To Olivia L. Clemens
10 November 1872 • London, England
(MS: CU-MARK, UCCL 00831)

London, Nov. 9, 1872
Midnight.

Livy darling, it was flattering, at the Lord Mayor’s dinner,1 tonight, to have the nation’s honored favorite, the Lord High Chancellor of England,2 in his vast wig & gown, with a splendid, sword-bearing lackey, following him & holding up his train, walk me arm-in-arm through the brilliant assemblage, & welcome me with all the enthusiasm of a girl, & tell me that when affairs of state oppress him & he can’t sleep, he always has my books at hand & forgets his perplexities in reading them! And two other [ be-g be-wigged] & gowned great state judges of England told me the very same thing.

And it was pleasant in such an illustrious assemblage to overhear people talking about me at every step, & always complimentarily—& also to have these grandees come up & introduce themselves & apologize for it. You will heartily enjoy your English welcome when you come here. With a world of love,

Saml.

[in ink:] Mrs. S. L. Clemens | Cor Forest & Hawthorne | Hartford | Conn. [in upper left corner:] America. | [flourish] [postmarked:] london w 7 no 11 72 [and] new york nov [23] paid all

Explanatory Notes | Textual Commentary

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1 On Saturday, 9 November, “Sir Sydney Waterlow, the new Lord Mayor, was escorted from the Guildhall to Westminster, with all the accustomed pomp, to be presented to the Barons of the Exchequer, in accordance with ancient usage.” When the grand procession, known as the Lord Mayor’s Show, arrived at West-minster, the new mayor took his oath of office. In the evening, the “usual State banquet was given by the Lord Mayor and the Sheriffs of London and Middlesex at Guildhall. The Lord Mayor received the guests on their arrival in the new Library. Covers were laid for between 800 and 900” (“Lord Mayor’s Day,” London Times, 11 Nov 72, 10; Weinreb and Hibbert, 482–84).

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2 Sir Roundell Palmer, Lord Selborne (1812–95), became lord chancellor on 15 October 1872. He was educated at Oxford, where he performed brilliantly, and entered the practice of law in 1837. He served as solicitor-general (1861), attorney general (1863–66), and was twice lord chancellor (1872–74, 1880–85). Knighted in 1861, he was made Baron Selborne of Selborne in October 1872.

Description of Texts and Provenance

Source text(s):

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

Previous publication: L5, 221–222; LLMT, 181–82; Davis 1978.

Provenance:see Samossoud Collection in Description of Provenance.

Emendations and textual notes:

be-g be-wigged • be-gwigged

23 • 2[3] [badly inked]