I would suggest that you dig deeper into the question of travel on the 
Sabbath. There are many printed sources about the Quaker City excursion, 
all well-known, but besides those, nine of the pilgrims sent letters to 
hometown newspapers or other papers reporting on the excursion. At least 
seven diaries/journals/notebooks survive that were kept by pilgrims 
(including Twain's) that record the daily activities and thoughts of 
various pilgrims. Some of them have been published. I own the originals 
of two of those diaries and have read three of the others. Although 
there was a wide divergence of opinion about travel on the Sabbath, I 
can assure you that some of the pilgrims objected strongly to such 
travel. They even held some votes. One devout Presbyterian,  Robert 
Bell, repeatedly groused about those who did not strictly observe the 
Sabbath. He worried that God might punish them at any time, and his 
anxiety reached a fever pitch every time the Quaker City got tossed 
around in rough seas or ran into bad weather. He describes SLC as 
"openly intemperate & profane."

I can only hope my friends think the same of me.

Kevin
@
Mac Donnell Rare Books
9307 Glenlake Drive
Austin TX 78730
512-345-4139
Member: ABAA, ILAB, BSA

You can browse our books at:
www.macdonnellrarebooks.com


------ Original Message ------
From: "Scott Holmes" <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: 4/4/2022 2:28:50 AM
Subject: Matters of Conscience

>While searching for information on Ain Fijeh aka Figia, or The Fountain of Balaam's Ass, I was reading Robert Regan's article /The Reprobate Elect in The Innocents Abroad /and found the notion that the Pilgrims did not actually have an aversion to traveling on the sabbath.  Looking at the schedule of The Long Trip, it seems they had no problem traveling on the subsequent Sundays - 9/22 and 9/29.  They just wanted to get to Damascus.
>
>On further reading this article I find that Sam, Dan and the Doctor did not visit the zoo in Marseilles and that the "gray-bodied, dark-winged, bald-headed, and preposterously uncomely bird"  came from a "fabulous bestiary."
>
>Sabbaths have a long history with Mark Twain, particularly his relationship with GW Cable.  I had long held the Twain's writing on long ride to Figia on a par with Huck's moral dilemma.  Both are fictions yet both represent truths.  But then that preposterous bird was just a device to prepare the reader for future descriptions of the Pilgrims. So it goes ....
>