Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XVI.djvu/216

196 Kirke Paulding (1779-1860); “Swallow Barn,” “Horse Shoe Robinson,” and “Rob of the Bowl” by John Pendleton Kennedy (1795-1870); “Redwood,” “Hope Leslie,” “The Linwoods,” and other pleasing pictures of early American life, by Miss C. M. Sedgwick (1789-1867); “The Partisan,” “The Yemassee,” “Mellichampe,” “Guy Rivers,” and numerous other tales by W. G. Simms (1806-'70), one of the most prolific of American authors, who drew largely from the legendary history of the southern states for his materials; “Hobomok” and “The Rebels,” by Mrs. L. M. Child (born 1802); “Seventy-Six” and other works by John Neal (born 1793); “A New Home,” by Mrs. C. M. Kirkland (1801-'64); the “Nick of the Woods” and other border tales of Dr. Robert M. Bird (1803-'54); and works by Timothy Flint (1780-1840), James Hall (1793-1868), C. F. Hoffman (born 1806), T. B. Thorpe, C. W. Webber, and others. For finish of style, delicacy of psychological insight, and power in delineating the darker features of life and the emotions of guilt and pain, Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-'64) holds a peculiar place among American novelists. Writing on national subjects, and delighting especially in the gloomy passages of New England colonial history, he employed fiction less for the purpose of illustrating practical life, or of adding to the creations of the imaginative world, than of solving psychological problems. His “Scarlet Letter” and “House of the Seven Gables” were preceded by a variety of fancy sketches and historical narratives, published under the titles of “Twice-Told Tales” and “Mosses from an Old Manse,” which in point of style and subtle analysis of character are among the most exquisite productions of American literature. The “Blithedale Romance,” the next in the order of his novels, is marked by similar characteristics; and the “Marble Faun,” the most elaborate of his works, contains pictures of Italian life and scenery of unsurpassed beauty. His posthumous novel “Septimius Felton” exhibits in strong degree the morbid and mystical tendencies of his earlier works. The “Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque,” and other fictions, by Edgar Allan Poe (1809-'49), exhibit extraordinary metaphysical acuteness and a wild and gloomy imagination; but his analytical power, unlike that of Hawthorne, is seldom pervaded by any moral sentiment, and his finest creations, though they are elaborated with skill, have little human interest. N. P. Willis (1806-'67) obtained a unique reputation as a delineator of the lights and shadows which flit over the surface of society, and his style, remarkable for its felicity, not to say happy audacity of expression, is in accord with his subjects. His prose writings, though including many tales, belong perhaps more properly to the departments of travels and belles-lettres. As pictures of domestic life among the ancients, the “Zenobia,” “Probus,” and “Julian” of William Ware (1797-1852) are not surpassed

by any similar productions in English literature. To this class also belong “Philothea,” a tale of Athens in the days of Pericles, by Mrs. Child, and “The Roman Traitor,” by Henry William Herbert (1807-'58), well known under the pseudonyme of “Frank Forester.” For invention and graphic power Herman Melville's tales of ocean adventure, including “Typee” and “Omoo,” stand perhaps at the head of their class in American literature. The “Kaloolah” and “Berber” of W. S. Mayo are successful attempts in the same field. His later work, “Never Again,” is in a different vein, and depicts society in the city of New York. One of the most popular novels of the present century was the “Uncle Tom's Cabin” of Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe, an anti-slavery fiction, which has circulated by millions of copies in many languages, and deeply moved the public heart in Europe and America, not more on account of the moral of the story than of its pathos, its humor, and its inimitable pictures of negro life. “Dred,” her second anti-slavery romance, has perhaps more power than its predecessor, although it is less popular; and among her subsequent productions are the “Minister's Wooing,” remarkable for its pictures of social and religious life in New England during the last century, the “Pearl of Orr's Island,” “Agnes of Sorrento,” “Old Town Folks,” “My Wife and I,” “Pink and White Tyranny,” and “We and our Neighbors.” The last three are satires on social and domestic evils. Of other novels founded upon the slavery question, “The White Slave,” by Richard Hildreth, and “Ida May,” by Mary Langdon (Mrs. Pike), may be cited as examples. Of prose fictions by authors who have won distinction principally in other walks of literature, the most deserving of notice are “Monaldi,” by Washington Allston (1779-1843); “Paul Felton” and other tales published by R. H. Dana (born 1787) in the “Idle Man,” a serial edited by himself; “Hyperion,” a series of charming pictures of scenery and manners in Europe, connected by a thread of story, and “Kavanagh,” by H. W. Longfellow (born 1807); “Leaves from Margaret Smith's Journal,” by J. G. Whittier (born 1807); and “Elsie Venner” and “The Guardian Angel,” by O. W. Holmes (born 1809). Among the younger writers of fiction, the most conspicuous are Bayard Taylor, whose “Hannah Thurston,” “John Godfrey's Fortunes,” “Story of Kennett,” and “Joseph and his Friend” are careful and accurate pictures of American life and manners; Theodore Winthrop, whose death as a Union soldier in one of the earliest battles of the civil war gave to his “Cecil Dreeme,” “John Brent,” and other works, all posthumous, a sudden popularity, which, notwithstanding their merits, does not seem to be permanent; W. D. Howells (born 1837), whose “Suburban Sketches,” “Their Wedding Journey,” “A Chance Acquaintance,” “A Foregone Conclusion,” and “Private Theatricals” are