The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1879-12-10
DAILY.
MARK TwAINS SPEECH
At the Breakfast to Dir. Holmes In 30,

Al the Breakfast 10 Dr. Holmes In Bos
ton.
would haYe travelled much greatel
distance than l have come to witness the
paying Of hOnors to Mr.. Holmes, for my
feeling toward him has always been one
OF peculiar warmth. When one receives
letter from great man for the first time
in his Life, It is large event to him, as all
Of you know by your own experience.
You can never receive letters enough from
famous men afterward to obliterate that
one, or dim the memory OF the pleasant
surprise 1t was, and-the qualification il
gave you. Lapse OF time cannot make II
commonplace or cheap. Well, the lirst
great man who ever wrote me letter was
cur guest-0liver Wendell Holmes. lie
was also the first great literary man ever
stole anything from and that is how /
came to write to him and he TO me.
when my. first book was new, friend
q mine said: "The dedication is very neat"
Yes, said, thoughtitwas. My friend said
VI always admired it, even before saw
hin the 'lnnocents Abroad naturally
said, "What do you mean? Where did
you ever see 1t betore?" swell, saw It
first some years ago, as DR.. Holmes dedi-
cation to his Songs in Many Keys. )"
" course my first impulse was to prepare
this mans remains for burial, but, upon
reflection, | said would repreive him fora
moment or two and give him chance to
prove his assertion, II he could. We STEP
ped into bookstore, and he did prove Il.
l had really stolen that dedication almost
word for word. could not imagine how
this curious thing had happened, for |
knew one thing for dead certainty, that
a certain amount of pride always goes
along with a teaspoontul OF brains, and |
that this pride projects a man from de-
llberately stealing other peoples ideas.
That is what teaspoonful OF brains will |
do for a man-and admirers had often
told me had nearly basketful, though |
they were rather reserved as to the size Of |
the basket. However, thought the |
thing out and solved the mystery. Two
years before had been laid up couple |
OF weeks in the Sandwich Islands, and had |
read and reread DR.. Holmes poems until |
my mental reservoir was filled up with |
them to the brim. The dedication Law on |
top and handy-so by and by | uncon-
sciously stole it. Perhaps Unconscious.
ly stole the rest OF the volume, too, for
many people have told me that my book
was pretty poetical, in one way or anoth-
er. Well, Of course wrote Dr.. Holmes
and told him hadn't meant 10 steal, and |
he wrote back, and said in the kindest way |
that 1t was all right and no harm done;
and added that he believed we all uucon-
sciOusly worked over ideas gathered in
reading and hearing, imagining they were
original with ourselves. He stated |
truth-and did it in such a pleasant way,
and salved over my sore spot so gently and |
so healingly, that was rather glad / had |
committed the crime, for the sake OF the |
letter. afterward called on him, and |
told him to make perfectly free with any
ideas OF mine that struck him as being
ing good protoplasm for poetry. He could
see by that that there wasn't anything |
mean about me; SO we got along right from |
the start.
| have met DR.. Homes many times
since; and lately he said, however, am
wandering widely away from the one
thing which got on my feet to do-that
is, to make my compliments to you, my
iellow-teachers Of the great Republic, and
likewise to say am right glad to see that
DR.. Homes Is still in his prime and full OF
generous life, and, as age Is not determined
by years, but by trouble and by infirmi.
ties OF mind and body, hope it may be
very long time yet before any one can
truthtuIly say, ,"He growing old"