St. Charles City Republican intelligencer. [volume] (St. Charles City [Charles City], Iowa) 1857-1861, 1859-02-10
Death of Prescott.

iN'SS'er NV mo
torlan, died in Boston on the 2Sth ult
after an illness Of only one or two
hours. His age was 60 years. Thus
has passed away one of the real celeb.
rites of the present age. He was
! grandson of Prescott the immortal
leader of the American troops at the
Battle of Bunker Hill !; and, coming
of historical ancestry, it is little won
der that his tastes carly inclined him
to the glorious records of the past, al
though it was many years before he
deliberately gave himself up to the
lead of his impulses.
While a student at Harvard college.
by an accidental blow, he lost the sight
OF one eye, and came neal losing that
of the other. He was sent to Europe
Tor medical aid, but after two years
returned home without much relief to
his eyes, although his bodily health
was much improved. Strange as it
may seem, in view of his intirmity,
he determined to be a historian I: and.
to commence, he gave himself up to a
ten years preparatory course of read
ing. Then, selecting his subject, he
worked upon it another ten years, and
in 1888, at the age of forty-two, he
gave to the world his "History of
Ferdinand and Isabella" publishing
it simultaneously in London and Bos-
ton.
If the fruit was long %ripening, it
was perfect when it fell. The history
was received on both sides of the At
'antlc with unhesitating applause, and
took its permanent place among the
of u tongue.
His eye had, in the meanwhile,
somewhat improved, and he was cna.
bled to dispense with a reader, upon
whose services, in the composition of
his first work, he was obliged to rely.
while he wrote in a dimly lighted {
room. In lS43 appeared his second
work, "The Conquest of Mexico"
this was received with in. ;.
creased honor in Europe-causing its
author to be chosen a member of the
French Academy of Sciences, and pro-
him many similar honors-its f
reception at home was still more graft f
lying /; and it probably remains to the "
present time the favorite of all Mr.. >
Prcscott's works, with American read +
ers. In ls47 appeared the Conquest Z
Peru" marked throughout by the
high qualities which distin-
yuished its predecessors. A volume Il
If miscellanies followed, containing L
many papers of great interest. He .
'lso supplied a new edition of Robert n
sons Charles V. with an interesting |.
appendix, compiled from lately dis II
Covered materials, relating to the :
lobster life of the Emperor. In 1850
lr. Prescott visited England a second t.
imc, where he was received in a very :
altering manner, the University of
)xford comforting upon him the degree y
f LII. ID. Since then he has been
t work upon a History of Philip H." "
f which the first three volumes have
cen published. How much further -
owards completion this exceedingly p
lteresting work was carried before y y
ne pen fell from the hand of the his C
brian, we are not informed.
His fame has gone out to the ends B
the earth. 1t has been won by no V
and is therefore capable of no "
,~vcrsal. The extent of his research +.
5, the fidelity OF his selection, the II
kill of his arrangement, the perspi- V
acity of his Judgment, the candor of ~
is whole nature and the beauty of his NJ
lyle, have been everywhere acknowl- ~
dyed, and by none more warmly than T,
y those who have com the nearest =;
exhibiting the same combination. d
lis death is a national loss, for he u
'as II of the few who have put our :
to a national literature incon- "
before the civilized word. tn