The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1877-08-19

He says:
~. true the man Is not murdered but the interest
tlall think he /. murdered Why hcn should he poke
Sna remark that be tSoaSht he heard his WHY
univ ,o sa n s lm"t T 9csd a Sa the olor
wife give Mellican man hclyl"
Oh. mol Al SIN could have uttered the sage
remark quoted by your critic without the aid Of
any such incident. But 1t has been settled ns a
dramatic law that only the pcrsonagcs, upon
the stage. and not the audience, are to bo de-
ceived in regard to the real positions Of the mp
parent sufferers in drama. This whole question
WAS & a Tae cG s P"w
EiiU O'COuOr alive and well in Mvies's cabin.
inter- she had been apparcntly DROWNED by Dan
worked upon perfectly established lines when
they re,ssusciintcd Pngkcn in the washhousc.
Will The SUN which shines for dramatists as
well as for all other people. kindly permit this
correction ARIEL.
AuG. Z. 1871
Our correspondent. It will be soon. IL nm able
and generous commentator Of Twain. but. like
all commentators. he proves too much. THE
Sun. IN its criticism. as he truly says objected
to An SINS conduct as motivclcss. THE Sun. in
that objection did not charge that Mark Twain
had not attempted to provide a motive. but.
rather. thrt whit he had provided was made
quatc and 0 cure. The facts as presented by
the drama A. these: An Sin is a witness Of the
quarrel between Broderick and Phunkeu. His
sympathies ara with Phu,ket. because. M he
says, Phnkeu has been very good to him. For
this reason. when the miners are playing cards.
he helps Pitnkett to win all Of Brodricks prop
erty hy changing the cards when the players
are not aware of it. BrodTick then attempts to
murder Ptmket. and. apparently. succeeds. 10y
throwing him down a ravine Al SIN Is still a
witness Of the proceedings. lie rescues Phm-
keu secretly. nurses. and saves him in the
retirement Of the wash house. but he allows
BrOderick to think that the man Is murdered.
Now. 1t must be apparent TO Ariel that while
there il n motive for the rescue there s none
for the conccalment unless Mark Twain's mo-
tive is an adequate one. and that motive is
purely mercenary one-Ah Sin keeping one
man in concealmcnt and the other In suspense
until he can determine which Of the two he can
make the most money out Of. In the last act he
produces the man who IL supposed to be muir
dcrcd only when Brode1'ick promises to pay him
handsomely for doing it. Ariel thinks this is
done because PlWket has been kind 10 Al SIN,
and because Mark Twain intended to illustrate
| all sides Of the Chinaman's character. There
| IL not the slightest doubt that such was Mark
Twains intention. but THE Sun has not dis
GUESSED his intention. II has only chroniccd
| his cndeavor. Indeed. THE SUN acknowledged
| that Mark Twain had successfully illustrated
| all sides Of the Chnaman's character-except
| the inside.
| 1t appears to THE Sun now that II Al Sm's
| admission in the middle of the first act that
Phmken is belly good man" IL a sufficient
motive for his conceumcnt of PlipkeN in order
to blackmail Brode1ick as heavily a. possible
1t is also a warrant for all the other puerile
eccentricitics Of the Chinnman. At the end Of
one scene. the miners. having made up their
| minds that Al Sin is himself the murderer Of
| Plunken proceed 10 lynch the frugal laundry
man. He defeats them by jumping upon his
table. filing his mouth with water. and blowing
| them all fiat on their backs. Ariel. 10y analogous
| reasoning will show US. no doubt. that this is
made perfectly cNplcablc 10y the previous
speech Of Al Suts. That speech it, Washec.
| washce.' and. Of course. being washing man.
| his filing his mouth with water. as il his GUS
| tom when sprinkling clothes. and his dis ON
| future of the mob. become at once beautifully
| liirlikc AMI dramatically adequate
Similarly. Ariel proves too much when he
says Mark Twain worked upon perfectly
established lines in resuscitating Phniken in
the wash house, the we'll established lines
| being found in The Colleen Bawn."
| II this excuses the wash house incident il
| also excuses the introdu ton OF Mrs. Malnprop
| for her well-estahllshed lines may be found in
The Rivals In fact it furnishes the sus
| factory explanation OF iwo-thrds vi the play. by
| referring US back to other plays.
| Ariel. W. think. should have been content 20
| accept THE suns view Of All Sin" that il j. a
| pleasant entertainment. without attempting the
| am .ult task Of proving that II IS Il dramatic