, 1877-09-30

t.ConcoEd." ..lu whst part Of Concord:
Well yonr rivercnee; thlnk they eat Ill. !. ~ ~
any dirty larceny, but for having. in all uusnarde
moment, just LAID my hands IN a countryn'an, Q
cnt in wa2 the, sA Of
faee 5ne nIsa' be proeesisd id 10 ' urge bis claim
The Univezsallst minister. only, knew TIM
tue fellow wae in want, was disposed to DO bette
| in the future and was confident he eonld obtat
work If he was supplied with the means OF sett!n:
to Boston The money was s'ven tnousa ~ sute t
lr1shmau, who WAS sound TO the core AZ to tn
dosmas OF his Church. overwhelmed the UNIVERSAL
Isl minister with thanks, wishing him all blessings
in this world, and adding, with a roeu'sh twinkle
night before the dyl knows yc re dead!'' Tit
recipient Of this equ,vocat blessing had sufficient
| sense OF hunor to understand how the man wa.
grateful for the service done 10 him, but still
| careful to preserve. his Own position as dc.
/ yout believer the Church which looks or
| uulyersalists outcasts from the Heavenly King
dom.
Another literary matter just new comes from
| the Library T1oe, which contains i'll its last
blographers, together with 4 defense OF Dr,
| Griswold. and an lntimation That lie has IN re-
| serve new revelations which will put to confu-
| sion Ingram, Didler, and Gill, Poc's defenders.
The article and the threat, of course, bring Gi's
book forward again as the latest and most ardent
| OF thuse on tho side Of the poet. When We
| have the proposed revelations there will be a
| still further comparison. But the most inter-
| esting result OF this Ltdrdry 1aMe attack ut
present is an article by Mrs. &. II. Whitman, the
venerable lady who was the heroine Of what the
Library Table writer calls
THE MYSTERIOUS PROVIDENCE EPISODE.
suppose the mysterious part ot this episode
is that where The various cunjccturcs or YER
Mrs. Whitman and Poe took place. One would
think that the statement in Mr.. Gii's book,
which is direct from a1rs. Whitman herself.
would be enough 20 dispel this ''mystery," and
make it a mystery no longer; but the knight ol
the L;trary Tube seems to think that there is
no credencc to be PLACED in the statement, Tor
he boldly says that he can bring forward eyi-
dcncc to prove that Poe disc]aimcd IN the pres
cncc OF literary friends any persona! interest IN
the projected marriage. But Mrs. Whitman, III
her article published yesterday in the Proyi-
dcuce Journal, hits this all oil so wlttily and
bappily and iu the end shows up the elrtki-
ness OF the knight Of the Tube SO couc1nsiycly,
that cannot do better than to quote her vcr-
batim:
An ANONYMOUS writer in the last number Of the
Library Idttt has recommended hostIities against
Poe aud his recent biographcrs, by vigorous
feure Of the veracity OF br. Gsiswold. lie inti
confusion oi Mcssrs. lnyram, Didicr and Gill. lie
has nuts to crack, new solutions Of old
problems" to present. - boultscrs or fact, still
vcri6able soon t. be rolled ont crush te cred
ulnus young champions who rashly undertake 10
confute (iriswold.
This chivalrons knight Of the Table assures us
cles have found, careful analysis. that
1crlal difference exists between Griswold and his
critics es 10 What is called the mysterious PROV
duce evidence TINT Poe discIaimcd III the presence
Of literary fricnde any personal interest in the
projected marriage. ''even 1T the moment of re-.
ceiying 1leir congratulations the bctturmcnt of
his condition. - This Wis certainly very rcprthen-
sinlc; yet other men who have *ousht to marry for
money have been forslvtn and m,:ht eseu Inv: have
been forgiven for pl1rylug by an affected ind!t1tr
cEce the congratulations OF :, literary friends"
upon ''bettcrlncnt' so purely bypo,hcueai.
Whether. Poe loved the lady whose love for him
is unqucstioncd, r,ay be point for these Knights
Of the Round Table to decide. But there are
worse things than those involved in the ''Prosl-
dence episode t!at are nw laid to Ms cEarse, and
notice these stabs in the dark which being
aimed at oil VINO have undertaken ht. defense.
The most formidable boulder WHICH this gal
masked batteries is libe'ous story associated with
the name OF literary lady OF New York. Mrs. r..
r. Elct whose recent death has left clea: field
for the revival Of scandal M" legs INJURIOUS to the
uds than to the poet whufe reputation it was intend
ed to destroy. During the iadys lifetime it, VAS
never openly associated with her nainc. In DR..
memoir se is spoken OF Is IA dst.n-
cuisned literary lady Of south Carolina. from
whom Poe borrowed $50, promising tu rctnrn II III
asked for written acknowledgements Of the debt
that might be exhibited to the OF the friend
OF IT,. and threatened 10 exhibit ! corrc@pn1s1cncc
that wou;i make her infamous II she scld more ou
the subject
it, anonymous writer Of the Li1rary 7atie
yivcs III improved >cr5on If TIE story, AMI the
discretion and ingenuity with which he Introduces
The nanle OF Mrs. Eliet is noteworthy and anus
ing:
..What, for example, he says, ..silall be our
opinion Of L who teIlaces i lady who has
been Weak enou:h to wriie some Sentimental let
ter 10 hi with . reference uf the letters 10 her
husband unlrss she submits 10 tht ltHT Of ltan
required .y n- necessities: The las.. Mrs. i.l1t-
of the klI:seas1 AMI ilt5t coS'ttEale "l wonrli
sadly t!arb, her larrf wears, an' hi; his *enti.
1,en a.snns 'sc:e nEs e':'ss' Of her c;ss;7 death
4 few words may 10 place his infamous
81 ,cv Il! it, i:':e l.-.l.
Mr.. Lie. lttr:,}.. ci.nct'ti to s.'c 1ve u"cr
e!u,su, 1t the :sIs:, nj the et 'lufi. M, asrrt:
:. uo,;: atidF.. 10 ia'zI, "y Mrs sSt .wfo 1na'i.
no s,::ei Of e: l!!'c,. v;th lius'. t,oN
ta: Cy task far her ltt.laCtt:i'l:, AM! .'rvaH
cd u.:oil her tn consent lht, ! .v!aani ss,"ah oe
mad: t:c rc!ar TT ht- letters. Mar fE}
!,r was ore y: The :wo r!lrs to ws:o: hi: n':':ts
81 WIS Ia;rl-!c,: fru!n tie t.::ar received t!s
:cctunt which Sic wuulc, du"hl moi, con!rl'. to
the letter were II lictv to Use lt: nl:sle. lrri-
tut;.d w wha, he reHHrc,! u ulw17.:2nlalu in-
reference on tEe r@ft of i,:*. i..lrt. Foc i.ltS
nantly replied to the demand BY SAVING that - Mr.:
Elet had better lonk tu her own letters. only
this and nothing. more. Iii the nutntnn Of 1Sln
received from Mr. i'ne 1 lrtterin continuation Of
the facts ilave e1stei Great scandals and bitter
fcuds had arisen in consequence of thc1u
In Justice to the poet Wku has suffered much
from jealous 'ficuas and relentless encmics quote
few .! the burning worns wruns from him by
sense Of intolera5lc wrong:
*'Whcn in the heat of passion, stung to madness
ny sense OF the injury Inflicted upvn ali Of U.s.
upon both fan1:1le-.-i permitted myself 10 saT
what should not have said. | had no sooner ut
tered The .:osds than felt their dshonor. Terri
fed c>t should again in a Of madness De
similarly tempted, ! in!nediate1y, when those
ladies' were Sune, made pICkagc OF the letters,
addressed them to Mrs. Ellct, and with my own
hands left them at her door,
There IS i hiatus here in the story which will
not attempt to supply: snarsa in IL: tolls into
winch hls own sasa words aud ms swiftly return
ing sense OF honor had betrayed him, the poet had
left himself no defense against the worlds cruel
suspicious and ignoblc judgments. Airs. El1ct is
known to have oeen generous uud kind hearted.
1t is not impossible that money may nave been ad-
vanccd by her to Mrs. GLENN OF whc! Poe knew
nothing. and which, il demanded Of hin. he had
no power to repay, but ain not aware that any
change Of his financial Indebtedness to the lady was
included in the original story.
have recently seen Il letter from 4 gentleman
who stands in the frunt runk Of England living
poets. lie says: This story has done Poe more
injury than anything else in Griswolds menlacious
narrative. Is there no one who can disproye it:"
The anonymous author Of the improved version,
-,1st published in the L'brary Ta1i<, the chiy-
alrous knight who is about to crush all Poc's
friends and admirers with 'boudeEs Of still ycri-
fable facts. may after all be only soldier OF for
tune, writing and lighting without ''pcrsona1 in
tcrcst " IN the matter, on the side which can best
minister to 1.-THE betterncnI of his own cuu-
diti0n.''
BY the light Of such facts as nm enabled to pre-
sent, the threatened boulder may apparently be !
sandstone: having no integral consistency, and
held together only By successive incrustalions Of
mari ant mud.
do not hold the gcntlemanly editors Of the H.
of0ry 3dote IN any way responsible for the az
res.ve spirit Of this plnEeut little nissye which
rSftkYk f$.x.n