402 



HOLLAND, JOSIAH G. 



HUNGARY. 



literary work that afterward won for him such 

 wide and flattering popularity. Ills first book, 

 " History of Western Massachusetts," was pub- 

 lished in 1855, and was succeeded by a novel 

 entitled " The Bay Path," in 1857. This work 

 seemed not to succeed very well, and the next 

 year he began to publish, under the pseudo- 

 nym of "Timothy Titcomb," the remarkable 

 series of letters which made the assumed name 

 of the author a household word. For these 

 letters he experienced some difficulty in finding 

 a publisher, but finally Mr. Charles Scribner 

 recognized their merit, and, seeing for them a 

 grand success, published them in 1858. Dur- 

 ing this year Dr. Holland made his first vent- 

 ure as a poet, and gave to the public his 

 famous " Bitter-Sweet," a poetical tale of New 

 England life, which has passed through more 

 editions than any other American poem, with 

 one exception. " Gold Foil" followed in 1859, 

 and the year after the author of these success- 

 ful works ventured another novel, " Miss Gil- 

 bert's Career." "Lessons in Life" appeared 

 in 1861, "Letters to the Joneses" in 1863, 

 "Plain Talk on Familiar Subjects" in 1865, 

 and a "Life of Abraham Lincoln" in 1866. 

 For this biography the publishers offered him 

 three thousand dollars ; he demanded five, but 

 subsequently agreed to a compromise by which 

 the author was to receive twenty cents on each 

 copy sold. As more than 100,000 copies were 

 sold, the arrangement proved satisfactory to Dr. 

 Holland. " Kathrina," another narrative poem, 

 was published in 1867, and this may be said to 

 have marked the close of an epoch in the life 

 of the man, as of the author. The following 

 year he carried out his long-cherished wish 

 to visit the Old World, where he traveled in 

 England, Scotland, France, Belgium, Germa- 

 ny, Switzerland, Italy, and Austria. His tour 

 seemed not to realize his expectations, and his 

 pen made no pictures of the " beaten track " 

 over which so many writers have wandered. 

 At Geneva, with Mr. Roswell Smith, he con- 

 ceived the idea which he afterward wrought out 

 in " Scribner's Magazine." Long previous to 

 this Mr. Scribner had solicited Dr. Holland to 

 go to New York and edit a journal there known 

 as " Hours at Home," but this offer did not 

 meet the ambitious views of a mind eager for 

 a literary enterprise unencumbered by tradi- 

 tions. In 1870 Dr. Holland, as editor and one 

 third owner, began publishing " Scribner's 

 Magazine," with Roswell Smith and Scribner, 

 Armstrong & Company as joint owners. 



It was a success from the first. During his 

 conduct of this journal he found time for other 

 literary labor, and in 1872 published "The 

 Marble Prophecy." " Arthur Bonnicastle " 

 appeared in 1873, and in the same year came 

 " Garnered Sheaves," a collection of poems. 

 In 1874 " The Mistress of the Manse," a novel, 

 was issued. 



Dr. Holland's contributions to other maga- 

 zines than his own were not profuse. A few 

 to " Hours M Home " and the " Atlantic 



Monthly " are among his articles for contem- 

 porary journals. As a lecturer he was extremely 

 popular, having in the dullest seasons more in- 

 vitations than he was able to accept, and always 

 commanding a large price for his services upon 

 the platform. A few years before Lis cU-atli 

 his income from his various literary resources 

 was estimated at $25,000. 



While the reputation of a great author has 

 never been conceded to him, Dr. Holland justly 

 held a very high rank in American literature, 

 upon which his influence was confessedly pure 

 and healthful. The unaffected directness of 

 his style seemed to carry the vigorous fresh- 

 ness of his thought in a clear current to the 

 deepest sympathies of his readers, and, if not 

 so artistic as others, his delineation of charac- 

 ter was always natural and forcible, leaving the 

 reader with a sense of intimate acquaintance- 

 ship among the personages of his fiction. His 

 volumes of " Letters to Young People " were 

 full of excellent if not original counsel, con- 

 veyed in a manner so pleasing, sincere, and 

 good-humored as to win the attention and en- 

 list the interest of those he sought to benefit. 

 Asa poet his rank was in the second grade, 

 but "Bitter-Sweet" and "Kathrina" are 

 charming in the simplicity of theme and con- 

 struction and the limpid purity of their senti- 

 ment. They leaped into popularity, and have 

 never lost their hold upon the public fancy. 

 His excellent ear for the music of verse and 

 his command over forms of expression gave to 

 his poems not unfrequently a lyrical power 

 and sweetness of melody which caused them to 

 sing themselves into the hearts of his readers. 

 In his " Complaint " this quality is manifestly 

 illustrated in the lines : 



River, sparkling river, I have fault to find with thee ; 

 River, thou dost never speak a word of peace to me. 

 Dimpling to each touch of sunshine, wimpling to each air 



that blows ; 

 Thou dost make no sweet replying to my sighing for repose. 



This poem voices the thought of a grief -stricken 

 soul, upon whom the joyousness and light in- 

 difference of Nature jar, but who recognizes 

 that it is himself that is out of tune. A car- 

 dinal principle of Dr. Holland's editorial man- 

 agement was to develop American capacity in 

 literature and art ; and many writers and art- 

 ists, whose reputations are now secure, made 

 their first appearance in "Scribner's Monthly." 

 For such disinterested services the memory of 

 this good man can not be held too gratefully, 

 and his genial, large-hearted sympathy with all 

 laudable ambition will long be sorely missed by 

 the struggling talent of America. To the high- 

 est virtues 'of a Christian gentleman Dr. Hol- 

 land added many of the most attractive social 

 qualities that endear a man to his fellows. 

 Nature had granted him the blessing of a fine 

 and pleasing presence, to which his high cult- 

 ure lent increasing luster. 



HUNGARY, a kingdom of Europe, and one 

 of the two principal divisions of the Austro- 

 Hungarian Monarchy (see AUSTEO-HCNGAEIAN 

 MONARCHY). The Hungarian Ministry, at the 



