PRESCOTT'S RANK AS AN HISTORIAN
In forming an estimate of Prescott's rank among American writers of
history, one's thought inevitably associates him with certain of his
contemporaries. The 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 broadly general theme of his first three
books--the extension of European domination over the New World--brings
him into a direct relation to Francis Parkman.
The comparison with Irving is more immediately suggested by the fact
that had Prescott not entered the field precisely when he did, the story
of Cortes and of the Mexican conquest would have been written by Irving.
How fortunate was the chance which gave the task to Prescott must be
obvious to all who are familiar with the writings of both men. It has
been said that in Irving's hands literature would have profited at the
expense of history; but even this is too much of a concession, Irving,
even as a stylist, was never at his best in serious historical
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 congenial
to his nature. He moved less freely in the heavy armour of the historian
than in the easy-fitting modern garb of the essayist and story-teller.
The best that one can say of the style of his _Granada_, his _Columbus_,
and his _Washington_ is that it is smooth, well-worded, and correct. It
shows little of the real distinction which we find in many of his
shorter papers,--in that on Westminster Abbey, for example, and on
English opinion of America; while the peculiar flavour which makes his
account of Little Britain so delightful is wholly absent.
On the purely historical side, the two men are in wholly different
classes. Irving resembled Livy in his use of the authorities. Such
sources as were ready to his hand and easy to consult, he used with
conscientious care; but those that were farther afield, and for the
mastery of which both time and labour were demanded, he let alone. Thus,
his history of Columbus was prepared in something less than two years,
in which period both his preliminary studies and the actual composition
were completed. Yet this book was the one over which he took the
greatest pains, and for which he made his only serious attempt at
something like original investigation. His _Mahomet_ was confessedly
written at second hand; while in his _Washington_ he followed in the
main such records and already published works as were convenient. In the
_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 Cortes, 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 Prescott, his ransacking, by
agents, of every important library in Europe, his great collection of
original documents, the many years which he gave to the study of them,
and the conscientious judgment with which he weighed and balanced them,
we cannot fail to see how much the world has gained by Irving's act of
generous self-abnegation. It is only fair to add that he himself, at the
time when Prescott wrote to him, was beginning to doubt whether he had
not undertaken a task unsuited to his inclinations and beyond his
powers. "Ever since I have been meddling with the theme," he said, "its
grandeur and magnificence had been growing upon me, and I had felt more
and more doubtful whether I should be able to treat it
_conscientiously_,--that is to say, with the extensive research and
thorough investigation which it merited."
Professor Jameson hazards the conjecture[56] that Irving's real
importance in the development of American historiography is not at all
to be discerned in the serious works which have just been mentioned, but
rather in his quaintly humorous picture of New York under the Dutch,
contained in the pretended narration of Diedrich Knickerbocker, and
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 regime. "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 archives, had
this unhistorical little book as one of its principal causes." Here,
indeed, is only one more illustration of the fact that the work which
one does in his natural vein and in his own way is certain not only to
be his best, but to exercise a genuine influence in spheres which at the
time were quite beyond the writer's consciousness.
Something has already been said concerning Prescott in his relationship
to Motley as an historian. A brief but more explicit comparison may be
added here. The diligence and zeal of the investigator both men shared
on even terms. The only advantage which Motley possessed was the
opportunity, denied to Prescott, of prosecuting his own researches, of
discovering his own materials, and 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
training; for while it was broader than that of Prescott, and comprised
the valuable teaching which was given him in the two great universities
of Berlin and Goettingen, we cannot truthfully assert that Prescott's
equipment was inferior to that of his contemporary. Indeed, _Ferdinand_
and _Isabella_ and _Philip II._ can better stand the test of searching
criticism than Motley's _Dutch Republic_.
Motley is, indeed, the most "literary" of all the so-called "literary
historians". In the glow and fervour of his narrative he is unsurpassed.
He feels all the passion of the times whereof he writes, and he makes
the reader feel it too. He has, moreover, a power of drawing character
which Prescott seldom shows and which, when he shows it, he shows in
less degree. Motley writes with the magnetism of a great pleader and
with something also of the imagination of a poet. Unlike Prescott, he
understands the philosophy of history and delves beneath the surface to
search out and reveal the hidden causes of events. Yet first and last
and all the time, he is a partisan. He is pleading for a cause far more
than he is seeking for impartial truth. In this respect he resembles
Mommsen, whose _Roemische Geschichte_ is likewise in its later books a
splendid piece of partisanship. Motley is an American and a Protestant,
and therefore he is eloquent for liberty and harsh toward what he views
as superstition. William the Silent is his hero just as Caesar is
Mommsen's, and he hates tyranny as Mommsen hated the insolence 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 each. Indeed, Motley himself in conversation used to
describe him as a devil, though he once remarked, "He is not my head
devil." Everywhere Philip is depicted in the same sable hues, without a
touch of light to relieve the blackness of his character. On the other
hand, Prescott shows us one who, with all his cruelty, his hypocrisy,
and his superstition, is still quite comprehensible because, after all,
he remains a human being. Prescott discovers and records in him some
qualities of which Motley in his sweeping condemnation takes no heed. We
see a Philip scrupulously faithful to his duty as he understands it,
bearing toil and loneliness, patient to his secretaries, gracious to his
petitioners, whom he tries to set at ease, generous in his patronage of
art, and putting aside all his coldness and reserve while watching the
progress of his favourite architects and builders. These things and
others like them count perhaps for very little in one sense; yet in
another they bring out the fact that Prescott viewed his subject in the
clear light of historic truth rather than in the glare of fiery
prejudice.
There are some who would rate Parkman above Prescott. They speak of him
as more truly an American historian because the topic which he
chose--the development of New France--has a direct bearing upon the
national history of the United States. This, however, is at once to
limit the word "American" in a thoroughly unreasonable way, and also to
allow the choice of theme to prejudice one's judgment of the manner in
which 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 be
expected of one whose physical infirmities confined him to the limits of
his library. But, on the other hand, Prescott chose a broader field, and
he made that field more thoroughly his own. These two--Prescott and
Parkman--must take rank not far apart. Between them, they have divided,
so to speak, the early history of the American Continent in the sphere
which lies beyond the bounds of purely Anglo-Saxon conquest.
Disciples of the dismal school of history often yield a very grudging
tribute to the enduring merit of what Prescott patiently achieved. Yet
in their own field he met them upon equal terms and need not fear
comparison. Though self-trained as an historical investigator, his
mastery of his authorities has hardly been excelled by those whose merit
is found solely in their gift for delving. The evidence of his
thoroughness, his judgment, and his critical faculty is to be seen in
the documentary treasures of his foot-notes. He did not, like Mommsen,
write a brilliant narrative and leave the reader 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
contemplate a subjective treatment. What he meant to do, he did, and he
did it with a combination of historical exactness and literary artistry
such as no other American at least, has yet exhibited. Without the
humour of Irving, or the fire of Motley, or the intimate touch of
Parkman, he is superior to all three in poise and judgment and
distinction; so that on the whole one may accept the dictum of a
distinguished scholar[57] who, in summing up the merits which we
recognise in Prescott, declares them to be so conspicuous and so
abounding as to place him at the head of all American historians.
INDEX
A
Academy, Royal Spanish, 76, 80.
Adair, James, 146.
Adams, Dr. C. K., quoted, 180.
Adams, John Quincy, library of, 20;
absence in Europe, 20, 23, 37;
professor at Harvard, 23;
Minister to England, 37.
Adams, Sir William, 37.
Albert, Prince, 105, 106.
Amory, Thomas C., 43.
Amory, William, letter to, 172.
Athenaeum, Boston, 19, 20, 21.
Aztecs, 76, 82, 136, 143, 144, 146;
as viewed by Wilson, 147-151;
Morgan's view of, 152-155;
later opinions regarding, 155-156.
B
Bancroft, George, 10;
letters to, 48, 114, 117;
reviews _Ferdinand and Isabella_, 69;
honour conferred on, 86;
quoted, 87; estimate of, 122.
Bancroft, H. H., quoted, 153, 159.
Bandelier, A. F., 155, 163, 165;
quoted, 136, 153, 154.
Bentley, Richard, 69, 80, 85, 112, 116, 117.
Bradford, Governor William, 8.
Brougham, Lord, Prescott's description of, 107, 108.
Brown, Charles Brockden, novels of, 5;
_Life of_, 65, 112.
Bunsen, Baron, 107, 108.
Byron, Lord, Prescott's estimate of, 113;
as exponent of romanticism, 122;
quoted, 166.
C
Calderon de La Barca, Senor, 76, 91.
Carlisle, Lord, Prescott's friendship with, 88, 91, 104, 105, 106.
Carlyle, Thomas, Prescott's comment on, 114.
Channing, W. E., 28, 107, 124, 126.
_Charles V._, _History of_, 117, 118.
Circourt, Comte Adolphe de, 71.
_Club-Room_, edited by Prescott, 42.
Cogswell, J. G., 74, 75.
Conde, _History of the Arabs in Spain_, 65, 130.
Cooper, Sir Astley, 37.
Cortes, Hernan, 134, 135, 155;
quoted, 136;
attack on Cholulans, 137, 138;
retreat from Mexico, 141, 142;
character
of, 143, 144, 147, 151;
compared with Pizarro, 160, 161.
Cashing, Caleb, 88.
D
Dante, Prescott's admiration for, 46.
Daudet, Alphonse, 86.
Dexter, Franklin, 42.
Diaz, Bernal, 146, 159;
quoted, 144.
Dickens, Charles, entertained by Prescott, 91;
preferred by him to Thackeray, 115.
Dumas, Alexandre, 115.
Dunham, Dr. S.P., 70, 126.
E
Edwards, Jonathan, 7, 9.
English, James, Prescott's secretary, 58, 59, 60, 61, 63, 64.
Everett, A. H., 77.
Everett, Edward, 25, 106.
F
Farre, Dr., 37.
_Ferdinand and Isabella_, beginnings of, 52, 61;
progress, 62-65;
completion and publication, 66-71;
success of, 69-71, 77, 79, 95;
style of, 121, 127;
historical accuracy, 129, 130, 131, 132.
Ford, Richard, criticises _Ferdinand and Isabella_, 70;
his ridicule of Prescott's style, 124-126;
Prescott's reply, 127, 128;
quoted, 129, 130.
Franklin, Benjamin, 5;
style of, 129.
G
Gardiner, Rev. Dr. John S., 18, 19.
Gardiner, William, 20, 21, 22, 40.
Gayangos, Don Pascual de, reviews _Ferdinand and Isabella_, 70, 132;
aids Prescott, 76, 77, 101.
Grenville, Thomas, quoted, 142.
Guatemozin, character of, 143, 144;
successor of Montezuma, 135, 154.
Guizot, M., reviews _Philip II._, 116.
H
Hale, Edward Everett, quoted, 77, 78.
Hallam, Henry, praises _Ferdinand and Isabella_, 71;
Prescott's acquaintance with, 108.
Harper Brothers, publish _Conquest of Mexico_, 79, 80;
publish _Conquest of Peru_, 84;
Prescott's generosity to, 116.
Harvard College, faculty of, in 1811, 22, 23, 25;
entrance examinations, 24;
curriculum, 24, 25;
methods, 25, 26, 33;
confers degree upon Prescott, 80.
Hickling, Thomas, 15, 35, 36.
Higginson, Mehitable, 16.
Higginson, T. W., 113.
Hughes, Thomas, quoted, 55.
Humboldt, Baron Alexander von, 81, 101.
I
Irving, Washington, characteristics of, 5;
quoted, 57;
correspondence regarding _Conquest of Mexico_, 74-77;
praised by Prescott, 113;
compared to Goldsmith, 122;
style of, 124, 129; his _Columbus_ criticised by Prescott, 134;
comment on _Philip II._, 169;
compared with Prescott, 173-175, 180.
J
Jackson, Dr. James, 31.
Jameson, Prof. J. F., quoted, 3 _n._, 54 _n._, 176.
Jeffrey, Lord, 108.
Johnson, Dr. Samuel, quoted, 54;
style of, 122, 129.
K
Kirk, John Foster, Prescott's secretary, 87, 119, 136.
Kirkland, Rev. Dr. John Thornton, 22, 23.
Knapp, Jacob Newman, 16.
L
La Bruyere, quoted, 111.
Lafitau, Pere, 145.
Lawrence, Abbott, 103, 105;
memoir of, 118.
Lawrence, James, 97, 103.
Lembke, Dr. J. B., Prescott's agent in Spain, 77, 100, 101.
Linzee, Hannah, 43.
Longfellow, Henry W., Prescott's admiration for, 113.
Lowell, James Russell, 12, 23, 103.
Lyell, Lady, entertained by Prescott, 91;
letter to, 115, 166.
Lyell, Sir Charles, 91, 103.
Lynn, Prescott's house at, 97, 98.
M
Macaulay, Lord, anecdotes of, 108, 109; style of, 117, 133.
Marina, 144.
Markham, Sir Clements, judgment of Prescott's _Peru_, 165.
Massachusetts Historical Society, 57, 86, 120, 142, 172.
Mather, Cotton, his _Magnalia_, 8.
_Mexico_, _Conquest of_, preparations for, 72-77;
four years of work on, 78-79;
publication and success of, 79-81, 95;
estimate of, 133-159.
Middle States, literature in the, 4-6.
Middleton, Arthur, 26;
aids Prescott in Spain, 77, 100.
Mommsen, Theodor, as a partisan compared with Motley, 177, 178;
compared with Prescott, 180.
Montezuma, described by Prescott, 139, 143;
Spaniards' view of, 153-156.
Morgan, Lewis Henry, Indian researches of, 152, 153, 155, 156;
quoted, 157.
Motley, J. L., quoted, 89, 165, 166, 167, 168, 171, 172;
compared with Prescott, 176-179, 180.
N
Nahant, Prescott's cottage at, 91, 96, 97.
Navarrete, M. F., 76, 80.
New England, literature in, 6-10;
historians of, 10-12.
Noctograph, description of, 57.
Northumberland, Duke of, entertains Prescott, 110, 111.
O
Ogden, Rollo, quoted, 93, 172.
Oxford University, 88;
confers degree on Prescott, 106, 107.
P
Parkman, Francis, style of, 133, 145;
compared with Prescott, 179, 180.
Parr, Dr. Samuel, 18.
Parsons, Theophilus, 42;
quoted, 89.
Peabody, Dr. A. P., _Harvard Reminiscences_, 22 _n._
Peel, Sir Robert, 104.
Peirce, Benjamin, 25.
Pepperell, Prescott's home at, 96, 97.
_Peru_, _Conquest of_, memorising of parts of, 59;
composition and publication, 81, 82, 84, 85, 95;
estimate of, 160-165.
Peruvians, 163-165.
Phi Beta Kappa, 34.
_Philip II._, Prescott's memorising of parts, 59;
obstacles in way, 99-100;
preparations for, 101, 102;
two volumes completed, 115, 116, 117;
third volume, 119;
estimate of, 165-172;
compared with _Dutch Republic_, 177.
Pickering, John, memoir of, 86.
Pizarro, Francisco, 160;
character of, 161;
quoted, 162.
Poe, Edgar Allan, 4.
Prescott, Catherine Hickling, parentage and character, 15, 16;
rearing of son, 16.
Prescott, Colonel William, 13, 14, 43.
Prescott, John, 18.
Prescott, Oliver, 14.
Prescott, Susan Amory, 50, 93;
marriage to Prescott, 42, 43;
character, 43;
letters to, 104, 105, 111.
Prescott, William, birth and career, 14;
characteristics of, 15, 82, 83;
home, 14, 15;
illness of, 17;
removal to Boston, 17, 18;
quoted, 67;
death, 82.
PRESCOTT, William Hickling, literary importance of, 12;
birth of, 15;
his first teachers, 16;
traits as a boy, 16, 17;
prepares for college, 18, 19;
his tastes in reading, 19, 20;
amusements, 20, 21, 22;
candidate for Harvard, 22;
letter to father about examination, 25, 26;
enters college, 27;
his studies and ideals, 27;
love of pleasure, 28;
laxity of conduct, 28, 29, 30;
accident, 31;
loss of eye, 31;
effect on character, 32;
magnanimity, 32;
returns to college, 32;
dislike for mathematics, 33;
commencement poem, 33, 34;
election to Phi Beta Kappa, 34;
studies law, 34;
second illness and temporary blindness, 34, 35;
sails for Azores, 35, 36;
third illness, 36;
first visit to London, 36, 37;
visits Paris and Italy, 37, 38;
returns to England, 38;
sails for home, 38;
anxiety regarding career, 39, 40;
vicarious reading, 40, 41;
first attempts at composition, 41, 42, 46;
marriage, 42, 43;
resolves to become a man of letters, 44;
studies languages, 45, 46, 47;
interest in Spanish, 47, 48;
drift toward historical composition, 49, 50;
perplexity in choosing subject, 50, 51, 52;
decides upon _Ferdinand and Isabella_, 52, 53;
difficulties of task, 54, 55;
time of preparation and composition, 55, 56, 62, 66;
his methods, of work, 56, 57, 58, 59, 61;
his memory, 33, 57, 58, 59;
his mode of life, 59, 60, 61, 62;
death of daughter, 62, 63, 73;
contributes to periodicals, 64, 65;
completes _Ferdinand and Isabella_, 66;
search for publisher, 66, 67;
terms of contract, 67;
success of book, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 95;
criticisms, 69, 70, 71;
theological studies and beliefs, 73, 74;
begins Mexican researches, 74, 75, 76, 77;
correspondence with Irving, 75;
writes _Conquest of Mexico_, 78, 79;
contract with the Harpers, 79, 80;
honours conferred upon, 80, 81;
writes _Conquest of Peru_, 81, 82, 84;
reception of book, 85, 86;
death of father, 82;
opinion of American critics, 85;
period of inactivity, 83, 86;
political views, 89, 90;
entertainment of friends, 91, 92, 93;
his boyish ways, 93;
his tactlessness, 93;
his Yankeeisms, 94;
preparations for _Philip_
_II._, 99, 100, 101, 102;
his Boston residence, 83, 96;
the homestead at Pepperell, 96, 97;
his cottage at Nahant, 96, 97;
cottage at Lynn, 97, 98;
third visit to England, 94, 102-111;
presented at court, 105;
his sensibility, 110;
at zenith of his fame, 111, 112;
his opinions of contemporary writers, 112, 113, 114, 115;
completes two volumes of _Philip II._, 115, 116, 117;
rewrites conclusion of Robertson's _Charles V._, 117, 118;
health fails, 118;
completes third volume of _Philip II._, 119;
death, 119;
his burial, 119, 120;
style and accuracy of _Ferdinand and Isabella_, 121-131;
criticised by Ford, 124, 125, 126;
his place as an historian, 173-181.
Q
Quincy, Josiah, 7, 25.
R
Raumer, Friedrich von, 81.
_Review_, _Edinburgh_, notices of Prescott's books, 70, 76, 85, 116.
_Review_, _English Quarterly_, 46, 70, 85.
_Review, North American_, Prescott's contributions to, 41, 46, 64, 65;
its notices of Prescott's books, 62, 69.
Robertson, William, 117, 146.
Rogers, Samuel, 108, 109.
S
Scott, General Winfield, 90, 91.
Scott, Sir Walter, 6, 86, 108, 122;
a favourite of Prescott's, 41, 115;
quoted, 129.
Shepherd, Dr. W.R. 100 _n._
Simancas, archives at, 99, 100.
Southern States, literature in the, 2-4.
Southey, Robert, 20, 67;
praises _Ferdinand and Isabella_, 71;
quoted, 107.
Sparks, Jared, 12, 42;
estimate of, 9, 10;
encourages Prescott, 46, 65, 68, 88.
Stith, Dr. W., quoted, 3.
Story, Judge Joseph, 25.
Sumner, Charles, Prescott's friendship with, 88, 89, 90.
T
Talleyrand, quoted, 11.
Thackeray, W. M., 43, 86;
entertained by Prescott, 91, 114;
tribute to Prescott, 114, 115.
Thierry, Augustin, 54, 86.
Thoreau, Henry D., quoted, 168, 169.
Ticknor, George, 25, 94, 111;
quoted, 19, 22, 26, 28, 43, 48, 71, 84, 103, 127;
letters to, 46, 69, 70, 107, 117, 118;
reads to Prescott, 47.
Tocqueville, Alexis de, 11, 71.
V
Victoria, Queen, 105, 106.
W
Ware, John, 42.
Wars, Napoleonic, 21.
Wellington, Duke of, 21, 104.
Wendell, Prof. Barrett, 5.
Wilson, J. Grant, quoted, 91 n.
Wilson, Robert A., criticises Prescott's _Conquest of Mexico_, 147, 148;
reply to, 149-151.
X
Xenophon, Prescott compared with, 142, 143.
* * * * *
ENGLISH MEN OF LETTERS
Edited by JOHN MORLEY
Cloth. 12mo. Price, 40 cents, each
=ADDISON.= By W. J. Courthope.
=BACON.= By R. W. Church.
=BENTLEY.= By Prof. Jebb.
=BUNYAN.= By J. A. Froude.
=BURKE.= By John Morley.
=BURNS.= By Principal Shairp.
=BYRON.= By Prof. Nichol.
=CARLYLE.= By Prof. Nichol.
=CHAUCER.= By Prof. A. W. Ward.
=COLERIDGE.= By H. D. Traill.
=COWPER.= By Goldwin Smith.
=DEFOE.= By W. Minto.
=DE QUINCEY.= By Prof. Masson.
=DICKENS.= By A. W. Ward.
=DRYDEN.= By G. Saintsbury.
=FIELDING.= By Austin Dobson.
=GIBBON.= By J. Cotter Morison.
=GOLDSMITH.= By William Black.
=GRAY.= By Edmund Gosse.
=JOHNSON.= By Leslie Stephen.
=HUME.= By T. H. Huxley.
=KEATS.= By Sidney Colvin.
=LAMB.= By Alfred Ainger.
=LANDOR.= By Sidney Colvin.
=LOCKE.= By Prof. Fowler.
=MACAULAY.= By J. Cotter Morison.
=MILTON.= By Mark Pattison.
=POPE.= By Leslie Stephen.
=SCOTT.= By R. H. Hutton.
=SHELLEY.= By J. A. Symonds.
=SHERIDAN.= By Mrs. Oliphant.
=SIR PHILIP SIDNEY.= By J. A. Symonds.
=SOUTHEY.= By Prof. Dowden.
=SPENSER.= By R. W. Church.
=STERNE.= By H. D. Traill.
=SWIFT.= By Leslie Stephen.
=THACKERAY.= By A. Trollope.
=WORDSWORTH.= By F. W. H. Myers.
NEW VOLUMES
Cloth. 12mo. Price, 75 cents net
=GEORGE ELIOT.= By Leslie Stephen.
=WILLIAM HAZLITT.= By Augustine Birrell.
=MATTHEW ARNOLD.= By Herbert W. Paul.
=JOHN RUSKIN.= By Frederic Harrison.
=JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER.= By Thomas W. Higginson.
=ALFRED TENNYSON.= By Alfred Lyall.
=SAMUEL RICHARDSON.= By Austin Dobson.
=ROBERT BROWNING.= By G. K. Chesterton.
=CRABBE.= By Alfred Ainger.
=FANNY BURNEY.= By Austin Dobson.
=JEREMY TAYLOR.= By Edmund Gosse.
=ROSSETTI.= By Arthur C. Benson.
=MARIA EDGEWORTH.= By the Hon. Emily Lawless.
=HOBBES.= By Leslie Stephen.
=ADAM SMITH.= By Francis W. Hirst.
=THOMAS MOORE.= By Stephen Gwynn.
=SYDNEY SMITH.= By George W. E. Russell.
=WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT.= By William A. Bradley.
=WILLIAM HICKLING PRESCOTT.= By Harry Thurston Peck.
ENGLISH MEN OF LETTERS
EDITED BY
JOHN MORLEY
THREE BIOGRAPHIES IN EACH VOLUME
Cloth. 12mo. Price, $1.00, each
=CHAUCER.= By Adolphus William Ward.
=SPENSER.= BY R. W. Church.
=DRYDEN.= By George Saintsbury.
=MILTON.= By Mark Pattison, B.D.
=GOLDSMITH.= By William Black.
=COWPER.= By Goldwin Smith.
=BYRON.= By John Nichol.
=SHELLEY.= By John Addington Symonds.
=KEATS.= By Sidney Colvin, M.A.
=WORDSWORTH.= By F. W. H. Myers.
=SOUTHEY.= By Edward Dowden.
=LANDOR.= By Sidney Colvin, M.A.
=LAMB.= By Alfred Ainger.
=ADDISON.= By W. J. Courthope.
=SWIFT.= By Leslie Stephen.
=SCOTT.= By Richard H. Hutton.
=BURNS.= By Principal Shairp.
=COLERIDGE.= By H. D. Traill.
=HUME.= By T. H. Huxley, F.R.S.
=LOCKE.= By Thomas Fowler.
=BURKE.= By John Morley.
=FIELDING.= By Austin Dobson.
=THACKERAY.= By Anthony Trollope.
=DICKENS.= By Adolphus William Ward.
=GIBBON.= By J. Cotter Morison.
=CARLYLE.= By John Nichol.
=MACAULAY.= By J. Cotter Morison.
=SIDNEY.= By J. A. Symonds.
=DE QUINCEY.= By David Masson.
=SHERIDAN.= By Mrs. Oliphant.
=POPE.= By Leslie Stephen.
=JOHNSON.= By Leslie Stephen.
=GRAY.= By Edmund Gosse.
=BACON.= By R. W. Church.
=BUNYAN.= By J. A. Froude.
=BENTLEY.= By R. C. Jebb.
PUBLISHED BY
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
66 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Quoted by Jameson: _Historical Writing in America_, p. 72, Boston,
1891.
[2] This house was long ago demolished. Its site is now occupied by
Plummer Hall, containing a public library.
[3] A very interesting appreciation of President Kirkland is given by
Dr. A. P. Peabody in his _Harvard Reminiscences_ (Boston, 1888).
[4] John Quincy Adams was titularly Professor of Rhetoric, but he had
been absent for several years on a diplomatic mission in Europe.
[5] The first number appeared in February, 1820; the last in July of the
same year.
[6] Her mother had been Miss Hannah Linzee, whose father, Captain
Linzee, of the British sloop-of-war _Falcon_, had tried by heavy
cannonading to dislodge Colonel William Prescott from the redoubt at
Bunker Hill. The swords of the two had been handed down in their
respective families, and now found a peaceful resting-place in young
Prescott's "den," where they hung crossed upon the wall above his books.
[7] Professor Jameson mentions two other contemporary instances,--Karl
Szaynocha and Prescott's Florentine correspondent, the Marquis Gino
Capponi.
[8] Prescott owned two noctographs, but did nearly all of his writing
with one, keeping the other in reserve in case the first should suffer
accident. One of these two implements is preserved in the Massachusetts
Historical Society.
[9] See ch. vii.
[10] _Life of Irving_, 111. p. 133 (New York, 1863).
[11] Lembke was a German, the author of a work on early Spanish history,
and a member of the Spanish Historical Academy. Prescott mentions him in
his letter to Irving. "This learned Theban 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 reference to my subject. In this way he has been employed
with four copyists since July, and has amassed a quantity of unpublished
documents. He has already sent off two boxes to Cadiz."
[12] Hale, _Memories of a Hundred Years_, ii. pp. 71, 72 (New York,
1902).
[13] In place of Navarrete, deceased. Prescott received eighteen ballots
out of the twenty that were cast.
[14] Wilson, _Thackeray in America_, i. pp. 16, 17 (New York, 1904).
[15] Meaning, of course, that he took more wine than was good for his
eye.
[16] See p. 116.
[17] For an interesting account of Simancas and the archives, see a
paper by Dr. W. R. Shepherd, in the _Reports of the American Historical
Association for 1903_ (Washington, 1905).
[18] The father of Mr. James Lawrence, who afterward married Prescott's
daughter Elizabeth. See p. 97.
[19] Alluding to the fact that he always shed tears at the opera.
[20] The English title of this book was _Critical and Historical
Essays_. It contained twelve papers and also the life of Charles
Brockden Brown already mentioned (p. 65). The American edition bore the
title _Biographical and Critical Miscellanies_. It has been several
times reprinted, the last issue appearing in Philadelphia in 1882.
[21] _Infra_, p. 134.
[22] November 1, 1838.
[23] Nearly seven thousand copies of this book had been taken up before
the end of the following three years.
[24] p. 268.
[25] p. 285.
[26] _Supra_, p. 65.
[27] iii. pp. 199-204.
[28] In the _British Quarterly Review_, lxiv (1839).
[29] Don Pascual de Gayangos.
[30] i. pp. 364-369. Ed. by Kirk (Philadelphia, 1873).
[31] For a revision of Prescott's narrative here in its light of later
research, see Bandelier, _The Gilded Man_, pp. 258-281 (New York, 1893).
[32] ii. p. 20.
[33] ii. pp. 379-380.
[34] Everett, Memorial Address, delivered before the Massachusetts
Historical Society (1859).
[35] ii. p. 157.
[36] _Mujer entremetida y desembuelta_ (Diaz).
[37] i. p. 294.
[38] _Moeurs des Sauvages Americains Comparees aux Moeurs des
Premiers Temps_ (Paris, 1723). Lafitau had lived as a missionary among
the Iroquois for five years, after which he returned to France and spent
the rest of his life in teaching and writing.
[39] _The History of the American Indians_ (London, 1775).
[40] H_istoria Natural y Moral de las Indias_ (Seville, 1590).
[41] Philadelphia, 1859.
[42] _Atlantic Monthly_, iii, pp. 518-525 and pp. 633-645.
[43] New York, 1851.
[44] _North American Review_, cxxii, pp. 265-308 (1876).
[45] _The Romantic School of American Archaeology._ A paper read before
the New York Historical Society, February 3, 1885 (New York, 1885).
[46] Bandelier, _op. cit._, p. 8.
[47] ii. p. 125.
[48] "Though remarkably fair and judicious in the main, Mr. Prescott's
partiality for a certain class of his material is evident. To the copies
from the Spanish archives, 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 his entire
work, these papers are paraded to the exclusion of the more reliable,
but more accessible standard authorities."--H. H. Bancroft, _History of
Mexico_, i. p. 7, _Note_.
[49] i. pp. 222, 224.
[50] Brinton, _Myths of the New World_, p. 52 (Philadelphia, 1868).
[51] See the section by Markham on "The Inca Civilisation in Peru," in
Winsor, _A Narrative and Critical History of America_, vol. i. (Boston,
1889); and an interesting summary of the results of eleven years
researches by Bandelier in a paper entitled "The Truth about Inca
Civilisation," published in H_arper's Magazine_ for March, 1905.
[52] Motley, _History of the United Netherlands_, i. p. 54.
[53] Quoted by Ogden, _Prescott_, p. 32.
[54] Cited by R. C. Winthrop, address before the Massachusetts
Historical Society, June 14, 1877.
[55] Letter of January 18, 1839.
[56] _Historical Writing in America_, pp. 97-98.
[57] Dr. C. K. Adams.
End of Project Gutenberg's William Hickling Prescott, by Harry Thurston Peck