The daily morning journal and courier., 1897-12-17
MARK TWAIN'S SPEECH.

How He Complimented the Grand Old
 German Tongue.
 Mark Twain was recently invited to press club dinner in Vienna, and there made a speech In German. The New York "JournaT' prints the speech in German, and the following trans lation:
 Tt has me deeply touched, my gentle men here so hospitably received to be. From colleagues out of my own pro- fession in this from my own home so far distant land. My heart Is full of gratitude, but my poverty of German, words forces me to greater economy of the expression. Excuse you, my gentle men, that I read off, what you I say will
 "The German language speak I not good but have numerous connoisseurs me assured that I her write like an angel. Maybe-maybe--I know not. Have until now no acquaintance with angels had. That comes later-when it the dear God please-it has no hurry.
 Since long my gentlemen, have I the. passionate longing nursed speech on German. Men who no feeling for the I art had laid me ever hindrances in the way and made naught my desire-some- times by excuses often by force. AL ways said these men to me: Keep you still, your highness! Silence! For Gods sake seek another way and mans yourself obnoxious to make!"
 Tn the present case. as usual it is me difficult become, for me the permission to obtain. The committee sorroWed deeply, but 1t could me the permission not grant on account of a law which from the Concordia demands she shall the German language protect. Du liebe Zeit HoWso had one to me this say t-dared-should? I am in deed the truest friend of the German language-and now only now, but from long since-yes, before twenty years al- ready. And never have the desire had the noble language to hurt; to the con- trary, only wished she to imprOve-I would her only reform. It is the dream of my life been. I have already visits by the various German governments paid and for contracts prayed. I am now to Austria in the same task come l would only some changes effect. would only the language method-the D, press The eternal parenthess sup press, do away with annihilate; the in- 1 troduction of more than thirteen sub- iects in one sentence forbid; the verb so | far to the front pull that one it without | a telescope discover can. With one word my gentlemen, when you her for l prayer need one her wonder up under- stands.
 q beseech you, me yourself counsel to let, execute these mentioned reforms. Then will you an elegant language pos sess, and afterward, when you some thing say will, will you at least yourself understand what you said had. But often nowadays, when you a mile-long sentence from you given and you your self somewhat have rested, then must you a touching inquisitiveness, have yourself to determine what you actual ly spoken have. Before several days has the correspondent of a local paper a sentence constructed which hundred and twelve words contain and therein I were seven parentheses smuggled in and the subject seven times changed Think you only, my gentlemen, in the course of the voyage of single sen tence must the poor, persecuted, fa- tigued subject seven times change posi- tion!
 Now, when We the mentioned re. forms execute, will it no longer so bat be. DOch nOch eins. I might gladly thC separable verb also little bit reform might none do let what Schiller did he has the whole history of the Thirty