C. S. Weyman and Robert Carter

“ It was in 1820 that the poverty of American literature was sneeringly commented upon by Sydney Smith in an article in the “Edinburgh Review;” and from that date the intellectual development of the country, the political crisis which attended the establishment of the government being past, has been commensurate with its social and material progress, until at the present day there is no department of human knowledge which has not been explored by American authors. ”

“ The most artistic and cosmopolitan of American poets, and the most widely read abroad, is H. W. Longfellow, whose genius has been powerfully influenced by the literature and historic associations of the old world, while in the choice and treatment of his principal subjects he is eminently American. ”

“ Politics now gained a prominence almost equal to that enjoyed by theology in the preceding period; and dry as such subjects usually are to the mass of readers, the discussion of them in speeches and pamphlets during the last quarter of the 18th century accorded thoroughly with the popular taste, and the influence of political writers and orators in giving a decided national type to American literature is unmistakable. ”

“ Among the younger writers of fiction, the most conspicuous are Bayard Taylor, whose “Hannah Thurston,” “John Godfrey's Fortunes,” “Story of Kennett,” and “Joseph and his Friend” are careful and accurate pictures of American life and manners; Theodore Winthrop, whose death as a Union soldier in one of the earliest battles of the civil war gave to his “Cecil Dreeme,” “John Brent,” and other works, all posthumous, a sudden popularity, which, notwithstanding their merits, does not seem to be permanent ”

“ Within this period the style and tone of the national literature have begun to partake more decidedly of the national character, although in certain departments only, particularly in that of imaginative writing, has any decided originality been shown.—While in the periods already treated of, the labors of American historians were for the most part confined to the collection of materials or to the unadorned record of facts, their successors have taken a wider range of subjects, and infused a more philosophical spirit into their writings ”

“ A peculiar and important class of books of travel has resulted from the explorations undertaken at various times by the United States government, with a view of adding to the general stock of geographical knowledge, or of developing the resources of its own territory. The most elaborate of these is the “Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition around the World,” by Capt. Charles Wilkes, in five volumes; and of not less importance to the cause of geographical science are the narratives of exploration among the Rocky mountains and in Oregon and California by J. C. Fremont ”

“ N. P. Willis (1806-'67) obtained a unique reputation as a delineator of the lights and shadows which flit over the surface of society, and his style, remarkable for its felicity, not to say happy audacity of expression, is in accord with his subjects. His prose writings, though including many tales, belong perhaps more properly to the departments of travels and belles-lettres. As pictures of domestic life among the ancients, the “Zenobia,” “Probus,” and “Julian” of William Ware (1797-1852) are not surpassed by any similar productions in English literature. ”

“ The influence of the great English essayists and novelists of the 18th century had meanwhile begun to affect the literature of the new world; and in the essays, the collection of maxims published under the title of “Poor Richard,” the scientific papers, and the autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (1706-'90) , we have specimens of practical philosophy or of simple narrative, expressed in a style eminently clear, pleasing, and condensed, and not unfrequently embellished by the wit and elegance characteristic of the best writers of Queen Anne's time. ”

“ The earliest works produced during the first American period, beginning with the revolution, are naturally associated with the causes which led to that event; and the political pamphlets, speeches, letters, and other writings of the men who aided in securing the independence of the North American colonies afford the first indications of a desire to cast aside the conventionalisms of European literature, and to develop one characteristic of the country and its institutions. ”

“ The first literary production of any note in the British American colonies was the version of Ovid's “Metamorphoses” made by George Sandys in Virginia about 1620 (London, 1626) . But though men of letters were found everywhere among the early colonists, in New England alone, where in 1639 the first printing press was established in Cambridge, was any considerable progress in literary culture made, and the literature of the first or colonial period was chiefly confined to that locality or was indirectly connected with it. The earliest development was theological. ”

“ He is perhaps the ablest of American satirists, and has gained a unique reputation as a humorist by his “Biglow Papers,” in which the peculiar phraseology of New England is given with great verbal and idiomatic correctness. The prose introductions to these poems have a subtle humor which can be best appreciated by those familiar with the local peculiarities they illustrate. Not less conspicuous as a humorist is O. W. Holmes, the most effective writer of the school of Pope, and distinguished by a clear, concise, and manly style. ”

“ Notwithstanding also the limited range of native subjects, which makes the imaginative literature of the country in some respects an imitation or rather a continuation of that of other lands, the characteristic features of national scenery, legend, and history have not failed of illustrators, while the familiar imagery of an older civilization has been often reproduced with force and originality. ”

“ Of more general interest are the histories of New England by Hannah Adams (1755-1832) , and of the American revolution by William Gordon (1730-1807) , an English clergyman long settled in America, and David Ramsay (1749-1815) , who also wrote a history of South Carolina, a life of Washington, and other works, evincing much research and a conscientious spirit of inquiry. The “Annals of America,” by Abiel Holmes (1763-1837) , has for more than half a century been considered a leading authority in American history. ”

“ In history, in jurisprudence, and in certain departments of natural science and imaginative literature, many of their productions during the last 50 years deserve to be ranked among the best in the universal literature of the age. ”

“ Dramatic literature has been cultivated by comparatively few writers, and, with occasional exceptions, nothing of very decided mark, either in style, sentiment, or plot, has yet been accomplished. J. A. Hillhouse (1789-1841) excelled in that species of poetic literature illustrated by the writings of Browning, Henry Taylor, and others in England, which may be called the written drama. ”

“ The department of oratory and political science, though relatively less prominent than in the preceding period, occupies an important place in contemporaneous American literature; and the speeches and writings of Daniel Webster (1782-1852) , Henry Clay (1777-1852) , and J. C. Calhoun (1782-1850) , considered merely as literary productions, are among the intellectual triumphs of the country. ”

“ The most conspicuous names of other writers in this department are those of E. P. Whipple, author of many papers, chiefly on literature, written in a lively and perspicuous style; H. T. Tuckerman, whose contributions to critical literature show a refined taste and a liberal cultivation of mind and heart; O. A. Brownson, a bold and powerful writer on religion, metaphysics, and politics; J. R. Lowell, whose essays “Among my Books” show wide reading in several languages, and much subtle thought; John Fiske, whose “Outlines of Cosmic Philosophy” is a lucid exposition of the doctrine of evolution ”

“ Benjamin Rush (1745-1813) and James McClurg (1747-1825) were conspicuous as writers on medical science, the work of the former on the “Diseases of the Mind” being still a standard authority; and Benjamin Smith Barton (1766-1815) , a naturalist, produced the first American elementary work on botany, and the first contribution to the ethnographical literature of the country. The most important contribution to natural history was the “Description of the Birds of North America,” by Alexander Wilson (1766-1813) . ”

“ Fitz-Greene Halleck (1790-1867) wrote little, but during his life was one of the most popular of American poets, and his “Marco Bozzaris” is still universally known among his countrymen. The Scripture pieces of N. P. Willis are written with feeling and artistic finish; in his other poems the verbal felicity and sprightly fancy characteristic of his prose writings are discernible. The few brief poems of Ralph Waldo Emerson (born 1803) , of which “The Problem” and the lines “To a Humble Bee” afford examples, are remarkable for their quaintness and originality. ”

“ The historians and annalists are less prominent than the theologians; but the tracts and pamphlets relating to the discovery and colonization of British America, written by early settlers, are exceedingly numerous, and the journals and annals of Winthrop, Winslow, Morton, and others are worthy of note as being the sources from which modern historical writers have derived much important information. William Hubbard (1621-1704) wrote a history of New England, which was not published until more than a century after his death ”

“ The most eminent writers on botany are Asa Gray, author of several valuable elementary works and manuals; John Torrey, who prepared, sometimes in conjunction with Gray, the botanical reports of most of the United States exploring expeditions ”

“ Anything like a complete enumeration of the writers who have gained distinction in the wide field of belles-lettres or magazine literature would be impossible within the limits of this article; and only those who are generally known or who may stand as representatives of their class can be mentioned. ”

“ Among the most industrious laborers in the field of American biography is Jared Sparks (1789-1866) , who devoted the greater part of his life to studies illustrative of the history of his country, and whose works, written in a sober and correct style, display remarkable diligence of research. The “Library of American Biography,” in two series and 25 volumes, edited by him, to which he contributed lives of John Ledyard, Benedict Arnold, Ethan Allen, Charles Lee, Father Marquette, and others, is enriched by contributions from some of the best writers in the country. Mr. ”

“ Among later song writers is Stephen C. Foster (1826-'64) , the most popularly successful and the most peculiarly American of all. The poems of E. A. Poe form a fitting accompaniment to his prose writings, and are characterized by a shadowy and gloomy imagination, and a fascinating melody of rhythm. “The Raven” illustrates his facility in harmonizing sentiment with rhythmical expression; and his “Annabel Lee,” “Haunted Palace,” and “Bells” are constructed with equal skill. ”

“ Rufus Choate (1799-1859) , in his forensic arguments and occasional public addresses, exhibited not less rhetorical excellence and more fervor than Everett; and Charles Sumner (1811-'74) excelled in strength and clearness of statement, ripe scholarship, and nobility of diction. Among the anti-slavery orators, to which class Mr. Sumner properly belonged, were William Lloyd Garrison (born 1804) , whose popular addresses were singularly effective; Wendell Phillips (1811) , a vigorous and impulsive speaker, frequently rising to a strain of impassioned eloquence ”

“ The establishment of Harvard college in 1636, and of William and Mary and Yale colleges in the last decade of the 17th century, and the practice which became common with many of the wealthier colonists of sending their sons to England to be educated, showed their effects in the gradual improvement of style and in the more discursive aims of writers. A Virginia gentleman, Col. William Byrd (1674-1744) , wrote an interesting narrative of a journey made in 1728 and other sketches of travel in Virginia, published as “The Westover Manuscripts” in 1841. ”

“ The narrative, embracing necessarily the main incidents of the revolutionary struggle, is related with charming vivacity and great elegance of language. His lives of Mahomet and Goldsmith are pleasing compilations, having little claim to originality. ”

“ Translations from the German metaphysicians, historians, and theologians have been made by George Bancroft, S. M. Fuller, G. H. Calvert, W. H. Channing, F. H. Hedge, Samuel Osgood, W. T. Harris, and George S. Morris, and by Philip Schaff and others in the American edition of Lange's commentary; and from educational and scientific authors as well as writers of fiction in Germany and France, by a variety of hands. Among the most successful of the translators from the French are Miss Mary L. Booth and Mrs. M. H. Robinson. ”

“ Of this character are his “Massachusetts to Virginia” and “Astræa at the Capitol.” In other poems he unites tenderness and grace with much simplicity of language. All of his descriptive poems, but especially “Snow-Bound,” his masterpiece, are strikingly national. James Russell Lowell (born 1819) is one of the most versatile poets of this period, and has won high reputation as a prose writer by several volumes of essays, chiefly on literary topics. His serious poems are earnest and philanthropic in tone, elevated in sentiment, and of high artistic merit. ”