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a dry humor that give great charm to the book. High authorities have said that it will take its place, in the libraries of the future, beside Cæsar's "Commentaries." But to be sure of that, we would need to see a thousand years ahead. What we know now is that it is a very interesting book, and one that every American boy ought to read.

We have two historical writers in this period, whom we may place beside Bancroft and Prescott, as among the great historians in the English Language.

Lothrop Motley, born in Massachu

setts, 1814;

died in Eng

John Lothrop Motley was graduated from Harvard John College in 1831, and pursued further studies at the universities of Berlin and Göttingen. At the latter university a fellow-student and comrade was the famous Bismarck, who remained his intimate friend land, 1877. through life. Motley made two not very successful efforts at novel writing, and had a rather discouraging experience in the Massachusetts legislature, before he finally decided to devote himself to historical study and writing. He selected as his special field the history of Holland; and realizing that he was thus coming very near to Prescott's domain, he visited him, and they talked the matter over in the friendliest manner. The result is that while their work is to some extent complementary, they approach the contest between Spain and Holland from different points of view; and Prescott's works become an indispensable preparation for the full appreciation of Motley's, while the writings of the latter give us just the completion of Prescott's story that we desire. Motley devoted ten years of study to the preparation

Dutch
Republic,"

1856.

Rise of the of his "History of the Rise of the Dutch Republic." It is one of the remarkable incidents in the history of Literature that he found considerable difficulty in securing an English publisher, Murray declining it, and the work being issued in 1856, at the author's expense, by John Chapman. It was triumphantly successful with the general public, and was welcomed by historians and critics in America and Europe as a standard work in its field.

"History of the United

Nether

1868.

In 1860 he published two volumes of the "History of the United Netherlands," which fully sustained lands," 1860- the reputation gained by the "Dutch Republic." Then followed the stormy time of the Civil War. President Lincoln appointed Motley United States minister to Austria; and he held the office till 1867, when he resigned. In the meantime, although active in his official duties, he had continued his historical studies; and in 1868 published the two concluding volumes of the "History of the United Netherlands." President Grant appointed him to the English Mission; and one of the yet unexplained mysteries of politics is his recall in 1870. The "Life and Death of John of Barneveldt" appeared in 1874. It was a biographical study intended to be introductory to the "History of the Thirty Years' War," which was to be the crowning work of Motley's career. But his health was now permanently shattered, and in 1877 he died at the home of his daughter Lady Harcourt, near Dorchester, England; a rather singular coincidence, as his birthplace was Dorchester, then a suburb of Boston.

"John of Barneveldt,"

1874.

Motley's histories are accurate and trustworthy, but not strictly impartial. His strong sympathy with the Dutch as against the Spanish, and with the Protestants as against the Romanists, is never disguised. But the history is nevertheless perfectly fair. His sympathy does not betray him into misrepresentation. He does not attempt the work of a cool, unimpassioned judge. He is a generous, fairminded advocate. This gives his work a peculiar warmth of interest. His pictorial power is remarkable. The leading characters are vividly described; and many passages of his histories are more fascinating than some romances.

Francis
Parkman,

born in

Massachusetts, 1823;

Francis Parkman led a much less eventful life. He was also graduated from Harvard, in 1844; studied law but did not practise long; spent some years in exploring the Northwest, thus permanently died, 1893. destroying his health, but obtaining in the process much of the material for his life-work. He devoted himself to the study of the rise, progress, and fall of the French power in North America. It is a fascinating field of study, supplying, in the adventures of the explorers and missionaries, some of the greatest instances of self-sacrificing courage on record; and dealing with the contest between Teutonic and Latin ideas, on whose decision the fate of the continent depended. In pursuit of his studies he spent some time in France; but otherwise his life was quiet, and without incidents of interest. He first published an account of his travels in the Northwest, calling the book "The California and Oregon Trail." This

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