part in the Battle of Bunker Hill (in which he received three wounds)

after which he was taken Prisoner by the British, conveyed to England,

where for thirty years he obtained a livelihood for himself and family,

by crying ‘_Old Chairs to Mend_’ through the Streets of London.--In

May last, by the assistance of the American Consul, he succeeded

(in the 79th year of his age) in obtaining a passage to his native

country, after an absence of 48 years. Providence: Printed by Henry

Trumbull--1824 (Price 28 cents).” The result was _Israel Potter_,

published in book form by G. P. Putnam in 1855, after having appeared

serially in _Putnam’s Monthly Magazine_. _Israel Potter_ is, in most

part, a spirited narrative containing, so Mr. Mather states, “the best

account of a sea fight in American fiction.” It was praised, too, by

Hawthorne for its delineations of Franklin and John Paul Jones, and

doubtless deserves a wider recognition than has ever been given it.

Interestingly enough, the book is dedicated to Bunker Hill Monument.

Between 1853 and 1856, Melville published twelve articles, inclusive

of _Israel Potter_, in _Putnam’s Magazine_ and in _Harper’s Monthly_.

Melville made from a selection from these his _Piazza Tales_ (1856),

published in New York by Dix and Edwards, in London by Sampson Low.

Of these, _The Bell Tower_, _Don Benito Cereno_ and _The Encantadas_

show the last glow of Melville’s literary glamour, the final momentary

brightening of the embers before they sank into blackness and ash.

There exists a letter from _Putnam’s Monthly_, dated May 12, 1854, and

signed by Charles T. Briggs--refusing a still unpublished story of

Melville’s out of fear of “offending the religious sensibilities of

the public and the Congregation of Grace Church.” This letter is less

important because of its exquisite sensitiveness, than because of its

mention of a letter from Lowell; a letter in which Lowell is reported

to have read _The Encantadas_. According to Briggs’ communication,

Lowell was so moved that “the figure of the cross on the ass’ neck

brought tears into his eyes, and he thought it the finest touch of

genius he had seen in prose.” Swinburne speaks of “the generous

pleasure of praising”: this pleasure Lowell indulged frequently, and

in his wholesome and whole-hearted way. Of Hawthorne, Lowell said:

“The rarest creative imagination of the century, the rarest in some

ideal respects since Shakespeare.” _The Confidence Man_ was published

in 1857: but it was a posthumous work. Thereafter, Melville was to try

his hand at poetry, and with results little meriting the total oblivion

into which his poetry has fallen; and in his old age he was again to

turn to prose: but before Melville was half through his mortal life his

signal literary achievement was done. The rest, if not silence, was

whisper.