The war left him in poverty. The bombardment of Charleston had destroyed his beautiful home; and the family silver and other treasures, which had been removed to Columbia for safe-keeping, were lost in Sherman's "march to the sea." His manly courage, one of the dominant notes in his music, did not desert him. He built near Augusta, Ga., a primitive cottage, to which he gave the name Copse Hill, and in which the rest of his days were spent in brave hopefulness. He portrayed his own spirit when he wrote:

"Still smiles the brave soul, undivorced from hope;

And with unwavering eye and warrior mien,
Walks in the shadow dauntless and serene,
To test, through hostile years, the utmost scope
Of man's endurance - constant to essay
All heights of patience free to feet of clay."

Henry Timrod's life resembles that of Keats. It is a melancholy record of poverty, ill health, unappreciation, and disaster. There is a deep pathos in the struggles and premature ending of this gifted life. He keenly felt the indifference with which his songs were received, and it chilled the poetic ardor of his soul. He was a native of Charleston. Like so many other poets in whom the literary impulse has been strong, he gave up law for literature. In 1849, under the nom de plume of "Aglaus," he began a series of contributions to the Southern Literary Messenger, some of which have not found a place in his collected writings. He contributed, also, to Russell's Magazine, under the editorship of Hayne, in which some of his best productions appeared..

In 1860 a small volume of his poems was published in Boston. Though, in the opinion of Hayne, "a better

first volume of the kind seldom appeared anywhere," it attracted but little attention. The beginning of the Civil War called forth some fiery lyrics - especially "Carolina" and "A Cry to Arms" which in the excitement of the time appealed strongly to Southern hearts. They are as intense in their sectional feeling as the antislavery lyrics of Whittier and Lowell. Ethnogenesis" celebrates the birth of the Southern Confederacy; but happily for our country the glowing prophecies of the poem were not fulfilled.

In 1864 he became assistant editor of the South Carolinian at Columbia. During a brief period of prosperity he ventured upon his long-deferred marriage to Miss Kate Goodwin the "Katie" of his song. But a year later, in the path of Sherman's victorious march, his paper was destroyed and he himself became a fugitive. In his great need it became necessary at times to exchange necessary household articles for bread. He died in 1867 and was buried in Columbia, where a small shaft now marks his grave.

A posthumous edition of Timrod's poems was published in 1873 with a beautiful memoir by Hayne. A memorial edition was issued in 1899. An examination of the poems shows that they are of limited range and, in the main, slight in subject. But they are distinguished by simplicity, elegance, and sanity. Timrod is lacking in the finest lyrical flights, but he is constantly true. He is always noble in thought and sentiment. His conception of the poetic office, as reflected in "A Vision of Poesy," was exalted; the poet was to his mind a prophet. The poet "spheres worlds in himself"; and then, "like some noble host,"

"He spreads the riches of his soul, and bids'

Partake who will. Age has its saws of truth,
And love is for the maiden's drooping lids,

And words of passion for the earnest youth;
Wisdom for all; and when it seeks relief,

Tears, and their solace for the heart of grief."

Some of Timrod's deepest notes are sounded in his sonnets. "Brief as the sonnet is," he said, "the whole power of the poet has sometimes been exemplified within its narrow bounds as completely as within the compass of an epic." He laments, for example, that "most men know love as but a part of life":

"Ah me! why may not love and life be one?

Why walk we thus alone, when by our side,
Love, like a visible God, might be our guide?
How would the marts grow noble! and the street,

Worn like a dungeon-floor by weary feet,

Seem then a golden court-way of the sun!"

WASHINGTON IRVING.

To Washington Irving belongs the distinction of being the first of our great writers in general literature. He was not a great theologian like Jonathan Edwards, nor a practical philosopher and moralist like Franklin, nor a statesman like Jefferson and Hamilton. He was above all a literary man; and his writings belong, in large measure at least, to the field of belles-lettres. In his most characteristic writings he aimed not so much at instruction as at entertainment. He achieved that finished excellence of form that at once elevates literature to the classic rank. He was the first American writer to gain general recognition abroad; or, to use Thackeray's words, "Irving was the first ambassador whom the New World of letters sent to the Old." Our literature has had many "ambassadors since; but it is doubtful whether any other has ever been more cordially welcomed or more pleasantly remembered.

وو

Washington Irving was born in the city of New York, April 3, 1783, the youngest of eleven children. The Revolutionary War was ended, and the American army occupied the city. "Washington's work is ended," said the mother, "and the child shall be named after him." Six years later, when Washington had become the first President of the young republic, a Scotch maid-servant of the Irving family one day followed him into a shop. "Please, your honor," said she, "here's a bairn was named after you.' With grave dignity the President laid his hand on the child's head, and bestowed his blessing.

وو

Not much can be said of young Irving's education. Like many another brilliant writer in English literature, he took