Newspapers / The Smithfield Herald (Smithfield, … / Nov. 29, 1901, edition 1 / Page 3
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The National Period | of American Literature BY LOIENZO SEiRS, LIT. D., | Prrjewtr of American Literature in -J Brown University. ^ VIII.?Natlianlel P. Willis ar.J Bayard Taylor. THERE are names In the history of any literature which become faint ech oes of thetr former Im portance. Once they were shouted by the multitude; now they are recalled ns having a half familiar sound ami suggesting further iunulry. If a popular vote had been taken in " tho second quarter of tha century for 1he most widely admired writer of emotional verse ami of light and graceful prose Nathaniel Parker Willis would have received the majority of suffrages. He was another New Englauder who drifted Into the literary coterie of New York In the years when it was the center of attraction for young writers. Born In Portland, Me., with the advantages of a publisher for a grandfather And the editor of a religious paper for his father, the young student at Yale 3t lustra ted the law of heredity In his college course by writiug poems almost as precocious as Bryant's and of lar greater emotional power. To be sure ?they were HeriiAural In tone, but tradition has it that this was not due to an ?verrellgiousness on the part of the poet himself. Yet the same may be said .of Y'oting'a "Night Thoughts," tliat solemn hook over which our fathers used ?to pore and fall asleep in blissful unconsciousness of the somewhat worldly Aiitnleilness of the courtly author. Still, there Is no good reason why the product of a poefs best impulses should not be taken for what It Is worth to the reader lu reproducing similar emotions in his own mlud. Biography may -explain literature, but It need not necessarily qualify It. Accordingly these -"Scripture Sketches" of the college youth may be allowed to stand for those better moods of reflection ami aspiration which alternate with academic sur plusages of snimal spirits, for whose effervescence no gymnasium was sup piled at Y'ale In lHgS. Aa offsets to what then took the place of athletics lu various devices fur keeping a high temiierature in the old town Willis could vwrite such verse as "Absalom" and "Jephtha's Daughter." Literature did uot offer so many paths to a college graduate turned loose '75 years ago as In these latter days. Then It was a confident or desperate .youth who dared to trust to the l>en for a living. , ,, ? v? iuib. nowfvir, iukI been commended for IiIh col iege pieces and had won a publisher'* prize of $50 for the best gift book poem. With this send off the recent graduate undertook the editorship of a series of volumes published by that Peter Parley to whom sundry American authors of distinct Ion owed their bringing out. Then The American Magazine was established, to be Anally merged Into tjie New York Mirror, to wblch Willis con tributed editorial letters during two years' travel in the old world. These "Pencilings by the Way" were the lirst valuable specimens of the abundant literature of American travel, often more interest ing to the writer than the reader. This writer, baS H.? ? 11*-- I ? i -' - * uvncrct, u^u IUC cia/uu quniu^' III IUS |?CU <111(1 could put life and picturesqueness into worn paths Willis, auil dull statistics. Besides, he was favored with passports as an attache of the American minister at Paris, Kit InK him access to courtly circles In Europe and the east With these facilities the record of travel made by such an ob server waa a revelation to those even who had been over the Kround and a ?delight to those who had not. The sale of the "I'encilinKs" was greatly in ?creased by a virulent review in The Quarterly, and a personal article by Cap tain Marryat occasioned a meeting for satisfaction. Four years of residence abroad satisfied this travel'and society loving American for awhile, and he took up his abode far from cities and men in his ?cottage at Glenmary, on the Susquehanna, where he wrote the "Letters From Under a Bridge." Then came the financial reverse which in so many in stances has been the spur to easy going loiterers along the highway of letters, driving him back to New York and to work on The Corsair, a weekly journal which had the distinction of employing Thackeray as a contributor before he had grown so great as in the days of "The Neweomes." This paper wus soon abandoned for The Evening Mirror, the demands of which undermined his health, resulting after a third voyage to Europe in the establishment of The Home Journal and insuring a more moderate pace in literary labor. The above particular! have been mentioned to illustrate the life of a man of letters in the second generation of the century. It was the |?*riod between the news letter and the journal, with the permanent magazine in its present form still in the distance. Whatever was printed was necessarily brief or cut Into short sections if a long story, entailing the reader's impatieuce or ex pectancy. A volume of such brevities had usually the same choppy character, with the advantage of being laid down and taken up at odd intervals, a point In favor of a fragmentary and discursive author like Willis. Yet in the course -of a lifetime he produced many volumes. To read one-half of them would be worse than a waste of time. People did not lose many hours at a time over them when they were published, since they came out for the uiost part in weekly Installments. On the other hand, if one were stranded In the country with "Uurrygraphs" or "Outdoors at Idlewild" or "People 1 Have Met" or ""Famous Persons and Places" for his only reading he would find more hours pleasantly occupied than with some more pretentious books. The range is wide over many lands, scenes and celebrities. Much light is thrown upon ?contemporary history. The manners of a bygone period in letters and politics in our own country are graphically depicted. Life in other and older lands is ?contrasted with the simplicity of republican ways and the scenery of the unbroken wilderness with the artificiality of landscapes that had absorbed the labor of generation^ to take a few titles at random from a single volume, beginning with letters from Plymouth, Cape Cod, the Delaware, the Hudson, ?on Edward Everett, Calhoun and Benton. Fenimore Cooper. Daniel Webster, Irving, Whipple, society and manners in New York, shawl aristocracy and a wcore of similar home topics about which everybody was surprised to find how much Willis could tell them. lie hud an artist's eye to see the picturesque in familiar objects and the artist's touch to bring out the unexpected beauty cr Interest of the commonplace. One of those who were always ready to acknowledge indebtedness to his literary hospitality was Bayard Taylor, a Pennsylvania youth who was blessed with visions of authorship and travel and troubled with scant means and opportunities. lie acquired enough Latin at school to give him a clew to the romance languages and-obtained the technical education of a printing office. To these he added the larger education of a literary tramp in foreign countries, writing letters to newspapers for his support, and after two years returned to New York for fresh orders. The metropolis was still keeping good its title to the purest literary atmosphere in the country, if not the highest. What remained of the old Knicker bocker Bchool was doing fair work, and new ma terial was added from time to time. Aside from those already spoken of were Morris, Hoffman, the Duyckincks and "certain women of their com pany." besides sundry Bohemian encampments on the borderland between aspiration and perform ance, all together causing some one to define the Knickerbocker school as "composed of authors whom we all remember as forgotten." To the survivors Willis, Griswold and Hoffman intro duced Taylor, and witldu three months he had Taylor. engagements to write for four journals, besides a place ns chief of the literary department of The Tribune. He was at home in this diversified occupation, writing 15 hours a day. turning his hand to anything demanded for the daily press, doing his work so carefully and ?well that he won a higher position and became a stockholder in the company. California and Mexico next gratified his love of travel and adventure, and .an invitation to deliver a commencement poem at Harvard came as a tribute to his poetic talent. Then came the inevitable abuse which follows success like its shadow, and because he happened to lie the winner of a prize song for Jenny hind and 752 other contestants were not he began to wish he had never been born?a poet. Nevertheless he published "Book of Romances, I.yrics and Songs" and started for a long Journey to Europe and the orient, during which he wrote letters to The Tribune and became the great American trav eler, ns much at home In Damascus as in New York. As an outcome of ids Journeyings he published In one season ids "Journey to Central Africa," "The Lands cf the Saracen" and "Poems of the Orient." "A Visit to India. China and Japan" and "Summer In Sweden" followed. Afterward he tried his hand at novel writing, producing four, of which "'The Story of Kennet" Is the best and "John Godfrey's Fortunes" nearest to the writer's personal experiences as a literary wonker in New York. He also attempted the drama under the titles of "The Masque of the Gods," "The Prophet" and "Prince Peukallon." I'oems he was always writing in his ambi tion to become s poet rather than be known as a traveler and journalise It is ?not the first Instance or the last of mistaking one's real vocation. Taylor left in the abundance of his writings much that instructs and enter tains and delights. Doubtless the majority of renders would prefer the multi form results of his labor to greater excellence in a single department of It As Journalist traveler, translator, dramatist and poet, his range is wide <?nough and sufficiently diversified to relieve his writing from monotony and retain the reader's attention. Beyond this each one will find before reading far something that will appeal to his love of nature, his interest In things and lauds remote or his sense of poetic values. The lesson of all this long and active life is best summed up by Taylor himself: "'Tis not for Idle east ws jpray, but freedom for our task dlvind." t [Copyright, 1900.] I , Ttie Greatest Men. The greatest naturalist was ( Linnaeus. The father of modern chemistry was Lavoisier The greatest conqueror of an [ cient times was Alexander. The keenest critic of any age or country was Voltaire. Copernicus is justly deemed j "The Father of modern Astron j omy." Archimedes is considered to be the founder of physics. Ilossuet was the most gifted orator the Roman church ever produced. Herodotus was the greatest historian and the father of all wri ten history. The greatest Methodist was .John Wesley, the funder of this denomination. Cuvier was the most famous , comparative anatomist and the , founder of the science. The most famous Lnglisli ad miral was Nelson, who destroyed i the French power at sea. < The most noted Roman ora tpr was Cicero, who won his re nown in his orations against i Catuline. I The most famous tenor was; Farinelli. It was sai l of him, J "There is one God and one Fari nelli." Montaigne was the most effect ive essay writer, and the founder of this style of composition. The most noted electrician is Edison, whose inventions in that/ line are numliered by hundreds. i The most lugubrious poet was | Jeremiah. His mournful style I has given the world the word : "Jeremiad."?St. Louis Globe Democrat. 1 i A Physician Testifies. 1 "I have taken Kodol Dyspepsia Cure and have never used any- ' thing in my life that did me the good that did," says County i Physician Geo. W. Scroggs, of < Hall County, Ga. "Being a phy- J sician I have prescribed it and ! found it to give the best results." i If the food you eat remains un- 1 digested in your stomach it de- 1 cays there and poisons the sys- , tern. You can prevent this by < dietiug but that means starva tion. Kodol DysjiepHia Cure di gests what you eat. You need , i suffer trom neither dyspepsia nor starvation. The worst cases i quickly cured. Never fails. Hood , j Bros., Hare & Son, J. It. Ledbet-11 ter, Benson Drug Co. | i 1 he Value ol Influence. A reader?>f The Commoner asks for a wot (.1 on the value of influ ence. Influence may be divided into two kinds, good and bad, and all know that both are po tent. When we keep our children out of bad company we recognize that evil associations exert a cor- i rupting influence upon all who submit themselves to such asso ciations. We may not emphasize as much as we should the value; of good influence, but we have scripture as well as observation to support the doctrine that there is nothing more powerful than the influence of an upright life. "Let your light so shine befoie men that they may see your good works, etc.," is proof of the good that can be done bv example. We should be as careful to give others i lie benefit of a good influ ence as to secure a benefit from theirs. The life of each person is so interwoven with the life of others that no one can be sure th it anv act will be without an influence, hence the importance of striving to make that influ ence helpful.?liryan's Commoner. He that forgets his friend is ungrateful to him; but he that forgets his Savior is unmerciful to himself.?Bunvan. ? Thousands Have Kidney Troubk and Don't Know it. How To Find Oat. Fill a bottle or common glass with your water and let it stand twenty-four hours; a seaimem or set tling indicates an I unhealthy condi tion of the kid neys; if It stains your linen it is evidence of kid ney trouble; too frequent desire to pass it or pain in the back is also zonvtnctng prool tnat the kidneys and blad der are out of order. What to Do. There is comfort in the knowledge so often expressed, that Dr. Kilmer's Swamp Root. the^reat kidney remedy fulfills every wish in curing rheumatism, pain in the back, kidneys, liver, bladder and every part of the urinary passage. It corrects Inability lo hold water and scalding pain in passing It, or bad effects following use of liquor, wine or beer, and overcomes that unpleasant necessity of being compelled to go often during the day, and to get up many times during the night. The mild and the extra ordinary effect of Swamp.Root Is soon realized. It stands the highest for Its won derful cures of the most distressing cases. If you need a medicine you should have the best. Sold by druggists in 50c. and$l. sizes. You may have a sample bottle of this wonderful discovery Pr-A-7" and a book that tellsgfflJjjjfftBSTO^ll'fesi | more about It, both sent|!i; ."-**?'* wSHjvjggl absolutely free by mail, address Dr. Kilmer fk ii?im or 8w?mp-noot Co., Bingjiamton, N. Y. When writing men tion reading this generous offer In this paper. Grove's Tasteless Chill Tonic has stood the test for 20 years. One Million Six Hundred Thou sand bottles were sold last year. Do you think it pays to try others? JOHN A. McKAY. E. F. YOUNG. THE JOHN A. McKAY M'F'G CO. Edged Tool, Foundry and Machine Works. One of the very,besfc equipped plants in the State. Machine Repair Work of Every Description. High Grade Saw-Mill. Engine and Boiler Work a Specialty. THE rARQUHAR. All Kinds Iron and Brass Castings. Store Front Irons and other Heavy Work to Order. WE ARE AGENTS FOR A. B. Farquhar Co.'s Machinery Engines Roth rs, Saw Mills, &c We are aiso agents for the Southern Saw Works and have a good stock of their (mill) saws on hat d. ENGINES V BOILERS h Of nil Stylos frow 4 to 600 horso power i We Handle All Kinds of Machinery and JY Machinery Supplies. JY Steam Fittings, Pipe, Inspirators, Shafting, Pulleys, Post Hang ers, Grate-bars, &c., &c. WB DO HIGH GRADB WORK ONLY. GET OUR CATALOGUE AND PRICES. The John A. Mc^ag M? 9 Co., . dunn. n. c. /williinerV f And Other Goods, Just r ceived my new stock of Fall and Winter Millinery, hatsIn different styles, Shapes and colors trimmed to order. A full line of Silks, Satins, Ribbons, Fancy Hat Pins and other bat trimmings as cheap as can be sold. Miss Willie Creech has charge of Millinery Department. I Keep also a lull slock ol Dry Goods, Notions, Hals, SHOES, GROCERIES AND GENERAL MERCHANDISE. A.. CREECH, Olo?2m ' Foui ' - N*. C. j ^ERALD AND HOME AND FAKMT 1 ONE YEAR FOR ' V
The Smithfield Herald (Smithfield, N.C.)
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Nov. 29, 1901, edition 1
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