Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1872-07-19


newspapers of the day, and these are by
no means her best efforts. Mr.. Jefferson
alIudes to them in a we'll known passage
of his Notes on Virginia.
Never yet" he says, ''could [ find
that black had uttered thought above
the level of plain narration. x x x
Religion, indeed, has produced Phillis
Wheatley. but it could not produce poet.
The compositions published under her
name are below the dignity of criticism "
If Mr. Jefferson had possessed her vol
ume, think he would hardly have dis
missed it so ptuously. Mr.. Duyc-
kirck quotes line from her poem upon
Niobe, which alone should have saved her
from SO sweeping condemnation:
'tWith clouds encompassd glorious Phebus
stands;
The feathersd uengeancs quiUering in has hands ]"
Take the following, also. from her
Hymn to the Morning. 1t is certainly
above the ''level of plain narration"
"Aurora, hail, and all the thousand dyes
Which deck thy progress through the vaulted
skies
The morn awakes, and wide extends her rays,
On every leaf the gentle zephyr plays;
Harmonious lays the feather d race resume,
Dart the bright eye, and shake the painted
plume"
She gave one indication of superior in
telligence in the warm interest she took
in the stirring events of that memorable
time. When Washington went to take
command of the forces about Boston, she
was living in Providence, Rhode Island
whence she wrote to the General letter
enclosing a copy of verses.
Il have taken the freedom" she wrote,
Ito address your Excellency in the en-
closed Poem, and entreat your acceptance,
though am not insensible of its inaccu-
racies. Your being appointed by the
Grand Continental Congress to be Gene
ralissimo Of the armies of North America,
together with the fame Of your virtues,
excite sensations not easy to suppress
Your generosity, therefore. I presume,
will pardon the attempt Wishing your
Ezcellency all possible success in the great
cause you are so generously engaged in, |
am your Excellency's most obedient hum
BILE servant, PHILLIs WHEATLEY"
The lines were in the taste of the day,
but quite as well written as the best of the
newspaper verses composed in imitation of
Pope. They conclude thus:
Proceed, great Chief with virtue on thy side,
Thy every action let the Goddess guide.
crown, a mansion, and throne that shine
With gold unfadlng, Washington, be thine. :"
Washington replied to her with all his
usual courtesy, amid the anxieties of the
period,
II thank you," he wrote, ':most1sin-
cerely for your polite notice of me, in the
elegant lines you enclosed; and however
|undeserving I may be of such enconium
and panegyric, the style and manner ex-
hibit striking proof of your poetical tai
ents; in honor of which, and as tribute
justly due to you. 1 would have published
the poem, had | not been apprehensive
that, while only meant to give the world
this new instance of your genius, I might
have incurred the imputation of vanity.
This, and nothing else. determined me
to give it place in the public prints. If
you should ever come to Cambridge. or
near headquarters, I shall be happy to
see person so tavoured by the MUSES.,
and to whom Nature has been so liberal
and benefcent in her dispensations
The General was more just to her than
Mr.. Jefferson. If this interesting girl
wrote nothing that can be called poetry,
except here and there line or a couplet,
she came near enough to it to do honor to
her race, and give US hope of its one day
contributing its share to the intellectual
wealth of mankind She was not exempt
from the common unhappy lot of poets.
After her return from England, she was
SO unfortunate as to marry colored man,
named John Peters, who was totally un-
worthy of her. He was first of all a shop
keeper, and his shop failing, he became a
journeyman baker. Not relishing hard
labor, he set up in professional life, first
as lawyer, and then as doctor The
result was, that the amiable and gifted
Phillis lived in poverty and misery, and
died in 1884, when she was but thirty
years of age. Many editions of her poems
have been published, one as late as 1888.
A volume of her letters also has been pri-
vately printed in Boston within the last
few years. She was much the most in
teresting person of her color and sex with
whom the public has had an opportunity
to become acquainted Woods House.
hold Magazine.
Something Worth Laughing For.