February 19 Wednesday – In the evening Sam attended the Pilgrim’s Club Dinner at Delmonico’s in honor of Ambassador to England, Whitelaw Reid. The New York Times, Feb. 20, p. 3 reported:
AMBASSADOR REID THE PILGRIM’S GUEST
Tells Them Talk of War with Japan is Silly and That England Wouldn’t Aid Her.
——— ——— ———
CHEER KING AND PRESIDENT
Ex-ambassador Choate Presides In President Duncan’s Absence—Mark Twain Speaks.
The Pilgrims of the United States obtained much information last night. They learned from Mark Twain that it was taking from the coins the motto, “In God We Trust” that caused the recent financial panic; they learned from Joseph H. Choate what a poor embassy this country has in London, and they learned from Whitelaw Reid, the present Ambassador to England and the guest of honor, how very remote the possibility of war with Japan is, and how still more remote is the possibility of England’s supporting Japan in such a contingency.
In every respect the dinner was a typical Pilgrim dinner; a “hands-across-the-sea affair,” with a joint toast to the President and the King, and more people singing “God Save the King” than “The Star Spangled Banner,” because the words are easier to remember. The dinner was held in Delmonico’s big dining hall, and the decorations consisted of English and American flags interwined about the walls. The musical selections were not only Anglo-American, but also very reminiscent, the diners joining, at one point, in singing the chorus of “Annie Rooney.” President Duncan Ill
Unfortunately the President of the Pilgrims’ Society, William Butler Duncan, was unable to be present owing to illness. Instead Mr. Choate was toastmaster, and sat next to the guest of honor, Mr. Reid. Others at the guest table were J. P. Morgan, Levi P. Morton, Gen. Theodore Bingham, Ogden Mills, Col. Hugh L. Scott, Lieut. Col. B. R. James, Alton B. Parker, Rear Admiral Caspar Goodrich, Seth Low, Samuel L. Clemens, Bishop Potter, Esme Howard of the British Embassy at Washington, the Right Rev. William Lawrence, Andrew Carnegie, Major Gen. Frederick Grant, Courtenay Walter Bennet, British Consul at New York; J. Edward Simmons; St. Clair McKelway, and Sir Caspar Purdon Clarke. There were altogether about 300 guests.
Isabel Lyon’s journal: English. Tonight Mr. & Mrs. Robert Collier dined here. Just the 2 for Robert read aloud a play he has written. It is very good & brilliant in parts. The King got close to him to catch Mr. Collier’s modest reading of it. He really is a little deaf.
Mr. Shaugnessy has given me a wonderful old cashmere sofa cushion. It is rare, & a study in design and coloring. I took it to bed with me tonight, to get acquainted with its wonders [MTP: IVL TS 25].
John W. Crawford (“Capt. Jack”) wrote from Chicago to Sam. “I don’t know how to thank you for your autograph letter.” Crawford planned on notifying Bob Davis of Munsey’s the next time he came to NY so that “a few congenials” might be gathered for Crawford to don his buckskins and entertain [MTP]. Note: Lyon wrote on the letter, “Thank him for letter & clipping & say that Mr. Clemens sales again for Bermuda”
William Augustus Croffut wrote from Washington, D.C. that no of course he wouldn’t publish anything. He praised Sam and thought he should be an ambassador. When he talked with ex- Gov. Morgan Gardner Bulkeley the day before the Governor “laughed and answered that he didn’t believe you would accept any diplomatic mission. I said probably you wouldn’t, but Conn might do herself the honor of offering you your pick.” Croffut ended by saying he’d been “very lucky in my investments since” he’d seen Twain [MTP].
Samuel Major Gardenhire for Gardenhire & Jetmore wrote to invite Sam, his daughter, and Mr. Paine to a dinner with Governor Joseph W. Folk of Mo. on Feb. 26; he heard of the event from Eugene Christian [MTP].
Gribben offers part of Sam’s A.D. for this date having to do with Ben Jonson (1572-1637): Though Mark Twain alluded to Jonson several times in print, it was not until 1908 that he mentioned seeing and enjoying one of Jonson’s dramatic works—a masque performed at the New York Plaza Hotel (19 February 1908 AD). Jonson’s praise for Shakespeare is one piece of evidence that Mark Twain must overcome in proving his thesis of “Is Shakespeare Dead?” (1909): in Part 3 he notes that Jonson “waited seven years” before he penned his encomium; in Part 5 he reiterates that it was only in 1623 that “Ben Jonson awoke out of his long indifference and sang a song of praise and put it in the front of the book” of Shakespeare’s plays; in Part 10 Mark Twain quotes from Timber (1641) Jonson’s laudatory remarks about Francis Bacon’s oratorical speech [360].
Also from this day’s A.D., Clemens met “John Hay’s poet-daughter, Mrs. [Helen] Payne Whitney. I had not seen her since she was a little child. Neither her mother’s nor her husband’s limitless millions have smothered her literary gift or beguiled her into neglecting it” [765]. See also Feb. 14
Note: For more of Sam’s A.D. of Feb. 19, see Feb. 13, and 22.