Autobiography of Mark Twain

by Mark Twain

  365.3 Bohn’s Suetonius] The Lives of The Twelve Caesars, by C. Suetonius Tranquillus, as translated by Alexander Thomson, was part of Bohn’s Classical Library. The 1876 edition that Clemens owned, annotated, and quotes three times in this dictation survives in the Mark Twain Papers. In one of his marginalia, Clemens remarked that it was “Translated into Cowboy English.” Paine noted in it, “This was a favorite book of Mark Twain’s—one of the very last that he tried to read.” And in his biography of Clemens, he reported that this volume was one of the works that Clemens had with him on his deathbed (Suetonius 1876; MTB, 3:1576–77).

  365.6 Caesar Augustus] Gaius Octavius (63 B.C.–14 A.D.), who as Augustus reigned as the first Roman emperor (27 B.C.–14 A.D.).

  365.37–366.1 King Henry is dead . . . to steal the throne from Henry’s daughter] Henry I (1068–1135) reigned from 1100 until his death. His nephew, Stephen of Blois (1097?–1154), then dispossessed Henry’s daughter, the widowed Empress Matilda of Germany (1102–67), and seized the English throne. Stephen had previously sworn allegiance to Matilda as Henry’s rightful successor. Their violent contention for power, with Matilda occupying the throne for six months in 1141, continued until 1153, when Stephen accepted Matilda’s son, later Henry II (reigned 1154–89), as his heir.

  366.2 Henry of Huntingdon . . . his Chronicle] Henry, archdeacon of Huntingdon (1084?–1155), wrote Historia Anglorum, a chronicle “Comprising the History of England, from the Invasion of Julius Caesar to the Accession of Henry II.” Clemens used the 1853 edition in Bohn’s Antiquarian Library; his annotated copy is now in the Huntington Library (CSmH; Gribben 1980, 1:308).

  366.3–5 wherefore the Lord . . . he died within a year] Henry of Huntingdon 1853, 262.

  366.8–9 The kingdom . . . in every quarter] Henry of Huntingdon 1853, 273.

  367.13–19 King David of Scotland . . . the despair of the living] Henry of Huntingdon 1853, 266–67.

  367.21–23 Then the chief . . . like a cobweb] Henry of Huntingdon 1853, 269.

  367.33–368.2 In the month of August . . . through all ages] Henry of Huntingdon 1853, 282–83. Both Marmion (d. 1143) and Geoffrey de Mandeville (d. 1144, mistakenly called Godfrey in the Chronicle) were excommunicated for desecrating church property.

  368.28–31 the just God . . . brought to his end; (p. 400)] This quotation is not from Henry’s text, but from an anonymous work, The Acts of Stephen, King of England and Duke of Normandy, which was included with the 1853 edition that Clemens read (Henry of Huntingdon 1853, 321–430).

  368.36 Robert F. . . . had committed unprintable crimes] Fitzhildebrand was “a soldier of experience, though of low extraction,” whose “military virtues were stained by lust and drunkenness.” In about 1141 the countess of Anjou sent him with a troop of soldiers to assist William de Pont de l’Arche in a struggle against the bishop of Winchester. Fitzhildebrand proceeded

  to debauch William’s wife; and, by a horrible and abominable plot concerted between them, William was bound in fetters and thrown into a dungeon. Having thus obtained possession of his castle, his treasures, and his wife, Robert spurned the alliance of the countess, to whom he owed his honourable mission, and entered into league with the king and bishop. (Henry of Huntingdon 1853, 399–400)

  369.6–10 . . . . about to come . . . all will come to pass] A quotation from a letter written by Pope Gregory I (540–604) to Ethelbert, the king of Kent (552?–616) (Henry of Huntingdon 1853, 74–75).

  369.11–12 sent before . . . the impending judgment] Henry of Huntingdon 1853, 75–76.

  369.21 GOD BEHIND THIS WAR] This article appeared in the New York Times on 12 June 1905. The conflict was the 1904–5 Russo-Japanese War, a major defeat for Russia (see AutoMT1, 647–48 nn. 462.33–36, 462.36–37).

  369.24–25 Rev. Dr. Newell Dwight Hillis] Hillis (1858–1929) was pastor of the Plymouth Congregational Church in Brooklyn from 1899 until 1924 and a prolific author of inspirational works.

  370.4 the hungry and oppressed Russian millions] Clemens comments more fully on the deplorable events in Russia in the Autobiographical Dictations of 22 June and 5 December 1906.

  370.8 Brooklyn praise is half slander] Proverbially, “self-praise is half slander” (Mieder, Kingsbury, and Harder 1992, 531).

  Autobiographical Dictation, 15 January 1907

  370 title Tuesday, January 15, 1907] This dictation follows a gap of five days. On at least two of these days, however, Clemens evidently did prepare dictations. In her journal on Thursday, 10 January, Isabel Lyon noted that he had dictated that morning on the subject of railroad accidents—a topic he had already touched on in his dictation of 6 January. And on Sunday, 13 January, she noted that he was planning to read “Friday’s dictation which Hobby should have sent yesterday & didn’t” (Lyon 1907). Nothing further is known of the 10 and 11 January dictations.

  371.17–18 process which will turn our republic into a monarchy] Clemens addresses the question of the “coming American monarchy” in his discussion of Elihu Root’s speech in the Autobiographical Dictation of 13 December 1906.

  371.42–372.15 we granted deserved pensions . . . Grand Army of the Republic] Initially, only Union army veterans who had suffered disabilities as a result of the Civil War were granted pensions. By the terms of the Disability Pension Act of 1890, however, any Union soldier who had served for ninety days and was incapacitated for any reason was entitled to a pension, regardless of income. Furthermore, any veteran’s widow, even if born and married after the war, was likewise eligible. The Grand Army of the Republic, a politically powerful fraternal organization of Union veterans, was formed in 1866, and at its peak in 1890 had more than 400,000 members. One of its chief purposes was to campaign for pension benefits, and the Republicans in Congress who passed the 1890 Disability Pension Act were assured of the G.A.R.’s votes. In addition, special pension bills were routinely passed by the “vote-hunters in Congress,” according to the Louisville Courier-Journal, which claimed in 1900 that the practice had become “the most gigantic machine for robbing the government that ever existed under a so-called free republic” (“The Pension Roll,” Washington Post, 14 Aug 1900, 4, reprinting the Louisville Courier-Journal; Glasson 1918, 219–21, 233–38; for additional remarks on generous pensions see the ADs of 28 Jan and 11 Feb 1907).

  372.29 the immortal Executive Order 78] This military pension order, issued by President Theodore Roosevelt, had gone into effect on 13 April 1904. It broadened the terms of the Disability Pension Act of 1890 (see the note at 371.42–372.15) by adding advanced age as a pensionable disability: any Union veteran who had served for ninety days and reached the age of sixty-two was entitled to $6 a month and increasing amounts thereafter. The cost of Executive Order 78 was estimated to be as high as $15 million annually; it was seen by Roosevelt’s critics as his “bid for the pension vote” in an election year, and as a typical instance of his “transcending the constitutional limits of Executive authority.” The order’s addition of advanced age as a disability was incorporated into law by congressional acts of 24 April 1906 and 4 March 1907 (“Mr. Roosevelt’s Pension Order,” New York Times, 18 Sept 1904, 6; Glasson 1918, 246–49; see also AD, 29 May 1907, where Clemens lists “illegal Order 78” in his roster of Roosevelt’s sins).

  372.35–36 communication in this morning’s Sun signed “A Union Veteran.”] This letter to the editor of the New York Sun was published on 15 January under the heading “Service Pensions.” Clemens redacts and quotes about half of it in this dictation.

  372.37 I see that the Senate has passed the service pension bill] “Union Veteran” responded to the New York Sun’s 12 January 1907 report of a bill passed the previous day. It awarded pensions ranging from $12 a month at age sixty-two to $15 at age seventy—amounts significantly higher than stipulated in Executive Order 78. Identical pensions were also authorized for veterans of the Mexican War. The unanimous vote came after some debate on whether the war between the states was a rebellion or a civil war. The latter was agr
eed upon (“Was Civil War a Rebellion?” New York Sun, 12 Jan 1907, 4; “No Rebellion in ’61, Declares the Senate,” New York Times, 12 Jan 1907, 2; Glasson 1918, 249–50).

  373.15 from Bunker] The Battle of Bunker Hill, on 17 June 1775.

  373.19–20 A few years after the war Congress gave to all veteran soldiers an additional bounty of $100] In the years following the Civil War bounties of various amounts were paid to Union army veterans, according to when they joined up and how long they served. Soldiers who had enlisted between 12 April 1861 (the start of the Civil War) and 24 December 1863, and served honorably for three years, received a bounty of $100. A congressional act passed on 28 July 1866 paid them an additional bounty of $100 (Lamphere 1881, 112).

  374.18–19 The veteran . . . pensions be now extended to the Confederate soldiers] “Union Veteran” wrote, “The war is over and the country reunited in bonds growing stronger and stronger and knitting us more closely daily. Why not finish the business at a stroke by having Union and Confederate veterans share alike in the benefits of the service pension?” (“Service Pensions,” New York Sun, 15 Jan 1907, 6). Confederate veterans were never eligible for pensions from the federal government, but they did receive some benefits from the Southern states.

  Autobiographical Dictation, 17 January 1907

  374.24–25 Helen Keller dined with us . . . Mrs. Macy became her first teacher] On 16 January Isabel Lyon noted in her journal:

  Helen Keller came tonight. At half past seven she arrived with Mrs Macy—& when the King who had been pacing up & down the room, went to the library door to meet her as she came in with short, hesitating steps, she threw her arms around him & buried her head in his neck, & felt of his hair[;] when Mrs Macy told her that he was still wearing his halo—the King wept. (Lyon 1907)

  Keller was twenty-six at the time of this visit. For further details of Clemens’s friendship with her and her teacher and companion, Annie Sullivan Macy (wife of writer John Macy), see AutoMT1, 465–66, 531 n. 209.42–210.1, 650 n. 465.9.

  375.1–2 equipped with a . . . complete university education] Keller was a 1904 honors graduate of Radcliffe College.

  375.23 Susan Coolidge] The pen name of Sarah Chauncey Woolsey (1835–1905), best known as a popular author of stories for young people, but also a much-published poet, magazine writer, and editor. Her poem “Helen Keller,” which Clemens goes on to quote, was included in her posthumously published Last Verses, a copy of which Clemens owned (Woolsey 1906, 3–4; Gribben 1980, 2:786).

  376.17–21 my secretary began to play on the orchestrelle . . . beat the time and follow the rhythm] In her journal on 17 January, Lyon described Keller’s demeanor, in particular her response to music:

  I didn’t expect to find her as she is. I believed she would be blasée & spoiled a little—because of her great fame; but she isn’t spoiled a bit. The signs of her great afflictions are always present, because she is so dependent upon others— She waits with a sweet, almost breathless attention, while Mrs Macy spells with inconceivable rapidity, the sentence or remark that has just been uttered, & when it is finished her face ripples with delight & she gives a sweet little shiver of pleasure, & in her expression you can see that she has understood perfectly. Helen & Mrs Macy are the guests of Mrs Laurence Hutton, & while we were waiting for Mr Macy who is staying some other place, to appear, it was suggested that I play something on the orchestrelle to see if Helen could detect the musical vibrations— I took The Erlkönig, & at the first deep trembling of the bass, she turned instantly to Mrs Macy & said “Music.” She was fully conscious of its shadings—for she said that it reminded her of the rising & falling of winds or waves. She wore a white gown trimmed with a great deal of soft lace, & a string—a long double string of coral beads. Her face, particularly the left side of it, is very noble. . . . I had been struck with the nobility, & the womanliness, & the great play of intellect & affection & emotion & seriousness that make it what it is. The King says of her that “she is a mine.[”] (Lyon 1907)

  Franz Schubert composed his “Der Erlkönig,” for solo voice and piano, in 1815, setting a poem of that title by Goethe. Clemens’s Aeolian Orchestrelle was an imposing and ornate foot-pumped roll-operated reed organ, standing approximately eight feet tall, which he had purchased for $2,600 in 1904, along with sixty rolls of music. Playing it was one of Lyon’s tasks (for a full, illustrated discussion of the orchestrelle, see Richards 1983, 42–46; for Mrs. Hutton see the ADs of 20 Nov 1906, note at 279.39–280.1, and 21 Dec 1906, note at 330.29–32).

  Autobiographical Dictation, 22 January 1907

  376.27 In an earlier chapter I inserted some verses beginning “Love Came at Dawn”] In the Autobiographical Dictation of 2 February 1906 (see AutoMT1, 325, 579 n. 325.15–25).

  376.31–33 Stedman was not able to determine the authorship . . . William Wilfred Campbell] In a letter of 17 January 1907 Frank Nicholls Kennin identified Campbell as the author of the poem, entitled “Love” (CU-MARK). Kennin had seen Clemens’s mistaken attribution to Susy Clemens in an excerpt from the 2 February 1906 Autobiographical Dictation published in the North American Review on 5 October 1906 (NAR 3). Isabel Lyon noted in her journal that Clemens was glad to have the correction, for

  he would not want Susy to be claiming from the Grave, a thing that was not hers. He went on to say that the particular reason for his dislike of Stedman is due to the fact that the King wrote him just after we came home from Italy, asking if he could tell him who wrote the verses, & Stedman wrote him such an indifferent letter, one claiming all honor for Stedman the Anthologist, & evincing no interest for anyone[’]s but Stedman’s poems. (Lyon 1907, entry for 20 Jan)

  For Stedman see the Autobiographical Dictation of 2 June 1906, note at 78.19–28. His “indifferent letter,” evidently written in July or August 1904, is not known to survive.

  376.33–34 his book called “Beyond the Hills of Dream”.] Campbell’s book was published in 1899, three years after Susy’s death. “Love” had also appeared in the Century Magazine for October 1891, where Susy presumably saw it. On the 17 January letter from Kennin, which provided the title of Campbell’s book, Lyon noted Clemens’s instruction to “send & get the book” (CU-MARK). It is not known if she succeeded.

  377.1–2 author’s name,* and it has been added to the verses upon the gravestone] The inscription on Susy Clemens’s headstone, in Woodlawn Cemetery in Elmira, New York, now reads:

  “Warm summer sun Shine kindly here, Warm southern wind Blow softly here, Green sod above Lie light, lie light— Good night, dear heart, Good night, good night.” Robert Richardson

  The lines are the Clemenses’ adaptation of the last stanza of “Annette,” by Robert Richardson (1850–1901), from his 1893 collection, Willow and Wattle (Jerome and Wisbey 1977, 165; Robert Richardson 1893, 33–35; see also Gribben 1980, 2:577–78).

  377.3 Last night, at a dinner party . . . Mr. Peter Dunne Dooley] Finley Peter Dunne (1867–1936) was the author of several popular collections of social and political commentary spoken in the voice of Martin Dooley, an Irish bartender. He and Clemens had met in London in 1899. The 21 January dinner party was at the home of publisher Robert J. Collier (1876–1918). In her journal Lyon noted that Clemens “came home at 10.30 with freesia in his button hole, & smoking a long thick cigar. He dropped into his big brown chair & told how Mr Dooley was there, [&] what a pleasant time it was” (Lyon 1907; Ellis 1941, 126–27).

  377.7–9 Dooley . . . stands at the head of all the satirists of this generation] The admiration Clemens felt for Dunne was more than reciprocated during their decade-long friendship. And in 1935, upon the centenary of Clemens’s birth, Dunne wrote that “if any centennial anniversary should be celebrated it is that of our unequaled humorist. Emerson and Clemens our greatest writers; Emerson and Clemens, Hawthorne, Poe, Whitman, Abraham Lincoln. No ‘centenary’ can be too vivacious, no monument too high for him and his fame” (Dunne 1963, 240).

  377.24–25 My game was caroms] Carom billiards i
s played on a pocketless table with two white cue balls and one red object ball. To score a point, a player must make a shot in which the cue ball caroms (hits and rebounds off of) each of the other two balls. If his shot fails to hit either one, he loses his turn, or “run.”

  377.33 Mr. Dillon called on my brother-in-law, on a matter of business] Olivia Clemens’s younger brother, Charles J. Langdon, had succeeded their father, Jervis, as head of the family coal business after the latter’s death in 1870 (see AutoMT1, 578 n. 321.25–27). Dillon has not been identified. For the North American Review version of this dictation, published on 5 April 1907 (NAR 15), Clemens changed “Dillon” to the fictional name “Dalton.”

  377.35–36 I had played with him many times at the club] Probably the Elmira City Club.

  378.14–15 Mr. George Robinson] George M. Robinson, an Elmira furniture manufacturer and dealer, was a longtime friend and billiards partner of Clemens’s (Boyd and Boyd 1872, 183–84; Towner 1892, 185–86; N&J2, 430; N&J3, 578). Clemens altered his name to “Robertson” for publication in the North American Review installment of 5 April 1907.

  380.2–3 Twichell and I walked to Boston and he had the celebrated conversation with the hostler] The incident occurred on the evening of 12 November 1874, after the first day of the comically abortive “pedestrian excursion” that Clemens and Twichell made from Hartford to Boston. In 1882 Clemens included a nineteen-page account of the ostler’s “crimson lava-jets of desolating & utterly unconscious profanity” in the manuscript of chapter 34 of Life on the Mississippi, but cut it before the book was published. That account did not see print until 1940, when Bernard DeVoto published it in Mark Twain in Eruption, in the mistaken belief that it was an early autobiographical sketch. In 1907, therefore, the conversation was “celebrated” only among friends, who doubtless had heard Clemens recount it (12 Nov 1874 to OLC [1st and 2nd], L6, 277–79; AutoMT1, 8 n. 21; SLC 1882c, 431, 437; MTE, 366–72).