Mark Twain's Letters - Volume 4 (1886-1900)

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To W. D. Howells; in Boston:

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DEAR SIR,—Come, come—take a walk; you disturb the children.

There was a day, now happily nearly over, when certain newspapers made a practice of inviting men distinguished in any walk of life to give their time and effort without charge to express themselves on some subject of the day, or perhaps they were asked to send their favorite passages in prose or verse, with the reasons why. Such symposiums were "features" that cost the newspapers only the writing of a number of letters, stationery, and postage. To one such invitation Mark Twain wrote two replies. They follow herewith:

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