William Hickling Prescott

e Spanish subjects which he made his own invite a direct comparison with Irving. His study of the sombre Philip compels us to think at once of Motley. The

torical composition. His was not the spirit which gladly undertakes a work de longue haleine, nor was his genial, humorous nature suited to the gravity of such an undertaking. His fame had been won, and fairly won, in quite another field,-a field in which his personal charm, his mellow though far from deep philosophy of life, and his often whimsical enjoyment of his own world could find spontaneous and individual expression. The labour of research, the comparison of authorities, the long months of hard reading and steady note-taking, were not co

e Granada he only plays with history, and ascribes the main portion of the narrative to a mythical ecclesiastic, "the worthy Fray Antonio Agapida," in whose lineaments we may not infrequently detect a strong family resemblance to the no less worthy Diedrich Knickerbocker. In the letter which Irving wrote to Prescott, relinquishing to him the subject of Cortés, he lets us see quite plainly the very moderate amount of reading which he had been doing.[55] He had dipped into Solis, Bernal Diaz, and Herrera, using them, so he said, "as guide-books." Upon the basis of this reading he had sketched out the entire narrative, and had fallen to work upon the actual history with the intention of "working up" other material as he went along. When we compare these easy-going methods with the scientific thoroughness of Presco

published as early as 1809. There can be no doubt that, as Professor Jameson says, this book did much to excite both interest and curiosity concerning the Dutch régime. "Very likely the great amount of work which the state government did for the historical illustration of the Dutch period, through the researches of Mr. Brodhead in foreign ar

of visiting and living in the very places of which he had to write, instead of working largely through the eyes and brains of other men. This was a very real advantage; for the inspiration of the search and of the scenes themselves gave a keen stimulus to the ambition of the scholar and a glow to the imagination of the writer. One attaches less importance to Motley's academic trai

of the Roman Junkerthum. This vivid feeling springing from intensity of conviction makes both books true masterpieces, nor to the critical scholar does it greatly lessen their value as historical compositions. Yet in each, one has continually to check the writer, to modify his statements, and to make allowance for his very individual point of view. In reading Prescott, on the other hand, nothing of the sort is necessary. He is free from the passion of politics, his judgment is impartial, and those who read him feel, as an eminent scholar has remarked, that they are listening to a wise and learned judge rather than to a skilful advocate. Even in the sphere of characterisation, Prescott is more sound than Motley, even though he be not half so forceful. Re-reading many of the portraits which the latter has drawn for us in glowing colours, the student of human nature will perceive that they are quite impossible. Take, for instance Motley's Philip and compare it with the Philip whom Prescott has described for us. The former is not a man at all. He is either a devil, or a lunatic, or it may be a blend of

that theme is treated. Parkman, to be sure, has merits of his own, some of which are less discernible in Prescott. For picturesqueness, as for accuracy, both men are on a level. There is a greater freshness of feeling in Parkman, a sort of open air effect, which is redolent of his actual experience of the great plains and the far Western mountains in the days which he passed among the Indian tribes. This cannot b

der without the ready means of verifying what he wrote. He has, to use his own words, "suffered the scaffolding to remain after the building has been completed." Those who sneer at his array of testimony are none the less unable to impeach it. Though historical science has in many respects made great advances since his death, his work still stands essentially unshaken. He had the historical conscience in a rare degree; one feels his fairness and is willing to accept his judgment. If he seems to lack a special gift for philosophical analysis, the plan and scope of his histories did not cont

N

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MEN OF

by JOHN

. Price, 40

By W. J.

By R. W

. By Pr

By J. A.

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Principa

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. By A.

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y J. Cott

. By Will

y Edmun

By Leslie

y T. H.

y Sidney

y Alfre

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By Prof

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Leslie

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By J. A

By Mrs.

IDNEY. By J.

By Prof

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By H. D.

y Leslie

Y. By A.

. By F. W.

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o. Price,

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ITT. By Augu

OLD. By Her

. By Freder

HITTIER. By Thom

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RDSON. By Au

ING. By G. K

By Alfre

EY. By Aus

LOR. By Ed

By Arthur

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MEN OF

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o. Price,

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Mark Patt

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John Addin

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Richard

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T. H. Hux

y Thomas

By John

By Austi

By Anthon

Adolphus W

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By John

By J. Cott

By J. A.

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By Mrs.

Leslie

By Leslie

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By R. W

By J. A.

. By R.

ISHE

MILLAN

AVENUE,

TNO

istorical Writing in Ame

ed. Its site is now occupied by Plum

dent Kirkland is given by Dr. A. P. Peabody

r of Rhetoric, but he had been absent for se

ed in February, 1820; the l

nading to dislodge Colonel William Prescott from the redoubt at Bunker Hill. The swords of the two had been handed down in their respe

orary instances,-Karl Szaynocha and Prescott's F

e, keeping the other in reserve in case the first should suffer accident. One

ee ch

ing, 111. p. 133

an happens to be in Madrid for the nonce, pursuing some investigations of his own, and he has taken charge of mine, like a true German, inspecting everything and selecting just what has

Hundred Years, ii. pp.

d. Prescott received eighteen ballo

in America, i. pp. 16

that he took more wine

See p

s, see a paper by Dr. W. R. Shepherd, in the Reports of the

nce, who afterward married Prescot

fact that he always s

e life of Charles Brockden Brown already mentioned (p. 65). The American edition bore the title Biographical a

nfra,

vember

this book had been taken up before

p.

p.

upra,

i. pp.

ish Quarterly Re

Pascual d

9. Ed. by Kirk (Ph

e in its light of later research, see Bandelier

ii. p

. pp. 3

delivered before the Massachus

ii. p

remetida y des

i. p.

1723). Lafitau had lived as a missionary among the Iroquois for five years, after

f the American Ind

l y Moral de las Ind

ladelphi

hly, iii, pp. 518-

ew Yor

n Review, cxxii, p

gy. A paper read before the New York Historic

lier, op.

ii. p

most of which have been since published with hundreds of others equally or more valuable, he seemed to attach an importance proportionate to their cost. Thus, throughout h

pp. 22

f the New World, p. 5

of America, vol. i. (Boston, 1889); and an interesting summary of the results of eleven years researches by Ba

y of the United Net

by Ogden, Pr

dress before the Massachusetts H

r of Janua

Writing in Ame

. C. K.