The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1856-04-24
DUYCKIECKs CYcLoPEDIA WHAT THE
SOUTH HAS DONE FOR OUR LITERATURE.


i've and well-written preface. In its general
plan, it is modelled after the admirable Cyclo-
pedia of English Literature of the brothers
Chambers, though its classification is almost
strictly chronological, instead of having refer
ence to the departments of literature to which
the authors treated of in its pages have devo-
ted themselves. The name of each individual,
for instance, is placed as near as possible &C.
cording to the date of his birth, and not under
the subdivision, as in Chambers's work, of
"poets or "prose writer's" But it is not
our purpose to discuss the advantages or dis
advantages of this arrangement. >
The design of the Messrs Duyckinck is de.
clared to be, to bring together, in one book,
memorials and records of the writers of the
country and their works, from the earliest pc
riod to the present day. Such an undertaking
is by no means a trilng one, and the work be-
fore US, especially that portion of it which re-
lates to the early literature of this country, in.
dicates thoroughness of research, the difficult
ties of which no one can duly estimate, except
the authors themselves. Few men, however,
are so well qualified, by their extensive bibli-
ographical knowledge, the general fairness of
their Judgments, and their catholicity of taste
for the task proposed and the volumes before
US will long remain monument of the fidelity
with which they have performed it, not less
than of the treasures which have been added by
American authors to the common literature of
the world. Of course, there is great room for
diversity of opinion in regard to the details of
such publication and the relative space APP
/, portioned to this or that subject under consid-
Grafton; defects and errors may doubtless be
pointed out; but candid examination of the
whole must excite surprise, that it has been ex.
ecuted so well.
| Following the chronological arrangement, the
| Cyclopedia treats of three general periods in
our literature, each having its distinct charac-
| teristics.
The writers included in the first period are
| the New England Puritan school, the laborious
well-read, and acute divines, the scholars who
gave life to the early seats of learning, such as
| Harvard, Yale, William and Mary's, and Kings
| Colleges, the first chronclers of American an.
nails, several genial observers of nature, like
Bartram, and an occasional quaint versiier.
| In this period we find rudeness, but much
| strength, frequently high order of eloqueRce
| and an ample collection of materials for his
tory. The great names, illustrative Of the first
era, are Roger Williams, Cotton, Hooker the
| Mathers, the Bartrams, Jonathan Edwards,
chiefly proficient in divinity and science, and
Franklin, who heralded the more general litera
| ry culture which was to follow.
The next, the Revolutionary period, began
| and ended with the discussion of legal and con-
stitutional principles. 1t is distinguished by the
| labors of Otis, Jefferson, Adams, Madison,
Hamilton, and Jay. The political and judicial
| arguments which form the staple of our litera.
ture at this time were the first distinctive voices
of America heard in the Old World. "There
| had been,' say the authors of this work, &C. as
| good Puritan divinity published in England as
had been preached in Massachusetts and Con.
nectcut; the age of Dryden and Pope had un-
| doubleday furnished better poets than the land
of Anne Bradstreet and Michael Wigglesworth; ;
| but here was new experience in Government,
fresh, manly Interpretation of constitutional
rights, expressed succinctly, forcibly, eloquent
ly, In the colonial writings, fast ceasing to be
colonial, which compelled hearing, and elicit
ed the generous admiration of Chatham" The
same themes which engaged the sober argu-
ments of our early statesmen were treated in
different view by the wits and poets of.the
| day, among whom were Francis Hopkinson.
| Trumbull, and Freneau. This was the age of
| pamphlets and newspapers, from which many
of the gems of its literature, included in this
volume, have been rescued. 1t was also no.
ticeable for the increased mental activity of the
nation and remark is cited of Dr. Benjamin
| Rush, written at the close of this period, in
| 1899, in which he says:
From a strict attention to the state of mind
in this country, before the year l774 and at
| the present time, am satisfied the ratio of in
tellect is as twenty to one and of knowledge as
one hundred to one, in these States compared
with what they were before the American Rev
| olution."
The third period exhibits the results of this
increased knowledge and intellectual activity.
1T gave" say the athors, "a new range to d.
vinity and moral science, in writers like Chan
ming, Calhoun, and Webster, illustrated the
principles of political science; Marshall, Kent,
and Story, interpreted law; Paulding, Irving,
Cooper, Simms, Emerson, opened new prov
inces in fiction and polite literature; Hillbouse,
Bryant, Haleck, Dana, Longfellow, sang their
profound and sweet melodies; the national life,
at the earliest moment, found its historian in
Bancroft; oratory gained new triumphs in the
Halls Of Congress, and genial race of writer's
filed the various departments of letters, in
turn, thoughtful, sentimental, or humorous, as
the occasion or theme required.
This Cyclopedia possesses another interest,
as displaying the literary productiveness of the
different sections Of the country. Its authors
concede the superiority in the number of au-
thors to that portion north of Mason and
Dixon's line, and explain the fact by the
earlier settlement of the North, and its posses
sion of the main seats of learning. But Vir-
ginia and South Carolina have the advantage
in point of antiquity over Massachusetts and
Connecticut Why is it that they are. SO infe-
rior both in the quantity and the quality of their
literature, to their Northern sisters? Is it not
q fact that the best productions in every depart
ment, those which reflect the greatest credit
upon the nation emanate from the North ?
John IAN Buren, has remarked that " 1t is in a
country as in the human body-the brains al
ways lie above the belt" Without adopting
this derogatory theory-for the Southerners GER
tainly have brains enough, as they have shown
time and again, in managing the affairs of this
r