ONGFELLOW is a household name in England as well as in America; in translation he is read in almost every civilized language of Europe. Dom Pedro II., the enlightened and philanthropic exemperor of Brazil, made versions of his principal poems in Portuguese with his own hand, and said, on his visit to the United States,

in 1876, that one of the two things he most desired to see was Longfellow.

The poet was born in Portland, Maine, on the 27th of February, 1807. He was the son of the Hon. Stephen W. Longfellow, by whose care he was well trained from his infancy. He graduated at Bowdoin College in 1825, and for a time studied law. He was soon, however, appointed to the chair of modern languages in his own college; in order to prepare himself for which, he travelled more than three years in Europe. In 1835 he received and accepted a similar appointment at Harvard, succeeding that accomplished scholar Mr. George Ticknor. Again he travelled extensively, and especially in the North of Europe. On his return he purchased the Craigie House-the old headquarters of Washington at Cambridge-where he resided until his death, and which he has mentioned in his poems in its historical and domestic connections.

With no purpose to give a list of Longfellow's works, let us say a word as to the character and the critical estimate of his poetry. Every true poet at some time issues his view of the poet's functions. In one of his bestknown pieces Longfellow has instructively, and perhaps unconsciously, set forth his poetic canons and forecast his own brilliant career:

"God sent his singers upon earth

With songs of sadness and of mirth,
That they might touch the hearts of men
And bring them back to heaven again.