Note (return) — Chapter XI

Throughout the century there were numerous attempts at poetical composition, and several booklets were published. Perhaps the most promising was George Horton's The Hope of Liberty, which appeared in 1829. Unfortunately, Horton could not get the encouragement that he needed and in course of time settled down to the life of a janitor at the University of North Carolina.194 Six years before the war Frances Ellen Watkins (later Mrs. Harper) struck the popular note by readings from her Miscellaneous Poems, which ran through several editions. About the same time William Wells Brown was prominent, though he also worked for several years after the war. He was a man of decided talent and had traveled considerably. He wrote several books dealing with Negro history and biography; and he also treated racial subjects in a novel, Clotel, and in a drama, The Escape. The latter suffers from an excess of moralizing, but several times it flashes out with the quality of genuine drama, especially when it deals with the jealousy of a mistress for a favorite slave and the escape of the latter with her husband. In 1841 the first Negro magazine began to appear, this being issued by the A.M.E. Church. There were numerous autobiographies, that of Frederick Douglass, first appearing in 1845, running through edition after edition. On the stage there was the astonishing success of Ira Aldridge, a tragedian who in his earlier years went to Europe, where he had the advantage of association with Edmund Kean. About 1857 he was commonly regarded as one of the two or three greatest actors in the world. He became a member of several of the continental academies of arts and science, and received many decorations of crosses and medals, the Emperors of Russia and Austria and the King of Prussia being among those who honored him. In the great field of music there was much excellent work both in composition and in the performance on different instruments. Among the free people of color in Louisiana there were several distinguished musicians, some of whom removed to Europe for the sake of greater freedom.195 The highest individual achievement was that of Elizabeth Taylor Greenfield, of Philadelphia. This singer was of the very first rank. Her voice was of remarkable sweetness and had a compass of twenty-seven notes. She sang before many distinguished audiences in both Europe and America and was frequently compared with Jenny Lind, then at the height of her fame.