THE Introductory Note HE text of this book presents a general view of those characteristics which give New England interest and charm. The facts are drawn from geology, nature, and history, and from industry in many forms on land and sea. Biography, literature, legend, and humor have also each added their portion. That every chapter shall be entertaining as well as instructive, and that, above all, the text shall have constant human interest, has been the chief purpose in selecting what has been included. One point concerning New England I would like to emphasize here. Other parts of the country can raise far larger crops of various kinds, such as corn, wheat, and oats, but New England is unrivalled as the place to raise men. Its famous sons and daughters have conferred on it a great attraction; and in our travels, viewing the farms and factories, the forests and waterways, the mountains, the rural towns, and the big cities, we shall often pause to visit the homes or the birthplaces of some of the worthies of the past whose names the whole nation treasures. |