, chiselled and
chaste; his ready comprehension of magnanimous deeds evinces his own
magnanimity; his correct understanding of various creeds and motives of
action proves his own wide Christianity; chivalry was known to him,
because he was himself chivalrous; and we have reason to rejoice that
the field in and through which his noble faculties were developed, was
the vast and varied one of history. We doubt if any one ever read his
works without forming a high conception of the character of their
author, a conception which will be found fully realized in the excellent
Life given us by George Ticknor. If no one is qualified to write the
Life of a man, save one who has familiarly lived with him, who but Mr.
Ticknor could have given us such a biography of Prescott? This
advantage, together with the similarity of literary tastes, the common
nationality in which their spheres of labor lay, their long friendship,
their congeniality of spirit, with the mental qualifications brought by
Mr. Ticknor to his task of love, renders his production one of
inestimable value. It is indeed full of sweet, grave charm, and
thoroughly reliable. In these pages we see how it was that no man ever
found fault with or spoke disparagingly of Prescott--we find the reason
for it in the perfect balance of his conscientious and kindly character.
He was in the strictest sense of the words 'lord of himself,' mulcting
himself with fines and punishments for what he regarded as his
derelictions in his labors, compelling himself to pursue the tasks which
he had determined to achieve. There is no more interesting record than
that of his constant struggles to conquer the effects of his growing
blindness, none more inspiriting than the results of his efforts. He
loved and lived among his books; his last request was that his body
should be placed among them ere it was given to the grave.

This delightful biography, which has been received so warmly, both at
home and abroad, was originally published in an elegant quarto volume,
illustrated in the highest style of art, and an edition was printed
which was considered quite too large for the present times. But the
edition was soon exhausted, and Messrs. Ticknor & Fields have now given
us the Life in a 12mo volume, thus placing it within the means of all
readers. We rejoice at this, because Prescott belongs to us all: while
his life is dear to the scholar and lover of his kind, it furnishes some
of the most importan