356 GEORGE BANCROFT. 



in Central Massachusetts; was honored with the degree of D.D. by 

 his Alma Mater, Harvard College; was the author of a standard 

 Life of Washington which has been republished in England and 

 has also been recently reprinted in this country in popular form; 

 was Vice-President of the American Antiquarian Society for many 

 years; was President of the American Unitarian Association from 

 its organization in 1825 to 1836; and was a Fellow of the American 

 Academy of Arts and Sciences. His mother was a daughter of 

 Judge John Chandler, and was a recognized leader among the wo- 

 men of the little town in which her lot was cast. Her time during 

 married life was engrossed in the care of a large family of children, 

 who were reared in a manner suited to their social position, with 

 no other income ordinarily at command than her husband's salary 

 as a country clergyman, eked out by such increase as could be 

 obtained from teaching the children of parishioners. The lesson 

 of George Bancroft's boyhood was that he must rely for his future 

 support upon himself alone. 



A sister of Mr. Bancroft married John Davis, the greater part of 

 whose life was spent in public service, as Governor of Massachu- 

 setts, E,epresentative in Congress, or United States Senator. A 

 nephew, J. C. Bancroft Davis, succeeded Mr. Bancroft at the Ger- 

 man Embassy. The present Chief Justice of the United States 

 finds a common ancestor with Mr. Bancoft, one generation back 

 of the historian's father. 



It was Dr. Bancroft's earnest desire that his son should adopt 

 his own profession ; and, in preparation for that career, George was 

 sent to Harvard College, where he graduated in 1817, second in 

 his class. The opportunity was then offered him to complete his 

 studies in Europe at the expense of the College. Of this he gladly 

 availed himself, and the next five years of his life were spent in 

 study and travel in Europe. He studied at Gottingen and Berlin, 

 taking the degree of Ph.D. at Gottingen before he was twenty 

 years of age. 



This period of his life was rich in friendships of distinguished 

 men belonging to a generation now passed away. It was fraught 

 with benefits to him in his future career. The familiarity with 

 the German language which he then gained was of incalculable ser- 

 vice to him, both in his diplomatic and in his literary labors. The 

 philosophic cast of his studies somewhat influenced his methods of 

 thought, and found sufficient expression in his writings for his 

 critics to charge him with mj^sticism. Yet their tendency was to 



