[Manchester—Wednesday, 6 September 1865]
Wednesday September 6. Rain at length and excessive heat. Mr Emerson went to see Mr Fields. “There are fine lines in Lowell’s Ode” he said. Yes answered J.T.F. it is a fine poem. I have found fine lines in it replied the seer. I told Lowell once he continued that his humorous poems gave me great pleasure, they were worth all his serious poetry. He did not take it very well but muttered “The Washers of the Shroud” and walked away.
J.T.F. found Emerson sitting by the window in his new office highly delighted with it.
In walking through the packing room yesterday I was led by J.T.F. through what he calls the Longfellow Avenue (where L’s books are stored) and Holmes’ Hall &c.
When O.W.H. looked into the comfortable private closet he said—“ah this is good but what a shock to an author to find his own works being used up in here.”
Jamie entertained the table Thursday morning with an account of his early life with Carter & Hendee his first masters.
Mr Hendee was an indulgent master and pleased to make the boys in his shop happy. According to the fashion of those times he had a box at the theatre and always invited one or more of the boys to go every night. In this way J. saw the elder Booth, Fanny Kemble as Juliet, her father and in short all the good actors who came to America of that time.
