Motley, John Lothrop

John Lothrop (1814-1877), an American historian. He was born at Dorchester, Massachusetts, April 15, 1814. He died at Dorchester, England, May 29, 1877. He was educated at Harvard University and at Berlin and Gottingen. Being a young man of independent means, he was able to spend a few years in writing and in waiting for something to turn up. He contributed to the various periodicals, and in 1839 wrote a novel, Morton's Hope, which attracted no attention. In 1841 he received an appointment as secretary to the American legation at St. Petersburg. He retained this position but a year. During the time he gathered material for a narrative of Peter the Great. It was published in the North American for October, 1845, and marks the beginning of his historical work. He began about this time to collect material for a history of Holland, in the meantime making contributions to the American periodicals. His relations with Prescott, who covered in part the same ground, were amicable. Fortunately he was able to visit the great libraries of Berlin, Dresden, the Hague, and Brussels. In 1856 his Rise of the Dutch Republic appeared. It was received with favor by eminent men and scholars on both sides of the Atlantic and established his fame. It was translated into the French and German. Other works of importance were a History of the United Netherlands, appearing in 1873, and The Life and Death of John of Barneveld, appearing in 1874. Motley's style is vivid. His histories are standard. In addition to his historical work, Motley was a member for a time of the Massachusetts legislature, and during the administration of Grant was minister to Austria. See Prescott