468 



LOWELL, JAMES R. 



LUTHERANS. 



to the bar in 1840, and opened an office in Bos- 

 ton, but soon abandoned the profession and 

 devoted himself entirely to literature. In 1841 

 he published a volume of poems entitled " A 

 Year's Life," which has never been reprinted, 

 though many of the poems, revised by the ma- 

 turer taste and judgment of the author, have 

 been incorporated into the subsequent collec- 

 tions of his writings. In January, 1843, he 

 commenced, in conjunction with Robert Car- 

 ter, the publication, at Boston, of The Pioneer, 

 a Literary and Critical Magazine. Three 

 monthly numbers were issued, containing arti- 

 cles from Poe, Neal, Hawthorne, Parsons, Sto- 

 ry, and others, besides the editors, when the 

 publishers, involved in debt by other publica- 

 tions, failed, and the magazine was discontinued. 

 Mr. Lowell's next publication was a volume of 

 "Poems" (Cambridge, 1844), comprising " A 

 Legend of Brittany," "Prometheus," "Rhse- 

 cus," and numerous smaller pieces, among 

 which were sonnets to Wendell Phillips and 

 J. R. Giddings, expressing decided antislavery 

 sentiments. A volume of prose, entitled " Con- 

 versations on Some of the Old Poets " (Cam- 

 bridge, 1845), next appeared. It is a series of 

 essays, in the form of dialogues, on Chaucer, 

 Chapman, Ford, and poets and poetry in gen- 

 eral, interspersed with remarks on politics, 

 slavery, and other topics. A second series of 

 his "Poems" (Cambridge, 1848) contained 

 " The Present Crisis," "Anti-Texas," "On the 

 Capture of Certain Fugitive Slaves near Wash- 

 ington," and others, which obtained great popu- 

 larity among the opponents of slavery. In the 

 same year were published, at Cambridge, " The 

 Vision of Sir Launfal " a poem founded upon 

 the legend of the search for the Holy Grail 

 and the "Biglow Papers" a witty and humor- 

 ous satire, consisting of various poems in the 

 Yankee dialect, ostensibly by Mr. Hosea Big- 

 low, and edited, with an introduction, notes, 

 glossary, index, and "notices of an indepen- 

 dent press, by Homer Wilbur, A. M., pastor of 

 the first church in Jaalam, and prospective 

 member of many literary, learned, and scien- 

 tific societies." This satire was mainly direct- 

 ed against slavery, and the war with Mexico in 

 1846-'47. It has passed through several edi- 

 tions in the United States, with additions, 

 and has been twice reprinted in England. 

 In 1848 also appeared, anonymously, " A Fable 

 for Critics," an ingenious rhymed essay upon 

 the principal living American authors. In 

 July, 1851, Mr. Lowell visited Europe, travel- 

 ing in England, France, and Switzerland, and 

 residing for a considerable period in Italy. He 

 returned home in December, 1852. In the 

 winter of 1854-'55, he delivered a course of 

 12 lectures on the British poets. In January, 

 1855, on the resignation of Mr. Longfellow, he 

 was appointed Professor ofJModern Languages 

 and Belles-Lettres in Harvard College. To qual- 

 ify himself more fully for the duties of the 

 office, he went to Europe in May, and after 

 spending a year in study, chiefly in Dresden, 



he returned home in August, 1856. From 

 1857 to 1862 he edited The Atlantic Monthly, 

 in which many of his writings first appeared. 

 In 1863, in conjunction with Charles E. Nor- 

 ton, he assumed the editorship of The North 

 American Review, to which he had also been 

 a frequent contributor, and retained the charge 

 of it till 1872. In 1864 he published "Fire- 

 side Travels ; " in 1867, a new series of the 

 "Biglow Papers" and "Melibaeus Hipponax;" 

 in 1868, " Under the Willows, and other Po- 

 ems ; " in 1869, " The Cathedral," a poem ; and 

 in 1870, two volumes of literary essays, "Among 

 my Books " and " My Study Windows." He 

 was appointed to write the poem to be deliv- 

 ered on " Commemoration Day " at Harvard 

 University, when memorial ceremonies were 

 held for alumni of the university who had fall- 

 en in the Civil War; and the "Commemoration 

 Ode" then recited, one of the noblest of his 

 poems, was afterward included in one volume 

 with " Under the Willows," etc. In 1872 he 

 again visited Europe, returning in 1874. The 

 degree of LL. D. was conferred upon him 

 in 1874 by the English University of Cam- 

 bridge. 



In 1844 Mr. Lowell was married to Maria 

 White, who was born in Watertown, Mass., in 

 1821, and died in 1853. A volume of her 

 poems was privately printed in Cambridge in 

 1855. 



In recent years Mr. Lowell has taken a warm 

 interest in public affairs, and in 1876 was a 

 delegate to the Republican National Conven- 

 tion. 



LUTHERAN'S. No complete and trust- 

 worthy statistics of the Lutheran Church for 

 1877 have been collected. A large number of 

 the parishes failed to report their numbers, 

 so that in many of the synods it is impos- 

 sible to make an estimate which can be re- 

 lied upon. The Lutheran Church Almanac 

 (Lutheran Book-store, Philadelphia, Penn.) 

 gives the following tables, which contain 

 many blanks : 



