The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1895-12-08
THE CRITICS COLUMN.
DETECTED TO COMMENT UPOS CUR
RENT PUBLICATIONS.
"a Wreath of virginia Bay Leaves '-By
James Barron Hope" Cousin Anthony
and I"-Daughter ofthe Tenements.
"a WREATH OF VIRGINIA BAY
LEAVES" Poems by James Barron

| LEAVES" Poems by James Barron
| Hope. Selected and edited by his daugh-
ter Janey Hope Mari. sl2o.
| For sale of West, Johnston e. Co.
Aside from that attaching to the in
| trinsic beauty of Mr.. Hopes poetry,
| this volume. which is the result OF his
| daughters sympathetic discrimination,
| has the added interest. for Nirginians,
| attaching to the noble and magnetic
| personality OF the man who wrote them.
| I'm an Introductory sketch, Mrs. Mari
| gives, in brief. the chief incidents IN MIS-
eventful life, laying special emphasis upon
| his admirable qualities as son, husband,
and father: his fine fortitude under great
physical suffering his loyalty to the
/ South as testified to on the battlefield.
She also comments upon his social
| charm and courtly manner. OF which II
has been said that it was equal to that
| OF Sir Roger de Coverley.'
Recognizing the influence OF parentage
| lpon character, she speaks briefly of her
fathers James Barron, the elder, ryan
lied the Virginia Colonial Navy, of which
he was commanded-in-chief during the
Revolution. and his sons, Samuel and
James. served calamity In the United
| States Navy.
| II was from these ancestors that James
| Barron Hone derived that answering
devotion to his native State for which
he was remarkable, and IT was AT tne
residence Of his ,,randfath n, conmodore
james Barron. the younger VINO tnen
| commanded the Gosport navy-yard. that
| he vac horn on the 81 OF March. 1879
His mother. Jane Barron, was the eldest
| daughter of the Commodore and most
| near 10 his regard. An attractive gem
| tlewonan of the old school. generJ is- OF
| auick and lively sympathics. she welded
| q clever. ready pen and the brush ana
embrolderer's needle in manner not
J 10 be scorns1 In those days, and was
parsonage in her family. .o,.
His father vas wilton Hope, OF Beth
| ell" Elizabeth CITY county, handsome
talented man. a landed proprietor, or
| family whose acres borderec the pic
| turesoue waters Of Hampt)1 river
| He eeIned ME early education at Ger
| mantown. Pennsylvania, and az the
! "Acadcmy'' in Hampton, Virginia, under
| his venerated master, John r. cary hsq',
the master who declares himsen P iVuu
10 say. Il taught him'-the ihNaiuaDie
friend of all his after years.
! In 1Sl7 ne graduated from William ana
| Na~v College with the degree OF a. r.
Esono tbs pennsylvania" upon which
| ,oanof-vyar he was secretary 10 ms uicie'
| cantain samuel Barron, he was trans
! tered 10 the "Cyane." and in lsoz mace
n cruise 10 the West Indies ,.,.,.
| In 1850 he was elected Commonwealth
attorney to the "game-cock Town VI ia n,
| ginia," historic ana picturesque o'e
| Ira,nnton which was the centre OF
rtarming and cultivated society ana
which had already claimed him as her
hard" For as Henry Ellen he had CON
| ,rtbuted IN various southern publications.
| his poems In ''rhe Southern Literary MIS-
| seneer" attracting much gratifying at'eh-
ton. -. 80. CT oo,i
I'm 1857 LippincOtt brought out beoil'
| of Monota and Other Poems ino w
| ern critics of the time not only LOT i.S
cantral poem. but also for several OF us
,oinor ones notably. 'rhe Charge at
| psIal,lava" which O. Il. II. James-as
ba,,e others since-declared unsurpassed
| NV Tennyson's Charge OF the Light
Tnon the 18th OF May, 1851, ne stood
| noet at the 20 anniversary OF the In
glish settlement at jamestown.
As poet, and as the youthful co.ieasue
NJ Henry A. Wise and John X. Thomp-
-, ha stood at the base OF Crawfords
statue of Washington, in the Capitol
ccnare Richmond. Virginia, the "a OF
Irehruarv. lS5S That same year these
racited mems. together with some mis-
cellaneous ones, were published.
Congress chose him as poet Tor the
Yorktown Centennial, 1881, ana ms
.briIliant and mastery poem was httins
companion-Diece 10 the splehuiu oi"'.o'
| delivered upon that occasion by the re-
| ,,o,gned orator Robert c. winthrop
rhis metrical address, Arms and the
| Nm with various sOnnets was pun
| Iiehed the next year. As the mower OF
| hts penius. its noble measures only re-
v.aled their full beauty when they l"ii
from the lips of him who framed thehn,
a,a II was unCer this spell that one Oh
| those who had thronged about MN 'hd'
18th Of october cried out 10" " I,'.,-
et,I.d the power by which the old EreeS
80 svoted the men OF their genera
| tiCn." -. a.
again his state called upon him TO
c,,ave among her annals the laurels oil
his verse at the laying OF the corner
stone Of the monument erected III t''Sn'
=, nd ia Robert II. Lee. The corner
stone was laid October. 49, out ,ne
noet's voice had been stiled forever ne
died September the 10Th, as ne hau ol1o"
wished TO lie. lin harness, ana al no'l''
and Death came swift ana paili ',...,,,o
His poem. save for the after sollenlht
touches. mad been finished the previous
da,r and was recited at the appolnte'
lime and place By Captain william 1ol'
don McCabe. -, Memorial
| o1a has lspn pronounced by many NJ
',',,terniece and walked this noble ech'
in a brother poets soul: ,.....
81 Ike those of whom the olden scriptures
tell. 49,. s,,,,,.r
who faltered not, but went on danger
Gus quest, -. a.,
For one cool dralght of water from th'
| well -.
with which 10 cheer their exiied mon
archs bress-"
Again his state called upon MN 70
weave among her annals the laurels oi
his verse at the laying OF the corner
stone of the monument erected III ~
mond to Robert T.. Lee. Ihe corner
stone was laid in October, ISL Out t''
meets voice had been stilled forever ne
died on September 18th, as he hau oi'eN
wished TO DIE lin harness., ana AT nome
and Death came swift and faniless.
Ills poem had been finished the previous
dav and was rccited at the appointed
time and place by Capt. william HoruoN
McCabe. .... ...,,,,,
The characteristics Of the poetry " hici
von him the title Virginia Laureate
are familiar to all his Virginia cohteh'
uoraries. They are visor. purity aho
natriotism. The task OF discrimination
AZ 10 which OF IT all was most worthy e
rublication. n st have been diiiicuit ever
FOR the sympathetic mind OF ms si's'
daughter. for there is nothing when IN
has written which has not soi' SN .-'.''.
to commend il to attentiln anu lh.e,eS'
AfnT