The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1878-12-01
sOHB NEW HOOKS.


' ndsrtnken to write the His'orv NJ American
ieralure from hr Eiriiest English Settlements
his Country Doen 81 the Present Time. The
! 30 volumes now published by the Putnams
slycra distinct period ia tho Intellectual life OF
10 American people, namely. the epoch be-
ren The years 1905 and 1865. Tho true end
irg If tho colonial era. the true beginning Of
I've evolutionary epoch. coincile led with the lat
tr year. Therefore the present installmcnt Of
the work rcritcs the story of literary activity
during the time Of our contented subordinntiou
l. the European commonwealth out Of which We
came.
Prof Tyler does not assume 20 furnish m in
discriminate dictionary Of all Americans who
lave ever written anything, or an exhaustive
photographed account Of all American books
That were ever written. What nc undertake. TO
give s the history Of those writer's only who
lave some noteworthy yaluc or some real sig
Iincnnce ia the literary unfolding Of the Amcr-
can mind Yet the execution Of this scheme
has entailed vast amount Of labor. Tho author
sncms to have examined the whole mass OF
American writings during the colonial time. 30
firms they now exist In public and In private
libraries Of this country. and he has sought to
make an appropriate mention Of every one
among our early writer's whose writings.
whether many or few. have any appreciate lit
erary merit. or throw any helpful light upon the
eNolutons OF thought and style.
Prof Tyler Is careful to Introduce into his
toxt specimens Of the literature which he de-
hribes. and thus enables the reader TO secure
the most precise. clear. and vivid conception Of
many neglected authors. II Is worth noting
that these quotations are in no case amended.
either by correction Of syntax chastsemcnt
ot vocabulary. or a reconstruction Of sentences.
Some mistakes in proof reading. in punctua-
tion and spelling have been removed. but 9TH
erwise the illustrative passages in this work
tfand precisely IA they dd in the original text.
The first American writer seems to have been
Opt. John Smith OF virginia. and Prof. Tyler
gives extracts from Smiths narrative Of tho
Virginia settlement. printed in London as early
o., 1908. II was another Virginian cOlonist. Will
liam strachey. who ia thought to have sug-
g sted some Of tho incidents In Shakespeare
Tempest" lie wrote at jamestown and sent
OF to England "a True Reportery Of the wrack
and Redemption Of Sir Thomas Gates Kt.. upon
and from the Islands Of the Bermudas'
After naming somc other Nirginians whose
literary productions appear to deserve Il certain
notice. the author passes to New England and
dY.s ut length on some Of tho more distin-
Hnished writer's Of tho nineteenth century In
that country. Much space is devoted TO John
Winthrop. 10 William bradford. Edward Wins
low. Francis Higginson. and William Wood
Tho latter Is pronounced a man Of high literary
ability and the passages given from his New
England Prospect" published in London In
1854. do undoubtedly cvince considerable de-
scriptve power. Woods style il that Of a man
Of genuine culture. has the tone and flavor OF
thc best ElizabethRn prose writers. and is almost
FREQ from the craObedness Of the sermon makers
md pampheteers OF his own day.
A chapter is also given to Roger Williams and
g. Anne Dradslreet. 1t wis as poet that this
nrLo l.i l., ,r, hat in
cure 10 her contemporaries. The longest and
most ambitious Of her works probably CON-
mended itself to her Puritan constituency as
useful poetry. being a rhymed chronicle Of an
cicnl history from Nmrod down to the kings
OF Rome. This could bo read by the most sober
member Of the Puritan colony without any
twnges Of sef-reproach. He was In no danger
OF losing his soul by being borne away on the
vain and nirv cnticements OF frivolous words.
md. heavy rs tho poem seems 10 u.s. must prob
nby have este, med It's treasury OF solid facts
the most precious Issue Of the authors genius.
But Of course the three writers Of the colonial
period who have made the deepest impress
upon posterity are Cotton Muther Jonathan
Edwards. and benjamin Franklin.
1t may be said OF Cotton Mather that he was
born with an enormous memory m enormous
appetite for every species OF knowledge an
enormous zeal and power for work. and an
enormous passion for praise. But his nature
early became saturated with self-consciousnc
and that he grew to be most literary and re-
ligious coxcomb is thing not likely e. astonish
any one who considers the mans original apti-
tudes and the circumstances OF his life from the
cradle to the grave. At II years Of age he was a
freshman In Harvard College. having before
that time read Homer and Isocrates. and many
unusual Latin authors. and having likewise
entered upon the congenial function Of cx-
fortinR juvenile friends to lives Of godllness.
and even Of writing poems Of devotion for their
private use. At 49, on taking his first degree.
he had the pleasure OF hearing the President
OF the college address 10 him glowing compli-
ment well calculated to extend and ripen in a
prigglsh young person the already well de-
veloped sense Of his own importance. At IS
on taking his second degree of a doctor OF di-
Vinty. he delivered learned and persuasive
thesis on the divine origin Of the Hebrew points
Upon the whole the picture OF Cotton Mather
given TO Us in his own writing. and in the writ
ings OF those who knew him and loved him. is
one Of surprising painfulness. We see a person
whose intellectual enlowments were quite re-
markable. but inflated and pervertedby egotism
himself imposed upon by his own moral aircc-
tations completely surrendered to spiritual ar.
tihce. stretched every instant Of his life on the
rack OF ostentatous exertion. Intellectual aud
religious. partly for yanity's sake. partly fol
conscence's sake, In Difference to n dreadful
system Of asoetic and pharsaic Journalism
in which the mans nature was Lopelessl
emoshed.
The true place 81 Cotton Mather in our III
erary history is indicated by the authors state
mont that he was in prose writing exactly wha
Eioholns Noise was in poctry-tho last mos
vigorous. and therefore most disaRreeable rep
Tesentatiye OF tho fantastic school in literature
Like Nicholas Noise, he prolonged in New Eng
land the methods OF that school. even after hi
most learned contemporaries thore had out
grown him. and had come 10 dislika him. Cot
lon Ma'her was the last apostle OF tho peryers
md detestable literary mood that held sway il
different countries 81 Christendom during tn,
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Hi
writings, in fact, are n reservoir Of examples il
fantastic prose. Their most salient character
lstlc is pedantry-a pedantry gigantic. stark
INIT mpered, rejoicing in itself unconscious o
shame, filling M the space Of his books like al
atmosphere. The mind Of Mather was so pos