sent a letter embodying his views, which was read at the meeting. (See Godwin's Life, vol. ii, p. 89.) Fremont and Dayton were nominated. The attack on Charles Sumner by Preston Brooks occurred about this time. (See contribution of Mr. Bryant to The Evening Post, July 24, 1856, entitled Brooks's Canada Song.)

1857.

On May 2d Mr. Bryant sailed for Europe, accompanied by his wife and daughter. He traveled through Europe to Spain, where he was offered great facilities through letters of introduction, given him by Archbishop Hughes. Emilio Castelar was presented to him. At the age of twenty-four Castelar was already professor of philosophy in the university.

1858.

The early part of this year was spent at Naples, owing to the illness of Mrs. Bryant. Here he finished his poems The River by Night, The Sick-Bed, and The Life that Is, a pendant to The Future Life. A letter from the Rev. R. C. Waterston (p. 108 of Godwin's Life) gives an extremely interesting account of a service held in his rooms, at which Mr. Bryant was baptized and partook of the communion. His own letter (pp. 109-113, vol. ii, Godwin's Life) completes the record of those days. In Rome he met Crawford, Story, Gibson, Chapman, Page, Terry, Miss Hosmer, Frederika Bremer, and Nathaniel Hawthorne. (See letter from Hawthorne, Godwin's Life, vol. ii, p. 112.) At Florence he met Hawthorne at Robert Browning's. (See Hawthorne's letter, pp. 113, 114, vol. ii, Godwin's Life.) At Florence also he met Walter Savage Landor, and he speaks with great pleasure of the wise words gathered from his conversations. He returned to America in August.

1859.

He presided at a lecture given by Abraham Lincoln, and Mr Lincoln said, "It was worth the journey to the east to see such a man." April 19th he speaks of visiting the new park (Central), "in which thousands of men are at work blasting rocks, making roads, etc." He also speaks of meeting Mr.

Cobden, who was in New York at this time. They had met in England in 1845. The poems of these times were The Cloud on the Way, Waiting by the Gate, The New and Old, and The Third of November, all reflecting the gloom caused by the death of so many friends: Theodore Sedgwick, Benjamin F. Butler, C. N. Leupp, etc. Washington Irving died in November.

1860.

On the 3d of April Mr. Bryant delivered an address on The Life and Character of Washington Irving before the New York Historical Society. Bryant's poems were translated into French by M. Le Chevalier de Chatelain, and published. (See Bryant's letters to John Bigelow, Godwin's Life, vol. ii, p. 134.) He was elected honorary member of the Boston Historical Society. (See letter from the President, R. C. Winthrop, vol. ii, p. 136, Godwin's Life.) See letter from Rev. Mr. Waterston, giving account of Mr. Bryant's visit to him in Boston, and the celebration of the receipt of the news of Garibaldi's and Victor Emanuel's entry into Rome. November 10th, he wrote to President-elect Lincoln (see pp. 150-152, vol. ii, Godwin's Life), and again January 21 and February 5, 1861.

1861.

His work in the cause of the "Union" occupied the greater part of his time in this year. The poems of this period were, Not Yet, published in July, and Our Country's Call, published in August. Every day was filled with stirring events. A Word to the Chief Magistrate of the Union was published at this time. (See p. 169, vol. ii, Godwin's Life, for full text.)

1862.

Bryant continued his letters to Lincoln. (See p. 175, vol. ii, Godwin's Life. Letter to Dr. Dewey, p. 176.) In September he had an interview of great importance with President Lincoln. (See p. 179, vol. ii, Godwin's Life. See Evening Post, July 1, 1862.) In a letter to the Rev. S. H. Cox, D. D., November 7th, he thanks him for a Latin version of Thanatopsis; and in a letter, December 3d, he thanks Dr. Adolf Laun, of Oldenberg,

Germany, for a translation of his poems in the Sonntagsblatt. In another letter of December 3d, to M. P. Jônain, Epaignes, Charente Inférieure, France, he thanks him for the translation of his poems into French. In the winter of 1862, Sella and The Little People of the Snow were written, and he began a third poem called A Tale of Cloudland, which appears in Poetical Works, vol. ii.

1863.

On June 25th the office of The Evening Post was attacked by rioters during the draft. At this period Bryant wrote The Poet and The Path, and began the translation of the Odyssey, the fifth book being published in the Atlantic Monthly. A collection of his more recent poems was brought out by D. Appleton & Co., under the title of the Thirty Poems, the translation of the fifth book of the Odyssey being included. (See letter, pp. 194–195, vol. ii, Godwin's Life.) In this year he delivered his poem entitled Fifty Years, at the semi-centennial of the class of 1813 at Williamstown. His poems were presented to the Emperor of Brazil, who sent his portrait to Bryant. (See letters, pp. 199-200, vol. ii, Godwin's Life; also Speech on behalf of Missouri Loyalist, p. 201.)

1864.

The volume of Thirty Poems brought forth letters from H. W. Longfellow and R. H. Dana. (See pp. 206-208, Godwin's Life.) October 13th, writing to J. T. Fields, of Boston, he says: "I send you a poem, My Autumn Walk, for the Atlantic Monthly. Ask me for no more verses. A septuagenarian has passed the time when it is becoming for him to occupy himself with The Rhymes and Rattles of the Man and Boy." November 15th, the Century Club celebrated his seventieth birthday with the greatest enthusiasm. (See pp. 214–220, vol. ii, Godwin's Life.) He delivered an address at the laying of the corner-stone of the new Academy of Design building.

1865.

At the beginning of this year he wrote a letter To the Union Army. (See pp. 221-223, vol. ii, Godwin's Life.) He

was pushing a petition to abolish slavery throughout the United States, and wrote to Mr. Everett for assistance. (See p. 224, vol. ii, Godwin's Life.) At the opening of the new building of the Academy of Design he delivered the inaugural address. He wrote an Ode on the Death of Lincoln, but refused to write a memoir of him. One of the mammoth trees of California was named for him this year. (See Bryant's letter, p. 233, vol. ii, Godwin's Life.) His poem on The Death of Slavery, written at this time, was brought forth by the passage of the Constitutional Amendment. (See pp. 235, 236, vol. ii, Godwin's Life.) He purchased his old homestead at Cummington.

1866.

...

He says, February 19th, writing to his friend Dr. Samuel Osgood, in reply to his request for a hymn: "I have written an occasional poem at your suggestion, which is more than I have done for any man for long years, etc. . . . In the winter of life the fountain of Hippocrene crystallizes into ice; and if I were ever so young, occasional verses would be a dangerous experiment. . . . I have more requests to write than perhaps you would imagine, and am forced to give them all the same answer." (See p. 240, vol. ii, Godwin's Life, for important letter to Dr. Samuel Osgood.) The poet's wife died on July 27th of this year. (See Letters, pp. 244-250, vol. ii, Godwin's Life.) In the fall Mr. Bryant wrote the poem October, 1866. (See letter to J. T. Fields, who asked for verses for Atlantic Monthly, p. 250, vol. ii, Godwin's Life.) He continued his translation of the Odyssey, writing forty lines a day, and carrying a pocket edition of Homer with him wherever he went. In October Mr. Bryant sailed for Europe, visited Spain and Italy, and met Garibaldi, whom he had known in America. He was invited to go with him to Naples, but could not accept. He returned home in August. (See pp. 252–263, vol. ii, Godwin's Life.)

1868.

He retired from his office as President of the American Free Trade League, a farewell dinner being given to him on January 30th.

1869.

In February he delivered an address before the New York Historical Society on the life and character of Fitz-Greene Halleck, who died November 19, 1867. Although engaged with his translations of Homer, Bryant wrote several poems at this period-A Brighter Day, Among the Trees, A May Evening. Also a volume of Travels, Letters from the East, brief afterdinner speeches, and an address at the founding of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

1870.

Vol. i of the Iliad was issued in February, and vol. ii in June. Vol. i of the Odyssey, September, 1871; vol. ii, March, 1872. (See North American Review, April, 1871, and London Saturday Review, April 23, 1870.) Mr. G. C. Verplanck died in March, and Bryant delivered a memorial address on May 17th before, the Historical Society. He also delivered a speech on Translators of Homer at the Williams College alumni dinner; on the Franco-Prussian War at a German fair; on Women and Peace at a woman's convention; and on Free Trade at a Cooper Union meeting. He made the poetical translations for Mrs. Theresa Robinson's Fifteen Years, besides writing the reminiscences referred to of Miss C. M. Sedgwick for her Memoirs, prepared by Miss Mary Dewey. The Library of Poetry and Song engaged his attention at this time. His work consisted of revising, rejecting, and suggesting other poems, and in writing a general introduction. (See p. 94, vol. ii, Godwin's Life.)

1871.

He passed the early summer of this year at Roslyn, the later part at Cummington, and the winters in New York. In a letter to Joseph H. Richards he says, March 30th: "I rise early at this time of the year-about half-past five; in summer half an hour or even an hour earlier. Immediately, with very little encumbrance of clothing, I begin a series of exercises for the most part designed to expand the chest and at the same time call into action all the muscles and articulations of the body." (See pp. 297-299, vol. ii, Godwin's Life.) The first volume of the