The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1869-08-31
LITERATURE.


American Publishing Company.
One OF the most decided failures In the shape OF
recreation was the excursion on board the steam.
ship Quaker City In 1857. A Marx Twain has 1t,
''tne pleasure ship synagogue and the pleasure
trip was funeral excursion without q corpse" In
word, majority OF the tourists were too proper N
their ideas. Imagine . mortal full Of life and ac-
tivify, overlooking with love Of fun and jollity,
forced to spend several weeks In the company OF
men whose highest delight IL the singing OF psalm
and whose most entertaining conversation rela tes
to the exact spot where Noah's ark landed and one
can appreciate the position OF the few
l2ht.hearted passengers during the memorable
excursion. The saying OF prayers Is most
oommendable thing but too much praying is q srihe
monotonous. In his dry, droll way, Mark TWAIN
has described the events that transpred during the
voyage. Several attempts OF advertisement were
made. Horse billiards were INDUCED In unsuccess-
fully, dancing proved utter failure, magic
lantern exhibition displayed az Its first picture -
view OF Greenwood Cemetery" which, doubtless,
cast damper upon all save the very pous; mock
trial afforded some sport The success OF ali these
however. was but limited. Even the music and
singing were remorselessy put down as a nuisance
The onl- entertainment which proved the least
agreeable was the acting OF charades. which was
tried ION several evenings by the young gentlemen
and ladies', IN the cabins, and proved the dis
tngulshed success Of all the amusement expert
ments." The Quaker City experienced severe head
winds and the pilgrims went TO praying Tor lair
wind much to the disgust Of the executive Officer
VINO referred TO the fact that for one vessel going
east at that time OF tho year there were tousand
coming west who would meet with head Winds
II the excurslonists' prayer was answered.
In spite OF his Efforts Marx TWAIN has not been
abla to invest with than ordinary interest the
Fri on sea an n aa ma, IA an A ts
great praise for him when we say that he has made
1t readable. That and others lixe him dla
Of en,aut Is almost wonderful. But when he lands
on terra J''nad once again all the pentup pleasantly
Is let loose and he fairly revels in han0r aud
dro.ery. The civilization and traditions OF the Old
World do not Ill MS soul With reyerentia ave. Ola
pictures, old buildings and old statuery regards.
Tor the most part rs gigantic humouss. n visit to
the famous places OF Italy does not excite his en-.
tbuslasm; 1t merely develops q new lund OF jOcu.
larity. In Rome ne visits che Coliseum ana writes
ABOUT the gadlatofj, the martyrs ana the Mons, anu
reoices that ne 10 "he only free White man Of ma.
cred to make Roman holiday" la connection with
what ne writes about since Byron originated the
expression. Rome ne declares q bore, and while on
the SUBJECT OF mOnotony Obsertes:-
In this connection wish 10 say about Michael
man who s III sens
Ing sculpture sa IN ~
for dnnsrIor .saafor superior between
% N Be
thing; he designed the Lake Como In Pad1a Verona,
Slsaasl Snssss i Esrsas: ss painted sssis.sss
s.s g * on nearly so sns wSa he ala nS
they showed The stone In psa desgned everything
thar him % ai Sso .rfay ys gu.
hs SSs La as On d as Ps 5 and
hee is frishtfu lie designed ST. Peters
C o, a'
the %ay hs & tue
Of csracaa the Ciaa,lan Agacdac; the Cioaos NatimA
@
iaa sA the Creator made
Becoming Disguised with the guides the party
evidently not the pious members inciuded) revenge
themselves by playing the role OF imbeciity aud by
the question is put "By Michael Angelo ~ A letter
written by Christopher Columbus IL pronounced
wretched piece Of penmanship. Afterwards a bust
OF the discOverer III shown, and the guide asked
II Christopher Columbus - deadl lie answers
Lob, soEpo a. BacshSI three hundred year."
.s@ NO hOe ka aSini !" SAnn0' tell"
al DO know, gcutselmen. do no. know wha, he
"asy S s,m may BEL do no, know. think he die of
sRsIsn!: I n;Sins Z.
Ah which il the bust and which is the pedestal p"
'Sansa Nara Bis re bust zis re psdssdai p'
Nothing disgusted the guides so much as "after
to and praisns the beauties OF some bronze
image or 6roken-legged statuen for the party las
they DID .Iook ct Il stupidity for five, ten nfseen
consciously paid them back. He went to the MOTEL lie,
In endeavoring to describe to the landlord who he
meant "nnisned with the casual remark that we
We cannot follow the author In all his wanderings.
Wherever he went the ludlcr0us or ridiculous rea-
lures Of the country arrested his attention, render
Inn N q IN fttlaY
most serious descriptions are suddenly merged Into
solemn burlesque. Passing &ll else over we come to
work some over.plous and faatidioas critics have
condemned because. as they urge, Of Its leyty. We
cannot nnd ANYTHING 30 very irreveient IN mis- &C
count He merely insists upon taking comical view
OF the situation. Indeed, he himself admits that the
surroundings made 1t impossible for what men call
serious thoughts" Referring to his visit 70 Judea,
he says
You cannot think Ia this place any than you In
ANY other In Palestine that would be likely to inspire reec
ton. BeggaTs crpples and monks compass and
make you hluk only backsheesh you rather
spot
His DISAPPOINTMENT at the appearance OF the Holy
Land Is not unnatural, when we consider how it mas
been exaggerated by writers. now many persons
are there who do not think Of the river JORDAN
stream OF watq OF surprising grandeur aud who
would not be disappointed when they discovered 1t
to be "only ninety miles long and 30 crooked that
man does not know which slde OF 1t he IL half the
grave statement that the party looked everywhere
as VIC passed along but never saw grain or crystal
OF Lots WIFE," although to some this sentence
might seem somewhat irreverent. Here and there
we lind passages which might have been lett out
without injury TO the WORK. The author, however,
evidently has no respect for tisditon-nUt even for
Bible tradition. After swallowing all the free think
Ing and ratioDalstic emanatlODs OF the day, We shall
not strain over rev paragraphs, which, IL not
marked by austere piety, need not necessarily be
regarded as sacrilege II the Holy Land did nos in-
spire the author with enthusiastic emotions we
nave no doubt 1t was because the Holy Land has
been persistenty lied about by nearly ali other
authors.
But aside from religious traditions aud the light
treatment OF them, this Is a book which must be
read 10 be thoroughly enjoyed. Unlike the MAJOR
Ivy OF American humorists, Mark TWAIN never
INDUCES In bad spelling and worse grammar, which
vugarities most frequently comprise the Joke. Ho
uses nothing but good Anglo-Saxon, and when tho
readers laugh as they will many tunes over aud
over, merrlment arises solely from tho subject
written OF, not from the manner In which II ~ writ
ten. and Is therefore all the more enjoyable. ''tho