“The
days when we went gipsying
A
long time ago.”
Death is so kind, so benignant, to whom he loves;
but he goes by us others and will not look our way.
We saw the “Master of Palmyra” last night.
How Death, with the gentleness and majesty, made the
human grand-folk around him seem little and trivial
and silly!
With love from all of us to all of you.
Mark.
Letters, 1899, to Howells and
others. Vienna. London.
A summer in Sweden
The beginning of 1899 found the Clemens family still
in Vienna, occupying handsome apartments at the Hotel
Krantz. Their rooms, so often thronged with
gay and distinguished people, were sometimes called
the “Second Embassy.” Clemens himself
was the central figure of these assemblies. Of
all the foreign visitors in the Austrian capital he
was the most notable. Everywhere he was surrounded
by a crowd of listeners—his sayings and
opinions were widely quoted.
A project for world disarmament promulgated by the
Czar of Russia would naturally interest Mark Twain,
and when William T. Stead, of the Review of Reviews,
cabled him for an opinion on the matter, he sent at
first a brief word and on the same day followed it
with more extended comment. The great war which
has since devastated the world gives to this incident
an added interest.
To Wm. T. Stead,
in London:
No. 1.
Vienna,
Jan. 9.
Dear Mr. Stead,-The Czar is ready
to disarm: I am ready to disarm.
Collect the others, it should not be much of a task
now.
Mark
Twain.
To Wm. T. Stead, in London:
No. 2. Dear Mr. Stead,—Peace
by compulsion. That seems a better idea than
the other. Peace by persuasion has a pleasant
sound, but I think we should not be able to work it.
We should have to tame the human race first, and
history seems to show that that cannot be done.
Can’t we reduce the armaments little by little—on
a pro rata basis—by concert of the powers?
Can’t we get four great powers to agree to reduce
their strength 10 per cent a year and thrash the others
into doing likewise? For, of course, we cannot
expect all of the powers to be in their right minds
at one time. It has been tried. We are
not going to try to get all of them to go into the
scheme peaceably, are we? In that case I must
withdraw my influence; because, for business reasons,
I must preserve the outward signs of sanity.
Four is enough if they can be securely harnessed
