130 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



Luther's great translation of the Bible into German. Les- 

 sing's bold criticism upon Voltaire was an influence felt by 

 the whole western world. Voltaire was the mighty power 

 of his time, and swayed all France with his skepticism. 

 Viewed from our 19th century stand-point, there were many 

 extenuating circumstances in his case. Christianity was 

 presented to the world at that time by Catholicism only. 

 The Roman Catholic Church at the time was so corrupt that 

 the priests acknowledged they could scarcely perforin -their 

 duties with a sober face. Voltaire's sharp eye saw through 

 the meshes where other eyes did not penetrate. The Ger- 

 mans Richter and Schiller are morally inspiring. Goethe 

 with his " Faust" we leave to the taste of the reader. 



For a book in which to find a concentrated account of 

 modern Europe, read "Rome and the Making of Modern 

 Europe." Some of our best history is poetry. Much of 

 English history is learned from Shakespeare, of the early 

 German from the " Niebelungen lied," their national epic, 

 and of the Spanish from the " Cid." 



American literature of any merit is the product of the last 

 three-quarters of a century. In the early times men were 

 acting, and not writing. There was scarcely anything, pre- 

 vious to Washington Irving's "Knickerbocker's History 

 of New York," worthy to be called literature. In 1823 

 Cooper's "Pioneer and Leather Stocking Tales" were pub- 

 lished, portraying the restless energy and love of adventure 

 which were a feature of American life at that time. 



Then came the Unitarian revolt from Puritan Orthodoxy, 

 led by Channing. This has had an influence upon every 

 soul born within the last half of the century. It was an 

 intellectual movement, and prepared the way for eminent 

 writers of the next generations. This movement took dif- 

 ferent features in other parts of the world, but in New 

 England it took its point of departure in the churches, as 

 did every change. This movement culminated in the only 

 school of writers of which America can boast, — the Tran- 

 scendentalists. Transcendentalism is a high form of ideal- 

 ism. It resulted in the formation of the Brook Farm 

 community at Roxbury, a society governed by socialistic 



