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of one farther into the room。 There； as I passed； some friendly fellow
stopped me and named me to him； and I remember how he leaned back in his
chair； and reached out his great hand to me； as if he were going to give
it me for good and all。 He had a fine head； with a cloud of Jovian hair
upon it； and a branching beard and mustache； and gentle eyes that looked
most kindly into mine； and seemed to wish the liking which I instantly
gave him； though we hardly passed a word； and our acquaintance was summed
up in that glance and the grasp of his mighty fist upon my hand。 I doubt
if he had any notion who or what I was beyond the fact that I was a young
poet of some sort； but he may possibly have remembered seeing my name
printed after some very Heinesque verses in the Press。 I did not meet
him again for twenty years； and then I had only a moment with him when he
was reading the proofs of his poems in Boston。 Some years later I saw
him for the last time； one day after his lecture on Lincoln； in that
city； when he came down from the platform to speak with some handshaking
friends who gathered about him。 Then and always he gave me the sense of
a sweet and true soul； and I felt in him a spiritual dignity which I will
not try to reconcile with his printing in the forefront of his book a
passage from a private letter of Emerson's； though I believe he would not
have seen such a thing as most other men would； or thought ill of it in
another。 The spiritual purity which I felt in him no less than the
dignity is something that I will no more try to reconcile with what
denies it in his page； but such things we may well leave to the
adjustment of finer balances than we have at hand。 I will make sure only
of the greatest benignity in the presence of the man。 The apostle of the
rough； the uncouth； was the gentlest person； his barbaric yawp；
translated into the terms of social encounter； was an address of singular
quiet； delivered in a voice of winning and endearing friendliness。
As to his work itself； I suppose that I do not think it so valuable in
effect as in intention。 He was a liberating force； a very 〃imperial
anarch〃 in literature； but liberty is never anything but a means； and
what Whitman achieved was a means and not an end； in what must be called
his verse。 I like his prose； if there is a difference； much better；
there he is of a genial and comforting quality； very rich and cordial；
such as I felt him to be when I met him in person。 His verse seems to me
not poetry； but the materials of poetry； like one's emotions； yet I would
not misprize it； and I am glad to own that I have had moments of great
pleasure in it。 Some French critic quoted in the Saturday Press （I
cannot think of his name） said the best thing of him when he said that he
made you a partner of the enterprise； for that is precisely what he does；
and that is what alienates and what endears in him； as you like or
dislike the partnership。 It is still something neighborly； brotherly；
fatherly； and so I felt him to be when the benign old man looked on me
and spoke to me。
III。
That night at Pfaff's must have been the last of the Bohemians for me；
and it was the last of New York authorship too； for the time。 I do not
know why I should not have imagined trying to see Curtis； whom I knew so
much by heart； and whom I adored； but I may not have had the courage；
or I may have heard that he was out of town； Bryant； I believe； was then
out of the country； but at any rate I did not attempt him either。 The
Bohemians were the beginning and the end of the story for me； and to tell
the truth I did not like the story。。 I remember that as I sat at that
table。 under the pavement； in Pfaff's beer…cellar； and listened to the
wit that did not seem very funny； I thought of the dinner with Lowell；
the breakfast with Fields； the supper at the Autocrat's； and felt that I
had fallen very far。 In fact it can do no harm at this distance of time
to confess that it seemed to me then； and for a good while afterwards；
that a person who had seen the men and had the things said before him
that I had in Boston； could not keep himself too carefully in cotton； and
this was what I did all the following winter； though of course it was a
secret between me and me。 I dare say it was not the worst thing I could
have done； in some respects。
My sojourn in New York could not have been very long； and the rest of it
was mainly given to viewing the monuments of the city from the windows of
omnibuses and the platforms of horse…cars。 The world was so simple then
that there were perhaps only a half…dozen cities that had horse…cars in
them； and I travelled in those conveyances at New York with an unfaded
zest； even after my journeys back and forth between Boston and Cambridge。
I have not the least notion where I went or what I saw； but I suppose
that it was up and down the ugly east and west avenues； then lying open
to the eye in all the hideousness now partly concealed by the elevated
roads； and that I found them very stately and handsome。 Indeed； New York
was really handsomer then than it is now； when it has so many more pieces
of beautiful architecture； for at that day the skyscrapers were not yet；
and there was a fine regularity in the streets that these brute bulks
have robbed of all shapeliness。 Dirt and squalor there were a plenty；
but there was infinitely more comfort。 The long succession of cross
streets was yet mostly secure from business； after you passed Clinton
Place； commerce was just beginning to show itself in Union Square； and
Madison Square was still the home of the McFlimsies； whose kin and kind
dwelt unmolested in the brownstone stretches of Fifth Avenue。 I tried
hard to imagine them from the acquaintance Mr。 Butler's poem had given
me； and from the knowledge the gentle satire of The 'Potiphar Papers' had
spread broadcast through a community shocked by the excesses of our best
society； it was not half so bad then as the best now； probably。 But I do
not think I made very much of it； perhaps because most of the people who
ought to have been in those fine mansions were away at the seaside and
the mountains。
The mountains I had seen on my way down from Canada； but the sea…side
not； and it would never do to go home without visiting some famous summer
resort。 I must have fixed upon Long Branch because I must have heard of
it as then the most fashionable； and one afternoon I took the boat for
that place。 By this means I not only saw sea…bathing for the first time；
but I saw a storm at sea： a squall struck us so suddenly that it blew
away all the camp…stools of the forward promenade； it was very exciting；
and I long meant to use in literature the black wall of cloud that
settled on the water before us like a sort of portable midnight； I now
throw it away upon the reader； as it were； it never would come in
anywhere。 I stayed all night at Long Branch； and I had a bath the next
morning before breakfast： an extremely cold one； with a life…line to keep
me against the undertow。 In this rite I had the company of a young New…
Yorker； whom I had met on the boat coming down； and who was of