December 22, 1873 Monday 

December 22 Monday – In London, Sam wrote twice to Livy. Though the first letter was mentioned in Vol. I, no excerpt was given, and the second, a short note on George MacDonald’s of Dec. 19, was not listed. A recent item for sale on eBay, hitherto unknown, leads to the addition of this entire first letter and a picture of the “dragon” item. Sam to Livy:

December 21, 1873 Sunday 

December 21 Sunday  Sam wrote from London to George H. Fitzgibbon:

I wish you had been there—it was a beautiful house; tho’ piling the stage full of people made it pretty hard talking. I made no speech, because I had kept the audience there longer than I ever had before, & as I had a jolly good time with them I didn’t want to run the risk of spoiling the thing.

December 20, 1873 Saturday 

December 20 Saturday  Before his lecture, Sam wrote Livy:

“Livy darling, I am about to go to the hall, to deliver my last lecture in London. Presently I shall be free! All this time my health has been simply splendid….I shall see you by Feb. 1! Hurrah!” [MTL 5: 524].

December 19, 1873 Friday 

December 19 Friday  Sam lunched with Mrs. Thomas Owen, a widow, and went to Westminster Abbey to see the monument to Thomas Owen, who built Condover Hall [MTL 5: 521].

In the evening, Sam gave his “Roughing It on the Silver Frontier” lecture at the Queen’s Concert Rooms, London [MTPO].

December 15, 1873 Monday

December 15 Monday  Sam gave his “Roughing It on the Silver Frontier” lecture at the Queen’s Concert Rooms, London [MTPO].

Sam finished the Dec. 13 letter to Livy. At the urging of Moncure Conway, he also wrote to Alfred Lord Tennyson sending complimentary tickets [MTL 5: 519].

December 14, 1873 Sunday

December 14 Sunday  Sam gave his “Roughing It on the Silver Frontier” lecture at the Queen’s Concert Rooms, London [MTPO]. Sam wrote to Livy, his letter sounding a lot like those from his courting days… “an ocean is between us, now, & I have to gush.” Sam looked forward to having Frank Finlay  as a guest for the week [MTL 5: 518].

December 13, 1873 Saturday

December 13 Saturday  Sam gave his “Roughing It on the Silver Frontier” lecture at the Queen’s Concert Rooms, London [MTPO]. He started a letter to Livy, which he finished on Dec. 15.

“Livy darling, I am so tired of lecturing! I enjoy while I am on the stage, because the audience are such elegant looking people & are so heartily responsive (heaps of fine carriages & liveries come,) but I don’t take any interest in life during the day.”

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