<P> "To the Person Sitting in Darkness" is an essay by American humorist Mark Twain published in the North American Review in February 1901 . It is a satire exposing imperialism as revealed in the Boxer Uprising and its aftermath, the Boer War, and the Philippine--American War expressing his anti-Imperialist views . It mentions the historical figures Emilio Aguinaldo, William McKinley, Joseph Chamberlain, William Scott Ament and others, and fueled the Twain--Ament indemnities controversy . </P> <P> Mark Twain was' an outspoken critic of American involvement in the Philippines and China', and "one of the mammoth figures in anti-imperialism, and certainly the foremost anti-imperialist literary figure", having become in January 1901 a vice president of the Anti-Imperialist League of New York . 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 . Ament joined other powers in seeking indemnities from the Chinese after the Boxer Rebellion against western exploitation in 1900 . 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 summoned to missionaries: Come home and Christianize Christians in the states!" </P> <P> According to Twain biographer Albert Bigelow Paine, "Twain, of course, was fiercely stirred . The missionary idea had seldom appealed to him, and coupled with this business of bloodshed, it was less attractive than usual . He printed the clippings in full, one following the other; then he said: </P> <P> 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 . Our spirits soar and we find we can even make jokes; taels I win, heads you lose . </P>

What is the blessings of civilization trust all about