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                   Mark Twain - A "Traveling Man"
                       by James E. Twomey, MPS
     (Reprinted by permission of The Philalethes - December 1989)

     W.  D.  Howells is quoted as saying the following words  to  Mark
Twain in 1899:

              You  have  pervaded your century  almost  more
              than  any other man of letters, if  not  more;
              and it is astonishing how you keep spreading.

     There is a great deal of truth to this statement even today,  not
only on account of Twain's continuing popularity around the world, but
because the metaphor of "spreading," when applied to his life, largely
accounts for the reason why Twain was, and still remains, the "Lincoln
of  our  literature."  Mark  Twain  was  not  the  typical   arm-chair
philosopher/humorist; quite the contrary, even from a very early  age,
he  was forced to take personal responsibility for his life and  those
whom  he loved. Providentially, perhaps, Twain's growth  into  manhood
occurred  at  the same time (and in many of the same  places)  as  our
Nation  was coming of age. This, combined with the sensitive  humanity
with  which  he recorded scenes of America in the latter half  of  the
nineteenth  century,  made his works mirrors while they were  new  and
time capsules of days gone-bye, now. This article will touch upon  the
early  life  of Mark Twain, his pre-Huckleberry Finn  works,  and  how
Freemasonry affected both of these.

                 The Early Life of Samuel L. Clemens

     We know so much about Twain's public and personal life because of
the  work of Albert Bigelow Paine who took notes while Twain  dictated
his autobiography and edited many of Twain's speeches and letters  for
publication.  Paine also wrote 'Mark Twain: A Biography' (1912)  which
was  published  shortly after its subject's death.  Since  any  public
library  can satisfy the reader's interest in Twain's life,  we  shall
only consider his early character and its development.

     Mark  Twain is the pen name of Samuel Langhorne Clemens,  but  we 
shall  follow tradition and call him by the river-boat phrase  he  mad 
famous.  Twain's father was a lawyer with ambitious dreams that  never 
came  true  for him or his family. He drifted from rural  Kentucky  to 
Florida,  MO to the Mississippi River town of Hannibal,  Missouri.  On 
the night that his luck was about to change (he was elected Justice of 
the Peace), John Clemens rode home in a storm which brought on a fatal 
fever. He died when Mark was just eleven.

     The  young man was apprenticed to a printer about a  year  later, 
and  like Benjamin Franklin before him, he learned a great deal  about 
life and humanity through this craft. Mark Twain was a strong believer 
in  Diving  Providence  -  and he had good reason  to  be  one.  While 
learning  printing  "for  room and board," he was  walking  one  windy 
afternoon when "he overtook a flying scrap of paper which proved to be 
a  leaf  from  some old history of Joan of Arc." He  read  it  and  it 
charged  him  with  a sense of historical interest  and  yearning  for 
social justice that never left him.

     Later,  seeking  riches like his father, he thought of  going  to 
South  America to become a cocoa farmer, but like his father,  he  was 
without the means of doing so. Again, the wind of Providence  supplied 
him  with  a piece of paper - only this time it was  a  $50.00  dollar 
bill. This allowed him to travel to Cincinnati where he worked at  his 
trade  saving up for the big trip to the equator. He boarded  a  steam 
ship named 'Paul Jones' and before they were half-way to New  Orleans, 
he  had  convinced  its pilot to teach him  the  skill  of  river-boat 
navigation. The romance and prestige of this occupation satisfied Mark 
for four wonderful years of personal growth and monetary reward  (much 
of  which he sent back to his mother and older brother,  Orion).  Mark 
also  took  his pen name from this profession: Mark  Twain  means  two 
fathoms  (12 ft.) and was a call which told the pilot there was  good, 
deep water ahead. These years also gave us his timeless work, 'Life on 
the Mississippi' (1883).

                   The Masonic Career of Mark Twain

     According to Paine, an interesting document was found in  Twain's 
riverboat notebook. It reads:

              How  to Take Life - Take it just as though  it 
              was  -  as  it is -  an  earnest,  vital,  and 
              important  affair. Take it as though you  were 
              born to the task of performing a merry part in 
              it - as though the world had awaited for  your 
              coming.  Take  it  as though it  was  a  grand 
              opportunity  to  do and  achieve,  to  forward 
              great  and good schemes; to help and  cheer  a 
              suffering,  weary,  it  may  be   heartbroken, 
              brother...the power that elevates the few,  is 
              to  be found in their  industry,  application, 
              and  perserverance under the promptings  of  a 
              brave, determined spirit.

     This passage almost reads like the E.A. Third Section lecture  in 
microcosm, and it surely influenced Mark's young character.

     Back to the river, Lincoln was sworn in as president on March  4, 
1861  and  six  weeks later, Ft. Sumter was fired  upon.  Mark  was  a 
passenger on a steamer named 'Uncle Sam', but took the wheel when they 
were  fired upon from Jefferson barracks. He piloted the last boat  to 
make  the trip from New Orleans to St. Louis. About four weeks  later, 
on  May  22,  1861  Mark  Twain  stood  before  the  sacred  altar  of 
Freemasonry in Polar Star Lodge #79 in St. Louis. He was passed to the 
degree  of  Fellow Craft on June 12, and raised to M.M.  on  July  10. 
Although  he would never become active in Symbolic  Lodge,  everything 
Twain  devoted his attention to left its imprint upon  his  character; 
thus, we would expect to see this evident in his writings.

     It  is interesting to note that neither Paine nor  Twain  mention 
the  Masonic  Fraternity  in their  biographical  works,  letters,  or 
speeches  (so far as the author's research has been able to  discern). 
Twain  probably  joined  the  fraternity on the  advice  of  a  fellow 
riverboat pilot or soldier.

     Remember,  passions were running high on both sides of the  issue 
which divided this Nation at that time, and those passions were  often 
expressed  in  enlistment  into the armed forces. Mark  Twain  was  no 
exception.  He returned to Hannibal to join a local group  of  friends 
who had formed a company of confederate soldiers. After two  miserable 
weeks  of fighting hunger, sprained ankles, and bugs,  Twain  resigned 
his commission (these were given rather freely in those days). Another 
biographer quotes Twain as saying to General Harris that he had become 
"incapacitated  by  fatigue  caused  by  persistent  retreating."   He 
returned  to  St.  Louis to join his brother who  had  been  appointed 
secretary to Nevada Territory. They left on July 26, 1861 by coach and 
began the wonderful journey which is related in 'Roughing It'.

     They  arrived in Carson City on August 14; as his  brother  began 
his  duties,  Mark began to sight-see and observe  frontier  life  for 
several  months  until  he caught "Silver Fever" and  went  mining  in 
Humbolt  County,  Nevada. He gave this up after one week  of  failures 
with  a pick axe and returned to Carson City January 29, 1862.  He  is 
recorded as a visiting Brother in Carson City Lodge, U.D. in  February 
and  March,  1862.  He left that city for mining again  and  tried  to 
convince  himself that there was no easy money to be had -  this  took 
three  months.  Finally,  it seems he gave up  his  father's  romantic 
visions  and  settle  for  a job with  the  'Virginia  City'  (Nevada) 
'Enterprise' at $25.00 per week. Thus began his writing career.

     Twain worked for several papers commenting upon frontier life and 
character.  He published his first book of short stories and  sketches 
on May 1, 1867, and traveled to the Holy Land on a pleasure excursion. 
The letters he sent back from this trip were published in a  newspaper 
and  he began to have a following of readers who appreciated his  wit, 
humor, and philosophy. Because of his travels and relative poverty, he 
had  failed to keep up his dues, but he was reinstated into his  Lodge 
on  April 24, 1867. He left for the Holy Land on June 8 and  while  in 
the Middle East, he obtained a piece of cedar from Lebanon and had  it 
fashioned  into a gavel while he was in Egypt. He bought a  Bible  for 
his mother and dated it 9-24-67, and returned to America  mid-November 
of that year.

     He presented the gavel to his Lodge in St. Louis on april 8, 1868 
with this note: "This mallet is a cedar, cut in the forest of Lebanon, 
whence  Solomon  obtained the timbers for the temple."  Denslow  says, 
"Clemens cut the handle himself from a cedar just outside the walls of 
Jerusalem."  Twain demitted from his Lodge on October 8, 1868 and  two 
weeks  later contracted with the American Publishing Co. for his  book 
'Innocents  Abroad;  or The New Pilgrims Progress' which came  out  on 
July  20,1869. This is an ironic title for the reason that the  author 
of the original 'Pilgrim's Progress' (1678) was also a Freemason.

     The  Masonic  career of Mark Twain was probably  ended  with  his 
demitting  -  for  the reasons only he will fully know  -  as  Denslow 
states that there is no evidence that he affiliated with another Lodge 
while he lived in Hartford, CT during the rest of his life. But,  this 
statement   may  be  premature  because  this  subject  still   awaits 
exhaustive  research. At any rate, it will become clear  that  Masonic 
principles and allusions appear in many of the writings of Mark Twain.

                  Masonic Allusions in Twain's Works

     Twain's first widely read book was 'Innocents Abroad', and in  it 
he  shares  his  thoughts:  "And down towards the  south  east  lay  a 
landscape   that  suggested  to  my  mind  a  quotation   (imperfectly 
remembered, no doubt):

                 "The Ephraimites, not being called upon  to 
              share  in  the rich spoils of  the  Ammonitish 
              war, assembled a mighty host to fight  against 
              Jeptha,  Judge of Israel; who, being  apprised 
              of  their approach, gathered together the  men 
              of Israel and gave them battle and put them to 
              flight.  To make his victory the more  secure, 
              he stationed guards at the different fords and 
              passages  of the Jordan, with instructions  to 
              let  none pass who could not  say  Shibboleth. 
              The  Ephraimites, being of a different  tribe, 
              could not frame to pronounce the word  aright, 
              but  called  it Sibboleth, which  proved  them 
              enemies and cost them their lives;  wherefore, 
              forty  and two thousand fell at the  different 
              fords and passages of the Jordan that day"  p. 
              518.

     The humor here, of course, is that Twain had a Bible on hand  and 
could have quoted the passage, but he was referring to the use of  the 
scripture in a F.C. lecture where it is spoken from memory.

     Another  early  reference  to  Masonic  ideas  is  found  in  his 
wonderful,  third  book  (if one does not count  the  1871  'Burlesque 
Autobiography') 'Roughing It' which came out in Feb. 1872 and  relates 
his  adventures in Nevada, San Francisco, the Hawaian Islands, and  of 
his first lectures. In it we find this passage relative to the Chinese 
minority  population  on the West Coast whom  Twain  clearly  suggests 
deserve tolerance from the rest of us:

              They  are  quiet, peaceable,  tractable,  free 
              from  drunkeness, and they are as  industrious 
              as  the day is long...As I write,  news  comes 
              that in broad daylight in San Francisco,  some 
              boys  have stoned an inoffensive  Chinaman  to 
              death,  and although a large  crowd  witnessed 
              the  shameful  deed,  no  one  interfered...No 
              Californian  gentleman or lady ever abuses  or 
              oppresses     a    Chinaman,     under     any 
              circumstances...only    the   scum   of    the 
              population    do    it...they    and     their 
              children...and  the policemen and  politicians 
              (p. 391, 397).

     Here  we have that hallmark of Twain - a curious  combination  of 
journalism  and  art used to teach tolerance and  social  justice  for 
those deserving of it and harsh, biting criticism (largely edited  out 
of the foregoing passage to avoid offense) for those deserving of  it; 
but always, an attitude of compassion for all humanity - deserving  or 
not - as we find in this bit of commentary:

              So I learned then, once and for all, that gold 
              in  its  native state is but  dull  ornamental 
              stuff,  and that only low-born  metals  excite 
              the   admiration  of  the  ignorant  with   an 
              ostentatious  glitter. However, like the  rest 
              of the world, I still go on underrating men of 
              gold  and glorifying men of mica.  Commonplace 
              human nature cannot rise above that (p. 208).

     Twain's  next book, 'Sketches Old and New' (July 1875)  contains, 
as  the  title suggests, materials published previously and  some  new 
material.  Some of the pieces are quite amusing  ("Raising  Chickens," 
for  example),  but most "would better have been allowed to  die,"  as 
Twain declared later. The one exception is "A True Story" beginning on 
page 202. This poignant tale relates the story of a good-humored Black 
woman who, when asked if she has ever known suffering recalls her days 
in  slavery when she had her husband children torn away from her  with 
one  joyful moment given back. The charm and realism break all  "color 
barriers;"  then as now, it is a story full of humanity and  could  be 
nothing less than true.

     In  1876,  one  of his most endearing and  enduring  works,  'Tom 
Sawyer',  was published. It has the curious preface which  alludes  to 
Tom  being  like  the "composite" form in architecture.  In  the  F.C. 
degree, we are informed that the composite is "more ornamental, if not 
more beautiful, than the Corinthian...the Corinthian enriched with the 
Ionic...[it has] nothing but what is borrowed" (p. 95(. Twain may have 
been suggesting that Tom was not autobiographical per se, but that  he 
and  his adventures are borrowed from those of Twain's  playmates  and 
made   more   interesting  for  the  purpose  of   entertainment   and 
instruction. A further Masonic allusion to be found in 'Tom Sawyer' is 
the fearful "cave" scene wherein Tom seeks light while having a cable-
tow around his body. He finds light and emerges from the darkness less 
adolescent, more mature, than when he an Becky Thatcher entered it and 
frolicked.

     From  1877 through 1879, Twain worked upon two  projects;  namely 
the  novel 'Prince and the Pauper' and the nonfiction account  of  his 
recent  tour of Europe and the Middle East. A Tramp Abroad. His  style 
in  the latter is much more developed and focused than in his  earlier 
"Innocents"  book; moreover, his anti-Roman Catholicism is tempered  a 
little.  Some  of  the more interesting material  found  in  'A  Tramp 
Abroad'  (3-13-80)  occurs  when he digresses to  his  childhood.  For 
instance, the story of Nicodemus Dodge stems from Twain's  experiences 
in  a  Missouri printing office and teaches the  reader  (among  other 
things) that Freemasonry is not a religion:
                          Nicodemus Examined

                 "Do  you think you would like to learn  the 
              printing business?"
                 "Well, I don't re'ly k'yer a durn what I do 
              learn, so's I git a chance fur to make my way. 
              I'd jist as soon learn print'n 's anything."
                 "Can you read?"
                 "Yes, - middlin'."
                 "Write?"
                 "Well,  I've seed people could lay over  me 
              thar."
                 "Cipher?"
                 "Not  good  enough to keep store,  I  don't 
              reckon, but up as fur as twelve-times-twelve I 
              ain't no slouch. 'Tother side side of that  is 
              what gits me."
                 "Where is your home?"
                 "I'm f'm old Shelby."
                 "What's     your     father's     religious 
              denomination?"
                 "Him? O, he's a blacksmith."
                 "No,  no, - I don't mean his trade.  What's 
              his religious denomination?"
                 "O, - I didn't understand you befo'. He's a 
              Freemason."
                 "No-no, you don't get my meaning yet.  What 
              I mean is, does he belong to any church?"
                 "Now you're talkin'! Couldn't make out what 
              you  was a tryin' to git through yo'  head  no 
              way.  B'long to a church! Why boss  he's  ben' 
              the  pizenest kind of a Free-will Babtis'  for 
              forty  year.  They airn't no  pizener  ones'n' 
              what he is. Mighty good man, pap is. Everybody 
              says  that.  If they said  any  diffrunt  they 
              wouldn't  say it whar I wuz, - not  much  they 
              wouldn't."

                 "What is your own religion?"
                 "Well, boss, you've kind o' got me, thar, - 
              and  yit  you hain't got me  so  mighty  much, 
              nuther.  I think't if a feller  he'ps  another 
              feller  when he's in trouble, and don't  cuss, 
              and  don't  do no mean things, nur  noth'n  he 
              ain'  no business to do, and don't  spell  the 
              Savior's  name  with  a  little  g,  he  ain't 
              runnin' no resks, - he's about as saift as  if 
              he b'longed to a church."
                 "But suppose he did spell it with a  little 
              g, - what then?"
                 "Well, if he done it a-purpose, I reckon he 
              wouldn't stand no chance - he oughtn't to have 
              no  chance,  anyway, I'm most  rotten  certain 
              'bout that."
                 "What is your name?"
                 "Nicodemus Dodge."
                 "I think maybe you'll do, Nicodemus.  We'll 
              give you a trial, anyway."
                 "All right."
                 "When would you like to begin?"
                 "Now."
                 So,  within ten minutes after we had  first 
              glimpsed  this nondescript he was one  of  us, 
              and with his coat off and hard at it. pp. 225-
              226.

     After  the  death  of the American  Publishing  Company's  owner, 
Elisha Bliss, and Twain's growing dissatisfaction over  profit-sharing 
arrangements,  Mark  sent  his next manuscript, 'The  Prince  and  the 
Pauper' to the James R. Osgood Company. Although Twain supplied all of 
the production capital and paid the company 7 1/2 % of the gross sales 
for selling it, the book did well for him. It came out in December  of 
1881  and  is  one  of  his  most  charming  and  instructive   tales, 
contrasting  as  it does equality and sham class  distinctions.  Paine 
considers  it fantasy, but it is consistent in its morality and  quiet 
humor.  In  it,  a king and a beggar trade places  -  one  learns  the 
cruelty  of  his  own edicts and the value of mercy;  the  other,  how 
externalities seem to be judged as being more important than  internal 
qualities. Paine remarks that "only genius could create such a story." 
The book begins with this quotation from Shakespeare:

              The quality of mercy...is twice 
                 bless'd
              It blesseth him that gives, and
                 him that takes
              "Tis mightiest in the mightiest: it
                 becomes
              The throned monarch better
                 than his crown.

     Masonically,  the  tenet  of  "Relief" and  the  "points  of  our 
entrance"  (or cardinal virtue) of "justice" are prevalent  throughout 
this  title. Leaving out the minor work, 'The Stolen  White  Elephant' 
(1882), we shall turn our attention to the final book of Twain's early 
career   which   is  also  his  most   important,   artistically   and 
historically, pre-Huckleberry Finn work.

     In  May  1883,  Twain again used the Osgood & Co.  to  produce  a 
lavishly  decorated  and  illustrated piece  entitled,  'Life  on  the 
Mississippi'. The book narrates Twain's recent trip up the river,  but 
is  mingled with his recollections of his "piloting" days.  This  book 
solidified Twain's reputation as a serious author. Thomas Hardy agreed 
when  he  asked, "Why don't people understand that Mark Twain  is  not 
merely  a  great humorist? He is a very remarkable fellow  in  a  very 
different  way."  The  difference is Twain's love  of  Truth  and  his 
compassion  for  the  Human condition.  Even  the  illustrations  have 
something to say about human relations, as can be seen here (p. 259).

     The  story of the River revisited is interesting for the  Masonic 
student  as it recounts the rise of the Pilot's Association - a  guild 
which   became  a  powerful  economic  and  social  force  with   many 
similarities to operative Freemasonry (including lengthy  examinations 
before two licensed pilots). Indeed, if the Civil War had not  brought 
the  craft  to a standstill to be replaced by rail  roads,  one  might 
speculate  that a minister would have come along and would  have  seen 
the  allegorical  in river navigation,  thereby  creating  speculative 
piloting!   Chapters  14  and  15  are  essential  reading  for   this 
interesting piece of Americana. Also in this book, Twain pokes fun  at 
the annual ritual of having the oldest Freemason come out and walk  in 
the civic parade.

     It is clear that Mark Twain could not be called a Masonic  writer 
in the same way that Kipling, Doyle, or Burns could be thus  labelled. 
However,  the essential truths in Freemasonry would exist even if  the 
Craft did not. They are elements of the one great universal Truth, and 
Twain  was  clearly and persistently reflecting  and  exploring  those 
ideals  in his writings. This, combined with the fact that he  did  go 
through the degrees of Freemasonry and occasionally made reference  to 
our  Fraternity  makes  reading of his  life  work,  worthwhile.  More 
importantly,  though,  the  Twain  canon contains  some  of  the  most 
charming,  witty,  and  thought-providing  literature  written  by  an 
American. The original and early editions of his books are printed  in 
large  type  and  profusely  illustrated;  these  are  available  from 
antiquarian bookdealers throughout the country and will give a  reader 
the best possible introduction to "the Lincoln of our literature."

                    *****************************

     The  author  invites those persons  with  additional  information 
regarding  Mark Twain and his Masonic career to call him toll-free  as 
interest in the subject may prompt an article upon Twain's later works 
and life. Telephone: 1-800-228-1943, or (414)657-1943.

               

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