The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1867-06-14
Mark Twain and Anna Dickinson.

Mark Twain" in late correspondence
from New York, thus sketches Miss Dickin-
son and her style of speaking. We quote from
the Alta Californian:
L went to hear this famous lecturer the other
night, and was nightly pleased. She spoke in
the Cooper Institute, to an audience Of 2 500
persons. Peter Cooper brought her on the
stage and Horace Greeley introduced her
She had on heavy, cherry-colored silk dress,
cut very plainly, and lace cravat and cuffs.
Her thick, straight hair is short-only Just
touches her collar behind. Her dress was suit
ed to middle-aged person, her hair to girl,
and her face to one sometimes, and sometimes
to the other. cannot possibly guess her age
she looked old at first, and young upon a
better acquaintance. However, she cannot be
over twenty-five or twenty-three TIL IRE is
nothing especially noticeable about her fea-
lures, taken in detail, except that her eyes look
rather unusually deep set. She talks fast,
uses no notes whatever never hesitates for a
word, always gets the right word in the right
place, and has the most perfect confidence in
herself Indeed, her sentences are remarkably
smoothly woven and felicitous Her vim her
energy, her determined look, her tremendous
earnestness, would compel the respect and at
tention of an audience even in Chinese-would
convince third of them, too, even though she
used arguments that would not stand ANALYSIS.
She keeps close to her subject, reasons well.
and makes every point without fail. Her prose
poetry charms, her eloquence thrills her path
os often moves to tears er hsatire cuts to the
q1ick, and she hath certain grim humor that
sHords an uneasy sort of enjoyment-uneasy
because one feels that when she lightens that
way she Is going to storm directly
She has got one defect which YOU NAV no.
tce IA al women who make speeches-fre-
g0eNs.g after she has got her audience wrought
up ready to explode with ENTHUSIASM she does
not spring her grand climax upon them at the
precious instant, but drags toward it so slowly
that py tne tline sne reaches it they are nearly
again. But perhaps she does not want an
plause-she never stops for it at anv rate hit
goes on talking in the midst of it.
The aim of her speech was to call the attain.
ton of the people to the meager number Of
avenues to an honest livelihood that are per-
mitted to women, and the drudging, unintel-
lectual character of these employments, and
to demand, as simple justice to her sex, that
the avenues may be multiplied till women
may cara their bread elsewhere than in kiteh-
s en- ana tSctofles without unsexing themselves.
She did her work well; she made speech
worth listening TO-
:. hef sarcasm bites. do not know but what
ILLS her best card. She will make a right ven.
oM l9 old maid some day, I'm. afraid. She
isot SUI, sue was arguing upon her favorite SUBJ
J1o' WIN sen sufficient youth one day, and
she sllenced his guns one after another. Til at
last ne staked his all upon one powerful prop
osition; Would you have all women strong
mlnaedT" MOP she numbered; "God forbid
tnaI tne millions Of men of Jour caliber that
eumber the earth should be doomed to travel
It's weary ways unmatedp'
MISS Dichinson is paid very high figures for
occurring, ana does good deal OF it. She has
99rudged Win her hands, though, in her day.~
tn ss,u me nls. money she ever cared was
They say she was born in PhiladeInb;s h,,t atn
says nyther and ither like women fro, ~ s,iS
the Atlantic, and wanders into hronuy eno
quentiy that sounds very like Irish -'e