James Kirke Paulding was born in Dutchess County, New York, on August 22, 1779. He attended the village school for a short time; but in 1800 went to New York City, where, in connection with his brother-in-law, William Irving, and Washington Irving, another of the American pioneer prose writers, he began to publish in January, 1807, a series of short, lightly humorous articles called the “Salmagundi Papers.” In 1814 a political pamphlet of his, “The United States and England,” attracted the notice of President Madison. He was favorably impressed, and the next year appointed him secretary to the Board of Navy Commissioners. He held this position until November, 1823. He was navy agent in New York City from 1825 to 1837. Paulding was always a successful man of affairs and an able politician. In recognition of his ability, President Van Buren made him a member of his cabinet in 1837 as Secretary of the Navy. Later he retired to Poughkeepsie, New York, where he divided his time between writing and farming. He died on April 6, 1860. Paulding came of good old Knickerbocker blood. In his work he never liked to revise what he had already written, nor did he plan out his books. His best known work is perhaps the “Dutchman’s Fireside,” which has many pleasing pages of Dutch life. He also wrote a number of poems; but these do not measure up to the standards of good poetry. One of them, “The Backwoodsman,” extends over three thousand lines, few of which may be termed good. Paulding was one of the first distinctively American writers. From his father, an active Revolutionary patriot, he inherited strong anti-British sentiments. Throughout his life he was a vigorous protester against intellectual thraldom to the mother country. PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 4, No. 6, SERIAL No. 106 COPYRIGHT, 1916, BY THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION, INC. [Illustration: JAMES FENIMORE COOPER] American Pioneer Prose Writers JAMES FENIMORE COOPER Monograph Number Six in The Mentor Reading Course James Fenimore Cooper was one of the most popular writers that ever lived. Almost every American has read some or all of Cooper’s books, and his stories have been translated into nearly all the languages of Europe, and indeed into some of Asia. Balzac, the French novelist, admired him greatly. Victor Hugo, another famous French writer, said that Cooper was greater than any novelist living at that time. Many of Cooper’s readers gave him the title of “The American Walter Scott.” Cooper was born at Burlington, New Jersey, September 15, 1789. His boyhood was spent in the wild country around Otsego Lake, New York. His father was a judge and a member of Congress. Cooper entered Yale at the early age of fourteen, and was the youngest student on the rolls.