The San Francisco call., 1897-08-29


press of n. ]. Stone & Co., 500
Market street. of the fourth and last
volume of the History of California, by
Theodore II. Hittell. The third volume
OF this remarkable work has just been
issued, and careful perusal OF the first
three suffices to indicate that, is was said
OF Voltaire, Mr.. HittelI has created" his
tory, using the verb in the sense of a pro-
Guction from vague, crude or scattered
material.
The work Of Mr.. HIttell is remarkable
from whatever point of view it is regarded.
In comparison with Bancroft's history the
impartial critic is bound to give right of
way to Hittell, if for nothing else for a
certain smoothness OF style, or rhythmic
how OF diction in dealing with the minut-
est details. OF course it must be ad-
mitted that Bancroft collected vast ag-
gregaion of material which furnished,
and possibly will continue to furnish,
much data to the historians, the roman
GERS and the writers of California. Bat
the complaint of the student has been
that Bancroft lacked two OF the first es-
sentias of capable historian, that OF the
power of condensation and the mastery OF
stve.
To these faults must be added the even
graver one of a tendency to Iaud ms
: friends and damn his enemies, leaving
the reader no option in the matter Said
. Lord Bacon: at is the true office OF his
tory to represent the events themselves
" together with the counsels and to leave
the observations and conclusions there
; upon 10 the liberty and faculty OF every
E: mans judgment" BY the act OF consfl-
thting himself Judge and Jury Bancroft
minimlzed his value as the recorder OF
past events in the history OF this State,
OF The minor Californian historians
little mention need be made here as they
do not come within the scope OF this
article. Passing reference should, how
ever, be made 10 Cotton, who pictured the
three first years of this State after its oc-
cupation; Robinson, noted as the author
OF sketches OF pioneer life; Wiley, well
known for his Thirty Years View;
Hall, who wrote the history OF various
sections Of California;; Soule, John I.
Doyle, Tuttle and Gleason. The author
whose work is the subject of this notice
ranked with the last TWO before ne wrote
the history OF California which entities
MIN 10 Dt pldNeO dUONG lAGAn all
The publication OF the fourth volume OF
"HittelI's History next month Will mark
the completion of twenty-five years OF
hard WORK. Only those acquainted with
the methods pursued by the early Gov
ernors and officials of California can ap-
Ireciate the difficulties of the task and
the obstacles continually arising in the
way of the conscientious historian, will
ing and capable of delving into the mass
OF original authorities; occasionally in
complete; often well nigh iIlegible 20 all
excepting he accomplished scholar and
student.
1t was in 1870 that Mr.. Hitteu COM
menced gathering the material for his
History OF California" He first pro-
ceeded to read all the books upon the sub
lect that he could find. Careful search
soon convinced him that nothing of real
historic value existed in print i'll reference
to any of the interesting or important
periods between 1884 and 1916. Nothing
was known touching the history of the
administrations OF the old Spanish and
Mexican Governors, whoe names were
printed in lists, as were those of some OF
the missionaries VINO exercised SO great
an influence upon their contemporaries in
California.
Then arose the question where to look
for information of value with regard TO
the missing period. There existed tut
one possibility-the so-called California
archives" which had been collected by
the American military authorities in 1876
and were preserved in the office of the
United STATES Surveyor-GeneraI at San
Francisco.
A glance at the accumulated manuscript
would have been sufficient to daunt the
spirit of Thomas Carlyle himself, anxious
as he is known to have been 10 seek
original sources of information. Mr.. Hit
tell found in the local office of the Sur
veyor-General more Ihan a quarter OF
million pages of written manuscript, every
page of which it would be necessary TO
scan. Let the amateur historian-the man
possessed Of plenty Of ready cash, with
access to the best libraries of clearly
printed works, with the use of competent
shorthand writer's and type-writing ma
chimes and experts-think of what this
statement implies. Two hundred and fifty
thousand pages and these mainly in for
eign languages-in Spanish, in German
and in French.
To his credit be it recorded Theodore
Hitteu went at the work single-handed,
without the aid OF clerk or amanuensis,
and every word OF his notes and tran
scripts was in his own handwriting. The
gathering up of these extracts alone took
him two years, and at the end of that
time he found himself in possession of
quantity of valuable matter. Some pa
pers were missing, and their loss is un-
fortunately irreparable, but from those
that were left IL was found possible to
construct a reliable history OF the early
times in California.
And here arose one of The dangers of the
work in which Mr.. Hittel was engaged.
He had cuiled too much material, but he
realized the defects OF his predecessors in
the same line and Topped off with un-
sparing hand anything that could be called
superhuous. Then, in the search for fur
ther Information, he avaled himself OF
transcripts OF testimony IN old lawsuits,
legal records, government documents-in
short, of every source within his reach TO
add TO and elucidste what he had cleaned
ba arcbivas Tho ~