New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-04-26


and language: The first volume is delightful:
Records of wild adventure, stern endurance, heroic
resolve and achievement are TO be found al9ng
with quaint accounts of village communities, ne
in the bacllwoods Puritan rule and misrule, witch
hndlng and all the prosecutions OF a savage Ols-
otry, and SO forth. fine dcvll-may-care eeuehC
IS contributed by that blithe old v0yaSer, lhomdS
Morton, whom cody Master bradford denOunceu
as the resilient Norton because Of his nendlSh
subtlcty of evil in trying TO erect MaypOIc lneIS
is something very delightful also III the account VI
Maryland, by George Alsop, with Its mlngeu P I
bast and vigorous coliOQuialismS Master Aleop,
though not native of Maryland ere long DeCdllc
so drunk with the joy of independence oil Eng
fish rule that he saw everything III gOIdeh lhisO'
|" All Vllanous Outra=cS that are cOmultteu ~
other States are not SO much as known mere
man may walk i'm the open woods as secure from
being externally diSsectcd as in his own mouse oI
dwelling. so. hateful is robbeT that heS htPII
at a distance. and Stunned as the peSleh1ldI
nOiscsomeueSs.
not less interesting. though each so in its own
distinct way, are the other volumes oi ~. th
|" Library" But it is not till we come 10 lpc
third volume, representative of the Literature ..
the Republic the sixth in the Library }, tnn U
the full power and dignity Of American LlTtaouiS
is disclosed. The advance all along tue nnj
remarkable. In the van are the great caPtalHH
George Bancroft Ralph Waldo Emerson NaUhahIci
Hawthorne, Edgar Allan Poe, Longfellow am All,
Whittier After these names, 1omlhaI 10 uo a.
how some will cXclaim. can there DE hoVupI'o
enough TO need five more volumes LOT auequa.e
reprcsentation? Yet at once we come upon VIZ :
ers of assured eminencc. me nuI' ,yn,rcn
able writer's is extraordinary OF men ana WOMEN nE
whose talent and often whose genius. Woulu, NJ
wears earlier have won them hlGhcSO ITcoinl.ii9o
Of fortune and repute. even III L'nB - tba
Theodore Winthrop who gives tle 1i ,Go nro,rins
plains the romance Of the free lie OF ile
far more successfully than ever cooper ulo,
Edward Bellamy the author OF Ihe NC ca and
/" Looking backward "-respectlVely tle aV col
tho latest author represented IN these l"o WI
umcs-tLrrc is free play OF genius. lHlelV uIl5
.inalitv mower and literary Charh Oh Witt IL
leans may we'll be proud particularly wiz" I4 o,'o
heavy handicappinG OF authors u5 ,m. Is ta,en
tonal Copyright system sun III ''s"
Somr iJco Of the range Of this immense unaer-
taking may he gained IRON Inr oamnlete poems
ESSAYS chapters short tales or lengthy tND.".tn,
which can be understood and enjoyed WiIloHU o ore
context It is in history that as YET te nanca
can genius prepOndcrateS. flctloh an" lOu.IIo
oomr next The poetry. as whole, IS less holt!IC,
That part Of the intellectual lie OF tue n"i III
which makes for poetry ~ seems 70 sway nv I'm.
bositont and bpwildprpd birds in migratory Hl2ho'
now tLis way. and now that. toward the reserve
and exquisite art Of Poe on the one hand % tHt
untrammelcd methods and rude energy Oh Maic
clearer song is being purycd and purlied, new
impul,rs are moving and TO confident eyes tne
future is not duled in its rainbow glory becauS,
81 the clooms and uncertainties "ncn sun pt' 80
among the singers of the day. IT the poelT ol
America will only free themselves from tle i.lI-
lish tradition. they have ugh ana lhsp,rlI- IuCi '
AWAITING them. such as VIII lcau uo ht'cIL' 'i"O
loss Glorious tan those won by the poets Oh Ing
land. -; :.i
The editors Of The Library" state with ,iustl-
fable pride in the preface Of the iinal volume,
that they find they have blilded better than they
knew: that their National Gallery, 50 - say
presents n rare and valuable cOnspcctus OF Nmcrl-
can life of American history. in all d"partln,G,nI rs
of IMAGINATION. action and opinion; ana anFn
that their original hope has become happv peI
lief thct throughout the country. in homestead
and school library. MS well as in cities and great
industrial centres Of the Republic; q" this comnI2-
tion will make for potrotSm.' II is patriotic
and honorable hope. and the likelihood of It's full
flncrt Is not for n moment ~ he 2onsod
Minor authors" Nr. Stcdman saws elsewhere,
ard truthfuilv. minor authors S'nely or IN
rroung reflect the tendencies Of period even more
clearly than their morn original compecrS. II
IS this. not least among so much eso that is sig
niGrant that gives such value 20 the la'or volumes
Of tie Literature Of tho H'nuh'ic. The mental
history Of tho nation is written here. II IS
crrdit0hlc m honorable or" IS pioneer literature.
is UNSURPASSED nor Is thorc any rcrroa"h = the
country that has produced Hawthorne aud Poe and
FrereOn. 10 saw that tho4' eleven volumes re3r"-
sent. after an. hut srlf14l Introduction 20 thc
new and mighty literature which is TO arise
oversee.