YOUNG PEOPLE'S STORY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE IDA PRENTICE WHlTCblVlB Copyright N° COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. Young People's Story of American Literature CO H H O U < w O o w C/3 o o < O w Young People's Story of American Literature By Ida Prentice Whitcomb Author of "A Bunch of Wild Flowers for the Children/ ' "Heroes of History," "Young People's Story of Art," ' ' Young People "s Story of Music," etc. With Numerous Illustrations New York Dodd, Mead and Company Copyright, 1913 By DODD, mead & COMPANY //^ ©CI.A35424 3 TO M. p. B. FOREWORD A STORY is not necessarily bound by historical per- spective; and in the following ''Young People's Story of American Literature," the aim has been three-fold: First, to bring into clear outline such biographical and dramatic elements as appeal to young people and stimulate them to seek further. Second, to incite the youth and maiden in com- mitting to memory poetic selections. These faith- fully garnered will prove a rich treasure. Third, to interest the student in visiting the shrines of our own land as eagerly as those abroad. In collecting materials for the book, the writer has been enabled through great courtesy to visit many of the places mentioned, and has noted much of local value in a desire to add colour to the story. Every shrine visited has made more vivid the per- sonality associated with it. So the '' Firstly, Secondly, and Thirdly," are in brief: To seek companionship of the best books; to memorise choice poems; and to make pilgrimages to the homes of American authors. The writer acknowledges, with thanks, the per- mission given by Houghton, Mifflin and Company to FOREWORD reprint extracts from the works of Whittier, Low- ell, Longfellow, Holmes, Thoreau, Stedman, and others; by Charles Scribner's Sons to quote from the poems of Rev. Dr. Henry Van Dyke, Eugene Field, and Sidney Lanier; by Small, Maynard and Company to quote short extracts from the poems of Rev. John B. Tabb; by Lothrop, Lee and Shepard Company to quote from the poems of Paul Hamilton Hayne; by D. Appleton and Company to quote from the poems of William CuUen Bryant; and by Little, Brown and Company to quote *' Poppies in the Wheat," copyright 1892, by Roberts Brothers, and also some short quotations from other poems of Helen Hunt Jackson. CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I The Evolution of the Book i II Beginnings of the Story ........ 4 III Jamestown and Captain John Smith .... 6 IV Other Writers of the Virginia Colony ... 13 V Pilgrim and Puritan Chroniclers . . . . . . x6 VI Early Theologians 24 VII Diarists and Poets 34 VIII Benjamin Franklin 41 IX Revolutionary Leaders 55 X The Nation-Builders 63 XI Glances Backward and Forward 72 XII Washington Irving 76 XIII James Fenimore Cooper 90 XIV William Cullen Bryant loi XV Spasmodic Poems and Songs 114 XVI John Greenleaf Whittier 124 XVII War Literature 140 XVIII Bancroft and Prescott 156 XIX Motley and Parkman 165 XX New Influences in Puritan New England ... 175 XXI Ralph Waldo Emerson . . .180 XXII Henry David Thoreau 196 XXIII Nathaniel Hawthorne 205 XXIV Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 220 XXV James Russell Lowell 240 CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE XXVI Oliver Wendell Holmes 256 -- XXVII Edgar Allan Poe 275 -. XXVIII Other Southern Writers .291 XXIX Western Literature 304 XXX A Group of Eastern Authors 318 XXXI Woman in American Literature — Part First . .335 XXXII Woman in American Literature — Part Second . 343 Afterword • • • • • • 35S ILLUSTRATIONS The Orchard House: Home of the Alcotts . . . Frontispiece FACING PAGE Evolution of the Book: Cairn," Oral, Hieroglyphics .... 2 Evolution of the Book: Pictograph, Manuscript, Printing Press 4 Monument to Capt. John Smith, Jamestown, Va 10 Gov. John Winthrop . 18 Cotton Mather 18 John Eliot 18 Jonathan Edwards 18 National Monument, Plymouth, Mass ........ 36 Thomas Jefferson 44 Alexander Hamilton 44 Benjamin Franklin 44 Samuel Sewall 44 Page from Poor Richard's Almanac, September, 1738 ... 53 Washington Irving 78 J. Fenimore Cooper . • 78 Fitz-Greene Hallock . 78 William Cullen Bryant • 78 Sunny side: Home of Washington Irving 86 Monument to J. Fenimore Cooper, Cooperstown, N. Y. . . . 96 William Cullen Bryant Memorial, Bryant Park, New York . . 108 John Howard Payne's "Home Sweet Home," East Hampton, L. I. 118 Home of John Greenleaf Whittier, Amesbury, Mass . . . .130 William Lloyd Garrison 142 Daniel Webster 142 Henry Clay 143 Harriet Beecher Stowe 142 Lincoln Emancipation Statue at Washington, D. C 150 Francis Parkman 160 John Lothrop Motley ^ 160 George Bancroft 160 William H. Prescott 160 School of Philosophy, Concord, Mass 176 Ralph Waldo Emerson 184 Nathaniel Hawthorne 184 ILLUSTRATIONS FACING PAGE Henry David Thoreau 184 Louisa M. Alcott 184. Home of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Concord, Mass 192 The Thoreau Cairn and Thoreau Cove, Lake Walden . . .198 Old Manse, Concord, Mass 208 The Wayside: Home of Nathaniel Hawthorne, Concord, Mass. 216 Henry Wads worth Longfellow 222 James Russell Lowell 222 Oliver Wendell Holmes 222 John Greenleaf Whittier 222 Craigie House: Home of Henry W. Longfellow, Cambridge, Mass 232 Elmwood : Home of James Russell Lowell, Cambridge, Mass . 248 Edgar Allan Poe 276 Sidney Lanier 276 Paul H. Hayne 276 Rev. John B. Tabb 276 Poe's Cottage at Fordham, New York City 284 Samuel L. Clemens 308 Francis Bret Harte 308 Eugene Field 308 Henry Cuyler Bunner 308 Edward Clarence Stedman 320 Bayard Taylor 320 Thomas Bailey Aldrich . . 320 Walt Whitman 320 Edward Everett Hale 330 Frank R. Stockton 330 William Dean Howells 330 F. Marion Crawford 330 Celia L. Thaxter 340 Sarah Orne Jewett 340 Helen Hunt Jackson 340 Mary Mapes Dodge • • • . . . 340 ** Books are keys to wisdom's treasure; Books are gates to lands of pleasure; Books are paths that upward lead; Books are friends, come, let us read! '' POULSSON, I THE EVOLUTION OF THE BOOK An English author rightly traces the origin of the book to the depth of some Asiatic forest, where centu- ries agone a rude savage stood, thorn in hand, etching upon a leaf — perhaps torn from a giant palm — a symbol by which to commemorate either joy or strug- gle in his simple life; and thus the tree became the parent of the book — the word '* book " being de- rived from the beech with its smooth and silvery bark, found by our Saxon forefathers in the German forest, and the leaf explains itself. Another more pictorial illustration of the origin of the book, we find in a series of six panels, painted by Mr. John W. Alexander, of New York, in the new Congressional Library, at Washington. In the first of these expressive frescoes, prehis- toric man erects upon the seashore a rough cairn of boulders. The task is laborious, but he must needs make his record. In the second, the Oriental story-teller dramatic- ally relates his tale to a group of absorbed listeners : this typifies oral tradition. Again we look, and the Egyptian stone-cutter chisels his hieroglyphics upon the face of a tomb. STORY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE His cutting is vigorous and incisive — his tale is made to live. Yet another, and a graceful American Indian paints upon a buffalo-skin the pictograph, which rep- resents the war-trail or the chase. We next glance into the dim scriptorium where the monastic scribe patiently illuminates his manu- script; and as the final evolution, Gutenberg eagerly scans the proof that has just come from the printing- press — his gift to the world. So from prehistoric age to twentieth century, leaf, cairn and altar, oral tradition, hieroglyphic and pictograph, waxed tablet, illuminated manuscript and printing-press — have all had part in leading up to the book — the ultimate triumph of modern thought. And the book is the vehicle of literature; and the literature that it holds is the reflection and repro- duction alike of the intellect and deed of the people. Honest John Morley says : — " Poets, dramatists, humorists, satirists, historians, masters of fiction, great preachers, character-writers, political ora- tors, maxim-writers — all are literature.'* The story of literature is a curious and varied one that has unravelled century by century as Egypt, Assyria, Persia, China and India, Greece and Rome, and the more modern countries, have in turn added their records. -o-l«ff?#'-i-^ CAIRN ?'i'S^mmM'»''^'m&^''-^ . ORAL TRADITION EGYPTIAN HIEROGLYPHICS Copyright, by Curtis & Cameron THE EVOLUTION OF THE BOOK MURAL DECORATIONS IN THE CONGRESSIONAL LIBRARY, BY JOHN W. ALEXANDER THE EVOLUTION OF THE BOOK Our subject is American literature. This, how- ever, being but a branch of English literature, we join In the ranks and inspiration of that long and splendid procession, which, for twelve hundred years, has been marching along. Our environment, it is true, has been different: another land and climate and social organisation, with democratic political problems to solve; but all the same, we, too, claim ancestral right in Chaucer and Spenser and Shakespeare and Milton — and English literature is indeed our glorious heritage. And as we consider the work of our up-to-date author, seated in his library — running his fingers lightly over the keys of his typewriter — let us not forget the gratitude due to that primitive savage, who, In the fragrant woodland, traced his inspira- tion upon the leaf of a tree, and thus took the prst step in the evolution of the book. II BEGINNINGS OF THE STORY American literature — where does it begin? Surely not among the prehistoric mound-builders whose instruments and ornaments are unearthed to- day. They builded their homes, tilled their soil, and worked their mines, but thus their record sadly ends: " They had no poet and they died." Next, in historic sequence, we glance at the In- dian, who is becoming to-day more and more to the American author a theme of romance. What was his contribution to the literature of an aboriginal age? It was scanty indeed — but it formed a be- ginning; for his speech and songs of magic and love displayed bold courage and an eloquent symbolism that we may not overlook. The following, taken from Dr. Schoolcraft's " Indian Tribes " is an expressive illustration: — " My love is tall and graceful as the young pine waving on the hill, and as swift in his course as the noble, stately deer; his hair is flowing and dark, as the blackbird that floats through the air, and his eyes like the eagle's, both piercing and bright; his heart, it is fearless and great, and his arm, it is strong in the fight, as this bow made of iron wood which he easily bends. His aim is as sure in the fight and chase as the hawk which ne'er misses its prey, 4 PICTOGRAPH MANUSCRIPT BOOK PRINTING PRESS Copyright, by Curtis & Cameron THE EVOLUTION OF THE BOOK MURAL DECORATIONS IN THE CONGRESSIONAL LIBRARY, BY JOHN W. ALEXANDER BEGINNINGS OF THE STORY Ah, aid me, ye spirits! of water, of earth, and of sky, while I sing his praise." Leaving behind us the mound-builder and the In- dian, we next consider true American literature, which is divided into three periods: Colonial, Revo- lutionary, and National. The Colonial began in America when in *' Merrie England '' the golden '' Elizabethan Age " was at its height: when Shakespeare was unfolding his mar- vellous creations, and when Spenser sang of his *' Fairie Queene," England disporting itself alike in drama and pageant. Colonial literature here forms striking contrast to the brilliant period abroad, and it must have small space in our scheme, compared to that we must give to Revolutionary and National; and yet there is revealed in it to-day an increasing interest. We hear much of Colonial Dames and houses and archi- tecture and historic data. Truly these colonists " builded better than they knew," and our first duty must be to trace the earlier foot-prints which they made. Ill JAMESTOWN AND CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH Colonial literature has two divisions: one treats of *' Jamestown and the Cavalier " — the other of " Plymouth, the Pilgrim, and the Puritan." We consider *' Jamestown and the Cavalier " first, for this was the earlier. It was in the winter of 1606, that a party of romantic aristocrats, unruly gallants, mechanics and farmers, and beggars pushed thither by friends — adventurers all — set out in a pigmy fleet of three ships from England for America. They were under a charter to a London Company to seek here gold mines and precious stones. Four months they sailed over three thousand miles of unknown sea, and finally in April, 1607, were driven by storm into a large river, its shores blooming with dogwood and redbud, and on a bright day, they landed on the bank at a perilous spot ; and James River and Jamestown were later named in honour of their illustrious English King. This was the region which the chivalrous Sir Walter Raleigh — the dauntless sailor — had pre- viously penetrated in one of his futile attempts to colonise North America; and though he had not 6 JAMESTOWN AND CAPTAIN SMITH conquered, he had succeeded in christening the land Virginia, in gratitude to his '' Virgin Queen," and this name yet binds Virginia to the Mother Country. And as at Jamestown our forbears disembarked — the dense wilderness behind, the wide ocean be- fore — how little they realised the boundless future ! With the exception of Gosnold and Captain John Smith, they knew nothing of leadership, but many of them were manly men who loved liberty and ad- venture. The struggle was bitterly waged against famine and the Indians; but out of all, the Virginia colony was established — the jirst permanent English settlement in North America. There may have been imaginative, resourceful spirits among these pioneers, but what wonder that they had scant leisure for literary pursuits — for drama or pageant or smooth narrative. No poet or novelist could assert himself. These were days of action not thought; and yet in compacts and journals and letters home, we may discover, even at this remote date, the beginnings of our story of Ameri- can literature — for we at once descry the picturesque figure of the redoubtable John Smith — soldier, captain, governor, saviour and historian, of the colony. He stands at the gateway of American literature just as the old tramp-explorer. Sir John Mandeville, stood three hundred years before, at the gateway of English literature. 7 STORY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE A born fighter was this Lincolnshire boy, who very early ran away from home, '' foreign countries for to see." He fought in France, the Netherlands, and Italy; he fought the Spanish, Tartars and Turks; and blazoned on his escutcheon were the heads of three Turkish champions that he had sev- ered in single combat. He encountered shipwreck and slavery; and a veritable knight-errant of English chivalry, he re- turned to London, at the age of twenty-five — a battle-scarred hero. Then catching Gasnold's enthusiasm, he was seized with a mania for colonisation, and being just in time, he started in 1607, with the motley crew for Jamestown. They sailed for the riches of the South Sea — they found as their '' El Dorado " only cotton and tobacco; but dependable Captain Smith endured hardships and disappointments with opti- mism. In his little pinnace. Discovery, he explored the Virginian bays, so carefully surveying the coast, that among his works he published, in 161 2, *' A Map of Virginia, with a Description of the Country, the Commodities, People, Government, and Reli- gion " — a voluminous title, but it was a fashion in those days to make a title a summary of the contents of a book. Captain Smith bartered so skilfully with the In- dians that he kept the colony from starvation. His 8 JAMESTOWN AND CAPTAIN SMITH services were of unquestioned value: at one time governor — at another barely escaping the gallows — his zeal being always greater than his discretion. After hundred of settlers had been added to the colony, he was removed; returning afterwards to explore the New England shores, he received from King James the title " Admiral of New England." All told, he was in America less than three years. Captain Smith's life did not seem adapted to lite- rary achievement, but he wrote two booklets here which gave him a place in colonial literature. His other works belong to the long, quieter years that followed his going back to England. It is strange to think of the hardy soldier, seated in his aboriginal hut of logs and mud, and on an im- provised desk with goose-quill pen, recounting his deeds. His apology is, that he '' admired those whose pens had writ what their swords had done." He explained that he could not " write as a clerk, but as a soldier," and he begs his friends and well- wishers to accept the results ! There being no printing-press in America, his first writings appeared in London, in 1608 — the year that Milton was born. Eight volumes, large and small, related to Virginia, giving account *' of Such Occurrences and Accidents of Note as hath Hap- pened " there. In fact. Captain Smith must not only have interested others in book-making but also tempted many to the colony. 9 STORY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE His best book, ** A General History of Virginia," is a rough-hewn recountal of the initial contact with the wilderness, made by the adventurous pen of one who was always the centre of the adventures! His fault was boastfulness — but had he not a right to glory in his great deeds? In speaking of Virginia, he quaintly says : — " There is but one entrance into this country, and that is at the mouth of a goodly bay eighteen or twenty miles broad. . . . Within is a country that may have the prerogative over the most pleasant places known, for earth and heaven never agreed better to frame a place for man's habitation. The mildness of the air, the fertility of the soil, and the situation of the rivers are as propitious to the use of man, as no place is more convenient for pleasure, profit, and man's sustenance, under any latitude or climate. So, then, here is a place, a nurse for soldiers, a practice for mariners, a trade for merchants, a reward for the good, and that which is most of all, a business to bring such poor in- fidels to the knowledge of God and His Holy Gospel." Recall these words to-day! Think of his Old Point Comfort — of the many that have since found comfort within its harbour; and of its Military School which has become truly *' a nurse for sol- diers"; of Hampton Roads and '* its practice for mariners " ; of ** the trade for merchants," at New- port News and Norfolk; and best of all, of the gracious Hampton Institute, with its civilising and Christianising influences. Was not Captain Smith, 10 r«-r'~^-K-^*- '-'— " MONUMENT TO CAPT. JOHN SMITH, JAMESTOWN, VA, JAMESTOWN AND CAPTAIN SMITH with everything else, gifted with prophetic vision? Besides, he first gave the Indian to American lit- erature, for you remember that he lived long before Cooper and Longfellow. For the race in general, he had no respect. He dubs the Indian as incon- stant, crafty, cautious and covetous, quick-tempered, malicious and treacherous. He made an exception, however, in his Pocahontas story; it may be a myth but it is his finest bit of colouring. How vivid is the picture of his capture by Pow- hatan — his rescue by the beautiful maiden; of her bringing corn to the famished colonists, and her later royal reception in London as the daughter of an Indian king. It is the first dramatic tale that comes into American literature. John Smith began his literary work when Shakes- peare was. writing; he, too, was a dramatist, but in a different way. While some of his descriptions border on the marvellous, he is always able to make up in romance what he lacks in history, and his com- positions have done more to preserve his fame than his brave doings. His enemies accused him of exaggeration, saying that '' He writ too much, and done too little." But whatever he '* writ " and whatever he *'done," his chivalrous narrative is a most valuable literary relic. We do not like to think that Captain John Smith, our earnest chronicler, *' died poor and neglected in England," — but so it is told. II STORY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE The ** English Drayton " in a " spirited valedic- tory " to the three ship-loads of heroic fortune- hunters who had sailed from England, in 1606, prophesies for them a literary future : — ** And as there plenty grows Of laurel everywhere, — Apollo's sacred tree — You It may see A poet's brows To crown, that may sing there," 12 IV OTHER WRITERS OF THE VIRGINIA COLONY And there were other attempts besides that of Cap- tain John Smith to leave to posterity a literary rec- ord. William Strachey, secretary of the colony, wrote and sent to London, in 1610, a manuscript, telling of a fierce storm and shipwreck off the Ber- muda Islands — " the still vex'd Bermoothes " ; and this thrilling description, it is thought, may have furnished a plot to Shakespeare in '* The Tempest." George Sandys, treasurer of the colony, working sometimes by the light of a pine knot, made a most imaginative translation of Ovid's *^ Metamorphoses," And there were later adventurers and annalists: among them, Colonel William Byrd, a wealthy and brilliant man, and an amateur in literature, who, in 1736, when writing the history of his experience in running a dividing line between Virginia and North Carolina, gives a pleasant picture of colonial life; but he says : — " They import so many negroes hither, that I fear the colony will, some time or other, be known by the name of * New Guinea.' '' Bacon's Rebellion was one of the most striking 13 STORY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE episodes in these anti-Revolutionary times; and in 1676, '* The Burwell Papers" described it, and in these appeared some elegiac verses on the death of Nathaniel Bacon. So Virginia, the *' Cradle of the Republic," be- came, also, the '' Cradle " of a literature associated with noble names. Many of the colonists came from the titled ranks of English society. They were the originators of the '' F. F. V's," or '' First Families of Virginia," and strongly bound both to royalty and the Estab- lished Church. Instead of building many towns, these planters spent a manorial existence on their broad estates, devoting their free and careless hours to fox-hunting, horse-racing, and cock-fighting. Robert Beverly, in his '' History of Virginia," published in 1705, emphasises Southern hospitality. Indeed, this was one of the strongest traits in the character of the planter. Families of ample means sent their sons abroad to be educated; and the court- house rather than the school was the nucleus of social and political life. It was proposed early in the seventeenth century to build a University, and some Englishmen donated the money for the purchase of the land ; but a terrible Indian massacre interfered. So William and Mary College was not begun at Williamsburg until 1660, and did not receive its charter until 1693. It was closely fashioned after Oxford, in England; and 14 WRITERS OF VIRGINIA COLONY James Blair, its founder, and author of ** The Present State of Virginia," was a man alike of force and intellect. And many more old chroniclers there were who wrote about Virginia, the State destined later on to be *' The Mother of Presidents." Doubtless, their documents are historically valuable but they would form curious reading for us. And what may we find in Jamestown to-day to help us recall our earliest colonial literature? Only a few indefinite relics. Captain Smith selected this as '* a fit place for a great city," but it proved too marshy and unhealthful. The land, however, has been recently set apart by the ** Virginia Antiquarian Society," in order to preserve the ruins. Among them, there is seen under water the re- mains of a powder-house built by Captain Smith. There are, also, some graves in an ancient burial- ground. The most attractive thing is an old church tower, which legend says stands upon the spot where, under a sail stretched between the trees, the colonists first worshipped. Near this to-day is a statue of valorous John Smith, whose pluck and daring laid the foundation of our earliest literary structure. The inscription reads: *' So thou art brass without but gold within." 15 PILGRIM AND PURITAN CHRONICLERS Jamestown and Plymouth were the rallying-points of very distinct ideals in this dawn of American civ- ilisation, and the contrast was typical even in the landing of Cavaliers and Pilgrims. The former arrived in Virginia, amid the blossom and fragrance of the Southern spring-time, while the Pilgrims, in 1620, thirteen years later, disembarked in the dead of winter on the bleak New England coast — so bleak that in a few months there were but forty-four survivors of the hundred who had come on the Mayflower. Stern men were these Pilgrims! Having earlier opposed the Established Church, they had been "harried out of England, by King James I, and after toilsome years in Holland, the little company set sail for America — not seeking gold and gems like the Cavaliers but just * Freedom to worship God.' " And with the Puritans who landed with Winthrop, in 1630, they were for nearly two cen- turies masters of the religious, political, and literary life of New England. These devout Old Testament heroes laboured with desperate zeal, for time was too solemn to be frit- 16 PILGRIM, PURITAN CHRONICLERS tered away. Narrow and bigoted, of restrained speech, they had come to enjoy religious liberty — never to give it! Those who dared differ from them must follow their example and seek other lands. In truth, these fanatical nation-builders commended the persecution of witches, and forbade Friends and Baptists to join them. Yet with all their fanaticism and all their mistakes — they planted '' a Government by the People, a Church without a Bishop, a State without a King/' Perhaps they did this more securely, because their vision was bounded by theology, law, and education. Plymouth, Massachusetts, was their first settle- ment, and hardly were their primitive cabins built here before the rectangular meeting-house topped the hill; and on its flat roof small cannon were placed, making it at once a military as well as reli- gious post. Summoned to church by the drum-beat, it was compulsory to go, and none were freemen until they became church members. Every man carried his gun, and with the Indian ever in the foreground, spiritual warfare was too often converted into earthly conflict. The Bible was the text-book; the sermon might easily be from two to four hours long, and the prayers, too, were lengthy and profound. At first, the congregation did not sing, for sing- ing turned the mind from God; but Rev. John Cot- ton investigated the subject under several heads, and 17 STORY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE citing as an illustration that Paul and Silas sang Psalms in prison, it was finally decided that the Puritans might sing, too. Several divines assisted in making a metrical ver- sion of the Book of Psalms. In doing this, they were faithful to the original Hebrew, and the ver- sion was inharmonious, without poetic grace, the apology being : — "We have respected rather a plaine translation then to smooth our verses with the sweetness of any paraphrases and soe have attended conscience rather than elegance. . . . That soe we may sing in Sion the Lord*s songs of prayse according to his owne will; until hee take us from hence and wipe away all our teares, and bid us enter our Master's ioye to sing eternall Hallehuiahs." The '' Bay Psalm Book " was one of the very first books printed in America. It came from the Cambridge Press, in 1640. When it was used the Psalms were lined off, two lines at a time, and this was followed by the command " Sing ! " To-day the '' Bay Psalm Book " is a curiosity of literature. Here is one of the paraphrases : — " How good and sweet, O see For brethren 'tis to dwell As one in unity! It's like choice oyl that fell The head upon That down the beard unto Beard of Aaron." 18 .1 \ J \ • ' I .'f ■a GOV. JOHN WliiTHROP COTTON MATHER Fiom an old wood cut. JOHN ELIOT JONATHAN EDWARDS f I PILGRIM, PURITAN CHRONICLERS It may be added that attendance at service was the only amusement shared by the sanctimonious Pilgrims, and from it came strength for the weekly conflict. To them, " Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy " held a meaning quite unknown now. New Englanders may well be proud of such ancestry, and yet congratulate themselves that they did not belong to the earlier generations. Literature in these days was the handmaid of re- ligion, and attendance at school was as obligatory as at church. Settlements of fifty families were com- pelled to establish a school — if there were a hun- dred, it must be a grammar-school. In 1636, Cambridge College was founded. It did not receive — like William and Mary, in Vir- ginia — rich gifts from English donors; but the four hundred pounds with which it was started were gotten in New England. Two years later, by bequest of John Harvard, a young Charlestown minister, the college had an endowment fund of three thousand five hundred dollars, and three hundred volumes constituting his entire library. In 1639, it was ordered that *' the college agreed upon formerly to bee built at Cambridg shal bee called Harvard CoUedge," in honour of its first benefactor; and in 1650, the Institution was char- tered '' for the education of the English and Indian youth of the country in knowledge and godlyness." Nearly a hundred years after John Harvard's 19 STORY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE death, the alumni of Harvard University erected a monument to his memory in the burial-ground of Charlestown, dedicated with an address by Edward Everett. Yale College was founded in 1700, and its library was begun at a meeting of Connecticut ministers, each depositing forty books upon a table, declaring as he laid them down: " I give these books for the founding of a college in this colony." A commem- orative stone may be seen at Saybrook, Connecticut, the original site of the college. We are reminded of Burges Johnson's words : - — " The little Yankee colleges, God bless them heart and soul — Each little lump of leaven that leaveneth the whole ; What need of mighty numbers if they fashion, one by one, The men who do the little things a-needing to be done ? " And from the *' stern and rock-bound " New Eng- land coast — the land of the evening lamp and the winter fire — has come to us a more abundant litera- ture than from the " Sunny South." Weighty tomes there are with cumbersome titles that belong to the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries; and while our literature of to-day concerns itself chiefly with the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, we must, in order to get the continuity of our subject, take from the top shelf of the dark closet a few of these dusty record- ings, and glance at the men who penned them. 20 PILGRIM, PURITAN CHRONICLERS Governor Bradford — himself a Mayflower passenger — was an inveterate diarist. He ruled the Province from 1621 to 1657, and it is said that he managed the affairs with the discretion of a Wash- ington. He was the skilful diplomat who — during a famine when a chief sent to the colony a bundle of arrows tied in a serpent's skin — returned the skin crammed with powder and bullets. Governor Bradford appears here not because of his political wisdom, but as the author of his unique ** History of Plymouth Plantation." This was not written in Captain John Smith's boastful style, but just as a quaint, vigorous, straightforward chronicle, inspired by piety. It describes feelingly the persecution in England; the departure for Holland; the setting forth from Delfthaven; the perils encountered on the furious ocean; the compact and the landing; the desolate wilds and famine; the sufferings and death-roll of the first winter; troubles and treaties with the Indians; the building of the State on a sure foundation; — all ending in peace and liberty. This picturesque but ponderous year-book would have made Governor Bradford a forerunner in letters, but he can hardly be ranked as *' The Father of American Literature," as he has sometimes been styled. There are fine passages but little perspective. The following which refers to leaving Holland has alvvays been accounted a gem. — ai STORY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE "So they lefte yt goodly and pleasant citie which had been ther resting-place near 12 years; but they knew they were pilgrimes, and looked not much on those things, but lift up their eyes to ye heavens, their dearest countrie, and quieted their spirits." The manuscript of this famous *' History of Ply- mouth Plantation," consisting of two hundred and seventy pages, disappeared from Boston in colonial days, and came into the possession of the Lord Bishop of London. In 1897, on request, he generously re- stored it to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. On Plymouth's hallowed " Burial Hill," stands a marble obelisk, in memory of Governor William Bradford, Zealous Puritan and Sincere Christian, Governor of Plymouth Colony, 1621-1657. Edward Winslow (1595-1655), was another well- known Plymouth diarist. His, however, was a day- book, not a year-book. He was greatly interested in the Indians, specially in the courteous Massasoit. He became governor and was three times in oiSice. Governor John Winthrop (1588- 1649), ^Iso re- corded doings colonial. He was an aristocratic Englishman of marked wisdom, who, having been elected in England as Puritan leader of the Massa- chusetts Bay Colony, set sail with his charter and about a thousand followers, in 1630. They settled on the site of modern Boston. Governor Winthrop, the leading spirit, was his- torian. His noted ''Journal," called ''A History 22 PILGRIM, PURITAN CHRONICLERS of New England," was a faithful reflection of the life of the country. It is in a smoother, more polished style, but not so picturesque as that of Gov- ernor Bradford. It began before leaving England and was continued forty years. All these antiquated chronicles — important though they be in keeping alive our history — would prove tedious reading now-a-days; but Hawthorne, Long- fellow and Whittier, by their magic touch, have transformed some of them into unforgettable tales. " A rock in the wilderness welcomed our sires, From bondage far over the dark rolling sea; On that holy altar they kindled the fires, Jehovah, which glow in our bosoms for Thee.'* 23 VI EARLY THEOLOGIANS We have referred to Rev. John Cotton, in connection with the *' Bay Psalm Book." He was a robust preacher, who, fleeing from Boston, England, on ac- count of Bishop Laud's persecution, came over to the village of Trimountain, which in his honour was named Boston, and which as has been said was later the capital of Governor Winthrop's colony; and it is a curious fact that while he fled to escape persecu- tion, he waged fiercest war against the Baptist — ' Roger Williams. He wrote perhaps half a hundred books, but the only thing by which we recall him is his little nine- paged '' Catechism," entitled '* Spiritual Milk for Babes." This was first published in England, while he was pastor there In Boston; but it was many times re-issued in America, for it became '' the Catechism " in an age of catechism-making. It was bound with the *' Primer " so that the youngest New Englander might imbibe " spiritual milk " while learning the alphabet; and the Primer, too, was a sort of sacred book, many Biblical facts being inculcated in its study. EARLY THEOLOGIANS Indeed, with the very first letter " A " was the gloomy announcement : — " A. In Adam's fall, We sinned all." and the following are some of the other rhymes : — " G. As runs the glass Man's life doth pass. J. Job feels the rod But blesses God. N. Nightingales sing In time of spring. S. Samuel anoints Whom God appoints. Z. Zaccheus he Did climb a tree Our Lord to see." And so with nearly every letter Is Impressed some lesson either from the Bible or history or Nature; and those simple, rhythmic lines were dear to those who learned their " New England Catechism " *' by heart." When we realise what both Pilgrims and Puritans stood for, it was most natural that even the children should be trained in theology! Another of these early divines was Thomas 25 STORY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE Hooker (15 86-1 649), the founder of Hartford. He usually preached over two hours and wrote many pamphlets with ponderous titles. It seems sad that so much brain-energy was expended in literature scarcely read to-day — for there were great theolo- gians among the makers of the new nation. The Mather family was far and away the most illustrious clerical-literary one, in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Ten of its members were min- isters — three of them very famous. Sturdy, indom- itable supporters of Calvin's theology, their cease- less sermons and treaties ended only with their lives. First, there was the father Richard, the English divine, with stentorian voice and majestic manner, who came to New England, in 1635. Next was his son Increase (1639-1723), who, entering Harvard at twelve, was in turn preacher, diplomat, and edu- cator. He later became the sixth President of Har- vard College. He was as full of superstition as of piety, and devils were to him so real that he took a most active part In the persecution of witches. Increase Mather wrote nearly one hundred works, but we name just one — his quaint, weird '' Essay for Recording Illustrious Providences." It is a curious mixture of religious awe and sentiment, full of ghosts and demons and thunders and lightnings and persecution* The last and most renowned of the family was Cotton Mather (1663- 1728). He was so pious that 26 EARLY THEOLOGIANS as a mere child he composed forms of prayer for his school-mates — and he made them use them, " though they cuffed him " in return. As a boy, too, he under- took serious vigils to make himself holy, and always led the life of an ascetic. This youthful prodigy entered Harvard at eleven. At twelve, he knew Hebrew, and had already mas- tered leading Greek and Latin authors. He had a marvellous memory and could be theological in sev- eral languages, specially the dead ones: he quoted from classic writers quite as readily as from English ones. His principle was never to waste a single minute, and prominently displayed in his study to meet the visitor's eye, was the phrase " Be Short." He began to preach at seventeen, and later was associated with his father over North Church, Boston; and he re- tained this pastorate until his death, in 1728 — and during these forty-three years, he dominated over all his listeners. His style was like that of Dr. Johnson. While he fully justified the persecution of the witches, he was a life-long worker among Indians, prisoners, and sailors. He was born and he died in Boston, and was never one hundred miles away from this town, named as has been told for his maternal grandfather. Rev. John Cotton. It is said that he possessed one of the largest libraries in America. He was such an inces- sant writer that his own three hundred and eighty 27 STORY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE publications alone would have made him a good-sized bookcase in those days; indeed, he was himself "a walking library." The work that lives is his '* Magnalia Christi Americana," or " Ecclesiastical History of New Eng- land." This is called '' The Prize Epic of New England Puritanism." It was published in London, in 1702, and widely read in the eighteenth century. It is a fantastic store-house of both useful and useless knowledge, relating to New England life, and in its day it stood forth as a remarkable book. Dear old credulous Dr. Mather ! how the surprising stories of " Magnalia " interested the Puritan households ! And Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe has told how as a child she ardently believed every one. She read, and re-read, till she felt that she, too, belonged to a consecrated race, and her soul was filled with a desire to go forth and do some valiant deed. If ever a man was imbued with the idea that he had a divine mission — that man was Cotton Mather. Next, in our category, we place John Eliot (1604- 1690), *' The Apostle to the Indians." Educated at Cambridge, England, he appeared in New Eng- land, in 1 63 1. This was at a time when the Puritans were most incensed against the '' Salvages " or ** Devil- Worshippers " as they called the Indians, and they were already beginning to crowd them out of the land. But colonial threats could not prevent Eliot from an interest in a race that he thought 28 EARLY THEOLOGIANS descendants of the " Lost Tribes of Israel/' and in the spirit of an old Bible prophet, he determined to devote his life to their conversion. Among his other writings, he assisted in the para- phrasing of the '' Bay Psalm Book"; but his won- derful literary monument is the translation of the Bible into Algonquin. We remember that the strange Indian language had no written form — so Eliot had to create one. After patiently accom- plishing this most difficult task, he set himself to the still greater one of translating the Bible into the writ- ten language which he had created. And Eliot's Bible is an inestimable contribution to philology, and ranks its maker among the foremost literary men of America. This — the first Bible printed here — appeared a little later in the seven- teenth century than the English translation so famil- iar to us. That was issued by order of King James I, and made by forty-seven scholars; John Eliot's work was unaided, and his Bible is in our day the only relic of a tribe and language of the past. There are probably but four copies in existence. Well did this faithful missionary deserve his title! Twenty-four of his converts assisted in establishing small churches of natives in both Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay Colonies. Even on the day of his death, he lay upon his bed, teaching a dusky lad his letters. Hawthorne gives Eliot this beautiful tribute: — 29 STORY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE " I have sometimes doubted whether there was more than a single soul among our forefathers who realised that an Indian possessed a mind and a heart and an immortal soul. That single man was John Eliot ! ** We have noted how the Puritans established — but would not grant — liberty, and the story of Roger Williams (1606-1683), forms an excellent illustra- tion. He was an impetuous, warm-hearted Baptist clergyman of Salem, who dared assert that every one had a right to worship God in his own way. Indeed, Governor Winthrop relates in his '' History of New England " : — ** Notwithstanding the injunction laid upon Roger Wil- liams not to go about to draw others to his opinion that he did use to entertain company in his house and preach to them." And he had to suffer for his fearless modern views. Driven from Massachusetts, he fled to the South, and founded a settlement on Narragansett Bay, which he named Providence, in the firm belief that God had directed him there. Roger Williams's literary theme is *' Christian Liberty," in defence of his constant controversies with the Puritans — the most memorable being the one with Rev. John Cotton. Side by side with these worthies, but in a later age, appears that most profound theological philosopher, Rev. Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758). 30 EARLY THEOLOGIANS He was born at East Windsor, Connecticut, and at six commenced the study of Latin. He was such a pious child that he was allowed to join the Church when very young — a thing unusual in those days. As his studies progressed, he proved to be such a marvel of youthful brilliancy that he was entirely be- yond the comprehension of his teachers. He loved the woods and stars — in fact was interested in all natural sciences — specially in electric experiments, even prophesying Franklin's later achievements. At fourteen, he said that he read Locke's *' Essay on the Human Understanding " '' with more pleasure than that felt by the greedy miner when gathering nuggets of gold and silver." He graduated at seven- teen from Yale College, and for a while remained there as tutor. He planned to spend thirteen hours daily in study, and framed seventy resolutions for his conduct which he aimed to keep until the end. Modest and lovable, enduring a life of many priva- tions, and never in robust health, Jonathan Edwards is a rare type of moral heroism. For twenty-three years, he was minister over the Northampton Church. Here his sympathy was aroused in the work of young David Brainerd, the consecrated toiler among the Indians. Brainerd died at the home of his pastor friend, and the latter wrote his life. The congregation at Northampton was, at first, strongly attracted to this young preacher; but with 31 STORY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE time it grew weary of his vivid, harrowing sermons, in which he portrayed forcibly the terrors of Calvin- ism — and more and more the people differed from their pastor on these theological tenets. It is strange that much as he delighted in the new era of scientific theories and discoveries, he held so rigidly to the orthodox views of his fathers. Finally, he was dismissed from Northampton ; and yet so far-reaching was his fame that one hundred and fifty years later, a bronze tablet in his memory was placed on the wall of the old church, and here we may see it to-day. Jonathan Edwards left Northampton for Stock- bridge, where for eight years he laboured as a mis- sionary among the Indians. He had a wife and ten children to care for and he was very poor — so poor that he wrote his books on the backs of letters and newspaper margins; when riding or walking, he would pin bits of paper on his coat — one for every thought that he wished afterwards to write down. Sometimes he would be seen fluttering all over with scraps, for he was always either thinking or writing. And it was at Stockb ridge that he wrote " The Freedom of the Will," a work which enrols him' among the finest metaphysical writers of the eight- eenth century. But though a marvel in bold think- ing, it is scarcely read now — and it has lost its force, because so few consider the subject from his point of view. He wished in it to show how far God governs 32 EARLY THEOLOGIANS the will, and how far people choose for themselves. His theory is — that the will is not self-determined, for if it were, God would not rule over all. In appreciation of Jonathan Edwards's literary acumen, he was elected, in 1757, President of Prince- ton College; and after holding office less than three months, he died of small-pox, and was buried in the graveyard at Princeton. His theology made a lasting Impression on the New England thought of the eighteenth century. A gentleman of forceful spirit, of mighty intellect, and sternest orthodoxy — such was Jonathan Ed- wards. The following are some of his " resolutions '' : — " Resolved, To do whatever I think to be my duty, and most for the good of mankind in general." " Resolved, To live with all my might while I do live." " Resolved, Never to lose one moment of time, but to Im- prove It In the most profitable way I can." " Resolved, Never to do anything which I should be afraid to do If It were the last hour of my life." " Resolved, To maintain the strictest temperance In eat- ing and drinking." 33 VII DIARISTS AND POETS Samuel Sewall (i 662-1 730), the most famed colonial diarist, is known as " The Puritan Pepys." A graduate of Harvard, he became in 1671, Chief- Justice of Massachusetts, and his colonial mansion pointed out with pride in Newburyport High Street reveals the aristocratic environment in which he lived. As a judge, he at one time condemned the Salem witches, but later on, confessed to "the blame and shame of his decision." He was perhaps the earliest pronounced abolition- ist of Massachusetts ; for in his day there were a few slaves in this Northern State, and in 1700, published a tract entitled '' The Selling of Joseph." This was the first argument written in America against the slave-trade. But it is as " The Puritan Pepys " that one may claim more pleasing and intimate acquaintance with Judge Sewall than with the more religious colonial writers. Like the amusing English diarist, he walks about his narrow world, noting its fashions and follies, its petty humours and flirtations — photo- graphing his Boston as Pepys did his London. Though he calls himself a Puritan, we catch but 34 DIARISTS AND POETS glimpses of his exceeding piety. His '' Diary," with some breaks, runs for fifty-six years (1673-1729); and it furnishes the daily gleanings of his career from the time that he was a young Harvard instructor until a courtly, dignified judge. Matters, small and great, are found in picturesque variety. He chronicles descriptions of his relatives, friends and acquaintances, his four courtships, and two marriages. We learn of his horror of wigs and fondness for funerals. May-poles are set up; In- dians and pirates assert themselves; and we turn eagerly from theological doings to scan a picture of secular happenings in the colonies of two hun- dred years ago, in Judge Sewall's three, goodly volumes. What would he have thought of the comments of the twentieth century reader upon what he deemed, his private "Diary"! Many, however, think it about the only readable book of the day, and withal, it holds its own with the great diaries of the world. Time moves on — and brings before us another journal of a wholly different character, but of unique interest. This is the " Journal " of John Wool- man (17 20- 1722). Woolman was in turn clerk, school-teacher, tailor, preacher, anti-slavery agitator, and above all, a sincere and lovable Quaker. Let us add to the value of his work the estimate of others: Coleridge was fascinated by it; Crabbe calls it *' a perfect gem "; Charles Lamb wrote, '' Get the 35 STORY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE writings of Woolman by heart"; and Channing deems it ** the sweetest and purest autobiography in the language.'' Whittier, in editing the book, was *' solemnised by the presence of a serene and beauti- ful spirit." At this time, verse-making was a feature of colo- nial literature. People busy cutting down forests and striving for material comforts, had no leisure to cul- tivate either fancy or imagination, and the solemn Puritans frowned alike on love-song and on jest; and yet there were two poets of whom they boasted. One was Mistress Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672), the first authoress and first poetess in the New World. She was born in England of gentle blood, care- fully educated, and married at sixteen. Then leav- ing an atmosphere of wealth and refinement for a home in the Massachusetts wilderness, she and her husband, who later became Governor Bradstreet, embarked for America, in 1630, with John Win- throp's party. It is singular that in her verse there is seldom a reference to her New England surroundings. Often real flowers bloom and real birds sing — but we catch the fragrance of English flowers and the warble of the lark and nightingale. She sometimes makes a good line but it is rarely sustained — yet the follow- ing stanza is well put : — 36 NATIONAL MONUMENT, PLYMOUTH, MASS. DIARISTS AND POETS " The fearful bird a little nest now builds, In trees and walls, in cities and in fields, The outside strong, the inside warm and neat, A natural artificer complete." Mistress Bradstreet's poems were published with- out her knowledge, in England, in 1650, and bore the fulsome title: ''The Tenth Muse lately Sprung up in America." We wonder what London thought of this collection — for it was the age of Milton! When the copy was shown Mistress Bradstreet, she expressed with pretty simplicity her feelings at seeing '' the ill-formed offspring of her feeble brain," and she blushed as many a later poet has done at the printer's errors. The Bradstreet mansion is yet pointed out at North Andover, Massachusetts. Here its honoured mistress brought up eight children, lightening the burden of daily life with the consolation of litera- ture. In one way or another, Richard Henry Dana, Oliver Wendell Holmes, and Wendell Phillips, claimed descent — and perchance a touch of genius — from " The Tenth Muse." But the one famous poem in New England, two hundred and fifty years ago, was " The Day of Doom," by Michael Wigglesworth (1631-1715). The author who was a genial man came as a young boy from England. He graduated at Harvard and entered the ministry; but ill-health interfered with 37 STORY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE his preaching, as he intimately confides to the reader in this introduction to his popular poem : — " I find more true delight in serving of the Lord Than all the good things upon earth, Without it can afford. Thou wonderest perhaps That I in Print appear, Who to the Pulpit dwell so nigh Yet come so seldom there, And could my strength endure. That work I count so dear, Not all the riches of Peru Should have me to forbear/' But as his '* strength '^ did not '' endure," he gave to New England a perpetual poetical sermon, the text of which was '' The Day of Doom," and it is conspicuous as the earliest prolonged poem. This appealed tremendously to the zealous Puri- tan because it pictured in such terrific colouring the Calvinistic doctrine of '' the Elect " transported re- joicing to heaven, while the wicked were consigned to the pit of woe. It was like one of those mediaeval representations of the *' Last Judgment." The first edition printed in sheets was widely cir- culated. Lowell terms it *' The solace of every fireside." The elders pondered it, while children were obliged to commit it to memory with their cate- chism, and for a whole century Michael Wiggles- worth's direct and forceful — yet monotonous verses 38 DIARISTS AND POETS — in their sing-song metre, held extraordinary sway over the readers — even causing many to shudder! In citing a few landmarks of colonial literature, we have done it topically rather than historically. We have discovered that in the seventeenth century, the theological writers of New England — who were indebted for their style to their knowledge of the grandeur and poetic beauty of the Bible — seemed to overshadow all other inspirations. But in the eighteenth century, this solemn literature that had grown up about the meeting-house and the fireside was getting away from week-day life. A growing commercial prosperity was now giving influence to social conditions; and the colonies strewn along the Atlantic coast, at first independent of one an- other, were allied in common themes: politics rather than theology began to dominate statesmanship. There had been before a fashion for writing mort- uary verses and epigrams; and to these were now added essays and newspapers and other periodical literature. There was increasing interest in alma- nac-making. Indeed, the almanac came to be a per- fect encyclopaedia, full of snatches of respectable literature which tempted one to seek further. Books of Nature and travel, too, made their ap- pearance: as example of the latter, in 1704, Sarah Kemble Knight gave to the world her graphic de- scription of pve months' adventures on a horseback trip from Boston to New York. 39 STORY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE This colonial epoch as we have said opened when the glorious " Elizabethan Era " was at its zenith. It closed at about the time that the *' Wits " of Queen Anne's reign were prattling in '* Tatler " and " Spec- tator," and the trio of eighteenth century novelists were weaving their fictions. But while centuries of scholarly thought and life had been expended upon authorship in America, no drama or novel or story appeared in colonial literature — not one such book that we would mark to-day as of the highest literary standard. Plymouth, Massachusetts, which was designated by the Pilgrims as ** the howling wilderness " holds to-day more definite landmarks of their arrival there, in 1620, than does Jamestown of the coming of the Cavaliers, in 1607. This is a most interesting region for the student to visit. Not many miles dis- tant is the imposing monument at Cape Cod, recently dedicated, on the site of the first landing-place. And who can forget the beautiful panorama of Plymouth Harbour, the world-famed rock. Pilgrim Hall, the colonial houses, and Burial Hill; and crowning all, the noble national monument to the forefathers, upon which stands '* Faith." In one hand, she holds a Bible — with the other, she points heavenward. This memorial was placed here by a grateful people, in appreciation of labours, sacrifices, and sufferings, in the cause of religious liberty ! 40 VIII BENJAMIN FRANKLIN (1706-1790) Lowell calls Jamestown and Plymouth '' the two great distributing centres of the English race in Amer- ica." From each flowed a stream of colonial litera- ture which presently united into a swift, deep current. This current is symbolic of the new, broader thought that in the eighteenth century was at work, developing our story into its second or Revo- lutionary Period. The first chapter of this era must be granted to Benjamin Franklin, because he served his country so faithfully in politics and literature; and though much of his life belongs to colonial days, his was alike a formative and very modern influence. The youngest son of a tallow-chandler, he was torn in Boston, in 1706, and his childhood was passed under Puritan influences. He had meagre book-learning, for before he was ten, his father took him from school to assist him in the shop; and as Ben cut wicks, filled dipping-moulds, and ran on errands, he was always either wishing that he might be a sailor, or wondering how he might secure an education. His father, observing his bookish turn of mind, 41 STORY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE apprenticed him at twelve to his brother James, and he learned easily to set types. He was even then an omnivorous reader, and every penny that he could spare was spent on literature, and there was no variety from which to choose. Of the six hundred books published during the first twelve years of his life, about five hundred were on religious subjects, and fifty more were almanacs. As far as we know, not a copy of Shakespeare had made its way into Boston — but all the same, Benja- min read everything that he could lay his hands upon. '* Plutarch's Lives " and " Pilgrim's Progress " spe- cially interested him; and prowling one day among such classical and theological works, he came across a copy of ** Spectator," really a novelty in the town. This was fortunate, for he was just trying to form his own style by studying the uses of common words rightly placed. He was delighted with the essays; read and re- read them; made outlines from them; and presently caught the trick of composition and ventured to write himself. His expression was not so light and grace- ful as that of Addison and Steele — but full of com- mon sense and blunt humour. In 1721, the brother started *' The New England Courant," and Benjamin, now fifteen, determined to become a contributor; so he stuck one of his own essays anonymously under the printing-house door. It was accepted, others followed, and people liked 42 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN (1706-1790) them. In short, the writer proved '* the brains " of the establishment. Perhaps he grew too wise for his proprietor brother but for some reason they quarrelled, and '' B. Franklin " as he briefly subscribed himself — when- ever he did sign his name — slipped away on a sloop bound for New York and continued his journey to Philadelphia. He reached the latter, dirty and hun- gry, his pockets stuffed out with shirts and stockings — and he had but just one '' Dutch dollar " with which to begin business. With a roll under each arm and eating a third, he walked up Market Street, and a girl standing on her father's stoop, laughed as she saw the runaway pass; and this was Elizabeth Read, his future wife. Franklin obtained work in a printer's office where he remained two years. Clever, industrious young fellow that he was, he even now attracted influential people. Sir William Keith, Governor of the Prov- ince, persuaded him to go to London in order to secure a good printing outfit, promising his patron- age; it was a fruitless errand — the promised letters were not sent, and Franklin soon found himself three thousand miles from home, without either money or friends. For eighteen months, he spent in London a kind of vagabond life as a journeyman-printer. Yet he held himself well and was so temperate that his companions nicknamed him ** The Water-Ameri- 43 STORY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE can "; but this knocking about proved fit preparation for a broad career. Wiser for his experience, he returned, in 1726, to Philadelphia which ever after was his home. A born printer, publisher, and editor, he began business by shrewdly advertising his proficiency in all three. He also opened a stationer's shop, and like the young Jonathan Edwards in spiritual mat- ters, he, too, drew some '' resolutions " in regard to managing the temporal affairs of his life, some of them being on temperance, silence, frugality, and in- dustry. The one on **resolve " is as follows: — " Resolve to perform what you ought, Perform without fail what you resolve." Franklin bought out *' The Pennsylvania Gazette,'^ the first American magazine. He was interested in science and began to show himself a man of affairs. In 1730, he married Elizabeth Read, and for many years she stood by him in the humble stationer's shop, aiding him by her frugality; and presently our forefather of American editors, publishers and printers, drew about him many prominent people. He was already outgrowing his environment, and transferring the literary centre from Boston to Phila- delphia. Think of some of the things that he did, that early converted this town into the foremost of American cities. He organised here the first regular fire and 44 1^ m WA K i BENJAMIN FRANKLIN SAMUEL SEWALL m ''^i'"'"-" ^^^^^^ i-^-^'i-^V. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN (1706-1790) police forces of which our country could boast; in- vented the Franklin stove to give out more heat with less wood. He helped to establish hospitals. He formed a debating club called '* The Junta," the members of which kept their books at the rooms, and so easily out of it grew the first circulating library. He set on foot an academy, now the University of Pennsylvania ; and he always worked by the principle that if he wished a thing well done, he must do it himself. Then he started his '* Poor Richard's Almanac," which, as we shall later see, helped the Philadel- phians in forming regular, saving, and industrious habits. He became clerk of the General Assembly and postmaster of Philadelphia. Finally, in 1748, when he was forty-two years old, he retired from business; for he had gained a com- petence and desired more leisure — which '' leisure " he defined as " a time for doing something useful." His journalism and scientific investigations were al- ready giving him world-wide fame, and he wished to accomplish even greater results In both. As postmaster of Philadelphia, he had felt the necessity of a centralised system for all the colonies. To further his purpose, he travelled In a gig with his daughter Sallie throughout the *' Thirteen Colo- nies," and In 1755, was appointed Postmaster- General. In order to understand his later work as statesman 45 STORY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE and diplomat, we must briefly glance at the growing unrest that confronted him. One result of the French and Indian War had been to teach the colo- nies a lesson of union against a common foe, and loyalty to England was at once giving place to patriotism. King George Third seemed to realise this and with high-handed measures tried to quell it — but he little understood the spirit of his sub- jects scattered along the shore beyond the wide sea. Franklin had been twice to England — first as a journeyman-printer, and in 1757, as an agent from Pennsylvania to settle a dispute with the heirs of William Penn; and now, in 1765, as foremost Amer- ican diplomat, he was sent again — this time to en- lighten the Mother Country about her duty to the rebellious " Thirteen " — by protesting against the Stamp Act. Somewhat later, we find our dignified advocate, standing before the court of the mightiest kingdom upon earth. What cared he for its pomp and pag- eantry as with calm demeanour and forceful argument he earnestly pleaded the cause of the colonies ! and his address made such an impression that the obnox- ious Stamp Act was repealed. Among other things that Franklin did in London was to publish anonymously a most clever essay: '' Rules for Reducing a Great Empire to a Small One." This was an imaginary edict issued by the 46 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN (1706-1790) King of Prussia, in which by right of ancestry, he asserts a claim to tax England and make her laws. It was written that England might see herself from the American point of view. An amusing incident occurred in connection with this. Franklin, a little later, was visiting an Eng- lish lord — when the valet broke into the room, waving a newspaper as he excitedly exclaimed: '' Here's news for ye! Here's the King of Prussia claiming a right to this kingdom! " Franklin endeavoured by every persuasion to avert war, but this he could not accomplish, and naturally he made enemies and lost power beyond the seas. Dr. Johnson even pronounced him " a master mis- chief-maker," Finally despairing of future useful- ness, he sailed for home, reaching there at just about the time when the first guns were fired at Lexington and Concord. He was at once elected to the Revolutionary Con- gress, and on July Fourth, 1776, signed the Declara- tion of Independence; and when Harrison appealed for a unanimous vote in the Senate, it was Franklin who exclaimed: *' We must all hang together — or assuredly we shall all hang separately! " During his ten years' absence abroad, his wife had died, and his daughter Sallie had taken her place at the head of his household; but quiet days were not for him — yet another diplomatic mission awaited ; for though seventy years of age, he was sent as com- 47 STORY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE missioner to the court of France to win sympathy for our nation in her war with England. The French were delighted to receive him. To them, he was ** the personification of ' the rights of man ' " — the very principles which they were pre- paring to assert in their own Revolution. Franklin's demands were met — France generously aiding the colonies with both money and ships. Mirabeau styled Franklin ** The Genius that freed America"; and another called him '* a modern Solon." A friend of King Louis XVL and Queen Marie Antoinette, and surrounded by admiring courtiers, he — even at Versailles — maintained dignified sim- plicity; but he seemed by nature a patrician and greatly enjoyed court life. Popular enthusiasm for Franklin ran high! Everywhere he heard his proverbs repeated in French. Applauded in public, people gathered in the streets to see him pass; his face appeared alike in print-shops and in the boudoirs of court ladies. They wore bracelets and carried snuff-boxes adorned with his head, and discussed his merits about a Franklin stove in the salon. Poets rhymed sonnets in his praise; and when a medal was struck in his honour, the great Turgot wrote an inscription which translated reads: *' He has seized the lightning from^ Heaven and the sceptre from tyrants." And then at the close of the Revolutionary War, with his fellow-commissioners, Adams and Jay, he 48 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN (1706-1790) cordially conducted peace negotiations with England, and in 1783, signed the treaty, and when Thomas Jefferson was sent to France to replace him, Jefferson said: '' I may succeed but can never replace him." And the venerable diplomat returned and was wel- comed by triumph and celebration as '' The Father of Independence." He now becomes one of the framers and signers of the new Constitution. In- deed, his signature has been affixed to more of the early State compacts than that of any other man. It seemed as if no measure could be accomplished without his touch ! But with added honours, Franklin somehow grew more serious. He missed old companions and now at eighty years of age, felt the pains incident to in- firmity and disease, and he said one day: '' I seem to have intruded myself into the company of posterity when I ought to have been abed and asleep." And yet he w::s cheerful and in the intervals of suffering, read and wrote and told many stories. He approached death without fear, saying that as he had seen a good deal of this world, he felt a growing curiosity to be acquainted with some other — but he was not a religious man. He died at Philadelphia — the city of his love — on April seventeenth, 1790. Twenty thousand wit- nessed his burial ; and from that day to this, probably millions more have done him reverence as they have stood before ,the plain, unobtrusive slab that marks 49 STORY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE his resting-place in the old burying-ground in the heart of Philadelphia. When his death was announced, both the United States Congress and the French National Assembly went into mourning. A great man had fallen, and he still remains an electrical power in all the world. Franklin had little sympathy with the narrow creeds of the day, and yet two things deeply in- fluenced his life: an "Essay on Doing Good" by Cotton Mather, and Whitfield's rousing sermons. His conduct manifested the work side of faith. We might to-day call him " an apostle of social better- ment "; for he turned his attention to the present life as the early New Englander to the future. He ad- vised " honesty " — not because the Bible exhorts it — but because it " is the best policy." His character was many-sided. He is compared to Washington — for he did at the King's court what Washington did on the field. His humour and prac- tical sense resembled Lincoln's, but he lacked Lin- coln's spontaneity. Like Lincoln, he had no sys- tematic education. He loved fellowship, and his wit and anecdote made him always a welcome addition to any assem- bly. He had an excellent habit of investigating everything that came in his way, and so he was mas- ter of whatever he touched in science. His experiment was most valuable, in proving the identity of lightning and electricity — and he in- 50 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN (1706-1790) vented the lightning-rod. Every school-boy knows the story of '* the kite-flying." Indeed, his scientific essays and discoveries gave him world-wide fame. Both Harvard and Yale conferred honours upon him; England made him a Fellow of the Royal So- ciety; he was called in France, '' the foremost scien- tist '' — in Germany, *' the modern Prometheus." Dr. Franklin was very proud of his *' A.M." and " LL.D." He was not an author by profession and could not be noted as a very literary man, for he was entirely destitute of ideals and poetic genius. But he had a peculiar gift of combining clear ex- pression with a bit of wisdom to catch the reader's eye, and a keen insight into human nature. One has said of him: *' But seldom do the good notions of the world get jogged along by so sturdy and helpful a force as Benjamin Franklin." He was a charming letter-writer, and he early marked the important influence played by the alma- nac in the colonial home. Suspended by a string from the chimney-side, it was studied almost as much as the Bible and catechism. He finally resolved to write one; and beginning in 1732, for a quarter of a century, ** Poor Richard's Almanac " was printed yearly. ** Richard Saunders, Philomath," was the nominal author; but Dr. Franklin always stood behind '' Rich- ard " and preached, like the proverbial schoolmaster, 51 STORY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE a continued sermon in diligence and thrift. He thus ministered to the needs of every day — for he told the people what to do and they did it ! Dr. Franklin in his modesty disclaimed much originality in the selection of these proverbs — but he had most apt skill in putting them. Read over and over, committed to memory and quoted, these maxims were heard — even in the Sunday's sermon — indeed, they were the common law of living. The *^ Almanac " promptly passed into circulation, and every issue was eagerly awaited not only in Phila- delphia but up and down the coast — as a " general intelligencer." The pioneer claimed it; it sped across the ocean to be published in Europe in several languages ; and all the twenty-five years, its annual sale was ten thou- sand copies; for apart from the calendar and absurd weather predictions, it was full of wisdom — not sparkling and elegant — but with whimsical glean- ings of observation on human nature by our first American humourist. As preface to the final copy in 1758, he gathered into a connected discourse many of the best proverbs and named it: *' Father Abraham's Visit to the Fair," or " The Way to Wealth." This is perhaps the most widely read of all, not only in our own land, but in European countries. And what wonder that one who held a brisk pen, and who lived from the day of the colonial diary 52 fll Mori. September hath xxxdays. ^heje Li'/jes may be vend backward or forward. Joy, Mirth, Triumph, I do defic ; Deftroy me Death, fain would I die : Foiiorn am I, Love is exil'd, Scorn frniles thereat ; Hope is beguil'd ; Men banifh'd blifs, in Woe muft dwell, Then Joy, Mirth, Triumph ail farewell. 9 ic II 12 I? H 16 17 18 19 20! 4 21 22 2S London burnt. {2. 1 7]5 i^Smd.f.^xm. J3 i- 5 windy, flying clouds. 7* rife 8 25 Day ihorter 2 346 warm, and 17 yc,Q)% pleafant.'S 5.§ir.iD.p.€^nn.9 A T? 9 cool 9h'2 O in ;± |5 l5h rn 27 7 2 3 4I with rain. 5jDaysfhort. 2 4^ 6jTwiligl)t I 24 clouds. \6Sund.p CnnJ-h pleafant& 5 7* fourh 2 58 U warm. {5 St. jaattfjm. \6 D©l7 ciull 'dh ajl 7Jchangeableweath7 24;^p7.^unD.p.Cnn.8 25' 2! wind with a(5" 5 Ac? 5 ^rain, 27, 4I then clear 28 5^6%^ again; 29 <^St. .KaicIiaeL 3€>j 7j7* fouth 2 20 5 5 6 r{6 45 46 48 50 51 52 54 55 5^ 5S 59 o I 2 4 5 7 8 10 1 1 5? 14 1^ 7! Js we muft ac- 7 New ) 2 day at 7 afr. count jor e'oery idle word^ fo we z) Ters 8 14 aft mufl for eiery rdle ftlence. Frft Quarter. 5 1 O /WV 112; 2 I 16.6 bid 20,6 nd 26^6 206 1 1 1 7 6 11^6 1 f26^ 23 6 dwell with thee. Day T2 h.Iong Ecj.Day & Ni. >ters I 50 mo / h^.'Tje nf"uer fern the Phih- Fuil® 16 day, at 6 astern . fophevs Stone th/it turm lead into Gold] hut I hanje known )rife 9 ;o aft ^^the purfidit cf it 16 <5Lan: Quarter. 1 8 61 tttrn a Alans J 9 6 Gold into Lead. 20 6 21 6 22 6 >rifc I 30 m©. }^ever intreat M fewnnt fo PAGE FROM POOR RICHARD'S ALMANAC, SEPTEMBER, 1738 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN (1706-1790) through the whole Revolutionary era, and was able to congratulate General George Washington as the first President of the United States, should naturally write a characteristic and captivating " Autobi- ography " ! Read his *' Almanac ''; appropriate the proverbs; ponder on *' The Whistle "; on " Turning the Grind- stone "; on " Father Abraham's Visit to the Fair "; indeed ponder his essays on many subjects; but if you would feel the perennial charm of his personal- ity, read his '' Autobiography." Begun in 177 1, it is left unfinished in 1788. It is as simple in style as *' Robinson Crusoe " or " Pilgrim's Progress," and In it Dr. Franklin treats himself with perfect frankness, without a thought of compliment. By his " Autobiography " he is most widely known, for it has been translated into nearly every civilised language. Curious as it seems, it was first published in French, and did not reach a correct English edition until 1868, when the Hon. John Bigelow, another famous American diplomat, ed- ited It with his own notes. Even if Dr. Franklin was not a literary man by profession, he certainly led others to an interest in literary subjects. We remember what Sidney Smith, the brilliant English wit, said one day to his daughter: '* I will disinherit you, if you do not ad- mire everything written by Dr. Franklin." But what he wrote was not a fraction of what he 53 STORY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE did, and one might write books and books and not tell it all. And in many cities over our broad land, we find memorials to Franklin, side by side with those to Washington and Lincoln. Specially in our National Capital, he is seen on the avenue, in the Congressional Library, in Statuary Hall, and in the White House; and everywhere his old home Phila- delphia records the honour which she pays to her adopted son ; in public park and building, in portrait and historic scene, in architecture and sculpture — look where one will — the renown of Dr. Franklin is perpetuated. SELECTIONS FROM "POOR RICHARD'S ALMANAC/' Many a little makes a mickle. Little strokes fell large oaks. A small leak will sink a great ship. The cat in gloves catches no mice. One to-day is worth two to-morrows. An empty sack cannot stand upright. Little boats should keep near shore. Three removes are as bad as a fire. Never leave that till to-morrow which you can do to-day. Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will learn in no other. Those have a short Lent who owe money to be paid at Easter. Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that's the stuff life is made of. God helps them that help themselves. 54 IX REVOLUTIONARY LEADERS So Franklin broke with old traditions and opened the door to a broader literature; and now we ask what was the part played by other more serious literary nation-builders. As the feeling in the colonies grew more and more foreign to England, times called for eloquent men — and they were ready! Fiery orators harangued, and their words fell upon eager minds. Balladists, wits, and prose-writers took up the liberty pen — not to win fame but freedom: so sword and voice and printed page worked together, until American independence and American literature were achieved! The Revolutionary literary period preceded, at- tended, and followed the Revolution. First there were the balladists, who in war-time play havoc with metre and rhyme and sing as they march. Their songs were of a monotonous type but spirited, too, and set to popular airs. Among them was Francis Hopkinson's humourous " Battle of the Kegs," which put the British in a ridiculous light, and the " Return to Camp," sung to " Yankee Doodle." And the ** Sons of Liberty " organised in New York, and planted and re-planted their liberty-poles, 55 STORY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE which were again and again cut down by the British ; and the " Daughters of Liberty *' served the " Sons *' with inspiring cups of tea. The following is one of thirteen stanzas of a ditty created by the Stamp Act : — " With the beasts of the wood we will ramble for food, And lodge in wild deserts and caves, And live poor as Job, on the skirts of the globe, Before well submit to be slaves!" Philip Freneau (1752-1832), was called "The Poet of the Revolution," because in either satiric or graceful stanza, he recklessly recorded nearly every great event, and his four volumes of political bur- lesque were most popular. Sometimes, too, he struck a gentler note, and several of his lyrics contain lines of beauty and delicacy as in the last stanza of his " Wild Honeysuckle " : — " From morning suns and evening dews, At first thy little being came; If nothing once, you nothing lose, For when you die you are the same; The space between is but an hour, The frail duration of a flower/' Freneau's '' House of Night " and " Indian Bury- ing-Ground " are always remembered. There was, also, a group of Yale graduates of rare and varied gifts, who, at this time, would seek im- 56 REVOLUTIONARY LEADERS mortality by founding an expressive national litera- ture. Calling themselves *' The Hartford Wits/' they made this city their literary centre and indulged in extraordinary rhyme — both satiric and patriotic. The most famous of these " Wits " were John Trum- bull, Timothy Dwight, and Joel Barlow. John Trumbull (1750-1821), wrote " McFin- gal," a mock-heroic poem modelled after Butler's ** Hudibras." It was published in detached parts during the war, or from 1775 to 1782. It is a strik- ing parody on the Tory, or peace party. In this, the great squire " McFingal," the Tory magistrate, whose ** High descent our heralds trace In Ossian's famed Fingalian Race/' and who can storm " In true sublime of scarecrow style " — • makes an absurd harangue in favour of peace — • whereupon a fight ensues. He is tarred and feathered, and finally tied to a liberty-pole. *' McFingal " appeared at a propitious moment; even the rustic understood its import, and was im- pelled to rush into the ranks. Thirty editions fol- lowed one another, and Trumbull sprang into fame as " The Father of American Burlesque." Timothy Dwight (1752-1817), while chaplain in 57 STORY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE the army, composed his popular song '' Columbia," beginning : — " Columbia, Columbia, to glory arise, The queen of the world, and the child of the skies/' > But this did not satisfy Dwight's ambition, for he believed that a true epic should mark the foundation of a literature. So seizing Pope's motto : — " Fired at first sight with what the muse imparts In fearless youth we tempt the heights of art," he struggled with holy themes until in 1785, he pro- duced *' The Conquest of Canaan," in eleven vol- umes. Cotton Mather, with his text " Be Short," could hardly approve its nine thousand six hundred and seventy-one lines ! However, this ambitious epic was dedicated to ** His Excellency, George Washing- ton, Esq., Commander, Saviour, and Benefactor of Mankind." How Dwight's grandfather, Dr. Jona- than Edwards, would have appreciated it! the Puri- tans revelled in it, comparing the writer to both Homer and Milton! Though this stately epic is almost unreadable now — there are some passages worthy of interest as sug- gestive of both Canaan and Connecticut. Patriot, classical scholar, theologian, celebrated President of Yale College — Dr. Timothy Dwight was a famous man — but not an epic poet. 58 REVOLUTIONARY LEADERS The third of the trio was Joel Barlow (1753- 1812). After serving as chaplain in the war, he became a financier and diplomat. He, too, wrote patriotic songs, and also attempted a national epic that was to rival ** The Iliad." This was '* The Vision of Columbus" (1787), later "The Colum- biad." In this, Columbus, taken from prison, is led up to a *' Hill of Vision," where Hesper unfolds before him the history and future greatness of America. Stately and prodigious poem, it for a little electrified the people. They even named the guns for coast defence, *' Columbiad." Hawthorne later playfully suggested that " ' The Columbiad ' be set to music of artillery and thunder and lightning and become our national oratorio"; and in the new musical impulse that in- spires our land, in the twentieth century, possibly this may yet be accomplished. But our epic is not yet written/ Still later, in far-off Switzerland, Barlow wrote and dedicated to Lady Washington a less pretentious poem, " Hasty Pudding." This is a lament that foreigners may not enjoy " The sweets of hasty pudding, My morning incense and my evening meal " ; and its setting is a realistic picture of New England 59 STORY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE home life. '^ The Columbiad " is forgotten but " Hasty Pudding " is read to-day. These " Hartford Wits " were artijficial and imita- tive ; but they were an impulse towards — even if they were not the founders of- — a national litera- ture. And just now the English Tom Paine (1737- 1809), plunged heart and soul into the cause. He was a successful pamphleteer, and pamphleteers did brave duty in these *' times that try men's souls/' as he wrote in his '' Crisis." And this pamphlet liter- ally was brought forward at every crisis. Read at the head of the troops, it quickened the marches ! No single effort was more powerful than " Com- mon Sense," published in 1776, and undoubtedly it hastened the '' Declaration of Independence." In this are the words: '' The same tyranny which drove the first emigrants from home pursues their descend- ants still." But Thomas Paine's splendid work for liberty was marred by his *' Age of Reason," which embodied an infidel belief.^ We next glance at the orators whose fearless, passionate eloquence made war literature; and among the most inspired of these remonstrants were Samuel Adams, James Otis, Josiah Quincy, and Patrick Henry. As there was no short-hand reporting in those days much that they said has come to us only in f ragment- 60 REVOLUTIONARY LEADERS ary passages; yet they are familiar to every school- boy and have won world-wide respect. Samuel Adams (177 2- 1803), aimed to keep the public aroused as '' Father of the Town-Meeting." He was always talking politics, and as a contributor to several papers his one topic was '' Freedom " ; and this '' Great New England Incendiary " did make George III. tremble upon his throne! James Otis (1725-1783), was *' The Silver- Tongued Orator," who, with well-modulated voice, piercing eye, and forceful manner, commanded wild applause. He wrote pamphlets on colonial rights; and it was after a five hours' address, that John Adams, the later President, called him *' a flame of fire," and added that '' then and there the child In- dependence was born." It seems strange but this '' Flame of Fire " met instantaneous death by a flash of lightning. And Josiah Quincy (1744-1775), leaped into the arena exclaiming : — " With the God of armies on our side, even the God who fought our fathers* battles, we fear not the hour of trial, though the hosts of our enemies should cover the field like locusts! if this be enthusiasm, we will live and die enthusi- asts! *' And there was Patrick Henry (1736-1799), " The Firebrand of Virginia." It is claimed that his artis- tic and fervid eloquence alone would have bound the 61 STORY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE colonies. In proof of this, we might quote from many addresses. But his resonant words, in 1775, before the Virginia Convention, can never be lost from history : — "Why stand we here idle? what is it that gentlemen wish? what would they have? is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it. Almighty God. I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death ! " And many other pre-Revolutionary utterances roused the patriots, not only in this crisis but in later ones — yet for want of space we may not quote them. But as we pause before the monument at North Bridge, Concord, where " The embattled farmers stood. And fired the shot heard round the world," we must gratefully recall the balladists and '' Liberty Boys" and "Hartford Wits"; and also give due honour to the orators, who heroically stood behind these " embattled farmers "1 62 X THE NATION-BUILDERS So poets sang their songs and orators fulminated with passionate speech, and as a result the Declaration of Independence was signed, the war was fought, the victory won. But Revolutionary singers and orators while they could inspire, could not organise liberty; and in 1783, thirteen obstinate independent little colonies waited to be welded into union. It was a critical period; and many prophesied that all would end in strife and anarchy, such as in an earlier age arose in Greece and Italy. But there came at once to the front real makers of a nation, splendidly endowed men of noble senti- ment, ready to do their part! Never since in the history of our country has such a group appeared. Among them were Jefferson, Hamilton, Adams, Madison, Jay, and Washington. They did not write to gain renown — but to establish a strong, flexible government — and their splendid service is counted literature. Of these men, Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), the great Virginian, was a most cultivated scholar and advanced political thinker. Educated at Wil- 63 STORY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE iiam and Mary College, he became a scientist, lin- guist, educator, and reformer. Verily he did so many things well that he has sometimes been com- pared to Leonardo da Vinci. He was, however, not an orator but he held a reforming pen. He has left his '^ Notes on Virginia:" and a philo- sophical ''Autobiography"; but his most graceful literary monument is his correspondence, for he was a voluminous letter-writer. And this was the ''Golden Age " of letters when they were written as carefully as if they were to be published; and the epistolary labours of Thomas Jefferson and other statesmen are very valuable as historic and literary records. Alas ! that in this day of cheap postage and rapid mails, this beautiful art of letter-writing is lost! TJbomas Jefferson bequeathed volumes and vol- umes to posterity but his masterpiece is the " Declara- tion of Independence," which Americans call " the most concise, logical, political document in the world." It is traced in brilliant rhetoric and proclaims splen- did faith in the people. Just the first sentence re- veals its character : — "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." And John Hancock expressed the spirit of the 64 THE NATION-BUILDERS signers when appending his signature, he ex- claimed : — *' I will write it large enough for George Third to read without spectacles ! '' And Jefferson was the first clear exponent of democracy. He was always fearful that a central government would overthrow individual rights. State — rather than United States — rights he vindi- cated — democracy rather than aristocracy. His Anti-Federalist Party bitterly opposed the Federal- ists led by Alexander Hamilton; and even now, Thomas Jefferson's belief in the capacity of the peo- ple for government, helps to mould public opinion. Jefferson was, in every sense, a leader. He or- ganised a movement In favour of religious freedom, and founded the University of Virginia. He was the diplomatic successor of Franklin in France, and the third President of the United States. He was a delightful personality. His home at Monticello was perhaps second only in interest to that of Mt. Vernon, and its charming hospitality was felt all over the land. Writer, educator, foreign minister, Anti-Federal- ist, Cabinet officer, and President — he ignored all when he wrote the inscription for his tombstone — the silent witness of his desire to be remembered as the author of the " Declaration." On the Fourth of July, 1826 — just fifty years to a day from the adoption of the Declaration — Jef- ferson died. And this was a fated day for Presi- 65 STORY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE dents; for John Adams, '' the great pillar which sup- ported it," also passed away, exclaiming just before the end: "This is the glorious Fourth — God bless it!*' On the slope of the Virginia mountains, at Monti- cello, there stands a monument upon which is in- scribed : — Here was buried Thomas Jefferson Author of the Declaration of American Independence of the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom and Father of the University of Virginia. Alexander Hamilton (1757-18 14), was an ardent Federalist, believing in a strong central government, and so as has been said the political opponent of Thomas Jefferson, the Anti-Federalist. Born in the West Indies, he was a precocious lad, who, at the age of seventeen, while a student at King's College (now Columbia), delivered in New York a Revolu- tionary address which stamped him as a remarkable youth, and his anonymous pamphlets also attracted much notice. 66 THE NATION-BUILDERS ** The little lion " he was called. Small and dark with fine figure, a dignified carriage, an eye that flashed fire, and a winning personality — it was not many years before he became the foremost statesman of the day. He distinguished himself in battle, and was long enough on Washington's staff to prove his patriotism. He was also employed on secret, deli- cate missions. Owing to a creative genius for finance, he established a protective tariff and a bank- ing system, and in time was the first Secretary of the Treasury. In the chaos succeeding the Revolution, a Consti- tution had been moulded for the United States by the wisdom of the nation-builders — in which the clever- ness and force of Gouverneur Morris was very evi- dent: but every point in it was instinct with Hamil- ton's suggestion. And then the question arose — '' Should this Con- stitution be adopted?" and as in our own day, the country was split by political parties, and the Consti- tution was sharply attacked by Jefferson and his fol- lowers. Just at this juncture (178 7- 1788), there appeared In " The New York Independent Journal " a series of eighty-five essays entitled *' The Federalist." They were written by Jay, Madison, and Hamilton — and all over the one signature " Publius." They were addressed to the people of the State of New5 67 STORY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE York, urging them to adopt the Constitution that upheld ** The Federal system which at once unites The 13 States and all the people's rights." John Jay (1745-18 29), the honoured Chief- Jus- tice of the United States, contributed five of these; James Madison, '' The Father of the Constitution," wrote twenty-nine, and on these is based his literary reputation ; and Hamilton, the third of the great trio, wrote fifty-one. All these essays were on profound themes and each IS marked with sincerity and dignity. Guizot says of those contributed by Madison : — " There is not one element of order, strength, or dura- bility in the Constitution which he did not powerfully con- tribute to introduce, and cause to be adopted.'' The result was achieved; for in 1790, the Consti- tution was accepted by the " Thirteen States," and thus national existence was firmly established. And '' The Federalist " still remains an authority on the principles of government; and for it we are indebted to Hamilton more than to any other man. Even his unswerving opposer, Jefferson, declared him *' The Colossus of the Federalists." And this chal- lenged Constitution has adapted itself to the growing conditions of our phenomenal government, and with 68 THE NATION-BUILDERS but few amendments still remains a monument to our '' Master Nation-Builder." Hamilton built his country home, " The Grange," on Harlem Heights, nine miles from the city. It was in the centre of a rolling region of field and forest and winding roads, with a glimpse beyond of silvery river and bay. Here, also, he planted thir- teen gum trees as symbolic of the thirteen original States. And it was on a fateful July morning, in 1804, that Hamilton left " The Grange " and crossed the Hudson to meet his death at the hands of Vice-Presi- dent Aaron Burr; and he was borne to his grave in Trinity churchyard, amid the splendour of a great pageant, '' The Order of Tammany," the most famous *' Order of the Cincinnati," Federalist and Anti-Federalist, were all in line, and behind the bier two black men robed in white led Hamilton's charger; and Gouverneur Morris gave the impassioned funeral oration in which he said: '' His sole subject of discussion was your freedom and your happi- ness. To-day, at Convent Avenue and One-Hundred and Forty-first Street, in the great city, we find " The Grange " in good preservation, used as the rectory of St. Luke's Church; and an apartment house covers the site of the thirteen colonial trees. They had lived for many years, an object of interest to sightseers. Downtown in Trinity churchyard, not far from- 69 STORY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE Hamilton's old city home, we read on his tombstone the following inscription : — " Erected by the Corporation of Trinity Church, In tes- timony of their respect for The patriot of incorruptible integrity, The soldier of approved valor, The statesman of consummate wisdom, whose talents and virtues will be admired by a grateful posterity long after this marble shall have mouldered into dust.'* And other nation-builders there were, but only one more to whom we shall allude, and this is George Washington, '' The Father of his Country." He left, it Is true, but small mark upon the writings of his day, but his letters and documents manifest a pious and patriotic spirit. His public utterances were always dignified. In old '' Fraunce's Tavern," corner of Broad and Pearl Streets, New York, we visit the room where, in 1783, he bade farewell to his officers, saying In parting : — " With a heart full of love and gratitude, I most de- voutly wish that your latter days may be as prosperous and happy as your former ones have been glorious and honour- able." His noblest literary production, however, is his more famous " Farewell Address," Issued in Septem- ber, 1796, on his retirement from the Presidency* 70 THE NATION-BUILDERS It IS full of good advice and produced a profound sensation ; and we close this period of Revolutionary strife with its tranquil note : — " I have not only retired from all public employments, but I am retiring within myself, and shall be able to view the solitary walk, and tread the paths of private life, with a heartfelt satisfaction. Envious of none, I am determined to be pleased with all; and this being the order of my march, I will move gently down the stream of life until I sleep with my Fathers/* "WHAT CONSTITUTES A STATE? Not high-raised battlement or laboured mound, Thick wall or moated gate; Not cities fair, with spires and turrets crowned: No: — Men, high-minded men, With powers as far above dull brutes endued, In forest, brake, or den. As beasts excel cold rocks and brambles rude — Men who their duties know. Know too their rights, and knowing, dare maintain; Prevent the long-aimed blow, And crush the tyrant, while they rend the chain." — Alcaeus (tr. Sir William Jones). 71 XI GLANCES BACKWARD AND FORWARD We have considered the strivings of our colonial for- bears and our heroic nation-builders, and there are yet other forces which combined to hasten the Na- tional era that is just before us. For example, no sooner was the Revolutionary War over than patriotic Noah Webster exclaimed: ** Let us seize the present moment and establish a national language"; and now, in 1783, he offered new literary implements in the form of a speller, grammar, and reader, which he called his " Gram- matical Institute " — and the trio accomplished most successful educational results all over the United States. The speller alone, with its tempting fables, succeeding ^* The New England Primer," has ap- pealed to more than sixty million young Americans. And this professor, lexicographer, lawyer, and writer, had the excellent habit of jotting down every word whose meaning was not clear, and he was so often unable to find a definition, that he determined to prepare a compendium of the whole Enblish lan- guage; and with careful labour he commenced a Herculean task, and in 1828, *' Webster's Diction- ary " was published. 7^ GLANCES BACKWARD AND FORWARD Just about this time, too, the novel that had been in a formative state began to materialise — the novel that in early New England was such a forbidden pleasure that anybody guilty of enjoying one, might be read from the pulpit; and pious old President Dwight moralised on the great gulf fixed between the novel and the Bible, explaining how contact with the former must needs imperil the soul. For another reason, also, the American novel was belated, for before creative genius was born, England had been a perfect treasure-house of literary models suggestive for Americans ; and except De Foe, hardly an English novelist had appeared before the eight- eenth century trio — Richardson, Fielding and Smollett. There had been published in America a few silly, sentimental novels, written usually by women. But the first significant novels were those of Charles Brockden Brown (1771-1810). A Phila- delphian, he attempted to study law, but he was so fascinated with literature that he made it a profes- sion. He tried both in Philadelphia and New York to establish two or three magazines. A mysterious, picturesque romancer, he loved complicated plots, filled with horror and mystery. Indeed, he much more enjoyed creating these in the novels that he wrote than the foolish, statuesque actors moving in them. The first one, ** Wieland," came out in 1798. To 73 STORY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE make his novels interesting, he realised the necessity of giving them local colouring. He took his reader into the out-door country, and the Indian is seen in the wilderness. He was a careful observer of Philadelphia life, one hundred years ago, and his ** Arthur Mervyn " gives a graphic descrip- tion of the ravages of the plague there; and thus Brown becomes our earliest preacher of sanitary reform. It seems strange that he accomplished so much with a dearth of literary companionship, and always hampered by ill health — ^his short consumptive career closing with thirty-seven years — but none may dispute his title, '' Father of the American Novel." Yet another influence to better literary work is found in the fact that strife is relaxed, and there is leisure to think and write on other subjects than politics. ** The Americans as a people are to take pride in a literature of their own, and to realise that a National literature is a National force." And our literary roll-call is hardly a hundred years old, so it seems as if it could not yet hold many mas- terpieces ; but like everything else in our land, litera- ture has made marvellous growth, and authors have grouped themselves according to congenial topics. Great cities have always proved literary centres ; and in time Plymouth and Boston and Philadelphia gave place to commercial New York. Here originated 74 GLANCES BACKWARD AND FORWARD much of that charming literature which graces the very commencement of the new era. The slender little bookcase begins to lengthen as the works of the Knickerbocker writers appear, and from New York are sent the first volumes that give American literature a home in Europe. And of the '' Knickerbocker Group " which claims our attention, no name is more widely known than that of Washing- ton Irving. 75 XII WASHINGTON IRVING (1783-1859) Just across William Street, from the oldest house in New York, built of little bricks brought from Hol- land, there stands to-day the magnificent Under- writers' Building, over the site where long ago stood the modest house in which Washington Irving first saw the light. He was the youngest of a large family, his birthday, April thirteenth, 1783, being just at the close of the Revolutionary War. His mother said: *' Washington's work is ended, the child shall be named for him ! " and " The Father of his Country " and " The Father of American Lit- erature " met just once. It was when little Irving was six years old that one day, walking with his nurse, they saw the procession escorting Washington to the Treasury — to take the oath of office as Presi- dent. His nurse, pushing through the enthusiastic crowd, exclaimed eagerly as she held forth her small charge : ** Please your Honour, here's a bairn was named after you! " and George Washington, gently touching his head, bestowed a blessing upon his namesake. Like many another genius, Washington Irving hated school. He was, however, willing to scribble 76 WASHINGTON IRVING (1783-1859) by the hour, and was always glad to trade essays for problems. Not being strong, his parents encouraged an out-of-door life — and how he loved to stroll! His quests began with the Battery, a region rich in whimsical lore; about the pier-heads he wandered — later with dog and gun through Westchester County, captivated with hill and wood and the witch- ery of Sleepy Hollow, intently listening to every recital of old Dutch legends. He sailed up the Hud- son, gathering folk-lore all the way; and as he looked and thought and listened he was creating a native vein, which afterwards he was to weave into scenes of romantic imaginings, to endow the banks of our American Rhine with priceless legends. He began to study law at sixteen, in Judge Hoff- man's office, but did not enjoy it — but he loved the play, which his Puritanical father regarded a wicked amusement; and often at night after family prayers he would climb down from his window, and joining his friend Paulding, would visit the old John Street Theatre. His two older brothers, after graduating at King's College, edited '* The Morning Chronicle," to which young Washington, at nineteen, contributed some sportive *' Jonathan Oldstyle " papers, that in a small degree satirised the town foibles. But he could not do much; for year by year he seemed to grow more consumptive, until when he was twenty-one, it was decided to send him abroad for his health — 77 STORY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE and in those days this was accounted a grand tour! He wandered through England and on the Con- tinent ; saw Kemble and Mrs. SIddons ; listened to the famous conversationalist, Madame de Stael; and was received by literary men — his own charm of manner proving always contagious. He specially enjoyed Westminster Abbey, St. Peter's, and the Coliseum; and meeting Washington Allston in Rome, he re- solved that he, too, would be a painter — but in three days, he changed his mind. When he returned home after an absence of two years, his health was perfectly restored. Irving never seemed ambitious to enter upon a career, and though when admitted to the bar, he did hang out his shingle at Number 3, Wall Street (his brother John's house), he is not known to have tried a case. He loved society, saying that he preferred to be a champion at tea-parties. He now became secret partner in his brother's liter- ary ventures and with his friend Paulding began the droll and sparkling and somewhat youthful *' Sal- magundi " papers, to vex and charm the town — " Salmagundi," by the way meaning *' a mixture " or '' hash." They were written in Addison's style — for Irving, like Franklin, read deeply into Addi- son. The intention of the infallible editors was " to in- struct the young, inform the old, correct the town, and castigate the age." And they did it — and just 78 1! WASHINGTON IRVING J. FENIMORE COOPER in \ - 1 ■ a ^;l FITZ-GREENE HALLOCK WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT WASHINGTON IRVING (1783-1859) at the full tide of success, they suddenly ceased! To-day these papers are a humourous reflection of New York manners, in 1708. In 1809, appeared Irving's *' Knickerbocker His- tory of New York," full of half-humourous, half-real scenes, descriptive of the city, from the beginning of the world to the end of the Dutch dynasty. Among the amusing characters are William the Testy of bril- liant achievement; Peter the Headstrong, with silver leg and brimstone-coloured breeches; the central figure being a caricature of Governor Wouter Van Twiller of unutterable ponderings, who represented the " Golden Age " of New Amsterdam history. This illustrious old gentleman was shut up in himself like an oyster. He seldom spoke, except in monosyllables — but then it was allowed that he rarely said a foolish thing. A model of majesty and lordly grandeur, he was formed as if moulded by the hand of some cunning Dutch statuary. He ate four meals a day, giving exactly one hour to each; smoked and doubted eight hours; slept the remaining twelve. In council, he presided with state and solemnity, instead of a sceptre, swaying a long Turkish pipe; and during any deliberations of im- portance, he would sometimes close his eyes for two hours at a time that he might not be disturbed by external objects. This *' Knickerbocker History," combining both fact and fancy, is called by many the first readable 79 STORY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE book in American literature. Indeed, some make its publication, in 1809, the true beginning of American literature. It was at once most popular, both here and abroad. All the world laughed — except the old Dutch burghers, who were insulted at the treat- ment of their ancestors ; but the humour was so gen- tle that even with them, amusement soon followed annoyance, and New York was most proud in being invested with traditions like those clinging to Old World cities. While engaged In this work, a crushing sorrow had come to the young author, in the death of Matilda, the daughter of Judge Hoffman, to whom he was en- gaged. He bore the blow like a man but he always mourned her and never married. He could not bear, in years to come, even to hear her name men- tioned, and always treasured her Bible and Prayer Book. Her steadfast friend, Rebecca Gratz, the beautiful Jewess, Irving later described so enthusi- astically to Scott that she became the '' Rebecca " of his '' Ivanhoe." Irving was devoted to women and little children, and with his gently modulated voice, delightful smile, and almost courtly manner, he was to them a winning personage. He was much sought for in society, be- cause he added unusual wit and geniality to conver- sation. One of his special admirers in Washington was Dolly Madison, whose picturesque ways, tactful sympathy, and extraordinary popularity, made her 80 WASHINGTON IRVING (1783-1859) even as " Mistress of the White House " — just '' Dolly." Irving determined to take up arms in the War of 18 12, and was appointed on the military staff of the governor of New York — but all was over, before he distinguished himself. In 18 15, he again went abroad to look after the interests of the firm of *' Irv- ing Bros.'' and as the writer of " The Knickerbocker History," he was even more delightfully received than before. He soon claimed Southey, Moore, Byron, Coleridge, Campbell, Rogers, Jeffrey and Scott, among his friends — and he flattered them by his responsive familiarity with their works. Three years later his firm failed; and now, for the first time thrown upon his own resources, his man- hood and genius came to the fore, and he determined to support his family by adopting literature as a profession, and he settled down in London to write — rapidly when the fit was upon him — and again waiting days for an inspiration. And in 1819-20, '' The Sketch Book " by '' Geof- frey Crayon, Gentleman," counted as Irving's best work, came out in numbers in pamphlet form. It contained short, gracefully told stories, with unique literary touch, in which the author gave free play to his humour; and perhaps the most famed of these sketches is *' Rip Van Winkle." This legend had existed in various European forms but Irving brought it to America. He peopled the 81 STORY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE rocky crags of the Catskills with mountain sprites, and there it was that the thriftless, lovable vagabond, Rip Van Winkle, watched Hendrik Hudson and his unruly crew play nine-pins, while he quaffed the magic liqueur that put him to sleep for fifty years. Another scene — and this is laid in that land of Sleepy Hollow, where the people were always doling out wild and wonderful legends ; — and sometimes in the golden pomp of an autumn day, we may yet imagine Ichabod Crane, jogging along upon choleric '^ Gunpowder," to win the heart of the country coquette, Katrina Van Tassel; or shudder at night as we recall the frenzied pedagogue encountering the *' Headless Horseman," and being hurled into the dust by the impact of the pumpkin I These two tales would have made "The Sketch Book " immortal, but there were many other sketches; one in which Irving represents the sad dreariness of Westminster Abbey — the " Empire of the Dead " — the beginning and end of human pomp and power. Again, he describes Stratford-on-Avon so delightfully that he sends thousands of literary pilgrims to visit Shakespeare^s home. Then there Is the English '' Christmas," in which we find the worthy old squire, the vast hall and laden board, the crackling fire and blazing logs — the ban- queting and minstrelsy. Others there are — but we must linger only to beg the student to take a leisure hour now and again, to enjoy quietly the vague and 82 WASHINGTON IRVING (1783-1859) exquisite pictures portrayed in ** The Sketch Book." '' His ' Crayon,' I know by heart," said Byron. Sir Walter Scott read it aloud to his family till his sides were sore with laughter; and then in his quick appreciation, introduced Irving to his publisher? Murray, and the latter speedily brought it out — *' The Sketch Book." It was at once honoured on both sides the Atlantic and " Geoffrey Crayon " was popularised. " Bracebridge Hall," a glimpse of English country life, and '' The Traveller," soon fol- lowed. Spain has always possessed allurement for Ameri- cans; and in 1828, Irving went there to seek facts for a life of Columbus — and he was fortunate in finding illuminating documents that had been hidden away for many centuries. In his '' Life of Colum- bus," he presented the human side of the intrepid dis- coverer; but Irving could not do all things, and his historic accuracy has been questioned. His *' Con- quest of Granada," narrates the subjugation of the last Moors in Spain, by Ferdinand and Isabella. The romantic assaults and other brilliant achieve- ments of his knights recall vividly the mediaeval days. In those golden months, Irving lived within " The Alhambra," that wonderful palace where every mouldering stone held its chronicles. He raved over the exquisite architecture — he drew forth the rich legends. He revelled in its moonlight enchantment 83 STORY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE when the halls were Illumined with soft radiance — the orange and citron trees tipped with silver — the fountains sparkling in the moonbeams — and even the blush of the rose faintly visible; and with artistic perception, he wove the old tales into '' The Alhambra " — a veritable Spanish '' Sketch Book," instinct with Spanish sights and sounds. In 1829, Irving returned to London as secretary of legation; and among the honours conferred upon him was a medal at Oxford, of the " R. S. L." or '* Royal Society of Literature"; and he received it amid shouts of '' Diedrich Knickerbocker!" " Icha- bod Crane! " '' Rip Van Winkle! " In 1 83 1, after an absence of seventeen years, Irv- ing returned to his native land — and such an ovation as he received! A public dinner was tendered him at the City Hotel, in New York, where a little later, he presided over one given to Dickens, Irving could never bear to preside, and after presenting Dickens in the most abrupt way, he terminated with the aside : ** IVe told you I should break down and I've done it!" He was amazed at the growth of New York City and at the expansion of the country; and under a commission to the Indian tribes west of the Missis- sippi, he made an extended trip, embodying his ex- periences in a *' Tour on the Prairies," and the de- scription of this land known only to the trapper is interesting reading to-day. To this period, also, be- 84 WASHINGTON IRVING (1783-1859); longs *' Astoria," arranged at the instance of his warm friend, Mr. John Jacob Astor, and giving, with other details, an account of the fur-trading settlement of the Astors in Oregon. And he bought " Sunnyside," at Tarrytown, a little farm on the banks of the Hudson not far from his loved Sleepy Hollow — with a snug and pictur- esque house *' as full of gables as Peter Stuyvesant's cocked hat." It was surrounded by ancient weather- vanes and soon was overrun with ivy from Melrose Abbey. At the right was Irving's library where he wrote his last books; at the left the dining-room with the old mahogany furniture, and from this room be- yond was a lovely view of the river. From here, ten years later, Irving was called by Daniel Webster — then Secretary of State under President Tyler — to become Minister to Spain, and he accepted; but Spain had lost its glamour, and his heart always yearned for '' Sunnyside." After four years, he went back there to spend his closing days amid the scenes of his early delight. Here his sister presided and the house " was well- stocked with nieces." It was *' the best house to which an old bachelor ever came "; he had '' but to walk in, hang up his hat, kiss his nieces, and take his seat in his elbow-chair for the remainder of his life." And in this intellectual " Mecca," he was visited by Paulding and Willis and Dr. Holmes and Prescott 8S STORY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE and Thackeray and Louis Napoleon and other celeb- rities; and they strolled under the sycamore trees and gazed away over the broad Tappan Zee, flecked with its tiny craft. Irving was annoyed when he heard that a railroad might be run along the bank of the Hudson right un- der his home, and sincerely hoped that the project might not be carried out; and he fully believed that if the Garden of Eden were then in existence, the " pro- gressive prospectors " would not hesitate to run a railroad straight through it; and he heartily wished -^ as others have done since — that he might have been born when the world was finished! But when all was completed, he yielded gracefully. Of course he did! for was he not the optimist that once said: ** When I cannot get a dinner to suit my taste, I en- deavour to get a taste to suit my dinner ! " At " Sunnyside,'' Irving wrote his later sketches — one collection entitled " Wolfert's Roost " — and in 1849, his '* Life of Goldsmith"; and there was such sympathy between Irving's spirit and that of the gay, unthinking, struggling poet that the *' Life '' is winsome and lovely. Thackeray styles Irving '' The Goldsmith of our Age." Irving never forgot that George Washington had touched him when a child, and now in old age, he would touch the life of the great '* Father of his Country"; and with his "Life of Washington," he concludes his literary career. His genius not being 86 -.vr- ■V}*- Kf^ ^ ST". .&'. O z I— 1 > t— ( o h O Z S CO O O WASHINGTON IRVING (1783-1859) adapted to the minute details and accuracy which such a record requires, it is not perhaps a historical suc- cess. But like Columbus, Washington in his hands becamie as Prescott says : — " Not a cold marble statue of a demi-god, but a being of flesh and blood like ourselves.*' And Irving wrote many other things ; yet we do not recall this '' Story King of the Hudson " by his nu- merous works — but by the " Knickerbocker His- tory,'' '' The Sketch Book," '' The Alhambra," and " The Life of Goldsmith." He was a familiar figure in the city of New York and was asked to become its mayor, and he was the first president of the Astor Library. More than once he was offered a position in the President's Cabinet, but his cherished aim was a life of letters, and it was thought that he made two hundred thou- sand dollars with his pen. As he approached his eightieth year, ill health and much pain came to him, so that he was forced to lay down his pen but not his cheerful spirit. He died on November twenty-eighth, 1859, and he had that very year completed his '' Life of Wash- ington." His funeral took place at Christ Church, Tarrytown, which for many years he had served as vestryman, and a large number from the guild of letters streamed by the altar to look upon his face; and at the close of a lovely Indian summer day, he 87 STORY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE was borne by a great concourse of friends to Sleepy Hollow Cemetery — and ever since the elequent trib- ute of a well-worn path leads to the modest slab that marks his grave. Through the courtesy of the present owner, Wash- ington Irving's grand-nephew, the literary devotee may to-day visit the library at *' Sunnyside," entering it from the square stone porch. It is a highly inter- esting little room, and holds Irving's great writing- table, his chair and portraits as he left them. Here the walls are lined with bookcases, containing choice editions, many of them presented by the authors. The out-doors, too, has memorials of Irving, here is his river view and the broad meadow, the brook and the hill; here are the tall trees that he planted, where the '* birds in the fulness of their revelry " still " flutter and chirp and frolic." We visit the site of the old bridge, famed in goblin story, and watch the new one now under construction ; and in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, on a green knoll still shaded by trees, stands the haunted church with its antique Dutch weather-cocks. In Christ Church, we find Irving's pew carefully set apart in the Baptistery, and over it is a mural in- scription and coat-of-arms with three holly leaves — and it is interesting that he who loved legend could claim an emblazoned one. It appears that Irving's Scotch ancestors, the De Irvines, secreted Robert Bruce when fleeing from his 88 WASHINGTON IRVING (1783-1859) enemies. One of them became his cup-bearer and was hidden with him in a copse of holly ; and in mem- ory of his escape, Bruce adopted three holly leaves and the motto, " Sub sole, sub umbra, virens." In return for De Irvine's fidelity, Bruce later conferred upon him both the badge and Drum Castle — and the Irvings have retained the holly leaves. Irving did not try for great things. '' My writ- ings,'^ he said, *' may appear light and trifling in our country of philosophers and politicians, but if they possess merit in the class of literature to which they belong, it is all to which I aspire." " Jonathan Oldstyle " — ''Diedrich Knickerbocker " — '^ Geoffrey Crayon " — our beloved Washington Irving! Thackeray calls him: *' The first Ambassa- dor of Letters from the New World to the Old." Lowell says: — " But allow me to speak what I honestly feel, — To a true poet-heart add the fun of Dick Steele, Throw in all of Addison, minus the chill, With the whole of that partnership's stock and good will, Mix well, and while stirring, hum o'er, as a spell, The fine old English Gentleman simmer it well. Sweeten just to your own private liking, then strain, That only the finest and clearest remain. Let it stand out-of-doors till a soul it receives From the warm lazy sun loitering down through green leaves. And you'll find a choice nature, not wholly deserving, A name either English or Yankee, — just Irving." 89 XIII JAMES FENIMORE COOPER (1789-1851) Each early writer gave of his best to broaden our youthful literature: Charles Brockden Brown his crude, weird novels — Irving his storied sketches — and now Cooper is to bring his offering from both forest and ocean. He was born in Burlington, New Jersey, on the fifteenth of September, 1789, and while a mere baby, his father. Judge Cooper, who owned thousands of acres of land in Central New York, removed to the wilderness of Otsego Lake. Here he built *' Otsego Hall," a kind of feudal castle, over which he pre- sided like the baronial lord of old, parcelling out his estate to other settlers, and a village was cut out and named Cooperstown in his honour. And James, one of a family of twelve children, passed his boyhood on the edge of the vast, myste- rious forest which sheltered alike Indian and wild beast. Fearless, high-spirited, and impressionable, he learned to love the sounds of woods and water. He became familiar with wigwam life and the tricks of the trapper. Fond of adventure, rifle in hand he would spend whole days with the pioneers, studying 90 JAMES FENIMORE COOPER the secrets of the woodland and the craft of the sav- age. Sometimes in the evenings he would listen to po- litical discussions between Federalist and Anti-Fed- eralist; for his father, Judge Cooper, was a Member of Congress and an ardent politician, and James al- ways formed an independent opinion. He went first to a village school and later to Al- bany to be tutored, and at thirteen entered Yale Col- lege, then under the leadership of President Dwight. The restraints of the college were not to the liking of such an unfettered youth, and in the third year he was dismissed for a boyish frolic. It was such a pity that he did not persevere until he had at least attained a thorough knowledge of English; for in maturer years, his ignorance in construction too often showed itself in careless literary work. Judge Cooper, now feeling that his son needed discipline, sent him into the navy, and in 1806, he shipped before the mast for a year's cruise. Later he was promoted to a lieutenancy and for a time served on the quarter-deck of a man-of-war, and was also stationed at Oswego; and in his four years' ex- perience, he learned much about ships and sailors, the Great Lakes, the sea and its imagery. And then the handsome young naval officer offered himself to Miss de Lancey of " Heathcote Hall," in Westchester County, and when she accepted him, he promptly resigned his commission. After their 91 STORY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE marriage, they lived in different homes — the first being dubbed *^ Closet Hall " from its diminutive size. In the second, a picturesque cottage, Cooper began his literary career, and this is associated with the following incident: One day while reading a stupid English novel aloud to his wife, he suddenly threw down the book, declaring that he could write a better one! His in- credulous wife playfully challenged him; he took up the challenge, and presently produced his *' Pre- caution." It was about English society, a subject of which he was perfectly ignorant — so it was weak and dull. But through doing it, he discovered his own possi- bilities and a friend encouraged him to try again — using precaution in selecting a theme with which he was familiar — and he tried and succeeded. The title of this second novel was " The Spy "; and the scene was laid in Westchester County where he had heard many tales of plundered farm and hamlet, of plot and counterplot and bloody strife in the Revolu- tionary War. Cooper was a frequent guest at ** Bedford House," the home of the Jays; and here one afternoon seated upon the piazza, he had grown greatly interested in the story of a grave, sagacious, and nameless pa- triot, who had served the Jays as a spy during the war. He took him for his hero; and for his occupation 92 JAMES FENIMORE COOPER and appearance, he selected a versatile peddler, who, *' staff in hand and pack at back," frequently passed his door — and Harvey Birch, the faithful spy, as moulded by Cooper, was at once a master-spirit in fiction; and landmarks associated with Cooper's homes and with the war-lore of '' The Spy " are to- day recalled in the neighbourhood of Mamaroneck and New Rochelle. And if you would know with what different eyes Irving and Cooper looked out upon Westchester County scenes, read ^' The Legend of Sleepy Hol- low " and then '' The Spy." One spread over the land the halo of romance — the other developed local patriotism. " The Spy " had wide circulation not only in America and England, but was translated into for- eign languages; indeed, it was read even to Persia and the Holy Land, to Mexico and South America — and Cooper's surprise was unbounded. After his real entrance upon literary pursuits, he made his home in New York for three or four years. It was here that he started the noted " Bread and Cheese Club " — so called because in electing mem- bers, ** bread " was used for an affirmative and ** cheese " for a negative vote. The deliberations were held in Washington Hall. Bryant, Halleck, Percival, and other well-known men belonged. Cooper was a conspicuous figure in *' The Den," a celebrated lounging-place for authors 93 STORY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE — " The Den " being a back room in Wiley's book- store in Wall Street. Cooper always numbered among his friends the best and most prominent citi- zens. In his next novel, '* The Pioneers," Cooper uses the wilderness as a background; and here we meet for the first time the primitive American Hawk Eye, or Natty Bumppo, a gentle, deliberate and manly child of Nature whom the Indians call Leather Stocking. It takes five tales to unfold his adventurous career, and through these he becomes one of the celebrated characters of fiction, " A Drama in Five Acts " Cooper termed them and as we read on, we grow very fond of this philosopher of the woods. We must not take the books in the order in which Cooper wrote them — for he buried and resuscitated Natty Bumppo, but this must be our sequence; '^The Deer Slayer"; *' Last of the Mohicans "; *' Pathfinder"; "Pioneers"; and "Prairie." And after " The Pioneers," he wrote " The Pilot." This was the outcome of a dispute about Scott's " Pirate " — Cooper insisting that Scott could have written a better sea-tale, if he had ever been a sailor; and he wrote " The Pilot " to prove his point, and in it he caught a graphic portraiture. Long Tom Coffin, the Nantucket whaler, sturdy, homely and full of action, we recognise as the gallant Revo- lutionary hero, John Paul Jones. The action is 94 JAMES FENIMORE COOPER splendid — the tale savours of salty tang as had the forest tales, of spruce and hemlock. Cooper has sometimes been called " The Ameri- can Scott." It is true that both were story-tellers but Scott had more humour; he never lingered over side issues like Cooper, but went slowly and surely to the heart of his story; Cooper could never make people talk while Scott indulged in long conversa- tions ; Scott created many prominent characters while Cooper has but few. But after writing " The Pilot," the conservative " Edinburgh Review " an- nounced that the '' Empire of the Sea " had been con- ceded to Cooper by acclaim. In 1826, the second "Leather Stocking Tale,'* ** The Last of the Mohicans," was published. Some consider this Cooper's masterpiece. Chingach- gook and his son Uncas are manly, noble Indians; they are true to life as far as they go, but they are not representative Indians — but Cooper had a right, if he chose, to leave out the uglier types of the race. In the same year, 1826, Cooper went abroad and remained seven years; and in Europe he wrote " The Prairie " — his most poetic of the *' Leather Stock- ing " series — " The Red Rover," and other fine sea-tales. And it was wonderful how his swift pop- ularity amazed the world ! for his books were at once published on both sides of the Atlantic — not only in English but in many languages: among others, 95 STORY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE French and German and Norwegian and Russian and Arabic and Persian. It is said that of all other American authors, only Mrs. Stowe with her '* Uncle Tom's Cabin " reached such celebrity. In 1833, Morse, the inventor of the telegraph, writes : — " In every city of Europe that I visited, the works of Cooper were conspicuously placed in the windows of every book-shop. They are published as soon as he produces them in thirty-four different places. They have been seen by American travellers in the language of Turkey and Persia, in Constantinople, in Egypt, at Jerusalem, at Ispahan. England Is reading Irving — Europe Is reading Cooper/' It was the novelty of his subject that held all cap- tive, and for a time he had the field to himself; and it is disappointing to approach another side of Cooper's character which embittered his closing years, and rendered his later works unpopular. This was his controversial spirit. Of a forcible, im- petuous disposition, full of prejudice, he could never brook a hostile criticism. A fearless fighter, there was to him no neutral ground. Every critical speech about our young Re- public he attacked in word and writing, and on his return '* lectured his countrymen gratis"; for he liked not their manners, their love of gain, and fond- ness for boasting and admiration. So in his books he strayed away from the path of the story-teller to 96 1?^/ MONUMENT TO J. FENIMORE COOPER, COOPERSTOWN, N. Y. JAMES FENIMORE COOPER lash both Europe and Africa, and naturally made many enemies. In all this, he was most unjust to himself, for at heart he was a true patriot; he had a strong, kindly face and genial address — and was a lover of friends and home. Bryant says that " his character was like the bark of the cinnamon tree — a rough and astringent rind outside, and an intense sweet- ness within." And now for over half a century, critics have been busy with Cooper's fame. It must be granted that he did express too freely his prejudices; that his per- spective was bad; that he was deliberate even to tediousness; and that he wrote many books indiffer- ently rather than a few well. Indeed, some of them are never read, and Mark Twain has striven to prove that he cannot write a story; and Lowell, the irate censor, after honouring Natty Bumppo and Long Tom Coffin says: *' All his other men figures are clothes upon sticks." But allowing all this, we study an author from two points of view — his own day and ours — and Cooper is very much alive in his " Leather Stockings Tales " and a few of his sea-novels. Himself a lover of forest. Cooper was like a strap- ping woodsman who stuck his axe into a dense wood of tangling branches, and the clearing grew until he descried Chingachgook and Uncas and Leather Stocking; and through them ever since has been 97 STORY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE interpreted for us the spirit of the wilder- ness; or again Turner-like, Cooper has ventured far out over the stormy wave, where amid clang of the tempest, the man-of-war grapples with the whistling hulk of the enemy; and later writers have learned from him to spin sea-yarns. No: let the critics wage their war. Harvey Birch, Leather Stocking and Chingachgook and Uncas and Long Tom Coffin will live on and on in their wonderful world of action. We must read Cooper in a leisure mood and we must continue reading. Julian Hawthorne wisely remarks: "We proceed majestically from one stir- ring event to another, and though we never move faster than a contemplative walk, we know like the man on the way to the scaffold that nothing can hap- pen till we get there ! " Though the settings of the novels are in rough places, they are pure and patriotic books to give into the hands of youth and maiden. Every boy is himself a story-teller and an adventurer; and as gen- erations of boys have pored over Cooper's romantic dramas, they have given them most uncritical popu- larity. On Cooper's return from Europe, he mounted a house in Bleecker Street, New York City, with French furniture and French servants; but he finally went back to his ancestral home at Cooperstown for the rest of his life. It was a house of generous dimen- 98 JAMES FENIMORE COOPER sions, set among stately elms and maples, and of a beautiful hospitality; and in the gathering twilight, he would pace up and down the great hall, pondering over chapters from his books — for his pen was never idle. On his death-bed he begged his family not to aid in any preparation of his life — for he wished the controversies forgotten. He died on the fourteenth of September, 185 1, and was buried in the neigh- bouring churchyard. Afterwards the homestead was burned; and the materials and furniture rescued from the ruins were used in the picturesque cottage of his gifted daugh- ter Susan. A bronze statue of the '' Indian Hunter," by J. Q. A. Ward — a facsimile of the one in Central Park — now stands on the site of " Otsego Hall." But Cooper seems yet to permeate the village, beautiful for situation. Whether we float upon its lake in its emerald setting, or tread the woodsy way — everywhere we find reminders of his genius; for street and inn and boat and brook and falls bear the name of some book or character evolved by him; and upon a sculptured shaft overlooking Otsego Lake, the rugged figure of Leather Stocking ap- pears — an emblem of fearless energy. Five months after Cooper's death, a commemora- tive meeting was held in New York. Daniel Web- ster — the representative statesman of the day — pre- 99 STORY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE sided, and in his address suggested that Cooper's works, so truly patriotic and American, should find a place in every American library. Bryant, as very often on such occasions, was orator, and after speak- ing of Cooper's life and books, he said : — " Such are the works so widely read, and so universally admired in all zones of the globe, and by men of every kin- dred and every tongue; books which have made those who dwell in remote latitudes, wanderers in our forests and observers of our manners, and have inspired them all with an interest in our history," 100 XIV WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT (1794-1878) Poetry is a divine gift and true poets see visions; and we may enter into special intimacy with these seers and prophets as their varied inspirations suit our varied moods. Thus far our tale has been most prosaic — but now the poetic dawn is breaking ^ — as with Irving, " Story King of the Hudson/' and Cooper, '' Novelist of Forest and Ocean," we asso- ciate William Cullen Bryant, " Father of American Song." The parents both traced their ancestry from May- flower Pilgrims — the mother directly from John Alden — and William Cullen, one of a family of seven children, was born at Cummington, Massachu- setts, November third, 1794. Some think that he was not an unusual child, but he knew his letters before he was two and at five could repeat Watts'a Hymns. In the old Puritan home, children brought up in the fear of God were expected to study the Bible, and he was so familiar with his own, that at nine he had turned the first chapter of Job into classical couplets. He caught his early, stately forms of ex- pression from the prayers that he heard in church lOI STORY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE and at family worship. Poetic little Puritan that he was, he used one daring variation in his own inter- cessions '' that he might receive the gift of genius and write verses that should endure." The scholarly father was a country physician, and looked carefully after his puny boy's education. The mother did all the work for her family; she cooked and washed and ironed and spun, and one day ''made for Cullen a coatl " In the "St. Nicholas" of December, 1876, Bry- ant tells delightfully the story of his boyhood; and in it he emphasises the awe in which boys in that day held parents and all elderly persons, observing in their presence a hushed and subdued demeanour, this being specially marked towards ministers of the Gospel. Bryant's early education consisted in attendance at a district-school, and being tutored by two clergymen. Devoted to classical study, he in time became a fine linguist. He belonged to a family addicted to rhyming, and his own talent early blossomed into verse. At ten, short poems appeared in the news- paper. His knowledge of metre was caught from Pope's translation of '' The Iliad " ; and he told his friend Dana, years later, that when a copy of Words- worth's " Lyrical Ballads " fell into his hands, " a thousand springs seemed to gush up at once in his heart — and the face of Nature of a sudden changed into a strange freshness and life." Indeed, no other 102 WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT American poet has equalled Bryant In boyhood achievement. We hear little of his youthful sports, but we do know that whenever he could *' steal an hour from study and care," he would wander in the woods; and he became the first laureate of the sky and forest and birds and brooks and meadows and granite hills of Western Massachusetts. Nearly every poem con- tains a bit of scenery. Even as a youth, the mysteries of life puzzled him, and he tried by communing with Nature to learn her secrets; and it was this tendency to brood over life as a preparation for death that led to his " Thana- topsis," or *' Glimpse of Death." This poem repre- sents a lofty religious philosophy, redolent of Puri- tan faith — a striking conception of time and eternity — ** a kind of requiem of the universe." It was five or six years after he wrote it that his father found it with another poem in a drawer, and in his paternal pride, unknown to his son, he started literally post-haste to Boston one hundred miles dis- tant to offer it to the publishers of " The North xAmer- ican Review"; and as Phillips, one of the editors, read it aloud to the others, one of them exclaimed: ** Ah, Phillips, you have been imposed upon — no one on this side of the Atlantic could write such verses ! " But with *' Thanatopsis " true poetry had come to America. It was the soul utterance of a youth of seventeen — the most famous thing written 103 STORY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE by one of that age in our land — and it is read to- day with reverent earnestness. Bryant was in Williams College for less than a year and then was honourably dismissed. He would have entered Yale, but Dr. Bryant was unable to pay tuition bills ; so regretfully his son took up the study of law, and worked very hard in order to support himself as soon as possible, and in 1815, he was ad- mitted to the bar. It was while practising in Great Barrlngton that he fell in love with Fanny Fairchild, '* Fairest of the rural maids! " and married her. Shortly after his marriage, a paper-covered book of forty-four pages, containing eight of Bryant's poems, was issued by the Cambridge Press. Among these was the one '' To a Waterfowl," embodying its lesson of faith, and " The Yellow Violet," one of the earliest tributes to an American flower; for Bry- ant was one of the first to announce in poetic way that the flowers and birds of America are unlike those of England. The little volume included, also, " The Entrance to a Wood," conveying the promise of calm to him who lingers in its quiet haunts; "The Ages," read before Harvard College; and " Thanatopsis." This book made him again prominent; but at the end of five years, he had realised from its sale but fourteen dollars and ninety-two cents. It is now most valuable as our first publication of creative poetry, and General James Grant Wilson tells us 104 WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT that not very long ago, he paid ten dollars for a sin- gle copy. Young Bryant felt a growing distaste for law, and an increasing love for literature; and in 1825, he made his way to New York, which was then a literary as well as commercial centre. He came as a kind of adventurer, and obtained employment on a short- lived periodical, and in four years was principal editor of *' The Evening Post." This position he held for over fifty years, never permitting journalism to interfere with his lyric muse. When we think that Bryant lived during the ad- ministration of nineteen Presidents — from Wash- ington to Hayes — and that during this time, the number of States increased from fifteen to thirty- eight, we may realise that editorial work on a lead- ing paper for half a century of that period was most arduous; specially as he felt obliged to infuse into " The Evening Post '* his Democratic principles, and further on, his equally ardent Republican ones. He was fond of travel and went abroad six times — sending to the paper descriptive letters and essays, later published in book form. His best work belongs to middle life. After some years, his son-in-law, Parke Godwin, and his inti- mate friend, Hon. John Bigelow — *' The Old Man Eloquent" — were associated with him on *' The Post," each being his affectionate and scholarly bio- grapher. 105 STORY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE In regard to his friendships, it is a rare delight to listen to the reminiscences of General Wilson — himself a man of great literary charm — who enjoyed more or less intimacy with many of the *' Old Guard " of American authors, and also the eminent and gifted in other lands. Among his rec- ollections of Bryant is a story which the latter told him of his first coming to New York. Shortly after his arrival, he met Cooper, to whom he had been previously introduced; and Cooper invited him to dinner to meet Halleck adding, " I live at 345 Greenwich Street." " Please put that down," said Bryant, '' or I shall forget the place." " Can't you remember ' 3 — 4 — 5 M " Cooper replied bluntly. Bryant did remember and for all the future, and the friendship made that day with Cooper and Halleck was severed only by death. To Halleck he was al- ways devoted. Among his other friends were Irving, Dana, Drake, Verplanck, and Willis. He had pleasure in Whitman but could not understand his poetry. Wordsworth was his English inspiration and Rogers's ** breakfasts " his special delight. Hawthorne thus describes Bryant's appear- ance when he met him in Rome: *' He presented himself with a long white beard such as a palmer might have worn on the growth of a long pil- grimage." In all his friendships, there was a kind of Puritan veneer that never wore off; a quiet 106 WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT reserve and dignity seemed always to belong to him. Bryant had several homes in New York — the last at Twenty-four West Sixteenth Street, where he lived for twenty- four years — but a ruralist at heart, country life attracted him most. He bought the old homestead at Cummington, among the hills that he loved, and he returned to it year by year ; and in order to be nearer New York City, he purchased, in 1843, an estate at Roslyn, Long Island, and for thirty-five years, " Cedarmere " was his home. The house stands in charming grounds, overlook- ing a lovely lake : the library with two bay-windows, affording a view of woods and water — with ample bookcases, and fireplace set round with old Dutch tiles. This room was Bryant's castle! No journal- ist work was allowed to enter, for it was here that he donned his singing-robes. After his death, the homestead remained In the family, and several years ago, it was nearly destroyed by fire ; but appreciative hands restored what was left of his household goods, and they are to-day in the present mansion. It was at " Cedarmere," after the death of his wife, in 1865, and when he was over seventy, that Bryant made his monumental translation of ** The Iliad " and '' The Odyssey " ; and he did this in a Homeric spirit for he seemed to understand blank verse and " the rush of Epic song." He shows, 107 STORY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE also, true fidelity to the text, and many rank this the best metrical version of Homer in the language; and like Pope, he made it on the back of old papers and letters. And now to return to the creative works of our " out-of-door lover." He was reticent in verse, for although he lived to a good old. age, all his poems are contained in one volume — but the finest belong to his younger days. All are short — for to him a long poem was as impossible as a continued ecstasy. He revelled in solitude, and said that when he entered the forest, power seemed to come unbidden. His '' Forest Hymn," was breathed in the depths of the shady wood, amid the brotherhood of venerable trees — and while we '* meditate in these calm shades," we think only of his minor key; yet again his " Robert of Lincoln " is " Merrily swinging on briar and weed," singing " Bob-o'-link, bob-oMink, Spink, spank, spink.'* Sometimes Bryant voices the spirit of freedom; his note is decided but more restrained than Whit- tier's. We find it in his " Song of Marion's Men "; and in her hour of need, he sounds forth " Our Country's Call " ; and from him comes the famous quatrain of 'The Battle-Field " : — io8 m ' ■ J ^ ^B-- i ' ^^^^ - 1^^ ^^B^^ ^- ^^- ■■ p- 1 IP" 5. ^>%^.- Bli^fcli. ,.— iiiii^ ,11.1 \ Br^B*i-^'ff Bli ■:'■■'■'■■'« ►^ -^^^ '■^m s: ' Slgiipt: ■ ■'lis ; "..ill ilfiii**' l^^i i-::;r«i mmim- ■■:.:■ ^ is;**^^ ' ■ :-4 iPi:-Siiii|iiii' ^'?4fiii3iiS:ii iiiiliiP ' ■ iilli ...»^. _J^ '■;■■; ' ^^i