New-York tribune., 1907-06-29
BRET HARTE.
RecoHections of Him by an old
Friend.

Mr. s r. Elliott, close personal friend of
the late Bret Harte contributes to the July
number of The Reader some delightful rec
objections of that brilliant American. The two
appear to have met for the first time in the Of
flee of an eye specialist. where Mr.. Elliott
heard his future friend quantity saying, Tears,
Idle tears. 1 know not what they mean" Harte
was then. as always. dressed with much care,
hut told tfrat although his aim wds
rather to avoid notice. was shown by con-
ventional garments and ways, there was still
something in his movements. and especially in
his walk, that recalled the unconscious grace of
some wild animal" If his Western experiences
had left any mark upon his character it was not
obvious. One could only divine 1t from the easy
carriage of which Mr.. Elliott speaks. He says,
too. that Harte extremely modest in relat-
ing the part borne by himself amid the scenes
he so doughty describes" and continues with
these interesting memories:
Once indeed, my remarking the graylng of
his hair, he told me It due 10 the continued
influence of fear while rider with HuDa BIZ
Several OF his predecessors in charge OF the specie
caskct having been shot, he mounted the
stage so he declared, without some apprehension
Of dark glen. flash theTefrCrl. report. and Il
tumble from the seat: and, although he norVed
himself 10 his duties best he could, they
grew more uhCCngenial with every repetition. Then
il was he had noticed that he was growing gray
around the temples. | reminded him of his own
military carecr-of his having enlisted volun-
tcer In the war between the Eel River ana Scott
River Indians. To which allusion he replied: Yes
that was after the Humboldt Bay massacre. !
escorted 10 the recruiting officer by indignation
and hunger! But although the hardships and pri-
vations en- lnred then left a feeble stomach and
irritable nerves l came to no other harm. Having
blood to spare / shed my digestion for free
dom. You see, he continued. II never had any
sympathy for those mess-pork heroes, although
their ways and, above all. their points OF view.
were to mo an inexhausuole source Of amusement
and interest. / cared little whether they wore
their own scaps on their heads or wore the scalps
Of others 10 trim their bucksktns ! only saw
some reckless men ready 10 fight for their country
did HHmpden, Washington. and'-witR twin
ke-"Jen Davis! For. after all why not
Revolutionary herOesy Washington died i'm
penjtent II successful. rebe. Iatsyette was only
q fbusteTer; but Beneeic. A;"oli had the courage
Of his convictions. He alone had the grace 20
ground Gown the weapons Of hts rebellion ard sin
against his King no more" And all
knew-at least. all the Initiated knew-that Bret
Harte was guying II habit attributed to Byron.
But, observing that these and sue; like traVestes
OF his were not always take: IN gooi part, IS
pecially by those returned veterans who were stil
voting Bret would say Boys, dou't take II too
seriously. ! always waa n I'nIor mar. and ready
sacrifice. Artemus Ward said. any able
bodied relative possessed. So don't look so
solemn"
Mr. Elliott alludes to the pains his friend took
and took in van--to learn the Indian dialects.
but says that he succ eded in mastering, in
stead, the slang and photography which constl-
tuted the spoken tongue Of the miners and cow
boys. Il worked harder and studied longer"
Harte said, ito learn that language than prob
ably would have suiced for the requirement Of
French, Italian-or even English" There was
nothing accidental. Mr. Elliott observes. abou,
the finish Of Bret Harte's prose. He often
made four or five copies of a note accepting an
invitation to dinner He had a great enthU-
siasm for the work OF Robert Browning, saying
Il Canrot describe how | affected by the
man-fayov which pervades, easily and natu-
rally, all that Browning does. When L ff-
teen Jack Oakhurst and his ik seemed to be the
male of my species; now that my hair is gray, it
is Robert BroWningw Mr.. Elliott adds a report
of talk he had with Harte, in which he sus
Gested that the novelist had created his first
idol. The reply in the negative. "Oak-
hurst" said Harte. was pieced up from odds
and ends OF Western character, much in the way
a sculptor takes an arm from gladiator leg
from the wingcd-foot fraternity and a head
from some ones Jove. | desired to make the
character possible and probable and added
what l thought needful' With these and other
notable sidelights on Harte's personality and
work, Mr. Elliott fills out an uncommonly Sig
n.ficant paper.