From
Orion and Samuel L. Clemens to Mary E. (Mollie) Clemens
29, 30, and 31 January 1862 • Carson City, Nev. Terr.
(MS: CU-MARK, UCCL 00035)
A member of the Academy of Sciences, of Paris, has discovered a simple and unexpensive process for rendering muslins, laces and all sorts of light stuffs incombustible. It simply consists of adding to the starch used in stiffening them, one-half its weight of the carbonate of lime, usually known as “Spanish White.” 1
Carson City, N. T., 
January 29th 1862.
My Dear Wife:—
The Silver Age of this morning, contains an announcement that Governor Nye has received the appointment of Brigadier General, and that he will leave us. The Governor tells me I shall soon be Governor. We will see. 2
The Indians prophecy more storms—they say “heap snow,” “heap rain.”
Jan. 30 Poor Mrs. Upton who had a baby last week is very low, and fears are entertained that she will not recover.
January 31—Poor Upton has met with the severest loss [ a ] that can befall a man. His wife died this evening about two hours ago. Since I commenced this paragraph he came into my office, took my hand, sat down and cried. He says she is happy, for she was a pure, good woman; and he will meet her some day if he behaves himself; that she was too good for him, was the reason she was taken. He has been thoughtless, but not bad. 3
It is cold and dry to-night.
I am told that female society here is not much [better ] than the male society. There is a fashion of loose language among them that disgusts men of refinement. Loose manners are frequent. In California great numbers of the women are loose characters. Mrs. Upton was among the exceptions, and was an excellent woman.
Dear Mollie:
“Paint-Brush” in the hands of the enemy!4 God forgive me! this is the first time I have felt melancholy since I left the United States. And he is doing service for the enemy. But against his will. Ah, me, Mollie—there would be consolation—priceless consolation in the fact which I have italicised, were it not that that is a natural failing with the poor devil—everything [ e he ]ever did do, he did against his will. His most [insignificant ]services, even for me, were done under protest. Of course I mean that whenever he did condescend to ‸do‸ anything in accordance with my wishes, ‸and that was not an everyday occurrence, at all,‸ he showed his unwillingness in a marked manner—but [ his he ]was a willing soul to do things after his own fashion. And of course he generally consulted his own judgment—because: You remember, (as I perceive by your language,) that between me and the pillow on the saddle, there was a very [Mine ] of trouble—and between the saddle and the ground [ was there ]was another [Mine ] of trouble, viz; the Mule. And the saddle was always loose,—therefore, I was afraid it might turn; and I could not cinch it tighter, as [ it was the cinch ] was old, and I feared it might break. So, you see, when in the saddle, I lived as [ up one ]astraddle of a magazine—for, had I combatted the mule’s wishes to any [ a great ] extent, he would have retaliated by jumping gullies, or rolling on the ground, or running away—and the consequences, to me, of such conduct, would have been a matter of small concern to him.
But if I had the “Paint Brush” here, Mollie, I would “feed fat the ancient grudge I bear him.”5 I would [ f board ]him on sage-brush, and cinch him till he couldn’t breathe, and ride him sixty miles a day. He would be a wonderfully useful animal to me. However, if he has gone over to the enemy, let him go. [ Han He ] can’t be depended on anyhow—he’ll desert at the first opportunity; if he don’t fall in a camp-kettle and get drowned.
Well, Mollie, I think July will be soon enough, because I think that by that time some of our claims will be paying handsomely, and you can come in “high-tone” style, as Tom [Nye, says]. And we could have a house fit to live in—and servants to do your work. You know it is all very well for a man’s wife to talk about [ w how ]much work she can do—but actually doing it is a thing that don’t suit my notions. That part of the business belongs to the servants. I am not married yet, and I never will marry until I can afford to have servants enough to leave my wife in the position for which I designed her, viz:—as a companion. I don’t want to sleep with a three-fold [ b Being ]who is cook, chambermaid and washerwoman all in one. I don’t mind sleeping with female servants as long as I am a bachelor—by no means—but after I marry, that sort of thing will be “played out,” you know. (But Lord bless you, Mollie, don’t hint this depravity to the girls.) No, Madam, I am anxious for you to stay just where you are until you can live here in a handsome house and boss your own servants—even if it should be until the first July after the [Millenium]! If you come here before you ought to come, Mollie, and I hear people say “the Secretary’s wife does her own cooking”—I’ll tell every such person that the Secretary’s wife is [ such subject ] to fits of derangement! Mind, now, I’m not going to have any one-horse business here after you arrive. D-o-n-’t get in a hurry, Madam. The world wasn’t made in a day.6
. . . .
Explanatory Notes | Textual Commentary
Source text(s):Previous publication:
L1, 143–146.
Provenance:date of acquisition unknown. Probably in Moffett Collection; see p. 462. The MS was evidently in the possession of Orion
Clemens as late as 1880, when he was preparing his autobiography.
Emendations and textual notes:
a that • [‘t’ over ‘a’]
better • b better [first ‘b’ written faintly with drying pen; deletion implied]
e he • [‘h’ over ‘e’]
insignificant • insicgnificant [‘g’ over ‘c’]
his he • he is [‘e’ over ‘i’]
Mine •
[Clemens gave this word and ‘Mine’ at 144.34 some unrecovered special significance by inscribing the ‘M’ of each in a peculiar block form. In each case, he may
have written ‘__ine’ before supplying the ‘M’. His remark ‘(as I perceive by your
language)’ (144.31–32) suggests that the oddly formed letters were his response to something
Mollie had written him, perhaps a pun.]
was there • [‘the’ over ‘was’]
Mine • [See the note at 144.33.]
it was the cinch • [‘the cin’ over ‘it was’]
up one • [‘one’ over ‘up’]
a great • [‘g’ over ‘a’]
f board • [‘b’ over ‘f’]
Han He • He an [‘e’ over ‘an’]
Nye, says • Nye, |says [sic]
w how • [‘h’ over ‘w’ or possibly ‘m’ or ‘n’]
b Being • [‘B’ over ‘b’]
Millenium • [sic]
such subject • su‸bject‸ ch [‘bj’ over ‘ch’]
