472 Delaware st.
Buffalo, Jan. 27.
Dear Mr. Aldrich—
No indeed, don’t take back the apology! Hang it, I don’t want to abuse a man’s civility merely because he gives me the chance.1
I hear a good deal about doing things on the “spur of the moment”—I invariably regret the things I do on the spur of the moment. That disclaimer of mine was a case in point. I am ashamed every time I think of my bursting out before an unconcerned public with that bombastic pow-wow about burning poor publishers’ letters, & all that sort of imbecility, & about my not being an imitator, &c. Who would find out that I am a natural fool if I [ keep kept ]always cool & never let nature come to the surface? Nobody.
But I did hate to be accused of plagiariszing Bret Harte, who trimmed & trained & schooled me patiently until he changed me from an awkward utterer of coarse grotesquenesses w to a writer of paragraphs & chapters that have found a certain favor in the eyes of even some of the very decentest people in the land—& this grateful remembrance of mine ought to be worth its face, seeing that Bret broke our long friendship a year ago without any cause or provocation that I am aware of.2
Well it is funny, the reminiscences that glare out from murky corners of one’s memory, now & then, without warning. Just at this moment a picture flits before me: Scene—private room in Barnum’s Restaurant, Virginia, Nevada; present, Artemus Ward, Joseph T. Goodman, (editor & proprietor Daily “Enterprise”), & “Dan de Quille” & myself, reporters for same; remnants of the feast thin & scattering, but empty bottles such tautology & repetition of empty bottles [every‸where‸ ]visible as to be offensive to the sensitive eye; time, 2.30 A.M.,3 Artemus thickly reciting a poem about a certain infant you wot of,4 & interrupting himself & being interrupted every few lines by poundings of the table & shouts of “Splennid, by Shorg zhe!” Finally, a long, vociferous, poundiferous & vitreous jingling of applause announces the conclusion, & then Artemus: “Let every man ‘at loves his fellow man & ‘preciates a poet ’at loves his fellow-man, stan’ up!—stan’ up & drink health & long life to Thomas Bailey Aldrich!—& drink it stanning!” {On all hands fervent, enthusiastic, & sincerely honest attempts to comply.} Then Artemus: “Well—consider it stanning, & drink it just as ye are!” Which was done.
You must excuse all this stuff from a stranger, but for the present, & when I see you I will apologize in full.
Do you know the prettiest fancy & the neatest that ever shot through Harte’s brain? It was this: When they were trying to decide upon a vignette for the cover of the Overland,5 a grizzly bear (of the arms of the State of California) was chosen. Nahl Bros.6 carved him & the page was printed, with him in it, looking thus:
As a bear, he was a success—he was a good [bear. But ]then, it was objected, that he was an objectless bear—a bear that meant nothing in particular, signified nothing,—simply stood there snarling over his shoulder at nothing—& was painfully & manifestly a boorish & ill-natured intruder upon the fair page. All hands said that—none were satisfied. They hated badly to give him up, & yet they hated as much to have him there when there was no point to him. But presently [Harte ]took a pencil & drew these two simple lines under his feet & behold he was a magnificent success!—the ancient symbol of Californian [ save savagery ] snarling at the ‸approaching‸ type of high & progressive Civilization, nu the first Overland locomotive!:7
I just think that was nothing less than inspiration itself.
Once more I apologize, & this time I do it “stanning!”
Yrs Truly
Samℓ. L. Clemens.
Explanatory Notes | Textual Commentary
“Barry Gray” was the pseudonym of genteel humorist Robert Barry Coffin
(1826–86), who, like Aldrich, had been associated with the New York Home Journal in the late
1850s.
Source text(s):Previous publication:
L4, 316–19; Aldrich 1872; Greenslet, 97–99; MTL, 1:182–84.
Provenance:Deposited at MH-H in 1942 and donated in 1949 by Talbot Aldrich.
Emendations and textual notes:
keep kept • keeppt [canceled ‘p’ partly formed]
every‸where‸ • every| ‸where‸
bear. But • bear.—|But
Harte • Harte| Harte
save savagery • saveagery
