Literary　Boston　As　I　Knew　It
  by　William　Dean　Howells
  Among　my　fellow…passengers　on　the　train　from　New　York　to　Boston；　when　I
  went　to　begin　my　work　there　in　1866；　as　the　assistant　editor　of　the
  Atlantic　Monthly；　was　the　late　Samuel　Bowles；　of　the　Springfield
  Republican；　who　created　in　a　subordinate　city　a　journal　of　metropolitan
  importance。　　I　had　met　him　in　Venice　several　years　earlier；　when　he　was
  suffering　from　the　cruel　insomnia　which　had　followed　his　overwork　on　that
  newspaper；　and　when　he　told　me　that　he　was　sleeping　scarcely　more　than
  one　hour　out　of　the　twenty…four。　　His　worn　face　attested　the　misery　which
  this　must　have　been；　and　which　lasted　in　some　measure　while　he　lived；
  though　I　believe　that　rest　and　travel　relieved　him　in　his　later　years。
  He　was　always　a　man　of　cordial　friendliness；　and　he　now　expressed　a　most
  gratifying　interest　when　I　told　him　what　I　was　going　to　do　in　Boston。
  He　gave　himself　the　pleasure　of　descanting　upon　the　dramatic　quality　of
  the　fact　that　a　young　newspaper　man　from　Ohio　was　about　to　share　in　the
  destinies　of　the　great　literary　periodical　of　New　England。
  I。
  I　do　not　think　that　such　a　fact　would　now　move　the　fancy　of　the　liveliest
  newspaper　man；　so　much　has　the　West　since　returned　upon　the　East　in　a
  refluent　wave　of　authorship。　　But　then　the　West　was　almost　an　unknown
  quality　in　our　literary　problem；　and　in　fact　there　was　scarcely　any
  literature　outside　of　New　England。　　Even　this　was　of　New　England　origin；
  for　it　was　almost　wholly　the　work　of　New　England　men　and　women　in　the
  〃splendid　exile〃　of　New　York。　　The　Atlantic　Monthly；　which　was
  distinctively　literary；　was　distinctively　a　New　England　magazine；　though
  from　the　first　it　had　been　characterized　by　what　was　more　national；　what
  was　more　universal；　in　the　New　England　temperament。　　Its　chief
  contributors　for　nearly　twenty　years　were　Longfellow；　Lowell；　Holmes；
  Whittier；　Emerson；　Doctor　Hale；　Colonel　Higginson；　Mrs。　Stowe；　Whipple；
  Rose　Terry　Cooke；　Mrs。　Julia　Ward　Howe；　Mrs。　Prescott　Spofford；　Mrs。
  Phelps　Ward；　and　other　New　England　writers　who　still　lived　in　New
  England；　and　largely　in　the　region　of　Boston。　　Occasionally　there　came　a
  poem　from　Bryant；　at　New　York；　from　Mr。　Stedman；　from　Mr。　Stoddard　and
  Mrs。　Stoddard；　from　Mr。　Aldrich；　and　from　Bayard　Taylor。　　But　all　these；
  except　the　last；　were　not　only　of　New　England　race；　but　of　New　England
  birth。　　I　think　there　was　no　contributor　from　the　South　but　Mr。　M。　D。
  Conway；　and　as　yet　the　West　scarcely　counted；　though　four　young　poets
  from　Ohio；　who　were　not　immediately　or　remotely　of　Puritan　origin；　had
  appeared　in　early　numbers；　Alice　Cary；　living　with　her　sister　in　New
  York；　had　written　now　and　then　from　the　beginning。　　Mr。　John　Hay　solely
  represented　Illinois　by　a　single　paper；　and　he　was　of　Rhode　Island　stock。
  It　was　after　my　settlement　at　Boston　that　Mark　Twain；　of　Missouri；　became
  a　figure　of　world…wide　fame　at　Hartford；　and　longer　after；　that　Mr。　Bret
  Harte　made　that　progress　Eastward　from　California　which　was　telegraphed
  almost　from　hour　to　hour；　as　if　it　were　the　progress　of　a　prince。
  Miss　Constance　F。　　Woolson　had　not　yet　begun　to　write。　　Mr。　James
  Whitcomb　Riley；　Mr。　Maurice　Thompson；　Miss　Edith　Thomas；　Octave　Thanet；
  Mr。　Charles　Warren　Stoddard；　Mr。　H。　B。　Fuller；　Mrs。　Catherwood；
  Mr。　Hamlin　Garland；　all　whom　I　name　at　random　among　other　Western
  writers；　were　then　as　unknown　as　Mr。　Cable；　Miss　Murfree；　Mrs。　Rives
  Chanler；　Miss　Grace　King；　Mr。　Joel　Chandler　Harris；　Mr。　Thomas　Nelson
  Page；　in　the　South；　which　they　by　no　means　fully　represent。
  The　editors　of　the　Atlantic　had　been　eager　from　the　beginning　to　discover
  any　outlying　literature；　but；　as　I　have　said；　there　was　in　those　days
  very　little　good　writing　done　beyond　the　borders　of　New　England。　　If　the
  case　is　now　different；　and　the　best　known　among　living　American　writers
  are　no　longer　New…Englanders；　still　I　do　not　think　the　South　and　West
  have　yet　trimmed　the　balance；　and　though　perhaps　the　news　writers　now
  more　commonly　appear　in　those　quarters；　I　should　not　be　so　very　sure　that
  they　are　not　still　characterized　by　New　England　ideals　and　examples。
  On　the　other　hand；　I　am　very　sure　that　in　my　early　day　we　were
  characterized　by　them；　and　wished　to　be　so；　we　even　felt　that　we　failed
  in　so　far　as　we　expressed　something　native　quite　in　our　own　way。
  The　literary　theories　we　accepted　were　New　England　theories；
  the　criticism　we　valued　was　New　England　criticism；　or；　more　strictly
  speaking；　Boston　theories；　Boston　criticism。
  Of　those　more　constant　contributors　to　the　Atlantic　whom　I　have
  mentioned；　it　is　of　course　known　that　Longfellow　and　Lowell　lived　in
  Cambridge；　Emerson　at　Concord；　and　Whittier　at　Amesbury。　　Colonel
  Higginson　was　still　and　for　many　years　afterwards　at　Newport；　Mrs。　Stowe
  was　then　at　Andover；　Miss　Prescott　of　Newburyport　had　become　Mrs。
  Spofford；　and　was　presently　in　Boston；　where　her　husband　was　a　member　of
  the　General　Court；　Mrs。　Phelps　Ward；　as　Miss　Elizabeth　Stuart　Phelps；
  dwelt　in　her　father's　house　at　Andover。　　The　chief　of　the　Bostonians　were
  Mrs。　Julia　Ward　Howe；　Doctor　Holmes；　and　Doctor　Hale。　　Yet　Boston　stood
  for　the　whole　Massachusetts　group；　and　Massachusetts；　in　the　literary
  impulse；　meant　New　England。　　I　suppose　we　must　all　allow；　whether　we　like
  to　do　so　or　not；　that　the　impulse　seems　now　to　have　pretty　well　spent
  itself。　　Certainly　the　city　of　Boston　has　distinctly　waned　in　literature；
  though　it　has　waxed　in　wealth　and　population。　　I　do　not　think　there　are
  in　Boston　to…day　even　so　many　talents　with　a　literary　coloring　in　law；
  science；　theology；　and　journalism　as　there　were　formerly；　though　I　have
  no　belief　that　the　Boston　talents　are　fewer　or　feebler　than　before。
  I　arrived　in　Boston；　however；　when　all　talents　had　more　or　less　a
  literary　coloring；　and　when　the　greatest　talents　were　literary。　　These
  expressed　with　ripened　fulness　a　civilization　conceived　in　faith　and
  brought　forth　in　good　works；　but　that　moment　of　maturity　was　the
  beginning　of　a　decadence　which　could　only　show　itself　much　later。　　New
  England　has　ceased　to　be　a　nation　in　itself；　and　it　will　perhaps　never
  again　have　anything　like　a　national　literature；　but　that　was　something
  like　a　national　literature；　and　it　will　probably　be　centuries　yet　before
  the　life　of　the　whole　country；　the　American　life　as　distinguished　from
  the　New　England　life；　shall　have　anything　so　like　a　national　literature。
  It　will　be　long　before　our　larger　life　interprets　itself　in　such
  imagination　as　Hawthorne's；　such　wisdom　as　Emerson's；　such　poetry　as
  Longfellow's；　such　prophecy　as　Whittier's；　such　wit　and　grace　as
  Holmes's；　such　humor　and　humanity　as　Lowell's。
  The　literature　of　those　great　men　was；　if　I　may　suffer　myself　the　figure；
  the　Socinian　graft　of　a　Calvinist　stock。　　Their　faith；　in　its　varied
  shades；　was　Unitarian；　but　their　art　was　Puritan。　　So　far　as　it　was
  imperfectand　great　and　beautiful　as　it　was；　I　think　it　had　its
  imperfectionsit　was　marred　by　the　intense　ethicism　that　pervaded　the
  New　England　mind　for　two　hundred　years；　and　that　still　characterizes　it。
  They　or　their　fathers　had　broken　away　from　orthodoxy　in　the　great　schism
  at　the　beginning　of　the　century；　but；　as　if　their　heterodoxy　were
  conscience…stricken；　they　still　helplessly　pointed　the　moral　in　all　they
  did；　some　pointed　it　more　directly；　some　less　directly；　but　they　all
  pointed　it。　　I　should　be　far　from　blaming　them　for　their　ethical
  intention；　though　I　think　they　felt　their　vocation　as　prophets　too　much
  for　their　good　as　poets。　　Sometimes　they　sacrificed　the　song　to　the
  sermon；　though　not　always；　nor　nearly　always。　　It　was　in　poetry　and　in
  romance　that　they　excelled；　in　the　novel；　so　far　as　they　attempted　it；
  they　failed。　　I　say　this　with　the　names　of　all　the　Bostonian　group；　and
  those　they　influenced；　in　mind；　and　with　a　full　sense　of　their　greatness。
  It　may　be　ungracious　to　say　that　they　have　left　no　heirs　to　their
  peculiar　greatness；　but　it　would　be　foolish　to　say　that　they　left　an
  estate　where　they　had　none　to　bequeath。　　One　cannot　take　account　of　such
  a　fantasy　as　Judd's　Margaret。　　The　only　New…Englander　who　has　attempted
  the　novel　on　a　scale　proportioned　to　the　work　of　the　New…Englanders　in
  philosophy；　in　poetry；　in　romance；　is　Mr。　De　Forest；　who　is　of　New　Haven；
  and　not　of　Boston。　　I　do　not　forget　the　fictions　of　Doctor　Holmes；　or　the
  vivid　inventions　of　Doctor　Hale；　but　I　do　not　call　them　novels；　and　I　do
  not　forget　the　exquisitely　realistic　art　of　Miss　Jewett　or　Miss　Wilkins；
  which　is　free　from　the　ethicism　of　the　great　New　England　group；　but　which
  has　hardly　the　novelists's　scope。　　New　England；　in　Hawthorne's　work；
  achieved　supremacy　in　romance；　but　the　romance　is　always　an　allegory；
  and　the　novel　is　a　picture　in　which　the　truth　to　life　is　suffered　to　do
  its　unsermonized　office　for　conduct；　and　New　England　yet　lacks　her
  novelist；　because　it　was　her　instinct　and　her　conscience　in　fiction　to　be
  true　to　an　ideal　of　life　rather　than　to　life　itself。
  Even　when　we　come　to　the　exception　that　proves　the　rule；　even　to　such　a
  signal　exception　as　'Uncle　Tom's　Cabin'；　I　think　that　what　I　say　holds
  true。　　That　is　almost　the　greatest　work　o