John Greenleaf Whittier: His Life, Genius, and Writings

Part I.--LIFE.

Chapter 1411 wordsPublic domain

I. ANCESTRY 9

The Poet's Titles. Heredity. Spelling of the Name Whittier. Whittier Ancestors. Greenleaf Ancestors. The Husseys and Batchelders. Portrait of Whittier's Mother.

II. THE MERRIMACK VALLEY 24

Description of Essex County, Haverhill, Amesbury, Newburyport, Salisbury Beach, and the Isles of Shoals. Extracts from the "Supernaturalism of New England." The Spirit of the Age.

III. BOYHOOD 36

Birthplace. Kenoza Lake. Whitman and Whittier. The Old Homestead. Members of the Household. Harriet Livermore and Lady Hester Stanhope. The Poet's School Days. "My Playmate." Ellwood and Burns. Old Stragglers. "Pilgrim's Progress." The Demon Fiddler. First Poem. William Lloyd Garrison and the _Free Press_. Haverhill Academy. Robert Dinsmore, the Quaint Farmer-Poet of Windham.

IV. EDITOR AND AUTHOR: FIRST VENTURES 83

Whittier as Editor of the _Boston Manufacturer_, the _Essex Gazette_, and the _New England Review_. First Volume, "Legends of New England." The Poet, J. G. C. Brainard. Ballad of "The Black Fox." Whittier's Views on the Poetical Resources of the New World. "Moll Pitcher."

V. WHITTIER THE REFORMER 97

Identifies Himself with the Anti-Slavery Movement. Publication of his _Brochure_, "Justice and Expediency." Social Martyrdom. Prudence Crandall and her Battle with the Philistinism of Canterbury, Conn. Tailor Woolman and Saddler Lundy. Account of the Philadelphia Convention for the Formation of the American Anti-Slavery Society. Whittier's Account of the Convention. William Lloyd Garrison draws up the Famous Declaration of Principles. Samuel J. May Mobbed at East Haverhill. Whittier and George Thompson Mobbed at Concord, N. H. Story of the Landlord and the Flight by Night. The Poet's Account of the Mobbing of William Lloyd Garrison. Letters of John Quincy Adams. Harriet Martineau on Slavery. Attitude of Whittier toward the Quakers on the Slavery Question.

VI. AMESBURY 123

Removal to Amesbury. Description of the Town and of the Poet's Residence. The Study. Whittier Corresponding Editor of the _National Era_. Various Works Written, including "Stranger in Lowell," "Supernaturalism of New England," "Songs of Labor," "Child-Life," "Child-Life in Prose," "Introduction" to Woolman's Journal, and "Songs of Three Centuries" (Edited). Whittier College Established.

VII. LATER DAYS 141

Danvers. Oak Knoll. Summerings of the Poet at the Isles of Shoals and the Bearcamp House. _The Literary World_ Tribute, and the Whittier Banquet at the Hotel Brunswick. The Whittier Club. Various Volumes of Poetry Published.

VIII. PERSONAL 153

Whittier's Personal Appearance Described by Frederika Bremer, Geo. W. Bungay, David A. Wasson, and others. Incident of his Kind-heartedness to a Stranger. Dom Pedro II. and Whittier at Mrs. John T. Sargent's Reception. Letter to Mrs. Sargent. Humor. Love of Children. Offices of Dignity and Honor.