The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-12-10

ist. 1t was about the time that Longfel-
low died. Then Whittier's attention was
finally turned toward the future. He be-
gan to consider what ought TO be done
with his literary effects. A book had
been compiled from Longfellow's INSECT
lany. and the matter was thus brought
home 10 our poet, who anticipated that
something Of the same sort would unques-
tlonably be repeated in his own case
Then he wished a bOokg' said l.
ooh, mol" put in Mrs. Pickard, quickly
"Oh, not" rejoined the host.
Far from that" he went on, after
moment, "but, on the other hand, Whit
tier personally wished that nothing
might be said or written Of his life. He
told me So many times, at various meet
ings. But, when he had been fully per
suaded, in his own mind, that in some
fashion book would be written of him,
he wisely determined to guide as far as
possible against misunderstanding by
specially appointing some one to do the
work, from his letters and papers-and,
ultimately, he chose me-
what were his instructions about the
book"
He wished that, as far as possible, the
volume should be compiled from his pa
pers and letters. He particularly eau
TONED me against any chapters present
ing any estimate of his lifes work; that,
he concluded, should be left to others, or,
better still, should be something each
reader should settle for himself"
when did YOU enter on the laborl'
whittier wished me to begin while he
was yet alive. 1t is characteristic which
shows his cautious, conservative nature.
He wanted TO be sure that l was on the
right track -
land did YOU do so2"
81 did; that is, | tried; but | met with
not much success. mean by that that
my first decision Endorsed by Whittier,
was to hunt up all of his old letters, which
he had written during a period of fifty
years or more. IL was not an easy task,
you may imagine. failed-for the rea-
son that many people appealed to would
not give the letters up"
Mr.. Pickard now referred directly to
the contents of his box, saying:
Il have selected a few unique relics for
your perusal. ] would like TO show you
everything pertaining TO Whittier, but
necessarily, that is impossible 1 have
thousands of letters, trunks filled with
miscellany, whole libraries of books. aud
fragmentary papers of all kinds, sutti-
Gent to occupy your time and attention
for year"
Il have here" continued the speaker,
unfolding musty sheet of common note
paper. the original manuscript of In
School Days, in the form in which it was
submitted to Miss Lucy Larcom, the poet
ess and editor of Our Young Folks In
my Judgment it is the best known of
Whittiers shorter pieces, and so l will
let you take a fac-simile. There are some
interesting details connected with this
bit of paper, " said the host, holding it
before him and looking at it affection
ately. AT the time il was written, Miss
Larcom had asked Whittier for poem
suitable for children, and had sent him
some pictures, around which he was to
weave his verses. In this, however.
Whittier was not successful. Instead of
doing as she requested, he paid no atteu-
tion to her pictures, in due time sending
In School Days as you have it here.
On the last page is the letter to Miss
LarcOm. l will read it to you, as it
throws a strong light on one of the
poets characteristics. 1t is as follows
Il cannot make verses for the pictures, but
I send thee herewith 4 bit, which, l am sure,
is childish, not child-like BE honest with il,
and il it seems to be too spoony for grave
Quaker, like myself, don't compromise me by
printing. When 1 get a proof, l may see
something to mend or mar
"Now," confined the speaker, "this
note is written in a strain oft-times re-
peated, in one form or another, in hun
dreds of Whittier's letters. He shows his
quaint humor. He is always criticising
himself. He underscored the ish, at the
end of child, also the like, in child-like
He enjoyed cutting himself up in this
fashion. Seldom did he send a poem to a
publisher without some personal crit
icism True to his suggestion he did
find something to mend or mar; for. with
the final copy of the poem, submitted to
Miss Larcom, he included eightnew lines,
four of which he scratched out, illus
trating the way in which he composed.
The added verse or verses, are the third
and fourth, and were originally written
on a small piece, evidently torn from a
piece of letter paper.
i have here many letters which will
show that Whittier thought not over
much of his work In his youth he dashed
off a great many pieces, and was sorry for
il all his life. He never believed in hasty
work He was a most meohodical man
He made it a practice to keep the first
copies of his poems. These are oftimes
written on scraps of paper, old envelopes q.
and in the tiy-leaves of books. But. for
all that, he was slow, very slow, about
printing them
The host picked up an old magazine,
and, opening it, pointed to the first page,
saying:
This is a volume of the New England
Magazine for 1888. l found therein on a
blank page written in lead pencil, the
first copy of the poem called To a Cape
Ann Schooner Now, the verses were
not published till thirty years later! This
is most interesting act! it shows how
cautious Whittier was Furthermore, he
has written many poems, anonymously,
which he never in his long life. saw fit TO
claim. l doubt not, there may be some
such floating around in the press to this
day! Why. between 1881, before he
finally enlisted in the auti-slavery cause,
1 have discovered that he wrote. for a
period of three years, a poem a week
And of all of these, only twenty appeared
in his books! This is much more signal
from the fact that the discarded verses
were, generally, upon slavery, the very
theme on which he gained his first great
distinction
SHOW him the book )" put in the poets
niece.
'sOh, yes, here it is :"
Mr. Packard then handed me what ap-
psared to be an old note book, in size
about fourteen inches long and twelve
wide, containing, l should think, perhaps
two hundred musty leaves. This book
was crowded, from end to end, with the
discarded verses, TO which the speaker
had Just alluded. They were written in
a beautiful old-fashioned style of penman-
., fna oOd ~ Plaa1, DC 1or,vo,,