126. Henry W. Longfellow (1807-1882). This eminent scholar, teacher, gentleman, and poet is a universal favorite. He is the poet of the household. It has been said that his poems are read at more firesides than are those of any other poet the world over. Perhaps he does not penetrate so deeply into the hidden thoughts and emotions of the few as do some others; he is not so intense; but to the many he seems a familiar friend.

He seems more than others to satisfy that universal yearning of the human heart to be understood. Here is some one at last who knows how we feel, and can delight us by putting in words what we could never tell. As in his daily life he could be agreeable to all whom he met, so in his poetry he seems to know what will amuse, what will soothe, and what will give satisfaction, if not happiness. Although at heart no more genial than many others, his manner often finds access where others could not enter. It may be safely said that his writings bear the true test of literature, they never grow old: the more they are read, the better they are enjoyed. Americans do not need to be told what Longfellow has written.

127. John Greenleaf Whittier (1807-1892).—— Some have said that Whittier was born a poet. There was poetic inspiration in everything he met, whether in human life or the scenery of nature. These conceptions so filled his soul that he could scarcely speak or write on any subject without being poetic. No letters could be more easy and charming than his; yet the traces of the poet were readily discovered. He was a man of deep moral and religious convictions, as well as of the most tender susceptibilities. He was the friend of the

oppressed, the champion of the slave, the defender of truth and right. His style was like the man,- plain, but strong; simple, yet beautiful in its truthfulness and in the delicacy with which it deals with the higher sensibilities of the soul. The influence of his writings is like that of the man-uniformly good.

128. James Russell Lowell (1819-1891).— Like Longfellow, Lowell had the rare faculty of making many friends. Whether he wrote poems, produced essays on literature, or served as minister to a foreign court, he was received with hearty good fellowship. But he attracted special attention as a humorist. His "Biglow Papers," written in the Yankee dialect, have afforded merriment to many who did not have the discernment to see the undercurrent of genuine human sympathy, pure sentiment, and worthy motive. Lowell was a thorough student of literature, and his essays on various authors show critical acumen.

129. Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809–1894).— Dr. Holmes was an able and a successful physician. For about thirty-five years he was professor of anatomy and physiology in the medical school of Harvard University. He was famous for wit, energy, and practical good sense, He was one of the founders of the Atlantic Monthly, and many of its most racy articles were from his pen. His poems are spirited and original, his novels are practical sermons, his essays and memoirs show a clear head and an unbiased mind. His eminent conversational powers made him the life of every social circle of which he was a member But he is most noted

for his Table Talks," and for his geniality as a friend. The Table Talks" were published as the "Autocrat of the Breakfast Table," "Professor at the Breakfast Table," Poet at the Breakfast Table," and "Over the Tea Cups." Few authors have been more sincerely mourned than was Holmes when he died.

130. Nathaniel

Hawthorne

(1804-1864).

Hawthorne was one of the most accomplished of American prose-writers. He was slow in gaining recognition,

just as he is sometimes a little slow in gaining the favor of his readers; but he improves upon acquaintance, and is now universally recognized as a master in delineating His certain phases of character. "" Twice-told Tales and Mosses from an Old Manse" afford good culture in esthetic as well as literary taste. Some regard him as the greatest genius among American authors.

131. Charles Dickens (1812-1870).— Contemporary with Hawthorne, Lowell, Tennyson, Whittier, Longfellow, and Bryant, was Charles Dickens, one of the best and greatest of fiction-writers. His works are not to be associated with the ordinary novel. Their general tendency is to cultivate a mutual feeling of good-will and appreciation among people of all classes; to lead the rich to relieve the needy, to teach the poor not to make themselves unhappy by envying the rich, but to court contentment by making the most of the enjoyments which they possess. the most unhappy of mankind, and that the poor may have joys that all the wealth of the world could not buy. He wrote with a strong purpose to counteract wrong

He shows that the rich are often

and oppression, and as a result of his influence, bad laws were abolished in England, and not a few evil practises were removed.

132. Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1890).Among the writers who have had a powerful influence on public events, few hold a higher place than Harriet Beecher Stowe. Her " Uncle Tom's Cabin " was the wonder of the age. She wrote it in behalf of a downtrodden race, and to open the eyes of intelligent people to the real character and influence of negro slavery in the United States. It was not simply the production of a great intellect; it glowed with the energy of an impassioned soul, stirred to its depths by sincere love for truth and right. Yet with all its terrible earnestness, the book was written in a kindly spirit. It laid hold upon the consciences of men, and was a strong factor in bringing about the freedom of the slaves. Within three years, more than a million copies were sold. It was read everywhere. People sat up all night to read it. was translated into nearly every language in Europe. Mrs. Stowe wrote a number of books, but none of them attracted so universal attention as Uncle Tom's Cabin."

It

133. Other Distinguished Writers.- Associated with the writers already named, or at least contemporary with them, were many more, equally worthy of notice. Some of them shed a mild yet far-reaching influence, which may have accomplished as much for the good of mankind as that which can be traced to more immediate effects. There have been the poets

Mr. and Mrs. Browning; the historians - Prescott and Bancroft in America, and Buckle and Froude in England; there have been the philosophers. -John Stuart Mill and Herbert Spencer; there have been the scientists and naturalists Hugh Miller, Charles Darwin, and Thomas Henry Huxley. There have been Emerson, Ruskin, and Arnold; Thackeray, Kingsley, and Bayard Taylor; George Eliot and Harriet Martineau; De Quincey and William Howitt; Webster, Carlyle, Channing, and a host of others that we cannot even mention here. They are of our own day, hence do not need an extensive notice. Extracts from their writings will appear in Part Second.

134. Conclusion. In this Part First the endeavor has been to trace the influences that have brought our language and literature to its present state. It would require volumes to do the subject justice, hence much has had to be omitted Perhaps it is as well; since this work is intended for those who have not time for so close and critical a study. It contains the essentials for a good general understanding of the development of our literature down to the writers of this present generation. The present value of an author's work must not be estimated from the prominence given him in this outline. An invention or a work of art may have been very important when first produced, yet be of little account now, because better things have taken its place. Just so it is with the works of some authors. There are things, however, that have been written for all time. They can never grow old. The truths they teach are always present: they are universal and eternal.