The solid forests of Glengarry have vanished, and with the forests
the men who conquered them. The manner of life and the type of
character to be seen in those early days have gone too, and
forever. It is part of the purpose of this book to so picture
these men and their times that they may not drop quite out of mind.
The men are worth remembering. They carried the marks of their
blood in their fierce passions, their courage, their loyalty; and
of the forest in their patience, their resourcefulness, their self-
reliance. But deeper than all, the mark that reached down to their
hearts' core was that of their faith, for in them dwelt the fear of
God. Their religion may have been narrow, but no narrower than the
moulds of their lives. It was the biggest thing in them. It may
have taken a somber hue from their gloomy forests, but by reason of
a sweet, gracious presence dwelling among them it grew in grace and
sweetness day by day.
In the Canada beyond the Lakes, where men are making empire, the
sons of these Glengarry men are found. And there such men are
needed. For not wealth, not enterprise, not energy, can build a
nation into sure greatness, but men, and only men with the fear of
God in their hearts, and with no other. And to make this clear is
also a part of the purpose of this book.