Top, left hand corner—Clara Barton. Top, right hand corner—Carrie E. Cutter. Lower row, center—Flora S. Chapin. But evil on itself shall back recoil, And mix no more with goodness when, at last, Gathered like scum, and settled to itself, It shall be an eternal restless change, Self-fed and self-consumed. If this fail The pillared firmament is rottenness, And earth’s base built on stubble. XCVII CLOSING INCIDENTS—THE BIOGRAPHY—OTHER CORRESPONDENCE I am so glad to see you; I was afraid you wouldn’t get here in _time_. CLARA BARTON. From “Notes” at Oxford, Massachusetts, Oct. 2, 1911. AUTHORIZED TO SPEAK FOR CLARA BARTON Accompanying the letter under date of December 14, 1909, came data from Clara Barton to be used in her proposed biography, and which data the author had previously promised to make use of as soon as his private business would permit him to give the time necessary to do this literary work. Commenting on the author’s final acceptance of her commission, in her letter she said: “Your talent to writing a biography of me—of me! Your talent and time for such as this! ‘Why was this waste made’?” The object hoped for in her letter of September 21, 1911, wherein Clara Barton says “_I must see you_” and therein the “dispatch” referred to, was that she might consult the author on her biography and to make a final request that after her passing he would protect her good name which, continuously being assailed, she then thought to be in jeopardy. Arriving at Oxford, Massachusetts, at the end of a special trip from California for the final consultation as to the facts and motives involved in her persecution, on October 3, 1911, in the sick room and at the time when she thought that she had but a few hours to live, the author made the promise. The further object of the visit at Oxford, on the part of the author, was to try to stimulate her health, through a possible sea voyage. That there had been in anticipation for several months previous such sea voyage was well known in her household, and is personally indicated by her in her Easter Greetings for 1911. In this letter she writes: “And we may expect you in the East!! That is more than I _dared_ hope. It would surely be a luxury to visit the old _old_ countries of the world. I should indeed be glad to see them with you.” I may come to California this winter; will do so, if I am able. CLARA BARTON. From “Notes” of a visit in the sick room at Glen Echo, Maryland, Oct. 20, 1911. PROPOSED HOME IN CALIFORNIA