X PREFACE. 



story is told, not in the interest of any race 

 or nationality, but simply in that of historical 

 truth. 



When, at the age of eighteen, I formed the 

 purpose of writing on French-American history, 

 I meant at first to limit myself to the great 

 contest which brought that history to a close. 

 It was by an afterthought that the plan was ex- 

 tended to cover the whole field, so that the part 

 of the work, or series of works, first conceived, 

 would, following the sequence of events, be the 

 last executed. As soon as the original scheme 

 was formed, I began to j^repare for executing 

 it by examining localities, journeying in forests, 

 visiting Indian tribes, and collecting materials. 

 I have continued to collect them ever since, so 

 that the accumulation is now rather formidable ; 

 and, if it is to be used at all, it had better be 

 used at once. Therefore, passing over for the 

 present an intervening period of less decisive 

 importance, I propose to take, as the next sub- 

 ject of this series, " Montcalm and the Fall of 

 New France." 



Bostox, 1 Jan., 1877. 



