Text: David K. Jackson, “Some Unpublished Letters of T. W. White to Lucian Minor [Part 02],” Tyler's Quarterly Historical and Genealogical Magazine, July 1936, 18:32-49


∞∞∞∞∞∞∞


­ [page 32, unnumbered:]

SOME UNPUBLISHED LETTERS OF T. W. WHITE TO
LUCIAN MINOR.

DAVID K. JACKSON

Continued from page 243.

[23]

Richmond,  
Jan. 16, 1838.(68)

My Dear Sir,

In order to get it to you as early as possible, I am obliged to send you quite a poor proof-sheet of your Review of Willis's Poems.(69) I like it very much.

It strikes me that you might add something more from your own pen to it. But I am sure I could not tell what more I could like to have you add.

I have thought it possible that you might be able to run the heading to Bacon No. II out,(70) without waiting for me to have the article set up. I therefore have taken off the caption prefixed by yourself to the copy I am to set from, and send it along with the proof.

I hope you will be able to send me down all that you would like to appear in this No. so that it may reach me by to-morrow night week at farthest.

Yours truly,

T. W. W.

(Late at night.)

[24]

Richmond, Va.  
Jan. 20, 1838.(71)

My Dear Friend,

By last Tuesday's Stage, I forwarded to your address proof-slips of your Review of Willis. Please see if they are not at the tavern still. I am waiting for them.

But the worst of all is, that I have not heard a syllable from Mr. Tucker.(72) To him, I forwarded slips of his address, as far back as a week to-day — that is, the slips went up by Sunday's Stage. Every day ­[page 33:] I now stand for these, is a heavy loss to me — besides throwing back my Work.

For fear his slips miscarried, I shall make his Address up in pages, and send it to him again by to-morrow's Stage. Do, my dear friend, contrive to have it conveyed to him at once. If I wait for it longer than Wednesday, or Thursday at farthest, I shall be obliged to pass it over till the March No.

Your Friend,

T. W. White.

[25]

Richmond, Va. Jan. 24, 1838.(73)

My Dear Friend,

I see that you are determined to spin out my few deposites, &c &c. so as to make them appear at least equivalent to what you have done for me. Be it so. I am contented, if you are.

Let us begin fresh again as it were. It shall be my study to deserve your friendship.

Gov. Everett seems to like your Review.(74) I shall take some proper occasion to let him know to whom he is indebted for the paper he so much admires. I like the man very much — if it had not been so, I would not have called your attention to his Address,

Your Friend,

T. W. White.

[26]

Richmond, Va.  
Jan. 24, 1838.(75)

My Dear Friend,

I got nothing from you by the Stage of this evening.

I received from Portland this evening Mr. Ingersoll's Address.(76) It may not be amiss to send it to you. Lay it on your table, or give it to some friend. It is not my wish that you should notice it, — unless you prefer doing so. Ingersoll is no favorite of mine — he is a turncoat in politics.

When may I hope for your Review of Tucker's Jefferson. — that is a paper I should like,

Your Friend,

T. W. White. ­[page 34:]

[27]

Richmond, Va.  
Feb. 15, 1838.(77)

My dear Friend,

I seize the first moment of leisure that it has fallen to my lot to have for the past ten days to say that I will between (or betwixt) this and next Tuesday, deposite [sic] to your credit in the Bank of Va. $40, pin money. No, I am free to say hard-earned money.

[Hugh Blair] Grigsby was a classmate of Willis's.(78) So I must presume that he knows what he says to be true. You had as well pen the editorial called for and due to Willis.(79) As I sent Willis a copy I think it probable I may hear from him on the subject.

If I see any criticisms which I set value on, I will send them to you. I shall send none others.

I regret to tell you that I feel quite sick tonight.

Shall, of course, be pleased to receive any thing from your pen.

Your Friend,

T. W. White.

[28]

Richmond, Va.  
Feb. 22, 1838.(80)

My Dear Friend,

I made the $40 deposite [sic]. I had only made a guess of what services you had rendered me. To yourself I left it to count. I am entirely satisfied with what you say — as I am with every thing you do for me.

I do not really think, under circumstances which I dare say you fully appreciate, that it would be prudent in me to allow one fair friend more than the $1.50 per page. The balance of her article is in type, and as soon as my March No. is out, I will apprise you of my having made the deposite [sic].

I must get the favor of you to read over the enclosed M. S. and tell me what disposition I should make of it. Dr. Hawks who writes the article attached, is a warm personal friend of mine.(81)

Your Friend, T. W. W. ­[page 35:]

[29]

Richmond, Va.  
Feb. 28, 1838.(82)

My Dear Sir,

Your letter of the 24th did not reach me till between 10 & 11 o’clock last night. The 1st and last forms of the Messenger are worked off —— so are all the balance, save 2, one of which I am keeping back, in hopes that I shall at any rate get the proof back from you by to-night's mail. The “one other,” which is all ready for the press, I shall undo, so as to introduce (in the place of some vile trash I had in it) your new matter.

Along with this, I shall send you the first form (or eight pages) of my March No. — Let me beg that you do not let this sheet pass out of your hands. I may also send along the sheet, as it was prepared for press which will show you what I left out in order to get your notice in.

There is nothing — no mark in Willis's book — which could lead any one not acquainted with the facts to suppose that he was speaking of any other than the traitor Arnold — I am very sure that 99 readers out of a 100 would have drawn the same inference you did. Let the poor creatures laugh on. — I feel not one of their jibes or jests. Nor do I care one fig about it. The Messenger has lived through many a real blunder, — and, if God will give me a tolerable portion of health, it shall live when many of its “fun-makers “ will be glad to hide their faces — and blush for their envious slanders.

I beg that you will go ahead for me. — Do not be frightened from your duty. None but knaves, fools, or “wounded pigeons” laugh at the affair. I dare say some of a different kidney may have smiled at the mistake. I know what I know. — tho’ I am no Solomon.

Thank you for the new patron — properly so called by me, for once in my life. In the last week, by mail, I have received notices of losses by deaths, failures, and absconding “patrons” to the amount of at any rate something like $100 — And yet, I assure you, that I leave no stone unturned, or untouched, to get by.

I will attend to all you say or suggest.

Your Friend,

T. W. W.

[30]

Richmond, Va.  
Feb. 28, 1838.(83)

My Dear Friend,

On going home to partake of my bread and met [sic], I there ­[page 36:] found yours of the 26th, with the proof-sheet which I was so anxiously looking for.

I like all your additions — as I do your improvements. — The article reads better — much better now.

I do not remember what I done with the Rich poor man. I will see to it.

My scroll of this forenoon will tell you why the card cannot come in at the close of the number.

Let the scribbler for Snowden go on.(84) Rely upon it, he can do the Messenger no harm. — Not 20 of the readers of the Messenger ever lay eyes on it.

Hearing that he had handled my January No. with uncommon severity I invited him, as you will guess from his introductory lines, to sharpen his knife well before he commenced dissecting my Feb. No. He is Semmes of Alexandria — a young lawyer I believe.(85) He completed his education at the University — and while there he wrote, and I believe printed in Charlottesville, a Book of Poems (I forget their title) which Snowden reviewed most favorably in the Messenger.(86) Possibly he reviewed it in the 1st Volume. As I have not my copy here I cannot tell you how, or where, to look for it.

The Intelligencer of Petersburg, which I send to you, came marked exactly as you will see it.

Semmes may bark, and carp. — His arrows never can reach me — and if they were, they never could harm me.

I laugh at them all.

Professor Felton, you will surmise, published his article in the Jan. No. of the N. A. Review.(87)

Your Friend,

T. W. White.

[31]

Richmond, Va.  
March 5, 1838.(88)

My Dear Friend,

See page 206 Yale Magazine. Please take care of all the papers I may send you containing notices of the Messenger. I may want them.

If it be possible I should really like to read a notice from your ­[page 37:] pen in the Advocate of my March No.(89) I hope to be able to get it out of the Binder's hands on Monday next.

Col: A. Lynch, of Fredericks-Town, Md. author of the Condor Hunt and Shakespeare and the Critics in last Messenger penned the leading article in this No.(90)

I know not who writes the just and, as I think able review of Wolff, the Jew missionary.(91) It comes to me from Princeton, N. Jersey.

Miss Hayley is by C. Campbell, of Petersburg.(92) He assures me that it is matter of fact.

Love Letters come from S. Carolina.(93)

Sick Child — Gilmore Simms.(94)

To My Mother, By Miss Davidson, (sister of dec’d Lucretia Davidson,) only 14 years of age.(95)

[Letter is torn here.]

Pandemos Polyglott, — fixed by H. St. Geo. Tucker.(96)

The Mountain Violet I Forget me and Woman — all from Mrs. Hitchcocke, wife of Capt. Hitchcocke, of Florida, and of U. S. Army.(97)

Your article is too late for my March No. as you will see.

Your Friend,

T. W. White.

[32]

Late at night.

Richmond, Va.  
March 12, 1838.(98)

My Dear Sir,

Well, well — I will promise not to tempt you again — at least till you get thro’ with the Review. ­[page 38:]

No, my dear Sir, I said nothing to the Cambridge Professor.(99) at which he could possibly have taken umbrage. I was, I assure you, “all politeness.”

In future, I will take time to follow your suggestions touching your fair Fredericksburg friend.

Certainly you are right about the critique I asked — that is, as I asked it. Still I can see no objection to your having sent or written opinion to the Adv. of what you thought of my leading article? If you feel a delicacy in putting that opinion in a paper, I hope you will feel none in telling me how you like that one article.

It will be best to insert the note about Bacon [?] in my April No.(100) which I mean, if possible, to bring out on the 1st. So you will please return me the slips as early as possible.

The Jefferson article shall come out in my April No.(101) — I shall, I am sure, be assailed for writing it. — If I am, you must defend me.

Hatcher, King and myself are warmly attached to each other personally.(102)

Your Friend,

T. W. W.

[33]

Richmond,  
March 28, 1838.(103)

My Dear Friend,

I did not receive yours of the 24th ‘till this forenoon.

I thank you kindly for the promptness with which you attended to my call. I assure you that I did not expect you to act in the affair yourself. I hope what you did was perfectly convenient, tho’ I fear it was not so very agreeable.

You will see the $20 properly credited on the covers of my next No., which has passed this press — and which I hope to be able to issue this day week.

Let me beg that you will retain in your own hands the next $50 or $60 you may receive — handing over to your fair correspondent whatever may be coming to her. ­[page 39:]

I rejoice to tell you that I, at last, feel certain that the Messenger is placed on a safe and solid foundation. What I have undergone to bring about so desirable an event cannot be well imagined. I forbear to speak on the subject.

Your Friend,

T. W. White.

[34]

Richmond, Va.  
April 7, 1838.(104)

My dear Friend,

I am in receipt of your acceptable favor of the 3d inst. I will dispose of Mr. Tucker's Book.(105) Dew,(106) I am sure, cannot find time to attend to it. In fact, it is too dry a subject for a work like the Messenger any how.

You done right to retain Gov. Everett's letters.(107) Do him all the good you can. — for he is really a most deserving man.

I am glad to hear that I may expect Professor Felton's manuscript shortly. I fear, however, that it will come too late for my May No.

I will indeed pardon you. I did not, I assure you, mean to make a convenience of you — far from it.

As the writer of the Western Story used his universally adopted signature,(108) I did not exactly feel at liberty to substitute any other for it. In my next, I shall say so, on my own hook, “by L. M. of Washington City.” The writer is Alfred Balch,(109) of (Bureau) War Dep. brother-in-law to Gen. Macomb.(110)

Truly your friend,

T. W. White. ­[page 40:]

[35]

Richmond, Va.  
April 31, 1838.(111)

My Dear Friend,

I duly received your kind, high-minded letter of 20th. I should have replied to it at once, if I had not been, as it were overwhelmed with business, and with real heartfelt troubles.

It is useless for me to say what I felt on reading your letter. Regret at your declining to receive compensation hereafter for what you may do for me, is too unmeaning a word to convey to you what I should like to say.

Indeed, I know not what to say. Disinterestedness like yours, under all circumstances, is rare — very rare. To say still that I do not admire the notice, would be to speak a falsehood. But, as I know not what to say further, I will drop the subject, at least for the present.

Whenever you have time, once your feelings carry you that way, I will hope that you will still write for me.

I am glad to hear that you are determined to review Tucker's Jefferson for me — as well as to finish some other things which you have on hand. — Come when they may, they will be most welcome — as any and every thing from your pen will at all times be.

I was pleased to hear that you liked the “Sleet Storm.”(112) It is a first-rate article — and its author (Brent) is a man of fine taste and talents.

Dr. Warner penned the Review of the Messenger which appeared in the Enquirer.(113) He had no idea at the time he wrote the Review, that you were the author of the article on Sunday Schools.(114) He it was also who wrote the article in commendation of Ferdinand & Isabella in the Enquirer.(115)

My May No. is all up and all worked off except the last form — but still the Binder will not be able to let me have perfect copies before the 10th. If I am not greatly mistaken it will please you very much.

As ever your friend,

T. W. White.
10 at night —
& a bad steel pen. ­[page 41:]

[36]

Richmond, Va.  
May 12, 1838.(116)

My Dear Friend,

I have yours of the 10th. It affords me great pleasure to supply your call for the numbers asked for.

Thank you [[for]] what you have done with Blackwood. I shall make use of all you have selected as I may fall short of copy.(117)

I am glad to hear that you still think of me. Come from your pen ever so much, or ever so little, and it shall be sure to find a place in the Messenger,

Mr. Lewis Hill who will hand you this is on a collecting trip to Charlottesville. If you have not already handed the accounts over to some collector he will be pleased to take charge of them, and gather in the money. — In case you give them to him, I have asked the favor of him to hand the collections over to you in order that you may pay a certain debt I owe to a certain fair one.

If you will not tell me through the Advocate what you think of my May No. I hope you will tell me by letter to myself. As usual, I am in greatly in love with my last child.

Truly your friend,

T. W. White.

[37]

Richmond, Va.  
June 5, 1838.(118)

My dear Friend,

Yours of 2d, postmarked 4th, came to hand this afternoon. Such disinterestness [sic] is so rare, that I must again and again thank you.

Yes — yes — the lady was richly entitled to the $25, — and, as for yourself, you were really entitled to the balance, and 4 times as much more. You are indeed an honest man — and that is a high compliment to be able to pay any man.

Certainly 10 per ct. is enough to pay any stationary collector. — But, if he claims 12 per ct. why pay it to him. ­[page 42:]

Get from him, if you please, the names of those who paid him — so that I may make the proper entry.

Truly your friend,

Th: W. White.

[38]

Richmond, Va.  
June 19, 1838.(119)

My Dear Friend,

I am truly sorry to hear that you are a dyspectic [sic] in mind. I wish I knew how to minister to or for such a disease. Alas! I am so great a numskull that I know not what advice or what consolation to give you. I know not what Happiness is. My existence is as a dream. Neither solitude nor society has any longer any charms for me. I feel lost — lost to myself and to every one else. What are we, my dear friend, and for what purposes were we created? You are a thinker, and may possibly be able to solve that which to me is a riddle.

I have credited Ch: Carter, D. F. Carr, S. P. Gates, & Professor Rogers $5 each for Vol. 4. — and Jefferson Society $10 for Vols. 3 & 4.

I am obliged to put the form to press in the morning containing your notice of Mr. Everett's Address.(120) Your “Remarkable Prediction” reached me just in time to insert it in the same form.(121) When this form is worked off at press the July No., except the covers, will have been all finished. — Thus I hope to issue my July No. next Friday week.

Th: Ewing, now of Ohio, takes the lead in it. His essay is on Ancient Literature.(122) It is a production that would do no discredit to any one man in America.

I will send you an early copy. If you should regain your health, I am in hopes you will at least pay your respects to this one article at any rate — and that too in the “Advocate” or “Arena.”(123)

The “Georgia Scenes” are from the Pen of Judge Augustus Longstreet, ­[page 43:] of Augusta, Geo.(124) The Bachelor's Death-Bed is by B. W. Huntington, of Camden, S. C. formerly a Teacher in Judge Henry Tucker's family.(125)

Adieu!

Your Friend,

Th: W. White.

[39]

Richmond, Va.  
June 25, 1838.(126)

Lucian Minor, Esq.

My Friend:

(And well may I style you “my friend” — for you have, in need, and, in deed, been one to me)

I am in so nervous a trim to-day, that I can scarcely hold my pen. As for writing, I never could do much at that: the little gift I once had in this way, seems to be leaving me. I feel myself a poor, miserable dependant creature — miserable and wretched indeed am I.

Do read Judge Augustus Longstreet's electioneering story. — I like it very much, because there is as much of nature as of truth in it. As you read it, mark any errors you may see in it. — I am truly too sick to do it. Would to God I was out of debt and had something to settle on my poor children, — if it could have been so, I would see what benefit a sea-trip would be to me.

But I cannot, for the life of me, write.

I shall make ready a copy of my July No. and send it along with this. — If you are well enough, and can find time to write a notice of it, and will endorse it to me, I will get Seaton to put it in his Intelligencer.(127) If you do write it for me, be sure and let it reach me by next Monday night's Stage. I hope to get a pretty good supply of the Messenger's out of the Binder's hands on Friday — and to finish all the mailing on Tuesday 3d July.

In Introducing Judge Longstreet's Story, take care and pay it all the compliments you may think due to it.(128)

Again, Adieu!

I am too sick — too agitated to write.

Your Friend,

T. W. White. ­[page 44:]

Richard Pollard's daughter, Mrs. Henderson, wrote “Vicissitudes of Life” in my June No.(129)

Thomas Ewing, of Ohio, writes the leader in my July No. — He is as great, as good, and as wise a man as lives in America.(130)

The July No. is greatly to my taste.

Your Friend,

T. W. W.

[40]

Richmond, Va.  
Aug. 18, 1838.(131)
My dear Friend:

I feel it a duty — a debt of gratitude — which I owe to Mr. Heath, to republish his Address,(132) though it be ever so extensively republished before I can bring it out.

I have read it over and marked some few errors in it — there are a doubtless a great many more, which you will be certain to detect as you read it. My object in sending it to you is to get the favor of you to write some editorial remarks on it.(133) — I should like them to appear in the form of a note. — saying candidly what estimate you place on it as a production, and what you think of his arguments — and the deductions he draws from them.

If possible, oblige me, — and return me the slips and editorial by next Tuesday week.

I miss your effusions very much from my pages — I hope you will find leisure shortly to send me something more. I have been looking for something from the Augusta Mirror. — Possibly you did not receive the several numbers which I forwarded to you.

I perceive that your notice of Gov. Everett's Address has been copied into a great many of the papers.

Pray tell me when you think you will be able to get at the Review of Tucker's Jefferson? I will insert it whenever you send it. ­[page 45:]

Professor Felton has not been as goad as his word.(134) Possibly he thought better of it.

Your Friend,

Th: W. White.

[41]

Richmond, Va.  
Aug. 23, 1838.(135)

My dear Friend:

I fear I neglected to tell you that you shall see “Popular Errors” in my Oct. No.(136)

If I mistake not, I also forgot to thank you for correcting the errors in Mr. H's Lecture, as also for penning the note for me, which is exactly the thing I desired.

I wish you write an editorial note for me, after his allusion to Kennedy or Irving. My child Eliza, who has read Ingraham's Burton,(137) tells me that it is equal to, if not better than, any American novel she has ever read. — She thinks it very much like Sir Walter's writings. I therefore should like to have you speak for me of Ingraham and of Simms also? [sic](138) Do oblige me.

Your nervous, agitated, feeling
& sensitive friend,

T. W. White.

[42]

Richmond, Va.  
Oct. 16, 1838.(139)

My dear Friend:

Your favor of the 6th inst. was a welcome visitor. I am rejoiced to hear you say that you do not intend to abandon me for any other work. This is a good sign: it proves to me also that I have so conducted myself, as to merit your regard through “good and evil report.” I have gone through many a hard rub in the five years I have been toiling to raise up the “Messenger”. My “pretensions” have been laughed at and ridiculed by thousands of our race. My failure, and ­[page 46:] the failure of my work, predicted week after week, month after month, and year after year. Thanks to Him, who looks down with pity on all who aim to do right, for carrying me through thus far. Thanks to my few friends, for sticking fast to me: I take pride and pleasure in numbering yourself among those few: and I shall to the day of my death, remember with a heart full of gratitude the many acts of disinterested friendship you have shown to me and my pet.

Whenever you get any of the articles ready of which you speak, I shall of course be pleased to have them.

It strikes me that you will be quite pleased with my Nov. issue — two copies of which I send you in advance of the day of publication — these you will please not show till you see the No. announced as being ready, or hear of its arrival in Charlottesville — Tell me, if you please, what you think of it.

I will try and bring Mr. Pollock out on the subjects you allude. By the bye, the notice of Dr. Carroll's Address is from his pen.(140)

I send you a copy of Mr. Davidson's English Grammar? [sic] (141) Did you ever receive a copy of Stevens’ Travels from me.(142)

You were right. I did wish you to retain Mr. Andrew's letter.(143)

While it is upon my mind, let me tell you of one thing which I must beg you will do for me. I wish to get the favor of you to pen what you may consider an appropriate address for me for the 1st No. of my fifth Vol.(144) I want you to let me have it also by the 6th day of November. Speak, if you please, of my increased patronage. My list is now rather over 2,000 — this is good for 20,000 readers. People, every where, believe I have 10,000 subscribers.(145) Such is the rumor of the day.

In haste!
Your Friend,

Th: W. White. ­[page 47:]

[43]

Richmond, Va.  
Oct. 22, 1838.(146)

My Dear Friend:

I wish you would read the Catholic priest's letter. You will see at once that it is in reply to a few lines only from me, asking him to point the passages which he objected to. To yourself I have to appeal to draft me a reply to his 2d letter. I ought, perhaps, to tell you that great fault was found with me by very many of my subscribers for admitting into my pages my friend Lynch's articles on the “Influence of Morals.”(147) — They were considered altogether too Catholic, and, liberal as I am to all mankind, you will see from a letter which I enclose from the able Reviewer of Mr. Buckingham's Book,(148) that I really had qualms of conscience about giving currency to my excellent friend's Catholic notions. Thank God! not one of my Christian friends was quite bigot enough to quit me for inserting these papers.

I wish you would spare the time to look over the Baltimore Museum, and, if you can do so conscientiously, I should be pleased to have you say a word in its favor.

Your Friend,

T. W. White.

[44]

Richmond, Va.  
Oct. 29, 1838.(149)

My dear Friend:

Your favors of 25th & 26th are most welcome. Indeed any and every thing emanating from your pen and mind is always acceptable, — acceptable to me at least.

I feel the cut you have given me. I feel too that I deserve the stab, — and therefore it is that I thank you for inflicting the wound. In this case, I both forgive and forget, knowing full well that I richly merited the laceration. I promise, in all future time, to behave with more prudence.

I assure you I should not have asked about Stevens’ travels, if I had not feared the Volumes had not found their way to you. I have no use whatever for them, and therefore return them to you. You may find time to read them some day. I fear I never shall. ­[page 48:]

The translation you speak of never reached me. I am sorry it did not, as I am sure it would been acceptable to my readers.

I feared H. Frost's was unsuitable for my pages? Poor fellow — he will be my bitter enemy, because I shall have to deal justly with him.

I certainly, if I know myself, am most grate-[ful] for the notice of the Museum and Almanac?(150) But they are both too late for my Dec. No. short as they are.

Whenever you shall have either one of the three Reviews ready, please let me have the M. S.? I wish it could have been so, that I could have gotten one for my Jan. issue? But, I will not be importunate. I shall wait your own good pleasure.

Truly your Friend,

Th: W. White.

[45]

Richmond, Va.  
March 31, 1840.(151)

Lucian Minor, Esq.

My Dear Friend:

It has been out of my power, till now, to return an answer to your favor of the 28th inst.

If there is a gentleman living on earth, that I would put myself out to serve, that individual is yourself. Hence it pains me much to be obliged to decline doing you the service asked. But when I give you my reasons, I am sure you will approve of them.

1. Lectures, Addresses, Orations and Sermons, when published as such, have been objected to by nine-tenths of my readers. Hence they are quite unpopular.

2. I am applied to from almost every quarter, and from nearly every State in the Union, to give place to this species of reading, — and of late I have been forced to say nay to all,

3. Even here, at home, I have been appealed to lately, to open my pages to several able addresses, delivered too by persons for whom I have the most sincere regard, — to all which applications I have had reluctantly to say “no” — a hard word for me to use, I assure you.

3 [sic]. If I was to insert my personal, and at last my political, friends’ addresses, I should raise at once a hornet's nest about my head and ears, that I should not soon get clear of, — for you must know that I have a host of these gentlemen before my eyes, each one of whom would be for giving me the lash, if I presumed to pass their claims over for those of Mr. Rives.(152) ­[page 49:]

Thus, my dear friend, have I given you my reasons, why I am obliged to say no, even to the man who has done me, in times past, such signal services — services which I shall never forget.

I am glad to hear you say that you do not despair of sending me something, now and then: when your paper gets well under weigh [sic].(153) I shalt, as you know, be most happy at any time to receive any contributions for the Messenger from your pen. I wish you all the success one now can possibly wish another in your new undertaking. You are on the right side in politics — and I rejoice that it is so. The present administration is a most corrupt one — and the whole of them out [sic] to be ousted by the people.

Adieu!
Your Friend,

Th: W. White.

[46]

Richmond, Va.  
22d Jan. 1842.(154)

Lucian Minor, Esq.

My Dear Friend, —

I have, I am sorry to say, mislaid your memoranda? [sic] Please send me again, a list of those names you would like me to despatch copies of the January No. to, — and I will send them on with great pleasure.

I am delighted with your contributions to my January No. — Both are excellent, well-timed, and calculated to do great good. Do, my dear Sir, as you can spare the time, send me the drippings of your pen. Everything you send me, tellsTELLS — TELLS.

I will be greatly your debtor, my friend, if you will speedily call public attention to my last issue. I think it a great number — the best issue of a Magazine, of American composition, ever ushered forth from the American press.

Truly your Friend,

Th: W. White.


[[Footnotes]]

[The following footnotes appear at the bottom of page 32:]

68.  Jan. 18, 1838.

69.  “Willis's Poems,” S. L. M., IV, 70-73 (Feb., 1838).

70.  “Lord Bacon, Part II. His Character, and Writings,” S. L. M., IV, 73-79 (Feb., 1838).

71.  Jan. 22, 1838.

72.  George Tucker.

[The following footnotes appear at the bottom of page 33:]

73.  Minor misdated the receipt of this letter — “Jan. 28, 1837.”

74.  “The Mechanic Arts, and Everett's Address,” S. L. M., IV, 61-64 (Jan., 1838).

75.  Jan. 28, 1838.

76.  “[Joseph R.] Ingersoll's Address,” S. L. M., IV, 165-166 (March, 1838).

[The following footnotes appear at the bottom of page 34:]

77.  Feb. 17 or 18, 1838.

78.  See “N. P. Willis,” S. L. M., I, 88-90 (Nov., 1834).

79.  See “Willis's Lines on ‘The Burial of Arnold’,” S. L. M., IV, 156-158 (March, 1838).

80.  Feb. 24, 1838.

81.  Dr. Francis L. Hawks, who befriended Poe.

[The following footnotes appear at the bottom of page 35:]

82.  March 2, 1838.

83.  March 2, 1838.

[The following footnotes appear at the bottom of page 36:]

84.  Edgar A. Snowden.

85.  Thomas J. Semmes.

86.  Poems By a Collegian (Charlottesville, Va., C. P. McKenzie 1833), reviewed in S. L. M., I, 117-118 (Nov., 1834).

87.  An unpublished letter dated Dec. 29, 1837, from Professor C. C. Felton to Lucian Minor, in the possession of Mrs. F. D. Minor of Beaumont, Texas, reveals that Felton desired to review Prescott's Ferdinand and Isabella for the Messenger. See Letters 32, 34, and 40.

88.  March 7, 1838.

[The following footnotes appear at the bottom of page 37:]

89.  The Charlottesville (Va.) Advocate.

90.  “The Condor Hunt on the Plains of Chili [From the Log of a Sailor],” signed “E. A. L.,” S. L. M., III, 664-666 (Nov., 1837); [[“]]Shakespeare and the Critics,” signed “Atticus,” S. L. M., IV, 132-137 (Feb., 1838); “The Influence of Morals on the Happiness of Man, and the Stability of Social Institutions,” signed “a native (but not now a resident) of Petersburg, Va.,” S. L. M., IV, 145-151 (March, 1838).

91.  “Joseph Wolff, Missionary,” S. L. M., IV, 153-156 (March, 1838).

92.  S. L. M., IV, 158-160 (March, 1838).

93.  “A Couple of Love-Letters,” S. L. M., IV, 160-162 (March, 1838).

94.  “The Sick Child,” S. L. M., IV, 162-163 (March, 1838).

95.  Margaret Miller Davidson, “To My Mother,” S. L. M., IV, 202 (March, 1838).

96.  “Pandemos Polyglott;” S. L. M., IV, 203-207 (March, 1838).

97.  “To the Mountain Violet,” S. L. M., IV, 208 (March, 1838); “Forget Me!” S. L. M., IV, 208 (March, 1838); “Woman,” S. L. M., 183 (March, 1838).

98.  March 20, 1838.

[The following footnotes appear at the bottom of page 38:]

99.  Probably C. C. Felton.

100.  [[note appears without text in the original. See note 70.]]

101.  “Mr. Jefferson,” S. L. M., IV, 209-210 (April, 1838) and “The New York Review's Review of Mr. Jefferson,” S. L. M., IV, 210-214 (April, 1838).

102.  Probably editors of New York journals.

103.  March 30, 1938.

[The following footnotes appear at the bottom of page 39:]

104.  April 8, 1838,

105.  Probably George Tucker's The Laws of Wages, Profit and Rent, Investigated (1838), reviewed in S. L. M., IV, 341 (May, 1938 [[1838]]).

106.  Thomas R. Dew.

107.  See “Everett's Address at Williams College,” S. L. M., IV, 426-430 (July, 1838).

108.  “The West Fifty Years Since,” signed “L. M.,” S. L. M., IV, 220-224 (April, 1838); IV, 306-309 (May, 1838); IV, 406-408 (June, 1838); IV, 462-469 (July, 1838).

109.  Alfred Balch.

110.  General Alexander Macomb (1782-1841).

[The following footnotes appear at the bottom of page 40:]

111.  May 3, 1838. Addressed to Minor at Charlottesville, Va.

112.  Henry J. Brent, “The Sleet Storm, at Washington,” S. L. M., IV, 251-253 (April, 1838).

113.  [[note appears without text in the original]]

114.  “Thoughts on Sunday Schools, and Sunday School Books,” signed “W.,” S. L. M., IV, 224-227 (April, 1838).

115.  [[note appears without text in the original]]

[The following footnotes appear at the bottom of page 41:]

116.  About May 15, 1838. On this letter Minor has written some legal notes.

117.  Probably fillers.

118.  June 13, 1838.

[The following footnotes appear at the bottom of page 42:]

119.  June 21, 1838.

120.  “Everett's Address at Williams College,” S. L. M., IV, 426-430 (July, 1838).

121.  “Political Prophecy: A Remarkable One,” S. L. M., IV, 430-431 (July, 1838).

122.  “Ancient Literature,” signed “a Virginian, now a Citizen of Ohio,” S. L. M., IV, 409-415 (July, 1838).

123.  The Fredericksburg (Va.) Arena.

[The following footnotes appear at the bottom of page 43:]

124.  A, B. Longstreet, “Georgia Scenes, Characters, and Incidents. New Series. — Number 1, Little Ben,” S. L. M., IV, 404-406 (June, 1838).

125.  “The Bachelor's Death-Bed,” signed “N. N. N.,” S. L. M., IV, 370-373 (June, 1838).

126.  June 26 or 28, 1838.

127.  The Petersburg (Va.) Intelligencer.

128.  See S. L. M., IV, 405 (June, 1838).

[The following footnotes appear at the bottom of page 44:]

129.  “The Vicissitudes of Life,” signed “H. C. M., Nelson County, Va.,” S. L. M., IV, 387-401 (June, 1838).

130.  “Ancient Literature,” signed “a Virginian, now a Citizen of Ohio,” S. L. M., IV, 409-415 (July, 1838).

131.  Aug, 20, 1838.

132.  James Ewell Heath, “A Lecture Delivered before the Richmond Lyceum, on Friday evening, July 13, 1838;” S. L. M., IV, 705-711 (Nov., 1838).

133.  See S. L. M., IV, 705 (Nov., 1838).

[The following footnotes appear at the bottom of page 45:]

134.  See Letter 30.

135.  Aug. 27, 1838.

136.  “Popular Errors,” signed “M.,” S. L. M., IV, 704-705 (Nov., 1838).

137.  J. H. Ingraham's Burton; or the Sieges (New York, 1838), reviewed in S. L. M., IV, 561-563 (Sept., 1838).

138.  [[note appears without text in the original]]

139.  Oct. 18, 1838.

[The following footnotes appear at the bottom of page 46:]

140.  — Pollock, a notice of D. L. Carroll's “An Address Delivered before the Franklin Literary Society of Randolph Macon College, Virginia, June 19th, 1838,” S. M. L. [[S. L. M.]], IV, 693-694 (Nov., 1838).

141.  [[note appears without text in the original.]]

142.  See Letter 44.

143.  Probably W. M. Andrews, the author of “Letter from Malta,” published serially in the Messenger.

144.  See “To our Friends and Subscribers,” S. L. M., V, 1-2 (Jan., 1839).

145.  See Poe's comments on the circulation of the Messenger (Poe and the Messenger, pp. 69-70).

[The following footnotes appear at the bottom of page 47:]

146.  Oct. 26, 1838.

147.  E. A. Lynch, “The Influence of Morals on the Happiness of Man, and the Stability of Social Institutions,” S. L. M., IV 145-151 (March, 1838); IV, 273-280 (May, 1838); IV, 415-424 (July, 1838).

148.  “Mr. Buckingham,” S. L. M., IV, 281-287 (May, 1838).

149.  Nov. 1, 1838.

[The following footnotes appear at the bottom of page 48:]

150.  “American Almanac for 1839,” S. L. M., V, 80 (Jan., 1839).

151.  April 4, 1840.

152.  Probably W. C. Rives (1793-1868).

[The following footnotes appear at the bottom of page 49:]

153.  The Charlottesville (Va.) Advocate, S. L. M., VI, 232 (March, 1842).

154.  Feb. 5, 1842.


∞∞∞∞∞∞∞


Notes:

This article is reprinted with special permission from the estate of David K. Jackson.

In the original printing, the salutation for letter 32 is indented, a formatting choice made for none of the other letters, and thus not reproduced above. Another typographical anomaly is the positioning of the complimentary closing, which is centered in the first installment of the article, but set more to the right in the second installment. For the sake of consistency, the complimentary closing for each letter has been centered in the second installment, conforming with the formatting used in the first installment.

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

[S:1 - SULTWWLM, 1936] - Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore - Bookshelf - Some Unpublished Letters of T. W. White to Lucian Minor (D. K. Jackson, 1936)