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." 



After 1865 the progress was certainly much 

 more rapid than before. The next fourteen years 

 witnessed the publication of " The Jesuits," " La 

 Salle," " The Old Kegime," and " Frontenac," 

 and saw'" Montcalm and Wolfe " well under way ; 

 while the " Half-Century of Conflict," interven- 

 ing between "Frontenac" and "Montcalm and 

 Wolfe," 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 

 "Sociology" until he should have finished his 

 " Principles of Ethics." . 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 



