Writing in the Sacramento Daily Union of November 3, 1865, theater critic  
John Paul used a phrase I found interesting relative to Twain's  humor--"the 
strength of the soil." And Paul also presupposes the  challenge we face 
today. The long article is titled simply "Letter from San  Francisco," and 
covers a variety of topics. Toward the end, Paul writes:
 
"To my thinking Shakespeare had no more idea that he was writing for  
posterity than Mark Twain has at the present time, and it sometimes amuses me to  
think how future mark Twain's scholars will puzzle over that gentleman's 
present  hieroglyphics and occasionally eccentric expressions. Apropos of 
Twain, who is a  man of Mark, I am glad to see that his humor has met with 
recognition at the  East, and that mention is made of him in that critical 
journal, the Round Table.  They may talk of course humor, if they please, but in 
his case it is simply the  strength of the soil--the germ is there and it 
sprouts good and strong. To my  mind Mark Twain. . .[is one of]. . .the wild 
Humorists of the Pacific."
 
p. 2, cols 4-5. The article is online at cdnc.ucr.edu
 
Bob Stewart
Carson City