Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1873-12-27
MARK TWAIN ON WOMAN.

Mark Twain, the we'll known humorisi, re-
piled to the toast Of the ladies at the festival OF
Der l.. In doing so, he said IL am proud, in
spond to this especial toast, TO 1.-The Ladies, or
able term, perhaps; it Is certainly the older, and
therefore the more entitled to reverence.
(LsuRhtefl have noticed that the Bible,
with that plain blunt honesty which IL such .
Is always particular to never refer to even the
illustrious mother Of m snkind herself rs Q
'1ady, |" but speaks of her as 9 woman. Laugh
teri IL IL odd, but you will ind II is so. 1 am
peculiarly proud Of this honor, because think
that the toast to woman is one which, by right
and by every rule Of gsllautry, should take pre-
Of even royalty itself, perhaps, though the lat
ter is not necessary in this day and In this land,
for the reason that, tacitly, you do drink q
broad general health to al All good women Tss1
and the Princess of Wales. loud cheers.) /
have in mind poem Just now which is familiar
to you all, familiar to everybody. And what
an1nspiration that was land how instantly the
present toast recalls the verses to all our minds)
when the most noble, the most gracious, the
purest, and sweetest of all poets says:
woman. o woman!-or-
daughter -however, you remember the lines;
and you remember how feelingy, how datntily,
how almost imperceptibly the verses rise up
before you, feature by feature, the ide al of a
template the finished marvel, your homage
grows into worship of the intellect that could
create so fair q thing out of mere breath, mere
words. And yen call to mind now as speak
how the poet, with stern fidelity to the history
Of all humanity, delivers this beautiful child of
his heartand his brain over to the trials and the
SORROWS that must come to all sooner or later
that abide in the earth; and how the pathetic
story culmiu ites in that apostropbe-so Wild, so
regretful, so full of mournful retrospection.
The lines run thus:
Observation-Disclosures
AIMS! alas,'
and so on. Laughter.) / do not remember
the rest; but, taken altogether, it seems to me
that the poem lie the noblest tribute to won An
that human genius has ever brought forth
(lsughter)-and feel that If I were to talk
hours could not do my great theme completer
or more graceful justice than have now done
in simply quoting that poets matchless words.
lRenewed laughter2 The phases Of the wo-
any type of woman, and you shall find in it
something to respect, something to admire,
something to love. And you shall find the
whole joining you heart and hand. Who was
more patriotic than Joan of Arc? Who was
Drawer? Who has given us grander instance
Of self-sacriHcing devotion? All, you remem-
what great tidal wave Of grief swept over US
all when Joan OF Arcfell at Waterloo. Much
laughter.) Who does not sorrow for the loss of
us does not miss the gentle ministratons. the
softenipg influences, the humble piety of Luz
cretia Borgia? QLaughter.) Who can Join in
the heart1ess libel that says woman Is extrava-
CANT i'm dress when he can look back and call to
mind our simple and lewly mother Eve arrayed
in her modification of the Highland costume.
(Roars of laughter.) Sir, women have been SOL
diers; women have been painters; women have
been poets. As long as language lives the name
of Cleopatra will live. And not because she
conquered George III.-(laughter) but because
she wrote those divine lines
"Ietdogs delight to bark and bite,
For God hath made them co."
More laughter.) The story of the world is
adorned with the names of illustrious ones of
our own sex-some of them sons Of st. Andrew,
too-Scott, Bruce, Burns, the warrior Wallace,
Ben News laughter the gifted Ben Lomond
and the great new ScOtchman, Ben Dsrseli
lGreat laughter) Out OF the great plains of
history tower whole mountain ranges of sublime
womeD-the Queen of Sheba, Josephine, Semi
ramis, Sairey Camp; the list Is endless-(lauyh-
ter)-but i will not call the mighty roll, the
names rise up in your own memories at the
deeds that cannot die, halowed by the loving
worship of the good and the true of all epochS
and all climes (Cheers.) Suffice it for our
pride and our honor that we in our day have
added to 1t such names as those of Grace Darl-
ing and Florence Nightingale. (Cheers.) wo-
long suffering, trustful, unselfsh, full of gem
erous impulses. 1t is her blessed mission to
comfort the sOrrowing, plead for the erring,
encourage the faint OF purpose, succor the dis
tressed, uplift the fallen, befriend the friend
less-in a word, afford the healing of her SYM
pathies and home in her heart for all the
bruised and prosecuted children OF misfortune
that knock at its hospital door. (Cheers) And
when say God bless her, there Is none among
us who has known the enObling affection of a
wife or the steadfast devotion of q mother, but
in his heart will say, Amen! loud and pro-