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- 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:--
‘I have made my first literary pilgrimage, a call upon Herman Melville,
the renowned author of ‘Typee,’ etc. He lives in a spacious farmhouse
about two miles from Pittsfield, a weary walk through the dust. But it
as well repaid. I introduced myself as a Hawaiian-American, and soon
found myself in full tide of talk, or rather of monologue. But he would
not repeat the experiences of which I had been reading with rapture in
his books. In vain I sought to hear of Typee and those paradise islands,
but he preferred to pour forth his philosophy and his theories of
life. The shade of Aristotle arose like a cold mist between myself and
Fayaway. We have quite enough of deep philosophy at Williams College,
and I confess I was disappointed in this trend of the talk. But what
a talk it was! Melville is transformed from a Marquesan to a gypsy
student, the gypsy element still remaining strong within him. And this
contradiction gives him the air of one who has suffered from opposition,
both literary and social. With his liberal views, he is apparently
considered by the good people of Pittsfield as little better than a
cannibal or a ‘beach-comber.’ His attitude seemed to me something like
that of Ishmael; but perhaps I judged hastily. I managed to draw him out
very freely on everything but the Marquesas Islands, and when I left him
he was in full tide of discourse on all things sacred and profane. But
he seems to put away the objective side of his life, and to shut himself
up in this cold north as a cloistered thinker.’
I have been told by Dr. Coan that his father, the Rev. Titus Coan, of
the Hawaiian Islands, personally visited the Marquesas group, found
the Typee Valley, and verified in all respects the statements made
in ‘Typee.’ It is known that Mr. Melville from early manhood indulged
deeply in philosophical studies, and his fondness for discussing such
matters is pointed out by Hawthorne also, in the ‘English Note Books.’
This habit increased as he advanced in years, if possible.
The chief event of the residence in Pittsfield was the completion and
publication of ‘Moby Dick; or, the Whale,’ in 1851. How many young men
have been drawn to sea by this book is a question of interest. Meeting
with Mr. Charles Henry Webb [‘John Paul’) the day after Mr. Melville’s
death, I asked him if he were not familiar with that author’s writings.
He replied that ‘Moby Dick’ was responsible for his three years of life
before the mast when a lad, and added that while ‘gamming’ on board
another vessel he had once fallen in with a member of the boat’s crew
which rescued Melville from his friendly imprisonment among the Typees.
While at Pittsfield, besides his own family, Mr. Melville’s mother
and sisters resided with him. As his four children grew up he found
it necessary to obtain for them better facilities for study than the
village school afforded; and so, several years after, the household was
broken up, and he removed with his wife and children to the New York
house that was afterwards his home. This house belonged to his brother
Allan, and was exchanged for the estate at Pittsfield. In December,
1866, he was appointed by Mr. H. A. Smyth, a former travelling companion
in Europe, a district officer in the New York Custom House. He held the
position until 1886, preferring it to in-door clerical work, and then
resigned, the duties becoming too arduous for his failing strength.
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