June 22 Friday – Sam’s notebook: “H.L. Trower 9 Bryanston St . Kinsmen, 8 Willis’s Rooms King st St James’s Penley’s. Go to MacA 20 H at 12.45. / Then to GOERTZ” [NB 43 TS 18].

At 30 Wellington Court in London, Sam wrote to Joe Twichell.

I attended a Kinsmen dinner to-night, the first I have “been at” since we elected you & Toole at the Players some years ago. The full list of American & English members is on the back of this. I was the doyen to-night, Gilder next. E.A. Abbey could have claimed precedence of us, but he was not present. It is a more respectable gang of men that I had supposed it was. I don’t think there is a fault to be found with the English contingency.

It is now past midnight, but I am stealing a moment to write you this line before Livy bangs the gong. Jean is prospering very nicely indeed; so nicely that we have given up the voyage to Sweden & have taken a country house in London for 3 months. It is called London, but is really just on the outer edge. The house is on high ground in the midst of several acres of grass & forest trees, & is wholly shut out from the world & noise. It is called “Dollis Hill.” Mr. Gladstone spent a good deal of his time in that house, resting up & refreshing himself from his labors. Jean will drive in, daily, to the Kellgren shop—40 minutes [MTP].

Note: enclosed was a printed “Roll of the Kinsmen – March 1899,” which included all American and English members, and the year each was voted into membership. The oldest members (1882) were: Edwin A. Abbey, Brander Matthews, Laurence Hutton, William Laffan, and Lawrence Barrett. Samuel L. Clemens became a member in 1883. See entries in Vol. I & II. Fatout lists a meeting of the Kinsmen, where Mark Twain gave a speech or read a story [MT Speaking 667]. Fatout gives no particulars and none were found save this enclosed roll to Twichell.