Builders of American Literature Underwood LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. ©fjHjt.xS Gopiirij^l l|aJ-2^ Shelf...3lS UNITED STATES OP AMERICA. Boofes lig jFrancis! |g. SffntrerbJootJ iLiL.®< A Novel (involving an Incident of the late QUABBIN. The Storjr of a Small Town. With Outlooks upon Puritan Life. 12 illustrations and a portrait LORD OF HIMSELF, a Novel (of Life in Kentucky before the War) MAN PROPOSES. War) .-.. . . . CLOUD PICTURES. (imaginative Stories) HANDBOOKS OF ENGLISH LITERATURE: Biographical and Critical Sketches, with Specimens and Historical Intro- ductions. 1. British Authors 2. American Authors THE TRUE STORY OF THE EXODUS, with a Brief view of the History of Mon^ -nental Egypt. Abridijed from the great work of Dr. Brugsch-Bey. With an Introduction, Map, and Tables Cloth HANDBOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY. Based on "Lectures on English History," by M. J. Guest, with a chapter on English Literature of the Nineteenth Century. With Maps, Chrdno- logical Tables, etc Cloth, net, $1.20; Boards, net THE BUILDERS OF AMERICAN LITERATURE. Biographical and Critical Sketches of Leading American Writers, in Chronologi- cal Order Price per volume First Series. — Contains such as were bom prior to 1826. Second Series. — Contains those born since. $1-75 •50 2.50 2.50 •SO •75 •50 IN PRESS A NORTHERN CONSTELLATION being Biographies of Poets (newly written), namely: LONGFELLOW EMERSON WHITTIER LOWELL (now ready) HOLMES With Bibliography and all necessary details for a work of permanent value. Volumes sold separately. LEE AND SHEPARD PUBLISHERS BOSTON The following Biographical Sketches by the same author are published by Houghton, Mifflin, & Co. ; Henry Wadsworth Longfellow $1-50 John Greenleaf Whittier . 1.50 James Russell Lowell , . . . 1.50 Each with portrait and illustrations. THE BUILDERS OF AMERICAN LITERATURE BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF AMERICAN AUTHORS BORN PREVIOUS TO 1826 FRANCIS H. UNDERWOOD LL.D. ^^. AUTHOR OK "qUABBIN" "HANDBOOKS OF ENGLISH LITERATURE" "the poet AND THE MAN " " MAN PROPOSES" I "lord of himself" etc. iFi'rst Series BOSTON ^^ LEE AND SHEPARD Publisher/ 10 MILK STREET 1893 , // "f6 Copyright, 1893, By Lee and Shepard. All rights reserved. Builders of American Literature First Series ^niijcrsttg Press: John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, U.S.A. r in i^ TO WILLARD SMALL IN TOKEN OF RESPECT FOR HIS CHARACTER, TALENT, AND LEARNING. PREFACE. T HIS is a new book, written in the light of to-day, with the added experience of twenty years, — in which, however, certain obvious and unchanged judg- ments, copied from a former work, are incorporated. In 1870-1872 were pubhshed two *' Hand-Books of English Literature," prepared by the author of this ^vork, — one of them devoted to British, the other to American, authors. They were welcomed by school- committees, teachers, and the reading public, and have continued in favor. They were made up of short biographical and critical notices of authors, with specimens of the writings of each. At present in some places, especially in cities, and in institutions of the higher grades, when an author is studied it is usual to consider his complete, or at least some one of his principal, Works rather than to depend upon selected passages. Where this usage prevails, the "Hand-Book" is wanted only for the prefatory notices. As these notices have been generally and warmly commended, it was felt that they should be VI PREFACE. collected, and made to include later writers, so as to form a work for use in schools and libraries, as well as for private readers. It was determined, therefore, to revise these notices and to make a fuller collec- tion, without specimens of style ; but it was soon found that it would require two volumes of con- venient size to give a fair estimation of authors up to date. This volume, therefore, ends with authors born before 1826. In the course of twenty years some changes have occurred in literary rank and reputation, as well as in the public taste, and, naturally, some in the writer's own mind. The '' Hand-Book " contains some authors who were primarily statesmen, and not literary builders, who are therefore omitted from this work. Some few able writers who before were passed by are now included. The critical estimates have all been reconsidered, and most of them are newly written. In some there will be seen a fuller or warmer appreciation than before ; in others the tone is cooler and more judicial. The literary firmament does not remain the same from age to age: some stars grow brighter, while others are becoming dim. As in the case of the brief sketches, the Historical Introduction, copied in part from the former '* Hand- Book," has been newly written in view of the ideas and tastes of to-day. There may be exceptions taken as to some of the literary estimates in this work, for no one mind is PREFACE. Vil equal to the task of awarding exact justice to so many different authors as are here considered. The reader will soon recognize the notions and tastes of the writer in regard to the excellences of prose, and to the divine qualities of poetry. Upon the substantial agreement of those notions with the trained perceptions and judgments of the literary world will depend the reception of this book. The accounts of our elder authors — to use a mercantile phrase — have been generally passed upon, and not many of them are likely to be brought up anew. Some of them, undoubtedly, will in the course of another twenty years be mere names, while a few will continue to gain in lustre. In the end a dozen, or at most a score, of authors will represent this age. It is in the next volume, which is to comprise authors born in and since 1826, that the real diffi- culty is to come. Fiction, poetry, history. Nature- essays, and the aesthetic aspects of science will demand of their critic fresh studies, will open before him new horizons, and lead to the evolution of new principles. For our age has almost completely broken with the past : the end of the century will be the end of continuity. What the next is to bring we cannot tell ; but whatever comes will be a sur- prise. There will be no successor to the Autocrat, the "Scarlet Letter," the "Knickerbocker," " Than- atopsis," " The Problem," " Hiawatha," " Walden Vlll PREFACE. Pond," ''The Eternal Goodness," ''The Cathedral," *' Philip II." "The Dutch Republic," or "Wolfe and Montcalm." These, and a few works like them, have eternal elements in them, though they belong to the age now closing. Let us hope that the out- come of the literary activity of the coming generation will be as honorable, as uplifting, and as lasting as that of the past has been. F. H. U, CONTENTS. Page HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION i Jonathan Edwards. Theologian, 1703- 17 58 40 Benjamin Franklin. Philosopher, 1 706-1 790 44 John Adams. Statesman, 1735-1826 47 Thomas Jefferson. Statesman, 1 743-1826 ....... 49 John Trumbull. Poet, 1750-1831 51 Timothy Dwight. Poet, 1752-1817 52 Joel Barlow. Poet, 1755-1S12 53 Alexander Hamilton. Statesman, 17 57-1 804 55 Fisher Ames. Jurist and Essayist, 1758-1808 57 JosiAH Quincy. Statesman and Historian, 1772-1864 ... 59 William Wirt. Advocate, 1772-1834 60 James Kirke Paulding. Novelist, 1779-1860 62 Washington Allston. Poet, 1779-1843 64 John James Audubon. Naturalist, 1780-185 1 66 William Ellery Channing. Theologian and Essayist, 1780- 1842 67 Daniel Webster. Statesman, 1 782-1852 69 Washington Irving. Essayist, 1783-1S59 y^ John Pierpont. Poet, 1785-1866 78 Richard Henry Dana. Poet, 1787- 1879 81 CONTEiNTS. James Fenimore Cooper. Novelist, 17S9--1S51 . Catharine M. Sedgwick. Novelist, 1 789-1867 . Lydia (Huntley) Sigourney. Poet, 1791-1S65 . Charles Sprague. Poet, 1791-1875 William Cullen Bryant. Poet, 1794-1878 . . Edward Everett. Orator, 1 794-1865 .... Joseph Rodman Drake. Poet, 1 795-1820 . . . Fitz-Greene Halleck. Poet, 1795-1867 . . . John Pendleton Kennedy. Novelist, 1795-1870 James Gates Percival. Poet, 1 795-1857 • • • John Gorham Palfrey. Historian, 1796-188 1 ; Horace Mann. Educator, 1796-1859 William Hickling Prescott. Historian, 1 796-1859 Francis Wayland. Preacher, 1796-1865 . . , William Ware. Historical Romancer, 1 797-1 852 George Bancroft. Historian, 1800-1891 . . , George Perkins Marsh. Philologist, 1801-18S2 Theodore Dwight Woolsey. Preacher, 1801-1S89 Horace Bushnell. Preacher, 1S02-1876 .... Mark PTopkins. Theologian, 1802-1887 .... Lydia Maria Child. Novelist, 1802-1880 . . . , Ralph Waldo Emerson. Poet and Essayist, 1803-1882 Orestes Augustus Brownson. Theologian, 1803-1S76 Robert Montgomery Bird. Novelist, 1803- 1854 . Nathaniel Hawthorne. Romancer, 1804-1864 Frederic Henry Hedge. Scholar, 1805-1890 . . William Gilmore Sjmms. Novelist, 1806-1870 . . Henry Wadsworiii Longfellow. Poet, 1S07-1SS2 Page 82 85 86 87 88 91 95 96 97 98 100 102 103 106 107 108 112 113 "5 117 118 120 125 126 127 131 133 135 CONTENTS. XI Page Nathaniel Parker Willis. Poet, 1807-1S67 ... .140 John Greenleaf Whittier. Poet, 1807-1892 143 Richard Hildreth. Historian, 1807-1865 147 Edmund Quincy. Reformer, 180S-1877 149 George Still.man Hillard. Essayist, 1808-1S79 . • . . 150 Edwards A. Park. Preacher, 1808 151 Oliver Wendell Holmes. Poet, Essayist, and Novelist, 1809 152 Robert Charles Winthrop, Statesman, 1809 157 James Freeman Clarke. Theologian, 1810-1S88 .... 159 Margaret Fuller. Critic, iSio-1850 161 Theodore Parker. Theologian, 1810-1860 164 Edgar Allan Poe. Poet, 1811-1849 167 George Washington Greene. Historian, 181 1-1883 . . 171 Alfred Billings Street. Poet, 181 1-18S1 172 Noah Porter. Metaphysician, 1811-1886 174 Wendell Phillips. Orator, 1811-18S4 175- Charles Sumner. Statesman, 1811-1874 178 Andrew Preston Peabody. Preacher, 1811-1893 .... 181 John William Draper. Scientist, 1811-1882 183 Harriet Beecher Stowe. Novelist, 1812 184 Chrlstopher Pearse Cranch. Poet, 1813-1892 .... 187 Henry Ward Beecher. Preacher, 1813-1S87 189 John Sullivan D wight. Essayist, 1813 ...... 192 Charles Timothy Brooks, Poet, 1813-1883 194 Sylvester Judd. Novelist, 1813-1853 195 Henry Theodore Tuckerman. Critic, 1813-1871 .... 197 Epes Sargent. Dramatist and Editor, 1813-1880 .... 199 John Lothrop Motley. Historian, 1814-1877 ..... 201 XII CONTENTS. Page George Edward Ellis. Historical writer, 1814 .... 205 Richard Henry Dana, Jr. Jurist, etc., 1815-1882 .... 207 John Godfrey Saxe. Poet, 1816-1887 209 Parke Godwin. Essayist, 1816 ........... 210 Robert Traill Spence Lowell. Novelist and Poet, 1816- 1891 211 Henry David Thoreau. Essayist, 1817-1862 213 James ThOxMas Fields, Editor and Poet, 181 7-1 881 . , . 217 James Russell Lowell. Poet and Essayist, 18 19- 1891 . . 218 William Wetmore Story. Poet, 1S19 225 Edwin Percy Whipple. Critic, 1819-1886 227 Julia Ward Howe. Poet, 1819 „ 228 Thomas William Parsons. Poet, 1819-1892 ..... 230 Josiah Gilbert Holland. Novelist and Poet, 1S19-1881 . 231 Herman Melville. Traveller, 1819-1891 233 Walt Whitman. Poet, 18 19-1892 .......... 235 Alice Gary. Poet, 1820-187 1 ........... 238 James Parton. Biographer, 1822 239 Edward Everett Hale. Historian and Story Writer, 1822 243 Thomas Buchanan Read. Poet, 1822-1872 ...... 245 Richard Grant White. Editor of Shakespeare, 1822-1885 247 Donald Grant Mitchell. Essayist, 1822 248 OcTAVius Brooks Frothingham. Essayist and Biographer, 1822 250 Francis Parkman. Historian, 1823 ......... 252 George Hp:nry Boker. Poet, 1823-1890 . 255 William Rounseville Alger. Preacher and Essayist, 1823 256 Thomas Wentworth Higginsun. Essayist, 1823 .... 259 CONTENTS. Xlii Page George William Curtis. Essayist, 1824-1892 261 Charles Godfrey Leland. Translator, Humorist, etc., 1824 264 William T. Adams. Author of Juvenile Novels, 1822 . . . 266 Benjamin West Ball. Poet, 1823 269 Adeline D. T. Whitney. Novelist, 1824 272 Thomas Starr King. Preacher, 1824-1864 273 Bayard Taylor. Traveller and Poet, 1825-1877 275 Julia Caroline Ripley Dorr. Poet and Novelist, 1S25 . 279 John Williamson Palmer. Traveller, 1825 . . c = . . 281 Richard Henry Stoddard. Poet, 1825 ....... 283 ADDENDA . 285 INDEX .,,..„ o .,,.....,.. 301 THE BUILDERS OF AMERICAN LITERATURE. HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. THE history of literature in the United States is naturally divided into three periods, corre- sponding with the various stages of the political, com- mercial, and social progress of the country: i. The Colonial period, from the first settlements to near the middle of the eighteenth century. 2. The Revolu- tionary period, from the first awakening of the spirit of independence to the successful issue of the struggle and the peaceful close of the administration of Wash- ington. 3. The period of national development in which we are now living. For many and obvious reasons the Colonial period was not favorable to literature. All the energies of the early settlers were taxed to establish comfortable homes, meetinghouses, and school-houses; to secure the means of subsistence, and to protect themselves from hostile savages. For the beginnings we must look to Massachusetts ; the conditions in the other colonies will be referred 2 HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. to later. The few letters sent to friends in Old Eng- land, the preachers' occasional discourses, and the homely annals kept by secretaries and magistrates were the principal intellectual performances for a generation. Not that there was any lack of ability and learning, — the settlers of Boston in particular included many well-educated men ; but only the clergy had leisure for literary culture, and they were, for the most part, so occupied with the duties of their calling that they wrote few books of general interest. It was truly a " church militant" that ruled in New England. Controversy was the means and end of education. The- feet of the doubter or debater (on the wrong side) were sooner or later made acquainted with the stocks, or with the lonely ways that led into the un- pitying wilderness, or to the haunts of the white man's mortal foe. The department of dramatic literature, at that time the most prolific of any in the language, was avoided and reprobated by the Puritans. The stage was re- garded as unchristian, and all its literature was under ban. Prose fiction had not then been created ; science was but just dawning, and the powerful influence it was to exert on letters was then unsuspected. A little reflection will show that these causes were sufficient to confine the efforts of writers in a comparatively narrow compass; and it is not to be forgotten that religion had a constant and an overwhelming interest, especially with educated men, so that all other topics seemed trivial and barren in comparison. Therefore let us be just to the memory of the HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 3 fathers of Massachusetts. They had their task, and they accomphshed it. Let us own that the very unloveHness of their temper, the severity of their disciphne, and their disdain of sentiment were indis- pensable to the great work of founding the colonies on an enduring basis ; and that if they had come here to indite poems and romances, to dream of Utopias and Arcadias, and to dance around Maypoles, their mention in history would have been a brief one, and their place in the respect of mankind far different from what it now is. There were other influences unfavorable to the growth of literature, which affected not only New England, but the other colonies as well. There were few libraries, scanty means for the communication of ideas, and a want of literary centres. These indis- pensable conditions could come only with the accu- mulation of wealth, the establishment of social order, and the opportunity for leisure. But the greatest obstacle was in the very condition of the people as colonists. They were Englishmen, but without a country. They had left the society, traditions, and history which made them proud of their lineage, and they had nothing, so far, as a substitute for these sources of inspiration. Our early literature is interesting only to antiqua- rians and students of church history; there were few books written in America during the seventeenth century which the readers of our day, especially the younger ones, would peruse, except as a task. This is set down with a knowledge of the value of Win- 4 HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. throp's Journal and Letters, of Bradford's History of the Plymouth Colony, of Wood's New England Pros- pect, of Cotton Mather's laborious ecclesiastical his- tory, of Ward's quaint pamphlet, and some other works, as foundations. The first book printed in America was the Bay Psalm Book, compiled by the apostle Eliot, aided by Rev. Richard Mather and Rev. Thomas Weld. The work was done by Stephen Daye, in 1640, at Cam- bridge, on a press set up in the house of the college president. He was remembered for his work by the government. In the Records of the Colony, De- cember, 1641, may be seen an order in these words: " Stephen Daye, being the first that set upon print- ing, is allowed three hundred acres of land where it may be convenient, without prejudice to any town." Not much can be said in favor of the poetry of the Bay Psalm Book. The verses have but little grace, and less melody. As a sample of " The stretched metre of an antique song," we give some lines, in which David bewails his deso- Jate condition : — (From Psalm Ixxxviii.) Thy fierce wrath over mee cloth goe, thy terrors they doe mee difmay, EncompalTe mee about they doe, clofe mee together all the day. Lover & friend a far thou haft removed off away from mee, ^z mine acquaintance thou haft caft into darkfom obfcuritee. HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 5 (From Psalm civ ) For beafts hee makes the graffe to grow, herbs alfo for mans good : that hee may bring out of the earth what may be for their food : Wine alfo that mans heart may glad, & oyle their face to bright : and bread which to the heart of man may it fupply with might. Gods trees are fappy : his planted Cedars of Lebanon : Where birds doe neft : as for the Storke, Firres are her manfion. The wilde Goates refuge are the hills : rocks Conies doe inclofe. The Moone hee hath for feafons fet, the Sun his fetting knows. Not more than half a dozen copies of the original edition of this book are known to be extant. The Journal and Letters of Governor Winthrop are more interesting in matter and more simple and effec- tive in manner than any works that have been pre- served of this period. The Journal is at once a history of the church, town, and colony. We give, in modern spelling, a short specimen from his de- fence, made after the election of Governor Thomas Dudley: — *' The great questions that have troubled the coun- try are about the authority of the magistrates and the liberty of the people. It is yourselves that have called us to this office; and, being called by you, we have our authority from God, in the way of an ordi- nance such as hath the image of God eminently 6 HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. stamped upon it, the contempt and violation whereof hath been vindicated with examples of divine ven- geance. I entreat you to consider, that when you choose magistrates you take them from among your- selves, men subject to like passions as you are. Therefore when you see infirmities in us you should reflect upon your own ; and that would make you bear the more with us, and not be severe censurers of the failings of your magistrates when you have continual experience of the like infirmities in your- selves and others." His letters contain many beautiful passages. We print an extract from his farewell to his wife, when about starting to this country: — ** It goeth very near my heart to leave thee ; but I know to whom I have committed thee, even to him who loves thee much better than any husband can ; who hath taken account of the hairs of thy head, and puts all thy tears in his bottle ; who can, and (if it be for his glory) will, bring us together again with peace and comfort. Oh how it refresheth my heart to think that I shall yet again see thy sweet face in the land of the living, — that lovely countenance that I have so much delighted in and beheld with so great content ! . . . Yet if all these hopes should fail, blessed be our God that we are assured we shall meet one day, if not as husband and wife, yet in a better condition. Let that stay and comfort thy heart. Neither can the sea drown thy husband, nor enemies destroy, nor any adversity deprive thee of thy husband or children. Therefore I will only take thee now and my sweet HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. J children in mine arms, and kiss and embrace you all, and so leave you with my God. Farewell ! farewell ! " The " Simple Cobler of Aggawam," by the Rev. Nathaniel Ward, of Ipswich, written in 1645, ^"d printed in London in 1647, is a production very char- acteristic of the times. It contains a satire upon the prevailing extravagance of women's dress (a theme not wholly obsolete yet), a furious attack upon the toleration of theological errors, some counsel to the Englisli people upon the civil war then beginning, two or three vigorous and sensible letters to King Charles I., and various shots at the Baptists and lesser secta- ries that disturbed the serenity of the colony. This is a sentence of his upon allowing freedom of reli- gious opinions : — " I dare averre that God doth no where in his word tolerate Christian States to give Tolerations to such adversaries of his Truth, if they have power in their hands to suppresse them." Here is another sentence in the author's favorite style: " Truth does not grow old {non sencscit Veri- tas). No man ever saw a gray hair on the head or beard of any Truth, wa'inkle or morphew on its face; the bed of Truth is green all the year long." The title of the ''Simple Cobler" is a misnomer, for the author is neither simple nor amusing, but is painfully pedantic ; his sentences are crammed with Latin, and he delights in barbarous words of his own coining. In striving for wit he seldom gets further than a play upon words. For example, read the following : — 8 HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. ** It is a more common than convenient saying, that nine Taylors make a man ; it were well if nine- teene could make a woman to her minde : if Taylors were men indeed, well furnished but with meer morall principles, the'y would disdain to be led about like Apes by such mymick Marmosets. It is a most un- worthy thing for men that have bones in them to spend their lives in making fidle-cases for futilous women's phansies, which are the very pettitoes of in- firmity, the gyblets of perquisquilian toyes/' But in spite of all these evident blemishes, the " Simple Cobler " was a vigorous writer, with a power of clear statement, and no lack of forcible illustration. One of his sentences shows that he appreciated the critic's function. In these days, when the bobolink is reproached because it is not an eagle, it may not be amiss to quote : " It is musick to me to heare every Dity speak its spirit in its apt tune, every breast to sing its proper part, and every creature to expresse itself in its naturall note; should I heare a Mouse roare like a Beare, a Cat lowgh like an Oxe, or a Horse whistle like a Redbreast, it would scare — mee." Misstress Anne Bradstrect, daughter of Gov. Thomas Dudley, and wife of Simon Bradstreet, secre- tary of the colony, wrote a volume of poems that was printed in 1 647, and seems to have excited great ad- miration. Mrs. Bradstreet was a learned woman, and appears to have aimed at putting a compendium of what was known of history, philosophy, and religion into ten-syllabled verse. First comes a dialogue be- HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 9 tween " the four elements " personified, — Earth, Air, Fire, and Water; next, one between "the four hu- mors " in the constitution of man, — Choler, Blood, Melancholy, and Phlegm. Then appear " the four ages of man," " the four seasons of the year," and " the four monarchies of the world " (the Assyrian, Persian, Grecian, and Roman). New and Old Eng- land next discourse together upon the civil war then arising between the king and the Commons; and then a collection of elegies and epitaphs ends the book. It would seem that some discussion had taken place, even at that early day, upon the proper sphere of woman, for Mistress Anne says : — " I am obnoxious to each carping tongue Who says my hand a needle better fits. A poet's pen all scorn I should thus wrong, For such despite they cast on Female wits : If what I do prove well, it won't advance. They'll say it 's stol'n, or else it was by chance." We print a few lines from " An Elegie upon that Honourable and renowned Knight, Sir Philip Sidney, who was untimely slain at the Siege of Zutphen, Anno 1586": — "When England did enjoy her Halsion dayes, Her noble Sidney wore the Crown of Bayes : As well an honour to our British Land As she that sway'd the scepter with her hand. Mars and Minerva did in one agree, Of Arms and Arts he should a pattern be ; Calliope with Terpsichore did sing, Of Poesie and of Musick he was King. lO HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. O brave Achilles, I wish some Ho?ne?' wouldi Engrave in Marble with Characters of gold The valiant feats thou didst on Flander's coast, Which at this day fair Belgia may boast. The more I say the more thy worth I stain, Thy fame and praise are far beyond my strain. O ZiitpJiefi, Zutphen, that most fatal city, Made famous by thy death, much more the pity: Ah, in his blooming prime death pluckt this rose. Ere he was ripe his thread cut Atroposy It is quite needless to observe that Mrs. Bradstreet's poems are rather hard reading, and that the patient gleaner will find few blossoms among all the briery sheaves. Let us turn to a great name in New England his- tory, — to Cotton Mather, who above all men was an epitome of the learning, the theological subtilty, the political opinions, and the credulity of the age. His family might almost be called Levitical, since ten members of it within three generations were settled ministers of the gospel in Massachusetts. He was the son of a venerated clergyman, and may be said to have had his nurture and training in the sanctuary. His industry as a writer was amazing, his published works- — chiefly sermons and memoirs — being three hundred and eighty-two in number. His principal work is commonly called the ''Magnalia; " its full title is " Magnalia Christi Americana," the meaning of which is best expressed by a paraphrase, — "the great things wrought by Christ for the American ^ The rhyme would seem to indicate that the sound of / in " would " had not then become wholly silent. HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. I I church." It contains a detailed account of the settle- ment of the New England colonies ; lives of the gov- ernors, other magistrates, and clergy ; the principal events in the Indian and French wars ; a treatise upon special providences, including a great number of ac- counts of God's judgments by shipwreck, lightning, and sudden death; and narratives of the trials for witchcraft in Salem and elsewhere. The general tone of the work makes a painful im- pression upon the mind; nor is the pervading gloom relieved by the intended amenities of style. Scraps of Latin, Greek, or Hebrew are set in nearly every page. Quotations of heathen poetry are forced into unhappy association with polemical theology, in a way almost to recall Virgil and his fellow Romans from the shades to claim their own ; and the narra- tion, though intelligible enough, often hobbles along until the reader fancies himself jolting over some of the dreadful roads that crossed the ancient wilderness. After the fashion of the time, Mather indulges in never-ending quibbles and puns. In his controversy with Mr. Calef, he must shorten his name to calf. In mentioning President Oakes, he hopes that gentleman will be transplanted to the heavenly pasture, and he speaks of the students under him as young Druids. Three clergymen came over in the same vessel, named Cotton, Hooker, and Stone. Mather said the people had now something for each of their three great necessities, — Cottoft for their clothing. Hooker for their fishing, and Stone for their building. Later on he calls the latter a gem, then a Jlifit, and then a 12 HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. loadstone. In the epitaph upon Francis Higginson, the passer-by is admonished to be of this order of Franciscans. In the hfe of Ralph Partridge, we see him hunted by Episcopal beak and claw upon the mountains until he makes a flight to America. As Cotton Mather was a man of uncommon ability and learning, it is a matter of some difficulty to state the reasons why he occupies a place so much lower in literary than in ecclesiastical annals. What is said of him will apply, with some qualification, to other writers of his time. Parables, emblems, and meta- phors were the prevailing fashion, both in England and America. To use this pictorial style effectively and with taste requires an instinctive judgment and sense of the fitness of things which few men in a gen- eration possess. Speakers and writers who are in the habit of employing figurative language are apt to leave sentences with lame conclusions, because it is not every illustration that can be carried out to a symmetrical close. The image that rises to the mind is often like that seen by the prophet in vision, of which though the countenance was golden, the feet were of clay. Michael Wigglesworth was the author of" The Day of Doom," or a Poetical Description of the Great and East Judgment, with a short Discourse about Eter- . nity, and other pieces. This work was very success- ful at the time, owing more to the subject and to the religious character of the colonists than to the merit of the verses. The style is rugged and tasteless, and if we should give any specimens, even the best, it HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 13 might be considered as tending to bring sacred things into ridicule. Wood's "New England Prospect" is a lively de- scription of the country and its resources, written in both prose and verse. It hardly belongs to our litera- ture, as the author printed it in London in 1634, after a very brief residence in the colony, and it is doubtful whether he ever returned here. There were many learned and able men among the New England clergy, — such as Thomas Hooker, Thorhas Shepard, John Eliot, and John Cotton ; but their works belong to the history of theology. The Plymouth Colony was even less fruitful in lit- erature than the Colony of the Bay. The latter had a very large number of graduates of old Cambridge and Oxford among its magistrates and clergy. But if the settlers of Plymouth were less educated, they were more tolerant, charitable, and amiable. The annals of the Old Colony were written by its gover- nor, William Bradford ; later, Nathaniel Morton wrote " New England's Memorial," based on Bradford's His- tory, and including contemporary elegies and anec- dotes. Roger Williams, who has the honor of being the first advocate of liberty of conscience, at least in America, was the author of controversial tracts only. The peculiar genius of the Puritans seems to have attained its highest development in Jonathan Edwards, who was born in East Windsor, Conn., in 1703, grad- uated at Yale College, and settled as preacher in Northampton, Mass. He was an original metaphysi- cian, equal in sustained power and in clear-sightedness 14 HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. to any modern investigator. His works are master- pieces of abstract reasoning, written for thinkers, and are as abstruse and technical as treatises upon the higher mathematics. Thomas Hutchinson was the author of a History of Massachusetts during the period from 1620 to 1691, — a very well written, and in the main trustworthy, work. It was based upon original memoirs, and is regarded as an authority; but, further than that, it calls for no special mention. In any just account of our literature, the influence of Harvard College must have a prominent place. Founded in 1636 as a seminary for religious teachers, it shared the poverty of the New England colonies in their day of small things ; but it grew with their growth, and was ready to act its part on the larger field which spread with the increase of wealth and the demand for higher culture. For the first cen- tury its standard of scholarship was not very high, but its influence was constant and cumulative. By the end of the eighteenth century there was an army of its graduates in the learned professions, and every one communicated something of the spirit of his alma mater to the society of his neigh- borhood. Later came Yale, William and Mary, Princeton, and Union colleges, all centres of active influences. The literary history of the Colony of Virginia does net begin until a later period. The story of its dis- covery and early settlement was written by the famous Captain John Smith, who was not permanently identi- HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. I 5 fied with its interests, but returned to England. A few expatriated Englishmen of a classical turn amused themselves by making Latin translations, which after- ward appeared in London ; but there was no printing- press to strike off, no booksellers to publish, no public to read or enjoy literature, in Virginia. Ban- croft, under the date of 1674, says: " The generation now in existence were chiefly the fruit of the soil; they were children of the woods, nurtured in the freedom of the wilderness, and dwelling in lonely cottages, scattered along the streams. No news- papers entered their houses; no printing-press fur- nished them a book. They had no recreations but such as Nature provides in her wilds, no education but such as parents in the desert could give their offspring." Elsewhere the historian mentions the boast of the governor. Sir William Berkeley, that there was not a printing-press in all Virginia. In Pennsylvania there was liberty of the press, but the influence of Quakerism was even less favorable to literature than Puritanism had been. And, besides, there was no college like Harvard in Penn's otherwise thriving colony. In New York the mixed origin of the people, the succession of conflicting governments, and other cir- cumstances, kept back the development of literature until a much later period. With the growing discontent of the colonies, the literature of the eighteenth century began to assume a new phase. Those who were engaged in manufac- l6 HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. tares and commerce began to demand freedom of action. Tlie clergy, except the members of the EngHsh Church, were universally active in resisting the royal claims over the colonies. The sense of wrong indited petitions to Parliament, and stimulated discussion upon the duties of rulers and the rights of their subjects. Slowly new theories were evolved. Some thinkers, like Jefferson and Paine, had pondered over the doctrines of Rousseau and other French phil- osophers. Others, like Franklin, Ouincy, Otis, and the Adamses, had been applying the reasoning of Hamp- den and the English patriots to the case of the colo- nies. It was a period of great intellectual activity, but of activity directed exclusively to one subject. Of general literature, whether history, essay, poem, or story, the country was almost barren. Besides the works of a few well-known writers, and the printed sermons (of vvhich great numbers doubtless remain in country parsonages for future explorers), the intel- lectual efforts of the period were entirely ephemeral. No report has been preserved of the powerful argu- ments of John Adams, or of the brilliant speeches of James Otis; and the traditional eloquence of Patrick Henry lives only in imperfect fragments. The energies of men were spent in action. The fancies of the poet and the arts of the rhetorician were laid aside with the scholar's gown. Men lived poems, radiated eloquence, and exemplified philosophy. The cause of liberty in America was indebted probably more to Thomas Paine than to any writer of the time. His " Common Sense," which was pub- HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 17 lished in January, 1776, says Dr. Rush, *' burst upon the world with an effect which has rarely been pro- duced by types and paper in any age or country." In December of the same year, when the utmost depression prevailed, the first number of his " Crisis " appeared. The first sentence has been " familiar in , our mouths as household words" ever since: *' These are the times that try men's souls." This was read at the head of every regiment, and revived the drooping spirits of the troops. The impartial historian must declare that liberty owes nearly as much to the cour- ageous advocacy of Paine as to the military services of Washington. Unless we feel an interest in the causes that led to the Revolutionary War, and in the arguments by which the patriotic fathers upheld their action, we shall not need to dwell long on this period. As in all times of excitement, ballads, songs, and versified gibes were abundant, and those who are fond of this species of literature will find a collection of them in Duyckinck's Cyclopedia. Besides these, there were the verses of Phillis Wheatley, a negro woman, sold as a slave, and educated in Boston, — verses that were remarkable considering the birth and education of the author, but of little positive value to-day. There was one other author who has some claims up- on our consideration, — Philip Freneau. He was an active, not to say virulent, political writer, and the author of many poems. His prose works are no longer interesting, and his poems have been so com- pletely eclipsed in later times that they are seldom 1 8 HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. read. The '* Indian Burying Ground " contains the best Unes we have been able to find in his poems: In spite of all the harned have said, I still my old opinion keep : The posture that we give the dead Points out the soul's eternal sleep. Not so the ancients of these lands ; The Indian, when from life released, Again is seated with his friends, And shares again the joyous feast. His imaged birds and painted bowl. And venison for a journey drest, Bespeak the nature of the soul, Activity that wants no rest. His bow for action ready bent, And arrows, with a head of bone. Can only mean that Hfe is spent. And not the finer essence gone. Thou, stranger, that shalt come this way, No fraud upon the dead commit ; Yet mark the swelling turf and say, They do not lie, but here they sit. Here still a lofty rock remains, On which the curious eye may trace (Now wasted half by wearing rains) The fancies of a ruder race. Here still an aged elm aspires, Beneath whose far projecting shade (And which the shepherd still admires) The children of the forest played. HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 19 There oft a restless Indian queen (Pale Marian with her braided hair) And many a barbarous form is seen To chide the man that lingers there. By midnight moons, o'er moistening dews, In vestments for the chase arrayed. The hunter still the deer pursues, The hunter and the deer — a shade. And long shall timorous Fancy see The painted chief and pointed spear, And reason's self shall bow the knee To shadows and delusions here. Mention shotild be made of Alexander Wilson, the ornithologist, a man of brilliant parts, devoted to his chosen purstiits, and a master of a beautiful style of writing. He will always share the regard of the world with his great contemporary, Audubon. The "Federalist" is the name of a series of papers, written chiefly by James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, upon the Constitution of this country. The work is an invaluable one to lawyers and states- men, and should not be overlooked by the student of history. The prominent novelist of the last century was Charles Brockden Brown, born in Philadelphia in 1 771. He was a man of unquestioned ability, and will have a place in all histories of our literature. His novels, however, are formed upon the model of William Godwin's ''Caleb Williams," and, though powerful and absorbing in interest, are at the same time repulsive to the last degree. The hero is always 20 HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. involved in the meshes of fate, either the witness or the victim of unspeakable atrocities which no hu- man foresight could avert. The influence of such morbid productions is neither exhilarating nor im- proving, and for that reason we do not include the author in this collection, but refer the reader to the cyclopaedias. William Clifton, born in Philadelphia in 1772, was possessed of fine poetical powers, and has left many agreeable poems, which barely miss excellence. In any full collection he would be sure of a place. There will always be a charm in the prose of Franklin; Jefferson will always have some readers ; and students of history may pore over the writings of a few other contemporary authors. But our literature has its real beginning with BRYANT and IRVING. When " Thanatopsis" was printed in the "North American Review," and " The Sketch Book " was printed in New York, the day of commonplace rhymes, and of dull and pedantic essayists, was gone. It is proper, however, that we should mention the names of a few literary periodicals which were pub- lished near the beginning of this century. They do not contain many articles of permanent value, but their influence was powerful in moulding the public taste, and in preparing the way for the authors who were to follow. Among the first, and by far the best, of these early magazines was " The Farmer's Museum," established in Walpole, N. H., in 1793, by Isaiah Thomas and David Carlisle. Among its early contributors was Joseph Dennie, a native of Boston HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 21 and a graduate of Harvard College, who in 1796 became the responsible editor, and who called to his aid a circle of the brightest wits and best writers of the time. Royal Tyler, Thomas G. Fessenden, David Everett, and Isaac Story were of the corps. Dennie, among other things, wrote a series of mildly pleasant essays entitled " The Lay Preacher," which were much admired. In 1799 he removed to Phila- delphia, and the next year established a literary peri- odical in that city called '* The Port Folio," edited by Oliver Oldschool. This was devoted to belles lettres and criticism, and was addressed wholly to cultivated readers. It contained elaborate treatises upon the poems of Gray and others, and many of the poems and epigrams printed in its columns were in French or Spanish. Thomas Moore, who was then sojourn- ing in the United States, contributed original poems for its pages. Dennie died about the end of the year 18 II, but '• The Port Folio " was continued under the management of other editors until 1827. The essays of " The Lay Preacher " were collected in a volume published at Walpole in 1796, and another edition appeared in Philadelphia in 1817; but the work has now fallen into almost total neglect. There was an earlier venture, the *' American Mu- seum," started in Philadelphia, in 1787, by Matthew- Carey, an Irish emigrant. This was a meritorious and useful periodical, but could hardly be styled literary. It was a repository of old and new matter, chiefly designed for the instruction of the people in domestic economy and in their practical duties under the new 22 HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. Constitution. The editor, among other tilings, re- printed Thomas Paine's " Common Sense," Trumbiill's " McFingal," and a rather tedious poem by David Humphreys. The undertaking appears to have had the valuable aid of Benjamin Franklin and of Dr. Benjamin Rush. The " Museum " was continued until 1799. Another magazine was published in Philadelphia from 1803 to 1808, conducted with considerable abil- ity, by the celebrated novelist, Charles Brockden Brown. It was called " The Literary Magazine and American Register." In 181 3 "The Analectic Magazine " was begun in Philadelphia, remembered chiefly as being edited by Washington Irving. This was. mainly a compilation from foreign sources, al- though Irving wrote for it several able critical articles and biographies of naval commanders. Isiaah Thomas, already mentioned in connection with "The Farmer's Museum," published "The Massachusetts Magazine" from 1789 to 1796. In New York, in 181 1, was published "The American Review," edited by Robert Walsh. This was the first quarterly established in this country. It continued for two years only. One other magazine in this period deserves men- tion, and that is " The Monthly Anthology," issued in Boston from 1803 to 1811. It was founded by a club (first of the series of Mutual Admiration Societies of the city) purely for the love of literature. It was conducted without reward, and the printer was mag- nanimously paid by the contributors. It numbered HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 23 among its members Rev. William Emerson, father of the essayist and poet, Judge William Tudor, author of the ** Life of James Otis," Rev. William E. Channing, the famous preacher and essayist, Richard H. Dana, the poet, Dr. J. C. Warren, Dr. James Jackson, Dr. J. S. J. Gardiner, and others. To this club Boston owes the Athenaeum Library and Gal- lery. There are valuable critical and didactic articles in the " Anthology," but it would not be considered a very brilliant magazine in our day. We give an ex- tract from a poem by Thomas Paine (not the Thomas of the " Age of Reason" and the '* Rights of Man," but a Boston Thomas, who afterward had his name changed to Robert Treat Paine, Jr., because he had not, he said, a Christian name). The poem was delivered before the Phi Beta Kappa Society at Cam- bridge in 1797, and the reviewer in the *' Anthology," without rating it very high, considered that the poem, on the whole, was the best that had been written in the country at that time. (From "The Ruling Passion.") '• To fame unknown, to happier fortune born, The blythe Savoyard hails the peep of morn ; And while the fluid gold his eye surveys, The hoary Glaciers fling their diamond blaze ; Geneva's broad lake rushes from its shores, Arve gently murmurs and the rough Rhone roars. 'Mid the cleft Alps his cabin peers from high, Hangs o'er the clouds and perches on the sky. O'er fields of ice, across the headlong flood, From chff to cliff he bounds in fearless mood: 24 HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. While far beneath a night of tempest lies, Deep thunder mutters, harmless lightning flies; While far above, from battlements of snow, Loud torrents tumble on the world below. On rustic reed he wakes a merrier tune Than the lark warbles on the Ides of June. Far off let Glory's clariojt shrilly swell ; He loves the music of his pipe as well. Let shouting millions crown the hero's head, And Pride her tessellated pavement tread ; More happy far, this denizen of air Enjoys what Nature condescends to spare ; His days are jocund, undisturbed his nights ; His spouse contents him, and his 7nule delights." A few years later, in 1815, the ''North American Review" was established. It was conducted mainly by the coterie that had maintained the " Anthology." The country had become independent and prosper- ous. Public and private libraries were doing -their silent but prodigious work; the tone of public sen- timent was hopeful and patriotic. The Review be- came a leader of public opinion, and promoted the interests of learning and the development of taste. When we remember that most of its early contribu- tors have been active men within the memory of the present generation, and that one of them, Richard H. Dana, Sr., survived until 1879, we shall be sensible of the short space of time in which the bulk of our literature has been created. The vejierable Review also survives, like an ancient line-of-battle ship, with a record of brilliant service and a new modern armament. HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 25 Let us not be misunderstood. All the libraries and learning, all the literary clubs and reviews in the world, can never produce a work of genius; but they create a literary atmosphere in which genius is nourished, they attract authors and artists to liter- ary centres, and many minds are broyght through these influences to a consciousness of their own powers. As we have before mentioned, Bryant is the earliest of our poets, as Irving is of our prose writers. From the time of their appearance the enumeration of our authors becomes more difficult, and we can mention only a few conspicuous names. With all our disad- vantages, and in spite of the absence of an unsatisfac- tory international copyright law, our literary fields show abundant culture and fruit. It is evident that this is our Elizabethan age, and that the names of our chief poets will be hereafter remembered as the con- stellation of the nineteenth century. Bryant, Long- fellow, Emerson, VVhittier, Holmes, and Lowell, — and in a measure Poe and Whitman, — are already classic on both sides of the Atlantic, and have their assured place in history. There are many others who, if they do not eventually come into the first rank, will have an enduring remembrance. Among elder novelists and romancers the world will not for- get Cooper, Hawthorne, or Mrs. Stowe. Prescott, Motley, Bancroft, and Parkman are secure for this age in the fields of their historic labors. Future genera- tions, we like to believe, will turn over the pages of our brilliant essayists such as Thoreau, Higginson, 26 HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. Whipple, Curtis, and Warner, with the deHght we feel in Lamb, Sydney Smith, and Leigh Hunt. In literature, as in life, there is an ever-moving pro- cession. At the most, we can give only an instantane- ous view of living writers and their works, and before the picture can be prepared for exhibition we may find the grouping and perspective all wrong. Imma- ture geniuses have begun to dwindle, and some ven- erable reputations to grow dim; monuments fondly thought to be more enduring than bronze have begun to crumble; the wisdom we reverenced is growing obsolete, and the humor we relished has gone, like the expression from poor Yorick's skull ; while new men with strange names are coming to take the lead- ing places without the least consideration for the elders whom they crowd into the background. Even while we write, and before the printer has done his work, new poems, new histories, and new travels may be appearing, which will totally disarrange the best-considered estimates of contemporary literature. Some author, inconspicuous hitherto, may blaze with a new and unexpected lustre. The attraction of some great genius may draw the thoughts and emotions of men into new channels, and leave our present favorites in hopeless neglect, until the turn of the tide. The booksellers tell us that the lifetime of books does not exceed thirty years. (We do not refer to novels and tales, which the public expects fresh daily, like muffins.) It will be in vain to look on their shelves to-day for a volume bearing the date of i860, unless it is one of the few that have become classic, HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 2/ in which case it will be catalogued as Vol. — of the Complete Works of . If it were only the worth- less books that are whelmed in oblivion, there would be some satisfaction in the sure though slow ven- geance which overtakes dulness and pretension ; but there are notable exceptions. Some of the early poems of Cranch are imaginative, thoughtful, and delicately wrought; and it may surprise the reader to learn that he cannot find a copy of the original volume in any bookstore in America. There are numerous in- stances of the same kind in our literary history. It is obvious that our literature has from time to time to a great extent adopted the thought and re- flected the changing taste of the mother country. Every English master has been acknowledged here as faithfully as in London. A collection of our arti- cles in chronological order, whether in prose or verse, will hardly need marginal dates, since the style will enable us to fix the period to which it belongs. Even to this day the independence of this country has not been fully achieved so far as literature is concerned. Admirable works in many departments have been written here, and a feeling of nationality has begun to penetrate literary classes ; but we have not pro- duced many authors who are not greatly indebted to English models. All the stately, heroic lines of the provincial period, as well as the poems for college an- niversaries still in vogue, are so many tributes to Pope. The " Lay Preacher," by Dennie, and the " Letters of a British Spy," by Wirt, were only heartfelt acknowl- edgments to the Addisonian essayists. Wordsworth, 28 HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. without being directly imitated (which, considering his occasional tendency to prosiness, is fortunate), has strongly influenced most of our poets. New York gave its homage to Byron in Willis's " Lady Jane " and in Halleck's "Fanny" and "Marco Bozzaris ; " and later a new echo of his ringing verse came from the Californian sierras. Were Tennyson to claim his own laurels, many of our bards would find their brows as bare as Caesar's. But this is an ungracious theme. One thing more should be said, however; and that is, our great indebtedness to English scholarship seems likely to continue. While education is more generally diffused in the United States, conspicuous scholarship is far more frequent in England. Lite- rary labor is generally poorly paid in this country. It is the demand for cJieap books that has made the profession of authorship a beggarly one ; and until literature as a profession is remunerative, it will not retain the best minds permanently in its service. The few men of genius — half a dozen in a generation — will write because they must; and they will have their reward. But the maintenance of a national literature requires the co-operation of a great body of men of talent, who must be enabled to earn a living. So long as the results of an English scholar's labor can be imported and used without payment, the Ameri- can scholar can find no market in his own country. Two thirds of all the reviewing, condensing, translat- ing, and other literary work, are done in England. This transfers the power and influence also. The present international copyright law bristles with difli- HISTORICAL INTRODUCTIOxV. 20 culties, and, except for the (ew great writers, may prove to be of small practical benefit. The progress of events has greatly changed the character of modern literature. The great discover- ies in physical science have not only given birth to an immense number of special treatises, but have affected our thinking, supplied us with new words for the new ideas, and furnished illustrations for phi- losophers and poets. Our essayists, preachers, and lecturers have resources at hand which the fathers of our literature never dreamed of While investi- gation has been pointing out the errors of the past and building our knowledge on sure foundations, the experiments of natural philosophers, — as in spectrum-analysis, for instance, — and the observa- tions of astronomers, have been de-magnetizing our common figures of speech (once suited to the world's childhood) and raising our conceptions of the grand- eur of the universe. The mind deals with vaster measures of space and time, and man has thereby grown in intellectual and moral stature. And as thought has expanded, so language, the instrument of thought, or rather its dodj/, has had a correspond- ing development. Whoever shall write a great poem hereafter will have at his hand virtually a new and living vocabulary. The reinforced and perfected language waits for the master who can display its accumulated stores. Another influence, which is slowly but powerfully affecting our literature, is the doctrine of equalit}^ in political affairs and economic relations. The point 30 HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. of separation between us and the English people is where democracy and Christianity meet in asserting the rights of man as ma7i against prescription and the accidents of birth. So long as we are loyal to the ideas on which our government rests, — the ideas which alone give us an individuality among nations, which have cast out slavery and left the republic firm, and which are to overthrow all other intrenched privileges of special classes, — we can look forward hopefully to the development of a national character, and of a national literature in harmony with it. The qualities that make the essential differences between American and English literature are those which have sprung from different theories in regard to the natural rights of man. The people of Great Britain do not gener- ally admit this, but there is no other rational expla- nation for the evident higher tone and freer expression of ideas in the United States since the intellectual independence of the country has been asserted. A change in the observer's point of view is a very important fact ; and it is clear that if the experiment of free government is to be permanently successful, much of the history as well as the political and moral philosophy of the world must be re-written. It is one thing that the issue of a battle shall bring a nation of peasants, united and content, to the foot of one man exalted on a throne, and quite another that the same people shall gain by their own swords the right to be greatly free, to be educated for their responsibilities, and to enter upon an illimitable career of progress. The beliefs of the historian and the faith of the bard HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 3 I will color, if not wholly control, their accounts of such a struggle and their celebration of the victory. VVe have therefore a right to expect from our authors that they shall be animated by a spirit in harmony with our national ideas, and by a faith in the future of our institutions. Without this, there is not even a beginning for a national literature. Kings and courts may interest us like mediaeval castles, but the philo- sophical American will think more of his sixty mil- lion fellow sovereigns, and of the influences which are to make them fit rulers over themselves. In this view the ideal historian is not only an impartial ob- server, but a believer in humanity, and in the perfec- tibility of institutions for humanity's sake. History will be the record of the progress of ideas, of the gradual elimination of error and wrong, and so a prophecy of ultimate justice and tranquillity. In looking over the body of modern literature we notice the absence of dramatic worksc A little over two hundred years ago the noblest poetry, the pro- foundest views of life, the wisest maxims of states- manship, as well as the most masterly studies of character, were to be found in plays. The theatre degenerated as education became more general, and poetry was gradually superseded by prose in drama- tic literature. The last classical plays were Talfourd's, unless we except Lord Lytton's *' Richelieu " and " The Lady of Lyons." Few plays of the sentimental class were written afterward. Plays are still written by scholars, but acting dramas are no longer a part of literature. A new Shakespeare could not get a 32 HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. play represented on the modern stage unless it were a melodrama or a burlesque. Even then, the man- ager at the first rehearsal would cut out ev^ery speech on which the dramatist prided himself, — every gem of sentiment and epigrammatic turn, every flower of song. " To be or not to be," " What a piece of work is man ! " " Hark ! the lark at heaven's gate sings," " All the world 's a stage," would be found as so many scraps of paper in the waste-basket. A play, being no longer a liter- ary work, is " reduced," as in fractions, " to its lowest terms." Action is the thing; and as a ship of war that had before moved on in beauty, a stately pile of canvas towers, now, when the enemy nears, takes in her light sails, sends down her slender spars, and strips to fighting trim, so the serious play, to suit the impatient temper of audiences, is shorn of its graces and its fine sentiments, and is made a mere exhibition of the conflict of human passions in their most tu- multuous form. The play-goer may be safely chal- lenged to repeat a single line from any modern work that has delighted him. He may recall an attitude or a tableau, but not a sentence worth rememberincf. Once, for the pensive Milton, — "gorgeous Tragedy In sceptred pall came sweeping by ; " now, it is an infuriated being, with skirts and sleeves tucked up, rushing across the stage and brandishing a butcher's knife. The novel has gained in character and influence as HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 33 much as the drama has lost The demand for enter- tainment seems rather to have grown with the world's growth, and now a vast army of writers is occupied, more or less profitably, in furnishing stories by tape- measure for periodicals, and filling bookstores, circu- lating libraries, and railway trains with weekly sup- plies of completed novels. Though the greater part of this mass of fiction is outside the pale of literature, it is still probable that in no other department has the genius of British and American authors been more conspicuous. Of course it is not possible to put one form of genius in the scales to be weighed in com- parison with another ; one cannot say what novelist or novelists would outweigh Tennyson. But among readers of English it is probable that Thackeray, Dickens, George Eliot, Hawthorne, Mrs. Stowe, and a few others, have illuminated, instructed, and enter- tained more minds, and filled a larger space in hearts and m.emories, than all the poets of Britain and America since Wordsworth. The novel exhibits the increased refinement of manners and the elevation of moral tone ; and though many weak, frivolous, and commonplace productions, and some of questionable morality, find readers, yet the current is daily stronger in favor of thq^e in which purity of character and noble aims in life are inculcated. In the United States the trouble is in the other direction ; the novel has been enfeebled by the influence of a silent but all pervading prudery. There can be no great work done in the drama or in fiction by an author who has not the courage to represent 3 34 HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. HUMAN NATURE, and the tact and skill to do it with- out offence to modesty. In many of our popular novels the characters are conventional types, more like figures in fashion-plates than men and women. If a novelist aims at depicting scenery, inventing in- cident, and reporting the vapid talk of Newport and Bar Harbor, that is one thing ; but the master of fiction must take as his theme the human heart, with all its possibilities of passion, its interior struggles, its lapses, its wrestlings with ambition or crime. Until some WTiter appears with clear insight, courage, tact, and skill, there will be no novelist of the highest rank. Rightly viewed, the ideal novel is a creation of a high order. The opportunity it offers to a man of genius is practically without limit. So long as the author can hold his readers by their interest in the unfolding of his story, he can give time to studies of character, to lively sketches of manners, to historical scenes, or to discussions upon letters, philosophy, or art. Some of the most brilliant and suggestive writ- ing of our times, worthy of the first essayists and thinkers, may be found interspersed in the pages of modern novels. The authors of these works natur- ally represent all shades of opinions; the various religious sects as well as the schools of philosophy and politics have all pressed fiction into their service, ikit when we have learned the character and doctri- nal drift of such works through the newspapers and reviews, we can then make choice of such fiction for our entertainment as will be in harmony with our settled convictions, and can advise the young and in- HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 35 experienced to avoid those which are calculated to disseminate false principles or low views of duty. It is true in this department of literature as in the arena of philosophic controversy, that error can be safely tolerated so lonor as truth is left free to combat it. The judicious public will not understand us as approving the indiscriminate and continual reading of novels to which so many young people are addicted. Used at proper intervals for relaxation and amuse- ment, a well-written and high-toned novel, especially of the historical kind, has a most favorable influence upon the faculties, — restoring elasticity and freshness after study, filling the mind with noble images, tend- ing to the improvement of taste, and aiding in the acquirement of a fluent and effective style, both in writing and speaking. In historical writing, — since Prescott, Motley, Bancroft, and Parkman, — much of the work has consisted of digests of antecedent labors, or of memoirs to serve future historians. In the Eastern States there appears to have been a general search in old garrets, lumber-rooms, and secret drawers; and the annals of commonwealths, cities, and towns have been explored and written up. At the call of publishers, writers have assembled and taken posi- tion in squads, each under the lead of an "editor" as orderly-sergeant, and books are fulminated in volleys. There are so many of them ! — statesmen, literati, generals, pioneers, — enough to occupy the whole time of a conscientious reader. It is pleasing to see so many uniform rows behind the glass doors ^6 HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. of the bookcase, and, perhaps, pleasing to think that one has in sets all the Annals and the Complete Lives of American Everythings. But when one re- flects that durable literary works have been rarely written to order ; that " editing." unless it is a mere form, is fatal to originality ; that no platoon of authors was ever marched down through history by " company front ; " that genius has a whim of going its own byways, and does not wear a uniform nor recognize an orderly-sergeant, — one is content that so much solid and useful work is done and placed within convenient reach for reference, but does not look in the sets for many permanent classics. It is praiseworthy to rebuild the tombs of the fathers, but it is not the chief work of a period of great enterprises. Yet certain monographs, and his- tories of movements of mind, are most creditable to our literature. They will be of use when modern history comes to be rewritten. The world waits for a thorough and dispassionate account of the Great Rebellion, within reasonable limits, and for a com- plete, philosophical, and attractive history of the United States. It is probably too soon yet to apprehend clearly the tendencies of our time. The prevailing vice or error is imitation. Scores of ambitious youths try to follow in the steps of Mark Twain ; and the riotous fun or sardonic humor which is so natural to that original and powerful writer is painfully travestied by the imitators. Plenty of ballad-mongers have striven to copy the masterly swing of Bret Harte : HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. ?>7 one or two have done it very well. Essayists in ountry (and city) newspapers tliink it not beyond then- powers to assume the delicate grace and suave dehberation of the " Easy Chair." If one poet of repute, when he has a poetic blossom of the bigness of a pansy, prints it in a magazine, thereupon nimier- ous bards (whom the \vorld unfortunately does not know) all come up out of dark corners with /■/^.zV little pansy quatrains. The flower simile does not always hold: oftentimes it would be better to call them "Chips from a Poet's Workshop,"- and then sweep them out. Others imitate a prevailing sentiment or tone, — most commonly one of sweet sorrow The essence of all Schopenhauer would not yield enou-xh of InUcrs for the makers of the melancholy verse In vogue. We can say in general that what is truly excellent and is likely to endure, is so from its basis of thought and from its accord with the immutable laws of Nature and of man. If we are sure of anything, .t .s that the popularity which rests upon tricks of expression, or insincerity of any kind, is short lived. Te world has done with imaginary woes, and with fictitious sentiment of all hues. That life is real and the o-n Vr "V'' '°""" °f imagination as in he wo d of fact. Among certain writers the prevail- g tendencies are not altogether healthy. There is s .1 an impression among many readers that sentences n>ade up of hints and suggestions, - sentences stuck over with pet epithets, until they have an enamelled look; sentences that are constructed with a view to make the thought stammer and hesitate, - are models 38 HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. of good taste. It is this spirit which pronounces any direct and manly utterance vulgar, and prefers the ctcJiing in of a thought by some soft-voiced stam- merer. A writer of this school is praised for his " delicate " traits of style, even though there may be scarcely a ripple of mirth and never a gleam of wit on the placid stream of his prose. This is the spirit which induces young authors to strive for conceits, prettinesses, and affectations, and to consider a sen- tence beautiful only when, as Turner said of Guido's Mater Dolorosa, it is *' polished to inanity." This is the spirit which in music prefers the nice form of expression to the thought itself; which sets the technical proficiency of the player and singer above the God-given feeling by virtue of which they are artists at all. Traits of this kind are among the surest signs of intellectual decay. The student of English literature ought to be warned that extraneous characteristics of style are peculiar to each author, and cannot be put on by another like a second-hand garment ; that solid thought and unaffected feeling are the things chiefly valuable in any literary composition ; and that graces of manner, like those of the person, are most winning when unconsciously worn. The field of literary activity has spread from year to year, until there is scarcely any large city that is not to some extent a literary centre, and scarcely any region in which authors may not appear. There was no reason why Massachusetts should continue in the lead, when colleges were established throughout HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 39 the country, when time had brought general comfort and leisure, and literary taste was widely diffused. American literature is becoming the expression of the thought of the American people, and every re- gion furnishes what is peculiar to its local charac- ter, scenery, and circumstances. The New England novels of Howells, the Hoosier novels of Eglcston, the Creole romances of Cable, the tales of Rose Terry Cooke and of Miss Wilkins, the stories of the Ten- nessee mountains by Miss Murfree, the California talcs and ballads of Bret Harte, the overflow of Western comedy in the indescribable books of Mark Twain, and many other original works that might be mentioned, are guaranties that our literature will be as broad-based and representative as is our government. 40 JONATHAN EDWARDS, JONATHAN EDWARDS. JONATHAN EDWARDS, theologian and meta- *^ physician, was born in East Windsor, Conn., Oct. 5, 1703, and died in Princeton, N. J., March 22, 1758. The concurrent opinion of contemporaries and of succeeding generations places him among the four or five men of original intellect whom the New W^orld has produced. Pie was the flower of the Puritan race and culture in New England ; an exemplar of its logic, its inflexible purpose, its reverence, personal holiness, and steadfast faith ; an exemplar, too, of its gloominess, asceticism, narrowness, and provincial spirit. His works have had a larger share in forming the religious views of English-speaking Protestants than any since the times of Luther and Calvin. He was the last great Puritan divine. The characteristic traits and tendencies of Mr. Edw^ds were manifested at an early age. He wrote an essay upon the immateriality of the soul at the age of ten. He was early familiar with the specula- tions of the leading philosophers, among whom Locke was at first his favorite; but his matured views were wholly different from those of Locke. His prepara- tory studies were carried on at home, and at the age of twelve he entered Yale College, graduating at sixteen, — an instance of remarkable precocity. JONATHAN EDWARDS. 4 1 He studied divinity for two years, and soon after preached for a few months in the city of New York. Later he was a tutor in Yale College for two years, and in 1727 was settled in Northampton, Mass., as colleague of his grandfather, Rev. Solomon Stoddard, whom he succeeded in 1729. He remained in this place until 1750, when the connection was severed, owing to difficulties with his congregation, growing out of the •' half-way covenant," under which the re- ligious privileges of the church were not denied to certain of the unconverted. Edwards wished to re- turn to the rigid rule of former days; but this was strenuously resisted by his people, who would not listen to him on this point, and being weary of the struggle he resigned. In 175 1 Edwards removed to Stockbridgc, Mass., where he preached to the Indians, but without notes, and gave his time to unremitted study. It was during his residence there that he produced some of his most important works, including the famous treatise on the " Freedom of the Will," published in Boston in 1754. This is an attempt to reconcile the freedom of human volition with the sovereign foreknowledge of God, and consequently to establish the justice of electing a certain number to be saved, and of consign- ing the rest of mankind to everlasting punishment. As a tissue of connected logic it is at once subtle and strong, demanding close attention to comprehend it, and mastery of dialectics to refute it; yet it differs from most metaphysical treatises in one important particular ; namely, in the dexterous use of texts of 42 JONATHAN EDWARDS. Scripture in critical stages of the argument, where reason, consciousness, or experience would bar the way to the author's desired conclusions. " The Free- dom of the Will," therefore, is not a web of pure logic, but of schoolman's logic, reinforced and illus- trated by Biblical quotation, without too much regard to the original meaning and purpose of the passages cited. As literature, it is idiomatic and simple to baldness. The English is a mingling of philosophical phrases with the every-day talk of common people. "Do not" is "don't;" "have not" is han't;" " them " is generally " em ; " "cannot" is "can't," etc. There is not a word of ornament, nor a sentence that looks rhetorical ; no quotable passages, only a steady and urgent progress from certain proposi- tions to certain conclusions. In spite of occasional quibbles, the mental *' grip " is astonishing; so that the reader is drawn on, however much against his will, to admit the plausibility of doctrines which his moral sense rejects. The definitions leave something to be desired ; but, all deductions made, this is undoubtedly the ablest of Calvinistic works. Later writers have discovered in the pages of Edwards germs of doctrine which, it is certain, he would have reprobated with horror. For instance : the immanence of the Holy Spirit in the converted soul, as he understood it, was something quite differ- ent from the inner presence of God with all men, as preached by the Transcendentalists. Traditions of the overwhelming power of the preaching of Mr. Edwards arc still current in Western JONATHAN EDWARDS. 43 Massachusetts. On one occasion (in Enfield, Con- necticut) the house resounded with the sobs and groans of the congregation. Yet the effect was pro- duced by a purely intellectual presentation of his sub- ject, without oratorical artifice or appeal to feeling. Mr. Edwards's life and character were blameless, and his domestic relations tender and beautiful. The most attractive passages in his Works are to be found in letters of courtship written in his youth, wherein the utterances of the lover, the poet, and the saint are unconsciously blended. All that he wrote was marked by a beautiful simplicity beyond the reach of art. Of himself, and of his joy in Nature and in the conscicus- ness of God's presence in his soul, he says he was as " a little white flower, which may be seen in the meadows in the spring of the year, low and humble on the ground, opening its bosom to receive the rays of the sun's glory; rejoicing as it were in a calm rap- ture; diffusing around a sweet fragrancy; standing peacefully and lovingly in the midst of other flowers round about, all in like manner opening their bosoms to drink in the light of the sun." This little image, which reminds us of Jeremy Taylor, will show that he sought to express his thoughts in language unadorned. He wrote out his discourses carefully, but when he came to preach he spoke fluently and without re- garding his notes. Mr. Edwards accepted an invitation to the presi- dency of Princeton College, and removed there early in 1758. As small-pox was prevalent, he was innocu- lated (it being before the discovery of vaccination) ; 44 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. but the result was fatal. He lived but thirty-four days in his last home. Among the Works left by this learned divine are '* A Treatise concerning the Religious Affections " (1746); ''Qualifications for Free Communion in the Church" (1749); "Original Sin" (1757). Others were published after his death, as for instance, " The True Nature of Christian Virtue," " The History of Redemption," and *' God's True End in creating the World." Several Lives of Edwards have been published, of which the fullest is by Sereno Edwards Dwight, the latest editor of his complete Works. That Aaron Ikirr, one of the most brilliant, evil, and unscrupulous men of his generation, should have been the grand- son of Jonathan Edwards is one of the mysteries of the law of heredity. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. DENJAMIN FRANKLIN was born in Boston, January 6 (O. S.), 1706. He was one of the youngest of a family of seventeen children, and re- ceived but a limited common-school education. As he early manifested an adventurous disposition, and proposed going to sea, his father bound him as an apprentice to his brother James, who was a printer. His daily employment stimulated his active mind ; he became an assiduous reader, and gradually acquired BENJAMIN FRANKLlxN. 45 the power of writing. At the age of seventeen, hav- ing quarrelled with his brother, he went to New York and Philadelphia in search of employment. His ac- count of this trip forms an amusing portion of his Autobiography, one of the most charming works in the language. After many vicissitudes he became a successful business man, at the same time constantly growing in public estimation as a philosophic in- quirer, a man fertile in wise projects for the general good, and endowed with the clear perceptions and sound judgment of a statesman. The first work of P>anklin that attained a general popularity was " Poor Richard's Almanac," which ap- peared in 1732, and was continued for many years. The homely proverbs which accompanied the calen- dars form an epitome of thrift, foresight, and worldly prudence. He learned Latin and several modern languages after he was twenty-seven years old. At the age of forty he began the researches in electricity which made his name immortal. But with his active mind and liberal principles he was unable to keep out of political affairs ; and in the long discussions that preceded the Revolution he took a leading part. His mission to the French court, which resulted in bring- ing the aid of fleets and armies to his struggling countrymen, and his other diplomatic successes in England and on the Continent, are matters of history, of which no intelligent, person is ignorant. He lived on till 1790, the Nestor of the young republic, ex- erting an influence upon the opinions and character of the people that is without a parallel. 46 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. If Franklin's precepts may be considered as tending too much to selfishness, it must not be forgotten that labor, diligence, and economy were vitally necessary for a new country, and that the accumulation of capital, no less than courage and free principles, was essential to the preservation of the nation's life. While we do ample justice to the wisdom, probity, and beneficence of our great philosopher and states- man, we may yet recognize a higher ideal of character, and aspire to a more complete and generous culture than was possible in his time. The Works of Franklin have been published in ten volumes, edited by the late President Sparks. They do not contain much that is interesting except to special students. Plis letters are a valuable part of our national history, and his philosophical papers have an important place in the records of inventions as well as of electrical science. His iron fireplaces and stoves were of great utility; and readers will be surprised, perhaps, to learn that the custom of regu- lar street-sweeping in London was due to him. The Autobiography, which first appeared in London, was wantonly garbled by the editor, William Temple Franklin, a grandson of the author. A new edition, which is believed to follow the original manuscript with exactness, was edited by John Bigelow, formerly United States minister to France. The style of this work is inimitable ; it is as simple, direct, and idio- matic as Bunyan's; it is a style which no rhetorician can assist us to attain, and which the least touch of the learned critic would spoil. JOHN ADAMS« 47 JOHN ADAMS. JOHN ADAMS was born in Braintrce, Mass., in ^ that part now forming the town of Quincy, Octo- ber 19, 1735. He entered Harvard College at the age of sixteen, having had a meagre preparation under two clerical tutors. The fact that he studied Virgil and Homer painfully after his graduation, is not calcu- lated to give us a very high idea of the state of classi- cal learning in Cambridge at that time. He taught school and afterward read law in Worcester. He began the practice of his profession in his native town at the age of twenty-three, and with many dis- couragements slowly won his way to the first place among lawyers. He was early a friend of the pop- ular cause against the British government; but his sense of justice was so strong that he undertook the defence of the soldiers concerned in what has been termed the Boston Massacre, at the risk of his per- sonal popularity and business interests. The kind of courage which we agree to call " pluck " was always the eminent characteristic of the elder Adams. From the time of the discussions upon the Stamp Act until the declaration of independence, the life of John Adams is a part of our national history. His patriotism, courage, eloquence, and zeal have been celebrated in sentences which future generations will read with ever-increasing enthusiasm. Nor is there need even to mention his services and honors as 48 JOHN ADAMS. diplomatist, Vice-President, and President; every schoolboy knows his history. Mr. Adams lived in an age of action, and had lit- tle time for rhetorical arts. But f(dw of his speeches have been preserved. His letters form the most valuable part of his published Works, and are among the best in our literature. Those addressed to his wife, in particular, are delightfully frank, tender, and manly. In his later days, when the doctrines of the Feder- alists had become unpopular, Mr. Adams suffered unspeakable indignities alike from political enemies and summer friends; but before the close of his life the substantial integrity and purity of his character were honored by both friends and foes, and all the din of party strife was hushed in admiration of his long services and unselfish patriotism. The doc- trines of his antagonists have thus far prevailed, for the most part, in directing public affairs; but it is not settled yet that universal suffrage, without re- straints upon the ignorant and vicious, will make a republic either perpetual or desirable. Mr. Adams died at the ripe age of ninety-one, on the 4th of July, 1826, on the same day with his illustrious friend and rival, Jefferson. Piis " Life and Letters " were published in ten volumes, under the care of his grandson, Charles Francis Adams. THOMAS JEFFERSON. 49 THOMAS JEFFERSON. HTHOMAS JEFFERSON was bom at Shadvvell, in Albemarle County, Virginia, April 2, 1743. He received a classical education at the College of William and Mary, and subsequently studied law. He was successful at the bar, but was soon drawn away from practice into political life. As he had inherited a handsome estate, and had besides a large fortune with his wife, he was able to give his whole time to public affairs. It was remarkable that a man who never made a set speech should have been the most able and most successful politician of his time. It was by his private correspondence that he dissem- inated his views, and maintained his ascendency as a party leader. Many volumes of his letters have been published, and these, with his ** Notes on Virginia " and his state papers, constitute his Works. His name will forever be connected with the immortal Declara- tion of Independence, a production that is nearly as conspicuous in literary as in poHtical annals. During his whole career, as member of the House of Burgesses, as governor, as member of the Provin- cial Congress, as secretary of state under Wash- ington, as ambassador, and as President, Jefferson adhered, with singular tenacity, to the doctrines of equality and to popular rights as against prescription. It was owing to him that primogeniture and the law of entail, the chief bulwarks of a landed aristocracy, were abolished by the new constitution of Virginia. t 50 THOMAS JEFFERSON. His influence as a law reformer made it possible for that State to adopt and maintain a republican form of government. He was firmly opposed to slavery, though himself a slaveholder, and strove by legal means to prevent its increase, and to prepare the way for its abolition. He was averse to titles of honor, and maintained, both in official station and at home, a severe republican simplicity. The later years of his life were devoted, in a great measure, to the estab- lishment of the University of Virginia, an institution in which he took a great and just pride. Though the political principles of Jefferson were warmly combated in his day, and by men of high character and undoubted patriotism, it is noticeable that his ideas have been most efficient in moulding the institutions and inspiring the legislation of the country. This influence is not inherited by any one party; it has come to pervade all thinking minds. The style of Jefferson is easy, natural, and per- spicuous. He seldom rises to eloquence, although many of his sentences contain powerful strokes. His manners were very attractive, and his hospitality at Monticello was unbounded. He died July 4, 1826, just fifty years after the Declaration. Of the several biographies of Jefferson, the best is by H. S. Randall (3 vols, 8vo). His Works were published by order of Congress, and fill nine vol- umes. A new selection of letters, including some not before printed, was published by his grand- daughter, under the title of *' The Domestic Life of Jefferson." JOHN TRUMBULL. 5 1 JOHN TRUMBULL. JOHN TRUMBULL was born in Watertown, Conn., ^ April 24, 1750, and belonged to a family dis- tinguished for ability and character. He entered Yale College at the age of thirteen, although it was said he passed a satisfactory examination for admis- sion when he was seven years old. He was an inti- mate friend of Timothy Dwight in college and in after life. In 1771 he was tutor in college for two years, and afterward read law in the office of John Adams, in Boston, — which was a good school for law, and for patriotism likewise. Upon his return to New Haven in 1774, Mr. Trumbull began the composition of " McFingal," the poem by which he became famous. This attained a great and deserved popularity. It is obviously an Imitation of "Hudibras" in its structure, epigram- matic turns of thought, and grotesque rhymes; but its spirit is the author's own, and many of its couplets are fully as pungent as those of its prototype. It has been often observed that the wit of one genera- tion is rarely appreciated by the next, and this is es- pecially the case when the point of a sentence depends upon a knowledge of contemporaneous persons and events. The jokes that require an appendix for their elucidation are apt to miss fire with the reader. For this reason " McFingal," which is an embodi- ment of the spirit of the Revolution, is fast passing to oblivion. A few passages only will be remem- 52 TIMOTHY DWIGHT. bered. For that matter, how much of " Hudibras " is readf Trumbull wrote another poem of some length, entitled " The Progress of Dulness," a satire upon prevailing errors in training and manners. An edition of his Works was published in Hartford in 1820. The " McFingal," with notes by B. J. Lossing, was published by G. P. Putnam, New York, 1857. In this reprint the original spelling is preserved. Mr. Trumbull was never robust in body, but he lived to an advanced age. He died at Detroit, Michigan, May 12, 1831. TIMOTHY DWIGHT, T^IMOTHY DWIGHT was born in Northampton, Mass., May 14, 1752. He was a descendant of the famous Jonathan Edwards, and related in blood to other eminent men. He entered Yale College at the age of thirteen, and upon his graduation taught school in New Haven. He served as chaplain in the Revolutionary army, under General Putnam, and de- voted himself with great zeal to the cause of liberty. After some years spent in preaching, he was chosen president of Yale College in 1795, in which office he continued until his death, in 18 17. His personal in- fluence was unbounded over students and parish- ioners, and his unremitting industry enabled him to accomplish a vast amount of literary labor in addition to his daily duties. JOEL BARLOW. 53 Mr. Dwight wrote a number of poems, all possess- ing a certain kind of merit, but not sufficiently in- spired to give them a permanent place in literature. His best remembered performance is the patriotic song, beginning, — "Columbia, Columbia, to glory arise, The queen of the world, and child of the skies." His principal poems are " The Conquest of Canaan," "Greenfield Hill" (which has a number of felicitous rural scenes), and "The Triumph of Infidelity." Be- sides a number of theological treatises, he wrote four volumes of " Travels in New England and New York," the results of his tours in college vacations. This last work is valuable for its pictures of scenery and manners in what now seems a remote age. The author had an instinctive perception of the pictur- esque, but the narrative lacks simplicity, and the de- scriptions are overloaded with epithets. JOEL BARLOW. TOEL BARLOW was born in Reading, Conn., in 1755. He entered Dartmouth College, but com- pleted his education at Yale. During the vacations he served in the army, and was present at the battle of White Plains. Upon his graduation he studied theology, for the purpose of becoming an army 54 JOEL BARLOW. chaplain; and after six weeks' application (which seems to have been considered sufficient to equip a clergyman viilitant), he was licensed to preach, and served for the remainder of the war. His " Vision of Columbus" — afterward expanded into the more pretentious and less pleasing ** Columbiad " — was written in camp. Barlow left the church and the army, and began the study of law, being admitted to the bar in 1785. He edited a newspaper at Hartford, and, at the re- quest of the General Association of Congregational Ministers, revised and added to Dr. Watts' version of the Psalms. One of Barlow's versions, beginning, — " Along the banks where Babel's current flows," retains its place in the hymn books. The practical poet next set up a bookstore to dis- pose of his own wares, which being done he returned to his profession. In 1788 he went to Europe, and remained (mostly in France) seventeen years. It is impossible, in our brief limits, to follow him in his adventures. He was in the midst of the French revo- lution, and was constantly active with his pen, not forgetting at any time the enterprise and thrift of the true Yankee in accumulating property. On his re- turn to the United States, in 1805, he settled in Washington. He was the object of violent hatred on the part of the Federalists, and his name was linked with Jefferson's and Paine's in a savage attack in verse written by John Quincy Adams. The *' Colum- biad " appeared in 1807, a costly and elegant volume. ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 55 The poem is vigorous and is smoothly versified, but has Httle of true poetry. The '' Hasty Pudding," a far more genial composition, was written abroad in 1793, and was dedicated to Mrs. Washington. In 1809 Barlow was about beginning a history of the United States, when his design was interrupted by his appointment as minister to France. In Octo- ber, 1 8 12, he was sent for by Napoleon, then on his Russian campaign, to meet him at Wilna. His rapid journey across the Continent in the severely cold weather brought on an inflammation of the lungs, of which he died near Cracow, in Poland, December 22, 1 8 12. From his dying bed he dictated a poem, entitled " Advice to a Raven in Russia," a bitter and prophetic warning to the Emperor. ALEXANDER HAMILTON. ALEXANDER HAMILTON was born in the ^ Island of Nevis, in the West Indies, January 11, 1757. His father was a merchant from Scotland; his mother was the daughter of a French Huguenot; and the son appears to have inherited, in equal measure, the vigor and endurance of the one race and the address and vivacity of the other. His education was not at all systematic; but his active mind instinc- tively found its proper stimulus, and he began to show his great natural powers at an early age. While 56 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. attending to his studies at Columbia College, in New York city, the war broke out, and he entered the patriot army as a captain of artillery. In 1777 he was made aide-de-camp to General Washington, and distinguished himself by his ability in correspondence as we-lj as by active personal service in the field. At the close of the war he began the practice of law in New York. Hamilton's chief work, as an author, was the series of papers entitled " The Federalist," of which he wrote the greater number, — an elaborate exposi- tion of the Constitution of the United States. These papers, though necessarily abstruse in character, are perspicuous in style and powerful in reasoning. He was the first secretary of the treasury, and in that position displayed unrivalled skill. The sentences of Daniel Webster upon Hamilton's financial ability are woj-th quoting anew: *' He smote the rock of the national resources, and abundant streams gf reve- nue gushed forth. He touched the dead corpse of the public credit, and it sprang upon its feet." After six years' service, Hamilton retired from of- fice and resumed the practice of his profession. As he had opposed Aaron Burr, first in his endeavors to become President, and afterward in his canvass for the office of governor of New York, that unscrupu- lous demagogue, maddened by defeat, challenged him to fight a duel. Hamilton fell at the first fire, and died the next day, July 12, 1804, His body rests under a pyramidal monument in Trinity churchyard, New York. FISHER AMES. 57 It may be doubted whether among the brilHant men of the last century there was any one who was distinguished by so many traits that win the admiration of the world as was Hamilton. Ability of the highest order in public -affairs, literary skill, oratorical power, personal intrepidity, graceful manners, and a fine presence have rarely been seen so exemplified in combination. The writings of Hamilton were published by his son, in seven volumes. FISHER AMES. CISHER AMES was born in Dedham, Massachu- setts, April 9, 1758, and died in his native place July 4, 1808. -He was a precocious youth, and was sent to Harvard College at the age of twelve. After graduation he spent a few years in teaching, and then entered upon the study of law in Boston. He began practice at Dedham in 178 1, and w^as early prominent in his profession, becoming equally dis- tinguished as a political speaker and essayist. He was the first member of Congress from his district, wdiich included Boston, and continued to represent it for eight years. During his whole career he was an ardent Federalist, — a fact which the reader is rarely allowed to forget in any speech, essay, or letter. 58 FISHER AMES. Mr. Ames possessed uncommon vigor of mind; his memory was stored with Hterary treasures; his fancy was active, furnishing ilkistrative images that were as much to the purpose as his logic. And such was the effect of his oratory, even upon dehberative bodies, that on one occasion Congress adjourned on motion of Ames's chief opponent in debate, for the alleged reason that the members ought not to be called upon to vote while under the spell of his extra- ordinary eloquence. The speeches of Mr. Ames that have been preserved fully sustain his great repu- tation, being vigorous and logical in statement, and adorned with the graces of a lively and learned style. His letters, also, are fresh and charming. When we remember how much was done to influence public opinion by the private correspondence of leading men in the last generation, we must lament the decay of letter-writing as a fine' art. Mr. Ames was a man of amiable temper and irre- proachable character ; and though he was idolized by the public, it was only in the light of his home that he was fully known as he was, — one of the wisest, wittiest, as well as the most tender and constant of men. His Life was written by President Kirkland, of Harvard College, and his Works were edited by his son, Seth Ames, Justice of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts (2 vols., 8vo). JOSIAH QUINCY. 59 JOSIAH QUINCY. YOSIAH QUINCY, the son of the famous orator '^ of the Revolution, Josiah Quincy, Jr., was born in Boston, February 4, 1772. He was graduated at Harvard College in 1790, and began the study of law with Judge Tudor; but he was soon engaged in political affairs, and was, during the whole of his long life, in the noblest sense a public man. He was a member of Congress from 1805 to 18 13; a State senator from 1813 to 1821 ; speaker of the Massachu- setts House of Representatives in 1821 ; judge of the municipal court in 1822; second mayor of Boston, from 1823 to 1828 ; and president of Harvard College from 1829 to 1845, when he retired from office and from active pursuits to enjoy his deserved repose. He was an ardent Federalist, aggressive and uncom- promising in temper, spotless in personal character, and possessing the rare combination of brilliant parts and varied learning with eminently practical abilities. . He died July i, 1864, leaving a reputation for integ- rity and high-mindedness that may be likened to the fame of the noblest historic Romans. Mr. Quincy's published Works are a Life of Josiah Quincy, Jr. ; "The History of Harvard University; "The Journals of Major Samuel Shaw," first Ameri- can Consul at Canton, with a Life of the Author; "History of the Boston Athenaeum; " "The Muni- cipal History of the Town and City of Boston during 6c WILLIAM WIRT. Two Centuries; " "The Life of John Ouincy Adams," besides numerous speeches and addresses. PubHc services, however eminent, would not entitle a statesman to a place in a book like this ; but the literary merit of Mr. Quincy's speeches is conspicu- ous. The speech upon the embargo is remarkable for its energy, its power in dealing with details, its polished style, and for an ironical wit which must have been scathing. His Life was written by his son, Edmund Ouincy, and is one of the most valuable and interesting of American biographies. Lowell wrote an admirable article upon the Life, entitled '*A Great Public Character." A statue of Mr. Ouincy in bronze stands in front of the City Hall in Boston. WILLIAM WIRT. V\7ILLIAM WIRT was born in Bladensburg, in ' ' Maryland, November 8, 1772. He was the son of a Swiss father and a German mother, both of whom died while he was quite young. He received his education in the private school of a Presbyterian clergyman, and though it is fair to presume that his progress in classical learning was only moderate, we know that he early acquired a taste for reading, and devoured all the contents of the master's library. So rapidly had he gone over his preparatory course, that WILLIAM WIRT. 6l he was admitted to the bar in Virginia and began practice in his twentieth year. At that time, he tells us, his library consisted of Blackstone's Commen- taries, two volumes of Don Quixote, and " Tristram Shandy." His first step in public life was in being chosen clerk of the Virginia House of Delegates. Soon after, he was made chancellor of the eastern district of the State. During his residence in Richmond Mr. Wirt wrote "The British Spy," a series of papers of very un- equal merit. Two of them, one upon Pocahontas, and the other an account of the Blind Preacher, are in his best style, animated, picturesque, and .touching; the scientific disquisitions that burden most of the others are of little value. Later appeared another series, entitled '*' The Old Bachelor." They were la- bored essays, resembling those of Johnson, Addison, and Steele only in form ; and in spite of the favorable judgment of Wirt's biographer, Kennedy, they must be considered as dull ; they have fallen into total neglect. Wirt's Life of Patrick Henry attained a great popularity. It is not based on those founda- tions generally thought essential to biography, since Wirt never saw Henry, and could only write according to tradition; moreover, nothing authentic remained of the eloquence that had dazzled the generation pre- ceding. But the book was written in a spirit of hearty sympathy; and though the style at times is open to critical objections, all things are forgiven to the author who carries his readers on with unwearied attention to the close. 62 JAMES KIRKE PAULDING. Wirt was appointed attorney-general of the United States in 1817, and held the office twelve years. His forensic speeches were learned, ornate, and fervid. Perhaps the most favorable specimen of his oratory is the speech upon the trial of Aaron Burr, in which occurs the episode of Blennerhasset's Island, — a pas- sage dear to generations of schoolboys, and lingering like a memory of beauty in maturer years. His dis- course upon the lives of Adams and Jefferson, deliv- ered in 1826, was also a fine production. Upon his retirement from office in 1828, he went to reside in Baltimore, where he spent the remainder of his life. He died in Washington, February 18, 1834, while attending the Supreme Court. He was a strikingly handsome man, with graceful manners and a musical voice. He was twice married, and was happy in his domestic relations. Both in public and in private life his character and conduct were irreproachable. His Life was written by John P. Kennedy, of Baltimore. JAMES KIRKE PAULDING. TAMES KIRKE PAULDING was born in Pleasant *^ Valley, Duchess County, N. Y., August 22, 1779. With the exception of some assistance from the village school, he was self-taught. He went to the city of New York while still a youth, and obtained employ- ment through the aid of William Irving, who had mar- JAMES KIRKE PAULDING. 63 ried his sister. Becoming intimate with Washington Irving, a younger brother of Wilham, he turned his attention to literature, and in connection with his since-illustrious friend he published " Salmagundi," a series of satirical papers. We have space only for the titles of his numerous Works: ''The Diverting History of John Bull and Brother Jonathan" (1812); "The Lay of the Scotch Fiddle " (1813), a parody upon Scott's" Lay of the Last Minstrel ; " "The United States and England," a political pamphlet (1814); " Letters from the South by a Northern Man" (1817); ''The Backwoodsman," a poem (1818) ; a new series of " Salmagundi " (18 19) ; " A Sketch of Old England by a New England Man " (i 822) ; " John Bull in America," (1824). His first novel, " Konigsmarke," was published in 1823; "Merry Tales of the Three Wise Men of Gotham," in 1826; " The Traveller's Guide," in 1828; " Tales of the Good Woman," in 1829 ; " The Book of St. Nicholas," in 1830. Then appeared, in 183 1, his best work, and the one by which his name will be re- membered, "The Dutchman's Fireside." This is a genuine, life-like story, full of stirring incidents, of pic- turesque scenes and striking characters, for which the author's early experiences had- furnished the abun- dant materials. The amiable and whimsical peculi- arities of the Dutch settlers, the darker traits of Indian character, and the vicissitudes of frontier life have rarely been more powerfully sketched. In 1832 he published another successful novel, " Westward Ho ! " In 1835 appeared his Life of Washington, for youth, a well-considered and valuable work. The next year 64 WASHINGTON ALLSTO\. he published " Slavery in the United States," a treatise in which the institution is warmly defended. From 1837 to 1 841 he held the post of secretary of the navy. Upon his retirement he wrote two more nov- els, '' The Old Continental " (1846), and " The Puritan and his Daughter " (1849). He died April 6, i860. WASHINGTON ALLSTON. AIW'ASHINGTON ALLSTON was born in Charles- ton, S. C, November 5, 1779. He was pre- pared for college at a private school in Newport, R. L, and was graduated at Harvard in 1 800. Being deter- mined to devote himself to art, he sold his property, and passed three years as a student of the Royal Academy in London. He pursued his studies for several years afterward in Rome. It was at this period that Washington Irving met him, and recorded his impressions of him : ** There was something to me inexpressibly engaging in the appearance and manners of Allston. I do not think I have ever been more completely captivated on a first acquaintance. He was of a light and graceful form, with large blue eyes, and black silken hair waving and curling around a pale, expressive countenance. Everything about him bespoke the man of intellect and refinement. His conversation was copious, animated, and highly WASHINGTON ALLSTON. 65 graphic, warmed by a genial sensibility and benevo- lence, and enlivened, at times, by a chaste and gentle humor." Allston was married in 1809 to a sister of Rev. Dr. Channing, and lived in Boston two years. He then returned to Europe, and remained abroad until 18 18. His longest poem, '* The Sylphs of the Seasons," was published in London, i8i3,the year in which his wife died. In 1830 he was married to a sister of the poet Dana, and lived in Cambridgeport from that time until his death in 1843. ** Monaldi," an Italian ro- mance of singular power and marked individuality, was published in 1831. His Lectures on Art, four in number, did not appear until after his death. During his residence in Cambridgeport, Allston came under the observation of another author. Pro- fessor Lowell, whose poetical portrait of him in later years is worth setting against Irving's affectionate sketch : ** So refined was his whole appearance, so fastidiously neat his apparel, — but with a neatness that seemed less the result of care and plan than a something as proper to the man as whiteness to the lily, — that you would at once have classed him with those individuals, rarer than great captains and almost as rare as great poets, whom Nature sends into the world to fill the arduous office of gentleman. ... A nimbus of hair, fine as an infant's and early white, showing refinement of organization and the predomi- nance of the spiritual over the physical, undulated and floated around a face that seemed like pale flame, and over which the flitting shades of expression 5 ^6 JOHN JAMES AUDUBON. chased each other, fugitive and gleaming as waves upon a field of rye. . . . Here was a man all soul, whose body seemed a lamp of finest clay, whose ser- vice was to feed, with magic oils rare and fragrant, that wavering fire which hovered over it." Allston's writings, both in prose and poetry, have much of imagination and force, and are set forth in such a pure and fitting style, that we can but regret that he produced so little. His fastidious taste kept him so long retouching and refining both pictures and poems, that a single lifetime was not sufficient for the completion of any large number of either. A collec- tion of his poems and lectures was made by his brother-in-law, R. H. Dana, the poet. JOHN JAMES AUDUBON. JOHN JAMES AUDUBON, the son of an ad- ^ miral in the French navy, was born on a planta- tion in Louisiana, May 4, 1780. Nature had destined him to be her enthusiastic student and interpreter. He was passionately fond of birds from his infancy, and began to draw and color at a very early age. He was sent to France to be educated, and passed some time in the studio of the eminent painter David. He returned to America, and lived in Pennsylvania, and afterward in Kentucky, supporting himself by trade, but devoting most of his time and all his thoughts WILLIAM ELLERY CIIANNINCi. 6"] to the prosecution of his favorite studies. After en- countering difficulties, and meeting with accidents enough to have checked the enthusiasm of ordinary men, his great work was accomphshed. His " Birds of America" is a monument of genius and industry; the designs are exquisite, every bird appearing with its native surroundings. Nor are they merely correct in form and color; on the contrary, they are shown in characteristic attitudes or in natural motion, and every figure is instinct with life. The letter-press descriptions mostly concern us. They are simply perfect, equally removed from the insipidity of a so- called "popular" style and from the scientific dryness which usually marks the mere naturalist. His own personal adventures are modestly told, and give a rare charm to the work. Scattered through his vol- umes are many touches of nature and hints of scen- ery that are inimitable, — especially because they are the unconscious utterances of a soul highly suscepti- ble to beauty, and without the least vain desire of parading its emotions. He died in New York, Jan- uary, 185 I. WILLIAM ELLERY CHANNING. VyiLLIAM ELLERY CHANNING was born in Newport, R. I., April 7, 1780. He was pre- pared for college under the tuition of his uncle, the Rev. Henry Channing, at New London, Conn., and entered Harvard in 1794. After graduation he spent 68 WILLIAM ELLERY CIIANNING. some lime as a tutor in a private family in Richmond, Va. He studied theology at Cambridge, and subse- quently, in 1803, became pastor of the Federal Street Church in Boston. Not long after occurred the sep- aration between the two wings of the Congregational Church, and Channing became the leader of the Uni- tarian party. His fame as a spiritually-minded and powerful preacher constantly increased, and the sphere of his influence widened. He made a tour of Europe in 1822, returning refreshed and strengthened to his parochial duties. Channing first became widely known as a writer by his admirable critical articles on Napoleon, Milton, and F'enelon, published in the *' Christian Examiner." The appearance of these essays marked a new era in American letters. No periodical in the country had, up to that time, contained such elabo- rate articles, clothed in a style of such simplicity, animated by such high moral principles, and evincing such imaginative power and cultivated taste. His religious doctrines led him to espouse with ardor the antislavery cause, to protest against the settlement of international disputes by appeals to arms, and to strive for the education and elevation of the laboring classes. From boyhood his sense of right and duty was strong, and his fidelity to his inward convictions unwavering. He was not renowned as a logician or as a thinker upon abstract subjects; but his enthu- siasm, purity of character, and deep natural piety gave him an ascendency over his hearers such as few preachers have possessed. DANIEL WEBSTER. 69 In his youth Channing was a passionate admirer of Shakespeare; in maturity, his love for Milton in- creased ; in later years he found more pleasure in the philosophic poetry of Wordsworth. By the succession of these preferences the drift of his mind is indicated. Miss Sedgwick, who met him in 1826, says: "There is a superior light in his mind that sheds a pure, bright gleam on everything that comes from it. He talks freely upon common topics, but they seem no longer to be . common topics when he speaks of them. There is the influence of the sanctuary, the holy place, about him." Dr. Channing died in Bennington, Vt., of a typhus fever, October 2, 1842. His Works are published in six volumes, i2mo. His biography was written by his nephew, Rev. William H. Channing, published in 1848. DANIEL WEBSTER. pvANIEL WEBSTER was born in Salisbury, N. H., January 18, 1782. His early education was obtained in district schools, under great difficulties. At the age of fourteen he was sent to Phillips Acad- emy, in Exeter, N. H., but remained only a year, on account of the poverty of the famil\'. He pursued his studies under the care of a clergyman in a neigh- boring town, and entered Dartmouth College in 1797. He finished his course with credit, having acquired a 70 DANIEL WEBSTER. tolerable knowledG^e of the classical lanc^uac^es, as well as of history and English literature. He was the foremost man of his class, though not the highest in academic rank. He was preceptor of an academy in Fryeburg", Maine, for a short time, and then began the study of law in his native town. He was ad- mitted to the bar in Boston in 1805, and, returning to New Hampshire, began practice at Portsmouth. He took a prominent place in his profession at once, and in 181 2 was elected a member of Congress. In 1816 he declined a re-election, and removed to Boston, where he soon established his reputation as the ablest advocate in the United States. It was in this period that he distinguished himself in the famous case of Dartmouth College against the usur- pations of the New Hampshire legislature. His intel- lectual activity was not confined to legal discussions: the two hundredth anniversary of the landing of the Pilgrims (1820) gave him an opportuity such as few orators have had, and his genius illustrated the themes it suggested in sentences that are as im- mortal as the event. In 1822 Mr. Webster was again elected a repre- sentative in Congress, where he remained until, in 1828, he was chosen a United States senator. He continued in the Senate for twelve years, when he was appointed secretary of state by President Harri- son. During those eighteen years of public life his fame was steadily rising, until he was everywhere acknowledged the foremost of constitutional lawyers and debaters, and without a peer in the fields of DANIEL WEBSTER. 71 classic and patriotic oratory. The oration at the laying of the corner-stone of Bunker Hill Monument in 1825, the eulogy upon Adams and Jefferson in 1826, the speech upon the trial of the murderers of Stephen White, and the reply to Hayne of South Carolina, in the debate upon ''nullification," in 1830, are beyond parallel in this century. In 1845 Webster returned to the Senate, and re- mained in that position until 1850, when he was appointed secretary of state by President Fillmore. He left Washington, September 8, 1852, and retired to his country-seat in Marshfield, where he died October 24 of the same year. Mr. W^ebster and his friends had considered, with some reason, that his talents and services entitled him to the nomination of his party for the Presidency. His claims were pressed strongly at the national convention of the Whig party in 1848; but he was set aside, that his party might avail itself of the mili- tary reputation of General Taylor. In 1850 he made a speech in favor of the Compromise measures, in- cluding the Fugitive Slave Law, which had the ef- fect of alienating many of his friends throughout the Northern States, and was the beginning of a fierce controversy that embittered the remainder of his life. In 1852 the Whig national convention again set him aside, and nominated General Scott; and it was noticeable that the members from the Southern States, for whose interests Mr. W^ebster had sacrificed so much, hardly gave him the poor compli- ment of a vote. There is no gratitude in politics. 72 DANIEL WEBSTER. The Intellect of Mr. Webster had a firm basis of common-sense. His grasp of facts and his power of arranging them in argument were prodigious. In abstract reasoning he was not so strong; it was when his feet were planted upon the earth that he showed his power. His imagination reinforced and illumi- nated his reason ; his conceptions and his figurative illustrations often approached the sublime ; but he had little of the fancy and few of the graces that adorn the declamation of an inferior order of men. His style was the natural expression of his great thoughts; it was based on good models, but was imitated from no master, and is itself beyond the reach of imitation. No rhetorician could forge a characteristic Websterlan sentence any more than a Shakespearian line. His delivery was In perfect keeping with what he had to utter, — full of majesty, and fitted less to please than to command. This man, so highly endowed, sent into the world with such a form, such a face, such a presence, would have appeared to be the consummate flowering of our race ; and we must lament that he could not see, as we now see, how exalted w^as his position as a man of genius, and how little lustre his name could receive from any official title. In the light of the subsequent tremendous events the history of the attempts at conciliation, previous to i860, is full of Instruction. The topic belongs to the historian and the moralist, rather than to the literary critic ; but some mention of It could not be omitted in any fair view of Webster's career as a WASHINGTON IRVING. 73 public man. Let us be thankful for the grand works he left, and rejoice that in spite of some errors, cruelly expiated, we find in his character so much that is worthy of admiration. A terrible arraignment of Webster for his com- promise speech (March 7, 1850) is contained in Whittier's poem " Ichabod." Years later Whittier relented, and his old admiration, mingled with keen regrets, was poured out in " The Lost Occasion," — perhaps the noblest tribute ever paid to the great orator. Webster's Works were published, with a memoir by Edward Everett, in six volumes. Two volumes of his correspondence were published afterward ; also a biography, by George T. Curtis. WASHINGTON IRVING. Y\7ASHINGT0N IRVING was born in the city of New York, April 3, 1783. He received only a common-school education, which ended in his six- teenth year, and thenceforward his mind had its own development. He read " Robinson Crusoe," some narratives of voyages, and afterward Chaucer and Spenser, and other English classics; he studied law for a time, made river excursions, and with great assi- duity travelled over his island-home in search of ad- ventures. Civilization had then extended no farther 74 WASHINGTON IRVING. than Chambers Street. Dutch houses with stoops and gables were common, and the streets were bor- dered w'ith rows of tall poplars. The burgomasters of Peter Stuyvesant's time were not so remote as they now seem. Spuyten-Duyvel Creek and Hell Gate were in regions of mystery. The island, the broad bay, and the north river, with its noble shores, were all rich in traditions connected with the settlement of the country and the changes that had occurred among the people and their rulers. In the *' Author's Account of Himself," prefixed to the " Sketch Book," we see glimpses of his rambling disposition, and un- derstand how he acquired that perfect knowledge of the country, with its customs and legends, which gives to the " History of New York," and to the tales of " Rip Van Winkle" and "Sleepy Hollow," their peculiar charm. In 1802 Irving began to write for a newspaper conducted by his brother. Dr. Peter Irving. Being threatened with pulmonary disease, he sailed for Europe in 1804, landing at Bordeaux, and visiting Genoa, Sicily, Naples, Rome, and Paris, and from thence journeying through Brussels, Maestricht, and Rotterdam to London. It was at Rome that he met AUston, and for a time thought of being a painter. He returned to New York in 1806, resumed the study of law, and was admitted to the bar; but it does not appear that he ever practised his profession. In company with his brother William and James K. Paulding, Irving engaged in a serial publication en- titled " Salmao-undi." It was filled with clever satire WASHINGTON IRVING. 75 upon the follies of the day, and was immediately successful. His next venture was the publication of his " History of New York," which is, perhaps, the most unique, perfectly rounded, and sustained bur- lesque in our literature. It has a slight basis of sober history, and its ludicrous incidents and studies of the whimsical traits of Dutch character are painted with a grave air of verity that is infinitely amusing. It is to be regretted that the descendants of the old families whose names figure in the book, as well as members of the Historical Society and critics like Verplanck, took this so seriously and condemned the pleasantry as a wrong to the memory of the Dutch forefathers. He conducted the " Analectic Magazine " in Phila- delphia for two years, and contributed many articles that afterward appeared in the *' Sketch Book " and other later volumes. In 1814 Irving went to Europe for the benefit of his health. His life for the next seventeen years was full of interest, but its events cannot be compressed within the narrow space allotted to a single author in our collec- tion. After making a tour of the Continent, he enjoyed a season of literary companionship in London, and of wanderings through England and Scotland, when he was suddenly thrown upon his own resources by the fiiilure of his brother's house, in which he was a partner. Irving now wrote the '* Sketch Book," and sent it to New York, where it was published, in 18 18, in a serial form. It was subsequently published in London by Murray; but this was brought about by the persua- 76 WASHINGTON IRVING. slon of Scott (who had read and enjoyed an American copy of the " Knickerbocker ") after Murray had once dechned it. This work was at once accepted as classic, and the author's reputation was placed upon a per- manent basis. The judicious variety of subjects, the dehcate pathos and humor, the freshness of feehng, and the finish of style it exhibited, together with the fact that it was the work of an author born and reared in a country supposed to possess neither learning nor refinement, made the appearance of the " Sketch Book " a literary event. Irving's next work, " Brace- bridge Hall," written in Paris, where he had been a companion of Moore, appeared in London in 1822. Though successful, it was thought to be over-refined in style. The following winter was spent in Dresden, where he was much in gay society, and took part in private theatricals ; and the next season in Paris, where he was the friend and adviser of J. Howard Payne, the dramatist. In December, 1824, he pub- lished the " Tales of a Traveller." He was commis- sioned in 1825 by Alexander H. Everett, then minis- ter to Spain, to make translations of newly-discovered papers m Madrid, referring to Columbus. This led to the composition of the admirable " History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus," pub- lished in 1828, followed by the " Voyages and Discov- eries of the Companions of Columbus." During his residence in Spain he also collected the materials for the " Conquest of Granada," " The Alhambra," " Legends of the Conquest of Spain," and *' Mahomet and his Successors." WASHINGTON IRVL\G. J'J In 1829 Irving was appointed secretary of lega- tion to the American embassy in London, and in 1832 returned to New York, wiiere he was welcomed at a public dinner. He next made a trip beyond the Mississippi, and shortly after gave to the public " A Tour on the Prairies." This was followed by ''Astoria," "The Adventures of Captain Tonneville," and a volume of miscellanies entitled " Wolfert's Roost." In 1841 he published the " Life of Mar- garet Davidson," with an edition of her poetical works. The next year he was appointed minister to Spain. On his return, four years later, he published his biography of Oliver Goldsmith. His last and most elaborate work was his " Life of Washington," in five volumes. The last years of Irvlng's life were spent at his country-seat, " Sunnyside," near Tarrytown, N. Y., the scene of his " Legend of Sleepy Hollow." He was never married. In his youth he was betrothed to Miss Matilda Hoffman, who died in her eighteenth year. He remained faithful to her memory ; and her Bible, kept for so many years, was upon a table at his bedside when he died. He enjoyed the society of loving relatives and friends, for whom he always kept open house ; and he retained his self-denying, cheer- ful temper, his simple tastes and unostentatious habits, to the last. His death occurred November 28, 1859. His Letters and Memoirs were edited by his nephew, Pierre M. Irving. It is not difficult to assign Irving's place among our authors. Thackeray happily spoke of him as ''the 78 JOHN PIERPONT. first ambassador whom the New World of Letters sent to the Old." In our lighter literature he is almost without a rival as an artist. He is equally happy in his delineations of scenery and character. His works have all an admirable proportion; nothing necessary is omitted, and needless details are avoided. He never fatigues us by learned antithesis, nor by labored ornament. In short, we can say that his style is unsurpassed in its fluency, grace, and pic- turesque eftect. The vivacity of his youth never wholly deserted him ; although he ceased writing humorous works, it served to animate his graver his- tories, and to give them a charm which the mere annalist could not attain. Irving's life, on the whole, was fortunate; his fame came in season for him to enjoy it; his works brought him his bread, honestly earned, and not merely the monumental stone. Other authors may perhaps excite more of wonder or of keen admiration, but Irving will be remembered with delight and love. JOHN PIERPONT. TOHN PIERPONT was born in Litchfield, Conn., ^ April 6, 1785. He received his education at Yale College, graduating in 1804, and then passed four years as a teacher in South Carolina. He studied law in the then famous school at Litchfield, Conn., JOHN PIERrONT. 79 and began practice at Nevvburyport, Mass. He had neither the means nor the inchnation to wait for the slow tide of success in his profession, and was induced to go into mercantile business with his brother-in-law, Mr. Lord, and John Neal. Though the firm prospered for a while, the rapid decline in prices after the war of 181 2 swamped their little capi- tal in a few months. Mr. Pierpont then studied for the ministry, and was settled over Hollis Street Church in Boston. His ardent advocacy of the temperance and antislavery causes displeased a portion of his congregation, and at length, in 1845, he asked for a dismissal, and removed to Troy, N. Y. He remained in his new field of labor four years, when he accepted a call from a church in Medford, Mass. In his later years he became a Spiritualist, and no longer acted with his former Unitarian brethren. He was employed for a few years in the treasury department at Wash- ington, in making a digest of decisions. He died in Medford, August 27, 1866. Mr. Pierpont was a man of talent in many direc- tions. He had mechanical skill, especially in en- graving and in turning delicate figures. One of his inventions, says John Neal, " the * Pierpont or Doric Stove,' was a bit of concrete philosophy, — a cast-iron syllogism of itself, so classically just in its propor- tions, and so eminently characteristic, as to be a type of the author." Mr. Neal thinks that Pierpont's first choice, the law, w^ould have been his true sphere, and that he would have been a leader in the profession if he had been willing to Vv'ait. His first poem, ''The 8o JOHN PIERrONT. Portrait," written at Newburyport, has some vigorous lines, though in palpable imitation of the style of Campbell. " The Airs of Palestine," published in Baltimore, contains many beautiful passages. Of hymns for ordinations and dedications he wrote a great number that still hold their place in the collec- tions for public worship. He wrote also a great many odes for various occasions, as well as poems upon re- formatory subjects. Few of his pieces have the com- pleteness that belongs to enduring works; but in almost all of them there are traces of fire, and here and there are couplets that any poet might be proud to own. Mr. Pierpont was tall and vigorous In person, very animated in conversation, and full of an ultra-apostolic zeal. He was thoroughly honest, fearless, and out- spoken. With more suavity and more tact he would have had a pleasanter pathway through the w^orld ; but then he would not have been John Pierpont. His life-long friend, John Neal, contributed an interesting brief memoir of him to the " Atlantic Monthly," December, 1866. RICHARD HENRY DANA. RICHARD HENRY DANA. piCHARD HENRY DANA was bom in Cam- bridge, Mass., November 15, 1787. He re- mained three years in Harvard College, and afterward finished the usual collegiate education at Newport, R. L He was admitted to the bar in 1811, but did not remain in the profession long, being drawn by his natural tastes into literary pursuits. He aided in estabhshing the *' North American Review" in 18 14, and in 18 18 was one of its editors. In 1821-22 he published *' The Idle Man," in numbers. His princi- pal poem, **The Buccaneer," appeared in 1827, and was recognized as a production of originality and power. His collected Works in prose and verse were published in two volumes in 1850. He edited the Works and wrote the memoir of his brother-in-law, Allston. He wrote also a series of lectures upon Shakespeare, which were delivered in many of our principal cities. Mr. Dana lived to a serene old age, passing his summers at his sea-side home in Man- chester, Mass., and his winters in Boston. He was seldom seen in public, but the frequenters of classi- cal concerts and of Emerson's lectures were familiar with his intellectual features and long, silvery hair. He died February 2, 1879. The Works of Mr. Dana are neither numerous nor popular. His ideas, whether in poems or essays, were addressed to the thinking few, and undoubtedly 82 JAMES FENIMORE COOPER. did much to mould the public taste. His literary Hfe began when the rhymed couplets of Pope were thought to be the highest form of poetical expression ; he lived to see the decline of that artificial school, and the rise of the nobler philosophical poetry of Wordsworth and his successors. In the '* Fable for Critics " there is a characteristic passage, a couplet from which may survive: — " There goes Dana abstractedly loitering along, Involved in a paulo-post-future of song." JAMES FENIMORE COOPER. TAMES FENIMORE COOPER was born in Bur- lington, N. J., September 15, 1789. His father. Judge William Cooper, became possessed of large tracts of land in the State of New York, on the shores of Lake Otsego, and removed there during the infancy of our author. The prominent position he occupied as a gentleman of wealth, culture, and energy in a new country is brought to view in the character of Judge Temple in " The Pioneers." Young Cooper was sent to Yale College at the age of thirteen ; but he does not appear to have made any figure there, and at the end of his third year he entered the United States navy as a common sailor. After two years service he was promoted to the rank of midshipman, JAMES FENIMORE COOPER. 83 and eventually to that of lieutenant. Upon his mar- riage, in 1 81 1, he left the service, and a few years later began his career as an author. His first novel, ** Precaution," published in 18 19, followed popular English models, and gave no indication of his powers, nor of the field he was to occupy. " The Spy," the first of his truly original work, appeared in 1821. The novel-reading public had been accustomed to depend wholly upon foreign literature ; no works of fiction worth reading had been produced in the United States, except the powerful but intensely disagreeable novels of Charles Brockden Brown. The early home of Cooper had been upon the border of the wilderness ; he knew Indians and hunters, and was familiar with all the incidents of frontier life. During his term of naval service he had acquired a thorough knowledge of sailors and of nautical affairs. When he turned his attention to writing, his mind was stored with vivid pictures of the woods and of the scenery of the sea; and he produced in rapid succession a series of fas- cinating novels, abounding in stirring incidents, and presenting some characters new to the world of fiction. The effect upon the public mind was prodigious ; the novels were received with an enthusiasm of which the present generation can have but a faint idea. His Works are too numerous to be mentioned in detail; in any one of the thirty-two volumes of the last edition may be seen a complete list. The most popular sea novels are " The Pilot " and " The Red Rover." " The Spy," a tale of the Revolutionary War, is his best work, and the one by which he first became known. 84 JAMES FENIMORE COOPER. The tales of frontier life are numerous, and nearly all excellent: "The Pioneers," "The Deerslayer," "The Pathfinder," " The Prairie," " The Last of the Mohi- cans," are among the best. His tales have a perma- nent charm, since they are based upon Nature, and are constructed with great skill. In some elements, how- ever, their merit is unequal : his original characters are not numerous, and the same persons, under differ- ent names, reappear in successive stories as in a mas- querade; besides, as Lowell says, — • " The women he draws, from one model don't vary ; All sappy as maples, and flat as a prairie." If Cooper had been content to please his country- men with his delightful fictions, his life would have been far happier. But he was a man of decided opinions, and endowed with the talent for criticism, as well as with the courage to present his strictures in a blunt way. In " Homeward Bound," and " Home as Found," and other works, he commented upon blem- ishes in our national character with so little reserve as to draw upon him a storm of newspaper abuse. He retorted by prosecutions for libel, and at one time had about twenty suits on hand. He generally gained his cases, but the results were barren of honor or profit. His " History of the United States Navy" also caused a controversy, because it was alleged he had not been quite just in his allotment of praise to the different commanders. Cooper was a tall, robust man, and very animated in expression. Though always conscious of his birth CATHARINE M. SEDGWICK. 85 and social rank, he possessed a generous and kindly nature. He died in Cooperstown, N. Y., September 14, 1851. CATHARINE M. SEDGWICK. pATHARINE MARIA SEDGWICK, daughter of Judge Theodore Sedgwick, was born in Stockbridge, Mass., on the 28th day of December, 1789. She was descended from a family in which talent was hereditary, and the influence of her dis- tinguished father and brothers early directed her attention to literature. Her first work, '• A New Eng- land Tale," was published in 1822. This was fol- lowed, in 1824, by ''Redwood," and in 1827 by "Hope Leslie," the best of her novels, especially valuable as a picture of primitive manners, and as a transcript of the thought and opinion of a now half- forgotten age. *' Clarence : A Tale of the Present Day," appeared in 1830; '' The Linwoods," a romance of the Revolution, in 1835. She also wrote a series of popular works, of which the principal ones are " Live and Let Live," " The Poor Rich Man and Rich Poor Man," '* Means and Ends," and '* Home." Having made a European tour, she published, on her return in 1 841, her " Letters from Abroad to Kindred at Home." Her " Memoir of Lucretia Maria David- son " appeared in Sparks's ''American Biography." Her last novel, published in 1857, was entitled " Mar- 86 LYDIA (HUNTLEY) SIGOURNEY. ried or Single." A biography of Joseph Curtis, a philanthropist of New York, published in 1858, was her last work. This extended list, together with magazine articles and miscellanies, forms a fitting record of a long and useful life. She died in Stock- bridge, July 20, 1867. Miss Sedgwick's style was very attractive ; her love of Nature was strong, and her sympathies were ready and active. Her novels had a wide popularity, both in English and in the many languages into which they were translated, and a number of them are eagerly read by the new generations. A collection of her letters, with a brief narrative to connect them, was published by Miss Dewey. LYDIA (HUNTLEY) SIGOURNEY. I YDIA (HUNTLEY) SIGOURNEY was born ^ in Norwich, Conn., September i, 1791. She early manifested poetic talent, and composed verses at the age of seven. She received a careful edu- cation, with such advantages as the country then afforded. In her nineteenth year she removed to Hartford, and opened a young ladies' school. Her first volume, entitled '' Moral Pieces in Prose and Verse," appeared not long after. In 18 19 she was married to Mr. Charles Sigourney, of Hartford, and lived in that citv for the remainder of her life. CHARLES SPRAGUE. 8/ Mrs. Sigourney was a most prolific writer, having published no less than forty-five volumes, consisting of poems, biographies, tales, and miscellanies. (The reader will find a list in Duyckinck's Cyclopedia, vol. ii., p. 137.) Her poems have a musical flow, and are inspired with deep religious feeling; her thoughts are not profound, but are expressed in clear phrase, and are frequently enlivened by poetic fancy. Many of her productions have qualities that should preserve them, and a judicious collection would undoubtedly be welcome, especially with religious readers. Her death occurred June 10, 1865. CHARLES SPRAGUE. r^HARLES SPRAGUE was born in Boston, Octo- ^^ ber 24, 1 79 1. He entered into mercantile life at a very early age, and was indebted for his intellec- tual cultivation solely to his own efforts. He was appointed cashier of the Globe Bank in 1825, hold- ing the office until 1864, when he retired from active life. He obtained the prize offered for an ode for the opening of the Park Theatre in New York, in 1 82 1, and subsequently wrote odes for a number of similar occasions. That which he recited at the Shakespeare celebration in Boston, in 1823, has been greatly admired ; it is a carefully elaborated poem, and gives pictures of the prominent creations of the 88 WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT. great dramatist in a vivid light. In 1825, on the Fourth of July, he delivered the annual oration be- fore the municipal authorities of Boston. This pro- duction has been "got by heart" by more than one generation. The sentiment is elevated and philan- thropic, and the style animated and smoothly finished, though with rather too much of formal antithesis in its balanced periods. No one of the line of civic orators has had such a popular success. In 1830 he wrote an ode for the centennial celebration of the city, which is the best of his longer poems. His poems were few in number, but graceful and melodious. Mr. Sprague died January 14, 1875. His writings were published in one volume, i2mo, Boston, 1850. WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT. VyiLLIAM CULLEN BRYANT was born in Cummington, Mass., November 3, 1794. He was carefully educated under the advice of his father, who was a physician and a man of superior talents and attainments. The son was named for a medical writer in Scotland. Like most poets, he began rhym- ing early, and two of his productions were published in a thin volume while he was under fourteen years of age. '• Thanatopsis" was printed in the ''North WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT. 89 American Review " when he was but nineteen. He entered Williams College in 18 10, but remained only two years, and then began the study of law. After being admitted to the bar, he continued in the pro- fession nearly ten years, when, in 1825, he removed to New York city, and thenceforth gave his time to Hterary pursuits. He became connected with the " Evening Post" in 1826, and during his Hfe remained one of the editors and proprietors of that journal. His residence was at Roslyn, L. I. He made several visits to Europe, besides travelling extensively in this country. The accounts which he published of his various journeys show his keen observation and enjoyment of Nature. In his youth Bryant was as- sociated with R. C. Sands and G. C. Verplanck in editing *' The Talisman ; " and he wrote much and ably in prose in his long career; but his fame as a poet has overshadowed his prose works. His verse is characterized by smoothness and elegance, but its polish is not superficial ; there are no meaningless lines tolerated for melody alone ; the current of thought and the results of poetic observation are so arranged by a nice instinct that one might suppose the combination had been predestined. Bryant has been said to be an imitator of Wordsworth ; and it is true that his poems are characterized by the same in- tense love of Nature, — especially of mountains, for- ests, and streams, — the same contemplative mood, the same exclusion of human passions, the same absence of gayety and humor, which we find in the philosophical poet of England. Indeed, few poets 90 . WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT. of that time escaped Wordsworth's influence. But the Nature Bryant loved was under American and not under Enghsh skies; and if he drew his early inspira- tion from that great master, he acquired power to de- velop a style of his own, and could not be considered an imitator. The poem which is, perhaps, the highest expression of his genius, and the best known of any American poem, is " Thanatopsis," before mentioned. There is not, probably, an educated man now living among our English race in whose mind this solemn and beautiful meditation is not associated with '* the last bitter hour." Its pictured phrases recur at every coming up of the grisly thought that haunts us all. Its serene philosophy has touched thousands who could never reason calmly for themselves upon the inevitable order of Nature. It leaves a clear impres- sion upon the memory that defies the blur of mis- quotation, for its well-chosen words are united into imperishable forms b}^ the cohesive power of genius. Among Bryant's later works were his admirable translations of the Iliad and Odyssey. Blank verse, to be sure, has not much of the music of the original hexameters, but the spirit of the poems has seldom been more faithfully presented. The poet has probably been the severest critic upon his own productions. We cannot recall a single poem which we could wish omitted from the collection. There can be no question that Bryant has won a lasting place as the eldest and among the noblest of American poets. The chief defect in his poems is EDWARD EVERETT. 9 1 the lack of human sympathy; but in one of them, " The Future Life," there is a throb of emotion which assures us that his heart was not moved by inanimate Nature alone. In his newspaper he ad- vocated the docrine of universal freedom. He died June 12, 1878. EDWARD EVERETT. CD WARD EVERETT was born in Dorchester, ■^ Mass., April 11, 1794. He entered Harvard College at the age of thirteen, and was graduated with the highest honors. On leaving college he was appointed tutor, the duties of this position not inter- fering with his pursuing at the same time the study of divinity. He was settled in Boston as pastor of the Brattle Street Church, and very soon attracted great attention by his scholarly discourses. In 1 8 14 he was appointed professor of Greek literature at Cambridge, being allowed time for travel and study abroad before beginning his duties. He spent four years in Europe, visiting the principal cities and seats of learning, and extending his researches into a wide range of subjects. On his return, he gave a bril- liant series of college lectures, of which Emerson has given an animated account, and, besides, con- ducted the "North American Review." In 1824 he delivered an oration before the Phi Beta Kappa So- 92 EDWARD EVERETT. ciety of Harvard. The occasion was distinguished by the presence of Lafayette, and the orator's refer- ence to the nation's guest in the closing paragraph was especially happy. Indeed the whole oration, as we can readily believe, produced an extraordinary effect. It was as carefully studied as though it were to be judged in silence by critical readers, and was pronounced with an energy, tempered with unob- trusive art, which literary men are apt to neglect, and by which literary audiences, just as readily as the unlearned, are surprised into enthusiasm. In 1824 Mr. Everett was elected a member of Con- gress, and continued to represent his district for ten years, when he was chosen governor. After serving four terms, he was defeated in 1839 by Marcus Morton, by a majority of one vote. In 1841 he was appointed minister to England by President Harrison. Upon his return to the United States in 1845, he was chosen president of Harvard University; but he found the official routine irksome, and resigned at the end of three years. In 1852 he was appointed secretary of state by President Fillmore, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Daniel Webster. In the spring of 1853 he was chosen a member of the United States Senate, but his health was so much impaired by the duties and anxieties of the office that he resigned in May, 1854. He became deeply inter- ested in the plan of purchasing Mount Vernon, and delivered his oration on Washington in all the princi- pal cities of the country for the benefit of the fund. The amount so contributed by him for this patriotic EDWARD EVERETT. 93 purpose exceeded fifty thousand dollars. He died in Boston, January 15, 1865. It is evident from this brief summary that Mr. Everett was a man of rare powers and rarer cultiva- tion. He might truly say, " What could I have done unto my vineyard that I have not done unto it ? " From his infancy he seemed to have been marked out for a scholar, and through his hfe he enjoyed exceptional advantages in acquiring knowledge and the best use of his naturally brilliant faculties. His orations were composed for widely differing oc- casions, but in each case the treatment is so masterly that one would think the subject then in hand had been the special study of his life. But his care did not cease with the preparation ; his voice, gestures, and cadences were always in harmony with his theme, so that he was absolute master of his audi- ence. It is seldom that the literary annalist has to record a career in which the preacher and essayist is developed by natural growth into the statesman and diplomatist, while his scholastic tastes and habits grow in parallel lines, and the man at threescore is an epitome of the knowledge and an exemplar of the eloquence of his generation. Mr. Everett's political career, though an honorable one, was not highly successful. He was a cold man, and was not in the least popular, except in academic circles, when off the platform. He was naturally a conservative, and success more frequently waits upon the advocate of positive ideas ; and, besides, at the time of his senatorial career conservatism was no 94 EDWARD EVERETT. longer in accordance with the temper of the majority in his State. Though he might not have been defi- cient in moral courage, — and he certainly took no pains to conceal his opinions, — he was at times placed where downright Saxon would have been more to the purpose than his gracefully turned phrases. His natural sensitiveness and his exces- sive refinement made him shrink from the personal sacrifices which a popular leader must make, and from the sharp contests with opponents in high places which it is political suicide to shun. Mr. Everett's works are always interesting to the reader. Open a volume at random, and the thought at once engages attention. It is true we do not find passages, like those in Webster's speeches, which come upon us like thunder-strokes ; but, on the other hand, there are fewer arid spaces. Webster is often uninteresting, if not dull, for pages together. Everett, if he never astonishes, never fails to delight. Mr. Everett's Works are comprised in four volumes, 8vo. He edited also the Works of Webster, and wrote an introductory biography. J JOSEPH RODMAN DRAKE. 95 JOSEPH RODMAN DRAKE. OSEPH RODMAN DRAKE was born in New York city, August 7, I795- The death of his father left the family in adverse circumstances; the young poet, however, obtained a good education, and began the study of medicine. He was married, a few months after coming of age, to the daughter of a wealthy merchant, and so had no further struggles for a livelihood. In 1819 the symptoms of consumption appeared, and he went to New Orleans to pass the winter. The mild climate hav- ing no power to arrest the disease, he returned home in the spring, and died on the 21st day of Septem- ber following. Drake began by writing verses, mostly of a satirical sort, which were published in the New York ** Evenin Post," and signed "Croaker." Soon after, he was joined in this pleasantry by Fitz-Greene Halleck, and their productions appeared as the work of a partner- ship, " Croaker & Co." '• The Culprit Fay," which is the longest and best of his poems, was written, it is said, in three days. It is a bright and delicate con- ceit; and though Shakespeare and earlier poets fur- nished most of the '' properties " (in stage parlance), the scenery is local, and the management of the story, without the introduction of any mortals, is the author's own. Speculations upon what might have happened are not always satisfactory, but it is easy to believe cr g6 FITZ-GREENE HALLECK. that if Drake had Hved long enough to mature his powers and perfect his art, he might have occupied a high place among poets. FITZ-GREENE HALLECK. piTZ-GREENE HALLECK was born in Guilford, ^ Conn., July 8, 1795. He removed to New York at the age of eighteen, and entered a banking-house as clerk, afterward becoming book-keeper in the office of John Jacob Astor. On the death of Mr. Astor, in 1848, he retired to his native town, where he re- sided until his death, which occurred November 19, 1867. Some of Halleck's earliest productions were printed with Drake's, and signed " Croaker & Co." The poet did not consider them worth preserving, though their local hits made them popular at the time. His long- est poem is entitled *' Fanny; " it is not above me- diocrity. "Marco Bozzaris" is doubtless the most popular and perhaps the most brilliant of his poems, and its sonorous lines are recited in all the school- houses. His tribute to Burns is charming in its spirit, and contains some noble and memorable stanzas. There is also a touching and beautiful tribute to the memory of his friend Drake, beginning, — " Green be the turf above thee, Friend of my better days." JOHN PENDLETON KENNEDY. 97 The life of Halleck appears devoid of incident, and his productions are in a very narrow compass. Still, his versification is finished, and the best of his poems have a telling quality, like those of his favorite, Camp- bell ; and his name bids fair to outlast many that are connected with more pretentious works. JOHN PENDLETON KENNEDY. JOHN PENDLETON KENNEDY was born in Baltimore, Md., October 25, 1795, and received his education at the College of Baltimore. He was admitted to the bar in 18 16. He entered political life in 1820, as a member of the House of Delegates. He was a representative in Congress for several terms, and was one of the recognized leaders of the Whig party. Mr. Kennedy's first attempts in literature were in the columns of a periodical, entitled " The Red Book." " Swallow Barn," a volume of sketches of rural life in Virginia, was published in 1832. *' Horseshoe Robinson," a story of the Revolution, appeared in 1835. This is a novel of considerable merit, founded upon actual events, and dealing with historical per- sonages. In 1849 he gave to the public an elaborate Life of William Wirt, in two volumes, 8vo. He pub- lished also occasional addresses, etc. Mr. Kennedy was a fluent and often elegant writer, and showed in 98 JAMES GATES PERCIVAL. his descriptions a love of the beautiful and a refined taste. He continued to reside in his native city, and took a deep interest in its welfare. He was one of the trustees selected by Mr. Peabody for the institute of letters and art established in Baltimore. He died August 1 8, 1870. His Life, written by Henry T. Tuckerman, appeared the same year. JAMES GATES PERCIVAL. TAMES GATES PERCIVAL was born in the parish of Kensington and town of Berlin, Conn., September 15, 1795. He entered Yale College at the age of sixteen, and a year after his graduation began the study of medicine. He was not successful as a practitioner, principally because the profession was distasteful to him. He was for a brief period a pro- fessor at West Point, and afterward a surgeon con- nected with the recruiting service in Boston. He removed to New Hav,en in 1827, where he revised the translation of Malte Brun's Geography, and assisted Dr. Noah Webster in the preparation of his quarto Dictionary. In 1834 he was appointed by the gov- ernor to make a geological survey of the State. The work proved much greater than was expected, and his report was not published until 1842. In 1853 he went to Wisconsin to make a similar survey of that State, and remained there until his death, which occurred at Hazel Green, May 2, 1857. JAMES GATES PERCIVAL. 99 Dr. Percival was an eminent scholar, not only in his special pursuits, but in linguistic studies. He was familiar with many ancient languages, and with the dialects of the Norse, Gaelic, Sclavonic, and other modern tongues. His poems, which are numerous, were generally written in haste, and with little revision. A few editions were published at intervals, but they did not meet with popular success, and the poet was for most of his life miserably poor. His constitutional melancholy was intensified by his failure to receive sympathy and applause; and some of his bitter lines, with the interpretation which his misfortunes furnish, leave a most painful impression. Percival's poetry (though more highly esteemed forty years ago) fails to answer the reader's expecta- tions, or to hold the attention beyond half a dozen pages. He undoubtedly had a perception of the beauty of Nature, and there are frequent glimpses of this beauty in his poems ; but they are fragmentary, scattered hints, rather than completed pictures, and remind us of the " broken crockery " school in the sister art of music. His thoughts, or rather his phrases, deflected by the turning corners of rhyme, run away with him, taking a new direction in every verse, and leading into eddies of words that even his friend the lexicographer could not have helped him out of, and which make the perplexed reader wonder where, when, and how the many-jointed sentence is going to end. Percival had his poetic visions, doubt- less, but he neglected the continuous labor and thought which might have shaped his conceptions into 100 JOHN GORHAM PALFREY. forms of enduring beauty. His name and his Works belong to the Hterary history of the country, but only a few of his simpler poems, including some fine sonnets, will remain to justify in some measure his reputation among his contemporaries. His poems were published in two volumes, i8mo. JOHN GORHAM PALFREY. JOHN GORHAM PALFREY was born in Boston, May 2, 1796, and was graduated at Harvard College in 181 5. He studied for the ministry, and was ordained as pastor of the Brattle Street Church in Boston, succeeding Edward Everett in that position. In 1 83 1 he was appointed a professor in the Divinity School at Cambridge, and held the chair till 1839, when he resigned, and left the clerical profession. He was editor of the " North American Review " from 1835 to 1842. He was secretary of the Common- wealth from 1844 to 1847, when he was chosen a rep- resentative in Congress. At that session the contest between the North and South for the speakership was unusually violent. Robert C. VVinthrop was the can- didate of the Whigs, and Howell Cobb of the Demo- crats. Dr. Palfrey, who was a distinctive antislavery man, and had previously emancipated certain slaves which he had inherited from a Southern relative, per- sistently voted for a third party candidate, so that Mr. Cobb was elected. JOHN GORHAM PALFREY. lOI This action caused great excitement in Massachu- setts/ and when Dr. Palfrey was brought forward for re-election, after seventeen trials in which there was no choice, he was defeated. He retired from public life from that time, although he was afterward post- master of Boston. He died in Cambridge, April 26, 1881. Dr. Palfrey's earlier and professional Works are *' Evidences of Christianity," two vols., 8vo. (1843) 5 " Lectures on the Jewish Scriptures and Antiquities," four vols., 8vo. (1838-52); also a *' Harmony of the Gospels," and various sermons and lectures. His last work, which is more properly within our view, is his "History of New P^ngland," a full and able ac- count of the beginnings of the eastern colonies, and without any rival in its field. The work consists of five volumes, bringing the narrative down to 1688. Dr. Palfrey's style is clear and exact. It is lacking in vivacity, but it shows conscientious care, and is free from the verbiage that sometimes passes for rhetorical ornament. fc>' ^ See in Biglow Papers, first series, No. 4, beginnin " No ? Hez he ? He haint though ! Wut ? Voted agin him ? Ef the bird of our country could ketch him, she 'd skin him ! " 02 HORACE MANN. HORACE MANN. IT GRACE MANN was born in Franklin, Mass., May 4, 1796. His parents were poor, and his early life was a season of hard work, with few of the circumstances that give to boyhood its long-remem- bered charms. He fitted for college in six months, by an amount of labor that did him a lifelong injury, and entered the sophomore class in Brown University at the age of twenty. He studied law and settled in Dedham, but afterward removed to Boston. He was elected to the State senate in 1836, and the following year was chosen Secretary of the State Board of Education. The school system of Massachusetts, in its present efficiency, was almost wholly created by Mr. Mann's heroic efforts and personal sacrifices. Ignorance and routine stood in the way, and his diary records only a series of struggles made under all kinds of discouragements. He continued in this office for twelve years, during which time he made a series of annual reports which form a library of educational science. Upon the death of John Ouincy Adams, he was chosen to represent his district in Congress, and remained in that service six years, giving his whole heart and soul to the antislavery cause. In 1853 he was invited to become president of Antioch College at Yellow Springs, Ohio. His life there was full of anxiety and toil. The college was new, in debt, and v/anting in almost all things. Many of the persons with whom he was associated did not share in his WILLIAM HICKLING PRESCOTT. IO3 aspirations for a high standard of attainment. Phy- sical discomforts were numerous and annoying. He h'ved to see great improvements in the college, but not until he was worn out, mind and body, by his Hfe of excessive labor. He died August 2, 1859. His remains rest in a burying-ground at Providence, R. I. His statue in bronze stands in the State House yard in Boston, opposite to that of Webster. The writings of Mr. Mann are full of good sense and apt illustrations, and are clear and often elegant in style. His Life, written by his wife, with selections from his Works, has been published, in five volumes, 8vo., by Lee & Shepard, Boston. WILLIAM HICKLING PRESCOTT. V\7ILLIAM HICKLING PRESCOTT was born in Salem, Mass, May 4, 1796. He entered Harvard College in 181 1, and had intended on grad- uation to study law, but an injury to one of his eyes, received while in college, so far impaired his sight that his plans in life were changed. He went to Plurope to consult eminent oculists, but received no benefit from their treatment. After two years he returned home and began literary studies, with the aid of a reader and amanuensis. His first work, the '' History of Ferdinand and Isabella," appeared in 1837, having cost the author more than ten years I04 WILLIAM HICKLING PRESCOTT. of labor. '* The Conquest of Mexico " was published in 1843, and the "Conquest of Peru" in 1847. He next undertook the " History of Phihp H, ; " two vol- umes were published in 1855, and a third in 1858. The work was unfinished at the time of his death, which occurred in Boston, January 28, 1859. By common consent, Prescott is accorded a leading place among historians. In spite of his partial blind- ness, his surroundings were highly fortunate. He inherited a good but not a great intellect, had scho- lastic training, abundant wealth, the aid of friendly criticism, and the choice of new and untrodden fields. His histories are based on a thorough study of origi- nal documents, and are composed with exceeding care. Contrary to the usual tendency, his fondness for pictorial effect seemed to increase, and his last work is, more than any former one, filled with brilliant scenes and episodes. But he was not a philosopher, and made no attempt to deduce the political and moral laws of history; and, besides, he is often cool in the narration of atrocities which would make most men's sentences blaze with indignation. Besides the histories mentioned, Prescott wrote a continuation of Robertson's " History of Charles V.," giving an account of the cloister life of that monarch. He published, also, a volume of miscellanies, mostly essays, written for the " North American Review." Mr. Prescott was a tall and handsome man, with singularly pleasing manners and amiable character. His habits were methodical, and his ample fortune enabled him to gratify his tastes. He had three resi- WILLIAM HICKLING PRESCOTT. IO5 deuces, — all charming in their way, — one in Beacon Street, Boston, facing the Common; one at Lynn, with a magnificent ocean view; and another at Pep- perell, the home of his grandfather, who commanded the American forces at the battle of Bunker Hill. His migrations accorded with the seasons ; and such was the perfection of his domestic arrangements that he had only to wish for a change, and, like Prince Houssain with his magic carpet, he found himself in the desired place, with his necessary books, and other conveniences, ready to his hand. His library in Boston was a beautiful room, filled with treasures of literature and art. The visitor upon entering might be surprised to find the author absent; but if it was a favorable time for receiving callers, a section of the shelves swung open, disclosing a passage to the plain upper room where the real work of the author was done. In the first chapter of Thackeray's "Virginians," the reader will see a reference to a pair of swords that belonged to Mr. Prescott. The swords are now in the rooms of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Mr. Prescott's histories have a great and undimin- ished popularity, both in England and America. In a single year over forty thousand volumes of his Works were sold by his Boston publishers. They belong to that small class of books which have a solid basis of fact, and at the same time the fascination of romance. This statement is not wholly true in regard to his " Mexico " and *' Peru." Later investigation seems to have made it probable that the Spanish I06 FRANCIS WAYLAND. authorities on which he rehed were not altogether trustworthy, and it may be that those works will eventually be superseded. His Life was written by George Ticknor, the historian of Spanish Literature. FRANCIS WAYLAND. CRANCIS WAYLAND was born in the city of * New York, March ii, 1796. He received his education at Union College, and gave three years to the study of medicine, in Troy, N. Y. ; but having joined the Baptist Church, he changed his original intention as to a profession, and entered Andover Theological Seminary. He was tutor four years at Union College, and was afterward settled in Boston as pastor of the First Baptist Church, where he re- mained five years. He was a professor at Union College for a few months, and was then (1827) chosen president of Brown University, at Providence, R. L His great practical talents, no less than his high qualities of intellect and commanding personal influ- ence, were soon felt in the prosperity and advanced standing of that institution. He brought about a change in the collegiate instruction, by which special courses were open to students, with corresponding degrees for proficiency. He resigned his office in 1855, and died in Providence, September 30, 1865. WILLIAM WARE. lO/ Dr. Wayland was a man of power and originality of thought, and his tastes and studies incHned him to the pursuit of fundamental truths. His style was a reflex of his mental traits, — clear, cogent, and direct. His greatest work was his " Elements of Moral Science," which has long been a standard text-book. He also wrote the " Elements of Political Economy," a " Treatise on Intellectual Philosophy," " Limitations of Human Responsibility," a " Life of Adoniram Judson " the missionary, " Thoughts on the Collegiate System of the United States," besides several volumes of sermons. His sermon on the ** Moral Dignity of the Missionary Enterprise " is a powerful production, noble in its leading motive, and rising Into passages of true eloquence. Dr. Wayland was tali in stature, with a dignified presence, a massive, overhanging brow, and deep-set eyes. His manners were simple and affable, though habitually grave. WILLIAM WARE. VX/ILLIAM WARE was born in Hingham, Mass., August 3, 1797, and was graduated at Harvard College in 18 16. He entered the ministry, and preached in New York for sixteen years. He is the author of three historical romances that have gained for him a permanent reputation. The first (published in 1836) is *' Zenobia; Or, the Fall of Palmyra," — a I08 GEORGE BANCROFT. series of letters purporting to be written by a Roman, in which the splendors of the desert city, and its final overthrow by the Emperor Aurelian, are described. The work shows an intimate acquaintance not only with the history, but with the private life and manners of the age, and its style is vivid and picturesque. The second (1838) is entitled " Probus," and is a sequel of the narrative of Zenobia. The third (1841) is " Julian," a picture of the scenes and events in Judea during the latter years of Jesus Christ. " Zenobia " is the most brilliant of the series, but all possess a high order of merit. Mr. Ware was afterward settled over a church in West Cambridge, but resigned on account of ill health in 1845. He died in Cambridge, February 19, 1852. It is a curious link with the last century that he was the pupil in Italian of Da Ponte, author of the libretto of Mozart's opera, " Don Giovanni." GEORGE BANCROFT. pEORGE BANCROFT was born in Worcester, Mass., October 3, 1800, and was graduated at Harvard College in 1817. His college course was but the beginning of his education. He went to Europe, and pursued a great variety of studies for five years at Gottingen, Berlin, Heidelberg, Paris, and in several Italian cities, forming acquaintances with GEORGE BANCROFT. lOQ the most eminent scholars of the time. He appHed himself to modern languages and literature, also to Oriental languages, ancient history, and Greek philo- sophy. On his return in 1822 he was tutor at Har- vard College for a year, and had a share in bringing about the new birth of learning which in the end transformed that obscure provincial school into a noble university. The return of eminent Harvard graduates from Germany about that time (described with so much enthusiasm by Emerson) was an event most important in its results to the college. Bancroft was next connected, for one year, with the classical school at Round Hill, Northampton, Mass. The results of his study and observation had made him an advocate of universal suffrage and an un- compromising democrat. He was invited to enter political life, and was elected to the legislature with- out his consent; but he declined to serve, as he had already formed the project of writing a history of the United States. The first volume of the History appeared in 1834. The second volume was written in Springfield, in which place he resided for three years. In 1838 he was appointed collector of the port of Boston; but neither official duties nor party services drew his at- tention from historical composition, and his third volume was published in 1840. He was an unsuc- cessful candidate for governor in 1844, and the fol- lowing year was appointed secretary of the navy by President Polk. It was due to his efforts that the Naval Academy at Annapolis was established. In no GEORGE BANCROFT. 1846 he was appointed minister to England, and re- mained abroad until 1849, when he returned and resumed his hterary work. The fourth and fifth volumes were published in 1852, the sixth in 1854, the seventh in 1858, the eighth in i860, the ninth in 1866, the tenth in 1874. Bancroft wrote two other volumes upon the *' His- tory of the Formation of the Constitution of the United States," virtually a continuation of his larger work. There was also issued a condensed edition of the History in six volumes. These received a final revision in 1884-85. He continued literary work to the last, — a period of nearly sixty years from the publication of his first volume. His favorite recrea- tion was horseback riding, and his delight was in the cultivation of roses, — a taste which he shared with his fellow-historian Parkman. His manners were rather austere. He died in Washington, January 17, 1891. The philosophical studies of Bancroft thoroughly prepared him for his great work. History, when it is merely a naked statement of events, is dry and comparatively profitless; it is only when it recog- nizes the laws of human progress, and the principles of ethics in government and social relations, that it makes intelligible sequences between causes and results, and vindicates the eternal supremacy of ideas in the apparently wayward course of events. Bancroft, more than almost any other, is a philoso- phical historian. The brave doctrines of the colo- nists and of the framers of republican constitutions GEORGE BANCROFT. Ill are in him an ever-living force. The modern ideas of the Hberty of the individual between moral lines, of the inviolability of conscience, and of the freedom of worship from control by Church or State, have in him an eloquent and fully armed defender. The sketches of the Puritans, of the Quakers, and of in- dividuals such as Penn and Roger Williams, are so justly discriminating, so earnest, so glowing with con- viction, that they fascinate every reader. The appli- cation of ** divine philosophy " is almost as new and beneficent as the discovery of the continent. It is worthy of observation that the doctrine of the " inner light" which distinguished the Quakers, and the sweet Christian toleration which Roger Williams was the first to preach in New England, were united in the faith of the Transcendentalists, to which Bancroft held, and which has been substantially the basis of our noblest literature, both in poetry and prose. The conscientious study of the documentary sources of American history carried on for the un- paralleled period of sixty years has had a worthy result; and it will be long before any similar task will be undertaken with any reasonable hope o\i greatly changing the conclusions arrived at. It must be admitted that Bancroft takes the part of Jeft'erson strongly against the Federalists ; but that is no longer a living issue, since the general convictions of the present generation, and the almost unbroken traditions of the government, have fully established the Jeffersonian doctrines. 112 GEORGE PERKINS MARSH. Bancroft's style is perspicuous and forcible, and at times, when some important principle is discussed, has a quality of intimate conviction that is almost tender, and even passionate. But of style as a purely literary art, embracing originality and melody of diction, with delicacy of suggestion, and lightened by gleams of poetic imagination, he is not an eminent master. The interest and power of his work, how-* ever, do not depend upon style. It is broad-based, thorough, and enlightened, and is permeated with the principles to which our republic is irrevocably com- mitted. It ought to be conscientiously studied by every man and woman capable of comprehending its drift and profiting by its lessons. If one is asked by a foreigner for a reason for the faith that is in him, or for an account of ideas distinctly " American," he has only to refer to the masterly expositions of Bancroft. But it must be admitted that his works are not and never will be popular. GEORGE PERKINS MARSH. pEORGE PERKINS MARSH was born in ^-^ Woodstock, Vt., March 17, 1 801, graduated at Dartmouth College in 1820, and died July 23, 1882. He studied law, and was admitted to the bar in Burlington, Vt. He was chosen a representative THEODORE DWIGHT WOOLSEY. II3 In Congress in 1842, and remained in service until 1849, when he was appointed minister to Constanti- nople. In 1852 he was sent on a special mission to Greece. On his return he was almost constantly in public service in his native State until 1 861, when he was appointed minister to Italy, where he remained until his death. Mr. Marsh was an eminent scholar in the northern languages of Europe, and held a high place among philologists. His principal work, entitled " Lectures on the English Language" (1861), is a treatise of great value and interest. He published an '* Ice- landic Grammar," a treatise ** On the Origin and History of the English Language and its Early Literature ; " ** Man and Nature ; Or, Physical Geo- graphy as Modified by Human Action;" **The Camel, His Organization, Habits, etc., with reference to his introduction into the United States ;" besides a great many philological and linguistic addresses and letters. THEODORE DWIGHT WOOLSEY. "THEODORE DWIGHT WOOLSEY was born in the city of New York, October 31, 1801. He received his education at Yale College, graduat- ing in 1820. He spent two years in the study of theology at Princeton, N. J., and two more as tutor at Yale. In 1831 he was appointed professor of Greek 114 THEODORE DWIGHT WOOLSEY. at Yale, and in 1846 was chosen president of the college, which place he held until 1871. He edited several Greek text-books, and was a frequent writer for the Reviews, especially the '' New Englander," which is published at New Haven. He published a treatise upon the elements of International Law in i860, and one upon Divorce in 1869. A volume of his university sermons appeared in 1871 under the title of " The Religion of the Present and the Future." Besides the foregoing he published (in 1877) " Politi- cal Science; Or, The State, Theoretically and Practically Considered ; " " Communism and Social- ism" (1880); "Helpful Thoughts for Young Men" (1882); also several smaller works. He edited new editions of Dr. Francis Lieber's " Civil Liberty " and " Manual of Political Ethics." Dr. Woolsey was conspicuous among American scholars for the extent and thoroughness of his learning, his power of thought, and his clear and admirable style. The moral elevation of his charac- ter gave great and almost authoritative weight to his opinions, especially upon questions of public law. During his long connection with Yale College his personal influence was constantly on the increase, and he was regarded by the graduates with respect and love. His sermons, according to the unanimous testimony of Yale students, have seldom been sur- passed in grandeur of moral conceptions or in intel- lectual power. He died July i, 1889. HORACE BUSHNELL. II5 HORACE BUSHNELL. T_T GRACE BUSHNELL was born April 14, 1802, ^ ''• in Litchfield, Conn., but at ten years of age went to the town of Washington, in the same county, where he w^as reared. He was graduated at Yale College in 1827, and was for a time literary editor of the New York "Journal of Commerce." In 1829 he was appointed tutor in Yale College, where he remained two years, studying law and afterward theology. In 1833 he was settled in Hartford, Conn., as pastor of the North Congregational Church, where he remained until June, 1859, when he resigned. His discourses attracted great attention on account of their rare qualities of style and of their suspected heretical tendencies. On one occasion he was brought before the Association of Congregational Ministers to answer the charge of invalidating the doctrine of the Trinity. He was acquitted, and thereupon published a work in which he maintained that " human language is incapable of expressing, with any exactness, theologic science," and that many of the religious controversies have been dis- putes over mere words or phrases. Neither his tastes nor his mental traits inclined him to polemical theo- logy; not that he was not a logical reasoner, but his nature was a sensitive one, and his discourses all show strong poetic feeling, and a tendency to illustrate spiritual truth by natural images and analogies, rather than to define it in exact formulas by sharp Il6 HORACE BUSHNELL. mathematical lines. It will be difficult to find in the sermons of any modern divine so many passages of moral and intellectual beauty as Dr. Bushnell's dis- courses furnish. The current of his thought is strong but not dogmatic ; his piety was evidently the main- spring of his life, but it had no tinge of asceticism ; his imagination was his strongest intellectual faculty, but it was made subservient to the noblest uses. Dr. Bushnell was a man of unpretending and nat- ural manners, of great energy, and with a certain deci- sion that belongs to the leaders of men. His genius was exemplified in conversation as well as in his works, and he was among the most active and public- spirited of citizens. The beautiful park in Hartford was secured, in a great measure, by his efforts. We give a list of his Works: "Christian Nurture," (1847); "God in Christ "(1849); "Christ in Theo- logy "(1851); " Sermons for the New Life" (1858); " Nature and the Supernatural " (1858) ; " Christ and his Salvation" (1864); "Work and Play" (1864); " The Vicarious Sacrifice" (1866); " Moral Uses of Dark Things" (1868); "Woman Suffrage: The Re- form against Nature" (1869). In addition to these he printed essays and addresses upon a wide range of topics, principally in the " New Englander." He died in Hartford, February 17, 1876. MARK HOPKINS. II7 MARK HOPKINS. /VAARK HOPKINS was born in Stockbridge, Mass., P'ebruary 4, 1802. He received his education at Williams College, where he was subse- quently a tutor. He studied medicine, and, after taking his degree, removed to New York city, and began practice. In 1830 he returned to Williams as professor of moral philosophy and rhetoric, and in 1836 was chosen president of the college, — a position which he held until 1872, when he became once more professor of moral philosophy. He died June 19, 1887. Among this author's published Works are " Lec- tures on the Evidences of Christianity" (1846); "Miscellaneous Essays and Discourses" (1847); " Lectures on Moral Science" (1862); ** Love as Law, and the Law of Love" (1863); "Baccalau- reate Sermons and Occasional Discourses" (1863); •• An Outline Study of Man " (1873) ; *' Strength and Beauty" (1874), — this last being reissued in 1884 with the title of " Teachings and Counsels, — *' The Scriptural Idea of Man" (1883). Dr. Hopkins was a man of remarkable vigor, and combined high intellectual qualities with great practi- cal and administrative talents. That Williams College has maintained so high a rank among its contempo- raries, while its income has been so small compared with that of Harvard or Yale, was in a great measure owing to his wise management, and to the confidence Il8 LYDIA MARIA CHILD. felt in his character and in his high aims for the institution. LYDIA MARIA CHILD. T YDIA MARIA CHILD, daughter of David ^ Francis, was born in Medford, Mass., February II, 1802, and died in Wayland, Mass., October 20, 1880. Her first book, a story of the early settlement of the country, entitled " Hobomok," was published in 1824. The next year appeared *' The Rebels : A Tale of the Revolution." In 1826 she began the pub- lication of the "Juvenile Miscellany." In 1828 she was married to David Lee Child, an editor and author. Subsequently there appeared from her pen *' The First Settlers of New England " (1829) ; '* An Appeal for that class of Americans called Africans" (1833); ''Ladies' Family Library," a series of biographies, 5 vols. (1832-35) ; ** Philothea: A Romance of Greece in the days of Pericles" (1836); ''Letters from New York," 2 vols. (1843-45); " Fact and Fiction " (1846) ; "Flowers for Children," 3 vols. (1844-46); "The Power of Kindness" (185 1); " Isaac T. Hopper: A True Life" (1853); "The Progress of Religious Ideas," 3 vols. (1855) ; " Autumnal Leaves " (1856); " Looking Toward Sunset" (1864); "The Freed- man's Book" (1865); "Miria: A Romance of the Republic" (1867); "Aspirations of the World" (1878). LYDIA MARIA CHILD. II9 In this list there is no mention of various juvenile works, and a book on domestic economy. In the ca- pacity to interest young people Mrs. Child was with- out a rival in her day. From the beginning of the antislavery crusade she was an earnest helper, and for the sake of the cause relinquished in great measure her lighter and more pleasing literary pursuits. Mrs. Child was a woman of strong and generous impulses, with a lively sense of beauty; especially fond of music, and of tracing fanciful analogies between its subtile suggestions and the sister arts; believing in absolute truth and justice, but somewhat too enthusiastic to preserve always the just balance of judgment. Her works apparently reflect her own nature, and bring the reader and author face to face. In the haste of co^mposition there are occasional slips, and among so many works there is not a uniform standard of merit ; still, there are few authors who have added so much to the pleasure and to the moral culture of a generation. It is to be hoped that a revised edition of her Works may be published, as many of them are out of print. A volume of her letters was printed in 1882. In the *' Fable for Critics " there is a playful passage upon this author, under the name of " Philothea," which is, on the whole, a warm tribute to her noble qualities. We can give only the concluding lines: " Yes, a great soul is hers ; one that dares to go in To the prison, the slave-hut, the alleys of sin, And to bring into each, or to find there, some line Of the never completely out-trampled divine. I20 RALPH WALDO EMERSON^ If her heart at high floods swamps her brain now and then, 'T is but richer for that when the tide ebbs again ; As, after old Nile has subsided, his plain Overflows with a second broad deluge of grain. What a wealth would it bring to the narrow and sour 'Could they be as a Child but for one little hour !" RALPH WALDO EMERSON. DALPH WALDO EMERSON was born in Bos- ^^ ton, May 25, 1803. He was descended from a line of clergymen ; and if he inherited their bookish tendencies, he had also the stooping shoulders, flat chest, and other marks of studiotis men. By the early death of his father (181 1 ) his mother was left to bring up her family of five young children with very little means. But poverty — if such it was — was serenely, unconsciously borne, and in some way three of the sons were enabled to graduate at Harvard College. The severe and ennobling moral training bestowed by this heroic mother, assisted by a maiden aunt, produced the best results. Those who well knew the subject of this sketch reverenced him as one in whom the loftiest virtues were exemplified, with fewest of human failings. After graduation, in 182 1, he taught school for a few years ; and it was during this period — wandering in the woods of West Roxbury — that he wrote the poem " Good Bye, Proud World." He entered the ministry in 1826, and in 1829 was settled RALPH WALDO EMERSON. 121 in Boston. On account of a change in his opinions he left the church and the ministry in 1832, when he went to Europe and remained a year. Upon his return he began his career as a lecturer, and soon after settled in Concord, Mass., which was his home for the remainder of his life. His first wife died soon after their marriage. His second wife, Miss Jackson, was the mother of his children, and survived him. Emerson was an acute observer both of Nature and man. In his study he passed the hours with Plato and the philosophers, with Svvedenborg and the mys- tics, or with Shakespeare and the poets; but his most fruitful meditations were in the woods and fields. Though he quoted much from favorite authors, it was from wild Nature that he drew his inspiration ; and its infinitely varied phases furnished him with never- failing analogies. His thoughts ran upon the powers of the soul, the play of the passions, the elements of society, and the growth and collective movement of ideas. He had an astonishing and apparently intui- tive perception of truth ; and if the word had not been vulgarized by base usage, he might be called a seer. His sentences have frequently the concise- ness, weight, and crystal clearness of proverbs. There can be gathered from his works specimens of apho- ristic sayings, spiritual and ennobHng in tendency, — so many, and of such quality, that it is doubtful if they could be paralleled by selections from any author since Lord Bacon. Side by side with this record in prose was the endeavor to work out in verse the results of the 122 RALPH WALDO EMERSON. philosopher's observation of human hfe and of the external world. Many of his poems are the expres- sion of thoughts found also in his essays. Some of his poems are of the highest beauty ; others appear to have been wrought without much art, and are unmelodious and obscure. " The Problem," " Each and All," and some others may be named as abso- lutely unsurpassed in our time. In grandeur of thought and power of expression, Emerson at his best is first of American poets. Emerson's prose works, having been written chiefly in the form of lectures, were not printed until they had been kept a long time and revised. Hence it came that his writings have no logical continuity. He has formulated no system ; he never argues nor expounds a proposition ; he appears to be writing of what lies before the open windows of his soul. This mode of treatment gives rise to ellipses; but the reader who has imagination will find stepping- stones between the sentences, and an order in the thoughts. Emerson's view of life is eminently cheerful ; he is the philosopher of courage and hope. He was loath to employ the common phrases in reference to things of the spiritual world, but he believed in the imma- nence of the Divine Spirit in the soul, and was at all times one of the most profoundly religious of men. In ethics he took always the highest tone, and found no language too severe for the frauds of trade or the deceptions of politics. He was interested in the Transcendental philosophy, — which, however, he RALPH WALDO EMERSON. 1 23 preferred to call Idealism, — which was one of the main elements in the awakening of New England. He was an earnest advocate of freeing the slaves, and never hesitated to espouse any cause he thought just because it was unpopular. Emerson's religious and philosophical opinions can hardly be definitely stated in brief limits. Widely different views are held as to the tendencies of his writings; but they are read and enjoyed by many be- longing to all the schools of modern thought. In spirit they are opposed to materialism and pessimism, and are inspiring, like mountain air. Upon his return from his second visit to Europe, Mr. Emerson wrote " English Traits," a book of con- crete philosophy, full of subtile wit, and one of the best siimma7'ies of English men and institutions. It is, perhaps, the most interesting of his works. His courses of lectures were usually first delivered in Boston, and were eagerly heard by those who could appreciate wisdom at high proof Meanwhile, other lecturers gained more temporary renown by retailing his wisdom diluted. It required more than thirty years to make the public acquainted with the treas- ures in his works, and to silence the inane ridicule of the lower order of newspapers. But there were those who from the beginning felt that he was predestined to fame. In Concord, where he lived for half a century, he was adored by his townsmen, without distinction of sect or party. For some years before his death Mr. Emerson's faculties underwent a painful eclipse. He was still 124 RALPH WALDO EMERSON. master of himself in the sphere of ideas, but he forgot persons and names, and rehed upon the prompting of attendants. He died April 27, 1882. Concord has become a place of pilgrimage since Emerson, Haw- thorne, and Thoreau sleep in its rural cemetery. Emerson's Works are contained in eleven volumes: ''Nature, with Addresses and Lectures;" "Essays, First and Second Series; " " Miscellanies; " '' Repre- sentative Men ; " " English Traits ; " *' Poems ; " " The Conduct of Life; " ''May Day, and Other Poems; " "Society and Solitude;" "Letters and Social Aims ; " " Lectures and Biographical Sketches," the last volume being posthumous. He had also a share in writing the Life of Margaret F'uUer. He was a contributor to the " Dial," a quarterly published 1840-44, and for a time its editor. He was also warmly interested in the " Atlantic Monthly," and wrote for it from its beginning in 1857. His Life was written by J. Eliot Cabot. Oliver Wendell Holmes also wrote an interesting biography of him. Dr. Ed- ward Emerson, his son, has published an account of his father's private life, entitled " Emerson in Con- cord." His Works were published in London, with an introduction by John Morley, in which the place of Emerson in literature is certainly not overstated, and which few of Emerson's friends or disciples can read with equanimity. In spirit, it is much like the inadequate estimate of Matthew Arnold. ORESTES AUGUSTUS BROWNSON. 12$ ORESTES AUGUSTUS BROWNSON. PjRESTES AUGUSTUS BROWNSON was born ^ in Stockbridge, Vt., September i6, 1 803, and died April 17, 1876. He was early inclined to reli- gious and philosophical discussion, and sought truth through every conceivable avenue of approach. Be- ginning with the creed of New England Congrega- tionalism, he joined the Presbyterian Church at the age of nineteen, while attending an academy. After some struggles he became, in 1825, a Universalist minister, preaching and writing in his usual strong and aggressive style. He next gave his sympathies to the social reforms proposed by Robert Owen; but finding progress slow in that direction, he was at- tracted by the influence of Dr. Channing, and became the pastor of a Unitarian society. In this period he enlarged his acquaintance with languages, literature, and philosophy. This phase of thought lasted until 1836, when he organized a new society in Boston for "Christian union and progress." In 1838 he estab- lished the Boston "Quarterly Review," which he edited for five years. In 1840 he published " Charles Elwood ; Or, the Infidel Converted," a strongly "med- icated " novel, as the Autocrat's friend would have termed it. Having gone the round of speculative ideas in theology, he began to experience a mental reaction, and in 1844 joined the Roman Catholic Church. In the same year he began the publica- tion of " Brownson's Quarterly Review," which was 126 ROBERT MONTGOMERY BIRD. continued until 1864, and revived in 1873-75. The following is a list of his later Works, though perhaps not complete: "The Spirit Rapper" (1854); "The Convert " (1857) ; " The American Republic, its Con- stitution, Tendencies, and Destiny" (1865); "Liber- alism and the Church" (1869). He removed from Boston about the year 1854, and thereafter resided in or near New York. Dr. Brownson was an exceedingly able and acute reasoner, as well as a clear and forcible writer. As might be expected, his religious convictions permeate nearly every sentence. With most authors there are certain fields on which there is a truce to controversy ; but Dr. Brownson, with more logic, perhaps, but with less amenity, treated every subject, from metaphysics to an album sonnet, in its relations to the Church. ROBERT MONTGOMERY BIRD. nOBERT MONTGOMERY BIRD was born in Newcastle, Del., in the year 1803. He received his classical and medical education in Philadelphia, and for many years resided in that city. He was the author of several novels of more than ordinary merit, among which are "Calavar: A Tale of the Conquest of Mexico ; " " The Infidel ; Or, the Fall of Mexico ; " " Nick of the Woods ; Or, the Jibbenaino- say," a story of life in Kentucky in early times ; " The NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE. 12/ Adventures of Robin Day." He wrote three trage- dies, one of which, *' The Gladiator," was made popu- lar by the acting of Mr. Forrest. " Calavar" contains many beautiful descriptive passages, and is believed to present a faithful picture of the ancient city as it was before the conquest. " Nick of the Woods " is full of startling border adventures, and though it has suf- fered in consequence of the horde of later imitations, it shows originality and power in the author. Dr. Bird left the field of literature at an early age, retired to his native place, and died there in January, 1854. NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE. MATHANIEL HAWTHORNE was born July 4, 1804, at Salem, Mass., where his family, re- markable for robust physical and mental traits, had been settled from the beginning of the colony. His father, a shipmaster, died in Surinam when the boy was four years of age. His mother was a woman of capacity, and encouraged his taste for reading. His favorite authors were Thomson, Spenser, Bunyan, Milton, Shakespeare, and Froissart. At the age of fourteen he spent a year in Maine with an uncle, in a township of wild land, where he lived the free life of a bird, and also acquired the habits of solitude which grew upon him in after years. At an early age and against his will he was sent to Bowdoin College, in 128 NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE. Maine. Several of his classmates and friends had an important influence upon his after life. Among them, Longfellow was the first to recognize his genius in a review; Lieutenant Bridge, U. S. N. guarantied the cost of his hrst successful book ; and Franklin Pierce, afterward President, gave him the lucrative place of consul to Liverpool. After graduation Hawthorne wrote a novel called- *' Fanshawe," which was of little value. He also wrote a number of short stories and sketches, almost all founded upon some weird fantasy; and these were, a few years later, collected under the title of *' Twice Told Tales." They could have been con- ceived only by a man of genius, and the exquisite simplicity of the style shows the hand of a master. He continued writing with meagre pecuniary returns, and later was glad to accept a small position in the Boston custom-house. After two years he lost the place by the return of the Whigs to power. He joined the Brook Farm community in West Roxbury, but accomplished little literary work there. In 1842 he married Miss Peabody of Salem, an accomplished woman who had been attracted by his writings, and they went to live in Concord, Mass., where he wrote *' Mosses from an Old Manse." This work was warmly received by a limited circle of friends ; but the time for his general popularit5^ had not come. He was next surveyor in the Salem custom-house for three years, and after leaving that place wrote " The Scarlet Letter," perhaps the most original and powerful of his romances, the work that established his fame. At NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE. 1 29 Lenox, Mass., he wrote " The House of Seven Gabies," a romance of Salem in the olden time. Removing to West Newton, Mass., he wrote *' The Blithedale Romance," founded upon his experiences at Brook Farm. He returned to Concord, where he bought a house and established his family. About this time he wrote " A Wonder Book," containing ** Tanglewood Tales," which are modernized classic fables, and *' Grandfather's Chair," a series of sketches of events in early colonial history. In 1852 he wrote the life of his friend Franklin Pierce, who was then can- didate for President. Pierce would have appointed him a foreign minister, but being too poor to bear the expense of such an honor, Hawthorne accepted a place as consul, as has been mentioned. He resigned in 1857 and went to Italy, where he remained rather more than a year; after which he returned to Eng- land, and there wrote his last and most generally admired romance, " The Marble Faun." He returned to the United States in June, i860, less than a year before the outbreak of the Civil War. He published two volumes of selections from his English note- books, entitled '' Our Old Home." He began ** The Dolliver Romance," but did not live to complete it. The probable issues of the Civil War distressed him beyond measure. His friend and publisher, Mr. Ticknor, induced him to take a trip to New Hamp- shire, to revive his drooping spirits. They stopped at a hotel for the night (May 19, 1864), and without any premonition Hawthorne was found dead in his bed in the morning. 9 I30 NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE. Hawthorne's " Note Books," which have been pub- hshed, show that all his life he recorded the thoughts that came to him in his solitary hours; and these formed the bases of his stories and romances. Be- sides " The Dolliver Romance," he left another work unfinished, " Septimius Felton ; " both of these were attempts to reach the secret of immortahty. His son Julian has published his " Life and Letters," and his son-in-law, George P. Lathrop, has written " A Study of Hawthorne." Hawthorne's mind brooded over the theological and other problems of Puritan life, and his works are for the most part tinged with melancholy. His crea- tive imagination gives him an assured place among the great writers of fiction. His romances are removed as far as is possible from novels, and there is no propriety in comparing him with such writers as Thackeray or Dickens; in fact, there is no man of the English race who can be counted his peer in the field he occupied.^ His characters are not assemblages of traits, built up from the results of nice observation, but seem to have been called into being by hlsjiat; and while they are in a sense shadowy and remote, they are real men and women, with human hearts and passions. His ro- mances are in an ideal world, without limitation of time, and are likely to remain eternally fresh, like the masterpieces of the Greek dramatists. His style, for 1 Mr. Lowell said to the writer of this work, that, while he would not think of setting up the romancer against the immortal dramatist, he thought the world might sooner see another Shake- speare than another Hawthorne. FREDERIC HENRY HEDGE. 131 his high purpose, is masterly, — without effort, with- out false lustre, simple and direct. Hence quotation is difficult, unless by reproducing an entire scene. As a writer, he is conspicuous among the few in our century who are acknowledged as masters of the English tongue ; as a creator, he is one of the very small number which the world has produced. FREDERIC HENRY HEDGE. CREDERIC HENRY HEDGE was born in Cam- bridge, Mass., December 12, 1805. His father was Professor of Logic and Metaphysics in Harvard College. In his thirteenth year the son was sent to Germany in company with Bancroft, the future histo- rian, and pursued his studies for five years in Hanover and Saxony, becoming a master of the German lan- guage, and afterward of its literature. He returned to the United States in 1823, entered an advanced class in Harvard College, and graduated in 1825. After the usual course in the theological school, he was settled as pastor of a church in West Cambridge (now Arlington) in 1828. He was subsequently settled in Providence, R. I. (1850); in Bangor, Me. (1855), and in Brooklinc, Mass. (1856). He was appointed Professor of Ecclesiastical History in Har- vard, 1857, and in the same year became editor of the '* Christian Examiner." In 1872 he was ap- 132 FREDERIC HENRY HEDGE. pointed Professor of the German Language and Literature, a post which he held until 1881. Dr. Hedge's principal work is " The Prose Writers of Germany, from Luther to Chamisso," — a careful selection of specimens, with a short biography of each author. He made versions of the minor poems of Schiller and other German poets. In collaboration with Rev. F. D. Huntington he made a collection of hymns, and a liturgy for the Unitarian Church. His contributions to the Reviews were masterly, and always won the attention of thoughtful men. Among these essays maybe mentioned one upon Coleridge, in 1833 '■> ** Conservatism and Reform," in 1840 ; '' Saint Augus- tine," in 1856; "Leibnitz," in 1858; "University Reform," in 1866. This last was largely influential in the development of Harvard from a college into a university. He published " Reason in Religion " in 1865, ^^^ "The Primeval World of Hebrew Tradi- tion" in 1870. "The Ways of the Spirit" and " Hours with the German classics " are two of Dr. Hedge's notable books, the first being regarded by many of his friends as his best work. He was a diligent student, and was always master of his subject. His style was weighty and impressive, and in the pulpit he was in the forefront of orators. He had a prominent part in the great movement in the early part of the century which raised Harvard College and Boston into the intellectual freedom and light of modern times. Some of the most brilliant of Emerson's reminiscences relate to this part of our literary history. WILLIAM GILMORE SIMMS. 1 33 Dr. Hedge retained his faculties and his wonderful power of speech until a great age. In 1883, being in his seventy-eighth year, he delivered a discourse upon Luther which occupied an hour and a half, and which held a large audience in rapt attention. His printed discourses, essays, and reviews would form a large collection. He died in Cambridge, August 22, 1890. WILLIAM GILMORE SIMMS. V\/ILLIAM GILMORE SIMMS was born in Charleston, S. C, April 17, 1806. He re- ceived but a limited education in one of the grammar schools of the city, and was for some time a clerk in a drug house ; but at the age of eighteen he be- gan the study of law. He was married at twenty, and at twenty-two was admitted to the bar. After practising a year, he purchased an interest in a news- paper; but this proved a losing venture, as the doc- trine of "nullification" was in the ascendant, and Simms was then an advocate for the maintenance of the Federal Union. He resolved to retrieve his for- tunes by literary labors, and from that time forward he published, with almost every year, a poem, a novel, a history, or a biography. No writer of mod- ern times excelled him in industry; but the rapidity with which his works were produced had its usual effect. None of them show the matured and sym- 134 WILLIAM GILMORE SIMMS. metrical design which marks a work of art, still less tlie hand of a master in their execution. There are passages of description in many of his novels that are vivid and picturesque, but the style is often re- dundant, and scarcely ever free from provincialisms. The characters are like the lay figures of the studio, useful in exigencies and effective in tableaux, but devoid of interest in themselves. The best of his novels are of the historical kind, in which Southern life in early times is painted, such as " The Yemassee " and " Guy Rivers." The most of them are irredeem- ably dull, at least for readers who value their time, and they must surely sink into neglect. His style has a certain level quality, which neither kindles enthu- siasm nor falls below a respectable mediocrity. Among the more solid works of Mr. Simms are the History of South Carolina, and the Lives of Generals Francis Marion and Nathanael Greene, Captain John Smith, founder of the Virginia colony, and the Chev- alier Bayard. Most of his poems, some fourteen in number, are out of print. The best of them is said to be ** Atalantis," published in New York in 1833. He was also an indefatigable writer for periodicals, having been editor of several Southern Reviews, and a contributor to a great number of Northern maga- zines. The student will find in Appleton's Cyclo- paedia, vol. XV., p. 58, a list of nearly sixty volumes of his Works. Mr. Simms received a considerable fortune by his second marriage, and his Works undoubtedly yielded him a handsome income. He was a man of frank HENRY WADSWORTII LONGFELLOW. 1 35 and hearty manners and amiable character. He died in Savannah, June 11, 1870. HENRY WADSVVORTH LONGFELLOW. LJENRY WADS WORTH LONGFELLOW was born in Portland, Me., February 27, 1807. He was graduated in 1825 at Bowdoin College, in the same class with Hawthorne. The next year he was appointed Professor of Modern Languages at Bow- doin, and was allowed the customary leave of absence, that he might make the tour of Europe. On his re- turn he entered upon the duties of his chair. While professor at Bowdoin he translated the " Coplas de Manrique," and was a contributor to the " North American Review." His first original work, entitled '' Outre Mer," containing his notes of travel, pub- lished in 1835, showed refinement of style and many delicate traits of observation, which were immedi- ately recognized by critical readers. In 1835 he was appointed to a professorship of Belles Lettres at Har- vard College, as a successor to Mr. George Ticknor, — upon which he made a second visit to Europe, and was absent two years. On his return he began his college duties, and held the place until 1854. In 1839 appeared his romance " Hyperion," a book that is glowing with poetic thought and expression. In the same year was published " Voices of the Night," a 136 HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW. collection that embraces many of his most widely known poems. From that time he was universally acknowledged to be, if not the first, the most popular living poet. The Works of Longfellow are numerous, and from the list that follows are omitted his early treatises for students, as well as his articles in magazines and reviews: '' Ballads and Other Poems," 1841 ; '* Poems on Slavery," 1842; "The Spanish Student," 1843; " The Waif: A collection of Poems, with Proem," 1845; "The Poets and Poetry of Europe," 1845; ''The Belfry of Bruges," etc., 1846; "TheEstray: A collection of Poems," 1847; "Evangeline," 1847; "Kavanagh: A Tale," 1849; "The Seaside and the Fireside," 1850; " The Golden Legend," 185 1 ; "The Song of Hiawatha," 1855: "The Courtship of Miles Standish," 1858; "Tales of a Wayside Inn," 1863; "Flower de Luce," 1867; "The New England Trag- edies," 1868; Dante's "Divine Comedy: A Transla- tion," 1867; "The Divine Tragedy," 1871 ; " Christus: A Mystery" (containing three poems previously published), 1872; "Three Books of Song," 1872; "Aftermath," 1874; "The Masque of Pandora," 1875 ; "Poems of Places" (a collection in 31 vols.), 1876- 1879; "Keramos," 1878; "Ultima Thule," 1880; "In the Harbor" (posthumous), 1882; "Michael Angelo" (posthumous), 1883. It is remarkable to observe that every volume has made a positive addition to our stock of ideal por- traits and poetical imagery. We might conceive of a Longfellow Gallery, better known and more fondly HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW. 137 cherished than the picture galleries of kings. There, in the place of honor, hangs Evangeline, sweetest of heroines, turning her sad face away from the desolate Grand Pre. Opposite is the Puritan damsel Priscilla, with her bashful, clerical lover, and the fiery little captain. In the next panel is the half-frozen sound over which skims the bold Norseman. There, under the chestnut-tree, stands the swart blacksmith, all the love of a father brimming in his eyes. There leans the vast glacier, gleaming in fatal beauty, along whose verge toils upward the youth with Excelsior on his banner. There the airy Preciosa is dancing away the scruples of the archbishop. Here is pictured the Belfry of Bruges, and the groups of people listening to the heavenly chime of its bells. There, shivering in a wintry sea, is the " Hesperus," a helpless wreck, driving upon Norman's Woe. Yonder stands Albert Diirer, in a street of his beloved, quaint old Nurem- berg. There, on the sculptured stairway, is the Clock, ticking its eternal Forever! never! Never ! forever ! There saunters the dreamy-eyed Sicilian, his mus- taches spread like a swallow's wings. Behold the busy throngs about that huge hulk, and see the proud master waving his hand as the signal for the launch ! By that empty cradle sits the mother thinking of the ** dead lamb " of her flock. Yonder looms up Stras- burg spire, while spirits of the air circle round its pinnacles, and the miracle-play goes on below. That is Paul Revere, galloping, in the gray of the morning, along the road to Concord. In that green spot, with the limitless prairie beyond, stands Hiawatha, look- 138 HENRY WADSWORTII LONGFELLOW. ing gloomily westward, whither his path leads him. Lastly, we see a broad frame, on which we read in golden letters the legend, " The Divine Tragedy." Longfellow was married to Miss Potter, of Port- land, who died while they were abroad, in 1835. He was married in 1843, for the second time, to Miss Appleton, who was the mother of his children. This beautiful and noble woman lost her life by fire in 1 861, and her death clouded all the poet's future. Excepting this tragedy his life was without any marked incident. It was simply filled with constant and fruitful labor, with kindly thought and benevo- lent action, and attended by love and honor. Longfellow lived in the Cragie House on Brattle Street, Cambridge, — a fine colonial mansion, occu- pied by Washington while in command of the patriot army around Boston. He lived generously, but with- out ostentation; and his house was pre-eminent among the notable dwellings of the seaboard. His literary and personal friendships were strong; he was without vanity or jealousy; and his equable temper, gracious manners, and musical speech made him one of the most delightful men of his generation. Among his firmest friends may be mentioned Agassiz, Charles Sumner, Hawthorne, President Felton, Lowell, Holmes, Norton, Luigi Monti, and Thomas W. Parsons. ** The Wayside Inn" contains portraits of some of these. Any discussion of Longfellow's poetry would be out of the question in a work like this. But while critics discuss and discriminate, readers all over the world rejoice in the beauty, the inspiration, the kind- HENRY WADSWORTII LONGFELLOW. 1 39 ness, and the consolation contained in his musical lines. Probably no poet of our century has so many friends. Longfellow died March 24, 1882. A sketch of his life, which had been made with his sanction by the author of this work, appeared shortly after his death. His Life and Letters, in three volumes, were given to the world by his brother, the Rev. Samuel Longfellow. Poetry, like music, has some strains suited to every mood of mind, and awakens a sense of beauty in the hearts of the uncultured as well as in the souls of the great and wise; and therefore each possessor of the divine gift attracts his separate followers, and addresses different faculties. But Longfellow is well- nigh universal in his sympathies, and so is beloved of all men. If it is urged that one poet is more imagina- tive, another more witty or more glowing, it can still be said that his images fill the horizon of widely dif- ferent minds, and that his verse has a grace, melody, and variety which leave no room for criticism. Every emotion which stirs us finds a response in some of his poems ; and we see that his art has seized upon the picturesque in Nature to form an appropriate setting to each thought. The poetry of Longfellow furnishes a most signal proof of the benefits conferred by poets upon mankind. It is a gospel of good-will set to music. It has carried "sweetness and light" to thou- sands of homes. It is blended with our holiest affec- tions and our immortal hopes. 140 NATHANIEL PARKER WILLIS. NATHANIEL PARKER WILLIS. IVFATHANIEL PARKER WILLIS was born in Portland, Me., January 20, 1807. He was grad- uated at Yale College in 1827. Some of his most popular poems, including his " Scripture Sketches," were written while he was in college. He established the ''American Monthly Magazine" in 1828, which, after an existence of two or three years, was merged in the New York " Mirror." A small volume of his " Fu- gitive Poetry " was published in Boston in 1829. He went to Europe in 1831, and while on his tour wrote a series of letters for the '' Mirror," entitled *' Pencil- lings by the Way." His journey ended in England in 1835, where the " Pencillings " were published in a collected form, in three volumes, and where the au- thor was married. His next work, ** Inklings of Ad- venture," appeared in 1836, and was republished in the United States. The following year Mr. Willis re- turned home, and settled at Glenmary, near Owego, N. Y After two years he revisited England, and in 1840 published " Letters from Under a Bridge," and shortly after *' Loiterings of Travel;" also a drama, entitled " Two Ways of Dying for a Hus- band." In 1845 he published another collection of sketches, entitled '^ Dashes at Life with a Free Pencil." About a year later the '* Home Journal " was established by our author, in connection with Mr. George P. Morris, the song-writer. He pub- lished in 1848 a collection entitled ** Poems of Early NATHANIEL PARKER WILLIS. I4I and After Years." The remaining works of Mr. Willis are mostly reprinted from the columns of the ** Journal." They are " Rural Letters " (1849) ; " Peo- ple I Have Met" (1850); ''Life Here and There " (1850); " Hurry-Graphs " (185 i) ; " Memoranda of a Life of Jenny Lind " (1851); "Fun Jottings" (1853); "A Health Trip to the Tropics" (1853); '* A Sum- mer Cruise in the Mediterranean " (1853) ; " Famous Persons and Places " (1854) ; '' Out Doors at Idlewild " (1854); ''The Rag Bag" (1855); "Paul P'ane," a novel (1856); "The Convalescent " (i860). The health of Mr. Willis had been delicate for many years, as may be inferred from some of the titles of his works, but the disease had been resisted and kept in check by country life and active habits. He died in January, 1867. Mr. Willis had great natural gifts. His perceptions were quick; his instinctive sense of color and of har- mony pervades both prose and verse ; his spirits were so lively that he could never be dull, whatever other offence he might commit. His landscapes and rural scenes are so exquisitely painted that we are sure his love of country life was his strongest feeling. But he could never have been a studious recluse ; there must have been always a telegraph or carrier pigeon, or let- ter, or what not, — something that brought the news and gossip of the great world, and told the interesting hermit what "society" thought of his latest letter or poem. This same " society " is answerable for the author's most serious faults. His early stories and sketches abound in stanhopes, blood horses, cham- 142 NATHANIEL PARKER WILLIS. pagne, star-eyed poets, and glorious damsels. That style of writing, flippant and personal, would seem to have originated with Bulwer's " Pelham," if that self- satisfied Adonis had ever taken the trouble to write anything. To play the double role of hard-working author and squire of dames, — to correct proof in the morning when one is meditating the bons mots for the evening, is too much of a burden ; and we rather wonder, in view of the life he must have led, that Willis retained, as he did, his early freshness of feel- ing, and wrote so much that was admirable. *' The Fable for Critics," which we have quoted before, contains a witty sketch of our author, in which there are a few lines, referring to the " Letters from Under a Bridge," that show a warm appreciation : " No volume I know to read under a tree More truly delicious than his ' A TAbri,' With the shadows of leaves flowing over your book, Like ripple-shades netting the bed of a brook ; With June coming softly your shoulder to look over, Breezes waiting to turn every leaf of your book over, And Nature to criticise still as you read, — That page that bears that is a rare one indeed." Mr. Willis had a kindly and generous nature, full of sympathy, especially to young writers. He was doubtless annoyed by the receipt of letters from all sorts of persons, as successful authors always are ; but, unlike some of his brethren, he always had a kind, sensible, and judicious answer to give. There are many who remember this trait with gratitude. JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER. 1 43 JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER. JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER was born in ^ Haverhill, Mass., December 17, 1807. His pa- rents were members of the Society of Friends, in moderate circumstances, kindly and devout, living on a farm remote from the village. His schooling was scanty, but his poetic faculty was awakened in early youth by hearing a pedler sing Scotch songs, and by a gift of the poems of Burns from his school- master. After difficulty and delay, he attended in his 20th and 21st years two terms at the Haverhill Acad- emy. He wrote for many newspapers in this his forming period, and by reading and practice acquired knowledge and command of English. He was editor of a weekly literary paper in Hartford, Conn., for about a year and a half, — 1830-32. Not long after his return home his father died, and the care of the family devolved upon him. While engaged in hard labor upon the farm he continued to write, and gained in power and reputation. From 1833 onward he was devoted to the antislavery cause. For more than thirty years he wrote constantly in all the peri- odicals of the day, sometimes in verse and oftener in prose, meanwhile attending meetings and conven- tions, — and in all this displayed an activity that was probably without parallel in that long struggle. He also found time for purely literary work, of which we have portions in his volumes of prose, and a treasure in his collections of verse. His chief contributions 144 JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER. were given to the " New England Review," Hartford, *' New England Magazine," Boston, the " Democratic Review," the ** National Era," and the " Atlantic Monthly." They were also scattered in a great num- ber of newspapers, annuals, etc., and many, probably, are irretrievably lost. He shared the obloquy and violence which all the early Abolitionists experienced. He was pelted with stones at Concord, N. H., and having gone to Philadelphia to edit the Pennsylvania " Freeman," his office was burned by a mob. His re- lations with Garrison were cordial, but he preferred to act with the party that made slavery a political question, and which finally triumphed in the election of Abraham Lincoln. The list of Whittier's published Works is long, and we omit some of the early ones which the poet did not care to preserve: " Antislavery Poems" (1838); "Lays of My Home" (1843); ''Margaret Smith's Journal" (1849); "Complete Poems, with Illustra- tions "(Mussey; 18^9); " Voices of Freedom " (1849); "Songs of Labor" (1850); "Old Portraits, etc." (1850); "The Chapel of the Hermits" (1853); "Literary Recreations" (1854); "The Panorama" (1856); Complete Edition (Ticknor; 1857); "Home Ballads" (i860); "In War Time" (1863); "Snow Bound " (1866) ; " The Tent on the Beach " (1867) ; "Among the Hills" (1868); "Miriam" (1870); "The Pennsylvania Pilgrim" (1872); "Mabel Mar- tin " (1874) ; " Hazel Blossoms " (1875) ; " Songs of Three Centuries" (a collection of Standard Poems, 1875); "The Vision of Echard " (1878); "The JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER. 145 King's Missive" (1881); "The Bay of Seven Isl- ands " (1883) ; ''Saint Gregory's Guest " (1888). A little volume o( verse was privately printed in 1 890. This now takes its place among his Works, and in- cludes, with other additions, the author's tribute to Holmes on his eighty-third birthday. If there has been in our century a man whom all will agree was born a poet, it is Whittier. He was less indebted to scholastic training, to family, to so- ciety, or to literary companionship than any of his brethren. Everything was in the man, nothing in the outfit. He made classic the scenery of his native Essex, of the neighboring coast of Maine, and the shining course of the Merrimac from the lakes and mountains to the sea. The early legends of the colony and of the great northern forest, of Indian and Canadian raids, of Puritan justice as meted out to Quakers and witches, — all that is romantic and memorable in New England's past found in Whittier a predestined bard. Although born in a remote corner, he was in many respects the most national of our poets. His landscapes, trees, and flowers are depicted with almost unequalled fidelity, and in what profusion! His sympathies go out to all men. His was the earliest of the siiTging " voices of freedom ; " and after the victory he celebrated the " triumph " in at strain of humble gratitude to God, like Simeon with his " Nunc dimittis." Whittier's instinct led him towards poetry and to poetic prose, but conscience made him an abolition- ist and a reformer. His soul was cut in twain, but 146 JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER. conscience for the most part triumphed ; and how- ever numerous and important are his poems and purely hterary productions, it is probably true that a far greater amount of work was done by him in behalf of the antislavery cause and other reforms. This could not have been otherwise with a man of his principles and character; but if it had been pos- sible for him to lead more the life of a scholar, and to bestow adequate time upon perfecting his poems, it would have made a change in the relative rank of American poets. The defects in his verse, such as imperfect rhymes and careless structure of lines and sentences, would have been remedied by patient care, such as other eminent poets never failed to bestow. It is true that he was " prone to repeat his own lyrics," but he did this as an apostle or antislavery preacher rather than as a poet. If many of his politi- cal poems are rhymed eloquence, the same is true of Pope, of Dryden, and of many others. But there is a large number of pieces, which, after every deduction made, are genuine poetry, ranking with the highest products of the century. Perhaps the highest expression of his genius was in his religious poems, such as "The Eternal Good- ness ; " they show an elevation of soul and an inten- sity of feeling which have become rare even among the most devout. A biographical sketch of Whittier was, by his per- mission and assistance, written in 1882 by the author of this volume. He died September 7, 1892, and was buried in the family lot in the Friends' burying- RICHARD HILDRETH. 1 47 ground in Amesbury. By his will he left his manu- scripts and letters to S. T. Pickard, of Portland, Maine, who married his niece, and that gentleman is engaged in writing an elaborate biography. RICHARD HILDRETH. piCHARD HILDRETH was born in Deerfield, *^ Mass., June 28, 1807. He was graduated at Harvard College in 1826, and, after reading law in Newburyport, removed to Boston and began prac- tice. In 1832 he became the editor of the Boston '•Atlas." Being in delicate health, he went to the South in 1834, where he sojourned for a year and a half on a plantation. This experience suggested to him the idea of writing a novel founded on the vicissitudes in the life of a slave. *' Archy Moore," which appeared on his return, was the first anti- slavery novel. It was republished in England, and favorably received. But Mr. Hildreth's mind was not suited to writing fiction, nor did he care for any rhetorical arts. The titles of his works show what were his favorite studies. He translated " Bentham's Theory of Legislation" from the French of Dumont. He wrote a *' History of Banks," " Despotism in Am- erica," which was a discussion of the subject of slavery; also a " Theory of Morals," and a '* Theory of Politics." These last works were written while he 148 RICHARD HILDRETH. was a resident in Demerara. His most important work is his " History of the United States," in six vohimes, pubHshed between 1849 ^^^d 1852, and bringing the narrative down to 1820. This is a work evincing great industry, independent judg- ment, and unswerving adherence to facts as he saw them. The style is clear and pure, and the arrange- ment of details perspicuous. There is not a passage of "fine writing" or declamation in it. The impres- sion left upon the mind of the reader is not favorable to Jefferson and his followers, since the author's hero (if sober history be allowed to have a hero) is Hamilton. Whether the view of Bancroft or that of Hildreth be the true one, no critic can now with certainty affirm. Every history of this country so far has been based upon more or less partial statements, and upon such letters as have been permitted to see the light. Each historian has made such selections as would produce effective pictures, and place the actors in what he considered their true relative positions. Many letters may exist which some future explorer may bring to light, and by their aid give a new color to characters and events. This generation is not ready to accept as true the traits of any portrait of the fathers based either on prejudice or half-knowledge, nor to believe that our governmental fabric had its rise among such selfish intrigues, struggles, and aspersion of motives as are prevalent to-day. Mr. Hildreth published a work entitled ** Japan as it Was and Is," a compilation of value. He was connected at one time with the New York ** Tribune," EDMUND QUINCY. I49 and was an industrious writer for other periodicals. He was appointed consul to Trieste in 1861. His frame was slender, and his health was always delicate. He died in Florence, July, 1865. EDMUND QUINCY. CDMUND QUINCY was born in Boston, Febru- ary I, 1808, and was graduated at Harvard College in 1827. He studied law, but never prac- tised the profession, having been, as he once jocosely styled himself, '* a reformed lawyer." He wrote a great number of letters and other articles for periodi- cals, characterized by a peculiar and often pungent wit. He published, in 1854, a novel entitled "Wens- ley: A Story without a 'Moral." It has a racy New England flavor, and was much enjoyed by those fa- miliar with the manners of fifty years ago. In 1867 he published a Life of his father, Josiah Quincy, a work of great interest as a biography and as a con- tribution to our national history, exhibiting clearly, as it did, the literary culture, taste, and judgment of the author. Mr. Quincy lived at Dedham, in one of those spacious old houses which few men in our century know how to build, and fewer still how to enjoy. He was prominent among the early Abolitionists, and cheerfully bore his part of the obloquy heaped 150 GEORGE STILLMAN HILLARD. upon them by all the *' best people " of Boston. For many years he was a regular correspondent of the New York " Antislavery Standard." He was one of the original contributors to the " Atlantic Monthly," and wrote many of its (early) epigrammatic book no- tices. At the " Atlantic " dinners he was remarkable for his wit and felicity in conversation, as well as for his distinguished manners; for he was among the few courtly men with whom dignity never became importance, and whose courtesy was never mistaken for condescension. He died May 17, 1877. GEORGE STUXMAN HILLARD. pEORGE STILLMAN HILLARD was born in ^^ Machias, Me., September 22, 1808. He was graduated at Harvard College in 1828, after which he studied law, and settled in Boston, where he resided until his death, which occurred January 21, 1879. He paid a divided homage to law and' literature, and was distinguished at the bar as well as among writers. He delivered several discourses on public occasions, in which he exhibited brilliant qualities of style, and the results of reading and culture. He visited Europe in 1847, ^^^^ o^ ^^'^^ return delivered a course of lec- tures before the Lowell Institute. His notes of travel, under the title of '* Six Months in Italy," relate mostly to ancient and mediaeval art, and have what seems EDWARDS A. PARK. 151 to be a permanent value. He published a selection from the Works of Walter Savage Landor, and an" edition of Spenser in five volumes. He wrote many valuable articles for the *' Christian Examiner " and the " North American Review," and was the author of a widely-known series of school readers. An address which he delivered in 1846, is notice- able as one of the earliest attempts to show the in- fluences of physical geography upon the history of mankind. EDWARDS A. PARK. CDWARDS A. PARK was born in Providence, ^ R. I., December 29, 1808. He was graduated at Brown University in 1826, received his theological education at Andover, Mass., and was settled in 1831 as pastor of a church in Braintree. In 1835 he was appointed professor of moral and intellectual philoso- phy in Amherst College, and a year later resigned to accept a chair at Andover, where he has since resided. Professor Park's published Works naturally grew out of his professional studies, and are mostly doc- trinal in their character. He edited the Writings of the Rev. William Bradford Homer, with a Memoir, and the Writings of Professor B. B. Edwards, with a Memoir. He wrote a work entitled ** The Preacher and Pastor," and, with collaborators, published a vol- ume of hymns; also a treatise on hymnology, en- 152 OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES. titled " Hymns and Choirs." He contributed to cur- rent theological literature, and was one of the editors of the *' Bibliotheca Sacra" from the beginning. His published discourses on various occasions gained for him a commanding position in his denomination. His sermons are weighty with thought, simple in dic- tion, direct in their motive and argument, and leave a deep impression upon the mind. He must be con- sidered as one of the ablest of the clergy, and a leading representative of New England theology. OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES. r^ LIVER WENDELL HOLMES was born in ^-^ Cambridge, Mass., August 29, 1809. He was graduated at Harvard College in 1829. He received his degree of M. D. in 1836, after some years of study both at home and abroad. He was chosen professor of anatomy and physiology in Dartmouth College in 1838, and was called to the chair of anatomy in Harvard College in 1847, which he held until 18 — . Dr. Holmes began writing poetry at an early age. A small collection was published in 1836. Referring now to those first attempts, with the impressions of later triumphs in mind, we are almost surprised at the beauty of many lines, as under the splendor of a declining day we see beauties not revealed to us in the morning landscape. OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES. 1 53 "Urania, a Rhymed Lesson," was published in' 1846, and was included in a collection (1848) contain- ing " Terpsichore," '^ Urania," and '' Poetry : A Met- rical Essay," etc. These are good names with which to conjure up forms of youthful grace. *' Astraea, the Balance of Illusions," appeared in 1850; '' Songs in Many Keys " in 1861 ; *' Songs of Many Seasons " in 1875; "The Schoolboy" in 1878; "The Iron Gate" in 1880; "Before the Curfew'' in 1888. Be- sides these, a great many poems have been published separately with illustrations ; such as " The Last Leaf," " Grandmother's Story of the Battle of Bunker Hill," " Dorothy Q.," " The One-Hoss Shay," etc. Upon the establishment of the " Atlantic Monthly " in 1857, Dr. Holmes began a series of papers entitled " The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table." This proved to be a literary event, and the appearance of each successive number raised the fame of the author still higher. The next year he followed the happy inven- tion by a series on a similar plan, entitled " The Professor at the Breakfast Table." " Elsie Venner," a psychological novel, appeared in 1861, and "The Guardian Angel " in 1867. Another series of delight- ful essays, entitled " The Poet at the Breakfast Table," was begun in the " Atlantic " January, 1872. Dr. Holmes has also published a great many medi- cal essays and addresses, and a very powerful essay upon the functions of the brain, entitled " Mechanism in Thought and Morals." His later works are " Life of Motley" (1879); "Life of Emerson" (1884); "A Mortal Antipathy " (1885) ; "Medical Essays" 154 OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES. (1842 and 1882); ''Our Hundred Days," the journal of a trip to Europe, in 1887. These titles give but an imperfect notion of Dr. Holmes's mental activity. His orations, addresses, essays, and lectures would fill many volumes. Some of the most notable of these, such as " The Gambrel-Roofed House " and " My Hunt after the Captain," appeared in the ** At- lantic." A collection of them, " Soundings from the Atlantic," appeared in 1864. The Autocrat was wel- comed everywhere in Great Britain with distinguished honor, and received degrees from the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, and Edinburgh. In the " Atlan- tic " for 1890 he wrote a new series of articles in the familiar vein, " Over the Teacups." There are authors whose qualities are ascertained by a not very difficult analysis. The intellect of Holmes, though manifesting many and strongly- marked attributes, eludes all tests, preserves its indi- viduality, and remains unclassified among original elements. When we think of the familiar confidences of the Autocrat, we might liken him to Montaigne; but while the parallel is being considered, we come upon passages so full of tingling hits or of rollicking fun that we are sure we are mistaken, and that he resembles no one so much as Sydney Smith. Pres- ently he sounds the depths of our consciousness, explores the concealed channels of feeling, flashes the light of genius upon our half-acknowledged thoughts, — and we see that this is what neither the great Gascon nor the hearty and jovial Englishman would have attempted. We are equally puzzled when OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES. 1 55 we would consider his verse. The alternations of tender sentiment, humor, and mirthful satire might remind us of Hood; his lyrics have the high spirit of the best pieces of Campbell ; the charming sim- plicity and delicate feeling of other poems recall the songs of Beranger. Then we see that he is like them all, or rather like neither. Some of his stanzas have a compactness, finish, and lustre that we may fairly call Horatian ; scarcely any one since Pope has con- densed so much power into lines of such elastic movement. Though Dr. Holmes has written prose and verse with equal success, and would have been famous in either field, still all his works are pervaded by the same original and characteristic traits. It is difficult to consider his poetry by itself when there is con- stantly breaking into our inner chamber of judgment a troop of recollections from the Autocrat : Wit, with glittering eye and assailing forefinger ; Irony, with one side of the face severe, and the other wearing a mock- ing smile; Puns, like Siamese twins in harlequin suits, turning somersaults; grave figures in dominoes, with the port of Lord Bacon or the sharp glances of Voltaire ; and white-robed Sentiment, her tender bosom heaving, her dewy tears scarce brushed away, and mortally afraid of being made ridiculous by some prank of the merry company. And if in the same silent session we were to take up the most brilliant of his prose works, we should hardly turn half-a-dozen leaves without coming upon some lyric of the sea or the street, some delicate strain 156 OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES. of remembered love, or sterling lesson of duty, or scholastic legend with a sting in its tail; and we should declare that Holmes was simply and purely a poet. In the Table Talk, the miracle is that one mind could so long from its own resources, as from a quarry, furnish so many blocks of wisdom, so many sculp- tured forms of beauty and blazing gems of illustra- tion. A clever writer might comment forever upon daily events or current literature, as Sainte-Beuve did in his " Causeries du Lundi ; " but to turn inward his Ipok; to interest an indifferent public solely in his own bright, strange, deep, and wayward thoughts and fancies ; to suggest subtile resemblances and remote associations between the outer and inner world ; to invest intellectual processes with such a charm as to make each reader fancy himself (for the time) another Plato, and then to close each con- versation with a hymn of fitting beauty, — to be able so to illuminate our " thought's interior sphere" is a task for a genius. Holmes has undoubtedly suffered in the estimation of the unthinking as the author of comic verses. As he himself says, they " suspect the azure blossom that unfolds upon the shoot, As if wisdom's old potato could not flourish at the root." But if he had never perpetrated a joke he would have been one of the most original of essayists ; and when the sallies that have set tables in a roar, and even the lyrics that have set a nation's heart throbbing, have ROBERT CHARLES WINTHROP. I 57 been forgotten, still his picture of the " Ship of Pearl " and the monumental stanza in the *' Last Leaf" will preserve his name forever. ROBERT CHARLES WINTHROP. nOBERT CHARLES WINTHROP, a lineal de- scendant of the first governor of Massachusetts, was born in Boston, May 12, 1809. He was educated at the Latin School and at Harvard College, receiving his degree in 1828. He studied law in the ofiice of Daniel Webster; but soon after his admission to the bar, he began a public career. He was a member of the State legislature for six years, during three of which he was speaker of the House. He was elected to Congress in 1840, and remained in that service, excepting a short interval, for ten years. He was chosen speaker of the national House of Representa- tives in 1847, and in 1849 was the Whig candidate for re-election to the same position. The Free Soil mem- bers held the balance of power between the Whigs and Democrats. Mr. Winthrop refused to give any pledges as to the manner in which he would constitute the committees of the House if he should be elected. The antislavery men thereupon refused to support him ; and after sixty-three ballots the Democratic candidate, Mr. Howell Cobb of Georgia, was elected. In 1850 he was appointed by the governor United 158 ROBERT CHARLES WINTHROP. States senator, as successor to Webster, who bad been made secretary of state. In 185 1 he was the candidate of the Whigs for the United States senator- ship, but was defeated by Charles Sumner, through a coahtion of the Democratic and Free Soil parties. He was a candidate for governor the following autumn, and received a large plurality of votes ; but as a majority of all the votes was then required, there was no choice by the people, and the election devolved upon the State legislature. The result was that Mr. Boutwell, who was the Democratic candidate, was re- elected. Since that time he has taken no active part in political affairs, but has devoted his leisure mainly to literary pursuits. He has been prominent in the Massachusetts Historical Society, which is engaged in the useful work of printing books and manuscripts relating to our annals. He is one of the trustees, under the will of George Peabody, of the fund for promoting popular education in the Southern States. He has delivered a number of orations and discourses upon historical, patriotic, and religious subjects. He has published the Life and Letters of John Winthrop, in two volumes; also a Memoir of Nathan Appleton, and discourses commemorative of Prescott, Quincy, Everett, Peabody, and others. Mr. Winthrop's addresses and speeches have been published in three volumes. Though classed with statesmen, he belongs also with literary men ; being not only a scholar, but a writer of original force. JAMES FREEMAN CLARKE. I 59 JAMES FREEMAN CLARKE. TAMES FREEMAN CLARKE was born in Han- *^ over, N. H., April 4, 18 10, and died in Boston June 8, 1888. He was graduated at Harvard College in the class of 1829, made famous by numerous anni- versary poems written by Holmes. He was pastor of the Unitarian Church in Louisville, Ky., from 1833 to 1840. In 1 84 1 he founded the Church of the Disci- ples in Boston, and was its pastor for forty-five years. He was prominent in educational and philanthropic work, and was for a time professor and lecturer in the Harvard Divinity School. He was an able and volu- minous writer, as the list of his Works will show. The book by which Dr. Clarke will be best known is "The Life and Times of Jesus," first published as "The Legend of Thomas Didymus." He held a conserva- tive position in regard to the New Testament narra- tives, admitting most of the " wonderful works " and the resurrection. He was an idealist, a foe to materi- alist doctrine. This work is intended to reproduce the sublime story in a series of dramatic pictures, taken from different points of view. None but a man of imagination could have conceived the design ; none but a man of great learning could have filled in the historical details; and none but a man of tender piety could have etched the beautiful representations of the Christ. The naked story, as Mr. Clarke con- ceived it, would have covered less than half the space now occupied, and had it been so written it might l6o JAMES FREEMAN CLARKE. have been a book to go around the world ; but he was theologian, preacher, and commentator as well as dramatist, and as such he felt bound to supply a full account of the state of Judaism in Jerusalem, Alexandria, and elsewhere, together with a syn- optical arrangement of the gospel narratives and a reference to every parable, saying, miracle, and mem- orable event in the life of Christ. Encumbered with this precious weight, the dramatic action lags. It is among the important and interesting books upon the origin of Christianity, though not the great and im- pressive pictorial drama which the author had pro- posed to make. Too much learning may drown an author, *' like gold in a swimmer's pocket." Dr. Clarke's chief works are as follows : ** Theo- dore ; Or, the Sceptic's Conversion, " translated from the German (1841); "History of the Campaign of 1812: A Vindication of General Hull" (1848); •'Eleven Weeks in Europe " (1852) ; " Christian Doc- trine of Forgiveness of Sin" (1852) ; "Chris- tian Doctrine of Prayer " (1854); Karl Hase's Life of Jesus, from the German (i860); "The Hour which Cometh" (1864); "Orthodoxy: Its Truths and Errors" (1866); "Steps of Belief" a religious polemic (1870); "Ten Great Religions" (1871- 1883); "Exotics: Translations in Verse" (1876); "Go Up Higher," sermons (1877); "Essentials in Religion" (1878); " Memorial Sketches " (1878); "How to Find the Stars" (1878); "Events and Epochs in Religious History" (1881); "Legend of Thomas Didymus ; Or, The Life and Times of Jesus " MARGARET FULLER. l6l (1881) ; '* Self-Culture " (1882); "The Ideas of the Apostle Paul" (1884); '' Antislavery Days" (1884); " Every Day Religion " (1886) ; *' Vexed Questions " (1886). In this list of Dr. Clarke's Works some volumes of sermons and discourses are omitted. MARGARET FULLER. CARAH MARGARET FULLER, by marriage *^ Marchioness Ossoli, was born in Cambridge, Mass., May 23, 18 10. She was educated by her father, who injudiciously gave her tasks that devel- oped her mental faculties at the expense of a sound bodily organization. She was a prodigy of learning, and early devoured languages and literatures. She spent a few years in teaching, and in 1840 was prin- cipal editor of " The Dial," a periodical devoted to Transcendental philosophy. In 1844 she became connected with the New York " Tribune," and wrote for it reviews and miscellaneous articles, which in 1846 were collected and published under the title of " Papers on Art and Literature." She went to Europe in 1846, and after extensive travels reached Rome in the spring of 1847. I^^ December of that year she was married to the Marquis Ossoli. She remained in Rome during the revolution of 1848, and through the siege by the P>ench the year after. In May, 1850, 1 62 MARGARET FULLER. she embarked with her husband and infant son at Leghorn, in the ship " Ehzabeth," for New York, and when near port perislied with them in the wreck of the vessel on Fire Island. Three of her intimate friends — Ralph Waldo Emer- son, William Henry Channing, and James Freeman Clarke — wrote an account of her life, each contribut- ing a separate view. From this work, as well as from the concurrent testimony of other competent judges, it is evident that Margaret Fuller (as we prefer to call her) was a woman of rare genius. She de- lighted in abstruse themes, and in criticism of litera- ture and art. Clubs of her adm^irers met statedly to hear her discourse. At the same time the habit of monologue rendered her manners disagreeable to many persons and gave to her opinions an oracular tone. In her published Works there are passages of great power and beauty. Her descriptions of scenery — that of Niagara, for instance — are given with a few bold strokes that suggest much more than at first meets the eye. She paints, in fact, our inward emotion in presence of the scene; and so gives us the ideal of Nature. Her critical articles often show insight and the power of clear statement; but either she was warped by personal dislikes, or she took pleasure in demolishing popular idols. For instance, she styled Longfellow " a dandy Pindar." In her view there were but half-a-dozen persons with brains in America. In her way of writing, the editorial 2ve had a royal sound. German philosophy had but recently come in fashion, and its phrases infected all its votaries. MARGARET FULLER. 1 63 It was some time before it was discovered that phi- losophic diction did not ahvays clothe philosophic thought. Perhaps Margaret Fuller, at the time of her too early death, had passed through her destructive stage, and was ready to build. Perhaps if she had lived she would have justified the opinions of her admirers by the creation of some great work. Indeed, she is said to have had in her possession at the time of the ship- wreck a manuscript work which she had prepared on the then recent revolution in Europe, of which she and some of her friends had high expectations. If this v/cre so, the calamity of the shipwreck is the more to be lamented. As in the case of great ora- tors, actors, and singers, who, after charming a gener- ation, die and leave only a tradition of their powers, this extraordinary woman will be scarcely more than a name in literary history. Something, however, of Margaret Fuller's influence survives. The advocates for the elevation of woman hold her in high regard as a pioneer in their cause. In this, as in everything else in which she took part, she put her own intense personality forward, and did much to win for her sex the right of discussion and the privilege of being heard. Besides the " Papers on Art and Literature," before mentioned, this author wrote " Woman in the Nine- teenth Century ; " also letters from P^urope, which were published under the title of " At Home and Abroad " (1856). This last work included " Summer on the Lakes," which w^s originally published in 1843 5 'ilso 1 64 THEODORE PARKER. notices of her life and character by Bayard Taylor and Horace Greeley, and commemorative poems by Walter Savage Landor and others. She translated Eckermann's "Conversations with Goethe" (1839), and " The Letters of Giinderode and Bettine " (1841). THEODORE PARKER. T^HEODORE PARKER was born in Lexington, Mass., August 24, 18 10. He received only a common-school education, until in his seventeenth year he procured the necessary books and fitted him- self to enter college. He worked on his father's farm while pursuing his studies, and in 1830 entered the freshman class at Harvard. Though he remained but a year, it is said he went over the studies of three years. He then taught school until, in 1834, he en- tered the Cambridge Divinity School. During this period and through his whole life he devoted his time to learning, in almost every department, especially in that of languages. He was familiar with Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Syriac, Arabic, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Danish, and Swedish, and perhaps with more. He was able to read fluently in over twenty languages and dialects. Metaphysics, history, politics, literature, and whatever was nearest furnished the aliment without which he could not exist. In 1837 Mr. Parker was settled as pastor of a Uni- THEODORE TARKER. 165 tarian church in West Roxbuiy. Before long his views took a form not in accordance with the teachings of his clerical brethren. This change was announced in a sermon preached at the ordination of the Rev. C. C. Shackford in South Boston, in 1841, of which the sig- nificant title was " The Transient and Permanent in Christianity." He went to Europe in 1843, and spent a year. In 1845 he began to preach for the Twenty- eighth Congregational Society, an independent gath- ering: of his followers, and thenceforth had no con- nection with the Unitariai^ body. He attracted large audiences, first in the Melodeon and afterward in the Music Hall. He regarded the Bible as a religious history, but denied its plenary inspiration, if not its divine origin. He might be called a Transcendental theist. He developed his idea of God from the oper- ations of reason, and with great earnestness taught the doctrine of an immortal life. He was an advocate of temperance, of social reform, and of universal liberty. The antislavery movement was then new and unpopular. He was naturally attacked both by religious teachers and by party leaders, and his retorts were constant and bitter. In fact, he could never forget his opponents; and in the midst of the most pathetic or the most noble passages in his sermons, the epithets of " kidnapper " and " pharisee " were sure to occur. He was the constant friend of fugitive slaves, and at one time was indicted for counselling resistance to the authorities when a slave named Anthony Burns was delivered back to his master. In private life he was amiable, tender, and helpful, as 1 66 THEODORE PARKER. well as joyous, simple, and fresh in feeling. A large part of his income was applied to charitable purposes. He visited all classes of people, exploring the mid- night haunts of vice and the dwellings of the poor and outcast. He was ably seconded in social and pastoral duties by his wife (born Lydia Cabot), a woman of beauty, accomplishments, and noble character. Mr. Parker's writings are generally strong and rugged in style. He addresses the reason, and makes few ap- peals to the emotions. But his love of Nature was intense; and nearly every discourse has some tribute to the beauty of the seasons, and some illustration cf spiritual truth drawn from the visible world. He excelled also in pathetic description, and gave to the ideas of home, parents, children, age, and death a tender and impressive charm. His chief deficiency as a writer was in taste, the want of which often mars his general literary excellence. Mr. Parker's life of constant activity exhausted his vital forces, and in January, 1859, he relinquished his charge, and sailed to Santa Cruz, and thence to Europe. He spent some time in Switzerland and Italy, and died at Florence, May 10, i860. Mr. Parker's Works are a *' Discourse of Matters Pertaining to Religion ; " " Sermons of Theism, Athe- ism, and the Popular Theology; " " Ten Sermons of Religion ; " " Additional Speeches, Addresses, and Occasional Sermons ; " " Critical and Miscellaneous Writings;" "Historic Americans: Franklin, Wash- ington, Adams, and Jefferson," — four original and EDGAR ALLAN FOE. 1 6/ powerful sketches of character ; **The Trial of Theo- dore Parker ; " " Prayers ; " " Selections from the World of Mind and Matter;" "Translation of De Wette's Introduction to the Old Testament," etc. His Life was written by the Rev. John Weiss. His large and valuable collection of books — over thir- teen thousand volumes — was given by him to the Boston Public Library. EDGAR ALLAN POE. "CDGAR POE was born in Baltimore in January, 1811. He was the son of a lawyer, who had abandoned his profession, married an actress, and gone upon the stage. Upon the death of his par- ents, Edgar, who was a bright and beautiful boy, was adopted and carefully educated by Mr. John Allan, of Richmond, Va. He was sent to school at Stoke Newington, near London, for some years, and after- ward entered the University of Virginia. He was the foremost scholar of his class, and might have fin- ished his course with honor; but he was expelled for his profligate habits. From this time he had "adventures" enough to furnish the incidents for an eighteenth-century novel. Having contracted debts which his patron refused to pay, he went abroad to join the patriot Greeks ; but a year later he appeared at St. Pctersburc:, in a state of destitution, and was sent l68 EDGAR ALLAN FOE. home by the interposition of the American minister. Mr. Allan received him with forgiveness, and pro- cured his appointment as a cadet at West Point In ten months he was expelled. On returning home he found that Mr. Allan had married a young and hand- some woman for a second wife. For some grave reason, not made public, Poe was turned out of the house, and the relationship was at an end. Mr. Allan died not long after, and made no mention of Poe in his will. Poe published a small volume of poems in Balti- more, but shortly after he was driven by poverty to enlist as a common soldier in the army. He deserted, as might have been expected. He next obtained a prize offered for a story, and found friends through whose aid he became editor of the " Literary Messen- ger" in Richmond. He worked with great industry for a while, but soon fell into bad habits, quarrelled with the proprietor, and was dismissed. While in Richmond he had married his cousin; and with her he went to New York, and became a contributor to literary periodicals. He edited " Burton's Magazine," and then *' Graham's Magazine " in Philadelphia. After the usual quarrel here with his employer he re- turned to New York, and was employed by Willis on the ''Mirror." In the mean time his "Adventures of Arthur Gordon Pym," the " Tales of the Grotesque and the Arabesque," and his remarkable story " The Gold Bug" had been published. His poem "The Raven" appeared in the "American Review," and gave him an immense reputation. At this time he EDGAR ALLAN POE. 1 69 enjoyed a season of comparative quiet. He became connected with the " Broadway Journal," which he edited for a year or more. He pubHshed a series of criticisms in the "Lady's Book," styled ''The Literati," now forming the third volume of his Works. It is seldom that such a savage, wielding such weapons, puts on the war-paint and attempts such havoc in the peaceful fields of letters. Not that there was not a great deal of power and some grains of truth in his strictures; but his want of moral principle, his prejudices, wih'ulness, and brutality combined to render them the most worthless, as they were the most ill-mannered, articles ever printed. He praised the vapid productions of obscure authors, and condemned every poet of repute. Time, which is the test of excellence, has made his passionate invectives and commendations alike pointless. After the death of his wife Poe formed an engage- ment with a lady in Richmond, and the wedding day was fixed. On his way to New York, he fell in with some of his old companions in dissipation at Baltimore ; he soon became drunk, wandered into the streets, and the same night perished miserably from exposure (October 7, 1849). Poe appears to have been wanting in moral sense. His intellect was sharp, electric, powerful, and had been carefully trained. Of the cultivation which books and study give he had no small measure. His sense of melotly, his perception of the proprieties of style and of just proportion in structure, were mar- vellous. With a reasonable share of honesty he 170 EUGAR ALLAN POE. might have made an admirable critic ; the want of it made his praise and his censure as uncertain as the wind, and as httle regarded. The reader will search his Works in vain for an exhibition of real feeling. " The Raven," as all admit, is a wonderful poem ; but it has not a line that might not have been written by a fallen and unrepentant angel. His tales are master- pieces of construction ; but when their secret is re- vealed their interest is at an end, for they have no elements of human sympathy; they are miracles of clock-work, — not immoral, but ////-moral. There is sometimes a period in the growth of men when the intellect is deified, and goodness little esteemed. But if youth would be taught what mere intellect may be without the moral element, let them consider the Works, the character, and career of Poe. The poet must express his inmost qualities in his verse ; and the noblest poetry in all its va- ried but harmonious elements is the visible soul of the noblest man. Many biographies of Poe have appeared, in some of which his faults are extenuated. His character as here given is dark, but lamentably true. The facts which establish it were related to the author of this work by persons who had been closely associated with Poe in New York, and who had full opportunity to know him as he was. In genius and in poetic art he was transcendent. His few finished poems are in many qualities unsurpassed. To have made him a great poet it was only necessary that he should have been a purer, nobler, and more feeling man. GEORGE WASHINGTON GREENE. 1 71 Poe's complete Works were published in four vol- umes, New York, 1849. Many other editions have since appeared, especially in England, where he divides with Walt Whitman the admiration of the public. GEORGE WASHINGTON GREENE. /^EORGE WASHINGTON GREENE was born in East Greenwich, R. I., April 8, 181 1, and died Eeb. 2, 1883. He entered Brown University, but left in his junior year on account of ill health, and went to Europe, where he" remained, excepting a few visits to this country, until 1847. From 1837 ^^ 1845 ^^^ ^'^^ United States consul at Rome. He wrote for the " North American Review " a series of essays upon Italian history, which have been collected under the title of " Historical Studies." On his re- turn to the United States he became professor of modern languages at Brown University. In 1852 he removed to New York, where he edited the Works of Addison (1854), and continued writing for periodi- cals. He wrote, for Sparks's ''American Biography," the Life of his grandfather. General Nathanael Greene, and he published (1867-71) an enlarged edition of the General's Life and Letters, 3 vols., 8vo. A second series of his essays was published, entitled "An His- torical View of the American Revolution." His other 1/2 ALFRED BILLINGS STREET. Works are " History and Geography of the Middle Ages" (1851); *' Biographical Studies" (i860) " Nathanael Greene : An Examination of the Ninth Volume of Bancroft's History" (1866); "The Ger- man Element in the War of American Independ- ence" (1876) ; " A Short History of Rhode Island" (1877). He delivered a course of historical lectures in Cornell University in 1873. The Works of Mr. Greene command the respect of scholars from the faithful study they exhibit, as well as for the moderation of tone and the clear and easy style in which they are written. ALERED BILLINGS STREET. ALERED BILLINGS STREET was born in ^^ Poughkeepsie, N. Y., December 18, 181 1, and died in Albany, June 2, 1881. At fourteen years of age he removed with his father to Monticello, in Sullivan County, where he studied law and was admitted to the bar. In 1839 he removed to Albany, where he established his home and was appointed to the place of State librarian. Mr. Street's first volume, entitled "The Burning of Schenectady, and other Poems," was published in 1842. In 1844 a collection appeared entitled " Draw- ings and Tintings." " Frontenac," his longest poem, appeared in 1849. He published a history of certain ALFRED BILLINGS STREET. 1 73 New York courts, entitled "The Council of Revision," in i860, and in the same year an account of the Sara- nac and Raquette lakes, of northern New York, under the title of ** Woods and Waters." Mr. Street had the tastes of a landscape painter of the realistic school. As we read his pages, we walk with him through the forests and by the banks of riv- ers. He gives us a minute and faithful record of every picturesque view, a notice of every variety of tree and flower, and of every native of the woods. His perception of the beautiful was not of general effects, but of details, and we have carefully painted studies rather than comprehensive pictures. The points that fill the eye or strike the ear with pleasure are all enumerated, but we miss the imaginative power that blends the separate observations into a rounded whole. This is the faculty which he lacked, and it is the crowning faculty of the poet. There is no doubt that Street wrought with conscientious fidelity, and that his studies are true and beautiful. But his range of thought, as well as of observation, was not the broad- est; and he must be classed among the painstaking students of Nature, and not among the masters of its secret power, the interpreters of its divine lessons. 174 NOAH PORTER, NOAH PORTER. IVjOAH PORTER was born in P^armington, Conn., ^^ in 1811, and was graduated at Yale College in 183 1. He studied theology at the Yale School while tutor in the college, and was ordained pastor of the Congregational Church at New Milford, Conn., in 1836. In 1843 he removed to Springfield, Mass., where he remained until 1847, when he was appointed professor of moral philosophy and metaphysics in Yale College. He held this place until 1871, when, on the retirement of Dr. Woolsey, he was chosen president. He died Sept. 24, 1886. Dr. Porter's principal work is a text-book upon mental philosophy, entitled " The Human Intellect," considered by many to be on the whole the ablest presentation of its great subject in a popular form. He published in 1870 a volume on Books and Reading, — a very candid, discriminating, and catho- lic treatise. His other Works are "The Educational Systems of the Puritans and the Jesuits" (1851); "The American Colleges and the American Public" (1870); "Elements of Intellectual Science" (1871); " The Sciences of Nature versus the Science of Man : A Plea for the Science of Man" (1871); " Evange- line, the Place, the Story, and the Poem" (1882); "Science and Sentiment" (1882); "The Elements of Moral Science" (1885); "The Eife of Bishop Berkeley" (1885); "Kant's Ethics: A Critical Ex- position" (1886). He was a contributor to the " New WENDELL PHILLIPS. 1/5 Englander " and other periodicals, and published oc- casional discourses and addresses. He was also editor- in-chief of a revised edition of Webster's Dictionary, in which the etymologies were wrought over, and the definitions recast. He was an admirable and power- ful writer. WENDELL PHILLIPS. \^ENDELL PHILLIPS was born in Boston, Mass., November, 29, 181 1, and died Feb. 2, 1884. He was graduated at Harvard College in 1831, and at the Cambridge Law School in 1833. ^^ made his first appearance as an orator in December, 1837, at a public meeting held in Faneuil Hall, to take some notice of the murder of the Rev. E. P. Lovejoy, at Alton, 111. (Mr. Lovejoy had established an anti- slavery paper in Alton, and his ofhce had been re- cently mobbed, and he killed while defending his property.) The conservative portion of the audience under the lead of the attorney-general, endeavored to frustrate the purpose of those who called the meeting. Mr. Phillips was young and comparatively unknown; but he was roused by the occasion, and in a brilliant strain of invective he attacked the position of those who attempted to palliate the crime which had been committed against a free press. His impassioned eloquence captivated the audience ; the opposition 176 WENDELL PHILLIPS. was silenced, and the original resolutions presented were adopted. Mr. Phillips continued to labor in behalf of the antislavery cause, although he and his party ab- stained from voting and from political action, because they would not swear to support the Constitution of the United States so long as it protected slavery. After the institution was abolished, he found abun- dant fields for his labors as a reformer. He was one of the leading advocates of woman suffrage; he was vehement in support of a law that should make it a penal offence to sell intoxicating drinks. He was a friend of the labor reformers in their desire to lighten the burdens and increase the comforts and the mental cultivation of the poor; he took up the cause of the Irish nationalists with his accustomed energy, and sustained their claims against the British government in speeches of extraordinary force. As an orator Mr. Phillips had few rivals and scarcely a superior in his generation. His voice was musical, his manner at once earnest and graceful, and his command of a fluent and idiomatic speech little less than marvellous. He was a great master of all the arts of attack. Preachers, politicians, and men in high places generally, who differed from him in opin- ion, were the subjects of his keen ridicule and his withering sarcasm. Like the old prophets, he had always a " burden." He was a natural leader of men when on the platform ; he knew how to reach their hearts, — if not through their reason and their moral sense, then by their pride, their local prejudices, and WENDELL PHILLIPS. 1 7/ their affections. But those who listened to his utter- ances, whether in fervid denunciation, protest, or pathetic appeal, seldom had the opportunity to ex- amine in cool blood the true character of the rhetoric that fascinated them. While they watched the mag- nificent stream of eloquence, it seemed like the course of a river of molten lava ; but that lava when cooled and hardened was often rough and seamed. Mr. Phillips's speeches were collected in two hand- some volumes, with a portrait. Viewed simply as specimens o( composition, these volumes are some- what disappointing. The apt illustration, the witty anecdote, the emphatic statement, the traces of strong feeling, are to be seen in every discourse; but there are also phrases and epithets which, while they might pass in an off-hand speech, on the printed page de- base style and weaken force. It would seem that this was a deliberate choice, and that the orator had no regard for literature except so far as it served prac- tical ends. Mr. Phillips was long a popular lecturer, and never failed to interest his audiences. Matter and manner were in perfect accord, and his stately presence and melodious tones left impressions which were never forgotten. His last great effort was an address before the Phi Beta Kappa Society at Harvard University, delivered June 30, 1881. It appears that Mr. Phillips did not desire that his Life should be written ; and up to this time only a popular biography has ap- peared, prepared by George Lowell Austin. 12 1/8 CHARLES SUMNER. CHARLES SUMNER. r^HARLES SUMNER was bom in Boston, Jan- ^ uary 6, 1811, and died March 11, 1874. He was educated in the Boston Latin School, and at Harvard College, where he received his degree in 1830. He studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1834. Although successful in practice, he o;ave his attention more to the theorv of law, and soon became known as an able writer on legal sub- jects. He was for three years reporter of the Circuit Court, and was at different times lecturer at the Cambridge Law School. In 1845, on the 4th of July, he delivered an oration before the municipal authorities of Boston, on the " True Grandeur of Nations," in which he denounced the impending war with Mexico, and advocated the settlement of all national controversies by arbitration. Mr. Sumner was originally a Whig, but was led by the course of events to join the Free Soil party. In 1851 the Democratic and Free Soil parties having formed a coalition to carry the State election, he was, after a long and animated contest, chosen United States sen- ator to succeed Daniel Webster. In the Senate he opposed the fugitive-slave bill in a speech in which he announced the doctrine that " freedom is national, slavery sectional." In 1856, after the delivery of his speech entitled '* The Crime against Kansas," in which were some passages that were highly offensive to slaveholders, he was assaulted, while at his desk CHARLES SUMNER. I 79 in the Senate chamber, with a heavy cane, by Preston S. Brooks of South Carohna, and was so severely injured that he was unable to perform any mental labor for some years. On resuming his seat, in the autumn of 1859, he delivered a speech that was after- ward printed under the title of " The Barbarism of Slavery." During the rebellion which followed the election of Abraham Lincoln, he advocated the emancipation of the slaves as the effective mode of ending the contest. For many years he was the lead- ing member of the Senate. In 1861 he was made chairman of the committee on foreign relations, which position he held until 1870, when he was displaced on account of not agreeing with his political associates in the support of President Grant. Mr. Sumner's orations and speeches, taken in their order, might almost form a history of the antislavery movement in its connection with national politics. He always insisted that the amendments in favor of freedom were but the legitimate development of the original doctrines of the Constitution. Mr. Sumner was distinguished for his learning, especially in history and public law. In his efforts on great occasions his citations of authorities were absolutely bewildering. His mind was comprehen- sive and logical, his methods direct and forcible, his spirit vehement and indomitable. As he moved on he left no point untouched, no matter how trite or familiar it might be ; proposition was riveted to pro- position, until the whole statement was like a piece of plate-armor. But this scrupulous gathering up of de- l8o CHARLES SUMNER. tails, and the copiousness of illustration by historical parallels, though effective with audiences and useful for popular instruction, often render portions of his speeches, when printed, tedious to cultivated readers, who are oppressed by the amplifications, the repe- titions, and the profusion of learned quotations with which the argument is loaded. The field he passed over was sure to be thoroughly swept. The audiences who listened were always profoundly impressed with his power and sincerity. The antagonist who followed him had always a task demanding his best efforts. Mr. Sumner's style acquired a certain professional or state-paper tone. It was formal and stately, re- vealing the statesman and the author of didactic treatises rather than the man of letters. The eleva- tion of his thought is a moral elevation. As we read, we seem to be on high ground and to breathe pure mountain air. There is no compromise with wrong, no paltering with worldly policy. Political discussions conducted in such a spirit rise to the dignity of pure ethics, and are as inspiring as they are impressive. Much of the effect of Mr. Sumner's speeches is due to this pervading moral element. He is not greatly imaginative, and his ample utterances, unlike the copious and glowing diction of Burke, appear to be the result of painstaking industry. Mr. Sumner had an enviable distinction in what we must consider a corrupt age: he was so noted for inflexible honesty that no one ever ventured to sug- gest that he had an interested motive for his conduct. In person he was very tall, and wore a look of dignity ANDREW PRESTON PEABODY. l8l and conscious power. There are few in his genera- tion that have left beliind a more exalted reputation for the quahties that constitute a great and good man. The Works of Mr. Sumner, in fifteen volumes, 8vo., with portrait, are published by Lee and Shepard, Bos- ton. His biography was undertaken by Edward L. Pierce, two volumes of which appeared in 1877, and two more (completing the work) are just issued. In VVhittier's Works will be found a stately poem which gives a just summary of Sumner's character. ANDREW PRESTON PEABODY. A NDREW PRESTON PEABODY was born in Beverly, Mass., March 19, 181 1, and died in Cambridge, Mass., March 10, 1893. His father was a man of liberal education, and gave every oppor- tunity to the precocious boy. He passed the exam- ination for Harvard College at the age of twelve, but spent another year under private tuition to such good purpose that he entered as junior at thirteen, and was graduated at fifteen, — one of the youngest that ever finished the course. He spent three years in teach- ing, and then entered the Harvard Divinity School. After graduating, he was mathematical tutor for a year, and was then settled as pastor of a church in Portsmouth, N. H., where he remained for twenty- seven years. During this period he wrote many 1 82 ANDREW PRESTON PEABODY. books and articles, and was editor of the " North American Review." In i860, Dr. Peabody left Portsmouth to become Plummer Professor of Christian Morals in Harvard College, — a chair which had been founded at his suggestion, for the moral and religious instruction of students. His relations with the students were intimate and tender, and probably no member of the faculty exerted a more positive and salutary influ- ence. As preacher to the University he was catholic in spirit, wholly without bigotry, and respected by men of every shade of belief. He resigned in 1881, but was kept on the roll as professor emeritus. Dr. Peabody's publications are very numerous, and a list of them will hardly be necessary. Many of them are special memoirs, occasional sermons, and other professional works. But his power, style, and taste were shown in everything he wrote; his sen- tences are pure and luminous, and pervaded by the charm of goodness and graciousness. Among his principal works may be named " Lectures on Chris- tian Doctrine" (1844); "Sermons of Consolation" (1847); ''Conversation: Its Faults and its Graces " (1856); ''Christianity the Religion of Nature" (1864); " Reminiscences of European Travel" (1868) ; " Chris- tianity and Science " (1874); "Christian Belief and Life" (1875); "Harvard Reminiscences" (1888). His "Lectures on Moral Philosophy" (1873) and on "Christian Morals" (1886) were marked by breadth of view, critical discrimination, and fulness of illustration. JOHN WILLIAM DRArER. 1 83 Few lives of such length have been filled with such constant and effective labor, or crowned with such noble results. It will be remembered that besides the published volumes, Dr. Peabody wrote an exceeding great number of essays and reviews for leading peri- odicals, organs of public opinion, and in that way had a great influence over his generation. He w^as also prominent in the Massachusetts Historical Society, in whose rooms may be seen his portrait. JOHN WILLIAM DRAPER. JOHN WILLIAM DRAPER was born in Liver- pool, England, May 5, 1811, and was educated at London University. He came to the United States in 1833, and pursued his studies in chemistry and medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. He was professor at Hampden and Sidney College from 1836 to 1839, and afterward at the University of New York, — first in the academical, and then in the medical department. Dr. Draper was a man of great learning, and wrote many important works. In 1850 he became president of the Medical College of the University of New York, where he delivered lectures until 1 88 1. Following is a list of this author's principal Works : " The Forces which Produce the Organization of Plants" (1844); "Text-Book of Chemistry" (1846); 1 84 HARRIET BEECHER STOWE. *' Production of Light and Heat" (1847); *' Produc- tion of Light by Chemical Action" (1848) ; " Human Physiology" (1856); '* History of the Intellectual Development of Europe" (1862); "Thoughts on the Future Civil Policy of America" (1864); "A Text- book on Physiology " (1866) ; " History of the Am- erican Civil War," 3 vols. (1867-70) ; " Researches in Actino-Chemistry " (1872); " History of the Conflict between Religion and Science" (1874); " Scientific Memoirs" (National Academy of Sciences), being contributions to the " Biographical Memoirs." It will be seen that Dr. Draper did not confine himself to scientific study. " The Intellectual De- velopment of Europe" is an able work, having some resemblances to the treatises of Buckle and Lecky. "The History of the Civil War" is also highly es- teemed, though in a measure superseded by the many later military memoirs. His style is sententious and dignified; his Works are read for their ideas, and command respect from all thoughtful men. He died January 4, 1882, HARRIET BEECHER STOWE. ARRIET BEECHER STOWE, daughter of Dr. Lyman Beecher, a distinguished clergyman, was born in Litchfield, Conn., June 15, 1812. She re- moved to Cincinnati with her father in 1833, where she was married, in 1836, to the Rev. Calvin E. Stowe, H HARRIET BEECHER STOWE. 1 85 afterward professor at Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine, and at Andover Theological School Mrs. Stowe wrote several stories and sketches for the Cincinnati "Gazette" and other periodicals, which were in 1846 collected in a volume entitled '•The Mayflower." In 1851, at Brunswick, she be- gan the story of " Uncle Tom's Cabin," in weekly chapters, in a newspaper published in Washington, called the " National Era." On its completion, it ap- peared in two volumes, i2mo, in Boston. Its suc- cess was without a parallel, up to that time, in the lit- erature of any age. Near half a milHon copies were sold in this country, and a considerably larger num- ber in England. It was translated into every language of Europe, and into Arabic and Armenian. It was dramatized and acted in nearly every theatre in the world. " The Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin " appeared in 1853. The same year the author visited Europe, and was received with gratifying attention. On her return she published " Sunny Memories of Foreign Lands," two volumes, i2mo. *' Dred: A Tale of the Great Dismal Swamp," was published in 1 856. This work is very able, but it produced less impression because the charm of novelty in the subject was wanting ; the character of Dred himself is more grand and picturesque than that of Uncle Tom. "The Minister's Wooing" appeared first in the "Atlantic Monthly" as a serial, and was published in book form in 1859. We think this the most de- lightful of her stories. The scene is laid in Newport, in the last century, and the characters (excepting 1 86 HARRIET BEECHER STOWE. Aaron Burr) are among her finest creations. *' Agnes of Sorrento " and '' The Pearl of Orr's Island " were published in 1862; "House and Home Papers" (1864); "The Chimney Corner," a series from the "Atlantic" (1865), "Little Foxes" (1865); " Queer Little People " (1867) ; " Men of our Times " (1867); "Oldtown Folks" (1869); " Oldtown Fire- side Stories" (1870); "Pink and White Tyranny " (1871); "My Wife and L' (1872); "We and Our Neighbors," a sequel to "My Wife and L' (1873) ; "Palmetto Leaves" (1873), being letters from her new home in Florida, where she passed many winters after the resignation of her husband as professor at Andover; "Women in Sacred History" (1873); and " Poganuc People" (1878), reminiscences of her early life in Litchfield, Conn. She also printed the "True Story of Lady Byron's Life" (1870), which perhaps was not true, and, in any case, should not have been told. When she became feeble with age, she took up her abode in Hartford, Conn., where her son and biographer is a leading clergyman. It will be seen that Mrs. Stowe has been a very pro- lific writer, and although her fame will rest upon her first great book, all of her novels have some admir- able qualities, and several of them have enough merit in themselves to have given her a place among our first authors of fiction. She is a novelist of rare and original. genius. She is indebted to no special culture and to no careful practice for her efi"ects. In attention to the niceties of the language she is sur- passed by many writers of an inferior rank. Her CHRISTOPHER PEARSE CRANCH. 18/ descriptions of persons and of scenes are like the etchings of the old masters : the method is full of details, and the process could not be imparted ; but at due distance the effect is magical, the cartoon priceless and immortal. Probably our great national struggle, then impend- ing (although we did not know it), intensified the pub- lic interest in " Uncle Tom's Cabin " and its momen- tous lessons ; but in itself it is a great story. The characters are powerfully drawn, and the plot is con- structed with skill. The figures of the prim Miss Ophelia, of the indescribable Aunt Dinah, and of the great-souled Uncle Tom are masterpieces in fiction. The future historian of the United States, in mention- ing the causes that led to the overthrow of slavery, must give much of the credit to the author of the drama in which the results of the system were ex- hibited to the world. CHRISTOPHER PEARSE CRANCH. pHRISTOPHER PEARSE CRANCH was born ^-^ in Alexandria, Va., March 8, 1813, and was graduated at Columbia College, Washington, in 1832. He studied divinity at the Cambridge Theological School, but soon relinquished the clerical profession and became a landscape painter. He was one of the contributors to the " Dial " (conducted by Margaret Fuller, George Ripley, and Mr. Emerson), and pub- l88 CHRISTOPHER PEARSE CRANCH. lished in it some of his most striking verses. In 1840 he wrote a poem on the two hundredth anniversary of the settlement of Ouincy, Mass. A small volume of his poems was published in 1844; one of these, entitled '' Gnosis," is remarkable for its subtilty of thought. In 1847 he visited Europe, and resided abroad, mostly in Paris, for over ten years. He wrote and illustrated two juvenile books of a fanciful char- acter, entitled "The Last of the Huggermuggers " (1856), and "Kobboltozo" (1857). "The Bird and the Bell " is the title of a book of poems published in 1875. He made a poetical translation of Virgil, published in 1879. "Ariel and Caliban, and Other Poems," appeared in 1887. He published in 1890 his Reminiscences of Browning. Mr. Cranch's poems are always interesting and suggestive, covering a wide range of topics, and care- fully wrought. His acquaintance with art and with general literature is felt in all his works. He has a fine sense of nmsic, and has written some striking pieces upon the characteristics of leading instru- ments. It is doubtful if any American poet has pro- duced sonnets finer than his. In tone, feeling, and melody they are exquisite, — although it must be ad- mitted that the one entitled " Morning " bears a rather dangerous resemblance to one of Shakespeare's. But the sonnet, though so rare a product and de- manding such perfect structure and finish, awakens little enthusiasm in ordinary readers. Mr. Cranch had the high esteem of poets and of competent critics, but not any extended popularity. He died in Cam- bridge, Mass., January 187 1892. HENRY WARD BEECHER. 1 89 HENRY WARD BEECHER. LJENRY WARD BEECHER was born in Litch- field, Conn., June 24, 18 13, and was graduated at Amherst College in 1834. He studied theology under the instruction of his father, at Lane Seminary near Cincinnati, and was settled as a preacher first at Lawrenceburg, Ind., and afterward at Indianapolis. In 1847 ^^^ remov^ed to Brooklyn, N. Y., and became pastor of the Plymouth Church. His Works were mostly the fruit of his regular labors as a preacher, and as a contributor to religious periodicals. He wrote for the New York ''Independent" a series of articles, published in two volumes, under the title of " Star Papers." " Notes from Plymouth Pulpit " was a regular report of his sermons. " Life Thoughts " is a collection of passages from his extemporaneous discourses, taken down in short-hand by the poet, Edna Dean Proctor. Besides the above named there were published ''Lectures to Young Men" (1844); "Oration on Robert Burns" (1859). In 1863 Mr. Beecher de- livered addresses in London and other large cities in Great Britain, which were published as " Speeches on the American Rebellion," " Freedom and War," and "Discourses Suggested by the Times" (1863). "Aids to Prayer" appeared in (1864); "Oration at Fort Sumter" (1865); "Norwood; Or, Village Life in New England" (1866); Parts of a " Life of 1 90 HENRY WARD BEECHER. Christ," unfinished (1869-1871); ''Lecture Room Talks" (1870); "Yale Lectures on Preaching," 3 vols. (1872-1874); "A Summer Parish: Sermons and Morning Service" (1874) ; "The Army of the Republic" (1878); "The Strike and its Lessons" (1878); "Doctrinal Beliefs and Unbeliefs" (1882); "Commemorative Discourse on Wendell Phillips" (1884); "A Circuit of the Continent" (1884); "Evo- lution and Religion" (1885). Mr. Beecher was a natural orator, and whether on the public platform, at the desk of the lecturer, or in his own pulpit, he exercised an absolute sway over the feelings of his audience. His sense of humor was acute, so that even the periods of his sermons were sometimes rounded with smiles. His illustrations, like those of all great teachers from Plato to Emer- son, were drawn from homely subjects, but they flashed on the understanding, and touched the heart with irresistible force. His enthusiasm was mag- netic; the speaker and the hearer were moved by a simultaneous impulse, — the one to say his noblest things, and the other to follow with a lively appre- hension. It was while on the wing, as it were, that Mr. Beecher gave proof of his imaginative power. Then it was that his figures came clothed in perfect grace, and his language had a natural felicity. We doubt if so many apophthegms, so many exquisite poetic images, as are contained in " Life Thoughts " could be gathered from any volume of sermons with- out going back to Jeremy Taylor, At the same time we doubt whether Mr. Beecher could have written HENRY WARD BEECHER. IQI those same glowing sentences beforehand ; the ideas were his, but were born only when the subject and the time called them into life. His published sermons are thoughtful, instructive, and full of in- genious illustrations ; their method shows careful study, but their brilliant passages are as unpremedi- tated as lightning strokes. In fiction Mr. Beecher did not gain much reputa- tion, nor was he especially successful as an essayist ; the mastery of a finished and graceful style is not to be carried by assault, like a redoubt, and his pressing duties left him small time for what he would probably have termed the arts of the literary pharisee. But it was impossible for such a man to be dull, or other- wise than interesting ; and while his wonderful fervor as a speaker remained, it was too much to ask that he should carry the same fire into his closet. About the year 1870 Mr. Beecher was tried upon a charge affecting his character as a man and a Chris- tian minister ; and though he was not found guilty, the circumstance left a most painful impression upon the public mind, and greatly impaired his influence. He died March 8, 188;. 192 JOHN SULLIVAN D WIGHT. JOHN SULLIVAN DWIGHT. TOHN SULLIVAN DWIGHT was born in Boston, May 13, 1 813, and was graduated at Harvard College in 1832. He studied at the Cambridge Theological School, completing his course in 1836, and preached for about six years. He was settled in Northampton in 1840. He translated, about that time, the ** Select Minor Poems " of Goethe and of Schiller, which were published as a volume in Ripley's " Specimens of Foreign Literature." He contributed reviews of Tennyson, Spenser, and other authors to the " Christian Examiner." He wrote a course of lectures upon Bach, Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and their successors, which were delivered in Boston, New York, and Philadelphia. He was a contributor to the " Dial," and afterward to the "Harbinger." He joined the Brook Farm Asso- ciation in 1842, and remained there, teaching litera- ture and music, and working on the farm, until the Association disbanded. It will be remembered that about thirty years ago a number of the most intellectual people of Boston and vicinity, — among them George Ripley, George W. Curtis, and Nathaniel Hawthorne, — purchased a farm in West Roxbury, and lived in a community, do- ing the necessary labor with their own hands, and endeavoring to show the world a better mode of life by combining their efforts both in practical affairs and in their mental and moral culture. It was a JOHN SULLIVAN DWIGIIT. . 193 sincere and noble effort, though unsuccessful. Their pure and bhimeless Hves, and their aspirations for the good of the race, are not to be thought of in connection with certain developments of sociahsm, and the shameless doctrines of certain social re- formers. Some views of the interior workings of the experiment may be seen in Hawthorne's *' Blithedale Romance." Mr. Dwight in 1852 established the " Musical Jour- nal " which bore his name. The volumes of this peri- odical contain an invaluable collection of the literature of music and art. Mr. Dwight is one of the officers and a leading spirit in the Harvard Musical Associa- tion of Boston ; and it is to this Association that the city was indebted for the annual series of symphony concerts, and for the beautiful Music Hall, with its exquisite statue of Beethoven. Mr. Dwight holds a high place among writers. He is an upholder of the severe classical school, and often runs counter to popular tastes ; but no one doubts the sincerity of his convictions, or that the end he aims at is the elevation of the art and the maintenance of a pure standard of beauty amid all the capricious changes of musical fashion. 13 194 - CHARLES TIMOTHY BROOKS. CHARLES TIMOTHY BROOKS. pHARLES TIMOTHY BROOKS was promi- ^^ nent among tho scholars who fifty years ago brought the before unknown weaUh of German poetry to the knowledge of English readers. The benefits conferred upon our people by those pioneer translators have been felt by authors and readers alike. It is impossible to overestimate the value of the service rendered. Mr. Brooks was born in Salem, Mass., June 20, 1813, and died in Newport, R. I., June 14, 1883. ^'^e was graduated at Harvard College in 1832, and was settled as a Unitarian minister in Nahant, Mass., and afterward in Newport, R. I. The most important of his translations were Goethe's " Faust," in the original metres ; Schiller's '' William Tell " and " Homage of the Arts," " Songs and Ballads," " German Lyrics," and Richter's colossal but almost forgotten novels, " Titan " and " Hesperus." But though his translations were nu- merous, and among the best in existence, he showed his ability as an original poet in several volumes of more than ordinary excellence. " Aquidneck " was written for the hundredth anniversary of the Red- wood Library at Newport. " Songs of Field and Flood" was published in Boston in 1854. A collection of Mr. Brooks's poems, with a memoir, was published by Rev. C. W. Wendte. SYLVESTER JUDD. 1 95 SYLVESTER JUDD. C YLVESTER JUDD was born in VVesthampton, *^ Mass., July 23, 181 3. He was graduated at Yale College in 1836, and studied theology at the Cambridge School. He was ordained as pastor of a church in Augusta, Me., in 1840, and remained there until his death, which occurred January 20, 1853. Mr. Judd was a strong advocate of peace and of temperance, and an opponent of slavery and of capital punishment. His religious doctrines were inwoven with his life, and his works are but the various modes of expression of his cherished princi- ples. His first published work is entitled " Mar- garet: A Tale of the Real and the Ideal, of Blight and Bloom." In this singular and powerful fiction the reader is introduced to a New England town as it was at the beginning of this century. The simple manners, the rustic festivals, the mode of worship, and the prevailing intemperance of the period are draw^n with absolute fidelity. The author's earnest purpose is somewhat too evident for a well-rounded work of art, and the movement of the story is not at all what novel-readers expect ; but no one, in our judgment, has more perfectly painted the aspects of Nature in New England, or has more clearly revealed the inner life of the people at a time of a great im- pending transition. The author had a boundless wealth of materials, but his sense of form was de- ficient; the scenes are not placed in symmetrical 196 SYLVESTER JUDD. order, and there is a want of proportion in the various parts. These are fatal obstacles to the general popularity of the book. Still, the genius of the author shines throughout the sad story. Its vivid woodland scenes, and its strong, homely char- acters, contrasting with the spiritual beauty of its heroine, could hardly have been better done for us even by Hawthorne's pencil. " Margaret " appeared in 1845. ^ i^^w edition was published in 1851, and in 1856 it was illustrated by Darley in a series of drawings that did honor to American art. " Philo: An Evangeliad," a religious poem, appeared in 1850, and *' Richard Edney," a romance, in the same year. A posthumous work entitled " The Church, in a Series of Discourses," was published in 1854. His life, written by Miss Arethusa Hall, was also pub- lished the same year. Mr. Judd was a single-hearted, sincere, and fervent minister, and his life was without any striking events. But his work will preserve his memory ; in every generation there will be those who will recognize and do honor to his genius. In Lowell's "Fable for Critics " there is a striking passage upon Judd's *' Margaret" HENRY THEODORE TUCKERMAN. 19/ HENRY THEODORE TUCKERMAN. HENRY THEODORE TUCKERMAN was born in Boston, April 20, 1813. He was educated in the public schools, and went abroad in his twenti- eth year. Travel and observation, with private read- ing and study, supplied the place of university training. He removed from Boston to New York in 1845, where he resided until his death, which occurred December 17, 1871. Mr. Tuckerman was an inde- fatigable and voluminous writer; very few authors have put so much on paper or In print. He pub- lished a volume of poems, which show a cultivated taste and considerable poetic feeling; he also wrote several memoirs and biographies. But his chief em- ployment was that of essayist, literary and art critic, and narrator of the lighter incidents of travel. His appreciative feeling, good taste, and long practice gave him the skill, and his pleasant habit of observa- tion and retentive memory furnished the materials. He never probed a subject deeply, never developed principles, except very obvious ones, was never strongly graphic in description nor keen in analysis; but the stream of his prose ran smoothly on until the salient points of his theme were pleasantly touched upon, and its associations were gracefully hinted at ; and the reader, without fatigue, closed the book with the thought that he had spent an hour with more or less profit in the company of an amiable, well-in- formed, and well-bred man of the world. 198 HENRY THEODORE TUCKERMAN. The reader will infer that such an author docs not belong to the class of original creators of literature. But these critical writers have their well-established places and their duties in the kingdom of letters. The list of Mr. Tuckcrman's Works will show the amount and kind of service he performed: "The Italian Sketch Book " (1835); "Isabel; Or, Sicily: A Pilgrimage" (1839); "Rambles and Reviews" (1841) ; "Thoughts on the Poets" (1846) ; " Characteristics of Literature " (1849-51) ; " Sketch of American Literature," " Mental Portraits; Or, Studies of Character," " Life of Commodore Silas Talbot" (1850); "The Optimist" ('1850); "Poems" (185 1); "A Month in England" (1853); "A Me- morial of Horatio Greenough " (1853); "Leaves from the Diary of a Dreamer " (1853) ; " Biographi- cal Essays" (1857); "Essay on Washington" (1859); "A Sheaf of Verse " (1864); "America and her Commentators," with a " Critical Sketch of Travel in the United States" (1864); "The Crite- rion "(1866); "Book of the Artists "(1867); " Maga Papers about Paris" (1867); "Artist-Life; Or, Sketches of American Painters," " Life of J. P. Kennedy" (1871). EPES SARGENT. IQQ EPES SARGENT. EPES SARGENT belonged to a family that was distinguished for ability, and he shared their com- mon inheritance. He was born in Gloucester, Mass., September 27, 1813, and died in Boston, December 31, i83o. His education was mainly acquired in the Bos- ton Latin School ; he entered Harvard College, but did not complete the course. He was, as a litterateur, an " all-round man," capable of doing many things well ; possessed of general knowledge, unfailing taste, and a smooth, perspicuous style; a leader among writers, but not a man of genius, nor distinguished as the author of any great book. The literary world has need of such accomplished and indus- trious writers, and could often better spare more brilliant men. Much of Mr. Sargent's work was done for the "Advertiser," "Atlas," and ''Transcript" of Boston, and for the " Mirror " of New York. He was the author of several plays which were performed with success. He and George H. Boker were among the last authors of dramas which can be included in liter- ature, being formed upon classic models, and per- vaded by the poetic spirit. What constitutes a suc- cessful drama of later days it is scarcely necessary to state. Among his plays may be named " The Bride of Genoa," "Change makes Change," '' Ve- lasco," and " The Priestess," the latter founded upon the libretto of " Norma." 200 EPES SARGENT. Mr. Sargent's chief labors were editorial. Being a critic of judgment and taste he superintended the issue of the Works of several English poets, and wrote their Lives. The list includes Campbell, Collins, Gray, Goldsmith, Rogers, Horace and James Smith, and Hood. His memoirs and annotations were uniformly excellent, and his editions will always be valued. He made an admirable selection of the Works of Franklin, including the Autobiography, and wrote a Life. It is the best popular work upon our great philosopher, and is so well done that it leaves little room for any future editor. He wrote a number of novels and tales, some of them for the young. Among them are " Wealth and Worth," " What's to be Done?" and " Fleetwood ; Or, The Stain of a Birth." The most fortunate of his stories was " Peculiar," the name of an original and masterly-drawn character, a negro in the South, who was involved in the whirling eddies of the Civil War. His " School Readers " were long popular; but among educational works, no matter how perfect, the only thing certain is change. He wrote a " Life of Henry Clay," which was pronounced the best in existence by no less an authority than that of the illustrious subject. He edited " The Modern Drama" (fifteen volumes), and compiled a " Cyclopedia of English and American Poetry." He compiled and edited two volumes entitled '* Ameri- can Adventure by Land and Sea," and ** Arctic Adventure by Sea and Land." Unquestionably the nearest to Mr. Sargent's heart was his ambition to be recognized as a poet. He toiled JOHN LOTHROP MOTLEY. 201 over editions and collections for a livelihood, but poe- try was the angel in his breast, and in his verse is to be seen his aspiration and joy. Some of his spirited lyrics have become familiar as household words, such as " A Life on the Ocean Wave," and " O ye Keen Breezes from the Salt Atlantic ! " but his three volumes of' poems {1847, 1858, 1869,) though they gained for him a creditable position, did not manifest in any marked degree the high and rare qualities which give permanence to verse. To give a full record of Mr. Sargent's work would require much space ; and in some cases it might be difficult to ascertain what he did. For instance, he wrote several of the famous " Peter Parley" books which that enterprising manager, S. G. Goodrich, adopted as his own. Few writers have done better service than Epes Sargent. He concerned himself with subjects of permanent interest, and brought to his task a full mind, sound judgment, and refined taste. JOHN LOTHROP MOTLEY. JOHN LOTHROP MOTLEY was born in Dor- •J Chester, Mass., April 15, 18 14. He was gradu- ated at Harvard College in 183 1, and then spent two years in German universities, and afterward some time in travel. On his return he studied law, and was 202 JOHN LOTIIROP MOTLEY. admitted to the bar in Boston (1836), but soon quitted the profession. In 1839 he pubhshed a novel entitled " Morton's Hope." In 1840 he was appointed secretary of legation to the American embassy at St. Petersburg, which place he held only for a short time. In 1849 he published a second historical novel entitled ''Merry Mount: A Romance of the Massa- chusetts Colony." He contributed several admirable historical and critical papers to the reviews. Be- coming interested in the history of Holland, he began a work on the subject, and in 185 1 went abroad to gather fuller materials. He passed five years in the chief capitals of Europe in his re- searches, and in 1856 published in London "The Rise of the Dutch Republic." This work gave him a high place among historians. It was reprinted in New York, and translations of it appeared in Holland, Germany, and France, — the French translation being introduced by Guizot. Mr. Motley returned to this country in 1857, and was one of the company of authors by whom the " Atlantic Monthly " was established. He began anew his studies for a continuation of his history, but soon found that the necessary books and manu- scripts must be studied in Europe. Accordingly he again went abroad, and made the most thorough examination of the collections of State papers at Brussels, securing also full copies from the Spanish archives of Simancas, and an immense mass of Eng- lish correspondence never before made public. He continued his studies with equal success at Venice, JOHN LOTHROP MOTLEY. 203 Paris, and other places. The first part of his work, "The History of the United Netherlands," appeared in two volumes in 1861, and the remaining part, in two volumes also, in 1868. The history of Holland dur- ing the period treated by Mr. Motley is the history of European liberty. Every nation was in some way concerned in the great struggle between Spain and the Netherlands. The characters of Philip H., of his great minister Cardinal Granvelle, of his sister Margaret of Parma, and of his great general the infamous Duke of Alva, as well as the principles and policy of the Spanish government, are painted in the strongest colors. English history also has a new illumination from this work, and the reader will probably get a more vivid and accurate conception of the vain and vacillating Queen Elizabeth, of the unprincipled Earl of Leicester, of Lord Burleigh, Walsingham, Drake, and other prominent persons of the period than can be gained from any other source. Of famous Hollanders and Flemings the historian has made a national portrait gallery. The execution of this work is in keeping with the grandeur of the subject. The immense mass of details which would fatally encumber an inferior writer are grouped with a view to their collective efifect; and we are enabled to follow, as in a romance, the popular leaders — heroes and martyrs both — in their long and desperate struggle against the in- trigues of ecclesiastics, the brutality of a fanatical soldiery, and the selfish craft of kings. Motley is fond of portraying scenes of magnificence, and of 204 JOHN LOTHROP MOTLEY. marshalling events in dramatic order. His style of narration is vivid, but sometimes overcharged. His honorable sympathy with free principles, and his hatred of oppression and wrong tend to disturb the philosophic repose of style. He makes a keen analy- sis of character, but there is a redundancy, or rather a repetition, especially in the descriptions of William of Orange, and in the moral reflections occurring at great crises. But in spite of minor faults his History is as near to being great as any yet written in this country. " The Life of John Barneveld " was published in 1874. This is less a biography than a history of events that preceded the Thirty Years' War. Motley was appointed minister to Austria in 1866, and was recalled in 1867. He was minister to Eng- land from April, 1869, to November, 1870, when he was displaced. He felt keenly the rude and, as he thought, unjust treatment he received from our government; and it is pretty well established that his enforced resignation of the English mission was due to the friendship between him and Charles Sumner, who was then furiously at variance with the President. Motley was intimate with leading writers in the United States as well as in England and on the Con- tinent. His talents and accomplishments placed him among the" picked men of countries." Distinguished honors were everywhere paid him, especially in Hol- land, whose annals he had illustrated. He died May 29, 1877. His intimate friend, Oliver W^endell Holmes, GEORGE EDWARD ELLIS. 205 wrote a sketch of his life, 1879. Two large volumes of his correspondence appeared in 1889, edited by George William Curtis. These letters fully show his earnest labors, his friendships and social life, his gen- erous heart, and the passionate feeling of patriotism which possessed him. Two topics stand out promi- nently in the volumes, — his cordial relations with Bismarck, who had been his fellow-student ; and his all-absorbing interest in the cause of the Union during our Civil War. Many of the letters rise to the height of eloquence, and altogether they form a worthy memorial of one of the noblest men of our time. The visitor to The Hague finds agreeable memories of Motley. At the queen's Palace in the Wood are shown the rooms he occupied by her invitation while engaged in his labors; and in one of them is his portrait. GEORGE EDWARD ELLIS. r^ EORGE EDWARD ELLIS was born in Boston, ^^ August 8, 1 8 14. He was graduated at Harvard College in 1833, and afterward studied divinity. He was settled as pastor of the Harvard Unitarian Church in Charlestown in 1840, and was professor in Harvard Divinity School from 1857 to 1863. He delivered many courses of lectures before the Lowell Institute. He edited the " Christian Register," also the " Chris- 206 GEORGE EDWARD ELLIS. tian Examiner," for several years. He was a thorough and enthusiastic student of early American history, and in respect to the beginnings of Massachusetts, — its laws, customs, and policy, — became, probably, the most eminent authority. He seemed to carry an antiquarian library in his brain. A lifetime of such painstaking study, supplemented by a philosophic grasp of principles, and by a style of remarkable luminousness and force, made him one of the fore- most of historical writers. He received the degrees of D. D. and LL. D. ; was an overseer of Harvard College, and President of the Massachusetts Histori- cal Society. Dr. Ellis contributed to Sparks's " American Biogra- phy" a Life of John Mason (1844), of Anne Hutchinson (1845), and of William Penn (1847). He published in 1857 "A Half-Century of the Unitarian Contro- versy; " in 1863, a " Memoir of Dr. Luther V. Bell; " in 1869, " The Aims and Purposes of the Founders of Massachusetts." He wrote a memoir of Jared Sparks in 1869, and a Life of Benjamin Thompson (Count Rumford) in 1871 ; a " History of the Massachusetts General Hospital" (1872) ; a '' History of the Battle of Bunker Hill" (1875) ; an "Account of the Siege of Boston: An Address upon the Centennial of the Evacuation by the British Army" (1876) ; and several memoirs of prominent men in Eastern Massachusetts. He wrote three chapters in the " Memorial History of Boston," and six in the " Narrative and Critical History of America." He edited the three volumes of Sewall's Journal for the Historical Society. In RICHARD HENRY DANA, JR. 207 1882 he published an important work entitled ''The Red Man and the White Man in North America;" in 1884, an " Address at the Unveiling of the Statue of John Harvard; " in 1888, a volume entitled " The Puritan Age and Rule in the Colony of Massachusetts Bay ; " in 1892, an address upon " The History of the Earth as told in Museums and Libraries." This last is a remarkable view of the accumulated knowledge of the world, and is full of suggestive thought, with occasional prophetic vistas. This ample record is evidence of a long and active life, spent for the advancement of learning and for the benefit of mankind. R RICHARD HENRY DANA, Jr. ICHARD HENRY DANA, Jr., son of the poet, was born in Cambridge, Mass., August I, 181 5, and was graduated at Harvard College in 1837. In 1834, while in college, he suffered from an affection of the eyes, and left his studies for a sea voyage. He shipped as a common sailor in a vessel bound for California, then an unsettled country, and on his return published his experience in a book entitled "Two Years Before the Mast." This had a large circulation both in England and America for more than thirty years, and became almost as popular as 208 RICHARD HENRY DANA, JR. " Robinson Crusoe." His next book, ** The Seaman's Friend," appeared in 1841. He was admitted to the bar in Boston in 1840, and took a leading position, especially in admiralty cases. He was a leading advocate of the Free Soil party, but never held pub- lic office, except that he was United States District Attorney from 1861 to 1866. Though possessed of eminent ability and knowledge, he had none of the arts of gaining popularity; his reserve and dignity were imputed to haughtiness, and the way to official station was always barred. He was beaten by General Butler in a contest for a seat in Congress, and was rejected by the United States Senate when nominated by the President as Minister to Great Britain. He was a member of the Protestant Epis- copal Church, and took a prominent part in the con- ventions of that body. In 1859 he published "To Cuba and Back," the result of a vacation tour. Later he became interested in the subject of inter- national law, and began a treatise upon it. In the course of his studies he found it desirable to go abroad, and established himself in Rome, where he contracted a malarious fever, and died January 7, 18S2. His work on International Law was unfinished, but he had edited a treatise by Wheaton on that sub- ject, which was published in i865. He was a con- tributor to the " North American Review," the '' Law Register," and the " American Law Review." He published also biographical sketches of Washington Allston, and of Prof. Edward Channine- JOHN GODFREY SAXE. 209 JOHN GODFREY SAXE. TOHN GODFREY SAXE was born in Highgate, ^ Vt., June 2, 18 16, and was graduated at Middle- bury College in 1839. He studied law, and after his admission to the bar in 1843 remained in practice till 1850, when he removed to Burlington, vv^here for five years he was editor of the '' Sentinel." At that time he withdrew from his profession, and devoted himself to lecturing and authorship. He was afterward editor of the " Evening Journal " at Albany, N. Y. His first volume, entitled " Progress: A Satire, and Other Poems," was pubhshed in 1846; " New Rape of the Lock " (1847) ; " The Proud Miss McBride " (1848) ; "The Times" (1849); "The Money King, etc." (1859); "Clever Stories of Many Nations" (1864); " The Masqueraders "(1866); *' Fables and Legends in Rhyme" (1872); ''Complete Edition of Poems" (1874); "Leisure Day Rhymes" (1875). Mr. Saxe wrote with facility, was intent mainly on jests and epigrams, and amused himself and his read- ers by clever hits at the fashions and follies of the time. His good-natured satire did not cleave to the depths, nor was his humor of that quality which reaches to the sources of feeling, and which gives us the surprises of an April day ; but he was level with the popular apprehension, and made his name more familiarly known, In his generation, than that of any other of our comic versifiers. 14 2IO TARKE GODWIN. Mr. Saxe's faculties failed some time before his death, which occurred, March 31, 1887. PARKE GODWIN. DAKKE GODWIN was born in Paterson, N. J., P'ebruary 25, 1816. He was graduated at Princeton College in 1834, and studied law in his native town, but did not practise the profession. He married a daughter of the poet Bryant, and was long associated with his father-in-law in conducting the "Evening Post," of New York. In 1843 he began the issue of a weekly periodical, entitled ** The Pathfinder," in which he displayed great abil- ity ; but the enterprise came to an end in three months on account of the failure of the publisher.. He was a frequent contributor to the " Democratic Review," was for some time editor of " Putnam's Monthly," and was the author of many of the able political articles that appeared in the early numbers of the " Atlantic Monthly." He translated the tales of Zschokke, and a part of Goethe's Autobiography. He is the author of a "Popular View of the Doctrines of Fourier" (1844); "Constructive Democracy" (185 1); and " Vala," founded on incidents in the life of Jenny Lind (185 1). He began a History of France, of which the first volume appeared in i860. A collection of his "Political Essays" was ROBERT TRAILL SPENCE LOWELL. 211 printed in 1856, and a series of critical and literary papers, entitled " Out of the Past," in 1870. He edited " Bryant's Writings, with a Life," six volumes, (1863-64), and also a " Handbook of Universal Biog- raphy" (1871). Mr. Godwin has been an earnest and successful essayist, and has done much to guide public opinion in the weighty affairs of government. He is always clear in argument, and commands the thoughtful attention and respect of his readers. ROBERT TRAILL SPENCE LOWELL. nOBERT TRAILL SPENCE LOWELL was born in Boston, October 9, 18 16, — the son of Rev. Dr. Charles Lowell of the West Church, and a brother of James Russell Lowell. In his seventh year he was sent to the famous school at Round Hill, North- ampton, Mass., and in his thirteenth entered Harvard College, graduating in 1833. He then entered the medical school, and completed a full course of study. But in 1839 a change came over him, and he went to Schenectady, N. Y., to study theology under the direction of Bishop Potter of the P:piscopal Church. In 1842, after ordination, he became domestic chap- lain to the Bishop of Newfoundland and Jamaica ; but afterward, desiring active employment, he was sent as rector to Bay Roberts in Newfoundland, which 212 ROBERT TRAILL SPENCE LOWELL. was the scene of his first and best novel, and re- mained there five years, — worn at last to a skeleton by his self-denying labors, and by his sufferings dur- ing a winter-long famine which he and his people went through. He was thanked by the Colonial government and warmly praised by the press of St. John for his philanthropic efforts. His next residence was in Newark, N. J., where his mission was to the poor and unnoted. In 1859 he removed to Duanesburgh, near Schenectady, N. Y., where a church had been built and endowed by his wife's great-grandfather, Judge Duane. In 1869 he became head-master of St. Mark's school in Southborough, Mass., where he remained four years, during which time the school was greatly prosperous. He next became professor of the Latin language and literature in Union College, at Schenectady, where he resided until his death, which occurred September 12, 1891. Mr. Lowell's first novel, " The New Priest in Con- ception Bay," was published in Boston in 1858, and though not greatly successful with the public, it im- pressed all cultivated readers by its pictures of scenery, its life-like portraiture of character, and its pure and elevated tone. The story is not managed with art ; the dialogue is often prolix, and the interest drags. Many of its situations, however, are well conceived ; and the final scene, in which the people rush from the little parish church to look for a man lost in the lonely fields of snow, is painted in a masterly way. It is a book that only a poet and a man of genius could have written. A new edition of this novel, illus- HENRY DAVID TIIOREAU. 213 tratcd by Dai ley, appeared in 1863 ; another in 1889. The story was much improved by retouching. Mr. Lowell also printed, in i860, a volume of poems, entitled " Fresh Hearts that Failed Three Thousand Years Ago." They have considerable merit. One of them, " The Brave Old Ship, the Orient," is a powerful picture. The irregular metre and want of melody are likely to repel the reader, but its descriptions are full of sombre force, and leave a lasting impression. His other Works are "A Raft that No Man Made," published in the ** Atlantic" for March, 1862; "Antony Brade: A Story of SchoohBoy Life" (1874); " Burgoyne's March : A Poem " (1877) ; *' A Story or Two from a Dutch Town" (1878). HENRY DAVID THOREAU. TTENRY DAVID THOREAU was born in Boston, ]u\y 12, 18 1 7, and graduated at Harvard College in 1837. H'^ parents were poor, and his obtaining a collegiate education was due to the resolution of his mother. He taught school for a time after gradua- tion, but was unsuccessful, for the reason that he was lacking in tact and in personal dignity. Emerson, having formed a high opinion of his abilities, re- ceived him into his house, w^here he lived as one of the family for about two years. Thoreau read his 214 HENRY DAVID TIIOREAU. great friend's books, steeped himself in his thoughts and style, and acquired something of his dehberate manner of speech. He was not, perhaps, consciously an imitator; but no young man at that time could have withdrawn himself from the over-mastering in- fluence of Emerson. Later, he had a clear and char- acteristic style of his own. He supported himself chiefly by surveying, but was generally ready to do car- pentering or other work that came in his way, though never continuously, or i;i a way to hinder his favorite pursuits. He explored the country around Concord until he knew every foot of ground, and could find his way by day or night, by routes " across lots " unknown to other men. He was an indefatigable student, both of Nature and of the books he admired. At the same time he was a Nihilist, the first one of whom we have an account. He repudiated the idea of owing any obedience to the State, any reverence to the Church, or any. duty to society. Logically, he refused to pay a poll tax, and was imprisoned by the constable. However, his tax was paid for him a day later, and he was released. His books arc composed of his studies in natural history, his observations upon philosophers and poets, and his sharp railing against the existing order of things. At one time he withdrew from the world (about two miles), and built what might be fairly called a shanty on land belong- ing to Emerson on the border of Walden Pond. His best-known book is the journal of his solitary life there. He attached great importance to cheapness of living, and mentions that the materials of his HENRY DAVID TIIOREAU. 215 ** house " cost only about twenty-eight dollars, and that the total expense of a year's living was only about sixty dollars. Whatever we may think of the eccentric man and his philosophy of living, we acknowledge a great debt to him for his fresh and delightful books. From the unpromising natural features of Concord he has drawn for us the most beautiful views, and has given us the daily studies of a devotee of Nature, in the annual procession of flowers and plants, in the habits of the lesser animals, and of the singing birds. The reader will look in vain elsewhere for such faithful, affectionate sketches. His descriptive powers are of the highest order, and his sentences appear to have been as carefully set as gems. His taste in litera- ture was cultivated, and his quotations, especially from Oriental sources, are always apposite. But the reader does not perceive anywhere the warmth of the author's sympathy, unless it is for the four-footed hermits, his neighbors. Not that he actually hated mankind ; but he was not concerned in their affairs, and regarded their labor, worship, and love as being of no more vital moment than the nest-building, pairing, and morning song of the birds. One can see in Thoreau's writings something like a trace of irritation at the thought of having been so indebted to Emerson ; at all events, he never refers to his benefactor in the tone which a grateful man would have naturally employed. Apparently he wished to emphasize his own individuality, and repu- diate the notion of ever having been a disciple. But 2l6 HENRY DAVID TIIOREAU. perhaps this was only a part of the nature of the man. There is evidence that children were extremely fond of him ; but it is doubtful if he ever felt the glow of emotion in any friendship for any one outside of his family. His eyes were cold ; he never* gave his hand in greeting ; he not only never helped any one .at his need, but in his books declared that his only duty was to himself. His tenderness was reserved for the four-footed companions of his solitude. Hawthorne has mentioned Thoreau in terms of affectionate regard, and says, ** Whilst he used in his writings a certain petulance of remark about churches and churchmen, he was a person of rare, tender, and absolute religion, — a person incapable of any pro- fanation." He died in Concord, May 6, 1862. Mr. Emerson published an account of him in the " Atlan- tic Monthly " shortly after his death. Thoreau's Works are " A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers" (1849); ** Walden ; Or, Life in the Woods " (1854) ; " Excursions " (1863) ; '' Maine Woods," "Cape Cod," "A Yankee in Canada," and "Letters to Various Persons" (1865). His literary executor has also published two volumes, composed of selections from his journal. These original jot- tings, recording his fresh impressions, are, in our judgment, more vivid and interesting than the later works for which they served as foundation. His life was written by F. B. Sanborn, of Concord. J JAMES THOMAS FTKLDS. 21 7 JAMES THOMAS FIFXDS. AMES THOMAS FIELDS was born in Ports- mouth, N. H., December 31, 1817, and received his education in the pubhc schools of that town. He removed to Boston, engaged in the business of book-selhng, and afterward became a partner in the house of Ticknor and Fields, honorably known wherever the best books are read. He delivered a poem before the Mercantile Library Association in 1839, and ever afterward devoted himself to literature with as much assiduity as to book-making. Campbell proposed the health of Bonaparte when the news came that he had had a bookseller shot at Leipsic, and there are frequent squibs at the expense of publishers in the works of the improvident literary class. It was reserved for Mr. Fields to form for a long period a bond of intimate friendship between his own house and the best living authors, and at last to go over to them without losing his individu- ality, or suffering in the regard of both branches of the literary guild. Mr. Fields published privately small volumes of poems in 1849, 1854, and 1858. He was the editor of the *' Atlantic Monthly" from 1862 to 1 870. His long acquaintance with authors gave him unusual advan- tages in gathering letters and materials for personal biography. These collections were given to the read- ing public in the ** Atlantic," in a series of papers called " Our Whispering Gallery," and were afterward 2l8 JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL. published in a volume entitled *' Yesterdays with Authors." The glimpses of private life, the hints of conversation, and the numerous letters thus preserved are exceedingly interesting, and Mr. Fields's introduc- tions and narratives are mostly written with taste and judgment. The accounts of Hawthorne and Dickens, in particular, are more delightful than any elaborate biography would be. The letters of Miss Mitford, which conclude the volume, are of less value, as that kind-hearted lady seems to have looked at everything American through a Claude Lorraine glass. Mr. Fields died April 24, 188 1. A memorial vol- ume was prepared by his wife. JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL. TAMES RUSSELL LOWELL was born in Cam- bridge, Mass., February 22, 18 19, and graduated at Harvard College in 1838. After studying law two years he was admitted to the bar ; but he never prac- tised the profession. Excepting the time he spent abroad, he lived nearly all his life in the house in which he was born. His early inclinations were toward poetry, and he published in 1841 " A Year's Life," a small volume now out of print. In 1843 he was associated with Robert Carter in editing " The Pioneer," — a magazine which might have changed our literary history if the publisher had not failed. JAMES RUSSEU- I.OWEI,L. 219 In 1844 he published " A Legend of Brittany," and in tl>c same year was married to Maria White, a lovely woman, who was in almost every respect the ideal of a poet's wife. In 1S45 he published "Conversations on the Old Poets," now out of print ; also " The Vision of Sir Launfal," the most popular of his serious poems. In the year 1848 a new series of poems appeared, and also "A Fable for Critics." The latter, though professedly a humorous production, contains many noble passages, along with estimates of the writers of that day which are on the whole just and discriminating. It is the wittiest of literary satires, and the most faithful of caricatures. During the Mexican War Lowell wrote a series of poems in the Yankee dialect, attacking the govern- ment and the pro-slavery party for its comphcity with the national crime. The success of the " Biglow Papers " was immediate and unparalleled. The hero, Hosea Biglow, and his editor. Parson Wilbur, became as well known as any of the creations of gemus. As a mere repository of fun the " Biglow Papers .s inimitable; but the lines are weapons rather than playthings, and their edge was feh during the long struggle that followed. During the War of the Re- bellion, Lowell wrote a second series, in which the in- tensity and frequent pathos are in strong contrast with the jocularity of the first. The second is less amusing, but on a higher plane. Some of the serious portions, though in rustic dialect, contain perhaps nis most m- spired poetry. This second volume (1S67) contains the best essay upon the Yankee dialect ever written. 220 JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL. In 1852-53, Mr. Lowell visited Europe, ^his wife dying shortly after his return. In 1854-55 he delivered a course of lectures upon the British poets, marked by the acumen and brilliancy which appear in his prose essays. In 1855 he succeeded Mr. Longfellow as professor of modern languages, etc., in Harvard Col- lege. He re-visited Europe to perfect himself for his position, and entered upon his duties in August, 1856. The ''Atlantic Monthly" was established in 1857 in aid of the antislavery movement, — three years hav- ing been required to secure the co-operation of lead- ing writers,! and to decide the publishers upon what then seemed a perilous venture. The character of 1 The account of the origin of the Atlantic Monthly in Apple- ton's Cyclopaedia of Biography (article, J. R. Lowell) is almost wholly untrue. The few authors who had been invited to write for the magazine met at a dinner given by the publishers in Boston, without having been consulted upon details, nor upon the choice of an editor. If there was a meeting in Emerson's study, as the Cyclopaedia says, there could have been nothing to discuss. The correspondence had been in the hands of the author of this work, who was the literary adviser of the pub- lishers and the originator of the magazine. His project had en- listed the powerful support of Mrs. Stovve, as well as of Mr. Lee, a junior partner, now of the firm of Lee and Shepard. None of the writers named in the article above referred to were con- cerned with the plan, except in having agreed to contribute. The projector, as the time drew near, felt convinced that the new magazine should have the aid of a strong name, and hav- ing privately sounded Mr. Lowell, arose at the dinner table and nominated him as editor-in-chief. Excepting Mr. Lowell, no one present, not even the publishers, knew what he was going to do. The nomination gave as much surprise as pleasure to the company. JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL. 221 that ma-azine and the stimulus it gave to the hteraiy taste o Ahe country are matters of history. Lowell had previously written for "Putnam's Monthly" and other magazines; and in 1862, when he left the " Atlantic," he was for some years co-editor with Charles E. Norton of the " North American Review." His essays have been collected in four volumes: -Fireside Travels" (1864); "Among my Books" (1870); "A Second Series" (1876); and " My Study Windows" (1871). He wrote his Commemoration Ode (1865) in honor of the sons of Harvard slain in the Civil War, and read it most impressively at a great open-air meeting. '' Under the Willows," con- taining poems of deep insight and spiritual beauty, was printed in 1869. In the same year appeared " The Cathedral," a poem in blank verse, suggested by a visit to Chartres. It is considered by many as the highest expression of ■ Lowell's genius. It is far from popular, for its power and glowing imagery are for those who can perceive the reach of the poet's subtile analogies. Among his occasional contributions should be singled out "Fitz-Adam's Story" (Atlantic, Jan. 1867), a Chau- cerian study of backwoods life, which has rarely been equalled. When the centennial celebrations of the early battles of the Revolution and of the De- claration of Independence occurred, he wrote three noble odes, which were published together. In 1877 Mr. Lowell was sent as minister to Spain, and in 1881 transferred to the Court of St. James, where he remained until 1885. No minister from the 222 JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL. United States ever had a warmer welcome in Great Britain ; and his popularity was the more to his honor for the reason that he was an American to the last drop of his blood. He felt the ties of kinship with Englishmen ; but, as in his famous poem " Jonathan to John," he never hesitated to uphold the rights and honor of his country. His enthusiasm for literature, his varied and exact scholarship, and his mastery of the English language, in which no living man excelled him, made a profound impression. While in Great Britain he delivered a great many addresses and after-dinner speeches, which were published in 1887 with the title of " Democracy, and other Addresses." They are remarkable not only for solid qualities, but for exquisite literary workmanship. A collection of occasional poems entitled "Heartsease and Rue" was published in 1888. This includes " Fitz-Adam's Story" and ''The Nest," the latter written in 1854. He was fond of the literary companionship which he found in London, and at the close of his diplomatic mission spent a few summers there, passing the win- ters with his only daughter, Mrs. Edward Burnett of Southboro, Mass. He delivered a course of lectures before the Lowell Institute of Boston in 1887. Lowell was an idealist by nature and training, but it was a long path by which he reached eminence. After he had grown out of the trivial period, he was taught the great lesson of his life by love. His sonnets to Maria White were the beginning of his growth and precursors of his noblest poems. Having enlisted with the reformers, he sang of the wrongs of JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL. 223 the slave and the oppression of the poor. " The Present Crisis " and other poems of that period glow with the beautiful enthusiasm of youth. They give hope for uplifting the lowly by active sympathy; they rebuke the jarring sects with parables of mu- tual forbearance and Christian love. In poems like '* Beaver Brook" and "The Foot-Path" is seen his power to spiritualize material things, leading the reader into an ideal world. Poetry in its highest form suggests what cannot be expressed in words ; and with those whose minds have been illuminated, these trans- cendental poems have an indescribable charm. This power is exemplified also in " The Cathedral." To say that an author is versatile is generally a depreciation. Lowell was not versatile ; but there were in him two men,— the idealist and the realist. In one phase he was allied to Tennyson, Keats, and Emerson ; in the other to Poor Richard and Hudibras. He was as truly the one as the other. As Hosea Biglow, his foot was on his native soil, and he was the embodiment of the solid common-sense, the shrewd wit and rustic humor of the Yankee race. As the singer of Sir Launfal's story he showed his kin- ship to the masters of English verse. His evident care is for ideas : if the lines are also sonorous, that he will consider fortunate ; but he will not mar his thought's full strength for the sake of melody. Hence he is not a lyric poet. Nor is he wholly reflec- tive and philosophical; for in the " Courtin' " and '' Sunthin' in the Pastoral Line " he has shown for the first time the idyllic side of Now England life and the 224 JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL. poetical capabilities of the dialect; and in *' The Present Crisis " he appears like an heroic bard of ancient days, — " Both singing and fighting in front of the war." These varied manifestations of power are unusual; but Lowell was an exceptional man. He was him- self in all the characters he created. His prose is the prose of a poet ; it has a basis of sound reason, but it proceeds with ellipses and bounds instead of keeping upon a level track ; it flashes with poetic similes, and is studded with allusions that tax the knowledge of even well-read men. There are sentences in the essay on Milton as gorgeous as gilded armor or a king's robes of cloth of gold ; others — as in the essay on Chaucer — are as delicately beautiful as spring- flowers in a meadow. His prose style can never be popular, but for scholars it has an unfailing delight. As a man Mr. Lowell was courteous, rather re- served with strangers, affectionate with friends, fond of stories, and himself a delightful story-teller ; brilliant in repartee, apt in quotation, and audacious in forging one to suit a comic purpose ; at times of odd and humorous whims, yet full of natural piety ; a keen observer of nature and of human traits, generous to a fault, a hater of shams and of political corruption, — in short, the best friend, the most charming companion, and one of the ablest and wisest of his generation. Mr. Lowell died in Cambridge, Mass., August, 1 89 1. Charles Eliot Norton is his literary executor, and is engaged upon an edition of hi:, letters. WILLIAM WETMORE STORY. 22$ WILLIAM WETMORE STORY. ^ILLIAM WETMORE STORY was born in ^^ Salem, Mass., February 19, 18 19, and was graduated at Harvard College in 1838, in the class with Professor Lowell. He studied law under the instruction of his father, Judge Story, and became an able writer upon legal subjects. He reported three volumes of cases in the United States Circuit Court, published two text-books, and was apparently on the road to professional eminence. But he was born with an artistic temperament, and amused himself first by painting landscapes, and afterward by modelling in clay. He went to Rome in 1848, and in the end became an eminent sculptor of ideal figures. His statues of Saul, Delilah, and Cleopatra, in particular, are considered as masterpieces in form and in the expression of character, thought, and emotion. His success in literature has been almost as remarkable as in art. A volume of his poems appeared in 1847, and an enlarged edition in 1856. *' Roba di Roma," most of which appeared first in the " Atlantic Monthly," a vivid picture of the modern city, was published in 1862. He published a treatise on the '' Proportions of the Human P^'igure " in 1866; "Graffiti d' Italia"^ in 1869; and a poem, entitled *' The Roman Lawyer in Jerusalem," in 1 870. He published the Life and Letters of his father in 1 85 I. ^ Italian Pencil Sketches. 15 226 WILLIAM WETMORE STORY. In 1856, at the inauguration of the statue of Beethoven in the Boston Music Hall, Mr. Story de- livered a splendid prologue, which is included in the volume of the same year. Among his other Works are " Fiametta," a novelette ; " He and She," a dialogue in prose and poetry ; " The Tragedy of Nero; " " Stephanie: A Tragedy;" " Poems " (a collection in two volumesj ; and " Conversations in a Studio," two volumes. He has written also a number of important essays for Blackwood's and other mag- azines, among which may be named ''The Origin o the Italian Language," " The Pronunciation of Latin," " Casting in Plaster among the Ancients," " Michel- angelo and Phidias." The genius of Story is dramatic, and his best poems are remarkable chiefly as studies of character. " Cleopatra" is an instance of vivid portraiture hardly surpassed in our day. The discussion over the meth- ods of Leonardo di Vinci in painting the Last Sup- per is full of interest. *' The Roman Lawyer in Jerusalem," who (in modern phrase) held a brief for Judas, is a piece of powerful and subtile reasoning. The reputation of Story in the United States has undoubtedly suffered by his long residence abroad, but his Works have striking merits, and deserve far more attention than they have received. His versa- tility is remarkable. The Law, Sculpture, Poetry, and Prose have all been his province ; and he has illustrated whatever he has touched. He has his home in Rome. EDWIN PERCY WHIPPLE. 22/ EDWIN PERCY WHIPPLE. CD WIN PERCY WHIPPLE was born in Glouces- *^ ter, Mass., March 8, 1819. He was educated in the pubhc schools of Salem, and on his removal to Boston was employed in a broker's office. He became a member of the Mercantile Library Association, and in its debates and other literary exercises gained the knowledge and practice which laid the foundation for his scholarship and fame as a writer. In i860 he gave up business to devote himself to literature. He was a contributor to the " North American Review," the " Christian Examiner," the '• Atlantic Monthly," and other periodicals. He delivered a course of lec- tures before the Lowell Institute upon the " Litera- ture of the Age of Elizabeth," and was for some years engaged in lecturing, mostly on literary topics, before lyceums and at college anniversaries through- out the country. His orations, reviews, and essays have been published in nine volumes, i2mo. Mr. Whipple's mind was acute and analytic, and his mode of dealing with a subject showed his mas- ter}^ of principles, his sincerity of character, and his power of lucid statement. His style is not uniformly easy, although his choice of words is often very felici- tous. At times he was epigrammatic and sparkling; and when this was the case he was apt to establish a formal balance of terse phrases in short, pungent sentences, in place of the longer sweep of the older and more melodious style of English prose. Like 228 JULIA WARD HOWE. most writers who had their early disciph'ne in debate, and maintained an oratorical style by long practice in lecturing, he sometimes swelled his periods into sonorous measure, and wrote at his reader, as if in the midst of a brilliant peroration before an excited audience. Our English critics say that most of our writers lack repose. Probably this is true ; but it is not more true of Mr. Whipple than of many others of equal note. We have young blood yet, and have not quite settled down into the equable courses of mature years. Mr. Whipple was one of. the writers w^ho made criticism a fine art; and the cultivated reader finds almost as much pleasure in his thoughtful discussions as in the perusal of a work of original creation. He died in June i6, 1886. JULIA WARD HOWE. JULIA WARD HOWE, daughter of Samuel Ward, was born in the city of New York, May 27, 1819. She received a careful education from her father, and gave evidences of literary talent at an early age. She was married in 1843 to Dr. Samuel G. Howe, well known as a philanthropist and superintendent of the Blind Asylum in Boston, and accompanied him upon a tour in Europe. In 1854 she published a volume of poems entitled " Passion Flowers," and in JULIA WARD HOWE. 229 1856 another volume, " Words for the Hour." She Vv^rote two plays for the stage, — one of which, " The World's Own," was performed in Boston. In 1859 she published a book of travel, entitled " A Trip to Cuba." In 1866 appeared her ** Later Lyrics," con- taining among other things " Our Orders " and the magnificent " Battle Hymn of the Republic," the music of which was heard in every Northern camp during the late war. Of the other pieces in the " Later Lyrics," we would mention " Her Verses : A Lyrical Romance," which contains many exquisite stanzas. In 1868 she published an account of a trip to Athens, called " From the Oak to the Olive ;" in 1881, "Modern Society: Two Lectures;" in 1883, "A Life of Margaret Fuller; '' in 1874 she edited a reply to Dr. E. H. Clarke's " Sex in Education." Mrso Howe is a woman of remarkable native pow- ers, and if she had given the requisite time and thought to the perfection of her verse, she might have held a higher place among poets. She has been from choice an active, living force upon the platform, and has done much to quicken the souls of her contemporaries ; and this, perhaps, is of as much worth to the world as a more enduring literary fame. Mrs. Howe is an earnest advocate of woman suf- frage, and has written and spoken upon the subject with power and eloquence. 230 THOMAS WILLIAM PARSONS. THOMAS WILLIAM PARSONS. T^HOMAS WILLIAM PARSONS was bom in Boston, Mass., August 18, 1819, and was edu- cated in the Latin School. He visited Italy in 1836, and thenceforward devoted himself to Italian liter- ature, especially to Dante. He became one of the most eminent scholars in that field. He published in Boston in 1843 a translation of the first ten cantos of the ** Inferno." In 1867 the "Inferno" was com- pleted, and published with illustrations. "The Old House at Sudbury " (Longfellow's " Wayside Inn ") appeared in 1870. Mr. Parsons figured among the characters in Longfellow's poem. " The Shadow of the Obelisk" appeared in 1872. A few occasional poems appeared after that date. His minor poems contain many beauties, and some of them are likely to become classic. "The Lines on a Bust of Dante" in their severe simplicity would have won the ap- proval of his great master. " To a Lady with a Head of Diana" is a sweet and beautiful poem, its lines being clear-cut, and wrought with the enduring grace of an antique cameo. As a specimen of the gay humor of his early days, the reader is referred to " Saint Peray." Mr. Parsons died in Scituate, Mass., September 3, 1892. JOSIAII GILBERT HOLLAND. 23 1 JOSIAH GILBERT HOLLAND. TOSL/\H GILBERT HOLLAND was bom in *^ Belchertown, Mass., July 24, 181 9, and died in the city of New York, October 12, 1881. His early education was scanty, and he tried many means of earning a livelihood with varying success. At the age of twenty-one he began the study of medicine, and in due course received his degree, but soon found that he had no taste for the profession. He was sub- sequently a teacher in Richmond, Va., and then su- perintendent of schools in Vicksburg, Miss. Later he became an associate editor of the Springfield (Mass.) " Republican," and wrote for that paper some of his most popular works. In 1870 he went to New York and became editor and part proprietor of " Scribner's Monthly," where he gained position and fortune. Dr. Holland's Works are '' A History of Western Massachusetts" (1855); "The Bay Path" (1857); *' Timothy Titcomb's Letters to the Young" (1858); "Bitter Sweet," a dramatic poem (1858) ; "Gold Foil, hammered from Popular Proverbs" (1859); "Miss Gilbert's Career" (i860); "Lessons in Life" (1861); "Letters to the Joneses" (1865); "Plain Talk on Fam.iliar Subjects" (1865); "Life of Abraham Lincoln" (1866); " Katrina : Her Life and Mine," a narrative poem. (1867); "The Marble Prophecy, and other Poems " (1872); "Arthur Bonnicastle : A Novel" (1873); "Garnered Sheaves," being his complete poems (1873); " The Mistress of the 232 JOSIAH GILUERT HOLLAND. Manse/' a poem (1874); "The Story o( Sevenoaks " (1875); *' Every Day Topics" and *' Nicholas Min- turn" (1876). Dr. Holland's novels are his best works, artistically considered. "The Bay Path " is a story of the first settlement of Connecticut Valley, and the characters and events are mainly historical. The author makes no attempt to reproduce the ancient forms of speech, but he understands well and has faithfully represented the ideas and m'anners of the time. " Miss Gilbert's Career" has some good points. It is a novel of modern times, and is as new and near, and devoid of romantic associations, as a pine-shingled house in the factory village it depicts. But its principal figures are exhibited with a certain stereoscopic fidelity, and the characteristic virtues and meannesses of a Yankee neighborhood are naturally developed in the course of its events. The volumes of proverbial advice have been widely circulated ; their wisdom is of an obvious kind, and the author, in his endeavors to put himself on a level with his readers, sometimes forgets the style of a man of letters as well as the dignity of a teacher of morals. The two poems "Bitter Sweet" and "Katrina" had a great popularity, running up to scores of thousands. Few American works have been so rewarded. They are interesting as stories, with some bright sketches of rural life, and some touches of poetic feeling. They are specially com- mended by their many admirers for their religious tone and their earnestly expressed lessons. IIKRMAN MELVILLE. 233 HERMAN MELVILLE. HERMAN MELVILLE was born in the city of New York, August I, 1819. His boyhood was spent in the neighborhood of Albany and in Berk- shire County, Mass. He gave early evidence of talent for composition. At the age of eighteen he shipped before the mast as a common sailor; visited London, and returned in the same way. In 1841 he embarked on a whaling vessel bound to the Pacific, Being weary of the service, he deserted, in company withl fellow-sailor, in 1842, at Nukuheva, one of the Marquesas Islands. Unexpectedly he found himself among a race of cannibals, but was hospitably treated, though kept in custody for four months, when he escaped on a French vessel, and landed at Tahiti on the day when the French took possession of the Society Islands. From thence he went to Honolulu in the Sandwich Islands, and returned to Boston in 1844. He wrote an account of his singular experiences ; and the work entitled " Typee " was published in 1846, simultaneously in London and New York. " Typee" closes with an account of the author's escape from Nukuheva. A second work, "Omoo," published in 1847^ takes up the narrative at that point. These are among the most delightful books of travel in the language. The style is charm- ingly easy, the descriptions are novel and picturesque, and the incidents are, if not absolutely true, related with an air of verisimilitude. 234 MERMAN MELVILLE. Mr. Mclviilc afterv/ard published " Mardi " and a "Voyage Thither" (1849). In the same year ap- peared " Redburn : The Reminiscences of a Gentle- man's Son in the Merchant Service." In 1850 he removed to Pittsfield, Mass. Later, he hved in New York city, where he held the office of inspector in the custom-house. " White Jacket ; Or, The World in a Man-of-War," was published in 1850, and is con- sidered one of the most admirable of the author's works. In 185 1 he published *' Moby Dick: The White Whale," an imaginative story, and not alto- gether probable. Later works are " Pierre ; Or, The Ambiguities" (1852); "The Piazza Tales," contain- ing some powerfully drawn pictures (1856); "The Confidence Man" (1857); " Battle-Pieces, and As- pects of the War" (1866); "Clarel: A Pilgrimage and Poem" (1876). He died in New York, Septem- ber 27, 1891. A new edition of " Typee " and " Omoo " in 1892, after a lapse of nearly half a century, is a striking proof of the enduring interest in Melville's Works. WALT WHITMAN. 235 WALT WHITMAN. W ALT WHITMAN was born in West Hills, Long Island, N. Y., May 31, 1819. The family lived in a story-and-a-half farm-house, heavily tin. bered, and still standing, which overlooks the sea. Th^y were a race of workers, to whom books were little known. While the author was still a child, his pa-ents removed to Brooklyn, where he attended sc lool. At the age of thirteen he learned to set type, and a few years later he taught in a country school. Before he was twenty he wrote a sketch for the '^Democratic Review." In 1849 he travelled through the Western States, and edited a paper in New Orleans for a year. Returning, he continued at type-setting for a time, and afterward went into busi- ness as a carpenter and builder, which had been his father's occupation. Upon removing to New York he frequented the society of newspaper reporters some- what, but found most to enjoy or to observe in people of the lower walks of life. He read much, especially in the Bible, which he esteemed as the grandest col- lection of literature. He published a volume, entitled ** Leaves of Grass," in 1856, by which he became widely known. The work contains pictures of marked originality and unquestionable power, as well as pas- sages of a very exceptionable character, for which no defence that is valid in this day can be set up. This poem was retouched from time to time for thirty years. During the late war he was almost con- 236 WALT WHITMAN. stantly employed in hospitals and camps in the re- Hef of sick and wounded soldiers. These scenes finally took form in his mind, and were published in a thin volume entitled " Drum Taps." Those who are accustomed to associate the idea of poetry with regular classic measure in rhyme, or in ten- syllabled blank verse, or elastic hexameters, will s( an these short and simple prose sentences with surpr se, and will wonder how a succession of them can form a poem. But let them read aloud, with minds in syn- pathy with the picture as it is displayed, and they v ill find by Nature's unmistakable responses that t'le author is a poet, and possesses the poet's incommu nicable power to touch the heart. This power is the inheritance into which the poet is born, and, as Webster said of eloquence, labor and learning will toil for it in vain. What success our author would have had in mould- ing his poetic conceptions into recognized poetic measure we cannot say. The undying spirit is in every line ; but the form, which is its incarnation and as inseparable from it as body from soul, is not wrought into symmetry. By some eternal law the expression of deep emotion, or of the images of beauty, not only takes on a nobler form of words than belongs to every-day affairs, but falls naturally into a rhythmical movement. Had Whitman read the Psalms of his favorite David in the Hebrew, or the Iliad in its original measure, he might not have thought our prose versions to be models either for the adequate expression or for the appropriate form WALT WHITMAN. 237 of his ideas. As it is, we must think his lines are diamonds in the rough, — virgin gold in unwrought nuggets. With many estimates of his genius made by his admirers we cannot agree. The grandeur that comes from mere geographical vastness is not neces- sarily poetical ; and much of Whitman's glorification of America comes under that head. But after making all deductions, the fact remains that he has set down some of the most striking thoughts and sketched some of the most vivid scenes to be found in modern literature, and that he is less indebted to others for his ideas and for his power of illustration than almost any American writer. In Great Britain Whitman is by many persons, especially by those who favor the new school of poetry, set above all other American poets. The other works of this author are " Memoranda during the W^ar " (1867); "Democratic Vistas," es- says in prose (1870); "Passage to India " (1870); "After All, Not to Create Only" (1871); "As Strong as a Bird on Pinions Free " (1872) ; " Speci- men Days" (1883); "November Boughs" (1885); " Sands at Seventy" (1888). A valuable monograph has been written by John Burroughs, entitled " Notes on Walt Whitman as Poet and Person ; " another, by William D. O'Conner, is entitled " The Good Gray Poet: A Vindication." He died in Camden, N. J., March 26, 1892. 238 ALICE GARY. ALICE GARY. A LICE CARY was born in Mount Healthy, near ^^ Cincinnati, Ohio, in April, 1820. She had but slight opportunities for education. A series of sketches published in the '* National Era " first drew public attention to her as a writer. In 1850 she published a volume of poems written by herself and her sister Phcebe. A volume of her prose sketches, entitled " Clovernook," appeared in i85i,a second series in 1853, and a third in 1854. She published a poem entitled '' Hualco " in 1851 ; " Lyra, and Other Poems," in 1853; a new collection of "Poems," in 1855 ; "Ballads, Lyrics, and Hymns," in 1866; "A Lover's Diary," in 1867. She also wrote several novels: " Hagar : A Story of To-day" (1853); "Hollywood" (1855); *' Married, not Mated" (1856); and "The Bishop's Son" (1867); also "Pictures of Country Life" (1859), and "Snow- berries" (1867). Miss Cary removed from her western home to New York in 1850, and lived there until her death, which occurred P'ebruary 12, 1871. There can be no question that Alice Cary had what our clerical friends call a " vocation " to poetry. She had the clear vision, the instant sense of com- parison, and the perception of analogies not discerned by common eyes. Her memory treasured all the picturesque associations of her childhood, and we find them in profusion in her poems. Her art is not JAMES PARTON. 239 SO conspicuous as her poetic insight. Many of her 'most striking images are rather crudely wrought, and to read her hues smoothly requires such a vari- ety of accents that the sensitive ear is often pained. Some stanzas are padded to proper dimensions by phrases that we are accustomed to hear from young ladies with limited vocabularies, and which give us a sudden descent to the regions of the commonplace. But her poetic feeling is genuine ; her cheerful tem- per kept her from morbid sentimentalism, the bane of modern poetry ; she attempted no flights beyond her powers, and never sought to set out the plan of the universe in the cant words of metaphysics. For these sohd excellences many faults of construction are forgiven. Her poems can be read with hearty enjoyment, and ought to be remembered and es- teemed as among the best utterances of American women. J JAMES PARTON. AMES PARTON was born in Canterbury, Eng- land, February 9, 1 822. He was brought to New York at the age of five years, and received his education at an academy in White Plains. He was a school-teacher for a time, and afterward was engaged as an assistant editor of the " Home Journal." He wrote a Life of Horace Greeley, which was pub- lished in 1855. This was followed by a Life of 240 JAMES PARTON. Aaron Burr in 1857, and a Life of Andrew Jackson, in three volumes, in 1859-60. He made a collection of the " Humorous Poetry of the English Language," which was printed in 1856. In 1863 he wrote an account of " General Butler in New Orleans ; " in 1864 a Biography of Franklin, in two volumes; in 1865, the Life of John Jacob Astor; in 1866, " How New York City is Governed ; " '•' Famous Americans," in 1867; "The People's Book of Biog- raphy," in 1868; "Smoking and Drinking," in 1868 ; "The Danish Islands," in 1869; "Topics of the Time" (1871) ; "Triumphs of Enterprise, Ingenuity, and Public Spirit" (1871) ; "The Words of Wash- ington" (1872) ; Fanny Fern (wife of the author) a memorial volume (1873); a Life of Jefferson (1874); " Taxation of Church Property" (1874); " Le Parnasse Francais : French Poetry since 1550" (1877); "Caricature and Comic Art in All Times" (1877); a Life of Voltaire (1881) ; "Noted Women" (1883); "Captains of Industry" (1884). He has been a contributor to the " Atlantic " and to other periodicals, and has treated in his attractive style of a great variety of topics, from Chicago shambles to Providence silver-plate. Mr. Parton is a man of indefatigable industry, and has built his many biographies upon the results of faithful study. He has a rare pictorial art, and em- ploys in narrative, with strong effect, the countless details he has gathered. It is safe to say of any one of his Works that it is interesting; and the interest is not merely in the style, in the usual meaning JAMES PARTON. 24 1 of the word, — it lies rather in the mastery of the subject. But in some of his books, when we would consider the moral aspect of the characters Mr. Parton has drawn for us, we are forced to pause. The sharp lines between right and wrong are not always to be seen. We know that much is to be pardoned to the biog- rapher, because he naturally becomes an advocate, and we have been accustomed to see defences and extenua- tions put forth for the greatest scoundrels in history. When the biographer makes palpable misstatements the mischief is easily corrected, for the critic goes over the work with a sharp pencil and marks dele, as he would upon a faulty proof-sheet. But where the writer carelessly or ignorantly confounds the ever- lasting ideas of rectitude, there is no setting his story right for the inexperienced reader. It may be that there are not many untrue paragraphs in the Life of Burr; but not even Mr. Barton's plausible art can satisfy those who know the history of the last cen- tury that Burr was not a thoroughly depraved man. Much as we may admire many traits in Jackson's character, and his great public services, no candid man will assert that his was a soul that could at all times bear the clear light of truth. In Mr. Barton's book, the facts that might cloud Jackson's character and exhibit him as an unscrupulous politician are generally set aside, or, if admitted, are palliated and defended from the necessities of the case. Some of his Famous Americans are people generally reprobated. The historian of politics and the rigid moralist judge men by very different standards. In 16 242 JAMES PARTON. comparing two contemporary statesmen, it is quite important tliat the writer siiould apply the same rules to both. But Mr. Parton, while he paints the sensual traits and other dark features of Webster's character with an unsparing brush, has nothing but delicate words of praise for Clay, who was in no respect morally superior to his great rival, and had less of manly generosity in his nature. The comparison between these two men is men- tioned merely as an instance of the color blindness to which Mr. Parton is subject. While we find in his Works a rare fascination, and can read them with profit, it is necessary to bear in mind his tendency to exalt his heroes and to blacken their rivals ; and w^e should hold a steady balance of judgment when we are asked by him to doubt the verdicts of impartial WTiters upon the characters of public men. In the midst of the scandalous and shameless pur- suit of gain that prevails among financiers, specula- tors, and office-holders in this country, the writer of books for the young has a plain duty to perform; and we cannot too strongly condemn the complai- sance that passes over in silence the frauds and con- spiracies by which vast fortunes are accumulated at the expense of the helpless public. Either these lives of selfish millionnaires and selfish politicians should not be written at all, or the full truth should be told ; else in time the idea of moral beauty in character might die out of the world. This author's Life of Voltaire shows careful study, and, like most of his Works, is extremely interesting. EDWARD EVERETT HALE. 243 EDWARD EVERETT HALE. CDWARD EVERETT HALE was born in Bos- *~^ ton, April 3, 1822, and was graduated at Har- vard College in 1839. He studied theology, and in 1846 was settled as pastor of a Unitarian church in Worcester, Mass., where he remained until 1856, when he removed to Boston. He inherited literary talent from both parents. His father, Nathan Hale, was an eminent editor, and his mother, sister of Edward Everett, was a woman of superior mind. He began to write at an early age, and acquired facility and power. His sermons often exhibit a fortunate combination of originality and learning. His speeches on public occasions always attract at- tention, being fruitful in suggestions, often glowing in style, and full of witty illustrations. He was not of the Transcendental school, nor was he engaged in the early antislavery movement ; but in later years his fertile mind continually dropped hints for public welfare, for private comfort, for municipal purity, and for co-operation of labor. He has been much occupied with industrial socialism, and of late has given his influence to a new party which seeks to set up on earth the heaven seen in vision by Edward Bellamy. One of his books is a story which depicts the rule of" bosses " in American cities. His activ- ity has been marvellous, and probably without par- allel in this generation. Besides attending to his clerical duties, he has been editor of various periodi- 244 EDWARD EVERETT HALE. cals, a lyceum lecturer, a frequent speaker at public meetings, a laborer in many societies, an overseer of Harvard College, and v/ith all this has found time to write about fifty books, — forty of them since 1870. His graver works are marked by clear method and reasoning power. His tales, sketches, and lighter essays have been thrown off without much effort, to serve some temporary end. The stories have always an obvious purpose, generally advocating some social or political reform, or inculcating some generous, kindly lesson. It is evident that from this mode of composition there will not come masterpieces of style, unless by some happy chance : and the chance has been fortunate in several instances. *' In His Name," a story of the Waldenses, is extremely beautiful and leaves an enduring impression. " The Man Without a Country" has been very popular. In " If, Yes, and Perhaps" there are many striking scenes. But, in general, literary style is a matter of secondary con- sideration in these teeming works. The author prefers to reach the greatest number of minds with his suggestions for personal purity and for active Christian philanthropy. Mr. Hale has written two historical works, for which he made extensive original researches, — *' The Life of Washington," and " Franklin in France." He has written also a short history of Spain, and what is styled a '* Chautauquan History of the United States. ' Among the tales with a purpose is an interesting account of a co-operative woollen mill, — " How They Lived at Hampton," — a beatific picture for which THOMAS BUCHANAN READ. 245 there is small hope of realization at present. An- other story much talked about is '' Ten Times One is Ten." In collaboration with Miss Susan Hale, his sister, he has written some sketchy books of travel, — •' Family Flights," they are called, treating of Spain, Mexico, France, Egypt, and " around home." It will be seen that the genius of Mr. Hale is emi- nently practical, and aims at the widest results; that he endeavors to put New Testament ideas into active operation in modern society and politics, instead of attacking the sins and sinners of Palestine eighteen centuries ago; that he has used all the resources of a fertile mind with extraordinary energy in the pro- duction of books for his purposes ; and that he will be, of his own choice, remembered as an ardent apostle of human brotherhood rather than the crea- tor of a classic style. T THOMAS BUCHANAN READ. HOMAS BUCHANAN READ was born in Chester County, Penn., March 12, 1822. At the age of seventeen he went to Cincinnati and en- tered a sculptor's studio, but soon after devoted him- self to painting. He lived successively in New York, Boston, and Philadelphia, and in 1850 visited Europe. He returned to Cincinnati in 1858, and afterward spent some time in Boston and Cambridge, where he painted the portraits of Longfellow's daughters. He 246 THOMAS BUCHANAN READ. went to Europe again in 1863 or 1864, and lived at Rome until the spring of 1872, when he returned to the United States, and died May 11, shortly after his arrival at New York. Mr. Read was very successful as a painter of portraits and human figures. He pub- lished a volume of poems at Boston in 1847 ; another at Philadelphia in 1848. "The New Pastoral" appeared in 1855 ; "The Home by the Sea," in 1856. His collected poems, in two volumes, were published in Boston in i860. " The Wagoner of the Allegha- nies " was published in 1862; "Sheridan's Ride," his most popular poem, in 1865; a new edition of his poems, in three volumes, in 1867; ''Good Samari- tans," in 1867. In art, the prevailing taste among Americans is for landscapes, and in poetry there is a similar fond- ness for descriptions of natural scenery. Where the author gives only an enumeration of natural features, — as it were, a rhymed catalogue, — he speedily be- comes tiresome; but a landscape, as seen in a poet's vision and reproduced as a whole by clear, bold strokes, appeals to the imagination as strongly as any form of creative art. Mr. Read painted an autumn landscape with fidelity and picturesque -power. It is worthy of being studied beside the best works of the kind. He was more than a seeker of epithets, and his poems are more than accumulations of mosaics. We are sometimes reminded by the sudden presenta- tion of some grand image, — as of the balanced set- ting sun and rising moon in "Nightfall," — ^ that we are in contact with a mind of original force; and we RICHARD GRANT WHITE. 247 also see the hand of the artist in the just proportions and in the harmonious accessories of the poem. But this is not true of any large number of his poems ; for they are very unequal, and many of them would have been dropped upon a careful revision. Those we have mentioned, together with " Drifting" and *' The Song of the Alpine Guide," are worthy to rank among the best modern poems. RICHARD GRANT WHITE. niCHARD GRANT WHITE was born in the "^^ city of New York, May 23, 1822, and was grad- uated at the University of New York in 1839. He was admitted to the bar in 1845, but soon devoted himself to literature, especially to the Works of Shakespeare and his contemporaries. His principal work, for which his other efforts have served as studies, was his edition of Shakespeare, in twelve volumes. In this he showed himself an accomplished scholar and philologist, and earned the respect of all cultivated men. He published a treatise, entitled " Shakespeare's Scholar," in 1854, and an "Essay on the Authorship of King Henry VI." in 1859. He edited a collection of National Hymns in 1861, and a collection of the " Poetry of the Civil War " in 1866. He published, in 1870, a work entitled " Words and their Uses," a valuable aid to students 248 DONALD GRANT MITCHELL. and men of letters. He was for some years editor of the New York " Courier and Enquirer," and was a leading contributor to " Putnam's Monthly " and other magazines. Among other published Works may be mentioned a "Biographical and Critical Handbook of Christian Art " (1853) ; " The New Gospel of Peace " (1866); "American View of the Copyright Ques- tion" (1880) ; "Every-Day English" (1881); "Eng- land Without and Within" (1881); "The Fate of Mansfield Humphrey: A Novel" (1884). He died in New York, April 8, 1885. "Studies of Shake- speare " and other articles appeared after his death. As a writer Mr. White was positive in tone, and forcible and idiomatic in expression. His Works show great industry, as well as the results of critical observation in language, history, and manners. DONALD GRANT MITCHELL. pvONALD GRANT MITCHELL was born in Norwich, Conn., in April, 1822, and was gradu- ated at Yale College in 1841. Being in delicate health, he spent a few years on his grandfather's farm, and became greatly interested in husbandry. He went to England in 1844, and rambled through every county on foot, — writing letters thence for the Albany " Cultivator." After passing eighteen months on the Continent, he returned home and DONALD GRANT MITCHELL. 249 published an account of his travels, entitled " Fresh Gleanings ; Or, a New Sheaf from the Old Fields of Continental Europe, by Ik Marvel." Several later works bore the same pen-name. He visited Europe a second time in 1848, and on his return published " The Battle Summer." He next published a serial entitled " The Lorgnette," afterward collected in two volumes. About the same time appeared his most popular work, " The Reveries of a Bachelor." This is a series of dainty pictures of life as seen by a susceptible and romantic youth, and is extremely fascinating to those who have not advanced beyond its tender experiences. A second volume, entitled *' Dream Life," appeared a year later. " Fudge Doings," published in 1854, is the title of a series of sketches of fashionable life that originally appeared in the " Knickerbocker Magazine." In 1853 he was appointed consul to Venice. On his return in 1855 he settled upon his farm near New Haven, where he has since lived. The time of Mr. MitchelFs re- tirement to his farm marks a great change in the style and character of his Works. " My Farm of Edgcwood," published in 1863, is a charming book, full of bright pictures, and retaining enough of the grace of his early manner without its rather cloying sentiment. "Wet Days at Edgewood " (1S64) con- tains some agreeable accounts of ancient writers upon agriculture. These were followed by " Seven Stories," a novel, in 1865 ; " Doctor Johns," a novel, in 1S67 ; and " Rural Studies " in 186;. Later works are "About Old Story Tellers" (1877); "The 250 OCTAVIUS BROOKS FROTFIINGHAM. Woodbridge Record " (the family of the author's mother) and " Daniel Tyler," a memorial volume, in 1883. Mr. Mitchell's eminent characteristic is grace. He has seen much and read much, and we feel while following his guidance that he is shrewd and ob- servant, kindly and hopeful, just and dispassionate. His books, especially his later ones, have a healthy and manly tone, with an unobtrusive but pervading humor. OCTAVIUS BROOKS FROTH INGHAM. QCTAVIUS BROOKS FROTHINGHAM was ^-^^ born in Boston, Mass., November 26, 1822. He graduated at Harvard College in 1843, and after a course in the Divinity School was in 1847 ordained pastor of a church in Salem, Mass. He next preached in Jersey City for some years, and afterward removed to New York, where in ] 860 a society was organized for him. In 1879 he left the ministry on account of ill health; and went to Europe, where he remained for tv/o years. On his return he settled in Boston, and devoted himself to literature. Mr. Frothingham was a leader among the advanced rationalists in the Unitarian body, and few of his works belong to pure literature. His power and style, however, are eminent, and would establish him as a man of letters independent of the subjects OCTAVIUS BROOKS FROTHINGHAM. 25 1 treated. His principal Works are as follows: "The Religion of Humanity " ( 1873 ) ; " The Life of Theo- dore Parker" (1874); "Transcendentalism in New England" (1876); "The Life of Gerrit Smith" (1878) ; "The Cradle of the Christ" (1880); "Life of George Ripley" (1882); "Memoir of W. H. Channing" (1886); "Memoir of D. A. Wasson " (1889); " Boston Unitarianism " (1890); and "Re- collections and Impressions" (1891). Besides these, Mr. Frothingham has written many essays and reviews for periodicals, and has printed a great number of sermons. He appears to have in- herited his taste and talent from his father, Nathaniel Langdon Frothingham (i 793-1 870), a much respected clergyman, who was the author not only of several volumes of sermons, but of " Metrical Pieces, Original and Translated." In fact, the father was the pioneer in this country in translating German literature ; and his work was admirably done. Another member of the family, Ellen (born 1835), daughter of Nathaniel and sister of Octavius, is also distinguished as a translator, and has enriched our literature by versions of Goethe's " Hermann and Dorothea," Lessing's " Nathan the Wise " and " Lao- coon," and Grillparzer's " Sappho." The literary public is greatly indebted to this learned and accom- plished family. Mr. O. B. Frothingham resides in Boston, and is busy with literary labors. Miss Frothingham has been obliged to give up work, owing to the partial failure of her eyesight, and is living with a niece in Colorado. 252 FRANCIS PARKMAN. FRANCIS PARKMAN. CRANCIS PARKMAN was born in Boston, Sep- tember 1 6, 1823, and was graduated at Harvard College in 1844. He visited Europe, and on his return made a journey across the prairies and among the Rocky Mountains. An account of this explora- tion was published in 1847, entitled "The Oregon Trail." He wrote an important historical work, entitled ''The Conspiracy of Pontiac " in 1851. It presents a view of North America and its peoples about the time of the fall of Quebec. Although its events are subsequent in the order of time to the his- tories written later, still, on account of its careful studies of Indian character, it may be best that it should be read first. He wrote an historical novel, entitled "Vassal Morton," about 1854. Afterward, for nearly ten years he suiTered from a severe dis- ease of the brain, and was unable to continue his historical labors, or even at times to read so much as a newspaper. His cheerful temper and active habits carried him through the long trial, and at length he began to develop the idea which he had formed. This was to relate the history of the attempts of the French and Spanish to colonize North America. He was thoroughly familiar with the Indians of the West. He had hunted with them, and shared their life of activity and their comfortless camps. He knew the language of more than one tribe. He made a care- ful study, from original sources, of the routes and FRANCIS PARKMAN. 253 adventures of the early explorers, and of the journals of the Jesuit missionaries. He published, in 1865, a volume entitled " Pioneers of France in the Nevv World." This was followed by other works, whicn in time were connected in an orderly series; but instead of giving the separate dates of their publica- tion it wilf be more useful to arrange them m the order they should be read: (i) " Pioneers of trance in the New World." (2) "The Jesuits in North America," a history of missions. (3) " La Salle, and the Discovery of the Great West." (4) ''The Old R6<^ime in Canada," an account of the Colonial Government. (5) "Count Frontenac and New France under Louis XIV." (6) ''A Half Century of Conflict." (7) " Montcalm and Wolfe," the end of the long contest for the possession of Canada. Mr. Parkman writes with uncommon vigor, and his pao-es are alive with thrilling adventure, brilliant description, and romantic episodes. His fairness is vouched for by the fact that, though a Protestant him- self, his narratives of the heroic and self-sacrificing Jesuit fathers are warmly commended by Catholic authorities in this country and in Canada. The con- flicts of savages can never have the interest for civil- ized readers which we feel in the great struggles of European nations. Battles like those of lours, Lepanto, Hastings, Waterloo, Sevastopol, and Sedan signify the triumph of the ideas of the conquering ra'^ce or nation. The desperate encounters between Indian tribes settled no principle, and left the equi- librium of mankind undisturbed. It is for this reason, 2 54 FRANCIS PARKMAN. almost wholly, that Parkman has now less renown as a historian than some of his more fortunate rivals. The tawny Ajax or Hector does not stand for so much now as in Homer's time. Mr. Parkman writes with the vividness of an eye-witness, and sometimes gives to a skirmish an undue importance ; but his qualities as a writer are of a high order. He has left no room for a competitor in the same field ; and his Works, in our judgment, are surer of going down to posterity as authorities than almost any histories that have been written in our time. Much of the history of Europe, and all of our own annals, will some day be written anew. Mr. Parkman's graphic relations, we believe, will be read as long as the character and fate of the aborigines, and the toils of P'rench explorers and colonists, have any interest for the world. They throw an instructive side-light upon the blindness and incompetence of French statesmen, and furnish the student of our own early history with valuable aid. Young readers may be assured that every vol- ume is as absorbing as a novel. Mr. Parkman lives in Boston during the winter, and in the suburb of Jamaica Plain in summer. When in good health, he has been an enthusiastic cultivator of roses. At present he is much confined to the house.. GEORGE HENRY BOKER. 255 GEORGE HENRY BOKER. GEORGE HENRY BOKER was born in Phila- delphia in 1823, and was graduated at Prince- ton College, N. J., in 1842. He studied law, but never engaged in practice. He made a trip to Europe, and upon his return settled in his native city. In 1847 he published a volume entitled "The Lesson of Life, and other Poems." The following year he published " Calaynos," a tragedy, which was brought out upon the stage in London with success. His second tragedy, '^ Anne Boleyn," was brought out not long after. This was followed by several other plays, which were produced upon the stage, and gave the author a wide reputation. He also published '' Poems of the War," " Street Lyrics," '* Konigsmark," "The Legend of the Hounds, and other Poems " (1869), and " The Book of the Dead " (1882). His early poems and tragedies have been collected in two volumes, entitled " Plays and Poems." As a favorable specimen of his style and his power the reader is referred to the dramatic sketch, " The Podesta's Daughter." He was greatly interested in the fortunes of the late Civil War, and showed in his spirited lyrics the depth and fervency of his patriotism. Mr. Boker was appointed minister to Turkey in 1871, and in 1875 was transferred to St. Petersburg. He returned to Philadelphia in 1879, where he died January 2, i8go. A volume of his sonnets appeared 256 WILLIAM ROUNSEVILLE ALGER. in 1886. His plays probably contain his best work; but his sonnets, and especially his patriotic poems, have many ardent admirers. WILLIAM ROUNSEVILLE ALGER. VyiLLIAM ROUNSEVILLE ALGER was born in Freeport, Mass., December 11, 1823. His early advantages were meagre, and it was by his own hard work that he earned the means of his support while fitting for college. He was graduated at Har- vard in 1847, ^^^^ ^fter studying divinity was invited to preach by a Unitarian society in Roxbury, where he remained eight years. Meanwhile he studied Eng- lish and Oriental literature, and wrote assiduously for various periodicals. Mr. Alger was next settled over the Bulfinch Street Church in Boston, and preached for that society ten years. During this period he completed his work upon the " Poetry of the Orient," and that upon the *• History of the Doctrine of a Future Life." In 1865 he made a visit to Europe, and on his return was settled over Theodore Parker's society, which met in Boston Music Hall. Mr. Alger occupied this place for six years, and with great acceptance. The con- gregation was large, highly intelligent, and naturally, critical. Mr. Alger was always well prepared for his pulpit exercises, and his voice and delivery were WILLIAM ROUNSEVILLE ALGER. 257 effective. In 1868 he was chaplain of the Massachu- setts House of Representatives. The attendance of legislators upon public prayers is generally perfunc- tory, and often marked by indifference, or something worse ; but Mr. Alger's brief petitions were so pointed, thoughtful, and luminous, that they compelled atten- tion, and drew every man to his place. No one wished to miss the sentences which carried such weight, and were set in such forms of beauty. Mr. Alger went abroad again in 1871. After re- turning he preached four years for the Church of the Messiah, in New York. At intervals since he has preached in Chicago, Providence, New Orleans, and San Francisco. Mr. Alger studied the system of expression set forth by Delsarte, and became his warm admirer. He travelled toward Paris hoping to meet Delsarte ; but when, after the rage of the Commune, he suc- ceeded in entering the city, Delsarte was dead. Fol- lowing up this subject, Mr. Alger has written lectures on the Evolution of the Voice, upon Personality in Ex- pression, upon the Meaning and Effects of Rhythm. He has delivered these at Boston University. He is generally recognized as the leading exponent of Del- sarte's Philosophy of Expression. In the " History of the Doctrine of a Future Life " Mr. Alger has traversed a vast field, and, in addition to the historical view, has essayed a new solution of the problem of Creation, Original Sin, and the Reconciliation of God with man. His work on Oriental Poetry consists mainly of his own transla- 258 WILLIAM ROUNSEVILLE ALGER. tions. His style is crisp, sparkling, and often epigram- matic. Owing to his terse and pointed periods, and to his impressive voice and manner, he has been very successful as a lecturer. One of Mr. Alger's most popular works is " The Genius of Solitude." In this his method has some resemblance to that of Burton; only, in " The Anatomy of Melancholy " the quotations are in Latin, while Mr. Alger's are generally in English. Seldom is a book seen so filled with apt, varied, and copious learning. Here is a nearly complete list of his Works: ''The Symbolic History of the Cross" (1851); '' The Poetry of the Orient " (1856) ; " The Genius and Posture of America" (1857); "History of the Doctrine of a Future Life" (1861); "The Genius of Solitude" (1861); " Public Morals; Or, The True Glory of a State" (1862); "Friendships of Women " (1867); *' Prayers for a Legislature " (1869) ; "Life of P^dwin Forrest, with a Survey of Dramatic Art " ( 1 877) ; '' The School of Life " (1881 ) ; " Sources of Consolation " (1892). He edited also Martineau's "Studies in Christianity," and wrote an introduction for Professor Gratry's " Guide for the Knowledge of God." T THOMAS WENTWORTH IlIGGINSON. 259 THOMAS WENTWORTH HIGGINSON. HOMAS WENTWORTH HIGGINSON was born in Cambridge, Mass., December 22, 1823, and was graduated at Harvard College in 1841. He studied theology at Cambridge, and was settled as pastor of the First Church in Newburyport in 1847. He was also pastor of the Free Church in Worcester from 1852 to 1858. He was an ardent friend of the antislavery cause, and a prominent actor in various progressive movements. He was indicted, in com- pany with Parker, Phillips, and others, for the attempt to rescue Anthony Burns, a fugitive slave, from the custody of the United States officers. He was very active in the work of planting colonies from the free States in Kansas. Before the Civil War broke out he had left the clerical profession ; and believing that the sword was needed more than the pen, he entered the military service, and was appointed colonel of the first regiment of black troops raised in South Carolina. He saw some active service, and after being wounded at an engagement on the Edisto River was discharged for disability in October, 1864. He lived at Newport, R. I., for some years, but is now living in Cambridge. Colonel Higginson's ability as a writer was first generally recognized in his essays contributed to the early numbers of the "Atlantic Monthly." They were mostly upon out-door life and athletic sports, and were directed strongly against the pre- 26o THOiMAS WENTWORTH HIGGINSON. vailing effeminacy and want of physical energy among clergymen and other scholars. These es- says were collected in 1863, with the title of "Out- Door Papers." There are few volumes in our time that have so many exquisite passages of description, so much masculine thought, and such a hearty, cheerful tone. We may add that in the purity and beauty of his style Colonel Higginson is surpassed by very few living writers. " Malbone: An Oldport Romance," reprinted also from the " Atlantic," ap- peared in 1869; "Army Life in a Black Regiment" in 1870; "Atlantic Essays" in 1871 ; "Oldport Days" (1873); " Young Folks' History of the United States" (1875); "Young Folks' Book of American Explorers" (1877); "Short Studies of American Authors " (1879) ; " Common Sense about Women " (1881) ; " Margaret Fuller Ossoh " (1884) ; " Wendell Phillips," a biographical essay (1884); "A Larger History of the United States" (1885); " The Mon- arch of Dreams" (i886) ; "Hints on Writing and Speech-making" (1887); "Travellers and Outlaws" (1888); "The Afternoon Landscape: Poems and Translations" (1889); "The New World and the New Book" (1891). He edited the "Harvard Me- morial Biographies," in two volumes, being the lives of the Harvard graduates who fell in the late war. This is an enduring monument of his patriotic feeling, good judgment, and literary skill. He published a translation of Epictetus in 1865. He is a frequent contributor to several leading periodicals, particularly the " Woman's Journal." GEORGE WILLIAM CURTIS. 26 1 In literary or critical dissertation Colonel Higginson shows keen insight and strong impulse, with delicacy of treatment. The "Short Studies" are marvels of acuteness and grace ; the estimates are so just and the style so fascinating that the reader regrets their brevity, and wishes they might embrace the principal authors of the century. " The New World and the New Book " is a collection of literary essays which it would be hard to parallel on either side of the Atlan- tic. Their main doctrine is the necessary independ- ence of American literature in regard to foreign critics and canons. It is the same doctrine which Emerson presented so forcibly in his oration at Cambridge on "The American Scholar." In Hig- ginson's sentences there is a bracing influence like that of a fresh northwest wind. The book is an infinite credit to our literature, and one that will be read and quoted in after days. Colonel Higginson is now the Historiographer of Massachusetts during the Civil War. GEORGE WTLLIAM CURTIS. r^EORGE WILLIAM CURTIS was born in ^^ Providence, R. I., February 24, 1824. He received his early education in a private school at Jamaica Plain, Mass. When he was fifteen years old his father removed to New York, and he was placed 262 GEORGE WILLIAM CURTIS. in the counting-room of a merchant, where he re- mained only a year. In 1842 he went to the famous Brook Farm, in West Roxbury, and remained a year and a half with that fraternity, devoting his time to study and to agricultural labor. Afterward, being at- tracted by the intellectual society of Concord, Mass., he went there and lived with a farmer eighteen months, still pursuing his studies, while doing regular work upon the farm. In 1846 he went to Europe, and spent some years in study and travel, extending his tour to Egypt and Syria. Soon after his return to the United States, in 1850, he published his first work, *' Nile Notes of a Howadji." He became connected with the New York "Tribune," and wrote letters for it from various watering-places, which were afterward collected in a volume entitled " Lotos-Eating.'* His second book, " The Howadji in Syria," was published in 1852. "Putnam's Monthly" was established in the same year, and Mr. Curtis was one of the original editors. For this magazine he wrote a number of delightful sketches and essays, some of which were afterward published with the title " Prue and I." A pretty rill of a story runs through it like a musical brook through a romantic valley. The lovely young matron " Prue " is the sharer in the thoughts and the reminiscences of the story-teller, as well as in his affection and measureless content. The style is as unpretentious and as lovely as the story. Its mel- ody might easily glide into verse. The sketches are full of the best fruits of reading and travel, and pre- serve for us those picturesque associations of the GEORGE WILLIAM CURTIS. 263 Old World for which we look in the note-books of tourists ill vain. " The Potiphar Papers " is the title of a volume of satirical sketches of fashionable society, published originally in " Putnam's Monthly." Mr. Curtis also published a novel called " Trumps," which was viva- cious and elegant in style, but lacking in the strong dramatic interest which modern readers of fiction require. " Putnam's Monthly" was an excellent and well- conducted magazine, but it was not very successful in a business point of view. After the failure of the original publisher, it was continued by a firm in which Mr. Curtis was a silent partner. In 1857 the house became insolvent, and in the endeavor to save the creditors from loss he sank his entire fortune. Mr. Curtis became a public lecturer in 1853, and was eminently successful in this field. His clear thought, high moral purpose, varied experience, and glowing style, aided by his attractive presence and finely modulated voice, combined to make him one of the ablest and most popular of public speakers. In the PresidcAitial campaigns of 1856 and i860 he was a prominent advocate of the Republican party. In later years he was an Independent, and supported Mr. Cleveland. He was for a long time a contributor to " Harper's Monthly," in which his brief essays, under the head of " The Easy Chair," have been greatly admired. From 1857 he was the editor of " Harper's Weekly," and mainly instrumental in giv- ing to that paper its strong positive character and its 264 CHARLES GODFREY LELAND. wide reputation. He was an admirable writer, and the master of a refined and delicate style ; he was also one of the most conspicuous exemplars of upright- ness, high-mindedness, purity, and honor which our generation has known. He died August 31, 1892. CHARLES GODFREY LELAND. pHARLES GODFREY LELAND was born in ^^ the city of Philadelphia, August 15, 1824, and was graduated at Princeton College, N. J., in 1845. He afterward studied at the universities of Heidel- berg, Munich, and Paris. He studied law on his return, and was admitted to the bar, but never prac- tised the profession. He was a frequent contributor to the " Knickerbocker Magazine " and other periodi- cals. He published " The Poetry and Mystery of Dreams " in 1855 ; " Meister Karl's Sketch Book " in 1856. This has long been a favorite with scholars. Washington Irving said that he always kept " Meister Karl" by him to nibble at, like a bit of old cheese, or a pot of pdtc de foie gras. It was in the same year (1856) that Leland wrote the ballad of " Hans Breitmann," which went everywhere as on wings. Some years later he followed this with the adventures of Breitmann as a " bummer " (camp-follower) with the army of General Sherman, — included with the Breitmann ballads. His literary work, as we shall CHARLES GODFREY LELAND. 265 see, rests on solid foundations ; but it is to the for- tunate hit made by these ballads in the Pennsylvania dialect that he owes his extended fame. The variety of his labors makes it difficult to give a satisfactory account of this author, or a full list of his Works. He seems to be equally at home in most modern languages, having read essays before learned French and German societies in their own tongues. His translation of Heine's " Reisebilder " has had great success. He has studied the language and his- tory of the English Gypsies, and has also published a collection of Anglo-Romany ballads. He wrote " Ye Book of Copperheads," a satire that was greatly admired by Abraham Lincoln ; also a pamphlet upon " Centralization vs. State Rights." In 1870 he wrote upon France, Alsace, and Lorraine, — some of the sentences from which were repeated verbatim by Prince Bismarck on a public occasion. Other mis- cellaneous productions are his " Life of Abraham Lincoln," "The Egyptian Sketch Book," "Sunshine in Thought," "The Algonquin Legends of New Eng- land," "The Music Lesson of Confucius," and other poems. But during the last ten years his efforts have been devoted mainly to works on education, on which subject he has developed a theory of training the faculties, including the memory. He has also wTitten manuals upon Lidustrial and Decorative Art, and evidently regards this group of books the important work of his life. 266 WILLIAM T. ADAMS. WILLIAM T. ADAMS. VUILLIAM T. ADAMS was bom in Medway, Mass., July 30, 1822. His early boyhood was passed in Boston. The education he received was wholly in the public schools. He was an excellent scholar, and was noted among students for his facility and force in writing " compositions." At the age of 21 he began teaching, and the next year was master of a grammar school in Dorchester. After three years' service he resigned, and made an extended tour of the country. Consciously or unconsciously, he was gathering materials for his stories, of which the first appeared in 1854. In i860 he was head- master of the Boylston School, and remained in service until 1865, when he quitted the profession to devote himself to his chosen work, — writing stories for youth. It was a time when pseudonyms were in fashion : e. g. " Alfred Crowquill," " M. A. Titmarsh," " George Eliot," *' Paul Creyton," and " Meister Karl;" and Mr. Adams, having seen an amusing character. Doctor Optic, in a popular play, chose for his pen-name " Oliver Optic," by which he has been known ever since. Mr. Adams's first series of stories was called " The Boat Club," and was instantly received with favor. Since that time (1854 to 1892) he has written more than one hundred volumes, besides more than a thousand short stories for periodicals. His mental habit is one of close observation, followed by me- WILLIAM T. ADAMS. 267 thodical study and unflagging industry. The scenes in his books are scattered all over the world ; but he has personally visited every one, and laid the foundations of his stories on facts. He has not had to draw on his imagination for scenery, manners, or character. The writer remembers hearing Mr. Adams at a literary club give his impressions of Stockholm, without written notes. The descriptions followed in due order, and in fluent language that could have been printed without change. It was an impromptu essay, extremely interesting and beautiful; and it was simply the result of a careful reproduction of what his memory had stored. From this it was easy to see how he has been able to produce such a multitude of books. It is admitted that Oliver Optic's books are "ex- citing." If they were not they would not be read; boys do not willingly take up prosy descriptions or didactic essays. But they are not unhealthy, and do not violate probabilities any more than is inevitable in all fictions conceived as dramas with plots. His boys are wholesome, natural creatures, with good impulses and bad, — with graces, foibles, noblenesses, and faults. The moral standard is always high. He exposes and rebukes selfishness, envy, detraction, and brutality, and shows that the only life worth living is one animated by high principles and devoted to doing good. His style has a fluid excel- lence and lucidity with continued animation, but is not often touched by the high lights of a poetical 268 WILLIAM T. ADAMS. imagination, — "not too bright or good for human nature's daily food." It is a style best adapted to the work he has chosen to do. His stories draw and hold the attention of young readers, and all his pic- tures are faithful and impressive. As a proof that this author's power is not exhausted, it may be stated that his last books, " The Blue and the Gray" (six volumes), have met with greater suc- cess and have been more generally praised than any series preceding. The total sales of his books have reached a million and a half copies. If such an author does not occupy a distinguished place in lit- erature, he is at least a great public benefactor, and will be remembered with gratitude by genera- tions of boys. Mr. Adams was married in 1846, being then 24, and has lived for fifty years in Dorchester, now a part of Boston. Three daughters were born to him, one of whom died in infancy, one in 1884, and the third is the wife of Mr. Sol. Smith Russell, comedian. Mrs. Adams died in 1885. BENJAMIN WEST BALL. 269 BENJAMIN WEST BALL. OENJAMIN WEST BALL was born in Concord, D Mass., January 27, 1823. His childhood and early youth were passed in his native town, and after- ward in Groton, where he attended the Lawrence Academy, and was prepared for Dartmouth College. After completing his course he spent his time in cultivating the acquaintance and studying the phi- losophy of Emerson, his illustrious townsman. He wrote of himself later: Mt was my good fortune to have lived in my boyhood and youth in such beautiful New England towns as Concord, Harvard, and Groton, almost under the shadow of Wachuset Mountain. If I have any of the mens divinior of a poet, it was kindled and nurtured by the scenery of those towns." In 1 85 1 Mr. Ball published his first volume ot poems, wholly Greek in thought and inspiration. He says he was almost a pagan at the time, — a Greek of the age of Pericles, — but became a modern under the influence of Carlyle, Macaulay, Tennyson, and Dickens. He studied law with the hero of Lowell's well known ballad, that John P. Robinson, lie [who] Says he won't vote for Guv'ner B. After practising law two years he was married to Miss Dollie S. Hurd, of Rochester, N. H., where he established his home. He was editor of a newspaper 2/0 BENJAMIN WEST BALL. during the Fremont campaign of 1856, and afterward a Washington correspondent. He contributed to the "Atlantic Monthly" and other periodicals articles upon Greek history, poetry, and philosophy, and became known as an eminent scholar. The inci- dents of his life were few ; and, as he said, his auto- biography would only be a record of his mental development, — as he was a book- worm, a man of ideas. In 1892 a collection of Mr. Ball's poems was made and published, with an introduction by Frederick F. Ayer. To all intellectual men, and more especially to those who have been influenced by Greek culture, it is a volume full of deep interest. It deals with the great problems of human existence, and lifts the minds of readers to the serene heights where Goethe and Emer- son live. Ball is probably more purely philosopher than poet, and, without being precisely a pantheist, appears to incline to the views of Spinoza, the man of divinest, purest life in recent centuries. That he is more philosopher than poet is evidenced both by his chosen subjects and their treatment. In this he re- sembles Emerson. Both however vary their moods, and sometimes sing of the bright things of earth. Emerson gave us the fresh pictures of birds and blossoms in " May Day ; " and Ball in " Morgenroth " and '' Abendroth," in the " Crow Caucus," the •' Quail," the "August Crickets " and others, shows how intimate are the ties which bind him to Nature, and with what alert senses he walks abroad. Some- times his blank verse seems to be merely prose, or BENJAMIN WEST BALL. 2/1 like a poorly built wall, ready to tumble down ; but there are few of his poems which are not pervaded with the immortal spirit. Why purely intellectual poetry is so little read is a problem. Landor, a great man and a great artist, is seldom quoted. After New England's immor- tal Five, few poets have a better claim than Ball. But, like an eagle, his flights are in the upper regions ; and the bright and tuneful birds in the trees near by attract more attention. Certainly no one can read his poem in memory of Emerson, or that rather daring but suggestive dialogue between the Gods, w^ithout feeling his power of thought and nobility of expression. Is Fame given to caprice? Perhaps not ; and per- haps the drawback with Ball is in the want of sun- light in his nature. It is true he is seldom joyous ; but on the other hand he is never morbidly sad, nor — what is worse — sentimentally melancholy. His verse is serious, as life is serious, — as the mighty past and the unknown future are serious. Within the limits of his temperament he is cheerful, and he often seeks to adorn his weighty thought with stately or glowing and inspiring words. In person he is tall, broad-shouldered, with plain yet clear-cut and expressive features, and a look of quiet energy in his pale bkie eyes. His large frame and resolute face might indicate a man to push his way, but in fact he is shy and retiring, and spends most of his time away from the busy world. 2/2 ADELINE D. T. WHITNEY. ADELINE D. T. WHITNEY. A DELINE D. T. WHITNEY was born in Boston, September 15, 1824, was married in the year 1843 to Mr. Seth D. Whitney, and has since Hved in Milton, Mass. Siie pubHshed a poem entitled "Footsteps on the Seas" in 1857; " Mother Goose for Grown Folks," in 1859; ''Boys at Chequasset," in 1862 ; " Faith Gartney's Girlhood," in 1863 ; ** The Gayworthys," in 1865; '*A Summer in Leslie Goldthwaite's Life," in 1866; " Patience Strong's Out- ings," in 1868; ''Hitherto," in 1869; " Real Folks," in 1872; "We Girls: A Home Story;" "The Other Girls;" "Sights and Insights;" "Odd or Even;" " Bonnyborough ; " "Homespun Yarns; " also three volumes of poems. Mrs. Whitney's first works in prose were written for young people, but, as often happens with meritorious stories of that class, the elders also found them enter- taining. Her novels seem to have grown up with her youthful characters, and have steadily increased in popularity. Their success is mainly owing, as we think, to their excellent moral qualities, their free- dom from morbid sentiment, and the cheerful and practical views of life and lessons of duty they pre- sent. The scenes and characters in her book are well discriminated, and the dialogues are generally spirited and suggestive. Of the sincerity, the noble instincts, the womanly refinement manifested in such novels as "Hitherto" and "The Gayworthys," too THOMAS STARR KING. 273 much cannot be said. In the art of construction, too, the author shows no common skill ; and (what is the first, last, and only indispensable requisite) she has the power of making her stories interesting from the beginning. With this power and this experi- ence occasional blemishes of style look very trivial ; but elderly and friendly critics, who no longer read merely for the sake of the story, cannot help regretting them. THOMAS STARR KING. T^HOMAS STARR KING was born in the city ^ of New York, December 16, 1824. His father was a clergyman, who during the author's boyhood lived in Portsmouth, N. H., and afterward in Charles- town, Mass. He was a precocious scholar, and began at an early age to fit himself for college, but was un- able to go on with his course of education on account of the straitened circumstances and failing health of his father. When his father died, the young man, then only fifteen years of age, went into a dry-goods store, and aided in the support of the family. All branches of study seemed to be in his province. He learned modern languages, read metaphysical philosophy with avidity, and rambled through litera- tures as through pleasant gardens. He taught school for a time while still in his minority, served a while as a clerk at the navy yard, and in his twenty- first iS 2/4 THOMAS STARR KING. year was ordained a minister of the Universalist de- nomination in Charlestown, in the church where his father had preached. About two years later (1848) he became pastor of the HoHis Street Church in Boston. His chief energies were given to his ser- mons, lectures, and public addresses. His temper was enthusiastic, his manners animated and graceful, and the expression of his ideas naturally oratorical. In a very few years he became widely known and admired as a preacher and lecturer. In April, i860, Mr. King removed from Boston to San Francisco, to become pastor of the Unitarian church newly established in that city. His labors were not confined to his parish nor to religious teaching. The Rebellion having broken out, there was a severe struggle in California between the friends of the Union on the one side and the friends of secession and of a separate empire on the Pacific coast on the other. Mr. King entered into this con- test with all the ardor of his nature, and addressed the people throughout the State. It is believed that his efforts were greatly instrumental in maintaining the sentiment of patriotism, and binding that remote region to the fortunes of the Federal Union. The value of such a service at that critical period cannot be over-estimated. He was never a very robust per- son, and his constant activity wore upon him, until, in the prime of his life, he yielded to a sudden attack of diphtheria. He died March 4, 1864. Mr. King was an enthusiastic lover of the pictur- esque in Nature, and fond of reproducing scenery by BAYARD TAYLOR. 275 elaborate word-pictures. The White Mountains par- ticularly were his delight. They appeared to have been his by right of discovery, or pre-emption. Year after year during his summer vacations he ex- plored valleys and gorges, and scaled precipices and peaks, until he was more familiar with that region than the natives themselves. He published in a handsome quarto volume, in 1859, " The White Hills: Their Legends, Landscapes, and Poetry." The work is well illustrated from drawings by M. G. Wheelock. It is the most complete Vv^ork of the kind in existence. It contains not only the necessary topographical information, but a great many descriptive passages of rare beauty, and is besides a magazine of appo- site quotations. A volume of selections from his public speeches was published in 1865. A brief but interesting biography of him was written by Richard Frothingham, of Charlestown, in 1865. BAYARD TAYLOR. n AYARD TAYLOR was born in Kennett Square, Chester Co., Penn., January 11, 1825. At seven- teen years of age, having already some acquaintance with languages, he was an apprentice in a printing- office in his native county, and contributed verses to the newspapers. A collection of these early verses, with the title *'Ximena," was published in 1844; 276 BAYARD TAYLOR. after which he went to Europe and travelled over the country on foot. On his return he published " Views Afoot; Or, Europe as Seen with Knapsack and Staff" (1846). He subsequently wrote for the " Literary World," and was at intervals a writer for the New York " Tribune." His connection with that paper continued to the last ; it was his university and Alma Mater ; a great many of his books consist of letters originally written for it. The titles of his books will show the many lands he visited. In 1849 he published " El Dorado," an account of a trip to California and Mexico; in 1854, "Journey to Cen- tral Africa;" "Lands of the Saracen;" "Visit to India, China, Loo Choo, and Japan." These last three volumes record his observations in a series of voyages and travels extending over fifty thousand miles. In 1858 he published "Northern Travel," an ac- count of a tour in Sweden, Denmark, and Lapland ; in 1859, " Travels in Greece and Russia;" in 1867, " Colorado: A Summer Trip; " in 1869, " Byways of Europe;" in 1872, " Travels in Arabia;" in 1874, " Egypt and Iceland." He attended the picturesque millennial celebration of the settlement of Iceland. In 1856 he began editing a "Library of Travels," in eight volumes ; also a '* Cyclopaedia of Modern Travel," in one volume. But his literary labors were not confined to travels. The list of his Works shows his unwearied industry. He published in 1848 "Rhymes of Travel, Ballads, etc. ; " in 1851, "A Book of Romances, Lyrics and Songs; " in 1854, "Poems BAYARD TAYLOR. 277 of the Orient;" in 1855, "Poems of Home and Travel." This last volume contained only such poems as the author then wished to acknowledge. ** At Home and Abroad" appeared in 1859, and a second volume in 1862; "The Poet's Journal," in 1862; " Hannah Thurston," a novel, in 1863 ; " The P'or- tunes of John Godfrey," in 1864 5 ^ " Collection of Poems," in 1865 ; "The Story of Kennett," in 1866; " Picture of Saint John," in 1866; " Frithiof's Saga," in 1867; "The Ballad of Abraham Lincoln," in 1869; A new translation of Goethe's "Faust," in 1870; "Joseph and His Friends," in 1870; "Beauty and the Beast," in 1872 ; " The Masque of the Gods," in 1872; "Lars: A Pastoral of Norway," in 1873; "The Prophet: A Tragedy," in 1874; "A School History of Germany," in 1874; "Home Pastorals," in 1875 ; " The Echo Club," a book of brilliant paro- dies and imitations of poets, in 1876; " The National Ode at the United States Centennial Exhibition," in 1876; "The Boys of Other Countries," in 1876; "Prince Deucalion: A Lyrical Drama," in 1878; " Studies in German Literature," in 1879; "Essays," etc., in 1880. The last two works, edited by George H. Boker and Mrs. Taylor, were printed after the author's death. It would be impossible within our narrow limits to give an account of Mr. Taylor's literary activities. The fertility of his mind can be inferred from the long and varied list of subjects on which it was employed. His first wife, to whom he was married in 1850, died within a few months. His second wife was Marie 2/8 BAYARD TAYLOR. Hansen, of Gotha, to whom he was married in October, 1857. He accompanied Commodore Perry in his important mission with the American fleet to Japan. He was secretary of legation at St. Peters- burg in 1862. He deUvered a course of lectures on German literature in Cornell University in 1870. In 1877 he was appointed minister to Germany. In Berlin his reputation had preceded him, and his knowledge of the language and literature gave him a position in the German capital which few of his pre- decessors in office had enjoyed. He died there December 19 of the same year. Were it only for his life of enterprise, and for the additions he made to our knowledge of the world, Mr. Taylor should be held in grateful esteem. But he deserves a warmer recognition for his positive merits as a w^-iter. His descriptions are clear and animated, and his books are weighted with but little of the ordinary traveller's burden of trivial personal details. His Oriental poems are glowing with color and instinct with passion. Aside from " Poems of the Orient," he will be chiefly remembered among poets for his faithful and admirable translation of *' Faust," a work that testifies to his skill, poetic feel- ing, and mastery of expression. His faculties and ten- dencies were primarily those of a poet, but a life of such restless activity was not favorable to the crystal- lization of his conceptions, nor to the perfection of art. His poems in general will be read with interest and mentioned with respect ; but in many of them it will be seen that they seldom contain the uplifting JULIA CAROLINE RIPLEY DORR. 279 thought or the newly-created phrases which attest a poet's birthright. Of the American authors who have risen to emi- nence without the aid of classical education, Mr. Taylor was the most distinguished, the most broadly accom- plished, and best beloved. He was tall, handsome, and dignified, and always made an impression wher- ever he went. The reader will see a sketch of him in Whittier's " Tent on the Beach '* and " The Last Walk in Autumn." His life and works form a noble model for imitation on the part of aspiring youth. JULIA CAROLINE RIPLEY DORR. ly A RS. DORR inherits the mingled blood and mental characteristics of the P>ench, and of the New England Pilgrims. Her father, William Y. Ripley, son of a Vermont pioneer, and a lineal descendant of Governor Bradford of the Plymouth Colony, lived in Charleston, S. C, for some years, and there married Zulma De Lacey Thomas, daugh- ter of a French refugee from St. Domingo. Their daughter, Julia Caroline Ripley, was born February 13, 1825. Mr. Ripley not long after removed with his family to New York, and in 1830 to Rutland, Vt Miss Ripley was married in 1847 to the Hon. Seneca M. Dorr, of New York, and lived for some years in Ghent, Columbia County. It was not until 2SO JULIA CAROLINE RIPLP:Y DORR. after her marriage that her poems and stories saw the hght in print. Her early efforts secured immediate recognition, and appeared in the best periodicals of the time. In 1857 Mr. and Mrs. Dorr removed to. Rutland, Vt., and built a beautiful house, known as The Maples, and have ever since lived there. Mrs. Dorr has written both prose and verse ; but her fame will rest chiefly upon her poems, which have conspicuous and individual merits. Her novels had more than ordinary success, but are now out of print; the life of even a good novel is necessarily short. Her poems do not aspire to the higher regions of imagination, nor are they overweighted with philosophy; but they breathe a loving spirit, and reveal a supreme sense of beauty, — beauty in all the forms of Nature and in the human soul. Her versification is always melodious, and nearly always without fault. In particular, admiration must be given to her sonnets, which are full of feeling in natural flow, simply expressed, and always wrought with care. Sonnets in which thought and music run in parallel lines are not very common. Many poets appear to struggle with the rigid limitations, as is shown by their forced rhymes, and by what the French call enjainbiiient, or the carrying over the thought into the following line, and there breaking it off with a jolting period. She is very successful also in legendary poems, and shows in them both descriptive power and dramatic art. She loves the scenery and flowers in the region of her home, and if one can judge from her poems, she must lead an ideal life. a no JOHN WILLIAMSON PALMER. 28 1 Mrs. Dorr's published Works arc " Farmingdalc,'' a novel (1856) which reached a tenth edition ; " Sybil Huntington," a novel (1869) ; Poems (1871) ; ^t^x- piation," a novel (1872) ; " Friar Anselmo and Other Poems " (1879) ; " Daybreak," an Easter poem (1882) ; "Bermuda" (1884); "Afternoon Songs" (1885); -Poems: Complete Edition " (1892). The complete edition was most carefully revised, and some of the omissions were regretted by her friends. Four sons and one daughter, Zulma De Lacey Steele, the artist, were born to Mrs. Dorr, and all are jivin^:- except a son who died in infancy. The beau- tiful dedicatory poem to " S. M. D." shows that her husband died about the year 1885. In personal appearance Mrs. Dorr is a woman of more than average stature, with snow-white hair, and with strong, sweet features, on which her friends see the expression of the calm, sedate New England face, lightened and brightened by the spirit of the dramatic, art-loving French. JOHN WILLIAMSON PALMER. OHN WILLIAMSON PALMER was born in Baltimore, Md., April 4, 1825. He received a liberal education, and studied medicine at a school in Philadelphia. He went to California in the midst of the excitement that followed the discovery of gold, J 282 JOHN WILLIAMSON PALMER. and was city physician of San Francisco in 1849. Having made a voyage to China in 1852, he was engaged as surgeon on one of the East India Com- pany's war steamers, and served through a campaign in Burmah. On his return to this country he pub- hshed an account of his experiences, entitled '* The Golden Dagon ; Or, Up and Down the Irrawaddi." He was a contributor to Putnam's, Harper's, the ** Atlantic Monthly," and other periodicals. His papers in the ** Atlantic," mostly upon traits of Oriental life, were spirited, faithful, and picturesque studies. He wrote a comedy called " The Queen's Heart," which was produced in Boston in 1858. " The New and the Old " appeared in 1859. In this work the characteristics of the miners, and of the motley elements that had congregated in California, were set forth with graphic power. In i860 he pub- lished " Folk Songs," an admirable collection of popular poetry. During the Civil War he was en- gaged in other than literary pursuits, being attached to the cause of the South, and serving it as best he could. In 1867 he published a second compilation, entitled " The Poetry of Compliment and Courtship." He published in 1879 "The Beauties and Curiosi- ties of Engraving," and in 1882 "A Portfolio of Autograph Etchings." Mr. Palmer's present home is in New York. RICHARD HENRY STOUDARU. 283 RICHARD HENRY STODDARD. OICHARD HENRY STODDARD was born in rV Hingham. Mass., July 2, 1825. His father, a shipmaster, was lost at sea, his mother married agam, and the youth went to New York to seek employment. While engaged in daily labor he read assiduously what came in his way; and after a time, having attracted the attention of Bayard Taylor and other young men interested in literature, stimulated by them he began writing for periodicals. A volume of his poems, entitled " Footprints," was published in 1849- Later, the author regarded the poems as immature, and sup- pressed the edition. Another volume of poems was published in 1852. Mr. Stoddard early learned what trials are in store for the man who attempts to live by literary labor, especially by writing poetry. He has been glad, as Hawthorne was, and as many others have been, to piece out his income by service in the custom-house and other public offices, by editing books, writing for newspapers, and making himself - generally useful " to publishers. His labors appear to have been fairly divided between original produc- tions andthe kind of work which painters call ''pot- boilers." To this learned drudgery, however, he brought so much ability, taste, and judgment that he gave it an unwonted dignity. Mr. Stoddard's original publications (after the two early volumes) were " Adventures in Fairy Land (1853) ; *' Songs of Summer " (1857) ; " Life of Hum- 284 RICHARD HENRY STODDARD. boldt" (i860); "The King's Bell," a poem (1862); ''Little Red Riding Hood," in verse (1864); "The Children in the Wood," in verse (1865) ; "Abraham Lincoln: An Horatian Ode" (1865) ; " Book of the East," containing later poems (1867); "Putnam the Brave" (1869). His editorial labors have been con- stant, and have covered a wide field. The most im- portant are the revision of Griswold's once popular collections of American literature; "Melodies and Madrigals from Old Poets ; " " Late English Poets ;" and the Political Writings of General Nathaniel Lyon. In his earlier poems there were promising glimpses and bright suggestions, although his art was not so evident ; but in the " Book of the East " the poet is seen to have attained to a fuller and fairer expression of his thought. Such poems as " Adsum," " The Country Life," and " Abraham Lincoln " may be commended without reserve for their genuine feeling, power, and finish. Mr. Stoddard's wife, Elizabeth Barstow Stoddard (born 1823), is a poet of what might be called a mas- culine character, and her poems, though never greatly popular, have commanded the admiration of thought- ful readers. " Mercedes," a dramatic poem, which appeared originally in the " Atlantic Monthly," was thought by many to have been written by Emerson. Any poet might have been glad to own it. She wrote also several novels, which critics admired more than did the public. ADDENDA UPON SOME MOSTLY FORGOTTEN POETS. WHOEVER undertakes to go through the hterature of past centuries with a view to discover noteworthy books and to rescue them (temporarily) from obhvion, must experience perplexity and disappointment. At times the writer has felt an overpowering regret in looking back upon his unused material. The authors he had selected seemed too few to be fully representative of their age, and many of those omitted appeared to have merits not greatly below those of the chosen. What if he had, like the man in the country proverb, gone through the woods and come out with a bundle of crooked sticks ! A collection of colonial and provincial books seems a graveyard of literary aspira- tions and hopes. It is impossible to be gay in considering even the poorest, for a once throbbing heart is buried in each. And if every book were a tombstone, we might imagine its warning to the living poet or essayist to be that given in the familiar line of old epitaphs, — " Such as I am so you must be ! " The editor and critic of the coming century will be rum- ma^insj in the collections of this, and will experience the 286 ADDENDA. depressing sensations which attend all dealings with the dead. And what a task he will have ! A notable collection, now out of print but accessible in libraries, is Kettell's " Specimens of American Poetry," in three volumes, published in 1829. The editor apparently left nothing in the form of verse unnoticed, so that as a whole the work is dreary ; but it contains many things which appeal to a reflecting reader. Of the " poets " whom he enumerates the best are cited in our Introduc- tion. But it may be well to refer to a few other names and specimens. Imperfection, lack of inspiration, and want of taste are evident in nearly every one ; but the dif- ference between the point of view in 1829 and that of 1893 is instructive. We are constantly warned while reading fourteenth century literature that allowances are to be made for the unformed state of the language and for the inexperience of versifiers. American poets in the colonial period were a century behind their English contemporaries, and they are fairly entitled to some indulgence. The crabbed verses of Cotion Mather, and those of his clerical brethren, need not detain us. The ample speci- mens in Kettell from Mrs. Anne Bradstreet seem to us fresh, melodious, and almost Spenser-like after we have been jolted over Mather's wretched metres : — " Under the cooling shadow of a stately elm Close sat I by a goodly River's side, Where gliding streams the rocks did overwhelm 1 A lonely place with pleasures dignified. I once that loved the shady woods so well Now thought the rivers did the trees excell, And if the sun would ever shine, there I would dwell.'" Then we can follow with some pleasure the verses ad- dressed to Mrs. Bradstreet by John Rogers, President of ADDENDA. 287 Harvard College. They are not so good as the lady's, — in fact, seem rather frisky to modern readers, — ■ but they have some merit. Benjamin Tompson is among the forgotten, — a Boston schoolmaster, and author of a poem on King Phillip's \V'ar : the first poem of any mark written by a native. It will be remembered that Anne Bradstreet was born in England. The poem is a curiosity, but need not detain us. John Seccomb, another native, wrote a poem, which was published in the "Gentleman's Magazine" (London), in 1732. Roger Wolcoit, of Connecticut, wrote in verse a long narrative of the Pequot War. Benjamin Tolman, an able preacher, wrote upon the Translation of Elijah. Kettell says that he is " far above his contemporaries in refinement of thought and language ; " and he inclines to believe that '' had he cherished the Muse with more fond- ness and attention, she would have bestowed her favors on him with a liberal hand." Doctor Tolman's daughter, Jane Turell, made a paraphrase of a psalm and an imita- tion of Horace. The Rev. John Adams wrote fluently in verse, but without poetic fire. « In Pennsylvania appeared Thomas Godfrey, who served in the expedition against Fort Duquesne. He cultivated the Muses, and produced " The Court of Fancy," a smooth and tuneful imitation of Chaucer's " House of Fame." His friend, Nathaniel Evans, wrote an '' Ode on the Prospect of Peace " (1761). It is in the Georgian style, with per- sonifications, and sonorous names from mythology and ancient geography, — almost rivalling the rumble of Sir Richard Blackmore. There are, however, gleams of poetry in his lines, with occasional " bits " of melody and evidences of idyllic feeling. 288 ADDENDA. Little remains of the keen old tory, Mather Byles, or of his emulous townsman Joseph Green, except a few jokes and a reputation for pleasant wit. We need not call back from the shades Benjmvhn Church or James Allen, whose heroics were the talk of Boston. Their verses have all the ear-marks of Pope without any part of his genius. As Francis Hopkinson's fame is secure by his trembling sig- nature of the Declaration of Independence, he may be less solicitous as to the fate of the " Battle of the Kegs," and of his other mildly facetious poems. Shall we call up David Humphreys or Lemuel Hopkins? No; let them sleep with their monotonous verse. We may pause, however, over the beautiful brief stanzas of St. George Tucker, of Virginia : — " Days of my youth, ye have glided away ; Hairs of my youth, ye are frosted and gray; Eyes of my youth, your keen sight is no more ; Cheeks of my youth, ye are furrowed all o'er ; Strength of my youth, all your vigor is gone ; Thoughts of my youth, your gay visions are flown. " Days of my youth, I wish not your recall ; Hairs of my youth, I 'm (iontent ye should fall ; Eyes of my youth, you much evil have seen; Cheeks of my youth, bathed in tears you have been ; Thoughts of my youth, you have led me astray; Strength of my youth, why lament your decay? "Days of my age, ye will shortly be past; Pains of my age, yet awhile ye can last ; Joys of my age. in true wisdom delight; Eyes of my age, be religion your light ; Thoughts of my age, dread ye not the cold sod ; Hopes of my age, be ye fixed on your God." We can glance also with pleasure at the happy inspiration of Joseph Hopkinson, — ADDENDA. 289 " Hail, Columbia, hap-py land," — our national hymn, if we have any. We pass over the poems of Mercy Warren (daughter of James Otis, the orator), for, beyond smooth versifica- tion and good sense, their merits are small ; yet she had a great reputation in her day. Royall Tyler appears to have been quite constantly before the public with his ready- made verse, which recalled in manner only the lighter strains of Gay or Pope or Swift. Robert Treat Paine is remembered for " Adams and Liberty; " but how the stiff lines could have been sung- may puzzle the reader. One of the interesting things in Kettell's collection is to find verses written in youth by authors who afterward re- nounced poetry and became distinguished in other fields. There is an early poem by Joseph Story, the celebrated jurist, " The Power of Solitude." It is written in the ortho- dox ten-syllable measure, and is not half so interesting as his later treatises on law. George Bancroft, too, had aspirations toward the divine art of poetry, — though the reader of his History would scarcely suspect it. He wrote a poem upon " The Fairy of the Wengern Alp," which, though lacking in the quality of imagination necessary to vivify a fairy tale, has some fine descriptive passages. The poem recalls the stupendous view of the Jungfrau, the Eiger, the White Monk, and their dazzling brethren, as presented from the green summit of the Wengen ; also the glacier of Grindelwald, the airy fall of the Staubbach, and the great hall of Lauterbrunnen. Few tourists have given such striking pictures ; and for the sake of these we forgive the rather tedious divagation of the ''fairy" legend. A small volume of Mr. Bancroft's poems was published in 1822. 19 290 ADDENDA. An instance of the transitoriness of fame is given in the career of Thomas G. Fessenden. His poems were exceed- ingly popular at the beginning of this century, and ranged " from grave to gay." He was happiest in light and facetious verse ; but some serious pieces, like his " Elegy on the Death of Washington," were greatly admired. He has now become a shadow of a name. John Shaw, in his pensive stanzas upon " An Autumnal Plower at Malta," reveals to us a nature keenly alive to the feeling of poetry, and makes us see how much beauty is continually wasted, not only in falling flowers and leaves, but in human lives. But, no ! not wasted ; the life of John Shaw, though unknown to succeeding generations, must have been a blessing to the circle of which he formed a part. Occasionally in following Kettell, our rather prosy guide, we come upon a poem or passage which challenges our attention. Some such attraction stops us at the " Ro- mance " of William B. Walter. It is in Pope's measure, of course, but with springy, elastic lines and well chosen words. We see that the author had faith in himself, and was waiting for posterity and fame. He glances over earth, and embraces time past, present, and to come. On goes the smoothly moving cohort of heroics, and the reader sometimes has hopes. But, no ! they do not carry the heights ; they sink, they fall, and here in this region of per- petual slumber they rest. Among other surprises is to find a poem by Washington Irving, "The Falls of the Passaic," the only one, it is said, he ever published. It is smooth and often beautiful ; but it is evident that he would have won no renown as a poet comparable to that which crowned him as the author of " The Sketch Book." ADDENDA. 29 1 A similar reflection comes after reading James K. Paulding's poem, *'The Backwoodsman." A contemporary estimate of Mrs. Lydia H. Sigourney (see page 86) is instructive. Kettell gives twenty pages to specimens of her verse, and ranks her with Mrs. Hemans and Bryant. Most impressive and pathetic is the thought which comes in reading passages of "Yamoyden" by Robert C. Sands. It is evident that the author looked on Nature and life with ardently appreciative eyes ; that he felt the beauty of morning, and the sights and sounds of wood and lake, as keenly as did the greatest of our poets. The objective elements of poetry are all in his verse, but the creative power of the poet was not his. He could sketch what he saw, but could not create the before unperceived. His soul must have been tortured by the limitations of his brain, and by surging emotions he was destined never to express. Not a poet, but in full view of a poet's domain ; burning with desire, yet unsatisfied ; master in his own soul of the realm of Nature, but powerless to take possession and show his title. Samuel Woodworth will long be remembered by " The Old Oaken Bucket," — a poem with a single scene, but linked with all memories of country life. Prosaic pumps have displaced the simple old-fashioned apparatus, but in every boy's mind it is still the bucket " dripping with cool- ness " which rises from the well. Equally fortunate was Francis S. Key with his " Star Spangled Banner." He appears to have written little else, but the pulses of Americans will thrill for centuries to come when that inspired song is heard. And who was Henry Pickering? Does any one know 292 ADDENDA. or read his verse? Yet his poems have much mild beauty, quite as much as the poems printed in magazines of to-day. Has the world been unjust to Pickering, or is it lenient to modern versifiers? And Sara Josepha Hale, high-priestess of Apollo, sister of the Muses, when the Lady's Book and the gorgeous Annual flourished ! It would be vain to attempt an enu- meration or an estimate of her tales and her books of verse. We must pass over Governor Enoch Lincoln's rural " Village " and John C. McCall's " Troubadour," and must barely mention the poems of Nathaniel xAppleton Haven. Evidently in his day he was considered a poet, for at his death in 1826 was published a selection from his Works, with a memoir by Professor Ticknor. But the specimens given by Kettell are quite inferior to those of many of the \mknovvn whose dead and dry remains we are contemplating. If beauty, grace, and refined taste were enough to give life to poetry, then should George Washington Doane be remembered as a poet. But with the exception of a few fortunate hymns, such as '' Softly now the light of day," his verses are wholly neglected. Still, the reader following Kettell, as an antiquarian would follow Old Mortality, must pause long enough to sigh over the wreck of so many high hopes. Kettell now and then is touched by a sudden enthusiasm, and then he lifts his voice and prophesies. James A. HiLLHOUSE was an object of his admiration, — H^illhouse, the author of " Hadad, a Dramatic Poem," and of Judg- ment, a Vision ; " and after some preliminary discussion, he places Hillhouse among the great masters of poetic art. But what has become of Hillhouse? Albert G. Greene, of Providence, is posed by Kettell as ADDENDA. 293 a serious poet ; and a solemn extract from a solemn poem is printed in evidence. But Greene has a sounder title to our regard as the author of an Address to the Weathercock, and of the well known ballad of " Old Grimes." William H. Bradley, Doctor of Medicine, also of Prov- idence, was touched by the fever of imitation, and made some stanzas with grotesque and amusing rhymes quite in the style of Byron's "■ Beppo." Still, Byron is read and Bradley is not. In his third volume Kettell approves of Richard H. Dana and of James G. Percival, and gives numerous speci- mens of their poems. Edward Everett was another writer of prose who was the author of one fine poem. His " Dirge of Alaric " is full of vigor, and is wrought with admirable art. It would seem that when oblivion has closed over a poem or romance no human power can draw it from its repose. Maria \. BRoaKS, of Medford, Mass., wrote a poem enti- tled " Zophiel," which was much admired. She was patron- ized by Southey, who christened her Maria del Occidente. But "Zophiel " passed into the silences, and of the beauti- ful Maria only one passionate song survives, — " Day in melting purple dying," etc. Lately a lady of critical ability, — herself a poet of some reputation, — undertook to resuscitate "Zophiel," and to interest the public in the forgotten favorite of old days. "Zophiel" appeared for a moment, but only as a dim shade, and again faded from view. One well remembered poem is often enough to preserve a name ; and Edward Coates Pinkney, of Maryland, has left a "Health" which defies time: — *' I fill this cup to one made up of loveliness alone." 294 ADDENDA. The memory of the sentiment Hngers even when the words have become dim. If ever a mortal needed elbow-room it was John Neal. He bustled through the world, and accomplished much, such as it was, — many novels, many poems, and much criti- cism. He was furiously in earnest, and from his very auda- city drew much attention. Kettell calculated (1829) that Neal's published writings were enough to fill fifty duodecimo volumes ; and he lived long after that, to write. Yet of all his novels and of all his poems not one lives to show what manner of man he was. Schoolboys remember him on declamation days, when they hear his description of the " fierce gray bird with a sharpened beak," and their elders have a tender memory of his " Birth of a Poet," in which are some fine lines. Another single poem stands like a monument to Henry Ware, Jr., — " To prayer ! to prayer ! for the morning breaks, And Earth in her Maker's smile awakes," etc. It shows us how f:ir back is the beginning of Bryant's welb earned fame when we find in Kettell so many of his famil- iar and beautiful poems. It is sometimes difficult to believe that our favorites were known and admired before 1829, Ketteh's specimens are "The Ages," " Thanatopsis," "To a Waterfowl," "The Murdered Traveller," "An Indian Story," " Hymn to the North Star," " Song of the Stars," " Autumn Woods," " The Close of Autumn." If there were space, mention might be made of Samuel Webber, who wrote " Logan, an Indian Tale," in octosylla- bic verse, running as smoothly as Scott's ; of Levi Frisbie, whose lines are instinct with feeling ; of Mrs. Little, who wrote a poem upon a New England Thanksgiving. ADDENDA. 295 Occasionally the writer is tempted to confess an error of judgment, a short -coming, in respect to some poet who should have had a place in this collection. If there is such an error, it is in regard to John G. C. Braixerd. Reading in Kettell once more Brainerd's " Fall of Niagara," it seems poor amends to quote, but it is the only amends left. This is the poem : — " The thoiii^hts are strange that crowd into my brain While I look upward to thee. It would seem As if God poured thee from His ' hollow hand,' And hung His bow upon thine awful front, And spoke in that loud voice which seemed to him Who dwelt in Patmos for his Saviour's sake * The sound of many waters,' and had bade Thy flood to chronicle the ages back, And notch His cent'ries in the eternal rocks. " Deep calleth unto deep. And what are we That hear the question of that voice sublime ? Oh, what are all the notes that ever rang From war's vain trumpet by thy thund'ring side ? Yea, what is all the riot man can make In his short life, to thy unceasing roar ? And yet, bold babbler, what art thou to Him Who drowned a world, and heaped the waters far Above its loftiest mountains ? A light wave That breaks, and whispers of its Maker's might." His poem is little less than sublime. And his " Epi- thalamium," how simple and exquisite ! *' I saw two clouds at morning. Tinged with the rising sun," etc. His autumn meditation catches the eye : — " The dead leaves strew the forest walk, And withered are the pale wild flowers," etc. 2g6 ADDENDA. Every line reveals the soul of a poet. Yes, Brainerd de- serves an honored place, rather than mere mention in the Addenda. Born in New London, Conn., in 1796, he was an early victim to consumption, and died in his native place in 1828. Whittier edited his poetical remains with loving care. They are not many, but they prove his birth- right, and ought to preserve his memory. *' Sunrise from Mount Washington" by Rufus Dawes. Is this poem known to any of the legion of versifiers of our time? The Muse of Dawes is sometimes a trifle fantastic, but few word-painters of scenery have surpassed this vivid picture. Other names appear. Sumner Lincoln Fairfield was mentioned with admiration sixty years ago. His possibili- ties were thought to be great. And Hannah F. Gould, — her verses were in all the newspapers and in all the reading books. As to Longfellow, Kettell gives him a place, but judi- ciously forbears comment upon his merits. " He is now in Europe," says the editor. George D. Prentice, the witty editor of the Louisville "Journal," is recalled, with his strings of easy rhymes and his amateurish worship of beauty. Prentice was once a name and a power, and made and unmade reputations. The dainty N. P. Willis is highly praised by Kettell, not without caution as to the need of sharp revision of careless verses. There are many specimens given, mostly of '' Scrip- ture Scenes," and no end of good wishes. The editors of that early time — especially in Boston — ■ appear to have been mostly poets. We can only give a few names : James W. Miller, of the Boston *' Literary Gazette ; " James G. Brooks, of the New York '' Mornmg ADDENDA. 297 Courier ; " Frederic S. Hill, of the Boston " Daily Adver- tiser ; " Charles J. Locke, editor of the Boston " Spectator ; " and Oliver C. Wyman, of Boston, a writer for newspapers. Emma C. Embury, the fair " lanthe," was one of the circle of writers who sustained the fashion-plate magazines : how familiar their names to men of sixty ! Willis Gaylord Clark was one of the editors of the old Knickerbocker Magazine, a periodical which absorbed more than its editors created. More forgotten names arise. Here is Grenville Mellen, of whom Kettell says : " He is a writer of fertile imagina- tion, and is peculiarly happy in the expression of tender and delicate sentiment." William B. O. Peabody, a clergyman of Springfield, Mass., wrote poems which once were quoted. Most elderly readers remember his " Hymn of Nature," — " God of the earth's extended plains," etc. In the poems of Joseph H. Nichols there are passages which might be worth quoting, although the name is wholly lost. But here is George Lunt, a scholar, a poet, and an able man, who lived on into our own times. He had the poetic instinct, and he wrought his verses with care. If he did not achieve fame it was not for want of aspiration. His verse was always creditable and sometimes admirable ; but the great works which Fame crowns were not his. We pass over George P. Morris, so long the associate of Willis, and the Rev. William Croswell, with his sweet and saintly thoughts. We see the name of Richard Henry Wilde, and remember his pensive stanzas, beginning, " My life is like a summer rose." 298 ADDENDA. We come upon the name of Whittier, the last in the third volume ; and though he was then young, with his work and his renown all before him, it is pleasing to read the opinion of Kettell that '' his verses show a more than com- mon maturity of powers." Adieu to Samuel Kettell ! Who could take up his task where he left it, and give us specimens from the innumer- able verse-makers since 1829? It has been stated before that often no clear line of divi- sion is possible between the authors chosen for this work and those who have been omitted. Among the latter are some whose absence will be regretted by many. One is Jones Very, a rare and delicate genius who ought to be better known. Another is David A. Wasson, a man of varied powers, and the author of strong and stimulating verse. In conception he is among the great ; in execution he is faulty almost beyond remedy. He attains to conven- tional measure and rhyme by evident effort, and few of his pieces can be read melodiously. He was not master of versification, but was enslaved and often crippled by it. Those who read for the thought will not mind these de- fects ; but the defects are a fatal bar to popularity, and, in the end, to recognition among the accepted poets. Mr. Wasson was also an essayist of the school of Emerson, and was held in high esteem by a large circle of admirers. Another of the Emersonian group was John Weiss, a bril- liant man, who wrote the Life of Theodore Parker, and did other excellent work. A friend reminds us of a notable omission in this retro- spect, — that of Isaac McLellan, a poet still living, who was born in Portland, Me., in 1806, and was associated in early days as a writer with N. P. Willis, and with C. Gaylord ADDENDA. 299 Clarke of the " Knickerbocker." His life has been full of literary activity, and the respect in which he is held shows that he has written well. To outlive early fame is almost like moving away from one's shadow. Yet how rarely poetry survives even half of man's allotted three- score-and-ten ! The novel is necessarily ephemeral, and very few writers of fiction are remembered beyond their generation. Were all the authors of this class included, the size of this volume would be doubled. Many meritorious writers of historical and other works are omitted for the reason that they have not left any permanent mark upon literature. No man makes such a mark except by virtue of some individual, characteristic qualities of style. The more closely a writer follows conventional forms the sooner oblivion falls upon him. After more than thirty years' reading, and with a sincere desire to choose the best, it is with difhdence that the writer pens the last word. There are so many things which remain in doubt. Another editor might omit many of the '' Builders " and bring in as many others. But, on the whole, for a well-read public of average intellect and taste, the writer believes this to be a fair selection, and perhaps as good as could be made within the present limits. INDEX. Adams, John - • Adams, William T. Alger, William R. • Allston, Washington Ames, Fisher . . Audubon, John James Ball, Benjamin West Bancroft, George . • Barlow, Joel . . = • Beech er, Henry Ward Bird, Robert M. . . Boker, George H. . Brooks, Charles Timothy Brovvnson, Orestes A. Bryant, William Cullen Bushnell, Horace . • Gary, Alice .... Channing, W^illiam EUery Child, Lydia Maria . Clarke, James Freeman Cooper, James Fenimore Cranch, Christopher P. Curtis, George William Dana, Richard H. . . Dana, Richard H., Jr. Dorr, Julia C. R. • • Drake, Joseph Rodman Draper, John William Page 47 266 256 64 57 66 269 loS 53 189 126 255 194 125 88 "5 Dwight, John Sullivan Dwight, Timothy . • Edwards, Jonathan . Ellis, George Edward . Emerson, Ralph Waldo Everett, Edward . • 238 67 118 159 82 187 261 81 207 279 95 183 Page 192 52 40 205 120 91 Fields, James T 217 Franklin, Benjamin ... 44 Frothingham, Octavius B. . 250 Fuller, Margaret .... 161 Godwin, Park 210 Greene, Geo. Washington . 171 Hale, Edward E. . . • 243 Halleck, Fitz-Greene . • 96 Hamilton, Alexander . . 55 Hawthorne, Nathaniel . 127 Hedge, Frederic Henry . 131 Higginson, Thos. Wentwort h 259 Hildreth, Richard . . . • 147 Hillard, George S. . • . . 150 Holland, Josiah G. . . • ■ 23T Holmes, Oliver Wendell • 152 Hopkins, Mark . . . ■ • 117 Howe, Julia W' ard . • • . 228 Irving, Washington . . • 73 302 INDEX. Jefferson, Thomas . Judd, Sylvester . . . Kennedy, John Tendleton King, Thomas Starr . . Leland, Charles G. . . . Longfellow, Henry W . . Lowell, James Russell . . Lowell, Robert T. S. . . . Mann, Horace . . . Marsh, George Perkms Melville, Herman . . Mitchell, Donald G. . Motley, John Lothrop Palfrey, John Gorham Palmer, John W. Park, Edwards A. . Parker, Theodore . Parkman, P'rancis . Parsons, Thomas W. Parton, James . . Paulding, James K. Peabody, Andrew P. Percival, James Gates Phillips, Wendell . Pierpont, John . . Poe, Edgar Allan . Porter, Noah ... Prescott, William IL Page 49 195 97 273 264 135 218 211 112 233 248 201 100 281 164 252 230 239 62 181 98 175 78 167 174 101 QuiNCY, Edmund Quincy, Josiah . Read, Thos. Buchanan . Sargent, Epes .... Saxe, John Godfrey . . Sedgwick, Catharine M. . Sigourney, Lydia Huntley Simms, William Gil more Sprague, Charles , . Stoddard, Richard H. Story, William W. . . Stowe, Harriet Beecher Street, Alfred Billings Sumner, Charles . . Taylor, Bayard . . Thoreau, Henry D. Trumbull, John . . . Tuckerman, Henry T. Ware, William . . . Wayland, Francis . > Webster, Daniel . . Whipple, Edwin P. White, Richard Grant Whitman, W^alt . . . Whitney, Adeline D. T Whittier, John G. . . Willis, Nathaniel P. . Winthrop, Robert C. . Wirt, William . . . Woolsey, Theodore D wight Page 149 59 245 199 209 85 86 ^33 87 283 225 184 172 178 275 213 51 197 107 106 69 227 247 235 272 143 140 157 60 "3 THE FOLLOWING BOOKS Bend to create a love for Literature as a means of Culture underwood's Handbooks of English Literature BRITISH AUTHORS Intended for High Schools, Academies, and Colleges, and as a Companion and Guide for Private Students and for General Reading. By Francis H. Underwood, A.M. Cloth, $2.00 net. By mail $2.20. "I take great pleasure in expressing my hearty approval of it, both as re- spects the plan and the execution. It seems tome to be admirably adapted to meet a felt want in the department of education to which it belongs, — a department of the highest importance, but one very much neglected in the seminaries, and even in the higher literary institutions of our country." — Rev. John Wilson, A.M., President of Wesleyan Female College, Wil- mington, Del. " I am so well pleased with it, that I have just put it into the hands of class of thirty. I have examined Avith care every book of this class, and ait satisfied that Professor Underwood's surpasses all similar books in thft beauty, appositeness, and value of its selections." — Prof essor A. B. Stark, Principal of Corona Academy, Lebanon, Tenn. AMERICAN AUTHORS Intended for the use of High Schools, Academies, and Colleges, and as a Companion and Guide for Private Students Und for General Readers. By j^EANcis H. Underwood, A.M. Svo. Cloth, $2.00 .'le^ By mail $2.20. " The present volume, containing nearly six hundred and fifty pages, opena with an historical introduction, which is followed by an alphabetical list of American writers not included in the collection. Then come carefully selected extracts from over a hundred and fifty American authors, with short biographical and critical notices prefixed to most of them. " It is tlie best manual of the kind with which we have acquaintance : in- deed, we do not know of any other which occupies exactly the same field. The examination of its well-filled pages will bring to many a new revelation of the real richness and variety of our young and vigorous literature." — Boston Journal. '« I consider ' Underwood's American Authors ' the best book of the kind . , . I use it constantly in my classes." — Austin George, Professor o} English Literature, Kalamazoo College, Kalamazoo, Mich. Special Rates for Iniroduction LEE AND SHEPARD Publishers Boston TEACHERS' AIDS, THE ELEMENTS OF PSYCHOLOGY Ily (Jabkiel Compayre. Translated by William H. Payne, Ph.D., LL.D., Chancellor of the University of Nashville. Price, $i.oo, net. By mail, $i.io, METHODS OF INSTRUCTION AND ORGANIZATION IN THE GERMAN SCHOOLS IJy John T. Prince, Mass. State Board of Education. Cloth, $i.oo, net. Mailine; price, $1.15. METHODS AND AIDS IN GEOGRAPHY Per the use of Teachers and Normal Schools. By Charles F. King, Master Dearborn School, Boston. Ck)th. Illustrated. #1.20, net. By mail, $1.33. REMINISCENCES OF FRIEDRICH JROEBEL By Baroness B. von Makenholz-Bulow. 'I'raiislated by Mrs. Horace Mann. With a sketch of the life of Froebel by Ennly Shirreff. Cloth, #1.50. MOTHER-PLAY AND NURSERY SONGS By !< riedrich Froebel. Translated from the German. Edited by Elizabeth P. Peabodv. Quarto. Boards, $1.50, net. By mail, ^1.75. THE SPIRIT OF THE NEW EDUCATION By Louisa Parsons Hopkins, supervisor of Boston Public Schools. Clo.#i.5o. HOW SHALL MY CHILD BE TAUGHT? Practical Pedagogy or the Science of leaching. By Mrs. Louisa Parsons Hopkins, supervisor in Boston Public Schools. Cloth, $1.00, net. AN HOUR With DELSARTE A Study of Expression. By Anna Morgan of the Chicago Conservatory. Illustrated with full-page figure illustrations. Quarto. Cloth, $2.00. THE VOICE How to Train It, How to Care for It. By E. B. Warman, A.M. With full- page illustrations by Marion Morgan Reynolds. Quarto. Cloth, ^2.00. GESTURES AND ATTITUDES An Exposition of the Delsarte Theory of Expression. By Edw'd B. War- man, A.M., anther of " The Voice, How to Train It, How to Care for It," etc. With over 150 full-page illustrations by Marion Morgan Reynolds. Cloth, $3.00. HANDBOOK OF SCHOOL GYMNASTICS OF THE SWEDISH SYSTEM By Baron Nils Posse. Cloth. Illustrated. Net, 50 cents. By mail, 55 cents. THE SWEDISH SYSTEM OF EDUCATIONAL GYMNASTICS By Baron Nils Posse. New Edition, Revised. Fully illustrated. Quarto. Cloth, $2.00. FIRST STEPS WITH AMERICAN AND BRITISH AUTHORS By Albert F. Blaisdell, A.M. Illustrated. Cloth, 75 cents, net. By mail, 85 cents. STUDY OF THE ENGLISH CLASSICS A Practical Handbook for Teachers. By Albert F. Blaisdell. Cloth, $1.00, net. Bv mail, $1.10. THE ART OF PROJECTING , ,. • . A Manual of Experimentations with the Port Lumiere and Magic Lantern. Bv Prof. A. E. Dolbear, M.E., Ph.D. New Edition, Revised. J2.00. OBSERVATION LESSONS „ ^ , ,. For Teachers. By Louisa Parsons Hopkins, Supervisor Boston Public Schools. Parts I., II., III., and IV. Paper, 15 cents, net, each part. Complete in one volume, cloth, 75 cents, net. Bv mail, 83 cents. EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY ^ , ,. .. , , By Louisa Parsons Hopkins, Supervisor Boston Public Schools. 50 cents. HANDBOOK OF ENGLISH LITERATURE , ,, , . In two volumes. By Francis H. Underwood, A.M. American Authors. British Authors. Price, $2.00 per volume. By mail, #2.20. LIFE AND WORKS OF HORACE MANN ^, , ^ Edited by George C. Mann. Five volumes. Cloth, ^2.50, net, per volume. Any of the above sent by mail on receipt of price. Lee and SHEPARD Publishers Boston.