To the Person Sitting in Darkness

[2] James Smylie explains the controversy: "Twain went after the respected Congregationalist minister, Reverend William Scott Ament, director of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions.

Twain, perhaps unfairly, was shocked that Ament would use such blood money for the "propagation of the Gospel" and to promote the "blessings of civilization" to brothers and sisters who "sit in darkness."

He printed the clippings in full, one following the other; then he said:By happy luck we get all these glad tidings on Christmas Eve—just the time to enable us to celebrate the day with proper gaiety and enthusiasm.

"[6] Zwick describes it as "an acid indictment of the brutalities the British, French, German, Belge, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian and American capitalist governments were committing all over the world.

"[7] According to Susan Harris:“To the Person Sitting in Darkness,” which Mark Twain published in the North American Review in 1901, attacks Western imperialism as it was manifesting itself in South Africa, China, Cuba, and the Philippines.

Mark Twain never wrote anything more scorching, more penetrating in its sarcasm, more fearful in its revelation of injustice and hypocrisy, than his article "To the Person Sitting in Darkness."

At one point in the essay, Twain made a sardonic suggestion for what the flag of the Philippines under American control should look like; " And as for a flag for the Philippine Province, it is easily managed. We can have a special one—our States do it: we can have just our usual flag, with the white stripes painted black and the stars replaced by the skull and cross-bones. " [ 11 ]