Edgar Allan Poe: His Life, Letters, and Opinions — John H. Ingram, 1880, volume II — reading text

Snodgrass, the editor of the Saturday Visiter, the paper in which the prize story written by Poe first made its appearance. The clergyman who officiated at the grave was Rev. W. T. D. Clemm, already mentioned, a member of the Baltimore Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, who read the impressive burial service used by that denomination of Christians, after which all that was mortal of Edgar Allan Poe was gently committed to its mother earth. “Another item, which it may not be inappropriate to record in this historical compend, I will now mention, namely; that George W. Spence, who officiated as sexton at the burial of Mr. Poe, is the same person who, after the lapse of twenty-six years, has superintended the removal of his remains, and those of his loving and beloved mother-in-law, Mrs. Clemm, and their reinterment in the lot in which the monument now stands. “For a number of years after the burial of the poet no steps seem to have been taken toward marking his grave, until at length a stone was prepared for this purpose by order of Neilson Poe, Esq. Unfortunately, however, this stone never served the purpose for which it was designed. A train of cars accidentally ran into the establishment of Mr. Hugh Sisson, at which place the stone was at the time, and so damaged it as to render it unfit to be used as intended. “Another series of years intervened, but yet no movement to mark the grave. True, articles almost innumerable, ad nauseam, made their appearance at short intervals during that time in different newspapers, but the authors of those articles were mostly of that class of persons who employ their energies in finding fault with others, totally oblivious of the fact that they themselves no leas deserved the censure they so liberally meted out. “ ‘Poe’s neglected grave’ was the stereotyped expression of these modern Jeremiahs. Nor were they content to indulge in lamentations; not unfrequently our good city was soundly berated because of its alleged want of appreciation of the memory of one whose ashes, they intimated, had he been an Englishman, instead of filling an unmarked grave in an obscure cemetery, would have had accorded to them a place in that grand old abbey which England has appropriated as a mausoleum for her distinguished dead. “But the ‘neglected grave’ was not always to remain such. At a regular meeting of the Public School Teachers’ Association, held in this hall October 7, 1865, Mr. John Basil, Jr., principal of No. 8 Grammar School, offered a paper, of which the following is a copy: “ ‘Whereas, It has been represented to certain members of the Association that the mortal remains of Edgar Allan Poe are interred in the cemetery of the Westminster Church without even so much as a atone to mark the spot; therefore, “ ‘Resolved, That a committee of five be appointed by the President of this Association to devise some means beat adapted in their judgment to perpetuate the memory of one who has contributed so largely to American literature.’ “This resolution was unanimously adopted, and a committee, consisting of Messrs. Basil, Baird, and J. J. G. Webster, Miss Veeder, and Miss Wise, appointed to carry out the purpose named. “This committee reported in favour of the erection of a monument, and recommended that measures be at once taken to secure the funds necessary to accomplish this object This recommendation was heartily endorsed by the Association, and without delay the committee entered upon the work of raising the funds. “In this work the young ladies of the Western Female High School took an active and, as will be seen, a successful part. An entertainment of select readings by the pupils of that school, held in this hall on the evening of October 10, 1865, under the superintendence of Miss S. S. Rice, yielded the handsome sum of $380. A literary and musical entertainment, held in Concordia Hall, December 7, 1865, in which the pupils of the Eastern and Western Female High Schools and those of Baltimore City College took part, increased the fund by the addition thereto of $75.92. May 15, 1866, a contribution of $50 was received from Professor Charles Davies, of New York, and on the 19th of the same month a donation of $54 was received as an offering of the young ladies of ‘Troy Female Seminary.” These sums, with interest added, amounted, as per report of Thomas D. Baird, treasurer, submitted March 23, 1871, to $587.02. The enthusiasm that characterised the undertaking at the outset seemed now to have greatly abated, and serious thoughts were consequently entertained of abandoning the project. At this juncture a new committee, consisting of Messrs. Elliott, Kerr, and Hamilton, Miss Rice, and Miss Baer, was appointed to consider the matter. “After mature deliberation, this committee reported, April 15, 1872, as follows: I First, resolved, that the money now in the hands of the treasurer of the ‘Poe Memorial Fund’ be appropriated to the erection of a monument, the same to be placed over Poe’s remains. Second, that a committee of five be appointed by the President, with power to act as stated in the first resolution.’ These resolutions were adopted, and the committee therein provided for appointed as follows: Wm. Elliott, Jr., A. R Kerr, Alexander Hamilton, Miss S. S. Rice, and Miss E. A. Baer. September 2, 1874, this committee received from the estate of Dr. Thomas D. Baird, deceased, the late treasurer of the ‘Poe Memorial Fund,’ $627.55, the amount of principal and interest to that date, which was immediately deposited in the Chesapeake Bank of this city. Believing that this amount could be increased to $1000 by donations from some of our fellowcitizens who favoured the project, the committee applied to Mr. George A. Frederick, architect of the City Hall, for the design of a monument to cost about that sum. “Mr. Frederick in due time submitted a design tat once simple, chaste, and dignified,’ but requiring for its realisation much more than the amount included in the expec tations of the committee. Moreover, a new feature was now introduced, that of placing a medallion likeness of the poet on one of the panels of the monument, which would still further increase the cost, With a view of determining whether the amount necessary to complete the monument, according to the proportions it had now assumed, could be raised, applications were made to a number of our citizens for contributions. From one of acknowledged aesthetic taste a check of $100 was promptly received. Two other gentlemen contributed $50 each, while Miss. S. S. Rice, a member of the committee, collected in small sums $52 more. “A knowledge of the ‘world-wide’ known liberality of Mr. George W. Childs, of Philadelphia, formerly one of our fellow-townsmen, induced the Chairman of the committee to drop him a note on the subject. Within twenty-four hours a reply was received from that gentlemen expressive of his willingness to make up the estimated deficiency of $650. “The necessary amount having now been secured, the committee proceeded to place the construction and erection of the monument in the hands of Mr. Hugh Sisson, his proposal being the most liberal one received. How faithfully he has executed his commission will be seen when the covering that now veils the monument is removed. No one so well as the Chairman of the committee knows how anxious Mr. Sisson has been to meet even more than the expectations of those most concerned. To his generous liberality are we largely indebted for the reproduction of the classic lineaments of the poet in the beautiful and highly artistic medallion that adds so much to the attractiveness of the monument. “To most of those present, I presume, it is known that the lot in which the monument is now located is not the one in which it was first placed. In deference to what was considered by the committee the popular wish, the monument was removed from its first location to its present one. The remains of Mr. Poe and also those of his mother-in-law were, as before intimated, removed at the same time. The new lot was secured mainly through the efforts of Mr. John T. Morris, President of the School Board, to whom, and to all others who have in any way contributed to the consummation of this undertaking, I wish here, on behalf of the committee, to render thanks. “In conclusion, allow me to congratulate all concerned that Poe’s grave is no longer a neglected one.” Upon the conclusion of Professor Elliott’s address, which was listened to with deep attention, Miss Sarah S. Rice was introduced to the audience. To this lady, well known to the public from her elocutionary attainments, the greatest possible credit is due for the successful completion of the enterprise. The first money raised for the erection of the monument was through her personal efforts, and the entire monument, from its inception to the close, has enjoyed the benefits of her unremitting attention and effort. Miss Rice then read several letters from authors who had received invitations to be present on the occasion. To the unveiling of Poe’s long-looked-for cenotaph most of his country’s best-known bards had been invited, but the only one, of more than local reputation, who found time to attend in person was Walt Whitman. His venerable head, with long white hair flowing over his shoulders, and his majestic figure, made him the observed of all observers. After the letters had been read, the following poem, contributed by the well-known dramatic critic and littérateur, Mr. William Winter, was read by Miss Rice “with exquisite delicacy and utterance, and received with a burst of applause:” AT POE’S GRAVE. Cold is the paean honour sings, And chill is glory’s icy breath, And pale the garland memory brings To grace the iron doors of death. Fame’s echoing thunders, long and loud, The pomp of pride that decks the pall, The plaudits of the vacant crowd — One word of love is worth them all. With dews of grief our eyes are dim; Ah! let the tear of sorrow start, And honor, in ourselves and him, The great and tender human heart! Through many a night of want and woe His frenzied spirit wandered wild; Till kind disaster laid him low, And Heaven reclaimed its wayward child. Through many a year his fame has grown, — Like midnight, vast, like starlight, sweet, — Till now his genius fills a throne, And nations marvel at his feet. One meed of justice long delayed, One crowning grace his virtues crave: — Ah, take, thou great and injured shade, The love that sanctifies the grave! God’s mercy guard, in peaceful sleep, The sacred dust that slumbers here And, while around this tomb we weep, God pleas, for us, the mourner’s tear! And may his spirit, hovering nigh, Pierce the dense cloud of darkness through, And know, with fame that cannot die, He has the world’s affection too! The Philharmonic Society then rendered the grand chorus, “He Watcheth over Israel,” from the “Elijah” of Mendelssohn, with fine effect; after which, Professor Henry E. Shepherd proceeded to deliver the following address: “LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, — It is my purpose to speak of Edgar Allan Poe principally as a poet and as a man of genius I shall abstain, for the most part, from personal incidents or biogmphical details. These, though not devoid of interest, pertain properly to the historian of literature, or to the biographer. Let his ’strange, eventful history’ be reserved for some American Boswell, hiasson, or Morley. “Edgar A. Poe was born in 1809, the same year with Alfred Tennyson, the present Poet-laureate, and with Mrs. Browning, the most gifted poetess of any age. The third great era in English literature bad then fairly commenced. The glory of the elder day was revived.. The delusive splendour that had so long gilded the Augustan age of Anne paled before the comprehensive culture, the to vellous intellectual expansion, that distinguished the first thirty years of the present century. The