LITERATURE AND LITERARY PROGRESS IN 1869. 



387 



the newspaper press of New York. Including 

 autobiographies (as of John Neal and P. T. 

 Barnum) and contemporary biography (as of 

 Father Hyacinth e), and excluding juveniles, 

 about thirty works find a place under this 

 head. 



III. POETEY. Of new poetry there was lit- 

 tle of a high order produced on this side the 

 Atlantic. " The Blameless Prince and other 

 Poems," by E. 0. Stedman, and "Poems Lyric 

 and Idyllic," and "Alice of Monmouth," etc., 

 by the same author, sustain the reputation 

 won by former publications. "The Cathe- 

 dral," by James Russell Lowell, though writ- 

 ten for publication in 1870, got into circulation 

 within the period under review. It was re- 

 ceived with a unanimity of applause which 

 will hardly represent the maturer critical 

 judgment of the world, though it must be con- 

 fessed to be the crowning gift of the Muses to 

 us for 1869. A collected edition of Mr. Low- 

 ell's poems and of Mr. Whittier's appeared, as 

 also a holiday edition of Whittier's " Ballads 

 of New England," and of Mr. Longfellow's 

 "Building of the Ship." Complete editions 

 of Longfellow's Poems, and of Edgar Allan 

 Poe's, were issued. The Poems of 0. G-. Hal- 

 pine, edited by R. B. Roosevelt, have an inter- 

 est as the memorial of a stirring time and a 

 man of versatile genius, but will doubtless fail 

 to claim permanently the attention of the pub- 

 lic. " Vagabonds, and other Poems," by J. T. 

 Trowbridge, brings together pieces that have 

 gained popularity as they appeared in the 

 pages of periodicals. They show a lively fan- 

 cy, fine feeling, and grace of expression ; they 

 please, and, if they do not testify for the author 

 "the vision" and the artist-power, they come 

 very near it. " The "Woman who Dared," by 

 Epes Sargent, has passages of poetry in it, but 

 it is mainly a novel in somewhat careless 

 verse, with a polemic intention. Mr. C. G. 

 Leland continues to give us Breitmann Ballads 

 in the Pennsylvania Dutch dialect, and, as long 

 as the public do not tire of reading, why 

 should he of writing ? Mention should also be 

 made of the Poems of Mrs. Embury ; " Ti- 

 tania's Banquet," etc., by George Hill ; "A Chap- 

 let of Leaves, by Jeanie G.," a promising be- 

 ginning of authorship ; " Western Windows," 

 etc., by J. J. Piatt, a volume which gave the 

 author a very favorable introduction to the 

 reading public ; and " Beautiful Snow, and 

 other Poems," by J. W. Watson. In all, we 

 count nearly fifty volumes of verse, a few of 

 them new editions, or collections of original 

 and selected poems. 



IV. PHILOSOPHY. Mental Philosophy has so 

 prominent a place in the courses of liberal 

 study in this country that it is pretty certain 

 to be represented in literature. At the same 

 time, the circumstance that the chief cultiva- 

 tors of the study are persons engaged as teach- 

 ers in our colleges determines the form and 

 direction of the philosophy. A reader of the 

 periodical press finds traces of the modern 



materialistic scheme which tends to identify 

 psychological and physiological activity in 

 man. But our seats of learning offer little 

 hospitality to such ideas. During the past 

 year several works have appeared in the de- 

 partment of speculative philosophy. "The 

 Science of Thought," by Professor Charles 

 Carroll Everett, is a brilliant exposition of the 

 Hegelian logic. For a metaphysical treatise 

 the style is remarkably vivid. Professor 

 Thomas 0. Upham has prepared and published 

 a carefully-revised edition of his " Mental Phi- 

 losophy." The "Principles of Psychology," 

 by Professor John Bascom, is the contribution 

 of a forcible and independent thinker to the 

 science. His style runs too readily into the 

 pictorial and figurative cast of expression, 

 making his statements less determinate and 

 apprehensible than if the light were drier. 

 " Studies in Philosophy and Theology," by Pro- 

 fessor Joseph Haven, is a volume divided near- 

 ly equally between the two branches of science 

 named in the title. The philosophical articles 

 are more critical than speculative, but they 

 are the criticisms of a strong and patient 

 thinker. " Two Letters on Causation and 

 Freedom in Willing, with an Appendix on the 

 Existence of Matter and our Notions of Space," 

 by Rowland G. Hazard, add to our stock of origi- 

 nal speculation much in weight though com- 

 paratively little in bulk. 



In books in the department of Ethical Phi- 

 losophy an important contribution was made in 

 " The Law of Love, and Love as a Law, or 

 Moral Science Theoretical and Practical," by 

 President Mark Hopkins. He has been claimed 

 (or disclaimed) as an advocate of utilitarian- 

 ism. But his real position is that of a recon- 

 ciler of systems. In his view it is impossible 

 "to construct a complete system of morals 

 that is either wholly intuitional or wholly 

 teleological." " Moral Philosophy, or the Sci- 

 ence of Obligation," by President J. H. Fair- 

 child, nearly coincides in its theory with that 

 of President Hopkins. Fichte's " Science of 

 Right," translated by Kroeger, is of course 

 "intuitional." 



V. SOCIAL SCIENCE AND REFOKM. Promi- 

 nent among the topics covered by this general 

 title is the emancipation (as it is called) of 

 woman, including her enfranchisement. The 

 advocates of this social revolution among us 

 seem very generally to have decided that the 

 burden of proof is on their opponents, and that 

 their own function is merely to criticise the 

 arguments proposed against them, which is 

 most effectively done on the platform or 

 through the newspaper press. The books that 

 treat or touch upon the question are nearly all 

 on one side. " Woman's Suffrage, the Reform 

 against Nature," by the Rev. Horace Bushnell, 

 though not very effective upon the reformers 

 he argues against, commands the respectful at- 

 tention of the non-combatant majority who 

 will finally decide the matter. "The True 

 Woman," by the Rev. J. D. Fulton, advocates 



