The Otago Witness, WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE SOUTHERN MERCURY. (WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9, 1910.) Machine No.7. THE WEEK.

Otago Witness, Issue 2921, 9 March 1910, Page 51

The Otago Witness, WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE SOUTHERN MERCURY. (WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9, 1910.) Machine N 0.7. THE WEEK.

" Nunquam aliud natura, aliud sapientia dixit."— JUVESTA.L. . ' " Good nature and good sense must ever join. POPE.

Lord Kitchener has handed his report' < upon the defence forces of A Reminiscence the Dominion to_ the of West Point. Premier, and aftei it has been considered by tfafy Cabinet its contents will be made public. There is every reason to suppose that it will largely follow the lines of the already published report on the defence forces of the Commonwealth, and Sir Joseph Ward has intimated that in all probability the Defence Act will require amendment in order to include some at least >f Lord Kitchener's recommendations. Upon one important point Lord Kitchener's direction has already been made known— [ namely, that the-training of the New Ze&r -, land officers shall-be undertaken at the ~ Military- Academy to be established ijs . Australia, in preference to an attempt to ~ establish a. similar academy in the Dominion. And Lord Kitchener, insists that the Commonwealth Academy shall be run on lines -like the West Point! Military Academy maintained by the'army, / authorities of the United States. This naturally has evoked some curiosity in/ the minds of young New Zealanders as to the precise nature of the West Point} ■ College, and it is interesting to recall i the fact that this is the place to whicbj Edgar Allan Poe was admitted upon the representations of his guardian, and from! which he was expelled after a short stay] , on' the grounds of gross insubordination*., ; By many, Mr Allan, the poet's self-ap-i > pointed guardian, is regarded as the evil <*. genius of that talented writer, to whomr \ death came so early, and in such tragic i fashion. In 1827 Poe published his firsfl ' thin little volume, entitled "Tamerlane,- ] and other Poems," which, however,. \ brought him small renown and no ref-, t muneration. Driven by poverty be en'-'! listed in the regular army, 'and, as one 6ft>| his many biographers points out:— "This! | led to a last well-meaait but unluokjy interference of his guardian, who again!, I discounted whatever self-reliance PoC &MU learning ip depending on own rewl sources by causing hini io be trans from the regular army to Mintaryu| Academy at l|/est Point, an ejnso'de thafj ended •unpleasantly enough. ■ Poe entered!] the Academy on July 1, ls3oa''i and settled $$ Np 28 South Barracks, 'His? ] age is recorded as 'being then 19 yearp ] 5 months, but to" the cadets he seemes. I much older, Stoddart, indeed, declares! , Poe to have been in his twenty-second! year, and adds:—"But he appeared much' older and had a worn, weary, and discontented look. His aged appearance was accounted for by a report that he had.

procured a. cadet's appointment for his son, and that on the death of the boy he had substituted himself in "his place. It was not a brilliant joke, but ft annoyed him, for he was not largely gifted with a sense of humour. It was not a good school in which he found himself, though he might have made it such if he had only been industrious and prudent. Hundreds of young men have gone to West Point with no greater temptations thar his; have yielded to their temptations, as he did, and have come out triumphantly Unfortunately for him, he was not of the number. He was idle, he was lawless, and be drank. He had not profited by his experience at the university, except that he had given up gaming and had exchanged champagne for brandy. His iroom was seldom, without a bottle of it—a circumstance which was known to his bibulous fellow cadets, and of which they •used to avail themselves, fo. when their own bottles were emptied they stole into the room between tattoo and taps and sampled the ebbing supply. It was smuggled in from Benny Haven's—a feat which demanded address, in that i f had to be accomplished without detection, and She possession of certain moneys, or their equivalent in saleable commodities —blankets, candles, and hat not. The jvognbstications of Poe's tutors were fulfilled on the 7th of January, 1831, when the 'January colt' was roughly curried down. He was brought before a general courtmartial on that day, and was charged with gross neglect of all duties and disobedience of orders, the specifications setting forth time and place. He pleaded guilty to both charges, aad was sentenced to be dismissed the service of the United 'States, which sentence was afterwards 'Approved at the War Department and carried into effect on the 6th of-March."

The picture of Poe's term at West Point is said by later bioAn Incident graphers to be altogether In West Point too grim and to convey an History. altogether erroneous impression of the poet's character. One of Poe's classmates describes him as "of kindly spirit and simple style," and also declares :—"Poe was very shy and reserved in his intercourse with his fellow cadets, his associates being confined almost exclusively to .Virginians. He was ah accomplished French scholar, and had a wonderful aptitude for mathematics, so that he had no difficulty in preparing his recitations in his class and in obtaining the highest marks in these departments. He was a devourer of books, but his great fault was his neglect of and apparent contempt. for military duties. His wayward and capricious temper made him at times utterly oblivious or indifferent to the ordinary routine of roll call drills and guard duties. These habits subjected him often to arrest and punishment and effectually prevented his learning or discharging the duties of a soldier." 'And Mr George E. Woodberry, who records this reminiscence, also adds :

"Poe's life at West Point, so far from being the long ' continued college prank that it has been represented, did not differ from his course at the University, except that his predominant literary taste, which found expression only in talk about the poets and pasquinades on the academy officials, isolated him among his associates, while the custom of the place and his own lack of means forbade the excessive gambling in which he had formerly indulged. He was the intellectual, selfabsorbed exclusive young fellow that he liad been, but much older, and conmore discontented and unsettled. As before, he bore his share in the schoolboy follies of his mates, and his greater neglect of routine duty may be ascribed to its increased irksomeness to him after his year of freedom from such restraints." Stoddart, however, makes the additional statement that Poe was rather pleased with a report to the effect that he was a grandson of Benedict Arnold, "a saturjiine fancy which has since found its way into print as a fact." Poe's mother, Mrs Arnold the actress, is supposed to have come to America from the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, in London, while Benedict Arnold, that erstwhile famed arid honoured American general, after distinguishing himself in the War of Independence, and sullied both name and fame in his treacherous attempt, to deliver the West Point fortress into the hands of General Clinton, •racked by remorse, is known to have spent his last years in London in misery and wretchedness. John Fiske in his "American Revolution" gives the following graphic account of the incident : —"ln April, 1779, Arnold wrote a letter to Sir Henry Clinton in • disguised handwriting and under the signature of 'Gustavus,' describing himself as an American officer of high rank, who through disgust at the ■French Alliance and other recent proceedings of Congress might perhaps be persuaded to go over to the British, provided he could be indemnified for any losses he might incur bj so doing. Nothing seems to have been thought of at ■first beyond the personal desertion of Arnold to the enemy; the betrayal of a fortress was a !ater development of infamy. . . . . When Arnold had committed himself to this evil course, his story becomes a sickening one, lacking no element of horror, whether in its foul beginnings or in its wretched end. To play his new part properly, he must obtain an important command, and the place which obviously suggested itself was West Point. Since Burgoyne's overthrow, ■Washington had built a chain of strong fortresses there, for he did riot intend that /the possession of the Hudson River should ever be put in question, so far as fortifications could go. ' Could this cardinal position be delivered up to Clinton, the prize .would .be worth tenfold the recent triumphs at Charlesworth and Camden, ilt would be giving the British what Burigoyne had tried to get; and now it was the hero of Saratoga who plotted to undo ihis own good work at the.dictates of perverted amßition and unhallowed revenge, i

To get possession of this stronghold it was necessary to take advantage of the confidence with which his great commander had always honoured him. From Washington in July, 1780, Arnold sought the command of West Point, alleging that his wounded leg still kept him unfit for service in the field; and Washington immediately put him m charge of this important post, thus giving him the strongest proof of an unabated confidence and esteem which it was in his power to give, and among all the dark shades in Arnold's treason, perhaps none seems darker than this personal treachery toward the man who had always trusted and defended him. . . . After his

treason was discovered, Arnold, who had deserted to the English army, was sent by Sir Henry Clinton on a marauding expedition into Virginia, and in the course of one of his raids an American captain was taken prisoner. ' What do you suppose my fate would be,' Arnold is said to have inquired, ' if my misguided countrymen were to take me prisoner?' The captain's reply was prompt and frank : 'They would cut off the leg -that was wounded at Quebec and Saratoga, and bury it with the honours of war, and the rest of you they ■ would hang on a gibbet.' "

Ever since he was granted a seat in the Cabinet, Mr Buddo has

Pity the been burning with desire to Poor Prima, distinguish himself politically or otherwise. Ha has been watching and waiting for that opportunity which the £>oet tells us patience and time never fail to present. And the opportunity has arrived in the shape of the prohibition of a puma; although foxes, and cheetahs, and leopards were ateo included in the prohibition. Upon mature consideration it will appear that it requires no small amount of courage on. the part of the Minister of Internal Affairs to prohibit the landing of a, puma. For while this animal is said by naturalists to be exceedingly unwilling to attach man, yet when provoked it exhibits extraordinary ferocity. Now to be prohibited from landing in New Zealand, after having been expressly purchased and brought from America for the purpose of populating the Aramoho Zoo, is enough to provoke any puma, however mild in, disposition; and the same may be said of the cheetahs, the leopards, and the foxes also proscribed as undesirable . immigrants. Wherefore, as this absurd embargo cannot be upheld or maintained, woebetide Mr Buddo should he stray by the banks of the Wanganui River in the vicinity of the Zoo when once that establishment is properly populated. We may not stay to inquire whether, in view of the doctrines of Darwinism and the transmigration of 'souls, Mr Buddo's urohibition is not an infringement of that principle of brotherhood for which the present Government so strenously stands, but it may be permitted tc wonder whether a terrible retribution is not pending. Seeing that the puma, the cheetah, and the leopard belong to the noble family of cats, the combined felines of the Dominion may unite' and contrive to raise a hi&eous nocturnal noise: • around Mr Buddo's dwelling, making sleep impossible until the prohibition is removed. And,. in conclusion, should the title of baron ever be bestowed upon Mr Buddo in small recognition of his pobtical labours, he will have a fine choice in quarterings and other heraldic device. Possibly Baron Buddo may be puzzled between a puma couchant and a. leopard rampant, but there can be no doubt that his chosen motto should have reference to the fact that it is the little foxes who spoil the vines.