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

cheer
VIII welcome thy new year;
How few Of all hath passed, as you ana 1,
SO many mile stones By.
This poem. the original Of which [ will
now show YOU. is almost IileCiblc. because
Whittier's hand trembled so when he
penned it; and, additionally, from the
fact that he composed. erased and in
serted, again and again, line on line, so
that it is very badly cut up. However, a
version of it has been studied out. and is
now to be found in his latest editions.
But. to my mind, the very best poeti-
cal work of Whittier must always remain
a mystery! Here is an original of verses,
which believe are the very last ones on
which he was engaged. Some Of the lines
are found in the Holmes birthday testi-
mOnial, at least, there is a suggestion of
the same idea in them. I will give you
the lines: perhaps, somewhere, some ad-
mirer of Whittier may be ably 20 study
them out"
took in my hand a mere fragment Of a
sheet of note paper. / studied the we'll
nigh illegible scrawl, and mused for a
long time on its message, coming as it did,
like voice from the grave-the sweet,
kind voice of master-singer whose harp
ing is dumb in death.
"They rest in Gods peace, taken from work
The vacant place is Allied
Was my translation correct, as far as
it went? l looked up from my work The
niece of the poet had gone into another
room. A light was klndled where one
had not been before, and its soft illumina-
ton shed a star likh lUster upon a grand
old oil painting of John Greenleaf
Whittier. Singing softly TO herself, the
good woman was arranging. in a vase,
underneath the portrait, some bright
golden chrysanthemums 1t was picture
yrrnOca farHoruace and kaa1ft- will ,cf
soon fade from memory. The host is
talking again, as follows:
''Will ! try to transcribe the bits of
poetry find in Whittier's papers For
my own interest-yes; but for publica-
tion-nO. Why should T. l have the
poets injunctions as to what / am to
print, and these must be scrupulously fol-
lowed He himself has cautioned me to
print nothing further in the poetic line
He might have done so in his own life had
he chosen. There are, might say with
out eXaggeration, many hundred unfin-
ished, or, at least, unpublished, verses
among his papers and memoranda But
he. in his lifetime, decided that he had
printed all he cared TO. His decision is
hnal.o
do you find among the papers. any
thing as to the poets last and highest
dreams and ambitions}"
Eyes; and supplemented by what he
told me, l would notwithstanding
the well-rounded success that our friend
achieved, he still had am billions unsatis-
fed, and fancied time when they might
be fulfilled. What were theses Well, he
wished to write a history of the anti
slavery cause, through which he hoped to
conciliate. once and for all the north and
the south. This he thought of doing in
the form of some novel, or lengthy histor-
ical romance. Then. he always wanted to
write some one long poem. after the fash
ion Of 'Snow Bound" You know, aside
from this, he wrote nothing Of any great
length In the end, too, believe it is for
Snow Bound that Whittier will be re-
membered.'
do the letters in your possession show
that Whittier was happy in his life
work2n
Most assuredly; why should he not be2
He lived plain, frugal life; he accumu-
lated more of this world 5 goods than ever
he needed; he scattered the sunshine of
life around him. All the smile that would
light up his face when friend came to
him! 1t was something which once seen
was never to be forgotten. 1t was the
sweetest smile have ever seen on the
face of man. In repose, his face was By
many considered stern and hard; but his
heart was one of simple goodness itself.
whittier was very domestic in his
habits He lived with his friends He
cared little for money. He never specu-
lated in any way. What he accumulated
he obtained through long series of years
and through his hOmely economies. He
invested his money in bonds. Brokers
had the highest opinion of his judgment
in financial matters. and often used to
visit him, seeking advice. This he freely
gave, although he never profted nv any
GT0npY1lqtinnS which his In oil hill
ity instinctively taught him TO recognize
Up to 1850 he was poor man. He made
no money. On the other hand. he never
fell in debt. He just made enough to live
on-and that was all. His publishers
gave him % cents for every copy of Snow
Bound that was sold and this gave him
his first good start. The largest price he
ever received for a poem was $1,000 paid
by Mr. Bonner for ninety-siN lines en-
titled The Captains Well"
John Greenleaf Whittier, whose mem
DRY lives in the hearts Of grateful people,
sleeps in the little half acre of the
Friends, beside his Uncle Moses his
Aunt Mercy, his sisters Mary and I.izzy,
and his father and his mother;
Il wanted to give him an imposing
tombstone, - said his niece to me. but
that would be contrary to the customs of
the Friends. | have Just erected over his
grave a plain white marble slab. On it is
a quotation from Mr.. Holems' poem, en-
titled Whittier 1t is a single line, and
reads thus:
Here Whittier lies
Relic hunters have despoiled his grave.
from the day he was buried. There is
fine cedar tree on the lot, and its lower
branches have been fairly carried away.
twig by twig. The hedge around the
plat, especially where it passes the grave
of my uncle, has almost vanished. do
not know what to do about it."
Outside the wind swept the dead leaves
against the rattling panes. The rain had
turned to snow.
st is snowing," said the woman, sim
ply, going to the window, and peering out
in the darkness. 1T is the first snow of
the year, and the second one that has
fallen on my uncle's grave"
From her tender words, I knew, too,
that then it was showing in her heart
''And when you told her she was the
: At.