New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-01-06
JOSEPH RQDMAN DRAKE.


MySENToEs OF FAMOUS WRITER.
frnoM AN occ AsoNAL CORRESPONDENT OF THE IEiuNH'i
ORANGE n. j., Nov. 23.-l had just come GOWN
from stroll among the Orange Mountains anu
stopped to rest at cottage where knew "el-
come awaited me, and where too l bad reason 10
believe there were preserved many precious relies OF
n met in whose works have long taken speclal
delight Joseph Rodman Drake, the friend ana as
socate of Halleck and bis partner in the authorship
of The Crackers" has always seemed To me u
more genuine poet than his favored comradc; OuU
he sleeps almost undistngulshed III his quiet grave
by the Bronx, while Haeck is COMMUNICATED Dy
monuments and statues portrait OF Drake loohe"
down from the wall of the room where sAV Win
the master of the cottage.
81 have seen a book said my host winch 10
worth its weight i'll gold" Aud then he brought
ont beautiful manuscript volume faded with age
but exquisite in photography, IN punctuaon' ana IN
4be neatness and elegance of its arrangement ~
contained the whole of the "Culprit Fay III Drake
own handwriting and within the same covers was
an autograph copy of brakes famous poem 10 Inc
American Flag:
"When Freedom, from her mountain height
Uufurled her standard to the an -
IL, +,n conc1udinp four lines contributed to that
niece by Halleck written in their place by HalIeck
himself Valuable as a literary curiosity, the Dook
js still more highly priced an heirloom IN the
family in which found it. Nor is it the only reno
of the ontbor of "Ihe Culprit Fay " which / rad
The urvilege of examining that day. In the
same household there IS colecllon u
brakes poems made by his pro'her-ih-
law. the late Francis T.. Iiiiou' Wuo
vas Recorder of New York from 1872 10 1872
and it contains besides poems by brakes sister, MIS-
Tillou, and other members of the family WIN one
ar two illusions by Halleck which have never been
nrinted. OF the Drake family 1t may DO SAID, as IL
was said of Pope that they lisped Ill numbers
Some of Dr. brakes poems which this volume con-
fains we're written when he was mere DOy' ana
tho longest effort of his sister Caroline Mrs. Illou,
was composed in her giIlhood From their earliest
wears to sing was not only gift with tie brakes
but necessity. Many of Mrs. 1lllous verses are
nurely domestic in their character, and in some of
those addressed to her husband there is vein OF
inexpressbe sadness as If they were written IN an
ticipa.ion of death and to sOOthe her companion IN
The sorrow which must come with her departure
Before proceeding to give glimpse or Joseph
Rodman brakes unpublished poetry as it Is re-
yeaed by this manuscript, cannot refrain from
allpdinp 70 the sketch of his life with which Judge
TIllou prefaced the volume 1t is simple nara
tive written by an afectiOnate hand and preserved
as a family keepsake, which does ample honor Ooth
10 the poct and tue man. brakes life had little in
1t that was sorrOwfu-t sad only in that 1t was
so short 1t is true in his earlier years he was coat
paratiyelv DOOR, but he never suffered from penury
and his wants were great only because his ambi
ton was great In training he lacked little Or moth
ing and his requirements were brilliant. lie was
fortunate in the friendship Of Haecy. whose
penius was akin to his own and whose literary part
per he became in inditing those verses which set
one-half New-YOrk mad with anger and the other
half mad with delight. In his marriage, TOO, he
was more than usually fortunate. Haect when
he became old and confirmed in his bachelor way of
i'll in lpft VIII DiOGr3D1pr
Tie bad taste to publish. that Drake married for
money The remark may have been made queru-
louslv It may have been made sportIvely but Judge
Tillou without intending it, bears ample testimony
TO the contrary. Without pretending that Mrs.
brakes wealth was any disadvantage to her poet
husband, The pays a glowing tribute TO the virtues
and affections of both The match he declares,
purely love match which was unfortunate only
in being of such short duration. Mrs. Drake was
daughter of Henry Eckiord, whose misfortunes
began soon after brakes death. Had Drake
lived the prosecutions to which EckfOrd was
subjected must have given a new direction 10 his
activity In befrending Major Noah, EcktOrd became
the proprietor of newspaper which finally made
Noah his bitter enemy and paved the way to MANY
msfortuues. The episode is one OF tho most inter
esting in tile social and bushes, history OF New
York, Noai's attacks upon Eckford and others pre-
ciptating the ruin Of a humber Of jolnt-sock COM
malice and bitterness. SO cree did these contests
become that after his trial EckfOrd, it was said,
challenged Hugh Max we'll, the District-Attorney,
in consequence of the course lie pursued both IN
and out of Court. Many OF the persons whom Drake
had satrized IN " The CTOakers figured In these
prosecutions and persecutions, and had he .hved
necessity would have compelled him 10 use MS
face pen for his fathcrin-laws defence. 1t IS ldle
10 speculate on the use he wOud have made of his
Int ;+ 10 lol1 af ha XVOull
us pen-and-ink sketches OF the remarkable men OF
that remarkable time, in comparison with winch
those in 1" The Croakers" would seem mere outlines
THE CEoAKERs" AND THEIR AUTHORS.
II lisa singular fact that the authorship of The
Crackers was never admitted except by mphca-
ton. The poems were written al Drake ~ Lang
sta1-s drug store in Park Row, at the corner of
Beekman-st., and they were aiterward copied ana
the original manuscript destroyed. gentleman
who is illustrating the Bradford Club edition has
an autograph letter frou Hallcck in which there Is
an implied admission of the Joint authorship. but
beyond this we know nothing except from tradition.
In Judge 1illou's manuscript collection OF Drake
poems none OF Halleclls contributions are given eX-
cept the Joint work Of Drake and Halleck but there
is in the volume one little poem addressed To mar
leck as the Prince Croaker" which is not iDcluded
in the Bradford Club edition, but the authorship OF
which is attributed to Drake by bis relatives
Whether il was in the first edition cannot say, for
was unable to put my hands upon it, observed
that Judge Tillou marked it" Anonymous" but 1t
not unlikely that it was brakes. This is the poem
How is it. Hal, thy out-at-olbow spirit
Should throw thy liquid caustlc lii the ar,
Ta fall and scorch the skins of mon Of merit.
And make all Gotham at thy daShes stare
Does il become thee, thou apparent heir
To PlndaPs loom for weaving tr0Ilc verse,
To take fall with every dancing bear,
Aud draw upon thy head regiments curse
Was it well done to place great DR.. Mitchell