he had already seen of his writinofs, and was well aware that he was about to have a formidable com- petitor in a field in which he had hitherto been unchallenged. In pursuance of his plans of writ- ing a history of the .Dutch Republic, Mr. Motley went to Europe and followed his pi'evious studies, with investigations at Berlin, Dresden, the Hague, and Brussels. One year was spent quietly at Vevay. It was ten years from the time when he first con- ceived the project of writing his history of the Dutch Republic before the work was ready for the press. He had some difficulty in finding a pub- lisher. ]Mr. Murray declined the manuscript, a mistake which he found occasion to regret, and the work was published at the author's expense by John Chapman (1856). The history was received Avith enthusiasm in Europe and in America. Mr. Froude characterized the work as " complete as in- dustry and genius can make it, one which will take its place among the finest stories in this or any language." In this country Dr. Lieber, Mr, Everett, Mr. Irving, Mr. Bancroft, Mr. Sumner, and the generous Mr. Prescott all joined in the chorus of praise. M. Guizot superintended a translation of it into French, and himself wrote the introduction. Both in England and America the work was sold largely, and Mr. Motley found himself everywhere recognized as a great historian. He returned with his family to the United States in 1856, and spent the winter of 18o6-'7 in Boston, taking a niod- •est house in Boylston place for his residence. In 1858 he returned to England, where he was most cordially welcomed and received as an honored guest in the highest social circles, where he took his place Dei gratia as naturally as the first-born of a princely household. Mr. Motley took much interest in the " Atlantic Monthly," and in the first number, dated November, 1857, is an article by him entitled " Florentine Mosaics," continued in the December number. It is a pleasant series of •descriptions of churches and other public edifices and "the works of art they contain, interesting as showing his tastes and illustrating his peculiarities of thought and style. He was too busy with more serious work to continue writing for periodicals, and does not appear again in the"" Atlantic Month- ly" until December, 1868, when he wrote a review of Sarah Edwards Henshaw's history of the work of the northwest sanitary commission. Here again the characteristics of the writer show themselves, his ardent patriotism, his large humanity, his elo- quence, and his scholarly fastidiousness, which in the midst of his generous sympathy and admiration takes offence at such words as "tireless " and " men- tality," and leads him to say : " We would implore her on our bended knees not to call a soldier in the National armies a ' Federal.' It used to be bad enough to hear this from the London ' Times.' "
In 1860 Mr. Motley published the first two vol- umes of his second great work, " The History of the United Netherlands," which were received with a hearty welcome from critical authorities as well as the public. " Mr. Motley combines as an historian two qualifications seldom found united — to great capacity for historical research he adds much power of pictorial representation." This is from an article in the " Edinburgh Review," and expresses what would be the general verdict of scholars : With that power of pictorial represen- tation went a certain vivacity which occasion- ally betrayed him into a mode of expression that reminded the friends of his early days of his youthful dash and play of expression, a something more juvenile than we should have expected in a scholar who could tire out the laborious drudges around him by his indefatigable labor. The four years that followed the publication of the first two volumes of the " History of the United Nether- lands " were not favorable to the calm pursuits of the historian. Fond as he was of his historical studies, he loved his own time and his own coun- try with a passion still more fervent than his scholarly enthusiasm. He was excited to the high- est point at finding the animus of the leading classes in England so largely in sympathy with the south at the beginning of the civil war, and he did his best to uphold the cause of freedom and of the north at a time when the dearest interests of both were imperilled. His two letters to the London " Times " remain as an imperishable record of his patriotism and his ability as the champion of lib- erty and humanity. No other American voice could probably have been as effective at that par- ticular moment, and the country can hardly know all it owes to its pi'ompt and spirited defender. In 1861 Mr. Motley was appointed by President Lincoln as minister to Austria. His daughter. Lady Harcourt, says of him : " In the first dark years the painful interest of the great national drama was so all-absorbing that literary work was entirely put aside, and with his countrymen at home he lived only in the varying fortunes of the day, his profound faith and enthusiasm sustaining him and lifting him above the natural influence of a by no means sanguine temperament. Later, when the tide was turning and success was near- ing, he was more able to work." His successor at Vienna, Mr. John Jay, some two years after he left that post of official duty, said : " I had occasion to read most of his despatches, which exhibited a mastery of the subjects they treated, with much of the clear perception, the scholarly and philosophic tone and decided judgment which, supplemented by his picturesque description, full of life and color, have given character to his histories." But notwithstanding the acceptable manner in which he had performed services of great importance to his country. Mr. Motley resigned his office as min- ister to Austria in 1867 in consequence of an at- tack from an obscui-e source, which should have been ignored by his government and was not de- serving of the importance he attached to it. In 1868 the two concluding volumes of the " History of the Netherlands " were published and sustained the reputation he had gained by his previous la- bors. In June, 1868, Mr. Motley returned to Boston and established himself at No. 2 Park street. This same year he delivered two important addresses : " Four Questions for the People at the Presidential Election," an electioneering speech, as its title im- plies, but noble in thought and language; and one before the New York historical society, entitled " Historic Progress and American Democracy." Soon after the election of Gen. Grant as president, Mr. Motley received the appointment of minister to England. His sudden recall in 1870 was never explained to the satisfaction of his friends and the public. The blow was wholly unexpected and un- prepared for, a cruel surprise, from which he never recovered. There was nothing left for him but to return to his historical labors. He had meant to occupy his later years with a work of wider scope than those already given to the public. Before beginning this great undertakmg he em- ployed himself in writing a biography that was itself moi-e like a history. It was entitled " The Life and Death of John of Barneveld, Advocate of Holland, with a View of the Primary Causes and Movements of the Thirty- Y'ears' War." This was characterized by the London " Quarterly Review "
