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PAPERS

DISCUSSING THE COMPARATIVE MERITS OF PRESCOTT'S AND
WILSON'S HISTORIES,

PRO. AND CCS?.,

AS LAir BEFORE THE

MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY,
PY PROF. GEO. TICKNOR,
/ PRESCOTT'S PROPOSED BIOGRAPHER,
ALSO,
THEEE LETTERS OF PEESCOTT,
COMMENDING WILSON'S HISTORICAL RESEARCH.

1861.

W'l

ROBERT ANDERSON WILSON.
A New History of the Conquest of Mexico : in which Las Casas' denunciations
of TnE Popular Historians of that "War arb fully vindicated, etc. By
Rodert Anderson Wilson. Philadelphia: 1859. 8vo.
A book with this striking title, recently published at Philadelphia, in a hand
some and imposing volume of above five hundred pages, has been somewhat
noticed in the newspapers," but has been received with a considerable feeling of
distrust. Nor is this to be accounted remarkable. An author who, like Mr. Wil
son, maintains that the civilization of Mexico came from Phcenicia before the time
of Moses, and that all the accounts of the Spanish conquest, usually relied upon —
from the manly despatches of Cortez down to the marvelously learned and philo
sophical travels of Humboldt, and the brilliant and conscientious history of Pres-
cott — are either wild fictions, or the results of belief in such fictions, can not
himself, one would think, expect to find his path to general favor very smooth.
Of the curt and decisive way in which Mr. Wilson sees fit to contradict such
illustrious predecessors as those just mentioned, or of the details of his narrative,
and of the discussions by which he would sustain it, we do not propose to speak
at all. That ground is well covered by two articles in the Atlantic Monthly for
April and May, written with ample knowledge of the subject, and with pungent
ability. But we wish to say a word about Mr. Wilson's general trustworthiness
as a historian. The claims he put forth are very bold, and he will not, therefore,
object to having them tested under the two heads of his fairness and of his learn
ing — in other words, of his fitness to do what he has undertaken to do.
Many instances may be found of his want of fairness, but we shall confine ourT
selves to one — the case of Dr. Robertson, the author of the History of America
and of Charles V.
Mr. Wilson tells us, in one of his notes, that his father had been adopted into
the family of the head of the Iroquois Indians ; and he elsewhere intimates that
he regards himself, in some sort, as a party concerned in whatever relates to the
honor of that remarkable nation of savages. He goes out of his way, therefore,
to make an attack on Dr. Robertson for saying that the Iroquois, at an earlier
period than that in which he wrote his History of America, were, like many other
of the natives of this continent, accustomed sometimes to satiate their revenge by
eating their enemies. Mr. Wilson's words are : " Dr. Robertson, Principal of the
University (High School) of Edinburgh, has immortalized himself by informing
the world that the Iroquoisr(the Six Nations) eat human flesh." And then he goes
on treating the historian as if he had either invented this charge, or taken it
lightly and without sufficient inquiry, on the authority of a " Jesuitical author."
If he refers, as he probably does, to Charlevoix — a learned and excellent man,
who was at one time a missionary in this part of the American continent — we can
only say, the statements of Charlevoix are ample, and that we feel assured nobody
can read his account of the horrors that accompanied the deaths of Father Brebeuf
and Father Lallemant, and their being eaten by Iroquois in 1649, without being
assured of its truth. But there is no need of going so far, and to a book some
what uncommon. It is only necessary to look into the " Relation," printed at Paris
in 1666, and republished in 1858 at Quebec, under the auspices of the Canadian
Government, in order to feel equally sure that, in 1661, the Sieur Brigeart was —
with circumstances of atrocity too shocking to be repeated — roasted alive and
devoured by a party of Iroquois, under no pretext of hunger, for they had just
been making "grande chere de leur chasse." Indeed, there is no doubt of the fact

that, in the early period of our knowledge of the northern part of our continent,
the Iroquois, like other of our fierce savages, sometimes became cannibals from an
itainsable revenge. Mr. Wilson wishes to degrade Dr. Robertson for stating this
fact in the very mild and cautious way he does, and would have us believe that
this most respectable historian has asserted that the Iroquois had continued can
nibals when they had been "allies of the British crown two hundred years,"
although both in his text and in his note's Dr. Robertson says that ihe practice had
long ceased when he wrote, which was about 1775-1T77. Now a person who
treats history in this way is too prejudiced, or too careless, or too ignorant, or all
three, to be trusted. He does not deserve the name of an historian. He is the
calumniator he would persuade us to think Dr. Robertson to be.
But the task Mr. "Wilson took upon himself is not only one that demanded fair
ness, but it is one that demanded learning. Had he, then, the learning he needed ?
"We might, perhaps, safely leave the answer of this question to the articles in the
Atlantic Monthly already referred to, where many instances of gross ignorance in
great things as well as small are pointed out and exposed. But there is one case
so decisive, that we wish to note it separately. It is that of Bernal Diaz del
Castillo, the Chronicler of the Conquest. No book in relation to the early history
of the Spanish invasion of Mexico has been more relied on than his ; for it was
written by one who claimed to have fought through all its battles, and who, in his
old age, sat down and gave, in great detail, and with that genuine simplicity which
is the seal of truth, a history of the whole of it; — one main purpose that he had
being to correct the accounts of Gomara, which the clear-headed veteran deemed
too favorable to Cortez, whose Secretary Gomara was. Such a work, of course,
stood directly in the way of a person like Mr. "Wilson, who, in order to maintain
his theories about Mexico, was obliged to deny all the received accounts of that
extraordinary event, and especially those of Bernal Diaz. After some considera
tion, he seems to have made up his mind that the cheapest and shortest way was
to declare boldly that no such man ever existed; — or, to use his own words, he
" with much deliberation concluded to denounce Bernal Diaz as a myth."
No doubt Mr. Wilson felt himself tolerably safe in this decisive assertion ; for,
to most persons who are in the habit of reading Spanish books, hardly anything
is known of the sturdy old conquistador, except what he has himself told us ; and
ihis is testimony not to be accepted when the very existence of the person is
called in question, for if Bernal Diaz never lived, he can never have written the
book that bears his name.
But there is, happily, external testimony in the case, and enough of it. A fresh
edition of the old Chronicler's work was published in Madrid in 1853, in the
twenty-sixth volume of the "Biblioteca de Autores Espanoles," and *as edited by
Don Enrique de Vedia, a scholar who has heretofore interested himself in America
and in American literature. In the preface to this edition, Don Enrique says,
that, about the year 1689, Don Francisco de Fuentes y Guzman wrote a History
of Guatemala, of which the first portion, in two manuscript volumes, was then
before him (Don Enrique de Vedia) ; that in this history Don Francisco de Fuentes
says, with many expressions of affection, that Bernal Diaz was his great-grandfather ;
and that the original manuscript of his History of the Conquest was still preserved,
and showed differences in the printed copy, especially, in chapters 164 and 171.
These facts Mr. Wilson ought to have known ; for they were published to the
world six years before he had the hardihood to assert that no such man as Bernal
Diaz had ever existed.
But this is not all. The Abbe Brasseur de Bourbourg, a French gentleman of
much learning, has been long interested in the traditions of savage life on this
continent, and especially those of its central portions. He was Professor at the
Seminary of Quebec in 1845. In 1848 he went to Mexico, and became connected
there with the French mission of Mons. Levasseur, and traveled much about the
country and among the natives, studying their languages and manners till 1851.
From 1851 to 1854 he was in Paris and Rome, and made careful researches con
nected with his American studies; and from 1854 to the beginning of 1857 he
was in Mexico again and in Gautemala, making fresh and more elaborate local
investigations. Ihis gentleman, thus qualified for his task, printed in Paris in
1857 and 1858, the first three volumes, and in this year, 1859, the fourth and last

of his " Historic des Nations Civilieses du Mexique et de l'Amerique Centrale,
durante les siecles antLTieurs a Christophe Colomb," which he brings down — so far
as the native Indians are concerned — to the completion of the Spanish Conquest
in Mexico. In this work, which is full of learning, drawn from original sources
and unpublished materials, it is almost needless to say that the Abbe de Bourbourg
concurs with the accounts to which we have heretofore trusted, from the time of
Cortf z to thai of Prescott ; carrying his investigations, however, much more into
detail than anybody has done before him. Still he is not satisfied, and is now,
probably, embarked anew for Mexico, in order to pursue still farther the subject
which has so long been with him not merely an earnest pursuit, but a passion.
On his way to Mexico, the Abbe de Bourbourg lately passed through Boston,
where we had already enjoyed the pleasure of seeing him in 1854. He stopped
here only a very short time, and we did not know he was in town until he called
upon us the day before his departure. But we at once spoke to him of Mr. Wil
son's book, whicli he had not seen, and gave him a copy of it, desiring him, at the
same time, to put on paper certain facts relating to Bernal Diaz, which he had
mentioned in our conversation. The same evening he wrote us a note, which we
received after he was gone, and from which the following is a translation of the
portion relating to Bernal Diaz. It is dated Boston, 25th April, 1859 :
" I have the honor to address you herewith what you asked of me this morning
concerning Bernal Diaz. Not having my books or my notes at hand, I must con
tent myself with putting down from memory what, at the moment, occurs to my
recollection. " Bernal Diaz del Castillo was among the soldiers who landed with Cortez at Vera
Cruz, and remained afterwards with him. His name appears in a great number of
official acts still extant. It was Bernal Diaz who stood sentinel at the entrance of
the Spanish Camp when the envoys from Cempoalla presented themselves there.
In the legal process instituted against Cortez by his enemies, some years after the
taking of Mexico, the name of Bernal Diaz appears as one of the witnesses for the
defence. Later he is to be traced among the Spaniards, who established them
selves in Central America ; and he was, for many years, Corregidor of the city of
Guatemala. It was there that he wrote his History, and the autograph manuscript,
signed by his ozon hand, is carefully preserved by that municipality among its
archives, where I have seen and examined it more than once.
"His signature is often shown among the signature of the members of the Oabildo
(the Corporation) of Gautemala, whose records still exist. He died in that city,
old, and complaining of his poverty."
Our simple-hearted and picturesque chronicler, therefore, not only had a descend
ant in the third generation, who was fondly attached to his ancestor's memory ;
but the autograph manuscript of his ancestoi's remarkable book, and many of his
autograph signatures to official documents, officially preserved, have survived all
the revolutions of the unhappy country, the affairs of whose capital city he long
administered. This is certainly pretty well- for " a myth."
But, to be serious, an author who, like Mr. Wilson, makes the boldest assertions
and then is obliged to run for luck in order to find evidence that he may hope will
support them; — who has so little fairness or judgment as is shown by his treat
ment of Dr. Robertson, and so little knowledge or spirit of inquiry as he has
shown in the case of Bernal Diaz, can really have no claim to the character of an
historian. Still less has he a right to speak in any tone except one of perfect def
erence, when he mentions such names as Baron Humboldt and Mr. Prescott. T.

PROF. T  , OF BOSTON.
" A New History of the Conquest of Mexico ' By Robert Anderson Wilson.
London : Trubner & Co., 60 Paternoster Row ; Philadelphia : Jas. Challen &
Son. Third Edition. 1860.
New facts of history can only be settled by a full and fair discussion ; yet thus
far discussion has been confined to one side only, and that side the one anxious to
suppress what the lamented Prescott styled " a great deal of matter quite origi
nal." My real offence was that I had written " A New History of the Conquest
of Mexico," founded on direct and circumstantial evidence, with speculations on
the fabulous ages, according to the rule laid down by Lord Bacon, (De Augmentis,
b. 2, cap. 6). I had ventured, also, as an expert personally familiar with the
country about which I wrote, to denounce the authorities, on which Prescott had
relied, as physically impossible; as more intensely fabulous than the Arabian
Nifhts or Munchausen's Tales; as the religious romances and pious frauds of
Spanish priests. ¦
As the statute of limitations does not run against history, I will, at this late day,
proceed to defend, not myself, but the truth of history — not from the traverstie,
caricature, and libel, of Prescott's publishers, as contained in their own magazine,
the Atlantic Monthly; but from Prof. T  's article in Littell's Living Age, for
June, 1859 — heading my article as the Professor headed his, only substituting his
name for mine, and writing my own in full at the bottom of this article, instead of
the Professsr's " T ;" for I hold it to be only fair, that a person who assails another
by name should also give his own.
The conflicting romances of Spanish priests, written from 50 to 250 years after
the events they celebrated, had been moulded by the plastic hand of Prescott into
a history, constituting what Barnum would style a happy family of discordant ele
ments ; rather we should liken them to a pyramid of hearsay standing on its apex,
to which Prescott's writings constituted the inverted base. Conflicting with all
the rest, yet a leading authority, was a putative narrative attributed to Bernal
Diaz, a companion of Cortez. As an expert acquainted with that country, and
with the peculiarities of its priests and its soldiers, I pronounced that book spu
rious, and its Bernal Diaz a myth — the invention of a priest ignorant of the country
through which it was alleged the writer had marched, in company with Cortez.
On this point I could not be mistaken. My reasoning might be fallacious, but my
conclusion alone was testimony. The rule of evidence presupposing that experts
do not always know the processes by which their own minds arrive at correct
decisions. " Give me your conclusions, not your argument," said Coleridge to an
old woman; and so say all men to experts, who have any practical knowledge of
the world. Yet the Professor is not more satisfied with my judgment than the
innocent holder of a spurious note is, ordinarily, with the bank officer who pro
nounces it bad. He cites against me a Guatemalian priest, to prove — 1st, That
there was a genuine Bernal Diaz. Who disputed it? 2d, That he died at Guate
mala. Who denied it ? 3d, That the MS. I pronounced spurious was among the
public archives of that city within ninety years of the conquest. Did any one
fix the date at which the pious fraud was consummated 1 or deny that the public
officers of Guatemala were scamps ? This course of proof the Professor intro
duces, is the one resorted to in courts of Justices of the Peace, when the real issue
can not be met.
It may be that "T" is as well known a signature at Boston as "Prof. T  •"
but I confess that when I read the article in the Living Age, at Fort Riley, Kansas,
I supposed it to be the work of n. Jesuit Superior, both from its citing such a
witness to prove irrelevant matter ; and. second, from the Romish tone of the
article, while my name was placed in large capitals over the ordinary heading of
a book notice, for the apparent purpose of exciting prejudice by its broad Scotch
look. As though a Scotchman was less likely than a Spaniard to speak the truth !
I was, therefore, not a little astonished, the other day, to learn that the author was
not a Jesuit, but Professor T  , of Boston.

The only way to overcome the testimony of an expert is by other experts. If
Prof. T  wishes to counteract the effect of my testimony, let him qualify him
self by the severe process I adopted. But this attempt to suppress evidence by
crushing a witness, has met with its just deserts. The publisher who directed the
persecution against me has himself gone into bankruptcy ; while Prescott's books,
which were that man's property, have been crushed out of Boston, and a publisher
in a distant city has bought them for what they were worth, while my history has
gone to a third edition. It is not becoming me to rejoice over the fallen, or to
sneer at "the Mutual Admiration Society of Boston." But I did think it cruel —
when I was made a laughing stock in every corner of the Union by the Atlantic's
false quotations from my book — for the whole literati of Boston to join in the hue
and cry against me ; and to see a Professor, even, descend from his chair to write
what the law designates a libel, and that, too, against a witness for bearing unde-
sired testimony. How different is such conduct from that of the noble-hearted
Prescott. When I published a small volume of " adventures and researches in
that country [Mexico,] during parts of the years 1851, '52, '53 and '54," he was
the first one to congratulate me on my performance; and, when he learned that
the publication of his letter would aid my publisher's sales, he generously con
sented, though, as he expressed it, the establishment of my theory would convert
what he had " hitherto done into castles in Spain." Such was Prescott's disinter
ested love of truth. Yet he was a Bostonian. Other men have mourned in him
the loss of a friend. But I have suffered more than they all by his death. I have
lost a geucous adversary; one who stood between me and the Ishmaelites. That
his books are the most fabulous in our language is not his fault; for the means of
testing the inaccuracy of his authorities did not exist when he wrote, and without
evidence on the other side he was not authorized to reject them. But when I
brought to light a higher grade of evidence, he was the first to admit its force.
He even suggested the ground on which my history rests when he wrote — " Your
strong ground, therefore, must consist in the contradiction afforded by present
appearances, to the statements of the conquerors." Yours, truly, R. A. WILSON.
[N. B. — I omitted to state, in my reply, that in a country where few can write
an " autograph MS.," is one that bears the autograph scrawl, or nibrica, of its
alleged author; and a forged MS. is one that has a spurious rubrica.
2d. The transfer of the Prescott books to a Philadelphia house, extensively
engaged in the Southern trade, would have the effect of increasing, at first, the
sales. Priest Santillan's facticious claim to the mission lands of San Francisco,
found a ready market in Philadelphia ; and the smallest shareholder in that stu
pendous fraud stoutly insisted on the genuineness of his "authorities," until a
judgment of the highest tribunal in the land burst the bubble. Can it be expected
that the purchasers or sellers of Prescott's books will readily credit the evidence
of the forged and factitious character of his authorities 1 R. A. W.]
Dansville, N. Y., Feb., 1861.

"Boston, Dec. 8th, 1855.
"My Dear Sir: — I am very much obliged to you for your new work on Mexico
and its Religion. In an unpretending form it contains a good deal of matter
quite original. That portion of the work relating to the exaggerations of the
early conquerors, is particularly deserving of attention by the student of our early
North American annals. You have dealt with a bold hand, stripping off the fine
robe of romance, and in some cases, indeed, the flesh beneath it — reducing it to
an unsightly skeleton. The skeleton, however, may be nearer the truth ; but yet
it will be hard to prove it. There does not appear to be much inconsistency in
the various testimony of the old chroniclers. Your strong ground, therefore,
must consist in the contradiction afforded by present appearances, to the state
ments of the conquerors. However, this is a subject which I shall examine more
at leisure — having been able, from pressing avocations of late, to take only a super
ficial glance at your volume.
"Repeating my thanks for your favor, I remain, dear sir,
" Very si ncerely yours, " Wm. H. Prescott.
" To R. A. Wilson, Esq., Rochester, N. Y."

6 " Boston, Dec. 1 4.
" My Dear Sir : — What I wrote to you was honestly said, and ifitcan be of
any service to you to publish it, you are at perfect liberty to do so. I am sorry,
but not surprised — since it is your first publication — that the book should not
meet, at once, with an extensive sale. Pazienza, as the Italians say, is the only-
resource when a new book comes into the world.
" Hoping that good times are in store for it, I remain, «•
" Very truly yours, Wm. H. Prescott.
" To R. A. Wilson, Esq., Rochester, N. Y."

"Boston, March 11, 1857.
"Dear Sir:— I have had the pleasure of receiving your note of the 9th inst.,
enclosing the preface to the new edition of your work. I am very sorry to learn
that your health is so delicate as to make it necessary for you to make another
excursion to the South. I should think that in Peru you must find the favorable
climate that you want.
" From your preface, as well as your note, I see you are making clean work of
the Aztec civilization. If you do as much with the Peruvian, there will be little
left to stand on upon this continent but a myth.
" 1 don't see why you should hesitate in regard to the prosecution of your labors,
when a third edition shows them to have been so favorably received by our coun
trymen. Truth is mighty, and Will prevail ; and if you can furnish the means of
arriving at it in this fair historical question, you are certainly bound to do so. If
I should not become a convert to your views, it would not be strange, considering
that I have been so long accustomed to look only on one side of the matter; and
that your theory, moreover, if established, would convert what I have hitherto
done into mere chateaux en Espagne.
" With my sincere wishes for your restoration to health, and that you may be
enabled to prosecute your interesting researches,
" I remain, dear sir, very truly yours, " Wm. H. Prescott.
" To R. A. Wilson, Esq., Rochester, N. Y."
[The above letters are all in the hand-writing of the same secretary, though
they exactly contradict statements of the Atlantic Monthly.]

Mr. Peescott's Impeachment of his own Authorities. — " When the con-
queroii attempted anything like a precise numeration, it will be safe to sub-
Rtituy'a multitude,' 'a great force,' trusting to the reader's own imagina-
tion.f-Vol. II., p. 432, note.
Iyrelation to the losses consequent upon the retreat ftom Mexico, he exhi-
bit/the discrepancy of his "authorities," by the following table: —
Crftez ap. Lorenzano, p. 145 . . 150 Spaniards, and 2000 Indians killed and missing.
Ctao ap. Oviado, lib. 33, cap. 54 .1700 " 8000 " "
-"robanza, Ac  200 " 2000 " "
Oviado Hist, delaslnd.,1. 33, c. 13, 150 " 2000 " "
Camargo ...;.... 450 " 4000 " "
Gomara, cap. 109  450 " 4000 " "
Iztlilxochitl [viz. de Alva] Hist.
Chich., c. 8S  450 " 4000 " "
Sabagan, lib. 12, cap. 24 . ... 300 " 2000 " "
Herrera, dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 12 . 150 " 4000 " '*
He says, further : "Bernal Diaz does not take the trouble to agree with
himself. After stating that the rear, on which the loss fell heaviest, consisted
of 120 men, he adds, in the same paragraph, that 150 of these were slain,
which number swells to 200, in a few lines further. Falstaff's men in buck
ram!" Vol. II. p. 376-7, and note 26.
Of the number of victims of human sacrifice — •" Bishop Zumarraga ....
states that 20,000 victims were yearly slaughtered in the capital. Torque
mada turns this into 20,000 infants. Herrera, following Acosta, says 20,000
victims on a specified day of the year throughout the kingdom. Las Casas
. . . declares . . . that the real number was not above 50 ! Torquemada
states the number most precisely at 72,344. Iztlilxochitl [viz. that prince of
liars the quadroon Don Fernando de Alva, or de Avila the quadroon,] with
equal precision at 80,000. The latter adds that the captives massacred in the
capital in the course of that memorable year exceeded 100,000 !" — Prescott,
Vol. I., chap. 3, pp. 79, 80, notes 28 and 29.
On such grossly conflicting testimony of hearsay witnesses, writing long
after the event, rests the tale of human sacrifice.
Of the battle with the Tobascans, " There is more discrepancy as to the
number of the slain — varying from one to thirty thousand. In this mon
strous discordance the common disposition to exaggerate may lead us to look
for truth in the neighborhood of the smallest number." — Prescott, Vol. I.,
p. 288.
Of the city of Sempoalla, or Cemppalla, the Cempoal of Cortez, "The city
was said to contain from twenty to thirty thousand inhabitants. This
is the most moderate computation, and not improbable." — Vol. I„ p. 348. In
note 17, same page, he says, " Torquemada hesitates between fifty and one
hundred and fifty thousand, each of which he names at different times."
Citing Berrera and Bernal Diaz, he says — " The former historian states the
number of Indian allies who followed Cortez at 80,000, the latter at 10,000.
Quien sale?" [Who knows. A Spanish exclamation.] Vol. II., p. 460,
note 20.
Of the army of the Tlascalans— " To the astonished eyes of Cortez they
appeared 100,000 men, while no account estimates them at less than 30,000.
According to Gomara the enemy mustered 80,000. Bernal Diaz says more
than 40,000. But Herrera and Torquemada reduce them 30,000. One
might as well reckon the leaves in a forest as the numbers of a confused
throng of barbarians. As this was one of the several armies kept on foot by
the Tlascalans, the smallest amount is probably too large. The whole popu
lation of the state [a small valley of the table-land, four miles by ten, that
had been entirely isolated for the previous fifty years — we estimate its entire
population at 500 souls, it could not have exceeded a thousand !] according
to Clavigero, who would not be likely to underrate it, did not exceed half a
million at the time of the invasion." Prescott, Vol. I., p. 427.

Note — Third Edition. Since this work was printed, Mr. Prescott ha&
gone to his rest. Death, too, has been busy with his publishers ; of whom
two have died, the third — after an attempt to crush us through his magazine,
the Atlantic — has himself gone into insolvency; while the Prescott books and
copyrights have passed into Philadelphia hands. We may therefore speak
freely, without damaging the property of an infirm man or that of his heirs.
In reading of great naval battles upon the stagnant ponds of the table-land,
or of vast and magnificent cities, including Prescott's "Athens of the Western
World!" in the little Mexican valley, we need no longer restrain our laughter,
nor suppress it either at the fable which has located in the diminutive vale
of Tlascala others equally splendid ; or at that which peopled sterile plains
with millions of civilized men ; the creation of untruthful monks, sustained
by inquisitors.
"Five years ago we called Mr. Prescott's attention to this matter, and to the
manner in which he had been imposed upon by his Spanish authorities ; and
he replied that he would attend to it in a new edition of his history; as did
St. Hilaire, the celebrated French historian. But the defect was too radical;
these gentlemen had built upon forged and factitious records, too common
among Spaniards ; and another had to write the actual history from the
narrative of the conqueror, after a careful survey of the country. This we
have attempted. Assaults upon us do not stop the march of truth; they only
prove that personal interests are startled by its advance. Men who claimed
vast estates in California upon the strength of Spanish records were also
active in denouncing us, because we had laid bare both legal and literary
forgeries. So, too, doubtless, would those do, if alive, who had paid their
thousands for the monk Pietro's fabricated picture writings; others have
sneered at our objection to the theology of Spanish monks brought into our
households by Prescott ; besides, all whose day-dreams we have disturbed,
and all who delight in reading fiction under the guise of history turn a cold
shoulder to our sober truth. In the area covered by Prescott's fifteen volumes
we have picked up less than a single one of fact, leaving behind all his
oeautiful romance. We have labored diligently through weary years and
with an honest purpose, and if the results attained have turned into air
castles our lamented friend's works, a continuance of assaults upon us cannot
fail to increase the mischief and add to the profits of our own publishers.

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