I LIBRARY 
 
 \^CAiiiOtMU 
 
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JOHN HOWARD PAYNE 
 
 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 
 
 OF THE AUTHOR OF 
 
 'Home, Sweet Home 
 
 WITH A NARRATIVE OF THE REMOVAL OF HIS REMAINS 
 FROM TUNIS TO WASHINGTON 
 
 BY 
 
 CHARLES H. BRAINARD 
 
 ILLUSTRATED 
 
 WASHINGTON, D.C. 
 GEORGE A. COOLIDGE 
 
 CORCORAN BUILDING 
 1885 
 
Ifi^^N i»rACK 
 
 Copyright, 1884, 
 By CHARLES H. BRAINARD. 
 
 ELECTROTYPED AND PRINTED 
 
 BY RAND, AVERY, AND COMPANY, 
 
 BOSTON, MASS. 
 
3$2 
 
 TO 
 
 WILLIAM WILSON CORCORAN, 
 Srtis Biograpbtcal SfeetcJ} 
 
 OF ONE WHOxM HE LOVED IN LIFE, AND HONORED 
 IN DEATH, 
 
 E0 ilHost l^espcctfulls InscribetJ 
 
 BY THE AUTHOR. 
 
 668 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 John Howard Payne i 
 
 From Tunis to Washington 71 
 
 The Last Funeral Rites 107 
 
LLUSTRATIONS 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 I. John Howard Payne Frontispiece. 
 
 II. Young Norval 9 
 
 III. Portrait by Joseph Wood 15 
 
 IV. Facslmile of Manuscript, "Home, Sweet Home," 53 
 V. Facsimile of Card of Invitation to the Last 
 
 Funeral Rites 109 
 
 Designed jby Mrs. James C. Welling. 
 VI. Monument erected by Mr. William W. Corcoran 
 
 in Oak Hill Cemetery 114 
 
 VII. Portrait by J. W. Jarvis 117 
 
 VIII. View in Oak Hill Cemetery, June 9, 1883. . 126 
 
JOHN HOWARD PAYNE 
 
JOHN HOWARD PAYNE 
 
 jHE paternal ancestors of John Howard Payne 
 emigrated from England to America about 
 the year 1622, and settled at the village of East- 
 ham, on the western shore of Cape Cod, in the 
 State of Massachusetts. His grandfather was a 
 prominent citizen of that place, and a lieutenant 
 in the service of the British Colonies : his death 
 occurred at Cape Breton in 1746, the year in 
 which his son William Payne, the father of the 
 poet, was born. 
 
 At an early age William Payne was placed in 
 charge of the Rev. Samuel Osborn of Eastham, 
 for instruction: after completing his studies he 
 went to Boston, where he became a tutor in a 
 
2 JOHN HOWARD PAYNE. 
 
 wealthy family of that city. While occupying 
 that position he commenced the study of medi- 
 cine under Gen. Joseph Warren, who fell at 
 Bunker Hill. His studies being interrupted by 
 the troubles with England, he afterwards opened 
 an English grammar school as a means of sup- 
 port. He was twice married ; his first wife 
 being Lucy Taylor of Barnstable, Mass., who 
 died soon after her marriage. He afterwards 
 made a voyage to the West Indies on business, 
 and on his return went to New London, Conn., 
 where he met with Miss Sarah Isaacs of East 
 Hampton, L. I., a young woman of great per- 
 sonal attractions and varied accomplishments, 
 with whom he is said to have fallen in love at 
 first sight. 
 
 The father of Miss Isaacs was a converted Jew, 
 who came to this country from Hamburg before 
 the war of the Revolution, and setded in East 
 Hampton, where he resided until his death. He 
 was buried in the churchyard of that ancient 
 
BIRTH AND EARLY CHILDHOOD. 3 
 
 village, where his grave is marked by a hum- 
 ble tombstone bearing this brief but expressive 
 inscription : — 
 
 "An Israelite indeed, in whom there was no guile." 
 
 William Payne and Sarah Isaacs were married 
 in 1780. Three years afterwards Mr. Payne was 
 appointed principal of an academy established in 
 East Hampton by DeWitt Clinton, governor of 
 the State of New York. Of this academy, which 
 bore the name of its illustrious founder, Mr. 
 Payne remained in charge several years, when 
 he removed to the city of New York, where his 
 son John Howard, the sixth of a family of nine 
 children, was born, at No. i^ Pearl Street, near 
 the corner of Broad Street, on the 9th of June, 
 1 79 1. A large portion of the early childhood of 
 John was passed at the old homestead in East 
 Hampton, where the beautiful scenery by which 
 it was surrounded, and the sports in which he 
 engaged at this happy period of his existence, 
 
4 JOHN HOWARD PAYNE. 
 
 made a deep and abiding impression on his 
 mind ; and it will hereafter be seen, that, when 
 he wrote the beautiful song which is sung with 
 emotion throughout the English-speaking world, 
 he must have been thinking of the pleasant old 
 town on Long Island where he played in his 
 infancy. 
 
 In 1796 William Payne removed with his fam- 
 ily from New York to Boston, to take charge of 
 an academy located in Berry Street, now Chan- 
 ning Street, where he resided twelve years. 
 
 The most notable incident of John's life in 
 Boston was the formation of a boys' military 
 company, of which he was chosen commander. 
 He was at this time only twelve years of age. 
 John G. Palfrey, afterwards a noted clergyman, 
 politician, and historian, and Samuel Woodworth, 
 who in after-years became distinguished as the 
 author of the song of ''The Old Oaken Bucket," 
 are said to have been members of this company 
 of juvenile soldiers, which attracted much atten- 
 
DRAMATIC TENDENCIES, 5 
 
 tion whenever it paraded, and on one occasion, 
 when it appeared on Boston Common, received 
 a standard from the hands of a young and 
 beautiful girl, who afterwards became the wife 
 of a foreign ambassador. Major-Gen. Elliott, 
 who was at the time on parade with the Boston 
 militia, having heard of this presentation, imme- 
 diately Invited the youthful soldiers to join his 
 line, where they were reviewed among the older 
 companies, with whom they afterwards marched 
 through the principal streets of the city. 
 
 William Payne was a successful teacher of 
 elocution, and under his careful training his 
 gifted son soon developed a decided taste for 
 the drama, and such a precocious power in read- 
 ing and recitation as created in him a strong 
 desire to become an actor. Master Betty, the 
 youthful Rosclus of England, was at this time 
 creating a sensation in the English theatres, and 
 the American newspapers were enthusiastic in 
 their praise of his wonderful performances. The 
 
6 JOHN HOWARD PAYNE. 
 
 mind of Master Payne was deeply Impressed by 
 what he read concerning the young English 
 actor, and he cherished a hope that he might 
 some day become his rival. 
 
 At about this time John became assistant 
 editor of a weekly child's paper, called '' The 
 Fly," of which the editor-in-chief was Samuel 
 Woodworth, who was then learning the trade of 
 a printer at an office in Boston. 
 
 At the age of thirteen John returned to the 
 city of New York, where he was placed in the 
 counting-room of a mercantile house, of which a 
 deceased elder brother had been partner. It was 
 not long before he became disgusted with the 
 dry details and drudgery of business, and, turn- 
 ing his attention to literature, for which he had 
 cherished a strong predilection, secretly engaged 
 in the editorship of a little paper entitled *'The 
 Thespian Mirror," the first number of which 
 appeared Dec. 28, 1805. It had a run of thir- 
 teen numbers; the last number, containing a 
 
AT UNION COLLEGE. 7 
 
 graceful valedictory, being published March 22, 
 1806. A dramatic criticism which appeared in 
 one of the early numbers of this paper attracted 
 the attention of William Coleman, editor of the 
 New York '' Evening Post," who republished it in 
 the columns of that journal. When Mr. Cole- 
 man discovered that its author was a boy of 
 only thirteen years he took so deep an interest 
 in his welfare that he formed a plan to send 
 him to college. He therefore introduced him to 
 Mr. Seaman, a wealthy gentleman of New York, 
 who was so captivated by his beauty of person 
 and engaging manners, that, after consultation 
 with his father, he proposed to pay the expenses 
 of his education at Union College, Schenectady. 
 John accordingly entered that college in the 
 summer of 1806. In the fall of the same year 
 he started a weekly paper called "The Pastime," 
 which was liberally patronized by his fellow-stu- 
 dents, some of whom were contributors to its 
 columns. 
 
8 JOHN HOWARD PAYNE. 
 
 In June, 1807, he sustained an irreparable loss 
 in the death of his mother, of whom he thus 
 speaks in a touching and beautiful sketch of her 
 character, published in "The Pastime:" ''The 
 stranger witnessed her urbanity; the afflicted 
 were solaced by her sympathy; but her family 
 alone knew the extent of that meek and un- 
 assuming goodness, which, concealed from the 
 world, displayed itself amidst the cares, the joys, 
 and sorrows of domestic life." " Few children," 
 writes her gifted and accomplished daughter 
 Eloise, in a letter addressed to Miss C. M. 
 Sedgwick, " have owed more to a mother, and 
 never was a parent more ardently beloved. Her 
 affection knew no limitation, and was subject to 
 no caprice." 
 
 William Payne having become financially em- 
 barrassed shortly after the death of his wife, his 
 grief at her loss having unfitted him for the 
 management of his business affairs, John sud- 
 denly left college with a determination to open 
 
John Howard Payne, 
 as young norval. 
 
 From engraving of painting, by C. R. Leslie, R, A. 
 
A SUCCESSFUL DEBUT, g 
 
 a career for himself, which would enable him in 
 time to relieve the necessities of his father, by 
 adopting the profession of an actor, for which he 
 had already exhibited decided talents, and which 
 had for him the strongest attractions. His father 
 having given a reluctant consent to his pursu- 
 ing the course he had marked out for himself, 
 he returned to Boston early in the year 1808, 
 and there devoted a year to careful study and 
 training for the stage, being also engaged a por- 
 tion of the time as assistant editor of a musical 
 and literary journal published in that city. 
 
 On the night of the 24th of February, 1809, 
 he made his first appearance on the public 
 stage, at the Park Theatre in New York, as 
 *' Young Norval," in the tragedy of " Douglas." 
 
 The debut was a complete success. The ap- 
 plause was unbounded, the genius manifested by 
 the debutant being a surprise and a delight to 
 all who witnessed his performance. Mr. Seaman, 
 under whose auspices he had entered Union Col- 
 
10 JOHN HOWARD PAYNE. 
 
 lege, stood behind the scenes with the father of 
 the young actor, and both heartily congratulated 
 him upon his brilliant success. He was engaged 
 at the Park Theatre for six nights prior to his 
 departure for Boston to fill an engagement, but 
 gave a seventh performance in New York for 
 his own benefit, on which occasion his share 
 of the receipts amounted to fourteen hundred 
 dollars. 
 
 His first appearance in Boston was at the Old 
 Federal-street Theatre, on the 2d of April, 1809, 
 in the character of '' Young Norval ; " and dur- 
 ing his engagement he appeared as '' Romeo," 
 ''Rolla," ''Zaphna," " Selim," and " Octavian." 
 His success in Boston was even greater than it 
 had been in New York. He was pleasantly 
 remembered as the youthful captain and boy- 
 editor, and his reception was enthusiastic in the 
 highest degree. While in Boston he received 
 and accepted liberal offers to perform in Philadel- 
 phia, Baltimore, Washington, and other Southern 
 
A CORDIAL GREETING. ii 
 
 Cities. On his way to the South he remained a 
 short time in New York, and played a second 
 engagement at the Park Theatre with a still 
 greater success than on the occasion of his first 
 appearance. 
 
 After a delay of several weeks in New York, 
 he proceeded to Baltimore, where he was an 
 utter stranger. As he slowly wandered through 
 the streets of that city in search of the Holiday- 
 street Theatre, he noticed the sign of Mr. Ed- 
 ward J. Coale, a bookseller, to whom a letter 
 which he carried in his pocket was addressed. 
 On entering the store he saw a group of per- 
 sons attentively listening to the reading of a 
 letter, which, as it afterwards appeared, related 
 to himself. When he mentioned his name to 
 Mr. Coale, that gentleman grasped his hand, and 
 led him to the group, exclaiming, *' This is the 
 young man himself." Mr. Jonathan Meredith 
 and Mr. Alexander Hanson now stepped for- 
 ward, and gave him a cordial greeting; telling 
 
12 JOHN HOWARD PAYNE. 
 
 him at the same time that they had just listened 
 to the reading of a letter which a literary gentle- 
 man in New York had written in his behalf, and 
 in which he was warmly commended to their 
 kindness. Mr. Meredith then escorted him to 
 his own house, which he was invited to make his 
 home during his sojourn in Baltimore. Through 
 the influence of his newly found friends, Mere- 
 dith and Hanson, an engagement for two weeks 
 was secured for him at the theatre, and on most 
 liberal terms. 
 
 The announcement of his first appearance in 
 Baltimore created a degree of excitement and 
 enthusiasm unprecedented in the histoiy of the 
 drama in that city. He played there twelve 
 consecutive nights ; the theatre being filled to 
 overflowing at each performance, by an appre- 
 ciative and enthusiastic audience. This engage- 
 ment yielded him fifteen hundred dollars. 
 
 On the day after his benefit, the following 
 epigram, entitled " The Retort Courteous," written 
 
SOUTHERN TOUR. 13 
 
 by a popular poet of Baltimore, appeared in 
 one of the daily newspapers of that city : — 
 
 "All those who from Payne had experienced delight, 
 With increased admiration and pleasure each night, 
 To evince their desire of delighting again. 
 Attended last night, and gave pleasure to Payne /^^ 
 
 At the close of his engagement in Baltimore 
 he proceeded to Philadelphia, where he attracted 
 crowded houses, his success being in all respects 
 a repetition of what he had experienced in other 
 cities where he had previously performed. He 
 afterwards appeared in Richmond, Va., and, 
 subsequently, in Charleston and other cities of 
 South Carolina. Wherever he appeared during 
 this tour, he was received with much enthu- 
 siasm, and his remarkable performances elicited 
 great applause. 
 
 In the summer of 1809 he appeared in Wash- 
 ington, and played several nights at the only 
 theatre then existing in that embryotic city, 
 and which was afterwards known as Carusi's 
 
14 JOHN HOWARD PAYNE. 
 
 Saloon, and is now called the Theatre Comique. 
 Some of the oldest residents of Washington re- 
 tain pleasant memories of his impersonations of 
 '* Young Norval," and other characters, in which 
 his acting was so true to nature that his de- 
 lighted auditors sometimes lost sight of the actor 
 while looking upon the ideal creations which his 
 wonderful genius had for the time made a living 
 reality. Mr. William W. Corcoran, then a boy of 
 eleven years, attended his performances nightly, 
 and to this day cherishes vivid recollections of 
 the youthful actor and of the various characters 
 which he assumed during his brief engagement 
 in Washington. 
 
 At this period of his life, young Payne was as 
 handsome in person as he was gifted in intel- 
 lect. One of his most intimate friends in writ- 
 ing of him says, '' Nature bestowed upon him a 
 countenance of no common order, and his eyes 
 glowed with animation and intelligence. A more 
 extraordinary mixture of softness and intelligence 
 
John Howard Payne, 
 at the age of nineteen. 
 
 From the original miniature, painted by Joseph Wood, now m the 
 possession of Mrs. Eloise E. Luquer. 
 
WOOD'S PORTRAIT. 1 5 
 
 was never associated In a human countenance, 
 and his face was an index of his heart. He was 
 a perfect Cupid in his beauty, and his sweet 
 voice, and self-possessed yet modest manners, 
 made him a most engaging prodigy." 
 
 During his visit to Washington, an excellent 
 portrait of him, in miniature, was painted by 
 Wood, one of the most noted water-color paint- 
 ers of his time. This portrait was afterwards 
 engraved for a theatrical magazine entitled ''The 
 Mirror of Taste and Dramatic Censor," and ap- 
 peared in the issue of that periodical for Janu- 
 ary, 1 8 1 1 . Payne was in his nineteenth year 
 when he sat for this portrait, the engraving from 
 which represents a youth whose beauty of face 
 and figure fully justifies the flattering description 
 quoted above. 
 
 In the early part of the year 18 10 he returned 
 to Baltimore, where he played four nights with 
 great success. During the two following seasons 
 he appeared in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, 
 
1 6 JOHN HOWARD PAYNE. 
 
 Richmond, and Charleston, in all of which cities 
 he was warmly greeted by large audiences. 
 
 During a private visit to Baltimore in the 
 month of June, 1812, the printing-office of his 
 early friend and patron Alexander Hanson, who 
 edited and published '' The Federal Republican," 
 was destroyed by a political mob. Although 
 Payne had taken no part in political controver- 
 sies, a sentiment of gratitude prompted him to 
 offer his assistance to Mr. Hanson irf re-estab- 
 lishing his paper. His generous offer was 
 promptly accepted, and his name afterwards 
 included among those to whom Mr. Hanson 
 publicly returned his thanks for their devotion 
 to his interests at this trying period. 
 
 Mr. Hanson, Mr. Meredith, and several other 
 friends and admirers of Payne, now advised him 
 to visit Europe, where he would have a wider 
 field for the exercise of his dramatic and literary 
 talents, and better opportunities for their im- 
 provement by study and travel, than he could 
 
A VISIT TO EUROPE. ly 
 
 hope to find in his own country; and they also 
 made him offers of such pecuniary assistance as 
 he might need for this purpose. 
 
 Under the auspices of his generous patrons, 
 Payne accordingly sailed from New York for 
 Liverpool on the seventeenth day of January, 
 1813, in the brig "Catherine Ray," and, after 
 a most boisterous passage of twenty-three days, 
 reached Liverpool. England was at this time 
 engaged in a war with the United States ; and 
 consequently he and his fellow-passengers were, 
 to their surprise and indignation, arrested as 
 prisoners of war, and marched from the ship to 
 a place of confinement, in which they remained 
 two weeks, when they were released and allowed 
 to proceed to London. 
 
 A few days after his arrival in London, Payne 
 was introduced to William Roscoe, who greeted 
 him most cordially, and subsequently presented 
 him to John Philip Kemble, Coleridge, Campbell, 
 Southey, Rogers, Shelley, and many other noted 
 
1 8 JOHN HOWARD PAYNE. 
 
 authors. It was with some difficulty that he 
 obtained an engagement to appear on the stage 
 of a London theatre ; but he finally succeeded, 
 and on the 14th of June, 18 13, made his appear- 
 ance at the Drury Lane Theatre, in the character 
 of '' Young Norval ; " the part of '' Lady Ran- 
 dolph " being sustained by Mrs. Powell, a highly 
 gifted and popular actress. The performance 
 from beginning to end excited tumultuous ap- 
 plause, and the house rang with thunders of 
 approbation at the power exhibited by Payne in 
 the death-scene in the last act of the play. Many 
 Americans were present on this occasion, among 
 whom were the artists Benjamin West and Charles 
 R. Leslie, who sat together in a stage box. 
 
 Payne performed at Drury Lane every night 
 for a month ; his last appearance being in the 
 character of " Romeo," in which his success was 
 complete. He next appeared at Liverpool, where 
 he was, if possible, more successful than he had 
 been in London. He afterwards played with 
 
AT DUBLIN AND WATERFORD. 1 9 
 
 equal success in Birmingham and Manchester, 
 and also in several smaller towns, and then pro- 
 ceeded to Dublin, where he was most kindly 
 received, both publicly and privately. Here he 
 became acquainted with Daniel O'Connell, Charles 
 Phillips, and other gifted Irishmen, who after- 
 wards became famous in the history of their un- 
 happy country. His first appearance in Dublin 
 was in the character of '' Rolla." Throughout his 
 engagement the leading female characters were 
 played by the afterwards celebrated Miss O'Neil, 
 who was as remarkable for her beauty as for 
 her dramatic genius. 
 
 After his engagement in Dublin, Payne played 
 with marked success at Waterford, where Miss 
 O'Neil appeared with him ; and this was her first 
 appearance as a star. When they appeared to- 
 gether as "Romeo" and "Juliet," their youth 
 and beauty so admirably suited the characters 
 that they excited the wildest applause of the 
 densely packed audience. 
 
^ JOHN HOWARD PAYNE. 
 
 They afterwards played at Cork, where, on the 
 night of his benefit, Payne delivered an address 
 written for the occasion by Charles Phillips. 
 
 At the close of this engagement, he accom- 
 panied O'Connell, Phillips, and other noted Irish- 
 men, to Killarney, and shared in the honors 
 everywhere bestowed upon the party. After 
 witnessing a stag-hunt on the lake, they were 
 entertained at a dinner on Innisfallen Island ; on 
 which occasion Phillips, in response to a toast 
 complimentary to himself and Payne, made the 
 celebrated speech on Washington and America, 
 which has since been so popular an exercise in 
 declamation, in the schools and colleges of this 
 country. 
 
 Payne now returned to London, where he 
 remained a few weeks, and then crossed the 
 Channel and hastened to Paris, where he arrived 
 at a most interesting time, as Bonaparte had just 
 returned thither from Elba, and the gay metrop- 
 olis was alive with excitement and enthusiasm. 
 
PAYNE AND TALMA, 21 
 
 Among the many noted men with whom he 
 became acquainted at this time were Lord By- 
 ron, Thomas Moore, and Talma, the tragedian, 
 who was then playing to crowded houses at 
 the principal theatre in Paris, where, night after 
 night, Payne witnessed his matchless renditions 
 of the leading characters in the tragedies of 
 Shakspeare. The intimate friendship between 
 Payne and Talma, which began at this time, con- 
 tinued unbroken until the death of the latter. 
 
 During this visit to Paris, Payne witnessed the 
 performance of a melodrama entitled '*The Maid 
 and Magpie," which was creating a great excite- 
 ment among the patrons of the drama. So 
 pleased was he with the piece, that he made a 
 free translation of it, as an exercise in French, 
 having no ulterior object in view. He took this 
 translation with him on his return to London, 
 where he sold it to the manager of Drury Lane 
 Theatre for one hundred and fifty pounds, the 
 reputation of the piece having preceded his arri- 
 
22 JOHN HOWARD PAYNE. 
 
 val in England. This was the commencement 
 of his successful career as a writer and trans- 
 lator of plays for the English stage. 
 
 During the year 1817 he played brief engage- 
 ments in London, Liverpool, Birmingham, and 
 other English cities, where he was well received, 
 but not with the enthusiasm which he excited on 
 his first appearance in England, when he was but 
 little more than a boy. Other juvenile dramatic 
 prodigies, including Master Betty, lost much of 
 their attractiveness when they became men ; and 
 such was the case with Payne, who had now 
 become corpulent, and outgrown all tragic sym- 
 metry. He therefore gradually abandoned the 
 stage for dramatic authorship, and in the follow- 
 ing year wrote the tragedy of '' Brutus ; or. The * 
 Fall of Tarquin," which was produced for the first 
 time at the Drury Lane Theatre, Dec. 3, 18 18, 
 the part of ''Brutus" being played by Edmund 
 Kean. This tragedy was a great success, and 
 for more than seventy-five nights was performed 
 
THE TRAGEDY OF '' BRUTUS r 23 
 
 to crowded houses. So great was Its popularity, 
 that it was printed and pubHshed within ten 
 days after Its first performance. A printer In 
 the theatre purchased the copyright, and caused 
 It to be put into type In the printing-office of the 
 theatre, In a cellar under the stage, the manu- 
 script being taken from the prompter during the 
 performance as fast as it was used. When the 
 author descended to the office to read the proofs, 
 he was amused and astonished to see the whole 
 Roman senate, with their togas thrown over 
 their shoulders, busily engaged by torchlight in 
 setting types. 
 
 The tragedy of ''Brutus" was not altogether 
 original with Payne. From seven plays on the 
 same subject, only two of which had been thought 
 capable of representation, he had unhesitatingly 
 adopted the language and conceptions of their 
 authors whenever they seemed to strengthen the 
 plan which he had prescribed ; and this fact he 
 frankly stated In a brief preface. 
 
24 JOHN HOWARD PAYNE. 
 
 Having become dissatisfied with the ilHberal- 
 ity of most of the theatrical managers, who con- 
 trived to secure the largest share of the profits 
 arising from the production of his various dramas, 
 Payne now resolved to turn manager, and pro- 
 duce his own pieces on his own stage. He 
 accordingly leased the Sadler's Wells Theatre, 
 where he brought out many new plays, which 
 were well received ; but at the close of the season 
 he found himself deeply In debt, having lost 
 over seven thousand dollars by his enterprise. 
 As he could offer his creditors no security for 
 the payment of so large a sum of money, he 
 was arrested, and lodged in a debtors' prison, 
 from which there seemed no prospect of his 
 speedy release ; but, through the clouds that 
 then hung so thickly over him, the sunlight of 
 hope shone sooner than he expected. One 
 morning a parcel was brought to him without a 
 letter or a word of explanation. This parcel 
 contained two plays in French, by M. Victor, 
 
" THERESEr 25 
 
 one of them being "Therese," the latest work of 
 this gifted author. On reading this play, Payne 
 resolved to translate it, and fit it for the English 
 stage. He went to work at once, and in two 
 days the translation and adaptation were fin- 
 ished. Three days later it was placed in the 
 hands of the manager of Drury Lane Theatre, 
 by whom it was afterwards accepted, and imme- 
 diately produced under the title of " Therese ; 
 or. The Orphan of Geneva." It was performed 
 for the first time on the evening of Feb. 2, 
 1821. 
 
 By obtaining a pass from the court, Payne 
 was permitted to leave his prison-house long 
 enough to supervise a rehearsal of the piece, of 
 which he also witnessed the first representation. 
 
 "Therese" was in all respects a brilliant suc- 
 cess. It was received with great enthusiasm, and 
 for many consecutive nights played to crowded 
 houses. So large was Payne's share of the profits 
 of the piece, that he was enabled to effect a 
 
26 JOHN HOWARD PAYNE. 
 
 compromise with his creditors, and regain his 
 liberty. In less than a month after the first 
 production of "Therese," he returned to France, 
 having been commissioned by the manager of 
 the Drury Lane Theatre to make translations of 
 the most popular plays produced at the Parisian 
 theatres, and adapt them to the English stage. 
 He had not been long in Paris when he met 
 Washington Irving, whom he had known from 
 his boyhood. Irving was at this time thirty- 
 eight years old, and Payne eight years younger. 
 Payne was then occupying the first floor of a 
 small house which stood in a garden in a pleas- 
 ant part of the city. In his private journal 
 Irving speaks of breakfasting there with him in 
 the month of April, 1821, and adds, ''Payne is 
 full of dramatic projects, and some that are feasi- 
 ble." After breakfast Payne and Irving took a 
 stroll along the boulevards, and afterwards called 
 on Talma, the great tragedian, whom Irving had 
 never before seen. 
 
" CLARI, THE MAID OF MILAN:' 2/ 
 
 In the early part of the year 1823, Charles 
 Kemble, who had assumed the management of 
 the Covent Garden Theatre in London, wrote 
 to Payne for some new pieces to be produced at 
 that theatre. Payne accordingly sold him three 
 manuscript plays, which he had written several 
 months before, for the sum of two hundred and 
 fifty pounds. One of these plays was '' Clari, the 
 Maid of Milan," into which he had introduced 
 the song of *' Home, Sweet Home," which was 
 written in Paris, on a dull October day, when 
 he was occupying a small lodging-room in the 
 upper story of a building near the Palais Royal. 
 To use his own words, as addressed to a friend, 
 the depressing influences of the sky and air 
 were in harmony with the feeling of solitude 
 and sadness which oppressed his soul. As he 
 sat in his room, diverting his thoughts with the 
 sight of the happy crowds promenading the 
 streets below him, the words came rushing into 
 his mind, to lift, console, and refresh his over- 
 
28 JOHN HOWARD PAYNE. 
 
 burdened heart. It was under these Influences 
 that he wrote the song which has touched re- 
 sponsive chords in the heart of the world, and 
 immortalized the name of its author. 
 
 The following are the words of the song as 
 originally written : — 
 
 'Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam, 
 Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home ! 
 A charm from the skies seems to hallow us there 
 
 (Like the love of a mother. 
 
 Surpassing all other). 
 Which, seek through the world, is ne'er met with elsewhere. 
 
 There's a spell in the shade 
 
 Where our infancy played. 
 Even stronger than time, and more deep than despair ! 
 
 An exile from home, splendor dazzles in vain ! ^ 
 Oh, give me my lonely thatched cottage again ! 
 The birds and the lambkins that came at my call, — 
 
 Those who named me with pride — 
 
 Those who played by my side — 
 Give me them, with the innocence dearer than all ! 
 
''HOME, SWEET HOMEr 29 
 
 The joys of the palaces through which I roam 
 Only swell my heart's anguish — There's no place hke 
 home ! 
 
 Payne afterwards re-wrote the song, the music 
 for which was composed by Henry R. Bishop. 
 
 The following is a correct version of '' Home, 
 Sweet Home," as arranged for the opera, having 
 been copied from the authors own manuscript: — 
 
 '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 hke Home ! 
 There's no place like Home ! 
 
 An exile from Home, splendor dazzles in vain ! 
 Oh, give me my lowly thatch'd cottage again ! — 
 — The birds singing gaily 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 ! '* 
 
30 JOHN HOWARD PAYNE. 
 
 " Clarl " was produced at the Covent Garden 
 Theatre about the middle of May, 1823, and 
 met with a degree of success which was quite as 
 surprising to the manager as it was flattering to 
 the author. The part of "• Clari" was enacted by 
 Miss Maria Tree (a sister of Ellen Tree, after- 
 wards Mrs. Charles Kean), by whom the song 
 was sung for the first time. To the beautiful 
 face and figure of Miss Tree was superadded 
 the charm of a most melodious voice, which ren- 
 dered her on this occasion so fascinating that 
 she won the heart and hand of a wealthy mer- 
 chant of London. The piece had what is called 
 in theatrical parlance '' a great run," and for 
 many consecutive nights filled the theatre to 
 overflowing. The words and music of the song 
 were so popular, that more than one hundred 
 thousand copies were sold by the publishers 
 within one year after Its publication ; but Payne 
 was not permitted to share In the great success 
 which followed the enterprise of the manager and 
 
A PLEASANT FICTION. 3 1 
 
 publisher, as he was cheated out of the twenty- 
 five pounds which he was promised on the twen- 
 tieth night of the performance of his successful 
 play, and his name did not appear on the title- 
 page of the song, from the sales of which the 
 publisher realized a small fortune. 
 
 The air of " Home, Sweet Home," was taken 
 from an old Sicilian vesper, and adapted to the 
 song, by Bishop. The popular story that Payne 
 caught it by marking down the notes he heard 
 a Swiss peasant-girl sing, is simply a pleasant 
 fiction, having not the slightest foundation in 
 fact ; as his varied gifts and acquirements did 
 not include a knowledge of music, of which 
 science he was profoundly ignorant. He had 
 not the slightest musical taste, and could not 
 tell one note from another. 
 
 When Payne sent the manuscript of *' Clari " 
 to London, he drew on the manager of Covent 
 Garden Theatre, through Bishop, for ninety 
 pounds, the balance then due him ; having only 
 
32 JOHN HOWARD PAYNE. 
 
 the day before received the sum of thirty pounds, 
 for which he requested Bishop to express his 
 thanks to Mr. Kemble. These facts show how 
 utterly wanting in truth is the oft-repeated state- 
 ment, that when he wrote the opera he was in 
 straitened circumstances. He was at that time 
 occupying luxurious lodgings in a fashionable 
 quarter of Paris, and profitably employed in 
 translating French plays and adapting them to 
 the English stage. ^ 
 
 An autograph copy of the letter which he 
 sent to Bishop with the manuscript of ''Clari" 
 now lies before the present writer. Therein he 
 gives full directions as to the manner in which 
 the opera should be placed upon the stage, 
 including suggestions to Miss Tree, who was to 
 enact the part of '' Clari." This letter closes 
 with the following graceful sentence, character- 
 istic of the writer, whose refined and gentle- ^ 
 manly instincts were expressed in every act of 
 his life : — 
 
EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS. 33 
 
 '*I hope you make memoranda of the expenses you 
 have been at in postage, etc., on account of what I 
 have sent to the theatre through you. If the treas- 
 ury has not paid it, I shall think you do me great 
 injustice if you deny me the opportunity of prevent- 
 ing my correspondence from becoming a tax upon 
 any thing but your patience." 
 
 Payne does not appear to have been much 
 elated by the great success of *'Clari;" as in a 
 letter to one of his sisters, dated Paris, May 28, 
 1823, he thus modestly alludes to It : — 
 
 *'I have within the last fortnight been favored 
 with another theatrical success in an opera entitled 
 *Clari, the Maid of Milan,' of which I have desired 
 Miller, who has bought the copyright, to send six 
 copies to Thatcher, one for each of my own family, 
 and the others for wheresoever you may think they 
 will be most valued." 
 
 The following extract from the same letter 
 gives a glimpse of his life In Paris at this 
 time : — 
 
34 JOHN HOWARD PAYNE. 
 
 " I have several works on the stocks ; and to com- 
 plete them undisturbed, I have taken a country-house 
 at Versailles, for which, and its large garden, I pay 
 fifty dollars till January next. You have no house- 
 rent in New York so cheap. 
 
 "For purposes of business I retain my place here, 
 which is so very cheap that I can do it without vio- 
 lating your injunctions of economy." 
 
 Payne was busily at work when Irving re- 
 turned to Paris In August, 1823, and found him 
 at his lodgings In ''a sky-parlor" at the Palais 
 Royale. Irvlng's pen had been Idle for several 
 months ; and as he was consequently somewhat 
 dispirited, and haunted by a dread of future 
 failure, Payne suggested to him a partnership in 
 the work on which he was himself then engaged, 
 at the same time offering him an equal share 
 of the profits accruing therefrom. To this liberal 
 proposal Irving assented, with the proviso that 
 his name should not be used In connection with 
 the plays thus jolndy produced. 
 
PAYNE AND IRVING. 35 
 
 Indng left Paris soon after making this agree- 
 ment with Payne, but returned thither early in 
 October, During his absence Payne had hired 
 a suite of rooms at No. 89 Rue Richelieu, which 
 he furnished very handsomely with the furniture 
 which he transferred to them from his cottage 
 at Versailles. Three of these rooms he rented 
 to Irving, reserving one small apartment for 
 himself. 
 
 The first work in which Irving now engaged 
 was the alteration of " La Jeunesse de Richelieu," 
 a play which had been performed in Paris nearly 
 thirty years before, and which Payne had already 
 partially translated. The two literaiy partners 
 then translated several other pieces, with which 
 Payne privately set off for London, and there 
 offered them to Charles Kemble. While nego- 
 tiations for their sale were pending, Irving trans- 
 mitted to Payne the manuscript of ** Charles II., 
 or the Merry Monarch," a piece in three acts, 
 altered from '* La Jeunesse de Henri V.," the 
 
36 JOHN HOWARD PAYNE. 
 
 larger portion of which Irving had himself trans- 
 lated and adapted. In his letter acknowledging 
 the receipt of this play, Payne thus writes : 
 *' I consider it one of the best pieces I ever 
 read." This piece and ** Richelieu " were finally 
 sold to the rnanager of Covent Garden for two 
 hundred guineas down ; which Payne considered 
 a good sum, and thought it might be doubled 
 by the copyrights. 
 
 ** Charles II." was produced May 27, 1824, and 
 met with extraordinary success. Irving arrived 
 in London early on the evening of the next 
 day, in time to see the second representation of 
 the piece. Three days afterwards he assisted 
 Payne in pruning it, and compressing it into two 
 acts, after which Payne disposed of the copy- 
 right for fifty guineas. It was irhmediately put 
 to press by Payne, who simply intimated in a 
 -brief preface that the manuscript had been re- 
 vised ''by a literary friend, to whom he was 
 indebted for invaluable touches ; " Irving's stipu- 
 
RETURN TO AMERICA. . 37 
 
 lation for the concealment of his name not per-; 
 mitting him to make any other allusion to his 
 silent partner. l. y. ! . c iL.. /c v :■ :v ;; 
 
 "Richelieu" was not" produced until Febrtiary, 
 1826 ; when it was played for a few nights, and 
 then withdrawn, exceptions having been taken 
 to the plot. At the close of the year it was 
 published in New York, with a dedication to 
 Irving. 7 .'-•.::.. yo.';:.^:..i ■:c^..■i.:■• C:-^ "\-:> c-:-^':> -,.'1 
 L At about this time Fayhe established in Lon- 
 don a critical paper, entitled " The Opera Glass," 
 which reached but a few numbers ; a sudden ill- 
 ness, during which his life was despaired of,- 
 having brought the publication thereof to an 
 abrupt termination. ; J; '■''... :^ :.r: j.:^ ■' 'i.j ; i 
 
 In the summer of 1832 he left England, and 
 returned to New York, which he reached at the 
 time the cholera was raging in that city. For 
 several hours after he landed he wandered about 
 the desolate streets, fearing that all his family had 
 perished ; but, knocking with trembling hands 
 
38 JOHN HOWARD PAYNE. 
 
 at the door of his brother's residence, he was 
 rejoiced to find that all he loved were living. 
 He was warmly received by his friends and the 
 public; and, in the month of November follow- 
 ing, a complimentary benefit was tendered him 
 at the Park Theatre, where he had made his 
 first appearance as an actor twenty-three years 
 before. The house was filled from pit to gallery 
 by one of the most refined and intellectual 
 audiences ever assembled within its walls. The 
 price of tickets was raised to five dollars for 
 the boxes, and one dollar for the gallery ; and 
 the receipts at the box-ofifice were seven thou- 
 sand dollars. The opening play was Payne's 
 tragedy of *' Brutus," the leading part in which 
 was sustained by Edwin Forrest. The perform- 
 ance of the tragedy was followed by the singing of 
 '* Home, Sweet Home ; " after which Shakspeare's 
 comedy of '* Katherine and Petruchio " was pre- 
 sented, the two principal characters being imper- 
 sonated by Charles Kemble and his beautiful 
 
COMPLIMENTARY BENEFIT. 39 
 
 and gifted daughter Fanny. Payne's comedy of 
 '' Charles II." closed what was doubtless the most 
 brilliant and successful dramatic entertainment 
 that had ever been given in New York. 
 
 On the 3d of April, 1833, a complimentary 
 benefit was given to Payne, at the Tremont 
 Theatre in Boston, which, from a variety of 
 causes, — one of which was a lack of judicious 
 management, — was unsuccessful. The tickets 
 were placed at a price that limited the attend- 
 ance to the personal friends of the beneficiary, 
 not more than three hundred of whom were 
 present at the rising of the curtain. 
 
 The pieces played on this occasion consisted 
 chiefly of selections from Payne's dramas ; and 
 the performance closed with the playing of 
 " Home, Sweet Home," by the orchestra, after 
 which the beneficiary was loudly called for. 
 When he appeared on the stage, he was at first 
 greatly agitated, but soon recovered his self- 
 possession, and made an eloquent address, which 
 
40 JOHN HOWARD PAYNE: 
 
 was warmly applauded. Though few In numbers, 
 the audience was one of exceptional brilliancy, 
 and included many representatives of the wealth 
 and culture of the city. 
 
 On his return to New York, Payne took up 
 his abode with his brother, Thatcher Taylor 
 Payne, between whom and himself an ardent 
 attachment had always existed. This brother, 
 younger by five years than himself, was an emi- 
 nent lawyer, and a profound scholar, whose fine 
 mind and rare acquirements, no less than his 
 genial and courtly manners, made him a fit com- 
 panion for his gifted brother. 
 
 Payne now issued the prospectus of a literary 
 journal, but, owing to its high price, failed to 
 obtain a list of subscribers large enough to 
 justify the issuing of the initial number. 
 
 At about this time he contemplated the pub- 
 lication of a *' Life of Our Saviour," which he 
 had written in the manner of a harmony of the 
 Four Gospels ; but, the market having been pre- 
 
IN THE CHEROKEE COUNTRY. 41 
 
 occupied by a similar work from the pen of an 
 eminent clergyman, the project was abandoned. 
 
 In 1835 he made a tour through the Southern 
 States, and visited the city of New Orleans, 
 where he was warmly received by many of its 
 citizens, and tendered a complimentary benefit at 
 the Camp-street Theatre, which event took place 
 on the evening of March 18, 1835. The net 
 proceeds of this benefit were over a thousand 
 dollars. The plays performed on the occasion 
 were *'Therese" and *' Charles II." With this 
 benefit terminated Payne's connection with the 
 drama. 
 
 On his way back to New York, he visited the 
 Cherokee country, and passed several weeks with 
 John Ross, the chief of the nation. At this time 
 the United States Government was endeavoring 
 to negotiate a treaty with the Cherokees, pro- 
 viding for their removal to lands beyond the 
 Mississippi River, — a movement that was warmly 
 opposed by Ross and his chiefs. As Ross had 
 
42 JOHN HOWARD PAYNE. 
 
 reasons for considering his person and property 
 in danger while these negotiations were pending, 
 — a military guard having been placed along the 
 border-line of Georgia, to preserve peace between 
 the white inhabitants and the Cherokees, — he 
 had removed his family into Tennessee. Payne's 
 intimacy with Ross excited a suspicion that he 
 was aiding him in postponing a ratification of 
 the treaty ; and this suspicion induced twenty- 
 five members of the Georgia Guard to surround 
 the hut of Ross on a dark night, and, without 
 orders or legal authority, to arrest both him and 
 Payne, whom they forced to ride to their head- 
 quarters, more than twenty miles distant. During 
 the ride, one of the guard struck up " Home, 
 Sweet Home ; " when Payne, thinking to soften 
 the hearts of his captors, asked them if they 
 knew he was the author of the song. " It's no 
 such thing," replied the singer : '' it's in ' The 
 Western Songster.' " Payne used to relate this 
 anecdote with evident enjoyment. 
 
WRITES FOR MAGAZINES. 43 
 
 Payne passed a portion of the year 1838 in 
 the city of Washington, during which time he 
 was actively engaged in writing for various 
 newspapers and magazines. 
 
 Among the products of his facile and active 
 pen at this period, was an article for " The Dem- 
 ocratic Review," entitled '' Our Neglected Poets ; " 
 the subject being William Martin Johnson, the 
 story of whose eventful life and early death was 
 gracefully narrated. This article contains many 
 passages of genuine humor, occasional touches 
 of pathos, and an elaborate and graphic descrip- 
 tion of the quaint old village of East Hampton, 
 where the writer passed many of the happiest 
 hours of his early childhood, and which seems 
 to have been photographed upon his brain, and 
 thus lovingly borne with him in all his wander- 
 ings in both hemispheres. 
 
 In 1 84 1 the death of President Harrison caused 
 a change in the administration of the govern- 
 ment at Washington. He was succeeded by 
 
44 JOHN HOWARD PAYNE. 
 
 Vice-President John Tyler, with whom Payne 
 afterwards became intimately acquainted, and also 
 with the principal members of his cabinet. By 
 the advice of many of his friends, he applied to 
 President Tyler for a foreign consulship. His 
 application, having been seconded by William L. 
 Marcy and Daniel Webster, — both of whom were 
 warm friends of the applicant, — was favorably 
 considered by the President, who, on the 23d of 
 August, 1842, appointed him consul at Tunis. 
 Ten years had then elapsed since he landed in 
 New York, after a residence of nineteen years in 
 Europe, during which time he had performed a 
 large amount of literary labor, and had travelled 
 much in the northern and southern portions of 
 the United States. 
 
 He was now in the maturity and full vigor of 
 his physical and mental powers, and remarkable 
 for his rare colloquial talents, which made him a 
 brilliant ornament to the social circle in which 
 he moved. His conversation was enriched by a 
 
A FAVORITE RESORT. 45 
 
 fund of anecdotes, which he related with great 
 zest ; a ready flow of wit and humor, which 
 sparkled but never wounded ; and delightful remi- 
 niscences of the most noted men and women of 
 his time whom he had met in Europe and 
 America. A gifted and accomplished lady who 
 resided in Washington at this time, and at whose 
 mother's house Payne was a frequent visitor, 
 recently informed the present writer that he was 
 one of the most genial and cheerful companions 
 she ever met, and that he was accustomed to 
 recount with fine effect many amusing stories 
 relating to his travels and adventures at home 
 and abroad. 
 
 One of his favorite resorts at this time was 
 Parrott's Woods, in Georgetown, D.C., now the 
 beautiful cemetery of Oak Hill. This charming 
 sylvan retreat he frequently visited in company 
 with several lady friends, and on such occasions 
 gave enthusiastic expression to his admiration 
 of the beauty of the spot, and the picturesque 
 
46 JOHN HOWARD PAYNE. 
 
 scenery which surrounded it; httle dreaming, that, 
 after his mortal remains had rested in the soil 
 of a foreign land for more than thirty years, they 
 would be brought thither by the agency of one 
 who knew and admired him as an actor in his 
 early manhood ; who was the friend of his later 
 years ; and whose loyalty to his memory would 
 be manifested by causing them to be consigned 
 to their last resting-place beneath the very trees 
 in whose shadows he once loved to wander. 
 
 He sailed for Europe, en route for Tunis, in 
 the month of February, 1843, t>ut did not reach 
 that city until the middle of the following May ; 
 having tarried at London, Havre, Paris, and Mar- 
 seilles, where he met many of his friends of 
 former years, who gave him a warm reception. 
 
 In less than three years after reaching Tunis, 
 he was recalled by President Polk, who had suc- 
 ceeded President Tyler ; his position being wanted 
 for a political favorite who formerly held the office, 
 and whose re-appointment was strongly and per- 
 
CONSUL AT TUNIS. 47 
 
 sistently urged by Thomas H. Benton, a senator 
 from Missouri. 
 
 This sudden removal from office was a great 
 disappointment to Payne, as he had but just 
 succeeded in bringing order out of chaos, and 
 getting the consulate into proper condition. He 
 had induced the Bey of Tunis to repair and 
 improve the consular residence ; and, for more 
 than a year, had been engaged in writing a his- 
 tory of that city, which work must now be aban- 
 doned, as materials for its successful prosecution 
 could not be found elsewhere. But, with a true 
 philosophic spirit, he quietly submitted to what 
 was inevitable. He did not, however, immedi- 
 ately return home, but, true to his old nomadic 
 instincts, spent more than a year in travelling 
 in Italy, France, and England, passing a consid- 
 erable portion of the time in Paris and London, 
 and did not reach New York until the month of 
 July, 1847. 
 
 After a protracted sojourn in New York, he 
 
48 JOHN HOWARD PAYNE. 
 
 proceeded to Washington In the fall of 1849, 
 with a view of making an effort to obtain a re- 
 appointment to the office from which he had 
 been so unjustly removed. He was cordially 
 welcomed by his old friends, some of whom 
 made personal appeals to President Taylor In his 
 behalf ; but so strong were the Influences arrayed 
 against him by the personal and political friends 
 of his successor In office, that, after several un- 
 availing attempts to give effect to his wishes, it 
 was deemed advisable to postpone further action 
 in the matter until after the next presidential 
 election, when, it was confidently believed, a 
 change in the administration would take place, 
 and that renewed efforts to obtain his restoration 
 to office would then be successful. 
 
 The authors acquaintance with Mr. Payne 
 began in Washington, in the month of March, 
 1850, at which time he had nearly abandoned 
 all hope of obtaining a re-appointment to the 
 consulship of Tunis. 
 
RE-INSTATEMENT IN OFFICE. 49 
 
 On the 9th of July of the same year, President 
 Taylor died, after a brief illness ; and was suc- 
 ceeded in office by Vice-President Fillmore, to 
 whom the friends of Payne now made earnest 
 and repeated requests for his restoration to his 
 old official position. For several months their 
 efforts in his behalf were unsuccessful, owing 
 chiefly to the persistent opposition of Senator 
 Benton, whose motive for the course he pursued 
 was evidently a desire to retain in office the 
 successor of Payne. 
 
 At a time when serious doubts began to be 
 entertained concerning the ultimate success of 
 the united efforts of Payne and his friends to 
 re-instate him in office, a noble-hearted young 
 woman of Washington, who had become deeply 
 interested in his welfare, made a personal appeal 
 to the President, and advocated his cause with 
 so much eloquence and zeal that she was assured 
 his nomination to the office which he had so 
 long sought should be sent to the Senate on 
 
50 JOHN HOWARD PAYNE. 
 
 the following day. The nomination was made 
 as the President had promised, and was Inimedl- 
 ately and almost unanimously confirmed. 
 
 During his last sojourn In Washington, which 
 covered a period of more than a year, Payne 
 received much attention and kindness from his 
 old friends, and from many others, whose knowl- 
 edge of his early history and eventful life made 
 him an object of more than ordinary interest. 
 He lodged in a small but comfortable and well- 
 furnished room in Fourteenth Street, opposite 
 Willard's Hotel, and but a few rods from Penn- 
 sylvania Avenue. I passed many pleasant hours 
 with him in this room, where- I was entertained 
 not only by his delightful conversation, but fre- 
 quently by an examination of his rare treasures 
 of. literature and art, the chief of which were a 
 volume of letters addressed to him by the noted 
 men and women whose acquaintance he had 
 formed many years before ; and a large album 
 containing original sketches by Allston, Leslie, 
 
A LITERARY ALBUM. 51 
 
 Haydon, West, and other famous painters of their 
 times, together with many autograph letters of 
 Washington Irving, Thomas Moore, Charles 
 Lamb, Talma, John Philip Kemble, Edmund Kean, 
 George Croly, Walter Scott, Lord Byron, Percy 
 Bysshe and Mary Shelley, Curran, Daniel O'Con- 
 nell, and many others scarcely less distinguished. 
 Judging from the tenor of these letters, Payne 
 was held in high esteem by their distinguished 
 writers. 
 
 He sought but little society at this time, but, 
 on the contrary, seemed to shrink from observa- 
 tion, and confined his visits to a few chosen 
 friends. He was much in the society of Mr. 
 William W. Corcoran, who saw and admired him 
 as an actor many years before, and whose name 
 is now so honorably and pleasantly associated with 
 his own ; and he was in the habit of passing a 
 portion of several evenings in each week at the 
 house of Mr. Riggs, the business partner of Mr. 
 Corcoran, where he was always a welcome guest. 
 
52 JOHN HOWARD PAYNE. 
 
 Mr. Corcoran often met him on these occasions, 
 and now relates with manifest pleasure many 
 interesting incidents of his life at this period. 
 
 At about this time Emma Southworth of Wash- 
 ington created a marked sensation in literary 
 circles by her story of '* Retribution," which Payne 
 read with much interest, and on which he be- 
 stowed very high praise in a letter to its author, 
 to whom, by his request, I shortly afterwards 
 introduced him. She then resided in that por- 
 tion of the city known as ''The Island," a few 
 rods south of the site of the Smithsonian Institu- 
 tion. We passed many pleasant hours together 
 at the residence of the young novelist, where we 
 often met prominent literary men and women of 
 Washington, and other sections of the country, 
 who had read and admired her first novel. Mrs. 
 Southworth was a brilliant conversationalist, and 
 thus drew around her a delightful literary and 
 social circle, of which Payne was for a time a 
 prominent member. 
 
(7L^^ .x^^ f^£c-<^ £<^f^j^^ cy/^>->>^ / 
 
 / 
 
 / 
 
 O^, ^.^U^-^ ^Vx^^-Ji^ yi.^^^ 'icr-Lo'-^ t^cOt::t^CxJ/>Cy C crVCBclQji-^ Cc^^fii^ 
 
 
 <^ /LJ, ^L:jt^.^ C^0^t,^^ ^ . /^^^fc,*:.,^,^^ 
 
 y" 
 
A SAD CONTRAST. 53 
 
 Payne was one of the most modest and un- 
 pretending literary men I ever knew. He rarely 
 alluded to his writings, but would sometimes 
 speak of his early career as an author and actor, 
 when he basked in the smiles of fame and for- 
 tune, and was the petted favorite of an extensive 
 literary and dramatic circle. As he contrasted 
 his condition at that happy period of his life with 
 that to which he had been reduced by advancing 
 years and adverse fortune, his face wore an ex- 
 pression of sadness, and his voice faltered with 
 emotion. 
 
 He received his commission as consul to Tunis 
 In the month of February, 1851, but did not 
 leave Washington until after the adjournment of 
 Congress In the month following. A short time 
 before his departure for New York, I persuaded 
 him to sit for a daguerreotype portrait. A few 
 months before, he had copied for me the song 
 of *' Home, Sweet Home." 
 
 His chlrography was remarkable for Its fine- 
 
54 JOHN HOWARD PAYNE. 
 
 ness, gracefulness, and legibility; each letter being 
 perfectly formed, and a page of his manuscript 
 containing nearly as many words as would be In- 
 cluded In a printed page of equal size. Although 
 his correspondence was, In earlier life, very exten- 
 sive, he was In the habit of copying his letters 
 by hand, and placing the copies with the letters 
 of his correspondents written in reply. 
 
 One of the most pleasant incidents of Payne's 
 life in Washington at this period was a flattering 
 compliment which he received from Jenny Lind, 
 at a concert given by her on the night of Dec. 
 17, 1850, in a hall hastily constructed for the 
 occasion on the ruins of the National Theatre, 
 and which was filled on this eventful night by 
 probably the most distinguished audience ever 
 seen In a concert-room in the United States. 
 Prominent among the notable men present, and 
 occupying front seats, were President Fillmore, 
 Daniel Webster, Henry Clay, Gen. Scott, and 
 Mr. Payne. 
 
A FLATTERING COMPLIMENT. 55 
 
 The closing song on the programme was the 
 " Greeting to America," written expressly for the 
 great vocalist by Bayard Taylor, which she sang 
 with thrilling effect. The applause which fol- 
 lowed was most enthusiastic ; and when it had 
 somewhat subsided, Mr. Webster, who was evi- 
 dently in one of his genial after-dinner moods, 
 emphasized it by rising, and making a profound 
 bow to the singer, who then turned towards 
 Payne, and sang '' Home, Sweet Home." The 
 vast audience was electrified, and gave full ex- 
 pression to its enthusiasm at the end of the 
 first line ; and when the song was ended, the 
 demonstrations of applause were of the wildest 
 character, and were prolonged for several min- 
 utes. Meantime all eyes were turned towards 
 Payne, who seemed deeply embarrassed at thus 
 finding himself the centre of so many admiring 
 glances. 
 
 Mr. Payne and the author left Washington 
 for New York at about the same time. In the 
 
56 JOHN HOWARD PAYNE. 
 
 course of a few days after my arrival in the 
 last-named city, he called on me at a picture- 
 gallery of which I had assumed the charge, and 
 which was located in Broadway, on the south- 
 west corner of Leonard Street. He informed 
 me that he was busily engaged in preparations 
 for his departure for Tunis, and was making 
 purchases of books, pictures, and other articles 
 to take with him. When he called on me a few 
 days later, I noticed that his face wore an anxious 
 look ; but before I had an opportunity to inquire 
 concerning the cause thereof, he stated that he 
 was then occupying a room, in University Build- 
 ing, barely large enough to contain a bed, two 
 chairs, wash-stand, and table, and that he was, 
 therefore, in need of a more spacious room in 
 which to pack the large trunks which were to 
 contain his personal effects. Fortunately there 
 was in the rear of the gallery in my charge a 
 large and unoccupied room, in which I told him 
 he could place them, and at the same time in- 
 
LAST DAYS IN AMERICA. 57 
 
 vlted him to make the gallery his headquarters 
 for business during his stay in New York. His 
 face at once assumed a cheerful expression, and 
 thanking me for the invitation he went away; 
 but, in a few hours afterwards, returned with 
 several large trunks, which were carefully be- 
 stowed in the room I had assigned to his use. 
 
 From this time until the day of his final 
 departure from New York, he was with me sev- 
 eral hours each day, and frequently remained 
 with me until late at night. He was busily 
 employed most of the time during the day in 
 arranging his business affairs, and in making 
 purchases, which consisted principally of books 
 and pictures. Among his pictorial purchases 
 were several large colored lithographic views of 
 American cities, which were intended for pres- 
 entation to the Bey of Tunis. From the great 
 quantity of books, pictures, and other articles 
 with which he filled his trunks, it was evident 
 that he looked forward to many years of pleasant 
 
58 JOHN HOWARD PAYNE. 
 
 life in Tunis. He was in excellent spirits at this 
 time, and, seemingly, very happy in the pros- 
 pect of returning to his old home in a foreign 
 land. 
 
 When wearied with packing his trunks, in 
 which labor I frequently gave him my assistance, 
 he would entertain me by his brilliant conversa- 
 tion, which was interspersed with reminiscences 
 of his life abroad and with anecdotes relating to 
 himself, to all of which I listened with absorbing 
 interest. 
 
 Among the personal anecdotes which he re- 
 lated at this time, were the following. Soon after 
 his return to this country, after an absence of 
 nineteen years, he was riding in a stage-coach 
 incognito, when one of his fellow-passengers in- 
 quired of a companion, '' What has become of 
 J. H. Payne?" — "Oh," said the person addressed, 
 " he is entirely broken down : he came out very 
 brilliant, but soon collapsed." Payne laughed 
 very heartily as he related this incident. 
 
PERSONAL ANECDOTES. 59 
 
 When he visited Boston, some years after his 
 return from his first residence in Europe, he 
 missed the attention which had marked his visits 
 to that city in former years. Conversing, one 
 day, with a lady whom he had known many 
 years before, he remarked that times had changed 
 since his last visit, for now he received many 
 invitations to church, but very few to dinner. 
 *'Will you dine with me to-day, Mr. Payne?" 
 asked the lady. *' No, I thank you," said Payne. 
 ** I'm engaged to dine with an old friend to-day." 
 
 He once heard of a parrot, belonging to a 
 hotel-keeper In New York, that had been taught 
 to sing " Home, Sweet Home," and walked some 
 distance to see It. Approaching the parrot's 
 cage, he requested him to sing the song; when 
 Polly promptly replied, to the great amusement 
 of Payne, '' I can't, I've got a bad cold." 
 
 One evening as we sat together, after he had 
 become exhausted by the labors of the day, and 
 had sunk Into a large armchair, he related, with 
 
6o JOHN HOWARD PAYNE. 
 
 deep feeling, the story of his attachment to a 
 beautiful and accomplished lady of Boston, by 
 whom his affection was reciprocated, and who 
 would have become his wife but for parental 
 objections. This lady belonged to one of the 
 oldest and wealthiest families of Boston. 
 
 In person Payne was under the medium height, 
 and slightly built. His symmetrical and finely- 
 developed head was bald on the top, but the 
 sides were covered with light-brown hair. His 
 nose was large, and disproportionate to the rest 
 of his face, which was lighted by a pair of deli- 
 cate blue eyes that shone from beneath a lofty 
 brow. He wore a full beard, consisting of side- 
 whiskers and a moustache, which were always well 
 trimmed. He was scrupulously neat in his dress, 
 and usually wore a dark-brown frock-coat and 
 a black vest, while his neck was covered with a 
 black satin scarf, which was also arranged in 
 graceful folds across his breast. Despite his 
 quiet and unpretending manner, and his plain 
 
DEPARTURE FOR TUNIS, 6l 
 
 attire, there was that nameless something about 
 his appearance which never failed to attract atten- 
 tion, and to impress even the most casual ob- 
 server with a feeling that he looked upon a man 
 of no ordinary character. His voice was low and 
 musical ; and when conversing on any subject in 
 which he was deeply interested, he spoke with a 
 degree of earnestness that enchained the atten- 
 tion and touched the hearts of his listeners. 
 
 On the sixth day of May, 1851, I saw Mr. Payne 
 for the last time. He had taken passage for 
 Havre in the steamer '' Humboldt," which sailed 
 on that day at noon. As I was unable to accom- 
 pany him to the ship, he called at my rooms, on 
 his way thither, to bid me good-by. The day 
 being quite cool, he wore a brown overcoat closely 
 buttoned ; and carried beneath his right arm a 
 large umbrella which had evidently seen much 
 service. He was in excellent spirits, though as 
 he grasped my hand at parting he exhibited no 
 little emotion ; and his voice was husky as he 
 
62 JOHN HOWARD PAYNE. 
 
 pronounced these last words, '' Good-by, and God 
 bless you ! " I watched him as he moved down 
 Broadway with rapid step and form erect, and 
 thus passed forever from my sight. 
 
 On his arrival at Tunis, he found the consular 
 residence in a dilapidated condition ; but, through 
 the liberality of the Bey, to whom he made re- 
 peated requests for money to make the repairs 
 it so much needed, it was put in perfect order, 
 and made the finest consulate in the city. On 
 the roof a tall flag-staff was erected ; and, when 
 a large national standard, purchased by Payne, 
 was first unfurled to the breeze, in the presence 
 of a great multitude, a brass-band stationed on 
 a platform attached to the staff, and twenty- five 
 feet above the roof, made the welkin ring with 
 their shrill and somewhat discordant music. A 
 bountiful collation was spread out in the spacious 
 rooms of the second story, and for several hours 
 the consulate was the scene of feasting and 
 gayety. 
 
ILLNESS AND DEATH. 63 
 
 In addition to the great outlay made by the 
 Bey, in repairing and embelHshing the consular 
 residence, Payne expended thereupon consider- 
 able money which he borrowed for the purpose, 
 and thus became involved in debt. His health 
 giving way at about the same time, and his 
 plans for literary labor being thus broken up, he 
 became disheartened, and, finally, unable from 
 increasing weakness to discharge the duties of 
 his office, or leave his room. During his last 
 sickness, which was long and painful, he received 
 every needed attention and kindness from his 
 friends in Tunis and from his faithful Moorish 
 servant. Mr. Thomas F. Reade the British con- 
 sul, and four Sisters of Charity, Rosalie, Josephine, 
 Marie Xavier, and Celeste, were especially de- 
 voted to him. Mrs. Heap, a most excellent and 
 lovely woman, was accustomed to visit him, and 
 to read to him from his favorite books when- 
 ever he was able to listen. The Sisters said of 
 him, that he was very gentle, and thoughtful of 
 
64 JOHN HOWARD PAYNE. 
 
 their comfort to the last, and that it was a pleas- 
 ure to care for him. 
 
 On the ninth day of April, 1852, in less than 
 one year after he sailed from New York, his 
 gentle and weary spirit went to its eternal rest. 
 
 His remains were interred, with simple but 
 impressive religious ceremonies, in the Protes- 
 tant cemetery of St. George, at Tunis. The 
 United States Government, a few months after- 
 wards, caused his grave to be marked by a thick 
 white-marble slab, on which was carved the 
 national seal, followed by a brief and appropriate 
 epitaph, while on each of its edges was inscribed 
 a line of poetry, the four lines reading thus : — 
 
 "Sure, when thy gentle spirit fled 
 
 To reahns beyond the azure dome, 
 With arms outstretched God's angels said, 
 ' Welcome to Heaven's Home, Sweet Home ! ' " 
 
 It has, for many years, been customary to 
 speak of Payne as a homeless wanderer, who 
 
HOME AND KINDRED. 65 
 
 knew nothing of the joys of home and the love 
 of kindred ; yet the popular opinion relative to 
 this matter has no foundation in truth. He was 
 no more homeless than any other bachelor who 
 lives in lodgings, or any foreign ambassador 
 whose official duties compel him to reside in a 
 house provided by the nation for his use. He 
 was ardently loved by his brothers and sisters, 
 and always welcome to share their home ; but 
 he preferred to live alone or where he could 
 pursue his literary avocations in the solitude of 
 his own apartments. He was often urged by his 
 relatives to join their home, and, in fact, did live 
 with his brother, Thatcher Payne, for many years 
 after his return from his nineteen-years' residence 
 abroad. 
 
 The following extract from a letter addressed 
 to him by this devoted brother, under date of 
 March 31, 1829, will show that he was always 
 sure of a hearty welcome to a happy home when- 
 ever he chose to return to his native land : — 
 
66 JOHN HOWARD PAYNE. 
 
 *'I must confess, from past experience, that I dare 
 not trust myself to believe that your plan of coming 
 out here will be realized. I desire it, however, more 
 than any other earthly thing ; and only wish that my 
 situation in life enabled me to make a voyage to Eng- 
 land, and put you on board myself, and so secure you. 
 As for a residence here, although my circumstances 
 are far from brilliant, I shall always be able to treat 
 you with a brother's hospitality. Come and share 
 my lodgings and table with me, and we shall have 
 enough to talk of for a year at least, — you in telling 
 me all the details of your adventurous experience 
 abroad, and I in explaining all the various changes at 
 home." 
 
 To many who make literature their profession, 
 and who live much of the time in an ideal world 
 of their own creation, there come periods of dis- 
 couragement and privation ; and such, undoubt- 
 edly, was sometimes the fate of Mr. Payne ; but 
 he generally lived well, and in a way that was 
 satisfactory to himself During the first years of 
 
INCOME AND ASSOCIATES. 6y 
 
 his residence abroad he realized large sums of 
 money from his dramatic performances ; and, when 
 he abandoned the stage as an actor, he found 
 his pen a source, of liberal income. At this 
 period of his life, he lived not only comfortably 
 but often luxuriously, and numbered among his 
 intimate friends and associates some of the most 
 distinguished authors, actors, and artists of the 
 time. 
 
 Many of the stories current concerning the 
 straits in which he sometimes found himself 
 in consequence of his impecuniosity are purely 
 fictitious, having been invented by that class of 
 sensational writers who rely upon their imagina- 
 tion for incidents which they relate as absolute 
 facts. Of course it is poetical to write of the 
 author of " Home, Sweet Home," as a " homeless 
 wanderer ; " which he never was, except of his 
 own free will, and by his own act. 
 
 His natural instincts were nomadic, and he 
 was never so happy as when travelling in his 
 
6S JOHN HOWARD PAYNE. 
 
 native land or In Europe. This taste for travel 
 began with his early career as an actor, and the 
 habit then formed clung to him through life. 
 
 He knew but little concerning the value of 
 money, save as a means of supplying his imme- 
 diate wants and of gratifying his refined literary 
 and aesthetic tastes. Instead of saving a portion 
 of his earnings, he would spend them lavishly in 
 elegant living, in entertaining his associates, and 
 in the purchase of books, pictures, and fancy 
 articles for himself or for presentation to his 
 friends. 
 
 As a natural result of his want of thrift he 
 was sometimes in straitened circumstances, and 
 obliged to appeal to his family or friends for 
 money to relieve the necessities to which his 
 extravagance had reduced him ; and to such ap- 
 peals there was always a ready response. 
 
 He was devotedly attached to his relatives ; 
 and during his last residence in Tunis there 
 always stood open on a table in his room a 
 
DRAMATIC WORKS. 69 
 
 daguerreotype of his only surviving niece, before 
 which his Mohammedan servant every morning 
 made a salaam. To this niece, of whom he was 
 remarkably fond, it must be a pleasure to remem- 
 ber her uncle with a smile on his face, and neither 
 hungry nor cold ; for, though the world may be 
 slow to believe it, there were times when he 
 was warm and well fed, full of fun, playing with 
 her as a child, and well dressed, comfortable, and 
 happy. 
 
 In the course of his career as a dramatic 
 author, he wrote or translated, and adapted for 
 the English stage, upwards of fifty plays, in- 
 cluding tragedies, comedies, and melodramas, a 
 few of which were the joint production of him- 
 self and Washington Irving. These pieces were 
 popular In their time, and yielded him a com- 
 fortable living during his nineteen - years' resi- 
 dence In Europe. 
 
 The two productions of his pen which are des- 
 tined to a permanent place in dramatic and poetic 
 
JO JOHN HOWARD PAYNE. 
 
 literature are the tragedy of " Brutus," and the 
 song of '' Home, Sweet Home ; " the one written 
 when the voice of popular applause was ringing 
 in his ears, and the other in a moment of depres- 
 sion and sadness when the remembrance of home 
 and kindred came to him as a solace to his 
 weary spirit. 
 
FROM TUNIS TO WASHINGTON 
 
FROM TUNIS TO WASHINGTON, 
 
 And he shall rest where laurels wave, 
 
 And fragrant grasses twine : 
 His sweetly kept and honored grave 
 
 Shall be a sacred shrine ; 
 And pilgrims with glad eyes grown dim 
 
 Will fondly bend above 
 The man who sung the triumph hymn 
 
 Of earth's divinest love. 
 
 Will Carleton. 
 
 ISOR many years after the death of John 
 ^^ Howard Payne, it had been the wish of 
 his few surviving friends, that his remains might 
 be removed from their resting-place in the ceme- 
 tery of St. George at Tunis, and re-interred in 
 the soil of his native country, where his memory 
 is so gratefully and fondly cherished ; but it re- 
 
 73 
 
74 JOHN HOWARD PAYNE. 
 
 malned for Mr. William W. Corcoran, of Wash- 
 ington City, to take some decided action towards 
 giving effect to a wish so often expressed. 
 
 As Mr. Corcoran was riding by the Ebbitt 
 House in Washington, one day in the autumn 
 of 1882, his ear was suddenly greeted by the 
 music of '' Home, Sweet Home," which the Ma- 
 rine Band was playing in honor of Lieut. Melville, 
 of the ill-fated Arctic steamer " Jeannette," who 
 had just reached Washington, and was a guest of 
 the house before which it was stationed. As Mr. 
 Corcoran listened to the plaintive air, which never 
 fails to touch responsive chords in the breasts 
 of all who hear it, his heart was moved by 
 ' tender memories of the poet whose words have 
 made it immortal, and his acquaintance with 
 whom covered a period of nearly fifty years ; 
 and he that moment resolved that the project 
 he had formed years before concerning the re- 
 moval of Mr. Payne's remains to this country 
 should at once be carried into effect. 
 
FROM TUNIS TO WASHINGTON. 75 
 
 After several ineffectual attempts to discover 
 whether any of the relatives of the poet, whom 
 he desired thus to honor, were still living, he 
 addressed the following letter to the Secretary 
 of State : — 
 
 Washington, D.C, Oct. 14, 1882. 
 
 The Hon. Frederick T. Frelinghuysen, 
 
 Secretary of State. 
 
 Dear Sir, — I respectfully ask permission of the 
 State Department to disinter the remains of our coun- 
 tryman John Howard Payne, which now rest in a 
 grave near Tunis, in Africa, that they may receive 
 more appropriate sepulture in the bosom of his native 
 land. 
 
 Mr. Payne died, as is well known, in the service of 
 the State Department, on the 9th of April, 1852, while 
 acting as consul of the United States at Tunis; and 
 I understand that a marble slab, erected by order of 
 the Department, still marks the spot where his body 
 was laid. 
 
 It has seemed to me that the precious dust of an 
 American citizen, who sang so sweetly in praise of 
 
j6 JOHN HOWARD PAYNE. 
 
 " Home, Sweet Home," should not be left to mingle 
 with any soil less dear to him than that of the land 
 which gave him birth, and which, by the beauty of 
 its home-life, gave to him his best poetical inspira- 
 tion. 
 
 If you concur with me in this sentiment, I beg 
 leave to say that I will, when favored with your 
 official permission, charge myself with the duty of 
 providing for the removal of his remains to this coun- 
 try, and on their arrival here will give to them a new' 
 and suitable resting-place in Oak-hill Cemetery, taking 
 care, of course, to mark the spot with a monument 
 which shall perpetuate in the eyes of his countrymen 
 the name of the poet already embalmed in their hearts 
 by his immortal lyric. 
 
 I ought to add, that I make this application to you 
 because, as the honored head of the State Depart- 
 ment, you seem to be the natural custodian of Mr. 
 Payne's grave in Tunis. I am further induced to make 
 this appeal to you, because, after careful inquiry, I am 
 led to believe that Mr. Payne has now no descendant 
 or collateral kindred to whom I could address a com- 
 munication on the subject. In evidence of this fact, 
 
FROM TUNIS TO WASHINGTON. yy 
 
 I beg to invite your attention to the accompanying 
 letters. 
 
 I have the honor to be, sir, 
 
 Your most obedient servant, 
 
 W. W. Corcoran. 
 
 The Secretary of State replied to Mr. Corco- 
 ran as folloMTS : — 
 
 Department of State, Washington. 
 Oct. 21, 1882. 
 
 W. W. Corcoran, Esq., Washin^^ton. 
 
 Dear Sir, — I have had the pleasure to receive 
 your letter of the 14th instant, in which you ask the 
 sanction and aid of this Department for your project 
 of bringing to this country the remains of John 
 Howard Payne, now interred at Tunis in Africa, and 
 giving them appropriate sepulture in his native land. 
 
 Your proposal meets with my warm approbation, 
 and I hasten to assure you of my readiness to do 
 what I can in rendering fitting tribute to the memory 
 of one whose touching verses have so endeared him 
 to his countrymen. 
 
'/^ JOHN HOWARD PAYNE. 
 
 In the absence of any present consular representa- 
 tive at Tunis, I have instructed Mr. Lowell to request 
 the kindly assistance of the British Government in 
 obtaining from the Government of the Regency of 
 Tunis permission to exhume the remains of Mr. Payne, 
 and in making the necessary arrangements to trans- 
 port them to this country. I doubt not that this 
 assistance will be cheerfully and effectively rendered. 
 As soon as I receive Mr. Lowell's response, I will 
 hasten to communicate it to you. 
 
 I am, my dear sir, very truly yours, 
 
 Fredk. T. Frelinghuysen. 
 
 Before the publication of the above corre- 
 spondence, Mr. Corcoran's intentions relative to 
 the removal of the remains of Mr. Payne from 
 Tunis to Washington had been announced by 
 several correspondents of Northern journals ; 
 and, shortly afterwards, he received a letter from 
 Mrs. Elolse E. Luquer, the only surviving niece 
 of Mr. Payne, asking for Information concerning 
 the rumor relative to the proposed removal of 
 
FROM TUNIS TO WASHINGTON, 'jg 
 
 the remains of her uncle from Tunis ; to which 
 he rephed as follows : — 
 
 Washington, Oct. 23, 1882. 
 Mrs. Eloise E. Luquer, 
 
 Bedford Station, A^.V. 
 
 Dear Madamy — I duly received your favor of the 
 19th, but deferred an answer until I received from 
 the Department of State a reply to my letter, in 
 which I asked the permission and good offices of the 
 Department in carrying out my desire to have Mr. 
 Payne's remains removed to his native land, and 
 placed in Oak-hill Cemetery, where I intend to have 
 a simple monument, with a suitable inscription, placed 
 over them. 
 
 My letter to the Department was written after 
 unsuccessful efforts to find any of his relatives living, 
 and I was not aware of any until the receipt of your 
 favor of the 19th instant. 
 
 The Department has given its cordial assent to my 
 request, and has already advised its agents abroad to 
 facilitate the matter as far as they can. 
 
 I propose to give the mortal remains of your 
 
8o JOHN HOWARD PAYNE. 
 
 distinguished relative a resting-place in a spot than 
 which none more fitting and beautiful can be found ; 
 and it would afford me sincere gratification to have 
 your assent and good-will, while I proceed in the 
 execution of my desire ; and, requesting your views 
 in that behalf, I beg to remain, 
 
 Very truly yours, 
 
 W. W. Corcoran. 
 
 To this letter Mr. Corcoran received the fol- 
 lov^ing reply : — 
 
 Bedford Station, N.Y., Nov. 7, 1882. 
 Mr. William W. Corcoran. 
 
 Dear Sir, — I yield my consent to your most kind 
 and generous wish in regard to my uncle, and am 
 most grateful for the recognition of his talent, for 
 the affectionate interest which prompts the recogni- 
 tion, and for the honor you propose to his memory 
 by causing his remains to be placed among those of 
 the nation's honored dead. 
 
 I feel your kindness sincerely, and am most 
 Gratefully yours, 
 
 Eloise E. Luquer. 
 
FROM TUNIS TO WASHINGTON. 8l 
 
 Early In December, 1882, Mr. Corcoran was 
 informed, by the following letter from the Sec- 
 retary of State, that the British Government, 
 through Earl Granville, H. B. M. Minister of 
 Foreign Affairs, had instructed its representative 
 at Tunis to afford all necessary assistance in the 
 removal of the remains of Mr. Payne. 
 
 Department of State, Washington, 
 Dec. 2, 1882. 
 
 W. W. Corcoran, Esq., Washington^ D.C. 
 
 Sir, — Referring to the reply of this Department of 
 the 2 1st of October last, to your letter of the 14th 
 of that month, in relation to the removal of the 
 remains of the American poet, John Howard Payne, 
 from Tunis to this capital, I now have the pleasure 
 of informing you that Mr. Lowell, having brought the 
 subject to the attention of the British Government, 
 received on the i6th ultimo a note from Earl Gran- 
 ville, in which his Lordship says that he has caused 
 instructions to be addressed to Her Majesty's Consul- 
 General at Tunis, in the sense indicated by Mr. 
 
82 JOHN HOWARD PAYNE. 
 
 Lowell, and that the result of the action taken by 
 the Consul will be duly communicated to the Lega^ 
 tion at London. 
 
 I am, sir, your obedient servant, 
 
 Fredk. T. Frelinghuysen. 
 
 In February, 1883, the Secretary of State ad- 
 dressed the following letter to Mr. Corcoran, 
 relative to the shipment of the remains to Mar- 
 seilles : — 
 
 Department of State, Washington, 
 Feb. 8, 1883. 
 
 W. W. Corcoran, Esq., Washington, D.C. 
 
 Sw, — With reference to previous correspondence 
 in regard to the removal of the remains of John 
 Howard Payne from Tunis to this capital, I take 
 pleasure in enclosing herewith for your information 
 a copy of a recent despatch from Mr. Lowell, the 
 American Minister at London, on the subject. 
 I am, sir, your obedient servant, * 
 
 Fredk. T. Frelinghuysen. 
 
FROM TUNIS TO WASHINGTON. Z^ 
 
 [Copy.] 
 
 Legation of the United States, 
 London, Jan. 12, 1883. 
 
 Sir, — Referring to my communication of the 2d 
 instant, in relation to the removal of the remains of 
 the late John Howard Payne to the United States, 
 I have the honor to acquaint you that late in the 
 evening of that day I received the following telegram 
 from Mr. Davis, Assistant Secretary : — 
 
 " Have you received news from Tunis relative to 
 Payne's remains } " 
 
 I answered this by cable the next day as fol- 
 lows : — 
 
 '^ No direct news from Tunis. Lord Granville in- 
 formed me yesterday he had telegraphed, Dec. 30, to 
 Consul-General, instructions to comply with wishes 
 transmitted in your despatch." 
 
 On the 4th instant I received a further note from 
 Lord Granville, dated on the ist, stating that the 
 Consul-General at Tunis had telegraphed on the 31st 
 December, that the remains would be shipped to 
 Marseilles on the 4th of January, 
 
84 JOHN HOWARD PAYNE. 
 
 I immediately telegraphed this information to you 
 as follows : — 
 
 "Lord Granville informs me, Consul-General, Tunis, 
 has telegraphed, remains will be shipped 4th January, 
 consigned to United-States Consul, Marseilles." 
 
 I have received this morning another letter from 
 his Lordship, with enclosures giving an account of 
 the exhumation, and their shipment on board of the 
 "Charles Quint," to the care of Mr. Taylor, the 
 Consul at Marseilles. 
 
 I enclose copies of such of this correspondence as 
 has not already been transmitted. 
 
 I have written to Lord Granville an expression of 
 my thanks for his courtesy, and that of the British 
 officials at Tunis, in this matter. 
 
 I have the honor to be, with great respect, 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 J. R. Lowell. 
 
 [Copy.] 
 
 Tunis, 6th January, 1883. 
 
 My Lord, — I have the honor to report, that, pur- 
 suantly to instructions expressed in your lordship's 
 
FROM TUNIS TO WASHINGTON. 85 
 
 telegram of the 30th ultimo, the remains of John 
 Howard Payne were this day shipped on board the 
 French steam-vessel " Charles Quint," to the consign- 
 ment of Mr. Taylor, the United-States Consul at 
 Marseilles. 
 
 Owing to the impossibility of complying with some 
 of the formalities which under ordinary circumstances 
 would have been strictly enforced, in connection with 
 the exhumation of the body, and to my communica- 
 tions with the United-States Consulate at Malta, in 
 the hope that some ship-of-war of that nation might 
 be charged with its conveyance across the Atlantic, 
 some delay occurred in the execution of the instruc- 
 tions with which I was, in the first instance, honored 
 by your lordship. 
 
 As stated in my telegram of the 30th ultimo, I 
 had arranged to ship the remains two days ago ; but 
 in order to allow of the arrival of the United-States 
 Consul at Malta, who had expressed a wish to be 
 present at their disinterment, the shipment did not 
 take place until this morning. • 
 
 . I beg, in conclusion, to enclose a copy of the act 
 executed on the occasion of the exhumation of those 
 
86 JOHN HOWARD PAYNE. 
 
 remains, and of my despatch to the United-States 
 Consul at Marseilles announcing their shipment to 
 his address. 
 
 I have the honor to be 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 Thomas F. Reade. 
 
 [Copy.] 
 
 Tunis, Jan. 6, 1883. 
 
 Sir, — I have the honor to inform you, that, con- 
 formably with the instructions of Her Majesty's 
 Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, I 
 this day shipped on board the French steam-vessel 
 "Charles Quint," and to your consignment at Mar- 
 seilles, a case containing three coffins — two being of 
 wood, and one of lead — the innermost of which con- 
 tains the remains of John Howard Payne, the distin- 
 guished poet and dramatist of your nation, who died 
 in this city on the 9th of April, 1852, while serving 
 his country in the capacity of consul. 
 
 The exhumation of those remains took place yes- 
 terday, with all the required formalities ; Mr. Worthing- 
 
FROM TUNIS TO WASHINGTON. 8/ 
 
 ton, the United-States Consul at Malta, being among 
 those who were present on the occasion. 
 
 I have the honor to be your obedient servant, 
 
 Thomas F. Reade. 
 
 Horace A. Taylor, Esq., 
 United-States Consul^ Marseilles. 
 
 [Copy of the Act executed on the Occasion of the Ex- 
 humation OF the Remains of John Howard Payne.] 
 
 Tunis, Jan. 5, 1883. 
 
 In pursuance of instructions which, at the request 
 of the Government of the United States of America, 
 have been communicated to the English representa- 
 tive in this country by Her Majesty's Principal Secre- 
 tary of State for Foreign Affairs, the exhumation, 
 prior to removal to the United States, of the remains 
 of J. H. Payne, the distinguished citizen and poet, 
 who died at Tunis, on the 9th of April, 1852, while 
 serving his country as consul, took place this day in 
 the presence of Thomas Fellows Reade, Esq., Her 
 Britannic Majesty's Agent and Consul General, and 
 the following officers and gentlemen : Dr. F. Arpa, 
 
88 JOHN HOWARD PAYNE. 
 
 Her Majesty's Consul, and Judge ; John Worthington, 
 Esq., United-States Consul at Malta; Mr. M. Pisani, 
 British Proconsul; Dr. G. E. Pratz, M.D. ; Dr. Achille 
 Perini, M.D. ; Commander W. M. Bridger, R.N. ; Mr. 
 G. Carbonaro; and Mr. Alf. M. Camilleri, LL.D. ; and 
 with all the formalities required by law. 
 
 In testimony of which, the undersigned have hereto 
 subscribed their names, in the Protestant Cemetery of 
 St. George, at Tunis, this fifth day of January, 1883. 
 Thos. F. Reade, 
 
 H. M.^s Agent and Consul-General. 
 
 F. Arpa, 
 
 H. M.''s Consul, and Judge. 
 John Worthington, 
 
 U. S. Consul at Malta. 
 
 M. PiSANI, 
 
 British Proconsul. 
 Dr. G. E. Pratz, 
 
 Medecin de S. A. le Bey de Tunis. 
 Dr. Achille Perini, 
 
 Medecin de Police de S. A. le Bey. 
 W. M. Bridger, R.N. 
 
 G. Carbonaro. 
 
 Avo'TE Alf. M. Camilleri. 
 
FROM TUNIS TO WASHINGTON. 89 
 
 [Copy.] 
 
 Legation of the United States, 
 London, Jan. 12, 1883. 
 
 My Lord, — I have the honor to acknowledge the 
 reception of Mr. Currie's note on behalf of your Lord- 
 ship of the nth instant, with its enclosures stating 
 the fact of the exhumation of the remains of the late 
 John Howard Payne, at Tunis, and their shipment to 
 the care of the United-States Consul at Marseilles, 
 agreeably to the request of my Government ; and I 
 beg to express my most sincere thanks for your Lord- 
 ship's courtesy in this matter, and for the promptness, 
 delicacy, and efficiency with which Her Majesty's 
 Consul-General at Tunis, and other British officials, 
 have conducted this transaction. 
 
 I have the honor to be 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 J. R. Lowell. 
 
 Pursuant to arrangements indicated in the 
 foregoing correspondence, the remains of Mr. 
 Payne v^ere exhumed Jan. 5, 1883, as described 
 
go JOHN HOWARD PAYNE. 
 
 in the following letter from the U. S. Consul at 
 Malta ; and on the following day were conveyed 
 to Marseilles, and placed on board the steam- 
 ship " Burgundia" for transportation to New 
 York. 
 
 Tunis, Jan. 5, 1883. 
 
 My dear Mr. Brown, — Learning that the* body 
 of John Howard Payne, author of " Home, Sweet 
 Home," was to be exhumed from its grave in Tunis, 
 and sent to America, at the expense of W. W. Cor- 
 coran, Esq., of Washington ; and learning, too, that 
 probably not any American would be present, — I 
 resolved to take a run over to Tunis, and, if possible, 
 get there in time to witness the disinterment. 
 
 I had written and telegraphed Mr. Thomas Reade, 
 the British Consul-General at Tunis, asking him to 
 inform me on what day the exhumation would occur ; 
 he replying, ''On Wednesday, the 3d inst." As no 
 steamer would leave Malta for Tunis (after the receipt 
 of Mr. Reade's telegram) until noon of the 3d inst., 
 I had doubts whether I would be able to reach Tunis 
 in time, particularly as my steamer would not arrive 
 
FROM TUNIS TO WASHINGTON. 9 1 
 
 at Tunis till Thursday, the 4th inst. ; but fortunately, 
 upon reaching this place, and calling upon Mr. Reade, 
 I found the exhumation had not taken place, but 
 would occur to-day at 10 a.m. You can imagine how- 
 glad I was then that I had chanced coming, and that 
 Mrs. Worthington had accompanied me. Of course I 
 did not come in an official capacity, but simply as an 
 American citizen, who could not bear the idea that the 
 body of the author of "Home, Sweet Home" (once 
 a distinguished United-States Consul at Tunis, who 
 died and was buried there in 1852) should be taken 
 from its grave, and sent to its native land, and not 
 one of his countrymen be present. Hence I came. 
 
 This morning, at 12 m., the exhumation took place, 
 in the presence of about twenty persons, — a few 
 being Tunisians attracted to the spot through curi- 
 osity, the others being laborers employed, and a few 
 gentlemen acting as witnesses at the request of Mr. 
 Reade. I also signed the paper as a witness that the 
 exhumation took place as stated. There were two 
 persons present who were at the funeral and inter- 
 ment of Payne ; i.e., M. Pisani and a dragoman. 
 
 The coffin was badly decayed, and was kept from 
 
92 JOHN HOWARD PAYNE. 
 
 falling apart, when raised, with difficulty ; but every- 
 thing relating to the remains was scrupulously and 
 reverently preserved and handled. There was little 
 else than the blackened skeleton left. Traces of the 
 colonel's uniform, in which Payne was buried, were 
 distinguishable, — some gold-lace and a few buttons. 
 I asked for a button, which was given me, and which 
 I enclose to you. Mr. Reade also retains a button. I 
 likewise enclose a twig from the large pepper-tree that 
 is growing at the head of the now empty grave ; this 
 twig having fallen on the coffin, from which I took it. 
 
 At three o'clock, after the body had been put in 
 its lead coffin and soldered, and then into its hard- 
 wood coffin, and then its outer box, it was brought to 
 the little Protestant church, where it will rest to-night 
 under guard, and to-morrow morning be taken to a 
 vessel leaving for Marseilles in the afternoon. 
 
 I will add that I tried, unsuccessfully, to procure a 
 band to play Payne's immortal song as his remains 
 should leave the mari7ta of Tunis ; but not any could 
 play " Home, Sweet Home," although I had the 
 words and notes with me. However, as the body 
 was brought into the chapel, an English captain, 
 
FROM TUNIS TO WASHINGTON. 
 
 93 
 
 Bridger, played a dirge on the little American organ 
 
 there, after which Mrs. Worthington sang ''Home, 
 
 Sweet Home," very sweetly ; and then we all came 
 
 away, leaving the poor body lying under the memorial 
 
 window in the chancel, which a few large-hearted 
 
 Englishmen had put in there in tender and gracious 
 
 memory of one they loved and honored, not alone for 
 
 his authorship of the most touching of all songs, but 
 
 for the half melancholy and wholly beautiful character 
 
 of the man himself. 
 
 If you care to show this letter to Mr. Corcoran, 
 
 you can do so, giving him the pepper branch. It 
 
 strikes me that Americans cannot too warmly thank 
 
 and honor Mr. Corcoran for this most thoughtful and 
 
 patriotic deed of his. That Payne should at last 
 
 sleep in the land of his own Sweet Home, must be 
 
 a gratifying thought to all his countrymen. 
 
 Faithfully yours, 
 
 John Worthington. 
 Sevellon a. Brown, Esq., 
 
 Department of State. 
 
 The follov^Ing graphic narrative is furnished by 
 a correspondent of ''The Nev^-York Tribune : " — 
 
94 JOHN HOWARD PAYNE. 
 
 *' Yesterday, at ten o'clock a.m., I went to the not 
 unattractive and decidedly neat Protestant Cemetery of 
 St. George, situated on high, wall-surrounded ground 
 within the city. I was agreeably disappointed in the 
 appearance of this God's-acre, as I had read in Amer- 
 ican newspapers that Payne's grave was a neglected 
 one, in a neglected burial-ground. On the contrary, 
 the grounds were planted with flourishing and fra- 
 grant rose-bushes, splendid clumps of heliotropes, and 
 hedges of brilliant carnation pinks and geraniums, 
 while the walks were clean and smooth, and the stones 
 and monuments snowy white in the morning sun. I 
 should think the enclosure contained about an acre, 
 and almost in the centre of it was the grave of Payne. 
 At the head of the grave was standing a large and 
 beautiful pepper-tree, branches of which bent tenderly 
 and droopingly over the tomb. This, the finest and 
 noblest tree in the place, was planted by one of 
 Payne's truest and best friends in Tunis, — M. Chap- 
 pellie, who was present at the death and interment 
 of the poet. From M. Chappellie, and also Mr. Reade 
 the British Consul, under whose directions the disin- 
 terment took place, I learned much of Payne's last 
 
FROM TUNIS TO WASHINGTON. 95 
 
 days and sickness. The narrative of them is a painful 
 one. Let it suffice if I write what I heard touch- 
 ingly and heartily said by the two or three gentlemen 
 present at the exhumation, who had familiarly known 
 Payne, — that his character through disappointments, 
 fancied loneliness, and long brooding, had become of 
 a sad, soft, and delicate melancholy, that v/as, while 
 gentle and pitiful, at the same time most winning and 
 beautiful. His illness was a long and painful one; 
 but he had most faithful and loving friends in M. 
 Chappellie, M. Pisani, Mr. Reade, Mme. Chappellie (an 
 American-born lady with an American heart), and a 
 certain (now old) Arab dragoman, whose attachment to 
 the poet was deep and sincere. I saw this honest 
 man at the exhumation, wearing his Arab costume, 
 believing in the Mahometan religion, but full of Christ- 
 like humanity. The Europeans present at the grave 
 on this sunny Friday morning were about a dozen in 
 number ; several Arab gentlemen being also on the 
 ground, in their rich and picturesque dress and tur- 
 bans. 
 
 " The coffin was reached by the workmen at about 
 twelve o'clock, and was carefully lifted and placed on 
 
96 JOHN HOWARD PAYNE. 
 
 the broad marble slab which for thirty years had cov- 
 ered it, and which bears the following inscription : — 
 
 E PLURIBUS UNUM. 
 [Shield ahd Eagle.] 
 
 In memory 
 
 Col. John Howard Payne: 
 
 tzvice Constcl of 
 
 The United States of America, 
 
 for 
 
 The City and Kingdom of Tunis, 
 
 this stone is here placed 
 
 by a grateful country. 
 
 He died at the American Consulate 
 
 in this city, after a tedious illness, 
 
 April ist, 1852. 
 He was born at the City of Boston, 
 State of Massachusetts, 
 
 June 8th, 1792. 
 His fame as a Poet and Dramatist 
 IS well known wherever the English Language 
 IS spoken, through his celebrated Ballad 
 
 of 
 "Home, sweet Home:" 
 
 AND his popular TrAGEDY 
 
 of "Brutus," &c., and other similar productions. 
 
FROM TUNIS TO WASHINGTON. 97 
 
 "On the four edges of this slab is also carved: — 
 
 "Sure, when thy gentle spirit fled 
 To realms beyond the azure dome, 
 With arms outstretched God's angels said, 
 ' Welcome to Heaven's Home, Sweet Home ! 
 
 "The coffin was badly rotted in spite of the care 
 taken by United-States Consul Fish, who several 
 months ago incased it in cement for its better preser- 
 vation. A little, thread-like root of the pepper-tree 
 had made its way into the grave and coffin, and was 
 just about to pass across the forehead. Some of our 
 mother earth had got in the coffin, and mingled with 
 the bones. The whole skeleton was obtained, and laid 
 reverently in a new coffin, which was covered with 
 lead, soldered and sealed. This was then placed in a 
 neat, native hard-wood coffin, which was secured by 
 locks and keys ; all then being put in the strong, iron- 
 bound outside box, which bore the address, 'To U.S. 
 Consul Taylor, Marseilles, France.' 
 
 "At three o'clock in the afternoon, the body was 
 taken to the small and simple Protestant church, and 
 placed near the pretty little chancel window, on which 
 
98 JOHN HOWARD PAYNE. 
 
 are inscribed these words : * To the memory of John 
 Howard Payne, author of " Home, Sweet Home." ' 
 
 *'This window was made in England, and placed 
 here by a few English-speaking residents of Tunis, 
 whose admiration and respect for Payne were decided 
 and sincere. Indeed, I found among the poet's friends 
 an affectionate regard ' that was akin to enthusiasm. 
 They grieved to lose the sacred bones that had lain 
 here for thirty long years, the object of their loving 
 and ceaseless care. When the body was carried into 
 the church, an English gentleman at the little Ameri- 
 can-made organ played the air, and a sweet-voiced 
 American lady sang the immortal song of the dead 
 poet ; and as the tender words tremulously floated 
 through and filled the holy place, hearts swelled, eyes 
 were suffused, and 'a charm from the skies seemed 
 to hallow us there.' 
 
 "Tongue cannot tell nor pen describe the effect of 
 that song sung under the circumstances stated. The 
 gloaming of the coming evening had crept into the 
 chapel ; and the * dim religious light ' that Payne's poetic 
 temperament could have understood and absorbed 
 bathed all, both living and dead, in its mellow radi- 
 
FROM TUNIS TO WASHINGTON. 99 
 
 ance. The twilight came on apace ; and we left the 
 poor remains to lie there until the morrow, guarded 
 by the faithful dragoman who in life, as in death, was 
 stanch and faithful to the last. 
 
 "To-day the body was taken to the marina, and 
 put aboard a boat, rowed down the bay and out into 
 the open sea, where it was received on the French 
 steamer, which soon after was en route to Marseilles. 
 Thus John Howard Payne left Tunis to be re-buried 
 in the land he loved, to sleep henceforth under the 
 flag he served so well ; not again, it is to be hoped, 
 to be disturbed, but to lie dreamless and tranquil in 
 the soil of his own Home, Sweet Home. Mr. Reade's 
 admirable management of the exhumation, and com- 
 pliance with every wish and instruction of the United 
 States Government in the matter, cannot be too highly 
 commended." 
 
 The remains of John Howard Payne' arrived 
 In New York on the 2 2d of March, 1883, by the 
 steamer '' Burgundia," of the Fabre line, from 
 
 ^ For the accounts which follow, the author is mainly indebted to 
 descriptions which appeared in journals of New York and Washington. 
 
lOO JOHN HOWARD PAYNE. 
 
 Marseilles. They were met at the pier in Brook- 
 lyn by Aldermen Wait, Duffy, Kirk, Fitzpatrick, 
 and De Lacy, who were appointed an honorary 
 committee for that purpose by the Board of 
 Aldermen, and by Mr. Charles M. Matthews and 
 Lieut. Reginald F. Nicholson, U. S. Navy, who 
 came from Washington as representatives of Mr. 
 W. W. Corcoran. The coffin, covered with the 
 American flag, was borne from the vessel be- 
 tween two long rows of spectators, who stood 
 with heads reverently uncovered, to a hearse in 
 waiting on the pier, which was drawn by four 
 white horses draped with black. Followed by 
 the carriages containing the members of the 
 committee, the hearse proceeded solemnly over 
 Fulton Ferry, up Fulton Street to Broadway, and 
 to the front of the City Hall, where several 
 thousand persons, including most of the city 
 officers, were gathered. All stood with bared 
 heads as the coffin, still covered with the Ameri- 
 can colors, was borne into the hall and to the 
 
FROM TUNIS TO WASHINGTON. lOI 
 
 Governors Room on the second floor. Here 
 the remains lay in state until the afternoon of 
 the following day, during which time upwards 
 of twelve thousand persons passed by the coffin 
 in which they were enclosed. 
 
 The entrance to the Governor's Room was 
 draped with black, and folds of velvet trimmed 
 with heavy gold bullion. The windows facing 
 the park, and the two side entrances, were hung 
 with festoons of black cloth to which were 
 attached mourning wreaths. All the flags on 
 the City Hall were at half-mast, and so con- 
 tinued until the departure of the remains for 
 Washington. From the opening of the doors 
 till the removal of the body, the line of persons 
 who slowly passed by was almost continuous. 
 
 Early in the afternoon Mr. Gabriel Harrison, 
 one of Payne's biographers, by whose exertions a 
 beautiful monument was, In 1873, erected to the 
 memory of the poet in Prospect Park, Brooklyn, 
 laid a wreath of immortelles on the coffin. A 
 
I02 JOHN HOWARD PAYNE. 
 
 lady who noticed this expression of affectionate 
 remembrance took a red rose from a bunch of 
 flowers at her throat, and dropped it within the 
 wreath. 
 
 Before the removal of the coffin from the 
 City Hall, Mr. Charles M. Matthews, represent- 
 ing Mr. William W. Corcoran, called upon Mayor 
 Edson in his office, and expressed the thanks of 
 Mr. Corcoran for the public notice of the arrival 
 of the remains in New York. He also visited 
 President Reilly of the Board of Aldermen, for 
 the same purpose. 
 
 At four o'clock Gilmore's Band of sixty-five 
 pieces played '' Home, Sweet Home," at the 
 head of the coffin, Mr. Gilmore leading. The 
 simple air came out with fulness and expression, 
 and almost without variation. By this time a 
 throng had gathered in and around the City 
 Hall, packing the Governor's Room and the 
 corridors, lining the steps, and occupying nearly 
 all of the broad plaza. Then the band descended 
 
FROM TUNIS TO WASHINGTON. 103 
 
 to the steps, and played a dirge as the coffin 
 was borne to the hearse which was waiting. 
 Mr. Matthews and Lieut. Nicholson followed the 
 coffin ; and after them came the Committee of 
 the Board of Aldermen, other city officials, and 
 residents, who had been in the Governor's 
 Room. *' Nearer, my God, to Thee," ''Old 
 Hundred," and '' Home, Sweet Home," again 
 were played, the latter as the coffin was carried 
 down the steps. As the hearse drove away, the 
 band played ''The Star-spangled Banner;" and 
 as the procession passed out of sight, " Home, 
 Sweet Home " was again repeated. Twelve car- 
 riages followed the hearse, which was drawn by 
 four white horses with funeral trappings, and 
 preceded by a platoon of twenty-four police. 
 
 The procession moved up Broadway, to Canal 
 Street, and through West Street, to the Des- 
 brosses-street Ferry. An immense concourse of 
 people stood on the sidewalks of the streets 
 through which it passed, and on the North 
 
I04 JOHN HOWARD PAYNE. 
 
 River the flags on the shipping and at the 
 ferry-houses were at half-mast. 
 
 As the procession moved up Broadway, it 
 passed by the very building in which Mr. Payne 
 packed his trunks thirty-two years before, and 
 from which he walked, unattended, to the ship 
 which was to bear him forever from his native 
 land. 
 
 A compartment car, which had been kindly 
 furnished by President Roberts of the Pennsyl- 
 vania Railroad Company, was waiting on the 
 track close to the ferry-house. The coffin was 
 left on the floor of the car, the flag covering it, 
 and the wreath of immortelles lying at its foot. 
 The Committee then left the remains in the care 
 of the representatives of Mr. Corcoran. The car 
 was then attached to the train, which at nine 
 o'clock departed for Washington, and reached 
 that city early in the morning of Saturday, March 
 twenty-fourth. 
 
 Mr. Corcoran having expressly desired that 
 
FROM TUNIS TO WASHINGTON. 105 
 
 no ceremonies should attend the arrival, there 
 was no one at the depot but himself, and the 
 undertaker who was commissioned to take the 
 remains in charge. During their passage from 
 New York to Washington, they were in the care 
 of Mr. Charles M. Matthews, Lieut. Reginald F. 
 Nicholson, U. S. Navy, and Mr. Sevellon A. 
 Brown of the Department of State. 
 
 The coffin containing the remains was taken 
 to the hearse in waiting, followed by Mr. Cor- 
 coran and his representatives, who accompanied 
 it to Oak Hill, Georgetown, and saw it deposited 
 in the cemetery chapel. 
 
THE LAST FUNERAL RITES. 
 

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THE LAST FUNERAL RITES. 
 
 The passing breath of foolish praise or pity 
 Nature forgets, and well may disregard; 
 
 But to the silence of her sacred city 
 Receives the bust and ashes of her bard. 
 
 Here rest, O restless and far-wandered mortal, 
 Laid in thy native earth no more to roam ! 
 
 Dost hear, glad spirit at the heavenly portal, 
 What loving voices sing thee "Home, Sweet Home"? 
 
 John Savary 
 
 "^HE remains of John Howard Payne were 
 
 consigned to their final resting-place in Oak 
 
 Hill Cemetery, at Georgetown, with impressive 
 
 and appropriate ceremonies, on the afternoon of 
 
 June 9, 1883, the ninety-second anniversary of 
 
 his birth. A fitting and beautiful monument 
 
 109 
 
no JOHN HOWARD PAYNE. 
 
 had previously been erected over his tomb by 
 Mr. William W. Corcoran ; and the proceedings 
 were in charge of the following Committee of 
 Arrangements : James C. Welling, LL.D., Chair- 
 man, Mr. Charles M. Matthews, Secretary, Hon. 
 James B. Edmonds, Mr. Samuel H. Kauffmann, 
 Mr. Anthony Hyde, Gen. W. T. Sherman, 
 U.S. Army, Mr. Edward Clark, Mr. Sevellon 
 A. Brown, Mr. F. B. McGuire, Admiral David 
 D. Porter, U.S. Navy, Mr. S. V. Niles, Hon. 
 W. S. Cox, Col. Richard D. Cutts, Mr. Matthew 
 W. Gait. 
 
 The pageantry of the funeral procession, and 
 the Impressive ceremonies of the occasion were 
 a tribute to the genius of a poet beloved 
 throughout the world for his one little song 
 that appeals to the heart of every civilized 
 creature. 
 
 With the solemn strains of funeral dirges, 
 the echoing peals of minute-guns, the measured 
 tramp of martial columns, and a distinguished 
 
THE LAST FUNERAL RITES. in 
 
 following of notable men, representing all hon- 
 orable walks of life, the funeral procession passed 
 through the streets of the national capital to 
 the silent resting-place of the dead. All the 
 pomp and circumstance of human grandeur con- 
 tributed to this final honor paid by the living 
 to the dead. The government was represented 
 by its Chief Executive and his council of consti- 
 tutional advisers ; by the occupants of the bench 
 of its judiciary; by members of both houses of 
 Congress ; by numerous representatives of the 
 army and navy, and by members of the diplo- 
 matic corps. 
 
 The array of prominent government officials, 
 and representatives of foreign powers ; the pres- 
 ence of the military, and the throngs of citizens, 
 gave the demonstration a national character that 
 marked it as the tribute of the entire nation. 
 
 The procession was formed at the Corcoran 
 Gallery of Art, in which the remains lay in state 
 the preceding night. The military and the civil- 
 
1 1 2 JOHN HOWARD PA YNE. 
 
 ians began to gather some time before the 
 appointed hour, which was four o'clock. The 
 remains, enclosed in a handsome casket, were 
 placed in a hearse which had been especially 
 built for the occasion. It was a square-finished 
 vehicle, with plate-glass walls, surmounted by 
 six urns, and was drawn by four white horses. 
 As the casket was borne from the building, pre- 
 ceded by the honorary pall-bearers, the United- 
 States Marine Band played '* Home, Sweet 
 
 Home." 
 
 THE PROCESSION. 
 
 The procession moved from the Corcoran 
 Gallery of Art, at four o'clock p.m., via Penn- 
 sylvania Avenue, Bridge, Congress, and Road 
 Streets, to the Cemetery, in the following col- 
 umn of march : — 
 
 CHIEF MARSHAL. 
 BvT. Maj.-Gen. R. B. Ayres, U.S. A 
 
 Aides : Lieuts. Geo. Mitohell, Sebree Smith, and Lotus Niles (2d artillery),U.S. A. 
 
 Aides: Messrs. Harrison H. Dodge. Robt. S. Chew. 
 
 Band. 
 
THE LAST FUNERAL RITES. 1 13 
 
 The National Rifles. Col. J. 0. P. Burnsidb. 
 
 The Union Veteran Corps, Capt. S. B. Thomason. 
 
 Light Battery (2d artillery). Capt. John I. Rogers, U.S.A. 
 
 Band. 
 
 Washington Light Infantry Corps. Col. W. G. Moorb. 
 
 Band. 
 
 Artillery Battalion (2d artillery). Col. L. L. Langdon. U.S. A 
 
 The Officiating Clergy. 
 
 Hearse b^jaring Remains 
 
 OF 
 
 JOHN HOWARD PAYNE. 
 
 ^alUlSearera. palUSrarers. 
 
 Gen. J. G. Parke. US. A. Col. Thos. L. Casey. U.S.A. 
 
 COM. W. G. Temple. U.S.N. Hon. Willl/im A. Maury. 
 
 Hon. Clayton McMichabl. Prop. Spencer P. Baird. 
 
 Gabriel Harrison. Esq. Maj. A. S. Nicholson. U.S.M.O. 
 
 The Relatives op John Howard Payne. 
 The Orator op the Day. The Poet op the Day. 
 
 The President of the United States. 
 Members op the Cabinet. 
 Members op the Diplomatic Corps. 
 The Chief- Justice and Assoclatb Justices op the Supreme Court of the U.S.. 
 Clerk and Marshal. 
 The Chief-Justice and Assocla.te Justices of the Supreme Court op the DC. 
 Clerk and Marshal. 
 The Chief-Justice and Judges op the U.S. Court of Claims, and its Clerk. 
 Members of the Senate and House of Representatives. 
 The Commissioners of the District of Columbia, and Secretary. 
 Mr. Corcoran and his Family. 
 The Committee of Arrangements. 
 
114 JOHN HOWARD PAYNE. 
 
 The relatives of Mr. Payne in the procession 
 were the Rev. Lea Luquer and wife, of Bedford 
 Station, N. Y. ; the latter being a niece of the 
 poet, and the only surviving member of her 
 father's family. 
 
 All along the route the people had gathered 
 to witness the splendid and imposing funeral 
 pageant. The sidewalks were thronged and the 
 windows filled with eager spectators, who uncov- 
 ered their heads as the procession passed. 
 
 Before the procession reached Oak Hill, the 
 holders of tickets had begun to arrive, and take 
 their positions on the platform which had been 
 built around the monument. 
 
 The site of the monument is one of great 
 natural beauty, near the main entrance to the 
 cemetery, and about midway on the lawn be- 
 tween the fountain and the chapel. The shaft 
 is of white Carrara marble, resting on a base of 
 gray granite six feet square, and surmounted by 
 a bust of Mr. Payne one-half larger than life 
 
m^ 
 
 MCMORV OF 
 
 JOHN HOWARD PAYHE| 
 
 Author 
 
 of 
 
 "HOME, SWtET home; 
 
 Born Jun» 9,1791, 
 
 Died AprU 9. 1852. 
 
 ERECTED AD. 1883. 
 
 MONUMENT ERECTED BY MR, WILLIAM W. CORCORAN, 
 OAK HILL CEMETERY, WASHINGTON, D, C. 
 
THE LAST FUNERAL RITES. 115 
 
 size. The face of the bust is turned towards the 
 east. It represents with great fideHty the poet 
 as he appeared in mature Hfe. 
 
 The inscriptions and designs on the shaft are 
 simple. On the front is the following inscrip- 
 tion : — 
 
 John Howard Payne, 
 
 Author of " Home, Sweet Home." 
 Born June 9, 1792. 
 Died April 10, 1852. 
 
 On the back is the following inscription, 
 which was on the tombstone that marked his 
 grave in Tunis. 
 
 "Sure, when thy gentle spirit fled 
 To realms above the azure dome. 
 With arms outstretched, God's angels said, 
 
 * Welcome to heaven's Home, Sweet Home ! ' " 
 
 This was written by Mr. Robert S. Chilton 
 (the author of the poem which was read on the 
 present occasion) when he heard of Payne's 
 death. On the sides are medallions in relief: 
 
Il6 JOHN HOWARD PAYNE. 
 
 one bears a lyre, enclosed in a wreath of laurel ; 
 the other an open scroll, crossed by a pen, 
 surrounded by a wreath of palms. By the side 
 of the monument rests the marble slab which 
 formerly covered the grave of the poet in 
 Tunis. 
 
 The following gentlemen acted as ushers at 
 the cemetery : — 
 
 Lieut. Charles W. Rae, Engineer Corps, U. S. Navy. 
 Ensign C. G. Talcott, Engineer Corps, U. S. Navy. 
 Lieut. R. F. Nicholson, U. S. Navy. 
 Mr. Washington F. Peddrick. 
 Mr. Walter T. Wheatley. Mr. P. Lee Phillips. 
 
 Mr. John C. Poor. Mr. Louis E. Beall. 
 
 Mr, Daniel Leech. Mr. Jay Cooke. 
 
 Mr. Andrew H. Allen. Mr. John J. Chew. 
 
 From the moment that the gate to the cem- 
 etery was opened, until long after the hour 
 appointed for the ceremonies, throngs of distin- 
 guished people poured into the grounds. When 
 the platforms were filled, the scene presented 
 
John Howard Payne. 
 
 From the original painting by J. W. Jarvis, now in the possession of 
 the Corcoran Art Gallery, Washington, D. C. 
 
THE LAST FUNERAL RITES. 1 17 
 
 was as rare as it was Impressive. The gray 
 stone chapel presented a sombre background 
 to the picture made by the expectant crowd, 
 waiting for the first sounds of the coming 
 procession. It also gave a solemn, religious 
 tone to the occasion, and was a vivid contrast 
 to the bright and gay foreground of the picture. 
 The fronts of the stands for the invited guests 
 and the musicians were draped In the American 
 colors. Dark blue bunting covered the front of 
 the speakers stand, over which the British and 
 American flags were festooned. In the centre 
 hung the portrait of Payne painted by Jarvis 
 when the original was but nineteen years of age. 
 It was a present to Mr. Corcoran from the Hon. 
 Gilmore Meredith of Baltimore. The floral frame 
 surrounding this picture was a work of great 
 beauty. The Inner border was formed by car- 
 nations, then a row of pansies, then a row of 
 beautiful Marechal Neil roses, forming the apex 
 of the frame. The outer border was made of 
 
Il8 JOHN HOWARD PAYNE. 
 
 brilliant Jacqueminot roses. At each extremity 
 of the flags, at the upper corners of the plat- 
 form, was a shield containing a crescent and star, 
 suggesting Tunis, with which Mr. Payne's name 
 is forever connected. On the left or west side, 
 were seated the singers, about one hundred 
 members of the Philharmonic Society, and the 
 Marine Band in their showy uniforms of red 
 with white helmets. Upon the front of this 
 platform, ample accommodations were provided 
 for the representatives of the press. On the 
 east side, a large platform for the general pub- 
 lic afforded seats for two thousand people. A 
 large space surrounding the platforms was roped 
 in, and probably two or three thousand people, 
 who were unable to obtain seats, gained posi- 
 tions inside the enclosure. 
 
 Among those on the platforms were the Presi- 
 dent of the United States ; the Honorable Henry 
 M. Teller, Secretary of the Interior; the Hon- 
 orable Robert T. Lincoln, Secretary of War ; the 
 
THE LAST FUNERAL RITES. 119 
 
 Honorable Frederick T. Frellnghuysen, Secretary 
 of State ; the Honorable Charles J. Folger, Sec- 
 retary of the Treasury ; General William T. Sher- 
 man, U.S. Army; Major- General Winfield S. 
 Hancock, U.S. Army; the Rev. Lea Luquer and 
 wife ; Mr. William W. Corcoran and his three 
 grandchildren (William Corcoran Eustis, George 
 Peabody Eustis, and Louise Morris Eustis) ; the 
 Honorable James G. Blaine and wife ; the Hon- 
 orable George B. Loring ; the Honorable Samuel 
 Shellabarger ; Dr. W. W. Godding; J. O. Wilson, 
 Esq. ; Brigadier -General W. B. Hazen, U. S. 
 Army ; Dr. James F. Hartigan ; the Honorable 
 R. T. Merrick; Dr. Grafton Tyler; Dr. Smith 
 Townshend ; Dr. Robert Reyburn and Miss Kate 
 Reyburn ; the Rev. Albert R. Stuart ; A. M. Bliss, 
 Esq. ; and the Honorable Josiah Dent. 
 
 The setting of this scene in the cemetery 
 combined some of the finest effects of natural 
 beauty. A cluster of tall oaks dotted the lawn ; 
 and their long, luxuriant arms, tossed high in 
 
I20 JOHN HOWARD PAYNE. 
 
 the air, formed a lace- work of living green, 
 through which the rays of the declining sun 
 sent golden shafts of light. In front lay the 
 cool velvety stretches of lawn running up to 
 the high fence, covered with graceful festoons 
 of growing vines. In the rear the ground 
 sloped steeply down to the valley of Rock 
 Creek; and amid the trees and luxuriant shrub- 
 bery could be seen the gleaming white shafts 
 and stones marking the resting-places of the 
 silent sleepers in this city of the dead. 
 
 When the procession reached the cemetery, 
 the coffin, a metallic casket covered with white 
 silk, and having elaborate silver handles, was 
 carried by the pall-bearers inside the grounds, 
 and laid upon a bier at the side of the monu- 
 ment. It rested upon a bed of evergreens and 
 flowers. At the head rested a wreath sur- 
 mounted by a crown ; at the foot lay an anchor ; 
 while in the centre was a simple wreath of white 
 flowers, inscribed '' From a Friend." 
 
THE LAST FUNERAL RITES. 121 
 
 THE ORDER OF EXERCISES. 
 
 The order of exercises was as follows : — 
 
 Music — Mosaic, "Lohengrin," R. Wagner; Marine 
 Band, J. P. Sousa, conductor. 
 
 The Rev. William A. Leonard, D.D., rector 
 of St. John's Church, Washington, D. C, then 
 read portions of the Holy Scriptures, at the 
 direction of the Bishop, being Gen. xxiii. 3-1 1, 
 1. 24-26; I Cor. XV. 50-58; as follows: — 
 
 And Abraham stood up from before his dead, and 
 spake unto the sons of Heth, saying, 
 
 I am a stranger and a sojourner with you : give 
 me a possession of a burying-place with you, that I 
 may bury my dead out of my sight. 
 
 And the children of Heth answered Abraham, say- 
 ing unto him. 
 
 Hear us, my lord : thou art a mighty prince among 
 us : in the choice of our sepulchres bury thy dead ; 
 none of us shall withhold from thee his sepulchre, 
 but that thou mayest bury thy dead. 
 
122 JOHN HOWARD PAYNE. 
 
 And Abraham stood up, and bowed himself to the 
 people of the land, even to the children of Heth. 
 
 And he communed with them, saying, If it be your 
 mind that I should bury my dead out of my sight ; 
 hear me, and entreat for me to Ephron, the son of 
 Zohar, 
 
 That he may give me the eave of Machpelah, which 
 he hath, which is in the end of his field ; for as much 
 money as it is worth he shall give it me for a pos- 
 session of a burying-place amongst you. 
 
 And Ephron dwelt among the children of Heth : 
 and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the 
 audience of the children of Heth, even of all that 
 went in at the gate of his city, saying, 
 
 Nay, my lord, hear me : the field give I thee, and 
 the cave that is therein, I give it thee ; in the pres- 
 ence of the sons of my people give I it thee : bury 
 thy dead. 
 
 And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die : and God 
 will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land 
 unto the land which he sware to Abraham, to Isaac, 
 and to Jacob. 
 
THE LAST FUNERAL RITES. 123 
 
 And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, 
 saying, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry 
 up my bones from hence. 
 
 So Joseph died, being an hundred and ten years 
 old : and they embalmed him, and he was put in a 
 coffin in Egypt. 
 
 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood 
 cannot inherit the kingdom of God ; neither doth cor- 
 ruption inherit incorruption. 
 
 Behold, I shew you a mystery ; We shall not all 
 sleep, but we shall all be changed, 
 
 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the 
 last trump : for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead 
 shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 
 
 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and 
 this mortal imcst put on immortality. 
 
 So when this corruptible shall have put on incor- 
 ruption, and this mortal shall have put on immor- 
 tality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that 
 is written. Death is swallowed up in victory. 
 
 O death, where is thy sting.? O grave, where is 
 thy victory? 
 
124 JOHN HOWARD PAYNE. 
 
 The sting of death is sin ; and the strength of sin 
 is the law. 
 
 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory 
 through our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, 
 unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, 
 forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain 
 in the Lord. 
 
 These selections from the Scriptures v^ere 
 read in a very impressive manner, and listened 
 to with the deepest attention by the large audi- 
 ence. At the conclusion of the reading, the 
 Philharmonic Society rendered the requiem, 
 " Blest are the Departed," from Spohr's '' Last 
 Judgment ; " Mr. R. C. Bernays acting as con- 
 ductor, and Mr. R. W. Middleton as organist. 
 
 POEM. 
 The following poem, written for the occasion 
 by Robert S. Chilton, Esq., of Washington, 
 was then read by its author: — 
 
THE LAST FUNERAL RITES. 125 
 
 JOHN HOWARD PAYNE. 
 The exile hath returned, and now at last 
 
 In kindred earth his ashes shall repose : — 
 Fit recompense for all his weary past, 
 
 That here the scene should end, the drama close. 
 
 Here, where his own loved skies o'erarch the spot. 
 And where familiar trees their branches wave ; 
 
 Where the dear home-born flowers he ne'er forgot 
 Shall bloom, and shed their dews upon his grave. 
 
 Will not the wood-thrush, pausing in her flight, 
 Carol more sweetly o'er this place of rest? 
 
 Here linger longest in the fading light, 
 Before she seeks her soHtary nest? 
 
 Not his the lofty lyre, but one whose strings 
 
 Were gently touched to soothe our human kind, — 
 
 Like the mysterious harp that softly sings. 
 Swept by the unseen fingers of the wind. 
 
 The homesick wanderer in a distant land. 
 
 Listening his song, hath known a double bhss, — 
 
 Felt the warm pressure of a father's hand. 
 And, seal of seals ! a mother's sacred kiss. 
 
126 JOHN HOWARD PAYNE. 
 
 In humble cottage, as in hall of state, 
 
 His truant fancy never ceased to roam 
 O'er backward years ; and — irony of fate ! — 
 
 Of home he sang who never found a home ! — 
 
 Not even in death, poor wanderer, till now; 
 
 For long his ashes slept in alien soil. 
 Will they not thrill to-day, as round his brow 
 
 A fitting wreath is twined with loving toil? 
 
 Honor and praise be his whose generous hand 
 Brought the sad exile back, no more to roam, — 
 
 Back to the bosom of his own loved land. 
 
 Back to his kindred, friends, his own Sweet Home ! 
 
 At the conclusion of the poem, the veil that 
 had hitherto covered the monument was with- 
 drawn. As the graceful lines of the beautiful 
 shaft were slowly disclosed, a burst of admira- 
 tion came from the spectators. Resting on the 
 monument in front was a wreath of laurel, moss, 
 and palmetto, sent by Mrs. M. A.' Snowden of 
 Charleston, S.C. 
 
 The applause which greeted the unveiling of 
 
THE LAST FUNERAL RITES. 127 
 
 the monument was followed by a moment of 
 silence, during which the audience gazed intently 
 on the marble shaft, and the features of the poet 
 surmounting it. Then '' Home, Sweet Home," 
 was sung by the Philharmonic Society, It was 
 a grand and appropriate tribute to the departed 
 poet, when the vast audience arose and joined 
 in the fourth stanza of the song. As the notes 
 slowly died away, by a most beautiful coincidence 
 the sun, which had been vainly struggling to 
 show itself between the clouds, at last suc- 
 ceeded, and cast its beams upon the coffin, and 
 the monument just unveiled. 
 
 ORATION. 
 Mr. Leigh Robinson, a member of the Wash- 
 ington bar, then delivered the following ora- 
 tion : — 
 
 Few stories are more appealing than the current 
 one, which I have seen ascribed to Howard Payne's 
 own lips, — that when his ventures, theatrical and 
 
128 JOHN HOWARD PAYNE. 
 
 literary, had proved failures, in a pecuniary sense at 
 least, he was wandering one night in the streets of 
 London, sick at heart, and with the sense of present 
 evil sharpened by the acquaintance with better days, 
 which throbbed and darted through him, and would 
 not be forgot, sank down finally on the front steps 
 of a nobleman's mansion, and between the entrance- 
 lamps wrote the first draught of " Home, Sweet 
 Home." Later on, under the blue sky of Italy, 
 surrounded by the foliage, the flowers and the birds, 
 the light and fragrance, which make scenery soft, 
 warm, and musical, and those who dwell therein and 
 look thereon, his ear was caught one morning by a 
 flower-girl's sweet melody. Suddenly that which had 
 been fragmentary combined and took shape. He 
 mixed the music with his thought, adapted the air 
 he had just heard to the words he had lately writ- 
 ten, dotted down the notes in his memorandum-book, 
 and thenceforward bore in his hands the harp of 
 home. The thought was born musical : its natural 
 utterance was song. Once more the soul of a song 
 had found its body, the heart of man a voice. 
 
 Payne's career was the unhappy one of disappoint- 
 
THE LAST FUNERAL RITES. 129 
 
 ment ; a history of baffled aims ; a life nowise propor- 
 tioned to boyish promise and precocity, but rather 
 the melancholy non-fulfilment thereof. Nor can it be 
 said that his way was more beset with difficulty than 
 that of many a man, who, in the hard encounter with 
 the obduracy of his lot, has known how to throw into 
 the doubtful scale the sword of a persistent will. 
 Payne had all that was needful to start him fairly : 
 first and foremost, a boy's best blessing, parents en- 
 titled to his love ; a sweet lap of virtuous manners ; 
 a home, we may well believe, imbued with the "plain 
 living and high thinking" of that early day. Outside 
 of his home, he was a praised and petted boy, proUg^ 
 of editors and authors, popular and precocious, and 
 precociously fond of the stage. Partly, it may be, to 
 repress this longing, a desk in a counting-house was 
 the portion first assigned him. But friends of the 
 bright boy, won by his charms, resolve that he shall 
 have the advantage of a college training. In the 
 heyday of youth, as in the corruption of the grave, 
 philanthropy has loved him. And now we have the 
 old, old story, of natural parts and aptitude for shin- 
 ing, irksomeness of college rules, impatience of re- 
 
I30 JOHN HOWARD PAYNE. 
 
 straint and admonition, even that of his benefactors. 
 Then follow in swift succession a mother's death, a 
 father's bankruptcy. The ill wind, which smote the 
 four corners of his father's house, blew him the 
 questionable good of a reluctant permission to pur- 
 sue his bent. The alternative lay between, on one 
 side, the busy and the beaten track, a life of labor, 
 probably obscure, at all events monotonous ; and, on 
 the other, a life of pleasing activity and variety, 
 before which spread itself the applause of multitudes, 
 perchance the smile of fortune on her favorite. The 
 muse of his fancy was the muse of his adoption. 
 That which had been his stolen satisfaction was now 
 his serious life. He entered what was for him a 
 garden of enchantment. The plaudit of friends from 
 the gallery to the ground was there to welcome him. 
 I am told that Mr. Joseph Jefferson, than whom no 
 one is more competent to speak, says that the best 
 thing which can befall a man who has the making of 
 an actor in him is to fail at the outset. It seems to 
 me a saying worthy of acceptation on more stages 
 than one. For a man is thus brought face to face 
 with his own deficiency when he can best arnend it, 
 
THE LAST FUNERAL RITES. 13 1 
 
 — the obstinate fact which fronts him, and will front 
 him, till it subdues him or is subdued. In a word, 
 a man is thus forced to front reality, which surely 
 should be essential to the calling which has for its 
 province the imitation of reality. Many a man has 
 been stung to the victory to which favor had never 
 lifted him. Perhaps it had been well for Payne if, 
 at this time, adversity had been stirred more freely 
 in his cup, and from its dregs, the primer of great- 
 ness in every school, he had drawn its desperate 
 force. It happened otherwise. Life betrayed him 
 with its kiss. 
 
 Let us not underrate, then, as possibly Payne did, 
 the career which he now set before himself, and for 
 which he seems to have had a fair endowment. As 
 it was said of Leibnitz, that he drove all the sciences 
 abreast, so it may be said of the stage, that all the 
 arts are tributary to it. To create before the foot- 
 lights a little world, which shall be the successful 
 mimicry of the great and universal theatre ; to pic- 
 ture there in miniature the perplexities and passions 
 of man's life, — his laughter and his tears ; by the 
 illusions of sense and sound, the poet's, the painter's, 
 
132 JOHN HOWARD PAYNE. 
 
 the musician's art, by the expressiveness of counte- 
 nance and gesture, to throw upon the stage a form 
 which shall be the glass of life, a voice which shall 
 be its echo ; by the very body to figure thought, — is 
 a field of labor wide enough for the widest, and the 
 widest has labored in it. The greatest word ever 
 spoken in English literature floated, swan-like, from 
 the boards of the Globe Theatre. To be the poet 
 of representation is not a small art, but a great one. 
 It is the art by which the word of genius is made 
 flesh. 
 
 With every fascination and prepossession of youth 
 upon his side, the charm of the social circle, the 
 prodigy of the intellectual, with an engaging manner 
 and person, a bell-like voice, a good ear, and, above 
 all, the quick sense of beauty, Payne sallied forth to 
 sway the sceptre of the stage. Fondled by the fond 
 many from Boston to Charleston in his native land, 
 his native land grew insufficient for him. Ambition 
 whispered that on the ampler theatre of the English 
 stage he might snatch a nobler laurel. He arrived 
 in time to witness there the advent of the elder 
 Booth, who, as it seems to me, with a wiser discrim- 
 
THE LAST FUNERAL RITES. 133 
 
 ination, saw in America, rather than in Europe, the 
 field for rising genius. He was present the first 
 night of the return of Mrs. Siddons to the stage, and 
 beheld the majesty of those powers, which, even in the 
 dry tree, were challenged solely by the glorious blos- 
 som of their earlier stem. The friend of Washington 
 Irving obtained swift access to the first literary and 
 dramatic circles. With no undue diffidence he flung 
 himself against Kean and Kemble, in the arena of 
 those triumphs which had made each "a stately hiero- 
 glyphic of humanity." He achieved laudation, the 
 promise of distinction ; not distinction itself, and not 
 success. Other things in this unyielding world go 
 to the make-up of success, besides the most sweet 
 voices and the most applauding palms. Payne never 
 did command, but had always to conciliate, his theatre. 
 All credit should be given him, however, for the 
 celerity and cheery heart with which he now bent 
 himself to that series of translations, adaptations, 
 compositions, dramatic, operatic, tragedy, comedy and 
 farce, numbering some forty-nine in all, which con- 
 sumed the best years of his life. 
 
 It is always a pathetic spectacle, the conflict of 
 
134 JOHN HOWARD PAYNE. 
 
 taste, talent, and sensibility, the striving and pursuing 
 of the beating heart and proud honor of ingenuous 
 youth, with the iron world of business ; the encounter 
 of the porcelain with the earthen vase, in that flood of 
 destinies which we call human life. It is so hard for 
 the endowed and admired one to realize that over and 
 against him is the jealous eye which is ever turned 
 on insecure and unestablished strength ; that his 
 house, like the temple at Jerusalem, must be builded 
 with the trowel in one hand and the sword in the 
 other ; that his various gifts and graces are scanned 
 as coldly as ever slave upon the block by the spirit 
 of trade, which stands there not for sentiment but 
 bargain. Payne's versatile struggle through all these 
 years of disappointment, deception, and undeception, 
 is to me the flutter of the bird against his bars, 
 trying all in turn and all in vain. 
 
 Thus it came to pass that middle life stole upon 
 him, and found him not unfriended, indeed, but unde- 
 manded and unavailing. In all that made life beauti- 
 ful and noble to him, failure was his familiar voice. 
 He was one who had crossed swords with the world, 
 and had not overcome. The fight of life which had 
 
THE LAST FUNERAL RITES. 135 
 
 been woven for him, which in so great a measure he 
 had woven for himself, had left him among the slain. 
 In that flood of destiny in which he plunged so 
 ambitiously, the hammer of destiny had shivered 
 his ambition. His life was in ashes before he was 
 forty. The enchanted garden he had hied him to, so 
 swiftly and so gladly, shut its gates in his face ; and 
 when he turned to the future, it was to that future 
 of the defeated, whose very veil is of stone. And 
 now, when his heart was even more bankrupt than 
 his purse, and when his purse was empty, when his 
 hunger was without a crust, his head without a roof, 
 his only pillow the pavement, in the Tartarus of 
 earthly disappointment and defeat, he lifted up his 
 eyes and beheld afar off the home bosom. That 
 sorcery of appearance, in the vain pursuit of which 
 the force of his youth had been wasted, stood re- 
 vealed now, as the shell without the meat ; and there 
 in vision before him rose his far-off home, to which 
 his heart was as the snail torn from its shell. If 
 sweet is health to the sick, sight to the blind, hb- 
 erty to the captive, rest to the heavy-laden, what 
 should be the hunger and thirst after home by the 
 
136 JOHN HOWARD PAYNE. 
 
 homeless ? In the irreverence of the time, whatever 
 other faith hath famished, the temple of the hearth 
 is sacred. As St. Columba says in his farewell to 
 Arran, so we may say of home, ''Paradise is with 
 thee ; the garden of God within sound of thy bells." 
 In the sinking fate of the man, this, too, came to 
 him, like the memory of spring in winter, of the 
 ripple of waters in the desert of his life, the bells of 
 a paradise lost. This is the forlorn pathos of that 
 which makes him famous. It is like bright light on 
 deep shadow. The sweet rose of life had faded from 
 him : only its thorn was pressed against his breast. 
 A wandering bird cast out of the nest startles the 
 midnight with the song of his earliest morning, — a 
 flood of sweetness, all the more exquisite that it is 
 poured from the throat of sadness, beauty from ashes, 
 the bird-song of home from the mouth of the home- 
 less. It is the sorrow in the throat which makes the 
 song so sweet. This song, born of suffering and 
 sadness, like all immortal things, made perfect by 
 suffering, is to-day his song of triumph. 
 
 In 1832, after an absence of twenty years, Payne 
 came back to his native land. Why he should have 
 
THE LAST FUNERAL RITES. 137 
 
 remained away so long, when so warm a welcome 
 awaited him, is a mystery. Complimentary benefits 
 were given him in Boston, New Orleans, and New 
 York, public dinners and receptions, for which he re- 
 turned his acknowledgments in the graceful terms 
 which never failed him. But the projects which 
 thenceforth engaged his attention were the desperate 
 after-game of life, — international reviews, sacred his- 
 tory, the Cherokees, and what not, — projects of a 
 fertile rather than a practical brain, — the double- 
 flowering tree, fruitful of promise, void of fruit. 
 
 Finally came the consulship to Tunis in 1842, re- 
 called in 1845, renewed in 185 1. There amid the 
 dusky aspects and the fallen columns of that ancient 
 land, hard by the spot where Caius Marius was seen 
 sitting on the ruins of Carthage, Payne laid him 
 down, there, in the shadow of the broken and de- 
 jected column of his own life, — laid down to die. 
 In Tunis, on the 9th of April, 1852, in the si^ty- 
 second year of his life, he passed away. Two Sisters 
 of Charity and his Moorish domestics were with him 
 when he died. A priest of the Greek Church said 
 prayers over his grave. The breath was hardly out 
 
138 JOHN HOWARD PAYNE. 
 
 of his body, when his furniture, library, works of art, 
 and sword of office, were seized, and sold at auction 
 for his debts. His personal apparel even disappeared 
 in the general wreck. Sad exit of one whose en- 
 trance had been so blithe ! And yet, as his life sank 
 behind a cloud, his face was turned toward the morn- 
 ing. As the breath of life left his body, his life in 
 the breath of others began. As his earthly abode 
 became the spoil of his creditors, every home in 
 Christendom became his spoil. The light of his life 
 went down like that Norway sun which sets into 
 sunrise. The world is the debtor to-day of him 
 whose whole substance the world sold in execution. 
 Every home is the sweeter for him, as it is also 
 admonished by him. He might be termed the apostle 
 of home. In some sense, we might say, without 
 irreverence I trust, ''the chastisement of our peace 
 was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed." 
 Therefore it is that the grave cannot confine him 
 in the land of the stranger, nor the ocean divide him 
 from his own. The ship of a mighty people has 
 spread its sail, and brought him up from the under- 
 world and over the deep water, to rest at last under 
 
THE LAST FUNERAL RITES. 139 
 
 the oaks and beneath the violet of his country. The 
 magistrates and the masses of his country are here 
 to-day equally his mourners, — the music and the 
 verse, the chivalry and beauty of his own land, and 
 the ambassadors of all others. The beloved head of 
 a holy church is bowed and bared for him. Here in 
 the consecrated stillness of the wood, and by the 
 murmur of the stream, which in life he haunted with 
 his love, his restless ghost will fold its wing. A 
 charm from the sky will seem to hallow him here. 
 As I see awaiting him the sepulchre prepared by one, 
 the venerable snow of whose winter has dropped no 
 flake upon his open hand, it is to me as though the 
 figure of that charity which never faileth were bowed 
 in benediction over this grave. It is as though we 
 were witnessing the ineffable voyage of Payne's soul 
 from the earth, which was his tavern, to the heaven 
 which is his home ; as though this, the translation of 
 his mortal part, from the land of old bondage to the 
 land of new promise, from the dark continent to the 
 bright one, were the likeness of his far greater res- 
 urrection, not from hemisphere to hemisphere, but 
 from death to immortality. 
 
140 JOHN HOWARD PAYNE. 
 
 THE INTERMENT CEREMONIES. 
 
 When Mr. Robinson had resumed his seat, the 
 Right Reverend Bishop Pinkney, accompanied 
 by the Rev. Dr. Leonard, descended the steps 
 to the ground to hold the ceremonies attending 
 the interment. Bishop Pinkney took his stand 
 close to the bier, and in a voice of deep feeling 
 said : — 
 
 Forasmuch as it hath pleased Almighty God to 
 put it into the heart of His servant, in tender love 
 for the memory of the honored dead, to remove the 
 remains of John Howard Payne from a strange land, 
 and lay them to rest in his own country and among 
 his own kindred and friends, so that home, which he 
 hath made so sweet by his undying song, may be 
 consecrated afresh by the solemnities of this hour : 
 
 Let us offer up our prayer to the Giver of every 
 good and perfect gift, and beseech him to grant that 
 this pious work of ours may be made acceptable to 
 him. Let us pray that through divine grace we may 
 make a religious improvement of this event, so that 
 
THE LAST FUNERAL RITES. 
 
 14] 
 
 after this transitory life shall be ended, we may be 
 gathered unto our fathers, and rest with the spirits of 
 just men made perfect, and finally attain to the resur- 
 rection of life, through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
 
 O God, who hast taught us in thy holy word, to 
 render honor to whom honor is due, we implore thy 
 blessing on the celebration of this hour. As it hath 
 pleased thee to take out of the world the soul of our 
 deceased brother, we therefore recommit his body to 
 the ground, earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to 
 dust ; looking for the general resurrection of the last 
 day, and the life of the world to come, through our 
 Lord Jesus Christ, at whose second coming in glori- 
 ous majesty to judge the world, the earth and the sea 
 shall give up their dead, and the corruptible bodies 
 of those who sleep in thee shall be changed and 
 made like unto thy glorious body, according to thy 
 mighty working, whereby he is able to subdue all 
 things unto himself. 
 
 O Lord God, grant that this tribute of a feeling 
 heart may redound to thy glory and the good of 
 mankind, and that every home in this land may be 
 made the abode of contentment and peace ; so that, 
 
142 JOHN HOWARD PAYNE. 
 
 after we depart this life, we may rest in thee, having 
 the testimony of a good conscience, in the communion 
 of the Catholic Church, in the confidence of a certain 
 faith, in the comfort of a reasonable religious and 
 lively hope, in favor with thee our God, and in per- 
 fect charity with the world : all of which we ask 
 through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 
 
 During Bishop Plnkney s prayer, Mr. Corco- 
 ran, attended by Dr. Welling, stood near by with 
 uncovered head. Upon the conclusion of the 
 prayer, Bishop Pinkney and Dr. Leonard retired ; 
 and the coffin was raised, and taken to the open- 
 ing by the monument. The pall-bearers took 
 their positions, four on each side of the grave ; 
 and after a small bouquet of Marechal Neil 
 roses had been laid on the coffin-lid, it was 
 lowered to its final rest. At the bottom of the 
 opening were rollers upon which the coffin was 
 conveyed into the niche under the monument 
 prepared for it. The opening was covered again 
 with the evergreens, the floral designs that had 
 
THE LAST FUNERAL RITES. 143 
 
 rested on the coffin were placed over it, and 
 John Howard Payne's body was interred. 
 
 The '' Hallelujah Chorus" from the '' Messiah" 
 was then excellently rendered by the Philhar- 
 monic Society, accompanied by the full Marine 
 Band ; Professor Widdows, by invitation of Mr. 
 Bernays, acting as conductor. At the conclusion 
 of the music. Bishop Pinkney offered the follow- 
 ing benediction : — 
 
 The God of peace, who brought again from the 
 dead our Lord Jesus Christ, the great Shepherd of 
 the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting cove- 
 nant, make you perfect in every good work to do His 
 will, working in you that which is well pleasing in 
 His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory 
 for ever and ever. Amen.^ 
 
 The Marine Band then played '' Safe in the 
 arms of Jesus " as a finale, and the audience 
 dispersed. 
 
 '^ Precisely one month from this date, the remains of this beloved and 
 venerated bishop were borne to their last resting-place in Oak-hill Cemetery. 
 
144 JOHN HOWARD PAYNE, 
 
 The services, which began at five p.m., were 
 concluded at seven. The rays of the setting 
 sun illuminated the white monuments in the 
 grounds ; the air was redolent with the perfume 
 of the roses, which were full of bloom ; a gentle 
 breeze stirred the leaves of the old oak-trees 
 beneath whose shade Payne had rested when 
 the spot was known as Parrott's Woods. The 
 verdure of the lawn, and the sparkling waters of 
 the fountain near by, gave a sense of beauty 
 which the poet's eye would have recognized and 
 rejoiced in ; and the gentle murmur of the 
 waters of Rock Creek, which lie at the foot of 
 the high terrace of the cemetery, filled the 
 measure of loveliness of a perfect evening and 
 scene in June. A slight shower at one time 
 threatened to break up the ceremonies ; but it 
 was of short duration, and the sky cleared, and 
 the sun caused the drops of water on the flowers 
 to sparkle as gems which were offered to en- 
 hance the poetry of the scene. 
 
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