ory of the Conspiracy of Pontiac and the Wars of the North
American Tribes against the English Colonies after the Conquest of
Canada_, is the title of a new work to be published during the summer by
Francis Parkman, Jr. of Boston. Mr. Parkman, in introducing himself to
the public two or three years since, by a volume of sketches of western
travel, _The Oregon Trail_, betrayed not alone his strong natural fancy
for the wild life of the Indian, but a sensitive and sagacious eye for
character and scenery, and a style of nervous simplicity which in the
present undertaking have more perfect play in a much wider and worthier
sphere. The narrative proceeds clearly, and with simple grace. Many
figures, familiar by name, but by name only, pass sharply defined before
the reader's eye. The author has not lost in the lore of the historian
the feeling of the poet, but he does not compromise the dignity of
history, nor mistake its purpose, by indulging too much in luxuriance of
picturesque description. We congratulate Mr. Parkman that his tastes
have led him to the exploration of a subject in which we are all so
interested, a subject whose historical romance has never been before
attempted. The consultation of all the authorities, personal
observation, and the want of any unfair gilding of events or character,
fix the reader's faith in the severe integrity and justice of the
author's results. This history will materially mitigate the complaint
that American literature has so little honored the singular charm of the
aboriginal American race, and we cannot hesitate to predict for it a
position of authority to the student and of honor to the author, which
the works of few men so young in the literary career have attained.
Little estimate of its value, or of the value of any history, can be
formed from extracts, but the following will indicate the freshness and
poetic simplicity of the style, the author's exact eye for
characteristic life and scenery, and just appreciation of historical
truth and character.

Here is a glance at the life of the Iroquois:

"The life of the Iroquois, though void of those multiplying
phases which vary the routine of civilized existence, was
one of sharp excitement and sudden contrast. The chase, the
war-path, the dance, the festival, the game of hazard, the
race of political ambition, all had their votaries. When the
assembled sachems had resolved on war against some foreign