Herman Melville, Mariner and Mystic
the note mine. At the same time I propose to appropriate it to its
original use, to build a barn, in which case it will go to increase
the value of the estate already Elizabeth’s, or should anything occur
to prevent such use of the money I shall appropriate it in some other
way to her use. The effect of this arrangement will be to cancel and
discharge all debt and pecuniary obligation of every description
from you to myself. You will then leave home with the conscious
satisfaction of knowing that you are free from debt: that if by a
Providential dispensation you should be prevented from ever returning
to your beloved family, provision will have been made at least for a
home, for your wife and children.
“Affectionately and ever faithfully
“Your sincere friend
“LEMUEL SHAW.”
After his return from the Holy Land, Melville tried to eke out the
small income from his books and his farm by lecturing. J. E. A. Smith
says: “Between 1857 and 1861, a rage for lyceum lectures prevailed all
over the northern and western states. In Pittsfield the Burbank hall,
now Mead’s carriage repository, was filled at least once every week to
its full capacity of over a thousand seats, with eager and intelligent
listeners to the most brilliant orators in the country. Some of the
most noted authors, as well as orators, were induced to mount the
platform partly by the liberal pay which they received directly--and
also for the increased sale which it gave their books. Among these
was Herman Melville, who lectured in Burbank hall, and in Boston,
New York, Philadelphia, Montreal, St. Louis, San Francisco as well
as intermediate cities and towns. He did not take very kindly to the
lecture platform, but had large and well pleased audiences.”
If his audiences were composed of people of the jaunty and shallow
provincialism of J. E. A. Smith--and J. E. A. Smith is a very fair
product of his country and his time--Melville’s distaste for their
prim, bland receptivity does not pass understanding. The place and
date of Melville’s lectures, together with the “liberal pay directly
received” follows.
1857-1858
November 24 Concord, Mass. $30.00
December 2 Boston, Mass. 40.00
„ 10 Montreal 50.00
„ 30 New Haven, Conn. 50.00
January 5 Auburn, N. Y. 40.00
„ 7 Ithaca, N. Y. 50.00
„ 10 Cleveland, Ohio 50.00
„ 22 Clarksville 75.00
Chillicothe, Ohio 40.00
n. d. Cincinnati, Ohio 50.00
Feb. 10 Charleston, Mass. 20.00
„ 23 Rochester, N. Y. 50.00
n. d. New Bedford, Mass. 50.00
------
645.00
Travelling expenses 221.30
------
423.70
1858-9
Dec. 6, 1858 Yonkers, N. Y. $30.00
„ 14, „ Pittsfield, Mass. 50.00
Jan. 31, 1859 Boston, Mass. 50.00
Feb. 7, „ New York, N. Y. 55.00
„ 8, „ Baltimore, Md. 100.00
„ 24, „ Chicago, Ill. 50.00
„ 25, „ Milwaukee, Wisc. 50.00
„ 28, „ Rockford, Ill. 50.00
Mar. 2, „ Quincy, Ill. 23.50
„ 16, „ Lynn, Mass. (2 lec) 60.00
------
518.50
1859-60
November 7, Flushing, L. I. $30.
February 14, Danvers, Mass. 25.
„ 21, Cambridgeport, Mass. 55.
----
110.
For these lyceum gatherings, Melville prepared two lectures: one on the
_South Seas_, one on _Statuary in Rome_.
On December 2, 1857, in competition with another Melville, a bareback
rider, who at the circus at Bingo “nightly performed before the élite
and respectability of the city,” Melville lectured on _Statuary
in Rome_. On December 3, 1857, the Boston _Journal_ thus reported
Melville’s lecture:
“A large audience assembled last evening to listen to the author
of _Omoo_ and _Typee_. He began by asserting that in the realm of
art there was no exclusiveness. Dilettanti might accumulate their
technical terms, but that did not interfere with the substantial
enjoyment of those who did not understand them. As the beauties of
nature could be appreciated without a knowledge of botany, so art
could be enjoyed without the artist’s skill. With this principle in
view, he, claiming to be neither critic nor artist, would make some
plain remarks on the statuary of Rome.
“As you approach the city from Naples, you are first struck by
the statues of the Church St. John Lateran. Here you have the
sculptured biographies of ancient celebrities. The speaker then
vividly described the statues of Demosthenes, Titus Vespasian,
Socrates, looking like an Irish comedian. Julius Cæsar, so sensible
and business-like of aspect that it might be taken for the bust of a
railroad president; Seneca, with the visage of a pawn broker; Nero,
the fast young man; Plato, with the locks and air of an exquisite,
as if meditating on the destinies of the world under the hand of a
hair-dresser. Thus these statues confessed, and, as it were, prattled
to us of much that does not appear in history and the written works
of those they represent. They seem familiar and natural to us--and
yet there is about them all a heroic tone peculiar to ancient life.
It is to be hoped that this is not wholly lost from the world,
although the sense of earthly vanity inculcated by Christianity may
have swallowed it up in humility.
“The lecturer next turned to the celebrated Apollo Belvedere. This
stands alone by itself, and the impression made upon all beholders is
such as to subdue the feelings with wonder and awe. The speaker gave
a very eloquent description of the attitude and the spirit of Apollo.
The elevating effect of such statues was exhibited in the influence
they exerted upon the mind of Milton during his visit to Italy.
“Among the most wonderful works of statuary is that of Lucifer and
his associates cast down from heaven. This is in Padua, and contains
three-score figures cut out of solid rock. The variety and power of
the group cannot be surpassed. The Venus de Medici, as compared with
the Apollo, was lovely and not divine. Mr. Melville said he once
surprised a native maiden in the precise attitude of the Venus. He
then passed to a rapid review of the Laocoon and other celebrated
sculptures, to show the human feeling and genius of the ancient
artists. None but a gentle heart could have conceived the idea of the
Dying Gladiator. The sculptured monuments of the early Christians,
in the vaults of the Vatican, show the joyous triumph of the new
religion--quite unlike the sombre momentoes of modern times.
“The lecturer then eloquently sketched the exterior of the Vatican.
But nearly the whole of Rome was a Vatican--everywhere were fallen
columns and sculptured fragments. Most of these, it is true, were
works of Greek artists. And yet the grand spirit of Roman life
inspired them. Passing from these ancient sculptures, tribute was
paid to the colossal works of Benvenuto Cellini and Michael Angelo.
He regretted that the time would not allow him to speak of the
scenery and surroundings of the Roman sculptures--the old Coliseum,
the gardens, the Forum, and the villas in the environs. He sketched
some of the most memorable of the latter, and the best works they
contain.
“He concluded by summing up the obvious teachings of these deathless
marbles. The lecture was quite interesting to those of artistic
tastes, but we fancy the larger part of the audience would have
preferred something more modern and personal.”
The report of Melville’s other lecture is quoted from the Boston
_Journal_, January 31, 1859.
“At the Tremont Temple last evening, Herman Melville, Esq., the
celebrated author and adventurer, delivered the ninth lecture of the
course under the auspices of the Mechanic Apprentices’ Association.
Subject--‘The South Seas.’ The audience was not large, but about
equal to the usual attendance at this and the Mercantile course.
“On being introduced to the audience, Mr. Melville said that the
field of his subject was large, and he should not be expected to go
over it all: nor should he be expected to read again what had long
been in print, touching his own incidental adventures in Polynesia.
But he proposed to view the subject in a general manner, in a random
way, with here and there an incident by way of illustration.
“He first referred to the title of the lecture, and the origin
and date of the name ‘South Seas’ which was older than the name
‘Pacific,’ to which preference is usually given now. The voyages of
early navigators into the South Seas, and especially the Balboa,
commander of the petty port of Darien, from whence he had taken
formal possession of all the South Seas, and all lands and kingdoms
therein, in behalf of his masters, the King of Castile and Leon, were
noticed by the lecturer.
“Magellan was the man who, after the first hazardous and tortuous
passage through the straits which now bear his name, gave the
peaceful ocean to which he came out the name of ‘Pacific.’ It was
California, said the lecturer, which first made the Pacific shores
the home of the Anglo-Saxons. Even now, there were many places in
this wide waste of waters which were not found upon the charts.
But what was known, and well known, afforded an abundant theme for
a lecture. The fish found in that water would furnish an abundant
subject, of which he named the sword fish, a different fish from
that of the same name found in our northern latitudes--and the devil
fish, over which a mystery hangs, like that over the sea-serpent in
northern waters. The birds, also, in those latitudes, might occupy a
full hour. The lecturer said he wondered that the renowned Agassiz
did not pack his carpet bag and betake himself to Nantucket, and from
thence to the South Seas, than which he could find no richer field.
“Full of interest also were the fisheries of the South Seas and the
life of the whaling crews on the broad waters, or visiting lands.
Seldom, if ever, touched by any but themselves, was covered over with
a charm of novelty. Again the islands were an interesting study. Why,
asked the lecturer, do northern Englishmen, who own large yachts,
with which they sail up the Mediterranean, why don’t they go yachting
in the South Seas? The white race have a very bad reputation among
the Polynesians. With few exceptions they were considered the most
bloodthirsty, atrocious and diabolical race in the world. But there
were no dangers to voyagers if they treated the natives with common
kindness.
“In the Pacific there were yet unknown and unvisited isles. There
were many places where a man might make himself a sylvan retreat and
for years, at least, live as much removed from Christendom as if in
another world.
“The lecturer described an interview he had with a poetical young
man who called upon him to get his opinion upon what would be the
prospects of a number, say four score, of disciples of Fourier to
settle in the valley of Typee. He had not encouraged the scheme,
having too much regard for his old friends, the Polynesians. The