27

E.—la

2 enough to give a distinct individuality and the | necessary American flavour to the man's conversation, and to make you long to hear him tell his own story of the " Jumping Frog " in his own inimitable way. And right here, as the Americans say, it may be interesting to note that Mark Twain did not steal his " Jumping Frog" from the Ancient Greek, as has been stated recently in some colonial papers, the real facts of the case being that a learned modern professor had it done 3 into Greek |of his own accord, only with this difference that, lead shot being unknown to the ancient Greeks, he took the liberty of rilling the champion frog up with small stones. Lastly, after you have conversed with the famous American humourist once or twice you will have arrived at the conclusion that he is a real good fellow, and a man with considerable force of character. Most people who have heard Mark Twain lecture in Australia have been 4 delighted with his | quaint and original way of putting things, though a few have come away professing disappointment, urging that he has told them nothing new. Whether or not Mark Twain would be pleased with this criticism I cannot say, but it is really one of the highest compliments that could be paid to him, because it shows how universally his stories have been 5 read. It is well enough to read these stories for one's self, but it is a real treat to | hear the author himself in his own quaint way describing the adventures of Huck Finn, telling the story of the ever green Jumping Frog, or giving his audience, in a confidential sort of way, the details of Adam's Diary. My first glimpse of Mark Twain was as he was pacing up and down the vestibule at Menzies's one evening after dinner; and, as the sporting reporters say, I spotted him at once. 6 He is very like his portraits, only greyer, and | there is no mistaking him. Later on it was my good fortune to meet him on the Union liner " Mararoa," en route to Dunedin, and to have several interesting chats with him in the intervals during which he left his work for a change of scene and a smoke on the upper deck. The stereotyped interview is distasteful to most literary men of any ability, so I discreetly kept pencil and note-book out of view, and the gifted 7 author j pever dreamt for a moment that he was being " drawn out" for an interview. Mark Twain, it appears, is a hard worker. He has been living for some years past in France and Germany. He started out on his present lecturing tour quite unprepared, and with some misgivings on this score. By the time he reached the colonies, however, he was ready to " face the music," and has succeeded beyond expectations. In his spare time he is 8 engaged in | writing a book on his present travels, and this will be looked forward to with interest by most colonials. Every day and every night he is hard at work in his cabin, but he is in no danger of becoming "played out," as his method of working is such that there is always a freshness about what he does. As soon as he feels that he has been writing long 9 enough on one subject he leaves it and goes on |to another. In the same way with regard to books : when he gets to a point at which writing becomes a labour he immediately throws that book overboard, and takes up something more congenial to the inspiration of the moment. He has now two or three unfinished books pigeon-holed in this way. Some day they will be finished, and will see the light in due course. This is a tip which might be taken with 10 advantage by some modern writers. | (c.) At the rate of 100 words per minute. Takes 5 minutes. Your other candidate, at any rate, does not appeal to you on the merits of his ancestors. He has his own work and his own life to speak for him. I noticed that at a meeting which was held on Monday—l noticed with regret—that Mr. Trevelyan sneered at my friend Mr. Stanley as being old and grey-haired. If Mr. Stanley is old, I must be venerable (laughter), because I was born four years before he saw the light; and if he is grey-haired, I 1 say his grey hairs are a crown of honour. (Cheers.) They are | the testimony of the hardships and dangers which he has undergone in the service of his country—hardships and dangers which young Mr. Trevelyan is never likely to be called upon to experience. Mr. Stanley's name is a household word not only in the United Kingdom, but throughout the civilised world. He is, as the chairman has told you, one of the greatest of our modern pioneers and explorers, and I say that that should commend him, especially in a working-class constituency such as is this of North Lambeth. I wish sometimes that the working classes would 2 pay a | little more attention to the history of the growth of this Empire ; I wish they would think more of the questions connected with its further expansion. I can show you in a minute that they are life and death to you. What do you think is at the present moment the greatest of the social problems with which we have to deal ? The greatest and the most difficult is the lack of employment. It is the fact that in our midst, unfortunately, there are many who are 3 willing to work, but who cannot find work to do. What is the | reason? The reason is to be found—the principal reason —in the continuous and enormous growth of our population. Do you know that during the present century alone the population of Great Britain has increased from ten and a half millions at the beginning to thirty-three millions at the present day ? It has increased by 200 per cent., and I tell you that that enormous increase in these small islands, which are insufficient to find subsistence for all their inhabitants—that enormous increase can 4 only be provided for by our great foreign and our great colonial trade. (Cheers.) | Under those circumstances the greatest benefactor is the man who finds for us new markets, who opens up to us fresh outlets to our trade; and I tell you that, in my opinion, in this way Mr. Stanley has done more already for the working people of this country than would have been done for them by all the items of the Newcastle programme, even if every one of them had been meant to pass, and had already been passed into law. Now, gentlemen, I think we must come to an 5 understanding. The vast majority present are here to listen. |