In addition to very full
collections relating to the war from the archives of England and France,
he has obtained large masses of papers from Germany, among which last
are many of great importance, especially for the study of military
operations in 1777. Very valuable documents from the Spanish have been
secured, through the courtesy of the Spanish government and the kind
offices of that distinguished scholar and most amiable man, Don Pascual
de Gayangos.
Investigators of the past are naturally inclined to overestimate the
value of any new sources of information opened by their own diligence or
sagacity of research, and a little of this feeling is perceptible in Mr.
Bancroft's Preface; but, after all, we apprehend that the new evidence
he has so diligently collected will not shake the deliberate verdict
already passed alike upon men and events. Here and there a gleam is
thrown upon some single incident, or the motives and conduct of a
particular actor; but the general lights and shadows of the historical
landscape remain undisturbed. The statements and the views of Marshall
and Sparks are substantially sustained. The patriotic American will not
regret to see that Mr. Bancroft's investigations and conclusions lead
him to exalt Washington in comparison with the soldiers and civilians
who stood around him; and the reader of his pages will have fresh cause
to admire, not merely the firmness and self-command of that illustrious
man, but his abilities as a commander and a statesman.
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