The morning times., 1896-06-07

!
4 writing 9nd ambition came To an
experienced drama,ist, his friend
He came for advice He had finished
two plays, he Sald-OnC d comedy,
the other a serious drama. BE had 10
chance OF ever producing either but with
confident ignorance asked his friend which
play ought TO be produced first. The ad-
vice he Received was to appeal TO the
pubic with the serious play first For -
said the friend, IF the public once ac-
crpt you a. laagh-.uakrr they VIII never
accept YOU except with grim. They VIII
Ice suspicious OF your palnos and cal! 1t
cheap sentiment, and your fine flights
VIII bc discounted as h0WIa>t, aud yoI Wi u,
ut ali events, bc put down as out OF your
element ana As given To cheating your
friends, TO whom you had promised a
laugh 1t VIII he easy. after serious recog-
milton. TO achieve reputation as hI-
mOrisl.' Though II was not praCtiCrd
Icy the youth. the advice was sound. OF
such logic Mark Twain has suffered The
brunt. He began IS the lun-maker. aud
his readers are suspicious when no joke
is apparent But The monotony of laugh
provoking palled on him He yearncd 10
free himself OF ii. He fOreSaw no accept
anCe OF himself except in a testers cap.
SO ne sought refuge III the inCOguito twice
guarded of Sleur Louis de Conte. VINO lived
in far-away DOreluy before America was
discovered. and Jean Francois Alden. of
whom no account i given, a nd stepped him
self in the JOY OF an intimate life of the
most attractive heroine of all history
Joan OF Arc.
When given in Harper'S Magazine the
critics At once saspcioned Il mask, though
they oDG:d NOT al I.iSl uIsJIHgI..Sh a.. Icat-
ures beneath. As the story unfOldcd. the
author betrayed himself in his own selffui-
hess. once the trail was struck it became
Clearer and clearer that Mark Twain was
the author. Still he was silent. He was
conquering with new pen, and was not
sure that the critics would accept him fun
less But they did. The Personal RecoL
leCtions of the Maid of Orleans were
pronounced at once remarkable bit Of
prOXimatP biography. The years had wait
ed for such work. Shallow history had
first done the noble maiden injustice and
then LEFT the dignity and greatness th.,
beauty and sweetness OF her life to rema in
a dry bone of hard assert ion. Mark Twain
has done service 10 history in this delight
ful narrative he ha scnriched literature and
conquered the fun-bunting readers. He
has rescued a heroine from the mist of
hai'lc and the fog Of TeCeding years and
brought her close TO every one. a human.
loya5le, as wen as admirable, maid.
Tins proximity and the naiNette OF SiCur
Louis are the charms that enlist readieSt
SAtHIdtiN- WHICH YOU pause 10 reject tE3l
IL Is Mark TwHin'S recital. You find in the
page continued evidence of idiGSyncrIsieS
hut they are not Sci1-aSsertive, and il is
easy 10 forget everything but The fidelity
Of the hcroiue's page and secretary. This
work should he said To have finally proven
Mark Twain's versatility, which was never
doubted, though never asserted 1t stands
in importance next TO his best other pro-
dtc'ion. Now, happily, the HarperS have
sitcd IL away from magazine flotSa1n
and ictSam, and have constituted il a Unit
for the Individual permanency it deserves
In the library, and the no longer fearful
author proclaims his right and title II
the glory of the apochryphal Sieur LOU.
and NJ Alden.