The FRIENDLY CLUB & OTHER PORTRAITS Francis Parsons

JOEL BARLOW >FROM AN ENGRAVING BY DURAND AFTER THE PORTRAIT BY ROBERT FULTON

The FRIENDLY CLUB And OTHER PORTRAITS ——————————————— By Francis Parsons ——————————————— "Whose yesterdays look backwards with a smile." —Young's Night Thoughts ——————————————— ——————————————— Edwin Valentine Mitchell Hartford, Connecticut 1922

Copyright, 1922, By Edwin Valentine Mitchell First Edition PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

To The Memory of My Father

NOTE

THE thanks of the author are due to Mr. Charles Hopkins Clark, Editor of "The Hartford Courant," in which most of the following essays originally appeared anonymously, for permission to republish them in the revised, enlarged and sometimes entirely re-written form in which they are here presented. "The Friendly Club," "The Mystery of the Bell Tavern" and "Our Battle Laureate" have not been previously printed.

Citation of authorities, except so far as they appear in the text, has been considered inappropriate in the case of such informal articles as these. It would be ungracious, however, to omit mention of the writer's indebtedness in connection with the second essay to Mr. Charles Knowles Bolton's "The Elizabeth Whitman Mystery," which is the latest and most comprehensive document on this baffling incident of New England social history.

F. P.

CONTENTS

PAGE

I The Friendly Club13

II The Mystery of the Bell Tavern47

III The Hemans of America69

IV Whom the Gods Love83

V An Eccentric Visitor95

VI Who Was Peter Parley?107

VII A Preacher of the Gospel121

VIII A Friend of Lincoln135

IX Our Battle Laureate147

X The Temple of the Muses161

XI The Friend of Youth181

XII The Christmas Party191

XIII The Fabric of a Dream201

XIV The Quiet Life213

ILLUSTRATIONS

Joel BarlowFrontispiece

From the engraving by Durand after the portrait by Robert Fulton

Lexington Monument and Bell Tavern, Danvers64

From Barber's "Massachusetts Historical Collections"

The Sigourney Mansion75

From an old woodcut

Lydia Huntley Sigourney78

From a miniature in the Colt Collection by permission of the Wadsworth Atheneum

Inscription to Daniel Wadsworth in J. G. C. Brainard's Hand91

Title Page of Brainard's "Occasional Pieces of Poetry"92

The Watkinson Library166

Drawing by Seth Talcott

Silhouette of Daniel Wadsworth170

By permission of The Connecticut Historical Society