The first fruits of these domestic and foreign studies was Mr. Sparks's valuable publication, in 1829-30, of the Diplomatic Correspondence of the Revolution; followed, after two years, by the Life of Gouverneur Morris, with selections from his correspondence and miscellaneous papers. In 1830, he originated and edited that excellent annual, so long a favorite in our country, known as the American Almanac; and, about the same time, he began his Library of American Biography, extending, in two series, to twenty-five volumes, for which he composed the charming biographies of La Salle, Ribault, Pulaski, Benedict Arnold, Father Marquette, Charles Lee, and Ethan Allen. Meanwhile, his attention to the great work--the Life and Writings of Washington--never flagged. Of course, the labor of careful selection, arrangement, and illustration was immense. His apartment in Ashburton Place, Boston, was covered from floor to ceiling with volumes and packages; nor did he ever leave it until his completed task of ten or twelve hours' work, freed him, after night, for a healthful walk and a refreshing visit to friends. Ten of these busy years were thus spent in the preparation, printing, and publication of the Life and Writings of Washington, which was finally given to the world, volume by volume, between 1834 and 1837, in twelve stout octavos, at a cost, I understand, of about one hundred thousand dollars. In 1840, appeared his other great national book, the Life and Works of Franklin, in ten massive octavos, comprizing, among other valuable papers discovered by him, no less than two hundred and fifty-three letters of the philosopher, never before printed, and one hundred and fifty-four not included in any previous edition. To this superb collection he added the "Life" as far as it had been written by Franklin himself, and continued it, from his own materials, to the patriot's death. In seventeen years, and at the age of fifty-one, he had won the highest honors of literature, and the right to have his name linked forever, throughout the world, with the names of Franklin and Washington. Nor were these honors less dear to him when he reflected that he had reached the mature age of thirty-four before he had _a real purpose in life_, and that, in spite of adverse fortune, he had accomplished his designs by the force of character, by self-denial and indomitable industry.