Hartford, March 10.
I suppose my darling Lou Livy is well, to-night. I am sure I fervently hope so, at any rate. I am venturing on a dangerous experiment, now—sitting down here s to try to write half a page to you & s then stop. It isn’t so easy to stop as it is to determine to do it. And I ought to be in bed—for Nasby called at my room at 10 last night & we sat up & talked until 5 minutes past 6 this morning. {In fancy I am getting a scolding, now, & I know perfectly well that I deserve it. And I can’t take any revenge, either—for at this distance I can’t very well kiss the scolder & so close her lips.} But Livy, I took a strong liking to this fellow, who has some very noble qualities I do assure you, & I did want to talk. I won’t behave so any more, Livy dear. So you forgive me for just this once, don’t you, Livy?—the blessedest darling that ever did live. And Livy, it may seem strange to you, but honestly I was perfectly fascinated with Nasby’s lecture, & find no flaw in it—yet I went there purposely to criticise, & was not made acquainted with the lecturer until after the speech was finished.1
It is another stormy night—raining & blowing great guns. I went out to Mrs Hooker’s at 9 7 PM, & got pretty well soaked through. {The fact is, I met her accidentally yesterday & she gave me a good honest invitation to come to-night—Twichell & I are to sup there on Friday.} It is 10 PM, & I have just returned. Had a pleasant time. Little Miss Baker was there—very pretty girl—& we played whist, Mrs H. & I against Baker & Miss Alice. Mr. Day could didn’t come out, on account of the [storm,— ] or, they thought maybe he had gone to a [lecture ]. So I didn’t see him.2 They pressed me very pleasantly to stay all night, & smoke as much as I pleased in my bedroom—& urged that you would desire me to remain & not go out in the [storm— ] again, if you were here. But bless you, you warn’t there, loveliest of your sex, else I wouldn’t be here at this Allyn House at this moment, I promise you.
Had a negative taken yesterday, & expect to send you the picture tomorrow. Too cloudy to print a specimen to-day. The negative seems excellent.—so I look for no delay.3
Mrs. Hooker compares you to a dainty little wax-flower—how is that? I like it, Miss, if you don’t. I like any figure that people use when they mean to speak lovingly & praisefully of my Livy. You miracle!
Nasby’s visit interrupted my letter to the “little woman,” Mrs. Crane, so it isn’t finished yet. Must do it to-morrow.4 [¶] Na Nasby wants to get me on his paper. Nix.5
To Charlie—darling scrub—Bother the account! Let the tailor [look ] out for it himself. I’ll pay him when I come. I am glad to hear of Ida ([concerning ] her age,)—& glad to hear you are overtaking her so fast.6
To Livy again—darling girl—Yes, Charlie & you are right. I did send you a letter in your own name [yesterday ], & stamped one the day before, intending to do the same, but had to open it to add something to Charlie on the envelop, & so had to use two envelops as usual.7
I am working so hard & so unremittingly that there is no life in me now—so don’t look for any [ im in ]my letters, dear. I am afraid I shan’t have time to finish revising the [MS.
Do ] you know, I found there was hardly a button on the shirts I brought away with me? Wish I had got you to use your sensible eyes in examining them, instead of trusting to my awkward ones.
Must not try to answer your pleasant letter to-night, my darling little Lou Livy [ (I like Livy ever so much the best—simply used Louise because I couldn’t help loving it because it was your name.}] [ Go to Good ]night—go to bed, my pet. With a warm kiss, eloquent of love & honor,
Yrs always-—
Sam.
Miss Olivia L. Langdon | Elmira | New York. [postmarked:] hartford conn. mar 12 [docketed by OLL: ] 53rd
Explanatory Notes | Textual Commentary
It is a very unvarnished narrative of the negro’s career,
from the flood to the present day, and bristles with satire. For
instance, the interpolating of the word white in State Constitutions
existing under a great general Constitution which declares all men
to be equal, is neatly touched by a recommendation that the
Scriptures be so altered, at the same time, as to make them
pleasantly conform to men’s notions—thus:
“Suffer little white children to come unto me, and forbid
them not!” The lecture is a fair and logical argument
against slavery, and is the pleasantest to listen to I have ever
heard upon that novel and interesting subject. It is necessarily
severe upon the Democracy, but not more so than one would expect
from Nasby. . . . Well, Nasby is a good fellow, and companionable,
and we sat up till daylight reading Bret Harte’s
Condensed Novels and talking over Western lecturing experiences. But
lecturing experiences, deliciously toothsome and interesting as they
are, must be recounted only in secret session, with closed doors.
Otherwise, what a telling magazine article one could make out of
them. (SLC 1869) Clemens never published an article about his lecture experiences. In
1898, however, he discussed them in an autobiographical sketch that
included an account of Nasby’s Hartford lecture. Recalling
Nasby’s “petrified” posture and
“roaring” and “ruthless”
technique, he concluded that the lecturer’s success,
“was due to his matter, not his manner; for his delivery was
destitute of art, unless a tremendous & inspiring earnestness
& energy may be called by that name” (SLC 1898, 3–5).
—Madame Rumor says that S. C. Clemens, a quondam California miner, who is
now quite extensively known as a humorous sketch writer and
lecturer, sporting the nom de plume of Mark Twain, has
won the heart and hand of one of Elmira’s fairest
daughters. (“Local Jottings,” 27 Mar 69,
8)
Source text(s):Previous publication:
L3, 158–161; LLMT, 358, brief paraphrase; MTMF, 85, brief excerpts.
Provenance:see Samossoud Collection, p. 586.
Emendations and textual notes:
storm,— • [possibly ‘storm,—’, deletion implied; dash extends above comma]
lecture • le[c]ture [torn]
storm— • [dash partly formed]
look • l look [corrected miswriting; ‘l’ partly formed]
concerning • [‘ni’ conflated]
yesterday • yester[da]y [torn]
im in • imn
MS. [¶] Do • MS.—| [¶] Do
(I ... name.} • [sic]
Go to Good • Go‸od‸ to
