Evening star., 1938-12-13
BY JOHN ]. DAILY.

BY JOHN J. DAILY.
Stephen Bonsal, dean of war cor
respondents, who covered every war
from the Bulgarian-Servian in 1885
to the World War, broWsed through
some of his papers the other day in
his Georgetown home and found
historical documents, hitherto un-
published, about the life and times
of Robert Eden, the last royal Gov
ernor of Maryland.
Great grandfather of Anthony
Eden, member of Parliament and
former foreign secretary of Great
Britain, contents of these papers will
be news even to the visiting states
man, who arrived here this morning,
and Mr.. Bonsal planned to present
him with a few choice excerpts.
The papers from which the ad-
dended story is taken formerly be-
longed to Mr.. Bonsal's mother, the
late Mrs. Stephen Bonsal of Balti-
more, whose maiden name was Miss
Frances Leigh. She was a great
niece of Samuel Purviance, first COL
lector of the port of Baltimore, who
figured prominently in early Mary
land history, and was responsible for
the removal of Gov. Eden from these
shores.
Records Handed Down.
Vivid correspondence that deals
with pre-Revolutionary War days
was collected by Samuel Purviance
and stored in the Baltimore customs
house. 1t remained there until dis
covered in 1850 by descendant,
Commodore Robert Purviance of the
United States Navy. Copies were
made only for the Purviance family.
One of these was given to Mr.. Bon
sails mother. This was placed at
the disposal of The Star yesterday
by the famous war correspondent,
lecturer and author, whose latest
book, "Heydey in Vanished World y
tells of great moments in the past.
AS the story is pieced together,
Robert Eden, forbear of Anthony
Eden, becomes one of the great fig
ures in American history. Unlike
that surly Scot, Lord Dunmore, who
is credited with having devastated
Tidewater Virginia as the last royal
Governor of the Old Dominion, Rob-
ert Eden was as popular and seems
to have possessed the charm of his
descendant who is visiting us today.
Eden Was Greatly Admired.
Robert Eden, before the trouble
with the Mother Country developed,
and even afterwards, was greatly ad-
mired in Tidewater Maryland. Gov.
Eden, like his descendant today, had
fought for England in Flanders and
on other fronts. He had been an
officer in the Coldstream Guards,
like Gen. Braddock, whose Cold
stream scarf can still be seen at
Mount Vernon, and he raced horses
at the Annapolis track which George
Washington never failed to attend.
Above all, Gov. Eden carried his
liquor like a gentleman. Before the
troubles began, he was greatly be-
loved. All the chronicles agree on
this.
In 1776, however, as the war clouds
darkened, a Council of Safety and
Correspondence was formed in Bal
timore and entered into contact with
a similar Virginia committee. OF
the Baltimore organization, Samuel
and Robert Purviance were the
chairman and the secretary, respec-
lively.
On April 6, Charles Lee, of the
Williamsburg committee, wrote to
Chairman Purviance in regard to
intercepted letters from Lord George
Germaine, the English War Minister,
addressed to Lord Dunmore but with
an inclosure for Eden in which their
activities against the independence
movement were approved, and in
which Eden was ordered to give
assistance to the operations that
Dunmore was about to initiate in
Virginia.
Asked Seizure of Eden.
"This crisis will not admit
of ceremony and procrastination," :"
writes Lee. Il shall therefore ad-
dress you in the language and in the
spirit of one free citizen to another
and conjure you as you value the
liberties and the rights of which
you are a member not to lose a mo-
ment and in my name, if my name
is of consequence enough, to direct
the commanding officer of your
troops at Annapolis Immediately to
seize the person of Gov. Eden. The
sin and blame to be on my head! I
will answer for all to Congress. God
Almighty give us wisdom and vigor
in this hour of trial. Yours affec-
tionately,
CHARLES LEE"
Samuel Purviance then instructed
Capt. Samuel Smith of Col. Small
woods battalion (Which grew into
the Maryland line) on April IA to
go to Annapolis and seize the papers
and the person of Gov. Eden and
detain him until the will of Con-
gress was known. On the same day,
Purviance wrote John Hancock,
president of the Congress, sitting
in Philadelphia, telling him of the
information that had been received
from Virginia and the steps he and
his fellow committeeman had taken.
A reply came by pony express from
John Hancock approving the seizure