The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1883-01-21

| however, No received INSTRUCTION OF mucn
higher grade. as the private pupil Of the grad
uate Of an English university who had become
the rector Of st. Peters Church in Albany.
This gentleman may have been the first. but
he was not the last. to bring with him to this
| country q relatively large amount OF classical
learning. thorough methods Of study. and an
other mans wife. It is probable enough as
Prof. Lounsbury suggests. that the attain
ments. ability. and marked character Of this
man. who. like all Englishmen OF his day held
In profound contempt American institutions.
opinions. and manners. exercised much deep
or and more abiding influence on the impress
sionable mind Of his young pupil than the latter
ever supposed. There 10 reason to believe. In
deed. that his notions and preiudices were
much more thoroughly imbbed than his
scholarship. for he died In 1907. when
Cooper was but thirteen years old. The
latter Immediately entered the freshman class
at Yale College, from which in his junior year
he was dismissed for some breach Of dsci-
pline. Had no graduated at the head Of his
class he would have had but slender outfit In
the way Of scholastic requirement for any one
| who compares the currcula OF our leading col
| leges In 1906 with their present requirements
| for admission will acknowledge that II vaiedic-
torian OF that day would now find II difficult to
enter the freshman class. 1t Is significant
TINT the ability to scan Latin verse was then
regarded rs high accomplishment. and
Cooper himself AYERS that the class to which he
belonged was the first In Yale College that had
ever tried IL. Do that rs II may. tho broad and
| frequent gaps in his historical knowledge and
| tho incorrigibie blcmishcs OF his style supply
| conclusive vouchers to educated men for tho
| truth of his declaration that during his school
and college days very little learning Of any kind
| found its way into his head Had no not
studied the forest and tho sea with more ntten-
ton than he gave to books he would have had
| littlo indeed to tell us.
The position OF Cooper's father. who had
been for some ycnrs a representative of the
Fedcralst party in Congress. seemed TO give
assurances that the son would obtain advance
mcnt in the navy. and accordingly the latter
prepared himself for the post OF midshipman
| by serving, as the custom was. an apprentice
| ship before the mast In the merchant marine.
| During the year that Cooper spent in n mer-
| chant vessel ne saw u good deal OF hard
vico. and witnessed several OF the incidents
that were nfterward worked up in powerful
passages OF his sea novels His warrant rs
midshipman bears date JAN 1. 1908 and. as
his resignation was accepted in MAY. 1911 he
was regularly in tho service less than three
years and n hall. During much of that time.
| however he was actively cmployod. and ne
| quired an amount OF nautical experiences not
| possessed by any other writer Of equal literary
ability 1t is also noteworthy that while he
held his commission in the navy he was
| one OF party ordered to build n brig at
Oswego on Lake Ontario. To his prolonged So
| journ on the shores Of that inland sea we I'M
| questionably owe the vivid picture OF Lake
| Ontario in the Pathfinder" as well as OF the
| wilderness which then surrounded 1t on every
| side.
| Cooper married in 1911 Miss Do Lancey
member OF family which played a conspicu-
| Gus part in the colonial annals OF New York
but which, unuckiy for itself. took the side of
the Crown during the Revolutionary war. The
fact that his wife's kinsnen had belonged to
the defeated party explains why Cooper in his
| writings treated the Tories with a fairness and
generosity which. ut tho time. few persons
were disposed to show. According to the biog-
rnpher. nothing could be more serene and hap
py than the home life o. the man whose liter
nry life was the stormicst in the history Of
| American literature. In theory he maintained
the hcadship OF the husband In the household
in the EXTREMIST form. but in practice his ac-
ton. as often happens with such theorists. was
largely. II not mainly. controlled by his wife,
1t was her unwillingness to DO separated from
him that brought about his resignation from
the navy. and it was her wish to be near her
own family that caused him to take up his res
idence in Westminster on what was called the
| Angevnc farm in Scarsdale. where he lived
until tho literary profession. upon which he
UNEXPECTEDLY entered. forced him to remove to
| New York. Up to the age of thirty he had
never dreamed Of writing novels but gave his
attention principally to improving the small
estate which had come into his possession.
1t was in $3.50 that n poor novel. purporting
to describe English society. planted in Cooper
the conviction that he could write better tale
himself. His first venture in this direction.
a, 4 I,.,
for he had by no means been qualified for de-
plotting English life by cruising few times up
and down the British Channel. and by the limit
cd observations of British manners and customs
made while strolling once or twice in n sailors
garb along Fleet street and the Strand. The
book excited but little attention in this country
but being reprinted in England. and receiving
most undcservedly. some favorable notice there
the author was encouraged to try again. and
now had the good sense to portray scenes and
characters with which he was familiar. Tho
success of novel treating an American theme
| however. was considered extremely prohlem-
attic, and Cooper not only had to publish
Tho Spy ut his own expense. but was SO
near losing heart in the task that the first
volume OF that story was printed several months
before no could pIuck up courage enough to
write a line Of the second This was ono of many
| instances in which publishers. whose business
II is to divine tho public taste have shown them
selves unit for their vocation. The Spy" was
advertised in the latter days Of December
! 1921. and early in 1922 the newspapers an
nounccd that ii had met with an unprecedented
sale BY March Il third edition was put to
press, and in the same month it was drama
tzed and acted with great success. 1t is cred
liable to the educated Americans of that day.
who relied in literary matters on the judgment
of English critics to an extent now nconceiv-
able. that they ventured to proclaim the
merits of The Spy" We may note here that
tho novel was refused by Murray but be-
ing brought out 10y another English pub
Usher early in 1922, was quito as well received
in Great Britain as In America. 1t was in
truth. this story which made Coopers reputa-
ton. both at home and abroad. Prof Louns-
bury Is cnrnful TO direct attention to this fact