Anna Dickinson GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE Tilton, Theodore 1863–72 & undatedTHE YEAR OF FREEDOM. The Independent, No. 5 Beekman St., New York, July 10, 1863. My dear Annie, I have dropped a line to Dr. E. L. Magoon at Albany, and will probably get from him an answer to your question. I am gladalways to hear either of you or from you, and may God keep you now and always. Yours Ever, Theodore TiltonThe Independent, EDITORIAL OFFICE, No. 5 Beekman St., New York, June 15, 1804. My dear Annie, I drop a line to mention our safe arrival on Monday Evening - just in time to meet the little chicks moving round the room in their night-gowns. Whenever the mother returns home from a journey, there isgreat applause in the house. Of the father's reception, I will say nothing—Except that I pity any man who has’nt two girls and a boy! Our Philadelphia visit was so pleasant that wife and I return this formal vote of thanks, only passed, registered, & forwarded, not only to your excellent self, but to that mother, sister, & brother of thine. There is something pleasanter in Philadelphia than in Washington — for I don't like the President half so well as I do certain of his critics. The little lady yeleth the Bird returns to hercage with songs on her lips. Did you read Phoebe Cary’s poem in her praise? We are both good and true. Now unto thee be peace and to all thine house. Amen. Ever yours, Theodore Tilton The Independent, EDITORIAL OFFICE, No. 5 Beekman St., New York, June 17, 1864 Friend Annie, On returning home, my wife found our carpet-bag feloniously possessed of two pocket handkerchiefs — one yours, & the other Mr. Garrisons. Thetwo cambrics (is that the word?) manifested, so far as I know, not the slightest disposition to quarrel with each other. In fact, each was a constant flag of truce to the other, suspending hostilities. I now send one of these truce-bearers to Boston and the other to Philadelphia, as tokens mutual of the happy peace & amity which I hope will prevail in those two cities, & through all the intervening spaces! May this white pocket. handkerchiefwipe away those Sunday tears from Your eyes! Yours, with love to all the household, & to your own good ladyship, Theodore Tilton The Independent, EDITORIAL OFFICE, No. 5 Beekman St, New York, June 30, 1864 My dear Annie, Your note bubbled and sparkled like champagne. I think you are too full of mischief to be a genuine Quaker. My wife & I—that is, the Bird & the bird-catcher— return thanks to allyour household for the goodwill which your sister reports. —The newspaper-sketch was interesting— the manners a little better than the matter? The writer could do better if she had a meatier subject—one with more scope.— The Independent, which I send on this week, almost drew blood from my heart. In the present state of affairs; the Fremont movement nothing but a Copperhead coalition with Chicago; military success in Virginia growing more & more uncertain and tedious, the Democratic Convention postponed to take advantage of the latest posture of affairs,— I could do nothing but denounce the whole Clevelandmovement, even though, in so doing, I had to pierced the bosom of my dear friend Wendell Phillips. I will not be a party to any alliance with the Copperheads — they are not to be trusted. If you could have seen the Fremont meeting at Cooper Institute, you would have loathed the whole movement. Ever yours, Theodore Tilton“He see how large a letter I have written to you with mine own hand.” Paul. New York, July 13th, 1864. My dear Annie, I sympathize with you. There is no comfort in not knowing one’s path. Nor is there much more when, in knowing the path, it is not pleasant for one’s feet. You have long known my feelings about the President. Of course the Baltimore Convention made him neither better nor worse as a man, & therefore could not change my judgement of the man. At first, I did what I thought wise & patriotic to lead the minds of the people to some other candidate—then, to secure the postponement of the Convention. But Mr. Lincoln is unquestionably the choice of nine-tenths of his Party. Day by day, I have increasingevidence of this. A dear friend of mine, just home from a long tour through the West, himself not more heartily for Lincoln than you and I have been, reports this as true of the West. In my controversy with Wendell Phillips, I said that if events between now and November should happen to put some other man at the head of the Union party I would be glad. This result is hardly likely to happen —he will neither die, resign, or be captured by raiders. What then? Well, I think that if you and I should do anything (and we could do a great deal) to divide the Union party, and so break it into defeat, giving the government to the Copperheads, we could weep over it, with sackcloth and ashes. If a lamentable fact that the party ofthe Union is too slightly in the majority, the enemy have so large a minority, to permit any considerable division without overthrow. Besides, you have no other choice but Lincoln - for , of course, you will not go for Fremont : you know him too well. But I say, & mean to say , very little of Mr. Lincoln. I cannot praise him with a good conscience ; or I will not. I mean to criticze him. in all needful points, from now to the end of the term - if I live & have a pen. But it would be criminal to desert the great party of the nation in such a crisis as this. My motto is, The Country : whatsoever party goes for the Country — I go for that party. I go [for] with the great body of theRepublican party, because, as I now see, this is the only body of men in the country who can be trusted with the issues of the time. This party, even, cannot be wholly trusted - but every other party is to be wholly distrusted. It is a misfortune that Mr. Lincoln is the candidate. but it cannot now be helped - at least, I suppose it cannot, & will not. The Baltimore platform, in its anti-slavery issue, was ahead of Congress - ahead of Cleveland, and I still insist, for Cleveland was a sham at the beginning,. is a deceit now, & will prove itself a crime in the end. As to your public course, I think you have a beautiful mission in rousing & firing the patrotism of the country, developing a higher sense of the value of our institutions, teaching the masses a nobler idea of Liberty and of the dignity of man — of all which, as yet, the great multitudes have a very inadequate appreciation. A sense of weariness is beginning to be felt - it must be cleansed from the public mind ; & you can help do it. The army is to be maintained — & fiery words must be spoken to this end. The grandeur of the cause is to held up like a cloud over the people - & somebody must do the work: and few know how. All this can be done without hurrahing for Lincoln. Hitherto, Presidential campaigns have had, as their chief staple of talk, the merits or demerits of candidates : the approaching one will, in the main, be an argument for Human Liberty. Certainly this will be a congenial task fro you. As to your proposed trip to England, I am not competent to advise. My advice is, Don't go : but I do not give weight to this opinion, save in my own mind. At present, there is great popular hatred by Americans against England, & against whatever seems to be solicitous of English good will. Many of your countrymen would curse you for going to England now. To be sure, the English would curse you when you got there, and this would be some satisfaction to friends at home! You will have a great reception one day in England, if you do not go too soon. Besides, in England, there is choice between only two grounds : hurrahing for Lincoln, or hurrahing for Jeff Davis : not an inch of middle ground, as at home. Nevertheless, as to your trip, write a private letter to Mr. Beecher about it - who loves you very much, & will give you his best judgement in the case. The Bird & her little ones are well, casting about for some place ofescape into the country. If she knew I am writing this letter, she would send her love with it. I have had from Mr. Phillips a warm-hearted private note of good will, showing that our passage at arms has not pricked his heart. "Let not your heart be troubled." It will be nearly three months before you will want to speak - & then the path for your feet will be plain. Meanwhile, peace be unto you - & to all the hospitable household registered in Heaven as 1710! Ever yours Theodore Tilton*”It is damned hot.” Beecher, so reported. Did you ever hear that story?* The Independent Editorial Office, No. 5 Beekman St., New York, Aug. 18, 1864. My dear Annie, Thanks for the note. I am glad your mind is relieved concerning the trouble which you expressed in your preceding letter. As to your book-making secret, I will keep it as such. Writing will be good for your soul. But it is the hardest work that comes to human creatures—that is, to suchas do it faithfully. Toilsome days and nights—much disappointment —many head sickening criticisms—throwing away first attempts, and oft beginning anew—all this is needful & indispensable. The book that you write must be well-written. Your friends will not forgive you unless you do excellently well. Mr. Beecher’ advice to me, at the beginning of my editorial life, was this: write when you are inthe mood. Write as rapidly as you think—not stopping for fastidiousness of expression but getting down your thoughts, however loosely or waywardly expressed. Nicety of style is a cold intellectual study, quite different from the flow of information—though, of course, often a happy style is once acquired by diligentstudy, it stands=by one during the most heated and copious writing moods. Washington Irving, just before his death, told me substantially the same thing. His practice was to wait till the glow overcame him—then to write out his thought even into overfulness of expression —and afterwards, in an altogether different frame of mind, to revise, cut down, amplify, & polish. But the greatlack of American literature is with as much of a good style, but in the framework of artistic construction—that, the shaping of constituent parts with their true drama lie order for the accumulation of effects. None of our poets show this quality to the degree of the English poets. If Whittier had this faculty in addition to his everburning fire, he could be the first poet living. Browning has it—but lacks heat. Tennyson has both, in even measure, but not in the fullest measure. Among speakers, Beecher is the best instance —though his habitual carelessness of [work?] robs him of any fair claim to be called an artist. I say all this because I think if your mind is once set in the right direction you will come to anThe Independent, Editorial Office, No. 5 Beekman St., New York, 186 increased power through a cultivation of the constructive faculty. But, bless me, I can hardly put down my meaning clearly without writing a long letter, which I have no time for this morning, & which perhaps you could have less patience for, to-morrow morning. [?]P.S. No. 1. The Bird and her brood are at Cornwall, on the Hudson, for the summer. If she knew of my writing, she would send her love, —which I will now send, in her name and mine, to you and all the household. P.S. No 2. Whew! What a long letter! The sum & substance of what I mean is, that there is no fine literature without a dramatic substructure —a half Shakespearean plan burning under it & giving it form and direction, & or giving it result. Literature when you and I meet in a red-rose arbor we will talk of these things. Meanwhile work hard, fast, and pray, and may God crown you. Ever yours, Theodore TiltonThe Independent, Editorial Office, No. 5 Beekman St., New York, Sept 3rd, 186 Friend Anna, I came near making you a visit the other day. A German friend of mine, and I, had planned a visit to Egg Harbor City—a German settlement; & we proposed to stop & take you along with us! But the projectfailed through his illness. You ask me if I like Dickens? Yes: but we have seen the best of him—he does not grow better as he grows older—the earliest books are the best. Copperfield & Dombey, in my judgement, were his full flowering. As to politics, the pier grows clearer—the prospect tighter. Before the meeting at Chicago, there was no hope of our success: but the Chicago platform clutched the golden apple so hard that it fell to ashes in the grasp. But the candidate on our side cannot, I think, be now changed without disorganizing the whole line of battle. I was offered to Mr. Lincoln’s nomination: butnow it becomes the duty of all Unionists to present a united front: the Baltimore platform is the best in American history —we can pardon something to a second rate candidate. The Cincinnati Convention will achieve nothing—at least as I judge by an whole look at the machinery of that movement. But if, on its assembling, there should be a fair representation of the whole party —a weighty, bona fide, solemn convention—and if, at the same time, there should be a spirit of harmony, every candidate (including Mr. Lincoln)sacrificing his own personal ambitions to the cause, we might have a new candidate and a new enthusiasm, or we might have the present candidate with a revived enthusiasm. But if Mr. Lincoln’s friends are not willing that he should withdraw, then I am not willing to see the fortunes of the Union party broken by setting up a second candidate to run a race of ruin side by side with the first. My family, that is, the Bird and her young whims, have just returned to Brooklyn after a summer’s residenceat Cornwall, on the Hudson— all well, though having suffered a fair measure of sickness during the summer. Blessings be upon the Book and upon the Head that it gives headaches to! With remembrances to all the family. I remain as ever Your friend Theodore Tilton [*1864*] The Independent, Editorial office, No. 5 Beekman St., New York, Sept. 5, 186 Friend Anna, Our Saturdays letters crossed each other in the mails. Of course, I will print your communication. I heartily approve the conclusion you have reached. Nothing nowremains to be done but to write that party whose candidate is Abraham Lincoln. The candidate is not the best man, but the party is the only one that can save the country. To divide or distract this party, in such an hour as this, is to secure defeat in advance —to give over the country to the Copperheads—to bring everlasting shame upon us all. I did what I honestly could to secure a postponement at Baltimore, and a different candidate. But since the party stands now with Abraham Lincoln for its representative, and since we must either fightunder his banner or keep out of the war, sitting in idleness in a corner while others are doing stern work, I choose, for my own part, to work for the success of Abraham Lincoln. I have already written a leader for The Independent, Editorial Office, No. 5 Beekman St. , New York, 186 next week’s Independent much in the spirit of your letter—calling on all good & true souls to cast aside their apathy and to join shoulder to shoulder In the coming political campaign. I havereceived a good letter from Gov. Andrew, and another from Gov. Buckingham, (both private, & not for publication) taking the same view as yours and mine. Mr. Greeley, too, is of the same opinion. All these gentlemen, as you know, have been greatly disaffected toward Mr. Lincoln. Their present attitude shows, not that their former judgement was not good, but that they sacrifice their personal preferences cheerfully for the public good. Looking at all the signals, I feel certain of coming victory—victory ten-fold; over the Rebellion in theSouth, and over the Rebellion in the North. I have read your letter carefully, line by line: I like it; I like you; & for that reason I make one or two mending where your pen had slipped in punctuation or paragraphing. All well at home. Yours now & ever, Theodore Tilton The Independent, Editorial Office, No. 5 Beekman St., New York, Sept. 14, 1864. My dear Annie, A great mass meeting on Woodstock Common, in Eastern Connecticut, —a meeting which will probably attract 10,000 people,— presided over by Gov. Buckingham, andaddressed perhaps by Schuyler Colfax & Senator Wilson, in addition to whom your own self is decided,— will be held on Wednesday, October 12. It will probably be the finest campaign meeting held in Connecticut. From New York by Long Island Sound the journey is from 5 o’clock P.M. till breakfast next morning. Perhaps, also, I shall be one of the party. The managers of this meeting, chief of whom is my friend Mr. H.C. Bowen, desire me to solicit yourattendance—to [?] your terms*, etc. If you will please be obedient and write by return mail to your best of friends, Theodore Tilton *P.S. They are willing to pay $100 & expenses. The Independent, Editorial Offices, No. 5 Beekman St., New York, Sept 16, 1864. My Dear Anna, This note will make you acquainted with the Rev. Geo. O Glavis, Editor of the German Illustrated paper in New York, and ReformedDutch Clergyman at Newark—now on his way to speak to the unregenerate “Damned Dutch” of Pennsylvania for the Union and Liberty. He and I have so often talked of you, that I have taken the liberty to promise him that he should have the chance of taking you by the hand and looking Into your face. He has no axe to grind; and (as Greeley said, recommending our Brooklyn postmaster) “if hesteals anything, charge it to me!" I am Yours now & ever, Theodore Tilton The Independent, No. 5 Beekman St., New York, Oct 4, 1864 My dear Anna, I have read the substance of your note to Mr. Bowen, who, though of course disappointed at your physician's wise judgment, says that you must be at the meeting withoutspeaking - that was much as you were partly promised, on the strength of your first note, he will pay a hundred dollars and expenses just for the sake of proving that he keeps his own engagements. The party will consist of Mr. Beecher, Mr. Gould, & myself, from New York (for , after all, I have promised to go) and Senator Wilson, Gov, Buckingham, Senator Foster, & others, from Connecticut & Massachusetts. You shall be excused to the meeting from everything except showing your face for one moment.The trip will be appleasant one, and I will guarantee that your throat shall not be called upon. This note is written at Mr. Bowen'd suggestion. If you say yes, let me know. Yours sin, T. T. The Independent, No. 5 Beekman St., New York, oct 4, 1864 P.S. As to the "kindnesses" which i have done you, I dont remember any: so you had better consider your gratitude. I am sorry you are in a "muddle". last evening I saw the Comedy of Errors, where everybody was in a muddle. So long as our errors are comedies, not tragedies, the muddle works no harm. If your perplexities arise from you book=making, they are likely to grow greater & greater. Aspiration is a great trouble of the mind. The head that wants to think out something that shall be worthy of itself, has in it something worse than aching. If you are perplexed about public public affairs, I have only to say that my own mind was settled by simply weighing Baltimore in one scale & Chicago in the other, and choosing between them. If you are perplexed by any strange attitude of friends among the Abolitionists, I hardly think you have sufficient cause - for your letter gave universal satisfaction —which I have heard expressed many times. If you are perplexed as to any of these things, you may take my advice for what it is worth. If however, your perplexities are from some other cause, as for instance, getting married, why then, I have nothing to say! Yours sn, T.T. P.S. I have just received a basket of grapes. Come & you shall have some! The Independent, Editorial Rooms, No 5 Beekman St., New York, June 7, 1865. My dear Annie, I wrote you a letter (to Philadelphia) three or four days ago which, of course, your New England absence kept you from seeing. Afterwards being myself in Boston, I came near dining with you, but was suddenly called out of the city, and away from your amiable society. I was engaged, when my letter was sent, in raising a thousand dollars for a testimonial to Oliver Johnson. This money I have already raised & presented - almost entirely from New Yorkers. But the same thing should be repeated in Philadelphia and in Boston. Pennsylvania should give a thousand dollars, and New England another thousand. Now Oliver has so often spoken privately to me of your own generosity to him that perhaps I have not much right to solicit your hearty co-operation in this testimonial. Ad yet I know your good will will leap todo him this additional kindness. Without taxing yourself with a large contribution, can you not take a forenoon for writing some notes to friends soliciting contributions - making yourself a joint committee=man with myself in this good undertaking. I raised The Independent, Editorial Rooms, No. 5 Beekman St., New York 1865. the New York thousand with very little trouble - asking each person for fifty dollars - & nobody declined. There are people in this world who would be glad to purchase your autograph at that price.Think, also, how great a sum three thousand dollars would be to a man whose expenses are so small as Oliver's. It would almost make him comfortable for life. If I am doing wrong, in counting upon your own cordial help in this matter, pardon me: but I think I cannot possibly mistake your goodness. Mr. McKim will do a large part toward managing the affair, but if you don't wish to coooperate with him, communicate directly with the very best of all your friends, whosename is now & ever Yours faithfully, Theodore Tilton Aurora, Ill. Dec. 7. 1866, My dear Anna, I learn that you are ill at Rockford. Please don't get well till the day after Christmas. I shall then be in that town. Ever yours Theodore TiltonScranton, Penn, April 3. 1867. My dear Anna, My friend, Mr J.A. Price, of the Lecture Committee of Scranton, is anxious to have you lecture here before the season is entirely over. Iam sure that, if you should come, you would be glad of coming. You will be heartily received, kindly treated, and sent away with blessings on your head. Accept the invitation if possible. ever yours, T. T.The Independent, May 16, 1867 My dear Anna, You are one of the best of good children. Of course I was sorry not to see you on that day, but I knew very well that you had some good reason for the detention.Lib would have thrown her arms around your neck, & kissed you on both cheeks. Perhaps I would have done the same, if I had been permitted! I want (some time) to talk with you about the Equal Rights Association. Some of its managers are talking about all the people who do not participate in the late anniversary as if we were renegades, My indignation has been roused in an unwonted degree. If I am crowded too far, I shall turn & sting. As to you going to the South, let me say, in the first place, do not take my advice in preference to your own convictions of duty and propriety. Having said this much. let me add that I too was invited - yea, pressed & urged - to go on a similar tour. But I declined peremptorily, - giving no reasons. my reasons, however, are these: it is a crusade of politicians - a stumping tour of theold stagers. There is nothing dignified in the whole proceeding,. As to Mr. Wilson, I believe he is doing much more harm than good - not so much by what he is saying, as by the very fact that he is saying anything. But this is only my individual view. Other people think he is doing good. You are too much above the Republican party to be asked as one of the instruments of its electioneering committees. you hardly appreciate yourbeautiful, noble, & independent, & heroic position. Perhaps it will not be long before you can go into the South, lecturing on your own account, as now in the North. When you can do this, I shall hold up both my hands & say amen. But to go now, as a kind of supplemental orator to three or four crafty politicians, will not, I think, help either your future influence or your futurefame. For some time past, I have felt as careful of your reputation, - as solicitous that you should take no wrong steps, - as if you were my own sister in the flesh. The advice which I now give, comes out of this warm, deep, and abiding regard. But I hope you will not give any more weight to my letter, as against any counter-judgement of your own. I could wish, however, before you go(if you do go) that you should get the opinion of our best & greatest friend Wendell Phillips. Meanwhile, I send my love to Mother Dickinson, to Susan, and to thy Quaker self. Ever thine, Theodore Tilton Sunday Morning, June 30 / 67 Brooklyn. my dear Anna, Returning from my engagement at Kalamazoo, I found on my desk your welcome note, awaiting my arrival. All your notes, scraps, letters , & souvenirs are welcome to this chicken. He is fond of a goodchild, when he sees one : and he knows of one by the name of Anna. Lib went with me to the West. We made a bee-line to Princeton : my favorite home on the Illinois prairies. It is the residence of the family of Owen Lovejoy. The mother & daughters of this family, as you know, are great favorites of mine. Our visit under their roof was just ten days long - a longer frolic then I usually get an opportunity to enjoy. When ever you go to Princeton I want you to maketheir acquaintance. The mother is a queen, & the daughters are princesses. If you are to settle on Long Island for the Summer, perhaps, as I am a Long Islander myself, I may get a glimpse of you before the hot weather is over. You must run up to Brooklyn occasionally, & make a visit at my house. If so, bring your mother with you. She is the only Philadelphian whomI know to be as thoroughly good as yourself. As for Dick, since she & I are always in a state of hostility, I am unable to say what she would be in a peaceful word. Alas! there is always some one black sheep in every flock. Don't forget your promise about writing occasionally for the public. You know I am not solicitous, for the Independent in this matter, but only for yourself. Of course, however, you are perfectly well aware that I would be glad to print anythingfrom your pen, even if from no higher motive than the interest of the independent. If I am not your best friend, then tell me who the other fellow is: Ever yours, Theodore TiltonThe Independent, July 20th, 1867. My dear Anna, I have just returned to my desk, after a delightful visit to your sister Susan. As she has not heard from you in ten days, and as she had no time to write any message of her ownwhen she enclosed to you a recent package of letters, she begged me to drop you a line on the first opportunity. As I am always glad of any good excuse for writing to a lady to whom I have been so many times united in marriage, I therefore take my pen in hand to say that your sister Susan is in good health, & hopes you are enjoying the same. But I cannot help expressing a regret that she should remain cooped up, like a sick chicken, all the summer long: and as I had heard that Long Branch is unusually gay & exhilarating this season, I ventured to indicateto her that, at the close of the summer, she would look back with a delightful retrospect upon a visit to that renowned and salubrious sea=beach. The housekeeping which I have been accustomed to notice during my previous visits to your sister struck me as greatly changed for the better. I mean, she is not now in the midst of so many household cares. For instance, I think the second story front room is the very best possible place for the writing desk ; and I may mention that her wardrobe is temporarilytemporarily piled on the top of it. The carpets, too , showed a good deal of wholesome neglect. Too much broom-using, is a weariness to the flesh, Many things were strewn about the room, lying hither & thither, in that negligent confusion which indicates a mind devoted to higher activities than earthly cares. I regret that I did not hear the bird, or see the dressmaker. Susan, as I could plainly perceive, was under a good deal of anxiety as to whether or not you were to give up your present profession , & turn a maker of bread. My own opinion is this: - I do not object to you making an occasional loaf, but I hope you will not become a regular loafer. Yours affectionately, Theodore Tilton The Independent Oct 9 / 68 A. E. D. My friend, I have been for several days down at Point Judith, five miles form a Post office, or I would have sent youbefore this a note of congratulation on your signal success in "What Answer" My wife & I both think you have tendered a noble service to your day and generation. Before going away, the last thing I did in my office was to write a hurried review of the book - a notice which I would have made more elaborate andpains=taking except that I had only two hours time to give to the task. Tell Sue & your Mother to be very proud of you. God bless you now & ever. Fraternally yours, T. T.New York, June 10 / 69 My dear Anna, Thanks for your note - & equal thanks for any others which your natural goodness may prompt you to send. Of course the pecuniary offer holds good - fifty dollars an article : only, please keep the bargain a profound secret, inasmuch as all the "big=wigs" who write regularly get only twenty five. Mr. Bowen is a rashfellow: he always spends more money than I do for contributions, but as the money is his own, he has a right to be lavish with it if he chooses. Take my advice : which is, to write some good articles this summer: — articles of travel, of opinion, of criticism, of personal reminiscence, or anything that your mischievous little head can devise. and remember that I am always Faithfully yours, Theo TiltonLove to Sue and to “The Friend”New York, Saturday, 7 April 9, 1870. My dear Anna, Of course, I respect your wish, & did not suppose I was violating it. My regret at your declaration is more than you would like me to express, particularly since the announcement in The Tribune of this morning, in connection with Mr. Samson's violent letter in the same paper, would lead a casual reader tothink that you were adding your own hand to his, to double the doubled fist of Boston, for striking a two-fold blow at me. But, of course, you knew nothing of my controversy with Mr. Garrison. The moment was critical. I had no more expectation of being put forth as president than of being made Emperor of Mexico, But as I had evoked the Conference, I would not, after it came together, desert the only party in it that had stood by me throughout its whole proceedings. I send you in advance a copy of my report of its results. I have no time to communicate all my plans, purposes, & hopes. But I have counted the cost. I burn the ground. My feet are on a rock I know exactly what I am about. And you will by and by come to Brooklyn & over some nuts & figs, or over some apples & oranges, with the "Birdie" perchedon a delightful bough, listen to the whole romantic story of the ar, of the victory & of the peace. I am sorry I could not see you on the morning of the conference, but there was no time. Tuesday I give to Buffalo, and , after that, am done for the season. The sight of your face, at any time after my home-coming, will gladden the heart of your friendliest of friends, Theodore Tilton Brooklyn Nov. 18, 1870 My dear Sue, Dont be troubled. Anna was not on the Committee. That Committee was appointed by me as chairman, and Inever once dreamed of putting her name on it. I knew her wishes, & respected them. The clerk in The Revolution office made up the list from memory. It turned out afterward, by consulting the official list, that two mistakes were made : one in sending to Anna, and another in sending to Mrs Lucretia Mott - neither of whom belonged to the Committee. I drop you this line becauseyour note to Mrs. Bullard has been sent to me, and because you seem to be in a troubled state of mind. Yours fraternally, Theodore Tilton The Brooklyn Daily Union. Editor's Rooom. Nov. 14th 1870. My dear & sisterly friend, Sue's note to Mrs. Bullard was sent to me. of course I understood it at a glance, and explained it to my Revolution friends. The call was sent to you, & also to Mrs. Mott, wholly by mistake. Neither you nor she had ever been appointed on the committee. That committee was appointed by myself, and I had not the remotest idea of designating you to a place on it. I knew your wishes to the contrary, and for me to know your wishes is always to respect them. From the beginning, although I have wished that you might act with me, yet you will bear me witness that I never attempted to over=persuade you. When I asked you to be president you objected, but I thought you then expressed yourself willing, in conjunction with Frederick Douglass & myself, to be a vice president. In this inference I was mistaken. Having learned your mind last summer on this point, I have never even thought of asking for the use of your name for any purpose connected with "The Union Woman's Suffrage Society." But I think if you would occasionally give one the materials wherewith I might write, of course to be [-] written, an [occasional] note ofyour travels, lectures, successes, &c. in The Revolution, you would get no harm, & might get some good, by it,. You & I (as I believe) understand each other completely. Go on, conquering & to conquer! In writing to me, write always to "The Brooklyn Union," or simply to Brooklyn, not New York. Ever affectionately yours, Theodore Tilton174 Livingston St. Brooklyn. Feb. 23/ 71 My dear friend, Your letter had the taste of a pomegranate - it was full of comfort to the inner palate. Yes, I have been fighting a fight — somewhat after the manner of St. Paul at Ephesus : only he was an apostle, and I am nothing of that saintly kind. Did you ever hear of such an avalanche of slander thundering down on any one poor pate at one and the same time? I seemed for a while to be living in a dream. But, then, no matter how, It's all over. Your good will toward the new paper is characteristic of your kind heart. If you cd spare the time to write an article for it, I would be glad : but then I know how you are taxed. Do not put yourself to any weariness to write, thinking that if you send me nothing I shall misconstrue your neglect. Not at all. Friends, once friends, remain friends. And you and I are friends. It is late at night, & I am tired,or I would not send you such a hasty scrawl. Elizabeth (who is sitting in the next room, writing a sisterly letter to the lady with whom I was supposed to have run away to Europe) sends her equal measure of sisterliness to yourself, to which I add all that is brotherly - Yours ever Theo: TiltonBrooklyn April 1st / 71 My dear friend, As to your proposed English trip. I suppose you need not be told that the English are a barbarous people who have not yet risen to the level of treating lecturers with respect. Lyme, you remember, feltcalled upon to publish a card stating that he did not write poems for pay, & that he had received no money for what he had published - though he lied. It is no longer disreputable in that country to receive money for poems. But a lecturer who takes pay for lecturing loses caste. Such a vagabond is looked upon very much as the Quakers look upon a "hireling priest." If you go over there, & lecture, & take a fee, you will be considered as less than the duchess you are. Moreso, Even if you do take a fee, I am told it is a very small one — say from five to tenpounds. please consider all these things at their proper value & valuelessness. I only note them as simple facts. If you can get a half hour with Justin McCarthy he will tell you all about the possibilities of your lecturing there, the pay, the sentiment, the opprobrium & all. I imagine that if Wendell Phillips were to go to England, & lecture night after night for pay, he would horrify the English aristocracy & be forever set down in English history assomething less than a gentleman. But perhaps you are going, not to speak, but to be silent. This I advise - though I have nothing to oppose to your sweet self-will! Never having been abroad, I know nobody to send you to with my letters in your hand, nevertheless, I have had correspondence with Robert Browning and will write you an introduction to him : - though he is living in France, I believe. Command me in any & every way.The Golden Age prospers. Write something for it - anything - for instance, the rights of a woman to dress well - Grant's administration - school teaching - sweethearts - the Angel Gabriel : - or whatever else your fancy suggests. Ever your brotherly friend, Theo : TiltonThe Golden Age March 26 / 72 my dear Friend, In coming back from the Northwest, I find awaiting me your kind, noble, and heartfelt letter - for which accept all the thanks my pen can convey, & more beside. As I hear you are to be in town ( that is, New York) by mid-April, I will then see you & talk face to face. Meanwhile, all blessings be yours. Ever your friend, T. T. To / A. E. D.Brooklyn, April 4 / 72 My dear Friend, I feel your friendship to such a degree that I know you will be more than commonly delighted when I say that my anticipated lawsuit with Mr. Bowen has been withdrawn from court andsettled amicably & justly by arbitration. The three arbitrators were Horace B. Claflin, James Freeland, and Charles Storrs : - three of the leading citizens of Brooklyn. They awarded me , unanimously, Seven Thousand Dollars. Moreover, the payment was to be accompanied with a certificate of my unsullied character & honor, & a complimentary article concerning myself in the next Independent. The money & the certificate I have already received; the article is to be printed next week. Mr. Bowen acted throughout in the handsomest spirit, and accepts the awardas just and right. The whole case has terminated most happily, and leaves the two contestants the best possible friends. Whereof I am grateful, both to God & three men! Ever yours, brimfull of brotherly kindness, Theo: Tilton A.E.D.Blank No. 1 THE WESTERN UNION TELEGRAPH COMPANY The rules of this company require that all messages received for transmission, shall be written on the message blanks of the Company, under and subject to the conditions printed thereon, which conditions have been agree to by the sender of the following message. THOS. T. ECKERT, Gen'l Sup't WILLIAM ORTON, Pres't} NEW YORK NEW YORK 40 GEO. H. MUMFORD, Sec'y} Dated --- New York 7/12 1872 Received at. To Anna E. Dickinson [171] Mr. Greeley invites you to come to New York this afternoon so as accompany us to Chappaqua tomorrow, will you do it: telegraph me. Theodore Tilton 25 Coll p 9 Spruce St. THIS TELEGRAM HAS JUST BEEN RECEIVED AT THE OFFICE IN NORTH EAST COR. OF 18TH & MARKET ST. WHERE ANY REPLY SHOULD BE SENT. Direct Wires.Annie E. D. My friend, Read the enclosed, & behold how Fame misspells your name! I have written to the fellow giving him your address, Ever Yours, Theodore TiltonIndianapolis Oct. 22d 1863 Mr. Theodore Tilton N S Dear Sir, I wish to secure the service of Miss Anna Maria Dickson to lecture before the "Metropolitan Library Institute", of this city but do not know where to direct a a letter that will reach her; and knowing you to be a friend of Peace and Progression, and presuming you to know where a letter will reach her, have presumed to ask the favor of you to forward this to her, or drop her a note of your own. We usually pay $58 a lecture and would like her to deliver one in this city under our auspices. Hoping to her from her by your kind aid. I Remain Yours, Saml. B. Hoefgen of Com on Lectures M.L.I.ST. DENIS HOTEL Broadway and Eleventh street, New York, MOSHER & READ. Room 38 Dear Dick, Train for Scranton - leaves foot of Liberty 9 A.M. & arrives 3.35 P.M. Any message for me? Yours, T. T. ST. DENIS HOTEL Broadway and Eleventh street, New York, MOSHER & READ. My dear Anna, Goodbye, and God bless you. Theodore TiltonThe Golden Age, Tuesday Afternoon. my dear friend, I am so full of wistfullness to see you that I want you to nibble at somelate viands tonight - say at Delmonico's or elsewhere — and let me watch you while you eat. To this end, I have invited one of my best friends (& your admirers) to join us — Frank Moulton. We shall be at the lecture, and I shall shed invisible tears unless you submit to my proposed sweet plan for your soul's good.It is not every pilgrim whom you meet in your pathway who is certain always to carry in his breast such a fountain of good wishes toward you as ever flow from Your true friend Theodore Tilton My dear Anna, This is to certify that the Rev. William James (except that he is a clergyman) is in every respects a worthy man. He has been long known to meas an intimate personal friend. If you lecture for him, he will treat you equitably & honorably. Ever yours, Theodore TiltonIndependent, Monday. My dear friend Annie, I have sent the circular to each of the papers, with a private note bespeaking a kindly word. But I won't do for you anything of the kind again if you think it "troubles" me. Do you hear that? Yours, forever & Amen! Theodore TiltonThe Independent, Dec. 3 Dar Annie, I want you to add one more to the list of your good friends in Philadelphia : that is, to make the acquaintance of the Jessup family, No. 1426 Walnut St. They are warm-hearted, anti-slavery people, wealthy and liberal, members of Phillip Brook;s church, andgreatly interested in your success. Mrs Jessup is temporarily an invalid, confined to the house - otherwise I would have weaponed her with a letter of introduction to you. Instead of which, will you do me the favor to deliver in person the enclosed letter to her? I wish you could choose some time when Mr. Jessup would be at home - perhaps Sunday. He is a noble, great-hearted man. You'll find a splendid welcome. - Tell Mother Dickinson that i am making progress with John Workman. With love to all the family, I am , now and ever Yours fraternally, Theodore TiltonNew York, Sep. 27 My dear Annie, The Woodstock committee are waiting anxiously to hear you say that you will be in New York to take the Tuesday, Oct. 11. steamer up Long Island Sound. They are specially solicitous of your answer as they wish to give you great glory in the advertisements & hand-bills. So you had better take your pen & write yr short meter. Yours in a hurry, T. T. PS. overTell me where, when you arrive, you can be found, called upon, & taken to the steamboat in a style suited to your dignity.Dear Annie, I am sorry not to be able to hear you to-night, but am kept away by an engagement in Brooklyn. To-morrow night I go to Morristown x So if I don't see youraged & venerable face, here's to your good health! Ever yours, T. T.Saturday Dear Anna, Thanks for your letter. Was I troubled? No, not for a moment. I never doubt a friend. My trust is absolute & always : - Nothing shakes it : nothing throws suspicion on it ; and no criticismor disagreement can ever cloud it. Speak your utmost opinion to me, either on the Society business, or any other movement of mine: and whether you agree with me, or disagree, no matter - no misunderstanding can arise. But my proposition is a success - a complete victory. The new society is one such. The Revolution is (as perhaps you have heard") in what is equivallent to my own hands, "to have & to hold." Every thing has happened exactly as I expected it would,or rather exactly as I shaped it. And I now am very anxious to see you, talk with you, explain some things to you, have you become acquainted with the new editor, have you write; above all else, have you come & see Your best of all friends, Theodore TiltonPittsburgh Thursday, My dear Anna, Thanks for your letter & its enclosure. I had not seen the extracts. My meetings at Allentown, Lancaster, & Harrisburgh were superb; but I expect to-night something of the shiftlessness which spoiled thingsat Philadelphia. O the meannesses, villanies, & selfishnesses of politics! Both sides are equally guilty & despicable. My soul revolts from the politician's trade. Last evening I met Mr. Buckalew. He is confident of his election. Indeed he clasped my hand & said earnestly, "Sir, we shall whip them." While in Boston last week I had a beautiful interview with Emerson of which I must tell you when next we meet. Day before yesterday at Lancaster I stopped with a family of your admirers - the Cadwells. They put crowns on your head,to which I added others, out crowning their most praiseful praises. Yes, I think you grow richer, nobler, & wiser year by year. So continue unto the end, & God bless you from now till then. Ever yours heartily Theo: Tilton