1. HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY, AND TRAVELS.--From the year 1820, American
literature may be considered as fairly launched upon its national career.
The early laborers in the field had immense difficulties to encounter from
ridicule abroad and want of appreciation at home; but they at last
succeeded in dispelling all doubts as to the capability of the American
mind for the exercise of original power, and to some extent diverted
public thought from Europe as an exclusive source of mental supplies. The
era we are now to consider will be found prolific in works of merit, and
the expansion of mind will be seen to have kept pace with the political,
social, and commercial progress of the nation. No subject of human
knowledge has been overlooked; many European works have been elucidated by
the fresh light of the American mind; a new style of thought has been
developed; new scenes have been opened to the world, and Europe is
receiving compensation in kind for the intellectual treasures she has
heretofore sent to America.
The marvelous growth of the United States, its relations to the past and
future, and to the great problem of humanity, render its history one of
the most suggestive episodes in the annals of the world, and give to it a
universal as well as a special dignity. Justly interpreted, it is the
practical demonstration of principles which the noblest spirits of England
advocated with their pens, and often sealed with their blood. The early
colonists were familiar with the responsibilities and progressive tendency
of liberal institutions, and in achieving the Revolution they only carried
out what had long existed in idea, and actualized the views of Sidney and
his illustrious compeers. Through this intimate relation with the past of
the Old World, and as initiative to its future self-enfranchisement, our
history daily unfolds new meaning and increases in importance and
interest. It is only within the last quarter of a century, however, that
this theme has found any adequate illustration. Before that time the
labors of American historians had been chiefly confined to the collection
of materials, the unadorned record of facts which rarely derived any charm
from the graces of style or the resources of philosophy.
The most successful attempt to reduce the chaotic but rich materials of
American history to order, beauty, and moral significance has been made by
Bancroft (b. 1800), who has brought to the work not only talent and
scholarship of high order, but an earnest sympathy with the spirit of the
age he was to illustrate. In sentiment and principle his history is
thoroughly American, although in its style and philosophy it has that
broad and eclectic spirit appropriate to the general interest of the
subject, and the enlightened sympathies of the age. Unwearied and patient
in research, discriminating and judicious in the choice of authorities,
and possessed of all the qualities required to fuse into a vital unity the
narrative thus carefully gleaned, Bancroft has written the most accurate
and philosophical account that has been given of the United States.
The works of Prescott (1796-1858) are among the finest models of
historical composition, and they breathe freely the spirit of our liberal
institutions. His "History of Ferdinand and Isabella," of the "Conquest of
Mexico," and the "Conquest of Peru," unite all the fascination of romantic
fiction with the grave interest of authentic events. The picturesque and
romantic character of his subjects, the harmony and beauty of his style,
the dramatic interest of his narrative, and the careful research which
renders his works as valuable for their accuracy as they are attractive
for their style, have given Prescott's histories a brilliant and extensive
reputation; and it is a matter of deep regret that his last and crowning
work, "The History of Philip II.," should remain uncompleted. Another
important contribution to the literature of the country is Motley's (1814-
1877) "History of the Rise of the Dutch Republic," a work distinguished
for its historical accuracy, philosophical breadth of treatment, and
clearness and vigor of style. The narrative proceeds with a steady and
easy flow, and the scenes it traces are portrayed with the hand of a
master; while the whole work is pervaded by a spirit of humanity and a
genuine sympathy with liberty. Parke Godwin's "History of France" is
remarkable for its combination of deep research, picturesqueness of style;
and John Poster Kirk is the author of a valuable history of Charles the
Bold.
Ticknor's (1791-1871) "History of Spanish Literature," as an intellectual
achievement, ranks with the best productions of its kind, and is
everywhere regarded by scholars as a standard authority. It is thoroughly
penetrated with the true Castilian spirit, and is a complete record of
Spanish civilization, both social and intellectual, equally interesting to
the general reader and to the student of civil history. It has been
translated into several languages.
Henry R. Schoolcraft has devoted much time to researches among the Indian
tribes of North America, and embodied the result of his labors in many
volumes, containing their traditions, and the most interesting facts of
their history. Catlin's "Notes on the Manners, Customs, and Conditions of
the North American Indians," though without literary pretensions or
literary merit; fills an important place in ethnological literature.
Another work of a more historical character is "The History of the Indian
Tribes of North America," the joint production of Hall and McKinney.
Bradford's "American Antiquities and Researches into the Origin of the Red
Race" is also an able and instructive work. In Hildreth's "History of the
United States," rhetorical grace and effect give way to a plain narrative
confined to facts gleaned with great care and conscientiousness. The
"Field-Book of the Revolution," by Lossing, who has visited all the scenes
of that memorable war, and delineated them with pen and pencil, is a work
which finds its way to all the school libraries of the country. Cooper's
"Naval History of the United States" abounds in picturesque and thrilling
descriptions of naval warfare, and is one of the most characteristic
histories, both in regard to style and subject, yet produced in America.
S. G. Goodrich (1793-1860), who, under the name of Peter Parley, has
acquired an extensive popularity in England and the United States, was the
pioneer in the important reform of rendering historical school-books
attractive, and his numerous works occupy a prominent place in the
literature designed for the young. Two other able writers in this
department are John S.C. and Jacob Abbott.
Among the numerous local and special histories, valuable for their
correctness and literary merit, are Brodhead's "History of New York,"
Palfrey's and Elliott's Histories of New England, Trumbull's "History of
Connecticut," Hawks's "History of North Carolina," and Dr. Francis's
"Historical Sketches."
To the department of Biography, Jared Sparks has made many valuable
contributions. Washington Irving's "Life and Voyages of Columbus" and
"Life of Washington" have gained a popularity as extensive as the fame of
this charming writer. Mrs. Kirkland, also, has written a popular "Life of
Washington." The biographies and histories of J.T. Headley are remarkable
for a vivacity and energy, which have given them great popularity. The
"Biographical and Historical Studies" of G.W. Greene, Randall's "Life of
Jefferson," Parton's Biographies of Aaron Burr and other celebrated men,
Mrs. Ellet's "Women of the Revolution" and "Women Artists in all Ages,"
and Mrs. Hale's "Sketches of Distinguished Women in all Ages," are among
the numerous works belonging to this department.
The restlessness of the American character finds a mode of expression in
the love of travel and adventure, and within the last thirty years no
nation has contributed to literature more interesting books of travel than
the United States. Flint's "Wanderings in the Valley of the Mississippi,"
Schoolcraft's "Discoveries and Adventures in the Northwest," Irving's
"Astoria," and Fremont's Reports are instructive and entertaining accounts
of the West. The "Incidents of Travel" of John L. Stephens (1805-1857) has
had remarkable success in Europe as well as in this country. The
adventurous Arctic explorations of E.K. Kane (1822-1857) have elicited
universal admiration for the interest of their descriptions and for the
heroism and indomitable energy of the writer. These narratives have been
followed by those of Hayes in the same field of adventure. The scientific
explorations of E.G. Squier have thrown new light on the antiquities and
ethnology of the aboriginal tribes of America. Wilkes's "Narrative of the
United States Exploring Expedition" and Perry's "Narrative of an
Expedition to Japan" are full of scientific and general information.
Lynch's "Exploration of the Dead Sea" and Herndon's "Valley of the Amazon"
belong to the same class. Bartlett's "Explorations in Texas and New
Mexico" is interesting from the accuracy of its descriptions and the
novelty of the scenes it describes. Among the numerous other entertaining
books of travel in foreign countries are those of Bayard Taylor, who has
left few parts of the world unvisited; Dana's "Two Years Before the Mast;"
Curtis's "Nile Notes;" Norman's "Cities of Yucatan;" Dix's "Winter in
Madeira;" Brace's "Hungary," "Home Life in Germany," and "Norse Folk;"
Olmsted's "Travels in the Seaboard Slave States," and other works; Ross
Browne's "Notes," Prime's "Boat" and "Tent Life," and "Letters of
Irenaeus;" Slidell's "Year in Spain;" Willis's "Pencillings by the Way;"
Hillard's "Six Months in Italy" and "Letters;" "Memories" and "Souvenirs,"
by Catherine M. Sedgwick, Sarah Haight, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Grace
Greenwood, and Octavia Walton Le Vert.
2. ORATORY.--The public speeches of a nation's chief legislators are
shining landmarks of its policy and lucid developments of the character
and genius of its institutions. Of the statesmen of the present century,
the most eminent are Webster, Clay, and Calhoun. Daniel Webster (1782-
1852) is acknowledged to be one of the greatest men America has produced.
His speeches and forensic arguments constitute a characteristic as well as
an intrinsically valuable and interesting portion of our native
literature, and some of his orations on particular occasions are
everywhere recognized as among the greatest instances of genius in this
branch of letters to be met with in modern times. The style of Webster is
remarkable for its clearness and impressiveness, and rises occasionally to
absolute grandeur. His dignity of expression, breadth and force of thought
realize the ideal of a republican statesman; his writings, independent of
their literary merit, are invaluable for the nationality of their tone and
spirit.
The speeches of Henry Clay (1777-1852) are distinguished by a sincerity
and warmth which were characteristic of the man, who united the gentlest
affections with the pride of the haughtiest manhood. His style of oratory,
full, flowing, and sensuous, was modulated by a voice of sustained power
and sweetness and a heart of chivalrous courtesy, and his eloquence
reached the heart of the whole nation.
The style of John C. Calhoun (1782-1850) was terse and condensed, and his
eloquence, though sometimes impassioned, was always severe. He had great
skill as a dialectician and remarkable power of analysis, and his works
will have a permanent place in American literature. The writings and
speeches of John Quincy Adams (1769-1848) are distinguished by
universality of knowledge and independence of judgment, and they are
repositories of rich materials for the historian and political
philosopher. Benton's (1783-1858) "Thirty Years' View" of the working of
the American government is a succession of historical pictures which will
increase in value as the scenes they portray become more distant. Edward
Everett (1794-1865), as an orator, has few living equals, and his
occasional addresses and orations have become permanent memorials of many
important occasions of public interest. Of the numerous other orators,
eminent as rhetoricians or debaters, a few only can be named; among them
are Legaré, Randolph, Choate, Sumner, Phillips, Preston, and Prentiss.
3. FICTION.--Romantic fiction found its first national development in the
writings of James Fenimore Cooper (1789-1851), and through his works
American literature first became widely known in Europe. His nautical and
Indian tales; his delineations of the American mind in its adventurous
character, and his vivid pictures of the aborigines, and of forest and
frontier life, from their freshness, power, and novelty, attracted
universal attention, and were translated into the principal European
languages as soon as they appeared. "The Spy," "The Pioneers," "The Last
of the Mohicans," and numerous other productions of Cooper, must hold a
lasting place in English literature.
The genial and refined humor of Washington Irving (1783-1859), his lively
fancy and poetic imagination, have made his name a favorite wherever the
English language is known. He depicts a great variety of scenes and
character with singular skill and felicity, and his style has all the ease
and grace, the purity and charm, that distinguish that of Goldsmith, with
whom he may justly be compared. "The Sketch-Book" and "Knickerbocker's
History of New York" are among the most admired of his earlier writings,
and his later works have more than sustained his early fame.
The tales and prose sketches of N.P. Willis are characterized by genial
wit, and a delicate rather than a powerful imagination, while beneath his
brilliant audacities of phrase there is a current of original thought and
genuine feeling. Commanding all the resources of passion, while he is at
the same time master of all the effects of manner, in the power of
ingenious and subtle comment on passing events, of sketching the lights
and shadows which flit over the surface of society, of playful and
felicitous portraiture of individual traits, and of investing his
descriptions with the glow of vitality, this writer is unsurpassed.
Hawthorne is remarkable for the delicacy of his psychological insight, his
power of intense characterization, and for his mastery of the spiritual
and the supernatural. His genius is most at home when delineating the
darker passages of life and the enactions of guilt and pain. He does not
feel the necessity of time or space to realize his spells, and the early
history of New England and its stern people have found no more vivid
illustration than his pages afford. The style of Hawthorne is the pure
colorless medium of his thought; the plain current of his language is
always equable, full and unvarying, whether in the company of playful
children, among the ancestral associations of family or history, or in
grappling with the mysteries and terrors of the supernatural world. "The
Scarlet Letter" is a psychological romance, a study of character in which
the human heart is anatomized with striking poetic and dramatic power.
"The House of the Seven Gables" is a tale of retribution and expiation,
dating from the time of the Salem witchcraft. "The Marble Faun" is the
most elaborate and powerfully drawn of his later works.
Edgar A. Poe (1811-1849) acquired much reputation as a writer of tales and
many of his productions exhibit extraordinary metaphysical acuteness, and
an imagination that delights to dwell in the shadowy confines of human
experience, among the abodes of crime and horror. A subtle power of
analysis, a minuteness of detail, a refinement of reasoning in the anatomy
of mystery, give to his most improbable inventions a wonderful reality.
Of the numerous writings of William Gilmore Simms, historical or
imaginative romances form no inconsiderable part. As a novelist he is
vigorous in delineation, dramatic in action, poetic in description, and
skilled in the art of story-telling. His pictures of Southern border
scenery and life are vivid and natural.
Harriet Beecher Stowe was well known as a writer before the appearance of
the work which has given her a world-wide reputation. No work of fiction
of any age ever attained so immediate and extensive a popularity as "Uncle
Tom's Cabin;" before the close of the first year after its publication it
had been translated into all the languages of Europe; many millions of
copies had been sold, and it had been dramatized in twenty different
forms, and performed in every capital of Europe.
Besides the authors already named, there is a crowd of others of various
and high degrees of merit and reputation, but whose traits are chiefly
analogous to those already described. Paulding, in "Westward Ho" and "The
Dutchman's Fireside," has drawn admirable pictures of colonial life; Dana,
in "The Idle Man," has two or three remarkable tales; Flint, Hall, and
Webber have written graphic and spirited tales of Western life. Kennedy
has described Virginia life in olden times in "Swallow Barn;" and Fay has
described "Life in New York;" Hoffman has embodied the early history of
New York in a romantic form, and Dr. Bird, that of Mexico. William Ware's
"Probus" and "Letters from Palmyra" are classical romances, and Judd's
"Margaret" is a tragic story of New England life. Cornelius Mathews has
chosen new subjects, and treated them in an original way; John Neal has
written many novels full of power and incident. The "Hyperion" and
"Kavanagh" of Longfellow establish his success as a writer of fiction; and
in adventurous description, the "Omoo" and "Typee" of Melville, and the
"Kaloolah" and "Berber" of Mayo have gained an extensive popularity.
This department of literature has been ably represented by the women of
the United States, and their contributions form an important part of our
national literature. Catharine M. Sedgwick has written the most pleasing
and graphic tales of New England life. Lydia M. Child is the author of
several fictions, as well as other prose works, which evince great vigor,
beauty, and grace. Maria J. McIntosh has written many charming tales; the
"New Home" of Mrs. Kirkland, an admirable picture of frontier life, was
brilliantly successful, and will be permanently valuable as representing
scenes most familiar to the early settlers of the Western States. The
works of the Misses Warner are equally popular in England and the United
States. Among numerous other names are those of Eliza Leslie, Lydia H.
Sigourney, Caroline Gilman, E. Oakes Smith, Alice and Phoebe Cary,
Elizabeth F. Ellet, Sarah J. Hale, Emma Willard, Caroline Lee Hentz, Alice
B. Neal, Caroline Chesebro, Emma Southworth, Ann S. Stephens, Maria
Cummings, Anna Mowatt Ritchie, Rose Terry Cooke, Harriet Prescott
Spofford, Augusta J. Evans, Catharine A. Warfield, and the writers under
the assumed names of Fanny Forrester, Grace Greenwood, Fanny Fern, Marion
Harland, and Mary Forrest, besides many anonymous writers.
4. POETRY.--America has as yet produced no great epic poet, although the
existence of a high degree of poetical talent cannot be denied. Carrying
the same enthusiasm into the world of fancy that he does into the world of
fact, the American finds in the cultivation of the poetic faculty a
pleasant relief from the absorbing pursuits of daily life; hence, while
poetry is sometimes cultivated as an art, it is oftener resorted to as a
pastime; the number of writers is more numerous here than in any other
country, and the facility of poetical expression more universal. William
C. Bryant (1794-1878) is recognized as the best representative of American
poetry. He is extremely felicitous in the use of native materials, and he
has a profound love of nature and of freedom united with great artistic
skill. He is eminently a contemplative poet; in his writings there is a
remarkable absence of those bursts of tenderness and passion which
constitute the essence of a large portion of modern verse. His strength
lies in his descriptive power, in his serene and elevated philosophy, and
in his noble simplicity of language. Richard H. Dana (1787-1879) is the
most psychological of the American poets; the tragic and remorseful
elements of humanity exert a powerful influence over his imagination,
while the mysteries and aspirations of the human soul fill and elevate his
mind. His verse is sometimes abrupt, but never feeble, The poems of Fitz-
Greene Halleck are spirited and warm with emotion, or sparkling with
genuine wit. His humorous poems are marked by an uncommon ease of
versification, a natural flow of language, and a playful felicity of jest;
his serious poems are distinguished for manly vigor of thought and
language, and a beauty of imagery. The poems of Henry W. Longfellow (1807-
1882) are chiefly meditative, and often embody and illustrate significant
truths. They give little evidence of the power of overmastering passion,
but they are pervaded with an earnestness and beauty of sentiment,
expressed in a finished and artistic form, which at once wins the ear and
impresses the memory and heart. In "Evangeline" and "Hiawatha," the most
popular of his later productions, he has skillfully succeeded in the use
of metres unusual in English. The poems of N. P. Willis (1807-1867) are
characterized by a vivid imagination and a brilliant wit, combined with
grace of utterance and artistic finish. His picturesque elaborations of
some of the incidents recorded in the Bible are the best of his poetical
compositions. His dramas are delicate creations of sentiment and passion
with a relish of the Elizabethan age. J. R. Lowell (b. 1819) unites in his
most effective poems a philosophic simplicity with a transcendental
suggestiveness. Imagination and philanthropy are the dominant elements in
his writings, which are marked by a graceful flow and an earnest tone. His
satires contain many sharply-drawn portraits, and his humorous poems are
replete with wit.
Washington Allston (1779-1843) owed his chief celebrity to his paintings,
but his literary works alone would have given him high rank among men of
genius. His poems are delicate, subtle, and philosophical, and though few
in number, they are exquisite in finish and in the thoughts which they
embody.
James A. Hillhouse (1789-1841) excelled in what may be called the written
drama, which, though unsuited to representation, is characterized by noble
sentiment and imagery. His dramatic and other poems are the first
instances in this country of artistic skill in the higher and more
elaborate spheres of poetic writing, and have gained for him a permanent
place among the American poets. The "Culprit Fay" of Joseph Rodman Drake
(1795-1820) is a poem exhibiting a most delicate fancy and much artistic
skill. It was a sudden and brilliant flash of a highly poetical mind which
was extinguished before its powers were fully expanded. The poetry of John
G. Whittier (b. 1809) is characterized by boldness, energy, and
simplicity, often united with tenderness and grace; that of Oliver Wendell
Holmes, by humor and genial sentiment. In poetry, as in prose, Edgar A.
Poe was most successful in the metaphysical treatment of the passions. His
poems, which are constructed with great ingenuity, illustrate a morbid
sensitiveness and a shadowy and gloomy imagination. The poems of Henry T.
Tuckerman (1813-1871) are expressions of graceful and romantic sentiment
or the fruits of reflection, illustrated with a scholar's taste.
Charles Fenno Hoffman (1806-1884) is the author of many admired convivial
and amatory poems, and George P. Morris is a recognized song-writer of
America.
Of numerous other poets, whose names are familiar to all readers of
American literature, a few only can he named; among them are John G.C.
Brainerd, James G. Percival, Richard H. Wilde, James G. Brooks, Charles
Sprague, Alfred B. Street, T. Buchanan Read, T.B. Aldrich, William Allen
Butler, Albert G. Greene, George D. Prentice, William J. Pabodie, Park
Benjamin, William Gilmore Simms, John R. Thompson, William Ross Wallace,
Charles G. Leland, Thomas Dunn English, William D. Gallagher, Albert Pike,
John G, Saxe, James T. Fields, Arthur Cleveland Coxe, Cornelius Mathews,
John Neal, and Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Among the literary women of the United States are many graceful writers
who possess true poetical genius, and enjoy a high local reputation. The
"Zophiel" of Maria Brooks (1795-1845) evinces an uncommon degree of power
in one of the most refined and difficult provinces of creative art.
Frances S. Osgood (1812-1850) was endowed with great playfulness of fancy,
and a facility of expression which rendered her almost an improvisatrice.
Her later poems are marked by great intensity of feeling and power of
expression. The "Sinless Child" of Elizabeth Oakes Smith is a melodious
and imaginative poem, with many passages of deep significance. Amelia B.
Welby's poems are distinguished for sentiment and melody. The "Passion
Flowers" and other poems of Julia Ward Howe are full of ardor and
earnestness. Mrs. Sigourney's metrical writings are cherished by a large
class of readers. Hannah F. Gould has written many pretty and fanciful
poems, and Grace Greenwood's "Ariadne" is a fine burst of womanly pride
and indignation. Among many other equally well known and honored names,
there are those of Elizabeth F. Ellet, Emma C. Embury, Sarah J. Hale, Anna
Mowatt Ritchie, Ann S. Stephens, Sarah H. Whitman, Catharine A. Warfield,
and Eleanor Lee, ("Two Sisters of the West") Alice and Phoebe Cary, "Edith
May," Caroline C. Marsh, Elizabeth C. Kinney, and Maria Lowell.
Nothing of very decided mark has been contributed to dramatic literature
by American writers, though this branch of letters has been cultivated
with some success. John Howard Payne wrote several successful plays;
George H. Boker is the author of many dramatic works which establish his
claim to an honorable rank among the dramatic writers of the age. Single
dramas by Bird, Sargent, Conrad, and other writers still keep their place
upon the stage; with many faults, they abound in beauties, and they are
valuable as indications of awakening genius.
5. THE TRANSCENDENTAL MOVEMENT IN NEW ENGLAND.--The Transcendental
Philosophy, so-called, had its distinct origin in the "Critique of Pure
Reason," the work of Immanuel Kant, which appeared in Germany in 1781,
although, under various forms, the questions it discussed are as old as
Plato and Aristotle, The first principle of this philosophy is that ideas
exist in the soul which transcend the senses, while that of the school of
Locke, or the School of Sensation, is that there is nothing in the
intellect that was not first in the senses. The Transcendentalist claimed
an intuitive knowledge of God, belief in immortality, and in man's ability
to apprehend absolute ideas of truth, justice, and rectitude. The one
regarded expediency, prudence, caution, and practical wisdom as the
highest of the virtues, and distrusted alike the seer, the prophet, and
the reformer. The other was by nature a reformer and dissatisfied with men
as they are, but with passionate aspirations for a pure social state, he
recognized, above all, the dignity of the individual man.
These two schools of philosophy aimed at the same results, but by
different methods. The one worked up from beneath by material processes,
the other worked down from above by intellectual ones. There had been in
other countries a transcendental philosophy, but, in New England alone,
where the sense of individual freedom was active, and where there were no
fixed and unalterable social conditions, was this philosophy applied to
actual life. Of late the scientific method, so triumphant in the natural
world, has been applied to the spiritual, and the principles of the
sensational philosophy have been, re-stated by Bain, Mill, Spencer, and
other leaders of speculative opinion, who present it under the name of the
"Philosophy of Experience," and resolve the intuitions of the Ideal into
the results of experience and the processes of organic, life. Mill was the
first to organize the psychological side, while Lewes, Spencer, and
Tyndall have approached the same problem from the side of organization.
Should these analyses be accepted, Idealism as a philosophy must
disappear. There is, however, no cause to apprehend a return to the
demoralization which the sensualist doctrines of the last century were
accused of encouraging. The attitude of the human mind towards the great
problems of destiny has so far altered, and the problems themselves have
so far changed their face, that no shock will be felt in the passage from
the philosophy of intuition to that of experience.
Early in the second quarter of our century the doctrines of Kant and of
his German followers, Jacobi, Fichte, and Schelling, found their way into
New England, and their influence on thought and life was immediate and
powerful, affecting religion, literature, laws, and institutions. As an
episode or special phase of thought, it was of necessity transient, but
had it bequeathed nothing more than the literature that sprang from it and
the lives of the men and women who had their intellectual roots in it, it
would have conferred a lasting benefit on America.
Among the first to plant the seeds of the Transcendental Philosophy in New
England was George Ripley (1802-1880), a philanthropist on ideal
principles, whose faith blossomed into works, and whose well known attempt
to create a new earth in preparation for a new heaven, although it ended
in failure, commanded sympathy and respect. Later, as a critic, he aided
the development of literature in America by erecting a high standard of
judgment and by his just estimation of the rights and duties of literary
men.
Theodore Parker (d. 1860) owed his great power as a preacher to his faith
in the Transcendental philosophy. The Absolute God, the Moral Law, and the
Immortal Life he held to be the three cardinal attestations of the
universal consciousness. The authority of the "higher law," the absolute
necessity of religion for safely conducting the life of the individual and
the life of the state, he asseverated with all the earnestness of an
enthusiastic believer.
A. Bronson Alcott (b. 1799) is a philosopher of the Mystic school. Seeking
wisdom, not through books, but by intellectual processes, he appeals at
once to consciousness, claims immediate insight, and contemplates ultimate
laws in his own soul. His "Orphic Sayings" amused and perplexed the
critics, who made them an excuse for assailing the entire Transcendental
school.
Margaret Fuller (1810-1850) adopted the spiritual philosophy, and had the
subtlest perception of its bearings. Her vigorous and original writings
possess a lasting value, although they imperfectly represent her
remarkable powers.
Among the representatives of the Spiritual Philosophy the first place
belongs to Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), who lighted up its doctrines
with the rays of ethical and poetical imagination. Without the formality
of dogma, he was a teacher of vigorous morality in line with the ruling
tendencies of the age, and bringing all the aid of abstract teaching
towards the solution of the moral problems of society.
The first article of his faith is the primacy of Mind; that Mind is
supreme, eternal, absolute, one, manifold, subtle, living, immanent in all
things, permanent, flowing, self-manifesting; that the universe is the
result of mind; that nature is the symbol of mind; that finite minds live
and act through concurrence with infinite mind. His second is the
connection of the individual intellect with the primal mind and its
ability to draw thence wisdom, will, virtue, prudence, heroism, all active
and passive qualities.
In his essays, which are prose poems, he lays incessant emphasis on the
cardinal virtues of humility, sincerity, obedience, aspiration, and
acquiescence to the will of the Supreme Power, and he sustains the mind at
an elevation that makes the heights of accepted morality disappear in the
level of the plain. With many inconsistencies to be allowed for, Emerson
still remains the highest mind that the world of letters has produced in
America, inspiring men by word and example, rebuking their despondency,
awakening them from the slumber of conformity and convention, and lifting
them from low thoughts and sullen moods of helplessness and impiety.
Among other writers identified with the Transcendental movement in New
England are O. B. Frothingham, Orestes A. Brownson, James Freeman Clarke,
William H. Channing, Henry Thoreau, John S. Dwight, C. P. Cranch, W. E.
Channing, T. W. Higginson, C. A. Bartol, D. A. Wasson, John Weiss, and
Samuel Longfellow.
6. MISCELLANEOUS WRITINGS.--Of the essayists, critics, and miscellaneous
writers of the United States, a few only may be here characterized.
Parke Godwin is a brilliant political essayist. E. P. Whipple is an able
critic and an essayist of great acuteness, insight, and logical power. H.
T. Tuckerman is a genial and appreciative writer, combining extensive
scholarship with elevated sentiment and feeling. Richard Grant White's
"Commentaries on Shakspeare" have met with a cordial reception from all
Shakspearean scholars.
Oliver Wendell Holmes conceals under the garb of wit and humor an earnest
sympathy and a deep knowledge of human nature; George W. Curtis combines
fine powers of observation and satire with delicacy of taste and
refinement of feeling; and Donald G. Mitchell gives to the world his
"Reveries" in a pleasing and attractive manner. The writings of A. J.
Downing, on subjects relating to rural life and architecture, have
exercised a wide and salutary influence on the taste of the country.
Willis Gaylord Clark (1810-1841) is best remembered by his "Ollapodiana"
and his occasional poems, in which humor and pathos alternately prevail.
The "Charcoal Sketches" of Joseph C. Neal (1807-1847) exhibit a genial
humor, and will be remembered for the curious specimens of character they
embody.
Seba Smith has been most successful in adapting the Yankee dialect to the
purposes of humorous writing in his "Jack Downing's Letters" and other
productions. The writings of Henry D. Thoreau, combining essay and
description, are quaint and humorous, while those of "Timothy Titcomb"
(J.G. Holland) are addressed to the practical common sense of the American
people.
Charles T. Brooks (d. 1883) is distinguished for his felicitous
translations from the German poets and writers.
The writings of George D. Prentice abound in wit and humor. W.H. Hurlburt
is an able expositor of political affairs and a brilliant descriptive
writer.
7. ENCYCLOPAEDIAS, DICTIONARIES, AND EDUCATIONAL BOOKS. The Encyclopaedia
Americana, the first work of the kind undertaken in America, appeared in
1829, under the auspices of Dr. Lieber, and contains articles on almost
every subject of human knowledge. The New American Cyclopaedia, edited by
George Ripley and Charles A. Dana, is a work on a larger and more original
plan, and is particularly valuable as the repository of all knowledge
bearing upon American civilization, while at the same time it embodies a
great amount of interesting and valuable information on all subjects.
Allibone's "Dictionary of English Authors," completed in four large
volumes, exceeds all similar works in the number of authors it describes
and the details it contains. Among the works containing abundant materials
for the history of American literature are the several volumes of Rufus W.
Griswold, the "Cyclopaedia of American Literature," by G.L. and E.A.
Duyckinck, and other collections or sketches by Hart, Cleveland,
Tuckerman, Everest, and Caroline May.
The Dictionary of Noah Webster (1778-1843), an elaborate and successful
undertaking, has exercised an influence over the English language which
will probably endure for generations. The more recent publication of
Worcester's Dictionary, which adds many thousand words to the registered
English vocabulary, marks an epoch in the history of the language. It is
regarded by competent critics as the first of all English dictionaries in
point of merit, and as the fitting representative of the language of the
two great branches of the Anglican stock. The "Lectures on the English
Language," by George P. Marsh, exhibit a thorough knowledge of the
subject, and are admirably designed to render the study attractive to all
persons of taste and culture.
The scholars of Europe are much indebted to those of America for their
investigations of the Karen, the Siamese, Asamese, Chinese, and numerous
African languages; and for grammars and dictionaries of the Burmese,
Chinese, the Hawaiian, and the modern Armenian, Syrian, and Chaldee
tongues. Foreign and comparatively unknown languages have thus been
reduced to a system and grammar by which they can readily be acquired by
Europeans. Many valuable works have also appeared on the language of the
American Indians.
The text-books of the United States are unsurpassed by those of any
country, and many of them are in use in England. Among them are Anthon's
admirable series of Latin and Greek Classics and Classical Dictionary,
Robinson's Hebrew and English Dictionary of Gesenius, and the Latin and
English Dictionary of Andrews, founded on the celebrated work of Freund.
Felton's "Classical Studies," and his various editions of the classics,
have been ably prepared and evince a scholar's enthusiasm. Henry Barnard,
by his "Journal of Education" and numerous other writings, is identified
with the cause of popular education and has acquired an extensive
reputation in Europe and the United States. Horace Mann is also widely
known through his "Reports" on education; and in the practical carrying
out of profound liberal and national views in our colleges, Presidents
Nott, Tappan, Wayland, Sears, King, and Barnard have been eminently
successful.
8. THEOLOGY, PHILOSOPHY, ECONOMY, ASD JURISPRUDENCE. It is generally
conceded that the theological writers of this country are among the ablest
of modern times, and the diversity of sects, a curious and striking fact
in our social history, is fully illustrated by the literary organs of each
denomination, from the spiritual commentaries of Bush to the ardent
Catholicism of Brownson. The works of Moses Stuart (1780-1852), Edward
Robinson, Francis Wayland, and Albert Barnes are standard authorities with
all classes of Protestant Christians.
William Ellery Channing (1780-1842) achieved a wide reputation for genius
in ethical literature, and as a moral essayist will hold a permanent place
in English letters. Among other members of the clerical profession who
have had a marked influence on the mind of the age by their scholarship or
eloquence are Drs. Hickok, C.S. Henry, Tappan, H.B. Smith, Hitchcock, W.R.
Williams, Alexander, Bethune, Hawks, Sprague, Bushnell, Thompson, Tyng,
Bartol, Dewey, Norton, Frothingham, Osgood, Chapin, Bellows, Furness,
Livermore, Ware, Peabody, and Henry Ward Beecher.
The philosophical writings of Dr. Tappan, the author of a "Treatise on the
Will" and a work on the "Elements of Logic," those of C.S. Henry, Wayland,
Hickok, and Haven have an extensive reputation; and of the various works
on political economy those of Henry C. Carey are most widely known.
Most prominent among the writings of American jurists are those of Kent,
Wheaton, Story, Livingston, Lawrence, and Bouvier. Kent's (1768-1847)
"Commentaries" on American Law at once took a prominent place in legal
literature, and are now universally considered of the highest authority.
Of Wheaton's (1785-1848) great works on International Law, it is
sufficient to say that one has been formally adopted by the University of
Cambridge, England, as the best work of its kind extant, and as a manual
for tuition by the professors of legal science. Among modern legal
writers, Story (1779-1845) occupies a distinguished position. His
"Commentaries" have acquired a European reputation, and have been
translated into French and German. Livingston's (1764-1833) "System of
Penal Laws for the United States," since its publication in 1828, has
materially modified the penal laws of the world, and may be considered the
first complete penal system based upon philanthropy, and designed to
substitute mildness for severity in the punishment of criminals. Bouvier's
"Institutes of American Law" and "Dictionary of Law" are considered as
among the best works of their kind, both in the United States and Europe.
Other branches of legal research have been treated in a masterly manner by
American writers, and many authors might be named whose works take a high
rank in both hemispheres.
9. NATURAL SCIENCES.--The physical sciences, from an early period, have
found able investigators in the United States. Benjamin Thompson (Count
Rumford) successfully applied his knowledge to increase the convenience,
economy, and comfort of mankind. Franklin's discoveries in electricity,
the most brilliant which had yet been made, have been followed by those of
Morse, whose application of that power to the telegraphic wire is one of
the most wonderful achievements of modern science. Fitch and Fulton were
the first to apply steam to navigation, a force which has become one of
the most powerful levers of civilization. In chemistry the works of Hare,
Silliman, Henry, Hunt, and Morfit are equally honorable to themselves and
the country. The names of Dana, Hitchcock, Hall, the brothers Rogers,
Eaton, Hodge, Owen, and Whitney are identified with the science of geology
in the United States. The names of Torrey and Gray are eminent in botany,
and the writings of the latter especially rank among the most valuable
botanical works of the age. The mathematical sciences have found able
expounders. The merits of Dr. Bowditch (1773-1838) entitle him to a high
rank among the mathematicians of the world. His Commentary on the
"Mécanique Céleste" of La Place, which he translated, is an original work,
and contains many discoveries of his own. His "Practical Navigator" is the
universally adopted guide in the American marine, and to a great extent in
the naval service of England and France.
In mathematics as well as astronomy, Peirce and Hill have shown themselves
able investigators. Bache, of the United States Coast Survey, has made
many valuable contributions to physical science. The astronomical works of
Professors Loowis, Gould, Norton, Olmsted, and Mitchell hold a high
position in the United States and Europe; and valuable astronomical
observations have been made by Lieutenants Maury and Gillies, and Maria
Mitchell.
In natural history, Holbrook's "North American Herpetology," or a
description of the reptiles of the United States, is a work of great
magnitude, and sustains a high scientific reputation. Audubon's (1780-
1851) "Birds of America" is the most magnificent work on ornithology ever
published. Since the death of Audubon, the subject to which he devoted his
life has been pursued by Cassin and Girard, who rank with him as
naturalists. Goodrich's "Animal Kingdom" is a recent popular work in this
department.
The "Crania Americana" of Dr. Morton, the "Crania Egyptiaca" of Gliddon,
and the "Types of Mankind," the joint production of the above writers and
Dr. Nott, are important contributions to the department of ethnology.
De Vere and Dwight are eminent writers on philology; Jarvis, Hough,
Tucker, De Bow, Kennedy, and Wynne, on statistics.
Medical literature has been ably illustrated, and American writers on
naval and military affairs have contributed largely to the effectiveness
of modern warfare. Geographical knowledge has been greatly increased. Many
explorations and publications have been made under the patronage of the
government, and many excellent maps and charts have been executed from
actual surveys. The Wind Charts and other works of Lieutenant Maury have
greatly advanced the science of navigation, and his "Physical Geography of
the Sea" has revealed the mysteries of the submarine world with graphic
power.
10. FOREIGN WRITERS.--Many foreign writers in the United States, some of
whom have had their tastes formed here, and are essentially American in
principle and feeling, have contributed to the literature of the country.
The celebrated Bishop Berkeley (1684-1753), whose prophetic verses on
America are so often quoted, brought with him the prestige which attached
to high literary reputation, and had an influence on the progress of
literature in the colonies. His "Minute Philosopher" contains many
passages descriptive of the scene at Newport, in the midst of which it was
written. Thomas Paine (1736-1809) wrote his pamphlet entitled "Common
Sense," and his "Crisis," in America, the former of which, especially,
powerfully affected the political condition of the country. John
Witherspoon (1722-1794), lineal descendant of John Knox, was the author of
many religious works, and of some valuable political essays. Susanna
Rowson (1762-1824) was the author of "Charlotte Temple," a novel which had
extraordinary success in its day, and of many books of less fame. Joseph
Priestley (1733-1804) wrote and published many of his most valuable works
in the United States. His friend Thomas Cooper (1759-1840) was one of the
most active minds of the age, and his religious, political, and scientific
writings were not without their influence on the national literature. "The
American Ornithology" of Alexander Wilson (1766-1813), a native of
Scotland, is second only to the great work of Audubon. The names of
Matthew Carey, Peter Duponceau, and Albert Gallatin are also honorably
associated with American letters.
Of the more recent writers, Dr. Lieber has done much for the advancement
of political and philosophical science in the United States. The names of
Agassiz, father and son, and Guyot, prominent among the scientific
investigators of the age, are indissolubly connected with science in
America; and Drs. Draper and Dunglison have made valuable contributions to
the medical literature of the world. Count A. de Gurowski, an able
scholar, has published a work on "Russia as it is," and another on
"America and Europe." Mrs. Robinson's various works entitle her to high
distinction in the more grave as well as the lighter departments of
literature. Professor Koeppen has written two valuable works on the "World
in the Middle Ages." Dr. Brunow has brought a European reputation to the
aid of one of our Western universities. Henry Giles has gained distinction
by his essays and criticisms, and Henry William Herbert by his novels and
miscellaneous writings. Many other foreign men of letters might be named,
who, in various ways, aid the development of the national literature.
11. NEWSPAPERS AND PERIODICALS.--One of the most powerful engines in
creating a taste for literature among the people of the United States is
the newspaper and periodical press. Every interest, every social and
political doctrine has its organ, and every village has its newspaper; not
devoted solely to special, local, or even to national topics, but
registering the principal passing events of the actual as well as of the
intellectual world, and in this respect differing essentially from the
press of all other countries. These papers are offered at so small a price
as to place them within the reach of all; and in a country where every one
reads, the influence of such a power as a public educator, in stimulating
and diffusing mental activity, and in creating cosmopolitan interests, can
scarcely be comprehended in its full significance. While there is much in
these publications that is necessarily of an evanescent character, and
much that might perhaps be better excluded, it cannot be denied that the
best of our daily and weekly papers often contain literary matter which in
a less fugitive form would become a permanent and valuable contribution to
the national literature.
The magazines and reviews of the United States take a worthy place beside
those of Great Britain, and present a variety of reading which exhibits at
once the versatility of the people and the cosmopolitan tendency of the
literature which addresses itself to the sympathies of the most
diversified classes of readers. Among the quarterly reviews, the North
American occupies a prominent position. It is associated with the earliest
dawnings of the national literature, and in the list of its contributors
is found almost every name of note in American letters. The Scientific
American and the Popular Science Monthly are the most eminent of the
scientific periodicals; the Bibliotheca Sacra, the Andover and Princeton
Reviews, the Christian Union, the Independent, the Churchman are among the
ablest religious journals.
With the decease of H.S. Legaré, one of the most finished scholars of the
South, the Southern Quarterly, which had been indebted to his pen for many
of its ablest articles, ceased its existence. Putnam's Magazine was long
the medium of the most valuable and interesting fugitive literature; and
the Atlantic Monthly, which has succeeded it, is under the auspices of the
most eminent men of letters in New England, and has become the nucleus of
a number of young and able writers. The Magazine of American History is
the repository of much valuable information and many curious incidents in
the history of the country. Harper's Magazine and the Century are
periodicals of high literary character and of wide circulation both in
this country and in England. They have by means of their illustrations
done much to advance and develop the art of engraving.
The language of American literature being that of England, its early
productions were naturally modeled after those of the mother-country. But
the cosmopolitan elements of which the nation is composed, and the
peculiar influences of American civilization in holding out to the human
race opportunities and destinies unparalleled in history, are rapidly
developing a distinct national character which in the future must be
reflected in American literature, and cannot fail to produce great
results. This at least is the belief of all those who have faith in
humanity and in the spirit which laid the foundation of our Republic.
12. SINCE 1800.--The period intervening between 1860 and 1885 has not been
marked by any important literary development. In the great war for the
support of the institution of slavery on one hand and for national
existence on the other, history was enacted rather than written, and the
sudden and rapid development of material interests succeeding the war have
absorbed, to a great extent, the energies of the people.
Many histories of special occurrences of the war have since appeared, and
many biographies of those who played prominent parts in it, and when time
shall have given these, and the great events they commemorate, their true
perspective, the poet, novelist, and historian of the future will find in
them ample material for a truly national literature.
Among the poets of the time only a few of the more prominent can be named.
Bayard Taylor (1825-1878) is equally distinguished as a poet and prose
writer of fiction and travels. His translation of Faust in the original
metre is accepted as the best representation of the German master in the
English tongue, and apart from its merits as a translation, it has added
to the literature by the beauty and power of its versification. His poem
of "Deukalion" shows great originality and power of imagination. Richard
H. Stoddard (b. 1825) is a poet and critic, equally distinguished in both
departments. Edmund C. Stedman (b. 1833) is known by his translations from
the Greek poets and his original poems marked by vigor and spontaneity of
thought, poetic power, and precision in art. His critical volume on the
Victorian poets is notable for dispassionate, conscientious, and skillful
and sympathetic criticism.
Walt Whitman (b. 1819) writes with great force, originality, and sympathy
with all forms of struggle and suffering, but with utter contempt for
conventionalities and for the acknowledged limits of true art. Richard W.
Gilder has a delicate fancy and power of poetic expression. William
Winter, as a writer of occasional verses, has rare felicity of thought and
execution. William W. Story adds to his many other gifts those of a true
poet. Charles De Kay is the author of many poems original in conception
and execution. Thomas Bailey Aldrich has written much dainty and musical
verse and several successful novels. Will Carleton, the author of "Farm
Ballads," displays a keen sympathy for the harder phases of common life.
Charles G. Leland, in prose and humorous poetry, is widely read, and known
also by his efforts to introduce industrial art into schools. Henry Howard
Brownell is the author of "War Lyrics," among the best of their kind.
Edgar Fawcett is equally known as a poet and novelist. Joaquin Miller, in
his poems, gives pictures of lawless and adventurous life.
Of the many distinguished women in contemporary American literature only a
few can here be named. Helen Jackson (H. H.) is a brilliant prose writer
and a poet of originality and power. She is the author of many essays and
works of fiction, and of an exhaustive work on the Indian question. Emma
Lazarus has written many poems of a high order. Annie Fields recalls the
spirit and imagination of the Greek mythology. Edith M. Thomas, in her
poems, shows high culture, originality, and imagination. Those of Lucy
Larcom belong to every-day life, and are truthful and pathetic. Mary Mapes
Dodge is a charming writer of tales and poems for children, and of other
poems, Celia Thaxter dwells on the picturesque features of nature on sea
and land. Julia Dorr in her novels and poems gives proof of great
versatility of talents. Ellen Hutchinson is a writer of imaginative and
musical verses. Elizabeth Stoddard is the author of several powerful
novels and of some fine poems. Of equal merit are the productions of
Louise Chandler Moulton, Nora Perry, Edna Dean Proctor, S. M. B. Piatt,
Margaret Preston, Harriet Preston, Elizabeth Akers Allen, Sarah Woolsey
(Susan Coolidge), Laura Johnson, Mary Clemmer, Mary C. Bradley, Kate
Putnam Osgood, Harriet Kimball, Marian Douglas, Mary Prescott, Laura C.
Redden.
In prose Frances Hodgson Burnett is the author of many interesting novels
and stories; Harriet Spofford, of original tales; Elizabeth Stuart Phelps,
of popular and highly wrought novels; Adeline Whitney, of entertaining
novels of every-day life; Rebecca Harding Davis, of powerful though sombre
novels, of pictures of contemporary life, society, and thought; Louisa
Alcott, of a series of charming New England stories for the young. Rose
Terry Cooke, in her short stories, has presented many striking studies of
New England life and character; and Sarah Orne Jewett deals with the same
material in a manner both strong and refined. Julia Fletcher and Blanche
Willis Howard have each written successful novels, and Constance Fenimore
Woolson is the author of many vivid and well written tales. Mary A. Dadge
(Gail Hamilton) is a writer on many subjects, sparkling, witty,
aggressive; Clara Erskine Waters writes ably on art; Kate Field is a
vigorous and brilliant writer in journalism, travels, and criticism.
FICTION.--Theodore Winthrop (1828-1861) fell an early sacrifice in the
war. His descriptions of prairie life, his fresh and vigorous
individualization of character and power of narrative indicate a vein of
original genius which was foil of promise. William Dean Howells and Henry
James are foremost as writers of the analytic and realistic school. Their
studies of character are life-like and finished, their satire keen and
good-natured. The romances of Julian Hawthorne deal with the marvelous and
unreal. Bret Harte (b. 1839) presents us with vivid and lifelike pictures
of wild Californian life, of the rude hate and love which prevail in an
atmosphere of lawlessness, redeemed by touching exhibitions of gratitude
and magnanimity. His dialect poems and those of John Hay enjoy a wide
popularity. The latter will also be remembered for his "Castilian Days," a
volume of fascinating studies of Spanish subjects. George W. Cable is
known for his pictures of Creole life; Edward Eggleston, for his sketches
of the shrewd and kindly humorous Western life. Albion Tourgée has been
the first to avail himself in fiction of the political conditions growing
out of the war. Joel Chandler Harris delineates the character, dialect,
and peculiarities of the negro race in his "Sketches in Black and White,"
and Richard Malcolm Johnston has graphically described phases of Southern
life which have almost passed away. F. Marion Crawford shows originality
and promise in the novels he has so far given to the public; the same may
be said of Arthur S. Hardy, George P. Lathrop, W.H. Bishop, Frank R.
Stockton, and F.J. Stinson.
SCIENCE.--In astronomy, Young, Henry Draper, and Langley may be named; in
geology, Dana and Leconte; in physiology, Flint and Dalton; Marsh, in
palaeontology, and Leidy, in zöology; Professor Whitney is an able writer
on philology and Oriental literature. Professor E.L. Youmans has organized
the simultaneous publication, in this country, England, France, Germany,
Italy, and Russia, of an international series of scientific works by the
ablest living writers, which has proved eminently successful. Among the
theologians representing various schools may be named, Philip Schaff,
Roswell D. Hitchcock, Samuel Osgood, Henry W. Bellows, Frederick H. Hedge,
Edward E. Hale, Newman Smyth, William R. Alger, and Octavius B.
Frothingham.
MISCELLANEOUS.--John Fiske is an able and versatile thinker and an
expounder of the philosophy of Herbert Spencer, and a writer on American
history, and on the leading subjects of scientific thought. Charles Brace
is the author of many volumes on various social problems. Moses Coit Tyler
is a writer on American literature and history; Andrew D. White, on French
history, and on science and religion. Professor McMaster's "History of the
People of the United States" is considered a scholarly and picturesque
work. Professor Lounsbury has written, in his "Cooper," one of the best of
modern biographies. Charles Dudley Warner is distinguished by the great
geniality and humor of his writings, alternately quaint, delicate, and
pungent. The charm and purity of his diction recall the best school of
English essayists. Paul Du Chaillu is widely known for his accounts of
travel in Africa and elsewhere; Moncure D. Conway, as a writer on social,
literary, and artistic themes. John Burroughs is a close observer of
nature; Eugene Schuyler is the author of a history of Peter the Great;
Parkman throws much light on early American history; Parton is the author
of many attractive biographies; Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) is known for
his humorous writings.