HORACE ELISHA SCUDDER. 657 



HORACE ELISHA SCUDDER. 



It is a merit of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences that it 

 does not limit itself to one form of intellectual pursuits, as do the merely 

 historical or scientific societies or even some which share the name of 

 Academy. It also has the merit that it is ready to recognize the various 

 subdivisions of each pursuit, and has a place of honor for every such 

 department. Intellectual self-respect is to be found only iu honoring 

 every form of work in its place. It has been generally felt, I think, 

 that no disrespect was shown to our late associate, John Fiske, when the 

 New York Nation headed its very discriminating sketch of him with the 

 title " John Fiske, Popularizer ;" and in speaking of another late associate 

 who has left us, I should feel that I showed no discourtesy, but on the 

 contrary, did him honor in describing him as Horace Elisha Scudder, 

 Literary Workman. I know of no other man in America, perhaps, who 

 so well deserved that honorable name ; no one, that is, who if he had a 

 difficult piece of literary work to do could be so absolutely relied upon to 

 do it carefully and well. Whatever it was, compiling, editing, arranging, 

 translating, indexing, — his work was uniformly well done. Whether 

 this is the highest form of literary distinction is not now the question. 

 What other distinction he might have won if he had shown less of 

 modesty or self-restraint, we can never know. It is certain that his few 

 thoroughly original volumes show something beyond what is described in 

 the limited term, workmanship. But that he brought simple workman- 

 ship up into the realm of art is as certain as that we may call the 

 cabinet-maker of the middle ages an artist. 



Mr. Scudder was born in Boston on October 16, 1838, the son of 

 Charles and Sarah Lathrop (Coit) Scudder ; was a graduate of Williams 

 College and after graduation went to New York, where he remained for 

 three years engaged iu teaching. It was there that he wrote his first 

 stories for children, entitled " Seven Little People and Their Friends " 

 (New York, 1862). After his father's death he returned to Boston and 

 thenceforward devoted himself almost wholly to literary pursuits ; pre- 

 pared the " Life and Letters of David Coit Scudder" his brother, a mis- 

 sionary to India (New York, 1864) ; edited the " Riverside Magazine" 

 for young people during its four years' existence (from 1867 to 1870) ; 

 and published " Dream Children " and " Stories from My Attic." 

 Becoming associated with Houghton, Mifflin and Company he edited for 

 vol. xxxvn. — 42 



