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