Moments with Mark Twain

Chapter 129: FROM “SAINT JOAN OF ARC” (1899)

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About This Book

This collection gathers curated excerpts from the author's wide-ranging output—short sketches, travel memoirs, novels, essays, and late reflections—arranged chronologically to show development of tone and technique. Selections include humorous sketches, travel-journal anecdotes, satirical social commentary, scenes from well-known fictional narratives, and essays examining religion, society, and personal beliefs. The foreword and brief contextual headings guide readers through thematic transitions and highlight recurring themes of irony, social observation, skepticism, and human foibles. The volume functions as an accessible sampler intended to represent the author's evolution and the diversity of his subjects and styles.

FROM “SAINT JOAN OF ARC” (1899)

There is no one to compare her with, none to measure her by; for all others among the illustrious grew towards their high place in an atmosphere and surroundings which discovered their gift to them and nourished it and promoted it, intentionally or unconsciously. There have been other young generals, but they were not girls; young generals, but they have been soldiers before they were generals: she began as a general. She commanded the first army she ever saw; she led it from victory to victory, and never lost a battle with it; there have been young commanders-in-chief, but none so young as she: she is the only soldier in history who has held the supreme command of a nation’s armies at the age of seventeen.