substance and the finish of their form entitle them to a permanent place in literature. They are, however, outside the scope of this sketch, which concerns Lowell as a poet.

Lowell was one of a remarkable circle of literary friends, such as has hardly existed before in all history, and certainly never in the United States. His friendships included Longfellow, Emerson, R. H. Dana, W. W. Story, Fields, Holmes, Whittier, Agassiz, E. E. Hale, and others of nearly equal prominence. Such friendship greatly enriched his life, but it in no wise quenched his originality nor weakened his vigor.

In looking over his poetical works for a critical estimate, we find no one poem which towers up above the rest, like Milton's Paradise Lost, Byron's Childe Harold, or Wordsworth's Excursion. But there are many shorter ones, each of which is sufficient to justify the high reputation which he holds on both sides of the Atlantic. In his first published volume, there is one, entitled "Ode," which must have been written when he was little more than a boy, which gave abundant evidence of his high aspiration and of the earnestness of his spirit. His admirers were justified in predicting from this poem a brilliant future for the author, and the result was not disappointing.

The Biglow Papers are a political satire upon the Invasion by the United States of Mexico, the State of the Slavery Question, etc. They are written in the Yankee dialect verse by one Hosea Biglow, Birdofredum Sawin, edited with an introduction, notes, glossary, and copious index, by Homer Wilbur, A. M., pastor of the First Church in Jaalam, and (prospective) member of many literary, learned, and scientific

societies. These placed Lowell in the front rank of humorists. They were the first attempt to use the quaint New England dialect in verse, and they are probably the best imitations to be found either in poetry or in prose.

They were received with favor, and their keen satire, their quaint drollery, their irresistible good humor, have held them in popularity for a half century. Political opponents enjoyed them hardly less than political friends. The experiences of the Bay State recruit, with sly wit, set forth political questions and practices in a way to fill one with laughter. There is an undertone of seriousness, especially a hot hatred of slavery and all its concomitants, and indeed of all injustice. But the form is humorous, and they have been called an attempt to laugh down slavery. In the larger sense of the word, they are intensely patriotic. They are classic in their way, and are the only production in the English language worthy to stand by the side of Hudibras. It is this combination of fun that bubbles over and sturdy morality which places them on so high a plane both intellectual and ethical. They have held their place for fifty years and doubtless will hold it for many years to come.

A second series of these charming papers was called out by the Civil War of 1861-5. These had not the advantage of newness enjoyed by the first series, nevertheless they are worthy of their name and do not detract from the quality of the whole. If there is less rollicking fun in the second series, there is also more poetry. The Civil War was nearer to the poet than the Mexican War, and this fact could not other than influence his writing even of wit, humor, and satire.

Another masterly piece of humor is the Fable for Critics, which is no fable at all, but a rhymed review, or at least criticism, of some of the more prominent American writers. One after another they pass under his scrutiny and receive his criticism or characterization. It is not to be expected that this poem should have the balance of the regular review, but on the whole its criticisms are just, while his wit is as keen as a Damascus blade. It is to be noted that the poet does not spare himself, but raps his own knuckles quite as hard as any.

There is Lowell, who's striving Parnassus to climb,
With a whole bale of isms tied together with rhyme.

The top of the hill he will ne'er come nigh reaching
Till he learns the distinction 'twixt singing and preaching.

The purpose and character of the Fable preclude the usual finish of form, so that it has been called clever doggerel. But along with its trenchant humor may be discovered a manly vigor, with occasional touches of the pathos which is rarely lacking in any of Lowell's poetry, either humorous or serious, and all joined by a good sense that bears the light of day.

In 1865 Harvard College had a memorial service for those of her sons who fell in the Civil War, and for this was written the Commemoration Ode, whose stately measures rise sometimes to sublime heights. Patriotism tinges much of his poetry, for love of country and of freedom was a passion with him, but in this poem it has a freer course than elsewhere. He touches the ideal manhood,

God's plan

And measure of a stalwart man,

The concrete example of this manhood is Lincoln "our Martyr-Chief." Then follows a characterization of him unequalled certainly in poetry, leading up to the climax,

The kindly-earnest, brave, foreseeing man,
Sagacious, patient, dreading praise, not blame,

New birth of our new soil, the first American.

The Present Crisis is probably the most quoted of his poems. It was written in December, 1844, and refers to one of the many crises of slavery. It displays the author's noble loyalty to Truth and his withering scorn of evasion or temporizing expedients. Later he treated similar subjects with humorous form in the Biglow papers; but here he is serious in form as well as earnest in thought. Lord Bacon raised the question of "jesting Pilate." What is Truth? Lowell answers with a clarion ring:

Truth forever on the scaffold, Wrong forever on the throne,Yet that scaffold sways the future, and, behind the dim un

known,

Standeth God within the shadow, keeping watch above His

own.

History is to Lowell a divine revelation, and the crisis of which he writes has the solemnity of the Judgment Day.

Once to every man and nation comes the moment to decide In the strife of Truth with Falsehood, for the good or evil side.

This leads us to speak of the religious characteristic of the author's poetry. His poems are not religious in the same sense as those of Cowper. Possibly they are

not evangelical. But they are religious in the finest sense of the word, holding to an unshaken belief in God's everlasting righteousness, with sweet confidence in His overruling providence, with a profound belief in the practical piety of considering the poor and unfortunate, and especially with broad sympathy for "seekers after God." His "Vision of Sir Launfal" is a universal favorite. It tells of the quest of the Holy Grail, or the cup which Our Lord blessed in the Last Supper. The way the knight treats the beggar on his issuing from the castle and the way he treats him upon his return from his wanderings present a striking contrast. Other poems which may be classed as distinctly religious are Parable (two by this name) Ambrose, Extreme Unction, and The Cathedral. The Death of a Friend's Child may be studied profitably by every preacher, and After the Burial should be mastered by every pastor for the purpose of entering into the experiences of others where one so easily misunderstands.

The Cathedral was originally entitled "A Day at Chartres." The reader can spend with profit and delight not merely one, but many, days in that poem. It opens with a discussion of first impressions, then describes the poet's overwhelming impression of the cathedral. Within he observes a solitary beldam listlessly counting her beads and has at first a scornful feeling towards her, which quickly gives place to sympathy. This leads to the discussion of the various Faiths that grope after God, and the teaching is that God is nearer than men realize. The ancient forms, bare to the refined descendant of the Puritans, have their uses,