1872 (Part 1 of 2)
1872.1.505) Quote, Reference, or Allusion: We have a criminal jury system which is superior to any in the world; and its efficiency is only marred by the difficulty of finding twelve men every day who don’t know anything and can’t read. And I may observe that we have an insanity plea that would have saved Cain. I think I can say, and say with pride, that we have some legislatures that bring higher prices than any in the world.
Scripture: And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper? -- Genesis 4:6-9
Work; Date: Speech “Americans and the English”; July 4, 1872
Source: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/3188/3188-h/3188-h.htm#link2H_4_0101
1872.2.506) Quote, Reference, or Allusion: I am sure that the splendid generosity which has made the name of California to be honored in all lands, will come to him in such a shape that he shall confess that the seeds sowed in better days did not fall upon unfruitful soil.
Scripture: And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. – Matthew 13:3-8
Work; Date: Appeal for Capt. Ned Wakeman; December 14, 1872
Source: http://www.twainquotes.com/18721214.html
ROUGHING IT
1872.3.507,508) Quote, Reference, or Allusion: What I suffered in contemplating his happiness, pen cannot describe. And so, when he offered me, in cold blood, the sublime position of private secretary under him, it appeared to me that the heavens and the earth passed away, and the firmament was rolled together as a scroll!
Scripture: Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. -- Matthew 24:35
Scripture: And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. -- Revelation 6:14
Work; Date: Roughing It, Chapter 1; 1872
Source: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/3177/3177-h/3177-h.htm
1872.4.509) Quote, Reference, or Allusion: The fountains of her great deep were broken up, and she rained the nine parts of speech forty days and forty nights, metaphorically speaking, and buried us under a desolating deluge of trivial gossip that left not a crag or pinnacle of rejoinder projecting above the tossing waste of dislocated grammar and decomposed pronunciation!
Scripture: In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights. -- Genesis 7:11, 12
Work; Date: Roughing It, Chapter 2; 1872
Source: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/3177/3177-h/3177-h.htm
1872.5.510) Quote, Reference, or Allusion: “Jack, do you see that range of mountains over yonder that bounds the Jordan valley? The mountains of Moab, Jack! Think of it, my boy—the actual mountains of Moab—renowned in Scripture history! We are actually standing face to face with those illustrious crags and peaks—and for all we know” [dropping his voice impressively], “our eyes may be resting at this very moment upon the spot WHERE LIES THE MYSTERIOUS GRAVE OF MOSES! Think of it, Jack!”
“Moses who?” (falling inflection).
“Moses who! Jack, you ought to be ashamed of yourself—you ought to be ashamed of such criminal ignorance. Why, Moses, the great guide, soldier, poet, lawgiver of ancient Israel! Jack, from this spot where we stand, to Egypt, stretches a fearful desert three hundred miles in extent—and across that desert that wonderful man brought the children of Israel!—guiding them with unfailing sagacity for forty years over the sandy desolation and among the obstructing rocks and hills, and landed them at last, safe and sound, within sight of this very spot; and where we now stand they entered the Promised Land with anthems of rejoicing! It was a wonderful, wonderful thing to do, Jack! Think of it!”
“Forty years? Only three hundred miles? Humph! Ben Holliday would have fetched them through in thirty-six hours!”
Scripture: All the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers. And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no. -- Deuteronomy 8:1,2
Work; Date: Roughing It, Chapter 6; 1872
Source: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/3177/3177-h/3177-h.htm
1872.6.511) Quote, Reference, or Allusion: And presently three Mrs. Youngs entered in a body and opened on their husband a tempest of tears, abuse, and entreaty. They had heard all about No. 6, No. 11, and No. 14. Three more breast-pins were promised. They were hardly gone when nine more Mrs. Youngs filed into the presence, and a new tempest burst forth and raged round about the prophet and his guest. Nine breast-pins were promised, and the weird sisters filed out again. And in came eleven more, weeping and wailing and gnashing their teeth. Eleven promised breast-pins purchased peace once more.
Scripture: And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. -- Matthew 13:50
Work; Date: Roughing It, Chapter 15; 1872
Source: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/3177/3177-h/3177-h.htm
1872.7.512) Quote, Reference, or Allusion: And if ever another man gives a whistle to a child of mine and I get my hands on him, I will hang him higher than Haman!
Scripture: Then said Zeresh his wife and all his friends unto him, Let a gallows be made of fifty cubits high, and to morrow speak thou unto the king that Mordecai may be hanged thereon: then go thou in merrily with the king unto the banquet. And the thing pleased Haman; and he caused the gallows to be made. ... Then the king arose in his wrath from the banquet of wine and went into the palace garden; but Haman stood before Queen Esther, pleading for his life, for he saw that evil was determined against him by the king. When the king returned from the palace garden to the place of the banquet of wine, Haman had fallen across the couch where Esther was. Then the king said, “Will he also assault the queen while I am in the house?”
As the word left the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face. Now Harbonah, one of the eunuchs, said to the king, “Look! The [a]gallows, fifty cubits high, which Haman made for Mordecai, who spoke good on the king’s behalf, is standing at the house of Haman.”
Then the king said, “Hang him on it!”
So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king’s wrath subsided. -- Esther 5:14; 7:7-10
Work; Date: Roughing It, Chapter 15; 1872
Source: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/3177/3177-h/3177-h.htm
1872.8.513) Quote, Reference, or Allusion: In the first book of Nephi is a plagiarism of the Old Testament, which gives an account of the exodus from Jerusalem of the “children of Lehi”; and it goes on to tell of their wanderings in the wilderness, during eight years, and their supernatural protection by one of their number, a party by the name of Nephi. They finally reached the land of “Bountiful,” and camped by the sea. After they had remained there “for the space of many days”—which is more Scriptural than definite—Nephi was commanded from on high to build a ship wherein to “carry the people across the waters.” He travestied Noah’s ark—but he obeyed orders in the matter of the plan. He finished the ship in a single day, while his brethren stood by and made fun of it—and of him, too—“saying, our brother is a fool, for he thinketh that he can build a ship.” They did not wait for the timbers to dry, but the whole tribe or nation sailed the next day.
Scripture: Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he. -- Genesis 6:22
Work; Date: Roughing It, Chapter 16; 1872
Source: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/3177/3177-h/3177-h.htm
1872.9.514) Quote, Reference, or Allusion: Stage-coaching on the Overland is no more, and stage drivers are a race defunct. I wonder if they bequeathed that bald-headed anecdote to their successors, the railroad brakemen and conductors, and if these latter still persecute the helpless passenger with it until he concludes, as did many a tourist of other days, that the real grandeurs of the Pacific coast are not Yo Semite and the Big Trees, but Hank Monk and his adventure with Horace Greeley.
[And what makes that worn anecdote the more aggravating, is, that the adventure it celebrates never occurred. If it were a good anecdote, that seeming demerit would be its chiefest virtue, for creative power belongs to greatness; but what ought to be done to a man who would wantonly contrive so flat a one as this? If I were to suggest what ought to be done to him, I should be called extravagant—but what does the sixteenth chapter of Daniel say? Aha!]
Scripture: There is no sixteenth chapter of Daniel; it only contains twelve chapters.
Work; Date: Roughing It, Chapter 20; 1872
Source: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/3177/3177-h/3177-h.htm
1872.10.515) Quote, Reference, or Allusion: The “Washoe Zephyr” (Washoe is a pet nickname for Nevada) is a peculiar Scriptural wind, in that no man knoweth “whence it cometh.”
Scripture: Howbeit we know this man whence he is: but when Christ cometh, no man knoweth whence he is. -- John 7:27
Scripture: From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? -- James 4:1
Scripture: (A Song of degrees.) I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. -- Psalms 121:1
Work; Date: Roughing It, Chapter 21; 1872
Source: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/3177/3177-h/3177-h.htm
1872.11.516) Quote, Reference, or Allusion: Occasionally a horseman will dash among us. His steed betrays hard usage. He alights before his adobe dwelling, hastily exchanges courtesies with his townsmen, hurries to an assay office and from thence to the District Recorder’s. In the morning, having renewed his provisional supplies, he is off again on his wild and unbeaten route. Why, the fellow numbers already his feet by the thousands. He is the horse-leech.
Scripture: The horseleach hath two daughters, crying, Give, give. There are three things that are never satisfied, yea, four things say not, It is enough: -- Proverbs 30:15
Work; Date: Roughing It, Chapter 26; 1872
Source: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/3177/3177-h/3177-h.htm
1872.12.517) Quote, Reference, or Allusion: By the fifth or sixth morning the waters had subsided from the land, but the stream in the old river bed was still high and swift and there was no possibility of crossing it.
Scripture: And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters asswaged; ... And the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated. ... And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month: in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen. ... Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground; ... And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth. -- Genesis 8:1,3,5,8,11
Work; Date: Roughing It, Chapter 31; 1872
Source: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/3177/3177-h/3177-h.htm
1872.13.518) Quote, Reference, or Allusion: Alas, my regeneration was not complete—I wanted to smoke! I resisted with all my strength, but the flesh was weak.
Scripture: Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. -- Matthew 26:41
Work; Date: Roughing It, Chapter 33; 1872
Source: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/3177/3177-h/3177-h.htm
1872.14.519) Quote, Reference, or Allusion: There is nothing so aggravating as silver milling. There never was any idle time in that mill. There was always something to do. It is a pity that Adam could not have gone straight out of Eden into a quartz mill, in order to understand the full force of his doom to “earn his bread by the sweat of his brow.”
Scripture: In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. -- Genesis 3:19
Work; Date: Roughing It, Chapter 37; 1872
Source: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/3177/3177-h/3177-h.htm
1872.15.520) Quote, Reference, or Allusion: If his Sunday-school class progressed faster than the other classes, was it matter for wonder? I think not. He talked to his pioneer small-fry in a language they understood! It was my large privilege, a month before he died, to hear him tell the beautiful story of Joseph and his brethren to his class “without looking at the book.” I leave it to the reader to fancy what it was like, as it fell, riddled with slang, from the lips of that grave, earnest teacher, and was listened to by his little learners with a consuming interest that showed that they were as unconscious as he was that any violence was being done to the sacred proprieties!
Scripture: These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives: and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report. Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours. And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him. And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more. And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed: For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf. And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words. And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me. And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth? And his brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying. And his brethren went to feed their father’s flock in Shechem. And Israel said unto Joseph, Do not thy brethren feed the flock in Shechem? come, and I will send thee unto them. And he said to him, Here am I. And he said to him, Go, I pray thee, see whether it be well with thy brethren, and well with the flocks; and bring me word again. So he sent him out of the vale of Hebron, and he came to Shechem. And a certain man found him, and, behold, he was wandering in the field: and the man asked him, saying, What seekest thou? And he said, I seek my brethren: tell me, I pray thee, where they feed their flocks. And the man said, They are departed hence; for I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan. And Joseph went after his brethren, and found them in Dothan. And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him. And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh. Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams. And Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands; and said, Let us not kill him. And Reuben said unto them, Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness, and lay no hand upon him; that he might rid him out of their hands, to deliver him to his father again. And it came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his brethren, that they stript Joseph out of his coat, his coat of many colours that was on him; And they took him, and cast him into a pit: and the pit was empty, there was no water in it. And they sat down to eat bread: and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a company of Ishmeelites came from Gilead with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt. And Judah said unto his brethren, What profit is it if we slay our brother, and conceal his blood? Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmeelites, and let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother and our flesh. And his brethren were content. Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt. And Reuben returned unto the pit; and, behold, Joseph was not in the pit; and he rent his clothes. And he returned unto his brethren, and said, The child is not; and I, whither shall I go? And they took Joseph’s coat, and killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the coat in the blood; And they sent the coat of many colours, and they brought it to their father; and said, This have we found: know now whether it be thy son’s coat or no. And he knew it, and said, It is my son’s coat; an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces. And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days. And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him. And the Midianites sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh’s, and captain of the guard. -- Genesis 37:2-36
Work; Date: Roughing It, Chapter 47; 1872
Source: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/3177/3177-h/3177-h.htm
Notes: This is just part of the story of “Joseph and his brethren”; for the rest, see chapters 42- 47 of Genesis.
1872.16.521) Quote, Reference, or Allusion: No reply—other than a malignant scowl. The captain now read the first and second chapters of Genesis, with deep feeling—paused a moment, closed the book reverently, and said with a perceptible savor of satisfaction:
Scripture: Genesis 1 and 2 deal with creation of the heavens and the earth. Chapter 2 speaks of the first man and woman in the garden of Eden.
Work; Date: Roughing It, Chapter 50>; 1872
Source: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/3177/3177-h/3177-h.htm