At 85 Cedar St. ,New York.January 4th,190a dear Nelson: I want to congratulate you personally on the beautiful job your house did on ray "Uncle Remus" book. It was very pleasant indeed to have a job of this kind go through so smoothly and satis- factorily. I take pleasure in sending herewith two copies of the book: one of them for yourself personally which I hope you will accept with my compliments and the other one for Prof. Brander Matthews. I hope that Prof. Matthews will add this to his library and also that he will find it possible to read it. A great many interesting letters concerning the book have been received by me, and some day I will let you see them. I believe you will be gratified to knor what these letters state about the workmanship. Wishing you all prosperity through the coming year, I am Sincerely and fraternally yours, Mr. Nelson Macy, 441 Pearl St. , New York City. L// A/^y /L^vc^c / / tTV-) < MEMORIES OF JOEL CHANDLER HARRIS THIS IS NUMBER^ ^"2LOF THE THREE HUNDRED COPIES OF THIS BOOK WHICH HAVE BEEN PRINTED ALL FOR PRIVATE DISTRIBUTION. f. " / am merely a simple-minded old fellow ivho is very anxious for a few chosen friends to like him. Many children and a great many dogs are fond of me, and that is a good test.'' JOEL CHANDLKR HARRIS, in a letter to a friend. "UNCLE REMUS" Joel Chandler Harris as Seen and Remembered by a Few of His Friends Including a Memorial Sermon by the Eev. James W. Lee. D. D., nd a Poem by Frank L. Stanton Privately Printed Christmas, 10O8 Copyright, BY IVY L. LKK CONTENTS PAGHR FOREWORD 15 JOEL CHANDLER HARRIS THE MAX . . . . 17 UNCLE REMUS, BY GRANTLAND RICE . . . . . 79 THE CHARACTER OF JOEL CHANDLER HARRIS, BY REV. J. W. LEE ... . . . . . 88 IN MEMORY OF JOEL CHANDLER HARRIS, BY FRANK L. STANTON . . . . . . .119 M8017S1 ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE JOEL CHANDLER HARRIS ... . . . Frontispiece Uncle Remus' Idea of Christmas . . . . . . 18 Where Joel Chandler Harris was Born 19 Grounds Surrounding His Childhood Home .... 21 Church Where He Attended Sunday School .... 28 Advertisement which Started Him to Work .... 27 Printing Office of "The Countryman" . . . . . 29 First Page of "The Countryman" 81 View from Printing Shop Window . . . . . . 38 Another View from Printing Shop Window .... 85 House Where Harris Lived at Turnwold ..... 39 A Contemporary of "Uncle Remus" 41 A Surviving Daughter of "Uncle Remus" . . . . 48 A Negro Cabin on Turner Plantation f .... 45 Fac-simile of Harris' First Poetry 49 Mr. and Mrs. Harris and Grandchildren ..... 58 "Uncle Remus," as an Artist Idealized Him .... 57 Some of Harris' Original Manuscript 59 Harris Family at Snap Bean Farm ...... 63 Side View of the Harris Home ....... 67 Title Page of "Uncle Remus Magazine" ..... 71 Veranda of Home at Snap Bean Farm ..... 75 Joel Chandler Harris at Sixteen Years of Age .... 85 At Twenty-one Years of Age 89 ILLUSTRATIONS-Continued PAGE At Twenty-four Years of Age . . . . . . .93 Harris, Grady, E still and Roberts . . . . . . 95 At Thirty-four Years of Age . . . . . . . 97 At Forty-one Years of Age .101 Andrew Carnegie and Joel Chandler Harris . . . .103 Evan P. Howell and Joel Chandler Harris . . . .109 Harris at Fifty-seven Years of Age . . .. .. 115 UNCLE REMUS' IDEA OF CHRISTMAS Ftt-imile of Intcription by Jotl Chandltr Harrit in a copy of "Untie Rtmui, Hit Songt and Hit Sayingi," presented to Horace R. B. Allen, tf New Y"rk, Cbriamat, FOREWORD I HE purpose of this volume is to introduce a few friends to the great fund of geni- ality and good cheer which was wrapped up in the personality of Joel Chandler Harris. He was one of those rare beings in whom the most perfect humor was personified and from whom it was continually exhaled, and his life and writings have added delights innumerable to both child- hood and manhood. This little book also embodies the hope and belief that many coming generations will find in "Uncle Remus" that same inexhaustible storehouse of quaint philosophy and homely humor which this de- lightful character has been to so large a company for now more than thirty years. These lines are written with the memory of having heard the Uncle Remus stories read in earliest child- hood, and of having enjoyed the acquaintance of Joel Chandler Harris personally. He was always most natural to those who knew least of his genius. So all the children with whom he came in contact seemed to find in him a kindred spirit. Strangers who went to see him found him difficult to know, but with children he was always at perfect ease. There is no pretense of literary finish in these pages. The idea has been merely to record the essential facts of Joel Chandler Harris' life and to relate a few personal memories of him, largely in the language of his own friends. I have also been privileged to reproduce a con- siderable number of hitherto unpublished photographs 16 Memories of Uncle Remus of Harris most interesting human documents. In this effort I have had the very friendly co-operation of the Harris family, and I am especially indebted to Mrs. Joel Chandler Harris for the loan of some very rare pictures. The management of the Uncle Remus Maga- zine have been particularly obliging, and to their cour- tesy is to be credited the opportunity to reprint the poem by Grantland Rice. Messrs. D. Appleton & Co., publishers of the Uncle Remus books, have kindly allowed the use of the "Brer Rabbit" cut on the cover. The Memorial Sermon, which is included in this volume, was delivered on the evening of Mr. Harris' burial by a close personal friend. Dr. Lee was one of that coterie of genial men Joel Chandler Harris, Henry W. Grady, Frank L. Stanton, Clark Howell, Evan P. Howell, Wallace P. Reed, Sam. W. Small, and James W. Lee to whom for many years the edi- torial rooms of the Atlanta Constitution were the scene of such infinite good fellowship. To Mr. Frank L. Stanton I am indebted for the privilege of re-publishing the beautiful elegy in mem- ory of his friend, which will be found at the close of this book. I hope sincerely that the lines herein printed will in some measure serve to develop added interest in the life and work of Joel Chandler Harris one of the few Southern authors who can be called truly great. Besides being great, he was one of the most lovable of men, and if these pages make this human side of the man better known, they will have been well worth the effort. IVY L. LEE. New York, December 1, 1908. JOEL CHANDLER HARRIS THE NAN |OT many men have lived such a life as did Joel Chandler Harris: He was born in 11849, in the quiet town of Eatonton, Put- |nam County, Georgia. It was a simple, [old-fashioned slave-holding community, surrounded by little or nothing of romance. His father was a farmer, and he died while the child was still an infant. The mother was very poor, and the boy was probably the least noticed youngster of the neighbor- hood. Some of Joel Chandler Harris' childhood playmates still live in the old town of Eatonton. One of them, Charles A. Leonard, knew the boy as a very young child, and I have asked Mr. Leonard to relate what he remembers of that early period. "He was such a clever little boy," writes Mr. Leon* ard, "that my parents would allow me to go around with him, I being a stranger in the town. Our playground was divided between the 'Big Gully,' and Mr. McDade's livery stable. In the stable were fine horses, and 'The Gully,' with its tributaries, was a good place to play hide-and-seek in. At the stable we oftentimes had the privilege of riding the horses to the shop to have them shod, and when the drovers came, as a special treat we were allowed to exercise the horses. "Between the stable and the 'Big Gully' lived an old free negro named Aunt 'Betsy Cuthbert', whose abilities 18 Memories of Uncle Remus in making potato biscuit, ginger cakes, and chicken pies could hardly be equalled. There we often remained while she dispensed the good things she made. "We entered the school taught by Miss Kate David- son, where there was little play, except recess. It seemed then they taught from sun up to sun down, with the exception of a recess for dinner. After a year or two, we entered the male academy. It was not long before we made a good friend of one of the larger boys whom I will call, as we did, Hut Adams, and when out of school we were boon companions, playing marbles, jumping holes, and enjoying similar amusements. The things that Hut did we thought were right, even to foraging on Mr. Edmund Reid's watermelon patch, as well as Col. Nicholson's and Aunt Becky Pike's plum and peach orchards just enough for us to eat. "We organized what was known as the 'Gully Min- strels.' Our hall was the 'Big Gully.' Hut was man- ager, I was treasurer, and Joe the clown, with a fiddle he couldn't play. But he would make a noise that would bring down the house. The price of admission was ten pins, and it was not long before the treasurer was stuck on pins, ancTno exchange. "Hut, at about that time became the happy possessor of a shot gun in which Joe and I were as happy as he. Nearly every Saturday we would be off for the fields OP woods, Joe's and my part being to carry the game and get a chance to shoot just once when the hunt was over. Besides his love for hunting nothing gave Joe more delight than to play pranks on us and many were Joel Chandler Harris the Man 19 Canning Factor? in F.atonton, Ga. , "which stands on the site of tht house in which e/ Chandler Harris was born. Joel Chandler Harris the Man 21 Vina of the grtundi surrounding the simple home in Eatenton, Ga . , "where Joel Chandler Harris was born. Joel Chandler Harris the Man 23 Methodist Church in Eatonton, Ga,, ivbere Joel Chandler Harris attended Sunday School ivhen a child. Joel Chandler Harris the Man 25 they, he always getting the best of it, and enjoying it to the full extent." It will thus be seen that Joe Harris was a natural boyish boy. But life was a very serious matter those war-time days, and the years that could be devoted to school were but few. The next step in Harris' life is told in his own words in an interview he gave to the Atlanta, Georgia, News, a few years before he died, as follows: "There came a time when I had to be up and doing, as the poet says, arid it so happened that I was in the post office at Eatonton reading the Milledgeville papers when the first number of The Countryman was deposited on the counter where all the newspapers were kept. I read it through and came upon an advertisement which announced that the Editor wanted a boy to learn the printer's trade. This was my opportunity, and I seized it with both hands. I wrote to the Editor, whom I knew well, and the next time he came to town he sought me out, asked if I had written the letter with my own hand, and in three words the bargain was concluded." The first number of that curious publication, The Countryman, appeared on March 4th, 1862. The adver- tisement, inserted along with others seeking to sell "Hats" and merchandise generally, was as follows: WANTED An active, intelligent white boy, 14 or 15 years of age, is wanted at this office, to learn the printing business. March 4th, 1862. This advertisement appeared again in the issue of The Countryman for March llth, but was omitted from 26 Memories of Uncle Remus the issue for March 18th. Joel Chandler Harris, then, had found his "opportunity," about this date. Whether or not the "hats" were sold, a genius had been discovered by this backwoods publication. "The Countryman," said Harris in later years, "had no predecessor and no other paper has succeeded it. It stands solitary and alone among newspapers. It was published nine miles from any post office, on the planta- tion of Mr. Joseph A. Turner. On the roof of the print- ing office the squirrels scampered about, and the blue jays brought their acorns there to crack them. I used to sit in the dusk and see the shadows of all the great problems of life flitting about, restless and uneasy, and I had time to think about them. What some people call loneliness was to me a great blessing, and the printer's trade, so far as I learned it, was in the nature of a lib- eral education; and, as if that wasn't enough, Mr. Turner had a large private library, containing all of the best books. It was especially rich in the various depart- ments of English literature, and it would have been the most wonderful thing in the world if, with nothing to do but set a column or so of type each day, I had failed to take advantage of the library with its remarkable assort- ment of good books. "Mr. Turner was a man of varied accomplishments. He was a lawyer, a scholar and a planter. He had a large plantation and he managed it successfully; he had a considerable law practice ; and he was one of the most public spirited men in middle Georgia. He was a man of strong individuality; he had pronounced views on all the questions of the day. I once heard him preach a Joel Chandler Harris the Man 27 . fe a Joel Chandler Harris the Man 29 Printing Office at Turnivold, Ga., ivhtr "The Countryman" ivas puhliihed. Joel Chandler Harris the Man 31 THE COUNTRYMAN, Tl MMMI HA MTU I* l* 1IIK I'ol 1.IKIIIN j^.yjj^i.^jaaUj "~ ssssgwsrvsss r22T^- r - = ~ u^gft^sSg? aSEEtStS-iai EjS>r ; Ha fefP^- gjregp:rr sji anr'.irtST.rjXR; SSlStP^^'^'^teMMMfiMyi ,:^r.5!~vrc^. l 57rrjr fiS-sr^t?^- ~--" 'lr-.' J ert*i!_ j*. ~-^* i ; ..'iv..'..rr^i?T ri< ^. . .*.- '*'* >-^;T-^^^*r-v" u 'y-i j^^*-* * i y~^^"' M *. uv. * * rt *5*** -< * " *'' (v * , ^ " "*^^ "T/iV 1 **** .fct.^-.k^w^wtrJiJT^,^^^ Jl^J 1 M rr,"rL^L'1 ^S^riEr r'^j ^^^trcJTJ^^^^^^tr^^jt.t. :< SiS^J'Ci'ti''^^'-"*-'^^!^*^"*^^'^!^^ '*** n ^ *' 1 r*~ - . p ** r * IH Foe-simile of title page uf the first number of ii fhc Countryman^ for which Joel Chandler Harris helped set the type. Joel Chandler Harris the Man 33 Outlook from the voindotui of the old Turnivold printing office. Scene of Joel Chandler Harris' early life. Joel Chandler Harris the Man 35 Another "vitiu of the Turner Plantation from ?vindo-zvs of the printing office of tl Tke Countryman " ibo-iving hotu nearby tvere the '' Joel Chandler Harris the Man 37 sermon, and it was a good one, too. He was a good writer and he had a fine taste in literature; best of all, so far as I was concerned, he took an abiding interest in my welfare, gave me good advice, directed my read- ing and gave me the benefit of his wisdom and experi- ence at every turn and on all occasions. For the rest, I got along as any boy would. I was fond of setting type, and when my task was over I'd hunt or fish or read. And then at night I used to go to the negro cabins and hear their songs and stories. It was a great time for me." Joel Chandler Harris' "opportunity" then was to set type in a country printing office, to live with the family of the proprietor, and to listen at night to negro stories the same stories which Southern children every- where had been hearing for generations. Surely not a prospect yet of developing a man whose genius would attract the attention of the English-speaking world! J. A. Turner was a most unusual man. His library was unique among those of the other Southern planters of his countryside. As it was among those books that Joel Chandler Harris used to browse, as it was there he inhaled that fine literary taste which was to add so much richness to his Art in later years, it is of interest to in- quire just what this library consisted of. In response to questions on this subject, J. A. Turner's son, Mr. W. L. Turner, of Eatonton, very kindly gives this information : "My father's library has been divided among his heirs, and is greatly scattered, but from recollection and the volumes that I own, I can give an incomplete list of the authors he owned: Shakespeare, Moore, Byron, 38 Memories of Uncle Remus Cooper, Burns, Swift, Shelley, Goldsmith, Hood, Wordsworth, Milton, Tasso, Scott, Bulwer, Holmes, Dickens, Hugo, Ballin, Macaulay, Hume, Arabian Nights, Gil Bias, Grimm's Fairy Tales, Mrs. Hemans, Junius Letters, Willis, Clarke, Bryant, as well as several works on Ornithology, and a number of ency- clopedias. His library contained about 1000 volumes." The owner of those books was also the possessor of a spirit of most unusual qualities. The few files of The Countryman which are still extant disclose them on every page. Possibly the reader of this may get a little of their flavor from this valedictory published in the final num- ber of the paper, issued in the autumn of 1866: " ADIEU "When The Countryman was established, I was a Southern planter, the highest type of man, as I conceive it, that the world has ever produced. God, through the severe chastisement of war, has made me no longer a Southern planter. This type of man has forever passed away. I have a home and a country no longer. Living in the spot where I always did, I am nevertheless an exile and a wanderer. The independent country life and the home of the planter are gone forever, and The Coun- tryman goes with them farewell." It was among such surroundings that the genius of Joel Chandler Harris was nourished. Among the trees, the flowers, the birds, the rabbits, and the squirrels, he found himself. The raw material with which he was to build his stories in later years he found amongst the slaves all about him. The character of "Uncle Remus" itself was composite. The original was, in most re- Joel Chandler Harris the Man 39 Front flew of the Turner Plantation Homestead. Joel Chandler Harris occupied the second story left corner room "while be ivorked on " The Countryman." Joel Chandler Harris the Man A contanporary tf George Terrell, the original " Uncle Remus," illustrating tht type of man w^ impired the folk sttriet of Joel Chandler Harris. Joel Chandler Harris the Man 43 A surviving daughter of George Terrell. She is noiv eighty years of age and lives in Eatonton, Ga. Joel Chandler Harris the Man The only negro cabin yet remaining of those -which stood on the Turner plantation when Joel Chandler Harris lived there and absorbed his fund of negro folk-lore. The negroes are descendants of the Turner slaves "befo' de ivab." Joel Chandler Harris the Man 47 spects, "Ole Uncle" George Terrell, a negro owned, before the war, by Mr. J. A. Turner. The "little old log cabin" where George Terrell lived was still standing until a few years ago, but has recently been torn down. Descendants of this amiable individual yet remain, and one of his contemporaries, a type of his kind, so bent and crippled that it is hard to tell whether he is man or beast, still hobbles about the town. In the ancient days, "Uncle" George Terrell owned an old-fashioned Dutch oven. On this he made most wonderful ginger cakes every Saturday. He would sell these cakes and persimmon beer, also of his own brew, to children of planters for miles around. He was accus- tomed to cook his own supper on this old oven every evening; and it was at twilight, by the light of that kitchen fire that he told his quaint stories to the Turner children and at the same time to Joel Chandler Harris. Men now, who were boys then, still relate their joy at listening to the story of the "Wonderful Tar Baby" as they sat in front of that old cabin, munching ginger cakes while "Uncle" George Terrell was cooking supper on his Dutch oven. Another prototype of the original Uncle Remus was "Uncle" Bob Capers, a negro owned by the well-known Capers family, and hired out by them as teamster for the Eatonton cotton factory. Joel Harris, before he went to Turn-wold to set type for The Countryman, lived with his mother near the home of that rare old darkey, and it was from his lips that there fell many of the won- derful tales that delighted the children of the neigh- borhood. 48 Memories of Uncle Remus Although but a mere youth, Harris very early "burst into print." He wrote many anonymous articles for The Countryman, but the first compositions to which he signed his name were brief paragraphs. The first poem to which his name was signed, appeared in The Country- man dated September 27, 1864, when Harris was a little more than fifteen years old. It was as follows : NELLY WHITE (Written for The Countryman) BY JOEL C. HARRIS. The autumn moon rose calm and clear, And nearly banished night, While I with trembling foot-steps went To part with Nelly White. I thought to leave her but a while, And, in the golden west, To seek the fortune that should make My darling Nelly blest. For I was of the humble poor, Who knew that love, though bold And strong and firm within itself, Was stronger bound in gold. And when I knelt at Mammon's shrine, An angel ever spake Approvingly since what I did, I did for Nelly's sake. Again I neared the sacred spot, Where she and I last met, With merry laugh, does Nelly come To meet her lover yet? Again the moon rose in the sky, And gave a fitful light, Which shone with dreary gleam upon The grave of Nelly White. Joel Chandler Harris the Man 49 , \.'ff^ f. U* <' 1 v . w 'm/ itir..u/ti fr,Mii t*U t-> N ' :* *r-tr- |'M;" . ' *< ih'f mt ft sr**i uun bcnn^-* i* -i <-..- - f-tffn^'l rmv.* "* ST.2!U. OM^mirM^m r t ,rfc.y. f ". rf "* ' ' 3 *' ^'i" ' ( ^Si' .. ^i#p. ^r^bii-h.. I'.iK P;'.\m A * n.imhw <*f * hav r IW(V.< >> A d^'''' Si! Kc r.U>i Ml U* *bk lh* Ue pnf** tn>o^tutf .i. ^ ^^^ ,. H . ,,,;i <(W . o.;.- -- n!i t ii . ..n:,l. Oi [ "" - j>r(i ot r -beiintn. ^^ hj[ wool *>* DM'* jo fo*iJ ; ... l>i>. vi.-iiitT of \**n. WortHfrrd _ tikww* Fac-simile of page of "The Countryman" for September 2f t 1864, containing the first verse to which Joel Chandler Harris signed his name. Joel Chandler Harris the Man 51 Turn-wold was in the direct path of Sherman's "March to the Sea," and it was that famous event which proved to be a turning point in the life of Joel Chandler Harris. General Slocum's staff enjoyed the hospitality of Mr. Turner's plantation for several days, and when they marched on, there wasn't much left. Young Har- ris now felt that the time had come for him to "move on" in the world. Accordingly, in 1865, he moved to Macon, Ga., where he worked for a short time. Later he found employment at New Orleans, La., but not long afterward, he returned to Georgia, and lived for a time at Forsyth. The year 1868 found Joel Chandler Harris on the editorial staff of the Savannah, Ga., News. His em- ployer was W. T. Thompson, author of "Major Jones' Courtship," and other humorous books. During the years 1869 and 1870, Mr. Harris had Frank L. Stanton as an office boy. While in Savannah, Harris married Miss Essie LaRose, of Canadian birth, with whom he lived until he died. Together they established a home, and as long as he lived that particular place where she was. was the most attractive on earth to Joel Chandler Harris. Nine children blessed the union, of whom six are still living Julian, now succeeding his father as Editor of the Uncle Remus' Magazine,, Lucien, Evelyn, Joel, Jr., Essie LaRose, now Mrs. Fritz Wagner, and Mil- dred. The methods of Mr. Harris in training his chil- dren were thoroughly characteristic. Upon one occa- sion, one of the boys of the family seemed to be living a little high. Mr. Harris heard about it. So one even- 52 Memories of Uncle Remus ing at supper, when that particular young man was present, the father remarked : "Well, I certainly had a mighty good dinner at the Aragon Hotel today." Everybody was surprised. The Aragon, which had just been built, was the most luxurious hotel in the town. All ears listened to hear what was coming. "Yes sir, I went into the cafe," he said, "and I sat down and hollered for the nigger to bring me one of their laundry lists. I started in and ordered consomme, caviar, lobster a la Newburg, hors d'oeuvres, spaghetti, chow-chow, six entrees, and topped it off by ordering a quart of extra dry. When I finished my dinner I paid the bill, and gave the waiter a $10.00 tip. He handed me my hat, looked at me with an admiring grin and said, 'Uh-uh! You sho mus' be dat young Mister Harris' paw!' " And that was all he said, but it was his way of sug- gesting to the young Harris that he had better settle down to the things he was born unto corn bread, col- lards and pot-liquor. And there is very good authority for the statement that the aforesaid young Harris mended his ways. Another story will illustrate his quaint ways of going at things. One of his sons, when about eigh- teen years old, was -the Atlanta correspondent for the Columbus, Ga., Enquirer-Sun. Handling as he did the political news for that paper, being located at the capital of the state, and being at an age of imperturb- able adolescence, the fashion in which he murdered Eng- lish was calculated to make the average philologist sit Joel Chandler Harris the Man 53 Mr. and Mrs. jfoel Chandler Harris and two of their grandchildren, I()OJ. Joel Chandler Harris the Man 55 up and ponder. If Bill Jones stopped for a moment to speak to Jack Smith on a street corner, "an important political conference had occurred in our midst and mat- ters of state were receiving the full benefit of the experi- ence and interest of two of our leading statesmen." In short, the articles for the Enquirer-Sun were as flowery with verbiage as a field with daisies, and the youthful correspondent ran every polysyllable to earth on the slightest provocation. This flow of language was also a delight to the young business manager of the Enquirer-Sun, and many kind letters did the Harris boy receive from him. These served but to inspire young Harris to further raids against good form, and always at the top of the column in big letters appeared "By Julian Harris." Young Harris himself tells the remainder of the story, in this wise: "Warm Springs, Ga., is situated near Columbus, and about the time these wordy outpourings were encum- bering the columns of the Enquirer-Sun, my father went to Warm Springs. Unlucky chance put this busi- ness manager of the Enquirer-Sun at Warm Springs a day ahead of my father, and the aforesaid young man was standing at the counter when my father registered, 'Joel Chandler Harris, Atlanta.' "My father turned to go to his room, and the young man glanced at the register and saw the name. With a beaming and benevolent smile the young man ap- proached my father and extended his hand, adding this query: 'Are you the son of our Mr. Julian Harris?' Calmly and quizzically my father gazed at the young 56 Memories of Uncle Remus man who knew of my connection with the Enquirer-Sun through that flow of language (which my father had unceasingly yet unsuccessfully tried to divert into re- spectable channels) and quietly replied, 'No, Mister Julian Harris is my grandfather.' ' Joel Chandler Harris was making great strides on the Savannah News when in 1876 a yellow fever scourge swept over the town. Harris and his family fled to Atlanta. There Evan P. Howell gave the ambitious young journalist a job on the Constitution, and it was there he was to remain for more than twenty-five years of continuous service. Up to this time Harris had never written in negro dialect. Sam. W. Small, however, was at that time making a great hit with his "Old Si" stories. One day Small was taken ill, and the "Old Si" stories were omitted perforce. Soon letters began to come in inquir- ing why "Old Si" was left out of the paper. Capt. Howell, in a most common-place way, said to Harris : "Joe, why don't you try your hand at writing this sort of thing?" Harris remonstrated, but Howell insisted. The next day there appeared in the columns of the Constitution the first of the Uncle Remus stories. A genius had begun to bloom. Mr. Turner had prepared the soil, "Ole Uncle" George Terrell had sown the seed, Capt. Howell brought forth the blossom. The stories made a great hit at once, and the clamor for them seemed insatia- ble as long as Mr. Harris lived. They were the same stories other Southern boys had been hearing from their infancy, but somehow, with the new telling they re- Joel Chandler Harris the Man 57 " UNCLE REMUS" Frontispiece of the first edition of "Uncle Remus, His Songs and His Sayings." Reproduced by permission of D. Appleton & Co. Joel Chandler Harris the Man 59 b. boaey. 141 you fallerV till you rise op an* toller? ill yon toller along alter ie 7 De way'll be loag like it is rid de Sialler. Ac' de aigtt so dark you can't see lill yo rise heo 1 aollerV dill you roller aloo? alter Uy ti' se'abe. "iey's des good fisn Oey's des at good fish in de sea ty nx y'ever lock OBll" tell,' setce, "1 ish Del you'd run an' kMt ketch one fer le!" Old you eerf se'saa. an' 'I don't tbink you oujbler Give ay ter yo' griaf dauiay; Tie z ihan you aou?bter bed my dsu5iiur. Hat SBS'S ter be tarried ter-dayl" /Oa. aoney. ill you foll^rV aill you rise up an' foliar? nil you roller alon^ alter ? Iten da stars 'gin ter flicker iboo de trees in de boiler, An' de night so dark you can't see- Mil you rise up' an' toller'' ill you toller along alter fr da lalTH jgcrfl t-ir de spriii?.*. sz ol' r. Babbit, sezee; t "iTTan' a Swiy fer ol' Kr.-oon. Pol-licker far det al de gale; big asb-caka fer det dal's aooo, An' a drat far dec rtttx dil's ;doney. hooeyl iill you tollerV lill you rise op an' toller? till you Toller elcm? 'tier ? He'll ski like de I Smller iboo de long, dark oolite, h'sn de *ai &$* is ridio' free till you rise up n' roller'' till you toller lon,? alter 9 , 1< , / ,t** ; >i<'f** Fac-simile of a page of Joel Chandler Harris original manuscript, tiuith his own alterations. Joel Chandler Harris the Man 61 ceived, they became something very new. It was Art in action. Harris continued to write in great quantity. Be- tween 1880 and 1907, he produced the following books, named here in their order of publication: "Uncle Remus, His Songs and Sayings"; "Nights with Uncle Remus"; "Mingo and Other Sketches in Black and White"; "Free Joe and Other Georgia Sketches"; "Uncle Remus and His Friends"; "On the Plantation"; "Little Mr. Thimblefinger" ; "Mr. Rabbit at Home"; "Sister Jane"; Daddy Jake, the Runaway"; "Baalam and His Master"; "The Story of Aaron, so named the son of Ben Ali"; "Stories of Georgia"; "Aaron in the Wild-wood"; "Tales of the Homefolks"; "Georgia from the Invasion of De Soto to Recent Times"; "Evening Tales"; "Stories of Homefolks"; "Chronicles of Aunt Minerva Ann"; "On the Wings of Occasion"; "The Making of a Statesman"; "Gabriel Toliver"; "Wally Wanderoon"; "A Little Union Scout"; "The Tar Baby Story and Other Rhymes of Uncle Remus"; "Told by Uncle Remus"; "Uncle Remus and Brer Rabbit". In addition to his signed articles and stories, Mr. Harris wrote countless unsigned editorials and articles for the Constitution during the next twenty-five years. His ability to turn out good readable copy was astonish- ing. With it all, he was ever good-natured and easy- going. The Constitution had an assistant foreman named Charles Pritchard. One day, Harris turned in his editorials to Mr. Pritchard and went home. It was in the days before the telephone covered all the territory. 62 Memories of Uncle Remus Mr. Pritchard put the editorials in his overcoat pocket and also left the office. The next day the Constitution had just one editorial, written by the office boy, probably, and Mr. Pril -hard, on noticing the paper, became greatly frightened and hurried about nine in the morning to the office to explain to Mr. Harris. Harris laughed and said to Pritchard, at the same time reaching for his hat. "Well, Mr. Pritchard, you have certainly done me mighty proud. You have just saved me a day's work, and I am gwine back to West End and cook me a mess of collards," and he left the printer standing surprised and stammering. It is surprising how much fun Mr. Harris could get out of collards, pot -liquor, corn pone, and other homely dishes. To one of the early numbers of the Uncle Remus' Magazine, he contributed an extended editorial, entitled "Corn Bread and Dumplings," the opening sen- tence of which was: "The tenant of the Snap-Bean Farm has been wondering, not only recently, but for many long years, why some Poet, whose pipes are of sufficient range and volume, and whose art is entirely simple and true, does not set himself the delightful task of writing an epic on Corn meal." .It was on this "Snap-Bean Farm," a plot of ground in West End, about two miles from the center of Atlanta, that Harris lived and loved to live. He en- joyed the simplicity of it. Here he wrote his stories, using generally a lead pencil and the arm of a rocking chair on his wide front veranda. Here strangers visit- ing Atlanta came to see what manner of place it was. Joel Chandler Harris the Man 63 s- 5 g I Joel Chandler Harris the Man 65 "We have no literary foolishness here," Mr. Harris remarked one day concerning Snap-Bean Farm. "We like people more than we do books, and we find more in them." It was at Snap-Bean Farm that Andrew Carnegie visited the author of Uncle Remus. Here too, the chil- dren have grown up. Here Mr. Harris built houses for them when they married, and here his grand chil- dren began to breathe an atmosphere of purity and wholesomeness. Here he died, and here now they talk of establishing a memorial to his memory that men of future generations may come and see the same trees, flowers, and haunts of birds which he enjoyed so deeply. As the years went by, Mr. Harris did more and more of his work at Snap-Bean Farm. He would come in town for the morning editorial conference at the Consti- tution office, and then go home to do his work. He saw little of people in general and did but little traveling. A few years ago, however, he did go to Washington to see the President. He described the visit in Uncle Remus' Magazine under the heading "Mr. Billy San- ders, of Shady Dale: He Visits the White House." Among his other comments on what he saw and heard was this which so thoroughly shows what appealed to Harris himself: "Thar's one thing about the White House that'll astonish you ef you ever git thar while Teddy is on hand. It's a home; it'll come over you like a sweet dream the minnit you git in the door, an' you'll wonder how they sweep out all the politics an' keep the place clean an' wholesome. No sooner had I shuck the President's hand 66 Memories of Uncle Remus than the dinner bell rung> we call it the supper bell at my house an' then a lovely lady came to'rds me, wi' the sweetest-lookin' young gal that you ever laid eyes on; an' right then an' thar I know'd whar the home-feelin' came from, the feelin' that makes you think that you've been thar before, an' seen it all jest as it is, an' liked it all mighty well, so much so that you f ergit how old you are, an' whar you live at." Though Mr. Harris himself seldom went away from home, his family occasionally took a long summer out- ing, leaving "Uncle Remus" to hold the fort. Mr. For- rest Adair, of Atlanta, relates an interesting story of what took place on one of those occasions : "Mr. Harris was alone in his house working on an editorial, when a ring at the door disturbed him. He answered the bell, and a rather genteel-looking, middle- aged man saluted him, offering toilet soap for sale at 'ten cents a cake, or three cakes for a quarter.' Annoyed by the interruption, Harris said rather brusquely that he did not need any soap. ' 'But I am on the verge of starvation,' said the man. 'The idea!' laughed Mr. Harris. 'Why, man, you are wearing a better coat than I have!' " 'You would not talk so,' he replied in a tremulous voice, 'if you had seen how hard my poor wife rubbed and brushed my coat this morning so that I would pre- sent a respectable appearance.' "Harris then saw that the coat was old, almost threadbare, but exceedingly clean and neat. He glanced again at the man's face. " 'Excuse me/ he said ; 'I was very busy when you Joel Chandler Harris the Man 67 COPYRIGHT, UNDERWOOD A UNDERWOOD. Side view of the borne Mr, Harris loved so well. Joel Chandler Harris the Man 69 came, and spoke thoughtlessly. Now that I think of it, I do need some soap. Fact is, I am completely out.' 'Thank you,' interrupted the man ; 'here are three cakes for a quarter.' ' 'Nonsense!' said Harris. 'Here is a five-dollar bill. I will take it all in soap. Got to have it couldn't do without it always buy it in five-dollar lots.' "The peddler left all of his stock, and delivered an- other lot later. It was a very profitable day's work for him. It was just like 'Uncle Remus.' He was always doing such things." In line with the popular practice of the day, the author of the Uncle Remus stories had many offers of large sums of money if he would appear before audiences and read selections from his own writings. These he steadily declined. His timidity couldn't stand it. He was once asked why he did not go on the lecture platform and read his stories as did Mr. Riley and Mr. Page. He replied that he could not do it if he were offered one hundred thousand dollars an evening that in the pres- ence of an audience his tongue refused to act. He was invited, upon one occasion, in company with Henry W. Grady, to a public gathering in Eatonton, his boyhood home. Mr. Grady made an address, and after he concluded the people called for Harris. It seemed that for once he would be forced to say a few words. He knew that it was impossible, but he could not afford to sit still like a statue while his old neigh- bors were calling upon him to utter a few words, so he arose and remarked "I have never been able to make a speech without taking a drink of water, so you must 70 Memories of Uncle Remus wait until I can get a little water." And with that state- ment, he left the platform, but did not return. The whole company knew that he would not return when he left. They laughed and cheered him as he walked down the aisle, knowing that he had faced and escaped from a difficult situation in a characteristic way. The last year and a half of Joel Chandler Harris' life was devoted to the Uncle Remus Magazine, which he established and edited. His aims in this publication are best stated in these words of his own : "It is purposed to issue a magazine that will be broadly and patriotically American, and genuinely rep- resentative of the best thought of the whole country. The note of provinciality is one of the chief charms of all that is really great in English literature, but those who will be in charge of this magazine will have nothing to do with the provinciality so prevalent in the North, the East, the South and the West the provinciality that stands for ignorance and blind prejudice, that rep- resents narrow views and an unhappy congestion of ideas. "Neighbor-knowledge is perhaps more important in some respects than most of the knowledge imparted in the school. There is a woeful lack of it in the North and East with respect to the South, and this lack the magazine will endeavor in all seemly ways to remove. The new generation in the South has been largely edu- cated in Northern and Eastern institutions, with the re- sult that a high appreciation of all that is best and worthiest in those sections is spread farther and wider than ever before and is constantly growing in extent. Joel Chandler Harris the Man 71 Foimcje4 by JOCly HARRIS Fac-simile of "Uncle Remus Magazine," the last great interest of Mr. Horns' life. Joel Chandler Harris the Man 73 On the other hand, at the North neighbor-knowledge of the South is confined almost entirely to those who have made commercial explorations of this section, and who have touched Southern life at no really significant or important point. "It shall be the purpose of the magazine to oblit- erate ignorance of this kind. It will deal with the high ideals toward which the best and ripest Southern thought is directed ; it will endeavor to encourage the cultivation of the rich field of poetry and romance which, hi the Southern States, offers a constant invitation to those who aspire to deal in fictive literature. Itself standing for the highest and best in life and literature, the maga- zine will endeavor to nourish the hopes and beliefs that ripen under the influence of time, and that are constantly bearing fruit amongst the children of men." For each number of this magazine Mr. Harris wrote an editorial. Here his quaint fancifulness found full opportunity. His ramblings among fields of dreams and imagery were always a feature of the publication. In one of the Christmas numbers he had an editorial on "Santa Glaus and the Fairies." Characteristic of the man is this quotation: "The real fairy stories are far truer than any truth that appeals to the minds of the materialists; they are true to the ideals by which right-minded men and women live, and truer than any fact discovered by those who grovel close to the ground. It is a pity that there should be any grovelling in this bright and beau- tiful world, but so it is, and the grovellers seem to be in the majority. The farmer has never been able to 74 Memories of Uncle Remus understand the motives of those who are such sticklers for cold facts and the naked truth. But such, gentle reader, is the nature and purpose of those who have no faith and no belief in the supernatural, and who laugh to scorn the creations of the imagination of the race. Such are the materialists who go about destroying leg- ends that embody the highest forms of truth, the very essence of beauty." A final quotation from the magazine will give in a few lines the fundamental ideal of Mr. Harris' life. With the following words in mind one can understand his profound grasp upon truth and his mastery of the secret of happiness: "What is success and in what does it consist? In heaping up accumulations of money and property by overreaching the public and crushing competition? In greasing the axles of progress with the blood of the poor and the ignorant? In adding to the doubts, and thereby increasing the misery of the people of the nations of the earth? Or does it consist in living a clean and wholesome life, in making the troubles of your neigh- bor your own, in avoiding envy and all forms of covet- ousness and in thanking Heaven for what you have, however small a portion that may be? There can be no form of real success that does not bring some sort of aid and comfort to humanity, that does not make people a little happier, a little more contented than they were before, that does not uplift, in some sort, the soul which the German professor could not find in his cadavers, and that does not bring joy and content from the shal- low well of life." Joel Chandler Harris the Man 66 UNCLE REMUS" UNCLE REMUS BY GRANTLAND EICE JHERE'S a shadow on the cotton-patch; the blue has left the sky ; I The mournin' meadows echo with the southwind's saddened sigh; | And the gold of all the sunshine in Dixie's turned to gray But the roses and the violets shall hide his face away. "The Little Boy" is lonesome and his eyes are dim with tears ; Beyond the mists he only sees the shadows of the years ; The light all lies behind him with his best friend gone away But the softest winds of Dixie at his heart will kneel to pray. The people of the woodlands the fur and feathered clan The bear the fox the rabbit will mourn him more than man; But the rose that sways above him in his blossom-tented tomb Shall turn its crimson lips of love to kiss away the gloom. 80 Memories of Uncle Remus The shadow's on the cotton-patch; the light has left the sky; A world shall bow in sorrow at his message of good-bye; And the gold of all the sunshine in Dixie's turned to gray; But the sweetest flowers of the South shall hide his face away. THE CHARACTER OF JOEL CHANDLER HARRIS THE CHARACTER OF JOEL CHANDLER HARRIS A Memorial Sermon, delivered on the day of Harris* Burial. July 5, 19O8, in Trinity Church, Atlanta. Ga.. by Rev. James W. Lee, D. D. " The Lord opened the eyes of the young man ; and he saw ; and behold the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire." II. Kings vi. I 7 I HIS text is connected with a scene in Do- than, which took place between Elisha and the hosts of the King of Syria. The servant of Elisha was deeply concerned for the safety of his master, until his eyes were opened, and then he saw that they who were with Elisha were far more than they who were against him. I shall take the text from the events and the persons directly related to it, and use it as containing a very im- portant, universal lesson, on the subject of seeing. The difference in men in all ages is largely a question of vision. I. The lower animals have only one pair of eyes, but human beings have two sets of eyes. By the first they see material, outside things; by the second, they see interior realities. God opens our outward eyes naturally, without our consent, as He opens the eyes of the bird. But in the opening of our inside eyes, by which we see interior realities, He must have our co-operation. Our outside eyes God opens for us. 84 Memories of Uncle Remus Our inside eyes are self-opened, yet with God's help. John Addington Symonds said it was easy, from a first visit, to feel and say something obvious about Venice. That the influence of that sea city, when first seen, is unique, immediate and unmistakable. But that to express the sober truth of those impressions, after the first astonishment of the Venetian vision had subsided, after the spirit of the place had been har- monized through familiarity with one's habitual mood, was difficult. I was in Venice last year just long enough to feel the rapture of a primal view. So, I brought away the picture formed by a glimpse from a gondola, gliding noiselessly through her network of canals, of the most picturesque spot of earth and brine on the planet. I find it easy, therefore, to call up in memory the scenery of that center of art and wonder. Symonds paints sunsets emblazoned in gold and crim- son upon cloud and water ; violet domes and bell-towers etched against the orange of a western sky; moonlight silvering breeze-rippled breadths of liquid blue; distant island shimmering in sun-lit haze ; music and black glid- ings boats; labyrinthine darkness, made for mysteries of love and crime; statue-fretted palace fronts; brazen clangor and a moving crowd ; pictures by earth's proud- est painters, cased in gold on walls of council chambers where Venice sat enthroned, a queen, and where nobles swept the floors with robes of Tyrian brocade. But to the people who make Venice their home, the pathos of this marble city, crumbling to its grave in mud and sea is not felt. The best descriptions we have, therefore, of the city of St. Mark's and the Doge's palace, are The Character of Joel Chandler Harris 85 y otl Chandler Harris at if) yean of age. From a Dagutrreotyfe. The Character of Joel Chandler Harris 87 from persons who had barely time to look at this won- drous pile of magnificence, before turning away from it. II. All this I feel when I undertake to speak of my dear friend, Joel Chandler Harris. The best represen- tations of his life will come from those who have seen him and measured him from a distance, from those who have lived far enough away from him to get a com- plete idea of the great world of imagery, of beauty and of innocent and wholesome illusion he has created. If we had been brought up in the sun, we could not form such an idea of its vast oceans of light as do those who are bathed in its waves from some of the out- lying planets millions of miles from it. The feelings of those brought up with Mr. Harris, and living all their lives in close proximity to his simple, beautiful life, may be defined as those of love and complete admi- ration. It has never occurred to them to engage in the critical business of forming dry and intellectual esti- mates of his mysterious mental powers. They have felt them and rejoiced in them, and with that they have been content. The people of Georgia feel very much toward Mr. Harris as the citizens of Venice feel toward their city they love him too much to describe him. Out- siders may take intellectual interest in him; the interest we take in him is emotional and affectional. We have regarded him as the property of our hearts and not of our heads. He has moved in and out among us, the genial, palpitating form of a time that is gone. He 88 Memories of Uncle Remus has made to live over again, in a new age, the days of our fathers and mothers. He has shown us the kindly faces and the warm hearts of the old-time negro mam- mas who nursed us. He has caught in the chambers of his imagery and transmuted into eternal form, life as it was lived on the southern plantation. He has arrested and given ideal, everlasting setting to a period about to pass forever on the downward stream of time. He has thrown the color of his genius into our fields and woods. He has idealized our region and given it a permanent place in the world's literature. He has taken the raw material of myth and legend and folk-lore lying about in a disorganized way in the minds of our population, pulverized it, sublimated it, and converted it into current coin for circulation throughout the world of letters. III. As the poet Burns, by lifting his Bonnie Boon from the realm of matter to that of thought, caused it to flow through all lands, so Mr. Harris took the common rabbit of the Georgia briar patch and gave it ideal form, so that now it triumphs over its enemies everywhere in the universal mind of childhood. Mr. Harris, by endowing his animals with a sort of human wisdom, has turned them loose on the planet to advertise his name forever. He caught them and branded them and made them his own. Wherever you find a rabbit, whether in Africa or Asia or Europe or on the scattered islands of the sea, that little breathing pinch of dust belongs to Mr. Harris. His pose beside The Character of Joel Chandler Harris 89 Joel Chandler Harris at 21 years of age. The Character of Joel Chandler Harris 91 the briar patch, his harmless paws, his large farseeing eyes are all the personal property of "Uncle Remus." No one can ever take them from him. Among all the coming sons of men no one will ever rise up to make them talk and act as he did. He entered their little lives; he jumped through the broomsage with them; he took up his abode in their haunts; his feelings pul- sated in their diminutive hearts ; his genius uttered itself through their habits. He did for his animals what Stradivarius did for his violin, he put his soul into them. IV. No country becomes really and perennially attrac- tive until through the genius of its chosen sons it is transferred from the region of time and space into that of spirit. Thousands of people go to Italy every year, not to see its mountains of earth and rock, not to see its patches of vineyard clinging to its hills, but to see these as they have been lifted up and made to glow through the thought of Michael Angelo, Dante and Raphael. People care little for houses and lands and railroads and great cities, until they become significant and beautiful through association with great thought. We love Mr. Harris, therefore, not simply because he was genuinely true, and kindly and good, but because, in addition to all these traits of personal worth, he was a creator, and helped to give our state a place in the eternal realm of mind. By his work he enhanced not only our belongings, but ourselves. He enriched us all by a process of artistic work by which he, at the same time, enriched himself. The wealth he created was of 92 Memories of Uncle Remus the high sort that breaks through the limitations and confines of fee simple, exclusive titles. It cannot be cabined, or cornered, or confined. It is of the sort that, when once produced, increases in proportion to the num- ber of persons who share in it. It is of the kind that belongs to the universal spirit of man. V. Mr. Harris illustrates for us what one may find in the depths of his being, when he seriously sets about exploring the interior domain of his own soul for hidden treasures. All the wealth of beauty he has turned into the modern mind is simply what he discovered packed away in the recesses of his own personality. By earn- estly and industriously and persistently searching in the mines of his consciousness, he came upon layers of vast value, more precious than gold. No prospector in the mountains of California, or Colorado, ever gloated in completer glee over rich finds discovered than did this unworldly son of Georgia chuckle in hilarious de- light over images, ideas, figures, he saw lying in heaps in the unseen world of his spirit. Those who were inti- mate with Mr. Harris will call to mind his habit of shak- ing with merriment always just before giving expres- sion to some quaint or exquisite sentiment, as if he saw the striking quality of the thought he was about to utter before it completely took form in speech. By liv- ing constantly with the fancies and beautiful scenery he had accustomed himself to find in his own mind, he kept himself at a perpetual level of good humor. He always impressed me as one who was being constantly sustained The Character of Joel Chandler Harris 93 oel Chandler Harris at 24 yean of age, the time of his marriage. The Character of Joel Chandler Harris 95 Reading from right to left: Roberts, Joel Chandler Harris, J. H. Estill, Henry W. Grady. Taken at Look-out Mountain, Tenn. t about 1880. The Character of Joel Chandler Harris 97 The Character of Joel Chandler Harris 99 by unseen resources of happiness. He radiated as natur- ally as a candle shines. He never had to leave home to find pleasure. He was rarely ever at banquets given by his fellow citizens, all of whom he loved. He had such a happy lot of sports and innocent revelers banqueting day by day in the halls of his imagination that he was hardly ever able to see his way clear to leave these inside guests for those he might find outside. By com- mand of the President of the United States he was forced, on one occasion, to go out and sit down with the great, as the world measures greatness, and Mr. Roosevelt had the insight that enabled him to know that he was causing acute discomfort to a man of whom he was very fond. VI. The world can well forgive Herbert Spencer for denying himself the social life of London, that he might give himself up entirely to working out his synthetic philosophy. So we can well forgive Mr. Harris for not seeing his way clear to dine with us often, inasmuch as he was giving his whole attention to preparing feasts which the whole world can share with him forever. He transmuted his soul into his writings. He converted himself into literature. He realized his ideals by ideal- izing his reals. He had illimitable optimism, because he ranged in a region where vast hopes are fed. He laughed with a wholesomeness and depth that indicated his proximity to the boundless resources of infinite good cheer. He revelled and luxuriated like an innocent, happy child out for a holiday from eternity. He was 100 Memories of Uncle Remus contagious like sweet music. People caught him as invalids catch health in the mountains. All felt him as travelers in Holland feel the presence of acres of car- nations, blooming on the roadside. His ministry was not dogmatic, bristling like the quills of a porcupine, with "thou shalts" and "thou shalt nots;" it was quiet and persuasive and all-conquering like the sunlight. He conquered by warmth and color, by radiating and illumi- nating. He made no enemies, because he obliterated the battlements of those who would fight by the resistless impact of successive installments of good will. He was no coward ; he was not without deep convictions, but he bombarded that which was low with that which was high. He put those who opposed him out of business by think- ing at higher levels than they were mentally able to breathe on, as Watt put the stage coach industry out of business by converting his ideas into better methods of transportation. VII. His aims were simple and his consecration to his ideals was complete. He was so sweet and unpreten- tious however, that to a stranger he seemed to have no aims at all. He never referred to himself, he never asserted himself, he never advertised himself. No man ever wore the honors that unbidden came to him with less seeming self-gratulation. If he had received notice that he had been elected president of the whole world of let- ters, I believe he would have responded that he pre- ferred to stay in West End and look after his garden. What he had done in giving the world his. ideals, he felt The Character of Joel Chandler Harris 101 The Character of Joel Chandler Harris 103 Andrew Carnegie and Joel Chandler Harris, on front la-wn of Snap Bean Farm, The Character of Joel Chandler Harris 105 anybody could do, if he would only practice the industry he had. He told me one day that every young person had a head full of dreams and fancies, and that the only difference in persons was found in the fact that some people, by hard effort, corralled their fancies and dreams, as ranchmen do their cattle, and others did not. He said any person could write an interesting book if he would only make up his mind to be himself and get at it and stick to it until the task was finished. VIII. Mr. Harris has taught us the pure luxury of just living in the completest simplicity one's own life. He never sought honors, or money, or official distinction. The idea of maintaining a position for the mere show of it, the idea of keeping up a social impressiveness equal to that of his neighbors was utterly foreign to him. Life itself, without any of the accompaniments and surround- ings which usually go with it, was to him the center of his whole philosophy of contentment. Things that came to him as part of the pecuniary reward of his labors he accepted with thankfulness and used rationally, but not to them did he turn as reasons for solid happiness. They were the mere scaffolding of his real life. Hence, he liked simple things, old things, plain things. He would have preferred a street car to an automobile. His luxuries were sunsets, and trees, skies, clouds, common every-day human beings and little children. He liked learning as long as it was not pretentious. He liked scholarly people if they had perspective enough not to be proud. A son of Adam to him, whether on a throne or 106 Memories of Uncle Remus in a cottage, was a son of Adam, and all the distinctions of rank by which men divide themselves up were to him artificial and mechanical. He enjoyed sitting down with Mr. Carnegie under a tree in his yard, because the great philanthropist was a simple Scotchman who had worked himself up from a mill boy to a king of industry. IX. He was uneasy and ill at ease whenever people pro- posed to meet him on any other than simple, human terms. If they came announced as great people, to see him, an author of world-wide fame, he hardly knew how to face the situation. If a plain Mr. Jones came to call, though, in fact, he might be the president of a railroad, or an owner of a 10-acre farm, he was grace itself. He was perfectly at home with folks as long as there was no rattle of titles. He greatly enjoyed meeting the presi- dent because Mr. Roosevelt, being before and above all things else a genuine man, met Mr. Harris on the plain terms of hearty, robust manhood. It was surpris- ing to him why people wanted his autograph, and he was a little slow about responding to such demands. Jahu Dewitt Miller, knowing this, was accustomed to send any of Mr. Harris' books in which he wanted the author's autograph to me, that I might call in person and secure it. On one occasion a couple of first editions of "Uncle Remus' " came to me with a letter saying: "Please go out and see Mr. Harris and have him write some aphorism and his name in these books, and send them back to me." I called and said, "Mr. Harris, a friend of yours and mine wants you to write an aphorism The Character of Joel Chandler Harris 107 7 f F*'~' rurrm "V-^J^^. t / ^ r/yC/s9i^*Jif^*^^^^ ^ Fac-simii'e of inscription by Joel Chandler Harris, "written at request of Jahu Dt Witt Miller. 108 Memories of Uncle Remus and your name in each of these 'Uncle Remus' ' books." He looked solemn and said, "I have no aphorisms." I walked up to him and said, "Now, please, my friend, don't be contrary and heady; take these books and write in them at once, or I'll camp out here in front of your door until you do." He took the books, sat down by a table and in each of them wrote, "With the regards of Joel Chandler Harris," and then underneath wrote this: "Oh, don't stay long, en don't stay late It ain't so mighty fur ter de Goodbye Gate." "Uncle Remus." X. It was seemingly a mystery to him why every person was not able to find in his own life all the distinction he wanted. He regarded breathing and drinking water and walking under the heavens as distinction enough for any one mortal. He did not understand how one person could get any significance from what any other person could give him. The most stupendous significance imaginable was, to him, just living. With life one had everything, after that, all was incidental. He owned a few acres of ground in the suburbs of Atlanta. This was outside of him, and well enough to grow "collards" on, but he owned a plantation inside the wide reaches of his soul extensive enough to furnish a playground for all the animals in creation. Mr. Harris has taught us how to make a beautiful world for each one of ourselves by idealizing the realities around us. He was never satisfied with any place or The Character of Joel Chandler Hams 109 Joel Chandler Harris and Evan P. Hmuell. Snap-shot taken on plantation of H. M. Comer, Jefferson County, Georgia, in spring of 1905, just before Captain Ho-well died. The Character of Joel Chandler Harris 111 situation until he painted it, and made it glow with the colors of his own spirit. He started as an apprentice in a plantation printing office in Putnam county. Quite an obscure and out-of-the-way position, you say, for putting much color on. But when he left that printing office he had made it so beautiful that it has been shining out there in the country for nearly fifty years. His home in West End he has idealized until it has become the most beautiful home in Atlanta, and people from all over the country make pilgrimages to see it. The aver- age man thinks a beautiful house is something external, but there is no genuine beauty in any house or in any place that is not put into it from the depths of some- body's soul. The cottage in which the poet Burns was born, multiplied by the spirit of Burns, is far more beau- tiful, and attracts thousands more of sight-seers than the Taj-ma-hal in Agra, India. Mr. Harris has practiced all his life the inner, spiritual method of making things about him beautiful, and that he has succeeded far be- yond the rest of his fellow-citizens is the testimony of the world. XI. He was transformed from within by the renewing of his mind and proved by the test of personal experience how good and acceptable and perfect the interior method of transformation is. He was not conformed to the fashion of his age, in the sense that the outside world forced him to terms with its passing and perishing affairs. Instead of permitting the world to digest and assimilate him he followed a line of interior activity, by which he digested and assimilated the world. Instead of 112 Memories of Uncle Remus moving with the current, he compelled the current to flow through the channels of his thought. Instead of passively domesticating himself at the level of things as he found them, he resolutely, by the activity of his spirit set about lifting to a higher plane the world in which his lot was cast. Instead of accepting standards ready- made, he proposed to establish new ones on his own account. Instead of dancing to the world's music, he gave out from the depths of his soul new notes for the world to dance to. XII. Mr. Harris was a deeply religious man. As the quiet, silent, sunlight manages to embody itself in all trees and flowers and animals in the world, so the religion of Mr. Harris found embodiment in all his writings and in all the relations of his lif e. He would have been the last man to claim much for himself religiously, as he would have been the last man to claim much for himself artistically, but all who associated with him personally or through his writings knew that he was both an artist and a deeply religious man. He was a devoted follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. He told me not long ago that all the agnostics and materialists in creation could never shake his faith. But he would have felt about as awk- ward in proclaiming himself a pattern of piety as he would in proclaiming himself a pattern in literature. His religion pervaded his whole life, as health per- vades a strong man's body. It was more of an atmos- phere you felt than a distinct entity you could describe. His home was filled with it. You could never enter his The Character of Joel Chandler Harris 113 door without a sense of a subtle, genial presence resting on everything about the home. Every child he had did seemingly as he pleased, but grew up to express in orderly conduct and attention to duty the sweet music of his father's house, to which he had adjusted himself almost unconsciously. He seemed to be regulated by no hard and fast rules, nor did he seem to bring those about him under the sway of hard and fast rules. His rules, whatever they were, were broken up, and diffused throughout his home, which he and his family breathed as the lungs take in the breath of the morning. As he lived so he died, peacefully, beautifully, kindly, humanly. One of his sons entered his room when his feet were al- most on the brink of the river of death, and said: "How are you this morning, father?" "Well, I am about the extent of the tenth of a gnat's eye brow better." His last words were uttered after hearing read a letter from Mr. Roosevelt expressing sorrow at his illness. "Tell the President that he has been very kind." So Joel Chandler Harris passed away from the realm of shad- ows into that of light, with the feeling that all the peo- ple, from the President down to the poorest man he had ever met, had been very kind to him. The Character of Joel Chandler Harris 115 COPYRIGHT, UNDERWOOD 4 UNDERWOOD. Joel Chandler Harris at jy, at work in his home in Atlanta, Ga. Taken in igo6. IN MEMORY OF JOEL CHANDLER HARRIS JOEL CHANDLER HARRIS BY FRANK L. STANTON UMMER is in the world, sweet-singing, And blossoms breathe in every clod; The lowly vales with music ringing, High-answered from the hills of God. Yet hills, to dream-deep vales replying, Sing not as if one flower could die ; He would not have the Summer sighing Who never gave the world a sigh 1 Who heard the world's heart beat, and listened Where God spake in a drop of dew; And if his eyes with teardrops glistened The world he loved so never knew. Its grief was his each shadow falling, That on a blossom left its blight; But when he heard the Darkness calling He knew that Darkness dreamed of Light. And that God's love each life inspires Love in the humblest breast impearled; He made the lowly cabin-fires Light the far windows of the world! He dreamed the dreams of Childhood, giving Joy to it to the wide world's end; For in the Man the Child was living, And little children called him Friend. 120 Memories of Uncle Remus Not his to stand where lightnings gleaming Illume the laurel wreath of Fame ; Sweeter to hear the roses dreaming, And in the violets read Love's name. Love in the winds the corn blades blowing; Love where the brown bee builds the comb ; Love in the reaping and the sowing, Love in the holy lights of Home. A life faith-true each hour unfolding A kinship with a life to be ; A world in wonder, when beholding The greatness of Simplicity! Wherever song is loved, and story Cheers the world's firesides, there he dwells- A guest, regardless of earth's glory, To whom Time waves no sad farewells. From Life to Life he passed; God's pages Shine with his name, immortal bright; One with the starred and echoing ages, A brother to Eternal Light. 14 DAY USE RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED LOAN DEPT. This book is due on the last date stamped below, or on the date to which renewed. Renewed books are subject to immediate recall. : REC'D LD 4*65-10 AM Rare Books srrci Speci r m LD 21A-50m-12,'60 (B6221slO)476B General Library University of California Berkeley