Chapter James Russell Lowell of Index by Simonds History of American Literature

Diplomatic Service.

Like Irving, Mr. Lowell was called upon to serve his country in the responsible and delicate position of a representative at foreign courts. In 1877, he was appointed minister to Spain, under President Hayes. He was received in Madrid as a worthy successor of the author of Knickerbocker and of Columbus; but Lowell found no time for literary work while there. The duties of his position, though trying, he discharged with success, and in 1880 was transferred to the English Court of St. James. Here, in the most important of all our diplomatic offices, Lowell was brilliantly successful. It is said that he became one of the most popular men in England. The notable writers of the time were all his friends. On all public occasions he was a welcome guest, and an indispensable participant on occasions of any literary significance. He delivered addresses at the unveiling of busts of Fielding and Coleridge, and was, naturally, the principal speaker when the bust of Longfellow was placed in Westminster Abbey. In these occasional speeches, Lowell was inevitably happy -- never more successful than in his famous address on Democracy, delivered in 1884, on assuming the presidency of the Birmingham and Midland Institute. This speech, now classic, was a clear and thoughtful exposition of the American idea; a striking interpretation to an English audience of our political system. If the charm of Lowell's personality won the hearts of Englishmen, the tact and firmness with which he conducted the affairs of his office commanded their respect. Lowell never forgot that he was an American, and no one was ever more loyal to the ideals of his country; nor has any of our official representatives done more to cement the friendship between the two countries.

After five years' residence as minister in London, and seven years since his departure for Madrid, Lowell returned to America in 1885. He was again alone; his wife had died in England shortly before his return.

The Last Activities.

The remaining years were tinged with the melancholy that comes with the breaking up of old associations and the loss of old friends. His health was not robust, yet he was not inactive. He delivered a number of public addresses, including a course of Lowell Institute lectures in 1887 -- again upon his favorite subject, Old English Dramatists. His volume of poems, Heartsease and Rue, was published in 1888, together with a volume of Political Essays. In 1889, he delivered in New York an address upon Our Literature, and wrote an introduction for a new edition of Izaak Walton's Compleat Angler. The summers of 1886, 1887, 1888, and 1889, he passed in England, making his place of sojourn regularly in the ancient town of Whitby, which had been a favorite resort during his official term. His final task was the revision of his works. The poet's home was again at Elmwood; and here the shadow fell upon him. He died August 12, 1891.

His Art.

Lowell might, perhaps, have had a higher place among the poets had he been more careful in his art; his composition is often marred by haste; he gave little time to revision, and even the more important poems were put forth rapidly. But the poet was a master of language and of rhythm. In the literary training which helps to artistic expression, Lowell had the advantage over his contemporaries except Poe and Longfellow. The quality which in these two poets has appealed so universally to readers abroad as well as at home is apparently lacking in Lowell; but we feel that there is a masculine strength in his verse which we do not find in Longfellow, and a sincerity of utterance that does not appear in Poe.

General Survey.

A survey of Lowell's work in literature reveals the versatility of his genius as well as the general excellence of his achievement. Not only is he the only American writer who has won high distinction in both prose and verse, -- except Poe, -- but in both verse and prose he has touched so many keys with such precision and such power, that he must be regarded as distinctly the most gifted among American men of letters. He is the only notable critic who has appeared on this side the Atlantic; his literary essays may even outlive his verse. Through his well-known essay on Dante, his name is permanently associated with the critical study of the Italian poet.