History of American Literature Part 27

Holmes wrote three novels, _Elsie Venner_, _The Guardian Angel_, and _The Mortal Antipathy_, which have been called "medicated novels" because his medical knowledge is so apparent in them. These books also have a moral purpose, each in turn considering the question whether an individual is responsible for his acts. The first two of these novels are the strongest, and hold the attention to the end because of the interest aroused by the characters and by the descriptive scenes.

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS.--Humor is the most characteristic quality of Holmes's writings. He indeed is the only member of the New England group who often wrote with the sole object of entertaining readers. Lowell also was a humorist, but he employed humor either in the cause of reform, as in The _Biglow Papers_, or in the field of knowledge, in endeavoring to make his literary criticisms more expressive and more certain to impress the mind of his readers.

Whenever Holmes wrote to entertain, he did not aim to be deep or to exercise the thinking powers of his readers. Much of his work skims the surface of things in an amusing and delightful way. Yet he was too much of a New Englander not to write some things in both poetry and prose with a deeper purpose than mere entertainment. _The Chambered Nautilus_, for instance, was so written, as were all of his novels. His genial humor is thus frequently blended with unlooked-for wisdom or pathos.

Whittier has been called provincial because he takes only the point of view of New England. The province of Holmes is still narrower, being mainly confined to Boston. He expresses in a humorous way his own feelings, as well as those of his fellow townsmen, when he says in _The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table:_--

"Boston State House is the hub of the solar system. You couldn't pry that out of a Boston man if you had the tire of all creation straightened out for a crowbar."

Like Irving, Holmes was fond of eighteenth-century English writers, and much of his verse is modeled after the couplets of Pope. Holmes writes fluid and rippling prose, without a trace of effort. His meaning is never left to conjecture, but is stated in pure, exact English. He not only expresses his ideas perfectly, but he seems to achieve this result without premeditation. This apparent artlessness is a great charm. He has left America a new form of prose, which bears the stamp of pure literature, and which is distinguished not so much for philosophy and depth as for grace, versatility, refined humor, bright intellectual flashes, and artistic finish.

THE HISTORIANS

Three natives of Ma.s.sachusetts and graduates of Harvard, William H.

Prescott, John Lothrop Motley, and Francis Parkman, wrote history in such a way as to ent.i.tle it to be mentioned in our literature. We cannot cla.s.s as literature those historical writings which are not enlivened with imagination, invested with at least an occasional poetic touch, and expressed in rare style. Unfortunately the very qualities that render history attractive as literature often tend to raise doubts about the scientific method and accuracy of the historian. For this reason few histories keep for a great length of time a place in literature, unless, like Irving's _Knickerbocker's History of New York_, they aim to give merely an imaginative interpretation of a past epoch. They may then, like Homer's _Iliad_, Shakespeare's _Macbeth_, and some of Irving's and Cooper's work, be, in Celtic phrase, "more historical than history itself." History of this latter type lives, and is a treasure in the literature of any nation.

WILLIAM H. PRESCOTT (1796-1859).--Like Washington Irving, Prescott was attracted by the romantic achievements of Spain during the years of her brilliant successes, and he wrote four histories upon Spanish subjects: a _History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella_ (1837), a _History of the Conquest of Mexico_ (1843), a _History of the Conquest of Peru_ (1847), and a _History of the Reign of Philip II_. (1855-1858), the last of which he did not live to complete.

He was a careful, painstaking student. He learned the Spanish language, had copies made of all available ma.n.u.scripts and records in Europe, and closely compared contemporary accounts so as to be certain of the accuracy of his facts. Then he presented them in an attractive form. His _Ferdinand and Isabella_ and the part he finished of _Philip II_. are accurate and authoritative to-day because the materials which he found for them are true. The two histories on the Spanish conquests in the New World are not absolutely correct in all their descriptions of the Aztecs and Incas before the arrival of the Spaniards. This is due to no carelessness on Prescott's part, but to the highly colored accounts upon which he had to depend for his facts, and to the lack of the archaeological surveys which have since been carried on in Mexico and Peru. These two histories of the daring exploits of a handful of adventurers in hostile lands are as thrilling and interesting as novels. We seem to be reading a tale from the _Arabian Nights_, as we follow Pizarro and see his capture of the Peruvian monarch in the very sight of his own army, and view the rich spoils in gold and silver and precious stones which were carried back to Spain. In relating the conquest of Mexico by Cortez, Prescott writes the history of still more daring adventures. His narrative is full of color, and he presents facts picturesquely.

JOHN LOTHROP MOTLEY (1814-1877).--As naturally as the love of adventure sent Prescott to the daring exploits of the Spanish feats of arms, so the inborn zeal for civil and religious liberty and hatred of oppression led Motley to turn to the st.u.r.dy, patriotic Dutch in their successful struggle against the enslaving power of Spain. His histories are _The Rise of the Dutch Republic_ (1856), _The History of the United Netherlands_ (1860-1868), _The Life and Death of John of Barneveld_, _Advocate of Holland_ (1874).

[Ill.u.s.tration: JOHN LOTHROP MOTLEY]

The difference in temperament between Prescott and Motley is seen in the manner of presenting the character of Philip II. In so far as Prescott drew the picture of Philip II., it is traced with a mild, cool hand. Philip is shown as a tyrant, but he is impelled to his tyranny by motives of conscience. In Motley's _The Rise of the Dutch Republic_, this oppressor is an accursed scourge of a loyal people, the enemy of progress, of liberty, and of justice. Motley's feelings make his pages burn and flash with fiery denunciation, as well as with exalted praise.

_The Rise of the Dutch Republic_ is the recital of as heroic a struggle as a small but determined nation ever made against tremendous odds. Amid the swarm of men that crowd the pages of this work, William the Silent, of Orange, the central figure, stands every inch a hero, a leader worthy of his cause and of his people. Motley with an artist's skill shows how this great leader launched Holland on her victorious career. This history is a living story, faithful to facts, but it is written to convince the reader that "freedom of thought, of speech, and of life" are "blessings without which everything that this earth can afford is worthless."

In choosing to write of the struggle of Holland for her freedom, Motley was actuated by the same reason that prompted his forefathers to fight on Bunker Hill. He wanted to play at least a historian's part in presenting "the great spectacle which was to prove to Europe that principles and peoples still existed, and that a phlegmatic nation of merchants and manufacturers could defy the powers of the universe, and risk all their blood and treasure, generation after generation, in a sacred cause."

_The History of the United Netherlands_ continues this story after Holland, free and united, proved herself a power that could no longer remain unheeded in Europe. _The Life and Death of John of Barneveld_, which brings the history of Holland down to about 1623, was planned as an introduction to a final history of that great religious and political conflict, called the Thirty Years' War,--a history which Motley did not live to finish.

Although no historian has spent more time than Motley in searching the musty records and state archives of foreign lands for matter relating to Holland, it was impossible for a man of his temperament, convictions, and purpose to write a calm, dispa.s.sionate history. He is not the cool judge, but the earnest advocate, and yet he does not distort facts. He is just and can be coldly critical, even of his heroes, but he is always on one side, the side of liberty and justice, pleading their cause. His temperament gives warmth, eloquence, and dramatic pa.s.sion to his style. Individual incidents and characters stand forth sharply defined. His subject seems remarkably well suited to him because his love of liberty was a sacred pa.s.sion. With this feeling to fire his blood, the unflinching Hollander to furnish the story, and his eloquent style to present it worthily, Motley's _Rise of the Dutch Republic_ is a prose epic of Dutch liberty.

Francis Parkman (1823-1893)--The youngest and greatest of this group of historians was born of Puritan blood in Boston in 1823. Parkman's life from early childhood was a preparation for his future work, and when a mere lad at college, he had decided to write a history of the French and Indian War.

He was a delicate child, and at the age of eight was sent to live with his grandfather, who owned at Medway, near Boston, a vast tract of woodland.

The boy roamed at will through these forests, and began to ama.s.s that wood lore of which his histories hold such rich stores. At Harvard he overworked in the gymnasium with the mistaken purpose of strengthening himself for a life on the frontier.

In 1846, two years after graduation, he took his famous trip out west over the Oregon Trail, where he hunted buffalo on the plains, dragged his horse through the canyons to escape hostile Indians, lived in the camp of the warlike Dacota tribe, and learned by bitter experience the privations of primitive life.

His health was permanently impaired by the trip. He was threatened with absolute blindness, and was compelled to have all his notes read to him and to dictate his histories. For years he was forbidden literary work on account of insomnia and intense cerebral pain which threatened insanity, and on account of lameness he was long confined to a wheel chair. He rose above every obstacle, however, and with silent fort.i.tude bore his sufferings, working whenever he could, if for only a bare half hour at a time.

His amazing activity during his trips, both in America and abroad, is shown in the Ma.s.sachusetts Historical Society Library, which contains almost two hundred folio volumes, which he had experts copy from original sources.

With few exceptions, he visited every spot which he described, and saw the life of nearly every tribe of Indians. His battle with ill health, his strength of character, and his energetic first-hand study of Indian and pioneer life are remarkable in the history of American men of letters. He died near Boston in 1893.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FRANCIS PARKMAN]

Because of their subject matter, Parkman's works are of unusual interest to Americans. When he returned from his pioneer western trip, he wrote a simple, straightforward account, which was in 1849 published in book form, under the t.i.tle of _The California and Oregon Trail._ This book remains the most trustworthy, as well as the most entertaining, account of travel in the unsettled Northwest of that time. Indians, big game, and adventures enough to satisfy any reasonable boy may be found in this book.

His histories cover the period from the early French settlements in the New World to the victory of the English over the French and Indian allies. The t.i.tles of his separate works, given in their chronological order, are as follows :--

_The Pioneers of France in the New World_ (1865) describes the experiences of the early French sailors and explorers off the Newfoundland coast and along the St. Lawrence River.

_The Jesuits in North America in the Seventeenth Century_ (1867) tells of the work of the self-forgetting Jesuit Fathers in their mission of mercy and conversion among the Indians. Fifty pages of the _Introduction_ give an account of the religion, festivities, superst.i.tions, burials, sacrifices, and military organization of the Indians.

_La Salle, or the Discovery of the Great West_ (1869), is the story of La Salle's heroic endeavors and sufferings while exploring the West and the Mississippi River.

_The Old Regime in Canada_ (1874) presents the internal conflicts and the social development of Canada in the seventeenth century.

_Count Frontenac and New France under Louis XIV_. (1877) continues the history of Canada as a French dependency, and paints in a lively manner Count Frontenac's character, his popularity with the Indians, and his methods of winning laurels for France.

_A Half Century of Conflict_ (1892) depicts the sharp encounter between the French and English for the possession of the country, and the terrible deeds of the Indians against their hated foes, the English.

_Montcalm and Wolfe_ (1884) paints the final scenes of the struggle between France and England, closing practically with the fall of Quebec.

_The History of the Conspiracy of Pontiac_ (1851) shows one more desperate attempt of a great Indian chief to combine the tribes of his people and drive out the English. The volume closes with the general smoking of the pipe of peace and the swearing of allegiance to England. The first forty-five pages describe the manners and customs of the Indian tribes east of the Mississippi.

The general t.i.tle, _France and England in North America_, indicates the subject matter of all this historical work. The central theme of the whole series is the struggle between the French and English for this great American continent. The trackless forests, the Great Lakes, the untenanted sh.o.r.es of the St. Lawrence and the Mississippi form an impressive background for the actors in this drama,--the Indians, traders, self-sacrificing priests, and the French and English contending for one of the greatest prizes of the world.

In his manner of presenting the different ideals and civilizations of England and France in this struggle, he shows keen a.n.a.lytical power and strong philosophical grasp. He is accurate in his details, and he summarizes the results of economic and religious forces in the strictly modern spirit. At the same time, these histories read like novels of adventure, so vivid and lively is the action. While scholars commend his reliability in dealing with facts, boys enjoy his vivid stories of heroism, sacrifice, religious enthusiasm, Indian craft, and military maneuvering.

The one who begins with _The Conspiracy of Pontiac_, for instance, will be inclined to read more of Parkman.

In the first volumes the style is clear, nervous, and a trifle ornate. His facility in expression increased with his years, so that in _Montcalm and Wolfe_ he has a mellowness and dignity that place him beside the best American prose writers. Although Prescott's work is more full of color, he does not surpa.s.s Parkman in the presentation of graphic pictures, Parkman has neither the solemn grandeur of Prescott nor the rapid eloquence of Motley, but Parkman has unique merits of his own,--the freshness of the pine woods, the reality and vividness of an eyewitness, an elemental strength inherent in the primitive nature of his novel subject. He secured his material at first hand in a way that cannot be repeated. Parkman's prose presents in a simple, lucid, but vigorous manner the story of the overthrow of the French by the English in the struggle for a mighty continent. As a result of this contest, Puritan England left its lasting impress upon this new land.

ENGLISH LITERATURE OF THE PERIOD

Most of the work of the great New England group of writers was done during the Victorian age--a time prolific of famous English authors. The greatest of the English writers were THOMAS CARLYLE (1795-1881), whose _Sartor Resartus_ and _Heroes and Hero Worship_ proved a stimulus to Emerson and to many other Americans; LORD MACAULAY (1800-1859), whose _Essays_ and _History of England_, remarkable for their clearness and interest, affected either directly or indirectly the prose style of numberless writers in the second half of the nineteenth century; JOHN RUSKIN (1819-1900), the apostle of the beautiful and of more ideal social relations; MATTHEW ARNOLD (1822-1888), the great a.n.a.lytical critic; CHARLES d.i.c.kENS (1812-1870), whose novels of the lower cla.s.s of English life are remarkable for vigor, optimism, humor, the power to caricature, and to charm the ma.s.ses; WILLIAM MAKEPEACE THACKERAY (1811-1863), whose novels, like _Vanity Fair_, remain unsurpa.s.sed for keen satiric a.n.a.lysis of the upper cla.s.ses; and GEORGE ELIOT (1819-1880), whose realistic stories of middle cla.s.s life show a new art in tracing the growth and development of character instead of merely presenting it with the fixity of a portrait. To this list should be added CHARLES DARWIN (1809-1882), whose _Origin of Species_ (1859) affected so much of the thought of the second half of the nineteenth century.

The two greatest poets of this time were ALFRED TENNYSON (1809-1892) and ROBERT BROWNING (1812-1889). Browning's greatest poetry aims to show the complex development of human souls, to make us understand that:--

"He fixed thee 'mid this dance Of plastic circ.u.mstance."

[Footnote: _Rabbi Ben Ezra_.]

His influence on the American poets of this group was very slight.

Whittier's comment on Browning's _Men and Women_ is amusing:--

"I have only dipped into it, here and there, but it is not exactly comfortable reading. It seemed to me like a galvanic battery in full play--its spasmodic utterances and intense pa.s.sion make me feel as if I had been taking a bath among electric eels."

Tennyson through his artistic workmanship and poetry of nature exerted more influence. His Arthurian legends, especially _Sir Galahad_ (1842), seem to have suggested Lowell's _Vision of Sir Launfal_ (1848). The New England poets in general looked back to Burns, Wordsworth, Keats, and other members of the romantic school of poets. Lowell was a great admirer of Keats, and in early life, like Whittier, was an imitator of Burns.

LEADING HISTORICAL FACTS

As might be inferred from the literature of this period--from Whittier's early poems, Mrs. Stowe's _Uncle Tom's Cabin_, Lowell's _The Biglow Papers_, and from emphatic statements in Emerson and Th.o.r.eau--the question of slavery was the most vital one of the time. From 1849, when California, recently settled by gold seekers, applied for admission as a state, with a const.i.tution forbidding slavery, until the end of the Civil War in 1865, slavery was the irrepressible issue of the republic. The Fugitive Slave Law, which was pa.s.sed in 1850 to secure the return of slaves from any part of the United States, was very unpopular at the North and did much to hasten the war, as did also the decision of the United States Supreme Court in the Dred Scott case (1857), affirming that slaves were property, not persons, and could be moved the same as cattle from one state to another.

Various compromise measures between the North and the South were vainly tried. When Abraham Lincoln was elected President in 1860, South Carolina led the South in seceding from the Union. In 1861 began the Civil War, which lasted four years and resulted in the restoration of the Union and the freeing of the slaves.