search, combined with impartiality and soundness of judgment. The style is at the same time so lucid and attractive as frequently to invest the narrative with the charm of fiction. As Prescott was the first to treat adequately the brilliant period of Spanish ascendancy, so the revolt of the Spanish provinces of the Netherlands and their history as a free Protestant commonwealth have afforded a congenial subject to John Lothrop Motley (born 1814), whose “Rise of the Dutch Republic,” “History of the United Netherlands” (a continuation of the former), and “Life and Death of John of Barneveld” display extensive research, and are written with animation, and occasionally with great picturesque beauty. His works have taken their place among the great histories of the time, and have been translated into the principal languages of Europe. Among other writers of foreign history are Henry Wheaton, author of a “History of the Northmen;” Archibald Alexander, author of a “History of the Colonization of the West Coast of Africa;” Brantz Mayer, J. R. Poinsett, and R. A. Wilson, who have written on Mexico; Parke Godwin, who has published the first volume of a comprehensive “History of France;” J. F. Kirk, author of an elaborate history of Charles the Bold; C. C. Felton (1807-'62), who edited Smith's “History of Greece” and wrote a valuable work on “Greece, Ancient and Modern;” G. M. Towle, author of a history of Henry V. of England; John Lord, D. O. Allen, A. L. Koeppen, J. J. Jarves, Edmund Flagg, W. H. Stiles, and G. W. Greene. Many excellent works in the department of ecclesiastical or religious history have also been produced, prominent among which are the “Annals of the American Pulpit,” by W. B. Sprague; “History of the Presbyterian Church,” by Charles Hodge, and also by E. H. Gillett; “History of the Apostolic Church,” by Philip Schaff; “Progress of Religious Ideas,” by Mrs. Lydia Maria Child; “The Ten Great Religions,” by James Freeman Clarke; “The Oriental Religions,” by Samuel Johnson; “History of Methodism,” by Abel Stevens; “Modern History of Universalism,” by Thomas Whittemore; “Post-Biblical History of the Jews,” by M. J. Raphall; “Ecclesiastical History of New England,” by J. B. Felt; the contributions to the history of the Protestant Episcopal church in Virginia, by Bishop William Meade and F. L. Hawks; the “History of the Baptist Denomination,” by D. Benedict; “The English Bible, a History of the Translation of the Holy Scriptures into the English Tongue,” by Mrs. H. C. Conant; and various works by Archibald Alexander, James Murdock, S. F. Jarvis, Robert Baird, Thomas Gaillard, W. Ingraham Kip, John Dowling, J. A. Spencer, Robert Davidson, S. J. Baird, W. E. Schenck, W. G. T. Shedd, H. B. Smith, C. P. Krauth, and many others. To the department of literary history, the most important contributions are the “History of Spanish Literature,” by George Ticknor, esteemed the best work on the subject extant; the several works of R. W. Griswold on the “Prose Writers,” the “Poets,” and the “Female Poets” of America; Caroline May's “American Female Poets;” J. S. Hart's “Female Poets of America,” and his “Manuals” of English and American literature; T. Buchanan Read's “Female Poets of America;” Mrs. A. C. L. Botta's “Handbook of Universal Literature;” C. D. Cleveland's compendiums of English, American, and classical literature; C. A. Dana's “Household Book of Poetry;” W. T. Coggeshall's “Poets and Poetry of the West;” J. Wood Davidson's “Living Writers of the South;” Whittier's “Three Centuries of Song;” A. C. Kendrick's “Our Poetical Favorites;” and Emerson's “Parnassus.” In this category may properly be placed Wheeler's “Noted Names of Fiction” and the excellent “Familiar Quotations” of John Bartlett. The “Cyclopædia of American Literature,” by E. A. and G. L. Duyckinck, is the only comprehensive work on the subject yet published; and the “Critical Dictionary of English Literature,” by S. Austin Allibone, forms a valuable epitome of the literary history of England and the United States. Among miscellaneous works are the “History of Civilization,” in seven volumes, by Amos Dean; the “History of the Intellectual Development of Europe,” by J. W. Draper; and the “History of Liberty,” by Samuel Eliot, the completed portion of which, covering the history of the ancient Romans and the early Christians, and the struggle for constitutional liberty in Spain in the 16th century, is written with ability and in a philosophic spirit.—The first in point of date and reputation among the writers of biography of this period is Washington Irving (1783-1859), whose narratives of the “Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus” and of the “Voyages and Discoveries of the Companions of Columbus,” though not the most characteristic of his writings, constitute a permanent contribution to English and American literature. His “Life of George Washington,” completed a few months before the author's death, has been more generally read in America than any other of his works. The narrative, embracing necessarily the main incidents of the revolutionary struggle, is related with charming vivacity and great elegance of language. His lives of Mahomet and Goldsmith are pleasing compilations, having little claim to originality. Among the most industrious laborers in the field of American biography is Jared Sparks (1789-1866), who devoted the greater part of his life to studies illustrative of the history of his country, and whose works, written in a sober and correct style, display remarkable diligence of research. The “Library of American Biography,” in two series and 25 volumes, edited by him, to which he contributed lives of John Ledyard, Benedict Arnold, Ethan Allen, Charles Lee, Father Marquette, and others, is enriched by contributions from some of the best writers
