OF ARTS AND SCIENCES: MAY 29, 1866. 105 



In 1823 he resigned his charge at Baltimore on account of enfeebled 

 health. He then removed to Boston, and became proprietor and 

 editor of the North American Review. During the seven years for 

 which this work was entirely under his control, it reached a degree of 

 prosperity and an extended circulation which it has never equalled at 

 any subsequent time. In 1828 he published a " Life of John Ledyard, 

 the American Traveller." 



Shortly after his removal from Baltimore he determined to attempt 

 the publication of Washington's Life and Writings. In 1828 he spent 

 a year in Europe, employed principally in copying documents illustra- 

 tive of the .history of the American Revolution in the public archives 

 of England and France. His great work appeared in twelve volumes, 

 in 1834-37. During its preparation, and chiefly from materials accu- 

 mulated in its furtherance, he published the " Life and Correspondence 

 of Gouverneur Morris," in three volumes, and the " Diplomatic Corre- 

 spondence of the American Revolution," in twelve volumes. The Amer- 

 ican Almanac, from the outset a work of national interest and impor- 

 tance, was also started by him, and he edited its first volume, — that for 

 1830. Simultaneously with the appearance of the first volume of his 

 Washington, he commenced the publication of his " Library of Ameri- 

 can Biography," which was continued through twenty -five volumes, 

 several of the memoirs having been written by himself, and all the rest 

 written by authors of his own procuring, and published under his imme- 

 diate supervision. In 1840 he completed, in ten volumes, his Life and 

 Writings of Franklin. In 1854 he published four volumes of the more 

 important Correspondence of the American Revolution. In these labors 

 he easily takes the lead of the historians of the United States. No 

 other man has approached him either in the amount or the value of 

 his contributions. He has done more, perhaps, than all others to 

 make it possible that a history of the American Revolution should be 

 written. His works bear abundant tokens of his conscientious faithful- 

 ness, his judiciousness as an historical critic, his freedom from preju- 

 dice and partiality, his perspicuity, grace, and dignity as a writer, his 

 sound judgment as an editor, and his skill in availing himself of the co- 

 operation of others. It is believed that no one has ever covered so 

 much ground with so few assailable points ; and the two or three in- 

 stances in which he has been called in question have only served to 

 bring into clearer view the patient industry, profound discretion, and 



VOL. VII. 14 



