The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1890-11-09

tional. intellectual lite-is wrapped IN n
mantle of dialect of the most piquant and
attractive nature. To call the negro dialect
simply n "degraded English Is TO misun-
deretand the facts from the beginning. IL
il rather English that has passed through
Africa and taken on at every turn colors
and nayors. hues and tints OF It's own. To
oyerbear a sinxle negro conversation Is 70
ones self OF this. Ii Is not simply
the strangeness or the mutilatlon OF the
words: IL Is their peculiar management, the
original turn given to them, the attitude OF
the NEGRO manipulation, the un-hngllsh
aroma Of the whole thing; not simply the
lowered key of yOweis, the unstFung gahut
" cOusouants 10 which we listen: n
negro story told in this Dialect
shot through and through with spar
kIes and threads OF negro humor ana
yivacitv. becomes thing inimitable in its
way. and Is worthy % have called forth In
ternreters like Harris, Irwin Russell and
Page. For years the public was pestered
with the false psychology and falser dialect
Of the negro minstrel books, and the whole
matter became our abominauon; until al
length. when the old regime had passed
away and we were threatened with entire
oblivion OF a most lOyable state OF patrl-
archalism in the South, a few eager spirits
discovered the value Of an artistic repre-
sentation Of the African. and gave us q
series Of pictures trJe 10 life in nearly
every particular. fun Of fun and tenderness
and folklore. set in framework OF dialect
without which the unique bouquet Of
the thing would be inc0mmunicaOle.
JOEL CHANDLER HARRIS.
Joel Chandler Harris is easily the first o
these Interpreters and artists, for. apart
from the truth and skill with which he has
delineated dialect and character, his Remus
stories h ave permanent scientific value as
folklore. lie is a fine cOnnOisseur in negro
psychology, too, and never strikes note
that rings false. I'm him we have the gar
rulOus. rambling, supersttuous, magma
tive negro racCnteur at his highest, inter
preting earth and heaven IN the light Of
his simply ignorance. popping the woods,
not with nymphs and Dams, but with rabbit.
and foxes that discourse as acutely as Rey-
nard in the Old French fdbii0Ur or Relneke
i'm the Netherandish epOpee. The curious
mixture Of simplicity and sharpness, OF
fancy and realism, Of impOsslbllity and
reas0nableness, Of dramatic power and
commonplace therein contained mirrors a
fundamental characteristic of all genuine
negro talk and STORYTELLING; and the dla
lect is SO true that 10 never traNerses the
psychology. while the whole is 50 patiently
human, So DELIGHTFULLY."- sympathetic, that II
appeals 90 readers of all classes, and Is as
Ineligible IN Virginia (whcre the dialect
is diilerent) as in Georgia.
IRWIN RUSSELL.
In irwin Russell, Mississippian of rare
gifts but unfortunate habits, the south iO' I
a poet OF fine calitrs who threw into striking
verse his wide knowledge Of the philos'
phies and humOrs of the negro race. \
truer notion Of this race can often be given
in verse than even in prose. Russell knew
this, and for "A series Of years the Bric-a'
brac" column of ~cribner's, before IL be-
came The Century, was lighted up by his
piquant meters and antic slaves that
shot their feet and their hbers deep
into the luxuriant soil Of planta
tation adventure. such an artesian
tapster Of the juicy psychologists OF the fan
south removes the charge Of m0notony 81
often brought against dialect writers, and
shows MS that there is ".EOlism" and
"lonism" no less than Attic salt discOyera.
bic m the provinces al that misunderstood
region. Russell was the rhaps0dist OF the
plantation and gathered his meters and bis
pOetical adventures at the Olympic celebra-
lion Of the Clubhouse, the cuite-bOiling and
potato-hoeing.
THOMAS NELSON PAGE.
PAGE differs from both Of these in mate
rial ana dialect; his pleasant odyssey rolls
out its cant0, in Eastern \irginia, and re-
wolves usually about the war. As psychic
logical studies of negro character his works
are admirable, though their pathOs are over
drawn and their dialect now and then trips
40 uueducated negro would ever use the
words taught O0r teached'D and did
0Or "done'D and "are" (l0r isl As the old
''uncle" who tells the story Of "Marso
Chan" occasionally does. Apart from
these little "snagsn on which the
narrative occasionally bitches 90 a
southern ear, the cole Virginia sketches
are the purest and best Of their kind: they
are broadly representative and human
without scientific interest, and the sec
tiOnal. universal i'm the elemental interests
and passions which they draw 50 we'll. II
is mo- easy matter to reflect the complicated
machinery OF the negro mind as success
lively Us Page does its inc0nsequence. dr0ll-
cry, lacunal: its ierky, TRANSITIONAL, impul-
siye flow, the episode interruptions ma
ture of the negro narrative, its flashes Of
penetrating insight and It's amlab.e sim
plicities. II is fortunate that three such in
tcrpieters-"- chohO.ts'- negro psyche
lOgy and dialect have arisen 10 interpret t0l
MS our darS-lined liad before it has passed
away forever such pleasant things should
not slip into oblivion unrec0rde1.-Ihe In
dependent.