The weekly Elko independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 1872-1887, 1884-03-30
nAnca.Er.s eaCAr woak.

DAncR:FT.S GREAT WORK.
In this yprk Of Mr.. HnbsTt Bancroft
arc histories Of Central America. and
Mexico. going over that ever-e1eiting
story Of the discovery Of the New World
by Columbus, and its possession by his
fsIlov-adyenturerS Cortes, Balboa and
less memorable Spanish governors. IAN
old story you say. being navar Of
the fresh material held ON royal shelves
10 this day, of letters by Columbus him
self. narratives of personal explorations
and perils by Jesuit and soldiers, reports
Of noble governors and vieeFoys, held in
keeping hundreds Of years by Mexican
converts or m~irIeuiously preserved
through the hazards Of Central American
revolutions-materil which Ellis aud
colors the faded outlines Of great deeds
till we thrill with triumph OF he;oic nc
cess, or waste ~unaraiing pity on struS-
giles against appalling fate. No superie-
>ial work can gain notice as history II the
present day. only the most searching
study, the riches; accumulations OF au-
thorities 10 the farthest author or relic
can yield interest in the dry-as-dust-stOr-
les OF other times, when our own age is
80 absorbing. 50 vital. The American
student learEs 20 point with pride to a
model OF all historical work in the costly
Preparation which Mr.. Bancroft; has Law
ished upon his literary DECOR, his cher
ished Me labor-ihc Pacific States His
tories. Nothing less would satisfy his
ideal OF excellence In his chosen work
which drew him ASIDE by degrees from a
lucrative, success.ui business, but to as
sem5le either in standard, original, or IN
faithful copy OF every book OF vOyages or
information, aud every document bear
ing on the history Of tie Pacific Coast,
embracing the States west of the Rocky
Mountains, from Alaska to the Isthmus
of Darien. Over thirty thousand VOL
urnes in print and manuscripts for the
library OF such matter, gathered by this
gentleman at a cost OF over half a mil
liOi; aud TO reduce Il cOndense which
within available limits has required the
aid OF a dozen able secretaries, as well
rs Mr.. Bancroit's GssiduUus study Of
over twenty We as. The labor accom-
plished in these years is gigantic. To
eirbody in a score or two Of ordinary
volumes the substance of thirty thousand
old writers, Vino wrought in u time when
men wrote because they had much to
deliver, and the art Of padding" books
was unknown. Such books AS SIR. HUI
bert Bancroft has chosen to write, be-
long to the purple OF literary rank, and
their wealth OF information and vivid
style, and yet they are written of the
people aud for the people. At our own
ihresides, in these volumes, We may
read the letters Of Columbus to his SOW
ereign, trace the heroic daring, the en-
rors and atOuements OF his chequered
life share the rapture of discovery with
Balboa, as from his peak in Darien he
discovers the glSam Of the Pacific, and
lament the treachery OF his death; fol-
low EsPirOsa in ms errands OF conquest,
struggling through the momsses OF the
ISlhGas, dsfying famine and hostile In
dams, to the ~Eevildering successive
PomPofbarbaiic pearl and gold, in de-
scnGing which from Spanish audits and
kinCly accounts, the sober page of the
historian reads like a chapter from the
Arabian Nights" Who does not wish
to know the past Of our continent more
thoroughly, now that iron bands draw
its into neishborhood, and aut-
um excursion parties so sightseeing in
the cities Of Old Mexico, and in a year or
two more, the recessos OF Darien will be
laid open to the California voyager, and
Yankee enterprise take possession Of the
mines which Old discovered, and fell
the slow-growing trees which sprouted
ere the heels Of his soldiers were off the
soil OF Yueatan. Here at our hand is all
the information obt.inable about these
countries in complete mosaic, in details
correct, in narration exact, i~ncstimable
not only in ~fullness and precision, but us
a corrective Of other writings on the
same subject; yet, with all its weight
and ca%reiulness, form the very nature of
its material. a story to dazzle and de-
light. The COMMUNICATION Of the most
learned and cxacting scholars and men
of taste in England and America has
been lavished upon this stupcndous
wotk, whose value and place in public
affection will increase with the century.
a special from London says: A dis
solution IL az l.ul ~,