{"id":"01KG8AM2S3N130N4HDBGE4VHQK","cid":"bafkreidncbar64wmp7s66knqbyjxo2qokctigea6zzg2wd3z7gnkezld7a","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":317,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:25.200Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 5","source_file":"01KG89J1JYRSHWXR7JM0HYS9D4","start_line":272,"text":"a picnic excursion, the two were compelled by a thundershower to take\r\nshelter in a narrow recess of the rocks of Monument Mountain. Two hours\r\nof this enforced intercourse settled the matter. They learned so much\r\nof each other’s character,... that the most intimate friendship for\r\nthe future was inevitable.’ A passage in Hawthorne’s ‘Wonder Book’\r\nis noteworthy as describing the number of literary neighbours in\r\nBerkshire:--\r\n\r\n‘For my part, I wish I had Pegasus here at this moment,’ said the\r\nstudent. ‘I would mount him forthwith, and gallop about the country\r\nwithin a circumference of a few miles, making literary calls on my\r\nbrother authors. Dr. Dewey would be within ray reach, at the foot of\r\nthe Taconic. In Stockbridge, yonder, is Mr. James [G. P. R. James],\r\nconspicuous to all the world on his mountain-pile of history and\r\nromance. Longfellow, I believe, is not yet at the Oxbow, else the winged\r\nhorse would neigh at him. But here in Lenox I should find our most\r\ntruthful novelist [Miss Sedgwick], who has made the scenery and life\r\nof Berkshire all her own. On the hither side of Pittsfield sits Herman\r\nMelville, shaping out the gigantic conception of his ‘White Whale,’\r\nwhile the gigantic shadow of Greylock looms upon him from his study\r\nwindow. Another bound of my flying steed would bring me to the door of\r\nHolmes, whom I mention last, because Pegasus would certainly unseat me\r\nthe next minute, and claim the poet as his rider.’\r\n\r\nWhile at Pittsfield, Mr. Melville was induced to enter the lecture\r\nfield. From 1857 to 1860 he filled many engagements in the lyceums,\r\nchiefly speaking of his adventures in the South Seas. He lectured\r\nin cities as widely apart as Montreal, Chicago, Baltimore, and San\r\nFrancisco, sailing to the last-named place in 1860, by way of Cape\r\nHorn, on the Meteor, commanded, by his younger brother, Captain Thomas\r\nMelville, afterward governor of the ‘Sailor’s Snug Harbor’ at Staten\r\nIsland, N.Y. Besides his voyage to San Francisco, he had, in 1849 and\r\n1856, visited England, the Continent, and the Holy Land, partly to\r\nsuperintend the publication of English editions of his works, and partly\r\nfor recreation.\r\n\r\nA pronounced feature of Melville’s character was his unwillingness to\r\nspeak of himself, his adventures, or his writings in conversation. He\r\nwas, however, able to overcome this reluctance on the lecture platform.\r\nOur author’s tendency to philosophical discussion is strikingly set\r\nforth in a letter from Dr. Titus Munson Coan to the latter’s mother,\r\nwritten while a student at Williams College over thirty years ago,\r\nand fortunately preserved by her. Dr. Coan enjoyed the friendship and\r\nconfidence of Mr. Melville during most of his residence in New York. The\r\nletter reads:--\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 5"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJPEC98TTS3YB9XGWRJ1C","peer_type":"frontmatter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J1JYRSHWXR7JM0HYS9D4","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AM2S390GVF38FGADNBM9M","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"prev"},{"peer":"01KG8AM2S3S5S9G4H2P2PW1DRJ","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:25.379Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:32.589Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}