"within the enemy's lines" is the second volume of "the blue and the gray series." like its predecessor, of course, its scenes are connected with the war of the rebellion; and perhaps the writer ought to be thankful that he is not required in such a work to rise to the dignity of history, but he believes that all his events were possible, and that every one of them has had its parallel in the actual occurrences of the historic period of which he writes. in fact, some of the experiences of the actors in the terrible drama of a quarter of a century ago would pass more readily for fiction than for reality, and detailed on the pages of a story would be deemed impossible by the conservative reader.

the nation has passed out of its ordeal of fire, and an excellent spirit on the part of both parties to the great strife is still growing and strengthening, 8 in spite of an occasional exhibition of folly on both sides on the part of those who have not outlived the bitterness of the past, and who probably will not outlive it. the time will certainly come when the memories of the conflict, the repetition of the stories of the war, and even the partisan praise bestowed upon the heroes of both sides, will excite no more ill feeling than does an allusion to the war of the roses in england.

in this country the advocate of either side will tell his story, relate his history, and jingle his verse in his own way, and from his own standpoint. those upon the other side will be magnanimous enough to tolerate him, at least in silence. histories, romances, poems, and plays relating to the war, are produced in greater numbers as the gap between the days of battle and the days of peace widens; but the old fires are not rekindled, the old bitterness still slumbers, and the great united nation still lives on in perfect peace.

the author hopes he has done nothing on these pages to impair the growing harmony between the two sections which have happily become one, or to impregnate the minds of those who have been born since the strife ended with any of its 9 bitterness. he has endeavored to make as high-toned men on the one side as the other, with the same moral sentiment in the one party as the other, and to exhibit their only difference in the one great question of union or disunion.

dorchester, may 2, 1889.