in his native State, and afterwards in Minnesota. His ministerial work was repeatedly interrupted by broken health, and he was at last obliged to turn to secular pursuits for a livelihood. His literary instincts found expression in frequent contributions to the press. In 1866 he removed to Evanston, Illinois, where he became associate editor of a popular paper for young people, The Little Corporal, which was afterwards merged into St. Nicholas. Shortly afterwards he assumed editorial control of the National Sunday-School Teacher of Chicago, and increased its circulation from 5000 to 35,000 copies. In 1870 he was called to New York to become literary editor of The Independent, and a few months later, upon the retirement of Theodore Tilton, he was made editor-in-chief. The following year he took charge of the Hearth and Home, and through his able management rendered it widely popular. It was in this periodical that "The Hoosier Schoolmaster" first appeared, and attracted much attention. It opened a new vein in American literature.

663. Historical Works. He served as pastor of a church. in Brooklyn from 1874 to 1879, when failing health forced him to resign. His methods of church work were original and innovating, but in a measure successful. He built a beautiful home on Lake George, where he gave his latter years to historical writing. His " Famous American Indians extends through five volumes. He wrote an interesting school "History of the United States and its People" (1888). But his principal work in this line was his "History of Life in the United States," the first volume of which, " The Beginners of a Nation," appeared in 1896. His historical writing is characterized by breadth of view. He is more concerned about principles and causes than about details of fact; yet there is enough of graphic incident to illustrate his principles and to

impart interest to his work. His facts are based on a careful investigation of original sources; and though he is apt to deviate from traditional conclusions, he exhibits a rare penetration and maintains a judicial fairness in all his discussions.

CONCLUSION

664. Record of Progress. -Our survey of American literature exhibits a development of which we may well be proud. From the meagre productions of the first colonial period to the varied and innumerable writings of the present is a long step. Whether taken in its limited or its larger sense, literature has kept pace with the unexampled material progress of our country. From two small colonies on the Atlantic, it has extended, in broad sweep, to the Pacific. Before long we may expect it to make new conquests in our insular possessions.

665. Notable Names. Our study has been restricted, in the main, to what is known as polite or belles lettres literature. Had we taken literature in its more comprehensive sense, we should have found many names worthy of mention. William James and Josiah Royce, of Harvard, and George T. Ladd, of Yale, have won distinction in philosophy. Horace Mann and Henry Barnard were great educators, whose work has left an impress upon our schools. Francis A. Walker and Richard T. Ely are authors of marked ability in political and social science. John W. Draper and Simon Newcomb have gained an international reputation for their work in science. History, dominated at present by the scientific rather than by the literary spirit, has been widely cultivated by such men as Justin Winsor, Hubert Howe Bancroft, Henry Adams, and Alfred T. Mahan. In no department of human investigation is America entirely without names worthy of mention.

666. Sectional Literature. — Yet our literature, as a whole, bears the marks of immaturity. Much of it is written too hastily; much of it has sprung from a defective culture; and as a natural result, our literature lacks, in considerable measure, the finest artistic qualities. In one sense we can hardly be said to have a national literature. Our country is not yet thoroughly homogeneous; and consequently we have New England, Southern, and Western writers rather than American writers. But mighty agencies- railroads, newspapers, colleges, and public schools are at work to bring about a greater homogeneity. In the course of time the distinctive features of the different parts of our country will be less marked, and then local or sectional literature will give place to national literature.

667. A Hopeful Outlook. We may look hopefully to the future. The eager, struggling, commercial spirit of the present day a spirit natural to the youth and circumstances of our country will ultimately give way to the calmer and more reflective mood of maturity. There will finally come a period of greater leisure and comfort, in which the beauty of art and the graces of culture will count for more than in the restless and struggling present. Better work will then be exacted of our authors; and genius, responding to the demand of the age, will produce a literature in keeping with the larger material and intellectual greatness of our country.

FOR FURTHER READING AND STUDY

It is left to the judgment of the teacher to select from the abundant treasures of this period such pieces as are accessible and deemed most important. The most notable works of the leading authors have been indicated in the text.

ILLUSTRATIVE SELECTIONS

WITH NOTES

I

SELECTION FROM CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH

CAPTURED BY THE INDIANS

FORTY miles I passed up ye river,' which for the most part is a quarter of a mile broad, and three fatham and a half deep, exceeding osey,2 many great low marshes and many high lands, especially about ye midst at a place called Moysonicke,3 a Peninsule of four miles circuit, betwixt two rivers joyned to the main, by a neck of forty or fifty yards, and forty or fifty yards from the high water marke. On both sides in the very necke of the maine, are high hills and dales, yet much inhabited, the Ile declining in a plaine fertile corne field, the lower end a low marsh; more plentie of swannes, cranes, geese, duckes, and mallards, and divers sorts of fowles none would desire: more plaine fertile planted ground, in such great proportions as there I had not seene, of a light blacke sandy mould, the cliffs commonly red, white and yellowe colored sand, and under red and white clay, fish great plenty, and people abundance, the most of their inhabitants in view of ye necke of Land, where a better seate for a town cannot be desired. At the end of forty miles this river environeth many low Ilands, at each high water drowned for a mile, where it uniteth itselfe, at a place called Apokant, the highest Towne inhabited. Ten miles higher I discovered with the barge; in the midway, a great tree hindered my passage, which I cut in two: heere the river became narrower, eight, nine, or ten foote at a high water, and six or seven at a lowe: the streame exceeding swift and the bottom hard channell, the ground most part a low plaine, sandy soyle; this occasioned me to suppose it might issue from some lake or some broad ford, so it could not be far to the head, but rather then I would endanger the barge, yet to have been able to resolve this doubt, and to