THE
MISCELLANEOUS WRITINGS
OF
GEORGE C. HARDING
INDIANAPOLIS: CARLON & HOLLENBECK, PRINTERS AND BINDERS. 1882.
COPYRIGHT, 1882,
BY
JULIA C. HARDING.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
- PREFACE, 1
- BRIEF SKETCH OF HIS LIFE, 3
- PENCIL NOTES OF A BRIEF TRIP TO MEXICO (In ten chapters.) 14
- BIG SAM, 123
- JIM BALES' DOG FIGHT, 130
- MAN, CONSIDERED AS A CANDLE, 139
- THE FEMALE SPIDER, 144
- A TRIBUTE TO A DAUGHTER, 148
- BALES, HIMSELF, 152
- MOON-STRUCK, 160
- DOGS THAT I HAVE KNOWN, 166
- DUCK SHOOTING IN LOUISIANA, 177
- SHIFTING SCENES FROM THE DRAMA OF THE LATE WAR (In nineteen chapters.), 190
- SKETCHES AND PARAGRAPHS, 338
PREFACE.
AFTER the death of Mr. Harding, many of his friends expressed a wish to have some memorial of him—something that would embalm the flashes of his humor, the nimble wit, the delicate and covert satire of one who, for years, had worked while others slept, until overtaken by that sleep which knows no awakening here. After many doubts and much hesitation, it was decided to publish his army and Mexican letters, and selections from such of his miscellaneous writings as were most characteristic of him, and would best give an idea of the peculiar style and fervor of his genius. His army comrades were especially desirous that his letters, which contained the only really authentic account of the stormy events in which they had taken so active a part, should be published, that justice might be done to their valor, patriotism and endurance. A large part of this volume is, therefore, devoted to this subject. His Mexican Notes were widely read and appreciated, and are herein published in response to many requests. The bulk of his miscellaneous writings was found to be so great as not to be compressible within the limits thus left for it, or, indeed, within a single volume, and it was, therefore, determined to give only some of the more striking.
Many knew him only as a framer of paragraphs, as a writer page: 2[View Page 2] of well rounded sentences, which "shot at folly as it flew," or held a sting for those who conceived and propagated wrong. These, in their very nature, were ephemeral, but it was thought best to preserve a certain portion, that all might be satisfied. To this labor of love has been added a conscientious endeavor to do that alone, which he, had he been living, himself might have approved.
J. C. H.
