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- a picnic excursion, the two were compelled by a thundershower to take
shelter in a narrow recess of the rocks of Monument Mountain. Two hours
of this enforced intercourse settled the matter. They learned so much
of each other’s character,... that the most intimate friendship for
the future was inevitable.’ A passage in Hawthorne’s ‘Wonder Book’
is noteworthy as describing the number of literary neighbours in
Berkshire:--
‘For my part, I wish I had Pegasus here at this moment,’ said the
student. ‘I would mount him forthwith, and gallop about the country
within a circumference of a few miles, making literary calls on my
brother authors. Dr. Dewey would be within ray reach, at the foot of
the Taconic. In Stockbridge, yonder, is Mr. James [G. P. R. James],
conspicuous to all the world on his mountain-pile of history and
romance. Longfellow, I believe, is not yet at the Oxbow, else the winged
horse would neigh at him. But here in Lenox I should find our most
truthful novelist [Miss Sedgwick], who has made the scenery and life
of Berkshire all her own. On the hither side of Pittsfield sits Herman
Melville, shaping out the gigantic conception of his ‘White Whale,’
while the gigantic shadow of Greylock looms upon him from his study
window. Another bound of my flying steed would bring me to the door of
Holmes, whom I mention last, because Pegasus would certainly unseat me
the next minute, and claim the poet as his rider.’
While at Pittsfield, Mr. Melville was induced to enter the lecture
field. From 1857 to 1860 he filled many engagements in the lyceums,
chiefly speaking of his adventures in the South Seas. He lectured
in cities as widely apart as Montreal, Chicago, Baltimore, and San
Francisco, sailing to the last-named place in 1860, by way of Cape
Horn, on the Meteor, commanded, by his younger brother, Captain Thomas
Melville, afterward governor of the ‘Sailor’s Snug Harbor’ at Staten
Island, N.Y. Besides his voyage to San Francisco, he had, in 1849 and
1856, visited England, the Continent, and the Holy Land, partly to
superintend the publication of English editions of his works, and partly
for recreation.
A pronounced feature of Melville’s character was his unwillingness to
speak of himself, his adventures, or his writings in conversation. He
was, however, able to overcome this reluctance on the lecture platform.
Our author’s tendency to philosophical discussion is strikingly set
forth in a letter from Dr. Titus Munson Coan to the latter’s mother,
written while a student at Williams College over thirty years ago,
and fortunately preserved by her. Dr. Coan enjoyed the friendship and
confidence of Mr. Melville during most of his residence in New York. The
letter reads:--
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