June 11 Thursday – In Hartford, Sam wrote to the editor of the Christian Union. Sam’s letter, a reaction to a Union article, “What Ought He to have Done,” ran in that publication on June 16 on pages 4-5, and is a great argument for the proper application of a whipping to a wayward child, given in the right spirit “with hearts wholly free from temper.” Significantly, Sam ended the letter about proper parenting by referring to Livy:
In all my life I have never made a single reference to my wife in print before, as far as I can remember, except once in the dedication of a book; &, so, after these fifteen years of silence, perhaps I may unseal my lips this one time without impropriety or indelicacy. I will institute one other novelty: I will send this manuscript to the press without her knowledge, & without asking her to edit it. This will save it from getting edited into the stove. Mark Twain [Note: see the full response in Neider’s Mark Twain: Life As I Find it, p. 209-211]. See also July 16.
He also wrote to Daniel Whitford for Alexander & Green, letter not extant; referred to in June 12 reply.
Livy and the girls decorated their schoolroom in anticipation of examination day [Salsbury 201].
East India House of Boston billed Livy $2.50 for “2 ½ yds Pink Arab Cotton”; paid June 18 [MTP].
Edward Abbott for The Literary World Magazine wrote to invite Sam to a welcome home reception for James Russell Lowell on June 27 in the magazine; they asked for Sam to join “with such words of greeting as you may feel moved to write” [MTP]. Note: Sam wrote on the env., “No”
Karl Gerhardt wrote “I hear the Century Club is gathering money for a statue to the poet Bryant do you know anything about it?” [MTP]. Note: Sam wrote on the env., “Don’t know nothing ‘bout it”
Daniel Whitford for Alexander & Green wrote, enclosing a note of introduction to Mr. Bates [MTP].