In this respect Brockden Brown has the advantage of him; for, as Mr
Prescott has pointed out, Brown shews the rude and uncouth lineaments of
the Indian character, though he is chargeable with withholding
intimations of a more generous nature. While Cooper discards all the
coarser elements of savage life, and idealises the portrait. The first
of this series of tales of

'Painted chiefs with pointed spears,'

was _The Pioneers_--the materials for which, it seems, were to a
considerable extent derived from his father, who had an interest in
large tracts of land near the 'sources of the Susquehanna,' where the
scene is laid, and allied, therefore, to Campbell's _Gertrude of
Wyoming_. It was speedily followed by _The Last of the Mohicans_--not
uncommonly pronounced his _chef d'oeuvre_--and _The Prairie_; which,
among numerous descriptions of absorbing interest, pervaded throughout
by a fine imaginative spirit, contains one of thrilling power--where
the squatter discovers and avenges the murder of his son. _The Wept of
Wish-ton-Wish_--a strange story with a strange title, and which forms
(chronologically at least) the climax of Cooper's fame--is justly
admired by all who appreciate 'minute painting,' and that pensive
monotony which begets a certain 'melancholy charm.' His skill in martial
narrative was favorably attested in _Lionel Lincoln_; in which he
describes with remarkable spirit and equal accuracy the battles of
Lexington and of Bunker's Hill. But to go through in detail the _opera
omnia_ of our prolific author would involve us in difficulties with
editor and reader too serious to bear anticipation. Passing over,
therefore, such of his earlier writings as are better known--like _The
Red Rover, The Waterwitch, The Pathfinder_, and _The Deerslayer_--we
proceed to notice briefly a select few from the long series produced