ABSTRACT
ThewordtofitMarkTwainisnoteasilyfound.Tosayofhimthat hewasahumourististopervertlanguage.Comic-attimesirresistibly so-perhaps;butnothumorous.Thecomicmoodisnowherenearto humour.Hisbestworkisamereoverflowofmentalgoodspirits;and, unlessthereaderbeequallyfull-bodied,hemayfindhimselfdepressed fromsheerreaction.HewasfirstamongthefunnymenofAmerica-a countrywhichcanneverbecomeseriouslymindedorreflectiveenough toproduceahumourist.Hisspiritandtonewereveryneartothoseof ourowncomicpress.Thisisnotthetimeforhumour.Peoplewantto beamusedboisterously,andpaytheirfunnymentothatend,justas themediaevalbaronpaidhisfool.
