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 BANCROFT — BANDER ABBASI 107 men to the end of his life, and the unofficial dean of the Bancroft, Hubert Howe (1832 ),Amer best society. ican historical writer, was born at Granville, Ohio, on the Bancroft’s historical creed is best set forth in the address 5th of May 1832. From 1852 to 1868 he was a publisher he delivered on the semi-centennial of the New York His m San Francisco. During this period he accumulated a torical Society in 1854. In philosophy he found the great library of historical material, and at last gave up basis for positing a collective human will, revealing in business in order to devote himself to the collection and its activities the materials for determining ethical laws. publication of an extensive History of the Pacific Coast Since there must be the same conservation of energy in oy JXorth America. This work is comprised in no less morals as elsewhere, the eternal reason is the divine than thirty-one octavo volumes, besides some subsidiary Logos. History, therefore, is God working in examples. treatises, autobiographical data, &c., and includes ethnoIt must be a unit, its forces constant, and its totality an archaeology, and history. As the compiler organic whole. Within this the individual moves and graphy, necessarily relied upon the labours of a corps of assistants, acts with liberty and responsibility; for each, in will, his work is, properly speaking, an encyclopaedia rather affection, and intellect is consubstantial with the rest! ban a unified history; but as a storehouse of material its Truth, morals, and justice are subject to no evolution; value is great, and is likely to be enduring. but the collective man evolves better forms of knowledge and behaviour. The organization of society, therefore, Bancroft, Sir Squire. See Drama. produces successive states, in each of which the principle Banda, a town and district of British India, in the of freedom is better established than in the antecedent. Permanency in republican government is, therefore, based Allahabad division of the North-West Provinces. The upon corresponding experience and culture, and its possi- town is on the right bank of the river Ken, 95 miles bilities grow ever stronger. The relation of American south-west of Allahabad. The population is about 23,000 • democracy to the systems which have preceded it forms the municipal income in 1897-98 was Rs.26,531. ’ The the latest proof of these contentions. As Heeren’s pupil, town possesses 66 mosques and 161 Hindu temples. It he laid enormous stress on the importance of original has also a church and an English high school. It is no authorities. In dealing with documentary evidence he longer a military cantonment. The district^ of Banda is the most barren and most sought to apply very stringent rules:—(1) Carefully dis backward portion of the province. It contains an area tinguish between original authority and historical memorials or aids; for example, between a fact recorded at first- of ^3060 square miles. The population in 1891 was or second-hand knowledge, and a decision of principle by 705,832, being 231 persons per square mile; Hindus authority. (2) Represent every man from his own stand numbering 664,810, Mahommedans 40,662, Christians point; judge him from your own. His collections of 74, including 30 Europeans. In 1901 the populaoriginal material were vast; beginning with his residence tion was 631,337, showing a decrease of 11 per cent., in England, he brought together at enormous pains and due to the effects of famine. Land revenue and rates expense the authenticated copies of archives, family papers, were returned as Rs. 7,06,341, the incidence of assessment and personal journals written by historic personages, which being 10 annas per acre; the number of police was 2308. 1896-9 f, out of a total cultivated area of 662,855 acres now constitute an invaluable treasure in the New York In only 5938 were irrigated. The principal crops are millet’ public library. I hey are from every land and from every people with which American origins are connected. His other food-grains, pulse, rice, cotton, and oil-seeds. use of this material was not always according to accepted Landa cotton enjoys a high repute in the market A standards. To avoid dryness and prolixity he condensed branch railway from Manikpur to Jhansi traverses the quotations, and occasionally employed the Thucydidean length of the district, which is also crossed by the main method of abridgment or representation in place of fact line of the East Indian to Jubbulpur. catalogues. During his long life enormous strides were Banda Islands, a group of three chief and made by others in collecting the materials of American several lesser islands in the Banda Sea, south of Ceram history, and while in the main he kept pace with them by (East Indian archipelago), forming, with Waru (the eastern ruthless revision, yet even the latest edition of his work portion of Ceram) and the islands of Ceram Laut and disregards some minor facts which others knew for the Goram, a district of the Dutch residency of Amboyna. The mam islands are Great Banda or Lontor, Banda Neira to insertion of much which the author alone knew. Bancroft s imagination and enthusiasm were alike ex- its north, Gunong Api (west of Banda Neira), Wai or Ai uberant. His pages abound in fine and acute insight. His (still farther west), with Run on its south-west. The generalizations are vivid and enlightening. He spared no group (total area under 19 square miles) shows parts of a pains to acquire true style, frequently rewriting his chapters, volcanic formation resembling that of Santorin (in the and sometimes testing passages of philosophy and description an • years has to in eight different forms. Yet to a certain extent he lacked f^AA 9600 piculs (a production picul =159 oflb)late nutmegs and amounted 2400 piculs the representative power and often failed to conceal his art, mace. The capital of the group is Banda (on B. Neira) many pages ringing with artificial tones. But, after making seat of the Assistant Resident. Jalti or jatti wood is a allowances, it remains true that he had a perfect sense cultivated on the island of Rosingen. The total populaof proportion, sound maxims, and thorough common-sense. tion of the islands is about 6000, descendants of the He was of that greatest human type : a man of the present, Javanese inhabitants of the neighbouring islands. They valuing justly the past, and no dreamer. In the nature are Christians and Mahommedans. and extent of his studies, in the solidity of his work, and in the philosophic spirit which animated his life he ranks Gulf, n town Persia, on the division Persian and now Abbasi, forming parta of theofadministrative as the foremost historian of the United States, and as an o the Persian Gulf ports,” whose governor resides at American historian second to none of his European contem- Bushire. It has a population of about 10,000, an inporaries in the same line. He displayed the heroic, epic salubrious climate, and veiy bad water. value of American history, the unity of its course with the Bander Abbasi was called Gombrun (Gombroon, Gamaroon; great central stream, and dispelled for ever the extravagant Gomron and Komoran of Portuguese writers) until 1622, when it conceptions of a sentimental world just emerging from the received its present name in honour of the reigning shah, Abbas I. visionary philosophy of the 18th century. (w. M. s.) rtort of Shamil oi ^ Nadir Shah granted the town andwith district, with the and the town of Minab, together the islands of