152 THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 



"October 18, 1848. 



"... You do not love me, or you would have felt too thoro a sympathy 

 with the sensitiveness of my nature, to have so wounded me as you have done 

 with this terrible passage of your letter: 'How often have I heard men and 

 even women say of you — "He has great intellectual power, but no principle, no 

 moral sense." ' Is it possible that such expressions as these could have been 

 repeated to me — to me — by one whom I loved — ah, whom I love — at whose 

 feet I knelt — I still kneel — in deeper worship than ever man offered to God? — 

 And you proceed to ask me why such opinions exist. ..." 



"Friday the 24th. 



"You allude to your having been 'tortured by reports which have since 

 been explained to your entire satisfaction.' On this point my mind is fully 

 made up. I will rest neither by night nor by day until I bring those who have 

 slandered me into the light of day — until I expose them and their motives to 

 the public eye. I have the means and I will ruthlessly employ them. . . ." 



The following brief note of joyous assurance from Poe to Mrs. 

 Clemm, heightens the tragedy: 



"My Own Dear Mother: We shall be married on Monday, and will be 

 at Fordham on Tuesday, in the first train." 



Poe's life was brimful of sorrow. His grandfather, General 

 David Poe, served with credit in the Revolutionary War, and was 

 known to Washington and to Lafayette. His father was intended 

 for the bar; but against the wishes of his family, he married an 

 English actress, Mrs. Elizabeth Hopkins, the daughter of the once 

 celebrated actress, Mrs. Arnold, and joined her on the stage. Edgar 

 was but two years of age when both parents died in Richmond 

 within a few weeks of each other, and the orphan was adopted by 

 John Allan, a wealthy Richmond merchant, from whom he received 

 his middle name. Here he was treated like one of the family, and 

 the coddling and over-indulgence accorded him is responsible for 

 his being a "spoilt child" thruout his life. 



Poe was given excellent educational opportunities by his foster- 

 father. In 1815 he was taken on a tour thru England and 

 Scotland and placed in the Manor House School, Stoke Newington, 

 about four miles from London. When he returned to Richmond 

 six years later, he was placed in the English and Classical School 

 of Joseph H. Clarke, where he was prepared for college. At the 



