Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-07-09
ARTHUR RICHMOND KNOWN.
Julian Hawthorne and Gall Hamilton Said
to Have Written Over That Nom de
PIume-Allen Thorndike Rice Exon

Julian hawthorne and Gall Hamilton Saio
TO Have Written Over That Nom de
PIume-Allen Thorndike Rice Exon
ernted.
Special Telegram to The Dispatch.
NEW YORK. July 8-Within the past decade
there has been no event in the American world
of letters which has provoked such wide COM
ment and excited so large q measure of curios-
ity as the publication in the North american
Reriew of a series Of letters to prominent per-
sons under the nom de plume of ARTHUR Rich
mond." The two distinctive characteristics OF
the letters were the bitterness of personal and
partisan feeling which they betrayed. and the
marked excellence and vigor of their literary
form. 1t at once became obvious that the
writer was man of large attainments and
broad culture, with an extraordinary command
of irony and invective, and one who must be
controlled by violent prejudices and strong
personal animosities. Tho form Of these let
ters and their literary superiority at once sug-
gested a comparison with the famous letters OF
Junius. Then the literary mystery with which
they were enshrouded gave to them vogue
and impaired to them a value which they
might possibly not have acquired solely on
their merits had the name of the writerbeen
known and the mainsprings of his prejudices
comprehended. Hrt
Politicians and People Excited.
1t was in January. 1886, that the first letter in
the series appeared. 1t was addressed to the
Secretary of State and signed by Arthur Rich
mond 1t was not long before the entire edi-
tion of the North american ReufetO had been
exhausted, and new one was called for This
was soon absorbed and still another had to be
printed. "Who is Arthur Richmond?" was the
question everyone asked. From the fact that
he was the editor of the magazine and from
the identity in the initial letters in Arthur
Rrnh n1s r,sa1
to the belief that Allen ThcrnGike Rice him
self was the author, who was shielding himself
behind this anonymity. There were those who
were very sure that these letters should be at
tributed to that brilliant and eccentric man,
William Henry Hubert. and there was much
internal evidence that seemed to tend very sat-
there were who felt that Roscoe Conkling was
the writer. and so the Arthur Richmond letters
have been ascribed to a host of men prominent
In politics and letters.
The Secret Revealed.
Shortly after the recent death of Mr.. Allen
Thorndike Rice an attempt was made to estab-
lish conclusively and permanently the fact that
he was not only responsible for their publica-
tion, but that he had written the Arthur Rich
mond letters. A weli-known correspondent in
Washington sent out a syndicate letter, in
which he plainly intimated that there was no
longer any question that Mr.. Rice himself had
written the letters To support the statement
he pointed out how a certain paragraph of the
Bayard letter contained an allusion to an Incl
dnnes na1w was At bc tS niss az
guest with Mr.. Bayard. The host, 1t was
added, was so indignant after the publication
of the first letter that he never again invited
the offending editor to his house. The Com
merciGt Adpertfs now, however. claims to
have 1t on unimpeachable authority, in fact,
from the mouth OF gentleman who was
0ose personal friend of Mr.. Rice, and had op-
portunities to see the manuscripts, that this
series of letters was written by Julian Haw-
thorne and by Gail Hamilton, the niece of Mr..
Blaine, whose real name is Abigail Dodge.
The Richmond letters were written not in
collaboration, but separate letters by each.
Why it is Revealed.
The gentleman from whom this information
was obtained. said: "It has seemed to the
friends of Mr.. Rice that this attempt to fasten
the responsibility upon him, now that he is
dead, was unfair, and it is for this reason only
that have consented to give you the real
names of the authors. They have had ample
time to acknowledge their responsibility. Evil
IDENTIFY they do not intend SO to do, so you can
relieve them from the necessity. In the series
Of letters to prominent per3ons signed By
Arthur Richmond there were seven IN all,
among which were two addressed to Mr.. Bay
ard' ara one @ 70 Mr. Cleveland, one to MI; Mia Randali
had been the intention of Mr.. Rice TO
publish much greater number of these
letters, but he was deferred from so doing by
the serious entanglements and violent contro-
versies to which they gave rise. PROBABLY one
of the most disagreeable experiences connected
with the last years of the life of Allen Thorn
dixie Rice was the treatment which he received
in England at the hands Of Minister Phelps as
a punishment for the publication of the first
Arthur Richmond letter, which was the bitter
est and most polished of all. and was addressed
to the Secretary of State. 1t will be remem-
bered that Mr. Phelps declined to recognize Mr..
Rice, and distinctly refused to present him at
court At the time there was a tremendous
hubbub about it ;"