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Show BRIEF SKETCH OF GEORGE BANCROFT i. ' ' Ocorgo Bancroft wa3 born nt Wor ces'ter, Moss., Octobor S, 1800. He wns a golden link between tho stalwarts stal-warts of revolutionary days and those of the nineteenth contury. He had tho advantages of all the schools and drew, to himself all the Insignia of the Universities, but he would have, boon great had ho never seen a, school liouso. In his younger days ha had political ambition, and was President Polk's secretary of tho navy. While filling that olllco he founded the naval, na-val, academy at Annnpolls and greatly Improved the observatory at Wash-lngtoiv. Wash-lngtoiv. Lalor, he was minister, to England nnd to Germany. But what may bo termed his illfe work was his History of tho United 'States. Ho was born In tho slime mouth nnd year that Macaulay was, there being twelve days difference In their birthdays, Macaulay wrote tho history of England, Bancroft the history of tho United Stntes, , The former gave Its author groat and just fame, for much of It, while bat cold history, is illuminated by a wealth of learning and a splendor ot diction which Is as filled with charm as with information. Bancroft's history of the United States loses nothing by comparison with it. Indeed, tho scholarship' displayed, dis-played, the clothing of facts in faultless fault-less English; tho analysis ot the dlf ferent characters engaged Is oftof'su perlor to that ot the gifted foreigner. Bancroft was longer engagod Upon his work, for Macaulay died at 59; moreover, ho wns prono to rest from his heavier work by writing essays, poems and exploring all tho Holds of literature, luring homo soraotlmes rare fruit or brilliant Mowers or when in tho mood tho song3 of birds.- But tho work ot Bancroft Is most brilliant and conscientiously correct, and there Is a rhythm to his stylo quite as enchanting en-chanting us that ot Macaulay's In his llfo tlmo he did not win as much fame as somo ot his contemporaries contempor-aries but when most of thorn shall seldom moro be montlonol In the hall ot tamo tho statue .ot Bancroft will take on the dignity of Immortality and around his brow the halo will deepen with tho. onswooplng years. One masterpiece ot his Is the funeral fu-neral eulogy he pronounced upon Abraham Lincoln on thp day which congress set nsldo for his memorial sorvicos, February 12, 1866. It wns In the hall of representatives with both houses ot congress, the president, foreign embassadors and many of tho distinguished men and celebrated wb-men wb-men of tho country woro present. Tho sorrows of tho great war woro still acute, tho grief ovor tho death of Mr. Lincoln had not In tho least abated. Thnt accounts for somo flashes ot passion in tho eulogy, but In tno main It Is statoly, calm, clear, brllllnnt nnd touching. It contains about 10,000 words. It gives tho history of Mr. Lincoln nnd n luminous analysis ot I his character, which of courso made necessary tho stntement of tho trlnls that, woro thrust upon him nt homo nnd abroad. To road It Is llko listening to a funeral anthem with stately organ accompaniment. Somo ot the similes nro wonderful, 8 Instance this: "A a a child on a dark night on u rugged way, catches hold ot tho hnnd of Its father for. guldanco and support, ho clung fast to tho hand of tho pooplo and moved calmly through tho gloom." His arraignment of thin -acts ot Iho British and French governments, If sevoro, Is only severe becauso ot Its truth. ; , . Hero Is one sentence from his do, scriptlon of tho war:' "Tho vile thought that llfo Is tho greatest of blosslngsMld.not-rlsa uir In six. hundrcd-Jinit.tiS!lty-"Vo bay; ties and sovero skirmishes . blood (lowed llko water. It streamed ovor tjio grassy plains, it stained tho rocks; tho undorgrowth of tho for-est for-est was rjd with It; and tho armies marched on with majestic courngo from one conflict to nnothor, know-I know-I Ing that tliey were fighting for Ood and liberty. Bancroft did not llko Palmorston. lie, as prima minlstor, had treated with scorn tho request of the govo"n-ment govo"n-ment to maintain tho ru'es tlio Eug iish governmentvhnd. laidHdown. to govern neutral' nations; .treated' bur Union as already destroyed and jeered jeer-ed at our government's efforts to put down tho rebellion. Like Russell, Oladstono and the others, he wanted to see our republic split Into fragments. frag-ments. It may be interesting to close this by giving Bancroft's comparison com-parison ot the characters of Lincoln and Palmerston: , 'Hardly had the late president been consigned to tho grave when the prime minlstor of England died, 'full of years nnd honors. Palmerstou, traced his lineage to tho tlmo of 'the Conquoror; Lincoln wont- back only to his grandfather. 'Palmorston received his education from the best scholars ot Harrow, Edinburgh Ed-inburgh and Cambridge;1 Lincoln's early teachers wero the silent 'fores't, tho prairie, tho river and the sttirs. Palmerston' was ln public life for sixty years; Lincoln for not a tenth of that tlmo. Pedmerston was a skillful guide ot an established aristocracy; aris-tocracy; Lincoln a leader, or rather a companion ot tho people. Palmerston Palmer-ston was exclusively an Englishman and made .his boast In the house of commons that the Interest of England was his shlbboloth; Lincoln thought always of mankind as well' as his own country, and served human nature na-ture itself. Palmerston, from his narrowness as an Englishman, did not endear his country to any one court or to any one nation, but rather caused general uneasiness and dislike; dis-like; Lincoln left America moro bo-loved bo-loved by all the peoples of Europe. Palmerston was self-possessed and adroit in reconciling the conflicting factions ot the aristocracy; Lincoln, frank and Ingenious, know how to polso himself on tho ever moving opInlonB of the masses. Palmerston was capable of Insolence toward the weak, quick to tho sensu of honor, .not heedful ot .right; Lincoln rejected reject-ed counsel given only as a matter of polloy, and was not capable of being willfully unjust. Palmerston, essen tfally superficial, delighted In banter and know how to divert gravo opposition opposi-tion by playful levity; Lincoln was a man ot infinite jest on his lips, with saddest .earnestness at his heart. Palmerston was a fair representative ot the aristocratic liberality' ot his day, choosing for his .tribunal not the conscience of humanity, but tho house ot commons;) Lincoln took to heart the eternal truths ot liberty, obeyed them as tho commands ot Providence and accepted tho human race us the Judge of his fidelity. Palmerston did nothing that will euduro; Lincoln finished a work which all tlmo cannot overthrow. Palmorston Is a shining cxamplo ot tho ablest of a cultivated aristocracy; Lincoln Is tho gonulno fruit of Institutions Institu-tions where the laboring man shares and assists to form the great ideas ot his country. Palmerston was burled In Wcstmlnstor Abboy by tho! order ot his queen, nnd was attended ! by tiio British aristocracy to his grave, which, after a fow years, will hardly bo noticed by tho sldo ot the grnvos of Fox and Chatham; Lincoln was followed by the sorrow ot his country across tho contlnont to Ub resting ploco ln tho heart ot tho' Mississippi Mis-sissippi valley to bo remembered thru all time by his countrymen nnd al) tho peoples of tho world." ' |