The independent press. (Abbeville C.H., S.C.) 1853-1860, 1857-10-23
Prescott the Historian.

on MIR. Prescott and his histories. In this
article Mr.. Ellis introduces a friendly ant
communicative letter from Mr.. Prescott, OK
planning the origin and extent ofthe diff
culties under which it is we'll known he
has labored in the composition of his his.
tories. 1t is, SAYS the Boston journal, a.
pleasant related tale Of a faithful pursuit
Of knowledge under difficulties
II suppose YOU are aware that, when in
college, | received an injury in one eye,
which deprived me ofthe use of it for read.
ing and writing. An injudiciors use o
the other eye, on which the burden Of NV
studies was now wholly thrown, brousL,
on rheumatic Inflammation, which de-
privcd me entirely ofsight for some weeks
When this was restored, the eve remained
i'll too irritable a state to be emplo, ed in
readiug for several years. consequently
abandoned the study Of the law, upon
which l had entered; and, as man must
find something to do, determined to de.
vote mysclfto letters, in winch independent
career could regulate my own habits will,
reference TO what my sight might enable
ME to accomplish.
Il had carly conceived n strong passion
for historical writing, to which, perllaps,
the reading Of Gibbons autobiography CON
tributed not little. proposed to make
myself a historian in the best sense Of the
term, and hoped to produce something
which postcrity would not willingly let die.
In n memorandum book, us far back rs the
year 1919, find the desired minated :;
and proposed to devote ten years of my
life to the study OF ancient and modern lit
erature-chicfly the lattcr-and to give
ten years more to some historical work.
have bad the fortune TO accomplish this
design pretty nearly within the limits as
signed. In the Christmas of 1887. nv
first work, The History Of Ferdinand a.,
Isabella, was given TO the public.
"During my preliminary studies in the
field Of general literature, my eyes gradu-
ally acquired 60 much strength, that I was
enabled to use them many hours Of the
day. The result Of my studies at this
time I was in the habit Of giving, in the
form 0: essays in the public journals, chief:
Iv in the North American, from which a
number, quite large enough, have been
transferred to separate volume of miscel.
lanies. Having settled on subie for
particular history, I lost no time in collect
ing the materials, for which l had pccu-
liar advantages. But, just before these
arrived, my eye hal experienced
so severe strain, that 1 enjoyed no use of
it again for reading for several years. 1t
has, indeed, never since fully recovered its
nor have ever vrnturc.l to Use it
again ty candlclight. Iwcll remember the
blank despair which felt when my liter
ary treasures arrived from Spain, and
saw the mine Of weal,l, lying around Inc,
which was forbidden to explore. de-
10 sec What could be done with
the eyes Of another. remembered that
Johnson had said, in reference to Milton,
that the great poet had abandoned his pro
jectcd history Of England, finding it scarce.
~ possible for man without eyes. to pur.
sue a historical work. requiring reference to
various authorities. The remark piluel
me to make m attempt. %a =.
IL obtoined the services ofa rca'lcr who
knew no language but his own. I taught
him to pronounce the Castilian, in man
ncr suited, suspect, much moro to my
ear than that of Spaniart, and We began
our wcarrisotne journey through Marianas
noble history. cannot even now call to
mind, without smile, the tedious hours in
which, seated under some old tress in my
country residence, VIC pursued our slow and
'nelancl'oly ways over pages which offered
no glimmering Of light to him land from
which the light came dimly struggling to
me through l,alfintclligibIe vocabulary.
But in few weeks the light became strong.
er, and was chccred ty the consciousness
of my own improvement and when we
had toiled our. way through seven quar-
tos, found could understand the look,
when read, about two-thirls as fast rs or
dinary English. Ny readers Office rc1uir-
cd the more patience he had not even
his result to cheer him in his labor.
u now felt the great difficulty could be
overcome and obtained the services Of
a reader whose acquaintance with modern
and ancient tongues supplied, the dcfcien-
~ Of eyesight on my part. But though
in this way could examine various au.
| tliorities, it was not easy 10 arrange in my
mind the results Of my reading, drawn
! ! from different and often contradictory nc.
counts. To do this, | dictated copious
notes as ,wentalong /: and wlon had
read enough for chapter--from thirty to
forty, and tity pages in length-I had a
mass OF memoranda in my language, which
could easily bring before me, at one view
the fruits Of researclies.-TLe notes wert
carefully read to me and while my recen
studies were fresh in my recollection, rsr
over the whole Of my intended chnpter il
my mind. This process l repeated at leas
isifa dozen times, 50 that when / finally
put my pen to paper, it ran of pretty gii
bly,, for twas an effort ef memory rather
than creation. This method bad tile; ed
vantage Of saving me from the perplexit.
lof frequently referring to- the scattered paa
tsage jsi ths originals, ,and it enabled me b
Imaks Tie Corrections in my own min,
which are usually made - tie 5insnnscHpt
and which With nay nq1s of writing-.ss
ishais explain--1 -1ouid stsso much esnhsf
fased.ae. Yeti must admit that OH
lmN bod fsofnPos when tha shspts
tBas very longt was .sonee eWkaks stg tsayy.l
3 tssrajn hs nAstnefg ;to; 10 slteSess SIC ssrt
I6ife(tS US fss ~ d ~ s..5e
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