To
Edward L. Burlingame
7 October 1868 • Hartford, Conn.
(Cyril Clemens, 18, UCCL 02757)
(SUPERSEDED)
148 Asylum St.,
Hartford, Conn., Oct. 7.
Dear Ned—
I am here, getting out a book. I saw your father [& ]mother & Gerty often in New York—& also Mr. Brown of the Legation. We all concocted a Treaty article together, for the New York Tribune.1
Do you remember your Honolulu joke?—“If a man compel thee to go with him a mile, go with him Twain.” I have closed many & many a lecture, in many a city, with that. It always “fetches” them.2 Send me your Picture—I enclose mine.3
Your friend,
Explanatory Notes | Textual Commentary
was yesterday made the recipient at the hands of Mr.
Conrad Wiegand, the well known assayer, of a very beautiful and
highly-polished silver brick, worth some $40. The brick
bears the following inscription: “Mark
Twain—Matthew, V: 41—Pilgrim.” All
our readers will recollect at once that the verse referred to reads
as follows: “And whosoever shall compel thee to go a
mile, go with him twain.” Twain would never object to
going even farther, if sure of getting a fellow to the bar presented
him by Mr. Wiegand, and provided he was furnished a seat in a good,
easy-going and softly-cushioned carriage. (“A Neat and
Appropriate Present,” 29 Apr 68, 3) Eventually, however, Clemens grew tired of the joke, saying in 1906: When it was new, it seemed exceedingly happy and
bright, but it has been emptied upon me upwards of several million times
since—never by a witty and engaging lad like Burlingame, but
always by chuckle-heads of base degree, who did it with offensive
eagerness and with the conviction that they were the first in the field.
(AD, 20 Feb 1906, CU-MARK, in MTA, 2:125)
Source text(s):Previous publication:
L2, 261; none known except the copy-text.
Provenance:In 1932, when Cyril Clemens published the letter, it belonged to Frederick A.
Burlingame. The MS has not since been found.
Emendations and textual notes:
& • and [twice; also at 261.5, 8]
Mark Twain • Mark Twain
