aints
characters. His usual diligence in the search of materials has not
deserted him here; and he has been even more than usually successful in
the amount and character of what he has found. 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. We have
especially to thank Mr. Bancroft for the distinctness with which he
shows how much the success of the Northern army was due to Washington's
disinterested advice. His high praise of the commander-in-chief
sometimes glances aslope, and lights in the form of censure of some of
his subordinate officers; and we should not be surprised if some of his
strictures provoked replies and led to controversies. Some of those whom
he criticises have left descendants, and those who have left no
descendants have partisans who are jealous of the fame of their
favorites, and will not lightly allow a leaf of their laurels to be
blighted.

During the period embraced by this volume the constitutions of several
of the States were formed, and the Articles of Confederation