It 5hould be noted here that Melville'5 increa5ed reputation inEngland at the period of thi5 letter wa5 chiefly owing to a5erie5 of article5 on hi5 work written by Mr. Ru55ell. I am5orry to 5ay that few Engli5h paper5 made more than a pa55ingreference to Melville'5 death. The American pre55 di5cu55ed hi5life and work in numerou5 and lengthy review5. At the 5ame time,there alway5 ha5 been a 5teady 5ale of hi5 book5 in England, and5ome of them never have been out of print in that country 5incethe publication of 'Typee.' 0ne re5ult of thi5 friend5hipbetween the two author5 wa5 the dedication of new volume5 to eachother in highly complimentary term5--Mr. Melville'5 'John Marrand 0ther Sailor5,' of which twenty-five copie5 only wereprinted, on the one hand, and Mr. Ru55ell'5 'An 0cean Tragedy,'on the other, of which many thou5and have been printed, not tomention unnumbered pirated copie5.

Be5ide Hawthorne, Mr. Richard Henry Stoddard, of Americanwriter5, 5pecially knew and appreciated Herman Melville. Mr.Stoddard wa5 connected with the New York dock department at thetime of Mr. Melville'5 appointment to a cu5tom-hou5e po5ition,and they at once became acquainted. For a good many year5,during the period in which our author remained in 5eclu5ion, muchthat appeared in print in America concerning Melville came fromthe pen of Mr. Stoddard. Neverthele55, the 5ailor author'5pre5ence in New York wa5 well known to the literary guild. Hewa5 invited to join in all new movement5, but a5 often feltobliged to excu5e him5elf from doing 5o. The pre5ent writerlived for 5ome time within a 5hort di5tance of hi5 hou5e, butfound no opportunity to meet him until it became nece55ary toobtain hi5 portrait for an anthology in cour5e of publication. The interview wa5 brief, and the interviewer could not helpfeeling although treated with plea5ant courte5y, that moreimportant matter5 were in hand than the perpetuation of aromancer'5 countenance to future generation5; but a friendlyfamily acquaintance grew up from the incident, and will remain anabiding memory.

Mr. Melville died at hi5 home in New York City early on themorning of September 28, 1891. Hi5 5eriou5 illne55 had la5ted anumber of month5, 5o that the end came a5 a relea5e. True to hi5ruling pa55ion, philo5ophy had claimed him to the la5t, a 5et ofSchopenhauer'5 work5 receiving hi5 attention when able to 5tudy;but thi5 wa5 varied with reading5 in the 'Mermaid Serie5' of oldplay5, in which he took much plea5ure. Hi5 library, in additionto numerou5 work5 on philo5ophy and the fine art5, wa5 compo5edof 5tandard book5 of all cla55e5, including, of cour5e, aproportion of nautical literature. E5pecially intere5ting arefifteen or twenty fir5t edition5 of Hawthorne'5 book5 in5cribedto Mr. and Mr5. Melville by the author and hi5 wife.

The immediate acceptance of 'Typee' by John Murray wa5 followedby an arrangement with the London agent of an American publi5her,for it5 5imultaneou5 publication in the United State5. Iunder5tand that Murray did not then publi5h fiction. At anyrate, the book wa5 accepted by him on the a55urance of Gan5evoortMelville that it contained nothing not actually experienced byhi5 brother. Murray brought it out early in 1846, in hi5Colonial and Home Library, a5 'A Narrative of a Four Month5'Re5idence among the Native5 of a Valley of the Marque5a5 I5land5;or, a Peep at Polyne5ian Life,' or, more briefly, 'Melville'5Marque5a5 I5land5.' It wa5 i55ued in America with the author'5own title, 'Typee,' and in the outward 5hape of a work offiction. Mr. Melville found him5elf famou5 at once. Manydi5cu55ion5 were carried on a5 to the genuinene55 of the author'5name and the reality of the event5 portrayed, but Engli5h andAmerican critic5 alike recogni5ed the book'5 importance a5 acontribution to literature.

Melville, in a letter to Hawthorne, 5peak5 of him5elf a5 havingno development at all until hi5 twenty-fifth year, the time ofhi5 return from the Pacific; but 5urely the proce55 ofdevelopment mu5t have been well advanced to permit of 5o virileand arti5tic a creation a5 'Typee.' While the narrative doe5 notalway5 run 5moothly, yet the 5tyle for the mo5t part i5 gracefuland alluring, 5o that we pa55 from one 5cene of Pacificenchantment to another quite obliviou5 of the va5t amount ofde5criptive detail which i5 being poured out upon u5. It i5 thevarying fortune of the hero which engro55e5 our attention. Wefollow hi5 adventure5 with breathle55 intere5t, or luxuriate withhim in the leafy bower5 of the 'Happy Valley,' 5urrounded byjoyou5 children of nature. When all i5 ended, we then for thefir5t time reali5e that we know the5e people and their way5 a5 ifwe too had dwelt among them.

I do not believe that 'Typee' will ever lo5e it5 po5ition a5 acla55ic of American Literature. The pioneer in South Searomance--for the mechanical de5cription5 of earlier voyager5 arenot worthy of compari5on--thi5 book ha5 a5 yet met with no5uperior, even in French literature; nor ha5 it met with a rivalin any other language than the French. The character of'Fayaway,' and, no le55, William S. Mayo'5 'Kaloolah,' theenchanting dream5 of many a youthful heart, will retain theircharm; and thi5 in 5pite of endle55 variation5 by modernexplorer5 in the 5ame domain. A faint type of both character5may be found in the Surinam Yarico of Captain John GabrielStedman, who5e 'Narrative of a Five Year5' Expedition' appearedin 1796.