The evening times., 1898-09-08
MARK TWAIN.
His Literary Tastes the Despair of
His Family and Friends.

Carlyle Smy;he's sketch Of Mark Twain
in the Pail Mall Gazette contains several
interesting bits of information on the
humo-ist'S literary tastes and methods.
OF his own books IT appears that he pre-
fers The Prince and the Pauper" and
Joan Of Arc" and he shows In this and
in other ways that-.,he role Of humorist
is not entirely to his liking. His tenn
permanent. in fact is serious. and he is
most conscientious writer. "A laborious
architel, IN the building Of phrases. Mr..
Smythe calls him. THE rare exception,
in glancing over his manuscripts. is 70
pitch upon line that has not been re-
vised: and this scrupulousness seems TO
grow with each succeeding book" Con
cerning his literary preferences we read:
/ He has gluttonous appetite for books, hut his
taste is the despair OF his family and friends. II
he ever had palate for poetry II has become
atrOphied. was the case with Darwin ara
now the one poet whose works afford him any
pleasure Is Browning whom he reads aloud with
a rare understanding Of tie spirit Of the verse
Roughly speaking. may say that he reads any
/ thing in prose that Is clean and healthy. vet he
has never been able To tnd line IN Fhacke; ay
which interested him. Addison and GoldSnit'.
are thrown away upon him; and Meredith, per
hapS not unnaturally, provokes him to laughter
] asked Mr.. Clemens one day how he explained
this indifference 10 the acknowledged master
craftsmen in his trade The explanation car
didly given was. Il have no really literary taste,
and never had Yet this Is an explanation whose
chief vice is that it fails TO explain; for lie is a
thorough admrer Of Mr.. Stevenson, and reads Nr
Kipling as much for style as for subject. while
have heard him quote both Shakespeare and
/ Tennyson purely out of delight for the melody
| Of the words because, as he says, the phrase
/ tastes good in the mouth. NV own Judgment ls
that this occasional relish for poetic phrase Is
the survival of phrase that has decayed through
| dsuse or become depraved through the reading OF
newspapers TO which he is addicted almost as
| much as TO smoking bad cigars. The latter are a
| bvword among his friends One day. IN search o'
| n smoke he entered a ''cigar divan' in Chelsea,
| where he was living at the time. The tobacconlst
recognizing him. said. m afraid, Mr. twain
| you could not smoke my cigars. I'd ike.
| drawled Mr. Twain, "to see the cigar | couldn
| smoke" Similarly ! should like 20 see the news
paper he could not read This devotion TO news
| papers is. believe the explanation why common
ly he fails hopeessly to appreciate the masters
| in literature; why he could not finish The New
! comes without showing signs Of distress; why
when Prof Brander Matthews recommended
! him Barry Lyndon as monumental work. ano
Mr.. Howells entreated him 10 read ''Esmond, h'
could find 10 interest him in either.
His musical taste and national pred
! Elections are indicated in the following
| He is no musician. although fervid lover o
music; hut beyond strong and natural affectio'
for the simple negro melodies of his native lane
| his taste runs to Wagner. lie once told mi
that he would walk twenty miles to hear Tam
|
| Mr. Clemens has desire TO go to Paris wher
he dies for his prediction among nations. th'
| great republic of course, excluded, is for Ger
| many. This is not merely because OF the op
! portunities for lifelong study which the eccen
tricties and genders of the German language offer
| but because the sober industry and fine lntelil
gence of the people accord with the fundam MIA
| disposition of his mind and character. The
| frivolty of the French is as abhorrent to ms
nature as is their lubrcity; and probably, II yo'
pressed Mark Twain, he would admit that an
article of his creed is that the court language o
hades is French 1t is common among Engh't
people TO assume that the author of "A Connect
| cut Yankee at the Court of King Arthur i
| somewhat cantankerously disposed toward Eng
land. Such is far from being the case. for al
though he laughs at many of the crusted anach
| ronisms in our Constitution, nurturet
| in an American atmosphere needs must, Mari
| Twain's heart is sincere admirer of the Eng
ish and n profound lover OF England II TIL
Democrats ever come into Office again they nigh
do much worse than scend S. L. Clemens to st
| James.