We
cannot, indeed, say what or how profound is the effect of life and
experience on art. There was the happy marriage, the tragic losses of
wife and children. There were the associations with the culture and
art--circles of America and Europe--New England, New York, Berlin,
Vienna, London, Glasgow; the academic degrees--Missouri, Yale; finally
ancient Oxford for the first time conferring the coveted honour of its
degree upon a humorist; the honours his own country delighted to bestow
upon him. And there too was that gallant struggle to pay off a
tremendous debt, begun at sixty--and accomplished one year sooner than
he expected--after the most spectacular and remarkable lecture tour in
history. The beautiful chivalric spirit of this great soul shone
brightest in disaster. He insisted that it was his wife who refused to
compromise his debts for forty cents on the dollar--that it was she who
declared it must be dollar for dollar; and when a fund was raised by his
admirers to assist in lightening his burden, that it was his wife who
refused to accept it, though he was willing enough to accept it as a
welcome relief.
Pages:
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88