15 May 1884 • Hartford, Conn. (MS, in pencil: NN-BGC, UCCL 02979)
Roswell got up a Hartford-Cable-Lecture; & he put the Hartford end of it in my hands, & described how he was going to put the New York end of it through, himself. Do you remember how he carried out his contract? I do—& don’t you doubt it.
And now Roswell would put another project in my hands! Why, it almost makes me smile.
I have a great regard for him, & I do not hold any grudge against him for that thing; moreover, I would come forward & tackle any project of his that favorably impressed me. But not this one does not. It is asking me to do a thing which I would not do for myself—nor for my father, if he were alive. It is a real estate agent’s job—that is where it belongs; & a person of my unbusiness-like breeding could not fail to make a botch of it.
The other proposed feature is simply a crime against Cable’s manliness. If a man should surreptitiously (or openly) pass around a hat in your behalf, would you ever forgive him for it? You know very well you wouldn’t. Well, is Cable made of coarser clay? Let us hope not, & let us believe not. Your & Smith’s project springs from a generous impulse, & does your hearts credit; but if it isn’t a dishonoring one to the proposed victim, then my notions have somehow got a good deal distorted. Hang it, Pond, join me in a blush, & banish that unspeakable proposition out of your mind. Let us be better friends to Cable than that. Individually, I could not think it right or fair or friendly to contribute money to Cable’s support without first asking his permission; & if he granted it——Oh, good land, he couldn’t!
In writing to Smith, I said nothing about the contribution-proposition, for I could not tell whether he was joking or not. I could by no means make [it] out; & so was afraid to venture. But I pour myself out freely to you; & I it is the fair way & the right way—in fact the only square way.
Now here’s another candidate for Hartford lecture-honors—George MacDonald. You see they will all pick out the worst town in America. Come, what do you say? If you wish to take him & run him around for the month of October, tell me so, & let me write him. And suppose you write him, too, if you think favorably of the thing. With great love to you both,
Mark.
References
- New York Public Library, Albert A. and Henry W. Berg Collection, New York
- 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
- Microfilm Edition of Mark Twain’s Previously Unpublished Letters. Prepared by Anh Quynh Bui, Victor Fischer, Michael B. Frank, Robert H. Hirst, Lin Salamo, and Harriet Elinor Smith. 8 vols. Berkeley: The Bancroft Library. 2001
MS, in pencil, NN-BGC
MicroPUL, reel 2.