September 17 Wednesday – Sam wrote two letters to Howells. Even though Howells wrote on Sept. 15 and had not commented on Sam’s opinion of Blaine and Cleveland, Sam didn’t let the subject go.

Somehow I can’t seem to rest quiet under the idea of your voting for Blaine. I believe you said something about the country & the party. Certainly allegiance to these is well; but as certainly a man’s first duty is to his own conscience & honor—the party & the country come second to that, & never first. I don’t ask you to vote at all—I only urge you to not soil yourself by voting for Blaine. When you wrote before, you were able to say the charges against him were not proven. But you know now that they are proven, & it seems to me that bars you & all other honest & honorable men (who are independently situated) from voting for him [MTP].

The second letter involved Livy, and something she told Sam that was worth repeating:

…A drop letter came to me asking me to lecture here for a Church debt. I began to rage over the exceedingly cool wording of the request, when Mrs. Clemens said “I think I know that church; & if so, this preacher is a colored man—he doesn’t know how to write a polished letter—how should he?”

      My manner changed so suddenly & so radically that Mrs. C. said: “I will give you a motto, & it will be useful to you if you will adopt it: Consider every man colored till he is proven white.”

      It is dern good, I think [MTP].

Charles Webster wrote to Clemens: bust photo for HF: Western loans [MTP].