September 27 Saturday – In York Harbor, Maine Sam wrote to Ida Langdon.
Livy & I wish to thank you ever so much for selecting the silver; it was dear & good of you, & lovely—all of which you always are.
It is an unspeakable disappointment & sorrow to us all that we cannot be there on the great day & wish joy to that dear couple & blow a hearty breath into their sails as they raise their anchor & begin their voyage—which, may all prosperity attend! [MTP]. Note: Eleanor Sayles would marry Jervis Langdon II on Oct. 2.
Sam and Livy wrote to Eleanor Sayles.
Dear Lee: / Now that you are about to enter upon a great & solemn responsibility, & one which is new to you, perhaps a word from one who is experienced may be of service to you.
To begin, then: the first requisite to happiness in the married state is obedience. Where obedience is wanting, failure is certain; where obedience is wanting, trouble is sure to follow; where obedience is wanting, it were better, a hundred times better, that the marriage had never been.
The best way, the wisest way, the only safe & right way, is to exact it at the very start—then it will soon come easy to him. But if you fool around—but don’t do that, don’t do it. Your aunt Livy did that, for a long time, hoping against hope, but at the end of the week she realized her mistake, & ever since then, happiness has reigned.
He will want to rebel; but if you start right he will not want to a second time. This is Experience which is speaking at you; this is not from an amateur, this is from one who knows.
Enter into our tribe & enrich it with the graces of your youth & of your heart; be you welcome, & let us love you! / Your uncle / Sam.
Livy was well enough to add a short note in pencil on the reverse:
Will you accept this gift—(which we hope you will constantly use) as a token of our welcome into our clan from Mr Clemens & me & from one who hopes soon to have the right to sign herself affectionately “Aunt Livy” [MTP].
In Kittery Point, Maine William Dean Howells wrote to Sam, commenting on “The Belated Russian Passport,” which ran in the Dec. 6 issue of Harper’s Weekly.
This is great, but the goat’s-tail ending was an awful thing for me: I did want it to go on, so. Isn’t there any more? Why not a succession of such identifications, closing with the major’s remembering the youth as a witness to something awfully shady in his own past? Anything to make the story longer!
I am going to N.Y. on Wednesday, and I am afraid I shan’t see you again for a week. I hope Mrs. Clemens is doing well [MTHL 2: 745-6].