The times., 1899-11-19
amerIcnn I.ftcrnfurc.

eAItIlt-l fascinating TO any s-+4H--. o-
our literature. Mr. Mitchell is thoroughly
experienced iu :his sort Of work. having
written several books on thc literature
and history Of England in much the same
vein. as well as the first volume of the
present series. which is a history Of Ameri-
can literature up 10 the time OF Washing
ton Irving The present volume continues
the history from Irving's time TO thar Of
Pos-s Raven" OF through the first half
Of The present century. Considerable at
teEriou is naturally paid 70 New England
since thar section Of the country produced
many writer's OF varying types during the
period o. which the author treats; but the
Southern and Middle States are by no
means neglected
The book begins with a sketch Of society
IL New York. Philadelphia. and Washing
ton toward the end OF the FIRST quarter OF
the nineteenth century. There are sew
eral reproductions Of old prints showing
tho hauuts Of literary men; one is Of VIII
lard Hotel. 10 this city, another is Of the
Ola Carey Book Store in Philadelphia,
Among The characters Of which this
chapter speaks may be found some which
are by no means generally known 10 the
student There is Richard Henry Wilde,
Congressman and scholar of Georgia in the
thirues, an Irishman by birth. There is
Judge Longstreet author Of Georgia
Scenes and Characters" His portrait aB
pears and viii reveal features new 10 most
people outside his native State.
Then comes the historian, Bancroft, and
the diplomat. George P. Marsh. There are
pictures Of bOJh-several portraits OF Ban
croft taken in youth, middle life, and old
Ege-and also pictures Of their early homes
ana surroundings The second chapter,
following this, deals with Bushnell, whose
portrait. a reproduction OF a crayon by
RoWse, is a face as typically New England
as ever existed. The glimpse OF him which
Hr. Mitchell gives reveals the secret Of the
power which the theologian had in old New
England, and is rather interesting on that
account The author remembers him as he
sometimes came TO illuminate the college
pulpit" al Yale, his old college:
spare man-as / remember him-of fair
height. thin-iaced, with no shadow Of grossuess
IN him-alnost The hollow cheeks Of
chorite, ano With : voice that bore one into
celestial attitudes.
We upon the oaken benches were not great
lovers o. sermons in those Gays, or OF preach
ersi but here was s man whose voice and man
ner he-o U.s. the old hymns caught fresh
meaning and were lighted with a new
thing fresh, piercing; perhaps his own parish
grew used TO their vital, II deliberate, earnest
ness and pleading; perhaps they took on Irom
his own desk tafIer weeks on weeks that oreary
conveltionalisIn which Fpoils 50 much OF ex-
teInpCraneous praying; but 10 one hearing them
rarely this seemed quite impossible. His pic
turesqUe language, sharpeled BY subtle meanings,
was Ike an eFer-tresh and intense wrestling
with the spirits of ey5l for q standpoint N
the Divine Presence logical and earnest build
ing-up q an always new and always easier
wrGE "a EnaV-n IA -
Of Old, angels might, and did, come and 60,
with healing in their wings.
Then, in the Sermons there was pith; he
struck 20 the core ot things. He was out
Ecs and remote from ccnyentionalItes-so re-
mote that you would hardly expect him TO
sly q good morning as other men did, but
20 put casual greeting into such g fashion as
would strike deeper and last longer; q seer,
looking into the depths that hem Us IN, with
uttered warnings, Gdvices, eEpostulations, ten
Ger elcouraCemerts, Ell wrapped IN words that
fingled with new meanings, OF beguied one
with their resonant euphuisns There be
preachers who tow burdened sinners with tug
and strain into smoother, calmeF water, where
riding Is easy and skies alluring; but this man,
somehow without makeEhItC OF theOloglc haUsers,
took one under spiritual bresZes. on great bllOWs
q TeTerential thought, into the harb0r Of d.
vine sereuitics, where q supreme presence
Teigued- He was never IN any straits
Of politics or o. theologies, another mans man;
one could lot score him down for a vote OF
petition, except ms heart and judgment went
with IL He was not only. always and
everywhere iutoIerznt q bareiaced dishonesty,
but equally 50 o. that other insidious dis
honesty which creeps in the stockings Of stat
ptes 10 its quarry.
Such men, in whom faith was alive, lot
G mere form. did much 10 lay the founda-
ton Tor literature. whether literary them
selves or not They created q strong, true,
sOul-searching spirit IN the highest
thought OF their time and place.
4 tremendous contrast 10 this figure Is
The one which Mr. Mitchell, in his whim-
Eical arrangement, places next IN the order
Of COusideration-N. P. Willis, the Beau
Brummel Of American literature, the one
society poet Of our land. There are two
pictures Of him, one taken In youth and
one 10 age and he Is just as much the fin
lshed beau IN one as in the other. All the
same. there is q great deal that is low
able iu the character Of this butterfly poet.
lie WAS not great, but he was always kind.
The next figure of this panorama is that
tremendous. towering personality, the
New England Greek. Ralph Waldo EmeT-
Eon. The portraits Of Emerson seem to be
legion; they are scattered all through the
book, and there are pictures Of his home,
his study, and his unique monument in the
beauufu graveyard OF Sleepy Hollow al
COucorl-a huge piece Of Fose-quartZ. uu-
Ehapeu. Just as it came from the quarry
among the New Hampshire hills, without
even an Inscription In connection with
Emerson We have a discussion OF Brook
Farm and those who originated that curl
Gus scheme the outgrowth OF general res
Uyeness and philauthropic movements OF
al sorts. Then follows a sketch OF Theo-
dore Parker, in some ways one Of the most
remarkable figures OF that tempestuous
time. il may be well 10 quote a part OF
What Mr Mitchell has 10 say about this
man. who. whatever his faults. was unde-
Bisbly sincere and fun OF power.
Die w4s taboaed by his fellows In the church
Ehg kept within the s1Iaiis-laid down by
Andrews Norton and ctherr-zud felt il
ETiep0us.g, but not IeplI-ngly. lie always liked
good battle; WolId have fCiloWshped ad-
1nfz5-g with those pulpit adherents Of Cr0m-
vel, who kept their maccs " pistols within
arm gezeiI-cyCn In the pulpit. The elite Of
soCiei1 Uas always shy a. ham. lie was not
smer4l-e o. Lgh social law. Edward Everett
o. Prescott, or other such, would have been
shocked u ali their genteclest fbres al the
Epectacle ct man in careless or disardered
toHctlC--fliu0ut slrplce or other appliances
or air u stately oecorlu- laundering from the
platform ~ music iL2-.-4--cut the Eternal
talalI--s Z De knew him. Sol all the beuei-
ceuce and charity t!lat shOue in his lie could
blind then 10 his democratic commouuess Of
talk- From FIRST 90 .1st The cultivated and re-
hned oi Boston held themselves aloof They
might admire hut they resented his lack Of
respect Tor proper formulas Of conduct, and TO
thrlr tafe las Wcl1at-est tAlu1ers uf dauna-
ton-u hetIer % a Mexican Ear or a fugitive
save laEr--Etcre vulgar tagudcrs, and ugly bTim-
stone 1dars hung EausCo1slg about the theGlo-
&c o. sle hlnaniiaEi4n llgHJning- oi the Odeon
OF ot Alsic Han. Yet be had fathJmed all
social Depths iu al ranges % Hie. Iu real
frlendilgss-oi intention lr OF specch--hc could
give points tc kings and cutdo theIu As for
his intellectual resources. they were uTOdigious
and Imposing bat they had serious flaws. in
what touched E.ular.itariau questions, he rca-
Snea with his hearts has Tenderness over and
cscr upset his lCSiC; BIS tears pat "a mist into
lls pleas even - the court % heaven Again,
~ slarr. kerr morg for part .cular facts made