84 Edward Livingston Youmans. 



Kalamazoo, Mich., December ii, i8^g. 



Dear Sister : I arrived here last night, and found your 

 »letter of Monday, the 5th. I am in sad plight, and shall 

 write a savage letter. Another fool is in charge of lectur- 

 ing affairs in Chicago, and I am completely upset by it. 

 Milwaukee fizzles — can't get a hall, and of all the places I 

 have written to I have heard only from Milwaukee and 

 eternal Aurora, who demands the Chemistry of the Sun- 

 beam in one lecture at forty dollars, with the written speci- 

 fication that I shall pay all my own expenses. And so I 

 have now two engagements to play — here to-morrow even- 

 ing, and at Chicago on Thursday evening — and then I am 

 out for the month, except such chance events as may hap- 

 pen to fall out. I am wanted to lecture in all directions, 

 but there is no chance to arrange, and so I will let it slide. 

 The only difficulty is this — and here I stopped and took up 

 Bain — the charred remains of poor Bain, full of interest. I 

 have been trying to get out of this Western world into Plato's 

 world of pure thought. It has helped. . . . My Ancient 

 Philosophy here last night was perfectl}^ splendid. A fine 

 room, a fine house of intelligent, sympathizing people ; the 

 thing went off admirably. I am beyond doubt a better, a 

 rather better speaker than last year. I have profited some- 

 what ; gestures are certainly better, although. Heaven be 

 my witness, they are bad enough yet. . . . Our old land- 

 lord is the very lord of that kind of lords. I'd sell out my 

 stock in the universe for one twentieth of his suavity. 

 What wonders I might do then ! Oily Gammon was a 

 polar bear beside him. As I descended from the omnibus, 

 tied to that immortal trail of baggage, half a dozen nigs 

 seized upon the plunder, and old Chesterfield took one of 

 my hands, and, passing his other arm so gracefully, so 

 gently, so lovingly around my waist, led, conducted, es- 

 corted — took me into his castle, the Burdick House. You 

 remember Burdick ! I think I'll lie down. 



