Philostratus! But those acquainted with the works of the philosopher, critic, and satirist of Samosata, fully understand the reason. For the benefit of those who do not possess that advantage, we quote what, in modern parlance, might be called the platform of Lucian: "I am the declared enemy of all false pretences, all quackery, all lies and all false puffing, and hate from the bottom of my heart all and every one who belongs to that infamous tribe, including, as you know full well, a mighty host."*

It is now high time that we give some specimens of Mr. Hart's men and women of letters. We might have done so much sooner, but were in no hurry to perform so disagreeable a task. Even now, we wish to deal as gently with that" mighty host" as the nature of their cases will allow; for although their "biographies" are chiefly their own estimates of themselves, the most ambitious and least cultivated of them are not so much to blame as the person who had so execrable a taste, and so grovelling a soul, as to permit himself to become the sycophant of such a tribe.

Entering the new wing of the Hart pantheon, the first "author" we happen to meet is Sylvanus Cobb, author of "The Cat that didn't eat the Rat," and innumerable other productions of a similar character. This renowned man of letters" was, it seems, born in 1823, and is a native of Maine. Although he has written for various country papers, he had not achieved immortality until he created a sensation in the New York Ledger, or rather among the chambermaids and sewinggirls, who are delighted with such productions as "The Gunmaker of Moscow." "Some twenty or thirty novelettes," (dime novels) says Mr. Hart, "have been republished from his newspaper stories" (p. 490). Side by side with Sylvanus Cobb stands Francis Henry Stauffer. Philadelphia has the honor of having given birth to Mr. Stauffer, in common with a host of other celebrities of similar calibre who figure in the

* “ Μισαλαζών είμι, και μισογόης, και μισοψευδής, και μισότυφος, και μισῶ πᾶν τὸ τοιουτωδες εἶδος τῶν μιαρῶν ἀνθρῶν· πάνυ δέ πολλοί εισιν, ὡς οἶσθα.”—ΛΑΕΙΣ, HAN ΑΒΙΟΥΝΤΕΣ. Luciani Opera, Ed. Lehman, tom. iii. § 20.

"Manual." Stauffer's high position as a literary man is placed beyond dispute by Mr. Hart as follows:

"He has been for several years a contributor to the literary journals. At present he is an exclusive contributor to the Saturday Night. His best serials in that journal have been the following: Ruth Brandon, or the Wrecker's Daughter; Fidelia, the Fire Waif; Lucy Darrel; The False Cousin ; Dorlan the Scout; Devona the Dauntless; Kate Walsingham, or Life in Bradbury Court.

"Mr. Stauffer is a resident of Philadelphia." (!)

How fortunate the "Saturday Night" has been in securing so brilliant a genius as an "exclusive contributor!" But it is still more fortunate, perhaps, in attracting the "notice" of the "teacher of teachers." Indeed, newspapers in general may well feel grateful to Mr. Hart. Take the Tribune, for example, and see how many of its editors and correspondents he has immortalized. His long biography of Albert D. Richardson, alone, ought to secure for him the strongest recommendations for each of his numerous "works," not excepting his treatise on "Removing Mountains;" for our author has bestowed nearly as much admiration on Mr. Richardson as he has on himself, at least nearly as many lines and words. This curious biography ends thus:

"Mr. Richardson died December 2, 1869, having been shot in the Tribune office by Mr. Daniel McFarland. A volume has since been published, called Garnered Sheaves, containing a selection from Mr. Richardson's Miscellaneous writings, and a Memoir.”

This article ought to be sufficient to prove by itself that the "Manual" has a high claim as "a text-book for schools and colleges.' Be it understood, that among the directions "To Teachers" is, "study carefully, in full, one leading author in each chapter or section," etc. It is clear that by following this advice neither young gentlemen nor young ladies can fail to discover excellent models for imitation in the "Manual of American Literature." It is a curious fact that the numerous biographies of journalists are long or short, according as their subjects are known to appreciate or despise such things. Thus it is very evident, for example, that neither George D. Prentice, George Ripley, Charles A. Dana, Morton

McMichael, or Samuel Bowles, has furnished any eulogy on himself. Need we say that it is on the same principle our author does not so much as mention editors like Charles G. Green, of the Boston Post, and Daniel N. Haskell, of the Boston Transcript. Such of the assistants or correspondents of any of these journalists as possess least ability and least culture are much more likely than themselves to call brass gold and tow silk. Accordingly the assistants and correspondents figure as giants in Mr. Hart's pantheon, while the real journalists, those whose abilities and culture are beyond dispute, figure only as pigmies, or are altogether excluded from that curious edifice.

It is true that editors-in-chief have honors conferred on them ex officio, in another way, lest they might sometines spoil "firstrate notices," by treating them as wanting fire. Sufficient illustrations of this may be found in almost any page of our anthor's "copious index," such, for instance, as " Commercial Bulletin, by Charles Guild," "Springfield Republican, by Samuel Bowles," "Sun, New York, by Charles A. Dana," "North American Newspaper, by Morton McMichael." conferring this sort of honor also, our author takes care to remember himself, for we read in the index," Sunday School Times, by John S. Hart." Thus, in future, we have as good a right to say, "The Daily Thunderbolt, by Smith," as we have to say the Divina Commedia by Dante, Hiawatha by Longfellow, or Thanatopsis by Bryant.

In

As might be expected, those who have particularly distinguished themselves by their kind opinions of the “teacher of teachers" are particularly honored even in his index. Thus, for instance, his great Aristarchus is James Ward Davidson. The opinion of either Aristotle or Longinus on either poetry or prose is of little importance compared to that of Mr. Davidson, for we read:

"Davidson, James Ward, 394; his opinion of Gen. Hill, 407; of Mrs. Augusta E. Wilson, 506; of Sue Petigru King, 504; of W. H. Peck, 481; of Charles Dimitry, 482; of P. H. Hayne, 370; of Mrs. Fanny M. Downing, 357; of Professor Bledsoe, 563; of Helper, 549; of Miss Dupuy, 508; of Mrs. McLeod, 508."

In each of these instances, so far as we have been able to

etc.,

etc., etc.,

examine, a direct quotation is given from Mr. James Ward Davidson, and his name affixed to it in full just as the names of newspapers are to numerous similar things in the same work. If instead of "opinion of — of of etc.,, Mr. Hart had said "puff of of—," then things would have been called, at least in one instance, by their proper names. But let the curious reader turn to Mr. Davidson's biography, which, like so many others, concludes thus: "He is at present a resident of Washington, D. C." Mr. Hart rarely forgets that an advertisement should include the address of the party advertised; doubtless, when he omits the address, there is good reason for the omission.

It is a curious fact that, although there are several others who are each declared superior to all others, as critics, none are quoted like Mr. Davidson. Turning to James Russell Lowell, we are told, that gentleman "excels in so many lines of effort that it is not easy to know in what class of writers to place him. *** His latest and most consummate efforts, however, as given in the two volumes ** seem to point to literary criticism as that in which he has achieved his greatest success." Yet, so far as we have been able to see, Mr. Lowell's" opinion is nowhere quoted by Mr. Hart. Is it because his opinion of such "authors" as four-fifths of those eulogized in the present "Manual" is not favorable? Is it, in short, because whatever may be the faults of Mr. Lowell, he is a critic, not a puffer? It is evident that although he has received abundant praise, such as it is, from Mr. Hart, he has not furnished his biography to that gentleman. Otherwise the grammar and style of the thing would have been much better than they are. And we think we are quite safe in arriving at the same conclusion in regard to the biography of Oliver Wendell Holmes. IIe, too, we are told, "excels in several departments. He is by profession a medical lecturer, and ranks high as a writer on medical science, producing, on one occasion, three prize dissertations in two successive years" (!) This, it will be admitted, was a wonderful feat. Will the reader please admire the grammar, and the common sense of the compliment, and then turn to Miss Edgeworth's Essay on Bulls. Surely Dr. Holmes will

prove himself very ungrateful if he fails to assign a high rank to the "teacher of teachers," as a biographer, philologist and critic. But we suspect that, in spite of his skill as a physician, his stomach is not strong enough for the effort.

The same, but slightly modified, may be said of the plastering process to which Dr. R. Shelton Mackenzie has been subjected by the same artist, and of its effects on the Doctor's stomach. But that gentleman is far too good-natured to blame one who has been equally eulogistic of him in his "English Literature" and "American Literature," although it may remind him that when a certain deputation of ladies. presented Dr. Johnson a rather high-flown eulogistic address, the honest lexicographer and critic only replied, “Fiddle da dee, my dears!" Thus, in "English Literature" we are informed that Dr. Maginn is a native of Ireland; and we are informed in "American Literature" that Dr. Mackenzie is a native of the same country. But mark. In the biography of the former we read as follows: "The service which Maginn's countrymen failed to render him has been rendered by an American R. Shelton Mackenzie, LL.D., etc." Dr. Mackenzie is not one of Maginn's "countrymen," although Mr. Hart himself informs us in "American Literature" that he was "born in Limerick County, Ireland, and educated at a school in Fermoy," that "at the age of thirteen he was apprenticed to an apothecary in Cork;" that "he studied medicine, and obtained on examination the degree of M. D.," and finally, "that he opened a school in Fermoy" (p. 419). Since, notwithstanding all this, Mackenzie is "an American," it is clear that Maginn's countrymen are an ungrateful, unappreciative race!

Be this as it may, had our author only rendered himself ridiculous by his bombastic, self-contradictory eulogies on men who, as in the three or four instances just given, have undoubted claims to the character of literary men, we would have laid his book aside, with scores of its class, as a harmless though worthless performance. But, as already remarked, it is those who deserve no praise, but the reverse, in whose praise he is most enthusiastic; it is to those who have no rank in literature he assigns the highest rank. And his favorite literary