To the Twain list,

In Part IV of "Stirring Times in Austria, Twain attributes this
quote-"Whom the gods would destroy they first make mad"-to "Saltpeter."

I had thought, though I'm not sure, that the origin of the quote was
Sophocles.  Does anyone have an idea of what this is a reference to or
why Twain might have made it?  Is "Saltpeter" an invented speaker, like
Mr. Brown or Ferguson?

--Christopher Morris