It is really most distressing That, although my needs are pressing, I cannot make the money that inferior fellows can; Nor find an occupation In this Philistinish nation, Congenial to a college-bred and cultivated man. I can do so much that they can't, Are reserved, as I discover, for the men of vacant brains. -"Wanted: A Situation." THOMAS BROWER PEACOCK. THO 'HOMAS BROWER PEACOCK was born at Cambridge, Ohio, April 16, 1852. He is the fourth child of Thomas William Peacock. His paternal grandfather was a native of Edinburgh, Scotland. Mr. Peacock is related, though distantly, to Thomas Love Peacock, an intimate friend of Shelley's. It is said that the name "Peacock" originated in the Pea Mountains" of Scotland, where peacocks were found in large numbers. Mr. Peacock's ancestry can be traced back to King William of Holland, and he is one of the many heirs to the Trinity Church property, commonly known as the Anneke Jans estate. His mother's maiden name was Naomi Carson, and her parents were among the earliest settlers of Guernsey County, Ohio. When Mr. Peacock was seven years old, his parents moved to a farm near Cambridge. Two years later the family moved to Zanesville, Ohio. Mr. Peacock pere purchasing The Aurora, the leading democratic paper of Zanesville, his son Thomas, then a lad in his teens, delivering the paper to their city subscribers. Mr. Peacock's education was obtained mainly at Zanesville, Ohio. From this place the family moved to Dresden, Ohio, where the father and son together edited the Monitor. In 1870 the boy, allured by the glowing accounts given through advertising pamphlets and letters received from friends living in Texas, determined to try his fortune in the southwestern wild. He remained in Texas two years and it is quite probable that these two years were the most eventful of his life. His first year he taught school, and the second kept a hotel. During the last year of his stay, he was compelled to entertain such characters as Cole Younger," "Wild Bill," and "Jesse James," and from them seems to have derived his inspiration by which the "Poems of the Plains" were written. In 1872, Mr. Peacock moved to Independence, Kan., making the trip by wagon team, a distance of eight hundred miles. Two years after he moved to Topeka, Kan., in which place he has since resided. For eight years he was associate editor of the Kansas Democrat. Mr. Peacock's "Star of the East" was written at the age of sixteen. His "Vendetta" and some minor poems were written during his stay in Texas. The "Rhyme of the Border War," "The Doomed Ship Atlantic" were written in Kansas. In 1880, Mr. Peacock married Miss Ida E. Eckert, daughter of Daniel S. Eckert, a retired farmer. His wife is a woman of fine literary taste. Mr. Peacock published his first volume of verse in 1872, which was so favorably received that he published, in 1876, a larger volume containing some of the old poems revised and many new ones. He is printing the third edition of his poems, entitled "Poems of the Plains and Songs of the Solitudes," together with "The Rhyme of the Border War." This edition, revised, includes his complete poetic works which are being translated into German. Mr. Peacock is of a domestic nature and derives great pleasure from the company of his sympathetic wife and little son. N. L. M. THE OUTLAW. I. It is the starry hush of night, When Hope's sweet madness thrills the heart, That coming days shall all be bright When happiness comes, ne'er to depart: 'Tis midnight! and the month of June; But vexed in soul, yon man of crime Upon this wight have lost their power; But hark! from yonder forest dun The sound of horses' hoofs are heard! A hundred clattering racers run! The outlaw flies like some swift bird! But close behind his foes him press full sore, Their cries of vengeance on the night-winds roar! V. He halts! the outlaw halts to hear! A moment in the stirrup stands His soul is centered in his ear, O'er his hot brow he draws his hands His sinewy hands which oft had choked death back, When foes were close upon his dreaded track. VI. He spurs his steed, and onward flies Beneath the stars' and moon's soft light; Like some swift comet down the skies, He passes through the shades of night; Flies onward toward the yellow sea away, Where cloud on cloud pavilioned, darkling lay. VII. He spurs his steed, whose sides are wet He's armed and ready for the foe, Ah! fast and well his foes must run To overtake him in his flight; His courser is the swiftest one Whose feet spurn earth's brown breast this night This night of June, when Nature's fair and grand, When summer laughs along the lovely land. IX. His foes knew not the cost of hate When hunting down this man of crimeThis son of war, this child of fate, Who'd hurled scores to etern from time; He long defied both death and time, For with a boldness rash, sublime, He reckless rushed upon the foe He whom some power unknown protected well! Some power unseen! some power of Heaven or Hell! XI. Lo! headlong falls the outlaw's horse His foes all dead, none now debar The outlaw from his wonted way; He stays as though in blood of war His soul exulted mad alway But ah! one foe he slew not, though five-score; Death's iron grasp he can escape no more. SONNET TO MILTON. MILTON! thou Titan of the epic song, |