Mr Prescott now abandoned the hope of the entire restoration of his eye. If by restrictions of diet and dieting and by persistent open-air exercise he might preserve a partial use of the organ he would rest content. And thus he passed the remainder of his life. At times he was in almost total darkness, but ordinarily he could read and revise his manuscripts; for the purpose of writing, however, he was obliged to use a noctograph.
Possessing strong literary tastes, and an aversion to law, Mr Prescott determined upon literature as a pursuit, and in 1826, with the aid of a secretary, he began a systematic course of reading for a history of Ferdinand and Isabella. For three years and a half he pursued this preparatory labor; in 1829 he began writing, publishing the work in 1837. Ten of the best years of his life Mr Prescott claims to have devoted to this book; and for the use of the stereotype-plates, which Mr Prescott supplied at his own cost, and the right to publish twelve hundred and fifty copies, the American Stationers’ Company agreed to pay the sum of one thousand dollars. But money was not the author’s object. The publication in London was offered to John Murray and to the Longmans, and was declined by both. Bentley finally became the London publisher. The work was well received on both sides of the Atlantic; it was translated into several languages, and procured for the author at once a world-wide reputation. The Conquest of Mexico was a worthy outgrowth of so splendid a creation as the Ferdinand and Isabella. The year following the publication of his first work, and after having sent to Spain and Mexico for materials for histories of the conquests of Mexico and Peru, Mr Prescott learned accidentally that Mr Irving was engaged on similar work. He wrote Irving, acquainting him of the fact, and the latter retired gracefully from the field. In 1843 the Conquest of Mexico appeared, under