JOHN LOTHROP MOTLEY, the historian of the Dutch Republic, was born in Dorchester, Massachusetts, April 15th, 1814. He studied at Harvard, Berlin, and Göttingen, and began life as an attorney. His mind was soon diverted, however, to his true vocation,—that of the historian. The best faculties of his intellect and the best years of his life were given to the painstaking study of history, the result being “Rise of the Dutch Republic” (1856), “History of the United Netherlands” (1860–68), and “Life and Death of John of Barneveld” (1874),—works which fixed his place in the front rank of the prose writers of the nineteenth century. From 1861 to 1867 he was United States Minister to Austria, and to Great Britain from 1869 to 1870. He died in Dorset, England, May 29th, 1877.