ection on this side of the Atlantic.
This foreign influence was further aided by direct contact with
Europe. By the second or third decade of the last century the studies
of American scholars abroad became an important factor in our
intellectual development. In 1819 Edward Everett returned from Europe
to become professor of Greek at Harvard University. He had studied at
the University of Goettingen, where he had become enthusiastic for the
methods of German scholarship. While in Europe he secured for Harvard
College a large number of German books, which soon proved to be a
stimulus to the students of the institution. In 1823 W. E. Channing in
his _Remarks on National Literature_ advocated the study of French and
German authors, so that our literature might attain a position of
independence from that of England.[2] Two years later, in 1825, Karl
Follen entered upon his duties at Harvard College as instructor in
German.[3]

[Footnote 2: _The Works of William E. Channing_, Boston,
1849. Geo. D. Channing. Vol. I-277.

Cf. also, the remark of Francis Hopkinson, p. 194.]

[Footnote 3: As early as 1754 William Creamer (or Cramer) was
appointed Professor of the French and German Languages, at
the University of Pennsylvania, which position he held for
twenty-one years. In 1780 a German Professorship of Philology
was established in the same institution. J. C. Kunze, the
first appointee, lectured in German on Latin and Greek. After
1784, his successor, J. H. C. Helmuth, carried out the same
policy.

Cf. M. D. Learned, _Address at the Opening of the Bechstein
Library_, University of Pennsylvania, March 21, 1896.]

Before Edward Everett went abroad to study, however, American
scholars had begun to seek wider cultural advantages at the centres of
learning in Europe.[4] They were mostly theological students, or men
more or less closely connected with the diplomatic service. The most
prominent among the latter class was John Quincy Adams, who spent
several years in Europe. His interest in German literature is shown by
the fact that he translated Wieland's _Oberon_, which however was not
published, because Sotheby's translation had just appeared in
London.[5]

[Footnote 4: Benjamin Franklin's visit to the University of
Goettingen is described in the _Goettingische Anzeigen_ for
Sept. 13, 1766, which states that the session of the Royal
Society of Sciences held