Baltimore daily commercial. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1865-1867, 1866-05-23
RECoEAECEIoNs OF EDGAR A. POE.

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various papers in this city. As tho tribute of an in
innate friend to the memory of gifted writer per.
Sona'ly known for long period Of his life to mary
Bairmoreans, it cannot fail to prove highly accent
a0la.-Edttors Of Commercially
The character and habits of Edgar A. Poe have
eeen 1ully and freely discussed in English and Amer.
lcan periodicals. and the public is supposed to be
wen posted up in relation to the subject: never.
t9eies there is good to believe thatsome
siderable mistakes have found their way into tbe
account with the hope of doing some justice to the
memory Of that unfortunate man, I propose to give
lhs result OF my own observations, made at n time
Wheh my opportunities for becoming familiar with
favorable. ~ ~ '
My acquaintance with Poe commeaced in Balti-
.nore, soon after his return from st. Petersburg
covered with debt and intamy, and confirmed in
nNpus OF qsSlpatlon as one of his bographers rep
ees@nS, TEr can most conscicntiously declare how
ever Cat t the time referred to, and long time af-
terTards, heard nothing of his debts and iufamy.
ana saw nothing of his disSipated habits His time
aoorS ne had already published a volume of poems,
ana written several Of those minor romanees which
aftgr%ards appeared IN the collection called Tales
reeired way with hisaunt Mrs GLENN, and his moral
uGporIment, as far as my observation extended was
aEoscIner correct lntemperance," says the biogra-
hher quoted above, was his master passion" How
then dld 1t happen. that during intimate acuuant-
ance With him. which continued for more than twe
stance. 7A0 -A
!: lis personal appearance and equipments at the
uHle SPEAK or nave been thus described: He was
thih ana pale even to ghOstness; his whole appear
ance indicated sic kness. and the utmost destituton
4 Uall-wQrn trock coat concealed the absence of a
shirt and lmpsrtect boots discovered the want Of
nose thls description is wholly incorrect In his
youthful days, PoeS personal appearance was deli
Gate anu eniminate but never sckly or CHASTITY and
never saw him III any dress which was not fashion
aoly neat With some approximation to elegance In
deed, often wondered how he could contrve to
equip. hihSef so handsomely, considering that his
rlous enough. - wv
My intercourse with Poe was almost con tinuous for
weeks together Almost every day we took long
walks N the rural districts near Baltimore and had
long conversations on great variety of subjects.
ana however dry might b the subject Of our dis
course, and however dusty the road we travelled we
never stopped at any hotel for liquid refreshment,
and never observed any disposition on the part OF
ms companion to avail himself of the liberal supplies
OF alcohohc beverage which always to be had in
the vicinity of Baltimore In short, his general hab-
lts at that time strictly temperate; and hut for
ono or two Incidents might have supposed him to
be member of the cold water army. On one occa-
SION, when visited him at his lodgings he produced
a d"canter Of Jamaica spirits, in conformity with
practice which was very common in those days es-
peciaiiS in the Southern and Middle States, where
ono gentleman could scarcely visit another without
being invited to drink. On tha occasion just referred
to roc made moderate use OF the liquor; and this is
the only time that ever saw him drink ardent sDirits
On another occasion | was present, when his aunt,
Mrs: GLENN, scoded him with some severity for
coming nome intoxicated on tha preceding evening
lie excused himself by saying that he had met with
some friends, who had persuaded him to take dinner
Win tHeln at 4 tavern, WlCre the whole party had
become lue5rlated-a clTcumSt tanca for which many
poetical gentleman's experience might furnish y
parallel. Judged from the conversation between
Mrs GleInn and Poe, that thu fault for which she
reprOved him was Of rare occurrence and | never
afterwards heard him charged with u repetition of
the offence.
The purpose of these statements is merely TO con.
tradct the assertion that Poe was at eUerv cri0d Of
his life, an habtua drunkard.
In conversation Poe was fluent, but not eloquent
lie was seldom enthusiastic any subject He had
none OF the conversational fervor of Coleridge lie
did not monopOZe the discourse, but seemed to he
quite as willing to listen to talk Though he sell
dom said anything very startling, his remarks were
generally shrowd- On literary subjects Poe some
sngulary heterodo1 opinions. As for Milton Shaks-
peare, and the whole array of iustrOus British
poets, he pr0essed to hold them in great contempt
| never knew him to speak in warm terms of adIai-
ration OF any poetical writer, except Alfred Tenny-
son; Among prose authors Ben. D'Israei was his
model.
Poe an amiable colIoquist. When his favoritc
opinions were assaiicd or even ridculed he showed
uueaSlness, but no resentment. | never knew him
to exhibit any il-temper in conversation. In the
most exciting controversy he never became fnpa-
tlent or dscoureuus. In short, person ever con-
Quoted conversation with more strict attention to
the rules OF good breeding.
Nevertheless. he hal faults, and very conspicuous
ones too-but strangely enough, his real faults have
been overlooked by his cepsorious biographies in
their anxiety to paint him blacker than he was. He
vas slnguIarly ehemlnate In mind and person. His
defects Of character such Pope attributes to
the female sex in general when he makes the singu-
lar statement that most women have no characters
at all" The conduct of Poe often controlled by
Whlms and impulses, and it was not easy to con-
lecture now he would act in any given case. He
had no stcadast principles for there was not sub
atantisly enough in his N ntal framework to sup
port them, yet under the influence of correct feelings
and sense of propriety his moral conduct was gem
orally good.
have seen an article in a British review in which
Ii comparison was made between Poe and Swift Saw
age, DE Quncey Coleridge and other celebrated de-
hnquents OF English literature. AL the latter were
admitted to have had some ''re6eemipg qualities u
but Poe. said the reviewer had none, he had no hu-
man sympathies no amiable weaknesses, no vices of
specially human consistency. in short, he was
demon and not man."
triaing incident, which just now occurs to my
remembrance, may properly be placed in juxtaposi-
ton with this Englisman's Philippe One day Poe
hs cousin Virginia. who afterwards became his wife
and were walking in the neighborhood Of Balti-
more when we happened to approach 4 graveyard,
where funeral was then In progress Curiosity at
Iacted us to the side of the grave where we stood
among crowd OF spectators who had accompanied
the corpse to the place of interment. do not re-
member that there anything particularly touch
ing in these obsequies but Virginia became affected
and shed more tears than the chief mourner Her
emotion communicated itself to Poe: and an Eng
hsh reviewer coula have seen him at that moment,
weeping at the grave OF stranger, he might have
given nm credit tor some human sympathy"
could mention several striking examples of Poes
senSlolhty II my limits would permit. He was IN
questionaby of an atectonate disposition; of which
he gave the best kind of proof when he abored
cheeriuy for the maintenance of his aunt and cous
III, before his marriage WITH the latter. While he
was editor of the Southern Literary Messenger he de-
voted large part OF his salary to Virginias educa-
ton and she was Instructed in every elegant accom-.
plishment at his expense. He himself became her
tutor at another tlme when his income was not suf-
fcient to provide for more regular course of in
structlon. remember once finding him engaged
on certain Sunday, in giving Virginia lessons in
Algebra.
One of his severe chronicers says 1T is believed
by some that he really loved his wife if he did he
had d strange way of showing his affection" Now
1t appears to me that he showed his affection in the
right way by endeayoring to make his companion
bappy hccordlng to the opportunities he possessed
ne supplied her with the comforts and luxuries of
bfe. lie Kept piano to gratlty her taste for music
at time when his income could scarcely afford such
an Indulgence. l never knew him to give her an
unklnd word, and doubt II they ever had any disa-
greement. That Virginia loved him, am quite GER
tan for she was by far too artless to assume the ap-
pearance of an affection which she did not feel.
From the biographies we gather that Poe had many
generous friends and patrons VINO were always will
ling to take him by the hand. to lift him out of the
gutter &c. # his own gross and brutal conduct had
not constantly expelled the kindness that offered
him.. 1t is never hinted that Poe could have found
any difculty in maintaining himself by his PEN il
he had made proper use of his opportunities. Now
the truth is, that Poes writings during his lifetime
were not marketable" was often surprised at the
difficulty he met with in dsposing of some of his
best productions. Publishers generally declined
them the ground that they were not calculated to
please readers in general.
At one time he informed me that he could not DOS
sibiy live by literary labor and that he would have
to betake himself to some other pursuit. At length
graphy under the tuition of Mr.. Duval of Phladel-
pha He labored long and painfully to make himself
practically acquainted with this business. Confne-
ment in STOPPING position affected his health; de-
cided symptoms of consumption made their appear
ance and his wife and motheT-in-law persuaded him
to abandon an occupation which was hurrying him
TO the grave.
| have been giving an abstract of the history Of
many years, commencing in Baltimore and cOntinu-
ing in Philadelphia, During all this time can most
c0nscientiousy declare that Poe was no drunkard
He appeared to me to be one of the most hard-York-
ing men in the world. I called to see him Mt all
hours, and always found him employed.
Foes opportunities never great. IT
able that the salaries he received for literary labor
generally less than others obtain for similar
services. The only gmpses of prosperity that eyel
he experienced were when nc was engaged in the
editorial management of The Southern Literary Mes
senger and Burton's and Graham's Magazines
Whe he held these situations the circumstances OF
the family were quite comfortable. How he Iost these
situations Is curious subject of inquiry. 1t should
be remembered that Poe had few literary friends and
enemies; the general severity of his criticisms
led to these results. There were many influence!
brought to bear against him when he held the posi-
ton Of magazine critic Efforts were made to pu
him down, to oust him from position in which h,
had 1t IN his power to annoy that class of iterat
whom he did not admire.
Nevertheless as am disposed to deal fairly in THU
matter, will admit that Poe's loss of employment
IN some measure the result of his own delnquen
cy. From what has been said, the reader must bt
satlsned that ne was not an habitual drunkard. L
appears, however, that on some rare occasions he
led aStray by Jovial companions and induced t,
join in their revels and from the best information
can obtain, Ju1ge that the use of intoxicating
liquor had maddening effect on him melting hin
to the most terrific acts of frenzy. Whoever coulC
succeed in leading Poe into drinking frolic wa
certainly his evil genius, making him the nstrumen
of his own rum. 1t was of his unfortuuat,
tricks, when intoxicated to insult his employers o.
rather to make statement of his grievances which
the employer was apt to think insulting Ali of hi