churches from any supposed superior direction. But so soon as the Revolutionary literature took form, it is clear enough that the writers had got well beyond any European frontier. This is to be noticed even in the writings of Paine, who enlarged his horizon when he changed the heaven which was over his head.
We are to study the lives of those who belong to a new era in history. From their time to this time, the same thing is to be said. A certain breadth of view in matters of politics, of sociology, or of religion, characterizes the writings of the leading American authors which cannot be expected of writers trained in dissimilar schools. William Henry Furness, whose published work ranges between 1835 and 1895, says squarely that he has never known any man who was brought up under monarchical and hierarchical institutions who knew what Jesus Christ meant when he spoke of the kingdom of heaven.
In that epigram is revealed the necessity of our studying the lives of our authors as well as their work. There can be no true criticism of a great American which is not founded upon the knowledge of his work in daily life, whether it be in the diary of the frontiersman or in the elegant studies of the university.
