MEMOIR OF

EDGAR ALLAN POE.

ÖSTON has the honor of being the birthplace of EDGAR ALLAN POE. He was born during the time in which his parents were fulfilling an engagement in that city; for both his father and mother were theatrical people. It was on the 19th day of January, in the year 1809, that he first made his appearance on this "great stage of fools." His father, Daniel Poe, was descended from a Baltimore family of fine social and patriotic repute,—while on his mother's side he could claim an ancestry of respectability.

In the year 1811 the parents of Edgar were performing at the Richmond (Va.) Theater; and soon after the terrible tragedy enacted at the burning of that house, both Mr. and Mrs. Poe were snatched away from their three little children by untimely but natural deaths. The sad bereavement of the children excited the sympathy of the citizens of Richmond. Mr. John Allan, a very rich merchant, adopted Edgar, while the little brother and sister were taken into the families of other worthy and benevolent people.

The introduction of the young Edgar-now Edgar Allan Poe-into the family of Mr. Allan was a real godsend to the child; for hitherto his life had been a somewhat hard one. His parents were not in the habit of receiving any of those princely revenues of which we hear now-a-days; and their means were consequently very restricted. The Allan family, on the contrary, was very opulent, and lived in really grand style, generally passing the summer months at the then famous White Sulphur Springs, at which beautiful and healthful retreat all the wealth, fashion, and talent of the South were to be found, making of Äife a pleasant holiday.

Mr. Allan treated the boy Edgar as if he had been his own son; and Mrs. Allan lavished upon him all the kindness and affection of a real mother. Edgar accompanied his worthy foster-parents in all their excursions; and was much liked and caressed in society for his personal beauty, his amiability, and the precocity of his intellect. He was dressed in the finest garb, had every advantage of schooling, and had also (what may not really have been an advantage) a plentiful supply of pocket-money.

In 1816, during a visit paid to Scotland by Mr. and Mrs. Allan, Edgar was left in charge of Mr. Allan's sister; and during the two years Mr. Allan remained in that country Edgar was sent to school. Here he acquired the first rudiments of both the English and Latin languages; and showed himself an apt and diligent pupil. When he returned to

Richmond, he was placed in the institution presided over by Professor Clarke, a learned Irish gentleman. Of this period of the gifted youth's life Mr. Clarke writes as follows:

"In September, 1818, Mr. John Allan, a wealthy Scotch merchant, residing in Richmond, brought to my school a little boy between eight and nine years old, a handsome lad with bright eyes and a face full of expression. Mr. Allan seemed proud of him, and said, 'This is my adopted son, Edgar Poe. He has recently returned from a residence of two years in Scotland, where he has been studying English and Latin. I wish to place him under your instruction.' The boy had no love for mathematics; but his poetical compositions were universally admitted to be the best in the school. While the other boys wrote mere mechanical verses, Poe wrote genuine poetry: the boy was a born poet. As a scholar, he was ambitious to excel; and although not conspicuously studious, he always acquitted himself well in his classes. He was remarkable for self-respect, without haughtiness. In his demeanor toward his playmates he was strictly just and correct, which made him a general favorite, even with those who were older than he was. He had a sensitive and tender heart, and would do anything to serve a friend. His nature was entirely free from selfishness, the predominant quality of boyhood.

"Even in those early days Edgar Poe displayed the germs of that wonderfully rich and splendid

imagination which has placed him in the front rank of the purely imaginative poets of the world. When he was ten years old, Mr. Allan came to me with a manuscript volume of verses, which he said Edgar had written, and which the little fellow wanted to have published. He asked my advice upon the subject. I told him that Edgar was of a very excitable temperament, that he possessed a great deal of selfesteem, and that it would be very injurious to the boy to allow him to be flattered and talked about as the author of a printed book, at his age. That was the first and last I heard of it."

During his school life his associates speak of him as being "the swiftest runner, the best boxer, and the most daring swimmer among them."

In 1823 young Poe was at the school presided over by Mr. Burke, at Richmond. Here he seems to have been liked as a pupil by his superiors, and admired for his good qualities by his schoolfellows. When he left school, Mr. Allan provided him with the best private tutors, to fit him for college.

In his seventeenth year Poe entered the famous University of Virginia, where he remained from February 1st, 1826, to December 15th of the same year. Here he acquitted himself well as a scholar; but he was very extravagant in his expenditures; for, besides getting rid of the liberal allowance made him by Mr. Allan, he continued to get deeply in debt.

On his return from the University, Edgar was

noted for the beauty of his person, the elegance of his appearance, and his lavish style of living. Still, in spite of the hours given to fashionable pursuits, the young man found time to study, and made himself master of all the literature of the day. He also wrote a great deal, both prose and poetry.

In 1829 he published a volume with the titlepage, "Al-Aaraaf, Tamerlane, and Minor Poems. By Edgar A. Poe. Baltimore: Hatch & Dunning."

About this time Poe met, for the first time since his childhood, his aunt, Mrs. Maria Clemm. This lady was the widow of Mr. William Clemm, a patriotic citizen, who had left her nothing but an unsullied reputation and a good education, with which to fight the battles of life.

Virginia, the daughter of Mrs. Clemm, was at this time a sweet little girl of seven years.

The young poet was recalled to Richmond on account of the serious illness of his benefactress, Mrs. Allan. But before he arrived the good lady had left the world which she had adorned by her many good actions. The bereaved husband continued kindly just to his adopted son; but the motherly kindness of his foster-mother was sorely felt.

When the twenty-first year of Edgar Poe's life was reached, Mr. Allan reminded Edgar that it was time that he should make choice of a profession. The youth chose the army; and Mr. Allan took immediate steps to get him admitted to the Military Academy at West Point. On the first of July, 1830,