Chapter VI: Whitman’s Character

There is a certain uncanny quality in parts of Whitman’s verse. The reiteration of particular phrases and words awakens an uncomfortable feeling, a suspicion of not-to-be-named queernesses, to use no plainer term. The constant translation of conceptions of ideal love into fleshly symbols moves the reader to irreverence if not to disgust. Whitman’s favorite image of bearded ‘comrades’ who kiss when they meet, and who take long walks with their arms around each other’s necks, may be ‘nonchalant’ but it is not agreeable. Somehow it does not seem as if the doctrine of the brotherhood of man gained many supporters by so singular a method of propagandism.

When from time to time Whitman talked with Peter Doyle about his books, Doyle would say: ‘I don’t know what you are trying to get at.’[73] It is an ironical comment on the great preacher of the needs and virtues of the average man that his poetry should have been handed over to the keeping of those whose jaded taste makes them hanker after the bizarre, after anything that breeds discussion, anything demanding interpretation and defence.

Yet no one doubts the sincerity of these faithful followers. Whitmanites really like Whitman albeit they protest too much. It is difficult to read him and not like him. Unfortunately the many find it impossible to read him. Whitman prepares his feast, throws open his doors, and bids all enter who will. A few come and by their shrill volubility make it seem as if the dining-room were crowded. The majority do not trouble to cross the threshold. They have heard that the host serves queer dishes; it has even been reported that he is a cannibal.

This, or something very like it, has been Whitman’s fate. A taste for his work must be acquired. He is the idol of cliques and societies, and a meaningless name to the great people whom he loved, whose virtues he chanted with confident fervor, and in whom he trusted unreservedly.

Poetry so egoistic might be supposed to reveal the man. Strangely enough, Whitman’s poetry, despite the heavy and continued accentuation of the personal note, gives but a partial, a quite imperfect view of the man himself. Whitman tells us so emphatically what he _thinks_ that we are at a loss to know what he himself _is_. The great Shakespeare, according to popular opinion, is veiled from us through his extraordinary impersonality. Whitman accomplishes a not dissimilar end by diametrically opposite means; he hides himself by over obtrusion of the personal element. The case is not so common as to be undeserving of study. As a method it has many drawbacks.

Whitman has suffered at his own hands. The egoistic manner, indispensable to his theory and not to be taken with literalness, is nevertheless a stumbling-block. Instruct themselves how they will that in saying ‘I’ the poet also means ‘You,’ that whatever Walt Whitman claims for himself he also claims for every one else, readers somehow lose hold of the thought and are amazed and angered by the poet’s monstrous vanity.

To this feeling the prose writings are an antidote. We learn in a few pages how simple-minded, patient, and lovable this man really was; how reverent of genius, how free from envy, undisturbed by suffering, ill-repute, and delayed hopes. There was something at once pathetic and noble in his patience, in his magnificent repose and stability. The impersonal character of the tree and the rock, which he admired so much, became in a measure his. He bided his time. The success of other poets awakened no jealousy. He never called names, never picked flaws in the work of his brother bards. The better we know him the more dignified and lofty his figure becomes.

FOOTNOTES:

[69] ‘Conversations with George W. Whitman,’ _In Re Walt Whitman_,
p. 36.

[70] ‘... It is therefore deemed needful only to say in relation
to his [Whitman’s] removal, that his Chief--Hon. Wm. P.
Dole, Commissioner of Indian affairs, who was officially
answerable to me for the work in his Bureau, recommended
it, _on the ground that his services were not needed_. And
no other reason was ever assigned by my authority.’ Extract
from a letter from James Harlan to Dewitt Miller, dated Mt.
Pleasant, Iowa, July 18, 1894.

[71] So called in the edition of 1856. In the edition of 1897 it
is entitled ‘Song of Myself.’

[72] See, for example, Stedman’s tribute in _Poets of America_.

[73] _Calamus_, p. 27.

_Index_

_Abbotsford and Newstead Abbey_, 9, 27.

Abolitionists, 260.

_Afloat and Ashore_, 71, 88.

_Aftermath_, 226, 245.

‘Ages, The,’ Bryant’s Phi Beta Kappa poem, 38.

Agnew, Mary, 406.

_Alhambra, The_, 9, 24.

Allan, Mr. and Mrs. John, befriend Poe, 190, 191.

Allegiance, treaty with Germany concerning, 107.

American Anti-Slavery Society in New York, Whittier secretary of, 260.

_American Democrat, The_, 70, 94.

_American Lands and Letters_, 449.

American Loyalists, Irving’s attitude towards, 30;
in Westchester County, N. Y., 75.

_American Note-Books of Nathaniel Hawthorne_, 292, 315.

‘American Scholar, The,’ Emerson’s Phi Beta Kappa oration, 152, 162.

_Among My Books_, 458, 475, 476.

_Among the Hills_, 263, 280.

Amory, Susan, wife of William Hickling Prescott, 125.

‘Analectic Magazine,’ conducted by Irving, 6.

André, Major John, Irving’s treatment of, 29.

Anti-slavery movement, Whittier’s connection with, 259, 273–277;
Thoreau’s, 331;
Curtis’s, 420, 421;
Lowell’s, 456, 466, 479.

_Anti-Slavery Papers_, Lowell’s, 459, 479.

Appleton, Frances, wife of Longfellow, 225, 226.

Archæological Institute of America, 383.

Armada, the, 374.

Arnold, Benedict, Irving’s treatment of, 29.

Arnold, Matthew, 232.

Astor, John Jacob, his commercial enterprise in the Northwest, the
subject of _Astoria_, 28.

_At Sundown_, 263, 282.

‘Atlantic Monthly,’ founding of, and Whittier’s contributions to, 262;
Lowell editor of, 458.

_Autocrat, The, of the Breakfast-Table_, 340, 345, 355.

_Autumn_, Thoreau’s, 324, 331.

Bachiler, Stephen, 256.

Bancroft, Aaron, father of George Bancroft, 101.

Bancroft, George: his ancestry, 101;
education and foreign travel, 102;
tutor at Harvard, 103;
the Round Hill School, 103;
early works, 104;
political appointments, 105, 107;
founds United States Naval Academy, 105;
brings about treaty with Germany, 107;
last years, 107;
death, 108;
character, 108;
criticism of the History, 110–119.

‘Barbara Frietchie,’ remark of Whittier concerning, 265;
popularity of, 276.

_Battle Summer_, 440, 444.

_Belfry, The, of Bruges_, 225, 236.

Benjamin, Mary, wife of John Lothrop Motley, 360;
her death, 364.

Bigelow, Catharine, wife of Francis Parkman, 381.

_Biglow Papers, The_, 456, 458, 466.

Bismarck, his student life with Motley, 360.

Bliss, Elisabeth (Davis), wife of George Bancroft, 105.

_Blithedale Romance, The_, 291, 309.

_Bonneville_, 28.

_Book of the Roses_, 381 (note).

Borrow, George, Emerson’s knowledge of, 182.

Boston Lyceum, Poe’s appearance before, 197, 200.

_Bracebridge Hall_, 7, 17.

_Bravo, The_, 69, 89, 96.

‘Broadway Journal, The,’ Poe’s connection with, 196.

Bronson, W. C., quoted, on Bryant, 43.

Brook Farm, Emerson’s sympathy with, 154;
Hawthorne’s connection with, 289.

Brown, John, Thoreau’s acquaintance with, 323.

Bryant, Peter, father of William Cullen Bryant, 35.

Bryant, Stephen, ancestor of William Cullen Bryant, 35.

Bryant, William Cullen: his ancestry, 35;
early verses, 36;
education, 36, 37;
law practice, 37;
marriage, 38;
editorial work, 38–41;
political affiliations, 39, 40;
works published, 41;
travel, 42;
death, 43;
character, 44;
quarrel with an opponent, 45;
criticism of his work, 46–62;
his translations, 58;
quoted, on Cooper’s quarrel with the Press, 70.

Burr, Aaron, Washington Irving among counsel for defence of, 5.

Burroughs, John, 243.

‘Burton’s Gentleman’s Magazine and American Monthly,’ Poe’s
connection with, 194.

Byron, George Gordon Noel, visits American flagship, 103.

Cabot, Sebastian, passage on, from Bancroft, 110.

Cambridge (England), University of, confers degree on Holmes, 340;
on Lowell, 459.

_Cape Cod_, 324, 331.

Caraffa, Motley’s picture of, 371.

Carlyle, Thomas, Emerson’s meeting with, 150;
correspondence with Emerson, 156;
quotation from, applied to Whitman, 495.

_Cathedral, The_, 458, 470.

Cavalier and Puritan, Bancroft’s comparison of, 111.

_Chainbearer, The_, 71, 95.

Champlain, Samuel, 392.

Charles the Fifth, Prescott’s continuation of Robertson’s history of,
127.

_Children of the Lord’s Supper, The_, 231, 236.

_Christus, a Mystery_, 226, 245.

Civil Service reform, Curtis’s work for, 421.

Clemm, Maria, 192, 194, 198.

Clemm, Virginia, 192;
her marriage to Edgar Allan Poe, 193;
her death, 197.

Clough, Arthur Hugh, effect on, of reading Evangeline, 232;
visits America, 457.

Cogswell, Joseph G., 103.

Columbus, Irving’s life of, 8, 20.

_Commemoration Ode_, 458, 470.

_Conduct of Life_, 156, 175.

Conkling, Roscoe, his attack on Curtis, 423.

_Conquest, The, of Granada_, 8, 22.

_Conquest, The, of Mexico_, 127, 134.

_Conquest, The, of Peru_, 127, 138.

_Conspiracy, The, of Pontiac_, 381, 387.

Constitution of the United States, history of, by Bancroft, 108.

Cooper, James Fenimore: his ancestry, 65;
boyhood and education, 66;
enters the navy, 66;
marries and leaves the service, 67;
his first books, 67;
life abroad, 68;
return to America, 69;
quarrel with the Press, 69;
list of works, 70;
character, 72;
style, 74;
criticism of his works, 75–97.

Cooper, William, father of James Fenimore Cooper, 65.

Cortés, Prescott’s estimate of, 136.

_Count Frontenac and New France under Louis XIV_, 382, 391, 393.

_Courtship of Miles Standish, The_, 226, 242.

Craigie, Mrs., her reception of Longfellow, 224.

_Crater, The_, 71, 95.

Croker, J. W., quoted, on Irving, 13.

Curtis, George William: his ancestry, 417;
education, 418;
at Brook Farm and Concord, 418;
foreign travel, 418;
newspaper work, 419;
the ‘Easy Chair,’ 419;
books published, 419, 422;
orations, 420;
marriage, 420;
political work and Civil Service reform, 421;
character, 423;
style, 424;
criticism of his works, 427–435.

Curtis family, 417.

Dante, Longfellow’s translation of, 226, 249.

Davis, Elisabeth, wife of George Bancroft, 105.

_Deerslayer, The_, 66, 71, 81.

Defoe, Poe compared with, 203.

De Lancey, Susan, wife of James Fenimore Cooper, 67;
her family, 75.

‘Democracy,’ 480.

‘Dial, The,’ 153.

Dickens, Charles, dinner to, in New York, 46;
quotation from letter of, to Longfellow, 228;
greeting to, by O. W. Holmes, 350.

_Divine Tragedy, The_, 226, 245.

‘Divinity Address,’ Emerson’s, 152, 163.

_Dr. Grimshawe’s Secret_, 292, 316.

_Doctor Johns_, 441, 448.

_Dolliver Romance, The_, 292, 316.

Doyle, Peter, quoted, on Whitman, 504.

_Dream Life_, 440, 443, 447.

_Drum-Taps_, 488, 502.

Duelling, Bryant’s farce in ridicule of, 38.

Dunlap, Frances, wife of James Russell Lowell, 457.

Dutch life, Irving’s treatment of, 32.

Duyckinck, E. A., 42.

Dwight, Sarah, wife of George Bancroft, 105.

_Early Spring in Massachusetts_, 324, 331.

‘Easy Chair’ papers, 419, 422, 425, 430.

Edinburgh, University of, confers degree on Holmes, 341.

_El Dorado_, 403.

_Elsie Venner_, 340, 352.

_Embargo, The_, 36.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo: his ancestry, 147;
boyhood, 148;
education, 149;
ordination and withdrawal from the ministry, 149, 150;
begins lecturing, 151;
settles in Concord, 151;
notable addresses, 152;
connection with Transcendental movement, 152;
lecture tour in England, 154;
position on slavery, 155;
list of his works, 155;
visitor to West Point and overseer of Harvard, 156;
nominated for Lord Rector of Glasgow University, 156;
death, 157;
character, 157;
criticism of his works, 160–186;
quoted, on Bancroft, 103, 109;
club meetings in his library, 418;
Holmes’s life of, 354.

Emerson family, 147.

_English Lands, Letters, and Kings_, 449.

_English Note-Books of Nathaniel Hawthorne_, 292, 315.

_English Traits_, 156, 173.

_Evangeline_, 225;
metre of, 231;
stimulating effect of, on Clough, 232;
popularity of, 240.

Everett, Alexander, influential in Irving’s going to Spain, 8.

Everett, Edward, 102.

_Excursions_, Thoreau’s, 324, 330, 332.

_Fable, A, for Critics_, 456, 458, 468.

Fairchild, Frances, wife of William Cullen Bryant, 38.

_Familiar Letters_, Thoreau’s, 324, 326, 332.

_Fanshawe_, 288.

_Faust_, Taylor’s translation of, 405, 410.

Ferdinand and Isabella, Prescott’s history of, 127, 131, 132.

‘Fighting parson, the,’ 148.

_Fireside Travels_, 459, 474.

Fiske, John, cited, on Longfellow’s treatment of Cotton Mather in
_The New England Tragedies_, 247.

Fitzgerald, Edward, 237.

_French and Italian Note-Books of Nathaniel Hawthorne_, 292, 315.

Freeman, Edward A., quoted, 31.

_Fresh Gleanings_, 439, 443, 444.

‘Frogpondians,’ 200.

Frontenac, Count, in the New World, 393.

_Fudge Doings_, 441, 445.

Fuller, Margaret, 153;
Emerson’s _Memoirs_ of, 156;
her attack on Longfellow, 229;
schoolmate of Holmes, 338.

Gardiner, John, 124.

Garnett, Richard, quoted, on Emerson, 185.

Garrison, William Lloyd, his relations with Whittier, 257, 258.

Gay, Sidney Howard, 42, 456.

_Giles Corey of the Salem Farms_, 246.

_Gleanings in Europe_, Cooper’s, 94.

Godwin, Parke, quoted, on Bryant, 44.

Goethe, Emerson’s estimate of, 173.

‘Gold-Bug, The,’ wins prize, 196.

_Golden Legend, The_, 225, 245, 246.

Goldsmith, Irving’s life of, 27;
reference to his work, 449.

‘Graham’s Magazine,’ Poe’s connection with, 195.

_Grandfather’s Chair_, 289, 300.

Greeley, Horace, his advice to Taylor on writing letters of travel,
402.

Green, John Richard, quoted, on Motley, 364.

Greenough, Horatio, quotation from letter of, to Cooper, 93.

Griswold, Rufus W., 196.

_Guardian Angel, The_, 340, 352.

_Guide, A, in the Wilderness_, 66 (note).

_Gulliver’s Travels_, Irish bishop’s remark concerning, 76.

_Half-Century, A, of Conflict_, 382, 391, 394.

_Hannah Thurston_, 405.

Hansen, Marie, wife of Bayard Taylor, 406.

Harlan, James, extract from letter of, concerning Walt Whitman’s
removal from government clerkship, 488 (note).

‘Harper’s Weekly’ and ‘Harper’s Monthly,’ Curtis’s connection with,
419, 421, 422.

Harrison, Frederic, his criticism of _Evangeline_, 251.

Haweis, H. R., 460.

Hawthorne, Nathaniel: his ancestry, 287;
boyhood and college life, 288;
his first book, 288;
collector of the Port of Boston, 289;
joins Brook Farm Community, 289;
marriage, 290;
Surveyor of Customs at Salem, 290;
consul at Liverpool, 291;
failing health and death, 293;
his character, 293;
style, 296;
criticism of his works, 298–317;
his refusal to write an Acadian story, 240.

Hawthorne family, 287.

‘Haverhill Gazette,’ Whittier’s connection with, 258, 259.

_Headsman, The_, 69, 91.

_Heartsease and Rue_, 459, 473.

_Heidenmauer, The_, 69, 91.

Henry, Prince, of Hoheneck, the subject of _The Golden Legend_, 246.

‘Heroes, The,’ 38.

_Hiawatha_, 225;
the metre of, 232;
popularity of, 240;
sources and purpose of, 242.

_History, The, of the Navy of the United States of America_, 70, 93.

_History of the United Netherlands_, 362, 369, 373.

Holmes, Abiel, father of Oliver Wendell Holmes, 337.

Holmes, Oliver Wendell: his ancestry, 337;
education, 338;
professor at Dartmouth College, 338;
marriage, 339;
professor at Harvard, 339;
contributions to the ‘Atlantic Monthly,’ 340;
list of his works, 340;
death, 341;
character, 341;
style, 344;
criticism of his works, 345–355;
his ‘occasional’ poems, 350;
his fiction, 352;
his biography, 354;
quoted, on Longfellow, 230;
his explanation of the ease of the metre of Hiawatha, 232.

_Home as Found_, 70, 92, 96.

_Home Ballads_, 263, 277.

_Home Pastorals, Ballads and Lyrics_, 405, 412.

_Homeward Bound_, 70, 92.

_House, The, of the Seven Gables_, 290, 305.

_Howadji, The, in Syria_, 419, 428.

Howe, Judge Samuel, anecdote of, as Bryant’s instructor in law, 37.

Howells, William Dean, his description of Thoreau, 326.

‘Hub of the Solar System,’ 347.

_Hyperion_, 225, 233.

_In the Harbor_, 227, 250.

_In War Time_, 263, 276.

Indian life as shown in Cooper’s novels, 79–82;
in Hiawatha, 242;
in Parkman’s histories, 380, 387–389.

Ireland, Alexander, arranges lecturing trip for Emerson in England,
154.

Irish Presbyterians in New Hampshire, 268.

Irving, Peter, brother of Washington Irving, 5–7.

Irving, Pierre M., makes first draft of _Astoria_, 27.

Irving, Washington: his ancestry, 3;
childhood and education, 4;
early writings, 5–7;
Secretary of American Legation in London, 8;
Minister to Spain, 9, 10;
political opportunities, 9;
death, 10;
character, 10;
criticism of writings, 13–32;
assists Bryant, 41;
mention of Bryant’s oration on, 43;
reference to his style, 116.

Irving, William, father of Washington Irving, 3.

Irving, William T., brother of Washington Irving, 6.

Ivry, battle of, 374.

_Jack Tar_, 71, 95.

Jackson, Amelia, wife of O. W. Holmes, 339.

Jackson, Lydia, wife of Ralph Waldo Emerson, 151.

James, Henry, reference to his story, ‘The Death of the Lion,’ 297.

Jameson, J. F., quoted, on Bancroft, 117 (note).

_Jesuits, The, in North America_, 382, 391, 392.

_John Endicott_, 246, 247.

_John Godfrey’s Fortunes_, 405, 406.

_John of Barneveld_, 363, 369, 375.

‘Jonathan Oldstyle’ letters, 5.

Jones, John Paul, 82.

_Journal, The, of Julius Rodman_, 204.

_Judas Maccabeus_, 248.

_Kavanagh_, 225, 235.

Kennedy, John P., 193, 194.

_Kéramos_, 226, 250.

_Knickerbocker’s New York_, 6, 14.

Lafayette, defended by Cooper, 69;
Emerson’s meeting with, 150;
visits David Poe’s grave, 189.

Lamb, Charles, 449.

_Lars_, 405, 412.

_La Salle and the Discovery of the Great West_, 382, 391, 392.

_Last, The, of the Mohicans_, 68, 79.

_Leather-Stocking Tales_, 77–81.

_Leaves of Grass_, 487, 490, 494, 503.

_Legends of New England_, 259, 261;
Whittier’s opinion of, 267;
partial suppression of, 270.

_Legends of the Conquest of Spain_, 9, 26.

Leggett, William, his attack on Irving, 12;
assists Bryant in editing the ‘New York Evening Post,’ 39;
Whittier pays tribute to, 269.

_Letter, A, to his Countrymen_, Cooper’s, 70, 93.

_Letters and Social Aims_, 156, 182.

_Letters of a Traveller_, 41, 47.

_Letters to Various Persons_, Thoreau’s, 324.

_Library of Poetry and Song_, Bryant’s connection with, 42.

Lincoln, Abraham, Lowell’s tribute to, 471.

Linzee, Captain, 125.

_Lionel Lincoln_, 68, 77.

Lisfranc, Jacques, Holmes’s feeling towards, 341.

_Literary Recollections and Miscellanies_, Whittier’s, 262, 269.

Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth: his ancestry, 221;
education and early poems, 222;
professorship at Bowdoin, 223;
marriage, 223;
Harvard professorship, 224, 225;
death of his wife, 224;
occupancy of the Craigie House, 224;
second marriage, 225;
lists of books published, 225, 226;
death of Mrs. Longfellow, 226;
honors conferred on Longfellow, 227;
his death, 227;
character, 228;
poetical style, 230;
criticism of his works, 233–250.

_Lorgnette, The_, 440, 445, 446.

_Lotus-Eating_, 419, 429.

Louisbourg, siege of, 394.

Lowell, James Russell: his ancestry, 453;
education, 454;
starts ‘The Pioneer,’ 454;
first books, 455;
connection with ‘The National Anti-Slavery Standard,’ 456;
winter abroad, 456;
death of Mrs. Lowell, 457;
Harvard professor, 457;
second marriage, 457;
editor of Atlantic Monthly’ and ‘North American Review,’ 458;
list of books published, 458;
Minister to Spain, 459;
Minister to England, 460;
last years, 460;
character, 461;
style, 463;
criticism of his works, 465–482.

Lowell family, 453.

‘Lynn Pythoness,’ 259.

_Mahomet and his Successors_, 9, 23.

_Maine Woods, The_, 324, 330.

‘MS. Found in a Bottle,’ wins prize, 193.

_Marble Faun, The_, 291, 310.

_Margaret Smith’s Journal, Leaves from_, 262, 267, 268.

_Masque, The, of Pandora_, 226, 248.

_Masque, The, of the Gods_, 405, 413.

Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, its treatment of Emerson, 155.

Mather, Cotton, Longfellow’s treatment of, in _The New England
Tragedies_, 247.

_Mercedes of Castile_, 71, 92.

_Merry-Mount_, 360, 361.

_Michael Angelo_, 227, 248.

_Miles Wallingford_, 71, 88.

_Miriam_, 263, 280.

Mitchell, Donald Grant: his ancestry and education, 439;
his first book, 439;
consul at Venice, 441;
marriage, 441;
list of his books, 441;
editorial work and lecturing, 442;
his character and literary style, 442;
criticism of his works, 444–450.

_Mogg Megone_, 261;
Whittier’s objection to reprinting, 266, 270.

_Monikins, The_, 70, 92.

Montaigne, as one of Emerson’s _Representative Men_, 172.

_Montcalm and Wolfe_, 382, 391, 395.

Moody, Father, 148.

‘Morituri Salutamus,’ anecdote of the reading of, at Bowdoin, 229.

Morris, William, reference to his _Earthly Paradise_, 244.

_Mortal Antipathy, A_, 340, 353.

_Mosses from an Old Manse_, 290, 299.

Motley, John Lothrop: his ancestry and education, 359;
foreign study, 360;
intimacy with Bismarck, 360;
admission to the bar, 360;
marriage, 360;
publication of novels and essays, 360;
Secretary to American Legation in St. Petersburg, 361;
member of Massachusetts legislature, 361;
residence abroad for historical study, 362;
scholastic honors, 363;
Minister to Austria, 363;
to England, 364;
death, 364;
his character, 365;
style, 367;
criticism of his histories, 369–376;
Holmes’s memoir of, 354.

Murat, Achille, meets Emerson, 149.

_My Farm of Edgewood_, 441, 448.

_My Study Windows_, 458, 475.

Napoleon, Emerson’s estimate of, 172.

_Narrative, The, of Arthur Gordon Pym_, 194, 203.

‘National Anti-Slavery Standard,’ Lowell’s connection with, 456.

_Natural History of Intellect_, 156, 183.

_Nature_, Emerson’s, 151, 155, 160, 176.

_Ned Myers_, 66, 71.

Netherlands, Motley’s history of, 362, 369, 373.

‘Neutral ground, The,’ 75.

_New England Tragedies, The_, 226, 245.

‘New York Evening Post,’ Bryant’s connection with, 39.

‘New York Review and Athenæum Magazine,’ Bryant’s editorship of, 38.

_Nile Notes of a Howadji_, 419, 427.

‘North American Review,’ Bryant’s early contributions to, 37;
Lowell’s connection with, 458.

Norton, Andrews, his disagreement with Emerson, 152.

_Oak Openings, The_, 71, 95.

‘Old Manse, The,’ 147;
Hawthorne’s occupancy of, 290.

_Old Portraits and Modern Sketches_, 262, 269.

_Old Régime, The_, 382, 391, 393.

‘On a Certain Condescension in Foreigners,’ 460.

_Oregon Trail, The_, 381, 387.

Ossoli, Margaret Fuller. See Fuller, Margaret.

Otsego Hall, home of the Coopers, 66, 69.

_Our Hundred Days in Europe_, 340, 348.

_Our Old Home_, 292;
anecdote of the dedication of, to Franklin Pierce, 295;
character of, 314.

_Outre-Mer_, 225, 233, 234.

_Over the Teacups_, 340, 348, 355.

Oxford, University of, confers degree on Longfellow, 227;
on Holmes, 340;
on Motley, 363;
on Lowell, 459.

Parkman, Francis: his ancestry, 379;
education, 380;
interest in Indian life, 380;
first book, 381;
marriage, 381;
ill health, 381;
list of his works, 382;
honors, 383;
character, 383;
literary style, 385;
criticism of his works, 387–398.

Parkman family, 379.

Pastorius, Daniel, the subject of the _Pennsylvania Pilgrim_, 280.

_Pathfinder, The_, 67, 71, 81.

Paulding, J. K., 6.

Peabody, Sophia, wife of Nathaniel Hawthorne, 289.

‘Penn Magazine, The,’ projected by Poe, 195.

Pennsylvania Hall, sacking of, by a pro-slavery mob, 260.

_Pennsylvania Pilgrim, The_, 263, 280.

Phi Beta Kappa poem by Bryant, 38.

Philip the Second, Bancroft’s history of, 127, 131, 141;
Motley’s treatment of, 372–375.

_Picture, The, of St. John_, 405, 409, 412.

Pierce, Franklin: his friendship with Hawthorne, 288, 293;
Hawthorne’s life of, 292.

_Pilot, The_, 67, 71, 82.

‘Pioneer, The,’ Lowell’s magazine, 454.

_Pioneers, The_, 66, 67, 71, 77.

_Pioneers, The, of France in the New World_, 382, 391.

Pizarro, Francisco, his exploits in Peru, 138.

Pizarro, Gonzalo, his march across the Andes, 140.

Plato, Emerson on, 171.

Poe, Edgar Allan: his ancestry, 189;
adoption by the Allans, 190;
education, 190;
enters West Point, 191;
early writings, 192;
marriage, 193;
editorial work, 193;
lecturing, 196;
affair of the Boston Lyceum, 197, 200;
death of his wife, 197;
proposal of marriage to Mrs. Shelton, 198;
death, 198;
character, 198;
style, 201;
criticism of his works, 203–211;
his work as a critic, 211–215;
quality of his poetry, 215.

_Poems of Home and Travel_, 405, 410.

_Poems of the Orient_, 405, 411.

_Poet, The, at the Breakfast-Table_, 340, 347.

Poetry, quality, of, 49;
Bryant’s theory of, 48–50;
Poe’s, 213.

_Poet’s Journal, The_, 405, 411.

_Poets and Poetry of Europe_, 225, 237.

_Potiphar Papers, The_, 419, 429.

Potter, Mary Storer, wife of Longfellow, 223, 224.

_Prairie, The_, 68, 80.

_Precaution_, 67.

Prentice, George, 259.

Prescott, William Hickling: his ancestry, 123;
education, 124;
accident to his eyes, 125;
marriage, 125;
beginning of his literary work, 126;
list of his works, 127;
death, 127;
character, 128;
his style, 130;
criticism of his works, 132–143;
his aid to Motley, 361.

Prescott family, 123.

_Prince Deukalion_, 405, 413.

_Professor, The, at the Breakfast-Table_, 340, 347.

_Prophet, The_, 405, 413.

_Prue and I_, 419, 430.

Puritan and Cavalier, Bancroft’s comparison of, 111.

‘Putnam’s Magazine,’ Curtis’s connection with, 419; Lowell’s, 457.

‘Quaker Poet,’ 256.

Quakers, Longfellow’s treatment of, in _John Endicott_, 246;
relations of the Whittier family to, 257, 262, 272.

‘Raven, The,’ 196, 215.

_Red Rover, The_, 68, 71, 84, 86.

_Redskins, The_, 71, 95.

_Representative Men_, 155, 171.

_Reveries of a Bachelor_, 440, 443, 446, 450.

Ripley, George, 153.

_Rise, The, of the Dutch Republic_, 362, 369.

Rogers, Samuel, Bryant dedicates book to, 41.

Round Hill School for Boys, Bancroft’s connection with, 103, 104;
Longfellow considers buying, 224;
Motley a student at, 359.

St. Boniface, Church of, Winnipeg, honors Whittier, 263.

St. Botolph Club, Boston, Parkman’s connection with, 383.

_Salmagundi_, 6.

_Satanstoe_, 71, 95, 96.

‘Saturday Visitor, The,’ offers prizes, for which Poe competes, 192.

_Scarlet Letter, The_, 290, 302.

_Sea Lions, The_, 71, 96.

_Seaside, The, and the Fireside_, 225, 237.

_Septimius Felton_, 292, 316.

_Seven Stories_, 441, 447.

Shakespeare, Emerson’s estimate of, 172.

Shaw, Anna, wife of George William Curtis, 420.

Shays’s Rebellion, incident of, 102.

Simms, William Gilmore, his advice to Poe, 201.

_Sketch Book, The_, 7, 15, 234.

_Sketches of Switzerland_, Cooper’s, 94.

Smith, Goldwin, 300.

Smithell’s Hall, Bolton-le-Moors, tradition connected with, 316.

_Snow Image, The_, 292, 301.

_Snow-Bound_, 263, 267, 278.

_Society and Solitude_, 156, 182.

_Songs of Labor_, 262, 276.

‘Southern Literary Messenger, The,’ Poe’s connection with, 193.

_Spanish Student, The_, 225, 239.

_Specimen Days and Collect_, 489, 503.

_Spy, The_, 67, 71, 75.

Stanley, Dean, quoted, on Motley, 364.

Stedman, Edmund C., quoted on Poe, 212.

Stephen, Leslie, quoted, 32.

_Story, The, of Kennett_, 406.

_Summer_, Thoreau’s, 324, 331.

‘Sunnyside,’ Irving’s home, 9.

_Supernaturalism, The, of New England_, 261, 268.

Swedenborg, Emanuel, 172.

Swinburne, A. C., quotation from, applied to Whitman, 495.

Tâché, Archbishop, 263.

_Tales of a Traveller_, 7, 18.

_Tales of a Wayside Inn_, 226, 243.

_Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque_, 195, 203–211.

‘Talisman, The,’ Bryant’s editorial work on, 39.

_Tamerlane_, 191.

_Tanglewood Tales_, 292, 301.

Taylor, Bayard: birth and education, 402;
travels on foot, 402;
journalistic work, 403;
extensive travels, 403;
lists of his books, 403, 405, 406;
marriages, 406;
Minister to Germany, 407;
death, 407;
character, 407;
style, 409;
criticism of his poetical works, 410–414.

Tennyson, Emerson’s attitude toward, 183.

_Tent, The, on the Beach_, 263, 272;
Whittier’s remark on the popularity of, 278;
scheme of, 279.

‘Thanatopsis,’ 36, 37, 57.

Thoreau, Henry David: his ancestry, 321;
early occupations, 321;
outdoor life, 322;
first book, 322;
lecturing, 323;
abolition sympathies, 323;
acquaintance with John Brown, 323;
list of his works, 324;
travels, 324;
death, 324;
character, 325;
criticism of his works, 327–333.

_Three Books of Song_, 226, 245.

_Three Memorial Poems_, 459, 471.

Three Mile Point, Cooperstown, N. Y. controversy concerning, 69.

Ticknor, George, his friendship with Prescott, 126;
resigns professorship in favor of Longfellow, 224.

Tories of the American Revolution, Irving’s attitude towards, 29, 30.

Transcendental movement, 152, 165.

_Transformation._ See _Marble Faun_.

_Travelling Bachelor, Notions of the Americans picked up by a_, 68,
93.

_Trumps_, 419, 430.

Tucker, Ellen, wife of Ralph Waldo Emerson, 149.

_Twice-Told Tales_, 289, 298.

_Two Admirals, The_, 71, 86.

_Ultima Thule_, 227, 250.

_United Netherlands, History of the_, 362, 369, 373.

United States, Bancroft’s history of, 104, 110, 113.

‘United States Literary Gazette,’ Longfellow’s contributions to, 222.

United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, founding of, 105.

‘Upside Down, or Philosophy in Petticoats,’ 71.

_Vassall Morton_, 380, 381, 390.

_Views Afloat_, 402, 404.

_Vision of Echard, The_, 263, 281.

_Vision of Sir Launfal, The_, 456, 468.

_Voices of Freedom_, 261, 274.

_Voices of the Night_, 223, 236.

_Voyages of the Companions of Columbus_, 8, 22.

_Walden_, 323, 324, 329, 332.

Wansey, Henry, mention of his _Excursion to the United States_, 48.

Ware, Henry, Emerson colleague of, 149.

Washington, Irving’s life of, 28;
Lowell’s tribute to, 472.

_Water-Witch, The_, 68, 71, 85.

_Ways of the Hour_, 71, 95.

Wayside Inn, the, 244.

Weed, Thurlow, quoted, 69.

_Week, A, on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers_, 322, 324, 328, 331.

_Wept of Wish-ton-Wish, The_, 68, 71, 81.

_Wet Days at Edgewood_, 441, 448.

Whewell, William, makes inquiries about _Evangeline_, 241.

White, Maria, wife of James Russell Lowell, 455;
her death, 457.

White, T. W., his association with Poe, 193.

Whitman, Walt: his ancestry, 485;
education and early occupations, 486;
journeyings in the United States, 486;
publication of _Leaves of Grass_, 487;
work as army nurse and government clerk, 487;
life in Camden, N. J., 488;
list of his writings, 488;
subsidence of opposition, 489;
growth of his reputation, 490;
English admirers, 491;
his Boston publisher threatened with prosecution, 492;
criticism of his work, 492–496;
his character, 504;
mention of, in comparison with Longfellow, 250.

Whitman family, 485.

Whittier, John Greenleaf; his ancestry, 255;
boyhood, 256;
early writings, 257;
beginning of acquaintance with Garrison, 258;
attends Haverhill Academy, 258;
editorial work, 259–261;
beginning of anti-slavery work, 259;
encounters with mobs, 260;
love of country life, 260;
lists of his works, 261, 263;
contributions to ‘Atlantic Monthly,’ 262;
overseer of Harvard College, 262;
places of residence, 262;
death, 263;
character, 264;
his literary art, 266;
criticism of his works, 269–283;
his description of Bayard Taylor, 408.

Whittier family, 255.

_Wing-and-Wing_, 66, 71, 86.

_Winter_, Thoreau’s, 324, 331.

_Wolfert’s Roost_, 27.

_Wonder-Book, The_, 292, 301.

Worsley, Philip S., quoted, 58.

_Wyandotté_, 71, 81.

Ximenes, Mateo, his association with Irving, 25.

_Yankee, A, in Canada_, 324, 331.

_Year’s Life, A_, 455.

Transcriber’s Notes

Punctuation, hyphenation, and spelling were made consistent when a predominant preference was found in the original book; otherwise they were not changed.

Simple typographical errors were corrected; unbalanced quotation marks were remedied when the change was obvious, and otherwise left unbalanced.

The index was not checked for proper alphabetization or correct page references.

Transcriber removed redundant chapter headings.

Lists of reference materials, originally printed at the bottom of the first page of each biography, have been moved to just after the chapter headings and labelled as “References:” by the Transcriber.

Footnotes, originally printed at the bottoms of pages, have been renumbered, collected, moved to the ends of their chapters, and labelled as “Footnotes:” by the Transcriber.