Life of Richard Henry Wilde 
 Charles C. Jones 
 
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 THE LIBRARY 
 
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 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
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 5317 
 
 RICHARD HENRY WILDE: 
 
 HIS LIFE, LITERARY LABORS, AND 
 NEGLECTED GRAVE. 
 
 In the remote and cedar-shadowed 
 
 2 portion of a vegetable garden ap- 
 
 J purtenant to what was once his own 
 
 home, and what is now the residence 
 
 of Mr. Fred T. Lockhart, in the 
 
 *js beautiful village of Summerville, 
 
 near the city of Augusta, Georgia, 
 
 ' repose, without stone or even grassy 
 
 mound to designate their resting 
 
 place, the remains of Richard Hen- 
 
 j? ry Wilde. Companion graves 
 
 in there are in this neglected spot, 
 
 ^J but they are all unmarked save that 
 
 g of an infant son of the poet. 
 
 The author of "The Lament of the 
 
 Captive" was interred just south of, 
 
 and in proximity to, this monument 
 
 g which, more than fifty years ago, 
 
 paternal affection erected in tender 
 
 o memory of the delicate flower so 
 
 soon faded. Few among the living 
 
 are cognizant of the precise place of 
 
 f sepultiire; and, ere the recollection 
 
 2 be utterly effaced, we would fain re- 
 
 -t vive and perpetuate it even in this 
 
 "* ephemeral way. Already there is 
 
 nothing to inform the visitor that 
 
 449624
 
 the illustrious dead is slumbering 
 here. The place is voiceless, and 
 our mother Earth gives no token of 
 the precious trust committed to her 
 keeping. Standing amid the loneli- 
 ness of this forgotten spot, with what 
 peculiar pathos does that plaintive 
 song which, with prophetic lips, he 
 sang in the long ago, fall upon the 
 attentive ear. 
 
 "My life is like the summer rose 
 That opens to the morning sky ; 
 Eut, ere the shades of evening close, 
 Is scattered on the ground to die. 
 
 But, on the rose's humble bed 
 The sweetest dews of night are shed, 
 As if she wept such waste to see ; 
 But none shall weep a tear for me. 
 
 My life is like the autumn leaf 
 That trembles in the moon's pale ray ; 
 It's hold is frail, its date is brief, 
 Restless, and soon to pass away. 
 
 Yet, ere that leaf shall fall and fade, 
 The parent tree shall mourn its fehade ; 
 The winds bewail the leafless tree ; 
 But none shall breathe a sigh for me. 
 
 My life is like the print which feet 
 Have left on Tampa's desert strand ; 
 Soon as the rising tide shall beat, 
 This track will vanish from the sand. 
 
 Yet still, as grieving to efface 
 
 All vestige of the human race, 
 
 On that lone shore loud moans the sea ; 
 
 But none shall e'er lament for me. 
 
 In this youthful country so care- 
 less of and indifierent to the mem- 
 ories of other days where no law 
 of primogeniture enjoins upon the 
 son the conservation of the abode
 
 and the heirlooms of his father 
 where new fields and novel enter- 
 prises are luring succeeding genera- 
 tions from the gardens which de- 
 lighted and the trees which shelter- 
 ed those who have gone before, 
 where paternal estates are, without 
 restraint, alienated at public and 
 private sale, where landed acquisi- 
 tions are too often at the mercy of 
 speculative strangers, and family 
 treasures, established inheritances, 
 and old homesteads are seldom 
 guarded beyond present owner- 
 ship, it frequently comes to 
 rthat ancestral graves 
 neglected, and private 
 burial grounds quickly fall a prey to 
 disuse and oblivion. Under such 
 circumstances it seems a folly to 
 commit our dead to the guardian- 
 ship of aught other than a public 
 cemetery, where sepulture within its 
 walls is practicable. 
 
 While 'it is true that "oblivion is 
 not to be hired," while it may not 
 be questioned that in many instances 
 neglected grave-stones "tell truth 
 scarce forty years," it is most appro- 
 priate that to the dead should be 
 accorded secure repose in some en- 
 closure exempt from the casualties 
 of utter inattention and shielded 
 from the mutations incident to pri- 
 vate ownership. 
 
 What Sir Thomas Browne 
 quaintly styles "the restless in- 
 quietude for the diuturnity of 
 our memories," an inclination to ac- 
 cord permanent and honorable se.
 
 pulture to the distinguished dead, 
 and a desire to dignify their last rest- 
 ing places by suitable monuments, 
 have characterized mankind in all 
 ages. Sympathizing in this senti- 
 ment, we fondly hope that the re- 
 mains of Mr. Wilde will, at an early 
 day, be removed from their present 
 nameless grave, and that they will 
 be reinterred in our city cemetery 
 with a suitable commemorative 
 stone. This removal might appro- 
 priately be accomplished at the pub- 
 lic charge. It is entirely probable 
 that the relatives of the deceased 
 will acquiesce in the suggestion. 
 
 The name and fame of Richard 
 Henry Wilde the city of Augusta 
 should cherish with pride. He was 
 no ordinary man, and his "Lament 
 of the Captive" will in the future, as 
 it has in the past, embalm his mem- 
 ory in the hearts of all English- 
 speaking peoples. Born in Dublin, 
 Ireland, on the 24th of Septem- 
 ber, 1789, at an early age he accom- 
 panied his father who, an Irish 
 patriot, sought refuge in Baltimore, 
 Maryland, from the troubles and dis- 
 abilities which at home he could 
 neither surmount nor mitigate. That 
 father dying in October 1802 and 
 leaving his family in slender circum- 
 stances, young Wilde repaired to 
 Augusta, Georgia, where he found 
 employment in a dry-goods store 
 owned and managed by Captain 
 John Cormick. So soon as be was 
 fairly established in this position he
 
 persuaded his mother to remove with 
 her children from Baltimore and 
 locate in Augusta. Shortly after her 
 arrival, in association with her son, 
 she opened what was then known as 
 a general store. It was a small es- 
 tablishment, but it sufficed, in a fru- 
 gal way, to maintain the family. In 
 this business was Richard Henry 
 Wilde engaged for some seven 
 years. Meanwhile he was, as op- 
 portunity offered, diligently occu- 
 pied in general, reading and in the 
 acquisition of knowledge. When 
 about eighteen years old he resolved 
 to study law. To that end he entered 
 himself as a student in the office of 
 Joseph Hutchinson, Esq. who kindly 
 assisted him by the loan of necessary 
 text books and aided him by coun- 
 sel and instruction. While pursuing 
 his law studies he continued to help 
 his mother, and gave his personal 
 attention to the conduct of the store. 
 
 At the March term, 1809, of Greene 
 Superior Court, after an examination 
 which elicited the commendation of 
 Bench and Bar, he was admitted to 
 plead and practice in the Georgia 
 Courts. He was then twenty years 
 of age. Close attention to business 
 and severe study had somewhat im- 
 paired his health; but, without 
 pause, he entered upon a profes- 
 sional career which he long main- 
 tained with dignity, probity, and 
 ability. 
 
 The General Assembly of Georgia 
 had enacted certain laws for the 
 alleviation of the condition of debt-
 
 ors, which seriously impaired the 
 obligation of contracts and hindered 
 lawyers in the lucrative practice of 
 their calling. The constitutionality 
 of this legislation was vigorously 
 attacked by Mr. Wilde, and his con- 
 nection with this litigation brought 
 him prominently into public notice. 
 So earnest was he in his opposition 
 that at his individual charge he 
 printed a lengthy and carefully con- 
 sidered argument, copies of which 
 he distributed broadcast throughout 
 the State. It exerted a potent in- 
 fluence in moulding the opinion of 
 judges, and won for him the reputa- 
 tion of a vigorous and capable 
 lawyer. His abilities received public 
 recognition and his posit : on at the 
 bar was confirmed by his election to 
 the office of Attorney-General of the 
 State. 
 
 When but a fortnight over the 
 constitutional age, Mr. Wilde was 
 chosen a member of the National 
 House of Representatives. Defeated 
 at the next election, he resumed the 
 practice of his profession, which he 
 pursued with marked vigor and suc- 
 cess until 1828, when he again en- 
 tered the Hall of Representatives at 
 Washington, and continued to be a 
 member of the Lower House until 
 1835. He had seen short service in 
 this capacity in 1825. 
 
 He was an attractive specimen of 
 physical and intellectual manhood. 
 Six feet one inch in height, well 
 proportioned, graceful, with an ex- 
 pansive forehead, black, flowing hair,
 
 an emotional mouth and bright eyes, 
 cheerful in his disposition, dignified 
 and yet affable in his address, brim- 
 ful of anecdote, eloquent in speech, 
 impressive in action and quick at 
 repartee, he shone alike in legislative 
 halls, at the bar, and in the social 
 circle. His habit was to rise at an 
 early hour, take a long walk before 
 breakfast, and then, after the morn- 
 ing meal, devote himself to the 
 labors of the day. His intellectual 
 efforts were, in the main, accom- 
 plished while the sun was shining. 
 They seldom extended until a late 
 hour at night. His evenings were 
 spent in relaxation and in social 
 pleasures. 
 
 During his Congressional career 
 Mr. Wilde was not a fre- 
 quent speaker. When he 
 rose, his utterances were character- 
 ized by careful preparation. His re- 
 torts in debate, while good humored, 
 were sufficiently pungent to be '-well 
 remembered by his antagonists." 
 Never were his arguments addressed 
 to passion or party prejudice. In 
 explanation of the fact that he was 
 rever a warm partisan, he remark- 
 ed that "he had found no party 
 which did not require of its follow- 
 ers what no honest man should, and 
 no gentleman would do." As a 
 natural consequence of such convic- 
 tions and conduct, while he com- 
 manded the respect and esteem of 
 all, he was never, in the common 
 acceptation of the term, "a popular 
 politician." In proof of the promi-
 
 nent position he occupied among 
 his fellow-members it will be remem- 
 bered that, in 1834, he was a leading 
 candidate for the Speakership of the 
 House of Representatives. 
 
 Mr. Griswold truthfully remarks 
 that "his speeches on the relative ad- 
 vantages of a Small Note curr _ j ncy, 
 on the Tariff, and on the Removal of 
 the Deposits by General Jackson, 
 bear witness to his industry and sa- 
 gacity as apolitician;and his honesty 
 can hardly be questioned even upon 
 his own caustic rule, since he gained 
 nothing by it." Perhaps the best 
 remembered utterance of Mr. Wilde, 
 during his Congressional career, 
 was that portion of his speech on 
 the Tariff in which he fixes 
 his gaze upon and portrays the 
 characteristics and the influences of 
 the "Stars of the XlVth Congress." 
 Mr. Griswold has reproduced it, in 
 association with a part of his "Re- 
 view of Campbell's Life of Petrarch," 
 in his "Prose Writers of America." 
 
 Differing from a majority of his 
 associates upon the expediency of a 
 Force bill, which he deemed a meas- 
 ure calculated to produce civil war, 
 and having allied himself with those 
 opposed to the Administration of 
 President Jackson, Mr. Wilde was, 
 at the election of 1834, defeated for 
 Congress. Availing himself of the 
 opportunity thus afforded for the 
 gratification of a desire which he 
 had long cherished, he sailed for 
 Europe in 1835. Two years were 
 spent in intelligent travel and care-
 
 9 
 
 ful observation in England, France, 
 Belgium, Switzerland, and Italy. 
 Yielding to the attractions of the lit- 
 erature and art of Italy, for which he 
 entertained a special fondness, he 
 fixed his abode in Florence and 
 there, during the ensuing three 
 years, surrendered himself to the 
 study of the paintings, statuary, 
 monuments, traditions, history, and 
 letters of this famous city. The life 
 of Torquato Tasso excited his pro- 
 found and melancholy interest. By 
 his short and brilliant career was 
 his imagination captivated. By his 
 subsequent misfortunes was his heart 
 deeply moved. The results of his 
 study of the life and writings, 
 the loves and the transports 
 of this poet, were given to 
 the public in 1842 in two 
 volumes entitled "Conjectures and 
 Researches concerning the Love, 
 Madness, and Imprisonment of Tor- 
 quato Tasso." The materials for this 
 work were collected with a patient 
 industry surpassed only by the "clear 
 and luminous manner in which the 
 author lays the whole evidence be- 
 fore the reader, and by the ingenuity 
 with which he makes his deductions. 
 The whole investigation is conducted 
 with the care and skill of a practiced 
 lawyer." Masterly is his examina- 
 tion of Tasso 's mysterious history. 
 Numerous and admirable are his 
 translations from the Italian, and his 
 style is chaste and classic. The pub- 
 lication of these volumes added very 
 much to Mr. Wilde's literary reputa-
 
 10 
 
 tion which, hitherto, rested upon his 
 speeches, occasional essays, and 
 fugitive poems. 
 
 His attention was next directed to 
 the translation of the best specimens 
 of Italian lyric poetry and to the 
 preparation of biographical and 
 critical sketches of their authors. 
 While engaged upon his ' 'Life and 
 Writings of Dante," through the 
 favor of the Grand Duke of Tuscany 
 he obtained privileged access to the 
 secret archives of Florence whence 
 he brought to light many interesting 
 facts "obscurely known, or alto- 
 gether forgotten even by the people 
 of Italy." In conducting these in- 
 vestigations he learned from an 
 artist of the probable existence of a 
 portrait of this divine poet, from the 
 pencil of Giotto, on a wall in the 
 Bargello which, by some strange 
 neglect.had been obscured by white- 
 wash. The Bargello was, in ancient 
 times, both a prison and a palace. 
 Having obtained the requisite per- 
 mission Mr. Wilde instituted a care- 
 ful search which, after the lapse of 
 several months, resulted in the dis- 
 covery and restoration of a veritable 
 portrait of Dante "in the prime of 
 his days." This event, says Wash- 
 ington Irving, "produced through- 
 out Italy some such sensation as in 
 England would follow the sudden 
 discovery of a well-authenticated 
 likeness of Shakspeare, with a dif- 
 ference in intensity proportioned to 
 the superior sensitiveness of the 
 Italians."
 
 11 
 
 This "Life of Dante" exists, we be- 
 lieve, only in manuscript. If we are 
 correctly informed, it and other 
 Italian studies from the pen of Mr. 
 Wilde are in the possession of his 
 son, Mr. William Camming Wilde, 
 of New Orleans, whose purpose it is 
 to publish them in connection with a 
 life of his illustrious father. 
 
 Upon his return to the United 
 States Mr. Wilde concluded to reside 
 in the city of New Orleans. Thither 
 he went in the latter part of 1842, 
 and there, in association with Mr. 
 William Micou, he resumed the 
 practice of his profession. For some 
 years he filled the chair of professor 
 of constitutional law in the Univer- 
 sity of Louisiana. In 1846 he fell a 
 victim to yellow fever. Some years 
 afterwards his remains were brought 
 to Georgia and were interred at his 
 old home in Summerville by the side 
 of his first-born son who had died in 
 early childhood. This, it is said, 
 was in accordance with his own 
 wish and the desire of those near 
 and dear unto him. He preferred 
 to sleep in the midst of a communi- 
 ty by the elder members of which he 
 had been so thoroughly esteemed 
 and honored. 
 
 Two portraits of Mr. Wilde are in 
 existence. They are in the posses- 
 sion of his sister, the venerable 
 Mrs. Ann C. Anthony of Augusta. 
 One of them was painted by Parker 
 in 1819, and the other by the 
 poet's niece, Miss Clara 
 Wilde, just after his re-
 
 12 
 
 turn from Europe. This latter por- 
 trait has been engraved, and accom- 
 panies the sketch of Mr. Wilde 
 which appears in Griswold's "Prose 
 Writers of America. 11 To that sketch 
 we acknowledge our present indebt- 
 
 The only surviving son of the poet 
 resides in New Orleans and inherits 
 the literary correspondence and un- 
 published MSS of his father. He it 
 was who, in 1867, through Messrs. 
 Ticknor and Fields of Boston, gave 
 to the lovers of poetry, in at- 
 tractive form, Hesperia, which his 
 father seems to have left in condi- 
 tion ready for the printer. Of these 
 cantos, perpetuating recollections of 
 incidents and travel in Florida, Vir- 
 ginia, Acadia and Louisiana, we 
 may not now speak. 
 
 Enviable as is Mr. Wilde's reputa- 
 tion as a lawyer, an advocate, a 
 statesman, a poet, and a man of let- 
 ters, he is best known as the author 
 of that poem commencing 
 
 "My life is like the summer rose." 
 
 Thus is he always remembered, 
 and in those pathetic lines will he 
 live while the English language en- 
 dures. From Lord Byron did they 
 elicit the warmest praise. Long 
 have they found cordial welcome 
 and safe lodgment in the general 
 heart. They are indeed the offspring 
 of that poetic, soul-inspiring, divine 
 afflatus which the sweetest singeis 
 rarely possess, and to which they 
 seldom give apt expression. Of the 
 circumstances under which they were
 
 13 
 
 composed Mr. Wilde furnishes this 
 account in a letter to an intimate 
 friend: 
 
 "The lines in question you will 
 perceive were originally intended as 
 part of a longer poem. My brother, 
 the late James Wilde, was an officer 
 of the United States army, and held 
 a subaltern rank in the expedition of 
 Colonel John Williams against the 
 Seminole Indians of Florida, which 
 first broke up their towns and stop- 
 ped their atrocities. When James 
 returned he amused my mother, then 
 alive, my sisters and myself with 
 descriptions of the orange groves 
 and transparent lakes, the beauty of 
 the St. John's river, and of the 
 woods and swamps of Florida a 
 kind of fairy land, of which we then 
 knew little except from Bartram's ec- 
 stasies interspersed with anecdotes 
 of his campaign and companions. 
 As he had some taste himself, I used 
 to laugh and tell him 1'i immortal- 
 ize his exploits in an epic. Some 
 stanzas were accordingly written for 
 the amusement of the family at our 
 meeting. That alas ! was destined 
 never to take place. He was killed 
 in a duel.* His violent and melan- 
 choly death put an end to my poem; 
 the "third stanza of the first frag- 
 ment, which alludes to his fate, being 
 all that was written afterwards. The 
 verses, particularly "The Lament of 
 the Captive," were read by the fam- 
 ily and some intimate "acquaint- 
 
 *With Col. Johnston.
 
 14 
 
 ances; among the rest, the pres- 
 ent Secretary of State,f and a gentle- 
 man, then a student of medicine, 
 now a distinguished phvsician in 
 Philadelphia. The latter, after much 
 importunity, procured from me for 
 a lady in that city a copy of 'My 
 life is like the summer rose,' with 
 an injunction against publicity 
 which the lady herself did not vio- 
 late; but a musical composer to 
 whom she gave the words for the 
 purpose of setting them, did; and 
 they appeared, I think, first in 1815 
 or 1816, with my name and addition 
 at full length, to my no small an- 
 noyance. Still, I never avowed them, 
 and though constantly republished 
 in the newspapers with my name 
 and a poetical reply, I maintained 
 that newspapers were no authority, 
 and refused to answer further." 
 
 Subsequently Mr. Wilde found 
 cause not only to avow the author- 
 ship of this poem but also to demon- 
 strate to those who accused him of 
 plagiarism the absurdity of their 
 charge. In a charming little volume, 
 printed under the auspices of the 
 Georgia Historical Society in 1871, 
 Mr. Anthony Barclay, for many 
 years the British Consul in Savan- 
 nah, and a gentleman of refinement 
 and scholarly tastes, furnished an 
 authentic account of the "origin, 
 mystery and explanation" of this al- 
 ~eged plagiarism. He it was who, 
 as a matter of pleasantry, and for 
 
 tThe Hon. JohnForsyth.
 
 u 
 
 the mystification of a few friends in 
 Savannah, translated the "Lament 
 of the Captive" into Greek verse. 
 When this translation was exhibited, 
 some pretended to recognize it as 
 a fragment of Alcaeus, and ignorant- 
 ly suggested that to this Greek lyric- 
 cal poet was Mr. Wilde indebted for 
 the tender sentiments and truthful 
 images which immortalized his pop- 
 ular poem. The wonder grew, and 
 quite a discussion ensued in 
 several of the journals of the period. 
 Meanwhile a claim to the authorship 
 of the poem was interposed by some 
 friends of O'Kelly, who had penned 
 the "Curse of Doneraile," and sung 
 wildly though sweetly of the pictu- 
 resque scenery of Lake Killarney 
 and the grandeur of the Giant's 
 Causeway. Captain Basil Hall men- 
 tioned that the Countess Purgstall 
 read the lines to him and left 
 him under the impression that she 
 had composed them. "The verses had 
 become so popular that they were 
 set to music; and the name of 
 Tampa, a desolate sea-beach on 
 the coast of Florida, was changed 
 into Tempe, the loveliest of the 
 wooded valleys of Greece." Thus 
 did the plot thicken, and manifestly 
 to the annoyance of Mr. Wilde. It 
 was quickly demonstrated, however, 
 that neither O'Kelly nor the Count- 
 ess Purgstall could substantiate the 
 shadow of a claim to the authorship 
 of this poetical gem; and, so soon as 
 the Greek version was submitted to 
 the criticism of competent scholars,
 
 16 
 
 it became apparent that, although 
 pure Greek, the alleged fragment of 
 Alcaeus was not Alcaic Greek. There 
 was a total absence of the dialects 
 which incrust the Greek poetry of 
 the age of Alcseus. 
 
 To set the matter at rest Mr. Wilde 
 addressed the following communica- 
 tion to Mr. Barclay: 
 
 "WASHINGTON, January 7, 1835. 
 
 DEAR SIR: Relying on our past ac- 
 quaintance and your known urbani- 
 ty to pardon the liberty I take, per- 
 mit me to say, without further pre- 
 face, that circumstances, which it is 
 unnecessary to detail, concur in 
 pointing you out as the author of a 
 translation into Greek of some fugi- 
 tive verses long attributed to, but 
 only recently avowed by me. If you 
 are, I am sure the task was executed 
 only to amuse the leisure hours of a 
 gentleman and scholar, or at most, 
 for the sport it might afford you to 
 mystify the learned. In the latter 
 you have been so eminently success- 
 ful, if the work is yours, that a re- 
 sult has been produced the reverse, 
 no doubt, of your intention so far 
 as respects myself. I have been stig- 
 matized with plagiarism, and com- 
 pelled, such was the importance 
 some of my friends attached to the 
 charge, to deny it in person. Since 
 then an article in the Georgian of 
 the twenty-seventh of December 
 goes far to exculpate me from the 
 pillage of Alcaeus, and excellent 
 reasons have been given by Greek 
 scholars to show the piece is modern.
 
 17 
 
 Nevertheless, as I have been com- 
 pelled to do penance publicly, in 
 sheets once white, for this sin of my 
 youth, it would relieve me, some- 
 what, since I must acknowledge 
 the foundling, to have no dis- 
 pute about the paternity. 
 The Greek fragment is so well 
 executed as to deceive many of 
 some pretentious to scholarship. 
 I am therefore desirous of ob- 
 taining for publication, in such 
 form as you choose, your avowal 
 of the authorship; or, if you 
 prefer it, your simple authority for 
 the fact. If I am wrong in ascrib- 
 ing it to you, your acquaintance 
 with the society of Savannah will 
 perhaps enable you to inform me to 
 whom I should address myself. 
 
 "Permit me to renew the assurance 
 of the high respect and regard with 
 which I have the honor to be, dear 
 sir, your obedient servant, 
 
 RICHARD HENRY WILDE. 
 
 To ANTHONY BARCLAY, ESQ., 
 of Savannah now in New York." 
 
 To this letter Mr. Barclay re- 
 sponded : 
 
 "NEW YORK, January 24th, 1835. 
 My Dear Sir : 
 
 I was not apprised when I ad- 
 dressed you on the 9th instant, nor 
 for some days after, that my prose 
 translation into Greek of your beau- 
 tiful ode, beginning 
 
 "Mv life is like the summer rose," 
 had been published; otherwise I 
 could not at that short time have
 
 18 
 
 passed over the circumstance in utter 
 silence. It was written for individ- 
 ual amusement with exclusively half 
 a dozen acquaintance in Savannah, 
 ind without the slightest intention 
 of its going further. This assertion 
 will account for the abundant 
 defects, and they will vouch 
 for its truth. 1 as little believed 
 that any credit, beyond the hour of 
 surprise among my acquaintance 
 before mentioned, would be awarded 
 to my crude translation, as I appre- 
 hended that any doubt could be cre- 
 ated concerning the originality of 
 your finished production. Metre 
 and prosodiacal quantity were de- 
 signedly disregarded; and this fact 
 was sufficient to detect the spurious- 
 ness of the attempt, and to vindicate 
 me from any suspicion of expecting 
 a successful deception. If that effect 
 has in any degree been brought 
 about, I must repeat, (to employ 
 your language,) that a result has 
 been produced the reverse of my in- 
 tention as far as regards yourself from 
 whose brow, I have had good reason 
 to believe, for the last sixteen years 
 or more, that modesty alone detained 
 the poetic wreath. I cannot say 
 how extremely I regret the indiscreet 
 publication. Truly reluctant how- 
 ever, as I am to come before the 
 public, I shall feel strong inducement 
 to be resigned, if the translator suc- 
 ceed in dragging his author out of 
 concealment, and that event contrib- 
 ute to strip all masks and to bestow 
 honor where honor is due.
 
 1!) 
 
 With great truth and regard, I am 
 your faithful servant, 
 
 ANTHONY BARCLAY. 
 Hon. RICHARD HENKY WILDE, M. C., 
 
 Washington, D. C." 
 
 Of the pathetic and tender senti- 
 ments which this poem contains, of 
 the exquisite truthfulness of its 
 images, and of the melody of its 
 versification, nothing may be spoken 
 save in exalted praise. In the lan- 
 guage of another, they conspire to 
 confer upon the author a fame which 
 nothing so brief had previously se- 
 cured even to the masters of the 
 lyre. 
 
 In discussing the use of words 
 conveying "a resemblance between 
 the sound and the sense." the Hon. 
 George P. Marsh, in his '"Lectures 
 on the English Language," says in 
 the whole range of imitative verse 
 he knows no line superior, perhaps 
 none equal, to this in Wilde's cele- 
 brated poem: 
 
 "ON THAT LONE SHORE LOUD MOANS 
 THE SEA." 
 
 It certainly is not excelled by those 
 oft-quoted lines of Coleridge: 
 
 "Day after day, day after day, 
 We stuck, nor breath nor motion ; 
 As idle as a painted ship 
 Upon a painted ocean " 
 
 And now the question recurs: shall 
 the bones of this lawyer, statesman, 
 scholar, poet, be permitted to lie 
 longer in an unmarked and obliter- 
 ated grave in the obscure corner of 
 
 449624
 
 a vegetable garden? Great men are 
 the glory of the nation, and their 
 ashes are entitled to proper respect 
 and reasonable care at the hands 
 of succeeding generations. Will 
 not the proper authorities, lifting 
 themselves above the monotony of a 
 present pregnant with utilitarian 
 ideas and gravid with commercial 
 methods, recognize the general obli- 
 gation, give practical expression to 
 a generous, ennobling sentiment, 
 and rescue from forgetfulness the 
 grave of this adopted Georgian who, 
 without the adjuvatives of birth and 
 fortune, accomplished so much in 
 the domain of letters and of civiliza- 
 tion? 
 
 CHARLES C. JONES, Jr. 
 
 AUGUSTA, GEORGIA, 
 
 September 24th, 1885.
 
 21 
 
 RESPONSE OF A BAVTIMOBB LADY 
 
 TO 
 "MY LIFE IS LIKE THB SUMMER ROSE.' 
 
 The dews of night may fall from Heaven 
 Upon the withered rose's bed, 
 And tears of fond regret be given 
 To mourn th e virtues of the dead ; 
 Yet morning's sun the dews will dry. 
 And tears will fade from sorrow's eye, 
 Affection's pangs be lulled to sleep, 
 And even love forget to weep. 
 
 The tree may mourn its fallen leaf, 
 And autumn winds bewail its bloom, 
 And friends may heave a sigh of grief 
 O'er those who sleep within the tomb ; 
 Yet soon will Spring renew the flowers. 
 And time will bring more smiling hours : 
 In friendship's heart all grief will die, 
 And even love forget to sigh. 
 
 The sea may on the desert shore 
 Lament each trace it bears away. 
 The lonely heart its grief may pour 
 O'er cherished friendship's fast decay; 
 Yet when all track is lost and gone, 
 The waves dance bright and gaily on ; 
 Thus soon affection's bonds are torn, 
 And even love forgets to mourn.
 
 arles Colcock, lawyer anc 
 rian, was born in Savannah, Ga., Oct. 28, 1831, son' 
 of the Rev. Charles Colcock Jones (1804-63) who, 
 throughout his life, was the friend of the negro, and 
 did much toward ameliorating his condition. Charles 
 the younger was graduated from Princeton in 1852, 
 and from Harvard law school in 1855. He was ad- 
 mitted to the bar at Savannah, Ga., in 1856, and 
 began the practice of law in his native city, having 
 for a partner at first John Elliott Ward, afterward 
 U. S. minister to China. Mr. Jones was mayor of 
 Savannah in 1860-61, and before the outbreak of 
 the civil war made many speeches in favor of seces- 
 sion. He joined the Confederate army in 1862 as 
 colonel of artillery, which branch of the service 
 prove so congenial to him that he declined to ac- 
 cept a ommissiou as brigadier-general, which was | 
 offered him. Col. Jones >,urrendered with Gen. Jo- 
 seph E. Johnston in April, 1865. In December of 
 that year he moved to New,Irork city, practiced law 
 successfully there until 1876, then returned to 
 Georgia and settled in Augusta. From that period 
 he devoted all his leisure time to literature, and to 
 research in the antiquarian and historical lore of 
 his native state, studying with especial interest the 
 archaeological remains of the southern 
 Indians. The results of Col. Jones's la- 
 bors in these directions proved inval- 
 uable contributions to national, histor- 
 ical and biographical annals. His two 
 most important works are, undoubtedly, 
 " Antiquities of the Southern Indians" 
 (illus., New York, 1873), a volume at 
 once clear, accurate and profound, and 
 which won for the author the deserved 
 distinction of the degree of LL.D. from 
 the University of the city of New 
 York ; and the ' ' History of Georgia " 
 (2 vols., Boston and New York, 1883), 
 of which the New York "Nation" 
 said at the time: "He [Col. Jones] 
 has given us a history of his state 
 which is most elaborate, careful and 
 exhaustive." Prominent among his 
 other writings may be mentioned: 
 "Monumental Remains of Georgia" (Savannah, 
 1861); " Historical Sketch of Tomo-chi chi-Mico, of 
 the Yarnacraws" (1868); "Siege of Savannah in 
 1779 " (Albany. 1874); " Life of Commodore Josiah 
 Tatnall " (Savannah, 1878); " Dead Towns of Geor- 
 gia " (1878); " Hernando de Soto, and his March 
 Through Georgia" (1880), and "Life, Labors and 
 Neglected Grave of Richard Henry Wilde " (1885). 
 Col. Jones also edited his father's* " History of the 
 Church of God," " Acts Passed by the General As- 
 sembly of the Colony of Georgia from 1755 to 1774" 
 (1881); and "Journal of the Transactions of the 
 Trustees of the Colony of Georgia, by Rt. Hon. 
 John, Earl of Egmont " (1886). CoL Jones was 
 president of the Confederate survivors' association 
 of Augusta from 1879, and published "Nine An- 
 nual Addresses," delivered before that body (1879- 
 87). He died at Augusta, Ga., July 19, 1893.
 
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