November 9 Saturday – In the morning in Dunedin the Clemens party visited an art gallery with William Matthew Hodgkins, attorney who had opened the annual exhibition of the Society of Artists the evening before. In his notebook he mentions one particular painting: “Dickens’ son-in-law’s lovely picture of a girl blowing at a flower” [NB 34 TS 33]. Sam wrote in FE of the exhibition:

Fine. Think of a town like this having two such collections as this, and a Society of Artists. It is so all over Australasia. If it were a monarchy one might understand it. I mean an absolute monarchy, where it isn’t necessary to vote money, but take it. Then art flourishes. But these colonies are republics — republics with a wide suffrage; voters of both sexes, this one of New Zealand. In republics, neither the government nor the rich private citizen is much given to propagating art. All over Australasia pictures by famous European artists are bought for the public galleries by the State and by societies of citizens. Living citizens — not dead ones. They rob themselves to give, not their heirs. [XXX p.289]. Note: On p.236 of FE Clemens included a picture of a Ballarat statue.

Later in the morning the Clemens party left Dunedin to Timaru (pop.11,000; halfway to Christchurch), perhaps stopping for tea at the Oamaru station; Livy and Clara continued on to Christchurch, N.Z. 

Sam took rooms at the Grosvenor Hotel in Timaru, P. O’Meeghan, proprietor. In the evening he gave his No.1 program of “At Home. An appreciative editorial of his prior performances ran in the Otago Daily Times; reviews of the Timaru lecture ran in the Timaru Herald, Nov. 11; and in the Triad edited by C.N. Baeyertz (Dunedin) on Nov. 25. Baeyertz blasted his countrymen for not fully appreciating the brilliance of Mark Twain.