September 22 Friday – At 9 a.m. in Dublin, N.H. Sam wrote to Thomas S. Barbour of the Congo Reform Assoc., Boston, that he was “sending something which you should stop the press & add if humanly possible.” Mounted on another page was the following:
KING LEOPOLD’S SOLILOQUY
THE PUBLISHERS DESIRE TO STATE THAT MR. CLEMENS DECLINES TO ACCEPT
ANY PECUNIARY RETURN FROM THIS BOOKLET, AS IT IS HIS WISH THAT ALL
PROCEEDS OF SALES ABOVE THE COST OF PUBLICATION SHALL BE USED IN
FURTHERING THE EFFORT FOR RELIEF OF THE PEOPLE OF THE CONGO STATE.
THE P. R. WARREN COMPANY
BOSTON, MASS., JANUARY 1, 1906.
[MTP]. Note:After permission and release by Harper and Brothers, King Leopold’s Soliloquy: A Defense of His Congo Rule, was published by the Congo Reform Assoc. on Sept. 28, 1905. See entry.
Isabel Lyon wrote to Chatto & Windus requesting Esperanto books—Complete Text book by John Charles O’Connor (1904), and dictionaries to translate Esperanto to English [Gribben 514: IVL Journal, no TS # given: MTP].
Isabel Lyon’s journal: “That he may sleep better, Mr. Clemens takes a little walk every day. It’s only a duty walk for he has never enjoyed exercise and never has taken much—though in the old Hartford days he used to tramp out Talcott mountain way with Mr. Twichell” [MTP TS 101].
Isabel Lyon’s journal # 2: wrote to Chatto & Windus, for Esperanto Books. Complete text book by J.C. O’Conner & Eng. Esp. & Esp. Eng. Dictionaries Sent to Congo Reform Asso. the article taken from the English Review of Reviews for Oct. 1905 “Should King Leopold be Hanged?” by a Congo Missionary [MTP TS 29].
Thomas S. Barbour for the Congo Reform Assoc., Boston, wrote to Sam, acknowledging his letter of Sept. 20. “The additional lines for the footnote meet our desire exactly. They are now incorporated in the pamphlet, the single word ‘President’ being omitted.” He returned the letter from the Editor of The Catholic Herald and thanked him for sending it.
“Your telegram arrived this morning and we called a halt upon the printers. I am sending you a copy of the pamphlet as, but for the telegram, it would have gone to the newspapers to-night.” The price of the pamphlet would be 25 cents [MTP].
Richard Watson Gilder wrote to advise Sam that he’d authorized this day “the signing of your name to a letter endorsing Jerome. … It looks now as if Jerome was going to be nominated by hell and heaven alike, and therefore he will probably be elected” [MTP]. Note: William Travers Jerome.
September 22 ca. – In Dublin, N.H. Isabel V. Lyon wrote for Sam to the Knickerbocker Publishing Co. “If you ask the Harpers, Mr. Clemens thinks they will not object & he hopes they won’t” [MTP].Note: The MTP catalogs this as “on or after 20 Sept.” Two days estimated postal time is allowed here.
Sam also wrote to H.H. Rogers about this day.
I have just received yours of the 18th [not extant]—which is several days ago, I suppose, but I am in bed & don’t know either the day of the week or the day of the month. I have made an improvement—I have slept 3 nights out of 4, counting last night. I have hardly any dyspepsia left. I am safest in bed, for the present, but I am at work again this last 2 days.
My plan is, to return to New York in the first week of November, arriving last of my tribe. Clara was to be in Boston yesterday, & I was to meet her there, but I was not able to go. She returns to-day. I am hoping to find her installed at 21 Fifth Avenue when I arrive in November, but it isn’t sure yet.
I didn’t suppose you ever stayed at Fairhaven after August. You were not there when you had the attack; but you ought to have been; then you would have escaped it. I am glad Mr. Rogers has had such good fortune. I missed my good fortune by that injudicious trip to Norfolk. I was in great form, until then; I have been in bad form ever since. I tried to go to Boston on the enclosed ticket, to hear you testify, but they said it went the other way [MTHHR 599-600].
Note: though plans may have shifted, Sam wrote to Clara on Sept. 15 that he knew she would possibly be in Boston on Sept. 19. Though he claims here not to know the day of the month, clearly he knew Clara was to be in Boston the day before, which, if it was Sept. 19, would put this letter at Sept. 20.