July 10 Monday – Sam wrote from Elmira to reply to the July 7 of Elisha Bliss. Sam agreed to allow Orion small weekly draw amounts from Sam’s account, but most of the letter pertained to the upcoming book, not yet titled. Sam suggests “Flush Times,” subtitled, “in the silver mines & other matters – a personal narrative by Mark Twain.” Ultimately, Bliss would name the book Roughing It [MTL 4: 431].

Sam also wrote three notes to James Redpath, insisting he was to speak first in Boston, if at all, not at South End [MTL 4: 433-5].

“I do plainly see in that Southend business calamity for my lecture season. I never made a success of a lecture in a church yet. People are afraid to laugh in a church. They can’t be made to do it, in any possible way. And Lord knows it wasn’t “business” to start me in my most important city in an obscure course” [MTL 4: 434].