New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-05-21

| T6c nnbIic taste half a century ago was I'M
! formed The public taste is far from in iallbe now
but the elders know th.t uneIe m"S opparenfy
| trivial things The popular poetry hity years ago
! Was matched by the cheap and gaudy coloreu ,tno
praphs and 10y the plaster images Oh ltaan ptulelS
| Eotb of which farms of art pcrVasive as
| the coors of the national nag. There was no llter
ary standard. The average editor imought moro VI
| the scream of the American eagle IMAM OF Any
| canon of taste There were 10 canonS "I TASTE or
| laws of criticism. ANY sentiment III musical now
| of words. wlth sparklcs OF hlgi-coIOfeI aJtctNcS
| was poem And as for poets capaOe OF buch
verses III the slang of the frontiers the WOODS
| were full of them"
Few editors and fewer readers were literally cdu-
| Gated. In the public schools the reading WAS
largely from eighteenth-centnry authors Will
the notions of rhetoric aud criticism were derived
from Blair or Lord kaimcs, Edants VINO never
toned PFC fesSoTs who taught what was gone ny anu
| the fluent, sef-oOniident apostles OF jingle ahg
glitter whose field was IN milIiners magazines anu
red-nlOT0ccO anLualS', the student, IL there were
! one. had no secure middle ground. -
| 1t would require the space OF volume 20 SNOW
! the influences which have been at WORK since IN'p
10 build up our literature. OIL rather TO lay lounua
tiCn for it, and TO connect 1t with our soc!ai anu Pp
tica life The period IS that OF our gieatesI pan
| sion in population, wealth, and power, OF the sftdt
| est improvements In the arts, OF the greatest
| diffusion of Intelligence, and the one III when the
.buk OF American literature has been plouucoH; IN
| benign influences have acted In concert 10 d
public like that of $50 the best productions Oh our
day would have been enigmatlcal or ridiculous
|
has been an enormous work, for which every moral as
| well a5 material force has been enpIoEeu. Ccnooi
masters, engineers, preachers reI9fhetS pd,@T
| pliers inventors prnteTs.-these Win Inc eu,olse
and authors have been slowly raising the leNel Oh
| thou Iht and MISUNDERSTANDING as IL We're
under a whole people o foundation Ike tha OF ieT
scp0lis which the rising structure OF our letteIs
aud art is to stand Every new era brings new pow
ars and advanta ages; but 1t is hardly possible iiat
there will ever he tine IN which the vast Worh Vi
| century will he cclpsed
IL must he considered good fortune for Long,
| fellow to have been born at period when halIonai
prosperity was fairly begun, to have gr0w4 WIN MS
country's growth. to have reached maturity
when its literature was fer the irst Time reGhoheu
rs "A power and to have attained to serene Od age
at a time when the whole reunited republic re
gartled him with honor and pride. The public HE
of no other American author has covered such a
pan the period of no other has so many fortunate
incidents: the fame of no other Is so UNIV
among all classes oimen. ,
The chief hOnors III American letters thus 1ar nave
been gained by poets. In history science ana crit
Icisin with few brilliant exceptions, we nave pro-
duced little to be compared with the works OF
EnnlIshmen The influences of great universities
and the cultivation and inherited tastes OF the lead
inc classes such as exist i'll England are almost
wholly wanting in America. The power of such
literary centre London IL almost solar lheTe Is
10 such grayitaton III our western hemisphere
At the first thought it might appear that poets
whose genius is Unborn, do not need the STIMULUS
of learned society and are not aided by breathing
literary atmosphere But though the poets ofiglhal
impulse comes from the Creator, and that whIch Is
vital in his Is due to no teaching yet ms taSle
his skill and mastery, are largely affected by us
surroundings and, unless he Is man OF sell
centred power, by the public sympathy OF the
Poets OF the first order are so that they can
not be reckoned in any Buckles system OF Averages
England has produced two Shakespeare and MIL
ton. Poets of the second order, such as CHANGER
Speuser Byron, Coerdge Keats, Shelley.
Wordsworth and Dryden, are more evenly
distributed among the generations. Leav-
ing Robert browning ont OF the ac'
count for the present., we find among living
English poets only preeminent. the Laureate
Tenn is
assign his rank as being the first since Milton. Az
the time there are living III AmcTlca EmeIson'
Lowell Holiness and Whittier and these, with
Longlellow ana Bryant. lately deceased, appear to
educated Americans superior seyerally IN genius
and in accomplishment to any living English poet
save Tennyson.
OLD TIMES IN NEw-ENGLAND.
The following passage referring to Portland. Me-,
| is charming piece of description, preserving the
rich Tone the quaintness and the highbred formal
ity of the times that it so well describes:
At the time of Longfellow's bOyhood the fashions
of the Revolutionary period were just passing away
| The speech of the people was h0mely ana injected
| with the old Yankee accent. COWS were pasiured
| on Munjov hill. There were few private carriages.
stage conveyed passengers to Boston, but much OF
the intercourse with other sea-coast towns was by
| sailing vessels. When, afterward, the young Long
| fellows went to college, they made the Journey by
| coasters through CascO Bay to HarpSwel The two
| newspapers were published weekly. There was no
theatre other place OF amusement but est lndla
rum was plentiful and III daily use. there were
learned LAWYERS and clergymen, but 1t Is not prob
allie that tncre was much in the intellectual life of
the town to favor the development OF poet
In the towns near the sea-coast, from Newport TO
| Portland, there a great SINH arlty III domestic
architecture large number Of The better class OF
the old houses have been torn down or rebuilt. In
Boston and vicinity very few remain although IN
| CharlcstOwn, Cambridge, salem, NewOurypo
| Portsmouth,, Exeter Dover and towns farther east
| ward we can still behold the typical New-England
mansion. 1t is ample Ill SIZE and stately III form
1t is associated with "reminiscences OF RULES, shOe,
| buckles, sllyeT-Opped canes, c0urtly manners and
hospitality. Ii is the house OF the Judge, tine Con-
| tnental general the squire, the prosperous doctor
of divinity OF of medicine, of the merchant whose
ships have brought hn spices, ivory and gold dust
from over 1t is generally OF three stories the
| third being somewhat abridged and the form Is
| SONS and out-buidngs are III the rear, and some
| times on the sides The front door opens INTO a
wide hall, from which grand stairway leads to the
| upper stories. The nan is Walhscoicu, ana huilg
| with rather stiff portraits. The stairway Is broad
and the steps WIDE, giving an easy ascent TO the
| landings. Twisted and carved balustefs support
| the handgai each wrought separately
| in some quaint device. There are Tour large
| square rooms OH the ground floor, each
| manIelplece, The walls are thick, like tnose OF
| fort alice and the windows are recessed Ike EN-
| blasues. Those who are accustomed 10 the card
| board structures of our time whether III the form
| of Italian villas, SWISS chalets, or whlte-pno
| GOtnIc, have strange SENSATION IN WISHING these
solid dwellings. There an air OI repose III them,
| an idea of amplitude and permanence. One feels
| that the builders must have been largNmindcd,
serene men, A fashionable dwelling OF fifteen feet
| front on the new land OF the Back Bay III Boston
| furnishes perfect anutheSlS. Inc ancient houses
were well paced in grounds of some extent, on tue
| crest of a natural elevation, or near grove with
broad grassy lawns, bOrdered by Inns and oaks.
| and dotted with hrs and spruces, ana with ciump5
| OF Towering shrubs. Ihe distinguishing features OF
the old towns OF NewEngland are still these superb
| mansions They are generally painted bun or
| creamy hite having green blinds and high and
| heavy chmneys and III their picturesque stua-
lions and surroundings they give an almost poetlcal
| charm to the landscape.
| THE POETIC EXPERIENCE
| As specimen of Mr. Underwood's habit Of care
ful thinking, coupled with arstatement of results
| this ca tract does not come aInss:
IL, +I,o nf most nocts i'm on