October 2 Tuesday – In Dublin, N.H. Sam began a letter to daughter Clara that he finished Oct. 3.
Clara dear, perhaps you thought I couldn’t leave my niece, Mary Rogers, but I did it. I came away from Fairhaven yesterday. Everything is going well here, except that Miss Lyon is still feeble & has to go carefully & not over-exert herself. But she is up & around, comes to meals, chats, laughs, plays the orchestrelle a little, & signs checks. I believe she will soon be quite well.
Jean is strong, hearty, & very sweet & demonstratively affectionate. But it is pretty plain that she has to have at her elbow an indisputable authority. And so I realize that I must stop junketing & stay at my post & not try to delegate its duties & large responsibilities to another. I realize it just in time; for I was planning to give up what is left of my life largely to idling & holidaying, to make up for 65 years of continuous work. I was going ’mobiling in the South of France a month or two in the spring with Col. Harvey (& possibly Mr. Howells.) However, it doesn’t matter.
I dictated 3 hours this morning—so my railway journeys yesterday did not tire me. Miss Hobby the stenographer said to Miss Lyon “it was horribly uncanny, & deeply interesting, & funny in places, & touching in others—altogether a great product, & made me laugh & cry, both.”
Miss Lyon reports this:
The other day Miss Hobby said to Paine: “I know I couldn’t like the New Jerusalem—all jewels & gold & pearls and trinkets.” Paine said: “But it is all right; it isn’t for you & your like, it was built for Jews, you know.”
Go on resting & recuperating, Clara dear; you have bravely & richly earned a good rest, & it’s the best thing for you, & will build you up & put you in good shape for another triumph. That was a triumph at Norfolk! With hugs & kisses galore, / Father.
Aldrich says he is hungry to hear you sing. again.
Evening.Your letter has arrived. Yes, I am entirely comfortable, & glad to be in the country I am delighted that you netted $60, & touched by what they propose to do with it—deeply touched & grateful.
Yes, I shall be very glad to pay Mr. Luckstone, & thank him besides for the trouble he so kindly took in your behalf.
Clara dear, I am so sorry for Teresa, whom I hold in great affection; but you must tell her, from me, that she must go home, for I cannot take the responsibility of letting her stay here against the doctor’s advice & warning. If I allowed her to stay I should feel that I was treacherous to her people, who are trusting me & believe me worthy of their trust.
For a butler, go to the same place where you got Philip. I am sorry he is ill, & also sorry to lose him. My pen is empty. Goodnight / Marcus
[cross-written in the left margin:]
Yes, get a room at the Grosvenor. or at Gilder’s [MTP].
Clemens’ A.D. of this day included: Another stolen holiday including banquet speech in New York & visit to Norfolk, Conn. In a letter recd. this morning friend calls—Clemens “the blessedest ‘accident’ I have yet met in my life.”— Clemens reviews the series of “accidents” during his life which have led up to meeting this friend [MTP Autodict2; MTE 384-93].
Isabel Lyon’s journal: Today I asked the King how he came to write “The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg”, & he said it was the outcome of a protest against protecting the young from temptation; let them be tempted, & let them fall early, that they may know by experience what things are to be avoided.
Today AB went away [MTP TS 125-126].
Ralph W. Ashcroft wrote to Sam having rec’d his of Sept. 27 and was “glad to know that the matter of the photographs is settled. No doubt the utmost care will be taken to produced as nice results as is possible with ‘The Weekly’. He was sorry to hear that Miss Lyon was ill, and made a request regarding the title of “The $30,000 Bequest” appearing on the top of the left hand pages (of the new volume of the Hillcrest ed.) “containing other matter; it may be typographically correct, but it is certainly inartistic” [MTP]. Note: the seven photos of moral musing.
Henry Arthur Jones wrote from NYC to invite Sam to “join my party” going to Harvard on Wed. Oct. 31 where he would perform in a play [MTP].