Seats of the Mighty

Seats Of The Mighty, Entire, by
G. Parker

The Project Gutenberg EBook Seats Of The Mighty, Entire, by G.
Parker #56 in our series by Gilbert Parker
Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the
copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing
this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook.
This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project
Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the
header without written permission. Please read the "legal small print,"
and other information about the eBook and Project Gutenberg at the
bottom of this file. Included is important information about your
specific rights and restrictions in how the file may be used. You can
also find out about how to make a donation to Project Gutenberg, and
how to get involved.
**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts**
**EBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since
1971**
*****These EBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers*****
Title: The Seats Of The Mighty, Complete
Author: Gilbert Parker
Release Date: August, 2004 [EBook #6229] [Yes, we are more than

one year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on October 4,
2002]
Edition: 10
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SEATS OF
THE MIGHTY, PARKER ***

This eBook was produced by Andrew Sly
Send corrections to David Widger

THE SEATS OF THE MIGHTY
BEING THE MEMOIRS OF CAPTAIN ROBERT MORAY,
SOMETIME AN OFFICER IN THE VIRGINIA REGIMENT, AND
AFTERWARDS OF AMHERST'S REGIMENT
By Gilbert Parker
To the Memory of Madge Henley.
CONTENTS
Chapter Introduction
to the Imperial Edition Prefatory note to First Edition I An escort to the
citadel II The master of the King's magazine III The wager and the
sword IV The rat in the trap V The device of the dormouse VI Moray
tells the story of his life VII "Quoth little Garaine" VIII As vain as

Absalom IX A little concerning the Chevalier de la Darante X An
officer of marines XI The coming of Doltaire XII "The point
envenomed too!" XIII A little boast XIV Argand Cournal XV In the
chamber of torture XVI Be saint or imp XVII Through the bars of the
cage XVIII The steep path of conquest XIX A Danseuse and the Bastile
XX Upon the ramparts XXI La Jongleuse XXII The lord of Kamaraska
XXIII With Wolfe at Montmorenci XXIV The sacred countersign XXV
In the cathedral XXVI The secret of the tapestry XXVII A side-wind of
revenge XXVIII "To cheat the Devil yet" XXIX "Master Devil"
Doltaire XXX "Where all the lovers can hide" Appendix--Excerpt from
'The Scot in New France'

INTRODUCTION TO THE IMPERIAL EDITION
It was in the winter of 1892, when on a visit to French Canada, that I
made up my mind I would write the volume which the public knows as
'The Seats of the Mighty,' but I did not begin the composition until
early in 1894. It was finished by the beginning of February, 1895, and
began to appear in 'The Atlantic Monthly' in March of that year. It was
not my first attempt at historical fiction, because I had written 'The
Trail of the Sword' in the year 1893, but it was the first effort on an
ambitious scale, and the writing of it was attended with as much
searching of heart as enthusiasm. I had long been saturated by the early
history of French Canada, as perhaps 'The Trail of the Sword' bore
witness, and particularly of the period of the Conquest, and I longed for
a subject which would, in effect, compel me to write; for I have strong
views upon this business of compulsion in the mind of the writer.
Unless a thing has seized a man, has obsessed him, and he feels that it
excludes all other temptations to his talent or his genius, his book will
not convince. Before all else he must himself be overpowered by the
insistence of his subject, then intoxicated with his idea, and, being still
possessed, become master of his material while remaining the slave of
his subject. I believe that every book which has taken hold of the public
has represented a kind of self-hypnotism on the part of the writer. I am
further convinced that the book which absorbs the author, which
possesses him as he writes it, has the effect of isolating him into an

atmosphere which is not sleep, and which is not absolute wakefulness,
but a place between the two, where the working world is indistinct and
the mind is swept along a flood submerging the self-conscious but not
drowning into unconsciousness.
Such, at any rate, is my own experience. I am convinced that