ABSTRACT
The Intlocents Abroad; or, The New Pilgrim's Progress, is the title of Mark Twai11's latest appearance between covers. The book is a pollderous one, containing over 650 pages, splendidly illustrated, and produced in the best style of art by the American Publishing Company, of Hartford. No ordinary 'notice' can do justice to this work. In the language of many others, 'it must be seen (and read) to be appreciated.' It is a curious account of the famous Quaker City pleasure trip to the Mediterranean and the Holy Land, which was conceived by and executed under command of Captain Duncan, in the summer of 1867. There were many intelligent sight-seers among 'the innocents;' but few, we are inclined to believe, who got as much out of the trip as did the author of this book. Mark Twain is a born journalist, besides being at the present time first among American humorists. It is, indeed, doubtful if he has ever had an equal; he certainly has not had i11 his line-that of dry, self-contained, unobtrusive and pervading fun. There is no glare in his emanations-no blinding coruscations of wit, which, flashing suddenly upon you, as suddenly go out, leaving you in darkness and uncertainty; no apparent striving after sharp effects; no digging in poor soil for poorer puns. What is said is most natttrally said, and if there is humor in it, it is because the writer could not express it otherwise. Whatever may be the quality of the wine which fills your glass, you never feel that it is being drawn from an empty cask, or that its flavor is at all dependent upon the abundance of its supply. When Mr. Beecher was reprimanded for saying so many funny things in the pulpit, he replied, 'Oh, but if you only knew the number offunny things I do not say!' And this is the impression left upon the reader of Mark Twain. Whatever good things he may choose to fasten with his pen, one cannot but feel that his best things are yet untold. There is one species of poor wit that Mark has not yet found it necessary to attempt, and we trust he never will, and that is poor orthography and worse grammar. It is not to be denied that a telling point may sometimes be made by a violent assault upon the barriers of
'good English.' Artemus Ward achieved some glory in this field; and his literary successor, Josh Billings, sometimes unearths a nugget; but the game thus far has not been worth the candle, and we doubt if it ever will be. At all events, Mark Twain has no such weak necessity, and we arc glad of it. Some portions of the book arc devoted to correct, unexaggerated descriptions of the country, and matters requiring historical accuracy; but there is no pretence, other than of a humorous and extravagant account of a memorable voyage. There will be those who will sec in the descriptions of the Holy Land a conspicuous lack of reverence for sacred associations, and the contrast between this and ordinary guide-books will not need to be pointed out; but the artistic and effectual disposal of the romantic tales of tourists, which have enveloped these scenes with a mysterious beauty and awe not to be penetrated or approached, will be at least satisfactory to the matter-of-fact reader.
