But alas! he could not give the banquet he
was going to give to celebrate his debut as a "Literary Person." He had
not written the "Mark Twain" distinctly, and when it appeared it had
been transformed into "Mike Swain"!
When Mark returned to San Francisco, he resolved to follow the example
of Stoddard and Mulford, and "enter the lecture field." The "extraneous
matter" in his letters to the Sacramento Union had made him "notorious";
and, as he put it, "San Francisco invited me to lecture." The historic
account of that lecture, in 'Roughing It', is found elsewhere in this
book. Noah Brooks, editor of the Alta California, who was present at
this lecture, has written the following graphic piece of description
"Mark Twain's method as a lecturer was distinctly unique and novel. His
slow, deliberate drawl, the anxious and perturbed expression of his
visage, the apparently painful effort with which he framed his
sentences, and, above all, the surprise that spread over his face when
the audience roared with delight or rapturously applauded the finer
passages of his word-painting, were unlike anything of the kind they had
ever known.
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