The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-08-16
With Makers an0 Lovers of Literature
TREND OF THOUGHT
 ALONG PATHS LITERARY

Three very conspicuous men have been taken out of the American literary cir cle during the past year. Richard Hen fy stoddard was one of Ameffcas most 5picturesque writers; and Whistler who has just died. was unequaIied as deco ration artist. by any American. pr. Etuckenberg of Cambridge, died sudden : ly in London about a month ago.
 These men. each in his. especial field. were unusual. In poetry, painting and philosophy. they belonged to the world. By reason of their genius they were in- ternational and America can only lay claim to have given her sons for the ben eft of the world. When a man has |, reached a place in literature, by which he receives the acknowledgement of the world. he is not circumscribed by habi- tat, he belongs to the world, through his thought. His thought is appropriated as a personality, and he IS known by the word he has written. We place the bust of Tennyson over our manteI and the author of When haye crossed the bar" as we know all that he thought and felt and said--and we no longer think of him as England's son. but as the singer that has moved us and come right home to us an ministering to our dearest delights" When Richard Henry Stoddard died. in 7 May, the world was called to take notice of man of letters who was like so many other Americans-self-made. Like many others he climbed to his height of literature influence. Stoddard's educa- tion was self-attained worked out by the pursuance of the best reading his steady, writing. and by the very best compan-. ionship that he could nnd. The Dial said of him: Tailoring. black-smithing, iron-molding. and law office work were among his early ventures before he gained the recognition as a writer. to- wards which his ambition had been drift ing from his boyhood. Tn early man. hood he began sending contributions in verse and prose to the periodicals. and his first volume of poems called Foot prints' was published in 1s4s. when he was 24 years ofGage. A position in the New York Custom House held him from 1853 to 1870. gave him livelihood during his most productive period" We see how his education must have been effected in the intervals of bread-winning. And yet some one has remarked, that if we should say that Stoddard was an uneducated man, we would be laughed at. Truly his was an accomplished mind. He is known best by his verse; but mo more astute critic is known. as. is shown m his just appre- eiation, and his clear insight into the work of Joel Chandler Harris.
 A Great Critics View of Joe Harris.
 We have two new books by MT. Joel Chandler Harris. 'sThe Chronicles of Aunt Minervy Ann and Plantation Pageapts." who is the only living writor of any kind from whom we would care to have two books, at the same time, he Is so thoroughly master of the subjects which he illustrates, and which never leave his hands until they have become literature They embrace then most dis tinctive types of the Southern negro--the things which differentiate him. from all others of the black race the world over and the kindest, sweetest. noblest charac- teristics of the white race. whose human izing influences helped to make him the curious creature that he was, and is. MT. Harris understands the Southern negro man, woman and child-as no one else has ever understood that complex originality. not so much. we fancy. because he has observed 1t closely, as that 1t has always appealed to his intellectual sympathies to his sense of humor and pathos and dramatically to his creative genius-to which we owe so many and so different characters, all individual. all vital. all amusing. To whom shall we compare Mr. Harris-to Dickens or to Shake apeare? For he reminds us of both at times, his insight Is so profound and his are so perfect. For these two new. books of his we need only say that they are collections of stories of Southern life. me- gro and white. such as we have grown to associate with his name. ''The Chren- Ieles of Aunt Minervy Ann" consisting of eight, and Plantation Pageants" of four teen. We meet with some old acquait- ances in them, and make some new ones worthy of their kinship; we share their simple adventures, listen to their naive talk; are glad to have more of their folk lore; and reading on and on with quiet smiles, with bursts of laughter, and now and then with a tear or two in our eyes. say to ourselves, thinking heartily and fondly of Mir. Harris. Time cannot with i. fnA ika iatx
 Dr Stuckenberg's writings of social problems were not popular. It had been said that he wrote for an aristocracy of intellect" but 1t is also truly said, that he lived for humanity. He worked his way to an education. on the farm and never forgot his experjehce as a toller. It is told of him that when present at a la bor meeting and there was great excite ment, which none of the speakers were able to quell. he being called to speak. began by saying, N"Fellow-workmen am Iaborer. and l know what tcil is" The note of sympathy and his gracious presence had It's effect, and the confusion was allayed. He was a prolific writer on social science. and 1t may be that he wrote ahead of his day. To accurately measure the man and his work. we sup pose one must have known him person. ally. scholar and philosopher. he yet possessed that love and sympathy for men that his home was the gathering place of many who had no friends. and who were homeless. During his life in Berlin. his home was the retreat of American students and artists. There they always ffund inspiration. An incident illus tfating the charm of his personality is told by contributor to The Congrega- tionalist: One afternoon, at his home. group of friends had been bandying pleasantries. when Prof. Stuckenberg en- tered. Instantly the talk was lifted to a higher plane. A young actor present. from the Ben Hur Company. was startled into revealing a beauty of spirit like the morhentary flashing of gem. and a mu- sician. who had walked the streets of Boston with his wares--a glorious voice until failure had made him Respondent. took his harp from the willows and sang as one about to return from captivity.
 His satiFe of materialism was an anony- nous publication but is perhaps the work which discovers most certainly his great intellectual ability. He anticipated In that work what Is now being said against materialistic philosophy.
 Whistler the Eccentric.
 Whistler made the world of nature his