PREFACE.

1.'iIIE p1 111011111 aim of the Author has been to produce a History of Prince Edward Island, which mitrht claim 31*» some degiee of merit as to eoneiseness, accuracy, and pa1t111l1ty f1 0111 the period it became a British possession until its recent union 11itl1 the other confederated provinces of British North A111erica. \Vith the View to secure these ends, it was necessary that not only all available books and pamphlets relating to the island should be attentively perused, and the corlectness of their statements tested; but that 11 11% mass of ori<1i11al papers, hitherto unpublished, should be carefully examined. Application 111111n0' been made to His Excellency Lord Dufl‘u 111, through Sir Robert Hodgson, the Lieutenant-"01 L1 1101' of the island, permission 11 '1s granted to examine all the numei 1cal despatches. This task imposed an amount of labor which had not been anticipated, and which seemed incompatible 11 ith the p10- duction of' so small a volume. The Author is aware that there lies in the French archives at Paris a'large deposit of interesting matter bearing 011 the history of the Maritime Provinces, and it is to be hoped that it will soon be rendered accessible to the English reader. ,

It was neces sarv that a considerable portion of the 1101k should deal with the Land Question. 10 its consideration the Author came in comparative ignorance of the entire subject, and therefore unprejudiced by ideas and associations