The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1913-09-01

mind than purely literary matters.
in your paper of the 25th inst Rob
ert a Marshall. Delaplanc. calls at
tention to my article of the 10th by
some rather far-fetched comments.
showing very clearly that he did not
apprchend the aim and purpose OF my
discussion. which was that American
literature rs n whole was more indebt-
cd to the writer's of New England than
II was TO the writers OF the Old Do
minion. Ny taking the affirmative OF
TINS proposition was caused by an edi-
torial in The Times Dispatch declar-
ing that the Old Dominion in literary
achievement, could in the last 200
years hold its own even with the rock
bound shores OF New England"
In his short squib your correspond
cnt names four or five men who. in
his opinion. ] should have included in
my list OF literary celebrities" be-
cause they were great orators and
dcbatcrs," notably Patrick Henry and
Henry Clay. Now. was not discuss
ing orators and debaters, but literary
men, writers OF history, biography,
poetry, philosophy, most of whom could
not have made speech, and never did.
II is true there have been famous
orators. like Edward Everett and Dan
lei webster, who were also great
writer's. and contributed much to
American literature, but Patrick Henry
and Henry Clay were not literary men.
Thcy were and arc celebrities in Amer
lean history. rs powerful and en-
trancing speakers and fearless pa
triots, but they were in no sense lit
crary men. According to his biograph-
crs, Henrys education was limited and
defective, and it has often been a mat
ter of surprise that his speeches read
so smoothly both as to grammar and
rhetoric. But he was natural-bo
orator. the greatest this country has
produced--unless you except Henry
Clay. His attachments as an English
classical scholar, if he had any, were
superficial He was Il product of the
primitive woods of Virginia, rough
and ready lawyer, of n newly settled
country, and for this very reason the
immortal speech he launched In the
House Of Burgesses was to the yco-
many of that day both astounding and
impressive. 1t seemed as the voice OF
God speaking sentiments unexpected
from such man. Every word sank
deep in the hearts of his hearers and
stirred their very Likelihood. But have
you ever thought how much the arous-
ing effect of that speech was due to
the subJect-to the occasion-as well
as TO the man?
AS to Henry Clay whom Mr.. Mar
shall emphasizes with two or three
was all that, he did not have the equip
ment for a literary man-educa ton,
Scholarships large range of learning,
CLEANED from fields afar His early
life was n struggle for bread. being
the youngest of seven children left by
q Baptist preacher to the care of his
widow All the education he received
was the merest rudiments in n small
school in Hanover County, Virginia.
and what he picked up in law office
knowledge to his eyes her ample
Rich with the spoils of time. did nc'cr
unroll"
And yet all the Presidents of the
United States, with the exception of
three or four. must yield in influence
to Henry Clay so far as concerns di-
recting the policy and shaping the in
situations of this country.
But. as stated. / was not in my first
article discussing orators and debatcrs.
large or small. but the predominance
of great writer's in every department
of literature in the New England
States. Your correspondent is unfor-
tunate and inconsistent in trying to
belittle the fame OF Henry Ward
Bcecher on account OF immortality, as
age suit Of Tilton VS.. Beecher. Many
believed him guilty, but many did not
The jury was divided. IT is easy to
charge an offense, but another thing
to prove it, Mr.. Beecher's great intel
lectual ability was never doubted and
never can be. His name was one of
the first TO be cmblaZoncd in the Hall
of Fame at New York But MIR. Mar
shall contends that "infamy" is the
basis of Beecher's fame, while at the
same time he names two men worthy
of all praise, rs he thinks, on account
of their ability, ono an orator, the
other a poet both Of whom were no.
torious drunkards all their livcs--Tom
Marshall, OF Kentucky, and Edgar
Allan Poe. Thomas +. Marshall was
no mean orator in his day" but it is
doubtful il he ever drew Il sober
breath. and Poe, all through his thirty
eight years of life, INDUCED In pro-
tracted spells of intoXicatiop. and at
the last after being picked up on the
streets of Baltimore after night Of
drunken exposure, was taken to a hos