[Boston—Wednesday, 30 May 1877]
May 30. William Hunt came to lunch. He said many brilliant things and sometimes with touches of genius. Speaking of the nervous excitement induced by a telegram he said, “I think is this one dead or that, is it mother, is it Jenny, no and I know it can’t be Jenny she’ll never die!!” This was said under his breath and was very touching. He had much to say about the necessity of holding to ourselves, as it were, to our individu[a]lisms and the tendency of our time to set down all eccentricity—just as they have the Kohinoor he said—and seizing a banana he cut it all up to show how they had treated the great diamond and how men and women are apt to treat themselves.
