January 19 Wednesday – Sam lectured at the Normal School Chapel, Fredonia, New York [MTPO]. The Fredonia Censor reported on Jan. 26 of this lecture:

Mark Twain’s lecture was a success…we shall not attempt to quote, for the reason that the lecture was too good to be mutilated, or spoiled for other audiences by having the jokes sent ahead of the speaker, and then, be the report never so accurate, the effect of Mark’s delivery is lost, which is a continued source of amusement in itself. Imagine a lean, cadaverous looking speaker, standing upon the platform for five minutes like a school boy who has forgotten his “piece,” and then drawling out with ministerial gravity his own introduction, because the Chairman of Lecture Committees never introduced him “strong enough.”

Note: five letters that Sam wrote Livy from Jan. 15 to 19 (#’s 179-83) are lost [MTL 4: 33n1].