ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors discuss some of the impediments to the growth of American literature. America is in the full possession and enjoyment of a government founded on the experience of the past, and reared by the genius and wisdom of an unrivalled ancestry. The mind here blooms and grows under the protecting wings of the Genius of Freedom—its native boldness and vigor unrestrained. The beauteous and serene beams of the star of science are lost in the dazzling brightness of the political sun. The characteristic features of such minds as Shakespeare and Milton, Newton and Franklin, should be studied; for like bright stars they will, shed a cheering light on the obscure wanderings of the youthful intellect. When such is the case, and it never can fail to be, if universities preserve their characters, the success of American literature will rest on a steadfast foundation. But apart from these impediments to American literature, there is another.
