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At last – at last and for the first time in copyright history we are ahead of England! Ahead of her in two ways: by length of time and by fairness to all interests concerned. Does this sound like shouting? Then I must modify it: all we possessed of copyright-justice before the fourth of last March we owed to England’s initiative.
Truly Yours,
S. L. Clemens.
Because Mark Twain amused himself with certain aspects of Christian Science, and was critical of Mrs. Eddy, there grew up a wide impression that he jeered at the theory of mental healing; when, as a matter of fact, he was one of its earliest converts, and never lost faith in its power. The letter which follows is an excellent exposition of his attitude toward the institution of Christian Science and the founder of the church in America.
*****
To J. Wylie Smith, Glasgow, Scotland:
“Stormfield,” August 7, 1909
Dear sir, – My view of the matter has not changed. To wit, that Christian Science is valuable; that it has just the same value now that it had when Mrs. Eddy stole it from Quimby; that its healing principle (its most valuable asset) possesses the same force now that it possessed a million years ago before Quimby was born; that Mrs. Eddy… organized that force, and is entitled to high credit for that. Then, with a splendid sagacity she hitched it to… a religion, the surest of all ways to secure friends for it, and support. In a fine and lofty way – figuratively speaking – it was a tramp stealing a ride on the lightning express. Ah, how did that ignorant village-born peasant woman know the human being so well? She has no more intellect than a tadpole – until it comes to business then she is a marvel! Am I sorry I wrote the book? Most certainly not. You say you have 500 (converts) in Glasgow. Fifty years from now, your posterity will not count them by the hundred, but by the thousand. I feel absolutely sure of this.
Very truly yours,
S. L. Clemens.
Clemens wrote very little for publication that year, but he enjoyed writing for his own amusement, setting down the things that boiled, or bubbled, within him: mainly chapters on the inconsistencies of human deportment, human superstition and human creeds. The “Letters from the Earth” referred to in the following, were supposed to have been written by an immortal visitant from some far realm to a friend, describing the absurdities of mankind. It is true, as he said, that they would not do for publication, though certainly the manuscript contains some of his most delicious writing. Miss Wallace, to whom the next letter is written, had known Mark Twain in Bermuda, and, after his death, published a dainty volume entitled Mark Twain in the Happy Island.
“Stormfield,” Redding, Connecticut,
Nov. 13, ’09.
Dear Betsy, – I’ve been writing “Letters from the Earth,” and if you will come here and see us I will – what? Put the Ms in your hands, with the places to skip Mark.d? No. I won’t trust you quite that far. I’ll read messages to you. This book will never be published – in fact it couldn’t be, because it would be felony to soil the mails with it, for it has much Holy Scripture in it of the kind that… can’t properly be read aloud, except from the pulpit and in family worship. Paine enjoys it, but Paine is going to be damned one of these days, I suppose.
The autumn splendors passed you by? What a pity. I wish you had been here. It was beyond words! It was heaven and hell and sunset and rainbows and the aurora all fused into one divine harmony, and you couldn’t look at it and keep the tears back. All the hosannahing strong gorgeousnesses have gone back to heaven and hell and the pole, now, but no matter; if you could look out of my bedroom window at this moment, you would choke up; and when you got your voice you would say: This is not real, this is a dream. Such a singing together, and such a whispering together, and such a snuggling together of cosy soft colors, and such kissing and caressing, and such pretty blushing when the sun breaks out and catches those dainty weeds at it – you remember that weed-garden of mine? – and then – then the far hills sleeping in a dim blue trance – oh, hearing about it is nothing, you should be here to see it.
Good! I wish I could go on the platform and read. And I could, if it could be kept out of the papers. There’s a charity-school of 400 young girls in Boston that I would give my ears to talk to, if I had some more; but – oh, well, I can’t go, and it’s no use to grieve about it.
This morning Jean went to town; also Paine; also the butler; also Katy; also the laundress. The cook and the maid, and the boy and the roustabout and Jean’s coachman are left – just enough to make it lonesome, because they are around yet never visible. However, the Harpers are sending Leigh up to play billiards; therefore I shall survive.
Affectionately,
S. L. Clemens.
Early in June that year, Clemens had developed unmistakable symptoms of heart trouble of a very serious nature. It was angina pectoris, and while to all appearances he was as well as ever and usually felt so, he was periodically visited by severe attacks of acute “breast pains” which, as the months passed, increased in frequency and severity. He was alarmed and distressed – not on his own account, but because of his daughter Jean – a handsome girl, who had long been subject to epileptic seizures. In case of his death he feared that Jean would be without permanent anchorage, his other daughter, Clara – following her marriage to Ossip Gabrilowitsch in October – having taken up residence abroad.
This anxiety was soon ended. On the morning of December 24th, Jean Clemens was found dead in her apartment. She was not drowned in her bath, as was reported, but died from heart exhaustion, the result of her malady and the shock of cold water.[51]
The blow to her father was terrible, but heavy as it was, one may perhaps understand that her passing in that swift, painless way must have afforded him a measure of relief.
*****
To Mrs. Gabrilowitsch, in Europe:
Redding, Conn.,
Dec. 29, ’09.
O, Clara, Clara dear, I am so glad she is out of it and safe – safe! I am not melancholy; I shall never be melancholy again, I think. You see, I was in such distress when I came to realize that you were gone far away and no one stood between her and danger but me – and I could die at any moment, and then – oh then what would become of her! For she was wilful, you know, and would not have been governable.
You can’t imagine what a darling she was, that last two or three days; and how fine, and good, and sweet, and noble-and joyful, thank Heaven! – and how intellectually brilliant. I had never been acquainted with Jean before. I recognized that.
But I mustn’t try to write about her – I can’t. I have already poured my heart out with the pen, recording that last day or two.
I will send you that – and you must let no one but Ossip read it.
Good-bye.
I love you so!
And Ossip.
Father.
The writing mentioned in the last paragraph was his article ’The Death of Jean,’ his last serious writing, and one of the world’s most beautiful examples of elegiac prose[52] and later in the volume, ‘What Is Man and Other Essays.’
XLVIII. Letters of 1910. Last Trip To Bermuda. Letters To Paine. The Last Letter
Mark Twain had returned from a month’s trip to Bermuda a few days before Jean died. Now, by his physician’s advice, he went back to those balmy islands. He had always loved them, since his first trip there with Twichell thirty-three years earlier, and at “Bay House,” the residence of Vice-Consul Allen, where he was always a welcome guest, he could have the attentions and care and comforts of a home. Taking Claude, the butler, as his valet, he sailed January 5th, and presently sent back a letter in which he said, “Again I am leading the ideal life, and am immeasurably content.”
By his wish, the present writer and his family were keeping the Stormfield house open for him, in order that he might be able to return to its comforts at any time. He sent frequent letters – one or two by each steamer – but as a rule they did not concern matters of general interest. A little after his arrival, however, he wrote concerning an incident of his former visit – a trivial matter – but one which had annoyed him. I had been with him in Bermuda on the earlier visit, and as I remember it, there had been some slight oversight on his part in the matter of official etiquette – something which doubtless no one had noticed but himself.
*****
To A. B. Paine, in Redding:
Bay house, Jan. 11, 1910.
Dear Paine, – … There was a military lecture last night at the Officer’s Mess, prospect, and as the lecturer honored me with a special and urgent invitation and said he wanted to lecture to me particularly, I being “the greatest living master of the platform-art,” I naturally packed Helen and her mother into the provided carriage and went.
As soon as we landed at the door with the crowd the Governor came to me at once and was very cordial, and apparently as glad to see me as he said he was. So that incident is closed. And pleasantly and entirely satisfactorily. Everything is all right, now, and I am no longer in a clumsy and awkward situation.
I “met up” with that charming Colonel Chapman, and other officers of the regiment, and had a good time.
Commandant Peters of the “Carnegie” will dine here tonight and arrange a private visit for us to his ship, the crowd to be denied access.
Sincerely Yours,
S. L. C.
“Helen” of this letter was Mr. and Mrs. Allen’s young daughter, a favorite companion of his walks and drives. “Loomis” and “Lark,” mentioned in the letters which follow, were Edward E. Loomis – his nephew by marriage – named by Mark Twain as one of the trustees of his estate, and Charles T. Lark, Mark Twain’s attorney.
*****
To A. B. Paine, in Redding:
Hamilton, Jan. 21, ’10.
Dear Paine, – Thanks for your letter, and for its contenting news of the situation in that foreign and far-off and vaguely-remembered country where you and Loomis and Lark and other beloved friends are.
I have a letter from Clara this morning. She is solicitous, and wants me well and watchfully taken care of. My, she ought to see Helen and her parents and Claude administer that trust!
Also she says: “I hope to hear from you or Mr. Paine very soon.”
I am writing her, and I know you will respond to your part of her prayer. She is pretty desolate now, after Jean’s emancipation – the only kindness God ever did that poor unoffending child in all her hard life.
Ys ever,
S. L. C.
Send Clara a copy of Howells’s gorgeous letter. I want a copy of my article that he is speaking of.
The “gorgeous letter” was concerning Mark Twain’s article, “The Turning-point in My Life” which had just appeared in one of the Harper publications. Howells wrote of it, “While your wonderful words are warm in my mind yet, I want to tell you what you know already: that you never wrote anything greater, finer, than that turning-point paper of yours.”
From the early Bermuda letters we may gather that Mark Twain’s days were enjoyable enough, and that his malady was not giving him serious trouble, thus far. Near the end of January he wrote: “Life continues here the same as usual. There isn’t a flaw in it. Good times, good home, tranquil contentment all day and every day, without a break. I shouldn’t know how to go about bettering my situation.” He did little in the way of literary work, probably finding neither time nor inclination for it. When he wrote at all it was merely to set down some fanciful drolleries with no thought of publication.
*****
To Prof. William Lyon Phelps, Yale College:
Hamilton, March 12.
Dear professor Phelps, – I thank you ever so much for the book[53] which I find charming – so charming indeed, that I read it through in a single night, and did not regret the lost night’s sleep. I am glad if I deserve what you have said about me: and even if I don’t I am proud and well contented, since you think I deserve it.
Yes, I saw Prof. Lounsbury, and had a most pleasant time with him. He ought to have staid longer in this little paradise – partly for his own sake, but mainly for mine.
I knew my poor Jean had written you. I shall not have so dear and sweet a secretary again.
Good health to you, and all good fortune attend you.
Sincerely yours,
S. L. Clemens.
He would appear to have written not many letters besides those to Mrs. Gabrilowitsch and to Stormfield, but when a little girl sent him a report of a dream, inspired by reading The Prince and the Pauper, he took the time and trouble to acknowledge it, realizing, no doubt, that a line from him would give the child happiness.
*****
To Miss Sulamith, in New York:
“Bay house,” Bermuda, March 21, 1910.
Dear miss sulamith, – I think it is a remarkable dream for a girl of 13 to have dreamed, in fact for a person of any age to have dreamed, because it moves by regular grade and sequence from the beginning to the end, which is not the habit of dreams. I think your report of it is a good piece of work, a clear and effective statement of the vision.
I am glad to know you like the “Prince and the Pauper” so well and I believe with you that the dream is good evidence of that liking. I think I may say, with your sister that I like myself best when I am serious.
Sincerely yours,
S. L. Clemens.
Through February, and most of March, letters and reports from him were about the same. He had begun to plan for his return, and concerning amusements at Stormfield for the entertainment of the neighbors, and for the benefit of the library which he had founded soon after his arrival in Redding. In these letters he seldom mentioned the angina pains that had tortured him earlier. But once, when he sent a small photograph of himself, it seemed to us that his face had become thin and that he had suffered. Certainly his next letter was not reassuring.
*****
To A. B. Paine, in Redding:
Dear Paine, – We must look into the magic-lantern business. Maybe the modern lantern is too elaborate and troublesome for back-settlement use, but we can inquire. We must have some kind of a show at “Stormfield” to entertain the countryside with.
We are booked to sail in the “Bermudian” April 23rd, but don’t tell anybody, I don’t want it known. I may have to go sooner if the pain in my breast doesn’t mend its ways pretty considerably. I don’t want to die here for this is an unkind place for a person in that condition. I should have to lie in the undertaker’s cellar until the ship would remove me and it is dark down there and unpleasant.
The Colliers will meet me on the pier and I may stay with them a week or two before going home. It all depends on the breast pain – I don’t want to die there. I am growing more and more particular about the place.
With love,
S. L. C.
This letter had been written by the hand of his “secretary,” Helen Allen: writing had become an effort to him. Yet we did not suspect how rapidly the end was approaching and only grew vaguely alarmed. A week later, however, it became evident that his condition was critical.
Dear Paine,—…. I have been having a most uncomfortable time for the past 4 days with that breast-pain, which turns out to be an affection of the heart, just as I originally suspected. The news from New York is to the effect that non-bronchial weather has arrived there at last, therefore if I can get my breast trouble in traveling condition I may sail for home a week or two earlier than has heretofore been proposed:
Yours as ever,
S. L. Clemens,
(per H. S. A.)
In this letter he seems to have forgotten that his trouble had been pronounced an affection of the heart long before he left America, though at first it had been thought that it might be gastritis. The same mail brought a letter from Mr. Allen explaining fully the seriousness of his condition. I sailed immediately for Bermuda, arriving there on the 4th of April. He was not suffering at the moment, though the pains came now with alarming frequency and violence. He was cheerful and brave. He did not complain. He gave no suggestion of a man whose days were nearly ended.
A part of the Stormfield estate had been a farm, which he had given to Jean Clemens, where she had busied herself raising some live stock and poultry. After her death he had wished the place to be sold and the returns devoted to some memorial purpose. The sale had been made during the winter and the price received had been paid in cash. I found him full of interest in all affairs, and anxious to discuss the memorial plan. A day or two later he dictated the following letter-the last he would ever send.
It seemed fitting that this final word from one who had so long given happiness to the whole world should record a special gift to his neighbors.
*****
To Charles T. Lark, in New York:
Hamilton, Bermuda.
April 6, 1910.
Dear Mr. Lark, – I have told Paine that I want the money derived from the sale of the farm, which I had given, but not conveyed, to my daughter Jean, to be used to erect a building for the Mark Twain Library of Redding, the building to be called the Jean L. Clemens Memorial Building.
I wish to place the money $6,000.00 in the hands of three trustees, – Paine and two others: H. A. Lounsbury and William E. Hazen, all of Redding, these trustees to form a building Committee to decide on the size and plan of the building needed and to arrange for and supervise the work in such a manner that the fund shall amply provide for the building complete, with necessary furnishings, leaving, if possible, a balance remaining, sufficient for such repairs and additional furnishings as may be required for two years from the time of completion.
Will you please draw a document covering these requirements and have it ready by the time I reach New York (April 14th).
Very sincerely,
S. L. Clemens.
We sailed on the 12th of April, reaching New York on the 14th, as he had planned. A day or two later, Mr. and Mrs. Gabrilowitsch, summoned from Italy by cable, arrived. He suffered very little after reaching Stormfield, and his mind was comparatively clear up to the last day. On the afternoon of April 21st he sank into a state of coma, and just at sunset he died. Three days later, at Elmira, New York, he was laid beside Mrs. Clemens and those others who had preceded him.
The last day at Stormfield by Bliss Carman.At Redding, Connecticut,The April sunrise poursOver the hardwood ridgesSoftening and greening nowIn the first magic of Spring.The wild cherry-trees are in bloom,The bloodroot is white underfoot,The serene early light flows on,Touching with glory the world,And flooding the large upper roomWhere a sick man sleeps.Slowly he opens his eyes,After long weariness, smiles,And stretches arms overhead,While those about him take heart.With his awakening strength,(Morning and spring in the air,The strong clean scents of earth,The call of the golden shaft,Ringing across the hills)He takes up his heartening book,Opens the volume and reads,A page of old rugged Carlyle,The dour philosopherWho looked askance upon life,Lurid, ironical, grim,Yet sound at the core.But weariness returns;He lays the book asideWith his glasses upon the bed,And gladly sleeps. Sleep,Blessed abundant sleep,Is all that he needs.And when the close of dayReddens upon the hillsAnd washes the room with rose,In the twilight hushThe Summoner comes to himEver so gently, unseen,Touches him on the shoulder;And with the departing sunOur great funning friend is gone.How he has made us laugh!A whole generation of menSmiled in the joy of his wit.But who knows whether he was notLike those deep jesters of oldWho dwelt at the courts of Kings,Arthur’s, Pendragon’s, Lear’s,Plying the wise fool’s trade,Making men merry at will,Hiding their deeper thoughtsUnder a motley array, —Keen-eyed, serious men,Watching the sorry world,The gaudy pageant of life,With pity and wisdom and love?Fearless, extravagant, wild,His caustic merciless mirthWas leveled at pompous shams.Doubt not behind that maskThere dwelt the soul of a man,Resolute, sorrowing, sage,As sure a champion of goodAs ever rode forth to fray.Haply – who knows? – somewhereIn Avalon, Isle of Dreams,In vast contentment at last,With every grief done away,While Chaucer and Shakespeare wait,And Moliere hangs on his words,And Cervantes not far offListens and smiles apart,With that incomparable drawlHe is jesting with Dagonet now.Примечания
1
This in 1917. D.W.
2
"Agate,” “minion,” etc., sizes of type; “take,” a piece of work. Type measurement is by ems, meaning the width of the letter ’m’.
3
Mark Twain: A Biography, by same author.
4
Henry had returned once to the Pennsylvania to render assistance to the passengers. Later he had somehow made his way to the flatboat.
5
Probably 1859.
6
It is set down historically in Mark Twain ‘A Biography.’ Harper & brothers.
7
One contribution was sent to a Keokuk paper, The Gate City, and a letter written by Mrs. Jane Clemens at the time would indicate that Mark Twain’s mother did not always approve of her son’s literary efforts. She hopes that he will do better, and some time write something “that his kin will be proud of."
8
See Mark Twain: A Biography, by the same author; Chapter XL.
9
Written across the face of the last page.
10
The “Bill” Stewart mentioned in the preceding chapter.
11
See Mark Twain: A Biography, chap XLVI, and Appendix H.
12
Mark Twain: A Biography, chap. LXXIVL.
13
Redpath’s partner in the lecture lyceum.
14
Mrs. Fairbanks, of the Quaker City excursion.
15
Later Mrs. John B. Stanchfield, of New York.
16
The Gilded Age, published during his absence, December, 1873.
17
Felix Octavius Carr barley, 1822–1888, illustrator of the works of Irving, Cooper, etc. Probably the most distinguished American illustrator of his time.
18
As a West Point cadet.
19
This spelling of the name was adopted somewhat later and much preferred. It appears as “Susie” in most of the earlier letters.
20
One of the Bermuda chapters.
21
He used this plan at a gathering of the American students in Heidelberg, on July 4th, with great effect; so his idea was not wasted.
22
Little Susy’s word for “babies."
23
Son of Doctor Brown.
24
Family word for babies.
25
A Tramp Abroad.
26
The above paragraph is written in the form of a rebus illustrated with various sketches.
27
’The New Guide of the Conversation in Portuguese and English, by Pedro Caxolino, with an introduction by Mark Twain. Osgood, Boston, 1883.
28
See Mark Twain: A Biography, chap. CLIV.
29
If you could see Franklin and talk with him – then he would unbosom.
30
In Mark Twain: A on***n, chaps. CLIII and CLX.
31
When Mark Twain: A Biography was written this letter had not come to light, and the matter was stated there in accordance with Mark Twain’s latest memory of it.
32
Twain wrote another note to Hartford Gas and Electric, which he may not have mailed and which Paine does not include in these volumes.