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Donald

Grant
Mitchell,

born in
Connecticut,

1822.

Charles Dudley Warner, born in Massachusetts, 1829.

Although he began his literary work in the early years of the century, "Fresh Gleanings" was published in 1847,- Donald Grant Mitchell is still living and writing. In 1850 and 1851, under the name of "Ik Marvel," appeared the books which gave him fame; and which remain among the best-loved writings of our Literature. "The Reveries of a Bachelor" and "Dream Life" speak tender thoughts and true, helpful reflections in pure, musical, poetic prose. He has published also one novel, "Dr. Johns," and a number of volumes of essays, for the most part on topics connected with rural life.

One of the most delightful of our humorous writers is Charles Dudley Warner. He has discussed life and letters, morals and manners, with a charming mingling of the serious and the comic, in the columns of "The Hartford Courant," in "Harper's Magazine,' and in a series of volumes which have been widely read. "Back Log Studies," "My Summer in a Garden," and "As We Were Saying" are the titles of some of his better-known books.

QUESTIONS

What has been the special power of Emerson's " Essays 99 ? What relation does "Nature" bear to his later prose writings? What does Lowell say of "The American Scholar"? What is a notable quality of Emerson's thinking? What were his later volumes? With what English authors may he be compared? What are some of the peculiarities of his style? Point out some of the points of style in the extract from "Nature." Give some account of Thoreau's character and work. given, what peculiar qualities are displayed?

In the extracts

What were the

chief events in the life of Margaret Fuller? What is the special importance and interest of her career? What other writers are associated with the group of "Transcendentalists"? What other important writers on religious and educational topics? What writers are associated as journalists? The name of what writer connects these two groups? With what magazines was Curtis connected? What was the influence exerted by the "Easy Chair"? What were his other publications? What distinguished writers on linguistic topics? Who are some of the writers of criticism of this period? Give an estimate of the value of the critical work of Edwin P. Whipple. What are the chief prose works of James Russell Lowell? What are some of the notable qualities of his prose style? How are these qualities illustrated in the selection from his essays? What was the "Breakfast Table" series of Oliver Wendell Holmes? are some of the characteristics of his prose work?

What

Henry Ward Beecher, born in

CHAPTER XIII

PERIOD OF THE LATER NINETEENTH CENTURY,

1850-1880

ORATORY

THE oratory of this period, as it has left its impression upon our Literature, shows a marked difference from that of the preceding epoch. The great orators are not in the houses of Congress. The debates there no longer hold the attention of the people as they did in the days of Calhoun, Clay, and Webster. This may be due to the degree of success which attended the efforts of the compromisers. Politicians were afraid of the slavery issue. Consequently discussion on that burning question was freer and more frequently heard from the pulpit and the platform than from the halls of the national legislature. As this was the question which more than all others interested the people, the greatest argumentative and persuasive ability was developed where its discussion was freest.

In the early part of the period, the most famous name in pulpit and platform oratory is that of Henry Connecticut, Ward Beecher, the brother of Mrs. Harriet Beecher He was trained under the same influences as Stowe. those which moulded her mind and character. Edu

1813; died in

New York,

1887.

But

cated at Amherst College and Lane Theological Seminary, his active life began in Indiana; first at Lawrenceburg, and afterwards at Indianapolis. for the most of his life, he was the pastor of Plymouth Church, Brooklyn; and it is safe to say that for many years he was the most famous preacher in America. He was also a popular lecturer during this period, and wrote extensively for the press; being editorially connected with the "Independent," and afterwards founding the "Christian Union," which in later years became "The Outlook." Beecher's sermons were stenographically reported, and printed in these and other papers, and thus very widely circulated. Both on the platform and in the pulpit he spoke constantly and eloquently against slavery; and is counted with Wendell Phillips and William Lloyd Garrison among the most powerful agents in the antislavery agitation. His oratory is distinguished by the qualities of fervid eloquence, great abundance and variety of illustration, startling independence of statement, and brilliant humor. He was an original thinker, and many of his sermons are models of persuasive argument, combining close logical thought with beautiful imagery. One of the greatest achievements in the history of oratory was the series of addresses he delivered in England during the Civil War. The popular mind in England had been turned toward the cause of the South, largely by the fact that the war hindered the importation of cotton, and thus interfered seriously with their manufacturing industries.

Beecher set himself, with remark

Phillips

Brooks,

sachusetts,

1835; died,

1894.

able success, to overcome this prejudice. In more than one instance he faced a bitterly hostile audience, and, before his address was finished, had overcome this hostility and carried his hearers enthusiastically to the acceptance of his conclusions.

His publications number twenty titles. Some of the more important are: "Lectures to Young Men," 1844; "Star Papers," 1858, 1859; “Sermons,” 1858, 1868; "American Rebellion," speeches in England, 1864; "Sermons," eleven volumes, 1869–1875; “Life of Jesus the Christ," Vol. I, 1871, Vol. II, 1891; "Yale Lectures on Preaching," 1872-1874.

In the later years of this period, a position of even born in Mas- more universal influence was occupied by Phillips Brooks. He was not a finished orator as was Beecher, his utterance being too rapid for the best effect; but there was a power of intense earnestness in his delivery which gave him an irresistible hold upon his audiences. His active career fell after the antislavery agitation and the war; and he never used the pulpit for the discussion of political or economic questions. He was never a controversialist in any direction. His sermons were appeals to the spiritual nature, using the motives of the Christian religion. His career was one of continued, unbroken, popular success. Graduating at Harvard College, he pursued his professional studies at the Seminary in Alexandria, Virginia. For ten years he preached in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and in 1869 became rector of Trinity Church, Boston. In 1891 he was elected Bishop of Massachusetts.

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