Pleasant hours with American authors,
Birdsall, William Wilfred, 1854-1909, [from old catalog] ed
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' V »''*»/. v * ^ ^ ^ <■" A ’o fc ** ,<&> , V > « , '- ■\° °^> - •r ^<V\Vvr> > \V- % £ l %> : & .^\ ‘* /\o-':^-/\ * •yrm * ^ v • -'v^i# : ° o' ,= ^ ) C> y t » « > on0 \ ' f o CV \> 9. Y * 0 A '. V A ," " <L$ A'VXV ^ v^> ^ 7 0 ft x ^ aGV w <\ C 0 N C ♦ <S> ^ V* J x°°- rP L v p/j C2_ y sJ\JnS- ft cl ct- 1 ~- *, ^ / -.O.V ^ A* s A. -S y REPRESENTATIVES OF AMERICAN LITERATURE. ' * -.ones -a-nci c Pleasant Hours WITH AMERICAN AUTHORS CONTAINING The Lives of Our Authors in Story Form, Their Portraits, Their Homes and Their Personal Traits, How They Worked and What They Wrote together with SELECTIONS FROM THEIR WRITINGS REPRESENTING ATE THAT IS BEST IN THE LIVES AND WORKS OF American Writers of Poetry and Prose Superbly Illustrated With Nearly ONE HUNDRED HALF-TONE ILLUSTRATIONS * MADE ORIGINALLY FOR THIS WORK THF LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, "r «n COHtfcS RjECKIVHO NOV, B 190-2 CYv*/niGHT ENTffv Cl ASK — WV-i. No. '5'^4(-n COPY B Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1898, by W. E. SCULL, m. ine office 01 the Librarian ol Congress, at Washington* All rights reserved. * 6 < e „ Q • • % G • « C> V « e « • • < t ( ( t <• * ( < c o • 0 c t » f ; «■ c c c o * * e * e * •ALL PERSONS ARE WARNED NOT TO INFRINGE UPON OUR COPYRIGHT BY USING EITHER THE MATTER OR THE PICTURES IN THIS VOLUME, INTRODUCTION. HE ink of a Nation’s Scholars is more sacred than the blood of its martyrs,” — declares Mohammed. It is with this sentence in mind, and a desire to impress upon our fellow countrymen the excellence, scope and volume of American literature, and the dignity and per¬ sonality of American authorship, that this work has been prepared and is now offered to the public. The volume is distinctly American, and, as such it naturally appeals to the patriotism of Americans. Every selection which it contains was written by an American. Its perusal, we feel confident, will both entertain the reader and quicken the pride of every lover of his country in the accomplishments of her authors. European nations had already the best of their literature before ours began. It is less than three hundred years since the landing of the Mayflower at Plymouth Rock, and the planting of a colony at Jamestown, marked the first permanent settle¬ ments on these shores. Two hundred years were almost entirely consumed in the foundation work of exploring the country, settling new colonies, in conflicts with the Indians, and in contentions with the mother country. Finally — after two cen¬ turies — open war with England served the purpose of bringing the jealous colonists together, throwing off our allegiance to Europe, and, under an independent constitu¬ tion, of introducing the united colonists — now the United States of Amevica into the sisterhood of nations, 7 3 INTRODUCTION. Thus, it was not until the twilight of the eighteenth century that we had an organized nationality, and it was not until the dawn of the nineteenth that we began to have a literature. Prior to this we looked abroad for everything except the pro¬ ducts of our soil. Neither manufacturing nor literature sought to raise its head among us. The former was largely prohibited by our generous mother, who wanted to make our clothes and furnish us with all manufactured articles; literature was frowned upon with the old interrogation, “Who reads an American book?” But simultaneously with the advent of liberty upon our shores was born the spirit of progress — at once enthroned and established as the guardian saint of American energy and enterprise. She touched the mechanic and the hum of his machinery was heard and the smoke of his factory arose as an incense to her, while our exhaustless stores of raw materials were transformed into things of use and beauty ; she touched the merchant and the wings of commerce were spread over our seas; she touched the scholar and the few institutions of learning along the Atlantic sea¬ board took on new life and colleges and universities multiplied and followed rapidly the course of civilization across the mountains and plains of the West. But the spirit of progress did not stop here. Long before that time Dr. Johnson had declared, “The chief glory of every people arises from its authors,” and our people had begun to realize the force of the truth, which Carlyle afterwards expressed, that “A country which has no national literature, or a literature too insig¬ nificant to force its way abroad, must always be to its neighbors, at least in every im¬ portant spiritual respect, an unknown and unesteemed country.” The infant nation had now begun its independent history. Should it also have an independent literature ; and if so, what were the bases for it ? The few writers who had dared to venture into print had dealt with European themes, and laid their scenes and published their books in foreign lands. What had America to inspire their genius ? The answer to this question was of vital importance. Upon it depended our destiny in literature. It came clear and strong. To go elsewhere were to imitate the discontented and foolish farmer who became possessed of a passion for hunting diamonds, and, selling his farm for a song, spent his days in wandering over the earth in search of them. The man who bought this farm found diamonds in the yard around the house, and developed that farm into the famous Golconda mines. The poor man who wandered away had acres of diamonds at home. They were his if he had but been wise enough to gather them. o o So was America a rich field for her authors. Nature nowhere else offered such inspiration to the poet, the descriptive and the scientific writer as was found in America. Its mountains were the grandest; its plains the broadest; its ^rivers the longest; its lakes were inland seas; its water-falls were the most sublime; its caves were the largest and most wonderful in the world; its forests bore every variety of INTRODUCTION. 9 vegetable life and stretched themselves from ocean to ocean ; it had a soil and a climate diversified and varied beyond that of any other nation ; birds sang for us whose notes were heard on no other shores ; we had a fauna and a flora of our own. For the historian there was the aboriginal red man, with his unwritten past pre¬ served only in tradition awaiting the pen of the faithful chronicler ; the Colonial period was a study fraught with American life and tradition and no foreigner could gather its true story from the musty tomes of a European library ; the Revo¬ lutionary period must be recorded by ail American historian. For the novelist and the sketch writer our magnificent land had a rich legendary lore, and a peculiarity of manners and customs possessed by no other continent. The story of its frontier, with a peculiar type of life found nowhere else, was all its own. It was to this magnificent prospect, with its inspiring possibilities that Progress, — the first child of liberty — stood and pointed as she awoke the slumbering genius of independent American Authorship, and, placing the pen in her hand bade her write what she would. Thus the youngest aspirant in literature stood forth with the freest hand, in a country with its treasures of the past unused, and a prospective view of the most magnificent future of the nations of earth. What a field for literature ! What an opportunity it offered ! How well it has been occupied, how attractive the personality, how high the aims, and how admir¬ able the methods of those who have done so, it is the province of this volume to demonstrate. With this end in view, the volume has been prepared. It has been inspired by a patriotic pride in the wonderful achievement of our men and women in literature, in making America, at the beginning of her second century as a nation, the fair and powerful rival of England and Continental Europe in the field of letters. Wonderful have been the achievements of Americans as inventors, mechanics, merchants — indeed, in every field in which they have contended — but we are pre¬ pared to agree with Hr. Johnson that “ The chief glory of a nation is its authors ; ” and, with Carlyle, that they entitle us to our greatest respect among other nations. The reading of the biographies and extracts herein contained should impress the reader with the debt of gratitude we as a people owe to those illustrious men and women, who, while wreathing their own brows with chaplets of fame, have written the name, “ America ” high up on the literary roll of honor among the greatest nations of the world. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. 1 Our obligation to the following publishers is respectfully and gratefully acknowledged, since, without the courtesies and assistance of these publishers and a number of the living authors, it would have been impossible to issue this volume. Copyright selections from the following authors are used by the permission of and special arrangement with MESSRS. HOUGHTON , MIFFLIN & GO ., their authorized publishers: — Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry W. Longfellow, Oliver Wendell Holmes, James Russell Lowell, Bayard Taylor, Maurice Thompson, Colonel John Hay, Bret Harte, William Dean Howells, Edward Bellamy, Charles Egbert Craddock (Miss Murfree), Elizabeth Stuart Phelps (Ward), Octave Thanet (Miss French), Alice Cary, Phoebe Cary, Charles Dudley Warner, E. C. Stedman, James Parton, John Fiske and Sarah Jane Lippincott. TO THE CENTURY CO ., we are indebted for selections from Richard Watson Gilder, James Whitcomb Riley and Francis Richard Stockton. TO CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS , for extracts from Eugene Field. TO HARPER & BROTHERS , for selections from Will Carleton, General Lew Wallace, W. D. Howells, Thomas Nelson Page, John L. Motley, Charles Follen Adams and Lyman Abbott. TO ROBERTS BROTHERS , for selections from Edward Everett Hale, Helen Hunt Jackson, Louise Chandler Moulton and Louisa M. Alcott. TO ORANGE , JUDD & CO ., for extracts from Edward Eggleston. TO DODD , MEAD & CO., for selections from E. P. Roe, Marion Harland (Mrs. Terhune), Amelia E. Barr and Martha Finley. TOD. APPLETON & CO ., for Wm. Cullen Bryant and John Bach McMaster. TO MACMILLAN & CO ., for F. Marion Crawford. 10 HORACE L. TRAUBEL , Executor, for Walt Whitman. TO ESTES & LAURIAT , for Gail Hamilton (Mary Abigail Dodge). TO LITTLE, BROWN & CO., for Francis Parkman. TO FUNK & WAGNALLS, for Josiah Allen’s Wife (Miss Holley). TO LEE & SHEPARD, for Yawcob Strauss (Charles Follen Adams), Oliver Optic (William T. Ydams) and Mary A. Livermore. TO J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO., for Bill Nye (Edgar Wilson Nye). TO GEORGE ROUTLEDGE & SONS, for Uncle Remus (Joel C. Harris). TO TICK NOR & CO., for Julian Hawthorne. TO PORTER & COATES, for Edward Ellis and Horatio Alger. TO WILLIAM F. GILL & CO., for Whitelaw Reid. TO C. II. HUDGINS & CO ., for Henry W. Grady. TO THE “ COSMOPOLITAN MAGAZINE ,” for Julian Hawthorne. TO T. B. PETERSON & BROS., for Frances Hodgson Burnett. TO J AS. R. OSGOOD & CO., for Jane Goodwin Austin. TO GEO. R. SHEPARD , for Thomas Wentworth Higginson. TO J. LEWIS STACKPOLE, for John L. Motley. Besides the above, we are under special obligation to a number of authors who kindly furnished, in answer to our request, selections which they considered representative of their writings. PLEASANT HOURS WITH AMERICAN AUTHORS. PART 1 . The First American Author of Renown, Washington Irving, . 23 “ 2. Great Poets of America, . 33 # “ 3. Our Most Noted Novelists, . 165 “ 4. Famous Women Novelists, . 218 “ 5. Representative Women Poets of America, ..... 252 6. Our National Humorists, . 271 “ 7. Popular Writers for Young People, . 298 “ 8. Noted Journalists and Magazine Contributors, . . . 327 “ 9. Miscellaneous Masterpieces and Gems for Recitation, . . 359 ii FAMOUS AMERICAN AUTHORS WHOSE WRITINGS, BIOGRAPHIES AND PORTRAITS APPEAR IN THIS VOLUME. Abbott, Lyman. Adams, Charles Follen ( Yawcob Strauss). Adams, Wm. T. ( Oliver Optic). Alcott, Louisa May. Aldrich, Thomas Bailey. Alger, Horatio, Jr. Artemus Ward ( Charles F. Browne). Austin, Jane Goodwin. "Barr, Amelia E. Bellamy, Edward. Bill Nye (Edgar Wilson Nye). Browne, Charles F. (Artemus Ward) A Bryant, William Cullen. Burdette, Robert J. Burnett, Frances Hodgson. "Cable, George W. Carleton, Will. Cary, Alice. Cary, Phoebe. Clemens, Samuel L. (Mark Tivain). Cooper, James Fenimore. -Craddock, Charles Egbert (Mary N. Murfree) Crawford, Francis Marion. Dana, Charles A. Davis, Richard Harding. Dodge, Mary Abigail ( Gail Hamilton) A Dodge, Mary Mapes.* Eggleston, Edward. Ellis, Edward. ' Emerson, Ralph Waldo. -Field, Eugene. Finley, Martha. French, Alice (Octave Thanet). Gail Hamilton (Alary Abigail Dodge) A Gilder, Richard Watson. Greeley, Horace. Grace Greenwood (Sarah J. Lippincott). Hale, Edward Everett. Halstead, Murat. Harris, Joel Chandler ( Uncle Remus). Harte, Bret. Hawthorne, Julian. Hawthorne, Nathaniel. Hay, John. Holley, Marietta (Josialr Allen’ s Wife)A Holmes, Oliver Wendell. Howells, William Dean. Irving, Washington. Jackson, Helen Hunt. Joaquin Miller ( Cincinnatus Heine Miller). Josiali Allen’s Wife (Marietta Holley)A Josh Billings (Henry W. Shaw). Larcom, Lucy. Lippincott, Sarah Jane ( Grace Greenwood). Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth. Lowell, James Russell. Mark Twain (Samuel L. Clemens). Marion Harland (Mary V. Terhune). Miller, Cincinnatus Pleine (Joaquin). Moulton, Louise Chandler. Murfree, Mary N. (Chas. Egbert Craddock ), Nye, Edgar Wilson (Bill Rye). Oliver Optic ( William T. Adams). Octave Thanet (Alice French). Page, Thomas Nelson. Park man, Francis.* Poe, Edgar Allen. Reid, Whitelaw. Riley, James Whitcomb. Roe, Edward Payson. * No portrait. 12 FAMOUS AMERICAN AUTHORS. *3 Shaw, Albert. Shaw, Henry W. ( Josh Billings). Sigourney, Lydia H. Smith, Elizabeth Oakes., Stockton, Frank. Stoddard, Richard Henry. Stowe, Harriet Beecher. Taylor, Bayard.* Terhune, Mary Virginia. Thompson, Maurice.* Wallace, General Lew. Ward, Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, Watterson, Henry. Whitman, Walt. Whittier, John Greenleaf. Willis, Nathaniel Parker. Whitcher, Mrs. ( The Widow BedoU /. * No portrait. “Under a spreading chestnut tree The village smithy stands.” Longfeltiw. TABLE OF CONTENTS. WASHINGTON IRVING, THE GREAT PIONEER IN AMERICAN LETTERS. PAGE Birth and Ancestors . 23 Named After George Washington . 23 Early Success as a Journalist . 24 A Two Years’ Trip in Europe . 24 Seventeen Years Abroad . 25 The Winning Character of his Genius ‘The Organ of Westminster Abbey’. ‘ Baltus Van Tassel’s Farm ’. ‘ Columbus at Barcelona ’. ‘ The Galloping Hessian ’. WILLIAM CULLEN BUY ANT. An Author at Fourteen . 33 The Influence of his Father . 34 Bryant’s Best Known Poems . 35 Personal Appearance . 35 A Long and Useful Life . 35 ‘ Thanatopsis ’ . 36 ‘ Waiting By the Gate ’ . 36 ‘ Blessed are They That Mourn ’ . 37 ‘ Antiquity of Freedom ’ . 38 ‘ To a Water Fowl ’ . 38 ‘ Robert of Lincoln ’ . 39 ‘ Drought ’ . 39 ‘ The Past ’ . 40 ‘ The Murdered Traveler ’ . 40 4 The Battle-Field ’ . 41 ‘ The Crowded Street ’ . 42 ‘ Fitz Greene Halleck (Notice of ) ’ . 42 4 A Corn-Shucking in South Carolina ’ . 43 EDGAR ALLEN POE. Comparison with Other American Poets. . . 45 Place of Birth and Ancestry . 45 Career as a Student . 46 The Sadness of his Life and Its Influence Upon his Literature . 46 Conflicting Statements of his Biographers. . 47 Great as a Story Writer and as a Poet . 47 His Literary Labors and Productions . 48 4 The City in the Sea ’ . 49 ‘Annabel Lee’ . 50 ‘ To Helen ’ . 50 ‘ Israfel ’ . 52 ‘ To One in Paradise ’ . 52 ‘ Lenore ’ . 53 ‘The Bells’ . 53 ‘ The Raven ’ . 55 HENRY W. LONGFELLOW. His Place in Literature . 58 14 Comparison with American and English Poets. His Education, Collegemates and Home. .. The Wayside Inn (A view of). His Domestic Life. His Poems. His Critics, Poe, Margaret Fuller, Duyckink Prose Works and Translations. Longfellow’s Genius. ‘ The Psalm of Life ’. ‘ The Village Blacksmith ’. ‘ The Bridge ’. ‘ Resignation ’. ‘ God’s Acre ’. ‘ Excelsior ’. ‘ The Rainy Day ’. ‘ The Wreck of the Hesperus ’. ‘ The Old Clock On the Stairs ’. ‘ The Skeleton in Armour ’. ‘ King Witlaf’s Drinking Horn ’. ‘ Evangeline On the Prairie ’. ‘ Literary Fame (Prose) ’. RALPH WALDO EMERSON. The Difficulty of Classifying Emerson. The Liberator of American Letters. A Master of Language. Emerson and Franklin. Birth, Education, Early Life .. Home at Concord, Brook- Farm Enterprise. Influence on Other Writers. Modern Communism and the New Theology ‘ Hymn Sung at the Completion of the Con¬ cord Monument (1836) ’. ‘ The Rhodora ’. ‘ A True Hero ’. 4 Mountain and Squirrel ’. ‘ The Snow-Storm ’. ‘ The Problem ’. 4 Traveling ’. CONTENTS. PAGE ‘The Compensation of Calamity’ . 78 ‘ Self Reliance.’ . 78 ‘Nature’ . 78 JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER. Whittier’s Humble Birth, Ancestry, Education. 80 Poet of the Abolitionists . 81 His Poems and His Prose . 81 Our Most Distinctively American Poet . 82 New England's History Embalmed in Verse 82 ‘ My Playmate ’ . 83 ‘The Changeling’ . 83 ‘The Workskip of Nature ’ . 85 ‘ The Bare-foot Boy ’ . 85 ‘ Maud Muller ’ . 86 ‘ Memories ’ . 87 ‘ In Prison For Debt ’ . 88 ‘The Storm’ (From ‘ Snow Bound ’) . 89 ‘ Ichabod ’ . 90 OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES. Admired by the English-speaking World... 91 His Education and Popularity . 91 Early Poems . 92 Autocrat and Professor at the Breakfast Table . 92 Holmes’ Genial and Lovable Nature . 92 ‘ Bill and Joe ’ . 94 ‘ Union and Liberty ’ . 94 ‘ Old Ironsides ’ . 95 ‘ My Aunt ’ . 95 ‘The Height of the Ridiculous ’ . . 95 ‘ The Chambered Nautilus ’ . 96 ‘ Old Age and the Professor ’ (Prose) . 96 ‘ The Brain ’ (Prose) . 97 1 My Last Walk with the School Mistress ’ . 97 ‘ A Random Conversation on Old Maxims, Boston and other Towns ’ . 98 JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL. Profoundest of American Poets . 100 Early Life and Beginning in Literature .... 100 Marriage, and the Influence of his Wife. . . 101 Home at Cambridge (view of) . 101 Longfellow’s Poem on Mrs. Lowell’s Death, 101 Humorous Poems and Prose Writings . 102 Public Career of the Author . 103 How Lowell is Regarded by Scholars . 103 * Phe Gothic Genius’ (From ‘The Cathedral ’) 104 PA(*’ ‘ The Rose ’ . 104 ‘The Heritage ’ . 105 ‘ Act For Truth ’ . 106 ‘ The First Snow-Fall ’ . 106 ‘ Fourth-of-July Ode ’ . 107 ‘ The Dandelion ’ . 107 ‘ The Alpine Sheep’ (by Mrs. Lowell) . 108 BAYARD TAYLOR. Life as a Farmer Boy . 109 Education . 109 His First Book . 109 Encouragement from Horace Greeley . 109 A Two Years’ Tramp Through Europe - 109 A Most Delightful Book of Travel . 109 An Inveterate Nomad . 109 Public Career of the Author . 110 4 The Bison Track ’ . 110 ‘The Song of the Camp ’ . Ill ‘ Bedouin Song ’ . Ill ‘ The Arab to the Palm ’ . Ill ‘Life on the Nile ’ . 112 NATHANIEL P. WILLIS. A Devotee of Fashion . 114 Birth and Ancestors . 114 Educational Facilities . 114 His First Poems . 114 A Four Years’ Tour in Europe . 115 Marriage and Home . 115 A Second Journey to England . 115 An Untiring Worker . 115 Death . 115 ‘ David’s Lament for Absalom ’ . 116 ‘ The Dying Alchemist ’ . 117 ‘ The Belfry Pigeon ’ . 118 RICHARD HENRY STODDARD. His Humble Origin and Early Struggles... 119 Introduction into Literature . 119 Stoddard’s Style . 120 Literary Dinner in His Honor (1892) . 120 Ik. Marvel’s Letter and Whitcomb Riley’s Poem . 120 ‘ A Curtain Call ’ . 121 ‘ Hymn to the Beautiful ’ . 121 ‘ A Dirge ’ . 122 ‘ The Shadow of the Hand ’ . 123 ‘A Serenade’ . 123 i6 CONTENTS. PAGE WALTER WHITMAN (WALT). The Estimates of Critics . 124 Charms of Whitman’s Poetry . 125 Life and Works of the Poet . 125 Biographies of the Poet . 125 ‘ Barest Thou Now, 0 Soul ’ . 126 ‘ O Captain ! My Captain ’ . 126 ‘In All, Myself’. . 126 ‘Old Ireland ’ . 127 ‘Paean of Joy’ . 127 JAMES MAURICE THOMPSON. Birth and Early Life . 128 A Thorough Southerner . 128 Man of Letters and Scientist . 128 Chief of the State G-eological Survey . 128 Works of the Author . 128 ‘Ceres’ . 129 ‘Diana’ . 129 THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH. At the Head of Modern Lyrical Writers _ 130 Birth and Early Life . 130 Mercantile Career . 130 W ar Correspondent . 130 Life in Boston . 130 Works . 130 Visit to England . 131 ‘Alec Yeaton’s Son ’ . 132 ‘ On Lynn Terrace ’ . 132 ‘Sargent’s Portrait of Edwin Booth at “The Players.” ’ . 133 RICHARD WATSON GILDER. Purity of Sentiment and Delicacy of Ex¬ pression . 134 Education and Early Life . 134 Journalist . 134 Editor of ‘ ‘ Hours at Home ” . 134 Politician and Reformer . 135 A Staunch Friend of our Colleges . 135 A Man of Exalted Ideals . 135 ‘ Sonnet (After the Italian) ’ . 136 ‘ The Life Mask of Abraham Lincoln ’ . 136 ‘Sheridan’ . 136 4 Sunset From the Train ’ . 137 * O Silver River Flowing to the Sea ’ . 137 ‘There is Nothing New Under the Sun ’.. . . 137 * Memorial Day ’ . 138 ‘A Woman’s Thought’ . 138 2 PAGE JOHN HAY. His Western Birth and Education . 139 Service to President Lincoln . 139 Military Career . 139 Appointed Ambassador to GreatBritain - 139 A List of His Books . 139 How He Came to Write “ Little Breeches ” 140 ‘ Little Breeches’ . 140 ‘ Jim Bludso ’ . 141 ‘ How it Happened ’ . 141 JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY. Great Popularity with the Masses . 143 A Poet of the Country People . 143 Birth and Education . 144 First Occupation . 144 Congratulated by Longfellow . 144 Mr. Riley’s Methods of Work . 144 The Poet’s Home . 145 Constantly “ on the Wing ” . 145 ‘A Boy’s Mother ’ . 145 ‘ Thoughts on the Late War ’ . 115 ‘Our Hired Girl’ . . 146 ‘The Raggedy Man ’ . 146 BRET HARTE. The Poet of the Mining Camp . 147 Birth and Education . 147 Emigrated to California . . 147 Schoolteacher and Miner . 141 Position on a Frontier Paper . 147 Editorial Position on the “ Golden Era ” . . 147 Secretary of the U. S. Mint at San Francisco. 1 48 In Chicago and Boston . 148 U. S. Consul to Crefield and Glasgow . 148 A List of his Works . 149 ‘ The Society Upon the Stanislaus ’ . 149 ‘ Dickens in Camp ’ . 150 EUGENE FIELD. The “ Poet of Child Life ” . 151 Troups of Children for his Friends . 151 Peace-maker Among the Small Ones . 151 A Feast with his Little Friends . 151 A Devoted Husband . 151 Congenial Association with hisFello w-workers 1 52 Birth and Early Life . 152 His Works . 152 ‘ Our Two Opinions ’ . 153 ‘Lullaby’ . 153 ‘A Dutch Lullaby ’ . 153 ‘A Norse Lullaby ’ . 154 CONTENTS. 17 PAGE WILL CARLETON. His Poems Favorites for Recitation . 155 Birth and Early Life . 155 Teacher, Farmhand and College Graduate. . 155 Journalist and Lecturer . 155 A List of his Works . 156 ‘ Betsy and I Are Out ’ . 156 1 Gone With a Handsomer Man ’ . 157 CINCINNATUS HINER MILLER (JOAQUIN). Removal from Indiana to Oregon . 160 Experiences in Mining and Filibustering ... 160 Marries and Becomes Editor and Lawyer. . . 160 Visit to London to Seek a Publisher . 161 4 Thoughts of My Western Home ’ . 162 ‘ Mount Shasta ’ . 162 4 Kit Carson’s Ride ’ . 163 ‘J. Miller’s Alaska Letter’ . 164 JAMES FENIMORE COOPER. First American Novelist . 165 Birth and Childhood . 165 The Wilderness his Teacher . 165 Sailor Life . 166 Marriage and Home . 166 “The Spy” . 166 Plaudits From Both Sides of the Atlantic. • . 166 The First Genuine Salt-water Novel . 167 Removal to New York . 167 A Six Years’ Visit to Europe . 167 His Remaining Nineteen Years . 168 4 Encounter With a Panther ’ . 169 ‘The Capture of a Whale ’ . 171 NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE. The Greatest of American Romancers . 173 Birth, Ancestors, and Childhood . 173 Twelve Years of Solitary Existence . 173 His First Book . 174 “ Twice Told Tales ” . 174 A Staunch Democrat . 175 Marriage and the “ Old Manse ” . 175 The Masterpiece in American Fiction . 175 Books Written by Hawthorne . 176 Death and Funeral . 176 ‘Emerson and the Emersonites ’ . 177 4 Pearl ’ . 177 4 Sights From a Steeple ’ . 179 4 A Reminiscence of Early Life ’ . 179 2 PH. PAQB EDWARD EVERETT HALE. Among the Best Known American Authors 181 A Noted Lecturer . 181 Birth and Education . 181 Career as a Clergyman . 181 Newspaper and Magazine Work . 3 81 A Prominent Short-Story-teller . 182 An Historical Writer of Great Prominence. 182 Patriotic Interest in Public Affairs . 182 ‘Lost’ . 182 WILLIAM DEAN HOWELLS. One of the Greatest of Modern American Novelists . 184 Birth and Early Life . 184 Editor of the “ Ohio State Journal ” . 184 His First Volume of Verse . 184 His “ Life of Abraham Lincoln ” . . 184 Consul to Venice . 184 Mr. Howells’ Works . 185 Editor of the “Atlantic Monthly ” . 185 ‘ The First Boarder ’ . 186 ‘ Impressions on Visiting Pompeii ’ . 187 1 Venetian Vagabonds ’ . 188 GENERAL LEW WALLACE. Began His Literary Career Late in Life .... 189 Birth and Early Life . 189 Lawyer and Soldier . 189 Governor of Utah . 189 Appointed Minister to Turkey . 189 His Most Popular Book . 190 Enormous Circulation . 3 90 ‘Description of Christ ’ . 190 ‘ The Prince of India Teaches Re-incarnation ’ 1 90 4 The Prayer of the Wandering Jew ’ . 191 ‘ Death of Montezuma ’ . 191 ‘ Description of Virgin Mary’ . 192 EDWARD EGGLESTON. Birth and Early Life . 193 A Man of Self-culture . 193 His Early Training . 193 Religious Devotion and Sacrifice . 194 Beginning of his Literary Career . 194 What Distinguishes his Novels . 194 List of his Chief Novels and Stories . 194 * Spelling down the Master ’ . 195 CONTENTS. tS PAGE vHOMAS NELSON PAGE. Birth and Earliest Recollections . 198 Childhood, Ancestors, and Education . 198 His First Literary Success . 198 “ In Ole Virginia ” and other stories . 198 Prominent Journalist and Lecturer . 199 A Tour Abroad . 199 ‘Old Sue’ . 199 EDWARD PAYSON ROE. Great Popularity Among the Masses . 201 The Character of his Novels . 201 Birth and Education . 201 Served as Chaplain During the Civil War . 201 List of His Works . 201 ‘ Christine, Awake For Your Life ’ . 202 FRANCIS MARION CRAWFORD. “The Most Versatile of Modern Novelists’’. 204 Birth, Ancestors, and Early Life . 204 Editor on the “Allahabad Herald ” . 204 Varied Experiences . 204 How he Came to Write “ Mr. Isaacs ” . 204 His Most Popular Novels . 205 A Novel Written in Twenty-four Hours - 205 His Other Chief Works . 205 ‘ Horace Bellingham ’ . 206 ‘ In the Himalayas ’ . 206 FRANCIS RICHARD STOCKTON. A Prolific and Popular Author . 207 Birth and Educational Training . 207 Engraver and Designer . 207 One New Book Almost Every Year . 207 Some of his Best Kno wn Books . 207 ‘ The End of a Career ’ . 208 EDWARD BELLAMY. A Most Remarkable Sensation . 211 100,000 Copies Per Year . 211 Mr. Belamy’s Ideal . 211 Birth and Education . 211 His Books . 211 An Ideal Home . 212 ‘ Music in the Year 2000 ’ . 212 GEORGE W. CABLE. “ Circumstances Make the Man ” . 214 Birth and Early Life . 214 Service in the Confederate Army . 214 Errand Boy in a Store . 214 PAGK On the “ New Orleans Picayune ” . 214 Di^otes his Life to Literature . 215 His Most Prominent Works . 215 ‘The Doctor’ . 215 HARRIET BEECHER STOWE. Ancestors, B” th, and Girlhood . 218 Removal to Cincinnati . 218 A Trip Across the River . 218 Marriage . 218 Severe Trials . 219 A Memorable Year . 219 “ Uncle Tom’s Cabin ” . 220 Her Pen Never Idle . 221 Removal to Hartford, Conn . 221 Her Death . 221 ‘ The Little Evangelist ’ . 222 ‘The Other World ’ . 225 M. VIRGINIA TERHUNE (MARION HARLAND). Wide Variety of Talent . 226 Birth and Education . 226 Marriage and Home . 226 Her Most Prominent Works . 226 ‘ A Manly Hero ’ . 227 MARY ABIGAIL DODGE (GAIL HAMILTON). Essayist, Critic and Novelist . 228 Birth and Education . 228 Career as a Writer . 228 Her Published Volumes . 228 The Only Authorized Life of J. G. Blaine.. 229 ‘ Fishing ’ . 229 HELEN HUNT JACKSON. Helen Hunt’s Cabin . 231 Birth and Education . 231 Marriage and Removal to Newport, R. I. . . 231 Her First Poems . 232 Great Distinction as a Writer . 232 Removal to Colorado . 232 At the Foot of Pike’s Peak . 232 List of her Most Prominent Works . 232 Death and Burial Place . 232 ‘ Christmas Night at St. Peter’s . 232 ‘ Choice of Colors ’ . 233 FRANCES H. BURNETT. Pluck, Energy and Perseverance . 235 Her First Story . 235 CONTENTS. Marriage and Tour in Europe. Her Children Stories. A Frequent Contributor to Periodicals. ‘ Pretty Polly P. ’. MARY N. MURFREE (CIIAS. EGBERT CRADDOCK). An Amusing Story. Birth, Ancestry and Misfortunes. A Student of Humanity. Her Style Bold and Full of Humor. ‘ The Confession ’. ELIZABETH STUART PHELPS WARD. Favorable Reception of 11 Gates Ajar !” - An Early Writer. A Long Series of Books. Marriage and Home. Pier Purpose Always High. 1 The Hands at Hayle and Kelso’s ’. AMELIA E. BARR. Popularity of her Works. Her Sorrows and Hardships. Birth and Early Education. Marriage and Travels. Death of her Husband and Four Sons. An Instantly Successful Book.. ‘ Little Jan’s Triumph ’. ‘ The Old Piano ’. ALICE FRENCH (OCTAVE THANET). A Genuine Yankee Woman. Her Puritan Ancestry. Education and First Manuscript. Her First Book. Her Most Prominent Publications. Her nom-de-plume. Philosopher, Artist and Novelist. An Assiduous Student of her Subjects. ‘ Two Lost and Found ’. JANE GOODWIN AUSTIN. A Famous Daughter of the “Pilgrims Birth and Parents. A List of her Best Books. Her Personality. ‘An Afternoon in Nantucket ’. LYDIA H. SIGOURNEY. The Most Prolific of American Women Writers. T9 PAGE Critical Estimate of her Works . 252 Birth and Educational Advantages . 252 Her First Book . 253 Some of her Other Works . 253 A Tour of Europe . 253 Death . 253 ‘ Columbus ’ . 254 ‘ The Alpine Flowers ’ . 254 ‘Niagara’ . 254 ‘ Death of an Infant ’ . 255 ‘A Butterfly on a Child’s Grave ’ . 255 ELIZABETH OAKES SMITH. Ancestors and Birth . 256 A Liberal Contributor to Periodicals . 256 Her Published Works . 256 ‘ The Step-mother ’ . 257 ‘ Guardian Angels ’ . 257 ‘ The Brook ’ . 258 ‘ The April Rain ’ . 259 ‘ Flowers ’ . 259 ‘Eros and Anteros ’ . 259 LUCY LARCOM. Operative in a Cotton Factory . 260 Birth and Early Life . 260 Her First Literary Production . 260 Some of her Best Works . ; . . 260 The Working Woman’s Friend . 261 ‘ Hannah Binding Shoes ’ . 261 ALICE AND PHCEBE CARY. Their Birth and Early Lot . 262 Encouragement From Editors . 262 Their First Volume . 262 Some of their Prominent Works . 262 A Comparison Between the Two Sisters. . . . 263 One in Spirit through Life . 263 United in Death . 263 ‘ Pictures of Memory ’ . 264 ‘ Nobility ’ . 264 ‘ The Gray Swan ’ . 264 ‘ To the Evening Zephyr ’ . 265 ‘ Death Scene ’ . 265 ‘ Memories ’ . 266 Equal to Either Fortune ’ . 266 ‘ Light ’ . 267 LOUISE CHANDLER MOULTON. Birth and Education . 268 Her First Book at Nineteen Years . 268 PAGE 235  249 252 20 CONTENTS. PAGE Her Following Publications . 268 Residence in Boston and Trips Abroad . 269 A Systematic W orker . 269 Personal Friendship . 269 ‘ If There W ere Dreams to Sell ’ . 269 ‘Wife to Husband ’ . 269 4 The Last Good-Bye’ . 270 ‘Next Year’ . 270 ‘My Mother’s Picture ’ . 270 FRANCES M. WHITCHER (THE WIDOW BEDOTT). Her nom-de-plume . 271 Richness of Humor . 271 Birth, Childhood and Education . 272 Marriage and Literary Fame . 272 Removal from Elmira, N. Y . 272 ‘ Widow Bedott to Elder Sniffles ’ . 272 ‘The Widow’s Poetry and her Comments on the Same About Hezekiah ’ . 273 CHARLES F. BROWN (ARTEMUS WARD). Birth and Education . 275 On the “Commercial,” Toledo, Ohio . 275 Local Editor of the “ Plain Dealer ” . 275 Successful Lecturer in England. .-. . 276 Death at Southampton . 276 His Works . 276 ‘Artemus Ward Visits the Shakers ’ . 276 ‘At the Tomb of Shakespeare ’ . 277 HENRY W. SHAW (JOSH BILLINGS). Birth and Education . 278 His Early Life of Adventure . 278 Entered the Lecture Field . 278 Contributor to “The New York Weekly” . 278 His Published Books. . . . 278 ‘ Manifest Destiny ’ . 279 ‘ Letters to Farmers ’ . 280 SAMUEL L. CLEMENS (MARK TWAIN). A World-wide Reputation . 281 Birth, Boyhood and Education . 281 His Pilot Life . 281 Editor of the Virginia City “ Enterprise 281 Journalist and Gold Digger . 281 A Trip to Hawaii . 281 Innocents Abroad . 281 Some of his Other Works . 282 A Lecturing Trip Around the World . 282 1 Jim Smiley’s Frog ’ . 282  at an Early Age . ■> 286 Birth and Ancestors . 286 Rise and Increase of her Fame . 286 Some of her Prominent Works . 286 Characteristics of her Books . 287 ‘ Josiah Allen’s Wife Calls on the President ’ 287 CHARLES F. ADAMS (YAWCOB STRAUSS). A Not-Soon-to-be-Forgotten Author . 289 Birth, Education and Early Life . 289 Service in Many Hard-fought Battles . 289 Prominent Business Man . 289 ‘ Der Drummer ’ . 290 ‘ Hans and Fritz ’ . 290 ‘Yawcob Strauss’ . 290 ‘ Mine Moder-in-Law ’ . 291 ‘ Yawcob’s Dribulations ’ . 291 ‘ The Puzzled Dutchman ’ . 292 ‘ Der Oak and Der Vine ’ . 292 EDGAR WILSON NYE (BILL NYE). A Man of Genuine Wit . 294 Birth and Early Surroundings . 294 Studied Law, Admitted to the Bar . 294 Organized the Nye Trust . 294 Famous Letters from Buck’s Shoals, N. C. . 294 ‘History of the United States’ . 295 His Death . 295 ‘ The Wild Cow ’ . 295 ‘ Mr. Whisk’s True Love ’ . 295 ‘ The Discovery of New York ’ . 296 JOEL C. HARRIS (UNCLE REMUS). “An Accidental Author ” . 298 Birth and Humble Circumstances . 298 In the Office of the “ Countryman ” . 298 Beginning of his Literary Career . 298 Studied and Practiced Law . 299 Co-editor of the Atlanta “Constitution ”... 299 His Works . 299 ‘Mr. Rabbit, Mr. Fox, and Mr. Buzzard’.. 299 ROBERT J. BURDETTE. A Prominent Place Among “Funny Men” 303 Birth and Early Education . 303 Fought in the Civil War . 303 Journalist, Lecturer and Baptist Minister.. 303 CONTENTS. 21 PAGE Contributor to “ Ladies’ Home Journal ” . . 303 His Other Works .  Writings . 306 Her Letters in the Government Hospitals.. 307 Young People’s True Friend . 307 Her Books . 307 An Admirer of Emerson . 307 A Victim of Overwork . 308 ‘ How Jo Made Friends ’ . 308 WILLIAM T. ADAMS (OLIVER OPTIC). Writer for the Young . 310 Birth and Early Life . 310 Teacher in Public Schools of Boston . 310 His Editorials and Books . 310 His Style and Influence . 310 1 The Sloop that Went to the Bottom ’ . 310 SARAH JANE LIPPINCOTT (GRACE GREENWOOD). Favorite Writer for Little Children . 312 Birth and Childhood . 312 Her Marriage . 312 Contributions to Journals and Magazines. . . 312 Her Numerous Books . 312 Life Abroad . 312 ‘ The Baby in the Bath-tub ’ . 312 HORATIO ALGER. 