Handbook of Universal Literature, From the Best and Latest Authorities Part 44

(J.G. Holland) are addressed to the practical common sense of the American people.

Charles T. Brooks (d. 1883) is distinguished for his felicitous translations from the German poets and writers.

The writings of George D. Prentice abound in wit and humor. W.H. Hurlburt is an able expositor of political affairs and a brilliant descriptive writer.

7. ENCYCLOPAEDIAS, DICTIONARIES, AND EDUCATIONAL BOOKS. The Encyclopaedia Americana, the first work of the kind undertaken in America, appeared in 1829, under the auspices of Dr. Lieber, and contains articles on almost every subject of human knowledge. The New American Cyclopaedia, edited by George Ripley and Charles A. Dana, is a work on a larger and more original plan, and is particularly valuable as the repository of all knowledge bearing upon American civilization, while at the same time it embodies a great amount of interesting and valuable information on all subjects.

Allibone's "Dictionary of English Authors," completed in four large volumes, exceeds all similar works in the number of authors it describes and the details it contains. Among the works containing abundant materials for the history of American literature are the several volumes of Rufus W.

Griswold, the "Cyclopaedia of American Literature," by G.L. and E.A.

Duyckinck, and other collections or sketches by Hart, Cleveland, Tuckerman, Everest, and Caroline May.

The Dictionary of Noah Webster (1778-1843), an elaborate and successful undertaking, has exercised an influence over the English language which will probably endure for generations. The more recent publication of Worcester's Dictionary, which adds many thousand words to the registered English vocabulary, marks an epoch in the history of the language. It is regarded by competent critics as the first of all English dictionaries in point of merit, and as the fitting representative of the language of the two great branches of the Anglican stock. The "Lectures on the English Language," by George P. Marsh, exhibit a thorough knowledge of the subject, and are admirably designed to render the study attractive to all persons of taste and culture.

The scholars of Europe are much indebted to those of America for their investigations of the Karen, the Siamese, Asamese, Chinese, and numerous African languages; and for grammars and dictionaries of the Burmese, Chinese, the Hawaiian, and the modern Armenian, Syrian, and Chaldee tongues. Foreign and comparatively unknown languages have thus been reduced to a system and grammar by which they can readily be acquired by Europeans. Many valuable works have also appeared on the language of the American Indians.

The text-books of the United States are unsurpa.s.sed by those of any country, and many of them are in use in England. Among them are Anthon's admirable series of Latin and Greek Cla.s.sics and Cla.s.sical Dictionary, Robinson's Hebrew and English Dictionary of Gesenius, and the Latin and English Dictionary of Andrews, founded on the celebrated work of Freund.

Felton's "Cla.s.sical Studies," and his various editions of the cla.s.sics, have been ably prepared and evince a scholar's enthusiasm. Henry Barnard, by his "Journal of Education" and numerous other writings, is identified with the cause of popular education and has acquired an extensive reputation in Europe and the United States. Horace Mann is also widely known through his "Reports" on education; and in the practical carrying out of profound liberal and national views in our colleges, Presidents Nott, Tappan, Wayland, Sears, King, and Barnard have been eminently successful.

8. THEOLOGY, PHILOSOPHY, ECONOMY, ASD JURISPRUDENCE. It is generally conceded that the theological writers of this country are among the ablest of modern times, and the diversity of sects, a curious and striking fact in our social history, is fully ill.u.s.trated by the literary organs of each denomination, from the spiritual commentaries of Bush to the ardent Catholicism of Brownson. The works of Moses Stuart (1780-1852), Edward Robinson, Francis Wayland, and Albert Barnes are standard authorities with all cla.s.ses of Protestant Christians.

William Ellery Channing (1780-1842) achieved a wide reputation for genius in ethical literature, and as a moral essayist will hold a permanent place in English letters. Among other members of the clerical profession who have had a marked influence on the mind of the age by their scholars.h.i.+p or eloquence are Drs. Hickok, C.S. Henry, Tappan, H.B. Smith, Hitchc.o.c.k, W.R.

Williams, Alexander, Bethune, Hawks, Sprague, Bushnell, Thompson, Tyng, Bartol, Dewey, Norton, Frothingham, Osgood, Chapin, Bellows, Furness, Livermore, Ware, Peabody, and Henry Ward Beecher.

The philosophical writings of Dr. Tappan, the author of a "Treatise on the Will" and a work on the "Elements of Logic," those of C.S. Henry, Wayland, Hickok, and Haven have an extensive reputation; and of the various works on political economy those of Henry C. Carey are most widely known.

Most prominent among the writings of American jurists are those of Kent, Wheaton, Story, Livingston, Lawrence, and Bouvier. Kent's (1768-1847) "Commentaries" on American Law at once took a prominent place in legal literature, and are now universally considered of the highest authority.

Of Wheaton's (1785-1848) great works on International Law, it is sufficient to say that one has been formally adopted by the University of Cambridge, England, as the best work of its kind extant, and as a manual for tuition by the professors of legal science. Among modern legal writers, Story (1779-1845) occupies a distinguished position. His "Commentaries" have acquired a European reputation, and have been translated into French and German. Livingston's (1764-1833) "System of Penal Laws for the United States," since its publication in 1828, has materially modified the penal laws of the world, and may be considered the first complete penal system based upon philanthropy, and designed to subst.i.tute mildness for severity in the punishment of criminals. Bouvier's "Inst.i.tutes of American Law" and "Dictionary of Law" are considered as among the best works of their kind, both in the United States and Europe.

Other branches of legal research have been treated in a masterly manner by American writers, and many authors might be named whose works take a high rank in both hemispheres.

9. NATURAL SCIENCES.--The physical sciences, from an early period, have found able investigators in the United States. Benjamin Thompson (Count Rumford) successfully applied his knowledge to increase the convenience, economy, and comfort of mankind. Franklin's discoveries in electricity, the most brilliant which had yet been made, have been followed by those of Morse, whose application of that power to the telegraphic wire is one of the most wonderful achievements of modern science. Fitch and Fulton were the first to apply steam to navigation, a force which has become one of the most powerful levers of civilization. In chemistry the works of Hare, Silliman, Henry, Hunt, and Morfit are equally honorable to themselves and the country. The names of Dana, Hitchc.o.c.k, Hall, the brothers Rogers, Eaton, Hodge, Owen, and Whitney are identified with the science of geology in the United States. The names of Torrey and Gray are eminent in botany, and the writings of the latter especially rank among the most valuable botanical works of the age. The mathematical sciences have found able expounders. The merits of Dr. Bowditch (1773-1838) ent.i.tle him to a high rank among the mathematicians of the world. His Commentary on the "Mecanique Celeste" of La Place, which he translated, is an original work, and contains many discoveries of his own. His "Practical Navigator" is the universally adopted guide in the American marine, and to a great extent in the naval service of England and France.

In mathematics as well as astronomy, Peirce and Hill have shown themselves able investigators. Bache, of the United States Coast Survey, has made many valuable contributions to physical science. The astronomical works of Professors Loowis, Gould, Norton, Olmsted, and Mitch.e.l.l hold a high position in the United States and Europe; and valuable astronomical observations have been made by Lieutenants Maury and Gillies, and Maria Mitch.e.l.l.

In natural history, Holbrook's "North American Herpetology," or a description of the reptiles of the United States, is a work of great magnitude, and sustains a high scientific reputation. Audubon's (1780- 1851) "Birds of America" is the most magnificent work on ornithology ever published. Since the death of Audubon, the subject to which he devoted his life has been pursued by Ca.s.sin and Girard, who rank with him as naturalists. Goodrich's "Animal Kingdom" is a recent popular work in this department.

The "Crania Americana" of Dr. Morton, the "Crania Egyptiaca" of Gliddon, and the "Types of Mankind," the joint production of the above writers and Dr. Nott, are important contributions to the department of ethnology.

De Vere and Dwight are eminent writers on philology; Jarvis, Hough, Tucker, De Bow, Kennedy, and Wynne, on statistics.

Medical literature has been ably ill.u.s.trated, and American writers on naval and military affairs have contributed largely to the effectiveness of modern warfare. Geographical knowledge has been greatly increased. Many explorations and publications have been made under the patronage of the government, and many excellent maps and charts have been executed from actual surveys. The Wind Charts and other works of Lieutenant Maury have greatly advanced the science of navigation, and his "Physical Geography of the Sea" has revealed the mysteries of the submarine world with graphic power.

10. FOREIGN WRITERS.--Many foreign writers in the United States, some of whom have had their tastes formed here, and are essentially American in principle and feeling, have contributed to the literature of the country.

The celebrated Bishop Berkeley (1684-1753), whose prophetic verses on America are so often quoted, brought with him the prestige which attached to high literary reputation, and had an influence on the progress of literature in the colonies. His "Minute Philosopher" contains many pa.s.sages descriptive of the scene at Newport, in the midst of which it was written. Thomas Paine (1736-1809) wrote his pamphlet ent.i.tled "Common Sense," and his "Crisis," in America, the former of which, especially, powerfully affected the political condition of the country. John Witherspoon (1722-1794), lineal descendant of John Knox, was the author of many religious works, and of some valuable political essays. Susanna Rowson (1762-1824) was the author of "Charlotte Temple," a novel which had extraordinary success in its day, and of many books of less fame. Joseph Priestley (1733-1804) wrote and published many of his most valuable works in the United States. His friend Thomas Cooper (1759-1840) was one of the most active minds of the age, and his religious, political, and scientific writings were not without their influence on the national literature. "The American Ornithology" of Alexander Wilson (1766-1813), a native of Scotland, is second only to the great work of Audubon. The names of Matthew Carey, Peter Duponceau, and Albert Gallatin are also honorably a.s.sociated with American letters.

Of the more recent writers, Dr. Lieber has done much for the advancement of political and philosophical science in the United States. The names of Aga.s.siz, father and son, and Guyot, prominent among the scientific investigators of the age, are indissolubly connected with science in America; and Drs. Draper and Dunglison have made valuable contributions to the medical literature of the world. Count A. de Gurowski, an able scholar, has published a work on "Russia as it is," and another on "America and Europe." Mrs. Robinson's various works ent.i.tle her to high distinction in the more grave as well as the lighter departments of literature. Professor Koeppen has written two valuable works on the "World in the Middle Ages." Dr. Brunow has brought a European reputation to the aid of one of our Western universities. Henry Giles has gained distinction by his essays and criticisms, and Henry William Herbert by his novels and miscellaneous writings. Many other foreign men of letters might be named, who, in various ways, aid the development of the national literature.

11. NEWSPAPERS AND PERIODICALS.--One of the most powerful engines in creating a taste for literature among the people of the United States is the newspaper and periodical press. Every interest, every social and political doctrine has its organ, and every village has its newspaper; not devoted solely to special, local, or even to national topics, but registering the princ.i.p.al pa.s.sing events of the actual as well as of the intellectual world, and in this respect differing essentially from the press of all other countries. These papers are offered at so small a price as to place them within the reach of all; and in a country where every one reads, the influence of such a power as a public educator, in stimulating and diffusing mental activity, and in creating cosmopolitan interests, can scarcely be comprehended in its full significance. While there is much in these publications that is necessarily of an evanescent character, and much that might perhaps be better excluded, it cannot be denied that the best of our daily and weekly papers often contain literary matter which in a less fugitive form would become a permanent and valuable contribution to the national literature.

The magazines and reviews of the United States take a worthy place beside those of Great Britain, and present a variety of reading which exhibits at once the versatility of the people and the cosmopolitan tendency of the literature which addresses itself to the sympathies of the most diversified cla.s.ses of readers. Among the quarterly reviews, the North American occupies a prominent position. It is a.s.sociated with the earliest dawnings of the national literature, and in the list of its contributors is found almost every name of note in American letters. The Scientific American and the Popular Science Monthly are the most eminent of the scientific periodicals; the Bibliotheca Sacra, the Andover and Princeton Reviews, the Christian Union, the Independent, the Churchman are among the ablest religious journals.

With the decease of H.S. Legare, one of the most finished scholars of the South, the Southern Quarterly, which had been indebted to his pen for many of its ablest articles, ceased its existence. Putnam's Magazine was long the medium of the most valuable and interesting fugitive literature; and the Atlantic Monthly, which has succeeded it, is under the auspices of the most eminent men of letters in New England, and has become the nucleus of a number of young and able writers. The Magazine of American History is the repository of much valuable information and many curious incidents in the history of the country. Harper's Magazine and the Century are periodicals of high literary character and of wide circulation both in this country and in England. They have by means of their ill.u.s.trations done much to advance and develop the art of engraving.

The language of American literature being that of England, its early productions were naturally modeled after those of the mother-country. But the cosmopolitan elements of which the nation is composed, and the peculiar influences of American civilization in holding out to the human race opportunities and destinies unparalleled in history, are rapidly developing a distinct national character which in the future must be reflected in American literature, and cannot fail to produce great results. This at least is the belief of all those who have faith in humanity and in the spirit which laid the foundation of our Republic.

12. SINCE 1800.--The period intervening between 1860 and 1885 has not been marked by any important literary development. In the great war for the support of the inst.i.tution of slavery on one hand and for national existence on the other, history was enacted rather than written, and the sudden and rapid development of material interests succeeding the war have absorbed, to a great extent, the energies of the people.

Many histories of special occurrences of the war have since appeared, and many biographies of those who played prominent parts in it, and when time shall have given these, and the great events they commemorate, their true perspective, the poet, novelist, and historian of the future will find in them ample material for a truly national literature.

Among the poets of the time only a few of the more prominent can be named.

Bayard Taylor (1825-1878) is equally distinguished as a poet and prose writer of fiction and travels. His translation of Faust in the original metre is accepted as the best representation of the German master in the English tongue, and apart from its merits as a translation, it has added to the literature by the beauty and power of its versification. His poem of "Deukalion" shows great originality and power of imagination. Richard H. Stoddard (b. 1825) is a poet and critic, equally distinguished in both departments. Edmund C. Stedman (b. 1833) is known by his translations from the Greek poets and his original poems marked by vigor and spontaneity of thought, poetic power, and precision in art. His critical volume on the Victorian poets is notable for dispa.s.sionate, conscientious, and skillful and sympathetic criticism.

Walt Whitman (b. 1819) writes with great force, originality, and sympathy with all forms of struggle and suffering, but with utter contempt for conventionalities and for the acknowledged limits of true art. Richard W.

Gilder has a delicate fancy and power of poetic expression. William Winter, as a writer of occasional verses, has rare felicity of thought and execution. William W. Story adds to his many other gifts those of a true poet. Charles De Kay is the author of many poems original in conception and execution. Thomas Bailey Aldrich has written much dainty and musical verse and several successful novels. Will Carleton, the author of "Farm Ballads," displays a keen sympathy for the harder phases of common life.

Charles G. Leland, in prose and humorous poetry, is widely read, and known also by his efforts to introduce industrial art into schools. Henry Howard Brownell is the author of "War Lyrics," among the best of their kind.

Edgar Fawcett is equally known as a poet and novelist. Joaquin Miller, in his poems, gives pictures of lawless and adventurous life.

Of the many distinguished women in contemporary American literature only a few can here be named. Helen Jackson (H. H.) is a brilliant prose writer and a poet of originality and power. She is the author of many essays and works of fiction, and of an exhaustive work on the Indian question. Emma Lazarus has written many poems of a high order. Annie Fields recalls the spirit and imagination of the Greek mythology. Edith M. Thomas, in her poems, shows high culture, originality, and imagination. Those of Lucy Larcom belong to every-day life, and are truthful and pathetic. Mary Mapes Dodge is a charming writer of tales and poems for children, and of other poems, Celia Thaxter dwells on the picturesque features of nature on sea and land. Julia Dorr in her novels and poems gives proof of great versatility of talents. Ellen Hutchinson is a writer of imaginative and musical verses. Elizabeth Stoddard is the author of several powerful novels and of some fine poems. Of equal merit are the productions of Louise Chandler Moulton, Nora Perry, Edna Dean Proctor, S. M. B. Piatt, Margaret Preston, Harriet Preston, Elizabeth Akers Allen, Sarah Woolsey (Susan Coolidge), Laura Johnson, Mary Clemmer, Mary C. Bradley, Kate Putnam Osgood, Harriet Kimball, Marian Douglas, Mary Prescott, Laura C.

Redden.

In prose Frances Hodgson Burnett is the author of many interesting novels and stories; Harriet Spofford, of original tales; Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, of popular and highly wrought novels; Adeline Whitney, of entertaining novels of every-day life; Rebecca Harding Davis, of powerful though sombre novels, of pictures of contemporary life, society, and thought; Louisa Alcott, of a series of charming New England stories for the young. Rose Terry Cooke, in her short stories, has presented many striking studies of New England life and character; and Sarah Orne Jewett deals with the same material in a manner both strong and refined. Julia Fletcher and Blanche Willis Howard have each written successful novels, and Constance Fenimore Woolson is the author of many vivid and well written tales. Mary A. Dadge (Gail Hamilton) is a writer on many subjects, sparkling, witty, aggressive; Clara Erskine Waters writes ably on art; Kate Field is a vigorous and brilliant writer in journalism, travels, and criticism.

FICTION.--Theodore Winthrop (1828-1861) fell an early sacrifice in the war. His descriptions of prairie life, his fresh and vigorous individualization of character and power of narrative indicate a vein of original genius which was foil of promise. William Dean Howells and Henry James are foremost as writers of the a.n.a.lytic and realistic school. Their studies of character are life-like and finished, their satire keen and good-natured. The romances of Julian Hawthorne deal with the marvelous and unreal. Bret Harte (b. 1839) presents us with vivid and lifelike pictures of wild Californian life, of the rude hate and love which prevail in an atmosphere of lawlessness, redeemed by touching exhibitions of grat.i.tude and magnanimity. His dialect poems and those of John Hay enjoy a wide popularity. The latter will also be remembered for his "Castilian Days," a volume of fascinating studies of Spanish subjects. George W. Cable is known for his pictures of Creole life; Edward Eggleston, for his sketches of the shrewd and kindly humorous Western life. Albion Tourgee has been the first to avail himself in fiction of the political conditions growing out of the war. Joel Chandler Harris delineates the character, dialect, and peculiarities of the negro race in his "Sketches in Black and White,"

and Richard Malcolm Johnston has graphically described phases of Southern life which have almost pa.s.sed away. F. Marion Crawford shows originality and promise in the novels he has so far given to the public; the same may be said of Arthur S. Hardy, George P. Lathrop, W.H. Bishop, Frank R.

Stockton, and F.J. Stinson.

SCIENCE.--In astronomy, Young, Henry Draper, and Langley may be named; in geology, Dana and Leconte; in physiology, Flint and Dalton; Marsh, in palaeontology, and Leidy, in zoology; Professor Whitney is an able writer on philology and Oriental literature. Professor E.L. Youmans has organized the simultaneous publication, in this country, England, France, Germany, Italy, and Russia, of an international series of scientific works by the ablest living writers, which has proved eminently successful. Among the theologians representing various schools may be named, Philip Schaff, Roswell D. Hitchc.o.c.k, Samuel Osgood, Henry W. Bellows, Frederick H. Hedge, Edward E. Hale, Newman Smyth, William R. Alger, and Octavius B.

Frothingham.

MISCELLANEOUS.--John Fiske is an able and versatile thinker and an expounder of the philosophy of Herbert Spencer, and a writer on American history, and on the leading subjects of scientific thought. Charles Brace is the author of many volumes on various social problems. Moses Coit Tyler is a writer on American literature and history; Andrew D. White, on French history, and on science and religion. Professor McMaster's "History of the People of the United States" is considered a scholarly and picturesque work. Professor Lounsbury has written, in his "Cooper," one of the best of modern biographies. Charles Dudley Warner is distinguished by the great geniality and humor of his writings, alternately quaint, delicate, and pungent. The charm and purity of his diction recall the best school of English essayists. Paul Du Chaillu is widely known for his accounts of travel in Africa and elsewhere; Moncure D. Conway, as a writer on social, literary, and artistic themes. John Burroughs is a close observer of nature; Eugene Schuyler is the author of a history of Peter the Great; Parkman throws much light on early American history; Parton is the author of many attractive biographies; Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) is known for his humorous writings.

CONCLUSION.

In the preceding pages the progress of literature has been briefly traced through its various periods--from the time when its meagre records were confined to inscriptions engraved on stone, or inscribed on clay tablets or papyrus leaves, or in its later and more perfect development when, written on parchment, it was the possession of the learned few, hidden in libraries and so precious that a book was sometimes the ransom of a city-- till the invention of printing gave to the world the acc.u.mulated treasures of the past; and from that time to the present, when the press has poured forth from year to year an ever increasing succession of books, the records of human thought, achievement, and emotion which const.i.tute literature.

The question here naturally arises as to whether the human mind has now reached its highest development in this direction, whether it is henceforth to retrograde or to advance. It was only towards the close of the last century that the idea of human progress gained ground, after the American and French revolutions had broken down old barriers, inaugurated new systems, inspired new hopes, and revealed new possibilities. What was then but a feeble sentiment, later advances in the direction of science have confirmed. Among them are the discovery of the correlation and conservation of force, according to Faraday the highest law which our faculties permit us to perceive; the spectroscope, that gives the chemist power to a.n.a.lyze the stars; the microscope, that lays bare great secrets of nature, and almost penetrates the mystery of life itself; the application of steam and electricity, that puts all nations into communication and binds mankind together with nerves of steel; above all, the theory of evolution, which opens to man an almost illimitable vista of progress and development. It is true that these great intellectual triumphs of the nineteenth century are all in the direction of science; but literature in its true sense embraces both science and art; science which discovers through the intellect, and art which trans.m.u.tes, through the imagination, knowledge and emotion into beauty. When the stupendous discoveries of our time have been fully recognized and appreciated and followed, as they doubtless will be, by a long series of others equally great, a higher order of thought must follow, and literature, which, is but the reflection of the thought of any age, cannot but be in harmony with it.

This consummation more than one poet, with the prescience of genius, has already foretold. "Poetry," says Wordsworth, "is the first and last of all knowledge, immortal as the heart of man. If the labors of men of science should ever create any material revolution, direct or indirect, in our condition and in the impressions we habitually receive, the poet will sleep no more then than at present; he will be ready to follow the steps of the man of science, and if the time should ever come when what is now called science shall be ready to put on, as it were, a form of flesh and blood, the poet will lend his divine spirit to aid the transfiguration."

"The sublime and all reconciling revelations of nature," writes Emerson, "will exact of poetry a corresponding height and scope, or put an end to it." George Eliot says,--

"Presentiment of better things on earth Sweeps in with every force that stirs our souls."

Throughout the verse of Tennyson the idea of progress is variously expressed. He dreams of a future

"When the war-drum throbs no longer and the battle-flags are furled."

"When comes the statelier Eden back to man."