The subject to which the proposed series will be devoted12 is that of "France in the New World,"—the attempt of Feudalism, Monarchy14, and Rome to master a continent where, at this hour, half a million of bayonets are vindicating15 the ascendency of a regulated freedom;—Feudalism still strong in life, though enveloped16 and overborne by new-born Centralization; Monarchy in the flush of triumphant17 power; Rome, nerved by disaster, springing with renewed vitality18 from ashes and corruption19, and ranging the earth to reconquer abroad what she had lost at home. These banded powers, pushing into the wilderness20 their indomitable soldiers and devoted priests, unveiled the secrets of the barbarous continent, pierced the forests, traced and mapped out the streams, planted their emblems21, built their forts, and claimed all as their own. New France was all head. Under king, noble, and Jesuit, the lank22, lean body would not thrive. Even commerce wore the sword, decked itself with badges of nobility, aspired23 to forest seigniories and hordes24 of savage25 retainers.
Along the borders of the sea an adverse26 power was strengthening and widening, with slow but steadfast27 growth, full of blood and muscle,—a body without a head. Each had its strength, each its weakness, each its own modes of vigorous life: but the one was fruitful, the other barren; the one instinct with hope, the other darkening with shadows of despair.
By name, local position, and character, one of these communities of freemen stands forth as the most conspicuous28 representative of this antagonism,—Liberty and Absolutism, New England and New France. The one was the offspring of a triumphant government; the other, of an oppressed and fugitive29 people: the one, an unflinching champion of the Roman Catholic reaction; the other, a vanguard of the Reform. Each followed its natural laws of growth, and each came to its natural result. Vitalized by the principles of its foundation, the Puritan commonwealth30 grew apace. New England was preeminently the land of material progress. Here the prize was within every man's reach: patient industry need never doubt its reward; nay31, in defiance32 of the four Gospels, assiduity in pursuit of gain was promoted to the rank of a duty, and thrift33 and godliness were linked in equivocal wedlock34. Politically she was free; socially she suffered from that subtle and searching oppression which the dominant35 opinion of a free community may exercise over the members who compose it. As a whole, she grew upon the gaze of the world, a signal example of expansive energy; but she has not been fruitful in those salient and striking forms of character which often give a dramatic life to the annals of nations far less prosperous.
We turn to New France, and all is reversed. Here was a bold attempt to crush under the exactions of a grasping hierarchy36, to stifle37 under the curbs38 and trappings of a feudal13 monarchy, a people compassed by influences of the wildest freedom,—whose schools were the forest and the sea, whose trade was an armed barter39 with savages40, and whose daily life a lesson of lawless independence. But this fierce spirit had its vent41. The story of New France is from the first a story of war: of war—for so her founders42 believed—with the adversary43 of mankind himself; war with savage tribes and potent44 forest commonwealths45; war with the encroaching powers of Heresy46 and of England. Her brave, unthinking people were stamped with the soldier's virtues47 and the soldier's faults; and in their leaders were displayed, on a grand and novel stage, the energies, aspirations48, and passions which belong to hopes vast and vague, ill-restricted powers, and stations of command.
The growth of New England was a result of the aggregate49 efforts of a busy multitude, each in his narrow circle toiling50 for himself, to gather competence51 or wealth. The expansion of New France was the achievement of a gigantic ambition striving to grasp a continent. It was a vain attempt. Long and valiantly52 her chiefs upheld their cause, leading to battle a vassal53 population, warlike as themselves. Borne down by numbers from without, wasted by corruption from within, New France fell at last; and out of her fall grew revolutions whose influence to this hour is felt through every nation of the civilized54 world.
The French dominion55 is a memory of the past; and when we evoke56 its departed shades, they rise upon us from their graves in strange, romantic guise57. Again their ghostly camp-fires seem to burn, and the fitful light is cast around on lord and vassal and black-robed priest, mingled58 with wild forms of savage warriors59, knit in close fellowship on the same stern errand. A boundless60 vision grows upon us; an untamed continent; vast wastes of forest verdure; mountains silent in primeval sleep; river, lake, and glimmering61 pool; wilderness oceans mingling62 with the sky. Such was the domain63 which France conquered for Civilization. Plumed64 helmets gleamed in the shade of its forests, priestly vestments in its dens65 and fastnesses of ancient barbarism. Men steeped in antique learning, pale with the close breath of the cloister66, here spent the noon and evening of their lives, ruled savage hordes with a mild, parental67 sway, and stood serene68 before the direst shapes of death. Men of courtly nurture69, heirs to the polish of a far-reaching ancestry70, here, with their dauntless hardihood, put to shame the boldest sons of toil5.
This memorable71 but half-forgotten chapter in the book of human life can be rightly read only by lights numerous and widely scattered72. The earlier period of New France was prolific73 in a class of publications which are often of much historic value, but of which many are exceedingly rare. The writer, however, has at length gained access to them all. Of the unpublished records of the colonies, the archives of France are of course the grand deposit; but many documents of important bearing on the subject are to be found scattered in public and private libraries, chiefly in France and Canada. The task of collection has proved abundantly irksome and laborious74. It has, however, been greatly lightened by the action of the governments of New York, Massachusetts, and Canada, in collecting from Europe copies of documents having more or less relation to their own history. It has been greatly lightened, too, by a most kind co-operation, for which the writer owes obligations too many for recognition at present, but of which he trusts to make fitting acknowledgment hereafter. Yet he cannot forbear to mention the name of Mr. John Gilmary Shea of New York, to whose labors75 this department of American history has been so deeply indebted, and that of the Hon. Henry Black of Quebec. Nor can he refrain from expressing his obligation to the skilful76 and friendly criticism of Mr. Charles Folsom.
In this, and still more must it be the case in succeeding volumes, the amount of reading applied77 to their composition is far greater than the citations78 represent, much of it being of a collateral79 and illustrative nature. This was essential to a plan whose aim it was, while scrupulously81 and rigorously adhering to the truth of facts, to animate82 them with the life of the past, and, so far as might be, clothe the skeleton with flesh. If, at times, it may seem that range has been allowed to fancy, it is so in appearance only; since the minutest details of narrative83 or description rest on authentic84 documents or on personal observation.
Faithfulness to the truth of history involves far more than a research, however patient and scrupulous80, into special facts. Such facts may be detailed85 with the most minute exactness, and yet the narrative, taken as a whole, may be unmeaning or untrue. The narrator must seek to imbue86 himself with the life and spirit of the time. He must study events in their bearings near and remote; in the character, habits, and manners of those who took part in them, he must himself be, as it were, a sharer or a spectator of the action he describes.
With respect to that special research which, if inadequate87, is still in the most emphatic88 sense indispensable, it has been the writer's aim to exhaust the existing material of every subject treated. While it would be folly89 to claim success in such an attempt, he has reason to hope that, so far at least as relates to the present volume, nothing of much importance has escaped him. With respect to the general preparation just alluded90 to, he has long been too fond of his theme to neglect any means within his reach of making his conception of it distinct and true.
To those who have aided him with information and documents, the extreme slowness in the progress of the work will naturally have caused surprise. This slowness was unavoidable. During the past eighteen years, the state of his health has exacted throughout an extreme caution in regard to mental application, reducing it at best within narrow and precarious91 limits, and often precluding92 it. Indeed, for two periods, each of several years, any attempt at bookish occupation would have been merely suicidal. A condition of sight arising from kindred sources has also retarded93 the work, since it has never permitted reading or writing continuously for much more than five minutes, and often has not permitted them at all. A previous work, "The Conspiracy94 of Pontiac," was written in similar circumstances.
The writer means, if possible, to carry the present design to its completion. Such a completion, however, will by no means be essential as regards the individual volumes of the series, since each will form a separate and independent work. The present work, it will be seen, contains two distinct and completed narratives95. Some progress has been made in others.
Boston. January 1,1865.
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1 copious | |
adj.丰富的,大量的 | |
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2 acting | |
n.演戏,行为,假装;adj.代理的,临时的,演出用的 | |
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3 mighty | |
adj.强有力的;巨大的 | |
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4 forth | |
adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
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5 toil | |
vi.辛劳工作,艰难地行动;n.苦工,难事 | |
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6 toils | |
网 | |
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7 momentous | |
adj.重要的,重大的 | |
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8 blessing | |
n.祈神赐福;祷告;祝福,祝愿 | |
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9 strife | |
n.争吵,冲突,倾轧,竞争 | |
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10 posterity | |
n.后裔,子孙,后代 | |
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11 adolescence | |
n.青春期,青少年 | |
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12 devoted | |
adj.忠诚的,忠实的,热心的,献身于...的 | |
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13 feudal | |
adj.封建的,封地的,领地的 | |
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14 monarchy | |
n.君主,最高统治者;君主政体,君主国 | |
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15 vindicating | |
v.澄清(某人/某事物)受到的责难或嫌疑( vindicate的现在分词 );表明或证明(所争辩的事物)属实、正当、有效等;维护 | |
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16 enveloped | |
v.包围,笼罩,包住( envelop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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17 triumphant | |
adj.胜利的,成功的;狂欢的,喜悦的 | |
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18 vitality | |
n.活力,生命力,效力 | |
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19 corruption | |
n.腐败,堕落,贪污 | |
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20 wilderness | |
n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等,荒漠 | |
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21 emblems | |
n.象征,标记( emblem的名词复数 ) | |
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22 lank | |
adj.瘦削的;稀疏的 | |
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23 aspired | |
v.渴望,追求( aspire的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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24 hordes | |
n.移动着的一大群( horde的名词复数 );部落 | |
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25 savage | |
adj.野蛮的;凶恶的,残暴的;n.未开化的人 | |
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26 adverse | |
adj.不利的;有害的;敌对的,不友好的 | |
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27 steadfast | |
adj.固定的,不变的,不动摇的;忠实的;坚贞不移的 | |
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28 conspicuous | |
adj.明眼的,惹人注目的;炫耀的,摆阔气的 | |
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29 fugitive | |
adj.逃亡的,易逝的;n.逃犯,逃亡者 | |
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30 commonwealth | |
n.共和国,联邦,共同体 | |
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31 nay | |
adv.不;n.反对票,投反对票者 | |
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32 defiance | |
n.挑战,挑衅,蔑视,违抗 | |
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33 thrift | |
adj.节约,节俭;n.节俭,节约 | |
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34 wedlock | |
n.婚姻,已婚状态 | |
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35 dominant | |
adj.支配的,统治的;占优势的;显性的;n.主因,要素,主要的人(或物);显性基因 | |
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36 hierarchy | |
n.等级制度;统治集团,领导层 | |
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37 stifle | |
vt.使窒息;闷死;扼杀;抑止,阻止 | |
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38 curbs | |
v.限制,克制,抑制( curb的第三人称单数 ) | |
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39 barter | |
n.物物交换,以货易货,实物交易 | |
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40 savages | |
未开化的人,野蛮人( savage的名词复数 ) | |
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41 vent | |
n.通风口,排放口;开衩;vt.表达,发泄 | |
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42 founders | |
n.创始人( founder的名词复数 ) | |
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43 adversary | |
adj.敌手,对手 | |
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44 potent | |
adj.强有力的,有权势的;有效力的 | |
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45 commonwealths | |
n.共和国( commonwealth的名词复数 );联邦;团体;协会 | |
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46 heresy | |
n.异端邪说;异教 | |
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47 virtues | |
美德( virtue的名词复数 ); 德行; 优点; 长处 | |
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48 aspirations | |
强烈的愿望( aspiration的名词复数 ); 志向; 发送气音; 发 h 音 | |
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49 aggregate | |
adj.总计的,集合的;n.总数;v.合计;集合 | |
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50 toiling | |
长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的现在分词 ); 艰难缓慢地移动,跋涉 | |
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51 competence | |
n.能力,胜任,称职 | |
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52 valiantly | |
adv.勇敢地,英勇地;雄赳赳 | |
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53 vassal | |
n.附庸的;属下;adj.奴仆的 | |
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54 civilized | |
a.有教养的,文雅的 | |
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55 dominion | |
n.统治,管辖,支配权;领土,版图 | |
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56 evoke | |
vt.唤起,引起,使人想起 | |
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57 guise | |
n.外表,伪装的姿态 | |
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58 mingled | |
混合,混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 ); 混进,与…交往[联系] | |
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59 warriors | |
武士,勇士,战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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60 boundless | |
adj.无限的;无边无际的;巨大的 | |
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61 glimmering | |
n.微光,隐约的一瞥adj.薄弱地发光的v.发闪光,发微光( glimmer的现在分词 ) | |
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62 mingling | |
adj.混合的 | |
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63 domain | |
n.(活动等)领域,范围;领地,势力范围 | |
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64 plumed | |
饰有羽毛的 | |
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65 dens | |
n.牙齿,齿状部分;兽窝( den的名词复数 );窝点;休息室;书斋 | |
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66 cloister | |
n.修道院;v.隐退,使与世隔绝 | |
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67 parental | |
adj.父母的;父的;母的 | |
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68 serene | |
adj. 安详的,宁静的,平静的 | |
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69 nurture | |
n.养育,照顾,教育;滋养,营养品;vt.养育,给与营养物,教养,扶持 | |
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70 ancestry | |
n.祖先,家世 | |
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71 memorable | |
adj.值得回忆的,难忘的,特别的,显著的 | |
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72 scattered | |
adj.分散的,稀疏的;散步的;疏疏落落的 | |
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73 prolific | |
adj.丰富的,大量的;多产的,富有创造力的 | |
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74 laborious | |
adj.吃力的,努力的,不流畅 | |
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75 labors | |
v.努力争取(for)( labor的第三人称单数 );苦干;详细分析;(指引擎)缓慢而困难地运转 | |
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76 skilful | |
(=skillful)adj.灵巧的,熟练的 | |
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77 applied | |
adj.应用的;v.应用,适用 | |
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78 citations | |
n.引用( citation的名词复数 );引证;引文;表扬 | |
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79 collateral | |
adj.平行的;旁系的;n.担保品 | |
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80 scrupulous | |
adj.审慎的,小心翼翼的,完全的,纯粹的 | |
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81 scrupulously | |
adv.一丝不苟地;小心翼翼地,多顾虑地 | |
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82 animate | |
v.赋于生命,鼓励;adj.有生命的,有生气的 | |
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83 narrative | |
n.叙述,故事;adj.叙事的,故事体的 | |
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84 authentic | |
a.真的,真正的;可靠的,可信的,有根据的 | |
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85 detailed | |
adj.详细的,详尽的,极注意细节的,完全的 | |
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86 imbue | |
v.灌输(某种强烈的情感或意见),感染 | |
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87 inadequate | |
adj.(for,to)不充足的,不适当的 | |
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88 emphatic | |
adj.强调的,着重的;无可置疑的,明显的 | |
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89 folly | |
n.愚笨,愚蠢,蠢事,蠢行,傻话 | |
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90 alluded | |
提及,暗指( allude的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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91 precarious | |
adj.不安定的,靠不住的;根据不足的 | |
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92 precluding | |
v.阻止( preclude的现在分词 );排除;妨碍;使…行不通 | |
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93 retarded | |
a.智力迟钝的,智力发育迟缓的 | |
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94 conspiracy | |
n.阴谋,密谋,共谋 | |
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95 narratives | |
记叙文( narrative的名词复数 ); 故事; 叙述; 叙述部分 | |
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