^^HiT-W^ (jj^A/aolt/wvst^ AJaim J^-«%m5 W^w -TilT-f'TiiiMi^i ■■^aai^Wi'r.Tmwl—': :^aaaM r5 CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY FROM Cornell University Library J)^ PS 2281.A93 Henry Wadsworth Longfellow-hls life, his iry 1 I 3 1924 022 205 029 The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924022205029 Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Birthplace of Longfellow. (1807 ) HIS LIFE HIS WOEKS HIS FRIENDSHIPS Henry Wadsworth Longfellow HIS LIFE, HIS WORKS, HIS FRIENDSHIPS BY GEORGE LOWELL AUSTIN ILLUSTRATED BOSTON LEE AND SHEPARD, PUBLISHERS 1883 /\. I 03 02 ^ COPTBIGHT, 1882, BY LEB AND SHBPARD. All rights reserved. PREFACE. I FIRST became acquainted with Mr. Longfellow lu the autumn of 1868, a few days after taking up my residence in Cambridge. Many circumstances, irrespec- tive of the characteristic good will and geniality of the poet, tended to ripen this acquaintance into a friendship, to which I now revert with more than ordinary pleasure and gratification. Thenceforth we met frequently and talked over matters which, I have no doubt, interested me much more than they did my friend. In 1876 my "History of Massachusetts" was published. Having examined a copy of the work, Mr. Longfellow sent for me one day and suggested the preparation of a work which should comprise in its subject-matter very full biographical data relative to our elder American poets. The suggestion was duly considered, and the project seemed to me to be at that time perfectlj' feasible. Upon making known to Mr. Longfellow my decision, it was at once agreed that we should begin with his own literary life and works. At intervals he gave me much of his valuable time, and I very carefully gathered together from his lips my memoranda. The removal of the poet to his summer home at Nahant naturally suspended the IV PEBFACB. interviews ; and, while I hoped to continue my pleasant labors in the autumn of 1877, other duties of a personal nature interfered and at length forced me to confess, in response to repeated inquiries of Mr. Longfellow, my inability at the time to complete the plan which he had so kindly proposed. Soon after the death of Mr. Longfellow, Mr. John Owen, his life-long friend, strongly urged me to again take up the work, and at the same time offered me his generous advice and assistance. He freely placed at my disposal all the facts in his possession, and jotted down from memory many more. We were daily together ; and the work was rapidly, but carefully and conscientiously, carried forward. About the middle of April, 1882, on a Sunday and just after we had completed our memoranda, we strolled off together. The bright sun was overhead, but the air was chilly and the earth was damp. That evening Mr. Owen was taken ill, and continued so for nearly a fortnight. His malady was not thought to be serious at first by his attending physician, but the end proved otherwise ; and he passed quietly away on the 22nd, in the seventy-sixth year of his age. I can pay no better tribute to my friend's memory than this : he was ever conscientious in his opinions, untiring in his search after truth, and faithful to all whom he recognized as his friends. Though his name does not appear as often as it ought in the following pages, still I am only too glad to acknowledge my great indebtedness to him from the first page to the last. PEBPAOB. V Without Mr. Owen's assistance I should never have completed this volume. At his earnest entreaty, I at once made known to the Rev. Samuel Longfellow, the younger brother of the poet, and himself a true poet as well, the purpose which I had in mind. I did this be- cause I was unwilling to undertake such a work without the knowledge of the family, and still I did not feel like taking counsel with the latter at such a premature mo- ment. The Rev. Mr. Longfellow received me most cor- dially and encouraged me to go on with the enterprise. In the preparation of this volume I have had specially one object ; namely, to present a clear but popular pic- ture of the poet's literary life. The details of his personal and private life, or at least so much of it as belongs by right strictly to his family, I have purposely avoided. It will be noticed also, that I have as a rule omitted all correspondence which passed between Mr. Longfellow and his friends and admirers. Many of my own recollec- tions of the poet are scattered throughout the work ; but I have thought it proper to omit such as are purely private and possess no particular public interest. For the same reason, I have endeavored not to thrust myself into the narrative any oftener than it seemed necessary to estab- lish a fact or to venture an opinion. To the surviving classmates of the poet, and to others among his most intimate friends, I stand largely indebted. My correspondence has been large, and the responses have been full and generous ; and I only regret that I have not the space to mention the names of those to VI PEEFACE. whom in general terms I must again acknowledge my gratitude for assistance. Tlie frontispiece portrait of Mr. Longfellow is a repro- duction, by the Lithotype Company of New York, from the latest and most admired negative taken by Mr. Warren. For brilliancy, softness and accuracy of detail, it is truly admirable. The work is now committed to the public in the hope that it will not be found wanting in interest and value. Mr. Longfellow's life throughout was a plea for cheerful- ness and good will to his fellow-men. I trust that the story of his life, as portrayed in these pages, will not fail to teach the same inspiring and ennobling lesson. G. L. A. Cambridge, Mass. COKTEIsrTS. PAGE CHAPTER I. The Ancestbt op the Poet 7 CHAPTER II. BiBTH AND EABLY CHILDHOOD 32 CHAPTER III. College Days . : 53 CHAPTER IV. The Eaeliee Poems of Longfellow 80 CHAPTER V. Longfellow's Fibst Visit to Etjkope 105 CHAPTER VI. Longfellow a Pbofessoe in Bowdoin College . . . 163 CHAPTER Vn.. Invited to Cambbidge: Eevisits Eubope 187 CHAPTER VIII. Longfellow's Fibst Yeaes in Cambbidge 198 vii Vm CONTENTS. PAGE CHAPTER IX. "Hyperion" and "Voices of the Night" .... 224 CHAPTER X. " Ballads AiTD Othek Poems " 259 CHAPTER XI. The Period op Longfellow's Second Maekiage . . 279 CHAPTER XII. "Evangeline, a Tale of Acadie " 297 CHAPTER Xm. The Period of "Hiawatha" 314 CHAPTER XIV. Teaks of Adversity and Toil 333 CHAPTER XV. The Translation op Dante 351 CHAPTER XVI. The Last Ten Tears 363 CHAPTER XVII. Last Illness and Death 378 APPENDIX: Longfellow's Bibliography 405 INDEX 411 ILLUSTEATIOIvrS. PAGE POKTBAIT OF LONGFELLOW. A LiTHOTTPE REPRODUCTION OF ONE OP THE Last Negatives taken by "Wakren of Bos- ton. The Picture was a Favorite of the Poet, Frontispiece The Granite Horse-Block and the Large Elm at New- bury, Mass. Prom a Photograph kindly furnished by Mr. William A. Ford of Boston 9 The Old Longfellow Homestead at Newbury, Mass. From A Photograph taken in March, 1882, by Mr. Ford, and LOANED by him 10 The Wadsworth House, at Portland, Me 23 Longfellow's Birthplace, at Portland, Me., as it appears IN 1882 33 The Old Wharf, at Portland, Me 41 Longfellow's Birthplace, as it appeared in 1807. Taken from an Old Engraving 44 Professor Cleaveland on the Lecture-Path 59 BowDOiN College in 1830 61 Profile Portrait of Longfellow in the Year of his Graduation from Bowdoin College 78 Portrait of Longfellow at the Age of Twenty-five, Facing 165 The Cbaigib House at Cambridge, Mass.: the Home of THE Poet from the Time of his Arrival in Cambridge, Facing 200 Harvard College at the Time of the Second Centennial Celebration in 1836 217 Mary Ashburton 235 van CONTENTS. PAGE CHAPTER IX. 'Hyperion" and "Voices of the Night" .... 224 CHAPTER X. "Ballads and Otheb Poems" 259 CHAPTER XI. The Pekiod op Longfellow's Second Maekiagb . • 279 CHAPTER XII. " Evangeline, a Tale of Acadie " 297 CHAPTER Xm. The Period of "Hiawatha" 314 CHAPTER XIV. Yeabs of Advebsitt and Toil 333 CHAPTER XV. The Translation op Dante 351 CHAPTER XVI. The Last Ten Tears 363 CHAPTER XVII. Last Illness and Death 378 APPENDIX: Longfellow's Bibliogeapht 405 INDEX 411 ILLUSTEATIOI^S. PAGE POETKAIT OF LONGPBLLOW. A LiTHOTTPE KePBODUCTION OF ONE OF THE Last Negatives taken by Wakben of Bos- ton. The Picture was a Favorite of the Poet, Frontispiece The Granite Horse-Block and the Large Elm at New- bury, Mass. From a Photograph kindly furnished by Mr. William A. Ford of Boston 9 The Old Longfellow Homestead at Newbury, Mass. From a Photograph taken in March, 1882, by Mr. Ford, and loaned by him 10 The Wadswobth House, at Portland, Me 23 Longfellow's Birthplace, at Portland, Me. , as it appears IN 1882 33 The Old Wharf, at Portland, Me 41 Longfellow's Birthplace, as it appeared in 1807. Taken ■ PROM an Old Engraving 44 Professor Cleaveland on the Lectube-Path 59 BowDOiN College in 1830 ' 61 Profile Portrait of Longfellow in the Year of his Graduation from Bowdoin College 78 Portrait of Longfellow at the Age of Twenty-five, Facing 165 The Craigie House at Cambridge, Mass.: the Home of THE Poet from the Time of his Arrival in Cambridge, Facing 200 Harvard College at the Time op the Second Centennial Celebration in 1836 217 Mary Ashburton 235 X ILLTJSTEATIONS. FAGB BUBG XjNSPnUNEN 237 Chapel of Saint Gilgicx 246 Round Tower at Newport, R.I 260 The Village Smithy at Cambridge. Reduced Facsimile OF A Pen-and-Ink Drawtng made by Longfellow in 1840 Facing 268 Longfellow's Chamber at the Ckaigib House, from 1837 to 1814 280 The Old Clock on the Stairs Facing 296 Portrait of Longfellow, Age Forty-five .... Facing 314 Portrait of Nathaniel Hawthorne ... 343 Portrait of Oliver Wendell Holmes 350 Longfellow's Study, from 1844 Facing 354 Portrait of Louis Agassiz 368 Portrait of Charles Sumner 370 Portrait of Jajies Kussell Lowell ... 373 The Longfellow Jug 374 Elmwood: Home of James Russell Lowell . . . Facing 374 The Children's Chaib Facing 376 The Drawing-Room at the Longfellow Home . . Facing 382 FACSIMILES OF MSS. Facsimile from •' A Midnight Mass fob the Dying Year," Opposite 256 Facsimile fkom Lowell's " Fable for Critics " . . Opposite 274 Facsimile of the MS. of "The Aerow and the Song," now in Possession of the Author Facing 294 Facsimile of a Translation of Schillee's "Columbus," SENT to Mb. Sumnee by the Poet, at the Request op HIS Friend. Original MS. now owned bt the Authob, Facing 368 HENEY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW. CHAPTER I. THE ANCESTRY OE THE POET. SOME time towards the last quarter of the seven- teenth century, there came to live in the town of Newbury, Mass.,^ a young man of sturdy habits, who bore the name of William Longfellow. He was born in Yorkshire, England, in or about the year 1651.^ Having located in the New World, and 1 " ' Onkl Newberry,' as it was anciently called, was settled, in- corporated, and paid its first tax, in the spring of 1635. It derives its name from Newbury, a town in Berkshire, Eng., situated in the south part of the county, on the river Kennet, fifty-six miles west from London. It was so named in honor of the Rev. Thomas Parker, who had for some time preached in Newbury, Eng., before his arrival in America. Till its incorporation in 1635, it was called by its Indian name, Quascacunquen, — a name which the natives gave, not to the whole territory (as the word signifies a ' waterfall '), but to ' the falls ' on what is now called the river Parker, on whose banks the first settlers fixed their habitations." — A Sketch of the History of Newbury, Newhuryport, and West Neiobnvy, from 1635 to 1845, by Joshua Coffin, A.B., S.H.S., Boston, 1845. One writer, on what authority I know not, states that William Longfellow arrived in America in 1663, - " Bro. Longfellow's Father, "Will™ Longfellow lives at Hosforth . near Leeds in Yorkshire. Tell him Bro. has a son W" a fine likely child, a very good piece of Land, & greatly wants a little stock to manage it, and y' Father hath paid for him miwards of an hundred 7 8 HENRY WADSWOETH LONGFELLOW. established himself as a merchant, he married, on Nov. 10, 1678,1 Anne,2 the daughter of Henry SewaU, and laid the foundations of a home in that part of the town then known as the " Falls." ^ His career, however, was not destined to be crowned with the garlands of peace ; for we know, that in 1690, as ensign of the Newbury Company, he took an active part in the iU-fated expedition which Sir Wil- pounds to get him out of Debt." — Letter of Samuel SewaU to Stephen Sewall, dated "Boston in N. E.,Xr. 24, 1G80," in N. E. Hist, and Gen. Ser/isier, vol. xxiv. p. 123. Stephen Sewall was at this time residing at Bishop-Stoke, Hampshire, Eng. 1 CofSn, p. 308, says that the marriage took place 10th Nov., 1676, which is an error. 2 Anne Sewall, the daughter of Henry Sewall, was born 3d Sept., 1662. She was a sister of the chief justice. By this union were born "William (the child mentioned above), 25th Nov., 1679; Stephen, 10th Jan., 1681; Anne, 3d Oct., 1683; Stephen, 22d Sept., 1685; Eliza- beth, 3d July, 1688; and Nathan, 5th Feb., 1690. 3 Concerning the old Longfellow house in Byfield, Mr. Horace F. Longfellow of that place, under date of Feb. 18, 1882, thus writes: — "Deak Sik, —At the request of my father, Joseph Longfellow, I answer yours of the 14th, in regard to the old Longfellow house at Byfield, Mass. It was probably built by William Longfellow about 1676, at or about the time of his marriage with Anne Sewall. The location of the house is unsurpassed. It is situated on a sightly eminence at the very liead of tide-water on the river Parker, the sparkle of whose waters as they go tumbling over the falls adds a picturesqueness to the natural beauty of the scenery that lies spread out on either hand, — hill and vale, forest and field, the outgoing or incoming tide. Nature was lavish here; and young Longfellow, appreciating it all, erected the old house, to which he took his young bride. It still stands, although two centuries and more have passed since its outer frame was put together. It has not been occupied for twenty odd years, and of course is in a dilapidated condition. I was born under the old roof-tree myself; and so were my father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and great-great-grandfather (son of William) before me. The large chimney was taken down years ago, a part of the house itself has been removed ; but " ' The scenes of my childhood are brought fresh to my mind,* THE ANCESTKY OF THE POET. 9 liam Phips conducted against the stronghold of Que- bec. The fleet, which sailed from Boston Harbor on the 9th of August, consisted of thirty-two vessels. The Granite Horse-block and the Large Elm. having on board an army of twenty-two hundred sol- diers. The voyage w-as a tedious one, and Quebec and I can see the old weather-beaten house with Its rear roof descend- ing nearly to the ground; the long kitchen with its low ceiling and wide fireplace ; the big brick oven in which was baked the Thanks- giving pies and puddings (I can taste them now); the big 'best room;' the winding stairs; the old spinning-wheel in the attic; the well- curb and its long sweep at the end of the house; in front, the granite horse-block, and the large elm spreading over all. The old elm still lives, but is feeling the effects of age. The old elm and the house will end their existence together, and soon. " Very truly, " Horace F. Longfellow. " Byfield, Mass." 10 HENEY WADS WORTH LONGFELLOW. was not reached uiatil in the early part of the month of October.^ The story of the expedition has often been told. The attempt to capture Quebec proved futile, and the audacious commander was forced to abandon the object. While the fleet was returning, and had already reached the Gulf of St. Lawrence, it was overtaken by a furious storm. The vessels were scattered: and one of them, having on board the Newbury Company, was driven on the desolate shore of Anticosti; and the gallant ensign, with nine of his comrades, was drowned. This event took place in the night of the 31st of October.^ Of William Longfellow's six children, all but one survived to mourn the death of their father. One of them, a lad of about five years of age at the time of the parental loss, bore the name of Stephen.^ Of his early life, even of his manhood, the records are scant. He became a blacksmith, and probably lived always in Newbury, where "we may picture him, 1 According to Judge Sewall, "William Longfellow went in 1687 to England to obtain his patrimony in Yorkshire. It was probably in this year that his father died. 2 " 'Twas Tuesday, the ]8't> of November, that I heard of the death of Capt. Stephen Greenleaf, Lieut. James Smith, and Ensign W™ Longfellow, Serj' Increase Pilsbury, who with Will Mitchell, Jabez Musgro, and four more were drown'd at Cape Britoon [an error] on Friday night the last of October." — Judge Sewall's Diary, anno 1690. William Longfellow's widow married Henry Short, May H, 1692. 3 William Longfellow had two sons who bore the name of Ste- phen. The first of the name, born in 1681, died in early childhood. The second, who afterwards became the blacksmith, was born, as stated above, on the 22d of September, 1685. He was named for his mother's grandfather, Stephen Dummer, and was the first of the six generations of Stephen Longfellowa. THE ANCESTRY OF THE POET. 11 like the poet's hero of the village smithy, with large and sinewy hands, brawny arms, his brow wet with honest sweat, as he swings his heavy sledge 'with measured beat and slow.' " Stephen the blacksmith married, March 25, 1714, Abigail Tompson, the daughter of Eev. Edward Tompson of Marshfield, by whom he had ten chil- dren.' One of the sons, Stephen, jun., was born on Feb. 7, 1723, and quite early in life discovered signs of precocious talent. He was more fond of books than of the forge and the sledge-hammer, and gave such promise of intellectual strength that his father was induced to bestow upon him the benefits of an education. At the proper time he was sent to Harvard College, where he received a diploma of graduation in 1742. 1 Mr. Blwell of Portland writes as follows concerning the Long- fellow grant of land in the parish of Byfield, Newbury, Mass.: " It is a remarkable and interesting coincidence that the families of two of the first poets of our time, Whittier and Longfellow, originated in the same neighborhood; the original Longfellow home in Byfield being but about five miles distant from the old Whittier house in East Haverhill, both of which are now standing. The Byfield Long- fellows are 'descended from Samuel, son of the first Stephen, and brother of the second Stephen, who came to Portland in 1745. Samuel had a son Nathan ; Nathan two sons, Joseph and Samuel ; Joseph a son Horace. Joseph and Horace still live on land included in the original grant. The old house is quite a Mecca for literary pilgrims. The Byfield Longfellows are prominent in local politics, and have talent as speakers and writers. Samuel, brother of Joseph, lives in Groveland, a neighboring town. He has a daughter Alice, who is making a reputation as a writer and public reader. Joseph, of Byfield, who is a noted wit, says, that when he was a young man he was ashamed of his name, especially as he was literally a Long- fellow; but when Henry Wadsworth began to make a reputation, and people would ask him if he was related to the poet, he became proud of it." 12 HENRY WADSWOETH LONGFELLOW. After completing his college course, Stephen Longfellow taught the village school in York. It was after he had been thus engaged, and was out of employment, that he received the following letter: — Falmouth, Nov. 15, 1744. Sir, _ We need a schoolmaster. Mr. Plaistcd advises of your being at liberty. If you will undertake the ser- vice in this place, you may depend upon our being gene- rous and your being satisfied. I wish you'd come as soon as possible, and doubt not but you'll find things much to your content. Your humble ser't, Thos. Smith. P.S. — I write in the name and with the power of the selectmen of the town. If you can't serve us, pray ad- vise us of it per first opportunity. The author of the foregoing epistle was the venera- ble guardian of souls in Falmouth, or Portland as it is now called. That Stephen Longfellow consid- ered well the proposal, and acted favorably upon it, is disclosed by the following simple record, which we read in Parson Smith's " Journal," under date of April 11, 1745: "Mr. Longfellow came here to live."i 1 Thomas Smith, the venerable minister whose Journal con- tains so much that is valuable bearing on the early history of Port- land, Me., was born March 10, 1702, the eldest of a large family of children. He graduated at Harvard in 1720, entered at once upon theological studies, and in 1727 was settled in Falmouth, as the first regularly ordained minister in Maine east of "Wells. In 1728 he was married to Sarah Tyng (daughter of William Tyng, Esq., of Woburn, Mass.), who died Oct. 1, 1742. In 1744 he was married to Mrs. Olive Jordan, widow of Capt. Samuel Jordan of Saco, and THE ANCBSTKY OF THE POET. 13 One week later, Mr. Longfellow opened his school " in a building on the corner of Middle Street and School, now Pearl Street ; " and among his pupils were the names of many of the most prominent fami- lies of that day. His salary was two hundred pounds sterling, not including the tuition-fees, which for each pupil was eighteen shillings and eightpence per year. Matters fared well with the schoolmaster, and his time was not so fully occupied with the duties of his profession that he could not fall in love. He met and became acquainted with Tabitha Bragdon, a daughter of Samuel Bragdon of York ; and on Oct. 19, 1749, he was married to her. Shortly afterwards he forsook his boarding-place at the parsonage,^ and went to live in a house of his own in Fore Street.^ Thither, also, he transferred his school, and continued to teach until 1760, at which time he was appointed clerk of the judicial court. The following notice was annuallj'', with change of date, posted on the schoolhouse door : — ' ' Notice is hereby given to such persons as are disposed to send their children to school in this place the ensuing year, that the year commences this day, and the price wiU be as usual; viz., eighteen shillings and eightpence lived with her about twenty years. In 1766 he was married to Mrs. Elizabeth Wendell, daughter o£ John Hunt of Boston. By his first wife, Parson Smith had eight children. He died May 25, 1795, in the ninety-fourth year of his age. 1 In his copy of Smith's Journal, Mr. William Willis says in a MSS. note, " I think Mr. Longfellow boarded with Mv. Smith when he came here until his marriage." 2 The Fore-street house was built on the lot now occupied by the Eagle Sugar Refinery. 14 HENEY WADSWOKTH LONGFELLOW. per year for each scholar that comes by the year, and eight shillings per quarter for such as come by the quarter." There were then no newspapers printed in the town, nor for thirty years afterwards. Stephen Longfellow's father lived long enough to see his son fully entered upon a life of usefulness and honorable distinction ; and when he died (Nov. 7, 1764), he left him a small legacy. " It is an evi- dence of the son's affectionate regard for his father, that, on receiving this legacy, he formed the purpose of converting it into a permanent memorial. Tak- ing the silver coin, he sent it by packet to Boston ; but, unfortunately, the vessel was lost, and the money with it. When the tidings reached Mr. Longfellow, he made up a like amount of silver coin, which reached Boston in safety, and was manufactured by- John Butler, a well-known silversmith, into a tank- ard, a can, and two porringers. Each bore the initials " S. L.," and the added words of grateful remem- brance, " Ex dono patris." The tankard has been preserved ; and one of the porringers, after a some- what eventful history, has found its way back into the family, and is now one of the treasures of the poet's brother, Alexander W. Longfellow." ^ When, on the 18th of .October, 1775, Falmouth was bombarded and partially destroyed by the Brit- ish soldiery, among the buildings to fall before the flaming element was the home of Stephen Longfel- ' Henry 'Wadsworth Longfellow and His Paternal Ancestry, by Rev. H. S. Burrage of Portland. A most admirable memoir, to which I stand much indebted throughout this chapter. THE ANCESTRY OF THE POET. 15 low.^ The house was never rebuilt. The committee appointed to examine and liquidate the accounts of those who suffered in the burning of the town, hav- ing estimated and replaced his loss to the extent of £1,119, Mr. Longfellow, with other inhabitants of the town, including Parson Deane of the First Parish, removed to Gorham, Me., where he continued to reside until his death, which occurred May 1, 1790. In a brief sketch of his life Mr. Willis thus writes : — "Mr. Longfellow filled many important offices in the town to universal acceptance. He was about fifteen years grammar-school master, town clerk twenty-two years, many years clerk of the proprietors of the common land, and from the establishment of the county in 1760 to the commencement of the Revolution in 1775 he was register of probate and clerk of the judicial courts. His hand- writing, in beautiful characters, symbolical of the purity and excellence of his own moral character, is impressed on all the records of the town and county through many successive years.'"' To Stephen Longfellow, by his wife Tabitha were born three sons and one daughter.^ Of these, Wil- liam died in childhood ; Samuel left no children ; 1 " October 16, a fleet of five or six vessels of war ancliored at the Island with Mowat, a cat bomb ship, two cutter schooners and a small bomb sloop. On the 17Mi, they came up before the town, p.m. ; sent word that in two hours they should fire upon the town, which was respited. On the 18th, at nine a.m. they began and continued until dark, with their mortars and cannon, when with marines land- ing, they burnt all the lower part of the town and up as far as Mr. Bradbury's, excepting Mrs. Ross' two houses, and son Thomas' shop and stores, my house being included." — Smith's Journal, anno 1775. 2 Note to his edition of Smith's Journal, p. 118. ' Tabitha, who became the wife of Capt. John Stephenson in 1771. 16 HENRY WADSWOETH L0N6FKLL0W. and Stephen, the eldest, was born Aug. 3, 1750. In the early years of his manhood he became acquainted with Patience Young of York, and married her on Dec. 13, 1773. He lived in Gorham, and died there May 28, 1824. During his life, Stephen Longfellow took an active part in the affairs of his town and county. Besides having been extensively employed as a surveyor, and having held several town offices, he had the honor of representing Gorham in the General Court of MassacJiusetts for eight years. For several years he was a senator from Cumberland Count}^; and, from 1797 to 1811, he was judge of the Court of Common Pleas. There are still living not a few who remem- ber with what dignity he was wont to be driven into Portland in an old square-top chaise, and, dis- mounting, made his way into the court-house under the escort of the sheriff. "He was a fine-looking gentleman, with the bearing of the old school ; was erect, portly, rather taller than the average, had a strongly-marked face, and his hair was tied behind in a club with black ribbon. To the close of his life he wore the old-style dress, — knee-breeches, a long waistcoat, and white-top boots. He was a man of sterling qualities of mind and heart, great integ- rity, and sound common sense." Of his children, Stephen Longfellow, the sec- ond child, was born in Gorham, March 23, 1776. To him belongs the honor of having been the father of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, the poet. He was most carefully trained in his youth, and was evidently fitted by his parents for a professional THE ANOESTEY OF THE POET. 17 career. He early gave promise of the same intellec- tual strength which characterized his father and grandfather, and was sent to Harvard College in 1794. A college friend, two years his senior, said of him in later life, "He was evidently a well-bred gen- tleman when he left the paternal mansion for the university. He seemed to breathe the atmosphere of purity as his native element ; while his bright intelligence, buoyant spirits, and social warmth, dif- fused a sunshine of joy that made his presence always gladsome." And another writer says, " that he was a favorite in his class is the testimony of his asso- ciates. But he went to college for other purposes than good-fellowship. He was an earnest, exemplary student. His scholarship entitled him to high rank ; and, having completed the course, he left the univer- sity with a full share of its honors." Mr. Longfellow was graduated from college in 1798 in the class with Judge Story and Dr. Chan- ning ; and, on returning home, he entered the law- ofSce of Salmon Chase, who was an uncle of the late chief justice of the United States. Three years later he was admitted to the bar, and at once began to prosper in the midst of an extensive practice. In 1804, on the first of January, he married Zilpah,i the eldest daughter of Gen. Peleg Wadsworth, who was the son of Deacon Peleg Wadsworth of Duxbury, Mass., and was the fifth in descent from Christopher Wadsworth, who came from England and settled in ' By this marriage were born four sons and four daughters, — Stephen, Henry W. (the poet), Alexander W., Samuel, Elizabeth, Anne, Mary, and Ellen. 18 HENRY WADSWOETH LONGFELLOW. that town before 1632, and whose known descend- ants in the United States are now numbered by thousands. The Peleg Wadsworth, jun., of military fame, was born at Duxbury, Uay 6, 1748 ; graduated at Har- vard in 1769; and married, in 1772, Elizabeth Bartlett of the same town. Their children, through their mother and grandmother Wadsworth, who was Susanna Sampson, inherited the blood of five of the "Mayflower" pilgrims, including Elder Brewster and Capt. John Alden.i When was "fired the shot heard round the world," from the quiet meadows of Lexington and Concord, Peleg Wadsworth caught something of the inspira- tion of the hour, and was among the first to march in the defence of freedom. The tidings of the revo- lutionary struggle already begun speedily reached his native village ; and Wadsworth at once set about raising a company of minute-men, of which, in Sep- tember, 1775, he was commissioned captain by the Continental Congress then in session. In the follow- ing year he engineered in laying out the defences of Roxbury ; was an aid on the staff of Gen. Ward when Dorchester Heights were occupied in INIarch of the same year ; and, in 1778, he was appointed adjutant-general of his State. After the failure of the Bagaduce expedition in the ensuing year, the British pursued a system of outrageous plundering on the shores of Penobscot Bay and the neighboring coast, in which they were ' Memoir ot Gen. Peleg Wadsworth, by Hon. William Gooid, from which I have borrowed freely in this chapter. THE ANCESTKY OF THE POET. 19 piloted and assisted by the numerous Tories who had gathered at Bagaduce and in the vicinity. In order to protect the people from this plundering, the Con- gress in 1780 ordered six hundred men to be detached from the three eastern brigades of the State, for eight months' service. The command of the whole eastern department, between the Piscataqua and St. Croix, was given to Gen. Wadsworth, with power to raise more troops if they were needed. He was also em- powered to declare and execute martial law over territory ten miles in width, upon the coast eastward of Kennebec, according to the rules of the American army. His headquarters were established at Thom- aston. At the expiration of the term of service of the six hundred troops. Gen. Wadsworth was left with only six soldiers as a guard at his house. His family consisted of his wife, a son of five years of age, and a Miss Fenno of Boston, a particular friend of his wife. As soon as he was informed of Gen. Wads- worth's insecure position. Gen. McLane at Bagaduce sent forward a party of men for the purpose of mak- ing him a prisoner. They came in a vessel, and anchored four miles off. At midnight, on the 18th of February, 1781, they marched on foot to the Wadsworth residence, where they were met by a most determined resistance. During the encounter, Gen. Wadsworth was shot in the arm, and, finding himself .completely overpowered, surrendered, and was hurried off to the vessel. He was taken across the bay to Castine, and retained as a prisoner in Fort George. His treatment during this confinement was 20 HENRY WADSWOETH LONGFELLOW. in every respect agreeable. Four months later Mrs. Wadsworth and Miss Fenno, with a passport from Gen. McLane, arrived at Bagaduce, and were politely- entertained for ten days. " In the mean time," we are told, " orders had arrived from the commanding general at New York, in answer to a communication from Gen. McLane. Their purport was learned, from a hint conveyed to Miss Fenno by an officer, that the general was not to be exchanged, but would be sent to some English prison. When Miss Fenno left, she gave the general all the information she dared to. She said, ' Gen. Wadsworth, take care of yourself.' This the general interpreted to mean that he was to be conveyed to England, and he determined to make his escape from the fortress if possible. Soon after, a vessel arrived from Boston, with a flag of truce from the governor and council, asking for an exchange for the general, and bringing a sum of money for his use ; but the request was refused." ^ On the night of the 18th of June, Gen. Wads- worth and a fellow-prisoner, Major Burton, made their escape from the building in which they were confined, bj^ passing through an opening made in the board ceiling with a gimlet. They evaded the senti- nels, and finally got off in safety, arriving on the third day at Thomaston. Gen. Wadsworth was not a little amazed to learn that his famil)- had left for Boston. He soon followed them, pausing for a while at Falmouth, where he finally fixed his residence. How Gen. Wadsworth appeared at this time to his friends and family is evidenced by the following 1 Mr. Goold, Memoir cited. THE ANCESTRY OF THE POET. 21 letter, dated "January, 1848," and written by his daughter Zilpah. It reads, — " Perhaps you would like to see my father's picture as it was when we came to this town (Falmouth) after the war of the Revolution in 17t)4. Imagine to yourself a man of middle size, well proportioned, with a military air, and who carried himself so truly that many thought him tall. His dress a bright scarlet coat, buff small clothes and vest, full ruffled bosom, rufHes over the hands, white stockings, shoes with silver buckles, white cravat bow in front ; hair well powdered, and tied behind in a club, so called. ... Of his character others may speak, but I cannot forbear to claim for him an uncommon share of benevolence and kind feeUng." Gen. Wadsworth settled in Falmouth in 1784; and in December of that year he purchased, for one hun- dred pounds lawful money, the lot of land in Fal- mouth on which he erected his home. In the deed the purchase is described as " lying north-east of a lot now possessed by Capt. Arthur McLellan, being four rods in front, and running towards Back Cove, and containing one and one-half acres, being part of three acres origiaally granted to Daniel Ingersoll, as appears on the records of the town of Falmouth, Book No. 1, p. 46." 1 While he was building his house, the general and his family resided in a building which belonged to Capt. Jonatlian Paine.^ It was originally cou- , 1 " This is the Congress-street lot on which he erected his liouse and store." — Goold. 2 This house stood on what is now the south corner of Franklin and Congress Streets. 22 HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW. structed for a stable, but had previously been ten- anted by certain families resident in the town. The house which Gen. Wadsworth chose to erect was unlike others belonging to that period. " There had then been no attempt in the town to construct all the walls of a building of brick — indeed, there had been no suitable brick for walls made here. At that time brick buildings were expected to have a projecting base of several courses, the top one to be of brick fashioned for the purpose, the outer end of which formed a regular moulding when laid on edge and endwise ; and the walls receded several inches to the perpendicular face. Several houses besides Gen. Wadsworth's were commenced in this way. In the spring of 1785 the general obtained brick for his house in Philadelphia, including those for the base, and a belt above the first story. John Nichols was the master mason." The house was not finished until after the second spring; and that it was "thoroughly built," and not inartistic in its external appearance, all who look upon it to-day will bear testimony. No other brick house was erected in the town until three years later. " The Wadsworth house when originally fin- ished had a high pitched roof of two equal sides, and four chimneys. The store adjoined the house at the south-east, with an entrance-door from the house, and was of two stories. Here the general sold all kinds of goods needed in the town and country trade. His name appears in the records with some forty others, as licensed ' retailers ' of the town in 1785. What time he gave up the store is uncertain." THE ANCESTRY OF THE POET. 23 In 1792 Gen. Wadsworth was elected to the Mas- sachusetts Senate, and in the same way he was also chosen to represent the Cumberland district in Con- gress. He held the last-named position until 1806, when he declined a re-election. Two years before his election to Congress, the general purchased from Wadsworth House. the State of Massachusetts 7,500 acres of wild land in the township on the Saco River now known as Hiram. He paid 1937.50 for the property, or twelve and a half cents per acre. As early as possible he began to clear a farm on a large scale, and with what success appears from the following paragraph in " The Eastern Herald " of Sept. 10, 1792, pub- lished in Portland : — 24 HENBY W.ADSWOBTH LOXGPELLOW. " Gen. Wadsworth thinks he has raised more than one thousand bushels of corn this season, on burnt land, that is now out' of danger of the frost, at a place called Great Ossipee, about thirty-six miles from this town. This is but the third year of his improvements." Three years after this successful result had been thus reported, the general settled his son, Charles Lee Wadsworth, on the farm, and in 1800 began preparations with the view of removing thither him- self with all his family. In the same year he com- menced building a large house on the land, which house is still standing one mile from Hiram Village. We are told that "the clay for the bricks of the chim- neys was brought down Saco River three miles in a boat. This house was of two stories, with a railed outlook on the ridge between the two chimneys. There was a very large one-story kitchen adjoining, with an iiumense chimney and fireplace. Years after its building, the general's youngest son, Peleg, said, that, at the time of the erection of the house, he was seven years old, and was left by his father to watch the fires in the eleven fireplaces, which were kindled to dry the new masonry, while he rode to the post- road for his mail, and that he had not felt such a weight of responsibility since. The Wadsworth family began housekeeping in their new house on New Year's Day, 1807 ; and the general and his son Charles at once engaged in the arduous duties of lumbering and farming. He never was so busy, however, that he could not lend his services in the public interest. In 1812 he was THE ANCESTRY OF THE POET. 25 chosen selectman of the town, and continued to fill the olfice until 1818. For twelve successive years he was also the town treasurer. " He was a magis- trate, and was looked upon as the patriarch of the town. He was a patron of education, and his home was the central point of the region for hospitality and culture. He was long a communicant of the Congregational Church, and so continued until his death at the age of eighty-one." Gen. Wadsworth died in 1829, having been bereft of his devoted wife four years before. The graves of the aged couple are still pointed out in a private enclosure on the home farm, but the original modest headstones have been replaced by a marble monu- ment of more pretentious appearance. Of the children of Gen. Wadsworth, of whom there were eleven, the following is the record : The eldest was born at Kingston, Mass., in 1774, and died in the next year at Dorchester. Charles Lee was born at Plymouth in January, 1776, and died at Hiram on Sept. 29, 1848. Zilpah, the eldest daughter, was born at Duxbury, Jan. 6, 1778, and died in Portland, March 12, 1851. Elizabeth, born in Boston, Sept. 21, 1779, died in Portland, Aug. 1, 1802. John, born at Plymouth, Sept. 1, 1781, was graduated at Harvard in 1800, and died at Hiram, Jan. 22, 1860. Lucia, born at Plymouth, June 12, 1783, died in Portland, Oct. 17, 1864. Henry, born at Portland, Me., on June 21, 1785, died at Tripoli, Sept. 4, 1804. George, born in Portland,. Jan. 6, 1788, died in Philadelphia, April 8, 1816. Alexander Scammell, born in Portland, May 7, 1790, died at 26 HENBY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW. Washington, April 5, 1851. Samuel Bartlett, born in Portland, Sept. 1, 1791, died at Eastport, Oct. 2, 1874. Peleg, born in Portland, Oct. 10, 1793, died at Hiram, Jan. 17, 1875. Two of the sons of the general were officers in the United States Navy. At the age of nineteen, Henry became a lieutenant, and served in Commo- dore Preble's squadron before Tripoli in 1804. The story of his lamented death is told in the inscription on a marble cenotaph erected by his father to his memory, now visible in the Eastern Cemetery in Portland.^ It was from this gallant young officer, 1 This cenotaph is near the graves of the captains of the Enter- prise and Boxer, and bears the following inscriptions: — [8. "W. PACE.] In memory of HENRY WADSWORTH, — son of — PELIG WADSWORTH, Lieut. U. S. Navy, — who fell — Before the walls of Trip- oli on the eve of 4th Sept., — 1S04 — in the 20th year of his age by the explosion of a — fire ship — which he with others gallantly conducted against the Enemy. [n. is. pace.] My country culls, This world adieu : I have one life, That life I give for you. [S. E. FACE.] Deterraiued at once they prefer death and the destruction of — the Enemy — to captivity and tortur- ing slavery. Com. Preble's letter. [N. TV. FACE.] " An honor to his Qountry and an example to all excellent youth." Resolve of Congresi Capt. Richard Soraers, Lieut. Henry Wadsworth, Lieut. Joseph Israel, and 10 brave seamen volunteers were the devoted band. THE ANCESTKY OF THE POET. 27 his uncle, that the poet Longfellow received his name. The other son, Alexander Scammell, of he- roic distinction, was second lieutenant of the frigate " Constitution " at the time of her memorable battle in August, 1812, in which she captured the British frigate " Guerriere." So well did he acquit himself that his fellow-townsmen of Portland presented him with a sword for his gallantry. Lieut. Wadsworth afterwards rose to the rank of commodore. The eldest daughter of Gen. Wadsworth is re- ported to have " performed her part in life as bravely, and died as much beloved and honored, as did her gallant brothers of the navy." At the time when her father moved into the brick house in Portland, Zilpah was eight years of age, and bore nobly the "inconveniences and discomforts of the unfinished quarters in which they lived while the house was building." In June, 1799, the first uniformed com- pany in Maine was organized at Portland ; and Zil- pah Wadsworth had the honor to present a military standard to the company, in behalf of the ladies of the town. On one side of the flag was the motto, "Defend the laws," and the arms of the United States ; on the reverse, the same arms united with those of the State of Massachusetts. In 1804 Gen. Wadsworth and his family were residing, as has already been stated, in the brick house which he had erected in Portland ; and here it was, probably, that Stephen Longfellow, having already met and loved Zilpah, was united to her in marriage on the first of January of that year. For one year after their marriage the young couple 28 HENEY WADSWOETH LOISTOFELLOW. resided at the Wadsworth mansion. The next year thej' removed to a small two-story wooden house, still standing on the south corner of Congress and Temple Streets, immediately opposite the First Parish Church ; and here it was that they began their first housekeeping. At the same period of time, a rich merchant of Portland, Samuel Stephen- son, was living in the large square wooden house, yet standing on the corner of Fore and Hancock Streets. His wife, Abigail Longfellow, was a sister of Stephen ; and, as her husband had been suddenly called to the West Indies on a matter of business, she invited her brother, with his family, to spend the winter of 1806-7 with her. Thus it was, that, temporarily, the young lawyer changed his abiding- place, and became a resident in a house that hence- forth and for all time was to be remembered as the birthplace of a poet. After the departure of the family of Gen. Wads- worth to Hiram, Stephen Longfellow removed to the brick house, and thenceforth made it his permanent home. The old store, where the general had sold so many goods, was at once moved out of the way ; and in its place was built the brick vestibule at the east corner, over which was placed a modest sign, bearing the words, " Stephen Longfellow, Counsellor- at-Law." The eastern front-room was occupied for the law-office ; and within this office, it should be noted, "several young students read 'Coke and Blackstone,' who afterwards became prominent law- yers of Cumberland County." In 1814 Stephen Longfellow was sent to the THE ANCESTRY OF THE POET. 29 Legislature of INIassachusetts, and during his term of service he was also chosen a member of the cele- brated Hartford Convention. It was just after his return home that occurred the following incident. "While Mrs. Longfellow was indisposed, and the family physician was in attendance, the servant overheated the kitchen flue, which took fire, and communicated it to the attic, which the family knew nothing of until it broke out through the roof. Mr. Longfellow was the chief fire-ward of the depart- ment ; but his first thought was of his sick wife, whom he hastily inquired for of Dr. Weed. He told Mr. Longfellow to look to the fire, and he would take care of his wife. When it became evident that the house must be flooded, the doctor, who was a tall, muscular man, wrapped Mrs. Longfellow in a blanket, and carried her in his arms into Madame Preble's, the next door, — now the hotel. After it had nearly destroyed the roof, the fire was extin- guished. To give accommodation to his increasing family, Mr. Longfellow shortly afterwards added a third stor}^ to the house ; and in place of the original high, two-sided one, he had built a low four-sided or ' hipped ' roof, with the chimneys the same." As thus repaired, " the venerable structure around which so much of historical interest clusters has remained to the present time." It remains for us now simply to trace the events of Stephen Longfellow's noljle and useful life to its close. Thenceforth he was largely the servant of his fellow-townsmen. In 1816 he was chosen a presidential elector, and in 1822 was elected &■ mem- 30 HENRY WADSWOETH LONGFELLOW. ber of the Eighteenth Congress. At the close of his term of office he retired altogether from political affairs, and resolved to devote the remaining years of his life to the practice of his profession. He was not lost sight of, however, whenever work for which he was eminently fitted was to be performed. When Lafayette visited Portland, in 1825, it was J\Ir. Long- fellow who gave him the address of welcome. The task was most gracefully executed, and drew out from the valiant Frenchman the following equally gi'aceful allusion to Mr. Longfellow. " While I offer," said Lafayette, "to the people of Portland, and to you, gentlemen, mj^ respectful thanks, I am happy to recognize in the kind organ of their kind- ness to me the member of Congress who shared in the flattering invitation which has been to me a source of inexpressible honor and delight." Mr. Longfellow served as a trustee of Bowdoin College from 1817 to 1836, and received the degree of Doctor of Laws from the same institution in 1828. He was recording secretary of the Maine Historical Society from 1825 to 1830, and in 1834 he was elected president of the society. On the 3d of August, 1849, at the age of seventy-four, his life came to a peaceful close. " No man," says Mr. Willis in his " Law, Courts, and Lawyers of Maine," "more surely gained the confidence of all who ap- proached him, or held it firmer; and those who knew him best loved him most. In the manage- ment of his causes, he went with zeal and direct- ness of purpose to every point which could sustain it. There was no travelling out of the record with THE ANCESTRY OF THE POET. 31 him, nor a wandering away from the line of his ai'gument after figures of speech or fine rhetoric; but he was plain, straightforward, and effective in his appeals to the jury, and by his frank and cordial manner won them to his cause." "Such in public life," says another writer, " was the father of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. In the domestic circle the noble traits of his character were no less apparent. His home was one of refinement and the purest social virtues ; and she who shared its direction with him not only adorned it with rare womanly grace, but gave to it many an added charm." 32 HENRY "WADSWOETH LONGFELLOW. CHAPTER II. BIRTH AND EAKLY CHILDHOOD. (7807-7827.) HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW, second son of Stephen and Zilpah Longfellow, was born in Portland, Me., on the 27th of February, 1807. At the time of this interesting and now memorable event, the parents were, as we have already observed, sojourning for a season in the house of Capt. Samuel Stephenson, situated on .that part of Fore Street fronting the beach, east of India Street, near where the paternal grandfather had lived just previous to the burning of the town by Mowatt in 1775. For a long time this had been recognized as the fashionable locality of the town, and not a few of the most prominent people in the town were dwellers along the line of this beach. As far back as 1632, the spot had been settled by George CleaA^es; and, for nearly two centuries afterwards, it commanded a fine view of the harbor, the cape, and the islands of Casco'Bay. But since, with the flight of j'ears, the scene has been altered ; the beach has disappeared , and the waters of the harbor have been pushed farther out, by the land made for the extension of BIRTH AND EARLY CHILDHOOD. 33 the tracks of the Grand Trunk Railway, whose en- gine-house now occupies the site of Fort Loyal, cap- tured by the French and Indians in 1690. The garrison was carried captive througli the wilderness to Montreal, the objective point of the railroad whose trains now start from the same spot. The house in which the future poet was born is still standing on its ancient site at the corner of Longfellow's Birthplace as it appears in 1882. Fore and Hancock Streets ; and it is a matter of con- gratulation, that, in the great conflagration which swept the city in 1866, this famous building escaped the devouring element. The house was built Ijy one Campbell, who afterwards became known as a truck- man. Forty years ago it was occupied by the late Jedediah Dow, on the Hancock-street side, and the 34 HENKY WADSWOKTH LONGFELLOW. late Joshua Emery in the part fronting on the beach. The accompanying illustration exhibits the house just as it appears to-day, and, with one exceptional feature, just as it always appeared to the passer-by. The projection, which is seen on one corner, on the front, is an addition of latter years, built for the accommodation of a shop in the basement or cellar. But now the old mansion has seen its best days : the weight of years has told somewhat heavily on its skeleton, and its airy rooms are now tenanted by several families.-^ We know not what signs prognosticated the birth of the young infant, whose name and fame were des- tined to become household words throughout the civilized world. But we may assume that they were all auspicious, even though no one could divine in them prospects of future greatness. It was for- tunate for any child to have been born of such parentage, and amid such surroundings. In the family circle centred all those traits of culture and refinement, and those pure social virtues, which can but impart strength to infancy, and inspire youth. On the one hand was a father of well-trained and well-balanced mind, not old in years, but yet expe- rienced in good works, a prominent member of the bar, and in the enjoyment of the respect of his 1 The house in which the poet was horn is known to all the school-children in Portland. One day, not long since, a teacher in one of the public schools, after giving divers lessons on Longfellow's heautiful life, asked her pupils if any of them knew where the poet was born. A little hand went up in a hurry; and a small voice piped forth, "in Patsey Connor's bedroom," —Master Connor being now one of the occupants of the old Longfellow house. BIRTH AND EARLY CHILDHOOD. 35 fellow-townsmen. On the other hand, a mother who shared with her husband all fair and noble traits, and who was still further adorned with a rare womanly grace, an evenness and gentleness of tern-, per, and an affectionate regard for whatever is best in life. To such parents, a child, even though he were the second, could not have come unbidden ; and, such being the case, it was not possible for him not to have combined in his own nature much that was admirable and common to both. If, in form and figure and in physiognomy, there was much that reminded of his mother, and of the Wadsworth side of the house, there were not wanting evidences of those marked qualities of mind and person which had so forcibly characterized his paternal ancestry through many generations. When it came time to bestow a name, the mother's heart went out ten- derly towards that gallant brother, Lieut. Henry Wadsworth, who, before Tripoli, surrendered his life while bravely serving his country ; and in token of him, his uncle, was the infant named. When the spring season had fairly opened, Ste- phen Longfellow moved his family into the brick house built by Gen. Wadsworth, and which the latter had forsaken not many weeks before. In this grand old mansion the child Henry Wadsworth Longfellow spent the early years of his youth. He had scarcely attained the age of five years, when it was determined, in the home circle, that he should be put to school. At that time the modern kindergarten was unknown, and not yet had school- masters and school-dames become conscious of the 36 HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW. fact that pleasures and pastimes are potent auxilia- ries in a course of mental training. Not far from the home of the Longfellows, in Spring Street, just above High Street, stood a small brick schoolhouse, presided over by Ma'am Fellows, a most exemplary- lady, who had " taught school "' for many years, and had grown gray in the practice of rigid discipline. She was a firm believer in the idea that " one should never smile in school-hours," and she exercised her views on this topic very much to the terror of the young striplings who were placed under her charge. " My recollections of my first teacher," said the poet, after the lapse of threescore and ten years, "are not vivid : but I recall that she was bent on giving me a right start in life ; that she thought that even very young children should be made to know the differ- ence between right and wrong ; and that severity of manner was more practical than gentleness of per- suasion. She insj^ired me with one trait, — that is, a genuine respect for my elders." For son-^e reason, — it is forgotten what, — the boy did not long remain a pupil of Ala'am Fellows ; and, after the first vacation, lie was sent by his parents to the town-school on Love Lane, now Centre Street, where he remained just a fortnight. He was then placed in a private school, presided over by Nathaniel H. Carter, which was kept in a small, one-story wooden building on the west side of Preble Street, near Congress. He continued to be a pupil at this school imtil Mr. Carter became an instructor in the Portland Academy, at which time he attracted many of his old pupils, including Henry Wadsworth, to BIRTH AND EARLY CHILDHOOD. 37 his new field of labor. In those days, colleges were few, and academies numerous ; and of these New- England academies, at which those at East Hampton, Andover, and Exeter still survive to attest to what we have lost, a deservedly prominent one was that at Portland. Thither was young Longfellow trans- ferred to be prepared for college, — at first under the direction of Mr. Carter, and subsequently under the head-master, Mr. Bezaleel Cushman, a graduate of Dartmouth College, who assumed charge of the academy in 1815, and occupied the position upwards of twenty-six years. Mr. Cushman afterwards be- came one of the editors of " The New- York Eveniusr Post," and, during a sojourn in Europe, furnished to its columns a brilliant series of letters, — then as dis- tinguishing a feature of metropolitan journalism as their absence would be at the present day. Another teacher, to whom belongs the honor of having im- parted to the future poet many valuable lessons, was the late Mr. Jacob Abbott, at that time an usher in the academy, and an apprentice in the art of school- teaching. ^ 1 Jacob Abbott was born at Hallowell, Me., Nov. 14, 1803. He graduated from Bowdoin College in the class of 1820; studied the- ology at Andover from 1822 to 1824; was tutor at Amherst College in 1824-5; and was appointed professor of mathematics in the same institution in 1825, and held the position until 1829; became prin- cipal pf the Mount Vernon School (tor young ladies) in Boston in 182!), and remained there until 1834. During the next two years he was pastor of the Eliot Church in Roxbury. Mv. Abbott's reputation as an author was establislK^d by the " Young Christian " series, begun in 1825; but be is best known as the author of the "RoUo" books (28 volumes), and other stories for youtli, some of which have been translated into the various languages of Europe and Asia. His death occurred on Oct. 31, 1879. 38 HENRY "WADSWOETH LONGFELLOW Under such inspiring teachers, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's progress was rapid ; and in 1821 he was able to enroll his name as a freshman in Bowdoin College. He was then in the fourteenth year of his age ; and the fact of his being ready at such an age for college, though not unprecedented, was early, even for that time, when colleges were less exacting and boys more precocious than now. Already had the boy given evidences that led others to the expectation that his would be a literary career. While yet in his ninth year, he wrote his first verses. There is a tradition that his master wanted him to write a composition, a task from which the boy very naturally shrank. " You can write words, can you not ? " asked the teacher. " Yes," was the response. " Then, you can put words together ? " " Yes, sir." "Then," said the instructor, "you may take your slate, and go out behind the schoolhouse, and there you can find something to write about; and then you can tell what it is, what it is for, and what is to be done with it ; and that will be a compo- sition." Henry took his slate and went out. He went be- hind Mr. Finney's barn, which chanced to be near ; and, seeing a fine turnip growing up, he thought he knew what that was, what it was for, and what would be done with it. A half-hour had been allowed young Henry for his first undertaking in writing compositions. Within BIRTH AND EARLY CHILDHOOD. 39 the prescribed time he carried in his work, all ac- complished, and surprised his teacher.^ When the boy was barely thirteen years of age, and still a pupil at the Portland Academy, he com- posed a bolder effort, which is still preserved in man- uscript, entitled "Venice, an Italian Song." The manuscript is dated " Portland Academy, March 17, 1820," and is signed with the full name of the Avriter. The first published poem of young Longfellow was on " Lovewell's Fight." It was composed while he was attending the academy, and just after he had been reading an account of the French and Indian war. Having written it to his taste, and copied it neatly on a fresh sheet of paper, it suddenly occurred to him that it was worthy of being printed. The young author had never yet seen aught of his compositions in type ; and, unlike many writers of later day, he was extremely shy about making a beginning. But the persuasion of one of his schoolfellows overcame his modesty; and so, late on a certain evening, he mustered up courage to go and drop the manuscript into the editorial-box of one of the two weekly newspapers then published in the town. He waited patiently for the next issue of the paper, and was not a little chagrined to find, that, when it did ap- pear, — the poem was left out. The weeks flew by, and still the poem remained unpublished. In a fit of disgust, the young author repaired to the editorial 1 Mr. Owen first related to me this anecdote. The poem, how- ever, is not in existence; though what purports to be the poem (a composition of recent date and by other hands) is, I observe, afloat in the newspapers. 40 HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW. sanctum, and demanded the return of the manuscript. The request was granted ; and Longfellow then car- ried it to the editor of the rival newspaper, — " The Portland Gazette," — by whom it was accepted and published. Thenceforth the poet was at liberty to print in the columns of the journal whatever he might happen to write ; nor did he permit the oppor- tunity to slip by unimproved. 1 And now, for a few moments, let us glance at some of the surroundings of the young poet. It is interest- ing at all times to note the early surroundings of a great man, whatever may be the field of his great- ness ; and especially is this true of a great poet, who has woven into his verses, as has Longfellow, so many recollections of his boyhood. The year 1807 is not only illustrious on account of the birth of Longfel- low : it was also a year of marked events in the his- tory of the place of his birth. It witnessed the beginning of many things Avhose iilfluence impressed the mind of Longfellow, and still remains with the people of the town. In this year was also born another poet in Portland, — the late Nathaniel P. Willis ; ^ in the same year, the Rev. Edward Payson began, as the colleague of Rev. Elijah Kellogg, his 1 Mr. Longfellow was exceedingly fond of this theme, and once told me that he intended sometime to wvite on it again. Several amusing incidents grew out of our search for an old ballad on Love- well's Fight, wliicli he was very anxious to obtain. I shall allude to these in a later chapter. 2 Nathaniel Parker Willis was born in Portland, Jan. 20, 1807. Re- moved to Boston, where he attended the Latin School, and subse- quently Phillips Academy at Andover ; was graduated from Yale College in the class of 1827. He then entered upon that literary career which gave him fame and fortune, and which he continued almost to the close of his life. He died Jan. 20, 1867. BIRTH AND EARLY CHILDHOOD. 41 wonderful pastorate of twenty years in Portland ; in the same year, the third parish meeting-house, in which the late Rev. Dr. Dwight so long officiated, was built. But perhaps the most memorable event of all others was the fact that the commerce of Port land, which had gone on increasing with giant strides for a period of more than ten years, and had The Old Wharf. at length reached a high state of prosperity, suddenly fell, in 1807, under the crushing stroke of the em- bargo, and caused ruin and disaster throughout the entire community. It was the culmination of a period of great prosperity, and the beginning of a season of adversity, ending in tlie calamities of war, Navigation fell off nine thousand tons in two years : .■»®S!#l-^CS 42 HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW. all the various classes to whom it gave support were thrown out of employment, and many large houses were forced to suspend payment. The greatest dis- tress prevailed everywhere, and "the grass literally grew upon the wharves." Five years later came the second war with Eng- land, which, for the time being, gave a slight impulse to activit}'. Several privateers were fitted out, com- panies were organized, and fortifications were thrown up on ]\lunjoy's Hill, at the north-eastern extremity of the Neck, and garrisons were established in them. Here begin the recollections of the poet, then a boy of six years of age, as recorded in his poem of " My Lost Youth." " I remember the bulwarks by the shore, And the fort upon the hill ; The sunrise gun, with its hollow roar, The drum-beat repeated o'er and o'er, And the bugle wild and shrill. And the music of that old song Throbs in my memory still : 'A boy's will is the wind's will, And the thoughts of youth are bug, long thoughts.'" On Sept. 4, 1813, " The Boxer," British brig of war, Capt. S. Blythe, was captured off the Maine coast by the American brig " Enterprise," Lieut. W. Burrows, and on the morning of the seventh was brought into Portland Harbor. On the next day both commanders, who had been killed in the en- counter, were buried with imposing and impressive ceremonies in the cemetery at the foot of Munjoy's BIRTH AND EARLY CHILDHOOD. 43 Hill. The poet thus records his recollection of this solemn event : — " I remember the sea-fight far away, How it thundered o'er the tide I And the dead captains, as they lay In their graves, o'erlooking the tranquil bay. Where they in battle died." Peace came in 1815, and not before this event did the town fully recover from the hardships occa- sioned by the embargo. For several years afterwards, prosperity and the population increased slowly but surely. In the year 1800, there were 3,704 inhabit- ants in the town ; in 1810, they had increased to 7,169 ; and in 1820, there were but 8,581. It is in this little town of barely 8,000 inhabitants that we have now to picture to ourselves as the scene of Longfellow's boyhood, — " The beautiful town That is seated by the sea." It lay chiefly on the narrow peninsula, or " Neck," in the depression between the two hills which mark its extremities, — Munjoy Hill and Bramhall. With- in the space of two centuries, the ground had become historic. It was a pleasant site, not then, as now, hemmed in by new-made land encroaching on the sea. It commanded a full view of the waters of the bay, and those " Islands that were the Hesperides Of all my boyish dreams." 44 HENEY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW. Almost ill front of the birthplace of the poet, and skirting the road on the seaward side, lay the beach, the scene of many a baptism on a sabbath-day. But it was not here that the poet spent his boyhood ; for, with the growth of the town, his parents moved on. Birthplace of Henry Wadsworth Lcjn^^iellow and, at a later period, established themselves in what is now the heart of the city. With the revival of commerce after the war, trade with the West Indies sprang up ; and " low-decked brigs carried out cargoes of lumber and dried fish, bringing back sugar, rum, and molasses." The dis- charging of a full cargo was wont to set the whole town in an uproar, and the wharves (chiefly Long BIETH AND EARLY CHILDHOOD. 45 Wharf and Portland Pier) "resounded with the sougs of the negro stevedores hoisting the hogsheads from the hold without the aid of a winch : the long trucks with heavy loads were tugged by straining horses, under the whips and loud cries of the truck- men. Liquor was lavishly supplied to laboring men, and it made them turbulent and uproarious." A well-known author, who has done not a little to unfold the glories and to preserve the old-time recollections of his native State (the Rev. Elijah Kel- logg),i has given us the following lively picture of Portland at this time, on a winter morning : — " Then you might have seen lively times. A string of board-teams from George Libby's to Portland Pier ; sleds growling ; surveyors running about like madmen, a shingle in one hand and a rule-staff in the other ; cattle white with frost, and their nostrils hung with icicles; teamsters screaming and halloo- ing ; Herrick's tavern and Huekler's Row lighted up, and the loggerheads hot to give customers their morning-dram." Of such scenes as these, and of others which com- mingled with them, the poet sings, — " I remember the black wharves and the slips, And the sea-tides tossing free ; And Spanish sailors with bearded lips, And the beauty and mystery of the ships, And the magic of the sea." 1 Now known as the author ot the "Elm Island" stories, the "Pleasant Cove" series, the "Whispering Pine" series, etc. His story of Good 01(1 Times abounds in jileasant pictures of life in the early days in the State of Maine, and, though written for young people, will be heartily enjoyed hy older readers. 46 HENRY WADSWOETH LONGFELLOW. At this time also, Portland had quite a lumber- trade; and, as if this were not enough to cause a tumult, it had furthermore its distilleries and tan- neries and ropewalks and a pottery. The two last impressed themselves on the mind of the boy Long- fellow, and, after many years, suggested to him the poem of "The Ropewalk," whose familiar stanzas begin as follows : — " In that building, long and low, With its windows all a-row, Like the port-holes of a hulk, Human spiders spin and spin, Backward down their threads so thin Dropping, each a hempen bulk. All these scenes do I behold, These, and many left untold. In that building long and low ; While the wheel goes round and round, With a drowsy, dreamy sound, And the spinners backward go." Also the poem " Keramos," — " Turn, turn, my wheel ! Turn round and round Without a pause, without a sound ; So spins the flying world away ! " But let us go back over threescore years, and look farther into the heart of the " dear old town." In Middle Street, blocks of brick stores have already begun to take the place of the dwelling-houses, where once lived many of the gentry of the town. Market Square is, on all sides, surrounded by small wooden shops ; and on the left, as we enter the BIETH AND EARLY CHILDHOOD. 47 square, stands Marston's tavern, to which Mo watt was taken as a prisoner by Col. Thompson and his men, in June, 1775. Not far off, in the centre of the square, stand the hay-scales, and next to them the market-house, and, just beyond, a small row of wooden shops, terminating in "a heater," nearly opposite the head of Preble Street. At the corner of Preble Street stands the brick mansion, sur- rounded with a spacious garden, of the widow of Commodore Edward Preble, the hero of Tripoli; and adjacent, "somewhat back from the village street," is the brick house built by Gen. Wadsworth, and, since 1807, occupied by Stephen Longfellow, Esq. This is the home — not the birthplace, be it remembered — of the, future poet. In front of these mansions, extending from Preble nearly to Brown Street, is the wood-market, " where the teams, loaded with cord-wood brought in from the country, stand, beneath the shade of a row of trees, with a railing between them and the sidewalk. The patient oxen feed upon the hay thrown upon the ground, while the wood-surveyor measures the loads, and the teamsters bargain with the townsmen." Not far off stands " The Freemasons' Arms," the tavern erected by Thomas Motley, grandfather of Thomas Lothrop Motley, the historian of the Nethe'rlands. At this time, however. Motley is dead ; and the tavern is kept by Sukey Barker. A short distance beyond Motley's, Oak Street enters Main Street ; and in the former thoroughfare we catch a glimpse of a grove of thrifty red-oaks : and next beyond is Green Street, which leads down to Deering's Woods, where for 48 HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFKLLOW. generations the boys of Portland have gathered acorns, and of which the poet sings, — " And Deering's Woods are fresh and fair ; And with joy that is almost pain My heart goes back to wander there, And among the dreams of the days that were, I find my lost youth again. " Coincident with the progress of commercial enter- prise was the growth of literature. Parson Thomas Smith had already jotted down his quaint observa- tions on life in Falmouth, and later generations were perusing them with more than ordinary interest. His associate and colleague, the Rev. Dr. Deane, had, in 1790, published his " Georgical Dictionary," which was now the authority in all matters pertain- ing to agriculture. The same author had also sung the praises of " Pitchwood Hill " in verse. In 1816, however, occurred the literary event in Portland, which was long to be remembered, namely, the pub- lication of Enoch Lincoln's poem of "The Village," of upwards of two thousand lines, "remarkable for its advanced moral sentiment, anticipating many of the reforms of our day, as well as for its erudition and its evenly sustained poetical merit." ^ ^ Enoch Lincoln, a son of Levi Lincoln, was horn in Worcester, Mass., in 1788. Studied at Harvard, became a lawyer in 1811, and settled at Fryeburg, Me., — the scenery of which beautiful forest-town he described in his poem of The Village, published in 1816. He was a member of Congress from 1818 to 1826, and governor of Maine from 1827 to 1829. He delivered a poem at the centennial celebration of the Lovewell's Pond Fight, was a warm friend of the Indians, and left behind him valuable historical manuscripts. He died Oct 8 1829. BIRTH AND BAELY CHILDHOOD. 49 Education was advancing, and "a number of young men were coming upon the stage of action who were to shed the lustre of letters upon the town." Among these were Nathaniel Deering, born in Portland in 1791, whose five-act tragedies — " Car- rabassett " and " Bozzaris " — have been much ad- mired ; John Neal, born in 1793, whose vigorous poem, "The Battle of Niagara," was published in 1816, and awakened much enthusiasm ; and Gren- ville Mellen, born in Biddeford in 1799, who came to Portland during his early manhood. Among these elders walked the boy Longfellow, interested in what they produced, and profiting by what they taught, who would yet outstrip them all. In social life democratic ideas were prevalent, not alone in matters of dress, but also of etiquette. "Cocked hats, bush wigs, and knee-breeches are passing out, and pantaloons have come in. Old men still wear cues and spencers, and disport their shrunken shanks in silk stockings. A homely style of speech prevails among the common people. Old men are 'daddies,' old ladies are 'marms,' ship- masters are ' skippers,' and school-teachers are ' mas- ters.' There are no stoves, and open fires and brick ovens are in universal use. The fire is raked up at night, and rekindled in the morning by the use of flint, steel, and tinder-boxes. Nearly every house has its barn, in which is kept the cow, pastured during the day on Munjoy. The boys go after the cows at nightfall, driving them home through the streets. There are few private carriages kept in town, and fewer public vehicles. 50 HENEY WADSWOBTH LONGFELLOW. " The coin in circulation is chiefly Spanish dollars, halves, quarters, pistareens, eighths, and sixteenths, — the latter two of which are known as ninepence and fourpence 'alf-pennies. Federal money is so little recognized that prices are still reckoned in shillings and pence, — two and six, three and ninepence, seven and sixpence. " It is a journey of two days, by the accommoda- tion stage, to Boston, costing eight to ten dollars. If you go by the mail-stage, you may be bounced through, with aching bones, in the hours between two o'clock in the morning and ten at night ; or you may take a coaster, and perhaps be a week on the passage." There were two newspapers published in the town, — " The Portland Gazette " and " The Eastern Argus," — both appearing once a week. Amuse- ments were scarce, and not before 1820 were the- atrical performances sanctioned. In the summer season well-to-do people went on excursions among the islands, and occasionally there was a capsize with loss of life. During the winter sleighing-parties drove out to " Broad's " for a dance and a supper. At such times hearts were merry ; and, it is no secret, flip and' punch flowed freely, rendering sobriety the exception and not the rule. Such was " the beautiful town that is seated by the sea ; " and such were the scenes to which the thoughts of the poet go back, in after years, with a man's love for the haunts of his childhood.^ 1 I am under deep obligation to my friend, Mr. Edward H. Elwell of The Portland Transcript, who has permitted me to make BIRTH AND EARLY CHILDHOOD. 51 Here he recalled the sports of boyhood, and found his "lost youth again." In passing, I must not forget to mention at least one of the friends and associates of Longfellow's early boyhood, — his cousin, John Owen. He was born in Portland in 1806, and, with Longfellow, attended the school of Ma'am Fellows, also the Port- land Academy. They were subsequently students together in Bowdoin College ; though they were not in the same class, Owen being a member of the class of 1827. After his graduation, Owen came to Cambridge and studied divinity. He never preached much, how- ever, and soon made choice of a business, in prefer- ence to a professional career. In 1834 he entered into the book business in Cambridge, and in 1836 became sole proprietor, his former partners having sold out their interest in the same. He failed in 1848, and the store (which, by the way, was on the corner of Holyoke and Main Streets where a jeweller's shop now stands) went back into the hands of its original proprietors. Thenceforth Mr. Owen spent his time almost wholly in study and literary pursuits, at the same time doing what he could to improve and adorn the spacious grounds that surrounded his home. The intimacy existing between the poet and his friend Owen was lifelong: indeed, the relation of friendship was a bond of union more like that which free use of the very interesting memoir on The Portland of Long- fellow's Youth, which he wrote and published at the time of the Longfellow birthday celebration. 52 HENEY WADSWOETH LONGFELLOW. has subsisted between Emerson and Alcott. Long- fellow was the gentlest of poets ,• and doubtless the chief attraction for him in the society and companion- ship of his cousin lay in Mr. Owen's gentle and amiable traits of character. In the course of these memoirs, I shall have occa- sion to Quote freely Mr. Owen's recollections of that unalloyed friendship which extended over nearly three-quarters of a century. He it was who best knew and appreciated the poet's onward march to fame, was the mild counsellor in all his work, and the trusted Achates to whom he might repair in times of trial and perplexity for sympathy and en- couragement. COLLEGE DAYS. 53 CHAPTER III. COLLEGE DAYS. (1821-1826.) IN his anonymous prose romance called "Fan- shawe," ^ a book, by the by, which more nearly approaches a novel than any of his later works, Hawthorne has pictured some of the aspects of the college at Brunswick. He says, — " From the exterior of the collegians, an accurate observer might pretty safely judge how long they had been inmates of those classic walls. The brown cheeks and the rustic dress of some would inform him that they had but recently left the plough to la- bor in a not less toilsome field. The grave look, and the intermingling of garments of a more classic cut, would distinguish those who had begun to acquire the polish of their new residence ; and the air of superiority, the paler cheek, the less robust form, the spectacles of green, and the dress in general of 1 Fanshawe was published three years after Hawthorne's gradu- ation, in Boston, by Marsh & Capen; but " so successful was Haw- thorne in his attempt to exterminate the edition, that not half a dozen copies are now known to be extant." It is affirmed to be " a faint reflection from the young Salem recluse's mind of certain rays thrown across the Atlantic from Abbotsford." For further particulars the reader is referred to A Study of Hawthorne, by G. P. Lathrop, Boston, 1876. 54 HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW. threadbare black, would designate the highest class, who were understood to have acquired nearly all the science their Alma Mater could bestow, and to be on the point of assuming their stations in the world. There were, it is true, exceptions to this general description. A few young men had found their way hither from the distant seaports ; and these were the models of fashion to their rustic companions, over whom they asserted a superiority in exterior accom- plishments, which the fresh, though unpolished, intel- lect of the sons of the forest denied them in their literary competitions. A third class, differing widely from both the former, consisted of a few young de- scendants of the aborigines, to whom an impracticable philanthropy was endeavoring to impart the benefits of civilization. " If this institution did not offer all the advan- tages of elder and prouder seminaries, its deficien- cies were compensated to its students by the incul- cation of regular habits, and of a deep and awful sense of religion, which seldom deserted them in their course through life. The mild and gentle rule was more destructive to vice than a sterner sway ; and, though youth is never without its follies, they have seldom been more harmless than they were here. The students, indeed, ignorant of their own bliss, sometimes wished to hasten the time of their entrance on the business of life ; but they found, in after-years, that many of their happiest remem- brances, many of the scenes which they would \vith least reluctance live over again, referred to the seat of their early studies." COLLEGE DAYS. 55 It is noted by his biographer, that, in the passages above quoted, Hawthorne " divides the honors pleas- antly between the forest-bred and city-trained youth, having, from his own experience, an interest in each class ; yet I think he must have sided, in fact, with the country boys." ^ The father and great-grandfather of the poet were graduates of Harvard College. It may seem a little singular, that, with this precedent, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow should have been sent to Bowdoin Col- lege. At the beginning of the century the college at Brunswick was scarcely known, except to its incorporators; and it was not until 1802 that the first class was admitted. The first graduating class numbered seven: and among the students of this period were Charles S. Davies, subsequently an emi- nent lawyer ; and Nathan Lord, for many years pres- ident of Dartmouth College.^ In 1819 the second president of Bowdoin died; and the Rev. William Allen, a graduate of Har- vard, and at the time president of Dartmouth, was chosen as his successor. In many respects his administration was a memorable one, and " into his retirement he carried the respect and esteem which are the desert of sincere and laborious service. His ■term of service was highly fruitful." Dr. Shepley says of him, that he " performed well the duties of his station. He may have been a little too unbending, have passed a student without recognition, or unde- i A study of Hawthorne, p. 110. 2 See an interesting article on Bowdoin College, in Scribner's Monthly for May, 1876, written by Mr. G. T. Packard. 56 HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW. sirably mistaken a name or person. His hymn-book was one of those mistakes of which no good account can be given. He was nevertheless a scholar, a gen- tleman, a friend of the students, an able preacher, and an efficient helper of ministers and churches. The incidents of his administration, both at Bowdoin and previously at Dartmouth, were full of interest; in- volving, as they did, the investigation of great ques- tions, calling into service the best legal talent in the country, and issuing in judicial decisions impor- tant to all educational and charitable corporations." ^ Associated with him in the several departments were John Abbott, A.M., a graduate of Harvard, the professor of languages; Parker Cleaveland, "in ability and brilliancy not excelled by any college officer of his time,"' who filled the chair of mathc: matics and natural philosophy ; the Rev. William Jenks, the professor of the Oriental and English languages; and Samuel P. Newman, whose depart- ment was that of Greek and Latin until 1824, when he was succeeded in the same department by Al- pheus S. Packard, who since 1819 had been a tutor in the institution. Professor Packard — still livings has been a member of the faculty since the last-men- tioned date, — sixty-three years. Addressed to his old teacher were certain lines in Longfellow's " Morituri Salutamus," a poem prepared for the semi-centennial of his class, and recited by him in 1 I quote from a valuable paper on the class ot '25 in Bowdoin College, read by the Rev. Dr. David Shepley of Providence, R.I., at a meeting of Congregational ministers in October, 1875. Dr. Shepley was a classmate of Longfellow at Bowdoin College. His death occurred in November, 1881. COLLEGE DAYS. 57 1875. After speaking of the teachers who had led their " bewildered feet through learning's maze," the poet continues, — " They are no longer here : they all are gone Into the land of shadows, — all save one. Honor and reverence, and the good repute That follows faithful service as its fruit, Be unto him, whom living we salute." By far the most noted, if not the most beloved, of all the Bowdoin professors, was Parker Cleave- land, who, after fifty-three years of faithful work, was stricken down at his post in 1858. In the sphere of his teaching and oversight he was truly the "gen- ius of the place ; " while distinguished honors from home and abroad testified to the important work of " the Father of American Mineralogy," as he was often termed. It is related that "an accident di- rected Professor Cleaveland's special attention to the study of mineralogy. Some laborers, in blasting near the river, upturned what looked like gold and precious stones, and hurried to the professor's room with their treasure. To their anxious inquiry he returned a diplomatic response, being in doubt as to the quality of the specimens, and subsequently for- warded the minerals to Professor Dexter of Harvard University, who confirmed Professor Cleaveland's analysis, and, in return, sent to Bowdoin selections from his own cabinet. At a felicitous moment. Pro- fessor Cleaveland printed a work on mineralogy, which was warmly praised by leading scientists in this country and in Europe. Humboldt, Sir David Brew- 58 HENRY WADSWOETH LONGFELLOW. ster, Sir Humphry Davy, Baron Cuvier, the Abb^ Haiiy, and many others, welcomed him to the frater- nity of investigators ; and invitations to teach in the leading colleges of the country showed the home ap- preciation of his remarkable abilities. Nor did the professor pass by the science of chemistry : in that department, likewise, he was a proficient. Besides the regular lectures in college, he gave courses of popular addresses, fully illustrated, in the towns of the State. A slight drawback to these scientific excursions deserves to be recorded. The professor's apparatus was moved from town to town by a yoke of oxen. His appearances, therefore, were few and far between ; and these visits of enlightenment were finally abandoned." It is of this "grand old teacher" that Longfellow speaks in a sonnet written during his visit to Bruns- wick in the summer of 1875 : — " Among the many lives that I have known, None I remember more serene and sweet, More rounded in itself and more complete, Than his who lies beneath this funeral stone. These pines, that murmur in low monotone, These walks frequented by scholastic feet, Were all his world; but in this calm retreat For him the teacher's chair became a throne. With fond affection memory loves to dwell On the old days, when his example made A pastime of the toil of tongue and pen ; And now, amid the groves he loved so well That naught could lure him from their grateful shade. He sleeps, but wakes elsewhere, for God hath said, 'Amen! '" PROFESSOR CLEAVELAND ON THE LECTURE-PATH 60 HENRY WADSWOKTH LONGFELLOW. With such men as teachers, — all of them well equipped, and in love with their work, — it is not to be wondered at that the attractions of Bowdoin Col- lege were such as to induce so many of the best families in the State of j\Iaine to send their sons thither. To be sure, the college at Brunswick was young and poor, and not widely known ; but it had a great and grand future before it, and the day was soon to dawn when it should send forth graduates whose fame would reach round the civilized world. Its growth was rapid, but at the same time health- ful. In 1802 the college embraced but one building, in which, for a time, all the ofScers and students were sheltered, and the chapel and recitation-rooms were located. Five or six years later Maine Hall was erected, and the process of augmentation and in- crease went steadily on ; so that, at about the close of the first quarter of the present century, the insti- tution presented an outward view in every way respectable. It was in September, 1821, that Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, together with his elder brother Stephen, entered the freshman class in Bowdoin College. The former was just in the last half of his fifteenth year, and at this time was, as remembered by one of his teachers, " an attractive youth, with auburn locks, clear, fresh, blooming complexion, and, as might be presumed, of well-bred manners and bearing."' ^ And one of his classmates thus writes : " I remem- ber him (Longfellow) distinctly as of fresh, youthful _ appearance, as uniformly regular and studious in ' Professor A. S. Packard, still liviug ia Brunswick, Me. 62 HENRY, WADSWOETH LONGFELLOW. his habits, rather disinclined to general intercourse, maintaining a high rank as a scholar, and distin- guished especially for the excellence of his composi- tions, as was Hawthorne also. Such was his temper- ament that it appeared easy for him to avoid the unworthy." ^ Still another says, "When I first became ac- quainted with Longfellow, just after we had been dismissed from a recitation in Greek, I thought him very unsocial; but further acquaintance showed to me that what I had mistaken for indifference, and an unwillingness to form new friendships, was merely a natural modesty. I soon found him to be one of the truest of friends." ^ One who was not intimate with him in college, but was yet a member of the same class, informs us, that, "in his recitations, he was rather slow of speech, and appeared absorbed, but was almost al- ways correct, if not always. He stood high. I should judge he must have been amiable in his social in- tercourse, never aggressive, but well calculated to secure friends." ^ At the time when Longfellow entered Bowdoin College, the class numbered fort3^-four members ; and most of these were born and reared in the State of Maine. The average age was from fifteen to sixteen, though some of the students had already attained their twenty-fourth birthday. While a few had been prepared for the collegiate course by private instruct- 1 Charles Jeffrey Abbott, Esq., of Castine, Me. '^ Horatio Bridge, Esq., of Washington, D.C. " Professor Nathaniel Dunu of New- York City. COLLEGE DAYS. 63 ors, by far the majority came from well-recognized and well-known schools of a preparatory order. It is remembered, that at least one came from Phillips Academy at Andover, and quite a number from Phillips Academy at Exeter. More than half had been previously taught by Mr. Cushman at the Port- land Academy ; and the remainder had emanated from schools at Gorham, Saco, Hallowell, Augusta, and Monmouth. " The fitting given at Andover and Exeter," says one of the members of the class of 1825, " was ex- cellent. The noble, hard-working, youth-loving men at other locations named (I love to praise them), knew well that their pupils needed more than they had time or means to do for them. For what they did, they deserved admiration ; for what they did not do, they were not themselves accountable. They were ready to impart their own clothing to a needy student. They cared for their pupils while with them, and after they had gone, as if they had been their own sons." ^ It has often been remarked, that the days of youth are the happiest in human life ; and equally true is it, that the years spent in college are the most memo- rable. I The attachments formed during our student- career are never forgotten : other and later friends may come to us, time and space may intervene ; but those who together with us endeavored to climb high up the ladder of loarning forever linger in our memories, — their names and their faces are with us always.l Those who were students a half-century ' Kev. Dr. Shepley. 64 HENRY WADSWOETH LONGFELLOW. ago will more readily understand this assertion, per- haps, than those who are but recent graduates. In the earlier time, our colleges were fewer, and perhaps poorer, and the classes were never large ; to-day, col- leges are many, the endowments are liberal, and in many cases the classes number many members. For- merly a student could know and associate with all of his fellow-students; now it frequentlj' happens that no student is acquainted with more than half the members of his class, while perhaps he has never been intimate with more than a limited few. It is not difficult to find the reason for the last-named circumstance. In the days of which I write, much interest was felt in the progress and growth of the college at Brunswick, especially so by "the best citizens of Maine, who talked of it, planned for it, and were oft .seen in its halls." To be sure, it was neither the oldest, nor indeed the best, collegiate institution in America ; and, because of its moderate means, the college could not afford the services of a large corps of instructors. But, with perhaps a single excep- tion, such teachers as held positions at Bowdoin were men of unqualified worth, and most excellent ability. They were not afraid of work, and they were devoted to all who came under their charge. If they had a fault, it was that of bestowing too much time, and too varied service, for too little money. But their records live after them ! And now let us glance hastily at some of the mem- bers of the Bowdoin class of 1825. A more remark- able class never gathered under an American college COLLEGE DAYS. 65 roof-tree. " When we -think," says the venerable Professor Packard, writing in the present year, " of the distinction that has crowned the class of 1825, a teacher may be charged with singular lack of dis- crimination and interest in his pupils, who is com- pelled to confess how scanty are his particular remi- niscences of its members ; and this for the plain reason, that no one knew, or even dreamed it may be, how famous some of them were to become. I think it is a tradition that Luther — if not he, some re- nowned German teacher — used to doff his hat rev- erently when he entered his schoolroom. On being asked why he did so, 'Because,' said he, 'I see in my pupils future burgomasters and syndics of the city.' . . . Were we blind, and dull of appreciation, that we did not forecast, during those four years, two lives — one in the front seat of the class-room, and one in the third seat back — which were to have names in the prose and poetry of the ages, lasting as the language in which their genius found expres- sion r Nor indeed is it surprising that future greatness was not forecasted in a single instance. It may have been said, at the time, that they who attained the highest rank in college were the men to be heard of again in after-life. But it is interesting to examine farther the assertion. " Little always held the firstl place. Four, well entitled to do it, came next. About seven, now in order, were perhaps in merit not very unequal, and, with the usages of the present day, might not have been distinguished from each other. The same may have been substantially true of each 66 HENEY WADSWOETH LONGFELLOW. of two companies of seven that followed ; and I must not fail to say, that, of those who took no part in the exercises of commencement, several had been dis- closed as more than ordinary men." ^ As is often the case, several members of the class might easily have reached a higher rank if they had been more thoroughly prepared, or had been more mature , or others, if they had studied more diligently. Some were scarcely distinguished at all during their college-days, though it was not because they did not wish to be ; and of these quite a number achieved renown in subsequent life. It is never fair to judge any class by the standard of its freshman year ; for not yet have the students become fully impressed with that sense of duty to themselves and justice to others which maturer ex- perience in college almost always affords. The self- consciousness of the yearling, it matters not where he may be found, is strongly marked, and only proves him to be as yet little more than a boy. During his second and third years, he begins to realize what he is doing, and for what, and to cast his eyes outside of the college precincts, and to reflect on what may possibly await him there in "the years yet to come." It was during the sophomore year that signs of future greatness began to manifest themselves. The college societies, or clubs, afforded ample opportuni- ties for the display of talent : and it appeared then that Bradbury, Cilley, Benson, and Little were to be among the statesmen of the future , that Dean was the metaphysician ; Weld and Mason, the nat- 1 Eev. Dr. SLepley. COLLEGE DAYS. 67 uralists ; and Cheever and Pierce, after Longfellow and Hawthorne, the " experts in belles-lettres." The future poet was Mellen, not Longfellow who at this time had the credit of " writing verses only as a pas- time." Poor Dean died just before graduation day, thus rendering sorrowful what must otherwise have been a most joyous event. Of those who foreshadowed prominence in later life, I must mention Josiah L. Little, who came to Bowdoin from Exeter, thoroughly trained, strong in body, and keen in intellect: at recitations he was always " prepared." His death occurred in 1862, but not until he had honorably filled many impor- tant civil and political stations. Jonathan Cilley was a " chum " of Little at Exe- ter, and was equally well fitted. The record of his life is tinged with sadness. In his youth he pos- sessed " unquestionable genius ; and had he not in- dulged in habits, not vicious, but still expensive of time, into which he was drawn by his fine social qualities, instead of about the ninth place, he might easily' have taken the second, possibly the first." Cilley graduated with his class, and immediately began the study of the law. He rose rapidly in the estimation of the public, was sent to Congress, and there gained the reputation of being one of the readi- est debaters. In one of his congressional speeches, he offended the editor of " The New- York Courier and Exchange," and was challenged to fight a duel. Cilley declined on the ground that the challenger was not a gentleman: whereupon Mr. Graves, a member of Congress from Kentucky, took the chal- 68 HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW. lenger's place; and to this arrangement Mr. Cilley assented. On a bleak day the duel was fought with rifles; and Cilley, like Hamilton before him, fell dead, leaving his adversary unharmed. Mrs. Cilley "could not survive the shock, and three young children were left in the world without father or mother." George B. Cheever was another one of the coterie in which young Longfellow moved, and found the joys of friendship. Cheever, from early childhood, had studied Edmund Burke ; though he was also said to lay " hold on all books within his reach." The librarian of the college once remarked, "It is fifty dollars damage to the library every time a theme is assigned to Cheever. He searches every book on every shelf." The diligent, careful, and conscien- tious student still lives to enjoy the reputation of an able preacher, author, and champion of temperance. It certainly is much to his credit that he was long spoken of as " the Gideon of the anti-slavery cam- paign." In the same class was John S. C. Abbott, the his- torian ; J. W. Bradbury, eminent in law and politics ; and Nathaniel Hawthorne, the genius of American romance. A classmate writes of Hawthorne, that "he utterly neglected many of the studies of the regular course ; and, as he would not study, he could not at recitations show the fruit of his study. Fail- ure in the classroom, however, did not disturb him ; nor did it materially detract from the respect in which he was held, both by professor and classmates. It was soon found that he was not to be judged or COLLEGE DAYS. 69 dealt with by ordinary standards ; that he had read much ; that his mind was enriched by its own crea- tions ; that he was, in a sense, already an accom- plished scholar. In the social circle his was apt to be a silent presence ; but it was a presence ever eagerly sought, and, somehow, marvellously magnetic. He never seemed to think of asking himself how he com- pared with his fellows. In their thoughts he was always above and never beneath. He was near, yet distant ; had intimacies, but intimates knew only in part. In subsequent life, in reference to a certain locality in England, he writes, ' Here a man does not seem to consider what other people will think of his conduct, but only whether it suits his own convenience to do so and so.' And he adds, ' This may be the better way.' When he was in college, he may have seemed to be of the mind here indicated ; only it never suited his convenience to do any thing with which his associates were not obstinately bent on being pleased. He had no liking for any of the professions, and, it is probable, left college without any definite plans for life." ^ Such was Hawthorne, — confessedly the laggard member of the class of 1825, and yet withal one of the most prominent in making that class famous. In college he was the friend, though never the inti- mate, of Longfellow. In after-life the relation be- came intimate, and continued so to the last. ^ ' Rev. Dr. Sliepley. 2 Among the students at Bowdoin during the course of Long- fellow and his classmates may be mentioned : William Pitt Pes- senden ot the class of '23, successively a member of the Maine Legislature, a member of Congress, United-States senator, Secretary 70 HENEY WADSWOBTH LONGFELLOW. Longfellow, in college, was not unlike many others in his class. From the beginning to the close of those halcyon days, his career was singularly un- eventful. When he entered upon his junior year, his old schoolmate at the Portland Academy (John Owen) entered the class of 1827 i and it is his testi- mony, that while the excursions which they together made back into the country were as frequent as those, which, in former times, they had made to Deering's Woods, never was Longfellow guilty of any lawless escapades, or even of those wild, hilari- ous sports which were by no means uncommon among his fellows. " I shall never forget," says Mr. Owen, whose recollections are among tlie most valuable that we have, whether bearing upon the earlier or later life of the poet, — "I shall never forget one of the visits which I paid to my old school-friend just after the of the Treasury in President Lincoln's administration, and again United-States senator; John P. Hale of the class of '27, a member of the State Legislature of New Hampshire, district-attorney for that State under Presidents Jackson and Van Buren, member of Congress, member of the Legislature, and Speaker of the House of Representatives, United-States senator, in 1852 the Free-Soil candi- date for Vice-President of the United States, and United-States minister to Spain under President Lincoln; Franklin Pierce of the class of '24, member of the New-Hampshire Legislature, and Speak- er, member of Congress, United-States senator, a brigadier-general during the Mexican War, and elected President of the United States in 1852; Sergeant Smith Prentiss of the class of '26, the lawyer and orator, member of the Mississippi Legislature, member of Congress, and distinguished by his eloquence, and for his love and knowledge of literature ; and Calvin E. Stowe of the class of '24, professor of languages in Dartmouth, of biblical literature in Lane Seminary, Cincinnati, divinity professor in Bowdoin, and professor of sacred literature In Andover Theological Seminary, a well-knowu author and educator, and husband of Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe. COLLEGE DAYS. 71 opening of my sophomore year. It was in the month of October, and on a sabbath evening. After some hours spent over my books, I called at hi« room late in the evening. I found him in an old arm-chair, with a copy of Shakspeare — an English copy, if I remember rightly — lying on his lap, and over that a sheet of paper, on Avhich he had been writing, in a clear, legible, and neat hand, which he has alwaj'^s preserved, some inspiration of the moment. The object of my visit was twofold : first, to obtain some information with regard to one of the instruct- ors ; and secondly, to renew our friendship. He re- ceived me most cordially, and at once told me he was jotting down some verses. We went over again, in pleasant talk, the experience of the ballad on ' Lovewell's Fight ; ' and I suggested that perhaps poesy was not his forte. " ' Let me read you something,' he remarked, with- out directly responding to my playful jest. And he began with the lines, — " ' When first in ancient time, from Jubal's tongue The tuneful anthem filled the morning air, To sacred hymnings and elysian song His music-breathing shell the minstrel woke. Devotion breathed aloud from every chord : The voice of praise was heard in every tone, And prayer and thanks to him, the Eternal One, To Him, that with bright inspiration touched The high and gifted lyre of heavenly song, And warmed the soul with new vitality.' " ' You see, I have a cold,' he added, ' and could not go to devotional exercises. But I must do some- thing in keeping with the day.' 72 HENEY WADSWOETH LONGFELLOW. " I replied that I was but a poor judge of the quality of verse, and that, if he called what he had read to me poetry, I would assume that it was. But I could not refrain from adding, that it was much too grand to be popular. He read me more of the poem, and then laid it aside unfinished. Towards the Christ- mas holidays he showed me the poem, completed, published in one of the periodicals of the time. He had sent it to the editor of ' The United-States Literary Gazette,' and, in return, had been credited with a year's subscription." The same qualities of mind and person which so strongly characterized the poet in his later life, and rendered him dear to whomsoever he encoun- tered, were already formed in his earlier career. As a youth, he was invariably social, affable, genial, and polite. Though he was more fond of his books than of pastimes, and treasured time for what it could afford him for study, yet he was never so fully occu- pied with his own employments that he could not lend himself to others. He was known and recog- nized generally as one of the " well-to-do " men in college. Though never lavish with money, nor in any way inclined to that outward display which the possessor of money is so often led into, still he was thought to be well favored, and never to be in want, either of the necessities or of the luxuries of life. He was never known to refuse a contribution for any worthy object : no student ever came to him in distress and went away empt}^ handed. The following incident is related by one of the members of the class of 1826, and corroborated by COLLEGE DAYS. 73 Mr. Owen : One day a student received notice from home, that owing to the death of his father, and the straitened condition of the family, it was not practicable for him longer to continue his studies at Bowdoiu. This was sad news to the young inan, for he cherished great hopes in regard to his future career ; and already, by close application to duty, he was accounted one of the ablest and most promising of his class. His friend, the narrator of the anec- dote, having been made acquainted with all the cir- cumstances of the case, at once took counsel with Longfellow. Up to this time — the spring of 1825 — Longfellow had contributed several poetical effu- sions to the columns of " The United-States Literary Gazette," but had never asked for, nor received, any compensation. From "The Gazette " the poems had found their way into many of the daily and weekly press of the country ; and the young poet, not with- out reason, began to think himself entitled to some pecuniary allowance, however small it might be. He wrote a note on the subject to the editor, Mr. Theophilus Parsons,^ and received in return a plea of poverty, some well-chosen words of praise and gratitude, and — a copy of " Coleridge's Poems." 1 Theophilus Parsons, son of the chief justice of the same name, was horn at Newburyport, Mass., May 17, 1797; graduated at Har- vard in 1815; studied law in the office of Judge William Prescott; visited Europe; practised law first in Taunton and later in Boston; was a frequent contributor to the pages of The North-American Review and other periodicals, and, in 1824, founded The United- States Literary Gazette ; in 1817 he became the Dane professor of law in the Harvard Law School. Mr. Parsons wrote some fifteen volumes of legal treatises, also several works in support of the Swedenborgian, or " New Jerusalem," Church. His death occurred only a lew months ago. 74 HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW. This was, indeed, ti disappointment ; for Longfellow- had counted on receiving a few paltry dollars, which it was his intention to present to his fellow-student in need. He was undaunted, however, and resolved to do what he could. Himself, his brother, and the narrator drew up a subscription-paper, put down on it such sums as each could afford, and then passed it round among the fellows. The college-men re- sponded nobly ; and enough was raised to carry the luckless, but deserving, object of the gift safeh' through his college-course. Just forty-one years from that date the same student called upon the poet at his home in Cambridge, and again thanked him for that " kindness, which had proved a fortune to himself." He added, that, having experienced " how blessed it is to receive," he had just founded a certain charity, — on condition that the name of the donor should jiever be made public, — and hoped to do even more at some future time. '• For some reason or other," says Mr. Owen, " the poet never liked to speak of this act of his earlier career. He and I have talked about it, to be sure ; but one day he suggested that the subject be for- ever dropped. It was one of his peculiar habits, — always to be doing some one a favor, and to wish that it be kept a profound secret." It has previously been stated that Longfellow did not begin full work at college until he had entered upon his sophomore year. From September, 1821, to Commencement, 1822, he pursued most of his studies at home, and at the same time managed to keep up with his class. In the autumn of 1822 COLLEGE DAYS. 75 he began his studies at Brunswick, and so also did one of his classmates, Hon. James W. Bradbury, now of Augusta. Hon. Mr. Bradbury thus speaks of his friend, after the lapse of sixty years : — "I first knew Longfellow when I entered as a sophomore iu the class of which he was a member, in 1822 ; and I like to think of him as I then knew him. His slight, erect figure, delicate complexion, and intelligent expression of countenance come back to me indelibly associated with his name. " He was always a gentleman in his deportment, and a model in his character and habits. For a year or more we had our rooms out of college, and in the same vicinity ; and I consequently saw much more of him than of many others of our class. I recollect, that, at our junior exhibition, a discussion upon the respective claims of the two races of men to this continent was assigned to Longfellow and myself. He had the character of King Philip, and I of Miles Standish. He maintained that the continent was given by the Great Spirit to the Indians, and that the English were wrongful intruders. My reply, as nearly as I can recall it, was, that the aborigines were claiming more than their equal share of the earth, and that the Great Spirit never intended that so few in number should hold the whole continent for hunting-grounds, and that we had a right to a share of it, to improve and cultivate. Whether this occurrence had any thing to do in suggesting the subject for one of his admirable poems, or not, one thing is certain, that he subsequently made a great deal more of Miles Standish than I did on that occa- sion. 76 HENRY WADSWORTH LOKGFELLOW. "As a scholar, Longfellow always maintained a high rank in a class that contained such names as Hawthorne, Little, Cilley, Cheever, Abbott, and oth- ers. Although he was supposed to be somewhat devoted to the Muses, he never came to the recita- tion-room unprepared with his lessons. Another classmate, the Rev. David Shepley, D.D., of Providence, whose death preceded that of the poet by a few months, brings forward a similar tribute. He says, — "Longfellow was more like his fellow-students, and more with them. Librarians, if not as intimate with him as with Cheever, still knew Longfellow. He gave diligent heed to all departments of study in the prescribed covu-se, and excelled in all ; while his enthusiasm moved in the direction it has taken in subsequent life. His themes, felicitous translations of Horace, and occasional contributions to the press, drew marked attention to him, and led to the expec- tation that his would be an honorable literary career ; yet probably no one was sagacious enough to antici- pate the extent and the depth of the reverential affection of which he has now for years been the object. Decided aversion to pretence and display distinguished him when in college, as it distinguishes him now." During Longfellow's sojourn at Brunswick, there was a musical club in college ; and of this he was a prominent member. He was exceedingly fond of the "art divine," and this passion remained with him through life ; and the instrument which he pro- fessed to master was the flute. One cannot help COLLEGE DAYS. 77 feeling that such an instrument was most appropriate to his genius, or fancying that " the echoes of that ' concord of sweet sounds ' have floated down to us blending with the harmonious measures of his verse." When he was not engaged in study, or taking a part in the musical club, or off on some rural excursion, he would spend his time in the exercise of his poetic gift. Some of his sweetest short productions were written and published while he was in college, as will appear later on in this biography. A classmate still cherishes a recollection of a poem which Longfellow wrote on the seasons, and after more than half a century remembers the lines, — " Summer is past ; and autumn, hoary sire, Leans on the breast of winter to expire." The Commencement programme of 1825 displays the following announcement : — " Oration : Native Writers. Henry AVadsworth Longfellow, Portland." The subject that was originally selected by the young poet was entitled " The Life and Writings of Chatterton ; " but, at the eleventh hour, he changed his mind, and made choice of the theme on which he discoursed. In the programme, a copy of which is still preserved in the college library, the original title is erased, and " Native Writers " sub- stituted in Professor Cleaveland's handwriting. The fact that to Longfellow was assigned one of the three English orations, indicates his standing as 78 HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW. a scholar in college. His was the first claim to the poem : but, as the poem had no definite rank, it was thought due to him, since his scholarship bore a high mark, that he should receive an appointment which should place his scholarship beyond question. The class-poem was assigned to Frederic Mellen, "who was in reality more than an ordinary college-poet." It should not be forgotten, however, that Longfellow had the first claim as the poet of the class ; for he had not only appeared publicly as a writer, but in November, 1824, during the first term of his senior year, had been chosen to pronounce the poem of the Peucinian, one of the two leading societies in the in- stitution. One of the last acts of a college-man in those days was to have his picture " taken." The art of pho- tography was as yet undis- covered ; but a " silhou- ette " artist was almost always to be found, and, by his art of handling pa- per and shears, the " class- pictures " were taken. When the class was gradu- ated, Hawthorne alone, Prof.lePcrt,a„o( Longfellow, ^^^ ^f ^J^^ ^^J^^j^ UUmbcr, refused to have his profile cut in paper. But Long- fellow was more thoughtful, though perhaps uncon- scious, of the demands of the future ; and of his COLLEGE DAYS. 79 profile I am fortunate in being able to exhibit a facsimile reproduction. At the time of his graduation, Longfellow was nineteen years of age. .So full of promise was his future, that, shortly after his graduation, he was chosen to fill the chair of modern languages and lit- erature in the college, to endow which Madame Bow- doin some years before had given one thousand dol- lars as a corner-stone. But he was not asked to take the position before he had qualified himself for its duties. 80 HENRY WADSWOliTH LONGFELLOW. CHAPTER IV. THE EAKLIEK POEMS OF LONGPELLOW. (,1824-1825.) IN the elegant edition of his poems illustrated by Huntington and published by Carey and Hart, Philadelphia, in the year 1845, and in all subsequent editions, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow retained only seven of his "earlier poems;" namely, "An April Day," " Autumn," " Woods in Winter," " Hymn of the Moravian Nuns of Bethlehem," " Sunrise on the Hills," " The Spirit of Poetry," and " Burial of the Minnisink." To this list, Kettell, in his specimens of American poetry, published in 1829, adds " The Indian Hunter " and " The Sea-Diver." George B. Cheever's " American Common-place Book of Poetry," Boston, 1831, — a most excellent selection, — contains all the seven poems which Mr. Longfellow thought worthy of preservation in his col- lected works, and adds only one other, " Earth with her Thousand Voices Praises God." The seven poems above mentioned were but a small portion of those written by Longfellow in the period of his youth, or, rather, before his graduation from college. His earliest poems, as we have already observed, were published in one of the Portland THE EARLIER POEMS OF LONGFEIXOW. 81 newspapers. As none of these are still preserved, — or, if existing, bear no signfjture, — it is impossible to say what were their titles. The poem on "Love- well's Fight " appears to have vanished entirely ; at least, many years' search has failed to discover its whereabouts. During his junior and senior years at Brunswick, Longfellow exercised his poetical genius quite often ; and, of the poems which he produced, no less than seventeen were published in one of the short-lived periodicals of that day. Theophilus Parsons, himself a poet of some ability, and subsequently eminent in Massachusetts jurisprudence, had essayed the public taste with a hazardous literary venture, " The United- States Literary Gazette," — a qiiarto of sixteen pages, and furnished to its regular subscribers in fortnightly numbers at the exceedingly low price of five dollars a year ! " The Gazette " made its first appearance on the 1st of April, 1824 ; and one of the chief attractions was William C. Bryant, then just coming to his early fame, and who had been invited to fix his own price on such poems as he might choose to contribute. Mr. Bryant, after some hesitation, named two dollars a poem as a fair compensation. I have previously stated that the young collegian was no better paid. But Bryant was not the only poeti- cal contributor to the columns of " The Gazette ; " and among the others were Richard Henry Dana, James E. Percival, Rufus Dawes, Grenville Mellen, — the Bowdoin class-poet of 1825, — J. Athearn Jones, — nearly forgotten now, but once a writer of great promise and of no mean attainment, — George Lunt, Caleb Gushing, and N. P. Willis. 82 HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW. Longfellow had scarcely completed his eighteenth year when he ventured to send his first poem to the editor of "The Gazette." Inasmuch as an exact account of the dates of the appearance of this and the succeeding poems, together with the full text of the poems themselves, are not without interest, I have decided to reproduce them.^ The first poem published in " The Gazette " ap- peared in the issue of Nov. 15, 1824, and is as fol- lows : — THANKSGIVING. When first in ancient time, from Jubal's tongue The tuneful anthem filled the morning air, To sacred hymnings and elysian song His music-breathing shell the minstrel woke. Devotion breathed aloud from every chord : The voice of praise was heard in every tone, And prayer and thanks to Him, the Eternal One, To Him, that with bright inspiration touched The high and gifted lyre of heavenly song, And wanned the soul with new vitality. A stirring energy through Nature breathed : The voice of adoration from her broke, Swelling aloud in every breeze, and heard Long in the sullen waterfall, what time Soft Spring or hoary Autumn threw on earth Its bloom or blighting ; when the Summer smiled ; Or Winter o'er the year's sepulchre mourned. The Deity was there ! a nameless spirit Moved in the breasts of men to do him homage ; And when the morning smiled, or evening pale Hung weeping o'er the melancholy urn, 1 All of the seventeen poems of Longfellow which first appeared in The United-States Literary Gazette were, with five others, re- printed in England by Richard Heme Shepherd, and published by Pickering & Co. of London. THE EARLIER POEMS OF LONGFELLOW. 83 They came beneath the broad, o'erarching trees, And. in their tremulous shadow worshipped oft, Where pale the vine clung round their simple altars. And gray moss mantling hung. Above was heard The melody of winds, breathed out as the green trees Bowed to their quivering touch in living beauty ; And birds sang forth their cheerful hymns. Below, The bright and widely wandering rivulet Struggled and gushed amongst the tangled roots That choked its reedy fountain, and dark rocks Worn smooth by the constant current. Even there The listless wave, that stole with mellow voice Where reeds grew rank on the rushy-fringed brink, And the green sedge bent to the wandering wind, Sang with a cheerful song of sweet tranquillity. Men felt the heavenly influence ; and it stole Like balm into their hearts, till all was peace : And even the air they breathed, the light they saw, Became religion ; for the ethereal spirit That to soft music wakes the chords of feeling. And mellows every thing to beauty, moved With cheering energy within their breasts. And made all holy there, for all was love. The morning stars, that sweetly sang together ; The moon, that hung at night in the mid-sky ; Dayspring and eventide ; and all the fair And beautiful forms of nature, — had a voice Of eloquent worship. Ocean, with its tides Swelling and deep, where low the infant storm Hung on his dun, dark cloud, and heavily beat The pulses of the sea, sent forth a voice Of awful adoration to the spirit That, wrapt in darkness, moved upon its face. And when the bow of evening arched the east, Or, in the moonlight pale, the curling wave Kissed with a sweet embrace the sea-worn beach. And soft the song of winds came o'er the waters, The mingled melody of wind and wave 84 HENEY WADSWOE.TH LONGFELLOW. Touched like a heavenly anthem on the ear ; For it arose a tuneful hymn of worship. And have our hearts grown cold ? Are there on earth No pure reflections caught from heavenly light ? Have our mute lips no hymn, our souls no song? Let him that in the summer day of youth Keeps pure the holy fount of youthful feeling, And him that in the nightfall of his years Lies down in his last sleep, and shuts in peace His dim, pale eyes on life's short wayfaring. Praise Him that rules the destiny of man. Sunday Evening, October, 1824. Ill the number dated Dec. 1, 1824, appeared the following : — AUTUMNAL NIGHTFALL. Round Autumn's mouldering urn Loud mourns the chill and cheerless gale, AVhen nightfall shades the quiet vale, And stars in beauty burn. ' Tis the year's eventide. The wind, like one that sighs in pain O'er joys that ne'er will bloom again, Mourns on the far hillside. And yet my pensive eye Rests on the faint blue mountain long; And for the fairy-land of song, That lies beyond, I sigh. The moon unveils her brow: In the mid-sky her urn glows bright. And in her sad and mellowing light The valley sleeps below Upon the hazel gray The lyre of Autumn hangs unstrung, And o'er its tremulous chords are flung The fringes of decay. THE EARLIER POEMS OF LONGFELLOW. 85 T stand deep musing here, Beneath the dark and motionless beech, Whilst wandering winds of nightfall reach My melancholy ear. The air breathes chill and free : A spirit in soft music calls From Autumn's gray and moss-grown halls, And round her withered tree. The hoar and mantled oak, With moss and twisted ivy brown, Bends in its lifeless beauty down Where weeds the fountain choke. That fountain's hollow voice Echoes the sound of precious things; Of early feeling's tuneful springs Choked with our blighted joys. • Leaves that the night-wind bears To earth's cold bosom with a sigh. Are types of our mortality, And of our fading years. The tree that shades the plain. Wasting and hoar as time decays, Spring shall renew with cheerful days, — But- not my joys again. In the issue of Dec. 15, 1824, appeared the follow- ing:— ITALIAN SCENERY. Night rests in beauty on Mont Alto. Beneath its shade the beauteous Arno sleeps In VaUombrosa's bosom, and dark trees Bend with a calm and quiet shadow do^Yn 86 HENRY WADSWOKTH LONGFELLOW. Upon the beauty of that silent river. Still in the west a melancholy smile Mantles the lips of day, and twilight pale Moves like a spectre in the dusky sky, While eve's sweet star on the fast-fading year Smiles calmly. Music steals at intervals Across the water, with a tremulous swell, From out the upland dingle of tall firs ; And a faint footfall sounds, where, dim and dark, Hangs the gray willow from the river's brink, O'ershadowing its current. Slowly there The lover's gondola drops down the stream, Silent, save when its dipping oar is heard, Or in its eddy sighs the rippling wave. Mouldering and moss-grown through the lapse of years, In motionless beauty stands the giant oak ;■ Whilst those that saw its green and flourishing youth Are gone and are forgotten. Soft the fount. Whose secret springs the starlight pale discloses. Gushes in hollow music; and beyond The broader river sweeps its silent way, Mingling a silver current with that sea. Whose waters have no tides, coming nor going. On noiseless wing along that fair blue sea The halcyon flits ; and, where the wearied storm Left a loud moaning, all is peace again. A calm is on the deep. The winds that came O'er the dark sea-surge with a tremulous breathing, And mourned on the dark cliff where weeds grew rank, And to the autumnal death-dirge the deep sea Heaved its long billows, with a cheerless song Have passed away to the cold earth again, Like a wayfaring mourner. Silently Up from the calm sea's dim and distant verge, Full and unveiled, the moon's broad disk emerges. On Tivoli, and where the fairy hues Of autumn glow upon Abruzzi's woods. THE EARLIER POEMS OF LONGFELLOW. 87 The silver light is spreading. Far above, Encompassed with their thin, cold atmosphere, The Apennines uplift their snowy brows, Glowing with colder beauty, where unheard The eagle screams in the fathomless ether. And stays his wearied wing. Here let us pause. The spirit of these solitudes — the soul That dwells within these steep and diflScult places — Speaks a mysterious language to mine own, And brings unutterable musings. Earth Sleeps in the shades of nightfall, and the sea Spreads like a thin blue haze beneath my feet ; Whilst the gray columns and the mouldering tombs Of the Imperial City, hidden deep Beneath the mantle of their shadows, rest. My spirit looks on earth. A heavenly voice Comes silently: " Dreamer, is earth thy dwelling ? Lo ! nursed within that fair and fruitful bosom. Which has sustained thy being, and within The colder breast of Ocean, lie the germs Of thine own dissolution ! E'en the air. That fans the clear blue sky, and gives thee strength, Up from the sullen lake of mouldering reeds. And the wide waste of forest, where the osier Thrives in the damp and motionless atmosphere. Shall bring the dire and wasting pestilence. And blight thy cheek. Dream thou of higher things: This world is not thy home ! " And yet my eye Kests upon earth again. How beautiful Where wild Velino heaves its sullen waves Down the high cliff of gray and shapeless granite. Hung on the curling mist, the moonlight bow Arches the perilous river ! A soft light Silvers the Albanian mountains, and the haze That rests upon their summits mellows down The austerer features of their beauty. Faint And dim-discovered glow the Sabine hills; And, listening to the sea's monotonous shell. 88 HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW. High on the cliffs of Terraoina stands The castle of the royal Goth^ in ruins. But night is in her wane : day's early flush Glows like a hectic on her fading cheek, Wasting its beauty. And the opening dawn With cheerful lustre lights the royal city, Where, with its proud tiara of dark towers, It sleeps upon its own romantic bay. In the issue of Jan. 1, 1825. appeared the follow- ing : — THE LUNATIC GIRL. Most beautiful, most gentle! Yet how lost To all that gladdens the fair earth; the eye That watched her being; the maternal care That kept and nourished her; and the calm light That steals from our own thoughts, and softly rests On youth's green valleys and smooth-sliding waters. Alas! few suns of lite, and fewer winds. Had withered or had wasted the fresh rose That bloomed upon her cheek: but one chill frost Came in that early autumn, when ripe thought Is rich and beautiful, and blighted it; And the fair stalk grew languid day by day, And drooped — and drooped, and shed its many leaves. 'Tis said that some have died of love ; and some, That once from beauty's high romance had caught Love's passionate feelings and heart- wasting cares, Have spurned life's threshold with a desperate foot; And others have gone mad, — and she was one! Her lover died at sea; and they had felt A coldness for each other when they parted, But love returned again : and to her ear Came tidings that the ship which bore her lover Had suddenly gone down at sea, and all were lost. I saw her in her native vale, when high 1 Theodoric. THE EARLIER POEMS OF LONGFELLOW. 89 The aspiring lavk up from the reedy river Mounted on cheerful pinion; and she sat Casting smooth pebbles into a clear fountain, And marking how they sunk; and oft she sighed For him that perished thus in the vast deep. She had a sea-shell, that her lover brought From the far-distant ocean; and she pressed Its smooth, cold lips unto her ear, and thought It whispered tidings of the dark blue sea: And sad, she cried, " The tides are out! — and now I see his corpse upon the stormy beach! " Around her neck a string of rose-lipped shells, And coral, and white pearl, was loosely hung; And close beside her lay a delicate fan, Made of the halcyon's blue wing; and, when She looked upon it, it would calm her thoughts As that bird calms the ocean, — for it gave Mournful, yet pleasant, memory. Once I marked. When through the mountain hollows and green woods, That bent beneath its footsteps, the loud wind Came with a voice as of the restless deep, She raised her head, and on her pale, cold cheek A beauty of diviner seeming came ; And then she spread her hands, and smiled, as if She welcomed a long-absent friend — and then Shrunk timorously back again, and wept. I turned away: a multitude of thoughts, Mournful and dark, were crowding on my mind; And as I left that lost and ruined one, — A living monument that still on earth There is warm love and deep sincerity, — She gazed upon the west, where the blue sky Held, like an ocean, in its wide embrace Those fairy islands of bright cloud, that lay So calm and quietly in the thin ether. And then she pointed where, alone and high. One little cloud sailed onward, like a lost And wandering bark, and fainter grew, and fainter, 90 HENRY WADSWOETH LONGFELLOW. And soon was swallowed up in the blue depths; And, when it sunk away, she turned again With sad despondency and tears to earth. Three long and weary months — yet not a whisper Of stern reproach for that cold parting ! Then She sat no longer by her favorite fountain : She was at rest forever. In the number bearing date Jan. 15, 1825, the following beautiful effusion first saw the light of publicity. It is certainly one of the most poetical of Longfellow's earlier productions. THE VENETIAN 60ND0LIEK. Here rest the weary oar! — soft airs Breathe out in the o'erarching sky; And Night — sweet Night — serenely wears A smile of peace : her noon is nigh. Where the tall fir in quiet stands. And waves, embracing the chaste shores. Move o'er sea-shells and bright sands. Is heard the sound of dipping oars. Swift o'er the wave the light bark springs, Love's midnight hour draws lingering near; And list ! — his tuneful viol strings The young Venetian gondolier. Lo ! on the silver-mirrored deep. On earth, and her embosomed lakes, And where the silent rivers sweep, From the thin cloud fair moonlight breaks. Soft music breathes around, and dies On the calm bosom of the sea; Whilst in her cell the novice sighs Her vespers to her rosary. THE EARLIEE POEMS OF LONGFELLOW. 91 At their dim altars bow fair forms, In tender charity for those, That, helpless left to life's rude storms, Have never found this calm repose. The bell swings to its midnight chime, Relieved against the deep blue sky. Haste ! — dip the oar again — 'tis time To seek Genevra's balcony. The issue of Feb. 1, 1825, contained the poem " "Woods in Winter." As the most of this produc- tion is in the collected works, we omit it here. In the issue of March 15, 1825, appeared the fol- lowing : — DIRGE OVER A NAMELESS GRAVE. By yon still river, where the wave Is winding slow at evening's close, The beech, upon a nameless grave, Its sadly moving shadow throws. O'er the fair woods the sun looks down Upon the many twinkling leaves. And twilight's mellow shades are brown AVhere darkly the green turf upheaves. The river glides in silence there, And hardly waves the sapling tree: Sweet flowers are springing, and the air Is full of balm — but where is she ! They bade her wed a son of pride. And leave the hopes she cherished long : " She loved but one, and would not hide A love which knew no wrong. 92 HENEY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW. And months went sadly on — and years; And she was wasting day by day: At length she died — and many tears Were shed, that she should pass away. Then came a gray old man, and knelt With bitter weeping by her tomb ; And others mourned for him , who felt That he had sealed a daughter's doom. The funeral-train has long past on. And time wiped dry the father's tear. Farewell, lost maiden ! — there is one That mourns thee yet, — and he is here. In the issue of April 1, 1825, appeared the follow- ing poem : — A SONG OF SAVOY. As the dim twilight shrouds The mountain's purple crest. And summer's white and folded clouds Are glowing in the west, Loud shouts come up the rocky dell. And voices hail the evening-bell. Faint is the goatherd's song. And sighing comes the breeze; The silent river sweeps along Amid its bending trees ; And the full moon shines faintly there, And music fills the evening air. Beneath the waving firs The tinkling cymbals sound; ' And, as the wind the foliage stirs, I feel the dancers bound Where the green branches arched above, Bend over this fair scene of love. THE EARLIER POEMS OF LONGFELLOW. 93 And he is there, that sought My young heart long ago! But he has left me — though I thought He ne'er could leave me so. Ah! lovers' vows — how frail are they! And his — were made but yesterday. AVhy comes he not? I call In tears upon him yet: 'Twere better ne'er to love at all, Than love, and then forget I Why comes he not? Alas! I should Reclaim him still, if weeping could. But see — he leaves the glade. And beckons me away: He comes to seek his mountain maid ! I cannot chide his stay. Glad sounds along the valley swell, And voices hail the evening-bell. The issue of April 15, 1825, contained the first ac- knowledged poem, entitled " An April Day," which, with a few slight changes, appears in the collected works. It is here omitted. In the issue of May 15, 1825, was published the following : — THE INDIAN HUNTER. When the summer harvest was gathered in. And the sheaf of the gleaner grew white and thin. And the ploughshare was in its furrow left, Where the stubble land had been lately cleft, An Indian hunter, with unstrung bow, Looked down where the valley lay stretched below. He was a stranger there, and all that day Had been out on the hills, a perilous way: 94 HENEY WADSWOETH LONGFELLOW. But the foot of the deer was far and fleet, And the wolf kept aloof from the hunter's feet; And bitter feelings passed o'er him then, As he stood by the populous haunts of men. The winds of autumn came over the woods, As the sun stole out from their solitudes; The moss was white on the maple's trunk, And dead from its arms the pale vine shrunk ; And ripened the mellow fruit hung, and red Were the tree's withered leaves round it shed. The foot of the reaper moved slow on the lawn, And the sickle cut down the yellow corn ; The mower sung loud by the meadow-side, Where the mists of evening were spreading wide; And the voice of the herdsman came up the lea, And the dance went round by the greenwood tree. Then the hunter turned away from that scene, JVheie the home of his fathers once had been. And heard, by the distant and measured stroke. That the woodman hewed down the giant oak; And burning thoughts flashed over his mind Of the white man's faith, and love unkind. The moon of the harvest grew high and bright. As her golden horn pierced the cloud of white : A footstep was heard in the rustling brake, Where the beech overshadowed the misty lake, And a mom-ning voice, and a plunge from shore. And the hunter was seen on the hills no more. When years had passed on, by that still lakeside, The fisher looked down through the silver tide: And there, on the femooth yellow sand displayed, A skeleton wasted and white was laid ; And 'twas seen, as the waters moved deep and slow, That the hand was still grasping a hunter's bow. THE EARLIER POEMS' OF LONGFELLOW. 95 The poem, "Hymn of the Moravian Nuns of Beth- lehem," was printed in " The Gazette," June 1, 1825, and is retained in the collected works. The poem, " Sunrise on the Hills," appeared July 1, 1825, and is still retained. Both of these poems are here omit- ted. On the 1st of August, 1825, appeared the follow- ing : — JECKOYVA. [The Indian chief, Jeckoyva, as tradition eaye, perished alone on the moun- tain which now bears his name. Night overtooli him whilst hunting among the cliffs ; and he was not heard of till after a long time, when his half-decayed corpse was found at the foot of a high rock, over which he must have fallen. Mount Jeckoyva is near the White Hills.] They made the, warrior's grave beside The dashing of his native tide ; And there was mourning in the glen — The strong wail of a thousand men — O'er him thus fallen in his pride, Ere mist of age, or blight or blast, Had o'er his mighty spirit passed. They made the warrior's grave beneath The bending of the wild elm's wreath, When the dark hunter's piercing eye Had found that mountain rest on high, Where, scattered by the sharp wind's breath, Beneath the rugged cliff were thrown The strong belt and the mouldering bone. Where was the warrior's foot, when first The red sun on the mountain burst ? Where, when the sultry noon-time came On the green vales with scorching flame, And made the woodlands faint with thirst '' 'Twas where the wind is keen and loud, And the gray eagle breasts the cloud. 96 HENEY WADSWOETH LONGFELLOW. Where was the warrior's foot, when night Veiled in thick cloud the mountain-height ? None heard the loud and sudden crash, None saw the fallen warrior dash Down the bare rock so high and white ! But he that drooped not in the chase Made on the hills his burial-place. They found him there, when the long day Of cold desertion passed away ; And traces on that barren cleft Of struggling hard with death were left, — Deep marks and footprints in the clay. And they have laid this feathery helm By the dark river and green elm. The number for Aug. 15, 1825, contained the fol- lowing poem : — THE SEA-DIVER. My way is on the bright blue sea. My sleep upon its rocking tide ; And many an eye has followed me Where billows clasp the worn seaside. My plumage bears the crimson blush. When ocean by the sea is kissed. When fades the evening's purple flush, My dark wing cleaves the silver mist. Full many a fathom down beneath The bright arch of the splendid deep, My ear has heard the sea-shell breathe O'er living myriads in their sleep. They rested by the coral throne. And by the pearly diadem; Where the pale sea-grape had o'ergrown The glorious dwellings made for them. THE EARLIER POEMS OF LONGFELLOW. 97 At night, upon my storm-drenched wing, I poised above a helmless bark ; And soon I saw the shattered thing Had passed away, and left no mark. And, when the wind and storm were done, A ship, that had rode out the gale. Sunk down — without a signal-gun; And none was left to tell the tale. I saw the pomp of day depart. The cloud resign its golden crown, When to the ocean's beating heart The sailor's wasted corse went down. Peace be to those whose graves are made Beneath the bright and silver sea! Peace — that their relics there were laid With no vain pride and pageantry. In the issue of Oct. 1, 1825, appeared the poem on "Autumn." Mr. Longfellow chose to retain it in the collected edition of his poems, and it is therefore omitted here. The issue of Nov. 15, 1825, contained the follow- ing:— MUSIlSTGS. I SAT by my window one night. And watched how the stars grew high ; And the earth and skies were a splendid sight To a sober and musing eye. From heaven the silver moon shone down With gentle and mellow ray, And beneath the crowded roofs of the town In broad light and shadow lay. 98 HENRY WADSWOBTH LONGFELLOW. A glory was on the silent sea, And mainland and island too, Till a haze came over the lowland lea. And shrouded that beautiful blue. Bright in the moon the autumn wood Its crimson scarf unrolled ; And the trees, like a splendid army, stood In a panoply of gold. I saw them waving their banners high. As their crests to the night- wind bowed; And a distant sound on the air went by. Like the whispering of a crowd. Then I watched from my window how fast The lights all around me fled, As the wearied man to his slumber passed, And the sick one to his bed. All faded save one, that burned With distant and steady light; But that, too, went out — and I turned Where my own lamp within shone bright. Thus, thought I, our joys must die. Yes, — the brightest from earth we win ; TiU each turns away, with a sigh, To the lamp that burns brightly within. In the issue of April 1, 1826, appeared the follow- ing beautiful poem : — SONG. Wheke, from the eye of day. The dark and silent river Pursues through tangled woods a way O'er which the tall trees quiver; THE EARLIER POEMS OF LONGFELLOW. 99 The silver mist, that breaks From out that woodland cover, Betrays the hidden path it takes, And hangs the current over. So oft the thoughts that burst From hidden springs of feeling, Like silent streams, unseen at first, From our cold hearts are stealing; But soon tlie clouds that veil The eye of Love, when glowing, Betray the long unwhispered tale Of thoughts in darkness flowing! Here the contributions dropped, nor did the maga- zine itself long survive. The most singular part of the affair is, that Longfellow, when issuing his first collected volume of poems, thirteen years later, the "Voices of the Night," thought it worth while to recall only five (and not all of them the best) of these early poems from their oubliette. The pieces that were reprinted received a few unimportant verbal alterations, but the changes were altogether insignificant. In a short preface to this section of earlier pieces, Mr. Longfellow says, that "these poems were written, for the most part, during my college life, and all of them before the age of nineteen. Some have found their way into schools, and seem to be successful: others lead a vagabond and precarious existence in the corners of newspapers, or have changed their names, and run away to seek their fortunes beyond the sea. I say, with the Bishop of Avranches on a similar occa- 100 HENEY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW. sion, ' I cannot be displeased to see these children of mine, which I have neglected, and almost exposed, brought from their wanderings in lanes and alleys, and safel}-- lodged, in order to go forth into the world together in a more decorous garb.' " It is now considerably more than half a century since the latest of these early poems saw the light, and the name of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow is now known and honored wherever the English lan- guage is spoken. We possess, to-day, the mature - fruits of his genius ; but it will be pleasant and profit- able to all lovers and students of poetry, to have an opportunity of recalling the first flights of song of one who has since become so famous throughout the world. Mr. George B. Cheever, writing in 1831, says, " Most of Mr. Longfellow's poetry, indeed, we believe nearly all that has been published, appeared, during his col- lege life, in ' The United-States Literary Gazette.' It displajrs a very refined taste, and a very pure vein of poetical feeling. It possesses what has been a rare quality in the American poets, — simplicity of expression, without any attempt to startle the reader, or to produce an effect by far-sought epithets. There is much sweetness in his imagery and language, and sometimes he is hardly excelled by anj^ one for the quiet accuracy exhibited in his pictures of natural objects. His poetry will not easily be forgotten." i To such praise, little need be added; nor is it necessary to enter into any detailed criticism of 1 The American Common-place Book of Poetry, with Occasional Notes, by George B. Cheever, Boston, 1831. THE EARLIER POEMS OP LONGFELLOW. 101 these slight first-fruits of Longfellow's muse. If the savor of them is sweet, there can be no harm in culling them from the tangled wilderness where they lay unheeded, and in danger of perishing. In order to appreciate aright Mr. Longfellow's lit- erary service to this country, it will be necessary to go back, in imagination, to the epoch when he began his literary career. The year 1825 is a good year on which to fix the mind, inasmuch as it marks the close of the first quarter of the present century. At that time American literature was not born. The very appetite for it had to be evoked; the very means of giving it to the public, to be created. All •of the publishing-houses of that day — and there was really no great publishing-house in existence in America — were contenting themselves with simply reprinting the works of English authors, and were paying nothing for the privilege. ^ very few lit- erary periodicals were barely subsisting on a miserly patronage, and were, as a rule, ill-deserving of that. No human mind had as yet conceived the idea of a magazine on the broad and well-directed basis of to-day. The religious press of the period was totally unlike that of the present era ; and the platform of all was narrow, intolerant, and bitterly controversial. Charles Dickens's caricatures in " Martin Chuzzle- wit," published in 1843, would not have been so hateful if they had not been so true. In general terms, there was then no American literature, barely a companioiiship in letters. But it must not be assumed, in this survey of the field, that there was then no literary man or wo- 102 HENEY WADSWOETH LONGFELLOW. man in the country ; for quite a number of persons had already essayed something of a literary charac- ter, though under adverse conditions, and to a small audience. William Cullen Bryant had published his poem of " Thanatopsis " in 1816, the " Ages " in 1821, and, having abandoned the law for literature, had gone to New York, and, in 1825, founded " The New-York Review and Athenseum Magazine," in which was to appear some of his best poems. In the following year he became editor of " The Even- ing Post," a position which he held until the close of his life. Washington Irving was about the only writer who had succeeded in achieving any thing of a reputation, either at home or abroad. He had already published " Salmagundi," " Knickerbocker's History of New York," the " Sketch-Book," " Brace- bridge Hall," and the "Tales of a Traveller." Of this genial author, a London reviewer then wrote, "We may congratulate him on the rank which he has already gained, of which the momentary caprice of the public cannot long deprive him ; and with hearty good-will, playfully, but we hope not pro- fanely, we exclaim as we part with him, ' Very pleas- ant hast thou been to me, my brother Jonathan ! ' " Edgar A. Poe, at this time, was chiefly celebrated for his feats of reckless hardihood. If lie had as yet written any verses, no publisher had brought tliem out. Motley was still a youth, and attending school at Dorchester, Mass. ; and Prescott had not yet ap- peared before the public as an historian. Whittier was still on his father's farm near Haver- hill, Mass., anon writing occasional verses for the THE EARLIER POEMS OF LONGFELLOW. 103 local newspaper, and tui-ning his hand to a little shoemaking. Emerson, having studied divinity, had assumed the charge of a congregation in Boston ; but not yet had he come forth as an author. Holmes was just on the point of entering Harvard College ; and, as we have already observed, Hawthorne had written nothing beyond a few college exercises. Cooper was feeling his way, and had yet in the cru- cible his unformed stories of Indian and pioneer life. It will thus be seen that American life was strangely prosaic ; and, before it could feel the glow of its own poetry, it must know something of the poetry of the past. This was Longfellow's first service to his coun- trymen. " He was a mediator between the old and the new : he translated the romance of the past into the language of universal life. Out of the closed volume he gathered the flowers that lay pressed and dead and odorless: he breathed into them the breath of life, and they bloomed and were fragrant again. He came to the past as the south winds come to the woods in spring ; and the trees put out their leaves, and the earth its mosses, and the dell its wild-flowers, to greet him." As we follow down the poet's years, from this early period of scholarly venture to the matured present, we shall find that his ambition was always directed towards the fulfil- ment of a laudable purpose, and that this purpose was largely the revivification of a buried past. For it he made patient preparation in most careful and painstaking study. Notwithstanding that Longfellow had published several poems, and these had been widely reprinted, 104 HBNKY "WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW. ' still, at the time of which I write, he himself was not known as an author beyond the circle of his own family and most intimate friends. That his verses were admired, is evidenced by the fact that the editor of " The Gazette " never refused one of his contri- butions, which were invariably sent to him anony- mously, or rather bore only the signature " H. W. L." When Mr. Carter, who succeeded Mr. Parsons in the editorial chair, met Professor Packard subsequently in Boston, he made inquiry what young man, signing himself " H. W. L.," was sending him such fine poetry from Bowdoin College. The professor was able only to conjecture the name of the poet. In 1826, the year after Longfellow left college, a modest volume of "Miscellaneous Poems selected from the United-States Literary Gazette " appeared ; and it furnished by far the best summary of the national poetry up to that time. Its authors were Bryant, Longfellow, Percival, Dawes, Mellen, and Jones ; and it certainly offered a curious contrast to that equally characteristic volume of 1794, "The Co- lumbian Muse," whose poets were Barlow, Trumbull, Freneau, Dwight, Humphreys, and a few others ; not a single poem or poet being held in common by the two collections. Longfellow's fikst visit to eueope. 105 CHAPTER V. LOITGFELLQW'S FIRST VISIT TO EUROPE. (7826-7829.) AFTER his graduation, as the second in a class of thirty-one members, Longfellow began the study of law in his father's office in Portland, with a view of entering upon its practice. But as might have been expected of one whose tastes were already formed, and who had made such a growing success in the field of literature, the young man soon wearied of legal study. In the unattractive pages of Coke and Blackstone, he was unable to find any thing congenial to his mind; and almost in despair, and very much to the dissatisfaction of his father, he confessed that he cherished no love for the subject, and wished to be excused from its further study. While he was still undecided to what next to turn his attention, — the thought of becoming a literary man never once entered his head at this time, — the call was extended to him to become professor of modern languages and literature at his Alma Mater. This was indeed a surprise ; for scarcely six months had elapsed since his return from Brunswick, and Longfellow was now but a youth of nineteen. There is a tradition in the college, relative to this 106 HENKY WADSWOKTH LONGFELLOW. appointment, which I must not fail to mention just here. While yet a college student, Longfellow had written a metrical translation of one of Horace's odes. The reading of this translation, or a part of it, at a general examination, had attracted the atten- tion of the examiners by its rare beauty of expres- sion ; and, when the proposal was made in the board of trustees to establish a chair of modern languages and literature, the Hon. Benjamin Orr, a distin- guished lawyer of Maine, and a great lover of Hor- ace, nominated Mr. Longfellow, and referred to this translation as sufficient proof of his fitness for the position. The Horace itself, with the autographs of Longfellow, Calvin Stowe, and John A. Andrew, is in the collection of Professor Egbert C. Smyth of Andover, Mass.^ An invitation to a professorship meant something in those days ; and, in the present instance, it meant every thing. A new chair had been created; and Longfellow, with neither years nor experience to back him, was now selected to fill it. He was asked, not to carry on a department already established, but to organize one himself, at a time, be it remem- bered, when American colleges had not yet learned that France and Germany have a literature as well as Greece and Rome. ' Should he accept the invita- tion ? this was now the only question with him. It was well considered in his own mind, and warmly debated around the home fireside. He was not ex- pected to set to work immediately, but was given permission to prepare himself for the new position ; 1 Rev. Lyman Abbott is my authority for tliis anecdote. LONGFELLOW'S FIRST VISIT TO EUROPE. 107 and preparation presupposed a trip to Europe. But the time came when it became necessary to return an answer to the board of trustees : it was an affirma- tive response. In the spring of 1826, all preparations having been duly completed, Longfellow bade adieu to his friends in Portland, and went to New York. Sev- eral days were consumed in exploring some of the wonders of the great metropolis, and in making excursions to the surrounding places of interest. Having engaged his passage to Europe on a sailing- vessel, which had not yet gotten ready for departure, and having a few days of leisure still on his hands, it occurred to him that he would make a visit to Philadelphia. It was on a beautiful spring day when he started, and the country was as lovely then as it is now. I quote his own account of this inter- esting ramble : — " I spent a week in the Quaker City, stopping at the old Mansion House on Third Street, near Wal- nut. It was one of the best hotels I ever stopped at, and at that time perhaps the best in the country. It has been the private residence of the wealthy Brighams, and was kept by a man named Head. The table was excellent ; and the bed-chambers were splendidly furnished, and were great, large, airy rooms. It has given way now to the demands of business, I believe ; for, when I was last there, I could hardly recognize the place where I stood. During this visit, I spent much time looking about ; and Philadelphia is one of the places which made a lasting impression upon me, and left its mark upon 108 HENRY "WADSWOETH LONGFELLOW. my later work. Even the streets of Philadelphia make rhyme, — " ' Chestnut, walnut, spruce, and pine, ]\Iarket, arch, race, and vine.' "I got the climax of 'Evangeline' from Philadel- phia, and it was singular how I happened to do so. I was passing down Spruce Street one day towards my hotel, after a Avalk, when my attention was at- tracted to a large building with beautiful trees about it, inside of a high enclosure. I walked along until I came to the great gate, and then stepped inside, and looked carefully over the place. The charming picture of lawn, flower-beds, and shade which it pre- sented, made an impression which has never left me ; and twenty-four 3ears after, when I came to write 'Evangeline,' I located the final scene — the meeting between Evangeline and Gabriel, and the death — at this poorhouse, and the burial in an old Catholic graveyard not far awaj-, which I found, by chance, in another of my walks." Having filled his mind with pleasant reminiscences of the old Quaker City, Longfellow returned to New York, whence he was now about to leave for a pro- longed sojourn in the lands beyond the sea. What were the thoughts and feelings of this young man, alone in a great city, and soon to tempt the dangers and uncertainties of an ocean-voyage, can only be conjectured. He cherished, at this time, an irresisti- ble longing to catch a glimpse of the Old World ; but his purpose in going thither was not like that of an ordinary tourist, who feels himself in need of a LONGFELLOW'S FIRST VISIT TO EUKOPE. 109 change of scene, and of a relaxation from his cares of business, but was that of the scholar, who, having a fixed project in view, now seeks to take the first step towards its accomplishment. Longfellow whs about to enter upon a course of philological study ; and he was to pursue this course, not out of text- books, — which did not then exist, and which, though they exist now, are but poor auxiliaries to an earnest student, — but by seeing European society in all its forms, by conversing with men of all characters, and representatives of all professions, by investigating institutions and laws, and by acquainting himself with courts and parliaments. He craved the faculty of reading and speaking foreign languages, and sought the opportunity of learning them, not merely from the drill of professional teachers, but as well from the lips of those whose words, written or spoken, had taught them. Ocean-travel, a half-century ago, differed much from what it is at the present day. The great steamship-lines were, as yet, unthought of; and the journey to Europe occupied nearly thrice the amount of time that it does now. Such a luxury as a cheap excursion, Avhich has become so distinguished a fea- ture of modern travel, was then counted among the impossibilities. Indeed, no one ever thought of going to Europe in those days, unless he had a defi- nite object in view; or except he was a merchant having foreign connections in his business; or a scholar bound for a German university to complete his studies before entering on a professorship ; or a son of wealthy parents, who was now about to begin 110 HENKY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW. a life of elegant leisure. No passenger steamer had yet crossed the thousand leagues of watery waste that divide the two continents ; and whoever made the journey must needs have sailed on board some packet-ship, and be many days at sea. But this was no discomfiture to an earnest student like Longfel- low. He had no fear of the ocean : from his earliest 3"ears he had been charmed bj- its grandeur and its majesty. In May, 1826, the ship sailed from New York with eleven passengers aboard, of wliicli Longfellow was one, and the j'oungest. It was a packet-ship, bound for Havre, France. She was towed down the harbor a short distance, and then a favoring breeze wafted her gayl}' along her course. The wind con- tinued to be fair and strong; and the vo3rage was pleasant, void of episodes, and as rapid as such a voyage could have been at this period. By the 1st of June, Havre was reached ; and there, for the first time in his life, Longfellow found himself face to face with antiquity. Having been dismissed from the custom-house, and spent a few days in port, Longfellow now prepared to begin his first series of wanderings on the Continent. His rotate lay through the beautiful province of Normandy; and tlie road leading from Havre to Rouen, his next objective point, was through a level, champaign country. His own words furnish the best description of what he saw and experienced. " Every thing," he says, " wore an air of freshness and novelty, which pleased my eye, and kept my fancy constantly busy. Life was like a dream. It Longfellow's fiest visit to Europe. Ill was a luxury to breathe again the free air, after having been so long cooped np at sea ; and, like a long-imprisoned bird let loose from its cage, my im- agination revelled in the freshness and sunshine of the morning landscape. " On every side, valley and hill were covered with a carpet of soft velvet green. Tlie birds were singing merrily in the trees ; and the landscape wore that look of gayety so well described in the quaint language of an old romance, making the ' sad, pensive, and aching heart to rejoice, aiid to throw off mourn- ing and sadness.' » Here and there a cluster of chest- nut-trees shaded frthatched-roofed cottage ; and little patches of vinej'ard were scattered on the slope of the hills, mingling their delicate green with the deep hues of the early summer-grain. The whole land- scape had a fresh, breezy look. It was not hedged in from the highways, but lay open to the eye of the traveller, and seemed to welcome him with open arras. I felt less a stranger in the land ; and as my eye traced the dusty road winding along through a rich, cultivated country, and skirted on either side with blossomed fruit-trees, and occasionally caught glimpses of a little farmhouse resting in a green hol- low, and lapped in the bosom of plenty, I felt that I was in a prosperous, hospitable, and happy land. " I had taken my seat on top of the diligence, in order to have a better view of the country. It was one of those ponderoiis vehicles which totter slowly along the paved roads of France, laboring beneath a mountain of trunks and bales of