battles in which our naval commanders had been engaged. This made his task
the lighter; but he gathered his materials with great industry, and with a
conscientious attention to exactness, for he was not a man to take a fact
for granted, or allow imagination to usurp the place of inquiry He
digested our naval annals into a narrative, written with spirit it is
true, but with that air of sincere dealing which the reader willingly
takes as a pledge of its authenticity.

An abridgment of the work was afterwards prepared and published by the
author. The _Edinburgh Review_, in an article professing to examine the
statements both of Cooper's work and of _The History of the English Navy_,
written by Mr. James, a surgeon by profession, made a violent attack upon
the American historian. Unfortunately, it took James's narrative as its
sole guide, and followed it implicitly. Cooper replied in the _Democratic
Review_ for January, 1840, and by a masterly analysis of his statements,
convicting James of self-contradiction in almost every particular in which
he differed from himself, refuted both James and the reviewer. It was a
refutation which admitted of no rejoinder.

Scarce anything in Cooper's life was so remarkable, or so strikingly
illustrated his character, as his contest with the newspaper press. He
engaged in it after provocations, many and long endured, and prosecuted it
through years with great energy, perseverance, and practical dexterity,
till he was left master of the field. In what I am about to say of it, I
hope I shall not give offence to any one, as I shall speak without the
slightest malevolence towards those with whom he waged this controversy.
Over some of them, as over their renowned adversary, the grave has now
closed. Yet where shall the truth be spoken, if not beside the grave?

I have already alluded to the principal causes which provoked the