The Letters of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: Volume VI The Letters of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Volume VI: 1875–1882 [Reprint 2014 ed.] 9780674598706, 9780674598560

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THE LETTERS OF

Henry Wads worth Longfellow

V O L U M E VI

1875-1882

THE LETTERS OF

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow EDITED BY

Andrew Hilen V O L U M E VI ι 875-1882

The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press Cambridge, Massachusetts, and London, England 1982

Copyright © 1982 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth, 1807-1882. The letters of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Includes bibliographies and indexes. Contents: v. 1. 1814-1836—v. 2. 1837-1843—[etc.] v. 6. 1875-1882. i. Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth, 180^-1882—Correspondence. 2. Poets, American-19th century—Correspondence. I. Hilen, Andrew R., 1913— ed. 11. Title. PS2281.A3H5 8ii\3 66-18248 ISBN 0-674-52728-3 AACR2 ISBN 0-674-52729-1

Contents Volume V I Chronology

IX

PART TWENTY-ONE

Among the Breakers, 1875-1876

3

Letters No. 3572-3959 PART TWENTY-TWO

The Tumult of Life, 1877-1878

223

Letters No. 3960-4322, PART TWENTY-THREE

Lowered Sails, 1879-1880

425

Letters No. 4323-4788 PART TWENTY-FOUR

In the Harbor, 1881-1882

675

Letters No. 4789-4992 Undated Letters and Fragments

785

Letters No. 4993-5055 Longfellow's Last Will and Testament

805

Additions and Corrections

808

Short Titles of Works Cited

814

Index of Recipients

816

Comprehensive Index

823 ν

ILLUSTRATIONS VOLUME V I

following page 220 PLATE

i.

PLATE 11.

Facsimile of Letter 4733, to Samuel Ward. The manuscript is in the Rare Book Collection, Special Collections Division, University of Washington Libraries. Longfellow and his first grandchild, Richard Henry Dana III. From a glass negative owned by Frank O. Buda, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

πι.

Photograph of Edith Longfellow Dana and Richard Henry Dana II, c. 1878. Courtesy of the National Park Service, Longfellow National Historic Site.

P L A T E IV.

The library in Longfellow's house. Photograph courtesy of the National Park Service, Longfellow National Historic Site. West side of Longfellow's house. The drawing appeared in Scribner's Monthly, X V I I (November 1878). Courtesy of the University of Washington Libraries.

PLATE

following page 580 P L A T E V.

Photograph of Longfellow in 1876 by F. Gutekunst, of Philadelphia. Courtesy of the National Park Service, Longfellow National Historic Site.

PLATE

vi.

Portrait of Longfellow painted by Ernest Wadsworth Longfellow, original in Longfellow House. Courtesy of the National Park Service, Longfellow National Historic Site. Photograph of Alexander Wadsworth Longfellow, c. 1880. Rare Book Collection, Special Collections Division, University of Washington Libraries.

PLATE

vii.

Alice Mary Longfellow, photographed in August 1875 by J. H. Lamson of Portland, Maine. Anne Allegra Longfellow, February 1873, also by J. H. Lamson. Both photographs courtesy of the National Park Service, Longfellow National Historic Site. vii

ILLUSTRATIONS PLATE

viii.

Chair made from the village blacksmith's chestnut tree, presented to Longfellow by the children of Cambridge on February 27, 1879. Photograph courtesy of the National Park Service, Longfellow National Historic Site. The study in Longfellow's house. Photograph courtesy of the National Park Service, Longfellow National Historic Site.

viii

CHRONOLOGY 1875

1876

1877

1878

1879

1880 1881

1882

1883 1884

Longfellow reads Morituri Salutamus at Bowdoin College, celebrating fiftieth anniversary of the class of 1825, July 7. Publication of The Masque of Pandora and Other Poems (Boston: James R. Osgood and Company), October. Death of Ferdinand Freiligrath, March 18. Visits the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, May. Publication of eight volumes of Poems of Places (Boston: James R. Osgood and Company). Seventieth birthday, February 27. Attends "Atlantic Dinner" at Brunswick Hotel, Boston, honoring Whittier's seventieth birthday. Publication of ten volumes of Poems of Places. Marriage of Edith Longfellow and Richard Henry Dana II, January 10. Publication of Keramos and Other Poems (Boston: Houghton, Osgood & Company), April; The Early Poems of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Now First Collected (London: Pickering and Company), August; and six volumes of Poems of Places. Receives "Village Blacksmith armchair" from Cambridge schoolchildren, February 27. Birth of first grandchild, Richard Henry Dana III, September 1. Publication of seven volumes of Poems of Places. Publication of Ultima Thüle (Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Company), September. Birth of second grandchild, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Dana, January 26. Death of James T . Fields, April 24. Suffers "nervous attack" that confines him to his room, October-December. Longfellow's seventy-fifth birthday is celebrated by Maine Historical Society, February 27. Contracts peritonitis and dies, March 24. Publication of In the Harbor (Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Company), July. Publication of Michael Angelo (Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Company). Unveiling of Longfellow's bust, Poets' Corner, Westminster Abbey, March 2.

PART

TWENTY-ONE

AMONG THE

BREAKERS

1875-1876

AMONG THE

BREAKERS

1875-1876

O N J A N U A R Y 14, 1875, Longfellow resumed his journal after a lapse of forty days: "Have got down into my Study again after being shut up in my room just a fortnight with Influenza and neuralgia." For the next two years he seems rarely to have escaped the discomfort of headaches, neuralgic attacks, and insomnia. "I have really been among the breakers," he wrote to Robert Charles Winthrop in August 1875 (Letter No. 3676), and his repeated references to illness as the reason for the tardiness of his letters indicate that he endured the battering for long weeks at a time. In an attempt to escape these "breakers" he gave up his vacations at Nahant for the summer quiet of the Craigie House, resumed the mental therapy of compiling a last anthology, Poems of Places, and experimented with various nostrums that attracted his attention in newspaper advertisements or that he concocted for himself. Even a partial list of these medications suggests the desperation with which he struggled against his physical distress: they include the patent medicines Vegetine and N u x Vomica; various diets emphasizing onions or celery or fish; a medicated belt and breastplate made of "wash-leather, lined with fine red flannel" (Letter No. 3616); quinine pills; and inhalations of ether. He even gave up wine, temporarily at least, for porter or lager beer. He tried whiskey at bedtime and abstained from cigars from time to time. Nothing seemed to work. Despite these self-administered treatments and an occasional visit to a "Magnetic Doctor" or an allopath, he remained faithful to the principles of homeopathy, even in the face of a direct challenge by Oliver Wendell Holmes (see Letter No. 3725). If he failed to cure himself, however, he found some comfort in sharing his symptoms and his remedies with George Washington Greene, whose susceptibility to illness was equalled only by his penchant for self-pity. Each found relief in diagnosing his complaints for the other. In a sonnet entitled "Sleep," composed in 1875, Longfellow suggested that work and worry caused his pain and unrest.

For I am weary, and am overwrought With too much toil, with too much care distraught, And with the iron crown of anguish crowned. 3

AMONG

THE

BREAKERS

That the petty worries of his everyday life and the anguish caused by Fanny Longfellow's death, still keen after fourteen years, provoked his insomnia seems reasonable enough. On the other hand, some physical dysfunction, now difficult to identify, probably lurked behind his other "demon," neuralgia. Whatever the cause of his distress, outsiders who caught occasional glimpses of him walking the grounds of the Craigie House or standing at his study desk assumed, like later critics of his poetry, that he enjoyed tranquillity of spirit. He himself denied it. During these years he suffered considerably, as his letters show, but not so much as to make him unfit for intellectual work. Samuel Longfellow ascribes thirty poems to this period (Life, III, 440); and Osgood & Company published The Masque of Pandora in 1875 and eight volumes of Poems of Places in 1876. Inevitably, Longfellow's correspondence continued to grow. Writing to Greene on November 26, 1875, he made use of a favorite allusion: "I have not written to you of late, because I have been writing to everybody else in the world. And yet the great snow-drift of unanswered letters does not visibly diminish. I am in despair. If I had Briareus for my Secretary, and he could write with all his hundred hands at once, it would hardly suffice for this overwhelming correspondence" (Letter No. 3722). The problem weighed on him and undoubtedly contributed to his malaise. On June 1 1 , 1876,· he returned to the subject in a letter to Greene: "I should be deliciously idle, were it not for the incessant letter-writing forced upon me. That embitters my existence, and I suppose will to the end. I mean now to have an amanuensis, and only sign my name. I must come to it, though it [is] almost as bad as using spectacles, which I have not yet come to" (Letter No. 3832). But he did not employ an amanuensis in any consistent way. Laboriously, he wrote over 1292 letters during this two-year period, 394 of which have been recovered. Only rarely could he bring himself to ignore a correspondent, no matter how dull, silly, or impertinent. One new correspondent whose letters he welcomed and answered with pleasure was Frances Rowena Miller (1856-c. 1926), an aspiring young opera singer from Wisconsin who had called on him, "a complete stranger," late in 1874. Flattered by the admiration of an attractive woman fifty years younger than he, Longfellow subsequently wrote more than thirty-five letters to her, offering advice, encouragement, and money. It is obvious from Miss Miller's letters to him that, in the beginning at least, she was girlishly proud of her friendship with the distinguished poet, indeed even smitten by him. Twice she assured him that she had not saved his first letters to her (there were at least four), perhaps because he had asked her not to; but his recovered letters do not match the intimate tone of hers. In May 1875 she sailed for Europe to begin voice training in Italy, and remained abroad for almost six years. "If the time ever comes," she wrote from Milan on September 21, 1875, "that I can reach a point that you may be proud of me, then I shall not be afraid to speak of you as a friend, not friend, that is too pre4

CAMBRIDGE,

1875

tentious; say rather that I then might aspire to that of a protege — never, though, unless I can do you proper honor." Longfellow's letters to her, always signed with the initials that he reserved for his close friends, and variously addressed to "My Dear Protegee," "My Dear Child," "My Dear Fran," "Cara la mia Francesca," "Gentilissima Signora," or "Cara Signora Roena," suggest that he enjoyed a confidential relationship with her. (When, in 1881, Anne Allegra Longfellow served briefly as his amanuensis, his salutation abruptly became "Dear Miss Miller.") One of several admiring young ladies of his later years, Frances Rowena Miller helped occasionally to divert his mind from his age and his pains. In May 1876, feeling well enough to travel, Longfellow indulged in a fortnight's holiday away from the Craigie House. He summarized the excursion in his journal as follows: "A week with Mr [George William] Childs at Philadelphia, and a week in the country at Rosemont near Bryn Mawr; from the 16th to the 31st. A charming vacation, with all the wonders of the Centennial Exhibition." Documentation of the visit is disappointingly small (only four of some eight letters written during these two weeks are recovered), and little is known of Longfellow's impressions of the great Exhibition. He seems to have regretted not staying longer, however (see Letter No. 3827), and for a moment at least he found relief from his neuralgic headaches in new scenes and friends and in the technological and other wonders on display in Fairmont Park. It was his last attempt to use travel as a therapy for physical ailments. With the exception of his yearly familial visits to Portland, three more summer holidays at Nahant, and his customary forays into Boston, he remained a recluse in Castle Craigie for the remainder of his life. 3572.

To Lizzie Holmes1

Cambridge Jan 1. 1875 Dear Madam, I am very much obliged to you for your kindness in sending me the old newspaper. To see my marriage there, as if it were only yesterday, almost startled me. Forty five years are a long way to look back, and events grow indistinct, unless brought near us again in some such way as this. I thank you also for your "Gethsemane," 2 which I have read with much interest and pleasure. The manner in which you have treated the subject is new and striking. Your suggestion, however, that I should take up the same theme, I fear I cannot follow. It hardly seems necessary, and I prefer to leave it with you. With renewed thanks, and my best wishes for the New Year to you and to Mr Holmes, I am Yours truly Henry W . Longfellow 5

AMONG MANUSCRIPT:

THE

BREAKERS

Massachusetts Historical Society.

1. Mrs. Holmes, aged thirty, was the wife of John A. Holmes, aged thirty-eight, of 7 Derby Place, Boston. 2. Unrecovered.

3573.

To Anne Longfellow

Pierce

Camb. Jan 3 1 8 7 5 . M y Dear Annie I send you my little N e w Year's present,1 with all love and good wishes. Edie returns delighted with her visit, and Alice it seems is so fascinated with Portland and Highfield, that she cannot tear herself away. With me, things go on without any decided change. Sometimes I feel a little better, sometimes a little worse. I continue Dr. Wood's remedies with as much regularity as possible; and do not see what keeps me ill. With love from all always affect. H.W.L MANUSCRIPT:

Longfellow Trust Collection.

I. A check for $100 (MS Account Book).

3574.

To George Washington

Greene

Camb. Friday. Jan 8. 1 8 7 5 . Everything here as when you left; neither better nor worse. I hope the Influenza is not going to ravage East Greenwich. Here, now, is somebody, or two somebodies, worse off than we are.1 Longfellow Trust Collection, A D D R E S S : Professor Geo W. Greene / East Greenwich / R.I. P O S T M A R K : C A M B R I D G E S T A T I O N M A S S , J A N 8

MANUSCRIPT:

i. The following clipping from the Boston Advertiser, CXXV, No. 6 (January 7, 1875), is pasted at the bottom of the postal card. "An old lady, named Ellen O'Brien, fell on Lynde street, yesterday afternoon, and broke one of her legs in two places. Last evening Mrs. Leary, a daughter of Mrs. O'Brien, went on to Lynde street to see the place where her mother fell, and when she had reached it she suddenly slipped and fell, breaking one of her legs in two places."

6

C A M B R I D G E , 3575.

T o Anne Longfellow

1875

Pierce C a m b . Jan. 8. 1 8 7 5

Dear Anne, W e are all ill with Influenza. I cannot write; but only send you the enclosed. 1 H.W.L MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. i. Possibly Letter No. 3573, which Longfellow might not have mailed until this date.

3576.

To George Washington

Greene C a m b . J a n 9. 1 8 7 5 .

W e are neither better nor worse to-day but hope you can give a more satisfactory account of yourselves. W h a t do you think of this? 1 H.W.L MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection, Greenwich / R.I.

ADDRESS: Professor Geo W . Greene / East

POSTMARK: CAMBRIDGE STATION MASS, J A N 9

i . T h e following clipping from the Boston Advertiser, C X X V , No. 8 (January 9, 1 8 7 5 ) , is pasted at the bottom of the postal card. " T o Scholars, ANY GENTLEMAN, not over 40 years old, sufficiently strong to stand long working hours, conversant with Latin, French, German, and with general literary history, content with moderate pay, and not wishing to secure a position simply as a temporary expedient, may address Lock Box No. 2, Boston Post Office. 2-6-9 jan 2."

3577.

T o George Washington

Greene Camb. Jan 1 1 . 1875.

I think w e are all a little better to-day, but very little. I send you a paper with a sketch of Prest. W h i t e ' s address, and a letter of W e n d e l l

Philips'

w h i c h will interest you. 1 Fields sends you an invitation to meet Bayard T a y l o r this evening. H.W.L. MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection, East Greenwich. / R.I.

ADDRESS: Professor Geo. W . Greene. /

P O S T M A R K : CAMRRIDGE STATION MASS, J A N

II

i . T h e paper was the Boston Advertiser, C X X V , No. 8 [sic] (January 1 1 , 1 8 7 5 ) . President White of Cornell spoke on " T h e Warfare of Science" at Horticultural Hall on January 10. Wendell Phillips's letter, undated, criticizes a civil rights bill passed by the Senate because it "sanctions separate schools for whites and blacks." T h e following clipping from the same number of the Advertiser is pasted to the postal card after this p a r a g r a p h . " H o r t i c u l t u r a l H a l l . TUESDAY EVENINGS, J a n .

12,

1 9 , 2 6 . AMPHION GATES

will read two Lectures on America anterior to A.D. 100, and one on the way man came

7

AMONG THE

BREAKERS

to America, its discovery anterior to A . D . iooo, races, ruins, wars, ancient visits, Indian traditions, classic allusions, and the 'Lost Atlantis.' Tickets for the course, $ i ; admission 50 cents. For sale at Oliver Ditson's Music Store and at Hall. Lecture at 7.30. 9 - 1 2 - 1 9 - 2 6 * jan 9." Gates, about whom nothing is known, lived on Bowdoin Street, near Green Street, Boston.

3578.

To George Washington Greene

Camb. Jan 13. 1875. We are creeping along slowly, but I hope surely. I came down yesterday for the first time, but the headache still torments me. I am heartily sorry that you are no better. What can be done? You will have to take some sleeping draught. H.W.L. MANUSCRIPT:

Longfellow Trust Collection,

East Greenwich / R.I.

3579.

ADDRESS:

Professor Geo W .

POSTMARK: CAMBRIDGE STATION MASS, J A N

Greene /

14

To Richard Henry Dana, Jr.

Camb. Jan. 15. 1875. My Dear Dana, I return the letter you sent me, but only dimly guess at its meaning, having heard nothing upon the subject.1 Excuse the long delay. For the last fortnight I have been shut up in my room by Influenza. Yours very truly Henry W. Longfellow MANUSCRIPT: Massachusetts Historical Society. ι . T h e letter is unidentified and the allusion enigmatic.

3580.

To George Washington Greene

Camb. Jan 15. 1875. My Dear Greene, I have got down stairs at last, but if anything am rather worse off than if I had stayed in my room. My headache is no better; and I can neither read nor write. If this bitter northwest wind would only stop blowing, I should have some hope. Mr. Monti has returned from Sicily.1 He brings me three volumes of "Canti Popolari Siciliani," collected by Giuseppe Pitre.2 These would interest me, if I could get interested in anything just now. They contain Love Songs and riddles, and Canti Fanciulleschi, and Ninne-Nanne, or cradle 8

CAMBRIDGE,

1875

songs, and Legends and Religious poems, and sundry dissertations on popular poetry. A valuable work for the curious in such matters. I have no business to be writing you to-night, instead of going to bed, which is the best place for me. I hear nothing from you to-day; but hope tomorrow will bring me good news. T h e girls are getting well faster than I am. And now Ernest is taking his turn. T h e whole family is lying neck and heels. I enclose a roguish picture for Nat, and am, as always, headache or no headache, H.W.L. MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. 1. H a v i n g lost his consular position in Palermo, where his w i f e and child remained, Monti was offering instruction in Italian in Boston. See 3 3 5 5 . 1 . 2. Piträ ( 1 8 4 3 - 1 9 1 6 ) ,

Italian physician and folklorist, published his collection of

Canti in Palermo and Torino, 1 8 7 0 - 1 8 7 1 .

3581.

To Emily

Kislingbury1

Cambridge, Mass., Jan. 15, 1875. Dear Miss Kislingbury: Not being a Spiritualist in the usual and popular sense of the word — that is to say, never having seen any manifestations that convinced me of the presence of spirits — I should deem it almost an act of dishonesty on my part to accept the compliment you offer. I must therefore, with many thanks for this mark of your consideration, beg leave to decline it. With great regard, yours truly, Henry W . Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT:

unrecovered;

text from

unidentified

Trust Collection (Longfellow House),

newspaper

clipping,

Longfellow

PUBLISHED: Life, III, 2 4 3 .

i . Miss Kislingbury, secretary of the British National Association of Spiritualists, had asked Longfellow in a letter of December 2 1 , 1 8 7 4 , to accept an honorary membership in the society.

3582.

To Henry

Lemon,

Jr.1

Camb. Jan. 16. 1875. M y Dear Sir, Pardon the delay of my answer to your letter. A n obstinate Influenza has confined me to my room for a fortnight and so affected my eyes as to render it painful to write. Even now I can send you but a few words of reply. 9

AMONG THE

BREAKERS

I welcome with pleasure every tribute to the memory of Sumner. Yours is fervent [and] sincere. Nothing can be truer than the line; "In losing thee, too late she knows thy worth." With many thanks and good wishes, Yours truly Henry W. Longfellow MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. i. Lemon, an upholsterer of Newton, Mass., and later the editor and publisher of the Newton Transcript, had enclosed some lines on Sumner in a letter of January 9, requesting Longfellow to tell him if he had "any gift for poetry."

3583.

To George Washington Greene

Camb. Jan 17. 1875. Reading and writing forbidden for the present. To-day I can only send you this, and an Advertiser, with complimentary notice of your Article on the Hessians.1 We are mending slowly. If the North-west wind would only stop blowing, blowing, blowing! H.W.L. MANUSCRIPT:

Longfellow Trust Collection,

East Greenwich. / R.I.

ADDRESS:

Professor Geo W .

P O S T M A R K : CAMHRIDGE STATION MASS, J A N

Greene. /

18

i. T h e notice in the Boston Advertiser, C X X V , N o . 1 3 (January 16, 1 8 7 5 ) , concerned Greene's article in the Atlantic Monthly, X X X V (February 1 8 7 5 ) , 1 3 1 - 1 4 4 .

3584.

To Catherine Porter Greene

Camb. Jan. 19. 1875. Dear Mrs Greene, Since writing to you this morning I have seen Dr. [Conrad] Wesselhoeft, and read to him such portions of your two letters as were necessary to put him in possession of the facts of George's present condition.1 He seemed much interested, but said that where the symptoms were changing it was impossible to prescribe with any precision or hope of good result, at so great a distance, and without seeing the patient. He therefore strongly advised that you should send for Dr. Okie or Dr. Gottschalk of Providence to consult with Dr. Greene, your East Greenwich physician.2 Being near at hand, they could prescribe for the symptoms as they appear, and without loss of time. ι ο

CAMBRIDGE,

1875

This seems to me also the wisest course. It is impossible otherwise to watch the case, with the necessary care, and to act with any degree of promptness. I am very much distressed, that George can get no sleep. That seems to be the root of all the evil, and a terribly bitter root it is. Give my love to George, and the girls, and believe me ever Sincerely Yours Henry W. Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: unrecovered; text from typewritten transcript, Longfellow Trust Collection (Longfellow House). 1. Longfellow's first letter of this date is unrecovered. In her two undated letters Catherine Greene had described her husband's delirium and his taking morphine to induce sleep. 2. Dr. Greene was presumably Greene's brother Dr. Nathanael Greene ( 4 9 5 . 6 ) . Dr. Howard Okie ( 1 8 4 6 - 1 9 0 2 ) was a Brown graduate of 1866, and Dr. William von Gottschalk a homeopathist who had helped form the Homeopathic Medical Society in Rhode Island in 1 8 7 3 .

3585.

To George Washington Greene

Camb. Jan. 20. 1875. My Dear Giorgio, As the Doctor has prohibited reading and writing for the present, I have a good deal of time for meditation. And to-day I have been meditating on your sleeplessness; and have come to the conclusion, that if homoeopathy has no remedy for it, you must try something else. If pelting it with grass wont do, you must "try what virtue there is in stones."1 If you object to a few drops of laudanum or paregoric, what do you say to Vegetine? I enclose you the letter of a sleepless clergyman, who found relief in it.2 I do not wish to urge this upon you with too much vehemence, but something of the kind I think you should take. I am glad to hear by your wife's letter this morning3 that you are a trifle better. H.W.L. MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. 1. A n echo perhaps of the proverb "Virtue now is in herbs, and stones, and words only" (George Herbert, JacuUi Prudentum, No. 4 1 8 ) . 2. Vegetine was a general-purpose nostrum prepared by H . R . Stevens of Boston and advertised in the daily papers. Longfellow sent Greene a testimonial by James Stokes Dickerson ( 1 8 2 5 - 1 8 8 6 ) of the South Baptist Church, Boston, dated March 16, 1 8 7 4 , which appeared in the Boston Advertiser, C X X V , No. 16 (January 20, 1 8 7 5 ) . It is pasted to the third sheet of the letter. 3. Dated January 19.

ι ι

AMONG 3585a.

To Arabella

THE

BREAKERS

1

Duffy

Cambridge Jan. 25 1875. My Dear Miss Duffy, Yesterday as I sat musing by the fire, and wishing that something pleasant would happen to brighten the dark winter day, your letter2 came, and my wish was gratified. Or rather you came yourself in the shape of this beautiful photograph, so that I see you and hear you speak. I am delighted with it, and thank you most cordially. I send you in return a rather sad and wrinkled face, which perhaps you will recognize, and which I wish you always to look upon as the face of a friend. I send you also a Sonnet which came into my mind the other day, when I was thinking of Florence, as I very often do. It is on the Ponte Vecchio; making it boast, like an old man, of its victory over the turbulent river; and then recall some memories of the Past, as old men are fond of doing. I have written it both in English and Italian, and send you both forms.3 I have no particular fancy for writing in foreign tongues, but this took shape in my mind, and I noted it down. This is one way of visiting Florence, and I fear the only one for me. I beg you to give my kind regards to your father and mother, and to believe me always Sincerely Yours Henry W . Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: University of Washington Library, Rondinelli / Florence. / Italy,

POSTMARKS:

ADDRESS: Miss A . J. Duffy / 10 Via CAMBRIDGE

STATION

MASS,

JAN

N E W YORK B Y T R A N S I T PAID A L L J A N 2 8 / F I R E N Z E I I F E B 7 5 9 Μ / F E B I I

26/

I A DIST

1. Miss Duffy, a young American expatriate, lived with her parents in Florence. Longfellow had apparently met her there in 1869. 2. Dated December 3 1 , 1 8 7 4 . 3. See Works, III, 2 0 6 - 2 0 7 .

3586.

To George Washington

Greene

Camb. Jan. 25. 1875. Here is a paragraph that will interest you; if you are well enough to listen to it, as I hope and trust you are. 1 H.W.L. MANUSCRIPT:

Longfellow Trust Collection,

East Greenwich / R.I.

ADDRESS:

Professor Geo. W .

POSTMARK: CAMBRIDGE STATION MASS, J A N

Greene/

25

i. T h e following clipping from the Boston Advertiser, C X X V , No. 20 (January 25, 1 8 7 5 ) , is pasted to the postal card below the signature, "THE OLD HERO. / ENTHUSIASTIC RECEPTION

OF

GARIBALDI / AT

CIVITA

VECCHIA. / ROME,

ι 2

Jan.

26. — General

Garibaldi

CAMBRIDGE,

1875

landed at Civita Vecchia yesterday evening and was received with the most enthusiastic demonstrations by the people, and conducted through the town by a torchlight procession. The general arrived today in Rome. He was met at the railway station by the mayor and members of the municipality, and cordially welcomed to the city. Several workmen's societies formed a procession, with bands. The people took the horses from his carriage and drew it to the hotel. The crowd around the hotel was so great that Garibaldi was compelled to leave incognito and proceed to a private residence. He is expected to be present tomorrow night in the chamber of deputies, and will probably speak on the arrest of the republicans."

3587.

To Joseph Liddell

Blamire Camb. Jan. 26. 1 8 7 5 .

Dear Sir, T h e books1 have not yet made their appearance. I have sent three times to Lee and Shepard, and have written to them, and they say no parcel for me has been received. Please have the matter set right, and oblige Yours truly Henry W . Longfellow p.s. M a y I trouble you to execute the enclosed commission. Please order for me from Sotheran's Catalogue for December 28. ( 3 8 Piccadilly) the following 2 3 0 2 I R V I N G S ( W . ) BRACEBRIDGE HALL, or the Humourist[s], 2 vols. 8vo. hf. calf gilt, 6s 6d 1822 303 I R V I N G S

( W . ) CHRONICLE of t h e CONQUEST of GRANADA, f r o m

the M S S . of Fra Antonio Agapida, 2 vols. 8vo. hoards, uncut, 5s

1829

304 I R V I N G S ( W . ) SKETCH BOOK, 2 vols. 8vo. calf gilt, 6s 6d

1820

MANUSCRIPT:

Frank O. Buda, Cambridge, Mass.

1. Unidentified. 2. An excerpt from the catalogue, listing the items below, is pasted to the sheet. For the items, see BAL 1 0 1 1 0 , 10126, and 10108. A letter from Blamire, dated February 26, 1875, indicates that the books had been previously sold.

35 88.

To George Washington

Greene

Camb. Jan. 26. 1 8 7 5 . M y Dear Greene, Your letter, your wife's and Katy's came all together,1 so I shall answer them all together, and all in one. I can see by yours how your whole nervous system has been shaken, and how sensitive and tremulous it still is.

13

AMONG

THE

BREAKERS

This discipline of pain is a hard school to go through, and I confess that I am a very unwilling pupil. M y headache still continues, almost as bad as ever, and in spite of all remedies, homoeopathic, allopathic, and empirical. I do not expect to be cured till the wind changes and the weather softens. To-day I have written to the Governor, and stated the case just as it is, without modification or e x a g g e r a t i o n . I hope for some good result. I do not see how it is any longer possible for anyone to pass by on the other side. Meanwhile keep as calm as you can, and hope for the best. I will send you by Express tomorrow a box of claret, and will make you up another box of divers kinds as soon as I can venture into the cellar to do it. T h e girls have all got well. I am the only invalid. H.W.L. MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. i . Greene's letter is unrecovered. Mrs. Greene wrote on January 24 and Katy on January 23. Katy was Catherine Porter Greene (2366.2).

3 589.

T o William

Greene

Cambridge Jan 26 1875. M y Dear Sir, Since George's return from his visit to me at Christmas, I am distressed to hear of the critical condition of his health, and his great bodily and mental suffering. T h e physicians here and I believe in East Greenwich also, have given it as their opinion that complete rest from work, and freedom from mental anxiety are absolutely essential to his recovery. These can only be had by the aid of his friends. I am ready to contribute six hundred dollars annually for one, two or three years. That is but a small part of what he needs, having a large family and no other means. Can anything be done among his relatives in Rhode Island? I most sincerely hope so, and in this hope I write to you on the subject. W i t h kind remembrances to Mrs Greene, and to yourself, I am, my Dear Sir, Yours faithfully Henry W . Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: University of Washington Library.

ι 4

CAMBRIDGE, 3590.

1875

1

To James E. Hewitt

CAMBRIDGE, J A N . 2 7 T H ,

1875

M Y DEAR SIR

I have had the pleasure of receiving the specimen of your translation of the Lusiad, and hasten to thank you for your kindness in sending it to me. I have read it with great satisfaction. You have made an excellent beginning; and I am particularly delighted that you preserve the stanzas of the original and do not attempt to recast the poem into another form. This Mickle 2 did, and almost destroyed the identity of the work. Form is so much in poetry! You have a long task before you, but not one of particular difficulty. If you take your time for it, you will find it pleasant and not painful; and if you do the whole as you have done this portion, the result will be a great success. I encourage you by all means to persevere. If you add but a few stanzas daily, you will find the work done sooner than you think. With my best wishes for its completion, I am, my dear Sir, Yours very truly HENRY W. LONGFELLOW

Mr. James E. Hewitt MANUSCRIPT: unrecovered; text from Luis de Camöes, The First Canto of "The Lusiad," translated into English verse by James E. Hewitt, accompanied by the Portuguese text, together with a letter from the great American poet Henry W . Longfellow (Rio de Janeiro, 1883). 1. In a letter of December 12, 1874, Hewitt, who gave his address as "Collegio Abilio, Rua da Ypiranga / Saranjeiras / Rio de Janeiro," had sent Longfellow some lines (unrecovered) from his translation of Camoes's Lusiad. 2. William Julius Mickle ( 1 7 3 5 - 1 7 8 8 ) , Scottish poet. See his The Lusiad; or, The Discovery of India. An Epic Poem (Oxford and London, 1 7 7 6 ) .

3591.

To George Washington

Greene

Camb. Jan 28. 1875. My Dear Greene, I sent you yesterday a case of Claret, but it was not the kind I intended. When I went to the cellar for it, I found there was not a case left. So I ordered one from Wyeth, 1 which he says is very good. The West Wind continues to blow and my head to ache; and consequently you must not wonder at my not writing more frequently. But my ills and ailments are nothing in comparison with yours; and I will say nothing about them. I have as yet had no answer from the Governor, and it is hardly time to expect one. I hope to hear soon, that he will take the matter up with zeal. ι 5

AMONG

THE

BREAKERS

Be of good courage. Work you cannot, and try not to worry; for that is worse than work. I have almost as bad a trick of lying awake as you have. But it is only for the first hours of the night. Then I sleep soundly for the rest of it. H.W.L. 2 MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow T r u s t Collection. 1. James H . W y e t h , aged forty-five, grocer of 6 Brattle Street, Cambridge. 2. Longfellow enclosed a check for $ 5 0 ( M S Letter C a l e n d a r ) .

3592.

To Mary Elizabeth Fiske Sargent

Camb. Jan 28. 1875. Dear Mrs Sargent, I am very sorry to say, that I am confined to the house by a tedious Influenza, which deprives me of the pleasure of accepting your kind invitation for Monday. 1 I wish I could hope to get out again as soon as that, even by daylight. The evening, I know, will be impossible. Thanking you for your kind remembrance, Sincerely Yours Henry W . Longfellow MANUSCRIPT: Clifton W a l l e r Barrett Collection, University of Virginia. ι . In a letter of January 28 Mrs. Sargent had invited Longfellow to meet John Greenleaf Whittier at a meeting of the Radical C l u b on February 1.

3593·

To George Washington

Greene

Camb. Jan 29. 1875. M y Dear Greene, I have this morning a letter from the Governor, which, though not all I hoped for, is not without its glimmer of light. 1 He says that on your brother's return from Georgia he will discuss the whole matter with him. At present he can do nothing, as there is no one to apply to, the Judge, 2 now in his 84th year being "more unapproachable than ever in such matters." For himself, "under present circumstances at least, to move to any considerable extent, would be to do injustice to other claims, which are imperative." He adds; "I write this letter with a heavy heart; for while my judgment assures me that I am right, my feelings would strongly incline me to another course." You will see from this exactly how matters stand; and must patiently wait ι 6

CAMBRIDGE,

1875

for the Spring and your brother's return. Then, I have no doubt, some permanent arrangement will be made, that will put you comparatively at ease. This is not a very cheery letter; but it is best to see things as they are, not as we wish them to be. All my children have got well. I am the only laggard, waiting as usual for the weathercocks to shift round, and look southward. H.W.L. MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. 1. T h e "glimmer of light" is barely perceptible in William Greene's letter of January 28. After pointing out that both Greene's brother Nathanael and his aged mother had the means to be of assistance, he wrote that "George has no relations here upon whom there could be reliance for pecuniary aid — temporary or permanent." Greene responded on January 30: "It is somewhat disheartening as you say, but all things considered I do not know as I had a right to hope for better. I cannot see beyond the threshold. / Nat's views I already know and also that he has not the means of taking a leading part. / Do not blame me when I say I am very heavy hearted." 2. Richard Ward Greene ( 2 4 2 9 . 3 ) .

3594.

To Paul Hamilton Hayne

Camb. Jan 31. 1875. Dear Mr Hayne, I thank you for your kind and sympathetic note.1 I am suffering from a pretty severe attack of Neuralgia, which, though not dangerous, is nevertheless tedious and painful. It affects my head and eyes so much, that I can neither read [n]or write with impunity. This is my apology for the brevity of my reply. Yours very truly Henry W . Longfellow MANUSCRIPT: unrecovered; text from typewritten transcript, Duke University Library, i. Dated Augusta, Ga., January 16, 1 8 7 ; .

3595.

To George Washington

Greene

Camb. Feb. 4. 1875 My Dear Greene, I was on the point of writing to you yesterday, when my eye fell on a volume of Goldoni, lying on the table, and taking it up I began to read. I was so delighted to find anything to amuse me, that I quite forgot myself and you, until the afternoon came and brought what follows. In despair of finding any remedy for head-ache, I yielded to Owen's urgent solicitations, and went to see a venerable Magnetic Doctor1 in the Port. He ι 7

AMONG

THE

BREAKERS

lives in an old house formerly occupied by one of the Danas, Al[l]ston's brother-in-law, and in the classic neighborhood of Alston's Studio. T h e Magnetic Doctor is a man of sixty, with long white hair and flowing beard, and perfect faith in his mysterious power. He made his passes, and manipulated me for an hour or so. To-day I am feeling a little better; but is it magnetism, or White Bryony, 2 or the weather-cock? Who shall say? Perhaps all three. Your letter3 has just come. I am troubled to find that nothing gives you sleep. Sumner used to take Bromide of Potassium. Have you ever taken it? If not, would it not be well to consult Dr. Eldridge4 about it, and take it under his direction? I detest all these drugs, as you well know; but you must have sleep and rest at night. [Conrad] Wesselhoeft tells me that it is difficult to prescribe at this distance. You had better rely on somebody nearer to you. This I think is wise. H.W.L MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. 1. Unidentified. 2. A plant used in homeopathic pharmacy. 3. Unrecovered.

4. Dr. James H . Eldridge ( 1 8 1 6 - 1 8 9 1 ) , a physician of East Greenwich.

3596.

To George Washington

Greene

Camb. Feb. 5. 1875. My Dear Giorgio, I send you here the photograph of the Magnetic Doctor of Cambridgeport. His manipulations seem to do me good. At all events the pain in my head is somewhat assuaged, though the roar of "multitudinous seas" 1 still continues in my ears, like the sound of the surf, after a storm. So far, so good; looking for something better. I hope you will be able to send me an equally favorable report of yourself. As I laid down the paper this morning, I wished I could be, for a season at least, in a land where there are no newspapers. What kind of a public are we to be fed daily with such horrors of all kinds, and tolerate it all the year round? The low tone of everything disturbs and discourages me.2 Owen was here last night, and desired me to send you his warmest regards and good wishes. He is happy in the recent purchase of two hundred and sixty new stereoscopic views of scenes in Europe. He has now many thousands of them; and says that if he had his choise of going to Europe or of spending the money it would cost in stereoscopes, he would choose the latter. He has a perpetual enjoyment in this kind of foreign travel. The real thing is only transitory. There is a good deal of philosophy in that. H.W.L. ι 8

CAMBRIDGE,

1875

MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection, ι. Macbeth, II, ii, 63. 2. The newspapers at this time, in addition to their regular fare of accidents, crimes, and political maneuverings, were reporting in detail the six-month trial of Rev. Henry Ward Beecher for adultery. See 1493.1.

3597.

T o George Washington

Greene

[Cambridge, February 5, 1875] 1 — Garibaldi, during his visit to Rome, is residing in a one-story house outside of Porta Pia. T h e ground floor is a species of wine shop; overhead are the two modest rooms, simply furnished for "the hero of two worlds." T h e old man instructed his son to rent just such a small foothold, and under no circumstances to accept any of the luxurious offers of accommodations showered upon him as soon as his visit to the capital was mooted. He desired especially to reside near the city gate by which the troops captured Rome, and which was battered down by the cannon of free Italy. T h e cook of the wine shop, contrary to orders, has laid in the most fancy stock of eatables and drinkables that could be obtained in the markets of the "Rotunda," for which he does not intend to charge the general the first centisimo [centesimo]. MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection, East Greenwich. / R.I.

ADDRESS: Professor Geo. W . Greene. /

POSTMARK: CAMRRIDGE STATION MASS, FEB 5

i . T h e following clipping from an unidentified newspaper is pasted to the postcard without comment by Longfellow. T h e same item, with minor variations, appeared in the Boston Transcript, XLVIII (February 2, 1875), 8.

3598.

To George Washington

Greene

Camb. Feb. 6. 1875. M y Dear Greene, T h e roar of the ocean has ceased, and now I have a sewing-machine in my head, turning out any amount of ready-made clothing. Such is my bulletin for to-day. W h a t is yours? Whatever it may be, do not lose heart. Faith is half the battle. T h e spirit lifts the body. I sent you this morning a portrait of Sam Ward, in a newspaper, with a sketch of him as "King of the Lobby." Later in the day, I will send another paper with several interesting articles. Do not fail to read, or have read to you, that on Ste. Beuve, and what Ruskin says about critics and criticism.1 Beside the ready-made clothing, the sewing-machine has turned out a poem on Amalfi. 2 In this cold weather what can one do better, than think of that lovely land? and sing of it, if the song comes? ι9

AMONG

THE

BREAKERS

I am now going down to my Magician in the Port, and hope to come back a happier man. If he finally cures me I shall be grateful. H.W.L. MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. ι . These articles are unidentified. T h e portrait of Sam Ward might have been the one by Napoleon Sarony ( 2 9 8 8 . 1 ) , done in Boston in 1 8 7 4 . See Maud Howe Elliott, Uncle Sam Ward and His Circle ( N e w York, 1 9 3 8 ) , opp. p. 509. 2. See Works, III, 9 0 - 9 3 .

3599.

To George Washington

Greene

Camb. Feb. 7. 1875 My Dear Greene, I send you enclosed the semi-annual account of Hurd and Houghton, with their cheque. 1 "The amount is great, because it is so small. Then it were greater were it none at all." The book does not sell like a sensational novel. That is evident. But still it sells. It lives, and moves, and has a being.2 I wish I had something more enlivening to send you, for I think I have noted that these publishers' accounts rather sadden you. Remember, this is only half the copyright for six months on one volume. MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. 1. For $8.86 ( M S Letter Calendar). 2. C f . Acts 1 7 : 2 8 : "For in him we live, and move, and have our being."

3600.

To Charles Frederick Bradford

Camb. Feb. 1 1 . 1875. Dear Mr. Bradford, I ought long ago to have thanked you for your generous gift of Pellicer, 1 and should have done so but for an attack of Influenza, which has so affected my head and eyes, that writing is painful. I find Pellicer's "Discorso Preliminare" interesting, though a little prolix. Perhaps librarians are apt to fall into that error. His notes I have not yet had time to examine. Many thanks for your kindness. I am very glad to have this edition of Don Quijote. Thanks also for Sr. De la Puente's translation of "Sand of the Desert," 2ο

CAMBRIDGE,

1875

which reads much better in print than in manuscript. 2 W h e n you write to him, please say how much gratified I am by the compliment he has paid me in making this spirited version of the poem. W i t h great regard Yours faithfully Henry W . Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. 1. Don Juan Antonio Pellicer (1738-1806), Spanish scholar and editor of Don Quixote (Madrid, 1797-1798), 5 vols. 2. This translation of Longfellow's poem (Works, I, 2 7 3 - 2 7 ; ) is unidentified. In his letter of January 23 Bradford remarked that he had caused it to be printed.

3601.

To Clara Catlin

Clarke1

Cambridge Feb. 11. 1875 Dear Madam, I am very sorry that it is not in my power to send you a satisfactory answer in regard to the genealogy of the Wadsworth family. I am not so well informed upon the subject as I should be. But you will find it all in Winsor's History of Plymouth and Duxbury; 2 and might also get information from Mr. L. Wadsworth 3 of Hiram, Me. who is interested in the subject, and I am sure would be able to answer all your questions. Regretting that I am not, I remain Yours very truly Henry W . Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: Berg Collection, New York Public Library, Clarke / P.O. FEB

Box

425. / Syracuse.

N.Y.

POSTMARK:

ADDRESS: Mrs Clara C . CAMBRIDGE

STATION

MASS.

12

ι. Mrs. Clarke, in acknowledging this letter on May 19, revealed that she was related to the Wadsworth family. 2. Justin Winsor, History of the Town of Duxbury, Massachusetts, with Genealogical Registers (Boston, 1849). 3. Llewellyn Andrew Wadsworth (1838-1922), son of Charles Wadsworth (2.3), was Longfellow's first cousin, once removed.

3602.

To Luther Terry

Camb. Feb. 12. 1875. Dear Mr Terry, Ever since I met you in Beacon St, in December, I have been suffering from a severe attack of Influenza, and have been most of the time confined to the house. I am not yet well enough to go to town; and this is the reason why I have not been to see you. 2ι

AMONG

THE

BREAKERS

I still hope it may be in my power to see you before you leave town; and I write to ask you to dine with me on Wednesday of next week at six o'clock. Mr. Pierce, who is collecting materials for a life of Sumner, wishes me to ask you if you have any of Sumner's letters to Crawford. I do not know that any such exist; but if they do, should you object to let me have them, or copies of them? Yours faithfully Henry W. Longfellow. p.s. I beg you to thank Dr. Howe for his excellent and very interesting Report.1 If he would come with you on Wednesday it would be an added pleasure. MANUSCRIPT: University of Washington Library, ADDRESS: Mr. Terry / A t Dr. Howe's / South Boston READDRESSED: NO. eight=5th Avenue / N e w York, POSTMARKS: CAMBRIDGE STATION MASS. F E B

1 2 / BOSTON M A S S . F E B .

IJ

4 P M / [one

postmark

illegible] i. T h a t is, Dr. Samuel Gridley Howe's report as director of the Perkins Institution and Massachusetts Asylum for the Blind.

3603.

To James Thomas Fields

Camb. Feb. 13. 1875. Dear Fields, I cannot hope to get well so long as the cold weather lasts. Head and eyes still troublesome. There never was a head-ache that lasted so long. I beg you to come and see me on Sunday. H.W.L. MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection.

3604.

To George Washington Greene

Camb. Feb. 14. 1875. Caro Giorgio, Tomorrow I shall send you by Express a box containing the following bottles of wine. ι ι ι ι ι

Beaune Chablis Sherry Port Catalan

ι ι ι ι ι

Bandol Zucco. Capri, Falerno Rosso — Bianco

all which, I hope, will reach you, neither broken nor frozen. 22

CAMBRIDGE,

1875

I should have sent them sooner, but the stooping to pack them was too much for me; for the obstinate and persistent head-ache still continues. I consider extreme cold as degrading and demoralizing. It reduces one to the level of the Esquimaux. With it there can be no courtesy or kindness, or refinement. The less one has to do with it the better. Fields has been here to-day. He is just returned from a lecturing tour. He says the fatigue and exposure are too much to bear. He asked particularly after you. There is nothing new in the literary world. The letter of Miss Brewster1 from Rome, which I sent you yesterday, will interest you. H.W.L MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. i. Anne Maria Hampton Brewster (b. 1 8 1 8 ) , minor American novelist, lived in Rome, where Longfellow had met her in 1 8 6 8 - 1 8 6 9 . Her letter is unrecovered.

3605.

To George Washington Greene

Camb. Feb. 15. 1875. My Dear Greene, The wine is all packed and ready to go to you, but the weather is so bitter cold this morning, that it seems unsafe to send it. Look for it the first warm day. By way of recreation I am reading the Fasti of Ovid. What a curious coincidence there is between his legend of Flora and Zephyrus (Book V. 201 [-202]) and that of Wenonah and the West-Wind in Hiawatha (Canto III). Ovid makes Flora tell her own story briefly and modestly in two lines; "Ver erat; errabam. Zephyrus conspexit; abibam, Insequitur; fugio. Fortior ille erat."1 And what a beautiful line is this; " D u m loquitur, Vernas eiflat ab ore rosas." 2

I think the Fortior ille erat almost, if not quite, as good as Dante's "Quel giorno piu non vi leggemmo avante."3 But why talk of Zephyr, when Boreas is blowing? The winter intimidates me. I have not been out to-day, and even in-doors I am cold. We have all made a mistake in bringing i[n]to this severe climate our old English prejudices in favor of open fires. They are good for milder regions; but we need Russian stoves. I wish I had one at this moment in my study. 23

AMONG THE

BREAKERS

A gentleman in the West asks me to write him two poems "on friendship or a subject like that" for the Album of a young lady "who is a very particular friend." He wishes me also to "send the bill with the articles." H.W.L MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. 1. "It was spring; I was roaming. Zephyr saw me; I retired; he pursued; I fled. He was the stronger." 2. "While she spoke, her lips breathed vernal roses" (1. 194). 3. Inferno, V, 138: "That day no farther did we read therein."

3606.

To Edward Lillie Pierce

Camb. Feb. 16. 1875. Dear Mr. Pierce, I wrote to Mr Terry about Sumner's letters to Crawford, and have just received his answer. He says: "I will write immediately to Mrs Terry about the Sumner letters, and if she has any in her possession, I am sure that it will give her pleasure to send them to you."1 Yours truly Henry W. Longfellow p.s. I think you had better write at once to Story. He will be glad to help; but I do not believe he has many letters from Sumner. Our friend Greene is in a very critical situation. Dr Wesselhoeft has gone on from here to see him, having received a telegram this morning. MANUSCRIPT: Harvard College Library, i. Letter dated February 15, 1875.

3607.

To Julia Agnes Baker1

Cambridge Mass Feb. 17. 1875 Dear Miss Baker, I send you the versions from Martin Opitz and the Volkslied. They are yours on one condition, and that is, that you will not tell anyone who made them. You may say they were made by a friend, if you wish, but no name to be given. Please accept them with this condition, and be assured that it gives me great pleasure to help you in your first literary venture.2 With best wishes Yours truly Henry W. Longfellow 24

C A M B R I D G E ,

1875

MANUSCRIPT: unrecovered; text from photostat, Longfellow Trust Collection (Longfellow House), ADDRESS: Miss Julia Agnes Baker / Wickham, Fareham / England.

P O S T M A R K S : CAMBRIDGE STATION M A S S , F E B 1 7 / BOSTON F E B 1 7 PAID

1. Nothing is known of Miss Baker except her address. Her letter to Longfellow is unrecovered. 2. For Longfellow's unacknowledged translation from Martin Opitz ( 1 5 9 7 - 1 6 3 9 ) , German poet, see "The Stars," Works, VI, 4 2 1 . The translation of the "Volkslied" is unidentified. Miss Baker's "first literary venture" seems not to have been published.

3608.

T o George Washington

Greene

Camb. Feb 18. 1875. My Dear Greene, I went to see Dr. Wesselhoeft yesterday to get his report· of you. If it was not'all I hoped, it was better, far better, than I feared. If the disease, as he thinks it may be, is only functional, it can be cured. His remedy is, what we both know — Sleep! But where and how can sleep be had? That is the question I pondered all last evening. The result of my meditation was, that sleep must be sought and found in food; the opium in lettuce, the anodyne in chocolate, the phosphorus in fish. Let me make you out a bill-of-fare. For breakfast boiled fish and eggs. For dinner, very little if any meat, but fish of all kinds, oysters, scollops, cod, salt or fresh &c &c. For supper, a cup of chocolate. Meat stimulates your nerves too much. Fish, according to Agassiz, furnishes phosphorus to the brain. Do not laugh at this, but consider it well. I think it worth considering. My three girls wish to share with yours equally Sumner's legacy, a wish that I highly approve. Edith sends to Anna; Alice to Kate; Annie to Mary. I enclose a cheque for $1000. which makes exactly 333.33^ for each. This, with what I send you monthly, will take the burden of care from your mind, for a season.1 H.W.L MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. i. Greene replied on February 21, "How I feel on such an occasion you well know but I cannot tell! If any thing can restore me to health it [is] the consciousness that I have such a friend. I am a very different man from what I was before your letter came, but such feelings must be manifested not thought. I wish I could write and make you all feel how I feel — but I cannot!"

25

AMONG 3609.

To George Washington

THE

BREAKERS

Greene

Camb. Feb. 18. 1875. My Dear Greene, Io dico seguitando [I say continuing]; with your dinner, instead of wine drink porter or Krueger's Lager-beer. But if you still persist in following the "corymbiferous Bacchus," mix water with your wine. Plutarch says that wine mingled with water loses all its deleterious qualities, and retains all its good ones.1 Remember also that the Hyades were the nurses of Bacchus; which means "Put water into your wine." All this sounds like Lord Chesterfield writing to his son. He was very fond of his son. Owen has been here this evening with a book full of photographs of antique statues, very pleasant to behold. He is an enthusiast, if there ever was one, and gets a good deal of happiness out of his lonely life; — more than many people, who have greater reason to be happy. The hour waxes late. I must say Good Night. Sleep well! H.W.L p.s. I think the Magnetic Doctor is getting a little discouraged. He finds this head-ache of mine too much for him. Ο for a week of warm weather! That would set matters right — perhaps. MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. i. See "De Tuenda Sanitate Praecepta" [Advice About Keeping Well], Pt. 19.

3610.

To an Unidentified

Moralia,

Correspondent1

[Cambridge] February 20, 1875. If I had time I would write you a long letter in reply to yours,2 which has greatly interested me. But, alas! though, as the Indian said, I have all the time there is, it is not enough for the many claims made upon it. I can only send you and the boys and girls under your care a friendly salutation. To those who ask "how I can write so many things that sound as if I were happy as a boy," please say that there is in a neighboring town a pear-tree planted by Governor Endicott two hundred years ago, and it still bears fruit not to be distinguished from that of a young tree in flavor. I suppose the tree makes new wood every year, so that some parts of it are always young. Perhaps this is the way with some men when they grow old; I hope it is so with me. I am glad to hear that your boys and girls take so much interest in poetry. That is a good thing; for poetry is the flower and perfume of thought, and a perpetual delight, clothing the common-place of life with "golden exhalations of the dawn." 3 Give them all my sympathy and good wishes. 26

CAMBRIDGE,

1875

MANUSCRIPT: unrecovered; text from Life, III, 246. ι. A schoolteacher, possibly Ella E . Chope, whom Longfellow lists as a correspondent on February 21 ( M S Letter Calendar). 2. Unrecovered. 3. Coleridge, tr., The Death of Wallenstein, V , iii, 66.

3611.

To Zacharias Christman

Hoch1

Cambridge Feb 21 1875. Dear Sir, I am sorry that I cannot comply with your request. I think it will hardly be fair to other competitors for me to do so. Yours truly Henry W . Longfellow MANUSCRIPT: Yale University Library. i. Hoch ( 1 8 5 2 - 1 9 3 0 ) was a senior in Lafayette College. The nature of his request is not known.

3612.

To James Thomas Fields

Camb. Feb. 26. 1875. My Dear Fields, I hoped to be well enough to dine at the Club tomorrow, but am not, though my pains have somewhat abated. If you are at leisure on Sunday I pray you give me an hour of the morning, and come as early as you like. I want to read to you two poems; one on Amalfi, and the other the memorial verses I have written for the Fiftieth Anniversary of my Class at Bowdoin. About the latter, I particularly desire your advice, as you know the Public better than any one. How late I am in thanking you for the grotesque Jug, which you sent me as a New Year's present. All owing to the confusion in my head. Pardon the delay, and accept my cordial though belated thanks. H.W.L. p.s. Thanks also for your hint about too great haste in printing the Sonnets.1 I think you are right. It will be better to wait awhile. MANUSCRIPT: Henry E. Huntington Library. i. That is, the five sonnets of "Three Friends of Mine." Fields had written on February 2 3 : "I would not let Howells have the poem at present. And for this reason: he has already printed three pieces in the A . M . lately, and, with little judgment, put two pieces into one number. I would never let him do that again. It weakens the impression of each poem to have two in one number. I would now hold off for a few months. Dont quote me, please, but it seems like squandering your golden thought to appear in

27

AMONG

THE

BREAKERS

any magazine oftener than need be. I would print the 'Three Friends of Mine' in the July no. and not before. T h e last poem you printed in the A . M . has not done its full mission yet. It is constantly reprinted in the papers, and if another comes out so close upon it, the effect is disturbed. I am sure of it" CMS, Henry E. Huntington Library). Howells had printed both " T h e Old Bridge at Florence" and "Charles Sumner" in the Atlantic Monthly, X X X V (January 1875), 15 and 25. "Monte Cassino" appeared in the February number, pp. 1 6 1 - 1 6 2 . Longfellow did not offer "Three Friends of M i n e " to Howells, but gave him "Amalfi" for the May number, pp. 5 1 3 - 5 1 5 .

3613.

To George Washington

Greene

Camb. Feb. 26. 1875. M y Dear Greene, I am rejoiced to hear by your letters, that you are a little better; at all events no worse. Any improvement, however slight, is an advance in the right direction. It looks as if you had fairly turned the corner. I hope you will give some thought to my hints upon diet. Meat is too stimulating for you. Try the experiment of substituting fish for flesh; and put water in your wine. T h e headache, which has so long tormented me, has somewhat abated, but not yet gone. T h e roar and confusion continue. Do not forget that tomorrow is my birth-day. W h e n this reaches you I shall be sixty-eight. Tempora labuntur, tacitisque senescimus annis.1 It is eight days since I wrote last. This is partly owing to indolence, and partly to the idea of a poem on Epimetheus and Pandora, in dramatic form, which has occupied my thoughts. 2 I have sketched out half of it, but do not believe it will come to anything. I wish I could stop thinking for a while. That would be the best medicine for me. T h e Water Cure — fresh or salt — Wasser-Heil Anstalt or Seavoyage; either of these is a good remedy for the malady of thinking. As to your using the Lift-cure apparatus, you and your doctors are the best judges. Of course you will begin at the lowest round of the ladder.3 H.W.L MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. 1. Ovid, Fasti, Bk. V I , 1. 7 7 1 : "Time slips by, and we grow old with the silent years." Longfellow used this quotation as the motto for "Morituri Salutamus." 2. A reference to what became " T h e Masque of Pandora" (Works, III, 1 4 7 - 1 7 8 ) . 3. T h e details of this therapeutic device, available in Providence, are not known.

28

CAMBRIDGE, 3614.

1875

To Annie Adams Fields

Camb. Feb. 27. 1875. Dear Mrs Fields How very kind you are to remember my birth-day, and to crown it with such a lovely wreath of flowers! Sweeter than the flowers were the good wishes that came with them! How much I thank you! I am glad to tell you that I really feel much better to-day. The pain and confusion in my head are nearly gone. A mysterious stranger came to me last evening; said that he had heard I was suffering from Neuralgia and had brought me a wonderful belt, which would cure me. As my mind is always hospitably open to empiricism and its "kindred illusions," I lent a willing ear to his suggestions; wore the belt at night; slept seven hours without waking, and to-day the cloud is lifted from my brain. It may be all imagination. If so, imagination is a good medicine. Should I be as much better tomorrow as I am to-day, I shall think it reality. I was much pleased to see Grace Greenwood yesterday. If she is still with you, I pray you to thank her for her visit. Always Yours Henry W . Longfellow MANUSCRIPT:

3615.

Longfellow Trust Collection.

To Alexander Wadsworth

Longfellow

Camb. Feb. 27 1875. My Dear Alex. The Red Wine is Bandol from the Departement du Var, in the South of France, east of Marseilles. The Sherry is Olivar, imported direct from Xerez in 1870. I hope you will like them both. The Bandol is a strong wine and good to drink with water. Annie goes with Bessie, to keep her company, and bring you this. Always affectionately H.W.L. MANUSCRIPT:

Longfellow Trust Collection.

29

AMONG THE 3616.

BREAKERS

To George Washington Greene

Camb. Feb 28. 1875 My Dear Greene, To the best of my knowledge and belief I am not going to write you a letter to-night, only a line to go with the enclosed.1 Two evenings ago a mysterious stranger came to see me; said he had heard that I was suffering from Neuralgia and had brought me a sovereign remedy. He then opened a small parcel, which he held in his hand and produced a belt of wash-leather, lined with fine red flannel. He said it was a medicated belt, with the remedy quilted in between the belt and lining. He also produced a small breast-plate of the same make and materials, and a vial of homoeopathic pellets. Being naturally credulous, and despairing of all remedies hitherto tried, I told him to leave his wares and come back at the end of a week to learn the result. On going to bed I put the medicated armor on, and slept seven hours without waking. In the morning my head was better; and to-day is no worse, at all events. Last night's sleep was seven hours, with only one break. If I go on improving, will you try this simple remedy? I send you by this post the necessary documents. H.W.L MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection, ι. A check for $ 5 0 ( M S Letter Calendar).

3617.

To Luigi Monti

Camb. March 2 1875. Dear Mr Monti, Will you do me the favour to dine with me tomorrow (Wednesday) at six o'clock, and bring with you your "Sicilian Banditti"?1 Yours truly Henry W. Longfellow MANUSCRIPT: Pennsylvania State University Library. i. " M r . Monti came to dinner, and in the evening read an interesting Essay or Lecture on Brigandage in Calabria and Sicily" ( M S Journal, March 3, 1 8 7 5 ) .

30

CAMBRIDGE, 3618.

1875

To George Barreil Cheever CAMBRIDGE,

March 3, 1875.

M Y DEAR CHEEVER:

I am very glad to hear that you have consented to deliver the Oration on the fiftieth anniversary of our Class, particularly as I am to read a poem on the occasion. By agreement with the Committee, it is to be a Salutatory poem, to come before the Oration. In this sense I have written it, and I hope the arrangement will be agreeable to you. I shall not be long, — not more than fifteen or twenty minutes, — and you shall have the honors of the Valedictory. How glad I shall be to see your face once more, after so long a separation; and how glad I am already that we are to be brought together in this pleasant way! 1 With affectionate remembrance, yours always, HENRY W . LONGFELLOW. MANUSCRIPT: unrecovered; text from Memorabilia of George B. Cheever, D.D., Pastor of the Church of the Puritans, Union Square, New York, and of his Elizabeth Wetmore Cheever ( N e w York, 1 8 9 0 ) , Appendix, pp. 5 4 - 5 ; .

Late Wife

ι. Cheever responded on March 1 1 , " I am delighted with your arrangement in regard to the Poem; only I wish you would make it much longer than you propose doing, for you will have to bear the responsibility of the roused interest in the occasion, and your satisfaction of it will act as a life buoy for my heavy after piece."

3619.

To Mary Cogswell Daveis Haskins1

Cambridge March 3. 1875. Dear Mrs Haskins, Pardon my long delay in thanking you for your kind remembrance of my birth-day. I do not know who is most to blame, myself or the washerwoman. Probably myself; at all events whatever blame there may be I will bear, as I had the delicious whipped cream, and she had only the washing of the glasses and the napkins. As soon as I can, I shall call and thank you in person for your kindness. Till then believe me Yours very truly Henry W . Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: University of Washington Library, Camb.

ADDRESS: Mrs. Haskins / Main St. /

i . Mrs. Haskins (b. 1 8 2 0 ) , wife of Rev. David Greene Haskins ( 3 2 6 7 . 2 ) , was the daughter of Charles Stuart Daveis of Portland ( 6 6 . 2 ) and consequently an old acquaintance of Longfellow. 3 ι

AMONG THE 3620.

BREAKERS

To George Washington Greene

Camb. Mch 7. 1875. My Dear Greene, I am sorry to say, that the magic belt and breast-plate have not yet produced any perceptible effect on my head, though I have worn them day and night for ten days. But during all this time I have had every night seven hours of unbroken sleep. Whether this has been owing to the belt and breast-plate, I cannot say. But such is the fact, and I think you had better arm yourself forthwith, as nothing so innocent as this should be left untried. If there be only one chance in a thousand of your getting seven hours sleep at a time, you ought to jump at it. Charlie starts tomorrow for Mexico, to avoid the winds of March; — ostensibly, but really for the pleasure of the trip. His centrifugal forces are still very strong. He will be gone about two months, coming back by the way of Panama and Aspinwall [Col0n]. Ο for the days when we were young! Then I might fly away also, instead of singing here like an old bird in a cage! H.W.L p.s. I have greater faith in the Belt, for you, than in the Lift-cure, which I think you should not be in a hurry about. MANUSCRIPT:

3621.

Longfellow Trust Collection.

To Anne Allegra Longfellow

Camb. March 8. 1875. My Darling Panzie, Thanks for your nice letter.1 I wish I could send you one half as good in return. But I cannot. If I should tell you how much we miss you, it might not be amusing. So I will say nothing about that; but let you stay till you feel ready to come back. Richard2 and Henrietta Dana have been dining with us to-day, and now the whole company, except myself, have gone to the Pierian Concert,3 and I remain to pipe this little strain to you. I enclose you a letter from Uncle Tom, which you can keep till your return. You will be glad to see how much he has enjoyed his Winter on the Nile. I suppose that Edith has told you of Charlie's departure for Mexico with Greeley Curtis, and Mr. [William Morris] Hunt, the artist. They sail tomorrow from New York. It was rather a sudden movement; but on the whole, 32

CAMBRIDGE,

1875

considering his illness in the Autumn, it may be well for him to get away from the March winds. Now, my darling, it is half-past nine; and I will go to bed; a very good example for you to follow. I hear hints and whispers of late hours at Highfield, which I hope are not all true. Give my love to all, and do not forget Aunt Anne, to whom I shall write soon. Always your affectionate Papa. MANUSCRIPT: Alice Allegra Thorp Estate (on deposit, Longfellow House). 1. Dated Portland, March 4, 1875. 2. Richard Henry Dana ( 1 8 5 1 - 1 9 3 1 ) , brother of Angela Henrietta Channing Dana ( 2 3 9 2 . 4 ) and son of Richard Henry Dana, Jr. 3. An allusion to Sidney Woollett's poetry recitations at Horticultural Hall, the first number on his program being Longfellow's "Lady Wentworth." See the Boston Advertiser, C X X V , No. 57 (March 8, 1 8 7 5 ) .

3622.

To Lydia C. Whyte1

Cambridge. Mass. March 10, 1875. Dear Madam, I hope you will pardon my long delay in answering your letter.2 For the last two months I have been suffering with a severe attack of Neuralgia, which has made writing painful if not impossible. I have a vague remembrance of Mr Matthews'3 saying something about an autograph in Naples; but why it was not furnished then, I no longer recollect. He also said something about papers authenticating the portrait of David. These he never gave me. The painting speaks for itself; yet I should like to have some document telling its history.4 It is a fine head, and greatly admired by all beholders. I enclose you an autograph, and am, Dear Madam, Yours very truly Henry W. Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: University of Washington Library, Imperial Square / Cheltenham. / E n g l a n d MAR 1 0 / CHELTENHAM Ε 2 M R 2 2

ADDRESS: Mrs Lydia C. Whyte / 15

POSTMARKS : CAMBRIDGE STATION MASS

75

1. Mrs. Whyte, about whom nothing is known except her address, had formerly owned the portrait, attributed to the French artist Jacques Louis David ( 1 7 4 8 - 1 8 2 5 ) , which Longfellow had purchased in Naples in 1869 and which now hangs in the library of the Longfellow House. The painting was thought to be a self-portrait, representing David in prison during the French Revolution. 2. Unrecovered. 3. See 2709.1.

33

AMONG THE

BREAKERS

4. In a letter of March 3 1 Mrs. W h y t e responded, " I regret much that it is not in my power to send you any authentic history of David's picture — no such document was ever in my possession."

3623.

To George Washington Greene

Camb. Mch. 12. 1875. My Dear Greene, As soon as I got your letter this morning, I went down to the Square; bought your Belt and Breast-plate, and took it to the Post myself. I asked, "How soon will this go?" The answer was; "In five minutes." So now that I am writing, the package should be in your hands. Put on your armour, wear it night and day; and have faith. May you sleep as well as I do! Howells was here yesterday, and desired me to remind you of the DeKalb article which you have forgotten to send him. He would like to have it as soon as convenient.1 H.W.L. MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. I. Greene's article on General John De Kalb appeared in the Atlantic X X X V I (October 1 8 7 5 ) , 4 7 6 - 4 9 2 .

3624.

Monthly,

To Luigi Monti

Camb. Mch. 15. 1875 Dear Mr Monti, I have just received your letter,1 and never felt more powerless to aid you than now, knowing neither the President nor the Secretary of State. I have, however, written to a friend2 in Washington who perhaps may know them both. I have stated the case strongly, and mentioned the friendly feeling of Mr. Jewell3 toward you. What further to advise I hardly know. It is painful to me to feel so powerless in so good a cause. Would it not be well for you to write at once to Mr. Jewell? The fact that you are in full sympathy with the present government of Italy, and never were in rebellion against it, but against its enemies, should go for much in your favor. It makes your case entirely different from that of most foreigners, who desire places in their own country, and whose presence there is a menace and an affront. Sincerely Yours Henry W. Longfellow 34

CAMBRIDGE, MANUSCRIPT: Frank Ο . Buda, Cambridge, Mass. Wayside

Inn,"

1875 PUBLISHED: Characters

in "Tales

of a

p. 1 6 7 .

1 . Monti, writing on the same day, had asked Longfellow to help him obtain the consulship at Messina, Sicily. 2. S a m W a r d .

3 . Marshall Jewell ( 1 8 2 5 - 1 8 8 3 ) , U . S . postmaster-general, 1 8 7 4 - 1 8 7 6 .

3625.

To Samuel Ward

Camb. Mch. 15. 1875. Dear Rex Vestibuli, Can you do anything to help a friend of mine, Mr. Luigi Monti, many years Consul at Palermo, and removed from office because he was an Italian, it being the policy of our government not to appoint foreigners to places in their own country? Mr. Monti's case is different from most other cases. He never rebelled against the present government of Italy, but is in full sympathy with it, having fought against the Bourbons of Naples. He is a naturalized American citizen. He speaks our language perfectly. Italian of course and Sicilian, being a native of Sicily. He is a gentleman of culture and refinement. His wife is American. He is [in] every way qualified for the office of Consul. News having just come of the death of Mr. Behn 1 our Consul at Messina, Mr. Monti desires the place. Could Mr. Fish be persuaded, in view of what is said above, to make an exception in Mr. Monti's favor? Mr. Jewell, the Postmaster General is a friend of his, and I think would aid in the matter willingly. 2 I wrote to you a few days ago at the Brevoort,3 but suppose you are still in Washington. H.W.L MANUSCRIPT: Clifton W a l l e r Barrett Collection, University of Virginia. ι . F . W . Behn, a German-born naturalized citizen, had been appointed to his consular post from Kentucky in 1 8 6 7 . 2. In a letter of M a r c h 2 3 W a r d reported that his appeal for Monti had been unsuccessful. 3 . T h i s letter, dated March 1 0 ( M S Letter C a l e n d a r ) , is unrecovered.

35

AMONG 3626.

To Edward Ohio

THE

BREAKERS

Wait1

Cambridge Mch 17. 1875. M y Dear Sir, You must have thought me very ungrateful for not thanking you sooner for the photographs of the Wayside Inn. O n opening them I threw the envelope into the fire, without noticing your address, which I have just learned from a Photographer in town. I beg you to accept my thanks for your kindness in sending me these interesting views, and to believe me Yours truly Henry W . Longfellow MANUSCRIPT: unrecovered; text from photostat, Longfellow Trust Collection (Longfellow House), ADDRESS: M i E. O. Waite. / Photographer. / Bolton. Mass. POSTMARK: CAMBRIDGE STATION MASS. MAR

17

I. Nothing is known of Wait beyond his birthdate ( 1 8 4 7 ) and the facts made available by Longfellow in the address.

3627.

T o Charles F. Holden1

Camb. March 18. 1875. M y Dear Sir, I have had the pleasure of receiving through Mr. Chs. Reiche and Bro. the new edition of your excellent and interesting "Book on Birds." Illness has prevented me from sooner acknowledging your kindness in sending it. But I trust it is not too late. Please accept my best thanks, and believe me Yours faithfully Henry W . Longfellow MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. ι . Holden was the author of Holden's Book on Birds ( N e w York and Boston, 1873), published by Charles Reiche & Brother, operators of a bird store at 55 Chatham Sq., New York City.

3628.

To Henry Arthur Bright

Camb. Mch 19. 1875. Dear M r Bright, I beg you to accept my thanks for your kind remembrance, and for the pretty little volume on the "Glenriddel[l] mss" of Burns. 1 Burns's own estimate of these verses seems to me just; and it seems also strange to me, that he should have copied some of them, even for a friend.

36

CAMBRIDGE,

1875

But the account you give of them is curious, and valuable as a bit of literary history. I always recall with pleasure our drive to Ashfield, before your house was built, and the grounds and gardens were hardly yet in order, — hardly more than a promise and a prophecy. I dare say both promise and prophecy have been fulfilled, and the place has that comfortable and elegant look which England expects as a duty. Long may you live to enjoy it! Let me thank you also for your hospitable invitation to show my friends the pathway to your door. That would be a great pleasure to me, should the occasion present itself. Always with great regard, Yours faithfully Henry W . Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: Norman Holmes Pearson Estate, N e w Haven. i. Some Amount of the Glenriddell MSS. of Burns's Poems: With Never Before Published, ed. H . A . Bright (Liverpool, 1874).

3629.

To George Washington

Several

Poems

Greene

Camb. Mch 23.1875. M y Dear Greene, I am sorry to hear that the medicated armor does you no good. Perhaps you did not wear it long enough. Perhaps there is no virtue in i t . I have had a very hard week of it. T h e headache continues unabated and sometimes worse than ever. Nothing does it any good except the mild weather. How long ago it was, that I first said that the weather-cock was the only Doctor that could cure me! I am amazed at what you tell me of Richard Greene's will. 1 That one last opportunity of doing a good deed, how could he let it slip? I am afraid that question may be asked him elsewhere. W h a t makes you think that I am opposed to your trying the Lift-Cure? Not in the least, if you can bear the fatigue of going to Providence and back again, or can in any way arrange it so as not to tire yourself. It should be done with care, or it may do harm instead of good. Howells is going to Bethlehem, Pa. for a few weeks. He is not well this winter. Do not forget the DeKalb article. H.W.L p.s. I enclose Houghton's original estimate Life of Greene, v. I. MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. I. In a letter of March 19 Greene had written: "Richard [Ward] Greene [who had died on March 14] was buried yesterday. T h e will has not yet been promulgated. H e has contrived to keep curiosity alive to the last moment. One thing I may be sure of, there is nothing there for me."

37

AMONG 3630.

THE

BREAKERS

To Samuel Page Benson

Camb. Mch 26. 1875. M y Dear Benson, I hear it whispered about, that our celebration at Brunswick is to be private, and for the Class only. 1 I hope this is not so, as I have written the poem in another sense and it would be difficult to change it now. Please reassure me; and let me know the day, and whether it comes before Commencement or after. I am looking forward with great pleasure to the meeting. Yours faithfully Henry W . Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection, 26. 1875 / Private? N o .

ENDORSEMENT: Prof. Longfellow / M c h

i. Longfellow apparently had this idea from Martha A n n Cleaveland Chandler (163.2), daughter of Professor Parker Cleaveland. See her letter of March 16. In his response of March 27, Benson corrected the rumor: " T h e committee have no idea of having our class exercises private nor is there any such purpose in the mind of anybody in this region."

3631.

To George Washington

Greene

Camb. March. 30. 1875. My Dear Greene, T h e neuralgia still rages in my head with unabated violence. That is the reason you get no letters from me. W h a t a discipline of pain I am undergoing. It is some consolation to know, that you are having more sleep. That will cure you. Your doctor here seems much encouraged. Don't disappoint him by sliding back into your old bad habit. I hope Wesselhoeft's remedies will do me good also. Thus far they are powerless, like everything else. Luckily I sleep well. W e have heard from Charley. T h e voyage has been prosperous; and no doubt he will enjoy his trip, and be the better for it. I am glad that no College class can have more than one semi-centennial anniversary. It makes me nervous to think of it. I do not like to hear the subject spoken of; and when I look at the poem it gives me a shudder. W h a t nonsense this is. I have no doubt everything will go off very well; and if it does not, there will be no great harm done. Wednesday the seventh of July is the appointed day. H.W.L1 MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. i . Longfellow enclosed a check for $50 CMS Letter Calendar).

38

CAMBRIDGE, 3632.

187;

To James Grant Wilson

Camb. April 8. 1875 My Dear Sir, I shall be most happy to subscribe to the S. C. Hall testimonial. Please let me know the average amount of subscription, and I will send you mine. 1 Many thanks for the Gaelic versions of "Suspiria" and the "Psalm of Life." 2 They are indeed literary curiosities. Yours faithfully Henry W . Longfellow MANUSCRIPT: Yale University Library. 1. In a letter of April 7 Wilson had written that Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Carter Hall were "in somewhat needy circumstances" and offered to forward Longfellow's contribution with his own. 2. These versions are unrecovered.

3633.

To Benjamin

Alvord1

Cambridge Apr 12 1875. My Dear Sir, I beg you to pardon me for not sending you a speedier reply to your very friendly and very welcome letter. Since Christmas I have been sufFering from a very severe and obstinate attack of neuralgia in the head, which has made it almost impossible for me to write. Even now I can send you but a few words of reply. I am sorry to hear that you also have been an invalid, but trust that you are all right again, though a broken bone is sometimes long in healing.2 I thank you for your Report3 most cordially. You are quite right in supposing that you have my sympathy in your labors. I thank you also for your generous estimate of my writings. It is very pleasant to hear such words as yours. I cherish always a most agreeable remembrance of your last visit here, and hope it may be renewed before long. Mr. Field [s] was much gratified by his reception in Washington. He says that he never appeared before a more receptive and sympathizing audience. Pardon this hurried note, and believe me always Yours faithfully Henry W . Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: &c

Longfellow Trust Collection,

&c / Washington / D . C .

POSTMARK:

ADDRESS:

Major Benjamin Alvord / &c

CAMRRIDGE

STATION

MASS,

APR

12

ENDORSEMENT: General B. Alvord, Paymr. General U S A / Washington D C i. Alvord ( 1 8 1 3 - 1 8 8 4 ) ,

a brigadier-general and author of mathematical treatises,

served as paymaster-general, 1 8 7 2 - 1 8 8 1 .

39

AMONG

THE

BREAKERS

2. In his letter from Washington, D.C., of January 3, 1 8 7 5 , Alvord reported that he had slipped on ice and fractured a small bone of his right leg. 3. Alvord's note at this point: "Annual Report as Paymaster General showing interest I had taken in securing legislation to elevate the condition of the enlisted men of the army by a system of deposits of savings. B . A . "

3634.

To Henry

Scadding1

Cambridge Apr 12 1875. My Dear Sir, I have had the pleasure of receiving your kind and friendly letter, and hasten to send you such reply as I can. I have never investigated the subject, and yet I am convinced that you are perfectly right in your conjecture in regard to the May-Flower. The name of the vessel· was undoubtedly taken from the English May, or Hawthorn —; and a more felicitous selection could not have been made. The name of May-flower, as applied to the trailing arbutus or epigsea repens, is, I suppose, a local name. Regretting that I can not give you any more solid and satisfactory information on the subject, I am, my Dear Sir, with great regard, Yours faithfully Henry W . Longfellow MANUSCRIPT: University of Washington Library. i. Scadding ( 1 8 1 3 — 1 9 0 1 ) , English-born clergyman of Toronto and local historian, had written on March 29 asking Longfellow to respond to his lengthy analysis of "the famous word 'Mayflower.' "

3635. * To James Grant Wilson Camb. April. 12. 1875. My Dear Sir, I enclose you my cheque of $25.00 as my subscription to the Hall Testimonial, and also a copy of the poem you mention for your daughter, which please present to her with my kind regards.1 Yours faithfully Henry W . Longfellow. p.s. Be kind enough to present this cheque before the end of the month, to avoid embarrassing Bank account. MANUSCRIPT: Clifton Waller Barrett Collection, University of Virginia. i. In a letter of April 9 Wilson responded to Longfellow's query in Letter No. 3 6 3 2 and asked if he would "kindly favor me with a copy in ms of either of the two poems of which I sent you Gaelic translations for my daughter Mary, who possesses a few such treasures?" A holograph copy of "Suspiria" accompanies the manuscript.

40

CAMBRIDGE, 3636.

To George Washington

1875

Greene

Camb. Apr. 13. 1875. My Dear Greene, I should have written to you long ago; but letters from strangers and semistrangers, requiring some kind of answer, have accumulated to such a degree, that I have no time left for my friends. Yesterday I wrote seven letters, and my head as usual was racked with pain. I have been now for two or three weeks under Wesselhoeft's treatment, and to-day feel a little better, though a snow-storm is raging without, and we seem hurled back into mid-winter. Of course, Wesselhoeft frowns upon all external appliances. His motto is "Soffri e tact [Suffer and be silent]." But I do not mean to keep up this game much longer. Do you care much about the anniversaries that are approaching? I intended to go to Concord to hear Curtis and Emerson, but I shall have to give it up. 1 How delighted I am to hear that you continue to sleep better! That will be your salvation, as it is mine. As to the Lift-Cure, pause and consider. I do not think it is to be undertaken rashly. I will not advise you either for it or against it. It is amazing how many people are suffering from neuralgia this winter! Thank heaven, you are free from that torture. H.W.L MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. i. T h e centennial anniversary of the Concord battle was celebrated on April 19, 1 8 7 5 . George William Curtis delivered an oration and Lowell an ode. Emerson spoke briefly at the unveiling of Daniel Chester French's statue of the "Minute M a n . " See Letter No. 3 5 6 2 .

3637.

To William Dean Howells

Camb. Apr 16 1875. Dear Mr Howells, Mr. Nadal 1 of the N.Y. Evening Post dines with me tomorrow (Saturday) at 6 o'clock. He wishes particularly to see you. 2 Do me the favor to join us, and oblige Yours truly Henry W . Longfellow MANUSCRIPT: Harvard College Library. 1. Ehrman Syme Nadal ( 1 8 4 3 - 1 9 2 2 ) , Yale graduate of 1864, journalist, essayist, and second secretary of the American legation in London, 1 8 7 0 - 1 8 7 1 and 1 8 7 7 - 1 8 8 4 . 2. Howells apparently could not accept. In his journal entry for March 1 7 Longfellow mentions that Lowell was present (Life, III, 2 5 1 ) .

4I

AMONG 3638.

THE

BREAKERS

T o Sara Sigourney Rice 1

Camb. Apr. 20. 1875. Dear Madam, T h e only lines of Mr. Poe that I now recall as in any way appropriate to the purpose you mention, are from a poem entitled "For Annie." They are "The fever called Living Is conquered at last." But I dare say you will be able to find something better. In great haste, Yours truly Henry W . Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: Enoch Pratt Free Library, Baltimore, FACSIMILE: Sara Sigourney Rice, Edgar Allan Poe: A Memorial Volume (Baltimore, 1 8 7 7 ) , pp. 7 7 - 7 8 . i . Miss Rice Cd. 1909, aged eighty), English-born schoolteacher of Baltimore, had written to Longfellow on April 16 asking him to suggest lines from Poe for a monument to be raised in his memory. T h i s monument, in Westminster Churchyard, Baltimore, was erected on November 17, 1875, o v e r Poe's grave, largely through the efforts of Miss Rice.

3639.

T o George Washington

Greene

Camb. Apr. 22. 1875. M y Dear Greene, I wish I could write to you oftener and more fully. But I find it impossible. This constant pain is very dibilitating [sic], and takes away all pleasure in writing or doing anything one is not absolutely obliged to do. You must not however be troubled about me. I shall worry through it. T h e mornings are comparatively comfortable now; and I sleep well. How is it with you? I have not seen Wesselhöft for a week, and am quite in the dark. T h e girls all went up to Concord on Monday, and enjoyed the celebration heartily. I could not go; but was glad they should have this historic memory. You of course have read the orations of Curtis and Dana. They are very different, but both very good. 1 So is Lowell's Ode, which is not yet published. 2 He read it to me beforehand. He has a gift for that kind of composition. For the next few years we shall have centennial celebrations all over the country. I hope they will do some good, and think they may, in holding up the noble lives of other days as examples. Don't be discouraged by my not writing. Let me hear from you by postal card, when not otherwise. T h e "gradual, dusky veil" begins to come over my eyes. H.W.L. 42

CAMBRIDGE,

1875

MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. 1. Richard Henry Dana, Jr., spoke at the centennial celebration at Lexington. T h e addresses and ceremonies at both Lexington and Concord were widely reported in the press. See, for example, the Boston Transcript, X L V I I I (April 20, 1 8 7 5 ) , 6 - 7 . 2. "Ode Read at the One Hundredth Anniversary of the Fight at Concord Bridge."

3640.

To George Washington

Greene

Camb. Apr 28. 1875. My Dear Greene, I shall be delighted to see you whenever you are strong enough to come. "Passer mai solitario in alcun tetto Non fu, quant' io." 1 MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. i. Petrarch, Sonnet C C X X V I , 1. 1: " N o sparrow on rooftop was ever as solitary as I." This letter, a fragment, served also as the cover for a check for $ 5 0 ( M S Letter Calendar).

3641.

To George Washington

Greene

Camb. May 7. 1875. I am really better to-day. The pain is passing away. If it does not return to-morrow, I shall feel that the worst is over. H.W.L. MANUSCRIPT:

Longfellow Trust Collection,

East Greenwich / R.I.

3642.

ADDRESS:

Professor Geo. W .

Greene /

POSTMARK: CAMRRIDGE MASS, M A Y 8

To Thomas Davidson

Camb. May 8. 1875. My Dear Sir, I have received and read with very great pleasure the copy of your "Account of the Niobe Group," 1 which you were kind enough to send me. But I can do no more than acknowledge its receipt, as I am suffering with neuralgia, which makes all writing painful. Accept my cordial thanks for your kind remembrance and believe me Yours faithfully Henry W . Longfellow MANUSCRIPT: Historical and Philosophical Society of Ohio, i. A Short Account of the Niobe Group ( N e w York, 1 8 7 5 ) .

43

AMONG 3643.

T o Mary Elizabeth

THE

BREAKERS

Hatch1

Cambridge May 11 1875. Dear Miss Hatch, I thank you cordially for your letter,2 and for the opportunity of restoring the lost leaf in your mother's book. You can put it in its place and say nothing about it till some day she may find it, as if it had never been stolen. I send you also by to-day's mail a copy of my Poems for yourself. It is not a very handsome edition, but is useful, as it has an Index. Pardon this brief reply to your letter. I am suffering from a sharp attack of Neuralgia in the head which almost deprives me of sight, and makes all writing painful, and almost impossible. It would give me great pleasure to send you a photograp[h], and will do so as soon as I get one worth sending. At present I have none. With kindest remembrances to your mother, Yours very truly Henry W . Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT:

Henry

E.

Huntington

Madison. / Lee Co. Iowa 1.

Miss

Hatch

(d.

Library,

ADDRESS:

Miss

Elizabeth

1888, aged

fifty-five)

was

the

daughter

of

H a t c h ( 1 8 0 4 - 1 8 9 8 ) , w h o h a d k n o w n L o n g f e l l o w in his y o u t h in 2.

Hatch. / Fort

POSTMARK: CAMBRIDGE STATION MASS M A Y Ι I Mary

Elizabeth

Scott

Portland.

Unrecovered.

3644.

T o George Washington

Greene

Camb. May 16. 1875. I do not write, because I have no news to send you. Everything continues the same. There is no change. T h e warmer weather brought no relief. It is a mystery difficult to solve. H.W.L

MANUSCRIPT:

Longfellow

East Greenwich / R.I.

3645.

Trust

Collection,

ADDRESS:

Professor

Geo.

POSTMARK: CAMBRIDGE STATION MASS, M A Y

T o George Washington

W.

Greene /

17

Greene

[Cambridge] May 19. 1875. 1 Yours just reed. I imagine the Windmill on its way, and the excitement and joy of the children! 2 Decidedly better to-day. If it will only last! H.W.L

44

CAMBRIDGE, MANUSCRIPT:

Longfellow Trust Collection,

East Greenwich / R.I.

1875

ADDRESS:

Professor Geo W .

POSTMARK: CAMBRIDGE STATION MASS, M A Y

Greene/

19

1. T h e following clipping from the Boston Advertiser, C X X V , No. 1 1 8 ( M a y 19, 1 8 7 5 ) , is pasted in the center of the postal card with Longfellow's message written around it: "NOTICE. / MRS. J U L I A W A R D H O W E / W i l l deliver a N e w Lecture on 'ART AND ETHICS — / PICTURE

AND

PARABLE,'

at / H O R T I C U L T U R A L

HALL, / THURSDAY

EVENING,

May 20, at 8 o'clock. / During the Evening, Dubufe's Great Painting of / 'THE PRODIGAL SON,' / will be on View — such an opportunity for the enjoyment / of eye and ear is seldom presented. / Tickets to Lecture and Exhibition, 50 cents. Seats can / now be secured without extra charge. 3t may 1 8 . " Louis Edouard Dubufe ( 1 8 2 0 - 1 8 8 3 ) , French painter, first exhibited " T h e Prodigal Son" in Paris in 1866. 2. After much procrastination, Greene had finally arranged to move the windmill purchased for him by Longfellow in November 1 8 7 0 to its new location as the library tower of his house in East Greenwich. See 2879.3.

3646.

To George Washington Greene

Camb. May 20. 1875. My Dear Giorgio, The weather is so uncertain this morning, that I don't know whether to look for you or not. I may be writing to a man already coming up the gravelwalk, or who may be fifty miles away, looking from his study window, and admiring his wind-mill. What I principally wanted to say, and forgot to say before, in my oblivious condition, is that I hope when you come you will not come alone.1 MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. i. T h e letter, unfinished, contains a note from Greene to his wife dated "Camb. Wed. [May 1 9 ] ι-p.m.," requesting that Anna Greene be sent on to Cambridge. T h e conflict in dates between the two letters is unexplained.

3647.

To George Washington Greene

Camb. June 3. 1875 My Dear Greene, I am sorry for Houghton's decision. He has made a mistake; and I think I could prove it to him, if I could see him. I hope you will get the book ready, and if he does not see his way to publish it, somebody else will. 1 The paper on Sleep,2 — which I return, I had already seen. I dare say there is something in the onion theory, and will try it, when necessary. It will only do for people who sleep alone. Things go with me as usual; sometimes better, sometimes worse. The Doctor says that everything looks favorable. I feel very much as usual. Pray, don't be anxious about me. I am always imagining the wind-mill charging down upon you, like a tall grenadier! H.W.L. 45

AMONG

THE

BREAKERS

MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. 1. It is not clear which project by Greene had been declined by Houghton, although it might have been A Short History of Rhode Island, eventually published by J. A . & R. A . Reid, Providence, 1 8 7 7 . Greene had written on June 2: " I enclose you Houghton's letter, from which you will see that he declines . . . I had even begun to think of getting my other papers together and printing such of them as seemed to have a chance of life in them. But this is not to be." 2. Unidentified.

3648.

To George Washington

Greene

Camb. June 10. 1875 I am getting on very well; with an occasional drawback from trying to go too fast. How is it with you? H.W.L MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection, Greenwich / R.I.

3649.

ADDRESS: Professor G . W . Greene / East

POSTMARK: CAMBRIDGE STATION MASS, J U N

II

T o James Thomas Fields

Camb. June 22. 1875. My Dear Fields, A thousand thanks, valued at one dollar each. I consider this as a present from you. 1 I sent a copy of the poem to Mr. Alden 2 yesterday, and another to-day. I suppose he understands that I cede to him the right of publishing in the Magazine, and nothing more. I have said so in my letter3 to him this morning. You so understand it, do you not? What a warm Summer day! It does me a world of good. H.W.L. MANUSCRIPT: Henry E . Huntington Library. 1. Fields had arranged for the publication of "Morituri Salutamus" in Harper's Monthly Magazine, L I (August 1 8 7 5 ) , 4 4 2 - 4 4 6 . 2. Henry Mills Alden ( 1 8 3 6 - 1 9 1 9 ) , editor of Harper's, 1 8 6 9 - 1 9 1 9 . 3. Unrecovered.

3650.

To Warfield Creath

New

Richardson1

Cambridge June 26 1875 My Dear Sir, I ought long ago to have written to you to thank you for your letter and for the copy of your poem, which you were kind enough to send me. I have been prevented by illness. I am suffering, and have been suffering for a long time with Neuralgia in the head, which makes it almost impossible for me to read or write. 46

CAMBRIDGE,

1875

You must pardon me, therefore, if I thank you for your book before reading it. I keep it for a happier day. Meanwhile please accept my thanks and best wishes, and believe me, Yours truly Henry W. Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: Department of Archives and History, State of Alabama, ADDRESS: W . C. Richardson Esqre / Tuscaloosa. / Alabama POSTMARK: CAMBRIDGE MASS, JUN 26 [remainder illegible] i. Richardson ( 1 8 2 3 - 1 9 1 4 ) , a Tuscaloosa poet, had sent Longfellow a copy of his Gaspar. A Romaunt (Tuscaloosa, Ala., and Meridian, Miss., 1873).

3651.

To Albert Gallatin Browne, Jr.1

Camb. June 27. 1875. My Dear Sir, I did not have the pleasure of seeing Mr. Towse,2 but he forwarded your letter to me. It would give me great satisfaction to comply with your request in regard to the Bowdoin poem, but I have already made arrangements with the Harpers, who intend to issue it the day after delivery. Yours very truly Henry W. Longfellow A. G. Browne Jr. Esq. MANUSCRIPT: Clifton Waller Barrett Collection, University of Virginia. 1. Browne ( 1 8 3 5 - 1 8 9 1 ) , lawyer and journalist, served as managing editor of the New York Evening Post, 1 8 7 4 - 1 8 7 5 . In a letter of June 23 he had asked Longfellow's permission to print "Morituri Salutamus" in the Evening Post. 2. John Ranken Towse ( 1 8 4 5 - 1 9 3 3 ) , at this time an assistant editor of the Evening Post, was connected with die newspaper for sixty years.

3652.

To Arlo Bates1

Camb. June. 30. 1875. Dear Sir, I should with pleasure accede to your wishes in regard to the Bowdoin poem, but having already made an arrangement with the Harpers, it is impossible for me to do so. The Harpers intend to issue the poem on the day following its delivery, and any report of it in another paper would be an injury both to them and to me. I therefore hope that none will be made by anyone. Yours truly Henry W. Longfellow 47

AMONG

THE

BREAKERS

Clifton Waller Barrett Collection, University of Virginia, A D D R E S S : Mr. Arlo Bates. / Brunswick. / Me. P O S T M A R K : C A M B R I D G E S T A T I O N M A S S J U L I

MANUSCRIPT:

I. Bates ( 1 8 5 0 - 1 9 1 8 ) , a member of the Bowdoin class of 1876 and subsequently editor of the Boston Sunday Courier, 1880-1893, a n d professor of English at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1 8 9 3 - 1 9 1 5 , had written on June 29 asking Longfellow's permission to print all or part of "Morituri Salutamus" in his report of the commencement for the New York Tribune.

3653.

To Xavier Marmier

Cambridge, June 30, 1875. Allow me the pleasure of introducing to you my young friend Mr. Richard H. Dana . . . who will pass a few days or weeks in Paris . . . Mr. Dana is on his travels as you and I were, at his age; and you will remember, as I do, how grateful any kindness is to a young traveler. If you will facilitate his admission to some of the sittings of the Academy, or take him with you some evening to Mme Mohl's you will do me a great favor . . . unrecovered; text from Paul C. Richards Autographs, Catalogue No. Item No. 203 (November 1962).

MANUSCRIPT:

3654.

To George Washington

4,

Greene

Portland. July 2. 1875. Here I am, safe and sound, and not much fatigued. I go to Brunswick on Tuesday. Think of me on Wednesday between 3 and 4. H.W.L. Longfellow Trust Collection, A D D R E S S : Professor Geo. W. Greene. / East Greenwich. / R.I. P O S T M A R K : P O R T L A N D M E . J U L 2 9 P . M .

MANUSCRIPT:

3655.

To George Washington

Greene

Brunswick July. 8. 1875 Everything went off well yesterday. The Degree of L.L.D. was conferred upon you. It is pleasant to think of its coming on the same day with the poem.1 H.W.L. Longfellow Trust Collection, A D D R E S S : Professor G. W. Greene L.L.D. / East Greenwich / R.I. P O S T M A R K : B R U N S W I C K [remainder illegible]

MANUSCRIPT:

ι. Longfellow had suggested the honorary degree for Greene in an unrecovered letter to Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, dated c. June 18, 1875. See Chamberlain to Longfellow, June 19, 1875.

48

CAMBRIDGE, 3656.

1875

To James Thomas Fields

Portland July 10. 1875. M y Dear Fields, Everything went off well at Brunswick. The "Portland Press" says my delivery was "low, but mellifluous." 1 One enthusiastic listener said it was like "a strain of music." Another compared it to an "aeolian harp"; I am as proud as a peacock, and expect to be in Cambridge on Thursday or Friday next. I have not told any one who negotiated with the Harpers, nor will I reveal the secret. Kindest remembrances to Mrs Fields. Yours always H.W.L. MANUSCRIPT: Henry E. Huntington Library, Charles St / Boston.

ADDRESS: James T . Fields Esq /

148

i. "The delivery though low was mellifluous and delighted those who were fortunately within range of his voice" (Portland Daily Press, XIII [July 8, 1875], 3).

3657.

To George Washington

Greene

Camb. July. 18. 1875. My Dear Greene I reached home on Thursday last [July 15], and found on my table between forty and fifty letters, in addition to ten, which I brought with me unanswered from Portland. What shall I do? What can I do? And echo answers; "What?" Ah, if it would only answer the letters! I wish you could have been in Brunswick on the memorable Seventh. I think you would have been well satisfied with my reception, and with things in general. The story is too long for a letter. I will tell it to you when we meet. As soon as you can tear yourself from the arms of your beloved WindMill, I hope you will come to Cambridge for a few days. Tomorrow I shall put the "Legend of Epimetheus" 1 into the printer's hands. I want you to go over the proofs with me. It shall not tax your eyes, for I will read them to you. Ah, those eyes! How sorry I am to hear, that they have given out again! I am not well yet; but come back from Brunswick better than I went. The excitement did me good. I have just received Sumner's letters to Crawford. H.W.L. MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. i. Subsequently retitled "The Masque of Pandora." See BAL

49

12070.

AMONG THE 3658.

BREAKERS

To Ferdinand Freiligrath

Cambridge July 19 1875. My Dear Freiligrath, Allow me the pleasure of presenting the bearer, Mr. Marmaduke C. Kimber, who promises to go to Stuttgart on purpose to see you and to bear you my affectionate remembrances. Mr. Kimber intends passing the next Winter in Leipzig, as a student at the University, but takes a Summer month for the Rhine. 1 Be kind to him for the sake of your old friend Henry W. Longfellow MANUSCRIPT: Pennsylvania State University Library, Esq / St. Goar / on the Rhine

ADDRESS: Ferdinand Freiligrath

i. In a letter of J u l y 2, Anne Allegra wrote to Alice Longfellow: ". . . who should also make his appearance but M r Kimber. H e is just from the West, and sails for Europe in a few days" ( M S , Longfellow House). Nothing more is known of him.

3659.

To Cecilia Viets Dakin Hamilton

Camb. July 20. 1875. Dear Mrs Hamilton, I have just returned from Maine, where I lingered a litde after the Brunswick performance, and find your kind letter,1 and hasten to answer it, though I must be brief, as with it I found forty-six others lying on my table. I was extremely sorry not to see you when you were last in Cambridge. But I was really too ill to see anyone. I am now better, but not well. The pain still tortures me, though not so constantly as before. I am very glad to hear that you have found so delightful a place for the summer. Don't be troubled because you do not always feel disposed to write. This is only the sea-tide of the imagination, which ebbs and flows, and sometimes floods the shore and sometimes leaves it bare. Be patient, and all will come right. I am anxious to know how the subscription for the Agassiz portrait stands.2 Among all the centennial celebrations it may have lagged a little. I will see Mr. Owen as soon as possible. I am pleased to know, that the Bowdoin poem pleased you, though it saddened you. I could not write it otherwise. Yours faithfully Henry W. Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: Massachusetts Historical Society. i. In this undated letter, written from Clarendon Springs, Vt., Mrs. Hamilton revealed her sentimental attitude toward Longfellow: " M y heart was almost broken that day I went to Cambridge and could not see you. I think it was one of the bitterest dis5°

CAMBRIDGE,

1875

appointments of my life; however you were ill and you knew best; only it was so hard for me. I carry your last poem always with me. When I read it my poor eyes were blinded by tears. I have cried over it passionately a dozen times. Ο why did you write this to tear the hearts of those who love you?" 2. Longfellow first mentioned this portrait in Letter No. 3527. Its present location is unknown.

3660.

To Edward

Abbott Camb. July 2 1

1875.

M y Dear Sir, I should be happy to comply with your request, 1 but before leaving Brunswick I promised the ms. of the poem to Professor Packard to be deposited in the Library. Regretting that I cannot accede to your wishes, I am, with great regard Yours very truly Henry W . Longfellow MANUSCRIPT: Bowdoin College Library. ι . In a letter of July 6 Abbott had asked Longfellow if he might have the manuscript of "Morituri Salutamus" for his collection.

3661.

T o Charles Knapp

Dillaway1 Camb. July. 2 2 . 1 8 7 5 .

M y Dear Sir, Absence from town has prevented me from receiving and answering your letter at an earlier day. Please accept my cordial thanks, and thank your classmates for the honor done me in electing me an honorary member of the Class of 1 8 2 5 . T h i s mark of your regard is very gratifying to me, and I have great pleasure in accepting it. I am, my Dear Sir, Yours faithfully Henry W . Longfellow. C . K. Dillaway Esq. MANUSCRIPT: Massachusetts Historical Society. i . Dillaway ( 1 8 0 4 - 1 8 8 9 ) , a Harvard graduate of 1825 and a former master of the Boston Latin School, had sent a letter to Longfellow, unrecovered, asking him to become an honorary member of his class. Longfellow had received a similar request, dated June 25, from Samuel Kirkland Lothrop ( 1 6 3 8 . 1 ) , a member of the same class.

5 I

AMONG THE 3662.

BREAKERS

1

To William S. Martin

Cambridge July 23. 1875. My Dear Sir, Absence from town has prevented me from sending a speedier answer to your letter, and from thanking you for the poems you enclosed for my perusal. I have read them with much interest and pleasure, particularly "Blow gently, Summer wind" and "The Road to Fortune." But I have not time to enter into any detailed criticism. In the latter piece would it not be better to say "hours of midnight" instead of "midnight hours," and thus avoid making "hours" a dissyllable? And a little lower down, will it do to make "dawn" and "morn" rhyme together? Please accept my thanks, and believe me, with best wishes for your success, Yours truly Henry W. Longfellow p.s. As to publication in a volume, that you must decide for yourself. But do not be in a hurry about it. I waited till I was thirty three, and have never regretted it. MANUSCRIPT: Bowdoin College Library. i. In a letter of July 1 4 Martin, a master of Hellmuth College (now Huron College of the University of Western Ontario), had sent Longfellow some manuscript poems for criticism. H e remained an unpublished poet.

3663.

To Samuel Ward

C A M B R I D G E , July 2 5 , 1875 My ever dear S.W. I have returned from my Bowdoin expedition. I wish you could have been with me. Everything went off well. I am amazed at my own audacity in reciting a poem in public. It all seems so strange, — so strange! H.W.L.

MANUSCRIPT: unrecovered; text from Maud Howe Elliott, Uncle Circle ( N e w York, 1 9 3 8 ) , p. 5 5 3 .

3664.

Sam Ward

and His

To Thomas Davidson

Camb. July. 27. 1875. My Dear Sir, I am sorry that I cannot give you any information in regard to the Latin professorship at Bowdoin. 52

C A M B R I D G E ,

1875

I was there not long ago, but heard nothing of a vacancy in that department. I am here in Cambridge, and not at Nahant this Summer. I hope you will find time to come and see me. I am at home always in the evening. Yours very truly Henry W. Longfellow Th. Davidson. MANUSCRIPT: Yale University Library.

3665.

To Elisha Norman

Gunnison1

Cambridge [July 28] 2 1875 I should be happy to comply with your request if I could. But it is impossible. I am suffering with Neuralgia, which so affects my eyes, that reading and writing are painful, and I am forced to decline looking over any MS. Whatever may be the defects of your education, judging from the poems you send me you have unmistakably the gift of song. You exaggerate when you say that my decision may make or mar your future. A jury of twelve men could not do that. It is in your own hands. I hope you will go to Cornell. You could not do a wiser or better thing. I know President White. He is a gentleman in whose advice you can place implicit confidence.3 MANUSCRIPT: unrecovered; text from Item 8 7 1 , Goodspeed Catalogue (number and date unknown). 1. Gunnison ( 1 8 3 6 ? - ! 8 8 0 ) , of York, Pa., had asked Longfellow in a letter of July 2 7 to comment on his "long poem of the N e w England coast," presumably a reference to his subsequently published One Summer's Dream: An Idyl of the Vineyard, and Other Poems (York, Pa., 1 8 7 5 ) . 2. T h e date is from the M S Letter Calendar. 3. Gunnison had written that he had received an offer of a free education at Cornell from President White, but there is no record that he accepted it.

3666.

To Andrew Dickson White

Cambridge July 28 1875. M y Dear Sir, A friend of mine, Mr Luigi Monti, formerly teacher of Italian in our University, and afterwards for twelve years American Consul at his native place, Palermo, is writing some Lectures on Modern Italian Literature, with particular reference to its influence on the political regeneration of Italy. He begins with Parini, 1 and comes down to the present day. He is anxious, if possible, to read these Lectures at Cornell; and I write to ask if there is any opportunity of his doing so next winter.2 53

AMONG THE

BREAKERS

Mr. Monti, having long resided in this country, and having married an American wife, (Miss Parsons, sister of the poet, whose translation of the Inferno you probably have seen) knows English well, and writes and speaks it with great fluency and correctness. I have no doubt that his Lectures will be very interesting, and shall endeavor to have them read in our University course. With great regard, Yours very truly Henry W. Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: Cornell University Archives. 1. Giuseppe Parini ( 1 7 2 9 - 1 7 9 9 ) was known principally for his satirical epic 11 Giorno. 2. White responded on August 23 that his trustees would probably not want to "make any additions to our present faculty."

3667.

To George Washington Greene

Camb. July 30. 1875. My Dear Greene, I hoped that your unwellness, I will not call it illness, — was only a passing cloud, but I begin to fear it is something more, as you do not appear. The cars go jingling by, but your form is not seen emerging from them, and passing under the lilac arch at the gate. I wait in vain; but trust it is nothing serious. The printers are slow. They have had my manuscript1 for a week, and have not yet sent me the first proof. How impatient young authors are! Proof-reading is just the work for this weather. Have you written to Mrs. Howard? If not, she will never forgive you. Send at least a postal card. I am getting slowly better. So long as I keep perfectly quiet, I feel pretty well. When I make any exertion, I feel the worse for it. Patience and Nux Vomica2 are my two sheet-anchors. And the Wind Mill, with its folded wings, and stones that grind no more! That was a happy thought, if it makes you happy. Tomorrow I try dining with the Club; and hope Motley will be there. He is staying at Nahant. H.W.L 3 MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. ι. Of The Masque of Pandora and Other Poems. 2. A bitter tonic made from the bark of the Nux Vomica tree. 3. Longfellow enclosed a check for $50 ( M S Letter Calendar).

54

CAMBRIDGE, 3668.

T o Anne Allegra

1875

Longfellow

Camb. July. 30. 1875. M y Darling Panzie, I miss you; and am afraid you would not be worth much if I didn't. So be comforted and enjoy yourself. Do you remember Joaquin Miller, the poet? I send you a paragraph about him which may interest and amuse you. 1 Edith goes on famously with her house-keeping. Rehearsals for the new theatricals every evening. First performance on Monday evening. W e hear that Uncle Tom is at Newport, but do not hear it from him. It is still doubtful. Thermometer 85. N o further exertion practicable. Always affect. H.W.L. p.s. Your Postal Card 2 just reed. MANUSCRIPT: Alice Allegra T h o r p Estate (on deposit, Longfellow H o u s e ) . 1. T h e paragraph is unrecovered. Longfellow had entertained Joaquin Miller, "a rather wild, but to me very interesting, personality," at dinner on September 22, 1872. See journal entry, Life, III, 206. 2. From Castine, Me., July 28.

3669.

T o Alice Mary Longfellow

Camb. A u g 2. 1875. M y Darling Alice, Thanks for your letter. 1 It would be no compliment to say that we are getting on without you as well as if you were here. But we are doing well; and Edith shows great ability as housekeeper, having taken a leaf or two out of Aunt Anne's book. W e are delighted with Cambridge in Summer, and I enjoy it extremely, and am as well as in Portland. This morning I am quite alone. Charley is at Lynnmere; 2 and Edith has driven over to Newton with Josie Ames and Toto. 3 I believe there are to be Private Theatricals in the library this evening, rehearsals having been frequent during the past week. As usual I am expecting Mr. Greene, and as usual he does not come. I am buried in unanswered letters as in a snow-drift. There must be nearly a hundred of them. W h e n I got home I found forty-seven added to the pile. I dined with the Club on Saturday; which shows that I am pretty well. W i t h much love to all, and most of all to you, H.W.L. 55

AMONG

THE

BREAKERS

MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection, ι. From Portland, July 29. 2. Where he was shooting grouse, quail, and woodcock with his friend William Pickman Fay ( 1 8 0 6 . 1 ) . 3. Toto was Robert Ames, brother of Josie Ames. He had been the only boy pupil in an informal school conducted by Hannah Davie in the Craigie House in 1863—1864. See Henrietta Dana Skinner, An Echo From Parnassus (New York, 1928), pp. 89-91.

3670.

To Horace Parker

Chandler1

Camb. Aug. 4. 1875. My Dear Mr Chandler, I cordially thank you for your kind letter, and for the charming photograph of your dear, little Grace, and the simple and tender lines, which accompany it. I enclose for her the promised verses. They are not from the piece you suggest, but from one more appropriate.2 I shall always remember with the greatest pleasure my visit to the old house in Brunswick, and the great kindness and hospitality with which I was received. It is a delightful memory to me. I ought to have written to you sooner, but have been prevented by the thousand little things, which await one's return home, even after a short absence. You know how that is, and will pardon the delay. Not knowing whether you are now in Boston or have gone back to Brunswick, I hardly know how to address this letter, but think Brunswick will be safest. With kindest remembrances to all the family, I am, my Dear Mr. Chandler, Yours very truly Henry W . Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. 1. Chandler ( 1 8 4 2 - 1 9 1 9 ) , a Harvard graduate of 1864, was the son of Martha Ann Bush Cleaveland ( 1 6 3 . 2 ) and Peleg Whitman Chandler ( 2 7 2 4 . 1 ) . Longfellow had stayed in "Cleaveland Hall," in Parker Cleaveland's chamber and study, during his visit to Bowdoin College. See Mrs. Chandler to Longfellow, June 17. 2. In a letter of July 29 from the Union Club, Boston, Chandler had requested a few lines from "Sunrise in the Hills" or "such other as you may be pleased to select" for his daughter Grace (b. 1870). The "more appropriate" verses are unrecovered.

3671.

To Edward Lillie Pierce

[Cambridge, August 4, 1875] 1 Sumner's Letters to Crawford received this morning. H.WI

56

CAMBRIDGE, MANUSCRIPT: Harvard College Library, / Boston.

1875

ADDRESS: Hon E. L. Pierce. / Old State House.

1. This undated note was written on the manila wrapper that presumably held the Sumner letters to Crawford. The date is established by Pierce's letter of August 4, 1875: "The Crawford letters came from you by express." Louisa Crawford Terry had sent the letters from Rome with a letter dated June 1, 1875.

3672.

T o Mary Elizabeth

Hatch Camb. A u g 7. 1 8 7 5 .

Dear Miss Hatch, T h i s is not to be a letter, but only a cover for the promised photograph. 1 Your mother will hardly recognize it; but I hope you will both like it, as it is a very good representation of my face at the present date. Always with kind regards, Yours very truly Henry W . Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: Henry E. Huntington Library, Madison. / Lee Co. Iowa,

ADDRESS: Miss Elizabeth Hatch / Fort

POSTMARK: CAMBRIDGE STATION MASS AUG 8

i . See Letter No. 3643. Two photographs accompany the manuscript: one of Longfellow by Elliott & Fry, London, signed "Henry W . Longfellow. / 1875"; and the other a reproduction of a portrait of the three Longfellow girls, issued by Hall, 781 Broadway, New York.

3673.

T o Sarah Williams

Oakey Camb. A u g . 7. 1 8 7 5 .

Dear M r s Oakey, I thank you most cordially for your kind remembrance, and for the charming verses of your daughter, which you were good enough to send me, and which have given me much pleasure. I beg you to thank her, and to say how highly I prize them. 1 H o w these children grow up, and are no longer children! I find it difficult, as I dare say you do, to accustom myself to the reality. I miss their former selves. W i t h kindest remembrances and regards Yours very truly Henry W . Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: Clifton Waller Barrett Collection, University of Virginia. i . In a letter of August 2 Mrs. Oakey (see 1 7 3 6 . 1 ) had enclosed a sonnet (unrecovered) written by her daughter on the subject of "Morituri Salutamus." 5 7

AMONG 3674.

T o James Thomas

THE

BREAKERS

Fields

Camb. Aug. 9. 1875. M y Dear Fields, Shall the poem be called " T h e Legend of Epimetheus" or " T h e Masque of Epimetheus"? I prefer the latter, as better expressing its character. Confirm my judgment by your own. I never had so many Epimethean after-thoughts about a title as in this instance. I had a delightful visit from the Taylors; quiet, genial, sympathetic. Taylor read to me the first Act of his new poem, and I admired it very much, as you will, I am sure. T h e figure of Prometheus in Hades is grand. 1 If they are still with you thank Taylor for his letter and the article from the Tribune. 2 Kindest remembrances to Mrs. F. How I wish I could come to your cottage. But I dare not. H.W.L. MANUSCRIPT: Henry E. Huntington Library. 1. See Prince Deukalion: A Lyrical Drama (Boston, 1878), Act I, Scene vi. 2. For Taylor's letter of August 5 see Life and Letters of Bayard Taylor, ed. Marie Hansen-Taylor and Horace E. Scudder (Boston and New York, 1885), II, 668. The "article from the Tribune" presumably refers to an editorial commendation of "Morituri Salutamus" in the New York Tribune, X X X V , No. 10,694 (July 10, 1875).

3675.

T o David

Shepley

Camb. Aug. 9. 1875 M y Dear Mr. Shepley, I have had the pleasure of receiving your friendly letter and the excellent photograph of yourself. 1 How I wish we had photographs of all the class, as we were when we left college, instead of those melancholy silhouettes! I send you enclosed my own, which I hope you will like as well as I like yours. What a pleasant and everyway satisfactory reunion we had at Brunswick! It will never fade from my memory, nor shall I ever forget the kind reception I met with, and the generous judgment of my poem. With all good wishes Yours sincerely Henry W . Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: Bowdoin College Library. i. The members of the Bowdoin class of 1825 had agreed at their reunion to exchange photographs. David Shepley ( 1 2 . 3 ) had written from Providence on August 7.

58

CAMBRIDGE, 3676.

1875

To Robert Charles Winthrop

Camb. Aug. 9. 1875. My Dear Winthrop, Your kind letter from Lake Windermere has just reached me, and I hasten to thank you for it, in the hope that my answer may perhaps reach you before you sail for home. The Bowdoin poem was read to an audience just risen from the dinnertable, and therefore in good humor and easily pleased. But to please hungry travellers, waiting for their dinner, was a more difficult task; and to have succeeded in that makes me more than satisfied.1 This last winter I have really been among the breakers. Not having had a headache for fifty years, I was suddenly seized with one that literally lasted, without intermission, for six months, and is not yet quite gone. It was Neuralgia; cause unknown; effect undesirable and indescribable; final result, staying here in Cambridge instead of going to Nahant. Mr Deane was here last evening, and brought me friendly greetings from you. I charged him in return not to forget my cordial remembrances to you. I repeat them, with added ones to Mrs Winthrop and Miss Adele, 2 my patient audience at Windermere. Always sincerely Yours Henry W . Longfellow MANUSCRIPT: Massachusetts Historical Society. 1. In a letter from Bowness, Windermere, dated July 27, Winthrop had written: "Our friend Mr. [Charles] Deane sent me a Daily containing it ["Morituri Salutamus"], and I received it while we were waiting for dinner at the Low Wood Hotel, where we had just arrived from a tour in Scotland . . . [I] had just finished it when dinner was announced. W a s not that a scene for a Wayside Inn? W e all wished the poem had been longer, and would willingly have let our soup cool, — hungry though we all were, — for a few more lines of the same sort." 2. Adele Thayer ( 1 8 5 7 - c . 1 9 1 8 ) was the daughter of Mrs. Winthrop ( 2 5 0 4 . 1 ) by her previous marriage to John Eliot Thayer (c. 1 8 0 3 - 1 8 5 7 ) , Boston investment banker.

3677.

To Rasmus Björn Anderson

Camb. Aug. 1 1 . 1875. My Dear Sir, I would with great pleasure comply with your request, if I could do so consistently; but all my life long, though often solicited, I have declined writing letters of that nature. Your book does not need any such support. I can see at a glance that it is very interesting and very valuable. It will tell its own story, and make its own way in the world. 1 I am rejoiced to hear that you are at work on the Sagas, with Professor 59

AMONG

THE

BREAKERS

Biarnason, in praise of whose talent and scholarship I have heard so much. Such labors are of great value, and will give a name and fame to you and to your University. 2 Accept my cordial thanks for the honor you have done me in the Dedication of your "Mythology." I hardly feel that I deserve it, but nevertheless accept it as a mark of your consideration and good-will. With great regard and many thanks for your new and most attractive volume, I am, my Dear Sir, Yours faithfully Henry W . Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: unrecovered; text from typewritten transcript, Longfellow Trust Collection CLongfellow House). 1. In a letter of August 6 Anderson had asked Longfellow if he would be willing to endorse his Norse Mythology (3296.2). 2. See Viking Tales of the North. The Sagas of Thorstein, Viking's Son and Fridthjof the Bold, tr. from the Icelandic by Rasmus B. Anderson and Jon Bjarnason (Chicago, 1 8 7 7 ) . Bjarnason ( 1 8 4 5 - 1 9 1 4 ) , Icelandic clergyman and scholar, had emigrated to the United States in 1873.

3678.

To James Thomas Fields

Camb. Aug 12. 1875. My Dear Fields, What shall be the title of the new volume? What do you say to the enclosed? I have had it put in type to see how it would look. I hardly like it. It sounds too doleful. Please send it back to me. After all, will it not be better to abandon such fancy titles and say simply "The Masque of Epimetheus and Other Poems"? I know you detest "Other Poems"; but a title should give some indication of the contents of a volume. 1 H.W.L. MANUSCRIPT: Dartmouth College Library. ι. Fields responded on August 13 that he preferred " 'The Masque of Epimetheus and other poems,' as expressing the Contents better."

3679.

To George Washington

Greene

Camb. Aug. 12. 1875. My Dear Greene, Though I have lived in Cambridge nearly forty years, I have never before passed a Summer here. It is a new experience, and a very pleasant one. Why go away, when one is so comfortable at home? 60

CAMBRIDGE,

1875

But the days go by, and the weeks go by, and the Summer is nearly over, and yet you do not come. I have seen already one or two faded leaves, that like gray hairs on the heads of young people, betray the premature autumn. By not coming you have escaped the proof-sheets of "Epimetheus"; but I have sorely needed your criticism. The volume is now nearly all in type, and will be ready for September. Two days ago something very important happened. I fell down the cellar stairs! I was hurled against the coal-bin, which saved me. No bones were broken, and I escaped with only a scratch on my elbow and my knee. I am as good as new. How tough I must be! I hope it is only the heat that keeps you at home, and not the illness you spoke of some time ago. You did not say what it was. I trust it is passed. Yours always H.W.L. MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection.

3680.

To Anne Allegra

Longfellow

Camb. Aug. 15. 1875. My Darling Panzie, I am very thankful to the fog, that kept you at Castine, and prevented that wild-goose chase to Robbinstown. That is really too far away, and you are happy enough where you are. I am really glad you did not go. Many thanks for your many postal cards. I ought to have sent you some in return, and promise to do better in the future. W e find Cambridge very comfortable. The air is not equal to the air of Nahant; but the beds are, and there are no trunks to pack and unpack. I am well content to let well alone, if it will only let me alone. I am no worse and no better than when you left us. I hold my own. With love to all Your affectionate Papa. p.s. Cousin Willie [William Pitt Preble Longfellow] dines with us to-day; and returns to Castine with Alice on Tuesday. MANUSCRIPT: Alice Allegra Thorp Estate (on deposit, Longfellow House).

3681.

To Sarah Elizabeth Appleton

Lawrence1

Camb. Aug 16. 1875. Dear Mrs Laurence, I am very much obliged to you for your kind invitation, though I am sorry to say I cannot have the pleasure of accepting it. I am doing very well in 6ι

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THE

BREAKERS

Cambridge and by keeping quiet (the Fabian policy) 2 am gradually subduing the enemy. The summer air of Cambridge is, I confess, not equal to that of Nahant, but the summer quiet is greater. Will you do me the kindness, when you pass by the Post Office to tell Mr. Johnson3 to forward to me here any letters he may have received for me? With many thanks and kind regards Yours very truly Henry W . Longfellow MANUSCRIPT: Harvard College Library, Mass.

ADDRESS: Mrs. A . A . Laurence. / Nahant. /

POSTMARK: CAMBRIDGE STATION MASS AUG 1 6

1. Mrs. Lawrence

(1822-1891),

wife of Amos Adams Lawrence

(1332.1),

had

asked Longfellow in a letter of August 1 4 to be her guest at N a h a n t after August 24. 2. A

reference to the Roman general Quintus

Fabius

Maximus

Verrucosus

(d.

2 0 3 B . c . ) , surnamed Cunctator for his cautious military policy. 3 . Possibly Jonathan Johnson ( 1 1 2 0 . 1 ) .

3682.

To Anne Allegra

Longfellow

Camb. Aug 16. 1875. A pouring rain, and I am left all alone. Alice has gone to town to complete arrangements for starting tomorrow. Edith has gone to Newton to pass the night with Mrs. Appleton. 1 Josie has taken flight, and Charlie is at Lynnmere. What a scattering of the household! H.W.L. MANUSCRIPT: Alice Allegra Thorp Estate (on deposit, Longfellow House), Miss AUG

A.

A.

Longfellow / Castine / M e .

POSTMARK:

CAMBRIDGE

ADDRESS:

STATION

MASS

16

i . T h a t is, Mrs. William Sumner Appleton ( 3 2 7 4 . 1 ) . She and her husband lived on a 340-acre baronial estate, Holbrook Hall, on the outskirts of Newton.

3683.

To James Ripley Osgood

Camb. Aug. 19. 1875. Dear Mr Osgood, If it will accommodate you, I will take your note, as you suggest.1 The new title "The Masque of Pandora" was sent in for your judgment and approval. It seems to me, on the whole, the best. Yours truly Henry W . Longfellow

62

CAMBRIDGE,

1875

MANUSCRIPT : University of Texas Library. i . On August 1 6 Longfellow noted in his manuscript journal that he had signed a new contract with his publisher: "Signed agreement with Osgood and Co. for ten years' right of publishing my books, for $4000. annually, in equal quarterly payments. / A n y new book, on the old arrangement of ten per cent for nine months; then, on payment of $500. to be added to the others." Accompanying this letter is an acknowledgment of the first quarterly payment: "Received of J . R . Osgood & C o $1000.00, payment on copyright. / Henry W . Longfellow." T h e "note" was for the second payment on the contract. See Osgood to Longfellow, August 18, 1875.

3684.

To Henry Fowle Durant1

Cambridge Aug 20 1875. My Dear Sir, I take the liberty of presenting to you the bearer, Mr. Zerdahely, who wishes some information in regard to the Professorship of Music in your institution. Mr Zerdahely I have known for many years. He is a gentleman of refined manners and feelings, and has a high reputation as a musician. If the place is not already filled, will you be kind enough to consider his claims. He has recommendations much better than mine, which he will show you. 2 I am, my Dear Sir, with great regard, Yours truly Henry W . Longfellow1 MANUSCRIPT: Wellesley College Library. 1 . Durant ( 1 8 2 2 - 1 8 8 1 ) , lawyer, evangelist, and philanthropist, whose original name was Henry Welles Smith, founded Wellesley College in 1 8 7 0 and served as its treasurer, 1870-1881. 2. Despite Longfellow's recommendation, Zerdahelyi ( 1 9 6 8 . 1 ) did not obtain the professorship.

3685.

To Anne Allegra

Longfellow

Camb. Aug. 20. 1875. Josie [Ames] is gone and Sadie [Weiss] has come, and Mr. Greene is here, and Sophocles dined with us yesterday, and that is all the news from Craigie Castle. Thanks for your many postal-cards. Love to Alice and all. H.W.L. MANUSCRIPT: Alice Allegra Thorp Estate (on deposit, Longfellow House), Miss A . A . Longfellow / Castine / M e .

63

ADDRESS:

POSTMARK: CAMBRIDGE STATION AUG 2 0

AMONG 3686.

THE

BREAKERS

To James Ripley Osgood

Camb. Aug 21. 1875. Dear Mr Osgood, I hereby acknowledge the receipt of your Note for $1017.50. being a payment of copyright for July 1875. 1 I send you to-day two more volumes containing "Poems of Places"; or will do so if the Express calls. Otherwise on Monday. Do not forget your promise to send the new books you issue. I want particularly "Queen Mary" in the "Little Classics," and Clarke's "Exotics." 2 I have finally decided on "The Masque of Pandora" as best. You may so announce it. Yours truly H.W.L. MANUSCRIPT: University of Texas Library. ι . Osgood's note for the second payment on Longfellow's new contract was for ninety days with interest added. See 3683.1. 2. Tennyson, Queen Mary: A Drama (Boston, 1 8 7 5 ) , and James Freeman Clarke, Exotics: Attempts to Domesticate Them (Boston, 1 8 7 5 ) .

3687.

To Daniel Lake Milliken and Silas M.

Spencer1

Camb. Aug 23 1875. My Dear Sirs, I hope you will pardon my long delay in thanking you for your kindness in sending me the volume of your "Cottage Hearth" for 1874. All through the winter I was very ill, and could hardly read or write; and since then have been part of the time absent and part very much occupied. But I have not forgotten your gift. I have looked its pages through with much pleasure, and have formed a most favorable opinion [of] its merits. Accept my tardy thanks, and believe me, with best wishes for the success of your periodical, Yours truly Henry W . Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: Clifton Waller Barrett Collection, University of Virginia. i. Milliken, aged thirty-seven, was the editor and his brother-in-law Spencer ( 1 8 4 2 1 9 2 3 ) the business manager of the Cottage Hearth, a Boston publication.

64

CAMBRIDGE, 3688.

To Charles Appleton

1875

Longfellow

Camb. Aug 24 1875. My Dear Charley, I hope you took some thick clothing with you, or you may suffer in this change of weather. It will be dangerous for you to expose yourself; and in case you are not provided with what is needful, you had better come home at once.1 Everything is comfortable here now, and the air quite cool enough. No letters have come for you, and no visitors. Mr Greene and I enjoy the quiet, as usual; and think that those who go away get the worst of it. W e hear nothing further from Uncle Tom. I doubt very much whether he will return at all this year; though he may like Newport in September. Take good care of yourself. Affectionately H.W.L. MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection, ι . Charles remained at Lynnmere. See 3669.2.

3689.

To Charlotte Fiske Bates

Camb. Aug 25 1875. Dear Miss Bates, I hate to fill a letter with apologies, and therefore will make none, but only beg you to pardon my long delay in answering your friendly note. I thank you for it, and for the beautiful lines "After reading Morituri Salutamus."1 One hardly knows into what words to put one's acknowledgments for praise so musical. Perhaps I had best be silent, or say only that I thank you, and that I am with cordial regard, Yours very truly Henry W . Longfellow MANUSCRIPT: Clifton Waller Barrett Collection, University of Virginia. i. See Charlotte Fiske Bates Roge, Risk, and Other Poems (Boston, 1 8 7 9 ) , p. 7 1 . Miss Bates's note and the manuscript copy of her poem are unrecovered.

3690.

To Henry Theodore

Cheever1

Camb. Aug 28. 1875. My Dear Sir, I am very sorry that I did not have the pleasure of seeing you, when you did me the favor to call. I could have talked with you about your brother's book much better than I can write.

65

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THE

BREAKERS

I am hardly an impartial judge. My affection for him, which has its roots deep down in the old College days, makes everything that comes from his pen interesting to me, and worthy of republication. As to a publisher, I do not know whom to recommend. As the work is essentially a religious one, I should put it into the hands of some one, who is in that line of literature, and who would be interested in its success. Yours very truly Henry W . Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: American Antiquarian Society. i. Cheever ( 1 8 1 4 - 1 8 9 7 ) , Bowdoin graduate of 1 8 3 4 and Congregational clergyman of Worcester, Mass., had sought Longfellow's opinion in a letter of August 2 7 on the feasibility of reissuing a volume by his brother George Barrell ( 1 6 6 . 1 ) entitled Voices of Nature to Her Foster-Child, the Soul of Man: A Series of Analogies between the Natural and the Spiritual World, ed. Rev. Henry T . Cheever ( N e w York, 1 8 5 2 ) . T h e work did not have a second edition.

3691.

To L. V.

Newton1

Camb. Aug 31 1875. Dear Madam, I am much obliged to you for your friendly letter. N o writer can be indifferent to the effect his words may produce. At all events, I confess that I am not, and am always pleased to hear, that I have given pleasure. I beg you to accept my thanks for your kindness in writing and to believe me Yours truly Henry W . Longfellow MANUSCRIPT: University of California Library, Los Angeles. i. Mrs. Newton, a matron of Springfield, Mass., had written a rhapsodic appreciation of Longfellow and his poetry in a letter dated August 30: " H o w lovingly N e w England women hold you in their hearts, and give you a cherished place by their firesides, you may never know unless some of them, now and then like myself feel the impulse of frankness to[o] strong to be resisted, and so write you glimpses of the truth."

3692.

To Edward Lillie Pierce

Camb. Sept. 2. 1875. Dear Mr Pierce, If I see Lord Houghton, 1 I will not fail to ask him about Sumner's letters. My sister, Mrs Greenleaf is absent. As soon as she returns I will see if sht has Sumner's letters to Prof. [Simon] Greenleaf. Yours very truly Henry W. Longfellow 66

CAMBRIDGE, MANUSCRIPT:

1875

Harvard College Library.

1. Richard Monckton Milnes (559.1) was created first Baron Houghton in 1863. He visited Canada and the United States in 1875, arriving on August 16 and remaining four months.

3693.

To Edward

Lillie

Pierce

Camb. Sept. 6. 1875. Dear M r Pierce, You will be sorry to see by the enclosed that more of Sumner's letters have been destroyed.1 M y sister, Mrs. Greenleaf has returned. She has none of Sumner's letters to Prof. Greenleaf, but thinks his daughter Mrs Croswell may have some, and will see if any can be found. Yours truly Henry W . Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT:

Haryard College Library.

ι. Accompanying the manuscript is a letter to Longfellow from John Gorham Palfrey, dated September 6, 1875, explaining that Joseph Parkes (1796-1865), English politician, had apparently destroyed his letters from Sumner.

3694.

To George Washington

Greene

Camb. Sept 2 1 . 1875. M y Dear Greene, I have got back from Maine; 1 but the house is full of visitors this week and I shall have to ask you to postpone your visit till the beginning of next week. I had another talk with Houghton two days ago. He is well disposed.2 In greatest haste H.W.L. MANUSCRIPT:

Boston Public Library.

ι. The exact dates of Longfellow's visit to Portland are not known. 2. In a letter of September 20 Greene had enclosed a letter from Henry Oscar Houghton (unrecovered) with the following comment: "I have abundant material as you know for more than one volume. As it looks to me on paper I shall have to choose between an American and an Italian volume; or as perhaps I should rather say between a biographical or miscellaneous — the miscellaneous being chiefly Italian." The "biographical" volume became The German Element in the War of American Independence (New York and Cambridge, 1876).

67

AMONG THE 3695.

BREAKERS

To Anne Longfellow Pierce

Camb. Sept. 22. 1875. Dear Annie, I enclose you some lines on Songo River. 1 You may show them to whom you please, but do not let them go out of your hands, as they might possibly get into print before the time. All as well as usual. Mr. Ferguson and his nephew Mr. Chance are here. Miss Chance is at Emily's.2 H.W.L. MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. 1. Works, III, 9 7 - 9 8 . 2. Robert Ferguson's sister Maria Isabella (d. 1 8 9 0 ) had married Edward Chance ( 1 8 2 5 - 1 8 8 1 ) of Birmingham in 1850. It is not known which of their three sons and four daughters are referred to here. Emily was presumably Emily Marshall Otis Eliot (2360.2).

3696.

To Richard Monckton Milnes, Lord Houghton

Cambridge, Sept. 23rd, 1875. I should have written long ago to welcome you to America, but did not know where a letter would find you. I suppose you are at the Brevoort, and hasten to say how delighted I shall be to see you and your son1 on Saturday.2 You will find me in rather poor case and condition, but none the less glad on that account to have you under my roof. DEAR LORD HOUGHTON, —

Yours always faithfully, HENRY W. LONGFELLOW. MANUSCRIPT: unrecovered, text from T . Wemyss Reid, The Life, Letters, and Friendships of Richard Monckton Milnes, First Lord Houghton (London, Paris, and Melbourne, 1890), II, 3 1 7 . 1. Robert Offley Ashburton Milnes, later Marquess of Crewe ( 1 8 5 8 - 1 9 4 5 ) . 2. Lord Houghton called on Longfellow on Tuesday, October 5, and lunched with him on Wednesday, October 6 ( M S Journal).

3697.

To Henry Burr Barnes1

Cambridge. Sept. 25. 1875 My Dear Sir, I have received your kind invitation to write for the International, and am sorry that it will be quite impossible for me to accept it. I do very little in that way now; nothing in prose, and next to nothing in verse, and am unwilling to make any new engagements. Regretting that I cannot accede to your request, I am Yours very truly Henry W. Longfellow. 68

CAMBRIDGE,

1875

MANUSCRIPT: unrecovered; text from typewritten transcript, Longfellow Trust Collection (Longfellow House). i. In a letter of September 23, Barnes ( 1 8 4 5 - 1 9 1 3 ) had written on behalf of A. S. Barnes & Company of New York, publishers of the International Review, requesting permission to use Longfellow's name as a possible contributor to the journal.

3698.

To George Washington Greene

Camb. Sept. 25. 1875. The guests are gone. The coast is clear. Come as soon as you please. H.W.L MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection, East Greenwich / R.I.

3699.

ADDRESS: Professor Geo. W . Greene. /

P O S T M A R K : C A M B R I D G E STATION M A S S , S E P 2 4

To Hermann Voss1

Cambridge Sept 27. 1875. Dear Mr Voss, I am much obliged to you for your kind letter and for the photograph of your grandfather the poet. I am very glad to possess it, and prize it very highly, both as a likeness of him and as a gift from you. The memory of your friendly visit remains always fresh and pleasant in my mind, and makes me hope that I may have the satisfaction of seeing you again at no distant day. The letters of Heinrich Voss have interested me extremely; particularly those relating to Göthe and Schiller.2 They will be of great value to biographers of these poets. Shall I return the volume by post, or shall I keep it till I can show it to Bayard Taylor, who is now writing the life of Göthe? With cordial and friendly greetings I am, my Dear Mr Voss, Yours faithfully Henry W. Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: University of Washington Library. 1. Grandson of Johann Heinrich Voss ( 1 7 5 1 - 1 8 2 6 ) , German poet, translator, and philologist. Voss lived at 17 Howard Street, Newark, N.J. 2. Briefe von Heinrich Voss, herausgegeben von Abraham Voss (Heidelberg, 1 8 3 3 1838), 3 vols. Vol. II ( 1 8 3 4 ) contains the letters concerning Goethe and Schiller.

69

AMONG 3700.

THE

BREAKERS

1

To Joseph P. Edwards

Cambridge, Sept. 28. 1875. My Dear Sir, I have had the pleasure of receiving from Mr. Hemmell 2 the two canes which you were kind enough to send me as a souvenir of Acadia, and hasten to thank you for this mark of regard. It has never been my good fortune to see the beautiful country which you pass through daily, and I fear I shall never see it save in imagination. All the more I shall prize the branch of the apple tree from Grand Pre and the white ash cane from the top of Blomidon. I beg you to accept my cordial thanks for your kindness in sending them, and believe me, Yours very truly, Henry W . Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: unrecovered; text from unidentified newspaper clipping, Longfellow Trust Collection (Longfellow House). 1. Edwards ( 1 8 4 6 - 1 9 1 7 ) , a conductor on the Dominion Atlantic Railway of Nova Scotia, had sent Longfellow a cane cut from "an old apple tree that once stood but a few rods from the old blacksmith shop of 'Basil' " and another "of white ash cut from the summit of 'Cape Blomidon' " (Letter of J. E . Hemmell to Longfellow dated September 13. 1 8 7 5 ) . 2. J. E . Hemmell, who presented the canes to Longfellow, gave his address as 64 Argyle Avenue, Baltimore.

3701.

To Samuel

Longfellow

Camb. Sept 28. 1875. My Dear Sam, You are quite right about those two lines in the "Songo River." I have struck them out, and substituted others.1 But don't you think the poem ends rather too abruptly? What do you say to adding this stanza? Will it be moralizing too much? I am not sure. "Be not like a stream that brawls, Loud with shallow water-falls, But in quiet self-control Link together soul and soul."2 Love to Anne. H.W.L

70

CAMBRIDGE,

1875

MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection (Longfellow House), ι . These lines are unidentified. 2. Samuel Longfellow responded on September 30: " I think the added verse will be an improvement making a less abrupt close and 'linking together' the beginning and the end by the echoing line; not giving I think too much moralizing of your theme. / But the last line does not convey a clear thought to me. It may be my dulness. Whose soul with whose? What should you think of

or

Link together day and day? . . . today and yesterday . . tomorrow with today

But I should want to keep the 'self-control.' " Longfellow retained the stanza as it is presented in his letter.

3702.

To Luigi Monti

Camb. Oct 2. 1875. Dear Mr. Monti, With great pleasure and still greater haste, having hardly time to say so.1 Yours truly H.W.L. MANUSCRIPT: Frank O. Buda, Cambridge, Mass. Wayside Inn," p. 167.

PUBLISHED: Characters in "Tales of a

ι . In a letter of October 1 Monti had asked for a loan of $200 to enable him to pay his seven months' board bill.

3703.

To John Gorham Palfrey

[Cambridge] Wednesday Oct 6. [1875] My Dear Palfrey, Lord Houghton lunches with me to-day at 1.30. Come to meet him1 and oblige, Yours always H.W.L MANUSCRIPT: Harvard College Library. I. "Lord Houghton lunched with us. No other guests but Lowell and Greene, and Ernest and his w i f e " ( M S Journal, October 6, 1 8 7 5 ) .

AMONG 3704.

To Eunice Whitney

THE

BREAKERS

Farley [Cambridge]

Saturday. [October 9, 1875] 1

Dear Una Will you take tea with us this evening? Mr. Maughan 2 will be here. Yours truly Henry W . Longfellow MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection,

ADDRESS: Miss U n a Farley / Lowell St.

ι . T h e date is established by Longfellow's journal entry. 2. William Charles Maughan Cd. 1 9 1 4 ) , author and local historian of Rosneath, Scotland.

3705.

T o Richard Watson

Gilder1

Camb. Oct. 21. 1875 M y Dear Sir, I have had the pleasure of receiving your kind letter, and the volume of poems you have been good enough to send me, and hasten to thank you for these marks of your remembrance and regard. I opened the volume at random and came upon a very beautiful Sonnet at page 95. "My Songs are all of thee," — so tender in feeling, and so delicate in expression, that I have paused, and read it over many times, and each time with greater pleasure. You must have patience with me if I read the book in this way, slowly, and not all at once. I respect poetry too much to read it in haste. In return, please accept the volume 2 I send by to-day's post. It will be like exchanging cards. I beg you to give my kind regards and remembrance to Mrs. Gilder. 8 Your visit was extremely pleasant to me, and I regret that I was prevented by illness from seeing more of you. Yours faithfully Henry W . Longfellow MANUSCRIPT: unrecovered; text from typewritten transcript, Longfellow Trust Collection (Longfellow House). 1. Gilder ( 1 8 4 4 - 1 9 0 9 ) , associate editor of Scribner's Monthly, 1 8 7 0 - 1 8 8 1 , and editor of Century Magazine, 1 8 8 1 - 1 9 0 9 , had sent Longfellow a copy of his volume of poetry, The New Day ( N e w York, 1 8 7 5 ) , together with a letter dated October 19, 1875. 2. The Masque of Pandora and Other Poems. 3. Gilder had married Helena de Kay (d. 1916, aged seventy) on June 3, 1874.

72

CAMBRIDGE, 3706.

1875

To George Washington Greene

Camb. Oct 24. 1875. My Dear Greene, Have I sent you my book or have I not? I made out a list, and began sending; but forgot to check off the names. And now I am bewildered and stop short. Send me a postal-card saying yes or no. I thank you for your long letter;1 long enough to show, that you have turned the corner. I wish I had. I have got no further than to have the pain go from my head to my knee. I am glad to hear that your proof-sheets begin to come in upon you.2 That will give you pleasant occupation. Dr Hedge has returned your sketch of Albert Greene.3 I was not at home when he called; but meeting him in the street, he said that he thought your estimate of the poet was correct. I had no time to discuss the matter with him. To-day I have been looking over some of Sumner's letters to me, between the years 1840 and 1850, to see if there is anything there for Mr. Pierce. It is melancholy work to dig up the Past. I sometimes wish I had never kept any letters You are rejoicing in your Windmill. I am delighted to think of it. Go on getting well. That is the main thing. H.W.L. MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. 1. Dated October 20. 2. See 3694.2. 3. This sketch of Albert Gorton Greene, apparently unpublished, might have been based on Greene's eulogy of his distant relative. See 2595.1.

3707.

To George Nichols

Camb. Oct 26 1875. Dear Mr Nichols, I have just received the enclosed from Mr. Balch. Please notify him of its receipt.1 MANUSCRIPT: Harvard College Library,

ADDRESS: Mr George Nichols / Brattle St

ι. The manuscript has been mutilated by the cutting away of the signature. In a letter of October 25, Francis V. Balch, as one of the trustees of Charles Sumner's estate, had enclosed a check for Nichols in full payment to November ι for his editorial assistance on Sumner's Works.

73

AMONG 3708.

THE

BREAKERS

To Henry Fowle Durant

Cambridge Oct. 29. 1875. My Dear Sir, I was extremely gratified by my visit to your College, and want to tbank you [for] your very hospitable reception.1 The beauty of the situation of the building and all its external arrangements cannot fail to strike everyone. It is a noble institution and I hope it will fulfil and surpass your most ardent wishes. I have requested Messrs Williams & Everett2 to send you a large, and I think a better likeness of myself than the one you now have. Be kind enough to accept it as a mark of my interest in the College and if you are willing, give it a place on your walls. With my compliments and regards to Mrs. Durant3 and to Miss Howard4 and my best wishes for the prosperity of Wellesley College, I am my Dear Sir, Yours truly Henry W. Longfellow MANUSCRIPT: Wellesley College Library. 1. Longfellow had visited Wellesley College on October 2 5 and recorded the experience in his journal as follows: " D r o v e with the Horsfords and Edith to Wellesley, to see M r Durant's Female College. A

fine

building overlooking L a k e W a b a n .

Three

hundred pupils. / A f t e r dinner a row on the lake in the College boat 'Evangeline,' with a crew of eight girls, and the handsome Captain, Miss Emerson. It was like sailing with the nine M u s e s . " Frances Vose Emerson ( 1 8 5 5 - 1 9 5 0 ) matics at Wellesley,

1875-1877.

served as instructor of mathe-

A graduate of W h e a t o n Female Seminary in

1872,

she later became a teacher of English and history at W h e a t o n and a member of the Board of Trustees, 1 9 2 2 - 1 9 4 1 . 2. Importers and dealers in paintings and engravings, 508 Washington Street, 3 and 5 Bedford Street, Boston. 3 . Durant had married his cousin Pauline Adeline Fowle ( 1 8 3 2 - 1 9 1 7 ) on M a y

23,

1854· 4. A d a L . H o w a r d ( 1 8 2 9 - 1 9 0 7 ) , first president of Wellesley College, 1 8 7 5 - 1 8 8 1 .

3709.

To George Washington Greene

Camb. Oct 29. 1875. My Dear Greene, The reason why there was no name written in your book was simply and solely the un-reason of the Post Master General. Wisely or unwisely he has decided, that a name or a single word written in a book subjects it to letter postage. So says the Post Mistress of Cambridge. On page 32 of Pandora there is an unlucky false quantity, Cybe'le for Cy'bele. This is all owing to my Lord Byron with his "She looks a sea Cybele fresh from ocean"1 74

CAMBRIDGE,

1875

which has familiarized our ears to a wrong accentuation, as Louis XIV. is said to have changed the gender of the word carrosse. I met Hedge in the street yesterday. He told me there was a note for you in the ms. he returned the other day. Not suspecting this I had not opened the parcel, but laid it in your room just as it came. I now open it, and send you the note. Charlie is out yachting in this rather rude and rough weather. What different tastes there are in the world! H.W.L. MANUSCRIPT: Wellesley College Library, ι . Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, I V , ii, 1.

3710.

To Frances Vose Emerson

[Cambridge, October 30, 1875] My Dear Miss Emerson, I shall never forget the lovely October afternoon, when you and the other eight Muses rowed me 'round Lake Waban in the "Evangeline." To remind you of it, now and then, I send you the enclosed photograph; and will you in return be kind enough to give me yours? Please accept also the little volume that comes with this, as another reminder of that October afternoon, and as a token of my regard and good wishes. With cordial greetings to the Captain and crew of the "Evangeline," I am at once your new and old friend, Henry W . Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: unrecovered; text from the Boston Sunday 1 9 4 8 ) , Sec. C , p. I.

3711.

To George Washington

Herald,

CCIV

(June

13,

Greene

Camb. Oct. 31. 1875. My Dear G.W. Of the making of books and the writing of letters there is no end. Hence the brevity and paucity of my epistles to you; and hence to-day I send you instead of a letter an autumnal leaf from the bank of Charles River. 1 I am now going on with the Poems of Places. If you have among your books any poems I may not be likely to have, I wish you would let your girls look them through, and see if they can find anything for me. I am to have a visit this afternoon from Mark Twain and his wife. 2 Yesterday Dr Appleton 3 of London was here. He is editor of the Academy, a rather 75

AMONG

THE

BREAKERS

new literary weekly, which I do not see, but hear highly praised. Perhaps you know more about it than I do. Appleton, my brother-in-law, has returned. He has in press in London a book on the Nile, with illustrations by Eugene Benson, an American artist.4 Motley has gone back to England. He is very seriously ill; a lesion of the brain; and is a good deal broken down. 5 H.W.L. MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. 1. That is, a check for $50 ( M S Letter Calendar, November 1, 1 8 7 5 ) . 2. There is no record of this visit in Longfellow's journal. 3. Charles Edward Cutts Birch Appleton ( 1 8 4 1 - 1 8 7 9 ) , founder and editor of The Academy, 1869-1879, was much interested in the question of international copyright. Longfellow described him as a "very intelligent and agreeable young man" ( M S Journal, November 1, 1875). 4. See A Nile Journey (London and Edinburgh, 1876). Benson ( 1 8 3 9 - 1 9 0 8 ) , genre painter and art critic, lived in Italy from 1873 until his death. 5. Motley had suffered a stroke in August 1873 that left him partially paralyzed. He died in England on May 29, 1877.

3712.

To Charles Appleton

Longfellow

Camb. Oct 31 1875 Dear Charlie, Don't fail to see the Custom House Broker about your boxes, and if possible have them sent to Boston in bond. When you go to see him take some one with you to help and advise. Uncle Tom has got home,1 lively as a cricket. Alice is at Shark's Mouth. 2 The rest of us at home and as well as usual. When shall you come back? Always affect. H.W.L. MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection, C l u b . / Beacon S t / Boston,

ADDRESS: Mr C. A. Longfellow / Somerset

POSTMARK: CAMHRIDGE STATION MASS, NOV I

1. From an extensive tour of Europe, Egypt and the Middle East, England and Scotland. 2. Possibly on the Shark River, N.J., but the details of her visit are not known.

3713.

To Katherine Maria Sedgwick

Washburn1

Cambridge Nov 1. 1875 Dear Mrs Washburn, You will find the legend of Robert of Sicily in the second volume of Ellis's "Specimens of Early English Romances," and also in "Warton's History of English Poetry." 76

CAMBRIDGE,

1875

Leigh Hunt tells the story in prose in a book of his entitled "A Jar of Honey."2 It is founded on one of the tales of the "Gesta Romanorum," that storehouse of mediaeval traditions; and is there called "Of the Emperor Jovinian." I wish I could tell you more of its origin and history; but this is all I know, and probably as much as you will care to know. With great regard Yours very truly Henry W. Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: University of Iowa Library. 1. Mrs. Washburn ( 1 8 3 1 - 1 8 8 4 ) , minor novelist and niece of Catherine Maria Sedgwick, was Fanny Longfellow's third cousin. 2. For these references see George Ellis, Specimens of Early English Metrical Romances, Bohn's Antiquarian Library (London, 1 8 4 8 ) , pp. 4 7 4 - 4 7 9 ; Thomas Warton, History of English Poetry, ed. W . Carew Hazlitt (London, 1 8 7 1 ) , II, 1 7 4 - 1 7 7 ; and Leigh Hunt, A )ar of Honey from Mount Hybla (London, 1 8 4 8 ) , Chap. V I .

3714.

To Sidney Lanier

Camb. Nov. 6. 1875 My Dear Sir, I shall be at home tomorrow (Sunday) at four in the afternoon, and in the evening at eight; and shall be very happy to see you at either hour.1 Yours very truly Henry W. Longfellow MANUSCRIPT: T h e Johns Hopkins University Library. ι . In a letter of November 5 Lanier had asked when he could call on Longfellow with a letter of introduction from Bayard Taylor. It is not known when the meeting took place.

3715.

To Edward Lillie Pierce

Camb. Nov 9 1875 Dear Mr Pierce, I have just received the enclosed from Miss Judkins, the lady whom you met here at tea the other day.1 It will serve you as a guide to Allston's grave, as the golden bough led ;Eneas to the shades of Acheron. Yours truly Henry W. Longfellow. 77

AMONG

THE

BREAKERS

MANUSCRIPT: Harvard College Library. i. Accompanying the manuscript is a note as follows: " M r Pierce will find a spray of box set in the ground near the gate-end of the brick line of w h we spoke — that is the spot where Allston rests." Eliza Maria Judkins ( 1 8 0 9 - 1 8 8 7 ) was a crayon portraitist of Cambridge.

3716.

To Benjamin Eddy Cotting

Cambridge Nov. 12 1875. My Dear Sir, I take the liberty of presenting to you the bearer of this, the Revd N . Cyr, 1 who wishes to consult you on the possibility of his reading some Lectures before the Lowell Institute. His subject is some of the great men of his native country, France. I have known Mr Cyr for several years, as a gentleman of culture and refinement; and if you think there is any opening for him, he will explain to you more in detail, his wishes and intentions. I am, my Dear Sir, Yours very truly Henry W . Longfellow Dr. Cotting. MANUSCRIPT: Harvard College Library. i. Narcisse C y r ( i 8 2 3 ? - i 8 9 4 ) , impoverished clergyman and writer, was teaching French at this time in Boston.

3717.

To Bayard Taylor

CAMBRIDGE, November 12, 1875. There should be twelve of them instead of three, — these beautiful "Home Pastorals"!1 That is what I am saying to myself just after reading them this bright, poetic morning. From time to time, as the season and the spirit move you, I hope and believe you will fill up this admirable framework, and give every month its own: December, with its Christmas, and reminiscences of Palestine; January, with its snows, changing your hills into spurs of the Himalayas; February, with its seclusion and books, a fruitful theme. And so on, till you have run through the whole round of the months. The three already written are so good, and the verse so sonorous and musical, that I long for more. The rest of the volume I have not yet finished. I read slowly. I was much pleased with Mr. Lanier.

78

CAMBRIDGE,

1875

MANUSCRIPT: unrecovered; text from Marie Hansen-Taylor and Horace E . eds., Life and Letters of Bayard Taylor i. Home Pastorals, Ballads,

3718.

Scudder,

(Boston and N e w York, 1 8 8 5 ) , II, 6 7 4 - 6 7 5 .

and Lyrics (Boston, 1 8 7 5 ) .

To William Dummer

Northend

Cambridge Nov 17 1875. M y Dear Sir, I am much obliged to you for your kindness in sending me the photograph of Joseph Longfellow. 1 Now-a-days family portraits are not hung on walls, but kept in Albums; and I am very glad to have this to add to my collection. I send you enclosed the autographs you desire; a dozen of them "to make glad the hearts of as many young ladies." I should like very much to have a cask of cider from the old farm, 2 if it is not too great trouble for you to negotiate the matter with the maker. It may be sent to Sawin's Express, Court Square, Boston; and will be sure to reach me safe and sound. With great regard, I am, my Dear Sir, Yours very truly Henry W . Longfellow MANUSCRIPT: Bowdoin College Library. 1. Joseph Longfellow (b. 1 8 1 0 ) was a farmer of Byfield, Newbury township, and a remote cousin of Longfellow. His photograph by W . G . Hussey of Salem is in the Longfellow House. 2. That is, the original farm of William Longfellow ( 9 2 7 . 9 ) , the patriarch of the family, now apparently owned by Joseph Longfellow.

3719.

To Thomas Bailey Aldrich

Camb. Nov. 19 1875. My Dear Mr Aldrich, Many thanks for your note and the two beautiful Sonnets. I should like to use them both; but as one of them refers to two different places, it will be difficult to manage. The other, "Stratford on Avon" I am very glad to have. 1 I hope that you and Mrs Aldrich are both well since your return, and the boys also.2 You must try to get as far as Cambridge before the Winter fairly begins. I want to see you and hear your adventures. I know it is a long journey from Punkapog; "a long cry to Loch Awe"; 3 but you are young, and I have been young; and that makes a difference. With kind regards to Mrs Aldrich, Yours very truly Henry W . Longfellow 79

AMONG

THE

BREAKERS

MANUSCRIPT: Harvard College Library. 1. In a letter of November 1 7 Aldrich had offered Longfellow two unpublished sonnets for Poems of Places. T h e rejected poem, "Three Flowers," refers to Italy and Egypt and remains with Aldrich's letter. For "At Stratford-upon-Avon" see Poems of Places. England, III, 1 9 7 - 1 9 8 . 2. Aldrich and his wife had spent the spring and summer in Europe and had only recently returned. Their twin sons, Charles Frost ( 1 8 6 8 - 1 9 0 4 ) and Talbot Bailey C 1 8 6 8 - 1 9 5 7 ) , remained at Ponkapoag, a few miles south of Boston. 3. A slogan of the Campbell clan, indicating the inaccessibility of their fastness on the loch.

3720.

To Margaret Junkin

Preston1

Cambridge Nov 23 1875. Dear Mrs Preston, I hasten to thank you for your kind letter and your beautiful "Cartoons." If "His Aftermath" were not written about me, I should praise it cordially as a charming poem. As it is, I can only thank you for it, and say that it has touched me deeply.2 Of the "Cartoons" I can speak more freely. They are not only full of beauty, but full of insight and thought and feeling. Accept my hearty congratulations on your achieving such a success, and believe me, with thanks and good wishes, Yours very truly Henry W . Longfellow. p.s. I am making a large collection of "Poems of Places," all the world over. Will you permit me to insert in it "The Reapers of Lindisfarne," "Bacharach Wine," "The Count's Sowing"; and "Lady Riberta's Harvest"?3 This is, for the present, a secret. MANUSCRIPT: University of North Carolina Library. 1. Mrs. Preston ( 1 8 2 0 - 1 8 9 7 ) , Pennsylvania-born poet of the Confederacy, was the sister-in-law of "Stonewall" Jackson. She had sent Longfellow a copy of her Cartoons (Boston, 1 8 7 5 ) with a letter from Lexington, Va., dated November 19. 2. "His Aftermath" does not appear in Cartoons and might have been a poem in manuscript. In her letter she refers to it as "my leaf of 'Virginia Creeper' gathered under the shadow of the Blue Ridge." 3. For these poems see Poems of Places. England, II, 1 0 0 - 1 0 3 ; Germany, II, 1 5 9 - 1 6 1 ; Germany, II, 1 8 8 - 1 9 0 ; and Spain, II, 2 6 7 - 2 7 1 .

80

CAMBRIDGE, 3721.

1875

1

To Samuel Ward Francis

Cambridge Nov 25 1875 My Dear Sir, I remember very well the portrait you speak of. It was painted in New York in 1840, or thereabout, by a young German artist named Frankenstein or Falkenstein, or something like that, who is now living in Cincinnati. Your father took an interest in him, and was kind to him, and purchased this picture. Sam Ward, who remembers everything, will remember this, and be able to tell you more about it than I can. Yours very truly Henry W. Longfellow MANUSCRIPT:

University of Washington Library.

i. Francis ( 1 8 3 5 - 1 8 8 6 ) , son of Dr. John Wakefield Francis (435-5), w a s a prominent physician, author, and inventor and is identified as the correspondent from Longfellow's MS Letter Calendar. He had apparently inquired in an unrecovered letter about the portrait of Longfellow by John Peter Frankenstein, done in 1839. See 468.4.

3722.

To George Washington Greene

Camb. Nov 26. 1875. My Dear Greene, I have not written to you of late, because I have been writing to everybody else in the world. And yet the great snow-drift of unanswered letters does not visibly diminish. I am in despair. If I had Briareus for my Secretary, and he could write with all his hundred hands at once, it would hardly suffice for this overwhelming correspondence. I am slowly improving in health, but it is very slowly. I am easily fatigued, and take no long walks. Yesterday, Thanksgiving Day, I dined in town, the first time for many months. I have also had guests staying with me, and there has been a general coming and going; and all this tires me. But enough of the I and the me. Let us turn to the You by way of change. What have you been doing, and how are you? And how is the Windmill Cottage in the cold weather? The wind howls about its tower, and says "What does all this mean? Are you married, and settled down into the bosom of your family? Ah, my Old Bachelor! you will have to grind another kind of grist now." H.W.L. MANUSCRIPT:

Longfellow Trust Collection.

8ι

AMONG THE 3723.

BREAKERS

To George Washington Greene

Camb. Nov. 30. 1875. My Dear Greene, I should have sent you the enclosed1 in my last, but forgot it. No matter. It will reach you in season. We are all delighted with Katy's photograph. What a sweet, serene face it is! I see in it the whole family, from the old General down to the present day. I rejoice that you are satisfied with the style of your new book. I prophecy success. Has Howells written to you about the article2 you gave him? He has brought me the ms. and declines it on the ground that so much of it is in print. He thinks the written part not quite substantial enough to stand alone. He said he would write to you. It is bitter cold to-night, and my lamp burns dimly. I shudder at the approach of winter. Annie Maillard is here, looking very young and sweet. She asked after you with much interest. I told her of your wind-mill, which she thought charming. She tells me that Howe is in very miserable condition; very ill and excitable, and the worst results are feared. I shall go to see him as soon as the weather moderates. Yours always H.W.L. MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. 1. A check for $ 5 0 ( M S Letter Calendar). 2. Unidentified.

3724.

To Luigi Monti

Camb. Deer. 3. 1875. Dear Mr Monti, Please come half an hour later than usual tomorrow. We are going to the theatre,1 which will delay dinner a little. We will say 6.30 instead of 6. Yours very truly H.W.L MANUSCRIPT: Frank O. Buda, Cambridge, Mass.

PUBLISHED: Characters in "Tales of

a Wayside Inn," p. 1 6 7 . ι . Possibly to the matinee performance of Henry V at the Boston Theatre.

82

CAMBRIDGE, 3725.

1875

To Oliver Wendell Holmes

[Cambridge] December 6, 1875. Credo quia impossibile est.1 We take our feeble vision for the gauge of Nature. What we see, we believe; what we do not see, we doubt: and how foolish we are! I will never hereafter doubt the impossible possibilities of the unseen. These revelations of the microscope are perfectly astounding. Some day you must show them to me. Ah! my dear Doctor, if you would only apply these lenses to the materia medica, perhaps the microscopic dose might be magnified into some importance in your eyes. Secrets of Nature discovered in one direction suggest secrets discoverable in all directions.2 With all my absurd credulities and incredulities, Always affectionately yours. MANUSCRIPT: unrecovered; text from Life, III, 256. 1. Proverb founded on a passage from Tertullian, De Carne Christi: " I believe because it is impossible." 2. Longfellow and Holmes had apparently had a discussion that elicited their conflicting views on homeopathy and microscopy. In a letter of December 1 Holmes had written: "I could not help being struck the other day with the fact that while you were willing to believe in the efficacy of the homoeopathic infinitesimals you were incredulous as to the easily verifiable facts of quasi infinitesimal microscopic writing. / I confess that my memory was slightly at fault about the number of whole bibles, old and new Testaments, which could be written in a square inch if in characters of the same like as those of the Lord's prayer in the specimens to which I referred. I said six — I should have said eight . . . You understand of course, that my limited respect for homoeopathic practitioners does not at all extend to their unfortunate patients, who I think are in the hands of persons who if honest are not competent to weigh medical evidence."

3726.

To George Washington Greene

Camb. Deer. 7. 1875. My Dear Greene, I have just received your letter of yesterday, and am glad that you undertake the task of reading a centennial paper in Independence Hall. It will be a great occasion, and it is as much the thing for you to do as the Morituri Salutamus was for me. In other words, a thing you cannot help doing.1 The Poem I have declined. I am not in condition to write it.2 Advertisement. Found in the laundry of Craigie House, a Night-Shirt supposed to belong to G.W.G. of East G. The owner can have it by proving property and paying expenses. You will be glad to know that "Pandora" has been successful. Five Thousand have been disposed of, and a new edition is in press. This is very well for poetry in these dull days. The "Saturday Review" Nov. 20. has a favorable and sympathetic notice.3 I return enclosed the "Centennial" paragraph4 you sent me; it is pleasant 83

A M O N G

THE

BREAKERS

to read. A little sunshine is always welcome, particularly in the gray, autumnal days. I am now going down to River-Side; and wish you were going with me. I shall try to get a peep at the new book. 5 H.W.L MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. 1. In an undated invitation, over the signature of Frank M. Etting ( 2 3 7 5 . 1 ) , the Committee on the Restoration of Independence Hall had asked a group of historians and literati to assemble in Philadelphia on July 2, 1876 (later changed to July 1 ) , each to bring a two-page essay on an "individual, whose memory is associated with this Building during the early days of the Republic." 2. The invitation to read a poem at the celebration in Philadelphia on July 4, 1876, had been tendered by Joseph Roswell Hawley (1826—1905), editor, politician, and president of the U.S. Centennial Commission, in a letter dated November 22, 1875. What Longfellow declined, Sidney Lanier accepted. 3. See the Saturday Review of Politics, Literature, Science, and Art, X L (November 20, 1 8 7 5 ) , 654-655. 4. Unrecovered. 5. That is, The German Element in the War of American 3727.

T o James Thomas

Independence.

Fields Camb. Deer. 10. 1 8 7 5 .

M y Dear Fields, I was very glad to hear from you, that when in Baltimore you mentioned my friend Monti in connection with the Italian Professorship at the new University. 1 I am quite sure a better choice could not be made. A s you know, he is a gentleman of refinement and culture, and speaks our language perfectly. You know also how amiable and sympathetic he is in social life. His lectures on Italian literature and his translations of Guer[r]azzi's historic novels 2 prove his literary ability. H e was for several years teacher of Italian in our University, and then Consul at Palermo. I cannot tell you how glad I am to see you again, after so long an absence, and beg you to let me see you as often as possible. Always Yours Henry W . Longfellow. 3 MANUSCRIPT: Frank O. Buda, Cambridge, Mass. a Wayside Inn," p. 168.

PUBLISHED: Characters in "Tales of

ι. The Johns Hopkins University. 2. Monti had translated three novels of Francesco Domenico Guerrazzi ( 1 8 0 4 - 1 8 7 3 ) , Italian statesman and author: Beatrice Cenci ( N e w York, 1858); Isabella Orsini (New York, 1859); and Manfred; or, The Battle of Benevento ( N e w York, 1 8 7 5 ) . 3. The formal tone of this letter suggests that it was meant to be used as a reference on Monti's behalf.

84

CAMBRIDGE, 3728.

T o Horatio

1875

1

Bridge

CAMB., D e c ' r 1 2 , 1 8 7 5 . MY DEAR BRIDGE, —

I have just had the pleasure of receiving your photograph. It is so good, it could hardly be better. I wish the one I send you in return were as good. But that is wishing that I were a handsome man, six feet high, and we all know the vanity of human wishes. I was very glad that you and Mrs. Bridge 2 were not disappointed in Songo River and its neighborhood. If "Long Pond" were called Loch Long, it would be a beautiful lake. This and Sebago are country cousins to the Westmoreland lakes in England, quite as lovely, but wanting a little more culture and good society. I often think with great pleasure of our meeting at Brunswick. There was less sadness about it than I had thought there would be. T h e present always contrives to crowd out the past and the future. With kindest remembrances to Mrs. Bridge, Always yours, HENRY W. LONGFELLOW. MANUSCRIPT: unrecovered; text from Horatio Bridge, Personal Recollections Hawthorne ( N e w York, 1 8 9 3 ) , pp. 5 4 - 5 5 .

of

Nathaniel

1. Bridge ( 1 8 0 6 - 1 8 9 3 ) , retired paymaster-general, U . S . N a v y , was a member of the Bowdoin class of 1 8 2 5 . H e was Hawthorne's particular friend in college. 2. Bridge had married Charlotte Marshall ( 1 8 1 9 - 1 9 0 4 ) of Boston, sister of Emily Marshall ( 4 3 . 6 ) , on June 10, 1846.

3729.

T o John

Reade1

Cambridge Deer. 13 1875. M y Dear Sir, I have had the pleasure of receiving your volume of Poems, and beg you to accept my cordial thanks for your kindness in sending it to me. As yet I have not been able to read it, for I am suffering from Neuralgia, and am not in condition to read anything with care, and that attention which a volume of Poems has a right to claim. One or two of the shorter pieces only have I been able to read, and these I like very much; particularly "Devenish" and "Killynoogan." 2 This, however, shall not prevent me from thanking you for your kindness. I wish to acknowledge the receipt of the volume, though I cannot express any opinion of its merits. Please accept, then, my thanks, and believe me, with best wishes, Yours truly Henry W . Longfellow

85

AMONG MANUSCRIPT:

THE

McGill University Library,

Montreal / C a n a d a

BREAKERS

ADDRESS:

Mr John Reade / Gazette Office /

POSTMARK: ||CAMBRIDGE[| STA ||MASS|| DEC 1 3

1. Reade ( 1 8 3 7 - 1 9 1 9 ) , Irish-born Canadian journalist and literary editor of the Montreal Gazette, had sent Longfellow a copy of his Prophecy of Merline and Other Poems (Montreal, 1870). The volume, inscribed "To / H. W. Longfellow E s q / with the sincerest respect/ and admiration o f / T h e Author. / Montreal, Deer. 1875," is in the Harvard College Library. 2. See pp. 29-30 and 92-97.

3730.

To James Thomas

Fields Camb. Deer 14. 1 8 7 5 .

M y Dear Fields, I return with thanks the following from the hooks you sent me, having copies of some of them, and having made what use I wished of the rest.1 Returned; Roscoe. Arnold. 2 vols. Eliza Cook Hallam Fr. Tennyson Allingham A F e w Verses; In all, eight volumes. 2 T h e others I want to keep some time longer. Montgomery's "Voyage round the World" 3 makes the best possible Prologue to my many-volumed book, which begins to assume huge proportions. It will take a long time to finish it; but as I make it for the pleasure of making it, there is no hurry. H.W.L MANUSCRIPT:

Henry E. Huntington Library,

ADDRESS:

James T . Fields Esq. / Boston.

1. Longfellow presumably means that he is returning the following books, which he had used in his search for materials for Poems of Places. 2. The specific titles of the works by William Roscoe ( 1 7 5 3 - 1 8 3 1 ) , Matthew Arnold, Eliza Cook ( 1 2 6 4 . 1 ) , and William Allingham ( 1 8 2 4 - 1 8 8 9 ) are not known. The Remains in Verse and Prose of Arthur Henry Hallam ( 1 8 1 1 - 1 8 3 3 ) first appeared, privately printed, in 1834; Frederick Tennyson (1807-1898), brother of Alfred Tennyson, published his Days and Hours in London in 1854; and Fields's A Few Verses for a Few Friends appeared in Cambridge in 1858. 3. For this poem by James Montgomery see Poems of Places. England, I, v-xiii.

86

CAMBRIDGE, 3731.

T o William Dean

1875

Howells

Camb. Decr 16. 1 8 7 5 . Dear M r Howells, I must thank you for your very kind and sympathetic notice in the Atlantic; 1 and I know not how I can do it better, than in the words of Michel Angelo to Benedetto Varchi, who had read a lecture on one of his Sonnets before the Ac[c]ademia Fiorentina. 2 "II sonetto vien bene da me, ma il comento viene dal cielo . . . Circa il sonetto io conosco quello che egli e; ma come si sia, non mi posso tenere che io non mi pigli un poco di vanagloria, essendo stato cagione di si bello e dotto comento." 3 Yours always faithfully Henry W . Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT:

Harvard College Library.

1. See the Atlantic Monthly, X X X V I I (January 1876), 1 0 9 - 1 1 1 . 2. Varchi ( 1 5 0 2 - 1 5 6 5 ) , Florentine critic and historian, had indeed lectured on Michelangelo's sonnets before the Accademia Fiorentina, but the letter quoted by Longfellow was to Luca Martini, another member of the Accademia. See Ε. H. Ramsden, tr. and ed., The Letters of Michelangelo (Stanford, Calif., 1963), II, 72 anil 275-277. 3. "The sonnet is indeed by me, but the commentary is from Heaven . . . / As regards the sonnet, I know it for what it's worth; but be that as it may, I cannot pretend that I do not feel a little vainglorious in being the subject of so fine and learned a commentary" (Ramsden translation).

3732.

T o Ida Mitchell

Eliot1 Cambridge

Decr. 2,0 1 8 7 5 .

Dear Miss Eliot, I have no objection to your making use of the poems you mention; and presume my publishers J. R. Osgood & C o will not have any. But as I have transferred all my Copyrights to them, it would be best to get their consent. Their address is 1 3 1 Franklin St. Boston. Yours truly Henry W . Longfellow MANUSCRIPT:

Clifton Waller Barrett Collection, University of Virginia.

i. In an unrecovered letter Miss Eliot, who operated a young ladies' school at 9 West 39th Street, New York City, had apparently asked Longfellow for permission to include some of his poems in Poetry for Home and School, selected and arranged by Anna C. Brackett and Ida M. Eliot (New York, 1876).

87

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To Bayard Taylor

Camb. Deer. 20 1875. Private. My Dear Taylor You must save me from the impending dinner. It makes me uncomfortable. At all events ward it off till I am seventy.1 Yours faithfully Henry W . Longfellow MANUSCRIPT: Henry Ε. Huntington Library. i. In a letter from New York of December 14 Taylor had asked to see Longfellow on December 16 "on a matter of possible personal interest to you." T h e matter might have been a dinner for Longfellow on his sixty-ninth birthday.

3734.

To an Unidentified

Correspondent

Cambridge. Deer. 20. 1875. Dear Sir, Political Economy is a subject to which I have given no attention; and any attempt on my part to treat in Essay or otherwise its mysterious topics would be absurd. I must therefore beg you to excuse me from acceding to your proposition. Yours truly Henry W . Longfellow MANUSCRIPT: John Knox, Oak Park, 111.

3735.

To George Washington

Greene

Camb. Deer. 24. 1875. About as well as usual; but driven to death by this new book.1 The infinite detail is terrible. Will write in a few days. H.W.L. MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection, Greenwich / R.I. ι.

Poems

of

ADDRESS: Professor G. W . Greene / East

P O S T M A R K : CAMRRIDGE STATION M A S S , DEC 2 4

Places.

88

CAMBRIDGE, 3736.

1875

To George Washington Greene

Camb. Decr 24. 1875. My Dear Greene, At last, after so long a silence, I find a moment of leisure to write to you. I am having rather a hard time of it. Everybody says I am better; and certainly I am not so ill as I was last Christmas. Still I am far from well. Houghton has sent me your new book, and a very handsome book it is; paper, page, type and binding all satisfactory. Decr. 25. A Merry Christmas to all in the Windmill Cottage! Sam Ward has just been here to lunch. The death of his daughter, Mrs Chandler is a great blow to him. He tries to bear up bravely, but one sees how very sad a thing is the breaking of this last link.1 Had I foreseen the labor of getting the "Poems of Places" through the press, I should never have had the courage to undertake it. Making the selections was pleasant and not fatiguing. To get it all printed correctly is quite another matter. I might have given the time to Michael Angelo. Now he must wait; which is a great pity. Always aff[ectionatel]y H.W.L. Outside view of "The German Element." Alas! I have not yet had time to take an inside view! MANUSCRIPT; Longfellow Trust Collection. i. Sam Ward's daughter, Margaret Ward ("Maddie") Chanler (778.4), had died on December 13, leaving ten children.

3737·

To George Washington Greene

Camb. Decr. 27 1875. My Dear Greene, I thought of you and Oliver Goldsmith at dinner to-day, as I always do when there is venison on the table.1 I wanted you to say your usual poetic grace, "Thanks, my Lord, for your venison." As you were not there, I said it myself. Your book is excellent, both without and within, and I hope the public will be as quick to see its merits as I am. I am so glad it is printed and put into permanent shape. It does you honor. In points of style it is equal to anything you have written, and is full of interesting matter. When you were here a year ago with Anna, what a household of invalids we were! She must have had a pretty dreary time of it. This week I am almost alone. Charley has gone into town for a visit. Alice 89

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is in Portland, and Edith is going there tomorrow. I shall be left alone with Annie. This is a hint which any lover would take without further explanation. H.W.L. 2 MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. 1. At the conclusion of Chap. V of The Vicar of Wakefield, Squire Thornhill presents Rev. Dr. Primrose with a side of venison, part of which is made into a pasty in the following chapter. 2. Longfellow enclosed a check for $50 ( M S Letter Calendar).

3738.

T o Amelia M. Calkins

Cambridge Deer 29 1875. Dear Mrs Calkins, I have just had the pleasure of receiving your very kind note, and the very tasteful and pretty book-mark you have been so good as to make for me. It is a charming Christmas present, and I have placed it at once between the leaves of a volume of poems, that being the proper place for such a gift. 1 Your friends Mrs McDowell and her sister Ruth 2 lunched with me yesterday. They are both well, and I think are enjoying their winter in Boston. The Capens, 3 with whom they are staying, are excellent, amiable people, and very fond of their southern guests. You and their other friends in Mississippi will be glad to know, that they are so comfortably cared for. With much regard and many good wishes, Yours very truly Henry W . Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: Clifton Waller Barrett Collection, University of Virginia. 1. In her note from Oxford, Miss., of December 24, Mrs. Calkins had remarked of her gift that "It has given me real pleasure — the thought that it may go from me to lie between the leaves of some book upon your table and be sometimes touched by vour hand." 2. Ruth Martin Bonner ( 1 8 5 1 - 1 9 1 8 ) , sister of Katharine Sherwood Bonner McDowell (3566.1).

3. That is, the family of Nahum Capen ( 3 4 2 1 . 1 ) .

3739·

To James Thomas Fields

Camb. Deer. 29. 1875 My Dear Fields, I must give up for the present all idea of dinners at the Brunswick 1 or elsewhere, even the pleasant promise of a dinner with you. The old neuralgia headache has come back, helped onward no doubt by the stream of cold air let in upon me at90 the Oratorio the other night.2

CAMBRIDGE,

1876

And now I have got to take precious good care of my dear little self, and try to win back what I have lost. Will you ask Mrs Thaxter the exact scene of her poem of "The Spanish Graves"?3 No politician ever sought for Places with half the zeal that I do. Friend and Foe alike have to give Place to Yours truly H.W.L. MANUSCRIPT: Henry E . Huntington Library. ι . A hotel at the corner of Boylston and Clarendon Streets, Boston. 2. T h e Handel and Haydn Society presented two Christmas oratorios — Messiah and Creation — on December 2 ; and 26 at the Boston Music Hall. It is not known which one Longfellow refers to here. 3. Fields responded on December 29: " T h e scene of the 'Spanish Graves' is in the Isle of Shoals [New Hampshire], but the songful Celia shall tell you the exact spot" CMS, Henry E . Huntington Library). See " T h e Spaniards' Graves at the Isle of Shoals," Poems of Places. America. New England, I, 2 6 9 - 2 7 0 .

3740.

To James Thomas Fields

[Cambridge, 1875] Dear Fields, Day breaks at last; and here it is.1 Please send back Mr Rae's book on Sainte Beuve2 as soon as possible. I want Howells to have it for a notice in the Atlantic.3 Somewhat better but not yet well, H.W.L. MANUSCRIPT: Clifton Waller Barrett Collection, University of Virginia ι. T h e reference is inexplicable. 2. William Fräser Rae, English Portraits . . . Selected and translated from the "Causeries du Lundi." With an introductory chapter on Sainte-Beuve's life and writings (London, 1 8 7 5 ) . T h e reference establishes the date of the letter. 3. A notice does not appear in the Atlantic Monthly.

3 741.

To Rose Susanna Burr owes1

Cambridge Jan 1. 1876. Dear Mrs Burrowes, We were all delighted to hear from you; and I should have written sooner to say so, but have been suffering from Neuralgia, which has made me a very bad correspondent. The photographs you were kind enough to send are excellent; particularly that of Mr. Burrowes, with your splendid boy in his arms. Your own is good, 9 ι

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THE

BREAKERS

but not so good. You have sacrificed yourself, as mothers always will, to the baby. But then the baby is such a baby!2 W e often think and speak of you, and the gallant yacht Dracaena. I can see it now sailing into the bay of Nahant, and going right over that hidden rock, as if it disdained such things. I hear occasionally from your friend and mine, Mrs [Emma] Marshall, and always read with great pleasure her excellent books. I hope they are as successful with the public, as they are in themselves. When you see her, or write to her, I beg you to give her my kind regards and good wishes. And to yourself and Mr. Burrowes the kind regards and good wishes of all this household. Yours very truly Henry W . Longfellow p.s. Only two photographs can be found to-day. The others later. MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. 1. Mrs. Burrowes, minor English novelist, was the w i f e of H e n r y A . Burrowes, a yachtsman of " T h e C l i f f s , " Dawlish, Devon. T h e y had visited Longfellow at N a h a n t in their yacht Dracaena during the summer of 1 8 7 4 . 2. T h e Dawlish parish register reveals that Edith A y l m e r Burrowes was baptized on A u g u s t 1 1 , 1 8 7 5 . T h e Burroweses referred to their son as " B o y , " but he is otherwise unidentified.

3742.

To Thomas Davidson

Camb. Jan. 1. 1876. Dear Mr Davidson, I am extremely obliged to you for the compliment you have paid me in translating into Latin the Five Sonnets. 1 Your version is very elegant, and as faithful to the original as two such different languages would permit. I beg you to accept my cordial thanks for this very graceful and welcome New Year's gift. If you can spare me six or eight copies more, I shall be still further obliged to you. Hoping soon to have the pleasure of seeing you, I am Yours faithfully Henry W . Longfellow MANUSCRIPT: Y a l e University Library. i . Presumably the five sonnets of " T h r e e Friends of M i n e . " Davidson had had a hundred copies of his translation struck off, " a n y number of w h i c h , " he wrote in a letter of December 3 1 , "are at your disposal."

92

CAMBRIDGE, 3743.

1876

1

To Julia Caroline Ripley Dorr

Cambridge Jan. 3. 1876. Dear Madam, I have just been reading in the "Rutland Globe" your beautiful poem, "The Dead Century,"2 and though I have not the pleasure of your personal acquaintance, I cannot refrain from thanking you for the delight it has given me. It is very striking both in conception and execution; and I only regret that you did not keep it back to be read at the Centennial Celebration in Philadelphia. I feel confident, that no better ones will be offered.3 Pardon the liberty I have taken, and believe me, Yours very truly Henry W. Longfellow MANUSCRIPT: Middlebury College Library. 1. Mrs. D o n ( 1 8 2 5 - 1 9 1 3 ) was a poet and novelist of Rutland, Vt. 2. This poem, unlocated in the Rutland Globe, is in Mrs. Dorr's Poems (Philadelphia, 1 8 7 2 ) , pp. 1 3 - 2 1 . 3. In her response of January 7 Mrs. Dorr revealed that she had written the poem in 1 8 7 0 for the Rutland centennial celebration.

3744.

To Susan Thayer Hooper1

Cambridge Jan. 10. 1876 Dear Mrs Hooper, I have had the pleasure of receiving your friendly note, and the Gold Medal of the Women's Centennial Committee, which you were kind enough to forward to me, and for which I beg leave to return my best thanks and acknowledgments. You have treated me far beyond my deserts. As Hamlet tells Polonius to treat the players; "Use them after your own honor and dignity; the less they deserve, the more merit there is in your bounty";2 so you have done with me. I beg you to express to the ladies of the Committee my appreciation of their kindness and of the value of their gift, and to believe me Yours very truly Henry W. Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: Clifton Waller Barrett Collection, University of Virginia, ADDRESS: Mrs. S. T . Hooper. / Women's Centennial Committee / 25 Pemberton Square / Boston,

POSTMARK: CAMBRIDGE STA. MASS, J A N

II

Ι . Mrs. Hooper ( 1 8 4 5 - 1 9 2 8 ) was vice-president of the Women's Centennial Executive Committee of Boston. 2. Hamlet, II, ii, 3 5 - 3 6 . In her letter of January 7 Mrs. Hooper had written: " W e have wrought the pure gold of the words of our own Poet Laureate into the baser gold of the Artisan, and, in presenting this Medal to you as a slight token of our reverence, we only render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's.

93

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THE

BREAKERS

To William Webh Follett Synge

Cambridge Jan. 10. 1876. My Dear Synge, I am delighted with your book.1 The characters are well drawn and distinct in their personality, and the story well told. The book is sweet and wholesome, and such as I should expect from you. I congratulate you upon it, and hope its success with the many-minded public will be what it deserves and you may desire. Many thanks; and thanks also for your letter. It finds me in rather poor condition, and suffering from a very obstinate attack of Neuralgia, which tortures me day and night and defies the devices of the medical man. However, I am better than I have been for many months past, and hope I have turned the corner. But it is a very capricious disease, and like Ariel in the Tempest "now on the beak, Now in the waist, the deck, in every cabin It flames amazement."2 May you never know it but from description! Begging you to present my best regards and good New Year's wishes to all your household, I am, my Dear Synge, Yours always Henry W . Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: Berg Collection, N e w York Public Library. 1. Olivia Raleigh (London, 1 8 7 5 ) . 2. C f . The Tempest, I, ii, 1 9 6 - 1 9 8 .

3746.

To Thomas Davidson

Camb. Jan. 14 1876. Dear Mr Davidson, Could you dine with us on Monday instead of Wednesday? I find that on Wednesday Miss Fay gives her Concert, and as we are all interested in her success, we wish to attend it. 1 Will Monday at 6. be equally convenient to you? Yours truly Henry W . Longfellow MANUSCRIPT: Yale University Library. i. On January 1 9 A m y Fay ( 2 3 5 8 . 1 ) gave a piano recital in the Lyceum Hall, Old Cambridge. For the program see the Boston Advertiser, C X X V I I , No. 1 6 (Januarv 19, 1876).

94

CAMBRIDGE, 3747.

1876

To Annie Adams Fields

Camb. Jan 14. 1876 Dear Mrs Fields, Both the Professor [G. W . Greene] and myself regret extremely that we cannot have the pleasure of accepting your kind invitation for Monday. Most unluckily I have asked a gentleman to dinner on that day, and I cannot change the day without offence, because I have changed it once already. I am delighted with the generous words about Dr. Howe, with which Fields opened his lecture yesterday. They are a beautiful recognition of the services rendered to humanity by that noble man. Nothing could be more just and true, or more appropriate. I am very glad that these fit words were spoken.1 Greene joins me in kind regards and in regrets, and I am as always Yours very truly Henry W . Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. i. Fields had begun a morning lecture to students at Boston University with a tribute to Samuel Gridley Howe, who had died on January 9. Longfellow had read his remarks in the Boston Transcript, XLIX, No. 14,946 (January 13, 1876).

3748.

To George Peter Alexander

Healy

Cambridge Jan. 15. 1876 Dear Mr Healy, This missive will be handed to you by Mrs McDowell of Holiy Springs, Mississippi, who, with her friend Mrs Moulton of Boston,1 is taking a run through England, France and Italy. They are both charming women, full of talent and enthusiasm for things beautiful, and I do not want them to pass through Paris without seeing your Studio. Please show it to them; and if you have time to take them to the Studios of any of your brother artists, your kindness will be duly appreciated by them, and by Yours faithfully Henry W . Longfellow MANUSCRIPT: Middlebury College Library. i. Ellen Louise Chandler Moulton ( 1 8 3 5 - 1 9 0 8 ) , poet and novelist, was the Boston literary correspondent for the New York Tribune, 1 8 7 0 - 1 8 7 6 . Her home in Boston was much frequented by the artists, musicians, and literati of the day.

95

AMONG 3749.

To Amelia Chapman

THE

BREAKERS

1

Thorp

Cambridge Jan. 20. 1876. Dear Mrs Thorp, In reply to your letter and request I send you three stanzas on "The Four Lakes of Madison." If you and the other ladies of the Committee are pleased with them, I shall be gratified. I hope you will not let these lines get into print before the Exhibition is over. I am a little afraid of Committees in other places; for some people imagine that if you do a thing once, you can keep on doing it forever. From this I beg you to protect me. With best wishes Yours very truly Henry W . Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: unrecovered; text from photostat, Longfellow Trust Collection (Longfellow House). i. Mrs. Thorp ( 1 8 1 5 - 1 9 0 8 ) was the mother-in-law of Ole Bull ( 1 6 0 2 . 2 ) . In a letter of January 10 Rasmus B. Anderson had aslced Longfellow on behalf of the Women's State Centennial Executive Committee of Wisconsin (of which Mrs. Thorp was president) to send a few lines on the four lakes of Madison (Mendota, Menona, Waubesi, and Kegonsa). For the poem, see Works, III, 2 6 4 - 2 6 5 .

3750.

To Francis William Bird

Cambridge Jan 23 1876. My Dear Sir, I regret extremely that it will not be in my power to take part in the memorial services in honor of our much beloved and lamented friend. 1 I am suffering from Neuralgia, which is so persistent as to give me no peace of body or mind, and which incapacitates me for any intellectual work. I am forced therefore, though with great reluctance, to decline your very friendly invitation. With great regard Yours truly Henry W . Longfellow MANUSCRIPT: Minnesota Historical Society. I. Bird ( 3 4 4 1 . 1 ) had written on January 2 2 : "In behalf of a Committee of the citizens of Boston, we would earnestly] invite you to take part in memorial services in honor of the late Dr Howe at the Music Hall on Tuesday, February 8, at 3 P . M . "

96

CAMBRIDGE, 3751.

1876

To Ralph Waldo Emerson

Camb. Jan 24 1876. M y Dear Emerson, You must think me very negligent in not sooner thanking you for "Parnassus." 1 T h e truth is, I thought it was a gift from Mr. Osgood, and only a couple of days ago discovered your name on a blank leaf. Accept my sincere though tardy thanks for your kindness in remembering me, and for this welcome gift of Song. It is an excellent collection, and I am glad to hear that it has been so applauded by the public, if you care about that. Perhaps I ought rather to congratulate you on its being so successful in itself. Yours faithfully Henry W . Longfellow MANUSCRIPT: Ralph Waldo Emerson Memorial Association, Emerson, VI, 268.

PUBLISHED: Letters of

i. See Letter No. 3567. The Parnassus mentioned here was possibly the second edition of the anthology ( B A L 5269}.

3752.

T o Edith

Longfellow

Camb. Jan 26. 1876. M y Darling Edith, I was delighted to get your letter this morning, and to hear of your safe arrival and cordial welcome. 1 I have just been down to the College. Hollis is on fire, roof and upper story gone, but the rest will be saved.2 How fortunate that this did not happen in the night! In the College Yard all was crowd and confusion. I met Wad, looking rather wet; but he congratulated himself that he was no longer in his old rooms. W e miss you at the Craigie; but everything goes on as usual. Girls come and go; the doorbell rings; female voices are heard in the Library; after dinner coffee and back-gammon, and so the days pass. Yesterday I was in town and bought you a nice little copy of Petrarca, with Leopardi's Notes. 3 It will be very useful. I hope you are enjoying yourself to your heart's content. W i t h kind remembrances to all the Appletons, Your affectionate Papa.

97

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BREAKERS

MANUSCRIPT: Massachusetts Historical Society. 1. Edith was the guest of William Stuart Appleton (b. 1 8 1 4 ) and his wife, Georgiana Louisa Frances Armistead Appleton ( 1 8 1 7 - 1 8 7 8 ) , parents of Edith Stuart Appleton ( 3 2 7 4 . 1 ) and Margaret Armistead Appleton Baker ( 3 0 3 3 . 1 ) . William Stuart Appleton, a nephew of Nathan Appleton, Longfellow's father-in-law, lived at 28 East 36th Street, New York. His wife, daughter of Col. George Armistead ( 1 7 8 0 - 1 8 1 8 ) , defender of Fort McHenry in 1 8 1 4 , owned the flag that inspired "The Star-Spangled Banner." 2. A fire causing damage estimated at $10,000 had broken out in Hollis Hall at 1 1 o'clock in the morning. For details see the Boston Advertiser, C X X V I I , No. 23 (January 27, 1876). 3. Rime di Francesco Petrarca, colla interpretazione composta dal conte G. Leopardi, was first published in Milan in 1826.

3753.

T o Ebenezer

Storer Cambridge

Jan 28. 1 8 7 6 .

M y Dear Eben, I should be delighted to comply with your request, 1 if it were in my power, but I have no gift for writing occasional poems under any circumstances, and now least of all, as I am suffering from an attack of Neuralgia. Being a medical man you will know what that means; and when I add that mine is in the head, you will understand w h y I cannot write anything, not even a letter without torment. M y second daughter Edith, is now in N e w York, making a short visit at M r . Appleton's, 2 8 East 36th St. T h i s is not very far from you, and if you and your daughter could find time to call upon her I should be much gratified. She remains only till Tuesday next; and I do not want her to return without seeing you. I wish there were any chance of seeing you here again. Perhaps in the Summer you may come; but at this season how unwilling one is to leave the fireside! A l w a y s with affectionate remembrance, Henry W . Longfellow MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. i. In a letter of January 27 Storer had asked Longfellow for "some appropriate literary production from your able pen" to promote the establishment of a Y W C A in New York City.

98

CAMBRIDGE, 3754.

1876

To Samuel Crocker Cobb

Cambridge Jan 29. 1876. My Dear Sir, I am extremely sorry that it will not be in my power to comply with your request to prepare a Poem on the Evacuation of Boston.1 I am suffering from an attack of neuralgia in the head; and cannot undertake any thing of the kind. Begging you to excuse me, I am Yours faithfully Henry W. Longfellow MANUSCRIPT: Yale University Library. 1. In a letter of January 28, Mayor Cobb ( 3 4 3 0 . 1 ) had written: "Rev. Geo. E . Ellis D . D . having accepted an invitation from the city authorities on the 17th. March next, the centennial anniversary of the evacuation of Boston by the British troops, we venture to ask you to write a poem or an ode to be read as part of the services on the above named anniversary."

3755.

To Edith Longfellow

Camb. Jan 29. 1876. My little Darling, I have just received your letter,1 and push all my papers aside to answer it. What a gay time you are having in the great roaring city! Ten days of it will be quite enough, I imagine, and you will be glad of a little rest at the Craigie, where all is so still. I send you a letter from Charlie. He is really gone, as you will see; — a winter passage of the Adantic, set to music by Dodge!2 If you can find time, I want you to call on my cousin Dr. Storer and his daughter, 47 East 30. St. not very far from you. He is a very old friend of mine, and I do not want you to leave NewYork without seeing him. With much love H.W.L. MANUSCRIPT: Massachusetts Historical Society, ι . Dated January 2 7 . 2. On January 2 2 Charles had embarked on a round-trip voyage to England aboard the steamship Indiana. In a letter to Edith of that date he identified his piano-playing fellow passenger as Fred Dodge, possibly Frederic Dodge ( 1 8 4 7 - 1 9 2 7 ) , Harvard 1 8 6 7 , Cambridge-born Boston lawyer, and subsequently a judge of the ist U . S . Circuit Court, 1912-1918.

99

AMONG 3756.

To George Washington

THE

BREAKERS

Greene

Camb. Jan 30. 1876. My Dear Greene, I have nothing to send you this morning but my love, and this little strip of paper. 1 The only news I have is, that Charlie started last Saturday with his friend Captain [Arthur Hamilton] Clark in the Indiana steam-ship for England, to return on her next trip. Two winter passages, just for the fun of it! Young blood! young blood! In Poems of Places we have reached London, by easy stages. And London is very interesting, with its streets, and taverns, and Westminster Abbey, and so forth. There will be as many as one hundred and fifty poems in the first volume alone; and the same number, more or less, in each of the other volumes. Who would have thought at starting, that I should have found four or five hundred poems on places in England? I am amazed at it. And then the poems I have not found! I only wish it did not take so much of "my valuable time." Yours always H.W.L MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection, i. A check for $ 5 0 ( M S Letter Calendar).

3757.

To Mary Appleton

Mackintosh

Camb. Feb 6. 1876. Dearest Mary, It is so long since I have written to you, that I am almost ashamed to write at all. My excuse is Neuralgia, which fills me with pain from head to foot, and makes me so weak and wretched, that I want the courage to undertake even a letter. I cannot answer one half of those that come to me and require answers of some kind. You will have been much surprised by seeing Charlie again in London. He is so inveterate a traveller, that two winter voyages in close succession do not intimidate him. He will be steaming back again before this reaches you. Ernest also is preparing for another visit to Europe, and means to sail in May or June. 1 Only the girls keep quiet in the nest; and even they try their wings in Summer. They are all well, and send much love to you and Eva, as do their good aunts, whom you always so kindly remember. Tom is in full force, dining and giving dinners. He is very thoughtful in entertaining the artists and literary people, which is very good of him, as they are not often over-burdened with invitations. I am sorry to read in the papers the death of my old friend John Forster, 100

CAMBRIDGE,

1876

2

in your neighborhood. He is the last of the Dickens circle. It has all vanished, like an exhalation! If you see Motley give him my love. His visit here was very sweet and pleasant to all his friends, and leaves behind a pathetic memory. A day or two ago I met Mrs Kemble at dinner at Mrs. Cleveland's. I never saw her so gentle and attractive, I might say so fascinating. She told me she should not continue her "Gossip" beyond her going onto the stage. So your fears are groundless.3 With much love to yourself and Eva, Yours affect. H.W.L MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. 1. Ernest Longfellow and his wife remained abroad from July 1876 to August 1879. For a detailed account see his Random Memories (Boston and New York, 1922), pp. 1 7 7 260. 2. Förster had died on February 1. 3. Fanny Kemble was publishing her recollections in the Atlantic Monthly under the title of "An Old Woman's Gossip." In an unrecovered letter, Mary Mackintosh had expressed fear that the "gossip" might become too revealing.

3758.

To Isaac McLellan

Camb. Feb 6 1876. My Dear McLellan, You will pardon me, I know, for not sooner thanking you for your letter and pamphlet, when I tell you that I have again been suffering from my old enemy Neuralgia. It deranges my correspondence, and throws everything into confusion. I have to begin every letter with an apology. Mr Lossing's pamphlet on the "Surrender of Detroit" I read with great interest. He makes out a very strong case; and I am glad to see the old General so ably vindicated.1 I hope you are having as fine a winter on your island [Shelter Island] as we are here. I see you in imagination tramping with your gun and dogs over the frozen marshes, eager for any birds that have not been wise enough to migrate southward at this season. "Straight a short thunder breaks the frozen sky," and the beautiful creatures "fall, and leave their little lives in air." 2 Meanwhile I sit here by the fire busy with the reading and making of books; not so healthy a recreation as yours, perhaps, but more congenial to my tastes. Remember me to Dr. and Mrs Ireland, and believe me, with affectionate regard, Yours always Henry W . Longfellow. ι ο ι

AMONG MANUSCRIPT:

THE

BREAKERS

Rutgers University Library.

1. With a letter of December i, 1875, McLellan had sent Longfellow a pamphlet by Benson John Lossing entitled Hull's Surrender of Detroit (Philadelphia, [1876]), of which he wrote that "it seems to me to show conclusively the real state of the case — i.e. that Genl Hull was sent to perform [an] impossibility and was sacrificed to shield the government of the Commander in Chief." See 3270.2. General Hull was McLellan's grandfather. 2. Pope, "Windsor Forest," 11. 130, 134.

3759.

To George Barrett Cheever CAMB., F e b . 7 , 1 8 7 6 .

M Y DEAR CHEEVER:

I ought to have answered your letter1 sooner, and should have done so but for a thousand and one things that have prevented. I spare you the catalogue of them. You must know from your own experience what they are. Your photograph, the front face, is excellent. I like it extremely, and have had it lying on my desk ever since it came, looking at it at intervals, and studying its expression. It not only resembles you, but two other persons whom one may not be ashamed to resemble, namely, Dr. Channing and Mr. Ruskin. The same outline of face; the same expression. I hope you may be as well satisfied with the enclosed. My supply falling short, I was obliged to send to England, which will account for this long delay. Is Sawtelle your neighbor? He also lives at Englewood [N.J.]; and when you meet him please say that I have received his letter and will reply soon. With kind regards to Mrs. Cheever, 2 and thanks for her cordial invitation, Always affectionately yours, HENRY W . LONGFELLOW. MANUSCRIPT:

unrecovered; text from Memorabilia

Pastor of the Church

of the Puritans, Union

of George B. Cheever, D.D., Late Square, New York, and of his Wife,

Elizabeth Wetmore Cheever (New York, 1890), Appendix, pp. 6 0 - 6 1 . 1. Dated January 28, 1876, in which he forwarded his photograph to Longfellow in accordance with "our Anniversary Covenant of Exchange." See 3675.1. 2. Cheever married Elizabeth Hoppin Wetmore ( 1 8 1 4 - 1 8 8 6 ) of New York City on November 21, 1845.

3760.

To Edward Lillie Pierce

Camb. Feb. 14. 1876. Dear Mr Pierce, I return with thanks these very interesting papers.1 It may be a little pedantic to insist upon the accents in the French letters; but I have put them in, and you can put them out again if you think best. 102

CAMBRIDGE,

1876

T h e word before "Rome et Naples" is intercaler. In the Italian dedication, fifth line, de should be di. "Maestro di Scuola" is the title of the Story. In the eighth line me facevi, should be mi facevi. T h e extracts from Dante and Ariosto you will find copied and corrected, with translations and references. I shall be only too happy to aid you in your arduous task, at any and all times, and in any and every way that I can. I will go over the letters to Hillard with you, whenever you wish. 2 For Italian proper names and titles an excellent person to consult would be my friend Monti, at the Albion Hotel. You probably know him, but as possibly you may not, I enclose a card of introduction. He will be eager to do any service to Sumner. Yours very truly Henry W . Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: Harvard College Library. 1. On February 12 Pierce had sent Longfellow some letters of Charles Sumner to Count de Circourt with the request that he correct his transcriptions and provide translations. 2. Pierce had written: "I should like your aid in fixing some words in Mr Sumners letters to Mr Hillard from Rome in 1 8 3 9 . " See Sumner Memoir and Letters, II, 1 0 3 104.

3761.

T o Cordelia D .

Lewis1

Cambridge Feb. 17. 1876. Dear Madam, Owing to the want of time, and to the extreme delicacy of the task, — which I am sure you will appreciate, — I have long been obliged to make it a rule never to sit in judgment on the writings of others. I trust you will pardon me if I do not make an exception in your case. I sympathize deeply with all young writers, and wish them success most cordially, but I cannot do more than this, for the reasons above given. T h e best course for every writer is to send his productions at once to an Editor. He then gets a frank opinion of their merits, and sees whether they are likely to suit the public taste, or not. A newspaper is as good a vehicle to begin with as a Magazine, and perhaps better, as it brings a poem at once before a thousand readers. Regretting that I cannot comply with your request, I am, with best wishes, Yours truly Henry W . Longfellow.

i°3

AMONG

THE

MANUSCRIPT: N e w - Y o r k Historical Society, port, / K e n t u c k y ,

BREAKERS ADDRESS: M r s C o r d e l i a D . L e w i s / N e w -

POSTMARK: CAMBRIDGE STA. MASS, FEB 1 7

ι . M r s . L e w i s , a w i d o w aged

fifty-two,

h a d w r i t t e n to L o n g f e l l o w o n F e b r u a r y

enclosing some of h e r verses for his " a d v i c e a n d aid i n regard to the disposition

15, of

them."

3762.

T o George Washington

Greene

Camb. Feb. 23. 1876. M y Dear Greene, You may depend upon it, this ill-advised proceeding has been the work of some Trustee. I do not believe that either the President or the Professors, who have always been most friendly to you, know anything about it. Doubtless you will soon have a letter from some one of them, explaining the matter. Meanwhile do not be unduly troubled about it. Things are seldom as bad as they seem.1 How long it is since I have written to you! and for the same old reason, the "Entire Stranger," who thinks he must be attended to before old friends! T h e book moves on, but slowly. It is incredible how much has been written about places. W e have reached the letter S. England and Wales will make four volumes. W h e n finished the book will be a Library in itself. T h e best of it is the pleasant occupation it gives me. It makes the hours and days spin fast, and sets them to music. I live among the poets in their favorite haunts. One might have worse company. If I could only sleep, all would go well with me. That is the vulnerable point. How is it with you? I certainly thanked you for the wind-mill poem,2 and told you I thought it good. Neal wants to republish his novel of "Seventy Six." 3 Do you know who has a copy of it? I cannot help him without showing the book. Yours always H.W.L MANUSCRIPT: L o n g f e l l o w T r u s t C o l l e c t i o n . 1. I n a letter of F e b r u a r y 22 G r e e n e h a d w r i t t e n : catalogue. M y n a m e is left munication with me. A

" I h a v e just received a C o r n e l l

out w i t h o u t e v e n t h e c o m m o n courtesy of previous

common

scullion c o u l d not h a v e b e e n

com-

DISMISSED w i t h

courtesy. I feel the insult deeply. W h a t shall I do to m a k e [ A n d r e w D i c k s o n ]

less

White

u n d e r s t a n d this w i t h o u t m a k i n g m y s e l f ridiculous?" 2.

Unrecovered.

3. First p u b l i s h e d in Baltimore i n 1823 ( B A L in L o n d o n i n 1840 b u t not s u b s e q u e n t l y .

104

1 4 8 5 9 ) . T h e novel was republished

CAMBRIDGE, 3763.

1876

To John Neal

Camb. Feb. 23. 1876 My Dear Neal, I have written at once to Osgood about reprinting "Seventy Six," and will try to see him personally in a day or two. Last Autumn I had some conversation with his partner Mr. [Benjamin Holt] Ticknor on the subject, and, as I wrote you at the time, he said he could not give a definite answer without seeing the book. The difficulty is to find a copy here. Perhaps Colesworthy 1 can help us in that. I am exceedingly sorry to hear that you have an attack of neuralgia. It has been my constant companion for more than a year, and still holds me in its grasp. It is like embracing the Iron Virgin, who was thick-set with knifeblades. I suppose the best course is to follow strictly the advice of some medical man, and not try the thousand and one remedies, that are recommended by sympathizing friends. Sleep is the great consoler; and next to sleep, rest of body and mind. But how can one rest and sleep with such a mauvais coucheur [difficult person] beside him? That is a question not easily answered even by such a veteran in this war of nerves as Yours always affectionately Henry W . Longfellow MANUSCRIPT: unrecovered; text from typewritten transcript, Longfellow Trust Collection (Longfellow House). i. Daniel Clement Colesworthy ( 1 8 1 0 - 1 8 9 3 ) , Portland-born bookseller of 66 Cornhill Street, Boston.

3764.

To Martha Ann Cleaveland

Chandler

Cambridge, Feb. 25, 1876. Dear Mrs. Chandler, You will see by these lines that I have not forgotten your request, though I have so long delayed complying with it. As we are never quite satisfied with the portraits of those near and dear to us, and always miss something in them, so I fear you will find these verses not entirely satisfactory. The memory of your father is very dear to me, and I wish I could have found words more adequate to express my feelings. But I am sure you will overlook all defects.

ι ο5

AMONG

THE

BREAKERS

I was very sorry to hear [of] your illness, and hope that now your health is quite restored again. Always with great regard, yours very truly, Henry W . Longfellow. PARKER CLEAVELAND. Written on Revisiting Brunswick in the Summer of 1875. Among the many lives, that I have known, None, I remember more serene and sweet, More rounded in itself and more complete, Than his, who lies beneath this funeral stone: These pines, that murmur in low monotone, These walks, frequented by scholastic feet, Were all his world; but in this calm retreat For him the Teacher's chair became a throne. With fond affection memory loves to dwell On the old days, when his example made A pastime of the toil of tongue and pen; And now, amid the groves he loved so well That naught could lure him from their grateful shade He sleeps, but wakes elsewhere, for God hath said Amen! Henry W . Longfellow MANUSCRIPT: unrecovered; text from "Longfellow's First W i f e and Early Every Other Saturday, I (January 19, 1 8 8 4 ) , 2 1 .

3765.

Friends,"

To Ralph Waldo Emerson

Camb. Feb. 25. 1876. My Dear Emerson, Mrs Trenifidi requests me to forward these papers to you, I suppose for your signature. Not knowing this lady personally, I have no means of knowing her qualifications for the place she desires, and consequently have not been able to sign her Recommendation. Please return the document to the lady herself, 1 1 1 3 Arch St. Phila. or to the Episcopal Rooms, 708 Walnut St. 1 Yours faithfully Henry W . Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: Ralph Waldo Emerson Memorial Association. i. Evangeline Trenifidi wrote in a letter of July 14, 1 8 7 5 , that she was "yet under thirty." Her letter describing the position she was applying for is unrecovered, as is Longfellow's letter to her, dated February 26, 1 8 7 6 ( M S Letter Calendar).

106

CAMBRIDGE, 3766.

1876

To George Washington Greene

Camb. Feb. 25. 1876. My Dear Greene, I ought to have answered your question about Mr Kendall's School1 long ago. I do not know him personally, nor have I any personal knowledge of his School. But it has a good reputation. I hear it well spoken of; and that is all I can say. If you wish, I will make further enquiry. The cold weather has brought back my "intimate enemy" in full force. To-day I have an attack, which reminds me of old times. I feel as if I were struck in the back of the head with a battle-axe. I hope you can give a better account of yourself; something more cheerful and enlivening; than this endless chronicle of pain. In the book, I am now at Stowe, and have been hunting through Pope's works to-day, having an impression that he has some lines somewhere, descriptive of the Stowe-Gardens. Do you remember anything of the kind? If so, send me without delay a postal card with exact reference.2 Yours always H.W.L MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. 1. Joshua Kendall ( 1 8 2 8 - 1 9 1 3 ) , a Harvard graduate of 1853, ran a "Day and Family School" in Cambridge for the preparation of boys for Harvard College. Greene was presumably thinking of the school for his son Nathanael (2289.2). 2. Greene replied on February 27 that he had only "an indistinct recollection and no more" of the poem. For Stowe, Longfellow used Nathaniel Cotton's "On Lord Cobham's Gardens." See Poems of Places. England, III, 188.

3767.

To John Need

Camb. Feb. 25. 1876. My Dear Neal, I enclose Mr. Osgood's answer,1 just received. Can you send him a copy of "Seventy Six," and write to him a few lines explanatory of your purpose? Yours always H.W.L. MANUSCRIPT: Harvard College Library, i. Unrecovered.

107

AMONG 3768.

THE

BREAKERS

To Edward Lillie Pierce

Camb. Feb. 26. 1876. Dear Mr. Pierce, I return Mr. Carlier's letter, with thanks for your kindness in sending it. 1 If you have occasion to write to him again, please give him my cordial remembrance. Yours very truly Henry W. Longfellow MANUSCRIPT: Harvard College Library. i. Auguste Carlier's letter to Pierce, undated, is among the Pierce Papers in the Harvard College Library. It concerns Sumner and contains a reference to Longfellow.

3769.

To Annie Adams Fields

[Cambridge] February 27, 1876. In presence of the prettiest wreath of flowers ever wreathed by human hands, I hasten to thank the donor. All this morning the well-known lines of Willis, 'I'm twenty-one, I'm twenty-one,' have been running through my mind, intermingled with [Thomas] Hood's Ί remember, I remember,' and a strange confusion of figures;1 so that I hardly know whether I am sixty-nine years old, or only ninety-six! Nobody remembers when he was born, consequently we never know when we have grown old. When somebody said of Ducis,2 "Le vieux Ducis est tombe en enfance," a friend replied, "Non, il est rentre en jeunesse."3 I hope I shall have some friend to say the same of me. So the years are mingled and woven together like the white and red flowers of this beautiful garland, for which thanking you most cordially, I am Your young and old friend. MANUSCRIPT: unrecovered; text from Life, III, 258. 1. from 2. 3.

The lines by Nathaniel Parker Willis are unidentified; Thomas Hood's lines are his poem "I Remember." Jean Francois Ducis ( 1 7 3 3 - 1 8 1 6 ) , French playwright. "Old Ducis has become childish." "No, he has regained his youth."

I 08

CAMBRIDGE, 3770.

To Katharine Sherwood Bonner

1876

McDowell

Camb. Feb. 27. 1876. Dear Aurora — Today is my birthday, as perhaps you may remember; but I shall not tell you whether I am sixty-nine or ninety-six. I sit here surrounded by beautiful flowers, sent by sympathizing friends. I wish I could send some of them to you in Rome; but as Rome is the land of flowers, it would be sending "owls to Athens" which is Greek for "coals to Newcastle." But among all these flowers, none are half so sweet as your dear, delicious, rambling letter, from Paris, the place to which the "good Bostonians go when they die." 1 It came this morning with the other bouquets, and made me very happy. It reminds me of [Thomas] Gray's description of Lady Cobham's house at Stoke-Poges, having "Rich windows that exclude the light and passages that lead to nothing." 2 Nothing, I mean, but what is charming to read, and pleasant to remember! Write always in this way, and fear no criticism from me; and write as often as you can, nor for a moment think it can be too often. I rejoice in your happiness and am thankful that all has gone so well with you. I only wish I could be your cicerone in Rome. Nine months of my youth I lived there in a house fronting on the Piazza Madama, with its back windows looking on the Piazza Navona. Do not fail to tell me where you have found lodgings. It is always a great pleasure to know where one's friends are, and imagine what they first see when they go out of doors, and what [they] always see when they look out at their windows. T h e Poems of Places, in which you have aided me so much, and will aid me still more, I hope, on your return, "drags its slow length along." 3 I never could or would have believed it such an endless task. Luckily it is a pleasure to live with poets. And now, Dear Aurora, I hear the Bells of Shandon singing, and they say "With dear affection And recollection"4 Yours always H.W.L. unrecovered; text from handwritten copy by Helen Craft Anderson, a friend and classmate of Mrs. McDowell in Holly Springs, Miss.; copy owned by James Driver, Holly Springs.

MANUSCRIPT:

ι. Epigram by Thomas Gold Appleton. 2. "A Long Story," 11. 7-8. 3. Pope, An Essay on Criticism, Pt. II, 1. 157.

4. Cf. Father Prout, "The Bells of Shandon," 11. 1-2. 109

AMONG THE 3771.

BREAKERS

To Ruth Martin Bonner

Camb. Feb. 28. 1876. Dear Miss Ruth, I send you enclosed a ticket to an Exhibition,1 which I hear well spoken of, and which may perhaps interest you. It closes on Saturday next. I hope the Steamers have brought you some letters from Europe,2 and if so, that you will come and read them to me. Please let me know what day you can come, so that I may be at home, and do not choose Saturday, as that is always a busy day with me. Yours very truly Henry W. Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: unrecovered; text from typewritten transcript, Longfellow Trust Collection (Longfellow House). 1. Possibly of the centennial painting "Boston Boys and General Gage, 1 7 7 5 " by Henry Bacon ( 1 8 3 9 - 1 9 1 2 ) , Massachusetts-bom artist, at the Amory Hall Building, Boston. 2. That is, from Katharine Sherwood Bonner McDowell.

3772.

To George Washington Greene

Camb. Feb. 28. 1876. My Dear Greene, Pray don't let those unpleasant thoughts of Cornel [1] haunt and torment you. Dismiss them from your mind as disagreeable guests. Not the wrongs done to us harm us, only those we do to others. You cannot afford to make yourself unhappy by brooding over this matter. One's only chance of quietude is in banishing all things that disturb and annoy. I send you enclosed an advertisement, which will interest you. You remember Wiggin and his books. I think we once went together to look at his collection in School St. 1 Drake's Library is also to be sold a little later.2 I will send you Catalogues as soon as I can get them. You can then do as I do. Mark the books you think you want, close the Catalogue, and forget all about it. To imagine you have bought the books is, in nine cases out of ten, as good as buying them. Such is my philosophy at the age of three score years and ten, saving one. I am startled to think how old I am, and cannot believe it. There must be a mistake of ten years. My birth-day yesterday was a very pleasant one. I am surrounded with flowers, as if I were going to be married or buried. I send you a Sonnet I wrote on the occasion. Being an Arcadian, of course I write Sonnets.3 You will find also enclosed,4 what shall I call it? one of the twelve Signs of the Zodiac, or any other name you please to give it. H.W.L. ι ιο

CAMBRIDGE,

1876

MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. 1. An advertisement of the sale beginning on March 7 of the private library of John Kimball Wiggin ( 1 8 2 5 - 1 8 7 5 ) , Boston bookseller and publisher, appeared in the Boston Transcript, Vol. X L I X , over several issues at this time. The clipping, once pasted to the top of the sheet, is now missing. 2. Samuel Gardner Drake (b. 1798), Boston bookseller and antiquary, had died on June 14, 1875. 3. Samuel Longfellow's note at this point (Life, III, 259): "When he was in Italy in 1869 Mr. Longfellow had been made a member of the Arcadia, — a literary Society founded in 1690 by Crescimbeni and others. In this Society each member assumes some classic pastoral name." In his journal entry for February 29 Longfellow mentioned that he had written a sonnet on "Midnight," but the poem is otherwise unidentified. 4. A check for $50 ( M S Letter Calendar).

3773·

To George Washington

Greene

C a m b . March 8 1876. M y Dear Greene, I have just met [Charles] Deane in the street, and he said " W h a t an admirable book that last book of Greene's is. Admirable! It is one of the most valuable contributions ever made to American History!" 1 T o which I said, Amen, with all my heart. T h e truth is the writings of this Greene will take deep root, and grow and grow, and overtake and overshadow some others, that are more pretentious. I return Houghton's letter. H e is probably right about the Analysis and Index. Both are important; but the former more important than the latter. At all events, I would let him have his own way. If all goes well, he will want the Index also. 2 W e are all much depressed by the terrible revelations of corruption at Washington. W e need a Juvenal. W h e r e is he? 3 Sumner was right in his prophecies. T h e President has been too reckless and careless in his appointments. W h a t wrongs without remedy this administration has done! In Poems of Places we have reached the end of the third volume. Deane asks if the articles on Verrazzano in the " W o r l d " are yours. 4 H.W.L. MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. 1. See 3694.2. 2. Houghton's letter is unrecovered. The "Analysis," presumably intended for A Short History of Rhode Island, was not subsequently used. 3. Longfellow refers to a resolution of impeachment by the House of Representatives against William Worth Belknap ( 1 8 2 9 - 1 8 9 0 ) , Secretary of War, 1869-1876, for malfeasance in office. He was subsequently acquitted by the Senate on the technical ground of lack of jurisdiction. 4. These articles from the New York World were not by Greene. ι ι ι

AMONG 3774.

To Margaret Willett Van

THE

BREAKERS

1

Nest

Camb. March 9. 1876. Dear Mrs Van Nest, How very kind it is of you to remember me among the orange-groves and cigar-boxes of Havana! I wish we were all there with you, but I fear it is too late, and I know I am too lazy! T h e fondness for staying at home grows upon me, and I have become a kind of prisoner, under house-arrest, and not allowed to go far beyond my front door. But here is my son, now, who thinks otherwise. He has just come home from a trip across the sea; has been in London and Paris, making two winter passages, and being absent only six weeks. Such are his notions of pleasure! And you, too, must needs fly southward with the other birds of passage; and I am delighted to hear, that you find it so pleasant and so comfortable. Really everyone should see the Tropics. It is, I fancy, a kind of poetic education, and fills the mind with images not found elsewhere. All are well here except the writer of this epistle, who cannot shake off his "intimate enemy," the Old M a n of the Sea; 2 and all join in kind regards and remembrances. Yours very truly Henry W . Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: Rutgers University Library. 1. Mrs. Van Nest ( 1 8 3 1 - 1 8 9 0 ) was the wife of Abraham Rynier Van Nest ( 1 8 2 3 1 8 9 2 ) , Dutch Reformed clergyman and organizer of American chapels in Europe. She had written to Longfellow on February 29, describing her trip from N e w York to Havana. 2. A reference to his neuralgia.

3775.

T o Elizabeth Stuart

Phelps1

Cambridge March 1 2 1876. Dear Miss Phelps, I fear that I cannot establish by any historic proof the identity of the old building you speak of in your kind letter, 2 with that in which Evangeline found Gabriel. A great many years ago, strolling through the streets of Philadelphia, I passed an old alms-house with high brick walls, and trees growing in its enclosure. T h e quiet and seclusion of the place, — its "reserve," as your poor woman so happily said, — impressed me deeply, as they did you. This was long before the poem was written, and before I had heard the tradition on which it is founded. But remembering the place, I chose it for the final scene. ι ι 2

CAMBRIDGE,

1876

W h a t you say of it has interested me extremely, and I thank you most cordially for your letter, and for the ivy-leaves from the old garden. It is a pity that the venerable building should perish. I lament its fall, for the fiction has become almost a fact in my mind. Yours very truly Henry W . Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: Clifton W a l l e r Barrett Collection, University of Virginia. 1. Miss Phelps ( 1 8 4 4 - 1 9 1 1 ) of Andover, Mass., became the author of many works of fiction and had already published the enormously successful Τ he Gates Ajar (Boston, 1869). 2. Unrecovered.

3776.

T o John Samson1

Cambridge Mass. March 12. 1876. Dear Sir, In reply to your question I would inform you that the poem "Excelsior" was written in Sept. 1841. T h e word, however, was in use before. It is the motto on the coat-of-arms of the State of N e w York, which you will find on the title-page of O'Callaghan's "Documentary History" of the State. 2 I suppose the motto, or legend, was chosen when the Province became a State, in 1777. It appears on a coin bearing date 1787, as you will see by turning to O'Callaghan's work, vol III. p. 719. I am, Dear Sir, Yours truly Henry W . Longfellow MANUSCRIPT: Harvard College Library, Manchester. / England,

ADDRESS: John Samson Esq / Victoria P a r k /

POSTMARKS:

BOSTON

MASS

MAR

12/BOSTON

||MASS||

MAR 1 4 / MANCHESTER T3 MR 2 7 7 6 / Τ

ι . In an unrecovered letter Samson ( b . 1 8 2 7 ) , a cotton merchant of Westerfield Crescent, Victoria Park, Manchester, had queried Longfellow about "Excelsior." H e acknowledged receipt of this answer on March 28. 2. Edmund Bailey O'Callaghan, The Documentary History of the State of New York ( A l b a n y , 1 8 4 9 - 1 8 5 1 ) , 4 vols.

ι ι 3

AMONG 3777.

THE

BREAKERS

To Dorothea Lynde Dix

Cambridge March 13 1876. Dear Sir, 1 I beg you to accept my thanks for all your kindness in sending me a photograph of "The Liberty Bell." It is an interesting object, and I am much obliged to you for it. Yours truly Henry W. Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: Harvard College Library. i. Longfellow did not recognize his correspondent from her signature. In a letter of April 24, 1 8 7 6 , she signed herself " D . L . D i x " and then below "Miss D. L. Dix."

3778.

To Frances Rowena

Miller

Camb. March. 13. 1876. My Dear Protegee, I am absolutely tired out with writing letters to-day, but I must write one more, and that to you, to say how much I liked your last letter in the "Press" describing so graphically the "Fiasco at La Scala." 1 We read it aloud after dinner yesterday, and an Italian, who was present, confirmed the truthfulness of the picture. He had often seen something of the kind, and was not so revolted at the cruelty of the critics, as the rest of us were, who all took the author's part, and condemned the unfeeling cabal of the rival music-dealers. Your last letter in Italian 2 showed your great progress in the language. But now I think it would be well to come back to English again; for one's pen gallops and gossips more easily in one's native language, and perhaps you would write oftener, if you wrote in English. You can keep your Diary in Italian; and do not forget to put down everybody's name, whom you care to rember. Thanks for the polite inscription on the board in the Park. That is a model for all similar inscriptions.3 I am glad you have written something for the Graphic. I have not yet seen it, but will look for it at once. What three Maestri have you written about?4 I have a strange and strong impression as I write, that tomorrow's post will bring me a letter from you! Did I send you before this sonnet on the "Ponte Vecchio"? You may give it to some Milan paper, if you like. Do not mind what I say about writing in Italian. Only write; and whether in English or not, your letters will always be welcome. With affectionate remembrance H.W.L ι ι 4

CAMBRIDGE,

1876

MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. ι . Cambridge Press, X, N o . 5 1 6 (March 1 1 , 1 8 7 6 ) . T h e article, signed "Fran Mille," concerned the uncomplimentary reception in Milan of an opera entitled Luce. 2. Dated December 24, 1 8 7 5 . 3. T h e allusion is not explained in Miss Miller's letter. 4. This article, not found in the London Graphic, appears to have remained unprinted.

3779.

To Cullen

Sawtelle

Camb. March 13 1876. My Dear Sawtelle, Pardon this long delay in answering your last, friendly letter. I have been suffering again with Neuralgia, which incapacitates me for much writing, and makes me a poor correspondent. I am very much obliged to you for sending me the extract from your Rector's sermon. It is very tender and pathetic; and I am touched by what he says of me. To be thus remembered by good men is extremely gratifying. 1 Living in the same town with Cheever, I suppose you see him often. I have always had a great friendship and fondness for him; and beg you to remember me most kindly and particularly to him. Always, my Dear Sawtelle, with affectionate regard, Yours faithfully Henry W . Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: unrecovered; text from photostat, Longfellow Trust Collection (Longfellow House). i. In a letter of January 14 Sawtelle had sent Longfellow an extract from a sermon on January 9 by John William Payne ( 1 8 3 9 - 1 8 8 4 ) , rector of St. Paul's Church, Englewood, N . J . This extract ( M S , Longfellow Trust Collection) connects the theme of "Morituri Salutamus" with Luke 2 : 3 2 .

3780.

T o James Thomas Fields

Camb. March 15 1876. My Dear Fields, I cannot do it; the Reading at Wellesley, I mean. Don't let them ask me. When I feel like doing it, I will volunteer. Also the impending dinner in New York, stave that off with all your might and main, whenever you get a chance. Its threatening shadow already points its long finger at me from the Sign of the Fishes 1877. and makes my birth-day a terror.1 H.W.L. MANUSCRIPT: Henry E . Huntington Library. ι. Apparently a public dinner to celebrate Longfellow's seventieth birthday on February 27, 1 8 7 7 (under the astrological sign of Pisces), was being considered in N e w York. ι ι 5

AMONG 3781.

To George Washington

THE

BREAKERS

Greene

C a m b . March 15 1876. M y Dear Greene, H u n t e d down by the demons of the Printing-Office, and pursued by the W i l d Huntsman of autographs, and the loud halloo of u n k n o w n correspondents, I have no time to write to-day. I only send back your proof-sheet with a question, perhaps a foolish one, about Switzerland. 1 D o you consider that country only a Confederation and not a regular Republic? H.W.L MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. ι . In a letter of March 14 Greene had written: "I enclose you a specimen page of the Analysis. If any corrections occur to you will you please mark and send the whole to Houghton." See 3773.2.

3782.

To Alice Mary

Longfellow

C a m b . March 17. 1876. M y Darling Alice, Y o u wish to know something more about Mr. Dana, and his rejection by the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs. 1 I send you with this several articles from different papers, 2 w h i c h will make it all clear to you. It is a very mean piece of business, and reflects great discredit on those engaged in it. O n e would almost think that an honest man had no chance whatever in American politics. A l l well here, except myself; and I am sorry to say I do not improve much; though w h e n the weather is warm, I get so far as to think that perhaps I shall be better soon. W i t h much love to A u n t A n n e , and to yourself A l w a y s Your affectionate Papa. MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. 1. Secretary of State Hamilton Fish had nominated Richard Henry Dana to be Minister to England, replacing Robert C u m m i n g Schenck ( 1 8 0 9 - 1 8 9 0 ) , w h o had been forced to resign because of his complicity in the corruption of Grant's second administration. Dana's political enemies, however, succeeded in preventing senatorial confirmation of his appointment. 2. Unrecovered.

ι ι 6

CAMBRIDGE, 3783.

T o James Patrick

1876

1

Muirhead

Cambridge March 20 1876. M y Dear Sir, I have had the pleasure of receiving your friendly letter, and the beautiful volume of the Vaux-de-Vire which you were kind enough to send me, and for which I beg you to accept my hearty and sincere thanks. I am sorry for poor Olivier Basselin; and yet am glad that Maistre Jean le Houx should come to his own again, after such long exile and oblivion. 2 I have the collection of "Vaudevires" published at Vire in 1 8 1 1 . 3 But yours is doubly valuable on account of your translations. One can hardly praise them too highly. T h e y are admirable. Having myself tried my hand at some of them, many years ago, I know the difficulty of the task, and can judge all the better of your performance. With all good wishes for the outward success of this volume, which has already the more important inward success, — and with renewed thanks for your kindness, I am, my Dear Sir, Yours faithfully Henry W . Longfellow MANUSCRIPT: Clifton Waller Barrett Collection, University of Virginia (Address Cover: University of Washington Library), ADDRESS: James Patrick Muirhead / Hasley Court / Tetsworth. / Oxfordshire / England POSTMARKS: CAMBRIDGE STA MAR 2 1 / BOSTON M A R 2 1 PAID / T E T S W O R T H Α A P 3 7 6

1. Muirhead ( 1 8 1 3 - 1 8 9 8 ) , English biographer whom Longfellow had met briefly at Interlaken in 1836, was known mainly for his Life of James Watt (London, 1858). With a letter of January 31, 1876, he had sent a copy of his Vaux-de-Vire of Maistre J. Le Houx, Advocate, of Vire. Edited and Translated into English Verse, with an Introduction (London, 1 8 7 5 ) . 2. Muirhead had written: "I have ventured to include your animated and characteristic poem on Olivier Basselin. The gallant old miller of the Vire, however, as you will find, must now submit to lose some leaves of the laurelled crown which he had been so long permitted to wear in undisturbed peace: — a circumstance which does not detract from the interest of your truly poetical stanzas." 3. Les Vaudevires, poesies du 15ε siecle, par Olivier Basselin [et J. Le Houx], avec un discours sur la vie, et des notes pour Vexplication de quelques anciens mots (Vire, 1811).

3784.

T o Ida

Freiligrath

Cambridge March 21 1876. Dear Mrs Freiligrath, I have just read in the morning paper the sad and startling report of your dear husband's death. 1 I most fervently hope it may not be true, and in my bewilderment write to ask some contradiction or confirmation of this afflicting intelligence. ι ι 7

AMONG THE

BREAKERS

If true, I deeply feel your desolation. I recall those bright, Summer days at St. Goar, and all the sweetness and nobleness of his character come back to me. I cannot bear to think he is no more, and will not think so, until the tidings are confirmed. I shall now regret more than ever, that I missed seeing you, when last in Europe. Dear, gentle, noble Freiligrath! I loved him as a brother. And you, dear Mrs. Freiligrath, how will you be able to bear this great sorrow? I have had those waves go over me, and know their bitterness. I cannot comfort you, but only sympathize with you. I remember the story in the Bible of the old man, who fell dead at the city gate on hearing the death of his son.2 I cannot help associating it with Freiligrath, and thinking that grief for the death of your dear boy has worn upon him, and undermined his health. Pardon these incoherent lines, and believe me always, with affectionate regard Yours very truly, Henry W. Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. 1. Freiligrath had died in Cannstatt on March 18. Longfellow read the announcement in the Boston Advertiser, C X X V I I , No. 69 (March 2 1 , 1 8 7 6 ) . 2. ι Sam. 4 : 1 5 - 1 8 .

3785.

To George Washington Greene

[Cambridge, March 21, 1876] 1 Charles Sumner, four years ago, in his stern but truthful arraignment of the Grant administration gave utterance to the following words: "If he (Grant) appoints relatives to office, and repays gifts by official patronage, making his Presidency a great gift enterprise, may not every office-holder do likewise, each in his sphere, so that nepotism and gift-taking, officially compensated, will be general, and gift enterprises be multiplied indefinitely in the public servicer1 If he treats his trusts as a plaything and a perquisite why may not every office-holder do the the [sic] same?"2 The recent developments in official circles show that the evils portrayed by the Statesman have come to pass — yea, were even then in operation. How far they have extended is not now known, but we trust that the investigations will continue until the whole list is filled. MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection, Greenwich / R.I.

ADDRESS: Professor Geo. W . Greene. / East

POSTMARK: CAMBRIDGE STA. MASS, MAR 2 1

1. T h e date is from the postmark. T h e entire body of the letter is a clipping from an unidentified newspaper, pasted on a postcard. 2. T h e quotation paraphrases remarks in "Republicanism vs. Grantism," Sumner Works, X V , 8 3 - 1 7 1 .

118

CAMBRIDGE, 3786.

1876

To Emma Bouvier Peterson Childs Camb. March 22 1876. 1

Dear Mrs Childs, I have had the pleasure of receiving your kind letter2 and am grieved to hear that you have been ill. I can sympathize with you, having suffered all winter long with neuralgia in the head. I hope we shall both be quite well in May. W e are all looking forward with great pleasure to our visit in Philadelphia. Ample and generous as your hospitality is, I fear it will be put to a severe test, as I shall bring my three daughters with me. And now you write for me to bring another. Shall it be my eldest son, who would be delighted to come? And will not this be taxing your patience too far? Now you must promise me beforehand, that all this shall not put you out in any way. The more quiet I can be, the happier I shall be. All this pain has left me very weak, and too much kindness will kill me. I fear the wellknown abundance of Philadelphian hospitality. W e were all delighted to see Miss Patterson,3 and beg you to give her our kind remembrance. With the same to Mr. Childs, Yours very truly Henry W . Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: University of Texas Library. 1. Longfellow misdated the year 1 8 7 4 . 2. In her letter of May 14 Mrs. Childs invited Longfellow and his daughters to come to Philadelphia on May 1 6 and remain as her guests for a week. 3. A daughter of Joseph Patterson ( 3 5 5 1 - 2 ) of Philadelphia.

3787.

To ]ohn Need

Camb. March 22. 1876. My Dear Neal, A few days ago I met a gentleman, who said he had suffered from Neuralgia for seventeen years, but had finally got well! I told him that I hardly expected mine would last so long as that, but should like to know his final remedy. He said it was half a wine-glass of Whiskey, without water or sugar, taken every night on going to bed. As I have tried every other remedy I thought I would try this. I have done so with good results. It has driven the enemy from my head; and that I consider a great point gained. Later, I shall be able to give you further particulars. Perhaps the treacherous foe will return. But for the time being I am better. ι ι9

AMONG

THE

BREAKERS

N o w the same remedy does not suit every case. This may not suit yours. Still it is worth mentioning, and worth trying if other things fail. So I scribble you these lines, and am always Yours faithfully and sympathetically Henry W . Longfellow. 1 MANUSCRIPT: Harvard College Library. i . Neal responded on March 26: "I lost no time in trying the experiment and have taken three V2 glasses and mean to swallow another. So far as I can judge, having so many remedies and specifics urged upon me by physicians and friends, the nightly dose has been of considerable advantage."

3788.

To Thomas Bailey Aldrich

Camb March 23. 1876. Dear Mr Aldrich, I have just received the enclosed translations of two of your poems from Freiligrath, chief of German poetic translators.1 T h e y must be among his latest, if not his very latest productions. His death was announced in yesterday's paper. Yours very truly Henry W . Longfellow MANUSCRIPT: Harvard College Library. I. For Freiligrath's translations of "December" and "Castles," see Freiligraths Werke, herausgegeben von Paul Zaunert ( L e i p z i g und Wien, n.d.), II, 471-473.

3789.

T o Cecilia Viqts Dahin

Hamilton

Camb. March 26 1876. Dear Mrs Hamilton, I was very sorry to hear that you were so ill before your departure for the South, and should have called to see you, but was suffering too severely from my old enemy Neuralgia to call upon any one. I am still full of pain from head to foot; and sometimes wish I were in Florida, 1 though being away from home is to me a greater pain than any other. As to the sale of stereotype plates by Mr. Osgood I hardly know what to say. H e has offered a great quantity of them to be sold by auction in N e w York. He offers with them the right to publish; — otherwise they would have no value, except as so much type-metal.2 N o w whether Publishers have a legal right to do this, I am not prepared to say. T h e y assume that they have; and I do not think the question has ever been settled by the Courts or even brought before them. T h e same thing happened to me once, with the "Poets and Poetry of 120

CAMBRIDGE,

1876

Europe." The plates passed into new hands; and then a third party bought them. No harm was done; nor do I think there will be in your case. A new Publisher sometimes gives a fresh start to a book. I am not well enough to go into town to see Mr. Osgood, but have asked Mr. Owen to do so. I should not advise your purchasing the plates, unless at a very low price. Perhaps that may be arranged in some way, that would be satisfactory to you; but I should rather trust to the zeal of a new Publisher, and not incumber myself with this leaden armor of the mind. Yours very truly H.W.L. MANUSCRIPT:

Massachusetts Historical Society,

Pilatka. / Florida

ADDRESS: Mrs C. V.

Hamilton. /

POSTMARK: CAMBRIDGE STA. MASS, MAR 2 7

1. Mrs. Hamilton had written from Florida on March 17. 2. The chronic economic malaise of James R. Osgood & Company forced the sale of the firm's stereotype plates. For details see Carl J. Weber, The Rise and Fall of James Ripley Osgood (Waterville, Me., 1959), pp. 1 5 2 - 1 5 3 .

3790.

To George Washington Greene

[Cambridge, March 27, 1876] Crossing the Delaware. "Greene too — he was there — the only man of all our armies, capable, I believe, in case of any disaster, to take the place of Washington, there he sat, full of deep religious composure, — his broad forehead fronting the fires, that were kindled near the place of embarkation." John Neal. "Seventy Six" vol I. p. 155. MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection, East Greenwich. / R.I.

3791.

T o Henry

W.

ADDRESS: Professor Geo. W .

P O S T M A R K : C A M B R I D G E | |STA.| | M A S S , M A R

Greene./

27

Haldeman1

Camb. March 27. 1876. My Dear Sir, Your friend is wrong in thinking that Gotter lived before Gray. He was a little after him, and translated the "Elegy." Thomas Gray 1716-1771. Fried. Wilh. Gotter 1746-1797 You will find his translation, of which you send me the first stanza, in the "Elegy written in a Country Churchyard. With versions in the Greek, Latin, German, Italian and French languages. London. 1839." ι 2ι

AMONG THE

BREAKERS

2

The Editor says he prints the version of Gotter (he spells it Gotten) from the "Deutsches Lesebuch, Bremen. 1837." I am, my Dear Sir, Yours truly Henry W. Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: Clifton Waller Barrett Collection, University of Virginia, ADDRESS: Dr. Henry W . Haldeman. / Fontanelle. / Adair Co. / Iowa POSTMARK: CAMBRIDGE STA. MASS, M A R

27

1. In a reply of March 30, Dr. Haldeman revealed that he had been a student at Leipzig, but nothing more is known of him beyond his address. 2. John Martin ( 1 7 9 1 - 1 8 5 5 ) , English bibliographer and librarian to the Duke of Bedford.

3792.

To George Washington Greene

Camb. March 28 1876. My Dear Greene, I believe in unlucky days; and this has been one of them. I will not enumerate all the annoyances I have endured, beginning with a woman who talked me to death, and insisted on my buying a book I did not want, — and ending with a dentist, who came to pull one of Charley's teeth, and pulled the wrong one! Add to these my going to the Printers in search of a borrowed book they have lost, — going to town to see Osgood, who is in New York; — looking for a tailor on whose door I found "Removed to 298," which No. I could not find, and finally a visit from a disconsolate woman, who wept, and wanted help to set up a Bakery; — and all this set to the music of innumerable handorgans, and you have a pretty good picture of a pretty uncomfortable day.1 I am not sorry, that night has come. But before going to bed I console myself with these few lines to you. I think you will read with interest the notices of Forster2 I sent you yesterday. Freiligrath was buried with much pomp of flowers and funeral orations at Stuttgart, on Saturday.3 Good night. H.W.L. p.s. You must put a stamp on the enclosed.4 I have none. MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. 1. 2. 3. 4.

Cf. the journal entry for this day (Life, III, 260). Unrecovered. See the Boston Advertiser, C X X V I I , No. 74 (March 27, 1876). A check for $50 ( M S Letter Calendar).

122

CAMBRIDGE, 3793·

1876

To Elihu Burritt

Camb. March 29 1876. Dear Mr Burritt, I have had this morning the pleasure of receiving the copy of "A Sanskrit Handbook for the Fireside,"1 which you were good enough to send me, and hasten to thank you for your kind remembrance, and for your valuable gift. Preface and Introduction I have read with great interest and satisfaction. If anything could induce me to undertake the study of this majestic old language, they would do it. They make it seem easier to learn than not to learn it. But still, and notwithstanding the noble example of Cato,2 I fear I shall get no further than the Introduction. Your class of girls from the High School, with their nimble wits, put me to shame! I was thinking of you the other day, and of how near you had come to the realization of your dream of an Ocean Penny Postage. It has nearly become a reality; near enough for all practical purposes. You may yet see it fully realized. With kindest regards and remembrances Yours faithfully Henry W. Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: N e w Britain Public Library. 1. First published in London, 1 8 7 5 , and republished in Hartford, Conn., 1 8 7 6 . 2. Cato the Elder is said not to have studied Greek until he was an old man.

3794.

To Anna Τ. Wills1

CAMBRIDGE, March 30, 1876. Dear Madam, — Many years ago, and long before I had ever thought of writing "Evangeline," in my rambles through Philadelphia I passed the Aims-House of the Friends, and was deeply impressed by its quiet and seclusion. When I wrote the poem, the image of this place came back to me, and I selected it for the closing scene. The story was not connected with it by any tradition. The expulsion of the Acadians is historic: the details imaginary. But as many of these unhappy exiles sought refuge in your city, it seemed to me proper that the tale should end there. Thanking you sincerely for your letter, and for the kind way in which you speak of my writings, I am

Yours very truly Henry W. Longfellow. ι 23

AMONG

THE

BREAKERS

MANUSCRIPT: unrecovered; text from Henry C . Wamack, " A n Unpublished Letter from H . W . Longfellow on 'Evangeline,'" Poet-Lore, X I V ( 1 9 0 2 ) , 109. ADDRESS: Anna T . Wills, / 4 5 2 Marshall St., / Philadelphia, Pa. i. Mrs. Wills was the cousin of a man named Joseph T . Cooper, who in 1 8 7 6 tore down the old almshouse in Philadelphia, scene of the reuniting of Evangeline and Gabriel Lajeunesse. ( S e e Warnack's comment, p. 1 0 9 . ) In a letter of March 28 she had written to ask if Longfellow had based Evangeline on historical fact.

3795.

To Karl Keck

Cambridge April 2. 1876. My Dear Mr Keck, I owe you many and many apologies for not having sooner acknowledged the receipt of the "Zwei Trauerspiele in Neu-England." 1 I have been very ill, all winter long, with Neuralgia in the head, which made it very difficult and painful for me to write, and all my correspondence fell into confusion. Accept, I beg you, my most sincere, though tardy thanks for your admirable work. It seems to me every way complete; and I wish most amply and gratefully to acknowledge your great kindness to me, in this and the preceding translations. I hope that your business matters have assumed a more prosperous and smiling aspect, and that you have saved a good part at least of your herbarium. I can imagine what parting with it must have been to you. The same as to me would have been the parting with my books.2 I am grieved to see in the papers the death of the poet Freiligrath. In former years I knew him well; — a most amiable and excellent man. Messrs Tauchnitz of Leipzig are about publishing a new volume of mine.3 I trust they will send you a copy of it. If they do not, I will send one from here. With kind remembrance and regard Yours faithfully Henry W . Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: Princeton University Library. 1. Keek's translation of The Letter No. 3 4 2 4 . 2. See 3 3 8 9 . 1 .

New

3. Presumably a reference to The

England

Masque

12539)·

124

Tragedies

remained in manuscript. See

of Pandora and Other

Poems

(BAL

CAMBRIDGE, 3796.

1876

To William Henry Milburn

Cambridge April 2. 1876. My Dear Mr Milburn, You have my best wishes for the success of your Lecturing Tour in England, and I should be delighted to give you the letter you desire, if I had any ground to go upon. But never having had the pleasure of hearing you lecture, I should not be willing to write anything, which would imply, or seem to imply, that I had.1 I deeply sympathize with you in your recent bereavements. The death of a child takes from us a part of ourselves, and we are never quite whole again.2 Purchas in his "Pilgrim," says; "Old Age is almost altogether Ache," (pronouncing it, I suppose, H. for the sake of the play upon words.)3 You are not old, but you have known so much of the discipline of pain, that experience supplies the place of years. For my own part I have for the last eighteen months been suffering with Neuralgia in the head, which is reluctant to let go its hold, though at last it begins to yield a little. With kind remembrances and good wishes Yours faithfully Henry W. Longfellow MANUSCRIPT: Indiana University Library. 1. In a letter of March 27 Milburn had asked Longfellow for a letter to be used in a circular advertising his European lecture tour. 2. Milburn had written: "In addition to the calamities which have befallen me in these later years, I had the misfortune in the Autumn to lose my Father, and my oldest son, — Percy, — a young man of rare beauty and promise." Percy Walker Milburn, born in 1 8 5 1 , had died in San Francisco on October 25, 1875. 3. Samuel Purchas, Purchas his Pilgrim. Microcosmus, or the Historie of Man (London, 1627), Chap. XVI, p. 170.

3797.

To John Esten Cooke1

Camb. April 6. 1876. My Dear Sir, It gives me pleasure to comply with your request, and I should have done so sooner, but for illness, which has made writing difficult, and thrown my correspondence into confusion. Begging you to pardon the delay, I am, my Dear Sir, Yours very truly Henry W. Longfellow.

ι 25

AMONG

THE

BREAKERS

Pleasant it was, when woods were green And winds were soft and low, T o lie amid some sylvan scene, Where the long, drooping boughs between, Shadows dark and sunlight sheen Alternate come and go; Or where the denser grove receives No sunlight from above, But the dark foliage interweaves In one unbroken roof of leaves, Underneath whose sloping eaves The shadows hardly move. Henry W . Longfellow. April 6. 1876. MANUSCRIPT: Library of Congress. i. Cooke C 1 8 3 0 - 1 8 8 6 ) , Virginia-born novelist, had asked Longfellow for "a few of the opening verses of your 'Prelude' " in a letter dated March 7, 1 8 7 6 .

3798.

To George Washington

Greene

Camb. April 6. 1876 Come as soon as you please and can get permission of the weathercock. Your room is ready for you, and you are "Sempre benvenuto," as you know. H.W.L MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection, Greenwich. / R.I.

3799.

ADDRESS: Professor G . W . Greene. / East

POSTMARK: CAMBRIDGE STA. MASS, APR 6

To Elizabeth Stuart Phelps

Camb. April 6. 1876. Dear Miss Phelps, When one sees on a door " N o Admittance," such is the perverseness of human nature, that one is only the more tempted to go in. And when we read in a letter, "No Answer," the perverse spirit straightway whispers, "Write!" I obey; so far at least as to thank you for the sketch and the poem. The cottage I do not remember; only an enclosure, with tall trees and brick walls; just enough for the imagination to work upon and no more. Your poem is very simple and sweet. I particularly like the lines, 126

CAMBRIDGE,

1876

"Sweetest the strain when in the song The Singer has been lost. Truest the work, when 'tis the deed, Not doer counts for most."1 The anecdote of Scattergood is most amusing,2 whether in your version of it, or the less faithful one of the Tribune. Scattergood is such a merry name! It would have delighted the heart of Dickens. Thanking you once more for all the friendly interest you have taken in this matter, I am Yours very truly Henry W. Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: Boston Public Library. 1. "The Poet and the Poem," stanza 17, 11. 3 - 6 . This poem, published subsequently in Harper's New Monthly Magazine, LIII (July 1 8 7 6 ) , 210, relates how a Quaker guide in Philadelphia could associate the Friends' Almshouse with Evangeline but could not remember the name of the poet. See Letter No. 3794. 2. Unidentified.

3800.

To George Washington Greene

Camb. April 8. 1876. Whether you come or not to-day, you shall not be forgotten. If you do not come, we will eat your oysters and your maccaroni for you. If you do come, we will eat them with you. In either case we will not forget to drink your health. H.W.L. MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection, ADDRESS: Professor G. W . Greene. / East Greenwich. / R.I. P O S T M A R K : CAMBRIDGE STA. M A S S , APR 8

3801.

To Augustus Francke Hermann Mason1

Cambridge April 10. 1876. My Dear Sir I have been prevented by illness from sending an earlier reply to your letter, and trust that you will pardon the delay. I do not remember ever to have heard the Legend you allude to, but should be very glad to hear it. Please say to Mr. Vinton that I should be happy to see him on any afternoon, and at any hour it might suit his convenience to call upon me. I am, my Dear Sir, Yours very truly Henry W. Longfellow. 127

AMONG

THE

BREAKERS

MANUSCRIPT: Boston Public Library. i. In a letter of March 30 Mason ( 1 8 3 9 - 1 9 0 3 ) , Baptist minister in Leominster, Mass., had written: "A few evenings since the Rev. Mr. Vinton, one of our most honored missionaries to the East, related to me a Buddhist legend that he believes was derived from an ancient Sanscrit poem. T h e legend is called 'The sorrows of Wäy-thäu-däya.' T h e Buddhists claim that Waythaudaya was the last incarnation of Yandama before he obtained the Buddhaship." Rev. Justus Brainerd Vinton ( 1 8 4 0 - 1 8 8 7 ) , a graduate of Madison (Colgate) University in i860 who served for many years as a Baptist minister in Burma, hoped to be able to relate the legend to Longfellow.

3802.

T o Elizabeth Oakes

Smith

Camb. April 10. 1876. Dear Mrs. Oaksmith, I have had the pleasure of receiving your letter, and hasten to comply with your request. 1 T h e portrait I send by to-day's post is from a photograph, and is considered a good likeness. I might have sent a smaller one, but I think this will be better for your purpose. It is now a great many years since I saw you last; but I can remember you before your marriage, 2 and when you were living in the brick house beyond the bridge! I suppose you rarely if ever visit Portland. I, who am much nearer than you are, seldom go there. It is rather sad; though my sister is still living in the old house, where we all passed our childhood. Should you ever come to Boston, I hope you will find time to call upon me here in Cambridge. I should be very glad to see you, and am Yours truly Henry W . Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: Boston Public Library,

ADDRESS: Elizabeth Oaksmith / Hollywood / N . C .

1. In her letter of April 5 Mrs. Smith, describing herself as "Worthy Chief in our local Lodge of Good Templars," announced that she was to read to her fellow Templars from Longfellow's poetry and requested "some counterfeit presentment of the Author." 2. In 1 8 2 3 to Seba Smith ( 1 7 9 2 - 1 8 6 8 ) , a Bowdoin graduate of 1 8 1 8 , journalist and political satirist.

3803.

T o Elizabeth Cary Agassiz

Camb. April 13. 1876. Dear Mrs Agassiz, I have just received the new Series of the "Geological Sketches," 1 and the photographs of the gravestone, and hasten to thank you for your kindness in sending them to me. Every memento of Agassiz is precious to me; and I am much struck by the ι 28

CAMBRIDGE,

1876

simple beauty and appropriateness of this monument. This stone is better than a Statue; and there is something very tender and touching in the thought of whence it came, and where it is.2 With many thanks and kindest regard Yours faithfully Henry W . Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe College. 1. Geological Sketches, second series (Boston, 1 8 7 6 ) ; 2. A large boulder from the terminal moraine of the Aar glacier in Switzerland serves as the tombstone of Louis Agassiz in Mount Auburn Cemetery.

3804.

To Allen Page Moor1

Cambridge April 14 1876. My Dear Sir, I was very sorry not to have the pleasure of seeing your friend and neighbor Mr Gilbert. 2 He did not come to Boston, but forwarded to me your letter from New York. What you say of the word "Excelsior" is doubtless right from your point of view, but not from mine. You take it for granted that I meant St. Luke's "Amice, ascende superius." No, that is not my meaning, but rather "Scopus mens excelsior est"; and with this interpretation of the broken phrase, the adjective is right, and not the adverb. And I prefer this interpretation to the other, because Excelsior is a much more sonorous ending of the stanza than Excelsius would be. I have been much interested of late in the eccentric Rector of Morwenstow, Mr. Hawker. I have a volume of his poems,3 and am quite curious to read his biography by S. Baring-Gould.4 I say Rector, and should say Vicar. He was evidently a very strong and striking character. I am always regretting that I did not see you when I was last in England in 1868-69. I hoped to get to Canterbury, but could not. I am much gratified that you have not forgotten your visit here, and am, my Dear Sir, with great regard and kind remembrance Yours very truly Henry W . Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: Clifton Waller Barrett Collection, MENT: Answd. M a y 3. A . P . M .

University of Virginia,

ENDORSE-

1. Moor (d. 1904, aged eighty), a Cambridge graduate of 1846, was vicar of St. Clement's, Truro, Cornwall, 1 8 7 2 - 1 9 0 0 . 2. Identified from his two letters to Longfellow as Henry B. Gilbert. 3. See 3 4 5 5 . 1 . 4. The Vicar of Morwenstow: A Life of Robert Stephen Hawker (London, 1 8 7 6 ) .

129

AMONG 3805.

T o Ettore

THE

BREAKERS

1

Novelli

Cambridge

14 Aprile 1876.

Chiarissimo Signore, L a prego di gradire i miei sinceri ringraziamenti per il bei poema ch'Ella ha avuto la gentilezza di mandarmi, e per le parole amichevole e graziöse, che rendono il dono ancor piii grato. H o letto il poema 2 con sommo piacere. £, pieno di vigore e di bellezza; e se tal volta non ho ben inteso qualche allusione storica, ho nondimeno sentito sempre l'estro poetico. Colla maggiore stima Di Lei Umil[issi]mo Servo Enrico W . Longfellow. Biblioteca Angelica, Rome, PUBLISHED: Barbara Arnett Melchiori, "Longfellow in Italy, with Unpublished Letters of Longfellow and Howells," Studi Americani, XII (1966), 134.

MANUSCRIPT:

TRANSLATION:

Most Renowned Sir, I beg you to accept my sincere thanks for the beautiful poem that you were kind enough to send me and for the friendly and gracious words which make the gift even more pleasing. I have read the poem2 with the greatest pleasure. It is full of vigor and beauty; and if sometimes I have not understood some historical allusion, I have nevertheless always felt the poetic inspiration. With the greatest esteem Your most humble servant Henry W. Longfellow 1. Novelli ( 1 8 2 2 - 1 9 0 0 ) , minor Italian poet and writer, is identified as Longfellow's correspondent from the MS Letter Calendar. 2. A note at this point, presumably in Novelli's hand, identifies the poem as "il Marsala," published in pamphlet form in 1875. 3806.

T o Thomas Gold

Appleton Camb. April 1 5

1876.

Dear Tom, I fear that it is too late to retain the Nahant Cottage. Mr. Russell 1 has let it with the stable for $1000. and signed the papers. I do not see that we can draw back from this. I think we had better let Mr. Russell take the entire charge of matters and pay him his 5% on the rent. It will save a good deal of trouble and perhaps some misunderstanding. At all events he will be responsible if anything goes amiss. Shall I write him to this effect? H.W.L. MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. i. Samuel Hammond Russell ( 1 8 2 3 - 1 8 9 4 ) , son of Nathaniel Pope Russell (403.6), was a Boston trustee and real estate agent with a summer home of his own at Nahant.

130

CAMBRIDGE, 3807.

1876

1

To Curtis Guild.

Camb. April 18 1876. My Dear Sir, In reply to your letter2 I would inform you, that I was in Innsbriick in 1869. and knew Mr [Balthasar] Hunold, custodian of the Museum very well. I dare say, that I gave him a stanza of "Excelsior" as an autograph, though I do not now remember it, nor any discussion about excelsior and excelsius. I know that critics say the word should be excelsius; and they are right if they understand the broken phrase in the scriptural sense of Amice, ascende superius. I do not so fill up the sentence, but with some such words as Scopus meus excelsior est. Then the adjective is right, and not the adverb. And this interpretation I prefer, because excelsior is a better word for my purpose than excelsius, having a more sonorous termination. I am, my Dear Sir, Yours truly Henry W . Longfellow MANUSCRIPT: Massachusetts Historical Society. 1. Guild ( 1 8 2 7 - 1 9 1 1 ) , author and editor-manager of the Boston Commercial 1 8 5 9 - 1 8 9 8 , founded the Bostonian Society in 1 8 8 1 . 2. Unrecovered.

3808.

Bulletin,

To James Ripley Osgood Camb. April 21. 1876 1

Dear Mr. Osgood, Not having received the quarterly payment of Copyright, "on or before the fifteenth," I begin to fear that some letter of yours has miscarried. Please let me know. 2 Enclosed I send a letter just received from Brunswick. In reply I have referred the young man to you. 3 Yours truly Henry W . Longfellow MANUSCRIPT: unrecovered; text from typewritten transcript, Longfellow Trust Collection (Longfellow House). 1. T h e date CMS Letter Calendar) corrects the date, April 25, 1 8 7 6 , on the typewritten transcript of this letter. 2. Osgood responded on the same day: "Owing to absence from home on the 15th your quarterly check was overlooked. / 1 enclose it now." Longfellow then wrote out the following receipt: "Cambridge April 2 1 . 1 8 7 6 / Received of J. R. Osgood & Co. their cheque for $ 1 0 0 0 . (one thousand dollars) the same being a quarterly payment of copyright, as per contract. / Henry W . Longfellow" ( M S , Henry E . Huntington Library). 3. T h e letter is unrecovered and the young man unidentified.

ι 3 ι

AMONG THE 3809.

BREAKERS

To Dorothea Lynde Dix

Camb. April 26. 1876. Dear Miss Dix, I hasten to thank you for your kind remembrance, and for the excellent photograph of the Friends' Almshouse, and the ivy leaves from the old walls, which you have been good enough to send me.1 This does not seem to me exactly the place I had in mind when I wrote "Evangeline." That place was more spacious; surrounded by brick walls, with a larger enclosure and taller trees. I hope to find it still standing, when I go to Philadelphia in May. I shall direct this letter to Washington, as I always associate you with that city, it being there I had the pleasure of making your acquaintance. You came to see me one evening, when my son was lying so ill with the camp-fever, and I have never forgotten the visit and the comfort it gave me.2 Perhaps I may have the pleasure of seeing you at Germantown in May. I certainly shall endeavor to find you, if the toil and tumult of the Exhibition leave me time. Meanwhile I am with sincere regard Yours very truly Henry W. Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: Harvard College Library. 1. In a letter of April 24 Miss Dix had written: "Passing Cremer's Photographic rooms in Philadelphia, yesterday, I went in for a print I desired, and was shown the new picture of the Friends' old Almshouse; the last remaining Ivy-clothed building is just now demolished to give place to 'modern improvements'; 'the march of trade,' and '8 pet Interest,' — against 'ο.' I take the liberty of sending you three Photographic views of the Old building." See 3 7 9 4 . 1 . 2. See Letter No. 2 0 3 2 .

3810.

To Augustus H. Gilman

Cambridge Apr. 28. 1876. My Dear Sir, You must have thought me very remiss, if not something worse, in not sooner thanking you for your gift of the beautiful "Glass Sponge" from the deep seas of Manilla. I should have written sooner but have been a great sufferer from Neuralgia, and all my correspondence has been thrown into confusion. This sponge is certainly a very wonderful production of nature; and when one thinks that it grows far down in the depths of deep seas, one marvels at the why and wherefore; and recalls Gray's lines about the gems in the "dark, unfathomed caves of ocean."1 ι 32

CAMBRIDGE,

1876

I beg you to accept my thanks for your kind remembrance and for your valuable present, and to believe me, Yours very truly, Henry W . Longfellow MANUSCRIPT: Maine Historical Society. i. "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard," 1. 54.

3811.

To James Ripley Osgood

Camb. May 3. 1876. Dear Mr Osgood, Though generally at home in the evening, I shall not be on Thursday and Friday. Fearing that you might choose one of these evenings to come and consult about the "Poems of Places," I write this, so that you may not come out and find me gone. How would it do to publish a part in paper covers and consequently lower in price? Yours truly H.W.L MANUSCRIPT: Boston Public Library.

3812.

To George Washington

Greene

[Cambridge, May 4, 1876] Prima Giornata del "gran Rifiuto."1 Niente di particolare durante il giorno. Ma la notte seguente, un dolor di testa terribile, che mi tormenta ancora. H.W.L. MANUSCRIPT:

Longfellow Trust Collection,

East Greenwich / R.I.

ADDRESS:

Professor Geo W .

Greene/

POSTMARK: CAMBRIDGE STA. MASS, M A Y 4

TRANSLATION:

First day of the "great Refusal." 1 Nothing in particular during the day. But the following night, a terrible headache, which still torments me. H.W.L. ι . Inferno, III, 60. Longfellow may be alluding to his having given up smoking.

I 33

AMONG 3813.

THE

BREAKERS

To James Russell Lowell

Camb. May 4. 1876. My Dear Lowell, I shall be delighted to dine with you on Saturday at six, and to meet your guest from Baltimore, whose name suggests the Hesperides, as I doubt not her presence does.1 I understand perfectly your mood of mind in revising poems for a new edition. You were looking after "crimes and misdemeanors," like a policeman with a dark lanthorn, determined to arrest somebody. I hope you will be sparing of omissions and corrections. As a general rule, I think that poems had better be left as they were written. Their imperfections are often only imaginary.2 [complimentary closing and signature cut away] p.s. Do not fail to have an Index to the new volume. MANUSCRIPT: Harvard College Library. 1. Lowell's letter of May 3 identifies his guest as Sophia Mcllvaine Bledsoe Herrick ( 1 8 3 7 - 1 9 1 9 ) , editor and author of Baltimore. Her name suggested Hesperides, or the Works both Human and Divine of Robert Herrick, Esq. (London, 1648). 2. Lowell had written: "I had been reading over with dismay my own poems to weed out the misprints, and was awfully disheartened to find how bad they (the poems) were." See The Letters of James Russell Lowell, ed. Charles Eliot Norton (New York, 1894), II, 164.

3814.

To John Owen

Camb. May 4. 1876. Dear Owen, Please do not come to-night, nor tomorrow night, nor Saturday night. If anything is sent in to-day, come tomorrow morning as early as you please; Friday morning I mean; or Saturday afternoon. No; that would not help us. Say Sunday evening. H.W.L MANUSCRIPT: Harvard College Library.

3815.

To Anne Sophia Longfellow

Balcom1

Camb. May. 9. 1876. My Dear Sophia, I have just had the pleasure of receiving your very kind note,2 and the Silver Spoon you are so good and generous as to send me; — a valuable family relic, more than a century and a half old! I look in vain for marks of little teeth on its smooth surface, and thence

134

CAMBRIDGE,

1876

infer that it was never put into the hands of childhood for use, but carefully kept as an heir-loom. Accept my cordial thanks for trusting it to my safekeeping. Still more grateful to me than this gift are the words you send with it. I hardly know how to thank you for them; and can only say that they have touched me deeply. I will not attempt to say more. In regard to my health, I wish it were as good as some of my friends think it. T h e pain is not so severe as it has been, but it still haunts me and torments me, and sometimes tortures me. Thanking you once more for your kind remembrance, for the gift and the letter, I am Always affectionately Henry W . Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection, ADDRESS: Mrs Anne Sophia Balkam / Care of Mrs A . L. Pierce / 487 Congress St / Portland Me. POSTMARKS: CAMBRIDGE STA. MASS MAY 1 0 / 8 A.M. [remainder illegible] 1. Anne Sophia Longfellow (413.5) had married Rev. Uriah Balcom ( 1 8 1 2 - 1 8 7 4 ) , a Congregational minister of Wiscasset, Me., in 1852. 2. Unrecovered.

3816.

To George Washington

Greene

Camb. May. 9. 1876. M y Dear Greene, This is a very musical and simple poem, which you send me, and does credit to its young authoress.1 It shows a good ear for versification, and the closing stanza is particularly good, and rounds off the whole, as it should, with a kind of climax. T h e giving up smoking has not been a very difficult matter, after all. I do not miss it half so much as I thought I should. W h e n one has a bad memory he easily forgets even his vices. As to the effects of this leaving off, it is hardly yet time to judge. Thus far I am surprised at the little difference it makes in my feelings. From this I infer, that the mild tobacco I used was not doing me much harm. As the Neuralgia has been a little more violent in its attacks, I think that smoking may have assuaged rather than increased it. T h e whole thing is a mystery, enveloped in a cloud of smoke or mist or murk. W e go to Philad[elphi]a on Tuesday next. I wish it were well over, and we were all safe back in the Craigie. I will send you some wine and the address of the Vintner shortly. I think Wyeth 2 has it. Yours ever H.W.L.

135

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THE

BREAKERS

MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. ι . T h e poem is identified in Greene's letter of M a y 7 (misdated March 7 ) as a "little piece on the Spring," but the authoress is unknown. 2. See 3 5 9 1 . i .

3817.

To Margaret Eleanor Neat1

Camb. May 9. 1876. Dear Miss Neal, I am very sorry, yet not very much surprised to hear by your letter just received, that your father is still suffering from Neuralgia. It is the most obstinate and invincible of all maladies. For a year and a half I have endured the loss of appetite, the lassitude, the pain; — in a word, all the symptoms your father complains of. I have tried every remedy suggested by everybody; and without much effect; and for the present have given them all up. 1 believe change of air to be the best remedy. The pills you ask about were simple Quinine, of one grain each. The dose, one pill, three times daily. I have noticed that remidies [sic], which at first seemed to do good, after a few days lost their power. Others recommended as "never known to fail," producing no effect. Altogether, it is a mystery and a marvel. I am sorry to hear of Osgood's decision in regard to "Seventy Six." He has been for the last month or two much of the time in New York, and has sold off the stock and plates of all his novels. He ought not to have kept your father waiting so long for his decision.2 Doubtless "The Harpers" would be the persons now to apply to. Lee and Shepherd are just out of bankruptcy, and probably would decline anything new. With kind regards, Yours Henry W . Longfellow MANUSCRIPT: Harvard College Library. 1. Miss Neal ( 1 8 3 4 - 1 9 2 7 ) was John Neal's third child and second daughter. 2. In her letter of M a y 7 Miss N e a l had written: " I think you will be sorry to learn that Osgood has declined publishing 'Seventy Six' — after keeping my father waiting for an answer from the 2 4 of Feb to the 29th of April."

136

CAMBRIDGE, 3818.

1876

To Catherine Jane Norton

Camb. May 9. 1876. My Dear Jane, It was extremely pleasant to receive that black-bordered card of Monsignor [Francesco] Nardi, and I am obliged to you and Miss [Elizabeth Quincy] Guild for its safe delivery.1 Monsignor Nardi is an active, energetic, stirring personage, and not so nero [wicked] as he is painted. He was very kind to us when we were in Rome, and I never cared much for his political views, whatever they were. He is a Judge of the Rota, and of course conservative. Strange that Miss Guild should have made his acquaintance on the way to Frascati! As you say nothing of your mother, I trust all is going well. With kindest remembrances and congratulations to her Always affectionately H.W.L MANUSCRIPT: Harvard College Library, Cambridge,

ADDRESS: Miss Jane Norton. / Shady Hill. /

POSTMARK: CAMBRIDGE STA. MASS, MAY [date

illegible]

ι. The card is unrecovered.

3819.

To George Washington Greene

Camb. May 11. 1876. My Dear Greene, I shall send you by Express tomorrow morning a small baby in a large cradle, a little Moses in the bulrushes, a diminutive demijohn in a very large hamper. Why? Because trying to send the demijohn this morning without all these wraps, Sawin said the Express would not take it for fear of breakage. So I was forced to pack it in what first came to hand, and that was the hamper. This Tarragona wine, which I have marked Vinegar, to keep off pilferers by the way, comes from Francis G. Davis, 67 Commercial St Boston.1 It costs only $1.75 per gallon, which makes it only 35 cents per bottle. This certainly is very cheap for America. That you may not forget the address I enclose you the Grocer's printed card. I have had a hard time of it with my head since you were here. The abstinence from smoking seems rather to increase than to diminish the pain; but I shall persevere a while longer, so as to give it a fair trial. H.W.L. p.s. We go on Tuesday to Philad. by Harlem River. MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. i. Francis Gorham Davis (b. 1 8 3 7 ) , commission merchant.

137

AMONG 3820.

THE

BREAKERS

T o James Ripley Osgood

Camb. May 1 2 1876. Dear Mr Osgood, I send you such Errata as I have found in the Household Edition. How many more there may be, I fear to think, but it is evident that the proofs were very carelessly read. I hope the new edition will not be set from this.1 Yours truly H.W.L. unrecovered; text from typewritten transcript, Longfellow Trust Collection (Longfellow House).

MANUSCRIPT:

i. The following errata list accompanied the manuscript: Longfellow's Poems. Household Ed. [BAL 12536] Errata. Page 24. 2nd Col. line 3. period instead of ; after "shock" ** it " " " 10. " " " [;] " begin, " 5 for Dike read Like " 47 ι st " " 134 ist " Divide the long stanza at middle of page into two, of six lines each, " 195 line 3. The first word Out belongs to line 2 " 222 2nd Col. 12 lines from bottom for of a beach read on a beach. " 223. ist Col. 15 lines from bottom, for southward read northward. " 321. 2nd Col. 17 lines from bottom for For read Far. " 323 2nd Col. 7 lines from bottom for chouche r. couche " " 3 lines from bottom ! after Juste.

3821.

T o John Remigius Baker1

Philad[elphi]a May 17. 1876. M y Dear Sir, I have had the pleasure of receiving your friendly note, and the parcel containing the photograph and the curious mementoes of the Centennial. I beg you to accept my cordial thanks for these marks of your remembrance and regard, and to be assured that I highly prize them. In the hope that I shall soon have the pleasure of seeing you, I am, my Dear Sir, with great regard Yours faithfully Henry W . Longfellow Longfellow Trust Collection, A D D R E S S : John R. Baker Esq. / 1414 Arch St. / Philad[elphi]a. P O S T M A R K : P H I L A D E L P H I A P A . M A Y 1 8 7 A M

MANUSCRIPT:

i. On May 16 Baker ( 1 8 1 8 - 1 8 9 2 ) , Philadelphia bibliophile, had sent Longfellow various souvenirs of the Centennial Exposition, including a photograph of "your Evangeline's Cottage, now taken down." See 3809.1. 138

ROSEMONT, 3822.

1876

To George Washington Greene

Philad[elphi]a. May 17. 1876. Arrived safe and without fatigue. All goes well. H.W.L. MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection, Greenwich / R.I.

3823.

ADDRESS: Professor Geo W . Greene / East

POSTMARK: PHILADELPHIA PA. M A Y 1 7 2

PM

To Cornelia Lucretia Board-man1

Rosemont. May 26. 1876. Dear Miss Boardman, I was as much disappointed as you were, or even more, not to find you at home when I called. But I still hope to see you, and thank you for your note, telling me when you will be disengaged. Could you meet me half way? That is to say at the Centennial Grounds on Monday. At 3 o'clock I will be at the French Department, near the music stand, in the centre of the building. Do come if you can, as I am afraid I shall not be able to call again at 725 North 16th St. on account of many impediments in my way. Yours very sincerely Henry W. Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: Clifton Waller Barrett Collection, University of Virginia. i . It is not clear when Longfellow first became acquainted with Miss Boardman (b. 1 8 4 5 ) , but she became a devoted correspondent over the next years. Originally from Great Barrington, Mass., she had lived in Boston and was now studying in Philadelphia in preparation for a medical career.

3824.

To George William Childs

Rosemont, May 29 1876 Dear Mr. Childs, I wish with all my heart that I could accept your kind invitation to dinner on Tuesday [May 30], but as we leave for home early on Wednesday morning, it will be impossible for me to pass the night in town, as you so hospitably suggest, and I am forced to decline what otherwise would give me so much pleasure.1 We called at your door on Saturday, and were very sorry not to find anyone at home.

ι 39

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THE

BREAKERS

I left a small parcel for Miss Wain, 2 which I will trouble you to send to her. I cannot tell you how much we have enjoyed our visit to you, and how much we all thank you for your kindness! Yours faithfully, Henry W . Longfellow MANUSCRIPT: unrecovered; text from typewritten transcript, Longfellow Trust Collection (Longfellow House). 1. In a letter of May 28 Childs had invited Longfellow to meet Sir John Rose (18201888), English commissioner on international copyright and former Canadian statesman. 2. Possibly Sally Morris Wain ( 1 8 4 4 - 1 9 1 5 ) , eldest daughter of Edward Wain ( 1 8 1 1 1887), Philadelphia lawyer.

3825.

T o Dom Pedro II

Cambridge ce ier Juin. 1876 Sire, Hier au soir en arrivant de Philadelphie, j'ai eu le plaisir de recevoir la lettre que votre Majeste m'a fait honneur de m'ecrire. Je me hate de vous remercier tres sincerement pour cette marque de votre consideration et bienveillance. C'etait un sujet de profond regret pour moi de ne pouvoir pas accepter l'invitation de Sir Edward Thornton 1 de vous etre presente a Philadelphie, et ce regret a ete encore plus profond, en y arrivant quelques jours plus tard, de vous trouver deja parti pour le Sud. Combien nous serons he[u]reux de vous recevoir a Cambridge, je n'ai pas besoin de vous dire. De notre eher Agassiz nous avons appris de vous connaitre et de vous aimer. Votre Majeste me pardonnera si, en vous ecrivant ainsi, je manque ä l'etiquette. C'est ä l'Homme plutot qu'a l'Empereur que j'ecris; et je vous prie d'agreer les sentiments d'admiration affectueuse avec lesquelles j'ai l'honneur d'etre Votre D6vou6, Henri W . Longfellow MANUSCRIPT: Museu Imperial, Petropolis. PUBLISHED: David James, " O Imperador do Brasil e os seus Amigos da Nova Inglaterra," Anuario do Museu Imperial, XIII ( 1 9 5 2 ) , 249-250. TRANSLATION:

Cambridge, June 1, 1876 Sire, Yesterday evening, on returning from Philadelphia, I had the pleasure of receiving the letter Your Majesty did me the honor of writing to me. I hasten to thank you very sincerely for this mark of your consideration and good will. I deeply regretted being unable to accept the invitation of Sir Edward Thornton 1 to be

140

CAMBRIDGE,

1876

presented to you in Philadelphia, and the regret was still deeper when I arrived there a few days later to find that you had left for the South. I need not tell you how glad we will be to welcome you in Cambridge. W e have learned from our dear friend Agassiz to know and love you. Your Majesty will forgive me if, in writing to you thus, I fall short in etiquette. I write to the man rather than to the emperor, and beg you to acknowledge the feelings of affectionate admiration with which I have the honor to be Devotedly yours, Henry W . Longfellow i . Thornton (1817-1906), English lawyer and diplomat, had served as envoy extraordinary to the Emperor of Brazil in 1865 and was minister to Washington, 18671880.

3826.

To ]0rgen

Pedersen1

Cambridge June 2. 1876 My Dear Sir, Absence from town has prevented me from sooner receiving and answering your friendly letter, and thanking you for your kindness in sending me your translation of [N. S. F.] Grundtvig's "Paaskelillien," which came with it. 2 I have not a copy of the original, and can not therefore compare the two; but your version I shall read with much interest and sympathy, and I am sure with much pleasure. Meanwhile I beg you to accept my cordial thanks for this mark of your regard and consideration, and to believe me, with best wishes, Yours very truly Henry W . Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT:

Bowdoin College Library,

ADDRESS:

Mr. J. Pedersen. / Rockford. / 111.

P O S T M A R K : CAMBRIDGE STA. MASS. J U N 2

1. T h e identification of Longfellow's correspondent is established by the MS Address Book, which yields "J. Pedersen. Odense, Denmark." j0rgen Pedersen (1841-1920), Danish journalist and politician from Odense, spent several years in the United States. 2. T h e translation, possibly in manuscript, is unrecovered. Pedersen's letter is dated May 21.

3827.

To Benjamin

Alvord

Cambridge June 3. 1876. M y Dear Sir, I am extremely sorry to learn from your letter, forwarded from Bryn Mawr, that I have missed the great pleasure of seeing you and Mrs. Alvord. 1 While you were writing to me on the 31 May, I was journeying homeward, leaving with regret the gay scenes of the International Exposition. M y health was very much improved by my visit, and I am only sorry that I did not stay longer. Had I known you were coming I think it would have ι 4ι

AMONG THE

BREAKERS

turned the scale, and I should have stayed a week longer. But there is no help for it now, and I can only regret the unnecessary speed with which I returned home. Always with kindest regards and remembrances Yours faithfully Henry W. Longfellow MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection, ADDRESS: Gen. Benj. Alvord / At Gen. T . J. C r a m ' s 2 / 1 8 1 7 DeLancey Place. / Philadelphia, POSTMARKS: CAMBRIDGE STA. MASS, JUN 3 / RE CD JUN 4 ; P.M. [remainder illegible] 1. Alvord had married Emily Louise Mussey ( 1 8 2 6 - 1 8 8 5 ) of Rutland, Vt., in 1846. 2. Thomas Jefferson Cram ( 1 8 0 7 - 1 8 8 3 ) , brevetted major-general in 1866 for services during the Civil War, retired from the Army in 1869.

3828.

To James Grant Wilson

[Cambridge, June 3, 1876] 1 I am much obliged to you for sending me the proof-sheets of Mr. Symington's article on Freiligrath.2 I return a portion of it, with a few corrections. He is wrong in attributing to me any translations of Freiligrath's poems. There are several in the Poets and Poetry of Europe, which probably led him astray. Had he, however, looked at the table of contents, he would have found the authors or sources of all the translations. If you are writing to Mr. Symington, please set this matter right. . . . In the volumes of my Poems of Places, devoted to Scotland, you will find several of your father's compositions.3 MANUSCRIPT: unrecovered; text from W . Sloane Kennedy, Henry W. Longfellow:

Biog-

raphy, Anecdote, Letters, Criticism (Cambridge, 1882), p. 218. ι. The date is from the M S Letter Calendar. 2. Andrew James Symington (b. 1825), Scottish poet and author, wrote seven letters to Longfellow, 1 8 5 4 - 1 8 8 1 . His article on Freiligrath is unidentified. 3. William Wilson ( 1 8 0 1 - 1 8 6 0 ) , poet, bookseller, and publisher, had settled in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., after emigrating from Scotland in 1833.

3829.

To Luigi Monti

Camb. June 9. 1876. Dear Mr Monti, Owing to an unexpected engagement I must beg you and Mr Cirillo1 not to come tomorrow, but any day next week 6.30 or 7 o'clock. Hoping that this will make no difference to you, Yours truly H.W.L. 142

CAMBRIDGE,

1876

MANUSCRIPT: Frank Ο. Buda, Cambridge, Mass. PUBLISHED: Characters in "Tales of a Wayside Inn," p. 168. i . Vincenzo Cirillo, a native of Naples, was a music teacher with a studio at 125 Tremont Street, Boston. In 1876 he set to music Longfellow's translation of Gil Vicente's "Song" (Works, VI, 348) under the title "Morning Song" and in 1878 a passage from Keramos under the title "To Stay at Home Is Best." See BAL, V, 626, 630.

3830.

To Henry Lee

Cambridge June 10 1876. Dear Mr Lee, I beg you not to nominate me, and not to vote for me if I am nominated. For reasons very conclusive to my own mind, I cannot serve as Overseer, and should be obliged to decline if elected.1 Yours very truly, Henry W . Longfellow MANUSCRIPT: Harvard College Library, Boston

ADDRESS: Henry Lee Esq. / 96 Beacon St. /

P O S T M A R K : BOSTON M A S S . | | J U N | | 1 2 5

AM

i . In a letter of June 8 Henry Lee C 7 I 3 · 1 ) , Harvard Overseer, 1867-1879 and 18801898, had asked Longfellow if he would be willing to serve a six-year term. Although nominated, Longfellow was not elected.

3831.

To Washington

Irving

Crandall1

Cambridge June 11 1876. My Dear Sir, It would give me pleasure to comply with your request, could I do so consistently. Owing to the difficulty and delicacy of the task, I long ago was forced to make it a rule not to criticise the writings of others; and I must beg you not to be offended if I make no exception in your case. After all, the shortest and best way is to send a poem at once to some Magazine, without the intervention of any third person. Editors know the business; and I have seldom if ever known one to reject a really good poem. Regretting that I can not meet your wishes, I am, Yours truly Henry W . Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: Maine Historical Society. i. Crandall (1829-1899), an amateur poet, owned the W . I. Crandall Printing House of Chattanooga, Tenn. His letter to Longfellow requesting criticism of his poetry is unrecovered.

143

AMONG 3832.

To George Washington

THE

BREAKERS

Greene

Camb. June 1 1 . 1876. My Dear Greene, Yesterday Dom Pedro of Brazil, the moder[n] Haroun al Raschid, did me the honor to dine with me, naming the persons he would like to meet; Emerson, Lowell and Holmes. Lowell was out of town, but the other two came, and the dinner was very jovial and pleasant.1 I wish you could have been here; but as I had notice of his coming only the afternoon previous, I could not notify you in season. I will tell you more about it when we meet. The first volume of "Poems of Places" is printed, but I see no notice yet of its publication, and do not know when it will appear. It is to come out volume by volume I believe, and not all at once. I hope you are enjoying the Summer weather as much as I am. I should be deliciously idle, were it not for the incessant letter-writing forced upon me. That embitters my existence, and I suppose will to the end. I mean now to have an amanuensis, and only sign my name. I must come to it, though it [is] almost as bad as using spectacles, which I have not yet come to. Always H.W.L MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. i. Dom Pedro, wrote Longfellow, "is wandering about to see the great world we live in, as simple traveller, not as King. H e is a hearty, genial, noble personage, and very liberal in his views" C M S Journal, June 10, 1 8 7 6 ) .

3833.

To Frank Marx Etting

Cambridge June 14. 1876. My Dear Sir, I wish it were in my power to comply with your request, but unfortunately it is not. 1 I cannot possibly be in Philadelphia at the time you mention, on account of other engagements; and even if I were there I could not preside on such an occasion, having never in my life presided at any meeting whatever. On my return from Philadelphia, where I passed such pleasant days, I found on my table fifty three letters; and I have been so busy in answering them, and so much interrupted by visitors, that I have not yet found time to read your History of Independence Hall, 2 of which Mr Osgood has sent me a copy. From what you were kind enough to show me in the old Hall, I am sure its history must be very interesting and instructive. With friendly remembrances and best regard Yours faithfully Henry W . Longfellow 144

CAMBRIDGE, MANUSCRIPT: Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. / Pa.

1876 ADDRESS: Col. Frank M. Etting/

P O S T M A R K : C A M B R I D G E STA. M A S S , J U N

15

1. In a letter of June 13 Etting had asked Longfellow to preside, as "princeps senatus," at an assembly on July 1 of American historians, biographers, and literati on the occasion of the dedication of the restored Independence Hall. 2. An Historical Account of the Old State House of Pennsylvania Now Known as the Hall of Independence (Boston, 1 8 7 6 ) .

3834.

To George Washington

Greene

Camb. June. 18. 1876. My Dear Greene, I send you to-day a paper with several articles in it, 1 which I think may interest you, though perhaps of no great importance. I am sorry to hear that you are not feeling well. It is probably owing to the heat of the weather, which weakens the digestion. For my own part I am quite jubilant at having a head free from pain, and very idle, for fear of bringing it back again. An English Barrister was here the other day, — Rae by name, who is writing a history of the United States from the English point of view. 2 I gave him your "Historic View," and also your "German Element" as important documents. In the paper I sent, read Wendel Phillips' speech on preserving the Old South. It is very good. I shall be rather glad when the Centennial Year is over. A whole School of girls and boys came the other day to visit the Head-Quarters; — and yesterday an Antiquarian Club, with their wives, to do the same. I am afraid there will be a great influx of visitors. I am glad to see them, but still it is an interruption. Let me know that you are better. Owen has just been in. He too is not feeling well. H.W.L. MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. 1. Presumably the Boston Advertiser, C X X V I I , No. 142 (June 15, 1876), which contains accounts of the Republican national convention in Cincinnati and of Dom Pedro's last day in Boston, an announcement of Longfellow's nomination as a candidate for the Harvard Board of Overseers (see Letter No. 3830), and Wendell Phillips's remarks on the preservation of the Old South Church. 2. See William Fräser Rae, Columbia and Canada: Notes on the Great Republic and the New Dominion (London, 1 8 7 7 ) .

145

AMONG 3835.

T o George Washington

THE

BREAKERS

Greene

Camb. June 19. 1876. M y Dear Greene, Here is an excellent recipe for your lassitude. Fill a tumbler with ice, and pour into it Tarragona wine. You will find it excellent, taken with your dinner, or at any other time. Do not fail to try it, under penalty of my severe displeasure. I send you also a Magazine with a notice of Freiligrath and an article from Scribner on authors and publishers. Both will interest you. 1 How splendid the Summer is! How I enjoy the warmth, and the air embalmed with rose and syringa! It is like a dream to me. I am glad the History 2 goes on, however slowly. If it is only a page a day, it will come to an end sooner or later, and you will be free from the burden. You have seen the death of Mrs. Hastings, Sumner's sister, in the papers.3 She died at Annie Maillard's, not at her own house. N o w the whole Sumner family is gone. I have seen them perish one by one, father, mother, sons and daughters. How strange it seems! H.W.L MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. 1. An essay entitled "The Life and Lays of Ferdinand Freiligrath" by Karl Blind (1826-1907), German political agitator and author, appeared in Fraser's Magazine, n.s., XIII (May 1876), 659-674. T h e "article from Scribner" was possibly an editorial essay on "The Literary Class" in Scribner's Monthly, XII (June 1876), 267-268. 2. That is, A Short History of Rhode Island (3451.2). 3. Julia Sumner Hastings (1327.3) had died in San Francisco on May 29.

3836.

T o Mary Potter

Thacher1

Camb. June 20. 1876. Dear Miss Mary, I thank you for sending me your paper "About Spinning Wheels." 2 It is very interesting, and has given me much pleasure. It would be well to insert into it somewhere an allusion to Queen Bertha of Burgundy-Transjurane, who used to ride about her kingdom on horseback, with a distaff fastened to her saddle, spinning as she went. From her came the proverb of "the good old times when Bertha span"; — die gute alte Zeit wo Bertha spann; — le temps oü Berthe filait. She lived as long ago as the tenth century. In regard to the volume, I think I can arrange the matter with Mr. Osgood. At all events I will try; and will endeavor to see him during the week. Yours very truly Henry W . Longfellow. 146

CAMBRIDGE,

1876

MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. ι . Miss Thacher ( 1 8 4 4 - 1 9 4 1 ) , niece and namesake of Mary Storer Potter Longfellow, had written to Longfellow from West Newton on June 19, requesting his advice on the publication of a volume of sketches. James R. Osgood & Company, on Longfellow's recommendation, published the work as Seashore and Prairie (Boston, 1 8 7 7 ) . 2. See Seashore and Prairie, pp. 1 1 7 - 1 2 8 .

3837.

To George Washington Greene

Cämb. June 21 1876. My Dear Greene, I send for your amusement some nonsense verses on a servant, who has just broken two beautiful Japan vases, in her headlong hurry. They will be duly appreciated by every housekeeper and every lover of household ornaments. Epitaph on a Maid-of-all-Work. Hie jacet ancilla, Quas omnia egit, Et nihil tetigit Quod non fregit.1 This afternoon the girls give Wad, the graduating Senior, a garden party. The house is full of his friends already. June 22. The party was very successful, and Wad triumphant. Have you seen a book by Η. M. Dexter, just published in Boston, entitled "As to Roger Williams and his Banishment"?2 It might be of use to you in your work. What do you and the Governor think of the presidential nomination at Cincinnati? Does he know Mr Hayes personally?3 In Poems of Places we are finishing Ireland. Next comes Scotland. This letter is only a column of items. I am so interrupted and distraught I can do no better. H.W.L. MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. 1. Samuel Longfellow's note: "For those who have 'forgotten their Latin,' this version must suffice: — Here a maid-of-all-work Her rest doth take; W h e n alive, she touched nothing She did not break. And those who have forgotten their Goldsmith may be reminded of the 'nullum quod tetigit non ornavit' in his epitaph by Dr. Johnson" (Life, III, 2 6 2 - 2 6 3 ) . 2. Henry Martyn Dexter, A s to Roger Williams, and his Banishment from the

147

AMONG

THE

BREAKERS

Massachusetts Plantation; with a Few Further Words Concerning the Baptists, the Quakers, and Religious Liberty ( B o s t o n , 1 8 7 6 ) . 3. Rutherford B. Hayes had been nominated on June 16 on the seventh ballot of the Republican convention. Greene responded on June 25: " W e are all very much pleased with the nomination. The Governor is personally acquainted with Hayes, and has a great respect for and perfect confidence in him."

3838.

To George Washington

Greene

[Cambridge, June 24, 1876] 1 — Mr. John Neal, the Maine author who died on Tuesday, was not a friend of classical English. Writing in 1828 he said: "I do not pretend to write English; that is, I do not pretend to write what the English themselves call English — I do not, and I hope to God that I never shall, write what is now worshipped under the name of classical English. It is no natural language — it never was — it never will be spoken alive on this earth, and therefore ought never to be written. W e have dead languages enough now, but the deadest language that I ever met with or heard of was that in use among the writers of Queen Anne's day." 2 MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection, East G r e e n w i c h . / R . I .

ADDRESS: Professor Geo. W . Greene. /

POSTMARK: CAMBRIDGE STA. MASS, J U N 2 4

ι. The date is from the postmark. The entire body of the letter is a clipping from the Boston Advertiser, C X X V I I , No. 150 ( J u n e 24, 1876), pasted on a postcard. 2. From the preface to Rachel Dyer (Portland, 1828).

3839.

To Ellen

Frothingham1

Cambridge Jun. 25 1876 Dear Miss Frothingham In making a Collection of "Poems of Places" I am anxious to introduce some from your father's volume,2 but do not like to do it without your sanction. Will you be kind enough to say whether you have any objection to this, and oblige Yours very kindly Henry W . Longfellow MANUSCRIPT: New Hampshire Historical Society. 1. Miss Frothingham ( 1 8 3 5 - 1 9 0 2 ) , daughter of Nathaniel Langdon Frothingham (610.9), was a translator of German literature. 2. Metrical Pieces, Translated and Original (Boston, 1855, 1870), Parts I and II.

148

CAMBRIDGE, 3840.

1876

To James Ripley Osgood

Camb. June 26 1876. Dear Mr Osgood, I am not a little disturbed about your Centennial Edition of my Poems.1 You call it "The Complete Poetical Works," when it is not. On the last page of [the] cover you put the Christus and the Dante under the tide of "Prose Works," and quote the Chr. Intelligencer as saying "His power to eliminate that which is beautiful in all things is his great characteristic." Eliminate means to expel, to turn out of doors. Against one and all of these things I seriously protest. Finally, in the extract from the N.A. Review, traveller is spelled with one 1. Pray consider these things.2 Yours truly H.W.L MANUSCRIPT: unrecovered; text from photostat, Longfellow Trust Collection (Longfellow House). 1. BAL 12542. 2. Osgood responded in a letter dated June 27: "I am very sorry that you should feel disturbed at anything connected with the Centennial Edition, and am all the more distressed that you should find such a catalogue of grievances . . . I hope you will acquit us of any intentional misrepresentation and even of any carelessness. We will have any or all changes made which upon consideration you desire."

3841.

To John Eliphaz

Chapman1

Cambridge June 28 1876. My Dear Sir, I hope you will pardon my long delay in answering your letter. It has been caused by absence from home, and by many interruptions since my return. I enclose, with much pleasure, a few lines for the Orient, which I wrote after returning from Brunswick last Summer, 2 and am, with best wishes, Yours truly Henry W. Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: Bowdoin College Library. 1. Chapman ( 1 8 5 3 - 1 9 2 3 ) , a member of the Bowdoin class of 1877 and an editor of the Bowdoin Orient, subsequently practiced law in Boston. His letter to Longfellow is unrecovered. 2. Accompanying the manuscript is a holograph of Longfellow's sonnet on Parker Cleaveland (see Letter No. 3764). The poem was published in the Orient, VI (July 15, 1876), I.

149

AMONG THE 3842.

BREAKERS

To George Washington Greene

Camb. June 28. 1876. My Dear Greene, Rather exhausting than otherwise is this hot weather. It always comes in June. The longest days will assert their right to be the hottest. But it will soon be over. I am only sorry that it affects you so severely. If the thermometer would only keep pace with our years after sixty, it would be very comfortable; for I suppose a man of ninety would not have any serious objections to keep his thermometer at that level. To-day I attended Commencement in the new Theatre.1 It was a strange sensation to be walking with Lowell, who wore my old Professorial gown! For the last fortnight we have had the house brim full of people, celebrating Wad's class-däy and final farewell to-day. It is very pleasant; but something of an interruption to one's every day pursuits. Reading yesterday the Briefe von Johan Heinrich Voss,2 the poet, I came upon a sketch of Andre, when he was Lieutenant, and a student at Göttingen. Voss wrote a poem to him, and calls him "der liebenswürdigste und edelste Jüngling, und einer meiner besten Freunde . . . Er nahm mit T[h]ränen Abschied von mir"; being suddenly called away "weil sein Regiment nach America geht."3 Always and Ever. H.W.L. p.s. I enclose the Postscript.4 MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. ι. Sanders Theatre, in Memorial Hall. 2. See 3699.2. 3. Briefe von Heinrich Voss, I, 94, 96: "the most amiable and noble youth, and one of my best friends . . . He bade me farewell with tears; being suddenly called away because his regiment was going to America." For Voss's poem on John Andre ( 1 7 5 1 1780), the British soldier who was hanged as a spy during the Revolution, see Sämtliche Gedichte von Johann Heinrich Voss (Königsberg, 1802), III, 19-22. 4. Α check for $50 ( M S Letter Calendar).

1 50

CAMBRIDGE, 3843.

1876

1

To an Unidentified

Correspondent

Cambridge July 3. 1876. Dear Sir, It gives me pleasure to accede to your request. So far from having any objection to your translating any of my poems, I esteem it a favor you are doing me. Yours very truly Henry W . Longfellow MANUSCRIPT:

Pennsylvania State University Library.

i. The MS Letter Calendar lists "A. Williams" for this date.

3844.

To Daniel Edward

Bandmann

Cambridge July 4 1876. Dear Mr Bandmann, It gives me great pleasure to comply with your request. I have put my signature under the photograph, and herewith return the document to its rightful owner. The photograph is a good one; one of the best, I think, that has been taken of me. It must be by Elliot and Fry, 55 Baker St. Portman Square. I should like very much to have a dozen of them, and if you ever happen to be at their rooms, I wish you would ask them to send me a few by post.1 With pleasant remembrances of our meeting here and in London, and all good wishes, Yours very truly Henry W . Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT:

University of Washington Library.

i. Bandmann replied on August 1 that the negative of the photograph had been destroyed by accident.

3845.

To Edith

Longfellow

Camb. July 4 1876. My Darling Edith Your letter1 enlivened the breakfast-table this morning, and sweetened the tea and toast. Stay as long as you like and can, and enjoy it all to your heart's content. One does not often get such a pleasant invitation. You and Una must make the most of it. It is very hot here. The thermometer at this moment says out of doors 94; in-doors 86. But there is a pleasant breeze blowing, and scattering my papers all over the floor. ι 5 ι

AMONG THE

BREAKERS

We are planning a trip to Hull for a day's pleasure. But it is a great event; and as usual I have reserved the right of "changing my mind." Mrs Vaughan2 is there, which makes Alice willing to go. On Saturday we had Mr Cirillo and four of his pupils here to sing the new Cantata of "The Old Clock on the Stairs."3 It was very charming music and very well sung. H.W.L. p.s. Last night was lovely with the moon near its full. Nothing could satisfy Alice and Annie, but to stretch a rug on the grass in front of the house and lie there at full length, bathed in moonlight and fanned by a delicious west-wind. While they were enjoying this luxury, Archy Howe and Mr. Mayers4 appeared upon the scene, and brought them back to that upright posture, which all writers say is characteristic of man and woman! To-day Mr. Winthrop delivers the Oration in Boston. I shall not hear it, but be content to read it, as you will, in the papers. That is much the best way. Wad is gone. I sent your letter after him yesterday. He is quite cast down, and low in his mind, at having ended his College days. Give my love to my dear Una, and tell her how happy I am that she is so happy.5 And to Uncle Tom, who ought to be very happy in having two such damsels in his house! After that, need I say that I am always most affectionately Your Papa? MANUSCRIPT: Massachusetts Historical Society. ι . Dated July 3 from Newport, where Edith and her friend U n a Farley were staying with Thomas Gold Appleton. 2. Anna Harriet Goodwin Vaughan ( 1 8 3 8 - 1 9 1 9 ) , wife of Benjamin Vaughan ( 1 8 3 7 1 9 1 2 ) , Boston commission merchant, had been born in Brunswick, Me. T h e Vaughans lived at 24 Concord Avenue, Cambridge, and were close friends of the Longfellow girls. 3. Not listed in B A L . 4. Archibald Murray Howe ( 1 8 4 8 - 1 9 1 6 ) , a Harvard graduate of 1869, was a lawyer of 1 5 Pemberton Square, Boston; James Jefferson Myers ( 1 8 4 2 - 1 9 1 5 ) , Howe's classmate, was also a lawyer with an office at 61 Court Street, Boston. 5. Una Farley had become engaged to Cornelius Conway Felton ( 1 1 9 0 . 5 ) , whom she married on September 20, 1 8 7 7 .

3846.

To William James Gillum1

Cambridge July 9. 1876. My Dear Sir, I have had the pleasure of receiving your friendly note, and hasten to thank you very cordially for it, and for your valuable suggestions, and list of errata in my translation of the Divina Commedia. ι 52

CAMBRIDGE,

1876

You could not have done me a greater favor; and I particularly thank your wife for urging you to send them. Some of the errors I had already discovered and corrected. The rest are now marked for correction. I am not sure that I shall adopt all your suggestions, but I shall give them due consideration, and not reject them hastily. I beg you to send me any and many more,2 as my only wish is to make my version as correct as possible. But what strange pitfalls one continues to stumble into, with eyes wide open! And as to errors of the press, it seems impossible to escape them. Even the Oxford Bible of 1835 drops the e out of household. Job. 1. 3. With renewed thanks, I am, my Dear Sir, Yours faithfully Henry W . Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: Clifton Waller Barrett Collection, University of Virginia, ADDRESS: Lt. Colonel Gillum. / Church Hill House. / East Barnet / England, POSTMARKS : BOST O N MASS J U L 9 8 P M / BOSTON J U L 1 1 PAID / N E W B A R N E T A J 2 3 7 6

1. Gillum (d. 1 9 1 ο, aged eighty-three), a retired English army officer, was headmaster of a farm-school for destitute boys. In a letter of June 2 2 he had sent Longfellow a list of errata (unrecovered) in the Dante translation with the remark: " I venture to enclose them for your next edition, and trust you will not think me impertinent in adding some suggestions, which my wife emboldens me to send; others have occurred with which I will not trouble you." 2. Gillum obliged in a letter of July 3 1 , 1876.

3847.

To George Washington

Greene

Camb. July 1 1 . 1876. Ο Helios! Helios! How hot it is! Too hot to write a letter even. Consequently I have not written since the last of last month. I then sent you a letter with an enclosure, and shall not know till this end of the month whether it reached you or not, unless you tell me. I think of going to Portland this week, to stay a few days only. You will be glad to know, that I am nearly well. I wish you could say the same. Tell the Governor that I agree with him in his political views. W e were unwilling to believe what Sumner said. Events show it was all too true.1 H.W.L. MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. i. In a letter of July 9 Greene had written: " B y the by he [Governor William Greene] asked me the other day to tell you that he made a great mistake in what he wrote to you about Sumner, when he Sumner came out for Greel[e]y. H e is convinced now that Sumner was perfectly right — and he entirely wrong."

ι 53

AMONG 3848.

THE

BREAKERS

T o Mary Potter Thacher

Camb July 12. 1876. M y Dear Miss Mary, I have your note, and should like to have the ms. as soon as possible. Do not trouble yourself about quantity. By using a larger type and lines more open, any difficulty of that kind can easily be remedied. As to the title, instead of the one you suggest, I should prefer "Seaside and Wayside." 1 I enclose a note 2 I have just received from Mr. Osgood; and as I expect to go to Portland this week, perhaps it would be as well to leave the ms. with him, and tell him to send it to me after he has looked it over for the purpose he mentions. T h e Dedication I shall accept with thanks and am Yours very truly Henry W . Longfellow MANUSCRIPT: Henry E. Huntington Library. 1. In her letter of July 9 Mary Thacher had suggested Seaside and Prairie as the title of her book. 2. llnrecovered.

3849.

T o George Washington

Greene

Camb. July 13 1876. M y Dear Greene, Mrs Howard sends me the enclosed sketch of her brother Dr. Horner, 1 who died lately in Cuba. She requests me to send it to you. After reading it, please return it to me. Is Simmons making another statue of Roger Williams? 2 or is the notice in the Baltimore paper I send you to-day an account of the old one? Uncle Tom, Charley, Wad, Alice and Annie sailed yesterday in the yacht Alice for a cruise down the coast of Maine. Think of it, as you swoon and swelter in your Wind-Mill! I go to Portland with Edith on Saturday. Shall be away for a week or two. H.W.L. MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. 1. The sketch is unrecovered. In a letter of August 25, 1877, Mrs. Howard identifies her brother as a homeopathist. 2. Franklin Simmons ( 1 8 3 9 - 1 9 1 3 ) , Maine-born sculptor, executed two statues of Roger Williams, in Providence and Washington, D.C. His statue of Longfellow (1887) is in Portland at the intersection of Congress and State Streets.

154

PORTLAND, 3850.

1876

To Edward Lillie Pierce

Portland, July 16 1876. Dear Mr Pierce, Before leaving Cambridge I heard that Mrs Horatio Greenough had returned from California. But I did not see her and am not sure of the fact. It might be worth while to direct a note to her there at a venture. In regard to Sumner's letters to Professor Greenleaf I find there are several, bound up with other letters. They are in the possession of Mrs. Croswell, who is absent for the Summer. 1 On her return I think there will be no difficulty in the way of your using them as you did mine, if that will not give you too much trouble. I am sorry for this long delay; but I could not get the papers examined sooner, so prevalent is procrastination. Yours very truly Henry W . Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: Harvard College Library. i. See Letter No. 3 6 9 3 . In a letter of July 8 Pierce had written: "Must I give up all hope of finding any letters of Mr S to M r Greenleaf?"

3851.

To George Washington

Greene

Portland. July 17. 1876. Have you ever heard of the Tubular Well? I had one put into my garden lately, and it works well. Enquire about it before digging. 1 What a disgrace and dishonesty such Postal Cards as this!2 H.W.L MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection, Greenwich. / R.I.

ADDRESS: Professor Geo W . Greene / East

POSTMARK: PORTLAND M E . J U L Y

1 7 9

PM

Ι . T h e latest catastrophe to hit the Greene household was the caving in of their well (Greene to Longfellow, July 1 4 ) . 2. A remark occasioned by the blotting of the ink.

3852.

To Edith

Longfellow

Portland July 18 1876. My Darling, I send you this morning a letter from over sea[s], which has just come for you. Also one to me from Ernest. 1 The Yacht Alice has been here for a day, and sailed again for Bar Harbor this morning. ι 5 5

AMONG

THE

BREAKERS

2

It must be very warm in Ipswich, it is so unusually warm here by the sea. Do not expose yourself too much. Let me know when to look for you, as I cannot stay beyond the middle or end of next week. Day before Yesterday, Sunday, afternoon we were at Highfield, with all the yachters. Yesterday the girls sailed down the bay to Cushing's Island. Such is the brief chronicle of events thus far. Always, with every body's love H.W.L MANUSCRIPT: Massachusetts Historical Society. 1. Dated from London, July 2, 1876. 2. Edith and U n a Farley had left Newport (see 3 8 4 5 . 1 ) and were now under the protection of "Rev. J . C . Smith, Briar Hill, Ipswich, Mass." See Edith's letter of July 1 7 . Smith was presumably Rev. John Cotton Smith ( 1 8 2 6 - 1 8 8 2 ) , a Bowdoin graduate of 1 8 4 7 and rector of the Church of the Ascension, N e w York City.

3853.

T o George Washington

Greene

Portland. July 19. 1876 In Carey's "American Museum," Vol VI. [July 1789] p. 86 is "An Epitaph — intended for the monument of major general Greene. By William Pierce esq. of Savannah." 1 It begins: "Like other things this marble must decay." I suppose you have it. H.W.L. MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection, Greenwich / R.I.

ADDRESS: Professor Geo W . Greene / East

POSTMARK: PORTLAND M E . J U L 1 9 2 P M

i. William Leigh Pierce (c. 1 7 4 0 - 1 7 8 9 ) , Revolutionary soldier, had been aide-decamp to Gen. Greene.

3854.

To Edith

Longfellow

Portland July 21. 1876. My Darling Edith, Thanks for your two billets-doux,1 which tell me you are well and happy. And here is another foreign letter for you, and a domestic one. I hope they will reach you safely. Did any one write to you of Hannah Talbot's 2 narrow escape from drowning? On the Yacht excursion down the Bay on Monday she went to bathe with the others; swam into the eel-grass, and instead of putting her feet down, 156

PORTLAND,

1876

threw up her hands and sank. Luckily Alice and Annie came in time to her rescue and saved her. Such is the account given me by Mr. Talbot. 3 Alice, who was here on Monday evening never said a word about it; probably regarding it as too trivial an occurrence in the life of a mariner to be mentioned. There is never any danger when girls go bathing alone. Nevertheless, perhaps you had better not bathe alone in Ipswich River. Another adventure. Bessie and Lucia and others went down to the Islands yesterday. In the afternoon Sarah [Weiss] drove in for them, and waited on the wharf till they arrived in the midst of a tremendous thunder-storm. They reached Highfield, where we were taking tea, safely, but pretty thoroughly wet. No danger. This morning they are alive and well. I should like to go home on Wednesday or Thursday of next week. You may like to stay a little longer here, which can be done. H.W.L. MANUSCRIPT: Massachusetts Historical Society. 1. Dated July 1 7 and 19. 2. Hannah Lincoln Talbot (d. 1939, aged eighty-two) was the sister of Thomas Lincoln Talbot ( 3 2 2 5 . 3 ) . 3. George Foster Talbot ( 1 8 1 9 - 1 9 0 7 ) , a Bowdoin graduate of 1 8 3 7 and a Portland lawyer, was the father of Thomas Lincoln Talbot.

3855.

To O. S. Bragdon1

Portland. July 25. 1876. Dear Miss Bragdon, After date please send no more letters. I return tomorrow, Wednesday. Yours truly Henry W . Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: Boston Public Library. ι . Miss Bragdon was acting chief clerk of the Cambridge Station Post Office (Sampson, Davenport, & Company, Boston Almanac and Business Directory, 1876, p. 1 1 5 ) .

3856.

To George Washington

Greene Portland. July 25. 1876

I go back to Cambridge tomorrow. H.W.L. From the American Museum Vol. VI. [July 1789] p. 86 An Epitaph — intended for the monument of major general Greene. By William Pierce, esq. of Savannah. ι 57

AMONG

THE

BREAKERS

Like other things, this marble must decay, The cyphered characters shall fade away, And nought but ruin mark this sacred spot, Where Greene's interr'd, — perhaps the place forgot, But time immeasur'd, shall preserve his name Through distant ages shall roll on his fame, And in the heart of ev'ry good man, raise A lasting monument of matchless praise. MANUSCRIPT: Joanna Meader, Edgewood, R.I.

3857.

To Mary Potter Thacher

Camb. July 28. 1876. Dear Miss Mary, Your letter was forwarded to me at Portland, where I have been for the last ten days. I am inclined to think you are right in not putting "Cape May" into the volume, if you have enough without it. It is perhaps a little open to the objection you make. 1 I thank you for the Dedication, which is at once simple and complimentary.2 As to a motto for the title-page, what should you say to this1? "That which some would call idleness, I will call the sweetest part of my life, and that is my thinking." Owen Felltham.3 The sentence is very quaint and pretty, and will answer the purpose very well, if you think so. I have not seen Mr. Osgood since my return, nor has he yet sent me the ms. but I dare say he will do so before long. The "Cape May" paper I may as well keep till I see you, unless you wish for it. In Portland I saw your Aunt Eliza, but missed seeing your sister,4 which I much regretted. With kind remembrances Yours very truly Henry W. Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. 1. In her letter of M a y 2 1 Mary Thacher feared that the sketch "sounded too 'newspapery.' " 2. A s eventually printed, the dedication read: " T o / Henry W . Longfellow, / Whose Songs have Cheered so many Travellers / By the Wayside, / This little Volume / is, bypermission, / Gratefully Dedicated." 3. Although this quotation is attributed to Felltham ( I 6 O 2 ? - I 6 6 8 ) , it is not found in his Resolves, under "Idleness." 4. It is not clear which of Mary Thacher's four sisters is alluded to here.

158

CAMBRIDGE, 3858.

1876

To John Meredith Read

Cambridge July 30. 1876. My Dear Mr Read, I have had the pleasure of receiving your very interesting letter, and hasten to thank you for your kindness in writing it. 1 I remember distinctly the court-yard of the Hotel Mirabeau, and our visit to Sir Roderick Murchisson in his little room in the Rez-de-Chausee, and how genial and sympathetic he was, though suffering from the illness, which finally proved fatal. I thank you very much for all you say of his kindly feelings toward me.2 More touching still is what you tell me of M. Renouard. That is an incident I shall always remember with great satisfaction.3 Your Memorial Letter on the death of the Earl [of] Stanhope I have read with extreme interest.4 I knew him in London in 1868; and at his table sat between his beautiful wife 5 and still more beautiful daughter, Lady Beauchamp.® And now all three are dead, and we shall see them no more, "di qua dal suon dell' angelica tromba."7 I have just heard of Lady Beauchamp's death. I hope you are enjoying your residence in Athens. It can hardly be otherwise, unless long familiarity with the scenes around you takes away something from their romance. With all good wishes I am, my dear Mr. Read Yours faithfully Henry W . Longfellow MANUSCRIPT: N e w York State Library, ADDRESS: A Son Excellence / M . le ϋέηέΓβΙ Meredith Read / Ministre des Etats Unis d'Amerique / Athens. Grece. POSTMARKS : CAMBRIDGE STA. MASS J U L 3 1 / BOSTON PAID ALL DIRECT AUG 2

1 . In a letter of June 30 from Athens, where he was serving as U . S . minister, Read ( 3 2 4 3 · 3 ) had written at length about the Franco-Prussian War and about Longfellow's friends and admirers in the French capital. 2. Read had written: " H e [Murchison] was deeply touched . . . by your courtesy in visiting him . . . He spoke to me afterwards with great feeling of his high regard for your character and genius; and he referred in detail to many 'noble passages' in your poems. T h e old gentleman had evidently taken your writings and yourself into his heart. Your words had comforted and strengthened him in moments of pain and depression." Sir Roderick had died on October 22, 1 8 7 1 . 3. Having heard in December 1870 that his son had been arrested by the Germans, Augustin Charles Renouard ( 1 7 9 4 - 1 8 7 8 ) , French jurist and author, had relieved his "agony of spirit" by translating Longfellow's " A Psalm of L i f e . " Read described the effect of the exercise: " 'It has revived my spirits!' cried the old man eloquently]. 'It has refreshed my soul. It has given me new thoughts, new ideas of this life, and of the life to come. It has enabled me to bear the burdens laid upon me with a strength which flows directly from an earnest faith in God, and a vivid belief in a hereafter — things about which I never thought before.' " 4. The Death of Philip Henry, 5th Earl of Stanhope . . . A Memorial Letter to the Archmological Society of Greece (Athens, 1 8 7 6 ) . Stanhope ( 2 6 7 9 . 1 ) had died on December 24, 1875.

ι 59

AMONG THE

BREAKERS

5. Stanhope had married Emily Harriet Kerrison ( 1 8 1 5 - 1 8 7 3 ) in 1 8 3 4 . 6. Mary Catherine Stanhope C 1 8 4 4 - 1 8 7 6 ) had married Frederick, 6th Earl Beauchamp ( 1 8 3 0 - 1 8 9 1 ) in 1868. She had died on June 30. 7. Inferno, V I , 9 5 : " T h i s side the sound of the angelic trumpet."

3859.

To George Washington Greene

Camb. July 31 1876. My Dear Greene, Rain! Rain all night long in a steady pour; and to-day "Rain continued," like a washy article in a Magazine. My visit to Portland was rather melancholy than otherwise. The old familiar places, but not the old familiar faces! It became oppressive, and I was not sorry to get back again. Ernest and his wife are passing the Summer at Villiers-la-bel, near Paris. They have taken a maison de Campagne with Frank Boot and his daughter, in the neighborhood of Couture, under whose direction they are pursuing their artistic studies, and are as happy as birds in the building season.1 Charlie, Alice and Annie are still yachting down the coast of Maine, and Edith is here with me. Such is my family chronicle. I am sorry to hear of your continued weakness. There ought to be somewhere some remedy for this. But where and what is it? Let me hear from you soon. I have begun the printing of Scotland; and am not a little embarrassed by the great quantity of material on hand. When I cross the Channel and get to the Continent, I shall not be so much troubled. H.W.L. p.s. Norton was here yesterday, and asked most kindly after you.

2

MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. 1. For Emest Longfellow's reminiscences of Thomas Couture ( 1 8 1 5 - 1 8 7 9 ) , French portrait, historical, and genre painter, see Random Memories (Boston and N e w York, 1 9 2 2 ) , pp. 1 7 7 - 2 0 3 . Francis Boott ( 1 8 1 3 - 1 9 0 4 ) , prolific composer of secular and sacred songs, was a Harvard graduate of 1 8 3 1 ; his daughter Elizabeth (b. 1 8 4 6 ) , an artist, was also studying with Couture. 2. A check for $ 5 0 accompanied the manuscript ( M S Letter Calendar).

3860.

To Luigi Monti

Camb. July 31 1876. Dear Mr Monti, I have just returned from Portland, and hasten to send you the Song for Mr. Cirillo. Pardon the delay.1 160

CAMBRIDGE,

1876

During the hot weather you must have found your nest at Nahant delicious. But now in the east-wind and the rain, Boston is perhaps better. Professor Horsford has been here, and asked me if you would accept the office of Austrian Consul in Boston. I told him it was a question, which you alone could answer. 2 I do not venture to ask you to come to Cambridge, as I do not know how long I shall be here. Yours always H.W.L Song. If thou art sleeping, maiden, Awake and open thy door; 'Tis the break of day, and we must away O'er meadow and mount and moor. Wait not to find thy slippers, But come with thy naked feet; W e shall have to pass through the dewy grass, And waters wide and fleet. MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. 1. This song, a translation from the Portuguese of Gil Vicente, appeared first in The Spanish Student, Act III, Scene vi (Works, I, 1 8 0 - 1 8 1 ) . See 3 8 2 9 . 1 . 2. Monti apparently answered in the negative.

3860a.

T o Jean-Baptiste

Frangois Ernest de

Chatelain Cambridge

Aug 2 1876.

Dear Chevalier de Chatelain, I have just received the melancholy tidings you have sent me, and I am sorrowing with your sorrow. Very deeply do I sympathize with you. From my own sad experience I know what your grief is. I cannot comfort you with words. I can only press your hand in silence. 1 M y thoughts go back to the day when I visited you in London eight years ago. You seemed so happy together, you and Madame de Chatelain, — in your beautiful house! I shall always have that picture before me; the picture of domestic peace, that in former days won for you the "Flitch of Dunmow." 2 It is now a long time, my Dear Chevalier, since I have written to you. T h e reason is, that for the last year and a half I have been suffering with a severe and obstinate attack of Neuralgia in the head, which has in a great degree incapacitated me for much reading or writing. 161

AMONG

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BREAKERS

But the volumes you have been kind enough to send me I have read with the greatest interest. You are always so young, and so full of vivacity. With deep sympathy and affectionate remembrance Yours faithfully Henry W . Longfellow MANUSCRIPT: University of Washington Library, ADDRESS: Le Chevalier de Chatelain. / Castelnau Lodge. / 20 Warwick Crescent / Westbourne Terrace Row / London P O S T M A R K S : C A M B R I D G E M A S S A U G 3 / BOSTON AUG 3 PAID / LONDON-W A F AU 1 6

76

1. Clara de Chatelain ( 1 4 3 6 . 4 ) had died insane in London on June 30. 2. According to a custom originating in Dunmow, Essex, a flitch of bacon was awarded to any couple swearing that they had not quarreled or repented of their marriage during its first year and a day.

3861.

To Edith

Longfellow

Camb. Aug 3. 1876. My Darling Edith, Never mind. It was rather hard for you not to find Sarah waiting for you; but they will be so glad to see you in Portland, that you will forget your disappointment soon.1 To-day is a perfect Summer day. No one has been here but an enthusiastic student from the Wesleyan University of Illinois, who is in quest of historic houses. All has been as quiet as a Sunday. At noon Uncle Tom and Charley left us to go to Newport in the yacht; and this afternoon I have been with Annie to see the Horsfords. I have passed the day in writing letters, and in reading an English novel called "He that overcometh,"2 a very good novel, and very well written. I think you will like it. It is now eight o'clock, and the moon is rising in full splendor. Annie has gone to Mardie Wyman's, and is probably in perfect delight with the scene. No letters have come for you to-day; so you must be content with these few lines. Alice goes down tomorrow, and will bring them to you, with the net you sent for. Your constant and affectionate lover H.W.L MANUSCRIPT: Massachusetts Historical Society. 1. In a letter of August 2 Edith had written: "Sarah Weiss went a few hours before we arrived, and I feel far from happy. I don't know, now, why I came down [to Portland] except I wanted so much to be here with Sarah and the other girls." 2. William Edwin Boardman, He That Overcometh; don, 1 8 6 9 ) .

162

or, A Conquering

Gospel (Lon-

CAMBRIDGE, 3862.

1876

To Karl Witte

Cambridge, Aug. 4, 1876. As yet I have read only your "Vorwort" 1 and have been much interested in what you say of the great requisites of any and all translations. Your illustration of the majestätischen Wellenschlag des Dante'schen Werkes is very striking and beautiful! And how true it is. T h e verse has a stately music of its own, and the translator, who does not keep step to it, fails to render one of Dante's chief characteristics. MANUSCRIPT: unrecovered; text from Item 1 0 1 6 , Hiersemann Katalog 6 1 7 n.d.). ι. T o Dante Allighieri's (Berlin, 1 8 7 6 ) , 2 vols. For in the Longfellow House, Emerson Society Quarterly,

3863.

(Leipzig,

Göttliche Komödie, uebersetzt von Karl Witte. Dritte ausgabe Witte's letter of July 28, laid in the first volume of this work see J. Chesley Mathews, "Longfellow's Dante Collection," No. 62 (Winter 1 9 7 1 ) , p. 16.

T o George Washington

Greene

Camb. Aug. 5. 1876. M y Dear Greene T h e document you send me and which I return, is certainly rather discouraging. Still do not be discouraged, nor "bate one jot of heart or hope, but steer right on." 1 I wish you could banish forever the ghost that haunts you. You must not worry yourself to death about what can not be helped. You have done your duty, and the truth will prevail. Drive the whole subject from your thoughts; and remember " L a gioja dei profani £ un fumo passaggier." 2 I suppose you can hardly do much work in these Summer days. At all events I cannot, though I go on steadily with what I have in hand. M y heart is now in the Highlands. 3 By the paragraph at the head of this letter you will see where Owen is. He is enjoying himself like a school-boy in vacation. 4 This week I have had three separate parcels of ms. poems sent to me for criticism. All rubbish. But it is vexation of spirit to answer the letters that come with them, and I am weary of it. Summer is in its perfection. So is Cambridge; though two of my girls have gone down to my brother Alex's Silver Wedding. H.W.L p.s. Mrs Schoolcraft wants me to write a poem on her husband who has been dead these ten years or more. 5 163

AMONG THE

BREAKERS

MANUSCRIPT: L o n g f e l l o w T r u s t Collection. 1. C f . Milton, " T o M r . Cyriack Skinner u p o n his B l i n d n e s s , " 11. 7 - 9 . In a letter of A u g u s t 2 G r e e n e h a d written: " I enclose you H u r d & H o u g h t o n ' s statement of the last six months — by which you will see w h a t a disgraceful pecuniary failure the G e n G r e e n e is. I a m completely disheartened. Bancroft's n e w edition is a complete success. I a m too sick to write m o r e . " T h e Centenary Edition of Bancroft's History of the United States of America, from the Discovery of the Continent h a d just been published by Little, Brown & C o m p a n y in Boston. 2. G a e t a n o Donizetti, hucrezia Borgia, Act II, S c e n e v : " T h e joy of p r o f a n e life / Is a transitory v a p o r . " 3. C f . Robert B u r n s , " M y Heart's in the H i g h l a n d s . " 4. T h e following clipping from the C a m b r i d g e Chronicle, X X X I ( A u g u s t 5, 1 8 7 6 ) , 4, is pasted at the head of the letter: " — J o h n O w e n , E s q . , of D a n a Hill, is at St. J o h n , N . B . , as guest of the H o n . T h o m a s W . C l a r k . " T h o m a s W i l l i a m C l a r k e ( 1 8 3 4 - 1 8 9 5 ) , H a r v a r d 1855, was a lawyer of 29 Pemberton S q u a r e , Boston. 5. In a lugubrious letter of A u g u s t 1 M a r y H o w a r d Schoolcraft ( 1 8 1 2 - 1 8 7 8 ) h a d catalogued the difficulties of her family, emphasizing particularly her husband's "martyrd o m of p a i n " d u r i n g the hours b e f o r e his death on D e c e m b e r 10, 1864. L o n g f e l l o w ' s response to her request for " s o m e verses of your immortal poetry inscribed to Schoolcraft's m e m o r y , " dated A u g u s t 5 ( M S Letter C a l e n d a r ) , is unrecovered.

3864.

To Ernest Wadsworth

Longfellow

Camb. Aug. 5. 1876. M y Dear Ernest, I am delighted to learn by your letter from London, and by those that have come later from Villiers-le-Bel, 1 that all has gone well with you. It was a brilliant idea, that of taking the maison de Campagne, and almost makes me wish I had gone with you. It must be very charming. W h e n you go to Paris do not fail to call upon Healy, 66 R u e de la Rochefoucauld. H e has a delightful studio, I hear, and will know all the artists. Call also on M . Marmier, 1 R u e Thomas d'Aquin, and say all manner of kind things from me. A n d do not forget the one dozen cotton shirts at Boivin's, R u e Castiglione, N o of measure 26038, made in all respects like the last. Some agent or banker will take charge of them, and send them direct from Havre to Boston. T h e other day I passed to your account, for Mamie, two hundred dollars. S h e will like some pocket money in Paris for boots and gloves. Ask her to accept it with my love. 2 To-morrow is her father's and mother's Silver Wedding. Alice and Edith have gone down to represent the Craigie House on the occasion. Charley has gone to Newport with U n c l e T o m in the yacht. T h i s is a beautiful Summer afternoon. T h e Brighton meadows are full of sunshine. Craigie House is already in the shade. W e l c h is watering the grass in front. Annie and Mardie W y m a n have driven in to see the Art Museum now open. 3 164

CAMBRIDGE,

1876

A few days ago I had a call from General Sir Richard Wilbraham, 4 who met you in Switzerland. He enquired with interest about you and Harriet. H e dined and passed the evening with us, and was very pleasant. A party of sight-seers has just been here from Illinois and elsewhere. T h e y all called me "General," and perhaps mistook me for General Washington, or " G . Washington," as another visitor yesterday irreverently called the Father of his Country. T h e Centennial Year brings its inconveniences as well as its pleasures. I hope you find Couture aimiable, and useful, and that your art-studies are to your taste. Love from all, and kind remembrances to M r Boote and his daughter. H.W.L. MANUSCRIPT: unrecovered; text from photostat, Longfellow Trust Collection fellow House).

(Long-

1. Ernest's letter from London is dated July 2, 1 8 7 6 ; those from Villiers-le-Bel are unrecovered. 2. Mary King Longfellow ( 1 2 8 3 . 3 ) had accompanied Ernest and his wife to Europe. She returned in September. 3. T h e Museum of Fine Arts, incorporated in 1870, opened officially on July 3, 1 8 7 6 , the center building and one wing having been completed. 4. General Wilbraham ( 1 8 1 1 - 1 9 0 0 ) , K.C.B., had been an officer with the Royal Fusiliers.

3865.

T o Frances Rowena

Miller

Camb. Aug 6. 1876. M y Dear F . R . M . I wrote you last on the 19th of July from Portland, 1 and directed my letter to the Casa Vocalizia [in Milan], where you will find it on returning from your Summer Tour. To-day I have the pleasure of receiving yours from lovely Interlaken, and perceive by the first sentence, 2 that you have never read "Hyperion." D o get the Tauchnitz edition, and see if our impressions of Interlaken, Heidelberg and the Rhine agree. It is a strange notion of yours to want to see Heidelberg in Winter. T h e old castle and its gardens are in all their glory in Summer only. But as I said in my last letter, I want to know more about yourself than about your surroundings; your studies, your voice, your music, and what you are thinking and feeling; and whether you are very ambitious to appear in Opera, or care more for the less-exciting but safer Church-Choir and Concertroom. Tell me of these things. Your tour in Switzerland will be a great refreshment to you. But when one is sad and sorrowful, there is a kind of terror in mountain scenery. I have often felt it. 165

AMONG

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BREAKERS

Have you given up writing for the "[Cambridge] Press"? I look in vain for your letters; and for those "swallow flights of song,"3 some of which I hoped were meant for me. I hope the burden of your great sorrow is somewhat lightened or lifted from you. Such things are hard to bear when one is alone among strangers.4 When shall you come home again? You have been so long away you will have forgotten the faces of your friends. Always affectionately H.W.L MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. ι. This letter is unrecovered. 2. "Are you familiar with all the beautiful scenery about Interlaken that you may enjoy with me the scenes I have visited today?" (Letter dated July 23, 1876). 3. Tennyson, In Memoriam, Part XLVIII, Stanza 4,1. 3. 4. In a sentimental letter of May 29, 1876, Miss Miller had announced the death of her mother.

3866.

To Horace Elisha Scudder

Camb. Aug. 8. 1876 Dear Mr Scudder, I wish I could tell you the authors of the pieces you mention, but unfortunately I cannot. I either never knew or have forgotten.1 Perhaps in some Records of the Atlantic, some list of payments to contributors, the names may be found. I know not where else to look. I hope for your sake the country is not as hot as the town. But I fear it is. One of the hottest Summers I ever passed was at Pittsfield. Regretting my inability to answer your questions, Yours very truly Henry W. Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: Boston Athenaeum. i. In a letter of August 7 from Shirley, Mass., Scudder had asked Longfellow who wrote "To a Poet on His Birthday" ( 1 2 2 9 . 2 ) and the review entitled "Longfellow's Translation of Dante's Divina Commedia" ( 2 5 3 3 . 2 ) , both of which had appeared in the Atlantic Monthly. Longfellow surprisingly forgets the names of Annie Fields and George Washington Greene.

166

CAMBRIDGE, 3867.

1876

To Ruth Martin Bonner

Camb. Aug 1 1 . 1876. Dear Miss Ruth, It is a very long time that we have not had the pleasure of seeing you in Cambridge, and I fear you may have been ill with the excessive heat, but hope not. Please say what day next week you will come and lunch with us at one o'clock, or if that is not convenient at what hour you will come. Have you any tidings of your sister Kate? She ought to be here soon, if she carries out her original plans. I think I told you that I saw her friend Miss Boardman in Philadelphia. She expects to be here sometime this month. It would be very pleasant to see you all together once more. Yours very truly Henry W . Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: David McDowell, III, Batesville, Miss.

3868.

To Apphia Horner Howard

Cambridge Aug 13. 1876. M y Dear Mrs Howard, Your very interesting letter has given me a far clearer view of Greene's situation, than I could gather from any of his own letters, or could have got in any other way, short of personal observation.1 How fortunate it was, that you went just at the time you did. I knew that a visit from you would do him more good than any medicine. I am sure that your presence comforted and consoled them greatly. I have seen Dr. Wesselhoeft since his return. He thinks that Greene's nervous system is in a sad condition, but the attack not so violent as the one he had last year. In his opinion mental worry is the chief cause; and "who can minister to a mind diseased,"2 unless it be such good and sympathizing friends as yourself? Therefore I pray you to go once more, even at some little personal inconvenience. Meanwhile I hope you are getting the needed rest and strength at Newport, and am, with many thanks for your letter, Yours very truly Henry W . Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: Haverhill Public Library. 1. In an eight-page letter from Windmill Cottage on August 8, Mrs. Howard had reported a visit to Greene and described his sleeplessness, mental depression, physical prostration, restlessness, and other complaints^ 2. Macbeth, V, iii, 40.

167

AMONG 3869.

THE

BREAKERS

To James Ripley Osgood

Camb. Aug 13 1876 Dear Mr Osgood Please send Miss Thacher's ms. as soon as convenient and oblige Yours truly H.W.L. MANUSCRIPT: N e w York Public Library (Seligman Collection).

3870.

To George Washington

Greene

Camb. Aug 14. 1876. My Dear Greene, I am quite worn out with the heat and worry of the day; but before going to bed I must write a line or two to thank you for your last letter,1 and to tell you that I have seen Dr Wesse [l]hoeft, and had a long letter from Mrs. Howard. The Doctor thinks your present attack similar to the one of last year, but not so violent; and the cause chiefly mental. That is what I have long feared. Painful thoughts and meditations on painful themes in sleepless nights are enough to wear out the strongest man. Ah me! if it were only possible for you to let things take their course, and not worry about them, all would come out well at last. Mrs Howard was evidently delighted with her visit. I wish she could have stayed longer with you, she is so courageous and cheerful. But, just now, she has sorrows of her own, 2 and needs rest and refreshment, and freedom from care and anxiety. I hope she may find them at Newport. For my own part I am about as sleepless as you are. I get great relief from a few inhalations of ether; only a little at a time; and mixed with a good deal of atmospheric air, so that there is no danger. You will think this a heresy; I think it a blessing; and as I feel no evil effects from it in the morning and sleep soundly at night, I have reason to think so. H.W.L MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. 1. Dated August 10, complaining about his health. 2. A reference to the death of her brother. See Letter No. 3849.

168

CAMBRIDGE, 3871.

To George Washington

1876

Greene

Camb. Aug 15. 1876. My Dear Greene, I met Sophocles in the street yesterday afternoon, and asked him to come and dine with me. He said he could not, because he had no waistcoat on, and the young ladies would not like it. I told him he could button his coat and the young ladies would not know it. Then he said he was not hungry, as he had just eaten fourteen peaches with bread! So I left him at a friend's garden gate, where he keeps hens, which he calls his "babies." I forgot in my last letter to tell you what Mrs Howard said of your History of Rhode Island. Here it is. "Greene's History is one of the clearest and best things he has ever written. If he gets able, he can finish it in a few weeks. It will be an addition to our national literature." 1 There, now, is something not meant for your eye, which is very pleasant to read. The heat has been very oppressive to-day. I wanted to go to bed at sunset, but thought it cowardly, and have made up my mind to sit up till nine o'clock, the New England Curfew. The Art Museum in Boston would please you greatly. More of that in my next. H.W.L. MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. i. Letter dated August 10. Longfellow has truncated the first sentence of the quotation, which continues "and well it may be, since at his best, it takes him an hour to write a page of the size I am now using."

3872.

To James Russell Lowell Camb. Aug. 2.0. 1876

My Dear Lowell I will come with the greatest pleasure. Yours always Henry W . Longfellow MANUSCRIPT: New-York Historical Society.

169

AMONG 3873.

THE BREAKERS

T o Robert S. Voorhis1 Cambridge Mass August 22, [18716 8 31 P M

R S Voorhies StL Draw for one hundred. Sent fifty last week. Please write. Η W

Longfellow 2

MANUSCRIPT: Berg Collection, New York Public Library. 1. Voorhis, a lawyer of St. Louis, had become involved in the affairs of Longfellow's nephew Stephen, either as friend or legal counselor. T h e only known facts of Stephen's situation at this time are that he was living in St. Louis with a woman named Garcia I. Longfellow, who was presumably his wife, that he was unemployed and in constant need of funds, and that Longfellow provided assistance through Voorhis. T h e letters of Voorhis to Longfellow have not survived and the details of the relationship must remain obscure.

2. This message, in an unidentified hand, is on a Western Union Telegraph form.

3874.

T o Mary Potter Thacher

Carnb. Aug 25. 1876. Dear Miss Mary, Could you come and see me Saturday afternoon or Sunday morning? Mr Osgood wishes to announce your book in his list for the Autumn. Shall it be with your name or without? And then the title, are you fully satisfied with the one proposed? Mr Ticknor thinks it comes a little too near "Seaside and Fireside." How should you like "Seashore and Inland"? Please think this over.1 Yours very truly H.W.L. p.s. I have just got the ms. from Mr. Osgood, who has been absent for a while. I have not yet had time to examine it. MANUSCRIPT: Henry E. Huntington Library, i . See 3836.1 and Letter No. 3848.

170

CAMBRIDGE, 3875.

1876

To Lewis Jacob Cist

Camb. Aug 27. 1876. Dear Sir, I have just received your letter, and hasten to comply with your request.1 I return the photograph duly signed and endorsed, and send with it an autograph for your friend in Denmark, and a list of my books since 1863. Many thanks for the poems you are kind enough to send me. I particularly like the "Invocation," which is very tender and touching. In great haste Yours very truly Henry W . Longfellow. 1866. 1867. 1868. 1871. 1872. 1873. 1874. 00

Flower-de-Luce — Dante. Divina Com. New Eng. Tragedies Divine Tragedy Three Books of Song Aftermath . . . Hanging of the Crane Masque of Pandora MANUSCRIPT: U n i v e r s i t y of T e x a s L i b r a r y .

i . I n a letter of A u g u s t 2 4 C i s t ( 2 2 2 9 . 1 ) , n o w secretary of the Zoological Society of C i n c i n n a t i , had asked L o n g f e l l o w for information to b r i n g his autograph collection u p to date.

3876.

To Eduard

Engel1

Cambridge Aug 28. 1876. My Dear Sir, I have had the pleasure of receiving your letter, and the No of the NationalZeitung containing your very friendly notice of my last volumes, and hasten to thank you for this mark of your regard and consideration. As I read your remarks I thought you now and then perhaps a little hypercritical in tracing out resemblances, or in emphasizing them too strongly; but the whole tone of the article is so sympathetic, that I will not complain of this. One trivial error I wish to point out. It is where you say, that I have written nothing in prose. This is a mistake; for there are three books of mine in prose; "Outre-Mer"; — "Hyperion" and "Kavana[g]h." This is not of much importance, but worth notice in passing.

ι 7ι

AMONG

THE

BREAKERS

Accept, I beg you, my cordial thanks, both for your letter and for your article, and believe me, With best wishes Yours truly Henry W . Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: University of Washington Library. i. With a letter of August 1 2 Engel ( 1 8 5 2 - 1 9 3 8 ) , a civil servant in the German Reichstag and subsequently a well-known literary historian, had sent a copy of his review of Longfellow's recent poetical works in the Berlin Νationalzeitung, X X I X (July 14, 1876), 2-3.

3877.

To George Washington

Greene

Camb. Aug 30. 1876. My Dear Greene, Mrs Howard called on her homeward way, and gave me a very good account of you. She said you were at work again, which is cheering news. This only shows that you must not be downcast at every gust of illness that blows upon you. I send you enclosed my monthly greeting;1 but my eyes are too weary to night for further writing. H.W.L. MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection, i. A check for $ 5 0 ( M S Letter Calendar).

3878.

To Anne Allegra

Longfellow

Camb. Aug 30. 1876. My Darling Panzie, I wonder how many letters there are in the world, or have been, beginning; "I have been meaning to write to you." I will not add another to the list, but begin by thanking you for your letter, and saying how glad I was to get it. I return the advertisement of Paul Lacombe's Petite Histoire. That I suppose is the book Miss Wall proposes to translate, and not Alvergnat's Hand Book on the other page. Whichever it is, she ought to secure a publisher before beginning the work; and the best and most direct way is to see the publishers personally, and show them the book. I should begin with Little and Brown, as they are the chief dealers in works of history. Failing with them I should next try Hurd & Houghton. 1 We have had a great many callers of late. To-day came the son and daughter of the Bishop of Carlisle, 2 with a letter from Mr. Ferguson. They dine 172

CAMBRIDGE,

1876

with us tomorrow; and are very pleasant people. They have been passing three weeks at Mt Desert, and saw aunt Mary [Longfellow Greenleaf] on the Steamer. It is a lovely night and I think of you by the light of the moon, just rising over the chestnut tree. The white cat is enjoying it all alone on the verandah. Birds now come into the bed-rooms at night, and fly about distracted! Love to all, and to you most of all. H.W.L. MANUSCRIPT: Alice Allegra Thorp Estate (on deposit, Longfellow House). 1. Miss Wall ( 2 9 7 6 . 1 ) eventually found a publisher in Henry A. Young & Company, Boston. See A Short History of the French People, tr. from the French of Paul Lacombe (Boston, 1878). 2. Harvey Goodwin ( 1 8 1 8 - 1 8 9 1 ) , bishop of Carlisle, 1 8 6 9 - 1 8 9 1 , had three sons and four daughters. On August 31 Longfellow wrote in his journal: "Mr Goodwin and his sister, son and daughter of the Bishop of Carlisle, at dinner." They are not more closely identified.

3879.

To Nathan ). A.

Rindskopf1

Camb Aug 3 1 . 1876. Dear Sir, I have received your letter, and hasten to thank you and your associates for the honor you have done me in electing me an honorary member of your Club. Understanding it to be purely a literary Club and in no way political, it gives me great pleasure to receive and accept this mark of your consideration. With best wishes Yours truly Henry W . Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: Harvard College Library, Tenn.

ADDRESS:

Mr N .

Rindskopf / Memphis. /

POSTMARK: CAMBRIDGE STA. MASS, SEP I

Ι . Rindskopf, a bookkeeper, was secretary of the Philematique Club, a recently organized literary society of Memphis, Tenn. His letter announcing Longfellow's election to honorary membership is dated August 25, 1876.

3880.

To Alexander Denhatn & Company Camb. Sept. 6. 1876.

Dear Sir, Please send me from your July list No 41 Rasselas 57 The Romany Rye 1 Yours truly Henry W . Longfellow ι 73

AMONG

THE

BREAKERS

MANUSCRIPT: unrecovered; text from typewritten transcript, Longfellow Trust Collection (Longfellow House), ι . In an acknowledgment of September 7, Denham & Company reported that George Borrow's Romany

Rye

was no longer available and that Samuel Johnson's

Rasselas

would be shipped with Longfellow's order of September 4 (unrecovered).

3881.

To Henry Fowle Durant

Camb. Sept 6. 1876. My Dear Sir, It gives me great pleasure to comply with your request.1 I have copied the poem and had it framed for you. It will be sent by Express tomorrow. I hope you will like the style in which it is done. I made several experiments, and found it impossible to bring the verses into a smaller compass without crowding. I have such pleasant recollections of Wellesley, that I shall be most happy to come again if I can find a leisure day. With kind remembrances to Mrs Durant, and to the Captain and the crew of the Evangeline, Yours very truly Henry W . Longfellow MANUSCRIPT: Wellesley College Library, ley College. / Wellesley. / Mass.

ADDRESS: Henry F. Durant Esqre / Welles-

POSTMARK: CAMBRIDGE STA. MASS. SEP 6

ι . In a letter of August 28 Durant had asked for a copy of " A Psalm of Life," which he wished to frame and place beneath Longfellow's portrait in the college library.

3882.

To Robert S. Voorhis

Cambridge Mass 6 Sept [187] 6 10 10 pm R. S. Voorhies 3 1 2 Ν 6th st St L Have paid first draft. Cannot accept anymore. H. W . Longfellow 1 MANUSCRIPT; Berg Collection, N e w York Public Library. ι. Written in another hand on a Western Union Telegraph form.

I 74

CAMBRIDGE, 3883.

1876

To Robert S. Voorhis

Cambridge Sept 6. 1876. My Dear Sir, I am much obliged to you for your two letters1 concerning my unfortunate nephew; and I should have written to you sooner, but have been waiting to hear directly from him. As yet, however, he has not written a line. His habit of intemperance is too well known to us. It has been the distress and despair of his family for many years. Under such circumstances it is useless and worse than useless to send him money; and if he thinks he can draw upon me at all times, he will lose every motive for exertion. Having paid his first draft for one hundred dollars, I feel obliged to protest the second, which your 11 . . . [ |2 unpleasant and deplorable piece of business, and I regret extremely that you should have been troubled with it. Thanking you all the more for your kindness, I am, my Dear Sir, [closing and signature cut away] MANUSCRIPT:

Berg Collection, New York Public Library.

1. Unrecovered. 2. About fifteen words missing from mutilation.

3884.

To George Washington

Greene

Camb. Sept 10. 1876. My Dear Greene, Who is Ginn, 1 to begin with? I never heard of him before. Do you mean Gill 2 of Boston? I do not think he is in the School-Book line. I send you enclosed the advertisement of Ivison & Co. Ivison sounds like a Rhode Island name.3 So much the better. He would be likely to take all the more interest in your book, if he belongs to "the tight little State."4 Before acting, find out who are the best publishers of School Books. "Sweet is it to write the end of any book," says the old Transcriber. 5 I am glad you are so near the end of yours. When finished, take a long vacation. In regard to Ether, and the inhalation thereof, I beg you not to "listen with credulity to the whispers of fancy."® It will not do me any harm, for I am not taking it. A foolish man in Elmira has done me the honor of writing what he calls "A Paraphrase of the Courtship of Miles Standish"; which paraphrase consists in altering the lines enough to make them rhyme! I suggested to him that perhaps he might have employed his time and talent more profitably in writing an original work.7 H.W.L

175

AMONG

THE

BREAKERS

MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. 1. Edwin Ginn ( 1 8 3 8 - 1 9 1 4 ) , textbook publisher, founder of Ginn & Company, and at this time head of Ginn Brothers, 1 3 Tremont Street, Boston. 2. William Fearing Gill ( 1 8 4 4 - 1 9 1 7 ) , author of The Life of Edgar Allan Poe ( N e w York, Philadelphia, and Boston, 1 8 7 7 ) and a bookseller and publisher of 309 Washington Street, Boston. 3. Henry Ivison ( 1 8 0 8 - 1 8 8 4 ) , Scottish-born publisher of textbooks, was a partner in Ivison, Blakeman, Taylor & Company, N e w York City. 4. A n echo of "A right little, tight little Island" from The Snug Little Island by the English song writer and dramatist Thomas John Dibdin ( 1 7 7 1 - 1 8 4 1 ) . 5. Longfellow refers to himself as the transcriber of Poems of Places. 6. Samuel Johnson, Rasselas, Ch. I. In a letter of September 3 Greene had written, " D o be careful about that ether. Every once in a while I get thinking of it and it makes me very uneasy." 7. T h e "foolish man" was Ariel Standish Thurston ( 1 8 1 0 — 1 8 9 4 ) , a lawyer whose paraphrase of The Courtship of Miles Standish was published in Elmira, N . Y . , in 1876. See BAL, V , 6 3 5 . Longfellow's letter to Thurston of September 10 (acknowledged on September 1 4 ) is unrecovered.

3885.

To Ida Freiligrath Cambridge

Sept 12 1876.

Dear Mrs Freiligrath, How good you are to write to me again, and before I had answered your former letter! I should have written to you at once, for the letter was not lost as you feared, but I was prevented by absence from home, and by severe illness, — an attack of Neuralgia in the head, which has been very long and obstinate, and has incapacitated me from writing. At present I am somewhat better, but still far from well. I am sure you will pardon my long silence. The particulars of our dear Freiligrath's last days, which you sent me, were very interesting and very touching. So is the photograph; so peaceful, so pathetic in his last sleep. He leaves behind him only sweet and tender memories. He was so good, so noble, so generous in all things! Sometime ago I received a Prospectus of a Monument to be erected to his memory in the churchyard at Cannstadt. In my illness I could not attend to it as I wished and promised to do; and now I cannot find it, nor the letter of the gentleman who sent it to me. Please tell me what has been done about the monument, and whether it is now too late for me to take part in it. I suppose that you have now returned to Cannstadt, and I think of your grief on entering the familiar rooms, and not finding him. As Tennyson says; "He is not there; — but far away The noise of life begins again." 1 It is a great comfort to have such sweet and tranquil thoughts of his last hours, and that the end was painless. 176

CAMBRIDGE,

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"Then with no throb of fiery pain, No slow gradations of decay, Death broke at once the vital chain, And freed his soul the nearest way." 2 Always with affectionate remembrance, Yours faithfully Henry W . Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection, ι . In Memoriam,

Part VII, Stanza 3,11. 1-2.

2. Cf. Samuel Johnson, "On the Death of Dr. Robert Levet," 11. 33-36.

3886.

To Apphia Horner

Howard

Camb. Sept 15. 1876. Dear Mrs Howard, I have no doubt that celery is good to eat. W e know that wild celery is the food of the canvas-back duck, and gives its flesh a delicious flavor. Why should not the cultivated kind make us as sweet? I will at once forward the paragraph to Greene; and I think he will like the idea of so pleasant a medicine. It is given now in the shape of pills; "Dr C. W . Benson's Celery and Chamomile Pills. To cure Headaches, Neuralgia and Nervousness." I have seen a man, who says he was cured by them. But it is pleasanter to take the celery in its natural state; and I shall certainly urge our friend to eat it daily. I do not think he will need much urging, being constitutionally fond of salads. It will give me pleasure to send you a note of introduction to Mr. Childs, if you think it will be of any use.1 I do not. It would only subject you to a refusal. This I know from experience, having once written to him in favor of a lady, who wished to write for his paper. He declined at once, saying that he could not use her contributions. This means, that he has already all the writers he wants on his staff. He has one New York letter daily, and that is all he cares for. Greene writes me that his history [of Rhode Island] is nearly finished. I shall hope to see him soon. He should now take a long vacation. Always with great regard Yours very truly Henry W . Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: Haverhill Public Library, town. / Mass.

ADDRESS: Mrs. A. W . H. Howard. / George-

P O S T M A R K : CAMBRIDGE STA. MASS. SEP I 5

i. In her letter of September 13 Mrs. Howard had asked Longfellow to recommend her to George William Childs "with a view to certain literary ventures which I have in mind."

ι 77

AMONG 3887.

To Edith

THE

BREAKERS

Longfellow

Camb. Sept. 15. 1876. My lovely Edith, Your two postal cards1 have made me quite happy; and I wish I had time to-night to write you a letter. But I have not; for it is rather late at night, and I ought to be in bed. Miss Amy Fay, Lilian Horsford 2 and Mr Monti have been dining with us, and have just gone; and I have only a moment to say good night, and to enclose a letter just received, which I opened by accident. Finding a photograph in it, I signed it and return it. With love to Una and strict charge to Wad to take good care of you, Affectionately H.W.L. p.s. We send the Atlantic, as you desire. Don't forget to bring it back. MANUSCRIPT: Massachusetts Historical Society. ι. Unrecovered. Edith was in Bryn Mawr with U n a Farley and her cousin Alexander Wadsworth Longfellow to attend the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. 2. Mary Leila Lilian Horsford ( 1 8 4 8 - 1 9 2 7 ) , daughter of Professor Eben Norton Horsford ( 2 2 6 7 . 1 ) .

3888.

To Elihu Burritt

Cambridge Sept 16. 1876 Dear Mr Burritt, I have to-day had the pleasure of receiving your friendly letter, and the Album containing the Sanscrit version of the Psalm of Life by yourself and your young ladies of New Britain. 1 For this unique and beautiful present I beg you all and each to accept my warmest thanks. Be assured, that I prize most highly this mark of your remembrance and regard. I often think of you, Dear Mr. Burritt, and of all the sweet influences of your life. And now in the shades of New Britain, teaching Sanscrit to a class of young ladies! That must make you very happy. It certainly would me, if I could do it, which unluckily I could not, as I know not a word or letter of that venerable language. With kindest regards and renewed thanks to the young ladies, Yours always faithfully Henry W . Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: N e w Britain Public Library, i. See Life, III, 4 3 7 .

178

CAMBRIDGE, 3889.

1876

To George Lillie Craik

Camb. Sept 18. 1876. My Dear Sir, I send you to-day the Appendix for England in Poems of Places. 1 Should you reprint, I think it would be well to insert these pieces in their proper places. With pleasant remembrance of your visit, and good wishes for your safe return to England, Yours very truly Henry W. Longfellow. p.s. In Vol II. ρ 155, please change Cower St to Harley St. and the same in Contents. MANUSCRIPT : University of Washington Library. i. Craik ( 3 5 6 6 . 2 ) , in the United States on business, had called on Longfellow on September 3 to discuss an English edition of Poems of Places ( M S Journal). T w o volumes of the series, comprising England and Wales, were published by Macmillan & Company in 1 8 7 7 ( B A L 1 2 5 4 8 ) .

3890.

To Albert W.

Whelpley

Cambridge Sept 21 1876. My Dear Sir, I am very much obliged to you for your kind attention in sending me a copy of the Poems of George D. Prentice, and beg you to accept my thanks for this mark of your consideration and regard.1 The introductory sketch of Mr. Prentice's life has interested me very much, and among the poems I find many of marked character and merit. I should have thanked you sooner for your kindness, but have been prevented by many occupations and many interruptions. Please pardon the delay, and believe me Yours very truly Henry W. Longfellow. p.s. You say in your letter that you hope to be in Boston in September. I trust that you have not come and gone without giving me the pleasure of seeing you. MANUSCRIPT: Historical and Philosophical Society of Ohio. i. In a letter of August 31 Whelpley wrote that he had forwarded a copy of The Poems of George D. Prentice, ed. with a biographical sketch by John James Piatt (Cincinnati, 1 8 7 6 ) . George Denison Prentice ( 1 8 0 2 - 1 8 7 0 ) , a Brown graduate of 1823, was a minor poet and major journalist in Kentucky. I 79

AMONG THE 3891.

BREAKERS

To George Washington Greene

Camb. Sept 22. 1876. My Dear Greene How are you getting on these dark and rainy days? I hope the Equinoxial gale did no damage to the Windmill, and that you have been able to see your way through the last chapters of your History. I have asked Owen to find out about Ginn, and what kind of an establishment he has. An enterprizing young publisher, with few books on his list, is perhaps the best for your purpose. Not the Giant Despair, but the Giant DullTimes is the only fellow to be feared.1 At Mrs. Howard's request I send you an article on Celery. I wish Celery were Salary as some folks miscall it, and that you had a garden full of it. Four volumes of the Poems of Places are now out.2 When you come this way, you will find a copy in your room, with one of Witte's German Translation of the Divina Commedia.3 H.W.L. p.s. Dr Hastings, Sumner's brother-in-law, is here with his daughters.4 I have seen the eldest, who is very sweet and charming, reminding me of her mother. MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. 1. Longfellow alludes to the character in Pilgrim's Progress and to the economic sluggishness of the day. 2. Covering England and Wales ( B A L 1 2 1 7 2 - 1 2 1 7 5 ) . 3. See 3 8 6 2 . 1 . 4. Alice, Edith, and Julia Hastings.

3892.

To Rose Emily Fay

Camb. Sept 24. 1876. My Dear Rosa, Time flies; letters accumulate, and the undersigned is in despair that he has not sooner been able to answer your kind letter from the Enchanted Island.1 He will do it now; and will begin by mending his pen. No sooner mended than here come the girls, bringing home the Sunday mail. More books to be read; more letters to be answered! Your sister Amy dined with us yesterday, and after dinner played divinely. Mr. Monti did not come; so there was no battle royal between German and Italian music, as there was a week ago. This time it was all sympathetic; and the perfect hands made perfect harmony. I have heard of the Sensational Novel, that you three young ladies are writing, like the three Bronte sisters. It must be very interesting and amusing. I understand that as many people are killed in it as in one of Shakespear's 180

CAMBRIDGE,

1876

plays. I believe that all perish, myself among the rest; and that I am murdered, not at the foot of Mars' statue or Pompey's, but at the foot of the cellar stairs. Ignoble destiny! Edith will write to you to-day, and tell you all the news, which I have carefully avoided. With kindest remembrance Yours always Henry W. Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: University of Washington Library, ADDRESS: Miss Rose Fay. / Forest Hill Farm. / Grand Isle. / Vt. POSTMARK: BOSTON MASS, SEPT 24 PM i. Miss Fay had written from Grand Island, Vt., on September 1 3 .

3893.

To Luigi Monti

Camb. Sept 24 1876. Dear Mr Monti, I shall be most happy to see you and your friends whenever you can come.1 Please let me know the day and the hour, that I may be at home. Yours truly Henry W. Longfellow MANUSCRIPT: unrecovered; text from photostat, Longfellow Trust Collection (Longfellow House), PUBLISHED: Characters in "Tales of a Wayside Inn," pp. 1 6 8 - 1 6 9 . i. Monti had asked in a letter of September 2 2 if he might bring Vincenzo Cirillo ( 3 8 2 9 . 1 ) and Signor Luigi Zedeli of Rome to call and "have some fine Italian singing."

3894.

To George Washington Greene

Camb. Sept 29. 1876. My Dear Greene, The Poems of Places plod slowly on and on. We have reached Lammermoor in Scotland, and I shall be glad when her majesty's dominions are finished, and we can go to the Continent. Have you been able to get out of Rhode Island? or are you still a prisoner? I hope no future historian, reading these lines, will imagine, that we are defaulters trying to evade the Extradition Treaty! I have a letter from Tennyson, enclosing a paragraph from the Times, which says that he and his publishers had refused their permission to insert any of his poems in my collection.1 The letter is as follows 181

AMONG

THE

BREAKERS

"Woodbridge, Suffolk

Sept 15. 1876

M y dear Longfellow, Here in a little country town in Suffolk, I come upon this in the Times. I have had no word from yourself or Messrs [Henry S.] King & C o about your forthcoming publication. T h e y have my copyright in England for two years longer; but in America I give you full leave and shall be honoured by your insertion of anything of mine in your collection. Ever yours, my dear Longfellow, A. Tennyson. At present I am overwhelmed with visitors, some with letters of introduction, more without. Luckily I am pretty well, but alas! I cannot sleep. H.W.L. p.s. Enclosed is a paragraph of a different kind. 3 MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. 1 . T h e paragraph continued: "It is impossible to imagine in what way the Poet Laureate or his publishers would be injured had Mr. Longfellow's request been granted." London Times, No. 28,735 (September 15, 1 8 7 6 ) , 6. 2. As Tennyson states, Longfellow had never formally requested permission to print his poems in Poems of Places. Tennyson's publishers, Henry S. King & Co., reaffirmed that fact in a statement to the Times, No. 28,736 (September 16, 1 8 7 6 ) , 5. T h e matter was resolved to their satisfaction, however, when Macmillan & Co., acting on Longfellow's behalf, formally requested permission in a letter of October 23, 1876, to "use the extracts from Mr. Tennyson's poems in the volume of 'Poems on [sic] Places.' " See the London Athenaeum, No. 2558 (November 4, 1 8 7 6 ) , 594. 3. A check for $50 ( M S Letter Calendar).

3895.

T o James Ripley

Osgood1

Cambridge Sept 30. 1876 Dear Sir, I am happy to say that there is no truth whatever in the paragraph you send me. On the contrary, Mr. Tennyson has, in the handsomest manner, given me permission to use any of his poems. Yours truly Henry W . Longfellow MANUSCRIPT: unrecovered; text from typewritten transcript, Longfellow Trust Collection (Longfellow House). i . T h e identification is conjectural, but Osgood had written on September 30: " I see the statement going the rounds of the newspapers that you asked the consent of Mr Tennyson (or his publisher) to include in 'Poems of Places' certain of his poems and that the request was refused." ι 8 2

CAMBRIDGE, 3896.

1876

To Bayard Taylor

Camb. Sept 30. 1876 My Dear Taylor, A paragraph from the Tribune has been sent to me, stating that Tennyson had refused me permission to insert any of his poems in the collection I am making of Poems of Places.1 This is incorrect. On the contrary, Tennyson has given me leave to make use of any of his poems that suit my purpose, in the American Edition. Over the English he has no control, as his copy-right is in the hands of his publisher, and he has nothing to say on the subject. If you could set this matter right without bringing me into the field of vision, I should be much obliged to you. 2 I see you are to lecture in Cambridge, Oct 20. 3 Come and stay with me, and we will have a meeting of friends after Lecture. Yours always Henry W . Longfellow MANUSCRIPT: Henry E . Huntington Library. 1. See the N e w York Tribune, X X X V I , N o . 1 1 , 0 7 6 (September 28, 1 8 7 6 ) . 2. A correction appeared in the Tribune, X X X V I , No. IT,080 (October 3, 1 8 7 6 ) . 3 . O n the subject of Ancient Egypt before the Harvard Lyceum.

3897.

To Henry George

Hellon1

Cambridge n. Boston Oct 1. 1876. My Dear Sir, I hasten to thank you for your kindness in sending me a copy of your Poems, though I am sorry to say that it reaches me too late to avail myself of your courteous permission to insert some of its contents in the Collection I have now in hand. The volumes on England are already printed; but I am none the less obliged to you for this mark of your good will, and your interest in my work. A paragraph has lately appeared in the London Times stating that Tennyson had declined a request from me to make use of some of his poems. This is quite untrue. On the contrary he has freely given me permission so to do, and I am happy to be able to contradict the report. With many thanks Yours very truly Henry W . Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: Colby College Library. i . Hellon, an obscure English poet, had written from London on September 1 5 , sending a copy of his Lord Harrte and Leila, or a Romance of the Isle of Wight, and Other Poems (London, 1 8 6 9 ) .

183

AMONG 3898.

To George Washington

THE

BREAKERS

Greene

Cambridge, October 2, 1876 Here are some lines [on Washington Irving] that came into my mind this morning. I have no more idea how they came nor why they came, than you have; but you will sympathise with them as giving accent and emphasis to the quiet lives of scholars. In the Churchyard at Tarrytown Here lies the gentle humorist, who died In the bright Indian Summer of his fame! A simple stone, with but a date and name, Marks his secluded resting-place beside T h e river that he loved and glorified. Here in the autumn of his days he came, But the dry leaves of life were all aflame With tints that brightened and were multiplied. How sweet a life was his; how sweet a death! Living, to wing with mirth the weary hours, Or with romantic tales the heart to cheer; Dying, to leave a memory like the breath Of summers full of sunshine and of showers, A grief and gladness in the atmosphere.1 MANUSCRIPT: unrecovered; text from Chamberlain Sale Catalogue, Item 536 (February 16-17, 1909)· i . First published in the Atlantic Monthly, XXXIX (March 1877), 293.

3899.

To Mary Potter Thacher

Camb. Oct 2. 1876. M y Dear Miss Mary, If anyone has a right to be displeased it is certainly not I, but yourself. I ought to have written you long ago, and should have done so but for many engagements and interruptions.1 Come on Sunday if you can, and we will go over the whole ground once more. N o w that you have seen the last proof-sheets there is nothing to prevent your going to Philadelphia. W h a t a nice little book it will be. I like it much; and am particularly charmed with the papers on Birds and Flowers. T h e Prairie Sketches, too, are among the most interesting. With kind regards to all, Yours very truly Henry W . Longfellow. ι 84

CAMBRIDGE,

1876

MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. ι. In a letter of October 1 Miss Thacher had written: "I have been quite distressed, fearing you were displeased with me, my dear sir. I would rather never have any book published, than have that happen. The dread of having lost your good opinion has haunted even my dreams."

3900.

To Alfred

Tennyson

Cambridge Oct 2 1876. My Dear Tennyson, I was much pleased to get your kind note, giving me permission to insert some of your poems in the Collection I am making. 1 I could not have done without them; and I must confess that I anticipated your good will so far as to put them into the American Edition before writing to you. This perhaps was wrong; but I trust you will pardon me. As to this paragraph in the Times, the writer of it must have mixed me up in some way with Mr. Palgrave, and taken a hint from the Preface of "The Children's Treasury of English Song [London, 1875]." 2 In the Poems on London I have made one blunder at which you will smile or frown as you happen to feel at the moment. I have called your "long, unlovely street" Gower St. instead of Harley, an error already corrected in the plates. I send you by to-day's post the two volumes now out, and will send two more in a day or two. With kindest regards and remembrances to Mrs Tennyson, Yours faithfully and truly Henry W . Longfellow MANUSCRIPT: Yale University Library. 1. See Letter No. 3894. 2. In his preface Francis Turner Palgrave had written: "For some pieces, the editor has to thank the liberality of the copyright owners; regretting the refusal by which the present publisher of Mr. Alfred Tennyson's poems has deprived this book of a few brilliant pages, and its readers of an introduction to the writings of our greatest living poet" (p. vii).

3900a.

To Elbridge Henry Goss

Cambridge Oct 3. 1876. My Dear Sir, The subject of Bells is very fascinating, and you cannot fail to make a most interesting and valuable book, if you make it in the right way. If you will come and see me on Sunday afternoon, I should like to talk with you about it. I have not time to go into detail in a letter.1 185

AMONG

THE

BREAKERS

I send a few references which occur to me now. Please bring the list with you, and I will explain. Yours truly Henry W . Longfellow. p.s. I shall be at home at 4 o'clock on Sunday. Bells. Rabelais. Article in Living Age. Poems edited by Batchelder. Bells of Lancaster. Prologue to Golden Legend. Carillon de Bruges Christmas Bells Bells of the Sects. Schiller. Song of the Bell. Hone. Every-Day Book. " Table Book. " Year Book. 2 MANUSCRIPT: Frank O. Buda, Cambridge, Mass.

ADDRESS: Mr Ε. H. Goss / 141

F e d e r a l S t . / B o s t o n , P O S T M A R K : B O S T O N M A S S , OCT 4 1 P M

ι . In a letter of September 30 Goss had revealed his intention to assemble an anthology to be entitled "The Bells of the World" and had asked for Longfellow's advice and help. See Letter No. 3483a. The volume never materialized. 2. "Bells of Lancaster" and "Bells of the Sects" are not more closely identified. For the other references, see Rahelais, Gargantua, Bk. I, Ch. 19; H. R. Hawes, "Bells," Littell's Living Age, C I V (March 1870), 7 5 3 - 7 6 3 ; Samuel Batchelder, compiler, Poetry of the Bells (Cambridge, Mass., 1856); "Prologue" to The Golden Legend (Works, V, 1 3 9 - 1 4 1 ) ; "Carillon," The Belfry of Bruges and Other Poems (Works, I, 1 8 7 - 1 8 9 ) ; "Christmas Bells," Flower-de-Luce (Works, III, 1 3 2 - 1 3 3 ) ; Schiller's "Song of the Bell," Poets and Poetry of Europe, pp. 3 0 9 - 3 1 2 ; and William Hone's The Every-Day Book and Table Book, The Table Book of Daily Recreation and Information, and The Year Book of Daily Recreation and Information, each of which went through many editions.

3901.

To Charlotte Fiske Bates

Camb. Oct 5. 1876 Dear Miss Bates, I am extremely sorry to hear of your illness. Pray don't venture out on Saturday, if this rain continues, as I trust it will not. 1 I have had a busy week with visitors, French, Spanish, and English; and have not been able to do much work. I have however found time to write a Sonnet on Tarrytown, which I send you. Please do not put your letters into books. T h e one that came in " T h e Cloth 186

CAMBRIDGE,

1876

2

of Gold," I did not find till four or five days after it was written, and then only by accident. Hoping that you will soon be well again, Very truly H.W.L MANUSCRIPT: Pierpont Morgan Library. ι. Miss Bates was assisting Longfellow with Poems of Places. 2. Thomas Bailey Aldrich, Cloth of Gold, and Other Poems (Boston, 1874).

3902.

To Mary Neal Sherwood

Cambridge Oct 5. 1876. Dear Mrs Sherwood, This new plan of yours seems to me far preferable to the former one. 1 It has in it more responsibility perhaps, but also greater pleasure. The thought of having to write a long letter for the public eye, every week or two, well or ill, would for me take all sweetness out of life abroad. I had much rather stay at home than undertake it; and I think you would soon come to the same opinion, courageous as you are. Now the question will be how and where to find two or three young ladies, that you would like and your daughters would like. I do not know that I can help you in this; but if I can you may be sure I will. At least, if you should advertise, make use of my name as a reference, and if that leads to anything I shall be only too happy. With kindest regards to your mother and daughters, Yours very truly Henry W. Longfellow MANUSCRIPT: Harvard College Library, St. / Portland. M e .

ADDRESS; Mrs Μ. N . Sherwood/175 State

P O S T M A R K : C A M B R I D G E S T A . M A S S , OCT 6

i. In a letter of September 30 Mrs. Sherwood had written that she had been unable "to make the positive engagements with the Journals" for which she had hoped and was thus unable to go abroad "without something more tangible." She then proposed the possibility of her acting as governess to several girls to support herself and her daughters.

3903.

To Apphia Horner Howard

Camb. Oct 15. 1876. Dear Mrs Howard, The Commonwealth has come to hand. Not so the Professor. He lingers in his Windmill. I must content myself with your article about him, which is very pleasant reading. 1 With many thanks Yours very truly H.W.L. 187

AMONG

THE

MANUSCRIPT: Haverhill Public Library, town. / Mass.

BREAKERS

ADDRESS: Mrs A. W . H. Howard / George-

P O S T M A R K : BOSTON M A S S OCT 1 5 P M

i. Mrs. Howard's article on George Washington Greene appeared in The Commonwealth, X V , No. 4 (September 23, 1 8 7 6 ) .

3904.

To Sarah Bridges Stebbins

Cambridge Oct. 17. 1876 Dear Madam, I am much obliged to you for your kindness in sending me so many Poems of Places, and in giving me permission to use them in my Collection. 1 It will be some time before I reach America, but, when I do I shall be glad to have some of them at least; particularly those on St. Croix, or Santa Cruz, as I should prefer to call it. "Niagara" is too long for my purpose, and could not well be abbreviated. O f f the Irish Coast" comes too late, as Ireland is already printed. With cordial thanks Yours very truly Henry W. Longfellow MANUSCRIPT: unrecovered; text from typewritten transcript, Longfellow Trust Collection (Longfellow House), ADDRESS: Mrs. Sarah Bridges Stebbins / Marlborough House / Cor. 38th St. & 6th Av. / New York POSTMARK: BOSTON OCT 18 i. Mrs. Stebbins had sent some "original verses from my unpublished volume of poems" in a letter dated October 13.

3905.

To Elbridge Henry Goss1

Camb. Oct. 18. 1876. My Dear Sir, I do not know the writer of the poem you send me, and which I herewith return. The "Congregationalist" I have not seen, and shall be obliged to you if you will send it to me.2 Also the volume of Nantucket poems;3 which please leave with Sawin's Express, 4 Court Square. It will reach me without charge, as he does my work by the quarter. Please also send your business address in Boston. I have a poem for you on "The Bells of Avignon." 4 I will send it to you as soon as proofs come from the printers. In haste Yours truly Henry W . Longfellow. 188

C A M B R I D G E ,

1876

MANUSCRIPT: Clifton Waller Barrett Collection, University of Virginia. ι . Goss had written on October 16, enclosing a "Curfew piece" that he wanted Longfellow to identify. T h e poem was presumably Rose Hartwick Thorpe's "Curfew Must Not Ring Tonight." 2. The Congregationalist, XXVII (October n , 1876), 326, reprinted a statement from the London Athenaeum, No. 2552 (September 23, 1876), 397, regarding the vexed question of permission to use Tennyson's poems in Poems of Places. See Letter No. 3894. 3. Lucy Coffin Starbuck, ed., Seaweeds from the Shores of Nantucket (Boston and New York, 1853). 4. By the English writer George Walter Thornbury (1828-1876). Printed in Poems of Places. France, I, 48-51.

3906.

To Luigi

Monti Camb. Oct 19.1876.

Dear M r Monti, O w i n g to a Y o u n g Ladies' S e w i n g B e e w h i c h s w a r m s here tomorrow ( F r i d a y ) w e shall not d i n e b e f o r e 11. . . 111 that m a y suit y o u r c o n v e n i e n c e . I a m sorry for t h e postponement b u t c a n n o t avoid it. Y o u r s truly Henry W . Longfellow MANUSCRIPT: Frank O. Buda, Cambridge, Mass. a Wayside Inn," p. 169.

PUBLISHED: Characters in "Tales of

ι . Several words are missing, apparently through mutilation.

3907.

T o Elbridge

Henry

Goss C a m b . O c t 22 1876.

M y D e a r Sir, I return " S e a - W e e d s " w i t h m a n y thanks. A l s o t h e " C u r f e w " ; — a n d send " T h e Bells of A v i g n o n , " w h i c h I h o p e a n d t h i n k y o u w i l l like. Y o u r s truly H.W.L. MANUSCRIPT: Frank O. Buda, Cambridge, Mass.

189

AMONG 3908.

THE

BREAKERS

To Frances Rowena Miller Camb. Oct 22 1876.

M y Dear Child, It seems as if I should never get a moment of leisure to write to you, to thank you for all your letters and for the Story, which came safely and was handed to Mr Howells, as soon as he came back from his villeggiatura. I liked it very much; but it seems he did not think it adapted to the Magazine, why I know not. Perhaps it was a little too impassioned for the cool brains of his readers. He tells me he has written to you, and returned the ms. which I meant he should return to me. He has probably explained himself fully in his letter. I did not reveal your name, but gave him only your usual signature. So your secret is safe in my keeping. 1 How very nice your letters are; particularly No V. 2 in which you let your graceful pen run so swiftly and sweetly over the paper. I wish I could have passed the Summer at Cannobbio. It must have been very pleasant and altogether delightful. Ο lovely Lake of Como! And now you are once more in Milan, and singing like the lark. How persevering and courageous you are! and how well you deserve the success, which I hope and believe awaits you. For my part, I have been all Summer here in Cambridge, singing with my pen. I have also been very busy in getting through the press some of the volumes of "Poems of Places," about which I wrote to you, wishing all the time I had you to help me. I wish, also, that I could send you the volumes already published. "Italy" I will send as soon as printed. That will interest you more than the others. From your sister I have no further tidings. I trust the trouble is passed, whatever it was. She did not reveal to me the secret.3 I have not seen your "intimate enemy"4 since his return; but mean to call upon him as soon as I have leisure. Always with aff. H.W.L. You never told me whether I should send the little aid I offered, or whether you have enough for your present needs. Send me any new photographs of yourself, you may have. 5 MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. 1. In her letter of September 5 Miss Miller had revealed that she was using the pen name "Fran Mille." 2. Dated Cannobio, Lago di Como [Lago Maggiore], September 20, 1876. 3. It is obvious from Miss Miller's letter of August 5, 1 8 7 6 , that her sister, Mrs. Elizabeth Miller Whiting of Lee's Summit, Mo., had decided to leave her husband, "a man with intellect much beneath her own," and to support herself with her pen. Mrs. Whiting hoped that Longfellow would give her advice and encouragement. 4. Unidentified. 5. This postscript, on a separate sheet, is placed here conjecturally.

190

CAMBRIDGE, 3909.

1876

To Robert S. Voorhis

Cambridge 0 0 1 2 3 . 1 8 7 6 . My Dear Sir, Your letter of the 5th inst.1 did not reach me till yesterday, or I should have answered it sooner. I am sorry to trouble you again with the affairs of my nephew, but as you have been kind enough to take an interest in him, I trust you will pardon me. He writes, that he has secured a situation in a publishing house at a small salary; but is in want of clothing. If you are willing to see this want supplied to any reasonable amount not exceeding one hundred dollars, I will answer your draft for the sum expended. I should think that from fifty to seventy five dollars would be sufficient, but leave this to your better judgment. There is small hope of helping a man who sells his clothes; but I am willing to try once more. Again apologizing for troubling you, I am, with great respect Yours truly Henry W . Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: Berg Collection, N e w York Public Library, i. Unrecovered.

3910.

To Edward Lillie Pierce

Camb. Oct 24. 1876. Dear Mr Pierce, I am sorry to say, that I have not the slightest remembrance of the notice in the Athenaeum, to which you allude. 1 Let me congratulate you on the completion of the two volumes. I shall be most happy to see Mr. Niles, and talk with him about the work. What you tell me of Mr. Houghton surprises me. 2 Greene has arrived at last. If you are at leisure on Saturday next, do me the favor to dine with us at 6. Yours very truly Henry W . Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: Harvard College Library. 1. In a letter of October 9 Pierce had asked about the "most friendly notice in the Athenaeum" mentioned in Letter No. 544. 2. Houghton was "not sanguine about the demand" for the first two volumes of the Sumner Memoir and Letters. T h e work was published by Roberts Brothers, Boston, of which Stephen R. Niles ( 1 8 2 7 - 1 8 9 3 ) was an associate.

ι 9 ι

AMONG 3911.

THE

T o Alexander Wadsworth

BREAKERS

Longfellow Camb. Oct 27. 1876.

M y Dear Alex. T h e enclosed has been sent to me by M r John Mussey of Portland. Please put it among the other family papers. 1 W e are all well here, — all that are left of us. Last night Lucia went to town to see the grand Republican torch-light procession, I know not how many thousand strong. But torches wont save us, unless they be torches in the brains of people, much needed just now. 2 I suppose you are in the agonies of moving into town. A weary work! 3 W h o is Mrs George Anna Duer of N . Y . ? She writes to ask about Lizzie, and wants her address.4 Yours always H.W.L Longfellow Trust Collection, ADDRESS: Mr Alexr. W. Longfellow / P.O. Box 1333. / Portland. Me. POSTMARK: CAMBRIDGE STA. MASS, OCT 27

MANUSCRIPT:

1. In a letter dated October 25, Mussey (1790-1886), Portland lawyer and Bowdoin graduate of 1809, had sent an old document bearing the signatures of Longfellow's father and grandfather. 2. In the election of November 7 Rutherford B. Hayes won a disputed victory over the Democrat Samuel J. Tilden. 3. Alexander Longfellow had sold "Highfield" and moved to 23 South Street, Portland. 4. Georgianna Duer was the wife of John R. Duer of 146 Broadway, New York City. Her letter to Longfellow was dated October 26.

3912.

T o Tascus

Atwood1

Cambridge Oct 28. 1876. M y Dear Sir, Undoubtedly you are right. T h e "cadence" refers to the voice, and can refer to nothing else. Yours truly Henry W . Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT:

Bowdoin College Library.

i. Atwood ( 1 8 5 4 - 1 9 3 3 ) , a member of the Bowdoin class of 1876 and afterwards a lawyer of Auburn, Me., is identified as Longfellow's correspondent from the MS Letter Calendar. His letter to Longfellow is missing and the subject of their exchange is unexplained.

ι 92

CAMBRIDGE, 3913.

1876

To Bayard Taylor Camb. Oct 28. 1876

Don't forget "America to Iceland." 1

H.W.L. MANUSCRIPT: New York Public Library (Miscellaneous Papers), T a y l o r / 1 4 2 East 1 8 St. / N e w York,

ADDRESS: Mr Bayard

POSTMARK: BOSTON MASS OCT 29 8 P M

i. Taylor's poem for the Iceland Millennial Celebration, published in Egypt and Iceland in the Year ι874 (New York, 1874), pp. 221—222, and subsequently in Poems of Places. Scotland, III, 1 6 1 - 1 6 2 . Four newspaper clippings are pasted to the sheet above the letter. The first is from the Cambridge Chronicle, XXXI, No. 44 (October 28, 1876); the second and fourth are modified slightly from the Boston Transcript, XLIX, No. 1 5 , 1 9 1 (October 27, 1876); the third is from an unidentified newspaper. The first three concern Taylor's lecture before the Harvard Lyceum (3896.3). The. fourth reads as follows: "The ubiquitous reporter has missed a big thing, if Mr. Bayard Taylor is correct in saying, as he does, that two sons of John Bright quietly spent the summer among us undetected by the newspapers. Relatives of the Bright family live in Philadelphia and Wilmington, Del. Much of John Bright's well-known sympathy for this country probably came through this channel."

3914.

To an Unidentified

Correspondent1

[Cambridge, October, 1876] The report that Mr. Tennyson had refused the request of Mr Longfellow to insert some of his pieces in the collection of Poems of Places, is wholly without foundation. On the contrary Mr Tennyson of his own accord offered the use of his poems for insertion in the American Edition. MANUSCRIPT: Clifton Waller Barrett Collection, University of Virginia. i. This fragment might have been copy for a newspaper. See Letter No. 3894.

3915.

To Rasmus Björn Anderson

Camb. Nov. 1. 1876. M y Dear Sir, I have just had the pleasure of receiving your friendly letter, with its interesting extract from the Codex Flateyensis touching Thorwald Eriksson's Voyage to Vinland. I hasten to thank you for it, without waiting for the "Viking Tales," 1 which you are kind enough to promise me, and which I will acknowledge when it comes. In the "Poems of Places" Denmark, Iceland, Norway and Sweden are now in the printer's hands. The materials are, I am sorry to say, not very abundant; and I should be glad of any suggestions from you. As all the poems in this Collection are in English, I could not use any in Norse; and have not time to translate them, if I had them. If you have any in English, descriptive of places, I should be most happy to have them.

193

AMONG

THE

BREAKERS

Should the enthusiastic musician Ole Bull be still lingering in Madison, I beg you to give him my kind remembrance, and to say, that I shall cordially welcome his return to N e w England. 2 With great regard Yours very truly Henry W . Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: Michael G. Shanahan, Seattle. 1. Viking Tales of the North. See 3677.2. 2. In his letter of October 29 Anderson had written: "Ole Bull is here and is enjoying his cigars and witnessing brilliant sunsets on the bank of Lake Mendota . . . They expect to go to Boston in a few days."

3916.

T o Edward Lillie Pierce

Camb. Nov. 1. 1876. Dear Mr Pierce, T h e enclosed 1 tells its own story. In regard to the Life of Sumner, I have referred the Publishers to you, without however saying that you had written one. Yours truly H.W.L. MANUSCRIPT: Harvard College Library, i. Unrecovered.

3916a.

T o Elbridge Henry Goss Camb. Nov. 4 1876

M y Dear Sir, It strikes me that "Bells and Bell Ringers" would be a simpler and better title than the one you propose.1 T o what French motto do you refer? I have quite forgotten. 2 Yours truly H.W.L. T h e Great Bell Roland By Theo. Tilton. Bryant's Library of Poetry & Song. p. 540.3 Pub. Library of Boston. "The Isles of Loch Awe," by P. G. Hamerton. 4 O n p. 173, "Lancashire Bell Ringers." H.W.L 194

CAMBRIDGE,

1876

MANUSCRIPT: Frank Ο. Buda, Cambridge, Mass. 1. See 3900a. i. 2. In a letter of November 3 Goss had asked Longfellow to jot down a "French motto" he had read to him previously from his scrapbook. 3. The instruction "Over" follows at this point. For Tilton's poem see A Library of Poetry and Song, with an Introduction by William Cullen Bryant (New York, 1876), pp. 5 4 0 - 5 4 1 . 4. Philip Gilbert Hamerton, The Isles of Loch Awe and Other Poems of My Youth (London, 1 8 5 5 ) .

3917.

To Edward Lillie Pierce

Camb. Nov. 4 1876. Dear Mr Pierce, I am sorry that you have put your "Life of Sumner" into new hands. I always hoped it would form part of the series of Sumner's Works. I want to see you and Mr Balch about the remaining volumes. It seems to me that Lee and Shepard ought to publish them; but the method they propose for raising funds does not strike me favorably. 1 Greene is still here, but does not remember the date of Geo. Sumner's return.2 Yours very truly H.W.L. MANUSCRIPT: Harvard College Library. ι. Pierce had given his Sumner Memoir and Letters to Roberts Brothers after Hurd & Houghton and Lee & Shepard (publishers of Sumner's Works') failed to display interest. See 3910.2. 2. See 1227.5.

3918.

To Lizzie Baston Fuller1

Camb. Nov. 7. 1876. Dear Mrs Fuller, I wish I could see the way to comply with your request; but I really cannot. Having once made a rule in this matter, any departure from it would involve me in great perplexities. I am glad that you remember with pleasure your visit to Cambridge. To me it was very pleasant; and I hope you will come again. I am generally at home in the afternoon, and if you would be kind enough to say on what day you would come, I would not make any other engagement. Yours very truly Henry W . Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: University of Washington Library. i. Mrs. Fuller, an elocutionist of 187 Dudley Street, Roxbury, had asked Longfellow in an unrecovered letter to endorse her program of readings.

ι 95

AMONG 3919.

To Margaret Louisa Potter

THE

BREAKERS

Thacher

Cambridge Nov 7. 1876. Dear Margaret, I am glad you are satisfied with the appearance of Mary's book. I thought you would be. Proof-sheets are always discouraging; and one can never judge from them what a book will look like. This volume is certainly very neat, and I trust it will meet with all the success it so justly merits. M r Greene has read it through to-day with great pleasure. He says the two essays on birds and flowers are "exquisitely beautiful." As these are his words, I report them faithfully to you, to show you the impression made upon him. Please tell Mary that the stereotype plates are deposited at the University Press for safe keeping. They are her property and subject to her control. And so her literary career is fairly begun. May it prove pleasant and prosperous in every way. Always affectionately Henry W . Longfellow MANUSCRIPT:

3920.

Longfellow Trust Collection.

T o Robert S. Voorhis

Cambridge Nov 12 1876. M y Dear Sir, M y nephew Stephen has been to see me, and has stated his case so plausibly that I have agreed to furnish him with forty dollars per month for three months. I have further agreed to pay one hundred dollars, if so much should be required, to enable him to complete his Mariner's Compass. 1 I have done this, however, on condition that the money should be deposited in your hands, and that you consent to pay it to him as he might need it, so as to secure his house-rent and board, and furnish such material as he may want from time to time for his invention. Meanwhile I hope he may be able to secure some situation in St. Louis, that will be permanent and support him respectably. I do not like to lay this burden on you, but perhaps you will be willing to assume it for his wife's sake. I paid his return passage to St. Louis last night; and send you enclosed my check for fifty dollars. Yours very truly Henry W . Longfellow.

196

CAMBRIDGE,

1876

MANUSCRIPT: Berg Collection, N e w York Public Library. 1. Stephen Longfellow, who had spent several years at sea, believed (or wanted to believe) that he had refined and improved the mariner's compass. Although his attempt to market his "invention" failed, he found it a useful means of obtaining subsidies from his uncle.

3921.

To Emma Martin Marshall

Cambridge Nov 18. 1876. Dear Mrs Marshall, I am heartily ashamed of myself for not having thanked you sooner for "Life's Aftermath." 1 My sole apology is Neuralgia, which so deprives me of sleep, and tortures me in so many ways, that I have little life left in me for writing or anything else. Pardon me this time, and I will try to do better in future. Your story gave me great and sincere pleasure. Particularly the character of the heroine is most delicately and beautifully drawn. I congratulate you on a great success. As to this piratical cruiser in our waters, it may comfort you to know that the Churchman is not a Magazine, but a Church-of-England weekly newspaper.2 It may also comfort you to know, that I have had twenty two publishers in England and Scotland, and only four of them ever took the slightest notice of my existence, even so far as to send me a copy of my books. Shall we call that chivalry, or the other word? Some good comes of it after all; for it is an advertisement, and surely helps what follows. It gives you thousands of readers instead of hundreds; but that does not justify the "pious theft" of the Churchman. With my kind remembrance to Mrs Burrowes, and promises of good behavior (without the u ) in future, Yours very truly Henry W. Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: University of Washington Library. 1. Life's Aftermath: A Story of Quiet People (London, 1 8 7 6 ) . 2. T h e Hartford Churchman serialized Life's Aftermath in seventeen installments in Vols. X X X I V and X X X V (September 30, 1876-January 20, 1 8 7 7 ) .

197

AMONG THE 3921a.

BREAKERS

To Elhridge Henry Goss

Camb. Nov. 20. 1876. My Dear Sir, The French proverb runs; "On fait dire aux cloches tout ce que Ton veut [One makes the bells say what one wishes]." As to the various versions of Schiller's "Song of the Bell," you must make your own selection. I have never compared them, and have not time to do so, even if I had them all at hand, which I have not. Among my own poems I forgot to mention "The Bell of Atri." 1 Here are a few more titles. The Bell of St. Paul's2 Julia C. R. Dorr's Poems [Philadelphia, 1872] The Bells of Limerick in Poems of Places. France, under the letter M. somewhere, but the proof-sheets are at the printer's, and I cannot give you the page.3 The Bells of Fontainebleau. Poems of Places; under Fontainebleau.4 France is not published, but will be before long. In great haste Yours truly Henry W. Longfellow p.s. I should like to see the Dublin Univ. Magazine, you speak of.B Please send it by Sawin. If in hunting for Bells you find anything on Places, be kind enough to note it for me. MANUSCRIPT: Frank O. Buda, Cambridge, Mass. 1. Works, IV, 1 3 5 - 1 3 9 . 2. Presumably a reference to the bell inscribed "Richard Phelps made me, 1 7 1 6 , " but a poem on the subject is unidentified. 3. The poem by Bessie Rayner Parkes is entitled "The Monk of Marmoutier." Poems of Places. France, I, 2 4 3 - 2 4 7 . 4. George Walter Thombury, "The Bells of Fontainebleau," Poems of Places. France, I, 1 7 9 - 1 8 1 . 5. In a letter of November 16 Goss had offered to send Dublin University Magazine, X X X ( 1 8 4 7 ) , which contained "The Bell-Founder," pp. 279-287, "The Marvelous Bell — A Popular Legend," pp. 4 3 9 - 4 4 1 , and "The Alarm-Bell of Cologne," pp. 5 5 1 55a.

198

CAMBRIDGE, 3922.

1876

1

To Sarah H. Leggett

Camb. Nov. 21. 1876. Dear Miss Leggett, Pardon me for keeping you waiting so long, and accept the enclosed as a kind of Prelude to your book. Of payment nothing must be said, beyond a copy of the volume when it appears. With all good wishes Yours very truly Henry W . Longfellow MANUSCRIPT: Clifton Waller Barrett Collection, University of Virginia, ADDRESS: Miss Sarah H . L e g g e t t / 1 1 8 4 Broadway / N e w York POSTMARK: CAMBRIDGE STA. M A S S . NOV 2 1

i. Miss Leggett had been introduced to Longfellow by Henry Whitney Bellows ( 1 5 0 6 . 1 ) as "a young lady of excellent family and worthy character who is trying to show what young women of good breeding can do in the way of self-support" (letter dated October 2 1 , 1 8 7 6 ) . Her project was an anthology that she later published privately as Golden Songs of Great Poets ( N e w York, 1 8 7 7 ) . Longfellow contributed " T h e Poets," later collected in Keramos and Other Poems.

3923.

To John Owen

Camb. Nov 22. 1876. Dear Owen, I enclose check for $50.00 as you desire; but I fear I shall not be able to continue this arrangement any longer. I find that the book is costing me not only a vast deal of time, but a great deal of money, and as yet there are no returns.1 I hope you have enjoyed your trip as-much as you expected. Greene is still here, and sends friendly greetings with mine. H.W.L. MANUSCRIPT: Harvard College Library. i. In a letter of November 1 9 from Washington, D.C., Owen had asked for $ 5 0 in part payment for his work as copy reader of Sumner Works. Longfellow was apparently paying him directly instead of forwarding his bills to the Sumner estate.

3924.

To James Thomas Fields Camb. Nov 23 1876.

M y Dear Fields At last I have achieved the great work of copying the enclosed1 for you. Do not tell me it is too late; for even if you have left Chicago, this will follow you like a fate. 199

AMONG

THE

BREAKERS

What evil demon moved me to make this collection of Poems of Places? Could I have foreseen the time it would take, and the worry and annoyance it would bring with it, I never would have undertaken it. The worst of it is, I have to write pieces now and then to fill up gaps. Here is a specimen of this patch-work; — Dr. Johnson in the Hebrides; —2 to amuse Mrs. Fields. What a charming little book you have made of Dickens! 3 Greene is still here and joins me in kind regards to yourself and your wife. H.W.L. MANUSCRIPT: Henry E . Huntington Library. 1. Unrecovered. 2. " A Wraith in the Mist" (Works, III, 1 1 8 ) first appeared in Poems of Scotland, II, 6 9 - 7 0 . 3. In and Out of Doors with Charles Dickens (Boston, 1 8 7 6 ) .

3925.

Places.

To George Zabriskie Gray1

Camb. Nov. 24. 1876. Dear Dr Gray, Does the enclosed tempt you in any way, or have you already a Schiller in your Collection?2 Yours very truly Henry W . Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. 1. Gray ( 1 8 3 8 - 1 8 8 9 ) had recently been appointed dean of the Episcopal Theological School, Cambridge, where he remained until his death. 2. In a note dated "Friday E v g " Gray responded that he would not avail himself of the offer of the Schiller autograph. Longfellow bought it and it remains in the Longfellow Trust Collection.

3926.

To George Washington

Greene

Camb. Nov 26. 1876 My Dear Greene, Seeing the enclosed lying on the table before me, I send it for your amusement and the Governor's.1 I trust you had a pleasant journey home on that lovely moonlight night, and found all well. Vico! MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. i. T h e following unidentified newspaper clipping accompanies the manuscript: "Hon. Charles Francis Adams, having been invited to go South to assist a fair and honest count of the votes of the dubious trio of States in that section by his purity-provoking presence,

200

CAMBRIDGE,

1876

has declined to do anything of the kind. W e have admired Mr. Adams with a persistency only second to that displayed by the oracle of Springfield, but we really would like to see some sign that Charles Francis is willing to do something for somebody. H e might have done some better work for reform in this State, most people think, in the recent campaign, if he had not observed such a diplomatic dumbness, and exhibited such a provoking spectacle of passive and paralyzed purity. You are a splendid man, Mr. Adams, but don't be quite such a political refrigerator. T h a w out, and be one of us. Now, do!"

3927.

To Alexander Wadsworth Longfellow

Camb. Nov. 26. 1876. My Dear Alex. I should be delighted to accept your Thanksgiving invitation, but do not feel well enough to do so. I am so worn out by want of sleep, that I dare not venture. By Express tomorrow I send you a "Boneless Ham" to grace your feast. I hope it will reach you in season and in good condition, and that you will like it. With all good wishes Affectionately Yours H.W.L. MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection, 1 3 3 3 . / Portland. / M e .

POSTMARKS:

ADDRESS: M r Alexr. W . Longfellow / Box CAMBRIDGE

STA. MASS,

NOV

2 7 / A.P.

EN-

DORSEMENT: H W L . Nov 26 / 7 6 Ham sent, can't come to Thanksgiving

3928.

To William Allingham

Cambridge, Mass. Nov 27. 1876. My Dear Sir, I hasten to thank you for your kind note,1 and to say how gratified I am to find, that you have not taken umbrage at my inserting some of your pieces in "Poems of Places," before asking your leave. I much regret that "King Henry's Hunt" comes too late. It is very striking; and I should have been very happy to have had it sooner. In "Ireland" I have under "Ballyshannon" the Emigrant's Adieu; under "Erne, the River," a Burial Place; and under their proper heads Abbey Assaroe, and Wayconnel Abbey.2 I only wish I had more of your poems. They would have added much to the value of the collection. I send you by to-day's post a copy of "Ireland," which please accept with my thanks. I do not write your name in it in order not to infringe the postoffice laws, but send it on the enclosed strip of paper. With great regard Yours very truly Henry W. Longfellow. 201

AMONG

THE

BREAKERS

MANUSCRIPT: Clifton Waller Barrett Collection, University of Virginia. 1. Dated November 1 5 . 2. See Poems of Places. Ireland, pp. 2 7 - 2 9 , 8 1 - 8 3 , 2 4 6 - 2 4 8 , and 2 1 2 - 2 1 4 .

3929.

To Rasmus Björn Anderson

Cambridge Nov 28. 1876. Dear Mr Anderson, I ought sooner to have thanked you for the very welcome "Viking Tales," 1 but before writing, I wished to read them, and have been so hard pressed by publisher and printer, that I have as yet had no time to give to this very interesting volume. I cannot help wishing that you had given Mr. Holcomb's translation of Tegner's Frithiof Saga instead of that of Mr Stephen's; for that we have already, and we should have secured another, and an American one.2 I am delighted to see the Northern Library thus increasing, volume by volume; and the announcement of the two Eddas is particularly gratifying. 3 Then I hope we shall have an edition of Laing's Heimskringla, and Dasent's books; and these with Powell's Icelandic Tales [Legends] will make a good display.4 Accept my cordial thanks, Dear Mr. Anderson, for your kindness in sending me your new volume, and believe me always Yours very truly Henry W . Longfellow. p.s. On Saturday and Sunday I had the pleasure of seeing Ole Bull and his wife; both well and happy. MANUSCRIPT: Michael G . Shanahan, Seattle. 1. See 3 6 7 7 . 2 . 2. For these translations, see Longfellow and Scandinavia, p. 1 7 9 . 3. Anderson edited and translated The Younger Edda (Chicago, 1 8 8 0 ) and later served as editor-in-chief of The Elder Edda of Saemund Sigfusson [tr. by Benjamin Thorpe] and the Younger Edda of Snorre Sturleson [tr. by I. A . Blackwell] (London and N e w York, 1 9 0 6 ) . 4. See 2 0 8 3 . 2 and Longfellow

3930.

and Scandinavia,

pp. 1 6 9 and 1 7 1 .

To ΕIbridge Henry Goss Camb. Nov 28 1876.

M y Dear Sir, I do not wish you to return "Steeple Folk," 1 nor anything else I send, unless so marked. Thanks for the Dublin Univ. Mag. which shall be returned in a few days.2 The extract from the Golden Legend is an historical account of mediaeval bell-ringing, and I wonder I forgot to mark it for you. 3 202

CAMBRIDGE,

1876

If I were you, I should insert in my book as much as possible of Mr. Ellacombe's material, for the sake of completeness.4 You can hardly say of bellringing, as Shakespeare says of honey; "A little more than a little is [by] much too much."5 You want everything that is worth anything. Yours very truly Henry W. Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: Boston College Library. 1. Unidentified. 2. See 3921a.;. 3. See Works, V, 201-202 and 444. 4. Henry Thomas Ellacombe ( 1 7 9 0 - 1 8 8 5 ) , English antiquary and rector of Clyst St. George, 1850-1885, was an authority on campanology. In a letter of November 28 Goss had written that "he has sent me a mass of materials — but little of which I can use, however." 5. King Henry IV, Part I, III, li, 7 1 - 7 2 .

3931.

To George Washington Greene

Camb. Nov 28. 1876. My Dear Greene, Ay de mi, Alhama!1 The old North American has been degraded into a bi-monthly, and will soon cease to exist. That is the last blow. You will read its epitaph in the enclosed slip. Why did we not bestir ourselves in some way to save it?2 Nothing remarkable has occurred here since you left us; except a friendly reception to Ole Bull at Horseford's on Saturday evening, with charming music, which would have delighted you. With Poems of Places the printers have nearly finished France. It will make two volumes. As yet I hear nothing from Houghton; but hope you are at work on your last chapter. You can do nothing with the Index till you get the proof sheets. Craigie House salutes the Windmill, and wishes it a happy Thanksgiving. H.W.L. MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. 1. "Woe is me, Alhama!" See Byron, " A Very Mournful Ballad on the Siege and Conquest of Alhama." 2. A clipping from the Boston Advertiser, CXXVIII, No. 127 (November 27, 1876), is pasted to the top of the sheet. It describes at length the new status of the North American Review, which had recently been acquired by Charles Allen Thorndike Rice ( 1 8 5 1 - 1 8 8 9 ) , Oxford-educated American editor, and Julius Hammond Ward ( 1 8 3 7 1897), Episcopal clergyman and author. Greene responded on November 30: "Your letter with enclosure came day before yesterday. I have been brooding ever since over the fate of the N.A. Review. What would it not have been to me five years ago? But I allways come too late."

203

AMONG THE 3932.

BREAKERS

To Luigi Monti

Camb. Nov 28. 1876. Dear Mr Monti, If equally convenient and agreeable to you, please come this week on Friday instead of Saturday. I have an invitation for Saturday, which I should like to accept, and do not wish to lose your visit. Yours very truly H.W.L MANUSCRIPT: Frank O. Buda, Cambridge, Mass. a Wayside Inn," p. 169.

3933·

PUBLISHED: Characters in "Tales of

To James Whitcomb Riley

Cambridge Nov 30. 1876. My Dear Sir, Not being in the habit of criticising the productions of others, I cannot enter into any minute discussion of the merits of the poems you send me.1 I can only say in general terms, that I have read them with great pleasure, and think they show the true poetic faculty and insight. The only criticism I shall make is on your use of the word prone in the thirteenth line of "Destiny."2 Prone means face-downward. You meant to say supine, as the context shows. I return the printed pieces, as you may want them for future use, and am, my Dear Sir, with all good wishes, Yours very truly Henry W. Longfellow MANUSCRIPT: Indiana University Library, PUBLISHED: William Lyon Phelps, ed., Letters of )ames Whitcomb Riley (Indianapolis, 1930), pp. 1 2 - 1 3 . 1. Riley had written from Greenfield, Ind., on November 27, saying that he wanted to enter the literary field in earnest and enclosing "a few of my better exports, hoping to elicit from you a word of comment and advice." 2. Presumably an uncollected poem.

3934.

To Thomas Bailey Aldrich

Camb. Deer. 4. 1876. Dear Mr. Aldrich, Permit me to present the bearer of this, Mrs McDowell of Holly Springs, in whose praise I could say much, if it were right to praise people to their faces. 204

CAMBRIDGE,

1876

She has written some striking things both in prose and verse, and would like much to make your acquaintance. Please receive her graciously and oblige Yours very truly Henry W . Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT:

3935·

Harvard College Library.

To Alicia Amy

Leith1 Cambridge

Deer 5. 1876.

Dear Madam, It gives me great pleasure to comply with your request, and I beg you to make use of any and as many of my poems as may suit your purpose. With my best wishes for the success of your book, I am Yours truly Henry W . Longfellow MANUSCRIPT:

Clifton Waller Barrett Collection, University of Virginia.

i. Miss Leith, of 79 Gloucester Terrace, Hyde Park, London, was the daughter of John Farley Leith (1808-1887), M.P. for Aberdeen, 1872-1880. In a letter of November 18 she had requested permission to use some lines from Longfellow in her compilation entitled The Birthday Book of Flower and Song (London and New York, 1877).

3936.

To Jahu Dewitt

Miller1

Camb. Dec. 6. 1876. M y dear Sir, T o the best of my knowledge and belief the account contained in this paragraph from Mr. Fields's Sketch of Hawthorne is authentic. I think you may rely on it. I return the document and am, though in great haste, Yours very truly Henry W . Longfellow unrecovered; text from typewritten transcript, Longfellow Trust Collection (Longfellow House), ADDRESS: Mr. J. Dewitt Miller / Cross River / N.Y.

MANUSCRIPT:

i. In an unrecovered letter Miller ( 1 8 5 7 - 1 9 1 1 ) , clergyman and bibliophile, had apparently asked Longfellow to verify the account of Hawthorne's surrender of the legend of Evangeline to Longfellow, described by James T . Fields in Yesterdays with Authors (Boston, 1 8 7 1 ) , pp. 64-65. See Letters No. 962 and 1737.

205

AMONG THE 3937.

BREAKERS

To Robert S. Voorhis

Cambridge Deer 10 1876. My Dear Sir, I enclose my check for $30.00 for my nephew Stephen. Having sent last a check for $50.00, this is to equalize the monthly payments of $40.00 as agreed upon. Regretting once more that I have to trouble you so often, I am, my Dear Sir, Yours very truly Henry W. Longfellow MANUSCRIPT: Berg Collection, New York Public Library.

3938.

To John Alexander Clinton Gray1

Cambridge Deer 1 1 . 1876. My Dear Sir, I am very much obliged to you for your kind and hospitable invitation, and should accept it with great pleasure if I were in a condition to leave home at this season. But unfortunately I am not. I am suffering too much bodily pain to make it either pleasant or prudent for me to undertake even so short a journey. The Catalogue of Mr. Johns[t]on's pictures shows me what a rare and valuable collection it is, and I sigh to think that it must be broken up and scattered to the four winds. Yet there is some consolation in thinking, that one or two hundred people will have a chance of having at least one good painting in their houses, and so follow one of the good rules, which Göthe lays down for making life happier; namely, to see one good picture; read one good poem, and hear one good piece of music, every day of your life.2 With kind regards to Mrs Gray,3 and regrets that I cannot come to you I am, my Dear Sir, Yours very truly Henry W. Longfellow MANUSCRIPT: University of Washington Library. 1. Gray (b. 1 8 1 5 ) , a railroad entrepreneur of 43 Fifth Avenue, New York, was the father of John Clinton Gray (2306.5) and George Zabriskie Gray ( 3 9 2 5 . 1 ) . He had written to Longfellow on December 6, inviting him to be his guest at the auction, beginning on December 19, of the art collection of John Taylor Johnston ( 1 8 2 0 - 1 8 9 3 ) , railroad executive and first president of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1870-1889. 2. See Wilhelm Meisters Apprenticeship, Bk. V, Ch. 1. 3. Gray had married Susan M. Zabriskie (d. 1904, aged ninety) in 1837.

206

CAMBRIDGE, 3939·

1876

To Isabella Batchelder ]ames

Camb. Deer 12 1876. Dear Mrs James, T o the best of my knowledge and belief, or perhaps I ought to say of my ignorance and unbelief, — no translations from Ling 1 or Nicander have been made into English. At all events I do not remember to have seen any. Yours very truly Henry W . Longfellow MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection,

ADDRESS: Mrs Isabella James. / Brattle St.

1. Per Henrik Ling ( 1 7 7 6 - 1 8 3 9 ) , Swedish poet better known as the founder of a gymnastic system.

3940.

To Mary Potter Thacher

Camb. Deer. 12. 1876. Dear Miss Mary, Here is a very brief notice from a Portland paper. 1 I send it, because you wish to see all that is said of your book. Please say to your father that I wrote to him yesterday.2 I think I told you that your stereotype plates are deposited for safe-keeping in the fire-proof of the University Press (Welch and Bigelow) subject of course to your order. With kind regards to all Yours very truly H.W.L MANUSCRIPT: Henry E . Huntington Library, Newton. / Mass.

ADDRESS: Miss Mary P. Thacher. / West

P O S T M A R K : C A M B R I D G E STA M A S S , DEC 1 2

ι. For this notice of Seashore and Prairie see the Portland Transcript, X L (November 18, 1 8 7 6 ) , 267. 2. This letter is unrecovered.

3941.

To Rasmus Björn Anderson

Cambridge, Deer 14. 1876. Dear Mr Anderson, I have received a letter from Mr and Mrs Holcomb, 1 with a copy of "Fridthjof"; but as they forgot to give me their address, and as I do not know whether they live in Madison or not, I take the liberty of troubling you with the enclosed.2 The copy you were kind enough to send came also safely to hand. So I am doubly armed; and yet so much occupied and interrupted in various ways, 207

AMONG

THE

BREAKERS

that I have not yet found leisure to do more than turn over the pages. I am much gratified to see that the original metres have been preserved. That is a necessity, and also a great merit. In my letter of thanks to Mr and Mrs Holcomb I have ventured to suggest, whether it would not be better to take "Helge" instead of the "Gods of the North" 3 for their next work. What do you think of this suggestion? T o the best of my knowledge "Helge" has never yet been translated into English. With many thanks and great regard, Yours faithfully Henry W . Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: Michael G . Shanahan, Seattle. 1. Thomas Addis Emmett Holcomb ( 1 8 3 1 - 1 8 9 7 ) and Martha A . Lyon Holcomb ( 1 8 3 8 - 1 9 0 6 ) , translators of Frithiofs Saga. See 3929.2. 2. This letter to the Holcombs, dated December 14 ( M S Letter Calendar), is unrecovered. 3. Helge

3942.

( 1 8 1 4 ) and Nordens

To George Washington

Guder ( 1 8 1 9 ) by Adam Oehlenschläger.

Greene

Camb. Deer 14. 1876. My Dear Greene, I received your telegram to-day at noon, and sent you an immediate reply. 1 I hoped to find time to go to Riverside in the afternoon; but was prevented by visitors, who came double and single, seven in all, and consumed the time till dark, and it was too late to do anything. I have been waiting in vain, as you have, to hear from Houghton. Not a sign of life! Scudder I saw a few days ago, and he told me he had read the book for Houghton, and recommended its publication. And yet nothing comes of it. If the weather permits I will go down tomorrow, and see what has been done and what is likely to be done. Meanwhile I hope you are writing that final chapter, so that the manuscript will be ready when wanted. T h e "Poems of Places" plod on wearily, and "drag at each remove a lengthening chain." 2 France is finished, making, with Savoy, two volumes. Italy comes next. T h e n Spain and Portugal. I understand that the North American was started originally as a bi-monthly, and so it ends; the intermediate volumes or numbers being trimonthly; like a canto of Dante beginning and ending with a single rhyme, and the rest

term rima.

Enter J[ohn] 0 [ w e n ] . So good night.

H.W.L.

MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. 1. Both telegrams are unrecovered. They had to do with the unsuccessful negotiations with Hurd & Houghton for the publication of Greene's Short History of Rhode Island. 2. Goldsmith, The Traveller, 1. 10.

208

CAMBRIDGE, 3943.

1876

To George Washington Greene

Camb. Deer 15. 1876. My Dear Greene, This morning, as soon as I could get the white horse harnessed, I drove to Riverside, hoping to capture the Commander in chief. I was just five minutes too late; but succeeded in capturing the Garrison? He said they had been expecting to hear from you, as they understood you were to look up some agent in Providence; — that H. Vincent Butler, declining to serve, had suggested N. Bangs Williams, Bookseller in Providence, as substitute; and that they had written to enquire about him, but had got no answer. They wish to be satisfied, that he is the right man. Do you know anything concerning him?2 One thing seems certain. If the good intent has not advanced, it has not retrograded. To continue my military figures of speech, after all this shouldering of arms, the order is given "As you were." Pray see, either personally or through some friend in Providence, what manner of man Williams may be. That would help matters forward one step at least. Meanwhile, do write the final chapter, and be all ready for action. That is the best thing to do next. H.W.L. MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. 1. Francis Jackson Garrison ( 1 8 4 8 - 1 9 1 6 ) , son of William Lloyd Garrison, and an employee of the Riverside Press. 2. After a colorful career as newspaper dealer, Civil W a r militiaman, W a l l Street speculator, and tortoise shell manufacturer, Nathan Bangs Williams ( 1 8 3 2 - 1 8 9 9 ) was now the proprietor of N . Bangs Williams & Company, book publishers of 5 2 Westminster Street, Providence.

3944.

To Charles Eliot Norton

Camb. Dec 15 1876 Dear Charles, Appleton, Τ. G. wishes you to dine with him tomorrow (Saturday) at 6. and I am to call for you at about 5.30 or say 5.20. if I do not hear from you to the contrary. The dinner is for Mr and Mrs. [George Edwin] Waring of Newport. Always Yours H.W.L MANUSCRIPT: Harvard College Library, Hill. / Cambridge,

ADDRESS: Professor C . E . Norton. /

POSTMARK: CAMBRIDGE STA. MASS, DEC

209

16

Shady

AMONG 3945.

To Louisa Ingersoll Gore

THE

BREAKERS

Greenough

Camb Deer 19 1876 Dear Mrs Greenough, I am extremely sorry that we cannot accept your kind invitation for Wednesday evening [December 20]. Unfortunately we all have engagements which will deprive us of that pleasure. Mr Dodge 1 is not here, and his coming is uncertain. I sent your note to him in Boston this morning. Yours very truly Henry W . Longfellow MANUSCRIPT: David Richardson, Washington, D.C. i. Presumably Robert Dodge (1890.2).

3946.

To George Washington

Greene

Camb. Deer 21. 1876. My Dear Greene, You owe this letter to the fact, that I do not feel sleepy, and am sitting up for my girls, who have gone to a Concert. My amanuensis1 has left me, and flown southward with the other birds of passage. I miss her swift fingers and her ready aid. The printers have now finished France, and have begun Italy. That will be the finest portion of the work. At all events, it interests me most. Eight volumes are now out. France brings them up to ten. Italy will make three or four; and to you those three or four will be the best. This evening I received a telegram from the insane woman. It runs as follows; "If you wish to talk with me, come quick to the Briggs House, Forty second street, New York." It is pleasant to have such a message read by the gossips at both ends of the wire! with both names given in full! Tennyson's new drama "Harold" 2 is very striking. The Fifth Act is a masterly piece of dramatic writing. Enter the damsels from the Concert. Exit the undersigned. H.W.L p.s. I have had a letter from Dom Pedro, dated at Baireuth. MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. 1. Charlotte Fiske Bates (2404.1). 2. Harold: A Drama (Boston, 1877). 3. llnrecovered.

210

3

CAMBRIDGE, 3947.

To Minot Judson

1876

1

Savage

Cambridge Decr 21 1876. M y Dear Sir, Pardon me for not sooner thanking you for your kindness in sending me your "Light on the Cloud." 2 I have been so much occupied with some rather pressing matters of my own, that I have not yet had time to read more than the poems in the volume. These I like very much. A very beautiful stanza is this; "Some other world is glad to see Our star that's gone away; The light whose going makes our night Makes somewhere else a day." Among the poems I find one, which I should like to use in the "Poems of Places" I am now publishing. It is the "Pescadero Pebbles." Unless you object, I will insert it in its proper place.3 With many thanks Yours truly Henry W . Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT:

Clifton Waller Barrett Collection, University of Virginia.

1. Savage ( 1 8 4 1 - 1 9 1 8 ) , Unitarian clergyman, author, and lecturer, served as minister of the Church of the Unity, Boston, 1874-1896. 2. Light on the Cloud; or, Hints of Comfort for Hours of Sorrow (Boston, 1876). 3. See Poems of Places. America: Western States, pp. 148-149.

3948.

To Alfred

Tennyson

Cambridge Dec 21. 1876. My Dear Tennyson, I have just been reading your "Harold" 1 and am delighted with its freshness, strength and beauty. Like "Boadicea" it is a voice out of the Past, sonorous, strange, semi-barbaric. What old ancestor of yours is it thus speaking through you? The Fifth Act is a masterly piece of dramatic writing. I know not where to look for anything better. This being the shortest day of the year I make my letter correspond. I wish you knew, I wish you could possibly know, the power of your poetry in this country. It would make your heart go forth towards the thirty or forty million of English on this side of the Atlantic. With cordial congratulations on your great success, and kind remembrances, Your friend and admirer, Henry W . Longfellow. 2 11

AMONG

THE

BREAKERS

MANUSCRIPT: Yale University Library, PUBLISHED: Alfred Lord Tennyson: A Memoir hy His Son ( N e w York, 1897), II, 188-189. i . A n "Author's edition, from advance sheets" had just been published by Osgood & Company. See 3946.2.

3949.

To Alphonso Alva

Hopkins1

Cambridge Deer 23. 1876. M y Dear Sir, I have this evening had the pleasure of receiving the copy of "Newspaper Poets" which you were kind enough to send me, and hasten to thank you for this mark of your regard. It is evidently an interesting volume; and I shall read it from time to time with much sympathy, and I am sure with much gratification. I confess that I think well of the "Poet's Corner" in the newspaper. It is not like its namesake in Westminster Abbey, but a corner where they "live and move and have their being," 2 and are much better provided for than in ponderous volumes, that often prove to be tomb-stones with a name and.date, which people read, and pass on, and forget. Please accept my thanks for your kindness, and believe me Yours truly Henry W . Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: University of Washington Library. 1. Hopkins ( 1 8 4 3 - 1 9 1 8 ) , reformer and author, had sent Longfellow a copy of his Newspaper Poets; or, Waifs and Their Authors (Rochester, N.Y., 1876). 2. Cf. Acte 17:28.

3950.

To Elizabeth Oakes Smith

Cambridge Deer 23. 1876. Dear Mrs Oakes Smith, You will think me very negligent and very ungrateful for not having answered your letters1 sooner, and thanked you for the poems you were kind enough to send me. But I trust you will pardon me, when I tell you how ill and suffering I have been, and still am, from an attack of Neuralgia which is painful and persistent, and almost incapacitates me from reading and writing. If you do not, I shall think you inexorable. I should like very much to use the poems you send me, but I am afraid that I cannot. T h e amount of materials already accumulated almost precludes anything more. I will however preserve them carefully, and if I cannot find a place for them will return them safely to you. 212

CAMBRIDGE,

1876

After so long a delay I hardly know whether this will find you at the Rectory. Nevertheless I will direct it thither, and if you are gone it will doubtless follow you. With great regard Yours very truly Henry W. Longfellow. p.s. I beg you to thank Dr. Danker for his kindness in sending me the stereoscope of the Old Bell, now molten and mingled with the New. 2 MANUSCRIPT: Boston Public Library. 1. Mrs. Smith had written from Hollywood, N.C., on May 15, sending some poems for possible use in Poems of Places, and again on December 7 from the Rectory of Emmanuel Church, Little Falls, N.Y. 2. In her letter of December 7 Mrs. Smith had written: "I now send you a Legend, which is best explained, by the Photograph of the Bell, which my friend Dr Danker offers to your acceptance . . . I am sharing the hospitality of the beloved Pastor of the Episcopal Church of Little Falls, and am to Lecture twice to the people." Albert Danker ( 1 8 4 0 - 1 9 2 3 ) , rector of Emmanuel Church, 1870-1880, was the author of Heroines of Olden Time (New York, 1 8 7 5 ) .

3950a.

To Elbridge Henry Goss

Camb. Deer. 24. 1876. The Fog Bell. N. G. Shepherd, in Harper's Mag. X X X V I [December 1867]. 74. I find this in the Index; have not read it. H.W.L. MANUSCRIPT: Frank O. Buda, Cambridge, Mass.

3951.

To Samuel Greene Wheeler

Benjamin1

Camb. Deer 25. 1876. My Dear Sir, I have had the pleasure of receiving this morning, as a Christmas present, your fine poem on the "Siege of Vienna." 2 I shall be most happy to insert it in the "Poems of Places" beside the Ode of Filicaja on the same subject. With cordial thanks for it, and for the other poems you have been kind enough to send me Yours very truly Henry W. Longfellow.

2 ι3

AMONG

THE

BREAKERS

MANUSCRIPT: Bowdoin College Library. 1. Benjamin ( 1 8 3 7 — 1 9 1 4 ) , author, painter, and the first 1 8 8 3 - 1 8 8 5 , had sent Longfellow a copy of his " T h e Battle in Poems of Places. Switzerland and Austria, pp. 2 6 1 - 2 6 4 . 2. Longfellow confuses his titles. "Siege of Vienna," Vincenzo da Filicaia ( 1 6 4 2 - 1 7 0 7 ) , preceded Benjamin's pp. 2 5 7 - 2 6 1 .

3952.

American minister to Persia, of Vienna," which appeared by the Italian lyric poet poem in Poems of Places,

To Rose Emily Fay [Cambridge] T o the Rose of Roses And Fay of Fays, Health and happiness, Length of days, And all good wishes In all good ways!

Christmas 1876.

H.WL. MANUSCRIPT: Catherine Burch Symmes, Littleton, N . H .

3953·

To Anne Allegra and Edith

Lcmgfellow

Camb. Deer 26. 1876. M y Darlings, This morning, soon after you drove away, came a letter for Annie, which I forwarded forthwith, and it will reach her tomorrow. This evening comes the enclosed to Edith; but it is too small to go alone; so I send this to protect it, and bring it safe to your hands in 28. E. 36. 1 T h e events of to-day have not been numerous. Rosa departed, which was a pity; Charley lunched with Mrs Zena, 2 which was a pleasure; Alice has been to a Symphony Concert, which was a musical necessity; I have written to Mr. Marmier, which was a duty; 3 and the evening has come, and we have just dined on a venison pasty, and you have just arrived in the city of N e w York, which is a satisfaction. A few more items. A volume of poems from England, entitled "Voices from the Lakes"; — a pamphlet on "La Poesie en Amerique" by our friend Depret of Paris; 4 a basket of flowers from Mrs. Horsford; a request for an autograph, on a Postal Card; and a huge picture-frame, as large as the Vicar of Wakefield's, with a small water-color of the Four Lakes of Madison! 5 T h e only thing I can do with this picture will be to hang it in your room. If it had only been smaller, I could have had it in my Study. 214

CAMBRIDGE,

1876

Charley has gone up to his room to work on Mexico. Alice is alone and silent in the library. The clock in the corner says Forever, and ever, and ever® Your affectionate Papa. 7

p.s. Remember me very kindly to the Appletons and the Smiths and the [Ebenezer] Storers. MANUSCRIPT: Massachusetts Historical Society. 1. Address of William Stuart Appleton of N e w York. See 3 7 5 2 . 1 . 2. Harriet Melusina Fay ( 1 8 3 6 - 1 9 2 3 ) , known as Zina, had married Charles Sanders Peirce ( 1 8 3 9 - 1 9 1 4 ) , philosopher and founder of pragmatism, in 1 8 6 1 . She was the sister of Rose Emily Fay. 3. T h e letter is unrecovered. 4. T h e volume of poems is unidentified. Louis Depret's pamphlet (Lille, 1 8 7 6 ) is a study of Longfellow's poetry, delivered as a lecture before the Societe des Sciences, de 1'Agriculture et des Arts de Lille in June 1 8 7 6 . 5. See Letter No. 3 7 4 9 . 6. C f . the refrain in " T h e Old Clock on the Stairs" (Works, I, 2 3 1 - 2 3 3 ) . 7. Presumably Rev. John Cotton Smith ( 3 8 5 2 . 2 ) and his family. Smith had married Harriette Hooper Appleton of Portland in 1849.

3954.

T o Amelia Chapman Thor-p

Cambridge Deer. 29 1876. Dear Mrs Thorp, The splendid picture has arrived without hurt of any kind; and very beautiful it is, both in itself and in its setting.1 You must thank for me all the ladies who have been so kind and so munificent. Of course I shall do it myself, but I shall do it awkwardly; and I want you to come to my aid, and smooth over all my blunders. Particularly thank Mrs Hewitt 2 for the beauty of her illustrations. I shall always think I have seen those Four Lakes, they are so real in the picture. Mrs Bull 3 tells me that you would like my reply to Mrs Bascom4 on one page, so that it may be placed in the case with the illustration. Now, Dear Mrs. Thorp, please don't do that. The verses had far better stand by themselves, without note or comment of mine.6 With great regard Yours very truly Henry W . Longfellow. MANUSCRIPT: unrecovered; text from photostat, Longfellow Trust Collection fellow House).

(Long-

1. Longfellow refers to an illustrated copy of his " T h e Four Lakes of Madison." See Letter No. 3 7 4 9 . 2. Lydia Ely Hewitt ( 1 8 3 6 - 1 9 1 4 ) , Milwaukee artist and community leader.

2 ι 5

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THE

BREAKERS

3. Sarah Chapman Thorp ( 1 8 5 0 - 1 9 1 1 ) had married Ole Bull in 1870. In 1 8 8 5 her brother Joseph Gilbert Thorp, Jr. ( 1 8 5 2 - 1 9 3 1 ) , married Anne Allegra Longfellow. 4. Emma Curtiss Bascom ( 1 8 2 8 - 1 9 1 6 ) , wife of John Bascom ( 1 8 2 7 - 1 9 1 1 ) , president of the University of Wisconsin, 1 8 7 4 - 1 8 8 7 , was secretary of the Women's State Centennial Executive Committee of Wisconsin. 5. Longfellow's letter to Mrs. Bascom, dated January 1, 1 8 7 7 ( M S Letter Calendar), is unrecovered.

3955.

To George Washington

Greene

Camb. Deer. 30. 1876. My Dear Greene, This is not the last day of the year, but as it is now nine o'clock, it is near enough to call it so. And what a lovely, moonlight nine o'clock it is! Every sound muffled by the snow; every leafless tree, in the windless air, throwing its soft shadow, like a delicate etching on a white ground. I am left all alone here to-night in the great, sombre house, and send you my Christmas and New Year's greeting. I send you, also, a Prospectus of a new Historic Magazine, which I dare say you have already received from the publishers. What is "The Lost City of New England" in Article three? Boston was once called "The Lost Town"; but that was long ago, and it has since been found. 1 You will be interested to know, that Miss Una Farley is engaged to Cornelius Felton, son of the Professor.2 You will be interested to know, that the North American has fallen into energetic young hands, and bids fair to renew its youth.3 You will be interested to know, that "Poems of Places" have, or has, reached Italy, and that I have before me the first proof-sheets; and that the first two poems are from the pen of Publius Virgilius Maro [Vergil], sometimes called the "Prince of the Latin Poets." And finally you will be interested to know that I have a letter from the Emperor Dom Pedro, dated at Beyroot in Syria; — that M. Depret of Lille has written a pamphlet of forty nine pages on me and my verses;4 — that the Revue Catholique of Louvain devotes five consecutive articles to the same subject;5 and that M. Doudan of Paris in his charming Letters, just published, says that I am "Berquin eleve au plus haut des cieux!"6 I might make this rosary a good deal longer, but you would be tired of counting the beads. The most important bead of all I came near forgetting; and that is how much our Cambridge Society is enriched by your Rhode Island contribution of Professor Bradley and his two lovely step-daughters Miss Chambers and Miss Ward, whom we all like so much.7 216

CAMBRIDGE,

1876

One thing more. On Monday night, January 1. 1877. I am going to the Boston Theatre to see " T h e Scarlet Letter," dramatized from Hawthorne's story.8 With all kinds of kind wishes for a Happy N e w Year to you all, Yours always H.W.L.® MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. 1. The new journal was the Magazine of American History. In I ( 1 8 7 7 ) , 14-20, Benjamin Franklin DeCosta (2083.1) identified the lost city as Norumbega, on the banks of the Penobscot in Maine. 2. See 3845.5. Apparently the engagement had only recently been made public. 3. Longfellow has forgotten that he has already discussed this matter with Greene. See 3931-24. See 3953.4. 5. A total of six articles on Longfellow appeared in the Revue Catholique, n.s., Ill ( 1 8 7 5 ) , 1 1 7 - 1 2 4 , 472-485; IV ( 1 8 7 5 ) , 1 4 2 - 1 5 7 ; V ( 1 8 7 5 ) , 246-274; VI ( 1 8 7 6 ) , 40-63, 568-586. 6. Ximenfes Doudan, Melanges et Lettres (Paris, 1876-1877), II, 493-494. The complete sentence reads: "Ne serait-ce pas Berquin eleve au plus haut des cieux que M. Longfellow? [May not Mr. Longfellow be Berquin raised to the heights of heaven?]" Arnaud Berquin ( i 7 4 9 ? - i 7 9 i ) , French writer, was known as the "Children's Friend." 7. Charles Smith Bradley ( 1 8 1 9 - 1 8 8 8 ) , a former chief justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court, served as Bussey Professor of Law at Harvard, 1876—1879. His stepdaughters were by his third wife, Emma Pendleton Ward Chambers, whom he had married in 1866. 8. The play offered Jean Margaret Davenport Lander ( 1 8 2 9 - 1 9 0 3 ) , English-born actress and the first American "Camille," in her last dramatic role, as Hester Prynne. 9. A check for $50 accompanied the manuscript ( M S Letter Calendar). 3956.

To Edith and Anne Allegra

Longfellow Camb. Deer. 30. 1876.

M y Darlings, Is it not nice, is it not very nice, to be in a far away city, amusing and enjoying yourselves, and to have a fond, not to say foolish Papa at home, to write letters to you? Luckily he likes to do it; and to that trifling circumstance you owe the present letter. Yours of yesterday have just arrived, and you might ask me if it is not just as nice to be sitting quietly at home and have two daughters, &c. &c. as above. N o letters have come for either of you to-day; only an elegantly printed pamphlet on toned paper entitled; "Proceedings of the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company." Tomorrow, the last day of the year, Alice and I dine with Mrs Fields, to meet Ole Bull. On Monday, the first day of the year, we go to the Boston Theatre to see " T h e Scarlet Letter"; having Box N o 1. offered us for the purpose. 2 ι 7

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Yesterday Mr. Monti came in a great snow-storm, and went away in a great rain-storm. This afternoon Rosa came, looking as rosy as her name, and went away disappointed at finding no letters. She brought me in yours. Good night, little girls! H.W.L MANUSCRIPT: Massachusetts Historical Society.

3957.

To Frances Rowena Miller

Camb. Deer 30. 1876. My Dear Child, How good you are, how kind you are, to send me this lovely photograph of yourself and your friend! And how beautiful you are, sitting there in the window, with the light streaming in upon you, and illuminating your face and figure! I must praise you, however you may protest against it. And I am going to praise you more presently. In return, and a very poor return it is, — I send you my grave face for Miss Julia, 1 with my name upon the back, as you desire. I hasten to thank you also for your charming letter, and the photograph of the Signora Lamperti.2 Your description of the Casa Vocalizia interested me extremely. There, again, you were so good and kind! It was noble of you to take her part (your Directress I mean) as you did, and bring harmony out of discord.3 The poem I read in the Press.4 It is a little bit mystical, but I had no great difficulty in understanding it. Now that you tell me where it was written, it has a double interest for me. This brief note is another of my poor returns for your longer and better ones. But if you saw the pile of unanswered letters heaped up around me, you would pardon and pity me. With all kinds of kind wishes and Happy New Years, always affectionately Your old friend H.W.L. p.s. Shall I direct my letters to the Casa Vocalizia or to your banker? MANUSCRIPT: Longfellow Trust Collection. 1. Julia A . Wheelock, aged twenty-six, daughter of a Boston truckman, was Miss Miller's friend and fellow student at the Casa Vocalizia, Milan. 2. Directress of the Casa Vocalizia. She was the wife of Francesco Lamperti ( 1 8 1 3 1 8 9 2 ) , professor at the Milan Conservatory and trainer of many distinguished opera and concert singers. 3. Miss Miller's letter describing this incident is unrecovered. 4. T h e poem, entitled " T h e Poisoned King" and signed "Fran Mille," appeared in the Cambridge Press, X I , No. 5 5 5 (December 16, 1 8 7 6 ) .

2 ι8

CAMBRIDGE, 3958.

1876

To William Allingham

Cambridge D e c r 3 i . i 8 7 6 . My Dear Sir, I deplore as much as you do the mutilation of your beautiful poem. It was no caprice of mine, but a necessity. I did not find the poem till after the volume was stereotyped, and suppressed another piece in order to put this in its place. I could use only enough to fill up the vacant space. But all this can be easily remedied. Be kind enough to see Mr. Macmillan, and have the whole poem inserted under "Ern, the River," where it properly belongs. Please also give the latest version of "The Burial Place," and of any and all other poems of yours.1 Accept my thanks in advance for the promised new edition of your poems.2 I will speak with Mr. Osgood about substituting it for the Blue and Gold.3 With great regard and good wishes, Yours very truly Henry W. Longfellow MANUSCRIPT: Clifton Waller Barrett Collection, University of Virginia. 1. Allingham had complained in a letter of December 1 4 against Longfellow's "hewing in twain of my Emigrant's Adieu" and the use of a suppressed version of " T h e Burial Place" in Poems of Places. See Letter No. 3 9 2 8 . T h e corrections were not made because the commercial failure of the English edition of Poems of Places ( 3 8 8 9 . 1 ) persuaded Alexander Macmillan not to go on with the series. 2. Songs, Ballads and Stories (London, 1 8 7 7 ) . 3. Allingham had called the Fields, Osgood & Company edition of his Poems ( 1 8 7 0 ) "a thorn in my flesh!"

3959·

To Edith and Anne Allegra Longfellow

Camb. Deer. 31. 1876. My Darlings, I am waiting for the carriage to take me to town; and I have found from long experience, that the best thing one can do when waiting for a carriage or anything else, is to write a letter. To be sure, I wrote to you yesterday, and Alice wrote this morning. But is that any reason why I should not write again this evening? Besides, I have something rather pretty to tell you about Una. She came in after church this morning with her lover. I asked him if he had any church near his Virginia farm. He said yes; there was a church near by, and that it had a sign upon it — one word only — "Beulah." He wanted to know what it meant; so we hunted it up in the Bible Dictionary and found to our horror and amazement, that it meant "Marriage and Desolation"! How it can mean both no one but a Hebrew knows, or those who have tried it, and been disappointed. 219

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But there was a reference to the Bible; — Isaiah, ch. 62. verse 4. Ah, there we found, what you will find if you turn to it. I read the verse aloud, and U n a blushed and smiled, and looked very happy. T h e bridegroom did not "twirl his bonnet," because he had only a hat; but he seemed to be comforted by the words, "Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate." T h e carriage has come; so good bye till next year. I hardly need inform you that I am Your affectionate Papa. MANUSCRIPT: Massachusetts Historical Society.

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