We have thus surveyed his poetical product and genius, for to these first of all is due the celebration of his centennial, and we conclude that his contemporaries were right and that we are right in holding his work precious. But while it is through his poetry that Bryant survives, let us not forget the worth of his personality. For sixty years he was the dean of American letters. By his example he swept away the old foolish idea that unwillingness to pay bills, addiction to the bottle and women, and a preference for frowsy hair and dirty linen are necessary attributes of genius, especially of poetic genius. He disdained the proverbial backbiting and envy of authors. As the editor of a newspaper which for half a century had no superior in the country, he exercised an influence which cannot be computed. We who live under the _régime_ of journalists who conceive it to be the mission of newspapers to deposit at every doorstep from eight to eighty pages of the moral and political garbage of the world every morning,--we may well magnify Bryant, whose long editorial career bore witness that being a journalist should not absolve a man from the common obligations of moral cleanliness, of veracity, of scandal-hating, of delicacy, of honor. Finally, Bryant was a great citizen,--that last product which it is the business of our education and our political and social life to bring forth. In a monarchy the soldier is the type most highly prized; but in a democracy, if democratic forms shall long endure, citizens of the Bryant pattern, whose chief concern in public not less than in private life is to “make reason and the will of God prevail,” must abound in constantly increasing numbers. Happy and grateful should we be that, in commemorating our earliest poet, we can discern no line of his which has not an upward tendency, no trait of his character unfit to be used in building a noble, strong, and righteous State. ELECTROTYPED AND PRINTED BY H. O. HOUGHTON AND CO. The Riverside Press CAMBRIDGE, MASS., U. S. A. Transcriber’s Note The only known changes to the original publication are as follows: Page 60 Acompanying this suppression of _changed to_ Accompanying this suppression of Page 71 as a national anniversary! _changed to_ as a national anniversary!’ Page 80 when the French Revotion _changed to_ when the French Revolution Page 110 The Magyar Government and _changed to_ The Magyar government and Page 110 Rio Janeiro _changed to_ Rio de Janeiro Page 267 One Hundred and Twenty Artiticles _changed to_ One Hundred and Twenty Articles Page 316 by the tears of rhymsters _changed to_ by the tears of rhymesters Page 319 but their transcience _changed to_ but their transience End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Throne-Makers, by William Roscoe Thayer