I didn’t attend his funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it. Ebenezer Rockwood Hoar (February 21, 1816 – January 31, 1895) was an influential American politician, lawyer, and justice from Massachusetts.
Long attributed to Mark Twain but this article debunks that.
The orginal cite is from a Boston Post article cited in the article noted above.
Boston Post.—The Hon. E. R. Hoar did not love Phillips over much in his later years. It is now reported of him that while the remains of the great agitator were awaiting the final ceremonies a distinguished Cambridge gentleman asked him if he was going to attend Wendell Phillips’s funeral. “No,” was the reply, “but I approve it!”
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Stories and Quotes from the Mind* and Keyboard of A.A.Forringer 
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