The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1899-10-08

laughed ut the quaint sayings admired
his dcincntion of the negro character
and his facility in the use of the negro
dialect, without regarding him as u
great writer~one of the first our Amer
lean literature has known, It has taken
many years for him to be appreciated
NJ his worth by the critics, though ne
has long been enshrined IN the hearts
az the children and the lovers of chill
,lrcn. The first man in North Carolina
to mat the true estimate upon his writ
inys was the late DR.. prtchard who
mcmoriyed all his B'rer Rabbit stories
and told them SO charmingly to the
children that they called HIM B'rer Rab-
hit, and his child's heart was strangely
warmed ms telling these stories brought
him the love OF all the children whose
good fortune il was to know him.
'plantation pageants" Is a collection
| of some of the best of Joel Chandler
Harrss shorter tales, and every one of
| them is as fresh and sweet as the first
| vegetation aud the first matin hymn of
| the birds in spring. There is more pleas
ure in this volume for the family iireside
| than any other | have read. Ut VIII de-
| light old and young alike, for it car
| ries us all into that strange world of the
| old time "mammy" and the children
about her that is the best reminder of
| the Old South The reader is first intro
| duced to Aunt Minerva Ann, who has
| come later to he character that will
| live in fiction.
The October Scribner's Magazine is
full of choice literature and perfect IL
| lustration. The first inStalment of the
autobiographical sketch of Mrs. John
Drew, illustrated by photographs and
prints of Cooke. Forrest, Joseph Jeffer-
sen tthe first of the name), Barrett, the
Kembes. Booth, Cooper, Conner. and
noted others. gives a delightful glimpse
| of stage life behind the scenes. The
| best articles. however, and the best that
| has appeared in any magazine since the
| last periously written by Joel Chandler
Harris, are two more instruments OF
| THE Chronicles of Aunt Minerva Ann
| This is Joel Chandler Harris's latest
negro creation, and it is not too much
| to say THAT this character Is quite as
wonderful and as strongly drawn as
| Uncle RemuS How She Joined the
| Legislature" is by all odds the best of
| the Aunt Minerva Ann stories. She
| was an old issue darkey, devoted to
| her former master and his family, and
| had an uncommon amount of spunk and
sense. Her husband, Hamp Tumlin,
| became quite u politician after freedom
and was elected to the Georgia Iegis-
| lature and was one OF the sable ma
| jority that helped to make Southern
| Legislatures ridiculous if not venal. He
was saved from the Ku-Kiux because
| his wife's former owner protected him,
| but was too good Il ''erpublican, as
Aunt Minerva Ann put it. to vote for
| any measures desired by tine white peo-
| pie of his county. She had no pa
| tience with his republican, principals"
said she, and wouldn't a-know'd UNI eff
| I'd met um in de road wild der name
painted ON um.'' Her old master, "Marse
| Tumin," wanted Hamp 70 secure the
passage of Il bin to revive polling-places
| in the militia districts of the county
and to regulate elections 30 that there
could be no repeating. Hamp had re-
| fused to introduce the bill and Aunt
| Minerva undertook to go to Atlanta
''fer ter jine de Legislator" and make
Hamp secure the passage of her old
masters bill. Luckily she caught Hamp
walking up the street, bowling and
scraping with two mulatter gals-diked
out i'm his Sunday close" That put
Hamp under her thumb and she used
her power to get him to introduce the
bill. While she was ''argufyin" with
Hamp about the bill, a mulatto leader
of the Senate, Alpory he was called,
called to see Hamp AT first he tells
Hamp that ''hit would-er ruin deer
pahty. suh'er ruin you" to introduce the
bill. but after Aunt Minerva Ann had
talked to him while he came round
to her way of thinking, and low dat
eff Hamp'll put it i'll at one cen er de
Legislature he'll put it in at de ter cen.
The result is thus told by Minerva Ann,
and if there is better piece of dialect
in modern or ancient literature | have
not seen it:
Il went long wild Hamp, sub, an ne
show'd me de way ter de gall'ry, an |
sot up dar an look down on UNI. an
wonder why all lIm, white an black.
want ut home yearnim der Twin std
der bein' in dat place a-wranglin' an
| calm names, an howlin' an wavin' der
/ arms an hans. Dcy wuz big fat
white man settin' up iii de pulpit, an
| he KEEP on a-maulin' it wild a mallet. |
| dunner what his name wuZ, but | hear
| one big buck Niger call i'm Mr.. Cheer.
Marse TumIin tot me afterwards dat de
man WIZ de speaker, but all de res done
lots mo- speakin' dan what he did; all
un um 'cep' Hamp.
"Yasser; all um um 'cep' Hamp, an
he sot dar so still dat 'twa'nt long TO
gun ter git shame un him. He sot
dar an tumble wild some papers, an
het his head down. an look like he
skeer'd. l watch i'm. sub, 'twel ! got
so restless in de min / can't set still.
Bimeby | got up an went down ter
de front do; ! WIZ gwine ter make
my way in dar whar Hamp wuz at, an
kinder fetch i'm out'n his dreams, eff
SO be he wuz dreamin'. An I'd gone
in, but Niger man at de do barred
de way. lie say, Who you want ter
see?' | low, i wanter see Hamp
Tumlin, dat's who He say, Does you
mean de Honnerbu Hampton TumlinY
] low, Yes, | does eff you wanter put
| it dat way. Go in dar an tell i'm dat
| dc Honnerbul Minervy Ann Perdue is
| out here waitin' fer i'm, an he better
! come quick eff he know what good fer
| i'm.
vivid dat, subj l hear somebody
| laugh. an look up an dar wuz Marse
1'umlin stamiu' NOT flIr fun de do