ing. They rarely say anything or do anything that shows the true womanly spirit of devotion, helpfulness, and self-sacrifice. These are faults that are palpable and acknowledged. What, then, are the excellences which, triumphing over these serious drawbacks, still render Cooper one of the most popular of authors? First, he had the power of graphic description. Without catching the spiritual significance of nature, he yet. presented its various forms with extraordinary vividness. "If Cooper," said Balzac, "had succeeded in the painting of character to the same extent that he did in the painting of the phenomena of nature, he would have uttered the last word of our art." But above this and above every other quality is Cooper's power as a narrator. It is here that his genius manifests itself in its full power. His best novels are made up of a succession of interesting or exciting events, which he narrates with supreme art. We realize every detail, and often follow the story with breathless interest. Cooper is an author, not for literary critics, but for general readers. In the words of Bryant, "he wrote for mankind at large; hence it is that he has earned a fame wider than any author of modern times. The creations of his genius shall survive through centuries to come, and perish only with our language." WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT. GREAT genius is not always associated with exalted character. There is much in the life of Pope, of Burns, and of Byron that we cannot approve of. So far as their works reflect their moral obliquities, we are forced to make abatements in our praise. It is greatly to the credit of American literature that its leading representatives have been men of excellent character. Dissolute genius has not flourished on our soil. At the funeral of Bryant, it was truthfully said, "It is the glory of this man that his character outshone even his great talent and his large fame." In a poem "To Bryant on his Birthday," Whittier beautifully said: "We praise not now the poet's art, The moral element in literature is of the highest importance. It is a French maxim, often disregarded in France as elsewhere, that "Nothing is beautiful but truth." It is certain that only truth is enduring. Whatever is false is sure, sooner or later, to pass away. Bryant gave beautiful expression to the same idea in the oft-quoted lines from his poem, "The Battle-Field: "Truth, crushed to earth, shall rise again; 1 Rien n'est beau que le vrai. This truth is often forgotten or neglected by our men of letters. Whatever is false in any way, whether in fact, principle, sentiment, taste, cannot be permanent. This is the secret of the wrecks that strew the fields of literature. The enduring works of literature those that men are unwilling to let die are helpful to humanity. No art, however exquisite, can win lasting currency for error. Judged by this principle, the They are not only admirable works of Bryant are enduring. in literary art, but they are true in thought, sentiment, and taste. It may be said of him, as was said of James Thomson, his works contain "No line which, dying, he could wish to blot." William Cullen Bryant was born at Cummington, Mass., Nov. 3, 1794. He came of sound Puritan stock, counting among his ancestors the Priscilla and John Alden immortalized by another descendant and poet. His father was a kind, cultured, and refined physician, who took more than ordinary interest in the training of his gifted son. In his "Hymn to Death," the composition of which was interrupted by the decease of his father, the poet pays him a noble tribute: "This faltering verse, which thou Shalt not, as wont, o'erlook, is all I have A name of which the wretched shall not think As all forgive the dead. Rest, therefore, thou Shall dawn to waken thine insensible dust." Bryant was a child of extraordinary precocity. At the age of sixteen months he knew all the letters of the alphabet. In the district school he distinguished himself as an almost infal |