New-York tribune., 1880-02-08


row IN her early life then succeeded period OF
calm culture and of comparative happiness; then
darker days of disappointment. 1t is not
secret I believe. that she was betrothed
10 Poe and that he behaved in the affair with his
usual insane selhshness Ii a marriage was conteni-
plated as suppose il was. II WIS well and wise 20
give il mp for 10 happiness could have cone from u
TO either She remained. however. sieadiasf 10 hei
affection for that unfortunate man OF genius 10
speak well of bin instant passport 10 heI
friendship and good offices. Once when HI"
printed a critical estimate of Mr.. Poe's genius ana
writings. was gratifed by receiving from her
letter in which she thanked me for what she was
pleased to regard some service to hls fame ana
some vindication of his character Cunousiy
enough She insisted in this letter upon Poes gOou-
ness of heart and unselfsh disposition, whlch were
the Only points upon which | was inclined to dis
agree with her. OF his cleverness and wonderful
literary dexerity she could not think more highly
than did One OF her finest poems was inspired
by the poets death 1t is entitled "Resuream." and
viii be found IN her Hours OF Life"
think it was in Providence that first met Mr..
Henry Giles. and made that acquaintance which
afterwarl deepened into permanent and
del ightfu friendship He still lives, though
i'll health has suspended his literary activity. By
birth an Irishmau, he had won high position III
England rs a Unitarian preacher was the personal
friend of James Martineau, and was regarded by the
connection as of its abiest contT0VersiaIlslS'
lie came TO America in 1910, and though he con-
tinued occasionally 10 preach, he was best known
throughout the country popular lecturer
never knew what Irish eloquence was Until heard
Mr. Giles only then did begin TO understand how
Cu1an and Grattan aud Philips and 0Con"eil
could SD move the mercurial chi ldren of The Eme-
raid Isle. Here was bmaucy without vulgarity or
rdculous excess; warmth without extravaganza
a rapid imagination suli kept well III hand rhe-
toric without superahuudance. Apart from his no-
be head and musical voice, Mr.. Giles had smal
personal advantages rs an orator for his figure was
dminutvc and had lost its symmetry through an
accident in infancy. But if these drawbacks had
been much greater than they were. tley
would have been utterly FORGOTTEN by his
audiences. He could provoke 10 laughter
lie could move to tears /; when he dwelt
upon the wrongs of Ireland he MADE MS ALL IN pity
and Indignation forget its follies Those who heard
HIM for the first time expected nothing when he
arose and everything before he had concluded. He
had, like all his countrymen, great love OF good
stories, and nobody could tell them better His
fund of anecdote inexhauslible, 50 tha: when
he reviewed Dean Ramsay's book on Scotch hnmor
think in The Christian Examiner he made il point
whenever he quoted one of tue Deans stores TO
supplement il by one of his own. Bnt, admirable rs
Mr.. Giles was as lecturer. preacher and essayist
it was as d taker that he supreme. 1t Is i'm
possible TO compute ont of how many hours sleep
he has pleasantly cheated me- His writings. fine
as they are, give no idea of his humor pathOs and
learning; and what after all. were these to his
GENIAL nature and superabundant generosity With
the careless humanity of his country, he would give
away whatever was in his pocket. and il be were
asked for them his coat and his cloak also Chronic
Jeremy Diddlers, whose only recommendation was
their brogue, waylad him and despoiled hIm, 10 the
great distress and indignation of his excellent
Yankee wife. Finally II thought best thatshe
should keep the money Ptiful were his appeals for
a small sum while some sturdy swind,ler from
County Wexford, or some other Irish county. was
waiting at the street door. Usually II was known
TO every body in the house except Mr.. Giles that
the man had called upOn the same errand several
times before-always hailing from different county
and was likely to call several times again. But
the persistent kindness of the benevolent man gen
orally carried the day and sent the tramp AWAY re-
iolcing. Nv friend was like Oliver Goldsmith in
utter want of sharp worldly wisdom. His wife
wonld point TO 1ls handsome and quite extensive
library and tell you with honest pride that before
he was married he never kept n book. He was 50
genial and generous, and so full Of sympathy with
the sorIOws of others, that he should never have
known any Of bis own; bat thev came 10 him heavy
and not a few in number. lie broke down utterly
while delivering OF course of lectures at the
Lowell Institute in Boston deep aud tragic bereave-
Ieent followed many griefs fell 20 his lot winch lie
might well have been spared but so long as he
lives he viii be loved and deserve TO be.
The mention of a man OF genius who lived by his
pen reminds me of the great and remarkable changes
which have taken place IN my own time IN the mat
ter of literary remuneration. Fifty years ago. in
this country apart from the money paid to preach
eIs and perhaps the writers of schooiboOks, there
was no such thing. should be surprised TO learn
that Bryant received any pecuniary compensation
whatever for "Thanatopsls," which was published
in The North american Ecriac in 1917. The only
American poet of that early penOd who was well
paid was Robert Treat Paine, ir.. who received S11
a line for his celebrated song of Adams and Lib
erty" and liberal profits for several Of hls other
poems. But Paine had great many family ana
other friends in Boston and the neghb0rhOod, ana
was personally and locally popular. Ont OF Boston,
in 1920 question If any Massachusetts editor re-
ceved SO much as $500 year. for most writing IN
newspapers done by lawyers and other men OF
education as a labor of love OF political fcalty
The first magazines paid nobody. and much later
there were respectable periodicals winch never ran
the risk of hurting young writer's pride by Offering
him sordid wages Ii honor enough TO be print
cd. and only little money was paid to distin-
guished contributors whose names advertised
the magazine The lyceums, then most
economically managed, seldom gave more than 500
for lecture-mauy of them gave even less re-
member, aud have reason to remember, an Instance
in which only so were paid for a lecture on
= shakespeare" which. however, considerably
more than it worth. | believe that Cooley and
Graham, the Philadelphia magazine publishers.
were tife first to pay at all handsomely The cool
ness with which an editor would graciOusiy ac-
cppt" an article and print it, without word of
thanks, was even then irritating, though we