they may be to themselves and
their friends. They are passed in a routine from which there is no
escape, and, if they are now and then enlivened by warfare, it is not
usually of the kind to attract the sympathy of indifferent spectators.
For the most part, the life editorial is a waste of the brain, and a
weariness of the flesh. That it did not prove so in Mr. Bryant's case
is owing, no doubt, to his love of literature, an inherent and
unconquerable love, which never forsook him, even in the busiest years
of journalism. While still a young man, and we may suppose not an
affluent one, for his first position on the _Evening Post_ was that of
assistant editor, he wrote largely for _The Talisman_, the entire
contents of which were furnished by himself and his friends Sands and
Verplanck. It was the best annual ever brought out in America, equal,
it is said, to the best of the English annuals, which is not saying
much of those of a later date, but is high praise as regards the
earlier volumes, to which even Scott did not disdain to contribute.
Besides editing and writing for _The Talisman_, which was published
for three years (1827-29-30), Mr. Bryant furnished several papers for
"Tales of the Glauber Spa," a collection of entertaining stories, the
work of Sands, Verplanck, Paulding, Leggett, Miss Sedgwick, and
himself. This was published in 1832, as was also the first collected
edition of his poems. In 1834 he took a vacation from his editorial
labors, and sailed with his family for Europe, leaving the _Evening
Post_ in charge of Leggett. He resided in Italy and Germany, which
were not so overrun with travelling Americans as at present, and were
all the more pleasant to a quiet family on that account. It was his
intention to remain abroad three years, but the sudden illness of
Leggett, which threatened to result disastrously to the _Evening
Post_, compelled him to return in 1836.

In 1840 Mr. Bryant published a new collection of his poetical
writings--"The Fountain, and other Poems," and, during the next year,
visited the Southern States, and lived for a time in East Florida.
"The White-footed Deer, and other Poems," appeared in 1844. A year
later, he visited England and Scotland for the first time. That the
mother-land impressed him, we may be sure; yet it is worthy of remark
that nothing which he saw there--no place which he visited, and no
association it awakened--is recorded in his verse. We have Italian
poems from him