tinued to dog his steps. Magazines which
       had accepted his work failed, or suspended
       payment, his health again gave way, and
       Mrs. Clemm was compelled to nurse him
       through delirium. Finally somewhat
       recovered, but a mere ghost of himself, he
       undertook to revive his scheme of a
       magazine, The Stylus, and with funds
       furnished by a western admirer, E. H. N.
       Patterson, he set out for Richmond, Va., in
       the spring of 1849, hoping to obtain help
       there from old friends. Mrs. Clemm was
       left behind in New York at the house of a
       poetess in Brooklyn who was under
       obligations to Poe.
                             On the way to Richmond, Poe stopped
                            off in Philadelphia where he again came to
                            drink and wandered in a distracted state.
                            Finally he was rescued from prison and the
                            streets by some faithful friends who raised
                            sufficient funds to send him on his way.
                             Warned by what bad been a near
                            approach to death in Philadelphia, Poe
                            strove with all that was in him to refrain
                            from wine, and for some time succeeded.
                            In Richmond he was able with the help of
                            old friends and others, who now recognized
                            both his weakness and his genius, to stage a
                            brief "come back." He delivered lectures at
                            both Richmond and Norfolk with great
                            success, appeared with applause and
                            dignity in society, and was finally, after
                            some difficulty, once more able to obtain
                            the promise of his youthful flame Elmira
                            Royster---now Mrs. A. B. Shelton, a
                            widow in good circumstances, to marry
                            him.
                             Preparations for the wedding went
                            forward; the date was set. For a while it
                            looked as if the romance of the poet's
                            youth with Elmira was to be rewarded
       by her hand and a considerable dower in
       middle life. Letters were written to Mrs.
       Clemm announcing the state of affairs, and
       Poe was ready to return to New York in
       order to bring her back to Richmond for the
       wedding. There can be very little doubt that
       in all these plans, Poe saw not only the

       


       return of his "lost Lenore," but a
       comfortable old age provided for Mrs.
       Clemm, shelter from the world, and escape
       from poverty. At the very last he wrote
       Mrs. Clemm saying that he still loved Mrs.
       Annie Richmond and wished that "Mr. R."
       would die. With this letter, one of the last
       he wrote, the curious story of his affections
       ends with contradiction and ambiguity, as it
       began.
                             Taking some little cash which had been
                            received from the proceeds of a lecture
                            given shortly before his departure, Poe left
                            Richmond very early in the morning of the
                            twenty-third of September, 1849. The
                            evening before had been spent with Mrs.
                            Shelton and the marriage had been set for
                            October seventeenth. Poe had not been able
                            to refrain entirely from drinking while in
                            Richmond and he was undoubtedly in a an
                            abnormal condition upon his departure.
                            The testimony shows, however, that he
                            was quite sober at that particular time.
                             He traveled by steamer to Baltimore and
                            arrived there on September twentyninth.
                            Exactly what happened to him in that city
                            cannot now be ascertained. An election
                            was in progress, and the preponderance of
                            evidence points to the fact that he began to
                            drink and fell into the hands of a gang of
                            repeaters who probably gave him drugged
                            liquor and voted him. On
       October third he was found by Dr.
       James E. Snodgrass, an old friend, in
       a, horrible condition at a low tavern in
       Lombard Street. Summoning a realitive of 
       Poe, Dr. Snodgrass had the now
       unconscious and dying poet taken in a
       carriage to the Washington Hospital
       and put into the care of Dr. J. J.
       Moran, the resident physician. Several
       days of delirium ensued with only a
       few intervals of partial consciousness.
       He called repeatedly for one "Reynolds,"
       and gave vent to every indication of utter
       despair. Finally on Sunday morning,
       October 7, 1849, "He became quiet and
       seemed to rest for a short time. Then,
       gently, moving his head, he said, 'Lord help
       my poor soul.'" As he had lived so he died-
       in great misery and tragedy.

       


                  HERWY, ALLEN.
       
       August, 1927.