Period. It would be a mistake, however, to suppose that the entire literary activity of the country was confined to popular oratory, political pamphlets, and official documents. Theology was not entirely neglected; and Timothy Dwight's "Theology Ex tentious epic, so stately and tedious that it is never read. Here and there we find a poem or other literary production independent of the political controversies of the time. Such is Philip Freneau's "The Wild Honeysuckle": "Fair flower, that dost so comely grow, Hid in this silent, dull retreat, Untouched thy honey'd blossoms blow, Unseen thy little branches greet: No busy hand provoke a tear." 135. Charles Brockden Brown. Here should be mentioned the work of Charles Brockden Brown, who among our native authors has the credit of first adopting literature as a profession. His early years were marked by an extraordinary fondness for study and by a rare precocity of genius. Virgil and Homer stirred his poetic impulses, and scarcely out of school, he planned three epic poems connected with American history. Columbus, Cortez, and Pizarro appealed to him as epic heroes. He first gave himself to the practice of law; but like not a few others in the history of American literature, he soon abandoned the bar for the pen. He became a contributor to the periodical literature of New York and Philadelphia, and in 1803, in the latter city, he founded the Literary Magazine and American Register, which had a career of five years. He was not indifferent to the political questions of his day; and in his "Cession of Louisiana to France," he advocated, with decided energy of style, the purchase of that region and the progressive territorial expansion of the United States. 136. His Various Novels. But Brown's principal claim to a place in the history of our literature depends upon his fiction. In spite of his feeble health, which necessitated the utmost care in diet and exercise, he wrote no fewer than six novels, among which "Wieland,' "Ormond," "Arthur Mervyn" and "Edgar Huntley" deserve special mention. He was influenced in his matter and style by the English novelist William Godwin, in whose "Caleb Williams " he finds "transcendent merits as compared to the mass of novels." He deals with the mysterious; but in spite of their improbability, his novels still possess an unmistakable power. Though lacking in the delineation of character, he has something of Poe's power in describing weird scenes and morbid psychologic conditions. 137. A Political Satire. The principal satire of the period is John Trumbull's "McFingal," which was undertaken, as he tells us, "with a political view, at the instigation of some leading members of the first Congress," and was published in part in Philadelphia in 1775. It is written in imitation of Butler's "Hudibras," and does not suffer in comparison with that famous satire upon the Puritans of England. Some of its trymen. In the following lines there is a very good hit at slavery. After describing the erection of a liberty-pole, he continues: "And on its top, the flag unfurled Inscribed with inconsistent types Of liberty and thirteen stripes." The hero McFingal is a Tory squire, who in resisting the Whigs comes to grief, and suffers the peculiar revolutionary punishment of tar and feathers. 138. "Yankee Doodle." "Yankee Doodle" belongs to this period. The tune is an old one; and the hero himself, who had previously figured in Holland and England may be regarded as American only by adoption. The song was first used in derision of the motley troops of the colonies; but like many another term of reproach, Yankee Doodle was taken up by the American soldiery, and made a designation of honor. The first complete set of words appears to date from 1775, and is entitled "The Yankee's Return from "Father and I went down to camp Along with Captain Gooding And there we see the men and boys As thick as hasty- 139. Our First Epic. -In 1807 "The Columbiad," an epic poem in ten books, by Joel Barlow, made its appearance in a sumptuous edition. It is our first epic JOEL BARLOW poem, and this fact constitutes its principal claim upon our attention. The plan of the work is very simple. While Columbus is lying in prison, the victim of his country's ingratitude, Hesper appears, and conducts him to the "hill of vision" commanding the western continent. Here the celestial visitant unfolds to the great discoverer the history of America, including the conquest of Mexico by Cortez, the |