John Allan to Edgar Allan Poe — 1827-03-20

John Allan to Edgar Allan Poe — 1827-03-20 Historical letter date: 1827-03-20. Source edition: Mary Newton Stanard, Edgar Allan Poe Letters Till Now Unpublished, 1925, letter five. This is repository machine OCR of the printed transcription; spelling and recognition errors remain. Consult the accompanying local scan excerpt and manuscript facsimile. [Source scan page 87] LETTER NUMBER FIVE Sir, Your letter of Monday was received this morning, I at all am not A surprized at any Step you may take, at any thing you can say, or any thing you may do, you are a much better judge of the propriety of your own condudt and have general treatment of those who A had the charge of your infancy & have watched with parental solicitude & af- fedion over your tender years affording you such means of instruction as was in their power & which was per- formed with pleasure until you became a much better judge of your own conduct, rights & priveledges than they, it is true I taught you to aspire, even to eminence in Public Life, but I never expedted that Don Quixotte, Gil Bias, Jo : Miller & such works were calculated to promote the end. It is true and you will not deny it, that the charge of eating the Bread of idleness, was to urge you to per- severance & industry in receiving the classics, in perfecting yourself in the mathematics, mastering the French & c . & c . how far I succeeded in this you can bet tell, but for one who had conceived so good an opinion of himself & his future intentions I hesitate not to say, that you have not evinced the smallest disposition to comply with my wishes, it is only on this subject I wish to be understood, 67 [Source scan page 88] 68 EDGAR ALLAN POE LETTERS your Heart will tell you if it is not made of Marble whether I have not had good reason to fear for you, in more ways than one. I should have been justly charge- able, in reprimanding you for faults had I had any other objed than to corred them. Your lift of grievances require no answer the world will reply to them & now that you have shaken off your dependance & declared for your own Independance & after such a lift of Black charges you Tremble for for the consequences unless I send you a supply of money.