Evening Star Newspaper, January 20, 1929, Page 85

THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C. JANUARY 20, 1929—PART T7.° Fortune Always Elusive for Author of m BY JOHN CLAGETT PROCTOR. THER references have been made to W.'W. Corcoran and his generous and philan- thropic activities, but omission has purposely been made until now of his great patriotic act in bring- ing to this country from its foreign resting place the body of John Howard Payne, which now reposes in Oak Hill Cemetery. No man without sentiment would have ever undertaken such a grand work as this. But Corcoran had been away from home; had crossed and re- crossed the Atlantic, and no doubt knew what it meant to be homesick— knew what it meant, while on the high seas, to dream of the words of the author of the most touching song, “Home Sweet Home,” who died in far- oft Africa—far from the attachments of youth, from his kindred and loved ones, far from his own country—his shrine of American freedom. Indeed, it would only seem natural 1f Mr. Corcoran had upon these voyages repeated to himself the beautiful words of the author: “"Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam, Be it ever so humble, there's no place like Home! A charm from the sky seems to hallow us there, Which, seek through the world, is ne'er met with elsewhere! Home, Home, sweet, sweet Home! There’s no place like Home! ‘There’s no place like Home! “An exile from Home, splendor dazzles in vain!— ©Oh give me my lowly thatched cottage again! —The birds singing gayly that came at my call— Give me them!—and the peace of mind dearer than all! Home, Home, sweet, sweet Home! ‘There's no place like Home!” There’'s no place like Home! It is quite evident that Mr. Corco- ran had given the idea of bringing the body of John Howard Payne to this country long and deliberate - thought, since Payne had died in Tunis many years before the philanthropist had concluded to provide for it. As a matter of fact, Corcoran was, most likely, personally acquainted with the actor-author whom he had seen here at_the Washington Theater. Many years later, when he had be- come one of the oldest residents of Washington, he retained a vivid and fond recollection of seeing Mr. Payne in his impersopation at that time of the character of Young Norval in the tragedy of “Douglas.” * k% % ‘OHN HOWARD PAYNE was born in New York City, June 9, 1792, and showed his literary talent at the un- usually early age of 13. His father was a well known educator, while his grandfather was a member of the Pro- vincial Assembly of Massachusetts at a time when it took real bravery and d;rlcter to perform the duties of the office. At 14, while a clerk in a meroantile housein New York, he secretly edited the Thespian Mirror. Shortly after this he was offered gratis, and accepted, a course at Union College, but as a result of the bankruptcy of his father, his education was interrupted and he decided to go on the stage as the best means of supporting his family. his debut being made ai the Park Theater, New York, February 24, 1809, in the same character in which Mr. Corcoran afterward saw him. After a tour of some of the larger cities besides New York, including Bos- ton, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Charles- ton and New Orleans, he was persuaded to try his fortunes in London. Here, for a while, he drew crowded houses, but as ever with genius, his popularity excited a certain proportion of envy which soon detracted from his ability as a dnwmfi card and he went to Paris, where he found the atmosphere better and more inviting. Here he devoted much of his time to the writ- ing of dramas and produced in rapid Buccession the tragedy ~of “Brutus,”* “Therese, or the Orphan of Geneva,” an adaptation from the French; “Virgin- ius.” and the celebrated operatic drama, “Clari, or the Maid of Milan,” wkich contained the song “Home, Sweet Home,” for which the author’s name will ever be remembered. As was frequently the case.in years gone by, and indeed not infrequent even now, Payne received comparatively little for his work, for the operetta, to- ther with a lot of manuscripts which e sold to Charles Kemble of the Co- vent Garden Theater, in Londen, in 1825, brought him only 30 pounds. Kemble immediately had it produced at that theater, where it was played to crowded houses for many nights. The song, which is the only thing left to us of the play and which no doubt will ever rerhain with us as long as love exists, was first sung in the operetta by Miss Tree, the eldest sis- ter of Ellen Tree, and her rendition is said to have been 5o sweet and beau- John Howard payne, Once Employed by Government at Home and Abroad* Won Fame, But Had Little Return Fr;)m His Work—W. W. Corcoran Brought Body Across Atlantic to Oak Hill Cemetery. TABLET AT THE GRAVE OF JOHN HOWARI’;L?‘,VI tiful that she afterward secured a wealthy husband. 1t is said that “over one million copies of the song ‘Home, Sweet Home,’ were sold by the publishers, whose profits were said to have exceeded 2,000 ‘Washington, Writing ‘Washin; an “Ol of genius, of nice culture, of more taste than strength, perhaps, but capable of a great deal of labor and well fitted for clerical duties of any description, as he wrote a beautiful and expeditious hand and was steady and industrious in his guineas, not a penny of Wwhich was given to the author, who was also cheated out of the benefit which he was to have received on the twentieth night of the performance of his play and was not even complimented by the publishers with a copy of the song.” During Mr. Payne’s residence in Paris he roomed with Washington Irv- ing, who always remained his admirer and steadfast supporter. In 1832 Mr. Payne returned to this country and tried his hand at pubiish- ing a literary periodical, but with little success. He did nol know how to handle money, he was always broke, and the cause of much anxiety among his friends, who were continually beinz called upon for assistance. A good ac- tor, an entertaining writer, but a poor financier. Of him some one has said that he had “no more thrift, or provi- dence, or capacity for taking care of himself than Harold Skimpole.” &l FTER he had floundered around for nearly a decade, we find him in in straitened circum- stances and seeking a diplomatic post. In this he at first failed, when.he was willing to accept any respectable posi- tion: where the compensation would at least pay his actual living expenses. of Payne’s experience in n when seeking employment, Stager” says: “He was a delightful companion, full habits. * * * He had all the simplic- ity of a ‘child, was confiding, credulous and easily imposed upon, and the wags about Washington—for the city is al- ways infested with great numbers of practical jokers—deluded him with magnificent and impossible expecta- tions. Robert Tyler, the President’s eldest son, and Fletcier Webster were warm friends of Payne, and co-operat- ing with them were several newspaper correspondents, all of whom made a persistent effort to procure him an eli- YNE, BROUGHT WITH THE REMAINS FROM S, JOHN FHOWARD PAYNE. Portrait_Reproducsd_From an Old_Engraving. gible appointment in one of the de- partments. . “Mr. Webster, then Secretary of State, had taken a prejudice against poor Payne and nothing could be done for him in the diplomatic or consular line. After a while, and by dint of per- severing exertion, we obtained a place for him in the War Department under Mr. Spencer. He had a comfortable room all to himself and he was charged with the task of coflating, indexing and making an abstract of the treaties ne- gotiated by the Government with the several Indian tribes. His annual sal- ary was $1,600, at that time a compe- tent support for a bachelor of ‘simjie tastes and inexpensive habits. “Payne was delighted. Nothing could have suited him better, and he set to work with wonderful zeal and intelli- gence. The arrangement was a great relief to his friends, and we determined that he should not be displaced in a hurry. Knowing the Secretary’s pe- culiarities and that he was ‘a kittle creature to shoe behind,’ as the Scotche man says, we instructed Payne in re- gard to the mode in which he should bear himself toward his official supe- rior. He was advised to attend to his duties diligently, to steer clear of thaj Secretary after exhibiting to him « specimen of the manner in which he was performing his work, to draw his salary on the first of every month and to bother nobody with suggestions or advice on any subject. “After a few days of constant labor Payne showed the Secretary what he HIOME OF MARY HARDEN, ATHENS, CA. ok _MONUMENT TO JOHN HOWARD PAYNE iN OAK H was doing and how he was doing it. | who said he had nothing more for him | Nothing could have been better done. ‘There was no more exquisite penman- ship on the files of the department and the arrangement of the papers was par- fect. Mr. Spencer expressed his grati- fication in warm terms and Payne was in high glee. “He continued his labors with Jn- creased “activi accomplishing more any other two clerks ent, and in less than four months he had completed the job. Unmindful of our caution and pluming himself upon the dispatch with which he had accomplished the work, he car- ried the fruits of it to the Secretary, man in his studies. So the communi- cation between the lord of the palace and his servants was confined to ges= tures and grimaces. “His sitting apartment was about the size of the east room in the White House, with a cool marble floor, fur- nished with divans and lounges, Here Payne sat in solitary splendor. If he needed anything he blew a silver whistle, and there filed in at least & dozen tall Arabs, who placed themselves in a semi-circle around him, as silent as graven images, but all of them salaam- ing with the grace of sons of the desert, and informing him by smirks and signs that they were his slaves. The novelty of the thing afforded amusement for & while, but becoming fatigued of it, he turned his attention to reforming cer- tain abuses which he assumed had been overlooked by his friend the Bey, and the result was that he came near fall- ing a victim to the bow-string.” I N Washington “Home, Sweet Home" was sung for the first time when “Clari, or the Maid of Milan" was given March 29, 1824, at the Washington ‘Theater, which then stood on the south | side of Louisiana avenue between Joha | Marshall place and Sixth street, near {the corner of Sixth. This theater was | completed about August 24, 1821, and was the second one of this name in | Washington. It was destroyed by fire | shortly after the Civil War and portions | of its walls are still visible. My esteemed | fellow vice president of the Associationg | of Oldest Inhabitants, Washington Top- | ham, supplies me with the date as July, 1869, and says he witnessed the de- | struction of the theater. Miss Warren sang the piece and received for her ex-. cellent rendition great applause. No doubt the greatest reception the plece ever received was also in this city whan — .. |it was sung by that celebrated artist, caprice, and we were all perplexed and | Jenny Lind—the “Swedish Night- fatigued by his importunities. At this |ingale,” as she was called. Jjuncture Mr. Webster was cailed to Bos- ton on business, leaving his son Fletcher Acting Secretary of State. Dur- ing his absence we managed to have Payne appointed consul to Tunis, and he had his commission in his pocket before the Secretary returned to Wash- ington. But there was no end to his troubles and embarrassments. ‘This took place during the diva’s first concert December 16, 1850, in a build- ing speclally constructed for the pur- | pose, on the site now occupled by the | National Theater. John Howard Payne was in the audience, having come here with a view to being reinstated to his position as Consul to Tunis, from which | he had been removed. Others who ware “Full of the dignity of his office, he | there to hear the great songbird in- insisted upon being conveyed to the|cluded the President of the United scene of his labors in a vessel of war. |States and family, the president of the The Secretary of the Navy hesitaied Senate, Daniel Webster, Henry Clay, about giving 2n order to that effect, and | Mr. Crittenden, Gen. Scott, justices of Payne invoked the authority of the the United States Supreme Court and President to accomplish his object. But | mar Senators and Revresentatives. Mr. Tyler had some doubts of the pro- It id: 3 priety of granting his request, and| “Nothing was wanting that office, things remained in statu quo. | fame, wealth, culture, taste and beauty “Meantime Payne, having raised a|could impart in giving dignity and sum of money by virtue of his office, | grandeur to the occasion. The match- went to New York and commenced the | less singer entranced the vast throng purchase of a library to occupy his| with her most exquisite melodies, ‘Casta leisure time while not engaged in con- | Diva,’ the ‘Flute Song,’ the ‘Bird Song' ference with the Bey of Tunic. The |and the ‘Greeting to America.’ But the enemies of the ~administration—and | great feature “of the occasion seemed they comprised a large majority of Con- | to be an act of inspiration. The singer gress and throughout the country— | suddenly turned her face toward that were all the time on the watch for| part of the auditorium where John causes of censure and reproach, and Howard Payne was sitting and sang Payne's long delay in departing for the | ‘Home, Sweet Home' with such pathos site of old Carthage was made the sub- | and power that a whirlwind of excite- Ject of sharp animadversion. Dr. Heap, | ment and enthusiasm swept through who had been a long time consul at|the vast audience. Webster himself Tunis, was a relative or intimate friend | lost all self-control, and one might of Col. Benton, who had strenuously re- | readily imagine that, Payne was thrilled sisted Payne’s confirmation. Threaten- | with rapture at this unexpected and ing an assault on Mr. Tyler in this con- | magnificent rendition of his own im- nection, some anxiety was created, and | mortal lyric.” the President swore that Payne should | At the second concert, held on the proceed immediately to his place of | followipg day, Dacember 17, Miss Lind destination or he would revoke the ap- | 2gain made history when she sang for pointment. | the first time in America the national “He was still in New York ‘making | song of “Hail Columbia,” accompaniec his arrangements,’ as he wrote in re- by Signor Benedict’s powerful and ad ply to an inquiry when he would b> | mirable orchestra. ready to sail, and I was sent on to take B him in hand and see if it was possi- ble to facilitate his departure from the | JPAYNE received his reappointment t ‘Tunis early in 1851, and as hc country. I found him penniless, hav- | was embarrassed by debt and harassed ing spent his outfit in every sort of extravagant folly, unable to move in by creditors, he tock passage from New any direction, and in a state of despair. | At the suggestion of Mr. Tyler we ad- | vanced him money enough to pay his | passage across the Atlantic, and th2 next we heard from him was in Pari: destitute, and living on a friend, wait- ing for something to turn up. Obtain- ing relief from a gentleman whom he had slightly known in Washington, h> CEMETERY. | made his way to Tunis at last. * ko * x E soon ingratiated himself with 11 the Bey, and in due time hs compensated us for all our trouble by a long. charmingly written and most to do and dismissed him from office. | ¢¢ *"k X ¥ ¢ JFJERE was poor Payne on our hands again, as helpless as an infant. smarting under a sense of wrong, queru- lous, complaining, and deeming himself the most unfortunate of mankind. He was a spoiled prodigy. When a mere child he was brought upon the stage, interesting letter, descriptive of every- York for Europe under an assumed [ name on May 6. On the first day of . | the following April he passed into eter- | nal rest after a lingering illness at his | post in Tunis, and here in St. George Cemetery his body was interred, mark- |ed by the United States with a slab reading as follows: In memory of Col. John Howard Payne, Twice Consul of the United States of America , __for the city and kingdom of Tunis. | This stone is here placed by a gratefu thing that had occurred under his notice in Carthage. “The Bey had given him the use of | & palace larger than the White House, | and assigned him a retinue of Arabs | | country. | He died at the American consulate ir this city, after a tedious illness, April 1st, 1852. | | | for domestic service sufficient in num- ber to form a bodyguard to th: Em- precocious and of great promise in the dramatic line, but his subsequent per- formances did not fulfill this promise, | and he was a disappointed, unhappy | man, for whom his friends could never do enough. “No place could be-found for him after he had fallen a victim to Mr. Spencer’'s understood a word of anv civilized tongue, and Payne, who spoke French like a native and understood several of the modern European languagss, had not included the lings of the Mussul peror of Morocco. Not one of them | He was born at the city of Boston, State of Massachusetts. H's fame as a poet and dramatist i wall known wherever the English | language is understood through his_celebrated ballad of “Home, Sweet Home” | and his popular tragedy of Brutus and other similar productions. Washington to Observe Anniversary of Man Born 2,000 Years Ago BY MILDRED DEAN. ASHINGTON has joined in the celebration of hun- dredth anniversaries of great men and great events, bi- centennials and tricenten- nials have been observed here, and even those immortals whose memory hark- ens back beyond the five-century mark have been feted and honored in the American Capital, but next year Wash- ington will celebrate with fitting cere- mony a bimillennium—in paying trib- ute to a man whose birthday dates back 2,000 years. On October 15, in the year 70 B.C., the poet Vergil, interpreter of the Ro- man character to the world and one of the greatest literary figures of all times, was born. In commemoration of this outstanding event in the history of lit- erature Italy has invited all nations to join in observing a world-wide ceremony, and plans for America's participation are already being developed. In this national iribue, Washington | will play a prominent part. Mrs. Alice Coyle Torbert, who composed the pag- eant of the history of Georgetown, which was presented first at Christ Church and then in Montrose Park, has been induced to prepare a pageant of the life of Vergil, the result of which is soon to issue from the presses of the Service Bureau for Classical Teachers at Columbia University in New York. Although the title might lead to the belief that merely the life of Vergil will be presented, the pageant nevertheless includes many scenes based upon his work. There are 29 speaking parts in the pageant, with characters ranging from Julius Caesar to Mecuba, the aged Queen of Troy, and from the goddess Venus to the leading actress of Vergil's day. Both the poet himself and the Emperor Augustus are frequently on the stage. and there are hosts of sol- diers, satyrs, shepherds, dryads, nymphs and muses in the various settings. Y THE pageant, however, is not the only tribute from Washingtonians to the memory of Vergil, for a reading circle has. been formed to reread all the works of the poet in the original Latin. It has been meeting since early October, and now has finished the Ecologues and is enjoying the third Georgic. Latin hexameters are read in unison, producing a strange musical effect, new to our modern generation, but vet which must have been heard often 2,000 years ago. Then one member translates the lines into English, all taking turns in performing this task for the others. field of life the league is securing co- operation from the most dtsnnguuhed‘. people. But in the midst of all this | activity in honor of Vergil the readingl of his verses is stressed as the greatest | compliment that can be paid the poet, and every member of the league is urging those who love poetry to read Vergil's books, in the original Latin if | they are able, or in some of the many | post cards and bulletins; on co-opera- tion with classical organizations, non- classical organizations, the N. E. A. and the United States Bureau of Education; on affiliation with like movements in other countries; on promoting Vergilian courses in colleges and high schools; on private reacding and reading circles; on publishing books, bibliographies and lists of {llustrative material; on celebra- clubs and beautiful translations if Vergil's oWl‘l‘lLi s in cities, colleges, language is closed to them. jschools; on commemorative medals, versary of the poet’s birth, the design A bookplate has been decided upon ’plaques and book plates; on awarding 25 a souvenir to be pasted in Vergil | prizes; on pilgrimages to places made | texts commemorating the 2,000th anni- famous by Vergil. Men and women of distinction all of which was drawn for the league by | over the country are rallying to the call Ben Yoe Morrison, Washington artist, of the league and lending their efforts who presented it as an added contribu- | tor make the celebration a memorable tion of the Capital for the occasion. one. The advisory committee has on it ‘The head of Vergil is taken from a Prof. Clifford H. Moore of Harvard Uni- | “Famed from here to the stars.” picture in the museum at Nimes, in|versity, Dr. John H. Finley of the New Southern France. The words “Ninc;York Times, President Fairfax Harrison Usque Ad Sidera Notus” come from the |of the Southern Railway, Prof. Paul “Fifth Ecologue,” line 43, and mean | Shorey of Chicago University and Dr. Henry Van Dyke of Princeton. * ok Kk ok VERGXL first saw the light in a small Italian village near Mantua, in the They | { were written by Vergil of another poet, | {but for no one do they seem so appro- | {priate as for himself. | | In answer to Italy’s invitation to all | nations to join in the celebration, the | The | American Classical League, because of {its national scope, has undertaken the formation of plans for America's par- | ticipation in 1930, which will be affili- jated with like movements in other countries. To make America's obsery- | ance of this event commensurate with our scholarship and our resources, the league is inviting the co-operation of every association, club, institution and individual who wishes to pay honor o the poet. THE Vergil celebration will assume many forms and will extend to every community. It will find ex- pression in every activity of our nation- al life. Walter Damrosch is selecting music for a special program, Charles Rann Kennedy has promised to write a | play and Henry Van Dyke is said to be ‘considering a story about Camilla, a warrior maiden of the Aeneid. Under the direction of Dean Anna P. MacVay of the Wadleigh High School of New York more than 30 commit- tees are organizing and leading the * ok K % 1t is the American Classical League, & national organization, which- has un- dertaken to inspire and direct effort ll over the country to make our part n the celebration a worthy one, In every movement. Merely to read a list of them as they fall inty groups is il- luminating: On finanéd and securing patrons; on publicity through lectures, newspapers, magazines, radio, posters, Po Valley. His father was a potter. In those days making pottery was an ele- gant occupation, quite one in which the {landed gentry and even the nobility I nity. In fact, wherever the land yielded | the right kind of clay the owner would [install a pottery, and any occupation that was connected with farming and managing land was proper socially. a very much respected career, named Magia, so the young poet, who seems to have been an only child, grew iup with the prospect of a comfortable inheritance. He was educated, as all boys of the well-to-do were trained in those days, first at the schools of the Icountry nearby, then at Milan, and finally at Rome, where he entered the classes of one Epidius, who seems to |have taught young Octavius Caesar |about the same time. Perhaps it was { here in school that the foundation was laid for that friendship which later, when Octavius became Augustus Caesar, the first Emperor, was to influence Ver- gil's life so deeply. We are not informed whether Vergil took any part in the civil wars that were raging betwebn Julius Caesar and Pompey, though some think that there | could engage without any loss of dig- | But this father, besides entering g\lgl 8 married his employer's daughter, a lady , | | i | ! WBLIVS VERGILIVS MARO 0 BC - 1930AD all too well the horrors of a campaign. But he learned very quickly some of the griefs that come after a war, for his little patrimony in Northern Italy was confiscated, among other estates there, to be given to the victorious veterans. For a while by the influence of power- ul friends he managed to retain it, but |15 evidence in his writings that he knew |later it was swept away for part of the reward of Augustus' legions. Two of | been poor, failed suddenly. Vergil's most beautiful poems record the sorrows of the shepherds who are driven with their flocks from their fields and homes. At this juncture in the poet's for- tunes Maecenas gave him ‘A house in his spacious gardens on the Esquiling e | | | | | | City to Join in Nation-wide Bimillenial Celebration of the Poet Vergil's Birth, Under the Auspices of the American Classical League, in Answer to Italy’s Invitation for All Nations to Participate in Commemorative Ceremonies. Hill, and at least for a while Vergil | from this promise, and so the poem joined the db\;fihlllnnt cthclet of lllierlryf was saved for posterity. men aroun e great patron of art. e But the “smoke and riches and noise | He is buried outside of Naples, of the city drove the quiet poet away | side a roadway which, by some cata- to study philosophy in a garden neal | clysm in the middle ages, sank below Naples, and for several years, part of | the surface of the bay, so that now which he spent in traveling, he did not | “the golden waters of the bay flow visit the metropolis. many fathoms over him." iy B Vergil is almost the only man in | barbarian invasion began settling over Europe, it might have been expected that any poet's reputation would be eclipsed, but Vergil was elevated into a sort of cult of superstitious awe. | This was largely due to the ambiguous | wording of the “Fourth Eclogue,” which the early church fathers took to be a prophecy of the Messiah. They ascribed all sorts of magical powers to h'm, and noted that his mother's name | was spelled Magia, which must have | had scmething to do with magic, they | thought; and finally changed the spell- | ing of his name because it must have been derived from virga, a magician's | wand. So insistent was this ldea of | Vergil's magic power that a common custom grew up of turning to his | rages at random to secure some IT was one thing, however, to give! literary history whose repuiation has | prophecy of the future from whatever always been of the first rank. It is|line might first come to sight. Many land to veterans and quite another! recorded that even Homer had to beg to persuade them to stay on it and | Dis bread, so little was he esteemed. 3 | But Vergil was regarded with the raise crops, which were so badly needed | greqtest wonder and admiration in his in Italy. Maecenas hoped that if the! charms of rustic life were sung by| lithe poets, perhaps the popular mind ! | might _be turned toward agriculture. | ;own day; he was considered the in- terpreter ‘of the Roman character to the world. He was studied in the schools, analyzed by lecturers and de- ! He suggested the theme to Vergil. It | claimed by the actors of Rome for | | | was while Octavius Caesar was quelling | - | the last uprisings of the civil war that | 10uF_centuries. When the dark ages of | stories are told of people who have | consulted the “Vergilian Lots.” as they were called. Charles the First of Eng- land is said to have sought some con- olation for his broken fortunes be- | fore his trial. But he opened to the | passage where Dido curses Aeneas, | hoping that his body will lie unburied on the sand, an omen all too soon ful- | filled for the poor King. | Vergil was finishing the four long | poems in praise of the life of tofl on! CURIOUS the farm. By nature and by training| = | he was admirably suited to his theme, ! GOME time ago more than 300 fair- i and the success of the poems was im- | O haireq, blue-eyed people were dis- | mediate. With peace, a new spirit| covered on a little island east of Java. | seemed to come over Italy: men read All their neighbors belong to the Malay and chanted the poems which dealt|race, and they themselves speak only with husbandry—trees, beasts and bees Malay; yet each new-born child in the | —and, absorbing their tranquil philos- | colony is as pink and white as any ophy, settled down into an era of con- ! baby born in the Occiden:. How did tentment such as Italy had not known' they happen to be living there? in recorded history. | It was not easy for them to give an Octavius Caesar, now become Augus-, account of their origin, but the resords tus, received the poet with every mark | of the Dutch East India Co. on being of favor. It was he who asked Vergil, investigated showed what must have to write a national epic, and accord-| happenéd. In 1665 the company, which ingly the Aeneld was started not long|in those days conducted its business after final. peace was restored to the . as if it were a government, landed eight | war-riven country. For 10 years the|Dutch soldiers with their wives on a | noet labored on his noblest work, oft- little isle of Kissa. Under a sergean en reading é)-m of it aloud to the| by the name of Kaffyn, they were Emperor and his other friends as it'guard against the poachings of the nrogressed. It is told that in spite of | Portuguese, from whom the Dutch had his delicate physique his voice was|taken many possessions in the East “nusually rich and melodious, and that | Indian Archipelago Then the little his reading was so beautiful that it|colony apparently was forgotten. The cast a sort of spell on the listeners. ' records of the comnany show nothing Before he had completed the poem! further concerning them. he set out for Greece to visit some| The. story of the original settlers has of the places he wanted to describe, been brought down from one generation but his health. which had for years:to another. Since their landing more He than two centuries and a half ago only turned to Brindislum in Augustus'| four generations have been born on the company, but rapidly became worse and | island. Kaffyn, the present chief of died there in 19 B.C. at the age of 51. | Kissa, Is the great-great-grandson of He had extorted a promise from two of | the original Sergt. Kaffyn, who was in his friendly who were with him when | charge of the squad that landed there. he died t they would destroy his| When the little group had eaten itself unfinished work, but the Emperor, by out of provisions and found that no virtue of his high office, absolved them ships werg Jikely to there ag \ t to | COLONY. more they turned to cultivating the rather barren soil. For two years thev had a hard fight for life. Fortunately, they had some corn and potatoes from their little store, and they did well with irrigation. The few coconuts that they found were also planted and cultivated. The climate is mild, so that the® need | for food and clothing was not so urgent. as that of the Pilgrims who reached our coast earlier in the same century. In time, with economy and industry. the | Plets surrounding the little dwellings looked almost like Dutch gardens. The soldiers and their wives had been tralned in religion at home. Cast upon their own resources, they chose one of | their group to be their teacher and preacher. ‘They elected another chief. | In time they came into contact with the natives of the little isle and with those of surrounding islands, too. They mastered the foreign tongue. and so well did the children take to the native language that presently they forgot their fathers' language aitogether. | When, during the latter part of the | nineteenth century, the forgotten colony | was rediscovered not one of the inhabit- {ants was able to respond to the in quiries that were made to them in Dutch. In four generations the old tongue had been completely lost. people have readily taken up with the® cousins from Holland and ar:w regaining dthelir&wwlm both e fongue and o customs of Dutch,