Arizona weekly citizen., 1884-02-02
The Romance of History,

What material for poems will be
 gathered up in his volumes" wrote the poet Whittier to Longfellow, with en-
 thusiam, about Hubert Bancroft's pro-
 posed History of the Pacific States.
 The work was one indeed to touch the
 minds of such men of quick insight as
 T. w. H.gginson, Howells aud Warner,
 and bring the deep felt praise O; men.
 who weigh words, like Chas. Francis Adams and Lowell
 Beginning with the discoveries Of Col
 umbus, and the conquests of Cortes, il passes on the no less admirable daring
 of the late explorers of the Pacific Coas;
 Beechy, Vancouver, and the Fur Com
 panies, in the northwest, telling of the magnIfcence of Aztec and Mexican cities, and the famous search Of tle seven cities of Cibola which led to the first entrance of Kansas and Nebraska soil Tn l54l; of Indian adventure, and
 tha hardy explorers ID the later days; of
 the rich and placid history of New Mex leo before its cessIon to the Union: Of
 tbe Russian traders and gold hunters all that Odyssey of the Rocky mountains
 and the coast which has been so long
 locked m the journals of antiquaries and forgotten in dim government re-
 ports.
 The richness of such ungatLe1ed ma
 terlal has been little suspected. even
 by the Wise, but II found an ardent col lector in Mir. Hubert Howe Bancroft. of San Francisco, whose private library of 35OU0 volumes con talns most that Is valuable, and a,
 talnable at any price, touching the sub Ject of Pacific history. Spanish records, old convent libraries and the disturbed archives Of Central American States. yleld stories which make our knowledge Of the finding and possession of the western half of this continent complete. Here was matter to induce a thoughtful man to apply himself in earneH. to this noble study, to which Mir Bancroft has given the best Of twenty-five years of hls life. Such man could know noth- ing ot the selfish impulses Of many col lector5 to enhance their own importance by Keeping their treasures to themselves It should be his lifework to give the world Tn compact accessible form the substance of the thousands oi writers m his library, which, with fine system, and the assistance Of twelve highly secretaries, for indexing and abstracting material, he has had the happiness of accomplishing within his lifetime. To this authors erudite devotion these many years to his favorite work, the public owe the History of the Pacific States. Material from the libraries of the Emperor Maximilian, and Ramirez, the eminent scholar of Mexico, and re- ports of early discoveries in America, printed by governments and historical societies, within a few years. are in his possession, and with this priceless lufor- nation the stories of Columbus, Cortez and Balboa have become luminous, dra- matic and absorbing, as If told for the first time. The strict judicial method of the author in comparing the reports of of the widest possi- ble number of authorities gives the hap piest sense of enjoyment to pages of history. which from the very nature of theIr subject, cannot be but glowing and exciting, whether they repeat the sieges, discoveries, and wild cOnvulsions Of un- folding civilization, or the movements of the grand ecclesiastical power which held sway in Mexico as superior to every other authority. or the refinements, wealth and economies of the new and luxurious society established in the West Indians. Mir. Bancruft's work is not merely the history of period In certain lights-it is philosophic, aiming at view of the past centuries and peo- pie in the fullest sense, describing their origin, traditions, customs, the in- flGences of race and opinion which their performances, their domestic habits, entering their homes and scrutinizing each detail with that refined curiosity which has led to later studies and researches in Greek art.
 The Aztecs were one of the wealthiest, most cultivated of nations; witness their walls lined with plates of gold and illuminated tiles, their robes embroid- cred in feather work which was, and is the wonder of European courts, their palaces, which held not only pleasure lakes and gardens, but colleges for the training of the princesses of the blood, training far less one-sided than our own, as 1t included physical develop ment, and the application of every craft, art and science of use to women of the highest rank. Such works. written with the precision, warmth and vigcr of the Pacific Histories, are destined to supplant fiction The unspOiled taste of a child as well as that Of the educated man revels in such history. and were our school and town libraries furnished with due proportion of these books. the demand for trashy fiction would cease. Above all, places of se- cluded and narrow resources, like farm houses, mining camps and ships on long voyages, should find supplies Of such surroundings give the fullest oppoTtun- ity for the charm and influence of good reading. Let parent bring home such n book as Mir. Bancroft's Pacific History of the States to which public attention IS turned. where probably his children will sooner or later find their home, and read its chapters with the family, or talk over his own reading with them. make it a reference, and be will find in it a strong influence toward correct and active thought. Teachers who want to awaken the interest of theIr pupils, and put life into their studies, will find their strongest aids in the discussion of such history. with it's fund of information on every relative subject. The man or wo- man of taste needs but to read one chapter tO recognize in the History ot
 the Pacific States one of the great works
 of the century, one of the classics Of
 American libraries.