“It is a veritable French ‘Uncle Remus’ that Mr. Harris has discovered in Frederic Ortoli. The book has the genuine piquancy of Gallic wit, and will be sure to charm American children. Mr. Harris’s version is delightfully written.”--_Boston Beacon._ FOOTNOTES: [1] Froissart’s own cunning little poem of _Le Débat dou Cheval et dou Levrier_, recently printed for the first time by M. Buchon, gives such a picture of himself:-- “Froissars d’Escoce revenolt Sus un cheval qui gris estoit; Un blanc levrier menoit en lasse.” [2] Froissart’s Chronicles were written in four volumes, or books. The parts I have taken from the first book cover a period of about thirty years, counting from the coronation of the young King Edward the Third of England in the year 1326 to the battle of Poitiers in the year 1356. The times covered by the other three books will be given as we come to them. I have thought that the young readers of Froissart would care to know exactly how it was that such a wonderful amount of fighting had to be done during the fourteenth century, in England, France, and Flanders, as is described in this book; and I have therefore devoted the first forty or fifty pages to such extracts as would inform them upon the causes of these terrible and long-continued wars.--ED. [3] The young readers of Froissart will be interested in some particulars of this exploit not given by our author. When Douglas made his first impetuous onset, it seemed as if he would be successful, even alone. The Saracens retreated in confusion, and Douglas and his party were tempted into a hot pursuit. “Taking the casket from his neck” (says Hailes, in the Annals of Scotland), “which contained the heart of Bruce,” Douglas “threw it before him, and cried, ‘Now pass thou onward, as thou wast wont; and Douglas will follow thee, or die.’” Presently the Saracens rallied, and surrounded the Scotch with overwhelming numbers. “Douglas fell while attempting to rescue Sir William Clare of Roslin, who shared his fate. Robert and Walter Logan, both of them knights, were slain with Douglas.... His few surviving companions found his body in the field, together with the casket, and reverently conveyed them to Scotland. The remains of Douglas were interred in the sepulchre of his fathers, in the church of Douglas; and the heart of Bruce was deposited at Melrose.” [4] Who, although he had been the chief supporter of Philip for the crown, had afterwards become the object of Philip’s violent hatred, and had been banished the kingdom. [5] But it is to be hoped that every young reader of Froissart will heartily despise such cunning. This act of Sir John Norwich was mean and small beyond all decent words; for he took the basest advantage of the Duke of Normandy’s honorable confidence in his fidelity to the sacred obligations of a truce.--ED.