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diff --git a/3410-h/3410-h.htm b/3410-h/3410-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3cae0d5 --- /dev/null +++ b/3410-h/3410-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,7414 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> + +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> + <head> + <title> + The American Spirit in Literature, by Bliss Perry + </title> + <link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:7%; text-align: justify; } +h1 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } +h2 { text-align: center; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; + font-weight:bold; font-size:medium;} +h3 { text-align: center; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; + font-weight:bold; font-size:medium;} +h4 { text-align: left; font-weight:bold; font-size:small; + margin-bottom:0em;} +p {text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em;} +a {text-decoration:none;} +blockquote {font-size: 97%; margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 5%;} + +p.author { text-indent:0; text-align: center; + font-weight:bold; font-size:large; + margin-bottom:2em;} +div.start-of-book + { text-indent:0; text-align: center; + font-weight:bold; font-size:large; + margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; + margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:2em;} +div.chapterhead { padding-top:4em; } +hr { width: 50%; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em;} +hr.break { width: 20%; margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:2em;} + +p.chaptertitle + { text-indent:0; text-align: center; + font-variant:small-caps; + font-weight:bold; font-size:1.2em; + margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; + margin-bottom:2em;} +p.tiny {width:10%; margin:1em auto; border-bottom:1px solid gray;} +div.titlepage { padding-top:5%; padding-bottom:5%; + margin-right:15%; margin-left:15%; + text-align: center;} +p.book-subtitle, p.book-dedication + { text-indent:0; text-align:center; + font-weight:bold; font-variant:small-caps; + margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; } + /* footer classes */ +p.footer { text-indent:0; text-align:justify; font-size:80%; } +div.footer { border-style:solid; border-color:silver; border-width:thin; + border-top:none; border-bottom:none; + padding-left:10%; padding-right:10%;} + /* index classes */ +div.indexfont { font-size:small; text-indent:0; + margin:auto; margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; + padding-top:1em;} + /* boilerplate classes */ +p.boilerplate { text-indent:0; margin-top:1em; } +div.boilerplate { padding-top:1em; padding-bottom:1em; + margin:0; text-indent: 0;} + +.pagenum { right: 1%; font-size: x-small; + background-color: inherit; color: gray; + text-indent: 0em; text-align: right; position: absolute; + /* To remove the page-numbers, use the hidden visibilty feature */ + /* visibility:hidden; */ + border: 1px solid silver; padding: 1px 2px; + font-style: normal; + font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;} + /* simple-function classes */ +.smcap {font-variant:small-caps;} +.superscript { font-size:65%; vertical-align:top; } +.center {text-align:center; } +.small {font-size:small;} +.xlarge {font-size:x-large;} +.noindent {text-indent: 0%; } +.double-space-top {margin-top:2em;} +.single-space-top {margin-top:1em;} +.quad-space-bottom {margin-bottom:4em;} +.bold {font-weight:bold;} +.big-word-space {word-spacing:1.5em;} +.left-margin3em {margin-left:3em;} + /* table of contents styling */ +table.toc {margin:0 auto;} +table.toc caption {font-variant:small-caps; font-weight:bold;} +table.toc th {font-size:small;} +table.toc tr td {vertical-align:top;} +table.toc tr td:first-child {text-align:right; padding-right:.5em; } +table.toc tr td:last-child {text-align:right; padding-left:.5em; } + /* poem classes */ +p.poem { text-indent:0em; font-size:small; + margin:0 auto; width:17em;} +p.poem1 { text-indent:-3em; + margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;} +div.poem1 {margin-left:3em; font-size:small;} +</style> + </head> + <body> + <div class="boilerplate"> + <p class="boilerplate"> + The American Spirit in Literature, by Bliss Perry, presented by Project + Gutenberg + </p> + <p class="boilerplate"> + This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost + no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it + under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this + eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + </p> + <p class="boilerplate"> + Title: The American Spirit in Literature, A Chronicle of Great + Interpreters, Volume 34 in The Chronicles Of America Series <br /> + Author: Bliss Perry<br /> Editor: Allen Johnson<br /> Release Date: + January 15, 2009 [EBook #3410]<br /> Last Updated: February 7, 2013<br /> + Language: English<br /> Character set encoding: UTF-8 + </p> + <p class="boilerplate"> + Produced by The James J. Kelly Library of St. Gregory's University, Alev + Akman, David Widger, and Robert Homa. + </p> + <p class="boilerplate bold quad-space-bottom"> + *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE AMERICAN SPIRIT IN + LITERATURE *** + </p> + </div> + <div class="titlepage"> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i" id="Page_i">i</a></span> + <h1> + The American Spirit in Literature + </h1> + <p class="author"> + By Bliss Perry + </p> + <p class="book-subtitle"> + A Chronicle of Great Interpreters + </p> + <p class="noindent"> + Volume 34 of the<br /> Chronicles of America Series <br /> ∴<br /> + Allen Johnson, Editor<br /> Assistant Editors<br /> Gerhard R. Lomer <br /> + Charles W. Jefferys + </p> + <p class="tiny"> + </p> + <p class="noindent"> + <i>Abraham Lincoln Edition</i><br /><br /><br /><br /> + </p> + <p class="noindent small"> + New Haven: Yale University Press<br /> Toronto: Glasgow, Brook & Co.<br /> + London: Humphrey Milford<br /> Oxford University Press<br /> 1918 + </p> + </div> + <p class="noindent center small"> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii" id="Page_ii">ii</a></span> + Copyright, 1918<br /> by Yale University Press + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="Contents" id="Contents"></a> <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_iii" id="Page_iii">iii</a></span> <br /><br /><br /> + </p> + <h2> + CONTENTS + </h2> + <p> + <br /><br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <div class="start-of-book"> + <p class="center"> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">1</a></span> <a + name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001"></a> <a name="chap01" id="chap01"></a> + THE AMERICAN SPIRIT IN LITERATURE + </p> + <p class="center single-space-top"> + <span class="xlarge">∴</span> + </p> + <h2> + <a href="#Contents">CHAPTER I.</a> + </h2> + </div> + <p class="chaptertitle"> + The Pioneers + </p> + <p class="noindent"> + <span class="smcap">The</span> United States of America has been from the + beginning in a perpetual change. The physical and mental restlessness of + the American and the temporary nature of many of his arrangements are + largely due to the experimental character of the exploration and + development of this continent. The new energies released by the settlement + of the colonies were indeed guided by stern determination, wise + forethought, and inventive skill; but no one has ever really known the + outcome of the experiment. It is a story of faith, of + </p> + <p class="poem"> + Effort, and expectation, and desire,<br /> And something evermore about to + be. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">2</a></span> An + Alexander Hamilton may urge with passionate force the adoption of the + Constitution, without any firm conviction as to its permanence. The most + clear-sighted American of the Civil War period recognized this element of + uncertainty in our American adventure when he declared: "We are now + testing whether this nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, + can long endure." More than fifty years have passed since that war + reaffirmed the binding force of the Constitution and apparently sealed the + perpetuity of the Union. Yet the gigantic economic and social changes now + in progress are serving to show that the United States has its full share + of the anxieties which beset all human institutions in this daily altering + world. + </p> + <p> + "We are but strangers in an inn, but passengers in a ship," said Roger + Williams. This sense of the transiency of human effort, the perishable + nature of human institutions, was quick in the consciousness of the + gentleman adventurers and sober Puritan citizens who emigrated from + England to the New World. It had been a familiar note in the poetry of + that Elizabethan period which had followed with such breathless interest + the exploration of America. It was a conception which could be shared + alike by a saint like John Cotton or a <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_3" id="Page_3">3</a></span> soldier of fortune like John Smith. + Men are tent-dwellers. Today they settle here, and tomorrow they have + struck camp and are gone. We are strangers and sojourners, as all our + fathers were. + </p> + <p> + This instinct of the camper has stamped itself upon American life and + thought. Venturesomeness, physical and moral daring, resourcefulness in + emergencies, indifference to negligible details, wastefulness of + materials, boundless hope and confidence in the morrow, are + characteristics of the American. It is scarcely an exaggeration to say + that the "good American" has been he who has most resembled a good camper. + He has had robust health—unless or until he has abused it,—a + tolerant disposition, and an ability to apply his fingers or his brain to + many unrelated and unexpected tasks. He is disposed to blaze his own + trail. He has a touch of prodigality, and, withal, a knack of keeping his + tent or his affairs in better order than they seem. Above all, he has been + ever ready to break camp when he feels the impulse to wander. He likes to + be "foot-loose." If he does not build his roads as solidly as the Roman + roads were built, nor his houses like the English houses, it is because he + feels that he is here today and gone tomorrow. If he has squandered the + physical <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">4</a></span> + resources of his neighborhood, cutting the forests recklessly, exhausting + the soil, surrendering water power and minerals into a few far-clutching + fingers, he has done it because he expects, like Voltaire's Signor + Pococurante, "to have a new garden tomorrow, built on a nobler plan." When + New York State grew too crowded for Cooper's Leather-Stocking, he + shouldered his pack, whistled to his dog, glanced at the sun, and struck a + bee-line for the Mississippi. Nothing could be more typical of the first + three hundred years of American history. + </p> + <p> + The traits of the pioneer have thus been the characteristic traits of the + American in action. The memories of successive generations have tended to + stress these qualities to the neglect of others. Everyone who has enjoyed + the free life of the woods will confess that his own judgment upon his + casual summer associates turns, quite naturally and almost exclusively, + upon their characteristics as woodsmen. Out of the woods, these gentlemen + may be more or less admirable divines, pedants, men of affairs; but the + verdict of their companions in the forest is based chiefly upon the single + question of their adaptability to the environment of the camp. Are they + quick of eye and foot, skillful with rod and gun, cheerful on rainy days, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">5</a></span> ready to + do a little more than their share of drudgery? If so, memory holds them. + </p> + <p> + Some such unconscious selection as this has been at work in the + classification of our representative men. The building of the nation and + the literary expression of its purpose and ideals are tasks which have + called forth the strength of a great variety of individuals. Some of these + men have proved to be peculiarly fitted for a specific service, + irrespective of the question of their general intellectual powers, or + their rank as judged by the standard of European performance in the same + field. Thus the battle of New Orleans, in European eyes a mere bit of + frontier fighting, made Andrew Jackson a "hero" as indubitably as if he + had defeated Napoleon at Waterloo. It gave him the Presidency. + </p> + <p> + The analogy holds in literature. Certain expressions of American sentiment + or conviction have served to summarize or to clarify the spirit of the + nation. The authors of these productions have frequently won the + recognition and affection of their contemporaries by means of prose and + verse quite unsuited to sustain the test of severe critical standards. + Neither Longfellow's <i>Excelsior</i> nor Poe's <i>Bells</i> nor + Whittier's <i>Maud Muller</i> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" + id="Page_6">6</a></span> is among the best poems of the three writers in + question, yet there was something in each of these productions which + caught the fancy of a whole American generation. It expressed one phase of + the national mind in a given historical period. + </p> + <p> + The historian of literature is bound to take account of this question of + literary vogue, as it is highly significant of the temper of successive + generations in any country. But it is of peculiar interest to the student + of the literature produced in the United States. Is this literature + "American," or is it "English literature in America," as Professor Wendell + and other scholars have preferred to call it? I should be one of the last + to minimize the enormous influence of England upon the mind and the + writing of all the English-speaking countries of the globe. Yet it will be + one of the purposes of the present book to indicate the existence here, + even in colonial times, of a point of view differing from that of the + mother country, and destined to differ increasingly with the lapse of + time. Since the formation of our Federal Union, in particular, the books + produced in the United States have tended to exhibit certain + characteristics which differentiate them from the books produced in other + English-speaking countries. We <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" + id="Page_7">7</a></span> must beware, of course, of what the late Charles + Francis Adams once called the "filiopietistic" fallacy. The "American" + qualities of our literature must be judged in connection with its + conformity to universal standards of excellence. Tested by any universal + standard, <i>The Scarlet Letter</i> is a notable romance. It has won a + secure place among the literature written by men of English blood and + speech. Yet to overlook the peculiarly local or provincial characteristics + of this remarkable story is to miss the secret of its inspiration. It + could have been written only by a New Englander, in the atmosphere of a + certain epoch. + </p> + <p> + Our task, then, in this rapid review of the chief interpreters of the + American spirit in literature, is a twofold one. We are primarily + concerned with a procession of men, each of whom is interesting as an + individual and as a writer. But we cannot watch the individuals long + without perceiving the general direction of their march, the ideas that + animate them, the common hopes and loyalties that make up the life of + their spirit. To become aware of these general tendencies is to understand + the "American" note in our national writing. + </p> + <p> + Our historians have taught us that the history of the United States is an + evolution towards political <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" + id="Page_8">8</a></span> unity. The separatist, particularist movements + are gradually thrust to one side. In literary history, likewise, we best + remember those authors who fall into line with what we now perceive to + have been the course of our literary development. The erratic men and + women, the "sports" of the great experiment, are ultimately neglected by + the critics, unless, like the leaders of political insurrections, those + writing men and women have raised a notable standard of revolt. No doubt + the apparently unique literary specimens, if clearly understood in their + origins and surroundings, would be found rooted in the general laws of + literary evolution. But these laws are not easy to codify and we must + avoid the temptation to discover, in any particular period, more of unity + than there actually was. And we must always remember that there will be + beautiful prose and verse unrelated to the main national tendencies save + as "the literature of escape." We owe this lesson to the genius of Edgar + Allan Poe. + </p> + <p> + Let us test these principles by applying them to the earliest colonists. + The first book written on the soil of what is now the United States was + Captain John Smith's <i>True Relation</i> of the planting of the Virginia + colony in 1607. It was published in <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" + id="Page_9">9</a></span> London in 1608. The Captain was a typical + Elizabethan adventurer, with a gift, like so many of his class, for + picturesque narrative. In what sense, if at all, may his writings on + American topics be classified as "American" literary productions? It is + clear that his experiences in the New World were only one phase of the + variegated life of this English soldier of fortune. But the American + imagination has persistently claimed him as representing something + peculiarly ours, namely, a kind of pioneer hardihood, resourcefulness, + leadership, which was essential to the exploration and conquest of the + wilderness. Most of Smith's companions were unfitted for the ordeal which + he survived. They perished miserably in the "starving time." But he was of + the stuff from which triumphant immigrants have ever been made, and it is + our recognition of the presence of these qualities in the Captain which + makes us think of his books dealing with America as if they were "American + books." There are other narratives by colonists temporarily residing in + the Virginia plantations which gratify our historical curiosity, but which + we no more consider a part of American literature than the books written + by Stevenson, Kipling, and Wells during their casual visits to this + country. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">10</a></span> + But Captain Smith's <i>True Relation</i> impresses us, like Mark Twain's + <i>Roughing It</i>, with being somehow true to type. In each of these + books the possible unveracities in detail are a confirmation of their + representative American character. + </p> + <p> + In other words, we have unconsciously formulated, in the course of + centuries, a general concept of "the pioneer." Novelists, poets, and + historians have elaborated this conception. Nothing is more inevitable + than our reaching back to the beginning of the seventeenth century and + endeavoring to select, among the thousands of Englishmen who emigrated or + even thought of emigrating to this country, those who possessed the + genuine heart and sinew of the permanent settler. + </p> + <p> + Oliver Cromwell, for instance, is said to have thought of emigrating + hither in 1637. If he had joined his friends John Cotton and Roger + Williams in New England, who can doubt that the personal characteristics + of "my brave Oliver" would today be identified with the "American" + qualities which we discover in 1637 on the shores of Massachusetts Bay? + And what an American settler Cromwell would have made! + </p> + <p> + If we turn from physical and moral daring to the <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_11" id="Page_11">11</a></span> field of theological and + political speculation, it is easy today to select, among the writings of + the earliest colonists, certain radical utterances which seem to presage + the very temper of the late eighteenth century. Pastor John Robinson's + farewell address to the Pilgrims at Leyden in 1620 contained the famous + words: "The Lord has more truth yet to break forth out of His holy Word. I + cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches, who are + come to a period in religion.… Luther and Calvin were great and + shining lights in their times, yet they penetrated not into the whole + counsel of God." Now John Robinson, like Oliver Cromwell, never set foot + on American soil, but he is identified, none the less, with the spirit of + American liberalism in religion. + </p> + <p> + In political discussion, the early emergence of that type of independence + familiar to the decade 1765-75 is equally striking. In a letter written in + 1818, John Adams insisted that "the principles and feelings which produced + the Revolution ought to be traced back for two hundred years, and sought + in the history of the country from the first plantations in America." "I + have always laughed," he declared in an earlier letter, "at the + affectation of representing American independence <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_12" id="Page_12">12</a></span> as a novel idea, as a modern + discovery, as a late invention. The idea of it as a possible thing, as a + probable event, nay as a necessary and unavoidable measure, in case Great + Britain should assume an unconstitutional authority over us, has been + familiar to Americans from the first settlement of the country." + </p> + <p> + There is, then, a predisposition, a latent or potential Americanism which + existed long before the United States came into being. Now that our + political unity has become a fact, the predisposition is certain to be + regarded by our own and by future generations as evidence of a state of + mind which made our separate national life inevitable. Yet to Thomas + Hutchinson, a sound historian and honest man, the last Royal Governor of + Massachusetts, a separate national life seemed in 1770 an unspeakable + error and calamity. + </p> + <p> + The seventeenth-century colonists were predominantly English, in blood, in + traditions, and in impulses. Whether we look at Virginia or Plymouth or at + the other colonies that were planted in swift succession along the + seaboard, it is clear that we are dealing primarily with men of the + English race. Most of them would have declared, with as much emphasis as + Francis Hopkinson a <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">13</a></span> + century later, "We of America are in all respects Englishmen." Professor + Edward Channing thinks that it took a century of exposure to colonial + conditions to force the English in America away from the traditions and + ideals of those who continued to live in the old land. But the student of + literature must keep constantly in mind that these English colonizers + represented no single type of the national character. There were many men + of many minds even within the contracted cabin of the <i>Mayflower</i>. + The "sifted wheat" was by no means all of the same variety. + </p> + <p> + For Old England was never more torn by divergent thought and subversive + act than in the period between the death of Elizabeth in 1603 and the + Revolution of 1688. In this distracted time who could say what was really + "English"? Was it James the First or Raleigh? Archbishop Laud or John + Cotton? Charles the First or Cromwell? Charles the Second or William Penn? + Was it Churchman, Presbyterian, Independent, Separatist, Quaker? One is + tempted to say that the title of Ben Jonson's comedy <i>Every Man in his + Humour</i> became the standard of action for two whole generations of + Englishmen, and that there is no common denominator for emigrants of such + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">14</a></span> varied + pattern as Smith and Sandys of Virginia, Morton of Merrymount, John + Winthrop, "Sir" Christopher Gardiner and Anne Hutchinson of Boston, and + Roger Williams of Providence. They seem as miscellaneous as "Kitchener's + Army." + </p> + <p> + It is true that we can make certain distinctions. Virginia, as has often + been said, was more like a continuation of English society, while New + England represented a digression from English society. There were then, as + now, "stand-patters" and "progressives." It was the second class who, + while retaining very conservative notions about property, developed a + fearless intellectual radicalism which has written itself into the history + of the United States. But to the student of early American literature all + such generalizations are of limited value. He is dealing with individual + men, not with "Cavalier" or "Roundhead" as such. He has learned from + recent historians to distrust any such facile classification of the first + colonists. He knows by this time that there were aristocrats in + Massachusetts and commoners in Virginia; that the Pilgrims of Plymouth + were more tolerant than the Puritans of Boston, and that Rhode Island was + more tolerant than either. Yet useful as these general statements may be, + the interpreter <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">15</a></span> + of men of letters must always go back of the racial type or the social + system to the individual person. He recognizes, as a truth for him, that + theory of creative evolution which holds that in the ascending progress of + the race each thinking person becomes a species by himself. + </p> + <p> + While something is gained, then, by remembering that the racial instincts + and traditions of the first colonists were overwhelmingly English, and + that their political and ethical views were the product of a turbulent and + distraught time, it is even more important to note how the physical + situation of the colonists affected their intellectual and moral, as well + as their political problems. Among the emigrants from England, as we have + seen, there were great varieties of social status, religious opinion, + individual motive. But at least they all possessed the physical courage + and moral hardihood to risk the dangerous voyage, the fearful hardships, + and the vast uncertainties of the new life. To go out at all, under the + pressure of any motive, was to meet triumphantly a searching test. It was + in truth a "sifting," and though a few picturesque rascals had the courage + to go into exile while a few saints may have been deterred, it is a truism + to say that the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">16</a></span> + pioneers were made up of brave men and braver women. + </p> + <p> + It cannot be asserted that their courage was the result of any single, + dominating motive, equally operative in all of the colonies. Mrs. Hemans's + familiar line about seeking "freedom to worship God" was measurably true + of the Pilgrims of Plymouth, about whom she was writing. But the far more + important Puritan emigration to Massachusetts under Winthrop aimed not so + much at "freedom" as at the establishment of a theocracy according to the + Scriptures. These men straightway denied freedom of worship, not only to + newcomers who sought to join them, but to those members of their own + company who developed independent ways of thinking. The list of motives + for emigration ran the whole gamut, from missionary fervor for converting + the savages, down through a commendable desire for gain, to the perhaps no + less praiseworthy wish to escape a debtor's prison or the pillory. A few + of the colonists were rich. Some were beggars or indentured servants. Most + of them belonged to the middle class. John Harvard was the son of a + butcher; Thomas Shepard, the son of a grocer; Roger Williams, the son of a + tailor. But all three were <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" + id="Page_17">17</a></span> university bred and were natural leaders of + men. + </p> + <p> + Once arrived in the wilderness, the pioneer life common to all of the + colonists began instantly to exert its slow, irresistible pressure upon + their minds and to mould them into certain ways of thinking and feeling. + Without some perception of these modes of thought and emotion a knowledge + of the spirit of our literature is impossible. Take, for instance, the + mere physical situation of the first colonists, encamped on the very beach + of the wide ocean with an illimitable forest in their rear. Their + provisions were scanty. They grew watchful of the strange soil, of the new + skies, of the unknown climate. Even upon the voyage over, John Winthrop + thought that "the declination of the pole star was much, even to the view, + beneath that it is in England," and that "the new moon, when it first + appeared, was much smaller than at any time he had seen it in England." + Here was a man evidently using his eyes with a new interest in natural + phenomena. Under these changed skies the mind began gradually to change + also. + </p> + <p> + At first the colonists felt themselves an outpost of Europe, a forlorn + hope of the Protestant Reformation. "We shall be as a city upon a hill," + said <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">18</a></span> + Winthrop. "The eyes of all people are upon us." Their creed was Calvinism, + then in its third generation of dominion and a European doctrine which was + not merely theological but social and political. The emigrant Englishmen + were soon to discover that it contained a doctrine of human rights based + upon human needs. At the beginning of their novel experience they were + doubtless unaware of any alteration in their theories. But they were + facing a new situation, and that new situation became an immense factor in + their unconscious growth. Their intellectual and moral problems shifted, + as a boat shifts her ballast when the wind blows from a new quarter. The + John Cotton preaching in a shed in the new Boston had come to "suffer a + sea-change" from the John Cotton who had been rector of St. Botolph's + splendid church in Lincolnshire. The "church without a bishop" and the + "state without a king" became a different church and state from the old, + however loyally the ancient forms and phrases were retained. + </p> + <p> + If the political problems of equality which were latent in Calvinism now + began to take on a different meaning under the democratic conditions of + pioneer life, the inner, spiritual problems of that amazing creed were + intensified. "Fallen" human <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" + id="Page_19">19</a></span> nature remained the same, whether in the + crowded cosmopolitan streets of Holland and London, or upon the desolate + shores of Cape Cod. But the moral strain of the old insoluble conflict + between "fixed fate" and "free will" was heightened by the physical + loneliness of the colonists. Each soul must fight its own unaided, + unending battle. In that moral solitude, as in the physical solitude of + the settlers upon the far northwestern prairies of a later epoch, many a + mind snapped. Unnatural tension was succeeded by unnatural crimes. But for + the stronger intellects New England Calvinism became a potent spiritual + gymnastic, where, as in the Swedish system of bodily training, one lifts + imaginary and ever-increasing weights with imaginary and ever-increasing + effort, flexor and extensor muscles pulling against one another, driven by + the will. Calvinism bred athletes as well as maniacs. + </p> + <p> + The new situation, again, turned many of the theoretical speculations of + the colonists into practical issues. Here, for example, was the Indian. + Was he truly a child of God, possessing a soul, and, if so, had he + partaken of the sin of Adam? These questions perplexed the saintly Eliot + and the generous Roger Williams. But before many <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_20" id="Page_20">20</a></span> years the query as to whether a + Pequot warrior had a soul became suddenly less important than the + practical question as to whether the Pequot should be allowed any further + chances of taking the white man's scalp. On this last issue the colonists + were unanimous in the negative. + </p> + <p> + It would be easy to multiply such instances of a gradual change of view. + But beneath all the changes and all the varieties of individual behavior + in the various colonies that began to dot the seaboard, certain qualities + demanded by the new surroundings are felt in colonial life and in colonial + writings. One of these is the instinct for order, or at least that degree + of order essential to the existence of a camp. It was not in vain that + John Smith sought to correct the early laxness at Jamestown by the stern + edict: "He that will not work, neither shall he eat." Dutch and Quaker + colonies taught the same inexorable maxim of thrift. Soon there was work + enough for all, at good wages, but the lesson had been taught. It gave + Franklin's <i>Poor Richard</i> mottoes their flavor of homely, experienced + truth. + </p> + <p> + Order in daily life led straight to political order, just as the equality + and resourcefulness of the frontier, stimulated by isolation from Europe, + led <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">21</a></span> to + political independence. The pioneer learned to make things for himself + instead of sending to London for them, and by and by he grew as impatient + of waiting for a political edict from London as he would become in waiting + for a London plough. "This year," wrote one colonist, "ye will go to + complain to the Parliament, and the next year they will send to see how it + is, and the third year the government is changed." The time was coming + when no more complaints would be sent. + </p> + <p> + One of the most startling instances of this colonial instinct for + self-government is the case of Thomas Hooker. Trained in Emmanuel College + of the old Cambridge, he arrived in the new Cambridge in 1633. He grew + restless under its theocratic government, being, it was said, "a person + who when he was doing his Master's work would put a king into his pocket." + So he led the famous migration of 1636 from Massachusetts to Hartford, and + there helped to create a federation of independent towns which made their + own constitution without mentioning any king, and became one of the + corner-stones of American democracy. In May, 1638, Hooker declared in a + sermon before the General Court "that the choice of public magistrates + belongs unto the people by God's <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" + id="Page_22">22</a></span> own allowance," and "that they who have the + power to appoint officers and magistrates, it is in their power, also, to + set the bounds and limitations of the power and place into which they call + them." The reason of this is: "<em>Because the foundation of authority is + laid, firstly, in the free consent of the people.</em>" This high + discourse antedates the famous pamphlets on liberty by Milton. It is a + half-century earlier than Locke's <i>Treatise on Government</i>, a century + and a quarter earlier than Rousseau's <i>Contrat Social</i>, and it + precedes by one hundred and thirty-eight years the American Declaration of + Independence. + </p> + <p> + But the slightest acquaintance with colonial writings will reveal the fact + that such political radicalism as Thomas Hooker's was accompanied by an + equally striking conservatism in other directions. One of these + conservative traits was the pioneer's respect for property, and + particularly for the land cleared by his own toil. Gladstone once spoke of + possession of the soil as the most important and most operative of all + social facts. Free-footed as the pioneer colonist was, he was disinclined + to part with his land without a substantial price for it. The land at his + disposal was practically illimitable, but he showed a very <span + class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">23</a></span> English + tenacity in safeguarding his hold upon his own portion. + </p> + <p> + Very English, likewise, was his attachment to the old country as "home." + The lighter and the more serious writings of the colonists are alike in + their respect for the past. In the New England settlements, although not + at first in Virginia, there was respect for learning and for an educated + clergy. The colonists revered the Bible. They maintained a stubborn regard + for the Common Law of England. Even amid all the excitement of a + successful rebellion from the mother country, this Common Law still held + the Americans to the experience of the inescapable past. + </p> + <p> + Indeed, as the reader of today lifts his eyes from the pages of the books + written in America during the seventeenth century, and tries to meditate + upon the general difference between them and the English books written + during the same period, he will be aware of the firmness with which the + conservative forces held on this side of the Atlantic. It was only one + hundred years from the Great Armada of 1588 to the flight of James Second, + the last of the Stuart Kings. With that Revolution of 1688 the struggles + characteristic of the seventeenth century in England came to an end. A new + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">24</a></span> working + basis is found for thought, politics, society, literature. But while those + vast changes had been shaking England, two generations of American + colonists had cleared their forests, fought the savages, organized their + townships and their trade, put money in their purses, and lived, though as + yet hardly suspecting it, a life that was beginning to differentiate them + from the men of the Old World. We must now glance at the various aspects + of this isolated life of theirs, as it is revealed in their books. + </p> + <hr /> + <div class="chapterhead"> + <a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002"></a> <a name="chap02" id="chap02"></a> + <br /> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">25</a></span> + <br /><br /><br /> + <h2> + <a href="#Contents">CHAPTER II.</a> + </h2> + </div> + <p class="chaptertitle"> + The First Colonial Literature + </p> + <p class="noindent"> + <span class="smcap">The</span> simplest and oldest group of colonial + writings is made up of records of exploration and adventure. They are like + the letters written from California in 1849 to the "folks back East." + Addressed to home-keeping Englishmen across the sea, they describe the new + world, explain the present situation of the colonists, and express their + hopes for the future. Captain John Smith's <i>True Relation</i>, already + alluded to, is the typical production of this class: a swift marching + book, full of eager energy, of bluff and breezy picturesqueness, and of + triumphant instinct for the main chance. Like most of the Elizabethans, he + cannot help poetizing in his prose. Cod-fishing is to him a "sport"; "and + what sport doth yeald a more pleasing content, and lesse hurt or charge + then angling with a hooke, and crossing the sweete ayre from Isle to Isle, + over the silent streams of a calme Sea?" But the <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_26" id="Page_26">26</a></span> gallant Captain is also capable + of very plain speech, Cromwellian in its simplicity, as when he writes + back to the London stockholders of the Virginia Company: "When you send + again, I entreat you rather send but thirty carpenters, husbandmen, + gardeners, fishermen, blacksmiths, masons, and diggers up of trees' roots, + well provided, than a thousand of such as we have." + </p> + <p> + America was but an episode in the wide wanderings of Captain Smith, but he + owes his place in human memory today to the physical and mental energy + with which he met the demands of a new situation, and to the vividness + with which he dashed down in words whatever his eyes had seen. Whether, in + that agreeable passage about Pocahontas, he was guilty of romancing a + little, no one really knows, but the Captain, as the first teller of this + peculiarly American type of story, will continue to have an indulgent + audience. + </p> + <p> + But other exiles in Virginia were skillful with the pen. William + Strachey's <i>True Reportory of the Wrack of Sir Thomas Gates, Kt., vpon + and from the islands of the Bermudas</i> may or may not have given a hint + to Shakespeare for the storm-scene in <i>The Tempest</i>. In either case + it is admirable writing, flexible, sensitive, shrewdly observant. + Whitaker, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">27</a></span> + the apostle of Virginia, mingles, like many a missionary of the present + day, the style of an exhorter with a keen discernment of the traits of the + savage mind. George Percy, fresh from Northumberland, tells in a language + as simple as Defoe's the piteous tale of five months of illness and + starvation, watched by "those wild and cruel Pagans." John Pory, of "the + strong potations," who thinks that "good company is the soul of this + life," nevertheless comforts himself in his solitude among the "crystal + rivers and odoriferous woods" by reflecting that he is escaping envy and + expense. George Sandys, scholar and poet, finds his solace during a + Virginia exile in continuing his translation of Ovid's <i>Metamorphoses</i>. + Colonel Norwood, an adventurer who belongs to a somewhat later day, since + he speaks of having "read Mr. Smith's travels," draws the long bow of + narrative quite as powerfully as the redoubtable Smith, and far more + smoothly, as witness his accounts of starvation on shipboard and + cannibalism on shore. This Colonel is an artist who would have delighted + Stevenson. + </p> + <p> + All of these early tellers of Virginia tales were Englishmen, and most of + them returned to England, where their books were printed and their + remaining lives were passed. But far to the northeast <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_28" id="Page_28">28</a></span> of Virginia there were two + colonies of men who earned the right to say, in William Bradford's quiet + words, "It is not with us as with other men, whom small things can + discourage, or small discontentments cause to wish themselves at home + again." One was the colony of Pilgrims at Plymouth, headed by Bradford + himself. The other was the Puritan colony of Massachusetts Bay, with John + Winthrop as governor. + </p> + <p> + Bradford and Winthrop have left journals which are more than chronicles of + adventure. They record the growth and government of a commonwealth. Both + Bradford and Winthrop were natural leaders of men, grave, dignified, + solid, endowed with a spirit that bred confidence. Each was learned. + Winthrop, a lawyer and man of property, had a higher social standing than + Bradford, who was one of the Separatists of Robinson's flock at Leyden. + But the Pilgrim of the <i>Mayflower</i> and the well-to-do Puritan of the + Bay Colony both wrote their annals like gentlemen and scholars. Bradford's + <i>History of Plymouth Plantation</i> runs from 1620 to 1647. Winthrop's + diary, now printed as the <i>History of New England</i>, begins with his + voyage in 1630 and closes in the year of his death, 1649. As records of an + Anglo-Saxon <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">29</a></span> + experiment in self-government under pioneer conditions these books are + priceless; as human documents, they illuminate the Puritan character; as + for "literary" value in the narrow sense of that word, neither Bradford + nor Winthrop seems to have thought of literary effect. Yet the leader of + the Pilgrims has passages of grave sweetness and charm, and his sketch of + his associate, Elder Brewster, will bear comparison with the best English + biographical writing of that century. Winthrop is perhaps more varied in + tone, as he is in matter, but he writes throughout as a ruler of men + should write, with "decent plainness and manly freedom." His best known + pages, justly praised by Tyler and other historians of American thought, + contain his speech before the General Court in 1645 on the nature of true + liberty. No paragraphs written in America previous to the Revolution would + have given more pleasure to Abraham Lincoln, but it is to be feared that + Lincoln never saw Governor Winthrop's book, though his own ancestor, + Samuel Lincoln of Hingham, lived under Winthrop's jurisdiction. + </p> + <p> + The theory of government held by the dominant party of the first two + generations of New England pioneers has often been called a "theocracy," + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">30</a></span> that is + to say, a government according to the Word of God as expounded and + enforced by the clergy. The experiment was doomed to ultimate failure, for + it ran counter to some of the noblest instincts of human nature. But its + administration was in the hands of able men. The power of the clergy was + well-nigh absolute. The political organization of the township depended + upon the ecclesiastical organization as long as the right to vote was + confined to church members. How sacrosanct and awful was the position of + the clergyman may be perceived from Hawthorne's <i>The Minister's Black + Veil</i> and <i>The Scarlet Letter</i>. + </p> + <p> + Yet it must be said that men like Hooker and Cotton, Shepard and Norton, + had every instinct and capacity for leadership. With the notable exception + of Hooker, such men were aristocrats, holding John Winthrop's opinion that + "Democracy is, among most civil nations, accounted the meanest and worst + form of government." They were fiercely intolerant. The precise reason for + the Hooker migration from Cambridge to Hartford in 1636—the very + year of the founding of Harvard—was prudently withheld, but it is + now thought to be the instinct of escape from the clerical architects of + the Cambridge Platform. Yet no one <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" + id="Page_31">31</a></span> would today call Thomas Hooker a liberal in + religion, pioneer in political liberty though he proved to be. His extant + sermons have the steady stroke of a great hammer; smiting at the mind and + heart. "Others because they have felt the heavy hand of God … upon + these grounds they build their hopes: 'I have had my hell in this life, + and I hope to have heaven in the world to come; I hope the worst is + over.'" Not so, thunders the preacher in reply: "Sodom and Gomorrah they + burnt in brimstone and they shall burn in hell." One of Hooker's + successors has called him "a son of thunder and a son of consolation by + turns." The same may be said of Thomas Shepard, another graduate of + Emmanuel College in the old Cambridge, who became the "soul-melting + preacher" of the newer Cambridge by the Charles. Pure, ravishing notes of + spiritual devotion still sing themselves in his pages. He is wholly + Calvinist. He thinks "the truth is a poor mean thing in itself" and that + the human reason cannot be "the last resolution of all doubts," which must + be sought only in the written Word of God. He holds it "a tough work, a + wonderful hard matter to be saved." "Jesus Christ is not got with a wet + finger." Yet, like so many mystics, he yearns to be "covered <span + class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">32</a></span> with God, as + with a cloud," to be "drowned, plunged, and swallowed up with God." One + hundred years later we shall find this same rhapsodic ecstasy in the + meditations of Jonathan Edwards. + </p> + <p> + John Cotton, the third of the mighty men in the early Colonial pulpit, + owes his fame more to his social and political influence than to his + literary power. Yet even that was thought commanding. Trained, like Hooker + and Shepard, at Emmanuel College, and fresh from the rectorship of St. + Botolph's in the Lincolnshire Boston, John Cotton dominated that new + Boston which was named in his honor. He became the Pope of the theocracy; + a clever Pope and not an unkindly one. He seems to have shared some of the + opinions of Anne Hutchinson, though he "pronounced the sentence of + admonition" against her, says Winthrop, with much zeal and detestation of + her errors. Hawthorne, in one of his ironic moods, might have done justice + to this scene. Cotton was at heart too liberal for his rôle of + Primate, and fate led him to persecute a man whose very name has become a + symbol of victorious tolerance, Roger Williams. + </p> + <p> + Williams, known today as a friend of Cromwell, Milton, and Sir Harry Vane, + had been exiled from <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">33</a></span> + Massachusetts for maintaining that the civil power had no jurisdiction + over conscience. This doctrine was fatal to the existence of a theocratic + state dominated by the church. John Cotton was perfectly logical in + "enlarging" Roger Williams into the wilderness, but he showed less than + his usual discretion in attacking the quick-tempered Welshman in + pamphlets. It was like asking Hotspur if he would kindly consent to fight. + Back and forth the books fly, for Williams loves this game. His <i>Bloody + Tenet of Persecution for Cause of Conscience</i> calls forth Mr. Cotton's + <i>Bloody Tenet washed and made white in the Blood of the Lamb</i>; and + this in turn provokes the torrential flood of Williams's masterpiece, <i>The + Bloody Tenet yet more Bloody, by Mr. Cotton's endeavor to wash it white in + the Blood of the Lamb</i>. There is glorious writing here, and its effect + cannot be suggested by quoting sentences. But there is one sentence in a + letter written by Williams in his old age to his fellow-townsmen of + Providence which points the whole moral of the terrible mistake made by + the men who sought spiritual liberty in America for themselves, only to + deny that same liberty to others. "I have only one motion and petition," + begs this veteran pioneer who had forded many a swollen stream and built + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">34</a></span> many a + rude bridge in the Plantations: "it is this, that after you have got over + the black brook of some soul bondage yourselves, you tear not down the + bridge after you." + </p> + <p> + It is for such wise and humane counsels as this that Roger Williams is + remembered. His opponents had mightier intellects than his, but the world + has long since decided against them. Colonial sermon literature is read + today chiefly by antiquarians who have no sympathy for the creed which + once gave it vitality. Its theology, like the theology of <i>Paradise Lost</i> + or the <i>Divine Comedy</i>, has sunk to the bottom of the black brook. + But we cannot judge fairly the contemporary effect of this pulpit + literature without remembering the passionate faith that made pulpit and + pews copartners in a supreme spiritual struggle. Historians properly + insist upon the æsthetic poverty of the New England Puritans; that + their rule of life cut them off from an enjoyment of the dramatic + literature of their race, then just closing its most splendid epoch; that + they had little poetry or music and no architecture and plastic art. But + we must never forget that to men of their creed the Sunday sermons and the + week-day "lectures" served as oratory, poetry, and drama. These <span + class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">35</a></span> outpourings + of the mind and heart of their spiritual leaders were the very stuff of + human passion in its intensest forms. Puritan churchgoers, passing hours + upon hours every week in rapt absorption with the noblest of all poetry + and prose in the pages of their chief book, the Bible, were at least as + sensitive to the beauty of words and the sweep of emotions as our + contemporaries upon whose book-shelves Spenser and Milton stand unread. + </p> + <p> + It is only by entering into the psychology of the period that we can + estimate its attitude towards the poetry written by the pioneers + themselves. The <i>Bay Psalm Book</i> (1640), the first book printed in + the colonies, is a wretched doggerel arrangement of the magnificent King + James Version of the Psalms, designed to be sung in churches. Few of the + New England churches could sing more than half-a-dozen tunes, and a + pitch-pipe was for a long time the only musical instrument allowed. Judged + as hymnology or poetry, the <i>Bay Psalm Book</i> provokes a smile. But + the men and women who used it as a handbook of devotion sang it with their + hearts aflame. In judging such a popular seventeenth-century poem as + Wigglesworth's <i>Day of Doom</i> one must strip oneself quite free from + the twentieth century, and pretend to be sitting in the <span + class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">36</a></span> + chimney-corner of a Puritan kitchen, reading aloud by that firelight + which, as Lowell once humorously suggested, may have added a "livelier + relish" to the poet's "premonitions of eternal combustion." Lowell could + afford to laugh about it, having crossed that particular black brook. But + for several generations the boys and girls of New England had read the <i>Day + of Doom</i> as if Mr. Wigglesworth, the gentle and somewhat sickly + minister of Malden, had veritably peeped into Hell. It is the present + fashion to underestimate the power of Wigglesworth's verse. At its best it + has a trampling, clattering shock like a charge of cavalry and a sound + like clanging steel. Mr. Kipling and other cunning ballad-makers have + imitated the peculiar rhyme structure chosen by the nervous little parson. + But no living poet can move his readers to the fascinated horror once felt + by the Puritans as they followed Wigglesworth's relentless gaze into the + future of the soul's destiny. + </p> + <p> + Historical curiosity may still linger, of course, over other verse-writers + of the period. Anne Bradstreet's poems, for instance, are not without + grace and womanly sweetness, in spite of their didactic themes and + portentous length. But this <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" + id="Page_37">37</a></span> lady, born in England, the daughter of Governor + Dudley and later the wife of Governor Bradstreet, chose to imitate the + more fantastic of the moralizing poets of England and France. There is + little in her hundreds of pages which seems today the inevitable outcome + of her own experience in the New World. For readers who like roughly + mischievous satire, of a type initiated in England by Bishop Hall and + Donne, there is <i>The Simple Cobbler of Agawam</i> written by the roving + clergyman Nathaniel Ward. But he lived only a dozen years in + Massachusetts, and his satirical pictures are scarcely more "American" + than the satire upon German professors in <i>Sartor Resartus</i> is + "German." Like Charles Dickens's <i>American Notes</i>, Ward's give the + reaction of a born Englishman in the presence of the sights and the talk + and the personages of the transatlantic world. + </p> + <p> + Of all the colonial writings of the seventeenth century, those that have + lost least of their interest through the lapse of years are narratives of + struggles with the Indians. The image of the "bloody savage" has always + hovered in the background of the American imagination. Our boys and girls + have "played Indian" from the beginning, and the actual Indian is still + found, as for three hundred years past, <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_38" id="Page_38">38</a></span> upon the frontier fringe of our + civilization. Novelists like Cooper, historians like Parkman, poets like + Longfellow, have dealt with the rich material offered by the life of the + aborigines, but the long series begins with the scribbled story of + colonists. Here are comedy and tragedy, plain narratives of trading and + travel, missionary zeal and triumphs; then the inevitable alienation of + the two races and the doom of the native. + </p> + <p> + The "noble savage" note may be found in John Rolfe, the husband of + Pocahontas, with whom, poor fellow, his "best thoughts are so intangled + and enthralled." Other Virginians, like Smith, Strachey, and Percy, show + close naturalistic observation, touched with the abounding Elizabethan + zest for novelties. To Alexander Whitaker, however, these "naked slaves of + the devil" were "not so simple as some have supposed." He yearned and + labored over their souls, as did John Eliot and Roger Williams and Daniel + Gookin of New England. In the Pequot War of 1637 the grim settlers + resolved to be rid of that tribe once for all, and the narratives of + Captain Edward Johnson and Captain John Mason, who led in the storming and + slaughter at the Indians' Mystic Fort, are as piously relentless as + anything in the Old Testament. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" + id="Page_39">39</a></span> Cromwell at Drogheda, not long after, had + soldiers no more merciless than these exterminating Puritans, who wished + to plough their fields henceforth in peace. A generation later the storm + broke again in King Philip's War. Its tales of massacre, captivity, and + single-handed fighting linger in the American imagination still. Typical + pamphlets are Mary Rowlandson's thrilling tale of the Lancaster massacre + and her subsequent captivity, and the loud-voiced Captain Church's + unvarnished description of King Philip's death. The King, shot down like a + wearied bull-moose in the deep swamp, "fell upon his face in the mud and + water, with his gun under him." They "drew him through the mud to the + upland; and a doleful, great, naked dirty beast he looked like." The head + brought only thirty shillings at Plymouth: "scanty reward and poor + encouragement," thought Captain Church. William Hubbard, the minister of + Ipswich, wrote a comprehensive <i>Narrative of the Troubles with the + Indians in New England</i>, bringing the history down to 1677. Under the + better known title of <i>Indian Wars</i>, this fervid and dramatic tale, + penned in a quiet parsonage, has stirred the pulses of every succeeding + generation. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">40</a></span> The + close of King Philip's War, 1676, coinciding as it does with Bacon's + Rebellion in Virginia, marks an era in the development of our independent + life. The events of that year, in the words of Professor Tyler, + "established two very considerable facts, namely, that English colonists + in America could be so provoked as to make physical resistance to the + authority of England, and, second, that English colonists in America + could, in the last resort, put down any combination of Indians that might + be formed against them. In other words, it was then made evident that + English colonists would certainly be safe in the new world, and also that + they would not always be colonists." + </p> + <p> + While the end of an historical or literary era cannot always be thus + conveniently indicated by a date, there is no doubt that the final quarter + of the seventeenth century witnessed deep changes in the outward life and + the inner temper of the colonists. The "first fine careless rapture" was + over. Only a few aged men could recall the memory of the first + settlements. Between the founding of Jamestown and the rebellion under the + leadership of Nathaniel Bacon almost seventy years had intervened, an + interval corresponding to that which separates us from the Mexican War. + Roger Williams <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">41</a></span> + ended his much-enduring and beneficent life in the flourishing town of + Providence in 1684. He had already outlived Cotton and Hooker, Shepard and + Winthrop, by more than thirty years. Inevitably men began, toward the end + of the century, to take stock of the great venture of colonization, to + scrutinize their own history and present position, to ask searching + questions of themselves. "You have better food and raiment than was in + former times," wrote the aged Roger Clark, in 1676; "but have you better + hearts than your forefathers had?" Thomas Walley's <i>Languishing + Commonwealth</i> maintains that "Faith is dead, and Love is cold, and Zeal + is gone." Urian Oakes's election sermon of 1670 in Cambridge is a + condemnation of the prevalent worldliness and ostentation. This period of + critical inquiry and assessment, however, also gives grounds for just + pride. History, biography, eulogy, are flourishing. The reader is reminded + of that epoch, one hundred and fifty years later, when the deaths of John + Adams and of Thomas Jefferson, falling upon the same anniversary day, the + Fourth of July, 1826, stirred all Americans to a fresh recognition of the + services wrought by the Fathers of the Republic. So it was in the colonies + at the close of the seventeenth century. <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_42" id="Page_42">42</a></span> Old England, in one final + paroxysm of political disgust, cast out the last Stuart in 1688. That + Revolution marks, as we have seen, the close of a long and tragic struggle + which began in the autocratic theories of James the First and in the + absolutism of Charles. Almost every phase of that momentous conflict had + its reverberation across the Atlantic, as the history of the granting and + withdrawal of colonial charters witnesses abundantly. The American + pioneers were quite aware of what was going on in England, and they + praised God or grumbled, thriftily profited by the results or quietly + nullified them, as the case might be. But all the time, while England was + rocked to its foundations, the colonists struck steadily forward into + their own independent life. + </p> + <hr /> + <div class="chapterhead"> + <a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003"></a> <a name="chap03" id="chap03"></a> + <br /> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">43</a></span> + <br /><br /><br /> + <h2> + <a href="#Contents">CHAPTER III.</a> + </h2> + </div> + <p class="chaptertitle"> + The Third and Fourth Generation + </p> + <p class="noindent"> + <span class="smcap">When</span> the eighteenth century opened, many signs + of change were in the air. The third generation of native-born Americans + was becoming secularized. The theocracy of New England had failed. In the + height of the tragic folly over the supposed "witchcraft" in Salem, + Increase Mather and his son Cotton had held up the hands of the judges in + their implacable work. But before five years had passed, Judge Sewall does + public penance in church for his share of the awful blunder, desiring "to + take the shame and blame of it." Robert Calef's cool pamphlet exposing the + weakness of the prosecutors' case is indeed burned by Increase Mather in + the Harvard Yard, but the liberal party are soon to force Mather from the + Presidency and to refuse that office to his son. In the town of Boston, + once hermetically sealed against heresy, there are Baptist and Episcopal + churches—and a dancing-master. <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_44" id="Page_44">44</a></span> Young Benjamin Franklin, born in + 1706, professes a high respect for the Mathers, but he does not go to + church, "Sunday being my studying day," and neither the clerical nor the + secular arm of Boston is long enough and strong enough to compel that + industrious apprentice into piety. + </p> + <p> + If such was the state of New England, the laxity of New York and Virginia + needs little evidence. Contemporary travelers found the New Yorkers + singularly attached to the things of this present world. Philadelphia was + prosperous and therewith content. Virginia was a paradise with no + forbidden fruit. Hugh Jones, writing of it in 1724, considers North + Carolina "the refuge of runaways," and South Carolina "the delight of + buccaneers and pirates," but Virginia "the happy retreat of true Britons + and true Churchmen." Unluckily these Virginians, well nourished "by the + plenty of the country," have "contemptible notions of England!" We shall + hear from them again. In the meantime the witty William Byrd of Westover + describes for us his amusing survey of the Dismal Swamp, and his + excursions into North Carolina and to Governor Spotswood's iron mines, + where he reads aloud to the Widow Fleming, on a rainy autumn day, three + acts of the <i>Beggars' Opera</i>, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" + id="Page_45">45</a></span> just over from London. So runs the world away, + south of the Potomac. Thackeray paints it once for all, no doubt, in the + opening chapters of <i>The Virginians</i>. + </p> + <p> + To discover any ambitious literary effort in this period, we must turn + northward again. In the middle colonies, and especially in Philadelphia, + which had now outgrown Boston in population, there was a quickened + interest in education and science. But the New Englanders were still the + chief makers of books. Three great names will sufficiently represent the + age: Cotton Mather, a prodigy of learning whose eyes turn back fondly to + the provincial past; Jonathan Edwards, perhaps the most consummate + intellect of the eighteenth century; and Benjamin Franklin, certainly the + most perfect exponent of its many-sided life. + </p> + <p> + When Cotton Mather was graduated from Harvard in 1678, in his sixteenth + year, he was publicly complimented by President Oakes, in fulsome Latin, + as the grandson of Richard Mather and John Cotton. This atmosphere of + flattery, this consciousness of continuing in his own person the famous + local dynasty, surrounded and sustained him to the end. He had a less + commanding personality than his father Increase. His nervous sensibility + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">46</a></span> was + excessive. His natural vanity was never subdued, though it was often + chastened by trial and bitter disappointment. But, like his father, he was + an omnivorous reader and a facile producer of books, carrying daily such + burdens of mental and spiritual excitement as would have crushed a normal + man. Increase Mather published some one hundred and fifty books and + pamphlets: Cotton Mather not less than four hundred. The Rev. John Norton, + in his sketch of John Cotton, remarks that "the hen, which brings not + forth without uncessant sitting night and day, is an apt emblem of + students." Certainly the hen is an apt emblem of the "uncessant" sitter, + the credulous scratcher, the fussy cackler who produced the <i>Magnalia</i>. + </p> + <p> + Yet he had certain elements of greatness. His tribal loyalty was perfect. + His ascetic devotion to his conception of religious truth was absolute. + His <i>Diary</i>, which has recently been published in full, records his + concern for the chief political events in Europe in his day, no less than + his brooding solicitude for the welfare of his townspeople, and his agony + of spirit over the lapses of his wayward eldest son. A "sincere" man, + then, as Carlyle would say, at bottom; but overlaid with such <span + class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">47</a></span> "Jewish old + clothes," such professional robings and personal plumage as makes it + difficult, save in the revealing <i>Diary</i>, to see the man himself. + </p> + <p> + The <i>Magnalia Christi Americana</i>, treating the history of New England + from 1620 to 1698, was published in a tall London folio of nearly 800 + pages in 1702. It is divided into seven books, and proceeds, by methods + entirely unique, to tell of Pilgrim and Puritan divines and governors, of + Harvard College, of the churches of New England, of marvelous events, of + Indian wars; and in general to justify, as only a member of the Mather + dynasty could justify, the ways of God to Boston men. Hawthorne and + Whittier, Longfellow and Lowell knew this book well and found much honey + in the vast carcass. To have had four such readers and a biographer like + Barrett Wendell must be gratifying to Cotton Mather in Paradise. + </p> + <p> + The <i>Diary</i> of Mather's fellow-townsman Judge Samuel Sewall has been + read more generally in recent years than anything written by Mather + himself. It was begun in 1673, nine years earlier than the first entry in + Mather's <i>Diary</i>, and it ends in 1729, while Mather's closes in 1724. + As a picture of everyday happenings in New England, Sewall's <i>Diary</i> + is as far superior to Mather's as <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" + id="Page_48">48</a></span> Pepys's <i>Diary</i> is to George Fox's <i>Journal</i> + in painting the England of the Restoration. Samuel Sewall was an admirably + solid figure, keen, forceful, honest. Most readers of his <i>Diary</i> + believe that he really was in luck when he was rejected by the Widow + Winthrop on that fateful November day when his eye noted—in spite of + his infatuation—that "her dress was not so clean as sometime it had + been. Jehovah Jireh!" + </p> + <p> + One pictures Cotton Mather as looking instinctively backward to the Heroic + Age of New England with pious nervous exaltation, and Samuel Sewall as + doing the day's work uprightly without taking anxious thought of either + past or future. But Jonathan Edwards is set apart from these and other + men. He is a lonely seeker after spiritual perfection, in quest of that + city "far on the world's rim," as Masefield says of it, the city whose + builder and maker is God. + </p> + <p> + The story of Edwards's career has the simplicity and dignity of tragedy. + Born in a parsonage in the quiet Connecticut valley in 1703—the year + of John Wesley's birth—he is writing at the age of ten to disprove + the doctrine of the materiality of the soul. At twelve he is studying "the + wondrous way of the working of the spider," with a <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_49" id="Page_49">49</a></span> precision and enthusiasm which + would have made him a great naturalist. At fourteen he begins his notes on + <i>The Mind</i> and on <i>Natural Science</i>. He is graduated from Yale + in 1720, studies theology, and at twenty-four becomes the colleague of his + famous grandfather, Solomon Stoddard, in the church at Northampton. He + marries the beautiful Sarah Pierrepont, whom he describes in his journal + in a prose rhapsody which, like his mystical rhapsodies on religion in the + same youthful period, glows with a clear unearthly beauty unmatched in any + English prose of that century. For twenty-three years he serves the + Northampton church, and his sermons win him the rank of the foremost + preacher in New England. John Wesley reads at Oxford his account of the + great revival of 1735. Whitefield comes to visit him at Northampton. Then, + in 1750, the ascetic preacher alienates his church over issues pertaining + to discipline and to the administration of the sacrament. He is dismissed. + He preaches his "farewell sermon," like Wesley, like Emerson, like Newman, + and many another still unborn. He removes to Stockbridge, then a hamlet in + the wilderness, preaches to the Indians, and writes treatises on theology + and metaphysics, among them the world-famous <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_50" id="Page_50">50</a></span> <i>Freedom of the Will</i>. In + 1757, upon the death of his son-in-law, President Aaron Burr of Princeton, + Edwards is called to the vacant Presidency. He is reluctant to go, for + though he is only fifty-four, his health has never been robust, and he has + his great book on the <i>History of Redemption</i> still to write. But he + accepts, finds the smallpox raging in Princeton upon his arrival in + January, 1758, is inoculated, and dies of the disease in March—his + dreams unfulfilled, his life-work once more thwarted. Close by the tomb of + this saint is the tomb of his grandson, Aaron Burr, who killed Hamilton. + </p> + <p> + The literary reputation of Jonathan Edwards has turned, like the + vicissitudes of his life, upon factors that could not be foreseen. His + contemporary fame was chiefly as a preacher, and was due to sermons like + those upon <i>God Glorified in Man's Dependence</i> and <i>The Reality of + Spiritual Life</i>, rather than to such discourses as the Enfield sermon, + <i>Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God</i>, which in our own day is the + best known of his deliverances. Legends have grown up around this terrific + Enfield sermon. Its fearful power over its immediate hearers cannot be + gainsaid, and it will long continue to be quoted as an example of the + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">51</a></span> length + to which a Calvinistic logician of genius was compelled by his own scheme + to go. We still see the tall, sweet-faced man, worn by his daily twelve + hours of intense mental toil, leaning on one elbow in the pulpit and + reading from manuscript, without even raising his gentle voice, those + words which smote his congregation into spasms of terror and which seem to + us sheer blasphemy. + </p> + <p> + Yet the <i>Farewell Sermon</i> of 1750 gives a more characteristic view of + Edwards's mind and heart, and conveys an ineffaceable impression of his + nobility of soul. His diction, like Wordsworth's, is usually plain almost + to bareness; the formal framework of his discourses is obtruded; and he + hunts objections to their last hiding-place with wearisome pertinacity. + Yet his logic is incandescent. Steel sometimes burns to the touch like + this, in the bitter winters of New England, and one wonders whether + Edwards's brain was not of ice, so pitiless does it seem. His treatise + denying the freedom of the will has given him a European reputation + comparable with that enjoyed by Franklin in science and Jefferson in + political propaganda. It was really a polemic demonstrating the + sovereignty of God, rather than pure theology or metaphysics. Edwards goes + beyond <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">52</a></span> + Augustine and Calvin in asserting the arbitrary will of the Most High and + in "denying to the human will any self-determining power." He has been + refuted by events and tendencies, such as the growth of historical + criticism and the widespread acceptance of the doctrine of evolution, + rather than by the might of any single antagonist. So, too, the Dred Scott + decision of Chief Justice Taney, holding that the slave was not a citizen, + was not so much answered by opponents as it was superseded by the + arbitrament of war. But the idealism of this lonely thinker has entered + deeply and permanently into the spiritual life of his countrymen, and he + will continue to be read by a few of those who still read Plato and Dante. + </p> + <p> + "My mother grieves," wrote Benjamin Franklin to his father in 1738, "that + one of her sons is an Arian, another an Arminian. What an Arminian or an + Arian is, I cannot say that I very well know. The truth is I make such + distinctions very little my study." To understand Franklin's indifference + to such distinctions, we must realize how completely he represents the + secularizing tendencies of his age. What a drama of worldly adventure it + all was, this roving life of the tallow-chandler's son, who runs away from + home, walks the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">53</a></span> + streets of Philadelphia with the famous loaves of bread under his arm, is + diligent in business, slips over to London, where he gives lessons in + swimming and in total abstinence, slips back to Philadelphia and becomes + its leading citizen, fights the long battle of the American colonies in + London, sits in the Continental Congress, sails to Europe to arrange that + French Alliance which brought our Revolution to a successful issue, and + comes home at last, full of years and honors, to a bland and philosophical + exit from the stage! + </p> + <p> + He broke with every Puritan tradition. The Franklins were relatively late + comers to New England. They sprang from a long line of blacksmiths at + Ecton in Northamptonshire. The seat of the Washingtons was not far away, + and Franklin's latest biographer points out that the pink-coated huntsmen + of the Washington gentry may often have stopped at Ecton to have their + horses shod at the Franklin smithy. Benjamin's father came out in 1685, + more than fifty years after the most notable Puritan emigration. Young + Benjamin, born in 1706, was as untouched by the ardors of that elder + generation as he would have been by the visions of Dante—an author, + by the way, whom he never mentions, even as he never <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_54" id="Page_54">54</a></span> mentions Shakespeare. He had no + reverence for Puritan New England. To its moral beauty, its fine severity, + he was wholly blind. As a boy he thriftily sold his <i>Pilgrim's Progress</i>. + He became, in the new fashion of that day, a Deist. Like a true child of + the eighteenth century, his attitude toward the seventeenth was that of + amused or contemptuous superiority. Thackeray has somewhere a charming + phrase about his own love for the back seat of the stage-coach, the seat + which, in the old coaching days, gave one a view of the receding + landscape. Thackeray, like Burke before him, loved historical + associations, historical sentiment, the backward look over the long road + which humanity has traveled. But Franklin faced the other way. He would + have endorsed his friend Jefferson's scornful sentence, "The dead have no + rights." He joined himself wholly to that eighteenth century in which his + own lot was cast, and, alike in his qualities and in his defects, he + became one of its most perfect representatives. + </p> + <p> + To catch the full spirit of that age, turn for an instant to the London of + 1724—the year of Franklin's arrival. Thirty-six years have elapsed + since the glorious Revolution of 1688; the Whig principles, then + triumphant, have been tacitly <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" + id="Page_55">55</a></span> accepted by both political parties; the + Jacobite revolt of 1715 has proved a fiasco; the country has accepted the + House of Hanover and a government by party leadership of the House of + Commons, and it does not care whether Sir Robert Walpole buys a few rotten + boroughs, so long as he maintains peace with Europe and prosperity at + home. England is weary of seventeenth century "enthusiasm," weary of + conflict, sick of idealism. She has found in the accepted Whig principles + a satisfactory compromise, a working theory of society, a <i>modus vivendi</i> + which nobody supposes is perfect but which will answer the prayer + appointed to be read in all the churches, "Grant us peace in our time, O + Lord." The theories to which men gave their lives in the seventeenth + century seem ghostly in their unreality; but the prize turnips on Sir + Robert's Norfolk farm, and the wines in his cellar, and the offices at his + disposal—these are very real indeed. London merchants are making + money; the squire and the parson are tranquilly ruling the country + parishes; the philosophy of John Locke is everywhere triumphant. Mr. Pope + is the poet of the hour, and his <i>Essay on Man</i>, counseling + acceptance of our mortal situation, is considered to be the last word of + human wisdom and of poetical elegance. In <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_56" id="Page_56">56</a></span> prose, the style of the <i>Spectator</i> + rules—an admirable style, Franklin thought, and he imitated it + patiently until its ease and urbanity had become his own. And indeed, how + much of that London of the third decade of the century passed into the + mind of the inquisitive, roving, loose-living printer's apprentice from + Philadelphia! It taught him that the tangible world is the real world, and + that nothing succeeds like success; but it never even whispered to him + that sometimes nothing damns like success. + </p> + <p> + In his limitations, no less than in his power of assimilation, Franklin + was the representative man of his era. He had no artistic interests, no + liking for metaphysics after his brief devotion, in early manhood, to the + dialogues of Plato. He taught himself some Latin, but he came to believe + that the classics had little significance and that they should be + superseded by the modern languages. For the mediæval world he had no + patience or understanding. To these defects of his century we must add + some failings of his own. He was not always truthful. He had an indelible + streak of coarseness. His conception of the "art of virtue" was + mechanical. When Carlyle called Franklin the "father of all the Yankees," + we must <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">57</a></span> + remember that the Scotch prophet hated Yankees and believed that + Franklin's smooth, plausible, trader type of morality was only a broad way + to the everlasting bonfire. + </p> + <p> + But it is folly to linger over the limitations of the tallow-chandler's + son. The catalogue of his beneficent activity is a vast one. Balzac once + characterized him as the man who invented the lightning-rod, the hoax, and + the republic. His contributions to science have to do with electricity, + earthquakes, geology, meteorology, physics, chemistry, astronomy, + mathematics, navigation of air and water, agriculture, medicine, and + hygiene. In some of these fields he did pioneer work of lasting + significance. His teachings of thrift and prudence, as formulated in the + maxims of Poor Richard, gave him a world-wide reputation. He attacked war, + like Voltaire, not so much for its wickedness as for its folly, and + cheerfully gave up many years of a long life to the effort to promote a + better understanding among the nations of the world. + </p> + <p> + It is perhaps needless to add what all persons who love good writing know, + that Benjamin Franklin was a most delightful writer. His letters cover an + amusing and extraordinary variety of <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_58" id="Page_58">58</a></span> topics. He ranges from balloons + to summer hats, and from the advantages of deep ploughing to bifocal + glasses, which, by the way, he invented. He argues for sharp razors and + cold baths, and for fresh air in the sleeping-room. He discusses the + morals of the game of chess, the art of swimming, the evils of smoky + chimneys, the need of reformed spelling. Indeed, his passion for + improvement led him not only to try his hand upon an abridgment of the + Book of Common Prayer, but to go even so far as to propose seriously a new + rendering of the Lord's Prayer. His famous proposal for a new version of + the Bible, however, which Matthew Arnold solemnly held up to reprobation, + was only a joke which Matthew Arnold did not see—the new version of + Job being, in fact, a clever bit of political satire against party + leadership in England. Even more brilliant examples of his skill in + political satire are his imaginary <i>Edict of the King of Prussia against + England</i>, and his famous <i>Rules for Reducing a Great Empire to a + Small One</i>. But I must not try to call the roll of all the good things + in Franklin's ten volumes. I will simply say that those who know Franklin + only in his <i>Autobiography</i>, charming as that classic production is, + have made but an imperfect acquaintance with <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_59" id="Page_59">59</a></span> the range, the vitality, the + vigor of this admirable craftsman who chose a style "smooth, clear, and + short," and made it serve every purpose of his versatile and beneficent + mind. + </p> + <p> + When the passage of the Stamp Act in 1765 startled the American colonies + out of their provincial sense of security and made them aware of their + real attitude toward the mother country, Franklin was in London. Eleven + years earlier, in 1754, he had offered a plan for the <i>Union of the + Colonies</i>, but this had not contemplated separation from England. It + was rather what we should call a scheme for imperial federation under the + British Crown. We may use his word union, however, in a different field + from that of politics. How much union of sentiment, of mental and moral + life, of literary, educational, and scientific endeavor, was there in the + colonies when the hour of self-examination came? Only the briefest summary + may be attempted here. + </p> + <p> + As to race, these men of the third and fourth generation since the + planting of the colonies were by no means so purely English as the first + settlers. The 1,600,000 colonists in 1760 were mingled of many stocks, the + largest non-English elements being German and Scotch-Irish—that is, + Scotch <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">60</a></span> + who had settled for a while in Ulster before emigrating to America. "About + one-third of the colonists in 1760," says Professor Channing, "were born + outside of America." Crèvecœur's <i>Letters from an American + Farmer</i> thus defined the Americans: "They are a mixture of English, + Scotch, Irish, French, Dutch, Germans, and Swedes. From this promiscuous + breed that race now called Americans has arisen." The Atlantic seaboard, + with a narrow strip inland, was fairly well covered by local communities, + differing in blood, in religion, in political organization—a + congeries of separate experiments or young utopias, waiting for that most + utopian experiment of all, a federal union. But the dominant language of + the "promiscuous breed" was English, and in the few real centers of + intellectual life the English tradition was almost absolute. + </p> + <p> + The merest glance at colonial journalism will confirm this estimate. The + <i>Boston News-Letter</i>, begun in 1704, was the first of the journals, + if we omit the single issue of <i>Publick Occurrences</i> in the same town + in 1690. By 1765 there were nearly fifty colonial newspapers and several + magazines. Their influence made for union, in Franklin's sense of that + word, and their literary models, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" + id="Page_61">61</a></span> like their paper, type, and even ink, were + found in London. The <i>New England Courant</i>, established in Boston in + 1721 by James Franklin, is full of imitations of the <i>Tatler</i>, <i>Spectator</i>, + and <i>Guardian</i>. What is more, the <i>Courant</i> boasted of its + office collection of books, including Shakespeare, Milton, the <i>Spectator</i>, + and Swift's <i>Tale of a Tub</i>. ¹ This was in 1722. If we remember + that no allusion to Shakespeare has been discovered in the colonial + literature of the seventeenth century, and scarcely an allusion to the + Puritan poet Milton, and that the Harvard College Library in 1723 had + nothing of Addison, Steele, Bolingbroke, Dryden, Pope, and Swift, and had + only recently obtained copies of Milton and Shakespeare, we can appreciate + the value of James Franklin's apprenticeship in London. Perhaps we can + even forgive him for that attack upon the Mathers which threw the conduct + of the <i>Courant</i>, for a brief period, into the hands of his brother + Benjamin, whose turn at a London apprenticeship was soon to come. + </p> + <div class="footer"> + <p class="footer"> + <a id="footer_61-1" name="footer_61-1"></a> ¹ Cook, E. C. <i>Literary + Influences in Colonial Newspapers, 1704-1750</i>. N. Y., 1912. + </p> + </div> + <p> + If we follow this younger brother to Philadelphia and to Bradford's <i>American + Mercury</i> or <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">62</a></span> + to Franklin's own <i>Pennsylvania Gazette</i>, or if we study the <i>Gazettes</i> + of Maryland, Virginia, and South Carolina, the impression is still the + same. The literary news is still chiefly from London, from two months to a + year late. London books are imported and reprinted. Franklin reprints <i>Pamela</i>, + and his Library Company of Philadelphia has two copies of <i>Paradise Lost</i> + for circulation in 1741, whereas there had been no copy of that work in + the great library of Cotton Mather. American journalism then, as now, owed + its vitality to a secular spirit of curiosity about the actual world. It + followed England as its model, but it was beginning to develop a temper of + its own. + </p> + <p> + Colonial education and colonial science were likewise chiefly indebted to + London, but by 1751 Franklin's papers on electricity began to repay the + loan. A university club in New York in 1745 could have had but fifteen + members at most, for these were all the "academics" in town. Yet Harvard + had then been sending forth her graduates for more than a century. William + and Mary was founded in 1693, Yale in 1701, Princeton in 1746, King's (now + Columbia) in 1754, the University of Pennsylvania in 1755, and Brown in + 1764. These colonial colleges were mainly <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_63" id="Page_63">63</a></span> in the hands of clergymen. They + tended to reproduce a type of scholarship based upon the ancient + languages. The curriculum varied but little in the different colonies, and + this fact helped to produce a feeling of fellowship among all members of + the republic of letters. The men who debated the Stamp Act were, with a + few striking exceptions, men trained in Latin and Greek, familiar with the + great outlines of human history, accustomed to the discipline of academic + disputation. They knew the ideas and the vocabulary of cultivated Europe + and were conscious of no provincial inferiority. In the study of the + physical sciences, likewise, the colonials were but little behind the + mother country. The Royal Society had its distinguished members here. The + Mathers, the Dudleys, John Winthrop of Connecticut, John Bartram, James + Logan, James Godfrey, Cadwallader Colden, and above all, Franklin himself, + were winning the respect of European students, and were teaching Americans + to use their eyes and their minds not merely upon the records of the past + but in searching out the inexhaustible meanings of the present. There is + no more fascinating story than that of the beginnings of American science + in and outside of the colleges, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" + id="Page_64">64</a></span> and this movement, like the influence of + journalism and of the higher education, counted for colonial union. + </p> + <p> + Professor Tyler, our foremost literary student of the period, summarizes + the characteristics of colonial literature in these words: "Before the + year 1765, we find in this country, not one American people, but many + American peoples.… No cohesive principle prevailed, no centralizing + life; each little nation was working out its own destiny in its own + fashion." But he adds that with that year the colonial isolation came to + an end, and that the student must thereafter "deal with the literature of + one multitudinous people, variegated, indeed, in personal traits, but + single in its commanding ideas and in its national destinies." It is easy + to be wise after the event. Yet there was living in London in 1765, as the + agent for Pennsylvania, a shrewd and bland Colonial—an honorary M.A. + from both Harvard and Yale, a D.C.L. of Oxford and an LL.D. of St. Andrews—who + was by no means sure that the Stamp Act meant the end of Colonialism. And + Franklin's uncertainty was shared by Washington. When the tall Virginian + took command of the Continental Army as late as 1775, he "abhorred the + idea <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">65</a></span> of + independence." Nevertheless John Jay, writing the second number of the <i>Federalist</i> + in 1787, only twelve years later, could say: "Providence has been pleased + to give this one connected country to one united people; a people + descended from the same ancestors, speaking the same language, professing + the same religion, attached to the same principles of government." + </p> + <hr /> + <div class="chapterhead"> + <a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004"></a> <a name="chap04" id="chap04"></a> + <br /> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">66</a></span> + <br /><br /><br /> + <h2> + <a href="#Contents">CHAPTER IV.</a> + </h2> + </div> + <p class="chaptertitle"> + The Revolution + </p> + <p class="noindent"> + <span class="smcap">If</span> we turn, however, to the literature produced + in America between the passage of the Stamp Act in 1765 and the adoption + of the Constitution in 1787, we perceive that it is a literature of + discord and passion. Its spirit is not that of "one united people." + Washington could indeed declare in his <i>Farewell Address</i> of 1796, + "With slight shades of difference, you have the same religion, manners, + habits, and political principles"; yet no one knew better than Washington + upon what a slender thread this political unity had often hung, and how + impossible it had been to foresee the end from the beginning. + </p> + <p> + It is idle to look in the writings of the Revolutionary period for the + literature of beauty, for a quiet harmonious unfolding of the deeper + secrets of life. It was a time of swift and pitiless change, of action + rather than reflection, of the turning <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_67" id="Page_67">67</a></span> of many separate currents into + one headlong stream. "We must, indeed, all hang together," runs Franklin's + well-known witticism in Independence Hall, "or, most assuredly, we shall + all hang separately." Excellently spoken, Doctor! And that homely, cheery, + daring sentence gives the keynote of much of the Revolutionary writing + that has survived. It may be heard in the state papers of Samuel Adams, + the oratory of Patrick Henry, the pamphlets of Thomas Paine, the satires + of Freneau and Trumbull, and in the subtle, insinuating, thrilling + paragraphs of Thomas Jefferson. + </p> + <p> + We can only glance in passing at the literature of the Lost Cause, the + Loyalist or "Tory" pleadings for allegiance to Britain. It was written by + able and honest men, like Boucher and Odell, Seabury, Leonard and + Galloway. They distrusted what Seabury called "our sovereign Lord the + Mob." They represented, in John Adams's opinion, nearly one-third of the + people of the colonies, and recent students believe that this estimate was + too low. In some colonies the Loyalists were clearly in the majority. In + all they were a menacing element, made up of the conservative, the + prosperous, the well-educated, with a mixture, of course, of mere placemen + and tuft-hunters. They <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">68</a></span> + composed weighty pamphlets, eloquent sermons, and sparkling satire in + praise of the old order of things. When their cause was lost forever, they + wrote gossipy letters from their exile in London or pathetic verses in + their new home in Nova Scotia and Ontario. Their place in our national + life and literature has never been filled, and their talents and virtues + are never likely to receive adequate recognition. They took the wrong fork + of the road. + </p> + <p> + There were gentle spirits, too, in this period, endowed with delicate + literary gifts, but quite unsuited for the clash of controversy—members, + in Crèvecœur's touching words, of the "secret communion among + good men throughout the world." "I am a lover of peace, what must I do?" + asks Crèvecœur in his <i>Letters from an American Farmer</i>. + "I was happy before this unfortunate Revolution. I feel that I am no + longer so, therefore I regret the change. My heart sometimes seems tired + with beating, it wants rest like my eyelids, which feel oppressed with so + many watchings." Crèvecœur, an immigrant from Normandy, was + certainly no weakling, but he felt that the great idyllic American + adventure—which he described so captivatingly in his chapter + entitled <i>What is an American</i>—was <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_69" id="Page_69">69</a></span> ending tragically in civil war. + Another white-souled itinerant of that day was John Woolman of New Jersey, + whose <i>Journal</i>, praised by Charles Lamb and Channing and edited by + Whittier, is finding more readers in the twentieth century than it won in + the nineteenth. "A man unlettered," said Whittier, "but with natural + refinement and delicate sense of fitness, the purity of whose heart enters + into his language." Woolman died at fifty-two in far-away York, England, + whither he had gone to attend a meeting of the Society of Friends. + </p> + <p> + The three tall volumes of the Princeton edition of the poems of Philip + Freneau bear the sub-title, "Poet of the American Revolution." But our + Revolution, in truth, never had an adequate poet. The prose-men, such as + Jefferson, rose nearer the height of the great argument than did the men + of rhyme. Here and there the struggle inspired a brisk ballad like Francis + Hopkinson's <i>Battle of the Kegs</i>, a Hudibrastic satire like + Trumbull's <i>McFingal</i>, or a patriotic song like Timothy Dwight's <i>Columbia</i>. + Freneau painted from his own experience the horrors of the British + prison-ship, and celebrated, in cadences learned from Gray and Collins, + the valor of the men who fell at Eutaw <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_70" id="Page_70">70</a></span> Springs. There was patriotic + verse in extraordinary profusion, but its literary value is slight, and it + reveals few moods of the American mind that are not more perfectly + conveyed through oratory, the pamphlet, and the political essay. The + immediate models of this Revolutionary verse were the minor British bards + of the eighteenth century, a century greatly given to verse-writing, but + endowed by Heaven with the "prose-reason" mainly. The reader of Burton E. + Stevenson's collection of <i>Poems of American History</i> can easily + compare the contemporary verse inspired by the events of the Revolution + with the modern verse upon the same historic themes. He will see how + slenderly equipped for song were most of the later eighteenth-century + Americans and how unfavorable to poetry was the tone of that hour. + </p> + <p> + Freneau himself suffered, throughout his long career, from the depressing + indifference of his public to the true spirit of poetry. "An old college + mate of mine," said James Madison—who was by tradition Freneau's + room-mate at Princeton in the class of 1771—"a poet and man of + literary and refined tastes, knowing nothing of the world." When but three + years out of college, the cautious Madison wrote to another friend: <span + class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">71</a></span> "Poetry wit + and Criticism Romances Plays &c captivated me much: but I begin to + discover that they deserve but a moderate portion of a mortal's Time and + that something more substantial more durable more profitable befits our + riper age." Madison was then at the ripe age of twenty-three! Professor + Pattee, Freneau's editor, quotes these words to illustrate the "common + sense" atmosphere of the age which proved fatal to Freneau's development. + Yet the sturdy young New Yorker, of Huguenot descent, is a charming + figure, and his later malevolence was shown only to his political foes. + After leaving Princeton he tries teaching, the law, the newspaper, the + sea; he is aflame with patriotic zeal; he writes, like most American + poets, far too much for his own reputation. As the editor of the <i>National + Gazette</i> in Philadelphia, he becomes involved in the bitter quarrel + between his chief, Jefferson, and Alexander Hamilton. His attachment to + the cause of the French Revolution makes him publish baseless attacks upon + Washington. By and by he retires to a New Jersey farm, still toying with + journalism, still composing verses. He turns patriotic poet once more in + the War of 1812; but the public has now forgotten him. <span + class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">72</a></span> He lives on + in poverty and seclusion, and in his eightieth year loses his way in a + snowstorm and perishes miserably—this in 1832, the year of the death + of the great Sir Walter Scott, who once had complimented Freneau by + borrowing one of his best lines of poetry. + </p> + <p> + It is in the orations and pamphlets and state papers inspired by the + Revolutionary agitation that we find the most satisfactory expression of + the thought and feeling of that generation. Its typical literature is + civic rather than æsthetic, a sort of writing which has been + incidental to the accomplishing of some political, social, or moral + purpose, and which scarcely regards itself as literature at all. James + Otis's argument against the Writs of Assistance in Massachusetts in 1761, + and Patrick Henry's speech in the Virginia House of Burgesses in 1765, + mark epochs in the emotional life of these communities. They were reported + imperfectly or not at all, but they can no more be ignored in an + assessment of our national experience than editorials, sermons, or + conversations which have expressed the deepest feelings of a day and then + have perished beyond resurrection. + </p> + <p> + Yet if natural orators like Otis and Henry be denied a strictly "literary" + rating because their <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">73</a></span> + surviving words are obviously inadequate to account for the popular effect + of their speeches, it is still possible to measure the efficiency of the + pamphleteer. When John Adams tells us that "James Otis was Isaiah and + Ezekiel united," we must take his word for the impression which Otis's + oratory left upon his mind. But John Adams's own writings fill ten stout + volumes which invite our judgment. The "truculent and sarcastic splendor" + of his hyperboles need not blind us to his real literary excellencies, + such as clearness, candor, vigor of phrase, freshness of idea. A testy, + rugged, "difficult" person was John Adams, but he grew mellower with age, + and his latest letters and journals are full of whimsical charm. + </p> + <p> + John Adams's cousin Samuel was not precisely a charming person. Bigoted, + tireless, secretive, this cunning manipulator of political passions + followed many tortuous paths. His ability for adroit misstatement of an + adversary's position has been equaled but once in our history. But to the + casual reader of his four volumes, Samuel Adams seems ever to be breathing + the liberal air of the town-meeting: everything is as plainly obvious as a + good citizen can make it. He has, too, the large utterance of the European + liberalism of his day. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">74</a></span> + "Resolved," read his Resolutions of the House of Representatives of + Massachusetts in 1765, "that there are certain essential rights of the + British constitution of government which are founded in the law of God and + nature and are the common rights of mankind." In his statement of the + Rights of the Colonists (1772) we are assured that "among the natural + rights of the colonists are these, First, a right to Life; secondly to + Liberty; thirdly to Property.… All men have a Right to remain in a + State of Nature as long as they please.… When Men enter into + Society, it is by voluntary consent." Jean-Jacques himself could not be + more bland, nor at heart more fiercely demagogic. + </p> + <p> + "Tom" Paine would have been no match for "Sam" Adams in a town-meeting, + but he was an even greater pamphleteer. He had arrived from England in + 1774, at the age of thirty-eight, having hitherto failed in most of his + endeavors for a livelihood. "Rebellious Staymaker; unkempt," says Carlyle; + but General Charles Lee noted that there was "genius in his eyes," and he + bore a letter of introduction from Franklin commending him as an + "ingenious, worthy young man," which obtained for him a position on the <i>Pennsylvania + Magazine</i>. Before he had been a year on American soil, Paine <span + class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">75</a></span> was writing + the most famous pamphlet of our political literature, <i>Common Sense</i>, + which appeared in January, 1776. "A style hitherto unknown on this side of + the Atlantic," wrote Edmund Randolph. Yet this style of familiar talk to + the crowd had been used seventy years earlier by Defoe and Swift, and it + was to be employed again by a gaunt American frontiersman who was born in + 1809, the year of Thomas Paine's death. <i>The Crisis</i>, a series of + thirteen pamphlets, of which the first was issued in December, 1776, + seemed to justify the contemporary opinion that the "American cause owed + as much to the pen of Paine as to the sword of Washington." Paine, who was + now serving in the army, might have heard his own words, "These are the + times that try men's souls," read aloud, by Washington's orders, to the + ragged troops just before they crossed the Delaware to win the victory of + Trenton. The best known productions of Paine's subsequent career, <i>The + Rights of Man</i> and <i>The Age of Reason</i>, were written in Europe, + but they were read throughout America. The reputation of the "rebellious + Staymaker" has suffered from certain grimy habits and from the ridiculous + charge of atheism. He was no more an atheist than Franklin or Jefferson. + In no sense an original <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" + id="Page_76">76</a></span> thinker, he could impart to outworn shreds of + deistic controversy and to shallow generalizations about democracy a + personal fervor which transformed them and made his pages gay and bold and + clear as a trumpet. + </p> + <p> + Clear and bold and gay was Alexander Hamilton likewise; and his literary + services to the Revolution are less likely to be underestimated than + Thomas Paine's. They began with that boyish speech in "the Fields" of New + York City in 1774 and with <i>The Farmer Refuted</i>, a reply to Samuel + Seabury's <i>Westchester Farmer</i>. They were continued in extraordinary + letters, written during Hamilton's military career, upon the defects of + the Articles of Confederation and of the finances of the Confederation. + Hamilton contributed but little to the actual structure of the new + Constitution, but as a debater he fought magnificently and triumphantly + for its adoption by the Convention of the State of New York in 1788. + Together with Jay and Madison he defended the fundamental principles of + the Federal Union in the remarkable series of papers known as the <i>Federalist</i>. + These eighty-five papers, appearing over the signature "Publius" in two + New York newspapers between October, 1787, and April, 1788, owed their + conception <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">77</a></span> + largely to Hamilton, who wrote more than half of them himself. In manner + they are not unlike the substantial Whig literature of England, and in + political theory they have little in common with the Revolutionary + literature which we have been considering. The reasoning is close, the + style vigorous but neither warmed by passion nor colored by the individual + emotions of the author. The <i>Federalist</i> remains a classic example of + the civic quality of our post-Revolutionary American political writing, + broadly social in its outlook, well informed as to the past, confident—but + not reckless—of the future. Many Americans still read it who would + be shocked by Tom Paine and bored with Edmund Burke. It has none of the + literary genius of either of those writers, but its formative influence + upon successive generations of political thinking has been steadying and + sound. + </p> + <p> + In fact, our citizen literature cannot be understood aright if one fails + to observe that its effect has often turned, not upon mere verbal skill, + but upon the weight of character behind the words. Thus the grave and + reserved George Washington says of the Constitution of 1787: "Let us raise + a standard to which the wise and the honest can <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_78" id="Page_78">78</a></span> repair; the event is in the hand + of God." The whole personality of the great Virginian is back of that + simple, perfect sentence. It brings us to our feet, like a national + anthem. + </p> + <p> + One American, no doubt our most gifted man of letters of that century, + passed most of the Revolutionary period abroad, in the service of his + country. Benjamin Franklin was fifty-nine in the year of the Stamp Act. + When he returned from France in 1785 he was seventy-nine, but he was still + writing as admirably as ever when he died at eighty-four. We cannot + dismiss this singular, varied, and fascinating American better than by + quoting the letter which George Washington wrote to him in September, + 1789. It has the dignity and formality of the eighteenth century, but it + is warm with tested friendship and it glows with deep human feeling: "If + to be venerated for benevolence, if to be admired for talents, if to be + esteemed for patriotism, if to be beloved for philanthropy, can gratify + the human mind, you must have the pleasing consolation to know that you + have not lived in vain. And I flatter myself that it will not be ranked + among the least grateful occurrences of your life to be assured, that, so + long as I retain my memory, you will be recollected with respect, + veneration, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">79</a></span> + and affection by your sincere friend, George Washington." + </p> + <p> + There remains another Virginian, the symbol of the Revolutionary age, the + author of words more widely known around the globe than any other words + penned by an American. "Thomas Jefferson," writes the latest of his + successors in the Presidency, "was not a man of the people, but he was a + man of such singular insight that he saw that all the roots of generous + power come from the people." On his father's side Jefferson came from + sound yeoman stock, in which Welsh blood ran. His mother was a Virginia + Randolph. Born in Albemarle County, near the "little mountain"—Monticello—where + he built a mansion for his bride and where he lies buried, the tall, + strong, red-haired, gray-eyed, gifted boy was reputed the best shot, the + best rider, the best fiddle-player in the county. He studied hard at + William and Mary over his Greek, Latin, French, Italian, and Spanish, but + he also frequented the best society of the little capital. He learned to + call himself a Deist and to theorize about ideal commonwealths. There was + already in him that latent radicalism which made him strike down, as soon + as he had the power, two of the fundamental principles of the society into + which he <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">80</a></span> + was born, the principle of entailed property and that of church + establishment. + </p> + <p> + Such was the youth of twenty-two who was thrilled in 1765 by the Stamp + Act. In the ten years of passionate discussion which followed, two things + became clear: first, that there had long existed among the colonists very + radical theoretical notions of political freedom; and second, that there + was everywhere a spirit of practical conservatism. Jefferson illustrates + the union of these two tendencies. + </p> + <p> + He took his seat in the Continental Congress in June, 1775. He was only + thirty-two, but he had already written, in the summer of 1774, <i>A + Summary View of the Rights of British America</i> which had been published + in England by Burke, himself a judge of good writing and sound politics. + Jefferson had also prepared in 1775 the <i>Address of the Virginia House + of Burgesses</i>. For these reasons he was placed at the head of the + Committee for drafting the Declaration of Independence. We need not linger + over the familiar circumstances of its composition. Everybody knows how + Franklin and Adams made a few verbal alterations in the first draft, how + the committee of five then reported it to the Congress, which proceeded to + cut out <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">81</a></span> + about one-fourth of the matter, while Franklin tried to comfort the + writhing author with his cheerful story about the sign of John Thompson + the hatter. Forty-seven years afterwards, in reply to the charge of lack + of originality brought against the Declaration by Timothy Pickering and + John Adams—charges which have been repeated at intervals ever since—Jefferson + replied philosophically: "Whether I gathered my ideas from reading or + reflection I do not know. I know only that I turned neither to book nor + pamphlet while writing it. I did not consider it as any part of my charge + to invent new ideas altogether and to offer no sentiment which had ever + been expressed before." O wise young man, and fundamentally Anglo-Saxon + young man, to turn his back, in that crisis, to the devil of mere + cleverness, and stick to recognized facts and accepted sentiments! But his + pen retains its cunning in spite of him; and the drop of hot Welsh blood + tells; and the cosmopolitan reading and thinking tell; and they transform + what Pickering called a "commonplace compilation, its sentiments hackneyed + in Congress for two years before," into an immortal manifesto to mankind. + </p> + <p> + Its method is the simplest. The preamble is <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_82" id="Page_82">82</a></span> philosophical, dealing with + "self-evident" truths. Today the men who dislike or doubt these truths + dismiss the preamble as "theoretical," or, to use another term of + derogation favored by reactionaries, "French." But if the preamble be + French and philosophical, the specific charges against the King are very + English and practical. Here are certain facts, presented no doubt with + consummate rhetorical skill, but facts, undeniably. The Anglo-Saxon in + Jefferson is basal, racial; the turn for academic philosophizing after the + French fashion is personal, acquired; but the range and sweep and enduring + vitality of this matchless state paper lie in its illumination of stubborn + facts by general principles, its decent respect to the opinions of + mankind, its stately and noble utterance of national sentiments and + national reasons to a "candid world." + </p> + <p> + It has long been the fashion, among a certain school of half-hearted + Americans—and unless I am mistaken, the teaching has increased + during the last decades—to minimize the value of Jefferson's + "self-evident truths." Rufus Choate, himself a consummate rhetorician, + sneered at those "glittering generalities," and countless college-bred + men, some of them occupying the highest <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_83" id="Page_83">83</a></span> positions, have echoed the + sneer. The essence of the objection to Jefferson's platform lies of course + in his phrase, "all men are created equal," with the subsidiary phrase + about governments "deriving their just powers from the consent of the + governed." Editors and congressmen and even college professors have + proclaimed themselves unable to assent to these phrases of the + Declaration, and unable even to understand them. These objectors belong + partly, I think, in Jefferson's category of "nervous persons"—"anti-republicans," + as he goes on to define them—"whose languid fibres have more analogy + with a passive than an active state of things." Other objectors to the + phrase "all men are created equal" have had an obvious personal or + political motive for refusing assent to the proposition. But "no + intelligent man," says one of Jefferson's biographers, "has ever + misconstrued it [the Declaration] except intentionally." + </p> + <p> + Nobody would claim today that Thomas Jefferson's statement of the + sentiments and reasons for the independence of the thirteen British + colonies in 1776 was an adequate handbook of political wisdom, fit for all + the exigencies of contemporary American democracy. It is not that. It is + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">84</a></span> simply, + in Lincoln's phrase, one of "the standard maxims of free society" which no + democracy can safely disregard. + </p> + <p> + Jefferson's long life, so varied, so flexible, so responsive to the touch + of popular forces, illustrates the process by which the Virginia mind of + 1743 became the nationalized, unionized mind of 1826. It is needless here + to dwell upon the traits of his personal character: his sweetness of + spirit, his stout-heartedness in disaster, his scorn of money, his love + for the intellectual life. "I have no ambition to govern men," he wrote to + Edward Rutledge. He was far happier talking about Greek and Anglo-Saxon + with Daniel Webster before the fire-place of Monticello than he ever was + in the presidential chair. His correspondence was enormous. His writings + fill twenty volumes. In his theories of education he was fifty years ahead + of his time; in his absolute trust in humanity he was generations ahead of + it. "I am not one of those who fear the people," he declared proudly. It + is because of this touching faith, this invincible and matchless ardor, + that Jefferson is today remembered. He foreshadowed Lincoln. His belief in + the inarticulate common people is rewarded by their obstinate fidelity to + his name as a type and <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">85</a></span> + symbol. "I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of society + but the people themselves," wrote Jefferson, and with the people + themselves is the depository of his fame. + </p> + <hr /> + <div class="chapterhead"> + <a name="link2HCH0005" id="link2HCH0005"></a> <a name="chap05" id="chap05"></a> + <br /> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">86</a></span> + <br /><br /><br /> + <h2> + <a href="#Contents">CHAPTER V.</a> + </h2> + </div> + <p class="chaptertitle"> + The Knickerbocker Group + </p> + <p class="noindent"> + <span class="smcap">The</span> Fourth of July orator for 1826 in + Cambridge, Massachusetts, was Edward Everett. Although only thirty-two he + was already a distinguished speaker. In the course of his oration he + apostrophized John Adams and Thomas Jefferson as venerable survivors of + that momentous day, fifty years earlier, which had witnessed our + Declaration of Independence. But even as Everett was speaking, the aged + author of the Declaration breathed his last at Monticello, and in the + afternoon of that same day Adams died also, murmuring, it is said, with + his latest breath, and as if with the whimsical obstinacy of an old man + who hated to be beaten by his ancient rival, "Thomas Jefferson still + lives." But Jefferson was already gone. + </p> + <p> + On the first of August, Everett commemorated the career of the two + Revolutionary leaders, and on the following day a greater than Everett, + Daniel <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">87</a></span> + Webster, pronounced the famous eulogy in Faneuil Hall. Never were the + thoughts and emotions of a whole country more adequately voiced than in + this commemorative oratory. Its pulse was high with national pride over + the accomplishments of half a century. "I ask," Everett declared, "whether + more has not been done to extend the domain of civilization, in fifty + years, since the Declaration of Independence, than would have been done in + five centuries of continued colonial subjection?" Webster asserted in his + peroration: "It cannot be denied, but by those who would dispute against + the sun, that with America, and in America, a new era commences in human + affairs. This era is distinguished by free representative governments, by + entire religious liberty, by improved systems of national intercourse, by + a newly awakened and an unconquerable spirit of free enquiry, and by a + diffusion of knowledge through the community such as has been before + altogether unknown and unheard of." + </p> + <p> + Was this merely the "tall talk" then so characteristic of American oratory + and soon to be satirized in <i>Martin Chuzzlewit</i>? Or was it prompted + by a deep and true instinct for the significance of the vast changes that + had come over American life <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" + id="Page_88">88</a></span> since 1776? The external changes were familiar + enough to Webster's auditors: the opening of seemingly illimitable + territory through the Louisiana Purchase, the development of roads, + canals, and manufactures; a rapid increase in wealth and population; a + shifting of political power due to the rise of the new West—in a + word, the evidences of irrepressible national energy. But this energy was + inadequately expressed by the national literature. The more cultivated + Americans were quite aware of this deficiency. It was confessed by the + pessimistic Fisher Ames and by the ardent young men who in 1815 founded <i>The + North American Review</i>. British critics in <i>The Edinburgh</i> and <i>The + Quarterly</i>, commenting upon recent works of travel in America, pointed + out the literary poverty of the American soil. Sydney Smith, by no means + the most offensive of these critics, declared in 1820: "During the thirty + or forty years of their independence they have done absolutely nothing for + the sciences, for the arts, for literature.… In the four quarters + of the globe, who reads an American book? or goes to an American play? or + looks at an American picture or statue?" + </p> + <p> + Sydney Smith's question "Who reads an American book?" has outlived all of + his own clever <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">89</a></span> + volumes. Even while he was asking it, London was eagerly reading Irving's + <i>Sketch Book</i>. In 1821 came Fenimore Cooper's <i>Spy</i> and Bryant's + <i>Poems</i>, and by 1826, when Webster was announcing in his rolling + orotund that Adams and Jefferson were no more, the London and Paris + booksellers were covering their stalls with Cooper's <i>The Last of the + Mohicans</i>. Irving, Cooper, and Bryant are thus the pioneers in a new + phase of American literary activity, often called, for convenience in + labeling, the Knickerbocker Group because of the identification of these + men with New York. And close behind these leaders come a younger company, + destined likewise, in the shy boyish words of Hawthorne, one of the + number, "to write books that would be read in England." For by 1826 + Hawthorne and Longfellow were out of college and were trying to learn to + write. Ticknor, Prescott, and Bancroft, somewhat older men, were settling + to their great tasks. Emerson was entering upon his duties as a minister. + Edgar Allan Poe, at that University of Virginia which Jefferson had just + founded, was doubtless revising <i>Tamerlane and Other Poems</i> which he + was to publish in Boston in the following year. Holmes was a Harvard + undergraduate. Garrison had just printed <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_90" id="Page_90">90</a></span> Whittier's first published poem + in the Newburyport <i>Free Press</i>. Walt Whitman was a barefooted boy on + Long Island, and Lowell, likewise seven years of age, was watching the + birds in the tree-tops of Elmwood. But it was Washington Irving who showed + all of these men that nineteenth century England would be interested in + American books. + </p> + <p> + The very word Knickerbocker is one evidence of the vitality of Irving's + happy imaginings. In 1809 he had invented a mythical Dutch historian of + New York named Diedrich Knickerbocker and fathered upon him a witty parody + of Dr. Mitchill's grave <i>Picture of New York</i>. To read Irving's + chapters today is to witness one of the rarest and most agreeable of + phenomena, namely, the actual beginning of a legend which the world is + unwilling to let die. The book made Sir Walter Scott's sides ache with + laughter, and reminded him of the humor of Swift and Sterne. But certain + New Yorkers were slow to see the joke. + </p> + <p> + Irving was himself a New Yorker, born just at the close of the Revolution, + of a Scotch father and English mother. His youth was pleasantly idle, with + a little random education, much theater-going, and plentiful rambles with + a gun along the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">91</a></span> + Hudson River. In 1804 he went abroad for his health, returned and helped + to write the light social satire of the <i>Salmagundi Papers</i>, and + became, after the publication of the <i>Knickerbocker History</i>, a local + celebrity. Sailing for England in 1815 on business, he stayed until 1832 + as a roving man of letters in England and Spain and then as Secretary of + the American Legation in London. <i>The Sketch Book</i>, <i>Bracebridge + Hall</i>, and <i>Tales of a Traveler</i> are the best known productions of + Irving's fruitful residence in England. The <i>Life of Columbus</i>, the + <i>Conquest of Granada</i>, and <i>The Alhambra</i> represent his first + sojourn in Spain. After his return to America he became fascinated with + the Great West, made the travels described in his <i>Tour of the Prairies</i>, + and told the story of roving trappers and the fur trade in <i>Captain + Bonneville</i> and <i>Astoria</i>. For four years he returned to Spain as + American Minister. In his last tranquil years at Sunnyside on the Hudson, + where he died in 1859, he wrote graceful lives of Goldsmith and of + Washington. + </p> + <p> + Such a glance at the shelf containing Irving's books suggests but little + of that personal quality to which he owes his significance as an + interpreter of America to the Old World. This son of a narrow, hard, + Scotch dealer in cutlery, this drifter <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_92" id="Page_92">92</a></span> about town when New York was + only a big slovenly village, this light-hearted scribbler of satire and + sentiment, was a gentleman born. His boyhood and youth were passed in that + period of Post-Revolutionary reaction which exhibits the United States in + some of its most unlovely aspects. Historians like Henry Adams and + McMaster have painted in detail the low estate of education, religion, and + art as the new century began. The bitter feeling of the nascent nation + toward Great Britain was intensified by the War of 1812. The Napoleonic + Wars had threatened to break the last threads of our friendship for + France, and suspicion of the Holy Alliance led to an era of national + self-assertion of which the Monroe Doctrine was only one expression. The + raw Jacksonism of the West seemed to be gaining upon the older + civilizations represented by Virginia and Massachusetts. The self-made + type of man began to pose as the genuine American. And at this moment came + forward a man of natural lucidity and serenity of mind, of perfect poise + and good temper, who knew both Europe and America and felt that they ought + to know one another better and to like one another more. That was Irving's + service as an international mediator. He diffused sweetness and <span + class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">93</a></span> light in an + era marked by bitterness and obscuration. It was a triumph of character as + well as of literary skill. + </p> + <p> + But the skill was very noticeable also. Irving's prose is not that of the + Defoe-Swift-Franklin-Paine type of plain talk to the crowd. It is rather + an inheritance from that other eighteenth century tradition, the + conversation of the select circle. Its accents were heard in Steele and + Addison and were continued in Goldsmith, Sterne, Cowper, and Charles Lamb. + Among Irving's successors, George William Curtis and Charles Dudley Warner + and William Dean Howells have been masters of it likewise. It is mellow + human talk, delicate, regardful, capable of exquisite modulation. With + instinctive artistic taste, Irving used this old and sound style upon + fresh American material. In <i>Rip van Winkle</i> and <i>The Legend of + Sleepy Hollow</i> he portrayed his native valley of the Hudson, and for a + hundred years connoisseurs of style have perceived the exquisite fitness + of the language to the images and ideas which Irving desired to convey. To + render the Far West of that epoch this style is perhaps not "big" and + broad enough, but when used as Irving uses it in describing Stratford and + Westminster Abbey and an Old English <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_94" id="Page_94">94</a></span> Christmas, it becomes again a + perfect medium. Hawthorne adopted it for <i>Our Old Home</i>, and + Englishmen recognized it at once as a part of their own inheritance, + enriched, like certain wines, by the voyage across the Atlantic and home + again. Irving wrote of England, Mr. Warner once said, as Englishmen would + have liked to write about it. When he described the Alhambra and Granada + and the Moors, it was the style, rich both in physical sensation and in + dreamlike reverie, which revealed to the world the quick American + appreciation of foreign scenes and characters. Its key is sympathy. + </p> + <p> + Irving's popularity has endured in England. It suffered during the middle + of the century in his own country, for the strongest New England authors + taught the public to demand more thought and passion than were in Irving's + nature. Possibly the nervous, journalistic style of the twentieth century + allows too scanty leisure of mind for the full enjoyment of the + Knickerbocker flavor. Yet such changes as these in literary fashion + scarcely affect the permanent service of Irving to our literature. He + immortalized a local type—the New York Dutchman—and local + legends, like that of Rip van Winkle; he used the framework of the <span + class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">95</a></span> narrative + essay to create something almost like the perfected short story of Poe and + Hawthorne; he wrote prose with unfailing charm in an age when charm was + lacking; and, if he had no message, it should be remembered that some of + the most useful ambassadors have had none save to reveal, with delicacy + and tact and humorous kindness, the truth that foreign persons have + feelings precisely like our own. + </p> + <p> + Readers of Sir Walter Scott's <i>Journal</i> may remember his account of + an evening party in Paris in 1826 where he met Fenimore Cooper, then in + the height of his European reputation. "So the Scotch and American lions + took the field together," wrote Sir Walter, who loved to be generous. <i>The + Last of the Mohicans</i>, then just published, threatened to eclipse the + fame of <i>Ivanhoe</i>. Cooper, born in 1789, was eighteen years younger + than the Wizard of the North, and was more deeply indebted to him than he + knew. For it was Scott who had created the immense nineteenth century + audience for prose fiction, and who had evolved a kind of formula for the + novel, ready for Cooper's use. Both men were natural story-tellers. Scott + had the richer mind and the more fully developed historical imagination. + Both were out-of-doors <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">96</a></span> + men, lovers of manly adventure and of natural beauty. But the American had + the good fortune to be able to utilize in his books his personal + experiences of forest and sea and to reveal to Europe the real romance of + the American wilderness. + </p> + <p> + That Cooper was the first to perceive the artistic possibilities of this + romance, no one would claim. Brockden Brown, a Quaker youth of + Philadelphia, a disciple of the English Godwin, had tried his hand at the + very end of the eighteenth century upon American variations of the Gothic + romance then popular in England. Brown had a keen eye for the values of + the American landscape and even of the American Indian. He had a knack for + passages of ghastly power, as his descriptions of maniacs, murderers, + sleep-walkers, and solitaries abundantly prove. But he had read too much + and lived too little to rival the masters of the art of fiction. And there + was a traveled Frenchman, Chateaubriand, surely an expert in the art of + eloquent prose, who had transferred to the pages of his American Indian + stories, <i>Atala</i> and <i>René</i>, the mystery and enchantment + of our dark forests and endless rivers. But Chateaubriand, like Brockden + Brown, is feverish. A taint <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" + id="Page_97">97</a></span> of old-world eroticism and despair hovers like + a miasma over his magnificent panorama of the wilderness. Cooper, like + Scott, is masculine. + </p> + <p> + He was a Knickerbocker only by adoption. Born in New Jersey, his childhood + was spent in the then remote settlement of Cooperstown in Central New + York. He had a little schooling at Albany, and a brief and inglorious + career at Yale with the class of 1806. He went to sea for two years, and + then served for three years in the United States Navy upon Lakes Ontario + and Champlain, the very scene of some of his best stories. In 1811 he + married, resigned from the Navy, and settled upon a little estate in + Westchester County, near New York. Until the age of thirty, he was not in + the least a bookman, but a healthy man of action. Then, as the well-known + anecdote goes, he exclaims to his wife, after reading a stupid English + novel, "I believe I could write a better story myself." <i>Precaution</i> + (1820) was the result, but whether it was better than the unknown English + book, no one can now say. It was bad enough. Yet the next year Cooper + published <i>The Spy</i>, one of the finest of his novels, which was + instantly welcomed in England and translated in France. Then came, in + swift succession, <i>The Pioneers</i>, the first Leather-Stocking <span + class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">98</a></span> tale in order + of composition, and <i>The Pilot</i>, to show that Scott's <i>Pirate</i> + was written by a landsman! <i>Lionel Lincoln</i> and <i>The Last of the + Mohicans</i> followed. The next seven years were spent in Europe, mainly + in France, where <i>The Prairie</i> and <i>The Red Rover</i> were written. + Cooper now looked back upon his countrymen with eyes of critical + detachment, and made ready to tell them some of their faults. He came home + to Cooperstown in 1833, the year after Irving's return to America. He had + won, deservedly, a great fame, which he proceeded to imperil by his + combativeness with his neighbors and his harsh strictures upon the + national character, due mainly to his lofty conception of the ideal + America. He continued to spin yarns of sea and shore, and to write naval + history. The tide of fashion set against him in the eighteen-forties when + Bulwer and Dickens rode into favor, but the stout-hearted old pioneer + could afford to bide his time. He died in 1851, just as Mrs. Stowe was + writing <i>Uncle Tom's Cabin.</i> + </p> + <p> + Two generations have passed since then, and Cooper's place in our + literature remains secure. To have written our first historical novel, <i>The + Spy</i>, our first sea-story, <i>The Pilot,</i> and to have created <span + class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">99</a></span> the + Leather-Stocking series, is glory enough. In his perception of masculine + character, Cooper ranks with Fielding. His sailors, his scouts and spies, + his good and bad Indians, are as veritable human figures as Squire + Western. Long Tom Coffin, Harvey Birch, Hawk-Eye, and Chingachgook are + physically and morally true to life itself. Read the Leather-Stocking + books in the order of the events described, beginning with <i>The + Deerslayer</i>, then <i>The Last of the Mohicans</i>, <i>The Pathfinder</i>, + <i>The Pioneers</i>, and ending with the vast darkening horizon of <i>The + Prairie</i> and the death of the trapper, and one will feel how natural + and inevitable are the fates of the personages and the alterations in the + life of the frontier. These books vary in their poetic quality and in the + degree of their realism, but to watch the evolution of the leading figure + is to see human life in its actual texture. + </p> + <p> + Clever persons and pedantic persons have united to find fault with certain + elements of Cooper's art. Mark Twain, in one of his least inspired + moments, selected Cooper's novels for attack. Every grammar school teacher + is ready to point out that his style is often prolix and his sentences are + sometimes ungrammatical. Amateurs even criticize Cooper's seamanship, + although it seemed <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">100</a></span> + impeccable to Admiral Mahan. No doubt one must admit the "helplessness, + propriety, and incapacity" of most of Cooper's women, and the dreadfulness + of his bores, particularly the Scotchmen, the doctors, and the + naturalists. Like Sir Walter, Cooper seems to have taken but little pains + in the deliberate planning of his plots. Frequently he accepts a + ready-made formula of villain and hero, predicament and escape, renewed + crisis and rescue, mystification and explanation, worthy of a third-rate + novelist. His salvation lies in his genius for action, the beauty and + grandeur of his landscapes, the primitive veracity of his children of + nature. + </p> + <p> + Cooper was an elemental man, and he comprehended, by means of something + deeper than mere artistic instinct, the feelings of elemental humanity in + the presence of the wide ocean or of the deep woods. He is as healthy and + sane as Fielding, and he possesses an additional quality which all of the + purely English novelists lack. It was the result of his youthful sojourn + in the wilderness. Let us call it the survival in him of an aboriginal + imagination. Cooper reminds one somehow of a moose—an ungraceful + creature perhaps, but indubitably big, as many a hunter has suddenly <span + class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">101</a></span> realized + when he has come unexpectedly upon a moose that whirled to face him in the + twilight silence of a northern wood. + </p> + <p> + Something of this far-off and gigantic primitivism inheres also in the + poetry of William Cullen Bryant. His portrait, with the sweeping white + beard and the dark folds of the cloak, suggests the Bard as the Druids + might have known him. But in the eighteen-thirties and forties, Mr. + Bryant's alert, clean-shaven face, and energetic gait as he strode down + Broadway to the <i>Evening Post</i> office, suggested little more than a + vigorous and somewhat radical editor of an increasingly prosperous + Democratic newspaper. There was nothing of the Fringed Gentian or Yellow + Violet about him. Like so many of the Knickerbockers, Bryant was an + immigrant to New York; in fact, none of her adopted men of letters have + represented so perfectly the inherited traits of the New England Puritan. + To understand his long and honorable public life it is necessary to know + something of the city of his choice, but to enter into the spirit of his + poetry one must go back to the hills of western Massachusetts. + </p> + <p> + Bryant had a right to his cold-weather mind. He came from Mayflower stock. + His father, Dr. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">102</a></span> + Peter Bryant of Cummington, was a sound country physician, with liberal + preferences in theology, Federalist views in politics, and a library of + seven hundred volumes, rich in poetry. The poet's mother records his birth + in her diary in terse words which have the true Spartan tang: "Nov. 3, + 1794. Stormy, wind N. E. Churned. Seven in the evening a son born." + Two days later the November wind shifted. "Nov. 5, 1794. Clear, wind N. W. + Made Austin a coat. Sat up all day. Went into the kitchen." The baby, it + appears, had an abnormally large head and was dipped, day after day, in + rude hydropathy, into an icy spring. A precocious childhood was followed + by a stern, somewhat unhappy, but aspiring boyhood. The little fellow, + lying prone with his brothers before the firelight of the kitchen, reading + English poetry from his father's library, used to pray that he too might + become a poet. At thirteen he produced a satire on Jefferson, <i>The + Embargo</i>, which his proud Federalist father printed at Boston in 1808. + The youth had nearly one year at Williams College, over the mountain + ranges to the west. He wished to continue his education at Yale, but his + father had no money for this greater venture, and the son remained at + home. There, in the autumn of 1811, on the bleak hills, <span + class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">103</a></span> he + composed the first draft of <i>Thanatopsis</i>. He was seventeen, and he + had been reading Blair's <i>Grave</i> and the poems of the consumptive + Henry Kirke White. He hid his verses in a drawer, and five years later his + father found them, shed tears over them, and sent them to the <i>North + American Review</i>, where they were published in September, 1817. + </p> + <p> + In the meantime the young man had studied law, though with dislike of it, + and with the confession that he sometimes read <i>The Lyrical Ballads</i> + when he might have been reading Blackstone. One December afternoon in + 1815, he was walking from Cummington to Plainfield—aged twenty-one, + and looking for a place in which to settle as a lawyer. Across the vivid + sunset flew a black duck, as solitary and homeless as himself. The bird + seemed an image of his own soul, "lone wandering but not lost." Before he + slept that night he had composed the poem <i>To a Waterfowl</i>. No more + authentic inspiration ever visited a poet, and though Bryant wrote verse + for more than sixty years after that crimson sky had paled into chill + December twilight, his lines never again vibrated with such communicative + passion. + </p> + <p> + Bryant's ensuing career revealed the steady purpose, <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_104" id="Page_104">104</a></span> the stoicism, the reticence + of the Puritan. It was highly successful, judged even by material + standards. <i>Thanatopsis</i> had been instantly regarded in 1817 as the + finest poem yet produced in America. The author was invited to contribute + to the <i>North American Review</i> an essay on American poetry, and this, + like all of Bryant's prose work, was admirably written. He delivered his + Harvard Phi Beta Kappa poem, <i>The Ages</i>, in 1821, the year of + Emerson's graduation. After a brief practice of the law in Great + Barrington, he entered in 1826 into the unpromising field of journalism in + New York. While other young Knickerbockers wasted their literary strength + on trifles and dissipated their moral energies, Bryant held steadily to + his daily task. His life in town was sternly ascetic, but he allowed + himself long walks in the country, and he continued to meditate a somewhat + thankless Muse. In 1832 he visited his brothers on the Illinois prairies, + and stopped one day to chat with a "tall awkward uncouth lad" of racy + conversational powers, who was leading his company of volunteers into the + Black Hawk War. The two men were destined to meet again in 1860, when + Bryant presided at that Cooper Union address of Lincoln's which revealed + to New York and to the country that <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_105" id="Page_105">105</a></span> the former captain of + volunteers was now a king of men. Lincoln was embarrassed on that + occasion, it is said, by Bryant's fastidious, dignified presence. Not so + Nathaniel Hawthorne, who had seen the poet in Rome, two years before. + "There was a weary look in his face," wrote Hawthorne, "as if he were + tired of seeing things and doing things.… He uttered neither + passion nor poetry, but excellent good sense, and accurate information, on + whatever subject transpired; a very pleasant man to associate with, but + rather cold, I should imagine, if one should seek to touch his heart with + one's own." Such was the impression Bryant made upon less gifted men than + Hawthorne, as he lived out his long and useful life in the Knickerbocker + city. Toward the close of it he was in great demand for public occasions; + and it was after delivering a speech dedicating a statue to Mazzini in + Central Park in 1878, when Bryant was eighty-four, that a fit of dizziness + caused a fall which proved fatal to the venerable poet. It was just + seventy years since Dr. Peter Bryant had published his boy's verses on <i>The + Embargo</i>. + </p> + <p> + Although Bryant's poetry has never roused any vociferous excitement, it + has enduring qualities. The spiritual preoccupations of many a voiceless + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">106</a></span> + generation of New England Puritans found a tongue at last in this + late-born son of theirs. The determining mood of his best poems, from + boyhood to old age, was precisely that thought of transiency, "the eternal + flow of things," which colored the imaginations of the first colonists. + This is the central motive of <i>Thanatopsis</i>, <i>To a Waterfowl</i>, + <i>The Rivulet</i>, <i>A Forest Hymn</i>, <i>An Evening Revery</i>, <i>The + Crowded Street</i>, <i>The Flood of Years</i>. All of these tell the same + story of endless change and of endless abiding, of varying eddies in the + same mighty stream of human existence. Bryant faced the thought as calmly, + as majestically, at seventeen as when he wrote <i>The Flood of Years</i> + at eighty-two. He is a master of description, though he has slight gift + for narrative or drama, and he rarely sounds the clear lyric note. But + everywhere in his verse there is that cold purity of the winter hills in + Western Massachusetts, something austere and elemental which reaches + kindred spirits below the surface on which intellect and passion have + their play, something more primitive, indeed, than human intellect or + passion and belonging to another mode of being, something "rock-ribbed and + ancient as the sun." + </p> + <p> + A picture of the Knickerbocker era is not complete <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_107" id="Page_107">107</a></span> without its portraits of the + minor figures in the literary life of New York up to the time of the Civil + War. But the scope of the present volume does not permit sketches of + Paulding and Verplanck, of Halleck and his friend Drake, of N. P. + Willis and Morris and Woodworth. Some of these are today only + "single-poem" men, like Payne, the author of <i>Home Sweet Home</i>, just + as Key, the author of <i>The Star-Spangled Banner</i>, is today a + "single-poem" man of an earlier generation. Their names will be found in + such limbos of the dead as Griswold's <i>Poets and Poetry of America</i> + and Poe's <i>Literati</i>. They knew "the town" in their day, and pleased + its very easily pleased taste. The short-lived literary magazines of the + eighteen-forties gave them their hour of glory. As representatives of + passing phases of the literary history of New York their careers are not + without sentimental interest, but few of them spoke to or for the country + as a whole. Two figures, indeed, stand out in sharp contrast with those + habitual strollers on Broadway and frequenters of literary gatherings, + though each of them was for a while a part of Knickerbocker New York. To + all appearances they were only two more Bohemians like the rest, but the + curiosity of the twentieth <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" + id="Page_108">108</a></span> century sets them apart from their forgotten + contemporaries. They are two of the unluckiest—and yet luckiest—authors + who ever tried to sell a manuscript along Broadway. One of them is Edgar + Allan Poe and the other is Walt Whitman. They shall have a chapter to + themselves. + </p> + <p> + But before turning to that chapter, we must look back to New England once + more and observe the blossoming-time of its ancient commonwealths. During + the thirty years preceding the Civil War New England awoke to a new life + of the spirit. So varied and rich was her literary productiveness in this + era that it still remains her greatest period, and so completely did New + England writers of this epoch voice the ideals of the nation that the + great majority of Americans, even today, regard these New Englanders as + the truest literary exponents of the mind and soul of the United States. + We must take a look at them. + </p> + <hr /> + <div class="chapterhead"> + <a name="link2HCH0006" id="link2HCH0006"></a> <a name="chap06" id="chap06"></a> + <br /> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">109</a></span> + <br /><br /><br /> + <h2> + <a href="#Contents">CHAPTER VI.</a> + </h2> + </div> + <p class="chaptertitle"> + The Transcendentalists + </p> + <p class="noindent"> + <span class="smcap">To</span> understand the literary leadership of New + England during the thirty years immediately preceding the Civil War it is + necessary to recall the characteristics of a somewhat isolated and + peculiar people. The mental and moral traits of the New England colonists, + already glanced at in an earlier chapter, had suffered little essential + modification in two hundred years. The original racial stock was still + dominant. As compared with the middle and southern colonies, there was + relatively little immigration, and this was easily assimilated. The + physical remoteness of New England from other sections of the country, and + the stubborn loyalty with which its inhabitants maintained their own + standards of life, alike contributed to their sense of separateness. It is + true, of course, that their mode of thinking and feeling had undergone + certain changes. They were among the <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_110" id="Page_110">110</a></span> earliest theorists of + political independence from Great Britain, and had done their share, and + more, in the Revolution. The rigors of their early creed had somewhat + relaxed, as we have seen, by the end of the seventeenth century, and + throughout the eighteenth there was a gradual progress toward religious + liberalism. The population steadily increased, and New England's + unremitting struggle with a not too friendly soil, her hardihood upon the + seas, and her keenness in trade, became proverbial throughout the country. + Her seaport towns were wealthy. The general standards of living remained + frugal, but extreme poverty was rare. Her people still made, as in the + earliest days of the colonies, silent and unquestioned sacrifices for + education, and her chief seats of learning, Harvard and Yale, remained the + foremost educational centers of America. But there was still scant leisure + for the quest of beauty, and slender material reward for any practitioner + of the fine arts. Oratory alone, among the arts of expression, commanded + popular interest and applause. Daniel Webster's audiences at Plymouth in + 1820 and at Bunker Hill in 1825 were not inferior to similar audiences of + today in intelligence and in responsiveness. Perhaps they were superior. + Appreciation <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">111</a></span> + of the spoken word was natural to men trained by generations of thoughtful + listening to "painful" preaching and by participation in the discussions + of town-meeting. Yet appreciation of secular literature was rare, and + interest in the other arts was almost non-existent. + </p> + <p> + Then, beginning in the eighteen-twenties, and developing rapidly after + 1830, came a change, a change so startling as to warrant the term of "the + Renascence of New England." No single cause is sufficient to account for + this "new birth." It is a good illustration of that law of "tension and + release," which the late Professor Shaler liked to demonstrate in all + organic life. A long period of strain was followed by an age of expansion, + freedom, release of energy. As far as the mental life of New England was + concerned, something of the new stimulus was due directly to the influence + of Europe. Just as the wandering scholars from Italy had brought the New + Learning, which was a revival of the old learning, into England in the + sixteenth century, so now young New England college men like Edward + Everett and George Ticknor brought home from the Continent the riches of + German and French scholarship. Emerson's description of the impression + made by Everett's <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">112</a></span> + lectures in 1820, after his return from Germany, gives a vivid picture of + the new thirst for foreign culture. <i>The North American Review</i> and + other periodicals, while persistently urging the need of a distinctively + national literature, insisted also upon the value of a deeper knowledge of + the literature of the Continent. This was the burden of Channing's once + famous article on <i>A National Literature</i> in 1823: it was a plea for + an independent American school of writers, but these writers should know + the best that Europe had to teach. + </p> + <p> + The purely literary movement was connected, as the great name of Channing + suggests, with a new sense of freedom in philosophy and religion. + Calvinism had mainly done its work in New England. It had bred an + extraordinary type of men and women, it had helped to lay some of the + permanent foundations of our democracy, and it was still destined to have + a long life in the new West and in the South. But in that stern section of + the country where its influence had been most marked there was now an + increasingly sharp reaction against its determinism and its pessimism. + Early in the nineteenth century the most ancient and influential churches + in Boston and the leading professors at Harvard had accepted the new form + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">113</a></span> of + religious liberalism known as Unitarianism. The movement spread throughout + Eastern Massachusetts and made its way to other States. Orthodox and + liberal Congregational churches split apart, and when Channing preached + the ordination sermon for Jared Sparks in Baltimore in 1819, the word + Unitarian, accepted by the liberals with some misgiving, became the + recognized motto of the new creed. It is only with its literary influence + that we are here concerned, yet that literary influence became so potent + that there is scarcely a New England writer of the first rank, from Bryant + onward, who remained untouched by it. + </p> + <p> + The most interesting and peculiar phase of the new liberalism has little + directly to do with the specific tenets of theological Unitarianism, and + in fact marked a revolt against the more prosaic and conventional pattern + of English and American Unitarian thought. But this movement, known as + Transcendentalism, would have been impossible without a preliminary and + liberalizing stirring of the soil. It was a fascinating moment of release + for some of the most brilliant and radical minds of New England. Its + foremost representative in our literature was Ralph Waldo Emerson, as its + chief <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">114</a></span> + exponents in England were Coleridge and Carlyle. We must understand its + meaning if we would perceive the quality of much of the most noble and + beautiful writing produced in New England during the Golden Age. + </p> + <p> + What then is the significance of the word Transcendental? Disregarding for + the moment the technical development of this term as used by German and + English philosophers, it meant for Emerson and his friends simply this: + whatever transcends or goes beyond the experience of the senses. It + stressed intuition rather than sensation, direct perception of ultimate + truth rather than the processes of logic. It believed in man's ability to + apprehend the absolute ideas of Truth, Rectitude, Goodness. It resembled + the Inner Light of the Quaker, though the Quaker traced this to a + supernatural illumination of the Holy Spirit, while the Transcendentalist + believed that a vision of the eternal realities was a natural endowment of + the human mind. It had only to be trusted. Stated in this form, it is + evident that we have here a very ancient doctrine, well known in the + literature of India and of Greece. It has been held by countless persons + who have never heard of the word Transcendentalism. We need <span + class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">115</a></span> go no + further back than Alexander Pope, a Roman Catholic, whom we find + declaring: "I am so certain of the soul's being immortal that I seem to + feel it within me, as it were by intuition." Pope's friend Swift, a dean + of the Church of England and assuredly no Transcendentalist, defined + vision as seeing the things that are invisible. + </p> + <p> + Now turn to some of the New England men. Dr. C. A. Bartol, a disciple + of Emerson, maintained that "the mistake is to make the everlasting things + subjects of argument instead of sight." Theodore Parker declared to his + congregation: + </p> + <blockquote> + <p class="noindent"> + From the primitive facts of consciousness given by the power of + instinctive intuition, I endeavored to deduce the true notion of God, of + justice and futurity.… I found most help in the works of Immanuel + Kant, one of the profoundest thinkers of the world, though one of the + worst writers, even in Germany; if he did not always furnish conclusions + I could rest in, he yet gave me the true method, and put me on the right + road. I found certain great primal Intuitions of Human Nature, which + depend on no logical process of demonstration, but are rather facts of + consciousness given by the instinctive action of human nature itself. I + will mention only the three most important which pertain to Religion. 1. + The Instinctive Intuition of the Divine, the consciousness that there is + a God. 2. The Instinctive Intuition of the Just and Right, a + consciousness that there is a Moral Law, independent <span + class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">116</a></span> of our + will, which we ought to keep. 3. The Instinctive Intuition of the + Immortal, a consciousness that the Essential Element of man, the + principle of Individuality, never dies. + </p> + </blockquote> + <p class="noindent"> + This passage dates from 1859, and readers of Bergson may like to compare + it with the contemporary Frenchman's saying: "The analytical faculties can + give us no realities." + </p> + <p> + Let us next hear Emerson himself, first in an early letter to his brother + Edward: "Do you draw the distinction of Milton, Coleridge, and the Germans + between Reason and Understanding? I think it a philosophy itself, and, + like all truth, very practical. Reason is the highest faculty of the soul, + what we mean often by the soul itself: it never reasons, never proves, it + simply perceives, it is vision. The understanding toils all the time, + compares, contrives, adds, argues; near-sighted, but strong-sighted, + dwelling in the present, the expedient, the customary." And in 1833, after + he had left the Unitarian pulpit, Emerson made in his diary this curious + attempt to reconcile the scriptural language of his ancestral profession + to the new vocabulary of Transcendentalism: "Jesus Christ was a minister + of the pure Reason. The beatitudes of the Sermon on the Mount are all + utterances of the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">117</a></span> + mind contemning the phenomenal world.… The understanding can make + nothing of it. 'Tis all nonsense. The Reason affirms its absolute verity.… + St. Paul marks the distinction by the terms natural man and spiritual man. + When Novalis says, 'It is the instinct of the Understanding to contradict + the Reason,' he only translates into a scientific formula the doctrine of + St. Paul, 'The Carnal Mind is enmity against God.'" + </p> + <p> + One more quotation must suffice. It is from a poem by a forgotten + Transcendentalist, F. G. Tuckerman. + </p> + <div class="poem1"> + <p class="poem1"> + No more thy meaning seek, thine anguish plead; + </p> + <p class="poem1"> + But, leaving straining thought and stammering word, + </p> + <p class="poem1"> + Across the barren azure pass to God; + </p> + <p class="poem1"> + Shooting the void in silence, like a bird— + </p> + <p class="poem1"> + A bird that shuts his wings for better speed! + </p> + </div> + <p> + It is obvious that this "contemning the phenomenal world," this "revulsion + against the intellect as the sole source of truth," is highly dangerous to + second-class minds. If one habitually prints the words Insight, Instinct, + Intuition, Consciousness with capitals, and relegates equally useful words + like senses, experience, fact, logic to lower-case type, one may do it + because he is <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">118</a></span> + a Carlyle or an Emerson, but the chances are that he is neither. + Transcendentalism, like all idealistic movements, had its "lunatic + fringe," its camp-followers of excitable, unstable visionaries. The very + name, like the name Methodist, was probably bestowed upon it in mockery, + and this whole perturbation of staid New England had its humorous side. + Witness the career of Bronson Alcott. It is also true that the glorious + affirmations of these seers can be neither proved nor disproved. They made + no examination and they sought no validation of consciousness. An explorer + in search of the North Pole must bring back proofs of his journey, but + when a Transcendentalist affirms that he has reached the far heights of + human experience and even caught sight of the gods sitting on their + thrones, you and I are obliged to take his word for it. Sometimes we hear + such a man gladly, but it depends upon the man, not upon the + trustworthiness of the method. Finally it should be observed that the + Transcendental movement was an exceedingly complex one, being both + literary, philosophic, and religious; related also to the subtle thought + of the Orient, to mediæval mysticism, and to the English Platonists; + touched throughout by the French Revolutionary <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_119" id="Page_119">119</a></span> theories, by the Romantic + spirit, by the new zeal for science and pseudo-science, and by the unrest + of a fermenting age. + </p> + <p> + Our present concern is with the impact of this cosmopolitan current upon + the mind and character of a few New England writers. Channing and Theodore + Parker, Margaret Fuller and Alcott, Thoreau and Emerson, are all + representative of the best thought and the noblest ethical impulses of + their generation. Let us choose first the greatest name: a sunward-gazing + spirit, and, it may be, one of the very Sun-Gods. + </p> + <p> + The pilgrim to Concord who stops for a moment in the village library to + study French's statue of Emerson will notice the asymmetrical face. On one + side it is the face of a keen Yankee farmer, but seen from the other side + it is the countenance of a seer, a world's man. This contrast between the + parochial Emerson and the greater Emerson interprets many a puzzle in his + career. Half a mile beyond the village green to the north, close to the + "rude bridge" of the famous Concord fight in 1775, is the Old Manse, once + tenanted and described by Hawthorne. It was built by Emerson's + grandfather, a patriot chaplain in the Revolution, who died of camp-fever + at Ticonderoga. His <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">120</a></span> + widow married Dr. Ezra Ripley, and here Ralph Waldo Emerson and his + brothers passed many a summer in their childhood. Half a mile east of the + village, on the Cambridge turnpike, is Emerson's own house, still + sheltered by the pines which Thoreau helped him to plant in 1838. Within + the house everything is unchanged: here are the worn books, pen and + inkstand, the favorite pictures upon the wall. Over the ridge to the north + lies the Sleepy Hollow cemetery where the poet rests, with the gravestones + of Hawthorne and the Alcotts, Thoreau and William James close by. + </p> + <p> + But although Concord is the Emerson shrine, he was born in Boston, in + 1803. His father, named William like the grandfather, was also, like the + Emerson ancestors for many generations, a clergyman—eloquent, + liberal, fond of books and music, highly honored by his <i>alma mater</i> + Harvard and by the town of Boston, where he ministered to the First + Church. His premature death in 1811 left his widow with five sons—one + of them feebleminded—and a daughter to struggle hard with poverty. + With her husband's sister, the Calvinistic "Aunt Mary Moody" Emerson, she + held, however, that these orphaned boys had been <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_121" id="Page_121">121</a></span> "born to be educated." And + educated the "eager blushing boys" were, at the Boston Latin School and at + Harvard College, on a regimen of "toil and want and truth and mutual + faith." There are many worse systems of pedagogy than this. Ralph was + thought less persistent than his steady older brother William, and far + less brilliant than his gifted, short-lived younger brothers, Edward and + Charles. He had an undistinguished career at Harvard, where he was + graduated in 1821, ranking thirtieth in a class of fifty-nine. Lovers of + irony like to remember that he was the seventh choice of his classmates + for the position of class poet. After some desultory teaching to help his + brothers, he passed irregularly through the Divinity School, his studies + often interrupted by serious ill-health. "If they had examined me," he + said afterward of the kindly professors in the Divinity School, "they + never would have passed me." But approve him they did, in 1826, and he + entered decorously upon the profession of his ancestors, as associate + minister of the Second Church in Boston. His <i>Journals</i>, which are a + priceless record of his inner life, at this and later periods, reveal the + rigid self-scrutiny, the tender idealism, with which he began his + ministerial career. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">122</a></span> But + as a scheme of life for Ralph Waldo Emerson this vocation would not + satisfy. The sexton of the Second Church thought that the young man was + not at his best at funerals. Father Taylor, the eccentric Methodist, whom + Emerson assisted at a sailor's Bethel near Long Wharf, considered him "one + of the sweetest souls God ever made," but as ignorant of the principles of + the New Testament as Balaam's ass was of Hebrew grammar. By and by came an + open difference with his congregation over the question of administering + the Communion. "I am not interested in it," Emerson admitted, and he wrote + in his <i>Journal</i> the noble words: "It is my desire, in the office of + a Christian minister, to do nothing which I cannot do with my whole + heart." His resignation was accepted in 1832. His young wife had died of + consumption in the same year. He now sailed for Italy, France, and + England, a memorable journey which gave him an acquaintance with Landor, + Wordsworth, Coleridge, and Carlyle, but which was even more significant in + sending him, as he says, back to himself, to the resources of his own + nature. "When shows break up," wrote Whitman afterward, "what but oneself + is sure?" In 1834 and 1835 we find Emerson occupying a room <span + class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">123</a></span> in the Old + Manse at Concord, strolling in the quiet fields, lecturing or preaching if + he were invited to do so, but chiefly absorbed in a little book which he + was beginning to write—a new utterance of a new man. + </p> + <p> + This book, the now famous <i>Nature</i> of 1836, contains the essence of + Emerson's message to his generation. It is a prose essay, but written in + the ecstatic mood of a poet. The theme of its meditation is the soul as + related to Nature and to God. The soul is primal; Nature, in all its + bountiful and beautiful commodities, exists for the training of the soul; + it is the soul's shadow. And every soul has immediate access to Deity. + Thus the utility and beauty and discipline of Nature lift the soul + Godward. The typical sentence of the book is this: "The sun shines today + also"; that is to say: the world is still alive and fair; let us lift up + our hearts! Only a few Americans of 1836 bought this singular volume, but + Emerson went serenely forward. He had found his path. + </p> + <p> + In 1837 he delivered the well-known Phi Beta Kappa oration at Harvard on + <i>The American Scholar</i>. Emerson was now thirty-four; he had married a + second time, had bought a house of his own in Concord, and purposed to + make a living by <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">124</a></span> + lecturing and writing. His address in Cambridge, though it contained no + reference to himself, was after all a justification of the way of life he + had chosen: a declaration of intellectual independence for himself and his + countrymen, an exhortation of self-trust to the individual thinking man. + "If the single man plant himself indomitably on his instincts and there + abide, the huge world will come round to him." Such advice to cut loose + from the moorings of the past was not unknown in Phi Beta Kappa orations, + though it had never been so brilliantly phrased; but when Emerson applied + precisely the same doctrine, in 1838, to the graduating class at the + Harvard Divinity School, he roused a storm of disapproval. "A tempest in + our washbowl," he wrote coolly to Carlyle, but it was more than that. The + great sentence of the Divinity School address, "God is, not was; he + speaketh, not spake," was the emphasis of a superb rhetorician upon the + immediacy of the soul's access to God. It has been the burden of a + thousand prophets in all religions. The young priests of the Divinity + School, their eyes wearied with Hebrew and Greek, seem to have enjoyed + Emerson's injunction to turn away from past records and historical + authorities and to drink from the living fountain <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_125" id="Page_125">125</a></span> of the divine within + themselves; but to the professors, "the stern old war-gods," this relative + belittlement of historical Christianity seemed blasphemy. A generation + passed before Emerson was again welcomed by his <i>alma mater</i>. + </p> + <p> + The reader who has mastered those three utterances by the Concord + Transcendentalist in 1836, 1837, and 1838 has the key to Emerson. He was a + seer, not a system-maker. The constitution of his mind forbade formal, + consecutive, logical thought. He was not a philosopher in the accepted + sense, though he was always philosophizing, nor a metaphysician in spite + of his curious searchings in the realm of metaphysics. He sauntered in + books as he sauntered by Walden Pond, in quest of what interested him; he + "fished in Montaigne," he said, as he fished in Plato and Goethe. He + basketed the day's luck, good or bad as it might be, into the pages of his + private <i>Journal</i>, which he called his savings-bank, because from + this source he drew most of the material for his books. The <i>Journal</i> + has recently been printed, in ten volumes. No American writing rewards the + reader more richly. It must be remembered that Emerson's <i>Essays</i>, + the first volume of which appeared in 1841, and the last volumes after his + death in 1882, represent <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" + id="Page_126">126</a></span> practically three stages of composition: + first the detached thoughts of the <i>Journal</i>; second, the + rearrangement of this material for use upon the lecture platform; and + finally, the essays in their present form. The oral method thus + predominates: a series of oracular thoughts has been shaped for oratorical + utterance, not oratorical in the bombastic, popular American sense, but + cunningly designed, by a master of rhetoric, to capture the ear and then + the mind of the auditor. + </p> + <p> + Emerson's work as a lecturer coincided with the rise of that Lyceum system + which brought most of the American authors, for more than a generation, + into intimate contact with the public, and which proved an important + factor in the æsthetic and moral cultivation of our people. No + lecturer could have had a more auspicious influence than Emerson, with his + quiet dignity, his serene spiritual presence, his tonic and often + electrifying force. But if he gave his audiences precious gifts, he also + learned much from them. For thirty years his lecturing trips to the West + brought him, more widely than any New England man of letters, into contact + with the new, virile America of the great Mississippi valley. Unlike many + of his friends, he was not repelled by the "Jacksonism of <span + class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">127</a></span> the West"; + he rated it a wholesome, vivifying force in our national thought and life. + The <i>Journal</i> reveals the essential soundness of his Americanism. + Though surrounded all his life by reformers, he was himself scarcely a + reformer, save upon the single issue of anti-slavery. Perhaps he was at + bottom too much of a radical to be swept off his feet by any reform. + </p> + <p> + To our generation, of course, Emerson presents himself as an author of + books, and primarily as an essayist, rather than as a winning, entrancing + speaker. His essays have a greater variety of tone than is commonly + recognized. Many of them, like <i>Manners</i>, <i>Farming</i>, <i>Books</i>, + <i>Eloquence</i>, <i>Old Age</i>, exhibit a shrewd prudential wisdom, a + sort of Yankee instinct for "the milk in the pan," that reminds one of Ben + Franklin. Like most of the greater New England writers, he could be, on + occasion, an admirable local historian. See his essays on <i>Life and + Letters in New England</i>, <i>New England Reformers</i>, <i>Politics</i>, + and the successive entries in his <i>Journal</i> relating to Daniel + Webster. He had the happiest gift of portraiture, as is witnessed by his + sketches of Montaigne, of Napoleon, of Socrates (in the essay on Plato), + of his aunt Mary Moody Emerson, of Thoreau, and of various types of <span + class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">128</a></span> Englishmen + in his <i>English Traits</i>. But the great essays, no doubt, are those + like <i>Self-Reliance</i>, <i>Compensation</i>, <i>The Over-Soul</i>, <i>Fate</i>, + <i>Power</i>, <i>Culture</i>, <i>Worship</i>, and <i>Illusions</i>. These + will puzzle no one who has read carefully that first book on <i>Nature</i>. + They all preach the gospel of intuition, instinctive trust in the + Universe, faith in the ecstatic moment of vision into the things that are + unseen by the physical eye. Self-reliance, as Emerson's son has pointed + out, means really God-reliance; the Over-Soul—always a + stumbling-block to Philistines—means that high spiritual life into + which all men may enter and in which they share the life of Deity. Emerson + is stern enough in expounding the laws of compensation that run through + the universe, but to him the chief law is the law of the ever-ascending, + victorious soul. + </p> + <p> + This radiant optimism permeates his poems. By temperament a singer as well + as a seer and sayer, Emerson was nevertheless deficient in the singing + voice. He composed no one great poem, his verse presents no ideas that are + not found in his prose. In metre and rhyme he is harsh and willful. Yet he + has marvelous single phrases and cadences. He ejaculates transports and + ecstasies, and though he cannot organize and construct in verse, he is + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">129</a></span> + capable here and there of the true miracle of transforming fact and + thought into true beauty. Aldrich used to say that he would rather have + written Emerson's <i>Bacchus</i> than any American poem. + </p> + <p> + That the pure, high, and tonic mind of Emerson was universal in its survey + of human forces, no one would claim. Certain limitations in interest and + sympathy are obvious. "That horrid burden and impediment of the soul which + the churches call sin," to use John Morley's words, occupied his attention + but little. Like a mountain climber in a perilous pass, he preferred to + look up rather than down. He does not stress particularly those old human + words, service and sacrifice. "Anti-scientific, anti-social, + anti-Christian" are the terms applied to him by one of his most + penetrating critics. Yet I should prefer to say "un-scientific," + "un-social," and "non-Christian," in the sense in which Plato and Isaiah + are non-Christian. Perhaps it would be still nearer the truth to say, as + Mrs. Lincoln said of her husband, "He was not a technical Christian." He + tends to underestimate institutions of every kind; history, except as a + storehouse of anecdote, and culture as a steady mental discipline. This is + the price he pays for his transcendental <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_130" id="Page_130">130</a></span> insistence upon the supreme + value of the Now, the moment of insight. But after all these limitations + are properly set down, the personality of Ralph Waldo Emerson remains a + priceless possession to his countrymen. The austere serenity of his life, + and the perfection with which he represents the highest type of his + province and his era, will ultimately become blended with the thought of + his true Americanism. A democrat and liberator, like Lincoln, he seems + also destined like Lincoln to become increasingly a world's figure, a + friend and guide to aspiring spirits everywhere. Differences of race and + creed are negligible in the presence of such superb confidence in God and + the soul. + </p> + <p> + Citizens of Concord in May, 1862, hearing that Henry Thoreau, the + eccentric bachelor, had just died of consumption in his mother's house on + Main Street, in his forty-fifth year, would have smiled cannily at the + notion that after fifty years their townsman's literary works would be + published in a sumptuous twenty-volume edition, and that critics in his + own country and in Europe would rank him with Ralph Waldo Emerson. Yet + that is precisely what has happened. Our literature has no more curious + story than the evolution of this local crank <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_131" id="Page_131">131</a></span> into his rightful place of + mastership. In his lifetime he printed only two books, <i>A Week on the + Concord and Merrimac Rivers</i>—which was even more completely + neglected by the public than Emerson's <i>Nature</i>—and <i>Walden</i>, + now one of the classics, but only beginning to be talked about when its + shy, proud author penned his last line and died with the words "moose" and + "Indian" on his lips. + </p> + <p> + Thoreau, like all thinkers who reach below the surface of human life, + means many different things to men of various temperaments. Collectors of + human novelties, like Stevenson, rejoice in his uniqueness of flavor; + critics, like Lowell, place him, not without impatient rigor. To some + readers he is primarily a naturalist, an observer, of the White of + Selborne school; to others an elemental man, a lover of the wild, a hermit + of the woods. He has been called the poet-naturalist, to indicate that his + powers of observation were accompanied, like Wordsworth's, by a gift of + emotional interpretation of the meaning of phenomena. Lovers of literature + celebrate his sheer force and penetration of phrase. But to the student of + American thought Thoreau's prime value lies in the courage and consistency + with which he endeavored to <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" + id="Page_132">132</a></span> realize the gospel of Transcendentalism in + his own inner life. + </p> + <p> + Lovers of racial traits like to remember that Thoreau's grandfather was an + immigrant Frenchman from the island of Jersey, and that his grandmother + was Scotch and Quaker. His father made lead pencils and ground plumbago in + his own house in Concord. The mother was from New Hampshire. It was a + high-minded family. All the four children taught school and were good + talkers. Henry, born in 1817, was duly baptized by good Dr. Ripley of the + Old Manse, studied Greek and Latin, and was graduated at Harvard in 1837, + the year of Emerson's Phi Beta Kappa address. Even in college the young + man was a trifle difficult. "Cold and unimpressible," wrote a classmate. + "The touch of his hand was moist and indifferent. He did not care for + people." "An unfavorable opinion has been entertained of his disposition + to exert himself," wrote President Quincy confidentially to Emerson in + 1837, although the kindly President, a year later, in recommending Thoreau + as a school-teacher, certified that "his rank was high as a scholar in all + the branches and his morals and general conduct unexceptionable and + exemplary." + </p> + <p> + Ten years passed. The young man gave up <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_133" id="Page_133">133</a></span> school-keeping, thinking it a + loss of time. He learned pencil-making, surveying, and farm work, and + found that by manual labor for six weeks in the year he could meet all the + expenses of living. He haunted the woods and pastures, explored rivers and + ponds, built the famous hut on Emerson's wood-lot with the famous axe + borrowed from Alcott, was put in jail for refusal to pay his poll-tax, + and, to sum up much in little, "signed off" from social obligations. "I, + Henry D. Thoreau, have signed off, and do not hold myself responsible to + your multifarious uncivil chaos named Civil Government." When his college + class held its tenth reunion in 1847, and each man was asked to send to + the secretary a record of achievement, Thoreau wrote: "My steadiest + employment, if such it can be called, is to keep myself at the top of my + condition and ready for whatever may turn up in heaven or on earth." There + is the motto of Transcendentalism, stamped upon a single coin. + </p> + <p> + For "to be ready for whatever may turn up" is Thoreau's racier, homelier + version of Emerson's "endless seeker"; and Thoreau, more easily than + Emerson, could venture to stake everything upon the quest. The elder man + had announced the programme, but by 1847 he was himself almost <span + class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">134</a></span> what + Thoreau would call a "committed man," with family and household + responsibilities, with a living to earn, and bound, like every + professional writer and speaker, to have some measure of regard for his + public. But Thoreau was ready to travel lightly and alone. If he should + fail in the great adventure for spiritual perfection, it was his own + affair. He had no intimates, no confidant save the multitudinous pages of + his <i>Journal</i>, from which—and here again he followed Emerson's + example—his future books were to be compiled. Many of his most loyal + admirers will admit that such a quest is bound, by the very conditions of + the problem, to be futile. Hawthorne allegorized it in <i>Ethan Brand</i>, + and his quaint illustration of the folly of romantic expansion of the self + apart from the common interests of human kind is the picture of a dog + chasing its own tail. "It is time now that I begin to live," notes Thoreau + in the <i>Journal</i>, and he continued to say it in a hundred different + ways until the end of all his journalizing, but he never quite captured + the fugitive felicity. The haunting pathos of his own allegory has moved + every reader of <i>Walden</i>: "I long ago lost a hound, a bay horse, and + a turtle-dove, and am still on their trail." Precisely what he meant it is + now impossible <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">135</a></span> + to say, but surely he betrays a doubt in the ultimate efficacy of his own + system of life. He bends doggedly to the trail, for Henry Thoreau is no + quitter, but the trail leads nowhere, and in the latest volumes of the <i>Journals</i> + he seems to realize that he has been pursuing a phantom. He dived + fearlessly and deep into himself, but somehow he failed to grasp that + pearl of great price which all the transcendental prophets assured him was + to be had at the cost of diving. + </p> + <p> + This is not to say that this austere and strenuous athlete came up quite + empty-handed. Far from it. The by-products of his toil were enough to have + enriched many lesser men, and they have given Thoreau a secure fame. From + his boyhood he longed to make himself a writer, and an admirable writer he + became. "For along time," he says in <i>Walden</i>, "I was reporter to a + journal, of no very wide circulation, whose editor has never seen fit to + print the bulk of my contributions, and, as is too common with writers, I + got only my labor for my pains. However, in this case my pains were their + reward." Like so many solitaries, he experienced the joy of intense, + long-continued effort in composition, and he was artist enough to know + that his pages, carefully assembled from his notebooks, <span + class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">136</a></span> had + pungency, form, atmosphere. No man of his day, not even Lowell the "last + of the bookmen," abandoned himself more unreservedly to the delight of + reading. Thoreau was an accomplished scholar in the Greek and Roman + classics, as his translations attest. He had some acquaintance with + several modern languages, and at one time possessed the best collection of + books on Oriental literature to be found in America. He was drenched in + the English poetry of the seventeenth century. His critical essays in the + <i>Dial</i>, his letters and the bookish allusions throughout his + writings, are evidence of rich harvesting in the records of the past. He + left some three thousand manuscript pages of notes on the American + Indians, whose history and character had fascinated him from boyhood. Even + his antiquarian hobbies gave him durable satisfaction. Then, too, he had + deep delight in his life-long studies in natural history, in his + meticulous measurements of river currents, in his notes upon the annual + flowering of plants and the migration of birds. The more thoroughly + trained naturalists of our own day detect him now and again in error as to + his birds and plants, just as specialists in Maine woodcraft discover that + he made amusing, and for him unaccountable, <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_137" id="Page_137">137</a></span> blunders when he climbed + Katahdin. But if he was not impeccable as a naturalist or woodsman, who + has ever had more fun out of his enthusiasm than Thoreau, and who has ever + stimulated as many men and women in the happy use of their eyes? He would + have had slight patience with much of the sentimental nature study of our + generation, and certainly an intellectual contempt for much that we read + and write about the call of the wild; but no reader of his books can + escape his infection for the freedom of the woods, for the stark and + elemental in nature. Thoreau's passion for this aspect of life may have + been selfish, wolf-like, but it is still communicative. + </p> + <p> + Once, toward the close of his too brief life, Thoreau "signed on" again to + an American ideal, and no man could have signed more nobly. It was the + cause of Freedom, as represented by John Brown of Harper's Ferry. The + French and Scotch blood in the furtive hermit suddenly grew hot. Instead + of renouncing in disgust the "uncivil chaos called Civil Government," + Thoreau challenged it to a fight. Indeed he had already thrown down the + gauntlet in <i>Slavery in Massachusetts</i>, which Garrison had published + in the <i>Liberator</i> in 1854. And now the death upon the scaffold of + the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">138</a></span> + old fanatic of Ossawatomie changed Thoreau into a complete citizen, + arguing the case and glorifying to his neighbors the dead hero. "It seems + as if no man had ever died in America before; for in order to die you must + first have lived.… I hear a good many pretend that they are going + to die.… Nonsense! I'll defy them to do it. They haven't got life + enough in them. They'll deliquesce like fungi, and keep a hundred + eulogists mopping the spot where they left off. Only half a dozen or so + have died since the world began." Such passages as this reveal a very + different Thoreau from the Thoreau who is supposed to have spent his days + in the company of swamp-blackbirds and woodchucks. He had, in fact, one of + the highest qualifications for human society, an absolute honesty of mind. + "We select granite," he says, "for the underpinning of our houses and + barns; we build fences of stone; but we do not ourselves rest on an + underpinning of granite truth, the lowest primitive rock. Our sills are + rotten.… In proportion as our inward life fails, we go more + constantly and desperately to the post-office. You may depend upon it, + that the poor fellow who walks away with the greatest number of letters, + proud of his extensive <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" + id="Page_139">139</a></span> correspondence, has not heard from himself + this long time." + </p> + <p> + This hard, basic individualism was for Thoreau the foundation of all + enduring social relations, and the dullest observer of twentieth century + America can see that Thoreau's doctrine is needed as much as ever. His + sharp-edged personality provokes curiosity and pricks the reader into + dissent or emulation as the case may be, but its chief ethical value to + our generation lies in the fact that here was a Transcendentalist who + stressed, not the life of the senses, though he was well aware of their + seductiveness, but the stubborn energy of the will. + </p> + <p> + The scope of the present book prevents more than a glimpse at the other + members of the New England Transcendental group. They are a very mixed + company, noble, whimsical, queer, impossible. "The good Alcott," wrote + Carlyle, "with his long, lean face and figure, with his gray worn temples + and mild radiant eyes; all bent on saving the world by a return to acorns + and the golden age; he comes before one like a venerable Don Quixote, whom + nobody can laugh at without loving." These words paint a whole company, as + well as a single man. The good Alcott still awaits an adequate biographer. + Connecticut Yankee, peddler <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" + id="Page_140">140</a></span> in the South, school-teacher in Boston and + elsewhere, he descended upon Concord, flitted to the queer community of + Fruitlands, was starved back to Concord, inspired and bored the patient + Emerson, talked endlessly, wrote ineffective books, and had at last his + apotheosis in the Concord School of Philosophy, but was chiefly known for + the twenty years before his death in 1888 as the father of the Louisa + Alcott who wrote <i>Little Women</i>. "A tedious archangel," was Emerson's + verdict, and it is likely to stand. + </p> + <p> + Margaret Fuller, though sketched by Hawthorne, analyzed by Emerson, and + painted at full length by Thomas Wentworth Higginson, is now a fading + figure—a remarkable woman, no doubt, one of the first of American + feminists, suggesting George Eliot in her physical unattractiveness, her + clear brain, her touch of sensuousness. She was an early-ripe, + over-crammed scholar in the classics and in modern European languages. She + did loyal, unpaid work as the editor of the <i>Dial</i>, which from 1840 + to 1844 was the organ of Transcendentalism. She joined the community at + Brook Farm, whose story has been so well told by Lindsay Swift. For a + while she served as literary editor of the <i>New York Tribune</i> under + Horace Greeley. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">141</a></span> + Then she went abroad, touched Rousseau's manuscripts at Paris with + trembling, adoring fingers, made a secret marriage in Italy with the young + Marquis Ossoli, and perished by shipwreck, with her husband and child, off + Fire Island in 1850. + </p> + <p> + Theodore Parker, like Alcott and "Margaret," an admirable Greek scholar, + an idealist and reformer, still lives in Chadwick's biography, in Colonel + Higginson's delightful essay, and in the memories of a few liberal + Bostonians who remember his tremendous sermons on the platform of the old + Music Hall. He was a Lexington farmer's son, with the temperament of a + blacksmith, with enormous, restless energy, a good hater, a passionate + lover of all excellent things save meekness. He died at fifty, worn out, + in Italy. + </p> + <p> + But while these three figures were, after Emerson and Thoreau, the most + representative of the group, the student of the Transcendental period will + be equally interested in watching its influence upon many other types of + young men: upon future journalists and publicists like George William + Curtis, Charles A. Dana, and George Ripley; upon religionists like Orestes + Brownson, Father Hecker, and James Freeman Clarke; and upon poets like + Jones Very, Christopher P. Cranch, and <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_142" id="Page_142">142</a></span> Ellery Channing. There was a + sunny side of the whole movement, as T. W. Higginson and F. B. + Sanborn, two of the latest survivors of the ferment, loved to emphasize in + their talk and in their books; and it was shadowed also by tragedy and the + pathos of unfulfilled desires. But as one looks back at it, in the + perspective of three-quarters of a century, it seems chiefly something + touchingly fine. For all these men and women tried to hitch their wagon to + a star. + </p> + <hr /> + <div class="chapterhead"> + <a name="link2HCH0007" id="link2HCH0007"></a> <a name="chap07" id="chap07"></a> + <br /> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">143</a></span> + <br /><br /><br /> + <h2> + <a href="#Contents">CHAPTER VII.</a> + </h2> + </div> + <p class="chaptertitle"> + Romance, Poetry, and History + </p> + <p class="noindent"> + <span class="smcap">Moving</span> in and out of the Transcendentalist + circles, in that great generation preceding the Civil War, were a company + of other men—romancers, poets, essayists, historians—who + shared in the intellectual liberalism of the age, but who were more purely + artists in prose and verse than they were seekers after the unattainable. + Hawthorne, for example, sojourned at Concord and at Brook Farm with some + of the most extreme types of transcendental extravagance. The movement + interested him artistically and he utilized it in his romances, but + personally he maintained an attitude of cool detachment from it. + Longfellow was too much of an artist to lose his head over philosophical + abstractions; Whittier, at his best, had a too genuine poetic instinct for + the concrete; and Lowell and Holmes had the saving gift of humor. + Cultivated Boston gentlemen like Prescott, Motley, and <span + class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">144</a></span> Parkman + preferred to keep their feet on the solid earth and write admirable + histories. So the mellow years went by. Most of the widely-read American + books were being produced within twenty miles of the Boston State House. + The slavery issue kept growling, far away, but it was only now and then, + as in the enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, that it was + brought sharply home to the North. The "golden forties" were as truly + golden for New England as for idle California. There was wealth, leisure, + books, a glow of harvest-time in the air, though the spirit of the writers + is the spirit of youth. + </p> + <p> + Nathaniel Hawthorne, our greatest writer of pure romance, was Puritan by + inheritance and temperament, though not in doctrine or in sympathy. His + literary affiliations were with the English and German Romanticists, and + he possessed, for professional use, the ideas and vocabulary of his + transcendental friends. Born in Salem in 1804, he was descended from Judge + Hawthorne of Salem Witchcraft fame, and from a long line of sea-faring + ancestors. He inherited a morbid solitariness, redeemed in some measure by + a physical endowment of rare strength and beauty. He read Spenser, + Rousseau, and the <i>Newgate Calendar</i>, <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_145" id="Page_145">145</a></span> was graduated at Bowdoin, + with Longfellow, in the class of 1825, and returned to Salem for thirteen + brooding lonely years in which he tried to teach himself the art of + story-writing. His earliest tales, like Irving's, are essays in which + characters emerge; he is absorbed in finding a setting for a preconceived + "moral"; he is in love with allegory and parable. His own words about his + first collection of stories, <i>Twice-Told Tales</i>, have often been + quoted: "They have the pale tint of flowers that blossomed in too retired + a shade." Yet they are for the most part exquisitely written. After a + couple of years in the Boston Custom-House, and a residence at the + socialistic community of Brook Farm, Hawthorne made the happiest of + marriages to Sophia Peabody, and for nearly four years dwelt in the Old + Manse at Concord. He described it in one of the ripest of his essays, the + Preface to <i>Mosses from an Old Manse</i>, his second collection of + stories. After three years in the Custom-House at Salem, his dismissal in + 1849 gave him leisure to produce his masterpiece, <i>The Scarlet Letter</i>, + published in 1850. He was now forty-six. In 1851, he published <i>The + House of the Seven Gables</i>, <i>The Wonder-Book</i>, and <i>The + Snow-Image, and Other Tales</i>. In 1852 came <i>The</i> <span + class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">146</a></span> <i>Blithedale + Romance</i>, a rich ironical story drawn from his Brook Farm experience. + Four years in the American Consulate at Liverpool and three subsequent + years of residence upon the Continent saw no literary harvest except + carefully filled notebooks and the deeply imaginative moral romance, <i>The + Marble Faun</i>. Hawthorne returned home in 1860 and settled in the + Wayside at Concord, busying himself with a new, and, as was destined, a + never completed story about the elixir of immortality. But his vitality + was ebbing, and in May, 1864, he passed away in his sleep. He rests under + the pines in Sleepy Hollow, near the Alcotts and the Emersons. + </p> + <p> + It is difficult for contemporary Americans to assess the value of such a + man, who evidently did nothing except to write a few books. His rare, + delicate genius was scarcely touched by passing events. Not many of his + countrymen really love his writings, as they love, for instance the + writings of Dickens or Thackeray or Stevenson. Everyone reads, at some + time of his life, <i>The Scarlet Letter</i>, and trembles at its + passionate indictment of the sin of concealment, at its agonized + admonition, "Be true! Be true!" Perhaps the happiest memories of + Hawthorne's readers, as of Kipling's <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_147" id="Page_147">147</a></span> readers, hover about his + charming stories for children; to have missed <i>The Wonder-Book</i> is + like having grown old without ever catching the sweetness of the green + world at dawn. But our public has learned to enjoy a wholly different kind + of style, taught by the daily journals, a nervous, graphic, sensational, + physical style, fit for describing an automobile, a department store, a + steamship, a lynching party. It is the style of our day, and judged by it + Hawthorne, who wrote with severity, conscience, and good taste, seems + somewhat old-fashioned, like Irving or Addison. He is perhaps too + completely a New Englander to be understood by men of other stock, and has + never, like Poe and Whitman, excited strong interest among European minds. + </p> + <p> + Yet no American is surer, generation after generation, of finding a fit + audience. Hawthorne's genius was meditative rather than dramatic. His + artistic material was moral rather than physical; he brooded over the soul + of man as affected by this and that condition and situation. The child of + a new analytical age, he thought out with rigid accuracy the precise + circumstances surrounding each one of his cases and modifying it. Many of + his sketches and short stories and most of his <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_148" id="Page_148">148</a></span> romances deal with historical + facts, moods, and atmospheres, and he knew the past of New England as few + men have ever known it. There is solid historical and psychological stuff + as the foundation of his air-castles. His latent radicalism furnished him + with a touchstone of criticism as he interpreted the moral standards of + ancient communities; no reader of <i>The Scarlet Letter</i> can forget + Hawthorne's implicit condemnation of the unimaginative harshness of the + Puritans. His own judgment upon the deep matters of the human conscience + was stern enough, but it was a universalized judgment, and by no means the + result of a Calvinism which he hated. Over-fond as he was in his earlier + tales of elaborate, fanciful, decorative treatment of themes that promised + to point a moral, in his finest short stories, such as <i>The Ambitious + Guest</i>, <i>The Gentle Boy</i>, <i>Young Goodman Brown</i>, <i>The Snow + Image</i>, <i>The Great Stone Face</i>, <i>Drowne's Wooden Image</i>, <i>Rappacini's + Daughter</i>, the moral, if there be one, is not obtruded. He loves + physical symbols for mental and moral states, and was poet and + Transcendentalist enough to retain his youthful affection for parables; + but his true field as a story-teller is the erring, questing, aspiring, + shadowed human heart. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">149</a></span> <i>The + Scarlet Letter</i>, for instance, is a study of a universal theme, the + problem of concealed sin, punishment, redemption. Only the setting is + provincial. The story cannot be rightly estimated, it is true, without + remembering the Puritan reverence for physical purity, the Puritan + reverence for the magistrate-minister—differing so widely from the + respect of Latin countries for the priest—the Puritan preoccupation + with the life of the soul, or, as more narrowly construed by Calvinism, + the problem of evil. The word Adultery, although suggestively enough + present in one of the finest symbolical titles ever devised by a romancer, + does not once occur in the book. The sins dealt with are hypocrisy and + revenge. Arthur Dimmesdale, Hester Prynne, and Roger Chillingworth are + developing, suffering, living creatures, caught inextricably in the toils + of a moral situation. By an incomparable succession of pictures Hawthorne + exhibits the travail of their souls. In the greatest scene of all, that + between Hester and Arthur in the forest, the Puritan framework of the + story gives way beneath the weight of human passion, and we seem on the + verge of another and perhaps larger solution than was actually worked out + by the logic of succeeding events. But though the <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_150" id="Page_150">150</a></span> book has been called + Christless, prayerless, hopeless, no mature person ever reads it without a + deepened sense of the impotence of all mechanistic theories of sin, and a + new vision of the intense reality of spiritual things. "The law we broke," + in Dimmesdale's ghostly words, was a more subtle law than can be graven on + tables of stone and numbered as the Seventh Commandment. + </p> + <p> + The legacy of guilt is likewise the theme of <i>The House of the Seven + Gables</i>, which Hawthorne himself was inclined to think a better book + than <i>The Scarlet Letter</i>. Certainly this story of old Salem is + impeccably written and its subtle handling of tone and atmosphere is + beyond dispute. An ancestral curse, the visitation of the sins of the + fathers upon the children, the gradual decay of a once sound stock, are + motives that Ibsen might have developed. But the Norseman would have + failed to rival Hawthorne's delicate manipulation of his shadows, and the + no less masterly deftness of the ultimate mediation of a dark inheritance + through the love of the light-hearted Phœbe for the latest + descendant of the Maules. In <i>The Blithedale Romance</i> Hawthorne stood + for once, perhaps, too near his material to allow the rich atmospheric + effects which he prefers, and in spite of the unforgetable <span + class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">151</a></span> portrait + of Zenobia and powerful passages of realistic description, the book is not + quite focussed. In <i>The Marble Faun</i> Hawthorne comes into his own + again. Its central problem is one of those dark insoluble ones that he + loves: the influence of a crime upon the development of a soul. Donatello, + the Faun, is a charming young creature of the natural sunshine until his + love for the somber Miriam tempts him to the commission of murder: then + begins the growth of his mind and character. Perhaps the haunting power of + the main theme of the book has contributed less to its fame than the + felicity of its descriptions of Rome and Italy. For Hawthorne possessed, + like Byron, in spite of his defective training in the appreciation of the + arts, a gift of romantic discernment which makes <i>The Marble Faun</i>, + like <i>Childe Harold</i>, a glorified guide-book to the Eternal City. + </p> + <p> + All of Hawthorne's books, in short, have a central core of psychological + romance, and a rich surface finish of description. His style, at its best, + has a subdued splendor of coloring which is only less wonderful than the + spiritual perceptions with which this magician was endowed. The gloom + which haunts many of his pages, as I have said elsewhere, is the long + shadow cast by our mortal <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" + id="Page_152">152</a></span> destiny upon a sensitive soul. The mystery is + our mystery, perceived, and not created, by that finely endowed mind and + heart. The shadow is our shadow; the gleams of insight, the soft radiance + of truth and beauty, are his own. + </p> + <p> + A college classmate of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow summed up the Portland + boy's character in one sentence: "It appeared easy for him to avoid the + unworthy." Born in 1807, of <i>Mayflower</i> stock that had distinguished + itself for bravery and uprightness, the youth was graduated from Bowdoin + at eighteen. Like his classmate Hawthorne, he had been a wide and secretly + ambitious reader, and had followed the successive numbers of Irving's <i>Sketch + Book</i>, he tells us, "with ever increasing wonder and delight." His + college offered him in 1826 a professorship of the modern languages, and + he spent three happy years in Europe in preparation. He taught + successfully at Bowdoin for five or six years, and for eighteen years, + 1836 to 1854, served as George Ticknor's successor at Harvard, ultimately + surrendering the chair to Lowell. He early published two prose volumes, <i>Hyperion</i> + and <i>Outre-mer</i>, Irvingesque romances of European travel. Then came, + after ten years of teaching and the death <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_153" id="Page_153">153</a></span> of his young wife, the sudden + impulse to write poetry, and he produced, "softly excited, I know not + why," <i>The Reaper and the Flowers, a Psalm of Death</i>. From that + December morning in 1838 until his death in 1882 he was Longfellow the + Poet. + </p> + <p> + His outward life, like Hawthorne's, was barren of dramatic incident, save + the one tragic accident by which his second wife, the mother of his + children, perished before his eyes in 1861. He bore the calamity with the + quiet courage of his race and breeding. But otherwise his days ran softly + and gently, enriched with books and friendships, sheltered from the storms + of circumstance. He had leisure to grow ripe, to remember, and to dream. + But he never secluded himself, like Tennyson, from normal contacts with + his fellowmen. The owner of the Craigie House was a good neighbor, + approachable and deferential. He was even interested in local Cambridge + politics. On the larger political issues of his day his Americanism was + sound and loyal. "It is disheartening," he wrote in his Cambridge journal + for 1851, "to see how little sympathy there is in the hearts of the young + men here for freedom and great ideas." But his own sympathy never wavered. + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">154</a></span> His + linguistic talent helped him to penetrate the secrets of alien ways of + thought and speech. He understood Italy and Spain, Holland and France and + Germany. He had studied them on the lips of their living men and women and + in the books where soldier and historian, priest and poet, had inscribed + the record of five hundred years. From the Revival of Learning to the + middle of the nineteenth century, Longfellow knew the soul of Europe as + few men have known it, and he helped to translate Europe to America. His + intellectual receptivity, his quick eye for color and costume and + landscape, his ear for folk-lore and ballad, his own ripe mastery of + words, made him the most resourceful of international interpreters. And + this lover of children, walking in quiet ways, this refined and courteous + host and gentleman, scholar and poet, exemplified without + self-advertisement the richer qualities of his own people. When Couper's + statue of Longfellow was dedicated in Washington, Hamilton Mabie said: + "His freedom from the sophistication of a more experienced country; his + simplicity, due in large measure to the absence of social + self-consciousness; his tranquil and deep-seated optimism, which is the + effluence of an unexhausted soil; his <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_155" id="Page_155">155</a></span> happy and confident + expectation, born of a sense of tremendous national vitality; his love of + simple things in normal relations to world-wide interests of the mind; his + courage in interpreting those deeper experiences which craftsmen who know + art but who do not know life call commonplaces; the unaffected and + beautiful democracy of his spirit—these are the delicate flowers of + our new world, and as much a part of it as its stretches of wilderness and + the continental roll of its rivers." + </p> + <p> + Longfellow's poetic service to his countrymen has thus become a national + asset, and not merely because in his three best known narrative poems, <i>Evangeline</i>, + <i>Hiawatha</i>, and <i>The Courtship of Miles Standish</i>, he selected + his themes from our own history. <i>The Building of the Ship</i>, written + with full faith in the troubled year of 1849, is a national anthem. "It is + a wonderful gift," said Lincoln, as he listened to it, his eyes filled + with tears, "to be able to stir men like that." <i>The Skeleton in Armor</i>, + <i>A Ballad of the French Fleet</i>, <i>Paul Revere's Ride</i>, <i>The + Wreck of the Hesperus</i>, are ballads that stir men still. For all of his + skill in story-telling in verse—witness the <i>Tales of a Wayside + Inn</i>—Longfellow was not by nature a dramatist, and his trilogy + now published under the title of <i>Christus</i>, <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_156" id="Page_156">156</a></span> made up of <i>The Divine + Tragedy</i>, <i>The Golden Legend</i>, and <i>New England Tragedies</i>, + added little to a reputation won in other fields. His sonnets, + particularly those upon <i>Chaucer</i>, <i>Milton</i>, <i>The Divina + Commedia</i>, <i>A Nameless Grave</i>, <i>Felton</i>, <i>Sumner</i>, <i>Nature</i>, + <i>My Books</i>, are among the imperishable treasures of the English + language. In descriptive pieces like <i>Keramos</i> and <i>The Hanging of + the Crane</i>, in such personal and occasional verses as <i>The Herons of + Elmwood</i>, <i>The Fiftieth Birthday of Agassiz</i>, and the noble <i>Morituri + Salutamus</i> written for his classmates in 1875, he exhibits his + tenderness of affection and all the ripeness of his technical skill. But + it was as a lyric poet, after all, that he won and held his immense + audience throughout the English-speaking world. Two of the most popular of + all his early pieces, <i>The Psalm of Life</i> and <i>Excelsior</i>, have + paid the price of a too apt adjustment to the ethical mood of an earnest + moment in our national life. We have passed beyond them. And many readers + may have outgrown their youthful pleasure in <i>Maidenhood</i>, <i>The + Rainy Day</i>, <i>The Bridge</i>, <i>The Day is Done</i>, verses whose + simplicity lent themselves temptingly to parody. Yet such poems as <i>The + Belfry of Bruges</i>, <i>Seaweed</i>, <i>The Fire of Driftwood</i>, <i>The + Arsenal at Springfield</i>, <i>My Lost Youth</i>, <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_157" id="Page_157">157</a></span> <i>The Children's Hour</i>, + and many another lyric, lose nothing with the lapse of time. There is + fortunately infinite room for personal preference in this whole matter of + poetry, but the confession of a lack of regard for Longfellow's verse must + often be recognized as a confession of a lessening love for what is + simple, graceful, and refined. The current of contemporary American taste, + especially among consciously clever, half-trained persons, seems to be + running against Longfellow. How soon the tide may turn, no one can say. + Meanwhile he has his tranquil place in the Poet's Corner of Westminster + Abbey. The Abbey must be a pleasant spot to wait in, for the Portland boy. + </p> + <p> + Oddly enough, some of the over-sophisticated and under-experienced people + who affect to patronize Longfellow assume toward John Greenleaf Whittier + an air of deference. This attitude would amuse the Quaker poet. One can + almost see his dark eyes twinkle and the grim lips tighten in that silent + laughter in which the old man so much resembled Cooper's Leather-Stocking. + Whittier knew that his friend Longfellow was a better artist than himself, + and he also knew, by intimate experience as a maker of public opinion, how + variable are its judgments. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">158</a></span> + Whittier represents a stock different from that of the Longfellows, but + equally American, equally thoroughbred: the Essex County Quaker farmer of + Massachusetts. The homestead in which he was born in 1807, at East + Haverhill, had been built by his great-great-grandfather in 1688. Mount + Vernon in Virginia and the Craigie House in Cambridge are newer than this + by two generations. The house has been restored to the precise aspect it + had in Whittier's boyhood: and the garden, lawn, and brook, even the + door-stone and bridle-post and the barn across the road are witnesses to + the fidelity of the descriptions in <i>Snow-Bound</i>. The neighborhood is + still a lonely one. The youth grew up in seclusion, yet in contact with a + few great ideas, chief among them Liberty. "My father," he said, "was an + old-fashioned Democrat, and really believed in the Preamble of the Bill of + Rights which reaffirmed the Declaration of Independence." The taciturn + father transmitted to his sons a hatred of kingcraft and priestcraft, the + inward moral freedom of the Quaker touched with humanitarian passion. The + spirit of a boyhood in this homestead is veraciously told in <i>The + Barefoot Boy</i>, <i>School-Days</i>, <i>Snow-Bound</i>, <i>Ramoth Hill</i>, + and <i>Telling the Bees</i>. It was a chance <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_159" id="Page_159">159</a></span> copy of Burns that revealed + to the farmer lad his own desire and capacity for verse-writing. When he + was nineteen, his sister sent his <i>Exile's Departure</i> to William + Lloyd Garrison, then twenty, and the editor of the <i>Newburyport Free + Press</i>. The neighbors liked it, and the tall frail author was rewarded + with a term at the Haverhill Academy, where he paid his way, in old Essex + County fashion, by making shoes. + </p> + <p> + He had little more formal schooling than this, was too poor to enter + college, but had what he modestly called a "knack at rhyming," and much + facility in prose. He turned to journalism and politics, for which he + possessed a notable instinct. For a while he thought he had "done with + poetry and literature." Then in 1833, at twenty-six, came Garrison's + stirring letter bidding him enlist in the cause of Anti-Slavery. He obeyed + the call, not knowing that this new allegiance to the service of humanity + was to transform him from a facile local verse-writer into a national + poet. It was the ancient miracle of losing one's life and finding it. For + the immediate sacrifice was very real to a youth trained in quietism and + non-resistance, and well aware, as a Whig journalist, of the ostracism + visited upon the active <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" + id="Page_160">160</a></span> Abolitionists. Whittier entered the fight + with absolute courage and with the shrewdest practical judgment of weapons + and tactics. He forgot himself. He turned aside from those pleasant fields + of New England legend and history to which he was destined to return after + his warfare was accomplished. He had read the prose of Milton and of + Burke. He perceived that negro emancipation in the United States was only + a single and immediate phase of a universal movement of liberalism. The + thought kindled his imagination. He wrote, at white heat, political and + social verse that glowed with humanitarian passion: lyrics in praise of + fellow-workers, salutes to the dead, campaign songs, hymns, satires + against the clergy and the capitalists, superb sectional poems like <i>Massachusetts + to Virginia</i>, and, more nobly still, poems embodying what Wordsworth + called "the sensation and image of country and the human race." + </p> + <p> + Whittier had now "found himself" as a poet. It is true that his style + remained diffuse and his ear faulty, but his countrymen, then as now + uncritical of artistic form, overlooked the blemishes of his verse, and + thought only of his vibrant emotion, his scorn of cowardice and evil, his + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">161</a></span> + prophetic exaltation. In 1847 came the first general collection of his + poems, and here were to be found not merely controversial verses, but + spirited <i>Songs of Labor</i>, pictures of the lovely Merrimac + countryside, legends written in the mood of Hawthorne or Longfellow, and + bright bits of foreign lore and fancy. For though Whittier never went + abroad, his quiet life at Amesbury gave him leisure for varied reading, + and he followed contemporary European politics with the closest interest. + He emerged more and more from the atmosphere of faction and section, and, + though he retained to the last his Quaker creed, he held its simple tenets + in such undogmatic and winning fashion that his hymns are sung today in + all the churches. + </p> + <p> + When <i>The Atlantic Monthly</i> was established in 1857, Whittier was + fifty. He took his place among the contributors to the new magazine not as + a controversialist but as a man of letters, with such poems as <i>Tritemius</i>, + and <i>Skipper Ireson's Ride</i>. Characteristic productions of this + period are <i>My Psalm</i>, <i>Cobbler Keezar's Vision</i>, <i>Andrew + Rykman's Prayer</i>, <i>The Eternal Goodness</i>—poems grave, sweet, + and tender. But it was not until the publication of <i>Snow-Bound</i> in + 1866 that Whittier's <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">162</a></span> + work touched its widest popularity. He had never married, and the deaths + of his mother and sister Elizabeth set him brooding, in the desolate + Amesbury house, over memories of his birthplace, six miles away in East + Haverhill. The homestead had gone out of the hands of the Whittiers, and + the poet, nearing sixty, set himself to compose an idyll descriptive of + the vanished past. No artist could have a theme more perfectly adapted to + his mood and to his powers. There are no novel ideas in <i>Snow-Bound</i>, + nor is there any need of them, but the thousands of annual pilgrims to the + old farmhouse can bear witness to the touching intimacy, the homely charm, + the unerring rightness of feeling with which Whittier's genius recreated + his own lost youth and painted for all time a true New England hearthside. + </p> + <p> + Whittier was still to write nearly two hundred more poems, for he lived to + be eighty-five, and he composed until the last. But his creative period + was now over. He rejoiced in the friendly recognition of his work that + came to him from every section of a reunited country. His personal friends + were loyal in their devotion. He followed the intricacies of American + politics with the keen <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" + id="Page_163">163</a></span> zest of a veteran in that game, for in his + time he had made and unmade governors and senators. "The greatest + politician I have ever met," said James G. Blaine, who had certainly met + many. He had an income from his poems far in excess of his needs, but + retained the absolute simplicity of his earlier habits. When his + publishers first proposed the notable public dinner in honor of his + seventieth birthday he demurred, explaining to a member of his family that + he did not want the bother of "buying a new pair of pants"—a petty + anecdote, but somehow refreshing. So the rustic, shrewd, gentle old man + waited for the end. He had known what it means to toil, to fight, to + renounce, to eat his bread in tears, and to see some of his dreams come + true. We have had, and shall have, more accomplished craftsmen in verse, + but we have never bred a more genuine man than Whittier, nor one who had + more kinship with the saints. + </p> + <p> + A few days before Whittier's death, he wrote an affectionate poem in + celebration of the eighty-third birthday of his old friend of the Saturday + Club, Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes. This was in 1892. The little Doctor, + rather lonely in his latest years, composed some tender obituary verses + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">164</a></span> at + Whittier's passing. He had already performed the same office for Lowell. + He lingered himself until the autumn of 1894, in his eighty-sixth year—<i>The + Last Leaf</i>, in truth, of New England's richest springtime. + </p> + <p> + "No, my friends," he had said in <i>The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table</i>, + "I go (always, other things being equal) for the man who inherits family + traditions and the cumulative humanities of at least four or five + generations." The Doctor came naturally by his preference for a "man of + family," being one himself. He was a descendant of Anne Bradstreet, the + poetess. "Dorothy Q.," whom he had made the most picturesque of the + Quincys, was his great-grandmother. Wendell Phillips was his cousin. His + father, the Rev. Abiel Holmes, a Yale graduate, was the minister of the + First Church in Cambridge, and it was in its "gambrel-roofed" parsonage + that Oliver Wendell was born in 1809. + </p> + <p class="poem"> + Know old Cambridge? Hope you do.—<br /> Born there? Don't say so! I + was, too.<br /> <span class="big-word-space"> • • • • + • • • •</span><br /> Nicest place that was ever seen—<br /> + Colleges red and Common green. + </p> + <p> + So he wrote, in scores of passages of filial devotion, concerning the + village of his boyhood and the city of <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_165" id="Page_165">165</a></span> Boston. His best-known prose + sentence is: "Boston State House is the hub of the Solar System." It is + easy to smile, as indeed he did himself, at such fond provinciality, but + the fact remains that our literature as a whole sadly needs this richness + of local atmosphere. A nation of restless immigrants, here today and + "moved on" tomorrow, has the fibres of its imagination uprooted, and its + artists in their eager quest of "local color" purchase brilliancy at the + cost of thinness of tone, poverty of association. Philadelphia and Boston, + almost alone among the larger American cities, yield the sense of + intimacy, or what the Autocrat would call "the cumulative humanities." + </p> + <p> + Young Holmes became the pet and the glory of his class of 1829 at Harvard. + It was only in 1838 that their reunions began, but thereafter they held + fifty-six meetings, of which Holmes attended fifty and wrote poems for + forty-three. Many of "the Boys" whom he celebrated became famous in their + own right, but they remain "the Boys" to all lovers of Holmes's verses. + His own career as a poet had begun during his single year in the Law + School. His later years brought him some additional skill in polishing his + lines and a riper human <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" + id="Page_166">166</a></span> wisdom, but his native verse-making talent is + as completely revealed in <i>Old Ironsides</i>, published when he was + twenty-one, and in <i>The Last Leaf</i>, composed a year or two later, as + in anything he was to write during the next half-century. In many respects + he was a curious survival of the cumulative humanities of the eighteenth + century. He might have been, like good Dr. Arbuthnot, an ornament of the + Augustan age. He shared with the English Augustans a liking for the rhymed + couplet, an instinctive social sense, a feeling for the presence of an + imaginary audience of congenial listeners. One still catches the "Hear! + Hear!" between his clever lines. In many of the traits of his mind this + "Yankee Frenchman" resembled such a typical eighteenth century figure as + Voltaire. Like Voltaire, he was tolerant—except toward Calvinism and + Homeopathy. In some of the tricks of his prose style he is like a kindlier + Sterne. His knack for <i>vers de société</i> was caught from + Horace, but he would not have been a child of his own age without the + additional gift of rhetoric and eloquence which is to be seen in his + patriotic poems and his hymns. For Holmes possessed, in spite of all his + limitations in poetic range, true devotion, patriotism, humor, and pathos. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">167</a></span> His + poetry was in the best sense of the word "occasional," and his prose was + only an incidental or accidental harvest of a long career in which his + chief duty was that of a professor of anatomy in the Harvard Medical + School. He had studied in Paris under sound teachers, and after some years + of private practice won the appointment which he held, as active and + emeritus professor, for forty-seven years. He was a faithful, clear, and + amusing lecturer, and printed two or three notable medical essays, but his + chief Boston reputation, in the eighteen-fifties, was that of a wit and + diner-out and writer of verses for occasions. Then came his great hour of + good luck in 1857, when Lowell, the editor of the newly-established <i>Atlantic + Monthly</i>, persuaded him to write <i>The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table</i>. + It was the public's luck also, for whoever had been so unfortunate as not + to be born in Boston could now listen—as if across the table—to + Boston's best talker. Few volumes of essays during the last sixty years + have given more pleasure to a greater variety of readers than is yielded + by <i>The Autocrat</i>. It gave the Doctor a reputation in England which + he naturally prized, and which contributed to his triumphal English + progress, many years later, recorded pleasantly in <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_168" id="Page_168">168</a></span> <i>Our Hundred Days</i>. <i>The + Professor at the Breakfast Table</i> and <i>The Poet at the Breakfast + Table</i> are less successful variations of <i>The Autocrat</i>. Neither + professors nor poets are at their best at this meal. Holmes wrote three + novels—of which <i>Elsie Venner</i>, a somewhat too medical story, + is the best remembered—memoirs of his friends Emerson and Motley, + and many miscellaneous essays. His life was exceptionally happy, and his + cheery good opinion of himself is still contagious. To pronounce the words + Doctor Holmes in any company of intelligent Americans is the prologue to a + smile of recognition, comprehension, sympathy. The word Goldsmith has now + lost, alas, this provocative quality; the word Stevenson still possesses + it. The little Doctor, who died in the same year as Stevenson, belonged + like him to the genial race of friends of mankind, and a few of his poems, + and some gay warm-hearted pages of his prose, will long preserve his + memory. But the Boston which he loved has vanished as utterly as Sam + Johnson's London. + </p> + <p> + James Russell Lowell was ten years younger than Holmes, and though he died + three years before the Doctor, he seems, for other reasons than those of + chronology, to belong more nearly to the <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_169" id="Page_169">169</a></span> present. Although by birth as + much of a New England Brahmin as Holmes, and in his later years as much of + a Boston and Cambridge idol, he nevertheless touched our universal + American life on many sides, represented us worthily in foreign diplomacy, + argued the case of Democracy with convincing power, and embodied, as more + perfect artists like Hawthorne and Longfellow could never have done, the + subtleties and potencies of the national temperament. He deserves and + reveals the closest scrutiny, but his personality is difficult to put on + paper. Horace Scudder wrote his biography with careful competence, and + Ferris Greenslet has made him the subject of a brilliant critical study. + Yet readers differ widely in their assessment of the value of his prose + and verse, and in their understanding of his personality. + </p> + <p> + The external facts of his career are easy to trace and must be set down + here with brevity. A minister's son, and descended from a very old and + distinguished family, he was born at Elmwood in Cambridge in 1819. After a + somewhat turbulent course, he was graduated from Harvard in 1838, the year + of Emerson's <i>Divinity School Address</i>. He studied law, turned + Abolitionist, wrote poetry, married the beautiful and transcendental <span + class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">170</a></span> Maria + White, and did magazine work in Boston, New York, and Philadelphia. He was + thought by his friends in the eighteen-fifties to be "the most + Shakespearian" man in America. When he was ten years out of college, in + 1848, he published <i>The Biglow Papers</i> (First Series), <i>A Fable for + Critics</i>, and <i>The Vision of Sir Launfal</i>. After a long visit to + Europe and the death of his wife, he gave some brilliant Lowell Institute + lectures in Boston, and was appointed Longfellow's successor at Harvard. + He went to Europe again to prepare himself, and after entering upon his + work as a teacher made a happy second marriage, served for four years as + the first editor of <i>The Atlantic</i>, and helped his friend Charles + Eliot Norton edit <i>The North American Review</i>. The Civil War inspired + a second series of <i>Biglow Papers</i> and the magnificent <i>Commemoration + Ode</i> of 1865. Then came volume after volume of literary essays, such as + <i>Among My Books</i> and <i>My Study Windows</i>, and an occasional book + of verse. Again he made a long sojourn in Europe, resigned his Harvard + professorship, and in 1877 was appointed Minister to Spain. After three + years he was transferred to the most important post in our diplomatic + service, London. He performed his duties with <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_171" id="Page_171">171</a></span> extraordinary skill and + success until 1885, when he was relieved. His last years were spent in + Elmwood, the Cambridge house where he was born, and he was still writing, + in almost as rich a vein as ever, when the end came in 1891. + </p> + <p> + Here was certainly a full and varied life, responsive to many personal + moods and many tides of public feeling. Lowell drew intellectual stimulus + from enormously wide reading in classical and modern literatures. + Puritanically earnest by inheritance, he seems also to have inherited a + strain of levity which he could not always control, and, through his + mother's family, a dash of mysticism sometimes resembling second sight. + His physical and mental powers were not always in the happiest mutual + adjustment: he became easily the prey of moods and fancies, and knew the + alternations from wild gaiety of spirits to black despair. The firm moral + consistency of Puritanism was always his, yet his playful remark about + belonging in a hospital for incurable children had a measure of truth in + it also. + </p> + <p> + Both his poetry and his prose reveal a nature never quite integrated into + wholeness of structure, into harmony with itself. His writing, at its + best, is noble and delightful, full of human charm, <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_172" id="Page_172">172</a></span> but it is difficult for him + to master a certain waywardness and to sustain any note steadily. This + temperamental flaw does not affect the winsomeness of his letters, unless + to add to it. It is lost to view, often, in the sincerity and pathos of + his lyrics, but it is felt in most of his longer efforts in prose, and + accounts for a certain dissatisfaction which many grateful and loyal + readers nevertheless feel in his criticism. Lowell was more richly endowed + by nature and by breadth of reading than Matthew Arnold, for instance, but + in the actual performance of the critical function he was surpassed in + method by Arnold and perhaps in inerrant perception, in a limited field, + by Poe. + </p> + <p> + It was as a poet, however, that he first won his place in our literature, + and it is by means of certain passages in the <i>Biglow Papers</i> and the + <i>Commemoration Ode</i> that he has most moved his countrymen. The + effectiveness of <i>The Present Crisis</i> and <i>Sir Launfal</i>, and of + the <i>Memorial Odes</i>, particularly the <i>Ode to Agassiz</i>, is + likewise due to the passion, sweetness, and splendor of certain strophes, + rather than to the perfection of these poems as artistic wholes. Lowell's + personal lyrics of sorrow, such as <i>The Changeling</i>, <i>The First + Snow-Fall</i>, <i>After the Burial</i>, have touched many hearts. <span + class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">173</a></span> His later + lyrics are more subtle, weighted with thought, tinged with autumnal + melancholy. He was a most fertile composer, and, like all the men of his + time and group, produced too much. Yet his patriotic verse was so + admirable in feeling and is still so inspiring to his readers that one + cannot wish it less in quantity; and in the field of political satire, + such as the two series of <i>Biglow Papers</i>, he had a theme and a + method precisely suited to his temperament. No American has approached + Lowell's success in this difficult <i>genre</i>: the swift transitions + from rural Yankee humor to splendid scorn of evil and to noblest idealism + reveal the full powers of one of our most gifted men. The preacher lurked + in this Puritan from first to last, and the war against Mexico and the + Civil War stirred him to the depths. + </p> + <p> + His prose, likewise, is a school of loyalty. There was much of Europe in + his learning, as his memorable Dante essay shows, and the traditions of + great English literature were the daily companions of his mind. He was + bookish, as a bookman should be, and sometimes the very richness and + whimsicality of his bookish fancies marred the simplicity and good taste + of his pages. But the fundamental texture of his thought and feeling <span + class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">174</a></span> was + American, and his most characteristic style has the raciness of our soil. + Nature lovers like to point out the freshness and delicacy of his reaction + to the New England scene. Thoreau himself, whom Lowell did not like, was + not more veracious an observer than the author of <i>Sunthin' in the + Pastoral Line</i>, <i>Cambridge Thirty Years Ago</i>, and <i>My Garden + Acquaintance</i>. Yet he watched men as keenly as he did "laylocks" and + bobolinks, and no shrewder American essay has been written than his <i>On + a Certain Condescension in Foreigners</i>. Wit and humor and wisdom made + him one of the best talkers of his generation. These qualities pervade his + essays and his letters, and the latter in particular reveal those ardors + and fidelities of friendship which men like Emerson and Thoreau longed + after without ever quite experiencing. Lowell's cosmopolitan reputation, + which was greatly enhanced in the last decade of his life, seemed to his + old associates of the Saturday Club only a fit recognition of the + learning, wit, and fine imagination which had been familiar to them from + the first. To hold the old friends throughout his lifetime, and to win + fresh ones of a new generation through his books, is perhaps the greatest + of Lowell's personal felicities. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">175</a></span> + While there are no other names in the literature of New England quite + comparable with those that have just been discussed, it should be + remembered that the immediate effectiveness and popularity of these + representative poets and prose writers were dependent upon the existence + of an intelligent and responsive reading public. The lectures of Emerson, + the speeches of Webster, the stories of Hawthorne, the political verse of + Whittier and Lowell, presupposed a keen, reflecting audience, mentally and + morally exigent. The spread of the Lyceum system along the line of + westward emigration from New England as far as the Mississippi is one + tangible evidence of the high level of popular intelligence. That there + was much of the superficial and the spread-eagle in the American life of + the eighteen-forties is apparent enough without the amusing comments of + such English travellers as Dickens, Miss Martineau, and Captain Basil + Hall. But there was also genuine intellectual curiosity and a general + reading habit which are evidenced not only by a steady growth of + newspapers and magazines but also by the demand for substantial books. + Biography and history began to be widely read, and it was natural that the + most notable productiveness in historical <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_176" id="Page_176">176</a></span> writing should manifest + itself in that section of the country where there were libraries, wealth, + leisure for the pursuits of scholarship, a sense of intimate concern with + the great issues of the past, and a diffusion of intellectual tastes + throughout the community. It was no accident that Sparks and Ticknor, + Bancroft and Prescott, Motley and Parkman, were Massachusetts men. + </p> + <p> + Jared Sparks, it is true, inherited neither wealth nor leisure. He was a + furious, unwearied toiler in the field of our national history. Born in + 1789, by profession a Unitarian minister, he began collecting the papers + of George Washington by 1825. John Marshall, the great jurist, had + published his five-volume life of his fellow Virginian a score of years + earlier. But Sparks proceeded to write another biography of Washington and + to edit his writings. He also edited a <i>Library of American Biography</i>, + wrote lives of Franklin and Gouverneur Morris, was professor of history + and President of Harvard, and lived to be seventy-seven. As editor of the + writings of Franklin and Washington, he took what we now consider + unpardonable liberties in altering the text, and this error of judgment + has somewhat clouded his just reputation as a pioneer in historical + research. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">177</a></span> + George Bancroft, who was born in 1800, and died, a horseback-riding sage, + at ninety-one, inherited from his clergyman father a taste for history. He + studied in Germany after leaving Harvard, turned schoolmaster, Democratic + politician and office-holder, served as Secretary of the Navy, Minister to + England and then to the German Empire, and won distinction in each of his + avocations, though the real passion of his life was his <i>History of the + United States</i>, which he succeeded in bringing down to the adoption of + the Constitution. The first volume, which appeared in 1834, reads today + like a stump speech by a sturdy Democratic orator of the Jacksonian + period. But there was solid stuff in it, nevertheless, and as Bancroft + proceeded, decade after decade, he discarded some of his rhetoric and + philosophy of democracy and utilized increasingly the vast stores of + documents which his energy and his high political positions had made it + possible for him to obtain. Late in life he condensed his ten great + volumes to six. Posterity will doubtless condense these in turn, as + posterity has a way of doing, but Bancroft the historian realized his own + youthful ambition with a completeness rare in the history of human effort + and performed a monumental service to his country. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">178</a></span> He + was less of an artist, however, than Prescott, the eldest and in some ways + the finest figure of the well-known Prescott-Motley-Parkman group of + Boston historians. All of these men, together with their friend George + Ticknor, who wrote the <i>History of Spanish Literature</i> and whose own + <i>Life and Letters</i> pictures a whole generation, had the professional + advantages of inherited wealth, and the opportunity to make deliberate + choice of a historical field which offered freshness and picturesqueness + of theme. All were tireless workers in spite of every physical handicap; + all enjoyed social security and the rich reward of full recognition by + their contemporaries. They had their world as in their time, as Chaucer + makes the Wife of Bath say of herself, and it was a pleasant world to live + in. + </p> + <p> + Grandson of "Prescott the Brave" of Bunker Hill, and son of the rich Judge + Prescott of Salem, William Hickling Prescott was born in 1796, and was + graduated from Harvard in 1814. An accident in college destroyed the sight + of one eye, and left him but a precarious use of the other. Nevertheless + he resolved to emulate Gibbon, whose <i>Autobiography</i> had impressed + him, and to make himself "an historian in the best sense of the term." He + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">179</a></span> + studied arduously in Europe, with the help of secretaries, and by 1826, + after a long hesitation, decided upon a <i>History of the Reign of + Ferdinand and Isabella</i>. In ten years the three volumes were finished. + "Pursuing the work in this quiet, leisurely way, without over-exertion or + fatigue," wrote Prescott, "or any sense of obligation to complete it in a + given time, I have found it a continual source of pleasure." It was + published at his own expense on Christmas Day, 1837, and met with + instantaneous success. "My market and my reputation rest principally with + England," he wrote in 1838—a curious footnote, by the way, to + Emerson's Phi Beta Kappa Address of the year before. But America joined + with England, in praising the new book. Then Prescott turned to the <i>Conquest + of Mexico</i>, the <i>Conquest of Peru</i>, and finally to his unfinished + <i>History of the Reign of Philip II</i>. He had, as Dean Milman wrote + him, "the judgment to choose noble subjects." He wrote with serenity and + dignity, with fine balance and proportion. Some of the Spanish documents + upon which he relied have been proved less trustworthy than he thought, + but this unsuspected defect in his materials scarcely impaired the skill + with which this unhasting, unresting <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_180" id="Page_180">180</a></span> painter filled his great + canvases. They need retouching, perhaps, but the younger historians are + incompetent for the task. Prescott died in 1859, in the same year as + Irving, and he already seems quite as remote from the present hour. + </p> + <p> + His young friend Motley, of <i>Dutch Republic</i> fame, was another Boston + Brahmin, born in the year of Prescott's graduation from college. He + attended George Bancroft's school, went to Harvard in due course, where he + knew Holmes, Sumner, and Wendell Phillips, and at Göttingen became a + warm friend of a dog-lover and duelist named Bismarck. Young Motley wrote + a couple of unsuccessful novels, dabbled in diplomacy, politics, and + review-writing, and finally, encouraged by Prescott, settled down upon + Dutch history, went to Europe to work up his material in 1851, and, after + five years, scored an immense triumph with his <i>Rise of the Dutch + Republic</i>. He was a brilliant partisan, hating Spaniards and + Calvinists, and wrote all the better for this bias. He was an admirable + sketcher of historical portraits, and had Macaulay's skill in composing + special chapters devoted to the tendencies and qualities of an epoch or to + the characteristics of <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" + id="Page_181">181</a></span> a dynasty. Between 1860 and 1868 he produced + the four volumes of the <i>History of the United Netherlands</i>. During + the Civil War he served usefully as American minister to Vienna, and in + 1869 was appointed minister to London. Both of these appointments ended + unhappily for him. Dr. Holmes, his loyal admirer and biographer, does not + conceal the fact that a steadier, less excitable type of public servant + might have handled both the Vienna situation and the London situation + without incurring a recall. Motley continued to live in England, where his + daughters had married, and where, in spite of his ardent Americanism, he + felt socially at home. His last book was <i>The Life and Death of John of + Barneveld</i>. His <i>Letters</i>, edited after his death in 1877 by + George William Curtis, give a fascinating picture of English life among + the cultivated and leisurely classes. The Boston merchant's son was a + high-hearted gentleman, and his cosmopolitan experiences used to make his + stay-at-home friend, Oliver Wendell Holmes, feel rather dull and + provincial in comparison. Both were Sons of Liberty, but Motley had had + the luck to find in "brave little Holland" a subject which captivated the + interest of Europe and gave the historian international fame. He <span + class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">182</a></span> had more + eloquence than the Doctor, and a far more varied range of prose, but there + may be here and there a Yankee guesser about the taste of future + generations who will bet on <i>The Autocrat</i>, after all. + </p> + <p> + The character and career of Francis Parkman afford curious material to the + student of New England's golden age. In the seventy years of his heroic + life, from 1823 to 1893, all the characteristic forces of the age reached + their culmination and decline, and his own personality indicates some of + the violent reactions produced by the over-strain of Transcendentalism. + For here was a descendant of John Cotton, and a clergyman's son, who + detested Puritanism and the clergy; who, coming to manhood in the + eighteen-forties, hated the very words Transcendentalism, Philosophy, + Religion, Reform; an inheritor of property, trained at Harvard, and an + Overseer and Fellow of his University, who disliked the ideals of culture + and refinement; a member of the Saturday Club who was bored with literary + talk and literary people; a staunch American who despised democracy as + thoroughly as Alexander Hamilton, and thought suffrage a failure; a + nineteenth century historian who cared nothing for philosophy, science, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">183</a></span> or + the larger lessons of history itself; a fascinating realistic writer who + admired Scott, Byron, and Cooper for their tales of action, and despised + Wordsworth and Thoreau as effeminate sentimentalists who were preoccupied + with themselves. In Parkman "the wheel has come full circle," and a + movement that began with expansion of self ended in hard Spartan + repression, even in inhibition of emotion. + </p> + <p> + Becoming "enamoured of the woods" at sixteen, Parkman chose his life work + at eighteen, and he was a man who could say proudly: "I have not yet + abandoned any plan which I ever formed." "Before the end of the sophomore + year," he wrote in his autobiography, "my various schemes had crystallized + into a plan of writing the story of what was then known as the <i>Old + French War</i>, that is, the war that ended in the conquest of Canada, for + here, as it seemed to me, the forest drama was more stirring and the + forest stage more thronged with appropriate actors than in any other + passage of our history. It was not till some years later that I enlarged + the plan to include the whole course of the American conflict between + France and England, or, in other words, the history of the American + forest: for this <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">184</a></span> + was the light in which I regarded it. My theme fascinated me, and I was + haunted with wilderness images day and night." To understand "the history + of the American forest" young Parkman devoted his college vacations to + long trips in the wilderness, and in 1846, two years after graduation, he + made the epoch-making journey described in his first book, <i>The Oregon + Trail</i>. + </p> + <p> + <i>The Conspiracy of Pontiac</i>, a highly-colored narrative in two + volumes appearing in 1851, marks the first stage of his historical + writing. Then came the tragedy of shattered health, and for fourteen years + Parkman fought for life and sanity, and produced practically nothing. He + had had to struggle from his college days with an obscure disorder of the + brain, aggravated by the hardships of his Oregon Trail journey, and by + ill-considered efforts to harden his bodily frame by over-exertion. His + disease took many forms—insomnia, arthritis, weakness of sight, + incapacity for sustained thought. His biographer Farnham says that "he + never saw a perfectly well day during his entire literary career." Even + when aided by secretaries and copyists, six lines a day was often the + limit of his production. His own Stoic words about the limitations of his + eyesight are <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">185</a></span> + characteristic: "By reading for one minute, and then resting for an equal + time, this alternate process may gradually be continued for about half an + hour. Then, after a sufficient interval, it may be repeated, often three + or four times in the course of the day. By this means nearly the whole of + the volume now offered has been composed." There is no more piteous or + inspiring story of a fight against odds in the history of literature. + </p> + <p> + For after his fortieth year the enemy gave way a little, and book after + book somehow got itself written. There they stand upon the shelves, a + dozen of them—<i>The Pioneers of France</i>, <i>The Jesuits in North + America</i>, <i>La Salle</i>, <i>The Old Régime</i>, <i>Frontenac</i>, + <i>Montcalm and Wolfe</i>, <i>A Half-Century of Conflict</i>—the + boy's dream realized, the man's long warfare accomplished. The history of + the forest, as Parkman saw it, was a pageant with the dark wilderness for + a background, and, for the actors, taciturn savages, black-robed Jesuits, + intrepid explorers, soldiers of France—all struggling for a vast + prize, all changing, passing, with a pomp and color unknown to wearied + Europe. It was a superb theme, better after all for an American than the + themes chosen by Prescott and Ticknor <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_186" id="Page_186">186</a></span> and Motley, and precisely + adapted to the pictorial and narrative powers of the soldier-minded, + soldier-hearted author. + </p> + <p> + The quality which Parkman admired most in men—though he never seems + to have loved men deeply, even his own heroes—was strength of will. + That was the secret of his own power, and the sign, it must be added, of + the limitations of this group of historians who came at the close of the + golden age. Whatever a New England will can accomplish was wrought + manfully by such admirable men as Prescott and Parkman. Trained + intelligence, deliberate selection of subject, skillful cultivation of + appropriate story-telling and picture-painting style, all these were + theirs. But the "wild ecstasy" that thrilled the young Emerson as he + crossed the bare Common at sunset, the "supernal beauty" of which Poe + dreamed in the Fordham cottage, the bay horse and hound and turtle-dove + which Thoreau lost long ago and could not find in his hut at Walden, these + were something which our later Greeks of the New England Athens esteemed + as foolishness. + </p> + <hr /> + <div class="chapterhead"> + <a name="link2HCH0008" id="link2HCH0008"></a> <a name="chap08" id="chap08"></a> + <br /> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">187</a></span> + <br /><br /><br /> + <h2> + <a href="#Contents">CHAPTER VIII.</a> + </h2> + </div> + <p class="chaptertitle"> + Poe and Whitman + </p> + <p class="noindent"> + <span class="smcap">Enter</span> now two egotists, who have little in + common save their egotism, two outsiders who upset most of the + conventional American rules for winning the literary race, two men of + genius, in short, about whom we are still quarreling, and whose + distinctive quality is more accurately perceived in Europe than it has + ever been in the United States. + </p> + <p> + Both Poe and Whitman were Romanticists by temperament. Both shared in the + tradition and influence of European Romanticism. But they were also late + comers, and they were caught in the more morbid and extravagant phases of + the great European movement while its current was beginning to ebb. Their + acquaintance with its literature was mainly at second-hand and through the + medium of British and American periodicals. Poe, who was older than + Whitman by ten years, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" + id="Page_188">188</a></span> was fifteen when Byron died, in 1824. He was + untouched by the nobler mood of Byron, though his verse was colored by the + influence of Byron, Moore, and Shelley. His prose models were De Quincey, + Disraeli, and Bulwer. Yet he owed more to Coleridge than to any of the + Romantics. He was himself a sort of Coleridge without the piety, with the + same keen penetrating critical intelligence, the same lovely + opium-shadowed dreams, and, alas, with something of the same reputation as + a dead-beat. + </p> + <p> + A child of strolling players, Poe happened to be born in Boston, but he + hated "Frog-Pondium"—his favorite name for the city of his nativity—as + much as Whistler hated his native town of Lowell. His father died early of + tuberculosis, and his mother, after a pitiful struggle with disease and + poverty, soon followed her husband to the grave. The boy, by physical + inheritance a neurasthenic, though with marked bodily activity in youth, + was adopted by the Allans, a kindly family in Richmond, Virginia. Poe + liked to think of himself as a Southerner. He was sent to school in + England, and in 1826, at seventeen, he attended for nearly a year the + newly founded University of Virginia. He was a dark, short, bow-legged + boy, with the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">189</a></span> + face of his own Roderick Usher. He made a good record in French and Latin, + read, wrote and recited poetry, tramped on the Ragged Mountains, and did + not notably exceed his companions in drinking and gambling. But his Scotch + foster-father disapproved of his conduct and withdrew him from the + University. A period of wandering followed. He enlisted in the army and + was stationed in Boston in 1827, when his first volume, <i>Tamerlane</i>, + was published. In 1829 he was in Fortress Monroe, and published <i>Al + Aaraf</i> at Baltimore. He entered West Point in 1830, and was surely, + except Whistler, the strangest of all possible cadets. When he was + dismissed in 1831, he had written the marvellous lines <i>To Helen</i>, <i>Israfel</i>, + and <i>The City in the Sea</i>. That is enough to have in one's knapsack + at the age of twenty-two. + </p> + <p> + In the eighteen years from 1831 to 1849, when Poe's unhappy life came to + an end in a Baltimore hospital, his literary activity was chiefly that of + a journalist, critic, and short story writer. He lived in Baltimore, + Richmond, Philadelphia, and New York. Authors who now exploit their fat + bargains with their publishers may have forgotten that letter which Poe + wrote back to Philadelphia the morning after he arrived with his + child-wife in <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">190</a></span> + New York: "We are both in excellent spirits.… We have now got four + dollars and a half left. To-morrow I am going to try and borrow three + dollars, so that I may have a fortnight to go upon." When the child-wife + died in the shabby cottage at Fordham, her wasted body was covered with + the old army overcoat which Poe had brought from West Point. If Poe met + some of the tests of practical life inadequately, it must be remembered + that his health failed at twenty-five, that he was pitiably poor, and that + the slightest indulgence in drink set his over-wrought nerves jangling. + Ferguson, the former office-boy of the <i>Literary Messenger</i>, judged + this man of letters with an office-boy's firm and experienced eye: "Mr. + Poe was a fine gentleman when he was sober. He was ever kind and courtly, + and at such times everyone liked him. But when he was drinking he was + about one of the most disagreeable men I have ever met." "I am sorry for + him," wrote C. F. Briggs to Lowell. "He has some good points, but + taken altogether, he is badly made up." "Badly made up," no doubt, both in + body and mind, but all respectable and prosperous Pharisees should be + reminded that Poe did not make himself; or rather, that he could not make + himself <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">191</a></span> + over. Very few men can. Given Poe's temperament, and the problem is + insoluble. He wrote to Lowell in 1844: "I have been too deeply conscious + of the mutability and evanescence of temporal things to give any + continuous effort to anything—to be consistent in anything. My life + has been <i>whim</i>—impulse—passion—a longing for + solitude—a scorn of all things present in an earnest desire for the + future." It is the pathetic confession of a dreamer. Yet this dreamer was + also a keen analyzer, a tireless creator of beautiful things. In them he + sought and found a refuge from actuality. The marvel of his career is, as + I have said elsewhere, that this solitary, embittered craftsman, out of + such hopeless material as negations and abstractions, shadows and + superstitions, out of disordered fancies and dreams of physical horror and + strange crime, should have wrought structures of imperishable beauty. + </p> + <p> + Let us notice the critical instinct which he brought to the task of + creation. His theory of verse is simple, in fact too simple to account for + all of the facts. The aim of poetry, according to Poe, is not truth but + pleasure—the rhythmical creation of beauty. Poetry should be brief, + indefinite, and musical. Its chief instrument is sound. <span + class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">192</a></span> A certain + quaintness or grotesqueness of tone is a means for satisfying the thirst + for supernal beauty. Hence the musical lyric is to Poe the only true type + of poetry; a long poem does not exist. Readers who respond more readily to + auditory than to visual or motor stimulus are therefore Poe's chosen + audience. For them he executes, like Paganini, marvels upon his single + string. He has easily recognizable devices: the dominant note, the + refrain, the "repetend," that is to say the phrase which echoes, with some + variation, a phrase or line already used. In such poems as <i>To Helen</i>, + <i>Israfel</i>, <i>The Haunted Palace</i>, <i>Annabel Lee</i>, the theme, + the tone, the melody all weave their magic spell; it is like listening to + a lute-player in a dream. + </p> + <p> + That the device often turns into a trick is equally true. In <i>The Bells</i> + and <i>The Raven</i> we detect the prestidigitator. It is jugglery, though + such juggling as only a master-musician can perform. In <i>Ulalume</i> and + other show-pieces the wires get crossed and the charm snaps, scattering + tinsel fragments of nonsense verse. Such are the dangers of the technical + temperament unenriched by wide and deep contact with human feeling. + </p> + <p> + Poe's theory of the art of the short story is <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_193" id="Page_193">193</a></span> now familiar enough. The + power of a tale, he thought, turned chiefly if not solely upon its unity, + its harmony of effect. This is illustrated in all of his finest stories. + In <i>The Fall of the House of Usher</i> the theme is Fear; the opening + sentence strikes the key and the closing sentence contains the climax. In + the whole composition every sentence is modulated to the one end in view. + The autumn landscape tones with the melancholy house; the somber chamber + frames the cadaverous face of Roderick Usher; the face is an index of the + tumultuous agitation of a mind wrestling with the grim phantom Fear and + awaiting the cumulative horror of the final moment. In <i>Ligeia</i>, + which Poe sometimes thought the best of all his tales, the theme is the + ceaseless life of the will, the potency of the spirit of the beloved and + departed woman. The unity of effect is absolute, the workmanship + consummate. So with the theme of revenge in <i>The Cask of Amontillado</i>, + the theme of mysterious intrigue in <i>The Assignation</i>. In Poe's + detective stories, or tales of ratiocination as he preferred to call them, + he takes to pieces for our amusement a puzzle which he has cunningly put + together. <i>The Gold Bug</i> is the best known of these, <i>The Purloined + Letter</i> the most perfect, <i>The</i> <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_194" id="Page_194">194</a></span> <i>Murders in the Rue Morgue</i> + the most sensational. Then there are the tales upon scientific subjects or + displaying the pretence of scientific knowledge, where the narrator loves + to pose as a man without imagination and with "habits of rigid thought." + And there are tales of conscience, of which <i>The Black Cat</i> is the + most fearful and <i>William Wilson</i> the most subtle; and there are + landscape sketches and fantasies and extravaganzas, most of these poor + stuff. + </p> + <p> + It is ungrateful and perhaps unnecessary to dwell upon Poe's limitations. + His scornful glance caught certain aspects of the human drama with + camera-like precision. Other aspects of life, and nobler, he never seemed + to perceive. The human comedy sometimes moved him to laughter, but his + humor is impish and his wit malign. His imagination fled from the + daylight; he dwelt in the twilight among the tombs. He closed his eyes to + dream, and could not see the green sunlit earth, seed-time and harvest, + man going forth to his toil and returning to his hearthstone, the America + that laughs as it labors. He wore upon his finger the magic ring and the + genii did his bidding. But we could wish that the palaces they reared for + him were not in such a <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" + id="Page_195">195</a></span> somber land, with such infernal lights + gleaming in their windows, and crowded with such horror-haunted forms. We + could wish that his imagination dealt less often with those primitive + terrors that belong to the childhood of our race. Yet when his spell is + upon us we lapse back by a sort of atavism into primal savagery and + shudder with a recrudescence of long forgotten fears. No doubt Poe was + ignorant of life, in the highest sense. He was caged in by his ignorance, + Yet he had beautiful dusky wings that bruised themselves against his + prison. + </p> + <p> + Poe was a tireless critic of his own work, and both his standards of + workmanship and his critical precepts have been of great service to his + careless countrymen. He turned out between four and five short stories a + year, was poorly paid for them, and indeed found difficulty in selling + them at all. Yet he was constantly correcting them for the better. His + best poems were likewise his latest. He was tantalized with the desire for + artistic perfection. He became the pathbreaker for a long file of men in + France, Italy, England, and America. He found the way and they brought + back the glory and the cash. + </p> + <p> + I have sometimes imagined Poe, with four other <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_196" id="Page_196">196</a></span> men and one woman, seated at + a dinner-table laid for six, and talking of their art and of themselves. + What would the others think of Poe? I fancy that Thackeray would chat with + him courteously, but would not greatly care for him. George Eliot, + woman-like, would pity him. Hawthorne would watch him with those + inscrutable eyes and understand him better than the rest. But Stevenson + would be immensely interested; he would begin an essay on Poe before he + went to sleep. And Mr. Kipling would look sharply at him: he has seen that + man before, in <i>The Gate of a Hundred Sorrows</i>. All of them would + find in him something to praise, a great deal to marvel at, and perhaps + not much to love. And the sensitive, shabby, lonely Poe—what would + he think of them? He might not care much for the other guests, but I think + he would say to himself with a thrill of pride: "I belong at this table." + And he does. + </p> + <p> + Walt Whitman, whom his friend O'Connor dubbed the "good gray poet," offers + a bizarre contrast to Edgar Allan Poe. There was nothing distinctively + American about Poe except his ingenuity; he had no interest in American + history or in American ideas; he was a timeless, placeless embodiment of + technical artistry. But Whitman <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" + id="Page_197">197</a></span> had a passion for his native soil; he was + hypnotized by the word America; he spent much of his mature life in + brooding over the question, "What, after all, is an American, and what + should an American poet be in our age of science and democracy?" It is + true that he was as untypical as Poe of the average citizen of "these + states." His personality is unique. In many respects he still baffles our + curiosity. He repels many of his countrymen without arousing the pity + which adds to their romantic interest in Poe. Whatever our literary + students may feel, and whatever foreign critics may assert, it must be + acknowledged that to the vast majority of American men and women "good old + Walt" is still an outsider. + </p> + <p> + Let us try to see first the type of mind with which we are dealing. It is + fundamentally religious, perceiving the unity and kinship and glory of all + created things. It is this passion of worship which inspired St. Francis + of Assisi's <i>Canticle to the Sun</i>. It cries, "Benedicite, Omnia opera + Domini: All ye Green Things upon the Earth, bless ye the Lord!" That is + the real motto for Whitman's <i>Leaves of Grass</i>. Like St. Francis, and + like his own immediate master, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Whitman is a mystic. + He cannot argue the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">198</a></span> + ultimate questions; he asserts them. Instead of marshaling and sifting the + proofs for immortality, he chants "I know I am deathless." Like Emerson + again, Whitman shares that peculiarly American type of mysticism known as + Transcendentalism, but he came at the end of this movement instead of at + the beginning of it. In his Romanticism, likewise, he is an end of an era + figure. His affiliations with Victor Hugo are significant; and a volume of + Scott's poems which he owned at the age of sixteen became his + "inexhaustible mine and treasury for more than sixty years." Finally, and + quite as uncompromisingly as Emerson, Thoreau, and Poe, Whitman is an + individualist. He represents the assertive, Jacksonian period of our + national existence. In a thousand similes he makes a declaration of + independence for the separate person, the "single man" of Emerson's Phi + Beta Kappa address. "I wear my hat as I please, indoors and out." + Sometimes this is mere swagger. Sometimes it is superb. + </p> + <p> + So much for the type. Let us turn next to the story of Whitman's life. It + must here be told in the briefest fashion, for Whitman's own prose and + poetry relate the essentials of his biography. He was born on Long Island, + of New England and <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">199</a></span> + Dutch ancestry, in 1819. Lowell, W. W. Story, and Charles A. Dana + were born in that year, as was also George Eliot. Whitman's father was a + carpenter, who "leaned to the Quakers." There were many children. When + little "Walt"—as he was called, to distinguish him from his father, + Walter—was four, the family moved to Brooklyn. The boy had scanty + schooling, and by the time he was twenty had tried type-setting, teaching, + and editing a country newspaper on Long Island. He was a big, dark-haired + fellow, sensitive, emotional, extraordinarily impressible. + </p> + <p> + The next sixteen years were full of happy vagrancy. At twenty-two he was + editing a paper in New York, and furnishing short stories to the <i>Democratic + Review</i>, a literary journal which numbered Bryant, Longfellow, + Whittier, Poe, Hawthorne, and Thoreau among its contributors. He wrote a + novel on temperance, "mostly in the reading-room of Tammany Hall," and + tried here and there an experiment in free verse. He was in love with the + pavements of New York and the Brooklyn ferry-boats, in love with Italian + opera and with long tramps over Long Island. He left his position on <i>The + Brooklyn Eagle</i> and wandered south to New Orleans. By and by he drifted + back <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">200</a></span> + to New York, tried lecturing, worked at the carpenter's trade with his + father, and brooded over a book—"a book of new things." + </p> + <p> + This was the famous <i>Leaves of Grass</i>. He set the type himself, in a + Brooklyn printing-office, and printed about eight hundred copies. The book + had a portrait of the author—a meditative, gray-bearded poet in + workman's clothes—and a confused preface on America as a field for + the true poet. Then followed the new gospel, "I celebrate myself," chanted + in long lines of free verse, whose patterns perplexed contemporary + readers. For the most part it was passionate speech rather than song, a + rhapsodical declamation in hybrid rhythms. Very few people bought the book + or pretended to understand what it was all about. Some were startled by + the frank sexuality of certain poems. But Emerson wrote to Whitman from + Concord: "I find it the most extraordinary piece of wit and wisdom that + America has yet contributed." + </p> + <p> + Until the Civil War was half over, Whitman remained in Brooklyn, patiently + composing new poems for successive printings of his book. Then he went to + the front to care for a wounded brother, and finally settled down in a + Washington garret <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">201</a></span> + to spend his strength as an army hospital nurse. He wrote <i>Drum Taps</i> + and other magnificent poems about the War, culminating in his threnody on + Lincoln's death, <i>When Lilacs last in the Dooryard Bloomed</i>. + Swinburne called this "the most sonorous nocturn ever chanted in the + church of the world." After the war had ended, Whitman stayed on in + Washington as a government clerk, and saw much of John Burroughs and W. D. + O'Connor. John Hay was a staunch friend. Some of the best known poets and + critics of England and the Continent now began to recognize his genius. + But his health had been permanently shattered by his heroic service as a + nurse, and in 1873 he suffered a paralytic stroke which forced him to + resign his position in Washington and remove to his brother's home in + Camden, New Jersey. + </p> + <p> + He was only fifty-four, but his best work was already done, and his + remaining years, until his death in 1892, were those of patient and serene + invalidism. He wrote some fascinating prose in this final period, and his + cluttered chamber in Camden became the shrine of many a literary pilgrim, + among them some of the foremost men of letters of this country and of + Europe. He was <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">202</a></span> + cared for by loyal friends. Occasionally he appeared in public, a + magnificent gray figure of a man. And then, at seventy-three, the "Dark + mother always gliding near" enfolded him. + </p> + <p> + There are puzzling things in the physical and moral constitution of Walt + Whitman, and the obstinate questions involved in his theory of poetry and + in his actual poetical performance are still far from solution. But a few + points concerning him are by this time fairly clear. They must be swiftly + summarized. + </p> + <p> + The first obstacle to the popular acceptance of Walt Whitman is the + formlessness or alleged formlessness of <i>Leaves of Grass</i>. This is a + highly technical question, involving a more accurate notation than has + thus far been made of the patterns and tunes of free verse and of + emotional prose. Whitman's "new and national declamatory expression," as + he termed it, cannot receive a final technical valuation until we have + made more scientific progress in the analysis of rhythms. As regards the + contents of his verse, it is plain that he included much material unfused + and untransformed by emotion. These elements foreign to the nature of + poetry clog many of his lines. The enumerated objects in his catalogue or + inventory <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">203</a></span> + poems often remain inert objects only. Like many mystics, he was + hypnotized by external phenomena, and he often fails to communicate to his + reader the trance-like emotion which he himself experienced. This + imperfect transfusion of his material is a far more significant defect in + Whitman's poetry than the relatively few passages of unashamed sexuality + which shocked the American public in 1855. + </p> + <p> + The gospel or burden of <i>Leaves of Grass</i> is no more difficult of + comprehension than the general drift of Emerson's essays, which helped to + inspire it. The starting-point of the book is a mystical illumination + regarding the unity and blessedness of the universe, an insight passing + understanding, but based upon the revelatory experience of love. In the + light of this experience, all created things are recognized as divine. The + starting-point and center of the Whitman world is the individual man, the + "strong person," imperturbable in mind, athletic in body, unconquerable, + and immortal. Such individuals meet in comradeship, and pass together + along the open roads of the world. No one is excluded because of his + poverty or his sins; there is room in the ideal America for everybody + except the doubter and sceptic. Whitman does <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_204" id="Page_204">204</a></span> not linger over the smaller + groups of human society, like the family. He is not a fireside poet. He + passes directly from his strong persons, meeting freely on the open road, + to his conception of "these States." One of his typical visions of the + breadth and depth and height of America will be found in <i>By Blue + Ontario's Shore</i>. In this and in many similar rhapsodies Whitman holds + obstinately to what may be termed the three points of his national creed. + The first is the newness of America, and its expression is in his + well-known chant of <i>Pioneers, O Pioneers</i>. Yet this new America is + subtly related to the past; and in Whitman's later poems, such as <i>Passage + to India</i>, the spiritual kinship of orient and occident is emphasized. + The second article of the creed is the unity of America. Here he voices + the conceptions of Hamilton, Clay, Webster, and Lincoln. In spite of all + diversity in external aspects the republic is "one and indivisible." This + unity, in Whitman's view, was cemented forever by the issue of the Civil + War. Lincoln, the "Captain," dies indeed on the deck of the "victor ship," + but the ship comes into the harbor "with object won." Third and finally, + Whitman insists upon the solidarity of America with all countries of the + globe. Particularly in his <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" + id="Page_205">205</a></span> yearning and thoughtful old age, the poet + perceived that humanity has but one heart and that it should have but one + will. No American poet has ever prophesied so directly and powerfully + concerning the final issue involved in that World War which he did not + live to see. + </p> + <p> + Whitman, like Poe, had defects of character and defects of art. His life + and work raise many problems which will long continue to fascinate and to + baffle the critics. But after all of them have had their say, it will + remain true that he was a seer and a prophet, far in advance of his own + time, like Lincoln, and like Lincoln, an inspired interpreter of the soul + of this republic. + </p> + <hr /> + <div class="chapterhead"> + <a name="link2HCH0009" id="link2HCH0009"></a> <a name="chap09" id="chap09"></a> + <br /> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">206</a></span> + <br /><br /><br /> + <h2> + <a href="#Contents">CHAPTER IX.</a> + </h2> + </div> + <p class="chaptertitle"> + Union and Liberty + </p> + <p class="noindent"> + "<span class="smcap">There</span> is what I call the American idea," + declared Theodore Parker in the Anti-Slavery Convention of 1850. "This + idea demands, as the proximate organization thereof, a democracy—that + is, a government of all the people, by all the people, for all the people; + of course, a government on the principle of eternal justice, the + unchanging law of God; for shortness' sake, I will call it the idea of + Freedom." + </p> + <p> + These are noble words, and they are thought to have suggested a familiar + phrase of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, thirteen years later. Yet students + of literature, no less than students of politics, recognize the difficulty + of summarizing in words a national "idea." Precisely what was the Greek + "idea"? What is today the French "idea"? No single formula is adequate to + express such a complex of fact, theories, moods—not even <span + class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">207</a></span> the famous + "Liberty, Fraternity, Equality." The existence of a truly national life + and literature presupposes a certain degree of unity, an integration of + race, language, political institutions, and social ideals. It is obvious + that this problem of national integration meets peculiar obstacles in the + United States. Divergencies of race, tradition, and social theory, and + clashing interests of different sections have been felt from the beginning + of the nation's life. There was well-nigh complete solidarity in the + single province of New England during a portion of the seventeenth + century, and under the leadership of the great Virginians there was + sufficient national fusion to make the Revolution successful. But early in + the nineteenth century, the opening of the new West, and the increasing + economic importance of Slavery as a peculiar institution of the South, + provoked again the ominous question of the possibility of an enduring + Union. From 1820 until the end of the Civil War, it was the chief + political issue of the United States. The aim of the present chapter is to + show how the theme of Union and Liberty affected our literature. + </p> + <p> + To appreciate the significance of this theme we must remind ourselves + again of what many persons <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" + id="Page_208">208</a></span> have called the civic note in our national + writing. Franklin exemplified it in his day. It is far removed from the + pure literary art of a Poe, a Hawthorne, a Henry James. It aims at action + rather than beauty. It seeks to persuade, to convince, to bring things to + pass. We shall observe it in the oratory of Clay and Webster, as they + pleaded for compromise; in the editorials of Garrison, a foe to compromise + and like Calhoun an advocate, if necessary, of disunion; in the + epoch-making novel of Harriet Beecher Stowe; in the speeches of Wendell + Phillips, in verse white-hot with political passion, and sermons blazing + with the fury of attack and defense of principles dear to the human heart. + We must glance, at least, at the lyrics produced by the war itself, and + finally, we shall observe how Abraham Lincoln, the inheritor of the ideas + of Jefferson, Clay, and Webster, perceives and maintains, in the noblest + tones of our civic speech, the sole conditions of our continuance as a + nation. + </p> + <p> + Let us begin with oratory, an American habit, and, as many besides Dickens + have thought, an American defect. We cannot argue that question adequately + here. It is sufficient to say that in the pioneer stages of our existence + oratory was necessary <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" + id="Page_209">209</a></span> as a stimulus to communal thought and + feeling. The speeches of Patrick Henry and Samuel Adams were as essential + to our winning independence as the sessions of statesmen and the armed + conflicts in the field. And in that new West which came so swiftly and + dramatically into existence at the close of the Revolution, the orator + came to be regarded as the normal type of intellectual leadership. The + stump grew more potent than schoolhouse and church and bench. + </p> + <p> + The very pattern, and, if one likes, the tragic victim of this + glorification of oratory was Henry Clay, "Harry of the West," the glamour + of whose name and the wonderful tones of whose voice became for a while a + part of the political system of the United States. Union and Liberty were + the master-passions of Clay's life, but the greater of these was Union. + The half-educated young immigrant from Virginia hazarded his career at the + outset by championing Anti-Slavery in the Kentucky Constitutional + Convention; the last notable act of his life was his successful + management, at the age of seventy-three, of the futile Compromise of 1850. + All his life long he fought for national issues; for the War of 1812, for + a protective tariff and an "American system," for the Missouri <span + class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">210</a></span> Compromise + of 1820 as a measure for national safety; and he had plead generously for + the young South American republics and for struggling Greece. He had + become the perpetual candidate of his party for the Presidency, and had + gone down again and again in unforeseen and heart-rending defeat. Yet he + could say honorably: "If any one desires to know the leading and paramount + object of my public life, the preservation of this union will furnish him + the key." One could wish that the speeches of this fascinating American + were more readable today. They seem thin, facile, full of phrases—such + adroit phrases as would catch the ear of a listening, applauding audience. + Straight, hard thinking was not the road to political preferment in Clay's + day. Calhoun had that power, as Lincoln had it. Webster had the capacity + for it, although he was too indolent to employ his great gifts steadily. + Yet it was Webster who analyzed kindly and a little sadly, for he was + talking during Clay's last illness and just before his own, his old + rival's defect in literary quality: "He was never a man of books.… + I could never imagine him sitting comfortably in his library and reading + quietly out of the great books of the past. He has been too fond of + excitement—he has lived upon it; <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_211" id="Page_211">211</a></span> he has been too fond of + company, not enough alone; and has had few resources within himself." Were + the limitations of a typical oratorical temperament ever touched more + unerringly than in these words? + </p> + <p> + When Webster himself thundered, at the close of his reply to Hayne in + 1830, "Union <em>and</em> Liberty, now and forever, one and inseparable," + the words sank deeper into the consciousness of the American people than + any similar sentiment uttered by Henry Clay. For Webster's was the richer, + fuller nature, nurtured by "the great books of the past," brooding, as + Lincoln was to brood later, over the seemingly insoluble problem of + preserving a union of States half slave, half free. On the fateful seventh + of March, 1850, Webster, like Clay, cast the immense weight of his + personality and prestige upon the side of compromise. It was the ruin of + his political fortune, for the mood of the North was changing, and the + South preferred other candidates for the Presidency. Yet the worst that + can fairly be said against that speech today is that it lacked moral + imagination to visualize, as Mrs. Stowe was soon to visualize, the human + results of slavery. As a plea for the transcendent necessity of + maintaining the old Union it was consistent <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_212" id="Page_212">212</a></span> with Webster's whole + development of political thought. + </p> + <p> + What were the secrets of that power that held Webster's hearers literally + spellbound, and made the North think of him, after that alienation of + 1850, as a fallen angel? No one can say fully, for we touch here the + mysteries of personality and of the spoken word. But enough survives from + the Webster legend, from his correspondence and political and legal + oratory, to bring us into the presence of a superman. The dark Titan face, + painted by such masters as Carlyle, Hawthorne, and Emerson; the magical + voice, remembered now but by a few old men; the bodily presence, with its + leonine suggestion of sleepy power only half put forth—these aided + Webster to awe men or allure them into personal idolatry. Yet outside of + New England he was admired rather than loved. There is still universal + recognition of the mental capacity of this foremost lawyer and foremost + statesman of his time. He was unsurpassed in his skill for direct, simple, + limpid statement; but he could rise at will to a high Roman stateliness of + diction, a splendid sonorousness of cadence. His greatest public + appearances were in the Dartmouth College Case before the Supreme Court, + the Plymouth, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">213</a></span> + Bunker Hill, and Adams-Jefferson commemorative orations, the Reply to + Hayne, and the Seventh of March speeches in the Senate. Though he + exhibited in his private life something of the prodigal recklessness of + the pioneer, his mental operations were conservative, constructive. His + lifelong antagonist Calhoun declared that "The United States are not a + nation." Webster, in opposition to this theory of a confederation of + states, devoted his superb talents to the demonstration of the thesis that + the United States "<em>is</em>," not "are." Thus he came to be known as + the typical expounder of the Constitution. When he reached, in 1850, the + turning-point of his career, his countrymen knew by heart his personal and + political history, the New Hampshire boyhood and education, the rise to + mastery at the New England bar, the service in the House of + Representatives and the Senate and as Secretary of State. His speeches + were already in the schoolbooks, and for twenty years boys had been + declaiming his arguments against nullification. He had helped to teach + America to think and to feel. Indeed it was through his oratory that many + of his fellow-citizens had gained their highest conception of the beauty, + the potency, and the dignity of human <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_214" id="Page_214">214</a></span> speech. And in truth he never + exhibited his logical power and demonstrative skill more superbly than in + the plea of the seventh of March for the preservation of the <i>status quo</i>, + for the avoidance of mutual recrimination between North and South, for + obedience to the law of the land. It was his supreme effort to reconcile + an irreconcilable situation. + </p> + <p> + It failed, as we know. Whittier, Emerson, Theodore Parker, and indeed most + of the voters of New England, believed that Webster had bartered his + private convictions in the hope of securing the Presidential nomination in + 1852. They assailed him savagely, and Webster died, a broken man, in the + autumn of the Presidential year. "I have given my life to law and + politics," he wrote to Professor Silliman. "Law is uncertain and politics + are utterly vain." The dispassionate judgment of the present hour frees + him from the charge of conscious treachery to principle. He was rather a + martyr to his own conception of the obligations imposed by nationality. + When these obligations run counter to human realities, the theories of + statesmen must give way. Emerson could not refute that logic of Webster's + argument for the Fugitive Slave Law, but he could at least record <span + class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">215</a></span> in his + private <i>Journal</i>: "<em>I will not obey it, by God!</em>" So said + hundreds of thousands of obscure men in the North, but Webster did not or + could not hear them. + </p> + <p> + While no other orator of that period was so richly endowed as Daniel + Webster, the struggle for Union and Liberty enlisted on both sides many + eloquent men. John C. Calhoun's acute, ingenious, masterly political + theorizing can still be studied in speeches that have lost little of their + effectiveness through the lapse of time. The years have dealt roughly with + Edward Everett, once thought to be the pattern of oratorical gifts and + graces. In commemorative oratory, indeed, he ranked with Webster, but the + dust is settling upon his learned and ornate pages. Rufus Choate, another + conservative Whig in politics, and a leader, like Wirt and Pinkney, at the + bar, had an exotic, almost Oriental fancy, a gorgeousness of diction, and + an intensity of emotion unrivaled among his contemporaries. His Dartmouth + College eulogy of Webster in 1853 shows him at his best. The Anti-Slavery + orators, on the other hand, had the advantage of a specific moral issue in + which they led the attack. Wendell Phillips was the most polished, the + most consummate in his air of informality, <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_216" id="Page_216">216</a></span> and his example did much to + puncture the American tradition of high-flown oratory. He was an expert in + virulent denunciation, passionately unfair beneath his mask of + conversational decorum, an aristocratic demagogue. He is still distrusted + and hated by the Brahmin class of his own city, still adored by the + children and grandchildren of slaves. Charles Sumner, like Edward Everett, + seems sinking into popular oblivion, in spite of the statues and portraits + and massive volumes of erudite and caustic and high-minded orations. He + may be seen at his best in such books as Longfellow's <i>Journal and + Correspondence</i> and the <i>Life and Letters</i> of George Ticknor. + There one has a pleasant picture of a booklover, traveler, and friend. But + in his public speech he was arrogant, unsympathetic, domineering. "Sumner + is my idea of a bishop," said Lincoln tentatively. There are bishops and + bishops, however, and if Henry Ward Beecher, whom Lincoln and hosts of + other Americans admired, had only belonged to the Church of England, what + an admirable Victorian bishop he might have made! Perhaps his best service + to the cause of union was rendered by his speeches in England, where he + fairly mobbed the mob and won them by his wit, courage, and by <span + class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">217</a></span> his appeal + to the instinct of fair play. Beecher's oratory, in and out of the pulpit, + was temperamental, sentimental in the better sense, and admirably human in + all its instincts. He had an immense following, not only in political and + humanitarian fields, but as a lovable type of the everyday American who + can say undisputed things not only solemnly, if need be, but by preference + with an infectious smile. The people who loved Mr. Beecher are the people + who understand Mr. Bryan. + </p> + <p> + Foremost among the journalists of the great debate were William Lloyd + Garrison and Horace Greeley. Garrison was a perfect example of the + successful journalist as described by Zola—the man who keeps on + pounding at a single idea until he has driven it into the head of the + public. Everyone knows at least the sentence from his salutatory editorial + in <i>The Liberator</i> on January 1, 1831: "I am in earnest—I will + not retreat a single inch—<i>And I will be heard</i>." He kept this + vow, and he also kept the accompanying and highly characteristic promise: + "I will be as harsh as truth and as uncompromising as justice. On this + subject, I do not wish to think, or write, or speak, with moderation." But + there would be little political literature <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_218" id="Page_218">218</a></span> in the world if its + production were entrusted to the moderate type of man, and the files of <i>The + Liberator</i>, though certainly harsh and full of all uncharitableness + towards slave-owners, make excellent reading for the twentieth century + American who perceives that in spite of the triumph of emancipation, in + which Garrison had his fair share of glory, many aspects of our + race-problem remain unsolved. Horace Greeley, the founder and editor of + the <i>New York Tribune</i>, was a farmer's boy who learned early to speak + and write the vocabulary of the plain people. Always interested in new + ideas, even in Transcendentalism and Fourierism, his courage and energy + and journalistic vigor gave him leadership in the later phases of the + movement for enfranchisement. He did not hesitate to offer unasked advice + to Lincoln on many occasions, and Lincoln enriched our literature by his + replies. Greeley had his share of faults and fatuities, but in his best + days he had an impressively loyal following among both rural and city-bred + readers of his paper, and he remains one of the best examples of that + obsolescent personal journalism which is destined to disappear under + modern conditions of newspaper production. Readers really used to care for + "what Greeley said" and <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" + id="Page_219">219</a></span> "Dana said" and "Sam Bowles said," and all of + these men, with scores of others, have left their stamp upon the phrases + and the tone of our political writing. + </p> + <p> + In the concrete issue of Slavery, however, it must be admitted that the + most remarkable literary victory was scored, not by any orator or + journalist, but by an almost unknown little woman, the author of <i>Uncle + Tom's Cabin</i>. No American novel has had so curious a history and so + great or so immediate an influence in this country and in Europe. In spite + of all that has been written about it, its author's purpose is still + widely misunderstood, particularly in the South, and the controversy over + this one epoch-making novel has tended to obscure the literary reputation + which Mrs. Stowe won by her other books. + </p> + <p> + Harriet Beecher, the daughter and the sister of famous clergymen, was born + in Litchfield, Connecticut, in 1811. For seventeen years, from 1832 to + 1849, she lived in the border city of Cincinnati, within sight of slave + territory, and in daily contact with victims of the slave system. While + her sympathies, like those of her father Lyman Beecher, were anti-slavery, + she was not an Abolitionist in the Garrisonian sense of that word. At + twenty-five <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">220</a></span> + she had married a widowed professor, Calvin Stowe, to whom she bore many + children. She had written a few sketches of New England life, and her + family thought her a woman of genius. Such was the situation in the winter + of 1849-1850, when the Stowes migrated to Brunswick, Maine, where the + husband had been appointed to a chair at Bowdoin. Pitiably poor, and + distracted by household cares which she had to face single-handed—for + the Professor was a "feckless body"—Mrs. Stowe nevertheless could + not be indifferent to the national crisis over the Fugitive Slave Law. She + had seen its working. When her sister-in-law wrote to her: "If I could use + a pen as you can, I would write something that would make this whole + nation feel what an accursed thing slavery is," Mrs. Stowe exclaimed: "God + helping me, I will write something; I will if I live." + </p> + <p> + <i>Uncle Tom's Cabin</i>, begun in the spring of 1850, was a woman's + answer to Webster's seventh of March speech. Its object was plainly stated + to be "to awaken sympathy and feeling for the African race; to show, their + wrongs and sorrows, under a system so necessarily cruel and unjust as to + defeat and do away the good effects of all that can be attempted for them, + by their best friends under <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" + id="Page_221">221</a></span> it." The book was permeated with what we now + call the 1848 anti-aristocratic sentiment, the direct heritage of the + French Revolution. "There is a <i>dies irœ</i> coming on, sooner or + later," admits St. Clare in the story. "The same thing is working, in + Europe, in England, and in this country." There was no sectional hostility + in Mrs. Stowe's heart. "The people of the free states have defended, + encouraged, and participated [in slavery]; and are more guilty for it, + before God, than the South, in that they have <em>not</em> the apology of + education or custom. If the mothers of the free states had all felt as + they should in times past, the sons of the free states would not have been + the holders, and proverbially the hardest masters, of slaves; the sons of + the free states would not have connived at the extension of slavery in our + national body." "Your book is going to be the great pacificator," wrote a + friend of Mrs. Stowe; "it will unite North and South." But the distinctly + Christian and fraternal intention of the book was swiftly forgotten in the + storm of controversy that followed its appearance. It had been written + hastily, fervidly, in the intervals of domestic toil at Brunswick, had + been printed as a serial in <i>The National Era</i> without attracting + much attention, and was <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" + id="Page_222">222</a></span> issued in book form in March, 1852. Its + sudden and amazing success was not confined to this country. The story ran + in three Paris newspapers at once, was promptly dramatized, and has held + the stage in France ever since. It was placed upon the <i>Index</i> in + Italy, as being subversive of established authority. Millions of copies + were sold in Europe, and <i>Uncle Tom's Cabin</i>, more than any other + cause, held the English working men in sympathy with the North in the + English cotton crisis of our Civil War. + </p> + <p> + It is easy to see the faults of this masterpiece and impossible not to + recognize its excellencies. "If our art has not scope enough to include a + book of this kind," said Madame George Sand, "we had better stretch the + terms of our art a little." For the book proved to be, as its author had + hoped, a "living dramatic reality." Topsy, Chloe, Sam and Andy, Miss + Ophelia and Legree are alive. Mrs. St. Clare might have been one of + Balzac's indolent, sensuous women. Uncle Tom himself is a bit too good to + be true, and readers no longer weep over the death of little Eva—nor, + for that matter, over the death of Dickens's little Nell. There is some + melodrama, some religiosity, and there are some absurd recognition scenes + at the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">223</a></span> + close. Nevertheless with an instinctive genius which Zola would have + envied, Mrs. Stowe embodies in men and women the vast and ominous system + of slavery. All the tragic forces of necessity, blindness, sacrifice, and + retribution are here: neither Shelby, nor Eliza, nor the tall Kentuckian + who aids her, nor John Bird, nor Uncle Tom himself in the final act of his + drama, can help himself. For good or evil they are the products and + results of the system; and yet they have and they give the illusion of + volition. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Stowe lived to write many another novel and short story, among them + <i>Dred</i>, <i>The Minister's Wooing</i>, <i>Oldtown Folks</i>, <i>Oldtown + Fireside Stories</i>. In the local short story she deserves the honors due + to one of the pioneers, and her keen affectionate observation, her humor, + and her humanity, would have given her a literary reputation quite + independent of her masterpiece. But she is likely to pay the penalty of + that astounding success, and to go down to posterity as the author of a + single book. She would not mind this fate. + </p> + <p> + The poetry of the idea of Freedom and of the sectional struggle which was + necessary before that idea could be realized in national policy is on the + whole not commensurate with the significance of <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_224" id="Page_224">224</a></span> the issue itself. Any + collection of American political verse produced during this period + exhibits spirited and sincere writing, but the combination of mature + literary art and impressive general ideas is comparatively rare. There are + single poems of Whittier, Lowell, and Whitman which meet every test of + effective political and social verse, but the main body of poetry, both + sectional and national, written during the thirty years ending with 1865 + lacks breadth, power, imaginative daring. The continental spaciousness and + energy which foreign critics thought they discovered in Whitman is not + characteristic of our poetry as a whole. Victor Hugo and Shelley and + Swinburne have written far more magnificent republican poetry than ours. + The passion for freedom has been very real upon this side of the Atlantic; + it pulsed in the local loyalty of the men who sang <i>Dixie</i> as well as + in their antagonists who chanted <i>John Brown's Body</i> and <i>The + Battle Hymn of the Republic</i>; but this passion has not yet lifted and + ennobled any notable mass of American verse. Even the sentiment of union + was more adequately voiced in editorials and sermons and orations, even in + a short story—Edward Everett Hale's <i>Man Without a Country</i>—than + by most of the poets who attempted to glorify that theme. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">225</a></span> + Nevertheless the verse of these thirty years is rich in provincial and + sectional loyalties. It has earnestness and pathos. We have, indeed, no + adequate national anthem, even yet, for neither the words nor the music of + <i>The Star-Spangled Banner</i> fully express what we feel while we are + trying to sing it, as the <i>Marseillaise</i>, for example, does express + the very spirit of revolutionary republicanism. But in true pioneer + fashion we get along with a makeshift until something better turns up. The + lyric and narrative verse of the Civil War itself was great in quantity, + and not more inferior in quality than the war verse of other nations has + often proved to be when read after the immediate occasion for it has + passed. Single lyrics by Timrod and Paul Hayne, Boker, H. H. + Brownell, Read, Stedman, and other men are still full of fire. Yet Mrs. + Howe's <i>Battle Hymn</i>, scribbled hastily in the gray dawn, + interpreted, as no other lyric of the war quite succeeded in interpreting, + the mystical glory of sacrifice for Freedom. Soldiers sang it in camp; + women read it with tears; children repeated it in school, vaguely but + truly perceiving in it, as their fathers had perceived in Webster's <i>Reply + to Hayne</i> thirty years before, the idea of union made "simple, + sensuous, passionate." No American <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" + id="Page_226">226</a></span> poem has had a more dramatic and intense life + in the quick breathing imagination of men. + </p> + <p> + More and more, however, the instinct of our people is turning to the words + of Abraham Lincoln as the truest embodiment in language, as his life was + the truest embodiment in action, of our national ideal. It is a curious + reversal of contemporary judgments that thus discovers in the homely + phrases of a frontier lawyer the most perfect literary expression of the + deeper spirit of his time. "How knoweth this man letters, having never + learned?" asked the critical East. The answer is that he had learned in a + better school than the East afforded. The story of Lincoln's life is + happily too familiar to need retelling here, but some of the elements in + his growth in the mastery of speech may at least be summarized. + </p> + <p> + Lincoln had a slow, tireless mind, capable of intense concentration. It + was characteristic of him that he rarely took notes when trying a law + case, saying that the notes distracted his attention. When his partner + Herndon was asked when Lincoln had found time to study out the + constitutional history of the United States, Herndon expressed the opinion + that it was when Lincoln was lying on his back on the office sofa, + apparently <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">227</a></span> + watching the flies upon the ceiling. This combination of bodily repose + with intense mental and spiritual activity is familiar to those who have + studied the biography of some of the great mystics. Walter Pater pointed + it out in the case of Wordsworth. + </p> + <p> + In recalling the poverty and restriction of Lincoln's boyhood and his + infrequent contact with schoolhouses, it is well to remember that he + managed nevertheless to read every book within twenty miles of him. These + were not many, it is true, but they included <i>The Bible</i>, <i>Æesop's + Fables</i>, <i>Pilgrim's Progress</i>, <i>Robinson Crusoe</i>, and, a + little later, Burns and Shakespeare. Better food than this for the mind of + a boy has never been found. Then he came to the history of his own country + since the Declaration of Independence and mastered it. "I am tolerably + well acquainted with the history of the country," he remarked in his + Chicago speech of 1858; and in the Cooper Union speech of 1860 he + exhibited a familiarity with the theory and history of the Constitution + which amazed the young lawyers who prepared an annotated edition of the + address. "He has wit, facts, dates," said Douglas, in extenuation of his + own disinclination to enter upon the famous joint debates, and, when + Douglas <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">228</a></span> + returned to Washington after the debates were over, he confessed to the + young Henry Watterson that "he is the greatest debater I have ever met, + either here or anywhere else." Douglas had won the senatorship and could + afford to be generous, but he knew well enough that his opponent's facts + and dates had been unanswerable. Lincoln's mental grip, indeed, was the + grip of a born wrestler. "I've got him," he had exclaimed toward the end + of the first debate, and the Protean Little Giant, as Douglas was called, + had turned and twisted in vain, caught by "that long-armed creature from + Illinois." He could indeed win the election of 1858, but he had been + forced into an interpretation of the Dred Scott decision which cost him + the Presidency in 1860. + </p> + <p> + Lincoln's keen interest in words and definitions, his patience in + searching the dictionary, is known to every student of his life. Part of + his singular discrimination in the use of language is due to his legal + training, but his style was never professionalized. Neither did it have + anything of that frontier glibness and banality which was the curse of + popular oratory in the West and South. Words were weapons in the hands of + this self-taught fighter for ideas: he kept their edges sharp, and <span + class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">229</a></span> could if + necessary use them with deadly accuracy. He framed the "Freeport dilemma" + for the unwary feet of Douglas as cunningly as a fox-hunter lays his trap. + "Gentlemen," he had said of an earlier effort, "Judge Douglas informed you + that this speech of mine was probably carefully prepared. <em>I admit that + it was.</em>" + </p> + <p> + The story, too, was a weapon of attack and defense for this master + fabulist. Sometimes it was a readier mode of argument than any syllogism; + sometimes it gave him, like the traditional diplomatist's pinch of snuff, + an excuse for pausing while he studied his adversary or made up his own + mind; sometimes, with the instinct of a poetic soul, he invented a parable + and gravely gave it a historic setting "over in Sangamon County." For + although upon his intellectual side the man was a subtle and severe + logician, on his emotional side he was a lover of the concrete and human. + He was always, like John Bunyan, dreaming and seeing "a man" who + symbolized something apposite to the occasion. Thus even his invented + stories aided his marvelous capacity for statement, for specific + illustration of a general law. Lincoln's destiny was to be that of an + explainer, at first to a local audience in store or tavern or courtroom, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">230</a></span> then + to upturned serious faces of Illinois farmers who wished to hear national + issues made clear to them, then to a listening nation in the agony of + civil war, and ultimately to a world which looks to Lincoln as an exponent + and interpreter of the essence of democracy. + </p> + <p> + As the audience increased, the style took on beauty and breadth, as if the + man's soul were looking through wider and wider windows at the world. But + it always remained the simplest of styles. In an offhand reply to a + serenade by an Indiana regiment, or in answering a visiting deputation of + clergymen at the White House, Lincoln could summarize and clarify a + complicated national situation with an ease and orderliness and + fascination that are the despair of professional historians. He never + wasted a word. "Go to work is the only cure for your case," he wrote to + John D. Johnston. There are ten words in that sentence and none of over + four letters. The <i>Gettysburg Address</i> contains but two hundred and + seventy words, in ten sentences. "It is a flat failure," said Lincoln + despondently; but Edward Everett, who had delivered "the" oration of that + day, wrote to the President: "I should be glad if I could flatter myself + that I came as near to the central idea of <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_231" id="Page_231">231</a></span> the occasion in two hours as + you did in two minutes." Today the <i>Address</i> reads as if Lincoln knew + that it would ultimately be stamped in bronze. + </p> + <p> + Yet the real test of Lincoln's supremacy in our distinctly civic + literature lies not so much in his skill in the manipulation of language, + consummate as that was, but rather in those large elements of his nature + which enabled him to perceive the true quality and ideal of American + citizenship and its significance to the world. There was melancholy in + that nature, else there had been a less rich humor; there was mysticism + and a sense of religion which steadily deepened as his responsibilities + increased. There was friendliness, magnanimity, pity for the sorrowful, + patience for the slow of brain and heart, and an expectation for the + future of humanity which may best be described in the old phrase "waiting + for the Kingdom of God." His recurrent dream of the ship coming into port + under full sail, which preluded many important events in his own life—he + had it the night before he was assassinated—is significant not only + of that triumph of a free nation which he helped to make possible, but + also of the victory of what he loved to call "the whole family of man." + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">232</a></span> + "That is the real issue," he had declared in closing the debates with + Douglas; "that is the issue that will continue in this country when these + poor tongues of Judge Douglas and myself shall be silent. It is the + eternal struggle between these two principles—right and wrong—throughout + the world. They are the two principles that have stood face to face from + the beginning of time; and will ever continue to struggle. The one is the + common right of humanity, and the other the divine right of kings." + </p> + <p> + For this representative Anglo-Saxon man, developed under purely American + conditions, maturing slowly, keeping close to facts, dying, like the old + English saint, while he was "still learning," had none of the typical + hardness and selfishness of the Anglo-Saxon. A brooder and idealist, he + was one of those "prophetic souls of the wide world dreaming on things to + come," with sympathies and imagination that reached out beyond the + immediate urgencies of his race and nation to comprehend the universal + task and discipline of the sons of men. In true fraternity and democracy + this Westerner was not only far in advance of his own day, but he is also + far in advance of ours which raises statues to his memory. Yet he was used + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">233</a></span> to + loneliness and to the long view, and even across the welter of the World + War of the twentieth century Lincoln would be tall enough to see that ship + coming into the harbor under full sail. + </p> + <hr /> + <div class="chapterhead"> + <a name="link2HCH0010" id="link2HCH0010"></a> <a name="chap10" id="chap10"></a> + <br /> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">234</a></span> + <br /><br /><br /> + <h2> + <a href="#Contents">CHAPTER X.</a> + </h2> + </div> + <p class="chaptertitle"> + A New Nation + </p> + <p class="noindent"> + <span class="smcap">The</span> changes that have come over the inner + spirit and the outward expression of American life since Lincoln's day are + enough to startle the curiosity of the dullest observer. Yet they have + been accomplished within the lifetime of a single man of letters. The + author of one of the many campaign biographies of Lincoln in 1860 was + William Dean Howells, then an Ohio journalist of twenty-three. In 1917, at + the age of eighty, Mr. Howells is still adding to his long row of charming + and memorable books. Every phase of American writing since the middle of + the last century has fallen under the keen and kindly scrutiny of this + loyal follower of the art of literature. As producer, editor, critic, and + friend of the foremost writers of his epoch, Mr. Howells has known the + books of our new national era as no one else could have known them. Some + future historian of the period may <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" + id="Page_235">235</a></span> piece together, from no other sources than + Mr. Howells's writings, an unrivaled picture of our book-making during + more than sixty years. All that the present historian can attempt is to + sketch with bungling fingers a few men and a few tendencies which seem to + characterize the age. + </p> + <p> + One result of the Civil War was picturesquely set forth in Emerson's <i>Journal</i>. + The War had unrolled a map of the Union, he said, and hung it in every + man's house. There was a universal shifting of attention, if not always + from the province or section to the image of the nation itself, at least a + shift of focus from one section to another. The clash of arms had meant + many other things besides the triumph of Union and the freedom of the + slaves. It had brought men from every state into rude jostling contact + with one another and had developed a new social and human curiosity. It + may serve as another illustration of Professor Shaler's law of tension and + release. The one overshadowing issue which had absorbed so much thought + and imagination and energy had suddenly disappeared. Other shadows were to + gather, of course. Reconstruction of the South was one of them, and the + vast economic and industrial changes that followed the opening of the New + West were to <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">236</a></span> + bring fresh problems almost as intricate as the question of slavery had + been. But for the moment no one thought of these things. The South + accepted defeat as superbly as she had fought, and began to plough once + more. The jubilant North went back to work—to build transcontinental + railroads, to organize great industries, and to create new states. + </p> + <p> + The significant American literature of the first decade after the close of + the War is not in the books dealing directly with themes involved in the + War itself. It is rather the literature of this new release of energy, the + new curiosity as to hitherto unknown sections, the new humor and romance. + Fred Lewis Pattee, the author of an admirable <i>History of American + Literature since 1870</i>, uses scarcely too strong a phrase when he + entitles this period "The Second Discovery of America"; and he quotes + effectively from Mark Twain, who was himself one of these discoverers: + "The eight years in America from 1860 to 1868 uprooted institutions that + were centuries old, changed the politics of a people, transformed the + social life of half the country, and wrought so profoundly upon the entire + national character that the influence cannot be measured short of two or + three generations." + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">237</a></span> Let + us begin with the West, and with that joyous stage-coach journey of young + Samuel L. Clemens across the plains to Nevada in 1861, which he describes + in <i>Roughing It</i>. Who was this Argonaut of the new era, and what + makes him representative of his countrymen in the epoch of release? Born + in Missouri in 1835, the son of an impractical emigrant from Virginia, the + youth had lived from his fourth until his eighteenth year on the banks of + the Mississippi. He had learned the printer's trade, had wandered east and + back again, had served for four years as a river-pilot on the Mississippi, + and had tried to enter the Confederate army. Then came the six crowded + years, chiefly as newspaper reporter, in the boom times of Nevada and + California. His fame began with the publication in New York in 1867 of <i>The + Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County</i>. A newspaper now sent him + to Europe to record "what he sees with his own eyes." He did so in <i>Innocents + Abroad</i>, and his countrymen shouted with laughter. This, then, was + "Europe" after all—another "fake" until this shrewd river-pilot who + signed himself "Mark Twain" took its soundings! Then came a series of far + greater books—<i>Roughing It</i>, <i>Life on the Mississippi</i>, <i>The + Gilded Age</i> (in collaboration), <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" + id="Page_238">238</a></span> and <i>Tom Sawyer</i> and <i>Huckleberry Finn</i>—books + that make our American <i>Odyssey</i>, rich in the spirit of romance and + revealing the magic of the great river as no other pages can ever do + again. Gradually Mark Twain became a public character; he retrieved on the + lecture platform the loss of a fortune earned by his books; he enjoyed his + honorary D. Litt. from Oxford University. Every reader of American + periodicals came to recognize the photographs of that thick shock of hair, + those heavy eyebrows, the gallant drooping little figure, the striking + clothes, the inevitable cigar: all these things seemed to go with the part + of professional humorist, to be like the caressing drawl of Mark's voice. + The force of advertisement could no further go. But at bottom he was far + other than a mere maker of boisterous jokes for people with frontier + preferences in humor. He was a passionate, chivalric lover of things fair + and good, although too honest to pretend to see beauty and goodness where + he could not personally detect them—and an equally passionate hater + of evil. Read <i>The Man Who Corrupted Hadleyburg</i> and <i>The + Mysterious Stranger</i>. In his last years, torn by private sorrows, he + turned as black a philosophical pessimist as we have bred. He died at + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">239</a></span> his + new country seat in Connecticut in 1910. Mr. Paine has written his life in + three great volumes, and there is a twenty-five volume edition of his <i>Works</i>. + </p> + <p> + All the evidence seems to be in. Yet the verdict of the public seems not + quite made up. It is clear that Mark Twain the writer of romance is + gaining upon Mark Twain the humorist. The inexhaustible American appetite + for frontier types of humor seizes upon each new variety, crunches it with + huge satisfaction, and then tosses it away. John Phoenix, Josh Billings, + Jack Downing, Bill Arp, Petroleum V. Nasby, Artemus Ward, Bill Nye—these + are already obsolescent names. If Clemens lacked something of Artemus + Ward's whimsical delicacy and of Josh Billings's tested human wisdom, he + surpassed all of his competitors in a certain rude, healthy masculinity, + the humor of river and mining-camp and printing-office, where men speak + without censorship. His country-men liked exaggeration, and he + exaggerated; they liked irreverence, and he had turned iconoclast in <i>Innocents + Abroad</i>. As a professional humorist, he has paid the obligatory tax for + his extravagance, over-emphasis, and undisciplined taste, but such faults + are swiftly forgotten when one turns <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_240" id="Page_240">240</a></span> to Huckleberry Finn and the + negro Jim and Pudd'nhead Wilson, when one feels Mark Twain's power in + sheer description and episode, his magic in evoking landscape and + atmosphere, his blazing scorn at injustice and cruelty, his contempt for + quacks. + </p> + <p> + Bret Harte, another discoverer of the West, wears less well than Mark + Twain as a personal figure, but has a sure place in the evolution of the + American short story, and he did for the mining-camps of California what + Clemens wrought for the Mississippi River: he became their profane poet. + Yet he was never really of them. He was the clever outsider, with a + prospector's eye, looking for literary material, and finding a whole rich + mine of it—a bigger and richer, in fact, than he was really + qualified to work. But he located a golden vein of it with an instinct + that did credit to his dash of Hebrew blood. Born in Albany, a teacher's + son, brought up on books and in many cities, Harte emigrated to California + in 1854 at the age of sixteen. He became in turn a drug-clerk, teacher, + type-setter, editor, and even Secretary of the California Mint—his + nearest approach, apparently, to the actual work of the mines. In 1868, + while editor of <i>The Overland Monthly</i>, he wrote the short <span + class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">241</a></span> story + which was destined to make him famous in the East and to release him from + California forever. It was <i>The Luck of Roaring Camp</i>. He had been + writing romantic sketches in prose and verse for years; he had steeped + himself in Dickens, like everybody else in the eighteen-sixties; and now + he saw his pay-gravel shining back into his own shining eyes. It was a + pocket, perhaps, rather than a lead, but Bret Harte worked to the end of + his career this material furnished by the camps, this method of the short + story. He never returned to California after his joyous exit in 1871. For + a few years he tried living in New York, but from 1878 until his death in + 1902 Bret Harte lived in Europe, still turning out California stories for + an English and American public which insisted upon that particular + pattern. + </p> + <p> + That the pattern was arbitrary, theatrical, sentimental, somewhat + meretricious in design, in a word insincere like its inventor, has been + repeated at due intervals ever since 1868. The charge is true; yet it is + far from the whole truth concerning Bret Harte's artistry. In mastery of + the technique of the short story he is fairly comparable with Poe, though + less original, for it was Poe who formulated, when Bret Harte was a child + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">242</a></span> of + six, the well-known theory of the unity of effect of the brief tale. This + unity Harte secured through a simplification, often an insulation, of his + theme, the omission of quarreling details, an atmosphere none the less + novel for its occasional theatricality, and characters cunningly modulated + to the one note they were intended to strike. <i>Tennessee's Partner</i>, + <i>The Outcast of Poker Flat</i>, and all the rest are triumphs of + selective skill—as bright nuggets as ever glistened in the pan at + the end of a hard day's labor. That they do not adequately represent the + actual California of the fifties, as old Californians obstinately insist, + is doubtless true, but it is beside the point. Here is no Tolstoi painting + the soul of his race in a few pages: Harte is simply a disciple of Poe and + Dickens, turning the Poe construction trick gracefully, with Dickensy + characters and consistently romantic action. + </p> + <p> + The West has been rediscovered many a time since that decade which + witnessed the first literary bonanza of Mark Twain and Bret Harte. It will + continue to be discovered, in its fresh sources of appeal to the + imagination, as long as Plains and Rockies and Coast endure, as long as + there is any glow upon a distant horizon. It is <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_243" id="Page_243">243</a></span> not places that lose romantic + interest: the immemorial English counties and the Bay of Naples offer + themselves freely to the artist, generation after generation. What is lost + is the glamour of youth, the specific atmosphere of a given historical + epoch. Colonel W. F. Cody ("Buffalo Bill") has typified to millions + of American boys the great period of the Plains, with its Indian fighting, + its slaughter of buffaloes, its robbing of stage-coaches, its superb + riders etched against the sky. But the Wild West was retreating, even in + the days of Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett. The West of the cowboys, as + Theodore Roosevelt and Owen Wister knew it and wrote of it in the eighties + and nineties, has disappeared, though it lives on in fiction and on the + screen. + </p> + <p> + Jack London, born in California in 1876, was forced to find his West in + Alaska—and in alcohol. He was what he and his followers liked to + call the virile or red-blooded type, responsive to the "Call of the Wild," + "living life naked and tensely." In his talk Jack London was simple and + boyish, with plenty of humor over his own literary and social foibles. His + books are very uneven, but he wrote many a hard-muscled, clean-cut page. + If the Bret Harte theory of the West was that each man is at <span + class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">244</a></span> bottom a + sentimentalist, Jack London's formula was that at bottom every man is a + brute. Each theory gave provender enough for a short-story writer to carry + on his back, but is hardly adequate, by itself, for a very long voyage + over human life. + </p> + <p> + "Joaquin" (Cincinnatus Heine) Miller, who was born in 1841 and died in + 1913, had even less of a formula for the West than Jack London. He was a + word-painter of its landscapes, a rider over its surfaces. Cradled "in a + covered wagon pointing West," mingling with wild frontier life from Alaska + to Nicaragua, miner, Indian fighter, hermit, poseur in London and + Washington, then hermit again in California, the author of <i>Songs of the + Sierras</i> at least knew his material. Byron, whom he adored and + imitated, could have invented nothing more romantic than Joaquin's life; + but though Joaquin inherited Scotch intensity, he had nothing of the close + mental grip of the true Scot and nothing of his humor. Vast stretches of + his poetry are empty; some of it is grandiose, elemental, and yet somehow + artificial, as even the Grand Canyon itself looks at certain times. + </p> + <p> + John Muir, another immigrant Scot who reached California in 1868, had far + more stuff in him than Joaquin Miller. He had studied geology, botany, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">245</a></span> and + chemistry at the new University of Wisconsin, and then for years turned + explorer of forests, peaks, and glaciers, not writing, at first, except in + his <i>Journal</i>, but forever absorbing and worshiping sublimity and + beauty with no thought of literary schemes. Yet his every-day talk about + his favorite trees and glaciers had more of the glow of poetry in it than + any talk I have ever heard from men of letters, and his books and <i>Journal</i> + will long perpetuate this thrilling sense of personal contact with wild, + clean, uplifted things—blossoms in giant tree-tops and snow-eddies + blowing round the shoulders of Alaskan peaks. Here is a West as far above + Jack London's and Frank Norris's as the snow-line is higher than the + jungle. + </p> + <p> + The rediscovery of the South was not so much an exploration of fresh or + forgotten geographical territory, as it was a new perception of the + romantic human material offered by a peculiar civilization. Political and + social causes had long kept the South in isolation. A few writers like + Wirt, Kennedy, Longstreet, Simms, had described various aspects of its + life with grace or vivacity, but the best picture of colonial Virginia had + been drawn, after all, by Thackeray, who had merely read about it in + books. Visitors like Fanny Kemble and <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_246" id="Page_246">246</a></span> Frederick Law Olmsted + sketched the South of the mid-nineteenth century more vividly than did the + sons of the soil. There was no real literary public in the South for a + native writer like Simms. He was as dependent upon New York and the + Northern market as a Virginian tobacco-planter of 1740 had been upon + London. But within a dozen years after the close of the War and + culminating in the eighteen-nineties, there came a rich and varied harvest + of Southern writing, notably in the field of fiction. The public for these + stories, it is true, was still largely in the North and West, and it was + the magazines and publishing-houses of New York and Boston that gave the + Southern authors their chief stimulus and support. It was one of the happy + proofs of the solidarity of the new nation. + </p> + <p> + The romance of the Spanish and French civilization of New Orleans, as + revealed in Mr. Cable's fascinating <i>Old Creole Days</i>, was + recognized, not as something merely provincial in its significance, but as + contributing to the infinitely variegated pattern of our national life. + Irwin Russell, Joel Chandler Harris, and Thomas Nelson Page portrayed in + verse and prose the humorous, pathetic, unique traits of the Southern + negro, a type hitherto <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" + id="Page_247">247</a></span> chiefly sketched in caricature or by + strangers. Page, Hopkinson Smith, Grace King, and a score of other artists + began to draw affectionate pictures of the vanished Southern mansion of + plantation days, when all the women were beautiful and all the men were + brave, when the very horses were more spirited and the dogs lazier and the + honeysuckles sweeter and the moonlight more entrancing than today. Miss + Murfree ("C. E. Craddock") charmed city-dwellers and country-folk + alike by her novels of the Tennessee mountains. James Lane Allen painted + lovingly the hemp-fields and pastures of Kentucky. American magazines of + the decade from 1880 to 1890 show the complete triumph of dialect and + local color, and this movement, so full of interest to students of the + immense divergence of American types, owed much of its vitality to the + talent of Southern writers. + </p> + <p> + But the impulse spread far beyond the South. Early in the seventies Edward + Eggleston wrote <i>The Hoosier Schoolmaster</i> and <i>The Circuit Rider</i>, + faithful and moving presentations of genuine pioneer types which were + destined to pass with the frontier settlements. Soon James Whitcomb Riley + was to sing of the next generation of Hoosiers, who frequented <i>The Old + Swimmin' Hole</i> and rejoiced <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" + id="Page_248">248</a></span> <i>When the Frost is on the Punkin</i>. It + was the era of Denman Thompson's plays, <i>Joshua Whitcomb</i> and <i>The + Old Homestead</i>. Both the homely and the exotic marched under this + banner of local color: Hamlin Garland presented Iowa barnyards and + cornfields, Helen Hunt Jackson dreamed the romance of the Mission Indian + in <i>Ramona</i>, and Lafcadio Hearn, Irish and Greek by blood, resident + of New Orleans and not yet an adopted citizen of Japan, tantalized + American readers with his <i>Chinese Ghosts</i> and <i>Chita</i>. A + fascinating period it seems, as one looks back upon it, and it lasted + until about the end of the century, when the suddenly discovered + commercial value of the historical novel and the ensuing competition in + best sellers misled many a fine artistic talent and coarsened the public + taste. The New South then played the literary market as recklessly as the + New West. + </p> + <p> + Let us glance back to "the abandoned farm of literature," as a witty New + Yorker once characterized New England. The last quarter of the nineteenth + century witnessed a decline in the direct influence of that province over + the country as a whole. Its strength sapped by the emigration of its more + vigorous sons, its typical institutions sagging under the weight of + immense immigrations <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">249</a></span> + from Europe, its political importance growing more and more negligible, + that ancient promontory of ideas has continued to lose its relative + literary significance. In one field of literature only has New England + maintained its rank since the Civil War, and that is in the local short + story. Here women have distinguished themselves beyond the proved capacity + of New England men. Mrs. Stowe and Rose Terry Cooke, women of democratic + humor, were the pioneers; then came Harriet Prescott Spofford and + Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, women with nerves; and finally the three artists + who have written, out of the material offered by a decadent New England, + as perfect short stories as France or Russia can produce—Sarah Orne + Jewett, Mary Wilkins Freeman, and Alice Brown. These gifted writers + portrayed, with varying technique and with singular differences in their + instinctive choice of material, the dominant qualities of an isolated, + in-bred race, still proud in its decline; still inquisitive and + acquisitive, versatile yet stubborn, with thrift passing over into + avarice, and mental power degenerating into smartness; cold and hard under + long repression of emotion, yet capable of passion and fanaticism; at + worst, a mere trader, a crank, a grim recluse; at best, endowed <span + class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">250</a></span> with an + austere physical and moral beauty. Miss Jewett preferred to touch + graciously the sunnier slopes of this provincial temperament, to linger in + its ancient dignities and serenities. Miss Brown has shown the pathos of + its thwarted desires, its hunger for a beauty and a happiness denied. Mary + Wilkins Freeman revealed its fundamental tragedies of will. + </p> + <p> + Two of the best known writers of New England fiction in this period were + not natives of the soil, though they surpassed most native New Englanders + in their understanding of the type. They were William Dean Howells and + Henry James. Mr. Howells, who, in his own words, "can reasonably suppose + that it is because of the mixture of Welsh, German, and Irish in me that I + feel myself so typically American," came to "the Holy Land at Boston" as a + "passionate pilgrim from the West." <i>A Boy's Town</i>, <i>My Literary + Passions</i>, and <i>Years of my Youth</i> make clear the image of the + young poet-journalist who returned from his four years in Venice and + became assistant editor of <i>The Atlantic Monthly</i> in 1866. In 1871 he + succeeded Fields in the editorship, but it was not until after his + resignation in 1881 that he could put his full strength into those <span + class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">251</a></span> realistic + novels of contemporary New England which established his fame as a writer. + <i>A Modern Instance</i> and <i>The Rise of Silas Lapham</i> are perhaps + the finest stories of this group; and the latter novel may prove to be Mr. + Howells's chief "visiting-card to posterity." We cannot here follow him to + New York and to a new phase of novel writing, begun with <i>A Hazard of + New Fortunes</i>, nor can we discuss the now antiquated debate upon + realism which was waged in the eighteen-eighties over the books of Howells + and James. We must content ourselves with saying that a knowledge of Mr. + Howells's work is essential to the student of the American provincial + novel, as it is also to the student of our more generalized types of + story-writing, and that he has never in his long career written an + insincere, a slovenly, or an infelicitous page. <i>My Literary Friends and + Acquaintance</i> gives the most charming picture ever drawn of the elder + Cambridge, Concord, and Boston men who ruled over our literature when + young Howells came out of the West, and <i>My Mark Twain</i> is his + memorable portrait of another type of sovereign, perhaps the dynasty that + will rule the future. + </p> + <p> + Although Henry James, like Mr. Howells, wrote at one time acute studies of + New England character, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" + id="Page_252">252</a></span> he was never, in his relations to that + section, or, for that matter, to any locality save possibly London, + anything more than a "visiting mind." His grandfather was an Irish + merchant in Albany. His father, Henry James, was a philosopher and wit, a + man of comfortable fortune, who lived at times in Newport, Concord, and + Boston, but who was residing in New York when his son Henry was born in + 1843. No child was ever made the subject of a more complete theory of + deracination. Transplanted from city to city, from country to country, + without a family or a voting-place, without college or church or creed or + profession or responsibility of any kind save to his own exigent ideals of + truth and beauty, Henry James came to be the very pattern of a + cosmopolitan. Avoiding his native country for nearly thirty years and then + returning for a few months to write some intricate pages about that <i>American + Scene</i> which he understood far less truly than the average immigrant, + he died in 1916 in London, having just renounced his American citizenship + and become a British subject in order to show his sympathy with the + Empire, then at war. It was the sole evidence of political emotion in a + lifetime of seventy-three years. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">253</a></span> + American writing men are justly proud, nevertheless, of this expatriated + craftsman. The American is inclined to admire good workmanship of any + kind, as far as he can understand the mechanism of it. The task of really + understanding Henry James has been left chiefly to clever women and to a + few critics, but ever since <i>A Passionate Pilgrim</i> and <i>Roderick + Hudson</i> appeared in 1875, it has been recognized that here was a + master, in his own fashion. What that fashion is may now be known by + anyone who will take the pains to read the author's prefaces to the New + York edition of his revised works. Never, not even in the Paris which + James loved, has an artist put his intentions and his self-criticism more + definitively upon paper. The secret of Henry James is told plainly enough + here: a specially equipped intelligence, a freedom from normal + responsibilities, a consuming desire to create beautiful things, and, as + life unfolded its complexities and <i>nuances</i> before his vision, an + increasing passion to seek the beauty which lies entangled and betrayed, a + beauty often adumbrated rather than made plastic, stories that must be + hinted at rather than told, raptures that exist for the initiated only. + The much discussed early and middle and later manners <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_254" id="Page_254">254</a></span> of James are only various + campaigns of this one questing spirit, changing his procedure as the + elusive object of his search hid itself by this or that device of + protective coloration or swift escape. It is as if a collector of rare + butterflies had one method of capturing them in Madagascar, another for + the Orinoco, and still another for Japan—though Henry James found + his Japan and Orinoco and Madagascar all in London town! + </p> + <p> + No one who ever had the pleasure of hearing him discourse about the art of + fiction can forget the absolute seriousness of his professional devotion; + it was as though a shy celebrant were to turn and explain, with mystical + intensity and a mystic's involution and reversal of all the values of + vulgar speech, the ceremonial of some strange, high altar. His own power + as a creative artist was not always commensurate with his intellectual + endowment or with his desire after beauty, and his frank contempt for the + masses of men made it difficult for him to write English. He preferred, as + did Browning, who would have liked to reach the masses, a dialect of his + own, and he used it increasingly after he was fifty. It was a dialect + capable of infinite gradations of tone, endless refinements of expression. + In his threescore books there are <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" + id="Page_255">255</a></span> delicious poignant moments where the spirit + of life itself flutters like a wild creature, half-caught, half-escaping. + It is for the beauty and thrill of these moments that the pages of Henry + James will continue to be cherished by a few thousand readers scattered + throughout the Republic to which he was ever an alien. + </p> + <p> + No poet of the new era has won the national recognition enjoyed by the + veterans. It will be recalled that Bryant survived until 1878, Longfellow + and Emerson until 1882, Lowell until 1891, Whittier and Whitman until + 1892, and Holmes until 1894. Compared with these men the younger writers + of verse seemed overmatched. The <i>National Ode</i> for the Centennial + celebration in 1876 was intrusted to Bayard Taylor, a hearty person, + author of capital books of travel, plentiful verse, and a skilful + translation of <i>Faust</i>. But an adequate <i>National Ode</i> was not + in him. Sidney Lanier, who was writing in that year his <i>Psalm of the + West</i> and was soon to compose <i>The Marshes of Glynn</i>, had far more + of the divine fire. He was a bookish Georgia youth who had served with the + Confederate army, and afterward, with broken health and in dire poverty, + gave his brief life to music and poetry. He had rich capacities for <span + class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">256</a></span> both arts, + but suffered in both from the lack of discipline and from an impetuous, + restless imagination which drove him on to over-ambitious designs. + Whatever the flaws in his affluent verse, it has grown constantly in + popular favor, and he is, after Poe, the best known poet of the South. The + late Edmund Clarence Stedman, whose <i>American Anthology</i> and critical + articles upon American poets did so much to enhance the reputation of + other men, was himself a maker of ringing lyrics and spirited narrative + verse. His later days were given increasingly to criticism, and his <i>Life + and Letters</i> is a storehouse of material bearing upon the growth of New + York as a literary market-place during half a century. Richard Watson + Gilder was another admirably fine figure, poet, editor, and leader of + public opinion in many a noble cause. His <i>Letters</i>, likewise, give + an intimate picture of literary New York from the seventies to the + present. Through his editorship of <i>Scribner's Monthly</i> and <i>The + Century Magazine</i> his sound influence made itself felt upon writers in + every section. His own lyric vein had an opaline intensity of fire, but in + spite of its glow his verse sometimes refused to sing. + </p> + <p> + The most perfect poetic craftsman of the <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_257" id="Page_257">257</a></span> period—and, many think, + our one faultless worker in verse—was Thomas Bailey Aldrich. His + first volume of juvenile verse had appeared in 1855, the year of + Whittier's <i>Barefoot Boy</i> and Whitman's <i>Leaves of Grass</i>. By + 1865 his poems were printed in the then well-known Blue and Gold edition, + by Ticknor and Fields. In 1881 he succeeded Howells in the editorship of + the <i>Atlantic</i>. Aldrich had a versatile talent that turned easily to + adroit prose tales, but his heart was in the filing of his verses. Nothing + so daintily perfect as his lighter pieces has been produced on this side + of the Atlantic, and the deeper notes and occasional darker questionings + of his later verse are embodied in lines of impeccable workmanship. Aloof + from the social and political conflicts of his day, he gave himself to the + fastidious creation of beautiful lines, believing that the beautiful line + is the surest road to Arcady, and that Herrick, whom he idolized, had + shown the way. + </p> + <p> + To some readers of these pages it may seem like profanation to pass over + poets like Sill, George Woodberry, Edith Thomas, Richard Hovey, William + Vaughn Moody, Madison Cawein—to mention but half a dozen + distinguished names out of a larger company—and to suggest that + James Whitcomb <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">258</a></span> + Riley, more completely than any American poet since Longfellow, succeeded + in expressing the actual poetic feelings of the men and women who composed + his immense audience. Riley, like Aldrich, went to school to Herrick, + Keats, Tennyson, and Longfellow, but when he began writing newspaper verse + in his native Indiana he was guided by two impulses which gave + individuality to his work. "I was always trying to write of the kind of + people I knew, and especially to write verse that I could read just as if + it were spoken for the first time." The first impulse kept him close to + the wholesome Hoosier soil. The second is an anticipation of Robert + Frost's theory of speech tones as the basis of verse, as well as a revival + of the bardic practice of reciting one's own poems. For Riley had much of + the actor and platform-artist in him, and comprehended that poetry might + be made again a spoken art, directed to the ear rather than to the eye. + His vogue, which at his death in 1915 far surpassed that of any living + American poet, is inexplicable to those persons only who forget the + sentimental traditions of our American literature and its frank appeal to + the emotions of juvenility, actual and recollected. Riley's best "holt" as + a poet was his memory of <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" + id="Page_259">259</a></span> his own boyhood and his perception that the + child-mind lingers in every adult reader. Genius has often been called the + gift of prolonged adolescence, and in this sense, surely, there was genius + in the warm and gentle heart of this fortunate provincial who held that + "old Indianapolis" was "high Heaven's sole and only under-study." No one + has ever had the audacity to say that of New York. + </p> + <p> + We have had American drama for one hundred and fifty years, ¹ but + much of it, like our popular fiction and poetry, has been subliterary, + more interesting to the student of social life and national character than + to literary criticism in the narrow sense of that term. Few of our best + known literary men have written for the stage. The public has preferred + melodrama to poetic tragedy, although perhaps the greatest successes have + been scored by plays which are comedies of manners rather than melodrama, + and character studies of various American types, built up around the known + capabilities of a particular actor. The twentieth century has witnessed a + marked activity in play-writing, in the technical study of the drama, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">260</a></span> and + in experiment with dramatic production, particularly with motion pictures + and the out-of-doors pageant. At no time since <i>The Prince of Parthia</i> + was first acted in Philadelphia in 1767 has such a large percentage of + Americans been artistically and commercially interested in the drama, but + as to the literary results of the new movement it is too soon to speak. + </p> + <div class="footer"> + <p class="footer"> + <a id="footer_260-1" name="footer_260-1"></a> ¹ <i>Representative + American Plays</i>, edited by Arthur Hobson Quinn, N. Y., 1917. + </p> + </div> + <p> + Nor is it possible to forecast the effect of a still more striking + movement of contemporary taste, the revival of interest in poetry and the + experimentation with new poetical forms. Such revival and experiment have + often, in the past, been the preludes of great epochs of poetical + production. Living Americans have certainly never seen such a widespread + demand for contemporary verse, such technical curiosity as to the possible + forms of poetry, or such variety of bold innovation. Imagism itself is + hardly as novel as its contemporary advocates appear to maintain, and free + verse goes back far in our English speech and song. But the new generation + believes that it has made a discovery in reverting to sensations rather + than thought, to the naïve reproduction of retinal and muscular + impressions, as if this were the end of the matter. <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_261" id="Page_261">261</a></span> The self-conscious, + self-defending side of the new poetic impulse may soon pass, as it did in + the case of Wordsworth and of Victor Hugo. Whatever happens, we have + already had fresh and exquisite revelations of natural beauty, and, in + volumes like <i>North of Boston</i> and <i>A Spoon River Anthology</i>, + judgments of life that run very deep. + </p> + <p> + American fiction seems just now, on the contrary, to be marking time and + not to be getting noticeably forward. Few names unknown ten years ago have + won wide recognition in the domain of the novel. The short story has made + little technical advance since the first successes of "O. Henry," though + the talent of many observers has dealt with new material offered by the + racial characteristics of European immigrants and by new phases of + commerce and industry. The enormous commercial demand of the five-cent + weeklies for short stories of a few easily recognized patterns has + resulted too often in a substitution of stencil-plate generalized types + instead of delicately and powerfully imagined individual characters. Short + stories have been assembled, like Ford cars, with amazing mechanical + expertness, but with little artistic advance in design. The same temporary + arrest of progress has <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" + id="Page_262">262</a></span> been noted in France and England, however, + where different causes have been at work. No one can tell, in truth, what + makes some plants in the literary garden wither at the same moment that + others are outgrowing their borders. + </p> + <p> + There is one plant in our own garden, however, whose flourishing state + will be denied by nobody—namely, that kind of nature-writing + identified with Thoreau and practised by Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Starr + King, John Burroughs, John Muir, Clarence King, Bradford Torrey, Theodore + Roosevelt, William J. Long, Thompson-Seton, Stewart Edward White, and many + others. Their books represent, Professor Canby ¹ believes, the + adventures of the American subconsciousness, the promptings of forgotten + memories, a racial tradition of contact with the wilderness, and hence one + of the most genuinely American traits of our literature. + </p> + <div class="footer"> + <p class="footer"> + <a id="footer_262-2" name="footer_262-2"></a> ¹ "Back to Nature," + by H. S. Canby, <i>Yale Review</i>, July, 1917. + </p> + </div> + <p> + Other forms of essay writing, surely, have seemed in our own generation + less distinctive of our peculiar quality. While admirable biographical and + critical studies appear from time to time, and here and there a whimsical + or trenchant discursive essay like those of Miss Repplier or Dr. <span + class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">263</a></span> Crothers, + no one would claim that we approach France or even England in the field of + criticism, literary history, memoirs, the bookish essay, and biography. We + may have race-memories of a pine-tree which help us to write vigorously + and poetically about it, but we write less vitally as soon as we enter the + library door. A Frenchman does not, for he is better trained to perceive + the continuity and integrity of race-consciousness, in the whole field of + its manifestation. He does not feel, as many Americans do, that they are + turning their back on life when they turn to books. + </p> + <p> + Perhaps the truth is that although we are a reading people we are not yet + a book-loving people. The American newspaper and magazine have been + successful in making their readers fancy that newspaper and magazine are + an equivalent for books. Popular orators and popular preachers confirm + this impression, and colleges and universities have often emphasized a + vocational choice of books—in other words, books that are not books + at all, but treatises. It is not, of course, that American journalism, + whether of the daily or monthly sort, has consciously set itself to + supplant the habit of book-reading. A thousand social and economic factors + enter into such a problem. But <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" + id="Page_264">264</a></span> few observers will question the assertion + that the influence of the American magazine, ever since its great period + of national literary service in the eighties and nineties, has been more + marked in the field of conduct and of artistic taste than in the + stimulation of a critical literary judgment. An American schoolhouse of + today owes its improvement in appearance over the schoolhouse of fifty + years ago largely to the popular diffusion, through the illustrated + magazines, of better standards of artistic taste. But whether the judgment + of school-teachers and school-children upon a piece of literature is any + better than it was in the red schoolhouse of fifty years ago is a + disputable question. + </p> + <hr class="break" /> + <p> + But we must stop guessing, or we shall never have done. The fundamental + problem of our literature, as this book has attempted to trace it, has + been to obtain from a mixed population dwelling in sections as widely + separated as the peoples of Northern and Southern Europe, an integral + intellectual and spiritual activity which could express, in obedience to + the laws of beauty and truth, the emotions stimulated by our national + life. It has been assumed in the preceding chapters that <span + class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">265</a></span> American + literature is something different from English literature written in + America. Canadian and Australian literatures have indigenous qualities of + their own, but typically they belong to the colonial literature of Great + Britain. This can scarcely be said of the writings of Franklin and + Jefferson, and it certainly cannot be said of the writings of Cooper, + Hawthorne, Emerson, Thoreau, Whitman, Lowell, Lincoln, Mark Twain, and Mr. + Howells. In the pages of these men and of hundreds of others less + distinguished, there is a revelation of a new national type. That the full + energies of this nation have been back of our books, giving them a range + and vitality and unity commensurate with the national existence, no one + would claim. There are other spheres of effort in which American character + has been more adequately expressed than in words. Nevertheless the books + are here, in spite of every defect in national discipline, every flaw in + national character; and they deserve the closest attention from all those + who are trying to understand the American mind. + </p> + <p> + If the effort toward an expression of a peculiarly complex national + experience has been the problem of our literary past, the literary problem + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">266</a></span> of + the future is the expression of the adjustment of American ideals to the + standards of civilization. "Patriotism," said the martyred Edith Cavell + just before her death, "is not enough." Nationality and the instincts of + national separatism now seem essential to the preservation of the + political units of the world-state, precisely as a healthy individualism + must be the basis of all enduring social fellowship. Yet it is clear that + civilization is a larger, more ultimate term than nationality. Chauvinism + is nowhere more repellent than in the things of the mind. It is difficult + for some Americans to think internationally even in political affairs—to + construe our national policy and duty in terms of obligation to + civilization. Nevertheless the task must be faced, and we are slowly + realizing it. + </p> + <p> + In the field of literature, likewise, Americanism is not a final word + either of blame or praise. It is a word of useful characterization. Only + American books, and not books written in English in America, can + adequately represent our national contribution to the world's thinking and + feeling. So argued Emerson and Whitman, long ago. But the younger of these + two poets came to realize in his old age that <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_267" id="Page_267">267</a></span> the New World and the Old + World are fundamentally one. The literature of the New World will + inevitably have an accent of its own, but it must speak the + mother-language of civilization, share in its culture, accept its + discipline. + </p> + <p> + It has been said disparagingly of Longfellow and his friends: "The houses + of the Brahmins had only eastern windows. The souls of the whole school + lived in the old lands of culture, and they visited these lands as often + as they could, and, returning, brought back whole libraries of books which + they eagerly translated." But even if Longfellow and his friends had been + nothing more than translators and diffusers of European culture, their + task would have been justified. They kept the ideals of civilization from + perishing in this new soil. Through those eastern windows came in, and + still comes in, the sunlight to illumine the American spirit. To decry the + literatures of the Orient and of Greece and Rome as something now outgrown + by America, is simply to close the eastern windows, to narrow our + conception of civilization to merely national and contemporaneous terms. + It is as provincial to attempt this restriction in literature as it would + be in world-politics. We must have all the windows open in our American + writing, free access to ideas, knowledge of universal standards, + perception of universal law. + </p> + <hr /> + <div class="chapterhead"> + <a name="link2H_4_0012" id="link2H_4_0012"></a> <a name="bibliography" + id="bibliography"></a> <br /> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" + id="Page_269">269</a></span> <br /><br /><br /> + <h2> + <a href="#Contents">BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE</a> + </h2> + </div> + <p class="noindent"> + <span class="smcap">An</span> authoritative account of American Literature + to the close of the Revolution is given in M. C. Tyler's <i>History + of American Literature during the Colonial Time</i>, 2 volumes (1878) and + <i>Literary History of the American Revolution</i>, 2 volumes (1897). For + a general survey see Barrett Wendell, <i>A Literary History of America</i> + (1900), W. P. Trent, <i>American Literature</i> (1903), G. E. + Woodberry, <i>America in Literature</i> (1903), W. C. Bronson, <i>A + Short History of American Literature</i> (1903), with an excellent + bibliography, W. B. Cairns, <i>History of American Literature</i> + (1912), W. P. Trent and J. Erskine, <i>Great American Writers</i> + (1912), and W. Riley, <i>American Thought</i> (1915). The most recent and + authoritative account is to be found in <i>The Cambridge History of + American Literature</i>, 3 volumes edited by Trent, Erskine, Sherman, and + Van Doren. + </p> + <p> + The best collection of American prose and verse is E. C. Stedman and + E. M. Hutchinson's <i>Library of American Literature</i>, 11 volumes + (1888-1890). For verse alone, see E. C. Stedman, <i>An American + Anthology</i> (1900), and W. C. Bronson, <i>American Poems, 1625-1892</i> + (1912). For criticism of leading authors, note W. C. Brownell, <i>American + Prose Masters</i> (1909), and Stedman, <i>Poets of America</i> (1885). + </p> + <p class="tiny"> + </p> + <p class="noindent"> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">270</a></span> <i>Chapters + 1-3.</i> Note W. Bradford, <i>Journal</i> (1898), J. Winthrop, <i>Journal</i> + (1825, 1826), also <i>Life and Letters</i> by R. C. Winthrop, 2 + volumes (1863), G. L. Walker, <i>Thomas Hooker</i> (1891), O. S. + Straus, <i>Roger Williams</i> (1894), Cotton Mather, <i>Diary</i>, 2 + volumes (1911, 1912), also his <i>Life</i> by Barrett Wendell (1891), + Samuel Sewall, <i>Diary</i>, 3 volumes (1878). For Jonathan Edwards, see + <i>Works</i>, 4 volumes (1852), his <i>Life</i> by A. V. G. + Allen (1889), <i>Selected Sermons</i> edited by H. N. Gardiner + (1904). The most recent edition of Franklin's <i>Works</i> is edited by A. H. + Smyth, 10 volumes (1907). + </p> + <p class="tiny"> + </p> + <p class="noindent"> + <i>Chapter 4.</i> Samuel Adams, <i>Works</i>, 4 volumes (1904), John + Adams, <i>Works</i>, 10 volumes (1856), Thomas Paine, <i>Life</i> by M. D. + Conway, 2 volumes (1892), <i>Works</i> edited by Conway, 4 volumes (1895), + Philip Freneau, <i>Poems</i>, 3 volumes (Princeton edition, 1902), Thomas + Jefferson, <i>Works</i> edited by P. L. Ford, 10 volumes (1892-1898), + J. Woolman, <i>Journal</i> (edited by Whittier, 1871, and also in <i>Everyman's + Library</i>), <i>The Federalist</i> (edited by H. C. Lodge, 1888). + </p> + <p class="tiny"> + </p> + <p class="noindent"> + <i>Chapter 5.</i> Washington Irving, <i>Works</i>, 40 volumes (1891-1897), + also his <i>Life and Letters</i> by P. M. Irving, 4 volumes + (1862-1864). Fenimore Cooper, <i>Works</i>, 32 volumes (1896), <i>Life</i> + by T. R. Lounsbury (1883). Brockden Brown, <i>Works</i>, 6 volumes, + (1887). W. C. Bryant, <i>Poems</i>, 2 volumes (1883), <i>Prose</i>, 2 + volumes (1884), and his <i>Life</i> by John Bigelow (1890). + </p> + <p class="tiny"> + </p> + <p class="noindent"> + <i>Chapter 6.</i> H. C. Goddard, <i>Studies in New England + Transcendentalism</i> (1908). R. W. Emerson, <i>Works</i>, 12 <span + class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">271</a></span> volumes + (Centenary edition, 1903), <i>Journal</i>, 10 volumes (1909-1914), his <i>Life</i> + by J. E. Cabot, 2 volumes (1887), by R. Garnett (1887), by G. E. + Woodberry (1905); see also <i>Ralph Waldo Emerson</i>, a critical study by + O. W. Firkins (1915). H. D. Thoreau, <i>Works</i>, 20 volumes + (Walden edition including <i>Journals</i>, 1906), <i>Life</i> by F. B. + Sanborn (1917), also <i>Thoreau, A Critical Study</i> by Mark van Doren + (1916). Note also Lindsay Swift, <i>Brook Farm</i> (1900), and <i>The Dial</i>, + reprint by the Rowfant Club (1902). + </p> + <p class="tiny"> + </p> + <p class="noindent"> + <i>Chapter 7.</i> Hawthorne, <i>Works</i>, 12 volumes (1882), <i>Life</i> + by G. E. Woodberry (1902). Longfellow, <i>Works</i>, 11 volumes + (1886), <i>Life</i> by Samuel Longfellow, 3 volumes (1891). Whittier, <i>Works</i>, + 7 volumes (1892), <i>Life</i> by S. T. Pickard, 2 volumes (1894). + Holmes, <i>Works</i>, 13 volumes (1892), <i>Life</i> by J. T. Morse, + Jr. (1896). Lowell, <i>Works</i>, 11 volumes (1890), <i>Life</i> by Ferris + Greenslet (1905), <i>Letters</i> edited by C. E. Norton, 2 volumes + (1893). For the historians, note H. B. Adams, <i>Life and Writings of + Jared Sparks</i>, 2 volumes (1893). M. A. DeW. Howe, <i>Life and + Letters of George Bancroft</i>, 2 volumes (1908), G. S. Hillard, <i>Life, + Letters, and Journals of George Ticknor</i>, 2 volumes (1876), George + Ticknor, <i>Life of Prescott</i> (1863), also Rollo Ogden, <i>Life of + Prescott</i> (1904), G. W. Curtis, <i>Correspondence of J. L. + Motley</i>, 2 volumes (1889), Francis Parkman, <i>Works</i>, 12 volumes + (1865-1898), <i>Life</i> by C. H. Farnham (1900), J. F. Jameson, + <i>History of Historical Writing in America</i> (1891). + </p> + <p class="tiny"> + </p> + <p class="noindent"> + <i>Chapter 8.</i> Poe, <i>Works</i>, 10 volumes (Stedman-Woodberry + edition, 1894-1895), also 17 volumes (Virginia <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_272" id="Page_272">272</a></span> edition, J. A. Harrison, + 1902), <i>Life</i> by G. E. Woodberry, 2 volumes (1909). Whitman, <i>Leaves + of Grass</i> and <i>Complete Prose Works</i> (Small, Maynard and Co.) + (1897, 1898), also John Burroughs, <i>A Study of Whitman</i> (1896). + </p> + <p class="tiny"> + </p> + <p class="noindent"> + <i>Chapter 9.</i> C. Schurz, <i>Life of Henry Clay</i>, 2 volumes (1887). + Daniel Webster, <i>Works</i>, 6 volumes (1851), <i>Life</i> by H. C. + Lodge (1883). Rufus Choate, <i>Works</i>, 2 volumes (1862). Wendell + Phillips, <i>Speeches, Lectures, and Letters</i>, 2 volumes (1892). W. L. + Garrison, <i>The Story of his Life Told by his Children</i>, 4 volumes + (1885-1889). Harriet Beecher Stowe, <i>Works</i>, 17 volumes (1897), <i>Life</i> + by C. E. Stowe (1889). Abraham Lincoln, <i>Works</i>, 2 volumes + (edited by Nicolay and Hay, 1894). + </p> + <p class="tiny"> + </p> + <p class="noindent"> + <i>Chapter 10</i>. For an excellent bibliography of the New National + Period, see F. L. Pattee, <i>A History of American Literature since + 1870</i> (1916). + </p> + <p> + For further bibliographical information the reader is referred to the + articles on American authors in <i>The Encyclopœdia Britannica</i> + and in <i>The Warner Library</i> (volume 30, <i>The Student's Course</i>, + N. Y., 1917). + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <div class="chapterhead"> + <a name="link2H_4_0014" id="link2H_4_0014"></a> <a name="index" id="index"></a> + <br /><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">273</a></span> + <br /><br /><br /> + <h2> + <a href="#Contents">INDEX</a> + </h2> + </div> + <h3> + A + </h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + Adams, C. F, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>.<br /> Adams, John, opinion of + American independence, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>-<a href="#Page_12">12</a>; + as a writer, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>.<br /> Adams, Samuel, <a + href="#Page_73">73</a>-<a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>.<br /> + <i>After the Burial</i>, Lowell, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>.<br /> <i>Agassiz, + Fiftieth Birthday of</i>, Longfellow, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>.<br /> <i>Age + of Reason</i>, Paine, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>.<br /> <i>Ages, The</i>, + Bryant, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>.<br /> Alcott, Bronson, <a + href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>-<a + href="#Page_140">140</a>.<br /> Aldrich, T. B., <a href="#Page_256">256</a>-<a + href="#Page_257">257</a>.<br /> <i>Alhambra, The</i>, Irving, <a + href="#Page_91">91</a>.<br /> Allen, J. L., <a href="#Page_247">247</a>.<br /> + <i>American Anthology</i>, Stedman, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>.<br /> + American characteristics, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>-<a href="#Page_5">5</a>.<br /> + American colonies, literature in the 17th century, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>-<a + href="#Page_42">42</a>; journalism, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>-<a + href="#Page_62">62</a>; education, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>-<a + href="#Page_63">63</a>; science, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>-<a + href="#Page_64">64</a>; bibliography of the literature, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>-<a + href="#Page_270">270</a>.<br /> American colonists, predominantly English, + <a href="#Page_12">12</a>-<a href="#Page_25">25</a>; motives for + emigration, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>; moulded by pioneer life, <a + href="#Page_17">17</a>-<a href="#Page_23">23</a>; in 1760, <a + href="#Page_59">59</a>-<a href="#Page_60">60</a>.<br /> "American idea," <a + href="#Page_206">206</a>-<a href="#Page_207">207</a>.<br /> American life + since the Civil War, <a href="#Page_234">234</a> <i>et seq</i>.<br /> + American literature, the term, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>.<br /> <i>American + Mercury</i>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>.<br /> <i>American Scholar, The</i>, + Emerson, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>.<br /> Ames, Fisher, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>.<br /> + <i>Among my Books</i>, Lowell, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>.<br /> <i>Andrew + Rykman's Prayer</i>, Whittier, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>.<br /> <i>Annabel + Lee</i>, Poe, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>.<br /> Anthologies, American, <a + href="#Page_269">269</a>.<br /> <i>Arsenal at Springfield, The</i>, + Longfellow, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>.<br /> <i>Assignation, The</i>, + Poe, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>.<br /> <i>Astoria</i>, Irving, <a + href="#Page_91">91</a>.<br /> <i>Atala</i>, Châteaubriand, <a + href="#Page_96">96</a>.<br /> <i>Atlantic Monthly</i>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>, + <a href="#Page_167">167</a>, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>, <a + href="#Page_250">250</a>, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>.<br /> <i>Autobiography</i>, + Franklin, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>-<a href="#Page_59">59</a>.<br /> <i>Autocrat + of the Breakfast Table, The</i>, Holmes, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a + href="#Page_167">167</a>.<br /> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + </div> + <h3> + B + </h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + <i>Bacchus</i>, Emerson, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>.<br /> <i>Ballad of + the French Fleet, A</i>, Longfellow, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>.<br /> + Bancroft, George, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>, + <a href="#Page_177">177</a>-<a href="#Page_178">178</a>.<br /> <i>Barefoot + Boy, The</i>, Whittier, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>.<br /> Bartol, C. A., + <a href="#Page_115">115</a>.<br /> <i>Battle Hymn of the Republic</i>, + Howe, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>.<br /> <i>Battle + of the Kegs, The</i>, Hopkinson, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>.<br /> <i>Bay + Psalm Book</i>, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>.<br /> Beecher, H. W., <a + href="#Page_216">216</a>-<a href="#Page_217">217</a>.<br /> <i>Belfry of + Bruges, The</i>, Longfellow, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>.<br /> <i>Bells, + The</i>, Poe, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>-<a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a + href="#Page_192">192</a>.<br /> <i>Biglow Papers, The</i>, Lowell, <a + href="#Page_170">170</a>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>.<br /> + <i>Black Cat, The</i>, Poe, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>.<br /> Blaine, J. G., + quoted, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>.<br /> <i>Blithedale Romance, The</i>, + Hawthorne, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>-<a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a + href="#Page_150">150</a>-<a href="#Page_151">151</a>.<br /> <span + class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">274</a></span> <i>Boston + News-Letter</i>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>.<br /> <i>Boy's Town, A</i>, + Howells, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>.<br /> <i>Bracebridge Hall</i>, + Irving, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>.<br /> Bradford, William, <a + href="#Page_28">28</a>.<br /> Bradstreet, Anne, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>-<a + href="#Page_37">37</a>.<br /> <i>Bridge, The</i>, Longfellow, <a + href="#Page_156">156</a>.<br /> Briggs, C. F., quoted, <a + href="#Page_190">190</a>.<br /> Brook Farm, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a + href="#Page_143">143</a>.<br /> <i>Brooklyn Eagle, The</i>, <a + href="#Page_199">199</a>.<br /> Brown, Alice, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>, + <a href="#Page_250">250</a>.<br /> Brown University, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>.<br /> + Brownell, H. H., <a href="#Page_225">225</a>.<br /> Brownson, Orestes, + <a href="#Page_141">141</a>.<br /> Bryant, W. C., one of the + Knickerbocker Group, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>; personal appearance, <a + href="#Page_101">101</a>; life and, writings, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>-<a + href="#Page_106">106</a>; died (1878), <a href="#Page_255">255</a>.<br /> + "Buffalo Bill," <i>see</i> Cody, W. F. <br /> <i>Building of the Ship, + The</i>, Longfellow, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>.<br /> Burroughs, John, <a + href="#Page_262">262</a>.<br /> <i>By Blue Ontario's Shore</i>, Whitman, <a + href="#Page_204">204</a>.<br /> Byrd, William, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>.<br /> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + </div> + <h3> + C + </h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + Cable, G. W., <a href="#Page_246">246</a>.<br /> Calef, Robert, <a + href="#Page_43">43</a>.<br /> Calhoun, J. C., <a href="#Page_215">215</a>.<br /> + Calvinism in New England, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>-<a href="#Page_19">19</a>.<br /> + <i>Cambridge Thirty Years Ago</i>, Lowell, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>.<br /> + <i>Captain Bonneville</i>, Irving, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>.<br /> + Carlyle, Thomas, quoted, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>.<br /> <i>Cask of + Amontillado, The</i>, Poe, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>.<br /> Cavell, + Edith, quoted, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>.<br /> Cawein, Madison, <a + href="#Page_257">257</a>.<br /> <i>Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras + County, The</i>, Clemens, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>.<br /> <i>Century + Magazine</i>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>.<br /> <i>Changeling, The</i>, + Lowell, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>.<br /> Channing, Edward, <a + href="#Page_13">13</a>.<br /> Channing, W. E., <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, + <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a + href="#Page_142">142</a>.<br /> Châteaubriand, Vicomte de, <a + href="#Page_96">96</a>-<a href="#Page_97">97</a>.<br /> <i>Children's Hour, + The</i>, Longfellow, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>.<br /> <i>Chita, Hearn</i>, + <a href="#Page_248">248</a>.<br /> <i>Chinese Ghosts</i>, Hearn, <a + href="#Page_248">248</a>.<br /> Choate, Rufus, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>.<br /> + Church, Captain, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>.<br /> <i>Circuit Rider, The</i>, + Eggleston, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>.<br /> <i>City in the Sea, The</i>, + Poe, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>.<br /> Clark, Roger, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>.<br /> + Clarke, J. F., <a href="#Page_141">141</a>.<br /> Clay, Henry, <a + href="#Page_208">208</a>, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>-<a href="#Page_211">211</a>.<br /> + Clemens, S. L. (Mark Twain), attacks Cooper's novels, <a + href="#Page_99">99</a>; quoted, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>; life and + writings, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>-<a href="#Page_240">240</a>; + typically American, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>.<br /> <i>Cobbler Keezar's + Vision</i>, Whittier, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>.<br /> Cody, W. F. + (Buffalo Bill), <a href="#Page_243">243</a>.<br /> <i>Columbus, Life of</i>, + Irving, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>.<br /> <i>Commemoration Ode</i>, Lowell, + <a href="#Page_170">170</a>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>.<br /> <i>Common + Sense</i>, Paine, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>.<br /> <i>Conquest of Granada</i>, + Irving, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>.<br /> <i>Conquest of Mexico</i>, + Prescott, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>.<br /> <i>Conquest of Peru</i>, + Prescott, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>.<br /> <i>Conspiracy of Pontiac, The</i>, + Parkman, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>.<br /> Cooke, Rose Terry, <a + href="#Page_249">249</a>.<br /> Cooper, J. F., <a href="#Page_95">95</a>-<a + href="#Page_101">101</a>, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>.<br /> Cotton, John, + <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>.<br /> <i>Courtship of + Miles Standish</i>, Longfellow, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>.<br /> + "Craddock, C. E.," <i>see</i> Murfree, Mary N.<br /> Cranch, C. P., + <a href="#Page_141">141</a>.<br /> <i>Crisis, The</i>, Paine, <a + href="#Page_75">75</a>.<br /> <i>Cristus</i>, Longfellow, <a + href="#Page_155">155</a>-<a href="#Page_156">156</a>.<br /> Cromwell, + Oliver, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>.<br /> Crothers, S. M., <a + href="#Page_262">262</a>-<a href="#Page_263">263</a>.<br /> <i>Crowded + Street, The</i>, Bryant, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>.<br /> Curtis, G. W., + <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>.<br /> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + </div> + <h3> + D + </h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + Dana, C. A., <a href="#Page_141">141</a>.<br /> <i>Day is Done, The</i>, + Longfellow, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>.<br /> <i>Day of Doom, The</i>, + Wigglesworth, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>-<a href="#Page_36">36</a>.<br /> <i>Deerslayer, + The</i>, Cooper, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>.<br /> <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_275" id="Page_275">275</a></span> <i>Democratic Review</i>, <a + href="#Page_199">199</a>.<br /> <i>Dial</i>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>, + <a href="#Page_140">140</a>.<br /> Drake, J. R., <a href="#Page_107">107</a>.<br /> + Drama, American, in the 20th century, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>-<a + href="#Page_260">260</a>.<br /> <i>Dred</i>, Stowe, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>.<br /> + <i>Drum Taps</i>, Whitman, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>.<br /> Dwight, + Timothy, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>.<br /> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + </div> + <h3> + E + </h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + <i>Edict of the King of Prussia against England</i>, Franklin, <a + href="#Page_58">58</a>.<br /> <i>Edinburgh Review, The</i>, <a + href="#Page_88">88</a>.<br /> Edwards, Jonathan, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, + <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>-<a href="#Page_52">52</a>.<br /> + Eggleston, Edward, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>.<br /> Eliot, John, <a + href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>.<br /> <i>Elsie Venner</i>, + Holmes, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>.<br /> <i>Embargo, The</i>, Bryant, <a + href="#Page_102">102</a>.<br /> Emerson, R. W., in 1826, <a + href="#Page_89">89</a>; a Transcendentalist, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>-<a + href="#Page_117">117</a>; quoted, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>-<a + href="#Page_117">117</a>; life and writings, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>-<a + href="#Page_130">130</a>; died (1882), <a href="#Page_255">255</a>; + typically American, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>; argues for American + books, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>.<br /> England in the 17th century, <a + href="#Page_13">13</a>.<br /> <i>English Traits</i>, Emerson, <a + href="#Page_128">128</a>.<br /> <i>Essay on Man</i>, Pope, <a + href="#Page_55">55</a>.<br /> <i>Essays</i>, Emerson, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>-<a + href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>.<br /> + Essays of the 20th century, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>-<a href="#Page_263">263</a>.<br /> + <i>Eternal Goodness, The</i>, Whittier, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>.<br /> + <i>Ethan Brand</i>, Hawthorne, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>.<br /> <i>Evangeline</i>, + Longfellow, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>.<br /> <i>Evening Revery, An</i>, + Bryant, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>.<br /> Everett, Edward, Oration at + Cambridge (1826), <a href="#Page_86">86</a>; quoted, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>; + lectures, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>-<a href="#Page_112">112</a>; + estimate of, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>; quoted, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>.<br /> + <i>Excelsior</i>, Longfellow, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>-<a href="#Page_6">6</a>, + <a href="#Page_156">156</a>.<br /> <i>Exiles' Departure</i>, Whittier, <a + href="#Page_159">159</a>.<br /> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + </div> + <h3> + F + </h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + <i>Fable for Critics</i>, Lowell, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>.<br /> <i>Fall + of the House of Usher, The</i>, Poe, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>.<br /> <i>Farewell + Address</i>, Washington, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>.<br /> <i>Farewell + Sermon</i>, Edwards, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>.<br /> <i>Farmer Refuted, + The</i>, Hamilton, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>.<br /> Faust (translation), + Taylor, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>.<br /> <i>Federalist</i>, <a + href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>.<br /> + <i>Ferdinand and Isabella, History of the Reign of</i>, Prescott, <a + href="#Page_179">179</a>.<br /> Fiction of the 20th century, <a + href="#Page_261">261</a>-<a href="#Page_262">262</a>.<br /> <i>Fire of + Driftwood, The</i>, Longfellow, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>.<br /> <i>First + Snowfall, The</i>, Lowell, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>.<br /> <i>Flood of + Years, The</i>, Bryant, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>.<br /> <i>Forest Hymn, + A</i>, Bryant, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>.<br /> Franklin, Benjamin, born + (1706), <a href="#Page_44">44</a>; attitude toward church, <a + href="#Page_44">44</a>; exponent of New England life, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>; + life and writings, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>-<a href="#Page_59">59</a>; + conducts <i>Courant</i>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>; activity in + Philadelphia, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>-<a href="#Page_62">62</a>. letter + from Washington to, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>-<a href="#Page_79">79</a>; + typically American, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>.<br /> Freeman, Mary + Wilkins, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>.<br /> + Freneau, Philip, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>-<a + href="#Page_72">72</a>.<br /> <i>Frontenac</i>, Parkman, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>.<br /> + Frost, Robert, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>.<br /> Fugitive slave act, <a + href="#Page_144">144</a>.<br /> Fuller, Margaret, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, + <a href="#Page_140">140</a>-<a href="#Page_141">141</a>.<br /> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + </div> + <h3> + G + </h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + Garrison, W. L., <a href="#Page_89">89</a>-<a href="#Page_90">90</a>, + <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a + href="#Page_208">208</a>, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>-<a href="#Page_218">218</a>.<br /> + <i>Gettysburg Address</i>, Lincoln, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>-<a + href="#Page_231">231</a>.<br /> <i>Gilded Age, The</i>, Clemens, <a + href="#Page_237">237</a>-<a href="#Page_238">238</a>.<br /> <i>God + Glorified in Man's Dependence</i>, Edwards, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>.<br /> + <i>Gold Bug, The</i>, Poe, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>.<br /> Gookin, + Daniel, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>.<br /> Greeley, Horace, <a + href="#Page_217">217</a>-<a href="#Page_218">218</a>.<br /> Greenslet, + Ferris, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>.<br /> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + </div> + <h3> + H + </h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + Hale, E. E., <a href="#Page_224">224</a>.<br /> <i>Half-Century of + Conflict, A</i>, Parkman, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>.<br /> Halleck, + Fitz-Greene, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>.<br /> Hamilton, Alexander, <a + href="#Page_76">76</a>-<a href="#Page_77">77</a>.<br /> <i>Hanging of the + Crane, The</i>, Longfellow, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>.<br /> <span + class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">276</a></span> Harris, J. C., + <a href="#Page_246">246</a>.<br /> Harte, Bret, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>-<a + href="#Page_242">242</a>.<br /> Harvard, John, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>.<br /> + Harvard College, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>.<br /> <i>Haunted Palace, The</i>, + Poe, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>.<br /> Hawthorne, Nathaniel, in 1826, <a + href="#Page_89">89</a>; opinion of Bryant, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>; + opinion of Transcendentalism, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>; life and + writings, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>-<a href="#Page_152">152</a>; + typically American, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>.<br /> Hayne, Paul, <a + href="#Page_225">225</a>.<br /> <i>Hazard of New Fortunes, A</i>, Howells, + <a href="#Page_251">251</a>.<br /> Hearn, Lafcadio, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>.<br /> + Hecker, Father, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>.<br /> Henry, Patrick, <a + href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>.<br /> <i>Herons of + Elmwood, The</i>, Longfellow, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>.<br /> <i>Hiawatha</i>, + Longfellow, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>.<br /> Higginson, T. W., <a + href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>.<br /> Holmes, O. W., + in 1826, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>; attitude toward Transcendentalism, <a + href="#Page_143">143</a>; life and writings, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>-<a + href="#Page_168">168</a>; died (1894), <a href="#Page_255">255</a>.<br /> + <i>Home Sweet Home</i>, Payne, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>.<br /> Hooker, + Thomas, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>-<a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a + href="#Page_30">30</a>-<a href="#Page_31">31</a>.<br /> <i>Hoosier + Schoolmaster, The</i>, Eggleston, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>.<br /> <i>House + of the Seven Gables, The</i>, Hawthorne, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a + href="#Page_150">150</a>.<br /> Hovey, Richard, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>.<br /> + Howells, W. D., <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>-<a + href="#Page_235">235</a>, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>-<a href="#Page_251">251</a>, + <a href="#Page_265">265</a>.<br /> Hubbard, William, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>.<br /> + <i>Huckleberry Finn</i>, Clemens, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>.<br /> + Humorists, American, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>.<br /> Hutchinson, Anne, + <a href="#Page_32">32</a>.<br /> Hutchinson, Thomas, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>.<br /> + <i>Hyperion</i>, Longfellow, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>.<br /> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + </div> + <h3> + I + </h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + <i>Indian Wars</i>, Hubbard, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>.<br /> Indians, in + literature, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>-<a href="#Page_40">40</a>; Thoreau's + notes on, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>.<br /> <i>Innocents Abroad</i>, + Clemens, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>.<br /> + Irving, Washington, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>-<a + href="#Page_95">95</a>.<br /> <i>Israfel</i>, Poe, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>, + <a href="#Page_192">192</a>.<br /> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + </div> + <h3> + J + </h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + Jackson, Andrew, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>.<br /> Jackson, Helen Hunt, <a + href="#Page_248">248</a>.<br /> James, Henry, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>, + <a href="#Page_251">251</a>-<a href="#Page_255">255</a>.<br /> Jay, John, + <a href="#Page_65">65</a>.<br /> Jefferson, Thomas, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>-<a + href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>.<br /> <i>Jesuits in + North America, The</i>, Parkman, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>.<br /> Jewett, + Sarah Orne, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>.<br /> + <i>John of Barneveld, Life and Death of</i>, Motley, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>.<br /> + Johnson, Edward, Captain, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>.<br /> <i>Joshua + Whitcomb</i>, Thompson, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>.<br /> <i>Journal</i>, + Emerson, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a + href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>.<br /> <i>Journal</i>, + Thoreau, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>.<br /> <i>Journal</i>, + Woolman, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>.<br /> <i>Journal and Correspondence</i>, + Longfellow, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>.<br /> Journalism, in the colonies, + <a href="#Page_60">60</a>-<a href="#Page_62">62</a>; in 20th century, <a + href="#Page_263">263</a>-<a href="#Page_264">264</a>.<br /> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + </div> + <h3> + K + </h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + Kemble, Fanny, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>-<a href="#Page_246">246</a>.<br /> + Kennedy, J. P., <a href="#Page_245">245</a>.<br /> King, Grace, <a + href="#Page_247">247</a>.<br /> King, Starr, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>.<br /> + King Philip's War, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>-<a href="#Page_40">40</a>.<br /> + King's College (Columbia), <a href="#Page_62">62</a>.<br /> Knickerbocker + group of writers, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>; works by, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>.<br /> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + </div> + <h3> + L + </h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + <i>Languishing Commonwealth</i>, Walley, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>.<br /> + Lanier, Sidney, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>-<a href="#Page_256">256</a>.<br /> + <i>La Salle</i>, Parkman, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>.<br /> <i>Last Leaf, + The</i>, Holmes, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>.<br /> <i>Last of the + Mohicans, The</i>, Cooper, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, + <a href="#Page_99">99</a>.<br /> <i>Leather-Stocking Tales</i>, Cooper, <a + href="#Page_97">97</a>-<a href="#Page_99">99</a>.<br /> <i>Leaves of Grass</i>, + Whitman, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>, <a + href="#Page_202">202</a>-<a href="#Page_203">203</a>.<br /> <i>Letters</i>, + Motley, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>.<br /> <i>Letters from an American + Farmer</i>, Crèvecœur, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a + href="#Page_68">68</a>.<br /> <i>Liberator, The</i>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, + <a href="#Page_217">217</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>.<br /> <i>Library + of American Biography</i>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>.<br /> <i>Life on + the Mississippi</i>, Clemens, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>.<br /> <span + class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">277</a></span> <i>Ligeia</i>, + Poe, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>.<br /> Lincoln, Abraham, recognizes + uncertainty in the nation, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>; would have approved + Winthrop, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>; address at Cooper Union (1860), <a + href="#Page_104">104</a>-<a href="#Page_105">105</a>; quoted, <a + href="#Page_155">155</a>; as a writer of liberty, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>; + character and writings, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>-<a href="#Page_233">233</a>; + typically American, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>.<br /> <i>Lionel Lincoln</i>, + Cooper, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>.<br /> <i>Literati</i>, Pope, <a + href="#Page_107">107</a>.<br /> <i>Little Women</i>, Alcott, <a + href="#Page_140">140</a>.<br /> London, Jack, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>-<a + href="#Page_244">244</a>.<br /> London in 1724, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>-<a + href="#Page_56">56</a>.<br /> Longfellow, H. W., in 1826, <a + href="#Page_89">89</a>; attitude toward Transcendentalism, <a + href="#Page_143">143</a>; life and writings, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>-<a + href="#Page_157">157</a>; died (1882), <a href="#Page_255">255</a>; + disparagement of, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>.<br /> Longstreet, A. B., + <a href="#Page_245">245</a>.<br /> Louisiana Purchase, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>.<br /> + Lowell, J. R., in 1826, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>; attitude toward + Transcendentalism, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>; life and writings, <a + href="#Page_168">168</a>-<a href="#Page_174">174</a>; died (1891), <a + href="#Page_255">255</a>; typically American, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>.<br /> + <i>Luck of Roaring Camp, The</i>, Harte, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>.<br /> + Lyceum system, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>.<br /> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + </div> + <h3> + M + </h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + <i>McFingal</i>, Trumbull, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>.<br /> Magazines, in + colonies, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>-<a href="#Page_61">61</a>; in 20th + century, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>-<a href="#Page_264">264</a>.<br /> <i>Magnalia + Christi Americana</i>, Mather, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a + href="#Page_47">47</a>.<br /> <i>Maidenhood</i>, Longfellow, <a + href="#Page_156">156</a>.<br /> <i>Man Who Corrupted Hadleyburg, The</i>, + Clemens, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>.<br /> <i>Man Without a Country</i>, + Hale, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>.<br /> <i>Marble Faun, The</i>, + Hawthorne, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>.<br /> + <i>Marshes of Glynn, The</i>, Lanier, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>.<br /> <i>Martin + Chuzzlewit</i>, Dickens, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>.<br /> Mason, John, + Captain, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>.<br /> <i>Massachusetts to Virginia</i>, + Whittier, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>.<br /> Mather, Cotton, <a + href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>-<a href="#Page_48">48</a>; + diary, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>-<a href="#Page_47">47</a>.<br /> Mather, + Increase, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>.<br /> <i>Maud Muller</i>, Whittier, <a + href="#Page_5">5</a>-<a href="#Page_6">6</a>.<br /> <i>Memorial Odes</i>, + Lowell, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>.<br /> Miller, C. H. (Joaquin), <a + href="#Page_244">244</a>.<br /> <i>Minister's Black Veil, The</i>, + Hawthorne, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>.<br /> <i>Minister's Wooing, The</i>, + Stowe, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>.<br /> <i>Modern Instance, A</i>, + Howells, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>.<br /> <i>Montcalm and Wolfe</i>, + Parkman, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>.<br /> Moody, W. V., <a + href="#Page_257">257</a>.<br /> <i>Morituri Salutamus</i>, Longfellow, <a + href="#Page_156">156</a>.<br /> Morris, G. P., <a href="#Page_107">107</a>.<br /> + <i>Mosses from an Old Manse</i>, Hawthorne, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>.<br /> + Motley, J. L., <a href="#Page_143">143</a>-<a href="#Page_144">144</a>, + <a href="#Page_176">176</a>, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>-<a + href="#Page_182">182</a>.<br /> Muir, John, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>-<a + href="#Page_245">245</a>.<br /> <i>Murders in the Rue Morgue, The</i>, Poe, + <a href="#Page_194">194</a>.<br /> Murfree, Mary N. (C. E. Craddock), + <a href="#Page_247">247</a>.<br /> <i>My Garden Acquaintance</i>, Lowell, + <a href="#Page_174">174</a>.<br /> <i>My Literary Friends and Acquaintances</i>, + Howells, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>.<br /> <i>My Literary Passions</i>, + Howells, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>.<br /> <i>My Lost Youth</i>, + Longfellow, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>.<br /> <i>My Mark Twain</i>, + Howells, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>.<br /> <i>My Psalm, Whittier</i>, <a + href="#Page_160">160</a>.<br /> <i>My Study Windows</i>, Lowell, <a + href="#Page_170">170</a>.<br /> <i>Mysterious Stranger, The</i>, Clemens, + <a href="#Page_238">238</a>.<br /> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + </div> + <h3> + N + </h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + <i>National Gazette</i>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>.<br /> <i>National + Literature</i>, Channing, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>.<br /> <i>National + Ode</i>, Taylor, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>.<br /> <i>Nature</i>, Emerson, + <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a + href="#Page_131">131</a>.<br /> Nature-writing, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>.<br /> + <i>Netherlands, History of the United</i>, Motley, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>.<br /> + New England, a digression from English society, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>; + at the beginning of 18th century, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>-<a + href="#Page_44">44</a>; characteristics of the people of, <a + href="#Page_109">109</a>-<a href="#Page_111">111</a>; <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_278" id="Page_278">278</a></span> in last quarter of 19th + century, <a href="#Page_248">248</a> <i>et seq</i>.<br /> <i>New England, + History of</i>, Winthrop, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>-<a href="#Page_29">29</a>.<br /> + <i>New England Courant</i>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>.<br /> New National + period in American literature, <a href="#Page_234">234</a> <i>et seq</i>.; + bibliography, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>.<br /> New York at beginning of + 18th century, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>.<br /> <i>New York Tribune</i>, <a + href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>.<br /> <i>Newburyport + Free Press</i>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>.<br /> + Newspapers, in colonies, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>-<a href="#Page_61">61</a>; + in 20th century, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>-<a href="#Page_264">264</a>.<br /> + <i>North American Review</i>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a + href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, + <a href="#Page_170">170</a>.<br /> North Carolina in 1724, <a + href="#Page_44">44</a>.<br /> <i>North of Boston</i>, Frost, <a + href="#Page_261">261</a>.<br /> Norwood, Colonel, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>.<br /> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + </div> + <h3> + O + </h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + Oakes, Urian, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>.<br /> <i>Old Creole Days</i>, + Cable, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>.<br /> <i>Old Homestead, The</i>, + Thompson, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>.<br /> <i>Old Ironsides</i>, Holmes, + <a href="#Page_166">166</a>.<br /> Old Manse, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, + <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_146">145</a>.<br /> <i>Old Régime, + The</i>, Parkman, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>.<br /> <i>Old Swimmin' Hole, + The</i>, Riley, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>.<br /> <i>Oldtown Fireside + Stories</i>, Stowe, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>.<br /> <i>Oldtown Folks</i>, + Stowe, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>.<br /> Olmsted, F. L., <a + href="#Page_246">246</a>.<br /> <i>On a Certain Condescension in Foreigners</i>, + Lowell, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>.<br /> Oratory in America, <a + href="#Page_208">208</a> <i>et seq</i>.<br /> <i>Oregon Trail, The</i>, + Parkman, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>.<br /> Otis, James, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, + <a href="#Page_73">73</a>.<br /> <i>Our Hundred Days</i>, Holmes, <a + href="#Page_168">168</a>.<br /> <i>Outcast of Poker Flat, The</i>, Harte, + <a href="#Page_242">242</a>.<br /> <i>Outre-mer</i>, Longfellow, <a + href="#Page_152">152</a>.<br /> <i>Overland Monthly</i>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>.<br /> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + </div> + <h3> + P + </h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + Page, T. N., <a href="#Page_246">246</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>.<br /> + Paine, Thomas, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>-<a href="#Page_76">76</a>.<br /> + Parker, Theodore, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, + <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>.<br /> Parkman, + Francis, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>-<a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a + href="#Page_176">176</a>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>-<a href="#Page_186">186</a>.<br /> + <i>Passage to India</i>, Whitman, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>.<br /> <i>Passionate + Pilgrim, A</i>, James, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>.<br /> <i>Pathfinder, + The</i>, Cooper, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>.<br /> Pattee, F. L., <a + href="#Page_236">236</a>.<br /> <i>Paul Revere's Ride</i>, Longfellow, <a + href="#Page_155">155</a>.<br /> Paulding, J. K., <a href="#Page_107">107</a>.<br /> + Payne, J. H., <a href="#Page_107">107</a>.<br /> Pennsylvania, + University of, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>.<br /> <i>Pennsylvania Gazette</i>, + <a href="#Page_62">62</a>.<br /> <i>Pennsylvania Magazine</i>, <a + href="#Page_74">74</a>.<br /> Pequot War (1637), <a href="#Page_38">38</a>-<a + href="#Page_39">39</a>.<br /> Percy, George, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a + href="#Page_38">38</a>.<br /> Phelps, Elizabeth Stuart, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>.<br /> + <i>Philip II, History of the Reign of</i>, Prescott, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>.<br /> + Phillips, Wendell, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>-<a + href="#Page_216">216</a>.<br /> <i>Picture of New York</i>, Mitchill, <a + href="#Page_90">90</a>.<br /> <i>Pilot, The</i>, Cooper, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>.<br /> + <i>Pioneers, O Pioneers</i>, Whitman, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>.<br /> <i>Pioneers, + The</i>, Cooper, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>-<a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a + href="#Page_99">99</a>.<br /> <i>Pioneers of France, The</i>, Parkman, <a + href="#Page_185">185</a>.<br /> <i>Pirate, The</i>, Scot, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>.<br /> + <i>Plymouth Plantation, History of</i>, Bradford, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>-<a + href="#Page_29">29</a>.<br /> Poe, E. A., "literature of escape," <a + href="#Page_8">8</a>; in 1826, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>; in New York, <a + href="#Page_108">108</a>; life and writings, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>-<a + href="#Page_196">196</a>.<br /> <i>Poet at the Breakfast Table, The</i>, + Holmes, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>.<br /> Poetry, Revolutionary verse, <a + href="#Page_69">69</a>-<a href="#Page_72">72</a>; of freedom, <a + href="#Page_223">223</a> <i>et seq</i>.; of the 20th century, <a + href="#Page_260">260</a>-<a href="#Page_261">261</a>.<br /> <i>Poets and + Poetry of America</i>, Griswold, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>.<br /> <i>Poor + Richard</i>, Franklin, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>.<br /> + Pory, John, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>.<br /> <i>Prairie, The</i>, Cooper, + <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>.<br /> <i>Precaution</i>, + Cooper, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>.<br /> Prescott, W. H., <a + href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>-<a href="#Page_144">144</a>, + <a href="#Page_176">176</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>-<a + href="#Page_180">180</a>.<br /> <i>Present Crisis, The</i>, Lowell, <a + href="#Page_172">172</a>.<br /> <i>Prince of Parthia, The</i>, <a + href="#Page_260">260</a>.<br /> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" + id="Page_279">279</a></span> <i>Professor at the Breakfast Table, The</i>, + Holmes, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>.<br /> <i>Psalm of Life, The</i>, + Longfellow, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>.<br /> <i>Psalm of the West</i>, + Lanier, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>.<br /> <i>Publick Occurrences</i>, <a + href="#Page_60">60</a>.<br /> Puritans, The, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>-<a + href="#Page_35">35</a>.<br /> <i>Purloined Letter, The</i>, Poe, <a + href="#Page_193">193</a>.<br /> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + </div> + <h3> + Q + </h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + <i>Quarterly, The</i>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>.<br /> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + </div> + <h3> + R + </h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + <i>Rainy Day, The</i>, Longfellow, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>.<br /> <i>Ramona</i>, + Jackson, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>.<br /> <i>Ramoth Hill</i>, Whittier, + <a href="#Page_138">138</a>.<br /> <i>Raven, The</i>, Poe, <a + href="#Page_192">192</a>.<br /> Read, T. B., <a href="#Page_225">225</a>.<br /> + <i>Reality of Spiritual Life, The</i>, Edwards, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>.<br /> + <i>Reaper and the Flowers, The</i>, Longfellow, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>.<br /> + <i>Red Rover, The</i>, Cooper, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>.<br /> Religious + freedom in the colonies, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>.<br /> <i>René</i>, + Châteaubriand, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>.<br /> Repplier, Agnes, <a + href="#Page_262">262</a>.<br /> Revolution, influence upon literature, <a + href="#Page_66">66</a> <i>et seq</i>.; bibliography, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>.<br /> + <i>Rights of Man, The</i>, Paine, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>.<br /> Riley, + J. W., <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>-<a + href="#Page_259">259</a>.<br /> Ripley, George, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>.<br /> + <i>Rise of Silas Lapham, The</i>, Howells, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>.<br /> + <i>Rise of the Dutch Republic</i>, Motley, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>.<br /> + <i>Rivulet, The</i>, Bryant, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>.<br /> Robinson, + John, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>.<br /> <i>Roderick Hudson</i>, James, <a + href="#Page_253">253</a>.<br /> Rolfe, John, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>.<br /> + Romanticism in American literature, <a href="#Page_187">187</a> <i>et seq</i>. + Roosevelt, Theodore, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>.<br /> <i>Roughing It</i>, + Clemens, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>.<br /> + Rowlandson, Mary, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>.<br /> <i>Rules for Reducing a + Great Empire to a Small One</i>, Franklin, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>.<br /> + Russell, Irwin, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>.<br /> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + </div> + <div class="indexfont"> + <h3> + S + </h3> + Salem "witchcraft," <a href="#Page_43">43</a>.<br /> <i>Salmagundi Papers</i>, + Irving and Paulding, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>.<br /> Sanborn, F. B., + <a href="#Page_142">142</a>.<br /> Sandys, George, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>.<br /> + <i>Scarlet Letter, The</i>, Hawthorne, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a + href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, + <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>-<a + href="#Page_150">150</a>.<br /> <i>School-Days</i>, Whittier, <a + href="#Page_158">158</a>.<br /> Scott, Sir Walter, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>.<br /> + <i>Scribner's Monthly</i>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>.<br /> Scudder, + Horace, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>.<br /> <i>Seaweed</i>, Longfellow, <a + href="#Page_156">156</a>.<br /> Sewell, Samuel, Judge, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>-<a + href="#Page_48">48</a>.<br /> Shepard, Thomas, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, + <a href="#Page_31">31</a>-<a href="#Page_32">32</a>.<br /> Short story, + the, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>-<a href="#Page_262">262</a>.<br /> Sill, + E. R., <a href="#Page_257">257</a>.<br /> Simms, W. G., <a + href="#Page_245">245</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>.<br /> <i>Simple + Cobbler of Agawam, The</i>, Ward, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>.<br /> <i>Sinners + in the Hands of an Angry God</i>, Edwards, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>.<br /> + <i>Skeleton in Armor, The</i>, Longfellow, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>.<br /> + <i>Sketch Book</i>, Irving, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>.<br /> + <i>Skipper Ireson's Ride</i>, Whittier, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>.<br /> + Slavery, influence on literature, <a href="#Page_207">207</a> <i>et seq</i>. + <i>Slavery in Massachusetts</i>, Thoreau, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>.<br /> + Smith, F. H., <a href="#Page_247">247</a>.<br /> Smith, John, <a + href="#Page_8">8</a>-<a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, + <a href="#Page_38">38</a>.<br /> Smith, Sydney, quoted, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>-<a + href="#Page_89">89</a>.<br /> <i>Snow-Bound</i>, Whittier, <a + href="#Page_158">158</a>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>-<a href="#Page_162">162</a>.<br /> + <i>Snow-Image and Other Tales, The</i>, Hawthorne, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>.<br /> + <i>Songs of Labor</i>, Whittier, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>.<br /> South + Carolina in 1724, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>.<br /> South, The, in American + literature, 245 <i>et seq</i>. Sparks, Jared, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>.<br /> + Spofford, Harriet Prescott, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>.<br /> <i>Spoon + River Anthology</i>, Masters, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>.<br /> <i>Spy, + The</i>, Cooper, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a + href="#Page_98">98</a>.<br /> Stamp Act (1765), <a href="#Page_59">59</a>.<br /> + <i>Star-Spangled Banner, The</i>, Key, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a + href="#Page_225">225</a>.<br /> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" + id="Page_280">280</a></span> Stedman, E. C., <a href="#Page_225">225</a>, + <a href="#Page_256">256</a>.<br /> Stowe, Harriet Beecher, <a + href="#Page_219">219</a>-<a href="#Page_223">223</a>, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>.<br /> + Strachey, William, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>.<br /> + <i>Summary View of the Rights of British America, A</i>, Jefferson, <a + href="#Page_80">80</a>.<br /> Sumner, Charles, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>.<br /> + <i>Sunthin' in the Pastoral Line</i>, Lowell, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>.<br /> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + </div> + <h3> + T + </h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + <i>Tales of a Traveler</i>, Irving, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>.<br /> <i>Tales + of a Wayside Inn</i>, Longfellow, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>.<br /> <i>Tamerlane + and Other Poems</i>, Poe, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>.<br /> Taylor, Bayard, + <a href="#Page_255">255</a>.<br /> <i>Telling the Bees</i>, Whittier, <a + href="#Page_158">158</a>.<br /> <i>Tennessee's Partner</i>, Harte, <a + href="#Page_242">242</a>.<br /> <i>Thanatopsis</i>, Bryant, <a + href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>.<br /> + Thomas, Edith, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>.<br /> Thompson, Denman, <a + href="#Page_248">248</a>.<br /> Thoreau, H. D., representative of New + England thought, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>; life and writings, <a + href="#Page_130">130</a>-<a href="#Page_139">139</a>; nature-writing, <a + href="#Page_262">262</a>; typically American, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>.<br /> + Ticknor, George, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, + <a href="#Page_178">178</a>, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>.<br /> Timrod, + Henry, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>.<br /> <i>To Helen</i>, Poe, <a + href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>.<br /> <i>Tom Sawyer</i>, + Clemens, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>.<br /> <i>Tour of the Prairies</i>, + Irving, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>.<br /> Transcendentalism, <a + href="#Page_111">111</a> <i>et seq.</i>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>; + bibliography, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>-<a href="#Page_271">271</a>.<br /> + <i>Tritemius</i>, Whittier, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>.<br /> <i>True + Relation</i>, Smith, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>-<a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a + href="#Page_25">25</a>-<a href="#Page_26">26</a>.<br /> <i>True Repertory + of the Wrack of Sir Thomas Gates, Kt. vpon and from the Islands of the + Bermudas</i>, Strachey, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>.<br /> Tuckerman, F. G., + quoted, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>.<br /> Twain, Mark, <i>see</i> Clemens, + S. L.<br /> <i>Twice-Told Tales</i>, Hawthorne, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>.<br /> + Tyler, Professor, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>.<br /> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + </div> + <h3> + U + </h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + <i>Ulalume</i>, Poe, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>.<br /> <i>Uncle Tom's + Cabin</i>, Stowe, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, + <a href="#Page_219">219</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>-<a + href="#Page_223">223</a>.<br /> <i>Union of the Colonies</i>, Franklin, <a + href="#Page_59">59</a>.<br /> Unitarianism, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>-<a + href="#Page_113">113</a>.<br /> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + </div> + <h3> + V + </h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + Verplanck, J. C., <a href="#Page_107">107</a>.<br /> Very, Jones, <a + href="#Page_141">141</a>.<br /> Virginia, a continuation of English + society, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>; in 1724, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>.<br /> + <i>Virginia House of Burgesses, Address of the</i>, Jefferson, <a + href="#Page_80">80</a>.<br /> <i>Virginians, The</i>, Thackeray, <a + href="#Page_45">45</a>.<br /> <i>Vision of Sir Launfal, The</i>, Lowell, <a + href="#Page_170">170</a>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>.<br /> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + </div> + <h3> + W + </h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + <i>Walden</i>, Thoreau, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, + <a href="#Page_135">135</a>.<br /> Walley, Thomas, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>.<br /> + Warner, C. D., <a href="#Page_93">93</a>.<br /> Washington, George, <a + href="#Page_64">64</a>-<a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, + <a href="#Page_77">77</a>-<a href="#Page_78">78</a>.<br /> <i>Waterfowl, To + a</i>, Bryant, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>.<br /> + Webster, Daniel, eulogy for Adams and Jefferson, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>-<a + href="#Page_87">87</a>; civic note in oratory of, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>; + criticism of Clay, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>; his oratory, <a + href="#Page_211">211</a>-<a href="#Page_215">215</a>.<br /> <i>Week on the + Concord and Merrimac Rivers, A</i>, Thoreau, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>.<br /> + Wendell, Barrett, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>.<br /> West, The, in American + literature, <a href="#Page_237">237</a> <i>et seq</i>.<br /> <i>Westchester + Farmer, The</i>, Seabury, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>.<br /> <i>When Lilacs + last in the Dooryard Bloomed</i>, Whitman, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>.<br /> + <i>When the Frost is on the Punkin</i>, Riley, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>.<br /> + Whitaker, Alexander, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>-<a href="#Page_27">27</a>, + <a href="#Page_38">38</a>.<br /> Whitman, Walt, in 1826, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>; + in New York, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>; life and writings, <a + href="#Page_196">196</a>-<a href="#Page_205">205</a>; died (1892), <a + href="#Page_255">255</a>; typically American, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>; + argues for American books, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>.<br /> Whittier, J. G., + in 1826, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>; attitude towards Transcendentalism, <a + href="#Page_143">143</a>; life and writings, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>-<a + href="#Page_164">164</a>; died (1892), <a href="#Page_255">255</a>.<br /> + William and Mary College, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>.<br /> <i>William + Wilson</i>, Poe, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>.<br /> <span class="pagenum"><a + name="Page_281" id="Page_281">281</a></span> Williams, Roger, <a + href="#Page_2">2</a>, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, + <a href="#Page_32">32</a>-<a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, + <a href="#Page_40">40</a>-<a href="#Page_41">41</a>.<br /> Willis, N. P., + <a href="#Page_107">107</a>.<br /> Winthrop, John, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, + <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>-<a href="#Page_29">29</a>.<br /> + Wirt, William, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>.<br /> Wister, Owen, <a + href="#Page_243">243</a>.<br /> <i>Wonder-Book, The</i>, Hawthorne, <a + href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>.<br /> Woodberry, + George, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>.<br /> Woodworth, Samuel, <a + href="#Page_107">107</a>.<br /> Woolman, John, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>.<br /> + <i>Wreck of the Hesperus, The</i>, Longfellow, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>.<br /> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + </div> + <h3> + Y + </h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + Yale University, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>.<br /> <i>Years of my Youth</i>, + Howells, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>.<br /> + </div> + <hr /> + <div class="chapterhead"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + <a href="#Contents">The Chronicles of America Series</a> + </h2> + <ol> + <li> + The Red Man's Continent<br /> by Ellsworth Huntington + </li> + <li> + The Spanish Conquerors<br /> by Irving Berdine Richman + </li> + <li> + Elizabethan Sea-Dogs<br /> by William Charles Henry Wood + </li> + <li> + The Crusaders of New France<br /> by William Bennett Munro + </li> + <li> + Pioneers of the Old South<br /> by Mary Johnson + </li> + <li> + The Fathers of New England<br /> by Charles McLean Andrews + </li> + <li> + Dutch and English on the Hudson<br /> by Maud Wilder Goodwin + </li> + <li> + The Quaker Colonies<br /> by Sydney George Fisher + </li> + <li> + Colonial Folkways<br /> by Charles McLean Andrews + </li> + <li> + The Conquest of New France<br /> by George McKinnon Wrong + </li> + <li> + The Eve of the Revolution<br /> by Carl Lotus Becker + </li> + <li> + Washington and His Comrades in Arms<br /> by George McKinnon Wrong + </li> + <li> + The Fathers of the Constitution<br /> by Max Farrand + </li> + <li> + Washington and His Colleagues<br /> by Henry Jones Ford + </li> + <li> + Jefferson and his Colleagues<br /> by Allen Johnson + </li> + <li> + John Marshall and the Constitution<br /> by Edward Samuel Corwin + </li> + <li> + The Fight for a Free Sea<br /> by Ralph Delahaye Paine + </li> + <li> + Pioneers of the Old Southwest<br /> by Constance Lindsay Skinner + </li> + <li> + The Old Northwest<br /> by Frederic Austin Ogg + </li> + <li> + The Reign of Andrew Jackson<br /> by Frederic Austin Ogg + </li> + <li> + The Paths of Inland Commerce<br /> by Archer Butler Hulbert + </li> + <li> + Adventurers of Oregon<br /> by Constance Lindsay Skinner + </li> + <li> + The Spanish Borderlands<br /> by Herbert Eugene Bolton + </li> + <li> + Texas and the Mexican War<br /> by Nathaniel Wright Stephenson + </li> + <li> + The Forty-Niners<br /> by Stewart Edward White + </li> + <li> + The Passing of the Frontier<br /> by Emerson Hough + </li> + <li> + The Cotton Kingdom<br /> by William E. Dodd + </li> + <li> + The Anti-Slavery Crusade<br /> by Jesse Macy + </li> + <li> + Abraham Lincoln and the Union<br /> by Nathaniel Wright Stephenson + </li> + <li> + The Day of the Confederacy<br /> by Nathaniel Wright Stephenson + </li> + <li> + Captains of the Civil War<br /> by William Charles Henry Wood + </li> + <li> + The Sequel of Appomattox<br /> by Walter Lynwood Fleming + </li> + <li> + The American Spirit in Education<br /> by Edwin E. Slosson + </li> + <li> + <span class="smcap">The American Spirit in Literature<br /> by Bliss + Perry</span> + </li> + <li> + Our Foreigners<br /> by Samuel Peter Orth + </li> + <li> + The Old Merchant Marine<br /> by Ralph Delahaye Paine + </li> + <li> + The Age of Invention<br /> by Holland Thompson + </li> + <li> + The Railroad Builders<br /> by John Moody + </li> + <li> + The Age of Big Business<br /> by Burton Jesse Hendrick + </li> + <li> + The Armies of Labor<br /> by Samuel Peter Orth + </li> + <li> + The Masters of Capital<br /> by John Moody + </li> + <li> + The New South<br /> by Holland Thompson + </li> + <li> + The Boss and the Machine<br /> by Samuel Peter Orth + </li> + <li> + The Cleveland Era<br /> by Henry Jones Ford + </li> + <li> + The Agrarian Crusade<br /> by Solon Justus Buck + </li> + <li> + The Path of Empire<br /> by Carl Russell Fish + </li> + <li> + Theodore Roosevelt and His Times<br /> by Harold Howland + </li> + <li> + Woodrow Wilson and the World War<br /> by Charles Seymour + </li> + <li> + The Canadian Dominion<br /> by Oscar D. Skelton + </li> + <li> + The Hispanic Nations of the New World<br /> by William R. Shepherd + </li> + </ol> + <hr /> + <div class="chapterhead"> + <br /> <br /><br /><br /> + <h2> + Transcriber's Notes + </h2> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h3> + Introduction: + </h3> + </div> + <p> + The Chronicles of America Series has two similar editions of each volume + in the series. One version is the Abraham Lincoln edition of the series, a + premium version which includes full-page pictures. A textbook edition was + also produced, which does not contain the pictures and captions associated + with the pictures, but is otherwise the same book. This book was produced + to match the textbook edition of the book. + </p> + <p> + We have retained the original punctuation and spelling in the book, but + there are a few exceptions. Obvious errors were corrected--and all of + these changes can be found in the <i>Detailed Notes Section</i> of these + notes. The spelling of some index entries were changed to match the + spelling used in the text. The <i>Detailed Notes Section</i> also includes + issues that have come up during transcription. One common issue is that + words are sometimes split into two lines for spacing purposes in the + original text. These words are hyphenated in the physical book, but there + is a question sometimes as to whether the hyphen should be retained in + transcription. The reasons behind some of these decisions are itemized. + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h3> + Detailed Notes Section: + </h3> + <div class="notes"> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h4> + A Note on Centuries + </h4> + <p class="noindent"> + Throughout the <i>Chronicles of America</i> series, most authors have + chosen to hyphenate "seventeenth-century customs" but not hyphenate + "customs in the seventeenth century." In the latter case, seventeenth + century is the object of a preposition, while in the former case, + seventeenth-century is an adjective. This book somewhat adheres to that + standard. Below is a list of phrases in this text which ought to have + the hyphen, but do not, and hence, do not adhere to the standard + previously outlined. None of these clauses were changed in + transcription. + </p> + <ul> + <li> + <a href="#Page_55">Page 55</a>: England is weary of seventeenth + century "enthusiasm," + </li> + <li> + <a href="#Page_85">Page 85</a>: the immense nineteenth century + audience + </li> + <li> + <a href="#Page_90">Page 90</a>: nineteenth century England + </li> + <li> + <a href="#Page_93">Page 93</a>: other eighteenth century tradition, + </li> + <li> + <a href="#Page_138">Page 138</a>: twentieth century America can see + </li> + <li> + <a href="#Page_166">Page 166</a>: resembled such a typical eighteenth + century figure + </li> + <li> + <a href="#Page_182">Page 182</a>: a nineteenth century historian + </li> + </ul> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h4> + Chapter II + </h4> + <p class="noindent"> + • <a href="#Page_36">Page 36</a>:<br /> Under-estimate is hyphenated + and split between two lines for spacing in the sentence: "It is the + present fashion to under-estimate the power of Wigglesworth's verse." + There is one other occurrence of underestimate and there is one + occurrence of underestimated, both spelled without the hyphen. + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h4> + Chapter IV + </h4> + <p class="noindent"> + • <a href="#Page_72">Page 72</a>:<br /> State-papers is hyphenated + and split between two lines for spacing in the clause: "orations and + pamphlets and state-papers inspired by." On page 67, state papers is + written as two words and on page 82, state paper is written as two + words. While state-papers can only be transcribed as "state-papers" or + "statepapers," "state papers" is the only option consistent with the + author's other usage of the phrase. The word was transcribed "state + papers." + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h4> + Chapter V + </h4> + <p class="noindent"> + • <a href="#Page_98">Page 90</a>:<br /> Tree-tops is hyphenated and + split between two lines for spacing in the clause "watching the birds in + the treetops of Elmwood." On page 245, tree-tops was spelled with a + hyphen, so we kept the hyphen here.<br /> • <a href="#Page_98">Page + 98</a>:<br /> Stout-hearted is hyphenated and split between two lines in + the clause: "the stout-hearted old pioneer could afford to bide his + time." On page 84, a variation of the word includes the hyphen: "his + stout-heartedness in disaster." Therefore, we retained the hyphen. + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h4> + Chapter VI + </h4> + <p class="noindent"> + • <a href="#Page_133">Page 133</a>:<br /> Poll-tax is hyphenated and + split between two lines for spacing. We kept the hyphen.<br /> • <a + href="#Page_137">Page 137</a>:<br /> Wolf-like is hyphenated and split + between two lines for spacing. We kept the hyphen.<br /> • <a + href="#Page_138">Page 138</a>:<br /> Post-office is hyphenated and split + between two lines for spacing. We kept the hyphen. + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h4> + Chapter VII + </h4> + <p class="noindent"> + • <a href="#Page_145">Page 145</a>:<br /> On Page 145, Hawthorne's + <i>The Snow-Image</i> contained a hyphen, but the same title on page 148 + did not have a hyphen: <i>The Snow Image.</i> <br /> • <a + href="#Page_153">Page 153</a>:<br /> Fellow-men was hyphenated and split + between two lines for spacing. There was no other usage of the word in + the book. We transcribed the word without the hyphen, fellowmen. <br /> + • <a href="#Page_172">Page 172</a>:<br /> <i>The First Snow-Fall</i> + was hyphenated and split between two lines for spacing. There was no + other usage of that title in the book. We transcribed the word with the + hyphen, <i>The First Snow-Fall</i>. <br /> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h4> + Chapter IX + </h4> + <p class="noindent"> + • <a href="#Page_208">Page 208</a>:<br /> Epoch-making is hyphenated + and split between two lines for spacing. On page 184, the hyphen was + used, so we retained it here. + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h4> + Index + </h4> + <p class="noindent"> + • <a href="#Page_276">Page 276</a>:<br /> Changed the acute accent + to a grave accent in the spelling of Crèvecœur to match the + text in index entry: <i>Letters from an American Farmer</i>, Crévecœur, + 60, 68. <br /> • <a href="#Page_276">Page 276</a>:<br /> Change + Leatherstocking to Leather-Stocking in index entry "Leather-Stocking + Tales, Cooper,"<br /> • <a href="#Page_278">Page 278</a>:<br /> + Change Oake to Oakes in index entry "Oake, Urian."<br /> • <a + href="#Page_280">Page 280</a>:<br /> Change Twicetold to Twice-Told in + index entry "Twice-Told Tales, Hawthorne." + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + </div> + <hr /> + <div class="boilerplate"> + <p class="boilerplate bold double-space-top"> + *** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE AMERICAN SPIRIT IN + LITERATURE *** + </p> + <p class="boilerplate double=space-top"> + ***** This file should be named 3410-h.htm or 3410-h.zip ***** + </p> + <p class="boilerplate double-space-top"> + This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/4/1/3410/ + </p> + <p class="boilerplate double-space-top"> + Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions + will be renamed. + </p> + <p class="boilerplate"> + Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no one + owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and + you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without permission + and without paying copyright royalties. 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