Sir,--I am approaching seventy; it is in sight; it is only three years away. Necessarily, I
must go soon. It is but matter-of-course wisdom, then, that I should begin to set my
worldly house in order now, so that it may be done calmly and with thoroughness, in
place of waiting until the last day, when, as we have often seen, the attempt to set both
houses in order at the same time has been marred by the necessity for haste and by the
confusion and waste of time arising from the inability of the notary and the ecclesiastic to
work together harmoniously, taking turn about and giving each other friendly assistance--
not perhaps in fielding, which could hardly be expected, but at least in the minor offices
of keeping game and umpiring; by consequence of which conflict of interests and
absence of harmonious action a draw has frequently resulted where this ill-fortune could
not have happened if the houses had been set in order one at a time and hurry avoided by
beginning in season, and giving to each the amount of time fairly and justly proper to it.
In setting my earthly house in order I find it of moment that I should attend in person to
one or two matters which men in my position have long had the habit of leaving wholly
to others, with consequences often most regrettable. I wish to speak of only one of these
matters at this time: Obituaries. Of necessity, an Obituary is a thing which cannot be so
judiciously edited by any hand as by that of the subject of it. In such a work it is not the
Facts that are of chief importance, but the light which the obituarist shall throw upon
them, the meaning which he shall dress them in, the conclusions which he shall draw
from them, and the judgments which he shall deliver upon them. The Verdicts, you
understand: that is the danger-line.
In considering this matter, in view of my approaching change, it has seemed to me wise
to take such measures as may be feasible, to acquire, by courtesy of the press, access to
my standing obituaries, with the privilege--if this is not asking too much--of editing, not
their Facts, but their Verdicts. This, not for the present profit, further than as concerns my
family, but as a favorable influence usable on the Other Side, where there are some who
are not friendly to me.
With this explanation of my motives, I will now ask you of your courtesy to make an
appeal for me to the public press. It is my desire that such journals and periodicals as
have obituaries of me lying in their pigeonholes, with a view to sudden use some day,
will not wait longer, but will publish them now, and kindly send me a marked copy. My
address is simply New York City--I have no other that is permanent and not transient.
I will correct them--not the Facts, but the Verdicts--striking out such clauses as could
have a deleterious influence on the Other Side, and replacing them with clauses of a more
judicious character. I should, of course, expect to pay double rates for both the omissions
and the substitutions; and I should also expect to pay quadruple rates for all obituaries
