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A History of American Literature During the Colonial Time ...: 1607-1676.
A History of American Literature During the Colonial Time 1607-1676 Author:Moses Coit Tyler Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER II. VIRGINIA: THE FIRST WRITER. I.—The arrival in America of the first Americans—A fortunate blunder— Satisfaction with their new home. II.—The ... more »sort of men they were—Their leaders—Captain John Smith—His previous career—His character—His important relation to early American settlements—The first writer in American literature. III.—His first book—Its publication in London in 1608—A literary synchronism—American literature and John Milton—Synopsis of the book— Notable passages—The fable of his rescue by Pocahontas—The place of the book at the head of American literature—Summary of its literary traits. IV.—His second American writing—A bold letter to his London patrons— His knowledge refusing to be commanded by their ignorance—The kind of men to make good colonists of—Early symptoms of American recalcitrance. V.—His third American work—Vivid pictures of Virginia—The climate— The country—The productions—The Indians—His fine statement of the utility of the Virginian enterprise. VI.—Captain John Smith's return to England—His subsequent career—A baffled explorer—His pride in the American colonies—Utilized by the playwrights—Thomas Fuller's sarcastic account of him—His champions —Final estimate. The three little ships which bore so many hopes, dropping from London down the Thames on the 2Oth of December,1 1606, were vexed by opposing winds and were kept shivering within sight of the English coast for several weeks; then, instead of pursuing the straightforward westerly course to America, they curved southward, meandering foolishly by the Canaries, Dominica, Guadeloupe and elsewhere, to the great loss of time, food, health, and patience; and did not reach their journey's end until the 26th of April, 1607—a journey's end to which they were at last blown by the...« less