Perhaps someone else has a citation for the following, for I do not at this time, but if I misremember not, Twain, referring to one of the scenes in *A Modern Instance *in which the protagonist, Bartley Hubbard, is drunk and falls, asked author/friend W.D. Howells if he had based Hubbard in that episode upon Twain, and Howells answered yes. On Fri, Sep 3, 2010 at 3:29 PM, Click, Benjamin A <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > C.H.,=20 > > Twain maintained definite ideas of how his habits worked or didn=B9t work > f= > or > him. As a public speaker, he found two glasses of champagne worked =B3as an > admirable stimulant to the tongue=B2 and =B3the happiest inspiration=B2 > for= > an > after-dinner speech. But for the writer Twain, wine was =B3a clog to the > pe= > n, > not an inspiration.=B2 Smoking, however, was the =B3best of all > inspiratio= > ns > for the pen.=B2 =20 > > Ben > > > On 9/3/10 10:18 AM, "Chet Manchester" <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > > Does anyone on the forum know if Sam Clemens ever abused alcohol, > especia= > lly > > toward the end of his life? Did he turn to the bottle to ease his pain > o= > r > > grief? When he lectured, was he ever known to appear on stage drunk? > Di= > d > > he ever use alcohol to calm his nerves before a public performance? > Last= > ly, > > is there any possibility that he successfully hid an alcohol addiction > fr= > om > > his family and others? > >=20 > > Thanks for any insights and sources you can offer on this subject. > >=20 > > - C.H. Stewart > -- John H. Davis, Ph.D. Professor of English Department of Language and Literature Chowan University Murfreesboro, North Carolina 27855