NOTEBOOK Dec. ii. Cablegram from Keokuk, la. "Orion died today." He was past 73. Dec. 30. No letter from Mollie yet; we do not know whether it was sudden or not. They went for the summer to a resort just out- side of Vienna. Among the notes of that period are a good many axioms. It is noticeable that Mark Twain had become more bitter following Susy's death. Kaltenleutgeben, July 4, '98. News that Sampson has destroyed the Spanish fleet in the Harbor of Santiago de Cuba; that our troops have closely invested the city and that it must surrender. Also that our transport fleet has at last arrived at Manila. Dr. E. S. Parker and Corneil Dunham are here to enjoy this news with us. A person (Satan) who for untold centuries has main- tained the imposing position of spiritual head of 4/5 of the human race, and political head of the whole of it, must be granted the possession of executive abilities of the highest order. In his large presence the other popes and politicians shrink to midgets for the microscope. He hasn't a single salaried helper; the Opposition em- ploy a million. Some men worship rank, some worship heroes, some worship power, some worship God, and over these ideals they dispute—but they all worship money. There is no law in the Bibles and the Statute Books limiting the appetites and the passions that has any but one function, to wit: to limit the law of God. 343