The present volume is the completion of the work which the late Mr. Bryant consented should have the sanction of his name. The first two volumes passed the ordeal Of his careful perusal in justice to those who began the reading of the work at the beginning of its publication, it is only proper to say that, save in the absence Of his verbal criticism for the last two volumes, there was no change of actual authorship consequent upon his death. Of histories Of the United States there is no lack. A new one, to be of any value, should be something more than the old story, even if told in a new way. It ought to be the result Of freshly gathered knowledge, hitherto undiscovered 'or neglected; and it should grow from a consideration Of facts and events, perhaps hitherto unobserved because their Significance had not been made manifest by later con sequences. Whether in this work there are errors of judgment, the reader will decide for himself whether it is a new history, is not a question of Opinion but a question of fact. Whatever may be known now upon the subject, that was not known a half-century, or a quar ter-century ago, will be found, it is believed, if it is worth knowing, in these volumes for this is a matter simply of hard and conscientious labor.