During Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's lifetime, his universal fame as a writer was not dimmed in the least by his outspoken espousal of Christian values. Before his death a handful of vocal critics, at odds with Longfellow and the lifestyle he represented, determined to change the way Americans thought and what they liked to read. Our last installment zeroed in on the educational advocacy of the philosophers of the Enlightenment. Their contempt for the Bible and the civilizing influences of Christianity shaped the minds of teachers trained in Europe. This month's focus is on Charles Darwin and William Dean Howell's, representatives of a horde of writers who have fully eclipsed those like the poet Longfellow.
Writers find motivation in a number of ways.
Some, like the poet Longfellow use skill with a pen to enrich the lives of others. Because readers liked what he wrote, Longfellow became the first American poet to earn fame and fortune in this way. Freedom of expression has opened the broad field of American education to writers of every kind for every reason. Some writers are remembered because they gave the world great books. It is to be doubted that all fame for writing has been gained in this way.