SOURCE: "Fitz-Greene Halleck. Address Delivered before the New York Historical Society," in Littell's Living Age, Vol. C, No. 1291, February 27, 1869, pp. 515-25.

The first American poet to achieve an international reputation, Bryant also contributed to the development of American letters in his role as editor of several literary magazines and of the New York Evening Post. Halleck and Bryant met in New York in 1825 and maintained their friendship until Halleck's death; many of Halleck's poems first appeared in journals edited by Bryant. In the following excerpts from a paper on Halleck delivered before the New York Historical Society, Bryant recalls his friend's life, works, and literary career.

I have yielded with some hesitation to the request that I should read before the Historical Society a paper on the life and writings of Fitz-Greene Halleck. I hesitated because the subject had been most ably treated by others. I consented because...