airy realms of
the poets of the Middle Ages, and ending with the last efforts of the
Indians to recover their land from the grasp of the hated English.

Through all this period the Indians had regarded the French as
friends. Jesuit missionaries had penetrated the wilds of the
Mississippi, and had brought to the tribes on its banks the message
of peace and brotherly love. They spread the story of Christ from
Carolina to the St. Lawrence, and from the Mississippi to the
Atlantic. They lived the Indian life, dwelling in lodges, eating the
Indian food, conforming as much as possible to the Indian habits, and
retaining, in their geographical descriptions, the Indian names of the
lakes and rivers, so dear to the savage heart.

They made, in the main, a peaceful conquest of the country, and they
won the natives to such a degree that in the contest with the English
which ensued the Indian remained throughout the firm friend and ally
of the French. The English had thus two enemies to deal with instead
of one, the military knowledge of the French being in every case
strengthened by the subtle and savage modes of Indian warfare. This
state of things kept the final issue doubtful, even though the English
won victory after victory, for the taking of a fort and the slaughter
or capture of the garrison might be followed at any time by a
murderous night attack from the savage allies, who ignored the
civilized methods of war and would never acknowledge defeat.

In this work Parkman not only aimed at the history of the actual
struggle between France and England for the possession of North
America, but he also wished to present clearly the story of the French
alone, as they appeared in their character of settlers and conquerors
of uncivilized lands.

In the vivid pictures with which Parkman tells this story of their
life in the New World, we see a strong contrast to the Spanish
power in South America, as illustrated in the pages of history. The
Spaniards conquered a race already far advanced in civilization,
reduced it to slavery, destroyed its race characteristics, and made
everything else bend to their insatiate love of gold.

Very different was the conduct of the French in their treatment of the
savage tribes that they found inhabiting the primeval forests of North
America. The Jesuit missionaries and the persecuted Huguenots alike
approached the Indian with one message, that of Christian love
and faith in the brotherhood of man.