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PERSONAL SKETCHES OF RECENT AUTHORS BY HATTIE TYNG GRISWOLD AUTHOR OF HOME LIFE OF GREAT AUTHORS, ETC. THIRD EDITION CHICAGO A. C. McCLURG AND COMPANY 1899 ALFRED TENNYSON. COPYRIGHT BY A. C. MCCLURG AND Co. A. D. iSqS PREPACK HOME LIFE OF GREAT AUTHORS, writ ten by me and published in 1886, was an attempt to give, in readable and interesting form, some of those intimate and personal details of the lives and characters of a few popular authors which prove so welcome to readers who are acquainted with the books rather than the writers, and the knowledge of which invests the books themselves with an added charm. The success of the former book showed that it sup plied a popular want, and its author is now encour aged to extend the series of lives by treating in the present volume certain other great authors, some of whom have attained fame and favor since the former series was written, and some of whom, for lack of space, could not find places in that work. In one or two instances, also, such as the lives of Tennyson and Ruskin, such a flood of light has been thrown of late years upon the personality of authors that VI PREFACE, entirely new sketches of them have seemed to be demanded, and have accordingly been prepared and included in this volume. I am indebted for the material used in these sketches to the following publications, in addition to those mentioned in the body of the book Henry D. Thoreau, by F. B. Sanborn, American Men of Letters Series The Life of Ernest Renan, by Mme. James Darmesteter, Houghton, Mifflin Co. Life of Bayard Taylor, by Albert H. Smyth in American Men of Letters Series, and Bayard Taylor by H. R. Conwell, Lothrop Publishing Co. The Life and Letters of LouisaM. Alcott, Little, Brown Co. Departmental Ditties, and Barrack Room Ballads, by Rudyard Kipling Christina Rossetti, by Mackenzie Bell, Little, Brown Co. Life and Letters of John Ruskin, by W. G. Colling wood, Houghton, Mifflin Co. In the hope that these sketches will render the works of the authors treated more vital and human by revealing the men and women behind the masks, this book is submitted by THE AUTHOR. COLUMBUS, Wis., September, 1898. CONTENTS. PAGE ALFRED TENNYSON n ERNEST RENAN 32 CHARLES DARWIN 54 MATTHEW ARNOLD ., 78 GEORGE Du MAURIER 96 ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING 114 JOHN RUSKIN ., ., 136 THOMAS HENRY HUXLEY 152 HARRIET BEECHER STOWE 168 ROBERT Louis STEVENSON 191 WILLIAM DEAN HOWELLS 209 LOUISA MAY ALCOTT ., . 229 LYEFF TOLSTOI 251 RUDYARD KIPLING 266 CHRISTINA ROSSETTI 281 HENRY DAVID THOREAU . 298 BAYARD TAYLOR 316 JAMES MATTHEW BARRIE, 336 PORTRAITS. PAGE ALFRED TENNYSON Frontispiece ERNEST RENAN Facing page 32 CHARLES DARWIN 54 MATTHEW ARNOLD . . 78 GEORGE Du MAURIER 96 ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING, ., 114 JOHN RUSKIN 136 THOMAS HENRY HUXLEY 152 HARRIET BEECHER STOWE 168 ROBERT Louis STEVENSON 191 WILLIAM DEAN Ho WELLS 209 LOUISA MAY ALCOTT 229 LYEFF TOLSTOI 251 RUDYARD KIPLING 266 CHRISTINA ROSSETTI 281 HENRY DAVID THOREAU 298 BAYARD TAYLOR - 316 JAMES MATTHEW BARRIE 336 PERSONAL SKETCHES OF RECENT AUTHORS. ALFRED TENNYSON. WHEN the hews of the death of Tennyson was flashed along the wires, many hearts echoed his own words in the Ode on the Death of the Duke of Wellington The last great Englishman is low Many more would have echoed them had they read, The last great English poet is low, for it is a fact that no one remained whom the people deemed worthy of thesuccession to the Laureates high posi tion. It had been filled too long by a man of con summate genius, whose faultless taste had added new lustre to its honors, to be handed down to any minor poet of the day whose talents elevated him a little above the unlettered plain, its herd and crop Swinburne could not be placed in such a category as that, but for many reasons there was little real enthusiasm for Swinburne. Had Robert Browning been alive, there would have been no hesitation. He was born to the purple, and the world had at last acknowledged it