Poems of James Russell Lowell: With biographical sketch by Nathan Haskell DoleLowell, James Russell
General
Poems of James Russell Lowell: With biographical sketch by Nathan Haskell Dole
Lowell, James Russell
American poetry
"When the paragraph in question was shown to Mr. Biglow, the
only part of it which seemed to give him any dissatisfaction
was that which classed him with the Whig party. He says,
that, if resolutions are a nourishing kind of diet, that
party must be in a very hearty and flourishing condition;
for that they have quietly eaten more good ones of their own
baking than he could have conceived to be possible without
repletion. He has been for some years past (I regret to say)
an ardent opponent of those sound doctrines of protective
policy which form so prominent a portion of the creed of
that party. I confess, that, in some discussions which I
have had with him on this point in my study, he has
displayed a vein of obstinacy which I had not hitherto
detected in his composition. He is also (_horresco
referens_) infected in no small measure with the peculiar
notions of a print called the Liberator, whose heresies I
take every proper opportunity of combating, and of which, I
thank God, I have never read a single line.
"I did not see Mr. B.'s verses until they appeared in print,
and there is certainly one thing in them which I consider
highly improper. I allude to the personal references to
myself by name. To confer notoriety on an humble individual
who is laboring quietly in his vocation, and who keeps his
cloth as free as he can from the dust of the political arena
(though _væ mihi si non evangelizavero_), is no doubt an
indecorum. The sentiments which he attributes to me I will
not deny to be mine. They were embodied, though in a
different form, in a discourse preached upon the last day of
public fasting, and were acceptable to my entire people (of
whatever political views), except the postmaster, who
dissented _ex officio_. I observe that you sometimes devote
a portion of your paper to a religious summary. I should be
well pleased to furnish a copy of my discourse for insertion
in this department of your instructive journal. By omitting
the advertisements, it might easily be got within the limits
of a single number, and I venture to insure you the sale of
some scores of copies in this town. I will cheerfully render
myself responsible for ten. It might possibly be
advantageous to issue it as an _extra_. But perhaps you will
not esteem it an object, and I will not press it. My offer
does not spring from any weak desire of seeing my name in
print; for I can enjoy this satisfaction at any time by
turning to the Triennial Catalogue of the University, where
it also possesses that added emphasis of Italics with which
those of my calling are distinguished.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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