other place is so long and intimately associated with Longfellow's life and work. Here in December, 1836, at the early age of 29, and after five and one-half years of teaching at Bowdoin College, his alma mater, he took up a residence that continued till the end of his life, in 1882, -nearly half a century. And here he entered deeply into the life of the college and the town. From 1836 to 1854 he filled the Smith Professorship of Modern Languages in Harvard College as the successor of George Ticknor; and while in that position, as well as during his subsequent long period of freedom from teaching, he did the greater part of his poetical work.

To the making of a poet his immediate surroundings were most favorable. Old Cambridge itself was quaint and charming place, with its broad, winding streets, shaded by ancient elms and bordered by many historic mansions. It was a fit abode for scholars. "Where should the scholar live?" asks the poet himself, in "Hyperion," "In solitude or in society? In the green stillness of the country, where he can hear the heart of nature beat, or in the dark, gray town, where he can hear and feel the throbbing heart of man? I will make answer for him, and say, in the dark, gray town.'

With singularly good fortune, within about a year after he came to Cambridge he secured lodging in Craigie House,-then and still, in its aspect, its surroundings, and its outlook, the most beautiful house in the town. That he obtained this coign of vantage at all is creditable to his tact and address; for to the solitary and somewhat eccentric mistress of the house, Madame Craigie, the society of most persons was quite unwelcome. This young professor, however, with his pleasing aspect and

soon as he disclosed his identity, and was given the very room that had been occupied by Washington in 1775, shortly after he took command of the Continental Army. After Madame Craigie's death, and the poet's marriage to Miss Appleton, this house which, in addition to its other advantages, commanded a wide and pleasant view, became the poet's home for the rest of his life.

In this happy home and in these pleasant surroundings he enjoyed high fellowship with kindred souls,-Felton, Sumner, Lowell, Emerson, Hawthorne, and all the others, distinguished in so many and varied fields of science, letters and poesy! One has but to name them to feel something of the impulse they must have given his expanding powers. He led a full and varied life. With quiet

LONGFELLOW's CAMBRIDGE HOME.

dignity and with genial hospitality he entertained the many friends that shared his affection and interests, and the distinguished visitors, scientists, and men of letters, that came often from long distances to pay their tributes to his genius. And although the master has been gone now for nearly a quarter of a century, the place he loved has been kept intact by pious hands, and is the shrine toward which eager pilgrims wend their way in ever increasing numbers.

Fortunately, there are still living a few of that distinguished coterie of Cambridge litterati who enjoyed the poet's confidence; and these are they who are contributing so much to the celebration of the centenary of his birth. Prof. Charles Eliot Norton, the chairman of the committee, and Col. Thomas Wentworth Higginson, themselves natives and lifelong residents of Cambridge, knew the poet from their early years, and in mature life enjoyed his friendship. Professor Norton (than whom no more intimate friend of the poet is now left) and James Russell Lowell, as members of the "Dante Club," met weekly for several seasons at Craigie House, that they might aid Longfellow in the revision of his translation of the "Divine Comedy." An occasional assistant at these meetings was Mr. William Dean Howells,

who settled in Cambridge after several years' residence as American consul at Venice, and from 1866 to 1881 was engaged upon the Atlantic Monthly, first as assistant editor, and then as editor-in-chief. Similarly, President Eliot, as head of the university and resident of Cambridge, was often thrown into the society of Longfellow, especially toward the close of the latter's life.

There is much promise for the future estimate and the true appreciation of Longfellow in this joint tribute to his character and genius from these personal friends, with their ripe judgment and in the perspective of the 25 years that have nearly elapsed since his death. It is also perhaps the last loving testimonial of their friendship; for in celebrating his character and work, and in awarding his mead of praise they might well use the words that he employed in reviewing the 50 years that had elapsed after his leaving Bowdoin College: "Morituri salutamus.

Above all, this conspicuous tribute is the more fitting because it is so richly deserved. Into his poetry Longfellow poured his whole self. And as his personality was so winning, inspiring, and satisfying to his most intimate friends, so it has appealed to the universal, common appreciation of his readers throughout the world,

and his sound advice to those who would enter this long-neglected market has already had appreciable effect.

The press in the meantime has not been idle, the magazines and trade journals have taken up the propaganda, the Department of Commerce and Labor and such bodies as the Philadelphia Commercial Museum have redoubled their efforts, feeling that, for once, they have an attentive audience, that at last the American nation is alive to the need of immediate and concerted effort if this country is not to forfeit all chance of winning its share of this lucrative trade.

These symptoms are certainly encouraging; and if the movement be both united and persistent, no one could reasonably doubt the ultimate outcome,-viz., a fair participation in this trade, the establishment of rapid and regular transportation facilities (even without the proposed subsidies), and a general intercourse between the Americas that would insure at least a partial realization of the long-discussed Pan-American Union. But this hope is based upon an in

definite continuation, or, rather, evolution, of present conditions, a growing population, yearly demanding more articles of foreign manufacture, an expanding market of almost unlimited possibilities. That South America should itself become a manufacturer and eliminate all competitors has not heretofore even entered into the problem.

This, however, is the unknown quantity with which we must reckon. Not only European manufactures, hereafter, but homeproduced goods are to be competed with, the output of their own factories, established, perhaps, by foreign investors, but protected by an ever-increasing tariff, and by a patriotic sentiment that augurs ill for the vast commerce for which we have so tardily prepared. Coincident, almost, with our awakening has come a new era of manufacturing in South America, an era that has as yet been scarcely recognized abroad, but which is slowly but surely effecting an industrial transformation throughout the entire continent.

The imports of South America in the past have corresponded, in a measure, to those of

many Oriental countries. The preponderating lower classes demanded the crudest and cheapest articles that Europe could provide. Gaudy cotton textiles, machetes, knives and rude tools, cheap crockery and glassware, trinkets, etc., were the staple articles of trade. Then came luxuries for the increasing urban population, such as pianos, jewelry, sewing machines, lamps and kerosene, wines and liquors, furniture, silks, woolens and expensive fabrics, leather goods, carriages, perfumes, patent medicines, etc., and, more recently, confectionery and fancy groceries, laces, scientific and surgical instruments, stoves, kitchen utensils, typewriters, phonographs, bicycles, and automobiles.

RECENT TRADE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CON

TINENT.

Simultaneously, however, there has been a marked development of the natural resources: in agriculture, creating a large demand for modern implements, fencing wire, coffee and sugar machinery, etc.; in the exportation of meat, necessitating the establishment of refrigerating plants; and in mining, with the necessary introduction of modern machinery.

tended, and since the railroads, street car lines and steamboats have been built and supplied almost exclusively by foreign contractors, this has led to a large and lucrative trade. Equally progressive have been many of the governments and municipalities, not only in the purchase of warships, artillery, arms, and ammunition, but in the extension of telegraph and telephone lines, the establishment of water works, sewerage systems, and electric light plants, which, almost without exception, have been furnished or equipped by European or American manufacturers. Lastly, moreover, there has been a class of imports, small at first, and in many republics still relatively unimportant, but destined in time to cause a complete industrial upheaval, and, incidentally, to reduce almost every other output from northern factories. This includes machinery, stationary engines, electric motors, water turbines, etc., and all the necessary supplies for the construction and equipment of manufacturing plants.

Let it not be supposed, however, that manufacturing, in a broad sense, is of such recent date, and that South America has always