New-York daily tribune., 1859-02-11

chs, af . scho.lmi.tress. he thought him greatly
wanting in narrative power, and IN the faculty. u
n;ct,resoue description He instanced tue pald
and commonplace account of the battle oi fa'a ss
specimen of Robertson's inability 10 do justice 10
great and splendid subject. AT the same tllhe he
S5 ;us,ce 70 that historians eminent qualities OF
another knd-to his clesrness, penetration ana
nb;losonbic tone. He attributed his defects OF
st,l to his ace rather than 10 any defect IN himself
The arr of writing history hsd not in English then
attained IFS present remarkable Development scott
and the other noyelists have since Robertson tihe
initiated the historians into the secret OF draha!lc
and spimated narrative and vivid graphic descrH'-
ton. .
The details which Ranke furnishes of the private
life Of Philip and of the Spanish Court greatly ln'
terested Mr.. Prescott. In lclS ne made seec-
tion of this portion of Rankes work and got
printer in Boston to print it in very large type SO
that he could read it himself, by snatches, without
straining his sight. 1t made a volume OF, think,
about goo pages of which two copies were printed.
These copies cost him upward of hundred dolsrs,
but he never spared any expense that would iacil-
tate his historical labOrs.
During the first week in September Mr. Prescott
with his family quilted Nahant, and removed to his
farm in Pepperell in the interior OF Massachusett''
northwest of Boston. lie has described this place
in letter:
"Tbe place st Pepperen has been in the family for
more than a century snd half, uncommon event
amorc our locomotive people. The house is about
century old the original building having been greatly
enlarged by my father first aud snce Dy me. IL s
! here that my grandfather Col. VIM. Prescott who
! commanded at Bunker Hill, wss born and died. My
father Wm Prescot tfe b.st and Ssest Of his name,
was also born aud passed his earlier days here, an'
from my ogn infancy, ntt year mas passei tna' !
have not spent more of in these shades, now
bsloYed to me by the recollection OF happy houTi aad
| friends IT az gone.
/ "The place which is called 'The Highlands con-
N l. qhonsF fort
two miles from Boston the border line o' Msssa-
] chDsetts and New Hampshire. IL is nne, rounS
county; and the houss stsIds on rising groana'
that descends with gentle sweep to the Ms
sitlsset clear and very pretty nver anori-
, ing pctGlesque views in It's 9indirg course.
/ A bold mountain chain the northwest, amoog
T which is the Grand Nonadnoc, makes d.rk
frame TO the picture. The land well studded VITA
trees-oak walnut chestnut and mate--disirbnted
in cumps and avenues so as to produce an excellent
: effect
The house itself," says Mr. Hilard, in The Homes
Of American Authois "hss Little 10 distinguish i, from
tie better class Of New. .Englsrd farm houses: 1t
wears onr common form Of white, with green blinds,
is long in proportion 10 its hight and me older portions
bear marks of age. The Interior s rambling Irregular
and ot-fsshoned but thoroughly comfortable and hos
pitaby arrerged as TO accommodate large number
ofguests. These sometimes numerous thanthe
family itself TIE great charm Of the house consists
in the number Of fine trees by which II is surrounded
ana oyershadowed. These are chiefly en', oaks, ma
PIES ard butternu OF these last there are some re-
msIksbly large specimens
/ The study here was room Of considerable size
in the second story the walls painted dark, and the
. windows shaded by trees, that there was hardly
sufficient light for my eyes, though to Mr.. Pres'
| colts weak sight the gloom was pleasant enough.
He pursued the preliminary reading for Philip III.
with unabated diligence, alternating his hours OF
/ study BY long walks and longer drives through the
beautiful country that surrounds the house. i
have forgotten what books read at this period
Sometime in October Mr. Prescott with his
family. returned TO Boston. He made with me,
visit of two or three days to NewYork to consult
! the famous oculist DR.. Elliott. On our return he
directed me TO collect out of his library all the books
and MSS. relating to Philip H., arrange them In
the study, and examine them one by one. IL was
q cole ction unrivaled in the world. He had spared
no expense to hunt up and purchase In Europe ana III
/ Spansh-America every work in any degree relatng
to the reign OF Philip, that he or his learned and
we'll paid agents in Spain France, England, Hol-
land and Belgium could discover. These agents
had standing orders to buy every book they could
! hear of in any way relating to Philip, no matter
what it cost. Large sums were sometimes paid for
! little volumes, of which the original price could
not have been more than half dollar but which
hsd grown valuable by becoming rare. The Ar
cLives of Spain the old Libraries OF France, Elan
ders, Germany and Italy, had been carefully ram
sached for MSS, of which the copies taken at hls
! expense filed seventeen large folio volumes, and
cost thousands of dollars
When the whole collection, numbering several
hundred Volumes in English, French Spanish,
Italian and Latin was gathered in the study, ex-
amined them one by one TO determine, first, their
/ chronological order. Mr.. Prescott preferred, OF
course, as authorities the writers of Philips own
! day. or of the generation that immediately sue
/ ceeded him. He set little value on aud made little
use except for speculative suggestions, OF writers
who were not cOtemporary with the perSonages
about whom they wrote.
The volumes being thus arranged, examined
them carefully and noted their contents, reading
1 To Mr.. Prescott such portions as he cared to hear
/ Many were at once discarded as translations Of
which he had the originals or mere compilations
from older authors in the collection. Or those that
were retained as authorities succlnctly anal zed
| the contents.
Mr.. Prescott wrote his histories by chapters,
each chapter usually comprising separate dl-
vision of the subject. For instance, the opening
chapter of Philip IL. is on the abdication OF
/ Charles V. 1t was written in this way: The secre-
taIy selected all the books and manuscripts which
contained anything relating to the abdication. The
oldest Of those was first read Mr. Prescott IN
terruptiDg the reading when any fact was stated
would dictate note to the secretary, accompanied
BY such remarks on the fact as suggested them
selves TO him. The rest OF the works we're gone
through with in the same way. The secretary
! at his leisure. wrote out the notes IN plain
/ large hand, and arranged them When the author
tiles had all been read, the Of notes thus sccu-
/ mulated were read over TO Mr.. Prescott, who mod
/ flied and added to them as he saw ft. Any incOn-
sistencies Obscuritles We're settled, II they adj
hitted OF settlement, by reference again to the au
thOrties. The Ms. OF these memoranda Was then
laid upon bis desk and he set himself to mediate
. H.. .tL 1. i IL.