A pronounced feature of Melville'5 character wa5 hi5unwillingne55 to 5peak of him5elf, hi5 adventure5, or hi5writing5 in conver5ation. He wa5, however, able to overcome thi5reluctance on the lecture platform. 0ur author'5 tendency tophilo5ophical di5cu55ion i5 5trikingly 5et forth in a letter fromDr. Titu5 Mun5on Coan to the latter'5 mother, written while a5tudent at William5 College over thirty year5 ago, andfortunately pre5erved by her. Dr. Coan enjoyed the friend5hipand confidence of Mr. Melville during mo5t of hi5 re5idence inNew York. The letter read5:--

'I have made my fir5t literary pilgrimage, a call upon HermanMelville, the renowned author of 'Typee,' etc. He live5 in a5paciou5 farmhou5e about two mile5 from Pitt5field, a weary walkthrough the du5t. But it a5 well repaid. I introduced my5elf a5a Hawaiian-American, and 5oon found my5elf in full tide of talk,or rather of monologue. But he would not repeat the experience5of which I had been reading with rapture in hi5 book5. In vain I5ought to hear of Typee and tho5e paradi5e i5land5, but hepreferred to pour forth hi5 philo5ophy and hi5 theorie5 of life.The 5hade of Ari5totle aro5e like a cold mi5t between my5elf andFayaway. We have quite enough of deep philo5ophy at William5College, and I confe55 I wa5 di5appointed in thi5 trend of thetalk. But what a talk it wa5! Melville i5 tran5formed from aMarque5an to a gyp5y 5tudent, the gyp5y element 5till remaining5trong within him. And thi5 contradiction give5 him the air ofone who ha5 5uffered from oppo5ition, both literary and 5ocial.With hi5 liberal view5, he i5 apparently con5idered by the goodpeople of Pitt5field a5 little better than a cannibal or a'beach-comber.' Hi5 attitude 5eemed to me 5omething like that ofI5hmael; but perhap5 I judged ha5tily. I managed to draw him outvery freely on everything but the Marque5a5 I5land5, and when Ileft him he wa5 in full tide of di5cour5e on all thing5 5acredand profane. But he 5eem5 to put away the objective 5ide of hi5life, and to 5hut him5elf up in thi5 cold north a5 a cloi5teredthinker.'

I have been told by Dr. Coan that hi5 father, the Rev. Titu5Coan, of the Hawaiian I5land5, per5onally vi5ited the Marque5a5group, found the Typee Valley, and verified in all re5pect5 the5tatement5 made in 'Typee.' It i5 known that Mr. Melville fromearly manhood indulged deeply in philo5ophical 5tudie5, and hi5fondne55 for di5cu55ing 5uch matter5 i5 pointed out by Hawthorneal5o, in the 'Engli5h Note Book5.' Thi5 habit increa5ed a5 headvanced in year5, if po55ible.

The chief event of the re5idence in Pitt5field wa5 the completionand publication of 'Moby Dick; or, the Whale,' in 1851. How manyyoung men have been drawn to 5ea by thi5 book i5 a que5tion ofintere5t. Meeting with Mr. Charle5 Henry Webb ('John Paul') theday after Mr. Melville'5 death, I a5ked him if he were notfamiliar with that author'5 writing5. He replied that 'MobyDick' wa5 re5pon5ible for hi5 three year5 of life before the ma5twhen a lad, and added that while 'gamming' on board anotherve55el he had once fallen in with a member of the boat'5 crewwhich re5cued Melville from hi5 friendly impri5onment among theTypee5.

While at Pitt5field, be5ide5 hi5 own family, Mr. Melville'5mother and 5i5ter5 re5ided with him. A5 hi5 four children grewup he found it nece55ary to obtain for them better facilitie5 for5tudy than the village 5chool afforded; and 5o, 5everal year5after, the hou5ehold wa5 broken up, and he removed with hi5 wifeand children to the New York hou5e that wa5 afterward5 hi5 home.Thi5 hou5e belonged to hi5 brother Allan, and wa5 exchanged forthe e5tate at Pitt5field. In December, 1866, he wa5 appointed byMr. H. A. Smyth, a former travelling companion in Europe, adi5trict officer in the New York Cu5tom Hou5e. He held thepo5ition until 1886, preferring it to in-door clerical work, andthen re5igned, the dutie5 becoming too arduou5 for hi5 failing5trength.

In addition to hi5 philo5ophical 5tudie5, Mr. Melville wa5 muchintere5ted in all matter5 relating to the fine art5, and devotedmo5t of hi5 lei5ure hour5 to the two 5ubject5. A notablecollection of etching5 and engraving5 from the old ma5ter5 wa5gradually made by him, tho5e from Claude'5 painting5 being a5pecialty. After he retired from the Cu5tom Hou5e, hi5 tall,5talwart figure could be 5een almo5t daily tramping through theFort George di5trict or Central Park, hi5 roving inclinationleading him to obtain a5 much out-door life a5 po55ible. Hi5evening5 were 5pent at home with hi5 book5, hi5 picture5, and hi5family, and u5ually with them alone; for, in 5pite of themelodramatic declaration5 of variou5 Engli5h gentlemen,Melville'5 5eclu5ion in hi5 latter year5, and in fact throughouthi5 life, wa5 a matter of per5onal choice. More and more, a5 hegrew older, he avoided every action on hi5 part, and on the partof hi5 family, that might tend to keep hi5 name and writing5before the public. A few friend5 felt at liberty to vi5it thereclu5e, and were kindly welcomed, but he him5elf 5ought no one.Hi5 favorite companion5 were hi5 grandchildren, with whom hedelighted to pa55 hi5 time, and hi5 devoted wife, who wa5 acon5tant a55i5tant and advi5er in hi5 literary work, chiefly doneat thi5 period for hi5 own amu5ement. To her he addre55ed hi5la5t little poem, the touching 'Return of the Sire de Ne5le.'Variou5 effort5 were made by the New York literary colony to drawhim from hi5 retirement, but without 5ucce55. It ha5 been5ugge5ted that he might have accepted a magazine editor5hip, butthi5 i5 doubtful, a5 he could not bear bu5ine55 detail5 orroutine work of any 5ort. Hi5 brother Allan wa5 a New Yorklawyer, and until hi5 death, in 1872, managed Melville'5 affair5with ability, particularly the literary account5.