Not only Kennedy Square, but Moorlands, rang with accounts of the dinner and its consequences.

Most of those who were present and who witnessed the distressing spectacle had only words of sympathy for the unfortunate man--his reverent manner, his contrite tones, and abject humiliation disarming their criticism.

They felt that some sudden breaking down of the barriers of his will, either physical or mental, had led to the catastrophe.

Richard Horn voiced the sentiments of Poe's sympathizers when, in rehearsing the episode the next afternoon at the club, he had said: "His pitiable condition, gentlemen, was not the result of debauchery.
Poe neither spoke nor acted like a drunken man; he spoke and acted like a man whom a devil had overcome.

It was pathetic, gentlemen, and it was heart-rending--really the most pitiful sight I ever remember witnessing.
His anguish, his struggle, and his surrender I shall never forget; nor will his God--for the prayer came straight from his heart." "I don't agree with you, Horn," interrupted Clayton.