nd bloodshed,
perpetrated usually by men disguised as Indians. The questions involved
had likewise become subjects of fierce political controversy. Cooper,
who saw in the conduct of the tenants and their supporters a dangerous
invasion of the rights of property, plunged into the discussion of the
matter with all the ardor of his fiery temperament. He worked himself
into the highest state of excitement over the proceedings. It was his
interest in this matter that led him to compose the three works which
are collectively called the Anti-rent novels. These purport to be the
successive records of the Littlepage family, and each is in the form of
an autobiography. They cover a period extending from the first half of
the eighteenth century down to the very year in which he was writing.

It was about this time that Cooper's reputation touched the lowest
point to which it has ever fallen, so far, at least, as it depends
upon the opinion of critics and of men of letters. He was now (p. 252)
reaping the fruits of the various controversies in which he had been
engaged, and of all the hostility which he had succeeded in inspiring.
The two anti-rent novels which appeared in 1845 were "Satanstoe,"
published in June, and "The Chainbearer," published in November. They
may have had a large sale. But there is scarcely a review of the period
in which they are even mentioned. Even the newspapers contain merely the
barest reference to their existence. It is perhaps partly due to this
contemporary silence that these two stories are among the least known
and least read of Cooper's productions. Moreover, they are constantly
misjudged. The tone which pervades the concluding novel of the series is
taken as the tone which pervades the two which preceded it. This is an
injustice as well as a mistake. In no sense is "Satanstoe," in
particular, a political novel. There is no reference to anti-rentism in
it save in the preface. Its only connection with the subject is the
account it gives of the manner in which the great estates were
originally settled. On the other hand it is a picture of colonial life
and manners in New York during the middle of the eighteenth century,
such as can be found drawn nowhere else so truthfully and so vividly. It
takes rank among the very best of Cooper's stories. The characters are,
to a certain extent, the same as in "Afloat and Ashore;" the main
difference being, that in the one the events take place principally on