Well, I'm not even sure about furious. In the immediate aftermath of 9/11,
I kept remembering his note to Charles Eliot Norton declining a speaking
engagement as President Garfield lay dying. There is probably a better
source than the one I'll cite from the Twain-Howells correspondence. Twain
told Norton "The idea of making a light & nonsensical speech to possibly
appear in print in the midst of columns of heartbreak walled in from top
to bottom with the black bars of mourning for the head of the nation, was
appalling." He felt he would have "no heart to talk nonsense, nor the
people to listen to it." Smith and Gibson go on to paraphrase him as
saying that even a speech in unison with ths sorrowful circumstances would
merely have added another pang. (vol 1 of the _Mark Twain-Howells
Letters_, n.2, p367) - Peg Wherry


On Sat, 22 Sep 2001, Richard R. Salassi wrote:

> Hi all!
> Sorry I can't cite passages to re-inforce my opinion, but I think Twain would
> be a little hesitant to jump on the war fervor wagon immediately..at least in
> public.  I think he would reserve comments for a time before declaring
> righteous indignation.  This may not be what Twainiacs might want to hear,
> but it's my humble opinion.  That is not to say I think he would not have
> been furious about the 9-11 events.
> Richard Salassi
>