Cooper has in a pre-eminent degree the first
absolutely necessary qualification of the writer of fiction--the power to
hold the interest. In some respects he resembles Scott, but although the
"Wizard of the North" has a far wider range of excellence, Leatherstocking
surpasses any single one of Scott's creations and remains a great original
character added to the literature of the world. These romances have strong
ethical influence over the young. They are as pure as mountain air, and
they teach a love for manly, noble, and brave deeds. "He fought for a
principle," says Cooper's biographer, "as desperately as other men fight
for life."
WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT, 1794-1878
[Illustration: WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT]
LIFE.-The early environment of each of the three great members of the New
York group determined to an unusual degree the special literary work for
which each became famous. Had Irving not been steeped in the legends of the
early Dutch settlers of Manhattan, hunted squirrels in Sleepy Hollow, and
voyaged up the Hudson past the Catskills, he would have had small chance of
becoming famous as the author of the "Knickerbocker Legend." Had Cooper not
spent his boyhood on the frontier, living in close touch with the forest
and the pioneer, we should probably not have had _The Leatherstocking
Tales_.
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