Excerpt from Picturesque Canada, Vol. 1: The Country as It Was and IsThough the Preface comes first, it is usually written last, and to this custom, for Special reasons, picturesque canada is no exception. Now, that the last page of Of the work has been written, the time has come to explain and give thanks. I was reluctant to undertake the editorship, but consented because, being in sympathy with Canadian aspirations and knowing Canada from ocean to ocean, . I believed that a work that would represent its characteristic Scenery and the history and life of its people would not only make -us better known to ourselves and to strangers, but would also stimulate national sentiment and contribute to the rightful development of the nation. The favour with which the work has been received is due not merely to its artistic merit, but to the growing patriotic spirit of the people, and their desire, therefore, to see faithfully reproduced some of the scenes of the land they love.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.