W. P. ANDREWS REMARKS. 3 



of its fragrance might have escaped, as it were, into the 

 paper he then read on the " Life and Spiritual Experience 

 of Jones Very, the Poet." 



The status of Salem as an entry port for East India mer- 

 chandise at the time of Mr. Very's birth, on the 28th of 

 August, a. d., 1813, was briefly referred to, and a tribute 

 paid to the worth and intelligence of her shipmasters. 



Some account of " Capt." Jones Very, the poet's father, 

 was then given, and of his mother, Lvdia Very, a daugh- 

 ter of "Capt." Very's uncle, Samuel Very, who like his 

 nephew commanded one of the vessels sailing from Salem. 

 Mention was also made of the poet's brother, the Rev. 

 Washington Very, his sisters Miss Frances E. and Lvdia 

 L. A. Very ; and of the interesting fact that " Capt." 

 Very himself and all the members of his family were fond 

 of verse-making, some of which had shown decided 

 literary talent. 



The facts of Mr. Very's early life were then rehearsed ; 

 his voyages to Russia and Xew Orleans with his father 

 when a lad of nine or ten years of age ; his father's death, 

 which occurred in December, 1824, and young Jones's 

 provident care of the family. His service as store boy 

 in an auction room was then spoken of; his gravity of 

 demeanor, and his faithfulness to the duties devolving 

 upon him in a distasteful occupation. His intense love of 

 literature was related, and the means by which he obtained 

 the books he needed to fit him for college, in the course 

 of the business in which he was engaged. It was then 

 stated that Mr. Very prepared himself with great rapidity 

 and thoroughness, and entered Harvard College in the 

 last term of the sophomore year, 1834. It was said that 

 Mr. Very was unusually mature at this time, and that his 

 most intimate associations were mainly among the older 

 residents of Cambridge and the instructors, all of whom 

 esteemed him highly. He graduated in 1836, next the 



