* * * * *
NEWBURYPORT, MASS., _June 4, 1889_.
MY DEAR SIR: I return your paper of questions. Give plenty of the
"light matter" to which you refer, and I hope you will extract many
passages that show your uncle's horror of corruption. The pamphlets
you were so good as to send me are valuable and interesting. I do not
wonder at his great success before a jury. He was an awful man to have
on the other side. Is there any one who could describe for you some of
the noted scenes in which your uncle figured, but which you did not
witness yourself? There may be available interviews in the newspapers.
I remember hearing Thomas Nast talk about him very enthusiastically
after returning from a visit to him in Washington. You could make a
nice chapter about the Senate--its ways and occupations, traditions
and tone--viewed merely as a club of gentlemen.
I am glad that Mark Twain is going to publish the book. Give all the
pictures you dare.
Very truly yours,