The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1898-04-28
M UNsEYs NAaAzINr IL

IN uNsEl'S MAGAZINE for April
IL remarks, not altogether regret.
fully The Mark Twain we used ,o
know, the Mark Twain Of The limo.
cents Abroad OF bis short stonea
isn't ia existence any longer Ia mt
place We have a man who writes baofs.
but We wish ho would wrils what he
wants 20, instead Of what ha fauairs
tho world wants him to write The
lnnocents' was the spontaneous fau Of
y young man with q giit ut humor.
Resl humnr ot the early Marx Twain
variety is not only q fine thiug ia it.
self, bat 1t Is an Indication OK spme.hng
infinitely finer Ii goes to the very
root Of human nature It is probable
that, had Mr Clemens never met with
revorsoa Of fortune he would have
taken the time to dt down and mt
upon paper the book ho wanted to
write He did something that pleased
him IN his Joan OF Arc, but that wai
not the best in him. His last book
Following the Equator is interesting.
but 1t would have been thousand
tlnea more interesting II Mr Clemens
could have forgotten, and tho world
could have forgotten. that he had writ
ten funny book Of travels before,
In the normal course Of development
a man almost inevitably undergoes
radical changes not only in his taste,
style and sympathioa but also in hla
habitual point of view or philosophy of
life, These changes win be. Of course.
by the character OF ones culture aud
experiences but they are the natural
consequences Of maturity, with an az.
companying sobriety Of Judgment.
Youth is the season Of romance and
poetry, and It has been well said that
every man Is poet once. In the great
majority Of instances Chat state OF mind
takes its departure with loves young
dream, never 10 return, and 1t Is not
80 easy to make poetry after ono hos
ceased to be bis own hero and he han
lot the inspiration Of direct personal
relation to his subject II viii be well
for the man at this stage lf be can bo
come broadly philosophic. or at least
cooly scientific, In his studies and POI,
traituro Of he The iupenonal habit
once acquired brings rest and nopentho
for all the pangs Of bruised and NOR.
titled egoisn. There Is however, an
element Of danger in this translation.
SO far, at least, as artistic success iscon
oerned Scientific generalization calls
into existence faculties of wholly
different nature from those employed
in the portraiture Of individuals It ia
true that the novelist is a student Of
types but 20 types. as 10 conceptions of
every form applies that ola ralo of
logic which teaches Chat eytentention
varies inyorsely with intontion, OF
In other words. the greater the number
Of men represented by the typical per
son the fewer the distinctive traits he
can exhibit in that capacity A mis-
take that some great writer's haye
made, and one which humofists espac
Tally are IN danger Of committing con.
sists in forcing their types TO speak
In their representative character exclu.
siyely. The French critic Taine, finds
this element Of weakness in tbe crea
tions Of Dickens, and the most ardent
admirers Of 'tho immortal Boz" must
admit that there is . degree Of justice
In the charge.
Mark Twain's earlier work was never
to DO taken as serious and
exact portraitures Of human life anal
character IBdomlDant note was axag
gerationI and O great part Of its comic
effect depended upon that characteristic
Ieature, The American people have
always found amusemant in any dis
cription Of thing impogdbiy grotesqueI
in itself. or IN tho incongruity of itsI
surroundings gravely and quietly
made as Of some quite ordiuary matter
Of fact II is the contrast between the
manner and The matter Of Che state
ment that delights them Mark Twain
This penchant of IFS coun