Paulding was always a successful man of affairs and an able politician. In recognition of his ability, President Van Buren made him a member of his cabinet in 1837 as Secretary of the Navy.
Later he retired to Poughkeepsie, New York, where he divided his time between writing and farming. He died on April 6, 1860.
Paulding came of good old Knickerbocker blood. In his work he never liked to revise what he had already written, nor did he plan out his books. His best known work is perhaps the “Dutchman’s Fireside,” which has many pleasing pages of Dutch life.
He also wrote a number of poems; but these do not measure up to the standards of good poetry. One of them, “The Backwoodsman,” extends over three thousand lines, few of which may be termed good.
Paulding was one of the first distinctively American writers. From his father, an active Revolutionary patriot, he inherited strong anti-British sentiments. Throughout his life he was a vigorous protester against intellectual thraldom to the mother country.
PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 4, No. 6, SERIAL No. 106 COPYRIGHT, 1916, BY THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION, INC.
Monograph Number Six in The Mentor Reading Course
James Fenimore Cooper was one of the most popular writers that ever lived. Almost every American has read some or all of Cooper’s books, and his stories have been translated into nearly all the languages of Europe, and indeed into some of Asia. Balzac, the French novelist, admired him greatly. Victor Hugo, another famous French writer, said that Cooper was greater than any novelist living at that time. Many of Cooper’s readers gave him the title of “The American Walter Scott.”
Cooper was born at Burlington, New Jersey, September 15, 1789. His boyhood was spent in the wild country around Otsego Lake, New York. His father was a judge and a member of Congress. Cooper entered Yale at the early age of fourteen, and was the youngest student on the rolls.
At college he did not pay much attention to his studies, and in fact was rather wayward. Before he had even completed his junior year, his resignation was requested. His father interceded for him; but it was useless. The young man then entered the United States navy; but, after becoming a midshipman, he resigned to marry. He then settled down in Westchester County, New York. His home life proved to be most happy.