The Washington weekly post., 1900-11-20
PUBLIC MEN WHO
USED THE PEN.

In my notice last week OF the literary
resorts Of the days gone BY. forgot en-
tireIy one OF the most iIIusir.ous men Of
his day, who has past out Of all TscOileS-
tions or .he present generation. lie was
enc OF the literau who lreduented the
resort famed as the "WaveIly'' Book
Store
Ths Hon. Jere Clements was a con-
temporary OF MeSsTs. Clay. Calhoun. Ben
ton. Webster. ard other magnets Of that
day who participated in the debates In
the United States Senate on the Com
promise question. There was none more
ELOQUENT on the floor OF the Senate in his
day, and the debates Of the eventful period
are filed with evidences OF that fact.
While opposing the Compromise measures
at first, he subsequently sustained them
with proposed amendments
Col. Clements life was filled with ad-
venture. for as early as 1872 he command
ed a company which he had raised IN
Alabama to assist the Texans then hsht-
ing for Independence, He was lieutenant
colonel of a Texas regiment. and was
subsequently appointed lieutenant coiohei
of the regular army Of the United states
from which he resigned, after peace WIFE
Mexico. In 1919 Col. Clements was eject
ed TO tine United States Senate. wnere ne
occupied a distinguished position, retifihs
in 1853
At the conclusion of his Senatorial ca
reer. he wrote three novels. which. at
that time. ranked very high for tneir
literary style and interests-one, me
Rivals; or, The Tines of Burr and Ham
ilton." in which he espoused the cause o.
Burr. In this work he attempted 10 Snow
as he thought, that Hamilton. by tTlcN-
cry. had caused the downfall OF Burr
The STYLE of The book was most intense
Some, of the situations were very ORA
matte Mr.. Clements was also the author
of "Rernard Lyle" a romance or the
Mexican war. and Mustang Grey, a
Seouel" These books are now out OF
,rirt for applying at the Congressional
Library a few days ago couId Only oD-
tain Mustang Grey"
If refreshed my memory of these books
as had read them years ago, and COM
mend them to the readers OF the POST.
Mr. Clements claimed in his preface TO
the book obtained C'Mustang Grey) that
the characters were real and the inciients,
the most exciting and thrilling, were tax
On from incidents occurring within MS
knowledge.
learned from Mr.. Spofford that Mr..
Clements novel Of 1.-THE Rivals; or. The
Davs of Hamilton and Burr" has been re-
nuhIishcA under the title of "A Colonel OF
fba Revolution" The change Of title,
however, is regarded by Mr.. Spoford as
unwise.
After Col. Clements retirement from the
Senate in 1853 ne devoted himself 10 htera-
ture. During the war CT the Coniederacy
from i'll health he seems not u ave taken
aRf fnEH h
to secession ne went with his state, and
died at the conclusion Of the war. 1S65.
There was another member OF Congress
of the past. A very remarkable and brill
liant man. who will be remembered from
his welI-known poem, My Life is Like
Summer Rose" This poem was written
as early as 1875 and published. as 1t IS
said. without the consent OF ,he author,
Richard Henry wilde. Mr.. Wilde was in
the House of Representatives from
Georgia during the administration of Gen.
Jackson, and was one of the leaders OF the
opposition TO the policies OF that admin
istratian. He retired from public life in
a great measure, but find in 1912 he pre-
sided over Whig convention in Georgia.
Years after the publication Of Mr.
Wildes famed poem, MY Life Is Like
Summer Rose" the North American Re-
view charged him with plagiarism, and
printed the poem in Greek, attributed 10
famed GTecian poet. Mr.. Barclay, or Sa-
vannah, Ga, announced thaI ior an'use-
ment ne had translated Mr.. Wilde's poem
into Greek, and thus disposed of the
charge of plagiarism which had been
brought against this distinguished poet.
There was another famed man of letters
who was one of the frequenters of that
Efara apxyr sHf'ha WqWpPlV R0nE SrDrp
Mr.. George Wood, for many years resi-
dent of this city, and the author of Peter
Scherer' and other works. Mr.. Wood was
one of the earliest friends of Prof Morse
while he was struggling here to obtain
from Congress a recognition of his great
invention, the American telegraph
Mr.. Wood, with the Hon. Amos Kendall,
aided the professor very materially in the
early days of his struggle to obtain
MEALS to demonstrate the value of the
worldwide telegraph system.
The great New York literary resort of
that period, 1854 was the New York
Spirit of the Times Office, then under the
editorial charge of William T. Porter
c'York's Tall SOn'). II was then a jour-
nal of very great literary merit, and its
contributors were among some of the first
literary men of the day. The office was
at that time in Barclay street, ard there
[ met Albert Pike for the first me. in
company with Fitz Green Halleel. y. Z.
Willis, George p. Morris, Henry William
Herbert ("Frank Forrester'D, James
Oakes, of Boston (''AcOri. ,; Thomas c.
Thorpe C'TOm Owen, the Bee Hunter'O;
Henry Inman, the famed artist: Edwin
! Forrest, the elder Wallack, John
Brougham, and other worthless dead and
gone and many Of them forgotten.
Another Of the characters of that
day was an officer in the navy whose life
had been one OF adventure and of strange
experiences. Robert Emmet Hooe was an
officer in the navy years ago, and had
had various experiences in and out OF the
service. No one would have supposed
from the gentle manners of Mr.. Hooe that
he could have become involved in the
many difficulties which marked his ca
reer
The most serious one occurred while of
the coast of Georgia, where he became in
volyed In a difficulty with a surgeon on
board the same ship-a DR.. Bissell. Bis
sell was the aggressOr and was killed by
/ H0oe. He was tried by eourt-martiaI and
acquitted. The State Of Georgia. howev-
er, became the prosecutor. and HOoe was
indicted for murder. He had returned 10
his home near Fredericksburg. where he
| learned OF the indictment being found
against him. and with his brother he re-
| turned 10 Georgia TO Rect the charge The
most prominent members Of the bar OF
| that State volunteered 10 defend him. He
was acquitted. the jury scarcely leaving
| the box. their verdict being received with
| cheers.
When I knew Emmet HOoe he was re-
I garded By those who did not know him
as almost a misanthrope: bur 10 those
| who knew him well he was a most genial
| companion. These lines viii best exem-
| plify his condition OF mind and nature. I
do not know II they have been published.
! obtained them from a relative in manu-
script:
81 life Ia Ike Ehattered wreck
Cazs ~ the waves ugoa The gbore