MOTLEY, JOHN LOTHROP American historian, was born April 15, 1814, at Dorchester (now a part of Boston), Mass., and graduated at Harvard in 1831. He then studied at GOttingen and Berlin, becoming a friend of Bismarck at Gottingen, and after a period of European travel returned in 1834 to America, where he continued his legal studies. In 1837 he married Mary Benjamin, and in 1839 he published anony mously an unsuccessful novel entitled Morton's Hope. In 1841 he entered the diplomatic service as secretary of legation in Russia, but resigned his post within three months. Returning to America, he soon entered definitely upon a literary career. Be sides contributing various historical and critical essays to the North American Review, he published in 1849, again anony mously, a second novel, entitled Merry Mount, a Romance of the Massachusetts Colony. About 1846 the project of writing a his tory of Holland had begun to take shape in his mind, and, after working in the United States, he spent five years at Dresden, Brussels and The Hague in investigation of the archives. The Rise of the Dutch Republic (1856) speedily passed through many editions, was translated into French, and also into Dutch, German and Russian. In 186o Motley published the first two volumes of its continuation, The United Netherlands, which was brought down to the truce of 1609 by two additional volumes, published in i868. Partly as a result of his letters to the London Times on the causes of the Civil War, Motley was appointed U.S. minister to Austria in 1861, a position which he filled with
success until his resignation in 1867. Two years later he was sent to represent his country in London, but shortly after was recalled by President Grant. After a visit to Holland he again took up his residence in England, where the Life and Death of John Barneveld appeared in two volumes in 1874. Ill-health and the death of his wife now began to interfere with his literary work, and he died at Frampton Court, near Dorchester, Dorset shire, on May 29, 1877. The merits of Motley as an historian are undeniably great. He has told the story of a stirring period in the history of the world with full attention to the character of the actors and the vivid details of the action, showing as well a most commendable thoroughness in research.
The Netherlands edition of Motley's Writings appeared in 1900, and an excellent edition of his historical works was pub lished 1903-04.