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Subject:
From:
Scott Holmes <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Mon, 4 Apr 2022 12:17:46 -0700
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Twain's dealing with the Sabbath would make for an excellent research 
topic.  I need to think about how it might be incorporated into my 
geography project.  The issue of traveling on the sabbath does pop up 
throughout his travels.  Regan notes that the issue, among those on the 
Long Trip, was more of a problem for some than for others.  Robert Bell, 
whom you mentioned, was not one of those on the trip.

On 4/4/22 06:24, Mac Donnell Rare Books wrote:
> 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 ....
>>

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