15 June 1880 • Hartford, Conn. (MS: MH-H, UCCL 01812)
The family are assembling at the front door for immediate flight to Elmira. Your letter just received. Well, I’m mighty glad the grave Baxter didn’t “give me away.” I breathe freer, now.
Patrick will express to you, to-day or tomorrow four little roots, & says all you’ve got to do is to plant them close up to the wall & trust in God; they will take care of themselves, & give you no trouble; they’ll soon spread over & cover the wall.
Garfield suits me thoroughly & exactly. I prefer him to Grant(’s friends.) The presidency can’t add anything to Grant—he will shine on, without it. It is ephemeral, he is eternal.
I think Winnie’s teacher has excellent judgment—but I shouldn’t have thought it before your review converted me from my ill opinion of the book.
I’m called——Good bye & love to you & yours.
References
- Harvard University, Houghton Library, Cambridge, Mass.
- Machlis, Paul, ed. Union Catalog of Clemens Letters. Edited by Paul Machlis. Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press. [In some cases, UCCL catalog numbers cited in this volume supersede those assigned in 1986 and reflect corrections or additions to the catalog since publication. An updated version of the catalog can be consulted via the Letters Search page at MTPO.] 1986
- MTHL. Mark Twain–Howells Letters. Edited by Henry Nash Smith and William M. Gibson, with the assistance of Frederick Anderson. 2 vols. Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. 1960
MS, MH-H, shelf mark bMS Am 1784 (98).
MTHL , 1:316.
See Howells Letters in Description of Provenanceclick to open link.