Meanwhile, his attention to the great work—the Life and Writings of Washington—never flagged. Of course, the labor of careful selection, arrangement, and illustration was immense. His apartment in Ashburton Place, Boston, was covered from floor to ceiling with volumes and packages; nor did he ever leave it until his completed task of ten or twelve hours' work, freed him, after night, for a healthful walk and a refreshing visit to friends. Ten of these busy years were thus spent in the preparation, printing, and publication of the Life and Writings of Washington, which was finally given to the world, volume by volume, between 1834 and 1837, in twelve stout octavos, at a cost, I understand, of about one hundred thousand dollars. In 1840, appeared his other great national book, the Life and Works of Franklin, in ten massive octavos, comprizing, among other valuable papers discovered by him, no less than two hundred and fifty-three letters of the philosopher, never before printed, and one hundred and fifty-four not included in any previous edition. To this superb collection he added the "Life" as far as it had been written by Franklin himself, and continued it, from his own materials, to the patriot's death.
In seventeen years, and at the age of fifty-one, he had won the highest honors of literature, and the right to have his name linked forever, throughout the world, with the names of Franklin and Washington. Nor were these honors less dear to him when he reflected that he had reached the mature age of thirty-four before he had a real purpose in life, and that, in spite of adverse fortune, he had accomplished his designs by the force of character, by self-denial and indomitable industry.
In 1852-3, occurred the singular controversy between Lord Mahon, Mr. W. B. Reed, and Mr. Sparks, in regard to the manner in which the latter had edited Washington's Writings. It was conducted by our late colleague with good temper and success. He vindicated his facts and plan from all assaults, foreign and domestic, and was, doubtless, vastly aided by the exact method with which his letters, documents, and references had been arranged for his great work. For, preparation was, at once, his task and his strength. He always wrote rapidly and alone, without the aid of an amanuensis, as soon as he was prepared to compose. He then worked with great perfection and ease to himself, because the materials were not only at hand but thoroughly digested. When asked how long a time would be required by him to make an abridgement of his Life of Washington, while he was still busy with his Franklin, his reply was, "No time!" and the printer never waited for him a moment, so keen and clear were his decision and sense of proportion.
In 1854, he published the Correspondence of the American Revolution, in letters from eminent men to General Washington from the time of his taking command of the army to the end of his Presidency. This valuable addition to his historical series was prepared from the original MSS., and terminated Mr. Sparks's important contributions to our national stores. It has been said that he contemplated a History of the Foreign Diplomacy of the Revolution, and it is quite certain that he intended to write a History of the Revolution, itself, preceding it, probably, by several volumes on our Colonial history. As I heard Mr. Irving once say that the biography of Washington was not a task to his liking, for "he had no private life" to give it the personal interest essential to secure the reader's sympathy; so it may truly be said, from the constant publicity of the Chief's career, that his life, during most of it, was the life of his country. Nevertheless, Mr. Sparks felt that it was, in truth, biography and not history, and he sought a more extended field, for which he considered his powers to be, as doubtless they were, entirely equal. His collection of materials for this purpose was rich, completed, and bound in volumes; but his noble intention was, unfortunately, frustrated, and with it perished his most cherished hope. He always regretted his inability to go on with this work. All his other publications, valuable as they were, in his estimation had been but preparatory. In 1850 he broke his right arm, which was already weakened by a neuralgic affection contracted by long years of labor at the desk. This, ever afterwards, made the use of a pen extremely irksome. Under the weight of these mixed evils of nervous malady and fractured limb, his task was procrastinated; yet, his patient hope was profound. The conflict between the desire to achieve and the disability was so painful, that the subject of his projected History became a sacred one among all who were familiar with him, and, even in his family, it was passed over in silence. At times, he would look at these accumulations of years in his library, with the simple ejaculation, "sad, sad!" When others alluded to them, he had some light reply: "you are a younger man; do you work?" It was his great grief that the mine of golden ore was at hand, but that he could work no more. Yet, he never ceased to be prepared, by adding constantly to his materials; and, even in the last year of his life, he exclaimed, at times, "I think I may soon go on!" He never ceased to look forward to the time when his infirmity would allow him to march once more in pursuit of what had become the "Evangeline" of his life, the only work worthy of his mature powers:
"Something there was in his life incomplete, imperfect, unfinished,
As if a morning in June, with all its music and sunshine,
Suddenly paused in the sky, and fading slowly, descended
Into the east again, from whence it late had arisen!"
The rich collection he had amassed for this History of the American Revolution, carefully arranged and bound in volumes, was bequeathed to his son, ultimately to pass to the Library of Harvard University. I understand his heir has already discharged the trust by depositing these treasures in the institution where their collector designed they should be permanently preserved.
Although the life of Mr. Sparks as an author may be said to have terminated with his last original publications, he, nevertheless, did not withhold himself from an active interest in the cause of letters. He had been appointed McLean Professor of Ancient and Modern History at Cambridge, in 1839; and for the ten following years, in the midst of other work, performed the duties of that chair, until, on the resignation of President Edward Everett, his alma mater bestowed her highest honor by electing him President of Harvard. This was the finale of a career of successful labor extending through thirty-eight years. His Presidency was acceptable as well as popular; especially commanding the confidence and affectionate respect of the pupils. He was no martinet, but fostered the manhood of the generation entrusted to his government. A friend who was present in Cambridge, and well acquainted with Mr. Sparks's administration of the Presidency, tells me that its peculiarity was the parental character of his intercourse with the under-graduates. After the stateliness of some of his predecessors, this bland demeanor of the new President alarmed by its supposed relaxation of a discipline which the over-nice are accustomed to enforce by a stern preservation of cold formality; yet, even the critics who considered him a little slack, did not fail to see that he won the love of all, while many a poor fellow in disgrace felt quite inclined to bless a rod which fell in such sweet mercy.[2]
For three years, the successor of Kirkland, Quincy, and Everett held the responsible Presidency; nor, in all that period of watchfulness, did he ever forget or neglect the striving, indigent students, who required a helping hand in the days of their adversity. His works had made him independent in fortune, so that, wherever assistance was needed, his was an open but judicious hand. "In the days of his prosperity," it is said by one who knew him well, "he returned to his original benefactors not only the money he had received from them, but more than the interest." On resigning the Presidency of Harvard he retired to the property he owned in Cambridge, where, in the enjoyment of society, of favorite studies, and of a large correspondence and intercourse with friends and distinguished strangers, he passed the remaining years of a tranquil life, which ended, after a short and painless malady, on the 14th of March, 1866, in the seventy-seventh year of his age. The summons to eternity was sudden; but the faith and the life of the veteran sustained him to the close. As he was consciously approaching it, "I think," said he, feebly, "I shall not recover, but I am happy." And when asked whether he was rightly understood as saying he was "happy," his answer was, "certainly!"
Mr. Sparks was twice married; first, in 1832, to Frances Anne Allen, of Hyde Park, New York, who died in 1835; and again, in 1839, to Mary C. Silsbee, daughter of Nathaniel Silsbee, a wealthy and honored merchant of Salem, for many years a Senator of the United States from Massachusetts, as colleague of Daniel Webster. Four children, a son and three daughters, all the offspring of the second marriage, survive, with their mother, to rejoice in the memory of their illustrious father.