178 



government and people ; to kings, courtiers, nobility, clergy r 

 and philosophers, as well as to plebeians, to such a degree that 

 there was scarcely a peasant or a citizen, coachman or footman, 

 a lady's chambermaid or a scullion in the kitchen who was not 

 familiar with his name, and who did not consider him as a 

 friend of human kind. When they spoke of him, they seemed 

 to think he was to restore the golden age." 



In a nation of three millions, he was first in every field of 

 action, as printer, publisher, editor, and humorist in political 

 economy, administration and statesmanship, in science, philoso- 

 phy, diplomacy, and in literature. He stands to-day a colossal 

 figure in the world's memory, his popularity in no wise les- 

 sened by lapse of time, and Americans still wonder at his 

 stature, seemingly unable to measure the extent of his great- 

 ness. In Europe he is still thought the first of Americans, the 

 most perfect embodiment of the spirit and genius of his coun- 

 try, and its one great writer who lived before the days of 

 Irving. 



His easy-going freedom of speech, his liberal views on theo- 

 logical questions and his irreverence, coupled with a certain 

 coarseness, almost Eabelaisian, in his early writings, have 

 lessened his popularity among educated Americans. Then, too, 

 the subjects of which he wrote the current political issues, 

 the manners and morals of every -day people, common abuses 

 and how to do away with them, passing events and their 

 lessons, household economies, and the like although they gave 

 him a great popular audience, were not of the kind best fitted 

 to call forth the admiration of his literary contemporaries. 



His choice of subjects was, nevertheless, the best evidence 

 of his preeminence. " Great men are more distinguished by 

 range and extent than by originality. A great man does not 

 wake up on some fine morning and say, ' I am full of life, I 



