BANCROFT, GEORGE. 



59 



reviewed in the " Edinburgh," and by Edward 

 Everett in the " North American." It was pirat- 

 ed in England, without even a mention of the 

 translator's name. During these years Bancroft 

 cut loose in politics from the traditions of the 

 Harvard circle, and became the foremost man in 

 the councils of the Democratic party in Massa- 

 chusetts. But he had steadily refused office. 

 The first volume of his " History of the United 

 States" appeared in 1834 and the second in 1837, 

 while he was Collector of the Port of Boston, to 

 which office President Van Buren appointed him. 

 His adherence to the Democratic party was based 

 on philosophical and theoretical considerations, 

 but, unlike many men of similar constitution, he 

 was not too nice to enter the field of practical 

 politics. 



He was the first of that line of scholar-poli- 

 ticians who have graced public life in America, 

 and of whom Massachusetts has furnished the 

 largest number. His political career in outline 

 was this : In 1830 he was elected to the Legisla- 

 ture, but without his own knowledge or con- 

 sent. Out of deference to the strong Whig sym- 

 pathies of Mrs. Bancroft and her family he de- 

 clined to serve. Again in 1831 he was requested 

 to accept the nomination for Secretary of State in 

 Massachusetts, but he declined. Mention has 

 already been made of his service as collector in 

 Boston. In 1844 he was nominated for Governor 

 on the Democratic ticket, but, although he re- 

 ceived more votes than had hitherto been cast 

 for any Democrat, he was defeated. In 1845 he 

 became Secretary of the Navy under President 

 Polk, and from 1846 to 1849 he was minister to 

 Great Britain. In 1866 he was selected by Con- 

 gress to deliver the eulogy on President Lincoln, 

 and in 1867 he was sent first as minister to 

 Prussia, being successively accredited to the 

 North German Confederation, to the Free Cities, 

 and to Bavaria, and finally to the German Em- 



?ire. He voluntarily retired from public life in 

 874. From that time until his death, in 1891, 

 he spent the summers in Newport and the win- 

 ters in Washington. In the latter place he was 

 continuously active as an adviser in many im- 

 portant questions of public policy. 



While head of the custom-house in Boston he 

 appointed to office two of the finest spirits in the 

 history of American thought and letters, Na- 

 thaniel Hawthorne and Orestes Brownson. They 

 were excellent officials, the former being emi- 

 nent in the punctilious performance of his du- 

 ties. He served for something over two years, 

 and resigned against the wishes of the collector. 

 Bancroft was an earnest advocate for the an- 



confirmation was unanimous. Hitherto the new- 

 ly appointed midshipmen had had some theoreti- 

 cal instruction at sea in addition to their practi- 

 cal training. The new Secretary wished to found 

 a school for naval officers like that which already 

 existed for the education of army officers at 

 West Point. An appropriation seemed hopeless. 

 He, therefore, with the approval of the President 

 and his colleagues, ordered the instruction hith- 

 erto given at sea to be given for the time be- 

 ing at Annapolis, and, acting under his powers, 

 sent thither an officer to superintend, the more 

 capable of the existing teachers to be profes- 

 sors, and the young officers to attend as pupils. 

 Examinations were ordered both for admission 

 and promotion. When, therefore, Congress met, 

 the school was actually in existence. Applica- 

 tion was made for money to repair the building 

 that the War Department had assigned to the 

 Navy for the purpose. Congress passed the bill, 

 and the Naval School was founded. 



Although her independence had already been 

 recognized by both Great Britain and France, 

 Texas was still claimed by Mexico. California, 

 nominally under Mexican rule, could be safely 

 governed only by Americans, so great were the 

 disorders of Mexican administration. It was be- 

 lieved that Mexico would declare war on account 

 of the annexation of Texas. In June, 1845, there- 

 fore, Bancroft gave the orders that led to the 

 occupation of California. In 1846 he was also 

 for a month acting Secretary of War, and through 

 him were sent the orders to Zachary Taylor for 

 the invasion of the territory in dispute between 

 Texas and Mexico which brought on the Mexican 

 War. The same year his mission to England 

 began. The Northwestern boundary question 

 had been settled while he was still in the Cabi- 

 net, and he had ample time for historical studies 

 and social life. His reputation as a man of 

 letters being already established, the historical 

 treasures of the great houses were put at his dis- 

 posal, and the years of his London life were a part 

 rather of his literary than of his political career. 



From 1849 to 1867 Bancroft lived in New York, 

 and was absorbed in authorship. His earlier po- 

 litical life had fallen in the days when the Demo- 

 cratic party was but in part subservient to the 

 slave-holding oligarchy of the South. He escaped 

 the evil days of its entire devotion by his retire- 

 ment from public life. But at the outbreak of 

 the war he no longer held his peace, and was an 

 ardent, patriotic War Democrat. Twice during 

 the contest he delivered public addresses, one at 

 the invitation of the city that was his home, in 



Bancroft was an earnest advocate for the an- which he destroyed the flimsy constitiitional pi 

 nexation of Texas, pleading in the newspapers for slavery ; and in his eulogy on Lincoln he \ 

 for the extension of the " area of freedom." Al- repeated views concerning its fatal influei 



though he was roundly abused at the time by 

 men of both parties, events have justified his 

 opinion. Texas, as an independent State, could 

 have imported slaves. Her autonomy would 

 have made impossible the acquisition of Califor- 

 nia, and might have seriously impaired the efforts 

 of the country to suppress the rebellion. When 

 his name came before the Senate for confirmation 

 to Folk's Cabinet, Archer, of Virginia, secured a 

 postponement, and Bancroft was called to account 

 for his published articles on slavery. Allen, of 

 Ohio, examined them all and made a vehement 

 speech in support of their doctrines. The vote for 



but 



repeated views concerning its fatal influence 

 which he had urged on members of Congress 

 before its formal abolition. " The path of wis- 

 dom, of patriotism, of peace, of future success," 

 he wrote to Samuel S. Cox in January, 1865, 

 " leads now through the abolition of slavery by 

 an amendment of the Constitution." On the ac- 

 cession of Johnson he vigorously supported the 

 President's reconstruction policy, and in 1867 

 was sent as the United States envoy to Berlin. 



Two remarkable diplomatic achievements give 

 distinction to the last period of his public life 

 the naturalization treaties and the successful con- 

 duct of the San Juan arbitration. The former 



