“My first interview, more than twenty years ago, with Mr. Lothrop
     Motley, has left an indelible impression on my memory.

“It was the 8th of August, 1853.  A note is handed me from our eminent archivist Bakhuyzen van den Brink.  It informs me that I am to receive a visit from an American, who, having been struck by the analogies between the United Provinces and the United States, between Washington and the founder of our independence, has interrupted his diplomatic career to write the life of William the First; that he has already given proof of ardor and perseverance, having worked in libraries and among collections of manuscripts, and that he is coming to pursue his studies at the Hague.

“While I am surprised and delighted with this intelligence, I am informed that Mr. Motley himself is waiting for my answer.  My eagerness to make the acquaintance of such an associate in my sympathies and my labors may be well imagined.  But how shall I picture my surprise, in presently discovering that this unknown and indefatigable fellow-worker has really read, I say read and reread, our Quartos, our Folios, the enormous volumes of Bor, of van Meteren, besides a multitude of books, of pamphlets, and even of unedited documents.  Already he is familiar with the events, the changes of condition, the characteristic details of the life of his and my hero.  Not only is he acquainted with my Archives, but it seems as if there was nothing in this voluminous collection of which he was ignorant. . . .

“In sending me the last volume of his ’History of the Foundation of the Republic of the Netherlands,’ Mr. Motley wrote to me:  ’Without the help of the Archives I could never have undertaken the difficult task I had set myself, and you will have seen at least from my numerous citations that I have made a sincere and conscientious study of them.’  Certainly in reading such a testimonial I congratulated myself on the excellent fruit of my labors, but the gratitude expressed to me by Mr. Motley was sincerely reciprocated.  The Archives are a scientific collection, and my ’Manual of National History,’ written in Dutch, hardly gets beyond the limits of my own country.  And here is a stranger, become our compatriot in virtue of the warmth of his sympathies, who has accomplished what was not in my power.  By the detail and the charm of his narrative, by the matter and form of a work which the universality of the English language and numerous translations were to render cosmopolitan, Mr. Motley, like that other illustrious historian, Prescott, lost to science by too early death, has popularized in both hemispheres the sublime devotion of the Prince of Orange, the exceptional and providential destinies of my country, and the benedictions of the Eternal for all those who trust in Him and tremble only at his Word.”

The old Dutch scholar differs in many important points