New-York tribune., 1889-12-22
A YANKEE At COURT.
MARK TwAIN's NEW BOOK.

Illustrated Charles L. Webster a Co.
rror is oreat promise in the central idea oil MARK
Tvain,s new book, that OF Connecticut ia"Aoo sun
aenlv TRANSPORTED 10 the England OF the sAt century
and TO the Court of King Arthur Inc oppo''u''','
noro Cor nnumerabe droll and grotesque contrasts
- oh,ious Nothing can be funner than the hrst I'M
nrossiops and reflections Of the Yankee when-aiter
bcirq " laid OUT with crowbar in little dlicu''S
~ one of the workmen of the Hartford arms laoor9
Of which he Is superntendent-he opens nis os upO"
a landscape unknown TO him, and nnds hlnseh h,'s
in a field. and a knight in complete armor oehuins
over and examining him. ,o.,
He was in old time iron armor from head to heel
with helmet on his head the shape OF nail-hcs "'
slts in II. and he had shield, and swoid' anu ="
,d,i,s snear. and his horse had armor on, 100,
and steel horn projecting from his Ioreneau, ,nu anu
gorg red and green sn pesry to the ground
g Fair sir, will ye justl" said this ieno"'
Nil NH re try passage of arms for land or lady or
What are you giving met said. Get along
back to a your dorS t6 81 man do but fall back couple
of hundred yards and then come rnss & down nearly
"a his horses neck and his long spear pointed sashe @
ahead / saw he meant business, 50 was up w
''1 lie allowed that was his property, the captive S o
his spear There argument on ms sacnau hmor oo
% Snh OF wn c seS @ nm an Agreement whereby was to
go with him and he was not TO hnrt me Tho side Of
bS horse We marched comfortably along through
clades and over broohs which could not renenner 70
wnndeTNand We we did not come to any circus OF
sign of a circus. so gave up the ldea oi pt vTs m
never came 10 any asylum--so was mp stump, as
YOU may say. ! asked him how far we Were % ac IRON
Hartford lie said he had never heard Oh lhe Piaev
which took TO be a lie. but allowed IL 10 90 ~ ulal
AT the end of hour we saw iaraway pd oD" II a
ing in valley by winding gitS rys towers S,r and turrets
the first had ever ont of a picture
BrIdgeport 7" said |, pointing.
"Camelot.' said lie.
Tho Yankee quite naturally concludes that the
castle is a lunatic asylum. "The moment got
chance I slipped aside privately. and touched an
ancient communicating man OH the shoulder ana
said in an insinuatng. confidential way FRIEND 90
me Kindness Da You belong to the asylum OF are
Won lust here on a VISIT or something like that
lie looked me over stupidly and said Marry thr
sir. meseemetl--' That will do said i reckon
YOU are patlent.'7 BY the use Of Connecticut
shrewdness and an acquaintance with nlnctcehticcn-
tury science the hero vanquishes the magican' whom
he introduces as "Brer Merlin; ovcrawes Artur's
Court and becomes the second parsonage In the king
DOM under the title OF " The Boss
was given the choicest suite OF apartments In
the CASTLE after the kings. They were aglow with
loud colored slhen hangncs, but the si2nt n,o,s haI
nothing but rushes on them Tor a carpet, anu they
were mist rushcs at thai being not all OF one breed
As for convenences, properly speaking Inere weren't
any mean little cOnvenlences; 10 j. the Itle con
venIences that make the real comfort OF life. The
biz oakcn chairs. graced with rude carvings, were
well enough but that was the stopping place. There
was no soap, matches, no looking gldss-cAcept a
metal one. about powerful as pail OF wafer. And
not chrome had been used 70 sgoS s ioT years
for art got worked into the fabric OF my being and
S vS part & G e a. and sandy but SO
barrenness and remember that In our house IN East
Hartford al @ find sn go
or at least thrceco0r God Bless Onr l0ne over the
door; and in the parlor we had nine: But here,
wasn't ANYTHING in the nature Of picture except
thing the size Of a bed quilt. which was either woven
in il was the right color the right shape: and As
for proportions, even Raphael himself couldn't have
tToSe uiehmares ept they cali his celebrated hampton
Court cartoons.T Raphael was a bird. we had soy
OF Fishes where he puts IN a miracle OF hls own
puts three men into canoe which wouldn't have held
dog without upsettlng ! always admired to study
becoming exceedingly popular and powerful. and
working many wonders after fashion most drOll and
fantastic, "The Boss suddenly gets into trouble at
tournament.
sat in the private box set apart for me as the
his turn 10 enter the lists he came In there and s9
down and began TO talk for he always making
have a fresh market for his jokes. the of them
having reached that stage Of wear where the teller
has TO do the laughing himself while the other person
looks sick. had always responded tO his efforts nc
well as ] could, and felt very deep and real kind
Nsf
fate he knew the particular aneCdOte which had
heard ofenest and had most hated and most loathcd
all my life, he had at least spared IL me- n was ono
which had heard attributed To every humorous person
who had stood on American soil from Columns
down to Arcmus Ward. II was about q hum0ron.
lecturer who flooded Ignorant audience with tbe
klngcst Jokes for an hour and never got "a laugh
and then when he was leaving, some gray smplctons
the funniest thing they had heard and II was ali
they could do 10 keep from laughin right ont IN
mcetn'n That anecdOte the day that /,
was worth the telling: and yet ] had sat under thk
telling Of IL hundreds nd thousands and millions and
the way through rhcn who can hope 10 know what
my feelings wcrc 10 hear this 0rmOr plated ass start
In on II again. In the murly twilight Of tradition he
fore the dawn Of history, while even Lactanus might
be referred 10 as the late Lactantus" and the Crn
sades wouldn't be born for five hundred years vel
Just he finished, the call-b0y 80, having
Ike demon, he went attling and canhng out lie
a crate Of loose castings. and knew nothing morr
IL was some minutes before ] came TO- aud then 1
opened my eyes Just IN time 10 sir Gareth fetch
him An awful welt, and uncOnscOnsly out with the
prayer. / hope TO gracious he's kcd.' But By III