19 October 1880 • Hartford, Conn. (MS, correspondence cards: MH-H, UCCL 01843)
My Dear Howells: Read the letter to Mrs. Handy, & then mail it. The idea of that printed biography is a noble good one: saves me time, rage, excuses, declinations, disgust, humiliation; & from frenzies of blasphemy which exhaust me physically as well as morally; & besides, it at the same time it furnishes to the inquiring idiot connected with the literary society exactly what he has asked for, & softly & neatly chouses him out of the thing he was really after, viz., a humorous autograph letter which would make him the most important ass connected with the Society for one whole evening. You may use that idea—no charge.
I send you a paper with the speech. Gen. Grant came near laughing his entire head off. Therefore, I left out as I only needed one hearty & unequivocal laugh out of him, I skipped, & left out the clause explaining why there were two welcomers. There was a couple of minutes’ laughter over my break-down (it was on a sentence which would not stay in my memory); or rather, over my explaining to Gen. Grant in a sort of confidential way how it happened—at which his “grim smile” became very audible, & of course that set the whole multitude off again. It was one more laugh than was needed, maybe, but no matter. The words “in every conceivable . . . . . . . . . . . . inexpensive way” invoked the loudest shout, & the longest, & the most full-hearted that was heard in Hartford that day. It started in laughter but ended in a thunder of endorsement.
remainder of letter, if any, missing
address of mr. clemens.
General Grant:—I also am deputized to welcome
you to the sincere and cordial hospitalities
of Hart-
ford—the city of the historic and revered Charter
Oak—of which the most of this town is
built.
(This local hit elicited a burst of laugher in
which General Grant joined heartily and it was
a
full minute before his countenance resumed its
usual serious expression.)
At first it was proposed to have only one speaker
to welcome you, but this was changed, because
it
was feared that,—considering the shortness of the
crop of speeches this year,—if anything
occurred to
prevent that speaker from delivering his speech
you would feel disappointed. (Laughter and ap-
plause.)
I desire, at this point, to refer to your past his-
tory. By years of colossal labor and
colossal
achievement, you at last beat down a gigantic rebel-
lion and saved your country from destruction.
Then the
country commanded you to take the helm
of state. You preferred your great office of gen-
eral of the armies, and the
rest and comfort which
it afforded; but you loyally obeyed, and relin-
quished permanently the ample and
well-earned
salary of the generalship, and resigned your accu-
mulating years to the chance mercies of a
preca-
rious existence with all its possible—its possible,
possible——vicissitudes.
[The speaker’s side remark “I nearly forgot that
part of my
speech” created a burst of laughter on
the stand, General Grant’s face lighting up with a
grim
smile.]Ⓐemendation
By this present fatiguing progress through the
land you are mightily contributing toward
saving
your country once more—this time from dishonor
and shame and from commercial disaster. (Ap-
plause.) You are now a private citizen, but private
employments are closed against you; because your
name would be used
for speculative purposes, and
you have refused to permit that. But your country
will reward you—never fear.
(Applause.)
When Wellington won Waterloo—a battle about
on a level with some dozen of your
victories—sordid
England tried to pay him for that service—with
wealth and
grandeurs! She made him a duke, and
gave him $4,000,000. If you had done and suffered
for any other country
what you have done and suf-
fered for your own, you would have been affronted
in the same sordid way. (Laughter.)Ⓐemendation But thank
God this vast and rich and mighty republic is im-
bued to the core with a delicacy which will
forever
preserve her from so degrading you. (Renewed
laughter.) Your country loves you, your country is
proud of
you, your country is grateful to you.Ⓐemendation (Ap-
plause.) Her applauses, which have been thunder-
ing in your ears all these weeks and months, will
never
cease while the flag you saved continues to
wave. (Great applause.)
Your country stands ready, from this day forth
to testify her measureless love, and pride,
and
gratitude towards you in every conceivable—inex-
pensive way. (Roars of laughter.) Welcome to
Hartford, great soldier, honored statesman,
unsel-
fish citizen! (Loud and long applause.)
MS, correspondence cards, MH-H, shelf mark bMS Am 1784 (98). The enclosure, from the Hartford Courant, 18 October 1880, 1, is transcribed from a microfilm of the newspaper in CU-MARK.
MTHL , 1:331–32.
See Howells Letters in Description of Provenanceclick to open link.