REPRESENTATIVES OF AMERICAN LITERATURE. 'i A CENTURY -AMERICAN LITERATURE ^ a; a: AND THE LIVES AND PORTRAITS OF OUR FAVORITE AUTHORS ^ Together With Choice Selections from their Writings EMBRACING The Great Poets of America, our Famous Novelists, Distinguished Essayists And Historians, our Humorists, Noted Journalists and Magazine Contributors, Statesmen in Literature, Noted Women in Literature, Popular Writers for Young People, Great Orators and Public Lecturers, Etc. To which is Added a Description of American Literature at the Close of the Century — and the — Ten Greatest Books of the Nineteenth Century. COMPJLED AND EDITED BY , : WILLIAM WILFRED BIRDSALL, A.B., President of Swarthmore College RUFUS M. JONES, A.M., Professor of Philosophy, Haverford College and others Over 200 Portraits and Text Illustrations By CHARLES DANA GIBSON, CORWIN K. LINSON AND OTHERS THE JOHN C. WINSTON CO. PHILADELPHIA CHICAGO TORONTO THF LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, Two Cot-icc Rtcsiveo NOV. Q 19^2 CLASsCLcXXo No, COPY B. ^ ^'^ »• « n |<^ »* «« Kntered according to Act of Congress In the year 1901, by W. E. SCTJTJL., iin the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington T rS^^ err?- ^ L GENERAL DEPARTMENTS. PART 1. Great Poets of America, .33 '* 2. Our Most Noted Novelists, 165 " 3. Fai\[ous "Women Novelists, . .218 " 4. Representative Womex Poets of Ameuica, .... 252 . " 5. Well-known Essayists, Critics and Sketch Writers, . . . 271 " 6. Great American Historians and Biographers, . . . . 311 " 7. Our National IIuiMorists, ....;.... 345 " 8. Popular Writers foPw Young People, 380 " 9. Noted Journalists and INIagazine Contributors, .... 401 " 10. Great Orators and Popular I^ecturers, 433 " 11. Famous Women Orators and Reformers, !''•' " 12. Miscellaneous Masterpieces and Choice (Jems, .... 400 ." 13, The Ten Greatest Books of the World Produced in the 19th Century, '"j^' 14 Amfimcan Literature at the Closk of the CENTruv 55' (5) ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. Our obligation to the fullowinp: publishers is respectfully and gratefully acknowledged, since, without the courtesies and assistance of these publishers and a number of the living authors, it would have been impossible to issue this volume. Copyright selections from the following authors are used by the permission of and special arrangement with MESSRS. HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & CO., their authorized publishers :— Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry W. Longfellow, Ohver Wendell Holmes, James Russell Lowell, Bayard Taylor, Maurice Thompson, Colonel John Hay, Bret Harte, William Dean Howells, Edward Bellamy, Charles Egbert Craddock (Miss Murfree), Elizabeth Stuart l^helps (Ward), Octave Thanet (Miss French), Alice Gary, Phoebe Cary, Charles Dudley Warner, E. C. Stedman. James Parton, John Fiske and Sarah Jane Lippincott. TO THE CENTURY CO., we are indebted for selections from Richard Watson Gilder, James Whitcomb Riley and Francis Richard Stockton. TO CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SOA^S, for extracts from Eugene Field. TO HARPER (f- BROTHERS, for selections from Will Carleton, General Lew Wallace, W. D. Howells, Thomas Nelson Pa^e, John L. Motley, Charles FoUen Adams and Lyman Abbott. TO ROBERTS BROTHERS, for selections from Edward Everett Hale, Helen Hunt Jackson, Louise Chandler Moulton and Louisa M. Alcott. TO ORANGE, JUDD & CO., for extracts from Edward Eggleston. TO DODD, MEAD <& CO., for selections from E. P. Roe, Marion Harland (Mrs. Terhune), AmeUa E. Barr and Martha Finley. TO D. APR LET ON & CO., for Wm. Cullen Bryant and John Bach McMaster. TO MACMILLAN& CO., for F. Marion Crawford. ^0 HORACE L. TRAUBEL, Executor, for Walt Whitman. TO ESTES & LAURIAT, for Gail Hamilton (Mary Abigail DodgeY TO LITTLE, BROWN & CO., for Francis Parkman. TO FUNK & WAGNALLS, for Josiah Allen's Wife (Miss HoUey). TO LEE & SHEPARD, for Yawcob Strauss (Charles Follen Adams), Oliver Optic (William T. /idams) and Mary A. Livermore. TO J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO., for Bill Nye (Edgar Wilson Nye). TO GEORGE ROUTLEDGE & SONS, for Unck Remus (Joel C. Harris). TO TICKNOR & CO., for Julian Hawthorne. TO PORTER & CO ATE S, for Edward EDis and Horatio Alger. TO WILLIAM F. GILL & CO., for Whitelaw Reid. TO C. H HUD GINS & CO., for Henry W. Grady. TO THE " COSMOPOLITAN MAGAZINE:' for Julian Hawthorne. TO T. B. PETERSON & BROS., for Frances Hodgson Burnett. TO JAS. E. OSGOOD rf- CO., for Jane Goodwin Austin. TO GEO. R. SHEPARD, for Thomas Wentworth Higginson. TO J. LEWIS STACKPOLE, for John L. Motley. Besides the above, we are under special obligation to a number of authors who kindly furnished, W answer to our request, selections which they considered representative of their writings. THE DISTINCTIVE PURPOSE AND PLAN OF THIS VOLUME. HIS work has been designed an d prepared with a view to presenting an outline of American literati re in such a manner a* to stimulate a love for good reading and especially to encourage the study of the lives and writings of our American authors. The plan of this work is unique and original, and possesses certain helpful and interesting features, which — so far as we are aware — have been contemplated by no other single volume. The first and main purpose of the work is to present to our American homes a mass of wholesome, varied and well-selected reading matter. In this respect it is substantially a volume for the family. America is pre-eminently a country of liomes. These homes are the schools of citizenship, and — next to the Bible, which is the foundation of our morals and laws — we need those books which at once enter- tain and instruct, and, at the same time, stimulate patriotism and pride for our native land. demand. Four-fifths of our space is devoted ex- Nearly all other volumes of selections are made The reason for this is obvious. Foreign publications until within the last lew years have been free of copyright restrictions. Anything might be chosen and copied from them while American authors were protected by law from such outrages. Consequently, American material under forty-t\yo years of age could not be used without the consent of the owner of the copyright. The expense and the difficulty of obtaining these permissions were too great^to warrant compilers and publishers in using American material. The constantly growing demand, however, for a work of this class has encouraged the publishers of this This book seeks to meet this clusively to American literature. up chiefly from foreign authors. .^ THE DISTINCTIVE PUKPOSE AND PLAN OF TPIIS VOLUME. volume to undertake the task. The publishers of the works from which these selec- tions are made and many living authors represented have been corresponded with, and it is only through the joint courtesy and co-operation of these many publishers and authors that the production of this volume has been made possible. Due acknowledgment will be found elsewhere. In a number of instances the selections have been made by the authors themselves, who have also rendered other valu- able assistance in supplying data and photographs. The second distinctive point of merit in the plan of the work is the hiograpliical feature^ which gives the story of each author's life separately, treating them both personally and as writers. Longfellow remarked in " Hyperion " — " If you once understand the character of an autlior the comprehension of his writings becomes easy." He might have gone further and stated that when we have once read the life of an author his writings become the more interesting. Goethe assures us that " Every author portrays himself in his works even though it be against his will." The pati'iarch in the Scriptures had the same thought in his mind when he exclaimed " Oh ! that mine enemy had written a book." Human nature remains the same. Any book takes on a new phase of value and interest to us the moment w^e know the story of the writer, whether we agi-ee with his statements and theories or not. These biographical sketches, which in every case are placed immediately before the selections from an author, give, in addition to the story of his life, a list of the principal books he has written, and the dates of publication, together with com- ments on his literary style and in many instances reviews of his best known works This, with the selections which follow, established that necessary bond of sympathy and relationship which should exist in the mind of the reader between every author and his writings. Furthermore, under this arrangement the biography of each author and the selections from his works compose a complete and independent chapter in the volume, so that the writer may betaken up and studied or read alone, or in connection with others in the |)articular class to which he belongs. This brings us to the third point of classification. Othei" volumes of selections — where they have been classified at all — have usually placed selections of similar character together under the various heads of Narrative and Descriptive, Moral and Religious, Historical, etc. On the contrary, it has appeared to us the better plan in the consti'uction of this volume to classify the autliors, rather than, by dividing their selections, scatter the children of one parent in many different quarters. There has been no small difficulty in doing this in the cases of some of our versatile writers. Emerson, for instance, with his poetry, philosophy and essays, and Holmes, with his wit and humor, his essays, his novels and his poetry. Where should they be placed ? Summing them up, we find their writings — whether written in stanzas of metred lines or all the way across the page, and wdiether they talked philosojDliy or indulged in humor — were predominated by the spirit of poetry. Therefore, with their varied brood, Emerson and Holmes were taken off to the " Poet's Corner," which is made all the richer and more enjoyable by the variety of their gems of prose. Hence our classifications and groupings are as Poets, Novelists, Historians, Journalists, Humorists, Essayists, Critics, Orators, etc., placing each author in the department to which he most belongs, enabling the reader to read and compare him in his best element with others of the same class. THE DISTINCTIVE PURPOSE AND PLAN OF THIS VOLUME. ., ''Great Poets of America,'' comprises twenty of our most famous and ,vriters of verse. The work necessarily begins with that immortal "Sevei Part L, popular wr±i.v^j.^ wx Y^^lo^^. Ant/ wuiiv iicuco^cimj uti^uis wun iiiai immoriai "oeven Stars" of poesy in the galaxy of our literary heavens — Bryant, Poe, Longfel- low, Emerson, AVhittier, Holmes and Lowell. Succeeding these are those of lesser magnitude, many of whom are still living and some who have won fame in other fields of litei'ature which divides honors with their poetry. The remaining twelve parts of the book treat in similar manner about ninetv-five additional authors, embracing noted novelists, representative women poets of America ; essayists, critics and sketch writers ; great American histoi-ians and biogra})hers ; our national humorists; popular writers for young jieople ; noted journalists and magazine contributors ; great orators and po})ular lecturers ; famous women orators and reformers, and miscellaneous masterpieces from many American autliors whose fame rests largely upon one or two productions. The work appropriately closes with a department of over one hundred and fifty pages of English literature, comprising the lives and best writings of the most famous English, Scotch and Lish authors, whose names and works are household words in America, and without which no volume of literature in the language would be com})lete. Thus, it will be seen that in this volume the whole field of Amei'ican letters, with the best from the greatest of British authors, has been gleaned to make the work the best and most represen- tative of our literature possible within the scope of a single volume. In making a list of authors in whom the public were sufficiently interested to entitle them to a place in a work like this, naturally they were found to be entirely too numerous to be all included in one book. The absence of many good names from the volume is, therefore, explained by the fact that the editor has been driven to the necessity of selecting, first, those whom he deemed pre-eminently prominent, and, after that, making room for those who best represent a certain class or par- ticular phase of our litei'ature. To those autliors who have so kindly responded to our requests for courtesies, and whose names do not appear, the above explanation is offered. The omission was imperative in order that those treated might be allowed sufficient space to make the work as complete and representative as might be reasonably expected. Special attention has been given to illustrations. We have inserted portraits of all the authors whose photographs we could obtain, and have, also, given views of the homes and studies of many. A large number of special drawings have also beea made to illustrate the text of selections. The whole number of portraits and other illustrations amount to over three hundred, all of which are strictly illustrative of the authors or their Avritings. None are put in as mere ornaments. We have, furthermore, taken particular care to arrange a number of special groups, })lacing those authors which belong in one class or division of a class together on a page. One group on a page represents our greatest poets; another, well-known western poets; another, famous historians; another, writers for young i)eople_; another, American humorists, etc. These groups are all arranged by artists in various designs of ornamental setting. In many cases we have also had sjiecial designs made by artists for commemorative and historic pictures of famous authoi-s. These drawings set forth in a pictorial form leading scenes in the life and labors of the author represented. LIST OF PORTRAITS MADE EXPRESSLY FOE, THIS VOLUME. ARRANGED ALPHABETICALLY. Abbott, Lyman. Adams, Charles Follen (Yawcob Strauss). Adams, William T. (Oliver Optic). Alcott, A. Bronson. Alcott, Louisa M. Alger, Horatio, Jr. Aldrich, Thomas Bailey. Anthony, Susan B. Austin, Alfred. Austin, Jane Goodwin. Bancroft, George H. Barr, Amelia E. Beecher, Henry Ward. Bellamy, Edward. Bryant, William CuUen. Burdette, Robert J. Burnett, Francis Hodgson, Cable, George W. Carleton, Will. Cary, Alice. Gary, Phoebe. Clay, Henry. Clemens, Samuel L. (Mark Twain). Cooper, James Feniniore. Craddock, Charles Egbert (Mrs. Murfree). Crawford, F. Marion. Dana, Charles A. Davis, Richard Harding. Depew, Chauncey M. Dickinson, Anna. Eggleston, Edward, Ellis, Edward S. Emerson, Ralph Waldo, Everett, Edward. Field, Eugene. Finley, Martha. French, Alice (Octave Thanet). Fuller, Margaret. Gilder, Richard Watson. Gough, John B. Grady, Henry W. Greeley, Horace. Hale, Edward Everett. Halstead, Murat. Harris, Joel Chandler. Harte, Bret. Hawthorne, Nathaniel. Hawthorne, Julian. Hay, Col. John. Henry, Patrick. Higginson, Thomas Wentworth. Holmes, Oliver Wendell. Howells. William Dean. Howe, Julia Ward. Irving, Washington. Jackson, Helen Hunt, Larcom. Lucy. Tjippincotr, Sara Jane (Grace Greenwood). Livermore, Mary A. Lockwnod, Belva Ann. Longl'cllow, Henry W. Lowell, James Russell, 10 LIST OF PORTRAITS MADE EXPRESSLY FOR THIS VOLUME. 11 Mabie, Hamilton W. McMaster, John B. Miller, Joaquin. Mitchell, Donald G. (Ik :\Iarvel). Motley, John L. Moulton, Louise Chandler. Nye, Edgar Wilson (Bill Nye). Page, Thomas Nelson. Parton, James. Phillips, Wendell. Pitt, William. Poe, Edgar A. Prescott, William H. Reid, Whitelaw. Riley, James Whitcomb. Roe, Edward Payson. Shaw, Albert. Shaw, Henry W. (Josh Billings). Sigourney, Lydia H. Smith, Elizabeth Oakes. Stedman, Edmund Clarence. Stanton, Elizabeth Cady. Stockton, Frank. Stoddard, Richard Henry. Stowe, Harriet Beecher. Terhunc, Mary Virginia (Maiioii Harland). Thoreau, Henry D. Wallace, General Lew. Ward, Elizabeth Stuart Phelps. Warner, Chas. Dudley. Watterson. Henry W Webster. Daniei. Whitman, Walt. Whittier, John G Wilbnvl, Franc.-s E Willis, Nathaniel R FULL-PAGE GROUPS AND SPECIAL DESIGNS. EDG^R Allan Poe — His Home, Monument, etc. Interior op Longfellow's Home, Cambridge, Mass. Ralph Waldo Emerson — His Brook Farm Friends, eto. John Gl. Whittier — His Home and Birthplace. Oliver Wendell Holmes — His Birthplace and Study. James Russell Lowell in His Study. Nathaniel Hawthorne — His Birthplace, Wayside Inn, Eia The New Congressional Library. Six Great American Poets. Well-known American Poets. Well-known Western Poets. Six Typical American Novelists. Popular American Novelists. Noted Women Novelists. Women Poets op America. Distinguished Essayists and Literary Critics. Great American Historians and Biogr-^-phers. Our National Humorists. Popular Writers for Young People. Noted American Journalists and Magazine Contributors. Great American Orators and Popular Lecturers. Famous Women Orators and Reformers. Distinguished Authors op the Greatest Books of the Nine- teenth Century. Great American Writers at the Close op the Nineteenth Century. I TABLE OF CONTENTS. WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT. An Author at Fourteen The Influence of his Father Bryant's Best Known Poems Personal Appearance A Long and Useful Life 'Thanatopsis ' 'Waiting By the Gate ' 'Blessed are They That Mourn ' ' Antiquity of Freedom ' 'ToaWaterFowl' ' Robert of Lincoln'' ' Drought ' ' The Past ' * The Murdered Traveler ' * The Battle-Field ' * The Crowded Street ' ' Fitz Greene Halleck (Notice of ) '.. . . *A Corn-Shucking in South Carolina'. EDGAR ALLEN POE. Comparison with Other American Poets.... Place of Birth and Ancestry Career as a Student The Sadness of his Life and Its Influence Upon his Literature Conflicting Statements of his Biographers.. Great as a Story Writer and as a Poet His Literary Labors and Productions 'The City in the Sea' ' Annabel Lee ' 'To Helen' ' Israfel ' ' To One in Paradise ' ' Lenore ' 'The Bells' • The Raven ' k HENRY W. LONGFELLOW. His Place in Literature 2 C 33 34 35 35 35 36 36 37 38 38 39 39 40 40 41 42 42 43 45 45 46 46 47 47 48 49 50 50 52 52 53 53 55 58 Comparison With American anc' En^Jvsh Poets 58 His Education, Collegemates and Home 59 The Wayside Inn (A view of) 59 His Domestic Life. His Poems 50 His Critics, Poe, Margaret Fuller, Duyckink 61 Prose Works and Translations 6! Longfellow's Genius 61 'The Psalm of Life ' 61 ' The Village Blacksmith ' 6? 'The Bridge' 63 'Resignation' 63 ' God's Acre ' 64 'Excelsior ' 64 'The Rainy Day ' 65 ' The Wreck of the Hesperus ' 65 ' The Old Clock On the Stairs ' 6P ' The Skeleton in Armour ' 67 ' King Witlaf 's Drinking Horn ' 69 ' Evangeline On the Prairie ' 69 ' Literary Fame (Prose) ' 70 RALPH WALDO EMERSON. The Difficulty of Classifj ing Eraersoiv 71 The Liberator of American Letters 71 A Master of Language 7 J Emerson and Franklin 72 Birth, Education. P'arly Life 72 Home at Concord, Brook-Farm Enterprise. . 73 Influence on Other Writers 74 IModcrn Communism and the New Theology 74 'Hymn Sung at the Completion of the Con- cord Monument (1836) ' 75 ' The Rhodora ' 75 'A True Hero' 75 ' Mountain and Squirrel ' 76 ' The Snow-Storm ' « . • . . 76 ' The Problem ' 76 ' Traveling ' 77 15 i6 CONTENTS. PAGE ' The Compensation of Calamity ' 78 ' Self Reliance ' 78 'Nature' 78 iOTIN GREENLEAF WHITTIER. Whittier's Huiuble Birth, Ancestry, Education. 80 Poet of tlie Aliolitioiiists 81 His Poen)s and His Pixse 81 Our Most Distinctively Amei'ican Poet 82 New England's History Embalmed in Verse 82 ' My Playmate ' 83 'The Changeling ' 83 ' The Workskip of Nature ' 85 ' The Bare-foot Boy ' 85 ' Maud MuUer ' 86 ' Memories ' 87 ' In Prison For Debt ' 88 ' The Storm ' (From ' Snow Bound ') 89 ' Ichabod ' 90 OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES. Admired by the English-speaking World... 91 His Education and Popularity 91 Early Poems 92 Autocrat and Professor at the Breakfast Table 92 Holmes' Genial and Lovable Nature 92 ' Bill and Joe ' 94 ' Union and Liberty ' 94 ' Old Ironsides ' 95 ' My Aunt ' 95 ' The Height of the Ridiculous ' 95 ' The Chambered Nautilus ' 96 ♦ 01.1 Age and the Professor ' (Prose) 96 ' 'JMie Brain ' (Prose) 97 ' My Last Walk with the School Mistress ' . 97 ' A Random Conversation on Old Maxims, Boston and other Towns ' 98 JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL Profoundest of American Poets 1 00 Early Life and Beginning in Literature loO Marriage, and the Influence of his Wife. . . ]01 Home at Cambridge (view of) 101 Longfellow's Poem on Mrs. Lowell's Death, 101 Humorous Poems and Prose Writings 102 Public Career of the Author 103 How Lowell is Regarded by Scholars 1 03 '1 he Gothic Genius' (From ' The Cathedral ') ]0 1 PA(* ' The Rose ' , 104 ' The Heritage ' 105 ' Act For Truth ' 106 ' The First Snow-Fail ' 106 ' Fourth -of-July Ode ' 107 ' The Dandelion ' 107 ' The Alpine Sheep' (by Mrs. Lowell) 108 BAYARD TAYLOR. Life as a Farmer B03' 109 Education 109 His First Book 109 Encouragement from Horace Greeley 109 A Two Years' Tramp Through Europe 109 A Most Delightful Book of Travel 1 09 An Inveterate Nomad 109 Public Career of the Author 110 ' The Bison Track ' 110 ' The Song of the Camp ' Ill ' Bedouin Song ' Ill ' The Arab to the Palm ' 11 1 'Life on the Nile' 112 NATHANIEL P. WILLIS. A Devotee of Fashion 114 Birth and Ancestors 114 Educational Facilities 1 j4 His First Poems 114 A Four Years' Tour in Europe 115 Marriage and Home 115 A Second Journey to England 115 An Untiring Worker 115 Death 115 ' David's Lament for Absalom ' 116 'The Dying Alchemist ' 117 ' The Belfry Pigeon ' 118 RICHARD HENRY STODDARD, His Humble Origin and Early Struggles... 119 Introduction into Literature 119 Stoddard's Style 120 Literary Dinner in His Honor (1892) 120 Ik. Marvel's Letter and Whitconib Riley's Poem 120 'A Curtain Call ' 121 ' Hymn to the Beautiful ' 121 'A Dirge' 122 ' The Shadow of the Hand ' 123 ' A Serenade ' 123 CONTENTS. 17 PAQK WALTER WHITMAN (WALT). The Estimates of Critics ]24 Ciuinus of Whitinan's Poetry 125 Life and Works of the Poet 125 Biographies of the Poet 125 ' Darest Thou Now, Soul ' 126 ' Captain ! My Captain ' 126 'Li All, Myself. 126 'Old Ireland' ,. 127 ' Paean of Joy ' 127 JAMES MAURICE THOMPSON. Birth and Early Life 1 28 A Thorough Soutlierner 1 28 ]Man of Letters and Scientist 128 Chief of the State Geological Survey 128 Works of the Author 128 'Ceres' 129 ' Diana ' 129 THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH. At the Head of jModerii I^yrical Writers. ... 130 Birth and Early Life 130 Mercantile Career 1 30 War Correspondent 1 30 Life in Boston 1 30 Works 1 30 Visit to England 131 'Alec Yeaton's Son " 1 32 ' On Lynn Terrace; ' 1 32 'Sargent's Portrait uf l<]d\vin l>ooth at " The Players." ' 133 RICHARD WATSON GILDER. Purity of Sentiment and Delicacy of Ex- pression 1 34 Education and Early Life 1 34 Journalist 1 34 Editor of ' ' Hours at Home " 1 34 Politician and Reformer 135 A Staunch Friend of our Colleges 135 A Man of Exalted Ideals 1 35 ' Sonnet (After the Italian) ' 136 ' The Life Mask of Abraham Lincoln ' 1 36 'Sheridan' 136 ' Sunset From the Train ' 1 37 ' Silver River Flowing to the Sea ' 1 37 'There is Nothing New Under the Sun '.. . . 137 ' Memorial Day ' 1 38 ' A Woman's Thought ' 1 38 PAQB JOHN HAY. His Western Birth and Education 1 39 Service to President Lincoln 1 39 Military Career 1 39 Appointed Ambassador to Great Britain 139 A List of His Books ] 39 How He Came to Write " Jjitlle Breeches " 140 ' Little Breeches ' 1 40 'Jim liludso ' 141 ' How it IIapi)ened ' 141 JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY. Great Popularity with the Masses 143 A Poet of the Country People 1 43 Birth and Education 144 First Occupation 144 Congratulated by Longfellow 144 Mr. Riley's Methods of Work 144 Tlie Poet's Home 145 (.Constantly "on tlie Wing " 145 'A Boy's Mother ' 145 ' Thoughts on the Late War ' 145 'Our ilired Girl' 146 ' The Raggedy Man ' 140 BRET HARTE. The Poet of the Mining Cam)) 147 Birth and Education 147 Emigrated to California 1 47 Schoolteacher and Miner W, Position on a Frontier Paper 1 47 Editorial Position on the '"Golden Era " . . 147 Secretary of the U. S. iMint at San Francisco. 148 In Chicago and Boston 148 U. S. Consul to Crefield and Glasgow 14S A List of his Works 149 ' The Society Upon the Stanislaus ' 149 ' Dickens in Camp ' 1 50 EUGENE FIELD. The " Voot of Child Life " 151 Troups of Children for his Friends 151 Peace-maker Among the Small Ones 151 A Feast witli his Little Friends 151 A Devoted Husband 1 SI Congenial Association with his Fellow-workers 152 Birth and Early Life 1 ."^^ His Works l''»2 ' Our Two Opinions ' ^^^ 'Lullaby' 15-^ 'A Dutch Lullaby ' l'">3 •ANorse Lullaby' 15* CONTENTS. WILL CARLETON. His Poems Favorites for Recitation 1 55 Birth and Early Life 155 Teacher, Farmhand and OoUege Graduate.. 155 JournaUst and Lecturer 155 A List of his Works 156 ' Betsy and I Are Out ' 1 56 ' Gone With a Handsomer Man ' 157 CINCINNATUS HINER MILLER (JOAQUIN). Removal from Indiana to Oregon 160 Experiences in Mining and Filibustering ... 160 Marries and Becomes Editor and Lawyer. . . 160 Visit to London to Seek a Publisher 161 ' Thoughts of My Western Home ' 162 ' Mount Shasta ' 162 ' Kit Carson's Ride ' 163 'J. Miller's Alaska Letter ' 164 JAMES FENIMORE COOPER. First American Novelist 165 Birth and Childhood 165 The Wilderness his Teacher 165 Sailor Life 166 Marriage and Home 166 "The Spy " 166 Plaudits From Both Sides of the Atlantic. . . 166 The First Genuine Salt-water Novel 167 Removal to New York 1 67 A Six Years' Visit to Europe 167 His Remaining Nineteen Years 168 ' Encounter With a Panther ' 169 ' The Capture of a Whale ' 171 NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE. The Greatest of American Romancers . 173 Birth, Ancestors, and Childhood 1 73 Twelve Years of Solitary Existence 173 His First Book 174 "Twice Told Tales " 174 A Staunch Democrat 175 Marriage and the " Old Manse " 175 The Masterpiece in American Fiction 175 Books Written by Hawthorne 1 76 Death and Funeral 176 ' Emerson and the Emersonites ' 177 'Pearl' 177 ' Sights From a Steeple ' 179 ' A. Reminiscenfie of Early Life ' 179 PAOB EDWARD EVERETT HALE. Among the Best Known American Authors 181 A Noted Lecturer 181 Birth and Education 181 Career as a Clergyman 181 Newspaper and Magazine Work 181 A Prominent Short-Story-teller 182 An Historical Writer of Great Prominence. 182 Patriotic Interest in Public Affairs 182 'Lost' 182 WILLIAM DEAN HOWELLS. One of the Greatest of Modern American Novelists 184 Birth and Early Life 1 84 Editor of the " Ohio State Journal " 184 His First Volume of Verse 184 His "Life of Abraham Lincoln " 184 Consul to Venice 1 84 Mr. Howells' Works 185 Editor of the "Atlantic Monthly " 185 ' The First Boarder ' 1 86 ' Impressions on Visiting Pompeii ' 187 ' Venetian Vagabonds ' 188 GENERAL LEW WALLACE. Began His Literary Career Late in Life 189 Birth and Early Life 189 Lawyer and Soldier 189 Governor of Utah 189 Appointed i^linister to Turkey 189 His Most Popular Book 190 Enormous Circulation 1 90 ' Description of Christ ' 190 ' The Prince of India Teaches Re-incarnation ' 1 90 ' The Prayer of the Wandering Jew ' 191. ' Death of Montezuma ' 191 ' Description of Virgin Mary' 1 92 EDWARD EGGLESTON. Birth and Early Life 193 A Man of Self-culture 193 His Early Training 193 Religious Devotion and Sacrifice 194 Beginning of his Literary Career 194 What Distinguishes his Novels 194 List of his Chief Novels and Stories 194 'Spelling down the Master ' 195 CONTENTS. 19 I THOMAS NELSON PAGE. Birth and Earliest Recollections Childhood, Ancestors, and Education His First Literary Success " In Ole Virginia " and other stories Prominent Journalist and Lecturer A Tour Abroad 'Old Sue' EDWARD PAYSON ROE. Great Popularity Among the Masses The Character of his Novels Birth and Education Served as Chaplain During the Civil War List of His Works ' Christine, Awake For Your Life ' FRANCIS MARION CRAWFORD. "The Most Versatile of Modern Novelists" Birth, Ancestors, and Early Life Editor on the " Allahabad Herald " Varied Experiences How he Came to Write " Mr. Isaacs ". . . . His Most Popular Novels A Novel Written in Twenty-four Hours . . . His Other Chief Works ' Horace Bellingham ' ' In the Himalayas ' FRANCIS RICHARD STOCKTON. A Prolific and Popular Author Birth and Educational Training Engraver and Designer One New Book Almost Every Year Some of his Best Known Books 'The End of a Career ' EDWARD BELLAMY. A Most Remarkable Sensation 100,000 Copies Per Year Mr. Belamy's Ideal Birth aad Education His Books An Ideal Home ' Music in the Year 2000 ' GEORGE W. CABLE. " Circumstances Make the Man " Birth and Early Life Service in the Confederate Army Errand Boy in a Store 198 198 198 198 199 199 199 201 201 201 201 201 202 204 204 204 204 204 205 205 205 206 206 207 207 207 207 207 208 211 211 211 211 211 212 212 214 214 214 214 On the " New Orleans Picayune " 214 Dn ;'otes his Life to Literature 215 His Most Prominent Works 215 ' The Doctor ' 215 HARRIET BEECHER STOWE. Ancestors, P" h, and Girlhood 218 Removal to Cincinnati 21 8 A Trip Across the River 218 Marriage 2I8 Severe Trials 319 A Memorable Year 219 ' ' Uncle Tom's Cabin " 220 Her Pen Never Idle 221 Removal to Hartford, Conn 221 Her Death 221 ' The Little Evangelist ' 222 'The Other World ' 225 M. VIRGINIA TERHUNE (MARION HARLAND). Wide Variety of Talent 226 Birth and Education 226 Marriage and Home 226 Her Most Prominent Works 226 ' A Manly Hero ' 227 MARY ABIGAIL DODGE (GAIL HAMILTON). Essayist, Critic and Novelist 228 Birth and Education 228 Career as a Writer 228 Her Published Volumes 228 The Only Authorized Life of J. G. Blaine.. 229 'Fishing' 229 HELEN HUNT JACKSON. Helen Hunt's Cabin 2.31 Birth and Education 231 Marriage and Removal to Newport, R. I. . . 2.'^1 Her First Poems 232 Great Distinction as a AVriter 232 Removal to Colorado 232 At the Foot of Pike's Peak 232 List of her Most Prominent Works 232 Death and Burial Place 232 ' Christmas Night at St. Peter's 232 ' Choice of Colors ' 233 FRANCES H. BURNETT. Pluck, Energy and Perscvorance 235 Her First Story 235 20 CONTENTS. PAG< Marriage and Tour in Europe 235 Her Children Stories 235 A Frequent Contributor to Periodicals 235 ' Pretty Polly P. ' 236 MARY N. MUKFREE (CHAS. EGBERT CRADDOCK). An Amusing Story 238 Birth, Ancestry and Misfortunes 238 A Student of Humanity 238 Her Style Bold and Full of Humor 239 ' The Confession ' 239 ELIZABETH STUART PHELl'S WARD. Favorable Reception of " Gates Ajar !" 24() An Early Writer 240 A Long Series of Books 240 Marriage and Home 240 Her Purpose Always High 240 ' The Hands at Hayle and Kelso's '........ 241 AMELL\ E. BARR. Popularity of her Works 242 Her Sorrows and Hardships 242 Birth and Early Education 242 Marriage and Travels 242 Death of her Husband and Four Sons 242 An Instantly Successful Book 242 ' Little Jan's Triumph ' 243 ' The Old Piano ' 244 ALICE FRENCH (OCTAVE THANET). A Genuine Yankee Woman 245 Her Puritan Ancestry ... 245 Education and First Manuscript 245 Her First Book 245 Her Most Prominent Publications 245 Her nom-de-plume 246 Philosopher, Artist and Novelist 246 An Assiduous Student of her Subjects 246 * Two Lost and Found ' 246 JANE GOODWIN AUSTIN. A Famous Daughter of the "Pilgrims "... 248 Birth and Parents 248 A List of her Best Books 248 Her Personality 249 'An Afternoon in Nantucket ' 249 LYDTA H. SIGOURNEY. The Most Prolific of American Women Writers 252 PAOS Critical Estimate of her Works 252 Birth and Educational Advantages 252 Her First Book 253 Some of her Other Works 253 A Tour of Europe 253 Death 253 ' Columbus ' 254 ' The Alpine Flowers ' 254 ' Niagara ' 254 ' Death of an Infant ' 255 'A Butterfly on a Child's Grave ' 255 ELIZABETH OAKES SMITH. Ancestors and Birth 256 A Liberal Contributor to Periodicals 256 Her Published Works 256 ' The Step-mother ' 257 ' Guardian Angels ' 257 ' The Brook ' 258 ' The April Rain ' 259 ' Flowers ' 259 ' P]ros and Anteros ' 259 LUCY LARCOM. Operative in a Cotton Factory 260 Birth and Early Life 260 Her First Literary Production 260 Some of her Best Works 260 The Working Woman's Friend 261 ' Hannah Binding Shoes ' 261 ALICE AND PHCEBE CARY. Their Birth and Early Lot 262 Encouragement From Editors 262 Their First Volume 262 Some of their Prominent Works 262 A Comparison Between the Two Sisters. . . . 263 One iti Spirit through Life 263 United in Death 263 ' Pictures of Memory ' 264 ' Nobility ' 264 ' The Gray Swan ' 264 ' To the Evening Zepliyr ' 265 ' Death Scene ' 265 ' IMemories ' 266 Equal to Either Fortune ' 266 ' Light ' 267 LOUISE CHANDLER MOULTON. Birth and Education 268 Her First Book at Nineteen Years 268 CONTENTS. I Her Following Publications Residence in Boston and Trips Abroad . A Systematic Worker Personal Friendship ' If There Were Dreams to Sell ' ' Wife to Husband ' ' The Last (lood-Bye ' ' Next Year ' ' My Mother's Picture ' WASHINGTON IRVING. The First Great Pioneer in American Letters Birth and Ancestors Named After George Washington Early Success as a Journalist A Two Years' Trip in Europe A Shrewd Advertisement Seventeen Years Abroad The Winning Character of his Genius ' The Organ of Westminster Abbey ' 'Baltus Van Tassel's Farm ' ' Columbus at Barcelona ' ' The Galloping Hessian ' CHARLES DUDLEY WARNER. The Meditative School in American Literature Birth, Ancestry and Education Early Life In " The Brotherhood of Authors" His First Literary Work A Few of his Other Publications ' The Moral Quality of Vegetables ' PAGE 268 269 269 269 269 269 270 270 270 271 271 271 272 272 272 273 274 275 27.') 276 277 281 281 281 281 281 282 2S2 DONALD G. MITCHELL. Characteristics of the Author. . . . A Disciple of Washington Irving. Birth, Education, and Early Life. Home and Marriage U. S. Consul to Venice Semi-public Positions His Most Prominent Books ' Washington Irving ' ' Glimpses of ' ' Dream Life " ' . . . THOMAS WENTWORTH HIGGTNSON. A Noble Part in the Battles for Freedom. Activity in the Anti-Slavery Agitation . . . His Contributions to Literature A Popular Historian * A Puritan Sunday IMorning ' 284 2S4 284 284 285 285 285 285 297 297 297 298 298 HAMILTON W. MABIE. Birth, Family, and Education , Familiar with the Cla.ssics On the StaflFofthe ''Christian Union". Profound Study of the Problems of Life A Declaration Typical of all his Thought ' Country Sights and Sounds ' EDMUND CLARENCE STEDMAN. Two Sensational Poems Birth, Ancestry, and Early Life Journalist at Twenty-one On the New York " Tribune " Editor of the "World" A Remarkable War Letter A List of his ProTninent Works Poet and JMan of Business An Ideal Home Life ' Betrothed Anew ' ' The Door-Step ' GEORGE H. BANCROFT. The First Among American Historians Birth and Education Extensive Studies in Europe Appointed to the Chair of tireek in Harvard College A School of High Classical Character Official Service, Removal to New York Minister to Russia and to Germany His "History of the United States'' and other Works A Long and Useful Life ' Character of Roger Williams ' 'Destruction of the Tea in Boston Harbor'. ' Chivalry and Puritanisnj ' ' The Position of the Puritans ' JAMES PARTON. Ancestry, Birth, and Education .-. A Very Successful Teacher His Career as a Literary 3Iaii On the Staff of "The New York Ledger". His Most Prominent Works 'Old Virginia' 299 299 299 299 299 300 308 308 308 309 309 309 309 309 ;'.09 310 310 311 311 311 311 311 312 311s 312 313 313 314 314 315 316 317 ;]17 317 318 318 31 y FRANCIS PARKMAN. Birth, Education, and Visit Abroad ... A Summer With the Dakotah Indians. 321 321 22 CONTENTS. PAGE Compelled to Suspend Intellectual Work . . . 322 An Interesting Example of his Persistency. 322 His Interest in Horticulture 322 ' The New England Colonies ' 323 ' The Heights of Abraham ' 324 WILLIAM H. PRESCOTT. A Popular Historian 326 Birth, Parentage and Early Life 326 A Tiiorough Pi-eparation 326 Marriage and Happy Home 327 His Method of Composition 327 Successful as a Writer from the First 328 A List of his Works 328 Many Engaging Qualities 329 ' The Golden Age of Tezcuco ' 329 ' The Banquet of the Dead ' 330 JOHN L. MOTLEY. Birth, Boyhood, and Early Associates 332 Intimate Friend of Prince Bismarck 332 Member of Massachusetts' Legislature 332 " History of Holland " 333 Minister to Austria, 1861; to England, 1869. 333 Patriot, Scholar, Historian 334 ' Bismarck ' 335 ' The Siege of Leyden ' 336 ' Assassination of William of Orange ' 337 JOHN FISKE. Precocious Ability 338 Birth, Education and Early Life 338 His Literary Work and Most Noted Books. 338 His Principal Historical Works 339 His School-books 339 ' Land Discovered ' 339 ' The Federal Convention ' 340 JOHN B. McM ASTER. Excelling in Different Fields 342 Parentage, Birth and Early Life 342 Professor of American History 342 His View of History 342 Instructor of the Young 342 ' The American Workman in 1784 ' 343 ' The Minister in New England' 344 FRANCES M. WHITCHER (THE WIDOW BEDOTT). Her nora-de-plume 345 PA OB Richness of Humor - . - 345 Birth, Childhood and Education 346 Marriage and Literary Fame 346 Removal from Elmira, N. Y 346 ' Widow Bedott to Elder Sniffles ' 346 'The Widow's Poetry and her Comments on the Same About Hezekiah ' 347 CHARLES F. BROWN (ARTEMUS WARD). Birth and Education 349 On the "Commercial," Toledo, Ohio 349 Local Editor of the " Plain Dealer " 349 Successful Lecturer in England 350 Death at Southampton 3.50 His Works 350 'Artemus Ward Visits the Shakers '. 350 'At the Tomb of Shakespeare ' 351 HENRY W. SHAW (JOSH BILLINGS). Birth and Education 352 His Early Life of Adventure 352 Entered the Lecture Field 352 Contributor to "The New York Weekly ". . 352 His Published Books 352 ' Manifest Destiny ' 353 ' Letters to Farmers ' 354 SAMUEL L. CLEISIENS (MARK TWAIN). A World-wide Reputation 355 Birth, Boyhood and Education 355 His Pilot Life 355 Editor of the Virginia City " Enterprise " . . 355 Journalist and Gold Digger 355 A Trip to Hawaii 355 Innocents Abroad 355 Some of his Other Works 356 A Lecturing Trip Around the World 356 'Jim Smiley's Frog ' 356 ' Uncle Dan'l's Apparition and Prayer ' 357 ' The Babies ' 359 MARIETTA HOLLEY (JOSIAH ALLEN'S WIFE). A Writer at an Early Age 360 Birth and Ancestors 360 Rise and Increase of Her Fame 360 Some of her Prominent Works 360 A Quarter Million Copies Sold 360 Characteristics of her Books 361 ' Josiah Allen's Wife Calls on the President' 361 CONTENTS. 23 PAGB CHARLES F. ADAMS (YAWCOB STRAUSS). A Not-Soon-to-be-Forgotten Author 363 Birth, Education and Early Life 363 Service in Many Hard-fought Battles 363 Prominent Business Man 363 A Contributor to Prominent Journals 363 A Genial and Companionable Man 363 ' Der Drummer ' 364 ' Hans and Fritz ' 364 ' Yawcob Strauss ' 364 ' Mine IModer-in-Law ' 365 ' Yawcob's Dribulations ' 365 'The J^izzled Dutchman ' 366 ' Der Oak and Der Vine ' 366 EDGAR WILSON NYE (BILL NYE). A Man of Genuine Wit 368 Birth and Early Surroundings 368 Studied Law, Admitted to the Bar 368 Organized the Nye Trust 368 Famous Letters from Buck's Shoals, N. C. • 368 " History of the United States " 369 His Death 369 'The Wild Cow ' 369 'Mr. Whisk's True Love .' 369 The Discovery of New York ' 370 JOEL C. HARRIS (UNCLE REMUS). "An Accidental Author " 372 Birth and Humble Circumstances 372 In the Office of the " Countryman " 372 Beginning of his Literary Career 372 Studied and Practiced Law 373 Co-editor of the Atlanta " Constitution "... 373 His Works 373 'Mr. Rabbit, Mr. Fox, and Mr. Buzzard'.. 373 ROBERT J. BURDETTB. A Prominent Place Among "Funny Men". 377 Birth and Early Education 377 Fought in the Civil War 377 Journalist, Lecturer and Baptist Minister.. . 377 Contributor to " Ladies' Home Journal " . . 377 His Other Works 377 ' The Movement Cure for Rheumatism" 378 LOUISA M. ALCOTT. Architect of her Own Fortune 380 Her Father's Misfortunes 380 PAOT Her Early Writings 380 Her Letters in the Government Hospitai.s . . 381 Young People's True Friend 381 Her Books sgj An Admirer of Emerson 381 A Victim of Over-Work 382 ' How Jo Made Friends " 382 WILLIAM T. ADAMS (OLIVER OPTIC). Writer for the Young 384 Birth and Early Life 384 Teacher in Public Schools of Boston 384 His Editorials and Books. 384 H is Style and Influence 384 ' The Sloop That Went to the Bottom ' 384 SARAH JANE LIPPINCOTT (GRACE GREENWOOD). Favorite Writer for Little Children 386 Birth and Childhood 3S6 Her Marriage 3S6 Contributions to Journals and Magazines. . . 3S6 Her Numerous Books 386 Life Abroad 3S6 ' The Baby in the Bath Tub ' 386 HORATIO ALGER. A Wholesome Author for Young People. . . 389 His First Book, Great Success 389 A New Field 389 Birth, Education and P]arly Life 389 Residence in New York 389 Some of his Most I'rominent Books 390 ' How Dick Began the Day ' 390 EDWARD ELLIS. Birth and Early Life 392 His Historical Text-Books 392 His Contributions to Children's Papers 392 ' The Signal Fire ' 392 MARTHA FTNLEY. Birth , Ancestry and Early Life 394 Beginning of her Literary Career 394 Struggle Against Adversity 394 Great Exertions 394 ' Elsie Series,' Great Popularity 395 ' Elsie's Disappointment ' 395 24 CONTENTS. PAGE MARY MAPES DODGE. Writer of Stories for Children 398 Birth and Parentage 398 Married William Dodge 398 Contributor to " Hearth and Home " 398 Success of her Works , 398 Editor of ' ' St. Nicholas Magazine " 398 Her Home in New York 398 ' Too Much of a Good Thing ' 399 HORACE GREELEY. Birth and Early Taste for Literature 401 On the " Northern Spectator " 4Ul Tries his Fortune in New York 401 Part Owner of the " New Yorker " 401 The '' Log Cabin "and the N.Y. "Tribune" 401 Elected to Congress 402 His Works 403 Nominated for Presidencj' 403 His Last Resting Place 403 'A Debtor's Slavery ' 403 ' The Press ' 405 CHARLES A. DANA. One of Our Foremost Men 406 Birth and Early Life 406 A Remarkable Life 406 His Education and College Career 406 Joining the " Brook Farm " Men 406 His First Journalistic Experience 407 On the New York ' ' Tribune " 407 Busy Years 407 Difference Between Mr. Greeley and Mr. Dana 407 Assistant Secretary of War 407 One Year in Chicago 407 Manager of the New York " Sun " 407 ' Roscoe Conkling ' 408 LYMAN ABBOTT. Ancestors, Birth and Education 41 1 Ordained a Minister 411 Sewetary to the American Freedmen's Com- mission ' 41 ] Work as a Journalist 411 Successor of Henry Ward Beecher 412 Prolific Publisher 412 Successful Pulpit Speaker 412 'The Jesuits'..... 412 'The Destruction of the Cities of the Plain . 413 PAGE HENRY W. WATTERSON. Influential Modern Journalist 414 Birth and Education 4l4 Editor of the "Republican Banner " 414 Service in the Confederate Army 414 The '■ Courier- Journal," Louisville, Kj'. . . . 414 Prominent Part in Politics 414 ' The New South " 414 MURAT HALSTEAD. Odc of the Greatest Living Journalists 416 Nativity, Early Life and Education 416 Editor of "The Commercial," Cincinnati, Ohio 416 A Continued Success 417 Correspondent During the Franco-Prussian War, 1870.... 417 In Washington and New York 417 Home and Family Life 418 ' The Young Man at the Door ', 418 WHITELAW REID. " Fortune Favors the Brave " 420 Birth and Early Training 420 War Correspondent to the "Cincinnati Ga- zette" 420 An Important A\'ork 420 Editorial Writer Upon N. Y. "Tribune".. 420 His Most Prominent Works 421 His Palatial Home and Family liil'e 421 ' Pictures of a Louisiana Plantation ' 421 ALBERT SHAW. Birth, Education and Personal Character- istics 424 Residence in Baltimore 424 On the Minneapolis Daily " Tribune " 425 Extensive Studies Abroad 425 Editor of the "Review of Reviews " 425 Great Success 42-5 ' Recent Development of the West ' 425 JULIAN HAWTHORNE. His Imaginative Power, Vivid Statement. . . 427 Parentage, Birth and Travels Abroad 427 College Life and Early Training 427 Long Sojourn Abroad 427 Some of his Most Prominent Works 427 Expedition to India 427 CONTENTS. 25 ' The Wayside and the War ' 428 ' First Months in England ' 428 The Horrors of the Plague in India ' 429 RICHARD HARDING DAVIS. Marvelous Skill in Seeing the World 430 A Clever Newspaper Reporter 430 Birth and Hereditary Bent for Letters 430 Interesting Career as a Journalist 430 The Book that Made Him Famous 430 Some of His Other Works 431 ' The Greek Defence of Velestino ' 431 PATRICK HENRY. His Talents as a Popular Orator 433 Parentage and PMucation 433 Marriage and Early Life 433 A Prominent Lawyer 433 Bold Principles 433 The Leader of his Colony 433 The First Governor of Virginia 434 His Death 434 ' Resistance to British Aggression 434 ' The War Inevitable ' 435 HENRY CLAY. The "Great Pacificator " 436 Birth, Early Hardships, Toil and Poverty .. 436 Removal to Kentucky and Success 436 Marriage and Home 436 In the Senate of the United States 436 Member of the House of Representatives. . 436 Elected Speaker 436 Secretary of State 437 The Conflict of 1818 437 The Disappointment of His Life 437 The " Compromise " of 1850 437 The Leading Object of His Life 438 ' Defence of Jefferson,' 1813 438 ' Reply to John Randolph ' 438 On Recognizing tlie Independence of Greece' 439 DANIEL WEBSTER. First among the " Makers of the Nation" . . 440 Birth, Ancestors and Early Life 440 The " Webster's Boy " 440 Extraordinary Memory. 440 Majestic Appearance 440 Lawyer, Orator and Statesman 440 A Famous Case 441 His Most Famous Speeches 442 PAOR Secretary of State 442 Home and Home Life 442 Death and Funeral 442 ' South Carolina and Massachusetts," 442 ' Liberty and Union ' 443 ' The Eloquence of Action ' 444 ' The Twenty-second of February ' 444 ' America's Gift to Europe ' 445 EDWARD EVERETT. The Great Charm of His Orations 446 Birth, Education and Early Life 446 Professor of Greek at Harvard College 446 Editor of the "North American Review." 446 Member of Congress 446 Minister to England 446 President of Harvard College 447 Secretary of State 447 His Lectures and Orations 447 Death 447 ' Twenty-five Years of Peace ' 447 ' The Father of the Republic ' 448 ' The Land of Our Forefathers ' 448 WENDELL PHILLIPS. "The Silvery-tongued Orator " 449 How He came into Prominomo 449 A Memorable Speech 449 Birth, Parents and Education 450 A Popular Lecturer 450 His Most Celebrated Addresses 4.50 ' Political Agitation ' 450 ' Toussaint LOuverture ' ' 451 HENRY WARD BEECHER. No Superior as Pulpit Orator 452 Parentage, Birth and Childhood 452 Education and Conversion 452 His Marriage and First Pastorate 453 Pastor of Plymouth Church , Brooklyn, N . Y. 453 A Bold Abolitionist 453 Ever the Champion of the Right 454 His Death and Funeral 454 ' Public Dishonesty ' 455 Eulogy on General Grant ' 45f? From ' ' The Sparks of Nature '^ ' 457 JOHN B. GOUGH. A Great National Orator 458 Birth and Early Life 45.s A Life of Hopeless Dissipation 45S 26 OONTENTH. PAOE Public Confession and Reformation 458 A Popular Lecturer 458 Called to England 458 A Happy Life 459 His Published Works 459 ' Water and Rum ' 459 ' The Power of Habit ' 460 ' What is a Minority ?'..,. 461 OHAUNCEY M. DEPEW. Great Versatility » 462 Birth, Ancestors and Bo3fhood. ........... 462 A Close Student of Politics 462 A Highly Successful Lawyer 462 A Giant in Politics 462 Member of Congress 463 Secretary of State 463 Minister to Japan 463 His Career as a Railway Man 463 ' The Pilgrims ' 464 HENRY W. GRADY. Devoid of Sectional Animosities 465 The Union His Pride 465 Eloquent, Logical and Aggressive 465 His Principal Speeches 465 Birth, Parentage and Education 466 Marriage and Struggle for Existence 466 "A Friend in Need " 466 Success at Last 466 Premature Death 466 ' The New South ' 467 ' Regard for the Negro Race ' 467 ' Appeal for Temperance ' 468 JULIA WARD HOWE. Her Home a Meeting Place for Great Men. 469 Birth, Parentage and Education 469 Marriage and Tour Abroad 469 Her First Book 469 Interest in the Anti-Slavery Question 469 Her Famous ' ' Battle Hymn " 469 Visit to England 470 A New Journey Abroad 470 ' The Battle Hymn of the Rebublic ' 470 • Our Country ' 471 ' The Unspeakable Pang ' 471 MARY A. LIVERMORE. Her Early Experience • 473 Birth, Parentage and Education 473 Teacher of Latin and French 473 In the South 473 PAOB "Marriage 473 An Active Temperance Worker 473 Her Literary Work 474 War Service 474 An Ardent Woman-SuflFragist 474 Her Pen Never Idle 475 ' Useful Women ' 475 BELVA ANN LOCKWOOD. One of the Greatest Benefactors of Her Sex 477 Birth, Education and Early Life 477 Professor at Lockport Academy 477 Admission to the Supreme Court of the U. S. 477 A Remarkable Nomination 478 Great Popularity 478 Several Times Delegate to International Con- gresses of Peace 478 Assistant Editor to the " Peacemaker" .... 478 ' Address before the Committee of the House of Delegates, Washington, in Support of Woman Suffrage ' 479 SUSAN B. ANTHONY. Early Life and Education 481 How She Became an Abolitionist, Woman- Suffragist and Temperance Worker. . 481 Arrested, Tried and Fined for Voting 482 Speeches and Lectures 482 Celebration of Her Seventieth Birthday 482 ' Woman's Right to Suffrage 483 ELIZABETH CADY STANTON. Forceful, Logical and Eloquent Orator 485 Primarily a Woman-Suffragist 485 Birth, Childhood and Education 485 How She Became a Woman's Rights Believer 485 How She Became an Abolitionist 485 The First Woman's Rights Convention .... 485 Her Addresses and Speeches 486 Her Literary Works 486 A Thoroughly Domestic Woman 486 ' A Plea for EqUal Rights ' 486 ' Address to the Legislature of New York ' . 487 FRANCES E. WILLARD. Birth, Childhood and Early Life 489 Teacher and President of Evanston College. 489 TheWomen's "Crusade against Rum Shops" 489 Joining in the Crusade 489 The Result of Her Work 490 ' Home Protection ' . . : 490 CX)NTENTa. 27 LTDIA MARIA CHILD. Activity against the "Fugitive Slave Law". 492 Birth, Education and Early Life 492 Her First Book a Success 492 Marriage and Anti-Slavery Work 493 The First Anti-Slavery Book in America. . . 493 ' A Little Waif 494 'To Whittier on His Seventieth Birthday. . 494 ' Politeness ' 494 ' Flowers ' 495 ' Unselfishness ' 495 pAai ANNA ELIZABETH DICKINSON. A Fearless Girl 495 Birth, Childhood and Education 496 Her Debut Before the Public 496 Cast Upon the World 496 How She was Named "The Girl Orator ". . 496 The Mistake of Her Life 497 Misfortunes and Difficulties 497 Rare Eloquence and Dramatic Fervor 497 ' Why Colored Men Should Enlist in the Army ' 497 MISCELLANEOUS MASTERPIECES. 'Home, Sweet Home ' 499 ' The Star-Spangled Banner ' 499 ' The American Flag ' 500 ' Blind Man and the Elephant ' 501 ' Hail, Columbia ! ' 501 ' Betty and the Bear ' 502 ' Visit of St. Nicholas ' 503 ' Woodman, Spare that Tree ' 505 ' Sanctity of Treaties, 1796 ' 505 'The Bloom was on the Alder and the Tassel on the Corn ' 505 ' The Declaration of Independence ' 500 'Washington's Address to His Soldiers, 1776'.. 507 'The General Government and the States ' 507 ' What Saved the Union ' 508 ' The Birthday of Washington ' 508 ' Oh ! Why Should the Spirit of Mortal be Proud?' 509 'Columbus in Chains ' 510 'The Bivouac of the Dead ' 510 ' Address at the Dedication of Gett5'sburg Ceme- tery ' 511 ' Memory ' 511 ' All Quiet Along the Potomac ' 512 'A Life on the Ocean Wave ' 512 'The Blue and the Gray' 513 ' Roll-call ' 513 ' Theology in the Quarters ' 514 ' Ruin Wrought by Rum ' 514 ' To a Skeleton ' 515 ' Pledge with Wine ' 515 ' Spartacus to the Gladiators at Capua ' 517 ' The Crabbed Man ' 518 ' Putting up 0' the Stove ' 519 ' The Poor Indian ! ' 521 ' Jenkins Goes to a Picnic ' 521 ' Sewing on a Button '. 522 ' Casev at the Bat ' 522 ' The Magical Isle ' 523 ' Stray Bits of Character ' 524 • GUmpses of Droam-life ' 529 ■ The Origin of a Type of the American Girl ' . . 541 THE TEN GREATEST BOOKS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY .",17 Authors and Books Enumerated— Life Sketches and Reviews of Authors and Books, with lv\iracts from their Writings. AMERICAN LITERATURE IN THE CLOSING YEARS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 507 Character of the Literature of the Day— Famous Novels and their Authors— Historical Fiction- Poetry— Favorite Selections and Quotations. CONGRESSIONAL LIBRARY-INTERIOR VIEW SELECTIONS SUITABLE FOR RECTrATIOX. ARKANGED ALPHABETICALLY. PAGE I Act for Truth 108 Address at the Dedication of Gettysburg Ceme- tery 511 All Quiet Along the Potomac 512 Alpine Flowers, The 25-4 Alpine Sheep, The 1 10 American Workman in 178-4, Tiie 343 American Flag, The 500 Annabel Lee 50 Appeal for Temperance 468 April Rain, The 259 Arab to the Palm, The Ill Artemus Ward at the Tomb of Shakespeare 350 Artemus Ward Visits the Shakers 351 Babies, The 359 Banquet of the Dead, The 330 Barefoot Boy, The 85 Battlefield, The 41 Bells, The 53 Betsy and I are Out 1 5G Betty and the Bear 502 Bill and Joe 93 Birthday of Washington, The 508 Bison Track, The 110 Bivouac of the Dead, The 510 Blue and the Gray, The 513 Butterfly on a Child's Grave, A 255 Chambermaid Nautilus, The 95 Character of Roger Williams 314 Chivalry and Puritanism 315 Christine, Awake for Your Life 202 Christmas Night at St. Peter's 232 Columbus 254 Columbus at Barcelona 276 Crabbed Man, The 518 David's Lament for Absalom 116 Death of an Infant 255 Debtor's Slavery, A 'l^'^ Declaration of Independence, The 506 Defence of Jefferson, 18] 3 438 Der Drummer "^''"^ PAGB Description of Virgin ^lary 1 92 Dickens in Camp 150 Discovery of New York, Tlie 370 Dutch Lullaby, A 153 Dying Alchemist, The 117 Eloquence of Action, The 444 Emerson and the Emersonites 177 P]ncounter with a Panther 109 P]ulogy on General Grant 450 Excelsior 64 Father of the Republic, The 44S Fourth of July Ode U)9 General Government and the States, The 5()7 Gone With a ILindsomer Man 147 Hannah Binding Shoes 261 Hans and Fritz 304 How Jo IMade Friends 382 Hymn Sung at the Completion of the Concord IMonumcnt (1836) 75 Hymn to the Beautiful 121 If There were Dreams to Sell 269 In Prison for Debt 88 Israfel ^2 Jim Bludso 1-11 Jim Smiley's Frog ^•''' Josiah Allen's Wife Calls on the President oOl Kit Carson's Ride K'^'- Land of Our Forefatliers, Tiie 448 Lenore ' Letters to I'armors ^-'^ Liberty and Union 443 Life 3Iask of Abraham Lincoln, The 1 36 little Breeches '40 Manifest Destiny ^'■^ Maud Muller ^^ SELECTIONS SUITABLE FOR RECITATION OR READING. PAGE Mine Moder-in-Law 365 Moral Qualities of Vegetables, The 282 Movement Cure for Rheumatism, The 378 Mr. Rabbit, Mr. Fox and Mr. Buzzard 373 Music in the Year 2000 212 My Mother's Picture 270 New South, The 414 New South, The 467 Niagara 254 Norse Lullaby, A 154 Captain ! My Captain ! 126 Oh ! Why Should the Spirit of Mortal be Proud ? 509 Old Ireland 127 Old Ironsides 94 Old.Virginia 319 Ole Sue 199 On Recognizing the Independence of Greece . . . 439 Organ of Westminster Abbey, The 275 Other World, The 225 Our Hired Girl 146 Our Two Opinions 153 Pearl 177 Pictures of Memory 264 Pilgrims, The 464 Political Agitation 450 Power of Habit, The 460 Prayer of the Wandering Jew 191 Public Dishonesty 455 Puritan Sunday Morning, A 298 Puzzled Dutchman, The 366 Raggedy Man, The 146 Raven, The 55 Regard for the Negro Race. 467 Resistance to British Aggression 434 PAGE Roll-call 513 Ruin Wrought by Rum 514 Sanctity of Treaties &05 Sargent's Portrait of Edwin Booth at "The Players " 133 Sheridan 1 36 Siege of Leyden, The 336 Society upon the Stanislaus, The 149 Song of the Camp, The Ill South Carolina and jMassachusetts 442 Spartacus to the Gladiators at Capua 517 Spelling Down the Master 195 Star-Spangled Banner, The 499 Theology in the Quarters 514 To a Skylark 98 To a Water-fowl 38 Toussaint I'Ouverture 451 Twenty-five Years of Peace .• 447 Twenty -second of February, The 445 Uncle Dan'l's Apparition and Prayer 357 Venetian Vagabonds 188 Visit from St. Nicholas 503 War Inevitable, The 435 Washington's Address to His Soldiers 507 Water and Rum 459 What is a Minority ? 461 What Saved the Union 508 Widow Bedott to Elder Sniffles 346 Woodman, Spare that Tree 505 Wreck of the Hesperus, The 65 Yawcob Strauss 364 SIX G 1%E AT ANTE RiCAN P O E T S -v#^,Jf %♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ 4.^ > MMW'Mi»n»'U'MiM'Ml''ll'''MIIIIUIllllllillllllllll|lll|l||llll|l l||l|ll l | l | ll l |l |)l l|l || ll|l|liril|l l| |ll ir ^# %♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦«•♦ ♦♦<^♦ ^/ t t t t t ♦ ♦<'>€)ns in those solitudes, since first The flight of years began, have laid them down In their last sleep, — the dead reign there alone. So shalt thou rest ; and what if thou withdraw In silence from the living, and no friend Take note of thy departure ? All that breathe Will share thy destiny. The gay will laugh When thou art gone, the solemn brood of care Plod on, and each one, as before, will chase His favorite phantom ; yet all these shall leave Their mirth and their employments, and i^hall come And make their bed with thee. As the lung train Of ages glides away, the sons of men — The youth in life's green spring, and he who goes In the full strength of years, matron and maid. And the sweet babe, and the gray-headed man — Shall, one by one, be gather'd to thy side. By those who in their turn shall follow them. So live that, when thy sumnmns Cdmes to join The innumerable caravan, which moves To that mysterious realm where each shall take His chamber in the silent halls of death. Thou go not, like the quarry-slave at night. Scourged to his dungeon ; but, sustain'd and soothed By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams. WAITING BY THE GATE. ESIDES the massive gateway built up in years gone by, Upon whose top the clouds in eternal shadow lie. While streams the evening sunshine on the quiet wood and lea, I stand and calmly wait until the hinges turn for me. *The following copyrighted selections from Wm. Cullen Bryant are inserted by permission of D. Appleton & Co., the pub- lishers of his works. WILLIAM CULLEir BRYANT. 57 The tree tops faintly rustle beneath the breeze's flight, A soft soothing sound, yet it whispers of the night ; I hear the woodthrush piping one mellow descant more, And scent the flowers that blow when the heat of day is o'er. Behold the portals open and o'er the threshold, now. There steps a wearied one with pale and furrowed brow ; His count of years is full, his alloted task is wrought ; He passes to his rest from a place that needs him not. In sadness, then, I ponder how quickly fleets the hour Of human strength and action, man's courage and his power. I muse while still the woodthrush sings down the golden day, And as I look and listen the sadness wears away. Again the hinges turn, and a youth, departing throws A look of longing backward, and sorrowfully goes; A blooming maid, unbinding the roses from her hair, Moves wonderfully away from amid the young and fair. Oh, gl iry of our race that so suddenly decays ! Oh, crimson flush of morning, that darkens as we gaze ! Oh, breath of summer blossoms that on the restless air Scatters a moment's sweetness and flies we know not where. I grieve for life's bright promise, just shown and then withdrawn ; But still the sun shines round me ; the evening birds sing on ; And I again am soothed, and beside the ancient gate. In this soft evening sunlight, I calmly stand and wait. Once more the gates are opened, an infant group go out. The sweet smile quenched forever, and stilled the sprightly shout. Oh, frail, frail tree of life, that upon the greensward strews Its fair young buds unopened, with every wind that blows ! So from every region, so enter side by side, The strong and faint of spirit, the meek and men of pride. Steps of earth's greatest, mightiest, between those pillars gray. And prints of little feet, that mark the dust away. And some approach the threshold whose looks are blank with fear, And some whrjse temples brighten with joy are draw- ing near. As if they saw dear faces, and caught the gracious eye Of Him, the Sinless Teacher, who came for us to die. I mark the joy. the terrors ; yet these, within my heart. Can neither wake the dread nor the longing to depart ; And, in the sunshine streaming of quiet wood and lea, I stand andcalmlv wait until the hinires turn for me « BLESSED ARE THEY THAT MOURN." DEEM not they are blest alone Whose lives a peaceful tenor keep ; The Power who pities man has shown A blessing for the eyes that weep. The light of smiles shall fill again The lids that overflow with tears ; And weary hours of woe and pain Are promises of happier years. There is a day of sunny rest For every dark and troubled night ; And grief may bide an evening guest, But joy shall come with early light. And thou, who, o'er thy friend's low bier, Shed