y, that we are to contemplate the
measures now in force for the disciplining of intellect, and the rearing
the moral edifice of the nation. I have already remarked on the superior
ability of the press of our days in comparison with that of the period
through which some of us have lived. The same energy which has swelled its
dimensions, has increased the excellence of its material. Libraries so
abound, knowledge is so diffused, that individuals qualified by scholastic
powers, can be called in requisition for the duties of every department a
successful journal demands. There is moreover a happier recognition of
intellectual merit; reward is higher and more certain; and there exists
throughout the community a noble estimation of productive intellect.
Instead of a scattered recruit here and there in the ranks of literature,
we have armies at command, of well-disciplined men; and the belief is not
altogether idle that, in due season, of these armies there will be
legions. Lovesick tales and Della Cruscan poetry, have yielded to stately
essays on the business of life, in philosophy and in criticism, while the
native muse has often stronger claims to our homage than the verses Dr.
Johnson has embalmed, and that have made the fame of ancient bards. We no
longer gaze at the author as a drone in the hive of industry.

Our youth are taught that a true man may be found among the luxurious and
refined as well in the humble avocations of life. Ambitious of a national
literature, we honor those who have laid its foundations, in the persons
of an Irving, a Prescott, and a Bancroft, a Longfellow, and a Hawthorne.
We gratefully remember our historical obligations to Sparks. We feel the
dignity of the scholar when we summon to our aid the classical Everett.
Mourning with no feigned sorrow the demise of that true son of our soil,
the lamented Cooper, we rejoice that a Bryant and a Halleck, a Verplanck
and a Paulding, are still left with us. Warm in our feelings, and made
happier by the relations of intercourse, we extend the cordial hand to
Tuckerman, our classical essayist and poet; to Willis, for his felicitous
comments on passing events; to Griswold, for his admirable works in
criticism and biography; to Dr. Mayo, for his _Kaloolah_; to Stoddard, for
his exquisite poems; to the generous Bethune, the orator and bard; to
Morris, for his _Melodies_; to Kimball, for his _St. Leger Papers_; to
Clark, for his _Knickerbocker_; to Melville, for _