The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1911-06-06

culation. and sham: and breathe glad
ly the fresh and bracing air of sinceri-
ty. sanity, and wisdom. The stevedore
on the dock, the motor-man on the
street car, the newsboy on the street,
the TlFer-man on the Mississippi-all
speak With exuberant affection in
OF the quaint figure in his
wnlte soir his ruddy face shining
through al OF tobacco smoke
and surmounted by a great halo Of sill
very hair. In one day, as Mark Twain
was fond of relating, an emperor and
a porter Wed with each other in tri-
butes of admiration and esteem for
this man and his works"
Though DR.. Henderson ranks the
works OF Mark Twain among the i'm
perishable glories of American litera-
ture, yet was it not, after all, the
Man rather than his works that cap
tured the heart of the world. The
man, Samuel L Clemens, was greater
than any of the works Of Mark Twain.
| do not know what DR.. Henderson
would say to this proposition but I
do know that he has confirmed it in
making his chapter on The Man" the
best and most interesting chapter in
his ooh Says he, in bringing this
chapter to a close:
"As an American, I can say nothing
mere significantly characteristic of the
man than that he was a good citizen.
He possessed in rich measure the con-
s~clousness or personal responsibility
FOR the standards, government. and
ideals or his town, his city, and his
Civic -cOnscientiousne ss burn
ed strong within him.; and he fought
to develop and to maintain breadth of
public view n sanity of popular
ideals. Blind patriotism was impOssi-
bic for this great American; he ex-
6nop no YY, f-oI md
thusiasms and the narroWness Of
rampant spread-eagleism, without re-
gard for consequence to himself or
his popularity. What a tribute to h,s
p personality that, instead of suffering.
he gained in popularity by his honest
and downright outspokenness! He
welded the lash of his bitter scorn
doer, the -hypocrit, the fraud; and
aroused public opinion to impotence
With public abuse, open offence, and
official discourtesy.
Samuel Langhorne Clemens i'm
pressed me as the most complete and
human individual I have ever known.
be was not a great thinker; his views
were not advanced The glory of his
temperament was it's splendid sanity,
balance and normality. The homeliest
Virtues of life were his-the republi :
can virtue Of simplicity; the domestic
virtue of personal purity n passion
ately simple regard for the san City
of the marriage bond; the civic vir-ue
Of public honesty; the business virtue
Of stainless private honour. Mark
Twain was one Of the supreme liter
any geniuses Of his time. But he vas
something even more h this. He
was not simply a great genius; he was
a great man." Than this, Mark Twain
has had no finer tribute paid to him.
It Is Of course as a humorist that
MARI Twain IS best known. ITO the
general" says Dr.. Henderson. Mark
Twsin Is first and foremost and cx-
o%Jusfvely, the humorist-with his
shrieking Philistinism. his dominant
sense for the ~colossally incongruols.
his spontaneous faculty for staggering,
ludrfcrous contrast" And yet we are
told that Mark Twain has solemnly
averred that humor is a surect which
has had much interest for him
Is this the truth or is it only an
other instance Of Mark .Twai.l's hu
NOR? One can not escape the cpnvic-
ton tia there is really a deep truth
in the statement. "Humor," as hack
cray has defined 1t, is q combination
/ of wit an. owe. Certain it is that, in
| the case Of Mark Twain, wit was a
/ later development Of his humor the
love was there all the tine. Mark
| Twain has not been recognized as a
| Wit; for he was primarily a hunlorist,
and only secondarily a wit" Yet Mr..
.-hesterton "maintains that Mark
Twain was a wit rather than a IL
| morist." And DR.. Henderson, further
or. in his discussion, is incline. To all,
| NIT it. At least he confesses thai Mark
| Twain was a wit as well as a hui
| morist. He was the author of many
| epigrams and curt aphorisms which
have become stock phrases in CONVEX
| satfon, quoted in all classes Of socie-
t. wherever the English language is
spoken"
Just at the present time there are
at least four people in North Q /
who may not be able to appreciate
the grim humor of Mark Twain s
warming to the two burglars who
stole his silyerWare from "St lrm-
Ffield." we're caught, convicted ann