Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1881-05-14
DR. B.gGBX''S LETTER.
SHEPHERDSTOWN,

Correspondence et Richmond State
March %, 1881.
Tried NV luck at Shepherdstown. 1t
,vos 81 hitter dav. The wind howled and
danced like maniac blue with cold, mad
ON general prnciples-"je jes so, as we VIZ
rinians sav-and raving distracted at this
particular | felt sorry for the grey
nurple blooms of the aspen tree near my
window at the Entler House that had come
out too soon and couldn't get back any
more. Mai. John Hagan, immortalized IN
Cookies Surry of Eagles Ncst," keeps the
hotel-a man Of most amiable parts and
valuable beard. His dining-ro0m man was
small short. solemn. blaze-taced, and cX-
..edinr!v polite Told me his name, but
have forgotten it. Mr. little, Of the Regis
ter. being out Of town, Prot. McMurran
and DIR. Manning did their best for me. In
vain The weather was too vile; few Shck-
Us were gathered But then | had night
and part Of day with Hon. Alexander K.
poteler. and that paid me handsomely.
The scene from Macbeth, pencllcd by MN
On the walls of his room in Princeton Col
lega. which had admired when a school
boy at Edgrhiil Qnd which the Faculty had
framed, was destroyed by fire. lie drew
for me a rough sketch Of his room-mate
Philip Pendleton Cooke. His intimate
friends were Jim" Chestnut and John
Manning. of South Carolina. Florence
Nane" was written in hisr00m Whenever
he wanted to write Cooke da 5hcd everything
off the table and one day he dashed ON the
door new suit Of Botecr's clothes. In re-
turn Botelcr threw out of the window a
book which Florence Nane" Mrs. x. VI.
T. Hunter had given to the young poet:
Instantly there was a fight, that but served
10 make them better friends than before.
We talked Of everything iiroad., the
war Stoncwali Jackson the good Old days
OF uoitca warfare with Charles james
Faulkner ia Page county-thcn the right
wing of the Tenth Legion of Democracy;
art literature. the resources Of the country,
the centennial wear at Philadelphia, great
deal about Rumscy, the Nirginan whose
steamboat lloughCd the Potomac and the
Thames in England long before Iulton's
dav. but above all about his friend Henry
Bcdinccr. the eagle of liarpers Ferry, the
Minister To Denmark Anccdote followed
snccd,tc. We talked till midnight and,
resllaling after braakGs; the next morning,
.alkcd tiil had to hurry of to the train.
80 Won think Fulton got his ideas from
Rumsey?'
Beyond question, as hope 10 prove.
When will your book be QUIZ
Next fall
"Do not neglect it, want Virginia to
get all the glory she is entitled to.
Trust me, she shall have it,
From steamboats, to coal was natural
transition. And YOU say that anthracite
eoual toLchigh has been found in quant-
ties near here" =.
"No doubt Of it. / have seen il, had it
pro,pccted and surveyed. But for the pan
ic capitalists would long ago have taken
hold Of it,
While hc vas talking nay eyes wandered
off TO a likeness of Angelica kaufman thai
hung on his mdntel How about That
picture?' t.,.,
"It IS q contcmporaneous print which
came to me from my great grandfather,
Charles Wilson Poale, who was il love
so, I've often wondered where your
talent as a draughtman and apanter cane
from. He loved her, did hc?'
ooh. YES: she discarded him, OF course
but from his day to mine there has always
been an Angelica in the family. Ny daugh-
ter Angelica YOU are acquainted with, and !
have q Granddaughter of the same name"
Miss Jettie. now Mrs.. Didier" excalm-
I'd. "Twa, but the other day that | saw
her I'm Baltimore But ! never dreamed
that Jettie' stood for Angelica, still less
that there was romance connected with
it,
In an instant ! skippod the long years-l
was in Mrs. Terry's parlor in Lynchourg
with other Young men who had come with
me 10 call on Miss Lizzie and Miss Jette
Boteler. They helped to make US very hap
NV. Lizzie Terry, tall and fair as Vera
LouroT I've lust laid down " Moths, "
which John Esten Cooke persuaded me to
bnvA was then but child-Mary Davis
was across the street: life was worth living
tbcn Mr. Nallock. "And that Is where
'Tettie' came FROM" | muscd, IS the tram
left the station.
Il like that 1t is pretty incident TO tell
and 10 think about. All. love and beauty,
YOU do last: YOU are not in vain. oenu-
ment Is not ell gone out Of this hard world.
4 swoetbeart's name carried down the ages,
and by the discarded lover. 1t - really
beautiful" Friendship, too, l. beautiful;
The love Of man for man Is rare, ana
il IS divine. Would there were on the
wide earth a friend to talk about me when
ann gone as B0eler talked about
Henry Bedincer. 81 He loved poetry with
his whole heart. said BOteler; he was
himself n poet. We were neighbors, and
one dav when our wives were away l saw
servant coming across the meadow. from
Bedingers. He handed ne a note-an IN
vitation 70 dinner Bedinger had been