New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-08-13

casm. the Biglow Papers" elevated the INTEL
lectual standard of the Abolition cause ana were
the armory of the most destructive weapons useu
in the fight against slavery. The Kansas Struggle
tempted the satirist TO make journey to the
scene of political agitation and to produce on tie
oround a new series of dialect studies smacl<lng
directly of the soil; but the project was aban-
doned on account of the pressure OF literary WORK
The outbreak of the Civil War brought quaint
Hosea Biglow with his mercess wit again INTO
the field The second series was published IN
The Atlantic Monthly" and was received WIN
the highest evidences of public appreciation III the
North In Jonathan TO John" he gave adequate
expression to American feeling in one OF the CRISES
of the Nations history 1t was after the lreu'
affair Mason and Slidell had been seized III
wanton disregard of neutrality law. international
Justice. as we'll as diplomatic expediency, required
that the Confederate negotiators should be given
ND. but every instinct of American patriotism
had been cruelty outraged by England's offensive
hostility and cynical Indifference to the American
cause. jonathan to john expressed what was
in every overweight American heart on the Union
side. 1t bristled with contempt for mercenary
greed that was traflicling in the misfortuneS Oh
a liberty-loving branch of the Englishsp speaking
race 1t rang out in scoTnful detestation OF the
hypocrisy which, with canting tongue, was max
ing virtue out of bcfriending slaveownerS' IL
embodied conviction that ineXoraDle JusuCe
would at last make all things even. III was III
spired with profound faith in the triumph ol
righteous cause and in the manifest destiny OF
the American people The country was qulverihg
with Indignation when Mr.. Lowell gave that de
fant, if satirica to England, and IL greeted
him with every sign of grateful appreciation lol
so characteristic an expression OF all that was
best in American feeling.
The "Biglow Papers" determined not only MI
Lowells commanding position among American
Unionists but also the essential originality oil DIS
work His earliest poems had borne The impress
of Keats and his ripper work had not been unlike
that of Arnold, with touches here ana there ol
Wordsworth; but the homely Yankee dlalec'' anu
quaint, practical shrewdness of Hosea Blglo" "eIe
unioue If the satire be more grim IN the second
series than in the first, the whole WORK lS By in-
metrical and unrivalled in English literature
Hudibras being feeble and commonplace Deslue III
Among these papers belongs properly Inc
Courtin'," one OF the most original anu cl"i
idylls Of New-England life.
Mr. LowelPs literary work had been continued
during these busy years with undated ardor'
In ls4s appeared his third volume OF poems WIN
..a,. o,,,i eloverv nicces Fable for Critics
American poets In Is49 a revised edition OF his
noers was issued. From 1857 TO 1862 he was
constant contributor to The Atlantic Monthly
of which he was the first editor: apd in 1868 ne
hecame with Charles Eliot Norton an associate
editor Of "The North American Review" Among
the volumes of this period of literary activity were
FINDER the Willows" Among my Books, " MY
Studv Windows and 1.-THE Commemoration ODE
In 1872 he made third European Journey ana
upon his return wrote the three best odes OF the
centennial period. Among his later works were
" The Cathedral" Democracy and Other Adj
dresses. Heartsease and Rue and political
ESSAYS" Perhaps the best of his critical WORK
is TO be found in My Study Windows ana
=" Amono Nv Books" Preside Travels was one
of the most charming of his writings. HIS prose
was remarkable for lucidity of style, refinement
f oralvsis and resources of scholarship. His later
noems were characterized by exquisite finish,
richness of Imagination, refinement of'method and
sustained moral purpose. In his great ode the
memory Of Lincoln, "Our Martyr Chief, Is en-
balmed in melOdious strophes with matchless art;
and there are few poems in the language so re-
plete with Wordsworths Own lntimatlons OF I'M
mortality as In the Twilight.
In 1877 Mr.. LCwels diplomatic career opened
with his appointment TO the Spanish MlsSioh' IRON
which be was transferred to London where lie
became a most popular speaker and the ldol OF
English society. 1t has been said of him that ne
tanrht the English the art of making after-dinner
speeches; and certainly his success as graceful
orator was as remarkable as his previous achieve
ments in literature No great diplomatic work was
done by him, either i'll Madrid or in London, but
his services in winning the friendship and COM
manding the respect of Europeans were very
great. During his residence in England he was
elected rector of the University of ST Andrews
Roth the English universities had previously
conferred upon him their highest degrees. MI
ToWells residence in London clouded by the
death of his second wife, Frances Dunlap, whom
he had married in 1857. After his refinement
from diplomatic duties in 1885 he resumed his
lectures at Cambridge, and in 1887 delivered
course of lectures before tie Lowell lnstltute.
His last years have been passed at Southboro'
Mass ard in Cambridge, and he has maze snort
Journeys in England. His literary activity has
continued almost TO the end. With his lamlnar
figure disappearing in Boston and in London. the
greatest American man Of letters since Longfel-
low vanishes from the workaday world; but the re-
fnnQ influence of his exquisite taste, his classical
culture and his perfection of literary form and
finish remain. Great alike as poet, critic, satlrst
and orator, he will be remembered by patriots
with affection and profound respect for an Anerl-
| canism that, to use his own words, "emacked OF
the soil, in jonathan 10 john and that nobest
| of poems, The Commemoration Ode
Professor DOwden, in writing of Mr.. Lowell S
rank in literature, has remarked that, taken as a
whole, lis works 90 not mirror the life, the
thoughts and passions of the Nation. They
are works. he adds, as it were, of an English
poet who has become naturalizcd citizen of the
| " lO adj he and
| has faith in the ideas oil America, but who cannot
throw off his allegiance to the old country and iu
authorities" In his own country during his clos
ing years, Mr.. Lowell was ofton accused
of having sacrificed his American feel
ing in his social successes in England. 1t was
perhaps in response 70 these criticisms that he
! hnli,.ereh az Rirrninrlnm in lsa4 a rennrka Bio