rn by the guests at an
inn.

But it is with such poems as _Evangeline_ and _Hiawatha_, and the
shorter famous poems like _A Psalm of Life_, _Excelsior_, _The Wreck
of the Hesperus_, _The Building of the Ship_, _The Footsteps of
Angels_ that his claim as the favorite poet of America rests.
_Evangeline_ and _Hiawatha_ marked an era in American literature in
introducing themes purely American, while of the famous shorter poems
each separate one was greeted almost with an ovation. _The Building of
the Ship_ was never read during the struggle of the Civil War without
raising the audience to a passion of enthusiasm, and so in each of
these shorter poems Longfellow touched with wondrous sympathy the
hearts of his readers. Throughout the land he was revered as the
poet of the home and heart, the sweet singer to whom the fireside and
family gave ever sacred and beautiful meanings.

Some poems on slavery, a prose tale called _Kavanagh_, and a
translation of _The Divine Comedy_ of Dante must also be included
among Longfellow's works; but these have never reached the success
attained by his more popular poems which are known by heart by
millions to whom they have been inspiration and comfort.

Longfellow died in Cambridge in 1882, in the same month in which was
written his last poem, _The Bells of San Blas_, which concludes with
these words:

"It is daybreak everywhere."

CHAPTER XIII

JOHN LOTHROP MOTLEY

1814-1877

One day in the year 1827, a boy of thirteen first entered the
chapel of Harvard College to take his seat there as a student. His
schoolfellows looked at him curiously first, because of his remarkable
beauty, and second because of his reputation as a linguist, a great
distinction among boys who looked upon foreign tongues as so many
traps for tripping their unlucky feet in the thorny paths of learning.
He had come to Harvard from Mr. Bancroft's school at Northampton,
where he was famous as a reader, writer, and orator, and was more
admired, perhaps, than is good for any boy. Both pupils and masters
recognized his talents and overlooked his lack of industry. But
neither dreamed that their praise was but the first tribute to the
genius of the future historian, John Lothrop Motley.

Motley was born in Dorchester, a suburb of Boston, April 15, 1814. As
a child he was delicate, a condition which fostered his great natural
love for reading. He devoured books of every kind, history, poetry,
plays, orati