The following sketch is principally from the Third Volume of
Biographical Sketches of Eminent Americans.
"Nathan Covington Brooks, the youngest son of John and Mary Brooks, was
born in West Nottingham, Cecil county, Maryland, on the 12th of August,
1809. His education was commenced at the West Nottingham Academy, then
under the charge of Rev. James Magraw, D.D., and subsequently he
graduated as Master of Arts, at St. John's College, Annapolis, Md. His
thesis was a poem on the World's Changes. Diligent and persevering in
his studies, his rapid progress and high attainments won the regard of
his teachers, while his amiable manners endeared him to his classmates.
While his principal delight was in the study of the Classics, he devoted
much attention to mathematics and other studies. Like many other
writers, some of his earliest efforts were in verse. Indeed it may be
said of him, as of Pope, that he 'lisped in rhyme.'
Though we have no Shakespeares, or Miltons, or Byrons, there is no
scarcity of literary amateurs who, in their hours of recreation and
dalliance with letters, betake themselves to poetry as an amusement for
their leisure hours or a solace amid the rude trials of life. High in
the rank of these writers of occasional poetry stands Dr. Brooks.
Nature, in all her forms, he has made the subject of close observation
and profound reflection, and in looking at Nature, he has used his own
eyes and not the spectacles of other writers. He has a keen relish for
the beautiful, and a deep sympathy with the truthful and the good. His
taste, formed on the finest models, has been ripened and chastened by a
patient study of the great monuments of antiquity. His thoughts seem to
be the natural development of his mind; and his words the unstudied
expression of his thoughts. The music of his verse reminds us sometimes
of the soft cadences of Hemans, and not unfrequently of the mournful
harp of Byron."
In his eighteenth year he was a contributor of prose and poetry to the
_Minerva and Emerald_, and _Saturday Post_, of Baltimore; subsequently
contributed to _The Wreath_, _Monument_, _Athenæum_, and _Protestant_,
of the same city. In 1830 he edited _The Amethyst_, an annual and soon
after became a contributor of prose and poetry to _Atkinson's Casket_,
and _The Lady's Book_, of which latter he was the first paid
contributor; wrote for _Burton's Magazine_, and _Graham's_, _The New
York Mirror_, _The Ladies' Companion_, and the _Home Journal_; and the
following annuals, _The Gift_, _The Christian Keepsake_, and _The
Religious Souvenir_. He contributed also prose and poetry to _The
Southern Literary Messenger_, _The Southern Quarterly_ of New Orleans,
_The London Literary Gazette_, and _The London Court Journal_.
In 1837 Marshall, of Philadelphia, published a volume of his religious
poems, entitled "Scriptural Anthology." In 1840, Kay Brothers, of
Philadelphia, published a volume of his prose and poetry, under the name
of "The Literary Amaranth." Besides these Dr. Brooks has edited a series
of Greek and Latin classics, has written four volumes on religious
subjects, one on "Holy Week," just issued from the press, "The History
of the Mexican War," which was translated into German, "Battles of the
Revolution," etc.
In his literary career he has won three prizes that will be cherished as
heirlooms in the family, a silver pitcher, for the best prose tale,
entitled "The Power of Truth," and two silver goblets, one a prize for
the poem entitled "The Fall of Superstition," the other a prize for a
poem, "The South-sea Islander," for which fifteen of our leading poets
were competitors.
Though in his leisure moments Dr. Brooks has achieved so much in
literature, his profession has been that of an educator, in which he has
had the mental training of males and females to the number of five or
six thousand. In 1824, he was appointed to the village school in
Charlestown, Cecil county, in 1826, established a private school in
Baltimore city; in 1831 was elected principal of the Franklin Academy,
Reistertown, and in 1834 principal of the Brookesville Academy,
Montgomery county, both endowed by the State; in 1839, he was
unanimously elected over forty-five applicants as principal of the
Baltimore City High School which position he held for nine years, until
asked by the Trustees of the Baltimore Female College, in 1848, to
accept the organization of the institution. The College is chartered and
endowed by the State of Maryland, has graduated over three hundred young
ladies, and trained and sent forth two hundred teachers. Emory College,
Oxford, Georgia, conferred the degree of LL.D., on Professor Brooks in
1859, and in 1863 his name was presented, with others, for the
presidency of Girard College. Though Major Smith, a Philadelphian of an
influential family, was elected president, Professor Brooks received
more votes than any of the other competitors. In 1827, he married Mary
Elizabeth, eldest daughter of William Gobright, a lady of great beauty
and excellence, and in 1867, married Christiana Octavia, youngest
daughter of Dr. William Crump, of Virginia. Of the former union four
sons and two daughters are living; of the latter union a son. The
following poems are selected as specimens of his style.