New-York tribune., 1877-07-11
EDGAR ALLAN POE.

BIOGRAPuY-rHE POE FAMILY ~ TEE Old
wOEID-riPoRTANr LETTERS PROM TIE roEr-
HIS MORALS.
frRoM AZ OCCASIONAL CORRESPONDENT OF THE TRIBUNE
BOsTJN, Mass, July 5.-Wm. L. Gill, who
FIRST came forward thc champion Of Poe in Lotos
Leaves" has completed his biography Of the poet and it
Will bc placed before the public in few days. Imutl-
noously with lis issue in England t has been the de
sign of the writer" toll in the preface, d" to in
oude in this work everything Of importance that has
been written or related Poe far accessible
liable" lie enters quite fully into the ancestry Of us
sueioct, already touched upon r. H. soddar's brief
memoir It appears that the name Poe old itaiian
one, autcdatng that of tie Po. The family passed
from l,aly into the North OF France. and thence
through England and Wales into Ireland, where
they retained their hereditary characteristics in
great intact Tie Ish gcneglogy runs as tar
back as 1927 when Arnold e Poor had fued with
Maurice Of Desmond. whom Poor tour poets ancestorl
had offended by calling him rhymer;' and from this
fued spTauc The great civil Of the Fourteenth century
in Ireland Tie Le Peers were distinguished being
impToydent adventurous, and rccklcssly brave; and
when Cromwell invaded Ireland in the Seventeenth cen
try they scattered and thcr lands forfeited. The
original name De a Poe was retained 10y some branches
OF the family and Of the desc udaus John Poe.
the ereat-g grandfather Of Edgar Allan Poc The attors
grandfather was officer in tie Maryland line during
Revolution, Who expended his entire fortune IN pro
sding his troops with food and clothing, and received
the family 70 have remaaed It's original arso-
cratic .eve but Gen Poo's fourth son. father OF the
poet dssipatcd and when hemarEedthe actress,
Miss Elizabeth Arnold nc was We know, disowned ny
his father.
This glimpse Of his peculiar and interesting ancestry
throws an indispensable light upon the character and
inhOrn tendencies Edgar Poe and Mr.. Gi skllluly
traces the combined influence o. these interior oudeI
and of external circumstances upon the unfortunate
OF tie treblygiited ronancer poet and critic
Having been adopted by M John Allan OF RicAmoad
the orphaned hoy carried 70 England ut the of
eight and remained school IN Stoke-Nevinst1n FOR
four Pictures Of the sehoolhouse-the Rev John
Bransby the master, are by the way. given in Mr. CHS
life. the early period Of twelve years that EG
gar formed intense attachment TO lady. Mrs Helen
Stanuard az Richmond, who spoke kindly 10 him on one
occasion; and when she died ms grief expressed Itself In
nightly visits the cemetery where she was buried.
Nj Gil attributes 90 her very important Influence iD
restraining the turbulence Of his carly youth over
which NJ. Allan does not seem to have had much con
tro HIS propeusi les do appear 10 have been in
moral aside from the passion for card-payRg which he
developed at the University Of Virginia, where he studied
during his seventeenth But the debts thus incurred
led to LIS FIRST quarrel with bis adopted father, whose
home hc abruptly eft. His first poem had already
been publishtd. and hc got Out second edition,
though only eighteen years OLD at the time In view Of
this precucious appearance, it is not surprising 20 hn
that by his tWontysecond year. when he had become
Point. he pat forth third aud enlarged volume. At
West Point he at first studied hard. and headed every
class; hut bis temperament reyoted against the
severe discipline of the school, aud be siudOusly nee
ieeed his duties and lampoous the professors
until he secured The desired result of being cashe red
The final quarrel with Mr. Allan account Of Pce's
acvotous 70 a Miss Royster, whom Mr.. Allan was re-
solved he should rot Nary, and not in any way con
nectcd with MIR Atu's second wife, Miss Patterson, as
limited very disaacrably by Dr. Gnsgold
Mr.. Gin goes the story Of Poes successful compc-
ttiou tor the Baltimore literary prizes, and nartes the
croumsa OF his divers engagements with magazines
dspovng the universal charges Of Griswod as to Pocs
0uarrels with publishers But after his first
cesscs s Jan eeous susceptibility ohFu"r or even wine
IN the snalct quantity leeaE To develop A. life went
on be became less and less able TO resist the influence OF
stimulans, always apparently dreadng them because
they led to temporary insanity, ye-whon any gross
appetite for dr.ub-fahns TO abstain entirely from the
seuce of his run. Mr. Gin considers, and no doubt co-
rectly that he needed constant influence like tina.
his vie Virginia balance the morbid gloom OF L..
fmagniugs and lessen the likelihood of his drinking It's
evident that o. terrible struggle went in the poets
nature after his wifcs dceita struggle from which he
frequently emerged hopeful "The terrible agony which
Ihaye latcly endured" hc ia letter not before
published. 20 Ms. : II. Whitman, Of Providence" an
agony known only TO ny God and mysel'secms to have
passed my sOul through fire and purified from all that
IS weak. H,nceforWaId am str0us-EOse who love me
are given in fac-simile in Mr GINS volume To Mr .
whitman. whom he at one time ccndonally ell
eaged 10 ary Poe wrote follows Of the charge that
he had moral sense:
And you ask ne why such opinions exist You will
feel for the que ion WnCn say 10 youTdt un-
all the when those hUfrh.c words first met
eve could not have believed IT. posslbie mat any such
opinions could have existed at all There Is Il" odti'
winch seems to NE 50 sacred as that sworn by m al
divine love heu lon. bN uis IoNt' uirh. ana pE uc
God who r.gns heaven swear To yOu that my sou.
Is inca abcC dshohof; that with tie GXcopon or o-
| N.
bat to which have been driven and which are hourly
cnumitt hy others without attracting any nOcc what
ever can call 20 mind act Of my life which would
hrin hlusb 10 nv check cr yours I / have orrcG az
ali iu this regard, II has been ou the side ot what th
world would call QuXotc sense OF the honorable, OF
the Chivar0ps. The indulgence OF TINS sense Das Dee
the true voluptuOuSn'ss oi my life.
These sentence certainly deserve great attention. But
a. may not Immediately be concluded that Poe
exceptional mixture OF weakness aud strength in more
WAYS than one. His traits cOatradic;cd each other lie
was reclase yet brilliant in society. He athletic
having been famed in hoyhocd for hs feas Of strength
vet Mr. Gil gives Mr. Graham evidence that iayen
when absorbed in writing sudden breath OF air, noise
unhcarI by others around him would startc him. "He
disliked the dark and was rarely out at night when
knew him.
Mr. Gill has cmbellshod his memoir with several inter
cstng Illustrations though except the frontis
niece from tine IN of adornmcnts Much space
sary devoted 70 tic refuation Of DI. GriswOids mise
presentations; there also various and char
acterisc iteu,s collected concerning Poe The great
merit of the volume however is that for The first time it
supoies consistent and truthful account Of asnsuarly
perpexed career. An appendix contains GraLams at
tack on Grswods account Of Poe puhishedin $780, but
generally forgotten and fun report OF the proceedings
on the u1veiiing OF tie Poe monument III Bale more
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