July 10 Thursday – Sam wrote a short note from London to Elisha Bliss:
“Publish if you want to [the Herald letters], or leave it alone, just as seems best. I am tired of the Shah & shall not write any more” [MTL 5: 413].
July 9 Wednesday – Sam’s third of five letters on the Shah of Persia appeared in the New York Herald. The letters were collected as “O’Shah” in Europe and Elsewhere (1923) [MTNJ 1: 537n28].
July 8 and 9 Wednesday – Sam and Livy visited Charles E. Flower (1830-1892) , mayor of Stratford-upon-Avon. Sam and Moncure Conway played a trick on Livy, a great fan of Shakespeare, telling her they were going to “Epworth” instead of Stratford.
July 7 Monday – Anthony Trollope threw a dinner party in honor of Joaquin Miller. Sam attended, as well as Thomas Hughes; Edward Levy, editor of the London Telegraph; Granville George Levenson-Gower, the second Earl Granville and leader of the House of Lords; and Edward Levy [MTL 5: 406-7n11].
July 6 Sunday – Sam wrote from London to Mary Mason Fairbanks, his letter full of people talk. He wrote about English social life, meeting so many “pleasant people” and “we seem to find no opportunity to see London sights.” Sam’s list of those met: Tom Hughes, Herbert Spencer, Joaquin Miller, Hans Breitmann (Charles Godfrey Leland 1824-1903) William Gorman Wills, Anthony Trollope, Wilkie Collins, Edmund H.
The Paul Hamlyn Hall is a large iron and glass structure adjacent to, and with direct access to, the main opera house building [Royal Opera House or Covent Garden]. The hall now acts as the atrium and main public area of the opera house, with a champagne bar, restaurant and other hospitality services, and also providing access to the main auditorium at all levels.
July 5 Saturday – Sam enjoyed the last Floral Hall concert of the season at 2 PM. The Royal Italian Opera performed with Adelina Patti [MTNJ 1: 549n39].
Sam wrote a short acceptance note to Henry Lee to stop at the Whitefriars Club, but only for a half hour, as he had to take Livy to a concert [MTL 5: 398].
July 4 Friday – Sam prepared a speech for the Meeting of Americans, London. (published in Fatout, MT Speaking 74-76) but was unable to give it [Welland 63].
Sam’s second of five letters on the Shah of Persia appeared in the New York Herald [MTNJ 1: 537n28].
July 2 Wednesday – Sam finished the letter to Joaquin Miller, asking if he would drop by his hotel at half past ten or quarter to eleven.
In the evening, Sam and Livy dined with George and Phoebe Smalley in Hyde Park Square. Benjamin Moran (1820-1886), secretary of legation to U.S. Minister Robert C. Schenck, was also at the dinner and noted the guests: