Biglow Papers, The, the name given to two series of political poems with explanatory introductions by James Russell Lowell. The first series, 1846-1848, related chiefly to slavery and the Mexican War. The second series, 1862-1866, related to the Civil War and reconstruction. These papers appeared serially. They were written in the Yankee dialect and signed with the name of Hosea Biglow. When partisan feeling shall have passed, it will be found that the rustic sincerity of Hosea has won him a permanent place. QUOTATIONS. Laborin' man an' laborin' woman Hev one glory an' one shame: Ev'y thin' thet's done inhuman Injers all on 'em the same. This goin' ware glory waits ye haint one agreeable feetur. Soft-heartedness, in times like these, Shows sof'ness in the upper story. Earth's biggest country's gut her soul, An' risen up earth's greatest nation. When Lowell conceived and carried out the idea of putting into the mouth of a homely New England farmer, Hosea Biglow, the shrewd rustic wisdom of the countryside, touching the vital questions of the day, local and national, with many comments in the way of introductions and letters by Hosea's parson friend, Wilbur, it was a stroke of genius. . . . Both the homely idyllic quality and the canny hardheadedness of the New England democratic type are deliciously conveyed in these papers by a man who really knew and loved them; and with a mastery of the metrical material such as has never been surpassed in the history of American literature. With this control of the poetic medium went a deep patriotism, a love alike of section and of country, lifting it all to a height of the moral earnestness and power such as to give the verse the dignity of a large vital theme. . . . The Biglow Papers swept the country; they were quoted and admired in England. Lowell became a power not only in literature but in American life.-Richard Burton.