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Clarence Darrow Signature

The Clarence Darrow Letters

Paul O. Stensland to Clarence Darrow, March 10, 1918


Click on the image to view as a PDF. A transcription of the letter is on the right.

Rome, Ga., March 10-18

Mr. Clarence S. Darrow

Cunnard Building

Chicago, Ills.


My dear Mr. Darrow,


Am figuring on a trip to New Orleans in a week or ten days and as Mobile would be on my way, I could, if you so desired stop off there, to make enquiries reg. market values and salability of lands in the northwestern part of Mobile country and particularly as to Mrs. Moore's holdings. It goes without saying that whatever I could do in the premises would be done with my compliments to you or rather applied
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on my everlasting indebtedness to you, for all the kindness you have, from time to time, shown me.


By the way, from the more prosaic matters to the sublime, Golny [?] (Sunday) I picked up your Persian Pearl and read it through again. This time with much more reflection than before—Your commentaries and essays together with Omar Khayyam's Verses as well as those of Robert Burns illumes my horizon like the Constellation of the Southern Cross. Walt Whitman is, to my eyes one of the duller stars, or, more properly, smaller stars.



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Smaller, perhaps because farther away. But, in spite of his peculiar style Walt Whitman must be great, otherwise you would not have commented on him so beautifully. And of it, his poesy does not bring you into ecstasy as does the reading of Burns and Omar Khayyam, whose praise you sing in such sublime, elegant, pleasing and rich poetic style.


But no highbowls in the west,

No Saki east of Brest,

We may as well read Bryan,

And forget Burns, Khayyam, the rest.


I wish you could afford to quit the practice of Law & devote the rest of you years to literary work - to writing, lecturing and



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travel. But if you did more people would hang or suffer a living death behind prison walls ? people that, perhaps, had as much right or more to live and be free as many of the pillars of Society.


I am in fairly good health now and would like to go to Chicago, to look around for some little business chance, but had better wait till summer has set in - I really ought to live in the Tropics - But for my bronchial and asthmatic troubles I would be in perfect health.

Hoping you are well,

I am very sincerely yours,

Paul O. Stensland

Rome, Ga.
R.F.D. Route
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Mr. Clarence S. Darrow,

of Messr''s Darrow and Sissman,

Attorneys at Law,

Cunnard Building,

Chicago, Ills.