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Add to My CitationsTo Charles F. Cady
5 October 1868 • Hartford, Conn.
(New Haven [Conn.] Columbian Register, 24 Oct 1868, Harrisburg [Pa.] Patriot, 30 Oct 1868, and one other: UCCL 13338)
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[148 Asylum street,
em spaceem spaceem spaceem spaceem spaceem spaceem spaceem spaceem spaceem spaceem spaceem spaceem spaceem spaceem spaceem spaceem spaceem spaceem spaceem spaceHartford, Oct. 5.]

[Dear Judge:]1 I am just starting away on a trip up [in] the mountains, [&] I snatch a moment to apologize to you [&] Hodnett for my lapse of duty. You see I [couldn’t] do it. I have been on the wing ever since I left you—[&] am at it yet. Tell H. I am on the [war path]. I am going after the person who [sent] this diabolical “Question [in] Moral Science,” as he calls it, to be elucidated by me. Moral science is my best hold, generally, but [this] interrogatory is too many for me. I have not solved [it yet], quite, but [I suppose] I [could] have done it if I had remained in my right mind. [You] try it awhile. [You] are healthy.

“QUESTION IN MORAL SCIENCE.”

“If a man were to [signify,] however, which he was not if he had the power, which being denied him he will endeavor anyhow, merely [because] he don’t, would [you]?”

It mixes me, beyond expression. Because sometimes I think he [is], [&] sometimes I think he [would], [&] then again I think he [don’t]. Other times I think he [dasn’t]. Just occasionally I think he [did]; but then I am not certain. Indeed, I am not certain on any count in this indictment—if it [be] an indictment; [&] since it isn’t like anything else I can think of, it [must] be an indictment. Bring the powers of the legal mind to bear upon it.

You treated me so hospitably when I was in St. Louis, [&] did it, with such a grace [&] such a hearty spirit, withal, that it gives me genuine pleasure to be able to make this well meant return for it, in the way of affording you a little intellectual that will stay with you—that may be regarded as permanent—that will last as long as you do, Judge.

Your fellow-sufferer,

[Mark Twain.]

Explanatory Notes | Textual Commentary

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1Charles F. Cady (1830–91), born in Brooklyn, New York, had a varied early career as drug clerk, midshipman in the Navy, soldier in the Mexican War, and printer in New Orleans. In 1850 he came to St. Louis, where he worked as a compositor before turning to the law. He was elected justice of the peace in 1854, police justice in 1855, and admitted to the bar in 1859. Clemens had spent time with him during his St. Louis visit in September (“Judge Cady Dead,” Langston City [Oklahoma Terr.] Herald, 26 December 1891, 2).



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None. The letter was printed in three newspapers, each of which must have derived from a common source:
P1“A Question in Moral Science” New Haven (Conn.) Columbian Register, 24 October 1868, 2
P2“A Question in Moral Science” Harrisburg (Pa.) Patriot, 30 October 1868, 1
P3“A Letter from Mark Twain,” Little Rock (Ark.) Morning Republican, 7 November 1868, 2

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148 Asylum street, | Hartford, Oct. 5. (MTP) • No. 148 Asylum Street, | Hartford, Oct. 5. (P1); No. 148, Asylum Street, | Hartford, Oct. 5. (P2); No. 146 Asylum Street, Hartford. | October 5, 1868.[emended to correct the address and conform to Clemens’s usual style; see, for instance, 5 October 1868 to Fairbanks] (P3)

Dear Judge: (MTP) • Dear Judge— (P1); Dear Judge: (P2); Dear Judge— (P3)

in (P1, P2) • [not in] (P3)

& (MTP) • and (P1, P2, P3)

& (MTP) • and (P1, P2, P3)

couldn’t (P1, P2) • couldn't (P3)

& (MTP) • and (P1, P2, P3)

war path (P1, P2) • ~-~ (P3)

sent (P1, P2) • sent me (P3)

in (P1, P3) • of (P2)

this (P1, P2) • the (P3)

it yet (P1, P2) • it (P3)

I suppose (P1, P3) • [not in] (P2)

could (P1) • could (P2, P3)

You (P1) • You (P2, P3)

You (P1) • You (P2, P3)

signify, (P1, P2) • signify (P3)

because (P1, P2) • because (P3)

you (P1, P2) • you (P3)

is (P1, P2) • is (P3)

& (MTP) • and (P1, P2, P3)

would (P1, P2) • would (P3)

& (MTP) • and (P1, P2, P3)

don't (P1, P2) • don't (P3)

dasn't (P2) • dassn't (P1); hasn't (P3)

did (P1, P2) • did (P3)

be (P1, P2) • be (P3)

& (MTP) • and (P1, P2, P3)

must (P1, P2) • must (P3)

& (MTP) • and (P1, P2, P3)

& (MTP) • and (P2, P3)

Mark Twain. (MTP) • Mark Twain. (P1, P2, P3)