ABSTRACT
James Kirke Paulding, was born in Great Nine Partners, Dutchess County, New York, and was largely self-taught. In his prolific and diverse writings, he became a fiercer defender of American cultural and political independence in the face of British attacks and misrepresentations. With Washington Irving, he published twenty numbers of the satirical Salmagundi. By freeing himself from a habit of servile imitation; by indulging in those little peculiarities of thought, feeling, and expression which belong to every nation; by borrowing from nature and not from those who disfigure or burlesque her— he may and will in time destroy the ascendancy of foreign taste and opinions and elevate his own in the place of them. These causes lead to the final establishment of a national literature, and give that air and character of originality which it is sure to acquire, unless it is debased and expatriated by a habit of servile imitation.
