Hartford, Feb. 22/83
My Dear Bro—
Your Dr. George is a fool; & your lecture would destroy you, & me too.
Try & guard yourself jealously against two things—lecturing & writing; for you cannot achieve even a respectable mediocrity in either.
You have lost me my day—& I could ill afford the waste. I have written you a dozen letters, & torn them up. Let this thing stop here; for if your time is not valuable, mine is; & I cannot waste it in combating your projects, which are always wild, & not worth combating. Submit no more projects to me, & no more MS. I have not an iota of faith in eaither. Depend upon your wife’s judgment—she has sense. You do not need to go elsewhere.
I do beg that you will sign the enclosed oath & abide by it—then we shall have peace. You are as good & kind as you can be, but you have no more this-worldly faculty than a babe.
Ys affly
Sam
[on back of letter as folded, in ink:]Refer to Jennie’s baby-letter.
[enclosure, in ink:]
I solemnly swear that during the remainder of the present year & all of the year 1884, I will make no proposition of any kind whatever ‸a business nature or literary nature‸ to my brother, in writing, by telegraph, or other vehicle; neither will I ask his advice concerning any business ‸or literary‸ project of mine; neither will I submit any piece of writing to him for judgment or criticism.‸ Neither will I lecture.‸
2. Also, will I cease from the stupid‸ity‸ & foolishness of taking his “silence” for his “assent.” ‸-(OVER)‸ [inserted on verso:] —(for it always means dissent.)
3. I will remind myself of the details of this oath on at least once every week.
Textual Commentary
Source text(s):Previous publication:
MicroML, reel 5.
Provenance:
see Mark Twain Papers in Description of Provenance.
Emendations and textual notes:
Keokuk, Feb. 
1883. •
Keokuk, Feb. 27 1883.
Signed— • Signed— Orion Clemens
