WHITTIER
WHITTIER
service. In 1875 he received a letter of thanks
from the Waldensian synod for his poem, "The
Vaudois Teacher," which, translated into French,
had become a household favorite among the
Waldenses, declined the commission to write the
ode for the Centennial exposition at Philadelphia,
in 1876, which was eventually written by Bay-
ard Taylor, Whittier agreeing to write the hymn
for the same occasion, after Taylor's withdrawal
of his hymn, already prepared in compliance
with a previous commission. In December,
1877, upon the occasion of Whittier's seventieth
birthday, many notable tributes to his talent were
published in the Literary World, and on the
anniversary day, December 17, a dinner was given
in his honor, at Hotel Brunswick, Boston, by the
publisher of the Atlantic Monthly, on which
occasion he received a memorable ovation. His
eightieth birthday was also fittingly celebrated
in Boston, and a testimonial portfolio containing
Senator George F. Hoar's address on the occa-
sion, and several hundred autographs of prominent
officials and citizens, was presented to Whittier.
The last years of his life were passed quietly at
the home of his cousins at " Oak Knoll," Danvers,
Mass., with occasional journej^s for the benefit
of his health. His home in East Haverhill be-
came the property of the Whittier Memorial
association. His valuable colonial histories were
presented to the Amesbury and Haverhill public
libraries. The honorary degree of A.M. was
conferred upon him by Harvard and by Haver-
ford in 1860, and that of LL.D. by Harvard. 1886,
of which institution lie was an overseer, 1858-64.
He was a member of the American Philosophical
society and a fellow of the American Academy
of Arts and Sciences. His distinguished coterie
of friends, to whom he addressed poems or lines
on various instances, included Garrison, Chan-
ning, Rantoul, Sumner, the Sewalls, Lydia Maria
Child, Bayard Taylor, James T. Fields and Mrs.
Fields, Agassiz, Holmes and Bryant. His poems,
in general, embrace the purely descriptive; the
narrative, or legendary, in which element he was
one of the first to perceive poetical significance;
the historical, and those touching directly or in-
directly upon the question of slavery, the last
class comprising hy far the greatest proportion.
Whittier edited: " Literary Remains of John
G. C. Brainard, with a Biographical Sketch "
(1832); "Views of Slavery and Emancipation,
by Harriet Martineavi (1837); " Letters from John
Quincy Adams to his Constituents" (1837);
"The North Star; the Poetry of Freedom, by
her Friends" (1840); "A Visit to the United
States in 1841" by Joseph Sturge (1842); "The
Patience of Hope," by Dora Greenwell (1863);
"Child Life, a Collection of Poems" (1871);
" The Journal of John Woolman " (1872); " Child
Life in Prose," with Lucy Larcom (1874); " Songs
of Three Centuries," an anthology (1876); " Let-
ters of Lydia Maria Child " (1883); " American
Literature, and Other Papers " b_v E. P. Whipple
(1887). He is the author of the collected and
separate works (exclusive of those already men-
tioned): 2Ioll Pitcher (1832) republished with
the Minstrel Girl (1840); Mogg Megone (1836);
Miscellaneotis Poems (1844); TJie Stranger in
Loivell (1845); Voices of Freedom (1846); The
Supernaturalism of New England (1847); Poems
(1849); Leaves from Margaret Smith's Journal
(1849); Poetical Works (London, 1850); Soi^gs
of Labor, and Other Poems (1850); Old Portraits
and Modern Sketches (1850); The Chapel of the
Hermits and Other Poems (1853); Literary Rec-
ollections and 2Iiscellanies (1854); The Panorama,
and Other Poems (1856); Poetical Works (1857
rev. ed., 1867); The Sycamores (1857); Home Bal-
lads, Poems and Lyrics (1860); Snow-Bound, A
Winter Idyl (1866); Prose Works (2 vols., 1866);
Maud Midler (1867); National Lyrics (lS67j;
Ballads of Neiv England (1870); Two Letters on
the Present Aspect of the Society of Friends
(1870); Miriam, and Other Poems (1871); The
Pennsylvania Pilgrim, and Other Poems (1872);
Complete Poetical Works (1874; 1876; 1880;
1881); Mabel Martin, and Other Poems (1874);
Hazel Blossoms (1875); Vision of Echard, and
Other Poems (1878); The River-Path (1880): The
King's Missive, and Other Poems (1881); The Bay
of Seven Islands, and Other Poems (1883); Poet-
ical Works (1885); Poems of Nature (1886);
Saint Gregory's Guest, and Recent Poems (1886);
Poetical and Prose Works (7 vols., 1888); At Sun-
down (1890-1892); Poetical Works, with Life
(London, 1891). See: "Poets and Poetry of
America" by R. W. Griswold (1856); his "Life,
Genius, andVritings " by W. S. Kennedy (1882);
"Biography" by F. H. Underwood (1884); "The
Poet of Freedom " by W. S. Kennedy in " Amer-
ican Reformers" Series (1892); "A Memorial,
from his Native City, Haverhill, Mass." (1893:;
" Life" by W. J. Linton (1893); "Notes on his
