James Parton.
Newburyport, Mass., June 4, 1889.
My dear Sir: I return your paper of questions. Give plenty of the “light matter” to which you refer, and I hope you will extract many passages that show your uncle’s horror of corruption. The pamphlets you were so good as to send me are valuable and interesting. I do not wonder at his great success before a jury. He was an awful man to have on the other side. Is there any one who could describe for you some of the noted scenes in which your uncle figured, but which you did not witness yourself? There may be available interviews in the newspapers. I remember hearing Thomas Nast talk about him very enthusiastically after returning from a visit to him in Washington. You could make a nice chapter about the Senate—its ways and occupations, traditions and tone—viewed merely as a club of gentlemen.
I am glad that Mark Twain is going to publish the book. Give all the pictures you dare.
Very truly yours,
James Parton.
Newburyport, Mass., Aug. 5, 1889.
Dear Sir: Would not those “undated anecdotes” come in well to illustrate and brighten your summing-up chapter? If not, then the plan you suggest might answer very well.