Middletown transcript., 1883-11-02
A Short Gossip About Writers.
In one of Byron's poems we fine
these lines

! III one Oh DyTOuS pO6lllS we luIl
these lines
:" A drop of ink.
Falling like dew upon thought, produces
! That which makes thousands, perhaps
Millions, think
1t is often work of love to the in
terested student of literature to trace
back these drops till they flow directly
from the facile pen of a brilliant author,
to note his style of chirography, his
methods of composition, and the happy
occasion that gave birth to some of
those wonderful word-paintings which
grace the mother-tongue and thrill our
hearts with their inspiration.
Among the famous men of our own
country there is one who will always be
remembered by his atrocious hand-writ-
ing-Holace Greeley, the sage of
Chappaqua. His manuscript yas very
illegible. Fancy, if you can, his dis
gust when the printer gave forth to the
world, Washing with soap is wholly
absurd, . instead of Virtue is its own
reward" His copy was perfect string
of riddles for the unfortunate compost
tors. One Of his leaders on William II.
Seward came forth entitled "Richard
the Third - his 6 freemen in buck
RAM was turned into "three men in
back-room, y while " Jupiter Pluviusn
appeared in print as Inspector
Phineas." He once wrote a note to
brother editor i'll New York whose
writing equaled his own. The recipient
of the enotereturned it. Mr.. Greeley, sup
posing it to be the reply, glanced it over
and could not read it himself, and said
to the boy: go, take it back. What
does the fool mean 2'' eyes, sir,''
replied the boy, that's just what he
said
" There is a story illustrating the
beauty of Rufus Choate's penmanship.
When living on his farm he desired a
new fence built, and having a rough
sketch Of it drawn, he handed it to the
carpenter, and hastened to catch the
train. When he returned, it was to
survey in amazement the extraordinary
zigzag, crazy looking fence. In the
hasty inquiry that followed, it appeared
that Mr.. Choate had furnished by mis-
take note in his own handwriting
instead of the original plan.
Hon. Thad. Stevens, the Old Com
moner," replied by letter to friends
query in vain did the friend endeavor
to decipher the contents; weeks after,
the letter was handed to the writer,
who could not read it himself till re-
minded of the matter that called it
forth.
A president of one of our great rail
roads wrote to an old farmer requesting
him to remove some shedding. The
man could not make it out, guessed
it was a free pass, and used it as such
for a year, none of the conductors dispu-
ting his right.
During the latter part of the life of
the Duke of Wellington his writing
was often illegible A letter of his to
minister in Lord Derby's Cabinet
has not been to this day unraveled.
George Sand, Lamartine and Napo-
leon I. could never have shone in a
spelling school, as their photographed
sins were many.
Some Of the letters received by Marie
Louisa from her illustrious spouse
looked as though bomb-shell had ex-
ploded over the paper.
Many celebrated authors have been
very rapid writers this is the case
with Sue, Dumas, and Lamartine. 1t
was at Monte Cristo that Dumas wrote
the most of bis later novels. He was
asked one day at dinner how much
time he would require to write novel |
in two volums, of 400 pages. " Seventy
two hours" was the reply. A wager
was made. Dumas called for pen and |
paper, and, beginning at the dinner ta-
Bile, he wrote, with but a few hours
repose, until, before the number of
hours had expired, he had finished one
Of his most interesting novels, La Che
caller De Mdison Rouge.
81 compose hastily" said Burns,
"but correct laboriously." Holding
the plow," his brother Gilbert testified,
g was favorite situation with Robert
for poetic composition, and some of his
best verses were produced while he was
at that exercise. y
Ariosto wrote one of his stanzas six
teen times over, while Petrarch was