Writers who were diplomats: James Russell Lowell, US Minister to Spain.

• Author: Sommers, William
• Position: Biography

Just off the roaring traffic on Highway 2A in Cambridge, Mass., near the now-blocked intersection with Elmwood Avenue, stands a weathered granite monument which tells the infrequent passerby that hidden in the shrubbery behind is "Elmwood," once the home of James Russell Lowell. The house has long since left the Lowell domain, and has been used as the residence of Harvard University's President. And Lowell the preeminent literary lion of the United States in his time, is now indifferently remembered with street names, college buildings and an occasional quote on the op-ed pages from "The Bigelow Papers." His poetry is forgotten, his essays dusty with disuse and his literary criticism a Victorian anachronism. Even his work as a diplomat is all but a whisper of the State Department's past. Yet he served his country with distinction, first as minister to Spain, 1877-80, then as minister to Great Britain, 1880-85.

Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts on February 22, 1819, Lowell fell into the Brahmin mold and, in keeping with the requirements, graduated from Harvard in 1838. Unsure of his future, he switched to law school and got his degree in 1840. But he soon realized that this was not his forte, and turned to a literary life for sustenance. During a long period of writing poetry and critical essays, Lowell gained status with his appointment as editor of the fledgling Atlantic Monthly. In 1855, upon the death of Longfellow, Lowell took over as professor of French and Romance languages at Harvard, a post he held until 1877, when he was appointed US Minister to Spain by the short lived President Hayes.

This wasn't an appointment out of the blue; nor was it one that was offered on his merit as writer, Hispanic scholar or New England Brahmin alone. Lowell, before and after the Civil War, became increasingly involved in national politics. A staunch supporter of the Union cause, he nevertheless became disillusioned over the growing corruption during the postwar years. He was concerned that the "new" Union was receiving a scandalous international reputation because of the generally abysmal character of its overseas representation. Nor was this his opinion singular.

In 1870 The Nation magazine complained that the US Minister to Russia, for example "spent nearly the whole of his term in a vain endeavor to be sober enough to be presented to the Emperor." His valet was said to have dragged him to the mirror many a morning with the dunning question: "Is them the eyes for a minister plenipotentiary?" Reformers lamented the lack of a professional "foreign service" so that even if the best man were to be selected, he would suffer "from the fact that he is not a member of a regular calling, and that his fitness, either natural or acquired, may have had nothing whatever to do with his appointment." Although things have changed substantially since then, some of these backwater appointments are still part of the current scene.

'A little ... bitterness'

But Lowell, in 1869, had been turned down the appointment trail once before when it looked as though he might receive the nod as Minister to Spain from President Grant. His friend, Rockwood Hoar, the new attorney general and the man to whom Lowell had dedicated his second series of "The Bigelow Papers," had became a friendly advocate. The then Secretary of State, Hamilton Fish, approved Lowell's appointment. However, Lowell's fellow Bay State resident - and powerful foe of President Grant - Senator Charles Sumner intervened with a negative insert. He insisted that the great historian, Motley (another Boston Brahman) be sent to England. This meant that a place had to be found for the infamous Daniel Sickles, a political hack of the period. It was essential that he be given something - which, of course, focused on the only place available - Spain. Thus the disappointed Lowell, though dropped out of consideratio for the inept-but politically influential - Sickles - could still remark to his daughter that he had come "within an ace of being the Minister--or, if I may be allowed a little natural bitterness, under the circumstances, within an ass of it."

Though Lowell's current appointment had much to do with his stature and eminence as a writer, teacher and Spanish scholar - it also had its political connection. Lowell had early joined maverick Republicans in Boston to counter the possible nomination of Senator James Blaine as the Republican standard bearer in the elections of 1876. Mr. Lowell went to the GOP convention representing the Eighth Congressional District and, in the subsequent machinations, he led the Massachusetts delegation in voting for Rutherford B. Hayes. The much-disputed 1876 election was finally resolved in the Electoral College. As a member of the College, Mr. Lowell's vote was essential. The word spread that he was going to switch and vote for Sam Tilden, the Democratic candidate. These rumors fed upon Mr. Lowell's well-known concern over the...