Although no historian has spent more time than Motley in searching the
musty records and state archives of foreign lands for matter relating to
Holland, it was impossible for a man of his temperament, convictions, and
purpose to write a calm, dispassionate history. He is not the cool judge,
but the earnest advocate, and yet he does not distort facts. He is just and
can be coldly critical, even of his heroes, but he is always on one side,
the side of liberty and justice, pleading their cause. His temperament
gives warmth, eloquence, and dramatic passion to his style. Individual
incidents and characters stand forth sharply defined. His subject seems
remarkably well suited to him because his love of liberty was a sacred
passion. With this feeling to fire his blood, the unflinching Hollander to
furnish the story, and his eloquent style to present it worthily, Motley's
_Rise of the Dutch Republic_ is a prose epic of Dutch liberty.
Francis Parkman (1823-1893)--The youngest and greatest of this group of
historians was born of Puritan blood in Boston in 1823. Parkman's life from
early childhood was a preparation for his future work, and when a mere lad
at college, he had decided to write a history of the French and Indian War.
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