Agree with Matt, that section of Fables of Man also cites some
autobiographical dictations with these themes. I too am guessing that
DeVoto was paraphrasing. --Taylor

On Thu, Aug 29, 2024 at 7:58 PM Matt Seybold <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> This looks an awful lot like the fragments from the “Nightmare of History”
> section in FABLES OF MAN, including the reference to the “shoemaker,” but
> my quick search didn’t yield the precise quotation. - MS
>
> > On Aug 29, 2024, at 4:50 PM, Barbara Schmidt <[log in to unmask]>
> wrote:
> >
> > In MARK TWAIN IN ERUPTION Editor Bernard Devoto, in his Introduction, p.
> > xxvii, refers to two unfinished "apocalyptic treatises" and offers what
> > appears to be a direct quote from one (without quotation marks) reading
> in
> > part:
> > ~~~~~
> > Every civilization carries the seeds of its own destruction, and the same
> > cycle shows in them all. The Republic is born, flourishes, decays into
> > plutocracy, and is captured by the shoemaker whom the mercenaries and
> > millionaires make into a king. The people invent their oppressors, and
> the
> > oppressors serve the function for which they are invented.
> >
> > ~~~~~
> > A link to the page from De Voto's book online at archive.org :
> >
> >
> https://archive.org/details/marktwaininerupt0000mark_e0q1/page/n31/mode/2up?q=Shoemaker
> >
> > Questions:  Is this a direct quote or a De Voto paraphrase?  Is there a
> > title or titles for the unfinished  "apocalyptic treatises" ?
> >
> > Barb
>