were the first person to introduce me
into the book business, having given me a letter of credit to pur-
chase, at the Boston trade-sale, held in 1827, when I was but six-
teen years of age, an amount of five thousand dollars, on my own
judgment, a confidence which I have remember, d to this day;
and two years afterwards, you were instrumental in arranging the
partnership for me with the late Edward L. Carey; and now, after
twenty-five years of successful business, you are about to conduct
me out of the trade, by disposing of my stereotype plates; and I
must here acknowledge my gratitude to you for those acts of kind-
mess and confidence extended towards a mere boy.”
“At the close of the sale, Mr. Thomas took occasion to remark
that he could not allow the expressions of gratitude that fell
from Mr. Hart, at the opening of the sale, to pass without an ac-
knowledgment from him, that the obligations had not been alto-
gether on one side—that, although at the commencement of their
intercourse, he had no other object in view than to promote the
interest of a deserving and enterprising young man, yet it hap.
pened, some years afterwards, that Mr. IIart had it in his power
to render him, in return, important and valuable services; and
that he had never ſailed to avail himself of every opportunity to
A BIRAIIAM IIART. 557
do so—that to no man in this community was he under greater
obligations than to his friend Hart, and he took pleasure in thus
making a public acknowledgment.”
It may not be out of place to quote here the following
interesting portions of a letter from Washington Irving to
his brother Ebenezer Irving, dated London, January 29th,
1822.
‘‘ MIY DEAR BROTHER:
“By the packet from Liverpool which brings this letter, I
forward you a parcel, containing the first volume of ‘Bracebridge
IIall ; or, the Humorists,” a medley in two volumes.
“The work had better be printed in duodecimo, and to save
time in binding, let the volumes be put up in lettered covers like
the ‘Sketch Book.” The second edition can be got up in better
style. The first volume runs, as near as I can guess, between 340
and 350 pages of the American edition of the ‘Sketch Book.”
The second volume will be about the same size. You can make
your estimates accordingly. Put what price you think proper. I
do not care about its being a very high one. I wish, expressly,
Moses Thomas to have the preference over every other publisher.
‘‘I impress this upon you, and beg you to attend to it, as earn-
estly as if I had written three sheets full on the subject. What-
ever may have been his embarrassments, and consequent want of
punctuality, he is one who showed a disposition to serve me, and
who did serve me in the time of my adversity, and I should des-
pise myself, could I, for a moment, forget it. Let him have the
work on better terms than other publishers, and do not be de-
terred by the risk of loss.”
It will be remembered that Mr. Irving exhibited the
same attachment to the late George P. Putnam, under
similar circumstances.
I first met Mr. Hart in 1838, at the book-trade sales in
Philadelphia, and for years had large dealings with him.
He was a most admirable auctioneer, and was then selling
his own invoice of books as was his custom.
§58 TIENRY CA REY BAIRD.
Frequently, in after years, his cheery voice and urbane
courtesy, and his well-known happy and persuasive powers
as an auctioneer, were frequently brought into requisition
by leading publishers, who were always anxious to procure
his services when practical, in disposing of their several in-
veices at the trade-sales. Mr. Hart is now living in quict
retirement, in the city of his birth, respected and honored
by all who know him.
HENRY CAREY BAIRD.
Becomes Partner at twenty—Earliest Publisher of technical
books—A Student of Political Economy—Fenimore
Cooper—Dr. Francis Lieber—“No Right without its
Duty”—“No Duty without its Right °—Baird meets
William Wordsworth–Copyright Laws a bundle of
Absurdities.
ON the death of Edward L. Carey, in June, 1845, Henry
Carey Baird, a nephew of the former, succeeded to his
interest in the house of Carey & Hart, although not then
twenty years of age. Mr. Baird continued a member of the
firm until its final dissolution in the fall of 1849, when he
commenced business on his own account.
Early in his career as a publisher, his attention was
directed to the publication of technical books, and he soon
conceived the idea of covering the whole field of technical
literature, and has almost ever since kept this aim in view,
and his firm—Henry Carey Baird & Co., consisting of Mr.
Baird and Mr. John F. Garde—has more fully accomplished
this specialty than any other house which has ever existed on
this Continent. But Mr. Baird by no means considers the
work complete, and is still adding to the variety of his
list, which will rank with any of its special character pub-
lished anywhere in the English language.
IHENRY CAIREY BAIRD. 550
Mr. Baird is one of those men who contend that a man
does not need to make himself a mere devotee to business
in older to be successful. He has therefore felt himself at
liberty, consistently with his calling, to devote no inconsid-
erable time to economic pursuits. He has studied and
written much upon social questions, and always writing and
speaking in such a manner that there is no difficulty in
finding whare he stands. In a word, he is a man of very
decided opinions, and expresses them freely. On this sub-
ject he is deeply inbued with the doctrines of his kinsman,
the late Henry C. Carey, and in pursuing these studies and
engaging in these discussions he is the third generation
in his family to follow this pursuit with enthusiasm ; his
grandfather, Mathew Carey, who, in 1785, founded the house
which he now continues, having been quite as enthusiastic
in the dissemination of economic doctrines as Henry C.
Carey or Henry Carey Baird has been. Mr. Baird has
traveled much in Europe and met with many distinguished
men, and he is not wholly without a European reputation as
a writer on economic subjects. Especially is such the case
in Germany, where some of his writings have been trans-
lated and published. He is the author of the economic arti-
cles in all of the editions of the American Cyclopedia. He
has written quite enough to make a good-sized volume, and
contemplates at an early day collecting the more important
of them, and publishing them under the title of “Miscel-
laneous Papers on Economic Questions.”
It is Mr. Baird's deliberate opinion, after considerable
thought on the matter, that in proportion to the popula-
tion of the United States, there are not so many books
published and sold in this country to-day as there were in
Carey & Hart's time. While there is a vastly larger
number of readers, most people now do not read books,
but read magazines and newspapers. He says, when you
come across a man who is a great newspaper reader, you
will find a man who never reads books. Dr. Jamas Rush
of Philadelphia, when he left his estate to the Philadel-
560 HEN RY CAREY BAIRD.
phia Library, did so on the condition that none of it should
be used for the purchase of newspapers, which he called
“ disjoined thinking.” In this connection Mr. Baird tells
a good story about newspapers as authority. Some years
ago, Henry C. Carey saw something in a newspaper in re-
gard to what was likely to transpire (some public legisla-
tion) in Washington, which alarmed him very much ; he
mentioned it to his friend Morton McMichael, the editor
and publisher of the Worth American, and McMichael re-
plied, “Oh Carey, don’t worry yourself about it ; I never
believe anything I see in a newspaper.”
On one occasion Mr. Baird said to me, “J. Fenimore
Cooper was in the habit of coming into the store very
often, and one day, the principal clerk of Carey & Hart,
thought it was a remarkably creditable thing for a boy of
my age to illustrate with inserted plates as I did Cooper’s
Naval History, then recently published, and said to me,
‘You had better show this book to Mr. Cooper, it will
please him very much.” Cooper came in in a day or two,
and was shown the book, which he looked over very crit-
ically, and then said, ‘I don’t think either you or I have
done credit to these great officers of the Navy.’”
The circumstances upon which Mr. Baird was called
upon to write the article on banks were these : Mr. Carey
had just come home from Europe, in 1857—the panic year,
and found on his arrival, an application from Charles A.
Dana, to write an article for Appleton’s Cyclopedia on
banking. Mr. Baird was just at that time beginning to
make himself acquainted with economic questions, having
been impelled to it by the crisis of 1857, and was full
of enthusiasm on the subject. Mr. Carey handed him
Mr. Dana’s letter, and said he didn’t want to write the
article ; but, added, “you want to understand the sub-
ject of banking, and the right way to study a subject is to
teach it.” So he wrote that article, and it was very well
received. This was followed up by articles on that class of
subjects, both for that edition and subsequent ones.
HEN R Y CA IREY }} A IP D. 561
Henry Carey was the one who started the “Cyclopedia
Americana.” It was commenced by Carey & Lea, and
finished by Lea & Blanchard. They employed Dr. Francis
Lieber to edit it. The latter published a pamphlet once in
favor of what is called “free trade,” and he put the fol-
lowing motto on the title-page:
“No right without its duty,
No duty without its right.”
Mr. Baird says regarding the same, “I saw it was such a
fine one in favor of protection, I put it on a pamphlet of
mine, and thanked him for giving it to me, but I never got
an answer.”
“Dr. Lieber thought a man who was a producer in this
country, had no rights, overlooking the fact, that accord-
ing to his own doctrine when a man pays taxes, he per-
forms a “ duty" and thus acquires “rights.” If an
American producer had no rights, except to pay taxes, he
didn’t recognize the fact that the State owed him anything
in the way of protection, and so he wrote his pamphlet in
favor of what he called “free trade.” I came across it
just about the time I was writing a pamphlet on the Rights
of American Producers.”
When Mr. Baird was quite a young man, he learned
that Samuel Rodgers, the poet banker, was extremely anxi-
ous to get a book printed by Benjamin Franklin, as printer.
He ascertained this from James T. Fields. Such a book
was found and he had it nicely bound and sent to Rodgers.
In 1847, when Mr. Baird was in London, Mr. Carey's
brother-in-law, Charles R. Leslie, the painter, took Fields
and himself to Rodgers' house to see his pictures, and they
saw on a table in his drawing-room the little book printed
by Franklin, the receipt of which had never been acknowl-
edged.
Mr. Baird informs me that the first piece of real literary
work that he ever did was after he came home from Eu-
rope; on that occasion he wrote quite a detailed account of
|
.
2
562 HEN RY CAREY HAIRD.
a visit that James T. Fields and himself paid to Words.
worth, which was published at the time. On that occa-
sion Mr. Baird was impressed with the fact that by
far the best portrait of Wordsworth that was ever painted
was that by Henry Inman for Professor Henry Reed,
of Philadelphia. When he was subsequently in the
neighborhood of Ambleside, he stopped at the “Saluta-
tion Inn,” where on one occasion, Sir Walter Scott, on his
way to dine with Wordsworth, told them at the Inn that
he knew that Wordsworth’s dinners were rather slim, so
he took the precaution of eating dinner there before he
visited the poet; he accordingly did so, and then went to
Wordsworth’s to dine.
Mr. Baird is probably the only publisher who takes
broad and decided grounds against the copyright laws. He
is in favor of the entire revision of our copyright laws, which
are considered by him a bundle of absurdities and inconsis-
tencies. He, however, never reprints an English book, pre-
ferring to make those which are better adapted to Amer-
ican technical wants and can be protected by copyright.
XXXVII.
THREE FAMOUS NOWELISTS.
*-
MARION HARLAND.
A call from the Father of the Author—“ Marion Harland’”
a young Virginian—Enormous sale of “Alone”—
“The Hidden Path,” another success—Tribute of Anna
Cora Ritchie—A big fire and an Author's loss—“Com-
mon sense in the Household”— What one Publisher
gains another loses—Copyright of one book, and Gov.
ernor’s salary—A Christmas visit to Richmond—Let.
ter from Marion Harland to her first Publisher.
IN the year 1854, soon after I had established myself in
the publishing business in the City of New York, a
gentleman called upon me with a volume which had been
printed in Richmond, Virginia, and for which he desired a
New York publisher. It was a new novel entitled “Alone,”
by Marion Harland, of which I had already heard through
some friendly criticisms of the press, and was therefore pre-
pared to arrange for the publication of the book without
delay.
The gentleman referred to was Samuel P. Hawes, a well-
to-do merchant of Richmond, and Marion Harland was
the nom de plume of his eldest daughter, Mary Virginia.
From him I learned that the book had been written by his
daughter when yet in her teens, and that a small edition
had been printed in Richmond by a bookseller of that city,
|563]
564 MARION HARLAND.
he himself guaranteeing the expense of bringing out the
edition already printed.
We soon came to terms, and I became the first New
York publisher for an authoress whose career in the liter-
ary world has been an uninterrupted success. More than
one hundred thousand copies have been sold of the volume
referred to, beside the English and Leipsic editions, it hav-
ing been added to the Tauchnitz series of English novels.
Not unlike that of “Beulah,” “Rutledge,” and many
other of what eventually proved to be immense successes,
“Alone * was declined by a literary gentleman known to
fame. The Richmond bookseller to whom the manu-
script was submitted, handed the MS. for examination to
John R. Thompson, at that time editor of The Southern
Literary Messenger, and more recently literary editor of the
New York Evening Post. After keeping the manuscript
several months, he reported that it had been impossible to
read but few pages of the story, but that he had read suffi.
ciently, however, to give his opinion that it would not be
safe to publish it except at the expense of the author.
After the success of “Alone,” and Marion Harland’s
subsequent volumes, Mr. Thompson admitted that he erred
in his judgment, which probably would have been different
had he read the whole book.
It may not be out of place for me to state here that Mr.
Thompson himself came very near being the author of a
published work. I had engaged to publish an edition of
one thousand copies of a volume of his travels, entitled
“Over the Ocean.” The edition was all printed and
ready to be bound at the bindery ; an advance copy for
the author was handed me by the binder ; the same night
the bindery burned, and every copy was destroyed except
the one sent the author. It was never reprinted, and
therefore never published.
Marion Harland’s next volume, “The Hidden Path,”
like its predecessor, was well received by the critics, and
like “ Alone,” met with great success. r
MARION HARL AND. * §65
Mrs. Anna Cora Ritchie, renowned as an actress as well
as a successful authoress, residing at that time at Rich-
mond, Virginia, wrote me as follows:
“Let this noble production (we use the adjective in its fullest
sense) lie upon the table, enliven the hearth, be the household
companion of every true-hearted Virginian. Foster this gifted
daughter of the South with the expanding sunshine of apprecia-
tion, the refreshing dews of praise—stimulate undeveloped genius,
which has never yet penned its inspiration to walk in her steps,
emulate her achievements and share her honors—let Virginia pro-
duce a few more such writers, and the cry that the South has no
literature is silenced forever ! “The Hidden Path is a work that
North or South, East or West, may point to with the finger of
honest pride, and say our daughter sends this message to the world
—pours this balm into wounded hearts—traces for wavering, er-
ring, feet this ‘Hidden Path,’ which leads to the great goal of
eternal peace.”
“The Hidden Path” was followed by “Moss Side ’’ and
“Nemesis,” the latter of which was published by me,
preceding the outbreak of the Civil War, at which time
my firm discontinued business.
During the Christmas holidays of 1860, my firm had
ready for publication an elegantly illustrated volume en-
titled, “The Women of the South, distinguished in Liter-
'ature,” by Mary Forest, the nom de plume of Julia D. Free-
man, who had prepared the work with conscientious fidel-
ity, and although the book was got up with great expense
it was destined to commercial failure owing to the causes
already stated.
Among the “Women of the South,” which Mary For-
est so eloquently described was Marion Harland (with a
life-like portrait on steel), of whom she says:
“At the age of fourteen, without confiding to anyone what
she considered a daring project, she contributed, under an assumed
name, a series of papers to a weekly city journal. The notice
which these sketches attracted, the conjectures as to their author-
ship, and the commendations bestowed upon them by those whose
566 MARION HARLAND.
opinion she valued, were precious encouragement to the youthful
writer. From that time her pen was never idle, though a larger
proportion of its productions met no eye except her own. Tales,
essays, and poems were sent from time to time anonymously to the
different periodicals of the day, and, stimulated anew by the ap-
proval of her readers, she wrote and studied with greater assiduity.
It is well to mention this, as a hint to young and ardent aspirants for
literary honors who ale apt to attribute to natural gifts the vigor
of expression and grace of style which are only acquired by dili-
gent practice.
“A fugitive sketch written by our author at sixteen, and en-
titled “Marrying through Prudential Motives,’ appeared a year
or two later in Godey's Lady’s Book,” and had a somewhat re-
markable career. From the ‘Lady's Book” it was copied into an
English paper, thence transferred to a Parisian journal, re-trans-
lated for another English periodical, and finally, copied in America
and extensively circulated as an English story, until claimed by
Mr. Godey as one of his publications.”
Mr. George W. Carleton became, and still continues to
be, the publisher of Marion Harland’s novels, which have
already reached the number of sixteen.
Marion Harland has said, that if she had all her writ-
ing to do over again, she would write but one book where
she has written five, or, to use a culinary phrase, she would
“boil them down.”
She has written one volume, entitled, “Eve’s Daugh-
ters,” at the Special solicitation of its publishers, to be sold
by subscription, and I am informed that its sale has already
been very large.
But Marion Harland has not been successful as a novel-
ist, alone.
Strange to say, the most successful of all her books, is
one devoted to cookery and the kitchen. Before she had
written “Common Sense in the Household,” she spoke of
it to her Wide-awake publisher, who generally knows in-
tuitively, the Salable qualities of a book; he however con-
sidered it was out of his line, and thought it would not
MARION HARLAND. fj67
sell; but, of course he would be glad to publish any num-
ber of novels she would bring him.
Marion Harland, nothing daunted by this publisher's
refusal, took the manuscript to the late Charles Scribner,
who, after looking it over, said, that he did not believe it
would be a success ; but he would take the risk of the
publication, on account of the excellent reputation of
Marion Harland, as a writer of good and pure fiction ; and
thus he became the publisher of that famous volume, the
nucleus of the “Common Sense Series,” the copyright of
which has yielded the author, a sum equal to three years’
salary of the Governor of New York.
Mr. Carleton once said to me, that Mr. Scribner told him
distinctly, that when he first talked about publishing
“Common Sense in the Household,” he believed it would
only pay expenses, but nothing more.
In the year 1855, I accepted an invitation from Mr.
Hawes to visit them during the Christmas holidays,
at their Richmond home, where I met, for the first time,
the author of “Alone.” It was a very enjoyable occasion
to me, as it was my first visit south of “Mason & Dixon’s
line,” and I saw for the first time, slavery, perhaps, in its
pleasantest phases, as Christmas in those days, was the
happiest and jolliest of all the year.
In the following year, the young authoress visited my
family, when she saw New York and its vicinity for the
first time.
It has not been my fortune to meet this gifted writer
for nearly a quarter of a century. In a recent letter re-
ceived from her she says,
“It is rather a singular coincidence that I should have
thought much of your proposed book, and the old days at
* Glenwood,” within the last week. I was told in New
York, a few weeks ago, that ‘ Fifty Years Among Auth-
ors and Publishers’ would not be published until the Au-
tumn. . . . . ‘My subsequent literary career!” I am some-
what at a loss to tell you anything of it that will be of use in
568 MIRIA M COLES HARRIS.
your volume. The said ‘career,’ is, I think, a little remark-
able, in that, after thirty years in the field, I was never so
busy before as now. Fortunately, while American fiction
still “paid,” and “Franklin Square Library’ was an unknown
quantity in casting up one’s future accounts, I published
* Common Sense in the Household.” The step was a bold
one, opposed by friends and publishers. More than 100,000
copies of the book have been sold, and its successors in
the series have met with flattering success. . . . . Believe
me, it gives me unfeigned pleasure, to see your familiar
handwriting once more. Also, in memory of the happy
days passed under your roof I am, my dear Mr. Derby.
gratefully and affectionately yours,
M. W. TERHUNE.”
MIRIAM COLES HARRIS.
How Manuscripts should come to Publishers—Rejected by
one House, Accepted by Another—A Heroine without
a Wame—“ Rutledge” an instantaneous Success—At-
tributed to many Authors—Her Portrait in “Vanity
Fair”—Mrs. Harris a successful Writer.
7 HEN a manuscript is brought to a publisher to read,
with a view to publication, it stands a better chance
of being accepted, if written in a clear and readable
hand. I was at once attracted by the chirography as well
as the singular title of “Rutledge.”
The gentleman who brought the MS. to me said that it
had been already declined, but that he wished it pub-
lished if he had to bear the expense himself. I replied
that I would look it over and would advise him of the re-
sult in due time. The gentleman referred to was the late
E. A. Weeks, the uncle and guardian of the author, who
called, as soon as notified of the acceptance of “Rutledge,”
to arrange for its publication. sºs
MIRIAM COLES HARRIS. 669
The book was published anonymously, and its history
is interesting. After its refusal by Harper & Bros., the
young author, in great discouragement, put it away under
lock and key, thinking never to offer it again ; but a few
months after, her courage revived, and she confided the MS.
to her uncle, whom she bound to Secrecy. .
As already said, I promptly accepted the book, but I
told Mr. Weeks it would be impossible to publish it with-
out seeing the writer and knowing her name.
This the young lady thought very hard terms, but at
last she consented to meet me at her uncle's house, the
latter promising that her name should not be mentioued dur-
ing the interview. So the introduction was “Mr. Derby,
my niece, She is the author of the story you have been
looking at.” “Nameless, like her heroine,” I said, taking
her hand in an assuring manner, which reconciled the
youthful aspirant for literary fame. When in the course of
the interview her uncle made the mistake of calling her by
name, there was a laugh, but I promised to keep her secret,
and did.
For many months the question, “Who wrote “Rut-
ledge P’” was being constantly answered in the daily papers.
It was attributed to many clever girls in many clever circles
throughout the country. Fanny Kemble exclaimed, when
reading it, that no girl in America could have written
the book but her daughter Sarah, and upon the strength
of this maternal conviction, for several weeks the author
of “Rutledge” was declared to be Sarah Butler, to be in
turn displaced by Harriet Lane, Miss Minturn, Miss Tracy
and a host of others. -
The sale of the book was enormous, each new name of
the supposed author giving it a fresh impetus. The in-
cognito of the author was very well preserved, few people
really suspecting her, even near members of her family
denying with emphasis what they considered a most absurd
report.
During the height of the interest manifested in the
{57() MIRIAM COLES HARRIS.
matter, there appeared a notice that the next week’s Vanty
Fair would contain a portrait of the author of “Rutledge.”
The paper sold very largely that week, but the inquisitive
buyers found only the half-length figure of a young lady
holding a fan before her face. The indifference of the
author to fame appears to have been a strong temptation to
unscrupulous lovers of notoriety, for a number of women
have personated her, in different parts of the country, and
carried on for months, and in one case for years, a most
extraordinary sort of deception.
Among all the criticisms that have been passed upon
Rutledge, the shortest, but perhaps the most comprehensive,
was made by the late Henry T. Tuckerman at a dinner at
which he was present, when her book being mentioned
he exclaimed, “That lady knows how to tell a story—she
knows just how to tell it.”
Mrs. Harris's second book was thought to be something
of an autobiography, under the veil of fiction ; it was en-
titled “Louie’s last Term at St. Mary’s,” the author hav-
ing been educated at that School at Burlington, N. J., under
the supervision of the late Bishop Doane. Mrs. Harris is
a devoted adherent of the Episcopal Church. She is the
author of a beautiful devotional volume entitled ‘A Rosary
for Lent.” She is also the author of ten different success-
ful novels, all of which are now published by G. W. Carle-
ton & Co.
A recent work, entitled “Phoebe' is thus spoken of
by that excellent critic R. H. Stoddard, in the New York
Evening Mail:
“A marked contrast to the fiction in vogue among us twenty-
five or thirty years ago and that in vogue to-day is a new story,
Phoebe, by the author of Rutledge. The author, whose name
escapes us, if we ever knew it, is a healthy, right minded and
very womanly witer, and in Phoebe she has delineated a character
which will commend itself to a great many healthy and right.
minded people. She is a story-teller, not an analogist.”
MARY J. HOLMES. 571
MARY J. HOLMES.
Immense Sale of her Novels—Large Sums received in
Copyright—A Precocious Writer—Early Marriage
and Literary Success—Income from Authorship, Ten
Thousand a Year— Why so Popular an Author—
Like Topsy, “She growed so *—The Author's Elegalot
Bome—Beautiful Tribute from her Pastor.
THE novels of Mary J. Holmes have undoubtedly yielded
the author a larger sum than that received by any
other American authoress, with the possible exception of
the author of “Uncle Tom's Cabin.”
Mrs. Holmes comes of literary stock on the paternal
side. Her father's brother, Rev. Dr. Joel Hawes, was the
author of the celebrated “Lectures to Young Men,” which
was a popular book among book sellers forty years ago.
Dr. Hawes was also the author of the “Looking Glass for
Ladies ; or, the Formation and Excellence of Female
Character,” which volume, no doubt, had an influence on
the mind of his precocious niece, who was from her earlier
years a great reader of books, whether they were “Baxter's
Saint’s Rest,” Goethe’s “Sorrows of Werther,” or similar
works. Mrs. Holmes read whatever came in her way;
when quite young she developed a taste for fiction.
In early life she was married to Mr. Daniel Holmes, a
graduate of Yale, and a lawyer by profession.
Soon after their marriage the young couple removed to
Rentucky, where is laid the scene of her first novel,
* She is also the sister of the Hon. Kirk Hawes, one of the
judges of the Chicago Superior Court, a gentleman well-known for
his legal acumen, and of wide reputation as an honorable and
upright judge. The affection existing between the brother and
sister is very marked, each being deservedly proud of the othel
and exulting in each other's success.
572 MARY J. HOLMES.
“Tempest and Sunshine,” which was very well received as
the work of a young author, though the first notice she
ever saw of it was particularly severe, and headed “A novel
boiled down.”
Her second book, “English Orphans,” was very favor-
ably noticed in the Worth American Review, and although
both of the novels were published by the house of D. Ap-
pleton & Co., neither of these early efforts was crowned with
the success which has attended her later books. The next
three volumes were published by my Auburn successors,
Miller, Orton & Co., all meeting with a fair sale.
It was not, however, until 1863, when Mr. G. W.
Carleton became the publisher of the author of “Lena
Rivers ” and “Meadow Brook,” that the sale of Mrs.
Holmes’ books began to reach large numbers, and her pop-
ularity and success became so marked.
My friend, George W. Alexander, now the oldest book-
binder in New York, tells me he has frequently had orders
from the publisher, to bind fifty thousand volumes of her
novels at one time.
Up to 1884 Carleton & Co. have published for Mrs.
Holmes, twenty-two different works, the aggregate sales of
which have been something immense.
Mrs. Holmes receives from contributions to the New
York Weekly, a family story-paper published by Street &
Smith, from four to six thousand dollars, according to the
length of the story, before it is issued in book-form by
Jarleton & Co.
It is often asked why Mrs. Holmes’ novels should be so
exceedingly popular ; undoubtedly, the secret of her success
arises from the natural way in which she tells her story,
and the life-like character and scenes introduced to the
reader. She aims to give also, and I think she has suc-
ceeded, a pure and moral tone in every story she has writ-
ten. This is the general verdict of her readers. Mrs.
Holmes does not introduce robberies, murders or sensa-
tional scenes, nor does she attack social evils or write up
l
MARY J. HOLMES. 573
some great disputed subject, but endeavors to produce
such stories as parents are willing their daughters or any
members of their family should read. Mrs. Holmes thinks
that she was born to be a writer of romance ; or, like Topsy,
she growed to be one. As far back as she can remember,
she was holding converse with people unseen, yet real to
her. She remembers in her childhood, when creating and
inventing stories, of hearing it said of her, “that child
will be crazy some day.” She thinks at that time, that the
shadow of authorship was over her.
A school friend wrote to her of an incident which
occurred when the budding authoress was about ten years
old. She was sitting on the grass one summer afternoon
near the old School-house, where she learned her lessons,
talking with other little girls, her schoolmates, about what
she intended to do when she grew up. She said she would
write a book, and when the girls laughed and jeered at her
she grew more earnest and insisted on her assertion, saying
she should write a book and all of them would read it too.
Well, the book was written and all of the then schoolmates
did read it, as well the others which followed it.
Mrs. Holmes’ novels are sold largely by the newsboys on
the steamboats and railroads. She remembers that one
day, while traveling on the cars, and occupying the same
seat with a lady, a juvenile bookseller offered them Mrs.
JHolmes’ latest and most popular work. The lady sitting
by her, a stranger to her, said to her, that “Mrs. Holmes
might be a very popular writer, but as for herself, she did
not think much of her as an author.”
Mrs. Holmes resides with her husband at Brockport,
New York, in a lovely and refined home surrounded by all
that can make life pleasant and enjoyable.
Her pastor, the Rev. Dr. Seibt, has kindly furnished me
the following account of the esteemed authoress, which I
am sure my readers will be glad to see :-
“Aside from her literary qualifications and merits as an au-
thoress, Mrs. Holmes has other excellences that should be put on
574 |MAIRY J. FIOLMES.
record in a description of her life. The esteem and affection in
which she is held by those who have come directly under her in-
fluence, and who have observed her every day life, show that she
possesses in a high degree, those Christian graces and virtues
which alone give lustre to mental accomplishments. Her relations
to society are marked by undeviating correctness and suavity; and
while she prefers the quiet of home life, and is fond of spending
her evenings in her own favorite room—the library—conversing
with and listening to the reading of her accomplished husband,
a gentleman of profound and varied learning, she is ever ready to
open her pleasant home, for social gatherings, whenever occasion
requires, and those who have had the pleasure of attending the
receptions and entertainments which are given, from time to time
at the Brown cottage—the name by which her residence is known
—are invariably struck with her refined and affable manners, and
with the quiet dignity and ease with which she maintains the
position of hostess. Another prominent trait of her character is
her benevolence.
“For many years she has made it a rule to devote, at least, the
tenth part of her income to charitable purposes. Her name is
found among the active members and liberal supporters of some
of the most valuable public institutions; the cause of missions is
always near her heart, and the parish to which she belongs is
greatly indebted to her generous gifts for its prosperous condition.
Her piety is deep, serene and unostentatious, and the aliment on
which it feeds is the word of God. She nourishes and cherishes it,
by daily intercourse with heaven, and by her faithful and constant
attendance at the services of the sanctuary. For many years she
has had charge of the infant class of the Sunday-school, and her in-
struction and example have exerted an influence for good, not
only upon the pupils, but also upon the congregation at large,
which it is impossible to over-estimate.
“May her life be long spared; and may many who shall read
these lines, be induced to copy the lovely character and Christian
virtues of Mary J. Holmes.”
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YXXVIII.
ALFRED S. BARNES.
Friendship of Half, a Century—Singular Coincidences—
Young Barnes finds a New Home—Begins his Book
Career—Professor Charles Davies—Begins as a School-
Book Canvasser—Becomes a Large Publisher—His
Motto—“ Good Books Only”—A Successful Book
House—Retires from Active Business—A Silver Wed-
ding.
THE friendship for nearly half a century which has
existed between the subject of this sketch and my-
Self, is fraught with many pleasant memories. It may
not be out of place for me to refer to some singular
coincidences in our respective lives. Mr. Barnes and
myself began our book life about the same time fifty years
ago, each of us was placed in the business, which was to
be our life-work, through the influence of our devoted
Christian mothers in securing us a home in the families of
our respective employers. We were married about the
same time, and each were blessed with ten children, five
boys and five girls; both of us have met with the great-
est of all losses in the death of the mothers of our chil-
dren, and there the parallel ends.-At the age of sixteen,
young Barnes secured a position as clerk in the book pub-
lishing house of D. F. Robinson & Co., Hartford, Conn.,
where the late Henry Z. Pratt was chief clerk; this house at
that time were the largest school-book publishers in America.
Mr. Barnes well remembers the first day when he com-
menced his career. The senior partner, Mr. Robinson, a
[575]
576 A LF RED S. B.A. RNIES.
man of fine personal appearance, eminent Christian char.
acter and excellent business habits, took young Barnes one
side and gave him some hints and practical advice in re-
gard to a clerk’s duties and the formation of character,
which were invaluable to him. He spoke of the unlimited
extent of the growing book business, and the prospect of
its future in this country, which greatly inspired the young
clerk’s ambition. Mr. Robinson impressed him with the
fact, which afterwards proved true in his case, that all
a young man needed for success in life was good principles,
strict integrity of character, a faithful discharge of duty
in life, and an interest in his employer’s business. Young
Barnes’ salary for the first year was fixed at thirty dollars,
he to live with Mr. Robinson’s family, and he well remem-
bers the kindly manner in which he was received by the
wife of his employer, who took an affectionate interest in
him, treating him with all the attention a son could ask of
a mother, and it is pleasing to record the fact that the
lady now in her eighty-third year retains the same friendly
interest in Mr. Barnes, with whom she is a coustant corres-
pondent.
The list of publications of Robinson & Co., embraced
many school-books familiar to all booksellers of forty years
ago, Comstock’s Philosophy, Olney’s Geography, Daboll’s
Arithmetic, Murray's Grammar and Webster's Spelling
Book. All have been superseded by modern school books
except the latter. The house removed to New York in
1835 and established their business in Pearl street opposite
Holt's, now the United States Hotel, under the firm name
of Robinson, Pratt & Co., which soon became one of the
largest book jobbing houses in the country. Here it was
that I purchased the first bill of books, on my first trip to
New York, when a clerk for H. Ivison & Co., then of
Auburn, N. Y. At this place and timo Mr. Barnes and
myself first met and formed our life-long acquaintance.
Soon after becoming of age, Mr. Barnes received a lot-
ter from a friend in Hartford, introducing him to Profes-
ALFRED S. BARNES. 577
sor Charles Davies, an American mathametician of distinc-
tion at that time, but whose reputation was destined to be-
come national as author of the most celebrated series
of mathematical text books ever published in this country.
This introduction led to closer business relations for nearly
forty years, and was the beginning of an arrangement for
the publication of school books, which carried the young
publisher to fame and fortune. Mr. Barnes first established
himself in the publishing business in the city of Hartford,
with Professor Davies as a partner, in a small room 20 feet
by 12, and here, without any cash capital, the nucleus was
formed which has grown into the present immense business.
Mr. Barnes deserves great credit for his early and indus-
trious habits in introducing his school books to the atten-
tion of those interested in education, instead of school
book agents (as is the general rule nowadays with school
book publishers), the young publisher went himself, by
private conveyance or stage coach, with a few books in his
trunk, journeying from town to town, actively canvassing
teachers of schools, principals of academies and professors in
colleges, for the purpose of introducing Professor Davies’
mathematics, and Mrs. Willard's Histories.* Although
the young publisher’s sales in this way were not very exten-
sive, they laid the foundation for his present prosperous
business.
Two years later Mr. Barnes moved to Philadelphia,
where in 1840 I met him again, and having commenced
business on my own account, purchased my first bill of
books from him, he having at that time become a whole-
sale dealer in the publications of other houses. His business
in Philadelphia prospered, but believing that New York
offered superior advantages for his growing trade, he re-
moved to this city in 1845, where his career as a successful
publisher has been uninterrupted, although the panic year
of 1857 and the breaking out of the war in 1861, were espec-
* Mrs. Willard's sister, Almira Lincoln Phelps, the authoress,
died July 15th, 1884, her ninety-first birthday.
25 *
578 ALFRED S. BAENES.
ially trying, the strong and untarnished credit of his house,
however tided them over both of these exigencies. Besides
the successful publication referred to, their list embraces,
“Barnes’ Arithmetics and Algebra,” “Monteith’s series
of Geography,” “Alphonso Wood's series of Botany ” and
“Worman’s French, German and Spanish series.” Of “Mc-
Nally’s Geography,” “Clark’s Grammar,” “Davies Arith-
metic” and “Barnes’ United States History;” the phenom-
enal sale of over one million copies of each is the best
evidence of their popularity. The firm publish but few
miscellaneous books, the most important of which is
“Martha Lamb's History of the City of New York,” an
exhaustive work, the product of twenty years’ literary ap-
plication. George Bancroft says, “In his opinion it is far
the best work yet published on the subject, marked by good
judgment, honest research and clear and attractive style.”
When Mr. Barnes first entered the business life of a pub-
lisher he decided in his own mind to publish “Good
books only,” and he has adhered to that principle. Mr.
Barnes has retired from active business, with a compe-
tency, leaving the affairs of his house in charge of his sons.
In a volume published in Hartford in 1870, entitled,
“Men of Progress,” I find a chapter on Alfred S. Barnes,
by the late Professor Charles Davies, who knew him so
long and well, from which the following is quoted :
“We were present at the celebration of the silver wedding.
The parlors were filled with pious and loving friends, merrily
chatting with each other, when suddenly the parlor doors were
opened, and the family, led by their parents, came in to greet
and cheer us.
“We shall never forget that beautiful sight—the sons on the
one side with their father, and the daughters on the other with
their mother, and one grandchild, like a little flower just appear-
ing above the ground. A clergyman present expressed the com-
mon sentiment of us all, when he said that the family and the
scene reminded him of a sun-dial, which he had seen in an Euro-
pean city, bearing this inscription : ‘I record only the hours
AI, FRED S. B.A. RN F.S. 570
that are pleasant.” The writer is not insensible to the sacred
character of that veil which hangs around the domestic circle,
but he has felt that, without slightly raising it, he could not well
explain why Mr. Barnes after six days of toil in the counting
room, should be found steadily on the Sabbath at the church and
Sunday school. Why, in the days of short receipts as well as in
those of abundant means, he had always something to spare for
religious culture and the churches, and why, amid a press of busi-
ness in New York he has found time to do his whole duty to the
city of Brooklyn where he has long and permanently resided. He
has meant to raise it only so far as is necessary to the fulness of
truth and history. No account of the house of A. S. Barnes &
Co., would be intelligible without some knowledge of the motives
and inner springs that have contributed so largely to its success.”
I was present with Mrs. Derby at the interesting gath-
ering referred to, and well remember the happy event,
Mr. and Mrs. Barnes having attended a like occasion on
the celebration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of myself
and wife the month previous.
The present members of the firm are : Alfred S. Barnes,
and his sons Alfred C., Henry B., Edwin M., and his
nephew Charles J. Barnes, under the style of A S. Barnes
& Co. The two youngest sons, Richard S. and William D.
L., are also in the business. The senior son has recently
been elected Colonel of the Thirteenth Regiment, N. G.
S. N. Y., a place most fittingly earned by him by his
military experience and services.
XXXIX.
WETERAN PUBLISHERS ON RETIRED LIST,
*-*
CHARLES S. FRANCIS.
A Book Publisher Eighty years old—A famous Boston
house—Shakespeare Works and “Mother Goose?”—De
Witt Clinton, Aaron Burr and Audubon—A thousand-
dollar publication—Southern planters buy eaſpensive
books—“A new home, who'll follow"—A notable Book-
sellers’ Festival—“ſsay Mister, I guess you’re stuck ſ”
– Washington Irving’s famous Speech—Mr. Francis
gives a Toast.
A. BOOK publisher who has lived fourscore years and
has been connected with the selling of books for
nearly three-score years and ten, may be termed a rara
avis, and yet such are the facts of the case in the person of
my venerable friend Charles S. Francis, who is still men-
tally and physically active and ever ready to supply the
“best books only ” to needy book-buyers.
Mr. Francis, now in his eightieth year, is without doubt,
the oldest bookseller in continuous business in America.
Crocker & Brewster of Boston, who retired from business
with a competence some years since, are older men, and
the venerable Isaac C. Lea, formerly Lee & Blanchard,
Philadekphia, who long since retired from business, still
lives at the advanced age of ninety-two.
Charles S. Francis is a son of the late David Francis of
[580]
CHARL ES S. FRANCIS. 581
the old and well known firm of Munroe & Francis, who
were eminent publishers in Boston in the early part of the
present century. They were the first publishers of Shake-
speare’s works in this country the type for three differ-
ent editions of which was set up with their own hands.
They were also the first American publishers of the famous
“Mother Goose Melodies,” another illustration of the
axiom that “there is but one step from the sublime to the
ridiculous.”
Mr. Charles S. Francis learned the mysteries of the
trade of bookselling and book publishing from the firm
of Monroe & Francis, and established himself in New
York in 1826, at which time he was twenty-one years of
age, and where for half a century his name has been
familiar to the book-buying community. Although not
now in active business, Mr. Francis can occasionally be
seen at the bookstore of his brother D. G. Francis in Astor
Place. My first acquaintance with Mr. Francis commenced
in 1840, when I purchased from him a supply of his then
well known publications.
The bookstore of Mr. Francis in Broadway was the pop-
ular resort of many noted people of literary tastes. Among
his customers were De Witt Clinton, Aaron Burr and John
James Audubon, for the latter of whom he was the New
York publisher of his great works on Natural History, of
which “The Birds of America ’’ was the most important,
containing four hundred and thirty-five plates of birds,
showing their natural size and colors, making four volumes
eliphant folio, the price being one thousand dollars per
copy. As a matter of course, works of such magnitude were
of necessity at that time manufactured in Great Britain.
This work was sold by subscription, the largest sales Wºre
in the South, the planters being large buyers of expensive
hooks in the old plantation days. Audubon died at Audu-
bon-Park-on-the-Hudson, where his sons resided.
Mr. Francis was also the publisher of the works of Wil-
liam Ellery Channing, William Ware, whose ‘‘ Zonobia, ’’
bj82 CHARLES S, FRANCIS.
was so popular ; also the sermons of Rev. Orville Dewey
and Rev. Henry W. Bellows, all of whom were authors of
Unitarian books. Mr. Francis' store was the headquarters
of that denomination, a very natural consequence, as he
was christened by Rev. William E. Emerson, a prominent
Unitarian clergyman, and the father of Ralph Waldo
|Brmerson.
Another of Mr. Francis' popular authors in those days
was the late Caroline M. Kirkland, whose “A New Home,
who'll Follow,” a very clever book, giving an account of
her sojourn in the Western wilds, was so well received by
the literary public.
Mrs. Kirkland, as many of my readers will remember,
occupied a well deserved place in American literature. In
1848, while sojourning in London, the Union Magazine, of
which she was the editor, was suspended, very much to her
surprise. It was at that time jointly published by John
Sartain, of Philadelphia, and Israel Post, of New York. In
a letter to Mr. Francis, dated London, September 7th, 1848,
she says: “My little world has been turned upside down,
as I hear—the Union is dissolved for Sartain / and I am —
nowhere. This is delightful to return to England from
the Continent, to find one's office gods shivered against
a post.”
Mr. Francis is full of interesting reminiscences of auth-
ors and publishers. In an oid number of the New York
American which he has preserved, dated April 3d, 1837,
eight columns are devoted to an account of the booksellers’
dinner, a gomplimentary entertainment given by the New
York book trade to authors and men of letters, and to
publishers and booksellers from Boston and Philadelphia,
at the City Hotel, on the 30th of the previous month. The
entertainers with their guests numbered about three hund-
red. Among the eminent men were, John Trumbull, Albert
Gallatin, Chancellor Kent, J. K. Paulding, Fitz Greene
Halleck and William Cullen Bryant. The committee of
arrangements on behalf of the New York Trade, were
CHA RL ES S. FRATN CIS. 583
David Felt, Fletcher Harper, George Dearborn, William
Jackson, John Keese, H. Z. Pratt, George B. Collins, Wil-
liam Robinson, and George P. Putnam. John Keese the
witty book publisher—afterwards trade-sale auctioneer,
gave the address of welcome which was enthusiastically
received. Among other toasts was the following from
Samuel T. Armstrong, at that time the oldest bookseller in
Boston.
“The booksellers of New York : liberal, enterprising
and prosperous. May prosperity still wait on their enter-
prise, and enterprise follow prosperity.”
The toast, after repeated calls, was responded to by
James Harper, as follows:
He said he was at a loss to know why he should be singled
out to respond to the compliment of Governor Armstrong, as
there were many of the trade present greatly his seniors. Be-
sides, it was well known to his breth len, that he was no orator—
that it was entirely out of his line to make speeches—that he was
simply an humble maker of books—and that tº is alone was his pro-
fession. Therefore, although the subject and the occasion were
of a highly prolific character—still he should not attempt a speech
for if he should, he would assuredly find himself in the dilemma
of a certain Massachusetts orator, who, while addressing a public
assembly, unfortunately lost the thread of his discourse, and,
hesitating to recover his lost ideas, was addressed from the gal-
lery by a raw country lad, “I say, Mister, I guess you’re stuck!”
And Mr. President (added Mr. H., after a pause), so am II
The most remarkable incident of the occasion was the
remarks made by Washington Irving, probably the longest
address on record from that author.
Mr. Washington Irving being called upon for a toast,
rose and said, that he meant to propose the health of an
individual whom he was sure all present would delight to
honor—of Samuel Rogers, the poet.
“Mr. Irving observed, that in a long intimacy with Mr.
Rogers, he had ever found him an enlightened and liberal
584 CHARLES S. FRANCIS.
friend of America and Americans. Possessing great influence in
the world of literature and the fine arts in Great Britian, from his
acknowledged soundness of judgment and refinement of taste, he
had cften exerted it in the kindnest and most gracious manner, in
fostering, encouraging and bringing into nolice the talents of
youthful American artists. IIe had also manifested on all occa-
sions the waſ mest sympathy in the success of American writers,
and the promptest disposition to acknowledge and point out their
merits. I am led to these remaiks,” added Mr. Irving, ‘‘ by a letter
received yesterd y from Mr. Rogels, acknowledging the receipt of
a volume of Halleck’s poems which I had sent to him, and expres-
sing his opinion of their merits.” Mr. Il ving here read the follow-
1ng ext, act from the lette :
‘‘ ‘With Mr. Halleck’s poems, I was all cady acquainted—par-
ticually with the two first in the volume; and I cannot say how
much I admired them always. They are better than anything we
can do just now on our side the Atlantic. (Heal, hear !) I hope
he will not be idle, but continue long to delight us. When he
comes here again, he must not content himself with looking on the
outside of my house, as I am told he did once—but knock and
ring, and ask for me as for an old acquaintance. (Cheers.) I
should say, indeed 1ſ I am here to be found—for if he or you, my
dear friends, delay your coming much longer, I shall have no hope
of seeing either of you on this side the grave.’”
“ (Mr. Rogers is now in his seventy-fifth year, and has recently
been much out of health.)”
Mr. Irving concluded by giving as a toast :
“Samuel Rogers—the friend of American genius.”
In looking over the long list of names of those present
at this festival, I do not find one who still survives with the
Single exception of the subject of this sketch, whose toast
on that Occasion was as follows:
By C. S. Francis, “The author of ‘The Linwoods –
in the midst of the bright lights around us, let us not for-
get those at home.”
* Mr. Rogers died in 1855, at the age of ninety-three.
f Referring to Catherine M. Sedgwick's new book.
J. S. REDFIELD. 58
5
J. S. REDFIELD.
Another Veteran of the Book trade— William Gilmore Simms
and his Romances—Rufus W. Griswold's friendly aid
to Authors—Edgar Allan Poe finds a Publisher—Red-
field's defense of Griswold—“Give these young Scrib-
Öley's Jesse ’’-Poe tells how he wrote the ‘‘ Raven. ”—
“You have more Brass in New York than we in Phil-
delphia.”
NOTHER old-time publisher whose name was well-
known in the book world fifty years ago, still lives,
and, like Mr. Francis, can interest his hearers with accounts
of the notable authors he has met and whose literary pro-
ductions bore his imprint as publisher.
I refer to J. S. Redfield, whose list of publications at
one time included the works of William Gilmore Simms,
Alice Cary, Caroline Cheesebro, Edgar Allan Poe, Cornelius
Matthews and many other American authors.
Mr. Redfield’s editions of the novels of William Gilmore
Simms, then the most noted of Southern authors, are now
published by A. C. Armstrong & Sons in seventeen vol-
umes. Mr. Redfield says that twenty years before he knew
Mr. Simms, he had read with intense interest his border
stories, “Yomasee,” and “ Guy Rivers,” also “ The Parti-
san,” and other of his Revolutionary romances, and this
reading influenced him to undertake the republication of
the works of that notable novelist. Edgar Allen Poe in a
review of one of Mr. Simms, “ Martin Faber,” thus speaks
of that author as a writer :
“The fiction of Mr. Simms gives indication, we repeat, of genius,
and that of no common order. Had he been even a Yankee, this
genius would have been rendered immediately maniſest to his
countrymen, but unhappily (perhaps) he was a Southerner, and
united the Southern pride—the Southern dislike to the making of
25%
bj86 J. S. REDFIELD.
bargains—with the Southern supineness and general want of tact in
all matters relating to the making of money. His book, therefore,
depended entinely upon its own intrinsic value and resources, but
with these it made its way in the end.
“The “intrinsic value,” consists: first, of a very vigorous imag-
ination in the conception of the story: secondly, in artistic skill
manifested in its conduct: thirdly, in general vigor, life, move-
ment—the whole resulting in deep interest on the part of the
reader. These high qualities Mr. Simms has carried with him in
his subsequent books, and they are qualities which, above all
others, the flesh and vigorous intellect of America should and
does esteem.”
Simms' life of General Francis Marion, a work of great
historic value, was published by my firm and always sold
steadily and largely.
Mr. Tedfield was the first New York publisher for Alice
Cary. A volume of her poems and also her “Clovernook ’’
stories, were brought to him by Rufus W. Griswold, who
|Mr. Redfield says, not only prepared the copy for the press
but read the proofs, and, through his painstaking attention,
all of her works as they appeared were well noticed by the
press; thus much of her earlier literary reputation was due
to Dr. Griswold's friendly services.
Among other of Mr. Redfield’s authors was the late
Caroline Cheesebro, who has written some very excellent
books now out of print. None of her volumes proved com-
mercially a success, although she ranked well among the
litterati of her day. Her books deserved to be successful,
but literary success was not meted out to her. The last
two productions from her pen were published by my firm.
The most important of all of Mr. Redſield’s publica-
tions, however were the works of Edgar Allan Poe. It
was also through Dr. Griswold that he was induced to
undertake the publication of Poe’s works, now one of the
most popular authors of the day. Dr. Griswold had
jffered the works to nearly all the leading publishers, who
leclined to undertake the publication. He finally persua-
J. S. H. EDFIELD. 587
ded Mr. Redfield to try the experiment of issuing two
Volumes first, which were published and had a fair sale—
then the third, and finally the fourth volume were added
to complete the works. The sale reached about fifteen
hundred sets every year. The copyright was paid at first
to Mr. Poe, and after his death to his mother-in-law, Mrs.
Clemm, who received the copyright on several editions.
She came to Mr. Redfield one day in a great strait—saying
she was going to Baltimore to enter a home for aged
females. She wanted to raise two hundred and fifty dol-
lars, and if he would let her have that amount, she would
relinquish all claims to copyright. Mr. Redfield hesitated
at first, but finally yielded to her importunities and paid
her the money, thus becoming owner of the copyright as
well as stereotype plates of Poe's complete works. Mrs.
Clemm removed to Baltimore, where, soon after, she died.
Mr. Redfield’s successor, the late W. J. Widdleton, be-
came the owner of Poe's works, and subsequently sold
them to A. C. Armstrong & Son, who are now the publish-
ers of a new and revised edition. -
Mr. Redfield thinks great injustice has been done by
certain critics to Rev. Dr. Griswold, in reflecting upon him
as Poe's biographer.
In a recent letter to me, he says: ‘‘ Griswold never re-
ceived a cent for his labors. Poe named him as his liter-
ary executor, shortly before he died, although they had
quarreled not long before. Griswold's labor was no joke.
Few men would heve undertaken it with no hope of reward.
It is fashionable now-a-days to throw mud at him. Know-
ing as I did, both of the men, and knowing also how assid-
uously Griswold labored to say everything he could in the
biography in Poe's favor, it is very annoying to read these
things. The matter of the biography was all read over to
me, talked and discussed before printing, and I know he
did his best to “set down naught in malice.’ He was
obliged, as he thought, to state the facts in all cases, and
he did state them, favorably as he could to Poe. I know
5SS J. S. REDFIELD.
he tried to do so. Now he is accused everywhere by people
who know nothing about it, of Vilely slandering Poe. I
had a better opportunity than anyone else to know all
about it, and I know he did not. If I had not entirely
rusted out of the use of the pen, I should like to write a
magazine article on Griswold and Poe, and would give
these young scribblers “Jesse,” who are so fond of throw-
ing mud at Griswold and lauding Poe.”
Another author on Mr. Redfield’s list was Cornelius
Matthews, who was the editor in connection with the late
Evert A. Duyckinck, of a literary magazine of consider-
able merit called “Arcturus, a journal of Books and Opin-
ion,” in which appeared his “Career of Puffer Hopkins,”
afterwards published in book form. Edgar Allan Poe,
said at the time, of “Arcturus”: “It is decidedly the very
best magazine in Some respects ever published in the
United States.” Mr. Matthews also was the author of some
well-written works of fiction and Indian legendary lore.
Mr. Matthews knew Mr. Poe very well, was a personal
friend, and often saw him at his editorial rooms, as well as
at his city residence and his home in Fordham, of which
the following interesting account is given me in a recent
letter received from him.
‘‘ On the next occasion the author of the ‘Rue
Morgue,’ appeared in a different light. It was at the bed-
side of his wife Virginia, his cousin, the daughter of Mrs.
Clemm, them lying very sick in their chambers on East
Broadway. His bearing was brave, sympathetic and affec-
tionate, that of the gentleman in grief.”
“My next interview with this singular genius had a less
serious complexion. He, now a widower, settled in a little
cottage on the rocks at Fordham, just across Harlem
Bridge. There was quite a little party gathered to take
tea with Poe and his mother-in-law and aunt, Mrs. Clemm.
When we were summoned into the supper-room we found
to the open-eyed wonder of the company, the floor laid
J. S. REDFIELD. 589
with a brand-new rag carpet, an ample table, sumptuous
with delicacies, and Mrs. Clemm at the head of the table,
decanting, from a new silver-plated urn, amber coffee, which
glowed as it fell in the light of the setting sun. All this
was in strong contravention of Poe’s proclaimed abject pow-
erty, unless observers had brought to mind that the equi-
page represented in part of the proceeds of a libel suit
collected by the poet in the previous week from Hiram
Fuller, editor of the Evening Mirror. We walked about
the roads after supper discoursing on one subject and an-
other, in which the poet took part, confining himself as
usual to abstract subjects and analytic disquisitions. Much
as he had traveled, and much as he must have seen, I never
heard an anecdote nor personal trait nor incident or cir-
cumstance having any color in it as introduced by him.”
“Another occasion in keeping with Poe's character was
an encounter with him at the old Olympic Theatre (Mitch-
ell’s), emerging from which together after the play, he
invited me to join him in a stroll down Broadway. We
had reached a lamp-post at the foot of the City Hall Park,
then standing on the site of the present post-office. He
brought up along side of the post, and embracing it par-
tially, proceeded to give me the history of the “Raven,”
which was then beginning to command attention in the
literary world. The explanation was substantially this:
That when he made up his mind to write a poem that
should be popular, he took into account these conditions.
First, it must be of such length as to be embraced at one
reading. Secondly, it inust be serious and sentimental,
rather than light : ind romantic. To this end also, the
measure should be rather long than short. In the next
place, it must have a refrain melodious and mournful. The
word so chosen was “Nevermore,” beyond which in the
qualities required, no word in the language could go.
Read the “Raven,” and you will find all these ingredients
and essentials faithfully provided. And now, continued
Mr. Matthews, we have announced but not builded a monu-
590 DANIEL BIXBY.
ment to be erected in Central Park, to “That illustrious
poet, Edgar Allan Poe.” . .
Among the amusing anecdotes connected with the book
trade, Mr. Redfield relates the following:
Some of the older members of the trade will have plea-
sant remembrances of the late John Doyle, an Irish
Catholic publisher and bookseller, who did business in the
city for many years. He was a good deal of a wag and
was very fond of a joke, and it was not easy to get ahead of
him. When he and Mayor Harper met, the sparks used to
fly. At a trade-sale in Boston years ago, which was at-
tended generally by the booksellers, Doyle among the rest,
the invoice of J. B. Lippincott, was begun with some very
elegant family Bibles, in superb binding, and heavily-gilt
clasps. Some one bid three dollars a piece. “Why, gentle-
men,” said Lippincott's representative, ‘‘these clasps
alone on this Bible cost five dollars.” Doyle was sitting
directly in front of the auctioneer’s stand. He got up and
examined the Bible and stamps, and says: “Why, Mr.
Lippincott, we can buy such stamps as these in New York
for two lollars and a half l’’ ‘‘Yes, Mr. Doyle,” was the
reply, “but you know, you have more brass in New York
than we have in Philadelphia.” The roar that shook that
salesroom made the Welkin ring, and Doyle subsided.
T) ANIEL BIXBY.
A Publisher can keep a Hotel—A famous literary Resort—
Fenimore Cooper’s city Home—Fitz Greene Hallock,
and the Astors—Interesting Letter to Bia:by—He meets
London Celebrities—“You see him before you now ’’
—Bia:by's quiet Retirement.
THE problem was solved more than thirty years ago, that
a good man could publish good books, and also keep
a good hotel.
Daniel Bixby had twenty-two years’ experience in the
DANIEL BIXBY. 591
bookselling business at Lowell, Massachusetts, before he
removed to New York. While a bookseller in the former
place he published Cousin’s “Philosophy of the Beautiful,”
Southey’s “Chronicles of the Cid,” Goethe’s “Correspon-
dence with a Child” and “Faust,” the last named from the
prose translation of Abraham Hayward, whose recent death
in London at an advanced age, has been widely noted.
This edition is now published by James R. Osgood & Co.,
and I believe is the only prose translation of that great
German writer.
I once asked Mr. Bixby how he came to begin the pub-
lication of such choice books in a country town.
He replied, that his own tastes were in that direction,
and that he had some literary friends, who wanted him to
publish something that no other bookseller had done or
would do. *
The publication of those volumes was so successful, that
he determined to remove to New York, and continue the
publishing business on a larger scale.
Removing to the city and not finding a suitable location
Mr. Bixby was offered at a great bargain the lease of a
hotel at the corner of Broadway and Park Place, and, al-
though he had no experience whatever in that line, he ac-
cepted the offer with the determination to make it not only
a good hoted but an inviting resort for his bookselling
friends.
Bixby's Hotel, as many of my readers will remember,
became the favorite resort of publishers, booksellers and
authors. Often in the large parlors of the hotel, many of
the literary celebrities would congregate to discuss the
topics of the day.
Among others, J. Fenimore Cooper, Fitz Greene Hal-
leck, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Oliver
Wendell Holmes, George P. Morris, N. P. Willis, Bayard
Taylor, Rufus Griswold, and Alice and Phoebe Cary, the
latter three residing there during the first year of Mr.
Bixby's hotel experience.
592 DANIEL BIXBY.
J. Fenimore Cooper was a very peculiar man about his
hotel accommodations. His son-in-law, Henry F. Phinney
––afterwards of the firm of Ivison & Phinney—called one
day to see Mr. Bixby concerning accommodations for his
father-in-law, who, he said, was a very difficult person
to suit when away from home, because of his exacting
requirements. Mr. Bixby told Mr. Phinney that when
Mr. Cooper came to his hotel, his own room won ld always
be at his disposal, so that he could always depend on hay-
ing the same apartments. Mr. Cooper always felt at home
at Bixby's Hotel, and his presence there was pleasant, agree-
able, and delightful. He received many galls from the lit-
terati of New York and vicinity soon as his arrival in the
city became known.
When Hawthorne came there he was generally accom-
panied by either W. D. Ticknor or James T. Fields. He
left Bixby's Hotel on the morning of his departure for
Europe to assume the lucrative position of United States
Consul at Liverpool, to which he had been appointed by
his classmate at college, Franklin Pierce, then President
of the United States.
Fitz Greene Halleck was a constant guest and was very
fond of that part of the city. Every day after breakfast,
and again after dinner at the hotel, he would go down to
Bowling Green, there to meet his old acquaintances. At
that time he was one of the trustees of the Astor Library,
and always spoke very kindly of its founder, and of his son,
William B. Astor, and in the warmest terms of the pleas-
ant relations they held towards each other.
Mr. Bixby remained in the locality referred to, nine
years, when he removed his hotel up town to the corner of
Broadway and Eleventh Street. Mr. Halleck’s home at
that time was in Guilford, Connecticut, and that he did not
take readily to Mr. Bixby's change of locality may be seen
from the following letter, of which Mr. Bixby has favored
me with a copy.
DANIEL BIXBY. 593
“Guildford, Connecticut,
e “May 31 d, 1858.
** MY DEAR MER. BIxBY :
“On my return home I am favored with the circular announc-
ing your intention of taking for your establishment a more aristo-
cratic position, and placing it among the “Upper ten.' I take
pleasure for your sake in congratulating you upon this removal,
and I hope and trust that it will be advantageous to you in all
respects. Still, for my own sake, I cannot but regret it, for I fear
that you will be too far ‘up’ for my purpose while I am a visitor
in your city, and I am certain to be the loser of a good home
which your old and favorite house has so often and so agreeably
proved itself to be for me during the seven or eight years past.
“The experience of our late friend, Mr. Cooper, the novelist,
which preceded mine, enabled him to recommend it highly to me,
and he as you know had a very high standard of domestic com-
fort, and never willingly overpraised anything; and my own ex-
perience has most pleasantly confirmed his opinion of its merits.
“Allow we to add that I feel greatly indebted to your per-
sonal courtesy, for frequent introductions to the gentlemen, your
guests, among whom I am now proud to number many of my most
valuable acquaintances.
“Repeating best wishes for your perfect success in your new
enterprise, 1 beg you to believe me, my dear sir,
“Truly yours,
“FITZ GREENE HALLECK.”
In 1841, the year after Mr. Bixby's publication of
Hayward’s “Faust,” he took with him to London, a letter of
introduction from Charles Sumner, to the translator. Mr.
Hayward received him very cordially, introducing him to
many distinguished persons, among others, the banker poet,
Rogers, who entertained Mr. Bixby at breakfast.
On another occasion, Mr. Bixby called with the cele-
brated publisher, Henry G. Bohn, with whom he had
long been on friendly terms. The latter was very anx-
ious to meet George Bancroft, then representing the
United States at the court of St. James. Mr. Bixby
introduced the publisher to the historian and diplomat.
The visit was a memorable one, as Mr. Bixby met there
Hallam and Alison, the great historians, and also had the
594 DANIEL BIXBY.
good fortune to see the original manuscript of Woodfall's
“Junius,” which the publisher's grandson had brought with
him to show to Mr. Bancroft, and these pages, as a
matter of course, were examined with curious Interest.
Soon after James Russell Lowell was appointed United
States Minister to Great Britain, Mr. Bixby called upon him
with a note of introduction from a mutual friend. Mr. Low-
ell during their conversation said to Mr. Bixby, “There was
a gentleman of your name who published Hayward’s tran-
slation of Faust, in Lowell, forty years ago, whom I would
very much like to meet, to thank him for the good
work he did to the literary world at that time, in bringing
out that volume.—“Well,” replied Mr. Bixby, “if it
would prove any gratification to you to meet that gentle-
men, you see him before you now.”
Mr. Bixby has resided in quiet retirement for many
years, at the New York Hotel, in this city, spending his
summer months, however, in Europe.
XL.
RICHARD HENRY STODDARD.
Mary Russell Mitford’s Tribute–Writes for Jack Down-
*ng’s “ Tover *—Finds a Friend in W. P. Willis—
Meets a Friend in Bayard Taylor—“I am he ”—“My
name is Stoddard”—Stoddard receives his first Ten
Dollars—Prints a Book and sells two Copies—Baron
Humboldt and Bayard Taylor—Loves and Heroines
of the Poets—Oliver B. Bunce and “Don’t “– Wittiest
Woman in America—Distinguished Compliment from
Bryant—The Wife of a Poet.
IN one of Mary Russell Mitford’s letters to the late
James T. Fields, she says: “Mr. Stoddard is one of the
poets of whom America may well be proud.” This was
said more than thirty years ago, soon after Ticknor, Reed
& Fields had published his first volume of poems. America
7s proud of Mr. Stoddard’s poetical talents, and no critic of
authority will deny that that writer possesses the true po-
etic gift of imaginative composition.
Beginning at an early age to write verses, his first printed
contribution in rhyme appeared in 1843, when about nine-
teen years old, in the Rover, a literary paper, edited by
Seba Smith, himself a poet,_author of “Pocahontas,”,
*“I dined, the other day, with dear old Miss Mitford, who
has your book; but it is always lent to somebody or other and
liked by all, which should encourage you, for their judgment on
your poems, is like that of posterity.”—Bayard Taylor's Letter to
Stoddard.
[595]
596 FICHARD HENRY STOD D A RD.
published about that time by Harper & Brothers. (Mr.
Smith is better known as the author of the celebrated
“Major Jack Downing Letters,” which were so famous forty
years ago, and of which Lord Brougham once said : “The
Jack Downing humor is the irony of a statesman.”)* Mr.
Stoddard says, Mr. Smith was a success as a delineator of
Yankee humor but the Rover was not.
Soon after this Mr. Stoddard took to N. P. Willis a few
manuscript poems, and asked if he would be kind enough
to read them and write his opinion. Some weeks later the
young poet called at the office of the Home Journal, where
he found a note from Mr. Willis, which read as follows :
“I should think the writer of these poems had genius
enough to make a reputation. Pruning, trimming and
condensing is necessary to make them what they should
be ; the same labor was necessary to Lord Byron’s genius,
and that of Tom Moore. It is hard work to do, but well
paid when done.”
These words were the first real encouragement that he
had ever received, and Mr. Stoddard further says, that no
young person possessing any kind of talent ever appealed
to N. P. Willis without receiving aid and encouragement.
When Bayard Taylor, who was always a favorite with Mr.
Willis, returned from Europe, the first time, he took the
letters which he had written to a Philadelphia paper to
Wiley & Putnam to publish in book form, and that firm
agreed to do so, provided Mr. Willis would write an intro-
duction for the same, and this secured the publication of
“Views Afoot.”
Not long after this, young Stoddard sent some verses
to Mrs. C. M. Kirkland, who had just become editor of the
Union Magazine, and in that she published the second
* A humorous volume of Yankee sketches by the same author,
entitled, “Way Down East,” was published by Derby & Jackson
in 1855, Mr. Smith also subsequently published on his own
account, “My Thirty Years out of the United States Senate"—by
Jack T)owning.

RICHARD HENRY STODD ARD. 597
poem he ever had printed. Mr. Stoddard speaks of Mrs.
Eirkland with much feeling, as she was very kind to him,
placing her library at his disposal and aiding him by Sug-
gestion and advice which proved of great value to him in
those early days of his literary struggles.
When Mr. Stoddard visited her on One occasion, she
showed him the manuscript of Edgar Allen Poe’s “Ula-
lume * and asked him to read it, and give his opinion.
After complying with her request, he told her, he could not
understand it. She said that it had been offered for pub-
lication in the “ Union Magazine,” but that it would be
returned to its author. In 1848, Mrs. Kirkland went to
Burope” leaving the Magazine in charge of Bayard Taylor.
She told Mr. Stoddard, that during her absence, he had
better call upon the latter, as he would be sure to like
him.
Mr. Stoddard did not delay in complying with that
friendly lady's suggestion, and with the following result.
“The first time I ever set foot in an editorial office was the
day I sought Bayard Taylor in the editorial room of the Tribune.
If it had occurred a few years later I should write editorial rooms;
but at that time a single room had to suffice for all the editors
and reporters, and a shabby old room it was. My recollection is
that it was on the top floor of the Tribune Building, which then,
as now, was set apart for the compositors, and that when I reached
it, after climbing several pairs of dark stairs, I saw a score or
more of these dingy men of letters working at their cases. I asked
for Mr. Taylor, and was directed to two desks, placed back to
back, in the middle of the room, and littered over with books
and papers, pens, ink, and paper, a paste-pot, and a large pair of
shears. At their desks, facing each other, sat two men, whose
heads were bent down over what they were writing. ‘Is Mr.
Bayard Taylor here ?' I asked, and the man who was farthest
from me looked up, and said, ‘I am here.” “My name is Stod-
dard,” I replied, ‘and I have come to see if you can use in the
Union Magazine'--I named something of mine which Mrs. Kirk-
* See ante, p. 582.
598 RICHARD HENRY STO]) D A RID,
land had left in his hands before her departure for Europe, or
which I had sent to him as the them occupant of her chair edito-
rial, and was gratified to learn that he not only could, but would,
use that Immortal production, and very speedily. My impression
is that he rose from his desk when he answered my question, for
I have a vision of him as he was then, before me now. He was
larger than I, somewhat tall, indeed, with an erect figure, a look
of activity and manliness, a roman, or rather aquiline, nose, thin
nostrils, tender, loving cyes, and the dark, ringleted hair which I
had always associated with the head of a poet—a remembrance,
no doubt, of the portraits of Byron. What he said must have
been very kind, for it went straight to my heart. I needed a
friend, and I felt that I had found one. . . . . .
“There is a critical period in the career of most men of letters,
upon which much in their after life depends. I had reached such
a period when I met Bayard Taylor, and from that day my life,
which had gone on darkling like an underground river, flashed out
into the sunshine with a jubilant song.
“It was understood between Bayard Taylor and myself, that we
were to meet as often as possible, which, under the circumstances
wherein we found ourselves, was not likely to be more than once
or twice a week. He had his daily work to do, and I had mine,
for to neither had fate granted the ripe, poetic leisure that he
craved. There was one night in the week which both could call
his own (Saturday night), and when that came we were sure to
spend it together. What did we do, and what did we say, on
those ambrosial nights : Our doing was mostly confined to the
smoking of indifferent cigars, our talking was entirely confined to
literature, to the books that we were reading, and the poems that
we were writing. We were young, we were simple, and we were
very enthusiastic. Different in many things, we were alike in our
love of poetry, and in our belief that we were poets. At any rate,
I was sure that Bayard Taylor was a poet, who had written nobly,
and would write more nobly still. I felt a fresh intellectual growth
in him every time we met, and every new poem of his that he read
to me, was more wonderful than the last. I looked up to Bayard
Taylor then, as I had never looked up to man before, and as I
have never looked up to man since. He knew more than I knew,
not merely of the world of men, in which he mingled and I did
not; but in the world of books, wherein he was more largely and
more carefully read than I. He was comparatively learned when
HICHARD HENRY STODDARD. 599
I was absolutely ignorant. I compared my verse with his verse,
and always to the disadvantage of my own. There was a splen-
dor and a grandeur in what he wrote, a wild, stormy music in his
rhythm, and a sense of magnificence in his color, which I was
hopeless of attaining. Beyond all other qualities, I admired his
originality and imagination. I never think of those Saturday
nights in Bayard Taylor's sky-parlor in Murray Street, without re-
calling Cowley's noble poem on the death of Mr. William Harvey,
particularly the fifth and eighth stanzas:
“‘Say, for you saw us, ye immortal lights,
How oft un wearied have we spent the nights,
Till the Lydaean stars, so famed for love,
Wondered at us from above.
We spent them not in toys, in lusts, or wine,
But search of deep philosophy,
Wit, eloquence, and poetry,
Arts which I loved, for they, my friend, were thine.”
“My feeling for Bayard Taylor, and our common feeling for
poetry, inspired me at this time to add what I thought was a son-
met to my worthless rhymes. It was to the effect that we were
squires of poesy, behind the belted knights, whose prowess fired
us to do what noble deeds remained.”
Mr. Stoddard had contributed some poems to the
Union Magazine, and wanting some money, called on Israel
Post, the publisher, and received ten dollars, which was
the first money he had ever received for his literary work.
In the fall of 1848, Mr. Stoddard collected the various
poems he had written for the Knickerbocker and other
magazines and had them printed in a little volume called
“Foot Prints,” which reached the extraordinary sale of two
copies / After which the limited edition which was printed
at the young author’s expense was committed by him to
the flames except one copy, which he still retains as, he
says, a monument of his youthful indiscretion.
* From recollections of Bayard Taylor, contributed to the New
York Independent—by R. H. Stoddard.
600 RIC II A RD IIIEN RY STODIO ARD.
In 1853, Mr. Stoddard was appointed to a position in
the Custom House through the influence of Nathaniel
Hawthorne, who had recommended the appointment. This
was during the administration of Hawthorne's friend,
President Pierce,—which position he held for seventeen
years, writing continually during that period for magazines
and papers. -
Mr. Stoddard's next book was the Life of Baron Hum-
boldt, who had recently died.
Mr. Carleton, the publisher, engaged him to write it,
but on condition that Bayard Taylor should write the intro-
duction, the latter not only being a friend of Baron Hum-
boldt's, but at that time already something of a traveler
himself. For this work Mr. Stoddard received six hun-
dred dollars, the largest amount he had ever received for
any literary work. The book was a successful undertaking,
owing, no doubt, to Bayard Taylor’s introduction, as the
country booksellers sold it for Taylor's Life of Humboldt.
In the year 1860, Mr. Stoddard prepared for my firm
a large and attractive volume, entitled “The Loves and
Heroines of the Poets,” which consisted of biographical
sketches, pertinent to the subject. The Atlantic Monthly, in
a notice of the book said, “It is a happy thought happily
realized ;” and Mr. Bryant also said, “Mr. Stoddard has
admirably executed his task in exery respect.”
The volume was illustrated with elegant steel portraits.
It was suggested by me to Mr. Stoddard, who afterwards
concluded to extend the plan of the work beyond that pro-
posed, inducing him to make a collection of the old Eng-
lish poets, the beginning of a library of English poetry,
which is said to be a very good one for an American scholar
to possess. From this library he prepared the beautiful
volume entitled “Madrigals from the Old English Poets.”
Mr. W. J. Linton, the artist, who has been connected
with Mr. Stoddard in making one of these collections, Mr.
Stoddard considers a remarkable man,—a genius in art and
literature.—He also looks upon Mr. Oliver B. Bunce as the
RICHARD HENRY STODDARD. 601
most admirable book-maker he ever knew, whose exquisite
literary tastes, tact and adaptations he considers most re-
markable. -
Mr. Bunce would no doubt say in reply to any such
praise as this, “Don’t l”
The Bric-a-Brac Series, of which Mr. Stoddard is edi-
tor, was projected by the late Blair Scribner. It is com-
pleted in ten volumes, and published by Charles Scribner's
Sons, proving a great literary success, nearly one hundred
thousand volumes having been sold, and for which literary
work he has already received a liberal sum.
Mr. Stoddard has been on familiar terms with most of
the literary people of the day; he became acquainted with
the Cary Sisters soon after their arrival in New York.
Alice Cary be considered a natural born poet—she wrote
very rapidly, and entirely from feeling. She once said to
him, that she frequently wrote two or three poems a day,
and without correction. She had an instinctive genius
which art would have made a great deal of ; the very want
of art and the natural feeling that her poems expressed
made them so popular, with that large class of readers
with whom poetry is a feeling and not an art. The tender-
ness and the pathos contained in them went right home to
simple people, and this accounts, Mr. Stoddard thinks, for
the commercial success of her published volumes.
Mr. Stoddard thinks Phoebe Cary the best parodist
that America ever produced.
He says her parodies were sometimes superior to the orig-
inals. Bayard Taylor wrote a California ballad called
“Manuela,” and she parodied it as “Martha Hopkins.” The
merit of her parody was not merely that she paraphrased
the text of the author comically, but that for every serious
* A little brochure, just published by D. Appleton & Co.,
entitled “Don’t,” of which Mr. Bunce is author; more than fifty
thousand copies have been sold. Mr. Bunce is also the author of
“Bachelor Bruff,” a charming little volume of essays—and “My
House,” an ideal volume, published by Charles Scribner's Sons,
26
602 RICH A RD II EN RY STODD ARD.
situation in his poem she found a corresponding comical
one. Mr. Taylor was very much complimented by this
parody, as he should have been. Mr. Stoddard says he
never knew her equal among women, as to wit. She had both
humor and wit. The quality of her wit was like that of
Douglas Jerrold, with the difference, that his was light-
ning that flashed and killed his victim, whereas hers, though
equally instantaneous, was the summer heat lightning that
did no harm. It was just the same flash.
Probably the very last letter ever written by Mr. Bryant
was to his friend Stoddard, and it is produced here as an
evidence of the painstaking kindness of Mr. Bryant.
On the 27th of May, having received from Mr. Stod-
dard, a poem of which his opinion was asked, Mr. Bryant
wrote the following reply, still showing the same friendly
interest as he did when he had looked over the manuscripts
of Dana and Hillhouse, his willingness to serve a brother
poet :
“Roslyn, May 27th, 1878,
“I like your poem much, and am charmed with its beautiful
ending. You ask for my criticism. It will not be of much value;
but since you desire it, I will point out a few places where I would
make a change if I were the author.
“Stanza III. “Their hearts rebellious cried ?–an unpleasant
inversion if “rebellious' be an adjective, and not very good gram-
mar if it be an abverb. ‘Rebelling” would be better, me judice.
“Stanza V. Two “fors' in two successive lines.
“Stanza VI. “And other horsemen —if for ‘other' one were
to substitute some adjective in the comparative degree, as “fiercer'
it would give the passage more force.
“Stanza X. ‘Would never have permitted it so long ' seems
to me prosaic.
“Stanza XIII. “Such strength as you displayed.’ ‘Displayed,’
for “put forth or some such word is not quite right.
“Stanza XVI. ‘Superstructures.” I should have preferred
‘structures ' with some alteration of the stanza to give it the re-
quired length.
“Same Stanza—‘and batter against '-why not beat 3
BICHARD HENRY STODDARD. 603
“Stanza XIX. Second line something omitted.
“Stanza XXII. “Produces for ‘brings forth.”
“Stanza XIX. Another phrase in this stanza which I do not
like is “and all triumphal strains.” I do not quite see its perti-
nency. There is in Stanza IV. a grammatical slip, “the hand of
God was lain.” ſº-
“You see that although I have read your poem several times
over, I have gleaned very little in the way of objection, and
nothing to the thought or plan, which is excellent. Looking again
at Stanza V. the line “And all men have submitted to his reign,”
strikes me as wanting in force. If the meaning were extended to
every living thing, it seems to me that something would be gained
in vigor of expression. But the blemishes I have noticed are triv-
ial ones, and all of them may not seem such to others.
“Faithfully yours,
“ W. C. B.”
Mr. Stoddard has been a resident of New York for near-
ly half a century, and is at present connected with the
editorial department of the New York Evening Mail, to
which position he is eminently fitted, by his long experience
as a literary critic. As a poet, Mr. Stoddard ranks in pub-
lic estimation with his friends and fellow poets, Edmund
C. Stedman and Thomas Bailey Aldrich, contributing more
frequently, however, to magazines and other literary jour-
nals of the day.
Mr. Stoddard’s wife, Elizabeth B. Stoddard, is the
author of three clever novels, “The Morgesons,” published
by G. W. Carleton, in 1862; “Two Men,” published in
1865; and “Temple House,” published in 1867. She
has also contributed sketches in prose and poetry to the
principal magazines of the country. A lady of cultivated
tastes, she is a very efficient aid to her husband in his lit-
erary pursuits.
The pleasant home of Mr. and Mrs. Stoddard is filled
with many mementoes of their literary and artistic tastes,
gathered together with much care, during their eventful
literary career.
|XLI.
TWO VETERAN EDITORS AND AUTHORS,
*===s*
REV. S. IRENAEUS PRIME, D.D.
Five Generations of a Book-Making Family—An Author
who never sought a Publisher—Authorized Life of
Professor Morse—Dr. Prime on His Travels—A thou-
sand a year from Harpers—How a Profound Secret is
Rept—Printing-Office Destroyed by fire–Warrow Es-
cape of the Editors—Quick Writing and Quick Print-
4??g. *
N the library of Dr. Prime’s study are manuscripts and
printed books of five generations of the Prime family.
Of these five generations of book-making people, there has
never been an infidel or a prodigal. There are more than
one hundred volumes of these works, and every one of
those volumes has a right to have the name of Prime on
its title-page. In this library is a copy which lacks only
three years of being three hundred years old of the “Ex-
position and Observations of St. Paul,” by John Prime.
There is also a Greek Testament, which has been used by
five successive generations in the same family.
Dr. Prime never went to a publisher in his life to offer
any of his books for publication, they always came to him.
The first book that he ever wrote was called “Elizabeth
[604]
REV. S. IRENAEUS PRIME, D.D. 605
Thornton,” published forty years ago by M. W. Dodd, who
was at that time the publisher of Dr. Gardner Spring's
works. Mr. Dodd, whom I knew more than forty years
ago, has long since retired from the business, in which he
was succeeded by the present house of Dodd, Mead & Co.
The executors of the estate of Professor Samuel F. B.
Morse applied to Dr. Prime to write his life; he consented
very reluctantly to do so, and produced a work of great
interest, making a large octavo volume, which was pub-
lished in 1875 by D. Appleton & Co.
In his last will and testament, Professor Morse gave to
his executors authority ‘‘ to place his manuscripts in the
hands of some suitable person, for the purpose of examin-
ing and using the same in preparing a biographical or his-
torical note relating to himself.” The family of the great
inventor, and the executors of his estate united in an ur-
gent request, that the author of this volume would take
charge of the papers, and prepare and present to the pub-
lic a biography of Professor Morse, in such a style that it
would be generally read.
Professor Morse and Dr. Prime had been intimate friends
for many years. The brothers of Professor Morse, Sidney
E. and Richard C., were the founders of the New York
Observer.
Professor Morse invented the telegraph in 1832, and
Dr. Prime became acquainted with him in 1840, when he
was engaged upon it, but had not perfected it. Dr. Prime
says that Professor Morse never seemed to be elated at his
great discovery, but had a feeling of intense solemnity
in regard to it. He felt that God had used him as an in-
strument for the accomplishment of a great undertaking,
and fully comprehended it. He told Dr. Prime that he
saw no reason why we shouldn't go around the world with
it, and afterwards conceived the idea of surrounding the
globe with the wire, under the ocean and over the moun-
tains.
606 REV. S. IRENAEUS PRIME, D.D.
The most popular book which Dr. Prime has written
and that which has the largest sale, is his book of travels.
When he returned from his first journey in Europe, his
letters during his absence having been published in the
Observer, and having attracted considerable attention, he
received offers, entirely unsought, from three different pub-
lishers, two in New York and one in Philadelphia, request-
ing him to furnish them with the book. Two of the pub-
lishers offered him twelve per cent.; Harper & Bros. offered
fifteen per cent. copyright. ; he accepted the latter proposi-
tion, and the book was published by that house.
He had never written a line for this house previous to
that time, but while he was engaged reading the proofs,
and this book of travels was going to the press, they asked
him to write for the magazine, and he accepted their pro-
posal. From that time onward, for twelve years, he
received from them on an average, more than a thousand
dollars a year, for his contributions to that magazine.
These were entirely anonymous, with the promise of secrecy.
Befere he entered into engagements with them he was
living on a very limited salary and living up to it. This
was in the year 1854, after having been fourteen years on
the Observer.
Four years later he was offered an interest in that paper,
and the money that he had made on “Harper’s Magazine *
alone, enabled him to make cash payments. He stated this
fact to the late Fletcher Harper, at one time when they
were dining together at Delmonico's, and they were both
visibly affected.
At one time Dr. Prime said to the Harpers, “This
Drawer in your Magazine contains a good many objection-
able anecdotes, you sometimes admit a profane word, and
sometimes allow matter that I do not think is in the highest
degree delicate.” Mr. James IHarper interrupted him by
saying, “Do you think you can make it any better?” The
doctor said, “Certainly I do.” Then Fletcher spoke up,
said he, “Will you take an order?” “Yes,” was the reply.
REV. S. IRENAEUS PRIME, D.D. 607
“Then,” said Harper, “we would like to have twenty
pages.” Dr. Prime went home and in the course of a few
days brought the twenty pages. From that time he went
on with it, and they told him that they perceived, after he
had been engaged on it some time, the Drawer sold more
copies than any other contribution in the Magazine.
One day James T. Fields asked Fletcher Harper, “Who
makes up your drawer P’’ The latter replied, “That is a
profound secret.” “Yes,” said Field, “but I don’t ask the
question from any idle curiosity; I should really like to know
who the man is, who can get up such a mélange every
month.” Fletcher said, “If you will keep it a profound
secret I will tell you.” He promised to do so, and Fletcher
told him it was made up by Rev. Dr. Prime, editor of the
Old School Presbyterian paper, the New York Observer.
“Then,” said Field with surprise, “that is the greatest
joke that has ever been in the drawer.”
Dr. Prime relates the following incident which occurred
at a dinner given a few friends by the late Rev. Dr. Cum-
mings of St. Stephen’s Church. “Fifteen or twenty gen-
tlemen sat down ; all but four were priests or eminent lay-
men of the Romish Church : Dr. Cummings at the head
of the table, had two of us Protestants on one hand, and
two on the other. The Austrian Consul presided at the
other end of the long table. After we were seated, our host
łooking along the rows of guests, remarked with great glee,
“Now we have these Protestants, we'll roast them.” I
returned his smile and said, “I thought we all belonged
to the same sect.” “And which P’’ exclaimed some one.
“The Society of Friends,” said I, and they gave me a cheer
along the line, and did not try to roast a Protestant.
Dr. Cummings was in the prime and vigor of his life
when disease overtook him, and with slow approaches wore
his life away. His constitutional cheerfulness never failed
him. I think an invitation he gave to our friend the late
William A. Seaver, has no example in the speech of dying
men of ancient and modern times. Socrates conversed
608 REV. S. IRENAEUS PRIME, D.D.
with his friends serenely. Philosophy and religion have
both made death-beds cheerful. I have spoken of Dr.
Cummings' love of music, and its exquisite culture at St.
Stephen’s. It was his pride and joy, and one who has no
music in his soul, cannot understand his dying words. Mr.
Seaver was in the habit of seeing him almost daily, and
each visit was noted apparently to be the last. One day as
the end was very near, and the two friends were parting,
the dying said to the living, “Come to the funeral, the
music will be splendid.”
Of Dr. Prime’s “Power of Prayer,” published by Scrib-
ners, more than a hundred thousand were sold in this
country and Great Britain, and two rival editions were
published in France. It was also published in the East
Indies in the Tamil language. This book has been the
most widely circulated of any of Dr. Prime’s works, and
the latter thinks its usefulness has been greater than any-
thing he has written in book-form.
On the 31st of January, 1882, the New York Observer’s
offices were destroyed by fire, and the four editors and pro-
prietors, together with their assistants and clerks, had a
very narrow escape with their lives. The son-in-law of Dr.
Prime and his brother Edward escaped by walking along
the ledge of the windows on the outside, and being taken
through them into the Times office.
Dr. Prime has never recovered from the shock of this
catastrophe so as to able to speak of it without emotion.
Not a scrap of paper was saved from this fire. The four
outside pages of the Observer were printed and were lying
down in the press-room in another street. The other four
were destroyed in type. They were just ready to go to the
press.
In the course of the day they resolved to restore the
paper and go to press immediately, but the problem was
how to get copy. Four of the editors had worked on the
paper at the time it was destroyed, and each of them took
a page to reproduce in such a way as he could. One took
REV. IRENAEUS s. PRIME, D. D. 609
the secular news, the other the religious news, another the
advertising page, and the fourth—the editorial,—fell to
Doctor Prime. He said that each of them ought to bring
his page of copy the next morning, and that there should
be no night work. This was about five o’clock in the after-
moon. “Our health,” said he, “is the first consideration ;
if we go through this awful calamity without sacrificing
the life of any of us ” (three of their men had becn burned
to death) “we shall have great occasion to be thinkful.
Let us employ the early hours of the evening, then go to
bed, and, if possible, get a good sleep and come here to:
morrow morning.” They were then in a third story front
room of the Astor House. Dr. Prime had not tasted any-
thing since an early breakfast that morning. He sent over
to the Herald office and asked them to send him two
stenographers. They came over to his room in the Astor
House at six o'clock. He said to them, “I want one of you
to sit down and write an hour for me, and then I want the
other one to take his copy and write it out.” Doctor
Prime then lay down upon the bed and proceeded to re-
produce the destroyed editorial page of the New York
Observer, to re-compose it. He could not recollect the
subjects. His first dictation to this man was an account
of the fire. He spoke with great feeling and earnestness,
thrashing with his arms and knees to keep up the excite-
ment. He was interrupted several times by persons com-
ing to inquire if any news had been heard of those who
had been burned. His son stood outside of the door to
prevent interruption as much as possible. After Doctor
Prime had spoken an hour he asked the stenographer how
much he had probably got. The latter thought what he
had taken would make about two columns and a half of the
Herald. “Then,” said Doctor Prime, “it will make
three columns of the Observer.” By this time the other
man came ard sat down, and Doctor Prime proceeded
to orate to him on different subjects, such as he could re-
collect. At the end of an hour he asked him how much he
610 REV. HENRY MARTYN FIELD, D.D.
had, and found that he had enough to fill up the page, so
that in two hours from the time he began he had a page of
the New York Observer written. The next morning the
stenographers returned with their copy written out and
after looking it over and correcting it, it was handed to
the printer. Thus one page of the New York Observer
was produced in two hours, after a day of unparalleled
excitement and confusion, and in the midst of the most
profound agitation. Doctor Prime suffered no ill effects
from the excitement and labor of that time. Each of the
other editors produced their page, and they had four pages
of the paper in the hands of the printer the next day after
the fire. The Tribune association offered to do the print-
ing and said they would put their entire force on it. The
building was burned on Tuesday, on Wednesday the paper
went into the hands of the printer, on Thursday it went
to press, and on Friday the proprietors had the paper back
in their office.
§
REV. HENRY MARTYN FIELD, D.D.
The Observer and the Evangelist—Early Life of Dr. Field
—First Visit Abroad—Is a Witness of the French
JRevolution of 1848—“Letter from Rome *—Becomes
an Editor in Wew York—“ History of the Atlantic
Telegraph’” and other Books—Becomes a Great Trav-
eller—Journey round the World—Publishes “From the
Lakes of Killarney to the Golden Horn ?–“ From
Jºgypt to Japan *—“On the Desert,” and “Among the
Holy Hills.”
HE name of the veteran editor of the Observer natu-
rally suggests that of Dr. Henry M. Field, the editor
of the Evangelist. The latter paper was not begun until
some years after the Observer.
It was about the year 1830 that the revival labors of
REV. HENRY MARTYN FIELD, D.D. 611
Rev. Charles G. Finney produced a great excitement in the
American churches, and especially in Central and Western
New York, which demanded a paper that should minister
to the new enthusiasm, and so the Evangelist was started
by a number of ardent young men, of whom the late Wil-
liam E. Dodge was one, and exerted a powerful influence,
not only in favor of Revivals, but of Temperance and Anti-
Slavery.
Its course on these questions was more advanced than that
of the Observer, which was regarded as the representative,
and in that sense the organ, of the conservative portion of
the Church, while the Evangelist aimed to be a leader of
the progressive school.
The latter had been in existence nearly a quarter of a
century before Dr. Field became connected with it. He
was a native of Stockbridge, Mass., the son of a country
minister, whose other sons, David Dudley Field, an emi-
ment lawyer of New York, Justice Stephen J. Field, of the
supreme court of the United States, and Cyrus W. Field,
the projector of the Atlantic telegraph, are well known.
Henry M., the youngest son, followed his father's pro-
fession. At the age of twelve he entered Williams College,
(which was also the alma mater of Dr. Prime,) graduated
at sixteen, and immediately entered on the study of theol-
ogy. After two years he was licensed to preach, though he
continued his studies two years longer; but at the age of
twenty, he went to St. Louis, and took charge of a Presby-
terian church, and there began that active life which has
continued for more than forty years. At St. Louis he re-
mained nearly five years, when he resigned to go abroad.
A large part of the years 1847–8 he spent in Europe,
where he was a witness of the French Revolution of 1848,
of which he wrote a full account to the New York Obser-
ver, of which he was a correspondent. From Paris he went
to Italy, where he was a witness of the revolutionary move-
ments in Milan, Genoa, and Rome, on which he afterwards
published an article in the Wew Englander.
612 REv. HEN RY MARTYN FIELD, D.D.
Another fruit of his visit to Rome, was a pamphlet on
‘The Good and the Bad in the Roman Catholic Church,”
which was much more liberal towards that Church, than is
common among Protestants. Returning to America, he
spent some months in New York, where he became ac-
quainted with the families of the Irish exiles, Emmet,
Tone, MacNeven, and Sampson, which led him to study
that period of Irish history in which they had borne a part,
and finally to write a book entitled “The Irish Confeder-
ates: and the Rebellion of 1798,” which was published by
Harper & Brothers. This was Dr. Field’s first book.
About the same time he was settled over the Congrega-
tional church in West Springfield, Massachusetts, where he
remained four years. While there he published several ser-
mons and reviews.
In 1854, Dr. Field removed to New York, to become
one of the editors and proprietors of the Evangelist, of
which he is now the sole proprietor. After a continued
service of thirty years, it is here that he has found his
widest field and done his greatest work. But as it is the
design of this volume to treat of authors rather than
editors, it falls within its purpose to speak of his books
rather than of his editorial career.
Dr. Field had married a French lady, long known in
the society of New York for her remarkable powers of
conversation, which quickened both his literary tastes and
his fondness for travel. In 1858 they revisited Europe,
extending their journey to Denmark on the North, and
Italy on the South, the pleasant impressions of which were
reproduced in a volume entitled “Summer Pictures: from
Copenhagen to Venice.”
It was during these years that Dr. Field’s brother Cy-
rus was engaged in his daring project of laying a cable
across the Atlantic Ocean—a work involving immense diffi-
culties, which had repeated failures, and was only carried
to success by the most heroic perseverance. With the pro-
gress of his brother’s work Dr. Field was of course familiar,
REV. HENRY MARTYN FIELD, D.D. 613
and having the materials ready to his hand, he wrote the
“History of the Atlantic Telegraph,” which was published
on the completion of the work in 1866. It is a full and
authentic history of one of the greatest enterprises of
modern times.
In 1867, Dr. Field went to Europe again, to attend the
Paris Exposition of that year, which was the last of his
visits in company with his wife, for in the year 1875 she
died. This was the great blow of his life, breaking up his
home and driving him abroad, accompanied now by a
niece who had been one of his family from her childhood.
His travels now took a wider range than before. After
six months in Europe, he crossed to Africa, spent some
weeks in Egypt, going up the Nile, and then sailed for
India, and so made the tour of the world.
During all this long journey he kept up a constant cor-
respondence with the Evangelist, to which he devoted very
great labor, often spending a week on a single letter.
These letters attracted unusual attention. The late Dr.
William Adams said of them : “They are the best letters
of the kind ever written, and have done, and will do, the
writer boundless credit.” Letters so highly commended
were not to be allowed to drop into oblivion, and they were
called for in a more permanent form. To prepare them
for this they were revised with the greatest care. One
volume, entitled “From the Lakes of Killarney to the
Golden Horn,” was published at the close of 1876, and
was very successful, the sale reaching many thousands.
Nor was its success confined to this country. The London
Times reviewed it to the length of a column and a half in
most flattering terms.
The author now devoted a whole year to the prepara-
tion of the second volume, “From Egypt to Japan.” He
had the ambition to write, not merely a book of popular
sketches, but “one containing so much authentic informa-
tion about foreign countries as should make it of perma-
nent value. This required great research to add to his
614 REV. HENRY MARTYN FIELD, D.D.
own personal observations the knowledge which might be
gained from other writers, on different parts of Asia.
When the book was completed, it was gone over in
every page and line, by the late Dr. Wells Williams, who
had spent forty years in China, and was the highest iiving
authority in regard to that Empire, as well as familiar with
India, Burmah, Java, and Japan. This labor was not spent
in vain. The book immediately took rank among the best
of its kind, and commanded respect from the highest
authorities. Mr. Gladstone, with all his public cares, found
time to read it, and wrote to a friend in America, that he
had done so “with great interest.” But perhaps the most
remarkable proof of its engaging character was the way in
which it took hold of men not supposed to be given to
books. The late Thomas A. Scott, the railroad king,
was in Europe the year before his death, and a gentleman
who was traveling with him gave him a copy of this book,
in which he became so interested that he actually made the
woyage to Egypt that he might see for himself the country
which the author had described In the same way the late
Moses Taylor, of this city, who was supposed to be too
much absorbed in business (he left an estate of forty mil-
lions,) to have time for books, happened to get hold of
these, and to one who expressed surprise that he should be
interested in books of travel, as he was not at all given to
travel himself, having never been out of his own country,
and who asked incredulously, “Do you really mean to say
that you have read these books?” he answered with cm-
phasis, “I have read every word, from the first line of the
first volume to the last line of the second, and am ready
for two more ſ” . -
The success of these Books of Travel was indeed re-
markable. Edition after edition passed through the press.
And now, after more than seven years, they retain their
popularity, and are in continued demand both for private
and public libraries.
In 1881, Dr. Field again went abroad, and after spend-
REV. HENRY MARTYN FIELD, D.D. 615
ing some months in England and on the Continent, left his
family in Italy while he made a second visit to the East.
In his journey round the world he had been prevented by
the cholera from going to the Holy Land. He now crossed
the Desert to Mount Sinai, from which he returned by way
of “ the great and terrible wilderness,” to Jerusalem,
where he spent the Holy Week, and thence continued
North, through Samaria and Galilee to Damascus and
Beirut.
This journey through the sacred lands had to him a very
great interest, and bole fruit in two volumes. Of the first
• ‘ On the Desert,” Canon Farrar wrote, ‘‘I found it so in-
teresting that I could not lay it down till I had finished it.”
It has been republished in England in a very handsome
volume, with a large number of illustrations. The latter,
“Among the Holy Hills,” was published only a few months
since.
The preparation of so many books, with all his editolial
duties, has made the life of Dr. Field, like that of Dr.
Prime, a very busy one. Both are generally regarded as
among the most successful and prosperous men connected
with the religious press.
The following, from a recent editerial, shows that the
writer, while moralizing on the past, still hopes for years
of continued activity and usefulness :
“Alas! alas! we are growing old ! Not that the Evangelist,
with its heart of oak, feels the slightest touch of age, or weakness
or decay; but those connected with it are not as young as they
once were. It is thirty years this Autumn since the present
Editor came to this city and entered on his work, which makes
him, next to Dr. Prime, the oldest Editor (that is, the longest in
service) of all connected with the Religious Press in this city, if
not in the country. When he puts side by side the dates of 1854
and 1884, he cannot but confess that there is a long interval be-
tween ; and yet he feels life still strong within him, and hopes it
will be a good while before he joins his predecessors.”
XLII.
TICKNOR AND FIELDS.
WILLIAM D. TICKNOR.
A Publisher half a Century Ago—Begins to issue Belles-
lettres Books—Pays Tennyson the first Copyright—
The Manufacturing and Financial Partner—Infimate
Relations with Hawthorne—“The Life of Franklin
Pierce, I believe”—Hawthorne's Traveling Com-
panion—The “Old Corner Book-Store ”—Miss Mit-
ford's Tribute.
M ORE than half a century ago the late W. D. Ticknor,
as the successor of the firm of Allen & Tickmor, was
well known to the book-publishing world, conducting as he
did an extensive business in his own name for a period of
ten years. Although the list of the publications of his late
firm was an extensive one, containing nearly two hundred
Scientific, Educational, Religious, Medical and Juvenile
books, it embraced but few, if any belles-lettres books.
Mr. Ticknor, soon after establishing himself alone, ad-
ded to his publications the poems of Caroline E. Norton
and Mary Howitt, Smith’s Rejected Addresses, Motherwell’s
Poems, Lectures of William Ellery Channing, Addresses of
Edward Everett, De Quincey’s “Opium Eater,” and the
First American Edition of Tennyson’s Poems—this was as
early as 1842, and for an edition of two thousand copies Mr.
Ticknor paid that author the sum of one hundred and fifty
dollars, which is probably the first international copyright
payment ever made to an English author. No American
[616]
WILLIAM ID. TICKNOR. 617
edition bearing any other imprint, than that of Mr. Tick-
nor, was issued until November, 1845.
In 1843 Mr. Ticknor went abroad, visited De Quincy
and other authors, and making the first definite arrange-
ments ever entered into by the firm for joint publications.
One of these arrangements was for an edition of the poems
of Oliver Wendell Holmes, which was printed in London
and the books sent in sheets to Boston.
And although later years necessitated a division of
duties whereby Mr. Ticknor assumed main charge of the
firm’s manufacturing and financial interests, while Mr.
Fields devoted himself to literary work, the former never
lost his hold upon the business as a whole. His excellent
judgment of books did not fail, as was shown by his repub-
lication of Charles Reade, when almost an unknown man,
and his purchase of the Atlantic Monthly—both of which
transactions he carried through alone during an absence of
Mr. Fields in Europe.
The relations existing between Mr. Ticknor and Mr.
Hawthorne were of the most intimate nature, the latter
depending upon the former to attend to all his business
matters.
On one occasion Mr. Ticknor, at an evening party at
his house in Boston, introduced one of his guests, a Liver-
pool merchant, to Hawthorne, who as everybody knows,
was singularly shy and retiring, in a mixed company. The
English gentleman was a great admirer of Hawthorne, and
shaking him heartily by the hand began in a loud voice to
express his admiration of all that the romancer had written
—how charmed he had been with his works, and how pop-
ular they were in England, and concluded by saying that
he was quite ashamed to confess that, owing to pressing
occupations of late, he had not read his last romance,
the name of which he begged Hawthorne to tell him, that
he might at once purchase and peruse the book. This
was just after Mr. Pierce’s inauguration as president, and
it so happened that the last printed book of Hawthorne
618 WILLIAM ID. TICKNOR.
was the life of the just-elected Chief Magistrate—a cam-
paign document. With a twinkle of the eye, in strange
contrast with the diffidence he had betrayed at the effusive
expressing of his English admirer, he said, in answer to the
inquiry, “Pray what is the name of your last published
romance, Mr. Hawthorne P” “The Life of Franklin
Pierce, I believe l’’
Mr. Hawthorne would not travel, if it could be helped,
with anyone but Mr. Tickmor; and even when this was the
case, he would not permit his own name to be registered at
the hotels. It was always entered on the books, “W. D.
Ticknor and friend.” Mr. Hawthorne never carried any
amount of money, leaving to Mr. Ticknor the paying of his
hotel bill and other traveling expenses.
Mr. Howard M. Ticknor informs me that when his
father died in Philadelphia, it was the first time since
arriving at manhood, that Hawthorne had ever seen a dead
person, and never before had seen anyone die. The state
of mind in which young Ticknor found him was that of
complete bewilderment.
Mr. Ticknor further said : “My father's friends will
remember, the quick nervous manner he had, and well
as Hawthorne knew him, he never could accustom himself
to it. I have seen him seated in the “Old Corner Book-
store beside my father’s desk, and when he asked a ques-
tien, if my father looked up suddenly, as was his habit,
Hawthorne's face would flush like a bashful girl’s—then
laughing he would resume the conversation.”
The firm of Ticknor & Fields was dissolved by the
death of the former. In one of Miss Mitford’s letters to
Mr. Fields she writes as follows :
“Never, my dear friend, did I expect to like so well a
man who came in your place, as I do like Mr. Tickmor.
He is an admirable person, very like his cousin in mind
and manners, unmistakably good. It is delightful to bear
him talk of you, and to feel that the sort of elder brother-
hood which a senior partner must exercise in a firm is in
such hands.”
JAMES T. FIELDS. 619
JAMES T. FIELDS.
The Author's Friend, the Poet Publisher—Literary Land-
mark of Boston—“This is the new Sensation book’—
Young Field’s early literary Habits—E. P. Whipple's
ânteresting Reminiscences—“A few Verses for a few
JFriends”—Literary Circles thirty years ago—Letters
to Miss Mitford—Retires from publishing Books—
Successful career as a Lecturer—Death, and tributes
to his Memory—Memories of George William Curtis.
THE author’s friend, the poet publisher, the popular
lecturer, well known and beloved by all interested in
the world of letters—such was James T. Fields, for full
forty years of active business life, and to no one connected
with the book-trade in this country or indeed the world,
can the same attributes be so truthfully applied.
My first acquaintance with Mr. Fields commenced in
1850, at the “Old Corner Bookstore,” of Tickmor &
Fields, who for a quarter of a century were well-known
as the publishers of the leading poets and prose writers,
in this country, as well as in Europe. This was long the
leading literary landmark of Boston.
I can never forget Mr. Fields’ kindly attention on this,
my first visit to that city; and to meet with him was always
a pleasure, as I afterwards did at Boston, New York and
Philadelphia, where, among the book trade Mr. Fields was
universally popular.
Mr. Fields became much interested in the publisher's
festival which was given to American authors, at the Crys-
tal Palace in New York, in September, 1855. On that
occasion he read an exceedingly humorous poem, adapted
to the occasion, of which the following is an extract :
620 JAMES T. FIELDS.
“This is the new “Sensation ” book—
A work of so much force,
The first edition all blew up,
And smashed a cart and horse!
A friend who read the manuscript
Without sufficient care,
Was torn to rags, although he had
Six cables round his hair!
“‘The Eggs of Thought 'I’ll recommend,
As very thrilling lays;
Some poets poach—but here is one
That all the papers praise.
The School Commissioners out West,
Have ordered seventy tons,
That widely they may be dispersed
Among their setting suns !
“And here's a most astounding tale—
A volume full of fire;
The author's name is known to fame,
Stupendous Stubbs, Esquire I
And here’s ‘The Howling Ditch of Crime,’
By A. Sapphira Stress;
Two hundred men fell dead last night
A-working at the press!”
Mrs. James T. Fields has prepared an account of her
late husband, entitled “Biographical Sketches, with unpub-
lished Fragments and Tributes from Men and Women of
Letters.” From this volume I learn that while yet a lad in
the employ of Carter & Hendee, a noted book house at that
time in Boston, that :
“Young Fields quickly learned all details of business; whole-
sale and retail prices, orders needing to be filled, honest and dis-
honest buyers and sellers, persons prompt in payment and otherwise,
and with especial quickness at once observed by his masters, he was
able to discover what books were to be popular. He acquired also a
power, considered ‘ very queer” by the other clerks, of seeing a
JAMES T. FIELDS. 621
person enter the shop and predicting what book was wanted before
the wish was expressed. For some time he kept this to himself,
but after awhile, on its being discovered, it was one of the interests
of the day, among the clerks, to sce how many times James would
be right, and he seldom made a miss. He thought no more of
reading behind the counter, that idea was only remembered as a
boy's idle fancy; but every night he would carry home an armful
of books, and he became acquainted with a goodly portion of their
contents before morning.”
Mr. Edwin P. Whipple, the well known critic and
essayist, who was the earliest of Mr. Fields’ intimate
friends, in a recent article contributed to the Atlantic
Monthly, says of the latter:
“One of the most notable facts in the lives of clerks with lit-
erary tastes and moderate salaries, is the mysterious way in which
they contrive to collect books. Among the members of the Mercan-
tile Library Association, Thomas R. Gould (now known as one of
the most eminent sculptors of America), Fields and myself, had
what we called ‘libraries' before we were twenty-one. Gould was
a clerk in a dry-goods jobbing house; Fields in a book-store; 1 in
a broker’s office. Fields’ collection much exceeded Gould's and
mine, for he had in his rooms two or three hundred volumes—
the nucleus of a library which eventually became one of the choic-
est private collections of books, manuscripts and autographs in
the city. The puzzle of the thing was that we could not decide
how we had come into the possession of such treasures. We
had begun to collect before we were in our teens, and as we had
neither stolen, or begged, we concluded that our “libraries’ lep-
resented our sacrifices In the evening, after the day’s hard work
was over, Gould and I drifted by instinct to Field's boarding-
house; and what glorious hilarity we always found in his roomſ
He was never dull, never morose, never desponding. Full of
cheer himself, he radiated cheer into us. As years rolled on, and
Fields became a partner in the house which he had served as a
clerk, the proofs multiplied that he was among American publish-
ers, one of of the most sagacious judges of the intrinsic and money
value of works of literature. As I happened to witness the grad-
ual growth of what became one of the leading publishing houses
622 JAMES T. FIELDS.
of the country, and as I know that its germinating root was in the
brain of Fields, I may be able to give some testimony as to its rise
and plog ess. Fields from the start had deliberately formed in
his mind an ideal of a publisher who might profit by men of let-
ters, and at the same time make men of letters profit by him. He
thou oughly understood both the business and literary side of his
occupation. Some of the first publications of the house belonged
to a light order of literature, but they still had in them that in-
definable something which distinguishes the work of literary
artists from the work of literary artisans.”
In 1858, Mr. Fields privately printed a small volume
which he called ‘‘A few Verses for a few Friends.” I count
myself fortunate in being one of these few—when he had
so many—with being favored with an autograph copy. He
was also author of “Underbrush, a Volume of Essays,”
“Ballads and other Verses *—and in connection with Mr.
E. P. Whipple, the editor of a handsome royal octavo vol-
ume entitled, “The Family Library of British Poetry,
from Chaucer to the Present Time.” In the year 1871,
Mr. Fields gave to the public, his “Yesterday with Au-
thors,” which gives an interesting account of his personal
reminiscences of Hawthorne, Thackeray and Dickens.
Referring again to Mrs. Fields’ interesting volume, she
Writes as follows:
“We find the correspondence of this period includes, almost
without exception, all the men and women of any literary note in
America. His col respondence with some of them was only the
beginning of friendships which were uninterrupted to the end,
and bringing the fruitage he most valued to his life. Among the
letters, beginning at this time, from those who have gone from
this earthly scene, I find those of IIawthorne, Willis, Mrs. Anna
Cora Mowatt, the actress, of whom Edgar Poe wrote: ‘Her
smy pathy with the profound passions is evidently intense. This
enthusiasm, this well of deep feeling, should be made to prove
for her an inexhaustible source of fame. Her step is the perfec-
tion of grace. Often I watched her for hours with the closest
scrutiny, yet never for an instant did I observe her in an attitude
of the least awkwardness or even constraint, while many of her
JAMES T. FIELDS. 623
seemingly impulsive gestures spoke in loud terms of the woman
of genius, of the poet imbued with the profoundest sentiment of
of the beautiful in motion. . . . ‘A more radiantly lovely
smile it is quite impossible to conceive.” 4-
“Mrs. Mowatt was much beloved by her friends, and al-
ways counted Mr. Fields among them. Fitz Greene Halleck's
letters are also before me, and brief notes of Margaret Fuller and
Mrs. Kirkland; letters of Miss Catherine Sedgwick and Epes Sar-
gent, Lewis Gaylord Clark, J. C. G. Brainard (whose beautiful
Sonnet upon Niagara was one of Mr. Fields' favorite poems), Bay-
ard Taylor, Charles Sumner and IIenry B. Hirsh.
“The mention of Brainard's name recalls a half-forgotten
anecdote Mr. Fields related of him, as told by Mr. S. G. Goodrich.
Brainard was a young lawyer, and had an office very near Mr.
Goodrich's. They were too poor to keep a boy to light their fire in
the winters, so they were in the habit of going down together and
making them with their own hands. One morning Brainald had
his stove open to put in the fuel when the Sonnct of Niagara came
to him. He called G. in and repeated the lines. “Write it down,
write it down,” said G., “it is superb.”
“Mrs. Seba Smith, also, and the Davidsons, are found in this
somewhat heterogeneous collection; and Dr. Channing, George P.
Morris, Rufus Griswold, George S. Hillard, Thomas Crawford the
sculptór, T. B. Read and many others.”
The following portions of a few of Mr. Fields’ letters to
his friend and correspondent, Miss Mitford, give a good
idea of what was taking place in American literary circles
In those days :
“Boston, Nov. 10, 1849.
‘‘D EAR MISS MITFORD :
“Many weeks have elapsed since I received your welcome let-
ter, and I delayed answering till now, that I might send you a
book I have been editing. It is called ‘The Boston Book,” be
cause it contains the contributions of our metropolitan writers.
Among our Boston men you will find the names of Webster, Pres-
cott, Longfellow, and others not unknown across the waters. I
did not include Channing, because I have not printed the writings
sof any deceased authors. The book is intended as a souvenir to
be handed to a friend as a memento of our city, and, I am happy
to say, a large edition is already sold.
624 JAMES T. FIELDS.
“Mr. George Tickuor's History of Spanish Literature ' is
going through the press rapidly. It will be ready in a few weeks
for publication. I made your compliments as explessed in your
last letter, and, he in return, with his family, begs his kindest re-
gards. I have read some portions of his book, those devoted to
the ballad literature of Spain, and am greatly charmed with the
perusal.
“I am busy just now superintending the republication of the
complete poems of Robert Browning, the first American reprint.
It will be issued by our house in a few weeks. I asked my friend,
Mr. Whipple, to send you a copy of his ‘Lectures,” which I am
sure you will like.
“Mr. Prescott is stilſ busy with his ‘History of Philip II. of
Spain.” He is not determined as to the extent of his inbor, but it
will undoubtedly, be one of his longest efforts, and I thihk one
of his most successful ones.”
“Boston, Jan. 7, 1851.
“Pray accept my thanks for Carlisle's speech. It is well done,
and is another evidence of his honest good sense. I send you a
brace of volumes by his friend, Ciharles Sumner, a man whose
splendid talents (albeit his politics are unpopular) will send him
to the Senate next spring we hope. I also send you Holmes’ other
volume of poems and his late pamphlet. I am sure you will like
Holmes. He is a prodigious favorite in Boston, and one of our most
eminent physicians. Hilliard's address, which I enclose in the
same parcel, is very well thought of here and all over New Eng-
land.”
During Mr. Fields’ connection with the house, it ac-
quired the first reputation in the country by the high char-
acter of its publications, which embraced, among Ameri-
can authors, the works of Everett, Prescott, Bryant, Dana,
Emerson, Hawthorne, Halleck, Whipple, Hillard, Holmes,
Longſellow, Sumner, Parsons, Sprague, Bayard Taylor,
Mrs. Stowe, Lowell, Thoreau and Whittier.
The connection of the firm and of Mr. Fields personally
with foreign authors was notable. Fields’ first visit to
Europe, in 1847, resulted in the publication of De Quin-
cey’s works, of which no collection had been made in Eng-
land. Thackeray and Dickens also made the firm their
J A MES T. FIELDS. 625
publishers in this country. Among the names of foreign
authors whose works have been published by the firm are
Tennyson, Barry Cornwall, Charles Reade, William How-
itt, Lord Houghton, Charles Kingsley, Mayne Reid, the
Brownings, and later came the names of Mrs. Jameson,
Kingsley, Philip James Bailey, Thomas Hughes, Owen
Meredith. Matthew Arnold, Miss Mulock, Leigh Hunt,
and many others.
In 1870, Mr. Fields retired from the guild of publishers
which he had so long adorned and of which he had been a
conspicuous member for nearly thirty years. Soon . after-
wards he gave to the world his well known lectures on
England, literature and literary topics, twenty-seven in all.
Mrs. Fields says in her biographical notes:
“I cannot however, allow Mr. Fields’ lectures to pass
into oblivion without striving to rescue some memory of
their peculiar qualities and influence. For this purpose,
in order that no mistake may be made by substituting pri-
vate opinion for genuine public recognition, I turn to the
tributes paid him through the newspapers and periodicals.
In one of the Philadelphia newspapers I find : “We do not
attempt to criticise Mr. Fields. No one can, without low-
ing him, listen to his soft, gentle voice in the quiet conver-
sational tone with which he puts his audiences in warm
personal relations with him.”
On Sunday evening, April 24th, 1881, James T. Fields
died—died as suddenly as did his brother publisher and
friend George P. Putnam—died as did his author friends
Hawthorne, Thackeray and Dickens, whom he knew and
loved so well.
After his death, a meeting of publishers and booksell-
ers was held at the bookstore of A. Williams & Co., who
then occupied the “Old Corner Book Store,” which was
for so many years the headquarters of the late firm. Mr.
Augustus Flagg was chosen chairman, and Benjamin H.
Ticknor, secretary. After some feeling remarks by the
chair, the following memorial was offered by Mr. James R. .
Osgood :
626 JAMES T. FIELDS.
“We, the publishers and booksellers of Boston, assembled in
the “Old Corner Bookstore,” deplore the sudden death of our
former associate, James T. Fields.
“Beginning business life here fifty years ago he rose, by in-
dustry and merit, to be a partner in the firm which identified
itself with the best Ainerican literature, and rendered this corner
famous, under the sign of Ticknor & Fields.
“During his career as a publisher he showed great sagacity in
divining the taste of the public, and in discerning and encourag-
ing merit in authors since become eminent.
“He united with the good sense and ability of a man of affairs,
a taste in literature, and, an aptitude for authorship, which gave
him distinction also as a man of letters,
“His genial disposition, his rare social qualities, and his
kindly sympathies, not only endeared him to his business associ-
ates in the book trade, but also, in a wider circle, attracted friend-
ship wherever he was known, and made him, more than any other
publisher of our day, the companion and friend of authors.
“Since his retirement from business, during ten years more of
editing, lecturing and authorship, he has continued the acquain-
tances, preserved the associations, and shown in his writings the
influence of his previous life as a publisher to such a degree that
we could claim him to the last as a member of our fraternity.
“Bearing in mind, therefore, his worth and works, and our
affection for him, we unite in expressing our profound sorrow at
his death, and in tendering to his family our sympathy in their
bereavement.”
In offering the memorial, Mr. Osgood said :
“Others are present whose acquaintance with Mr. Fields began
much earlier than mine; but few, perhaps, knew him as intimate-
ly. In sixteen years of business association with him, I had ample
opportunity to know him under all aspects and in all relations. I
early learned to appreciate and admire those qualities which gave
him such marked success as a publisher, the quick literary instinct,
the intuitive knowledge of the good and bad in a book, the ready
apprehension of the popular taste, and the constant effort to lead
that taste in a higher direction.
“We are assembled now in the place where he passed the most
of his business life, and where it is most appropriate that we
JAMES T. FIELDS. 627
should meet to pay our sad tribute to his memory. This place
brings back to me the pleasantest recollections of my life with
him. He was in every way a delightful business associate. He
had the rare art of smoothing over the rough places—an art whose
presence contributes so greatly to the comfort, not only of him
who possesses it, but of all those about him. He was always con-
siderate of the feelings of others, and uniformly courteous and
liberal to those in his employ.
“One trait in particular characterized him—his readiness to
listen to the story of any one who came before him as an applicant
for a situation, and the sense of duty he always felt to give the
applicant every possible chance. I myself have the most grateful
remembrance of the kindness with which he received my first
modest application for a situation in this store in the year 1855;
and the kindness thus begun never varied nor faltered during the
nine years in which I served him as clerk. His presence in mo-
ments of business anxiety and depression served as a tonic; in short,
in his business life, as everywhere else, he was a signal illustration
of that gospel of cheerfulness which he has so pleasantly pro-
claimed. Into the sacled precincts of his private life I shall not
attempt to enter. It is enough to say that it was an altogether
happy and useful life, marked by the same qualities of generosity,
courtesy and forbearance which I have spoken of as attending his
business career. Simple and frugal in his own habits of living,
he was open-handed in his charity to the needy and in his gener-
osity to his friends. The kindly welcomes and generous hospit-
alities of that home, now darkened by sorrow, will long be cher-
ished in the the memories of all who have shared them.”
In closing this sketch of one of the brightest ornaments
of American literature, it will interest my readers, I am
sure, to read the following from George William Curtis, for
many years an intimate personal friend of Mr. Fields, who
thus graphically portrays the haunts of the poets, where
the latter daily received his ever welcome friends.
“The annals of publishing and the traditions of publishers in
this country, will always mention the little Corner Bookstore as
you turn out of Washington Street into School Street, and those
who recall it in other days, will always remember the curtained
628 JAMES T. FIELDS.
desk at which poet and philosopher, and historian and divine, and
the doubting timid young author was sure to see the bright face,
and to hear the hearty welcome of James T. Fields. What a
crowded busy shop it was, with the shelves full of books, and
piles of books upon the counters and tables, and loiterers tasting
them with their eyes, and turning the glossy new pages—loiterers
at whom you look curiously, suspecting them to be makers of books
as well as readers! You knew that you might be seeing there in
the flesh, and in common clothes, the famous men and women
whose genius and skill made the old world a new world, for every
one upon whom their spell lay. Suddenly, from behind the great
curtain, came a ripple of laughter—then a burst, a chorus; gay
voices of two or three or more, but always of one—the one who
sat at the desk, and whose place was behind the curtain, the lit-
erary partner of the house, the friend of the celebrated circle,
which has made the Boston of the middle of this century, as justly
renowned as the Edinburgh of the close of the last century—the
Edinburgh that saw Burns, but did not know him. That curtained
corner in the Corner Bookstore, is remembered by those who knew
it in its great days. What merry peals | What fun, and chaff,
and story ! Not only the poet brought his poem there still glow-
ing from his heart, but the lecturer came from the train with his
freshest touches of local humor. It was the exchange of wit, the
Rialto of current good things, the hub of the hub.
“And it was the work of one man. Fields was the genius loci.
Fields, with his gentle spirit, his generous and ready sympathy,
his love of letters and of literary men, his fine tastes, his delighful
humor, his business tact and skill, drew, as a magnet draws its
own, every kind of man, the shy and the elusive, as well as the
gay men of the world and the self possessed favorites of the peo-
ple. It was his pride to have so many of the American worthies
upon his list of authors, to place there if he could the English
poets and belles letters writers, and then to call them all per-
sonal friends. Next year it will be forty years since the house at
the Corner Bookstore, issued the two pretty volumes of Tennyson's
poems, which introduced Tennyson to America. Barry Cornwall
followed in the same dress. They caught all the singing-birds
at that corner, and hung them up in the pretty cages so that every
body might hear the song.
“It was a very remarkable group of men indeed—it was the
first group of really great American authors, which familiarly
JAMES T. FIELDS. 629
frequented the corner as the guests of Field. There had been
Bryant and Irving, and Cooper and Halleck, and Paulding, and
Willis, in New York, but there had been nothing like the New
England circle. It was that circle which compelled the world to
acknowledge that there was an American literature. Of most of
these authors the house at the corner came to be the publishers:
and to the end they maintained the warmest relations with Field,
who was not their publisher only but their appreciative and sym-
pathetic friend.”
Mr. H. M. Alden, editor of Harpers’ Monthly Maga-
zine, wrote :-‘‘The Messrs. Harpers desire me to express
their sense of the great loss sustained by American Litera-
ture, in the departure of one who, as author and publisher,
contributed so much to its excellence, and to its good re-
pute at home and abroad.”
In expressing his own feelings of personal loss, he
wrote: “Into the darkest hour of my life, he came, giving
life and hope. I can never forget it. Turning to him first
because I found help in him—how much else I found ! Only
those who knew him nearly knew his greatness and his
goodness.”
XLIII.
SOME WASHINGTON FRIENDS.
Hawthorne's early Friend—How “Thuice-Told Tales '' was
published—“We were lads together ”—“Journal of an
African Cruiser”—Hawthorne's last Visit to Washing-
ton—Interesting letter from Commodore Bridge— What
I saw in London—First Life of General Pierce–Haw-
thorne writes another—07, the Ocean with Beecher
and Chapin—Beecher sea-sick but “Always abound-
ting”—Secretary of Chinese Embassy– Chilton’s Aw-
thor and Artist Friends—Anecdote of Thackeray–
“ Knick-Knacks from the Editor’s Table *—Shelley’s
Widow in love with Irving—Amusing Anecdote of
Elliott—The progress of half a Century—Interesting
letter from Frances E. Spinner—How an old Court was
abolished and a new one Created—“A woman’s Letter
from Washington,” Mary Clemmer and Charles Sum-
ner—A Novelist and a Poet—The Librarian of Con-
gress—Spofford’s long Eagerience–The right Man in
the right Place.
IF the reader of this volume will turn to the sketch of S.
G. Goodrich, on page 115, he will find a letter from that
well-known author to Horatio Bridge, of Augusta, Maine,
regarding the publication of a volume of Hawthorne.
HORATIO BRIDGE was a classmate of Nathaniel Haw-
thorne in college, and probably the most intimate friend that
distinguished author ever had. To Mr. Bridge the world is
[630]
HORATIO BRIDGE. 631
indebted for the publication of Hawthorne’s “Twice-Told
Tales,” the first work of the author published in book form.
That Mr. Hawthorne fully realized the value of the
friendship, and pecuniary assistance of liis early friend, is
fully demonstrated in his preface to the “Snow Image,”
one of the sketches in “Twice-Told Tales,” a portion of
which is here given :
“Be all this as it may, there can be no question as to the pro-
priety of my inscribing this volume of earlier and later sketches to
you, and pausing here a few moments to speak of them, as friend
speaks to friend, still being cautious however, that the public and
the critics shall overhear nothing which we care about concealing.
On you, if on no other person, I am entitled to rely, to sustain the
position of my dedicatee. If anybody is responsible for my being
at this day an author, it is yourself. I know not whence your
faith came, but while we were lads together, at a country college,
gathering blueberries in suudy hours, under those tall academic
pines, or watching the great logs, as they tumbled along the current
of the Androscoggin; or shooting pigeons or gray Squirrels in the
woods, or bat-fowling in the summer twilight, or catching ti outs
in that shadowy little stream, which, I suppose, is still wandering
riverward through the forest, though you and I will never cast a
line in it again, two idle lads, in short (as we need not fear to ac-
knowledge now), doing a hundred things that the Faculty never
heard of, or else it had been the worse for us. Still, it was your
prognostic of your friends destiny that he was to be a writer of
fiction. And a fiction-monger in due season he became. But,
was there ever such a weary delay in obtaining the slightest recog-
nition from the public, as in my case ? I sat down by the wayside
of life like a man under enchantment, and a shrubbery sprung up
around me, and the bushes grew to be saplings, and the saplings
became trees, until no exit appeared possible through the en-
tangling depths of my obscurity. And, there, perhaps I should
be sitting at this moment, with the moss on the imprisoning tree
trunks, and the yellow leaves of more than a score of autumns
piled above me, if it had not been for you. For it was through
your interposition—and that, moreover, unknown to himself—that
your early friend was brought before the public, somewhat more
prominently than theretofore, in the first volume of ‘Twice-Told
632 HORATIO BRIDGE.
Tales.” Not a publisher in America, I presume, would have thought
well enough of my forgotten or never-noticed stories, to risk the
expense of print and paper. Nor, do I say this with any purpose
of casting odium on the respectable fraternity of booksellers, for
their blindness to my wonderful merit. To confess the truth, I
doubted quite as much of the public recognition, quite as much as
they could do. So much the more generous was your confidence,
and knowing, as I do, that it was founded on old friendship, rather
than cold criticism, I value it only the more for that.”
In 1845, while living at Concord, Hawthorne edited a
volume entitled, “ The Journal of an African Cruiser.”
The origin of the book was this:— Early in 1843, he sug-
gested to his friend and classmate Horatio Bridge—a pay-
master—afterwards paymaster-general of the Navy, who
was attached to a ship of war, under orders to the West
Coast of Africa, the plan of keeping a journal during the
cruise, for publication. To this Mr. Bridge readily assent-
ed, but with the condition that in the event of the journal
being published, Hawthorne should have the sole profit of
the copyright.
Paymaster Bridge thought if found too desultory to in-
terest general readers, the keeping the journal would not
have been an unpleasant occupation for the writer's leis-
ure hours.
The outcome of this plan was the appearance in 1845
of the volume above mentioned.
It was brought out by Wiley & Putnam, the first of
the series of volumes of the “Library of Choice Read-
ing.”
In relation to this book, the editor of the “Library,”
wrote Hawthorne as follows:
“20 Clinton Place, October 2, 1845.
“. . . . The Journal of the “African Cruiser’” has just
gone to a second edition of a thousand copies, the first, I believe,
having been two thousand.
“W. and P. project a cheap series of these books for the School
District Libraries, in the first of which the “Journal’’ will be in-
HORATIO BIRIDG E. 633
“The English notices are bounteous in praise. No American
book, in a long time, has been so well noticed.
“Yours truly,
** EVERT A. DUYCKINCE.”
Hawthorne took great interest in the journal and
hoped that it would turn his friend’s attention somewhat
from the routine of his naval life to the more quiet field of
authorship.
Knowing the intimate relations between Mr. Hawthorne
and Commodore Bridge, I asked him during a recent visit
to Washington if he would kindly favor me with some
account of the former's last visit to Washington in 1862.
To this request I have received the following reply, for
which I am certain the admirers of that now famous author
will feel greatly indebted :
“Washington, D. C., June 13th, 1884.
“J. C. DERBY, Esq.
“D.D.A.R. SIR :
“You ask me to give you some reminiscences of Haw-
thorne's visit to me in Washington in 1862, of which we
spoke, when I had the pleasure of meeting you.
“Briefly then ; in reply to an invitation to spend a
month or two with me, he wrote the following letter:
“Concord, February 13th, 1862.
“DEAR BRIDGE:
“Your proposition that I should pay a visit to Washington is very
tempting, and I should accept it if it were not for several “ifs –
neither of them, perhaps, sufficient obstacle in itself, but, united,
pretty difficult to overcome. For instance, I am not very well, being
mentally and physically languid ; but I suppose, there is about an
even chance that the trip and change of scene might supply the en-
ergy which I lack. Also, I am pretending to write a book: and
though I am nowise diligent about it, still, each week finds it a lit-
634 HORATIO BRIDGE.
tle more advanced; and I am now at a point where I do not like to
leave it entirely. Moreover, I ought not to spend money need-
lessly, in these hard times : for it is my opinion that the book-
trade, and everybody connected with it, is bound to fall to zero,
before the war and the subsequent embarrassment come to an end.
I might go on multiplying “ifs,” but the above are enough. Never-
theless, as I said, I am greatly tempted by your invitation, and
it is not impossible that in the course of a few weeks, I may write
to ask you if it still holds good. Meanwhile I send you, enclosed,
a respectable old gentleman, who, my friends say, is very like me,
and may serve as my representative. If you will send me a simi-
lar one of yourself, I shall be truly obliged.
“Your friend,
“NATH. EIAWTHORNE.”
“In response to a renewed invitation to make the visit,
whenever convenient, Hawthorne came to Washington in
March, and spent a month with me—in the midst of the
stirring scenes of the time and place. *
“My own duties were too engrossing to allow me to give
him all the personal attention desirable ; but with the
quiet of his room—the power to come alıd go at will—-
sitting to Leutze for his portrait—the association with our
friends—an excursion, with me to Fortress Monroe, by
steamer—an occasional visit to Congress or the White
House—one or two trips to McClellan’s headquarters in
Virginia, and a visit to the Bull Run battle-fields and other
points of interest, with Mrs. Bridge and Dicey the English
writer—his time was pleasantly occupied, and he almost
regained his old health and spirits.
“One of the results of this visit was the article in
the Atlantic Monthly, published soon after, entitled
• Chiefly about War Matters.”
“Another and a more important one, was the improve-
ment in his health and spirits, as shown in the following
letter, received just after his return home :
HORATIO PRIDGE. 635
“Concord, April 13th, '62.
“DEAR BRIDGE:
“Yours, enclosing two photographs of Professor Henry, is
received. I reached home safe and sound, after a very disagree-
able journey. It is a pity I did not wait one day longer, to have
shared in the joyful excitement about the Petersburg victory and
the taking of Island No. 10. I found the family in good health. . . .
“They all think me greatly improved by the journey and ab-
sence, and are grateful to Mrs. Bridge and yourself for your kind
attentions. “Your friend,
“NATH. H.AwTHORNE.”
“In that year, and the one next following, Hawthorne
published “Our Old Home’ and did some other literary
work: but the springs of life were running low, and the
great brain was growing tired.
“Early in April, 1864—much debilitated—he left home
for Washington with Mr. Ticknor. He had reached Phil-
adelphia, and his health began to improve. I was looking
forward to the pleasure of soon seeing him again in Wash-
ington, when the sudden death of Mr. Ticknor, by par-
alysis, caused Hawthorne to turn sadly homeward, and to
abandon the hope that the approach to a more genial
climate had given him.
“The shock, doubtless, accelerated his own death ;
which occurred a few weeks later, while, with his friend,
* Frank Pierce, he was journeying slowly toward the
White Mountains.
“They buried him under his own favorite pines; but
I could not have the sad privilege of looking once more on
that loved face, for it was impossible to leave Washington
just at that time, to join the friends, who mournfully bore
his body to its resting place.
“Very truly yours,
“HoRATIO BRIDGE.”
At the time of Hawthorne's visit above referred to,
Commodore Bridge was Chief of the Bureau of Provisions
636 DAVID W. BARTLETT.
and Clothing in the Navy Department, a position which
he held for fifteen years. Although the Commodore is
now on the retired list he still retains the title of Paymas-
ter-General of the Navy.
He still resides in Washington, where he and his accom-
plished wife are passing the afternoon of their lives, in the
society of their friends, and their refined and pleasant
home.
*-
DAVID W. BARTLETT.
7 HEN, in the year 1852, Franklin Pierce, was nomin-
ated for the Presidency by the Democratic party,
there was a general desire among those interested in poli-
tics, to learn something of a candidate of whom little or
nothing was known, and who was nominated over the old
party leaders.
Accordingly, I determined to gratify their wishes, and
immediately engaged a young writer to prepare a campaign
life of General Franklin Pierce, of New Hampshire, the
man who was destined to defeat a greater general, in the
“hero of Lundy’s Lane.”
David W. Bartlett, of Avon, Connecticut, was at that
time in Auburn, reading the proof-sheets of a volume of his
then going through the press of Derby & Miller, entitled
“What I saw in London ; or, Men and Things in the great
Metropolis.”
Mr. Bartlett, although quite young, was a very expedi-
tious writer, which is a necessary requisite in campaign
biographers, and he proceeded at once on his trip to Con-
cord, New Hampshire, the residence of General Pierce.
Stopping at Hartford, he procured a very cordial lotter, in-
troducing him to Mr. Pierce, from General Pratt, chairman
of the Democratic State Committee of Connecticut (and
who had served with General Pierce in the Mexican war).
The latter was aware, although an ultra pro-slavery Dem-
DAVID W. BAFTLETT. 637
ocrat, that the young author was a fiery “Free-Soiler”
but he had faith in Bartlett’s ability and candor.
Arriving at Concord, General Pierce received him very
cordially, and immediately put him in the way of procur-
ing the necessary material for a campaign life. The first
night he sat up with young Bartlett in his library, until
long past midnight, relating interesting incidents in his
career—these, with the anecdotes which afterwards ap-
peared in the book, were all taken from his own lips.
Bartlett's Life of General Franklin Pierce was pub-
lished in the summer of 1852.
General Pierce became President of the United States,
and soon after the inauguration, Bartlett, being in
Washington, was taken by General Pratt, who had been
elected a member of Congress, to the White House to see
the President. Introducing him, he said, “Mr. President,
I don’t come this time to ask for an office. Mr. Bartlett
is a rank abolitionist, and would not serve under a Demo-
cratic President, if we wanted him to—which we do not.”
The President was much amused on thus learning for the
first time the politics of his youthful biographer.
When the Volume was ready for publication, we an-
nounced it as the “Authorized edition,” which led to a
controversy with Ticknor & Fields, who had in press an-
other biography of Franklin Pierce, by Nathaniel Haw-
thorne, the classmate and friend of the nominee. The
matter was finally compromised by adopting the word
‘‘ authentic,” for Bartlett’s “Life of Pierce”—Ticknor &
Fields using the word “authorized.” Mr. Bartlett relates
in a note to me an incident which occurred while he was
reading the proof-sheets in Auburn.
“I will in this connection recall a curious incident
connected with this period, while I was reading the proofs
of ‘Pierce ’ in Auburn. You took me a fishing one day, and
seeing two little boys near the stream, you offered to pay
them to come along and take care of bait and “ the catch.”
By some blunder, one of the lads caught the hook ou your
(338 DAVID W. BARTLETT.
line in his thumb, burying it so deeply that we had to
take him to a surgeon to have it cut out. More than thirty
years after, I was one day, asking the present clever and
polite chief clerk of the State department, Sovellon A.
brown, Esq., where he was going for his summer vacation,
and he replied, “To Auburn.” That led to memories of
my stay in Auburn with you, and finally to that day’s fish-
ing. When I was through, Mr. Brown exclaimed with
evident astonishment, ‘Is it possible that you are the
young man who was that day with Mr. Derby. Well, I
was one of those two little boys /* IIe was now (and has
been for twelve years) the chief clerk of the State depart-
ment, as I was (and am) American Secretary of the
Chinese Legation, and after thirty years we thus strangely
discovered our earlier meeting !”
Mr. Bartlett is also the author of a life of Lady
Jane Grey and of “Pen Portraits of Modern Agitators.”
He has long been a resident of Washington, where, for
years, he was the Washington correspondent of the New
York Evening Post and the New York Independent.
“What I saw in London’’ was of sufficient interest to
receive from Dr. Ripley, a notice of several columns in the
New York Tribune. Mr. Bartlett, referring to his last
voyage to Europe, writes me as follows:
“The second trip I went in the sailing vessel “New
World,” Capt. E. Knight. The good captain was a member
of Plymouth Church, and this time he had his pastor aboard
as passenger; Mr. Beecher, Rev. Dr. Chapin, the celebrated
Univeralist preacher, Dr. Bullard and one other clergyman
were present. Indeed there were so many clergymen that
the sailors predicted disaster.”
“Mr. Beecher was very ill, not leaving his berth for a
week. The first Sunday morning that he was on deck I
remember that a group was gathered round him listening
to his conversation, which happened to be upon his early
ministerial life in Indiana. Just then his brother-in-law,
Rev. Dr. Bullard, came up and notified us that divine serv.
DAVID W. BARTLETT. 639
ice would be held immediately in the cabin. Beecher
turned to us young people and with a roguish twinkle in his
eye, said: “Go down, young men l but I think that
my stories will do you more good in this salt air than
brother Bullard’s preaching in that stifling cabin P With
two passengers like Beecher and Chapin, it will easily be
believed that we did not lack displays of wit and humor.
Most of it has escaped Ine, but I remember that the second
Sunday out was very tempestuous so that one could not
stand alone ou deck. Chapin was near the head of the
companion-way holding on. Beecher came slowly up the
stairs, and, as his head emerged, saw the former and ex-
claimed, ‘Brother Chapin, “be ye steadfast, immovable !”
Dr. Chapin instantly continued the scripture quotation,
‘‘‘ and always abounding ſ”’—moving his right hand up
and down by way of illustration.”
“Capt. Knight one day knocked down a refractory sailor
—the punishment being richly deserved. Dr. Chapin said
jocosely that ‘Brother Beecher might have to discipline
his stalwart church-member l’ The latter replied, ‘No,
he is on his own deck now ; when I get upon mine in
Plymouth Church, I will attend to him l’”
“The captain was one of the noblest of men and was
greatly beloved by his pastor. Two years before, I sailed
out of the port of Liverpool with him, and a ship of the
same line which sailed out with us—the “Ocean Monarch,”
caught fire, and burned down to the waters edge in full
sight. The number lost was one hundred and seventy-five,
and Capt. Knight's boats saved eighty. I had taken pas-
sage in the “Ocean Monarch,” but finding to my surprise
that the ‘New World’ was in port, I sought a release from
my engagement with the owners of the former vessel,
which they with courtesy agreed to.”
“In January, 1851, I received a letter from Mr. Beecher,
asking me to take a little pains to see that Mr. Greeley,
who was soon to be in London, received the attention which
* See page 273.
640 ROBERT S. CIIILTON.
his great personal merits deserved, and which, owing to his
modesty and the excitement attending the World’s Fair
might be overlooked. I find in the letter a few sentences
full of interest in regard to the anti-slavery cause, which
just then to the superficial observer seemed to be at a low
ebb, not so thought Mr. Beecher. He wrote to me in 1851,
“The outside of things indicates retrogression, but it is
not so. I am persuaded that it will be found that the anti-
slavery cause has never gained so much in so short a time.
Our friends abroad should remember that we are fighting a
moral battle. The victory is not to be a mere term of
offices but the moral growth of a whole land.” Subsequent
history has proved the truth of this prophecy.”
Mr. Bartlett has filled for a number of years the im-
portant position of American Secretary to the Chinese
Embassy at Washington, with great ability and with
satisfaction to the Chinese officials as well as the American
people.
FOBERT S. CHILTON.
LTHOUGH the subject of this sketch has never pub-
lished a volume, he has written enough good prose
and poetry to make a very creditable volume if put in
book-form.
Mr. Chilton has been a resident of Washington the
greater portion of his life, and was personally acquainted
with the authors and artists who have resided temporarily at
the capital. Among his special friends, were the late
Frederick S. Cozzens, Lewis Gaylord Clarke, Charles L.
Elliott, and Emanuel Leutze.
During my residence in Washington in the winter of
1861–2, I saw much of Mr. Chilton, who at that time was
the head of one of the Bureaus in the Department of State.
His position brought him into personal relations with
the United States representatives abroad—among others,
ROBERT S. CHILTON. 641
Mr. W. P. Chandler, who succeeded John Howard Payne,
author of “ Home Sweet Home,” as United States Consul
at Tunis.
Mr. Chandler had in his possession, and submitted to
Mr. Chilton, the MSS. left by John Howard Payne, which
contained, with other interesting letters, the correspondence
between the latter and the widow of Percy Bysshe Shelley.
Mr. Payne had introduced Mrs. Shelley to Washington
Irving, who became greatly attached to the latter. The
former said in one of her letters that Mr. Irving was the
only man in the world that she could marry, and not lose
her station as the widow of Shelley. In the correspondence
it appeared that Mrs. Shelley was very much in love with
Irving, and that the latter felt rather shy of her.
When the handsome monument was recently erected in
Washington by that noble philanthropist and patriot Wil-
liam W. Corcoran, the latter selected Robert S. Chilton
to write the ode on the occasion of its unveiling, which he
read as follows :
“The exile hath returned, and now at last
In kindred earth his ashes shall repose.
Fit recompense for all his weary past,
That here the scene should end—the drama close.
“Here, where his own loved skies o'erarch the spot,
And where familiar trees their branches wave ;
Where the dear home-born flowers he ne'er forgot
Shall bloom, and shed their dews upon his grave.
“Will not the wood-thrush, pausing in her flight,
Carol more sweetly o'er this place of rest ?
Here linger longest in the fading light,
Before she seeks her solitary nest ?
“Not his the lofty lyre, but one whose strings
Werg gently touched to soothe our human kind,-
Like the mysterious harp that softly sings,
Swept by the unseen fingers of the wind.”
642 ROBERT S. CHII,TON.
“The home-sick wanderer in a distant land,
Listening his song hath known a double bliss,
Felt the warm pressure of a father's hand,
And, seal of seals a mother's sacred kiss.
“ In humble cottage, as in hall of state,
His truant fancy never ceased to roam
O'er backward years, and—irony of fate l—
Of home he sang, who never found a home !
“Not e'en in death, poor wanderer, till now ;
For long his ashes slept in alien soil.
Will they not thrill to-day, as round his brow
A fitting wreath is twined with loving toil 3
“Honor and praise be his whose generous hand
Brought the sad exile back, no more to roam ;
Back to the bosom of his own loved land—
Back to his kindred, friends, his own Sweet IIome ſ”
Mr. Chilton, in a recent note to me, says:
“A singular and pleasing incident occurred while I
was reading the third stanza of the poem, ‘‘ Will not the
wood thrush, etc.” I had just uttered these words when a
bird—a thrush, I think—perched and sang from the limb
of a tree over my head and towards which I chanced to
look. Others observed this and spoke of it afterwards.
Wasn’t it strange P For the moment it possessed me with
a feeling I cannot well describe.”
Mr. Chilton relates the following anecdote, which was
told him by his friend, the late Frederick S. Cozzens.
“When Thackeray was in New York in 1856, he often
spent an evening at the Century Club, with many of whose
members he became quite intimate. Frederick S. Cozzens
(‘Sparrowgrass') being of the number, at whose home at
Yonkers (Chestnut Cottage) Thackeray once dined and
passed the night. Before going to bed at a late hour, he
asked his host for a book, stating that it was his habit to
read himself to sleep. ‘Give me something new, some-
thing that I hav’n’t seen before, if you can,’ said he. Hav-
" .
|- lºſſ, ºlº
|

ROBE {{T S. CHILTON. 643
ing just received a copy of Lewis Gaylord Clarke’s ‘Knick-
Knacks from an Editor’s Table,” Cozzens handed him the
volume, thinking it might amuse him. It was brought
down by Thackeray in the morning and placed upon the
library table with the remark—“Cozzens, you couldn’t
have been happier in your selection of a book for me last
night. It was just what I wanted, for I hadn’t finished
reading the first page before I was so overcome with sleep
that I had to put the light out.’ This was rough on poor
Clarke, but the dear old boy enjoyed the joke, when it was
told him, as keenly as anybody—as who that knew him
could doubt P”
Among Mr. Chilton’s intimate friends, was the late
Charles S. Elliott, whose portrait of Fletcher Harper is
believed to be as near a perfect representation of the hu-
man face as was ever produced by a portrait painter. He
relates of him the following amusing incident.
“Among the many anecdotes told of Elliott, the
painter, which I recall, the following as illustrating a strong
trait of his amiable character—a disposition to encourage
young and struggling members of his profession—and
being highly comic withal, is one of the funniest, and, as
I happen to know, founded on fact.
“Elliott at one time occupied a studio on the upper floor
of a building on Broadway opposite the Art Union Gallery.
On the floor beneath, a young landscape painter, newly
come to the city and quite unknown, had set up his casel
and painted a few pictures. He had called several times
upon Elliott, whom he greatly admined as artist and man,
and begged him to call at his studio to look at what he
had been doing, which Elliott had promised to do, and did
so one day; unintentionally, however, for he was making
his way, not without labor, to his own room on the floor
above, and thought he had reached it, when he entered
the young' painter's studio, considerably “set up,” as un-
fortunately was too often the case with him, poor fellow.
He perceived his mistake, but made the best of the situa-
644 FIRAN CIS E. SPINN ER.
tion, and seated himself opposite an easel on which his
young friend placed a half-finished landscape for his in-
spection. ‘That's good,” said Elliott, ‘ very good, 'at’s
capital head—good modelling, good color, I like the beard
ev’ so much.” “But, Mr. Elliott,” said the young artist,
who had begun by this time to take in the situation, “this
is a landscape you are looking at. You know I paint
nothing but landscapes.’ ‘O !” said Elliott, settling him-
self back in his chair and stroking his long beard, is 'at
so 2 a landscape painter, eh? Well, s'pose you paint my
landscape, jus’’s I am ''”
Mr. Chilton is at present filling the post of United
States Consul at Goderich, Ontario.
FRANCIS E. SPINNER.
RANCIS E. SPINNER, the late Treasurer of the
United States, whose mysterious autograph became
so familiar on the national greenback currency, was an
early friend of my father as well as myself, both of us be-
ing natives of Herkimer, N. Y. Mr. Spinner was long a
Democratic member of Congress from the Herkimer dis-
trict, but after the outbreak of the Civil War, became a
member of the Republican party. His position in Wash-
ington as United States Treasurer naturally brought him
into close relations with many eminent men. In a recent
note to me he says:
“It has been my good fortune to have known nearly
all the great and good men of the country who have figured
in public life within the last half century.
“You and I have lived in an age when the world made
more progress than it had done in twenty centuries before
our time.”
In another letter, Mr. Spinner gives me the following
interesting account of how an old court was abolished, and
a new one created.
FRANCIS E. SPINNER. 645
“When, in the early spring of 1861, I was appointed by Presi-
dent Lincoln, Treasurer of the United States, I called upon Judge
Merrick, then the Chief Judge of the United States District Count
for the District of Columbia, at his own house, in Washington, in
order to take the oath of office prescribed by law. The judge
refused to administer it to me. I said to him, ‘The law requires
that the oath shall be administered by a judge of a United States
court.” He replied, ‘I am aware of that, but there is no law
compelling me to do it.’ On my urging him for the reason for
his refusal to act, he insolently replied, ‘ I consider a man holding
your political opinions, as being unfit to hold any office, and I will
not be a party to qualify you to do so.”
“When, later, the assessment and collection of f he income
tax, was being put in operation, the question came up, whether it
could be collected on the salaries of the judges of United States
courts. I took the ground that it could, and deducted from my
drafts for their quarterly salaries, the amount of said tax. Soon
after the draft was sent to Judge Merrick, I eceived a letter from
him, in which he stated, that the draft was for an amount less
than usual, and that he thought it probable that I had deducted
an income tax f. on his salary, and if that was the case, I must
send to him the amount so deducted at once, or write him that I
would add the amount, so deducted, to my next quarterly lernit-
tance to him. He argued that by the Constitution of the United
States his salary was fixed, and that it could not be reduced
by act of Congress, nor by an executive officer. At this time
the iudge was known to be an open secessionist, and a sympa-
thize with those engaged in rebellion. In the meantime, I had
received a letter from the United States judge for the District of
Delaware, in which he returned my draft to him, for the reason,
that not enough had been retained to meet the tax. I leturned
him the draft and wrote him that the law levying the tax did
not t ke effect until the middle of the qual ter, and hence the tax
was less than it would be for a full quarter. I caused the letter
of the Delaware judge to be copied, and enclosed the copy in a
letter in answer to Judge Merrick, in which I stated, that I did
so, to point out to him the difference between a loyal judge and
himself ; and that, while I would not discuss with him the ques-
tion whether Congress had, or had not, the constitution Il right
to tax the salaries of United States judges, I would suggest to him,
that it certainly had the right to abolish his damned rebel court.
646 FIRANCIS E. SPIN NER.
“On the next day I eceived a letter from the judge, in which
he said, that my letter to him was of such an extraordinary char-
acter that he had felt it his duty to send it to the President of
the United States, in order to my removal from office. A day
or two afterwards, I had occasion to submit a paper to Governor
Chase, the then Secretary of the Treasury, and while he was
reading it, he showed my letter to Judge Merrick, that was lying
before him on the table, Over to me, and asked me what I had
to say to that. I answered that had I known, when I wrote
the letter, that the judge would send the letter to the President,
and that it would be submitted to you, I would have written it
a damned sight stronger.’
“The Secretary undertook to give me, sternly, a lecture on
official etiquette, urging that the different branches of the govern-
ment should act in hal mony with each other, and that comity
required respectful language in all communications passing between
them. Mr. Chase, finding that I would not yield as to the
correctness of my conduct, at length said, good naturedly, ‘Well,
General, while I feel that your letter is very pertinent to the subject,
it is very impertiment to the judge.”
“Mr. Whitelaw Reid, the now talented editor of the Tribune,
was then the Washington correspondent of a leading Cincinnati
newspaper. He was an intimate friend of Governor Chase, and
from him he obtained these facts, and they were published in the
paper of which he was the correspondent. His communication
was extensively copied by papers in ail part of the loyal States.
Members of Congress saw it, laughed at 1t, as a good joke; but,
after a little, viewed it in another light, and came to the conclu-
sion to car y out the joke. So a bill was introduced in Congress,
and became a law, by which the then United States Court of the
District of Columbia was abolished, and the judges were abolished
as well. The same act created a new court of which Judge Car-
ter, of Ohio, became the chief justice, and Messrs. Wiley of
Virginia, and Olin of New York, became associate justices. The
last-named is dead, the other two now, after twenty odd years'
service, still hold their places. That's the way, and the reason
why, the present United States Court of the District of Columbia
was created. The present judges have, no doubt, enjoyed the
joke hugely, ever since; but, it is believed that it has never been
fully appreciated by Judge Merrick.”
MARY CLEMMER HUDSON. 647
MARY OLEMMER HUDSON.
HO has not read the bright sparkling and incisive
letters, which have been published in the New
York Independent for nearly twenty years, under the head-
ing “A Woman’s Letter from Washington?” Probably
there has been no series of letters covering so long a time
ever written from that city, or indeed any city, with so
wide a range of descriptive thought and pen pictures of
eminent men and women.
During the first year of the civil war, I had occasion to
visit Washington, and also the good fortune to be the es-
cort of this charming writer on her first visit to that city.
This was the beginning of Mary Clemmer's residence
at the capital, where for nearly a quarter of a century,
she has been a feature in literary and social circles.
One of Mary Clemmer's earliest and valued friends in
her new home was the late Charles Sumner, of whom she
once wrote: “A man solitary by the primal law of his na-
ture, preoccupied, absorbed, aristocratic in instinct, though
a leveler in ideas, never a demagogue, never a politician—
he is the born master and expounder of fundamental prin-
ciples.” Knowing Charles Sumner as I did, I believe this
description of him is faithful in the extreme. The follow-
ing note from that Senator indicates the value and esteem
with which he regarded her.
“Senate Chamber, 22d March, 1871.
“I have always thought of you with honor, and with a constant
desire to know personally one who does so much by her pen, for
ideas which I have much at heart. I hope that you will pardon
me if I say that we are co-workers in the same field. I am so lit-
tle abroad, that we have not met, but I trust it may not be so
always. “Sincerely yours,
“ CHARLEs SUMNER.”
648 Aſ NSW ORTH. K. SPOFFO Ri).
Mary Clemmer is also a clever novelist and a fine poet.
Two of her novels—“Eirene” and “His Two Wives,” Were
well received by the public, also a volume of poems, “Life
and Nature,” and her beautiful memorial volume, “Alice
and Phoebe Cary,” is referred to at length elsewhere. Mary
Clemuner Hudson died in Washington, August 18th, 1884.
AINSWORTH. K. SPOFFORD.
S Librarian, Spofford is the compiler of the valuable
treasury of knowledge known as “The American
Almanac,” now in the seventh year of its publication,
his name properly belongs in these pages. He was also
a bookseller in Cincinnati, when I first knew him more
than thirty years ago, when he was the junior member of
the well-known book house of Truman & Spofford of
that city. Mr. Spofford was appointed librarian of the Con-
gressional library by President Lincoln in 1864, and has
filled that responsible position, not only to the satisfaction
of Congress, but to the public who have had occasion to
visit that immense collection of books, most of which are
published in this country.
Mr. Spofford’s long experience in the book business, and
especially as librarian, has eminently fitted him to become
the expert that he is in the requirements which depend so
much upon the knowledge of the books in the library, and
in what place they may readily be found.
Mr. D. B. Cooke, long a well known bookseller of
Chicago, but previously a neighbor of Mr. Spofford in Cin-
cinnati, in his interesting “Memories of the Book-trade ’’
in the Publishers' Weekly, says :
“Mr. Spofford, of the firm of Truman & Spofford, was always
a studious bookseller, a young man whose aim was to be master
of his business. IIis intuitive grace and his culture eminently
fitted him for his present honorable and responsible position as
Librarian of Congress.”
XLIV.
NEW YORK WETERANS OF THE BOOK
TRADE.
A Patriarch among Publishers—A School-teacher turns
Bookseller—Cheapest book ever Published—Pluck and
JEnterprise Successful—Books for Sunday School Li-
braries—Peter Carter and Scotia's Bards—Randolph's
Jetter to Irenaeus—A Favorite Bookstore for New
Yorkers—Two Donkeys for Motive Power—Ran-
dolph & Good Talker—“ What an Old Fellow You
Are A*— Van Nostrand’s Military Books—Important
Engineering Works—A Monarch in his Chosen Field
—A famous Law Book House—Favorite resort of
brilliant Lawyers—A book Clerk leaves the printing
trade—Agreeable relations with Authors—An histori-
cal Book House—The record of many Firms—“ In
print or out of print”— Oldest Book Pºinter in Amer-
*ca—Trow's City Directory–Made University Printer
—John Keese the Witty Auctioneer—Fried, Roasted
and Stewed—Charles Collins continues Business alone.
OBERT CARTER, the venerable senior member of the
firm of Robert Carter & Brothers, had no experience
whatever in book publishing, or bookselling trade, on the
day that he opened his book store in 1834.
Mr. Carter had been a successful school-teacher, num-
bering among his pupils many who afterwards became emi-
ment in political and religious circles. He had determined
in his own mind to change his vocation to that of a mer-
chant, and without any mercantile experience, bought out
the stock of an insolvent bookseller, and renting a store in
[649]
650 ROBERT CARTER.
Canal Street, began selling books and stationery in the
month of April, 1834. -
It was in this bookstore, six years later, that I first met
Robert Carter, who had then become a publisher of reli-
gious books. He had just published D’Aubignè’s “His-
tory of the great Reformation,” a work which was im-
mensely popular at that time, especially in Auburn and its
vicinity, where I had recently established myself in the
book business. . . *
The popularity of D’Aubigné's History (which was first
published in three duodecimo volumes at three dollars), was
so great that a rival publisher in Philadelphia brought
out an edition in small type and cheap binding, at a very
low price. The young publisher, however, was equal to
the occasion, issuing immediately, on cheaper and thinner
paper, an edition which he sold for one dollar per set. The
cineapness of the work produced great excitement, and tens
of thousands of sets were sold, as rapidly as they could be
manufactured. Of course, such a book, at such a price,
easily extinguished the piratical publisher, and although
the profits accruing therefrom were not so large for the
original publisher, it was a good indication of his pluck
and enterprise.
Mr. Carter's first publication was “Symington on the
Atonement and Intercession of Jesus Christ.” It was the
general impression that this work would have no demand,
but a Christian gentleman of wealth, who is still living and
well known as a liberal civic benefactor, ordered one hun-
dred copies, which was considerable encouragement to the
young bookseller and his friends.
In 1848, Mr. Carter took into partnership his two
brothers, Walter and Peter Carter, and the style of the
firm (Robert Carter & Brothers) has remained the same
until this day. In the year 1874, Robert Carter, Jr., the
son of the senior member, was admitted to the firm.
Their publications are chiefly of a religious nature,
every evangelical denomination being represented in their
A. D. F. RAN DOLPH. 651
catalogue, the most important of which are, Matthew
Henry’s “Commentary on the Bible,” Sprague’s “An-
mals of the American Pulpit,” the works of Jonathan
Edwards, Thomas Chalmers, and many other distinguished
divines. Their list also contains probably the largest
Series of juvenile books adapted to Sunday School libraries,
ever issued by any single house in this country, and it
also embraces some excellent books of fiction, numbering
altogether more than fifteen hundred different kinds, theirs
being the largest list of religious works published by any
house in America. -
Mr. Peter Carter is also something of an author, having
written several juvenile books and also published a vol-
ume of travels in Scotland, and compiled a volume entitled
“Scotia's Bards,” being a selection of the best productions
and biographical sketches of the Scottish poets.
A. D. F. RANDOLPH, the life-long friend of Robert
Carter, voices the opinion of the latter’s host of friends in
the concluding paragraphs of the following letter to Rev.
Dr. Prime, editor of the New York Observer :
“When you were a country pastor, and I was a boy in a book-
store in Nassau Street, there was on the corner of Canal and Lau-
rens Street (now South Fifth Avenue) a small building, over the
doorway of which was a sign, ‘Robert Carter, Bookseller.” I am
not sure that our friend began his business on this spot, but I do
know that on the first of April, 1884, he will have been for fifty
years a bookseller and publisher.
“I am aware that in the minds of some persons, the business of
book publishing and bookselling is nothing more than the manu-
facture and sale of merchandise; but this is not your opinion or
mine. So you will agree with me, that fifty years of a life devo-
ted as this has been to the making of books, not one of which
might make men worse, but ought to make them better, may well
have a word of recognition in the columns of the Observer.
“And thus for half a century he has been doing a wholesome,
honest, beneficent work. He has seen great changes; seen also
the wonderful development of the publishing business in this
country. He has passed through many seasons of general business
652 A. D." F. RANDOLPH.
depression, and yet maintained his own credit unimpaired. Year
by year, as his business grew into larger proportions, he still
continued to conduct it with dignity, integrity and success
Who can estimate the value aud the extent of his influence, as a
publisher? What a factor it has been in the religious education
of the country !
“He has survived all those who were his early contemporaries
in the trade. You will recall them all: the elder Harpers, Daniel
Appleton, John P. Haven, Jonathan Leavitt, Roe Lockwood,
George P. Putnam. He remains still vigorous, cheerful, hopeful;
still interested in the world’s needs and progress, and ever ready
to aid a worthy cause. Beloved and honored by all who person-
ally knew him, he is not only without enemies, but with troops
of friends the whole land over.”
Mr. Randolph is himself a publisher of many choice
books, largely of a religious character, and some of them
very popular. He is also very widely known as the pro-
prietor of the oldest and best-appointed retail bookstore
in New York. It is a favorite resort for the book-buyers
of our oldest and best known families, he having occupied
that position for more than thirty years.
It is nearly fifty years since I first met Mr. Randolph.
We were then both clerks, he being employed at that time
by the American Sunday School Union, of which J. C.
Meeks was the New York agent, the office being held in
the old American Tract Society building, where Daniel
Fanshaw, the well-known printer, had his large offices on
the top floor.
Mr. Iandolph well remembers when two donkeys on
the top floor were the only motive power which propelled
Mr. Fanshaw’s printing-presses. Juvenile books in those
early days were not very numerous, indeed so limited in
number, that Mr. Randolph says he could probably have
carried one of each kind in his arms.
I frequently had occasion to purchase books of young
Randolph, when a bookseller at Auburn. We were younger
then, it is hardly necessary to say, than now. He com-
DAVID WAN NOSTRAND. 653
menced as a boy clerk in 1830, serving a part at his ap-
prenticeship, by wheeling books on a wheelbarrow, that
being the method among the trade in those days, in de-
livering supplies to the booksellers.
Mr. Randolph is a good talker; at the gatherings of the
trade, whether for festival, discussing copyright questions,
or bearing tribute on memorial occasions, his eloquent
words have often been heard, and always received with
marked attention. When Mr. Randolph first read the
notice in the Publisher’s Weekly “Fifty Years a Pub-
lisher,” he wrote me from the country, as follows:
“What an old fellow you are Why don’t you feel
ashamed at being so old 2 I went into the trade in 1830.
I have been here since June 30th, and this with one excep-
tion is the longest holiday I have had in fifty-three years.
But I have had a very good time in this life, and am grate-
ful that I can say that life is worth living, and grateful,
most of all, that I have been taught and believe that
there is another life still better than this. May we know
each other there !”
DAVID WAN NOSTRAND is well and favorably known
in this country and also in Europe as the publisher of
military books, and scientific publications. At the early
age of fifteen he entered the services of John P. Haven, who
was the New York agent for the important publications
of Crocker & Brewster, of Boston. This was in the year 1826.
Mr. Van Nostrand first began business fifty-three years
ago, under the firm of Van Nostrand & Dwight, which
lasted for three years, when that firm dissolved, and an in-
terregnum of twelve years enabled Mr. Van Nostrand to
pursue his favorite scientific studies, and especially of books
on Engineering—this brought him into close relations with
the United States Military Academy at West Point, as well
as various private military and scientific institutions, who
gave him their orders for supplies on so large a scale as to
finally induce him to open business again on his own
account, which he did in 1848.
654 DAVID VAN NOSTRAND.
Beginning to publish books, he soon, by close attention
to business, built up an extensive trade.
The late Mr. Trubner, in his London Literary Record,
once said, “that the United States, although prolific
in practical applications of Science, had been, through ol-
vious causes, somewhat sterile, until a quite recent date,
of literary expositions of its works, but that, of late
years, there had been a great and rapid development of
such works, and with no name is this development more
intimately associated than that of Mr. Van Nostrand.”
Again this English journal remarked that “as a gentleman
of extensive and varied information, of genial and attrac-
tive character, eminent business capacity, and of important
achievements in his profession, Mr. Wan Nostrand stands
prominent among the publishers of the day.”
The following will give an idea of the extent and variety
of the subjects embraced in the publications of Mr. Van
Nostrand, which comprise thorough treatises, many of
them elaborately illustrated, on architecture, carpentry,
building, astronomy, navigation, shipbuilding, meteorol-
ogy, brewing, distilling, wine-making, chemistry, physics,
philosophy, coal, coal oil, gas, drawing, painting, photog-
raphy, electricity, electric telegraph, engineering, machin-
ery, mechanics, geology, mineralogy, mining, metallurgy,
hydraulics, hydrostatics, iron, steel, life insurance, mathe-
matics, ordnance and gunnery, military engineering, mili-
tary history, records of war, and, in fact, almost every spe-
cialty in Science and art.
Mr. Van Nostrand’s most important books are Weis-
bach’s “Mechanics,” with nearly one thousand wood-cut
illustrations, Francis’s “Lowell Hydraulics,” to produce
which cost forty thousand dollars, Whipple and IRoebling
on “Bridge Building,” General Gilmore on “Lines and
Cements,” Holly on “Ordnance and Armor,” General Mey-
er's (Old Probabilities) “Manual of Signals,” Scott’s “Mil-
itary Dictionary,” Casey’s “United States Infantry Tac-
tics,” of which more than eighty thousand copies have been
BAKER, VOORHIES & CO. 655
sold, Jomini’s “Life of Napoleon,” translated by the late
General Halleck, and the “Rebellion Record ” in twelve
volumes, illustrated with many steel portraits.
There is probably no list of books in the country of so
exclusively standard character as those which appear on
Mr. Van Nostrand's Catalogue. He is indeed a monarch
in his chosen field, and all his friends and patrons, indeed
everyone, who has ever had any dealings with him will wish
him all the prosperity which he merits and enjoys.
BAKER, WOOREIIES & CO., the well known law-book
house, was established by the late John S. Voorhies in
1842, and continued by him, on his own account, until his
death in 1865.
I frequently had dealings with Mr. Voorhies, during
that period. He had the confidence and patronage of the
law booksellers and the leading lawyers of that time, his
store being the favorite resort of such eminent men as
Chancellor Kent, George Wood, Hugh Maxwell, Edward
Sanford, Daniel Lord, J. Prescott Hall, Wm. Curtis Noyes,
John Duer, James W. Gerard, Theodore Sedgwick, Charles
O'Conor, David Dudley Field, William M. Evarts and
Charles P. Daly, all of whom were known to many of my
readers, and of whom only the last three survive.
After the death of Mr. Voorhies, the business was reor-
ganized under the firm name of Baker, Voorhies & Co., the
junior partner being a nephew of the founder, and having
been connected with him for over twenty years in the busi-
I] eSS.
Mr. Peter C. Baker, the senior member of the new
firm, began his career in the bookselling business, when
quite a young lad, nearly fifty years ago, but deciding to
become a printer, he entered the employment of the late
William E. Dean, with whom he served his apprenticeship.
Mr. Dean was an extensive printer and publisher of legal
and classical books.”
Soon after Mr. Baker had served his time at the printer’s
* See ante, p. 148.
656 BAKER, PRATT & Co.
trade, he became the superintendent of the extensive
printing establishment of John F. Trow, whose New York
City Directory has made his name so well known. Mr.
Trow, at that time, was the printer for D. Appleton &
Co.'s publications, as well as those of George P. Putnam,
John Wiley, and many other prominent publishing houses.
In the year 1850 Mr. Baker, with the late Daniel Godwin,
commenced business on their own account, under the style
of Baker & Godwin, in the Tribune Building, where their
well known printing establishment was so familiar, for
many years.
The firm made the printing of law books a specialty,
thus bringing Mr. Baker into close relations with Mr.
Voorhies, which ultimately, through his familiarity with
the different law-books published by the latter, induced
him to become a law-book publisher, as before stated.
Among the most important law-books, published by this
firm, the following may be named : Townshend on Slander
and Libel, Shearman and Redfield on Negligence, Bliss on
Life Insurance, Gerard on Titles to Real Estate, Kerr on
Fraud and Mistake, Waterman on Set-off, Ram on Facts
and the Science of Legal Judgment, and the important
works of the Abbott Brothers.
The relations of this firm with the authors of law books
have been of the most agreeable nature. One of the oldest
authors in the state came to them unsolicited, to publish a
new treatise, because he was so well pleased with the me-
chanical appearance of the books issued by that house.
After the publication of the book referred to, and the first
account of sales was rendered, the author wrote them as
follows: “The statement is highly satisfactory. I feel that
I am greatly indebted to your spirit, business tact and ex-
tended reputation and experience as publishers, for the
rapid sale of the work.”
BAKER, PRATT & CO., although not publishers, stand
at the front of the largest wholesale venders of books and
stationery in this country. The founders of the house bear
BAKER, PRATT & CO. 657
an historic name in the publishing trade As previously
noted in the sketch of A. S. Barnes, the firm of D. F.
Robinson & Co. established themselves in New York in 1835,
under the firm name of Robinson, Pratt & Co.
Five years later, I purchased from the latter house
the general stock for my country book store at Auburn,
on an order given me upon that firm by Henry Ivison, who
had at that time started me in the bookselling business,
himself becoming a special partner.
In the year 1843, Mr. Robinson retiring from the busi-
ness to become the president of the Hartford Bank, the
firm was succeeded by Pratt, Woodford & Co., consisting
of Henry Z. Pratt, O. P. Woodford, Elijah P. Farmer, and
T. K. Brace, which in turn was succeeded by that of
Farmer, Brace & Co., the same individuals comprising the
firm with the addition of James S. Oakley. Mr. Farmer
was the best salesman I ever knew. He sold me the first
bill of books I ever bought—happy the bookseller who es-
caped with purchases double the amount originally desired.
Mr. Farmer's sudden death in the prime of his busy life
was sincerely regretted by all who had known him. A
few years’ intervened, when the firm was again changed to
Pratt, Oakley & Co., and among their publications were
the popular school books: Cooper's Virgil, Comstock's
Chemistry, Physiology, Botany, Mineralogy, and Natural
History. These elementary works of science, were the first
school books of the kind published in this country. They
were also the publishers of the celebrated Bullion's Eng-
lish Grammar, and Latin and Greek series, all of which
reached immense sales. In the year 1862, Mr. Birdseye
Blakeman, now the senior partner in the great school
book house of Ivison, Blakeman, Taylor & Co., in connection
with the late Albert Mason, became the successors of
Pratt, Oakley & Co., under the firm name of Blakeman &
Mason. In 1864, Mr. Blakeman retired, when a new firm
was formed under the style of Oakley & Mason, Mr. Oak-
ley bringing with him the good will of the old concern,
658 JOHN F. T.R.O.W.
with which he had been so long connected. There were
few, if any, men of more experience, combined with a mat-
ural taste for the bookselling business than James S.
Oakley. At the end of four years Oakley and Mason
associated with them as partners, James S. Baker and
William T. Pratt (nephew of Henry Z. Pratt of the old
firm). Mr. Oakley retired in 1872, when the firm style
again changed to Mason, Baker & Pratt, and two years
later, the firm of Baker, Pratt & Co., was formed, consist-
ing of the following members, James S. Baker, William
T. Pratt, Charles D. Pratt and Robert L. Boyd.
Both Mr. Baker and the Messrs. Pratt, have, by their
long and active experience in every department of the book-
selling and stationery business, become famous for their
rare faculty in supplying every book ever published in print
or out of print, or indeed all supplies desired by the
country bookseller.
JOHN F. TROW is undoubtedly the oldest book printer
in New York City, if not in America, in continuous active
business.
Mr. Trow was apprenticed to the printing business sixty
years ago, with the well-known firm of Flagg & Gould,
of Andover, Mass., whose “Codman Press * became cele-
br ited for doing the first work for the American Tract
Society.
A half-century ago, Mr. Trow removed to New York
City, when for a few years, under the firm of West & Trow,
he conducted business as a printer on hand-presses, print-
ing, among other papers, the Wew York Observer.
After that he associated himself with the late Jonathan
Leavitt as bookseller and publisher, under the name of
Leavitt & Trow, continuing at the same time the print-
ing business under the style of John F. Trow & Co.
Among other important publications issued by Leavitt
and Trow some of my readers will remember, were the com-
plete works of Jonathan Edwards, and also the classical
series of Professor John J. Owen, so widely popular.
COLLINS, KEESE & Co. 659
In the year 1852, Mr. Trow commenced the publication
of the New York City Directory, with which his name has
been so prominently identified for more than thirty years.
As early as 1836 Mr. Trow had imported complete fonts
of Oriental type from the celebrated Tauchnitz foundry,
viz.: Greek, Hebrew, Arabic, Syriac, Ethiopian, Coptic,
Samaritan, &c., and far surpassing in quantity and variety
the famous “Codman Press,” where he served his appren-
ticeship, or any other establishment in America.
His specimen book, published in 1855, a beautiful pro-
duction of typographic art, contains specimens of these
various and elegant fonts. In recognition of the beautiful
and accurate, classical and Oriental productions that have
issued from his press, the University of New York has con-
ferred upon Mr. Trow the title of University printer.
COLLINS, KEESE & COMPANY were well known
dealers in school books fifty years ago, and were not only
publishers of some important school books, but large
jobbers in books and stationery.
John Keese, then a member of the firm, was the wit-
tiest man ever known in the book trade. His remarkably
persuasive powers as salesman I had occasion to remember,
mingled as they were with both method and wit.
About forty years ago Mr. Keese withdrew from the con-
cern, forming a new partnership under the style of Cooley,
Keese & Hill, book auctioneers; the Senior member, the
late James E. Cooley, had long experience as the head of
the firm of James E. Cooley & Lemuel Bangs, the trade-
sales auctioneers.
The keen and ready wit of Mr. Keese would always
draw a lively crowd of purchasers, when he was the auc-
tioneer, wit seeming with him as second nature.
On one occasion, during a sale of an invoice of books—
“There was no quarter at the Battle of Waterloo, my dear
sir,” he said to a bidder of twenty-five cents for a narrative
of that conflict. “Really, this is too much pork for a
shilling,” was his pathetic remark at the Sacrifice of
660 COLLINs, KEESE & CO.
“Bacon’s Essays” for twelve and a half cents. “Going
—going—gentlemen—ten cents for Caroline Fry; why, it
isn’t the price of a stew l’’ (a jest prompted, perhaps, by a
thought of the supper awaiting him at Downing's oyster
saloon in Wall street), and the same reflection probably
suggested his interpretation of the title F.R.S. : “Fried,
Roasted and Stewed ſ”*
‘‘I have the recollection of him,” wrote the late Evert
A. Duyckinck, “as the wittiest book-auctioneer of his day
in New York, and it may be said of any day, for there is
no tradition of any predecessor of such powers, and he cer-
tainly left no successor in his peculiar vein. This may be
said without disparagement to the intellectual cleverness
of the Sabins, Leavitts and Merwins of the present day
for Keese was really an extraordinary man, in the humor-
ous handling of books and an audience, enlivening a sales-
room on the dullest of wet mights and under the most dis-
advantageous circumstances with the brilliancy of his wit.
Few who attended his sales did not carry away with them
some recollection of his sparkling genius.”
Mr. Duyckinck wrote the above in 1877. Mr. Joseph
Sabin, the distinguished bibliographer and sometime auc-
tioneer, died in 1881. Mr. Andrew M. Merwin, so pleas-
antly remembered when of the firm of Bangs, Merwin &
Co., died in 1871. Mr. F. H. Bangs still continues the
book auction business in this city under the firm of Bangs
& Co.
Collins & Brother, successors to the old firm, have been
in continuous business as school book publishers and
jobbers for more than forty years. They are well known
in the locality of the great dry-goods center in which their
store has long been located. Mr. Charles Collins, my long-
time friend, has recently succeeded to the business, and
the firm style is now in that of his own name.
* John Keese, Wit and Littérateur, a Biographical Memoir, by
William L. Keese.
XLV.
TWO SOUTHERN POETS,
*-
JAMES R. RAND ALL.
The Author of “My Maryland ”—A Reconstructed Rebel
—“I see Thee ever in my Dreams ”—Massachusetts
Troops through Baltimore—A Famous Poem in Half
an. Howr—One Hundred Dollars in Confederate Moncy
—He heard it sung by a Russian Girl—An Incident
at Arlington.
URING a temporary sojourn in Augusta, Ga., in 1870–
71, while representing the house of D. Appleton &
Co., I was conversing one day with one of my friends, a well-
known cotton factor of that city, and observing agentleman
haranguing bystanders on one of the ample sidewalks, I
said to my friend “That must be one of the ‘carpet-bag'
politicians who have come from the North to reconstruct
you rebels.” At that time the “carpet-bag government *
was in full sway, “reconstruction * not yet having become
an assured fact. My friend laughed heartily, as did I, when
he said, “Why, that is James R. Randall, the author of
‘My Maryland,” which did such good Confederate service ;
he was a rebel, but he needs no reconstruction.”
I was soon after introduced to the poet-journalist, and
from that time have enjoyed the friendship of one of the
most brilliant writers of the South. Although Mr. Randall
has not published any volume, he has written enough of
both prose and poetry to make a very entertaining one.
[661]
662 JAMES R. RAND ALL.
Who that has read the story of “Evangeline * can for-
get the gentle notary Rene Leblanc, and his score of
children? From one of them was descended the mother of
James R. Randall. His father was a merchant of Balti-
more, and in that city he was born January 1, 1839. One
of his earliest tutors was Professor Clark, who had taught
Edgar Allan Poe, and who is now, or was recently, living
in Baltimore, aged over 90 years. The years 1849–56 young
Randall passed at Georgetown College, where was written
his first poem on Professor Dimitry. It was published in
the Evening Star of Washington, and attracted some atten-
tion in the college as a juvenile production of small merit.
After a brief service as clerk in a Baltimore book-store,
young Randall proceeded to Florida and taught school for
a while in the wilderness, and finally drifted to New Orleans
and became clerk in a shipping-merchant’s office.
In spare moments he wrote poems that were published
in the New Orleans papers. When twenty years of age, he
was appointed professor of English and the classics in
Poydras College, a tolerably well-endowed country college
in Pointe Coupée Parish, La.
He had not been at the college long before the war
broke out, and in common with the youth of the South,
was intensely agitated on the subject.
The editor of the New Orleans Delta, who encouraged
young Randall’s efforts at poetry by giving him a volume
of the poems of James Clarence Mangan, and the weird
melodies and wasted life and melancholy death of the un-
fortunate Irish poet made an indelible impression upon his
mind. He was especially struck with the rhythm of one
poem purporting to be a translation from the Ottoman, en-
titled the “Karamanian Exile.”
“I see thee ever in my dreams,
Karaman |
Thy hundred hills, thy thousand streams,
Karaman | O Karaman |
JAMES R. RAND ALL. 663
As when thy gold-bright morning gleams,
As when the deepening sunset seams
With lines of light thy hills and streams,
Karaman
So thou loomest on my dieams,
Karaman O Karaman l’”
One day, while the melody of the Karamanian exile was
running through his brain, Mr. Randall rode to the Missis-
sippi river, seven miles distant, and got his mail. Among
it, was a copy of the Delta, containing an account of the
passage of the Massachusetts troops through Baltimore,
and of the riot that occurred, which was read with the deep-
est interest. Agitated by the thrilling news, indignant at
what he considered an outrage upon his native city, and
anxious about the safety of relatives and friends, there was
no sleep for Randall, that night. He arose, and again read
the account of the riot in Baltimore. For some unaccounta-
ble reason, as he was pacing up and down thinking of the
events in Baltimore, the stirring melody of the Karaman-
ian exile seemed to ring through his head—so much so that
he appeared possessed with its spirit, and in a moment the
whole scheme of the poem “My Maryland ” was formed
in his brain. He sat down at his desk, and in half an
hour the poem was completed. The next day he read it
to his scholars, most of whom were Creoles, and it fired
them up to such a degree of enthusiasm, that it occurred
to the author, to send his poem to the Delta for pub-
lication. It appeared in that paper Sunday morning, when
the whole country was at fever heat. The success of the
poem was instantaneous ; in Maryland, electrical. It was
published throughout the country, and became the rally-
ing cry of the Southern people. The boy professor became
famous in a day, and found, with no little surprise, that
when he visited New Orleans, he was the hero of the
hour.
The fame of the poem soon spread across the ocean. It
was published in Europe and received with enthusiasm.
664 J AM ES R. RAND ALL.
Mr. Randall received an autograph letter from a member
Of the family of Lord Byron, asking for a manuscript copy
of “My Maryland ’ and stating their admiration for the
poem and inviting him to visit them in London.
John R. Thompson, a well known literary man, long
connected with the Southern Literary Messenger, was in
England when the poem was first published. On his re-
turn he said to Mr. Randall, that he envied him beyond
all living men, because he had met in a drawing-room in
London, one of the most charming and beautiful of women
who had asked him if he would like to hear a song of his
Southern country. Upon his replying in the affirmative,
she went to the piano and struck up “My Maryland.”
When she had finished, she returned to where he was sit-
ting and said, “When you see your friend who wrote that,
tell him you heard it sung by a Russian girl, who lives at
Archangel, north of Siberia, and learned to sing it there.”
Mr. Randall was one among a crowd of ten thousand
who surrounded the Washington monument in Baltimore,
at the reception given to the French visitors to the York-
town Centennial, when Dodworth’s band played “My
Maryland.” When the visitors learned it was a distinctive
Maryland air, they arose and bowed profoundly, and the
crowd cheered wildly. Unknown among the throng was
the author. Some one near him asked if, as a Marylander,
he did not feel very proud of the song. He said, no ; that
he had become very practical since he had written that
song, and felt Satisfied that not one man in that vast
throng would lend him five dollars if he should ask the
loan of that sum. The stranger replied, “When you are
dead we will give you a grand funeral.”
“My Maryland” was set to music by Miss Hettie Cary, of
Baltimoke, now the wife of Prof. Martin of Johns Hopkins
University, to the German air “Tannebaum,” and a great
deal of money is said to have been made by the Baltimore
music-seller who published it ; but the author received
none of it. All the money he ever received for the poem
JAMES R. I&ANIDALL. 665
was one hundred dollars in Confederate money from a pub-
lisher in New Orleans, with which he bought a much-needed
suit of clothes.
Mr. Randall has written other poems that enjoyed popu-
larity in the South, such as “There's Life in the Old
Iland yet,” “Stonewall Jackson,” “Idolon,” “Alexandria,”
“The Cameo Bracelet,” “John Pelham,” “Why the
Robin’s Breast is Red.” All these have had a temporary
newspaper popularity, but never having been collected in a
book, will soon pass out of recollection. A number of
manuscript poems were lost during the war. Since the war,
he has written little, besides what he considers his best
poem “At Arlington,” based upon an incident of peculiar
poetic interest. On the day that the graves of the Federal
soldiers buried at Arlington were decorated, a number of
years ago, a party of ladies entered the cemetery for the
purpose of placing flowers on the graves of thirty Confed-
erates. Their progress was stopped by bayonets, and they
Were not allowed to perform their mission of love. During
the night a high wind arose, and in the morning all the
floral offerings that had been placed the day before upon
the Federal graves, were found piled upon the mounds
under which reposed the thirty Confederates. That which
men had denied, nature had granted ; nay, had taken into
her own hands to perform.
Traveling north at the close of the war, on the train
the poet borrowed a newspaper from a young lady. The
lady was Miss Hammond, now the wife of Mr. Randall,
and the paper, the Augusta Chronicle, of which he became
and is now an editor. One of his daughters is named Mary-
land, so that Mrs. Randall said to her husband, “Should
the poem die and our daughter live ; or the daughter die
and the poem live, in either case you will have “My Mary-
land.”
The Washington correspondent of the Philadelphia
Ičecord recently sent the following to that paper:
666 JAMES R. RAND ALL.
“James R. Randall, who wrote ‘Maryland, My Maryland,”
is one of the most delightful men in Washington. You find it
difficult to believe that this quiet, liberal, broad-minded man
wrote that narrow, passionate appeal. He was very young, how-
ever. He is young still, but wiser and broader. He has come to
that point where he is willing to admit that that disagreeable
characterization ‘Northern scum ' in the last stanza was simply
put in for the sake of the rhyme. He would not write such a
song now. Yet he copies the old song again and again in response
to requests that come from the four corners of the earth, whither
its fame has spread. I saw a true copy of it yestel day. It is
rarely printed correctly. It is generally mangled in quotation,
and it is always mutilated in the newspapers. I hear that Mr.
Randall contemplates gathering it and half a hundred other lyrics
in a volume to be published shortly.”
To which Mr. Iłandall responds. in the Augusta Chronicle as
follows :
“I was surprised at the paragraph concerning me in the
Philadelphia Record. The gentleman who wrote it is a friend of
mine, and meant to do me a kindness ; but some of his deductions
took the color of his own sentiments and antipathies. I never
meant to impress him with the idea that I was ashamed of the
song of ‘Maryland,” or that, under the same provocation and
circumstances, I would not write it again. The whole thing was
based upon a statement of regret that the exigencies of 1 hyme,
compelled me to use a word in the last stanza of the lyric that
might seem to reflect offensively upon the Northern people as a
class. I am not likely to cease loving the State of my birth any
more than the State of my adoption. In remembrance of the
first named commonwealth, I have called one of my daughters
Maryland. In the soil of the last I expect to be laid at rest, some
day,
“Where thc grass above my grave will grow as long,
And sigh to midnight winds, but not to song!”
r. Randall resides in a pleasant home in Augusta,
Ga., where he is one of the editors of the “Chronicle and
Constitutionalist.” The cares of a large and increasing
family, and the incessant drudgery of newspaper work,
leave him no time to cultivate his poetic muse. As a news-
MARY ASHLEY TOWN SEND. 667
paper writer, he has gained distinction, and his letters
from Washington during the session of Congress have been
widely quoted by the press of the country.
IMARY ASEILEY TOWNSEND.
“ The Most Brilliant Woman in Wew Orleans ?”—Aze
Author meets IIer First Publisher—“ Kariffa " and
the “Captain’s Story”—“And You Should Kiss My
Eyelids"—Down the Bayou and other Poems.
IN the year 1877, while on my way to New Orleans, I
stopped over in Augusta, to see my editorial friend,
James R. Randall, then editor of the Augusta Chronicle.
Learning my destination he said to me, “I want you to
know, when you arrive there, the most brilliant woman in
New Orleans.” He then gave me a note of introduction to
Mrs. Mary Ashley Townsend. Upon my arrival at that
city, I was unable to call upon her, owing to my recent
indisposition. Mr. Randall's note was sent by a messenger.
Her surprise on reading it was only equaled by mine, on
receiving the following from her :
‘‘ 125 Carondelet Street, New Orleans.
MR. DERBY:
DEAR SIR —Upon my return home yesterday evening,
your card and Mr. Randall’s letter were handed me by my
daughter Cora. I cannot express to you the surprise, the
pleasure, the flood of memories which stirred my heart at
sight of your once familiar signature. I do not flatter my-
self that Mr. Derby retains the slightest recollection of
me ;, but if, as I suppose from the similarity of name, he
was the head of the firm of Derby & Jackson, of New York
city, a most pleasant remembrance of him—which has
668 MARY ASHLEY TOWNSEND.
never died out—is connected with my youth, my earliest
ambitions—my first book It is with sincere regret I
learn your ill health will deprive me of the pleasure of
welcoming you to my house this evening ; but may I not
be allowed to call upon you with Mr. Townsend ?
“If it will be convenient for you to have us do so this
evening, will you have the kindness to send word by bearer
at what hour P
“Very sincerely,
MARY ASEILEY TOWNSEND.’’
I found on meeting Mrs. Townsend that I had pub-
lished for her more than twenty years previons, a novel en-
titled “The Brother Clerks, a Tale of New Orleans,” by
Mary Ashley, which was the only name that I had known
her by.
It was very pleasant indeed to meet the author of that
book face to face, in her own delightful home in the Cres-
ent City. While there I learned for the first time that
Mrs. Townsend was also a poetess of considerable merit,
her volume of poems by “Xariffa” (her nom de plume)
having passed through several editions, from the press of
J. B. Lippincott & Co. She was the author also of a poet-
ical romance entitled “The Captain’s Story,” the merit of
which is testified to by autograph letters from Henry W.
Longfellow, Oliver Wendell Holmes, and William Cullen
Bryant.
Of her poem “Creed,” of which the following is an ex-
tract, John G. Saxe, in a letter to her, said, “I consider
it one of the finest poems in the English language.”
“I believe if I should die,
And you should kiss my eyelids when I lie
Cold, dead and dumb to all the world contains,
The folded orbs would open at your breath,
And from its exile in the isles of death
Life would come gladly back along my veins!
MARY ASHLEY TOWNSEND. 66%
“I believe if I were dead,
And you upon my lifeless heart should tread,
Not knowing what the poor clod chanced to be,
It would find sudden pulse beneath the touch
Of him it ever loved in life so much,
And throb, again, warm, tender, true to thee.
“I believe if on my grave,
Hidden in woody deeps or by the wave,
Your eyes should drop some warm tears of regret,
From every salty seed of your dear grief,
Some fair, sweet blossom would leap into leaf,
To prove death could not make my love forget.
“I believe if I should fade
Into those mystic realms where light is made,
And you should long once more my face to see,
I would come forth upon the hills of night
And gather stars like fagots, till thy sight,
Led by their beacon blaze, fell full on me!”
A new volume by Mrs. Townsend has just been pub-
lished by James R. Osgood & Co., under the title “ Down
the Bayou and other Poems,” of which that excellent
authority, the Critic, in a recent notice, says:
“The writer has, among other merits, one precious quality, viz.,
a quick preception of natural beauties, and of their relation to the
world of thought. To this she adds the grace of being able to
show you what she herself sees, and that with a delicate and skill-
ful tact. She comprehends the significance of the fair sights and
sounds which the summer day unfolds to her. Flowers, insects,
winds and waters awake in her no flat and simulated raptures,
but a reverent heeding of their sweet meaning. She wins us to
her mood, in which she says,
** All life seemed
Like the white fervor of a star
A. That burns in twilight skies afar,
Between the azure of the day
And gates that shut the night away.”
XLVI.
LITTLE, BROWN & CO.
Oldest book house in Boston—Augustus Flagg becomes a
Partner—Death of James Brown—“The Business he
loved so well”—Hillard's Memoir of Brown—Mr.
Flagg assumes Control—Active Career for quarter of a
Century—Anecdote of Charles Sampson—Important
Publications of the house—Russell of Charleston, and
Berry of Nashville–Anecdotes of Story and Kent—
“And then look out for thunder 1”—Choate not to be
dunned for 3,000 years—Augustus Flagg retires from
Business.
Th; oldest firm of book publishers and booksellers in the
city of Boston, and one of the oldest and most sub-
stantial in this country, is the house of Iittle, Brown & Co.;
their reputation, as great law-book publishers, and also
that of being at one time the largest importers of the best
editions of English books, is well known in this country
and in Europe.
The firm was founded in the year 1837, under the style
of Charles C. Little & James Brown. Mr. Augustus
Flagg became a partner in the concern in the year 1840,
since which time the style has been Little, Brown & Co.
Mr. James Brown died in the year 1855, greatly la-
mented. His unexpected death was a great shock, not only
to his intimate friends, but to the bookselling fraternity,
generally. Those of my readers who knew him personally,
will bear testimony to his fine presence and affable man-
ners, and agree with me that the eminence he attained in
the business he loved so well and which he adorned, easily
[670]
LITTLE, BROWN & CO. 671
placed him the acknowledged head, the most able repre-
sentative of the book-publishing fraternity in this country.
In George S. Hillard's memoirs of James Brown, pri-
vately printed, appear some descriptive letters from Europe,
in 1841. The following will interest my readers, picturing,
as it does, the London book world forty years ago :
“The London Coffee House, Ludgate Hill, besides
being one of the best houses in London, is the place
where Franklin lived, and I sat in the very stall where he
and Straham used to dine, and hold their political discus-
sions. I called several times at Dr. Johnson’s old home
in Bolt Court, and drank a glass of ale to his memory.
In the same dingy, dirty lane, is the printing-office
where Franklin worked journey-work, if you know what
that means. The building is occupied for the same
purpose now. I looked into Will's and Button’s also,
and did not forget the Boar’s Head, now the Saracen's,
made classic by Dickens as the haunt of the hero of Dothe-
boys Hall. Paternoster Row I was greatly disappointed
in. Instead of a fine street full of splendid bookseller's
shops, it is a narrow lane barely admitting a carriage :
dirty, dark, gloomy and disgusting.
“It is for the most part filled with booksellers; but
what gives a character to the whole lane is a large tallow-
chandler’s establishment, and the beef market. In this
mean street, however, as you know, are sold more fine
books than in any other in the world. Here, too, book-
sellers with their families live, and here, as elsewhere in
London, you meet the bookseller’s wife assisting in the
labors of the shop and busy with the pen, or assorting par-
cels for distant customers, and in discussing the compara-
tive value of the different editions of Boyle and Dumas;
and if you call to dine with her, you will find her at home,
also, in all matters which with us are thought to be a
woman’s exclusive province—the management of house--
hold affairs.”
Augustus Flagg, when quite young, entered the book-
Or
©
672 LITTLE, BROWN & Co.
store of Clarendon Harris, a well known bookseller in Wor-
cester, Mass. About the time he became of age, feeling
ambitious to find a larger field of action, he went to
Boston with letters from Mr. Harris to the principal
booksellers in that city—among others, to Little & Brown,
who toid him that at that time they were not in need of
additional clerical assistance, but, taking his address, said
they would inform him should a vacancy occur. Young
Flagg then went to New York, where he tried in vain to
secure a situation, and became so home-sick, that he would
have given anything to have been back on his father’s farm.
Finally, he secured a place with Robinson & Franklin,
then a well known book firm in New York, and where at
the same time George A. Leavitt became a fellow clerk.
He had been there but a fortnight, when Mr. James
Brown wrote that they wanted him to come on to Boston
immediately, they having a situation for him. This was
in the fall of 1838, and Mr. Flagg, soon responding, has
been identified with that firm ever since.
C. C. Little died in 1869, when Mr. Flagg became the
managing partner of the concern.
Among the standard important law publications of
Little. Brown & Co., are “Story on the Constitution,”
“Kent’s Commentaries,” and “Wheaton's Law of Na-
tions.” In their catalogue of general literature are the
‘‘Tife and Works of John Adams,” “The Works of
Edward Everett,” “Rufus Choate ’’ and “Francis Park-
man’s Historical Works.” Mr. John Bartlett, one of the
members of the firm, is also the author of a volume of
Eamiliar Quotations, a valuable and popular work.
Little Brown & Co. were the publishers of George Ban-
croft’s “History of the United States’’ in ten volumes.
They were also the first publishers of Prescott’s “Ferdi-
nand and Isabella,” which they ceased to publish when
the Harpers offered a larger copyright and became Mr.
Prescott's publishers. Subsequently Phillips, Sampson &
Co. offered a still larger copyright and became the pub.
LITTLE, BROWN & Co. 673
lishers of Prescott's Works. Referring to this change Mr.
Flagg recently said :
“Mr. Sampson came to see me one day, and we
talked about book publishing. I told him, among other
things, there is a great difference in publishers: some are
inclined to pay, what I call, ‘Money for glory.’ ‘Yes,’ said
Sampson, I know that ; I have paid twenty thousand dol-
lars, more or less, for glory. There is no money in it.”
‘That won’t do,” said I. “When Prescott's folks came in
and wanted me to take his histories, I told them I would
advance a thousand dollars a volume copyright, but I
could not afford to pay any glory money, as I thought I
had made sufficient reputation, and I preferred to have
less glory than to have my notes go to protest. The
troubles of 1857 had taught me a lesson. At that time most
every prominent house was obliged to take up both sides
of the bill-book. I made up my mind if I ever got through
that year, I would so shape the concern as to get along
without giving ‘notes, and from that time we have never
asked a cent of discount or borrowed any money. The
best investment a man can make is to pay his debts, and
after that he can make any investment he likes.”
Little, Brown & Co. were also the publishers of Daniel
Webster's Works, which were sold originally by subscrip-
tion, the copyright of which on the first edition amounted
to about forty thousand dollars. Mr. Flagg says the royalty
upon the sales has been a source of revenue to the family
ever since they were published. He thinks that Webster’s
Works are about the only published volumes of speeches
that have been a financial success; in which opinion, from
some of my own experience, I fully concur. As before
stated, Little Brown & Co. are large dealers in standard
English books. They were the first importers of the great
Encyclopedia Britannica, the retail price of which was nine
dollars/per volume, they having at the time the exclusive
sale in this country, and of which they sold large quanti-
674 LITTLE, BROWN & Co.
ties. The publishers, A. & E. Black, were astonished at
the great success of the work in America.
That Little, Brown & Co. created the market for the
best editions of English literature, there can be no doubt ;
they have always maintained that the taste of the public
would be improved and cultivated by introducing good
books. They saw clearly, very clearly, that if good English
editions could be offered to the American public at moder-
ate prices—for it must be remembered that at that time we
were hardly emancipated from the paper reprint, and the
yellow-covered literature—a great many more could be sold
-—books of sterling merit, and constant reference, and if
they could induce the English publishers to sell them five
hundred copies of a work at a little over cost of paper and
printing, there was a market here for their disposal. This
was Mr. Brown’s discovery ; this was his mission, and he
put it into practice by the pulchase of editions of such
works as Pickering's Milton, Dyce's Beaumont and
Fletcher, and the five editions of Gibbon’s Rome, and
Grote’s Greece, and other standard works, which from
time to time were added to their list, and offered to
the American public at a good deal less than they were sold
for in England. Mr. Flagg further says, in ante-bellum
times, that John Russell, of Charleston, South Carolina,
and W. T. Berry, of Nashville, Tennessee, sold more fine
books in proportion to the population than any other
cities in the United States. He also claims, that there are
more good libraries in Boston and vicinity than any other
locality in this country. He recently told me that Chief
Justice Story was a frequent caller at their book-store. He
would come in and lay out large supplies of old books,
principally works on civil law, volume after volume, in all
languages. He was always full of humor, and was so much
of a talker that it was hard for anyone to get in a word. One
time Chancellor Kent came into the store while William C.
Rives, of Virginia, with some other eminent gentlemen
were conversing together. Story and Kent had not met
LITTLE, BROWN & Co. 675
for a long time. Kent was also a tremendous talker, and
it was amusing to watch the race of words between them.
When Story would get the floor he would stick to it as long
as possible, then Kent would get ahead, struggling with
equal vigor to hold on. They seemed so delighted to
See one another, when they met, it was difficult for either
one to find an opportunity to speak.
Daniel Webster was a large buyer of costly English
books. His manners were generally very quiet, but some-
times he would get warmed up, and then look out for
thunder | He used to be annoyed by people watching,
and following him wherever he went. George Bancroft
was also a large book-buyer, buying everything he could
find pertaining to American history in every language.
Rufus Choate came into the store very frequently, and
he seldom resisted the temptation of purchasing fine books,
particularly classical works. One time he saw a number
of books he wanted for his library, and he didn’t feel as
though he could afford to buy them. Finally he could
stand it no longer and said, “I want those books, and I
will take them under one condition : that I shall not be
dunned for them under three thousand years.” He was
always as simple as a child. He would ask about books in
a most charming manner, though he knew a great deal
more about them than booksellers did.
Mr. Flagg, who has frequently visited Europe, where
he is well known, to purchase large invoices of the best
editions of books, recently went abroad to try the experi-
ment of buying the most expensive books, and see how they
would sell. The undertaking proved a great success.
In the year 1880, Mr. Flagg began to feel the effect of
over-work, and thought he would make way for the
younger men ; he therefore withdrew from active business,
with an ample fortune, the fruits of his well-spent life.
The present members of the firm are John Bartlett,
Thomas M. Deland, John M. Brown and George Flagg.
The style of the house, however, remains the same.
XLVII.
BIGELOW-GODWIN–CURTIS,
Bººm-ºsmº
JOHN BIGELOW.
The Pathfinder to the Rocky Mountains—Charles A. Dana
Protests—Bigelow has his Way—Both friends of
Tilden–United States Minister to France—Eactraor-
dinary Discovery of Franklin’s MSS.—Bigelow Edits
Franklin’s Autobiography—Friendly Advice to the
Awthor.
W THEN the Republican party was organized, in the year
1856, General John C. Fremont became its leader
and first candidate for the Presidency. A great interest
was manifested by intelligent voters to learn something
more than was commonly known about the life and public
services of the nominee of this new party.
I accordingly called upon Mr. John Bigelow, then the
managing editor of the New York Evening Post, a gentle-
man of great ability and fine literary culture, and well
equipped, as I knew, for such an undertaking, and proposed
to him to prepare, with all possible dispatch, a campaign
biography, which, after some hesitancy, he finally agreed
to undertake, and soon after delivered to me the manu-
script of a work entitled, “Memoir of the Life and Public
Services of John Charles Fremont, including an account of
his explorations, discoveries and adventures on five succes-
sive expeditions across the North American Continent, vol-
uminous selections from his private and public correspond-
ence, his defense before the court-martial, and full reports
[676]
JOHN BIG ELOW. 677
of his principal speeches in the Senate of the United
States.” The biography was heralded by the publisher as
“The Pathfinder to the Rocky Mountains and the White
House.” The general found the path to one if not the other.
The book contained a number of spirited illustrations
by Dallas, then a well known artist. Its publication was
opportune and tens of thousands were sold.
The author introduced the volume by saying:
“The engrossing and universal interest recently awakened in
the subject of this memoir, by the presentation of his name as a
candidate for the Presidency, is the Author's apology for the faults
of hasty preparation, which appear in the following pages. He
felt, however, that the public were more concerned with the matter
than with the manner of his work, and would pardon almost any-
thing in its execution more readily than delay. Under this im-
pression he has aimed at but two results—fullness and accuracy,
He has endeavored to lay before the reader every event in the life
of Col. Fremont, and the substance of every letter, report, or
speech of a public character that he has written or made, having a
tendency to enlighten the country in regard to his qualifications
for the highest honors of the Republic. The author is not con-
scious of having suppressed anything that ought to have been re-
vealed, or of having stated a single fact which he did not believe
susceptible of proof. To escape the suspicions, however, to which a
biography of a presidential candidate is necessarily exposed, he
has uniformly given official documents and contemporary evi-
dence of the events he records whenever it was practicable, that
his readers may have as little trouble as possible in adjusting the
measure of allowance to be made for the partialities of political or
personal friendship. A glance at the following pages will satisfy
the most cursory qhserver that it is no mere eulogy, but a faithful
record of the life of Colonel Flemont, prepared, if not with skill
and elegance, at least with diligence, and a conscientious regard
for truth.”
By a previous arrangement with General Fremont’s
confidential political advisers, Mr. Charles A. Dana, then
the managing editor of the New York Tribune,—recently
the organ of the Whig party—(as the New York Evening
678 JOHN BIG ELOW.
Post had been of the Democratic party), read the proof-
sheets of Mr. Bigelow’s biography of General Fremont as
they came from the printer’s hands.
One day, during the progress of the work, I received a
telegram from Mr. Dana to stop the press until he could
meet Mr. Bigelow, which he did the same day at my store on
Nassau Street, when he told him that it never would do to
publish an account of Fremont's duel, as it would turn the
Quaker element of voters against him. Mr. Bigelow said
in reply, that the omission of that incident in Fremont’s
life would be a more serious objection than its admission,
for the charge would be made of suppressing an import-
ant event in his history. Mr. Dana was very decided in his
opinions and plainly told Mr. Bigelow that if he published
such an item in the authorized biography of the Republican
nominee, it would defeat his election ; that he would take no
part in it, but would take a steamer to Europe.
Mr, Bigelow had his way. Mr. Dana did not sail for
Europe, and General Fremont was defeated, but for other
reasons, probably, than that of his fighting a duel. Curious-
ly enough, these two eminent publicists twenty years later
were acting again together, this time harmoniously in the
Democratic party, in the interest of Samuel J. Tilden,
and in direct opposition to the Republican party, of which
they were two of the founders. Both of them were the
confidential friends of Mr. Tilden, and each of them be-
lieved, with many others, that that eminent statesman was
elected President of the United States in 1876.
Mr. Bigelow first became an author in 1852, when he
published a volume called “Jamaica in 1850: or, the
Effects of Sixteen Years of Freedom in a Slave Colony.”
The book gave an interesting account of the author’s
experience during a tour of that island. Soon after the
inauguration of Abraham Lincoln as President of the
United States, Mr. Bigelow was appointed United States
consul at Paris, which office he filled with marked ability
JOHN BIGELOW. 679
until the death of Minister Dayton, in 1864, when he be-
came United States minister plenipotentiary.
“During his consulship, Mr Bigelow rendered an im-
portant service in making known to the Parisians the ex-
tensive resources of the United States, by the preparation
of a valuable work of statistics, which was published in the
French language. It bore the title : “Jes Etats Unis
d’Amérique en 1863 : Leur Histoire Politique y Leurs
Ičessources Agricoles, Industrielles et Commerciales.” The
information set forth in this work was well calculated to
serve the Government at home at the critical period of the
war, by exhibiting the means possessed by the country for
prosecuting to a successful issue the contest into which it
had been plunged by the rebellious states.”
Mr. Bigelow's eminent services while minister to France
are well known to the public. He resigned that position
in 1867, not, however, without making his countrymen
richer by securing the original manuscript of Franklin’s
Autobiography, which was published the following year
by J. B. Lippincott & Co., under the title, “The Life of
Benjamin Franklin, written by himself: Now first pub-
lished from original manuscripts, and from his printed
correspondence and other writings.” The singular and
extraordinary discovery of this most valuable of manu-
scripts is thus stated by Mr. Bigelow in his introduction :
“It is well known that Franklin prepared so much of the cel-
ebrated Memoirs of his life as was originally intended for publica-
tion, mainly at the solicitation of one of his most cherished friends
in France, M. le Weillard, then mayor of Passy. Toward the
close of the year 1789 he presented to this gentleman a copy of all
this sketch, that was then finished. At the doctor's death, his
papers, including the original of the MS., passed into the hands of
one of his grandsons, William Temple Franklin, who undertook
to prepare an edition of the life and writings of his grandfather
for a pāblishing house in London. For the greater convenience
* Duyckinck's Cyclopedia, Vol. 2, pp. 8, 11.
680 JOHN BIGELOW.
of the printer in the preparation of this edition—so goes the tra-
difion in the le Weillard family—William Temple Franklin ex-
changed the original autograph with Mrs. le Veillard, then a widow,
for her copy of the Memoirs, and thus the autograph passed
out of the Franklin family. At the death of the widow le Weil-
lard, this MS. passed to her daughter, and at her death, in 1834,
it became the property of her cousin, M. de Sénarmont, whose
grandson, M. P. de Sénarmont, transferred it to me on the 26th
of January, 1867, with several other memorials of Franklin, which
had descended to him with the MS. Among the latter were the
famous pastel portrait of Franklin by Duplessis, which he pre-
sented to M. le Veillard ; a number of letters to M. le Veillard
from Dr. Franklin and from his grandsons, William Temple
Franklin and Benjamin Franklin Bache, together with a minute
outline of the topics of his Memoirs, brought down to the telmi-
nation of his mission to France.
“I availed myself of my earliest leisure to subject the Memoirs
to a careful collation with the edition which had appeared in Lon-
don in 1817, and which was the first and only edition that ever
purported to have been printed from the MS. The results of this
collation revealed the curiotis fact that more than twelve hundred
separate and distinct changes had been made in the text, and
what is more remarkable, that the first eight pages of the MS.,
which ale second in value to no other eight pages of the work,
were omitted entirely.”
That Mr. Bigelow is thoroughly imbued with the spirit
of Benjamin Franklin is pleasantly illustrated in his
friendly counsels to “a comparatively young man * in the
following letter :
“The Squirrels, Oct. 4, 1883.
** MY DEAR MR. DER BY :
“I have examined your ‘record * * and for a compara-
tively young man as you still are, find it very satisfactory.
You must remember, however, that blood horses always
do their best running on the home stretch. Dr. Frank-
lin’s reputation was provincial until after he had passed
* See A. D. F. Randolph, ante, pp. 653.
PARKE GOD WIN. 681
your age. Cornelius Vanderbilt and J. J. Astor were com-
paratively poor men at sixty-five. What you have already
done teaches us to expect great things of you in the next
fifteen years. As you grow older, too, you will care less
for other people's opinion and more for your own, an ele-
ment of strength, which has been known to give birth to
magnificent futures, and the want of it to as magnificent
failures. When you are eighty and begin to think of re-
tiring from business, I hope it will be in my power to offer
you my congratulations, as it is to-day my privilege to
invoke upon you and yours God’s choicest blessings.
“Yours very sincerely,
** JOHN BIGELOW.”
PARKE GOD WIN.
Interesting History of France—George Ripley’s Literary
Tribute—“Out of the Past”—Fine Sonnet to James
T. Fields.
IF Mr. Parke Godwin would gratify his friends by com-
pleting his History of France, the first volume of which
was given us a quarter of a century since, he would not
only fulfill the promises, often to my knowledge made to
himself, but would also confer a boon to the readers of the
first volume of that work, which was given to the public
through the press of Harper & Brothers a long time ago.
The late George Ripley, in a lengthy review of this im-
portant work in the Tribune in 1860, said:
“Godwin’s History of France is remarkable alike for its afflu-
ent and appropriate erudition, for its complchensive grasp of the
principles of society, for its keen and subtle analysis of character,
for its penetration into the true spirit of the Middle Ages, for its
elevated tone of religious and humanitary sentiment, and for its
682 PARKE GOD WIN.
muscular strength of expression. It may justly claim an honorable
place among the great historical works which have so. proudly
signalized the present epoch and our own country.”
Mr. Godwin has also favored the public with a volume
of thoughtful and suggestive, critical and literary essays
which he calls “Out of the Past,” and which were originally
contributions to the Democratic Review and Putnam’s
Monthly. He is also the author of a valuable “Hand-
Book of Universal Biography,” and several translations
from the German. His latest work is the interesting
Memoir of his father-in-law, William Cullen Bryant, lately
published by D. Appleton & Co.
Mr. Godwin makes no claim to be a poet, but the fol-
lowing beautiful sonnet in memory of his friend, the late
James T. Fields, would be creditable to the best of son-
neteers :
“I cannot wish thee comfort in this hour
Of life's supremest sorrow ; for I know,
By aching memories, how little power
The best words have to mitigate a woe
With which, in its own bitterness alone.
The heart, amid the silences, must deal.
But here, where ocean makes eternal moan
Along its melancholy shores, I feel
How mightier than nature's loudest voice
Is that soft word, which to the ruler said,
Amidst ilis desolated home, ‘Rejoice
Thy dear one sleepeth : think not he is dead :
All death is birth from out a turbid night,
Into the glories of transcendent light.”
GEORGE WILLIAM CURTIS. 683
GEORGE WILLIAM CURTIS.
77te Howadji calls on Harper dº Brothers—Stop, Young
Man, don’t be in such a Hurry— Lotus-Eating and
Jºensett—The humorous Potiphar Papers—The Lovely
Young Maiden. “ Prue *—Editor-in-Chief of Har-
per's Weekly—Author, Journalist, Statesman and
Orator.
WHEN George William Curtis returned from his East-
ern travels thirty-five years ago, he brought with
him a manuscript account of his journeyings, which he
carried directly to Harper & Brothers, and introducing him-
self to the late Colonel John Harper, said to him that he
desired a publisher for his book of travels in Syria. The
colonel looked up at the spruce young traveller and said :
“We have just published a book on Syria.” “Then,” said
the embryo author, “you will not need mine,” and turned
to go. The colonel then said : “Stop, young man, don’t be
in such a hurry : let me look at your manuscript.” After
looking over a few of the neatly-written chapters, Mr.
Harper said : “We will publish your book, and you may
bring us all the manuscripts on Syria you choose, if written
as well as this.”
And thus Mr. Curtis’ “Nile Notes of the Howadji,”
which was written and brought with him from the Nile,
soon appeared from the press of Harper & Brothers. It
was the precursor of the “Howadji in Syria,” which was
soon followed by a charming volume entitled “Lotus-
Eating,” beautifully illustrated by his intimate friend,
the late John F. Kensett.
Of this book the London Wews said :
“Of such a land what new thing remains for prose-poet to
sing or word-painter to draw? The answer is, this little book—
the unrhymed poem—wild, willful, fantastic, but very beautiful—
of a wanderer from beyond the Atlantic, who has brought a fresh
684 GEORGE WILLIAM CURTIS.
eye and heart to see the wonders of Egypt and a master hand to
record them.”
I first met Mr. Curtis when he was connected with a
publishing house whose disastrous failure soon terminated
his career as a book publisher—involving the firm with a
load of debts, which he, being a special partner only, was
not legally obliged to pay, but he considered himself
morally responsible for the debts, and did pay every dollar
from the proceeds of the earnings of his pen and eloquent
lectures which became so popular throughout the whole
country.
In the year 1853, Mr. Curtis contributed to Putnam’s
Monthly, which had recently been established, and of which
he was one of the editors, a series of satirical sketches on
fashionable society, which obtained great popularity and
were afterwards published in a volume under their title,
“The Potiphar Papers.”
In 1856 Mr. Curtis entered the political arena, not as
an office-seeker or an office-holder, for he has never been
either, but a steady friend of all that is pure in politics. I
knew him first as a warm advocate for the election of John
C. Fremont; then again as the eloquent advocate for the
nomination of Governor Seward, at Chicago, in 1860; and
now, a quarter of a century later, his ringing voice and
facile pen still champion the cause of political reform.
That charming volume, “Prue and I,” is thus spoken
of in Mr. F. H. Underwood’s “Hand-Book of English Lit-
erature * :
“A pretty rill of a story runs through it like a musi-
cal little brook through a romantic valley. The pervading
sentiment is tender and pure. The lovely young matron
* Prue,” is the sharer in the thoughts and reminiscences
of the story-teller, as well as in his affection and measure-
less content. The style is as unpretentious and as lovely
as the story. If it were more musical its melody would
glide into verse. The sketches are full of the best fruits
of reading and travel, and preserve for us those picturesque
GEORGE WILLIAM CURTIS. 685
associations of the old world for which we look in the note-
book of tourists in vain.”
Mr. Curtis has been, for more than a quarter of a cen-
tury, the editor of Harper’s Weekly, which under his guid-
ance has become not only an influential factor in politics,
but emphatically what it claims to be—a journal of civili-
zation.
Mr. Curtis is not only universally known as an author,
journalist and statesman, but as a lecturer and orator, and
in my opinion, the most eloquent and graceful since the
voices of Phillips and Sumner have been forever silenced.
His lecture on Sir Philip Sydney is, the very embodiment
of graceful oratory.
Mr. S. S. Conant, the accomplished executive editor of
Harper’s Weekly, thus speaks of Mr. Curtis in an article
contributed to the Century Magazine :
“His devotion to journalism and political affairs has prevented
Mr. Curtis from pursuing authorship as a profession, if we are to
regard authorship as the writing of books; but although he has
put forth no volume since the publication of ‘Trumps,” the
readers of the “Easy Chair,” in Harper's Magazine, and on
“Manners upon the Road,” in Harper's Bazar, will recognize in
him the most charming essayist of the day. The delicate, grace-
ful humor of these papers, the purity of style, the wide range of
culture and observation which they indicate, but which is never
obtrusive. give them a distinctive character of their own. The
“Easy Chair' is the first part of the magazine to which the reader
turns. The author of Trumps,’ ‘The Potiphar Papers,” and
‘Prue and I,’ could hardly have failed as a novelist, had he
chosen to pursue the path of literature; but we will not regret his
choice, for while we have many novelists, where shall we look for
another name like his in the field of American journalism ?”
It is to be regretted that Mr. Curtis' talents are not
more utilized in the production of those graceful character
sketches, which he portrays so well. In that direction he
could, if he would, secure a fame akin to that of his well-
known personal friend, the late W. M. Thackeray.
XLVIII.
LOSSING—LESLIE—HAMMOND–WINCENT.
*=ºssºmºsº
BENSON J. LOSSING.
A “Pictorial Author”—The Field-Book of the Revolu-
tion—General Putnam chased by British Troopers—
Artistic and literary Life—Anecdote of Daniel Apple-
ton—Contracts with George W. Childs—General
JRobert E. Lee and wife—Lossing’s History of New
York City.
M R. LOSSING may well be called “ the pictorial au-
thor,” as he is the writer of many valuable histor-
ical books, prepared by himself with pen and pencil.
It is interesting to note the career of Mr. Lossing as
editor, artist, and author for nearly half a century.
The first time he saw a history of any kind was when
nearly fourteen years old ; an odd volume of Gibbon’s
‘‘ Rome,” which fascinated him to such an extent that he
imbibed a permanent taste for historical studies.
At the age of twenty years young Lossing edited a
literary paper in Poughkeepsie, N. Y., and wishing to
illustrate it, he paid the late Joseph A. Adams fifty dol-
lars for two weeks’ instruction in the art of wood engrav-
ing. Mr. Adams, it will be remembered, was the famous
wood engraver who illustrated Harper’s Pictorial Bible
forty years ago.
The Family Magazine, the first profusely illustrated
periodical published in the country, and issued by J. S.
[686]
BENSON J. LOSSING!. 687
Redfield, needing an editor, Mr. Lossing accepted an in-
vitation to become its conductor, and illustrator, which
circumstance fixed his residence in New York City, as a
professional engraver on wood.
He pursued the business about thirty years (twenty-six
of which were in partnership with Mr. Barrett) * at the
same time engaging in literary pursuits, and for many years
he did most of the engraving for Harper & Brothers, for
their illustrated publications.
Mr. Lossing’s first book was an Outline “History of
the Fine Arts,” published in 1840, which formed one of the
volumes of Harper's Family Library. In 1848 he began
his first great work, “The Pictorial Field-Book of the
Revolution,” and from that time to the present he has been
engaged in the production of illustrated works on American
History and Biography, and in making extensive contri-
butions to the magazines of the day—especially Harper’s
Monthly.
The “Pictorial Field-Book of the Revolution,” was con-
ceived accidentally and in this wise. In June, 1848, Mr.
Lossing was riding toward Stamford from Greenwich, Con-
necticut. Descending a steep declivity by a road which has
been cut deeply in it so as to make the descent gentle, he
perceived a flight of rough, irregular steps, formed of rocks
upon the side which were nearly concealed by bushes.
Standing at the door-yard gate of a house near by, was
an old gentleman, of whom he inquired the history of those
rocky stairs. “Why l’” said the venerable man, “there
is where General Putnam came down when chased by
British troopers, and escaped. I saw the performance.”
The informant was General Mead of the Connecticut
Militia, in the Revolution.
Mr. Lossing made a sketch of the locality, and was
deeply impressed with the thought that these steps, the
lingering relics of a stirring event in our Revolutionary
* Of the well-known firm of Lossing & Barrett.
6SS BENSON J. LOSSING.
history, offerel a prophesy of the fate of all other existing
remains of things and events of that period : to be cov-
ered up with the bushes of oblivion and lost to the future
historian.
Mr. Lossing conceived an irrepressible desire to go out
to the Revolutionary remains everywhere, make drawings
and descriptions of everything and every locality connected
with that great event of our national history and to pre-
serve them in a private book. Before he slept that night,
the plan of his Pictorial Field-Book of the Revolution was
formed. On his return home, he took two pieces of draw-
ing-paper, marked upon them the proposed size of the
page, then drew Some pictures in Sepia to show the pro-
posed mode of illustrating it, and with the title-page,
submitted the matter to the consideration of Harper &
Brothers. A contract was speedily concluded before a
drawing was made or a word written; and within a fortnight
afterwards Mr. Lossing was on his way to the site of the
battle-fields of the Revolution, gathering incidents with pen
and pencil. In this task he traveled over 9000 miles between
Canada and Florida. IIe drew most of his sketches on
the blocks for the engraver, and prepared the work complete
with his unaided hand and brain in the space of twenty-
two months. The work, containing 1500 octavo pages of
letter-press profusely annotated, and about 1100 illustra-
tions, was soon after published in two large volumes.
Washington Irving wrote to Mr. Lossing on its publica-
tion, as follows:
“Sunny Side, Jan. 4, 1852.
“I have the “Field-Book’ constantly by me for perusal and
reference. While I have been delighted by the freshness, freedom
and spirit of your narrative and the graphic effect of your descrip-
tions, I have been gratified at finding how scrupulously attentive
you have been to accuracy as to facts, which is so essential in
writings of an historical nature. As I observed on a former occa-
sion, there is a genial spirit throughout your whole work that
wins the good-will of the reader.
F3 FNSON J. LOSSIN G. 689
“I am surprised to find in how short a time you have accom-
plished your undertaking, considering you have had to travel from
l)an to Beersheba to collect facts and anecdotes, sketch and en-
grave, write, print and correct the proofs, and with all this to have
accomplished it in so satisfactory a manner.”
Mr. Lossing’s artistic and literary life has been a very
quiet and unobtrusive one. Most of the books written by
him have been the result of the requests or suggestions of
others. His “Field-Books” and his “Cyclopædias” were
conceptions of his own. His intercourse with publishers,
both as an engraver and author, has been chiefly of a busi-
ness nature, but of the most friendly character, each party
always entertaining the most cordial good will toward the
other when an acquaintance was established.
The circumstances of his first introduction to Harper
& Brothers were amusing, but resulted in lasting mutual
esteem, which continues with their descendants and sur-
vivors.
Mr. Lossing relates with pleasure his first introduction
to Daniel Appleton, the founder of the house of D. Apple-
ton & Co. The latter was about to republish a little
German book for children, containing about one hundred
small woodcuts. He inquired one day of Mr. Lossing
what he would charge to re-engrave them. The latter
replied : “When I go out to lunch I will call and give you
an answer.”
Mr. Lossing agreed to engrave them for four dollars each.
He heard nothing further concerning them for several
weeks. Meeting Mr. Appleton one day, he inquired of
him if he intended to have the engravings copied. The
latter was a man of few Words, and to those who were un-
acquainted with the kindness of his heart, he sometimes
appeared’rude in his curt manner of speech. To Mr. Los-
sing's question he answered, “Yes ; but you won’t do
them.” &
“Allow me to inquire why,” said Mr. Lossing.
690 BENSON J. LOSSING.
“Another engraver has offered to do them for two
dollars a piece,” responded Mr. Appleton.
“He has not examined them sufficiently to observe the
amount of work on them, and will shave himself,” said
Mr. Lossing, “ or he will shave you.”
“Good engraver,” was the reply.
Several months afterwards Mr. Appleton called on Mr.
Lossing with a copy of an English edition of “Puss in
Boots,” with colored lithographic plates, and inquired at
what price he would redraw and engrave them on a smaller
scale. Mr. Lossing made the same answer as before ; when
he called, he named his price.
“Do them,” said Mr. Appleton.
As Mr. Lossing turned to go, Mr. Appleton said curtly,
“Come here. Do you remember what you said about the
engraver that was re-engraving those woodcuts in the Ger-
man book P”
“Yes; I said he would shave himself or shave you.”
“Shaved me,” was the laconic response, and this was
all that was said. The pictures of “Puss in Boots” were
executed by Mr. Lossing and gave satisfaction.
Mr. Lossing was also the editor of “The Recollections
and Private Memoirs of George Washington,” by his
adopted son, George Washington Parke Custis, with a
memoir of the author by his daughter, which volume was
published by my firm in the year 1860. The proof-sheets
were read by the husband of the author of the Memoir, Gen-
eral Robert E. Lee, who called regularly to read them at
my office, in Nassau Street. General Lee at that time was
commandant at West Point, and this was the occasion of
my acquaintance with that distinguished military genius,
who was so soon to lead the Confederate forces.
Previous to the death of General Lee (Oct. 12, 1870),
the following letter was received from his wife :
“Lexington, Jan. 20th, 1869.
“MY DEAR SIR :
“I regret that I have nothing left of my father's that would
BENSON J. LOSSING. 69 |
suit for your friend's paper. He can extract from the ‘Recollec-
tions’ many interesting anecdotes, though this is not the time
when anything relating to the great Washington or his descendants
has the least interest for the public mind. The necessity for bury-
ing many things of value during the war, under ground, has so
defaced the few papers I was able to rescue from my home as to
render them illegible.
“Yours most respectfully,
‘‘MARY CUSTIs LEE.
“TO Mr. J. C. DERBY.”
The preparation of the “Pictorial Field-Book of the
Civil War,” in three volumes, was proposed to Mr. Lossing
to prepare by Mr. George W. Childs, in 1862, whose liberal
offer for a full history of the war was accepted, and in its
preparation the author visited every battle-ground of note
of the rebellion. It was published in 1868 in three pro-
fusely illustrated volumes.
“In gathering material for his three Field-Books, Mr.
Lossing has traveled about thirty thousand miles. Be-
sides the works already mentioned, Mr. Lossing is the
author of more than thirty historical works, all illustrated
by himself, or under his directions. His latest work,
“The History of New York City,” published by George E.
Perine, the well known engraver, is finely illustrated with
nearly two hundred portraits and vignettes, all on steel.
Mr. Lossing’s services in the field of historical litera-
ture have been recognized by institutions of learning and
by various associations. In 1855 Hamilton College, N. Y.,
conferred on him the honorary degree of A. M., and the
same degree was awarded him by Columbia College, New
York City, in 1870. In 1873 the honorary degree of
LL.D. was conferred on him by the Board of Regents of the
University of Michigan. He is a member of fourteen soci-
eties, historical, antiquarian and literary.
Ö92 TMIRIA M FLORENCE L'EST.I.E.
MIRLAM FLORENCE LESLIE (FRANK LESLIE).
“From Gotham to the Golden Gate ’—The Founder of
Illustrated Journalism—Commodore Vanderbilt and
Saratoga Lake—“Go to my Office and sit in my place”
—“I hear you want a good deal of Money”—A fifty
thousand dollar Friend in time of need—Excitement
caused by Garfield’s Death—A Brave Woman and the
Printers’ Strike—Rev. Dr. Deems and Rev. Dr. Tal-
madge—Thomas Nast's first Employment—A Woman’s
capacity for Business.
A/TRS. LESLIE'S first book was entitled, “Unexplored
l Regions of Central America,” published by Leypoldt
& Holt, in the English, German and Spanish languages.
Her next work, a book of travels on California, called
“From Gotham to the Golden Gate,” was published by
G. W. Carloton & Co.
Besides being an author, Mrs. Tueslie is also a publisher,
having the entire charge of the “Frank Leslie Publishing
House,” since her husband’s death. To those of my
readers who are not acquainted with the facts of her
accession to that large business, it will be interesting to
learn some parts of her career as a publisher, which to in-
troduce properly, will necessitate a few words concerning
her late husband :
Frank Leslie deserves to be called the pioneer and
founder of illustrated journalism in America. He possessed
the qualifications required to command success. Himself
an artist and engraver of rare merit, he understood the
business perfectly from its artistic side, and was constantly
introducing new improvements in engraving. Equally
complete was his knowledge of the business from the
literary standpoint. He understood what the great reading
public in this country wanted, and provided it, so that all
MIRIAM FLORENCE LESLIE. 693
tastes were satisfied by one or another of his many publica-
tions. He was master of the whole establishment, from
top to bottom, and understood every detail, so that if any-
thing went wrong in the engraving rooms, the press-room
or any other department, he could straighten it out at once.
He was never better equipped for the management of his
great business than at the close of 1879.
Mr. Frank Leslie was in perfect health within ten days
of his death, when a sudden ailment overtook him.
On being informed by his physicians that he must cer-
tainly speedily die, he went immediately to work to arrange
his business and simplify it as much as possible. He
dictated something like fourteen pages of instructions about
everything connected with his business. He closed by
saying, “When I am gone, I do not wish my wife to be
hampered by the disposal of the Saratoga property, for my
love for it, let her remember, dies with me. I think she
may sell it to advantage to such and such persons.”
This beautiful spot referred to by Mr. Leslie, was
located on Saratoga Lake. On one occasion I remember
accompanying the late Commodore Wanderbilt in a drive
to the cottage Interlaken, overhanging the lake, where we
were pleasantly received by the host and hostess.
Mr. Leslie gave instructions about everything connected
with the business, to his wife, to whom he said, “Go to
my office, sit in my place, and do my work until my debts
are paid.” A few days later the artist-publisher was dead.
Soon after, upon taking charge of the business, Mrs.
Leslie found that more than $100,000 in debts, remained to
be paid. The young widow, so little experienced in finan-
cial business, was appalled at the situation. The creditors
had to be met and satisfied, and that without delay.
A little office boy to whom Mr. Leslie had been kind,
came to/her one day and said, “Mrs. Leslie, I hear you
want a good deal of money to get out of your difficulties;”
and being answered in the affirmative, he continued, “I
have been up to see a lady who visits another lady who
694 MIRIA M FLORENCE I, ESLIE.
lives in a boarding-house where I am. She is very rich
and very charitable. She said she would come down and
See you.”
The next day the lady called at the office and talked
over the matter with Mrs. Leslie for a while, and became
much interested ; she came to see her again, and finally told
her to go and see her lawyers, and if she had the right kind
of security, she should have the $50,000, so much needed.
After waiting for two weeks, Mrs. Leslie received from
the lady’s lawyers the answer that the security was good
enough, but that during the three weeks while the property
was being transferred from the creditors to her, their client
would not be guaranteed. So they would not advise her to
make the loan. That was at five o’clock on Wednesday
afternoon. At ten o’clock on Thursday norming the com-
promise contract made with the creditors would have lapsed
unless the money was paid.
The next morning her good friend came to the office,
and during their conversation, Mrs. Leslie said, “My
jewelry is not much, but take all of that, take everything
that is possible ; ” upon which she decided to let her have
the money. A great many people came to her after she
made the loan, and said, “Mrs. Leslie, why didn't you
come to me? You might have had it for the asking.” This
was on the 1st day of July. On the 29th of December the
whole amount, $50,000 with interest, was paid, all within
four months.
The boy, through whose means Mrs. Leslie received her
timely aid, is still with her, and is getting to be quite an
artist. He brought some of his sketches to Mr. Leslie a
short time before the latter’s death, and wished him to take
him as an artist. Mr. Leslie said, “I can’t take you in.”
“Let me come in, in any capacity ?” replied the boy, “I
will go in and learn to draw better.” Said Mr. Leslie, “You
deserve to come into the establishment for your persever-
ance, if not for your artistic ability.”
Mrs. Leslie's good friend who loaned her the money,
MIRI AM FLORENCE LESLIE. 695
was a woman worth $3,000,000, her husband having a
joint interest with her. She was a noble, generous-hearted
lady. Her lawyers said she was the best business woman
they had ever known.
The excitement caused by President Garfield’s death
enabled Mrs. Leslie to pay off the debt so soon. It caused
the sale of 200,000 extra copies of her paper. The Presi-
dent died late on Monday evening, September 19, and the
Illustrated Newspaper had already gone to press when the
news arrived. Mrs. Leslie did not hesitate a moment. She
immediately ordered the presses stopped, destroyed the part
of the edition already published, set the whole force of the
establishment at work preparing a new edition with en-
gravings of the sketches sent over early Tuesday morning
by the artists at Elberon, and before Wednesday night
had on sale a paper full of illustrations of the death-bed
SC6. In 6S.
A week later she seized another opportunity. The
dead President’s body was to be conveyed to Washington
on the Wednesday after his death, and funeral services were
to be held in the Capitol on Friday, before the removal of
the remains to Cleveland for the final ceremonies. Mrs.
Leslie resolved to anticipate the usual day of publication
the following week, and deposit in Cleveland, papers con-
taining full illustrations of the scenes at Washington on
Monday morning. She sent for the president of the
American News Company, and communicated her purpose.
He was incredulous and doubtful, but she insisted that it
could be done and should be done, and it was. No less
than 30,000 copies of the Weekly were sent to Cleveland,
where they were sold so readily that it is believed as many
more could have been easily disposed of.
Mrs. Leslie occupies now quite an independent position,
having entire control of the establishment.
At one time a strike occurred in one of the depart-
ments, a short time since ; not on account of Wages, but
because the engravers were displeased with the foreman,
696 MIIRI AM FLORENCE LESLIE.
who told her one morning that there was a terrible strike
among them up-stairs, and they had threatened to throw
him out of the window. Mrs. Leslie overcame them by
saying, “I am ashamed of you to treat an engraver's
widow in this way. You owe me some allegiance.” The
strike only lasted two or three days. The strikers all
came back and worked all night.
There are nine different departments in the business,
and each head reports to her. Each publication has its own
editor and is just as separate and distinct as if it were
another establishment.
Rev. Dr. Deems was the founder of the Sunday Maga-
zine, but it is now edited by Rev. T. De Witt Talmadge.
Dr. Deems, however, still feels great interest in it, and
writes for it occasionally.
The editors of the different periodicals published by
Frank Leslie send in the subjects to her, when, if an edi-
torial is to be written, she says, “Write an editorial on
that,”—finding her sphere of usefulness is greater in
directing than in writing. She looks at the manuscript of
every new story in all the publications, having readers who
weed out all the trash and write a synopsis of the good
ones ; after which she runs them through herself.
One time, when in London, she called upon the pro-
prietors of the Illustrated London Wews, from whence Mr.
Leslie graduated. He told her that no person had ever
entered his establishment who was so thoroughly acquainted
with every detail of the business. Said he, “There are
questions you ask me that I cannot answer without calling
in my employees to consult them.”
Frank Leslie's establishment has been a great school for
artists; and nearly all who have attained prominence in
their profession have been connected with it. Joseph
Keppler, now the famous artist of “Puck,” was at one
time employed by Mr. Leslie.
Mr. James Parton, in his “Triumphs of Enterprise,”
relates the beginning of Thomas Nast's career as follows:
WILLIAM A. HAMMOND, M.D. 697
“Having now reached the age of sixteen, Thomas Nast boldly
applied to Mr. Frank Leslie for employment as a draughtsman.
Being remarkably short for his age, and of a boyish expression of
countenance, the publisher looked at him with astonishment.
“‘What, my boy,” said he, “So you think you can draw well
enough for my paper, do you?”
“‘I would like to try,” said the youth.
“‘Well,” rejoined Mr. Leslie, ‘you shall. Go down to the
Hoboken ferry-boat and bring me a drawing of the scene just as
the boat is coming into the dock.”
“This was putting the lad to a severe test. Mr. Leslie has
since told me that he had no expectation of the ‘little fellow's'
doing it, and gave him the job merely for the purpose of bringing
home to his youthful mind the absurdity of his application. The
young artist repaired immediately to the ferry-house, where he at
once proceeded to the performance of the difficult task assigned
to him. He struck boldly, however, upon the paper, and produced
a sketch, which, though far from correct, abounded in those
g aphic and vigorous touches so needful in popular illustration.
Mr. Leslie saw at a glance its merits and defects, and at once
made a place for him in his establishment, at boy's wages of five
dollars a week.”
There is not a detail throughout the various depart-
ments of the Frank Leslie establishment that Mrs. Leslie
does not understand. She has fully demonstrated woman’s
capacity for business.
WILLIAM A. HAMMOND, M.D.
An eminent Surgeon in a new Role—“FOvows how to tell a
Story”—Suppresses his first Novel— Great Book cm
Mervous Diseases—Dismissed as Surgeon-General—
Restored to Office by Act of Congress—“ The best
Jºriend the Soldier had"—“A long-delayed but com-
plete Triumph.”
DR. W. A. HAMMOND has recently appeared again
before the public in the role of a novelist, by the
publication of a Western romance, the scene of which is
69S WILLIAM A. HAMMOND, M.D.
laid in Colorado, and the story bearing the title “Lal,” it
being an abridgment of the heroine’s name.
Having read the novel in manuscript, I fully agree with
the Commercial Advertiser in the opinion, that “Dr.
Hammond knows how to tell a story entertainingly, and
that is the chief point in novel writing.” And also with
that excellent critical authority, the New York Tribune,
which, in a vely complimentary review of the book, says:
“Dr. Hammond's ess y in fiction will be regarded with espe-
cial interest on account of the celebrity which the author has ac-
quired in work of a very diflement kind; but it will not depend
for popularity on any outside considerations. It possesses the
great merit of being interesting from beginning to end. The
char ºcters are striking, and several of them have an element of
originality; the incidents are abundant and effective; the situa-
tions are well devised, and if there is not much intricacy in the
plot, there is a certain bustle and rapidity of movement which
answers instead of more complicated machinery. Here, it will be
seen, are some of the most important qualities of a good story;
and we risk nothing in predicting for ‘Lal' a notable success.”
In a recent conversation with Dr. Hammond about the
true province of a novel writer, he said:
“The true novelist aims at amusing his reader first. If he can
instruct at the same time, so much the better. No novel should
be written with the purpose of instructing as the prime object, the
most potent consideration. I hold that it is entirely and utterly
wrong to write a novel for the purpose of merely exposing one's
views of the world at large, or of some section of its economy in
particular. To amuse is the fitting function of a novel. Conse-
quently, in a good novel, more importance attaches to incident
than to plot, and I consider that Bret Harte and Julian Hawthorne
are the first novelists in America to-day, because they ploperly
appreciate this fact. They begin with incident, continue with
incident, and end with incident. It is, I know, difficult some-
times to get the public to seize the correct idea. Blet IIarte and
Julian Hawthorne were not recognizel as true artists all at once.
WILLIAM A. HAMMOND, M.D. (539
They have grown slowly but surely, and with them has been de-
veloped the novel in its highest form.
“In writing novels I have another object in view. I am
creating a new world for myself. The characters are new ac-
qua ntances. The women I almost fall in love with ; I learn to
like some of the men, to dislike others. Wherever I go I take
them with me. I converse with them in my room, in my carriage;
in fact, I never know what it is to be separated from them.”
Twenty years ago Dr. Hammond published a novel en-
titled “Robert Severne,” but the author was its best cus-
mer; he was unlike R. H. Stoddard, the poet,” for he bought
up the entire remainder of the edition printed, and safely
stored them away in his cellar, possibly to be used some day
as an anodyne for his patients—the kind of medicine the
du ‘jor of the Sparrowgrass Papers once gave Thackeray.
But Dr. Hammond must not be classed simply as a
writer of fiction ; he is the author of many important
medical works, the most important of which is “A Treatise
on the Diseases of the Nervous System,” which has been
translated into French and Italian, and is used as a text-
book in several English schools of medicine.
While Serving in the army, Dr. Hammond was ap-
pointed surgeon-general, by the advice of General McClel-
lan, from a list of competitors furnished by the United
States Sanitary Commission, who decided that he was the
man the army wanted, as soon as his name was men-
tioned.
He was dismissed from office by the Secretary of War,
tried by court-martial, not cashiered, and was afterwards
amply vindicated, as shown by the following letter from the
Secretary of War, and also the subsequent action of Con-
gress :
“WAR DEPARTMENT,
§ “WASHINGTON, Sept. 4, 1879.
“MY DEAR SIR : I am in receipt of your kind favor of the 2d
instant.
* See page 599.
700 WILLIAM A. HAMMOND, M.D.
“Upon reaching the conclusion, after a thorough examination
of your case, that a great wrong had been done you, and that you
were clearly entitled to windication, it was with great pleasure
that I recommended your restoration to the army.
“I can say to you with the utmost sincerity that I have never
performed an official act with a clearer conviction that I was doing
simple justice.
“I am glad to note the fact that the country, with scarcely a
dissenting voice, approves and applauds the act, and I beg most
heartily to congratulate you upon your long-delayed but complete
triumph. “Very sincerely,
- (Signed) ‘‘ GEO. W. McCRARY.
“Brig.-Gen. WILLIAM A. HAMMOND,
“Surgeon-General United States Army
“(retired), New York.”
The excellent authority, the late Rev. Dr. Bellows, the
efficient head of the Sanitary Commission during the war,
wrote as follows to the War Department about the time of
Dr. Hammond’s dismissal :—
“The Surgeon-General has brought order out of chaos in his
department, and efficiency out of imbecility. The sick and
wounded owe a hundred times over more to the Government and
the Medical Department than to all the outside influences and
benevolence of the country combined, including the Sanitary Com-
mission. Surgeon-General Hammond is the best friend the soldier
has in this country, because he wields the benevolence of the
United States Government. For God's sake, don’t thwart his zeal
and wisdom.”
Notwithstanding Dr. Hammond’s immense clientage of
patients from all parts of the United States, he finds time
to devote himself to literary work, as he intends to give in
the guise of fiction his views of those topics of the times
which are now attracting public attention.
FRANK VINCENT. J.R. 701
FRANK VINCENT, Jr.
The Land of the White Elephant–Wehemiah Adams and
the “Golden Fleece’—One Hundred and Fifty Thou-
sand Miles of Travels—“As many Burmese Waves as
I wanted”—“Through and through the Tropics "-
Wonderful ruins of Cambodia–New York the best
place of all.”
RANK VINCENT, J.R., the author of the now famous
work, “The Land of the White Elephant,” was at one
time clerk in a Broadway book-store. This was while yet in
his teens, when his health having become impaired by his
previous close application to study while at college, his
physicians ordered him on a long sea voyage.
Accordingly. in the year 1863, in company with the late
Rev. Nehemiah Adams, of Boston, he sailed from New
York in the clipper ship “Golden Fleece,” on a voyage
around Cape Horn to San Francisco, where, upon his
arrival, he decided to travel still further, with the resolu-
tion to penetrate Eastern Asia, not expecting, however,
that such a decision would take him away from home for
several years, during which time all the oceans and conti-
ments of the globe would be visited by him.
Within a total period of six years Mr. Vincent has
traveled by sea and land, “up, down and around ’’ the
world, a distance of more then 150,000 miles.
He has received a “grand gold medal of honor” from
the King of Siam, and decorations from the kings of
Burmah and Cambodia.
Mr. Vincent first met the King of Burmah in 1876.
He relates the following account of his first interview with
that potential monarch :
“It seems I had the honor to be the first American presented
at the Court of Burmah, and that the King, in his astuteness, gra-
702 FRANK VINCENT, JR.
ciously thought me a spy, or, at least, that I was visiting Burmah
for political purposes, and consequently had some influence with,
as well as instructions from, the government at home. It was in
vain I protested that I was a simple traveler, visiting different
countries for the purpose of studying their people and produc-
tions, and that I had journeyed about 12,000 miles more especially
to pay my respects to the King of Burmah, and to see the wonder-
ful white elephant, about which I had read so much in my own
country. These complimentary avowals were to no purpose, for
it was quite evident his Majesty thought politics were surely my
main object. After the usual questions concerning my age, busi-
ness, residence and travels, the King said he wished me to convey
to my government the sentiment that he had a great partiality for
Americans, and wished them to come over and colonize in his
dominions. In reply, I promised to make his wishes known to
the proper American authorities, but this did not seem to be suffi-
cient, for he answered that he would retain me in Mandalay while
I wrote, and until word came from America. At this I demurred,
of course, when his Majesty said that if I would remain he would
give me a house, living, and as many Burmese wives as I wished
(a rather tempting offer, for the women of the upper classes are
pretty, intelligent and modest), and furthermore that he would
make my fortune. In the flush of the moment, I felt myself fast
becoming a Burmese, with a saving faith in Buddha, and the royal
umbrella as my natural inheritance. His Majesty wished to make
also a commercial treaty with America, and my services would be
indispensable. Thus were alluming nets spread about my ingenu-
ous soul! Still I was not then prepared to enter the King's ser-
vice; the idea was too novel, the change—from democracy and
woman suffrage to despotism and white elephants—too amazing.
“I must have time to consider his Majesty's gracious offers,” said I
to the interpreter. “You will never have a better chance,” was
returned from the King. Seeing me still reluctant, his Majesty
condescendingly offered to make me ‘a great man –to give me
high rank among his own nobles and princes. I found myself
waxing preternaturally filial and patriotic, and answered that my
duty was first to my parents and next to my own country, and
that I would return to the latter and consult with the former, and
if they were willing I should be most happy to accept his mag-
nificent and gracious terms. He replied ‘it might then be too
late.” And there the matter dropped, and the conversation was
FRANK VINCENT, J.R. 703
changed to other topics, though the King was evidently not a
little vexed at my obstinacy, and doubtless thought me mad or
certainly very foolish.”
Mr. Vincent, in recently speaking of his large experi-
ence in traveling all over the world, said :
“I had rather live in New York than any other city;
the United States, than any other nation ; and America,
than any other continent. There is nowhere else such a
business street as Broadway, such a palace line as Fifth
avenue, and such a park as Central. Our hotels, theatres,
schools, our asylums, hospitals and benevolent institutions,
our elevated railways, fire departments and seaside resorts
are unparalleled.”
Mr. Vincent has published four books, “The Land of
the White Elephant,” “Through and Through the Tropic,”
“Norsk, Lapp, and Finn,” and a monograph on “The
Wonderful Ruins of Cambodia.” The greater part of the
various honors which have come to him, have been in recog-
nition of his Exploration of Cambodia, and in his book
“The Land of the White Elephant,” is found the only
complete account in English of the wonderful remains of
antiquity there situated. This book is now in its sixth edi-
tion, two editions have been published in London, and sum-
maries have been issued in France and Germany.
Mr. Vincent is a son of a well-known New York mer-
chant * who founded the extensive dry-goods house of
which Bates, Reed & Cooley are the present representa-
tives. He is an old and intimate friend of mine, and
takes great pride in the enterprising young traveler who
bears his name.
* Frank Vincent, Sr., Tarrytown, N. Y.
|XLIX.
ROSWELL SMITH-THE CENTURY CO.
One of the projectors of the “Century”—Bold enter-
prise in the publishing business—“ What hath God
Wrought !”—Dr. Holland an experienced Journalist—
Great Success of the “Century "-Sport with Gun
and Rod — President, Secretary, Treasurer and
JEditors.
Roswell SMITH, who was one of the original pro-
jectors of The Century Magazine, and who has al-
ways directed its business affairs, first as publisher, and
now as President of The Century Co, inherited from his
father a confidence in the value of literary property, and
an instinct for bold enterprise in the publishing business.
In 1829, his father, Asher L. Smith, was engaged in
teaching, with his uncle Roswell C. Smith, in Providence,
Rhode Island. Being dissatisfied with the text books then
in use, his uncle prepared a series of school books for his
own classes, and tested their usefulness while they were
still in manuscript. Of these books one became especially
famous as “Smith's Grammar,” After Webster's Spelling-
Book it is believed to be the most successful school-book
ever published in this country.
Asher Smith was the first to recognize the utility and
commercial value of his brother’s manuscripts. He urged
their publication, and undertook himself to guarantee to
the author $10,000 on the copyrights, during the first ten
years, after which time the brothers were to share the prof-
its. *
[704]
ROSW ELL SMITH. 7();
Roswell Smith remembers hearing his father say that
when the contract to that effect was ready for the signa-
tures, John Whipple of Providence, who had drawn it up,
advised him not to sign it, adding, “That is a great deal
of money to guarantee for something which has no present
value.” For those days, it was a transaction of unusual
daring and enterprise.
Asher Smith took upon himself the heaviest part of the
work of introducing the books, and by his energy contrib-
uted to the success of his brother’s publishers, Spaulding
& Storrs, of Hartford.
Afterward the series was published by Paine & Bur-
gess, of New York—later Daniel Burgess & Co. Mr.
Burgess, it will be remembered, was one of the founders
of Plymouth Church, and an early and devoted friend of
Mr. Beecher. John W. Lightbody, whom I had educated
to the book business in Auburn, was head clerk in the
store.
Richard A. Storrs was a member of the firm of Daniel
Burgess & Co. from Aug. 15, 1852, to May 1, 1856. Mr.
Storrs has been the well-known deputy comptroller of the
city of New York, since March, 1864, having previously
been connected with the Finance Department from 1857.
When Roswell Smith was fourteen he left his father’s
farm and came to New York, where he acquired his first
knowledge of the publishing business, in the employ of
Paine & Burgess. After three years he returned to Provi-
dence to pursue the English and scientific course at Brown
University. He then studied law with Thomas C. Perkins,
at the time one of the ablest men at the Bar, in Hartford.
When he reached his majority he removed to Lafayette,
Indiana, and shortly afterward began to practice law.
There hº married, in 1852, the only daughter of Henry L.
IEllsworth, the first Commissioner of Patents, who received
his appointment from President Jackson, continuing in
office until Poik’s administration.
The first patent for the Morse telegraph was granted
706 TOSWELL SIMITH.
by Commissioner Ellsworth, whose young daughter (now
Mrs. Roswell Smith) dictated the first message sent over
the perfected Morse telegraph. The message, which was
suggested by her mother, was : ‘‘What hath God wrought !”
In 1870 Roswell Smith, after visiting Europe, where he
traveled in company with Dr. J. G. Holland, took up his
residence in New York, and in connection with Dr. Hol-
land and the firm of Charles Scribner & Co., founded
Scribner's Monthly, now the Century Magazine.
As we have seen, he was not a novice in the publishing
business, having been in its atmosphere from childhood.
Of course the new magazine firm (Scribner & Co.) had
the counsel and help of all the partners in the house of
Charles Scribner & Co., which then included Charlos
Scribner, Sr., Andrew C. Armstrong and Edward Seymour,
and afterwards their successors, Scribner, Armstrong &
Co. and Charles Scribner’s Sons,
But the controling interest in the stock of the magazine
publishing company was from the first held by Dr. Holland
and Roswell Smith. Dr. Holland, an experienced journal-
ist as well as the author of many popular books, was editor-
in-chief, while Roswell Smith assumed the business man-
agement. His influence was the dominant one in shaping
the business policy of the company, and to this policy
must be attributed very much of its success. Possessed
of unbounded faith, extraordinary energy and great fertil-
ity of resource, he threw himself enthusiastically into what
was recognized to be a difficult venture.
The magazine was a success from the first. In 1873, at
his suggestion, the company began the publication of St.
Nicholas, the children’s magazine, with Mrs. Mary Mapes
Dodge as editor.
In the face of the memorable panic of that year, fol-
lowed by stagnation in trade all over the country, he con-
ceived the policy of buying up the numerous other period-
icals for young people and consolidating them in St
Nicholas. In quick succession Our Young Folks of Bos-

IROS WELL SMITH. 707
ton, The Little Corporal of Chicago, The School-day Maga-
zine and Children’s Hour of Philadelphia, and several
others of less note, were merged in their younger rival.
All this involved the expenditure of a large sum of
money at a time when the business of the company had
hardly begun to pay a profits and when the outlook was ex-
ceedingly dark for all publishing ventures, but the results
justified his foresight and his policy. St. Nicholas steadily
grew into a larger circulation than had rewarded any of its
predecessors in the same field.
After he had purchased Dr. Holland’s stock in 1881, he
was offered the Scribner interest as well. Again, he did
not hesitate, but boldly shouldered the whole, notwith-
standing the latter purchase was coupled with the condi-
tion that the name of the company and of its principal
magazine should be changed, and his most intimate busi-
ness friends were of the opinion that no periodical could
undergo such a change, without great loss, if indeed it
should escape financial wreck.
But the result again justified his business policy, for
the circulation of the magazine, instead of falling off,
steadily increased from the issue of the first number under
the new name, until its circulation in America is now con-
siderably more than 100,000 copies, with an additional sale
in England of many thousands. Indeed, the idea that an
American periodical could win a large circulation in Eng-
land originated with Roswell Smith ; at least he was the
first successfully to test it, when more than ten years ago
he personally arranged for the sale of both of the com-
pany’s magazines in England.
Gradually Roswell Smith has extended the business of,
The Century Co. in the line of special book publication,
among its principal works being, “The Spiritual Songs
Series” of Hymn and Tune Books by the Rev. Dr. Charles
S. Robinson of which more than three hundred thousand
copies have been sold, and “Sport with Gun and Rod,” a
sumptuous illustrated volume, sold by subscription, which
708 ROSWELL SMITH.
has been a great success, and bids fair to become the stand-
work on American game. The book was compiled and
edited by Professor Alfred M. Mayer, of Stevens Institute.
Among the contributors is my amateur sporting friend
Charles E. Whitehead, the well-known author of “Wild
Sports of the South,” and translator of “Gerard, the Lion
Killer,” published by my firm in 1860 ; also A. R. Mac-
donough, Esq., the honored secretary of the Century Club,
whose trout-fishing experience and interesting contribu-
tions to magazine literature are well known. But the most
important book enterprise of the Company is the radical
revision of the English “Imperial Dictionary.” When
completed it will be practically a new work, combining
with the excellent features of the Imperial, the best work
of American scholarship, and thousands of new words and
illustrations.
The success of The Century Co. has been due not only
to Roswell Smith and the men whose names have been
mentioned, but also ſo those whom his business sagacity
has called to his assistance and to his policy in pursuance
of which the principal workers have become shareholders
in the company. He has also inaugurated a plan whereby
a portion of each year’s profits is divided among all the
employees.
The present officers of The Century Co. are Roswell
Smith, President, Frank H. Scott, Treasurer, and William
W. Ellsworth, Secretary. Since the death of Dr. Holland
in October 1881, Richard Watson Gilder, the well-known
poet, and author of the volumes “The New Day” and
“The Poet, and his Master,” has filled with great skill
and literary ability the editorial chair of the Century
Magazine, having been Dr. Holland’s assistant from the
beginning.
L.
SOME GENERALS WHO BECAME AUTIORS,
The hero of Lundy’s Lane—Author calls on the Lieuten-
ant General—“How do you spell it, sir?”—Interesting
Letter to Thurlow Weed—Sherman's Army marching
2nto Washington—The General salutes Secretary Serp-
ard—Sherman’s “Memoirs arritten by himself”— Gen-
eral Joe Johnston a nodest Historian—Interesting
letter from General Sherman—“Military Operations
of General Beauregard”—An “Independent " opin-
ion of the book—Editor of the Evangelist interviewes
General Beauregard—“Oh, yes—I’ear of Li–1 spek
of 'im to Bo’rgar”—An interesfing Biography—Rev.
D. Y. Junkin, D. D.—A Presidential Candidate—
* The Democrats have made mo Mistake this #7), le "—
The Battle of Gettysburg—“ Trust in God and fear
nothing.”
GENERAL WINFIELD SCOTT, the hero of Lun-
dy’s Lane, was not only the author of the best treatise on
infantry tactics, at the time of their publication, but he
also wrote his autobiography, which was published two
years before his death under the title of “Memoirs of
Lieut. General Winfield Scott, written by himself.”
It is an interesting circumstance, as will be seen by the
following letter, that so long ago as 1865, General Scott
urged the late Thurlow Weed to write his autobiography, his
own having been published the year previous, and in the
reading of which, as may be imagined, Mr. Weed,—his
life-long personal and political friend,-was greatly inter-
[709]
71() GENERAL WINFIELD SCOTT.
ested. Mr. Weed's own autobiography was published
twenty years later.
“New York, April 21, 1865.
“DEAR SIR:—I read a little faster than I recovered vision.
Your very interesting letters from Europe will deserve a place in
every American Library. This is my candid judgment, indepen-
dent of the frequent mention in the book, with honor, of my
name. Two paragraphs near the close of the book describing
your first entrance into New York, remind me of Franklin's en-
trance into Philadelphia and excite the hope that you may favor
the world with a full autobiography.
“I cannot expect to live long enough to read the work, but
you can give it the power of exciting thousands of smart boys to
conquer difficulties in careers of distinguished usefulness.
“With greatest esteem, yours truly,
** WINFIELD SCOTT.
** THURLOW WFED.”
An amusing incident, personal to myself, occurred in
the early part of the late civil war, in connection with Gen-
eral Scott. I was entrusted with a dispatch from the Sec-
retary of State to the Lieutenant General, who had retired
from active service, and was at that time a resident of
Elizabeth, New Jersey. I was duly impressed, as a matter
of course, with the General’s magnificent proportions and
austere demeanor when ushered into his presence.
After stating that I had come with a special message
from Mr. Seward, he asked my name. I told him it was
Derby. “How do you spell it, sir?” said he. I spelled it
the usual way. He then said that my name was not Derby,
but that it was Darby, which, as we all know, is the Eng-
lish pronunciation of the name. I did not dispute him.
“General Scott,” Mr. Seward once said in response to
one of his guests who had mentioned his name, ‘‘ was most
wise and just in his conception of the first campaign of the
war. Well would it have been for the country had his judg-
ment prevailed—the war, instead of lasting five years,
would have been confined to three. But the “On to Rich-
GENERAſ, WILLIAM TECUMSFH SHERMAN. 7 || 1
mond’ clamor was too much for him, as well as for the ad-
ministration.”
“At the final council before Bull Run,” Mr. Seward
continued, “I was asked by the President if I assented to
the proposed movement. I said : “We have heard from
all the officers present excepting General Mansfield. I
would like to hear his opinion.” Mansfield agreed substan-
tially with the others in favor of the advance. Mr. Lincoln
then turned to General Scott, who had been sitting in
silence. General Scott said : ‘Mr. President, in view of
the opinions of the officers present and of the outside po-
litical pressure upon the administration, I withdraw my
objections to the advance.’”
GENERAL WILLIAM TECUMSEEI SEHERMAN'S
imposing entry into Washington with his victorious army,
on their return from their “March through Georgia,” will
long be remembered by those who were witnesses of that
thrilling event. Happening to be in Washington on that
occasion, I accompanied the Secretary of State from his
residence to witness the grand ovation to the returning
veterans. At the head of one of the divisions was my old
time friend and neighbor, the gallant General Henry W.
Slocum, now Congressman-at-Large for New York State.
Mr. Seward had recovered sufficiently from his wounds,
on the 23d of May, to enable him to sit at a window near
Lafayette Square and witness the grand review of the pass-
ing column, as it moved up the avenue.
General Sherman, at the head of the army, being in-
formed that Mr. Seward was among the spectators, he im-
mediately rode to the window where the latter was resting,
and rising in his stirrups to his full height, removing his
hat, saluted the Secretary of State in a very profound man-
ner. This mark of respect to Mr. Seward was made the
more significant by the General’s refusal, a few minutes
later, to take the proffered hand of another member of the
Cabinet.
The preceding incident is referred to by General
712 GENERAI, JOSEPH E. JOHNSTON.
Sherman in his “Memoirs, written by himself,” of which
an account is given in another part of this volume.*
GENERAL JOSEPH E. JOHNSTON had on the
previous month surrendered his army to the victorious
Sherman, and on such terms as were satisfactory to both
generals, if not to the administration at Washington.
In the year 1873 General Johnston brought his MS. to
the house of D. Appleton & Company, with whom I was
then connected, for publication. Probably none of the
distinguished generals of the Confederate army was more
respected than the author of this book,-the management
of the sale which was placed in my hands,-the number
sold reaching many thousand copies.
The modesty of the general was only equalled by his
bravery, as will be seen by the following preface, the short-
est one that I have ever seen published. The title of the
book was “General Joseph E. Johnston’s Narrative of
Military Operations directed during the Late War between
the States.”
The preface reads: “I offer these pages as my contri-
bution of materials for the use of the future historian of the
war between the States.”
The above title page and preface is all that the gallant
Confederate officer had to say in introducing his interest-
ing narrative to the public. Shortly before its publica-
tion I received the following very commendatory letter
regarding its publication :
“HEADQUARTERs ARMY of THE UNITED STATEs, !
Washington, D. C., Oct. 31, 1873.
‘‘IDear Sir :
“I have your favor of the 30th, repeating what you said to
me in person yesterday, that your house have for publication the
MS, of General Johnston's narrative of the military operations di-
rected by him during the late war between the States. Without
the least hesitation I advise its immediate publication, for I be-
lieve it will have a most extensive sale at the North as well as
* See ante, page 184.
G|ENERAL G. T. BEAU REGARD. 713
South, and even in Europe. Don’t wait for the slow progress of
getting subscriptions. I know plenty of men who would buy the
book instantly, who would not subscribe. General Johnston is
most favorably known to the military world, and is regarded by
many as the most skillful general on the Southern side. He is
also ready with his pen, and whatever he records will receive the
closest attention by students of the art of war on this continent,
and will enter largely into the future military history of the civil
W3. I’. *
“W. T. SHERMAN,
‘‘ General.”
GENERAL G. T. BEAUREGARD may properly be
placed in the list of recent authors, for although the
work recently published by Harper & Brothers, entitled
“The Military Operations of General Beauregard, in the
war between the States,” was written by his chief of staff,
Major Alfred Roman; most of it was dictated and all in-
dorsed by him as his own. Having read the work in man-
uscript, I can very readily concur with the leading critics,
as to the interest and importance of the narrative, of which
the New York Independent in its review of the work, says:
“ though its two large Volumes are somewhat appalling to
the general reader, yet it is never dull; and in the dignity
of its tone and the weight of its contents it is superior to
the Memoirs of Lee, the two Johnstons, Jackson, Duck
Taylor, Hood, and other Southern generals, which they or
their friends have written.”
Rev. Henry M. Field, D.D., in one of his interesting
letters to the New York Evangelist, writing from New Or-
leans, the home of General Beauregard, says :
“Among the letters of introduction given to me in Washing-
ton by General Gibson, Senator from Louisiana, was one to Gen-
eral Beatregald, who did me the honor to call upon me. Just
before leaving New York I had received from the Harpers two
octavo volumes containing his military history, so that his story
was fresh and familiar, and I felt increased interest in receiving
one who had been so conspicuous a figure in the great struggle.
714. GENERAL G. T. BEAU REGAIRD.
As he entered the room I observed, as I thought, a resemblance
to another illustrious Frenchman, whom I had met in Cairo, two
years before—M. de Lesseps. I speak of General Beauregard as a
Frenchman, for though a native of New Orleans, as were his
father and grandfather before him, yet his father was born hete
when Louisiana belonged to France, and continued to live hele
when it was ceded to Spain, and when still later it was ceded to
the United States ; so that, while living in one and the same city,
he had lived under three goverdments, requiring three allegiances.
In such changes one could hardly expect a very pronounced loy-
alty from father or son. General Beauregard told me that he
could not speak English till he was twelve years old. That in a
civil war he should cast his lot with the people of his own State,
whose language he spoke, is less surprising than the contrary
would have been.
“It was a new experience to find myself face to face with the
man who had fired on Fort Sumter, and who had won the first
battle of the war. As I led the way to these eventful periods of
his career, of course not to provoke controversy, but to draw him
out, he spoke of them not boastfully, but freely. I was especially
interested to hear the details of the Battle of Bull, Run. It was a
curious coincidence that the two commanders in that battle, Beau-
regard and McDowell, had been classmates at West Point, and
that, having been students in the art of war, in the same military
school, under the same teachers, were now to be pitted against
each other in the field. To my remark that military authorities
had said that McDowell's dispositions for the battle were excel-
lent, but were defeated by those unexpected and inexplicable
complications which often defeat the best plans in war, he an-
swered that ‘ his fatal mistake was in not attacking the force the
first day;” that he was then greatly superior in force, and that if
he had attacked then, he (McDowell) would have smashed him
But the delay of two or three days gave him time to bring ten
thousand men from Richmond, and other reinforcements from the
army of Jo. Johnston, so that he was able to take the offensive.
“He described very vividly the crisis of the battle, when the
latter force was coming on the ground. He saw a movement in
the distance of troops approaching, but could not at first tell
whether they were friends or foes. The flag then used by the
Confederates differed but little from that of the Union; it was not
GENERAL WINFIELD SOOTT HAN COCK. 715
easy to distinguish the stars and bars from the stars and stripes.
It was a hot day in July, and the flag hung by the staff. For a
few minutes he was in intense anxiety. At length a light breeze
caused the drooping ensign to unroll, and as it was flung out by
the wind he recognized the flag of the Confederacy, and instantly
despatched his officers in every direction to order a general ad-
vance, and the day was won.”
Referring to General Beauregard’s well-known reputa-
tion as a leader, especially among his own people, reminds
me of the following anecdote which well illustrates
Creole characteristics so faithfully portrayed by George
W. Cable.—“The ‘late unpleasantness’ was under dis-
cussion between three Louisiana Frenchmen and a Wir-
ginian, and the Creoles, with that idol-worshipping of local
greatness peculiar to the South, were speaking of Beaure-
gard as if he had been the great central figure of the war.
It was ‘Bo’rgar’ this and ‘Bo’rgar’ that, until the Vir-
ginian’s breath was taken away.
“‘What 'bout Robert E. Lee ?? lie finally gasped.
* Wasn’t he round thar summers 'bout that time P’
“‘Li ?” said a little Creole, inquiringly. “Never 'eard
of 'im. Alphonse, you ever 'ear of Li ?”
“‘Neware,” from Alphonse.
“The Virginian turned in despair to the third Creole :
“‘And you, sir?”
“‘Oh, yez—I 'ear of Li-I spek of 'im to Bo’rgar—
Bo’rgar tink very 'ighly of 'im.’”
GENERAL WINFIELD SCOTT EIANCOCK, al-
though not the author of any book, he has been the subject
of a very interesting biographical work.
Soon after the nomination of General Hancock for the
Presidency by the Democratic party, I waited upon that
distinguished military hero with the following note from
his personal and political friend, the senior member of the
house of D. Appleton & Co. :
716 GENERAL WINFLELD SCOTT HAN COCK.
“July 7, 1880.
“ MY JOEAR GENERAL :
“Allow me to introduce to you Mr. Derby, who will look over
the MS. to which you refer in your note of 3d.
“Mr. Del by has great experience in such matters.
“Very truly,
“W. H. APPLETON.”
General Hancock received me very courteously, and
after talking over the object of my visit, referred me to the
family of Rev. Dr. Junkin, they having in their possession
the manuscript biography which had been prepared some
months previous to the latter’s death.
I immediately went to Newcastle, Pa., where Mrs.
Junkin then resided, and learned that her husband had
left in manuscript an elaborate and extended account of the
life and public services of his hero and political idol, Win-
field Scott Hancock.
Rev. D. X. Junkin, D.D., was engaged during many
years in the preparation of—what was to him a labor of
love—the life of his hero. Esteeming General Hancock
above all other men, he confidently believed, up to the
day of his death, that the American people would event-
ually pay just tribute to the statesman-like qualities, the
stanch integrity, the magnanimity, and the patriotism of
his hero, by elevating him to the highest executive position
within their gift.
Having arranged for the manuscript, we engaged Mr.
Frank H. Norton, a literary gentleman who was well qual-
ified, to prepare the matter in a proper form for publication
as a campaign Volume.
Mr. Norton, on completing the work, said in his pre-
face :
“General Hancock's single minded patriotism, his deep sense
of the duty of man to his brother man, his contempt for the em-
ployment of narrow, vicious, and degraded methods to sustain
selfishness and illegitimate ambition, his remarkably acute and
just perceptions of the relations of things, his comprehensive
GENERAL WIN FIELD SCOTT HAN COCK. 717
*
accumulation of knowledge, and the natural wisdom which has
rendered his ability and his knowledge valuable to his fellow-
countrymen—these are some of the qualities and characteristics
which have been made prominent in the acts and life of General
Hancock, and which this biography has sought to render evident.”
The general, as we all know, was not elected. IIis
defeat was quite unexpected to his friends, some of whom
think that he, like Henry Clay, wrote one too many
letters; while others attribute it to the treachery of a fac-
tion of the Democratic party. No Presidential candidate
—and I have been a voter at the last ten Presidential elec-
tions—has ever been so free from partisan attacks, for the
reason that his record was wholly unassailable.
Shortly before the election General Sherman said of
him, “If you will sit down and write the best thing that
can be put in language about General Hancock as an officer
and a gentleman, I will sign it without hesitation.”
General Sheridan also said of him, “I am not in politics.
but General Hancock is a good and great man. The
Democrats have not made a mistake this time. They have
nominated an excellent and strong ticket.”
It is well-known in military circles that General Han-
cock selected the historic site of the great and decisive
battle of Gettysburg, where he was severely wounded in
action.
On July 1, 1863, the first day of the battle of Gettys-
burg, he was sent by General Meade to decide whether a
decisive battle should be given there, or whether the army
should fall back. He reported that Gettysburg was the
place to fight, and took immediate command until the
arrival of General Meade.
An interesting incident in connection with General
Armistead’s defection from the United States army, at the
outbreak of the Rebellion, is related by General Hancock.
It occurred at Los Angeles early in 1861. Armistead was
there with Hancock, a captain and brevet-major. Vir-
718 GENERAL WIN FIELD SCOTT HAN COCK.
ginia, his native State, called upon him to support her
cause, and, under the influence of this demand, he sided
with the Confederates. On leaving Los Angeles he pre-
sented General Hancock with his major's uniform, saying
that the latter “might some time need it.” He also placed
in his hands for safe keeping, and to be given to his family,
if he should fail in battle, certain valuable private papers.
These General Hancock sent to General Armistead’s sister
(who had married a Union officer) at the close of the war.
Armistead also presented to Hancock a little prayer-book,
which is still in the latter’s possession. On a fly-leaf of the
book is the following inscription :-‘‘Lewis A. Armistead.
Trust in God, and fear nothing.” It may be observed by
the way, that General Hancock never needed the major's
uniform, -he skipped the grades from captain to brigadier-
general.
I occasionally saw General Hancock at Governor’s
Island, after the publication of his book, and also after the
election. The Democratic candidate did not take his defeat
so much to heart as did his devoted and enthusiastic
friends.
Talking with him one day on the subject of Presiden-
tial defeats, I mentioned the fact, that both General Jack-
son and General Harrison were defeated the first time they
ran for President. The General laughed at the coincidence,
which had escaped his memory, and replied that he was
“very well satisfied in his present position.” Surely, it is
an exalted one, which in the public estimation is both ad-
mirably and satisfactorily filled by the present incumbent.
LI.
CONCLUSION.
My Publishers’ Reminder—T. S. Arthur—Anna C. Botta
—Laura C. Holloway—Rossiter Johnson—Richard B.
Rimball—Albert Mathews—O. J. Victor—Metta Vic-
toria Victor–Professor O. W. Wight—Emma De
Long–Barry Gray—Curtis Guild—Jane Crawford
Campbell—Ann S. Stephens—A. S. Roe—John Sav-
age—Charles Nordhoff—General A. S. Webb—Mar-
garet J. Preston—Madame A. de Chaudron—Maria
Darrington Deslonde—Mary E. Bryan—Henry Wat-
terson—R. M. Johnston—Madame Le Vert—A. J. Re-
quier—H. L. Flash—Paul H. Hayne.—Gail Hamilton.
MY publishers have more than oncereminded me that the
dimensions of this volume, as originally contemplated,
were being greatly augmented. I therefore must bring the
record of these recollections to a close. I cannot do so.
however, without briefly recalling the names of a few more
friends, for most of whom I was at one time the publisher.
Mr. T. S. ARTHUR, next to Peter Parley, is the most
voluminous writer of books in this country. His “Hand
but not Heart,” issued by Derby & Jackson in 1857, was
a marked success. The many stories and tales of which he
is the author, are written in the interest of purity, good
morals, and reform, and especially those which were writ-
ten in the cause of the temperance, have been productive
of immense good. His “Ten Nights in a Bar-room,” sold
over 100,000 copies.
MiRS. ANNA. C. BOTTA'S “Hand-Book of Uni-
versal Literature,” was first published in 1860. A new
and enlarged edition is now in the press of Houghton,
[719]
720 MR. ALBERT MATHEWS.
Mifflin & Co. Mrs. Botta says in her preface : “This
work was begun many years ago, as a literary exercise, to
meet the personal requirements of the writer, which were
such as most persons experience on leaving school, and
‘completing their education,’ as the phrase is.” As I hap-
pen to know, this excellent and useful manual has been and
is of the utmost service to all students of literature. A
beautiful illustrated edition of Mrs. Botta's poems was pub-
lished in 1848.
MRS, LAURA C. HALLOWAY, who has been so long
connected with the literary department of the Brooklyn
Eagle, is the author of a large illustrated volume entitled
“The Ladies of the White House,” which has passed
through several editions. Her latest work, “The Mothers
of Great Men and Women,” an interesting illustrated vol-
ume, has recently been issued by the same publishers.
MR. ROSSITER JOHNSON, is a well known littera-
teur, and an author of excellent repute. He did good ser-
vice in connection with his collaborator, J. D. Champlin,
Jr., in that best of all literary schools, a writer for the
American Cyclopedia. He is the successor of the late
Judge Tenney, as editor of the Annual Cyclopedia.
Mr. Johnson is also the editor of the famous “Little
Classic Series,” issued from the Riverside Press. The wife
of Mr. Johnson (Mrs. Helen K.) is the editor of the excel-
lent musical volume, entitled “Our Familiar Songs,” and
also of the delightful Rhody series of juvenile books.
RICHARD B. KIMBALL is best known as the writer
of that famous novel “Saint Leger; or, The Threads
of Life,” although he is author of several well known books
notably “The Romance of the Student’s Life.” A new edi-
tion of the former has recently been issued by his present
publishers, G. W. Carleton & Co.
MR. ALBERT MATHEWS, distinguished as a lawyer
and man of letters, is the author of a series of papers,
which he published in the Knickerbocker Magazine thirty
years ago, under the title of “Schediasms ” and over the
MRS. METTA VICTORIA VICTOR. 721
nom-de-plume of “ Paul Siegwolk.” In 1859 under the
same nom-de-plume, he published what has well been called
a prose poem, entitled, “Walter Ashwood—A Love Story,”
issued by Rudd & Carleton. In 1879, still under the same
770m-de-plume, he published, through G. P. Putnam’s Sons,
a volume of Essays, Tales and Sketches, entitled “A Bun-
dle of Papers.” Referring to the essay, “Is he a Gentle-
man P’’ in the latter volume, an eminent literary friend
writes me, “It is worthy of Montaigne himself; nothing so
full, so penetrative and fine, has been written upon the sub-
ject since the old days of chivally,” in which opinion I
fully concur. &
MR. and MRS. O. J. VICTOR have already been re-
ferred to in these pages. Both of them have been devoted
to literature all their lives, and in this calling they have
been successful.
Mr. Victor is the author of several valuable works, the
most important of which, is the comprehensive and elabo-
rate history of the Civil War, published in four large illus-
trated volumes, under the general title of History, Civil,
Political, Military and Financial of the Southern Rebellion.
Mr. Greeley in his “Great American Conflict,” acknowl-
edges his “great indebtedness” for much material from
Mr. Victor’s ‘‘ admirable work.”
MRS. METTA VICTORIA VICTOR is the author of
several volumes, covering the field of poetry, humor and
fiction.
Mrs. Victor’s first volume was written when she was but
fifteen years old, and published by George H. Derby of
Buffalo, under the title of “Western Leaves from Western
Wilds.” Her first successful effort, a temperance story,
W8,S entitled “The Senator’s Son, a Plea for the Maine
Law,” which had an enormous sale. Her humorous volume,
“Mrs. Slimmens’ Window ’’ proved a decided hit, and her
“Dead Letter,” romance (written under the pseudonym
of Seeley Regester), is believed to be one of the most largely
circulated American novels—second only to Uncle Tom's
722 R. B. COFFIN.
Cabin. It was first published as a magazine serial ; then
in a beautifully illustrated duodecimo, next in an octavo
volume. It was also republished in England by Cassel
& Co.
PROFESSOR O. W. WIGHT, already referred to as
the early friend of the Cary Sisters, and the editor of the
French Classics, was also the translator of Cousin's Works,
and the editor of Sir William Hamilton's Metaphysical
Works, both of which are among the standard publications
of D. Appleton & Co.
Professor Wight’s industry and learning are very great
and in many different fields of literature. It is probable
that he will soon be heard from again in an important
literary undertaking.
MR. HORACE E. SCUDDER, a well known litterateur,
now connected with the house of Houghton, Mifflin & Co.,
is best known as the author of the celebrated Bodley Sto-
ries for Children. Mr. Scudder is also well known for his
ability to arrange and edit manuscripts before they go to the
printer; in some instances, to my knowledge, this requires
as much time, and more ability than that displayed by the
ostensible author.
MRS. EMMA DE LONG, wife of Ilieut. Commander
De Long, is entitled to the credit of editing with a
biographical sketch of the lost explorer, the two illustrated
volumes resently published by Houghton, Mifflin & Co.,
under the title “The Voyage of the Jeannette.” It was
my good fortune to arrange with this estcemed lady for the
publication of these now historic volumes, and I know
something of her intense devotion to the memory of her
heroic husband, whose romantic but ill-fated career so pre-
maturely terminated their earthly hopes.
R. B. COFFIN, who is well known under the pseudo-
nym of “Barry Gray,” has written some charming volumes,
the most popular of which, “Marriage Infelicities,” has gone
through several editions. Some of his descriptions of
MRS. ANN. S. STEPHENS. 723
country life would be no discredit to the author of the
“Sparrow grass Papers.”
MR. CURTIS GUILD, although best known as the
founder of that influential and successful organ, the Boston
Commercial Bulletin, is also the author of a popular illus-
trated book of travels entitled ‘‘ Over the Oct an.” Mr.
Guild has succeeded in his original plan in making a com-
mercial organ interesting to the literary world.
MRS. JANE CRAWFORD CAMPBELL, the authoress
of “The Money-Maker and other Stories,” which volume
was published by my firm thirty years ago, was introduced
to me by the late H. T. Tuckerman. She was the sister of
Thomas Crawford, the eminent sculptor, who was the father
of the now famous novelist F. Marion Crawford. It will
thus be seen that the author of “Mr. Isaacs” and the
“Roman Singer,” inherits his fine literary gifts from both
his father and his mother’s family, as he is also the nephew
of Julia Ward Howe, the poetess, whose “Battle Hymn of
the Republic,” has immortalized her name.
MRS. ANN. S. STEPHENS first came before the literary
world more than forty years ago as the winner of a prize
story, for which she received four hundred dollars. She
next made a decided hit in her very popular novel, entitled
“Fashion and Famine,” which was published by the then
young firm of Bunce & Brother—thirty years ago. Since
that time Mrs. Stephens has written a great many novels,
some of which have met with immense sales. One of her
best novels is her latest, entitled “Phemie Frost,” recently
published by G. W. Carleton & Co.
. In 1855, I published the first of Mr. A. S. Roe's novels,
which was called “A Long Look Ahead,” followed in suc-
cessive years by “I’ve Been Thinking,” “To Love and to
be Loved,” “True to the Last,” “The Star and the
Cloud,” and “How Could he Help it *
The books were as taking as their titles. I believe
more than 100,000 volumes have been sold since Mr. Carle.
ton became their publisher, in 1881.
724 MARG A RET. J. PRESTON.
Mr. Tºoe's novels were not only healthful and interest-
ing but good and safe reading for the family.
MR. JOHN SAVAGE, of whom reference has already
been made in these pages, is well-known in the literary
world as a poet, dramatist and biographer. His first
volume, “Songs of Fatherland,” was published by Red-
field, in 1850, and followed by the “History and Literature
of Ireland” in 1856. Mr. George W. Childs published his
next volume, entitled “Our Living Representative Men,”
and in 1865, Derby & Miller published his authorized
“Life of Andrew Johnson.”
MR. CHARLES NORDITOFF, long and favorably
known as an editorial writer in the columns of the New
York Evening Post and New York Herald, is the author of
several interesting volumes of travel and history. His sea
tales for the young are told with much spirit, and his
“Politics for Young Americans” is a safe guide in the
hands of our young people of both sexes.
GENERAL ALEXANDER. S. WEBB, LL.D., Presi-
dent of the College of the City of New York, whose career
as a scholar in civil life is only equalled by his bravery as a
soldier in military life, is the author of the interesting
volume “McClellan’s Campaign of 1862,” recently published
by Charles Scribner’s Sons. General Webb, it will be re-
membered, was severely wounded in several sanguinary
engagements. At Gettysburg eight of the non-commis-
sioned officers of his regiment were killed, and the general
himself at the time supposed to have been mortally
wounded.
MARGARET J. PRESTON'S first published vol-
ume was issued by my firm in 1856. It was a quiet and
dreamy narrative entitled “Silverwood,” a book of tender
memories, through which run a thread of fiction. Mrs.
Preston was the daughter of the late Rev. Dr. George Jun-
kin, himself an author of repute ; her sister married the
Confederate chieftain, Stonewall Jackson. Mrs. Preston
has become distinguished by her poetical writings, which
MR. HENRY WATTERSON. 725
are much in demand by the leading literary journals of the
day.
MIADAME A. DE CHAUDRON of Mobile, Ala., has
the honor of first introducing the famous Madame Muhl-
bach to English readers. She was the translator of that
celebrated author’s “Joseph the Second,” an account of
which is given elsewhere. Madame de Chaudron was also
the translator of a lively French novel published by Mr.
Carleton, under the attractive title “Mademoiselle Fifty
Millions.”
MARIA DARRINGTON DESLONDE, of Now Orleans,
La., and a near relative of General Beauregard, is the author
of two excellent novels entitled, respectively, “The Miller
of Silcott Mills,” and ‘‘John Marabel.” The former was
read in MS. to the late Commodore Wanderbilt, one sum-
mer at Saratoga, who became very much interested in the
entertaining story, a fact which the wide-awake publisher
(Mr. Carleton), became cognizant of, and speedily pub-
lished the book. The authoress honored me by the dedi-
cation of the latter novel.
MIRS. MARY E BRYAN, the present editor of the
Sunny South, a literary paper published in Atlanta, Geor-
gia, as stated elsewhere, was a literary protégé of the late
Alexander H. Stephens. It was through his kind atten-
tion and influence that her celebrated novel “Manch '' was
published by the house of D. Appleton & Co., a very cred-
itable production, which was very well received by the
critics, meeting with a generous reception among novel-
readers, especially in the Southern States, where the author
is so well and favorably known.
Mrs. Bryan began writing for the press when but seven-
teen years old, and has written some very beaufiful poetry,
her verses being extensively copied in the newspaper press.
MR. HENRY WATTERSON, the brilliant and versa-
tile editor of the Louisville Courier Journal, says in his
clever volume, ‘‘ Oddities of Southern Life and Character,”
recently published: “Why it is I know not, but certain it
726 MAD AME OCTAVIA WALTON LE VERT.
is that Georgia, which is made the scene of so much of the
humor of the South, has furnished a very large proportion
of the humorists themselves. The author of ‘Dukes-
borough Tales’ is a native Georgian, and, although he is
but just coming into the general notice of the public, that
original volume made its appearance nearly ten years ago.
It deserved prompter and more cordial recognition. The
sketches of which it is composed are redolent of the rusti-
city of the South.” \
RICHARD MALCOLM JOHNSTON, the author above
referred to, is, without doubt, one of the most original and
successful of Southern writers; his “Mark Iangston, a
Tale of Duke's Creek,” recently published by Harper &
Brothers, has proved a docided hit in the line of dialect
stories, of which the New York Tribune says: “His
book is a genuine piece of literature, one which preserves
to us a unique chronicle of times and characters which are
no more, and one which will be remembered, when far
more pretentious novels are forgotten.”
MADAME OCTAVIA WALTON LE VERT, was at
one time one of the most widely and pleasantly known,
among the literary women of the South. My firm became
the publisher of her entertaining book “ Souvenirs of
Travel,” in 1859.
It is a curious and interesting incident, that Lamartine
not only first suggested the idea of Madame Le Vert's book
but also gave it its title. On one occasion he said to her :
“Madame, you have one gift of which you yourself are una-
ware. You are a natural improvisatrice. Now, because you are
not an Italian, you cannot be an improvisatrice, but you can be a
writer ; you can fill with pleasure the hearts of your nation by
describing what you have seen, to them, as you are now delight-
ing one. When the excitements of your tour are over, and you
are once more quietly at home, will you not remember, Madame,
what I have said, and employ your leisure in giving to the world a
few souvenirs of your European Life :
M. R. J. WOOD DAVIDSON. 727
Madame Le Vert’s pleasant home in Mobile, in ante-
bellum times will long be remembered as a most delight-
ful resort for people of refined tastes, and especially to
Northerners, who visited that city in the prosperous and
happy days which then were hers.
MR. A. J. REQUIER, a native of Charleston, S. C. but
for fifteen years a resident of Mobile, Ala., has distinguished
himself as a poet ; a volume of his poems was published by
J. B. Lippincott & Co., in 1859.
Soon after the war, Judge Requier moved to New York,
where he has been prominent in his profession of law, and
in judicial circles.
MR. HENRY LYNDON FLASH, of New Orleans, La.,
or Harry Flash, as he was called by his admirers, when a resi-
dent of Mobile in ante-bellum times, published, in 1860, a
volume of exquisite poetry. The breaking out of the war
disturbed his poetical dreams, and when it was over, Mr.
Flash took to “the sugar trade and cotton line,” in which
he finds more prose than poetry, and a good deal more
cash. It is to be hoped that he will again be heard from
as a votary of the Muses.
PAUL H. HAYNE stands at the head of the Southern
poets. He is the author of several volumes of genuine
poetry, the last of which is an elegant illustrated volume of
his poems, which was published, in 1883, by D. Lathrop &
Co., of Boston. Mr. Hayne's poems, especially his sonnets,
are very popular. He is a constant contributor to the lead-
ing literary journals and magazines.
MR. J. WOOD DAVIDSON, himself a poet, and a
critic among the poets, says in his “Living Writers of the
South,” “Mr. Hayne has an intense love of nature, a rich
imagination, quick and bold, a limited power of narrative
structure, and a true sense of the beauty of words. His
poetry is alive with pent passion, glowing, yet unexpressed,
a tropical wealth of emotion, touched here and there with
a dash of quaintness, or a flow of affection.”
728 GAIL HAMILTON.
In conclusion, it affords me pleasure to acknowledge
the cordial co-operation of the subjects of these sketches,
or their representatives, by rendering such aid as was both
proper and possible, during the preparation of this Vol-
ume. The following characteristic letter explains the
absence of any sketch of its writer, who may well be
classed among our most distinguished authors.
“July 22, 1884.
“My DEAR MR. I)ERBY :
“ * * * * * * * My instinct has always been
that the biography of the living should never be written. If you
will only have a little patience till we are dead, you will find that
you won’t wish to write it! Undoubtedly and properly, we all
think seas and mountains of ourselves now, and as for you, you
cannot possibly think too great things of us, but I expect we
shall be surprised to see how promptly it will be out of sight,
out of mind, with the most of us. Of course I cannot algue
this too strenuously, because you yourself have been strenuously
committing this very sin—two hundred of them in fact, according
to advertisement—and I suppose every soul of them all is consent-
ing unto his own death—but you at least agree with me so far as
to admit that the life should not be taken without Saul’s consent.
Practically, therefore, we are at one, for my soul will not spare for
your crying ! (I know you will get my souls and my Sauls all
mixed up. Read your Bible, young man 1)
“Be comforted and taunt me, that with your array of names
mine will never be missed, and if by any chance it should be, you
have what, however poor, is the best authority in the world for
its absence.
“You have been so uniformly gentle and obliging that I think
I may count upon you to carry out my wishes in this respect—and
if you should beg me to reward you for your friendly desire to plm
me alive, with the other Ephemera, to a cabinet immortality, by
blowing your book sky-high when it does come out, why, blow
bellows, blow, set the wild echoes flying
“Always most truly,
“GAIL HAMILTON.”
&
Abbott Brothers, 656
Abbott, John S. C. 123
Adams, Charles Fran-
cis, 60, 76, 77, 278
Adams, J. S. & C. 377
Adams, John, 675
Adams, John Quincy,
29, 59, 60, 120, 122,
501, 502
Adams, Joseph A. 686
Adams, Rev. N. 701
Adams, Rev. W. 35
Addison, J. 34, 151
Agassiz, Louis, 118
Agnew, D. H. 385
Alcott, Louise M. 285
Alden, H. M. 105, 629
Alden. Rev. J. 163
Aldrich, Jannes, 231
Aldrich, Thomas Bai-
ley, 34, 35, 222, 227–
234, 239, 251, 603
Alexander, G. W. 572
Alison, A. 301, 593
Allen & Tickmor, 617
Allibone, S. Austin,
337, 338, 385
Am. News Co. 204
Ames, M. Clemmer,251
Anderson, Robert, 24
Andre, Major, 350
Appleton, Daniel, 174
–76, 179–82,190, 235,
300, 652, 689, 690
Appleton, D. & Co.
84, 158, 173, 174,
180, 184, 185, 181,
191, 192, 194, 325,
340. 354, 376, 389,
401, 415, 438, 442,
450, 467, 493, 494,
I N D E X.
497, 572, 601, 605,
656, 661, 682, 689,
712, 715, 722, 725
Appleton, D. S. 181
Appleton, E. C. 190
Appleton, George S.
158, 183, 184, 340
Appleton, John A.
181, 190–2
Appleton, William H.
35, 36, 174–83, 186,
188–90, 193, 194,
299, 401, 556, 716
Appleton, W. W. 184,
Armistead, L. A. 717
Armstrong, Andrew.C.
315, 442, 444, 706
Armstrong, A. C. &
Son, 444, 585, 587
Armstrong, S. T. 583
Arnold, George, 232
Arnold, Matthew, 625
Arthur, T. S. 719
Ashley, Mary, 668
Astor, John Jacob,
120, 294, 295, 539,
542, 681
Astor, William IB. 592
Austen, Jane, 34
Austin, John M. 60,
65
O
Audubon, John J. 581
Augur, General, 79
Bache, Benjamin F.680
Bašey, Philip J. 625
Baird, Rev. R. 369
Baird, Henry Carey,
315, 550, 558–62
Baker, George E. 135,
251, 436, 477, 479,
481–484
Baker, George F. 480
Baker, O. M. 380
Baker, Peter C. 655,
656, 657, 658
Baker, Isaac D. 441,
443, 444
Baker & Godwin, 656
Baker, Pratt & Co
656, 658
Baker & Scribner,441,
Baker, Voorhies &
Co. 30, 655
Balzac, Honoré de 241
Bancroft, Albert L. 33
Bancroft, George, 35,
42, 158, 188, 203,
321–32, 354, 593,
594, 672, 67.5
Bancroft, Hubert H.
31, 32, 33
Bangs, F. H. 660
Bangs, L. 142, 147
Bangs & Co., 660
Barnes, Alfred C.
Barnes .Alfred S.
575, 579, 657
Barnes, Charles J.
Barnes, Edwin M. 579
Barnes, Henry B. 579
Barnes, John C. 32
Barnes, Richard S.579
Barnes, T. W. 513
Barnes, W. D. L. 57
Barney, Hiram, 481
Barrow, Isaac, 466
Bartlett, D. W. 636
Bartlett, Jolin, 672
Bartlett, Lieut. 533–34
Bartlett, Willard, 195
579
32,
579
[729]
730
INDEX.
Bartlett, W. O. 45
Biutes, lèeed & Co. 703
Beardsley, Nelson, 56
Beauharnais, Hor-
tense de, 124
Beckwith, Bishop, 190
Beckwith, N. M. 42
Beecher, Catherine E.
219, 379, 448, 520
Beecher, George, 450
Beecher, Mrs. H. W.
207, 475, 476
Beecher, Charles, 474
Beecher, Rev. Edward
450
Beecher, Rev. Henry
Ward, 35, 37, 38,
134, 136, 163, 203,
207, 217, 218, 219,
250, 279, 360-62,
443, 444, 447, 448,
450, 455–57, 459,
461, 462, 464–67,
469–73, 475, 482,
638–40, 705
Beecher, Rev. Lyman,
446–48, 468, 474
Bedott, Widow, 413–17
Bell, T. S. 425
Bell & Daldy, 309
Bellew, Frank, 239
Bellows, IRev. Henry
W. 169, 251, 582,
700
Bennett & Bright, 24
Bennett, James Gor-
don, 372, 427, 481
Berry, W. T. 674
Beauregard, G. T. 498
713–15, 725
Bigelow, John, 42, 85,
155, 169, 354, 438,
676, 678–81
Billings, Josh,239, 24?
Bixby, Daniel, 590–94
Black, A. & E. 674
Blackwood, William,
119, 454, 527
Blaine, James G. 284
IBlair, M. 487
I31ake, George B. 177,
Blake, Ikov. J. L. 31,
35
Blakeman, B. 53, 65
Blatchford, Samuel,
29, 30, 61
Bleecker, George W.
299
Blessington, Lady, 371
Blessington, M. 121
Bless, Amos, 222
Bohn, Henry G. 593
Boker, George H. 158
Bonaparte, Napoleon,
Lucien, Caroline,
Josephine, Marie!
Louise, 124
Bonner, Robert, 95,
133, 134, 200, 207,
215-17. 250, 279,
416, 424, 468, 470,
471, 475
Booth, Mary L. 250
Botta, Anna C. 253
719, 720
Bouvier, John, 337
Bowles, Samuel, 250
Boyd, Robert L. 658
Brace, Charles L. 42
Brace, T. K. 657
Brady, M. B. 472, 473
Brainard, J. G. C. 623
Bridge, Horatio, 113,
115, 630, 632, 636
Briggs, Charles F.
2.39, 312, 354
Brigham, Dr. A. 67
Bright, Edward, 24,25
Broadhead, J. R. 323
Bromley, Isaac H. 531
Bronté, Charlotte, 34
Brooks, James, 339
Brooks, Preston S. 30
Brougham, John, 236
Brougham, Lord, 596
Brown, James, 670
Brown, John M. 675
Brown, S. A. 638
Brown, William, 141
Browne, Charles F.
232, 239, 242, 411,412
Browne, Julius H. 251
Brownings, The, 255,
259, 313, 314, 459,
527–529, 535, 624
Brownlow, W. G. 337
Bryant, William Cul.
len, 25, 38, 42, 150–
153,155,159,161–169,
171, 172, 184, 198,
203, 254, 293, 313,
317, 352, 354, 483,
539, 540, 582, 600,
602, 603, 624, 629,
668, 682 t
Bryan, M. E. 504, 725
Bryan, Sally M. 422
Bull, Ole, 251 }
Bullard, Rev. Dr. 638,
Bulwer, Lord & Lady,
370, 371, 386, 524
Bunce & Brother, 723
Bunce, Oliver B. 158,
124, 600, 601
Burr, Aaron, 581
Burgess, D. & Co. 705
Burke, Edmund, 350
Burlingame, E. L. 195
Burney, Francis, 34
Burns, Anthony, 427
Burns, Robert, 350
Bushnell, Florace, 35
Butler, Sarah, 569
Butler, William A. 236
By on, Lord, 141, 176,
325, 347, 350, 371,
423, 510, 511, 524,
596, 598, 664
Cable, George W. 715
Calhoun, John C. 62
Campbell, Jane Craw-
ford, 722
Campbell, John & Co.
147
Carey, E. L. 550, 552,
556, 558
Carey & IIart, 551,
554, 558–560
Carey, Henry C. 35,
315, 550, 559–561
Carey, Mathew, 550,
559
Carey & Lea, 141, 295,
296, 561
Carleton, George W.
21, 47, 229, 233,235,
244, 251, 397, 444,
INDEX.
731
566, 567, 572, 600,
603, 723, 725
Carleton, Geo. W. &Co.
572, 243, 244, 396,
5,2, 692, 720, 723
Callisle, Lord, 454
Carpenter, F. B. 82,
250, 270, 485–487,
489, 492, 503
Carpentel, W. S. 42
Carter & Hendee, 620
Carter, Peter, Robert,
jr., Walter, 650, 651
Carter, Robert, 194
Carter, Robert & Bros.
649, 650, 651
Cary, Alice & Phoebe,
35, 132, 203, 204,
245–248,250–270,279
250, 585, 586, 591,
601, 648, 722
Cary, Hettie, 664
Cary, S. F. 251
Cass, Lewis, 62
Cassel & Co. 722
Century Club, 42, 43,
158, 159, 166, 167,
169, 317, 331, 423,
540, 642
Century Co. The, 704
Champagne, Jules,125
Chambers, Robert,251
Chalmers, Thos. 651
Champlin, J.D. 195,720
Chandler, J. R. 339
Chandler, W. P 641
Channing, W. E. 530,
581, 616, 623
Chapin, Rev. E. H.
35, 37, 38, 135, 251,
257, 63S, 639
Chase, Chief Justice,
47, 136, 339, 355,
480, 487, 492, 646
Chateaubriand, M. 34
Cheesebºo, C. 585, 586
Cheever, George T3.251
Cliesterfield, Lord, 34
Childs, G. W. 333-351,
691, 724
Childs, Lydia M. 35
Childs & Peterson, 336
Chilton, IR. S. 640, 644
Choate, R.,359,672,675
Church, F. S. 437
Cisco, John J. 481
Claflin, William, 28.)
Clapp, H. jr. 239, 412
Clare, Ada, 412
Clark, Lewis Gaylord,
108, 623, 640 643
Clark, Myron H. 479
Clark, Professor, 662
Clark, Rebecca S. 524
Clarke, Mary Cowdin,
35
Clal ke, M. St. C. 552
Clay, Henry, 62, 129,
131, 423, 500, 717
Clemmer, Mary, 136,
260, 201, 267, 270,
647, 648
Cleveland, Grover, 530
Cleveland, Aaron, 530
Clinton, De Witt, 120
Cobden, Richard, 359
Coffin, R. B. 722
Cogswell, D. 539
Colfax, S. 44, 251, 486
Coleridge, S. T. 350
Coles, Miriam, 569
Collins & Brother, 660
Collins, Chas. 660
Collins, George B. 583
Collins & Keese, 659
Collins, T. K. 555
Collins, Wilkie, 395
Colombier, Mlle. 125
Colyer, Robert, 251
Conant, S, S. 105, 685
Conant, T. J. 195
Conrad, R. T. 35
Conwell, R. H. 265
Conkling, Alfred, 28
Conkling, MI. C. 28
Conkling, Roscoe, 28
Cooke, D. B. 64S
Cooke, John Esten,
400, 401, 404-6
Cooke, P. Pendleton,
402
Cooley & Bangs, 179
Cooley, J. E. 179, 659
Cooley, Keese & Hill,
179, 659
Cooley, T. M. 195
Cooper, J. Fenimore,
23, 53, 58, 119, 171,
250, 277, 292, 293–
295, 311, 354, 511,
551, 560. 591--3, 629
Cooper, Paul, 511
Corday, Challotte,124
Col coran, Wm. W.641
Cornwall, Barry, 625
Castle, M. B. 130
Cousin, W. 325,591,722
Cowdin, Eliott C. 42
Cowper, William, 347
Coxe, Bishop A.C. 530
Coxe, Alfred C. 28
Cozzens, Frederick S.
35, 229, 312,314,538–
541, 543, 640, 643
Craige, Josephine, 388
Crawford, F. M. 723
Crawford, T. 623, 723
Crocker & Brewster,
299, 580, 653
Crockett, David, 552
Croly, D. G. 250
Croswell, E. 51,512,513
Cummings, Father,
108, 607, 60S
Curtis, George Wil-
liam, 35, 96,101,104,
105, 107, 109, 163,
171, 314, 627, 683,
6S5
Custis, George Wash-
ington Parke, 690
Cyclopedia, American,
106, 173, 182, 189,
193–195, 379, 397,
469, 559, 560, 720
Dana, Charles .A. 199,
182, 189, 193, 194,
196–199, 359, 360,
438, 535, 360, 677
Dana, Richard H. 158,
165, iſ 1, 313, 602
Dallas, Mary Kyle,416
Dallas, the artist, 6, 7
Dalton, John C. 19.5
Daly, C. P. 142, 655
Dandridge, Evelin,402
D'Angely, Mad. 125
732
INDEX.
Darley, F. O. C. 309
Darwin, Charles, 186
Davidson, J.W.391,727
Davidson, Sisters, 623
Davies, Charles, 57.7
Davis, Jefferson, 131,
401, 434, 493–497,
499
Davis, Rebecca H. 285
Daye, Stephen, 290
Dayton, Wm. L. 679
Dean, Julia, 251
Dean, William E. 655
Dearborn, George, 583
De Chaudron, Ma-
dame A. 185, 725
De Cordova, I&. J. 354
Deems, Rev. Charles
F 250, 260, 262,
263, 266, 696
De Foe, Daniel, 34, 302
Defrees, John W. 466
De Lhuys, Drouyn, 331
IDe la Rame, L. (Ouida)
386, 387
De Land, Thos. M.675
De Long, Emma, 722
De Quincey, Thomas,
554, 616, 617, 624
Derby, Alice Cary, 270
I)erby B1 others, 31
Derby, George H. 31
Derby, Henry W. 33,
36
Derby, J. C. 22–25, 28,
29, 40, 42, 71, 75,
129, 153, 156, 159,
161, 183, 210, 211,
212, 234, 374, 408–
10, 475, 492, 494,
496, 502, 568, 569,
633, 638, 667, 680,
691, 710, 716
Derby, J. C. & Co. 25
Derby & Jackson, 34,
39, 47, 118, 226, 276,
390, 409, 411, 443,
596, 667, 719
Derby & Miller, 29, 30,
63, 117, 131, 132,
202, 209, 224, 367,
489, 636, 724
Derby, Celia M. 32
Derby, Lavanchie W.
210–12, 394, 579
Derby, Lezetta, 22, 27
Derby, Orton & Co.
46
De Stael, Madame, 34
125, 276
Deslonde, M. D. 725
De Tocqueville, 324
Dewey, Miss, 157
Dewey, Orville, 582
lſiamond Wedding,582
Dickens, Charles, 203,
268, 276, 277, 346,
347, 350, 359, 388,
413, 511, 622, 624,
625, 671
Dickinson, Anna, 250
Dillingham, C. T. 525
Dillingham, G. W. 244
Disraeli, Benjamin, 185
Doane, Rev. G. W. 121
Dodd, M. W. 605
Dodd, Mead & Co. 605
Dodge, Mary A. 250
Dodge, Mary M. 706
Dodge, W. E. 30, 611
Doolady, M. 392, 394
D'Orsey, Count, 371
Dorsey, Sarah A. 497
Dorsheimer, W. 151
IDoubleday, Abner, 24
Doubleday, U.F. 23,25
Doyle, John, 590
Prake, Joseph R. 542,
Drake, Samuel G. 518
Drake, John W. 188
Drexel, A. J. 350, 351
Drone, Eaton S 195
Duer, John, 655
Duncan,Publisher, 179
Durand. A. B. 42, 294
Duyckincl:, Evert A.
297, 404, 420, 588,
633, 660, 679
Dyer, Oliver, 209–11
Edwards, J. 651, 658
Elder, Rev. J. F. 316
Elliott, Charles L. 539
(,40, 643, 644
Ellsler, Fanny, 368,
Ellsworth, Gov. 37;
Ellsworth, H. L. 705
Ellsworth, W. W. 708
E m er so n, Ralpli
Waldo, S9, 158, 277,
280, 283, 2S6, 289,
313, 328, 339, 519,
535, 582, 591, 624
Emerson, W. E. 582
Encyclopedia Britan
nica, 445, 673
England, I. W. 198,
Eugene, Empress, 404
Evans, Augusta J. 390,
393, 395, 397, 398
Evans, F. W. 42
Evarts, William
71, 84, 655
Everett, Edward, 158,
203, 310, 313, 330,
471, 616, 624, 672
MI.
Fanshaw, Daniel, 653
Farrar, Canon, 615
Farmer, Elijah P. 657
Fay, Theodore S. 313
Felt, David, 583
Felton, C. C. 278
Fenclon, Francois, 34
Fern, Fanny, 29, 35,
202, 203, 208–220,
419
Field, Cyrus W. 611,
Field, D. D. 611, 655
Field, Kate, 250
Field, Rev. H. M. 251,
351, 363, 610–615,
713
Field, Stephen J. 611
Fielding, Henry, 34
Fields, James T. 37,
41, 232, 251, 287,
340, 343. 344, 346,
554, 561, 562, 592,
595, 607, 617, 619
620–629, 682
Fillmore, Millard, 28,
30, 117, 339, 482
Finney, C. G. 611
Fish, Hamilton, 30,
216, 480
Fisk, Clinton B. 250
INDEX.
Flagg, Augustus, 625,
(370–675
Flagg, Azariah C. 51
Flagg, Geouge, 675
Flagg & Gould, 658
Flash, Henry L. 727
Fleming, M. Agnes, 243
Flint, Austin, 33, 195
Fords, Howard & Hul-
bert, 376
Forney, John W. 69,
338, 432
Fosgate, Blanchard,08
Francis, Challes S.
580, 581, 582, 584,
585
Francis, David, 580
Francis, D. G. 581
Franklin, Benjamin,
271, 483, 4S4, 561,
671, 679, 680
Franklin, Sir John,
302, 33
Franklin, William
Temple, 679, 680
Freeman & Bolles, 274
Freeman, Julia D. 565
Freeman, William,
trial of, 63–68, 139
Fremont, John C. 676
Frost, Charles L. 22
Frost & Forest, 229
Frothingham, O.B. 193
Fuller, III ram,230,589
Fuller, Margaret, 623
Gallatin, Albert, 328
Gamble, Jane, 369,
374, 375
Garde, John F. 55S
Garfield, James A. 33,
490, 503, 695
Gay, Sidney, H. 26,
157 *
Gaylord, Aug. 117
Georges, Mlle, 125
Gerard, James W. 655
Gibbon, Edward, 350
Gibbon, A. II. 251
Gibson, R. L. 531
Gilder, R. W. 251, 708
Gilman Caroline, 35
Gladstone, William E.
65, 460, 614
Goddal d, D. A. 531
Godey, L. A. 415, 555
Godkin, E. L. 334
Godwin, Daniel, 656
Godwin, Pal ke, 157,
161, 162, 167, 312,
3.54, 681, 682
Goethe, Johann Wolf-
gang von, 325, 350,
571, 591
Goldsmith, Oliver, 34
Goodrich, C. A. 378
Goodrich, F. B. 113,
114,123, 126,239,241
Goodlich, Samuel G.
30, 35, 110, 123, 326,
23, 630
Goodwin, J. J. 388
Gould, H. F. 122
Gould, Jay, 409
Gould, T. R. 621
Gourlie, John H. 43
Graham, W. H. 145
Grant, U. S. 136, 338
Gray, Dr. 16S
Gregory, J. G. 46,
J re-
* {
Greeley, Horace, 72,
127, 128–134, 136–138,
143--141, 765, 194,
203, 205, 222–224,
247, 24S, 250, 259,
26S, 270, 295, 316,
317, 338, 339, 352,
360, 362. 423, 427,
428, 482–484, 639
Greeley & McElrath,
128, 142
Grigg & Elliott, 383
Gregg, John, 555
Griswold, Rufus W.
122, 123, 245, 247,
248, 250, 253, 354,
526, 554, 586–588,
591, 623
& Mrs.
Grote, Mr.
371
Guernsey, A. H. 195
Guild, Curtis, 723
Guizot, M. 323, 371
Gwin, W. M. 70
Hall, B. F. 63
Hall, S. C. 350
Hall, John, 20.5
Hallam, H. 310, 503
Halleck, Fitz Greene,
35, 156, 159, 229,
250, 293–5, 313, 354,
538, 542, 54:3, 5S2
584, 591–3, 623, 624
629
IIalleck, II. W. 430
FIalpine, Charles G.23%)
360,411,426–8,430–3
Hamilton, Frank II.33
Hamilton, Gail, 245,
279, 284, 2S5, 72S
Hamilton, Wm. 722
Hamſin, Hannibal, 430
Hammond, W. A. 69.
Hancock, Winfield
Scott, 24–28, 715–18
IIal land, Marion, 243
444, 56.3–7.
Harper & Brothers, 24,
28, 37, 61, S6, S7,
93–5, 106, 133, 131,
174, 288, 341, 354,
389, 400, 431, 4:48,
481, 507, 509, 510,
521, 522, 536, 551,
569, 596, 606, 672,
681, 683, 687, 689,
713, 726
Harper, Fletcher, 91,
95, 97, 101–8, 204,
279, 583, 606, 607
Harper, F. Jr. 108
Harper, J. & J. 95,108,
509, 652.
Harper, James, 87, 89--
93, 96-8, 100, 102,
103, 105, 107, 509–
11, 555, 5S3, 590, 606
Harper, J. Abner, 108
Harper, John, 89, 91,
93–97, 101, 105, 107,
509, 683
IIarper, John W. 108,
Harper, Joseph, 87–9
Harper, Joseph W. Jr.
98, 99, 108, 109, 288
Harper, Joseph Henry,
105
734
INDEX.
Harper, J. Henry, 108
Harper, P. J. A. 108
Harper, Joseph Wes-
ley,91,97–100, 105-7
Harte, Bret, 198, 69S
Harris, Clarendon, 672
Harris, Joel C. 433–8
Harris, Miriam Coles,
243, 568–70
Harrison, Joseph, 345
Harrison, W. H. 718
Hart, Abraham, 550,
551, 554–8
Harcourt, Lord, 330
HaSSard, J. R. G. 194
Haven, J. L. 415 ...
Haven, John P. 652
Haven, Alice B. 415
Hawes, Kirk, 571
Hawes, Joel, 571
Hawes, S. P. 563, 567
Hawks, F. L. 193,235
Pławthorne, Julian,698
Hawthorne,Nathaniel,
41, 111–15, 233, 254,
277, 297, 326, 342–6,
591, 600, 617, 622,
624, 630–4, 637
Hayward, A. 591, 593
Hayes, R. B. 159, 160
Hayne, P. H. 727
Hazeltine, M. W. 198
Hazlitt, W. 34
Headley, J. T. 441
Heilprin, M. 194, 195
Hemans, Felicia, 259
PIenry, Joseph, 350
Henry, Matthew, 651,
Herbert, George, 347
Herring. W. F. 501
Hicks, Thomas, 539
Higginson, T. W. 279
Hillard, George S. 623
Hildreth, IRichard, 35
Hillhouse, J. A. 602
Hirsh, H. B. 623
Hoffman, C. F. 545,
Hoffman, Ogden, 311.
Holcomb, J. W. 251
Holland, J G. 305,
443, 444, 706, 708
Holland, Sir H. 83
IIolloway, L. C. 720
Holmes, Daniel, 57.1
Holmes, Mary J. 243,
571–74
Holmes, Oliver Wen.
dell, 35, 158, 278,
280, 283, 285-87,339,
456, 491, 523, 591,
617, 624, 668
Holt, Henry, 315, 316
Hopper, Isaac T. 479
Hopkins, Josiah, 27
Hoppin, Aug. 236
Hoppin, W. J. 42, 43
Hood, T. 34, 347
Hosmer, Rev. W. 69
Houghton, A. F. 315
Houghton, A. G. 276
Houghton, H. O. 251,
271–84, 289–91.
Houghton, H.O. & Co.
275, 277, 280, 378
Houghton, Lord, 625
Houghton, Mifflin &
Co. 61, 229, 232, 277,
280, 281, 400, 453,
477, 529, 554, 720,
722.
Houghton, O. R. 276
Howe, Bishop, 346
Howe, Julia Ward,
158, 723
Howells, W. D. 198,
232, 283
Howitt, Mary,121,350
Howitt, William, 625
Hudson, F. 366, 481
Hughes, Thos. 318,625
Hugo, Victor, 239–41
Hume, David, 350
Hunt, Helen, 285
Hunt, Leigh, 350, 625
Hunt, R. M. 42
Hunt, T. S. 195
Hunter, R. M. T. 402
Hunter, William, 44
Huntington, D.42, 309
Hurd & Houghton,
276, 492
Hurd, M. M. 276
Hurlburt, W. H. 354
Hurst, Bishop, 95
Hutchinson, E. M. 537
Huxley, Thomas, 186 |
Ingraham, J. H. 238
Inman, H. 472, 562
Ingersoll, Grace, 124
Irving, Ebenezer, 557
Irving, P. M. 306
Irving, Washington
23, 35, 38–40, 52, 58
171, 250, 296–312,
328, 354, 404, 405,
472, 473, 536, 538,
539, 541. 542, 557,
583, 629, 641, 688
Ivison, Blakeman,
Taylor & Co. 657
Ivison, D. B. 53
Ivison, Henry, 22–25,
27,49–56, 86,316,657
Ivison, H. & Co. 21,
22, 33, 181, 57
Ivison, J. C. 52
Ivison & Phinney, 592
Jackson, Andrew, 60,
225, 331, 706, 718
Jackson, Edwin, 34
Jackson, T. J. 401,
713, 724
Jackson, William, 583
Jacobi, Mary P. 319
James, G. P. R. 404
James, Henry, 198
Jefferson, Thomas, 61
Jencks, T. A. 250
Jenkins, John S. 29
Jerrold, Douglas, 602
Jewett, J. P. & Co. 452
457, 518
Johnson, Andrew, 76,
339, 357, 364, 471,
472, 514
Jonson, Ben, 91
Johnson, H. K. 720
Johnson, Oliver, 250,
259, 267
Johnson, Rossiter, 720
Johnson, Samuel, 671
Johnson, W. E. 126
Johnston, A. S. 713
Johnston, J. E. 712
Johnston, R. M. 726
Jones, Georg , 126.
341, 353, 360, 367
INI).EX.
735
Jones, John W. 390
Jones, L. E. 320
Joy, C. A. 40, 195
Junkin, D. X. 716
Junkin, George, 724
Junot, Madame, 12.5
Kane, E. K. 336, 337
Keats, John, 350
Keese, John, 545, 583
Reese, William L. 660
Kemble, Fanny, 553
Kenney, George L. 31
Kennedy, J. P. 35
Kennedy, Th. 509
Kensett, John F. 317,
539, 683
Rent, (Jhancellor, 294,
582, 655, 672, 674
Reppler, J. 696
Kerr, Orpheus C. 239
Rernot. Henry, 443
Kimball, R. B. 720
Kinglake, A. W. 297
Kinney, E. C. 526,
Kinney, W. B. 527
Kingsley, Charles, 625
Kirk, J. Foster, 384
Kirkland, C. M. 582,
596–7, 623
Knox, Richard, 491
Inox, T. W. 250
Rossuth, Louis, 482
Lafayette, General, 57
La Fontaine, M. 34
Lamartine, A. de 325,
331, 371, 726
Lamb, Charles, 34,350
ſ_amb, Martha, 578
Lane, Harriet, 569
Ilander, P. H. 251
Lea & Blanèhard, 551,
561, 580
Lea, Isaac C. 580
Leavitt & Allen, 175
I,eavitt, G. A. 672
Leavitt, Jonathan 174,
296, 652, 658
Leavitt & Trow, 658
Lecy, Benjamin, 187
Lee, Custis, 402
Lee, Mary Custis, 691
Lee, Robert E. 401,
498, 600, 713, 715
Lee & Shepard, 491,
517, 522, 525
Lee, Shepard & Dil-
lingham, 525
Lee, William, 517, 510,
523. 524
Lenormand, Mlle, 125
Leslie, C. R. 561
Leslie, Frank, 499,692,
694, 696, 697
Leslie, Miriam, Flor-
ence 692, 697.
Lesseps, M. de. 714
Le Vert, Madame, 726
Lewis, C. T. 531
Leypoldt & Holt, 692
Lieber, F. 194, 561
Lightbody, J. W. 705
Lincoln, Abraham, 44
46, 74, 76, 80, 81, 90,
198, 331, 339, 355,
430, 471, 480, 486,
488, 492, 504, 514,
516, 645, 648, 678
Lindsey, Lady, 330
Linton, W. J. 600
Lippincott, J. B. 337,
382, 388, 393, 395,
555, 590
Lippincott, J. B. &
Co. 382, 387, 504,
668, 679, 727
Little, Brown & Co.
670, 672, 674
Little, Charles C, 670
Lockhart, J. G. 119
Lockwood, Roe, 625
Long, George, 295
Longfellow, Henry
W. 158, 203, 277,
278, 280, 2S3, 2S6,
289, 313, 330, 348,
523, 553, 623, 668
Longman, W. 176
Lord, Daniel, 655
Lold, G. W. 334, 335
Lossing, B. J. 686–691
Lothrop, D. & Co. 727
Louis, Baron, 120
Lovejoy, Owen, 486
Low, Sampson, 108
Lowell, James Russell,
232, 277, 286, 287,
303, 523, 594, 624
Lynch, Anna C. 253,
Lyons, Lord, 74, 75
Macaulay, T. B. 554
Macdonough, A.R.70S
MacMillan, D 318 .
Mahon, Lord, 310
Mangan, J. C. 662
Mann, Horace, 479
Manning, H. E. 186
Mansfield, Gen. 711
Marcy, W. L. 51, 58,
Marley, John E. 268
Marryat, Francis, 553
Martin, Prof. 664
Martineau, Harriet,350
McCarthy, Justin, 251
McCrary, G. W. 700
McMaster, John B.188
McClellan, George B.
699, 724
McElrath & Bangs,
128, 141
McElrath,Thomas, 42,
128, 34, 141, 147
McLenan, John, 238
McVeigh, Wayne, 531
McClintock, John, 108
McIntosh, Maria J. 35
McDowell, Gen. 714
McClutchy, James, 144
Mason, Albert, 657
Mason Brothers, 213,
223
Mason, James, M. 74
Mathews, Albert, 720
Matthews, C. 585, 588
Matthews, W m. 189
Maurice, Rev. Dr. 186
Maverick, A. 146
Maxwell, Hugh, 655
May, Sophie, 524
Mayer, A. W. 708
Mead, G. G. 338, 687
Meeks, J. C. 652
Mercien, W. A. 509
Meredith, Owen, 527
736
INDEX.
Merriam, Charles, 380
Merriam, George, 236,
377, 379, 380, 450
Merriam, G. & C. 377,
380, 3S3
Merriam, Homer, 380
Merrick, Judge, 645
Meruni, A. M. 660
Methodist book Con-
Cern, 141
Micheleſ, MI. 239
Mifflin, G. H. 276, 277
Mignet, MI. 325, 330
Milburn, W. II. 37,
Miller, N. C. 27, 46,
211, 357
Miller, Orton, & Co.
46, 572
Mitchell, D. G. 442
Mitford, Mary Russell,
350, 594, 617
Mogridge, George, 122
Montaigne, M. 34
Montgomery, H. 28
Moore, Augusta, 464
Moore, Thomas, 350,
510, 596
More, Hannah, 34,350
Morgan, Chris. 30
Mor_an, E. B. 30, 366
Morris, G. P. 156, 230,
591, 623
Morris & Willis, 221
Morse, R. C. 605
Morse, S. F. B. 294,
605, 706
Morse, Sidney E. 605
Moser, W. 437
Motley, John L. 35
Muhlbach, Mme, 185
Muloch, D. M. G.25
Munroe & Francis, 581
Munroe, J. & Co. 519
Murray, John, 176
Napoleon, L. 42, 371
Nast, Thomas, 696
Neal, John, 545
Neal, Joseph C. 413
Nelson, Lord, 350
Newcome, Colonel,100
Newman, Mark H. 52
Newman, Rev. Dr.186
Nichols, George, 281
Niebuhr, B. G. 325
Noah, M. M. 294
Nordhoff, Charles, 724
Northrup, H. B. 62
Northrup, Solomon,63
Norton, C. E. 616
NOlton, Frank H. 716
Noyes, S. B. 48
Noyes, W. Curtis, 655
Oakley, J. S. 657, 658
Oakley & Mason, 657
Olmsted, F. L. 42
O'Reilly, Bernard, 195
O’Reilly, Miles, 239,
360,411,426,429,430
Owen, John J. 658
Owen, Robert D. 250
Optic, Oliver, 524
O’Brien, Fitz J. 232
O'Conor, Charles, 655
Orton, William, 46
Osgood, F. S. 251, 548
Osgood, James R. &
Co 277, 281, 438,
591, 626, 669
Osgood, Samuel, 108
Otis, James, 478
Ouida(De la Rame L.),
386, 468
Paine & Burgess, 705
Palmer, J. W. 240
Palmer, Rev. Dr. 186
Palmerston, Lord, 369
Parkman, Francis, 672
Parley, Peter (S. G.
Goodrich) 110, 115–
118, 121, 241, 719
Parsons, T. W. 624
Partington, Mrs. (B.
P. Shillaber) 407,
410, 411, 419, 426
Parton, James, 35,127,
143, 203, 217, 219,
220, 226, 231, 696
Pascal, M. 34
Newell, Robert H. 239 Paul & Thomas, 89
Paulding, James K.
203, 313, 354, 510,
511, 582, 629
Payne, J. H. 641
Perine, G. E. 691
Perkins, F. B. 320,474
Perkins, T. C. 705
Perry, George, 251
Peterson, C. J. 337
Pettingill, S. M. 201
Pfaff, 239, 412 !
Phelps, B. K. 531
Phillipe, Louis, 371
Phillips, M. D.518, 524
Phillips, Sampson &
Co. 232, 281, 287,
383, 443, 524, 672
Phillips, Wondell, 470
Phinney, H. & E. 34
phinney, II. F. 53,592
Piatt, John J. 422
Pickering, John, 112
Pierce, Franklin, 346,
427, 592, 600, 617,
618, 635–637
Pierpont, John, 158
Pitkin, Timothy, 120
Poe, Edgar Allan, 231,
246, 252, 297, 302,
348, 546, 548, 585,
590, 597, 622, 662
Pope, Alexander, 488
Porter, President, 378
Porter, Jane, 34, 350
Post, Israel, 582, 599
Pratt, Charles D. 658
Pratt, II. Z. 575. 657
Pratt, Oakley & Co.
657
Pratt, William T. 658
Prentice, George D.
203, 419, 425, 549
Prescott, W. II, 327,
383, 384, 521, 522,
623, 624, 672, 673
Preston, M. J. 724
Priestly, John, 317
Prime, S. Iræneus,
108, 163, 604–610,
615, 651
Prime, W. C. 109
Prince, Orton
Miller, 46
&
INDEX.
737
Proctor, E. D. 464
Proctor, R. H. 195
Pusey, Rev. Dr. 185
Putnam, G. H. 315,
317, 318, 320, 475
Putnam, George P.
34, 36, 174, 295, 319,
340, 354, 538, 539,
554, 557, 583, 625,
652, 656
Putnam, G. P. Sons,
318, 319, 340, 721
Putnam, Irving, 318
Putnam, Israel, 687
Putnam, J. B. 318
Radcliffe, Ann, 34
Randall, H. S. 486
Randall, J. R. 349,
500, 661, 667
Randolph, A. D. F.
81, 97, 354, 464, 651,
653, 680
Randolph, John, 205
Raymond, Henry J.
72, 353, 364, 366,
392, 427, 492
Raymond, H. W. 341
Raymond, R. R. 251
Raymond, R. W. 251
Raymond, Walter, 361
Read, T. Buchanan,
35, 313, 314, 623
Reade, Charles, 625
Récamier, Madame,
and Napoleon, Lu-
cien Bonaparte,
Bernadotte, Murat,
Junot, the Mont-
morencies, August-
us, Prince of Prus-
sia, Lord Wellington,
124
Redfield, J. *S. 147,
254, 477, 478, 585–
590, 687, 724
Reed, Henry, 562
Reid, Whitelaw, 646
Requier, A. J. 727
Reynolds, General, 24
IRibble, Judge, 134
l?ice, A. H. 206
Rice, Kendall & Co.
117
Richards, Joseph, 153
Richardson, A. D. 250
Richter, Jean Paul, 423
Riley's Narrative, 509
Ripley, George, 34, 99,
172, 182, 193, 194,
196, 227, 251, 255,
548, 638, 681
Ritchie, Anna Cora,
565. 622
Ritchie, A. H. 489
Riverside Press, The,
233, 271, 275, 277,
278, 281, 290, 291,
378, 720
Rives, W. C. 674
Robinson, D. F. 657
Robinson, C. S. 707
Robinson, Edward, 35
Robinson, Solon, 130
Robinson, William,583
Roe, A. S. 723, 724
Rogers, Randolph, 85
Rogers, Samuel, 350,
551, 583, 584, 593
Roland, Mme, 124
Roman, Alfred, 713
Roosevelt, R. B. 360
Rossiter, T. P. 539
Rowley, H. C. 380
Rudd & Carleton, 236
Rudd, E. P. 236
Rudd, George IR. 236
Ruggles, Samuel B.42
Runkle, L. G. 251
Rush, James, 559
Rush, Richard, 120
Ruskin, John, 297
Russell, Bull Run, 75
Russell, John, 674
Sabin, Joseph, 660
Sampson, Charles, 673
Sanford, Edward, 655
Sargent, Epes, 131,623
Sarony, N, 48
Sartain, John, 582
Saunders, F. 35
Savage, John, 255,
724
Saxe, J. G. 203, 269,
411, 668
Schaff, Phillip, 444
Schell, Augustus, 512
Schoolcraft, H. R. 383
Scott, F. H. 708
Scott, T. A. 614
Scott, Walter, Sir, 119,
293, 350, 386, 491,
511, 562
Scott, Winfield, 709
Scribner, Armstrong
& Co. 354, 444, 445,
535, 706
Scribner, Blair,445,601
Scribner, Charles, 235,
441, 443–445, 567
Scribner's Sons, Chas.
195, 198, 445, 601,
608, 7.06, 724
Scudder, H. E. 722
Seabury, Samuel, 442
Seaver, W. A. 607
Sedgwick, C. M. 584
Sedgwick, T. 104,
£355
Seibt, Rev. 573
Seward, A. 78
Seward C. A. 30
Seward, Frederick W.
47, 76–80, 84, 135,
508, 514
Seward, Olive R. 84
Seward, William H.
29, 52, 56, 57–85,
129, 135, 142, 184,
339, 436, 437, 477–
484, 487, 488, 500,
506, 514, 684, 710
Seward, Weed & Gree-
ley, 135
Seymour, Edward,354
445, 706
Seymour, James, 50
Seymour, Jonathan,89
Seymour, Mary F. 48
Shaftesbury, Lord,453
Shaleswood, Geo. 337
Shaw, H. W. 239, 242
Shea, John G. 195
Shelley, P. B. 641
Shepard, C. A. B. 518
Sheridan, Phil. 717
738
INDEX.
Sherman, William T.
184, 436, 711, 717
Shillaber, B. P. 407,
Sickles, Daniel E. 24
Sigourney, L. H. 259
Silliman, B. 120
Simms, William Gil-
more, 313, 585, 586
Simon, John, 443
Sinclair, S. 259
Slade, Governor, 449
Slidell, John, 7.4
Slocum, H. W. 711
Smalley, G. W. 531
Smith, Asher S. 704
Smith, Augustine, 147
S m it h, Elizabeth
Oakes, 35, 238, 239,
251, 545, 549
Smith, Julie P. 623
Smith, R. P. 552
Smith, Seba, 35, 595
Smith, Roswell, 704,
705, 706, 707, 708
Smith, R. C. 704
Smollett, Tobias, 34
Somerville, J. 270
Somerville, John A. 27
Somerville, M. 350
Southey, R. 591
Southworth, D. D. E.
N. 204
Sparks, J. A. 442
Spalks, Jared, 29
Spaulding, J. R. 391
Spencer, Herbert, 186
Spencer, J. A. 195
Spencer, John C. 102
Spinner, F. E. 644
Spofford, A. K. 648
Spofford, II. P. 283
Sprague, C, 159, 651
Sprague, W. B. 35
Spring, Gardner, 605
Stanly, Dean, 347
Stanton, E. M. 472
Stedman, Edmund
Clarence, 138, 169,
241, 250, 526, 529–
532, 534–5:37, 60.3
Stephens, Alexander
H. 338,490, j00, 501,
502, 503, 504, 725
Stephens, Ann S. 723
Sterne, Lawrence, 34
Stevens, Abel, 251
Stockton, R. F. 45
Stoddard, Richard H.
35, 158, 162, 169,
239, 250, 255, 280,
535, 595-597, 599,
600–603, 699
Stoddard, E. B. 603
Stone, D. M. 228
Stone, W. L. 294, 295
Storrs, R. A. 705
Story, Joseph, 459,
672, 674
Story, W. W. 482
Stowe, C. E. 460
St O we, Harriet
Beecher, 35, 203,
217, 219, 277, 280,
283, 284, 286, 289,
451, 454, 455–460,
474, 520, 521, 624
Strebeigh, R. M. 145
Strong, T. W. 236
Sumner, Charles, 30,
65, (,9, 74, 373, 479,
482, 593, 623, 624,
617, 685
Swain, J. B. 355
Swiſ t, Dean, 34, 350
Swing, David, 536
Swinton, W. 55
Sydney, Philip, 685
Tallien, Madame, 124
Talmage, T. DeW.696
Tauchnitz, the Pub-
lisher, 177
Taylor, A. C. 53
Taylor, Bayard, 35,
137, 158, 169, 184,
279, 301, 302, 316,
535,591, 595–602,623
Taylor, Dick, 713
Taylor, Jeremy, 328
Taylor J. S. 443
Taylor, Moses, 614
Taylor, Charles, 47
Taylor, Rev. C. S. 46
Taylor, Zachary, 28,
30, 62, 69, 330
Teal, F. A. 194, 195
Tefft, B. F. 251
Tegg, Thomas, 116
Tenney, W. J. 183,
494, 495, 497, 720
Tennyson, A. 203, 616
Terhune, M. V. 568
Terry, Rose, 285
Thackeray, W. M.254,
312, 388, 404–406,
538, 540–542, 622,
624, 625, 642, 685
Thanatopsis, 162, 165,
Thiers, M. 234, 371
Thomas, Joseph, 385
Thomas, Moses, 39,
40, 555, 557
Thomas, Moses &
Sons, 335, 556
Thomas, Abel C. 251
Thompson, Elizabeth,
489, 490
Thompson, John R.
401, 564, 664
Thompson, Mortimer
M. (D Desticks), 203,
237, 239
Thomson, W. T. 437
Thompson, I'. 334
Throop, Governor, 51
Thoreau, H. J. 624
Thorpe, T. B. 552
Tickmor, B. H. 625
Ticknor & Fields,262,
277, 281, 340, 465,
595, 619, 626, 637
Tickmor, George, 624
Ticknor, H. M. 618
Ticknor, W. D. 342,
344, 345, 346, 592,
616-618, 635
Tilden, S. J. 159 678
Timrod, Henry, 504
Tinto, Dick, 239, 241
Titcomb, Timothy,443
Toombs, Robert, 504
Tousey, Sinclair, 204
Townsend, M. A. 667
Townsend, W. A. 275
Trollopes, The, 527
Trow, J. F. 300, 656
Trowbridge. J. T.524
Trubner & Co. 54,654
INDEX.
739
Trumbull, John, 110
Tuckerman, H. T. 570
Turner, J. A. 435
Turner, W. W. 435
Tyler, John, 59
Tyndall, John, 186
Tyng, Rev. S. H. 35
Underhill, E. F., 532
Underwood, F. H.521.
Underwood, Henry,61
Valentine, Lawson, 27
Van Buren, J. 64, 370
Van Buren, M. 51,467
Wanderbilt, Commo-
dore, 43–45, 95, 260,
409, 681, 693, 725
Vane Florence, 402
Van Nest Family, 63
Van Nostrand, O. 653
Vaughn, Henry, 106
Weitelle, I. D. #95
Verdery, M. J. 266
Verdi, Doctor, 77, 79
Verplanck, G. C. 42,
158, 294, 331
Victor, M. V. 721
Victor, O. J. 250, 267
Vincent, F. Sr. 703
Vincent, F. Jr. 701
Voltaire, M. 350
Von Humboldt, Baron
325, 600
Voorhies, J. S. 655
Wakeman, A. 481
Walker, Evans &
Cogswell 393
Walker, Alex. 225
Walsh, Mike, 423
Walton, John, 469
Walworth, R. H. 238
Walworth, M. T. 208
Ward, Artemus, 239,
411, 492
| Ward, Samuel, 371
Waldle, Thomas, 295
Ware, William, 581
Walfield, Catherine A.
422, 497
Warner, Susan, 304
Watterson, Henry,725
Wayland, Francis,523
Webb, A. S. 724
Webb, C. H. 242
Webb, J. Watson, 295
Webster, Daniel, 62,
120, 327, 356, 482,
500, 623, 673, 675
Webster, Noah, 272
377, 378
Webster, H. G. 379
Weed, H. A. 507, 514
Weed, Thurlow, 49,
58, 64, 65, 72, 90,
102, 133, 135, 165,
167, 271, 295, 342,
352, 362, 368, 374,
506—516, 709, 710
Weeks, E. A. 568
Welby, A. B. 422
Welles, Gideon, 44, 74
Wellford, Charles, 347
Wells, D. A. 305
Wesley, E. B. 353
West & Johnson, 392
West & Trow, 658
Westerland, Henry,44
Whipple, E. P. 621
Whipple, John, 705
Whitcher, M. B. 414
Whitcher, B. W. 415
White, Andrew D. 531
White, G. C. 416
Whitehead, C. E. 708
Whiting, Bishop, 95
Whitman, S. H. 251
Whittier, John G. 35,
73, 158, 198, 199,
245, 247, 248, 250,
265, 277, 279, 280,
2S2–284, 286, 287,
280, 424, 624
Whittingham, Bp. 186
Wickham, W. H.
O
Wight, O.W. 256, 276,
279, 722
Wikoff, IIenry,368–76
Wilbour, C. E. 236
Wiley, C. 292–294
Wiley, John, 292–298
306
Wiley & Putnam, 507
Wiley, W. H. 297
Wilkes, Captain, 74
Wilkins, Edward, 232
Wilkins, Carter & Co.
Willard, Emma, 57.7
Willard, Sylvester, 57
Williams, J. E. 207
Williams, Wells, 51
Williams, William, 49
Willis, N. P. 35, 156,
219, 221, 230, 231,
370, 442, 547, 591,
596, 622, 629
Willis, R. S. 209
Wilson, Augusta J.
Evans, 243, 398, 399
Wilson, Henry, 136
Wilson, J. G., 168
Wilson, I. M. 398
Winter, William, 232
Wolcott, Oliver, 120
Wolfe, John, 3S
Wood, George, 655
Wood, Julius J. 72
WOOOlford, O. P. 657
Woods, Leonard, 449
Woolsey, T. D. 35
Worcester, J. 386
Wordsworth, Wm. 562
Yancey, W. L. 355
Youmans, E. L. 187
Youmans, W. J. 188
Young, Brigham, 242
Young, John, 30
Young, Russell, 251
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