Hell, 3 months is 1866 -- but can someone entertain the thought of suicide more than once? Hilton Obenzinger At 10:28 AM 3/5/2004 -0800, Robert Hirst wrote: >Our collective best guess when we published Letters 1 was that Clemens was >off by a part of year in saying he raised the pistol in 1866. The piece of >contemporary evidence that might correct the year is his letter to Orion >and Mollie written in October 1865, especially the last page, in pencil, >written on 20 October 1865, and in that, especially the last paragraph: >You are in trouble, & in debt--so am I. I am utterly miserable--so are you. >Perhaps your religion will sustain you, will feed you--I place no >dependence in mine. Our religions are alike, though, in one >respect--neither can make a man happy when he is out of luck. If I do not >get out of debt in 3 months,--pistols or poison for one--exit me. [There's >a text for a sermon on Self-Murder--Proceed.] (Letters 1, 324) > > > >Bob Hirst ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hilton Obenzinger, PhD. Associate Director for Honors Writing, Undergraduate Research Programs Lecturer, Department of English Stanford University 415 Sweet Hall 650.723.0330 650.724.5400 Fax [log in to unmask]