in life room for development. By reason of the fundamental nature of our literary material, American literature presents characteristic differences from the parallel development in the mother country, but differences based upon still more characteristic resemblances. The The first truly American literature, that written by the Boston group from 1830 to 1875, owed its inspiration in a great measure to the Unitarian movement in eastern Massachusetts. A revolt against the formalism of the Puritan creed, based on a perception of the justice and love wrought into the frame of things, gave writers the life and vigor which comes from a sense of emancipation. The world seen under a new aspect disclosed new beauties. The old belief in spiritual things was not weakened, but rendered more real and vivid as it became more reasonable and humane. The theological conflict was keen and bitter and exercised the intellectual faculties of the thoughtful men of the community in a way calculated to make them productive. Even those who were not directly concerned in the struggle were aroused and excited by it. Added to this the antiSlavery. slavery agitation worked powerfully on the emotional natures of many men and women, creating an atmosphere favorable to the reception of literary production as well as raising questions fit for literary treatment. It is true that an artist like Hawthorne must create beautiful things, and an exceptional genius like Poe must embody his wild and visionary world without much reference to great public questions, but American writers like Emerson, Longfellow, Lowell, Whittier, and Holmes all felt in greater or less degree the excitement of an era of conflict of ideas and were in a greater or less degree soldiers in the cause of freedom. In the latter half of our century the growth of the exact scientific spirit has not proved entirely favorable to The Scien- the imaginative interpretation of life which is tific Spirit. the function of the highest literature. This spirit is all-pervasive. It aims at truth divested of ornament or exaggeration, its domain is restricted to the evidence furnished by the senses. There is no reason why great works of literary art should not be produced under the influence of this spirit, but as yet they have not appeared. Human society is as interesting as it was in the days of Shakespeare and its phenomena are studied with a passionate interest. The volume of good, honest literary work is very large, but none of it has the authority of great literature. Our energy is still largely absorbed in material interests, and perhaps must be for some time longer. There are centuries to come. Living azines. We close without referring to the many excellent and active living authors. The art of the short story or sketch has been brought to great perfection in our country chiefly through the agency of the magVerse is written with great finish and correctness, but it is addressed more to other verse writers than to the public at large. In the history of literature it frequently happens that for a certain time poetry has become over-refined and self-conscious in manner and restricted to professional writers, and afterward under natural causes assumed new life and developed in new forms. There is no cause for discouragement in the fact that at present no great genius dominates verse writing either in our country or in England, for the phenomenon of a period of academic correctness has been witnessed before. It is certain that a larger and more appreciative . audience is waiting for the poet now than he could have found in the beginning of the century. The writing of history is followed with industry, conscientiousness, broader impartiality, a fuller understanding of great historic movements, and a more intelligent desire to realize the past than ever before. In America our national selfrespect has strengthened and deepened since 1850. We have got past the stage of vulgar pride in mere bigness and material progress, and perceive the immense importance of the democratic development at the same time that we are becoming more alive to the necessity of combating the hostile elements which degrade the profession of politics below the dishonest manipulating of the stockmarket. The art of finished expression may flourish under an imperial decadence of the nation, but American civilization is an outcome of true humanity and has at its basis a profoundly ethical element, however much obscured by the passing clouds of evil circumstance. If the American democracy continues to grow out of its original crudeness and realizes more and more the conceptions of justice and honorable citizenship in which it was founded, there can be no doubt that its writers will express its vague aspirations and celebrate the worthy deeds of its sons and sing its songs of exultation and embody its life and thought with the force and dignity which mark true literature. QUESTIONS Compare Lowell's "Commemoration Ode" and Tennyson's "Ode on the death of the Duke of Wellington." Trace the meter of the "Day of Doom" in English ballads, including Chaucer's "Sir Thopas." Compare Charles Lamb with Holmes in the "Autocrat of the Breakfast Table," having reference to American qualities in the latter. Distinguish the character of the Plymouth Pilgrims and the Massachusetts Bay Colony as shown in Bradford's "History of Plymouth Plantation" and in Winthrop's "History of New England." Comment on Dwight's "Greenfield Hill" and show the influence of Goldsmith. Comment on the lyrical gift of Philip Freneau. Show that the writers of the second generation were inferior to the original settlers, and account for the fact. Compare the allegorical element in Poe's and in Hawthorne's tales. Compare Emerson's "English Traits" and Hawthorne's "Our Old Home," in regard to keenness of observation and philosophical insight. Compare Longfellow's hexameters with those of Charles Kingsley in "Andromeda." LITERARY REFERENCES AMERICAN Men of Letters Series. Ed. by Charles Dudley Warner. APPLETON'S Cyclopædia of American Biography. 6 v. DAVIDSON, J. W. Living Writers of the South. 1869. DUYCKINCK, E. A. and G. L. Cyclopædia of American Literature. Library of American RICHARDSON, C. F. American Literature, 1607-1885. STEDMAN, E. C. and HUTCHINSON, E. M. Literature. 11 v. STEDMAN, E. C. Poets of America. TYLER, M. C. American Literature during the Colonial Time 1607-1765. 2 v. TYLER, M. C. Literary History of the American Revolution. 2 v. |