established at
once, as a matter of course, the relation of an intimate friendship.
He was born in Worcester, to which he was much attached, though
he had spent little of his life there after he had left college.
Mrs. Bancroft had known my oldest brother and sister intimately,
when she lived in Boston. I had learned from Mr. Emerson,
who rarely gave his praise lightly, as well as from my own
study, to value Mr. Bancroft very highly as a historian,
which he soon found out.

I almost always found him waiting for me on the doorstep
of my dwelling when I came from church the first Sunday after
I reached Washington, at the beginning of a session. I have
enjoyed many hours at his table, rendered delightful by the
conversation of the eminent guests whom he gathered there,
but by no conversation more delightful than his own.

Mr. Bancroft had two enthusiasms which made him a great historian--
an enthusiasm for truth which spared no labor and left no
stores of information unsearched, and an enthusiastic love
of country. He believed that the great emotions and motives
which move a free people are the noble, not the mean motives.
He has written and interpreted the history of the United States
in that faith. I believe his work will endure so long as
the love of liberty shall endure. I gave my estimate of him
at a meeting of the American Antiquarian Society, of which
we were both chosen Vice-Presidents, in October, 1880, just
after the completion of his eightieth year and of his "History
of the United States," as follows:

"It is not usual to discuss the report of the committee to
propose a list of officers. But one of the names reported
gives special interest to the occasion. On the third of this
month of October, our honored associate Mr. Bancroft completed
his eightieth year. At the same time he completed his 'History
of the United States' to the formation of the Federal Constitution.

"This Society, while it is national and continental in the
scope of its investigations, strikes down its roots into the
soil of this locality, where its founder dwelt, and where its
collections are kept.

"For both these reasons we cherish our relations to Mr. Bancroft.
He was born within a few rods of this spot. He is descended
by the mother's side from an old Worcester County family who
were conspicuous in the administration of its public affairs
long before the Revolution. His father was one of the six
persons who petitioned