Nathaniel Parker Willis

If “Paul Fane, or Parts of a Life Else Untold” was a response to this artistic craving for unity in a sustained work, its author had waited too late. It was, in effect, a poor novel; and—what was unusual with Willis, even at his thinnest—it was dull. The story is told in the first person, and the hero is a young American artist, who, feeling his social equality challenged by a look in the eyes of a cold English girl of high birth, is driven abroad by a restless determination to put himself on a level with any nobility that hereditary rank can bestow. He brings the haughtiest daughters of Albion to his feet. Three or four women fall in love with him, including the original offender and her aunt, but he will none of them. It is Willis’s old theme of nature’s nobleman versus caste. The novel was an experiment, before the times were ripe, in that field of international manners which has since been so cleverly occupied by Henry James. It tries to deal with the perplexities and real miseries, which arise not so much from the deeper conflicts of character as from the attempt to adjust hostile social standards. Mr. James has made a very interesting story out of the simple episode of a young English lady marrying an American, coming to America to live, and then, not finding American ways to her taste, taking her husband back to England with her. But Willis was not well equipped for success in this field. He could not keep his fancy in check; there must be a dash of romance, of exaggeration in his tale. And he was a quick observer rather than a patient student of manners, as of other things. He lacked the sober, truthful vigilance of James and Howells. Miss Firkin, in this book, an overdone Daisy Miller, and Blivins, an American type once rumored to have existed, but inconceivable at this distance of time, show how far his execution fell below the fine and solid work of our contemporary realists. There are passages of vulgarity in “Paul Fane” which are a surprise in any book of Willis’s, but which came rather from the weakness and failure of his hand in its attempt to execute scenes of broad humor, than from any crudity of feeling. This kind of violent and assumed indelicacy on the part of naturally refined writers, when they are trying to put on the healthy coarseness of a Hogarth or Teniers, is a not uncommon phenomenon; daintiness mistaking coarseness for the strength of which it is often a sign or an accompaniment.

In “The Convalescent” were included narratives of a trip to the Rappahannock, to Nantucket, and to the horse fair at Springfield, Massachusetts. In July, 1860, Willis accompanied Mr. Grinnell on a journey to the West,—reported for the “Home Journal” as a “Three Weeks’ Trip to the West,”—going to Yellow Springs, Ohio, and Chicago, and as far as Madison, Wisconsin; then descending the Mississippi in a steamboat to St. Louis, and returning East by way of Cincinnati and Pittsburgh.

In Willis’s later writings his verbal affectations gained upon him to an intolerable extent. “Mr. N. P. Willis,” says Bartlett in his “Dictionary of Americanisms,” “has the reputation of inventing many new words, some of which, though not yet embodied in our dictionaries, are much used in familiar language.” One of the phrases which Bartlett accredits to him is, “the upper ten,”—originally and in full, “the upper ten thousand of New York city.” This seems likely to keep its place in the language. “Japonicadom” took at the time, but has now gone out. He had a fondness for agglutinations. “Come-at-able” is a convenient word which is traced to his mint; and Professor George P. Marsh, in his “Origin and History of the English Language,” lends the weight of his authority to Willis’s “Stay-at-home-itiveness,” as a synonym for the Greek οἰκουρία, and the early English studestapelvestnesse. But such philological monsters as re-June-venescence, worthwhile-ativeness, fifty-per-centity, with which some of his books are strewn, have a painfully forced effect, and the trick became, from repetition, a tedious mannerism. Punning, likewise, was a habit which grew upon him, though both of these offenses are commoner in his private correspondence than in his published work.

At the outbreak of the civil war in the spring of 1861, there was a rush of newspaper men to Washington. It was decided that the “Home Journal,” too, should have its war correspondent, and accordingly Willis, bidding good-by to Idlewild, flung himself into the tide of journalists, soldiers, politicians, office-seekers, contractors, and speculators of all sorts, setting toward the seat of government. At Baltimore he stayed over a day with his friend Kennedy, who was prominently mentioned for the secretaryship of the navy, and who went on to Washington with Willis, where the latter introduced him and Reverdy Johnson to Mrs. Lincoln. The feeding of the “Home Journal” press with “Lookings-on at the War” proved a longer job than Willis had anticipated. It kept him in Washington for over a year, with occasional furloughs for a hurried visit home. He had always been curiously indifferent to politics. His opinions had been Whiggish, and he was, of course, a Union man. But he retained a secret sympathy with the South, and a liking for “those chivalrous, polysyllabic Southerners, incapable of a short word or a mean action,” whom he had known at Saratoga years before. Nevertheless, he dropped his light plummet of observation into the boiling sea of the civil war, where it was tossed about at no great depth below the surface. It is interesting to compare his letters from the capital with the patriotic fervor and swing of such martial sketches as Theodore Winthrop’s “Washington as a Camp.” The war, indeed, may be said to have made Willis and the kind of literature which he cultivated obsolete for a time. A more earnest generation of writers had come to the fore, who struck their roots deeper down into the life of the nation. Mr. Derby, the publisher, proposed in 1863 to make a book out of Willis’s “Lookings-on at the War,” but the project hung fire for some reason, and “The Convalescent” remained, as has been said, his last publication in book form.

Willis found all the world at Washington; among the rest, Lady Georgiana Fane, whom he presented to Mrs. Lincoln. “Fancy anticipating this at Almack’s twenty-five years ago!” he wrote of this conjunction, in a letter to Mrs. Willis. He met Charles Sumner, whom he had known in Boston, and had a long talk with him about the political situation; found Pierpont, the poet, employed as a clerk in one of the departments, and got rooms for him and Mrs. Pierpont in the house where he lodged himself; was introduced to General McClellan and to the cabinet officers, and the numerous congressmen and brigadiers who swarmed Pennsylvania Avenue and crowded the lobbies at Willard’s. He went out to all manner of receptions and dinner parties, and became quite a favorite with Mrs. Lincoln, who drove him out frequently in her barouche, had him to dine en famille at the White House, sent him flowers, and promised him a vase presented to the President by the Emperor of China. In one of his letters to the “Home Journal,” he had described her as having a “motherly expression,” whereupon she addressed him the following note:—

A sudden fit of sickness had hindered Willis’s plan to follow the army to Bull Run—fortunately, no doubt, as the correspondent who took his place was made prisoner. He afterwards took horseback rides into the enemy’s country, once narrowly escaping capture near Mount Vernon, and made excursions to Fortress Monroe, Manassas, Old Point Comfort, etc. On March 15, 1862, he was of the party which visited Harper’s Ferry at the invitation of the president of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Hawthorne, too, was of the party and reported the occasion in his article, “Chiefly about War Matters,” in the July “Atlantic” of that year. “Hawthorne is shy and reserved,” wrote Willis in one of his letters to his wife, “but I found he was a lover of mine, and we enjoyed our acquaintance very much.” Emerson and Curtis lectured in Washington while Willis was there, and Greeley dined with him in January, 1862. The novelty and excitement of life at the capital were agreeable at first, but he soon grew homesick and pined for his beloved Idlewild.

In consequence of the war, the circulation of the “Home Journal,” a large proportion of whose subscribers were in the South, had fallen off seriously. Willis found himself greatly straitened, and was obliged to close his country house for a time. Mrs. Willis and the children had spent the winter and spring of 1861-62 at New Bedford, with her father. In April she rented Idlewild and went with her family to pass the summer at Campton, near Plymouth, New Hampshire. In June Willis left Washington and joined her at Campton for a few days, and then returned to New York and took lodgings for himself. Morris’s health had grown so feeble that it became necessary for his partner to apply himself more closely to the management of the paper and do double work. He had been much opposed to the renting of Idlewild, and it troubled him to think of the place in the hands of strangers. He paid it a visit in August, by invitation of his tenant, a Mr. Dennis, and was very hospitably treated. In the autumn of the following year (1863) Mrs. Willis opened at Idlewild a little school for girls, in the hope of persuading her husband to leave New York and come home for life. He appreciated her energy and devotion,—shown through long years of failing health and fortune,—but he doomed himself to homeless exile, and refused to abandon his post. He was opposed to the school project, as he had been to the renting of Idlewild, unreasonably, no doubt, since something of the kind had to be done. But it touched his pride, and with increasing illness there grew upon him a morbid horror of dependence on any one. He fancied that he could work better in his New York lodgings. By 1864, moreover, Morris had become quite imbecile, and the responsibilities of editorship weighed more and more heavily on Willis. He remained at New York, therefore, running up to Idlewild for an occasional visit of a day or two, over Sunday, or sometimes for a week at a time. In July, 1864, General Morris died. Willis was deeply moved as he stood by his coffin. “My beloved old friend,” he wrote, “looked wonderfully tranquil, and so sweetly noble that I could not forbear giving him a parting kiss, though William sobbed as he looked on. So passes from earth one who loved me devotedly.” After Morris’s death Willis took into partnership a young man named Hollister, who had capital and enthusiasm; but the business management of the “Home Journal” began to fall more and more upon the shoulders of its present editor, Mr. Morris Phillips.

The story of the last few years of Willis’s life is a melancholy chronicle of failing powers, and of persistent struggle with disease and narrowing fates. He had long borne up against ill health with the gay courage of a cavalier. His pen faltered, but nothing that it wrote gave signs of bitterness or discouragement. Toward the last his temper, which had been uniformly sweet, sometimes grew irritable and morbid, though nothing of this appeared in his writing. As early as 1852 he had fancied that he had consumption, but his cough turned out to be merely “sympathetic,” and his lungs were pronounced sound. His disease finally declared itself as epilepsy, and resulted at the last in paralysis and softening of the brain. He was subject for years to epileptic fits, occurring periodically, usually on the tenth day. During these attacks, so long as his strength lasted, he was extremely violent, but as he grew weaker, they simply made him unconscious, leaving him greatly prostrated when the fit was over. The true nature of his malady was, for some years, known only to his wife and his physician, Dr. Gray, who feared that it might injure Willis’s business and literary interests if it were publicly understood that his brain was affected, or in danger of being affected. Willis was himself very sensitive on this point, and begged that no stranger might see him during his attacks. Accordingly, the matter was kept secret as long as possible. After Willis’s death, one of his physicians, Dr. J. B. F. Walker, printed some “Medical Reminiscences of N. P. Willis,” in the course of which he said: “Not only was he a martyr to the agonies of sharp and sudden attacks, but he suffered all the languors of chronic disease. With the exception of Henry Heine, there has hardly been a man of letters doomed to such protracted torments from bodily disease.”

Under these trying circumstances he exhibited a persistence in his work which astonished his friends. They had not thought that such endurance was in the man. But from some underlying stratum of character, some strain of toughness inherent in his Puritan stock, he brought up resources of will and stubbornness which resisted all appeals. Though complaining sometimes in his letters that he was “pitilessly overworked,” he declared his intention of dying in harness, and clung to his desk and his lonely lodgings till the doctors pronounced him a dying man. A part of the summers of 1865 and 1866 he spent at Idlewild, but the autumn of the latter year found him still at work in the city. He was now so weak that he often fainted in the street and had to be carried to his rooms. His partner, Morris Phillips, was untiring in his attentions; and finally, early in November, he brought him home to Idlewild, Willis yielding at last to the united entreaties of his wife, his father, and his sisters, and the imperative command of his doctor, to stop work. But he had come home only to die. He kept his room and seldom went down-stairs. During the first month he had some enjoyment of the home associations, taking pleasure in the daily visit of his children, and listening to the reading of poetry, more for its soothing effect than for any intellectual apprehension of it. He soon became helpless and slept much of the time, and when waking lived in continual visions and hallucinations. His recognition of his family was fitful during the last six or eight weeks of his life. He was watched and cared for by his wife and faithful Harriet, and no strange hand ministered to him or marked his failing consciousness. He died on the afternoon of the 20th of January, 1867,—his sixty-first birthday,—so quietly that the single watcher could not say when. He was taken to Boston, and buried in Mount Auburn. The funeral service of the Episcopal Church was read over his body in St. Paul’s Church, by the Rev. P. D. Huntington, the bookstores of the city being closed, in token of respect, while the service lasted. His pall was borne by Longfellow, Dana, Holmes, Lowell, Fields, Whipple, Edmund Quincy, Dr. Howe, Merritt Trimble, and Aldrich. “I took the flower which lies before me at this moment, as I write,” says Dr. Holmes, in a recent number of the “Atlantic,” “from his coffin, as it lay just outside the door of Saint Paul’s Church, on a sad, overclouded winter’s day, in the year 1867.”

The obituary notices which were published after Willis’s death made it evident that he had, in a sense, survived his own fame. They were reminiscent in tone, as though addressed to a generation that knew not Joseph. It was forty years since he had come before the public with his maiden book. It was twenty since he had put forth anything entitled to live; and meanwhile a new literature had grown up in America. The bells of morning tinkled faintly and far off, lost in the noise of fife and drum, and the war opened its chasm between the present and the past. For a time even Irving seemed sentimental and Cooper melodramatic. Yet these survive, but whether Willis, whose name has so often been joined with theirs, is destined to find still a hearing, it is for the future alone to say. “He will be remembered,” wrote his kinsman, Dr. Richard S. Storrs, “as a man eminently human, with almost unique endowments, devoting rare powers to insignificant purposes, and curiously illustrating the ‘fine irony of Nature,’ with which she often lavishes one of her choice productions on comparatively inferior ends.”

But, laying aside all question of appeal to that formidable tribunal, posterity, the many contemporaries who have owed hours of refined enjoyment to his graceful talent will join heartily with Thackeray in his assertion: “It is comfortable that there should have been a Willis.”

APPENDIX.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.

The following is a list of the first editions of Willis’s books. In a few instances these were published first in England. In such cases the London edition only is given. Most of his later works were published simultaneously, or nearly so, in England and America. In such cases only the first American edition is given. Of the various collective editions of his verse, published since 1844, only the final and most complete is mentioned, viz., the Clark & Maynard edition of 1868 (No. 29). No really complete edition of Willis’s writings has ever been printed. The first collective edition which laid claim to being complete was entitled: The Complete Works of N. P. Willis. 1 vol., 895 pp. New York: J. S. Redfield, 1846. The thirteen volumes in uniform style, issued by Charles Scribner from 1849 to 1859, form as nearly a complete edition of Willis’s prose since 1846 as is ever likely to be made.

The following list includes the works, edited, compiled, and partly written by Willis, but not the various journals and magazines of which he was editor.

INDEX.

• Aberdeen, Lord, 151, 186, 189.
• Adams, John, principal of Phillips Academy, 18, 27.
• Adams, William, 27, 28.
• Album, The, 49.
• Aldrich, T. B., 298, 336, 350.
• Alger’s Life of Forrest, 316.
• Allston, Washington, 91.
• Amaranth, The, 101.
• Amateur, The, travesties Willis, 90.
• American Monthly Magazine, The, 20, 21, 51;
• established by Willis, 82;
• contributors to, 83, 84;
• Willis’s contributions to, 84-88;
• discontinuance of, 98, 99; 206, 207, 265.
• American Review, The, 275.
• Andover, school life at, 18-20.
• Annuals, The, 77-80.
• Antrobus’s, Lady, a Supper at, 159.
• Appleton, T. G., 82.
• Apthorp, Mrs., her seminary at New Haven, 57.
• Athenæum, The, Willis’s contributions to, 164, 216, 217.
• Atlantic Monthly, The, 345;
• reminiscences of Willis in, 351.
• Atlantic Souvenir, The, 49, 77.
• Aytoun, W. E., his parody of Melanie, 181.
• Bailey, John, an ancestor of Willis, 4.
• Baillie, Joanna, Willis’s acquaintance with, 160, 163-165, 167; 271.
• Barry Cornwall. See Procter.
• Bartlett, W. H., 128, 221, 222, 249.
• Bartlett’s Dictionary of Americanisms quotes Willis, 341.
• Beattie, Dr. Wm., 97, 149, 166, 330.
• Beecher, Edward, 35, 94, 95.
• Belknap, Abigail, 5.
• Benjamin, Mary, Willis’s engagement to, 96, 97, 140;
• poem to, 97, 183.
• Benjamin, Park, 83, 96.
• Berkeley, Grantley, his duel with Maginn, 196, 197.
• Bermuda, visit to, 321.
• Blackwood’s Magazine, 180, 195.
• Blessington, Margaret, Countess of, Willis’s introduction to, 131, 134, 135;
• her receptions at Seamore Place, 137-139;
• her position in literature and society, 137, 138, 158, 159;
• her kindness to Willis, 141, 148, 156, 165, 168;
• letter to Willis, from, 173, 174; 151, 186, 192, 193, 237, 246, 251, 270, 283.
• Bolney Priory, 283.
• Bonaparte, Jerome, entertains Willis at Florence, 120.
• Bonaparte, Lucien, 159.
• Boston, Willis’s residence in, 10, 16, 17, 71-99;
• literature and society in, 83, 92, 93;
• Willis’s feelings toward, 99.
• Boston Courier, 86, 87.
• Boston Latin School, 16, 17.
• Boston Recorder, established by Willis’s father, 9;
• his contributions to, 48, 49, 52, 71.
• Boston Statesman, 89, 91.
• Boston Traveller, 90.
• Botta, Mrs. Vincenzo, 293.
• Bowring, Sir John, 111, 119, 141, 194, 271.
• Bristol Reporter, 49.
• Brother Jonathan, The, Willis a contributor to, 259, 260, 262, 263; 239.
• Brown, Sexton, his epitaph on Cæsar, 332.
• Brown University, Willis’s poem before, 100, 104.
• Bryant, W. C., 49, 217, 220, 291, 308, 310, 313.
• Buckingham, J. T., 86-88.
• Bulwer, E. L., 138, 141, 237.
• Bushnell, Horace, 32, 33, 47.
• Byron, Ada, 164, 168.
• Byron, Lady, 164, 168, 216.
• Cæsar, Dr. Kane’s dog, 334.
• Campbell, Thomas, a dinner with, 166, 167; 149, 245.
• Cape Cod, letters from, 322, 323.
• Carr, Mr., offers Willis Secretaryship at Tangiers, 112.
• Censor, The, 90.
• Channing, W. E., 144, 216;
• Willis’s Sketch of, 164.
• Charleville, Lady, 156, 157.
• Cheney, J., 80, 81.
• Child, Mrs. L. M., 80, 90, 199.
• Cholera in Paris, the, 114, 115.
• Christian Examiner, The, 48.
• Christian Watchman, The, 49.
• Christopher North. See Wilson.
• Cincinnati Monthly Review, 216.
• Citation and Examination of William Shakespeare, MS. of given to Willis, 131.
• Class Day poem, 59.
• Clay, Henry, 221, 242.
• Clifton, Josephine, plays in Bianca Visconti, 231-233.
• Colvin, Sidney, on Willis, 133.
• Concord, N. H., school life at, 16.
• Congdon, C. T., his Reminiscences of a Journalist quoted, 260.
• Conic Sections Rebellion, 47.
• Connecticut Journal, 49.
• Constantinople, visit to, 126-128.
• Cooper, J. F., entertains Willis in Paris, 110, 111;
• Willis’s defense of, 216; 136, 210, 291, 306, 351.
• Cork, Dowager Countess of, 166.
• Corsair, The, 227;
• established by Porter and Willis, 239-242;
• Willis’s contributions to, 243, 244, 247, 249, 253;
• Thackeray’s letters to, 253-256;
• suspends publication, 259, 260; 265.
• Coughton Court, visit at, 172.
• Court Magazine, The, Willis’s contributions to, 140, 154, 206.
• Cox, William, 103.
• Culprit Fay, The, 217.
• Dalhousie, Earl of, Willis’s visit to, 149, 150, 152;
• letters from, 174, 190; 189.
• Dalhousie, Lady, 149, 190;
• letter from, 191.
• Dana, C. A., 63, 332.
• Dana, R. H., 350.
• Dawes, Rufus, 84, 91, 92.
• Day, Jeremiah, 35.
• De Forest, Mrs., 58.
• Dewey, Dr. O. P., 308, 310.
• Diary, Passages from Willis’s, 165-169.
• Dickens, Charles, Willis’s acquaintance with, 264.
• Disraeli, Benjamin, 138, 237, 252, 253.
• Doane, G. W., 81.
• Dollar Magazine, The, Willis’s editorship of, 260.
• D’Orsay, Count Alfred, 75, 138, 158, 166, 237, 251.
• Douglas, Francis, 8.
• Douglas, Lucy, 6, 55.
• Down Town Bard, lyrics by, 267.
• Drake, J. R., 217, 292.
• Duganne, A. J. H., his Parnassus in Pillory, 298.
• Durant, Henry, Willis’s room-mate at Yale, 31, 40.
• Duyckinck, Evert A., 293.
• Dwight, Louis, 27, 28.
• Dwight, Louisa. See Louisa Willis.
• Eastern Argus, The, 8.
• Edinburgh, visit to, 150.
• Edinburgh Review, The, 118, 194.
• Eglintoun Tournament, 244.
• Emerson, R. W., 16, 345.
• England, Willis’s arrival in, 130;
• residence in, 135-179;
• liking for, 135-137;
• second visit to, 243-259;
• third visit to, 276, 283-286.
• English, T. D., 275.
• Erie Canal, the trip along, 60, 61.
• Europe, Willis’s life in, 107-179;
• influence of, on his character and writings, 107-110.
• Everett, Edward, 16, 18, 167;
• Inklings dedicated to, 206.
• Fable for Critics, A, passage from, 302.
• Fane, Lady Georgiana, 246, 343, 344.
• “Fanny Fern.” See Sarah P. Willis.
• Fay, T. S., edits the Mirror, 100;
• his writings, 102, 103; 132, 284, 291.
• Felton, C. C., 206.
• Fields, J. T., 271, 332, 350.
• Fishwoman’s Son, The, a parody of Willis, 304.
• Flint, Rev. Timothy, 216, 217.
• Florence, Willis’s residence at, 119-125.
• Fonblanque, A. W., 138;
• offended by Pencillings, 192, 193.
• Forget-Me-Not, The, 77.
• Forrest, Edwin, Willis involved in his divorce suit, 307-321;
• assaults Willis, 312-314.
• Forrest, Mrs. Edwin, vide supra.
• Forster, John, his Life of Landor quoted, 133, 264.
• Franklin, Benjamin, 6.
• Franklin, Lady, 163.
• Franklin, Sir John, 160.
• Fraser, James, 197, 237.
• Fraser’s Magazine, reviews Pencillings, 194-197.
• Fuller, Hiram, 273, 276, 286.
• Germany, visit to, 284, 286.
• Gibson, John, teaches Willis to Sculp, 121.
• Gift, the, 82, 262.
• Glenmary, 32, 163, 220;
• description of, 223;
• Willis’s life at, 223-231;
• sale of, 263; 264, 285, 329.
• Godey’s Lady’s Book, Willis a contributor to, 260-263, 266, 286;
• parodied in, 303, 304.
• Godwin, Parke, 308-310, 313.
• Goodrich, S. G., 49, 72;
• his impressions of Willis, 73-75, 77, 81, 89, 90.
• Gordon, Duke of, visit to the, 151, 152; 186;
• his opinion of Pencillings, 190.
• Gore House, Lady Blessington at, 156, 158, 193, 194, 252.
• Graham’s Magazine, Willis a contributor to, 260-262, 266.
• Gray, Dr. J. F., 330, 348.
• Greeley, Horace, 293, 345.
• Greene, Nathaniel, 91.
• Greenough, Horatio, his friendship with Willis abroad, 110, 120, 121.
• Grigsby, H. B., his reminiscences of Willis at college, 47, 48.
• Grinnell, Cornelia. See Cornelia Grinnell Willis.
• Grinnell, Hon. Joseph, 121, 287, 321, 323, 330, 340.
• Grisi, Julia, a supper with, 159.
• Guiccioli, Countess, 112, 119, 165, 168.
• Halleck, Fitz Greene, 56, 102, 220, 264, 291.
• Harding, Chester, 63, 92.
• Harper’s Ferry, excursion to, 345.
• Harper’s Monthly Magazine, description of Idlewild in, 332.
• Harvard College, 17.
• Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 72, 74, 80, 345.
• Hildreth, Richard, 83.
• Hillhouse, James, his influence on Willis, 70.
• Hoffman. C. F., 292, 293.
• Holmes, Dr. O. W., his recollections of Willis, 75; 271, 350, 351.
• Home Journal, The, 15, 163, 215, 266;
• established by Morris and Willis, 287;
• character of, 288;
• Willis’s contributions to, 273, 288-290, 293, 322, 325, 328, 330, 338, 340, 342, 344;
• associate editors of, 296, 298, 335, 336; 304;
• on Edwin Forrest, 308, 311, 314, 319; 337;
• its circulation, 346; 347.
• Howe, Dr. S. G., with Willis in Paris, 110, 111; 350.
• Idlewild, 93, 307;
• Willis’s country seat, 326-350;
• description of, 326, 327, 332 note;
• naming of, 328, 329; 345-347, 349.
• Imaginary Conversations, Landor’s intrusted to Willis, 131.
• Independent Chronicle, The, 6, 7.
• Ireland, tour of, 244-246.
• Irving, Washington, 136, 140, 291;
• exchanges visits with Willis, 332, 333; 351.
• Italy, residence in, 119-125.
• Jackson, Andrew, 135, 196.
• Jacobs, Harriet, 276, 350;
• story of her escape from slavery, 284, 285.
• Jeffrey, Lord, a dinner with, 150; 194.
• Jenkins, Joseph, 28, 93;
• marries Mary Willis, 30.
• Johnson family, The, of Stratford, Conn., 55.
• Kemble, Charles, 246.
• Kennedy, J. P., letter from, 318; 332, 342.
• Killinger, Freiherr Von, letter from, 217, 218.
• Knickerbocker Magazine, The, 292.
• Knickerbocker School, The, 290-293.
• Ladies’ Companion, The, 157, 261.
• Lafayette, Marquis of, 110.
• Lamb, Charles and Mary, a breakfast with, 141.
• Landon, Miss L. E., 80, 86, 184, 197, 237, 238.
• Landor, W. S., Willis’s relations with, 131-135;
• letter from, 134; 141, 271.
• Langdon, Octavus, entertains Willis at Smyrna, 128, 129.
• Ledger, The, 66.
• Leech, John, 165.
• Legendary, The, edited by Willis, 72, 75, 80, 81.
• Leigh, Augusta, 164.
• Leipsic, The great fair at, 286.
• Lennox, Lady Sophia, 151.
• Lincoln, Mrs. Abraham, 342, 343;
• letter from, 344.
• Linonian Society, The, 37, 41, 51;
• poem before 271.
• Literati of New York, The, 274, 293.
• Livingston, Miss Adele, visit to at Skaneateles, 62.
• Lockhart, J. G., 77;
• his attack on Pencillings, 185-190, 193, 196, 199.
• London, residence in, 137-149, 154-169.
• London Literary Souvenir, 77.
• London Morning Herald, 129.
• London Morning Chronicle, 286, 287.
• London Times, on the Willis and Marryat affair, 202, 203, 205.
• Longfellow, H. W., a fellow townsman of Willis, 1-3; 10, 117, 220, 269 note, 350.
• Lover, Samuel, 253.
• Lowell, J. R., correspondence with Willis, 300, 301;
• his estimate of Willis, 66, 302; 350.
• Lucca, Baths of, 122.
• Lunt, George, 75, 83, 91.
• Lyceum, The, 49.
• Lynch, Miss Anne. See Mrs. Vincenzo Botta.
• McLellan, Isaac, 20, 83.
• Maclise Portrait Gallery, 196 note.
• Macready, W. C., 253, 308.
• Madden, R. R., his Life of Lady Blessington quoted, 151, 192, 245;
• impressions of Willis, 156, 157.
• Maginn, Dr. William, reviews Pencillings, 195, 196, 199;
• his duel with Berkeley, 196, 197.
• Malta, sojourn at, 130.
• Marryat, Frederick, 89, 154, 193;
• his quarrel with Willis, 197-206; 234.
• Marseilles, letter from, 109; adventure at, 124.
• Marsh, G. P., 341.
• Marshall, Emily, 62; acrostic to, 98.
• Martineau, Harriet, her impressions of Willis, 142-148.
• Mediterranean, Cruise up the, 125-129.
• Memorial, The, 49.
• Metropolitan Magazine, The, Willis’s contributions to, 140, 154, 206;
• its review of Pencillings, 89, 197-201.
• Michell, William, 178, 179, 251.
• Millingen, Dr., 128.
• Mirror Library, The, 269.
• Mitford, Mary R., 76, 142, 152.
• Moncrieff, Lady, 150, 159.
• Moore, Thomas, 141, 160, 171;
• his remarks about O’Connell, 186, 188, 192, 193.
• Morgan, Lady Sydney, 163, 253.
• Morris, G. P., editor of the Mirror, 100;
• his character and talents, 100-102; 110, 112, 155, 197, 206;
• coolness between, and Willis, 236-239;
• establishes The New Mirror, 265;
• Evening Mirror, 273;
• National Press and Home Journal, 286-88;
• Willis’s affection for, 296, 297, 347; 303, 327.
• Morse, S. F. B., 110.
• Motley, J. L., 82, 96.
• Musical World, The, 15.
• Mustapha, the perfumer, 127, 128, 213.
• Nahant, 88, 92, 209, 212.
• National Press, The, started by Morris, 286, 287.
• Neal, John, 1, 81, 303.
• New England Galaxy, The, 88.
• New Haven in 1827, 37-39.
• New Mirror, The, established, 265, 266;
• Willis’s contributions to, 266-269, 288, 308, 338;
• suspends publication, 272; 296, 299, 300.
• New Monthly Magazine, The, Willis’s contributions to, 140, 154, 155, 161, 206, 227, 249.
• New World, The, 239.
• New York Albion, 259.
• New York Commercial Advertiser, 306.
• New York Courrier and Enquirer, 242, 307, 320.
• New York Courier des États Unis, 332.
• New York Evening Mirror, edited by Morris and Willis, 266, 273, 275, 286.
• New York Evening Post, 291, 313.
• New York Herald, on the Forrest testimony, 310, 311.
• New York Mirror;
• Willis becomes editor of, 99;
• described 102, 103;
• Willis’s foreign correspondence in, 103, 104, 114, 115-119, 129, 130, 153, 172, 184, 185, 188, 189, 197, 201, 206, 237;
• Willis ceases to edit, 236;
• discontinuance of, 265;
• miscellaneous contributions to, 48, 141, 155, 193, 215, 221, 223, 231, 233, 236, 249, 261; 145, 282, 238, 256, 284, 292.
• New York, literature and society in, 290-294;
• Willis’s residence in, 288-290, 294.
• New York Spirit of the Times, 238.
• Niagara, 62, 219, 221.
• Norfolk Beacon, 47.
• Norton, Caroline, 141, 184, 237, 253.
• North American Review, The, 2, 206.
• O’Connell, Daniel, 186, 188, 192.
• O’Conor, Charles, 314.
• Opal, The, 82, 262, 286.
• Otis, Mrs. H. G., 93.
• Owego, N. Y., 32, 222, 223, 225-227, 262.
• Pardoe, Miss, 160, 163.
• Paris, residence in, 110-115;
• wedding trip to, 178.
• Park Street Church, 4, 11, 35, 93, 94;
• excommunicates Willis, 95.
• Parnassus in Pillory, passages from, 298-300.
• Parton, James, 296-298, 335, 336.
• Parton, Mrs. James. See Sarah P. Willis.
• Patterson, Commodore, 125, 129.
• Paulding, J. K., 102, 243, 292.
• Payson, Rev. Edward, 9.
• Percival, J. G., 70, 80, 184, 217.
• “Peter Parley.” See S. G. Goodrich.
• Phillips, Morris, 288, 296, 297, 347, 349.
• Pierpont, Rev. John, 343.
• Pike, Albert, 83, 84.
• Pirate, The, prospectus of, 240.
• Placide, Harry, 231.
• Poe, Edgar A., his relations with Willis, 273;
• impressions of Willis, 274, 275; 206, 217, 269, 293, 295, 296, 303.
• Poniatowski, Prince, 120.
• Porter, Admiral Ker, 164.
• Porter, Jane, Willis’s friendship with, 160, 163-166, 170, 172, 176, 177.
• Porter, Dr. T. O., letters to, 225, 234, 238, 248, 249;
• associated with Willis on the Corsair, 239, 240, 254, 259.
• Portland, Maine, Willis’s birthplace, 1, 8, 10.
• Potomac Guardian, 6, 7.
• Praed, W. M., 163.
• Procter, Bryan Waller, 138;
• edits Melanie, 180.
• Pumpelly, Geo. J., 32, 223.
• Quarterly Review, The, abuses Pencillings, 133, 185-191, 194, 197.
• Quincy, Edmund, 350.
• Ramsay, Lord, 150, 190;
• letter from, 174, 175.
• Rand, the portrait painter, 166, 227.
• Raymond, H. J., 307.
• Remember Me, 82.
• Republic, The, 33.
• Rives, Mr., appoints Willis attaché, 113.
• Robinson, H. C., a breakfast with, 141.
• Rogers, Samuel, 149, 165.
• “Roy,” Willis’s nom de plume, 48.
• Ruth Hall, caricature of Willis in, 334-337.
• Saratoga, letters from, 100;
• described in Inklings, 209-211; 281.
• Sargent’s Magazine, 262.
• Scioto Gazette, 6.
• Scotland, visit to, 149-152.
• Scriptural poems, origin of, 10;
• estimate of, 66-69.
• Seamore Place, 137, 156.
• Sharon Springs, letters from, 322.
• Shaw, Mrs. Fanny, her friendship with Willis, 160-162, 165, 166, 170.
• Shawsheen River, the, at Andover. 20-22.
• Shirley Park, at Croydon, 160, 161, 169, 170, 278.
• Sigourney, Mrs. L. H., 75, 80, 81, 84, 184, 261.
• Silliman, Benjamin, 35, 36, 49.
• Skaneateles, visit to, 62.
• Skinner, Mrs Mary, her intimacy with Willis, 160;
• letter to, from Willis, 161-163;
• letter from, to Jane Porter, 176; 165, 219, 278.
• Slingsby Papers, the, 63, 77, 154, 155, 207, 211.
• Smith, Forbearance, 76.
• Smith, Horace and James, 138, 246.
• Smyrna, visit to, 128, 129.
• Snelling, W. J., lampoons Willis, 88-90, 198, 199.
• Stace, Mary. See Mary Stace Willis.
• Stace, Gen. Wm., 170, 171, 243, 262.
• Stanhope, Sir Leicester and Mrs., 141, 165, 166.
• Staunton, Sir Geo., 156.
• Stepney, Lady, 156, 246.
• Steventon, Vicarage, 283, 284.
• Stoddard, R. H., visits Glenmary, 228.
• Stone, W. L., 81, 306.
• Storm King, named by Willis, 327, 331.
• Storrs, Dr. R. S., 351.
• Stuart, Isaac, 28, 30.
• Stuart, Lady Dudley, 159.
• Sumner, Charles, 220, 343.
• Susquehanna, rafting on the, 227.
• Talfourd, Serjeant, 174, 249.
• Taylor, Bayard, 117, 119;
• befriended by Willis, 298; 299, 331.
• Telegraph, The, 49.
• Thackeray, W. M., 215;
• writes for the Corsair, 253-256;
• his notices of Willis, 256-259; 352.
• Thought Blossom, The, 82.
• Throckmorton, Sir Chas., visit to, 170, 172.
• Token, The, 49;
• edited by Willis, 72-74, 77, 80, 81.
• Trenton Falls, first visit to, 62;
• described, 76;
• letters from, 322-324.
• Truth: a New Tear’s Gift for Scribblers, lampooning Willis, 89.
• Tupper, M. F., 165.
• Undercliff, 247.
• Unitarians, 11, 16, 17, 18, 32, 93.
• United Brothers, Society of, poem before, 104.
• United Service Gazette, The, 205.
• United States, the, cruise of, 125, 129.
• Upper ten thousand, the, 256, 341.
• Utica, N. Y., visit to, 61.
• Vail, Minister, 156.
• Van Buren, John, 33, 34;
• engaged in Forrest suit, 34, 316;
• challenged by Willis, 317, 318.
• Van Buren, Martin, 110, 222.
• “Veritas,” letters to the Mirror, 237, 238.
• Verplanck, G. C., 293.
• Vienna, projected visit to, 284.
• Vincent, Wm., 244, 283.
• Virtue, Geo., 221, 244.
• Voorhies, Mrs., 308.
• Walker, Dr. J. B. F., medical reminiscences of Willis, 349.
• Wallack, James, plays Tortesa, 232-234, 246.
• Washington, correspondence from, 221, 222, 287;
• during the war, 342-346.
• Washington National Intelligencer, 263, 266.
• Watts, Alaric A., 77.
• Webb, J. W., his attacks on Willis, 242, 307, 320.
• Webster, Daniel, commends Pencillings, 119; 214.
• Weld, H. H., 260.
• Westminster Review, The, 111, 194.
• Wheaton, Henry, 284.
• Whipple, E. P., 332, 350.
• Wikoff, Henry, recollections of Willis, 33, 34; 35, 37, 58, 239;
• his part in the Forrest case, 34, 308, 312.
• Willis, Bailey, 5, 329.
• Willis, Charles, 5.
• Willis, Cornelia Grinnell, 121, 287, 308, 310, 316, 318, 319, 326, 343, 346.
• Willis, Edith, 329.
• Willis, George, 4.
• Willis, Grinnell, 294.
• Willis, Hannah Parker, her character and influence, 13, 14;
• her death, 275.
• Willis, Imogen, 264, 276, 284, 288.
• Willis, Julia, 15, 45, 140.
• Willis, Lilian, 294.
• Willis, Louisa, 28, 284.
• Willis, Lucy, 19.
• Willis, Mary, 30.
• Willis, Mary Stace, her engagement and marriage, 170, 171, 176, 177;
• letter to, from Willis, 176, 177; 219-221, 228, 243, 244;
• her death, 276; 278.
• Willis, Nathaniel, Sr., 5, 6.
• Willis, Nathaniel, Jr., his education and character, 5, 7, 8, 11-13;
• edits three newspapers, 8-10; 17, 26, 95.
• Willis, Nathaniel Parker, born at Portland, 1;
• ancestry, 6-10;
• home and school life, 11-17;
• at Andover, 18-30;
• at Yale College, 31-70;
• begins his literary career in Boston, 71-82;
• edits the American Monthly, 82-100;
• goes abroad as foreign correspondent of the New York Mirror, 100-106;
• spends five months in Paris, 110-115;
• a year in Italy, 119-125;
• half a year in a cruise up the Mediterranean, 125-130;
• four months more in Italy, Switzerland, and France, 130;
• two years in England, 130-179;
• marries, 177;
• returns to America and travels and corresponds for the Mirror, 219-222;
• settles at Owego, N. T., 223-238;
• starts the Corsair, and makes a second trip to England, 239-259;
• returns to America and edits Brother Jonathan, 259-263;
• sells his place at Owego and moves to New York, 263;
• edits the New Mirror, 265-272;
• the Evening Mirror, 273-275;
• loses his wife and makes a third visit to England, 276;
• taken ill in London, 283;
• makes a short visit to Germany and returns to America, 284;
• marries again, 287;
• edits the Home Journal and makes his residence in New York, 287-307;
• becomes involved in the Forrest divorce case, 307-319;
• is assaulted by Edwin Forrest, 312-314;
• goes on a health trip to Bermuda, the West Indies, and the Southern States, 321;
• buys a country home on the Hudson, 326;
• life at Idlewild, 329-334;
• spends the first year of the war at Washington, writing letters to the Home Journal, 342-346;
• takes lodgings in New York, 346, 347;
• in failing health, 347-349;
• dies at Idlewild, 350.
• Writings:—
• Absalom, 48, 49, 66, 296.
• Absent, the, 155.
• À l’Abri. See Letters from under a Bridge.
• Albina M’Lush, 85, 90.
• American Literature, 216.
• American Scenery, 128, 221, 222, 244.
• Annoyer, the, 75, 90, 97.
• Bandit of Austria, the, 251.
• Baron von Raffloff, 85.
• Belfry Pigeon, the, 183.
• Betrothal, the, 232, 233.
• Better Moments, 69, 169.
• Beware of Dogs and Waltzing, 277.
• Bianca Visconti, 231, 232, 234, 235, 249.
• Birth-Day Verses, 13, 77, 183.
• Born to love Pigs and Chickens, 279.
• Broadway, a Sketch, 262.
• Brown’s Day with the Mimpsons, 258.
• Burial of Arnold, the, 48, 59.
• By a Here and Thereian, 154.
• Cabinet, the, 299.
• Canadian Scenery, 244, 247, 248.
• Captain Thompson, 85.
• Chamber Scene, 155.
• Charming Widow of Sixty, A, 265.
• Cherokee’s Threat, the, 39, 57, 63, 155, 207.
• City Lyrics, 267, 268.
• Cloister, the, 299.
• Confessional, the, 183.
• Contemplation, 82, 98.
• Convalescent, The, 330-333, 340, 343.
• Countess Nyschriem and the Handsome Artist, the, 277.
• Daguerreotype Sketches of New York, 266.
• Dashes at Life with a Free Pencil, reviewed by Thackeray, 256;
• estimate of, 276-282; 262, 286, 325, 338.
• Death of Arnold, the. See the Burial of Arnold.
• Death of Harrison, the, 270.
• Death of the Gentle Usher, the, 85.
• Dedication Hymn, 97.
• Departed Improvisatrice, the, 242.
• Diary of Town Trifles, 267.
• Dilemma, the, 216.
• Divan, the, 242.
• Dying Alchemist, the, 105.
• Dying for Him. See Tortesa the Usurer.
• Edith Linsey, 39, 62, 63, 65, 76, 85, 88, 155, 161, 183, 212, 213, 277, 323, 324.
• Elms of New Haven, the, 271.
• Elopement, the, 84.
• Ephemera, 216, 261, 264, 276, 288, 289, 337.
• Famous Persons and Places, 286, 337.
• Fancy Ball, the, 84.
• Female Ward, the, 92, 279.
• First Impressions of Europe. See Pencillings by the Way.
• Fitz Powys and the Nun, 261.
• Flirtation and Fox Chasing, 277.
• Florence Gray, 183.
• Four Rivers, the, 153, 223.
• Fragments of Rambling Impressions, 216.
• F. Smith, 63, 85, 88, 92, 155.
• Fugitive Poetry, 97.
• Fun Jottings, 337.
• Gallery, the, 242.
• Getting to Windward, 277.
• Ghost Ball at Congress Hall, the, 280, 281.
• Gipsy of Sardis, the, 127, 129, 155, 212, 213.
• Hagar in the Wilderness, 296.
• Health Trip to the Tropics, A, 322.
• High Life in Europe and American Life, 276.
• Hurrygraphs, 322.
• Idle Man, the, 86.
• Imei the Jew, 233.
• Imogen and Cymbeline, 265.
• Incidents in the Life of a Quiet Man, 85.
• Incidents on the Hudson, 154, 218.
• Inkling of Adventure, An, 85.
• Inklings of Adventure, 178, 206;
• estimate of, 207-215; 217, 247, 276.
• Inlet of Peach Blossoms, the, 280.
• Invalid Letters from Germany, 286, 322.
• Jephthah’s Daughter, 66.
• Jottings, 267.
• Jottings Down in London, 253.
• Just You and I, 267.
• Kate Crediford, 280.
• Lady Jane, 260, 269-271.
• Lady Rachel, 277.
• Lady Ravelgold, 86, 167, 252.
• Larks in Vacation, 63, 85, 155.
• Lazarus and Mary, 68.
• Leaves from a Colleger’s Album, 76.
• Leaves from a Table-Book, 261.
• Leaves from the Heart Book of Ernest Clay, 252, 256, 277, 279.
• Lecture on Fashion, 272.
• Letters from under a Bridge, 127, 132, 207, 223;
• estimate of, 224-231; 236, 242, 248, 249, 263, 269, 282, 302, 322, 330.
• Letters of Horace Fritz, Esq., 85.
• Letter to the Unknown Purchaser and Next Occupant of Glenmary, 263.
• Life Here and There, 325.
• Lines on leaving Europe, 13, 179, 236.
• Lines to Laura W——, 58.
• Log in the Archipelago, A, 130, 206.
• Loiterings of Travel. See Romance of Travel.
• Loiterings of Travel, 153.
• Lookings on at the War, 342, 343.
• Lord Iron, 181, 182.
• Lost Letter Rewritten, A, 130.
• Love and Diplomacy, 154, 213, 277.
• Love in a Cottage, 268.
• Love in the Library. See Edith Linsey.
• Lunatic’s Skate, the, 17, 20, 46, 154, 218, 277.
• Madhouse of Palermo, the, 154.
• Mad Senior, the, 155.
• Marquis in Petticoats, the, 262.
• Meena Dimity, 279.
• Melanie and Other Poems, 161, 164, 166, 179-181;
• estimate of, 181-184; 236, 270.
• Memoranda of the Life of Jenny Lind, 324.
• Minute Philosophies, 88, 206.
• Misanthropic Hours, 52.
• Miss Jones’s Son, 279.
• More Particularly, 267.
• Morning in the Library, A, 88.
• My Adventures at the Tournament, 244.
• My Hobby—Rather, 154.
• New Year’s Verses, 71.
• Niagara, Lake Ontario, and the St. Lawrence, 60, 62, 154, 212, 218.
• Nora Mehidy, 279.
• Notes from a Scrap Book, 215.
• Notes upon a Ramble, 85.
• On a Picture of a Girl, 81.
• On Dress, 82, 286.
• On the Death of a Young Lady, 57.
• Open Air Musings in the City, 322.
• Out Doors at Idlewild, 330.
• Paletto’s Bride, 251.
• Parrhasius, 105.
• Pasquali, the Tailor of Venice, 85, 252.
• Passages from an Epistolary Journal, 253.
• Passages from Correspondence, 261.
• Paulding the Author disinterred, 242, 243.
• Paul Fane, 121, 151;
• estimate of, 338-340.
• P. Calamus, Esq., 84.
• Pedlar Karl, 85, 154, 207.
• Pencil, the, 242.
• Pencillings by the Way, 85, 100, 104;
• estimate of, 115-119; 126, 130, 138, 152, 153, 157, 178;
• profits from, 184, 185;
• reception of, by British press, 185-199; 193, 206, 207, 213;
• translation of, 218; 236, 237, 249, 253, 269, 284, 298, 325.
• People I have Met, 256, 325.
• Phantom Head upon the Table, the, 278.
• Pharisee and the Barber, the, 17.
• Picker and Piler, the, 155, 227, 277.
• Pity of the Park Fountain, the, 268.
• Plain Man’s Love, A, 322.
• Poem delivered before the Society of United Brothers, 104.
• Poems of Passion, 269, 275.
• Poet and the Mandarin, the, 280.
• Portrait, A, 98.
• Power of an Injured Look, the, 82, 262.
• Poyntz’s Aunt, 157, 261, 265.
• Psyche before the Tribunal of Venus, 81.
• Quarter Deck, the, 242.
• Rag-Bag, The, 338.
• Revelation of a Previous Life, A, 278.
• Revenge of the Signor Basil, the, 155, 213, 277.
• Reverie at Glenmary, 230.
• Romance of Travel, 236, 248;
• estimate of, 249-252; 276.
• Rural Letters, 286, 322.
• Ruse, the, 81.
• Sacred Poems, 269.
• Sacrifice of Abraham, the, 48, 49.
• Saturday Afternoon, 81, 98.
• Scenery and Antiquities of Ireland, 244, 247, 248.
• Scenes of Fear, 63, 85, 155.
• Scholar of Thebet Ben Chorat, the, 105.
• Scrap Book, the, 86.
• Scribblings, 86.
• She was not There, 169.
• Sketches, 66, 72, 73, 98.
• Sketches of Travel, 153, 172, 221, 247.
• Slipshoddities, 267.
• Soldier’s Widow, the, 81.
• Sparklings of Tenth Waves, 215.
• Spirit Love of Ione S——, the, 279.
• Spring, 236.
• Story writ for the Beautiful, A, 243.
• String that tied my Lady’s Shoe, the, 100.
• Substance of a Diary of Sickness, the, 88.
• Summer Cruise in the Mediterranean, A, 325.
• Tales of Five Lands. See Romance of Travel.
• Tent Pitched, the. See Letters from under a Bridge.
• Tête-à-tête Confessions, 86.
• Those Ungrateful Blidginses, 279.
• Thoughts in a Balcony at Daybreak, 155, 168.
• Thoughts while making the Grave of a New-Born Child, 264.
• Three Weeks’ Trip to the West, 341.
• To ——, 100.
• To ——, 155.
• To a City Pigeon, 81, 106.
• To a Face Beloved, 193, 236.
• To Edith, from the North. See To M——, from Abroad.
• To Ermengarde, 216, 236.
• To M——, from Abroad, 97, 183.
• To my Mother from the Apennines, 13, 183.
• To the Julia of Some Years Ago, 289.
• Tom Fane and I, 154, 207.
• Tom Hat, the, 82.
• Tortesa the Usurer, 233-235, 248, 249, 274 note.
• Trenton Falls, 324.
• Two Buckets in a Well, 2 note.
• Two Ways of Dying for a Husband. See Bianca Visconti and Tortesa the Usurer.
• Unseen Spirits, 269.
• Unwritten Music, 84, 294.
• Unwritten Philosophy, 76, 142.
• Unwritten Poetry, 76, 142.
• Upon the Portrait of the Hon. Mrs. Stanhope, 141.
• Usurer Matched, the. See Tortesa the Usurer.
• Violanta Cesarini, 250, 251.
• What I saw at the Fair, 286.
• While We hold You by the Button, 267.
• Widow by Brevet, the, 130.
• Wife’s Appeal, the, 105.
• Wigwam v. Almacks, 282.
• Willis, Richard Storrs, 7, 14, 284, 298, 308, 310, 316.
• Willis, Sarah P., “Fanny Fern,” 14;
• writes Ruth Hall, 334-337.
• Wilson, John, 52;
• breakfast with, 150;
• reviews Melanie, 180, 181; 185, 189.
• Winthrop, Theodore, 58, 343.
• Woodworth, Samuel, 100.
• Woolwich, 170, 172.
• Woolsey, T. D., 35, 42.
• Yale College, 17;
• Willis’s career at, 31-70;
• condition of, in 1827, 35-37;
• poem before, 271.
• Youth’s Companion, The, established by Nathaniel Willis, 9; 49.
• Youth’s Keepsake, The, 82.