TPvEFACE 



TO THE FIRST EDITION. 



The conquest of Canada was an event of moment- 

 ous consequence in American history. It changed 

 the political aspect of the continent, prepared a 

 way for the independence of the British colonies, 

 rescued the vast tracts of the interior from the rule 

 of military despotism, and gave them, eventually, 

 to the keeping of an ordered democracy. Yet to 

 the red natives of the soil its results were wholly 

 disastrous. Could the French have maintained 

 their ground, the ruin of the Indian tribes might 

 long have been postponed ; but the victory of Que- 

 bec was the signal of their swift decline. Thence- 

 forth they were destined to melt and vanish before 

 the advancing waves of Anglo-American power, 

 which now rolled westward unchecked and unop- 

 posed. They saw the danger, and, led by a great 

 and daring champion, struggled fiercely to avert it. 

 The history of that epoch, crowded as it is with 

 scenes of tragic interest, with marvels of suffering 

 and vicissitude, of heroism and endurance, has been, 



