21 February 1875 • Hartford, Conn. (Hartford Courant, 23 Feb 75, UCCL 01196)
I accede to your request with pleasure. Many months ago I permanently quitted the lecture field, & Ⓐemendationsaid I would not appear upon a platform any more unless driven there by lack of bread.2explanatory note By the spirit of that remark I am debarred from delivering this proposed lecture, & so I fall back upon the letter of it & emerge upon the platform for this last & final time because I am confronted by a lack of bread—among Father Hawley’s flock. Most people lie by the spirit & the letter too, but I am not one of that kind; for I have been very carefully brought up. I wish to impose upon you the condition that the expenses of this enterprise shall be paid out of four or five private pockets (mine to be one of them), to the end that all of the money that comes in at the door shall go to Father Hawley’s needy ones, unimpaired by taxes on its journey. I am glad to know that you are going to put the tickets at one dollar; for what we are after, now, is money for people who stand sorely in need of bread & meat, & so the object justifies the price. As this will probably be the last time I shall ever have the opportunity of hearing sound wisdom & pure truth delivered from the platform, I wish to buy a ticket to this lecture, & I herewith send money for the purchase. I am aware that I could get in for nothing, & still be acting in a measure honorably; but when I run my lecture over in my mind & realize what a very bonanza of priceless information it is, I find I cannot conscientiously accept of a free pass.
To Messrs. Joseph H. Sprague, George G. Sill, H. C. Robinson, & others.3explanatory note
An entry that Twichell made in his journal, probably on 23 February, corrects Clemens’s misdating: “I was to lecture for Father Hawley on Peru, and M. T. was to introduce me. But when it came to the ‘scratch’ I backed out and got M. T. to stand in my place. He made this letter of response in my study Sunday P.M. Feb 21st” (Twichell, 1:58). Twichell had traveled to Peru in 1874 to investigate the circumstances of Chinese laborers there. David Hawley, Hartford’s city missionary, had been granted the honorary title “Father” out of affection and esteem (Strong, 85–86; L5 , 288–90).
See 27–31 Jan 74 to Redpath, n. 1click to open link, and 3 Mar 74 to Redpath, n. 3click to open link.
The Hartford Courant published this letter on 23 February (“Mark Twain’s Lecture,” 2), with the following introduction:
As was stated yesterday, Mr. Samuel L. Clemens has consented to give a lecture in this city, the entire proceeds of which are to be given to Father Hawley for the benefit of the needy poor whom he seeks to relieve. The letter of some of our citizens to Mr. Clemens inviting him to lecture again for this cause, and his characteristic reply, are printed below.
letter to mr. clemens.
Mr. Samuel L. Clemens:—
Dear Sir: Two winters ago you gave a lecture here in behalf of our city poor, which was pecuniarily, and otherwise, a memorable success. The fact that while still comparatively a stranger among us you manifested such willingness to assist in a time of great necessity, suggests to us the possibility that now that you are an established citizen of Hartford, you may be willing to help the same good cause again. A favorable response to this invitation will be greatly appreciated by your fellow citizens.
| Very truly yours, | ||
| Joseph H. Sprague, | George G. Sill, | |
| Henry C. Robinson, | N. J. Burton, | |
| Rowland Swift, | Austin Dunham, | |
| William L. Gage, | F. B. Cooley, | |
| N. Shipman, | William W. Turner, | |
| F. A. Brown, | Yung Wing, | |
| F. W. Cheney, | George P. Bissell. |
Clemens had previously lectured for the benefit of Hawley’s “flock” on 31 January 1873. The signers of the present invitation were: Joseph H. Sprague, mayor of Hartford and president of the Atlas Insurance Company; George G. Sill, an attorney and lieutenant governor of Connecticut from 1873 to 1877; Henry C. Robinson (1832–1900), an attorney, mayor of Hartford from 1872 to 1874, and a director of the Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company and the Connecticut Fire Insurance Company; the Reverend Nathaniel J. Burton, pastor of the Park Congregational Church; Rowland Swift, president of the American National Bank; Austin Dunham (1805–77), president of the Willimantic Linen Company, partner in Austin Dunham and Son, wool merchants, and vice-president of the Aetna Life Insurance Company; the Reverend William L. Gage, pastor of the Pearl Street Congregational Church; F. B. Cooley, president of the National Exchange Bank and a trustee of Warburton Chapel; Nathaniel Shipman (1828–1906), a United States district court judge; the Reverend William W. Turner, a former teacher, steward, and, from 1854 to 1863, principal of the American Asylum for Deaf and Dumb; Flavius A. Brown, of Brown and Gross, booksellers; Yung Wing, the official in charge of a delegation of Chinese students sent by the Chinese Educational Commission to study in the United States, and a close friend of Twichell’s; Frank W. Cheney, assistant treasurer of Cheney Brothers, Silk Manufacturers, and a director of the Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company and the National Fire Insurance Company; George P. Bissell, president of his own bank and a trustee of Warburton Chapel (Geer 1874, 34, 39, 52, 61, 70, 123, 129, 133, 137, 141, 182, 183, 185, 187, 188, 274, 275; Burpee, 1:436, 3:13–14, 38, 41–42; Trumbull, 1:385, 428, 514, 573; L5 , 289–90 n. 1, 522 n. 1; Strong, 85). For more on the lecture, see 6 Mar 75 to Seaverclick to open link.
“Mark Twain’s Lecture,” Hartford Courant, 23 Feb 75, 2, clipping in Twichell, 1:58, Joseph H. Twichell Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University (CtY-BR).
L6 , 392–394; “Letter from Mark Twain,” New York Times, 24 Feb 75, 5; “Mark Twain,” Cleveland Herald, 27 Feb 75, 2; Grass Valley (Calif.) Union, 10 Mar 75.
Twichell’s papers were passed on to his children. Although CtY received some items in 1951 from Joseph H. Twichell and Mrs. Charles Ives, his son and daughter, the main collection was donated in 1967 by Charles P. Twichell, his grandson.
More information on provenance may be found in Description of Provenanceclick to open link.