A fitting postlude to Motley’s work as a whole may be found in the last sentence of the _United Netherlands_. It makes clear the motives other than scholarly and creative which led to the writing of these splendid narratives. Says the historian: ‘If by his labors a generous love has been fostered for that blessing, without which everything that this earth can afford is worthless,--freedom of thought, of speech, and of life,--his highest wish has been fulfilled.’ FOOTNOTES: [46] O. W. Holmes. [47] _Merry-Mount_ is more readable than its predecessor. Such characters as Sir Christopher Gardiner and his ‘cousin,’ Thomas Morton with his hawks and his classical quotations, Esther Ludlow and Maudsley, Walford the smith, Blaxton the hermit, together with the human grotesques Peter Cakebread, Bootefish, and Canary-Bird, repay one for the trouble he takes to make their acquaintance. [48] For a defence of the part played by the Secretary of State in this affair see John Bigelow’s paper entitled ‘Mr. Seward and Mr. Motley,’ in the ‘International Review,’ July-August, 1878. [49] John Jay: ‘Motley’s Appeal to History,’ in the ‘International Review’ for November-December, 1877. [50] J. R. Green. [51] _Dutch Republic_, i, 162. XIV _Francis Parkman_ REFERENCES: =Edward Wheelwright=: ‘Memoir of Francis Parkman, LL.D.,’ _Publications of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts_, vol. i, 1895. =C. H. Farnham=: _A Life of Francis Parkman_, 1901. =H. D. Sedgwick=: _Francis Parkman_, ‘American Men of Letters,’ 1904. I HIS LIFE The Parkmans are descendants of Thomas Parkman of Sidmouth, Devon, whose son Elias settled in Dorchester, Massachusetts, in 1633. Francis Parkman was a son of the Reverend Francis Parkman, pastor for thirty-six years of the New North Church in Boston. Through his mother, Caroline (Hall) Parkman, he was related to the famous colonial minister, John Cotton. Two of his maternal ancestors used to preach to the Indians in their own tongue. Parkman’s deep interest in the ‘aborigines’ may have been ‘partly inherited from these Puritan ancestors.’ ‘It does not appear, however, that he ever learned their language, and it may be regarded as certain that he never preached to them.’ Born in Boston on September 16, 1823, Parkman prepared for college at Chauncy Hall School and was graduated at Harvard in 1844. During his college course he ‘showed symptoms of Injuns on the brain,’ as a classmate phrased it. In 1841 he began those vacation wanderings which gave him such an intimate acquaintance with the American wilderness. Before taking his degree he had planned a book on the conspiracy of Pontiac. The year after graduation he visited Detroit and other scenes of the historic drama, collected papers, and, wherever it was possible, ‘interviewed descendants of the actors.’