Tin fl&emortam. 
 
 Zhe Algetic Circle 
 
 of 
 
 Ikate'e /ilbountain* 
 
 "flnvohe we tbose bilgbt JBeings, one b? one." 
 
 0L1Z3 Lll 9X0 
 
 ssaaoNoo do Aawaan 
 
PUBLISHERS' NOTICE. 
 
 The first edition of this charming Memorial, which was printed 
 for private distribution, having been exhausted, and many requests 
 having been made for copies, that could not be supplied, permis- 
 sion has been given us by the Author to issue an edition for general 
 circulation, with instructions to devote the proceeds to the Jefferson 
 Davis Monument Fund. 
 
 WEST, JOHNSTON & CO. 
 Richmond, Va., July 22, 1895. 
 
IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 THE jMYSTIC CIRCLE 
 
 Kate's Mountain 
 
 i 860- 1 805. 
 
 Htcfymonb, Va.: 
 
 Whittet & Shepperson, General Printers. 
 1895 
 
2,011- 
 
 -H 
 
 7 
 
 *.Y 
 
 Coptkigiit. 1895. 
 BY 
 
 WEST, JOHNSTON & CO. 
 
 
DEDICATION. 
 
 This reprint of an old society poem is affectionately inscribed 
 to the memories of the dead, and to the friendships of the living, 
 whom, upon a festive occasion, it was sportively attempted to 
 portray in just profile of person and character; and with these, 
 and this inscription, can but be associated one who is intimately 
 connected by tender ties with some of the most prominent and 
 dearly cherished of them all, and at whose suggestion this reprint 
 is made, my attached sister, Mrs. Rebecca Williams Howard, of 
 Baltimore. Haply, it may serve the more vividly to recall to the 
 living the lineaments of the departed, and of each other, in the 
 golden light of a beautiful day of pure and earnest enjoyment. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 In the late summer of 1860, which presented the last 
 brilliant assemblage at the Greenbrier White Sulphur 
 Springs, then in Virginia, of the wealth and distinc- 
 tion, fashion and beauty of the Southern States and 
 the Northern cities, representative of an unique civiliza- 
 tion, now passed away forever, a party of young ladies 
 and gentlemen formed the purpose of making a morn- 
 ing excursion to Kate's Mountain, some miles distant, 
 the highest point of the ranges encircling the Springs, 
 and planting upon its summit a signal banner to mark 
 and commemorate the height of their conquest. The 
 life and buoyancy of each spirit, freed from the formal 
 "gaieties of the season," and revelling in the fresh 
 splendor of the varied scenery that broke upon the 
 view ; the happy hilarity of jests, and quips, and pleas- 
 antries; the more serious tete-a-tete here and there, 
 ahead or behind, in the winding mountain pathway ; 
 the glow of beauty in the toil of the ascent, and the 
 gallantry of manly admiration ; the lovely wild flowers 
 and the grand old trees in the early autumn air; the 
 final achievement of placing upon the tall oak of the 
 highest peak an impromptu bunting of waving folds in 
 
THE MYSTIC CIRCLE 
 
 the kindled breeze ; the relished refreshments, and the 
 merry gossip about the Springs people, their court- 
 ships and their coteries; the "Mystic Circle" around 
 the banner tree, and the tablet of names deposited 
 beneath the huge rock at its base ; the earnest vows, 
 on each returning year, to repeat the pilgrimage and 
 the ceremony ; the kind words and hopes of the part- 
 ing moment; the reverse picture below of the fond 
 eyes " we left behind us," striving with strained vision 
 and telescope to trace the progress of the pedestrians, 
 and the burst of gladness, as the glance fell upon the 
 waving folds of the pioneer pennon of victory; gay 
 scenes and incidents of a gala day of innocent ro- 
 mance! (how bright the retrospect! how sad the per- 
 spective!) — were thought not unworthy of some special 
 memorial, and by particular request, the duty fell upon 
 the writer, who, with a long unpracticed hand, made 
 an attempt in verse, the result of which was published 
 in the Southern Literary Messenger, then an excellent 
 and leading periodical of its kind, from which the 
 accompanying reprint is made. It is but a fragment ; 
 for the idle vacation hours of a young barrister soon 
 flew by, and on returning to business and books, the 
 pleasing diversion, unfinished, was never resumed. 
 
 Events, which Deity alone could have foreseen, 
 ended in the blighted hopes and broken vows of the 
 fond dreamers who planned an animal repetition of 
 their exhilarating adventure. The Civil War inter- 
 
OF KATE'S MOUNTAIN. 
 
 vened within less than a year, and other banners waved 
 upon the mountain tops around the White Sulphur, and 
 the roar of musketry and artillery replaced the sweet 
 voices of Pleasure and of Love. Nearly the third of a 
 century has now passed since the reverberation ceased 
 along the astonished hills, and successive summers have 
 seen the famous resort thronged as of old, but with new 
 faces. Of the gay and brilliant " Mystic Circle," no 
 recurring year ever saw again assembled any but 
 broken and scattered links, and the lone wanderer 
 amid the old scenes could only turn from the revels of 
 the strangers around him, and sadly feel, — 
 
 The tender grace of a day that is dead 
 Will never come back to me : 
 
 ****** 
 
 ( )h ! for the touch of a vanished hand 
 And the sound of a voice that is still ! 
 
 As to some, the simple head-stone and green mound 
 mark the last bivouac of a noble patriot soldier ; others 
 have fallen by the way in the no less noble and hopeless 
 struggle of after life; and those who remain are rari 
 nantes in gnrgite. So far as known, the ladies of the 
 party have been the most fortunate of survival, if life 
 were a boon to those who deemed the loss of the Con- 
 federacy, of property, and of friends, the extinction 
 of all that made life worth living, and to whom survival 
 has been but the bitter memory of brighter days. But 
 
THE MYSTIC CIRCLE 
 
 to others, who suffered the same disasters and sorrows, 
 yet who remembered that the " duties of life are greater 
 than life itself," * and bravely accepted the obligations 
 of the strange and difficult situation, and have faithfully 
 performed the same, life has, indeed, been well worth 
 living, for it has served further to develop, in defeat 
 and adversity, what the war had discovered and illus- 
 trated, those high and unconquerable qualities of mind 
 and heart whose combination constitutes true nobility 
 of soul and action. 
 
 Of such were the ladies with whom the excursion to 
 Kate's Mountain originated, from whose Cottage it pro- 
 ceeded, and to which it returned, then owned and occu- 
 pied by the Ritchie branch of the Virginia Harrisons, 
 and then and still known as the Harrison Cottage. It 
 was in miniature a reflection, as a social centre, and in 
 its courtesies and amenities, of their historic home 
 of Lower Brandon on-the-James, famed for its ex- 
 tensive, cordial and elegant hospitality, and of which 
 the English ministers to Washington used to say 
 that it reminded them of baronial life on the large 
 English estates. The noted Cottage has long since 
 passed into other hands, and Brandon itself has, 
 
 * These noble words commenced a letter from Mr. John C. Cal- 
 houn to the writer, then a young man at college, who had sought 
 his advice as to the choice and pursuit of a profession. It is inter- 
 esting to recall that many years afterwards General Lee said, ' ' The 
 suhlimest word in the language is Out//." 
 
OF KATE'S MOUNTAIN. 
 
 of necessity, in great measure, ceased to be what it 
 was, but the two charming and brilliant social centres 
 of the dear past can never be dissociated in the minds 
 of any who knew them both. 
 
 Mrs. Isabella H. Harrison, the noble Virginia ma- 
 tron who presided over each in season, never, it is be- 
 lieved, returned to the White Sulphur after the war ; 
 nor did her sister, Miss Virginia Ritchie, the life of 
 every pleasure, and whose image in person and 
 character, as reproduced in the poem, will be recog- 
 nized by her countless friends ; nor did their endeared 
 connection and guest, Miss Sarah N. Randolph; and 
 the queen of the Springs, the beautiful and enchanting 
 Miss Isabelle Ritchie Harrison, the heiress and pride 
 of Brandon, never returned but once. 
 
 As to Miss Randolph, now some years deceased, of 
 whom the description in the poem will also be easily 
 recognized, it is needless to say that she proved her- 
 self to be worthy of her distinguished descent by her 
 graphic Domestic Life of Thomas Jefferson, and by 
 the founding and successful conduct of institutions of 
 learn iug of high grade for female education. These 
 results justified the prescience which discovered in the 
 modest young maiden high intellectual gifts, concealed 
 by her retiring disposition from general recognition — 
 gifts, indeed, of which she seemed to be unconscious, 
 but of which the subsequent development demon- 
 strated the identity of Monticello and Edge Hill. 
 
10 THE MYSTIC CIRCLE 
 
 After the war the Brandon family repaired to their 
 ancient seat, from which they had been driven early 
 in the conflict, and except in summer, and on special 
 occasions, have rarely left it. But they knew from what 
 sources they were derived, and that noli esse oblige, 
 though, from sterling and righteous instincts, not 
 needing its inspiration. Only as inseparably asso- 
 ciated with the departed may it be permitted further 
 to speak of the living, if indeed separation be possible, 
 when the lives of each were so blended into one. 
 Pardon is craved to say, that the Mother and Sister 
 and the Daughter, in common as it were to both in 
 mutual affection and devotion, on returning to their 
 desecrated and desolate home, in greatly changed cir- 
 cumstances, did not "bate one jot of heart or hope," 
 but nobly entered upon the duties that God had placed 
 before them, and nobly performed them. When a 
 great affliction came in the loss of the only male scion 
 of the house, dearly beloved by all, and upon whom 
 largely rested responsibility for the general welfare, it 
 was borne with the magnanimity and resignation of 
 Christian faith and fortitude. In adversity, in be- 
 reavement, in sickness and health, their quiet, tender 
 devotion to each other was a benediction to all around 
 them. For the rest, with reduced means, they endeav- 
 ored to rehabilitate and make productive the fine old 
 estates, Miss Harrison becoming familiar friends with 
 her fields and harvests, and enjoying again the beauty 
 
OF KATE'S MOUNTAIN. 11 
 
 of her favorite wild flowers, afterwards to be strewn 
 into her grave by her former slaves, then enfranchised, 
 and always devoted to her ; they helped to build up 
 and sustain their beloved Parish Church, of which 
 they had ever been earnest members ; they extended 
 the sweet charities and amenities of life to their neigh- 
 bors, and did not forget the ancient hospitality, though 
 it could not be greatly renewed; they relieved the 
 poor and dependent of both races, according to their 
 ability; together with the proprietors of the Upper 
 Brandon estates they established and supported, long 
 before the inauguration of the public school system in 
 the State, a school for the children of their colored 
 laborers, under the management of a man of thorough 
 education, to which Miss Harrison generously con- 
 tributed more than her share, and who also herself 
 diligently taught a class of colored Sunday scholars, 
 a class which had been perpetuated since her child- 
 hood, and which was faithfully continued until ill 
 health forbade the task. No wonder, therefore, upon 
 her recent death and interment, that among the num- 
 berless tokens of sympathy and condolence received 
 by the bereaved ones from afar and near, and from the 
 Bishops of the Church down to the servant who had 
 attended her at a summer resort, and among the over- 
 flowing tributes of flowers from every source in the 
 surrounding counties and from distant cities, nothing 
 was more pathetic and beautiful than the heartfelt 
 
THE MYSTIC CIRCLE OF KA TE'S MOUNTAIN. 
 
 contributions of her colored Sunday pupils, deposited 
 by themselves bouquet after bouquet into the floral 
 vault prepared by loving hands for the mortal remains. 
 Of such Christian consecration to duty the affectionate 
 esteem of the highest and humblest alike was the just 
 crown and reward. 
 
 Gifted with the inheritance of great wealth, of rare 
 beauty, of distinguished birth and position, she was 
 always as unassuming as a well-bred child, and by the 
 charm of her intelligence, the genial gentleness of her 
 disposition and manners, and the honest warmth of a 
 sympathetic heart, inspired the devoted love of her 
 family and friends, and the sincere admiration and 
 regard attested by the general sorrow at her demise. 
 80 earnest and noble in its aims, so humble, so pure, 
 so tender a soul, seemed less of Earth than Heaven. 
 In her gradual retirement from society, induced by 
 declining health, Wordsworth's celestial violet was a 
 fit emblem of her sweet and lovely life, — 
 
 A violet by a mossy stone, 
 
 Half hidden from the eye : 
 Fair as a star when only one 
 
 Is shining in the sky. 
 
 John Howard. 
 
 Richmond, May 16, 1895. 
 
THE MYSTIC CIRCLE OF 
 KATE'S MOUNTAIN. 
 
 i. 
 
 Tlie day had dawned all darkly o'er 
 A Sea of Mist from shore to shore ; 
 But lo ! the glancing sunbeams free 
 Flash far o'er all the snowy sea ; 
 The rising wreaths the stars among, 
 Blush back the kindling lustres long ; 
 And now each bold and lofty height, 
 Encircled with its crown of light, 
 Rose, grandly beautiful, an isle 
 Of emerald in the golden smile 
 Of Morning, and the surging tide 
 Of spray and splendor, wild and wide, 
 Bursting upward, onward driven, 
 Melts sublimely into heaven, 
 And blue and boundless beamed the view 
 Of rolling ridges bathed in dew. 
 
 II. 
 
 Far o'er the circling summits high 
 Kate's Mountain kissed the kindled sky, 
 
14 THE MYSTIC CIRCLE 
 
 Which shed, in love, its softest showers, 
 And sunlight o'er the springing flowers, 
 And forests wild, that oft had bowed, 
 Yet braved at will the lightning cloud. 
 The deep autumnal splendors then 
 Scarce yet had purpled glade and glen ; 
 Rich summer glories lingered still 
 On lowly vale and distant hill ; 
 But intermingled, here and there, 
 In light and shade, the foliage fair 
 Burned bright with varied tints and dyes, 
 Born of the mountain breeze and skies, 
 While oft the trembling leaflet fell, 
 And nestled in the neighboring dell, 
 And Iris softened peak and plain, 
 And silver Echo rang again, 
 And far o'er all the wild romance 
 Of Nature's majesty, the glance 
 Of pensive beauty fondly smiled, 
 As mother o'er her dying child. 
 
 III. 
 
 Such Morn, a circle bright with all 
 Of woman's loveliness since the fall, 
 And all of manly strength and will, 
 Ascended lithely, hill o'er hill, 
 Aspiring highest height to scale 
 Of peaks that soared above the vale. 
 
OF KATE'S MOUNTAIN. ^ 
 
 Too grave by half, yet calmly gay, 
 A son of science led the way, 
 Skilled, through years of toil, to trace 
 The nearest line from place to place ; 
 And quick his steady footsteps knew 
 The course his practiced vision drew. 
 All honor to the mind and heart 
 That dares to do the nobler part ; 
 All honor to the brave, strong will, 
 That conquers, but to conquer still, 
 And walks through life the steadfast way, 
 O'er vales or mountains as they lay! 
 
 IV. 
 
 Scarce sixteen summers' sunlit joy 
 Had brightened o'er the manly boy 
 That leaped and laughed. along his side, 
 And waked the mountain echoes wide. 
 Yet, look upon that noble brow 
 And beaming eye, and tell me now 
 If father's fondest pride or love 
 Could ask of God, in heaven above, 
 To set a seal of promise there 
 Aught brighter than the vision fair ! 
 Following after, flowers in hand, 
 A little fairy, bright and bland, 
 Whose pure, sweet face of love and light 
 That manly boy would claim the right, 
 
16 THE MYSTIC CIRCLE 
 
 If now but half the truth were known, 
 To love and cherish as his own ! 
 And look! the tender, fresh surprise 
 That sparkles in her dear blue eyes, 
 And, rippling, blushes o'er her face, 
 As Georgie caught that glance of grace ! 
 
 V. 
 
 Oh! fancy now, alighted here, 
 To gild and grace this earthly sphere, 
 A being bright with all the love 
 And loveliness that beams above, 
 With aspirations pure and good, 
 With feelings true of womanhood, 
 With human hopes and sympathies, 
 With sweet and tender charities, 
 With noble instincts, noble thought, 
 With all a lover's dream had sought. 
 Sincere, though humble, patient, kind, 
 An earnest heart, an honest mind, 
 Alike disdaining pride and pelf, 
 Thoughtful of all, except herself, — 
 Oh! born, by being blessed, to bless, 
 And find her own in others' happiness! 
 To watch, to pray, to soothe, to cheer, 
 Yield joy for joy, and tear for tear, 
 And still her secret hope and aim 
 The world should never breathe her name- 
 
OF KA TW S MO UNTA IN. 1 7 
 
 Her life, a living incense given, 
 
 Of bright devotion's faith to Heaven! 
 
 And yet— and yet— so good, so pure, 
 
 Behold her gifted, half demure, 
 
 Quaint humour, move the gravest face 
 
 To laughter in the gravest place ! 
 
 Of home, the gladness, grace and pride, 
 
 Beloved by all the world, beside, 
 
 'Tis hers to beam a halo gay 
 
 Of brightness o'er the darkest day; 
 
 Kind words, kind ways, for those or these, 
 
 Most pleased, when most she seems to please 
 
 Hers, too, to win, inspire, enchain, 
 
 Like other fair, the sighing train ; 
 
 But yet, unlike the rest, to blend 
 
 And lose the lover in the friend, 
 
 Weep o'er the wounds her charms impart, 
 
 And blighting hope, still keep the heart." 
 
 VI. 
 
 Beside her moved a manly form 
 
 With all the glow of genius warm, 
 
 A gallant and a noble youth, 
 
 Whose gaze was but the glance of truth ; 
 
 For never in a human face 
 
 * Could any one who ever knew her fail to see that this was Mltw 
 Virginia Ritchie? 
 
18 THE MYSTIC CIRCLE 
 
 Had Nature left a nobler trace, 
 
 And never shone in human eye, 
 
 A soul more pure or spirit high. 
 
 The thought that lighted up each look, 
 
 Each beam of that illumined book, 
 
 Revealed all quickly to the view, 
 
 The mind and feelings, bright and true, 
 
 And told, ere spoke the glowing word, 
 
 Whate'er his inmost bosom stirred. 
 
 VII. 
 
 Next came the maid of classic name 
 
 And beauty, known to love and fame, 
 
 With step elastic as the fawn 
 
 O'er the mountain dew at dawn. 
 
 The morning bloom at " Cottage One," 
 
 Not lovelier than to look upon, 
 
 Nor sweetest wild flower, meekly blown, 
 
 Along the mountain pathway lone. 
 
 She came as comes the dancing light 
 
 On purpling hills, and rapture bright 
 
 Beamed life and laughter from her face 
 
 And form of loveliness and grace. 
 
 Nor purer glowed Auroral flush 
 
 Of sunlight in its sweetest blush, 
 
 Than glowed her soul with thoughts that stirred 
 
 The heart, by lightest smile, or word. 
 
 Nor loftier rose the mountain hicdi 
 
OF KATE'S MOUNTAIN. 19 
 
 Beyond the cloudlets of the sky, 
 
 Than rose that soul, in thought sublime. 
 
 Above the paltry things of time, — 
 
 Rose, brightly pure, in innocence — 
 
 Majestic in its Faith intense — 
 
 Amid, aad yet above the world, 
 
 With waiting wings for Heaven unfurled ! " :: " 
 
 VIII. 
 
 Of kindred blood and kindred heart, 
 
 The queen of every grace and art, 
 
 Where now is she, of womanhood, 
 
 The beautiful, the true and good, 
 
 Maid of the sunny clime and soul, 
 
 Whose accents through you sweetly stole ? 
 
 Tell me not of the tender tone 
 
 ( )f lovers when first love is known ; 
 
 Tell me not of the melody 
 
 Of Bulbul's sweetest minstrelsy ; 
 
 Tell me not of the music high 
 
 * " Cottage < toe," at which "morning glories" bloomed, was the 
 firsl in " Florida Row," some distance from the Harrison Cottage, 
 which was the first in the "Baltimore Row," hut of which the 
 respective owners were the kindest of friends. It has been more 
 than thirty years since the writer last saw this sweet lady, but he 
 has ever remembered her with sincere regard, and is glad to believe 
 that the aforesaid wings are still in waiting plume for their destined 
 flight. 
 
20 THE MYSTIC CIRCLE 
 
 Of spheres or seraphs in the sky ; 
 Give me those accents, soft and low, 
 Wherein her thoughts and feelings now, 
 That voice of silver sweetness still, 
 The heart responsive to its thrill — 
 Oh, soft and low, yet brightly clear, 
 And plaintive as the pleading tear! 
 Far, far away, now lights the sun, 
 His glories o'er that gifted one, 
 And meets, in beaming eye and cheek, 
 The bloom and brightness which bespeak 
 His own enriching radiance, less 
 Than Nature's noble loveliness. 
 And friendship long must weep the day 
 Its fondest treasure fled away : 
 Bat time, nor distance, cannot steal 
 Her image from the heart's own seal, 
 Where spite the fatal flight of years, 
 Its hopes and sorrows, joys and tears, 
 Traced clear in lines of living light, 
 Will lingering glow, all pure and bright, 
 The form, the face, the soul, the air — 
 Her lover's rapture, and despair! 
 
 IX. 
 
 Sedate, though sportive, thoughtful still, 
 Behold the bright flower of Edgehill — 
 Fair daughter of an ancient line, 
 
OF KATE'S MOUNTAIN. 21 
 
 Of name immortal, race divine! 
 Sunlight, the circuit of the suns, 
 Genius, though generations runs. 
 Touch but a topic, small or great 
 Of town, or country, Church or State, 
 The quiet radiance of that eye 
 Which nought unfathomed glances by, 
 Enkindles into graceful glow, 
 And words of wisdom fitly flow, 
 Sparkling in wit, or humor bright, 
 Or bursting into bolder light, 
 Till thought and fancy, once awoke, 
 Ancestral splendor in her spoke! 
 
THE MYSTIC CIRCLE 
 
 X. 
 
 Oh, fain for pencil bright to trace 
 Yon faultless form of native grace ! 
 Oh, fain for heaven's own light to twine 
 Its living lustres in the line, 
 That dares the aspiration high, 
 And jet despairs, to speak that eye. 
 Whose deep, soft splendor fills and fires 
 The heart, its gladness first inspires ; 
 The glancing gladness of that smile, 
 Unconscious still of aught the while 
 Of beauty, genius, goodness, love, 
 In blended brightness from above! 
 All needless her sweet name to tell ; 
 The soul in silence owns its spell, 
 And fondly worships fairest Belle ! 
 
 Entered into rest April 19, 1895. 
 
OF KATE'S MOUNTAIN. 23 
 
 XL 
 
 See now in bloom as fair a flower 
 As blushed in Eden's early bower ; 
 Oh, see that sweet and noble brow ! 
 The halo of a holy vow, 
 Still beaming o'er its light the while, 
 And blending with the queenly smile 
 That breaks and brightens o'er her face 
 As thoughts their pure impressions trace 
 Though stately, modest, still her own 
 Sweet dignity in all things shone ; 
 So gentle, pure, so tender, kind, 
 Faultless, to faults of others blind ; 
 A heart all open to the call 
 Of charity and good-will to all, 
 Attempered to the finer sense 
 Of feeling, delicate, intense, 
 While oft the filling tear may tell, 
 The eye but speaks the heart too well ; 
 And yet a spirit high, and strong, 
 To bear the ill, or brave the wrong, 
 And firm as Faith, and Truth and Love, 
 To aught its Duty dare approve. 
 
THE MYSTIC CIRCLE OF KATE'S MOUNTAIN. 
 
 Oh ! turn from gem, or flower, or star, 
 That blooms or beams in heaven afar, 
 And see in soul-lit beauty bright 
 The famed Laburnum's grace and light ! * 
 
 * If, in any case, a more special reference to the living could be 
 forgiven, it would be to this lovely and noble woman, a very dear 
 friend, whose after life, as wife and mother, has perfectly illustrated 
 the truthfulness of the above portraiture, and thus converted her 
 bright promise into actual and beautiful realities, — a consummation, 
 that, even in her, would have been incredible to a dry old lawyer, 
 had he not the happiness to know a like life, the light and delight 
 of his own. 
 
LI