12 FOREWOED 



well be proud. With this history every American 

 should be familiar. It is time that America's indebted- 

 ness to the French Protestants should be recognized. 



To understand the French Protestants in America it is 

 necessary first to know them in France. The first part, 

 therefore, is devoted to the rise of religious reform in 

 France and the two centuries of war and persecution 

 which killed off or drove out of France her best class of 

 citizens, permanently weakened her as a nation, and 

 paved the way for the French Revolution. The second 

 part gives account of the various disastrous attempts to 

 found Huguenot colonies in North America ; and the 

 third takes up the story with the beginnings at Plymouth, 

 New Amsterdam, and Virginia, and ti-aces it to the pres- 

 ent time. The fourth part groups various matters of in- 

 terest germane to the subject. 



This story has in it the elements of human interest that 

 appeal to all classes and ages. It is the author's con- 

 viction that the French who of late years have been 

 pouring into New England and other sections of the 

 United States may be greatly stimulated by the example 

 of their fellow countrymen of an earlier day, and be led 

 to prize more highly the opportunities opened to them 

 and their children through American citizenship. It 

 was the distinction and one source of the wide spread in- 

 fluence of the early French settlers that they assimilated 

 thoroughly and rapidly, as a rule, becoming American 

 instead of striving to perpetuate race prejudice and pe- 

 culiarity. In this way they undoubtedly lost recognition, 

 but gained power as makers of the State. This lesson 

 should not be lost on the French Canadians of to-day, 

 who are sometimes wrongly advised to hold themselves 

 aloof as a distinctive class. 



While this work is intended for popular reading, great 

 care has been taken to make it accurate and fair. Its 

 facts have been gathered from every available source, 

 and it would be impossible to give credit in detail. To 



