In 1861 began the Civil War,
which lasted four years and resulted in the restoration of the Union and
the freeing of the slaves.
Before Holmes, the last member of this New England group, died in 1894,
both North and South had more than regained the material prosperity which
they had enjoyed before the war. The natural resources of the country were
so great and the energy of her sons so remarkable that not only was the
waste of property soon repaired, but a degree of prosperity was reached
which would probably never have been possible without the war. More than
one million human beings perished in the strife. Many of these were from
the more cultured and intellectual classes on both sides. Centuries will
not repair that waste of creative ability in either section. France, after
the lapse of more than two hundred years, is still suffering from the loss
of her Huguenots. It is impossible to compute what American literature has
lost as a result of this war, not only from the double waste involved in
turning the energies of men to destruction and subsequently to the
necessary repairs, but also from the sacrifice of life of those who might
have displayed genius with the pen or furnished an encouraging audience to
the gifted ones who did not speak because there were none to hear.
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