To Olivia L. Langdon
4 March 1869 • Lockport, N.Y.
(MS: CU-MARK, UCCL 00265)

Lockport, March 4.

I am not going to write you, this morning, my little darling—I simply want to say I love you, Livy. I have not got up, yet, & shall not till after noon. My last lecture (for some time, at least,) is delivered, & I am so glad that I must fly to you (on paper,) & make you help me hurrah.1 The long siege is over, & I may rest at last. I feel like a captive set free. Kiss me, Livy—you whom I love better [than] life—you core of my very heart—you whom I almost absolutely worship—you noblest, purest, dearest heart that ever brought balm & blessing to a weary life.

It is all over, & I am unspeakably glad. If I [could only see you ], now, I would be completely happy.

Rev. Mr. Bennett called on me last night, whose church & Sunday school I used to attend every Sunday twenty years ago. My mother & sister belonged to his church.2 I did not know his face, not having seen him for more than nineteen years, but I recognized his voice & knew the name that belonged to it. Our family will be glad to hear of him. His visit has filled my brain with trooping phantoms of the past—of dead faces & forgotten forms—of scenes that are faded—of old familiar voices that are silent forever, & old songs that are only a memory now.

I’ll go to bed again, having said Good morning to you, my precious little Livy, & wished you a pleasant day. Go you to bed also, & rest. With a kiss & a God-bless you darling, I am Yours & your o[n]ly, forever

Sam

Forgot to ask Mr Langdon to make Mr. Twichell’s [ ack acquaintance ] in Hartford—it is too bad.3

Write me at Hartford henceforward, honey.

Miss Olivia L. Langdon

Present

Care of Charlie

Explanatory Notes | Textual Commentary

Editorial Signs

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1 Clemens next lectured in Newtown, New York, on 16 March.

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2 The Reverend Joseph L. Bennett (b. 1823 or 1824), now evidently a resident of Lockport, was called to the pastorate of the First Presbyterian Church of Hannibal on 10 June 1848. Installed as the church’s regular pastor exactly four months later, he remained in that post until the spring of 1852. Jane Lampton Clemens and Pamela Moffett had joined the church in 1841 (Hannibal Census, 319; Sweets, 6, 7, 17, 44; Fotheringham, 14; “The Presbytery of Northern Missouri . . .,” Hannibal Missouri Courier, 29 Apr 52, no page).

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3 Jervis Langdon had gone to Hartford, as planned, to call on John and Isabella Beecher Hooker (see 27 Feb 69 to OLL, p. 116). Clemens’s 5 March letter to Olivia suggests that, at least in part, the visit was prompted by the Hookers’ initial response to the news of her engagement. Twichell could have been counted on to rebut any criticisms of Clemens that they offered—but, as it turned out, they spoke approvingly of him to Langdon: see 12 Mar 69 to OLL.

Description of Texts and Provenance

Source text(s):

MS, Mark Twain Papers, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley (CU-MARK).

Previous publication: L3, 134–135; LLMT, 358, brief paraphrase.

Provenance:see Samossoud Collection, p. 586.

Emendations and textual notes:

could only see you • could only see you only see you [revised to avoid show-through]

ack acquaintance • ack-|quaintance [‘k’ partly formed; possibly ‘t’]