Prescott, William Hickling

William Hickling (1796-1859), an eminent historian. He was a Harvard graduate of Salem ancestry. In a dining room frolic he was struck upon the eyeball by a crust of bread and became almost blind. Revolving the matter in his mind he resolved to become a historian, and chose for his field the conquests of Spain in the New World. He was obliged to depend upon others to search the archives of Spain, but, by inventing a sort of frame to be moved down the page, he was able finally to do his own writing. Fortunately the material stored away by Spanish priests, soldiers, and travelers was abundant and not difficult of access. While collecting for his Alhambra, Irving amassed a vast quantity of material which he generously turned over to Prescott. All such material was read to him by his secretary. During the twenty years between 1837 and 1857 he produced a series of brilliant histories known as Ferdinand and Isabella, the Conquest of Mexico, Conquest of Peru, and Reign of Philip II. His volumes on Mexico and Peru are very pleasant reading, but are wholly out of date as history. In describing the civilization of Mexico and Peru and in narrating the actions of Cortez and Pizarro, Prescott saw what he wrote as though it were passing before his eyes, and he makes us see it, but his data were erroneous or wrongly understood. Being, as has been said, almost blind, he sat with his eyes closed and pictured to himself the events he desired to describe. He saw the Spanish adventurers in their plumes and gay dress take ship for the New World.