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