"Mr. Hartnup has a clock which by the application of an electric current
controls the action of other clocks, especially the town clock of
Liverpool--distant some miles. The current of electricity is not the
motive power, but a corrector.
"Much attention is paid to meteorology. The pressure of the wind, the
horizontal motion, and the course are recorded upon sheets of paper
running upon cylinders and connected with the clock; the instrument
which obeys the voice of the wind being outside.
"Aug. 5, 1857. I did not send my letter to Mr. Hawthorne until
yesterday, supposing that he was not in the city; but yesterday when
Rev. James Martineau called on me, he said that he had not yet left. Mr.
Martineau said that it would be a great loss to Liverpool when Mr.
Hawthorne went away.
"I sent my letter at once; from all that I had heard of Mr. Hawthorne's
shyness, I thought it doubtful if he would call, and I was therefore
very much pleased when his card was sent in this morning. Mr. Hawthorne
was more chatty than I had expected, but not any more diffident. He
remained about five minutes, during which time he took his hat from the
table and put it back once a minute, brushing it each time. The
engravings in the books are much like him. He is not handsome, but looks
as the author of his books should look; a little strange and odd, as if
not of this earth. He has large, bluish-gray eyes; his hair stands out
on each side, so much so that one's thoughts naturally turn to combs and
hair-brushes and toilet ceremonies as one looks at him.
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