
FOR THE INSANE LONDON, ONTARIO London, Ont., 19 June 1890
I am now fairly settled down here for the summer, have pretty well caught up with my
work and am looking forward to a pleasant summer. The weather lately is
heavenly—just pleasant temperature, pure blue sky with a white cloud floating
here and there, a cool fresh breeze blowing. The syringas are coming out and the
first roses are showing in the rosebeds. It is the cream of the year and the place
has never been quite so beautiful before. If you could only be here for a month! I
think I told you that Mrs O'Connor gave me a copy of
Harrington—I have read it with the deepest
interest—the book shows immense ability but what
interested me more than the story was to trace O'Connor as he then was in the
background of the narrative. I was greatly interested to see that even in '60 he
knew his L. of G. He must have had it almost or quite from the first (from '55).
At the back of the book (Harrington) the Thayer & Eldridge L. of G. ('60) is advertised, and below another book, by same author, is announced, viz: "Banner at Daybreak." Your idea at that time seems to have been to print successive books in the way of the usual writer.
Have just received a letter from my brother Eustace of Ottawa containing this comical passage "I was told by a lady here last Sunday that Walt Whitman was living with his wife in a wretched hovel in the States in great poverty and neglect—she supposes that as soon as he is dead they will raise a great monument to him, and spend thousands of dollars on a grand funeral" Eustace laughed at the good lady and relieved her mind upon some of the above points.
Have you written that Preface yet for O'C.'s stories?

