of life in South Carolina in the middle of the eighteenth century, showing that in Charleston there was much social gayety and considerable literary culture. A New Voyage to Georgia (1737), "by a young gentleman," gives a vivid idea of the difficulty of travelling in a new country covered with woods, creeks, and swamps, and describes some interesting incidents in a lively way. Several other descriptions of the young colony were published at about the same time. Among them was A True and Historical Narrative of the Colony of Georgia (1741), by PATRICK TAILFER and other discontents, an arraignment of Governor Oglethorpe for alleged mismanagement; it is written in strong, finished style, and the dedication to Oglethorpe is a fine piece of irony.

1

Of the Middle Colonies Pennsylvania alone developed much literary activity. In Maryland the only two notable works were written by temporary sojourners in the colony. GEORGE ALSOP'S A Character of the Province of Mary-Land (1666), in verse and prose, is a “medley of frolicsome papers," full of " grotesque and slashing energy," describing the colony and its inhabitants. Half a century later appeared The Sot-Weed Factor: Or, A Voyage to Maryland (1708), by EBENEZER COOK; the poem is often coarse and sometimes dull, but it has many spirited scenes and a good deal of real humor. In 1670 DANIEL DENTON put out a rather fresh little book painting life in the colony of New York in rosy colors, with occasional pretty strokes of description. CADWALLADER COLDEN of New York wrote a History of the Five Indian Nations (1727), filled with petty engagements dryly told and dull speeches; the introduction, however, has

1 Tyler's A History of American Literature, Vol. I., p. 66.

some interesting descriptions of Indian customs. WILLIAM SMITH'S The History of New York (1757) is a plain and heavy work, but contains valuable information. A man of greater literary gifts was WILLIAM LIVINGSTON, prominent as a statesman in the period of the Revolution; his first appearance, however, was as a poet in Philosophic Solitude (1747), which is written in the conventional eighteenth-century manner, but is smooth and pretty.

In literary activity Pennsylvania soon became second only to Massachusetts, more than four hundred original books or pamphlets being printed in Philadelphia before the Revolution.1 William Penn and his associates in the founding of the colony believed in education and intellectual freedom; "before the pines had been cleared from the ground he began to build schools and set up a printing press," and "through every turnpike in that province ideas travelled toll free." 3 PENN himself during his residence in the colony wrote nothing except letters; these, however, are pleasant reading, something of the large, calm beauty of his spirit passing into his style. The long letter written in 1683 to the Free Society of Traders contains an interesting description of the Indians, whose friendship Penn so well knew how to win.1 GABRIEL THOMAS published an account of the province in 1698, a rather pleasing little book for its simpleness and innocent exaggeration. JONATHAN DICKENSON, a

1 T. I. Wharton's The Provincial Literature of Pennsylvania, p. 124, as cited in Tyler's A History of American Literature, Vol. II., pp. 227, 228.

2 W. H. Dixon's William Penn, p. 207.

3 Tyler's A History of American Literature, Vol. II., p. 226. 4 See Janney's Life of William Penn, p. 238, ed. 1852.

5 "The Christian Children born here," he says, "are generally wellfavoured and Beautiful to behold; . . . being in the general, observ'd

Philadelphia merchant, in his God's Protecting Providence (1699), described very graphically his shipwreck on the coast of Florida. JAMES LOGAN, Penn's representative in the colony and for a time president of the council, wrote much and well on many subjects, although little has been printed. His translation of Cicero's De Senectute (1744), however, was published during his lifetime; as was also his Cato's Moral Distichs Englished in Couplets (1735), in which the following couplet is perhaps the neatest:

Slip not the Season when it suits thy Mind;

Time wears his Lock before, is bald behind.1

WILLIAM SMITH'S A General Idea of the College of Mirania (1753) is noteworthy because of its Addisonian style, its anticipation of some modern ideals in education, and the form of a romance in which the whole is cast.2 In addition to these and other general writers, there were in Philadelphia, during the first half of the eighteenth century, several men, such as HENRY BROOKE, AQUILA Rose, SAMUEL KEIMER, JAMES RALPH, GEORGE WEBB, and JoSEPH SHIPPEN, who had the knack of throwing off poems of more or less grace and spirit, and who testify to the existence, thus early, of literary atmosphere and literary ambitions in the Quaker City. A poet of greater ability and of much greater promise was THOMAS GODFREY (1736-1763). Most of his Juvenile Poems are tame echoes of the conventional pastoral, elegy, and ode as these were then written in England; but a few of them, especially The Court of Fancy, were evidently inspired

*

to be better Natur'd, Milder, and more tender Hearted than those born in England." - An Account, etc., p. 42, in N. Y. Hist. Soc.'s facsimile. 1 Cato's Moral Distichs, p. 14, ed. 1735. 2 More's Utopia seems to have been its model.

by the earlier and fresher English poets, Chaucer in particular, and have a good deal of melody, fancy, and vividness. His best work, however, is The Prince of Parthia, a tragedy showing the influence of both the Elizabethan and the Restoration Drama, and, in spite of many faults, containing much real poetic power.1 Godfrey's native endowment in poetry seems to have been far greater than that of any American writer before him, and it is probable that if he had lived to maturity he would have become a very considerable poet. His friend and editor, NATHANIEL EVANS, also wrote poems of some promise, having a certain freedom and largeness of utterance, but his life was cut short in 1767.

The early writings of BENJAMIN FRANKLIN fall within the colonial period, but the consideration of them will, for convenience, be deferred to a later page.

1 It was acted in Philadelphia, in 1767.

In speaking of the literature of the Colonial Period it was necessary to observe geographical lines, because the several groups of colonies were so isolated and had so little in common. The literature of the Revolutionary Period has more unity, for the colonies were now driven together by a common danger and animated by a common spirit. The attempt of Great Britain to tax Americans by act of Parliament welded thirteen scattered and diverse commonwealths into one nation and made possible the beginnings of a national literature.