The Morristown gazette. [volume] (Morristown, Tenn.) 1867-1920, 1876-12-20
RUNNING. FOR GOVERNOR. !,
Mark Twain Experiences a Gam
sszoepaigns of defamation gzzas

s9zos spaign3 of OfDefamatiOn.u rEza
/ A fewrGonths ago / was nominat-
ed for Governor OF the great State
of New York, to run against Stewart
L. Woedford and John i. Hoffman.
on an Independent ticket. / some
what felt that I had one prominent
advantage over these gentlemen, and.
that was good charaoter.u 1t was
easy to see by the newspapers that
ifthey had everknown what it was
to bear a good name, that time had
gone by. 1t was plain that in these
latter years they had become ac-.
quainted with all manner Of shame-
ful crimes. But at the very moment
that l was exaiting my advantage
and enjoying in it in secret, there
was a muddy under current of dis.
comfort ''riling" the deeps Of my
.happiness-and that was tie having
to hear my name banded about in
familiar connection with those of
such people. l grew more and more
disturbed. Finally / wrote my
grandmother about it. Her answer
came quick and sharp She said 4:
You have never done one single thing
in all your life to be ashamed of-not
one. Look at the newspapers at
them and comprehend what sort of char
acters Woodford and Hoffman are, and
then see if you are willing follower your
self to their level and enter public
canvass with them. @
1t was my very thought! / did
not sleep a single moment that night.
But after all, I could not recede, l
was fully committed and must 90 on
with the fight. AS | was looking
listlessly over the papers at break
fast. came across this paragraph,
and may truly say | never was so
confounded before:
PERJURY.- Perhaps, now that Mr..
Mark Twain is before the people as a
candidate for governor, he viii conde
scend to explain how he came to be con-
victed of perjury by thirtyfour witness
es, in Wakahak, Cochin China, in 1858,
the intent of which perjury was to rob
poor native widow and her helpless
family of a meagre plantain patch, their
only stay and support in their bereaVe-
ment and their discOnsOlatiOn. Mr..
Twain owes it to himself, as well as to
the great people whose suffrage he asks,
to clear the matter up, VIII he do it?
] thought | would burst with
amazement !! Such a cruel, heartIess
charge II never had see. Cochin
China! | never heard Of Wakawak !!
1 didn't know plantain patch from a
kangaroo! ] did not know what to
do. | was crazed and helpless. |
let the day slip away without doing
anything at all. The next morning
the same paper had sthis-nothing
more:
SIeNIFIcANT. Mfr. Twain, it will be
observed, sis suggestively silent about
the Cochin China perjury.
TMem.-During the rest of the
campaign this paper never. referred
to me in any other way than as ''the
Infamous perjurer Twain"
Next came the Gazette with this:
WANTED TO 9KNow.-Will the new
candidate for governor deign to explain
81 to certainOf his fellow citizens tWho are
suffered to vote for hint the little cir
cumstanee of his cabin-Inates in Monta-
ma losing small valuables from time to
time. until at last, these things having
been sinvariablyefou on Mr. Twain's
person or his trunk newspapers he
rolled his trapslin) they felt compelled
to give him a friendly admOnition for
iiis own goodYan so tarred and feather
ed him aud rode him on a rail, and then
advised him to leavea permanent vac
-. 1,,a7 ioI
the camp. VIII he do this?
Could anything be more deFiber
ately malicious than that 81 For ]
never was in Montana in my life.
After this, this Journal cdstomari
ly spoke of me as 'sTwain, the Mon
ltana thief" ,s.fe
| got to picking up newspaper:
hensively-much as one would
lift a desired blanket which he ha(
some idea might have rattlesnakt
under it. One day this met my eye
THE LIE NAILED,--By the sworn affi
! davits of Micheal O'Flanagan, Esq, o
| the Five Points, and Mr. Kit Burns an(
John Allen, of Water street, it is estab
I lished that Mr. Mark Twain's vile senti
/ IlCHG IIldb bltC IdiiGntCA -
/ our noble standard bearer, J ohm L. Hoff
lman, was hanged for highway robbery
! is n brutal and gratuitous lie, without |
single shadow of foundation in fact. /
4 is disheartening to Virtuous men to se'
Z such shameful means resorted to, K
/ achieve political success, as the attack
| ing of the dead in their graves and defil
! ing their honored names with SANDER
/ When we think of the anguish this mis-
I cradle falsehood must cause the innocen
.relatiyes and friendssof the deceased, w
are almost driven to incite an outraged
and insulted public to summary and un
lawful vengeance upon the traducer
But no-let us leave him to the agony D
lacerated conscience (though II pas
sion should get the better of the public
and in its blind fury they should do th'
7 traducer bodily Injury, it is butitoo oh
4 vious that no jury would. convict and d
court punish the perpetrators of tn
4 deed)E aatl 1ao 1913 ah aie
/ The ingenious closing sentenc
had the effect Of moving me out o
I bed with dispatch chat night, an'
out at the back door also, while tn
Outraged and insulted public surg
ed in the front way, breaking furni
ture and windows in their righteou
I indignation as they. came, and takin:
off such property as they could carr
when they WENT And yeti canla
] my hand upon the book and say tha
i / never slandered Gov. Hoffman
grandfather. More; I never eve
heard Of him or mentioned him u
to that day and date. ss s5s -
saTI win state, in passing, that I'll
II Journal above quoted from alWay
HTeferred TO me afterwards as "Twai
the body-snatcher.'
The next newspaper article tha
, attracted my attention Was the fo
11owihgs1a AsS 7slasa6.f bsa ssoss !
hsssA l-1,- zss@r ri .xrF4,ATi - Mark rrwail