Show FF canadian memorial recalls career of A judge and humorist who contributed to the evolution of our uncle sam S am L J J ell first known cartoon of a symbolical representing the united states it appeared in punch in ili 1841 1844 by ELMO SCOTT WATSON ne leased lessed by western newspaper union OU may never have YOU y chandler heard of haliburton thomas canadian barrister and judge who died in england 75 years ago this month but you as an american should have good reason to remember thomas chandler haliburton author for he was the creator of sam slick the connecticut clockmaker and sam slick provided one of the elements out of which gradually evolved our symbolical figure of uncle sam more than that he had an influence on and contributed largely to a type of humor which we have come to regard as typically american so even though few americans know that such a man as thomas chandler haliburton ever existed or have forgotten it if they did know we have more than a pass ing interest in a project now under way up in canada the haliburton estate at windsor nova scotia is being rehabilitated and a noted painter sir wyly grier has been commissioned by the government of nova scotia to do a full length life size painting of the man who created sam slick and whose writings a hundred years ago were delighting readers not only in canada but in the united states and england as well haliburton the scion of an ancient scottish family was born in windsor in 1796 1706 educated at kings college sinnova in nova scotia ho he was admitted to the bar in 1820 later was elected to the house of assembly of the colony was raised to the bench of common pleas in 1829 and in 1840 became a judge of the supreme court in the midst of his judicial duties he found time to write a series of sketches for the local newspapers in one of these he sati prized the character of tho the new england yankee in the person of sam slick of Slick slickville ville onion county connecticut a clockmaker and peddler whose knowledge of human nature unsophisticated wit droll speech and cleverness in using what he called soft sawder immediata ly made him a favorite with canadian newspaper readers first published anonymously in a paper called the nova a collection of these sketches was brought out in book form by joseph howe the editor of the nova A copy of this book fell into the hands of thomas bentley the english publisher who immediately issued an english edition A best seller the clockmaker or the doings of sam bjick tick of slickville Slick ville was first published in 1835 and was an instantaneous success it ran through 50 editions a best seller record which considering the time and the size of the book buying public hns has never been equaled the success of the first book of sketches encouraged bentley to issue a second in 1838 a third in 1840 and a fourth in 1844 in all there were five volumes in which sam slick was the principal character three of them were devoted to the clockmaker tha th fourth was called wise saws and modern instances and the fifth the or sam slick in england in the latter sam appears as an to the american legation in london and i his shrewd and humorous observations I 1 vat ions on the upper classes of england and their pampered ser sam slick after a drawing made by leech artist for punch who made the drawings tor for tho die english editions of books were as mirth provoking ns as his satires on life among the yankees As for the influence of bf haliburton and sam slick on american humor and american literature in general a writer in the dearborn independent several years ago declared that bill nye artemus ward mrs partington 0 henry all have lighted their brands at one time or another at the torch of judge hallburton certainly no other book produced on this continent has had so widespread and unmistakable an influence this writer then goes on an to point out th that atMark mark twains kwains A connecticut yankee at king arthurs court is an emanation from sam slick the connecticut clockmaker f innocents abroad is inspired by the same model not only did later writers get ideas for characters and situations from haliburton but they also used some of his words and expressions verbatim or almost verbatim for as this same commentator points out the one most quoted expression from uncle toms cabin is that topsy just 1 that is cribbed crabbed directly from sam slick who was read and quoted in harriet beecher family as he was in AA 11 M 3 X tp 0 every other family throughout tho the united states we use the express expression loi corn com fed and fancy it originated in our middle west but it comes from sam stick slick who always described women in the terms which he uses for horses one of his most commentary ones being fine torn forn fed As for sam slicks contribution to the evolution of our symbolical figure of uncle sam this same writer declares that figure with his shrewd smile his goatee striped trousers held down by long straps the symbolical uncle sam samee we are apt to think that he was hit upon by someone in a moment of inspiration and pictorially tori ally set forth to t 0 symbolize the united states not at all this flure figure is sam slick the hero of the clockmaker or the doings of sam slick of sackville slickville SUc Slick kville ville as conceived by judge haliburton and as drawn by hervieu a frenchman and leech the artist who made punch famous to illustrate the english editions 11 A glance at the illustrations at the top of this article will demonstrate on strate strata the credibility of that ceory theory in the center is the figure of sam slick as delineated by first american cartoon of uncle sam drawn by F V B ellow bellow and published in 1852 leech the artist for punch at the left Is reproduced a picture which Is generally accepted as the first known cartoon of a symbolical figure representing the united states it appeared in in punch in 1844 and although the name of the artist is unknown it may have been leech at any rate the resemblance between this figure and the figure of sam slick especially in the matter of co costume and long legg edness is striking it represents a young man of decidedly flippant tendencies thumbing his nose at the spectators and wa was S intended to depict the rowdy young nation of the united states state S the symbol of this nation w was brother jonathan as john bull was the symbol of england the first uncle sam the picture on the right is i usually regarded as the first american cartoon of uncle sam it was drawn by F bellow and was published in the new york boric lantern a comic weekly on march 13 1852 in it is pictured on an amused young man aearl wearing ng the high beaver hat tight trousers ire Us low cut waistcoat high col coli i lar and bow tie in which he is still portrayed tho the costume is the same as sam slicks and even the face resembles sams the only difference is that uncle sams trousers are striped it will be noted that uncle sam was then a beardless young man english and american cartoonists continued to portray him thus down to the days of the civil war then thomas nast one of th the greatest cartoonists this country ever produced began making some changes in uncle sams appearance pe arance it was nast who put chin whiskers on him and made him the kindly old gentleman that we know it is said that nast had in mind abraham lincoln when he began depicting uncle sam ile he also added the familiar starred vest and striped coat and put stars on his hat since that time cartoonists generally have followed follow ed casts lead in portraying uncle sam but the essential fact is that he is the tall gangling man in tight trousers swallow tailed coat high collar bow tie and tell tall hat and represents the spirit of america typifying america in both costume and spirit he traces directly back to the typical american character created by a canadian judge more than a hundred years ago oSam ag sam slick the connecticut yankee the historian was not a writer of humorous works only some of his more serious works included rule and misrule of the english in america and the first fir st authoritative history of nova scotia incidentally ci longfellow is said to have drawn part of his hia inspiration for v biting evangeline from this history but judge hallburton haliburton could not be very serious even about his serious work wo rk concerning this history he once said that next to mr slicks history of cuttyhunk Catty hunk in five volumes it this history is the most authoritative account of unimportant things I 1 have ever seen however the government authorities of nova scotia thought enouf enough h of it to recognize it with w ith a ceremonious speech of appreciation in the house of assembly in 1650 haliburton retired from the supreme court and we went nt to england to live in 18 he was wa s elected as a conservative in the h e house of commons and held his seat there until its dissolution in 1865 1885 because of ill 11 health he declined a reelection election re the university of oxford conferred the degree of D C L upon him a short time before his death at isleworth Isle worth death 1865 england on an august aug 27 2 7 1 |