Ottawa Citizen February 18, 1885

Mark Twain and George W. Cable

It was a happy inspiration on the part of the authors of “Dr. Sever” and
“Huckleberry Finn” to come before the public with readings from these
their latest books, and the enterprise has been welcomed by the public
everywhere with such generous cordiality, that probably nobody feels
quite so happy about it as the distinguished readers themselves.  The
size and quality of the audience gathered in the Opera House to hear
them last evening was certainly all that the entertainers could desire,
while the most of the performance was all that the entertained could
wish, and therefore, when the gathering broke up, it could hardly have
been otherwise than with entire satisfaction all round.  There is a
peculiar fitness in the conjunction of these two literary
constellations, because their talents on the platform are such as to
afford contrast and emphasis the one to the other.  Mr. Clemens is quiet
and conversational in his manner, telling his story in a natural easy
way, that is more suggestive of the smoking-room than the public hall,
while his companion is dramatic and intense to a degree.  With Mr.
Clemens there is no pretence of distinguishing between the different
characters introduced by means of change in tone and manner.  With Mr.
Cable each character is made to stand out – clear and distinct as in a
drama, therefore in alternating with one another as they do at intervals
of fifteen minutes the very oppositeness  of their style tends to
heighten the effect and greatly increases the listener's enjoyment of
both.  Mr. Clemens did not confine himself to “Huckleberry Finn,” but
drew upon others of his works likewise, especially the veracious history
of his travels in Europe known as “A Tramp Abroad.”  Out of the kindness
of his heart he also consented to throw in as an “extra” the pathetic
story of the “Jumping Frog.”  He is an older man than we expected to
see, and both face and frame show signs of hard work, but he knows how
to husband his resources, and is probably not half so tired by an
evening's reading as he would by sitting out a dinner.  In listening to
him read you realize more fully than ever before the power of a single
word.  It was said that Garrick could move an audience to tears by the
utterance of one word.  Mr. Clemens certainly can move them to
uncontrolled laughter by a single noun or adjective.  His humour could
hardly find a better interpreter than he is himself, and his most
devoted readers must have discovered hitherto unsuspected brilliancy in
even their favourite passages.  The same remark applies with equal force
to Mr. Cable.  The very fact of some of his best work being disguised in
an unfamiliar dialect, has probably prevented its being as thoroughly
understood and appreciated as it deserved.  But with himself as
interpreter, any difficulty of this sort of course disappeared, and his
wonderful skill in human portraiture was revealed to an extent it could
never be by the cold printed page.  The foregoing of course implies that
Mr. Cable is a very good reader, and such he assuredly is.  So good,
indeed, that were he unknown as a writer he might well aspire to fame in
this direction.  Not only the perfection of his rendering of Kate
Riley's brogue, Narcisse's patois, and Ristofalo's Italian-English, but
in his intensely thrilling picture of Mary Richling's daring ride
through the Confederate lines he revealed rare ability as a reader.
Very much to the approval of the audience he substituted for one of his
readings two exceedingly quaint and lovely creole songs which evinced
the possession of such a fine tenor voice that one could not help
wondering where the list of his accomplishments ended.   As author,
reader or singer Mr. Cable really has more than his proper share of
entertaining talent.  But you do not feel like grudging it to him he is
so modest and natural withal.  It is a matter for deep regret that the
stay of Messrs. Clemens and Cable in this city includes only one night.
The visits of such men are as rare as angels' visits and we would be
glad to have them longer in our midst, but this being impracticable, we
must content ourselves with hoping that they may soon find their way to
Ottawa again.

I was proved a PDF copy of the newspaper by
Romaine Honey
Ottawa Public Library