262 A Century of Science 



composed. . . . How far, by a process combining 

 the slowness of the tortoise with the uncertainty 

 of the hare, an undertaking of close and extended 

 research can be advanced, is a question to solve 

 which there is no aid from precedent, since it does 

 not appear that an attempt under similar circum 

 stances has hitherto been made. The writer looks, 

 however, for a fair degree of success.&quot; 



After 1865 the progress was certainly much 

 more rapid than before. The next fourteen years 

 witnessed the publication of &quot; The Jesuits,&quot; &quot; La 

 Salle,&quot; &quot;The Old Kegime,&quot; and &quot; Frontenac,&quot; 

 and saw &quot; Montcalm and Wolfe &quot; well under way ; 

 while the &quot; Half-Century of Conflict,&quot; interven 

 ing between &quot; Frontenac &quot; and &quot; Montcalm and 

 Wolfe,&quot; was reserved until the last-mentioned work 

 should be done, for the same reason that led Her 

 bert Spencer to postpone the completing of his 

 &quot;Sociology&quot; until he should have finished his 

 &quot; Principles of Ethics.&quot; . In view of life s vicissi 

 tudes, it was prudent to make sure of the crown 

 ing work, at all events, leaving some connecting 

 links to be inserted afterwards. As one obstacle 

 after another was surmounted, as one grand divi 

 sion of the work after another became an ac 

 complished fact, the effect upon Parkman s con 

 dition must have been bracing, and he seems to 



