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diff --git a/34862-h/34862-h.htm b/34862-h/34862-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..80bc0fd --- /dev/null +++ b/34862-h/34862-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,16046 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of The, by AUTHOR. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> + + p { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; + } + hr { width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; + } + + + + body{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + + + + + .center {text-align: center;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + .u {text-decoration: underline;} + + + + .footnotes {border: dashed 1px;} + .footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + .footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + .fnanchor {vertical-align: super; font-size: .8em; text-decoration: none;} + + div.trans-note {border-style: solid; + border-width: 1px; + margin: 3em 5%; + padding: 1em; + text-align: center; + background-color: #E6F0F0; + color: inherit; + font-size: 0.9em; } + + + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +Project Gutenberg's The Conquest of Canada (Vol. 2 of 2), by George Warburton + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Conquest of Canada (Vol. 2 of 2) + +Author: George Warburton + +Release Date: January 6, 2011 [EBook #34862] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CONQUEST OF CANADA (VOL 2 OF 2) *** + + + + +Produced by Dianna Adair, Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe, Graeme +Mackreth and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images +generously made available by the Digital & Multimedia +Center, Michigan State University Libraries.) + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<div class="trans-note"><p class='center'>TRANSCIBERS NOTE: Original spelling has been retained</p></div> + + + + +<h4>THE</h4> + +<h1>CONQUEST OF CANADA.</h1> + + +<h4>BY</h4> +<h4> THE AUTHOR OF "HOCHELAGA."</h4> + + +<p class='center' style="margin-top: 5em;"><small>IN TWO VOLUMES.<br/> + +VOL. II.</small></p> + +<p class='center' style="margin-top: 5em;"><small> +NEW YORK:<br /> +HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS,<br /> +82 CLIFF STREET.<br /> +1850.</small> +</p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + + + + +<h2>CHAPTER I</h2> + + +<p>In the year 1750, commissioners met at Paris to adjust the various +boundaries of the North American territories, M. de Galissonière and M. +de Silhouette on the part of France, and Messrs. Shirley and Mildmay on +the part of Great Britain. The English commissioners, however, soon +perceived that there was little chance of arriving at a friendly +arrangement. The more they advanced in their offers, the more the French +demanded; futile objections were started, and unnecessary delays +continued; at length Mr. Shirley<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> and his colleague broke up the +conference, and returned to England. [1752.] It now became evident that +a decisive struggle was at hand.</p> + +<p>Under the rule of M. de la Jonquière, a great and growing evil cankered +the spirit of Canada. The scanty salaries<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> allowed to the government +officers afforded a great inducement to peculation, especially as the +remoteness of the colony rendered retribution distant and uncertain. The +Indian trade opened a field for enormous dishonesty: M. Bigot, the +intendant, discontented with his inadequate stipend, ventured to farm +out trade licenses for his own profit and that of his creatures, and +speedily accumulated considerable wealth; he, the governor, and a few +others, formed themselves into a company, and monopolized nearly all the +commerce of the country, to the great indignation of the colonists. M. +de la Jonquière and his secretary, St. Sauveur, also kept exclusively to +themselves the nefarious privilege of supplying brandy to the Indians: +by this they realized immense profits.</p> + +<p>At length a storm of complaints arose against the unworthy governor, and +even reached the dull ears of his patrons at the court of France. Aware +that his case would not bear investigation, he demanded his recall; but, +before a successor could be appointed, he died at Quebec on the 17th of +May, 1752,<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> aged sixty-seven years. Though not possessed of brilliant +gifts, M. de la Jonquière was a man of considerable ability, and had +displayed notable courage and conduct in many engagements; but a +miserable avarice stained his character, and he died enormously wealthy, +while denying himself the ordinary necessaries of his rank and +situation.<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> Charles Le Moine, Baron de Longueuil, then governor of +Montreal, being next in seniority, assumed the reins of power until the +arrival of a successor.</p> + +<p>The Marquis du Quesne de Menneville was appointed governor of Canada, +Louisiana, Cape Breton, &c., on the recall of M. de la Jonquière in +1752. He was reputed a man of ability, but was of haughty and austere +disposition. Galissonière, who had recommended the appointment, +furnished him with every information respecting the colony and the +territorial claims of France: thus instructed, he landed at Quebec in +August, where he was received with the usual ceremonies.</p> + +<p>The orders given to the new governor with regard to the disputed +boundaries were such as to leave little doubt on his mind that the sword +alone could enable him to secure their execution, and the character of +his stubborn though unwarlike rivals promised a determined resistance to +his views.<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> His first attention was therefore directed to the +military resources of his command. He forthwith organized the militia<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> +of Quebec and Montreal under efficient officers, and attached bodies of +artillery to the garrison of each city; the militia of the country +parishes next underwent a careful inspection, and nothing was neglected +to strengthen the efficiency of his army.</p> + +<p>In 1753, several French detachments were sent to the banks of the +Ohio,<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> with orders to establish forts, and to secure the alliance of +the Indians by liberal presents and splendid promises. The wily savages, +however, quickly perceived that the rival efforts of the two great +European powers would soon lead to a war of which their country must be +the scene, and they endeavored, to the utmost of their ability, to rid +themselves of both their dangerous visitors. Disregarding these efforts +and entreaties, both the English and French advanced nearer to each +other, and the latter fortified several posts upon the Allegany and the +Ohio. When the hostile designs of France became thus apparent, Mr. +Dinwiddie, governor of Virginia,<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> which was the most exposed of the +British provinces, undertook to check these aggressions, upon his own +responsibility, and formed a regiment of militia for the purpose. A +small detachment, raised by the Ohio Company, was immediately sent to +protect the traders, and take possession of the Forks of the Ohio and +Monongahela, the precise spot where the first efforts of the French +would probably be made. They had scarcely begun the erection of a fort, +when M. de Contrecœur, with 1200 men, arrived from Venango in 300 +canoes, drove them from the ground,<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> and completed and occupied their +fortification: to this since well-known spot he gave the name of Fort du +Quesne.<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> In the mean time the Virginia militia marched to the aid of +the English, and met them on their retreat at Will's Creek; the colonel +of this body had died soon after it took the field, and the command +devolved upon the officer next in seniority—<span class="smcap">George Washington</span>, +the father of the Great Republic.</p> + +<p>To gain intelligence of the movements of the Virginians, frequent +expeditions were dispatched from Fort du Quesne. [1754.] One of these, +forty-five in number, commanded by M. Jumonville,<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> was surprised by +Colonel Washington, and destroyed or captured with the exception of one +man.<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> The victors immediately proceeded to intrench themselves on the +scene of action, a place called Little Meadows, with the view of holding +their ground till re-enforcements should arrive: they gave to their +little stronghold the name of Fort Necessity. They were soon after +joined by the remainder of the Virginia militia and a company from South +Carolina, which raised their strength to about 400 men. When M. de +Contrecœur received intelligence of Jumonville's disaster, he sent M. +de Villiers, with 1000 regular troops and 100 Indians, to obtain +satisfaction. Colonel Washington resolved to await the attack in the +fort, and trust to the arrival of some troops promised by the state of +New York for his relief. He was, however, so warmly assailed by the +French on the 3d of July, that he found it necessary to surrender the +same evening, stipulating to march out with all the honors of war, and +every thing in his possession except the artillery. The capitulation<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> +was scarcely signed when it was most shamefully broken, the baggage was +plundered, the horses and cattle destroyed, and the officers detained +for some time as prisoners. At length Colonel Washington retired as he +best might, and met at Winchester the re-enforcements that but a day +before would have enabled him to stem the tide of French usurpation: he +was then, however, fain to content himself with erecting Fort +Cumberland<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a> at Will's Creek, where he held his ground.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the governor of the British colonies transmitted reports of +these events to London, and the embassador<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> at Paris was instructed +to remonstrate firmly against the French aggressions in America; but +that court disregarded these communications, and took no further pains +to conceal their hostile intentions. They publicly gave orders for the +speedy re-enforcement of their colonies, especially Quebec, with men and +military stores, and prepared to follow up with vigor the success at +Fort Necessity.</p> + +<p>The English government only noticed these formidable preparations by +letters of instruction to their colonial authorities, ordering them to +unite for their common defense, and encouraging them to resist every +aggression, without, however, furnishing any assistance. Commissioners +were also appointed to meet the Indian chiefs in congress at Albany, and +to endeavor to secure those important allies to the British power. The +red warriors did not display much enthusiasm in the cause, but finally +they accepted the presents offered them, and expressed a desire to +receive vigorous assistance from the English to drive the French from +their invaded hunting grounds. At this congress a general union of the +funds and forces of the colonies was proposed, but clashing interests in +comparatively unimportant matters defeated these salutary designs.</p> + +<p>While this congress continued its almost useless deliberations, Governor +Shirley, of Massachusetts, marched upon the Kennebec River with about +1000 men, and erected forts at the most exposed points to secure the +northeastern frontier; he also accomplished the important object of +gaining the confidence of the Indians, and their consent to his military +occupation of the country. During the remainder of the year he +repeatedly represented to the English ministry<a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> the dangerous +condition of the colonies, and the urgent need of powerful assistance to +defeat the hostility of France. Shirley's appeal was successful; two +regiments—Halket's, the 44th, and Dunbar's, the 48th, were ordered from +Ireland to America,<a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a> and Major-general Braddock was appointed to the +command of all the British forces on the Western continent; the governor +of Massachusetts was at the same time thanked by the king, and empowered +to concert measures for attacking the French settlements in the Bay of +Fundy. The disbanded colonial regiments, Shirley's and Pepperel's, were +also re-established, and recruits were rapidly raised through the +several provinces to form an army for the approaching war.</p> + +<p>General Braddock arrived by the end of February, 1755, and immediately +convened the governors of the different British colonies to meet him in +council at Alexandria, in Virginia, on the 14th of April. It appeared +his orders from home<a name="FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> were positive that he should at once move upon +Fort du Quesne, notwithstanding the danger, difficulty, and expense of +carrying the war across the rugged barrier of the Allegany Mountains, +instead of assailing the Canadian settlements, where the facility of +transport by water, and their proximity to his resources, offered him +every advantage. However, no alternative remained, and he obeyed. At the +same time, Shirley's and Pepperel's newly-raised regiments<a name="FNanchor_19_19" id="FNanchor_19_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a> were +directed upon Niagara, and a strong body of provincial troops, +commanded by General Johnson, was commissioned to attack the French +position of Fort Frederic, called by the English Crown Point.</p> + +<p>While these plans were being carried out, Colonel Monckton,<a name="FNanchor_20_20" id="FNanchor_20_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a> with +Colonel Winslow, marched against the French settlements in the Bay of +Fundy; their force of nearly 3000 men was aided by the presence on the +coast of Captain Rous, with three frigates and a sloop. The Acadian +peasants,<a name="FNanchor_21_21" id="FNanchor_21_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a> and some regular troops with a few cannon, endeavored to +oppose his passage at the River Massaquash, but were speedily +overpowered. Thence he moved upon Fort Beau-sejour, and forced the +garrison to capitulate after a bombardment<a name="FNanchor_22_22" id="FNanchor_22_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a> of four days. He left +some troops to defend this position, which he now called Fort +Cumberland, and proceeded the next day to a small intrenchment on the +River Gaspereau, where the French had established their principal dépôt +for the Indian trade, and the stores of arms, ammunition, and +provisions; he then disarmed the peasantry to the number of 15,000 men. +At the same time Captain Rous destroyed all the works erected by the +French on the River St. John. By this expedition the possession of the +extensive province of Nova Scotia was secured to the British crown +almost without the loss of a man.</p> + +<p>The court of France in the mean time hastened the equipment of a +considerable fleet at Brest, under the orders of Admiral Bois de la +Mothe. On board were several veteran regiments, commanded by the Baron +Dieskau, who had distinguished himself under the celebrated Marshal +Saxe.</p> + +<p>The Marquis du Quesne had demanded his recall from the government of +Canada, with the view of re-entering the naval service of France. His +departure caused little regret, for though his management of public +affairs was skillful and judicious, a haughty and domineering temper had +made him generally unpopular in the colony. The Marquis de Vaudreuil de +Cavagnac was appointed his successor, at the request of the Canadian +people, who fondly hoped to enjoy, under the rule of the son of their +favorite, the same prosperity and peace which had characterized his +father's administration. The new governor, who arrived in M. de la +Mothe's fleet, was received with great demonstrations of joy by the +inhabitants of Quebec.</p> + +<p>Hearing of these hostile preparations, the English ministry, in the +month of April, 1755, dispatched Admiral Boscawen, with eleven sail of +the line, to watch the French squadron, although at the time no formal +declaration of war had been made. The rival armaments reached the Banks +of Newfoundland almost at the same time: the friendly fogs of those +dreary latitudes saved De la Mothe's fleet; two of his vessels, indeed, +fell into the hands of his enemies,<a name="FNanchor_23_23" id="FNanchor_23_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a> but the remainder entered the +Canadian ports in safety. On the news of this attack reaching Paris, M. +de Mirepoix, the embassador, was recalled from London, and loud +complaints were made by the French against Boscawen's conduct. On the +part of Great Britain it was answered, that the aggressions of the +Canadians in Virginia justified the act of hostility.<a name="FNanchor_24_24" id="FNanchor_24_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a></p> + +<p>On the 8th of May General Braddock joined the head-quarters of the army +at a village on the Potomac; on the 10th he marched to Will's Creek, and +encamped on a hill near Fort Cumberland. Here he remained till the 28th, +passing the time in horse-races, reviews, and conferences with the +Indians. These red warriors were astonished at the number of the +British, their uniform dress, and their arms, the regularity of their +march, the tremendous effect of their artillery, and the strange noises +of their drums and fifes; but, unfortunately, the haughty general was +not wise enough to conciliate his important allies, or to avail himself +of their experience in forest warfare; he, however, with disdainful +generosity, gave them numerous presents, and provided the warriors with +arms and clothing.</p> + +<p>The force now assembled in camp at Fort Cumberland consisted of the 44th +(Sir Peter Halket's) and the 48th (Colonel Dunbar's) regiments, each of +700 men, with three New York and Carolina companies of 100, and ten of +Virginia and Maryland (fifty strong), a troop of Provincial light horse, +thirty seamen, and twelve pieces of field artillery: in all, 2300 +men.<a name="FNanchor_25_25" id="FNanchor_25_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a> The Delawares and other friendly Indians, whose services were +unfortunately so lightly valued, added considerably to the numbers of +this formidable body.</p> + +<p>Braddock was aware that the French garrison of Fort du Quesne only +numbered 200 men, and earnestly desired to advance in early spring with +his overwhelming force, but by an unfortunate exercise of corrupt +influence at home his troops had been ordered to land in Virginia, where +the inhabitants, altogether engrossed with the culture of tobacco, were +unable to supply the necessary provisions and means of transport. Had +they been landed in the agricultural state of Pennsylvania, all demands +could have been readily supplied, their march shortened, and a large +outlay saved to the British government. When the general found that the +Virginians could not meet his views, he made a requisition on the +neighboring state for 150 wagons, 300 horses, and a large quantity of +forage and provisions: these were readily promised, but not a tenth part +arrived at the appointed time. His disappointment was, however, somewhat +mitigated by a small supply which Mr. Franklin sent shortly after from +Philadelphia. By the exertions of this energetic man, Braddock was at +length furnished with all his requisitions,<a name="FNanchor_26_26" id="FNanchor_26_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a> and then prepared to +advance.</p> + +<p>The unfortunate selection of the chief of this expedition was, however, +more fatal than difficulty<a name="FNanchor_27_27" id="FNanchor_27_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a> or delay; his character was unsuited for +such a command in every point except that of personal courage: haughty, +self-sufficient, and overbearing, he estranged the good-will, and +rejected the counsel of his Indian and Provincial allies.<a name="FNanchor_28_28" id="FNanchor_28_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a> His troops +were harassed by the endeavor to enforce a formal and rigid discipline, +which the nature of the service rendered impracticable. Through the +tangled and trackless passes of the Alleganies, he adhered with stubborn +bigotry to a system of operations only suited to the open plains of +civilized Europe. But his greatest and worst error was to despise his +foe: in spite of the warnings of the Duke of Cumberland, his patron and +friend, he scorned to take precautions against the dangerous ambush of +the American savage.</p> + +<p>On the 29th, Major Chapman, with 600 men and two guns, marched from the +camp: Sir John St. Clair, quarter-master general, some engineers, and +seamen, accompanied this detachment to clear the roads and reconnoiter +the country. From that time till the 10th of June an incredible amount +of useless and harassing toil was wasted in widening and leveling the +forest paths, and erecting unnecessarily elaborate bridges. At length, +on the 10th, Braddock followed with the rest of his army, and reached +the Little Meadows that night, a distance of twenty-two miles. In spite +of the facilities afforded by the labors of the pioneers, great +difficulty was experienced in the conveyance of the heavy stores. During +the route still to be pursued, where no preparations had been made, +greater delays were to be expected. At the same time the general was +stimulated to activity by information that the French soon expected a +re-enforcement at Fort du Quesne of 500 regular troops; with more of +energy than he had yet displayed,<a name="FNanchor_29_29" id="FNanchor_29_29"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a> he selected 1200 men, and taking +also ten guns, the seamen, and some indispensable supplies of provisions +and ammunition, he pushed boldly on into the pathless and almost unknown +solitudes of the Alleganies. Colonel Dunbar, with the rest of the army +and the heavy luggage, followed as they best might.</p> + +<p>To trace the unfortunate Braddock through his tedious march of 130 miles +would be wearisome and unnecessary. His progress was retarded by useless +labors in making roads, or rather tracks, and yet no prudent caution was +observed; he persisted in refusing or neglecting the offers of the +Provincials and Indians to scour the woods and explore the passes in his +front.<a name="FNanchor_30_30" id="FNanchor_30_30"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a> Sir Peter Halket and other British officers ventured to +remonstrate in strong terms against the dangerous carelessness of the +march, but their instances seemed only to confirm the obstinate +determination of the general. Washington, who acted as his aid-de-camp, +also urged an alteration of arrangement, and with such vehement +pertinacity that the irritated chief ordered his Virginian companies to +undertake the inglorious duties of the rear-guard.</p> + +<p>M. de Contrecœur, commandant of Fort du Quesne, had received +information of all Braddock's movements from the Indians. With the view +of embarrassing the English advance rather than of offering any serious +resistance, he dispatched M. de Beaujeu, with 250 of the marine, or +colony troops, toward the line of march which Braddock was expected to +take; this detachment was afterward strengthened by about 600 Indians, +principally Outamacs, and the united force took up a favorable position, +where the underwood and long grass concealed them from the approaching +enemy.</p> + +<p>Intelligence of a contradictory nature as to the strength and movements +of the French had been every day carried to the unfortunate Braddock by +Indians professing to be his friends, and by doubly traitorous +deserters. Still, under a fatal conviction of security, he had pursued +his march, meeting with no interruption, except in taking "eight or nine +scalps, a number much inferior to expectation." On the 8th of July, +following the winding course which the difficulty of the country +rendered necessary, he crossed the Monongahela River, encamped upon the +bank at the opposite side from Fort du Quesne, and sent Sir John St. +Clair forward to reconnoiter the enemy's fort. The quarter-master +general was successful in attaining the desired information: he reported +that the defenses were of timber, and that a small eminence lay close +by, from whence red-hot shot could easily be thrown upon the wooden +parapets.</p> + +<p>At seven in the morning of the 9th of July, an advance guard of 400 men, +under Colonel Gage, pushed on and took possession of the fords of the +river, where it was necessary to recross, unopposed, but somewhat +alarmed by the ominous appearance of a few Indians among the neighboring +thickets. A little before mid-day the main body began to cross the broad +stream with "colors flying, drums beating, and fifes playing the +Grenadiers' March:" they formed rapidly on the opposite side, and, not +having been interrupted in the difficult passage, recommenced their +march in presumptuous security.</p> + +<p>Three guides and six light horsemen led the way toward Fort du Quesne, +through an open space in the forest, followed by the grenadiers of the +44th and 48th: flanking parties skirted the edge of the woods on both +sides. The 44th regiment succeeded with two guns; behind them were the +48th, with the rest of the artillery and the general: the Virginian +companies, in unwilling obedience, sullenly brought up the rear. In this +order they advanced with as much regularity as the rough road permitted. +When within seven miles of the fort, they left a steep conical hill to +the right, and directed their march upon the extremity of the open +space, where the path disappeared between the thickly-wooded banks of a +small brook: so far all went well.</p> + +<p>At length the guides and the light horse entered the "bush" in front and +descended the slope toward the stream, while a number of axmen set +vigorously to work felling the trees and clearing the underwood for the +advance of the army, the grenadiers acting as a covering party. Suddenly +from the dark ravine in front flashed out a deadly volley, and before +the rattle of the musketry had ceased to echo, three fourths of the +British advance lay dead and dying on the ground. The French had coolly +taken aim from their unseen position, and singled out the officers with +fatal effect, for every one was killed or wounded in that first +discharge; only two-and-twenty of the grenadiers remained untouched; +they hastily fired upon the copse containing their still invisible foes, +then turned and fled. One of these random shots struck down the French +chief, De Beaujeu, and for a short time checked the enemy's triumph. He +was dressed like an Indian, but wore a large gorgiton to denote his +rank. At the moment of his death he was waving his hat and cheering his +men on at a running pace.</p> + +<p>Braddock instantly advanced the 44th regiment to succor the front, and +endeavored to deploy upon the open space, but simultaneously on all +sides from the thick covert burst the war-whoop of the Indians, and a +deadly fire swept away the head of every formation. The 44th staggered +and hesitated. Sir Peter Halket and his son,<a name="FNanchor_31_31" id="FNanchor_31_31"></a><a href="#Footnote_31_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a> a lieutenant in the +regiment, while cheering; them on, were shot dead side by side; +Braddock's horse was killed, and two of his aids-de-camp wounded; the +artillery, although without orders,<a name="FNanchor_32_32" id="FNanchor_32_32"></a><a href="#Footnote_32_32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a> pressed to the front, and their +leading guns plied the thickets with grape and canister, but in a few +minutes all the officers and most of the gunners were stretched bleeding +on the field. The broken remnant of the grenadiers who had formed the +advance now fell back upon the disordered line, and threw it into utter +confusion.</p> + +<p>With stubborn purpose and useless courage the general strove to re-form +his ruined ranks; most of the officers nobly stood by him, but the +soldiers were seized with uncontrollable terror. Assailed on every side +by foes, unseen save when a savage rushed out from his woody stronghold +to tear the scalp from some fallen Englishman, they lost all order, and +fell back upon the 48th, which was now rapidly advancing to their aid +under Colonel Burton. Braddock, with these fresh troops, made several +desperate efforts to gain possession of the conical hill, from whence a +strong body of the French galled him intolerably, but his well-drilled +ranks were broken by the close trees and rocks, and shattered by the +flanking fire of the Indians. Again and again he endeavored to rally the +now panic-stricken soldiers, without, however, any effectual movement of +advance or retreat. His ill-judged valor was vain; the carnage +increased, and with it his confusion. At length, after having had four +horses shot under him, while still encouraging his men, a bullet +shattered his arm and passed through his lungs. The luckless but gallant +chief was placed in a wagon by Colonel Gage and hurried to the rear, +although he was "very solicitous to be left on the field."<a name="FNanchor_33_33" id="FNanchor_33_33"></a><a href="#Footnote_33_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a></p> + +<p>The remains of the two British regiments now broke into utter disorder +and fled, leaving all the artillery and baggage<a name="FNanchor_34_34" id="FNanchor_34_34"></a><a href="#Footnote_34_34" class="fnanchor">[34]</a> in the hands of the +enemy, and, worst of all, many of their wounded comrades, who were +scalped by the Indians without mercy. This horrible occupation, and the +plunder of the wagons, for a time interrupted the pursuers, and enabled +Colonel Washington, the only mounted officer still unwounded, to rally +the Virginian companies, who had as yet borne little share in the +action. He succeeded in holding the banks of the Monongahela River<a name="FNanchor_35_35" id="FNanchor_35_35"></a><a href="#Footnote_35_35" class="fnanchor">[35]</a> +till the fugitives had passed, and then himself retired in tolerable +order. One of his captains was Horatio Gates, afterward Burgoyne's +conqueror in the Revolutionary war. This young officer distinguished +himself by courage and conduct in the retreat, and was carried from the +field severely wounded.</p> + +<p>The routed army fled all through the night, and joined Colonel Dunbar +the following evening at a distance of nearly fifty miles from the scene +of their defeat.<a name="FNanchor_36_36" id="FNanchor_36_36"></a><a href="#Footnote_36_36" class="fnanchor">[36]</a> Braddock ordered that the retreat should be +immediately continued, which his lieutenant readily obeyed, as his +troops were infected with the terror of the fugitives. A great quantity +of stores were hurriedly destroyed, that the wounded officers and +soldiers might have transport, and the remaining artillery was spiked +and abandoned. The unfortunate general's sufferings increased hourly, +aggravated by the most intense mental anguish. On the 12th of July, +conscious of the approach of death, he dictated a dispatch acquitting +his officers of all blame, and recommending them to the favor of his +country: that night his proud and gallant heart ceased to beat. His +dying words expressed that astonishment at his defeat which had +continued to the last: "Who would have thought it! we shall know better +how to deal with them another time."<a name="FNanchor_37_37" id="FNanchor_37_37"></a><a href="#Footnote_37_37" class="fnanchor">[37]</a></p> + +<p>May he sleep in peace! With sorrow and censure, but not with shame, let +his name be registered in the crowded roll of those who have fought and +fallen for the rights and honor of England.</p> + +<p>The number of killed, wounded, and missing, out of this small army, +amounted to 896 men, and sixty-four officers, as appeared by the returns +of the different companies after the battle. Some few, indeed, of these +ultimately reappeared, but most of the wounded and missing met with a +fate far more terrible from their savage enemies than a soldier's death +upon the field. Of fifty-four women who had accompanied the troops, only +four escaped alive from the dangers and hardships of the campaign. The +French, on the other hand, only report the loss of their commander, De +Beaujeu, and sixty men in this astonishing victory.</p> + +<p>On Braddock's death, Colonel Dunbar fell back with disgraceful haste +upon Fort Cumberland; nor did he even there consider himself safe. +Despite the entreaties of the governors of Virginia, Maryland, and +Pennsylvania, that he would remain to protect the frontier, he continued +his march to Philadelphia, leaving only a small garrison of two +Provincial companies at the fort. From Philadelphia the remains of the +army, 1600 strong, was shipped for Albany by the order of General +Shirley, who had succeeded to the command of the British American +forces.</p> + +<p>In consequence of this lamentable defeat and the injudicious withdrawal +of the remaining British troops, the western borders of Pennsylvania and +Virginia were exposed during the ensuing winter to the ruthless +cruelties of the victorious savages, and the scarcely less ferocious +hostilities of their European allies. The French not only incited the +Indians to these aggressions, but rewarded them by purchasing their +hapless captives at a high price, and in turn exacted large ransoms for +the prisoners' release. Their pretense was to rescue the English from +the torture, their real motive gain, and the rendering it more +profitable for the savages to hunt their enemies than the wild animals +of the forest.</p> + +<p>From the presumptuous rashness of Braddock and the misconduct of the +44th and 48th regiments,<a name="FNanchor_38_38" id="FNanchor_38_38"></a><a href="#Footnote_38_38" class="fnanchor">[38]</a> followed results of a far deeper importance +than the loss of a battle and the injury of a remote province. The +conviction formerly held by the colonists of the superior prowess of +English regulars was seriously shaken, if not destroyed, and the +licentious and violent conduct of Dunbar's army to the inhabitants +during the retreat excited a wide-spread feeling of hostility. "They are +more terrible, to us than to the enemy," said the discontented: "they +slighted our officers and scorned our counsel, and yet to our Virginians +they owe their escape from utter destruction." Some far-sighted and +ambitious men there were, who, through this cloud upon the British +arms, with hope espied the first faint rays of young America's ascending +star.</p> + +<p>The second expedition, set on foot by the council at Alexandria, was +that under General Shirley: two Provincial regiments<a name="FNanchor_39_39" id="FNanchor_39_39"></a><a href="#Footnote_39_39" class="fnanchor">[39]</a> and a +detachment of the royal artillery were assembled by his order at Albany, +to march against Niagara.<a name="FNanchor_40_40" id="FNanchor_40_40"></a><a href="#Footnote_40_40" class="fnanchor">[40]</a> All the young men who had been, during +more peaceful times, occupied by the fur trade in the neighboring +country, were engaged to man the numerous bateaux for the transport of +the troops and stores to Oswego. Part of the force commenced their +westward journey in the beginning of July, and the remainder were +preparing to follow, when the disastrous news of Braddock's ruin reached +the camp. This struck a damp upon the undisciplined Provincial troops, +and numbers deserted their colors, while the indispensable +bateaux-men<a name="FNanchor_41_41" id="FNanchor_41_41"></a><a href="#Footnote_41_41" class="fnanchor">[41]</a> nearly all fled to their homes, and resisted alike +threats and entreaties for their return. The general, however, still +vigorously pushed on, with all the force he could keep together. Great +hopes had been formed of the assistance likely to be rendered to the +expedition by the powerful confederacy of the Five Nations, but these +politic savages showed no inclination to trust to the then doubtful +fortunes of the British colonies, and even remonstrated against the +transit of their territories by the army, alleging that the Oswego fort +was established and tolerated by them as a trading-post,<a name="FNanchor_42_42" id="FNanchor_42_42"></a><a href="#Footnote_42_42" class="fnanchor">[42]</a> but not as +a place of arms for hostile purposes. After having undergone +considerable hardships and overcome great difficulties, Shirley reached +Oswego by the 18th of August:<a name="FNanchor_43_43" id="FNanchor_43_43"></a><a href="#Footnote_43_43" class="fnanchor">[43]</a> his whole force, however, had not +arrived till the end of the month. Want of supplies and the lateness of +the season defeated his intention of attacking Niagara that year. On the +24th of October he withdrew from the shores of Lake Ontario, without +having accomplished any thing of the slightest importance. Leaving 700 +men under Colonel Mercer to complete and occupy the defenses of Oswego, +and those of a new fort to be called Fort Ontario, he retraced the +difficult route to his old quarters at Albany.<a name="FNanchor_44_44" id="FNanchor_44_44"></a><a href="#Footnote_44_44" class="fnanchor">[44]</a></p> + +<p>The expedition against Crown Point was the last in commencement of those +planned by the council at Albany, but the first in success. By the +advice of Shirley, the command was intrusted to William Johnson,<a name="FNanchor_45_45" id="FNanchor_45_45"></a><a href="#Footnote_45_45" class="fnanchor">[45]</a> an +Irishman by birth. This remarkable man had emigrated to New York at an +early age, and by uncommon gifts of mind and body, united to ardent +ambition, had risen from the condition of a private soldier, to wealth, +consideration, and a seat at the council-board of his adopted country. +For some years he had been settled on the fertile banks of the Mohawk +River, where he had built two handsome residences and acquired a large +estate. He associated himself intimately with the Indians of the Five +Nations, learned their language, habits, and feelings, and gained their +affection and respect. In war, he was their chief and leader; in peace, +the persevering advocate of their rights and interests. Accordingly, +when called to the command of the army, Hendrick, a Mohawk sachem, and +300 warriors of that tribe, followed him to the camp.</p> + +<p>General Johnson had never seen a campaign, his troops had never seen an +enemy, with the exception of a few companies that had shared the glories +of Louisburg, but his ability and courage, and their zeal and spirit, +served instead of experience. To this force was intrusted the most +difficult undertaking in the checkered campaign, and it alone gained a +share of honor and success.</p> + +<p>By the end of June, 6000 men, the hardy militia of the Northern +States,<a name="FNanchor_46_46" id="FNanchor_46_46"></a><a href="#Footnote_46_46" class="fnanchor">[46]</a> had mustered at Albany under Johnson's command. He soon +after sent them forward, with Major-general Lyman, to the carrying-place +between Lake George and the Hudson River, sixty miles in advance. Here +they established a post called Fort Edward, in a strong position, while +the artillery, provisions, and boats for the campaign were being +prepared under the general's eye. Toward the end of August, Johnson +joined his army at the carrying-place, and proceeded to the southern +extremity of Lake George, leaving Colonel Blanchard with 300 men to +garrison the newly-erected fort.</p> + +<p>Here all the Indian scouts brought the news that the French had +intrenched themselves at Ticonderoga, on the promontory between the +Lakes George and Champlain, but that the works were still incomplete. +Johnson promptly prepared for the offensive; soon, however, his plans +were changed by the news of Baron Dieskau's arrival on the lake with a +considerable force of regular troops from Old France. The well-known +ability and courage of the enemy, together with his formidable force, +alarmed Johnson for the safety of the British settlements; he therefore +immediately dispatched an earnest entreaty for re-enforcements to the +provincial governments, who loyally responded to the appeal, but the +danger had passed before their aid reached the scene of action.</p> + +<p>Baron Dieskau had been ordered to reduce the Fort of Oswego, on Lake +Ontario, as the primary object of his campaign; but, on hearing that a +British force was in motion upon Lake George, he determined first to +check or destroy them, and pressed on rapidly against Johnson with 2000 +men, chiefly Canadians and Indians. The English chief was apprized of +this movement, but could form no estimate of the enemy's strength, his +savage informants being altogether ignorant of the science of numbers: +he nevertheless made every possible preparation for defense, and warned +Colonel Blanchard to concentrate all his little force within the fort: +that officer was, however, slain in the mean time by an advance party of +the French.</p> + +<p>Johnson now summoned a council of war, which recommended the rash step +of dispatching a force of 1000 men and the Mohawk Indians to check the +enemy: Colonel Ephraim Williams was placed in command of the detachment. +Hardly had they advanced three miles from the camp, when suddenly they +were almost surrounded by the French, and, after a gallant but hopeless +combat, utterly routed, with the loss of their leader, Hendrick, the +Indian chief, and many of the men. The victors, although they had also +suffered in the sharp encounter, pursued with spirit, till checked near +the camp by Colonel Cole and 300 men, sent by Johnson in the direction +of the firing. By this delay the British were enabled to strengthen +their defenses, and to recover, in some measure, from the confusion of +their disaster. The most vigorous efforts of the officers were needed to +overcome the panic caused by Williams's defeat and death, and by their +ignorance of the advancing enemy's force.</p> + +<p>After a brief pause, Dieskau made a spirited attack upon the British +intrenchments, but his Canadians and Indians were suddenly checked by +Johnson's guns;<a name="FNanchor_47_47" id="FNanchor_47_47"></a><a href="#Footnote_47_47" class="fnanchor">[47]</a> they at once gave way, and, inclining to the right +and left, contented themselves with keeping up a harmless fire on the +flanks of the works. The French regulars, however, bravely maintained +their ground, although surprised by the strength of Johnson's position, +and damped by finding it armed with artillery. But they could not long +bear the brunt alone; after several gallant attacks, the few remaining +still unhurt also dispersed in the forest, leaving their leader mortally +wounded on the field.<a name="FNanchor_48_48" id="FNanchor_48_48"></a><a href="#Footnote_48_48" class="fnanchor">[48]</a> Early in the action General Johnson had +received a painful wound, and was obliged unwillingly to retire to his +tent; the command then devolved upon Lyman, who pursued the routed enemy +for a short distance with great slaughter. The French loss in this +disastrous action was little short of 800 men, and their regular troops +were nearly destroyed.</p> + +<p>The Canadians and Indians, who had fled almost unharmed, halted that +evening at the scene of Williams's defeat to scalp the dead and dying. +Finding they were not molested, they prepared for rest and refreshment, +and even debated upon the renewal of the attack. The heavy loss already +sustained by the English (upward of 200 men), and the consequent +disorganization, prevented them from following up their victory: this +forced inaction had well-nigh proved the destruction of 120 men sent +from Fort Edward to their aid under Captain Macginnis. This gallant +officer, however, had secured his march by every proper precaution, and +was warned by his scouts that he was close upon the spot where the still +formidable enemy was bivouacked. He promptly formed his little band, and +sustained a sharp engagement for nearly two hours, extricating his +detachment at length with little loss, and much honor to himself. The +brave young man was, however, mortally wounded, and died three days +afterward in Johnson's camp. The remnant of the French army then +dispersed, and sought shelter at Ticonderoga.<a name="FNanchor_49_49" id="FNanchor_49_49"></a><a href="#Footnote_49_49" class="fnanchor">[49]</a></p> + +<p>Though the brilliance of this success was obscured by the somewhat timid +inaction that followed,<a name="FNanchor_50_50" id="FNanchor_50_50"></a><a href="#Footnote_50_50" class="fnanchor">[50]</a> the consequences were of great importance. +The English troops, it must be owned, were become so accustomed to +defeat and disaster, that they went into action spiritless and +distrustful. Now that a formidable force of the enemy had yielded to +their prowess, confidence began to revive, and gradually strengthened +into boldness. Had the French been successful in their attack, the +results would have been most disastrous for the British colonies: +nothing would have remained to arrest their progress into the heart of +the country, or stem the tide of ruin that had followed on their track. +The value of this unusual triumph on the Western continent was duly felt +in England: a baronetcy by royal favor, and a grant of £5000 by a +grateful Parliament, rewarded the successful general.</p> + +<p>General Johnson turned his attention immediately after the battle to +strengthen the position he had successfully held, with the view of +securing the frontiers from hostile incursion when he should retire into +winter quarters. The fort called William Henry<a name="FNanchor_51_51" id="FNanchor_51_51"></a><a href="#Footnote_51_51" class="fnanchor">[51]</a> was forthwith +constructed by his orders; guns were mounted, and a regiment of +Provincial troops, with a company of rangers, left to garrison it and +Fort Edward. On the 24th of December Johnson fell back to Albany, and +from thence dispersed the remainder of his army to their respective +provinces. In the mean time, Captain Rogers, a daring and active +officer, made repeated demonstrations against the French in the +neighborhood of Crown Point,<a name="FNanchor_52_52" id="FNanchor_52_52"></a><a href="#Footnote_52_52" class="fnanchor">[52]</a> cut off many of their detached parties, +and obtained constant intelligence of their proceedings. By these means +it was known that the French had assembled a force of no less than 2000 +men, with a proportion of artillery, and a considerable body of Indians, +at Ticonderoga; the British were therefore obliged to use every +vigilance to secure themselves against sudden attack from their +formidable enemies, and to hasten, by all means in their power, the +preparations for defense.</p> + +<p>The fatal consequences of the unfortunate Braddock's defeat were rapidly +developed in the southwestern frontiers. The French were aroused by +success to an unusual spirit of enterprise, and, together with the +Indians, they carried destruction into the remote and scattered hamlets +of the British settlements. To put an end to these depredations, the +government of Virginia marched 500 men to garrison Fort Cumberland, and +160 more to the southern branch of the Potomac, lately the scene of a +cruel massacre. But these isolated efforts were of little more than +local and temporary advantage; as the marauders were checked or baffled +in one district, they poured with increased ferocity upon another. The +province of Pennsylvania now became their foray-ground; and the +inhabitants, the faithful but fanatic men of peace, actually denied all +assistance to their governor for defense, and zealously preached against +any warlike preparations, recommending patience and forbearance as the +best means of securing their properties and lives.</p> + +<p>This fatal delusion was not even dispelled by the intelligence that 1400 +Indians and 100 French were already mustered on the banks of the +Susquehanna, only eighty miles from Philadelphia, with the object of +again dividing and sweeping the whole country in separate parties. Soon +after, news arrived that the peaceful and prosperous settlement of Great +Cove was utterly destroyed, and all the inhabitants massacred or carried +into captivity. Still the men of peace refused to use the arm of flesh. +The spirited governor in vain urged the necessity of action upon his +unmanageable Assembly, till the sudden arrival of some hundreds of +ruined fugitives strengthened his argument. These unfortunates crowded +to the State House, dragging a wagon loaded with the dead and mutilated +bodies of their friends, who had been scalped by the Indians at a place +only sixty miles distant; they threw the bleeding corpses at the door, +and threatened violence if their demands for protection and revenge were +not instantly complied with. The Assembly, either moved by their +distress, or overawed by their menaces, at length gave up its scruples, +and passed a bill to call out the militia and appropriate £62,000 to the +expenses of the war.</p> + +<p>It must be said, at the same time, that the other English colonies, +where no such scruples as those of the Quakers existed, were far from +being active or united in raising supplies of men and money for their +common safety. Those, however, where danger was most imminent, +addressed strong and spirited appeals to their rulers for protection and +support, and denounced in vigorous language the aggressions and +usurpations of the French. These remonstrances had at length the desired +effect of disposing the minds of the local authorities to second the +views of the court of London for curbing the advances of Canadian power. +On the 12th of December, 1755, a grand council of war was assembled at +New York, consisting of as many provincial governors and superior +officers as could be collected for the purpose. General Shirley +presided, and laid before them the instructions which had been given to +Braddock, his unfortunate predecessor. He exerted himself with energy +and success to create a good understanding among the several +governments, and was particularly happy in effecting a union for mutual +protection and support between the important states of New England and +New York. He also succeeded in regaining to his cause many of the +Indians, who had either already gone over to the French or withdrawn to +a cold neutrality.</p> + +<p>The measures Shirley now proposed to the council were in accordance with +the tenor of General Braddock's instructions; they were cheerfully +assented to by that body, through his successful negotiations. It was +agreed to strengthen the naval force on Lake Ontario, and to form an +army of 6000 men upon its shores, while 10,000 more were to be directed +against the French intrenchments at Ticonderoga. Another attempt was +also proposed upon Fort du Quesne, and a movement against the Canadian +settlements on the Chaudière, provided that these schemes should not +interfere with the main objects of the war. The council then unanimously +gave their opinion that a re-enforcement of regular soldiers was +indispensable for the assertion and security of the British sovereign's +rights on the American continent.</p> + +<p>The English government,<a name="FNanchor_53_53" id="FNanchor_53_53"></a><a href="#Footnote_53_53" class="fnanchor">[53]</a> though sensible of General Shirley's +abilities as a negotiator, had not sufficient confidence in his military +capacity to intrust him with the execution of extensive warlike +operations. The command in chief of all the forces in America was +therefore conferred upon the Earl of Loudon, a nobleman of amiable +character, who had already distinguished himself in the service of his +country.<a name="FNanchor_54_54" id="FNanchor_54_54"></a><a href="#Footnote_54_54" class="fnanchor">[54]</a></p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> Mr. Shirley was born in England, and brought up to the law. +In that profession he afterward practiced for many years in the +Massachusetts Bay, and in 1741 was advanced to the supreme command of +that colony. Upon the conclusion of the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle he was +chosen as one of the British commissioners at Paris, and when the +conference there broke up, he resumed his government in New England (in +1753).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> "The salaries allotted to the officers of the civil +departments in the French colonial governments were extremely moderate, +and inadequate to support their respective situations. In 1758, that of +the Marquis de Vaudreuil, governor and lieutenant general of Canada, +amounted to no more than £272 1<i>s.</i> 8<i>d.</i> sterling, out of which he was +to clothe, maintain, and pay a guard for himself, consisting of two +sergeants and twenty-five soldiers, furnishing them with firing in +winter, and with other necessary articles. The pay of the whole officers +of justice and police was £514 11<i>s.</i> sterling, and the total sum +appropriated for the pay of the established officers, composing the +various branches of the civil power, did not exceed £3809 8<i>s.</i> +sterling."—Heriot's <i>Travels in Canada</i>, p. 98.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> "On the 1st January of this year England adopted the New +Style, which had been long before in use among all civilized nations +except Russia and Sweden. They, with England, still clung to the +exploded system, for no better reason, apparently, than because it was a +Pope who established the new. 'It was not, in my opinion,' writes +Chesterfield, 'very honorable for England to remain in gross and avowed +error, especially in such company.' The bill for the reformation of the +calendar was moved by Lord Chesterfield in a very able, and seconded by +Lord Macclesfield in a very learned speech, and it was successfully +carried through both Houses. The bill had been framed by these two +noblemen in concert with Dr. Bradley and other eminent men of science. +To correct the old calendar, eleven nominal days were to be suppressed +in September, 1752, so that the day following the 2d of that month +should be styled the 14th. The difficulties that might result from the +change, as affecting rents, leases, and bills of exchange, were likewise +carefully considered and effectually prevented."—Lord Mahon's <i>History +of England</i>, vol. iv., p. 23.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> "He amassed, while governor of Canada, by commerce alone, +more than a million livres, besides which, he had for many years sixty +thousand livres from his appointments and pensions. Yet, notwithstanding +his riches, his avarice was in many instances so extreme, that he denied +himself the common necessaries of life. During his last illness, he +ordered the wax tapers that were burning in his room to be changed for +tallow candles, observing that 'the latter would answer every purpose, +and were less expensive.'"—Smith's <i>Hist. of Canada</i>, vol. i., p. 223.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> "While Britain claimed an indefinite extent to the west, +France insisted on confining her to the eastern side of the Allegany +Mountains, and claimed the whole country whose waters run into the +Mississippi, in virtue of her right as the first discoverer of that +river. The delightful region between the summit of those mountains and +the Mississippi was the object for which these two powerful nations +contended, and it soon became apparent that the sword alone could decide +the contest."—Marshall's <i>Life of Washington</i>, vol. i., p. 294; +Belsham, vol. ii., p. 363, 364. +</p><p> +"Thus France would have enjoyed, in time of peace, the whole Indian +trade, and the English colonies, in time of war, must have had a +frontier of 1200 miles to defend against blood-thirsty savages, +conducted by French officers, and supported by regular troops. It was, +in fact, to attempt the extinction of the British settlements, and yet, +without such interior communication as was projected between Canada and +Louisiana, the French settlements on the St. Lawrence and Mississippi +could never, it was said, attain any high degree of consequence or +security; the navigation of one of those rivers being at all seasons +difficult, and that of the other blocked up with ice during the winter +months, so as to preclude exterior support or relief. This scheme of +usurpation, which is supposed to have long occupied the deliberations of +the court of Versailles, was ardently embraced by M. de la Jonquière, +now commander-in-chief of the French forces in North America, and by La +Galissonière, a man of a bold and enterprising spirit, who had been +appointed governor of New France in 1747. By their joint efforts, in +addition to those of their predecessors, forts were erected along the +Great Lakes, which communicate with the River St. Lawrence, and also on +the Ohio and Mississippi. The vast chain was almost completed from +Quebec to New Orleans, when the court of England, roused by repeated +injuries, broke off the conferences relative to the limits of Nova +Scotia."—Russell's <i>Modern Europe</i>, vol. iii., p. 273.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> See Appendix, <a href="#link1">No. LXV.</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> "The governors of Canada, who were generally military men, +had, for several preceding years, judiciously selected and fortified +such situations as would give their nation most influence with the +Indians, and most facilitate incursions into the northern English +provinces. The command of Lake Champlain had been acquired by erecting a +strong fort at Crown Point, and a connected chain of posts was +maintained from Quebec up the St. Lawrence and along the Great Lakes. It +was now intended to unite these posts with the Mississippi, by taking +positions which should enable them to circumscribe, and at the same time +annoy, the frontier settlements of the English. The execution of this +plan was probably in some degree accelerated by an act of the British +government. The year after the conclusion of the war with France, +several very influential persons, both in England and Virginia, who +associated under the name of the Ohio Company, obtained from the crown a +grant for 600,000 acres of land, lying in the country which was claimed +by both nations. Several opulent merchants, as well as noblemen and +gentlemen, being members of this company, its objects were commercial as +well as territorial; and measures were immediately taken to derive all +the advantages expected from their grants in both these respects, by +establishing houses for carrying on their trade with the Indians. The +governor of Canada, who obtained early intelligence of this intrusion, +as he deemed it, into the dominions of his Christian majesty, wrote +immediately to the governors of New York and Pennsylvania, informing +them that the English traders had encroached on the French territory by +trading with the Indians, and warning them that, if they did not desist, +he should be under the necessity of seizing them wherever they should be +found. This threat having been disregarded, it was put in execution by +seizing the British traders among the Twightwees,<a name="FNanchor_55_55" id="FNanchor_55_55"></a><a href="#Footnote_55_55" class="fnanchor">[55]</a> and carrying them +as prisoners to a fort on Lake Erie."—Marshall's <i>Life of Washington</i>, +vol. i., p. 297.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> "The country taken possession of by the French troops had +actually been granted as a part of the territory of Virginia to the Ohio +Company, who were, in consequence, commencing its +settlement."—Marshall's <i>Life of Washington</i>, vol. i., p. 298.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> "Which was the less to be wondered at," remarks Major +Washington, in his journal, "as the garrison of the fort consisted but +of thirty-three effective men." They were commanded by Captain Trent.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> This name was given in honor of the then governor of +Canada, the Marquis du Quesne de Menneville. Fort Du Quesne is now +called Pittsburg.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> Smollett says that "Jumonville bore a summons to Colonel +Washington, requiring him to quit the fort, which he pretended was built +on ground belonging to the French or their allies. So little regard was +paid to this intimation, that the English fell upon this party, and, as +the French affirm, without the least provocation, either slew or took +the whole detachment. De Villiers, incensed at these unprovoked +hostilities...."—Smollett, vol. iii., p. 421.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> "This skirmish, of small importance, perhaps, in itself, +was yet among the principal causes of the war. It is no less memorable +as the first appearance in the pages of history of one of their +brightest ornaments—of that great and good man, <span class="smcap">General +Washington</span>."—Lord Mahon's <i>History of England</i>, vol. iv., p. 65. +</p><p> +"This event was no sooner known in England than the British embassador +at Paris received directions to complain of it to the French ministry, +as an open violation of the peace."—Smollett, vol. iii., p. 421.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> "The capitulation was written in French, and as neither +Mr. Washington nor any of his party understood that language, a +foreigner was employed to read it to them in English. But, instead of +acting the part of a faithful interpreter, when he came to the word +'assassination,'<a name="FNanchor_56_56" id="FNanchor_56_56"></a><a href="#Footnote_56_56" class="fnanchor">[56]</a> employed in the capitulation to designate M. de +Jumonville's defeat and death, he translated it 'the defeat of M. de +Jumonville.' This I have the best authority to assert; the authority of +the English officers who were present. Indeed, the thing speaks for +itself. It can not be supposed that these gentlemen should know so +little of what they owed to themselves, both as men and as soldiers, as +not to prefer any extremity rather than submit to the disgrace of being +branded with the imputation of so horrid a crime. After all, had they +been guilty of this charge, they could scarce have been worse used than +they were."—<i>History of the late War in America</i> by Major Thomas Mante, +p. 14 (London, 1772).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> "The coal measures of this part of Maryland are usually +called the Cumberland coal-field, from Fort Cumberland, famous for the +wars of the English with the French and Indians, in which General +Washington took part before the American Revolution. The carboniferous +strata are arranged geologically in a trough about twenty-five miles +long from north to south, and from three to four miles broad. Professor +Silliman and his son, who surveyed them, have aptly compared the shape +of the successive beds to a great number of canoes placed one within +another."—Lyell's <i>Geology</i>, vol. ii., p. 17.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> "An able diplomacy in Europe exerted betimes would +probably have allayed the rancor of these feuds in America. But, for our +misfortune, we had then at Paris as embassador the Earl of Albemarle, an +indolent man of pleasure."—Lord Mahon's <i>History of England</i>, vol. iv., +p. 66. London, 1844. +</p><p> +"Between you and me, for this must go no further, what do you think made +Lord Albemarle, colonel of a regiment of Guards, governor of Virginia, +groom of the stole, and embassador to Paris, amounting in all to £16,000 +or £17,000 a year? Was it his birth? No; a Dutch gentleman only. Was it +his estate? No; he had none. Was it his learning, his parts, his +political abilities and application? You can answer these questions as +easily and as soon as I can ask them. What was it, then? Many people +wondered, but I do not, for I know, and will tell you: it was his air, +his address, his manners, and his graces."—<i>Lord Chesterfield to his +Son</i>, May 27, 1752. +</p><p> +Lord Albemarle died suddenly at his post in December, 1754. "You will +have heard, before you receive this, of Lord Albemarle's sudden death at +Paris. Every body is so sorry for him—without being so; yet as sorry as +he would have been for any body, or as he deserved. Can any one really +regret a man who, with the most meritorious wife and sons in the world, +and with near £15,000 a year from the government, leaves not a shilling +to his family, but dies immensely in debt, though when he married he had +near £90,000 in the funds, and my Lady Albemarle brought him £25,000 +more."—Walpole's <i>Letters to Sir H. Mann</i>, Jan. 9, 1755. +</p><p> +Lord Hertford was named to succeed Lord Albemarle as embassador to +Paris, but war being soon declared between the two nations, he never +went there.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> "On the 6th of March, 1754, the calm and languid course of +public business had been suddenly broken through by the death of the +prime minister,<a name="FNanchor_57_57" id="FNanchor_57_57"></a><a href="#Footnote_57_57" class="fnanchor">[57]</a> Mr. Pelham. 'Now I shall have no more peace!' +exclaimed the old king, when he heard the news; and the events of the +next few years fully confirmed his majesty's prediction. At the tidings +of his brother's death—a death so sudden and unlocked for—the the mind +of Newcastle was stirred with the contending emotions of grief, fear, +and ambition. The grief soon passed away, but the fear and the ambition +long struggled for the mastery. After a dishonest negotiation with Henry +Fox (younger son of Sir Stephen Fox, a brother of the first Earl of +Ilchester), the duke, finding him not sufficiently subservient, bestowed +the seals of secretary upon Sir Thomas Robinson. It was certainly no +light or easy task which Newcastle had thus accomplished: he had +succeeded in finding a secretary of state with abilities inferior to his +own.... The new Parliament met in November, 1754. Before that time a +common resentment had united the two statesmen whom rivalry had hitherto +kept asunder, Pitt and Fox. 'Sir Thomas Robinson lead us!' exclaimed +Pitt to Fox: 'The duke might as well send his jackboot to lead us!' ... +At length, in January, 1755, the Duke of Newcastle renewed his +negotiations with Fox. The terms he offered were far less than those Fox +had formerly refused, neither the head of the House of Commons nor the +office of Secretary of State, but admission to the cabinet, provided Fox +would actively support the king's measures in the House, and would in +some sort lead without being leader.... The conduct of Fox to Pitt (in +accepting these terms) seems not easy to reconcile with perfect good +faith, while the sudden lowering of his pretensions to Newcastle was, +beyond all doubt, an unworthy subservience. On one or both of these +grounds he fell in public esteem. By the aid of Fox and the silence of +Pitt the remainder of the session passed quietly. But great events were +now at hand. The horizon had long been dark with war, and this summer +burst the storm."—Lord Mahon's <i>History of England</i>, vol. iv., p. 65; +Belsham, vol. ii., p. 354, 355.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> "The French have taken such liberties with some of our +forts that are of great consequence to cover Virginia, Carolina, and +Georgia, that we are actually dispatching two regiments thither. As the +climate and other American circumstances are against these poor men, I +pity them, and think them too many if the French mean nothing farther, +too few if they do. Indeed, I am one of those that feel less resentment +when we are attacked so far off: I think it an obligation to be eaten +the last."—Walpole's <i>Letters to Sir H. Mann</i>, Oct. 6, 1754. +</p><p> +"A detachment of fifty men of the regiment of artillery embarked with +the 2d battalion, No. 44 and No. 48, under the command of Major-general +Braddock, for America.... This detachment was mostly cut to pieces near +Fort du Quesne, on the Monongahela, on the 9th of July, 1755."—<i>Memoirs +of the Royal Regt. of Artillery</i>, 1743. MSS., Col. Macbean, R.A. +Library, Woolwich.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> The Duke of Cumberland was then at the head of the +regency, during the absence of his father, George II., on the +continent.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_19_19" id="Footnote_19_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> Officers were appointed for two regiments, consisting of +two battalions each, to be raised in America, and commanded by Sir +William Pepperel and Governor Shirley, who had enjoyed the same command +in the last war.<a name="FNanchor_58_58" id="FNanchor_58_58"></a><a href="#Footnote_58_58" class="fnanchor">[58]</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_20_20" id="Footnote_20_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> "Although the force to be employed was to be drawn almost +entirely from Massachusetts, the command of the expedition was conferred +on Lieutenant-colonel Monckton, a British officer, in whose military +talents more confidence was placed than in those of any provincial. The +troops of Massachusetts embarked at Boston on the 20th of May, 1755, +together with Shirley's and Pepperel's regiments, commanded by +Lieutenant-colonel Winslow, who was a major general of the militia, and +an officer of great influence in the province. About four miles from +Fort Lawrence they were joined by 300 British troops and a small train +of artillery."—Marshall's <i>Life of Washington</i>, vol. i., p. 310.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_21_21" id="Footnote_21_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> "In the obstinate conflict which was commencing between +the French and English crowns, the continuance of the Acadians in Nova +Scotia was thought dangerous on account of their invincible attachment +to France; and to expel them from the country, leaving them at liberty +to choose their place of residence, would be to re-enforce the French in +Canada. A council was held, aided by the Admirals Boscawen and Morty, +for the purposes of deciding on the destinies of these unfortunate +people, and the severe policy was adopted of removing them from their +homes and dispersing them among the other British colonies. This harsh +measure was immediately put into execution, and the miserable +inhabitants of Nova Scotia, banished from their homes, were in one +instant reduced from ease and contentment to a state of beggary. Their +lands and movables, with the exception of their money and household +furniture, were declared to be forfeit to the crown; and to prevent +their being able to subsist themselves, should they escape, the country +was laid waste, and their habitations reduced to ashes."—Minot, quoted +by Marshall, vol. i., p. 312.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_22_22" id="Footnote_22_22"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_22"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> "When the French were in possession of this garrison, they +had no artillery; however, they were not at a loss to deceive their +enemies at Fort Lawrence, for they provided a parcel of birch, and other +hard, well-grown trees, which they shaped and bored after the fashion of +cannon, securing them from end to end with cordage, and from one of +these they constantly fired a morning and evening gun, as is customary +in garrisons; but upon the reduction of the place, and a spirited +inquiry after the cannon, they found themselves obliged to discover this +ingenious device."—Knox's <i>Hist. Journal</i>, vol. i., p. 58.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_23_23" id="Footnote_23_23"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_23"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> "Captain, afterward Lord Howe, after an engagement in +which he displayed equal skill and intrepidity, succeeded in taking the +two French ships, the <i>Alcide</i> and the <i>Lys</i>."—Lord Mahon's <i>History of +England</i>, vol. iv., p. 68.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_24_24" id="Footnote_24_24"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_24"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> "At home, in the king's absence, our councils were most +feeble and wavering.... A great difference appeared among the members of +the regency. The Duke of Cumberland, always inclined to vigorous +measures, wished to declare war at once, and to strike the first +blow.... The Duke of Newcastle, trimming and trembling as was ever his +wont, thought only of keeping off the storm as long as possible, and of +shifting its responsibility from himself.... At length, as a kind of +compromise, it was agreed that there should be no declaration of war; +that our fleet should attack the French ships of the line, if it fell in +with any, but by no means disturb any smaller men-of-war or any vessels +engaged in trade. When, at the Board of Regency, these instructions came +round to the bottom of the table to be signed by Fox, he turned to Lord +Anson, the First Lord of the Admiralty, and asked if there were no +objections to them. 'Yes,' answered Anson, 'a hundred; but it pleases +those at the upper end of the table, and will signify nothing, for the +French will declare war <i>next week, if they have not done it +already</i>.'<a name="FNanchor_59_59" id="FNanchor_59_59"></a><a href="#Footnote_59_59" class="fnanchor">[59]</a> While the prospects of peace grew darker and darker, +there was also gathering a cloud of popular resentment and distrust +against the minister. It was often asked whether these were times when +all power could be safely monopolized by the Duke of Newcastle? Was +every thing to be risked—perhaps every thing lost—for the sake of one +hoary jobber at the Treasury?"—Lord Mahon's <i>History of England</i>, vol. +iv., p. 72.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_25_25" id="Footnote_25_25"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_25"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> <i>MS. Journal of Major-general Braddock's Expedition +against Fort du Quesne</i>, 1755. Royal Artillery Library, Woolwich.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_26_26" id="Footnote_26_26"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_26"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> "Mr. Franklin had observed that Sir John St. Clair's +uniform (the quarter-master general) was of the hussar kind, and this +gave him a hint which he immediately improved: he caused a report to be +propagated among the Germans that, except 150 wagons could be got ready +and sent to the general within a certain time, St. Clair, who was a +hussar, would come among them, and take away what he found by force. The +Germans, having formerly lived under despotic power, knew the hussars +too well to doubt their serving themselves, and believing that General +St. Clair was indeed a hussar, they provided, instead of 150, 200 +wagons, and sent them within the time that Franklin had limited. The +Pennsylvanians also advanced a further sum above the king's bounty, and +sent him 190 wagons more, laden with a ton of corn and oats, four wagons +with provisions and wine for the officers, and 60 head of fine cattle +for the army."—<i>Gentleman's Magazine</i>, August, 1755.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_27_27" id="Footnote_27_27"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_27"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> "Those who have experienced only the severities and +dangers of a campaign in Europe can scarcely form an idea of what is to +be done and endured in an American war. In an American campaign every +thing is terrible—the face of the country, the climate, the enemy. +There is no refreshment for the healthy nor relief for the sick. A vast +inhospitable desert surrounds the troops where victories are not +decisive, but defeats are ruinous, and simple death is the least +misfortune that can happen to a soldier. This forms a service truly +critical, in which all the firmness of the body and the mind is put to +the severest trial, and all the exertions of courage and address are +called out. If the actions of these rude campaigns are of less dignity, +the adventures in them are more interesting to the heart, and more +amusing to the imagination than the details of a regular war."—(Burke, +<i>Annual Register</i>, 1763.) "Yet Adam Smith ventures to assert, in the +plenitude of learned ignorance and ingenious error, that 'nothing can be +more contemptible than an Indian war in North America.' ... Colonel +Barré, who had served in America, declared, in his celebrated speech +upon American taxation, in 1765, that the Indians were as enemies 'the +most subtile and the most formidable of any people upon the face of +God's earth.'"—Graham's <i>History of the United States</i>, vol. iv., p. +448.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_28_28" id="Footnote_28_28"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_28"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> "You will see ... the condition of the troops in this +country, particularly that of the infamous Free Companies of New +York."—<i>Letter from General Braddock to Colonel Napier, Adjutant +General.</i> Williamsburg, Feb. 24, 1754.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_29_29" id="Footnote_29_29"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29_29"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> "The (Duke of Cumberland), who is now the soul of the +regency, is much dissatisfied at the slowness of General Braddock, who +does not march as if he was at all impatient to be scalped. It is said +for him that he has had bad guides, that the roads are exceedingly +difficult, and that it was necessary to drag as much artillery as he +does. This is not the first time, as witness in Hawley, that the duke +has found that brutality did not necessarily constitute a general. +Braddock is a very Iroquois in disposition."—Walpole's <i>Letters to Sir +H. Mann</i>, Aug. 21, 1755.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_30_30" id="Footnote_30_30"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30_30"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> "Want of intelligence and reconnoitering parties was the +sole cause of defeat."—General Kane's <i>Mil. Hist. of Great Britain to +1757</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_31_31" id="Footnote_31_31"></a><a href="#FNanchor_31_31"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> "After the successful expedition against Fort du Quesne in +1758, General Forbes resolved to search for the relics of Braddock's +army. As the European soldiers were not so well qualified to explore the +forests, Captain West, the elder brother of Benjamin West, the painter, +was appointed, with his company of American Sharp-shooters, to assist in +the execution of this duty; and a party of Indians were requested to +conduct him to the places where the bones of the slain were likely to be +found. In this solemn and affecting duty, several officers belonging to +the 42d regiment accompanied the detachment, and with them Major Sir +Peter Halket, who had lost his father and brother in the fatal +destruction of the army. It might have been thought a hopeless task that +he should be able to discriminate their remains from the common relics +of the other soldiers; but he was induced to think otherwise, as one of +the Indian warriors assured him that he had seen an officer fall near a +remarkable tree, which he thought he could still discover; informing +him, at the same time, that the incident was impressed on his memory by +observing a young subaltern, who, in running to the officer's +assistance, was also shot dead on his reaching the spot, and fell across +the other's body. The major had a mournful conviction in his own mind +that those two officers were his father and brother; and, indeed, it was +chiefly owing to his anxiety on the subject that this pious expedition, +the second of the kind that is on record, was undertaken. Captain West +and his companions proceeded through the woods and along the banks of +the river toward the scene of the battle. The Indians regarded the +expedition as a religious service, and guided the troops with awe and in +profound silence. The soldiers were affected with sentiments not less +serious; and as they explored the bewildering labyrinths of those vast +forests, their hearts were often melted with inexpressible sorrow, for +they frequently found skeletons lying across the trunks of fallen trees: +a mournful proof to their imaginations that the men who sat there had +perished of hunger in vainly attempting to find their way to the +plantations. Sometimes their feelings were raised to the utmost pitch of +horror by the sight of skulls and bones scattered on the ground, a +certain indication that the bodies had been devoured by wild beasts; and +in other places they saw the blackness of ashes amid the relics, the +tremendous evidence of atrocious rites. At length they reached a turn of +the river, not far from the principal scene of destruction, and the +Indian who remembered the death of the two officers stopped: the +detachment immediately halted. He then looked round in quest of some +object which might recall distinctly his recollection of the ground, and +suddenly darted into the wood. The soldiers rested their arms without +speaking; a shrill cry was soon after heard; and the other guides made +signs for the troops to follow them toward the spot from which it came. +In a short time they reached the Indian warrior, who, by his cry, +announced to his companions that he had found the place where he was +posted on the day of battle. As the troops approached, he pointed to the +tree under which the officers had fallen. Captain West halted his men +round the spot, and, with Sir Peter Halket and the other officers, +formed a circle, while the Indians removed the leaves which thickly +covered the ground (the leaves of three seasons). The skeletons were +found, as the Indian expected, lying across each other. The officers +having looked at them for some time, the major said that as his father +had an artificial tooth, he thought he might be able to ascertain if +they were indeed his bones and those of his brother. The Indians were +therefore ordered to remove the skeleton of the youth, and to bring to +view that of the old officer. This was done, and after a short +examination, Major Halket exclaimed, "It is my father!" and fell back +into the arms of his companions. The pioneers then dug a grave, and the +bones being laid in it together, a Highland plaid was spread over them, +and they were interred with the customary honors."—Galt's <i>Life of +West</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_32_32" id="Footnote_32_32"></a><a href="#FNanchor_32_32"><span class="label">[32]</span></a> "The whole was in disorder, and, it is said, the general +himself, though exceedingly brave, did not retain all the <i>sang froid</i> +that was necessary."—Walpole's <i>Letters to Sir Horace Mann</i>, August 28, +1755.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_33_33" id="Footnote_33_33"></a><a href="#FNanchor_33_33"><span class="label">[33]</span></a> <i>MS. Journal of Major-general Braddock's Expedition +against Forte du Quesne</i>, 1755. Royal Artillery Library, Woolwich. +</p><p> +"He was borne off the field by some soldiers whom his aid-de-camp had +bribed to that service by a guinea and a bottle of rum to each."—Lord +Mahon's <i>Hist. of England</i>, vol. iv., p. 70.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_34_34" id="Footnote_34_34"></a><a href="#FNanchor_34_34"><span class="label">[34]</span></a> "Among the rest, the general's cabinet, with all his +letters and instructions, which the French court afterward made great +use of in their printed manifestoes."—Smollett's <i>Hist. of England</i>, +vol. iii., p. 448; Belsham, vol. ii., p. 369.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_35_35" id="Footnote_35_35"></a><a href="#FNanchor_35_35"><span class="label">[35]</span></a> "Major Washington acquired on this occasion, in the midst +of defeat, the honors and laurels of victory."—Belsham, vol. ii., p. +369. +</p><p> +"They had seen a chosen army from that country, which, reverencing as a +mother, they had fondly believed invincible; an army led by a chief who +had been selected from a crowd of trained warriors for his rare military +endowments, disgracefully routed by a handful of French and Indians, and +only saved from annihilation by the spirit and coolness of a Virginian +boy, whose riper fame has since diffused itself with the steady +influence of moral truth to the uttermost confines of +Christendom."—<i>Last of the Mohicans.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_36_36" id="Footnote_36_36"></a><a href="#FNanchor_36_36"><span class="label">[36]</span></a> "Though the enemy did not so much as attempt to pursue, +nor even appeared in sight, either in the battle or after defeat. On the +whole, this was, perhaps, the most extraordinary victory that ever was +obtained, and the farthest flight that ever was made."—Smollett's +<i>Hist. of England</i>, vol. iii., p. 440.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_37_37" id="Footnote_37_37"></a><a href="#FNanchor_37_37"><span class="label">[37]</span></a> "I have already given you some account of Braddock; I may +complete the poor man's history in a few more words. He once had a duel +with Colonel Gumly, Lady Bath's brother, who had been his great friend. +As they were going to engage, Gumly, who had good-humor and wit +(Braddock had the latter), said, 'Braddock, you are a poor dog! here, +take my purse; if you kill me, you will be forced to run away, and then +you will not have a shilling to support you.' Braddock refused the +purse, insisted on the duel, was disarmed, and would not even ask his +life. However, with all his brutality, he has lately been governor of +Gibraltar, where he made himself adored, and where never any governor +was endured before. Adieu! Pray don't let any detachment from +Pannoni's<a name="FNanchor_60_60" id="FNanchor_60_60"></a><a href="#Footnote_60_60" class="fnanchor">[60]</a> be sent against us: we should run away."—Walpole's +<i>Letters to Sir H. Mann</i>, August 28, 1755.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_38_38" id="Footnote_38_38"></a><a href="#FNanchor_38_38"><span class="label">[38]</span></a> "The European troops, whose cowardice has thus injured +their country, are the same that ran away at Preston Pans. To prevent, +however, any unjust national reflections, it must be remarked, that, +though they are called Irish regiments, they are not regiments of +Irishmen, but regiments on the Irish establishment, consisting of +English, Irish, and Scotch, as other regiments do. It is, however, said, +that the slaughter among our officers was not made by the enemy; but as +they ran several fugitives through the body to intimidate the rest, when +they were attempting in vain to rally them, some others, who expected +the same fate, discharged their pistols at them, which, though loaded, +they could not be brought to level at the French. On the other hand, it +is alleged that the defeat is owing more to presumption and want of +conduct in the officers than to cowardice in the private men; that a +retreat ought to have been resolved upon the moment they found +themselves surprised by an ambuscade; and that they were told by the +men, when they refused to return to the charge, that if they could see +their enemy they would fight him, but that they would not waste their +ammunition against trees and bushes, nor stand exposed to invisible +assailants, the French and Indian rangers, who are excellent marksmen, +and in such a situation would inevitably destroy any number of the best +troops in the world."—<i>Gentleman's Magazine</i>, August, 1755.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_39_39" id="Footnote_39_39"></a><a href="#FNanchor_39_39"><span class="label">[39]</span></a> "The American regulars, consisting of Shirley's and +Pepperel's regiments, constituted the principal force relied on for the +reduction of Niagara."—Marshall's <i>Life of Washington</i>, vol. i., p. +308.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_40_40" id="Footnote_40_40"></a><a href="#FNanchor_40_40"><span class="label">[40]</span></a> "The fort of Niagara had been repaired by the French in +1741, in consequence of the apprehension they felt that the +trading-house at Oswego, just established by the English at the mouth of +the Onondaga River, would deprive them of a profitable trade, and of the +command of the Lake Ontario."—Marshall's <i>Life of Washington</i>, vol. i., +p. 286. +</p><p> +"This fort was in other respects a very important post, for the lakes +are so disposed that, without a somewhat hazardous voyage, one can not, +any otherwise than by Niagara Fort, pass from the northeast to the +southwest of North America for many hundred miles."—<i>New Military +Dictionary</i>, London, 1760.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_41_41" id="Footnote_41_41"></a><a href="#FNanchor_41_41"><span class="label">[41]</span></a> "Bateaux are a kind of light, flat-bottomed boats, widest +in the middle and pointed at each end, of about fifteen hundred weight +burden, and managed by two men, called bateaux-men, with paddles and +setting poles, the rivers being in many places too narrow to admit of +oars."—Smollett's <i>Hist. of England</i>, vol. iii., p. 457.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_42_42" id="Footnote_42_42"></a><a href="#FNanchor_42_42"><span class="label">[42]</span></a> "Mr. Burnet,<a name="FNanchor_61_61" id="FNanchor_61_61"></a><a href="#Footnote_61_61" class="fnanchor">[61]</a> governor of New York and New Jersey, +deemed it an object of great magnitude to obtain the command of Lake +Ontario, and, in pursuance of this plan, he had, in 1722, erected a +trading-house at Oswego, in the country of the Senecas, which soon +became of considerable importance. After ineffectual remonstrances, both +in America and in Europe, against the re-establishment of Niagara Fort, +Governor Burnet, to countervail as much as possible its effects, erected +at his own expense a fort at Oswego."—Marshall's <i>Life of Washington</i>, +vol. iv., p. 287.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_43_43" id="Footnote_43_43"></a><a href="#FNanchor_43_43"><span class="label">[43]</span></a> "The preparations for General Shirley's expedition against +Niagara were not only deficient, but shamefully slow, though it was well +known that even the possibility of his success must in a great measure +depend upon his setting out early in the year, as will appear to any +person who considers the situation of our fort at Oswego, this being the +only way by which he could proceed to Niagara. Oswego lies on the +southeast side of Lake Ontario, near 300 miles almost due west from +Albany, in New York. The way to it from thence, though long and tedious, +is the more convenient, as the far greater part of it admits of +water-carriage by the Mohawk River, Wood's Creek, Lake Oneida, and the +River Onondaga, which, after a course of twenty or thirty miles, unites +with the River Seneca, and their united streams run into the Lake +Ontario at the place where Oswego Fort is situated."—Smollett, vol. +iii., p. 458.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_44_44" id="Footnote_44_44"></a><a href="#FNanchor_44_44"><span class="label">[44]</span></a> "Though repeated advice had been received that the French +had there at least 1000 men at their Fort of Frontenac, on the same +lake; and, what was still worse, the new forts (that of Ontario, and a +new fort bearing the same name as the old, Oswego) were not yet +completed, but left to be finished by the hard labor of Colonel Mercer +and his little garrison, with the addition of this melancholy +circumstance, that if besieged during the winter, it would not be +possible for his friends to come to his assistance."—Smollett's +<i>England</i>, iii. p. 461.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_45_45" id="Footnote_45_45"></a><a href="#FNanchor_45_45"><span class="label">[45]</span></a> Russell's <i>Modern Europe</i>, vol. iii., p. 279. +</p><p> +"The justly celebrated Sir William Johnson held an office difficult both +to define and execute. He might, indeed, be called the Tribune of the +Five Nations; their claims he asserted, their rights he protected, and +over their minds he possessed a greater sway than any individual had +ever attained. He was an uncommonly tall, well-made man, with a fine +countenance, which, moreover, had rather an expression of dignified +sedateness, approaching to melancholy. He appeared to be taciturn, never +wasting words on matters of no importance, but highly eloquent where the +occasion called forth his powers. He possessed intuitive sagacity, and +the most entire command of temper and of countenance. He did by no means +lose sight of his own interest, but, on the contrary, raised himself to +power and wealth in an open and active manner, not disdaining any +honorable means of benefiting himself. He built two spacious and +convenient places of residence on the Mohawk River, known afterward by +the name of Johnson Castle and Johnson Hall. The Hall was his summer +residence. Here this singular man lived like a little sovereign; kept an +excellent table for strangers and officers, whom the course of their +duty now frequently led into these wilds; and by confiding entirely in +the Indians, and treating them with unwearied truth and justice, without +ever yielding to solicitation that he had once refused, he taught them +to repose entire confidence in him. So perfect was his dependence on +those people, whom his fortitude and other manly virtues had attached to +him, that when they returned from their summer excursions, and exchanged +the last years furs for fire-arms, &c., they used to pass a few days at +the Castle, when his family and most of his domestics were down at the +Hall. There they were all liberally entertained by Sir William; and 500 +of them have been known for nights together, after drinking pretty +freely, to lie around him on the ground, while he was the only white +person in a house containing great quantities of every thing that was to +them valuable or desirable. Sir William thus united in his mode of life +the calm urbanity of a liberal and extensive trader, with the splendid +hospitality, the numerous attendance, and the plain though dignified +manners of an ancient baron."—<i>Memoirs of an American Lady</i>, vol. ii., +p. 61. +</p><p> +Sir William Johnson was regularly appointed and paid by government as +Superintendent of Indian Affairs.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_46_46" id="Footnote_46_46"></a><a href="#FNanchor_46_46"><span class="label">[46]</span></a> "Few countries could produce such dexterous marksmen, or +persons so well qualified for conquering those natural obstacles of +thick woods and swamps, which would at once baffle the most determined +European. Not only were they strong of limb, swift of foot, and +excellent marksmen, the hatchet was as familiar to them as the musket; +in short, when means or arguments could be used powerful enough to +collect a people so uncontrolled and so uncontrollable, and when headed +by a leader whom they loved and trusted, a well-armed body of New York +Provincials had nothing to dread but an ague or an ambuscade, to both of +which they were much exposed on the banks of the lakes, and amid the +swampy forests they had to penetrate in pursuit of an enemy."—<i>Memoirs +of an American Lady</i>, vol. i., p. 203.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_47_47" id="Footnote_47_47"></a><a href="#FNanchor_47_47"><span class="label">[47]</span></a> "Our artillery then began to play on them, and was served, +under the direction of Captain Eyre ... in a manner very advantageous to +his character."—<i>Letter from General Johnson to the Governor of New +York.</i> Camp at Lake George, Sept. 9th, 1755.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_48_48" id="Footnote_48_48"></a><a href="#FNanchor_48_48"><span class="label">[48]</span></a> "Just arrived from America, and to be seen at the New York +and Cape Breton Coffee-house, in Sweeting's Alley, from 12 to 3, and +from 4 till 6, to the latter end of next week, and then will embark for +America in the <i>General Webb</i>, Captain Boardman, a famous Mohawk Indian +warrior! the same person who took M. Dieskau, the French general, +prisoner, at the battle of Lake George, where General Johnson beat the +French, and was one of the said general's guards. He is dressed in the +same manner with his native Indians when they go to war; his face and +body painted, with his scalping knife, tom-ax, and all other implements +of war that are used by the Indians in battle: a sight worthy the +curiosity of every true Briton. +</p><p> +"Price one shilling each person. +</p><p> +"*** The only Indian that has been in England since the reign of Queen +Anne."—<i>Public Advertiser</i>, 1755.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_49_49" id="Footnote_49_49"></a><a href="#FNanchor_49_49"><span class="label">[49]</span></a> "There are flying reports that General Johnson, our only +hero at present, has taken Crown Point."—Walpole's <i>Letters to Sir H. +Mann</i>, Dec. 4, 1755.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_50_50" id="Footnote_50_50"></a><a href="#FNanchor_50_50"><span class="label">[50]</span></a> "General Johnson complained that his troops seemed +impressed with apprehensions of the enemy, from the boldness with which +they had been attacked, and were unwilling, from the insufficiency of +their clothing, want of provisions, and other causes, to proceed further +on the enterprise; and, although urged by General Shirley, now +commander-in-chief (since Braddock's death), to attempt Ticonderoga, +even that object was abandoned."—Marshall's <i>Life of Washington</i>, vol. +i., p. 318.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_51_51" id="Footnote_51_51"></a><a href="#FNanchor_51_51"><span class="label">[51]</span></a> "They erected a little stockaded fort at the nether end of +Lake George, in which they left a small garrison as a future prey for +the enemy, a misfortune which might have been easily +foreseen."—Smollett, vol. iii., p. 456. +</p><p> +This was Fort William Henry. Between Lake George and the River Hudson, +twelve miles of high table-land intervened; at its extremity was the +portage or carrying-place for the River Hudson. Here Fort Edward had +been erected a few weeks before.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_52_52" id="Footnote_52_52"></a><a href="#FNanchor_52_52"><span class="label">[52]</span></a> Crown Point was called Fort Frederic by the French. It was +situated at the south end of Lake Champlain or Lake Corlaer. At fifteen +miles' distance, at the north end of Lake George, the French were now +beginning to fortify the post of Ticonderoga.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_53_53" id="Footnote_53_53"></a><a href="#FNanchor_53_53"><span class="label">[53]</span></a> "Three days before the meeting of Parliament, November +1755, Sir Thomas Robinson, secretary of state, from an honest and +sincere consciousness of his incapacity to conduct the business of +Parliament in the House of Commons, had resigned the seals, which were +directly transferred to Mr. Fox, secretary at war, who unquestionably, +in respect of political ability, had at this time no rival in the House +of Commons, Mr. Pitt only excepted.... There had been vain attempts at a +negotiation with Pitt during the summer, but his positive refusal to +consent to 'a system of subsidies' threw the Duke of Newcastle into +Fox's power, and the seals were now given to him upon his own +terms."—Belsham, vol. ii., p. 379; Lord Mahon's <i>History of England</i>, +vol. iv., p. 76, 77. +</p><p> +"This session of Parliament was distinguished by an act of generosity +and humanity, which conferred the highest honor upon the Parliament and +nation. The city of Lisbon was almost totally destroyed by a tremendous +earthquake on the 1st of November, 1755. A message from the throne +informed both houses of this dreadful calamity, and the sum of £100,000 +was instantly and unanimously voted for the use of the distressed +inhabitants.... Amid the millions and millions expended for the purposes +of devastation and destruction, a vote of this description seems as a +paradise blooming in the wild!"—Belsham, vol. ii., p. 381. See Lord +Mahon's <i>History of England</i>, vol. iv., p. 87; Southey's <i>Peninsular +War</i>, vol. iii., p. 388, 8vo edition.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_54_54" id="Footnote_54_54"></a><a href="#FNanchor_54_54"><span class="label">[54]</span></a> Smollett, vol. iii., p. 520. +</p><p> +"The Earl of Loudon, an officer of reputation and merit."—Belsham, vol. +ii., p. 370. +</p><p> +"If it had been the wish or intention of the British ministers to render +the guardian care of the parent state ridiculous, and its supremacy +odious to the colonists, they could hardly have selected a fitter +instrument for the achievement of this sinister purpose than Lord +Loudon. Devoid of genius, either civil or military; always hurried and +hurrying others, yet making little progress in the dispatch of business; +hasty to project and threaten, but mutable, indecisive, and languid in +pursuit and action; negligent of even the semblance of public virtue; +impotent against the enemy whom he was sent to destroy, formidable only +to the spirit and liberty of the people whom he was commissioned to +defend, he excited alternately the disgust, the apprehension, and the +contemptuous amazement of the colonists of America."—Graham's <i>History +of the United States</i>, vol. iv., p. 4.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_55_55" id="Footnote_55_55"></a><a href="#FNanchor_55_55"><span class="label">[55]</span></a> The Twightwees were Indians who lived on the banks of the +Ohio.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_56_56" id="Footnote_56_56"></a><a href="#FNanchor_56_56"><span class="label">[56]</span></a> Washington makes a labored defense of his conduct in the +affair of M. de Jumonville, in the "Journal of his Expedition to the +Ohio." In M. de Villiers's "Journal of his Campaign," he always uses the +term "assassination" with reference to his brother's death. The only +notice he takes of the broken terms of the capitulation is, "The +consternation of the English was so great, when they heard the French +savages laid claim to the pillage, that they ran away and left behind +them even their flag and a pair of their colors."—<i>Translation of M. de +Villiers's Journal</i>, July 4th, 1754. +</p><p> +The following is the testimony of the Canadian historian, Garneau: "Le +17 Mai (1754), au soir M. de Jumonville s'était retiré dans une vallon +profond et obscur, lorsque des sauvages qui rôdaient le découvrirent et +en informèrent le Colonel Washington, qui arrivait dans le voisinage +avec ses troupes. Celui-ci marcha toute la nuit pour le cerner, et le +lendemain au point du jour il l'attaqua avec précipitation, marchant +comme à une surprise à la tête de son détachment. Jumonville fut tué +avec neuf hommes de sa suite. Les Français prétendent que ce deputé fit +signe qu'il était porteur d'une lettre de son commandant, que le feu +cessa, et que ce ne fut qu'après que l'on eût commencé la lecture de la +sommation que les assaillans se remirent à tirer. Washington affirme +qu'il étoit à la tête de la marche, et qu'aussitôt que les Français le +virent, ils coururent à leurs armes sans appeller, ce qu'il aurait dû +entendre s'ils l'avaient fait. Il est probable qu'il y a du vrai dans +les deux versions: l'attaque fut si précipitée qu'il dût s'ensuivre une +confusion qui ne permit pas de rien démêler; mais s'il n'y a pas eu +d'assassinat, on se demandera toujours pourquoi Washington avec des +forces si supérieures à celles de Jumonville, montra une si grande +ardeur pour le surprendre au point du jour comme s'il eût été un ennemi +fort à craindre? Ce n'était point certainement avec 30 hommes que +Jumonville était en état d'accepter le combat.... Tels sont les humbles +exploits par lesquels le futur conquérant des libertés Américaines +commença sa carrière.... La victoire que M. de Villiers venoit +d'obtenir, fut le premier acte de ce grand drame de 29 ans, dans lequel +la puissance Française et Anglaise devait subir de si terribles échecs +en Amérique."—<i>Histoire du Canada</i>, vol. ii., p. 541 (Quebec, 1846).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_57_57" id="Footnote_57_57"></a><a href="#FNanchor_57_57"><span class="label">[57]</span></a> "Another revolution about this period (November, 1744) +took place in the British cabinet. Lord Carteret, now become Earl of +Granville, had insinuated himself so far into the good graces of his +sovereign as to excite apprehension and dislike of the Duke of Newcastle +and his brother Mr. Pelham. They therefore effected the downfall of this +ambitious and haughty minister, whose power they envied, and whose +talents they feared. Mr. Pelham, who, on the death of Lord Wilmington, +had succeeded to the direction of the Board of Treasury, was now +nominated Chancellor of the Exchequer, and may be considered from this +period as first minister."—Belsham, vol. ii., p. 313.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_58_58" id="Footnote_58_58"></a><a href="#FNanchor_58_58"><span class="label">[58]</span></a> "To reward Colonel Pepperel and Governor Shirley for the +conquest of Louisburg in 1745, a regiment, to be raised in America, was +bestowed on each."—Marshall's <i>Life of Washington</i>, vol. i., p. 280.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_59_59" id="Footnote_59_59"></a><a href="#FNanchor_59_59"><span class="label">[59]</span></a> War was not declared against France until May in the +following year.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_60_60" id="Footnote_60_60"></a><a href="#FNanchor_60_60"><span class="label">[60]</span></a> Pannoni's coffee-house of the Florentine nobility, not +famous for their courage of note.—<i>Ibid.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_61_61" id="Footnote_61_61"></a><a href="#FNanchor_61_61"><span class="label">[61]</span></a> He was the son of Bishop Burnet.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER II.</h2> + + +<p>The campaign of 1755 had opened with evil promise for the cause of +France in the Western world; four formidable armies were arrayed to +check her progress, and turn back the tide of war upon her own +territory. A powerful fleet, under the brave and vigilant Boscawen, +swept the Atlantic coast, insulted her eastern harbors, and captured her +re-enforcements and supplies. The doubtful allegiance of many of her +Indian neighbors was far overbalanced by the avowed hostility of others +no less numerous and powerful.</p> + +<p>But the close of the year presented results very different from those +that might have been anticipated. Braddock was defeated and slain; the +whole of that vast Valley of the Mississippi, whose unequaled fertility +is now the wonder of mankind, had been freed from the presence of a +British soldier by one decisive victory. Niagara was strengthened and +unassailed; Crown Point had not been compromised by Johnson's partial +success. The undisputed superiority upon Lake Ontario was upon the +Canadian shore. From dangerous foes, or almost as dangerous friends, the +forest tribes had generally become zealous allies, and thrown themselves +with ready policy into the apparently preponderating scale; the ruined +settlements and diminished numbers of the British frontier colonists +marked the cruel efficiency of their co-operation. Notwithstanding the +check of the Baron Dieskau's detachment, there still remained to the +French more than 3000 regular troops, with a large force of the Canadian +militia, who were in some respects even better qualified for forest +warfare than their veteran brethren from the mother country. All these, +united under one able chief, formed a much more formidable military +power than the English colonies, with their jarring interests and +independent commanders, could bring forward. Nova Scotia, again severed +from the territories of New France, and the Acadian peasants reduced to +British rule, formed but a slight offset to these hostile gains.</p> + +<p>The civil progress of the French colony was, however, far from +satisfactory. For two years past the scarcity of grain and other +provisions had almost amounted to famine. The inhabitants of the +country, constantly employed in warfare against their English neighbors +were forced to neglect the cultivation of the soil, till absence from +their own homesteads was almost as ruinous to themselves as their +destructive presence to the enemy. Although the scanty supply of corn +was too well known, the intendant Bigot, with infamous avarice, shipped +off vast quantities of wheat to the West Indies for his own gain and +that of his creatures. The price of food rose enormously, and the +commerce of the country, hampered by selfish and stupid restrictions, +rapidly declined.</p> + +<p>The Marquis de Vaudreuil de Cavagnac, the successor of the Marquis du +Quesne as governor, soon lost the confidence of his people. To him they +had looked hopefully and earnestly for protection against the fatal +monopolies of the Merchant Company, but they found that he readily +sanctioned the oppression under which they suffered, and, indeed, rather +increased its severity. Great stores of wheat had been purchased from +the settlers by the company in anticipation of a scarcity; when they had +obtained a sufficient quantity to command the market, they arranged with +the intendant to fix the price at an immense advance, which was +maintained in spite of the misery and clamors of the people. Again, the +intendant pretended that the dearth was caused by the farmers having +secreted their grain, and, in consequence, he issued an order that the +city and troops should be immediately supplied at a very low rate, and +those who would not submit to these nefarious conditions had their corn +seized and confiscated without any remuneration whatever.</p> + +<p>Abuses and peculations disgraced every department of the public service; +the example set in high places was faithfully followed by the petty +officials all over the colony. The commissaries who had the supply of +the distant posts enriched themselves at the cost of the mother country; +and, to the detriment of the hardy and adventurous men occupying those +remote and dreary settlements, boats were not allowed to visit them +without paying such heavy fees that the venture became ruinous, and thus +the trade was soon altogether confined to the commissaries.</p> + +<p>Vessels sent to Miramichi with provisions for the unfortunate Acadians, +returned loaded with that people, who, faithful to their king and +nation, had left their happy homes, refusing the proffered protection of +their conquerors. When they reached Quebec they met with a cruel +reception. The intendant gave to a creature named Cadet the office of +ministering to their wants. This heartless man shamefully abused the +trust, and only considered it as a means of selfish profit, providing +them with unwholesome and insufficient food: thus many fell victims to +his cruel avarice. Some, indeed, who settled on lands belonging to the +governor or his favorites, were amply supplied, for the private +advantage of the proprietors.</p> + +<p>Loud and constant were the complaints of the colonists against these +shameful abuses of power; but they fell either upon ears determined not +to hear, or were misrepresented and refracted by the medium through +which they passed. The outer aspect of New France was bold and +formidable, but within all was corruption, languor, and decay. The +seignorial tenure<a name="FNanchor_62_62" id="FNanchor_62_62"></a><a href="#Footnote_62_62" class="fnanchor">[62]</a> and the custom law of Paris fatally embarrassed +agricultural improvement, and the monopoly of the Merchant Company +paralyzed trade. The absolute system of government, and the intrusive +exercise of imperial power in even the most trivial matters of colonial +interest, cramped individual energy by the constraining force of +centralization. The military<a name="FNanchor_63_63" id="FNanchor_63_63"></a><a href="#Footnote_63_63" class="fnanchor">[63]</a> system of feudal organization turned +the plow-shares and reaping-hooks of the most active among the +population into weapons of war, and the settlements, that were little +else than scattered barracks for troops, made but small progress in the +truly glorious war against the desolation of the wilderness. While the +hardy <i>voyageurs</i> of the Ottawa and the farmers of the rich Valley of +the St. Lawrence reaped the laurels of the bloody fight at Fort du +Quesne, the canoes, once richly laden with the furs of the Western +country, floated idly in the stream, and the exuberant soil by the banks +of the Great River was overrun with a harvest of useless or noxious +weeds. Thus it was that, while the military superstructure of this great +French colony was strong and imposing, the social and political +foundations were false and feeble.</p> + +<p>On the other hand, the dangerous British rivals had rapidly advanced to +prosperity and to the possession of formidable resources. The State of +Massachusetts alone mustered 40,000 men capable of bearing arms, by one +third a greater number than all Canada could produce. The militia of +Connecticut was 27,000 strong, and that of New Hampshire and Rhode +Island also considerable. Pennsylvania, Virginia, and other states were +also in themselves powerful, but in military matters New England ever +took the lead. The sturdy Nonconformists who first peopled that country +had been long accustomed to encounter and overcome difficulties: they +had continually waged a war of mutual extermination with the Indians. +The unbending spirit of their ancestors lost nothing under such +training. Each separate settlement possessed an independent vitality; +the habit of self-government engendered a feeling of confidence in their +own power, and they who had marched with steady step over the barriers +of an almost impenetrable forest, and swept away the warlike hordes of +its savage inhabitants, were no mean foes to match even against the +brilliant chivalry of France.</p> + +<p>The peculiar and distinct institutions of these British colonies, while +they fostered the development of individual energy and stimulated +general prosperity, forbade, at the same time, that compact and +centralized organization which rendered the external power of New +France so formidable. It was difficult or impossible to unite all the +different states in one great effort, and hopeless to induce them to act +in concert. The borderers of Maine or Massachusetts heard with almost +indifference of Indian massacres upon the banks of the Susquehanna, and +the men of Virginia felt but little sympathy with the victors of the +north. English colonization had already progressed to unheard of +prosperity in its component parts, in spite of its utter want of large +and comprehensive system, while that of France, planned on a scheme of +magnificent ambition, had proved but a sickly exotic under the +over-anxious care of the founders. In the one, powerful elements formed +but a disjointed and unwieldy aggregate; in the other, indifferent +materials were rendered strong by the firm frame-work in which they were +united.</p> + +<p>The defensive power of the British colonies was, however, very great. In +cases of real peril, when the farmer tore himself from his fields, the +merchant from his store-house, and the hunter from the chase, a militia +formidable in numbers and composition was at the service of the state, +while the vast extent and the scattered situations of the settlements +would have rendered complete conquest difficult, and occupation +impossible.</p> + +<p>The campaign of 1756 opened with a partial success of the French arms. +The Marquis de Vaudreuil had learned that the British had erected a +chain of small forts to protect their route to Oswego, and that they +purposed building ships at that port to command the navigation of Lake +Ontario, and thus break up the chain of his communications. He therefore +ordered a detachment of about 350 Canadians and Indians, under M. +Chaussegros de Léry, to march to Montreal, from whence they proceeded +westward on the 17th of March.</p> + +<p>After a harassing journey of great length through the wilderness, they +came upon one of the small English forts on the Oswego route, garrisoned +by Lieutenant Bull and twenty-five men. The British officer at once +rejected the proposal of a capitulation, and prepared to offer a +vigorous resistance; he was, however, speedily overpowered, and he and +his little party, with the exception of two, were massacred and scalped +by the Indians, whose ferocity could not be repressed; the fort was then +blown up, and the ammunition destroyed.</p> + +<p>The French, fully alive to the danger of allowing their enemies to hold +possession of the important position of Oswego, were determined to spare +no efforts to drive them away. Another expedition was accordingly +prepared to accomplish this grand object, consisting of 300 men, led by +M. de Villiers. They proceeded to within a short distance of Oswego, +where they constructed a small fort, placed among the dense woods in +such a manner as to be unseen by the enemy: from this hiding-place they +frequently intercepted parties with provisions destined for Oswego. When +the Iroquois became aware of the designs of the French, they summoned +Sir William Johnson, whom they greatly respected, to meet them in +council, for the purpose of considering the means of diverting +hostilities from their country. He strongly advised them, if possible, +to prevent the attack upon the fort, and thus avoid a war that would +deluge the frontier with blood. Pursuing this counsel, they dispatched +thirty deputies to Montreal to assure M. de Vaudreuil that they wished +to preserve the strictest neutrality, and to entreat him not to draw the +sword in their country or interrupt their communications. The governor +answered that he would seek his enemies wherever he could find them, but +that the people of the Five Nations should be protected from every +insult as long as they did not join the English.</p> + +<p>From this time the war was to assume a more important form, and new and +more illustrious actors were to appear upon the stage. The British +government<a name="FNanchor_64_64" id="FNanchor_64_64"></a><a href="#Footnote_64_64" class="fnanchor">[64]</a> determined to increase its efforts in North America; and +as the Earl of Loudon, lately appointed general-in-chief of the forces +on that continent, was unavoidably detained in England for some time, +Major-general Abercromby was ordered to precede him and hold command +until his arrival. Lord Loudon was intrusted with extraordinary powers, +to enable him to promote the essential object of union among the English +colonies; he was also appointed governor of Virginia, and made colonel +of a regiment of four battalions, chiefly officered by foreigners, +called the Royal American.<a name="FNanchor_65_65" id="FNanchor_65_65"></a><a href="#Footnote_65_65" class="fnanchor">[65]</a></p> + +<p>In the mean time, the preparations were made in British America to +forward the execution of the plans<a name="FNanchor_66_66" id="FNanchor_66_66"></a><a href="#Footnote_66_66" class="fnanchor">[66]</a> recommended by the great council +of war, and the militia of the several provinces were assembled at +Albany, where they awaited the arrival of the English general. +Abercromby did not reach the army till the latter end of June, 1756, and +at that time only brought with him two regiments, the 35th and the 42d, +or Murray's Highlanders. The British troops in North America at this +time consisted of those two corps, the 44th and 48th of the line, +Shirley's and Pepperel's battalions, eight independent companies from +New York and Carolina, and a large body of the Provincial militia.</p> + +<p>General Abercromby considered the force under his command insufficient +to carry out the extensive schemes recommended by the council at Albany; +he was, however, cordially agreed with them upon the advantages to be +gained by their execution. Desirous to avoid responsibility, he +determined to await the arrival of the commander-in-chief, but in the +mean time he marched the Provincial forces upon Fort William Henry, +under the command of General Winslow,<a name="FNanchor_67_67" id="FNanchor_67_67"></a><a href="#Footnote_67_67" class="fnanchor">[67]</a> who there awaited +re-enforcements previous to his advance against Crown Point.</p> + +<p>In the West, however, British energy and courage found employment under +the able and adventurous Lieutenant-colonel Bradstreet. He determined to +execute, as far as in his power lay, the resolves of the council at +Albany, and left Schenectady with about 300 boatmen, bearing supplies +and military stores to strengthen the important post of Oswego. His +detachment consisted of raw Irish recruits, utterly unacquainted with +discipline, and unaccustomed to the sight of an enemy; but their native +courage overcame all disadvantages, and they bravely did their duty, as +their countrymen have ever done when striving for a good cause, and led +by a worthy chief. Bradstreet passed in safety up the Onondaga River, +reached Oswego, and accomplished his object. The French, being apprized +of this expedition, collected in force some miles to the eastward of +Oswego, and detached 700 men to intercept their enemy. Happily, however, +they became embarrassed in the tangled wilderness, and lost their way: +when, at last, after much difficulty, they reached the banks of the +Onondaga, the English had already passed up the stream in safety. They +well knew, however, that Bradstreet must soon return by the same route; +they therefore patiently awaited their opportunity, concealed beneath +the favoring cloak of the dense forests surrounding the river.</p> + +<p>The English chief—either informed of this ambuscade, or mistrusting the +facility with which the dangerous navigation had been before +accomplished—took the only precaution his difficult position permitted. +To scour the neighborhood of the rapid stream with light troops would +have been impossible, owing to the thick underwood every where arresting +the human foot; and yet, from each dark clump of cedars, or from behind +each projecting crag on the rugged banks, he might at any moment expect +to see the deadly flash of the Canadian musket, and to hear the +war-whoop of the savage. Bradstreet therefore determined on the +precaution of proceeding in three divisions of canoes, within easy +distances of each other; that thus, if any one were attacked, his stout +boatmen might land from the others, and on equal terms encounter the +assailants on the shore. He entered the first canoe; his gallant men +followed with somewhat tumultuous good will. The day of their departure +was the 3d of July; in that burning season the stream was low and +difficult of navigation, and the stately trees and luxuriant underwood, +rich in leafy honors, afforded complete concealment to the dangerous +enemy.</p> + +<p>For nine miles the party forced their way up the Onondaga, laboriously +but without interruption; at length they reached a spot where the waters +flow in shallow rapids past a small island, and the dense woods throw +their shade over the very margin of the stream. Suddenly, from the north +shore, a loud volley, and a louder yell, broke through the silence of +the wilderness. This first fire fell with deadly effect upon the leading +division; but Bradstreet, with six of the survivors, forced their canoes +quickly across the eddying current toward the island. Twenty of the +enemy had at the same time plunged into the river, and, taking advantage +of the ford, arrived before him; nevertheless, Bradstreet threw himself +on shore, and with desperate courage faced the foe. After a sharp +struggle, he even dislodged them from the island, and drove them back +upon the main land. When the remaining canoes of the advanced division +joined, his little force amounted to no more than twenty men. The +French, enraged at their first repulse, vigorously renewed the attack +with doubled numbers, but they were again beaten, and, leaving many of +their foremost dead in the stream, returned to the shelter of the shore. +A third time, however, the assailants, brave even in defeat, pushed +across the ford with seventy men, and threw themselves upon the little +knot of English. For nearly an hour, with fiery courage on the one side +and stubborn resolution on the other, they fought among the rocks and +trees, till the secluded spot, where perhaps human foot had never before +trodden, was red with human blood. At length the French gave way, and, +scattered and depressed, fell back upon the main body of their +countrymen.</p> + +<p>While this stout fight was raging on the little island, the boatmen of +the remaining divisions had landed in safety lower down on the southern +shore, and moved in good order to the support of their hard-pressed +comrades. The main body of the French pressed rapidly along the opposite +bank toward another ford about a mile higher up the river, and many +succeeded in crossing before Bradstreet's stout boatmen could intercept +them. By this time, however, the British leader had arrived from the +little island, and put himself at the head of his two last divisions. +With prompt determination he threw himself upon the French advance, and, +bravely supported by his followers, after a stubborn strife, forced it +back into the river. Many of the conquered were struck down by the +English marksmen in the close bush-fight, and even a greater number +perished in their hurried passage of the stream.</p> + +<p>In Bradstreet's absence, another large body of the French swarmed across +the ford by the little island where they had been before repeatedly +repulsed, but this last effort was even more disastrous than the +preceding. Before they could form in the tangled swamps, the boatmen and +their gallant chief came down at a running pace, flushed with recent +success. One short struggle on the woody bank, and the assailants were +forced back in utter rout. The remainder of the enemy dispersed in the +forest and attacked no more, but above 100 of their number had perished +in the stream or had fallen by the sword, while seventy prisoners and a +great quantity of arms rewarded the successful valor of the conquerors. +Many of the French regular soldiers, strangers to the American +wilderness, became bewildered in its mazes, and died miserably of +starvation. On the other hand, no less than sixty of Bradstreet's +boatmen were killed and wounded in this gallant action.<a name="FNanchor_68_68" id="FNanchor_68_68"></a><a href="#Footnote_68_68" class="fnanchor">[68]</a></p> + +<p>The English were too much fatigued and weakened by their hard-won +victory to venture on pursuit, and prepared to rest that night upon the +battle-field; they were, however, soon aroused by the approach of a body +of troops, which, to their great joy, proved to be a detachment of their +own grenadiers, on the march to Oswego, and the next morning 200 men +also joined them from that garrison. But, in the mean time, the rain had +poured down in torrents, and the stream of the Onondaga swelled to an +angry flood; to cross and follow up their success was therefore +impossible, and the remnant of the French found refuge in their vessels +on the waters of Lake Ontario. After a time, when the subsiding flood +permitted, the detachment and the grenadiers descended the river to +Oswego, and the victorious boatmen, with their leader, pushed on for +Schenectady, where they arrived in safety on the 14th of July. The +following day Bradstreet set out for Albany to warn General Abercromby +of the designs of the French against Oswego: the prisoners had informed +him that a force of 1200 men was encamped on the shores of the lake, not +far from the eastern fort of that port, where the thick covert of the +forest concealed them from the British garrison. Abercromby at once +ordered the remains of the 44th regiment, under Colonel Webb, to hasten +to Oswego, but, owing to the interference of the Provincial +governors,<a name="FNanchor_69_69" id="FNanchor_69_69"></a><a href="#Footnote_69_69" class="fnanchor">[69]</a> a fatal delay intervened before this corps was put in +motion.</p> + +<p>On the 26th of July Lord Loudon arrived at New York from Europe; on the +29th he reached Albany, and assumed the command of the army. He found a +body of nearly 3000 regular troops, besides a large Provincial force, +under his orders at Albany<a name="FNanchor_70_70" id="FNanchor_70_70"></a><a href="#Footnote_70_70" class="fnanchor">[70]</a> and Schenectady, including the survivors +of the two unfortunate regiments which had been crippled and broken in +Braddock's disaster.<a name="FNanchor_71_71" id="FNanchor_71_71"></a><a href="#Footnote_71_71" class="fnanchor">[71]</a> In the fort of Oswego<a name="FNanchor_72_72" id="FNanchor_72_72"></a><a href="#Footnote_72_72" class="fnanchor">[72]</a> were mustered 1400 +bayonets, principally of Shirley's and Pepperel's regiments, besides +sailors and peasants,<a name="FNanchor_73_73" id="FNanchor_73_73"></a><a href="#Footnote_73_73" class="fnanchor">[73]</a> and nearly 500 men, in scattered detachments, +preserved the difficult communications through the Iroquois territories.</p> + +<p>On the other hand, the French held Crown Point and Ticonderoga with 3000 +veterans, and found means to assemble a still more formidable force at +Fort Frontenac for the purpose of attacking Oswego.</p> + +<p>This year had arrived at Quebec from France a large body of regulars, +under the command of the <span class="smcap">Marquis de Montcalm</span>, with the +Brigadier de Levi, and Colonel de Bourlemaque. Montcalm remained but a +few days at Quebec, and then hastened on with his veteran +re-enforcements to strengthen the force destined to act against Oswego. +Rigaud de Vaudreuil, with a large body of Canadian militia raised at +Montreal, was detached as the vanguard of the army, and arrived +undiscovered on the 9th of August within a mile and a half of the +British position; on the night of the 10th the first division also +arrived; on the 12th, at midnight, the second division joined. Then the +French chief, having made all necessary preparations, opened his +trenches before Fort Ontario,<a name="FNanchor_74_74" id="FNanchor_74_74"></a><a href="#Footnote_74_74" class="fnanchor">[74]</a> which was situated at the opposite +side of the river from the important position of Oswego.</p> + +<p>From break of day until six in the evening Montcalm kept up a heavy +fire, which was vigorously replied to by the defenders; then, however, +the resistance suddenly ceased. The unpardonable neglect of the British +authorities had left this important post almost unprovided with +ammunition, and in the hour of extremest need the scanty supply failed. +Further defense was impossible; the survivors of the little garrison +spiked their cannon, and retreated without interruption to the +neighboring position of Fort Oswego, on the opposite side of the river. +When the French perceived that the defenders had yielded the post, they +quickly took possession, and turned such of the guns as in the hurry of +retreat had been still left uninjured upon the walls of the remaining +stronghold. The defenses of the feeble fort soon crumbled beneath the +crushing fire from Montcalm's battering train and the now hostile guns +of Fort Ontario. Colonel Mercer, the English chief, and many of his men, +were struck down, and the remainder, hopeless of a successful defense, +surrendered upon not unfavorable terms on the evening of the 14th of +August.</p> + +<p>Seven armed vessels, mounting from 8 to 18 guns each, 200 bateaux, a +vast quantity of provisions and warlike stores, with 1200 +prisoners,<a name="FNanchor_75_75" id="FNanchor_75_75"></a><a href="#Footnote_75_75" class="fnanchor">[75]</a> were gained by the victors; and for a brief space, +several British flags, the unwonted trophies of French conquest, decked +with drooping folds the walls of the Canadian churches. This brilliant +and important success was, however, stained by cruelty and doubtful +faith.<a name="FNanchor_76_76" id="FNanchor_76_76"></a><a href="#Footnote_76_76" class="fnanchor">[76]</a> Notwithstanding the terms of the capitulation, the savages +were permitted to plunder all, and massacre many of the captives;<a name="FNanchor_77_77" id="FNanchor_77_77"></a><a href="#Footnote_77_77" class="fnanchor">[77]</a> +and, to the shame of Montcalm, the sick and wounded who had been +intrusted to his protection were slain and scalped under the Indian +knife. The remaining prisoners, however, were escorted to Montreal, +where they were treated with kindness and consideration, and soon +afterward exchanged.<a name="FNanchor_78_78" id="FNanchor_78_78"></a><a href="#Footnote_78_78" class="fnanchor">[78]</a> The French, having demolished the works at +Oswego, returned to the eastern part of the province.</p> + +<p>This conquest established Montcalm's already rising reputation. Canada +rejoiced, and the British colonies were proportionately discouraged. +The sad news was first carried to Albany by some French deserters, but +remained unconfirmed for several days, till two sailors arrived who had +escaped subsequently to the disaster. Indian rumor was also busy with +the melancholy tale. It was for a time believed that the whole garrison +of Oswego had been put to the sword,<a name="FNanchor_79_79" id="FNanchor_79_79"></a><a href="#Footnote_79_79" class="fnanchor">[79]</a> and that the bodies of the +slain were left unburied upon the desolate shores of Lake Ontario. A +panic spread. Colonel Webb, with the 44th regiment, nearly 900 strong, +and 800 boatmen, stopped short in his advance, now useless through +culpable delay, and employed his whole force in felling trees to block +up the navigation of the important passage of Wood Creek,<a name="FNanchor_80_80" id="FNanchor_80_80"></a><a href="#Footnote_80_80" class="fnanchor">[80]</a> while the +French, equally anxious to avoid collision, performed a similar labor +higher up the river.</p> + +<p>The province of New York was the first to suffer by the unhappy loss of +Oswego, and the pusillanimous retreat of Webb. The rich and beautiful +settlements called the German Flats were speedily desolated by the +Indians and the scarcely less vindictive Canadians; the crops were +destroyed, the houses and homesteads burned, and such of the inhabitants +as could not escape were captured, or slain and scalped.</p> + +<p>It has been before stated that all the resources of the British colonies +were taxed to enable General Winslow to act against Crown Point, with a +view to master the important navigation of Lake Champlain, and to +demolish the French forts upon its shores,<a name="FNanchor_81_81" id="FNanchor_81_81"></a><a href="#Footnote_81_81" class="fnanchor">[81]</a> but these preparations +produced no results beyond that of strengthening Forts Edward and +William Henry. No blow was struck,<a name="FNanchor_82_82" id="FNanchor_82_82"></a><a href="#Footnote_82_82" class="fnanchor">[82]</a> notwithstanding the opportunity +afforded by the withdrawal of nearly all the French regular troops from +that neighborhood to aid the Oswego expedition. The inglorious campaign +concluded by the retirement of the British regiments of the line to +Albany, and the return of the Provincials to their several localities.</p> + +<p>But while the genius and good fortune of Montcalm raised the military +reputation of New France and strengthened her external power, tyranny +and corruption withered her budding prosperity, and blighted it with +premature decay. The paltry peculations and narrow despotism of the +petty magnates of colonial government are nauseous and ungrateful +subjects. The "habitans" were oppressed and plundered, the troops were +defrauded of their hard-earned stipend, traders were ground down under +infamous extortions, and the unhappy Acadian refugees robbed of the +generous bounties of the state. Eminent among the perpetrators of these +shameless wrongs stood Bigot, the intendant; Cadet and others of his +creatures were worthy of their principal. A scarcity almost amounting to +famine, which inflicted the severest privations upon the colony, was +again seized as an opportunity of gain by these relentless men, under +the pretense of the general good; great stores of provisions were bought +by them at a low, compulsory price, and resold at an enormous advance +for their private benefit. Even the sacred calling of the missionaries +did not in all instances preserve them from the taint of these unworthy +acts; and where wealth, was thus largely and by such means increased, +morals were naturally deteriorated.</p> + +<p>The loss of Oswego was in some degree compensated to the English by the +progress of Colonel Lawrence in Acadia, but sad it is to say that the +stain of cruelty tainted our success, as it had the victory of Montcalm. +When the French settlers refused to acknowledge allegiance to the +British crown and laws, they were pursued with fire and sword, their +villages and farms destroyed, and at last many thousands were suddenly +shipped off, and dispersed among the Atlantic colonies, where friends +and kinsfolk might never meet again; thus, to use the language of the +time, "establishing peace and tranquillity throughout the whole +province." In the ensuing February, some of these ill-fated Acadians +with a few allied Indians, about 300 in all, unexpectedly sallied out +upon the new English settlements, driven by desperation from the snowy +forests; but Lieutenant-colonel Scott promptly called together an equal +force of Provincials, and drove them back, with heavy loss, upon the +inhospitable wilderness.</p> + +<p>In the month of August of the year 1756, a small post on the borders of +Pennsylvania, called Fort Granville, was surprised by a party of French +and Indians, and the garrison carried into captivity. At the same time, +the Moravian savages from the banks of the Ohio, rejoicing in the +opportunity afforded by the contentions of the white men, suddenly burst +upon the English western frontier, and massacred no less than 1000 of +the scattered settlers. Then the thirst of vengeance burned among the +hardy colonists. Infuriated rather than appalled by this horrid +butchery, 280 men hastily assembled, and with untiring energy pushed on +toward the rugged Alleganies to an Indian town called Kittaning, the +rendezvous of the fierce marauders. The road was rude and difficult, the +distance 150 miles, but the furious hatred of the pursuers spurred them +forward, and on the morning of the fifth day the foremost scouts brought +word that the Indian murderers were close at hand, celebrating their +bloody triumph in songs and dances.</p> + +<p>When morning light first chased away the darkness of the forest, the +English Provincials burst upon the Indian camp. Armstrong, their leader, +offered quarter, but the savages, conscious of their unpardonable +cruelties, dared not submit. Then ensued a terrible slaughter; the +Indians were beaten down in furious rage, or shot in attempting to fly, +or shut up in their wooden huts and burned to death; some were seized +and scalped, in horrible imitation of their own ferocity, and not a few +were blown up and destroyed by the stores of ammunition they had +collected during their late incursion. Terrible as was this vengeance, +it availed but little. On almost every other part of the British +frontiers, parties of the Indians, and their almost equally savage +French allies, swarmed among the woods, concealed in ambush during the +day, and by night busied in their bloody work.</p> + +<p>In the mean time, the season had become too far advanced for the +commencement of any important enterprise; the English colonies were +divided in spirit, and all efforts for the general good were perpetually +thwarted by jealousy and parsimony. Lord Loudon, with his armament, had +not reached New York till the end of July; by that time little remained +practicable but to strengthen some frontier forts, and push forward +parties of observation into the French territories. Thus closed the +campaign of 1756. England had a sorry account of her wasted blood and +treasure in these Western wars; opportunities had been neglected, +resources wasted, laurels lost.<a name="FNanchor_83_83" id="FNanchor_83_83"></a><a href="#Footnote_83_83" class="fnanchor">[83]</a> The Indian trade and the commerce of +the great lakes had been forfeited by the surrender of Oswego. To us +only remained the barren boast of Bradstreet's gallant victory. The +Indians were not slow to perceive the weakness of British councils, and +Sir William Johnson's powerful influence was barely sufficient to +restrain the politic Iroquois from openly declaring for the enemy.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_62_62" id="Footnote_62_62"></a><a href="#FNanchor_62_62"><span class="label">[62]</span></a> See Appendix, <a href='#link2'>No. LXIII.</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_63_63" id="Footnote_63_63"></a><a href="#FNanchor_63_63"><span class="label">[63]</span></a> "Thus was introduced into America the feudal system, so +long the ruin of Europe."—Raynal, vol. viii., p. 143. +</p><p> +"Nothing has reduced the families of the ancient French seigneurs to +misery more than the division and subdivision of their lands by their +own law; a law which, though it appears at first to breathe more the +spirit of democracy than of monarchy, yet in fact is calculated for a +military government only, because nobles so reduced can and will only +live by the sword."—Gray's <i>Canada</i>, p. 346.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_64_64" id="Footnote_64_64"></a><a href="#FNanchor_64_64"><span class="label">[64]</span></a> "War was at length declared in form by Great Britain +against France in May, 1756, and in the following month by France +against Great Britain; and in the manifesto published by the latter, +much pains were taken to contrast the moderation and equity of the court +of Versailles with the intemperate violence of the court of London, and +particularly stigmatizing the seizure of the French ships of war and +commerce, before a declaration of war, as piracy and perfidy."—Belsham, +vol. ii., p. 396.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_65_65" id="Footnote_65_65"></a><a href="#FNanchor_65_65"><span class="label">[65]</span></a> "The next object of the immediate attention of Parliament +in this session (1755—May, 1756) was the raising of a new regiment of +foot in North America, for which purpose the sum of £81,178 16s. was +voted. This regiment, which was to consist of four battalions of 1000 +men each, was intended to be raised chiefly out of the German and Swiss, +who, for many years past, had annually transported themselves in great +numbers to the British plantations in America, where waste lands had +been assigned them upon the frontiers of the provinces; but, very +injudiciously, no care had been taken to intermix them with the English +inhabitants of the place, so that very few of them, even of those who +have been born there, have yet learned to speak or understand the +English tongue. However, as they were all zealous Protestants, and, in +general, strong, hardy men, accustomed to the climate, it was judged +that a regiment of good and faithful soldiers might be raised out of +them, particularly proper to oppose the French; but to this end it was +necessary to appoint some officers, especially subalterns, who +understood military discipline and could speak the German language; and +as a sufficient number of such could not be found among the English +officers, it was necessary to bring over and grant commissions to +several German and Swiss officers and engineers. But as this step, by +the Act of Settlement, could not be taken without the authority of +Parliament, an act was now passed for enabling his majesty to grant +commissions to a certain number of foreign Protestants who had served +abroad as officers or engineers, to act and rank as officers or +engineers in America only. The Royal American Regiment is now the 60th +Rifles."—Smollett's <i>History of England</i>, vol. iii., p. 483.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_66_66" id="Footnote_66_66"></a><a href="#FNanchor_66_66"><span class="label">[66]</span></a> The northern colonies were enabled to comply, in some +degree, with the requisitions made on them, by having received from the +British government, in the course of the summer, a considerable sum of +money as a reimbursement for the extraordinary expenses of the preceding +year. One hundred and fifteen thousand pounds had been apportioned among +them, according to their respective exertions,<a name="FNanchor_84_84" id="FNanchor_84_84"></a><a href="#Footnote_84_84" class="fnanchor">[84]</a> and this sum gave new +vigor and energy to their councils.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_67_67" id="Footnote_67_67"></a><a href="#FNanchor_67_67"><span class="label">[67]</span></a> The command of the expedition against Crown Point was +given to Major-general Winslow, whose conduct in Nova Scotia had very +much increased both his reputation and his influence.—Marshall's <i>Life +of Washington</i>, vol. i., p. 325. +</p><p> +Mr. Beckford thus speaks of General Winslow in a letter to Mr. Pitt, +dated Fonthill, Dec. 18, 1758: "There is a brave, gallant officer, by +name Winslow, who has acted as general in North America, and done signal +service. This man is in England, and is only a captain on half pay. I +wish you would think of him; he might furnish you with useful +hints."—<i>Correspondence of the Earl of Chatham</i>, vol. i., p. 378.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_68_68" id="Footnote_68_68"></a><a href="#FNanchor_68_68"><span class="label">[68]</span></a> "Bradstreet had but three Indians of the Six Nations +(Iroquois) with him at this attack. Of these, one took to his heels; a +second fought bravely; but the third went over to the enemy, and +assisted in pointing out our officers."—<i>A Review of the Military +Operations in North America from 1753 to 1756.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_69_69" id="Footnote_69_69"></a><a href="#FNanchor_69_69"><span class="label">[69]</span></a> "Mr. Shirley and the Provincial chiefs wanted that Webb's +(the 44th) and my regiment (the 48th) should march to Forts Edward and +William Henry, taking it for granted that Oswego was in no +danger."—<i>Letter from General Abercromby</i>, dated Albany, 10th of +August, 1756. +</p><p> +"The detaching any troops to Oswego was strongly opposed by a party at +Albany, who thought that while Crown Point remained in the hands of the +French, there could be no security for the province of New York. General +Winslow, who was to command an expedition against Crown Point, was +already more than sufficiently strong for that purpose, yet this party +insisted on his being re-enforced with two or three regiments of regular +troops, and that an army should likewise remain at Albany to defend it, +in case the troops sent against Crown Point should happen to be +defeated. Nay, they strongly opposed the departure of the regiment which +General Abercromby had already ordered for Oswego. Some of the New +England colonies joined those of New York in this opposition, so that it +was not without the greatest difficulty Lord Loudon, who did not think +proper to do any thing material without their approbation, could so much +as prevail on them to let Colonel Webb depart for Oswego; therefore it +was the 12th of August before that officer could leave Albany; too late +to save Oswego. Thus the public safety of the whole British empire in +North America was made to yield to the private views of some leading +people in the provinces of New England and New York."—Mante, p. 64.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_70_70" id="Footnote_70_70"></a><a href="#FNanchor_70_70"><span class="label">[70]</span></a> "The Provincials do not exceed 4000, mostly vagabonds +picked up by the New Englanders at random, by the high premium given +them in order to save themselves from service."—<i>Letter from General +Abercromby</i>, Albany, 30th of August, 1756.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_71_71" id="Footnote_71_71"></a><a href="#FNanchor_71_71"><span class="label">[71]</span></a> The 44th (then Halket's, now Webb's) and the 48th (then +Dunbar's, now Abercromby's). They were regiments that ran away at +Preston Pans.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_72_72" id="Footnote_72_72"></a><a href="#FNanchor_72_72"><span class="label">[72]</span></a> "The garrison of Oswego was insensibly increased to 1400 +men; only 700 had been left there by Mr. Shirley the autumn +before."—Mante's <i>Hist. of the War</i>, p. 63.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_73_73" id="Footnote_73_73"></a><a href="#FNanchor_73_73"><span class="label">[73]</span></a> "The greatest part of Shirley's and Pepperel's regiments +is there.... By all account, Shirley's and Pepperel's are by much the +worst corps on this continent. With such troops, what can we +do?"—<i>Letter from General Abercromby</i>, Albany, 30th of Aug., 1756.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_74_74" id="Footnote_74_74"></a><a href="#FNanchor_74_74"><span class="label">[74]</span></a> "General Shirley's troops, after the attack on Niagara was +relinquished in the autumn of the preceding year, had been employed in +the erection of two new forts, one of them 450 yards from the old Fort +Oswego, and bearing the same name, the other on the opposite side of the +Onondaga River, to be called Fort Ontario. They were erected on the +south side of Lake Ontario, at the mouth of the Onondaga, and +constituted a port of great importance. The garrison, as we have already +observed, consisted of 1400 men, chiefly militia and new-raised +recruits, under the command of Colonel Mercer, an officer of experience +and courage; but the situation of the forts was very ill chosen, the +materials mostly timber or logs of wood, the defenses wretchedly +continued and unfinished, and, in a word, the place altogether untenable +against any regular approach."—Smollett's <i>History of England</i>, vol. +iii., p. 535.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_75_75" id="Footnote_75_75"></a><a href="#FNanchor_75_75"><span class="label">[75]</span></a> "Such an important magazine, deposited in a place +altogether indefensible, and without the reach of immediate succor, was +a flagrant proof of egregious folly, temerity, and +misconduct."—Smollett's <i>Hist. of England</i>, vol. iii., p. 536.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_76_76" id="Footnote_76_76"></a><a href="#FNanchor_76_76"><span class="label">[76]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 535.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_77_77" id="Footnote_77_77"></a><a href="#FNanchor_77_77"><span class="label">[77]</span></a> "Montcalm, in direct violation of the articles, as well as +in contempt of common humanity, delivered up above twenty men of the +garrison to the Indians, in lieu of the same number they had lost during +the siege."—<i>Ibid.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_78_78" id="Footnote_78_78"></a><a href="#FNanchor_78_78"><span class="label">[78]</span></a> "The negligence and dilatoriness of our governors at +home,<a name="FNanchor_85_85" id="FNanchor_85_85"></a><a href="#Footnote_85_85" class="fnanchor">[85]</a> and the little-minded quarrels of the regulars and irregular +forces,<a name="FNanchor_86_86" id="FNanchor_86_86"></a><a href="#Footnote_86_86" class="fnanchor">[86]</a> have reduced our affairs in that part of the world (America) +to a most deplorable state. Oswego, of ten times more importance even +than Minorca, is so annihilated that we can not learn the +particulars."—Walpole's <i>Letters to Sir H. Mann</i>, Nov. 4, 1756.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_79_79" id="Footnote_79_79"></a><a href="#FNanchor_79_79"><span class="label">[79]</span></a> "The massacre at Oswego happily proves a romance. Part of +the two regiments<a name="FNanchor_87_87" id="FNanchor_87_87"></a><a href="#Footnote_87_87" class="fnanchor">[87]</a> that were made prisoners there are actually +arrived at Plymouth, the provisions at Quebec being too scanty to admit +additional numbers."—Walpole's <i>Letters to Sir H. Mann</i>, Nov. 13, +1756.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_80_80" id="Footnote_80_80"></a><a href="#FNanchor_80_80"><span class="label">[80]</span></a> Wood Creek was one of the streams that formed a nearly +uninterrupted water communication between Albany, in New York, and the +mouth of the River Onondaga, where Oswego was situated.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_81_81" id="Footnote_81_81"></a><a href="#FNanchor_81_81"><span class="label">[81]</span></a> Crown Point, or Fort Frederic, and Ticonderoga, which had +been lately fortified.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_82_82" id="Footnote_82_82"></a><a href="#FNanchor_82_82"><span class="label">[82]</span></a> Abercromby writes from Fort Edward, 30th of September, +1756; "Upon intelligence of the enemy's whole force being collected at +Crown Point, in order to make an attempt on this fort or that of Fort +William Henry, I arrived here the 26th with the Highlanders: to-morrow I +shall have three regiments.... Our works here are far from being +finished. However, though the fort is not finished we are throwing up +lines, and shall be able to repel the enemy's force.—8th of Oct. Lord +Loudon is now here: he has left Webb to take care of Otway's at Albany. +General Winslow (he was at Fort William Henry) holds daily +correspondence."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_83_83" id="Footnote_83_83"></a><a href="#FNanchor_83_83"><span class="label">[83]</span></a> Every where. "I see it with concern, considering who was +Newcastle's associate" (he alludes to his friend Fox); "but this was the +year of the worst administration that I have seen in England, for now +Newcastle's incapacity<a name="FNanchor_88_88" id="FNanchor_88_88"></a><a href="#Footnote_88_88" class="fnanchor">[88]</a> was left to its full play."—Walpole's +<i>Memoirs</i>, vol. ii., p. 54. +</p><p> +"In the course of this unfortunate year, 1756, we were stripped of +Minorca and Oswego (the East India Company, by the loss of Calcutta, +received a blow which would have shaken an establishment of less +strength to its foundation), we apprehended an invasion of Great Britain +itself, our councils were torn to pieces by factions, and our military +fame was every where in contempt."—<i>Annual Register.</i> +</p><p> +Burke was the writer of the "History of Europe" in the early volumes of +the <i>Annual Register</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_84_84" id="Footnote_84_84"></a><a href="#FNanchor_84_84"><span class="label">[84]</span></a> To Massachusetts, £54,000; to Connecticut, £26,000; to New +York, £15,000; to New Hampshire, £8000; to Rhode Island, £7000; to New +Jersey, £5000,—Marshall's <i>Life of Washington</i>, vol. i., p. 328.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_85_85" id="Footnote_85_85"></a><a href="#FNanchor_85_85"><span class="label">[85]</span></a> The ministry of the Duke of Newcastle and Fox, which was +forced out of office by the public indignation at the loss of Minorca, +and on the 13th of Nov., 1756, Pitt kissed hands as secretary of state.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_86_86" id="Footnote_86_86"></a><a href="#FNanchor_86_86"><span class="label">[86]</span></a> "The regulations of the crown respecting rank had given +great disgust in America, and rendered it extremely difficult to carry +on any military operations which required a junction of British and +Provincial troops. When consulted on this delicate subject, General +Winslow assured General Abercromby of his apprehensions that, if the +result of the junction should be placing the Provincials under British +officers, it would produce very general discontent, and perhaps +desertion. His officers concurred with him in this opinion. On the +arrival of Lord Loudon, the subject was revived, and the colonial office +gave the same opinion. The request that Lord Loudon would permit them to +act separately was acceded to."—Marshall's <i>Life of Washington</i>, vol. +i., p. 327.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_87_87" id="Footnote_87_87"></a><a href="#FNanchor_87_87"><span class="label">[87]</span></a> Shirley's and Pepperel's.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_88_88" id="Footnote_88_88"></a><a href="#FNanchor_88_88"><span class="label">[88]</span></a> "A minister the most incapable though the most ambitious, +the weakest though the most insolent, the most pusillanimous though the +most presumptuous"—Mr. Potter's <i>Speech in the House of Commons</i>. "It +would, however, be injustice not to allow the Duke of Newcastle the +merit of disinterestedness as to the emoluments of office, and of zeal +for the general interests of his country."—Belsham, vol. ii., p. 381.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER III.</h2> + + +<p>Stimulated by the general success of their arms during the campaign of +1756, the French suffered not their energies to slumber even through the +chilly Canadian winter. With detachments of Indians and hardy +"habitans," they scoured the northern frontiers of the British colonies, +and gained intelligence of every movement. From information thus +acquired, Montcalm determined to move a force suddenly on Fort William +Henry,<a name="FNanchor_89_89" id="FNanchor_89_89"></a><a href="#Footnote_89_89" class="fnanchor">[89]</a> at the southern extremity of Lake George,<a name="FNanchor_90_90" id="FNanchor_90_90"></a><a href="#Footnote_90_90" class="fnanchor">[90]</a> where the +English had formed a dépôt for a vast quantity of provisions and warlike +stores, which was as yet unprotected by any sufficient garrison. Fifteen +hundred men, of whom four hundred were Indians, led by Rigaud de +Vaudreuil and the Chevalier de Longueuil, were dispatched to surprise +and escalade the fort, and, in case of failure, to destroy the stores +and buildings beyond the protection of its walls, and also the shipping +and bateaux on the neighboring lake. On the 19th of March, at the dead +of night, the French noiselessly approached the little fortress, but the +vigilant sentries discovered them in time, and alarmed the defenders, +who drove them back with a brisk fire of cannon and musketry. Having +failed to surprise, they invested the place the following day, and twice +again vainly attacked the fort. On the 21st they summoned the +commandant, Major Eyres, to surrender, which demand he instantly +refused. The French assailed the stronghold a fourth and even a fifth +time; but, having been repulsed in every attack, contented themselves by +destroying the undefended property without. Furthermore, they +strengthened Ticonderoga and Crown Point with two battalions, and sent +Captain Pouchot as commandant to Niagara, with orders to fortify that +important post as he best might. They then returned to Montreal. Shortly +afterward they gained an advantage of some value over a detachment of +400 men, led by Colonel Parker, which had been sent by water to attack +their advanced guard near Ticonderoga. By a cleverly devised ambuscade, +and the opportune arrival of a re-enforcement, they completely +overpowered the British troops, and slew or captured more than half the +number.</p> + +<p>In the mean while the Earl of Loudon exerted himself to the utmost in +collecting a sufficient force to strike a decisive blow. The favorite +object of carrying Crown Point was laid aside, and the grander scheme of +reducing the formidable stronghold of Louisburg, in Acadia, adopted +instead.<a name="FNanchor_91_91" id="FNanchor_91_91"></a><a href="#Footnote_91_91" class="fnanchor">[91]</a> There the naval power of England could be brought to bear, +and the distracting jealousies of the several colonies might not +interfere to paralyze vigorous action. Preparations for this enterprise +were rapidly pushed on in England, and by the end of January, 1757, +seven regiments of infantry and a detachment of artillery, all commanded +by Major-general Hopson, were ordered to assemble at Cork, and await the +arrival of a powerful fleet of fourteen line-of-battle ships, destined +to bear them to America. June had nearly closed,<a name="FNanchor_92_92" id="FNanchor_92_92"></a><a href="#Footnote_92_92" class="fnanchor">[92]</a> however, before +this powerful armament, under Admiral Holborne, arrived at the place of +rendezvous. Lord Loudon had arranged to meet the expedition at Halifax +with all the force he could collect; to accomplish this transport, he +was injudiciously led to lay an embargo on all the ships in the British +North American ports. This arbitrary measure at once aroused a storm of +indignation among the merchants and planters, whose trade it ruinously +affected. The home government, ever jealous of commercial liberty, +immediately disapproved the high-handed proceeding, and issued +peremptory orders against its repetition.</p> + +<p>On the 20th of June, 1757, Lord Loudon had embarked at New York with a +considerable force drawn from the protection of the vast colonial +borders. Sir Charles Hardy commanded a fleet of four ships of war and +seventy transports for the troops; each ship had orders, in case of +separation, to make the best of her way to Halifax. On the 30th they all +reached that port, where they found eight vessels of war and some +artillery, with two regiments of infantry. The troops were landed as +soon as possible, and busied in various and somewhat trivial +occupations, while fast-sailing vessels were dispatched to examine the +French strength at Louisburg, and also to watch for the arrival of the +remainder of the English fleet under Holborne. By the 9th of July the +whole of the enormous armament had assembled. Nineteen ships of the +line, with a great number of smaller craft, and an army of thirteen +battalions in high spirit and condition, were now at the disposal of the +British leaders.</p> + +<p>Much valuable time was wasted at Halifax in unnecessary drills and silly +sham fights; at length, however, on the 1st and 2d of August, the troops +were embarked, with orders to proceed to Gabarus Bay, to the westward of +Louisburg; but on the 4th, information received by a captured sloop that +eighteen ships of the line and 3000 regular troops, with many +militia-men and Indians, were prepared to defend the harbor, altered the +views of the English chiefs. The attack was abandoned,<a name="FNanchor_93_93" id="FNanchor_93_93"></a><a href="#Footnote_93_93" class="fnanchor">[93]</a> the troops +were directed to land in various places on the Acadian peninsula, while +the fleet was to cruise off Louisburg and endeavor to bring the French +to action. About the middle of the month, a dispatch from Boston, +containing the disastrous news of the loss of Fort William Henry, +reached Lord Loudon; in consequence, his orders were again altered.<a name="FNanchor_94_94" id="FNanchor_94_94"></a><a href="#Footnote_94_94" class="fnanchor">[94]</a> +The luckless general himself, with a part of the troops and fleet, made +sail for New York; the remaining regiments, not before landed, were +directed upon the Bay of Fundy, and Admiral Holborne, with the bulk of +this vast armament, bore away for the harbor of Louisburg.</p> + +<p>The objects of this cruise can hardly be even conjectured; some imagine +that curiosity was Holborne's sole motive. It is obvious that he did not +mean to engage the enemy; for, when he approached within two miles of +the hostile batteries, and saw the French admiral's signal to unmoor, he +immediately made the best of his way back to Halifax. Being re-enforced +by four ships of the line about the middle of September, Holborne again +sailed within sight of Louisburg, being then certain that the French +would not leave the shelter of their batteries to encounter his superior +strength, and thus risk unnecessarily the safety of their colony.</p> + +<p>While continuing this useless demonstration, a violent storm from the +southwest assailed the British fleet on the 24th of October, at the +distance of about forty leagues from the rock-bound coast. In twelve +hours the ships were driven almost to within gunshot of the shore, when +a happy shift of wind saved them from total destruction. But the +Tilbury, a magnificent vessel of sixty guns, went to pieces on Cape +Breton, and 225 of her crew perished in the waves; the Newark drove into +Halifax crippled and damaged; others subsequently gained the same +shelter, dismasted, and in a still more disastrous plight. When the +weather moderated, Admiral Holborne made the best of his way for +England with the remainder of the fleet, leaving, however, a small +squadron, under Lord Colville, to protect the British traders in those +northern seas.<a name="FNanchor_95_95" id="FNanchor_95_95"></a><a href="#Footnote_95_95" class="fnanchor">[95]</a></p> + +<p>While the main force of the British armies had been occupied in the +ill-fated expedition against Louisburg, Colonel Stanwix had marched to +protect the Western frontier with a detachment of regular troops, and +nearly 2000 of the Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia militia. At the +same time, the borders of Carolina were intrusted to the care of Colonel +Bouquet with a nearly similar force. But to the north, the province of +New York and the New England states were feebly held by Colonel Webb +with about 4000 men, and Colonel Monro with his garrison of Fort William +Henry, against the able and vigilant Montcalm. Although Webb could not +but be aware of the movements of his dangerous enemy, he unaccountably +neglected to avail himself of the means of defense within his reach. +With an indifference bordering on infatuation, he abstained from calling +out the numerous and hardy militia of the surrounding states, in +themselves a force sufficient to overpower his active antagonist. At +length, when the white banner of France had actually been unfurled on +the shores of Lake Champlain, Webb awoke from his lethargy, but only to +make a precipitate and disgraceful retreat. He fell back upon Fort +Edward the following day, leaving Colonel Monro, with about 2000 men, to +bear the brunt of battle, and defend the post which he had thus +shamefully abandoned.</p> + +<p>When Lord Loudon had put to sea with the main army, Montcalm instantly +seized the opportunity of renewing his favorite project of gaining the +command of Lake George, through the reduction of Fort William Henry. He +rapidly concentrated his forces at Ticonderoga, including a considerable +body of Indians, numbering altogether 8000 men, well appointed and +provisioned, with a proportionate force of artillery, and, without +delay, pushed on a large division of his army, under M. de Levi, along +the shores of the lake. On the 1st of August he followed with the +remainder, who, together with the heavy ordnance and warlike stores, +were embarked in canoes and bateaux. On the night of the 2d, both +divisions met in a bay near the English fort, and soon afterward the +general learned from some prisoners, who were the survivors of a party +surprised by the Indians, the retreat of Webb and the weakness of the +British garrison. He immediately advanced upon the fort in three +columns, sending M. de Levi, with all his savage allies, to scour the +neighboring woods; these fierce warriors suddenly fell upon a small +foraging party of the English, slew and scalped forty of their number, +and carried off fifty head of cattle.</p> + +<p>Montcalm spent the 3d of August in reconnoitering the fort and +neighborhood,<a name="FNanchor_96_96" id="FNanchor_96_96"></a><a href="#Footnote_96_96" class="fnanchor">[96]</a> and in erecting batteries; but the Indians scorned the +delays of regular warfare, and urged an immediate attack without waiting +for the aid of artillery. The chief listened not unwillingly to this +daring counsel; first, however, he determined to try the virtue of +negotiation, and dispatched a peremptory summons to Colonel Monro, +demanding an immediate surrender. The English chief, although but too +well aware of his own weakness, returned a spirited answer to this +haughty message: "I will defend my trust," said he, "to the last +extremity."</p> + +<p>This bold reply quickened the ardor of the French: during the 4th and +5th, day and night, their labors ceased not; they dug and delved into +the earth with vindictive and untiring zeal, pushing on the trenches of +the attack close to the ramparts of the fort. At daybreak on the 6th, +ten guns and a large mortar broke the silence of the morning with a +salvo upon the beleaguered garrison. The British paid back the deadly +salute vigorously, but with far inferior power. Meanwhile, the Indians +and some Canadian sharp-shooters swarmed around at every point; some +hiding behind the stumps of the forest trees, others finding shelter in +an adjoining garden, from their covert swept the works of the defenders +with a murderous fire. The odds were great, but in a vain hope that Webb +would not see him lost without an effort, Monro held out with stubborn +courage. His loss was heavy, his defenses rapidly giving way under the +crashing artillery of the French, yet still he resisted the threats and +promises of the enemy. At length ammunition failed; the savages soon +perceived this, and redoubled their fire, crowding closer round the +failing defenders. While yet they strove to hold their ground, an +intercepted letter from Webb to Monro was sent in by the French general; +this destroyed the last remaining hope, for it stated that no timely +relief could reach them, and advised that they should make the best +terms in their power. Monro then no longer hesitated, and a capitulation +was signed, with conditions such as a chivalrous conqueror should give +to those who had nobly but unsuccessfully performed their duty.</p> + +<p>The sequel of this gallant defense is as sad as it is unaccountable. The +Indians despised the rights of the conquered. When they saw the garrison +march out on the following day with arms and baggage, and protected by a +French escort, their rage knew no bounds; but with savage cunning they +suffered their victims to proceed uninterruptedly till a place was +reached favorable to their murderous designs, when suddenly, with +horrible yells, they burst from the woods, upon the English column. This +unexpected onslaught paralyzed with terror the men who but the day +before had fought with dauntless bravery; few attempted to resist, some +were instantly struck down by the tomahawks of the savages, others found +tardy protection from the French escort, and about 600 dispersed among +the woods, and finally reached Fort Edward in miserable plight.</p> + +<p>The endeavor to clear the memory of the illustrious Montcalm from the +dark stain of connivance with this ferocious treachery is now a grateful +task. While the dreadful story was fresh on the English ear, few voices +were raised in his defense; the blood of the murdered men was laid at +his door; the traitor to a soldier's faith was held in scornful +detestation. But time, "that reverses the sentence of unrighteous +judges,"<a name="FNanchor_97_97" id="FNanchor_97_97"></a><a href="#Footnote_97_97" class="fnanchor">[97]</a> has served to clear away the cloud that shaded the +brightness of the gallant Frenchman's fame. He may, indeed, still be +censured for not having provided a sufficient escort for the surrendered +garrison. Surely, however, he may well have deemed 2000 men, such as +those who had before defended themselves with becoming bravery against +his host, might hold their own against an inferior number of savages. +When the onslaught began, he used his utmost endeavor to arrest it; he +rushed into the bloody scene, and strove earnestly to stop its progress. +Baring his breast, he called upon the savages to slay him, their father, +but to spare the English for whom his honor was plighted. Then, finding +his interference useless, he called upon the prisoners to defend +themselves, and fire upon their pursuers; it was in vain, however, so +overpowering were the terrors of the Indian tomahawk.<a name="FNanchor_98_98" id="FNanchor_98_98"></a><a href="#Footnote_98_98" class="fnanchor">[98]</a> Montcalm's +officers also threw themselves in the way of the vindictive savages, and +some were even wounded in the attempt.<a name="FNanchor_99_99" id="FNanchor_99_99"></a><a href="#Footnote_99_99" class="fnanchor">[99]</a></p> + +<p>Immediately after the victory Montcalm demolished the fort, destroyed +all the English vessels and boats upon the lake, triumphantly carried +off the artillery, warlike stores, and baggage, 100 live oxen, and +provisions for six months for a garrison of 5000 men. They did not +endeavor to push further their important advantages, but once again +retired within their own territories.<a name="FNanchor_100_100" id="FNanchor_100_100"></a><a href="#Footnote_100_100" class="fnanchor">[100]</a></p> + +<p>The Marquis de Vaudreuil took the earliest opportunity to inform the +court of France that his gallant general's expedition had been thus +eminently successful. He moreover accompanied the cheering news by +earnest demands for aid in troops, artillery, and warlike stores, and +prayed that he might be speedily informed of the intentions of the +ministry, and their plans for the defense of the still endangered +colony.<a name="FNanchor_101_101" id="FNanchor_101_101"></a><a href="#Footnote_101_101" class="fnanchor">[101]</a></p> + +<p>Meanwhile, peculation and corruption had frightfully increased among +those intrusted with the Provincial administration. The Associates' +Company cast aside all decent seeming of honesty, and robbed the +government, the settlers, and the Indians with unblushing effrontery. +The officers in command of outposts followed this infectious example. +Under pretext of supplying the savages, they made frequent and large +demands for goods, which, when obtained, were applied to their own use; +and, not even content with this wholesale plunder, they gave +certificates, amounting to large sums of money, for articles never +furnished: from this source arose that immense amount of paper currency +which deluged the colony at the time of the conquest, leaving no less +than eighty millions of livres then unprovided for. This enormous +dishonesty brought down its own punishment; agriculture and trade were +paralyzed, loyalty shaken, while diminished resources and a discontented +people hastened the inevitable catastrophe of British triumph.</p> + +<p>Immediately on Lord Loudon's return from the disgraceful expedition to +Halifax,<a name="FNanchor_102_102" id="FNanchor_102_102"></a><a href="#Footnote_102_102" class="fnanchor">[102]</a> he repaired to Fort Edward, which was the English advanced +post in the direction of Canada since the loss of Fort William +Henry.<a name="FNanchor_103_103" id="FNanchor_103_103"></a><a href="#Footnote_103_103" class="fnanchor">[103]</a> As soon as he had given directions for its defense, he took +up his winter quarters at Albany: thence he dispatched Captain Rogers, +with a small party, to capture stragglers of the enemy, and gain +intelligence of their movements. This officer succeeded in ascertaining +that the important posts of Ticonderoga and Crown Point had been left +insufficiently garrisoned. The English general formed designs, and even +made extensive preparations to take advantage of the opportunity thus +offered, but, with vacillating weakness, soon abandoned the project. In +Acadia some ineffectual marching and counter-marching was performed by +his orders, and the troops suffered considerably from privation and from +the harassing enmity of the French and Indians.</p> + +<p>The feeble conduct and the contemptible results of this campaign +demonstrated the inability of the English chief for military command; +but Lord Loudon's merits in council should not be overlooked, while he +stands condemned as a general. He aroused the different colonial +governments from a dangerous apathy, induced them to unite, in some +measure, their great but disjointed power, and exert for the general +good the means which Providence had abundantly supplied. These favorable +conditions were improved by the politic wisdom of his successors in the +post of commander-in-chief in North America.</p> + +<p>The return of Holborne's shattered fleet and the news of the resultless +maneuvers of Lord Loudon aroused a storm of indignation in England. +Enormous preparations had proved fruitless, a vast force had warred only +against the hardships of the wilderness or the dangers of the ocean. +Twenty thousand regular troops, with a large Provincial army, had wasted +the precious season of action in embarkations and disembarkations, +disgraceful retreats, and advances almost equally disgraceful. Twenty +magnificent ships of the line had left the British ports for the +American shore in the pride of irresistible power, and, without firing a +gun for the honor of their flag, returned to whence they came, or, +maimed and dismantled, sought refuge in friendly ports. England had to +lament her gallant children, her stately ships, her hard-earned +treasures, and, above all, her military glory, lost in the Western +deserts or swallowed up in the waters of the Atlantic.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_89_89" id="Footnote_89_89"></a><a href="#FNanchor_89_89"><span class="label">[89]</span></a> "In the French accounts of this transaction, Fort George +is the name given to the fort. This was a strong position at a short +distance from Fort William Henry. In the vicinity of the village of +Caldwell is situated the site of the old Fort William Henry, and a short +distance beyond the ruins of Fort George, which was built during the +campaign of Amherst."—<i>Picturesque Tourist</i>, p. 104.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_90_90" id="Footnote_90_90"></a><a href="#FNanchor_90_90"><span class="label">[90]</span></a> "Lake George, called by the Indians Horican, is justly +celebrated for its romantic and beautiful scenery, and for the +transparency and purity of its waters. They were exclusively selected by +the Jesuit missionaries to perform the typical purification of baptism, +which obtained for it the appropriate title of Lac Sacrament. The less +zealous English thought they conferred sufficient honor on its unsullied +fountains when they bestowed the name of their reigning prince, the +second of the house of Hanover."—<i>Last of the Mohicans</i>, p. 2.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_91_91" id="Footnote_91_91"></a><a href="#FNanchor_91_91"><span class="label">[91]</span></a> "The abandonment of the enterprise against Crown Point, on +which they had securely relied, was a severe disappointment to the New +England States."—Graham's <i>Hist. of the United States</i>, vol. iv., p. 5. +</p><p> +"The attack on Louisburg was a scheme very favorable to the views and +interests of France at this period, as it left M. de Montcalm entirely +at liberty to prosecute his plans of conquest, and Louisburg was so +strongly defended that little apprehension was entertained for its +safety."—Belsham, vol. ii., p. 371.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_92_92" id="Footnote_92_92"></a><a href="#FNanchor_92_92"><span class="label">[92]</span></a> "Upon our anchoring in Chebucto harbor, our commanding +officer went ashore, and waited on his excellency the Earl of Loudon, +who, with Major-general Abercromby, expressed great pleasure at our +arrival, with the information they received of the fleet, and +re-enforcements we had parted with at sea; and his lordship said, 'We +had staid so long, he had almost despaired of us,' but being assured our +delay proceeded principally from an obstinate set of contrary winds, +that had retarded us in Ireland above two months after our arrival at +the port of embarkation, his lordship seemed pleased. (As the fate of +the expedition to Louisburg in this campaign depended, in a great +measure, on the speedy sailing and junction of the fleet and forces from +Europe with those of the Earl of Loudon, it was for this reason I judged +it necessary to commence this work with the first orders to the troops +in Ireland to march and embark for foreign service; and it will thereby +appear that the earliest measures were taken at home to forward this +enterprise, which, without doubt, would have succeeded, if the armament +could have sailed when first intended)."—Knox's <i>Historical Journals of +the Campaigns of North America</i>, vol. i., p. 14. +</p><p> +The same cause—impossibility of exactly combining fleets and +armies—had proved the ruin of every expedition, on a grand scale, +undertaken by either French or English, in America, for years before.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_93_93" id="Footnote_93_93"></a><a href="#FNanchor_93_93"><span class="label">[93]</span></a> "It was resolved, according to the custom of this war, to +postpone the expedition to another opportunity."—Belsham, vol. ii., p. +372. +</p><p> +"I do not augur very well of the ensuing summer; a detachment is going +to America under a commander whom a child might outwit or terrify with a +pop-gun."—Walpole's <i>Letters to Sir H. Mann</i>, Feb. 13, 1757.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_94_94" id="Footnote_94_94"></a><a href="#FNanchor_94_94"><span class="label">[94]</span></a> "It being now universally known at Halifax that the +expedition against Cape Breton is laid aside for this season, the clerk +of the Church, to evince his sentiments upon the situation of affairs, +gave out and sung the 1st, 2d, 9th, 10th, 11th, 13th, and 26th verses of +Psalm xliv., of the New Version. A Jew merchant and another man were +this morning committed to jail by the governor for circulating a false +report of there being only five ships of war and three frigates at +Louisburg; but the Earl of Loudon, being superior to such mean +resentments, ordered them to be released in the evening."—Knox's +<i>Historical Journal</i>, vol. i., p. 24. +</p><p> +The extraordinary ardor of Major-general Lord Charles Hay, having made +him much louder than others in condemning Lord Loudon's conduct, upon +this occasion, a council of war was called to consider the tendency of +his reflections, and the consequence was his being put under arrest. +General Hopson's letter to Lord Loudon in October, three months +afterward, mentions Lord Charles Hay being still under arrest, and +complains of three regiments, with their commanding officers at their +head, having gone "in corps" to wait upon him.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_95_95" id="Footnote_95_95"></a><a href="#FNanchor_95_95"><span class="label">[95]</span></a> "Shortly after came letters from the Earl of Loudon, the +commander-in-chief in North America, stating that he found the French +21,000 strong, and that, not having so many, he could not attack +Louisburg, but should return to Halifax. Admiral Holborne, one of the +sternest condemners of Byng, wrote at the same time that he, having but +seventeen ships and the French nineteen, dared not attack them. There +was another summer lost! Pitt expressed himself with great vehemence +against the earl, and we naturally have too lofty ideas of our naval +strength to suppose that seventeen of our ships are not a match for any +nineteen others."—Walpole's <i>George II.</i>, vol. ii., p. 231. +</p><p> +"Admiral Holborne declined to attack the French, because, while he had +seventeen ships of the line, they had eighteen, and a greater <span class="smcap">WEIGHT +OF METAL</span>, 'according to the new sea phrase,' says Chesterfield, +indignantly, 'which was unknown to Blake!' (<i>Letter to his Son</i>, Sept. +30, 1757.) He adds, 'I hear that letters have been sent to both +(Holborne and Loudon) with very severe reprimands.'"—Lord Mahon's +<i>History of England</i>, vol. iv., p. 168. +</p><p> +"The recent fate of Admiral Byng, who was shot on the 14th of March, +1757, for incapacity in a naval engagement, is supposed to have +paralyzed the energy of many British officers at this +juncture."—Graham's <i>United States</i>, vol. iv., p. 6. +</p><p> +"Dans ce pays-ci il est bon de tuer de tems en tems un amiral pour +encourager les autres."—<i>Candide</i>, ch. xxiii. +</p><p> +"The miserable consequences of our political divisions (in 1757) +produced a general unsteadiness in all our pursuits, and infused a +languor and inactivity into all our military operations; for while our +commanders abroad knew not who would reward their services or punish +their neglects, and were not assured in what light even the best of +their actions would be considered (having reason to apprehend that they +might not be judged of as they were in themselves, but as their +appearances might answer the end of some ruling faction), they naturally +wanted that enterprising resolution, without which the best capacity, +and intentions the most honest, can do nothing in war."—<i>Annual +Register.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_96_96" id="Footnote_96_96"></a><a href="#FNanchor_96_96"><span class="label">[96]</span></a> "Directly on the shore of the lake, and nearer to its +western than to its eastern margin, lay the extensive earthen ramparts +and low buildings of William Henry. Two of the sweeping bastions +appeared to rest on the water, which washed their bases, while a deep +ditch and extensive morasses guarded its other side and angles. The land +had been cleared of wood for a reasonable distance around the work, but +every other part of the scene lay in the green livery of nature, except +where the limpid water mellowed the view, or the bold rocks thrust their +black and naked heads above the undulating outline of the mountain +ranges. In its front might be seen the scattered sentinels who held a +weary watch against their numerous foes.... Toward the southeast, but in +immediate contact with the fort, was an intrenched camp, posted on a +rocky eminence, that would have been far more eligible for the work +itself.... But the spectacle which most concerned the young soldier was +on the western bank of the lake, though quite near to its southern +termination. On a strip of land, which appeared from its stand too +narrow to contain such an army, but which, in truth, extended many +hundreds of yards from the shores of Lake George to the base of the +mountain, were to be seen the white tents and military engines for an +encampment of 10,000 men."—<i>Last of the Mohicans</i>, p. 144.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_97_97" id="Footnote_97_97"></a><a href="#FNanchor_97_97"><span class="label">[97]</span></a> "I was a little child when this transaction took place, +and distinctly remember the strong emotions which it every where +excited, and which hitherto time has not been able to efface."—Dwight. +The <i>Last of the Mohicans</i> has given an immortal interest to the fate of +Fort William Henry.—Graham's <i>United States</i>, vol. iv., p. 8.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_98_98" id="Footnote_98_98"></a><a href="#FNanchor_98_98"><span class="label">[98]</span></a> " ... Committing a thousand outrages and barbarities, from +which the French commander endeavored in vain to restrain them. All this +was suffered by 2000 men, with arms in their hands, from a disorderly +crew of savages."—Burke, <i>Annual Register for the year 1758</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_99_99" id="Footnote_99_99"></a><a href="#FNanchor_99_99"><span class="label">[99]</span></a> "Montcalm says in his letter to Monro, August 3d, 1757, 'I +am still able to restrain the savages, and to oblige them to observe a +capitulation, as none of them have been killed; but this control will +not be in my power under other circumstances.'"—Russell's <i>Modern +Europe</i>. +</p><p> +"Of the scene of cruelty and bloodshed that took place at Fort William +Henry, the accounts which have been transmitted are not less uniform and +authentic than horrible and disgusting. The only point which is wrapped +in obscurity is <i>how far</i> the French general and his troops were +voluntarily or unavoidably spectators of the violation of the treaty +which they stood pledged to fulfill. According to some accounts, no +escort whatever was furnished to the British garrison. According to +others, the escort was a mere mockery, both in respect of the numbers of +the French guards, and of their willingness to defend their civilized +enemies against their savage friends. It is certain that the escort, if +any, proved totally ineffectual; and this acknowledged circumstance, +taken in conjunction with the prior occurrences at Oswego, is sufficient +to stain the character of Montcalm with a suspicion of treachery and +dishonor."—Graham's <i>History of the United States</i>, vol. iv., p. 7.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_100_100" id="Footnote_100_100"></a><a href="#FNanchor_100_100"><span class="label">[100]</span></a> "Webb, roused at length from his lethargy by personal +apprehension, had hastily invoked the succor of the states of New +England. The call was promptly obeyed, and a portion of the militia of +Massachusetts and Connecticut was dispatched to check the victorious +progress of the French. Montcalm, whether daunted by this vigorous +demonstration or satisfied with the blow which he had struck, and +engrossed with the care of improving its propitious influence on the +minds of the Indians, refrained from even investing Fort Edward, and +made no further attempt at present to extend the circle of his +conquests."—Graham's <i>History of the United States</i>, vol. iv., p. 8.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_101_101" id="Footnote_101_101"></a><a href="#FNanchor_101_101"><span class="label">[101]</span></a> "Mais malgré les instantes demandes des Canadiens, le +gouvernement de Madame da Pompadour ne songeoit point à leur envoyer des +secours. M. Pitt, au contraire, apportant une même vigueur dans tous les +départemens de la guerre, avoit destiné des forces considérables, à +subjuguer dans toutes les parties de l'Amérique les François, qui +abandonnés à eux-mêmes ne pouvoient tarder plus long tems à +succomber."—Sismondi's <i>Hist. des Français</i>, vol. xxix., ch. liv.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_102_102" id="Footnote_102_102"></a><a href="#FNanchor_102_102"><span class="label">[102]</span></a> "We had a torrent of bad news yesterday from America. +Lord Loudon has found an army of 20,000 French, gives over the design on +Louisburg, and retires to Halifax. Admiral Holborne writes that they +have nineteen ships to his seventeen, and that he can not attack them. +It is time for England to slip her own cables, and float away into some +unknown ocean!—Walpole's <i>Letters to Sir H. Mann</i>, Sept. 3, 1757. +</p><p> +"To add to the ill-humor, our papers are filled with the new loss of +Fort William Henry, which covered New York. That opulent and proud +colony, between their own factions and our folly, is in imminent danger; +but I will have done—nay, if we lose another dominion, I think I will +have done writing to you; I can not bear to chronicle so many +disgraces."—Walpole's <i>Letters to Sir H. Mann</i>, Oct. 12, 1757. +</p><p> +"When intelligence of these new losses and disgraces reached England, +the people, already sufficiently mortified by their losses and disgraces +in Europe,<a name="FNanchor_104_104" id="FNanchor_104_104"></a><a href="#Footnote_104_104" class="fnanchor">[104]</a> sank into a general despondency; and some moral and +political writers, who pretended to foretell the ruin of the nation, and +ascribed its misfortunes to a total corruption of manners and +principles, obtained general credit. Of these writers the most +distinguished was Dr. Brown, whose <i>Estimate of the Manners and +Principles of the Times</i>, abounding with awful predictions, was bought +up and read with incredible avidity, and seemed to be as much confided +in as if he had been divinely inspired."—Russell's <i>Modern Europe</i>, +vol. iii., p. 324.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_103_103" id="Footnote_103_103"></a><a href="#FNanchor_103_103"><span class="label">[103]</span></a> The lengthened sheet of Lake Champlain stretched from the +frontiers of Canada nearly half the distance between Canada and New +York. On the Canada side the River Richelieu formed a communication with +the River St. Lawrence; on the New York side Lake George extended the +water communication twelve leagues further to the south, and then a +portage of twelve miles over the high land, which interposed itself to +the further passage of the water, conducted the traveler to the banks of +the Hudson, at a point where the river became navigable to the +tide.<a name="FNanchor_105_105" id="FNanchor_105_105"></a><a href="#Footnote_105_105" class="fnanchor">[105]</a> It was this almost uninterrupted water communication between +the rival states of Canada and New York that rendered the forts on Lake +Champlain<a name="FNanchor_106_106" id="FNanchor_106_106"></a><a href="#Footnote_106_106" class="fnanchor">[106]</a> and Lake George<a name="FNanchor_107_107" id="FNanchor_107_107"></a><a href="#Footnote_107_107" class="fnanchor">[107]</a> such important objects of attack or +defense.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_104_104" id="Footnote_104_104"></a><a href="#FNanchor_104_104"><span class="label">[104]</span></a> The capitulation of Closterseven, or Convention of Stade, +was signed in September of this year.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_105_105" id="Footnote_105_105"></a><a href="#FNanchor_105_105"><span class="label">[105]</span></a> Here Fort Edward was situated.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_106_106" id="Footnote_106_106"></a><a href="#FNanchor_106_106"><span class="label">[106]</span></a> Ticonderoga and Fort Frederick, or Crown Point.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_107_107" id="Footnote_107_107"></a><a href="#FNanchor_107_107"><span class="label">[107]</span></a> Fort William Henry.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER IV.</h2> + + +<p>During the disastrous campaign of 1757, a strife of greater importance +than that on the American continent was carried on in the English House +of Commons. In the preceding year, the falsehood and incompetency of the +Duke of Newcastle, prime minister of England, had aroused a storm of +indignation, to which the shameful losses of Minorca and Oswego had +given overwhelming force. Mr. Fox, the only commoner of character and +ability who still adhered to the ministry, determined to lend his name +no longer to the premier's policy, and in the month of October resigned +the seals of office. This blow proved fatal for the tottering cabinet. +To the almost universal joy of the people, the Duke of Newcastle did not +dare the encounter with his gifted rival in the approaching session of +Parliament, and reluctantly yielded up those powers the exercise of +which, in his hands, had led the nation to embarrassment and shame.</p> + +<p>By the wish of the king, Mr. Fox endeavored to induce Mr. <span class="smcap">William +Pitt</span> to join him in the conduct of the national councils. The +"Great Commoner," however, decisively rejected this overture.<a name="FNanchor_108_108" id="FNanchor_108_108"></a><a href="#Footnote_108_108" class="fnanchor">[108]</a> The +Duke of Devonshire, lord lieutenant of Ireland, a man more remarkable +for probity and loyalty than for administrative capacity, next received +the royal commands to form a ministry; he sacrificed his personal +predilections toward Mr. Fox to the public good, and at once appointed +Pitt Secretary of State, with Legge as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Most +of the subordinate members of the cabinet retained their places, but +several of Pitt's relatives received appointments to important offices.</p> + +<p>Almost the first step of the new cabinet was to apply to Parliament for +the means of aiding the King of Prussia against "the vindictive designs +of France." Notwithstanding the great popularity of the ministry, and +the general confidence in its capacity and integrity, the apparent +contrast between this proposition and former protestations against +continental interference excited the hostility of many, and the +observation of all. The supplies, however, were voted to the full extent +demanded by the minister.</p> + +<p>Despite these concessions to the king's Hanoverian interests, nothing +could overcome the personal dislike of his majesty to Pitt, and to his +brother-in-law Lord Temple. The appointment of the Duke of Cumberland to +command the British force on the Continent gave opportunity for the +manifestation of this royal hostility. The duke refused to undertake his +duties while such an anti-Hanoverian as Pitt remained as virtual head of +the ministry. The king's love for his son, and hatred of his gifted +servant, combined to prompt him to the decided step of dismissing the +great minister from his councils. An interval of nearly three months +elapsed in vain attempts to form a cabinet from which Pitt should be +excluded. There was, however, another party interested in these +arrangements, which neither prerogative nor parliamentary influence +might long venture to oppose—the British nation. As with one voice, all +ranks and classes spoke out their will that Pitt should hold the helm. +His rivals saw that it was impossible to stem the stream, and wisely +counseled the king to yield to the wishes of his people. In June the +patriot minister was once again the ruler of England's destiny.<a name="FNanchor_109_109" id="FNanchor_109_109"></a><a href="#Footnote_109_109" class="fnanchor">[109]</a></p> + +<p>This illustrious man knew no party but the British nation, acknowledged +no other interest. To exalt the power and prosperity of his country, and +to humble France, was his sole aim and object. Personally disagreeable +to the highest power in the state, and from many causes regarded with +hostility by the several aristocratic confederacies, it needed the +almost unanimous voice of his countrymen, and the unacknowledged +confidence of those powerful men whose favor he neither possessed nor +desired, to sweep away these formidable difficulties, and give to +England in the hour of need the services of her greatest son.</p> + +<p>For the remainder of the campaign of 1757, however, the energy and +wisdom of Pitt were too late brought to the council, and the +ill-conducted schemes of his predecessors bore, as has been shown, the +bitter fruit of disaster and disgrace. But no sooner was he firmly +established in office, and his plans put in execution, than the British +cause began to revive in the Western hemisphere, and, although still +checkered with defeat, glory and success rewarded his gigantic efforts. +He at once determined to renew the expedition against Cape Breton, and, +warned by previous failures, urged upon the king the necessity of +removing both the naval and military officers who had hitherto conducted +the operations. With that admirable perception which is one of the most +useful faculties of superior minds, he readily discerned in others the +qualities requisite for his purpose—his judgment ever unwarped and his +keen vision unclouded by personal or political considerations. In +Colonel Amherst he had discovered sound sense, steady courage, and an +active genius; he therefore recalled him from the army in Germany, and, +casting aside the hampering formalities of military rule, promoted him +to the rank of major-general, and to the command of the troops destined +for the attack of Louisburg.<a name="FNanchor_110_110" id="FNanchor_110_110"></a><a href="#Footnote_110_110" class="fnanchor">[110]</a> At the same time, from the British +navy's brilliant roll, the minister selected the Hon. Edward Boscawen as +admiral of the fleet, and gave him also, till the arrival of General +Amherst, the unusual commission of command over the land forces. With +vigorous zeal the equipments were hurried on, and on the 19th of +February a magnificent armament sailed from Portsmouth for the harbor of +Halifax on the Acadian peninsula. The general was delayed by contrary +winds, and did not reach Halifax till the 28th of May, where he met +Boscawen's fleet coming out of the harbor; the admiral, impatient of +delay, having put all the force in motion, with the exception of a corps +1600 strong left to guard the post. No less than 22 ships of the line +and 15 frigates, with 120 smaller vessels, sailed under his flag; and 14 +battalions of infantry, with artillery and engineers, in all 11,600, +almost exclusively British regulars, were embarked to form the army of +General Amherst. The troops were told off in three brigades of nearly +equal strength, under the brigadier-generals Whitmore, Lawrence, and +<span class="smcap">James Wolfe</span>.<a name="FNanchor_111_111" id="FNanchor_111_111"></a><a href="#Footnote_111_111" class="fnanchor">[111]</a></p> + +<p>At dawn on the 2d of June the armament arrived off Cape Breton, where +the greatest part of the fleet came to anchor in the open roadstead of +Gabarus Bay. Amherst entertained a strong hope to surprise the garrison +of Louisburg, and with that view issued an order to forbid the slightest +noise, or the exhibition of any light, on board the transports near the +shore; he especially warned the troops to preserve a profound silence as +they landed. But the elements rendered these judicious orders of no +avail. In the morning a dense fog shrouded the rocky shore, and as the +advancing day cleared away the curtains of the mist, a prodigious swell +rolled in from the Atlantic, and broke in impassable surf upon the +beach. Nevertheless, in the evening the general, with Lawrence and +Wolfe, approached close to the dangerous shore, and reconnoitered the +difficulties which nature and the enemy might oppose to their landing. +They found that the French had formed a chain of posts for some distance +across the country, and that they had also thrown up works and batteries +at the points where a successful debarkation seemed most probable. The +next morning the sea had not abated, and for six successive days the +heavy roll of the ocean broke with undiminished violence upon the rugged +shore. During this interval the enemy toiled day and night to strengthen +their position, and lost no opportunity of opening fire with guns and +mortars upon the ships.</p> + +<p>On the 8th the sea subsided into calm, and the fog vanished from the +shore. Before daybreak the troops were assembled in boats, formed in +three divisions; at dawn Commodore Durell examined the coast, and +declared that the landing was now practicable. When his report was +received, seven of the smaller vessels at once opened fire, and in about +a quarter of an hour the boats of the left division began to row in +toward the shore: in them were embarked twelve companies of Grenadiers, +550 Light Infantry men, with the Highlanders and a body of Provincial +Rangers: Brigadier-general Wolfe was their chief. The right and center +brigades, under Whitmore and Lawrence, moved at the same time toward +other parts of the shore, and three sloops were sent past the mouth of +the harbor to distract the attention of the enemy.</p> + +<p>The left division was the first to reach the beach, at a point a little +eastward of Fresh-water Cove, and four miles from the town.<a name="FNanchor_112_112" id="FNanchor_112_112"></a><a href="#Footnote_112_112" class="fnanchor">[112]</a> The +French stood firm, and held their fire till the assailants were close in +shore; then, as the boats rose on the dangerous surf, they poured in a +rattling volley from every gun and musket that could be brought to bear. +Many of the British troops were struck down, but not a shot was +returned. Wolfe's flag-staff was shivered by a bar-shot, and many boats +badly damaged; still, with ardent valor, the sailors forced their way +through the surging waves, and in a very few minutes the whole division +was ashore, and the enemy flying in disorder from all his intrenchments. +The victors pressed on rapidly in pursuit, and, despite the rugged and +difficult country, inflicted a heavy loss on the fugitives, and took +seventy prisoners. At length the cannon of the ramparts of Louisburg +checked their further advance. In the mean time the remaining British +divisions had landed, but not without losing nearly 100 boats and many +men from the increasing violence of the sea.</p> + +<p>During the two following days the fury of the waves forbade all attempts +to land the artillery and the necessary stores for the attack of the +hostile stronghold; on the 11th, however, the weather began to clear, +and some progress was made in the preparations. Hitherto the troops had +suffered much from want of provisions and tents; now their situation was +somewhat improved.</p> + +<p>Louisburg is a noble harbor: within is ample shelter for the largest +fleets England or France have ever sent from their shores. A rugged +promontory, on which stood the town and somewhat dilapidated +fortifications, protects it from the southwest wind; another far larger +arm of the land is its shelter to the southeast. About midway across the +entrance of this land-locked bay stands Goat Island, which at that time +was defended by some works, with a formidable array of guns; a range of +impassable rocks extends thence to the town. From an elevation to the +northwest of the harbor, the grand battery showed a threatening front to +those who might seek to force the entrance of the Sound. For the defense +of this important position, M. de Drucour, the French chief, had at his +disposal six line-of-battle ships; five frigates, three of which he +sank, to impede the entrance of the harbor; 3000 regular troops and +burgher militia, with 350 Canadians and Indians.</p> + +<p>On the 12th the French withdrew all their outposts, and even destroyed +the grand battery that commanded the entrance of the harbor, +concentrating their whole power upon the defense of the town. Wolfe's +active light troops soon gave intelligence of these movements, and the +following day the brigadier pushed on his advance round the northern and +eastern shores of the bay, till they gained the high lands opposite Goat +Island with little opposition; there, as soon as the perversity of the +weather would permit, he mounted some heavy artillery, but it was not +till the 20th that he was enabled to open fire upon the ships and the +land defenses. On the 25th the formidable French guns on Goat Island +were silenced. Wolfe then left a detachment in his battery, and hastened +round with his main force to a position close to the town, where he +erected works, and from them assailed the ramparts and the shipping.</p> + +<p>For many days the slow and monotonous operations of the siege continued, +under great difficulties to the assailants, the marshy nature of the +ground rendering the movement of artillery very tedious. The rain poured +down in torrents, swamping the labors of the engineers; the surf still +foamed furiously upon the shore, embarrassing the landing of the +necessary material and impeding the communication with the fleet. On the +night of the 9th of July, the progress of the besiegers was somewhat +interrupted by a fierce and sudden sally; five companies of light +troops, supported by 600 men, burst upon a small English work during the +silence of the night, surprising and overwhelming the defenders. The +young Earl of Dundonald, commanding the grenadiers of the 17th, who held +the post, paid for this want of vigilance with his life; his lieutenant +was wounded and taken, and his men struck down, captured, or dispersed. +Major Murray, however, with the Grenadiers of the 22d and 28th, arrived +ere long, and restored the fight. After a time the French again betook +themselves to the shelter of their walls, having left twenty of their +men dead upon the scene of strife, and eighty more wounded or prisoners +in the hands of the besiegers.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the British generals pushed on the siege with unwearied zeal, +and, at the same time, with prudent caution, secured their own camp by +redoubts. Day and night the batteries<a name="FNanchor_113_113" id="FNanchor_113_113"></a><a href="#Footnote_113_113" class="fnanchor">[113]</a> poured their ruinous shower +upon the ramparts, the citadel, and shipping. On the 21st, three large +vessels of war took fire in the harbor from a live shell, and the +English gunners dealt death to those who sought to extinguish the +flames. The next day the citadel was in a blaze; the next, the barracks +were burned to the ground, and Wolfe's trenches were pushed up to the +very defenses of the town. The French could no longer stand to their +guns. On the night of the 25th, two young captains, La Forey and +Balfour, with the boats of the fleet, rowed into the harbor under a +furious fire, boarded the two remaining vessels of war, and thus +destroyed the last serious obstacle to British triumph.<a name="FNanchor_114_114" id="FNanchor_114_114"></a><a href="#Footnote_114_114" class="fnanchor">[114]</a> The +following morning, M. de Drucour surrendered at discretion.</p> + +<p>In those days, the taking of Louisburg was a mighty triumph for the +British arms: a place of considerable strength, defended with skill and +courage, fully manned, and aided by a powerful fleet, had been bravely +won; 5600 men, soldiers, sailors, and marines were prisoners; eleven +ships of war taken or destroyed; 240 pieces of ordnance, 15,000 stand of +arms, and a great amount of ammunition, provisions, and military stores, +had fallen into the hands of the victors, and eleven stand of colors +were laid at the feet of the British sovereign: they were afterward +solemnly deposited in St. Paul's Cathedral.</p> + +<p>But while the wisdom and zeal of Amherst, and the daring skill of +Wolfe,<a name="FNanchor_115_115" id="FNanchor_115_115"></a><a href="#Footnote_115_115" class="fnanchor">[115]</a> excite the gratitude and admiration of their countrymen, it +must not be forgotten that causes beyond the power and patriotism of man +mainly influenced this great event. The brave admiral doubted the +practicability of the first landing.<a name="FNanchor_116_116" id="FNanchor_116_116"></a><a href="#Footnote_116_116" class="fnanchor">[116]</a> Amherst hesitated, and the +chivalrous Wolfe himself, as he neared the awful surf, staggered in his +resolution, and, purposing to defer the enterprise, waved his hat for +the boats to retire. Three young subaltern officers, however, commanding +the leading craft, pushed on ashore, having mistaken the signal for what +their stout hearts desired—the order to advance; some of their men, as +they sprung upon the beach, were dragged back by the receding surge and +drowned, but the remainder climbed up the rugged rocks, and formed upon +the summit. The brigadier then cheered on the rest of the division to +the support of this gallant few, and thus the almost desperate landing +was accomplished.</p> + +<p>Nor should due record be omitted of that which enhances the glory of the +conquerors—the merit of the conquered. To defend the whole line of +coast with his garrison was impossible; for nearly eight miles, +however, the energetic Drucour had thrown up a chain of works, and +occupied salient points with troops; and when at length the besiegers +effected a landing, he still left no means untried to uphold the honor +of his flag. Hope of relief or succor there was none; beyond the waters +of the bay the sea was white with the sails of the hostile fleet. Around +him, on every side, the long red line of British infantry closed in from +day to day. His light troops were swept from the neighboring woods; his +sallies were interrupted or overwhelmed. Well-armed batteries were +pushed up to the very ramparts; a murderous fire of musketry struck down +his gunners at their work; three gaping breaches lay open to the +assailants;<a name="FNanchor_117_117" id="FNanchor_117_117"></a><a href="#Footnote_117_117" class="fnanchor">[117]</a> his best ships burned or taken; his officers and men +worn with fatigue and watching; four fifths of his artillery disabled; +then, and not till then, did the brave Frenchman give up the trust which +he had nobly and faithfully held. To the honor of the garrison, not a +man deserted his colors through all the dangers, privations, and +hardships of the siege, with the exception of a few Germans who served +as unwilling conscripts. This spirited defense was in so far successful +that it occupied the bulk of the British force, while Abercromby was +being crushed by the superior genius and power of Montcalm. By thus +delaying for seven weeks the progress of the campaign, the season became +too far advanced for further operations, and the final catastrophe of +French American dominion was deferred for another year.<a name="FNanchor_118_118" id="FNanchor_118_118"></a><a href="#Footnote_118_118" class="fnanchor">[118]</a></p> + +<p>On the 7th of August detachments were sent, under Major Dalling and Lord +Rollo, to take possession of the other settlements in Cape Breton, and +of the Isle de St. Jean, now Prince Edward's Island. This latter +territory had long been an object of great importance to Canada; the +fertility of the soil, the comparative mildness of the climate, and the +situation commanding the navigation of the Great River, rendered it +invaluable to the settlers of New France.</p> + +<p>On the 15th the French prisoners were dispatched to Europe in +transports. On the 28th, Admiral Sir Charles Hardy, with seven ships of +the line and three frigates, conveying a force of some Artillery, and +three battalions of Infantry, was sent round to the Gulf of St. +Lawrence. The object of this expedition was to destroy the French +settlements at Miramichi, the Baye de Chaleurs, Gaspé, and as far up the +banks of the Great River as the season might permit; then to disperse or +carry away the inhabitants: by this it was hoped that the troublesome +marauders on the English frontier might be chastised and kept in check, +and that a portion of the enemy's strength might be diverted from +Abercromby's front. The execution of this painful duty was committed to +Brigadier-general Wolfe.</p> + +<p>These stern orders were punctually obeyed, but as much humanity as was +possible tempered the work of destruction. All the Acadian villages on +the northeastern coast were laid in ruins: some hundreds of the +inhabitants were borne away to captivity, and the rest driven from +their blackened hearths and desolated farms to the grim refuge of the +wilderness. Among the settlements devastated by this expedition was the +flourishing fishing station of Mont Louis.<a name="FNanchor_119_119" id="FNanchor_119_119"></a><a href="#Footnote_119_119" class="fnanchor">[119]</a> The intendant in charge +of the place offered a ransom of 150,000 livres to save the stores and +provisions his people's industry had created, but the relentless law of +retribution took its course, and the hoarded magazines of corn, fish, +and other supplies for their own use and for the market of Quebec, were +totally destroyed. Colonel Monckton, with three other battalions, was +sent on a similar errand to the Bay of Fundy and to the River St. John, +and in like manner fulfilled his task.</p> + +<p>It may, perhaps, be partial or unjust to single out one tale of woe from +among the crowded records of this war's gigantic misery to hold up in +the strong light of contrast with the glory of the recent victory. But +we may not hear, without a blush of shame and sorrow, how the simple +Acadian peasantry were made to pay the penalties of banishment and ruin +for the love of France and for loyalty to their king, at a time when +Pitt was the minister, Amherst the general, and Wolfe the lieutenant.</p> + +<p>Having executed his orders, Wolfe repaired to Halifax and assumed the +command of the troops in garrison. Admiral Boscawen and General Amherst +came to a conclusion that for that season nothing more could be effected +by them against the power of France. They therefore agreed, although +their instructions did not extend to any part of the continent beyond +Nova Scotia, that it would be advisable to detach a portion of the army +to strengthen Abercromby, and assist him to repair his disaster, of +which they were informed. Accordingly, Amherst sailed for Boston on the +30th of August with five battalions, arrived on the 13th of September, +and the next day landed his troops. Despite the interested +remonstrances of the local authorities, he soon pushed on through the +difficult district of the Green Woods, by Kinderhook Mills, and through +Albany to Lake George. Having there held counsel with the unfortunate +Abercromby, and delivered over his seasonable re-enforcement, he +returned to Boston, and finally to Halifax, where he had been instructed +to await orders from the English government.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_108_108" id="Footnote_108_108"></a><a href="#FNanchor_108_108"><span class="label">[108]</span></a> "But though Pitt desired high office, he desired it only +for high and generous ends. He did not seek it for patronage like +Newcastle, or for lucre like Fox. Glory was the bright star that ever +shone before his eyes, and ever guided him onward—his country's glory +and his own. 'My lord!' he once exclaimed to the Duke of Devonshire, 'I +am sure that I can save this country, and that no one else can.'"—Lord +Mahon's <i>Hist. of England</i>, vol. iv., p. 77.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_109_109" id="Footnote_109_109"></a><a href="#FNanchor_109_109"><span class="label">[109]</span></a> At this period commenced the brilliant era justly called +<span class="smcap">Mr. Pitt's Administration</span>, in which he became the soul of the +British councils, conciliated the good-will of the king, infused a new +spirit into the British nation, and curbed the united efforts of the +house of Bourbon. +</p><p> +The following picture of affairs at the moment when Pitt became +secretary of state (29th of June, 1757) is contained in a letter from +Lord Chesterfield to Mr. Dayrolles: "Whoever is in or whoever is out, I +am sure we are undone both at home and abroad: at home, by our +increasing debt and expenses; abroad, by our ill luck and incapacity.... +The French are masters to do what they please in America. We are no +longer a nation. I never yet saw so dreadful a +prospect."—<i>Correspondence of the Earl of Chatham</i>, edited by William +Stanhope Taylor, Esq., vol. i., <i>note</i>, p. 238.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_110_110" id="Footnote_110_110"></a><a href="#FNanchor_110_110"><span class="label">[110]</span></a> "What alarms me most, is the account Lady Hester brought, +of some men-of-war, a few, very few, being got into Louisburg; because, +upon the issue of that attempt I think the whole salvation of this +country and Europe does essentially depend," (Letter of Earl Temple to +Mr. Pitt, Stowe, July 3, 1758.)—<i>Chatham Correspondence</i>, vol. i., p. +325.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_111_111" id="Footnote_111_111"></a><a href="#FNanchor_111_111"><span class="label">[111]</span></a> See Appendix, <a href='#link3'>No. LXIV.</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_112_112" id="Footnote_112_112"></a><a href="#FNanchor_112_112"><span class="label">[112]</span></a> The place where the British troops landed, near +Fresh-water Cove, before the successful siege of Louisburg, was called +Cormoran Creek.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_113_113" id="Footnote_113_113"></a><a href="#FNanchor_113_113"><span class="label">[113]</span></a> "It may not be amiss to observe that a cavalier, which +Admiral Knowles had built, at enormous expense to the nation, while +Louisburg remained in the hands of the English during the last war, was +in the course of this siege entirely demolished by two or three shots +from one of the British batteries; so admirably had this piece of +fortification been contrived and executed, under the eye of that +profound engineer."—Smollett, vol. iv., p. 303.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_114_114" id="Footnote_114_114"></a><a href="#FNanchor_114_114"><span class="label">[114]</span></a> "The renowned Captain Cook, then serving as a petty +officer on board of a British ship of war, co-operated in this exploit, +and wrote an account of it to a friend in England. That he had honorably +distinguished himself may be inferred from his promotion to the rank of +lieutenant in the royal navy, which took place immediately +after."—Graham's <i>United States</i>, vol. iv., p. 28.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_115_115" id="Footnote_115_115"></a><a href="#FNanchor_115_115"><span class="label">[115]</span></a> "Brigadier Wolfe has performed prodigies of valor.... We +could not land before the 8th, which we fortunately effected after +encountering dangers that are almost incredible." (Letter from the camp +before Louisburg.)—Knox's <i>Historical Journal</i>, vol. i., p. 144.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_116_116" id="Footnote_116_116"></a><a href="#FNanchor_116_116"><span class="label">[116]</span></a> "Captain Ferguson, an old, brave, and distinguished navy +officer, earnestly prayed the admiral not to put the fate of the +expedition on the uncertain chances of a council of war,<a name="FNanchor_120_120" id="FNanchor_120_120"></a><a href="#Footnote_120_120" class="fnanchor">[120]</a> but at +once to attempt the landing, despite all difficulties. His spirited +appeal was successful."—<i>The Field of Mars</i>; Article, Louisburg. +London, 1801.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_117_117" id="Footnote_117_117"></a><a href="#FNanchor_117_117"><span class="label">[117]</span></a> So ruinous were the fortifications, that "General Wolfe +himself was obliged to place sentinels upon the ramparts, for the +private men and the sutlers entered through the breaches and gaps with +as much ease as if there had only been an old ditch."—<i>Translation of a +Letter from M. de Drucour to M. ——</i>, dated Andover, October 1, 1758, +when he was a prisoner in England.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_118_118" id="Footnote_118_118"></a><a href="#FNanchor_118_118"><span class="label">[118]</span></a> +</p><br /> +<p> +"<span class="smcap">Dear Wolfe</span>,<br /> +</p><br /><p> +"Camp, August 8, 1758. +</p><br /> +<p> +"I have your letter this morning, to which I can say no more to you than +what I have already done: that my first intentions and hopes were, after +the surrender of Louisburg, to go with the whole army (except what is +absolutely necessary for Louisburg) to Quebec, as I am convinced it is +the best thing we could do, if practicable. The next was, to pursue my +orders as to future operations; and this affair unluckily happening at +Ticonderoga, I quitted the thoughts of the future operations in part, as +ordered, to assist Major-general Abercromby by sending five or six +regiments to him, which I told Brigadier Lawrence he should command, in +case we could not go to Quebec.... I have proposed this to the admiral +for the day after the surrender of the town, and I am thoroughly +convinced he will not lose one moment's time in pursuing every thing for +forwarding and expediting the service.... Whatever schemes you may have, +or information that you can give to quicken our motions, your +communicating of them would be very acceptable, and will be of much more +service than your thoughts of quitting the army, which seem by no means +agreeable, as all my thoughts and wishes are confined at present to +pursuing our operations for the good of his majesty's service; and I +know nothing that can tend more to it than your assisting in it. +</p> +<p> +"I am, dear sir, your most obedient humble servant,<br /> +</p><p><br /> +"<span class="smcap">Jeff. Amherst.</span>" +</p> +<p> +—<i>Chatham Correspondence</i>, vol. i., p. 332.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_119_119" id="Footnote_119_119"></a><a href="#FNanchor_119_119"><span class="label">[119]</span></a> "The Bay of Mont Louis is situated upon the southern side +of the River St. Lawrence, bounded on one side by the inaccessible +mountains of Nôtre Dame. It is nearly half way between Quebec and the +sea, and all the vessels that ascend to Quebec pass within +view."—Charlevoix, tom. iii., p. 325.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_120_120" id="Footnote_120_120"></a><a href="#FNanchor_120_120"><span class="label">[120]</span></a> "Lord Clive declared to the Parliamentary Committee of +Inquiry, instituted A.D. 1773, that 'he never called a council of war +but once, which was previous to his passing the Ganges on his famous +expedition to Moorshedabad; and if he had then followed the decision of +the council, the company had been undone.'"—Belsham, vol. ii., p. 401.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER V.</h2> + + +<p>From the brilliant successes on the island of Cape Breton, it is now +necessary to turn to the painfully checkered course of events on the +American continent, where the execution of Pitt's magnificent +designs<a name="FNanchor_121_121" id="FNanchor_121_121"></a><a href="#Footnote_121_121" class="fnanchor">[121]</a> was unhappily intrusted to very different men from the +conquerors of Louisburg. The great minister's plan of operations had +embraced the whole extent of French American dominions, from the +embattled heights of Louisburg and Quebec, to the lone but luxuriant +wilderness of the West. By the protracted defense of the loyal and +skillful Drucour, the overwhelming forces of Amherst and Boscawen were +delayed till the advancing season had rendered impossible, for that +year, their descent upon the Valley of the St. Lawrence.</p> + +<p>The next British expedition in order and in importance was directed +against Ticonderoga and Crown Point. By the possession of these +strongholds the French had long been enabled to harass the English +frontier almost with impunity, and to command the navigation of the +extensive lakes which formed the high road to the heart of Canada.</p> + +<p>The third army was destined to march upon Fort du Quesne, of disastrous +memory, and to establish the British power in the Valley of the Ohio, +for the possession of which the sanguinary war had commenced, and the +spot where blood had first been shed. By the success of this object, all +communication between the French of Canada and Louisiana would be +effectually cut off, and the countries watered by the St. Lawrence and +the Mississippi left at the mercy of England's naval power.</p> + +<p>The same express that bore the tidings of Lord Loudon's recall, conveyed +a circular letter from Mr. Pitt to the colonial governors, declaring the +determination of the British cabinet to repair, at any cost, the losses +and disasters of the last campaign.<a name="FNanchor_122_122" id="FNanchor_122_122"></a><a href="#Footnote_122_122" class="fnanchor">[122]</a> To encourage the vigorous +co-operation of the colonists, they were informed that his majesty would +recommend Parliament to grant the several provinces such compensation +for the expenses which they might incur as their efforts should appear +to justly merit, and that arms, ammunition, tents, provisions, and boats +would be furnished by the crown. At the same time, the colonial +governors were required to raise as numerous levies of Provincial +militia as their districts would supply, to pay and clothe them, and +appoint their officers. Inspired by the energy of the great minister, +and excited to a generous emulation with the awakened spirit of the +parent state, the American colonies came nobly forward in the common +cause, and used their utmost efforts to strengthen, by their +co-operation, the promised armament from England. Massachusetts raised +7000 men, Connecticut 5000, and the thinly-peopled State of New +Hampshire 900; the numbers of the Rhode Island, New York, and New +Jersey levies have not been specified. These troops were ordered to take +the field early in May, but the muster proceeded slowly and irregularly, +insomuch that no movements were made toward the scenes of action until +the middle of June, 1757.</p> + +<p>The largest European army ever yet seen on the American continent was +assembled at Albany and in the neighborhood, under the command of +Abercromby, the general-in-chief since Lord Loudon's recall. A +detachment of the Royal Artillery, and seven strong battalions of the +line, amounting altogether to 6350 regulars, with 9000 of the Provincial +militia, composed this formidable force. Their object was the +destruction of Ticonderoga and Crown Point. Toward the end of June they +broke up from Albany, and encamped upon the ground where the melancholy +ruins of Fort William Henry still remained. On the 5th of July, the +cannon, ammunition, and stores arrived, and on that day the army +embarked on the waters of Lake George: 1035 boats conveyed this powerful +expedition, and a number of rafts, armed with artillery, accompanied +them, to overcome any opposition that might be offered to the landing.</p> + +<p>The armament continued its progress steadily through the day. When +evening fell, Abercromby gave the signal to lie to at a place called +Sabbath Point, on the shores of the lake: there the troops landed for a +time, and lighted large fires to distract the attention of the enemy. In +the dead of night they were suddenly re-embarked, and hurried on to the +Narrows, where the waters contract into the stream that communicates +with Wood Creek:<a name="FNanchor_123_123" id="FNanchor_123_123"></a><a href="#Footnote_123_123" class="fnanchor">[123]</a> there they arrived at five o'clock the following +morning. An advanced guard of 2000 men was thrown ashore at first dawn +under the gallant Bradstreet, and these having encountered no enemy, the +remainder of the army was rapidly landed. As the troops disembarked they +were formed into four columns, some Light Infantry were sent on to scour +the line of march, and the advance was sounded. They soon reached a +small encampment which had been occupied by a detachment of the regiment +of Guienne, but found it abandoned, the ammunition and provisions +destroyed, the camp itself in flames.</p> + +<p>Ticonderoga,<a name="FNanchor_124_124" id="FNanchor_124_124"></a><a href="#Footnote_124_124" class="fnanchor">[124]</a> the first object of the British attack, was a fort of +some strength, situated on the most salient point of the peninsula +between Lakes George and Champlain. To the eastward the rugged shore +afforded sufficient protection; to the west and north regular lines of +defense had been erected by the French engineers, and an extensive +swamp, spreading over nearly all the landward face, embarrassed the +approaches of an enemy. The neighboring country was a dense and tangled +forest.</p> + +<p>Early in the summer of this year, the Marquis de Vaudreuil, governor of +Canada, had received intelligence of Abercromby's extensive preparations +to gain the positions of Ticonderoga and Crown Point,<a name="FNanchor_125_125" id="FNanchor_125_125"></a><a href="#Footnote_125_125" class="fnanchor">[125]</a> and with them +the command of the important chain of waters leading to the River St. +Lawrence and the heart of the French possessions. The governor saw the +necessity of defeating this enterprise at any cost. He called to his aid +Montcalm, already famous by deserved success, and placed at his disposal +all the troops that could be spared from every part of the colony: on +the 20th of June they reached the position, they were directed to +defend.</p> + +<p>On the first of July Montcalm sent an advance of three regiments, under +M. de Bourlemaque, along the northwestern shores of Lake George; he +himself followed with three regiments, and the second battalion of Berry +to a place called the Falls, at the head of the lake, where he encamped. +The following day, two active and intelligent officers, Captains de +Bernard and Duprât, with some light troops, were pushed on over the +mountains toward the lower end of the lake where Abercromby's army lay. +When the boats of the English force covered the waters on the morning of +the 5th of July, these French detachments signalized to their general +that the time for action was come. M. de Bourlemaque immediately +dispatched 300 men, under the command of Captain de Trépézé, to watch +the hostile armament from the shore, and, if possible, to oppose its +landing. The next day, however, when the British disembarked, they were +in such force as to render opposition hopeless; this corps of +observation therefore fell back upon M. de Bourlemaque, and he too +retired toward the main body, under the command of Montcalm.</p> + +<p>So difficult and tangled were the woods on their retreat, that, in spite +of their knowledge of the country, one French column of 500 men lost +their way, fell into confusion, and in their bewilderment almost +retraced their steps. The English pressed rapidly on in pursuit, and, +from the ignorance of the guides, their divisions also became +confounded, and mixed up together in alarming disorder. The officers +vigorously exerted themselves to restore the broken ranks, but, in the +midst of their efforts, the right center column, led by the good and +gallant Lord Howe, was suddenly fronted by the body of the enemy who had +gone astray in the forest. They joined in bitter strife: almost hand to +hand, in the swamps, or from tree to tree on the hill side, the stout +Frenchmen held their own against the British troops, and, nothing +daunted by the unexpected danger, disdained to yield.<a name="FNanchor_126_126" id="FNanchor_126_126"></a><a href="#Footnote_126_126" class="fnanchor">[126]</a> At the first +shock many of Howe's Light Infantry went down; he himself, hurrying to +the front, was struck by a musket ball in the breast, and instantly +expired.<a name="FNanchor_127_127" id="FNanchor_127_127"></a><a href="#Footnote_127_127" class="fnanchor">[127]</a> His men, infuriated by the loss of their beloved +leader,<a name="FNanchor_128_128" id="FNanchor_128_128"></a><a href="#Footnote_128_128" class="fnanchor">[128]</a> swarmed on through the thick woods, and finally overpowered +or destroyed the enemy; not, however, till four fifths of the French +were wounded, slain, or taken, and some of the conquerors killed and +disabled, did they yield their ground.</p> + +<p>That night the victors occupied the field of battle; to this their +advantage was confined, for the disorganization of the troops had +frightfully increased during the unpropitious march, in the hard-fought +skirmish, and by the loss of their best and most trusted chief. The +vigor and spirit of Abercromby's army seemed to pass away with Lord +Howe. This gallant man, from the time he had landed in America, had +wisely instructed his regiment for the peculiar service of that +difficult country: no useless incumbrance of baggage was allowed; he +himself set the example, and encountered privation and fatigue in the +same chivalrous spirit with which he faced the foe. Graceful and kind in +his manners, and considerate to the humblest under his charge, his +officers and soldiers heartily obeyed the chief because they loved the +man. At the fatal moment when he was lost to England, her glory and +welfare most needed his aid. He lived long enough for his own honor, but +not for that of his country.</p> + +<p>The price of this slight advantage was ruinous to the English army. From +the unhappy moment when Lord Howe was slain, the general lost all +resolution, and, as a natural consequence, the troops lost all +confidence. Order and discipline were no longer observed, and the +after-operations can only be attributed to infatuation. At dawn on the +day subsequent to the combat, Abercromby actually marched his forces +back to the place where they had disembarked the day before, through the +dreary and almost impassable wilderness, traversed with the utmost +difficulty but a few hours before. However, on the return of the army to +the landing place, a detachment was sent to gain an important post held +by the French at some saw-mills, two miles from Ticonderoga. Colonel +Bradstreet was selected for this duty; with him were sent the 44th +regiment, six companies of the 60th, some Rangers, and a number of +boatmen; among them were those who had forced the passage of the +Onondaga River: altogether nearly 7000 men.</p> + +<p>The point to be assailed was approachable only by one narrow bridge; +this the French destroyed, and, not caring to encounter a very superior +force, fell back toward their stronghold. Bradstreet was not to be +deterred by difficulties. Accustomed to the necessity of finding +resources, the stream was soon spanned by a temporary arch. With +unwearied zeal he urged on the exertions of his men, and that very +night, not only his own command, but the whole British army, was once +more advanced across the stream, and established in an advantageous +position near Ticonderoga.</p> + +<p>At earliest light, Colonel Clark, chief engineer, and several officers +of rank, reconnoitered the enemy's position to the best of their power. +They could discover but little: a dense forest and a deep morass lay +between them and Ticonderoga. They observed, indeed, a breast-work, with +some felled trees in front, rising out of the only accessible part of +the dreary swamp, but as to its nature, strength, and disposition for +defense, their military skill and experience could afford them no light. +Their report included a variety of opinions: some treated the defenses +as slight and inconsiderable, and presenting only a deceptive show of +strength; others, and they far better qualified to judge, acknowledged +their formidable strength. Abercromby unfortunately adopted the former +opinion, and rashly resolved to attack without waiting the essential aid +of his artillery: his penalty was severe.</p> + +<p>Prisoners informed the English chief that his enemies had assembled +eight battalions, with some Canadians and Indians, and that they +mustered altogether a force of 6000 men. They were encamped at a place +called Carillon, in front of the fort, and busily occupied in +strengthening their position, that they might make good their defense +till the arrival of M. de Levi, who hastened to their aid, with 3000 +men, from the banks of the Mohawk River, where he had been making an +incursion against the British Indian allies. General Abercromby was +determined by this information, which, however, subsequently proved much +exaggerated. M. de Levi's force had in fact already arrived, and was +only 800 strong, and the French regular troops in the position barely +reached 3000 men, although battalions of the splendid, but then much +reduced regiments of La Reine, La Sarre, Bearn, Guienne, Berry, +Languedoc, and Royal Roussillon were present in their camp.</p> + +<p>On the morning of the 8th of July the French garrison was called to +arms, and marched into the threatened intrenchments. The regiments of +Bearn, La Reine, and Guienne, under M. de Levi, occupied the right of +the defenses; those of La Sarre, Languedoc, and two strong detachments +under M. de Bourlemaque, the left. In the center Montcalm held under his +own command the regiments of Berry, Royal Roussillon, and the light +troops. The colonial militia and Canadian irregulars, with the Indians, +were posted behind some field-works in the plain on the flanks of the +main defense, supported by a small reserve. The French intrenchment +presented in front, as was too late discovered, an almost impassable +barrier: a solid earthen breast-work of eight feet in height protected +the defenders from the hostile shot, and the gradual slope from its +summit was covered for nearly 100 yards with abattis of felled trees +laid close together, the branches sharpened and turned toward the foe. +However, on either flank this grim position was open; no obstacle +presented itself that could have stopped the stride of an English +grenadier. Of this the hapless Abercromby was ignorant or unobservant. +The French chief knew it well, and gave orders that, in case of the +assailants appearing on either of these weak points, his troops should +abandon the field and retreat to their boats as they best might.</p> + +<p>With the rashness that bears no relation to courage, the British general +determined to throw the flower of his force upon the very center of the +enemy's strength. While the army was forming for the ill-starred attack, +Sir William Johnson arrived with 440 Indians, who were at once pushed +forward into the woods to feel the way and occupy the enemy. The +American Rangers formed the left of Abercromby's advance, Bradstreet's +boatmen were in the center, and on the right some companies of Light +Infantry. Behind these, a line of the Massachusetts militia extended its +ranks on either side toward Lake Champlain and Lake George. Next were +ranged the British battalions of the line, with the 42d, Murray's +Highlanders,<a name="FNanchor_129_129" id="FNanchor_129_129"></a><a href="#Footnote_129_129" class="fnanchor">[129]</a> and the 55th, the corps trained by Lord Howe, in +reserve: on them fell the brunt of this desolating day. A numerous mass +of the Connecticut and New Jersey Provincial regiments formed the rear +guard. Strict orders were issued that no man should fire a shot till he +had surmounted the breast-work; then the arrangements were complete. +During these formations and through the forenoon, some French +detachments came forward and skirmished with the advance, but they were +always overpowered with ease, and driven hurriedly back to shelter.</p> + +<p>At one o'clock, when the mid-day sun poured down its burning rays upon +the scene of strife, Abercromby gave the fatal order to attack. As his +advance felt the fire, the light troops and the militia were moved +aside, and the regular battalions called to the front. The Grenadier +companies of the line led the way, Murray's Highlanders followed close +behind. With quick but steady step, these intrepid men pressed on +through the heavy swamp and tangled underwood, their ranks now broken by +the uneven ground, now shattered by the deliberate fire of the French: +impeded, though not confused, they passed the open ground, and, without +one faltering pause or random shot, the thinned but unshaken column +dashed against the abattis.</p> + +<p>Then began a cruel and hopeless slaughter. With fiery valor the British +Grenadiers forced themselves through the almost impenetrable fence; but +still new obstacles appeared; and while, writhing among the pointed +branches, they threatened the inaccessible enemy in impotent fury, the +cool fire of the French from behind the breast-work smote them one by +one. The Highlanders, who should have remained in reserve, were not to +be restrained, and rushed to the front; they were apparently somewhat +more successful; active, impetuous, lightly clad and armed, they won +their way through the felled trees, and died upon the very parapet;<a name="FNanchor_130_130" id="FNanchor_130_130"></a><a href="#Footnote_130_130" class="fnanchor">[130]</a> +ere long, half of these gallant men<a name="FNanchor_131_131" id="FNanchor_131_131"></a><a href="#Footnote_131_131" class="fnanchor">[131]</a> and nearly all their officers +were slain or desperately wounded. Then fresh troops pressed on to the +deadly strife, rivaling the courage and sharing the fate of those who +had led the way. For nearly four hours, like the succeeding waves of an +ebb tide, they attacked again and again, each time losing somewhat of +their vantage-ground, now fiercely rushing on, unflinchingly enduring +the murderous fire, then sullenly falling back to re-form their broken +ranks for a fresh effort. It was vain at last as it was at first: the +physical difficulties were impassable, and upon that rude barrier—which +the simplest maneuver would have avoided, or one hour of well-plied +artillery swept away<a name="FNanchor_132_132" id="FNanchor_132_132"></a><a href="#Footnote_132_132" class="fnanchor">[132]</a>—the flower of British chivalry was crushed +and broken. The troops that strove with this noble constancy were surely +worthy of a better fate than that of sacrificing their lives and honor +to the blind presumption of such a general.</p> + +<p>An accident at length arrested this melancholy carnage. One of the +British columns, in a hurried advance, lost their way, and became +bewildered in the neighboring forest. When, after a time, they emerged +upon the open country, a heavy fire was perceived close in front, as +they thought, from the French intrenchments. With unhappy promptitude, +they poured a deadly volley upon the supposed enemy; but when a breeze +from the lake lifted the curtain of the smoke from the bloody scene, +they saw that their shot had fallen with fatal precision among the red +coats of their countrymen. Then indeed hesitation, confusion, and panic +arose in the English ranks; their desperate courage had proved vain; a +frightful loss had fallen upon their best and bravest; most of their +officers were struck down; the bewildered general gave them no orders, +sent them no aid; their strength was exhausted by repeated efforts under +the fiery sun; and still, from behind the inaccessible breast-work, the +French, steady and almost unharmed, poured a rolling fire upon their +defenseless masses. The painful tale must now be told: the English +Infantry turned and fled. The disorder in a few minutes became +irretrievable; those who had been foremost in the fierce assault were +soon the first in the disgraceful flight. Highlanders and Provincials, +Rangers and Grenadiers, scarce looked behind them in their terror, nor +saw that no man pursued. In this hour of greatest need, General +Abercromby remained at the saw-mills, nearly two miles from the field +of battle.<a name="FNanchor_133_133" id="FNanchor_133_133"></a><a href="#Footnote_133_133" class="fnanchor">[133]</a></p> + +<p>When the fugitives found that the French did not venture to press upon +their rear, they in some measure rallied upon a few still unbroken +battalions that were posted around the position occupied by the general. +Scarcely, however, had any thing of confidence been restored, when an +unaccountable command<a name="FNanchor_134_134" id="FNanchor_134_134"></a><a href="#Footnote_134_134" class="fnanchor">[134]</a> from Abercromby, to retreat to the +landing-place, renewed the panic. The soldiers instantly concluded that +they were to embark with every speed to escape the pursuit of the +victorious enemy, and, breaking from all order and control, crowded +toward the boats. Happily, the brave Bradstreet still held together a +small force, like himself, unshaken by this groundless terror: with +prompt decision, he threw himself before the landing place, and would +not suffer a man to embark. To this gallant officer may be attributed +the preservation of Abercromby's army: had the disordered masses been +allowed to crowd into the boats, thousands must have perished in the +waters of the lake. By this wise and spirited step, regularity was in a +little time again restored, and the troops held their ground for the +night.</p> + +<p>The loss remains to be recorded: 1950 of the English army was slain, +wounded, and missing; of these, 1642 were regular troops, with a large +proportion of officers. The French had nearly 390 killed and disabled; +but, as their heads only were exposed above the breast-work, few of +those who were hit recovered. It is unnecessary to speak of their +admirable conduct and courage, or of the merit of their chief: their +highest praise is recorded with the deeds of those they conquered.<a name="FNanchor_135_135" id="FNanchor_135_135"></a><a href="#Footnote_135_135" class="fnanchor">[135]</a></p> + +<p>The sad story of Ticonderoga is now seldom told and almost forgotten; +the disasters or triumphs of that year's campaign have left upon its +scene no traces more permanent than those of the cloud and sunshine of +an April day. In the eventual century since passed, our country has +emerged from the direst strife that ever shook the world, triumphant by +land and sea, great in power and in wisdom, proudest among the nations +of the earth, still humblest in reverence of Heaven. The memory of this +remote disaster can not now, even for a moment, dim the light of +"England's matchless glory." But such records give a lesson that may not +be forgotten. Men bearing the same name have each at different periods +played important parts in British military history; though both have +long since passed away, their examples are still before us.<a name="FNanchor_136_136" id="FNanchor_136_136"></a><a href="#Footnote_136_136" class="fnanchor">[136]</a> The +British soldier, in time of danger, will not hesitate to elect between +the fate of Abercromby who survived the shameful rout of Ticonderoga, +and that of the stout Sir Ralph who fell upon the Egyptian plains.<a name="FNanchor_137_137" id="FNanchor_137_137"></a><a href="#Footnote_137_137" class="fnanchor">[137]</a></p> + +<p>On the 9th the troops were ordered to embark and retire to Fort William +Henry, which place they reached that night. Even when there the general +did not consider his army safe till he had strengthened the defenses. +Still diffident, he sent the artillery and ammunition on to Albany, and +afterward even to New York. By this defensive attitude he neutralized +the advantage which his greatly superior strength gave him over the +enemy, and thus for another year was deferred the acquisition of the +"Gates of Canada"—the Lakes George and Champlain, and the Richelieu +River.</p> + +<p>When Abercromby was fully secured in his old position, and discipline in +a measure re-established in the army, he hearkened to the earnest +solicitations of the indefatigable Bradstreet, that a force might be +sent to revenge on Fort Frontenac the ruin of Oswego, and thus to gain +the command of Lake Ontario. The carrying out of this plan was worthily +committed to him who had designed it, and a detachment of Artillery, and +two companies of regulars, with 2800 Provincial militia and boatmen, +were allotted for the task. The pusillanimous destruction of the +navigation of Wood Creek by General Webb in 1756 proved a most vexatious +and harassing difficulty in this expedition. But the resolution and +energy of Bradstreet overcame every obstacle; with immense labor and +hardship, his men removed the logs from the river, and at length +rendered it navigable. On the 13th of August the artillery and stores +were embarked, and the same day the army moved by land to the Oneida +Lake; thence, by the stream of the Onondaga, past the scene of their +leader's brilliant victory, to the waters of Lake Ontario, where they +again embarked.</p> + +<p>On the 25th, Bradstreet landed without opposition within a mile of Fort +Frontenac; he found this famed position<a name="FNanchor_138_138" id="FNanchor_138_138"></a><a href="#Footnote_138_138" class="fnanchor">[138]</a> weakly fortified and worse +garrisoned, through the unaccountable negligence of the Marquis de +Vaudreuil. After the victory at Ticonderoga, the French governor had +dispatched the Chevalier de Longueuil, with immense presents, to meet +the chiefs of the Iroquois at Oswego, with a view of gaining their +important alliance, and of inducing them to abandon all relations with +the English, by representing their cause as ruined through Abercromby's +defeat. He in some measure succeeded in his mission; the Indian deputies +assured him of their attachment, but said that, as all their brethren +had not been consulted, they must communicate with them before giving a +decisive answer. When the conference ended, the chevalier returned to +Montreal by Fort Frontenac, where he stopped for a day, and informed M. +de Noyan, the commandant, of the danger that threatened his position +from Bradstreet's advance. Every thing was speedily done to strengthen +the fort which the limited means at hand permitted; but De Noyan, well +aware that without aid resistance would be vain, urged upon De Longueuil +to send him re-enforcements as soon as he could reach the governor. This +the chevalier neglected, and Fort Frontenac and its worthy commandant +were left to their fate. When too late indeed, the Marquis de Vaudreuil +dispatched M. de Plessis Fabiot, with 1500 Canadian militia, toward Lake +Ontario, but by the time they reached La Chine intelligence arrived that +caused the greater part of the force to return to whence they came.</p> + +<p>Bradstreet at first threw up his works at 500 yards from the fort. +Finding that the distance was too great, and the fire of the enemy +little to be feared, he pushed closer on, and gained possession of an +old intrenchment near the defenses, whence he opened fire with vigor and +effect. A little after seven o'clock on the morning of the 27th, the +French surrendered, being without hope of succor, and of themselves +alone utterly incapable of a successful defense. The garrison, +consisting of only 120 regular soldiers and forty Indians, became +prisoners of war; and sixty pieces of cannon, sixteen mortars, an +immense supply of provisions, stores, and ammunition, with all the +shipping on the lake, fell into the hands of the victors. Among the +prizes were several vessels richly laden with furs, to the value, it is +said, of 70,000 louis d'ors. The attacking army had not to lament the +loss of a single soldier.<a name="FNanchor_139_139" id="FNanchor_139_139"></a><a href="#Footnote_139_139" class="fnanchor">[139]</a></p> + +<p>The fort thus easily won was a quadrangle, each face about 100 yards in +length; thirty pieces of cannon were mounted upon the walls, and the +rest of the artillery was in reserve, but the garrison was altogether +insufficient for the defense of the works. The very large amount of +stores, ammunition, and provision which were thus left exposed were of +vital importance to the supply of the distant Western forts, and the +detachments on the Ohio, at Fort du Quesne and elsewhere. In obedience +to an unaccountable order of General Abercromby, Bradstreet had no +choice but to burn and destroy the artillery, provisions, and stores of +every kind, and even the shipping, except two vessels which were +retained to convey the valuable peltries to the southern shores of the +lake. The fort was also ruined and abandoned; however, M. du Plessis +Fabiot sent on a detachment from La Chine, with M. de Pont le Roy, the +engineer, who speedily restored it. At the same time, another body of +troops was sent to strengthen the distant post of Niagara. In the mean +while, Bradstreet re-embarked his force and returned to the British +colonies by the same route as he had advanced.<a name="FNanchor_140_140" id="FNanchor_140_140"></a><a href="#Footnote_140_140" class="fnanchor">[140]</a></p> + +<p>At this time Fort Frontenac was the general rendezvous of all the +Northern and Western Indian nations, the center of trade not only with +the French, but also among themselves. Thither they repaired from all +directions, even from the distance of 1000 miles, bearing with them +their rich peltries, with immense labor, to exchange for European goods. +The French traders had learned the art of conciliating these children of +the forest, and among them attachment and esteem overcame even the force +of interest. It was notorious that the British merchants at Albany could +supply far better and cheaper articles, and actually forwarded large +stores of all kinds to furnish the warehouses of their Canadian rivals; +yet the savages annually passed by this favorable market, and bore the +spoils of the chase to the French settlement on the distant shores of +Lake Ontario.</p> + +<p>These annual meetings of the Red Men, however, had another object +besides that of commerce; the events of the preceding year were related +and canvassed, and council held upon the conduct of the future. Here +feuds were reconciled by the good offices of neutral tribes, old +alliances were strengthened, and new ones arranged. In these assemblies, +the actual presence of the French gave them an important influence over +the deliberations, and colored, to a considerable extent, the policy of +the Indian nations. On every account, therefore, the destruction of Fort +Frontenac was a great gain to the British cause.</p> + +<p>It now remained for the Marquis de Vaudreuil to announce the loss of +Fort Frontenac to the court of France, and to endeavor to make it appear +that he was free from blame in the unfortunate transaction. He +determined at all hazards to conceal the fact that his neglecting to +forward the required re-enforcements was the direct cause of the +disaster. The only mode of escape which suggested itself to his mean +mind was to throw the blame upon another; the unhappy commandant, De +Noyan, was selected as the victim of his falsehood. To prevent that +officer from forwarding to France his own statement of the case, the +treacherous governor himself undertook to represent the affair in a +light that could not fail to clear De Noyan of all responsibility. The +snare was successful; the brave commandant, guileless himself, doubted +not the honor of his chief, and blindly trusted him. De Vaudreuil, +unmindful alike of truth and justice, threw the whole weight of blame +upon his subordinate, and ascribed without scruple the loss of the fort +to the pusillanimity of the defenders. De Noyan, when too late, found +that he had been cruelly deceived; he appealed in vain, again and again, +to the court for redress, and at length retired from the service in +which he had met only with treachery and injustice.</p> + +<p>While Abercromby's intrenchments afforded him complete security, the +presence of his great but now useless army gave no protection to the +English frontier. The ever active and vigilant Montcalm lost no +opportunity of harassing outposts, assailing remote settlements, and +intercepting convoys. On the 17th of July, a party of twenty +Provincials, with three officers, was destroyed by the French light +troops in the neighborhood of Half-way Brook, and ten days afterward, +near the same place, 116 wagoners, with their escort of sixteen Rangers, +were surprised and horribly massacred, in spite of the late severe +warning. At length the general was aroused to exertion: he selected +Major Rogers, already famous in partisan warfare, and, with a force of +700 men, sent him to seek the marauders; they, however, effected their +escape unharmed. When the British were returning from this vain pursuit, +a dispatch arrived from head-quarters, directing them to scour the +country to the south and east of Lake Champlain, and retire by the route +of Fort Edward.</p> + +<p>According to these orders, Rogers pursued his difficult march, without, +however, much success in distressing the enemy, as, from the superior +information furnished to the French by the Indians, they always managed +to avoid the unequal combat. On the 8th of August, however, they +assembled a force of about 500 men, and, choosing a favorable situation, +in some measure surprised the British detachment, despite the unsleeping +caution of its able chief. Rogers's strength had been by this time, +through hardship, desertion, and other causes, reduced almost to a level +with that of his present opponents, and it was not without extreme +difficulty that he succeeded in holding his ground. In the first onset a +major and two lieutenants fell into the hands of the enemy, and several +of his advance guard were slain. However, under his brave and skillful +conduct, the British soon, in turn, won the advantage, and, after a +sharp and sanguinary combat of an hour's duration, the assailants +abandoned the field, leaving no less than 190 of their men killed and +wounded. Although the victors lost only forty of their number, fatigue, +and the cautions observed by the enemy during the retreat forbade +pursuit. Rogers therefore continued his march homeward, and arrived at +head-quarters without any thing further worthy of record having +occurred.</p> + +<p>Brigadier-general Stanwix had been detached, with a considerable force +of Provincial troops, to erect a fort in a favorable position on the +important carrying place between Wood Creek, at the Oneida Lake, and the +Mohawk River, with a view to encourage and protect the friendly Indians +in those districts from the enmity of the French and their allies. He +performed this valuable but unostentatious service with ability and +success; the works which he there established and garrisoned still bear +his name.<a name="FNanchor_141_141" id="FNanchor_141_141"></a><a href="#Footnote_141_141" class="fnanchor">[141]</a></p> + +<p>We must now return to the third expedition of the campaign against Fort +du Quesne, led by General Forbes. Although this chief had put his army +in motion before Abercromby marched upon the Northern Lakes, he had not +been able to get his last division out of Philadelphia till the 30th of +June: 350 of the 60th, or Royal American regiment, 1200 of the 77th, +Montgomery's Highlanders,<a name="FNanchor_142_142" id="FNanchor_142_142"></a><a href="#Footnote_142_142" class="fnanchor">[142]</a> and upward of 5000 Provincials, composed +his force.</p> + +<p>The march over the Alleganies was long and difficult; the defiles, +forests, swamps, and mountains were in themselves formidable obstacles, +had there even been no hostile force in front. But the judicious +arrangements of the general overcame alike the impediments and the +perils of the advance, and some dangerous attacks of the Indians were +repelled with vigorous alacrity. When the army reached Raystown,<a name="FNanchor_143_143" id="FNanchor_143_143"></a><a href="#Footnote_143_143" class="fnanchor">[143]</a> a +place about 90 miles from Fort du Quesne, Forbes halted his main body, +and detached Lieutenant-colonel Bouquet, with 2000 men, to take post in +advance of Loyal Hanning, while he constructed a new road, being +determined not to avail himself of the route used by Braddock.</p> + +<p>Bouquet was unfortunately fired with ambition to reduce the hostile +stronghold before the arrival of his chief, and accordingly he detached +Major Grant and 800 Highlanders to reconnoiter the works of Fort du +Quesne. The major, probably with a similar ambition to that of his +chief, endeavored to induce the French to give battle, and drew up his +men on a neighboring height, beating a march as a challenge. The combat +was accepted; the garrison sallied out, and, after a very severe action, +routed the Highlanders with loss, and took 300 prisoners, including the +commander. The broken remnant of Grant's force fell back in great +disorder upon their comrades at Loyal Hanning.<a name="FNanchor_144_144" id="FNanchor_144_144"></a><a href="#Footnote_144_144" class="fnanchor">[144]</a></p> + +<p>Cautioned, but not dispirited, by this untoward occurrence, Forbes +advanced with his whole army as rapidly as the rugged country and +unfavorable weather would permit, although so debilitated from illness +that he was obliged to be borne on a litter. Several parties of French +and Indians endeavored to impede his march, but were always repulsed; +once, however, in a night attack, some loss and confusion were +occasioned by the Highlanders and the Virginian Provincials firing upon +each other through mistake. The French were not sufficiently elated by +their victory over Grant to venture any serious opposition to Forbes's +advance, and the loss of Fort Frontenac, from whence they had been +expecting a supply of provisions and warlike stores, rendered successful +resistance hopeless: M. de Lignières, their leader, therefore dismantled +and abandoned the celebrated fort, and dropped down the stream of the +Ohio to the friendly settlements on the Mississippi. The following day, +the 25th of November, the British took possession of the deserted +stronghold, and at once proceeded to put it in repair. Under the new +owners, Pittsburg<a name="FNanchor_145_145" id="FNanchor_145_145"></a><a href="#Footnote_145_145" class="fnanchor">[145]</a> was substituted for the former name of disastrous +memory—Fort du Quesne.<a name="FNanchor_146_146" id="FNanchor_146_146"></a><a href="#Footnote_146_146" class="fnanchor">[146]</a></p> + +<p>This advantage was of considerable importance to the British; the +respect for their power among the Indians, which recent disasters in +that country had much shaken, was fully restored, and most of the +Western native tribes sent to offer aid, or, at least, neutrality. +Brigadier-general Forbes lived but a brief space to enjoy the credit +gained by this success; his naturally weak constitution was broken by +the hardships of the expedition, and he died soon afterward at +Philadelphia, in honor, and regretted by all who knew him.</p> + +<p>With this expedition concluded the campaign of the year 1758. Although +its events were checkered with disaster and disgrace, the general result +was eminently favorable to England, and honorable to the illustrious +minister who then directed her councils. The reduction of Louisburg and +its dependencies would have been of itself sufficient to reward the +sacrifices so freely made by her patriotic people. Now in possession of +a magnificent harbor—the key of the River St. Lawrence, it would be an +easy task to intercept any succor which France might endeavor to send to +prop her tottering sway in Canada. The reduction of the Forts Frontenac +and du Quesne had paralyzed the enemy's power in the West, and given to +England all the territory for the possession of which the war had +arisen. Abercromby's defeat had been solely a negative event; his +overwhelming force still hung like a thunder-cloud upon the shores of +the lakes, and Montcalm well knew that he owed his brilliant victory to +the incapacity of the British general, not to the want of military +virtue in the British troops. The men—whose desperate valor had been +wasted against the impassable barrier at Carillon—burning with ardor to +avenge their defeat under an abler chief, were still straining, like +bloodhounds on a leash, by the Canadian frontier.</p> + +<p>With the full accord of the British king and people, the great minister +distributed honor and punishment to the principal actors in the +important events of the past campaign. General Abercromby was superseded +in his command,<a name="FNanchor_147_147" id="FNanchor_147_147"></a><a href="#Footnote_147_147" class="fnanchor">[147]</a> and Amherst, the conqueror of Louisburg, appointed +chief of the American armies in his place. Immediately on receiving this +commission, the new general embarked at Halifax for Boston, and thence +proceeded to New York, where he arrived on the 12th of December, and +assumed the command of the forces. On the 24th of January following, the +unhappy Abercromby sailed for England in the Remmington man-of-war. +Brigadier-general Wolfe accompanied him, in consequence of permission +granted in his original order of service to return when the expedition +had succeeded. Colonel Monckton was left in command at Nova Scotia.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_121_121" id="Footnote_121_121"></a><a href="#FNanchor_121_121"><span class="label">[121]</span></a> "Le Comte de Chatam, Guillaume Pitt, génie vaste, +audacieux, intrépide, procure en peu d'années à l'Angleterre des succès +si prodigieux, que l'evénement seul en prouvoit la +possibilité."—Millot, tom. v., p. 47.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_122_122" id="Footnote_122_122"></a><a href="#FNanchor_122_122"><span class="label">[122]</span></a> "An immediate conquest of the settlements of the French +seemed to be requisite to the vindication of British power. How far such +conquest, if effected, ought in policy to be preserved, was a more +perplexing question; and, on the whole, the British minister was rather +animated to prosecute hostilities than fixed in decisive purpose with +regard to their ultimate issue.... From the extent and precision of +political information for which Pitt was so justly renowned, it is +impossible to suppose that he was unacquainted with the doubts which had +been openly expressed, both in Britain and America, of the expediency of +attempting the entire conquest of the French settlements in the New +World; and a conviction prevailed with many American politicians that +this conquest would destroy the firmest pledge which Britain possessed +of the obedience of her transatlantic colonies."—Graham's <i>Hist. of the +United States</i>, vol. iv., p. 24-26.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_123_123" id="Footnote_123_123"></a><a href="#FNanchor_123_123"><span class="label">[123]</span></a> The Wood Creek connected with Lakes George and Champlain +is to be distinguished from the Wood Creek more frequently mentioned in +these wars, which was situated between the Mohawk River and Oneida +Lake.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_124_124" id="Footnote_124_124"></a><a href="#FNanchor_124_124"><span class="label">[124]</span></a> "This place was originally called Che-on-der-o-ga by the +Indians, signifying, in their language, <i>noise</i>. Its name was afterward +slightly changed by the French into its present appellation, which it +has borne ever since it was first occupied and fortified by them in +1756. It was sometimes called Fort Carillon. This fortification cost the +French a large sum of money, and was considered very strong both by +nature and art. Its ruins are situated in the town of Ticonderoga, Essex +county, they are among the most interesting in the country, and are +annually visited by a great number of travelers."—<i>Picturesque +Tourist,.</i> p. 209.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_125_125" id="Footnote_125_125"></a><a href="#FNanchor_125_125"><span class="label">[125]</span></a> "The ruins of the old fortifications of Crown Point +present an interesting object from the water. The embankments are +visible, and indicate an immense amount of labor expended to make this +place invulnerable to an approaching foe, either by land or water. Crown +Point is eighteen miles north of Ticonderoga."—<i>Picturesque Tourist</i>, +p. 113.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_126_126" id="Footnote_126_126"></a><a href="#FNanchor_126_126"><span class="label">[126]</span></a> Graham, whose authority is always questionable where the +comparative merits of the British regulars and Provincials<a name="FNanchor_148_148" id="FNanchor_148_148"></a><a href="#Footnote_148_148" class="fnanchor">[148]</a> are +concerned, asserts that "the French party consisted of regulars and a +few Indians; and, notwithstanding their surprise and inferiority of +numbers, displayed a promptitude of skill and courage that had nearly +reproduced the catastrophe of Braddock.... The suddenness of their +assault, the terror inspired by the Indian yell, and the grief and +astonishment created by the death of Lord Howe, excited a general panic +among the British regulars; but the Provincials, who flanked them, and +were better acquainted with the mode of fighting practiced by the enemy, +stood their ground and soon defeated them."—Graham's <i>Hist. of the +United States</i>, vol. iv., p. 30.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_127_127" id="Footnote_127_127"></a><a href="#FNanchor_127_127"><span class="label">[127]</span></a> "He was," says General Abercromby, "the first man that +fell; and as he was, very deservedly, universally beloved and respected +throughout the whole army, it is easy to conceive the grief and +consternation his untimely fall occasioned."—<i>Letter from the Right +Honorable G. Grenville to Mr. Pitt</i>, Wotton, August 23d, 1758. +</p><p> +"The great number of officers and men in the regular troops killed and +wounded, and particularly the grievous loss we have sustained in the +death of Lord Howe, are circumstances that would cloud a victory, and +must therefore aggravate our concern for a repulse. I was not personally +acquainted with Lord Howe, but I admired his virtuous, gallant +character, and regret his loss accordingly. I can not help thinking it +peculiarly unfortunate for his country and his friends that he should +fall in the first action of this war, before his spirit and his example, +and the success and glory which, in all human probability, would have +attended them, had produced their full effect on our own troops and +those of the enemy. You have a melancholy task indeed, affected as you +justly are with this public and private sorrow, to communicate the death +of Lord Howe to a brother that most tenderly loved him. +</p> +<p> +"I am ever your most affectionate brother,<br /> +"<span class="smcap">George Grenville</span>." +</p> +<p> +—<i>Chatham Correspondence.</i> +</p><p> +Even Graham admits that "Lord Howe exhibited the most promising military +talents, and his valor, virtue, courtesy, and good sense, had +wonderfully endeared him both to the English and to the Provincial +troops. He was the first to encounter the danger to which he conducted +others, and to set the example of every sacrifice which he required them +to incur. He was the idol and soul of the army."—Vol. iv., p. 29. See +Smollett's <i>History of England</i>, vol. iv., p. 306. +</p><p> +"Lord Howe's memory was honored by a vote of the Assembly of +Massachusetts for the erection of a superb cenotaph at the expense of +the province, among the heroes and patriots of Britain, in the +collegiate church of Westminster."—Belsham, vol. ii., p. 205. +</p><p> +"The popularity of his name has been, perhaps, impaired by the +circumstance that his brother, Sir William Howe, commanded the British +army in the Revolutionary war in America. It is still doubtful whether +Lord Howe fell by the fire of the enemy, or by a misdirected shot from +some unhappy hand among his own confused and startled +soldiers."—Graham's <i>History of the United States</i>, vol. iv., p. 30. +</p><p> +Lord Howe was succeeded in his title by his brother Richard, afterward +the celebrated admiral. He had already distinguished himself by the +capture of the Alcide and the Lys.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_128_128" id="Footnote_128_128"></a><a href="#FNanchor_128_128"><span class="label">[128]</span></a> See Appendix,<a href='#link1'> No. LXV.</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_129_129" id="Footnote_129_129"></a><a href="#FNanchor_129_129"><span class="label">[129]</span></a> "The 42d regiment was then in the height of deserved +reputation; in it there was not a private man that did not consider +himself as rather above the lower class of people, and peculiarly bound +to support the honor of the very singular corps to which he belonged. +This brave, hard-fated regiment was then commanded by a veteran of great +experience and military skill, Colonel Gordon Graham,<a name="FNanchor_149_149" id="FNanchor_149_149"></a><a href="#Footnote_149_149" class="fnanchor">[149]</a> who had the +first point of attack assigned to him: he was wounded at the first +onset. How many this regiment, in particular, lost of men and officers, +I can not now exactly say; what I distinctly remember having often heard +of it since is, that of the survivors, every one officer retired wounded +off the field. Of the 55th regiment, to which my father had newly been +attached, ten officers were killed, including all the field officers. No +human beings could show more determined courage than this brave army +did."—<i>Memoirs of an American Lady</i>, vol. ii., p. 81.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_130_130" id="Footnote_130_130"></a><a href="#FNanchor_130_130"><span class="label">[130]</span></a> "Captain John Campbell and a few men forced their way +over the breast-work, but were instantly dispatched with the +bayonet."—Stewart's <i>Sketches of the Highlanders</i>, vol. ii., p. 61.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_131_131" id="Footnote_131_131"></a><a href="#FNanchor_131_131"><span class="label">[131]</span></a> It was at this period that Pitt commenced his bold, yet, +as it proved, most safe and wise policy of raising Highland regiments +from the lately disaffected clans. I have already alluded to this +measure by anticipation. Let me now add only the glowing words which +Chatham himself applied to it in retrospect. "My lords, we should not +want men in a good cause. I remember how I employed the very rebels in +the service and defense of their country. They were reclaimed by this +means; they fought our battles; they cheerfully bled in defense of those +liberties which they had attempted to overthrow but a few years +before."—Lord Chatham's <i>Speech in the House of Lords</i>, December 2d, +1777, quoted by Lord Mahon, <i>History of England</i>, vol. iv., p. 133.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_132_132" id="Footnote_132_132"></a><a href="#FNanchor_132_132"><span class="label">[132]</span></a> "So misinformed or so presumptuous was General +Abercromby, that he expected to force this strong position by musketry +alone, and had resolved to commence the attack without awaiting his +artillery, which, for want of good roads, was yet lagging in the +rear."—Lord Mahon's <i>History of England</i>, vol. iv., p. 203.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_133_133" id="Footnote_133_133"></a><a href="#FNanchor_133_133"><span class="label">[133]</span></a> Entick's <i>Hist.</i>, vol. iii., p. 258; Mante's <i>Hist. of +the War</i>, p. 151.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_134_134" id="Footnote_134_134"></a><a href="#FNanchor_134_134"><span class="label">[134]</span></a> "How far Mr. Abercromby acquitted himself in the duty of +a general, we shall not pretend to determine; but if he could depend +upon the courage and discipline of his forces, he surely had nothing to +fear, after the action, from the attempts of the enemy, to whom he would +have been superior in number, even though they had been joined by the +re-enforcement which he falsely supposed they expected. He might, +therefore, have remained on the spot, in order to execute some other +enterprise, when he should be re-enforced in his turn, for General +Amherst no sooner heard of his disaster than he returned with the troops +from Cape Breton to New England, having left a strong garrison in +Louisburg,"—Smollett's <i>History of England</i>, vol. iv., p. 309; Smith's +<i>History of Canada</i>, vol. i., p. 265. +</p><p> +"The British army, still amounting to nearly 14,000 men, greatly +outnumbered the enemy; and if the artillery had been brought up to their +assistance, might have overpowered with little difficulty the French and +their defenses at Ticonderoga. Next to the defeat of Braddock, this was +the most disgraceful catastrophe that had befallen the arms of Britain +in America."—Graham's <i>History of the United States</i>, vol. iv., p. 32.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_135_135" id="Footnote_135_135"></a><a href="#FNanchor_135_135"><span class="label">[135]</span></a> Letter from the Earl of Bute to Mr. Pitt: +</p> +<p> +"August 20, 1751. +</p> +<p> +"<span class="smcap">My dear Friend</span>—I feel most sensibly this cruel reverse, and +the loss of so many gallant men; but when I reflect on the part they +have acted, I congratulate my country and my friend on the revival of +that spirit which in former times was so conspicuous in this island. I +think this check, my dear Pitt, affects you too strongly. The general +(!!) and the troops have done their duty, and appear by the numbers lost +to have fought with the greatest intrepidity; to have tried all that men +could do to force their way. The commander seems broken-hearted at being +forced (!!) to a retreat. +</p> +<p> +"Adieu, my dear Pitt, your ever most affectionate +</p><p> +"<span class="smcap">Bute</span>." +</p> +<p> +—<i>Chatham Correspondence</i>, vol. i., p. 336.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_136_136" id="Footnote_136_136"></a><a href="#FNanchor_136_136"><span class="label">[136]</span></a> "Thus does history transmit the virtues of one age to +another, and thus does it hold forth warning of shame."—Bolingbroke.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_137_137" id="Footnote_137_137"></a><a href="#FNanchor_137_137"><span class="label">[137]</span></a> See Appendix, <a href='#link4'>No. LXVII.</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_138_138" id="Footnote_138_138"></a><a href="#FNanchor_138_138"><span class="label">[138]</span></a> "M. de Courcelers originated the design of building the +fort at Catarocouy, but, being recalled before it could be carried into +execution, M. de Frontenac carried out his plans in 1672, and gave his +name to the fort. Lake Ontario also, for a long time afterward bore the +name of Frontenac."—Charlevoix, tom. ii., p. 245. +</p><p> +"This fort was rebuilt by Frontenac in 1695, against the orders of M. de +Pontchartrain. The after importance of this celebrated position fully +justified Frontenac's opposition to the wishes of the French minister. +The connection between Canada and Louisiana mainly depended upon the +possession of Fort Frontenac, as was manifest upon its loss by the +French. Kingston stands on the site of old Fort Frontenac; next to +Quebec and Halifax, it is considered the strongest military position in +British America."—<i>Picturesque Tourist</i>, p. 222.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_139_139" id="Footnote_139_139"></a><a href="#FNanchor_139_139"><span class="label">[139]</span></a> Extract of a letter from an officer in Albany to a member +of Parliament here (London), dated Sept. 13, 1758: "Frontenac (called +here Cadaraque) was of great consequence to the French, both as to their +influence on the Indians, by keeping up a communication between Fort du +Quesne and Canada, and annoying us on the Mohawk River.... Colonel +Bradstreet is a captain in our regiment.... He is a man of great spirit +and activity; has been most of his life in this country, and understands +things very well.... Col. Bradstreet has been near three years pressing +the commanding general in North America to let him go against this fort, +but they thought the undertaking too desperate, which he has now +accomplished without the loss of a man, and at a very critical +juncture.... Thus the French expedition against the German Flats, and +probably this very town, is happily prevented; their shipping on the +Lake Ontario, which made them so formidable, is destroyed; they have no +vessels to send provisions into the other forts, and their fort, which +kept the Indians so much in their interest, is destroyed; and the Six +Nations (who, all but the Mohawks, would have left us) will now be more +in our interest than ever. The taking of Frontenac gave more joy to the +inhabitants of this place than even Louisburg itself, for it more nearly +concerned them, and they say there will be now no more scalping."—<i>The +Public Advertiser</i>, Jan. 20, 1759.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_140_140" id="Footnote_140_140"></a><a href="#FNanchor_140_140"><span class="label">[140]</span></a> Extract of a letter from New York, dated Nov. 20, 1758: +"Our army is gone into winter quarters, and I hope, when we make an +attack again, to succeed; but we must first have more regulars from +England. Our militia are not fit for a campaign. Our English soldiers +will kill ten Provincials in point of fatigue. The affair of Colonel +Bradstreet was a brave thing for us, but not one in five could go +through that tiresome affair; for, after the place was taken, they +buried thirty and forty in a day at Schenectady."—<i>The Public +Advertiser</i>, Feb. 3, 1759.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_141_141" id="Footnote_141_141"></a><a href="#FNanchor_141_141"><span class="label">[141]</span></a> "The village of Rome, fourteen miles west of Utica, is +situated near the head waters of the Mohawk: it stands on the site of +old Fort Stanwix, which was an important post during the Revolutionary +and French wars."—<i>Picturesque Tourist</i>, p. 139.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_142_142" id="Footnote_142_142"></a><a href="#FNanchor_142_142"><span class="label">[142]</span></a> "Several soldiers of this and other regiments fell into +an ambush, and were captured by the Indians. Allan Macpherson, seeing +his comrades horribly tortured to death, and knowing that the same fate +awaited him, told the savages, through an interpreter, that he knew a +wonderful secret of a certain medicine, which, if applied to the skin, +would render it proof against any weapon. His tale was believed by the +superstitious Indians, and, anxious to see the proof, they allowed him +to gather herbs, and, having mixed and boiled them, to apply the +concoction to his neck; he then laid his head upon a block, and +challenged the strongest man to strike. A warrior came forward, and, to +prove the virtue of the medicine, struck a blow with his tomahawk at +full strength; the head flew off several yards. The Indians stood at +first amazed at their own credulity, but were afterward so pleased at +the Highlander's ingenuity in escaping the torture, that they refrained +from inflicting further cruelties on their surviving +victims."—Stewart's <i>Sketches of the Highlanders</i>, vol. ii., p. 61. +</p><p> +Some of the Highland regiments sent to America were newly raised, and +still, in a great degree, retained the wildness of their Celtic +countrymen, as the following anecdote illustrates: "A soldier of another +regiment, who was a sentinel detached from an advanced guard, seeing a +man coming out of the wood with his hair hanging loose, and wrapped up +in a dark-colored plaid, he challenged him repeatedly, and, receiving no +answer (the weather being hazy), fired at him and killed him. The guard +being alarmed, the sergeant ran out to know the cause, and the unhappy +sentinel, strongly prepossessed that it was an Indian, with a blanket +about him, who came skulking to take a prisoner, or a scalp, cried out, +'I have killed an Indian! I have killed an Indian!' but upon being +undeceived by the sergeant, who went to take a view of the dead man, and +being told that he was one of our own men and a Highlander, he was so +oppressed with grief and fright that he fell ill, and was despaired of +for some days. In consequence of this accident, most of these young +soldiers being raw and inexperienced, and very few of them conversant in +or able to talk English (which was particularly his case who was +killed), these regiments were ordered to do no more duty for some +time."—Knox's <i>Historical Campaign</i>, vol. i., p. 48.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_143_143" id="Footnote_143_143"></a><a href="#FNanchor_143_143"><span class="label">[143]</span></a> Raystown is near Bedford.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_144_144" id="Footnote_144_144"></a><a href="#FNanchor_144_144"><span class="label">[144]</span></a> Loyal Hanning, when fortified by General Forbes, on his +return to Philadelphia, was called Fort Ligonier.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_145_145" id="Footnote_145_145"></a><a href="#FNanchor_145_145"><span class="label">[145]</span></a> "With the unanimous concurrence of his officers, he +altered the name of Fort du Quesne to Pittsburg, a well-earned +compliment to the minister who had planned its conquest."—Lord Mahon's +<i>History of England</i>, vol. iv., p. 203.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_146_146" id="Footnote_146_146"></a><a href="#FNanchor_146_146"><span class="label">[146]</span></a> "New York, Dec. 13. Early on Monday last an express +arrived hither from the westward, and brought sundry letters which gave +an account that General Forbes was in possession of Fort du Quesne; one +of those letters said: 'Fort du Quesne, Nov. 26, 1756. I have now the +pleasure to write to you from the ruins of the fort.... We arrived at +six o'clock last night, and found it in a great measure destroyed. There +are two forts about twenty yards distant; the one built with immense +labor, small, but a great deal of strong works collected into little +room, and stands at the point of a narrow neck of land at the confluence +of the two rivers: it is square, and has two ravelins, gabions at each +corner, &c. The other fort stands on the bank of the Allegany, in the +form of a parallelogram, but not near so strong as the other. They +sprung a mine, which ruined one of their magazines; in the other we +found sixteen barrels of ammunition, &c., and about a cart-load of +scalping-knives. A boy, who had been their prisoner about two years, +tells us ... that they had burned five of the prisoners they took at +Major Grant's defeat, on the parade, and had delivered others to the +Indians, who were tomahawked on the spot. We found numbers of dead +bodies within a quarter of a mile of the fort, unburied, so many +monuments of French humanity. Mr. Bates is appointed to preach a +thanksgiving sermon for the remarkable superiority of his majesty's +arms. We left all our tents at Loyal Hanning, and every conveniency, +except a blanket and a knapsack.' Another letter mentions that 'only +2500 picked men marched from Loyal Hanning ... that 200 of our people +were to be left at Fort du Quesne, now Pittsburg—100 of the oldest +Virginians, the others of our oldest Pennsylvanians.... The French +judged rightly in abandoning a fort, the front of whose polygon is only +150 feet, and which our shells would have destroyed in three days. We +have fired some howitzer shells into the face of the work, which is made +of nine-inch plank, and rammed between with earth, and found that, in +firing but a few hours, we must have destroyed the entire face."—<i>The +Public Advertiser</i>, Jan. 20, 1757.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_147_147" id="Footnote_147_147"></a><a href="#FNanchor_147_147"><span class="label">[147]</span></a> "He was a person of slender abilities, and utterly devoid +of energy and resolution, and Pitt too late regretted the error he had +committed in intrusting a command of such importance to one so little +known to him, and who proved so unfit to sustain it."—Graham, vol. +<span class="smcap">IV.</span>, p. 19.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_148_148" id="Footnote_148_148"></a><a href="#FNanchor_148_148"><span class="label">[148]</span></a> "It was a circumstance additionally irritating and +mortifying to England, that the few advantages which had been gained +over the French were exclusively due to the colonial troops, while +unredeemed disaster and disgrace had attended all the efforts of the +British forces (1757)."—Graham's <i>Hist. of the United States</i>, vol. +iv., p. 16.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_149_149" id="Footnote_149_149"></a><a href="#FNanchor_149_149"><span class="label">[149]</span></a> Graham, in his "History," falls into the mistake of +supposing that Lord John Murray commanded the 42d regiment, because it +bore his name.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER VI.</h2> + + +<p>It will now be advisable to consider the state of the two great rival +races on the North American continent, before entering upon the relation +of the eventful campaign which was but the crisis of a surely +approaching fate. Although the decisive blow that forever crushed the +power of France was doubtless dealt by the immortal Wolfe upon the +Plains of Abraham, the slow but certain conquest of Canada had +progressed for many a previous year; with the wisdom and rectitude of +the counselor, with the ax and plow of the settler, with the thrift and +adventure of the merchant, with the sober industry of the mechanic, and +the daring hardihood of the fisherman, was the glorious battle won. +Against weapons such as these the chivalry of Montcalm and of his +splendid veteran regiments vainly strove. To them victory brought glory +without gain, inaction danger, and disaster ruin. Despite their courage, +activity, and skill, the rude but vigorous British population, like +surging waves, gained rapidly on every side, and at length burst the +opposing barriers of military organization, and poured in a broad flood +over the dreary level of an oppressed and spiritless land.</p> + +<p>In the year 1759, the population of Canada had only reached to 60,000 +souls, and it was found to have decreased during the last twenty years +of war and want; of these, 6700 dwelt under the protection of the +ramparts of Quebec, 4000 at Montreal, and 1500 at the little town of +Three Rivers. The greater part of the remainder led a rural life on the +fertile banks of the St. Lawrence and its tributaries, while a few +wandered with gun and rod among Indian tribes scarcely more savage than +themselves, over the prairies, and on the shores of the great lakes and +rivers of the West. The settlements on both shores below Quebec were +then almost as advanced as now: small white houses, dainty in the +distance, stretched in rows for many miles along the level banks, or +dotted the hill side in picturesque irregularity. Here and there, neat +wooden churches, of a peculiarly quaint architecture, stood the centers +of hamlets and knots of farms. In their neighborhood this encumbering +forest was usually cleared away with careful industry, and each fertile +nook and valley, and the borders of each stream, were rich with waving +corn. Through these lower settlements a sort of rude track extended for +many miles by the water side. On the large and beautiful island of +Orleans many thousand acres of corn and pulse were sown, the farms +carefully separated by wooden paling, and intersected with tolerable +roads.</p> + +<p>Between Quebec and Montreal, the banks of the Great River were hardly in +so advanced a state as those toward the sea; the churches were fewer and +more distant, the houses ruder and more scattered. There were many +miles, indeed, where no traces of human industry greeted the traveler's +eye. The shores of the great lakes, or, rather, expansions of the +stream, were dreary swamps and thickets, and the slopes of the distant +hills still bore the primeval forest. On the sandy flats of Three +Rivers, in a scattered village, dwelt a population more numerous than +that of the present day; a small surrounding district was cleared and +cultivated, but the main occupation and support of the inhabitants was +the fur trade with the Indians, who resorted thither from the unknown +north by the waters of the broad streams here uniting with the St. +Lawrence.</p> + +<p>The rich and fertile island of Montreal was already generally cleared, +and extensively but thinly peopled. The city, at times called Ville +Marie in old maps, ranged somewhat irregularly for more than a mile +along the river side, and was even then remarkable for the superiority +of its public buildings over those of its colonial neighbors.</p> + +<p>The Fathers of the Sulpician Order, by virtue of a grant in the year +1663, were proprietors of the whole of this rich district. They had +established three courts of justice in the city, and erected a stately +church of cut stone at a great expense. The Knights Hospitallers also +possessed a very handsome building. A large, solid rampart of heavy +beams, with eleven separate redoubts, protected the landward face of +Montreal, and two platform batteries commanded the streets from end to +end.</p> + +<p>Here was the great dépôt of the northwestern fur trade, and here, also, +the best market for the plentiful crops of the adjoining island, of the +prairie, and of the Richelieu district.</p> + +<p>In the month of June the savages came hither in canoes from places even +at 500 miles' distance, to exchange their peltries for guns, ammunition, +clothes, weapons, and utensils of iron and brass. The meeting or fair +lasted for nearly three months, and during that time the town presented +a strange and sometimes fearful spectacle; motley groups of fierce and +hostile Indians occupied the streets, now engaged in bloody strife, +again sunk in brutal intoxication. The French used every effort to +prevent the sale of ardent spirits, but in vain, although sentinels were +posted night and day to forbid the supply of the maddening liquor, and +to preserve something of order in the wild gathering: all precautions +proved ineffectual, and the drunkard frequently became also a murderer. +At one time the little town of Chambly rivaled Montreal in the gainful +but dangerous traffic; however, in 1759, there only remained a fort to +prevent the English from enjoying the doubtful advantage of this trade. +At Sorel, the entrance of the Richelieu River, an agricultural village +had also arisen, rather beyond the neighboring settlements in extent and +population.</p> + +<p>Southwest of Montreal there was no town of any consideration. Near where +the modern Kingston stands, a few poor hamlets were indeed grouped round +Fort Frontenac, but on the shores of the sheltered Bay of Toronto, where +20,000 British subjects now ply their prosperous industry, myriads of +wild fowl then found undisturbed refuge from the stormy waters of the +lake. At Niagara there was a small village round the fort; there were +trading posts at Detroit, Michillimackinac, and elsewhere; but the +splendid tract of country lying between the northern shores of Erie and +Ontario was almost unknown, save to the wandering Indian.</p> + +<p>At this period, the first in importance, as well as population, among +the settlements of New France, unquestionably was Quebec, the seat of +government and of the supreme tribunals of justice. From its lofty +headland the successors of the wise Champlain looked down upon the +subject stream of the St. Lawrence, and held the great highway of Canada +as if by a gate. No doubtful or hostile vessel could elude their +vigilance; more than one powerful fleet had already recoiled shamed and +crippled from before their embattled city. Here were deposited the +public records, with most of the arms, ammunition, and resources of the +colony; here, too, the principal establishments of religion, law, and +learning were first founded and best sustained. The citizens and +neighboring peasantry were less lowered by Indian intercourse than their +other countrymen, and among them the refreshing immigration from the +fatherland produced its most invigorating effect.</p> + +<p>On the summit of the rocky height, a number of large and somewhat +imposing public buildings, grouped irregularly together, with the +well-built private dwellings of the wealthier inhabitants, formed the +upper town. The lofty spires of no less than nine large ecclesiastical +edifices arose within this comparatively limited space.</p> + +<p>There were the bishop's palace, the courts of judicature, and the house +of the Knights Hospitallers, the latter built of stone, extensive, +handsome, and adorned with two stately pavilions. There, also, in a +commanding situation, stood the Jesuits' college and their church, which +was almost magnificent in the interior decorations. The governor's +palace, however, erected in 1639, was the proudest ornament of the +colonial capital.</p> + +<p>Southwest of the Upper Town, on the crest of the headland, was the +citadel, a large, imperfectly quadrangular fort, with flanking defenses +at each corner, only protected, however, by a wall on the inner side. +Further on, a large work of great design, but not yet finished, crowned +the height of Cape Diamond:<a name="FNanchor_150_150" id="FNanchor_150_150"></a><a href="#Footnote_150_150" class="fnanchor">[150]</a> from the northern angle of this work, +an irregular line of bastioned defenses ran across the whole promontory +to the River St. Charles. Some rude and imperfect field-works, with +redoubts, strengthened the front toward the Plains of Abraham.</p> + +<p>The Lower Town covered the beach of the Great River under the cliffs of +the promontory: the dwellings, stores, and offices of the merchants, +many of them handsome and solid, filled up this narrow space. The only +edifice of note, however, was the church of Nôtre Dame de Victoire, +built to commemorate Phipps's defeat in 1690. The defense of this part +of the city was a large platform battery on the most salient point of +the shore, placed scarcely above the level of the waters. The access +from the Lower to the Upper Town was steep, narrow, and difficult, and +protected by flanking loop-holed walls.</p> + +<p>There was also a considerable suburb called St. Roch's, on the side of +the River St. Charles, where dwelt the chief part of the laboring +population, in irregular streets of mean and temporary houses. A large +portion of the now valuable space was unoccupied, and here and there the +rocky hill side remained as nature had made it. A few of the primeval +forest trees still ornamented the gardens and terraces of the city, and +clothed the neighboring cliffs.</p> + +<p>In the wide plain lying by the banks of the River St. Charles, many +handsome country houses and pleasant seats, with well-cultivated gardens +and rich orchards, met the eye, and, on the slopes beyond, the trim +villages of Charlesburg, Lorette, and Beauport; the distant mountain +range, with its forest covering, formed, as now, the background of the +broad and beautiful picture.</p> + +<p>From the Falls of Montmorency<a name="FNanchor_151_151" id="FNanchor_151_151"></a><a href="#Footnote_151_151" class="fnanchor">[151]</a> to Quebec, a continuous chain of +intrenchments defended the northern bank of the St. Lawrence. A large +boom lay across the mouth of the River St. Charles, and the bridge, +about a quarter of a mile high up the stream, was protected by a "tête +du pont." All these various works and fortifications were, however, rude +and imperfect; the strength, as well as the beauty, of this magnificent +position, was chiefly due to the bountiful hand of Nature.</p> + +<p>The cultivation of the fertile Canadian soil was of a very rude +description; but even the feeble industry of the "habitan" was generally +repaid by rich and plentiful crops. The animals of the chase, and the +inexhaustible supplies of fish in their lakes and rivers, were resources +that better suited the thriftless and scanty population than the +toilsome produce of the field. Tillage was neglected; they cared not to +raise more grain than their own immediate wants demanded. The +unparalleled monopolies of the colonial government deprived labor of the +best stimulant—the certain enjoyment of its fruits. The farmer hardly +cared to store up his superabundant harvest, when his haggard was +exposed to the licensed plunder of cruel and avaricious officials, or +served but as a sign where the domineering soldiery of Old France might +find free quarters. He that sowed the seed knew not who might reap the +crop. Often, when the golden fields were almost ripe for the sickle, the +war-summons sounded in the Canadian hamlets, and the whole male +population were hurried away to stem some distant Indian onslaught, or +to inflict on some British settlement a ruin scarcely more complete than +their own. In the early wars with the fierce Iroquois, this rude militia +had ever answered their leaders' call with ready zeal, and fought with +worthy courage; when the haughty savage was subdued and humbled, and a +new and more dangerous foe arose in the hereditary enemies of their +fatherland, the Canadians again took the field, strong in the spirit of +national hatred. But as, year after year, the vain strife continued, +and, despite their valor and even success, the British power hemmed them +more closely in, their hearts sickened at the hopeless quarrel, and they +longed for peace even under a stranger's sway. Their fields desolate, +their villages deserted, their ships driven from the seas, what cared +they for the pride of France, when its fruit to them was ruin, +oppression, and contempt!<a name="FNanchor_152_152" id="FNanchor_152_152"></a><a href="#Footnote_152_152" class="fnanchor">[152]</a> What cared they for the Bourbon lily, +when known but as the symbol of avarice and wrong!</p> + +<p>The manufactures of this neglected though splendid colony scarcely merit +even a passing notice. Flax and hemp were worked only sufficiently to +show how much was lost in their neglect, and the clothing of this simple +peasantry was chiefly of a coarse gray woollen stuff, the produce of +their own wheels and looms. At the forges of St. Maurice, near Three +Rivers, indeed, iron works were carried on with some skill, and profit +to the employed, if not to the employers.</p> + +<p>The commercial spirit of the French, such as it was, the fur trade +almost wholly engrossed; the fisheries were never carried on with any +vigor by the colonists; some adventurers, indeed, from the home ports, +bore the produce of the northern waters, with Canadian timber and +provisions, to the tropical islands, but even this limited trade was +monopolized by a privileged few, through the corrupt connivance of the +authorities. In the official returns of the colonial customs, there +appears every year an enormous surplus of imports over exports, which +can only be accounted for by the clandestine shipment of great +quantities of furs and other goods, to restore in some measure the +necessary balance of exchange. The sole view of the local officials was +rapidly to accumulate wealth at the expense of the state or of their +Canadian fellow-subjects; such of their books and accounts as fell into +the hands of the English were so confused and irregular that it was +difficult or impossible to discover the exact nature of their undoubted +dishonesty.</p> + +<p>The French East India company enjoyed the exclusive privilege of +exporting the valuable furs of the beaver; they had therefore an agent, +director, and controller in each separate government of Montreal, Three +Rivers, and Quebec. A stated price was fixed for each skin, and on the +hunter presenting it at the store, he received a receipt which became +current in the colony as money, and was held to the last in higher +estimation than the notes of the royal treasury. It has already been +stated that bills of exchange to an immense amount on the government of +France were afloat in the colony at a considerable depreciation; in the +emergency of the year 1759, they ceased to be negotiable at any price.</p> + +<p>Although the Canadian population was at this time poor, rude, and +dispersed, it presented in some respects features usually characteristic +of older and more prosperous communities. The emigration from whence it +mainly sprung contained within itself the embryo forms of organization; +nobility, clergy, merchants, and peasants were sent out from the +fatherland, and commissioned especially for their several offices. No +voluntary influx of ambitious, truculent, but energetic men swelled the +population or disturbed the fatal repose of the young nation; no free +development was permitted to its infant form, but, clothed in the +elaborate garments of maturer years, the limbs were cramped, and the +goodly proportions of nature dwarfed into a feeble frame. No +safety-valve offered itself to the quick spirit of the young Canadian; +military rank was limited to the favorites of the powers at home; +mercantile success was debarred by vile and stupid monopolies; +territorial possessions were unattainable but by interest or wealth: +here the proud man, for a time, chafed and murmured, and at length +strode away to the Far West, and sought the irresistible attractions of +free and savage life.</p> + +<p>No colony was ever governed by a succession of more able and excellent +men than that of New France, perhaps none (except Algiers) has been +apparently so much indebted to the mother country in tender infancy; +none ever exhibited more thorough failure. A fertile soil, invigorating +climate, and unsurpassed geographical advantages also offered themselves +to the men of France; royal liberality and power lent them every aid; +but, clogged by the ruinous conditions of their ecclesiastic and feudal +organization, healthy action was impeded, and the seed, thus freely sown +and carefully tended, grew up into a weak and sickly exotic. Experience +has amply proved, as wisdom might have suggested, that in colonies, +certainly, "the best government is that which governs least." When bold +and vigorous men struggle forth from among the crowded thousands of the +old communities, let them start in a fair race in the land of their +adoption; the difficulties are great, let high hope cheer them; Nature +there only opens her rich stores and bestows her treasures to brave and +patient industry; the uncertain seasons, the Indian, and the wolf, are +check and tax sufficient. The fatal error of despotic restraint cost +France Canada by conquest, and cost us the noblest land God ever gave to +man, by the deeper disgrace of a deserved and violent divorce.</p> + +<p>The Canadian nobility, or rather gentry, were descended from the civil +and military officers who from time to time settled in the country; +through their own influence or that of their ancestors, this privileged +class was altogether supported by royal patronage. Some enjoyed grants +of extensive seigneuries;<a name="FNanchor_153_153" id="FNanchor_153_153"></a><a href="#Footnote_153_153" class="fnanchor">[153]</a> others were speedily enriched by an +appointment to the command of a distant post, where ample opportunities +of dishonest aggrandizement were afforded and improved. Even the largest +and least fortunate class were provided for by the less profitable favor +of commissions in the colonial corps.</p> + +<p>These favorites of power were generally vain and indolent men; they +disdained trade and agriculture alike as beneath their high-born +dignity; but they did not scruple to grasp at every convenient +opportunity of easy profit, whether lawful or contraband; and they +exacted, frequently with unequal justice, a large portion of the fruits +of the earth from their peasant vassals. The feeble complaints of +poverty against oppression were seldom loud enough to awake the +attention of judges who were themselves often as guilty as the accused. +From the especial favor enjoyed by the Canadian gentry under the rule of +France, they were stanch to the last to her and to their own interests, +and, as far as they went, were the most effective garrison in the +colony: to them the prospect of British conquest was hateful and +ruinous; with it must end their reign of corruption and monopoly.</p> + +<p>At the time of the first settlement of Canada, the feudal system existed +in the mother country in all its Gothic rigor, and thus it was naturally +established in spirit and in letter as the basis of the new society. +Every territorial possession in New France was originally held by grants +under the strictest form of these iron laws; but, as the country became +more populous and of increasing importance, a variety of modifications +was gradually introduced, tending to curb the exorbitant power of the +seigneurs, and proportionally to elevate the condition of their vassals. +By degrees, many of the more obnoxious features of feudalism were +effaced; and the nature of the tenure became to a certain extent adapted +to the peculiar circumstances of the colony. The independent holdings by +"free and common soccage" were not, however, effectually introduced till +thirty years after the conquest.</p> + +<p>The favored classes of the Canadians were devoted to social amusements; +excursions by day, parties for gaming, and the dance at night, occupied +their summer; and in winter, sleighing, skating, snow-shoeing, and +evening réunion, turned that dreary time into a season of enjoyment. +Lively, free, and graceful in manners, their vanity and want of +education were little noticeable in the intercourse of daily life.<a name="FNanchor_154_154" id="FNanchor_154_154"></a><a href="#Footnote_154_154" class="fnanchor">[154]</a> +They were inclined to ostentation and extravagance;<a name="FNanchor_155_155" id="FNanchor_155_155"></a><a href="#Footnote_155_155" class="fnanchor">[155]</a> the means, +often unscrupulously procured, were squandered with careless profusion, +and they generally endeavored to keep up an appearance of wealth beyond +that which they really possessed. Henri de Pont Brian, bishop of Quebec, +in his remarkable address to the Canadian people immediately before the +conquest, draws a dark picture of the religious and moral condition of +the inhabitants at the time, and attributes the threatened danger to the +"especial wrath of Heaven for the absence of pious zeal—for the profane +diversions—the insufferable excesses of games of chance—the contempt +of religious ordinances—open robberies—heinous acts of +injustice—shameful rapines. The contagion is nearly universal." Making +every allowance for the worthy ecclesiastic's probable exaggeration of +the causes which excited his indignation, the evidence of their own +spiritual pastor must bear heavily against the reputation of the French +colonists.</p> + +<p>The clergy were usually classed in the second rank of Canadian +precedence; in actual importance, however, they had no superior. Those +holding the higher offices of the Church were chiefly or exclusively of +French origin, and some among them were men of high talents and +attainments; the parochial ministers and curates were generally +colonists, sprung from the humble orders of society, locally educated, +and limited in their ideas. Nevertheless, their influence over the still +simpler parishioners was very great. These inferior clergy were placed +under the absolute control of their bishops, by them promoted, removed, +or dispossessed at pleasure; a certain degree of jealousy, therefore, +not unnaturally mingled itself with the curate's reverend awe of his +alien prelate, whose lessons of humility were often less strongly +inculcated by example than by precept. Although many of the country +priests exerted themselves zealously against the English, under the +impression that a heretic conquest would be the ruin of their Church, +they were not altogether contented with the intimacy of the connection +that bound them to France. The idea had arisen, increased, and ripened +among them, that from their own body a discriminating government could +have selected wise and holy men upon whose heads the apostolic miter +might have been judiciously placed. The arrival of a new bishop or other +ecclesiastical dignitary from France was no more a matter of rejoicing +to the reverend fathers of Canada than that of a Parisian collector or +intendant to the provincial merchant and farmer. In the year 1759, +however, the Bishop of Quebec, the Abbé de la Corne, was of Canadian +origin; notwithstanding which, he was at that critical time in France. +When the Bishopric of Quebec was erected by Louis XIV. in 1664, he +endowed the new see with the revenues of the two abbacies, Benevent and +l'Estrie; subsequently these were resigned to a general fund for the +increase of small livings, from which a yearly income of 8000 livres was +allowed instead for the colonial bishopric. The chapter was also +enriched by a royal pension and an abbey in France, together valued at +12,000 livres annually.</p> + +<p>Besides some liberal allowances from the French crown, the Hôtel de +Ville, and other external sources, no less than one fourth of all the +granted lands was bestowed upon the Church establishment, and the +several religious, educational, and charitable institutions of the +colony, and a tithe of a twenty-sixth part of all the produce of the +fields was also appropriated to the support of the parochial clergy.</p> + +<p>First in establishment, and beyond all compare foremost in importance +among the religious orders in the colony, was that of the Jesuits: to +their particular care were intrusted the education of youth and the +Indian missions. Here, as in all other countries where that mysterious +and once terrible brotherhood had taken root, the traces of their +vampire energy were plainly and painfully visible. We can not, however, +but regard with admiration the courage and unquenchable zeal of these +extraordinary men; their union of strange and contradictory qualities +astounds us: the strong will of the tyrant, the enterprise of the +freeman, and the discipline of the slave. With variety and versatility +of power, but singleness of purpose, they pursued their appointed +course; whether warping the minds of their civilized pupils in the chill +tranquillity of the cloister, or denouncing idols among the fiercest of +the heathen, ever devoted and unwearied.</p> + +<p>The mission of the Jesuit priests was to bring the savage, on any terms, +within the pale of the visible Church; not to advance him in +civilization, but to tame him to the utmost possible docility. They +overleaped the tedious difficulties of conversion, and proselyted whole +tribes in a single day. At times they even adapted the forms of +Catholicism to the ferocious customs of the Indians. On one occasion, +when the Christian Hurons were about to torture and slay some heathen +Iroquois taken in battle, the missionary, by bribes and prayers, gained +permission to baptize the victims, but made no intercession to save them +from an agonizing death: while under the torments of the fire and the +knife, they recited their new creed instead of chanting the last +war-song. The Jesuit historian of this dreadful scene calls on his +readers to rejoice in the providential mercy that brought the captured +Iroquois within the blessed fold of the Church. In the triumph of +Christianizing the heathen, he despised the task of humanizing the +Christian.</p> + +<p>Even the wise and benevolent Charlevoix seemed to have forgotten that +Christianity is "the religion of civilized man," and that its doctrine +and practice are utterly incompatible with the habits of savage life. +He, in common with his Jesuit brethren, ever exhibited a jealous +hesitation and dislike to the enlightenment of the Indians by secular +instruction, or to the improvement of their physical condition; any +effort made by others with this object caused them deep uneasiness. +When, in 1667, M. de Talon, the intendant, urged by the far-sighted +Colbert, endeavored to introduce the language and civilization of Europe +among the savages, he was defeated by the determined opposition of the +missionaries, who alone at that time exercised influence over the red +children of the forest. Nearly twenty years afterward the same policy +was pressed upon M. de Denonville, and by him attempted; but, as +Charlevoix complacently says, when the French were brought into contact +with the Indians for this purpose, "the French became savages instead of +the savages becoming French." This readiness in adapting themselves to +the habits of the natives, which for a time gained them great power and +popularity,<a name="FNanchor_156_156" id="FNanchor_156_156"></a><a href="#Footnote_156_156" class="fnanchor">[156]</a> was ultimately fatal to their success as colonists. The +Anglo-Americans, on the other hand, despising their Indian neighbors, +and, in return, hated and feared by them, were seldom or never infected +by the contagion of savage indolence.</p> + +<p>M. de Frontenac writes, in the year 1691, that "the experience of twelve +years' residence in Canada has convinced me that the Jesuit missions +ought not to be separated as they are from the settlements of the +French, but that free intercourse should be encouraged between the +Indians and Europeans; thus they might become '<i>francisé</i>' at the same +time that they are Christianized, otherwise more harm than good will +accrue to the king's service."</p> + +<p>But on this question of the improvement of the Indians, the civil and +the military authorities of the colony were at perpetual issue with the +formidable brotherhood; the Canadian people generally concurred with +their temporal rulers on this point, hence it resulted that in later +years the Jesuits were little loved or esteemed in the colony.</p> + +<p>More than a century after the missionaries first penetrated the Indian's +country, their writers describe his condition as disgusting and +degraded, rather with contentment than with regret. From their +observations we may learn the views of the Jesuits, and in a measure see +the result of their practice. "It must nevertheless be confessed that +things have somewhat changed on this point (native civilization) since +our arrival in this country; some of the Indians already begin to +provide for future wants in case of the failure of the chase, but it is +to be feared that this may go too far, and by creating superfluous +wants, render them more unhappy than they now are in their greatest +poverty. The missionaries, however, can not be blamed for causing this +danger; they well know that it is morally impossible to keep the 'juste +milieu,' and provide the proper restraint; they have rather desired to +share with the Indian the hardships of his lot, than to open his eyes to +the dangerous means of its amelioration."</p> + +<p>When at one time the Christianized Iroquois had remained at peace for +the unusual period of six months, they almost forgot the neighborhood of +deadly and implacable enemies; the missionaries could not prevail upon +their careless disciples to take the necessary precautions for defense; +they therefore redoubled their endeavors to sanctify, and prepare for +the worst fate, those whom they could not preserve from it. In this +respect the Indian proved perfectly docile, and became readily imbued +with the sentiments suitable to his perilous position: he was, in +consequence, soon reduced to a degree of indolence and indifference +which has perhaps no parallel in history. Enthusiasts in the cause, the +Jesuits, Charlevoix says, regarded "every simple Indian who perished as +an additional intercessor above for them and their labor of charity."</p> + +<p>Almost the only civilization, and permanent religious faith and +practice, was established among the Indians by the labors of Protestant +missionaries. They, from the beginning, sought to cherish habits of +industry and forethought, and to give their converts a taste for the +comforts of life. In every instance of successful effort in the cause of +civilization, from the earliest time to the present day, the native +population has increased in numbers, and become gradually exempt from +that mysterious curse of decay which seems to cling to all the rest of +their savage brethren.<a name="FNanchor_157_157" id="FNanchor_157_157"></a><a href="#Footnote_157_157" class="fnanchor">[157]</a></p> + +<p>The descendants of the now neglected Jesuit converts are in no wise +distinguishable from other savages. By the labors of the brotherhood no +permanent impression was stamped upon the Indians; they yielded +themselves up in a great measure to the guidance of their missionary, +who, in return, taught them the outward form and ceremony of his faith, +but nothing more. He was the mind and the soul of the community; he +alone exercised forethought, guarded against danger, and measured out +enjoyment; to a certain extent he improved the temporary circumstances +of his disciples, but he robbed them of their native energy, and crushed +all freedom of thought and of individual action: he being removed, the +body remained deprived of all directing intellect: the condition of the +Christianized but uninstructed savage soon became almost the lowest of +human existence, till weakness, hardship, and famine swept him away from +the scene of earthly suffering.</p> + +<p>A very able writer on colonization ascribes the rapid decay in numbers +of all Jesuit congregations, whether in the snows of Canada, or the +burning sunshine of Paraguay, to the unnatural restraint in which they +live. No vigilant superintendence, moral instruction, and physical +well-being can compensate for the loss of freedom of action and the +habit of self-guidance. The necessity of taking thought for himself, and +living by the sweat of his brow, seems indispensable to the healthy +action of man's nature. It can not be denied that many of these +communities have held together for generations free from the corroding +cares and corrupting vices of civilization; amply supplied (superstition +apart) with religious instruction, and free from crime and punishment; +and many may be tempted favorably to contrast the feeble innocence of +this theocracy with the turbulent passions and vices which deform more +advanced societies, and to forget that the man whose mind is thus +enslaved is sunk below the level of his kind: his contentment and +simplicity are apathy and ignorance, and his obedience is degradation.</p> + +<p>Although the evident aim of the brotherhood is to paralyze intellectual +life in others, nothing is left undone to give vitality to their own. +The Jesuit regards his society as the soul or citadel of Catholic +theocracy, and sacrifices to it every social tie, his free will, and his +life: fired with its gigantic ambition and its pride, they become his +faith and morals; his constant idea is the hope of his order's universal +sway; in darkness and secrecy, with patience and invincible +perseverance, he works on at the labor of centuries, devoted to the one +great purpose, the fulfillment of which his dilating eye sees through +the vista of unborn generations. Yet this wonderful organization holds +the eternal passion of its deep heart riveted upon an object ever +unattainable; for the Jesuit seeks not to rear the supremacy of his +Church upon the firm foundations of virtue, truth, and reason; his +earnest toil is wasted on the shifting quicksands of ignorance and +superstition; the loftier the building, the more complete and extensive +must be the ruin. Nevertheless, through failure and success alike, his +faith's somber fire burns unceasingly upon the inward altar of his soul.</p> + +<p>The merchants of Canada were chiefly of French, the retail dealers of +native birth. From the nature of the colonial system, trade conferred +neither wealth nor respect, except to the favored few enjoying +monopolies. Every one in business was deeply involved by the depreciated +bills of exchange upon the home government, and their only hope of +ultimate payment rested upon the maintenance of the connection with the +parent state. The trading classes may therefore be counted as generally +hostile to the British power, but their importance was very small; like +all the French race, they were more inclined to small trading +transactions than those on a larger scale, and preferred enterprise to +industry. It has been seen that one of the leading objects in the +establishment of the colony was the trade in fur, especially that of the +beaver; but the very abundance of this commodity ultimately proved of +great detriment: the long and frequent journeys for the purpose of +obtaining it gave the Canadians idle and wandering habits, which they +could not shake off even when the low value of the now over-plentiful +fur rendered their enterprises almost unprofitable.</p> + +<p>The Canadian peasantry, or "habitans," were generally a healthy, simple, +and virtuous race, but they were also extremely ignorant; indeed, the +jealousy of their rulers would never suffer a printing-press to be +erected in the country; few could read or write, and they were +remarkably credulous of even the grossest fabrications which emanated +from their superiors. Chiefly of Norman origin, they inherit many +ancestral characteristics: litigious, yet impetuous and thoughtless; +brave and adventurous, but with little constancy of purpose. The +resemblance of the interior of a peasant's dwelling in Normandy, and on +the banks of the St. Lawrence, was remarkable to a practiced eye: with +the exception of the flooring—which in Canada is always of wood, and +in France of stone—every thing is nearly the same; the chimney always +in the center of the building, and the partitions shutting off the +sleeping apartments at each end of the large room where the inhabitants +dwell by day.</p> + +<p>The French minister, Colbert,<a name="FNanchor_158_158" id="FNanchor_158_158"></a><a href="#Footnote_158_158" class="fnanchor">[158]</a> in his instructions to M. de Talon +and the Sieur de Courcelles, dwelt much on the dangerous practice of the +early Canadian colonists building their residences without rule or +order, wherever convenience suited, and neglecting the important point +of settling near together for mutual assistance and defense. This system +being obviously a serious obstacle to successful colonization, an edict +was issued by the king that henceforth there should be no clearing of +lands except in close neighborhood, and that the dwellings should all be +built according to rule: this ordinance proved useless, as it would have +been necessary for the habitans to commence the toilsome task of new +clearing, and to abandon the lands where their fathers had dwelt. In +1685, however, the French government again renewed the attempt to alter +this pernicious system, but Charlevoix says that "every one agreed that +their neighbor was in danger, but no one could be got to fear for +himself in particular." Even those who had been the victims of this +imprudence were not rendered wiser by experience;<a name="FNanchor_159_159" id="FNanchor_159_159"></a><a href="#Footnote_159_159" class="fnanchor">[159]</a> any losses that +could be repaired were repaired as soon as possible, and those that +were irreparable were speedily forgotten. The sight of a little present +advantage blinded all the habitans to the future. This is the true +savage instinct, and it appears to be inspired by the air of the +country. In the present day an evil of exactly the opposite description +exists; as population became denser, the settlements became continuous, +and the holdings smaller. The habitans, who are social to a vice, can +not be induced to separate and clear new lands on a fresher but remoter +soil.</p> + +<p>In 1689 the King of France was urgently entreated by Comte de Frontenac +to make a great effort against the English at New York. His answer was +that he could spare no forces from Europe for America, and that the +Canadians, by settling in closer neighborhood, would be fully capable of +defending themselves. Thus, while the king could not understand the +difficulty of the habitans giving up their old and cherished homes to +seek others closer together, on the other hand they could not be +convinced of his inability to send supplies; and, indeed, the system +advocated by the crown would have been more costly in property than the +most vigorous aggressive campaign could have proved.</p> + +<p>Before the continuous wars with the English colonies, and internal +corruption, had exhausted the sap of Canada, no people in the world +enjoyed a happier lot than the simple habitans; they were blessed in a +healthy climate, in the absence of all endemic diseases, in a fertile +soil and an unlimited domain. These advantages might at least have +retained in the colony those to whom it gave birth, and who could not be +ignorant of its advantages; but love of change, hatred of steady labor, +and impatience of restraint, have always urged many of the young and +energetic, the life-blood of the population, to seek the irresistible +allurements of the distant prairie and of the forest.</p> + +<p>The Canadians were accused of an excessive greed of gain even by their +greatest panegyrists; no enterprise was too difficult or dangerous that +offered a rich reward. They were, however, far from miserly, and often +dissipated their hardly-won treasures without restraint or +consideration. Like all people in isolated communities, they had a high +opinion of their own merits: this was not without some advantages, as +it strengthened self-reliance, and gave spirit to overcome difficulties. +The form and stature of the Canadian ranked high in the scale of +mankind, but his vitality, though great, was not lasting; at a +comparatively early age his frame exhibited symptoms of decline, and the +snows of time descended upon his head.</p> + +<p>Father Charlevoix simply remarks upon the intellectual powers of the +Canadians, that "they are supposed to be incapable of any great +scientific acquirements, or of patient study and application: I can not, +however, answer for the justice of this remark, for we have never yet +seen any one attempting to follow such pursuits." He gives them credit, +however, for a rare taste for mechanics, and states that they frequently +arrive at great perfection in trades to which they have never been +apprenticed.</p> + +<p>To reduce this volatile people to rules of military discipline was +always found extremely difficult, but, in many respects, their own +peculiar manner of waging war, at least against the Indians, was far +more efficient in the wild scenes of savage contest: they were more to +be depended upon for a sudden effort than for the continuous operations +of a campaign, and in a time of excitement and under a commander whom +they could trust, they have shown themselves capable of deeds of real +daring. They were not commendable for filial affection, but elicited the +warmest eulogiums from the reverend father (Charlevoix) on their piety +and zeal. The sum of their virtues and vices denoted the promise more of +a good than of a great people.</p> + +<p>The Provincial revenue, produced by custom dues on imports and exports, +charges on the sales of land, duties on spirituous liquors, rights on +intestate deaths, shipwrecks, and miscellaneous sources, amounted to +something under £14,000 sterling the year of the conquest, and the aid +from the coffers of France to the ecclesiastical, civil, and military +establishments was nearly £4760. These resources could not provide +liberal salaries for the numerous colonial officials; as before stated, +however, they made up for the deficiency by shameless and enormous +peculations.</p> + +<p>All the male inhabitants of the colony, from ten to sixty years of age, +were enrolled by companies in a Provincial militia, except those who by +birth or occupation enjoyed the privileges of nobility. The captains +were usually the most respectable men in the country parishes, and were +held in great respect. When the services of the militia were required, +their colonels, or the town majors, transmitted the order of levy to the +captains, who chose the required numbers, and conducted them under +escort to the town; there each man received a gun, ammunition, and a +rude sort of uniform: they were then marched to their destination. This +force was generally reviewed once or twice a year for the inspection of +their arms; that of Quebec was frequently exercised, and had attached +thereto an efficient company of artillery. Many duties of law, police, +and the superintendence of roads in the country districts were also +imposed on the captains of militia: the governor-general was every year +accustomed to bestow a quantity of powder and ball by way of +gratification upon these useful officials.</p> + +<p>Besides this numerous but somewhat uncertain militia force, there were +in Canada ten veteran battalions of French infantry. These, however, +were much reduced from their original strength by desertion, fatigue, +and the casualties of war. The peculiar nature of the service, and the +necessity of quartering the troops abroad in small detachments, had +relaxed the rigor of European discipline, but the loss in this respect +was more than counterbalanced by the knowledge of the country, and the +habit of braving the severity of the climate. Their high military virtue +was still well worthy of men who had fought under Marshal Saxe. The +proud carriage and domineering conduct of these soldiers of Old France +rendered them little loved by the Canadian people, and, as their +pretensions were invariably supported by the government, it shared in +the general unpopularity.</p> + +<p>The one hundred and fifty years that had elapsed since Champlain first +planted the banner of France upon the headland of Quebec told with +terrible effect upon the Red Men: already among the Canadian hamlets on +the banks of the Great River they were well-nigh forgotten. Whole +tribes had sunk into the earth, and left not a trace behind; others had +wandered away, and were absorbed among those more fortunate races as yet +undisturbed by the white man's neighborhood; while some, in attempting a +feeble and fatal imitation of civilized life, had dwindled to a few +wretched families, who had cast away the virtues of savage life, and +adopted instead only the vices of Europe. The Hurons of Jeune Lorette, +near Quebec, were, however, as yet, a happy exception to this general +demoralization. Many years before, they had been driven from the fertile +countries between Lakes Huron and Erie, and found refuge upon the Jesuit +lands: they lived much in the same manner as the Canadian peasantry, +tilled the soil with equal success, and dwelt in comfortable houses. But +in one respect they had not escaped the mysterious curse which has ever +hung upon the red race in their contact with their European brethren; +from year to year their numbers diminished in an unchecked decay.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_150_150" id="Footnote_150_150"></a><a href="#FNanchor_150_150"><span class="label">[150]</span></a> See Appendix, <a href='#link4'>No. LXVII.</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_151_151" id="Footnote_151_151"></a><a href="#FNanchor_151_151"><span class="label">[151]</span></a> "Cette cascade a été nommée le Sault de Montmorenci et le +pointe porte le nom de Lévi. C'est que la Nouvelle France a en +successivement pour Vice-Rois l'Amiral de Montmorenci et Henri de Lévi, +le Duc de Ventadour, son neveu."—Charlevoix.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_152_152" id="Footnote_152_152"></a><a href="#FNanchor_152_152"><span class="label">[152]</span></a> "Pour les natifs du pays, laissons les à leur vie errante +et laborieuse dans le bois avec les sauvages, à leurs exercices +militaires; ils en seront moins opulents, mais plus robustes, plus +braves, plus vertueux, c'est à dire, plus propre à servir l'état, et +plus fidèles à le vouloir."—<i>Lettre de M. le Marquis de Montcalm à M. +de Berryer</i>, Montreal, April 4, 1757.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_153_153" id="Footnote_153_153"></a><a href="#FNanchor_153_153"><span class="label">[153]</span></a> The better part of the regiment de Carignan Salières had +remained in Canada, and at the end of the war against the Iroquois, they +became habitans, having obtained their dismissal on this condition. Many +of their officers had obtained lands with all the rights of seigneurs: +they established themselves in the country, married there, and their +posterity are still there. The greatest part were gentlemen, and thus +Canada has more of the "ancienne noblesse" than any of the other +colonies, perhaps than all the others together.—Charlevoix.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_154_154" id="Footnote_154_154"></a><a href="#FNanchor_154_154"><span class="label">[154]</span></a> "Les Canadiens, c'est à dire, les Créoles du Canada, +respirent en naissant un air de liberté qui les rend fort agréables dans +le commerce de la vie, et nulle part ailleurs on ne parle plus purement +notre langue. On ne remarque même ici aucun accent."—Charlevoix. tom. +v., p. 117. +</p><p> +"I confess I have a strong sympathy for the French Canadians; they are +'si bons enfans.' I remember, canvassing at Boston with an American +gentleman, the expression used with regard to French Canada by a late +English traveler, 'that it was a province of Old France, without its +brilliancy or its vices.' My friend's remark was, 'What remains after so +large a subtraction?' But I thought, and still think, the expression +graphic and just."—Godley's <i>Letters from America</i>, vol. i., p. 89.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_155_155" id="Footnote_155_155"></a><a href="#FNanchor_155_155"><span class="label">[155]</span></a> "The Frenchmen who considered things in their true light +complained very much that a great part of the ladies in Canada had got +into the pernicious custom of taking too much care of their dress, and +squandering all their fortunes, and more, upon it, instead of sparing +something for future times."—Professor Kalm, 1747.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_156_156" id="Footnote_156_156"></a><a href="#FNanchor_156_156"><span class="label">[156]</span></a> "Of all the Europeans, my countrymen are most beloved by +the Indians. This is owing to the gayety of the French, to their +brilliant valor, to their fondness for the chase, and, indeed, for the +savage life, as if the highest degree of civilization approximated to +the state of nature."—Chateaubriand's <i>Travels in America</i>, &c., vol. +i., p. 173.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_157_157" id="Footnote_157_157"></a><a href="#FNanchor_157_157"><span class="label">[157]</span></a> "Mr. N. (a missionary among the Mohawk Indians<a name="FNanchor_160_160" id="FNanchor_160_160"></a><a href="#Footnote_160_160" class="fnanchor">[160]</a> in +Canada) has been for a long time among the Indians, and knows them well: +he has a better opinion of them, and of their capacity for acquiring +domestic and industrious habits, than most white men to whom I have +spoken.... Mr. N. is by no means without hopes that, in a generation or +two, these Indians may become quite civilized: they are giving up their +wandering habits, and settling rapidly upon farms throughout their +territory; and in consequence, probably, of this change in their mode of +life, the decrease in their numbers, which threatened a total extinction +of the tribe, has ceased of late years. If it turns out as he expects, +this will form an exception to the general law which affects their +people."—Godley's <i>Letters from America</i>, vol. i., p. 163. See +Appendix, No. LXX.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_158_158" id="Footnote_158_158"></a><a href="#FNanchor_158_158"><span class="label">[158]</span></a> "The great Colbert introduced order into the French +finances in the reign of Louis XIV.; he encouraged the arts, promoted +manufactures with extraordinary success (only arrested by the revocation +of the Edict of Nantes), and may be said to have created the French +navy. 'Je vous dois tout, sire,' said the dying Mazarin to Louis XIV., +'mais je crois m'acquitter en quelque sorte avec votre Majesté en vous +donnant Colbert.'"—<i>Biographie Universelle</i>, art. Colbert.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_159_159" id="Footnote_159_159"></a><a href="#FNanchor_159_159"><span class="label">[159]</span></a> "Unlike their Anglo-American neighbors ... and now they +founded schools and courts of justice (in Virginia), and the plantation +was extended 140 miles up the river on both sides. But now, when the +English were secure, and thought of nothing but peace, the savages came +suddenly upon them, and slew of them 347 men, women, and children.... +This massacre happened by reason they had built their plantations remote +from one another in above thirty several places, which made them now, +upon consultation, to reduce them all to five or six places, whereby +they may better assist each other, since which time they have always +lived in good security."—Baker's <i>Chronicle</i>, p. 447. 1674.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_160_160" id="Footnote_160_160"></a><a href="#FNanchor_160_160"><span class="label">[160]</span></a> These Indians lost their possessions in the States by +adhering to Great Britain in the Revolutionary war, and received in +compensation a settlement in Canada of 160,000 acres. Since that time +they have decreased considerably, and now consist of not more than 2200 +souls.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER VII.</h2> + + +<p>During the early part of the eighteenth century, the British North +American provinces had made extraordinary progress in population and +wealth—a progress then unequaled in the world's history, and only now +excelled by that of the Australian settlements. From many of the +European nations, swarms of the energetic and discontented poured into +the land of plenty and comparative freedom. By far the greater number of +immigrants, however, were from the British islands, and their national +character in a great measure, absorbed the peculiarities of all the +rest. The natural increase of the population also far exceeded that of +European states; the abundant supply of the necessaries of life, and +immunity from oppressive restraint, produced their invariable results. +In the absence of any harassing care for the future, early marriages +were almost universally contracted. The man who possessed no capital +but his labor found in it the means of present support, and even of +future wealth; if he failed to obtain remunerative employment in the old +districts, he needed only to carve out his way in the new. The fertile +wilderness ever welcomed him with rude but abundant hospitality; every +tree that fell beneath his ax was an obstacle removed from the road to +competence; every harvest home, an earnest of yet richer rewards to +come.</p> + +<p>From the first, the British colonists had applied themselves to +agriculture as the great business of life; then trade followed, to +supply luxuries in exchange for superabundant products; and manufactures +came next, to satisfy the increasing necessities of a higher +civilization. From the peculiarities of the country, and the restless +and irregular habits of many of the earlier immigrants, a system of +cultivation arose, which, however detrimental to the progress of some +individuals, tended to develop the resources of the country with +astonishing rapidity. A number of the hardy men, who first began the +clearing of the wilderness, only played the part of pioneers to those +who permanently settled on the fertile soil: they felled the trees with +unequaled dexterity, erected log houses and barns, hastily inclosed +their farms, and, in an incredibly short space of time, reduced the land +to a sort of cultivation. With their crops, a few cattle, and the +produce of the chase, they gained subsistence for themselves and their +families. These men could not endure the restraints of regular society; +as the population advanced toward them, and they felt the obnoxious +neighborhood of the magistrate and the tax gatherer, they were easily +induced to dispose of their clearings at a price enhanced by that of +surrounding settlements: once again they plunged into the wilderness, +and recommenced their life of almost savage independence.</p> + +<p>The new owner of the pioneer's clearing was generally a thrifty and +industrious farmer: his object, a home for himself and an inheritance +for his children. In certain hope of success, he labored with untiring +energy, and converted the half-won waste into a fruitful field. His +neighbors have progressed equally with himself; the dark shadows of the +forest vanish from the surrounding country; detached log huts change to +clusters of comfortable dwellings; churches arise, villages swell into +towns, towns into cities.</p> + +<p>This system exercised an important influence on the politics and manners +of the colonists; the restless, impatient, and discontented found ample +scope and occupation in the wilderness, instead of waging perpetual +strife against the restraints of law and order in the older districts: +many of these men ultimately even became useful and industrious. The +acquisition of a little property of their own, and the necessity of law +and order for the preservation of that property, reconciled them to the +forfeiture of the wild liberty in which they had before exulted. The +truculence of the desperate often turned into the healthy ambition of +the prosperous.</p> + +<p>Along the shores of the magnificent bays and estuaries of the Atlantic +coast had already arisen many populous and thriving cities. Boston +numbered more than 30,000 inhabitants; her trade was great; her shipping +bore the produce of all countries through all seas, either as carriers +for others, or to supply her own increasing demands; her sailors were +noted for hardihood and skill, her mechanics for industry, and her +merchants for thrift and enterprise; her councils, and the customs of +her people, still bore the stamp which the hands of the Pilgrim Fathers +had first impressed. Moral, sober, persevering, thoughtful, but +narrow-minded and ungenial, they were little prone to allow the +enjoyment of social intercourse to interfere with the pursuit of wealth. +Although at times oppressive and always intolerant themselves, they ever +resented with jealous promptitude the slightest infringement of their +own freedom of conscience or action. They despised but did not pity the +Indian, and had no scruple in profiting largely by the exchange of the +deadly fire-water for his valuable furs.</p> + +<p>At the time of which we treat, the people of the New England States +numbered more than 380,000; they were the bone and sinews of British +power in America; in peace the most prosperous and enterprising, and in +war the most energetic, if not the most warlike, of the +Anglo-Americans. Their hostility against the French was more bitter than +that of their southern fellow-countrymen: in the advance guard of +British colonization they came more frequently in contact with the rival +power, and were continually occupied in resisting or imitating its +aggressions. The senseless and unchristian spirit of "natural enmity" +had spread in an aggravated degree among the children of the two great +European states who had cast their lot of life in the New World.</p> + +<p>The colony of New York had also arrived at considerable importance, but, +from the varied sources of the original population, the 100,000 +inhabitants it contained at the time of the war were less exclusively +British in character and feeling than their Puritan brethren of New +England. Many of the Dutch and Swedish farmers, as well as of the French +emigrants, retained unaltered the language and customs of their fathers, +and felt little affection for the metropolitan state, formerly their +conqueror, and now their somewhat supercilious ruler. The trade of New +York city, aided by the splendid navigation of the Hudson River, was +very large in proportion to the then small population of 8000. Great +quantities of corn, flour, and other provisions were conveyed from the +rich Western country by the inland waters to the noble harbor at their +mouth, and thence found their way to the West Indies and even to Europe. +The town of Albany, although inferior in population, was important and +prosperous as the chief dépôt for the Indian trade, and the place where +conferences were usually held between the English and the fast-failing +tribes of the once formidable Iroquois. New Jersey partook in some +respects of the characteristics of New York, and contained about 60,000 +souls. Owing to the protection of the larger neighboring states, this +fertile province had suffered but little from Indian hostility, and the +rich soil and mild climate aided the undisturbed labors of its +husbandmen. The forests abounded with oak, ash, cypress, hickory, and +other valuable timber, and the cultivation of flax and hemp was largely +carried on: these different productions were disposed of in the markets +of New York and Philadelphia, principally for European consumption.</p> + +<p>The great and prosperous State of Pennsylvania, nearly 5000 square miles +in extent, contained 250,000 inhabitants, and carried on a large trade +with Europe and the West Indies; through the rich and beautiful capital, +an immense surplus of agricultural produce, from its fertile soil, was +exported to other less favored countries. Philadelphia was happily +situated upon the tongue of land formed by the confluence of the two +navigable rivers, Delaware and Schuylkill; the streets were broad and +regular, the houses spacious and well built, and the docks and quays +commodious. This city still continued largely impressed by the spirit of +Quakerism; the stiffness of outline, the trim neatness of the dwellings, +the convenient but unpretending public buildings, and the austere +manners of the inhabitants, bespoke the stronghold of the formal men of +peace. Here it was, not twenty years afterward, in a vulgar and +unsightly brick edifice, that a few bold and earnest men pledged their +sacred honor, their fortunes, and their lives to an act, perhaps the +most important that history records—"<span class="smcap">The Declaration of +Independence</span>."</p> + +<p>The State of Maryland lies next in succession southward; to the east and +south, the waters of the Atlantic and the Potomac River wash its fertile +shores. About 40,000 white men here held 60,000 of their negro brethren +in toilsome slavery, and enriched themselves by the fruits of this +unholy labor. Tobacco, large in quantity and good in quality, was the +staple produce of the country. The capital, Annapolis, was beautifully +situated on the banks of the Patuxent River.</p> + +<p>South of the River Potomac and west of Chesapeake Bay, the State of +Virginia stretches inland to the Allegany Mountains. This rich province +produced corn and every kind of fruit in abundance; the forests were of +great extent and value, and supplied much good timber for exportation; +flax, hemp, tar, and iron were also produced in some quantity, but, as +in Maryland, the principal wealth of the country was in tobacco, +cultivated by the labor of nearly 100,000 slaves. The white population +numbered about 70,000. The magnificent Bay of Chesapeake extended +through this territory for nearly 300 miles from south to north, and +received many considerable streams at both sides. However, no commercial +town of any great importance had grown up on the shores of these +navigable waters.</p> + +<p>The Carolinas, bounded to the north by Virginia, extend along the +Atlantic coast for upward of 400 miles, and stretch westward 300 miles +into the interior of the vast continent. They are divided into two +provinces, the North and the South; the first the more populous, richer +in production, more advanced in commerce and prosperity. Here, as the +tropics are approached, the sultry climate favors the cultivation of +rice, indigo, and tobacco: great numbers of slaves labored in the +fertile swamps, and beautiful but unhealthy valleys of these states, +enriching the ruling race by their lives of unrequited toil. We do not +find any exact record of the population at the time of which we treat, +but that of both the Carolinas was probably not less than 260,000; of +these more than one half were whites.</p> + +<p>Georgia, the most southern of the British settlements in America, skirts +the Atlantic shore for about sixty miles, and includes the whole extent +of the Western country to the Apalachian Mountains, nearly 300 miles +away, widening gradually to 150 miles in breadth. To the south lay the +Spanish limits, marked by the River Altamaha, and the deserted fort of +San Augustin. At this time the province was thinly peopled, its +resources little known, and its luxuriant savannas still wasted their +exuberant fertility in rank vegetation and pestilential decay. The +inhabitants, however, raised some quantities of rice and indigo, and had +even made progress in the culture of silk. At Augusta, the second town +in importance, situated 200 miles in the interior, a profitable fur +trade was established with the Cherokees, and other comparatively +civilized Indians.</p> + +<p>It has been seen that the British North American colonies contained +upward of 1,300,000 inhabitants at the commencement of the campaign +which destroyed the power of France on the Western continent. Enormous +as was this physical superiority over the rival colony of Canada, the +wealth and resources of the British bore a vastly greater proportion to +those of their enemies. Barnaby, an intelligent English traveler who at +this time visited America, informs us that all the luxurious fruits of +wealth were displayed in our transatlantic settlements; and that, in a +journey of 1200 miles through the country, he was never once solicited +for alms. At the same time, he observes that the people were already +imbued with a strong spirit of independence,<a name="FNanchor_161_161" id="FNanchor_161_161"></a><a href="#Footnote_161_161" class="fnanchor">[161]</a> and that a deep but +vague impression existed that they were destined for some splendid +future. But among these sturdy and ambitious men mutual jealousies +rendered a permanent union of their councils apparently impossible; the +mother country failed in her effort to bring the strength of her +gigantic colonies to bear together<a name="FNanchor_162_162" id="FNanchor_162_162"></a><a href="#Footnote_162_162" class="fnanchor">[162]</a> upon any imperial object, +although she subsequently succeeded but too well in creating unanimity +of feeling against herself.</p> + +<p>By the fall of Louisburg, and the complete subjection of the Acadian +peninsula, the high road of the St. Lawrence lay open to the British +fleets; the capture of Fort du Quesne, and the occupation of the forks +of the Ohio, had given to England the command of the vast chain of +navigable communication which connected the Canadian lakes with the +distant waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Thus the 60,000 French of North +America were hopelessly isolated from their parent state, and left to +the mercy of their exasperated and powerful foes. Already their Indian +allies had wavered or seceded: no longer able to afford protection or +supply their commerce, the Canadian governor sank rapidly in savage +estimation; and even the "Great Father" beyond the seas ceased to be +regarded with the superstitious reverence formerly felt toward him by +his red children.</p> + +<p>But the lofty spirit of France was still unbroken by these losses and +dangers; even in this time of need she disdained to abandon or modify +her pretensions to the dominion of those Western wilds of America, for +the possession of which she had first drawn the sword, and she +determined to risk the utter ruin of her transatlantic power rather than +patiently submit to its diminution. Quebec and Canada might have been +saved had she acquiesced in our just right and title to the ancient +limits of Acadia, as marked out by former treaties, and had she +refrained from the prosecution of that vast scheme of encroachment by +which the British settlements would have been inclosed from Louisiana to +the great lakes of the north.</p> + +<p>At the same time, the British nation, inflamed by hopeful ambition, was +stimulated to renewed exertion by the triumphs and advantages of the +late campaign. Had the illustrious man who wielded England's strength +ever doubted in his own far-seeing mind the policy of removing the +Canadian incubus from the rising ambition of the colonies, the strong +tide of public opinion would have doubtless swept him away. But he +possessed neither the inclination nor the power to halt in the career of +glory and success, when the magnificent dominions of France in America +lay within his grasp: he firmly resolved to seize the prize, and devoted +all the energies and abilities of his mind to the one great object.</p> + +<p>The British Parliament addressed the throne in terms of the highest +approbation of the minister; they applauded the conduct of the campaign, +and pledged themselves zealously and cheerfully to furnish all necessary +supplies. The king sent them a message representing the spirited efforts +made by his American subjects in the prosecution of the war, and +recommending compensation for the losses and expenses they had incurred +in the maintenance of his rights and England's glory; the prompt answer +was a vote of £200,000 for the required purpose. The people even +surpassed their representatives in ardor; one universal spirit pervaded +all ranks and classes—a confidence in British triumph and French +humiliation. The conquest of Canada was now the first and darling object +of the nation.</p> + +<p>Mr. Pitt decided upon pursuing the same plan of operations which had +been partially successful in the last campaign: he purposed to throw +three separate expeditions at once against the three strongholds of +Canadian power, Niagara, Montreal, and Quebec. The mainspring of this +grand design was, that these attacks should be simultaneous, and thus +distract the attention and divide the force of the defenders. A +formidable armament was zealously and speedily equipped in the English +ports to carry a force of from 7000 to 8000 men, by the River St. +Lawrence to the walls of Quebec. The main army of America, 12,000 +strong, was assembled on the woody shores of Lake George: it was +destined to penetrate the heart of Canada by the Richelieu River and +occupy Montreal, after having first overwhelmed the French detachments +at Ticonderoga and Crown Point; thence the British troops were to +descend the broad stream of the St. Lawrence till they joined their +strength to that of the besiegers of Quebec. At the same time, another +British corps, and a large body of Indians, was directed upon Niagara, +with orders to take and garrison the fort, and then hasten down over +Ontario, and the rapids of the Great River, to co-operate with the other +expeditions. This scheme was as impracticable in its execution, as it +was bold and comprehensive in design.</p> + +<p>When Pitt cast his eyes over the scantily traced map of the Western +World, he disdained to note the almost insurmountable difficulties +which its broad blanks unobtrusively represented. As his bold hand +struck out the several lines of operation, he forgot the hideous +wilderness, the stormy ocean, and the dangerous lake, over the tracings +of which his pencil passed, and his daring heart doubted not for a +moment of success. It is a trite observation, that a combined movement +is always precarious, even under the most favorable circumstances. +Uncertainty of weather, or different degrees of zeal and activity in the +leaders, may disjoint the most elaborate scheme; but, in such a case as +this, with all the superadded chances of the sea, the river, and the +desert, a wisdom greater than that of the wisest, a power stronger than +that of the most powerful, could alone have given us the victory.</p> + +<p>The French possessed the immense advantage of acting as it were on a +smooth high road, while their assailants were entangled in a broken and +difficult country. The River St. Lawrence furnished a means of +intercommunication that enabled them to throw the mass of their force +upon any one of the hostile armies they might select, and thus outnumber +each in succession; the bold position of Quebec supplied them with a +place of arms, and an advantageous battle-ground when all else should be +lost. The able and skillful Montcalm was not likely to fail in turning +these favorable circumstances to full account.</p> + +<p>The most vulnerable, and, at the same time, the most vital part of +Canada was the spot where the Richelieu River pours into the St. +Lawrence. Thence to the magnificent harbor of New York, a scarcely +interrupted chain of navigable water, by the Lakes Champlain and George +and the Hudson River, offered a practicable route to the invading force. +Looking back upon the past with that wisdom which is the humble disciple +of experience, it would appear that the whole British power should have +been thrown at once upon that single point. By uniting the veteran corps +embarked in the fleet from England and Nova Scotia, with the formidable +force destined against Niagara, to the main army, nearly 25,000 British +troops could have been brought to bear against the feeble defenses of +the lakes, and poured down with irresistible strength on the Valley of +the St. Lawrence. Thence to Quebec the watery path lay free and +unembarrassed, and no hostile power existed strong enough to dare a +battle against such a host. In the mean time, the English fleet should +have anchored in the broad basin above the island of Orleans, +intercepted all European aid, and, by vigorous demonstrations, kept in +play as much as possible of the enemy's strength. Had this scheme been +adopted, the decisive battle might probably have still been fought on +the Plains of Abraham, but with far greater chances in favor of British +triumph than in the fight which was subsequently bravely won. The whole +disposable force of Canada would naturally have opposed the invading +army, and would have been either forced down upon the defense of Quebec, +or driven to an unequal combat. The French army overpowered and their +great stronghold taken, Montreal, with Niagara and the Western country, +must have lain an easy prey.</p> + +<p>To find out the weakest point of the enemy's position, and to assail it +with his greatest power, was the constant aim of the first of modern +captains, and the talisman of his matchless success. The British +minister's scheme for the conquest of Canada presents exactly the +reverse of this system; the several strongholds of the French were +selected for simultaneous attack by separate and insufficient forces. By +an overruling Providence, however, the skill and daring of a British +general, and the valor of his troops, together with the incomprehensible +error of their chivalrous opponent, gave to the arms of England victory +and glory, and to the ruler of her councils complete ultimate success.</p> + +<p>To pave the way for the campaign of 1759, a grand conference was held +with the Indians, in the October of the preceding year, at Easton, about +ninety miles from Philadelphia; there peace was formerly established +between England and the several native nations inhabiting the country, +which extends from the Apalachian Mountains to the lakes. Some tribes, +however, still held aloof. The business of the British agents at this +meeting was to ascertain the limits of the several lands about the +possession of which disputes had occurred with the natives, to +reconcile the bitter hostilities of different tribes against each other, +to remove every cause of misunderstanding between the Indians and +ourselves, and effectually to detach them from the interests of the +French. The conferences were continued from the 8th to the 26th of +October, when every article was finally arranged to the satisfaction of +all parties. The Indians were then given presents, made drunk, and +dismissed to their several dwellings.</p> + +<p>General Amherst, and his gallant colleague Admiral Boscawen, had, as the +conquerors of Louisburg, received the high honor of thanks from the +representatives of a grateful people in the British Parliament. The +vigor, ability, and courage displayed by Amherst in the previous year, +inspired a universal hope of future success among his countrymen, and +all eyes were fixed with deep and sanguine interest on the movements of +the formidable armies which he was now to direct against the failing +power of the French. But the memory of Abercromby's fatal disaster was +still fresh in the English mind, and somewhat damped the rising hopes of +conquest and of glory. The difficulties before which he had recoiled, +disgraced and ruined, were since increased rather than diminished: the +fort of Chambly, which defended the pass by the Richelieu River to the +St. Lawrence, had been strengthened and garrisoned by a body of regular +troops and militia; Crown Point had been re-enforced, and an increase of +vessels had completely given the command of Lake Champlain to the +French.</p> + +<p>The British colonies were eager in seconding the grand designs of the +parent state—designs, indeed, far more important to them than to +England. But they found it difficult to keep pace with the expenditure +which the great minister's splendid and thriftless conduct of the war +rendered necessary. Some reluctance was now expressed, especially in New +England, to raise the levies required by the Provincial governments. In +the opening of last year's operations it had been promised that a single +campaign would suffice to end with success the deadly and ruinous +strife. The same promise was now once more offered, but received by no +willing ears. The taxes were already excessive, the demand for men most +burdensome, and the liberal compensation voted by the British Parliament +was still insufficient to remunerate the colonists for past losses and +advances, and had been unfortunately so long delayed by official +interruptions as to create considerable mistrust and dissatisfaction. It +was not without much difficulty that Connecticut was induced to keep up +her last year's contingent of 5000 men, and Massachusetts at first +declined to raise more than the same number, until prevailed upon by the +instances of Amherst, who was universally respected and esteemed. The +thinly-peopled state of New Hampshire, however, exceeded her former +exertions, and sent no less than 1000 men into the field.</p> + +<p>The movements of the last campaign, and the extensive preparations in +the British settlements, no longer afforded room for doubt that the aim +of England was the annihilation of the power of France in America. The +Marquis de Vaudreuil therefore issued a proclamation at the close of the +year 1758 to the several officers of Canadian militia, to excite their +zeal and quicken their activity in preparations for resistance. +"Notwithstanding our glorious successes," said he, "the state of the +colony is perilous. The enemy are making great efforts both by sea and +land; we must prepare, therefore, to meet them boldly as soon as the +season of the year allows them to act. No time must be lost in +organizing our defense." He then directed that all the male inhabitants +of the province, from sixteen to sixty years of age, should be enrolled +in the militia, and should remain in readiness to march at a moment's +notice.</p> + +<p>The captains of militia faithfully endeavored to comply with these +orders, but the farmers, or habitans, showed great disinclination to +abandon the cultivation of their fields for the certain hardships and +dangers, and the uncertain glories of a soldier's life. Where the levies +were efficiently carried out, the country remained waste; the last +harvest had been far from abundant, and the rapacious seizures of grain +for the real or fictitious wants of the government caused a pinching +scarcity. The intendant had arbitrarily fixed the price of wheat at +twelve sous the bushel, yet none was sold under a far higher rate. +Every device of peculation was resorted to by the unworthy civil +officers to increase their gains from the distresses of the people, +while the vicious decrees of a corrupted court of law supported instead +of curbing them in their iniquities. Dishonest exactions and forced +contributions caused a reckless waste of those resources, upon the +enjoyment of which no man could confidently count, and the intendant, +finding it at length difficult or impossible to obtain the necessary +supplies, quartered the troops upon the unfortunate inhabitants.</p> + +<p>The misery and distress of the colony at length deepened into absolute +famine. Cadet, the commissary-general, by the intendant's orders, killed +a number of horses for the use of the inhabitants and troops at Montreal +and Quebec. Finally the governor and M. de Montcalm dispatched an +officer to France with a detail of the deplorable state of Canada, and +an earnest entreaty for succor. This officer, the afterward celebrated +De Bougainville, although he had sailed very late in the autumn, escaped +the dangers of the season and the vigilance of the British navy, and +laid his melancholy dispatch before the throne of France.<a name="FNanchor_163_163" id="FNanchor_163_163"></a><a href="#Footnote_163_163" class="fnanchor">[163]</a></p> + +<p>Early in January, 1759, a census was taken of all those capable of +bearing arms in Canada; the result showed 15,229 men. Of these, however, +a large proportion were neither available nor worthy of trust. A +detachment of artillery, eight battalions of French regulars, and +thirty-three companies of the marine or colony troops, formed the real +strength of the Canadian army.</p> + +<p>Montcalm<a name="FNanchor_164_164" id="FNanchor_164_164"></a><a href="#Footnote_164_164" class="fnanchor">[164]</a> was indefatigable in his preparations for the approaching +struggle. Regulars and militia were kept at constant work on the several +fortifications. Three armed vessels were built to command the navigation +of Lake Champlain. Captain Pouchot, a skillful engineer, was sent to +strengthen the works of Niagara, and undertake their defense. On the +14th of May, M. de Bougainville,<a name="FNanchor_165_165" id="FNanchor_165_165"></a><a href="#Footnote_165_165" class="fnanchor">[165]</a> afterward distinguished alike in +literature and adventure, arrived from France with decorations and +promotions for the governor, the general, and other officers whose merit +had been conspicuous in the last campaign, but he was also bearer of the +alarming intelligence that England was about to assail the colony +forthwith both by sea and land. As yet, however, no supplies or +re-enforcements from France made their appearance in this hour of +peril, and the governor, M. de Vaudreuil, was simply instructed to make +the best provision in his power for the defense of Canada.</p> + +<p>The governor addressed a notice to the militia to be ready at a moment's +warning, and endeavored to excite their somewhat dormant patriotism by a +spirited appeal. "This campaign," said he, "will give the Canadians an +opportunity of displaying once again their loyalty and valor: their king +doubts not that they will faithfully defend his and their rights, their +religion, homes, and properties against the cruel English. These +invaders hate our name and nation; they accuse us of the evil deeds of a +few savage Indians, and burn for revenge. We will protect our people by +every possible means from falling into the hands of our ruthless +enemies, and from such mercies as the people of Acadia, Cape Breton, and +St. John's received from them. Better would it be for us, our wives, and +our children, to be buried in the ruins of the colony, than to fall +alive into the hands of the English. We have, however, no fears for our +safety, and accordingly we direct that every suitable step be taken for +a successful defense."</p> + +<p>A council of war was held at Montreal, which, after frequent meetings, +decided that a body of troops under Montcalm, with the +brigadier-generals, the Marquis de Levi and M. de Senezergues, should be +posted at Quebec; that M. de Bourlemaque should hasten to Ticonderoga, +blow up the works at the approach of the English, retire by the lake to +Isle aux Noix, and there make a stubborn resistance. The Chevalier de la +Corne, with 800 regulars and militia, was directed to hold the rapids +above Montreal, to intrench himself in a strong position, and hold out +to the best of his power. These resolutions taken, Montcalm hastened to +Quebec, and pushed on the works of the city and its outposts. To +embarrass the hostile fleet, he removed the buoys and other marks for +navigation in the Great River; above all, he strove to raise the +drooping spirit of the Canadian people.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_161_161" id="Footnote_161_161"></a><a href="#FNanchor_161_161"><span class="label">[161]</span></a> " ... Such is the state of the governments, that there +can not on the continent be produced an instance of the governors being +able to carry his majesty's instructions into execution where the people +have disputed them, nor has all the power that the crown has thought fit +to add been able to support such; but the people have constantly +maintained themselves in their claims."—<i>Letter from Governor Pownall +to the Earl of Loudon, Boston, November 28th, 1757.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_162_162" id="Footnote_162_162"></a><a href="#FNanchor_162_162"><span class="label">[162]</span></a> "Each English colony in North America is independent of +the other, and each has its proper laws and coins, and may be looked +upon in several lights as a state by itself. From hence it happens that, +in time of war, things go on very slowly and irregularly here, for not +only the sense of one province is sometimes directly opposite to that of +another, but frequently the views of the governor and those of the +Assembly of the same province are quite different, so that it is easy to +see that, while the people are quarreling about the best and cheapest +method of carrying on the war, an enemy has it in his power to take one +place after another. It has commonly happened, that while some provinces +were suffering from their enemies, the neighboring ones were quiet and +inactive, as if it did not in the least concern them. They have +frequently taken up two or three years in considering whether they +should give assistance to an oppressed sister colony, and sometimes they +have expressly declared themselves against it. There are instances of +provinces who were not only neuter in these circumstances, but who +carried on a great trade with the power which at that very time was +attacking and laying waste some other provinces."—Kalm, in Pinkerton, +vol. xiii., p. 461.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_163_163" id="Footnote_163_163"></a><a href="#FNanchor_163_163"><span class="label">[163]</span></a> "L'état étoit alors dans une situation peu favorable, et +le ministre, M. de Berryer, répondit aux instances de M. de Bougainville +en disant, 'Quand le feu est à la maison on ne s'occupe pas des +écuries.' 'On ne dira pas du moins, monsieur, que vous parlez comme un +cheval,' répondit Bougainville. C'est lui-même qui nous a raconté cette +anecdote, en ajoutant qu'il alla aussitôt faire sa cour à Madame de +Pompadour, qui apaisa le ressentiment du ministre."—<i>Biographie +Universelle</i>, art. Bougainville.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_164_164" id="Footnote_164_164"></a><a href="#FNanchor_164_164"><span class="label">[164]</span></a> "Le Marquis de Montcalm, à la vie duquel étoit attachée +la conservation du Canada, avoit défendu cette colonie par des prodiges +de valeur, pris le fort St. George (Fort William Henry), et battu +vingt-mille Anglais à Ticonderoga. Mais nul secours ne lui étoit envoyé; +on étoit forcé de prévoir qu'il succumberoit bientôt."—<i>Histoire de +France pendant le Dix-huitième Siècle</i>, par Charles Lacretelle, tom. +iii., p. 345.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_165_165" id="Footnote_165_165"></a><a href="#FNanchor_165_165"><span class="label">[165]</span></a> Bougainville, the celebrated circumnavigator, had been +appointed aid-de-camp to the Marquis de Montcalm in 1756. It must be +willful inaccuracy in the <i>Biographie Universelle</i> to attribute the +taking of Fort William Henry, and the victory at Ticonderoga, Montcalm's +most remarkable achievements in Canada, to his aid-de-camp instead of to +himself. Bougainville had not had any opportunity of performing "des +services illustres" in Canada. "En 1758 le gouverneur du Canada envoya +de Bougainville en France pour demander des renforts. Il revint en +Jamaica 1759 après avoir reçu la récompense des services illustres qu'il +avoit rendus. Montcalm le nomma, à son retour, commandant des grenadiers +et des volontaires, et lui ordonna de couvrir avec ces deux corps la +retraite de l'armée Française, lorsqu'elle se replia sur Quebec. +Bougainville s'en acquitta avec la bravoure et l'habileté dont il avoit +donné tant de preuves. +</p><p> +"Il s'est elevé au rang des marins les plus célébres de la France. +</p><p> +"Bougainville est le premier Français qui ait fait le tour du monde. +L'histoire de sa vie etonne par la variété des occupations aux quelles +il s'est livre et par la multitude des évènements qui la remplissent. +</p><p> +"Dans ses études à l'université il manifesta de bonne heure une rapidité +de conception et une finesse de tact qui le firent réussir en même tems +dans les genres les plus opposés. Il se faisoit également remarquer par +ses connoissances dans les langues anciennes, et par ses progrès dans +les sciences exactes. Il marquoit pour les mathématiques des +dispositions peu communes. Il fut reçu membre de la Société Royale de +Londres pendant son court séjour dans cette capitale en caractère de +sécrétaire de l'ambassade, en 1754."—<i>Biographie Universelle</i>, art. +Bougainville.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER VIII.</h2> + + +<p>We must now return to the proceedings in the British camp. In the stern +climate of Northern America the season for military action was very +limited. From the breaking up of the ice on the lakes and rivers, and +the melting of the forest snows, till they again hindered or forbid the +movement of troops, but little interval was left for the march of an +invading army. To pursue with effect the great plan of the campaign, it +was necessary to take the field with the earliest signs of returning +spring. General Amherst, therefore, left New York on the 28th of April, +1759, and arrived at Albany on the 3d of May: there he busied himself in +assembling and organizing his army for the field, preparing boats for +transporting the troops, artillery, and stores, and instructing the raw +Provincial levies in the rudiments of military discipline. Before this +time, he had dispatched the active partisan officer, Major Rogers, with +350 men, from Fort Edward, to feel the strength of the enemy at +Ticonderoga and Crown Point: they succeeded in surprising a French +working party close to the disastrous scene of the previous year's +defeat, killed some men, and took several prisoners, with but little +loss to themselves. The intense severity of the weather, however, made +the victors pay dearly for their success: two thirds of the detachment +were frost-bitten in the feet, some of them to such an extent that their +more fortunate companions were obliged to carry them back to the British +camp.</p> + +<p>The whole month of May was occupied in preparation for the advance. The +Provincial regiments, as fast as they arrived at head-quarters, were +encamped, and instructed with all diligence. The regular troops were +pushed on by the road to Fort Edward, and posted at a place fifty-six +miles from Albany, while a detachment under Major West constructed a +small stockaded fort between Fort Edward and the lake. On the 3d of +June the near divisions of the army were ordered to take the field. That +same day the general left Albany, and encamped at Port Edward on the +6th.</p> + +<p>During this time of military inaction but of tedious toil, an alarming +spirit of desertion broke out among the British troops. A large +proportion of even the regulars were young and untrained men, +unaccustomed to the dull restraint of discipline, and as yet almost +unconscious of that professional pride which, to a certain extent, may +practically supply the place of a higher principle in the soldier's +mind. The Provincials were chiefly new levies, and not always very +zealous recruits. The duties of the camp were harassing, the labors on +the works were wearying; before them lay a dreary and dangerous march, +behind them the pleasant villages and well-stored homesteads of New +England. The temptation was strong, the principle of resistance weak. +Appeals to patriotism, stringent orders, and moderate punishments proved +ineffectual; still by twos and threes, and at length by scores, +Amherst's army melted away into the neighboring forests. The last +example became necessary; a general court-martial sentenced two +deserters, Dunwood and Ward, to death, and they were immediately +executed. Despite this terrible warning, despite all promises and +threats, the vile treason still prevailed, especially among the +Provincials; two other traitors, Rogers and Harris, were also +apprehended, convicted, and shot.</p> + +<p>An insidious attempt to examine the British strength, under the pretext +of a flag of truce from M. de Bourlemaque, was frustrated by Amherst's +vigilance; he would not suffer the French officers to enter the camp, +but examined the dispatches, and returned answer while they remained at +a suitable distance. The general's active care could not protect the +frontier settlers from the atrocious cruelties of the French and +Indians; although scouting parties were constantly moving through the +forests, the subtle and ferocious enemy eluded their vigilance, and +scalped men, women, and children without mercy. These outrages gave rise +to the following order by Amherst, which he found means to forward to +the Governor of Canada and his general:</p> + +<p>"No scouting party, or others in the army, are to scalp women or +children belonging to the enemy. They are, if possible, to take them +prisoners, but not to injure them on any account, the general being +determined, should the enemy continue to murder and scalp women and +children, who are the subjects of the King of Great Britain, to revenge +it by the death of two men of the enemy for every woman or child +murdered by them."</p> + +<p>It were a needless pain to dwell upon the cruelties of this bloody war. +Our countrymen must bear their share, although not an equal share, of +the deep disgrace. The contending parties readily acquired the fiendish +ingenuity in torture of their Indian allies; the Frenchman soon became +as expert as his red teacher in tearing the scalp from a prostrate +enemy; and even the British soldier counted these odious trophies with +unnatural triumph. In the exterminating strife, the thirst of blood +became strong and deep, and was slaked, not only in the life-streams of +the armed foe, but in that of the aged, the maimed, the helpless woman, +and the innocent child. The peaceful hamlet and the smiling corn-field +excited hostile fury alike with the camp, the intrenchment, and the +fort, and shared in their destruction when the defenders were +overpowered. Yet still over these murdered corpses and scenes of useless +desolation, the spotless flag of France and the Red Cross of St. George +waved in alternate triumph, proudly and remorselessly, by their symbolic +presence sanctioning the disgraceful strife.</p> + +<p>The greater part of the troops, artillery, and stores being now arrived, +the general advanced from Fort Edward on the 21st of June, with about +6000 men, in two columns; he visited the several posts established on +the communications by the way, and that night encamped on the woody +banks of Lake George, where the following morning he traced out the plan +of a small fort.<a name="FNanchor_166_166" id="FNanchor_166_166"></a><a href="#Footnote_166_166" class="fnanchor">[166]</a> The remainder of the troops and the boats were +brought up to this point with all dispatch, but the difficulties of the +carrying place, the intense heat of the weather, and the badness of the +roads proved harassing impediments to the British chief. During these +delays several unimportant affairs occurred between our advanced parties +and the French light troops and Indians, which usually ended in favor of +the enemy. However, the time was profitably employed by Captain Loring +of the navy, who exerted himself bravely and successfully in the +arrangements for embarkation: he raised, rigged, and armed the sloop +Halifax, and also a floating battery of eight heavy guns, both of which +had been sunk in the last campaign. On the 21st of July, all was in +readiness; the troops and stores had arrived; the army embarked upon the +lake.</p> + +<p>The force with which General Amherst now undertook the invasion of +Canada consisted of 111 of the Royal Artillery, having under charge +fifty-four pieces of ordnance of various descriptions; six battalions of +regulars, numbering, officers included, 5743 men; nine battalions of +Provincials,<a name="FNanchor_167_167" id="FNanchor_167_167"></a><a href="#Footnote_167_167" class="fnanchor">[167]</a> with a regiment of Light Infantry, newly raised and +commanded by General Gage, 5279 men, in all numbering 11,133. This army +crossed the lake in four columns: the following day it reached the +second Narrows without interruption except from the roughness of the +weather, and landed near the spot where Abercromby had disembarked the +year before. The British vanguard, composed principally of light troops, +pushed on rapidly into the bush, and soon fell upon a detachment of the +Regiment de Berry and some Indians, commanded by Captain Bournie; the +French were instantly overpowered and dispersed, two were "made +prisoners, and four were scalped: their wounded they carried off with +them in their flight." Amherst followed with his main body in good +order, and took up a position of great strength near the Saw-mills. He +learned from the French prisoners that M. de Bourlemaque commanded at +Carillon, his garrison, three battalions of regulars, and a large body +of Canadian militia, and some Indians, in all 3400 men.</p> + +<p>That night the British troops lay on their arms, and at earliest dawn +the heavy sound of the advancing artillery warned the French that a +formidable attack was about to open upon the lines under the shelter of +which their brilliant victory of the preceding year had been gained. +They ventured not to try the issue of a second combat against a +different chief, and abandoning the blood-stained breast-works, fell +back upon the neighboring fort. The Grenadiers of the English regulars +immediately occupied the deserted intrenchments, and the rest of the +army encamped at a short distance to the rear.</p> + +<p>In the center of these remarkable lines, the French had, in celebration +of the victory of Carillon, erected a lofty cross, which still remained; +a deep grave was sunk before it, and on the cross was affixed a plate of +brass, with this inscription:</p> + +<p> +"Pone principes eorum sicut Oreb et Zebec et Zalmanna."<br /> +</p> + +<p>The French kept up a warm fire from the fort upon the position where the +British lay encamped, but the great height and strength of the +breast-works erected for their own defense now sheltered their enemies, +and rendered the shower of shot and shells perfectly harmless. The +preparations for the siege rapidly progressed, and the garrison were +apparently equally vigorous in dispositions for defense; but M. de +Bourlemaque soon perceived that the English general possessed the skill +and determination, as well as the necessary force, to insure success; he +therefore silently abandoned the fort on the night of the 23d, leaving +400 men to continue such a resistance as might mask the retreat of his +army. This small but gallant band, while their countrymen filed +cautiously down toward the lake, made a sudden attack upon the advanced +guard in the besiegers' trenches, killed and wounded sixteen men, and +caused such confusion that in the darkness of the night the British +fired upon each other.</p> + +<p>On the 24th and 25th, the remaining French in the fort kept up a +continuous fire upon the besiegers' camp, and, having ascertained the +range, caused much annoyance and some loss. Colonel Townshend, a brave +and beloved officer—the Lord Howe of Amherst's army—was struck down by +a cannon shot in the trenches, and he instantly expired, to the great +grief of all who knew him. Meanwhile the English approaches were +advanced within 600 yards of the fort, and the Indians, under Major +Rogers, harassed the defenders with a continuous fire from the advanced +works. At ten o'clock on the night of the 26th some deserters to the +British camp informed the general that the French had abandoned the +fort, but that they had left every gun loaded and pointed, several mines +charged for the utter destruction of the defenses, and a lighted fuse +communicating with the well-stored powder magazine. While they yet +spoke, an awful explosion, bursting upon the silence of the night, +confirmed the tale; then, from under the dense cloud of smoke and dust, +and the shower of burning embers, arose the flames of the wooden +breast-works, barracks, and stores, while at intervals, from the mass of +fire, the yellow flash of the bursting guns and the exploding mines +varied the tints of the light that fell far and near upon the lake and +the surrounding forest.</p> + +<p>The retreat of the French had been so hurried that they were unable to +give warning to their scouting parties, who, on returning to the fort, +fell into the hands of the English. Colonel Haviland, with some +Rangers<a name="FNanchor_168_168" id="FNanchor_168_168"></a><a href="#Footnote_168_168" class="fnanchor">[168]</a> and light troops in fast boats, pursued the flying enemy +across the lake, and succeeded in capturing some bateaux laden with +powder, and sixteen prisoners. At daylight in the morning a sergeant of +the British regulars volunteered for the dangerous duty of entering the +burning fort, to strike the French flag and raise that of England in its +place; he succeeded, and carried the white banner in safety to his +general. Soon afterward a detachment was sent to extinguish the flames, +and save any guns which yet might have remained uninjured. This object +was accomplished with some difficulty, but no loss. No more than +seventy-six men of the British force had been killed and wounded in all +the preceding operations.</p> + +<p>Amherst set vigorously to work in repairing the fort of Ticonderoga; +most of the ramparts, the covered way, and the walls of the buildings +remained uninjured; his principal exertions were therefore employed in +leveling his own now useless siege works, and completing the road from +the shore. Meanwhile Captain Loring still labored to strengthen the +British naval power on the lake; he weighed some French bateaux which +had been sunk, and constructed a brig with all possible dispatch. The +general was intent, in the mean time, on forwarding the main objects of +the campaign. Crown Point was the next obstacle to be overcome; little +was known as to its defenses or situation, but it at least was not +guarded by the gloomy memories which had hung around the neighboring +stronghold of Ticonderoga.</p> + +<p>Major Rogers, who had so often proved his activity and skill, was pushed +on with about 200 Rangers to feel the strength of the enemy and examine +the position of Crown Point; his orders were to seize some strong and +safe post near the fort, and, in case of attack, to hold out at all +hazards until relieved by the advancing army. After a little fruitless +skirmishing and scalping, the Rangers established themselves in a +commanding situation, but on the 1st of August intelligence arrived +which proved that all precautions had been needless: the enemy had +abandoned Crown Point. A small English detachment immediately took +possession, but Amherst, with the main army, did not arrive till the +4th. He then encamped his troops, and traced out the lines of a new +fort, as a defense in future against the savage scalping parties which +had so long been a terror to the frontier settlers of New York.</p> + +<p>The skillful and cautious movements of the British general had thus, +with scarcely any loss, secured possession of the two important +strongholds which ruled the destiny of the long-disputed lakes: where +his predecessor had not only been baffled, but had received a terrible +chastisement, he, with an inferior power, had almost uninterruptedly won +his way, and overcome all opposition more by demonstration than by +force. The country, now thus cheaply won, was rich and beautiful; far as +the eye could reach, magnificent forests and verdant turf alternated on +the undulations of the landscape, down to the margin of the transparent +lake. The sugar-tree, and various fruits and flowers, abounded in the +sunny valleys, and the scent of aromatic herbs filled the pure air with +a delightful perfume. Deep was the sorrow of the French when they +abandoned forever that lovely land which had been adorned by their taste +and industry, strengthened by their skill and toil, defended by their +best blood, and endeared to their vain but gallant hearts by memories of +glorious victory.</p> + +<p>The orders of M. de Bourlemaque were to impede more than to resist the +overwhelming British force. The naval superiority which he still +retained upon the lakes enabled him to carry out these orders, despite +the vigor and skill of his opponent; but his losses in material, if not +in life and honor were considerable. Besides a large quantity of guns, +ammunition, and stores sunk or destroyed, several pieces of cannon of +various sizes, some swivels, small arms, powder, and intrenching tools +fell into the hands of the English.</p> + +<p>On the 16th of August, Amherst was informed by deserters that the French +had encamped on Isle aux Noix, at the northern extremity of Lake +Champlain, where a strong position gave them the command of the entrance +to the Richelieu River. Joined by some small detachments, sufficient to +repair their losses by defection and in the field, they still mustered +3500 men; 100 pieces of cannon, and four armed vessels, commanded by +naval officers, and manned by picked soldiers of the line, enabled them +even yet to offer a formidable front.</p> + +<p>The fate of this portion of the campaign now evidently turned upon the +relative strength of the contending parties on the waters of the lake. +Amherst's great superiority of troops was unavailable while French +vessels cruised triumphantly between him and his enemy. He therefore +stimulated Captain Loring to increased exertions; on the 17th, a large +raft to carry six heavy guns was commenced. But the enemy were also +active, and in a fortnight afterward launched a new vessel pierced for +sixteen guns. On the 3d of September the English began the construction +of a sloop equal in size to that of the French. It was not, however, +till the 11th of October that the raft, the brig from Ticonderoga, and +the new sloop were ready for action. And already the bleak autumnal +winds were sweeping over the lake; the nights fell dark and chill; the +dreary winter approached, when no zeal or courage could avail an +invading force. Montcalm had therefore insomuch succeeded, and Amherst +failed, in their several objects: the main force of the British army was +destined once again to waste its strength upon the very threshold of +Canada,<a name="FNanchor_169_169" id="FNanchor_169_169"></a><a href="#Footnote_169_169" class="fnanchor">[169]</a> and played no part of real importance in the great results +which the hand of Providence directed surely but unexpectedly elsewhere.</p> + +<p>In consequence of intelligence received of General Prideaux's death +before Niagara, Brigadier-general Gage had been dispatched by Amherst on +the 28th of July to join that army, and the second battalion of the +Royal Highlanders was also sent from head-quarters to Oswego, to +support, if necessary, the movement in the West. Gage had been +instructed, in case of the reduction of Niagara, to take post +immediately at a place called La Galette, a position commanding the +entrance of the River St. Lawrence from Lake Ontario. Amherst knew that +the occupation of this post was so essential for the security of the +British frontiers from the enemy's scalping parties, that on the receipt +of Gage's dispatch he instantly sent Major Christie to the brigadier to +repeat and enforce his former orders. The difficulties in the way of +this movement were, however, considerable, and General Gage had +conceived himself justified in representing them to his chief, and +deferring the execution of his orders until a more favorable +opportunity. Meanwhile the dreary winter advanced apace, and difficulty +became impossibility; to Amherst's infinite chagrin, this important +operation was necessarily postponed to another year.</p> + +<p>General Gage does not appear to have sufficiently felt the importance of +fulfilling the portion of the great scheme which fell to his lot; +doubtless the difficulties in his path were many and formidable, but it +was to overcome difficulties that he was selected for the proud post of +leader to thousands of gallant men. His first duty, assuredly, was to +fulfill the task confided to him, upon which, perhaps, the success or +failure of the campaign, and his country's glory might depend. One +object lay distinctly before him; in accomplishing that object, he could +not have been too cautious, or too precious of his men; but rather than +abandon the enterprise, and fail in his share of the combination, far +better would it have been for England's cause and his own honor had he +dared the worst dangers of the trackless wilderness and of the stormy +lake.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile General Amherst sent Captain Kennedy with a flag of truce to +the warlike Indians of St. François, offering them peace and amity: +their populous village lay at the western extremity of Lake St. +François. The savages, however, detained the British officer and his +party as prisoners, and returned no answer to their communications. +Amherst promptly determined to inflict the severest chastisement for +the insult. The expedition undertaken for this purpose was perhaps the +most daring and extraordinary of any during the progress of the war.</p> + +<p>Early in October, 200 men were sent against the Indians of St. François, +under the command of Major Rogers, an officer already distinguished for +courage and ability. His orders were to inflict condign punishment on +the warriors of this tribe for a long arrear of cruelties and atrocities +committed upon the unprotected British settlers, but to spare all women +and children. A glance at the map of North America will show the great +distance of the point of attack from Amherst's head-quarters. The route +lay through one vast forest, utterly a wilderness, and untrodden by +human foot, except where the invaders' deadly enemies lay in wait, or +scoured the country for their destruction. The casualties and hardships +of the march reduced Rogers's small detachment by more than a fourth of +its strength; the survivors, however, came in sight of the Indian +village on the evening of the 22d day. The leader left his men in a +place of concealment, and went forward alone, with necessary caution, to +observe the enemy. For several hours he hovered about, now approaching +close to the dangerous scene, now again falling back into the darkness +of the night, and still darker shades of the forest, until he had at +length fully informed himself of the situation and state of the village. +It so chanced that the savages were engaged in celebrating some of their +wild and mysterious rites: they danced and shouted furiously, and +devoured the war-feast with ravenous zeal. At length they lay down to +sleep, exhausted by fatigue and repletion. Major Rogers, satisfied with +his observations, returned to his party at two o'clock in the morning.</p> + +<p>A little before dawn the English detachment marched silently to within +500 yards of the sleeping village, and laid aside their packs and all +other incumbrances. Not a sound arose, not a limb moved among the +Indians; in the fatal confidence of savage tactics, not a scout or +sentinel was placed to give notice of impending danger. When the sun had +already risen, but not yet gained sufficient strength to reach the +drowsy eyes of the slumberers, Rogers formed his men, and gave the long +wished-for order to attack; with a loud cry of vengeance they burst upon +the sleeping village. The surprise was complete; the Indians had no time +to arm or resist; they were slain without mercy; many never wakened, +others were struck down at the doors of their huts as they endeavored to +fly; some few escaped to the Great River, but were pursued by the +English, and, with their frail canoes swamped in the waters. The +conquerors then fired the village, saving only three houses where corn +was stored; the wretched savages who had concealed themselves in the +cellars and lofts perished in the flames. By seven o'clock in the +morning the destruction was accomplished, and more than 200 Indian +warriors were slain. Women and children were spared by the sword, but +doubtless many must have perished in the fire and in the confusion of +the strife: twenty were taken alive; six of these, however, only were +detained; the rest received the scant mercy of freedom to wander back to +their ruined homes, and to the now lonely hunting-grounds of their +tribe.</p> + +<p>Five English captives were released from slavery by this success, and +taken under the protection of their countrymen. The loss to the victors +was very slight; one friendly Indian was killed, and Captain Ogden, with +six men, were wounded. The situation of the little detachment was, +however, most perilous; the prisoners informed Major Rogers that a party +of 300 French, with some savages, had discovered and seized his boats, +down the river, about four miles from the village of St. François. He +could not doubt the truth of this unwelcome news, for they told him the +exact number of his boats, and described the place where they had been +left. He also learned that another force of 200 French and 15 Indians +lay in wait for him higher up the stream. The English officers held a +hurried council on their almost desperate position, and agreed +unanimously that the only chance of safety lay in a return to the +British settlements by the upper branches of the Connecticut River. This +route was attended with toils and hardships well-nigh incredible.</p> + +<p>Rogers marched his detachment for eight successive days to the southeast +without interruption, but provisions began to fail, and it became +necessary to divide his people into small parties, that each might +provide for themselves as they best could. A guide was appointed to +every division, and they parted near the beautiful shores of Lake +Memphremagog, with orders to reassemble at the point where the Amansook +pours into the Connecticut River: there the provident chief had before +caused a dépôt of provisions to be prepared. Major Rogers and his party +reached the place of meeting in safety on the 5th of November, worn out +with fatigue and cold, and almost famished.</p> + +<p>Another party, commanded by Lieutenant George Campbell, of the Rangers, +underwent trials more severe than any of their companions had suffered. +At one time they were four days without a morsel of food; they had +wandered from the direct route, and knew not whither they went. The weak +in mind went mad from suffering and despair; the weak in body sank. They +had already devoured their leather straps, and the covers of their +cartouch boxes: no resource, and but a faint glimmering of hope +remained. At length, on the 28th of October, in crossing a small stream +dammed up with logs, they espied some human bodies, scalped and horribly +mangled, probably the corpses of their companions. Their furious hunger +knew no restraint; they did not wait even for a fire to prepare the +ghastly banquet, but ate like beasts of prey; then collecting carefully +the remnants, pursued their journey. A squirrel and a few roots helped +to keep them alive till the 4th of November, when, to their unutterable +joy, they saw a boat on the Connecticut River, sent by Rogers to their +relief. On the 7th they rejoined their companions.</p> + +<p>We must now return to the insignificant conclusion of General Amherst's +campaign. On the 10th of October, the brig arrived from Ticonderoga with +eighteen guns; seventy seamen and sixty soldiers embarked as marines. +The following day the little fleet was completed by the arrival of the +new sloop carrying sixteen guns, sixty sailors, and fifty soldiers, +under the command of Lieutenant Grant, of Montgomery's Highlanders. In +the afternoon the troops embarked for Isle aux Noix in the bateaux; the +armed vessels got out first, and sailed up the lake with a fair wind, +the army following in four divisions. As night fell, lights were hoisted +on board the brigantine and Great Radeau, to guide the expedition. In +the gray of the morning, some guns were suddenly heard in the advance, +and a message was sent to the general that his armed vessels were in +action with those of the French. He hastened to the front, and soon +discovered the mistake. The bateaux containing a wing of the 42d +Regiment, under Major Reid, had gone astray in the night, and got +unexpectedly among the enemy's sloops; the first light of day revealed +the dangerous error, and they happily ran the gauntlet of the French +guns in safety. One boat, however, with a lieutenant and twenty men, +being very far in advance, could not effect an escape, and was captured. +The enemy's squadron, content with this small advantage, crowded all +sail, and disappeared among the numerous islands. Toward the evening of +the 12th the wind increased, and the waters of the lake rose into +formidable waves; the light bateaux and clumsy rafts were equally unfit +to face this boisterous weather. The general was most unwillingly +compelled to order the expedition to seek the shelter of a neighboring +bay on the western shore, where commodious anchorage opportunely +offered. The troops were then landed, and allowed to stretch their +cramped limbs, while Gage's Light Infantry scoured the adjacent forest +to guard against surprise; at the same time, the Rangers disembarked on +an island that commanded the entrance of the harbor, and overlooked the +lake. Meanwhile, despite the angry skies, Captain Loring, with the armed +vessels, still stoutly kept at sea, and strove with untiring zeal to +bring the enemy to action. At daylight in the morning he had caught +sight of a French schooner, about forty-five miles down the lake, and +crowded all sail in her pursuit; but, ignorant of the navigation in +those strange waters, he had run two of his vessels ashore. After much +exertion, however, he succeeded in getting them off. At length, to his +great joy, he espied three hostile sloops, and immediately gave chase +with all the sail he could carry. The French, finding escape impossible, +ran for a small bay on the western shore, drove one of the vessels +aground, and sunk the two others. The crews, under their commandant, M. +de Bolabarras, made their escape through the woods, after having +encountered extreme difficulty and hardship.</p> + +<p>The deepening shades of evening prevented the English from seeing the +catastrophe of the enemy's squadron, and rendered it difficult or +impossible for them to pursue into the rocky shallows; they therefore +prepared as they best could to brave out the stormy night, and cast +anchor at the entrance of the bay. When daylight came they saw the +abandoned vessels; the French schooner, however, had escaped. Captain +Loring left Lieutenant Grant with the sloop to endeavor to save the +stranded vessel, with her guns, stores, and rigging; he himself again +put out into the lake in pursuit of the only hostile sail now left upon +the waters.</p> + +<p>The storm continued to the 15th of October; on the 16th there was frost; +on the 17th a contrary wind again rose. During all this time General +Amherst was forced to remain inactive. Every hour was precious; the fate +of the campaign, his fame and England's interests might have hung upon +his movements, and he did not stir. By flags of truce and letters of +ceremony from the hostile chief, he had received information, vaguely, +that a British fleet lay before Quebec; that combats had been fought, +and blood had freely flowed; and while the balance of victory trembled +under the walls of the great stronghold, he, with his overwhelming +power, lay helpless, as in a nightmare, on the banks of the stormy +lake.<a name="FNanchor_170_170" id="FNanchor_170_170"></a><a href="#Footnote_170_170" class="fnanchor">[170]</a></p> + +<p>On the 18th the waters became somewhat calmer, and a south wind blew +gently up Lake Champlain. Amherst made one other effort; the troops were +once more hurried into the bateaux, and the expedition pushed on to the +north. They reached in a few hours the bay where the French vessels had +been driven ashore a few days previously; there again, however, the +uncertain winds veered round; the clouds darkened in the north, and a +chill blast swept down the lake, plowing the angry waters. The British +general was now finally baffled; winter had almost commenced; he had no +hope of grappling with the enemy before the season closed; the fate of +Quebec must, ere then, have been decided; there was much to risk and +little to gain by another effort upon the lakes. Nothing was left but to +prepare for the inglorious step of disposing his army in winter +quarters. Amherst therefore fell back upon Crown Point on the 21st, +directed the completion of the defenses, made roads and bridges, and +nursed the Provincials, who had become uncommonly sickly. Thus ended his +campaign.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_166_166" id="Footnote_166_166"></a><a href="#FNanchor_166_166"><span class="label">[166]</span></a> This is the Fort George marked in modern maps, nearly on +the same spot where Fort William Henry formerly stood.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_167_167" id="Footnote_167_167"></a><a href="#FNanchor_167_167"><span class="label">[167]</span></a> "Four hundred of these young troops (Provincials) are to +be stationed here.... The privates are a poor, mean, ragged set of men, +of all sizes and ages; their officers are sober, modest men, and such of +them as have been upon service express themselves very distinctly and +sensibly; but their ideas, like those who have not been out of their own +country, or conversed much with Europeans, are naturally confined; they +make a decent appearance, being clothed in blue, faced with scarlet, +gilt buttons, laced waistcoats and hats; but their ordinary soldiers +have no uniforms, nor do they affect any kind of regularity."—Knox's +<i>Historical Journal</i>, vol. i., p. 237.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_168_168" id="Footnote_168_168"></a><a href="#FNanchor_168_168"><span class="label">[168]</span></a> "The Rangers have got a new uniform clothing: the ground +is black ratteen or frieze, lapelled and cuffed with blue. Here follows +a description of their dress: a waistcoat with sleeves, a short jacket +without sleeves; only arm-holes, and wings to the shoulders (in like +manner as the Grenadiers and drummers of the army); white metal buttons, +linen or canvas drawers, with a blue skirt, or short petticoat of stuff, +made with a waistband and one button: this is open before, and does not +extend quite to their knees: a pair of leggins of the same color with +their coat, which reach up to the middle of their thigh (without flaps), +and from the calf of the leg downward they button like spatterdashes. +With this active dress they wear blue bonnets, and, I think, in a great +measure resemble our Highlanders."—Knox's <i>Historical Journal</i>, vol. +i., p. 238.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_169_169" id="Footnote_169_169"></a><a href="#FNanchor_169_169"><span class="label">[169]</span></a> "Dear Sir—Let no persuasion or plausible reason +determine you to leave the plan of operations by the River St. Lawrence. +To go by the lakes, through wild and almost inaccessible forests, has +already proved dangerous, tedious, and expensive; will prolong the war, +and, at the same time, enrich your commanders and contractors. What is +more, we have seen that our regulars do not fight well in woods: the +Indian yell is horrid to their ears, and soon throws them into +confusion. If France had the superiority at sea we now enjoy, they would +not leave us a single province or colony in all North or South +America."—Mr. Beckford's <i>Letter to Mr. Pitt</i>. Fonthill, Dec., 1758; +<i>Chatham Correspondence</i>, vol. i., p. 378.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_170_170" id="Footnote_170_170"></a><a href="#FNanchor_170_170"><span class="label">[170]</span></a> "Ils durent évacuer encore la position de Fort Frédéric +(Crown Point). Toutefois leur commandant, Burlamaque, se fortifia à +l'Ile aux Noix, à l'extrémité du Lac Champlain; et comme il avoit encore +sous ses ordres trois mille cinq cents hommes, il réussit à fermer le +chemin de Quebec au Général Amherst, et à l'empêcher de seconder +l'attaque du Général Wolfe contre cette ville."—Sismondi, <i>Histoire des +Français</i>, vol. xxix., ch. liv.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER IX.</h2> + + +<p>The expedition against Niagara consisted of a detachment of the Royal +Artillery, the 44th and 46th British regiments, the 4th battalion of the +Royal Americans, two battalions of New York Provincials, and a large +body of Indians under Sir William Johnson: Brigadier Prideaux commanded +in chief. On the 20th of May the troops commenced their advance from +Schenectady, where they had assembled, and moved upon Oswego; they +embarked on Lake Ontario from that port on the 1st of July, after a +march of great difficulty, but without interruption from the enemy. A +detachment under Colonel Haldimand was left for the protection of +Oswego.</p> + +<p>The British force landed, unopposed, on the 7th of July, about six miles +to the eastward of Fort Niagara, and at once set to work in opening a +communication between the landing place and the Niagara River. The fort +was situated on a narrow peninsula, the lake on one side, the broad, +deep stream on the other; it was thus a matter of little difficulty to +invest the position effectually on the land side, while the numerous +bateaux cut off from the besieged all communication by water. Prideaux +planned and advanced his approaches with skill and vigor. Batteries were +speedily erected, from which he fired upon the defenses, and kept under +the artillery of the French. Still, as the superiority of the besiegers' +guns told more and more upon the crumbling ramparts, the works were +pushed closer and closer, and fresh spirit was thrown into the attack.</p> + +<p>On the first arrival of the English army before the fort, the general +had sent a peremptory summons to M. Pouchot,<a name="FNanchor_171_171" id="FNanchor_171_171"></a><a href="#Footnote_171_171" class="fnanchor">[171]</a> the commandant, to +surrender at discretion; this was promptly refused by the stout +Frenchman, who answered that "his post was strong, his garrison +faithful, and that, the longer he held out, the more he should win the +esteem of his enemy." Early intelligence of the approaching danger had +reached Pouchot; he had not lost a moment in dispatching couriers +eastward to Frontenac, to inform the Canadian government, and southward +to Detroit, Presque Isle, Venango, and Le Bœuf, with orders for all +the French detachments to assemble with their Indian allies at the +Niagara Rapids, and to hasten to his relief.</p> + +<p>On the 10th of July, M. Chaboust arrived, with a small party of French +and some savages, and succeeded in getting into the fort. On the 11th +the besieged attempted a sally upon the British trenches, but were +instantly overpowered, and pursued till they found shelter under the +fire of their guns. By the 14th the besiegers' parallels were finished +to the banks of the lake, and the fire became so heavy that the +defenders could only find safety in the covered way and behind the +ramparts. On the 19th the French schooner Iroquoise arrived from +Frontenac, and lay to abreast of the fort, but could not venture in +under the English guns, which still, night and day, kept up their +harassing fire.</p> + +<p>General Prideaux being well informed of the enemy's formidable muster +for the relief of the fort, made every preparation that zeal and +prudence could suggest to meet their designs; but at this critical +moment a melancholy accident deprived the army of his useful services, +and gave to another the enjoyment of the honors which he had worthily +won. On the evening of the 19th, while issuing some orders in the +trenches, unperceived by the gunners in a battery close at hand, a +cohorn mortar was unhappily fired, the shell of which burst prematurely, +and a splinter struck the gallant general with a deadly wound. The +command devolved to the hands of Sir William Johnson.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the besieged, though hardly pressed, were still buoyed up with +the hope of relief from their advancing countrymen. On the 23d four +savages made their way into the fort with a letter to M. Bouchet, +informing him that MM. d'Aubry and De Lignières were at hand with 1200 +Frenchmen and a still larger force of Indians, and that they were about +to attack the British lines. On the result of this attack hung the fate +of Niagara and of all the Western country which still owned the sway of +France: preparations were made to second it with all the efforts of the +garrison. The cause of the French was, however, already all but +desperate; the feeble defenses of the fort shook and crumbled under the +heavy and increasing fire of their enemies. An overpowering artillery +forbade the approach of their vessel from the lake. The beleaguering +trenches intruded within 100 yards of their parapets, and gave shelter +to swarms of British and Indian marksmen. The little garrison was worn +by toil and wasted by death; the barracks and dwellings were ruined by +shot and shell; and, worst of all, the apparently favorable chance in +the death of the besieging general had only transferred the conduct of +the attack to hands even more able and skillful than those of the +deceased. It was true that the French detachment, then about to risk all +for their relief, were brave and veteran troops; but their numbers were +hopelessly inadequate, and little dependence could be placed in the +politic and faithless savages who marched with them, more to witness +than to contribute to their success or defeat.</p> + +<p>On the other hand, Sir William Johnson had received ample notice of De +Aubry's approach, and, confident in his own strength and ability, made +steady preparation for the combat. His great superiority of force +enabled him to leave the trenches crowded with troops, chiefly +Provincials, while he marched out to overwhelm the advancing enemy. +About sunset on the evening of the 23d, he pushed forward strong +pickets, and the light companies of the regular regiments, into the +woods on either side of the rude track leading from Niagara Falls to the +Fort, and scattered small parties of Indians on the flanks of the +Europeans. Having posted their sentries, and no enemy being yet visible, +Johnson's advance lay down to rest upon their arms. Never, perhaps, has +a stranger scene been witnessed than the banks of the Niagara River +presented on that September night: the dark ramparts of the fort, every +now and then illumined by the flash of the defenders' guns, or suddenly +revealed by the red light of a salvo from the hostile trenches; in the +open plain beyond, the white tents and the huts of the besieging army; +and further on, the watch-fires of the advanced guard throwing their +flickering glare upon the lofty arches of the forest, and upon the +scattered groups of the British soldiery and Indian warriors. Away, +still further to the west, unseen in the gloomy woods, the weak but +gallant troops of France slept the sleep which most of them were to know +no more. High over all, the soft, misty spray from the neighboring +cataract stood like a huge pillar of lightest summer clouds up against +the sky, while the dull, deep roar of falling waters filled the air with +a solemn and unceasing voice.</p> + +<p>At daylight on the 24th Sir William Johnson advanced his Grenadier +companies and part of the 46th regiment, under Lieutenant-colonel +Massey, to strengthen his front, while the 44th regiment, under +Lieutenant-colonel Farquhar, kept up the communication with Major +Beckwith, who commanded the troops in the trenches, and remained in +readiness to throw their force wherever aid might be required. These +judicious dispositions being made, the British awaited the approach of +the enemy.</p> + +<p>At about eight o'clock the leading files of the French were first +perceived advancing through the woods, flanked by large bodies of +Indians; as they came on, the English outposts fell back on the reserves +steadily, and without firing. In the mean time, the Iroquois, serving +under Johnson, endeavored to parley with the Canadian savages, with a +view of inducing them to make peace; these overtures were, however, +unsuccessful, and the warriors of the Five Nations fell back on the +flanks of the British. By nine o'clock D'Aubry's force was formed, and +the order immediately given for the attack. With furious gestures and +terrible impetuosity, the Indians burst through the woods and fell upon +the English lines as they rushed to the charge, shouting the appalling +war-cry which had once struck terror into their foes; but it fell upon +accustomed ears: they were received with a calm front and steady fire. +The Grenadiers of the 44th, who had received a dreadful lesson in savage +warfare under the unfortunate Braddock, now bore the shock unmoved, and, +stoutly supported by the 46th, with a few rolling volleys they swept +away the fierce assailants. So complete was the discomfiture of the red +warriors that they rallied no more, and so sudden their disappearance +from the scene of strife that the French could only attribute it to +treachery which had prearranged defeat.</p> + +<p>Undismayed by the dispersion of his allies, the gallant D'Aubry led on +his men against the besiegers' position, now strengthened by a force of +Provincials from the trenches. The attack was vigorously and bravely +pushed, but failed to shake the steady courage of the British troops; +meanwhile Johnson's Indians made their way through the woods, and fell +upon the flanks of the French. Attacked on all sides, deserted by +allies, outnumbered by foes, the assailants hesitated, gave way, and in +little more than half an hour broke into utter rout. D'Aubry and all his +surviving officers were taken, with a great part of his troops; the +remainder were pursued with deadly zeal, and slain or driven into the +wilderness.</p> + +<p>It was not until two o'clock in the day that Pouchot and his garrison +were informed that the firing heard in the morning had ended in the ruin +of their hopes of succor. With great difficulty and danger, an Indian +had passed the besiegers' lines and borne them the unwelcome +intelligence of D'Aubry's defeat and capture. From the earliest dawn, +deep excitement had reigned in the beleaguered fort; while the shades of +night still lingered under the tall forest trees, flashes of scattered +musketry had occasionally burst forth. As the morning advanced, the +dropping shots quickened into the sharp rattle of a skirmish, the sounds +still approaching the besieged, and stimulating hopes of aid. A little +before nine o'clock the skirmish had breezed up into a battle; for half +an hour the line of fire waved to and fro, now bent toward the fort, +again receded up the banks of the Great River, then held pertinaciously +to a woody hollow, and at length fell back into the forest, became +broken, interrupted, indistinct, and disappeared. With it vanished the +last chance of succor for the garrison of Niagara.</p> + +<p>When the first ardor of the pursuit had abated, and Sir William Johnson +had got his forces somewhat in hand again, he sent Major Harvey with a +flag of truce to inform the French chief of the morning's events, and to +exhort him to surrender without further bloodshed, conveying also a +terrible hint that in a little time he might not be able to restrain the +fierce vengeance of his Indian allies. Pouchot yet doubted, or affected +to doubt, the truth of the woeful disaster which had befallen his +countrymen, and, still endeavoring to gain time, requested that one of +his officers might be allowed to see the prisoners, and hear the tale of +defeat from their own lips. The request was granted, the facts were +ascertained, and, no further excuse for procrastination suggesting +itself, the stubborn Frenchman then surrendered with his fort and +garrison.<a name="FNanchor_172_172" id="FNanchor_172_172"></a><a href="#Footnote_172_172" class="fnanchor">[172]</a></p> + +<p>The terms of capitulation were liberal, and worthy of both conquerors +and conquered. It was agreed that the French troops should march out +with the honors of war from the ramparts they had so well defended, and +lay down their arms on the banks of the lake. There they were to embark +immediately in vessels provided by Sir William Johnson, and to be +carried to New York by the shortest and easiest route. The French +ladies, and all females and children, were offered safe conveyance, +subsistence, and escort to the nearest port of France: and the sick and +wounded men were to be carefully tended till able to travel, when they +were to rejoin their comrades. The victors undertook to protect their +prisoners from every insult or injury, in person and in property. All +stores, provisions, and arms, with every thing belonging to his most +Christian majesty, were to be delivered up in strict faith by M. +Pouchot. At seven o'clock in the morning of the 26th of July, a British +guard was to take possession of the fort gates.</p> + +<p>Accordingly, a little before mid-day on the 26th, the French garrison, +607 strong, marched out from the lost stronghold. Drums were beating, +colors flying, and bayonets fixed; but the downcast and sullen looks of +the bronzed veterans showed that these "honors of war" were but a +mockery to their dejected hearts. Many a glance of angry sorrow and +embittered regret was cast back upon the magnificent scene they were to +revisit no more; never again was the "spotless flag" to flaunt its ample +folds upon the breezes of the Western lakes; never again were the +martial strains of France to sound through the majestic roar of nature's +grandest wonder. A sufficient British guard attended under arms to keep +the fierce and vindictive Indians at a distance. But the humane and +extraordinary influence which Sir William Johnson exercised over the +minds of his savage followers proved more effectual in restraining their +ferocious passions than any mere show of force. The fear of alienating +the allegiance of his Indians weighed not a feather weight in his loyal +heart when the cause of mercy and his plighted word were at stake. For +the successful exercise of his well-earned power over the red warriors, +he must, upon this occasion, ever stand in most favorable contrast with +Montcalm, his more brilliant rival.</p> + +<p>Every article of the capitulation of Niagara was strictly observed in +spirit and in letter: no insulting triumph dimmed the honor of British +victory, but a demeanor of respectful sympathy with the vanquished +characterized the gallant conquerors throughout the embarkation and all +subsequent proceedings.</p> + +<p>The English loss in this siege and in the action was very slight, with +the exception of that of their worthy general, Prideaux, and of Colonel +Johnson, a provincial officer of courage and capacity. Sir William +Johnson enhanced the merit of his success by his modest and honorable +dispatch to General Amherst. "I have only to regret," he writes, "the +loss of General Prideaux and Colonel Johnson. I endeavored to pursue the +late general's vigorous measures, the good effects of which he deserved +to enjoy."</p> + +<p>Historians have dwelt with admiration upon the striking military merit +displayed at this time by two untaught generals, Clive in the East, and +Johnson in the West, "who, by a series of shining actions have +demonstrated that uninstructed genius can, by its own internal light and +efficacy, rival, if not eclipse, the acquired art of discipline and +experience." Thus writes Smollett: the learned doctor's remark is +capable of far more general application than to the cases here +mentioned. Our military system always has trusted, and still trusts, to +this "uninstructed genius" in our chiefs, and by its own provisions +furnished no teaching to a Marlborough and a Wellington beyond the +knowledge of drill in a field day, and of the forms of discipline in a +barrack yard. While we rest with pride and pleasure on the undoubted +predominance of success over all foes which has attended our arms, we +may not deny that to the never failing chivalry of the officers and to +the stubborn courage of the soldiery are these successes due. Many and +sad are the records of combats where torrents of British blood have +flowed to redeem the errors, or to make amends for the want of military +science in a British chief. Our great captains, great in genius and +skill as well as in success, have indeed been "lone stars," presenting, +in comparison, to those not so gifted, very much the proportion which +"uninstructed genius" usually displays among men in other pursuits of +life.</p> + +<p>It may be urged that the officers of our instructed corps, the artillery +and engineers, have never supplied the general service with a chief of +conspicuous ability; but it is a remarkable fact that, except in the +brief Syrian campaign of 1840, no member of those corps has ever led an +English army, or even a brigade. Through the unvarying rule of promotion +by seniority, no officer of artillery or engineers arrives at a +sufficient rank to command, until a time of life when the experience of +the veteran can hardly be aided by the energy of the man. Rare indeed +must be the instances of those who have passed nearly half a century of +service, in which the hope of reward was too faint to stimulate +industry, the dread of censure too slight to alarm indolence, and who +still retain sufficient zeal and vigor for their country's need. They +are probably equally rare with the instances of successful "genius" +among their uninstructed brethren of the rest of the British army.</p> + +<p>Many worthy and earnest, though mistaken men there are, who dread the +instruction of the toiling millions of our countrymen; who believe in +all sincerity that the penetrating light of awakened intellect would +flash upon the squalid purlieus of Manchester and Liverpool only to +render degradation more degraded, and misery more miserable, by a +keener appreciation. There can hardly, however be found any one, beyond +those grown gray under the existing system, who fears that professional +education could perniciously influence the qualifications of our +officers for their station in life, or damp their undoubted chivalry and +spirit. To cast aside political or personal considerations, and select +for command the man most conspicuous by merit and genius, has not been +an unvarying rule with those in high authority. But a system requiring +the qualifications of at least a careful education<a name="FNanchor_173_173" id="FNanchor_173_173"></a><a href="#Footnote_173_173" class="fnanchor">[173]</a> from all to whom +the lofty trust of England's military honor is confided, might to a +great extent supply the deficiencies of chiefs unendowed with the gift +of genius, and undistinguished by pre-eminent merit.</p> + +<p>By the capture of Niagara, the French posts to the westward, on the +lakes and rivers, were cut off from all aid; and by the destruction of +D'Aubry's army, composed principally of their garrisons, they were +rendered incapable of any effectual resistance. Colonel Bouquet, +therefore, who, with a small force, had been detached by +Brigadier-general Stanwix against the principal of these, Presque Isle, +Venango, and Le Bœuf, had only to summon them to surrender and then +to take possession, with no greater difficulties than those presented by +the long and rugged route.</p> + +<p>We must now, for a moment, return to Colonel Haldimand, who was, as +before related, left in command at Oswego by General Prideaux. In the +forenoon of the 5th of July, while superintending the works at the fort, +he was startled by the well-known sound of the Indian war-whoop close at +hand, but no enemy then appeared. The English colonel immediately sent +out scouts upon the lake, who brought word that an armament of 100 boats +was lying in a neighboring cove. About mid-day some Indians and +Canadians appeared in the borders of the forest near the fort, and made +a show of attacking two detached redoubts, but were speedily driven back +among the trees; from thence, however, they kept up a dropping fire, +which was only silenced by the approach of night. A deserter who had +passed over under cover of the darkness, gave information that the +attacking party consisted of 300 colony troops, 1300 Canadian militia, +and 150 Indians, and that M. de la Corne was in command. The French had +hoped to carry the fort by surprise: their zeal was stimulated by the +vindictive fury of a Canadian priest, named Piquet, who marched at their +head till the fire commenced, urged them on with the hope of plunder, +and denounced all who might give quarter to the heretic enemy.</p> + +<p>The night passed without any alarm. At first dawn, however, the dusky +forms of the Indians were seen cautiously approaching the western angle +of the intrenchments, and mustering for an attack. But two guns loaded +with grape, and a sharp volley of musketry from the fort, at once drove +them back yelling into the woods. After a time they gathered sufficient +determination to make an attempt at burning the English boats in the +harbor, which they again and again repeated, but always without success. +M. de la Corne did not bring his French troops into action. Finding +Colonel Haldimand well prepared for his reception, he abandoned the +enterprise, having buried his dead, and carried off his wounded to the +boats. The French chief acquired little honor by this impotent +demonstration; not a prisoner rewarded his efforts, nor did he obtain a +single scalp, although the deserters affirmed that he had offered 1000 +livres for one such horrible trophy. The fierce priest, Piquet, gained a +reputation for cruelty and ferocity which was not forgotten when Canada +had passed from the sway of France.</p> + +<p>Thus every where in the far West success attended the British arms. One +small fort, indeed, at the remote extremity of Lake Erie, on the banks +of the Detroit River, still remained in the possession of France, but +distance and comparative insignificance were its sole protection: shut +out from supplies or re-enforcements, and feebly garrisoned, it only +awaited the summons to surrender. The English force on Lake Ontario +rested upon their arms after their somewhat easy victory; Amherst's +strength, as we have seen, lay paralyzed by the opposing winds on Lake +Champlain; the plan of the campaign as yet had failed. Opposition had +been overpowered, forts taken, guns, trophies, and stores captured, but +still, at the vital point, at the great Canadian stronghold, from the +lofty headland of Quebec, the wise and gallant Montcalm, with an +outnumbering host, looked down in unshaken confidence upon the invader's +force. There the real battle was to be fought; there alone the die was +to be cast which should decide the fate of France's noblest colony. Time +rolled on, spring had warmed into summer; summer now deepened into +autumn; the broad sycamore leaf drooped upon the stem; the rich foliage +of the maple betrayed in its chameleon tints the approaching fall; the +mysterious northern lights reappeared in the chilly darkness, and +illumined the unclouded sky. Still, while these symptoms of the coming +winter crowded upon the eyes of the British generals on Champlain and +Ontario, they gained no tidings of their colleague's fate, save such +vague rumors as a wandering Indian or a false deserter might convey; and +yet, with wonder be it said, they sat them down to rest, and inactively +awaited the event of that all-important struggle.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_171_171" id="Footnote_171_171"></a><a href="#FNanchor_171_171"><span class="label">[171]</span></a> He was a captain in the regiment of Berri.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_172_172" id="Footnote_172_172"></a><a href="#FNanchor_172_172"><span class="label">[172]</span></a> "Le Général Prideaux avoit été charge de l'attaque de +Niagara; ce fort situé près de la fameuse cataracte pouvoit être +considéré comme le point militaire le plus important du Canada; il +commande, en effet, le passage qui sert de communication entre le Lac +Erie et le Lac Ontarío, en sorte qu'il sert de clef à la navigation de +ce vastes mers intérieures; il commande en même temps la seule +communication par terre entre les régions situées au nord et midi du +fleuve et des Grands Lacs. Les Français connoissoient toute la valeur de +cette position admirable; mais abandonnés comme ils étoient par la +mère-patrie, ayant consumé pendant cinq ans leurs soldats, leurs armes, +leurs munitions, à se défendre par leurs seules ressources, ils +n'avoient pu mettre que six cents hommes dans Niagara, et ils n'en +purent pas rassembler plus de dix-sept cents parmi les milices +Canadiennes et leurs sauvages alliés, pour marcher à la délivrance de +cette fortresse. Le Général Prideaux en avoit commencé l'attaque depuis +peu de jours, lorque le 20 Juillet il fut tué à la tranchée; Sir W. +Johnson qui le remplaça, continua l'attaque avec le même vigueur. Le 25 +Juillet il livra bataille à la petite armée qui s'avançoit au secours de +la place assiégée, il la défit avec un grand carnage, et le même jour le +fort capitula, et la garnison de six cents hommes qu'il centenoit se +livra prisonnière de guerre."<a name="FNanchor_174_174" id="FNanchor_174_174"></a><a href="#Footnote_174_174" class="fnanchor">[174]</a> +</p><p> +Sismondi gives the following reason for his exclusive use of English +authorities throughout his narration of the last French war in Canada: +"Car les Français se sont refusés à donner aucun détail sur des combats +dont les résultats étoient si funestes, encore que leurs compatriotes y +eussent deployé souvent autant d'héroisme que dans les victoires."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_173_173" id="Footnote_173_173"></a><a href="#FNanchor_173_173"><span class="label">[173]</span></a> An order has at length been issued that all candidates +for commissions shall pass a certain examination in general +acquirements.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_174_174" id="Footnote_174_174"></a><a href="#FNanchor_174_174"><span class="label">[174]</span></a> <i>Annual Register</i>, 1759, vol. ii., chap. vi., p. 29; +Smollett, vol. vii., b. iv., chap. xi., § xiii., p. 56.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER X.</h2> + + +<p>From the indifferent progress of Amherst and the untoward inactivity of +Gage, we may now return to the more stirring events of the expedition +against Quebec. Early in February a considerable squadron was equipped +in the English ports for North America, under the command of Admiral +Saunders.<a name="FNanchor_175_175" id="FNanchor_175_175"></a><a href="#Footnote_175_175" class="fnanchor">[175]</a> A land force was to proceed under convoy of the fleet for +the same destination. Pitt justly estimated the importance and +difficulty of the enterprise. He looked around in vain among the senior +officers of the army for a chief worthy of the occasion. Judging that, +among them, the advantages of experience were more than counterbalanced +by the infirmities of age, he determined to trust the military honor of +England to the elastic vigor and sanguine confidence of youth.</p> + +<p>While yet a boy, <span class="smcap">James Wolfe</span> had received the thanks of his +general, the Duke of Cumberland, on the field of La Feldt; rapid +promotion had followed this distinction. As lieutenant-colonel of a +regiment, the young officer had justified the notice of his superiors. +He was appointed to the staff in the inglorious expedition against +Rochefort, and gathered laurels where all was barren to his associates. +At the siege of Louisburg his transcendent merit shone in the strong +light of opportunity and success, and when still in early manhood he had +gained a fair maturity of fame. In him ambition was exalted by +patriotism and purified by religion. Modest in manners and conversation, +he nevertheless possessed in action self-reliance almost to presumption. +With the prize of honorable distinction in view, his daring courage +foiled every danger and difficulty, and "obstacles were but the stepping +stones to his success." He commanded the confidence and respect of the +rude soldiers, in spite of an almost feminine sensibility. When reverses +for a moment damped his hope, they at the same time served to brace his +energy. Ardent and laborious, daring and provident, practical and +studious, pertinacious yet reasonable, he was dignified in command and +docile in obedience. Gifted, gentle, and generous, earnest in life and +devoted in death, history may grace her page with the name of no greater +hero when she records the deeds of many a greater general.</p> + +<p>Wolfe returned to England from Louisburg in the end of the year 1758. He +suffered severely from an illness, for which repose offered the only +chance of relief, and an early prospect of the realization of a long and +dearly-cherished hope drew him to home. But his aspiring spirit would +not yield either to the weakness of his frame or to the strength of his +affection, and almost immediately after landing from America, he +addressed Mr. Pitt in a modest and manly letter, and offered his +services for the next American campaign.</p> + +<p>Wolfe's name stood high in the esteem of all who were qualified to +judge, but, at the same time, it stood low in the column of colonels in +the Army List. The great minister thought that the former +counterbalanced the latter. With instinctive genius, he discerned that +the young soldier possessed the peculiar qualifications suited for his +purpose, and, throwing aside the obstacles presented by official +routine, he recommended the gallant brigadier of Louisburg to the +especial notice of the king. One of the last gazettes in the year 1758 +announced the promotion of Colonel James Wolfe to the rank of +major-general, and his appointment to the chief command of the +expedition against Quebec.</p> + +<p>About the middle of February, 1759, the squadron sailed from England to +Louisburg, where the whole of the British force destined for the River +St. Lawrence was ordered to assemble. On the 21st of April Saunders and +his armament reached the coast of Cape Breton, but the harbors were +still blocked up with the ice of the preceding winter, and he could not +enter. He then bent his course for Halifax, on the neighboring peninsula +of Nova Scotia, and anchored the whole fleet in that magnificent sea +port. Twenty-two ships of the line, five frigates, and nineteen smaller +vessels of war, with a crowd of transports, were mustered under the +orders of the admiral, and a detachment of Artillery and Engineers, and +ten battalions of Infantry, with six companies of Rangers, formed +Wolfe's command; the right flank companies of the three regiments which +still garrisoned Louisburg soon after joined the army, and were formed +into a corps called the Louisburg Grenadiers. The total of the land +forces embarked were somewhat under 8000. Two thousand Infantry, which +had formed part of the expedition to the West Indies, under Hodgson, +were to have increased Wolfe's strength, but, owing to unavoidable +circumstances, they were subsequently countermanded.</p> + +<p>Before leaving England Admiral Saunders had received intelligence that +the French would make an effort to run a convoy up the River St. +Lawrence for the relief of Quebec, at the first opening of the +navigation. He therefore dispatched Admiral Durell with a small squadron +to intercept it. From Halifax Saunders proceeded to Louisburg as soon as +the breaking up of the ice permitted, and there held counsel with Wolfe +upon the plan of the expedition. On the 15th of May he issued a general +order to the fleet, that, in case of any temporary separation from +adverse weather or other accidents, Gaspé Bay, in the Gulf of St. +Lawrence, was to be the first place of rendezvous, and the island of +Bic, 340 miles up the Great River, the next.</p> + +<p>It was not, however, till the 1st of June that the British ships began +to weigh anchor in Louisburg Harbor, and the huge armament had not +altogether cleared the land for six days afterward. While spreading +sail, the admiral received the unwelcome news that three French frigates +and a cloud of store vessels had escaped Durell's squadron and reached +Quebec in safety. Two prizes were captured, however, which had lagged +somewhat behind, and they, besides a quantity of powder and other +munition, contained French charts of the River St. Lawrence, the +possession of which proved of great importance to the British fleet.</p> + +<p>A cheerful and confident spirit pervaded all ranks and services in the +expedition. A portion of the troops, among whom were the gallant 43d, +had been for a considerable time doomed to unwilling inactivity upon the +dreary shores of Nova Scotia and Cape Breton; they especially were +filled with hopeful enthusiasm: as each successive transport cleared the +harbor and the broad expanse of sea appeared, shouts of joy burst from +the soldiers on the crowded decks.</p> + +<p>On the 7th the fleet made the coast of Newfoundland, still covered with +the winter's snow; on the 9th it passed the Bird Islands in a stiff +breeze, and on the 11th made the headland of Gaspé. The desolate and +dangerous island of Anticosti was passed during the 13th with "most +delightful weather and favorable breezes; the fleet well together." +Early in the morning of the 18th they cast anchor within sight of the +island of Bic, where they found the Richmond frigate, which had got some +distance in advance, perhaps urged forward by the eager spirit of Wolfe, +who was on board. The next day they again sailed; on the 20th they were +becalmed off the mouth of the deep and gloomy Saguenay, and many of the +smaller vessels narrowly escaped being dashed against each other by the +powerful currents. In the night a favorable breeze arose, and cleared +them from their perilous entanglement, and now, at noon the following +day, the first Canadian settlement came in sight. On the 22d a French +ship was taken, on board of which were several nuns and some ladies of +distinction, a relation of the Marquis de Vaudreuil, governor of Canada, +among the number: they were treated with the greatest respect and +courtesy, and immediately sent back to Quebec under a flag of truce.</p> + +<p>On the 23d the fleet passed the Narrows between Isle au Condre and the +shore, and in the evening came to anchor opposite the little settlement +of St. Joseph. There the first act of hostility took place: the +inhabitants fired upon some sounding boats which had neared the shore; +this was answered by a small detachment of the 15th Regiment, sent in a +barge for the protection of the sounders; little or no damage, however, +was inflicted by either party. In revenge for this attack, the little +Canadian village was subsequently burned, and the fields laid waste by a +body of British troops from before Quebec.<a name="FNanchor_176_176" id="FNanchor_176_176"></a><a href="#Footnote_176_176" class="fnanchor">[176]</a> On the 25th the +difficult passage of "the Traverse" was made in safety, and on the +following day the armament anchored off the fair and fertile island of +Orleans, and the troops received orders of readiness to land.</p> + +<p>About midnight, Lieutenant Meech and forty Rangers rowed silently toward +the shore, and, unobserved by the Canadians, effected a landing. Leaving +their boats, they pushed on through the darkness almost to the northern +side of the island; suddenly they came upon a numerous body of armed +peasants, who were engaged in burying different valuables for safety +against the invaders. The few shots which were speedily exchanged showed +the Rangers that they were outnumbered, and that a bold front was the +only chance of safety. A smart skirmish ensued; the Canadians, surprised +by the unexpected attack, and not aware what force might support their +assailants, gave way, and retired in confusion. Lieutenant Meech, happy +in having escaped the danger, also fell back, and took refuge in a +farm-house till the morning. During the night the inhabitants abandoned +the island.</p> + +<p>The troops landed early on the 27th in a cove under the Church of St. +Lawrence, which sacred building they were implored to respect, through +the means of a placard directed to "the worthy officers of the British +army." The soldiers were charmed with the beauty and richness of the +island, and their comparative freedom after the weary voyage; but the +mind of their young general was filled with deep and anxious interest by +the sight of the stronghold that stood boldly out into the river a few +miles above. Accompanied by the chief engineer, Major M'Kellar, and an +escort of Light Infantry, Wolfe, as soon as he landed, pushed on to the +extremity of the island nearest to Quebec. A magnificent but +disheartening scene lay before him. On the summit of the highest +eminence, over the strait in the Great River from whence the basin +before him opened, the French flag waved. The crest of the rocky height +was crowned with formidable works redoubted and flanked. On every +favorable spot above, below, or on the rugged ascent, were batteries +bristling with guns. This stronghold formed the right flank of a +position eight miles in extent; the falls, and the deep and rapid stream +of the Montmorency, was the left. The shoals and rocks of the St. +Lawrence protected the broad front, and the rich valley of the St. +Charles, with the prosperous and beautiful villages of Charlesburg and +Beauport, gave shelter and hospitality in the rear. A crested bank of +some height over the Great River marked the main line of the defenses +from east to west; parapets, flanked at every favorable spot, aided +their natural strength. Crowding on this embattled bank, swarming in the +irregular village streets, and formed in masses on the hills beyond, +were 12,000 French and Canadian troops, led by the gallant Montcalm.</p> + +<p>While Wolfe still gazed upon this appalling prospect a storm gathered +over his head, and burst in sudden violence. The teeming rain fell like +a vail between him and the beautiful but dangerous shore. Lightning +hissed through the air, and a hurricane swept over the river with +destructive strength. Transports were driven from their moorings and +cast ashore; smaller boats were dashed against each other and swamped, +and the vessels of war with difficulty held to their anchors. Silently +and thoughtfully the young general retraced his steps to the +landing-place, his sanguine and sensitive spirit oppressed for a moment +with the difficulties of his enterprise, and by the gloomy omen of the +heavens. But, before he rejoined the army, the weight was flung aside; +the elastic spring of his mind had resumed its play, and he entered the +camp with head erect and his usual bright and fearless aspect. He did +not forget that he received his high command in the confidence that "no +dangers or difficulties should discourage him."</p> + +<p>The storm passed away as suddenly as it came; the evening of the 27th +fell calm and serene, but very dark; a few stars only were faintly +reflected from the surface of the waters. As the British sentinels paced +slowly to and fro upon the rocky shore of the island of Orleans facing +toward Quebec, the silence of the night was only broken by the echo of +their own footsteps and the ripple of the rapidly receding tide. About +midnight a soldier on one of the most advanced points called the +attention of his comrades on the neighboring posts to some dark objects +moving along the river—slowly, as if drifting with the tide in the +direction of the fleet, or rather toward some shoals to the northward of +the fleet, which had been marked out by buoys during the preceding day. +While the sentinels were yet debating about giving the alarm, each of +the dark objects sent forth a crashing salvo of artillery; grape-shot +rattled among the rocks and trees upon the shore, and plowed up the +surrounding waters. Shells and grenades leaped into the air, and +exploded with loud reports, now here, now there, on every side of the +astounded soldiers. At the same time bright red flames burst from these +fire-ships, sprung up among the masts and spars, quivered through the +distinctly visible tracery of the rigging, and spread out in broad +sheets over the collapsing sails. The river, the hostile camps, the +city, and the distant mountains, instantly stood revealed as in noonday +by this lurid light. As the blaze spread, explosion after explosion +racked the burning vessels; they staggered and spun half round under the +shocks; but still the ebb tide swept them rapidly on, near to where the +crowded transports lay.</p> + +<p>This strange and terrible sight struck the sentries with uncontrollable +panic; they fled from their posts, carried their terrors to their +pickets, and all retired hastily toward the English camp. Falling in +upon each other in the woods, they became utterly confused. The alarm +spread; the whole line turned out, loaded their muskets, and prepared +somewhat unsteadily for action. Order and confidence were not fully +restored till daylight showed that there was no enemy at hand.</p> + +<p>In the mean time, upon the river, where real danger threatened, it was +happily met with cool and courageous skill. As soon as the premature +ignition of the fire-ships gave the alarm to the fleet, a number of +well-manned boats put off and pulled toward them. The sailors waited +until the guns were discharged and the powder exploded; then fixed +grappling irons upon the burning vessels, and towed them leisurely +ashore, where those least injured were anchored; the rest drifted with +the tide upon the rocks, and soon broke into harmless ruin. Then, to the +sharp report of cannon and grenade, succeeded the cheerful and sonorous +"All's well" of the British seamen.</p> + +<p>On the following morning, the 28th of June, Wolfe published a manifesto +to the Canadian people to the following effect: "We have a powerful +armament. We are sent by the English king to conquer this province, but +not to make war upon women and children, the ministers of religion, or +industrious peasants. We lament the sufferings which our invasion may +inflict upon you, but, if you remain neuter, we proffer you safety in +person and property, and freedom in religion. We are masters of the +river; no succor can reach you from France. General Amherst, with a +large army, assails your southern frontier. Your cause is hopeless, your +valor useless. Your nation have been guilty of great cruelties to our +unprotected settlers; but we seek not revenge: we offer you the sweets +of peace amid the horrors of war. England, in her strength, will +befriend you; France, in her weakness, leaves you to your fate."</p> + +<p>This judicious proclamation was, however, at first, of little or no +avail. The Canadian clergy used their utmost endeavors to excite their +flocks against the heretical invaders, and implored them not to trust to +British promises. Hereditary hatred of the haughty islanders still +existed in the hearts of even the transatlantic French. The +counter-proclamations and threats of Montcalm also bewildered the +unhappy peasantry. He threatened them with death if they refused to +serve, and with the fury of the savages if they aided the English. In +consequence, the "habitans" generally used their best exertions to +embarrass the invaders and to assist the defense. They followed the +French banners pretty freely, and furnished such supplies to the army as +their means allowed. Not content with this, they gave the rein to the +fierce passions which intercourse with the Indians had strengthened. +They scalped without mercy all the English that fell into their hands, +massacred the wounded, and mutilated the dead. Wolfe appealed to his +gallant enemy to put a stop to these atrocities; but Montcalm's +authority was insufficient to restrain the savages, and their almost as +savage allies; and it must be admitted, to our shame, that the British +general was, in consequence, induced to connive at a vindictive +retaliation. Ultimately Wolfe issued the following strange and somewhat +conditional order: "The general strictly forbids the inhuman practice of +scalping, <i>except</i> when the enemy are Indians, or Canadians dressed like +Indians." At the same time, however, he threatened with the punishment +of death all who might offer cruelty to women, and decreed the severest +penalties against plundering. The last order was ineffectual, for the +soldiers plundered in all directions.</p> + +<p>While the British fleet had been slowly ascending the river, Montcalm +and his followers were busily preparing to receive it. They labored +unceasingly to add to the great natural strength of the country about +Quebec. Parapets were thrown up upon every vulnerable point, guns +mounted, and, above all, no efforts were spared to organize the numerous +but somewhat doubtful forces of the Canadian peasantry. Five veteran +French battalions, filled up by picked men from the colonial levies, and +two battalions of the "marine," or "colony troops," also trained +soldiers, formed the main strength of his army. The armed peasantry or +militia were chiefly posted for the defense of the long line of works +between Quebec and Montmorency, and several tribes of friendly Indians +hovered about among the neighboring woods.</p> + +<p>The Canadians trusted much to the supposed difficulty of the river +navigation, and were inexpressibly disappointed when a preconcerted +signal announced that the vast British armament had passed the Narrows +in safety. When the crowding sails were seen rounding the isle of +Orleans, the people, in despair, flew to the churches to offer up their +prayers for the preservation of their country. At first the van of +Admiral Durell's squadron hoisted French colors, and the joyful rumor +spread along the shore that a fleet had arrived to their aid from +France. Pilots hastened on board to offer assistance to their supposed +friends; but when they were detained, and the British flag was hoisted +instead of the French, the pleasing illusion was dispelled. A Canadian +priest stood gazing delightedly upon the ships through a telescope: he +was so overwhelmed with consternation when he perceived the mistake that +he fell down and died.</p> + +<p>The storm had taught the British admiral that the channel between the +island of Orleans and the south shore was neither a safe nor a +convenient anchorage; he therefore determined to pass up into the basin +with his whole fleet. Information had, however, been received that the +French occupied, in some force of infantry and artillery, a headland +called Point Levi, which is opposite to the headland of Quebec, and +which, with the latter, forms the strait at the entrance of the basin. +From this commanding position the enemy's guns might seriously annoy the +English ships. Saunders therefore requested General Wolfe to drive the +French away from this point, and to occupy it himself.</p> + +<p>On the evening of the 29th of June, Brigadier-general Monckton, with his +brigade of four battalions and some Light Infantry and Rangers, were +formed on the southwestern extremity of the island of Orleans, in +readiness to pass over against Point Levi. Through some unforeseen +delay, they did not embark till dusk, and the light troops, with one +regiment only, were enabled to cross the river before the ebb of tide +rendered further movement impossible for the present. The remaining +three regiments lay for the night on their arms by the shore. The troops +which had embarked landed without opposition, and contented themselves +with taking possession of Beaumont Church on the south shore; there they +barricaded themselves, lighted watch-fires, and awaited the morning.</p> + +<p>At earliest daylight Monckton embarked the rest of his brigade and +pushed across to the advance. The sound of musketry from the southern +shore soon stimulated the exertions of the rowers, and, as the scattered +shots breezed up into a skirmish, they used their utmost efforts to +increase their speed. The troops scarcely waited to form after landing, +but hastened on to the church where their comrades had passed the night. +There, however, they only met with a couple of wounded men; the Light +Infantry had speedily overpowered a detachment of colony troops, and +were still pressing hard upon their retreating footsteps through the +wood. The English brigadier found the banks of the river steep, the +country rugged and difficult: a few resolute men might have embarrassed +or baffled his expedition.</p> + +<p>In the mean time the British light troops had arrested the pursuit at a +large farm-house at the foot of the hill which rises into the headland +of Point Levi; they deemed it prudent to secrete themselves there, lest +the enemy should return with re-enforcements before the succors arrived +from Orleans, and also because there was plenty of provisions, some +plunder, and a good fire. While the English soldiers were availing +themselves of these advantages, they were alarmed by hearing voices +close at hand: they seized their arms, searched the house and the +surrounding thickets without discovering any one. They at length +determined to fire the building and fall back upon the church. In a few +moments the farm-house was in a blaze. Then, to their horror, loud +shrieks of women and children burst from the burning ruins; they +hastened back, and used their best endeavors to save the sufferers, but +in vain; while they yet strove, the roof fell in with a crash, and all +was silent. The miserable victims had hidden themselves in a cellar at +the approach of the British troops. After this horrible incident the +Light Infantry fell back to Beaumont Church, where they found the whole +of Monckton's brigade assembled.</p> + +<p>At ten o'clock the brigadier moved upon the heights of Point Levi, +preceded by a cloud of skirmishers. The way lay over a pleasant road, +with a highly cultivated country on either side, and was not disputed +till the British troops began to ascend the hill. They soon forced the +height, and hurried on to the village facing Quebec. Here, however, they +received a check. A strong body of Canadians threw themselves into the +church and the adjoining houses, and another detachment held stoutly to +a rocky eminence further to the rear. The English rallied and gained +possession of the buildings, but were speedily dislodged again; the +position was not finally won till the 78th Highlanders forced the flank +in overwhelming numbers, and Monckton himself, with four companies of +Grenadiers, broke through the front. The Canadians and Indians, who had +fought so stoutly, although not altogether more than 1000 strong, +crossed over to Quebec when evening fell. The British brigade housed +themselves luxuriously in the neat village of Point Levi: no guns fell +into their hands, nor were any works in progress on that side of the +river.</p> + +<p>Montcalm felt that the assailants had gained a dangerous advantage in +the possession of Point Levi. Although at a distance of three quarters +of a mile from the city, heavy ordnance played from thence with ruinous +effect. In a council of war he had urged that 4000 men should be +strongly intrenched upon this position, with orders to hold it to the +last extremity; but his opinion was overruled by the governor, M. de +Vaudreuil, and from that time a fatal alienation arose between the two +French authorities. However, in the morning of the 1st of July, Montcalm +made a feeble effort to dislodge the British, by attacking their +position from three floating batteries. For an hour and a half the +French continued an annoying but almost harmless fire. Then Saunders +dispatched the Trent frigate to check the insult; favorable winds +carried her up to the scene of action, and a broadside concluded the +business.</p> + +<p>From that time Wolfe exerted himself to put Point Levi beyond the reach +of further insult; batteries were thrown up, and guns mounted in +commanding situations. In the afternoon skirmishes took place, both in +the woods near this new position and on the island of Orleans; some +lives were lost without any result, and both parties behaved with savage +cruelty. On the following morning this useless mischief was continued: +the same evening Wolfe made a reconnoissance in some force up the right +bank of the river, and marked out the ground for batteries to bombard +the town. Some of the Rangers under Major Scott penetrated as far as the +Chaudière River in this advance, but performed nothing worthy of notice.</p> + +<p>The 48th Regiment, the Grenadiers and Light Infantry of the division, +and the Rangers, with working parties from other corps, broke ground +upon the high lands to the west of Point Levi on the 5th of July. They +labored with zeal, and the batteries which were to play from thence upon +Quebec soon began to assume a formidable appearance. The Rangers took +post during the day in small parties upon the adjoining hills, which +commanded the several approaches to the works, and erected small +breast-works for their defense, while they guarded against the sudden +approach of an enemy. In the mean time a portion of Townsend's brigade, +under Colonel Carleton, was engaged in throwing up strong intrenchments +on the westernmost point of Orleans. When these two positions were +occupied, the safety of the fleet in the basin was assured; +nevertheless, by some unaccountable temerity or carelessness, the +Leostoff cutter allowed herself to be surprised and taken by the enemy +while sounding. This little incident brought on a brisk cannonade, which +continued for nearly two hours, without, however, causing damage to +either party.</p> + +<p>When the works on Point Levi and on the western extremity of the island +of Orleans were in a respectably defensible condition, Wolfe turned his +attention to the north shore of the St. Lawrence, where a favorable +position offered for threatening the French left. On the morning of the +9th the lighter vessels of the British fleet hauled in to the shore as +close as the depth of water would permit, and opened a fire upon the +enemy's lines between Quebec and the Falls of Montmorency. The range was +distant; nevertheless, the seamen plied their guns with such effect that +Montcalm found it necessary to strike the encampments near the shore, +and retire upon the high crest which extended along his whole front: +there he was beyond reach of annoyance. At the first dawn, Monckton's +brigade, with the exception of the working parties, was formed on the +slopes of the hills opposite Quebec, and ostentatiously marched up the +left bank of the St. Lawrence westward from Point Levi. The object of +the bombardment by the ships, and this movement of the troops, was to +divert the attention of the enemy from Wolfe's real object, which was to +establish himself upon the north shore by the Falls of Montmorency.</p> + +<p>The movement of Monckton's corps was marked by an incident pre-eminently +lamentable, even among daily scenes of death and misery. A lieutenant of +Rangers, with twenty men, was sent to scour the woods to the southward +of the line of march, and, if possible, to gain information of the +enemy's movements. They pressed forward with somewhat rash zeal into the +woody solitudes, and, being overtaken by the night, lay on their arms +and returned the next morning. While retracing their steps, they were +attracted by smoke rising from a neighboring clearing. They approached +having spread themselves in a circle, to prevent the escape of those +they might discover. The smoke proceeded from a log hut, where they +found and captured a man and his three sons, the eldest a youth of +fifteen years. The Rangers then hurried homeward with their prize. They +had not got far on their road when the horrible war-whoop of the Indians +rose behind them, and a glance showed that their assailants were in +overpowering numbers. There was, however, still hope of escape, for the +Rangers were hardy and active men, skilled in forest craft, and, +happily, well acquainted with the rugged and intricate paths. They +plunged into the woods at a running pace, and in a few minutes emerged +into another road unknown to their fierce pursuers. But here an +unfortunate difficulty arose: the elder prisoners were hurried along, +unwillingly enough, but in terrified silence; not so the two younger, +who were mere children: they filled the air with lamentations and cries +of alarm that neither entreaties nor threats could check. The British +lieutenant then begged of them to leave him and return home; but the +poor innocents only clung the more closely to him, and wailed the +louder. The sole chance of escape lay in reaching, unobserved, a pass +which led to the new position of Monckton's brigade, and by which the +Indians might not expect them to retreat. The hapless children, however, +by their screams, guided the savages in their pursuit through the +tangled woods, and again the war-whoop sounded close behind the +fugitives. An awful moment of irresolution was succeeded by an awful +resolve; the British officer, with a mournful heart, gave the order that +his young prisoners should be silenced forever. The Rangers reached the +brigade in safety before evening.</p> + +<p>While the attention of the enemy was distracted by Monckton and the +fleet, Wolfe passed over from Orleans to the eastward of Montmorency, +with a large force, at about one o'clock in the day, and encamped, +unopposed, on the left bank of the stream close to the falls. He +immediately placed some Light Artillery in position, and commenced +intrenching himself. The works were vigorously continued the following +morning, and Captain Dank's company of Rangers were pushed forward into +the woods to cover some parties who were engaged in making fascines for +the intrenchments. The Rangers had scarcely entered the bush when they +were suddenly and fiercely assailed by a considerable body of ambushed +Indians, and driven back with considerable loss. When they got into the +open ground, however, they rallied; the savages, elated with their first +success, pressed boldly on and renewed the combat, forcing the British +troops back over the fields toward the camp, and scalping and massacring +the wounded in the sight of their comrades. But the state of affairs was +soon changed; some advanced companies of Townshend's brigade, with two +field-pieces hurried out on hearing the firing: they fell on the flank +of the Indians, and slaughtered them without mercy.</p> + +<p>The plan of Wolfe's operations was now fairly developed. The mass of his +army was formed in threatening array upon the extreme left of the French +position, and from a considerable height looked down almost into the +rear of their intrenchments. The British general had hoped that from +hence he might find a ford across the rapid stream of the Montmorency, +and force on an action in the open country behind the enemy's lines; +there he doubted not that the courage and discipline of his troops would +give him an easy victory over the numerous Canadian levies. But he had +altogether mistaken the difficulties of the undertaking. The only ford +was three miles up the stream; the bush was so dense and the country so +rugged that a few Indians sufficed to baffle his repeated attempts to +reconnoiter, and killed or wounded no less than forty of his men. He +could no longer endure the slaughter of his magnificent Light Infantry +by the hands of unseen savages, and altogether abandoned the idea of +crossing the river above the falls.</p> + +<p>Montcalm quickly perceived the dangerous error of the English in +dividing their small army. As soon as Monckton's brigade commenced to +plant their guns on Point Levi, 1500 Canadians and savages were pushed +across the St. Lawrence from Quebec, and posted in the woods on the +right bank: they reconnoitered the English position, and, having +obtained a re-enforcement of 300 colony troops, prepared for an attack +on the night of the 13th. M. de Charrier, seigneur of Point Levi, a +skillful and a resolute man, commanded the assailants; meanwhile, +Wolfe, on hearing of the enemy's movements, had taken the command, in +person, at the south side of the river. The night came on still and +cloudless, but very dark; the weather was intensely hot, and the British +troops, wearied with the labors of the day, lay in profound repose, not +dreaming that the French would venture a night attack. The sentries, +indeed, paced their rounds, but, unconscious of the danger that lay +under the dark shadows of the neighboring forest, they still shouted +"All's well" as each hour passed away.</p> + +<p>The French advanced in two columns, silently, and at first with great +steadiness; as they proceeded, the difficulty of the road and the +extreme darkness of the night threw them into some confusion; despite +the skill of their leader and his perfect knowledge of the ground, the +disorder increased. The most perfect discipline and self-confidence are +rarely proof against the hazards of a night attack; among raw levies, +such as were the bulk of De Charrier's followers, disorder, once +commenced, becomes inextricable. While he yet strove to re-form the +broken ranks, an unexplained noise in a coppice by the road side struck +the Canadians with sudden panic, and they rapidly retraced their steps. +The rear column, hearing the approach of numerous footsteps from the +front, supposed that the English were upon them, and poured a close +volley among the fugitives, who again, under a like mistake, returned +the fire. The bloodshed was only stayed by both parties flying in +different directions. Not less than seventy of the French were killed +and wounded in this untoward enterprise. The attempt was not renewed.</p> + +<p>The British batteries being completed at Point Levi and at Montmorency, +a fire of guns and mortars was poured night and day upon the city of +Quebec, and upon the French lines to the westward. The enemy replied +with spirit, but with little effect. The Lower Town was much damaged by +the constant bombardment from the opposite side of the river, and at +eleven o'clock on the forenoon of the 16th, a fire broke out in the +Upper Town, where a shell had fallen. The flames spread with rapidity, +fanned by a strong northwest wind; many buildings were destroyed before +the conflagration was arrested; among others the great Cathedral, with +all its paintings, images, and ornaments. The defenses remained +untouched throughout this lamentable destruction; the assailants only +diminished the value of the prize for which they strove, without +approaching a whit nearer to its attainment.</p> + +<p>Wolfe returned to the north camp on the 16th, and pushed the works above +the Falls of Montmorency with vigor. He frequently, during the day, sent +out detachments of troops to scour the neighboring woods, and to keep +the marauding Indians in check. The savages hovered constantly round the +British position, and from their ambush sprang like tigers upon those +who ventured unprotected within their reach. On the night of the 16th +they surprised and scalped four sentries of the Louisburg Grenadiers. +While Wolfe busied himself in strengthening his position, and +cannonading the French lines at a distance, M. de Levi, a distinguished +French officer, solicited Montcalm to drive him away. "Dislodge him +thence, and he will give us more trouble," replied Montcalm, "while +there he can not hurt us; let him amuse himself."</p> + +<p>The British general determined to reconnoiter the banks of the river +above the town, while he still continued his preparations below. With +this view, a small squadron under Captain Rous sailed with fair wind and +tide a little before midnight on the 18th, and passed up unharmed in the +face of the enemy's batteries. One frigate, however, the Diana, ran +aground near Point Levi, and could not be got off till the following +day. This bold passage was a complete surprise to the besieged: the +English ships were not observed by the sentries till it was too late to +bring their guns to bear. Two of these unhappy soldiers paid the penalty +of death for their carelessness: they were hung on a gibbet the +following morning, in sight of both armies.</p> + +<p>Montcalm lost no time in sending some guns up the left bank of the river +to annoy the British squadron; he erected a battery in a suitable +position at a place called Sillery, and compelled Rous to weigh anchor +and move up the stream. The French artillerymen had not been long +inactive after this achievement when they were again called to their +guns; a barge was discovered skirting the southern shore, and steering +toward the nearest English ship. They gave her a salvo as she went by, +and one shot carried away her mast; before they could reload she was out +of reach. General Wolfe was in this barge on his way to reconnoiter the +upper river.</p> + +<p>Wolfe found the aspect of affairs as unpromising above the town as it +was below; the banks were every where high and precipitous; at each +assailable point intrenchments more or less formidable had been thrown +up, and each movement was jealously watched from the shore. However, to +divide and harass the enemy, and in the hope of procuring intelligence, +he sent Colonel Carleton, who commanded the troops embarked in Rous's +squadron, to make a descent upon the small town of Point aux Trembles, +to which many of the inhabitants of Quebec had retired with their +stores, papers, and valuables.</p> + +<p>Carleton landed on the 22d at the head of three companies of Grenadiers +and a battalion of the Royal Americans; a few Indians offered some +resistance at first, and wounded several of the leading files, but were +soon overpowered and driven into the woods. A number of useless +prisoners, some plunder, and several packets of letters, fell into the +hands of the English. The latter were of importance. "De Vaudreuil, the +governor, and Montcalm have disagreed, and endeavor to embarrass each +other," quotes one writer. "But for respect for our priests, and fear of +the savages, we would submit," writes the next. "We are without hope, +and without food," says a third. "Since the English have passed the +town, our communication with Montreal is cut off—God has forsaken us," +laments another. The misery of the besieged was great, therefore great +also was the hope of the besiegers.</p> + +<p>To increase the distress of the enemy, an order was issued from the +English head-quarters on the 24th of July. "Our out-parties are to burn +and lay waste the country for the future, sparing only churches, or +houses dedicated to divine worship." However, it was again repeated, +"that women and children are not to be molested, on any account +whatsoever." We may suppose men received scant mercy. "We played so +warmly on the town last night, that a fire broke out in two different +parts of it at eleven o'clock, which burned with great rapidity until +near three this morning. We are erecting a new six-gun battery to the +right of the others, to keep the town in ruins, which appears to be +almost destroyed." So writes an officer of the 43d, in his journal, +dated Point Levi, 25th of July, 1759. Such is war, even when Wolfe, the +pious, the domestic, and the tender-hearted, was the general!</p> + +<p>On the 26th the indefatigable British general proceeded up the left bank +of the Montmorency River to reconnoiter some works which the enemy were +erecting on the opposite side. His escort was attacked by a swarm of +Indians, and for a time hardly pressed; many of the English soldiers +were struck down before they could get sight of their subtle enemy; and +when the savages were finally silenced, it was with the loss of nearly +fifty of Wolfe's men killed and wounded. The next morning the 78th +Highlanders surprised a French detachment, and slew nine of them; their +own colonel and a captain were, however, wounded in the struggle.</p> + +<p>In consequence of some threatening movements in the British fleet, the +French sent down a fire-raft on the night of the 28th. A number of small +schooners, shallops, and rafts were chained together, to the breadth of +200 yards, and laden with shells, grenades, old guns, pistols, and tar +barrels: this mischievous contrivance floated rapidly down with the ebb +tide. The English seamen, however, were, as before, alert, and towed the +fire-raft ashore, without its having caused the slightest damage. The +following morning Wolfe sent a flag of truce to the garrison of Quebec, +with the following message: "If the enemy presume to send down any more +fire-rafts, they are to be made fast to two particular transports, in +which are all the Canadian and other prisoners, in order that they may +perish by their own base inventions." The French constructed no more +fire-rafts.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_175_175" id="Footnote_175_175"></a><a href="#FNanchor_175_175"><span class="label">[175]</span></a> "That admiral (Saunders) was a pattern of most sturdy +bravery, united with the most unaffected modesty. No man said less or +deserved more. Simplicity in his manners, generosity, and good nature +adorned his genuine love of his country."—Walpole's <i>Memoirs of George +II.</i>, p. 394.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_176_176" id="Footnote_176_176"></a><a href="#FNanchor_176_176"><span class="label">[176]</span></a> "The sides of the river began immediately to show a most +dismal appearance of fire and smoke; and (as the troops employed on this +service were the remains of those who escaped the massacre of Fort +William Henry, where they killed and scalped every wounded officer and +common man) they spared little or nothing that came in their +way."—<i>Gentleman's Magazine</i> vol. xxix., p. 556.</p></div> + +</div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XI.</h2> + + +<p>Wolfe had now been five weeks before Quebec; not a few lives had been +lost, a vast quantity of ammunition expended, and, above all, the season +of action was already half consumed. But, as yet, no important step, in +a military point of view, had been gained. The high grounds which he +occupied beyond Montmorency and Point Levi had scarcely been disputed by +the enemy. From day to day the hostile parapets were strengthened and +extended. He had carefully examined the north bank of the Great River +above and below the city, and could discover no one spot where either +nature or art did not forbid his landing. Whatever discontent or +distress might exist in the Canadian camp, there appeared no diminution +of numbers or slackening of zeal in the defense. Montcalm had neither +suffered himself to be provoked by insult or to be tempted by brilliant +but dangerous opportunity. He rendered assurance doubly sure by keeping +his superior force in a superior position; his raw provincial levies, +when behind breast-works, were far from inefficient, and his numerous +savage allies were terrible in their forest warfare; with the first he +manned his lines, with the latter he lost no opportunity of harassing +the invaders. On the other hand, the state of affairs in the British +camp was by no means promising: under Wolfe's circumstances, inaction +was almost equivalent to defeat.</p> + +<p>It was true that, before leaving England, he was instructed that his +expedition was only auxiliary to that of Amherst. To the main army, +which was advancing by the inland lakes, England looked for the conquest +of the country. Wolfe had already occupied the most important points in +the neighborhood of Quebec, and might well be excused had he awaited the +arrival of the general-in-chief for an attack upon the great stronghold. +In this situation, many a brave and experienced veteran would probably +have written "a most eloquent and conclusive apology for being beaten +or for standing still."<a name="FNanchor_177_177" id="FNanchor_177_177"></a><a href="#Footnote_177_177" class="fnanchor">[177]</a> But Wolfe had been happily chosen. He +deeply felt that his unusual selection should be justified by unusual +achievements, and that it was his duty to risk his reputation, as well +as his life, rather than fail the sanguine hopes of his country.</p> + +<p>Before narrating Wolfe's determination in this crisis, and the events +consequent thereupon, it will, perhaps, be well to recall the reader's +attention to the position of the Canadian army. The north shore of the +basin of Quebec is a curve of about eight miles long. The waters shoal +as they approach this shore, and at low tide a muddy bank is exposed, in +some places nearly half a mile in breadth. The long-crested height, +mentioned in a former description, at some parts of the line overhangs +high-water mark, at others recedes into the country, and leaves some +rich alluvial fields between its base and the river's banks. Wherever +this height was not sufficiently precipitous to form a natural defense, +the face was scarped, the summit crowned with a parapet, and the foot +pallisadoed or armed with abattis. The irregular line of this formidable +front shaped itself here and there into projections and inclinations, as +if traced in flank and ravelin by the skill of the engineer. The extreme +left of the French army rested on the rocky banks of the Montmorency. +The beautiful cataract, and the foaming rapids for three miles up the +stream, forbade the passage of an enemy: there was, indeed, a ford, but +it was well defended; beyond that, the tangled bush defied the strength +of battalions. Below the falls, however, the waters spread themselves in +numerous shallow channels over the sands, and the stream is fordable +except at high tide. To strengthen this weak point, Montcalm had thrown +up a four-gun redoubt at the foot of the overhanging cliff. Although +defiladed from the British artillery, these cliffs were altogether +exposed to that of the French, and therefore untenable in case of +falling into the assailants' hands.</p> + +<p>Toward the right of the French position the crested ridge subsides in a +gentle slope upon a valley, through the center of which winds the St. +Charles or Little River. The entrance to this stream is deep, and forms +a small harbor; here the French had run their ships of war aground, and +these powerful wooden batteries, with their heavy guns, swept the slopes +on either side, both toward the city walls and the right shoulder of the +crested height.</p> + +<p>The almost desperate course upon which Wolfe at length determined, was +that of attacking the enemy in these intrenchments. He maturely weighed +his plans; the skill and caution of the execution could alone justify +the temerity of the resolve. The redoubt on the low ground, in front of +the French left, and near the Falls of Montmorency, offered the most +vulnerable point; detached from the main defenses, and within reach of +guns from the shipping, he doubted not that he could easily master it, +or bring on a general action for its possession. On the other hand, this +redoubt could not be held when taken, for it lay exposed to the +artillery of the French. However, there were difficulties on every side; +Wolfe chose that which he considered the least. He well knew that, even +were he to carry the crested hill over the redoubt, and to force the +enemy from their works, the River St. Charles and the inner +intrenchments still lay between him and the city; "But," said he, "a +victorious army meets with no difficulties."</p> + +<p>Wolfe's available force was less by one third than that of the defenders +of this almost impregnable position. He had to risk the confusion of a +debarkation, the despotism of the tides, and the caprice of the winds. +The undertaking was all but desperate, and yet an overweening confidence +in their chief and in themselves was more fatal to the British troops +than the guns and parapets of the enemy.</p> + +<p>Wolfe concerted the plan of attack with the admiral. A small frigate, +the Centurion, was to sail toward the shore, as near as the depth of +water would permit, and open fire upon the redoubt. Two armed transports +received orders to second the frigate, and, if necessary, to run aground +in a favorable position. In one of these the general himself embarked. +The boats of the fleet were directed to take on board the greater part +of Monckton's brigade at Point Levi, with the available troops from +Orleans, and to muster at an early hour in the forenoon off the +northwestern point of that island. In the mean time, the British +batteries from Point Levi, and the heights over Montmorency Falls, were +to open upon the city and the intrenchments with every gun and mortar. +Townshend's and Murray's brigades were commanded to form in close +columns eastward of the ford below the falls, and there to await the +general's orders.</p> + +<p>At ten o'clock on the morning of the 31st of July, the 15th and 78th +Regiments, 200 men of the Royal Americans, and all the Grenadiers of +Monckton's brigade, embarked in the boats of the fleet at Point Levi: +they made for the northwest point of the island of Orleans, where they +were joined by four more companies of Grenadiers. The whole flotilla +then pushed out into mid-channel and awaited orders. At eleven o'clock +the two armed transports stood in for the Point de Lest, and grounded; +one, under Lieutenant Garnier, within musket-shot of the French redoubt. +At the same time, Admiral Saunders, in the Centurion, brought to a +little further from the shore, opposite the ford, and all three vessels +opened fire. This gave the signal to the gunners at Point Levi and on +the east bank of the Montmorency: they also began to work; the enemy +replied; and in a few minutes the whole of the vast amphitheater +resounded with the roar of artillery.</p> + +<p>Wolfe was in the transport which had first grounded. He promptly +observed that the redoubt, if taken, was too distant from the water to +allow of effectual support by the guns and the small arms of the +shipping. He saw, moreover, that his threatening movements had caused an +unusual stir in the French lines; bodies of troops were moving to and +fro, between the several points of defense, with that degree of +irregularity which usually attends the sudden re-formations of +undisciplined men: two battalions of the enemy were observed marching +from the roar of their left in the direction of the ford, three miles up +the Montmorency River: their object was evidently to cross the stream, +and fall upon the British batteries on the left bank, while the mass of +Wolfe's army was occupied in the attack upon the intrenchments. This +movement was immediately met by a counter-demonstration: the 48th +Regiment, which had been left in the works at Point Levi, was +ostentatiously pushed up the right bank of the St. Lawrence, as if about +to cross and attempt the French position above the city. Montcalm, upon +this, gave up his flank attack, and dispatched the two battalions to +watch the 48th from the opposite side of the river.</p> + +<p>For several hours, during these demonstrations, the firing on all sides +had slackened; the flotilla still lay motionless in the center of the +northern channel of the St. Lawrence. A great part of the day had thus +passed without any thing of importance having been attempted. The clouds +gathered heavily over the hills, and the receding tide warned Wolfe that +only brief space was left for action. He hesitated for a time; +circumstances were very adverse; but, unfortunately, the slight disorder +in the enemy's lines confirmed the bolder counsel, always most congenial +to his mind. At four o'clock he signaled for a renewal of the cannonade; +at five his barge put off from the second transport, and rowed toward +the flotilla, and at the same moment a red flag ran up to the mizen peak +of the stranded ship: it was the signal to advance.</p> + +<p>With a loud cheer the sailors bent to the oar, and the long-motionless +flotilla sprung into life. A few strokes somewhat disordered the +regularity of the line; some boats were faster, some crews more vigorous +than others. As they approached, the French gunners tried the decreasing +range; the shot fell near, hissed over head, and at length fell in among +the boats. Some few struck with fatal effect, for the weak frames were +easily shivered, and then sunk with all on board. While still pressing +on through the fire, the leading boats grounded on a ledge of unseen +rocks at short musket-shot from the beach. The disorder then became +dangerous.</p> + +<p>Wolfe was now in action: hesitation was at an end. He gave orders that +the flotilla should re-form in rear of the rocks, and, when the boats +were again afloat, signaled to Townshend to stop the advance of his +brigade, which was already in motion upon the ford; he then sprang into +a cutter with some navy officers, and skirted the reef in search of an +opening. He soon succeeded. It was now half past five; the storm +threatened close at hand; battalion after battalion the French were +crowding from right to left; but Wolfe was not to be daunted; he renewed +the signal of attack, and himself pointed out the way through the rocks. +A few strokes carried the flotilla to the shore; while the eager troops +sprang upon land, the French gave a parting volley, and abandoned the +redoubt and the detached battery which defended the ford.</p> + +<p>The thirteen companies of Grenadiers and the Royal Americans were first +ashore; they had received orders to form in four columns on the beach, +there to await the support of the remainder of Monckton's brigade from +the boats, and Townshend's from beyond the ford. But these chosen men +were flushed with an overweening confidence: proud of their post of +preference, proud of their individual strength, and exasperated by long +delay, they burst like bloodhounds from the leash. Despite the orders of +their officers, they raced across the intervening fields, and, without +any order or formation, threw themselves against the crested height.</p> + +<p>Wolfe soon saw that this rash valor had ruined the fortunes of the day: +nothing remained but to make such preparations for retreat as might +mitigate the inevitable disaster. Monckton's remaining regiments, the +15th and 78th, were now landed, and formed in admirable order upon the +beach, while Townshend and Murray crossed the ford of the Montmorency +and advanced to join them. Instead of risking this unbroken array in +supporting the unfortunate attack of the advance, Wolfe kept his men in +hand, and strove to recall the disordered assailants. Meanwhile the +storm burst, and when the Grenadiers reached the steep slope, they found +it impossible to keep their footing on the muddy side; their ammunition +was soon rendered useless by the teeming rain; but, still trusting to +the bayonet, they tried to make good their ground upon the hill. The +position was far stronger than they had anticipated; they were out of +breath, and exhausted by their hurried advance; by the time they had +clambered within reach of the enemy's parapets they were already beaten. +One close and steady volley of the French sufficed to roll them back +from off the crested hill.</p> + +<p>In tumultuous disorder, the Grenadiers fell back upon the abandoned +redoubt, and sought shelter under its parapets from the stinging fire of +the French. The works had, however, been so constructed that little or +no protection was afforded against the neighboring heights. Officers and +men were rapidly struck down in vain endeavors to re-form the broken +ranks, but still, with sullen tenacity, they held the unprofitable +position. At length, in obedience to peremptory orders, they retired, +and took post in the rear of Monckton's line.</p> + +<p>The slope of the fatal hill now presented a melancholy scene to the +British army. More than 200 of the Grenadiers had fallen; the track of +the rash advance and disastrous retreat was marked by the dying and the +dead. Some red coats lay almost under the enemy's parapets, where a few +of these impetuous men had won their way; others were seen dragging +their maimed limbs to seek shelter behind rocks or trees from the +vindictive fire which the French still poured upon their fallen foes. +Among the wounded lay Captain Ochterlony and Ensign Peyton, of the +second battalion of the Royal Americans: they had refused the proffered +aid of their retreating soldiers, and, being bound by ties of the +closest friendship, determined to meet together the desperate chances of +the field. They sat down side by side, bade each other farewell, and +awaited their fate. In a few minutes a Frenchman and two Indians +approached, plundered the wounded officers, and were about to murder +Ochterlony, when Peyton shot one of the savages with a double-barreled +gun which he still held; the other then rushed upon him, and, although +receiving the contents of the second barrel, closed in mortal struggle. +The Englishman succeeded, after a moment, in drawing a dagger, and with +repeated stabs, brought the Indian to the ground. In the mean time, the +French soldier had carried Ochterlony as a prisoner to his lines.<a name="FNanchor_178_178" id="FNanchor_178_178"></a><a href="#Footnote_178_178" class="fnanchor">[178]</a></p> + +<p>Peyton now started up, and, although his leg was broken, ran for forty +yards toward the river; there he sank exhausted. Presently a crowd of +Indians, reeking from their work of butchery, approached him from the +extreme left. Peyton reloaded his musket, leaned upon his unwounded +limb, and faced the savages; the two foremost hesitated before this +resolute attitude, when, to the deep disgrace of the French, they opened +a fire of musketry and even cannon from their breast-works upon the +maimed and solitary officer. However, at this desperate moment relief +was nigh; the Indians, who before had hesitated, now turned and fled +like scared vultures from their prey. A detachment of the gallant 78th +Highlanders, undismayed by the still murderous fire, chased the +marauders from the field, and bore the wounded Englishman in safety to +the shore. This extraordinary scene occurred in full view of both +armies.</p> + +<p>The evening was now far advanced; the tide was beginning to flow; the +ammunition of the whole army was damaged by the heavy rains; the waters +looked angry beneath a threatening gale; the enemy's strength was +concentrated; they had suffered little or no loss, while the British +were weakened by 33 officers and 410 men. Wolfe had learned by painful +experience the prodigious advantage of the French position, which, +although nearly invulnerable to attack, yet afforded admirable +facilities for retreat. He was baffled; all that now remained was to +conduct the re-embarkation with safety and regularity. Such of the +wounded as could be yet saved were carried from the field; the stranded +transports were abandoned and burned, and the flotilla rowed away from +the fatal shore. Townshend and Murray, whose untouched brigades had +covered the embarkation, then recrossed the ford without interruption, +and resumed their position on the heights east of the Montmorency.</p> + +<p>Wolfe knew that the enterprise of the 31st of July was of such a nature +that nothing but success could justify its temerity. By failure his +military error had been thrown into strong light, and yet it was +probable that he would have succeeded but for a strange adversity of +circumstances. The officers of the fleet had remained in unaccountable +ignorance of the reef of rocks which delayed and disordered the attack. +The storm of rain not only injured the ammunition of his men, but +rendered the steep ascent of the enemy's position so slippery that they +could not find firm footing, and the ill-timed audacity of the +Grenadiers had confounded all his calculations. The leading fault of his +plan was undoubtedly the attempt of a combined attack by land and water. +Had Monckton's brigade been landed beyond the falls, and the whole army +crossed the ford together, the fatal embarrassments of the +disembarkation would have been avoided. Wolfe suffered intense mental +distress from this mishap; his mind preyed upon his feeble frame; his +chronic ailment attacked him with unusual violence; fever supervened, +and for some weeks he lay absolutely helpless, to the grief of the whole +army. In the mean time, however, he issued the following merited rebuke +to the corps whose indiscretion had led to results so disastrous:</p> + +<p>"The check which the Grenadiers met with will, it is hoped, be a lesson +to them for the time to come. Such impetuous, irregular, and +unsoldierlike proceedings destroy all order, and put it out of the +general's power to execute his plan. The Grenadiers could not suppose +that they alone could beat the French army; therefore it was necessary +the corps under Brigadiers Townshend and Monckton should have time to +join them, that the attack might be general. The very first fire of the +enemy was sufficient to have repulsed men who had lost all sense of +order and military discipline. Amherst's (the 15th) and the Highland +(the 78th) regiment, by the soldier-like and cool manner in which they +formed, would undoubtedly have beaten back the whole Canadian army, if +they had ventured to attack them. The loss, however, is very +inconsiderable, and may be easily repaired when a favorable opportunity +offers, if the men will show a proper attention to their officers."</p> + +<p>Immediately after the repulse at Montmorency, Wolfe had dispatched 1200 +men, under Brigadier Murray, to assist Admiral Holmes in the Upper +River, and with orders to attempt the destruction of the French shipping +which had passed up the stream. The brigadier was directed, at the same +time, to take every favorable opportunity of engaging the enemy, and to +endeavor, by all means in his power, to provoke them to attack him. In +obedience to these orders, Murray proceeded up the left bank of the +river with his detachment, consisting of the 15th Regiment, three +companies of the Royal Americans, two of Marines, and one of Light +Infantry. At a convenient place above the Chaudière River, he embarked +under Admiral Holmes, and the squadron then made sail up the stream. The +French ships easily avoided the danger by sending all their guns and +stores ashore, and, when thus lightened, taking refuge in the shallows +toward Montreal; one brigantine of 200 tons was, however, abandoned and +burned in their retreat.</p> + +<p>Murray found every place fortified where a landing might be effected, +and the enemy always on the alert. After two vain attempts to disembark, +he at length only succeeded by a surprise: he then pushed to the village +of Dechambault, which was close at hand, carried it with scarcely any +resistance, and burned some stores of provisions, clothing, and +ammunition. Several prisoners of some note were taken in the onslaught, +and a few important letters fell into the hands of the English. Through +these letters Murray first heard of the occupation of Crown Point by +Amherst, and of Johnson's victory at Niagara. Finding that he could +effect nothing further, he hastened to convey this cheering news to his +general.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile fruitless damage was inflicted by each party upon the other: +the Indians frequently surprised and scalped English stragglers, and the +English batteries at Montmorency and Point Levi kept up a continued fire +upon the lines and upon the city. On the morning of the 10th of August, +at one o'clock, a shell pitched upon the vaulted roof of a cellar in the +lower town, broke through, and burst; a large quantity of brandy which +was there stored instantly ignited, the flames spread rapidly, and +nearly the whole of the quarter, including the Church of Nôtre Dame de +la Victoire, was burned to the ground. A fire broke out simultaneously +in the Upper Town, but was extinguished without having spread to any +great extent.</p> + +<p>The intelligence of Amherst and Johnson's progress, although +satisfactory in itself, gave Wolfe no hope of their assistance before +the close of the campaign: defeat could hardly have been more disastrous +to the general interests of the war than their inactivity. Almost the +whole force of Canada still mustered behind the formidable defenses of +Quebec. Nothing, however, could shake the resolution of the British +general; while life remained, he determined to persevere in the +enterprise. Far from being disheartened, he was only stimulated by +increasing difficulties. The fate of the campaign now hung upon him +alone: the disaster at Montmorency had endangered his reputation; it +only remained to clear away the cloud by success, or to silence censure +by a soldier's death.</p> + +<p>While Wolfe lay stricken with fever and unable to bear the presence of +his officers, he meditated unceasingly upon plans of attack. At length, +when somewhat recovered, but still incapable of leaving his bed, he +dictated the following letter to the brigadiers under his command:</p> + +<p>"That the public service may not suffer by the general's indisposition, +he begs the brigadiers will meet and consult together for the public +utility and advantage, and consider of the best method to attack the +enemy.</p> + +<p>"If the French army be attacked and defeated, the general concludes that +the town would immediately surrender, because he does not find that they +have any provision in that place.</p> + +<p>"The general is of opinion that the army should be attacked in +preference to the place, because of the difficulties of penetrating from +the Lower to the Upper Town; in which attempt neither the guns of the +shipping nor of our own batteries could be of much use."</p> + +<p>The letter then proceeds to suggest three different modes of +attack—all, however, upon the enemy's lines between the city and +Montmorency.</p> + +<p>The brigadiers assembled in consequence of this communication, and, +after having maturely deliberated, agreed in recommending the remarkable +plan which Wolfe unreservedly adopted. The merit of this daring and +skillful proposition belongs to Colonel George Townshend, although long +disputed, or withheld by jealousy or political hostility. This able +officer had left every happiness that domestic life could bestow, and +every gratification which fortune and position could procure, to face +the hardships and seek the honors of his country's service. When the +ministry's determination to prepare the expedition against Quebec became +known, he successfully exerted his powerful interest to obtain +employment, and was appointed to the third post of seniority in Wolfe's +army.</p> + +<p>The general plan of operations being arranged, preparations were +commenced to carry it into execution. The prospect of action revived the +drooping spirits of the British troops, and tended considerably to +improve their health; fever had been rife among them: a number of men +and officers had already died, and the temporary hospitals were still +crowded. Supplies had become so scant that horseflesh was frequently +served out as rations. The duties were rendered peculiarly harassing by +the subtle and dangerous hostility of the savages: although invariably +defeated, they seldom failed in the first instance to surprise and +massacre some hapless stragglers; and no outpost was ever safe from +their attacks. The Canadians were scarcely less dangerous and +vindictive; their knowledge of the country, and activity in forest +warfare, gave them a great advantage over the British soldiers in +irregular encounters; but, whenever they ventured to act in bodies, they +were sure to meet with severe chastisement. The invaders, however, were +not backward in revenging these injuries; for miles round their camp, +and on the banks of the river, they devastated the country without +mercy.</p> + +<p>Stimulated by the sight of the ruin wrought in neighboring parishes, the +unfortunate priest of Château Richer armed some eighty of his flock, and +fortified himself in a large stone house, about ten miles eastward of +the British camp, at Montmorency; from thence he sent a message, defying +to the combat an English detachment posted in his neighborhood. At the +same time, however, conveying in a note a polite request for the favor +of the commanding officer's company at dinner, with an assurance of a +safe-conduct. The strange but simple courtesy was of course rejected. In +a short time a detachment of light troops, with a field-piece, was sent +against the fortified house; the English took post in an adjoining road, +and by a stratagem contrived to draw the little garrison from their +defenses, and surrounded thirty of them, who were slain and scalped, +including the unhappy priest himself. The excuse pleaded for this +atrocious barbarity was, that the victims were disguised as Indians.</p> + +<p>On the 29th of August the British troops began to evacuate their +positions east of the Montmorency, in pursuance of the new plan of +operations. The sick, the women, and the heavy baggage were first +embarked in the boats of the fleet, and conveyed past the enemy's +batteries, at a respectful distance, to the camp at Point Levi: some of +the heavy guns followed on the 31st. On the 2d of the following month +Wolfe sent home an admirable dispatch, with an account of his operations +and failures. By the 3d of September he was prepared to move the whole +of his force from the north shore. Montcalm had anticipated this step +from the stir in the British lines, and from the activity of the British +light troops in burning houses and laying waste the country. He +therefore marched two strong columns into the woods to make for the ford +of the Montmorency, and, passing by it, to attack Wolfe while in the act +of embarkation. From the distant hills of Point Levi, Brigadier Monckton +observed the enemy's movements: he immediately ordered his brigade +under arms, hurried two regiments on board of boats supplied by the +admiral, supported by some sloops and frigates, rowed toward the +Beauport shore, and formed within a safe distance, as if preparing to +land. This demonstration was successful; the French columns were +recalled from the ford, and the British embarked unmolested.</p> + +<p>During the 7th, 8th, and 9th, Admiral Holmes maneuvered his fleet in the +upper river, harassing the enemy by constant menaces of their different +posts. At the same time, Wolfe, now somewhat recovered, was, with his +brigadiers, busily occupied in reconnoitering the northern bank of the +St. Lawrence. At length he discovered a narrow path winding up the side +of the steep precipice from the water's edge: at this spot, about three +miles above the city, the lofty banks were slightly carved inward. At +that time the place was known by the name of Le Foullon; it now bears a +name that may never be forgotten—Wolf's Cove. At the top of the path +the enemy had a small post; however, by the number of tents, which did +not exceed a dozen, the British general concluded that its strength +could not be more than 100 men. For miles on either side there was no +other possible access to the heights than by that narrow path; but that +narrow path sufficed to lead Wolfe to victory and to death.</p> + +<p>As before stated, Quebec stands on the slope of the eastern extremity of +that lofty range which here forms the left bank of the St. Lawrence; a +table-land extends westward for about nine miles from the defenses of +the city, occasionally wooded and undulating, but from the top of the +narrow path to the ramparts open and tolerably level: this portion of +the heights is called the <span class="smcap">Plains of Abraham.</span> Wolfe's plan was +to ascend this path secretly with his whole army, and make the plains +his battle ground. The extraordinary audacity of the enterprise was its +safety: the wise and cautious Montcalm had guarded against all the +probable chances of war: he was not prepared against an attempt for +which the pages of romance can scarcely furnish a parallel.</p> + +<p>It was on the 9th of September that Wolfe addressed to the Secretary of +State a letter which bears a deep and melancholy interest. His own view +of the prospects of the expedition was most gloomy, and he seemed +anxious to prepare the public mind in England for his failure.<a name="FNanchor_179_179" id="FNanchor_179_179"></a><a href="#Footnote_179_179" class="fnanchor">[179]</a> The +letter conveys the impression that he only continued his operations to +divert the attention of the enemy from other points: it concludes in the +following desponding words: "I am so far recovered as to do business, +but my constitution is entirely ruined, without the consolation of +having done any considerable service to the state, or without any +prospect of it." But while he wrote almost in despair, he acted as if he +had never doubted of success.</p> + +<p>On the 11th of September, Wolfe issued general orders to the army, from +which the following are extracts:</p> + +<p>"The troops on shore, except the Light Infantry and Americans, are to be +upon the beach to-morrow morning at five o'clock, in readiness to +embark; the Light Infantry and Americans will re-embark at, or about, +eight o'clock. The detachment of Artillery to be put on board the armed +sloop this day. <i>The army to hold themselves in readiness to land and +attack the enemy.</i></p> + +<p>"The troops must go into the boats (from the ships) about nine to-morrow +night, or when it is pretty near high water; ... and as there will be a +necessity for remaining some part of the night in the boats, the +officers will provide accordingly.</p> + +<p>"When they (the boats) are to drop away from the Sutherland, she will +show two lights in the main-top-mast shrouds, one over the other. The +men to be quite silent, and, when they are about to land, must not, upon +any account, fire out of the boats."</p> + +<p>Great preparations were made throughout the fleet and army for the +decisive movement, but the plans were still kept secret; a wise caution +was observed in this respect, for the treachery of a single deserter +might have imperiled the success of the expedition had its exact object +been known. On the morning of the 12th, a soldier of the Royal Americans +did desert: happily, he was unable to warn the enemy of their danger. +Almost at the same time, one of the French regulars deserted to Wolfe, +and brought a clear account of the state of affairs in Montcalm's camp. +"The main force is still below the town," said he; "our general will not +believe that you meditate an attack any where but on the Montmorency +side. The Canadians are dissatisfied, alarmed by the fall of Niagara, +and in great distress for provisions. M. de Levi, with a large +detachment, has left us for Montreal, to meet Amherst; and M. de +Bougainville, with 1500 men, watches the motions of your fleet in the +Upper River."</p> + +<p>From on board the Sutherland man-of-war, Wolfe issued his last orders to +the army on the evening of the 12th of September:</p> + +<p>"The enemy's force is now divided, great scarcity of provisions is now +in their camp, and universal discontent among the Canadians, which gives +us reason to think that General Amherst is advancing into the colony: <i>a +vigorous blow struck by the army at this juncture may determine the fate +of Canada</i> ... the troops will land where the French seem least to +expect it. The first body that gets on shore is to march directly to the +enemy ... the battalions must form on the upper ground with expedition, +and be ready to charge whatever presents itself.... The officers and men +will remember what is expected from them, and what a determined body of +soldiers, inured to war, is capable of doing, against five weak French +battalions, mingled with a disorderly peasantry."</p> + +<p>The heavier ships of the line moved this evening toward the Beauport +shore, anchoring as near the enemy's lines as the depth of the water +would permit. While daylight yet remained, all the boats of that portion +of the fleet were lowered, filled with marines and seamen, and ranged in +order, threatening a descent upon the shore. At the same time, the +remaining ships suddenly hoisted sail; and, with a favoring breeze, +swept proudly past the batteries of Quebec, and joined Holmes's squadron +at Cape Rouge, eight miles above the city. Monckton and Murray, who, +with their brigades, still occupied Point Levi and the village of St. +Michael's, now pushed rapidly up the left bank of the St. Lawrence till +they arrived opposite the fleet, and there embarked without being +observed by the enemy. At nine o'clock at night the first division of +the army, 1600 strong, silently removed into flat-bottomed boats; the +soldiers were in high spirits; Wolfe led in person. About an hour before +daylight the flotilla fell down with the ebb tide. "Weather favorable; a +star-light night."</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_177_177" id="Footnote_177_177"></a><a href="#FNanchor_177_177"><span class="label">[177]</span></a> Lord Mahon's <i>History of England from the Peace of +Utrecht</i>, vol. v., p. 228.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_178_178" id="Footnote_178_178"></a><a href="#FNanchor_178_178"><span class="label">[178]</span></a> "Captain Ochterlony, who is wounded and a prisoner, had +the good fortune to be protected from the savages by a French Grenadier, +to whom it is confidently reported that General Wolfe sent twenty +guineas as a reward for his humanity. M. Montcalm returned the money, +saying the man had not particularly merited such a gratuity, having done +no more than his duty, and what he hoped every Frenchman in his army +would do under the like circumstances.... A flag of truce came down +to-day (August 24th) with an account of the death of the gallant Captain +Ochterlony, who was wounded and taken prisoner, July 31st; his baggage, +that had been forwarded to him at his request, was faithfully +returned."—Knox's <i>Historical Journal</i>, vol. ii., p. 31.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_179_179" id="Footnote_179_179"></a><a href="#FNanchor_179_179"><span class="label">[179]</span></a> "In short, you must not be surprised that we have failed +at Quebec, as we certainly shall. You may say, if you please, in the +style of modern politics, that your court<a name="FNanchor_180_180" id="FNanchor_180_180"></a><a href="#Footnote_180_180" class="fnanchor">[180]</a> never supposed it could +be taken; the attempt was really made to draw off the Russians from the +King of Prussia, and leave him at liberty to attack Daun. Two days ago +came letters from Wolfe, despairing, as much as heroes can despair. The +town is well victualed; Amherst is not arrived, and 15,000 men encamped +defend it. We have lost many men by the enemy, and some by our +friends—that is, we now call our 9000 only 7000. How this little army +will get away from a much larger, and in this season, and in that +country, I don't guess—Yes I do."—- Walpole's <i>Letters to Sir H. +Mann</i>, Oct. 16, 1759.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_180_180" id="Footnote_180_180"></a><a href="#FNanchor_180_180"><span class="label">[180]</span></a> Sir Horace Mann was then British envoy to the court of +Tuscany.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XII.</h2> + + +<p>We must leave Wolfe for a while to take a brief review of the position +of affairs in his enemy's camp. Montcalm's difficulties were also great. +He knew not where to turn for a ray of hope, except, indeed, to the now +rapidly advancing winter. The toils were spread on every side: the +stately fleet riding below the town cut off all supplies from France; +the fall of Niagara and Fort of Frontenac broke off the chain of +communication with the distant West; Amherst, with an overwhelming +force, hung over the weakest point of the Canadian frontier; Montreal, +with neither army nor fortification, lay exposed to the British advance. +But, worst of all, distrust of his colleague, and contempt of the +prowess of his militia, paralyzed Montcalm's vigor and destroyed his +confidence. "You have sold your country," exclaimed he, in +uncontrollable indignation, to M. de Vaudreuil, when the latter opposed +his views; "but, while I live, I will not deliver it up." And of the +Canadian levies he writes to M. de Berryer, "My Canadians without +discipline, deaf to the sound of the drum, and badly armed, nothing +remains for them but to fly; and behold me—beaten without resource!" +"But," continued he, in the same remarkable letter,<a name="FNanchor_181_181" id="FNanchor_181_181"></a><a href="#Footnote_181_181" class="fnanchor">[181]</a> "of one thing I +can assure you, I shall not survive the probable loss of the colony. +There are times when a general's only resource is to die with honor; +this is such a time. No stain shall rest on my memory. But in defeat and +death there is consolation left. The loss of the colony will one day be +of more value to my country than a victory. The conqueror shall here +find a tomb; his aggrandizement shall prove his ultimate ruin."</p> + +<p>Montcalm's utmost exertions failed to prevent desertion among the +Canadians; he scourged some offenders, hanged others, threatened their +villages with the vengeance of the savages, but still the unhappy +peasantry were with difficulty held together. At the camp they were +badly supplied with provisions, while their families almost starved at +home. Their harvest, that which the English had not destroyed, remained +unreaped. At length the general was obliged to yield to the urgent +necessity of the case, and at a most critical period of the campaign he +allowed 2000 of the militia to depart for the purpose of getting in +their crops.</p> + +<p>The Indians, however, still remained faithful: as long as a chance of +blood and plunder offered, they were sure to be present; but in a +pitched battle they were nearly useless, and the increased experience of +the British troops rendered even their forest warfare now less +dangerous.</p> + +<p>Not only provisions, but even ammunition, were becoming scarce in +Montcalm's camp: there was no hope of supplies from any quarter. The +Lower Town and a large portion of the Upper Town were laid in ruins by +the English artillery: the defenses, it was true, still remained +uninjured; but, except in natural advantages, they were by no means +formidable. The repulse of the besiegers at Montmorency had for a time +raised the spirits of the French, and given them a better opinion of +Canadian prowess, for upon that occasion the peasantry had fired with +great steadiness from behind their breast-works. But the daring though +misdirected valor of the British Grenadiers, and the imposing front of +their supports, failed not to confirm Montcalm's deep forebodings of the +probable result of a battle. Then the incessant activity of the +invaders, their pertinacious retention of any point which offered an +apparent advantage, and their seemingly inexhaustible resources, showed +that no stone would be left unturned for his destruction.</p> + +<p>One only hope remained to the French general: the winter approached. In +a few weeks the northern blast would scare away the stubborn enemy, +against whom his arms and skill were ineffectual. Could he struggle on a +little longer, the fate of Canada might be thrown upon the chances of +another campaign, and a turn in European affairs yet preserve the +splendid colony of France. "Unless Wolfe lands above the town, and +forces me to a battle, I am safe," writes Montcalm. But while, on the +night of the 12th of September, he watched in confident expectation the +deceitful preparations of the fleet below the town, the ebbing tide +silently floated down the British army toward that position the +occupation of which he knew must be his ruin.</p> + +<p>Silently and swiftly, unchallenged by the French sentries,<a name="FNanchor_182_182" id="FNanchor_182_182"></a><a href="#Footnote_182_182" class="fnanchor">[182]</a> Wolfe's +flotilla dropped down the stream in the shade of the overhanging +cliffs. The rowers scarcely stirred the waters with their oars; the +soldiers sat motionless. Not a word was spoken save by the young +general; he, as a midshipman on board his boat afterward related,<a name="FNanchor_183_183" id="FNanchor_183_183"></a><a href="#Footnote_183_183" class="fnanchor">[183]</a> +repeated, in a low voice to the officers by his side, "Gray's Elegy in a +Country Churchyard;" and as he concluded the beautiful verses, said, +"Now, gentlemen, I would rather be the author of that poem than take +Quebec!" But while Wolfe thus, in the poet's words, gave vent to the +intensity of his feelings, his eye was constantly bent upon the dark +outline of the heights under which he hurried past. He recognized at +length the appointed spot, and leaped ashore. Some of the leading boats, +conveying the light company of the 78th Highlanders, had in the mean +time been carried about 200 yards lower down by the strength of the +tide. These Highlanders, under Captain Donald M'Donald, were the first +to land. Immediately over their heads hung a woody precipice, without +path or track upon its rocky face; at the summit a French sentinel +marched to and fro, still unconscious of their presence. Without a +moment's hesitation, M'Donald and his men dashed at the height. They +scrambled up, holding on by rocks and branches of trees, guided only by +the stars that shone over the top of the cliff; half the ascent was +already won, when for the first time "Qui vive?" broke the silence of +the night. "La France," answered the Highland captain, with ready +self-possession, and the sentry shouldered his musket and pursued his +round. In a few minutes, however, the rustling of the trees close at +hand at length alarmed the French guard; they hastily turned out, fired +one irregular volley down the precipice, and fled in panic. The captain, +M. de Vergor, alone, though wounded, stood his ground. When summoned to +surrender, he fired at one of the assailants, but was instantly +overpowered; the Highlanders, incensed at his vain valor, tore from his +breast a decoration which he bore, and sent him a prisoner to the rear. +In the mean time, nearly 500 men landed and made their way up the +height; those who had first reached the summit then took possession of +the intrenched post at the top of that path which Wolfe had selected +for the ascent of his army.</p> + +<p>Wolfe, Monckton, and Murray landed with the first division; as fast as +each boat was cleared, it put back for re-enforcements to the ships, +which had now also floated down with the tide nearly opposite to the +point of disembarkation. The battalions formed on the narrow beach at +the foot of the winding path, and, as soon as completed, each ascended +the cliff, when they again formed upon the plains above. There all was +quiet; the Light Infantry, under Lieutenant-colonel Howe, brother of the +gallant Lord Howe who fell at Ticonderoga, had driven away the enemy's +pickets. The boats plied busily; company after company was quickly +landed, and, as soon as the men touched the shore, they swarmed up the +steep ascent with ready alacrity. When morning broke, the whole +disposable force of Wolfe's army stood in firm array upon the table-land +above the cove. Only one gun, however, could be carried up the hill, and +even that was not got into position without incredible difficulty.</p> + +<p>After a few minutes' anxious observation of the face of the country, +Wolfe marched the army by files to the right in the direction of the +city, leaving two companies of the 58th Regiment to guard the landing +place; he then formed his line of battle upon the Plains of Abraham, and +resolved there to cast the die for Canada. The 35th Regiment held the +extreme right over the precipice, at the distance of three quarters of a +mile from the ramparts, where, to adapt themselves to the shape of a +slight elevation which rises from the plains, they were ranged in a +semicircle on its slope. Next came the Grenadiers of Louisburg. The 28th +prolonged the line to the 43d, which formed the center. The 58th, upon +the left, occupied the brow of the ridge which overlooks the Valley of +the St. Charles; the 78th Highlanders extended over the plain to the +right, and the 47th completed the front to the place where the 43d were +formed. Wolfe, with Monckton, commanded the right of the first line, +Murray the left.</p> + +<p>Townshend took charge of the second line. The 15th Regiment rested their +right flank upon the precipice over the river; the two battalions of +the 60th or Royal Americans held the plains to the left. Colonel Burton, +with the 48th Regiment, in four columns of two companies each, formed +the reserve in a third line, and Colonel Howe, with the Light Infantry, +some in houses, others in the neighboring coppices, covered the flank +and rear.</p> + +<p>At about six o'clock some small parties of the enemy appeared upon the +slopes under the ramparts of the city; at seven they mustered in greater +force, and brought up two field-guns, which caused some annoyance. +Shortly afterward they threw a body of Canadians and Indians into the +brushwood on the face of the precipice over the river, into a field of +corn in front of the 35th Regiment, and into a coppice opposite the +British center: those skirmishers caused considerable mischief, but were +speedily routed by Colonel Howe, with a detachment of the 47th. The +whole line then received orders to lie upon their arms, while Light +Infantry videttes covered their position at some distance in advance.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile Montcalm had been completely deceived by the demonstrations of +the fleet below the town. Through the whole of that anxious night boats +were approaching the shore and again retiring, on various points of the +line between the Montmorency and the St. Charles. The English ships of +war had worked up as near as they could find depth of water, and their +guns played incessantly upon the beach, as if to prepare the way for a +debarkation. Day broke before Montcalm even suspected that another +struggle awaited him on his eastern lines; then, however, a stray cannon +shot, and the distant echo of musketry from above the town, caught his +ear; while he yet doubled, a horseman reached him at full speed with +tidings that the English had landed on the Plains of Abraham. The news +spread like lightning through the Canadian camp. Aids-de-camp galloped +to and fro in fiery haste: trumpets and drums aroused the sleeping +soldiery. As fast as the battalions could be mustered, they were hurried +across the Valley of the St. Charles, over the bridge, and along the +front of the northern ramparts of Quebec to the battle ground. M. de +Vaudreuil, with some Canadian militia, were left to guard the lines.</p> + +<p>Under some mysterious and incomprehensible impulse, Montcalm at once +determined to meet his dangerous enemy in the open field.</p> + +<p>To account for this extraordinary resolution is impossible. Had the +French general thrown himself into Quebec, he might have securely defied +his assailants from behind its ramparts till winter drove them away. But +a short time before he had recorded his deliberate conviction that he +could not face the British army in a general engagement. He was well +aware that all the efforts of his indefatigable enemy had been +throughout exerted to bring on an action upon any terms; and yet at +length, on an open plain, without even waiting for his artillery, +unaided by any advantage of position, he threw the rude Canadian militia +against the veterans of England. Once, and once only, in a successful +and illustrious career, did this gallant Frenchman forget his wisdom and +military skill; but that one tremendous error led him to defeat and +death.</p> + +<p>Even when the alarming news of Wolfe's landing reached Montcalm, he +professed confidence—confidence which he could not have felt. When the +position of the English army was pointed out to him, he said, "Yes, I +see them where they ought not to be;" and he afterward added, "If we +must fight, I will crush them." He, however, altogether failed to +communicate to the Canadian troops the sanguine spirit which he himself +professed.</p> + +<p>At eight o'clock the heads of French columns began to appear ascending +the hill from the St. Charles to the Plains of Abraham; the only piece +of artillery which Wolfe had been able to bring into action then opened +with some effect, and caused them slightly to alter their line of march. +As they arrived, they formed in three separate masses upon a slope to +the northwest of the city, where they were sheltered from the solitary +but mischievous gun.</p> + +<p>At nine o'clock, Montcalm moved some distance to the front, and +developed his line of battle; at the same time, M. de Bougainville, who +was hastening down the left bank of the St. Lawrence, made a +demonstration with some light cavalry upon Wolfe's extreme left. +Townshend checked this movement by throwing the third battalion of the +60th into a line extending from the threatened flank to the post over +the landing place.</p> + +<p>Montcalm was already worsted as a general; it was, however, still left +him to fight as a soldier. His order of battle was steadily and promptly +arrayed. The center column, under Montcalm in person, consisted of the +regiments of Bearne and Guienne, numbering together no more than 720 +bayonets; with them were formed 1200 of the Canadian militia. On the +right stood the regiments of La Sarre and Languedoc, and a battalion of +the marine or colony troops, in all 1600 veterans; 400 of the militia, +with one light field-piece, completed this wing. On the left, the Royal +Roussillon and a battalion of the Marine mustered 1300 bayonets, while +these disciplined regiments were supported by no less than 2300 of the +Canadian levies. The total force, therefore, actually engaged, amounted +to 7520 men, besides Indians; of these, however, not more than one half +were regular troops: it was on them the brunt of the battle fell, and +almost the whole loss. Wolfe's "field state" on the morning of the 13th +of September, showed only 4828 men of all ranks from the generals +downward, but of these every man was a trained soldier.</p> + +<p>The French attacked. At about ten o'clock a crowd of Canadians and +Indians emerged from the bush on the slope which falls toward the Valley +of the St. Charles; as they advanced they opened fire upon the English +pickets of the extreme left, and drove them into their supports. Under +cover of the cloud of smoke which rose above the scene of this attack, +the French veterans of the right wing passed swiftly round the left of +Murray's Brigade, and turned his flank; then, throwing aside their +irregulars, they fell upon Howe's Light Infantry. This gallant officer +felt the importance of his post: the houses and the line of coppice +which he occupied formed almost a right angle with the front of the +British army, covering it in flank and rear. He was hardly pressed; his +men fell fast under the overpowering fire of the French; but, in a few +minutes, Townshend, with the 15th, came to his aid: soon afterward the +two battalions of the 60th joined the line, and turned the tide of +battle.</p> + +<p>In the mean time swarms of skirmishers advanced against the right and +center of the British army; their stinging fire immediately dislodged +the few Light Infantry which Wolfe had posted in his front, and forced +them back in confusion upon the main body. This first impression was not +without danger: the troops who were in the rear, and could not see the +real state of affairs, became alarmed at the somewhat retrograde +movements in front. Wolfe perceived this: he hurried along the line, +cheered the men by his voice and presence, and admonished them on no +account to fire without orders. He succeeded: confidence was restored.</p> + +<p>The spirited advance of the skirmishers was but the mask of a more +formidable movement. The whole of the French center and left, with loud +shouts and arms at the recover, now bore down to the attack. Their light +troops then ceased firing and passed to the rear. As the view cleared, +their long, unbroken lines were seen rapidly approaching Wolfe's +position. When they reached within 150 yards, they advanced obliquely +from the left of each formation, so that the lines assumed the +appearance of columns, and chiefly threatened the British right. And now +from flank to flank of the assailing battalions rolled a murderous and +incessant fire. The 35th and the Grenadiers fell fast. Wolfe, at the +head of the 28th, was struck in the wrist, but not disabled. Wrapping a +handkerchief round the wound, he hastened from one rank to another, +exhorting the men to be steady and to reserve their fire. No English +soldier pulled a trigger: with matchless endurance they sustained the +trial. Not a company wavered; their arms shouldered as if on parade, and +motionless, save when they closed up the ghastly gaps, they waited the +word of command.</p> + +<p>When the head of the French attack had reached within forty yards, Wolfe +gave the order to "fire." At once the long row of muskets was leveled, +and a volley, distinct as a single shot, flashed from the British line. +For a moment the advancing columns still pressed on, shivering like +pennons in the fatal storm; but a few paces told how terrible had been +the force of the long-suspended blow. Numbers of the French soldiers +reeled and fell; some staggered on for a little, then dropped silently +aside to die; others burst from the ranks shrieking in agony. The +Brigadier de St. Ours was struck dead, and De Senezergues, the second in +command, was left mortally wounded upon the field. When the breeze +carried away the dense clouds of smoke, the assailing battalions stood +reduced to mere groups among the bodies of the slain. Never before or +since has a deadlier volley burst from British infantry.</p> + +<p>Montcalm commanded the attack in person. Not fifteen minutes had elapsed +since he had first moved on his line of battle, and already all was +lost! The Canadian militia, with scarcely an exception, broke and fled. +The right wing, which had recoiled before Townshend and Howe, was +overpowered by a counter attack of the 58th and 78th; his veteran +battalions of Bearne and Guienne were shattered before his eyes under +the British fire; on the left the Royal Roussillon was shrunk to a mere +skeleton, and, deserted by their Provincial allies, could hardly retain +the semblance of a formation. But the gallant Frenchman, though ruined, +was not dismayed; he rode through the broken ranks, cheered them with +his voice, encouraged them by his dauntless bearing, and, aided by a +small redoubt, even succeeded in once again presenting a front to his +enemy.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile Wolfe's troops had reloaded. He seized the opportunity of the +hesitation in the hostile ranks, and ordered the whole British line to +advance. At first they moved forward in majestic regularity, receiving +and paying back with deadly interest the volleys of the French. But soon +the ardor of the soldiers broke through the restraints of discipline: +they increased their pace to a run, rushing over the dying and the dead, +and sweeping the living enemy off their path. On the extreme right, the +35th, under the gallant Colonel Fletcher, carried all before them, and +won the white plume which for half a century afterward they proudly +bore.<a name="FNanchor_184_184" id="FNanchor_184_184"></a><a href="#Footnote_184_184" class="fnanchor">[184]</a> Wolfe himself led the 28th and the diminished ranks of the +Louisburg Grenadiers, who that day nobly redeemed their error at +Montmorency. The 43d, as yet almost untouched, pressed on in admirable +order, worthy of their after-fame in that noble Light Division which +"never gave a foot of ground but by word of command." On the left, the +58th and 78th overcame a stubborn and bloody resistance; more than 100 +of the Highlanders fell dead and wounded; the weak battalion by their +side lost a fourth part of their strength in the brief struggle. Just +now Wolfe was a second time wounded, in the body; but he dissembled his +suffering, for his duty was not yet accomplished. Again a ball from the +redoubt struck him on the breast:<a name="FNanchor_185_185" id="FNanchor_185_185"></a><a href="#Footnote_185_185" class="fnanchor">[185]</a> he reeled on one side, but, at +the moment, this was not generally observed. "Support me," said he to a +Grenadier officer who was close at hand, "that my brave fellows may not +see me fall." In a few seconds, however, he sank, and was borne a little +to the rear. Colonel Carleton was desperately wounded in the head at a +few paces from Wolfe; the aid-de-camp who hastened for Monckton, to call +him to the command, found him also bleeding on the field, beside the +47th Regiment. At length Townshend, now the senior officer, was brought +from the left flank to this bloody scene to lead the army.</p> + +<p>The brief struggle fell heavily upon the British, but was ruinous to the +French. They wavered under the carnage; the columns which death had +disordered were soon broken and scattered. Montcalm, with a courage +that rose above the wreck of hope, galloped through the groups of his +stubborn veterans, who still made head against the advancing enemy, and +strove to show a front of battle. His efforts were vain; the head of +every formation was swept away before that terrible musketry; in a few +minutes, the French gave way in all directions. Just then their gallant +general fell with a mortal wound: from that time all was utter rout.</p> + +<p>The English followed fiercely in the pursuit; the 47th and 58th, with +fixed bayonets, pressed on close to the St. Louis and St. John's gates, +till the first were checked by grape-shot from the ramparts, and the +latter by the artillery of the hulks which were grounded in the river. +But foremost in the advance, and most terrible to the flying enemy, were +the 78th Highlanders; active and impetuous in their movements, and armed +with the broadsword, they supplied in this case the want of cavalry to +the British army. Numbers of the French fell beneath their vigorous +blows;<a name="FNanchor_186_186" id="FNanchor_186_186"></a><a href="#Footnote_186_186" class="fnanchor">[186]</a> others saved themselves by timely surrender, piteously +craving mercy, and declaring that they had not been at Fort William +Henry.<a name="FNanchor_187_187" id="FNanchor_187_187"></a><a href="#Footnote_187_187" class="fnanchor">[187]</a> The remainder of Montcalm's right wing only found shelter +beyond the bridge over the St. Charles. The survivors of the right and +center soon placed the ramparts of Quebec between themselves and their +pursuers.</p> + +<p>While some of the British battalions were disordered in the rapid +advance, a body of about 800 French and Canadians collected in a coppice +near the St. Charles, and assumed a somewhat threatening appearance on +the left flank of the pursuers. Perceiving this, Townshend ordered +Colonel Hunt Walsh, with the 28th and 43d, to crush the new resistance. +These two battalions were well in hand; Walsh wheeled them promptly to +the left, and, after a sharp struggle, cleared the coppice.</p> + +<p>The battle was now over, but the general of the victorious army had +still to guard against another antagonist, as yet untouched and +unbroken. It has been related, that, before the commencement of the +action, the extreme left of the British position had been threatened by +some light cavalry—the advance guard of De Bougainville's formidable +corps. The main body and their chief had now arrived upon the scene; +but, so rapid and complete had been the ruin of Montcalm's army, that +his lieutenant found not a single unbroken company remaining in the +field with which to co-operate. He himself, however, was still strong; +besides 350 cavalry—an arm in which the invaders were altogether +deficient—he had with him nearly 1500 men, a large proportion of whom +were Grenadiers and Light Infantry.</p> + +<p>Townshend hastened to recall his disordered battalions, but he +determined not to imperil the victory by seeking another engagement with +fresh troops. His arrangements were strictly defensive; while re-forming +a line of battle, he dispatched the 35th and the 48th with two +field-pieces to meet De Bougainville, and, if possible, check his +advance. The demonstration sufficed; the French soldiers, demoralized by +the defeat of their general-in-chief, were in no condition to meet a +victorious enemy; they recoiled before the resolute front of the British +force, and retreated with precipitation up the left bank of the St. +Lawrence. There Townshend did not deem it prudent to follow; the ground +was swampy, and, for the most part, still covered with the primeval +forest, affording every advantage to a retreating enemy.</p> + +<p>As soon as the action was over, Townshend began to intrench his camp, +and to widen the road up the cliff for the convenience of the artillery +and stores. De Bougainville did not halt till he reached Cape Rouge, and +M. de Vaudreuil,<a name="FNanchor_188_188" id="FNanchor_188_188"></a><a href="#Footnote_188_188" class="fnanchor">[188]</a> with his 1500 Canadians, deserted the lines west +of the Montmorency, left all his artillery, ammunition, tents, and +stores behind him, and made a hurried retreat toward Jacques Cartier.</p> + +<p>The loss of the English in this memorable battle amounted to 55 killed +and 607 wounded of all ranks; that of the French has never been clearly +ascertained, but it was not probably less than 1500 in killed and +wounded and prisoners. Moreover, a very large proportion of the Canadian +militia dispersed and never rejoined their colors. On the British side, +the Louisburg Grenadiers upon the right, and the 58th and 78th upon the +left, suffered the most severely. The five regular French battalions +were almost destroyed, and one of the two pieces of artillery which they +had brought into action was captured by the victors.<a name="FNanchor_189_189" id="FNanchor_189_189"></a><a href="#Footnote_189_189" class="fnanchor">[189]</a></p> + +<p>While the British troops were carrying all before them, their young +general's life was ebbing fast away. When struck for the third time, he +sank down; he then supported himself for a few minutes in a sitting +posture, with the assistance of Lieutenant Brown, Mr. Henderson, a +volunteer, and a private soldier, all of the Grenadier company of the +22d; Colonel Williamson, of the Royal Artillery, afterward went to his +aid. From time to time, Wolfe tried, with his faint hand, to clear away +the death-mist that gathered on his sight; but the effort seemed vain; +for presently he lay back, and gave no signs of life beyond a heavy +breathing and an occasional groan. Meantime the French had given way, +and were flying in all directions. The grenadier officers, seeing this, +called out to those around him, "See, they run." The words caught the +ear of the dying man; he raised himself, like one aroused from sleep, +and asked eagerly, "Who runs?" "The enemy, sir," answered the officer: +"they give way every where." "Go one of you to Colonel Burton," said +Wolfe: "tell him to march Webbe's (the 48th) regiment with all speed +down to the St. Charles River, to cut off the retreat." His voice grew +faint as he spoke, and he turned as if seeking an easier position on his +side; when he had given this last order, he seemed to feel that he had +done his duty, and added feebly, but distinctly, "Now, God be praised, I +die happy." His eyes then closed, and, after a few convulsive movements, +he became still.<a name="FNanchor_190_190" id="FNanchor_190_190"></a><a href="#Footnote_190_190" class="fnanchor">[190]</a> Despite the anguish of his wounds, he died happy; +for through the mortal shades that fell upon his soul, there rose, over +the unknown world's horizon, the dawn of an eternal morning.</p> + + +<p> +"GENERAL ORDERS.<br /> +<br /> +"<i>14th of September, 1759. Plains of Abraham.</i><br /> +<br /> +"Parole—<span class="smcap">Wolfe</span>. Countersign—<span class="smcap">England</span>.<br /> +</p> + +<p>"The remaining general officers fit to act take the earliest opportunity +to express the praise which is due to the conduct and bravery of the +troops; and the victory, which attended it, sufficiently proves the +superiority which this army has over any number of such troops as they +engaged yesterday. They wish that the person who lately commanded them +had survived so glorious a day, and had this day been able to give the +troops their just encomiums. The fatigues which the troops will be +obliged to undergo, to reap the advantage of this victory, will be +supported with a true spirit, as this seems to be the period which will +determine, in all probability, our American labors."</p> + +<p>Deep and sincere was the sorrow of the English army for the loss of +their chief; they almost grieved over their dearly-purchased victory.</p> + +<p>Late on the evening of the 14th of September Montcalm also died. When +his wound was first examined, he asked the surgeon if it was mortal; and +being answered that it was, he said, "I am glad of it: how long can I +survive?" "Perhaps a day, perhaps less," replied the surgeon. "So much +the better," rejoined Montcalm; "I shall not live to see the surrender +of Quebec." When his wound was dressed, M. de Ramsay, the governor of +the city, visited him, and desired to receive his commands for the +defense; but he refused to occupy himself any longer with worldly +affairs: "My time is very short," continued he, "so pray leave me. I +wish you all comfort, and to be happily extricated from your present +perplexities." He then called for his chaplain, who, with the bishop of +the colony, administered the last offices of religion, and remained with +him till he expired.</p> + +<p>An officer of the 43d regiment, whose carefully-kept journal furnishes +much valuable information on the subject of this campaign, states that +Montcalm paid the English army the following compliment after the +battle: "Since it was my misfortune to be discomfited and mortally +wounded, it is a great consolation to me to be vanquished by so great +and generous an enemy. If I could survive this wound, I would engage to +beat three times the number of such forces as I commanded this morning +with a third of their number of British troops."</p> + +<p>Townshend, on the day succeeding the battle, busied himself incessantly +in pushing on works against the city, and cutting off from the besieged +all communication with the country. On the 17th, Admiral Saunders moved +the whole of the British fleet into the basin, and prepared to attack +the Lower Town; and by that evening no less than sixty-one pieces of +heavy, and fifty-seven of light ordnance, were mounted on the British +batteries and ready to open fire. The besieged had endeavored to retard +these proceedings by constantly plying all their available guns, but +did not succeed in inflicting any annoyance of importance. Before +nightfall, an officer, bearing a flag of truce, approached the English +camp, and was conducted to the general; to him he gave the governor, M. +de Ramsay's, proposition to surrender if not relieved by the following +morning.</p> + +<p>In the mean time, M. de Vaudreuil, who had, with his disorganized +followers, joined De Bougainville at Cape Rouge on the evening of the +13th, dispatched a courier to M. de Levi,<a name="FNanchor_191_191" id="FNanchor_191_191"></a><a href="#Footnote_191_191" class="fnanchor">[191]</a> at Montreal, with tidings +of the disaster, and to require his immediate presence to command the +army in Montcalm's room. This done, the marquis summoned his principal +officers to a council of war, and gave his opinion "that they should +take their revenge on the morrow, and endeavor to wipe off the disgrace +of that fatal day." But this bold proposition met with no more support +in the council than it really possessed in De Vaudreuil's own mind. The +officers were unanimously of opinion "that there was an absolute +necessity for the army to retire to Jacques Cartier, and that no time +should be lost." In consequence of this decision, the French immediately +resumed their retreat, leaving every thing behind them, and marched all +night to gain Point aux Trembles, which was fixed as the rendezvous of +the whole remaining force.</p> + +<p>On the receipt of the disastrous news of Montcalm's defeat and death, M. +de Levi instantly departed from Montreal to take the command of the +shattered army. On the 16th he arrived; after a few hours' conference +with the Marquis de Vaudreuil, it was agreed to send the following +message to M. de Ramsay: "We exhort you, by all means, to hold out to +the last extremity. On the 18th the whole army shall be in motion: a +disposition is made to throw in a large supply of provisions, and to +relieve the town." The courier reached the besieged early on the 18th, +but it was too late; the governor was already in treaty with Townshend, +and on that morning, the 18th day of September, 1759, <span class="smcap">Quebec +surrendered</span>.<a name="FNanchor_192_192" id="FNanchor_192_192"></a><a href="#Footnote_192_192" class="fnanchor">[192]</a> In the evening the keys of the city were +delivered up, and the Louisburg Grenadiers marched in, preceded by a +detachment of artillery and one gun, with the British flag hoisted on a +staff upon the carriage: this flag was then placed upon the highest +point of the citadel. Captain Palliser, of the navy, with a body of +seamen, at the same time took possession of the Lower Town.</p> + +<p>The news of these great events reached England but two days later than +Wolfe's discouraging dispatch of the 9th of September;<a name="FNanchor_193_193" id="FNanchor_193_193"></a><a href="#Footnote_193_193" class="fnanchor">[193]</a> an +extraordinary Gazette was immediately published and circulated +throughout the country, and a day of thanksgiving was appointed by +proclamation through all the dominions of Great Britain.</p> + +<p style="margin-left: 5em;"> +"Then the sounds of joy and grief from her people wildly rose:"<br /> +</p> + +<p>never, perhaps, have triumph and lamentation been so strangely +intermingled. Astonishment and admiration at the splendid victory, with +sorrow for the loss of the gallant victor, filled every breast. +Throughout all the land were illuminations and public rejoicings, except +in the little Kentish village of Westerham, where Wolfe was born, and +where his widowed mother<a name="FNanchor_194_194" id="FNanchor_194_194"></a><a href="#Footnote_194_194" class="fnanchor">[194]</a> now mourned her only child.</p> + +<p>Wolfe's body was embalmed, and borne to the river for conveyance to +England. The army escorted it in solemn state to the beach: they mourned +their young general's death as sincerely as they had followed him in +battle bravely. Their attachment to him had softened their toils, their +confidence in him had cheered them in disasters, and his loss now turned +their triumph into sadness. When his remains arrived at Plymouth they +were landed with the highest honors; minute guns were fired; the flags +were hoisted half-mast high, and an escort, with arms reversed, received +the coffin on the shore. He was then conveyed to Greenwich, and buried +beside his father, who had died but a few months before.</p> + +<p>The House of Commons, on the motion of Mr. Pitt, unanimously voted that +a monument should be erected to Wolfe's memory in Westminster Abbey<a name="FNanchor_195_195" id="FNanchor_195_195"></a><a href="#Footnote_195_195" class="fnanchor">[195]</a> +at the public expense. The monument was accordingly executed, and +inscribed with a eulogistic memorial in Latin. Not many years since, a +pillar was erected by Lord Dalhousie, on a lofty situation in the city +of Quebec, to Wolfe and Montcalm, bearing a remarkably graceful Latin +inscription by Dr. Fisher, of Quebec. Lord Aylmer has also placed a +small and simple monument on the Plains of Abraham, on which the date +and the following words only are engraved:</p> + +<p class='center'> +"HERE WOLFE DIED VICTORIOUS."<br /> +</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_181_181" id="Footnote_181_181"></a><a href="#FNanchor_181_181"><span class="label">[181]</span></a> See Appendix, <a href='#link5'>No. LXXII.</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_182_182" id="Footnote_182_182"></a><a href="#FNanchor_182_182"><span class="label">[182]</span></a> "The following circumstance had nearly proved fatal to +the general's scheme of landing where he did. In the twilight of the +evening preceding the battle, two French deserters from the Regiment of +La Sarre came in, and, being carried on board a ship of war, commanded +by Captain Smith, then lying near the north shore, gave information that +that very night the garrison of Quebec expected a convoy of provisions +from M. de Bougainville's detachment, which was higher up the river. +These deserters, some time after, perceiving the English boats gliding +down the river in the dark, supposed them to be the expected convoy; and +on this a noise ensued, which General Wolfe fortunately heard time +enough to prevent the resolution which occasioned it; for Captain Smith, +not having been informed of the general's intentions, was making +preparations to fire into the boats, believing that they were the convoy +the deserters had been speaking of; and had he done so, would have not +only considerably hurt his friends, but sufficiently alarmed the French +to frustrate the attempt. Again, the French sentries posted along the +shore were in expectation of the convoy, and, therefore, when the +English boats came near their posts, and properly answered their usual +challenge, they suffered them to pass without the least +suspicion."—Mante's <i>History of the Late Wars in America</i>, p. 262.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_183_183" id="Footnote_183_183"></a><a href="#FNanchor_183_183"><span class="label">[183]</span></a> Graham's <i>History of the United States</i>, vol. iv., p. +51.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_184_184" id="Footnote_184_184"></a><a href="#FNanchor_184_184"><span class="label">[184]</span></a> "At the late presentation of colors to the 30th Regiment, +in Dublin garrison, on the 21st of July, 1834, their colonel-in-chief, +Lieutenant-general Sir John Oswald, G.C.B., mentioned in the course of +his address, that when he first joined the regiment in 1791, he found in +it several of the companions of Wolfe. The colonel-in-chief was +Fletcher, of a distinguished Scottish family. He led the 35th, under +General Wolfe, through the surf of Louisburg, placed them first after +the British Grenadiers in line on the Plains of Abraham, and there, +during the contest, charging the French Grenadiers, carried off the +<i>white plume</i> which for half a century this battalion bore. His majesty, +George III., was so pleased with Colonel Fletcher's conduct, that when a +lieutenant-colonel of only four years' standing, he gave him the +colonelcy-in-chief."—<i>Picture of Quebec.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_185_185" id="Footnote_185_185"></a><a href="#FNanchor_185_185"><span class="label">[185]</span></a> When Wolfe was shot, "The Treasury of Fortification," by +John Barker, Esq., was found in his pocket. On the spare leaf is +written, in his own hand-writing, "This is an exceeding book of +Fortification.—<span class="smcap">Wolfe.</span>" This book is now in the Royal Artillery +Library at Woolwich.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_186_186" id="Footnote_186_186"></a><a href="#FNanchor_186_186"><span class="label">[186]</span></a> "Ewen Cameron, a Highlander, killed nine Frenchmen, two +being officers. When his sword-arm was carried off by a shot, he seized +a bayonet and wounded several men, but a bullet in his throat slew +him."—Letter from an Officer in Lascelles's Regiment, Quebec, 20th +September, 1759; <i>Gentleman's Mag.</i>, 1759, p. 553.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_187_187" id="Footnote_187_187"></a><a href="#FNanchor_187_187"><span class="label">[187]</span></a> "There is one incident very remarkable, and which I can +affirm from my own personal knowledge, that the enemy were extremely +apprehensive of being rigorously treated; for, conscious of their +inhuman behavior to our troops upon a former occasion, the officers who +fell into our hands, most piteously, with hats off, sued for quarter, +repeatedly declaring they were not at Fort William Henry (by them called +Fort St. George) in the year 1757."—Knox's <i>Historical Journal</i>, vol. +ii., p. 72.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_188_188" id="Footnote_188_188"></a><a href="#FNanchor_188_188"><span class="label">[188]</span></a> "Had he (M. de Vaudreuil) fallen into our hands, our men +were determined to scalp him, he having been the chief and blackest +author of the cruelties exercised on our countrymen. Some of his letters +were taken, in which he explicitly and basely said that 'Peace was the +best time for making war on the English.'"—Walpole's <i>Memoirs of George +II.</i>, p. 387.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_189_189" id="Footnote_189_189"></a><a href="#FNanchor_189_189"><span class="label">[189]</span></a> "Tandis que les Anglais entraient dans Surate à +l'embouchure du fleuve Indus, ils prenoient Québec et tout le Canada au +fonds de l'Amerique septentrionale; les troupes qui ont hasardé un +combat pour sauver Québec ont été battues et presque détruites, malgré +les efforts du Général Montcalm, tué dans cette journée et très regretté +en France. On a perdu ainsi en un seul jour quinze cents lieues de +pays."—Voltaire's <i>Précis du Siècle de Louis XV.</i>, p. 291.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_190_190" id="Footnote_190_190"></a><a href="#FNanchor_190_190"><span class="label">[190]</span></a> "The horror of the night, the precipice scaled by Wolfe, +the empire he with a handful of men added to England, and the glorious +catastrophe of contentedly terminating life where his fame began ... +ancient story may be ransacked, and ostentatious philosophy thrown into +the account, before an episode can be found to rank with +Wolfe's."—Pitt's Speech on the Motion for erecting a Monument to Wolfe, +related in Walpole's <i>Memoirs of George II.</i>, p. 393.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_191_191" id="Footnote_191_191"></a><a href="#FNanchor_191_191"><span class="label">[191]</span></a> "You know they pique themselves much upon their Jewish +name, and call cousins with the Virgin Mary. They have a picture in the +family, where she is made to say to the founder of the houses, +'Couvrez-vous, mon cousin.' He replies, 'Non pas, mas très sainte +cousine, je sais trop bien le respect que je vous dois.' There is said +to have been another equally absurd picture in the same family, in which +Noah is represented going into the ark, carrying under his arm a small +trunk, on which was written, 'Papiers de la Maison de +Lévis.'"—Walpole's <i>Letters to Sir H. Mann</i>, August 17th, 1749.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_192_192" id="Footnote_192_192"></a><a href="#FNanchor_192_192"><span class="label">[192]</span></a> See Appendix, <a href='#link6'>No. LXXI.</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_193_193" id="Footnote_193_193"></a><a href="#FNanchor_193_193"><span class="label">[193]</span></a> "The notification of a probable disappointment at Quebec +came only to heighten the pleasure of the conquest. You may now give +yourself what airs you please; you are master of East and West Indies. +An embassador is the only man in the world whom bullying becomes. I beg +your pardon, but you are spies, if you are not bragadocios. All +precedents are on your side: Persians, Greeks, Romans, always insulted +their neighbors when they had taken Quebec. It was a very singular +affair, the generals on both sides slain, and on both sides the second +in command wounded—in short, very near what battles should be, in which +only the principals ought to suffer. If their army has not ammunition +and spirit enough to fall again upon ours before Amherst comes up, all +North America is ours! Poetic justice could not have been executed with +more rigor than it has been on the perjury, treachery, and usurpations +of the French.... It appears that the victory was owing to the +impracticability, as the French thought, and to desperate resolution on +our side. What a scene! an army in the night dragging itself up a +precipice by stumps of trees to assault a town and attack an army +strongly intrenched and double in numbers. Adieu! I think I shall not +write to you again this twelvemonth; for, like Alexander, we have no +more worlds left to conquer. +</p><p> +"P.S.—Monsieur Fleurot is said to be sailed with his tiny squadron; but +can the lords of America be afraid of half a dozen canoes? Mr. Chute is +sitting by me, and says nobody is more obliged to Mr. Pitt than you are: +he has raised you from a very uncomfortable situation to hold your head +above the Capitol."—Walpole's <i>Letters to Sir H. Mann</i>, October 19, +1759.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_194_194" id="Footnote_194_194"></a><a href="#FNanchor_194_194"><span class="label">[194]</span></a> "The late Mrs. Wolfe, the mother of the brave general of +that name, has very humanely left the residue of her estate and effects, +after debts and legacies are paid, to be disposed of among the widows +and families of the officers who were employed in the military land +service under her son, General Wolfe. +</p><p> +"The executors of the late Mrs. Henrietta Wolfe, mother of the brave +General Wolfe, have paid a legacy of £1000, left by her, to the +Incorporated Society in Dublin for promoting English Protestant working +schools in Ireland."—<i>Annual Register</i>, 1765.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_195_195" id="Footnote_195_195"></a><a href="#FNanchor_195_195"><span class="label">[195]</span></a> See Appendix, <a href='#link4'>No. LXVII.</a></p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CONCLUSION.</h2> + + +<p>On the 18th of October, Admiral Saunders, with the whole fleet—the +Race-horse of twenty, and the Porcupine of eighteen guns, +excepted—weighed anchor and dropped down the river to Isle aux Coudres, +there to await a fair wind to sail for Halifax and England. Brigadier +Monckton embarked at the same time for New York, where he soon recovered +from his wound, and Brigadier Townshend proceeded direct to London. The +government of Quebec was intrusted to Brigadier Murray, with Colonel +Burton as lieutenant-governor, and all the soldiers of the several +regiments engaged in the campaign, who were still fit for duty, remained +to form the garrison: the number of all ranks and arms now only amounted +to 7300 men. The sick and wounded, whose recovery was remote or +improbable, were sent home with the admiral. Having left a squadron at +Halifax, the fleet reached England in safety ere the severity of the +winter had set in.</p> + +<p>Before the close of the navigation, the French governor and intendant of +Canada intrusted their melancholy dispatches to M. Cannon, who succeeded +in passing Quebec unobserved, by taking advantage of a favorable wind +and a thick fog. Having escaped the many other dangers which beset his +voyage, he arrived safely in France. These dispatches were filled with +criminations and recriminations: M. de Vaudreuil animadverted bitterly +upon M. de Ramsay for his "precipitate surrender" of Quebec, while from +other quarters heavy complaints were put forward against M. de +Vaudreuil for his retreat, or rather flight, from the lines of +Montmorency.</p> + +<p>The condition of the once splendid colony of France was now very +lamentable. To the east, Quebec; to the west, Niagara; to the south, +Crown Point and Ticonderoga—all the strongest positions in the northern +continent of America, had passed from their hands in one disastrous +campaign. Many of their veteran soldiers had found graves in the land +which they had bravely but vainly striven to defend, or had been borne +away as prisoners across the Atlantic. Provisions of all kinds were +scarce, almost to famine; the prices during winter rose to an enormous +height: wheat was commonly sold at 30 or 40 livres a bushel; a cow was +worth 900 livres; a pair of oxen, 1500 or 2000; and sheep from 200 to +300 livres apiece. Many people actually died of want; and at length no +money would induce the farmers to part with their produce, when life +itself depended upon their retaining such supplies as they possessed. +The politic Indians were quick to observe the fallen condition of the +French, their poverty, and their weakness: a general defection among +doubtful allies was the consequence, increased activity of enemies, and +a more measured assistance from friends.</p> + +<p>As the winter approached, the Chevalier de Levi retreated to Montreal, +where he put the greater part of his army into cantonments. He, however, +busied himself during that period of forced military inaction in +preparations for a bold attempt to wipe out the memory of last year's +disasters by the reconquest of Quebec. At the first opening of spring he +began to refit such of the shipping as still bore the French flag, +repaired the small craft, built galleys, and at Sorel embarked the +necessary stores and ammunition, which he had drawn from the dépôts of +St. John's and Chambly. M. de Vaudreuil seconded these exertions by the +publication of an address to the Canadian people, representing in a +highly colored style the imaginary cruelties and oppressions of the +British governor of Quebec. He also endeavored to raise their hopes +while he stimulated their animosity. "We have a numerous and gallant +army," said he, "and well-grounded assurances of powerful assistance +from France." His appeal met with no echo from a starving and +discontented people.</p> + +<p>During the winter the French made several demonstrations against the +British outposts at Point Levi, Cape Rouge, St. Foy, and Lorette, +without, however, any result beyond bloodshed and mutually inflicted +suffering; but on the 6th of April, M. de Bourlemaque, with three +battalions of regular troops and a body of militia, marched from Jacques +Cartier upon Cape Rouge, with the hope of surprising the English +detachment at that place. His troops lay on their arms that night, with +the exception of two companies of Grenadiers, whom he sent to +reconnoiter. On their return the main body became alarmed, supposing +them to be English troops, and fired among them; the Grenadiers returned +the fire, and the disastrous mistake was not discovered until twenty-two +of their men were killed and wounded. Before dawn the unlucky expedition +returned to their quarters at Jacques Cartier.</p> + +<p>On the 17th of April, 1760, De Levi left Montreal with all his available +force, and, collecting on his way the several detached corps, arrived in +the neighborhood of Cape Rouge with eight battalions of regular troops, +recruited to 4500 men, 6000 Canadians, of whom 200 were cavalry and 250 +Indians. His heavy artillery, ammunition, and stores, followed his march +by the river in bateaux and other vessels.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile Murray lost no time in strengthening his position at Quebec. +He erected eight timber redoubts outside the works of the city, and +armed them with artillery; he broke up the neighboring roads, laid in +eleven months' provision, and repaired 500 of the houses, which the +English shot had ruined, for quarters for his troops. The outposts which +he had established in the country round Quebec proved of considerable +advantage: by them his movements were concealed, and those of the enemy +watched. The inhabitants of eleven parishes in the vicinity placed +themselves under British protection, and swore allegiance to the British +crown: they subsequently proved very useful in supplying fresh +provisions and firewood for the army to their utmost ability. +Nevertheless, Murray's troops were obliged to undergo great hardship in +collecting fuel for themselves: no less than a fourth of the whole army +had to march ten miles each day, for many successive days, to cut timber +in the forests, and numbers of the men were frost-bitten, or sank +altogether under the trial. The scurvy raged also with extraordinary +violence in the garrison; many fell victims to that dreadful disease; +but a decoction of the hemlock spruce, recommended by an old Canadian, +was at length successfully employed as a remedy. The severity of the +duty and the monotony of the winter proved intolerable to not a few of +the British soldiers; designing Frenchmen were at hand to profit by this +opportunity; they persuaded many of the soldiers to leave their colors, +and the spirit of desertion was not checked till some of those taken in +the act were hanged, and their abettors subjected to a like punishment.</p> + +<p>When Murray was apprized of the approach of the French army, he marched +out on the 27th of April with the whole disposable force to cover the +retreat of his advanced posts: in this he succeeded with the loss of +only two men. He then broke down all the bridges, and retired into the +city the same evening. De Levi crossed the little stream at Cape Rouge, +and cantoned his army, upward of 10,000 strong, in and about the village +of St. Foy; at nine the following morning he advanced within three miles +of Quebec.</p> + +<p>The British general, unwarned by Montcalm's fate, formed the +unaccountable resolution of giving battle to the French in the open +field with his feeble army, which was now reduced by sickness, +desertion, and the sword to 3000 available men. In his letter to the +Secretary of State reporting the consequent events, he states the +following not very conclusive reasons for having taken this unfortunate +step: "Well weighing my peculiar position, and well knowing that, in +shutting myself up within the walls of the city, I should risk the whole +stake on the chance of defending a wretched fortification, which could +not be lessened by an action in the field."</p> + +<p>At daylight on the 28th of April, Murray marched out to the Plains of +Abraham with his ten skeleton battalions and twenty pieces of +artillery. His light troops easily drove in those of the French; he then +proceeded to form his line of battle. On the right, Colonel Burton led +the 15th, the 48th, and the second battalion of the 60th. The center +consisted of the 43d and 58th, under Colonel James, and the left of the +28th, 47th, and 78th, under Colonel Fraser. The 35th, and the third +battalion of the 60th, formed the reserve. Major Dalling's Light +Infantry covered the right flank, and some Volunteers and the Rangers +the left. The guns were distributed in the most suitable positions.</p> + +<p>When the formations were completed, Murray rode to the front to +reconnoiter the enemy's position: he found them occupied in putting +their arms, which had been damaged by heavy rains during the night, in +order, and in other respects unprepared for action. This seemed to +afford a favorable opportunity for striking a blow, and accordingly he +returned in all speed, and gave orders to attack without delay. The +little army joyfully obeyed, and moved forward in admirable order over +the brow of the heights, thence down the slope into the plains beyond.</p> + +<p>At first De Levi could not bring himself to believe that the British +were abandoning their vantage-ground to grapple with his overwhelming +force; but when he perceived their colors still steadily advancing +almost within gunshot range, he called his men "to arms." The French +hurried together, and formed their front of battle, not, however, +without some confusion and alarm. Two companies of Grenadiers were in +the mean time pushed forward into the woods above Sillery as a covering +party; here they came in collision with the volunteers and Rangers of +the British left, and, after a short encounter, they retired leisurely +upon the main body. Murray's irregulars, now joined by the Light +Infantry, pursued with unlucky zeal: this hasty advance exposed them to +the fire of their own artillery, and compelled its silence; finally they +were repulsed and broken by the French battalions, which had by that +time attained to a steady formation. They then fell to the rear, and +showed no more during the combat.</p> + +<p>De Levi's army was by this time ranged in battle array. Bourlemaque, +with three battalions of Regulars, held the right; the general in +person, with a like force, held the left; and M. Dumas, with two +battalions, occupied the center. The lines were formed three deep, and +in the intervals between the bodies of veteran troops the Canadian +levies were formed. Some companies of the Marine or Colony troops, with +the Indians, were posted in a wood somewhat in advance of the right of +the position. The French had no artillery.</p> + +<p>When the flight of the light troops opened the front of battle, a column +of French Infantry was seen winding up through the suburbs of St. Roch, +so as to threaten Murray's right. Major Morris, with the 35th from the +reserve, were quickly called into action, and they checked this +movement. But, in the mean time, the British left was altogether +over-matched. Fraser, with his brigade, had boldly attacked the French +right, and at first gained some advantage, having, by an impetuous +charge, driven Bourlemaque from two redoubts; but the superior weight of +the enemy's fire soon told upon his weak battalions, and they were +speedily reduced to a mere handful of men. The 43d from the center and +the 3d battalion of the 60th from the reserve, now came to his aid, and +still he bravely held his own ground against the overwhelming numbers of +the French. At this critical time the Royal Roussillon from De Levi's +center, who had not, as yet, fired a shot, charged in upon the British +left, and bore down all resistance. The whole of Fraser's brigade then +gave way, and retired in confusion; Burton's men, on the right, already +hardly pressed, soon followed; all the artillery was lost; and, had it +not been for the firm front presented by the 15th and 58th, the disaster +might have proved irreparable. Even as it was, the carnage was almost +unexampled in proportion to the numbers engaged: Murray left no less +than 300 dead upon the field, and upward of 700 more of his men were +wounded.<a name="FNanchor_196_196" id="FNanchor_196_196"></a><a href="#Footnote_196_196" class="fnanchor">[196]</a></p> + +<p>The triumph of the French was sullied by unusual cruelty to their +gallant but unfortunate foes. Quarter was in vain asked by some of the +British officers: four of them, being conducted to the officers of the +Regiment of La Sarre, were received with a wave of the hand, and +"Allez-vous-en," which speedily decided their bloody fate. Of the great +number of wounded Englishmen who were unavoidably abandoned in the +retreat, twenty-eight only were sent to the hospitals; the rest were +given up to glut the rage of the Indians. Murray's artillery, and the +steady fire of his veterans, caused the French to purchase victory at a +very heavy cost: by their own computation, 1800 of their men were killed +and wounded.</p> + +<p>De Levi followed up his success by intrenching himself before the city +and preparing for the siege. Murray was not idle. No more than 2200 of +the British troops were now fit for duty; but even the wounded assisted +as far as they were able; nearly 600 men, unable to walk without +crutches, seated themselves on the ramparts, made sand-bags for the +works, and cartridges for the cannon. The women were also active in +tending the wounded, and cooking rations for the soldiers, who were now +too much occupied to perform those offices for themselves. By +unremitting exertion, 132 guns were soon mounted on the ramparts; and, +as many of the Infantry had during the winter been trained by the +artillerymen, Murray was enabled to keep up a fire which altogether +overpowered that of the French.</p> + +<p>But the hopes of the besieged rested alone for final delivery on the +arrival of the fleet. On the 9th of May the Leostoffe frigate rounded +the headland of Point Levi, and stood over for the city. For a time an +intense anxiety reigned in both armies, as the French also expected a +squadron with supplies. At length, when the red-cross flag ran up to +the mizen peak of the strange ship, and a boat put off for the Lower +Town, the joy of the garrison knew no bounds; officers and soldiers +together mounted the parapets in the face of the enemy, and for nearly +an hour together made the air ring with hearty British cheers. On the +16th, Commodore Swainton arrived with the Vanguard and the Diana +frigate; the next day he passed the town, and destroyed or captured the +whole of the French armament upon the river.<a name="FNanchor_197_197" id="FNanchor_197_197"></a><a href="#Footnote_197_197" class="fnanchor">[197]</a></p> + +<p>De Levi, upon this, raised the siege with inglorious haste. His camp, +guns, ammunition, stores, provisions, and intrenching tools were all +abandoned, and his retreat was almost a flight. Murray pushed out his +Grenadiers and Light Infantry in pursuit, and succeeded in taking some +of the rear guard prisoners. The French then took up their old quarters +at Jacques Cartier. This attempt upon Quebec, the results of which were +so disproportionate to the means employed, was called by the Canadians +"De Levi's folly."</p> + +<p>Although the siege of Quebec lasted but a short time, it gave +opportunity to the French officers of departments to indulge in enormous +peculation.<a name="FNanchor_198_198" id="FNanchor_198_198"></a><a href="#Footnote_198_198" class="fnanchor">[198]</a> The public money was squandered with the utmost +profusion and with the most unblushing dishonesty. False estimates were +authorized by the engineers, and paid by the intendant at Montreal. +Among other charges against the French government was put forward a bill +for 300,000 moccasins for the Indians; the infamous Cadet managed this +contract himself, in the name of his clerk, and charged the crown no +less than 300,000 livres for the fraudulent supply. Large stores were +constantly furnished to the army, the greater part of which became the +property of the contractors, and was resold by them to the government at +an exorbitant rate: meanwhile the soldiers were miserably supplied, and +the people almost perishing with want.</p> + +<p>But this reign of peculation and oppression was fast drawing to a close. +The successful action at Sillery was "Fortune's parting smile" upon the +French in Canada. On the 3d of May, General, now Sir Jeffery Amherst, +the commander-in-chief, embarked at New York and proceeded to +Schenectady; from thence, with part of his army, he pursued his route to +Oswego, where he encamped on the 9th of July. General Gage and the rest +of the force was ordered to follow with all diligence: accordingly, they +also reached Oswego on the 22d, and Sir William Johnson, with his +Indians, arrived the following day. In the mean time, Captain Loring, of +the navy, with two armed vessels, had cleared the Lake Ontario of the +French cruisers, and driven them for refuge to the beautiful labyrinth +of the "Thousand Isles."</p> + +<p>Amherst's army, now assembled on the shores of Lake Ontario, consisted +of a detachment of the Royal Artillery, six complete battalions and +thirteen companies of regular troops, a corps of Grenadiers, and another +of Light Infantry, with some Rangers, and eight battalions of +Provincials, in all 10,142 men of all ranks; Johnson's Indians numbered +706.</p> + +<p>The plan of the campaign was again founded on combined movements. The +general-in-chief, warned by the untoward delays which he had experienced +in the preceding year, himself chose to descend upon the enemy's capital +by Lake Ontario and the Upper St. Lawrence, leaving the route of Lake +Champlain to Colonel Haviland, with a force of some artillery, 1500 +regular troops, 1800 Provincials, and a few Indians, which were +assembled at Crown Point. At the same time, Murray, with the disposable +portion of the gallant garrison of Quebec, aided by Lord Rollo and two +battalions from Louisburg, was to push up the St. Lawrence, and, if +possible, meet the other two corps under the general-in-chief and +Haviland on the island of Montreal. Their movements were as follows:</p> + +<p>Amherst embarked the grenadiers and light troops, with a battalion of +Highlanders, on the 7th of August, and dispatched them, under Colonel +Haldimand, to take post at that end of Lake Ontario from whence issues +the River St. Lawrence. On the 10th, he himself, with the artillery, the +remainder of the regular troops, and the Indians, followed in +whale-boats. The Provincials, under Gage, joined the flotilla on the +12th, and the following day the whole army reached La Galette, on the +banks of the Great River. They then dropped down the stream to Isle +Royale without any occurrence worth record, except the gallant capture +of an armed vessel by Colonel Williamson with a detachment of troops in +row-boats.</p> + +<p>Upon Isle Royale there was a French post of some strength, called Fort +Levi, which Amherst determined to subdue, partly because he was +unwilling to leave an enemy in his rear, but principally because among +the little garrison were several men well skilled in the dangerous +navigation of the St. Lawrence, whose services might prove of great +value to the expedition; accordingly, the fort was completely invested +by the 20th. On the 23d the British batteries were in readiness, and the +armed vessels placed in a favorable position, while a detachment of +grenadiers with scaling-ladders were told off to storm the works. A +cannonade was opened upon the fort; but the gallant little garrison +returned the fire with such spirit, that one of the British vessels +which had got aground was obliged to strike her colors, and was +abandoned by her crew. Amherst, astonished at this vigorous resistance, +deferred his contemplated assault to another day. The delay proved +fortunate in preventing further bloodshed; for M. Pouchot, the French +commandant, seeing that there was no hope of a successful defense, +surrendered at discretion on the 25th.</p> + +<p>When the fort was delivered up, a circumstance occurred which reflects +far more honor upon Englishmen than the triumph of their arms. Johnson's +Indians had secretly determined to seize their opportunity of vengeance, +and to massacre the gallant band of Frenchmen as soon as they gained +admission within the works. Happily, Amherst was made aware of this +atrocious scheme. He immediately gave orders to Sir William to dissuade +the savages, if possible, from their intention; at the same time, he +promised them all the stores which might be found in the fort, and +warned them that if they persisted he would restrain them by force. The +Indians sullenly submitted and returned to their camp, but they bitterly +resented the interference, and Johnson informed the general that they +would probably quit the army in anger. Amherst answered, "Although I +wish to retain their friendship, I will not purchase it at the expense +of countenancing barbarity; and tell them that, if they commit any acts +of cruelty on their return home from the army, I will assuredly chastise +them." Amherst lost his Indians, but he preserved his honor. Nearly all +abandoned him; they did not, however, dare to perpetrate any violence on +their way home.</p> + +<p>The British leveled the works at Fort Levi, and continued their route +down the stream with little difficulty till they reached the dangerous +passage of the Cedars. About noon on the 4th of September the van of the +army entered the rapids. Here the vast flood of the St. Lawrence dashes +swiftly through a comparatively narrow channel; broken rocks, eddies, +and surging waves render the appearance of this navigation terrible to +the unaccustomed eye, but under the guidance of experienced pilots light +boats constantly pass with little or no danger. Amherst expected that +the enemy would have opposed him at this critical point; he therefore +did not deem it prudent to permit the boats to descend in the successive +order which would have best suited the navigation, but, himself leading +the way, he ordered on a number of boats filled with artillery, +grenadiers, and light infantry at the same time. Scarcely had they +entered the boisterous waters when the boats became crowded together; +some were stove in against each other, and many were dashed to pieces +upon the rocks. No less than eighty-eight men and sixty-four boats, with +some artillery and stores, were lost by this lamentable disaster.</p> + +<p>On the 6th of September the British army landed on the island of +Montreal, nine miles from the town; the French retired before them +within the walls, and the same evening the place was invested in form.</p> + +<p>In pursuance of the plan of the campaign, Murray had sailed from Quebec +on the 14th of June, to co-operate with the expeditions under Amherst +and Haviland. His army consisted of 2450 men of all ranks, the veterans +who had conquered under Wolfe. His voyage up the river was an almost +continuous skirmish. Whenever his vessels approached the shore, they +were assailed with musketry, and by cannon at all suitable points; +however, he met with no resistance of a nature materially to delay his +progress. On the 8th of August the fleet passed Three Rivers, and on the +12th anchored opposite to Sorel, where M. de Bourlemaque was posted with +about 4000 men. Here Murray judged it prudent to await Lord Rollo with +the regiment from Louisburg, and, being joined by this re-enforcement, +he again sailed upward on the 27th. On the 7th of September the troops +were disembarked upon the island of Montreal, and on the following day +they encamped to the northeast of the city. M. de Bourlemaque had +retired before them within the walls.</p> + +<p>Colonel Haviland embarked upon Lake Champlain on the 11th of August; on +the 16th he encamped opposite the French port at Isle aux Noix, and by +the 24th opened a fire of mortars upon it. On the night of the 27th, M. +de Bougainville, the commandant, retired from the fort, leaving a +garrison of only thirty men, who surrendered the next morning. Without +any further interruption, Haviland also arrived upon the island of +Montreal by the 8th of September. A British force of 16,000 men was then +assembled under the walls of the defenseless city. On the same day the +Marquis de Vaudreuil signed the capitulation which severed Canada from +France forever.</p> + +<p>All Canada was included in this capitulation, from the fishing stations +on the coast of the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the unknown wilderness of +the West. The regular troops were permitted to march out from their +several posts with the honors of war, and were then conveyed to France +in British ships, under an engagement that they were not again to serve +before the conclusion of the first peace. The Provincial militia were +allowed to return unmolested to their homes. The free exercise of +religion was granted, and private property was held sacred. All the +civil officers were also conveyed to France, with their families, +baggage, and papers, except such of the latter as might be deemed useful +to the conquerors for the future government of the country. The French +colonists were guaranteed the same civil and commercial privileges as +British subjects, and were to be allowed to retain their slaves. The +Indians who had supported the cause of France were to be unmolested in +person, and the possession of their lands was secured to them.</p> + +<p>The total effective force of the French included in the capitulation was +eight battalions of the line, and two of the colony or marine, being +4011 regular troops; sixty-four companies of the Quebec militia, 7976; +nineteen of Three Rivers, 1115, and eighty-seven of Montreal, 7331; +altogether, 20,433 men. The French had destroyed all their colors, but +the English regained possession of two of their own, which had been +taken from Shirley's and Pepperel's Provincial regiments at the capture +of Oswego.</p> + +<p>Although the campaign of 1760 was unmarked by many events of stirring +interest, its conduct was most creditable to the officers and men of the +British army. Amherst's plans were as ably executed as they were +judiciously conceived. By descending the St. Lawrence from Ontario, he +rendered it impossible for the French to retire westward from Montreal, +and to prolong the war on the shores of the great lakes. His +combinations were arranged with admirable accuracy, and carried out by +his lieutenants with almost unparalleled success. With scarcely any +loss, three considerable bodies of troops had accomplished journeys of +uncommon difficulty, by routes of dangerous and almost unknown +navigation, in the face of a vigilant and still formidable enemy, and +all three had arrived at the place of meeting within forty-eight hours +of each other.</p> + +<p>While we dwell with pleasure upon the achievements of this British army +and of their generals, we may not forget the merits of the gallant men +against whom they fought. With a noble patriotism that no neglect could +damp, Montcalm and his veterans strove for the honor of their country. +From first to last they persevered almost against hope; destitute, and +well-nigh deserted by France, they never for a moment wavered in their +loyalty; all that skill could accomplish, they accomplished; all that +devotion could endure, they endured; and all that chivalry could dare, +they dared. In these later times, when the intoxication of triumph and +the sting of defeat have long since passed away, the soldiers of France +and England may alike look back with honest pride to the brave deeds of +their ancestors in the Canadian war.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>One of the most momentous political questions that has ever yet moved +the human race was decided in this struggle. When a few English and +French emigrants first landed among the Virginian and Canadian forests, +it began; when the British flag was hoisted on the citadel of Quebec, it +was decided. From that day the hand of Providence pointed out to the +Anglo-Saxon race that to them was henceforth intrusted the destiny of +the New World.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_196_196" id="Footnote_196_196"></a><a href="#FNanchor_196_196"><span class="label">[196]</span></a> "Who the deuse was thinking of Quebec? America was like a +book one has read and done with, or, at least, if one looked at the +book, one just recollected that there was a supplement promised, to +contain a chapter on Montreal, the starving and surrender of it; but +here we are on a sudden reading our book backward. An account came two +days ago that the French, on their march to besiege Quebec, had been +attacked by General Murray, who got into a mistake and a morass, +attacked two bodies that were joined when he hoped to come up with one +of them before he was inclosed, embogged, and defeated. By the list of +officers killed and wounded, I believe there has been a rueful +slaughter, and the place, I suppose, will be retaken."—Walpole's +<i>Letters to Sir H. Mann</i>, June 20th, 1760.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_197_197" id="Footnote_197_197"></a><a href="#FNanchor_197_197"><span class="label">[197]</span></a> "The Pomona, one of the French frigates, was driven on +shore above Cape Diamond; the other frigate, the Atalanta, ran ashore, +and was burned at Point aux Trembles."—<i>Gentleman's Magazine</i>, vol. +xxx., p. 297.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_198_198" id="Footnote_198_198"></a><a href="#FNanchor_198_198"><span class="label">[198]</span></a> "Pour comble de malheur, on accusait des plus horribles +brigandages presque tous ceux qui étaient employés au nom du roi dans +cette malheureuse colonie. Ils ont éte jugés au Châtelet de Paris, +tandis que le Parlement informait contre Lalli, 1764. Celui-ci, après +avoir cent fois exposé sa vie, l'a perdue par la main d'un bourreau, +tandis que les concussionnaires du Canada n'ont été condamnés qu'à des +restitutions et des amendes: tant il est de différence entre les +affaires qui semblent les mêmes."—Voltaire's <i>Précis du Siècle de Louis +XV.</i>, p. 291.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>APPENDIX.</h2> + + +<p class='center'>No. I.</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Geneva, Nov. 6.</span>—Two days after the news arrived here of the +taking of Quebec, Monsieur de Voltaire gave a grand entertainment at his +house in the country. In the evening the company retired into a noble +gallery, at the end of which was erected an elegant theater, and a new +piece, called Le Patriot Insulaire, was performed, in which all the +genius and fire of that celebrated poet were exhausted in the cause of +liberty. M. de Voltaire himself appeared in the principal character, and +drew tears from the whole audience. The scenes were decorated with +emblems of liberty, and over the stage was this inscription in Latin and +English:</p> + +<p style="margin-left: 20em;"> +'Libertati quieti<br /> +Musis Sacrum<br /> +S P of the F.'<br /> +</p> + +<p>The English line means 'Spite of the French.'</p> + +<p>"After the play the windows of the gallery flew open, and presented a +spacious court finely illuminated and adorned with savage trophies. In +the middle of the court a magnificent fire-work was played off, +accompanied with martial music; the star of St. George shedding forth +innumerable rockets, and underneath a lively representation, by +girandoles, of the cataract of Niagara."—<i>Public Advertiser</i>, Nov. 23, +1759.</p> + + +<p class='center'>No. II.</p> + +<p>"One of the most singular geographical illusions on record is that which +for a long while haunted the imaginations of the inhabitants of the +Canaries. They fancied they beheld a mountainous island, of about ninety +leagues in length, lying far to the westward. It was only seen at +intervals, though in perfectly clear and serene weather. To some it +seemed one hundred leagues distant, to others forty, to others only +fifteen or eighteen.<a name="FNanchor_199_199" id="FNanchor_199_199"></a><a href="#Footnote_199_199" class="fnanchor">[199]</a></p> + +<p>"On attempting to reach it, however, it somehow or other eluded the +search, and was nowhere to be found. Still, there were so many persons +of credibility who concurred in testifying to their having seen it, and +the testimony of the inhabitants of different islands agreed so well as +to its form and position, that its existence was generally believed; +and geographers inserted it in their maps. It is laid down on the globe +of Martin Behrm, projected in 1492, as delineated by M. de Murr, and it +will be found in most of the maps of the time of Columbus, placed +commonly about 200 leagues west of the Canaries. During the time that +Columbus was making his proposition to the court of Portugal, an +inhabitant of the Canaries applied to King John II. for a vessel to go +in search of this island. In the archives of the Torre di Tombo,<a name="FNanchor_200_200" id="FNanchor_200_200"></a><a href="#Footnote_200_200" class="fnanchor">[200]</a> +also, there is a record of a contract made by the crown of Portugal with +Fernando de Ulmo, cavalier of the royal household, and captain of the +Island of Terceira, wherein he undertakes to go, at his own expense, in +quest of an island, or islands, or terra firma, supposed to be the +Island of the Seven Cities, on condition of having jurisdiction over the +same for himself and his heirs, allowing one tenth of the revenues to +the king. This Ulmo, finding the expedition above his capacity, +associated one Juan Alphonso del Estreito in the enterprise. They were +bound to be ready to sail with two caravels in the month of March, +1487.<a name="FNanchor_201_201" id="FNanchor_201_201"></a><a href="#Footnote_201_201" class="fnanchor">[201]</a> The fate of their enterprise is unknown.</p> + +<p>"The name of St. Brandan, or Borondan, given to this imaginary island +from time immemorial, is said to be derived from a Scotch abbot, who +flourished in the sixth century, and who is called sometimes by the +foregoing appellations, sometimes St. Blandano or St. Blandanus. In the +Martyrology of the order of St. Augustine, he is said to have been the +patriarch of 3000 monks. About the middle of the sixth century, he +accompanied his disciple, St. Maclovio or St. Malo, in search of certain +islands, possessing the delights of paradise, which they were told +existed in the midst of the ocean, and were inhabited by infidels. After +these most adventurous saints-errant had wandered for a long time upon +the ocean, they at length landed upon an island called Ima. Here St. +Malo found the body of a giant lying in a sepulcher. He resuscitated +him, and had much interesting conversation with him, the giant informing +him that the inhabitants of that island had some notions of the Trinity, +and, moreover, giving him an account of the torments which Jews and +pagans suffered in the infernal regions. Finding the giant so docile and +reasonable, St. Malo expounded to him the doctrines of the Christian +religion, converted him, and baptized him by the name of Mildum. The +giant, however, either through weariness of life, or eagerness to enjoy +the benefits of his conversion, begged permission, at the end of fifteen +days, to die again, which was granted him.</p> + +<p>"According to another account, the giant told them he knew of an island +in the ocean, defended by walls of burnished gold, so resplendent that +they shone like crystal, but to which there was no entrance. At their +request he undertook to guide them to it, and, taking the cable of their +ship, threw himself into the sea. He had not proceeded far, however, +when a tempest arose and obliged them all to return, and shortly after +the giant died.<a name="FNanchor_202_202" id="FNanchor_202_202"></a><a href="#Footnote_202_202" class="fnanchor">[202]</a> A third legend makes the saint pray to Heaven, on +Easter day, that they may be permitted to find land where they may +celebrate the offices of religion with becoming state: an island +immediately appears, on which they land, perform a solemn mass, and the +sacrament of the Eucharist; after which, reembarking and making sail, +they behold to their astonishment the supposed island suddenly plunge to +the bottom of the sea, being nothing else than a monstrous <i>whale</i>.<a name="FNanchor_203_203" id="FNanchor_203_203"></a><a href="#Footnote_203_203" class="fnanchor">[203]</a> +When the rumor circulated of an island seen from the Canaries, which +always eluded the search, the legends of St. Brandan were revived, and +applied to this unapproachable land. We are told, also, that there was +an ancient Latin manuscript in the archives of the cathedral church of +the Grand Canary in which the adventures of these saints were recorded. +Through carelessness, however, this manuscript disappeared.<a name="FNanchor_204_204" id="FNanchor_204_204"></a><a href="#Footnote_204_204" class="fnanchor">[204]</a> Some +have maintained that this island was known to the ancients, and was the +same mentioned by Ptolemy among the Fortunate or Canary Islands by the +name of Aprositus,<a name="FNanchor_205_205" id="FNanchor_205_205"></a><a href="#Footnote_205_205" class="fnanchor">[205]</a> a Greek word signifying 'inaccessible,' and +which, according to Friar Diego Philipo, in his book on the Incarnation +of Christ, shows that it possessed the same quality in ancient times of +deluding the eye, and being unattainable to the feet of mortals.<a name="FNanchor_206_206" id="FNanchor_206_206"></a><a href="#Footnote_206_206" class="fnanchor">[206]</a> +But, whatever belief the ancients may have had on the subject, it is +certain that it took a strong hold on the faith of the moderns during +the prevalent rage for discovery; nor did it lack abundant testimonials. +Don Joseph de Viera y Clavijo says there never was a more difficult +paradox or problem in the science of geography, since to affirm the +existence of this island is to trample upon sound criticism, judgment, +and reason, and to deny it, one must abandon tradition and experience, +and suppose that many persons of credit had not the proper use of their +senses.<a name="FNanchor_207_207" id="FNanchor_207_207"></a><a href="#Footnote_207_207" class="fnanchor">[207]</a></p> + +<p>"The belief in this island has continued long since the time of +Columbus. It was repeatedly seen, and by various persons at a time, +always in the same place and the same form. In 1626, an expedition set +off for the Canaries in quest of it, commanded by Fernando de Troya and +Fernando Alvarez. They cruised in the wonted direction, but in vain; and +their failure ought to have undeceived the public. 'The phantasm of the +island, however,' says Viera, 'had such a secret enchantment for all who +beheld it, that the public preferred doubting the good conduct of the +explorers than their own senses.' In 1570 the appearances were so +repeated and clear, that there was a universal fever of curiosity +awakened among the people of the Canaries, and it was determined to send +forth another expedition. That they might not appear to act upon light +grounds, an exact investigation was previously made of all the persons +of talent and credibility who had seen these apparitions of land, or who +had other proofs of its existence.</p> + +<p>"Alonzode Espinosa, governor of the island of Ferro, accordingly made a +report, in which more than one hundred witnesses, several of them +persons of the highest respectability, deposed that they had beheld the +unknown island about forty leagues to the northwest of Ferro; that they +had contemplated it with calmness and certainty, and had seen the sun +set behind one of its points.</p> + +<p>"Testimonials of still greater force came from the islands of Palma and +Teneriffe. There were certain Portuguese who affirmed that, being driven +about by a tempest, they had come upon the island of St. Borondon. Pedro +Vello, who was the pilot of the vessel, asserted that, having anchored +in a bay, he landed with several of the crew. They drank fresh water in +a brook, and beheld in the sand the print of footsteps, double the size +of those of an ordinary man, and the distance between them was in +proportion. They found a cross nailed to a neighboring tree, near to +which were three stones placed in form of a triangle, with signs of fire +having been made among them, probably to cook shell-fish. Having seen +much cattle and sheep grazing in the neighborhood, two of their party, +armed with lances, went into the woods in pursuit of them. The night was +approaching, the heavens began to lower, and a harsh wind arose. The +people on board the ship cried out that she was dragging her anchor, +whereupon Vello entered the boat and hurried on board. In an instant +they lost sight of land, being, as it were, swept away in the hurricane. +When the storm had passed away, and sea and sky were again serene, they +searched in vain for the island; not a trace of it was to be seen, and +they had to pursue their voyage, lamenting the loss of their two +companions who had been abandoned in the wood.<a name="FNanchor_208_208" id="FNanchor_208_208"></a><a href="#Footnote_208_208" class="fnanchor">[208]</a></p> + +<p>"A learned licentiate, Pedro Ortez de Funez, inquisitor of the Grand +Canary, while on a visit at Teneriffe, summoned several persons before +him who testified having seen the island. Among them was one Marcos +Verde, a man well known in those parts. He stated that, in returning +from Barbary, and arriving in the neighborhood of the Canaries, he +beheld land, which, according to his maps and calculations, could not be +any of the known islands. He concluded it to be the far-famed St. +Borondon. Overjoyed at having discovered this land of mystery, he +coasted along its spell-bound shores until he anchored in a beautiful +harbor, formed by the mouth of a mountain ravine. Here he landed with +several of his crew. 'It was now,' he said, 'the hour of Ave Maria, or +of vespers. The sun being set, the shadows began to spread over the +land. The navigators, having separated, wandered about in different +directions, until out of hearing of each other's shouts. Those on board, +seeing the night approaching, made signals to summon back the wanderers +to the ship. They re-embarked, intending to resume their investigations +on the following day. Scarcely were they on board, however, when a +whirlwind came rushing down the ravine with such violence as to drag the +vessel from her anchor and hurry her out to sea, and they never saw any +thing more of this hidden and inhospitable island.'</p> + +<p>"Another testimony remains on record in a manuscript of one Abreu +Galindo, but whether taken at this time does not appear. It was that of +a French adventurer, who, many years before, making a voyage among the +Canaries, was overtaken by a violent storm, which carried away his +masts. At length the furious winds drove him to the shores of an unknown +island covered with stately trees. Here he landed with part of his crew, +and, choosing a tree proper for a mast, cut it down, and began to shape +it for his purpose. The guardian power of the island, however, resented, +as usual, this invasion of his forbidden shores. The heavens assumed a +dark and threatening aspect; the night was approaching; and the +mariners, fearing some impending evil, abandoned their labor, and +returned on board. They were borne away, as usual, from the coast, and +the next day arrived at the island of Palma.<a name="FNanchor_209_209" id="FNanchor_209_209"></a><a href="#Footnote_209_209" class="fnanchor">[209]</a></p> + +<p>"The mass of testimony collected by official authority in 1570 seemed so +satisfactory that another expedition was fitted out in the same year in +the island of Palma. It was commanded by Fernando de Villalobos, regidor +of the island, but was equally fruitless with the preceding. St. +Borondon seemed disposed only to tantalize the world with distant and +serene glimpses of his ideal paradise, or to reveal it amid storms to +tempest-tossed mariners, but to hide it completely from the view of all +who diligently sought it. Still, the people of Palma adhered to their +favorite chimera. Thirty-four years afterward, in 1605, they sent +another ship on the quest, commanded by Gaspar Perez de Acosta, an +accomplished pilot, accompanied by the Padre Lorenzo Pinedo, a holy +Franciscan friar, skilled in natural science. San Borondon, however, +refused to reveal his island to either monk or mariner. After cruising +about in every direction, sounding, observing the skies, the clouds, the +winds, every thing that could furnish indications, they returned without +having seen any thing to authorize a hope.</p> + +<p>"Upward of a century now elapsed without any new attempt to seek this +fairy island. Every now and then, it is true, the public mind was +agitated by fresh reports of its having been seen. Lemons and other +fruits, and the green branches of trees, which floated to the shores of +Gomara and Ferro, were pronounced to be from the enchanted groves of San +Borondon. At length, in 1721, the public infatuation again rose to such +a height that a fourth expedition was sent, commanded by Don Gaspar +Dominguez, a man of probity and talent. As this was an expedition of +solemn and mysterious import, he had two holy friars as apostolical +chaplains. They made sail from the island of Teneriffe toward the end of +October, leaving the populace in an indescribable state of anxious +curiosity. The ship, however, returned from its cruise as unsuccessful +as all its predecessors.</p> + +<p>"We have no account of any expedition being since undertaken, though the +island still continued to be a subject of speculation, and occasionally +to reveal its shadowy mountains to the eyes of favored individuals. In a +letter written from the island of Gomara, 1759, by a Franciscan monk to +one of his friends, he relates having seen it from the village of +Alaxera, at six in the morning of the third of May. It appeared to +consist of two lofty mountains, with a deep valley between, and on +contemplating it with a telescope, the valley or ravine appeared to be +filled with trees. He summoned the curate, Antonio Joseph Manrique, and +upward of forty other persons, all of whom beheld it plainly.<a name="FNanchor_210_210" id="FNanchor_210_210"></a><a href="#Footnote_210_210" class="fnanchor">[210]</a></p> + +<p>"Nor is this island delineated merely in ancient maps of the time of +Columbus. It is laid down as one of the Canary Islands in a French map +published in 1704; and Mons. Gautier, in a geographical chart annexed to +his Observations on Natural History, published in 1759, places it five +degrees to the west of the Island of Ferro, in the 29th degree of north +latitude.<a name="FNanchor_211_211" id="FNanchor_211_211"></a><a href="#Footnote_211_211" class="fnanchor">[211]</a></p> + +<p>"Such are the principal facts existing relative to the island of St. +Brandan. Its reality was for a long time a matter of firm belief. It was +in vain that repeated voyages and investigations proved its +non-existence: the public, after trying all kinds of sophistry, took +refuge in the supernatural to defend their favorite chimera. They +maintained that it was rendered inaccessible to mortals by divine +providence or by diabolical magic. Most inclined to the former. All +kinds of extravagant fancies were indulged concerning it:<a name="FNanchor_212_212" id="FNanchor_212_212"></a><a href="#Footnote_212_212" class="fnanchor">[212]</a> some +confounded it with the fabled island of the Seven Cities, situated +somewhere in the bosom of the ocean, where, in old times, seven bishops +and their followers had taken refuge from the Moors. Some of the +Portuguese imagined it to be the abode of their last king, Sebastian. +The Spaniards pretended that Roderic, the last of their Gothic kings, +had fled thither from the Moors after the disastrous battle of the +Guadalete. Others suggested that it might be the seat of the terrestrial +paradise—the place where Enoch and Eliiah remained in a slate of +blessedness until the final day; and that it was made at times apparent +to the eyes, but invisible to the search of mortals. Poetry, it is said, +has owed to this popular belief one of its beautiful fictions; and the +garden of Armida, where Rinaldo was detained enchanted, and which Tasso +places in one of the Canary Islands, has been identified with the +imaginary San Borondon.<a name="FNanchor_213_213" id="FNanchor_213_213"></a><a href="#Footnote_213_213" class="fnanchor">[213]</a></p> + +<p>"The learned father Feyjoo<a name="FNanchor_214_214" id="FNanchor_214_214"></a><a href="#Footnote_214_214" class="fnanchor">[214]</a> has given a philosophical solution to +this geographical problem. He attributes all these appearances, which +have been so numerous and so well authenticated as not to admit of +doubt, to certain atmospherical deceptions, like that of the Fata +Morgana, seen at times in the Straits of Messina, where the city of +Reggio and its surrounding country is reflected in the air above the +neighboring sea; a phenomenon which has likewise been witnessed in front +of the city of Marseilles. As to the tales of the mariners who had +landed on these forbidden shores, and been hurried from thence in +whirlwinds and tempests, he considers them as mere fabrications.</p> + +<p>"As the populace, however, reluctantly give up any thing that partakes +of the marvelous and mysterious, and as the same atmospherical phenomena +which first gave birth to the illusion may still continue, it is not +improbable that a belief in the island of St. Brandan may still exist +among the ignorant and credulous of the Canaries, and that they at times +behold its fairy mountains rising above the distant horizon of the +Atlantic."—Washington Irving, <i>Life of Columbus</i>.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_199_199" id="Footnote_199_199"></a><a href="#FNanchor_199_199"><span class="label">[199]</span></a> Feyjoo, <i>Theatro Critico</i>, tom. iv., ch. x., s. xx.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_200_200" id="Footnote_200_200"></a><a href="#FNanchor_200_200"><span class="label">[200]</span></a> Lib. iv. de la Chancelaria del Rey Don Juan II., fol. +101.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_201_201" id="Footnote_201_201"></a><a href="#FNanchor_201_201"><span class="label">[201]</span></a> Torre di Tombo, <i>Lib. das Yihas</i>, fol. 119.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_202_202" id="Footnote_202_202"></a><a href="#FNanchor_202_202"><span class="label">[202]</span></a> Fr. Gregorio Garcia, <i>Origen de los Indios</i>, lib. i., +cap. ix.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_203_203" id="Footnote_203_203"></a><a href="#FNanchor_203_203"><span class="label">[203]</span></a> Sigeberto, <i>Epist. ad Fritmar Abbat.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_204_204" id="Footnote_204_204"></a><a href="#FNanchor_204_204"><span class="label">[204]</span></a> Nunez de la Pena, <i>Conquist. de la Gran Canaria</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_205_205" id="Footnote_205_205"></a><a href="#FNanchor_205_205"><span class="label">[205]</span></a> Ptolemy, tom. iv., lib. iv.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_206_206" id="Footnote_206_206"></a><a href="#FNanchor_206_206"><span class="label">[206]</span></a> Fr. D. Philipo, lib. viii., fol. 25.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_207_207" id="Footnote_207_207"></a><a href="#FNanchor_207_207"><span class="label">[207]</span></a> <i>Hist. Isl. Can.</i>, lib. i., cap. xxviii.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_208_208" id="Footnote_208_208"></a><a href="#FNanchor_208_208"><span class="label">[208]</span></a> Nunez de la Pena, lib. i., cap. i.; Viera, <i>Hist. Isl. +Can.</i>, tom. i., cap. xxviii.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_209_209" id="Footnote_209_209"></a><a href="#FNanchor_209_209"><span class="label">[209]</span></a> Nunez, <i>Conquist. de la Gran Canaria</i>; Viera, <i>Hist. Isl. +Can.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_210_210" id="Footnote_210_210"></a><a href="#FNanchor_210_210"><span class="label">[210]</span></a> Viera, <i>Hist. Isl. Can.</i>, lib. i., cap. xxvi.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_211_211" id="Footnote_211_211"></a><a href="#FNanchor_211_211"><span class="label">[211]</span></a> Id. ib., tom. i., cap. xxviii.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_212_212" id="Footnote_212_212"></a><a href="#FNanchor_212_212"><span class="label">[212]</span></a> Id. ib.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_213_213" id="Footnote_213_213"></a><a href="#FNanchor_213_213"><span class="label">[213]</span></a> Viera, <i>Hist. Isl. Can.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_214_214" id="Footnote_214_214"></a><a href="#FNanchor_214_214"><span class="label">[214]</span></a> <i>Theatro Critico</i>, tom. lv., d. x.</p></div> +</div> + +<p class='center'>No. III.</p> + +<p>The following lines in Pulci's "Morgante Maggiore" afford probably the +most circumstantial prediction that is to be found of the existence of a +Western World. The devil, alluding to the vulgar superstition respecting +the Pillars of Hercules, thus addresses Rinaldo:</p> + +<p style="margin-left: 20em;"> +"Know that this theory is false; his bark<br /> +The daring mariner shall urge far o'er<br /> +The western wave, a smooth and level plain,<br /> +Albeit the earth is fashioned like a wheel.<br /> +Man was in ancient days of grosser mold,<br /> +And Hercules might blush to learn how far<br /> +Beyond the limits he had vainly set,<br /> +The dullest sea-bird soon shall wing her way.<br /> +Men shall descry another hemisphere,<br /> +Since to one common center all things tend.<br /> +So earth, by curious mystery divine,<br /> +Well-balanced hangs amid the starry spheres.<br /> +At our antipodes are cities, states,<br /> +And thronged empires, ne'er divined of yore.<br /> +But see, the sun speeds on his western path,<br /> +To glad the nations with expected light."<br /> +</p> + +<p style="margin-left: 30em;"> +<i>Canto</i> xxv., st. 229, 230.<br /> +</p> + +<p>Dante, two centuries before, had indicated more vaguely his belief in an +undiscovered quarter of the globe:</p> + +<p style="margin-left: 20em;"> +"De' vostri sensi, ch'é del rimanente<br /> +Non vogliate negar l'esperienza<br /> +Diretro al sol, del mondo senza gente."<br /> +</p> + +<p style="margin-left: 30em;"> +<i>Inferno, Canto</i> xxvi., st. 115.<br /> +</p> + +<p>The prophetic lines of Seneca are well known:</p> + +<p style="margin-left:20em;"> +"Nil, qua fuerat sede, reliquit<br /> +Pervius orbis.<br /> +Indus gelidum potat Araxem,<br /> +Albim Persæ, Rhenumque bibunt<br /> +Venient annis sæcula seris<br /> +Quibus Oceanus vincula rerum<br /> +Laxet, et ingens pateat tellus,<br /> +Tethysque novos detegat orbes,<br /> +Nec sit terris ultima Thule."<br /> +</p> + +<p style="margin-left: 30em;"> +<i>Medea</i>, Act II., v. 371, <i>et seq.</i> <i>Chorus in Fine.</i> Ed. Bip.<br /> +</p> + +<p>On which the learned Acosta remarks:</p> + +<p>"Sed utrum divinarit Seneca, an fortuito ac temere cecinerit, quæri +potest. Mihi verò divinasse videtur, sed eo genere divinationis, quod +prudentes viri familiare habent."</p> + +<p>Acosta further on writes thus:</p> + +<p>"Scribit Hieronymus in epistolam ad Ephesios—'Quærirmus quoque quid +sit. In quibus aliquando ambulastis secundum sæculum sit mundi hujus +utrumnam et aliud quod non pertineat ad mundum istum, sed ad mundos +alios, de quibus et Clemens in epistolâ suâ scribit, oceanus et mundi +qui transipsum sunt.'"—J. Acosta, Societatis Jesu, <i>De Naturâ Novi +Orbis</i>, lib. i., cap. xi.</p> + +<p>"Lorsq' Alfonso V. permit en 1461 à Dom Henry de peupler les îles +Açores, on trouva en celle de Cuervo une statue représentant un cavalier +qui, de la main gauche, tenoit la bride de son cheval, et de la droite +montroit l'occident, précisément du côte d'Amerique—on voyoit sur le +roc une inscription en caractères inconnus, dont il seroit à souhaiter +qu'on eût pris soin d'aporter l'empreinte en Europe; mais ces premiers +navigateurs cherchoient des trésors et non des nouvelles +lumières."—<i>Histoire de France</i>, par M. de Villaret, vol. xvi., p. 376.</p> + + +<p class='center'>No. IV.</p> + +<p>The fable of Welsh Indians is of very old date. In the time of Sir +Walter Raleigh, a confused report was spread over England that on the +coast of Virginia the Welsh salutation had been heard; has, honi, iach. +Owen Chapelain relates that in 1669, by pronouncing some Celtic words, +he saved himself from the hands of the Indians of Tuscarora, by whom he +was on the point of being scalped. The same thing, it is pretended, +happened to Benjamin Beatty, in going from Virginia to Carolina. This +Beatty asserts that he found a whole Welsh tribe, who preserved the +tradition of the voyage of Madoc ap Owen, which took place in 1170. John +Filson, in his "History of Kentucky," has revived these tales of the +first travelers. According to him, Captain Abraham Chaplain saw Indians +arrive at the post of Kaskasky, and converse in the Welsh language with +some soldiers, who were natives of Wales. Captain Isaac Stewart asserts +that on the Red River of Natchitoches, at the distance of 700 miles +above its mouth, in the Mississippi, he discovered Indians with a fair +skin and red hair, who conversed in Welsh, and possessed the titles of +their origin. "They produced, in proof of what they said of their +arrival on the eastern coast, rolls of parchment, carefully wrapped up +in otter skins, and on which great characters were written in blue, +which neither Stewart, nor his fellow-traveler, Davey, a native of +Wales, could decipher." We may observe, first, that all these +testimonies are extremely vague for the indication of places. The last +letter of Mr. Owen, repeated in the journals of Europe (of the 11th +February, 1819), places the posts of the Welsh Indians on the Madwaga, +and divides them into two tribes, the Brydones and the Chadogians. "They +speak Welsh with greater purity than it is spoken in the principality of +Wales(!), since it is exempt from Anglicisms; they profess Christianity, +strongly mixed with Druidism." We can not read such assertions without +recollecting that all those fabulous stories which flatter the +imagination are renewed periodically under new forms. The learned and +judicious geographer of the United States, Mr. Warden, inquires justly, +why all the traces of Welsh colonies and the Celtic tongue have +disappeared, since less credulous travelers, and who, in some sort, +control one another, have visited the country situated between the Ohio +and the Rocky Mountains. Mackenzie, Barton, Clarke, Lewis, Pike, Drake, +Mitchill, and the editors of the "New Archæologia Americana," have found +nothing, absolutely nothing, which denotes the remains of European +colonies of the 12th century.—Humboldt's <i>Personal Narrative</i>, vol. +vi., p. 326. See Hakluyt, vol. iii., p. 1; Powell's <i>History of Wales</i>, +p. 196, &c.</p> + +<p>Lord Lyttleton, in his notes to the 5th book of his "History of Henry +II.," p. 371, has invalidated the story of Madoc's discoveries by +arguments of great weight; and Mr. Pennant, in "Philosophical +Transactions," vol. lviii., p. 91, has overthrown many of the arguments +upon which the existence of a Welsh settlement among the Indians was +founded. General Bowles, the Cherokee, was questioned when in England as +to the locality of the supposed descendants of Madoc: he laid his finger +on one of the branches of the Missouri. Pike's "Travels" had lessened +the probability of finding such a tribe; and Lewis and Clarke's "Travels +to the Source of the Missouri" have entirely destroyed it, as +acknowledged by Mr. Southey in his "Madoc."—See note to the Preface of +<i>Madoc</i>.</p> + +<p>"It is much to be wished, that in our days, when a healthy tone of +criticism is very much in use, without assuming a scornful character, +the ancient inquiries of Powell ('Powell's History of Wales,' p. 196) +and Richard Hakluyt ('Voyages and Navigations,' vol. iii., p. 4) might +again be taken up in England. I do not participate in the notion of +rejecting inquiries, by which the traditions of nations are frequently +observed; I prefer much to hold the firm conviction that, with more +diligence and perseverance, many of the historical problems which have +hitherto remained unknown to us will one day be cleared up by actual +discoveries."—Humboldt's <i>Cosmos</i>, vol. ii., p. 456.</p> + +<p>By some antiquarians traces have been supposed to have been found of the +discovery of America by the Irish before the year 1000. The Esquimaux +related to the Normans who were settled in Winland, that further +southward, on the other side of Chesapeake Bay, there dwelt "white men, +who walked about in long white clothes, before them sticks to which +white cloths were attached, and crying with a loud voice." This account +was interpreted by the Christian Normans to signify processions, in +which they carried flags and sang hymns. In the oldest traditions, and +in the historical narrative of Thorfinn Karlsefue, and the Iceland +Landnama Book, these southern coasts, between Virginia and Florida, are +indicated by the name of "Whiteman's Land." They were, in the country +itself, certainly called "Great Ireland" (Irland it Mikla), and it was +supposed that they were peopled by the Irish. According to testimony +extending as far back as the year 1064, before Leif discovered Winland, +Ari Marsson, of the powerful Iceland race of Ulf, on a voyage southward +from Iceland, was driven by a storm upon the coasts of "Great Ireland," +and there baptized as a Christian, and not being allowed to go away, was +subsequently recognized there by people from the Orkneys and Iceland. It +is the present opinion of some northern antiquarians that Iceland was +not peopled immediately from Europe, but from Virginia and Carolina +(that is, from Great Ireland), by the Irish, who had early migrated to +America.... The assiduous attempt to diffuse religious doctrines paved +the way, at one time, for warlike undertakings, at another for the +spread of peaceful ideas and commercial intercourse. The zeal which is +so peculiar to the religions systems of India, Palestine, and Arabia, +and which is altogether free from the indifference of Grecian and Roman +polytheism, kept alive the study of geography in the first half of the +Middle Ages. Letronne, the commentator of the Irish monk Dicuil, has +proved, in an acute way, that after the Irish missionaries were driven +out of the Färöe Islands by the Normans, they began to visit Iceland +about the year 795. The Normans, when they came to Iceland, found there +Irish books, bells for ringing for mass, and other objects, which former +strangers, who were called Papar, had left behind. These Papæ (fathers) +were the Clerici of Dicuil. Now if, as we must suppose from his +testimony, those objects belonged to the Irish monks, who came from the +Färöe Islands, the question is, why are the monks (Papar) called in +their native traditions "Westmen"—men who have come from the west over +the sea? Respecting the connection of Prince Madoc's voyage to a great +western country in 1170, with the "Great Ireland" of the Iceland +traditions, all accounts are enveloped in deep obscurity. Compare the +inquiries in <i>Rafn Antiq. Amer.</i>, p. 203, 206, 446, 451; and Wilhelmi +upon Iceland, <i>Hvitramannaland</i>, the Land of White Men, p. 75, 81; +Letronne, <i>Récherches Géog. et Crit. sur le Livre de Mensurâ Orbis +Terræ, composé en Irelande par Dicuil</i>, 1814, p. 129, 146.</p> + +<p>The celebrated stone of Taunton River may date its hieroglyphics from +the time that Norwegian navigators visited the shores of "Great +Ireland." "Anglo-American antiquaries have made known an inscription, +supposed to be Phœnician, and which is engraved on the rocks of +Dighton, near the banks of Taunton River, twelve leagues south of +Boston.... The natives who inhabited these countries at the time of the +first European settlements preserved an ancient tradition, according to +which strangers in wooden houses had sailed up Taunton River, formerly +called Assoonet. These strangers, having conquered the red men, had +engraved marks on the rock, which is now covered by the waters of the +river. Count de Gebelin does not hesitate, with the learned Dr. Stiles, +to regard these marks as a Carthaginian inscription. He says, with that +enthusiasm which is natural to him, but which is highly injurious in +discussions of this kind, that this inscription comes happily at the +moment from the New World to confirm his ideas on the origin of nations, +and that it is clearly demonstrated to be a Phœnician monument, a +picture which in the foreground represents an alliance between the +American people and the foreign nation, coming by the winds of the north +from a rich and industrious country. I have carefully examined the four +drawings of the celebrated stone of Taunton River, which M. Loot +published in England in the Memoirs of the Antiquarian Society." +(<i>Archæologia</i>, vol. viii., p. 296.) "Far from recognizing a symmetrical +arrangement of simple letters and syllabic characters, I discover a +drawing scarcely traced, like those that have been found on the rocks of +Norway, and in almost all the countries inhabited by the Scandinavian +nations." (Suhm, <i>Samlinger til ten Danske Historic</i>, b. ii., p. 215.) +"In the sketch we distinguish, from the form of the heads, five human +figures surrounding an animal with horns, much higher in the fore than +in the hind part of the body."—Humboldt's <i>Researches in America</i>, vol. +i., p. 153.</p> + + +<p class='center'>No. V.</p> + +<p>"The great and splendid work of Marco Polo (Il Milione di Messer Marco +Polo), as we see in the corrected edition of Count Baldelli, is wrongly +called a book of travels: it is chiefly a descriptive, and, we may add, +a statistical work, in which it is difficult to distinguish what the +traveler himself saw and what he derived from others, or gathered from +the topographical descriptions which are so plenty in Chinese +literature, and which he had an opportunity of attaining through his +Persian interpreter. The striking similarity of the report of the +travels of Hinan-tschang, the Buddhist pilgrim of the seventh century, +with that of Marco Polo, of the Pamir Highlands, in 1277, early +attracted my attention.... However much the more recent travelers have +been inclined to enter into an account of their own personal adventures, +Marco Polo, on the other hand, endeavors to mix up his own observations +with the official accounts communicated to him, which were probably +numerous, as he held the post of governor of the town of Zangui. The +plan of compiling adopted by the famous traveler renders it intelligible +how he was able to dictate his book to his fellow-prisoner and friend, +Messer Rustigielo, of Pisa, from the documents before him, while in +prison in Genoa in 1295."—Humboldt's <i>Cosmos</i>, vol. ii., p. 400.</p> + +<p>Humboldt elsewhere says, that "it has frequently been supposed, and +declared with remarkable decision, that the truthful Marco Polo had a +great influence upon Columbus, and even that he was in possession of a +copy of Marco Polo's work upon his first voyage of +discovery."—Navarrete, <i>Collecion de los Viajos y Descubrimientos que +hicieron por mar los Españoles</i>, vol. i., p. 261.</p> + +<p>Marco Polo is called by Malte Brun "the creator of modern Oriental +geography—the Humboldt of the thirteenth century."</p> + +<p>"The work of Marco Polo is stated by some to have been originally +written in Latin, though the most probable opinion is that it was +written in Italian. Copies of it in manuscript were multiplied, and +rapidly circulated; translations were made into various languages, until +the invention of printing enabled it to be widely diffused throughout +Europe. In the course of these translations and successive editions, the +original text, according to Purchas, has been much vitiated, and it is +probable many extravagances in numbers and measurements with which Marco +Polo is charged may be the errors of translators and printers. Francis +Pepin, author of the Brandenburgh version, styles Polo a man commendable +for his devoutness, prudence, and fidelity. Athanasius Kircher, in his +account of China, says that none of the ancients have described the +kingdoms of the remote parts of the East with more exactness. Various +other learned men have borne testimony to his character, and most of the +substantial points of his work have been authenticated by subsequent +travelers. It is manifest, however, that he dealt much in exaggeration. +The historical part of his work is full of errors and fables. He +confuses the names of places, is very inexact as to distances, and gives +no latitude of the places he visited."—Washington Irving's <i>Columbus</i>, +vol. iv., p. 294.</p> + +<p>Marco Polo returned from Tartary to his native city, Venice, in 1295, +having pursued his mercantile peregrinations in Asia upward of +twenty-six years.</p> + + +<p class='center'>No. VI.</p> + +<p>"Sir John Mandeville was born in the town of St. Alban's. He was devoted +to study from his earliest childhood, and, after finishing his general +education, applied himself to medicine. He left England in 1332, and, +according to his own account, visited Turkey, Armenia, Egypt, Upper and +Lower Libya, Syria, Persia, Chaldea, Ethiopia, Tartary, Amazonia, and +the Indies, residing in their principal cities. He wrote a history of +his travels in three languages, English, French, and Latin. The +descriptions given by Mandeville of the Grand Khan, of the province of +Cathay, and the city of Camhalee, are scarcely less extravagant than +those of Marco Polo. The royal palace was more than two leagues in +circumference; the grand hall had twenty-four columns of copper and +gold; there were more than 300,000 men occupied, and living in and about +the palace, of which more than 100,000 were employed in taking care of +the elephants, of which there were 10,000, &c., &c.</p> + +<p>"Mandeville has become proverbial for indulging in a traveler's +exaggerations; yet his accounts of the countries which he visited have +been found far more veracious than had been imagined. His descriptions +of Cathay and the wealthy province of Mangi, agreeing with those of +Marco Polo, had great authority with Columbus."—Washington Irving's +<i>Columbus</i>, vol. iv., p. 308.</p> + + +<p class='center'>No. VII.</p> + +<p>"The Western nations, the Greeks, and the Romans, knew that magnetism +could be communicated for a length of time to iron ('sola hæc materia +ferri vires à magneti lapide accipit, retinetque longo tempore.'—Plin., +xxxiv., 14). The great discovery of the terrestrial directive force, +therefore, depended alone on this, that no one in the West happened to +observe that a longish piece of magnetic iron ore, or a magnetized iron +rod, floated at liberty upon water by means of a piece of wood, or +balanced and suspended freely in the air by means of a thread. But a +thousand years and more before the commencement of our era, in the dark +epoch of Codru, and the return of the Heraclidæ to the Peloponnesus, the +Chinese had already magnetic cars, upon which the movable arm of a human +figure pointed invariably to the south, as a means of finding the way +through the boundless grassy plains of Tartary. In the third century, +indeed, of the Christian era, at least 700 years, therefore, before the +introduction of the ship's compass upon European seas, Chinese craft +were sailing the Indian Ocean under the guidance of magnetic southern +indication. This early knowledge and application of the magnetic needle +gave the Chinese geographers great advantages over those of early Greece +and Rome, to whom, for example, the true course of the Apennines and +Pyrenees was never known.</p> + +<p>"Magnetism is one of the numerous forms in which electricity manifests +itself. The ancient suspicion of the identity of electrical and +magnetical attraction has been demonstrated in the present age. 'If +electrum (amber),' says Pliny, in the sense of the Ionic natural +philosophy of Thales, 'becomes inspired by friction and warmth, it +attracts bark and dried leaves, exactly like the magnetic iron +stone.'<a name="FNanchor_215_215" id="FNanchor_215_215"></a><a href="#Footnote_215_215" class="fnanchor">[215]</a> The same words occur in the discourse laudatory of the +magnet of the Chinese natural philosopher Kuopho, who lived in the +fourth century. It was not without surprise that I myself observed, +among the children at play on the woody banks of the Orinoco, the +offspring of native tribes in the lowest grade of civilization, that the +excitement of electricity by friction was known. The boys rubbed the +dry, flat, and shining seeds of a creeping leguminous plant (probably a +negretia) until they attracted fibers of cotton wool and chips of the +bamboo. This amusement of these coppery children is calculated to leave +a deep and solemn impression behind it. What a chasm lies between the +electrical play of these savages and the discovery of the lightning +conductor, of the chemically decompounding pile, of the light-evoking +mechanical apparatus! In such gulfs, millenniums in the history of the +intellectual progress of mankind lie buried."—Humboldt's <i>Cosmos</i>, vol. +i., p. 180; Klaproth, <i>Lettre à M.A. de Humboldt, sur l'Invention de la +Boussole</i>, p. 125. 1834.</p> + +<p>"The application of the magnetic needle's direction toward the north and +south, that is, the use of the mariner's compass in Europe, is probably +due to the Arabs, who have to thank the Chinese for their knowledge of +it. The Arabic words 'Zohron' and 'Aphron,' meaning north and south, +like the numerous Arabic names of the stars in use at the present day, +testify the route through which the West became acquainted with it. In +European Christendom, the use of the magnetic needle is spoken of as +something well known, first in a political and satirical poem, entitled +'La Bible,' written by Guyot of Provence in 1190, and in the description +of Palestine, by Jacob of Vitry, bishop of Ptolemais, between the years +1204 and 1215. Also Dante (<i>Paradiso</i>, xii., 29) mentions in a simile +the needle (ajo) 'which points southward.' The discovery of the +mariner's compass was for a long time attributed to Flavius Gioja: he +probably made some improvements in the apparatus for managing it in +1302. A much earlier employment of the compass in the European seas is +seen in a naval work by Raymundus Lullus of Majorca, a wonderfully +talented and scientific man. In his book, entitled 'Fenix de las +Maravillas del Orbe,' published in 1286, Lullus says that the mariners +of his times made use of the magnetic needle. Navarrete, in his +'Discurso Historico sobre los Progressos del Arte de Navegar en Espana,' +p. 28, 1802, records a remarkable passage in the Leyes de las Partidas +of the middle of the thirteenth century: 'The needle which guides the +mariner in the dark night, and shows him in good and bad weather the +direction which he must take, is the mediatrix (medianera) between the +magnetic stone (la piedra) and the north star."—Humboldt's <i>Cosmos</i>, +vol. ii., p. 291, 462.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_215_215" id="Footnote_215_215"></a><a href="#FNanchor_215_215"><span class="label">[215]</span></a> Plin., lib. xxxvii., p. 3; Plato, in <i>Timao</i>, p. 80; +Martin, <i>Études sur le Timée</i>, tom. II., p. 343-346; Strabo, lib. xv., +p. 703, Casaub.; Clemens Alex., <i>Strom.</i>, li., p. 370. When Thales, in +Aristot., <i>De Animá</i>, lib. i., p. 2, and Hippias, in <i>Diag. Laertio</i>, +lib. i., p. 24, attribute a soul to the magnet and to amber, this +animation only refers to a moving principle.</p></div> +</div> + +<p class='center'>No. VIII.</p> + +<p>"In the fifteenth century almost all the mercantile nations sought for +slaves at the Canary Islands, as we seek them at present on the Coast of +Guinea. Every individual made prisoner before he received the rite of +baptism was a slave. At this period no attempt had yet been made to +prove that the blacks were an intermediary race between men and animals. +The swarthy Guanche and the African negro were sold simultaneously in +the market of Seville, without a question whether slavery ought to weigh +only on men with a black skin and frizzled hair. The archipelago of the +Canaries was divided into several small states hostile to each other. +The trading nations kept up intestine warfare; one Guanche then became +the property of another, who sold him to the Europeans; several, who +preferred death to slavery, killed themselves and their children. What +remained of the Guanches perished mostly in 1494, in the terrible +pestilence called the <i>modorra</i>, which was attributed to the quantity of +dead bodies left exposed to the air by the Spaniards after the battle of +La Laguna. The nation of the Guanches was therefore extinct at the +beginning of the seventeenth century. It is very certain that no native +of pure race exists in the whole island; and some travelers, who may +otherwise be relied upon, are mistaken when they assert that their +guides to the Peak were some of those slender and nimble-footed +Guanches. (It is asserted that they could seize the rabbit or wild goat +in its course.) It is true that a few Canarian families boast of their +relationship to the last shepherd king of Guimar; but these pretensions +do not rest on very solid foundations, and are renewed from time to +time, when some Canarian of a more dusky hue than his countrymen is +prompted to solicit a commission in the service of the King of Spain.</p> + +<p>"The Guanches, famed for their tall stature, were the Patagonians of the +Old World. I never saw Guanche mummies but in the cabinets of Europe. A +considerable number, however, might be found, if miners were employed to +open the sepulchral caverns which are cut in the rock on the eastern +slope of the Peak. These mummies are in a state of desiccation so +singular, that whole bodies with their integuments, frequently do not +weigh above six or seven pounds, or a third less than the skeleton of an +individual of the same size recently stripped of the muscular flesh. The +conformation of the skull has some slight resemblance to that of the +white race of the ancient Egyptians.... The only monument that can throw +some light on the origin of the Guanches is their language; but, +unhappily, there are not above 150 words remaining. It has long been +imagined that the language of the Guanches had no analogy with the +living tongues; but since the travels of Hornemann, and the ingenious +researches of Marsden and Venturi, have drawn the attention of the +learned to the Berbers, who, like the Sarmatic tribes, occupy an immense +extent of country in the north of Africa, we find that several Guanche +words have common roots with words of the Chilha and Gebali dialects. +This is at least an indication of the ancient connection between the +Guanches and Berbers, a tribe of mountaineers, in which the Numidians, +the Getuli, and the Garamanti are confounded, and who extend themselves +from the eastern extremity of Atlas by Harutsch and Fezzan, as far as +the Oasis of Siwah and Angela. The description which Scylax gives in his +'Periplus' of the inhabitants of Cerne, a shepherd people of a tall +stature and long hair, reminds us of the features which characterize the +Canary Guanches.... The people who succeeded the Guanches descended from +the Spaniards, and in a less degree from the Normans. Though these two +races have been exposed during three centuries past to the same climate, +the latter is distinguished by a whiter skin. The descendants of the +Normans inhabit the Valley of the Teganana. The names of Grandville and +Dampierre are still pretty common in this district. The whole +archipelago does not contain 160,000 inhabitants, and the Islennos are +perhaps more numerous in the Spanish settlements of America than in +their own country."—Humboldt's <i>Personal Narrative</i>, vol. i., p. 280.</p> + + +<p class='center'>No. IX.</p> + +<p>"Pomponius Mela, qui vivoit à une époque assez rapprochée du temps de +Cornelius Nepos, raconte, et Pline répète que Metellus Celer, tandis +qu'il étoit proconsul dans les Gaules, avoit reçu en cadeau, d'un roi +des Boii (Pline le nomme roi des Suèves) quelques Indiens qui, chassés +des mers de l'Inde par des tempêtes, avoient abordé sur les côtes de la +Germanie...... Il ne peut rester aucun doute que Pomponius Mela n'ait +cru que les Indiens étoient arrivés sur les côtes nord-est de +l'Allemagne par la circumnavigation de l'Asie orientale et boréale. Il +dit, 'Vi tempestatum ex Indieis æquoribus abrepti.'..... Comme il est +reconnu que malgré le grand perfectionnement de la navigation moderne, +l'accumulation des glaces s'oppose à toute navigation par le détroit de +Behring le long des îles de la Nouvelle Zemble on a soulevé la question +de savoir de quelle race peuvent avoir été les hommes de couleur que le +proconsul Metellus Celer a pris pour des Indiens. Gomara dit que, 'Les +Indiens de Quintus Metellus Celer etoient peut-être de la Terre du +Laboureur, et l'on se trompe (sur leur vraie origine) à cause de leur +couleur.'...... Il paraissoit peu probable que des Eskimaux fussent +venus aux côtes d'Allemagne; et tandis que Vossius, le savant +commentateur de Mela, ne voyait dans les Indiens de Cornelius Nepos que +des Bretons, dont le corps étoit fardé de pastel, d'autres commentateurs +adoptant l'explication de Gomara et de Wytfleet, substituoient au +Suevorum Rex, un prince Scandinave qui avoit recueillé des naufragés sur +les côtes de Norwège. L'analogie du fait non contesté de l'arrivée +d'Eskimaux aux îles Orcades, semble jeter une vive lumière sur le fait +que nous examinons ici; et quand on considère les nombreux exemples +d'individus tombés entre les mains des barbares et traînés comme captifs +de nation à nation loin du lieu du naufrage, on trouve moins surprenant +que des étrangers aient été conduits dans les Gaules, en passant des +îles Britanniques en Batavie et on Germanie: mais ce qui est bien +étrange, c'est que dans des évènemens semblables et également +énigmatiques, du moyen-âge, il ne soit toujours questions que de côtes +Germaniques. Ces évènemens sont rapportés aux règnes des Othons et de +Frédéric Barberousse; ils sont, par conséquent, du dixième et du +douzième siècle. 'Nos apud Othonem legimus,' dit le pape Æneas Sylvius, +'sub imperatoribus teutonicis indicam navem et negotiatores Indos in +<i>Germanico littore</i> fuisse deprehensos.' Et dans Gomara, on lit, 'On +assure aussi que, du temps de l'empereur Frédéric Barberousse on amena à +Lubec certains Indiens dans un canot.' Sir Humphrey Gilbert après avoir +discutí prolixement en trois chapitres le passage de Cornelius Nepos, +ajoute 'L'an 1160, quelques Indiens arrivèrent, sous le règne de +Frédéric Barberousse, <i>upon the coast of Germanie</i>.' J'ai perdu beaucoup +de temps dans de vaines recherches sur la première source de ces faits +curieux. D'où Gomara, historien généralement très exact, a-t-il su que, +'Les Indiens ont été amenés à Lubec?' Comment les continuateurs des +Annales d'Othon de Freising, et le Franciscain Ditmar, auteur de +l'excellente Chronique de Lubec, n'ont ils rien sur de ces prétendus +Indiens?... à la maison où se réunit la corporation des marins de Lubec +on conserve un canot groenlandois dans lequel se trouve une figure +d'Eskimau en bois. Le canot a été reparé plusieurs fois; la première +inscription ne porte que l'année 1607; mais d'après une tradition très +vague, un navire de Lubec doit avoir capturé ce pêcheur Eskimau, il y a +trois cent ans, dans les mers de l'ouest. On agrandit la pensée, en +renaissant, sous un pointe de vue général, les preuves de ces +communications lointaines, favorisées par le hazard; on voit comment les +mouvemens de l'océan et de l'atmosphère ont pu, dès les époques les plus +reculées, contribuer à répandre les différentes races d'hommes sur la +surface du globe; on comprend avec Colomb (sida del Almirante, cap. +viii.) comme un continent a pu ses révéler a l'autre."—Humboldt's +<i>Examen Critique du Géographie du Nouveau Continent</i>, vol. ii., p. 278.</p> + + +<p class='center'>No. X.</p> + +<p>Herodotus relates that a Phœnician fleet, fitted out by Necho, king +of Egypt, took its departure about six hundred and four years before the +Christian era, from a port in the Red Sea, doubled the southern +promontory of Africa, and, after a voyage of three years, returned by +the Straits of Gades to the mouth of the Nile. Eudoxus of Cyzicus is +said to have held the same course, and to have accomplished the same +arduous undertaking.—Herod., lib. iv., cap. xlii.; Plin., <i>Nat. Hist.</i>, +lib. ii., cap. lxvii.</p> + +<p>These voyages, if performed in the manner narrated, may justly be +reckoned the greatest efforts of navigation in the ancient world; and if +we attend to the imperfect state of the art at that time, it is +difficult to determine whether we should most admire the courage and +sagacity with which the design was formed, or the conduct and good +fortune with which it was executed. But, unfortunately, all the original +and authentic accounts of the Phœnician and Carthaginian voyages, +whether undertaken by public authority or in prosecution of their +private, have perished. Whatever acquaintance with the remote regions of +the earth the Carthaginians or Phœnicians may have acquired, was +concealed from the rest of mankind with a mercantile jealousy. Every +thing relating to the course of their navigation was not only a mystery +of trade, but a secret of state. Extraordinary facts are recorded +concerning their solicitude to prevent other nations from penetrating +into what they wished should remain undivulged (<i>Strab., Geogr.</i>, lib. +iii., p. 265; lib. xviii., p. 1154). Many of their discoveries seem +accordingly to have been scarcely known beyond the precincts of their +own states. The navigation round Africa, in particular, is recorded by +the Greek and Roman writers rather as a strange, amusing tale, which +they either did not comprehend or did not believe, than as a real +transaction which enlarged their knowledge and influenced their +opinion. As neither the progress of the Phœnician and Carthaginian +discoveries, nor the extent of their navigation, were communicated to +the rest of mankind, all memorials of their extraordinary skill in naval +affairs seem, in a great measure, to have perished when the maritime +power of the former was annihilated by Alexander's conquest of Tyre, and +the empire of the latter was overturned by the Roman arms. The Periplus +Hannonis is the only authentic monument of the Carthaginian skill in +naval affairs, and one of the most curious fragments transmitted to us +by antiquity. Montesquieu and De Bougainville have established its +authenticity by arguments that appear to me unanswerable. Hanno sailed +from Gades to the island of Cerne in twelve days. This is probably what +is known to the moderns by the name of the island of Arguim. His +furthest advance was to a promontory, which he named the South Horn, +manifestly Cape de Tres Puntas, about five degrees north of the +line.—Robertson's <i>America</i>, vol. i., p. 9-250.</p> + + +<p class='center'>No. XI.</p> + +<p>The importance of this discovery, and of the European settlements +consequent upon it, is chiefly interesting with regard to the +intellectual and moral effects produced by the sudden increase in the +stock of ideas upon the improvement and the social condition of mankind. +Since that grand era, a new and active state of the intellect and +feelings, bold wishes and hopes scarcely to be restrained, have +gradually penetrated into the whole of civil society; the scanty +population of a hemisphere, especially the coasts opposite Europe, +favored the settlement of colonies, which, in rendering themselves +extensive and independent in position, have overturned unlimited states +by their choice of a free form of government; and, lastly, the +Reformation, a forerunner of vast political revolutions, had to pass +through different phases of its development in one country which had +become the place of refuge for all religious opinions, and for the most +varied ideas of divinity. The boldness of the Genoese mariner is the +first link in the immeasurable chain of these pregnant events.... We +might be induced to suppose that the value of these great discoveries, +and of the double victory in the physical and intellectual world, was +first acknowledged in our times, since the history of the civilization +of the human race has been treated in a philosophical way. Such a +supposition is refuted by Columbus's cotemporaries. The most talented of +them anticipated the influence which the events of the latter years of +the fifteenth century would exercise upon mankind. "Each day," says +Peter Martyr, in his letters of the years 1493 and 1494, "bring us new +wonders from a new world, from the Western antipodes, which a certain +Genoese traveler has discovered.... Our friend Pomponius Lætus could +scarcely restrain his tears of joy when I communicated to him the first +accounts of so unexpected an event.... What aliment more delicious than +such tidings can be set before an ingenious mind.... It is like an +accession of wealth to a miser. Our minds, soiled with vices, become +meliorated by contemplating such glorious events."</p> + +<p>"Sebastian Cabot mentioned that he was in London when news was brought +there of the discovery, and that it caused great talk and admiration in +the court of Henry VII., being affirmed to be a thing more divine than +human."—Hakluyt, p. 7.</p> + +<p>"The mind of men became sharpened in order to comprehend the boundless +store of new phenomena, to work them out, and by comparison to employ +them for the attainment of general and higher views of the creation. If +we carefully examine the original works of the earliest historians of +the <i>Conquista</i>, we are astonished at finding, in a Spanish author of +the sixteenth century, the germs of so many important physical truths. +Upon the occasion of the discovery of a continent, which appeared to be +separated from all the other regions of the creation, in the distant +solitude of the ocean, a great number of the same questions with which +we are employed at the present day occurred to the excited curiosity of +the travelers, and to those who were collected together by their +narratives; these questions were, Of the unity of the human race, and +the derivation of its varieties from a common original form; of the +migration of nations, and the affinities of language; of the possibility +of varieties in the species of plants and animals; of the causes of the +trade winds, and of the constant currents in the ocean; of the regular +decrease of temperature at the declivities of the Cordilleras, and in +the various strata of water at different depths of the ocean; and of the +respective effects of chains of volcanic mountains, and their influence +upon the frequency of earthquakes, and the extension of the range of the +volcanic forces. The foundation of what is at the present day called +physical geography is, exclusive of mathematical considerations, found +in the works of the Jesuit, Joseph Acosta, and in the work of Oviedo, +which appeared scarcely twenty years after the death of Columbus. In no +other period of time since the existence of man in a social condition +has the range of ideas in respect to the external world, and the +relations of different places, been so suddenly and so wonderfully +extended, or the necessity of observing natural phenomena in different +latitudes and at different elevations above the level of the sea, or of +multiplying the means of examining them, so deeply felt."—Humboldt's +<i>Cosmos</i>, vol. ii., p. 295-337.</p> + + +<p class='center'>No. XII.</p> + +<p>More than ten places have disputed the glory of having given birth to +Columbus: Genoa, Cogoleto (Cucchereto, Cugureo, Cogoreo, Cucurco +d'Herrera, et Cugurco de Puffendorf), Bugiasco, Finale, Quinto et Nervi, +dans la Riviera di Genova, Savone, Palestrella, et Arbizoli, Cosseria, +la vallée d'Oneglia, Castello di Cuccaro, la ville de Plaisance, et +Pradello. "Le nombre de ces lieux s'est accru progressivement avec +l'illustration du héros, car ses contemporains, Pierre Martyr, le cura +de los Palacios, Geraldine, Pietro Coppo da Isola, l'évêque Giustiniani, +le chancelier Antonio Gallo et Senerega l'ont unanimement appellé +Génois.... Un voyageur moderne, dit en parlant de Cogoleto: Ce lieu n'a +pas renoncé à l'honneur d'avoir vu naître Colomb, malgré la multitude de +recherches et de dissertations d'aprês lesquelles le grand homme paroît +tout simplement Génois. On prétend même á Cogoleto indiquer sa maison, +espèce de cabanne, sur le bord de la mer, que je trouvai assex +convenablement occupée par un gardecôte, et sur laquelle on lit, à la +suite d'autres inscriptions pitoyables, ce beau vers <i>improvisé</i> par M. +Gagliuffi.</p> + +<p style="margin-left: 20em;"> +"Unus erat Mundus; Duo sint, nit iste: fuere."<br /> +</p> + +<p> +<i>Voyages Hist. et Littér. en Italie de M. Valery</i>, tom. v., p. 73.<br /> +</p> + + +<p class='center'>No. XIII.</p> + +<p>"Christophe Colomb, Cortez et Raleigh ont eprouvé que le genie ne régne +que sur l'avenir et que son pouvoir est tardive. Ils ont pendant +quelques tems, excité au plus haut degré l'admiration de leurs +contemporains; mais la bienveillance publique a abandonné leur +viellesse, on ne s'est souvenu d'eux que pour les affliger dans leur +isolement.<a name="FNanchor_216_216" id="FNanchor_216_216"></a><a href="#Footnote_216_216" class="fnanchor">[216]</a> Le siècle qui les a vus naître n'a pas compris ce que +leur action successive a produit et préparê de changements dans l'état +des peuples de l'occident. L'influence que ces peuples exercent sur tous +les points du globe ou leur présence se fait sentir simultanément, la +prépondérance universelle qui en est la suite, ne datent que de la +découverte de l'Amérique et du voyage de Gama. Les évènemens qui +appartiennent à un petit group de six années (1492-1498) ont determiné +pour ainsi dire le partage du pouvoir sur la terre. Dés-lors le pouvoir +de l'intelligence, geographiquement limité, restreint dans des bornes +étroites a pu prendre un libre essor; il a trouvé un moyen rapide +d'étendre, d'entretenir, de perpétuer son action. Les migrations des +peuples, les expéditions guerrières dans l'intérieur d'un continent, les +communications par caravanes sur des routes invariablement suivies +depuis des siècles, n'ont produit que des effets partiels et +généralement moins durables. Les expéditions les plus lontaines ont été +dévastatrice, et l'impulsion a été donnée par ceux qui n'avoient rien à +ajouter aux trésors de l'intelligence déjà accumulés. Au contraire, les +évènemens de la fin du quinzième siècle, qui ne sont séparés que par un +intervalle de six ans, ont été longuement préparés dans le moyen-âge, +qui à son tour avoit été fécondé par les idées des siècles antérieures, +excité par les dogmes et les rêveries de la géographie systématique des +Hellènes. C'est seulement depuis l'époque que nous venons de signaler +que l'unité homérique de l'océan s'est fait sentir tous son heureuse +influence sur la civilisation du genre humain. L'élément mobile qui +baigne toutes les côtes en est devenu le lien moral et politique, et les +peuples de l'occident, dont l'intelligence active a créé ce lien et qui +ont compris son importance, se sont élevés à une universalité d'action +qui détermine la prépondérance du pouvoir sur le globe."—Humboldt's +<i>Géographie du Nouveau Continent</i>, vol. iv., p. 23.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_216_216" id="Footnote_216_216"></a><a href="#FNanchor_216_216"><span class="label">[216]</span></a> <i>Ces Nouvelles Indes</i> que Colomb nomma sa propriété (cosa +que era suya) etoient inabordables pour celui qui les avoient refusées à +la France, à l'Angleterre et au Portugal. Les lettres que l'amiral +adresse à sa famille et ses amis depuis l'année 1502, ne respirent que +la douleur. +</p><p> +The following is an extract from one of Columbus's mournful appeals to +Ferdinand and Isabella: +</p><p> +"Such is my fate, that the twenty years of service through which I have +passed with so much toil and danger have profited me nothing, and at +this very day I do not possess a roof in Spain that I can call my own: +if I wish to eat or sleep, I have nowhere to go but to the inn or +tavern, and most times lack wherewith to pay the bill.... I was +twenty-eight years old when I came into your highnesses' service, and +now I have not a hair upon me that is not gray; my body is infirm, and +all that was left to me, as well as to my brothers, has been taken away +and sold, even to the frock that I wore, to my great dishonor.... The +honest devotedness I have always shown to your majesties' service, and +the so unmerited outrage with which it has been repaid, will not allow +my soul to keep silence, however much I may wish it. I implore your +highnesses to forgive my complaints. I am, indeed, in as ruined a +condition as I have related. Hitherto I have wept over others: may +Heaven now have mercy upon me, and may the earth weep for me. Weep for +me, whoever has charity, truth, and justice!"—<i>Select Letters of +Columbus</i>, published by the Hakluyt Society.</p></div></div> + + +<p class='center'>No. XIV.</p> + +<p>"Per necessità d'acque mandammo il battello a terra con venticinque +huomini: dove per le grandissime e frequente onde che gettava il mare al +lito per esser la spiaggia aperta, non fu possibile che alcuno potesse +smontare in terra senza pericolo di perder il battello: vedemmo quivi +molte genti che venivano al lito, facendo varij segni d'amicizia e +dimostrando contentezza che andassimo a terra, e per pruova li +conoscemmo molto umani e cortesi come per il successo caso V.M. +intenderà. Per mandarli delle cose nostre, e da Indiani communimente +molto desiderate, e apprezzate come sono fogli di charta, specchi, +sonagli e altri simile cose, mandammo a terra un giovane de nostri +marinari, quale ponendosi a nuoto, nell' approssimarsi (ritrovandosi in +acqua da tre, o quattro braccia di terra lontano) di lor non +confidandosi gliele getto nel lito, poi nel voler ritornar a dietro, +dall onde con tanta furèa fu traportato alla riva, che vi si trovò di +modo straccho, e sbattuto, che vi resto quasi morto. Il che veduto da +gli Indiani corsero a pigliarlo, e tiratolo fuora lo portarono alquanto +dal mare lontano. Risentito il giovane e vedendosi da lor portato, alla +disgrazia prima vi s'aggiunse il spavento, per il quale metteva +grandissimi gridi, e il simile facevano gl' Indiani che +l'accompagnavano, nel volerlo assicurare e li davano cuore di non +temere: di poi avendolo posto in terra al piè d'un picciolo colle in +faccia del sole, con atti d'admirazione lo riguardavano, maravigliandosi +della bianchezza della sua carne, e ignudo spogliatolo lo fecero ad un +grandissimo fuoco restaurare, non senza timore di noi altri, che eramo +nel battello restati, che a quel fuoco arrostendolo, lo volessero +divorare. Riavute le forze il giovane, e con loro avendo alquanto +dimorato, con segni li dimostrò voler alla nave far ritorno: da quali +con grandissimo amore, tenendolo sempre stretto, con varij +abbracciamenti, fu accompagnato sino al mare, e per più assicurarlo, +allargandosi andarono sopra un colle eminente, e quivi fermatislo +stellero a riguardare sino che nel battello fu entrato."—<i>Verazzano in +Ramusio</i>, tom, iii., p. 420.</p> + + +<p class='center'>No. XV.</p> + +<p>"Commission de François I. à Jacques Quartier, pour l'établissement du +Canada, du 17<sup>e</sup> Octobre, 1540.<a name="FNanchor_217_217" id="FNanchor_217_217"></a><a href="#Footnote_217_217" class="fnanchor">[217]</a></p> + +<p>"François, par la grace de Dieu, Roi de France: à tous ceux que ces +présentes lettres verront, salut. Comme pour le désir d'entendre et +avoir connoissance de plusieurs pays qu'on dit inhabités, et autres être +possédés par gens sauvages, vivant sans connoissance de Dieu et sans +usage de raison, eussions dès pie-ça, à grands frais et mises envoyé +découvrir les dits pays par plusieurs bons pilotes, et autres nos sujets +de bons entendement, savoir et expérience, qui d'iceux pays nous avoient +amené divers hommes que nous avons par long-tems tenus en notre royaume, +les faisant instruire en l'amour et crainte de Dieu et de sa sainte loix +et doctrine Chrétienne en intention de les faire ramener ès dits pays en +compagnie de bon nombre de nos sujets de bonne volonté, afin de plus +facilement induire les autres peuples d'iceux pays à croire en notre +sainte foi; et entr'autres y eussions envoyé notre cher et bien aimé +Jacques Quartier, lequel auroit découvert grands pays des terres de +Canada et Hochelaga faissant un bout de l'Asie du côte de l'Occident; +lesquels pays il trouvé (comme il nous a rapporté), garnis de plusieurs +bonnes commodités, et les peuples d'iceux bien fournis de corps et de +membres; et bien disposé d'esprit et d'entendement; desquels il nous a +semblablement amené aucun nombre, que nous avons par long-tems fait voir +et instruire en notre dite sainte foi avec nos dits sujets: en +considération de quoi, et de leur bonne inclination, nous avons avisé et +delibéré de renvoyer le dit Quartier ès dits pays de Canada et +Hochelaga, et jusques en la terre de Saguenai (s'il peut y aborder) avec +bonne nombre de navires, et de toutes qualités, arts et industrie pour +plus avant entrer ès dits pays, converser avec les peuples d'iceux, et +avec eux habiter (si besoin est) afin de mieux parvenir à notre dite +intention et à faire chose agréable à Dieu nôtre Créateur et Rédempteur, +et que soit à l'augmentation de son saint et sacré nom, et de Nôtre Mère +Sainte Église Catholique, de laquelle nous sommes dits et nommés premier +fils; par quoi soit besoin pour meilleur ordre et expédition de la dite +entreprise, députer et établir un Capitaine Général et Maître pilote des +dits navires, qui ait regard à la conduite d'iceux, et sur les gens, +officiers et soldats y ordonnés et établis; savoir faisons, que nous à +plein confians de la personne du dit Jacques Quartier et de ses sens, +suffisance, loyauté, prud'hommie hardiesse, grande diligence et bonne +expérience, icelui pour ces causes et autres à ce nous, mouvans, avons +faits constitué et ordonné, faisons, constituons, ordonnons et +établissons par ces présentes, Capitaine Générale et Maître pilote de +tous les navires et autres vaisseaux de mer, par nous ordonnés être +menés pour la dite entreprise et expédition, pour le dit état et charge +de Capitaine Générale et Maître Pilote d'iceux navires et vaisseaux, +avoir tenir, et exercer par le dit Jacques Quartier aux honneurs, +prérogatives, pré-éminences, franchises, libertés, gages et bienfaits +tels que par nous lui seront pour ce ordonnés, tant qu'il nous plaira. +Et lui avons donné, et donnons puissance et autorité de mettre, établir, +et instituer aux dits navires tels lieutenants, patrons, pilotes et +autres ministres nécessaires pour le fait et conduite d'iceux, en tel +nombre qu'il verra et connoîtra être besoin et nécessaire pour le bien +de la dite expédition. Si donnons en mandement par ces dites présentes, +à nôtre Admiral au Vice Admiral que prins et reçue du dit Jacques +Quartier le serment pour ce on est accoutumé, icelui mettent et +instituent on fassent mettre et instituer de par nous en possession et +saisine du dit état de Capitaine Générale et Maître Pilote; et d'icelui, +ensemble des honneurs, prérogatives, pré-éminences, franchises, +libertés, gages et bienfaits, tels que par nous lui seront pour ce +ordonnés, le fassent, souffrent et laissent, jour et user pleinement et +paisiblement et à lui obéir et entendre de tous ceux, et ainsi qu'il +appartiendra ès choses touchant et concernant le dit état et charge: et +outre lui fasse, souffre et permette prendre le petit galion, appellé +l'Emérillon que de présent il a de nous, lequel est jà vieil et caduc, +pour servir à l'adoub de ceux des navires qui en auront besoin, et +lequel nous voulons être prins et appliqué par le dit Quartier pour +l'effet dessus dit, sans qu'il soit tenus en rendre aucun autre compte +et reliquat; et duquel compte et reliquat nous l'avons déchargé et +déchargeons par icelles présentes: par lesquels nous mandons aussi à nos +Prévôts de Paris; Bailliffs de Rouen, de Caen, d'Orleans, de Blois, et +de Tours; Sénéchaux du Maine, d'Anjou, et Guienne, et à tous nos autres +Bailliffs, Sénéchaux, Prévôts, Alloués, et autres nos Justiciers et +officiers, tant de notre royaume que de notre pays de Brétagne uni à +icelui pardevers lesquels sont aucuns prisonniers, accusés, ou prévenus +d'aucuns crimes quels qu'ils soient, fors de crimes de lèze-Majesté +divine et humaine envers nous, et de faux monnoyeurs qu'ils aient +incontinent à délivrer, rendre et bailler ès mains du dit Quartier, ou +ces commis ou députés partans ces présentés, on le duplicate d'icelles +pour notre service en la dite entreprise et expédition, ceux des dits +prisonniers qu'il connoîtra être propres, suffisans, et capables pour +servir en icelle expédition jusqu'au nombre de cinquante personnes, et +selon le choix que le dit Quartier en fera, iceux premièrement jugés et +condamnés selon leur démérites et la gravité de leurs méfaits, si jugés +et condamnés ne sont; et satisfaction aussi préalablement ordonnée aux +parties civiles et intéressés, si fait n'avoit été: Pour laquelle +toutefois nous ne voulons la déliverance de leur personne ès dites mains +du dit Quartier (s'il les trouve de service) être rétardée ne retenue; +mais se prendra la dite satisfaction sur leurs biens seulement: et +laquelle délivrance des dits prisonniers accusés ou prévenus, nous +voulons être faite ès dites mains du dit Quartier pour l'effet dessus +dits par nos dits justiciers et officiers respectivement, et par chacun +d'eux en leur regard, pouvoir et jurisdiction, nonobstant oppositions ou +appellations quelconque faites ou à faire, relevées, ou à relever, et +sans que par le moyen d'icelles, icelle délivrance en la manière dessus +dite, soit aucunement différée; et afin que le plus grand nombre n'en +soit tiré, outre les dits cinquante, nous voulons que la délivrance que +chacun de nos dits officiers en fera au dit Quartier soit écrite et +certifiée en la marge de ses présentes, et que neanmoins registre en +soit par eux fait et envoyée incontinent pardevers notre âme et fial +Chancellier, pour connoître le nombre et la qualité de ceux qui auront +été baillé et délivrés: Car tel est notre plaisir. En témoin de ce, nous +avons fait mettre notre scel à ces dites présentes. Donné à Saint Pris +le dix septième jour d'Octobre, l'an de grâce, mil cinq cent quarante, +et de notre règne le vingt-septième.</p> + +<p>"Ainsi signé sur le repli, par le Roi, vous Monseigneur le Chancellier +et autres persons.</p> + +<p style="margin-left: 30em;"> +"<span class="smcap">De la Chesnaie.</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>"Et scellé sur le repli à simple queue de cire jaune."</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_217_217" id="Footnote_217_217"></a><a href="#FNanchor_217_217"><span class="label">[217]</span></a> <i>Histoire de la Nouvelle France</i>, par L'Escarbot, p. 397; +et <i>Mémoires sur les l'ossessions en Amérique</i>, tom. iii., p. 280.</p></div> +</div> + +<p class='center'>No. XVI.</p> + +<p>The following account of the romantic expedition of De Gourgues is +extracted from the "Picture of Quebec:"</p> + +<p>"The French and Spaniards had been long at bitter enmity, and the wars +between them were carried on with all the exasperation of ancient +rivalry and mutual hatred. The encroachments of the former upon the +territories claimed by the Spaniards in Florida raised the liveliest +indignation in the minds of a people not less martial and chivalrous +than the French; and when we add that these encroachments had been +chiefly made by the Huguenots, a race held in sovereign detestation by +the Catholic Spaniard, and persecuted to a degree of intensity by Philip +II., the height of animosity to which they were excited can easily be +conceived. Nor were the French less susceptible of angry and vindictive +feelings, to which may be added the poignant stings of offended national +pride. They had never forgiven the captivity of their popular and +gallant prince, Francis I.; the memory of this supposed disgrace still +rankled in the population; nor was it even wholly eradicated until +adequate reparation was made to the national honor by the accession of a +French prince to the throne of Spain many years afterward. +Notwithstanding a short cessation of the warfare between these two +great powers, the passions we have attempted to describe remained in +full force.</p> + +<p>"Laudonnière passed the winter of 1564 in the fort which he had built +near the mouth of St. Mary's River, and which he called <i>La Caroline</i>. +In August, 1565, having experienced the mutinous disposition of part of +his force, superadded to the horrors of famine, he was preparing to +abandon the enterprise and to return to France, when he was joined by +Ribaut with seasonable supplies. On the 4th of September, they were +surprised by the appearance in the road of six large vessels, which +proved to be a Spanish fleet, under the command of Don Pedro Menendez. +Hostilities were immediately commenced; and the French, having an +inferior force of four vessels, were obliged to put to sea, chased by +the Spaniard. The former, however, being the better sailors, after +distancing their opponents, returned to the coast, and relanded their +troops about eight leagues from the fort of La Caroline. Three of the +Spanish vessels kept the open sea, while the others lay in the road +watching an opportunity to attack the French fort. Ribaut, who was a +brave but obstinate man, persisted in his resolution to put to sea +again, for the purpose of meeting and fighting with the Spanish vessels. +The season was extremely tempestuous, and Laudonnière, having first +vainly endeavored to dissuade his colleague from the rash attempt, +fortified himself, and made every preparation to resist the attack which +he anticipated. At length, notwithstanding the very heavy and +long-continued rains, the Spaniards were descried by the French +sentinels advancing to the assault on the 29th of September. The +ramparts, maintained with spirit by a small force, were soon surmounted +and carried—the gallant defenders slain in the breaches. Laudonnière, +fighting his way bravely, was the last to leave the fort, and succeeded +in escaping to the woods, where he rallied a few of his straggling +countrymen, and whence he ultimately returned to France. The remainder, +with the fort, fell into the hands of the Spaniards. Nor did the +disasters of the French end here. The vessels commanded by Ribaut were +driven on shore by the storms then prevalent—many of the people +lost—the survivors and their commander became prisoners to the +Spaniards. The French were cruelly, and with bitter taunts, put to +death. Several were hung from neighboring trees with this insulting +legend: '<i>Ceux-ci n'ont pas été traité de la sorte en qualité de +François, mais comme hérétiques et ennemis de Dieu.</i>'</p> + +<p>"Ample chastisement was, however, about to be inflicted. Champlain, who +writes of this transaction with the blunt and honest indignation of a +soldier, in his own familiar and quaint style, observes, 'Ceux-ci furent +payés de la même monnaye, qu'ils avoient payés les François' ('they were +repaid in the same coin with which they had paid the French').</p> + +<p>"So Shakspeare truly says,</p> + +<p style="margin-left: 20em;"> +<span style="margin-left: 12em;">'In these cases,</span><br /> +We still have judgment here: that we but track<br /> +Bloody instructions, which, being taught, return<br /> +To plague the inventor. This even-handed justice<br /> +Commends the ingredients of our poison'd chalice<br /> +To our own lips.'<br /> +</p> + +<p>"This outrage excited the deepest indignation in France, but the avowed +hatred of the court toward Coligny and the Huguenots prevented public +satisfaction being demanded from Philip II. The instrument of a just +retribution was not wanting to the emergency, but it was reserved for a +private individual to redeem the honor of the French name. 'En l'an +1567,' says Champlain, 'se presenta le brave Chevalier de Gourgues, qui +plein de valeur et de courage, pour venger cet affront fait à la nation +François, et recognoissant qu'aucun d'entre la noblesse, dont la France +foisonne, ne l'offroit pour tirer raison d'une telle injure, entreprint +de le faire.' ('In the year 1567, there presented himself the brave +Chevalier de Gourgues, who, full of valor and courage, to avenge the +insult on the French nation, and observing that none among the nobility, +with whom France abounded, offered to obtain satisfaction for such an +injury, undertook himself to do so.') He was a gentleman of Gascony, and +there were at that period few inferior officers in France, or perhaps in +all Europe, who had acquired a more brilliant reputation in war, or had +undergone greater vicissitudes. When very young he had served in Italy +with honor; and on one occasion, having the command of a small band of +thirty men, near Sienna in Tuscany, he was able for a considerable time +to withstand and repulse the assault of a part of the Spanish army, +until, all his men being slain, he yielded himself prisoner. Contrary to +the usage of war among generous foes, he was sent to the galleys in +chains as a robber-slave. The galley to which the indignant De Gourgues +was condemned was afterward captured by the Turks on the Sicilian coast, +and sent into Rhodes. Again putting to sea with a Turkish crew, it was +encountered and taken by the galleys of the Knights of Malta, and De +Gourgues recovered his liberty and his sword. He afterward made several +passages to Brazil and the coast of Africa, still treasuring up +vengeance on the Spaniards; and he had just returned to France from one +of his voyages, with the reputation of the bravest and most able among +her navigators, when he heard of the disastrous tale of La Caroline, and +the disgraceful manner in which his countrymen had been put to death by +the Spaniards. Like a patriot, he felt keenly for the honor of his +country; and as a man, he burned for an opportunity of satiating his +long-dormant revenge on the perfidious Spaniards for their unworthy +treatment of himself. At this time, too, there was circulated in France +a narrative, entitled the 'Supplication of the Widows and Children of +those who had been massacred in Florida,' calculated to rouse the +national feeling to the highest pitch. These united motives urged De +Gourgues to a chivalrous undertaking—no less than to chase the +murderous invaders from the coasts of Florida, at the sword's point, or +to die in the attempt. He accordingly proceeded to make his +preparations, which, however, were concealed with great skill and +address. He raised a considerable sum by selling his property, and by +loans obtained from his friends; and, disguising his real purpose, gave +out that he was bound, as before, to the African coast. The squadron +consisted of three vessels, with crews amounting to 250 souls, amply +provided for twelve months. Thus equipped, he sailed, on the 23d of +August, 1567, from Bordeaux, and after some time began to unfold his +real design, expatiating in glowing language on the glory of the attempt +and the righteousness of the quarrel.</p> + +<p>"<i>Speech of De Gourgues, from Champlain</i>: 'Mes compagnons et fidèles +amis de ma fortune, vous n'estes pas ignorans combien je cheris les +braves courages comme vous, et l'avez assez tesmoigné par la belle +resolution que vous avez prise de me suivre et assister en tous les +perils et hazards honorables que nous aurons à souffrir et essuyer, +lorsqu'ils se presenteront devant nos yeux, et l'estat que je fais de la +conservation de vos vies; ne desirant point vous embarquer au risque +d'un <i>enterprise</i> que je ne sçaurois réussir, à une ruine sans honneur: +ce seroit à moy une trop grand et blamable témérité, de hazarder vos +personnes à un dessein d'un accez si difficile; ce que je ne croy pas +estre, bien que j'aye employé une bonne partie de mon bien et de mes +amis, pour équipper ces vaisseaux et les mettre en mer, estant le seul +entrepreneur de tout le voyage. Mais tout cela ne me donne pas tant de +sujet de m'affliger, comme j'en ay de me resjouir, de vous voir tous +resolus à une autre entreprise, que retournera à votre gloire, sçavoir +d'aller venger l'injure que nostre nation a receüe des Espagnols, qui +ont fait une telle playe à la France, qu'elle saignera à jamais, par les +supplices et traictemens infames qu'ils ont fait souffrir à nos +François, et excercé des cruautez barbares et inouis en leur endroit. +Les ressentimens que j'en ay quelquefois, m'en font jetter des larmes de +compassion, et me relevent le courage de telle sort, que je suis resolu +avec l'assistance de Dieu, et la vostre, de prendre une juste vengeance +d'une telle felonnie et cruauté Espagnolle, de ces cœurs laches et +poltrons, qui ont surpris mal-heureusement nos compatriots, qu'ils +n'eussent osé regarder sur la défense de leurs armes. Ils sont assez mal +logez, et les surprendrons aisément. J'ay des hommes en mes vaisseaux +qui cognaissent tres-bien le pais, et pouvous y allez en seureté. Voicy, +chers compagnons, un <i>subject</i> de relever nos courages, faites paroietre +que vous avez autant de bonne volonté à éxécuter ce bon dessein, que +vous avez d'affection à me suivre: ne serez vous pas contents de +remporter les lauriers triomphans de la despouille de vos ennemis?'</p> + +<p>"'Companions, and faithful friends of my fortunes, you are not ignorant +how highly I value brave men like yourselves. Your courage you have +sufficiently proved by your noble resolution to accompany me in all the +dangers which we shall have to encounter, as they successively present +themselves: my regard for you I have shown by the care I have taken for +the safety of your lives. I desire not to embark you in any enterprise +which may result in dishonorable failure: it would be in me a far too +great and blamable temerity to hazard your safety in any design so +difficult of accomplishment, which, however, I do not consider this one +to be, seeing that I have employed in it a good part of my own fortune, +and that of my friends, in equipping these vessels, and putting to sea, +myself being the sole undertaker of the voyage. But all this does not +give me so much cause for regret, as I have reason to rejoice, seeing +you all resolved upon another enterprise, which will redound to your +glory, namely, to avenge the insult suffered by our nation from the +Spaniards, who have inflicted an incurable wound upon France by their +infamous treatment, and the barbarous and unheard-of cruelties they have +exercised upon our countrymen. The description of these wrongs has +caused me to shed tears of pity, and inspires me now with such +determination, that I am resolved, with the assistance of God and your +aid, to take a just revenge for this felonious outrage on the part of +the Spaniards—those base and cowardly men, who unhappily destroyed our +friends by surprise, whom, with arms in their hands, they dared not to +have looked in the face. The enemy is poorly lodged, and may be easily +surprised. I have on board persons who know the country well, and we can +reach it in safety. Here, my dear companions, here is a subject to rouse +our courage! Let me see that you have as good will to perform this noble +design, as you had affection to follow my person! Will you not rejoice +to bear away triumphant laurels, bought by the spoil and ruin of our +enemies?'</p> + +<p>"This enthusiastic speech produced its full effect. Each soldier shouted +assent to the generous proposal, and was ready to reply with Euryalus,</p> + +<p style="margin-left: 20em;"> +'Est hic, est animus lucis contemptor, et istum<br /> +Qui vita bene credat emi, quo tendes, honorem!'<br /> + +'Like thine, this bosom glows with martial flame,<br /> +Burns with a scorn of life, and love of fame;<br /> +And thinks, if endless glory can be sought<br /> +On such low terms, the prize is cheaply bought.'<br /> +</p> + +<p>"Having thus obtained the full co-operation of his gallant band, De +Gourgues steered for the coast of Florida, and passed some time in +reconnoitering the position of the Spaniards, and in acquiring from the +Indians full particulars of their strength and resources. These were, +indeed, sufficiently formidable, amounting to 400 fighting men, provided +with every munition of war. No way discouraged by this superiority of +numbers and of position, De Gourgues made a furious attack upon the two +forts, on the day before the Sunday called the Quasimodo, in April, +1658, intending to capture them by escalade. The Spaniards offered a +very gallant resistance; but the fury and impetuosity of the French, +stimulated by national antipathy, by the particular nature of the +revenge which they contemplated, and fired by the valor and personal +example of their heroic chief, soon surmounted all opposition. 'Nostre +genereux Chevalier De Gourgues,' says Champlain, exultingly, 'le +coutelas à la main, leur enflamme le courage, et comme un lion à la +teste des siens, gaigne le dessus du rampart, repousse les Espagnols, se +fait voye parmi eux.' 'Our brave Chevalier De Gourgues, sword in hand, +inflames their courage, and, like a lion at the head of his troop, +mounts the rampart, overthrows the Spaniards, and cuts his way through +them.' The fate of the Spaniards was sealed; many were killed in the +forts, the rest taken, or put to death by the Indians. De Gourgues, thus +crowned with victory, and having fully succeeded in an enterprise which +to him seemed so truly glorious, brought all the prisoners to the spot +where the French had been massacred, and where the inscription of +Menendez yet remained. Alter reproaching his fallen enemies with their +cruelty and perfidy, he caused them to be hung from the same trees, +affixing this writing in the place of the former: 'Je n'ay pas fait +pendre ceux-ci comme Espagnols, mais comme traitres, voleurs, et +meurtriers.' 'I hang these persons, not as being Spaniards, but as +traitors, robbers, and murderers.'</p> + +<p>"De Gourgues, on developing his real design and destination to Florida, +which he did in the first instance to his chosen friends, had +pathetically complained that ever since he had heard of the Spanish +outrage at La Caroline, he had been unable, however wearied with toil, +to obtain his usual rest by night; that his imagination was ever +occupied by the semblance of his countrymen hanging from the trees of +Florida; that his ears were startled with piercing cries for vengeance; +and that sleep, 'Nature's soft nurse,' would never visit him again—</p> + +<p style="margin-left: 20em;"> +'No more would weigh his eyelids down,<br /> +And steep his senses in forgetfulness'—<br /> +</p> + +<p>until he had won her offices by a full and exquisite revenge on the +Spaniards. The accomplishment of his cherished purpose must have been a +high and vivifying relief to an ardent spirit like De Gourgues. He now +declared with exulting delight, that sleep, that 'balm of hurt minds,' +had once more deigned to visit his couch, and that his rest was now +sweet, like that of a man delivered from a burden of misery too great to +bear!</p> + +<p>"Having accomplished this remarkable expedition, and inflicted, in a +spirit accordant with that of the times, a terrible retribution on the +Spaniards, De Gourgues sailed from the coast of Florida on the 3d of +May, and arrived in France on the 6th of June, where he was received by +the people with every token of joy and approbation. In consequence, +however, of the demand of the King of Spain for redress, he was +compelled to absent himself for some time, until the anger of the court +permitted him to reappear. The narrative of this expedition was long +preserved in the family of De Gourgues.</p> + +<p>"Champlain, in whose <i>Voyages</i> this romantic story is to be found, seems +to have been a passionate admirer of the conduct of De Gourgues, and +thus enthusiastically concludes his account of the expedition:</p> + +<p>"'Ainsi ce genereux chevalier repara l'honneur de la nation Françoise, +que les Espagnols avoient offensée; ce q'autrement eust été un regret à +jamais pour la France, s'il n'eust vengé l'affront receu de la nation +Espagnolle. Entreprise généreuse d'un gentilhomme qui l'executa à ses +propres cousts et despens, seulement pour l'honneur, sans autre +espérance: ce qui lui a réussi glorieusement, et ceste gloire est plus à +priser que tous les tresors du monde.' 'Thus did this brave knight +repair the honor of the French nation, insulted by the Spaniards, which +otherwise had been an everlasting subject of regret to France, if he had +not avenged the affront received from the Spanish people. A generous +enterprise, undertaken by a gentleman, and executed at his own cost, for +honor's sake alone, without any other expectation, and one which +resulted in obtaining for him a glory far more valuable than all the +treasures of the world.'"</p> + + +<p class='center'>No. XVII.</p> + +<p>"Un ancien missionnaire, le Père Paul le Jeune, a fait une description +de la manière de vie des missionnaires parmi les sauvages du Canada. Il +parle ici des Montagnais qu'il a suivi dans une chasse pendant l'hiver, +je vais transcrire sa relation presque mot pour mot:</p> + +<p>"'Ces sauvages habitent un pays extrêmement rude et inculte, mais il ne +l'est pas encore autant que celui, qu'ils choisissent pour leurs +chasses. Il faut marcher long-tems pour y arriver, et porter sur son dos +tout ce dont ou peut avoir besoin pendant cinq ou six mois, par des +chemins quelquefois si affreux, que l'on ne comprend pas comment les +Bêtes Fauves peuvent y passer; si on n'avoit pas la precaution de se +fournir d'écorces d'Arbres, ou ne trouveroit pas de quoi se mettre à +couvert de la pluye et de la neige pendant le chemin. Dès qu'on est +parvenu au terme on s'accommode un peu mieux, mais ce mieux ne consiste, +qu'en ce qu'on n'y est pas sans cesse exposé à toutes les injures de +l'air.</p> + +<p>"'Tout le monde y travaille, et les missionnaires, qui dans ces +commencemens n'avoient personne pour les servir, et pour qui les +sauvages n'avoient aucune considération, n'étoient pas plus épargnés que +les autres, on ne leur donnait pas même de cabanne séparée, et il +falloit qu'ils se logeassent dans la première, où l'on vouloit bien les +recevoir. Ces cabannes, parmi la plûpart des Nations Algonquines, sont à +peu près de la figure de nos Glacières, rondes, et terminées en cone; +elles n'ont point d'autres soûtiens, que de perches plantés dans la +neige, attachées ensemble par les extrémités, et couvertes d'écorces +assez mal jointes, et mal attachées aussi le vent y entre-t-il de toutes +parts.</p> + +<p>"'Leur fabrique est l'ouvrage d'une demie heure au plus, des branches de +Sapin y tiennent lieu de nattes, et on n'y a point d'autres lits. Ce +qu'il y a de commode, c'est qu'on peut les changer tous les jours; les +neiges ramassées tout autour forment une espece de parapet, qui a son +utilité, les vents n'y pénétrent point. C'est le long et à l'abri de ce +parapet qu'on dort aussi tranquillement sur ces branchages, couverts +d'une mechante peau que dans le meilleur lit; il en coûte à la verité au +missionnaires pour s'y accoétumer, mais la fatigue et la necessité les y +reduisent bientôt. Il n'en est pas tout-à-fait de même de la fumée, que +presque toujours remplit tellement le haut de la cabanne, qu'on ne peut +y être de bout, sans avoir la tête dans une espèce de tourbillon. Cela +ne fait aucune peine aux sauvages, habitués dès l'enfance à être assis +à terre, ou couchés tout le tems, qu'ils sont dans leurs cabannes, mais +c'est un grand supplice pour les François, à qui cette inaction ne +convient pas.</p> + +<p>"'D'ailleurs le vent, qui entre comme je l'ai remarqué, par tous les +côtés, y souffle un froid, qui transit d'une part, tandis qu'on étouffe, +et qu'on est grillé de l'autre. Souvent on ne se voit point à deux ou +trois pieds, on perd les yeux à force de pleurer, et il y a des tems, +où, pour respirer un peu, il faut se tenir couché sur le ventre, et +avoir la bouche presque collée contre la terre; le plus court seroit de +sortir dehors, mais la plûpart du tems on ne le peut pas; tantôt à cause +d'une neige si épaisse, qu'elle obscurcit le jour, et tantôt par ce +qu'il souffle un vent sec, qui coupe le visage, et fait éclater les +arbres dans les fôrets. Cependant un missionnaire est obligé de dire son +office, de célébrer la messe, et de s'acquitter de toutes les autres +fonctions de son ministere.</p> + +<p>"'A toutes ces incommodités il en faut ajouter une autre, qui d'abord +vous paroitra peu de chose, mais qui est réellement tres-considérable; +c'est la persécution des chiens. Les sauvages en ont toujours un fort +grand nombre, qui les suivent par tout, et leur sont très-attachés; peu +caressans, par ce qu'on ne les caresse jamais, mais hardis et habiles +chasseurs: j'ai déjà dit qu'on les dresse de bonne heure pour les +différentes chasses, ausquelles on veut les appliquer; j'ajôute qu'il +faut en avoir beaucoup pour chacune, parce-qu'il en périt un grand +nombre par les dents et par les cornes des Bêtes fauves, qu'ils +attaquent avec un courage, que rien ne rebute. Le soin de les nourrir +occupe très-peu leurs maîtres, ils vivent de ce qu'ils peuvent attraper, +et cela ne va pas bien loin, aussi sont ils toujours fort maigres; +d'ailleurs ils ont peu de poil, ce qui les rend fort sensibles au +froid.'</p> + +<p>"Pour s'en garantir, s'ils ne peuvent approcher du feu, où il est +difficile qu'ils puissent tenir tous, quand même il n'y auroit personne +dans la cabanne, ils vont se coucher sur les premiers, qu'ils +rencontrent, et souvent on se réveille la nuit en sursaut, presque +étouffé par deux ou trois chiens. S'ils étoient un peu plus discrets, et +se plaçoient mieux, leur compagnie ne seroit pas trop fâcheuse, on s'en +accommoderoit même assez, mais ils se placent où ils peuvent; on a beau +les chasser, ils reviennent d'abord. C'est bien pis encore le jour; dès +qu'il parôit quelque chose à manger, il faut voir les mouvemens qu'ils +se donnent pour en avoir leur part. Un pauvre missionnaire est à demi +couché auprès du feu pour dire son bréviaire, ou pour lire un livre, en +luttant de son mieux contre la fumée, et il faut qu'il essuye encore +l'importunité d'une douzaine de chiens, qui ne font que passer et +repasser sur lui, en courant après un morceau de viande, qu'ils ont +apperçu. S'il a besoin d'un peu de repos, à peine trouvera-t'il un petit +recoin, où il soit à l'abri de cette véxation. Si on lui apporte à +manger, les chiens ont plutôt mis le museau dans son plat, qu'il n'y a +porté la main; et souvent tandis qu'il est occupé à défendre sa portion +contre ceux, qui l'attaquent de front, il en vieut un par derriere, qui +lui enlève la moitié, ou qui en le heurtant, lui fait tomber le plat des +mains, et répandre sa sagamité dans les cendres.</p> + +<p>"Assez souvent les maux, dont je viens de parler, sont effacés par un +plus grand, et au prix duquel tous les autres ne sont rien; c'est la +faim. Les provisions, qu'on a apportées, ne durent pas lontems, on a +compté sur la chasse, et elle ne donne pas toujours. Il est vrai que les +sauvages sçavent endurer la faim avec autant de patience, qu'ils +apportent peu de précautions pour s'en garantir; mais ils se trouvent +quelquefois réduits à une si grande extrémité, qu'ils y succombent. Le +missionnaire, de qui j'ai tiré ce détail, fut obligé dans son premier +hyvernement, de manger les peaux d'aguilles et d'élans, dont il avoit +rapetassé sa soutanne; après quoi il lui fallut se nourrir des jeunes +branches, et des plus tendres écorces des arbres. Il soutint néanmoins +cette épreuve, sans que sa santé en fût alterée, mais tous n'en ont pas +eu la force.</p> + +<p>"La seule malpropreté des cabannes, et l'infection, qui en est une suite +nécessaire, sont pour tout autre qu'un sauvage, un vrai supplice; il est +aisé de juger jusqu'où l'une et l'autre doivent aller parmi des gens, +qui ne changent de hardes, que quand les leurs tombent par lambeaux, et +qui n'ont nul soin de les nettoyer. L'été ils se baignent tous les +jours, mais ils se frottent aussitôt d'huile ou de graisse d'une odeur +forte. L'hyver ils demeurent dans leur crasse, et dans tous les tems on +ne peut entrer dans leurs cabannes, qu'on ne soit empesté.</p> + +<p>"Non seulement tout ce qu'ils mangent est sans apprêt, et ordinairement +fort insipide, mais il regne dans leurs repas une malpropreté, qui passe +tout ce qu'on en peut dire: ce que j'en ai vû, et ce qu'on m'en raconte +vous feroit horreur. Il y a bien peu d'animaux, qui ne mangent plus +proprement.</p> + +<p>"Comme les villages sont toujours situés, ou auprès des bois, ou sur le +bord des eaux, dès que l'air commence à s'échauffer, les Maringonins et +une quantité prodigieuse d'autres moucherons, excitent une persécution +bien plus vive encore que celle de la fumée, qu'on est même souvent +obligé d'appeller à son secours car il n'y a presque point d'autre +rémède contre la piques de ces petites insectes, qui vous mettent tout +le corps en feu, et ne vous permettent point de dormir en repos. Ajoutez +à cela les marches souvent forcées, et toujours très rudes, qu'il faut +faire à la suite de ces barbares, tantôt dans l'eau jusqu'à la ceinture, +tantôt dans la fange jusqu'aux genoux; dans les bois aux travers des +ronces et des épines, avec danger d'en être aveuglé; dans les campagnes, +où rien ne garantit d'un soleil aussi ardent en été que le vent est +piquant pendant l'hiver. Si l'on voyage en canot, la posture gênante, où +il faut s'y tenir, l'inaction où l'on y est, le peu de société qu'on +peut avoir avec des gens qui ne sçavent rien, qui ne parlent jamais +quand ils sont occupés, qui vous infectant par leur mauvaise odeur, et +qui vous remplissent de saletés et de vermine, les caprices et les +manières brusques qu'il en faut essuyer, les avarices, aux quelles on +est exposé de la part d'un ivrogne, ou d'un homme que quelque accident +inopiné, un songe, un souvenir fâcheux, font entrer en mauvaise humeur, +la cupidité qui naît aisément dans le cœur de ces barbares, et qui a +coûté la vie à plus d'un missionnaire, et si la guerre est declarée +entre les nations parmi lesquelles on se trouve, le danger qu'on court +sans cesse, ou de se voir tout à coup réduit à la plus dure servitude, +ou de périr dans les plus affreux tourmens. Voilà la vie qu'ont mené +surtout les premiers missionnaires."—Charlevoix, vol. vi., p. 59.</p> + +<p>The lives of hardship here described were in many cases terminated by +horrible deaths. The following is one relation, out of many of the same +nature:</p> + +<p>"Ils avoient avec eux les PP. Jean de Brebœuf et Gabriel Lallemant, +neveu des PP. Charles et Jerome Lallemant, dont nous avons parlé; et ils +n'avoient pu engager ni l'un ni l'autre à se mettre en lieu de sûreté. +Il eût pourtant été mieux qu'ils se fussent partagés et que le P. de +Brebœuf eût usé de son autorité pour obliger son compagnon de suiver +ceux, qui avoient pris la fuite; mais l'exemple tout récent du P. +Daniel, et le danger, où étoient un grand nombre de catéchumènes de +mourir sans Baptême, leur firent croire à tous les deux qu'ils ne +devoient pas désemparer. Ils prirent donc leur poste chacun à une des +extrémités de l'attaque, et ils furent toujours aux endroits les plus +exposés, uniquement occupés à baptiser des mourans, et à encourager les +combattans à n'avoir que Dieu en vûe.</p> + +<p>"Enfin tous les Hurons furent tués ou pris, et les deux missionnaires +furent du nombre des derniers. Les vainqueurs mirent ensuite le feu aux +cabannes, et reprirent avec les prisonniers et tout le butin, le chemin +de S. Ignace.</p> + +<p>"De St. Ignace, où j'ai dit qu'on les avoit conduits d'abord, ils +avoient été ramenés à St. Louis, et ils y furent reçus, comme on a +coûtume de recevoir les prisonniers de guerre; on les épargna même +d'autant moins, que leur procès étoit fait, et qu'on avoit résolu de ne +les pas mener plus loin. Le P. de Brebœuf, que vingt années de +travaux les plus capables de faire mourir tous les sentimens naturels, +un caractère d'esprit d'une fermeté a l'épreuve de tout; une vertu +nourrie dans la vûe toujours prochaine d'une mort cruelle, et portée +jusqu'à en faire l'objet de ses vœux les plus ardens; prévenu +d'ailleurs par plus d'un avertissement céleste que ses vœux seroient +exaucés, se rioit également et des menaces et des tortures mêmes; mais +la vûe de ses chers neophytes cruellement traités à ses yeux, repandoit +une grande amertume sur la joye, qu'il ressentoit de voir ses esperances +accomplies.</p> + +<p>"Son compagnon, Gabriel Lallemant, qui ne faisoit que d'entrer dans la +carrière apostolique, où il avoit apporté plus de courage que de force, +et qui étoit d'une complexion sensible et delicate, fut surtout pour lui +jusqu'au dernier soupir un grand sujet de douleur et d'inquiétude. Les +Iroquois connurent bien d'abord qu'ils auroient á faire à un homme, à +qu'ils n'auroient pas le plaisir de voir échaper la moindre foiblesse, +et comme s'ils eussent appréhendé qu'il ne communiquát aux autres son +intrépidité, ils le séparèrent après quelque tems de la troupe des +prisonniers, le firent monter seul sur un échafant, et s'acharnèrent de +telle sorte sur lui, qu'ils paroissoient hors d'eux-mêmes de rage et de +désespoir.</p> + +<p>"Tout cela n'empêchoit point le serviteur de Dieu de parler d'une voix +forte, tantôt aux Hurons, qui ne le voyoient plus, mais qui pouvoient +encore l'entendre; tantôt à ses bourreaux, qu'il exhortait à craindre la +colère du ciel, s'ils continuoient à persécuter les adorateurs du vrai +Dieu. Cette liberté étonna les barbares, et ils en furent choqués, +quoiqu' accoutumés à essuyer les bravades de leurs prisonniers en +semblables occasions. Ils voulurent lui imposer silence, et n'en pouvant +venir à bout, ils lui coupèrent la lèvre inférieure, et l'extrémité du +nez, lui appliquerent par tout le corps des torches allumées, lui +brulerent les gencives, et enfin lui enforcèrent dans le gosier un fer +rougi dans le feu.</p> + +<p>"L'invincible missionnaire se voyant par ce dernier coup la parole +interdite, parut avec un visage assuré, et un regard si ferme qu'il +sembloit donner encore la loy à ses ennemis. Un moment après on lui +amena son compagnon dans un équipage bien capable de toucher un cœur +comme le sien, aussi tendre et aussi compatissant sur les maux d'autrui, +qu'il étoit insensible aux siens propres. On avoit mis d'abord le jeune +religieux tout nud et après l'avoir tourmenté quelque tems, on l'avoit +enveloppé depuis les pieds jusqu'à la tête d'écorce de sapin, et on se +preparoit à y mettre le feu.</p> + +<p>"Dès qu'il apperçut le P. de Brebœuf dans l'affreux état, où on +l'avoit mis, il frémit d'abord, ensuite lui dit ces paroles de l'Apôtre, +<i>Nous avons été mis spectacle au monde, aux anges, et aux hommes</i>.<a name="FNanchor_218_218" id="FNanchor_218_218"></a><a href="#Footnote_218_218" class="fnanchor">[218]</a> +Le père lui répondit par une douce inclination de tête, et dans ce +moment le P. Lallemant se trouvant libre, courut se jetter à ses pieds, +baisa respectueusement ses playes, et le conjura de redoubler auprès du +seigneur ses prières, pour lui obtenir la patience, et la foy, qu'il +voyoit, ajoùta-t-il avec beaucoup de confusion, sur le point de lui +échapper à tout moment. On le reprit aussitôt, et on mit le feu aux +ecorces, dont il étoit couvert.</p> + +<p>"Les bourreaux s'arrêtèrent quelque tems pour goûter le plaisir de le +voir brûler lentement, et d'entendre ses soupirs et les gémissemens, +qu'il ne pouvoit s'empêcher de pousser. Ils le laissèrent ensuite +quelque tems, pour faire rougir des haches de fer, dont ils firent un +collier, qu'ils mirent au cou du P. de Brebœuf; mais ce nouveau +supplice n'ébranla pas plus le saint martyr, qui n'avoient fait les +autres, et comme les barbares cherchoient quelque nouveau tourment, pour +tacher de vaincre un courage qui les irritoit, un Huron apostat se mit à +crier qu'il falloit jetter aux deux missionnaires de l'eau boüillante +sur la tête, en punition de ce qu'ils en avoient jetté tant de froide +sur celle des autres, et causé par-là tous les malheurs de sa nation, et +on la répandit lentement sur la tête des deux confesseurs de Jesus +Christ.</p> + +<p>"Cependant la fumée épaisse qui sortoit des ecorces, dont le P. +Lallemant étoit revêtu lui remplissoit la bouche, et il fut assez +lontems sans pouvoir articuler une seule parole. Ses liens étant brûlés, +il leva les mains au ciel, pour implorer le secours de celui qui est la +force des foibles, mais on les lui fit baisser, en le frappant à grands +coups de cordes. Enfin les deux corps n'étant plus qu'une playe, ce +spectacle bien loin de faire horreur aux Iroquois, les mit de bonne +humeur; ils se disoient les uns aux autres que la chair des François +devoit être bonne, et ils en coupèrent sur l'un et sur l'autre de grands +lambeaux, qu'ils mangèrent. Puis ajôutant la raillerie à la cruauté, ils +dirent au P. de Brebœuf, 'Tu nous assurois tout à l'heure que plus on +souffre sur la terre, plus on est heureux dans le ciel; c'est par amitié +pour toi que nous nous étudions à augmenter tes souffrances, et tu nous +en auras obligation.'</p> + +<p>"Quelques momens après ils lui enlevèrent toute la peau de la tête, et +comme il respiroit encore, un chef lui ouvrit le côté, d'où le sang +sortant en abondance, tous les barbares accoururent pour en boire; après +quoi le même, qui avoit fait la playe, découvrit le cœur, l'arracha, +et le dévora. Le P. de Brebœuf étoit du diocèse de Bayeux, et oncle +du traducteur du Pharsale. Il étoit d'une taille avantageuse, et mangré +son abstinence extrême, et vingt années du plus pénible apostolat, il +avoit assez d'embonpoint. Sa vie fut un heroisme continuel, et sa mort +fut l'étonnement des bourreaux mêmes.</p> + +<p>"Dès qu'il eut expiré, le P. Lallemant fut reconduit dans la cabanne, où +son martyre avoit commencé; il n'est pas même certain qu'il soit demeuré +auprès du Père de Brebœuf jusqu'à ce que celui-ci eût rendu les +derniers soupirs; on ne l'avoit amené là, que pour attendrir son +compagnon, et amollir, s'il étoit possible, le courage de ce héros. Il +est au moins constant par le témoignage de plusieurs Iroquois, qui +furent acteurs dans ce tragédie, que ce dernier mourut le seize, et +qu'il ne fut que trois heures dans le feu, au lieu que le supplice du P. +Lallemant dura dix-sept heures, et qu'il ne mourut que le dix-sept.</p> + +<p>"Quoiqu'il en soit, sitôt qu'il fut rentré dans sa cabanne il reçut +au-dessus de l'oreille gauche, un coup de hache, qui lui ouvrit le +crane, et lui en fit sortir de la cervelle. On lui arracha ensuite un +œil, à la place duquel on mit un charbon ardent; c'est tout ce qu'on +a pu sçavoir de ce qui se passa alors jusqu'à ce qu'il eût expiré; tous +ceux, qui assistèrent à sa mort s'étant contentés de dire que les +bourreaux s'étoient surpassés en cruauté. Ils ajôutèrent que de tems en +tems il jettoit des cris capables de percer les cœurs les plus durs, +et qu'il paroissoit quelquefois hors de lui-même; mais qu'aussitôt on le +voyoit s'élever au-dessus de la douleur, et offrir à Dieu ses +souffrances avec une ferveur admirable. Ainsi la chair étoit souvent +foible, et prête a succomber; mais l'esprit fut toujours prompt à la +relever, et la soutint jusqu'au bout. Le P. Lallemant étoit de Paris, +fils et petit fils de lieutenans-criminels. Il étoit extrêmement maigre, +et il n'y avoit guére que six mois, qu'il étoit arrivé dans la Nouvelle +France. Il mourut dans sa trente-neuvième année."—Charlevoix, vol. ii., +p. 12.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_218_218" id="Footnote_218_218"></a><a href="#FNanchor_218_218"><span class="label">[218]</span></a> 1 Corinth., iv., 9.</p></div> +</div> + +<p class='center'>No. XVIII.</p> + +<p>"The Jesuits are commonly very learned, studious, and are very civil and +agreeable in company. In their whole deportment there is something +pleasing; it is no wonder, therefore, that they captivate the minds of +the people. They seldom speak of religious matters, and if it happens, +they generally avoid disputes. They are very ready to do any one a +service, and when they see that their assistance is wanted, they hardly +give one time to speak of it, falling to work immediately to bring about +what is required of them. Their conversation is very entertaining and +learned, so that one can not be tired of their company. Among all the +Jesuits I have conversed with in Canada, I have not found one who was +not possessed of these qualities in a very eminent degree. They do not +care to become preachers to a congregation in the town or country, but +leave these places, together with the emoluments arising from them, to +the priests. All their business here is to convert the heathen; and with +that view their missionaries are scattered over every part of the +country. Near every town and village peopled by converted Indians are +one or two Jesuits, who take great care that they may not return to +paganism, but live as Christians ought to do. Thus there are Jesuits +with the converted Indians in Tadoussac, Lorette, Beçancourt, St. +François, Sault St. Louis, and all over Canada. There are likewise +Jesuit missionaries with those who are not converted, so that there is +commonly a Jesuit in every village belonging to the Indians, whom he +endeavors on all occasions to convert. In winter he goes on their great +hunts, where he is frequently obliged to suffer all imaginable +inconveniences, such as walking in the snow all day, lying in the open +air all winter, lying out both in good and bad weather, lying in the +Indian huts, which swarm with fleas and other vermin, &c. The Jesuits +undergo all these hardships for the sake of converting the Indians, and +likewise for political reasons. The Jesuits are of great use to their +king; for they are frequently able to persuade the Indians to break +their treaty with the English, to make war upon them, to bring their +furs to the French, and not to permit the English to come among them. +There is much danger attending these exertions; for, when the Indians +are in liquor, they sometimes kill the missionaries who live with them, +calling them spies, or excusing themselves by saying that the brandy had +killed them. These are the chief occupations of the Jesuits in Canada. +They do not go to visit the sick in the town; they do not hear the +confessions, and attend to no funerals. I have never seen them go in +procession in honor of the Virgin Mary or other saints. Every body sees +that they are, as it were, selected from other people on account of +their superior genius and abilities. They are here reckoned a most +cunning set of people, who generally succeed in their undertakings, and +surpass all others in acuteness of understanding. I have therefore +several times observed that they have enemies in Canada. They never +receive any others into their society but persons of very promising +parts, so that there are no blockheads among them. The Jesuits who live +here are all come from France, and many of them return thither again +after a stay of a few years here. Some who were born in Canada went over +to France, and were received among the Jesuits there, but none of them +ever came back to Canada. I know not what political reason hindered +them. During my stay in Quebec, one of the priests, with the bishop's +leave, gave up his priesthood and became a Jesuit. The other priests +were very ill pleased with this, because it seemed as if he looked upon +their condition as too mean for himself."—Kalm, in Pinkerton, vol. +xiii., p. 648.</p> + +<p>"The Recollets are a third class of clergymen in Canada. They have a +fine large dwelling-house here, and a fine church, where they officiate. +Near it is a large and fine garden, which they cultivate with great +application.</p> + +<p>"In Montreal and Trois Rivières they are lodged in almost the same +manner as here. They do not endeavor to choose cunning fellows among +them, but take all they can get. They do not torment their brains with +much learning; and I have been assured that, after they have put on +their monastic habit, they do not study to increase their knowledge, but +forget even what little they knew before. At night they generally lie on +mats, or some other hard mattresses. However, I have sometimes seen good +beds in the cells of some of them. They have no possessions here, having +made vows of poverty, and live chiefly on the alms which people give +them. To this purpose the young monks, or brothers, go into the houses +with a bag, and beg what they want. They have no congregations in the +country, but sometimes they go among the Indians as missionaries.</p> + +<p>"In each fort, which contains forty men, the king keeps one of these +monks instead of a priest, who officiates there. The king gives him +lodging, provisions, servants, and all he wants, besides two hundred +livres a year. Half of it he sends to the community he belongs to; the +other half he reserves for his own use. On board the king's ships are +generally no other priests than these friars, who are therefore looked +upon as people belonging to the king. When one of the chief priests<a name="FNanchor_219_219" id="FNanchor_219_219"></a><a href="#Footnote_219_219" class="fnanchor">[219]</a> +in the country dies, and his place can not immediately be filled up, +they send one of these friars there, to officiate while the place is +vacant. Part of these monks come over from France, and part are natives +of Canada.</p> + +<p>"There are no other monks in Canada besides these, except, now and then, +one of the order of St. Austin, or some other who comes with one of the +king's ships, but goes off with it again.</p> + +<p>"The priests are the second and most numerous class of the clergy in +this country; for most of the churches, both in towns and villages (the +Indian converts excepted), are served by priests. A few of them are +likewise missionaries. In Canada are two seminaries: one in Quebec, the +other in Montreal. The priests of the seminary of Montreal are of the +order of St. Sulpitius, and supply only the congregation on the isle of +Montreal, and the town of the same name. At all the other churches in +Canada the priests belonging to the Quebec seminary officiate. The +former, or those of the order of St. Sulpitius, all come from France; +and I was assured that they never suffer a native of Canada to come +among them.</p> + +<p>"In the seminary at Quebec, the natives of Canada make the greater part.</p> + +<p>"In order to fit the children of this country for orders, there are +schools at Quebec and St. Joachim, where the youths are taught Latin, +and instructed in the knowledge of those things and sciences which have +a more immediate connection with the business they are intended for.</p> + +<p>"However, they are not very nice in their choice, and people of a +middling capacity are often received among them.</p> + +<p>"They do not seem to have made great progress in Latin; for, +notwithstanding the service is read in that language, and they read +their Latin breviary and other books every day, yet most of them find it +very difficult to speak it.</p> + +<p>"All the priests in the Quebec seminary are consecrated by the bishop. +Both the seminaries have got great revenues from the king; that in +Quebec has above thirty thousand livres. All the country on the west +side of the River St. Lawrence, from the town of Quebec to Bay St. Paul, +belongs to this seminary, besides their other possessions in the +country. They lease the land to the settlers for a certain rent, which, +if it be annually paid, according to their agreement, the children or +heirs of the settlers may remain in an undisturbed possession of the +lands.</p> + +<p>"A piece of land three arpents<a name="FNanchor_220_220" id="FNanchor_220_220"></a><a href="#Footnote_220_220" class="fnanchor">[220]</a> broad, and thirty, forty, or fifty +arpents long, pays annually an ecu,<a name="FNanchor_221_221" id="FNanchor_221_221"></a><a href="#Footnote_221_221" class="fnanchor">[221]</a> and a couple of chickens, or +some other additional trifle. In such places as have convenient +water-falls, they have built water-mills or saw-mills, from which they +annually get considerable sums. The seminary of Montreal possesses the +whole ground on which that town stands, together with the whole isle of +Montreal. I have been assured that the ground rent of the town and isle +is computed at seventy thousand livres, besides what they get for saying +masses, baptizing, holding confessions, attending at marriages and +funerals, &c. All the revenues of ground rent belong to the seminaries +alone, and the priests in the country have no share in them. But the +seminary in Montreal, consisting only of sixteen priests, has greater +revenues than it can expend; a large sum of money is annually sent over +to France, to the chief seminary there. The land rents belonging to the +Quebec seminary are employed for the use of the priests in it, and for +the maintenance of a number of young people, who are brought up to take +orders. The priests who live in the country parishes get the tithe from +their congregation, together with the perquisites on visiting the sick, +&c. In small congregations the king gives the priests an additional sum. +When a priest in the country grows old, and has done good service, he is +sometimes allowed to come into the seminary in town. The seminaries are +allowed to place the priests on their own estates, but the other places +are in the gift of the bishop."—<i>Ibid.</i></p> + +<p>"After the conquest of Quebec, the British government prohibited the +religious male orders from augmenting their numbers, excepting the +priests. The orders were allowed to enjoy the whole of their revenues as +long as a single individual of the body existed; then they reverted to +the crown. The revenue of the Jesuit Society was upward of £12,000 per +annum when it fell into the possession of the government. It had been +for several years enjoyed solely by an old father, who had survived all +the rest. He was a native of Switzerland; his name, Jean Joseph Casot. +In his youth he was no more than porter to the convent, but, having +considerable merit, he was promoted, and in course of time received into +the order. He died at a very advanced age, in 1800, with a high +character for kindness and generosity: his large income was entirely +employed in charitable purposes. The lands belonging to the Jesuits, as +well as to the other religious orders, are by far the best in the +country, and produce the greatest revenues."—Lambert's <i>Travels in +Canada</i>, vol. i., p. 59.</p> + +<p>"The Jesuits, who in the early settlement of the country were merely +missionaries, obtained a patent (<i>Petits Droits des Colonies +Françaises</i>, vol. ii., p. 441), by which they acquired a license to +purchase lands, and hold property as in France. The property the Jesuits +possessed in this country in after times was acquired by grants from the +kings of France; by grants from the Company of New France; by gifts from +individuals, and by purchase."—Smith's <i>History of Canada</i>, vol. i., p. +27; Weld, p. 249. Smith estimates the revenues of the society, when, +after P. Casot's death, they reverted to the crown, at only £1600 per +annum. Weld comes nearer to the statement of Lambert. He visited Quebec +in 1796, four years before P. Casot's death, and states that the great +possessions of the Jesuits had centered in him, and amounted to £10,000 +per annum. It is to be remembered that in 1764 the order of Jesuits was +abolished by the King of France, and the members of the society became +private individuals.</p> + +<p>"The college of the Jesuits at Quebec was long considered as the first +institution on the continent of North America for the instruction of +young men. The advantages derived from it were not limited to the better +class of Canadians, but were extended to all whose inclination it was to +participate in them, and many students came thither from the West +Indies. From the period of the expulsion of the Jesuits from the states +of Europe, and the consequent abolition of their order on that +continent, this establishment, although protected by the British +government, began rapidly to decline.</p> + +<p>"When, by the death of the last Canadian Jesuit, the landed property +devolved to the crown, it was designed by the sovereign as a recompense +for the services of the late Lord Amherst, who commanded the troops in +North America at the time of the conquest of Canada, and Who completed +the reduction of that province under the British government. The claim +of these estates has been relinquished by his successor for a pension. +The revenue arising from them has been appropriated by the Legislature +of Lower Canada for the purpose of establishing in the different +parishes schools for the education of children. The Jesuits' college is +now converted into a commodious barrack for the troops."—Heriot's +<i>Canada</i>, p. 30.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_219_219" id="Footnote_219_219"></a><a href="#FNanchor_219_219"><span class="label">[219]</span></a> Pasteur.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_220_220" id="Footnote_220_220"></a><a href="#FNanchor_220_220"><span class="label">[220]</span></a> A French acre.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_221_221" id="Footnote_221_221"></a><a href="#FNanchor_221_221"><span class="label">[221]</span></a> French coin, value about a crown English.</p></div> +</div> + +<p class='center'>No. XIX.</p> + +<p>The Mississippi is the only river in North America, which, for grandeur +and commodiousness of navigation, comes in competition with the St. +Lawrence, or with that river which runs from Lake Ontario to the ocean. +If, however, we consider that immense body of water that flows from Lake +Winnipeg through the Lake of the Woods, Lake Superior, &c., down to the +sea, as one entire stream, and, of course, as a continuation of the St. +Lawrence, it must be allowed to be a very superior river to the +Mississippi in every point of view; and we may certainly consider it as +one stream with as much reason as we look upon that as one river which +flows from Lake Ontario to the sea; for, before it meets the ocean, it +passes through four large lakes, not, indeed, to be compared with those +of Erie or Superior in size, but they are independent lakes, +notwithstanding, as much as any of the others. The Mississippi is +principally to be admired for the evenness of its current, and the +prodigious length of way it is navigable without any interruption for +bateaux of a very large burden, but in many respects it is a very +inferior river to the St. Lawrence, properly so called. The Mississippi, +at its mouth, is not twenty miles broad, and the navigation is there so +obstructed by banks or bars that a vessel drawing more than twelve feet +water can not ascend it without very imminent danger. Fresh bars are +formed or the old bars are enlarged every year, and it is said that +unless some steps are taken to prevent the lodgments of the trees +annually brought down at the time of the inundation, the navigation may +in a few years be still more obstructed than it is at present. The River +St. Lawrence, however, on the contrary, is no less than ninety miles +wide at its mouth, and it is navigable for ships of the line as far as +Quebec, a distance of 400 miles from the sea. The channel, also, instead +of having been impaired by time, is found to be considerably better now +than when the river was first discovered, and there is reason to imagine +that it will improve still more in process of time, as the clear water +that flows from Lake Ontario comes down with such impetuosity during the +floods in the spring of the year as frequently to remove banks of gravel +and loose stones in the river, and thus to deepen its bed. The channel +on the north side of the island of Orleans, immediately below Quebec, +which, according to the account of Charlevoix, was not sufficiently deep +in the year 1720 to admit a shallop of a small size, except at the time +of high tides, is at present found to be deep enough for the largest +vessels, and is the channel most generally used.—Weld, p. 336.</p> + + +<p class='center'>No. XX.</p> + +<p>"Upper Canada, down to the period when it was conquered by England, was +in a very wild and unreclaimed condition. With the exception of the +small location on the banks of the Detroit, it contained only detached +posts at great distances, formed for military defense and the +prosecution of the fur trade. The real settlement of Upper Canada took +place in 1783, at the close of the first American war; at that time, not +only a large body of troops were disbanded, but many inhabitants of the +United States, who had adhered to Britain during this unfortunate +contest, sought refuge within her colonies; and as these last were +generally in a state of great destitution, the government felt disposed +to treat them liberally, and afford the utmost possible compensation for +their losses and sufferings. With this view, the whole land along the +St. Lawrence above the French settlements, and also on Lake Ontario, to +and around the Bay of Quiete, for the space of 150 miles, was formed +into townships, originally entitled First, Second, Third, but to which +regular names were afterward attached. These settlements were termed the +United Empire Loyalists, and not only received an ample supply of land, +but farming utensils, building materials, and subsistence for two years. +A further engagement was made that every member of their families, on +attaining the age of twenty-one, should have a fresh donation of 200 +acres, which engagement has been strictly fulfilled. Military grants +were at the same time bestowed at rates varying from 5000 for a field +officer, to 200 for a private soldier.</p> + +<p>"In 1791, Upper Canada had attained to such importance, that when Mr. +Pitt determined to bestow a constitution on the colony, he formed this +part into a separate government, giving to it the name of Upper, and to +the early-settled districts that of Lower Canada. The former was not +supposed, after all, to contain at that time above 10,000 inhabitants. +General Simcoe, however, in 1794, founded the town of York,<a name="FNanchor_222_222" id="FNanchor_222_222"></a><a href="#Footnote_222_222" class="fnanchor">[222]</a> which +was fixed on as the seat of government, and made the most strenuous +efforts to encourage colonists to settle in the neighborhood. They came +in considerable numbers, though chiefly from the United States. It was +not till 1803 that, through the exertions of Colonel Talbot, emigration +from Britain was commenced on any large scale. The result of these +measures was, that in 1811 the country was found to contain about 9623 +persons paying taxes.</p> + +<p>Lower Canada is comprised within the parallels of 45° and 52° north +latitude, and the meridians of 59·50° to 80·6° west of Greenwich; the +entire province, as far as its boundaries will admit of estimation, +contains about a quarter of a million square miles, or 160,000,000 of +acres. Upper Canada is comprised within the parallels of 41° to 49° +north, and the meridians of 74° to 117° west of Greenwich, embracing an +area of about 100,000 square miles, or 64,000,000 acres. The following +are the words of the order in council by which Canada was in 1791 +divided into two provinces. "To commence at a stone boundary on the +north bank of the Lake St. Francis, at the cove west of Point au Baudet, +in the limit between the township of Lancaster and the seigniory of New +Longueuil, running along the said limit in the direction of N. 34 W. to +the westernmost angle of the said seigniory of New Longueuil; then along +the N.W. boundary of the seigniory of Vaudreuil, running N. 25 E. until +it strikes the Ottawa River; to ascend the said river into the Lake +Temiscaming, and from the head of the said lake by a line drawn due N. +until it strikes the boundary of Hudson's Bay, including all the +territory to the westward and southward of the said line to the utmost +extent of the country commonly called or known by the name of Canada." +The want of clearness in the above delineation, added to the +imperfections of the map on which it was drawn, particularly as regarded +the westwardly angle of the seigniory of New Longueuil, and the S.W. +angle of Vaudreuil, which are represented as coincident, when, according +to Colonel Bouchette, they are nine miles distant from each other, has +naturally caused disputes as to the boundaries between Upper and Lower +Canada.—Montgomery Martin's <i>Hist. of Canada</i>, p. 62; Murray's <i>British +America</i>, vol. i., p. 287.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_222_222" id="Footnote_222_222"></a><a href="#FNanchor_222_222"><span class="label">[222]</span></a> It has now assumed the Indian name of Toronto.</p></div> +</div> + +<p class='center'>No. XXI.</p> + +<p>"On the 5th of February, 1663, about half past five o'clock in the +evening, a great rushing noise was heard throughout the whole extent of +Canada. This noise caused the people to run out of their houses into the +streets, as if their habitations had been on fire; but, instead of +flames or smoke, they were surprised to see the walls reeling backward +and forward, and the stones moving as if they were detached from each +other. The bells sounded by the repeated shocks. The roofs of the +buildings bent down, first on one side, and then on the other. The +timbers, rafters, and planks cracked. The earth trembled violently, and +caused the stakes of the palisades and palings to dance, in a manner +that would have been incredible had we not actually seen it in many +places. It was at this moment every one ran out of doors. Then were to +be seen animals flying in every direction; children crying and screaming +in the streets; men and women, seized with affright, stood horror-struck +with the dreadful scene before them, unable to move, and ignorant where +to fly for refuge from the tottering walls and trembling earth, which +threatened every instant to crush them to death, or sink them into a +profound and immeasurable abyss. Some threw themselves on their knees in +the snow, crossing their breasts, and calling on their saints to relieve +them from the dangers with which they were surrounded. Others passed the +rest of this dreadful night in prayer; for the earthquake ceased not, +but continued at short intervals with a certain undulating impulse, +resembling the waves of the ocean; and the same qualmish sensations, or +sickness at the stomach, was felt during the shocks as is experienced in +a vessel at sea.</p> + +<p>"The violence of the earthquake was greatest in the forest, where it +appeared as if there was a battle raging between the trees; for not only +their branches were destroyed, but even their trunks are said to have +been detached from their places, and dashed against each other with +inconceivable violence and confusion—so much so, that the Indians, in +their figurative manner of speaking, declared that all the forests were +drunk. The war also seemed to be carried on between the mountains, some +of which were torn from their beds and thrown upon others, leaving +immense chasms in the places from whence they had issued, and the very +trees with which they were covered sunk down, leaving only their tops +above the surface of the earth; others were completely overturned, their +branches buried in the earth, and the roots only remained above ground. +During this general wreck of nature, the ice, upward of six feet thick, +was rent and thrown up in large pieces, and from the openings in many +parts there issued thick clouds of smoke, or fountains of dirt and sand, +which spouted up to a very considerable height. The springs were either +choked up, or impregnated with sulphur; many rivers were totally lost; +others were diverted from their course, and their waters entirely +corrupted. Some of them became yellow, others red, and the great river +of the St. Lawrence appeared entirely white, as far down as Tadoussac. +This extraordinary phenomenon must astonish those who know the size of +the river, and the immense body of waters in various parts, which must +have required such an abundance of matter to whiten it. They write from +Montreal that, during the earthquake, they plainly saw the stakes of the +picketing or palisades jump up as if they had been dancing; and that of +two doors in the same room, one opened and the other shut of their own +accord; that the chimneys and tops of the houses bent like branches of +the trees agitated with the wind; that when they went to walk they felt +the earth following them, and rising at every step they took, something +sticking against the soles of their feet, and other things in a very +forcible and surprising manner.</p> + +<p>"From Three Rivers they write that the first shock was the most violent, +and commenced with a noise resembling thunder. The houses were agitated +in the same manner as the tops of trees during a tempest, with a noise +as if fire was crackling in the garrets. The shock lasted half an hour, +or rather better, though its greatest force was properly not more than a +quarter of an hour, and we believe there was not a single shock which +did not cause the earth to open either more or less.</p> + +<p>"As for the rest, we have remarked that, though this earthquake +continued almost without intermission, yet it was not always of an equal +violence. Sometimes it was like the pitching of a large vessel which +dragged heavily at her anchors, and it was this motion which occasioned +many to have a giddiness in their heads and a qualmishness in their +stomachs. At other times the motion was hurried and irregular, creating +sudden jerks, some of which were extremely violent; but the most common +was a slight tremulous motion, which occurred frequently with little +noise. Many of the French inhabitants and Indians, who were +eye-witnesses to the scene, state that, a great way up the river of +Trois Rivières, about eighteen miles below Quebec, the hills which +bordered the river on either side, and which were of a prodigious +height, were torn from their foundations, and plunged into the river, +causing it to change its course, and spread itself over a large tract of +land recently cleared; the broken earth mixed with the waters, and for +several months changed the color of the great River St. Lawrence, into +which that of Trois Rivières disembogues itself. In the course of this +violent convulsion of nature, lakes appeared where none ever existed +before; mountains were overthrown, swallowed up by the gaping, or +precipitated into adjacent rivers, leaving in their places frightful +chasms or level plains; falls and rapids were changed into gentle +streams, and gentle streams into falls and rapids. Rivers in many parts +of the country sought other beds, or totally disappeared. The earth and +the mountains were entirely split and rent in innumerable places, +creating chasms and precipices, whose depths have never yet been +ascertained. Such devastation was also occasioned in the woods, that +more than a thousand acres in our neighborhood were completely +overturned; and where, but a short time before, nothing met the eye but +one immense forest of trees, now were to be seen extensive cleared +lands, apparently cut up by the plow.</p> + +<p>"At Tadoussac (about 150 miles below Quebec, on the north side) the +effect of the earthquake was not less violent than in other places; and +such a heavy shower of volcanic ashes fell in that neighborhood, +particularly in the River St. Lawrence, that the waters were as +violently agitated as during a tempest. The Indians say that a vast +volcano exists in Labrador. Near St. Paul's Bay (about fifty miles below +Quebec, on the north side), a mountain, about a quarter of a league in +circumference, situated on the shore of the St. Lawrence, was +precipitated into the river, but, as if it had only made a plunge, it +rose from the bottom, and became a small island, forming with the shore +a convenient harbor, well sheltered from all winds. Lower down the +river, toward Point Alouettes, an entire forest of considerable extent +was loosened from the main bank, and slid into the River St. Lawrence, +where the trees took fresh root. There are three circumstances, however, +which have rendered this extraordinary earthquake particularly +remarkable: the first is its duration, it having continued from February +to August, that is to say, more than six months almost without +intermission! It is true, the shocks were not always equally violent. In +several places, as toward the mountains behind Quebec, the thundering +noise and trembling motion continued successively for a considerable +time. In others, as toward Tadoussac, the shock continued generally for +two or three days at a time with much violence.</p> + +<p>"The second circumstance relates to the extent of this earthquake, +which, we believe, was universal throughout the whole of New France, +for we learn that it was felt from L'Isle Percé and Gaspé, which are +situated at the mouth of the St. Lawrence, to beyond Montreal; as also +in New England, Acadia, and other places more remote. As far as it has +come to our knowledge, this earthquake extended more than 600 miles in +length, and about 300 in breadth. Hence 180,000 square miles of land +were convulsed in the same day and at the same moment.</p> + +<p>"The third circumstance, which appears the most remarkable of all, +regards the extraordinary protection of Divine Providence, which has +been extended to us and our habitations; for we have seen near us the +large openings and chasms which the earthquake occasioned, and the +prodigious extent of country which has been either totally lost or +hideously convulsed, without our losing either man, woman, or child, or +even having a hair of their head touched."—<i>Jesuits' Journal</i>, Quebec, +1663.</p> + + +<p class='center'>No. XXII.</p> + +<p>"The principle in both instances is alike: in the former, the caloric or +vital heat of the body passes so rapidly from the hand into the cold +iron as to destroy the continuous and organic structure of the part; in +the latter, the caloric passes so rapidly from the hot iron into the +hand as to produce the same effect: heat, in both cases, being the same; +its passing into the body from the iron, or into the iron from the body, +being equally injurious to vitality. From a similar cause, the +incautious traveler in Canada is burned in the face by a very cold wind, +with the same sensations as when he is exposed to the blast of an +eastern sirocco. Milton thus alludes to the effects of cold in his +description of the abode of Satan and his compeers. After adverting to +Styx, he says,</p> + +<p style="margin-left: 20em;"> +'Beyond this flood, a frozen continent<br /> +Lies, dark and wild, beat with perpetual storms<br /> +Of whirlwind and dire hail, which on firm land<br /> +Thaws not, but gathers heap, and ruin seems<br /> +Of ancient pile; all else deep snow and ice;<br /> +A gulf profound as that Serbonian bog<br /> +Betwixt Damiata and Mount Casius old,<br /> +Where armies whole have sunk: the parching air<br /> +Burns frore (frozen), and cold performs the effect of fire.'<br /> +</p> + +<p style="margin-left: 30em;"> +<i>Paradise Lost</i>, B. 2.<br /> +</p> + +<p>"We also find in Virgil, Georg., i., 93,</p> + +<p style="margin-left: 5em;"> +'Borea penetrabile frigus adurat.'"—Gray's <i>Canada</i>, p. 290.<br /> +</p> + + +<p class='center'>No. XXIII.</p> + +<p>"This meteor is strongest and most frequent about the arctic circle, or +between that and the parallel of 64°. It is now ascertained, we think, +beyond all doubt, that the height of the Aurora, instead of being, as +supposed by Mr. Dalton and others, above the region of the atmosphere, +is, in fact, rarely above six or seven miles. This was satisfactorily +proved by angles taken in the same moment at two distant places, always +exceedingly small at one or both stations; by the extreme rapidity with +which a beam darts from one side of the horizon to the opposite side, +which could not happen if 100 miles high or upward; by its frequently +darting its beams <i>beneath</i> the clouds, and at very short distances from +the earth's surface, and by its being acted upon by the wind. Mr. Hood +was told by one of the partners of the Northwest Company that he once +saw the coruscations of the Aurora Borealis so vivid and low that the +Canadians fell on their faces, and began crying and praying, fearing +lest they should be killed; that he threw away his gun and knife, that +they might not attract the flashes, for they were within two feet from +the earth, flitting along with incredible swiftness, and moving parallel +to the surface; he added that they made a loud rustling noise, like the +waving of a flag in a strong breeze. This rustling noise, which is +universally asserted by the servants of the Northwest Company, was not +heard by any of the officers of Captain Franklin's expedition, but he +says that it would be an absurd degree of skepticism to doubt the fact +any longer, for their observations had rather increased than diminished +the probability of it. It has hitherto been supposed that the magnetic +needle was not affected by the Aurora; but a vast number of experiments +given in the tables prove that, in certain positions of the beams and +arches, the needle was considerably drawn aside, and mostly so when the +flashes were between the clouds and the earth, or when their actions +were quick, their light vivid, and the atmosphere hazy."—Franklin's +<i>Journey to the Polar Sea</i>, Nos. II. and III. of the Appendix.</p> + +<p>The following is Charlevoix's description of the Aurora Borealis, never +before witnessed by the French colonists:</p> + +<p>"Un autre phénomène, qui parôit dans l'air, mériteroit bien qu'on +s'étudiât à en découvrir la cause. Dans le tems le plus serein, on +apperçoit tout à coup au milieu de la nuit de nuages d'une blancheur +extraordinaire, et au travers de ces nuages une lumière très-éclatante. +Lors même qu'on ne sent pas un souffle de vent, ces nuages sont chassés +avec une très-grande vitesse, et prennent toutes sortes de figures. Plus +la nuit est obscure, plus la lumière est vive: elle l'est même +quelquefois à un point, qu'on peut lire à sa lueur beaucoup plus +aisément, qu'à celle de la lune dans son plein.</p> + +<p>"On dira peut-être que ce n'est qu'une réfraction des raïons du soleil, +qui par cette hauteur ne s'éloigne pas beaucoup de l'horison pendant les +nuits de l'été, et qu'encore qu'il n'y ait point de vent dans la basse +région de l'air, il peut y en avoir dans la supérieure, ce qui est vrai; +mais ce qui me fait juger qu'il y a encore une autre de ce météore, +c'est que pendant l'hyver même, la lune paroît souvent environnée +d'arc-en-ciel de couleurs différentes, et toutes très-vives. Pour moi je +suis persuadé que ces effets doivent être attribués en partie à des +exhalaisons nitreuses, qui pendant le jour ont été attirées et +enfluencées par le soleil."</p> + + +<p class='center'>No. XXIV.</p> + +<p>"Very distant posterity will one day decide whether, as Mr. Leslie has +endeavored to prove by ingenious hypothesis (<i>An Experimental Inquiry +into the Nature and Propagation of Heat</i>, 1804), 2400 years are +sufficient to augment the mean temperature of the atmosphere a single +degree. However slow this increment may be, we must admit that an +hypothesis, according to which organic life seems gradually to augment +on the globe, occupies more agreeably our imagination than the old +system of the cooling of our planet and the accumulation of the polar +ice."—Humboldt's <i>Personal Narrative</i>, vol. ii., p. 83.</p> + +<p>"A point of much interest is the comparison of the actual temperature of +the globe with that of the same regions in former ages. The evidence +which justifies the conclusion that no change has occurred but from +local or superficial causes, is worth studying, were it only for its +variety and singularity. We might begin with Laplace's conclusion, that +the mean heat can not be altered by 1° of Réaumur since the time of +Hipparchus, inasmuch as the dimensions of the globe would be thereby +changed in a small amount, its angular velocity be increased or +diminished, and a sensible difference be made in the length of the day, +which difference does not exist. We might then proceed to the argument +urged by Biot and Champollion, from the identity of the time of +inundation in the Nile, 5000 years ago, the periodical rains producing +which depend upon and indicate the degree and distribution of heat over +a vast equatorial region. Next we might turn to the method of Professor +Schaw, in his work on the comparative temperature of ancient and modern +times, founded on the northern and southern limits of production of +different animals and plants in any given country, as they come recorded +to us by ancient writers, compared with the observations of our own day. +The result of general identity is obtained by this method also; and the +same remark may be extended to the miscellaneous proofs derived from +other passages in ancient writers, numerously collated, respecting the +climate of particular regions and localities. There is no amount of +diversity shown by this evidence which does not admit of explanation +from local and accidental causes, many of them belonging to the agency +of man himself, on the surface of the earth."—<i>Quarterly Review</i>, +September, 1848.</p> + +<p>"Several planters attribute the failure of the cotton crop this year +(1842) to the unusual size and number of the icebergs, which floated +southward last spring from Hudson's and Baffin's Bays, and may have +cooled the sea and checked the early growth of the cotton plant, so +numerous and remote are the disturbing causes of meteorology! Forty +degrees of latitude intervene between the region where the ice-floes are +generated and that where the crops are raised, whose death-warrant they +are supposed to have carried with them."—Lyell's <i>America</i>, vol. i., p. +174.</p> + + +<p class='center'>No. XXV.</p> + +<p>The theory by which Dr. Brewster seeks to account for the peculiarities +of the American climate is the following: "He supposes that the poles of +the globe and the isothermal poles are by no means coincident, and that, +on the contrary, there exist two different points, within a few degrees +of the poles, where the cold is greatest in both hemispheres. These +points are believed by Dr. Brewster to be situated about the eightieth +parallel of latitude, and in the meridians of 95° east and 100° west +longitude. The meridians of these isothermal poles<a name="FNanchor_223_223" id="FNanchor_223_223"></a><a href="#Footnote_223_223" class="fnanchor">[223]</a> he considers as +lying nearly at right angles to the parallels of what might be called +the meteorological latitudes, which, according to his theory, appear to +have an obliquity of direction as regards the equator something like the +zodiac. Thus the cold circle of latitude that passes through Siberia +would be the same that traverses the frigid atmosphere of Canada. This +theory would go some length toward explaining the causes of the gradual +decrease of the severity of cold in the south of Europe, and lead us to +the conclusion that eventually the cold meridian of Canada may work its +way westward, and leave that part of America to an enjoyment of the same +temperature as those European countries situated in corresponding +latitudes. That the temperature of the air has been modified by +agricultural operations can not be denied, but that these operations +should of themselves be capable of producing the changes known to have +taken place in the course of ages in Europe, where formerly the Tiber +used to be often frozen, and snow was by no means uncommon at Rome;<a name="FNanchor_224_224" id="FNanchor_224_224"></a><a href="#Footnote_224_224" class="fnanchor">[224]</a> +when the Euxine Sea, the Rhone, and the Rhine, were almost every year +covered with ice, of sufficient thickness to bear considerable burdens, +it is scarcely possible rationally to admit; and, indeed, the +meteorological observations, as far as they go in Canada, serve rather +to disprove than to establish the fact."—Bouchette, vol. i., p. 335.</p> + +<p>"The earliest record of the climate of Canada is that contained in the +'Fastes Chronologiques,' and refers to the period of Cartier's second +voyage. On the 15th of November, 1535, Old Style, the vessels in the +River St. Charles were surrounded by ice, and the Indians informed +Cartier that the whole river was frozen over as far as Montreal. On the +22d of February, 1536, the River St. Lawrence became navigable for +canoes opposite to Quebec, but the ice remained firm in the St. Croix +harbor. On the 5th of April his vessels were disengaged from the ice. To +obtain the modern dates, it will be necessary to add eleven days to each +period.</p> + +<p>"The later meteorological statistics do not prove that the progressive +opening of the country has had so powerful an influence upon the +temperature of the atmosphere as is generally supposed. Its chief +tendency seems to be to lengthen the summer, and thus abridge the +duration of winter. That the gradual removal of the forests to make room +for open fields contributes to augment the summer temperature, is +undoubtedly true, since it is well known that the atmosphere itself is +not heated by the direct rays of the sun, but that its warmth springs +from the earth, and that the degree of this warmth is entirely governed +by the quantum of heat absorbed through the earth's surface. The +progressive settlement of the country may then be expected to benefit +the climate, by its throwing open to the direct action of the sun a more +extended surface of territory; and this benefit will be more sensibly +felt at night, from the earth's having imbibed a sufficient quantity of +caloric to temper the coolness of the air between the setting and rising +of the sun. In an agricultural point of view, such an improvement in the +climate of Canada will be of great moment, as the coldness of the nights +is generally the cause of blight in tender fruits and plants; and from +its equalizing the temperature, probably render the climate capable of +maturing fruits that are indigenous to warm countries.</p> + +<p>"Notwithstanding the opposing testimony of meteorological data, we have +the assertion of some of the oldest inhabitants of the country that the +climate of Canada has become perceptibly milder within their +recollection, and are thus left to conciliate this traditional record +with contradictory facts, and the only mode of doing so appears to be +the application of their remarks, more to the duration of the mild +season than the degrees of cold that were indicated by the thermometer +in the course of the year."—Bouchette, vol. i., p. 334, 340, 1831; +Lambert's <i>Travels through Canada</i> in 1808, vol. i., p. 119.</p> + +<p>Kalm says in 1748, September 12th, "The weather about this time was like +the beginning of our August, Old Style. Therefore it seems that autumn +commences a whole month later in Canada than in the midst of +Sweden."—P. 682.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_223_223" id="Footnote_223_223"></a><a href="#FNanchor_223_223"><span class="label">[223]</span></a> On the theory of the isothermal lines, see the papers of +Kupfer in Poggend., <i>Ann.</i>, bd. xv., s., 184, and bd. xxxli., s. 270, in +the <i>Voyage dans l'Oural</i>, p. 382-398, and in the <i>Edinb. Journal of +Science</i>, new series, vol. iv., p. 355. See, also, Kamtz, <i>Lehrbuch der +Meteor</i>, bd. ii., s. 217, and on the ascent of chthon-isothermal lines +in mountainous countries, Bischoff, s. 174-197; Humboldt's <i>Cosmos</i>, +vol. i., p. 347.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_224_224" id="Footnote_224_224"></a><a href="#FNanchor_224_224"><span class="label">[224]</span></a> Quebec lies nearly in the same latitude as Paris, and +from the description which the Emperor Julian has given of the winters +he quartered there during his command in Gaul, there seems to be little +difference between the winters of France in this respect and the present +winters of Canada.—Juliani Imper., <i>Opera</i>. +</p><p> +The author of <i>Récherches Philosophiques sur les Américains</i> supposes +the difference in heat between the two continents to be equal to 12 +degrees; that a place 30 degrees from the equator in the Old Continent +is as warm as one situated 18 degrees from it in America, tom. i., p. +11. Dr. Mitchell, after observations carried on during thirty years, +contends that the difference is equal to 14 or 15 degrees of latitude, +p. 257.—Heriot's <i>Travels through the Canadas</i>, p. 117.</p></div> +</div> + +<p class='center'>No. XXVI.</p> + +<p>The Vitis vinifera is found in America in its wild state; in James's +"Expedition to the Rocky Mountains" it is thus described: "The small +elms along this valley were bending under the weight of innumerable +grape vines, now loaded with ripe fruit, the purple clusters crowded in +such profusion as almost to give a coloring to the landscape. On the +opposite side of the river was a range of low sand-hills, fringed with +vines, rising not more than a foot or eighteen inches from the surface. +On examination, we found these hillocks had been produced exclusively by +the agency of the grape vines, arresting the sand as it was borne along +by the wind until such quantities had been accumulated as to bury every +part of the plant except the end of the branches. Many of these were so +loaded with fruit as to present nothing to the eye but a series of +clusters, so closely arranged as to conceal every part of the stem. The +fruit of these vines is incomparably finer than that of any other native +or exotic which we have met with in the United States. The burying of +the greater part of the trunk with its larger branches produces the +effect of pruning, inasmuch as it prevents the unfolding of leaves and +flowers on the parts below the surface, while the protruded ends of the +branches enjoy an increased degree of light and heat from the reflection +of the sand. It is owing, undoubtedly, to these causes that the grapes +in question are far superior to the fruit of the same vine under +ordinary circumstances. The treatment here employed by nature to bring +to perfection the fruit of the vine may be imitated, but, without the +peculiarities of soil and exposure, can with difficulty be carried to +the same magnificent extent. Here are hundreds of acres, covered with a +movable surface of sand, and abounding in vines, which, left to the +agency of the sun and of the winds, are, by their operation, placed in +more favorable circumstances than it is in the power of man to so great +an extent to afford."—Vol. ii., p. 315, 316.</p> + + +<p class='center'>No. XXVII.</p> + +<p>"Fir-trees, Thuja, and Cypress-trees are a northern type, which is very +rare in the tropical regions. The freshness of their evergreen leaves +cheers the desert winter landscape; it proclaims to the inhabitants of +these regions that although snow and ice cover the earth, the internal +life of the plants, like the fire of Prometheus, is never +extinguished."—<i>Cosmos</i>, vol. ii., p. 90.</p> + +<p>"There are upward of twenty species of Pinus, of which one half are +natives of Canada, Nova Scotia, or Newfoundland.</p> + +<p>"<i>Pinus Balsamea</i> (Balm of Gilead Fir, or American Silver Fir) grows to +the height of fifty feet, and is an elegant tree, resembling the silver +fir of Europe. The resin of this species is the common Canada Balsam, +which is often substituted for the Balm of Gilead. It is found in small +blisters on the bark, extracted by incision, and received in a limpid +state into a shell or cup. This tree has long been cultivated for +curiosity in England, but in general, though it grows to a considerable +size and height, scarcely survives above twenty years, which seems to be +the natural period of its existence. Mr. Lambert mentions some older +trees of this species at Woburn and Warwick Castle.</p> + +<p>"<i>Pinus Canadensis</i> (Hemlock Spruce) is a beautiful and very large tree, +bearing some resemblance in its foliage to the common yew. Peter +Collinson records his having introduced this tree to the English +collections in 1736, and a fine specimen of it is, or was, in his garden +at Mill Hill.</p> + +<p>"<i>Pinus Nigra</i> (Black or Double Spruce) is found from Canada to Nova +Scotia, and terminates in latitude 65°. It was introduced into England +about the year 1700, but not much cultivated there.</p> + +<p>"<i>Pinus Alba</i> (White Spruce) flourishes from latitude 43° northward. Its +growth is nearly equal to that of the European silver fir, 140 feet in +height. It is one of the most ornamental of the <i>Abies</i> tribe (those +having single, not fasciculated leaves); the branches feather down to +the ground, and the leaves have a beautiful and peculiar glaucous hue. +From the young shoots of this tree (also from Pinus Nigra) is obtained +the resinous extract from which spruce beer is made: good turpentine is +obtained from the bark. This tree was cultivated in England by Bishop +Compton before 1700.</p> + +<p>"<i>Pinus Resinosa</i> (Pitch Pine) grows in Canada in close forests, and is +distinguished for its great height and smooth red bark, whence it is +often called Red Pine by the French population. This tree is the glory +of Canada. Its timber, in color, quality, and durability, appears to be +in every respect equal to the best Riga, and in one particular superior, +that of being quite free from knots. It was first raised in England by +the Duke of Northumberland at Zion House, where many of this species are +still to be seen flowering in May.</p> + +<p>"<i>Pinus Banksiana</i> (Labrador Scrub, or Gray Pine) inhabits cold, barren, +and rocky situations. The finest trees of this species in England are at +Pain's Hill and Kew.</p> + +<p>"<i>Pinus Strobus</i> (White, or Weymouth Pine) is the largest species on the +eastern side of the Rocky Mountains, being sometimes 200 feet high, and +the trunk five feet in diameter. The attention which Lord Weymouth, +afterward Marquis of Bath, gave to the cultivation of this valuable tree +has justly stamped it with his name. It is now generally diffused +through every considerable plantation in England. When growing in open +situations, it is feathered to the ground; but, as generally found in +the Canadian forests, it is little more than an immense stick with a +quantity of brush at its head, in about the same proportion as the hair +on the tail of an elephant. It is of this tree that in general the +forests of all British America are composed, and it is, in fact, +peculiar to America. It is called in commerce White Pine, Yellow Pine, +or American Pine. The timber is very valuable for masts. The age to +which this tree arrives is not known: 1500 annular divisions have been +counted.</p> + +<p>"<i>Pinus Pendula</i> (Black Larch, or Hackmatack) is a beautiful and large +tree, generally resembling the larch of Europe. The buds are black, and +yield a fine turpentine. This tree was first raised in England by the +celebrated Peter Collinson, whose original tree, one of the treasures +of the Mill Hill garden, was cut down about the year 1800 to make a +rail! Few exotics are more worthy of general cultivation. The wood is at +least equal to the European larch.</p> + +<p>"<i>Pinus Microcarpa</i> (Red Larch) resembles the preceding so much, that +Michaux and Wildman confounded the two species together. The red larch, +however, is now clearly distinguished as a distinct kind. It is named by +the voyageurs L'Epinette Rouge, and by the Hudson's Bay men +Juniper."—H. Murray's <i>British America</i>, vol. iii., p. 328; R. M. +Martin, p. 254; Rees's <i>Cyclopædia</i>, art. Pinus.</p> + + +<p class='center'>No. XXVIII.</p> + +<p>"The canoes that navigate the Canadian lakes are among the most +ingenious and useful of the Indian manufactures, and nothing that +European ingenuity has devised is so well adapted to the habits and +necessities of their mode of life. They are made of the bark of the +birch-tree; and of all the various contrivances for transporting burdens +by water, these vessels are the most extraordinary. From the slightness +of their construction, they would appear to be totally inadequate to +contend against the rapids they are continually exposed to. They are of +various lengths, from twelve to thirty feet (the latter used only by the +Hudson's Bay Company); their breadth from four to six feet, diminishing +to a point at each end without distinction. The exterior is the bark of +the birch-tree, scarcely the eighth part of an inch in thickness: it is +kept distended by thin hoops and the bark; the gunwale is a narrow lath, +to which the hoop and the bark are sewed with narrow strips of the roots +of the white cedar-tree; and the joinings in the bark are rendered +water-proof by a species of gum, said to be collected from the wild +cherry-tree, which soon becomes perfectly hard. No iron work or nails +are employed in their construction; and they are so light, that the +common-sized ones are easily carried for several miles by a man of +moderate strength. They are worked by paddles over the sides, and the +dexterity of the Indians in working them is surprising. They, of course, +push them forward, and not backward, as in the operation of rowing. The +largest description will carry about five tons of merchandise, besides +eight or ten men. The great objection that attends the use of bark +canoes is the difficulty of keeping them water-tight. It requires the +greatest attention to prevent them from touching a rock, or even the +shore, as they would otherwise break; hence they are never brought near +to the bank. Two men keep the canoe afloat at a distance, while the rest +of the crew load or unload her. The canoe is unloaded every night, +raised out of the water, and left on the beach bottom upward. This is +also occasionally done when they stop during the day: it affords an +opportunity of allowing the canoe to dry, otherwise the bark absorbs +much water, and becomes very heavy. All motion on the part of those on +board is to be avoided, as it causes the pitch to crack, and renders the +canoe leaky."—Keating's <i>Narrative of an Expedition to the Source of +St. Peter's River</i>, vol. ii., p. 72, quoted in Sir George Simpson's +<i>Overland Journey Round the World</i>, vol. i., p. 14.</p> + +<p>La Hontan, in 1684, gives the same description of the bark canoes, and +complains of "the inconvenience of their brittle and tender fabric. If +they do but touch or grate upon stone or sand, the cracks of the bark +fly open, upon which the water gets in, and spoils the provisions and +merchandise. Every day there is some new chink or seam to be gummed +over. At night they are always unloaded and carried on shore, where they +are made fast with pegs, lest the wind should blow them away."</p> + +<p>Charlevoix gives a nearly similar account in 1720, vol. v., p. 285. He +adds: "Tous ces canots, jusqu'au plus petits, portent la voile et avec +un bon vent peuvent faire vingt lieues par jour. Sans voiles il faut +avoir de bons canoteurs pour en faire douze dans une eau morte."</p> + + +<p class='center'>No. XXIX.</p> + +<p>"Many of the species of <i>Acer</i> form large, ornamental, and valuable +trees. The kinds in most esteem for making sugar are <i>Acer dasycarpum</i> +(white, or soft maple), <i>Acer nigrum</i> (black sugar maple), and <i>Acer +saccharinum</i> (the sugar maple), the last two yielding the greatest +quantity of sugar. The process by which the sap is obtained is extremely +simple, nothing more being necessary than to bore a hole in the tree, +and conduct the flowing liquid, by means of a hollowed piece of wood, +into a vessel beneath. Whatever quantity of sap is collected, it must be +boiled down the same evening, as it is liable to be spoiled by +fermentation in the course of a few hours. The operation of boiling is +generally performed in a very primitive way: it is thus described by the +intelligent authoress of <i>Backwoods of Canada</i>: 'A pole was fixed across +two forked stakes strong enough to bear the weight of the big kettle. +The employment during the day was emptying the troughs and chopping wood +to supply the fires. In the evening they lit the fires and began boiling +down the sap. It was a pretty and picturesque sight to see the sugar +boilers, with their bright log-fire among the trees, now stirring up the +blazing pile, now throwing in the liquid, and stirring it down with a +big ladle. When the fire grew fierce it boiled and foamed up in the +kettle, and they had to throw in fresh sap to keep it from running over. +When the sap begins to thicken into molasses, it is then brought to the +sugar boiler to be finished. The process is simple: it only requires +attention in skimming, and keeping the mass from boiling over, till it +has arrived at the sugaring point, which is ascertained by dropping a +little into cold water. When it is near the proper consistency, the +kettle or pot becomes full of yellow froth, that dimples and rises in +large bubbles from beneath. These throw out puffs of steam, and when the +molasses is in this stage it is nearly converted into sugar. Those who +pay great attention to keeping the liquid free from scum, and +understand the precise sugaring point, will produce an article little, +if at all, inferior to Muscovado.' It is, however, often adulterated +with flour, which thickens and renders it heavy. It is very hard, and +requires to be scraped with a knife when used for tea, otherwise the +lumps would be a considerable time in dissolving. The Canadians say that +it possesses medicinal qualities, for which they eat it in large lumps. +It very possibly acts as a corrective to the vast quantity of fat pork +which they consume, as it possesses a greater degree of acidity than the +West India sugar. Before salt was in use, sugar was eaten with meat, as +a corrective; hence, probably, the custom of eating sweet apple-sauce +with pork and goose, and currant-jelly with hare and venison."—Lambert, +vol. i., p. 84.</p> + +<p>"The production of maple sugar amounted (in 1836) to about 25,000 cwt. +annually. A plantation of maple is termed 'suegari,' and is considered +very valuable: the sugar sells from 3<i>d.</i> to 6<i>d.</i> per pound. A moderate +tree is said to yield from twenty to thirty gallons of the sap, from +which may be extracted five or six pounds of sugar. Nor is sugar the +only product to be obtained from this valuable tree: strong and +excellent vinegar is made from it, as well as good wine; and, with the +addition of hops, sound and pleasant beer may be had at a very trifling +expense."—H. Murray's <i>Canada</i>, vol. iii., p. 315; Gray's <i>Canada</i>, p. +224.</p> + +<p>"It is a very remarkable fact that these trees, after having been tapped +for six or seven successive years, always yield more sap than they do on +being first wounded. This sap, however, is not so rich as that which the +trees distill for the first time; but, from its coming in an increased +portion, as much sugar is generally produced from a single tree on the +fifth or sixth year of its being tapped as on the first.</p> + +<p>"The ingenious Mr. Nooth, of Quebec, who is at the head of the general +hospital in Canada, has made a variety of experiments upon the +manufacture of maple sugar. He has granulated, and also refined it, so +as to render it equal to the best lump sugar that is made in England. To +convince the Canadians also, who are as incredulous on some points as +they are credulous on others, that it was really maple sugar that they +saw thus refined, he has contrived to have large lumps, exhibiting the +sugar in its different stages toward refinement, the lower part of the +lumps being left hard, similar to the common cakes, the middle part +granulated, and the upper part refined. Dr. Nooth has calculated that +the sale of the molasses alone would be fully adequate to the expense of +refining the maple sugar, if a manufactory for that purpose were +established. Some attempts have been made to establish one of the kind +at Quebec, but they have never succeeded, as the persons by whom they +were made were adventurers that had not sufficient capital for such an +undertaking."—Weld, 1800, p. 271.</p> + +<p>Charlevoix says in his <i>Journal</i>, "On me régale ici d'eau d'erable—elle +est délicieuse, d'un fraícheur admirable et fort saine. Pour qu'elle +coule avec abondance, il faut qu'il y ait beaucoup de neiges sur la +terre, qu'il ait gelé pendant la nuit, que le ciel soit serein, et que +le vent ne soit pas trop froid. Nos érables auroient peut-être la même +vertu, si nous avions en France autant de neiges qu'en Canada, et si +elles y duroient aussi lontems. J'en ai donné à foudre à un refineur +d'Orleans qui n'y a trouvé d'autre défaut que ce qu'il n'avoit pas été +suffisamment égouté. Il le croyoit même de meilleure qualité de +l'autre."—Vol. v., p. 181.</p> + + +<p class='center'>No. XXX.</p> + +<p>"Quelques nations tirent leur subsistance, d'une sorte de grain que la +Nature produit d'elle-même; on le nomme le folle-avoine, dont les +Français ont transporté le nom à quelques-unes de ces nations. C'est une +plante marécageuse qui approche assez de l'avoine, mais qui est mieux +nourrie. Les sauvages vont la chercher dans leurs canots, au tems de sa +maturité. Ils ne font que sécouer les épis, les quels s'égraissent +facilement, de sorte que leurs canots sont bientôt remplis, et leurs +provisions bientôt faìtes, sans qu'ils soient obligés de labourer ni de +semer."—Lafitau, tom. ii., 96.</p> + +<p>This grain is the <i>Zizania aquatica</i> of Linnæus. Kalm calls it the water +tare-grass, and says that "the Indians reckon it among their dainty +dishes. It grows in plenty in their lakes, in stagnant waters, and +sometimes in rivers which flow slowly. They gather its seeds in October, +and prepare them in different ways, and chiefly as groats, which take +almost as well as rice."—Kalm, in Pinkerton, vol. xiii., p. 696.</p> + +<p>"Common in all the waters from Canada to Florida, and known by the name +of Tuscarora,<a name="FNanchor_225_225" id="FNanchor_225_225"></a><a href="#Footnote_225_225" class="fnanchor">[225]</a> or wild rice."—Pursh. Sir Joseph Banks introduced it +into this country in 1790, and cultivated it abundantly in the ponds of +his villa of Spring Grove. The seeds were obtained from Canada in jars +of water. Mr. Lambert is of opinion that this grain might be cultivated +in many shallow lakes of Ireland, and turned to considerable advantage.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_225_225" id="Footnote_225_225"></a><a href="#FNanchor_225_225"><span class="label">[225]</span></a> The Tuscaroras, so called from the Wild Rice, were a race +of the Iroquois. It is of them that the fable was narrated that Owen +Chapelain (in 1619) saved himself from their hands, when they were about +to scalp him, by speaking in his Gaelic mother tongue. Catlin is +inclined to consider the fair and frequently blue-eyed nation of the +Tuscaroras to be a mixed race, between the ancient Welsh and the +American aboriginal tribes.</p></div> +</div> + +<p class='center'>No. XXXI.</p> + +<p>"The soil and climate of Canada are admirably adapted to the growth of +hemp. The Society for the Encouragement of Arts, &c., assert, in their +preface to Vol. XXI., 'That they have ascertained, by actual +experiments, that Canada can furnish hemp equal in quality for the uses +of the navy to that from the Baltic.' Hemp is one of the most valuable +and profitable productions of the earth. It enriches the cultivator, +and furnishes shipping with the most useful and important part of its +equipment. The several processes of hemp, also, benefit the state, by +employing many hands that could not be so usefully and profitably +engaged in other occupations. The advantage, therefore, which a country +must derive from the culture and manufacture of hemp, throughout its +several branches, can not be doubted, and is sufficiently proved by the +importance which Russia has derived from her commerce in that article, +by which she has, in a manner, rendered the greatest navy in the world +dependent upon her will and caprice. The importation of hemp from Russia +has annually amounted to no less than 30,000 tons for the general +consumption of the country, and for the use of the royal navy. It must, +therefore, in every point of view, be a great object to Great Britain to +draw her supplies of hemp from her own colonies. The efforts of +government to promote its general cultivation have hitherto proved very +partially successful. The failure is attributed, in a great degree, to +the attachment of the Canadians to old customs, and the opposition of +the Romish clergy, hemp not being a tithable article. The wheat +merchants and the seigniors, who depend for success in trade and for the +constant employment of their mills, the chief source of their revenues, +upon abundant crops of wheat, are strongly opposed to the introduction +of the culture of hemp, which they conceive would partly, if not wholly, +annihilate that of wheat."—Lambert, vol. i., p. 449.</p> + +<p>M. de Talon, the able Intendant of Quebec (in 1665), strongly +recommended the cultivation of hemp, having ascertained that the nature +of the soil and climate promised every possible success.</p> + + +<p class='center'>No. XXXII.</p> + +<p>"It is calculated that there is a greater proportion of wheat soil in +the Canadas than in England, and that, if this valuable grain were +cultivated in this latter country in the same defective manner as in +these provinces, it could not be of much value. Climate, an equally +important particular, seems, at first sight, less favorable than soil. A +region which for several months, and, in some districts, for more than +half the year, remains buried in frost and snow, may well be supposed +unfriendly to vegetation. The strong, steady heat of summer, however, +counteracts almost completely this chilling influence, and matures, with +surprising rapidity, the most valuable plants. Mr. Evans has had wheat +in ear nine weeks after it was sown. Even the violent alternations of +frost and thaw, of snow and rain, instead of injuring vegetation, are +found to pulverize and soften the soil, and thus render it more fertile +with less culture. The great steadiness of the summer weather exempts +plants from sundry vicissitudes which they undergo in a more changeable +climate. From these causes, the <i>annuals</i> suited to a temperate region +grow in Canada to full perfection, and as these include the grains +fitted for bread, the food most essential to man, she has little cause +to envy any other country. In regard to wheat, indeed, the chief of +those vegetables, this observation must be somewhat restricted. Its +plants are so far biennial, that to acquire the very first quality they +must be sown during the preceding autumn. Yet this course has not been +found safe in Lower Canada, where wheat must be treated as an annual, +sown in spring, and reaped before the end of the year. The defect is +owing, not to the rigor of the winter, still less to the depth of snow, +which, on the contrary, is found to protect and cherish vegetable +growth, but is ascribed to severe frosts, violent and chilling rains, +occurring after the snow has left the ground, and the plants have made +some progress. An opinion is entertained that, with good management, +autumn wheat might be raised with success. The British American Land +Company have decidedly adopted this idea, and some successful +experiments have been made. Mr. Evans, however, is of opinion that, from +the above causes, unless in some favored situations, it must always be +an unsafe crop, and peculiarly liable to disease. He had once autumn and +spring wheats growing on the same field, when, although the first was +completely ruined by rust and mildew, the other proved excellent. He +seems to apprehend, therefore, that Lower Canada must be content with +her good spring growth. It is said, however, to require a soil more +minutely pulverized, while the grain produced contains a greater +proportion of gluten, and is thus harder and more difficult to grind. In +Upper Canada, autumn wheat is raised without any difficulty."—H. +Murray, vol. i., p. 339.</p> + +<p>"Canada wheat is of an excellent quality: it is thought superior to the +Baltic wheat, being harder, and yielding more flour in proportion to the +quality. The Canadian farmers are very negligent in preventing the +growth of weeds, so that the wheat, when thrashed, is very foul, and +seldom or never in a condition to be shipped until it is cleaned. For +that purpose, it undergoes the operation of being once or twice put +through what is called the <i>cribbles</i>."—Gray's <i>Canada</i>, p. 199.</p> + + +<p class='center'>No. XXXIII.</p> + +<p>It is still a subject of dispute among naturalists whether the moose +deer and the elk are the same animal. Professor Kalm and his translator, +Forster, formed this opinion principally on the Algonquin name for the +elk, <i>Musu</i>, the final u being scarcely sounded. The Algonquins, before +the Iroquois attained to such great power in America, were the principal +nation in the northern part of the continent, and their language a kind +of universal language. Charlevoix says, "Ce qu'on appelle ici Orignal, +c'est ce qu'en Allemagne, en Pologne, et en Muscovie on nomme Elau, ou +la Grand Bête." The first mention of this remarkable animal is in a +tract of Mr. Josselyn's, entitled "New England Rarities." That author +says, "It is a very fine creature, growing to twelve feet high; the +horns are extremely beautiful, with broad palms, some of them full +grown, being two fathoms from the tip of one horn to the tip of the +other." The same author, in another work, entitled "Two Voyages to New +England," calls this creature "a monster of superfluity;" and says that, +"when full grown, it is many times larger than an ox." The best account, +however, of the moose deer is Mr. Paul Dudley's. This gentleman says +they are of two kinds: the common light-gray moose deer, called by the +Indians <i>Wampoose</i>, and the larger black moose. The gray moose is the +same animal which Mr. Clayton, in his account of the Virginian +quadrupeds, calls the elk; and this is the creature described in the +Anatomical Discoveries of the Paris Academy under the name of the stag +of Canada. Horns of this creature have been sent from Virginia, and +called elks' horns; they are wholly the same with those of our red deer, +except in size, weighing about twelve pounds, and measuring from the +burr to the tip about six feet long.—<i>Phil. Trans.</i>, No. cxliv., p. +386; Abr., vol. vii., p. 447. Mr. Dudley says that the gray moose is +like the English deer, and that these creatures herd together thirty or +more in a company. The black or large moose has been taken, he says, +measuring 14 spans in height from the withers, which, allowing 9 inches +to the span, is 10½ feet. The large horns found fossil in Ireland +have, from their vast dimensions, been supposed to have originally +belonged to the black moose deer; they are provided with brow antlers +between the burr and the palm, which the European elk has not, and the +American has. However, the largest horns of the American moose ever +brought over are only 32 inches long, and 34 between tip and tip, while +some of the Irish horns are near 12 feet between tip and tip, and 6 feet +4 inches long; they may probably be ranked among those remains which +fossilists distinguish by the title of diluvian.</p> + +<p>Professor Kalm says, "They sometimes dig very large horns out of the +ground in Ireland, and nobody in that country, or any where else in the +world, knows any animal that has such horns. This has induced many to +believe that it is the moose deer so famous in North America, and that +the horns found were of animals of this kind which had formerly lived in +that island, but were gradually destroyed. It has even been concluded +that Ireland, in distant ages, either was connected with North America, +or that a number of little islands, which are lost at present, made a +chain between them. This led me to inquire whether an animal with such +excessive great horns as are ascribed to the moose deer had ever been +seen in any part of this country. Mr. Bertram told me that he had +carefully inquired to that purpose, and was entirely of opinion that +there was no such animal in North America. Mr. Franklin related that he +had, when a boy, seen two of the animals which they call moose deer; but +he well remembered that they were not near of such a size as they must +have been if the horns found in Ireland were to fit them. The two +animals which he saw were brought to Boston in order to be sent to +England to Queen Anne. The height of the animal up to the back was that +of a pretty tall horse, but the head and its horns were still higher. On +my travels in Canada, I often inquired of the Frenchmen whether there +had ever been seen so large an animal in this country as some people say +there is in North America, and with such great horns as are sometimes +dug out in Ireland. But I was always told that they had never heard of +it, much less seen it; some added that if there was such an animal, they +certainly must have met with it in some of their excursions in the +woods."—Kalm, in Pink., vol. xiii., p. 472. In shape the elk or moose +deer is much less elegant than the rest of the deer kind, having a very +short and thick neck; a large head; horns dilating immediately from the +base into a broad, palmated form; a thick, broad upper lip, hanging very +much over the lower; very high shoulders, and long legs. The hair is a +dark grayish-brown color, strong, coarse, and elastic, much longer on +the top of the shoulders and ridge of the neck than on other parts, +forming together a kind of stiffish mane; the eye and ears are large, +the hoofs broad, and the tail extremely short. The elk resides +principally in the midst of forests, for the convenience of browsing the +boughs of trees, because it is prevented from grazing with facility on +account of the shortness of the neck and the disproportionate length of +the legs. Their gait is remarkable; their general pace is described to +be a high, shambling, but very swift trot, the feet being lifted up very +high, and the hoofs clattering much during their motion; in their common +walk they lift their feet very high, and will without difficulty step +over a gate five feet high. The flesh of the moose is extremely sweet +and nourishing; the Indians say that they can travel three times further +after a meal of moose than after any other animal food. The tongues are +excellent; but the nose is said to be perfect marrow, and is considered +the greatest delicacy in Canada. The skin makes excellent buff, being +strong, soft, and light. The Indians dress the hide, and, after soaking +it for some time, stretch and render it supple by a lather of the brains +in hot water. They not only make their snow-shoes of the skin, but after +the chase cover the hull of their canoes with it, in which they return +home with the spoils of their chase. The hair on the neck, withers, and +hams of a full-grown elk is of considerable use in making mattresses and +saddles; and the palmated parts of the horns are further excavated by +the Indians, and converted into ladles and other culinary articles. An +ancient superstition has prevailed that the elk is naturally subject to +epilepsy, and that it finds its cure by scratching its ear with the hoof +until it draws blood; in consequence of this notion, the hoofs of the +elk form an article of the ancient Materia Medica. A piece of the hoof +was anciently set in a ring, and worn as a preservative against the +complaint above mentioned; sometimes the hoof was held in the patient's +hand, or applied to the pulse, to the left ear, or suspended from the +neck.—Rees's <i>Cyclopædia</i>, art. Cervus Alces; Lambert's <i>Canada</i>, vol. +i., p. 414.</p> + +<p>Charlevoix speaks of the species having been almost entirely destroyed +even in his time (1721) by the indiscriminate carnage of the early +settlers.—Vol. v., p. 184. "Les Orignaux étoient partout à foison, +lorsque nous découvrimes a pays, et ils pouvoient faire un objet pour le +commerce, une douceur pour la vie, si on les avoit mieux ménages."—Vol. +v., p. 193.</p> + +<p>La Hontan minutely describes the chase of the elk or moose deer, in +which laborious amusement he spent three months. Fifty-six elks were +killed by the party of savages who accompanied him. He says that the +flesh of the Orignal eats deliciously. He was assured by the savages +that in summer it would trot for three days and three nights without +intermission; it neither runs nor skips, he says, but its trot will +almost keep up with the running of a hart.—La Hontan, in Pinkerton, +vol. xiii., p. 284.</p> + + +<p class='center'>No. XXXIV.</p> + +<p><i>Ursus Americanus</i>, a species distinct from the black bear of Europe: it +has a long, pointed nose, and narrow forehead, the hair of a glossy +black color, smoother and shorter than that of the European kind, and is +generally smaller than the European bear. The brown bear, <i>Ursus +Arctos</i>, is also found in some of the northern parts of America. La +Hontan observed the difference of disposition between the brown and the +black bear; the latter, he says, "are extremely black, but not +mischievous, for they never attack one unless they be wounded or fired +upon." The reddish (<i>rougeâtres</i>) bears are mischievous creatures, for +they fall fiercely upon the huntsmen, whereas the black fly from them. +The former sort are less, and more nimble than the latter. The flesh of +the black bear, and, above all, their feet, are very nice victuals. The +savages affirm that no flesh is so delicious as that of bears, and I +think they are right.<a name="FNanchor_226_226" id="FNanchor_226_226"></a><a href="#Footnote_226_226" class="fnanchor">[226]</a>—La Hontan, in Pinkerton, vol. xiii., p. 288. +Charlevoix, vol. v., p. 172.</p> + +<p>The <i>Ursus Maritimus</i>, or Polar Bear, is confined to the coldest parts +of the globe, being unknown except on the coasts of Hudson's Bay, +Greenland, and Spitzbergen. (Lambert says that they have been seen at +Newfoundland, and La Hontan saw one at a distance at Placentia.) This +animal grows to so great a size that the skin of some are thirteen feet +long. They are so fond of human flesh that they will greedily disinter +dead bodies; they will attack companies of armed men, and will even +board small vessels. The skins of the Polar Bear were formerly offered +by the hunters of the Arctic regions to the high altars of cathedral and +other churches, for the priest to stand on during the celebration of +mass in winter.—Rees's <i>Cyclopædia</i>, art. Ursus.</p> + +<p>Captain Clarke agrees with La Hontan in ascribing fierceness of +disposition to the brown bear, and also speaks of it as "reddish," or of +a bay brown. "We had rather," says Captain Clarke, "encounter two +Indians than meet a single brown bear; their very track in the mud or +sand, which we have sometimes found 11 inches long and 7¼ wide, +exclusive of the talons, is alarming. The wonderful power of life which +they possess renders them dreadful: there is no chance of killing them +by a single shot, unless the ball goes through the brain." ... Six of +Captain Clarke's party, all good hunters, having sight of a large one +of the brown breed, came unperceived within forty paces of him; four of +them then fired, and each lodged a ball in his body, two of which went +directly through the lungs. The brave beast made at them instantly; as +he came near, the two men who had reserved their shot both wounded him; +one of the balls broke his shoulder, and retarded his motion for a +moment; before they could reload, he was so near that they all ran to +the river; two jumped into the canoe, the other four separated, hid +themselves among the willows, and, firing as fast as they could reload, +struck him repeatedly, but every shot seemed as if it only served to +guide him, and he pursued two of them so closely that at last they threw +aside their guns and pouches, and jumped down a perpendicular bank of +twenty feet into the water. Even this did not secure them; Bruin sprang +after them, and was within a few feet of the hindermost, when one of the +hunters from the shore shot him in the head. It was found that eight +balls had passed through him. Another brown bear, after being shot five +times through the lungs, and receiving four other wounds, swam half +across the river to a sand-bar. This creature measured 8 feet 7½ +inches from the nose to the extremity of the hind feet, and his heart +was as big as that of a large ox, his maw ten times larger. Another, +having been shot through the middle of the lungs, pursued his enemy for +half a mile, than traveled more than a mile in another direction, and +dug, as if for his grave, a hole for himself in the earth two feet deep +and five feet long, in which he was found by the hunters. The skin of +this beast was a burden for two men.—Captain Lewis and Clarke's +<i>Travels to the Source of the Missouri River</i>.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_226_226" id="Footnote_226_226"></a><a href="#FNanchor_226_226"><span class="label">[226]</span></a> Bear's flesh is reckoned one of the greatest rarities +among the Chinese, insomuch that, as Du Halde informs us, the emperor +will send fifty or a hundred leagues into Tartary to procure it for a +great entertainment.</p></div> +</div> + +<p class='center'>No. XXXV.</p> + +<p>"None of the foxes of North America possess the long-enduring speed of +the European kind, their strength appearing to be exhausted at the first +burst, after which they are easily overtaken by a mounted horseman. The +American cross fox (<i>Canis decussatus</i>) is probably nothing more than a +variety of the red fox of that country (<i>Canis fulvus</i>), though usually +of smaller size. Its fur is highly esteemed; a single skin, not many +years ago, being worth from four to five guineas, while that of the red +fox did not bring more than 15s. The black, or silver fox (<i>Canis +argentatus</i>) is a much rarer and still more valuable variety, of which +seldom more than four or five individuals are ever taken at any single +post throughout the year. It varies from a mixed or hoary hue to a +shining black, and La Hontan observes that, in his time, the skin of one +was worth its weight in gold. We know that it still brings six times the +price of any fur obtained in America."—H. Murray, vol. iii., p. 236.</p> + + +<p class='center'>No. XXXVI.</p> + +<p>Charlevoix says that hares and rabbits are the same in America as in +Europe, except that their hinder feet are longer than their fore feet. +The rabbit, however, has never been found wild in any part of America. +La Hontan says that the Ossæ are little animals like hares, and resemble +them in every thing excepting the ears and fore feet.</p> + + +<p class='center'>No. XXXVII.</p> + +<p>Sciurus, a name formed of two Greek words, signifying shade and tail, +because the tail serves this animal for an umbrella. The Sciurus Niger, +Black Squirrel; the S. Vulpinus, Cat Squirrel; the S. Hudsonius, +Hudson's Bay Squirrel, and S. Striatus, Striped Squirrel, are all +natives of Canada, besides two species of flying squirrels. The S. +Cinereus, Gray Squirrel, is confined entirely to North America. It is +about half the size of a full-grown rabbit; the animal is of an elegant +pale gray, with the inside of the limbs and the under part of the body +white; the ears and tail are sometimes tinged with black. It is +frequently so numerous as to do incredible mischief to plantations of +corn; hence it is a proscribed animal, and 3<i>d.</i> per head given for +every one killed; at which rate, in the year 1749, £8000 were paid in +rewards.</p> + +<p>The black squirrel, Weld says, is also peculiar to North America. It is +entirely of a shining black, except that the muzzle and the tail are +sometimes white; specimens have sometimes been seen with a white ring +round the neck. "In this year" (1796), Weld says, "the black squirrels +migrated from the south, from the territory of the United States. As if +conscious of their inability to cross a very wide piece of water, they +bent their course toward Niagara River, above the falls, and at its +narrowest and most tranquil part, crossed over into the British +territory. It was calculated that upward of 50,000 of them crossed the +river in the course of two or three days, and such great depredations +did they commit on arriving at the opposite side, that in one part of +the country the farmers deemed themselves very fortunate where they got +in as much as one third of their crops of corn. Some writers have +asserted that these animals can not swim, but that when they come to a +river, in migrating, each one provides itself with a piece of wood or +bark, upon which, when a favorable wind offers, they embark, spread +their bushy tails to catch the wind, and are thus wafted over to the +opposite side. Whether these animals do or do not sometimes cross in +this manner, I can not take upon me to say; but I can safely affirm that +they do not always cross so, for I have often shot them in the water +while swimming. Their tail is useful to them by way of rudder, and they +use it with great dexterity; owing to its being so light and bushy, the +greater part of it floats upon the water, and thus helps to support the +animal."—P. 330.</p> + +<p>The S. Striatus, Striped Squirrel, is a native of the colder parts of +America and Asia, but has sometimes been found in Europe also. Its body +is yellowish, with five longitudinal stripes of a blackish color. It +differs from the major part of the squirrel tribe in its mode of life, +which rather resembles that of the dormouse. It resembles some of the +mouse tribe in this, that it is provided with cheek pouches for the +temporary reception of food, a peculiarity not to be found in any other +species of squirrel. It is not known whether this is the same species as +that described by La Hontan as "Suisse squirrels, little animals +resembling rats." The epithet Suisse is bestowed upon them in regard +that the hair which covers their body is streaked with black and white, +and resembles a Suisse's doublet; and these streaks make a ring on each +thigh that strongly resembles a Suisse's cap. He also describes "the +flying squirrels, as big as a large rat, and of a grayish white color. +They are as drowsy as those of the other species are watchful. They are +called flying squirrels, in regard that they fly from one tree to +another, by the means of a certain skin which stretches itself out in +the form of a wing when they make these little flights." The S. +Volucellæ and the S. Hudsonius are the only species of the flying +squirrel found in America. The former is an animal of great beauty, and +is readily tamed, showing a considerable degree of attachment to its +possessor. It is naturally of a gregarious disposition, and may be seen +flying, to the number of ten or twelve together, from tree to +tree.—Rees's <i>Cyclopædia</i>, art. Sciurus. La Hontan, in Pinkerton, vol. +xiii., p. 352. Kalm, in Pink., vol. xiii., p. 480.</p> + + +<p class='center'>No. XXXVIII.</p> + +<p>"The most interesting feature of the animal creation in the Western +Continent is, perhaps, the beaver (<i>Castor fiber</i>). These amphibia, +indeed, occur in the northern parts of Europe and Siberia, but on +comparatively so small a scale, both in number and size, that the beaver +may be viewed with propriety as specially American. There appears to be +absolutely no animal which makes so close an approach to human art and +intelligence. The beaver builds his habitation either in a pond or in +the channel of a river, converted into a pond by strong piles being laid +across. This operation involves the greatest display of ingenuity. A +tall tree is selected, and filed round with the teeth till it is +undermined and falls across the stream. It is then fastened down by +smaller trees and branches, brought often from a distance, and connected +with earth. In the little lake thus formed, the beaver rears his abode +to the height of two, three, or four stories, half above and half under +the water, and with an opening into both elements. Stones and earth, as +well as wood, are used in forming the walls, which, by the joint +operation of the feet and the tail, are brought into a mass so solid as +to be proof against the action of current, wind, and weather. The +outside is plastered in the neatest manner, the floor kept excessively +clean, strewed with box and fir. A large provision of food, consisting +of bark and leaves, is stored up for the winter. The beavers possess a +social and almost a moral existence. Each mansion contains from six to +thirty inhabitants, who live together in the greatest harmony, and +afford mutual aid and co-operation. From twelve to fourteen houses +united form a village, containing thus a population of 200 or 300.</p> + +<p>"The flesh of these animals is much prized by the Indians and Canadian +voyageurs, especially when roasted in the skin after the hair has been +singed off. The enjoyment of this expensive luxury is of course +restrained as much as possible by the fur traders. The Iroquois are the +greatest beaver-catchers in Canada. Great injury has resulted from the +indiscriminate capture of old and young, and the too frequent trenching +of the same dams. It is known that in the year 1743 the amount of their +skins brought into the ports of London and Rochelle exceeded 150,000, +besides a considerable quantity introduced illicitly into Great Britain; +while in 1837, the importation into London, from more than four times +the extent of fur country formerly possessed, did not much exceed +800,000.</p> + +<p>"There are two modes of taking the beaver—one by traps, which is the +easiest, and generally followed by single adventurers; the other is what +is termed trenching, or the ice chisel. On a beaver house being +discovered, all the canals leading from it are stopped up; then, with +the instrument above named, it is broken into, and the old animals +speared. The young are left untouched, and thus the breed remains +uninjured, while in trapping both old and young equally fall victims. +The company, therefore, have prohibited the latter operation in all +their settlements. The skins are divided into parchment, or those of the +old animals; and cub, or those of the young ones. The latter are the +finest, but, from their smaller size, not of equal value with the +others. They have, of course, become much rarer since their capture was +prohibited."—Murray's <i>America</i>, vol. ii., p. 306.</p> + +<p>Kalm says that he ate beaver flesh, and thought it any thing but +delicious, as he had been told it was. He says that it must be boiled in +several waters from morning till noon to make it lose the bad taste it +has. Charlevoix says the same. The flesh is reckoned best when the +beaver has lived only on vegetables; when he has eaten fish it does not +taste well. It was a popular food among the French Roman Catholics, as +the only meat they could indulge in on fast days, his holiness, in his +system (Kalm says), having ranked the beaver among the fish. This +arrangement is attributed by Charlevoix to two numerous and learned +bodies in France. "Le Castor a été juridiquement declaré poisson par la +Faculté de Médicine de Paris, et en consequence de cette déclaration la +Faculté de Theologie a decide qu'on pouvoit manger sa chair les jours +maigres. Par sa queuë il est tout a fait poisson." La queuë—the tail, +so remarkable in natural history, is thus described by Charlevoix, one +of the earliest observers of the habits of the beaver in North America: +"Elle est presque ovale, épaisse d'un pouce, et longue d'un pied. Elle +est couverte d'une peau écailleuse dont les écailles sont hexagones, ont +une demi ligne d'épaisseur, sur trois ou quatre lignes de longueur, et +sont appuyées les unes sur les autres comme toutes celles des poissons. +Une pellicule très délicate leur sert de fond, et elles y sont +enchâssées de manière, qu'on peut aisément les en séparer après la mort +de l'animal.... Tous les vuides de leurs batimens sont remplis d'une +terre grasse si bien appliquée qu'il n'y passe pas une goûte d'eau. +C'est avec leurs pattes que les Castors preparent cette terre, et leur +queuë ne leur sert pas seulement de truelle pour maçonner, mais encore +d'auge pour voiturer ce mortier, ce qu'ils font en se traînant sur leurs +pattes de derrière. Arrivés au bord de l'eau, ils le prennent avec les +dents, et pour l'employer, ils se servent d'abord de leurs pattes, +ensuite de leur queuë." Charlevoix applies the happy term of "une petite +Venise" to the habitations of a society of beavers. He says, that in +their erection "les proportions sont toujours exactement gardées. La +régle et le compas sont dans l'œil du grand maître des arts et des +sciences. On a observé que le côté du courant de l'eau est toujours en +tatus, et l'autre côté parfaitement à plomb. En un mot il seroit +difficile à nos meilleurs ouvriers de rien faire de plus solide et de +plus regulier." Both La Hontan and Charlevoix speak of the "Castor +terriers." "They are called by the savages 'the idle or lazy kind,' as +being expelled by the other beavers from the kennels in which these +animals are lodged, because they are unwilling to work. They make holes +in the earth, like rabbits or foxes, and resemble the other sort in +their figure, except that the hair is rubbed off many parts of their +body by their rubbing against the earth whenever they stir out from +their holes."—La Hontan, p. 307. Charlevoix adds, "Ils sont maigres, +c'est la fruit de leur paresse. Les Castors, ou Biévres d'Europe, +tiennent plus de ceux-ci que des autres; en effet M. Lemery dit qu'ils +se retirent dans les creux et dans les cavernes qui se rencontrent sur +les bords des rivières surtout en Pologne. Il y en a aussi en Allemagne +le long de l'Ehre, et en France, sur le Rhone, l'Isère, et l'Oise. Ce +qui est certain c'est que nous ne voyons point dans les Castors +Européens le merveilleux qui distingue si fort ceux du Canada.... Avant +la découverte de l'Amérique on trouve dans les anciens titres des +Chapeliers de Paris des réglemens pour la fabrique des chapeaux Biévres, +or Biévre et Castor c'est absolument le même animal, mais soit que le +Biévre Européen soit devenu extrêmement rare, on que son poil n'eût pas +la même bonté que celui du Castor Américain, on ne parle plus guéres que +de ce dernier.... Leur poil est de deux sortes par tout le corps, +excepté aux pattes, où il n'y en a qu'un fort couet. Le plus grand est +long de huit à dix lignes, il est rude, gros, luisant, et c'est celui +qui donne la couleur à la bête. On n'en fait aucun usage. L'autre poil +est un duvet tres fin, fort épais, long tout au plus d'un pouce, et +c'est celui qu'on met en œuvre; on l'appelloit autrefois en Europe, +Laine de Moscovie."—Charlevoix, vol. v., p. 147.</p> + +<p>"In 1669 an attempt was made to employ the flix or down of the beaver in +the manufacture of cloths, flannels, stockings. Much more wool, however, +than flix was required, the hair of the beaver being so short, and this +prevented the manufacture being very profitable. It flourished for a +while, however, in an establishment in the Faubourg St. Antoine, near +Paris, but finally was given up on finding by experience that the stuffs +lost their dye when wet, and that, when dry again, they were harsh and +stiff as felts."—Rees's <i>Cyclopædia</i>, art. Beaver.</p> + +<p>"In Captain Lewis and Clarke's Travels to the Source of the Missouri," +it is mentioned that "the beavers who have not been invaded here by the +furrier are continually altering the course of the river. They dam up +the small channels of about twenty yards between the islands; when they +have effected this, their pond ere long becomes filled with mud and +sand; they then remove to another; this is in like manner filled up; and +thus the river, having its course obstructed, spreads on all sides, and +cuts the projecting points of lands into islands."—<i>Quarterly Review</i>, +vol. xii., p. 346.</p> + +<p>Weld mentions, in 1796, that "the indiscriminate slaughter of beavers +had so much diminished their numbers that an annual deficiency of 15,000 +beaver skins had for some years been observed in the number brought to +Montreal."—P. 551.</p> + +<p>"One day a gentleman, long resident in this country, espied five young +beavers sporting in the water, leaping upon the trunk of a tree, pushing +one another off, and playing a thousand interesting tricks. He +approached softly, under cover of the bushes, and prepared to fire on +the unsuspecting creatures; but a nearer approach discovered to him such +a similitude between their gestures and the infantile caresses of his +own children that he threw aside his gun."—Franklin's <i>Journey to the +Polar Sea</i>, p. 91.</p> + +<p>"The proprietor of one of the large quarries of gypsum on the +Shubenacadie showed me some wooden stakes, dug up a few days before by +one of his laborers from a considerable depth in a peat bog. His men +were persuaded that they were artificially cut by a tool, and were the +relics of aboriginal Indians; but, having been a trapper of beavers in +his younger days, he knew well that they owed their shape to the teeth +of these creatures. We meet with the skulls and bones of beavers in the +fens of Cambridgeshire, and elsewhere in England. May not some of the +old tales of artificially cut wood, occurring at great depths in peats +and morasses, which have puzzled many a learned antiquary, admit of the +like explanation?"—Lyell's <i>Travels in America</i>, vol. ii., p. 229.</p> + + +<p class='center'>No. XXXIX.</p> + +<p>"The Hudson's Bay Company is now the only survivor of the numerous +exclusive bodies, to which almost every branch of British trade was at +one time subjected. The Northwest Company, after a long and furious +contest, destructive alike to the interests of both, and most +demoralizing to the savage aborigines, were at length obliged to yield +to their rivals; and, in consequence of their overstrained exertions, +they became involved beyond their capital. They obtained in 1821 an +honorable capitulation. On transferring all their property and means of +influence, the principal partners were admitted to shares in the +Hudson's Bay Company, who took the inferior officers into their service. +Thus these two concerns were united, with great advantage to the peace +of the fur countries, and perhaps to the permanent interests of the +trade. A great blank was indeed felt in the city where the partners had +resided, and where, according to Washington Irving, they had held huge +feasts and revels, such as are described to have taken place in Highland +castles. 'The hospitable magnates of Montreal, the lords of the lakes +and forests, have passed away,' and that city, as to the fur trade, has +sunk to a subordinate station.</p> + +<p>"In the present case, there are some peculiar circumstances which plead +strongly in favor of the monopoly exercised by the Hudson's Bay Company. +For example, their trade is carried on throughout vast regions, free +from all control of law, and tenanted by savage races, who are easily +prompted to deeds of violence. The struggle with the Northwest Company +filled large tracts with outrage, often amounting to bloodshed. The +article, too, by far the most prized by those tribes, and which, amid an +eager rivalry, can not be prevented from coming into the market, is +spirits, the immoderate use of which is productive of the most dreadful +consequences. The company, by their present position, obtained the +opportunity, of which they have most laudably availed themselves, to +withdraw it altogether as an object of trade, merely giving an +occasional glass when the natives visit the factories. They have even +prohibited it from passing, under any pretext, to the northward of +Cumberland House, on the Saskatchawan, so that all the settlements +beyond form complete temperance societies. Another very important +specialty in their case consists in the nature of the commodities drawn +from this range of territory, namely, they are such as human industry +can not produce or multiply according to the demand. The wild animals, +which afford its staple of furs and skins, exist only in a limited +number, and being destined to give way in proportion as colonization +advances, will soon be thinned, or even utterly exterminated. Bands of +individual hunters, with no permanent interest in the country, capture +all they can reach, young and old indiscriminately, without any regard +to keeping up the breed. Thus the beaver, the most valuable of the +furred animals, has been nearly destroyed in Upper and Lower Canada, and +much diminished in the districts beyond the Rocky Mountains, which are +traversed by trapping parties from the States. During the competition of +the Northwest adventurers, a great part even of the wooded countries +suffered severely; but since the Hudson's Bay Company obtained the +entire control, they have carefully nursed the various animals, removing +their stations from the districts where they had become scarce, and +prohibiting all wasteful and destructive modes of capture. It may be +finally observed, that in this vast open territory the means of +excluding rivalry are so imperfect, that without good management and +liberal dealing it would be impossible to maintain their privilege. In +fact, Mr. Irving admits, that by the legitimate application of large +capital, by good organization, regular transmission of supplies, with +faithful and experienced servants, they have carried all before them, +even in the western territory, where they are exposed to a full +competition from the United States. Several associations from thence +have made very active efforts to supplant or rival them, but without +success."—Washington Irving's <i>Adventures of Captain Bonneville</i>, vol. +ii., p. 17, 19; vol. iii., p. 267, 272; H. Murray's <i>British America</i>, +vol. iii., p. 83.</p> + + +<p class='center'>No. XL.</p> + +<p>"This species of rattlesnake is most commonly found between four and +five feet in length, and as thick as the wrist of a large man. Its body +approaches to a triangular form, the back bone rising higher than any +other part of the animal. It is not with the teeth which the rattlesnake +uses for ordinary purposes that it strikes its enemy, but with two long, +crooked fangs in the upper jaw, which point down the throat. When about +to use these fangs, it rears itself up as much as possible, throws back +its head, drops its under jaw, and, springing forward upon its tail, +endeavors to hook itself, as it were, upon its enemy. In order to raise +itself upon its tail, it coils itself up previously in a spiral line, +with the head in the middle. It can not spring further forward than +about half its own length. Tho body of the rattlesnake, finely +pulverized, after being dried to a cinder over the fire, and then +infused in a certain portion of brandy, is said to be a never-failing +remedy against the rheumatism. The liquor is taken inwardly, in the +quantity of a wine-glassful at once about three times a day. It is said +that one of the reasons why these creatures are decreasing so much in +the neighborhood of human habitations, is, that they are eaten by the +pigs."—Sir G. Simpson's <i>Journey round the World</i>, vol. i., p. 159; +Weld, p. 411.</p> + +<p>"The rattle is usually about half an inch in breadth, one quarter of an +inch in thickness, and each joint about half an inch long. The joint +consists of a number of little cases of a dry, horny substance, inclosed +one within another; and not only the outermost of these little cases +articulates with the outermost case of the contiguous joint, but each +case, even to the smallest one of all, at the inside, is connected by a +sort of joint with the corresponding case in the next joint of the +rattle. The little cases or shells lie very loosely within one another, +and the noise proceeds from their dry and hard coats striking one +against the other. It is said that the animal joins a fresh joint to its +rattle every year. Of this, however, I have great doubts; for the +largest snakes are frequently found to have the fewest joints to their +rattles. A medical gentleman in the neighborhood of Newmarket had a +rattle in his possession which contained no less than thirty-two joints; +yet the snake from which it was taken scarcely measured five feet. +Rattlesnakes, however, of the same kind, and in the same part of the +country, have been found of a greater length with not more than ten +rattles."—Weld, p. 409.</p> + +<p>"Man or animals bitten by the rattlesnake expire in extreme agony; the +tongue swells to an enormous size, the blood turns black, and, all the +extremities becoming cold, gangrene ensues, and is speedily succeeded by +death. The remedies in common use are the <i>Polygala seneca</i> or +<i>Aristolochia serpentaria</i>, employed as a decoction. Sometimes +scarification, or cauterizing the wound with a burning iron, if +immediate in their application, is attended with success. The Indians' +favorite remedy is sucking the wound, which in a slight bite is +generally successful. Mr. Catesby, by traveling much among the Indians, +had frequent opportunities of seeing the direful effects of the bite +inflicted by these snakes. He seems to consider that the success of any +remedy is owing more to the force of nature or to the slightness of the +bite than to any other cause. He has known persons bitten to survive +without assistance for many hours; but where a rattlesnake with full +force penetrates with his deadly fangs into a vein or artery, inevitable +death ensues, and that, as he has often seen, in less than two minutes. +The Indians, for this reason, know their destiny directly they are bit, +and when they perceive it is mortal, apply no remedy, concluding all +efforts in vain. From experiments made in Carolina by Captain Hall, and +related in the Philosophical Transactions, it appears that a rattlesnake +of about four feet long, being fastened to a stake in the ground, bit +three dogs, the first of which died in less than a quarter of a minute; +the second, which was bitten a short time afterward, in about two hours, +in convulsions; and the third, which was bitten about half an hour +afterward, showed the visible effects of the poison in about three +hours, and died likewise. Four days after this, another dog was bitten, +which died in half a minute; and then another, which died in four +minutes. A cat which was bitten was found dead the next day. The +experiments having been discontinued some time, from want of subjects, a +common black-snake was procured, which was healthy and vigorous, and +about three feet long. It was brought to the rattlesnake, when they bit +each other, the black-snake biting the rattlesnake so as to make it +bleed. They were then separated, and in less than eight minutes the +black-snake died, while the rattlesnake, on the contrary, showed no +signs of indisposition, appearing as well as before. Lastly, in order to +try whether the rattlesnake could poison itself, it was provoked to bite +itself: the experiment succeeded, and the animal expired in less than +twelve hours."—Rees's <i>Cyclopædia</i>, art. Crotalus.</p> + +<p>Charlevoix says that "La morsure du Serpent à Sonnettes est mortelle, si +on n'y rémédie sur-le-champ; mais la Providence y a pourvu. Dans tous +les endroits, où se rencontre ce dangereux reptile, il croît une plante +à laquelle on a donné le nom d'Herbe à Serpent à Sonnettes (Bidens +Canadensis) et dont la racine est un antidote sûr contre le venin de cet +animal.... Il est rare que le serpent à sonnettes attaque les passans +qui ne lui cherchent point nuire. J'eu ai en un à mes pieds qui eut +assurément plus de peur que moi, car je ne l'aperçus que quand il +fuyoit."—Charlevoix, vol. v., p. 235.</p> + +<p>"Archdeacon Burnaby was told by a planter in Virginia that he had one +day provoked a rattlesnake to such a degree as to make it strike a small +vine which grew close by, and the vine presently drooped and +died."—Burnaby's <i>Travels in North America</i>, in Pinkerton, vol. xiii., +p. 724.</p> + +<p>"The rattlesnake has two fangs, which are concealed in a sheath, one at +each side of the upper jaw. They are curved in their shape, and their +point is as sharp as that of a common needle. They are hollow in the +center, and the roots of the fangs are connected with the poison bags. +These reptiles generally use only one fang at a time, and when they do +use it, they seize with their mouth the part which they intend to +poison, then perforate it deeply with the fang. At this moment the bag +contracts, and the deleterious fluid, which has such an enmity to the +blood, is injected into the very bottom of the wound, through a small +aperture in the under part of the fang, at a short distance from the +sharp point. Having effected his purpose, he withdraws the instrument, +and leaves his victim to his fate. He does not seem to feel pain at the +moment, and generally for the first five minutes he appears to be +perfectly well. At the end of this period, however, the ears begin to +droop; he seems giddy and uneasy; the lower extremities soon lose their +power; he falls on the ground; the pupils dilate; slight convulsions +come on; and the animal dies, generally, in about fifteen minutes from +the time that the poison had been injected into the wound. When we +examine the part immediately after death, we find that the poison has +completely destroyed the red color of the blood; and not only of this, +but for two inches all round the puncture, the muscular fibers, and even +the cellular substance, are as black as if they had been for hours in a +state of complete mortification. When the muriate of soda (common salt) +is immediately applied to the wound, it is a complete antidote. When an +Indian is bitten by a snake, he applies a ligature above the part, and +scarifies the wound to the very bottom; he then stuffs it with common +salt, and after this it soon heals, without producing any effect on the +general system. (The ligature may be the efficacious remedy, +intercepting the current of blood to the heart, and consequently +preventing the action of the poison upon that vital organ.) A rabbit, +under the influence of the rattlesnake poison, has been seen to drink a +saturated solution of muriate of soda and soon recover, while healthy +rabbits would not taste a drop of the same saline water."—Stevens's +<i>Observations on the Properties of the Blood</i>, p. 137, 315.</p> + +<p>"I was with the Hon. Esquire Boyle when he made certain experiments of +curing the bite of vipers with certain East India snake-stones, that +were sent him by King James II., purposely to have him try their virtue +and efficacy. For that end he got some brisk vipers, and made them bite +certain pullets; he applied nothing to one of the pullets, and it died +within three minutes and a half; but I think they all recovered to whom +he applied the snake-stones, though they turned wonderful pale, their +combs drooped immediately, and the next morning all their flesh was +turned green to a wonder; nevertheless, they recovered by +degrees."—<i>Miscellanea Curiosa</i>, vol. iii., p. 345.</p> + + +<p class='center'>No. XLI.</p> + +<p>"It is an unquestionable fact, that the copper-colored man can not +endure the spread of European civilization in his neighborhood, but +perishes in its atmosphere, without suffering from ardent spirits, +epidemics, or war, as if touched by a poisonous breath." Thus writes Mr. +Poeppig, a German naturalist, who has resided for some years in South +America; and he proceeds to compare the substitution of the one race for +the other, with the destruction of the first growth of low vegetation in +the recently-formed islands of the Pacific by the vigorous crop of +forest trees which succeeds it.—<i>Encyclopædia</i> of Erz and Gruber, art. +Indici.</p> + +<p>Thus also writes the philosophical traveler, Mr. Darwin: "Besides +several evident causes of destruction, there appears to be some more +mysterious agency at work. Wherever the European has trod, death seems +to pursue the aboriginal. We may look to the wide extent of the +Americas, Polynesia, the Cape of Good Hope, and Australia, and we shall +find the same result. Nor is it the white man alone that thus acts the +destroyer. The Polynesian of Malay extraction has, in parts of the East +Indian Archipelago, thus driven before him the dark-colored native. The +varieties of man seem to act upon each other in the same way as +different species of animals, the stronger always extirpating the +weaker. It was melancholy at New Zealand to hear the fine, energetic +natives saying, 'They knew the land was doomed to pass from their +children.'"</p> + +<p>Sir Richard Bourke writes thus to Lord Glenelg respecting New Zealand +(1837): "Disease and death prevail even among those natives who, by +their adherence to the missionaries, have received only benefit from the +English connection, and even the very children, who are reared under the +care of the missionaries, are swept off in a ratio which promises, at no +very distant period, to leave the country destitute of a single +aboriginal inhabitant. The natives are perfectly sensible of this +decrease, and when they contrast their own condition with that of the +English families, they conceive that the God of the English is removing +the aboriginal inhabitants to make room for them; and it appears to me +that this impression has produced among them a very general unhappiness +and indifference to life."</p> + +<p>Sir Francis Head justified the sweeping measures of removal<a name="FNanchor_227_227" id="FNanchor_227_227"></a><a href="#Footnote_227_227" class="fnanchor">[227]</a> +contemplated during his administration of Canada, by asserting his +belief in the same mysterious certainty of the aboriginals' extirpation. +"We may as well endeavor to make the setting sun stand still on the +summit of the Rocky Mountains, as attempt to arrest the final +extermination of the Indian race."—See Merivale's <i>Lectures on +Colonization</i>, No. 19 (delivered before the University of Oxford in +1839, 1840, and 1841), in which he objects to the truth of the facts on +which the above statements are founded, in so far as they are supposed +to involve any mysterious influence of the white over the copper-colored +races. "Perhaps I may venture to attribute some of the coloring (of the +foregoing statements) to that taste for fanciful analogies, and +speculations partaking of the mysterious, in which natural philosophers +are apt to indulge when they apply their knowledge to subjects not +immediately within their province. When we find one race of animals, or +one class of vegetation, extirpating another, there is nothing +inexplicable in the succession of cause and effect. The stronger +destroys the weaker by natural agencies: animals become the prey of +newly-imported indigenous ones, or their food is destroyed by the +multiplication of the latter: the seeds of one class of vegetables can +not spring where a stronger growth has established itself, and so forth. +What is there in these or similar processes analogous to the supposed +mysterious influence of the mere contact of one family of the human race +upon another? If it be true that the mere presence of a white population +is sufficient to cause the Red Indians or the Polynesians to dwindle and +decay, without any assignable agency of the one or the other, it must be +confessed that this is an anomaly in the laws of Providence utterly +unexplained by all our previous knowledge, wholly at variance with all +the other laws by which animal life and human society are +governed."—Vol. ii., p. 206.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_227_227" id="Footnote_227_227"></a><a href="#FNanchor_227_227"><span class="label">[227]</span></a> Three millions of fertile acres were to be resumed; +several thousand Indians were persuaded to relinquish them, and migrate +to a large island (Manitoulin) on Lake Huron. "The greatest kindness," +says Sir F. Head, "which we can perform to these intelligent and +simple-minded people, is to remove and fortify them as much as possible +from all communication with the whites."—<i>Returns</i>, 1839, p. 145. These +are nearly the same arguments which have uniformly been urged in the +United States, and would justify incessant acts of arbitrary removal, +such as would render all improvement impossible.</p></div> +</div> + +<p class='center'>No. XLII.</p> + +<p>"The small-pox proves almost always fatal to the Red Indian, his +hardened skin preventing the appearance of the eruption. In Abyssinia, +where this dreadful disease is supposed to have originated, when any +person is seized with it, the neighbors surround the house and set it on +fire, consuming it with its miserable inhabitants. The American Indians +regard the contagion with almost as much horror. The Mahas had been a +powerful and warlike tribe till now, when they saw their strength wasted +by a malady which they could neither resist nor prevent; they became +frantic; they set fire to their village, and many of them killed their +wives and children, to spare them the sufferings of disease, and that +they might all go together to the land of souls."—Lewis and Clarke's +<i>Travels to the Source of the Missouri</i>.</p> + +<p>Lambert says, "Many nations have been totally exterminated by the +small-pox. When I was in Canada in the spring of 1808, a village of +Mississagas, residing near Kingston, was nearly depopulated by the +small-pox; not more than twenty escaped of five hundred."</p> + +<p>"Repeated efforts have been made, and so far, generally, as the tribes +have ever had the disease (or, at all events, within the recollection of +those who are now living in the tribes), the government agents (of the +United States) have succeeded in introducing vaccination as a +protection; but among the tribes in their wild state, who have not yet +suffered from the disease, very little success has been met with in the +attempt to protect them, on account of their superstitions, which have +generally resisted all attempts to introduce vaccination. While I was on +the Upper Missouri, several surgeons were sent into the country with the +Indian agents, where I several times saw the attempt made without +success. They have perfect confidence in the skill of their own +physicians, until the disease has made one slaughter in their tribe, and +then, having seen white men among them protected by it, they are +disposed to receive it, before which they can not believe that so minute +a puncture in the arm is going to protect them from so fatal a disease; +and as they see white men so earnestly urging it, they decide that it +must be some new trick of the pale faces, by which they are to gain some +new advantage over them, and they stubbornly and successfully resist +it."—Catlin, vol. ii., p. 258.</p> + +<p>From the accounts brought to New York in the fall of 1838 by Messrs. +M'Kenzie, Mitchell, and others, from the Upper Missouri, and with whom I +conversed on the subject, it seems that in the summer of that year the +small-pox was accidentally introduced among the Mandans by the fur +traders, and that in the course of two months they all perished except +some thirty or forty, who were taken as slaves by the Riccarees, an +enemy living two hundred miles below them, and who worked up and took +possession of their village soon after their calamity, taking up their +residence in it, it being a better built village than their own; and +from the lips of one of the traders who had more recently arrived from +there, I had the following account of the remaining few, in whose +destruction was the final termination of this interesting and once +numerous tribe:</p> + +<p>"'The Riccarees,' he said, 'had taken possession of the village after +the disease had subsided, and, after living some months in it, were +attacked by a large party of their enemies, the Sioux, and while +fighting desperately in resistance, in which the Mandan prisoners had +taken an active part, the latter had concerted a plan for their own +destruction, which was effected by their simultaneously running through +the pickets on to the prairie, calling out to the Sioux (both men and +women) to kill them, "that they were Riccaree dogs, that their friends +were all dead, and they did not wish to live;" that they here wielded +their weapons as desperately as they could, to excite the fury of their +enemy, and that they were thus cut to pieces and destroyed.'</p> + +<p>"The accounts given by two or three white men, who were among the +Mandans during the ravages of this frightful disease, are most +appalling, and actually too heart-rending and disgusting to be recorded. +The disease was introduced into the country by the Fur Company's steamer +from St. Louis, which had two of their crew sick with the disease when +it approached the Upper Missouri, and imprudently stopped to trade at +the Mandan village, which was on the bank of the river, where the chiefs +and others were allowed to come on board, by which means the disease got +ashore.</p> + +<p>"I am constrained to believe that the gentlemen in charge of the steamer +did not believe it to be the small-pox; for if they had known it to be +such, I can not conceive of such imprudence as regarded their own +interests in the country, as well as the fate of these poor people, by +allowing their boat to advance into the country under such +circumstances.</p> + +<p>"It seems that the Mandans were surrounded by several war parties of +their more powerful enemies, the Sioux, at that unlucky time, and they +could not, therefore, disperse upon the plains, by which many of them +could have been saved; and they were necessarily inclosed within the +pickets of the village, where the disease in a few days became so very +malignant, that death ensued in a few hours after its attacks; and so +slight were their hopes when they were attacked, that nearly half of +them destroyed themselves with their knives, with their guns, and by +dashing their brains out by leaping head foremost from a thirty-foot +ledge of rocks in front of their village. The first symptom of the +disease was a rapid swelling of the body, and so very virulent had it +become, that very many died in two or three hours after their attack, +and that in many cases without the appearance of the disease upon the +skin. Utter dismay seemed to possess all classes and all ages, and they +gave themselves up in despair as entirely lost. There was but one +continual crying and howling, and praying to the Great Spirit for his +protection, during the nights and days; and there being but few living, +and those in too appalling despair, nobody thought of burying the dead, +whose bodies, whole families together, were left in horrid and loathsome +piles in their own wigwams, with a few buffalo robes, &c., thrown over +them, there to decay, and be devoured by their own dogs. That such a +proportion of their community as that above mentioned should have +perished in so short a time, seems yet to the reader an unaccountable +thing; but, in addition to the causes just mentioned, it must be borne +in mind that this frightful disease is every where far more fatal among +the native than in civilized population, which may be owing to some +extraordinary susceptibility, or, I think, more probably, to the exposed +lives they live, leading more directly to fatal consequences. In this, +as in most of their diseases, they ignorantly and imprudently plunge +into the coldest water while in the highest state of fever, and often +die before they have the power to get out.</p> + +<p>"Some have attributed the unexampled fatality of this disease among the +Indians to the fact of their living entirely on animal food; but so +important a subject for investigation I must leave for sounder +judgments than mine to decide. They are a people whose constitutions +and habits of life enable them most certainly to meet most of its ills +with less dread, and with decidedly greater success, than they are met +in civilized communities; and I would not dare to decide that their +simple meat diet was the cause of their fatal exposure to one frightful +disease, when I am decidedly of opinion that it has been the cause of +their exemption and protection from another, almost equally destructive, +and, like the former, of civilized introduction.</p> + +<p>"During the season of the ravages of the Asiatic cholera, which swept +over the greater part of the Western country and the Indian frontier, I +was a traveler through those regions, and was able to witness its +effects; and I learned from what I saw, as well as from what I have +heard in other parts since that time, that it traveled to and over the +frontiers, carrying dismay and death among the tribes on the borders in +many cases, so far as they had adopted the civilized modes of life, with +its dissipations, using vegetable food and salt; but wherever it came to +the tribes living exclusively on meat, and that without the use of salt, +its progress was suddenly stopped. I mention this as a subject which I +looked upon as important to science, and therefore one on which I made +careful inquiries; and, so far as I have learned, along that part of the +frontier over which I have since passed, I have, to my satisfaction, +ascertained that such became the utmost limits of this fatal disease in +its travel to the west, unless where it might have followed some of the +routes of the fur traders, who, of course, have introduced the modes of +civilized life.</p> + +<p>"From the trader who was present at the destruction of the Mandans I had +many most wonderful incidents of this dreadful scene, but I dread to +recite them. Among them, however, there is one that I must briefly +describe, relative to the death of that noble <i>gentleman</i>, of whom I +have already said so much, and to whom I became so much attached, +<i>Mah-to-to-pa</i>, or 'the Four Bears.' This fine fellow sat in his wigwam +and watched every one of his family die about him, his wives and his +little children, after he had recovered from the disease himself, when +he walked out round the village, and wept over the final destruction of +his tribe; his braves and warriors, whose sinewy arms alone he could +depend on for a continuance of their existence, all laid low; when he +came back to his lodge, where he carried his whole family in a pile, +with a number of robes, and wrapping another around himself, went out +upon a hill at a little distance, where he laid several days, despite +all the solicitations of the traders, resolved to <i>starve</i> himself to +death. He remained there till the sixth day, when he had just strength +enough to creep back to the village, when he entered the horrid gloom of +his own wigwam, and, laying his body alongside of the group of his +family, drew his robe over him, and died on the ninth day of his fatal +abstinence.</p> + +<p>"So have perished the friendly and hospitable Mandans, from the best +accounts I could get; and although it may be <i>possible</i> that some few +individuals may yet be remaining, I think it is not probable; and one +thing is certain, even if such be the case, that, as a nation, the +Mandans are extinct, having no longer an existence.</p> + +<p>"There is yet a melancholy part of the tale to be told, relating to the +ravages of this frightful disease in that country on the same occasion, +as it spread to other contiguous tribes, to the Minatarrees, the +Knisteneaux, the Blackfeet, the Chayennes, and Crows, among whom 25,000 +perished in the course of four or five months, which most appalling +facts I got from Major Pilcher, now Superintendent of Indian Affairs at +St. Louis, from Mr. M'Kenzie, and others."—Catlin's <i>American Indians</i>, +vol. ii., p. 257.</p> + + +<p class='center'>No. XLIII.</p> + +<p>"In man the coloring matter seems to be deposited in the dermoidal +system by the roots or the bulbs of the hair,<a name="FNanchor_228_228" id="FNanchor_228_228"></a><a href="#Footnote_228_228" class="fnanchor">[228]</a> and all sound +observations prove that the skin varies in color from the action of +external stimuli on individuals, and is not hereditary in the whole +race. The Eskimoes of Greenland, and the Laplanders, are tanned by the +influence of the air, but their children are born white. We will not +decide on the changes which Nature may produce in a space of time, +exceeding all historical traditions. Reason stops short in these matters +when no longer under the guidance of experience and analogy. The nations +that have a white skin begin their cosmogony by white men; according to +them, the negroes and all tawny people have been blackened or embrowned +by the excessive heat of the sun. This theory, adopted by the Greeks, +though not without contradiction (Onesicritus apud Strabon, lib. xv., p. +983), has been propagated even to our own times. Buffon has repeated, in +prose, what Theodectes had expressed in verse two thousand years before, +'that the nations wear the livery of the climate they inhabit.' If +history had been written by black nations, they would have maintained +what even Europeans have recently advanced (Prichard's <i>Researches into +the Physical History of Man, 1813</i>), p. 233, 239, that man was +originally black, or of a very tawny color, and that he has whitened in +some races from the effect of civilization and progressive debilitation, +as animals in a state of domestication pass from dark to lighter colors. +I shall here cite the authority of Ulloa. This learned man has seen the +Indians of Chili, of the Andes, of Peru, of the burning coasts of +Panama, and those of Louisiana, situated under the northern temperate +zone. He had the good fortune to live at a time when theories were less +numerous, and, like me, he was struck at seeing the native under the +line as much bronzed as brown, in the cold climate of the Cordilleras as +in the plains. Where differences of color are observed, they depend on +the race."—Humboldt's <i>Personal Narrative</i>, vol. iii., p. 298.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_228_228" id="Footnote_228_228"></a><a href="#FNanchor_228_228"><span class="label">[228]</span></a> According to the interesting researches of Mr. Gaultier, +on the <i>Organization of the Human Skin</i>, p. 57. John Hunter observes, +that in several animals, the coloration of the hair is independent of +that of the skin. +</p><p> +Blumenbach informs us how climate operates in modifying the color of the +skin. He states that the proximate cause of the dark color of the +integuments in an abundance of carbon, secreted by the skin with +hydrogen, precipitated and fixed in the rete mucosum by the contact of +the atmospheric oxygen.—<i>De Variet.</i>, p. 124. +</p><p> +If Voltaire is to be believed, no well-informed person formerly passed +by Leyden without seeing a part of the black membrane (the reticulum +mucosum) of a negro, dissected by the celebrated Ruysell. Their error +is, however, now universally admitted. The "rete mucosum" has been +discovered to be nothing but the latest layer of epidermis, the inner +surface of which is being continually renewed as the exterior is worn +away, just like the bark of a tree. There is no distinct coloring layer, +it appears, either in the fair or the dark-skinned races, the peculiar +hue of the latter depending upon the presence of coloring matter in the +cells of the epidermis itself. Color, therefore, is not even <i>skin +deep</i>, for it does not reach the true skin, being entirely confined to +the epidermis or scarf skin.</p></div></div> + + +<p class='center'>No. XLIV.</p> + +<p>"The Indian and the negro races, both fated, as it seems, to yield the +supremacy to the <i>whites</i>, present in every other particular a curious +contrast to each other. The red man appears to have received from nature +every quality which contributes to greatness, except—I have no other +word for it—<i>tamability</i>; he has shown in many remarkable instances +intellectual capacity, talents for government, eloquence, energy, and +self-command.... There is something noble and striking—something that +commands respect and admiration, in the Indian character, irreconcilable +though it be with advanced civilization and the operation of Christian +influences. The negro, on the contrary, has precisely what the Indian +wants; he is a domestic animal.... The Indian avoids his conqueror; the +negro bows at his feet. The Indian loves the independence and privations +of his solitude better than all the flesh-pots of Egypt; the negro, if +left to himself, is helpless and miserable: he must have society and +sensual pleasures; if he be allowed to eat and drink well, to dance, to +sing, and to make love, he seems to have no further or higher +aspirations, and to care nothing for the degradation of his race. With +the single exception of Toussaint, I know no instance of a negro +distinguishing himself in politics, or arms, or letters; and though I +make every allowance for the difficulties and obstacles to his doing so +which his situation imposes on him, I can not allow that these account +for the fact that, notwithstanding the excellent education which many +negroes receive, and the stimulus afforded by constant intercourse with +whites, not one of them has yet, either here or in the West Indies, with +the above-named exception, taken the lead among his countrymen, or made +a name for himself. And this natural superiority of the Indian is, +perhaps unconsciously, recognized and illustrated in a singular manner +by the white man, in the different feelings which he exhibits upon the +subject of amalgamation with the two races. Some of the best families in +the United States are <i>proud</i> to trace their origin to Indian chiefs +(<i>e.g.</i>, the Randolphs of Virginia boast that they came of the lineage +of Powhatan); and I have myself met with half-breeds who were considered +(and most justly) in every respect equal in estimation with full-blooded +whites. It is needless to observe, that with respect to the negroes, the +precise converse is the case. <i>Cæteris paribus</i>, we seem naturally to +receive the red man as our equal."—Godley's <i>Letters from America</i>, +vol. i., p. 153.</p> + + +<p class='center'>No. XLV.</p> + +<p>"These islands were partly discovered by Behring in 1741, and the rest +at several periods since his time. The most considerable of them amount +to forty in number, and they may be justly considered as a branch of the +Kamtskadale Mountains continued in the sea. The three small islands, +known by the names of Attak, Shemya, and Semitshi, with a few others, +were denominated by the Russians Aleutskie Ostrova, because a bold rock +in the language of these parts is called 'Aleut.' In the sequel this +name was extended to the whole chain, though a part of it is named the +Andreanoffskoi, and the rest, lying further toward America, the Fox +Islands. The survey of these islands, more anciently discovered by the +Russians, and of the adjacent parts of the two continents, was made by +Captain Cook in his third voyage, in 1778. If the Russians, then, can +deservedly claim the priority of the discovery, no one can withhold from +the adventurous and persevering Captain Cook the glory and the merit of +having fixed the distance of the two continents and their respective +extent, to the east for Asia, and to the west for North +America."—Rees's <i>Cyclopædia</i>, art. Aleutian Islands.</p> + + +<p class='center'>No. XLVI.</p> + +<p>"Almost every where in the New World we recognize a multiplicity of +forms and tenses in the verb, an artificial industry to indicate +before-hand, either by inflection of the personal pronouns, which form +the terminations of the verb, or by an intercalated <i>suffix</i>, the nature +and the relation of its object and its subject, and to distinguish +whether the object be animate or inanimate, of the masculine or the +feminine gender, simple, or in complex number. This multiplicity +characterizes the rudest American languages. Astarloa reckons, in like +manner, in the grammatical system of the Biscayan, 206 forms of the +verb. Strange conformity in the structure of languages among races of +men so different, and on spots so distant.</p> + +<p>"Those languages, the principal tendency of which is inflection, excite +less the curiosity of the vulgar than those which seem formed by +aggregation. In the first, the elements of which words are composed, and +which are generally reduced to a few letters, are no longer +distinguished. These elements, when isolated, exhibit no meaning; the +whole is assimilated and mixed together. The American languages, on the +contrary, are like complicated machines, the wheels of which are +exposed. The artifice is visible—I mean the industrious mechanism of +their construction. We seem to be present at their formation, and we +should state them to be of very recent origin, if we did not recollect +that the human mind follows imperturbably an impulse once given; that +nations enlarge, improve, and repair the grammatical edifice of their +language according to a plan already determined; finally, that there are +countries where the languages of all the institutions and the arts have +remained stereotyped, as it were, during the lapse of ages. The highest +degree of intellectual development has been hitherto found among nations +which belong to the Indian and Pelasgic branch. The languages, formed +principally by aggregation, seem themselves to oppose obstacles to the +improvement of the mind. They are, in fact, unfurnished with that rapid +movement, that interior life, to which the inflection of the root is +favorable, and which gives so many charms to works of the imagination. +Let us not, however, forget that a people celebrated in the remotest +antiquity, from whom the Greeks themselves borrowed knowledge, had +perhaps a language, the construction of which recalls involuntarily that +of the language of America. What a scaffolding of little monosyllabic +and dissyllabic forms is added to the verb and to the substantive in the +Coptic language!"—Humboldt's <i>Personal Narrative</i>, vol. iii., p. 273.</p> + +<p>In his "Researches," Humboldt observes: "We find in the New Continent +languages, some of which, as the Greenland, the Cora, the Tamanac, the +Totonac, and the Quichua (<i>Archiv. fuer Ethnographie</i>, b. i., s. 345; +Vaters, s. 206), display a richness of grammatical forms which we trace +nowhere in the Old World, except at Congo, and among the Biscayans, who +were the remains of the ancient Cantabrians. But, amid these marks of +civilization (referring to the Aztec nation), and this progressive +perfection of language, it is remarkable that no people of America had +attained that analysis of sounds which leads to the most admirable, we +might almost say the most miraculous of all inventions, an alphabet. We +are led to think that the progressive perfection of symbolic signs, and +the facility with which objects are painted, had prevented the +introduction of letters ... <i>not</i> the case in Egypt."</p> + +<p>Chateaubriand says that the Jesuits have left important works relative +to the language of the Canadian savage. Father Chaumont, who had lived +fifty years among the Hurons, composed a grammar of their language. To +Father Rasles, who spent ten years in an Abenakis village, we are +indebted for valuable documents. A French and Iroquois dictionary—a new +treasure for philologists—is finished. There is also a manuscript +dictionary—Iroquois and English—but, unluckily, the first volume is +lost.</p> + +<p>"Les trois langues, Huronne, Algonquine et Siou sont les langues mères +du Canada. Ils ont tous les caractères des langues primitives, et il est +certain qu'elles n'ont pas une origine commune. La seule prononciation +suffisoit pour le pronom. Le Siou sifle en parlant, le Huron n'a point +de lettre labiale, qu'il ne sçanroit prononcer, parle du gosier et +aspire presque toutes les syllabes; l'Algonquin prononce avec plus de +douceur, et parle plus naturellement. Je n'ai pu rien apprendre de +particulier de la première de ces trois langues; mais nos anciens +missionnaires ont beaucoup travaillé sur les deux autres, et sur les +principales de leurs dialectes: voici ce que j'en ais oui dire aux plus +habiles.</p> + +<p>"La langue Huronne est d'une abondance, d'une énergie, et d'une +noblesse, qu'on ne trouve peut-être réunies dans aucune des plus belles, +que nous connoissons, et ceux, à qui elle est propre, quoiqu'ils ne +soient plus qu'une poignée d'hommes, ont encore dans l'âme une +élévation, qui s'accorde bien mieux avec la majesté de leur langage, +qu'avec le triste état, où ils sont réduits. Quelques uns ont cru y +trouver des rapports avec l'Hébreu; d'autres en plus grand nombre ont +prétendu qu'elle avoit la même origine que celle des Grecs; mais rien +n'est plus frivole que les preuves, qu'ils en apportent. La langue +Algonquine n'a pas autant de force, que la Huronne, mais elle a plus de +douceur et d'élégance. Toutes deux ont une richesse d'expressions, une +variété de tones, une propriété de termes, une régularité, qui étonnent: +mais ce qui surprend encore davantage, c'est que parmi des Barbares +qu'on ne voit point s'étudier à bien parler, et qui n'ont jamais eu +l'usage de l'écriture, il ne s'introduit point un mauvais mot, un terme +impropre, une construction vicieuse, et que les enfans mêmes en +conservent, jusque dans le discours familier, toute la pureté. +D'ailleurs, la manière dont ils animent tout se qu'ils disent, ne laisse +aucun lieu de douter qui ne comprennent toute la valeur de leur +expressions, et toute la beauté de leur langue. Dans le Huron tout se +conjugue; un certain artifice, que je ne vous expliquerois pas bien, y +fait distinguer des verbes, les noms, les pronoms, les adverbes, &c. Les +verbes simples ont une double conjugaison, l'une absoluë, l'autre +réciproque. Les troisièmes personnes ont les deux genres, car il n'y en +a que deux dans ces langues; à sçavoir, le genre noble, et le genre +ignoble. Pour ce qui est des nombres et des tems, on y trouve les mêmes +différences que dans le Grec. Par exemple, pour raconter un voyage, on +s'exprime autrement si on la fait par terre, ou si on l'a fait par eau. +Les verbes actifs se multiplient autant de fois, qu'il y a de choses, +qui tombent sous leur action; comme le verbe, qui signifie <i>Manger</i>, +varie autant de fois, qu'il y a de choses comestibles. L'action +s'exprime autrement à l'égard d'une chose inanimée: ainsi <i>voir un +homme</i>, et <i>voir une pierre</i>, ce sont deux verbes. Se servir d'une +chose, qui appartient à celui qui s'en sert, ou à celui à qui on parle, +ce sont autant de verbes différens.</p> + +<p>"Il y a quelque chose de tout cela dans la langue Algonquine, mais la +manière n'en est pas la même, et je ne suis nullement en état de vous en +instruire. Cependant, madame, si du peu, que je viens de vous dire, il +s'ensuit que la richesse et la variété de ces langues les rendent +extrêmement difficiles à apprendre, la disette et la stérilité où elles +sont tombées ne causent pas un moindre embarras. Car, comme les peuples, +quand nous avons commencé à les fréquenter, ignoroient presque tout ce +dont ils n'avoient pas l'usage, ou qui ne tomboit pas sous leurs sens, +ils manquoient de termes pour les exprimer, ou les avoient laissé tomber +dans l'oubli."—Charlevoix, tom. v., p. 288.</p> + +<p>The variety of dialects proves the little communication held between the +different tribes of savages, a necessary consequence of their living by +the chase, and requiring extensive hunting-grounds.</p> + +<p>"We need only," says Acosta (<i>De Procur. Indorum Salut.</i>), "cross a +valley for hearing another jargon."</p> + + +<p class='center'>No. XLVII.</p> + +<p>"The following are the results of the most recent researches on the +lines of fortifications, and the tumuli found between the Rocky +Mountains and the chain of the Alleganies. The fortifications chiefly +occupy the space between the great lakes of Canada, the Mississippi and +the Ohio, from the fourty-fourth to the thirty-ninth degree of latitude. +Those which advance most toward the northeast are on the Black River, +one of the tributary streams of Lake Ontario. The most remarkable +ancient fortifications in the State of Ohio are, 1st. Newark, a very +regular octagon, containing an area of 32 acres, and connected with a +circular circumvallation of 16 acres; the eight great doors of the +octagon are defended by eight works placed before each opening. 2d. +Perryvale County, numerous walls, not in clay, but stone. 3d. Marietta, +two great squares with twelve doors; the walls of earth are 21 feet +high, and 42 feet at their base. 4th. Circleville, a square with eight +doors, and eight small works for their defense connected with a circular +fort, surrounded by two walls and a moat. 5th. Point Creek, at the +confluence of the Scioto and the Ohio; the fortifications are partly +irregular; one of them contains 62 acres. 6th. Portsmouth, opposite +Alexandria; vast ruins, disposed on parallel lines, denote that this +spot heretofore contained a numerous population. 7th. Little Miami and +Cincinnati, a wall of 7 feet high and 6300 toises long. All these square +forts are placed as exactly to the east as the Egyptian and Mexican +pyramids; when the forts have only one opening, it is directed toward +the rising sun. The walls of these lines of fortification are most +frequently of earth, but two miles from Chilicothe, in the State of +Ohio, we find a wall constructed in stone, from 12 to 15 feet high, and +from 5 to 8 feet thick, forming an inclosure of 80 acres. It is not yet +precisely known how far those works extend to the west, along the course +of the Missouri and the River La Plata; but they are not found on the +north of the Lakes Ontario, Erie, and Michigan, neither do they pass the +chain of the Alleganies. Some circumvallations discovered on the banks +of the Chenango, near Oxford, in the State of New York, may be +considered as a very remarkable exception. We must not confound these +military monuments with the mounds or <i>tumuli</i> containing thousands of +skeletons of a stunted race of men, scarcely 5 feet high. These mounds +increase in number from the north toward the south; Mr. Brackenridge +thinks there are nearly 3000 tumuli, from 20 to 100 feet high, between +the mouth of the Ohio, the Illinois, the Missouri, and the Rio San +Francisco, and that the number of skeletons they contain indicate how +considerable must have been the population heretofore of those +countries. These monuments, considered as the places of sepulture of +great communes, are most frequently situated at the confluence of +rivers, and on the most favorable points for trade. The base of the +tumuli is round, or of an oval form; they are generally of a conical +form, and sometimes flattened at the summit, as if intended to serve for +sacrifices, or other ceremonies to be seen by a great mass of people at +once. Some of those monuments are two or three stories high, and +resemble in their form the Mexican <i>Teocallis</i>, and the pyramids with +steps of Egypt and Western Asia. Some of the tumuli are constructed of +earth, and some of stones heaped together. Hatchets have been found on +them, together with painted pottery, vases, and ornaments of brass, a +little iron, silver in plates (near Marietta), and perhaps gold (near +Chilicothe). Some of these mounds are only a few feet high, and are +placed at the center or in the neighborhood of the circular +circumvallations; they were either tribunes for haranguing the assembled +people, or places of sacrifice, and where they are only from 20 to 25 +feet high, they may be considered as observatories erected to discover +the movements of a neighboring enemy. The great tumuli, from 80 to 100 +feet high, are most frequently insulated, and sometimes seem to be of +the same age as the fortifications to which they are linked. The latter +merit particular attention: I know nowhere any thing that resembles them +either in South America or the ancient continent. The regularity of the +polygon and circular forms, and the small works intended to cover the +doors of the building, are, above all, remarkable. We know not whether +they were inclosures of property, walls of defense against enemies, or +intrenched camps, as in Central Asia. The custom of separating the +different quarters of a town by circumvallations is observed alike in +the ancient Tenochleitian and the Peruvian town of Chimu, the ruins of +which I examined, between Truxillo and the coast of the South Sea. The +<i>tumuli</i> are less characteristic constructions, and may have belonged to +nations who had no communication with one another; they cover both +Americas, the north of Asia, and the whole east of Europe, and, it is +said, are still constructed by the Omawhaws of the River Plata. The +skulls contained in the <i>tumuli</i> of the United States furnish means of +recognizing, almost with certainty, to what degree the race of men by +whom they were raised differ from the Indians who now inhabit the same +countries. Mr. Mitchell believes that the skeletons of the caverns of +Kentucky and Tennessee 'belong to the Malays, who came by the Pacific +Ocean to the western coast of America, and were destroyed by the +ancestors of the present Indians, and who were of Tartar race (Mongul).' +With respect to the tumuli and the fortifications, the same learned +writer supposes, with Mr. De Witt Clinton, that those monuments are the +works of Scandinavian nations, who, from the eleventh to the fourteenth +century, visited the coast of Greenland, Newfoundland, or Vinland, or +Drageo, and a part of the continent of North America. If this +hypothesis be well founded, the skulls found in the <i>tumuli</i> ought to +belong, not to the American, Mongul, or Malay race, but to a race +vulgarly called Caucasian.... Did the nations of the Mexican race, in +their migrations to the south, send colonies toward the east, or do the +monuments of the United States pertain to the Autochthone nations? +Perhaps we must admit in North America, as in the ancient world, the +simultaneous existence of several centers of civilization, of which the +mutual relations are not known in history. The very civilized nations of +New Spain, the Tolteques, the Azteques, and the Chichimeques, pretended +to have issued successively, from the sixth to the twelfth century, from +three neighboring countries situated toward the north. These nations +spoke the same language, they had the same cosmogonic fables, the same +propensity for the sacerdotal congregations, the same hieroglyphic +paintings, the same divisions of time, the same taste (Chinese and +Japanese) for noting and registering every thing. The names given by +them to the towns built in the country of Analmae; were those of the +towns they had abandoned in their ancient country. The civilization on +the Mexican table-land was regarded by the inhabitants themselves as the +copy of something which had existed elsewhere, as the reflection of the +primitive civilization of Aztlan. Where, it may be asked, must be placed +that parent land of the colonies of Anahuac, that <i>officinum gentium</i> +which, during five centuries, sends nations toward the south who +understand each other without difficulty, and recognize each other for +relations? Asia, north of Amour, where it is nearest America, is a +barbarous country, and in supposing (which is geographically possible) a +migration of southern Asiatics by Japan, Tarakay (Tchoka), the Kurile +and Aleutian Isles, from southwest toward the northeast (from 40 to 55 +degrees of latitude), how can it be believed that in so long a +migration, on a way so easily intercepted, the remembrance of the +institutions of the parent country could have been preserved with so +much force and clearness? The cosmogonic fables, the pyramidal +constructions, the system of the calendar, the animals of the tropics +found in the catasterim of days, the convents and congregations of +priests, the taste for statistic enumerations, the annals of the empire +held in the most scrupulous order, lead us toward Oriental Asia, while +the lively remembrances of which we have just spoken, and the peculiar +physiognomy which Mexican civilization presents in so many other +respects, seem to indicate the antique existence of an empire in the +north of America, between the thirty-sixth and forty-second degrees of +latitude. We can not reflect on the military monuments of the United +States without recollecting the first country of the civilized nations +of Mexico. It is in rising to more general historical considerations, in +examining with more care than has been hitherto done the languages and +the osteologic conformation of different tribes, in exploring the +immense country bounded by the Alleganies and the coast of the Western +Ocean, that means will be obtained of throwing light on a problem so +worthy of exercising the sagacity of historians.... According to the +traditions collected by Mr. Heckewelder, the country east of the +Mississippi was heretofore inhabited by a powerful nation, of gigantic +stature, called Alleghewi, and which gave its name to the Alleganian +mountains. The Alleghewis were more civilized than any of the other +tribes found in the northern climates by the Europeans of the sixteenth +century. They inhabitated towns founded on the banks of the Mississippi, +and the fortifications that now excite the astonishment of travelers +were constructed by them, in order to defend themselves against the +Delawares, who came from the west, and were allied at that period with +the Iroquois. It may be supposed that this invasion of a barbarous +people changed the political and moral state of those countries. The +Alleghewis were vanquished by the Delawares after a long struggle. In +their flight toward the south they gathered together the bones of their +relations in separate <i>tumuli</i>; they descended the Mississippi, and what +became of them is not known.... The lines of fortification of a +prodigious length observed by Captain Lewis on the banks of the Missouri +sufficiently prove that the ancient habitation of the Alleghewis, that +powerful people which I am inclined to regard as being of Tolteque or +Azteque race, extended far to the west of the Mississippi, toward the +foot of the Rocky Mountains. Mr. Nuttall, in going up the Arkansas to +Cadron, was informed of the existence of an ancient intrenchment, +resembling a triangular fort. The Arkansas assert that it is the work of +a <i>white</i> and civilized people, whom, when they arrived in this country, +their ancestors fought and vanquished, not by force, but cunning. They +attribute, also, to a more ancient and polished people than themselves, +the monuments of rough stones heaped up on the summit of the hills. +Other monuments, not less curious, are the commodious roads of immense +length which the natives have traced from time immemorial, and which +lead from the banks of the Arkansas, near Little Rock, to Saint Louis on +the right, and by the settlement of Mont Prairie, as far as +Natchitoches, on the left. Do the characteristic features of colossal +stature and <i>white</i> color, attributed to nations now destroyed, owe +their origin to the ideas of power and physical force in general, to the +feeling of the intellectual preponderance of the Europeans, or are those +features linked with the fables of white men, legislators, and priests, +which we find among the Mexicans, the inhabitants of New Granada, and so +many other American nations? The skeletons contained in the <i>tumuli</i> of +the trans-Alleganian country belong, for the most part, to a stunted +race of men, of lower stature than the Indians of Canada and the +Missouri.</p> + +<p>"An idol discovered at Natchez has been justly compared by M. Malte-Brun +to the images of celestial spirits found by Pallas among the Mongul +nations. If the tribes who inhabit the towns on the banks of the +Mississippi issued from the same country of Aztlan, it must be admitted +that the Tolteques, the Chichimeques, and the Azteques, from the +inspection of their idols, and their essays in sculpture, were much less +advanced in the arts than the Mexican tribes, who, without deviating +toward the east, have followed the great path of the nations of the New +World, directed from north to south, from the banks of the Gila toward +the Lake of Nicaragua."—Humboldt's <i>Personal Narrative</i>, vol. vi., p. +328.</p> + + +<p class='center'>No. XLVIII.</p> + +<p>"Dr. Morton, in his luminous and philosophical essay on the aboriginal +race of America, seems to have proved that all the different tribes, +except the Eskimaux, are of one race, and that this race is peculiar and +distinct from all others. The physical characteristics of the Fuegians, +the Indians of the tropical plains, those of the Rocky Mountains, and of +the great Valley of the Mississippi, are the same, not only in regard to +feature and external lineaments, but also in osteological structure. +After comparing nearly 400 crania, derived from tribes inhabiting almost +every region of both Americas, Dr. Morton has found the same peculiar +shape pervading all; 'the square or rounded head, the flattened or +vertical occiput, the high cheek bones, the ponderous maxillæ, the large +quadrangular orbits, and the low, receding forehead.' The oldest skulls +from the cemeteries of Peru, the tombs of Mexico, or the mounds of the +Mississippi and Ohio, agree with each other, and are of the same type as +the heads of the most savage existing tribes."—Lyell, vol. ii., p. 37.</p> + + +<p class='center'>No. XLIX.</p> + +<p>"I saw no person among the Chaymas who had any natural deformity. I +might say the same of thousands of Caribs, Muyseas, and Mexican and +Peruvian Indians, whom we observed during the course of five years. +Bodily deformities—deviations from nature—are infinitely rare among +certain races of men, especially those nations who have the dermoid +system highly colored. I can not believe that they depend solely on the +progress of civilization, a luxurious life, or the corruption of morals. +We might be tempted to think that savages all appear well made and +vigorous, because feeble children die young for want of care, and that +the strongest alone survive; but these causes can not act on the Indians +of the missions, who have the manners of our peasants, and the Mexicans +of Cholula and Tlascala, who enjoy wealth that has been transmitted to +them by ancestors more civilized than themselves. If, in every state of +cultivation, the copper-colored race manifest the same inflexibility, +the same resistance to deviation from a primitive type, are we not +forced to admit that this property belongs in great measure to +hereditary organization—to that which constitutes the race? I use +intentionally the phrase <i>in great measure</i>, not entirely to exclude the +influence of civilization. Besides, with copper-colored men, as with the +whites, luxury and effeminacy, by weakening the physical constitution, +had heretofore rendered deformities more common at Corezco and +Tenochtitlan."—Humboldt's <i>Personal Narrative</i>, vol. iii., p. 235.</p> + + +<p class='center'>No. L.</p> + +<p>To those well read in the sad records of Indian history, the names of +Powhatan, Opechancanough, Massasoit, Alexander, Philip, Canonchet, +Logan, Pontiac, and the never-to-be-forgotten Tecumthè, will suggest +memories fully justifying the above assertion. The name of Tecumthè +signifies "a tiger crouching for his prey." He was equally great in +council and in war, noble and generous in spirit as commanding in +intellect. He bore the commission of Chief of the Indian Forces in the +British army during the late war. He did not, however, join the ranks of +the white men until the failure of several admirably contrived projects +convinced his sound and enlightened judgment that opposition to the +white race was vain. Pontiac was an Ottawa chieftain, who in 1763 +succeeded in the next-to-impossible scheme of uniting all the scattered +and often hostile Indian tribes distributed throughout the colonized +districts of North America in one grand confederacy against their +European invaders. Their first step was the projected extinction of all +the white man's posts along a thousand miles of frontier; and he +actually succeeded so far as to cut off, almost simultaneously, nine out +of twelve of these military establishments. The surprise of +Michillimackinac, one of these stations, is thus narrated in a public +document. (It was a period of profound peace between the Europeans and +Indians):</p> + +<p>"The fort was then upon the main land, near the northern point of the +peninsula. The Ottawas, to whom the assault was committed, prepared for +a great game of ball, to which the officers of the garrison were +invited. While engaged in play, one of the parties gradually inclined +toward the fort, and the other pressed after them. The ball was once or +twice thrown over the pickets, and the Indians were suffered to enter +and procure it. Nearly all the garrison were present as spectators, and +those on duty were alike unprepared as unsuspicious. Suddenly the ball +was again thrown into the fort, and all the Indians rushed after it. The +rest of the tale is soon told: the troops were butchered, and the fort +destroyed." This extensive and well-laid scheme failed, from Pontiac +himself being betrayed at the fort of Detroit. He has been accused of +great cruelty; but, in contests waged between the red and white races, +this is a word of doubtful import. His generosity and heroism are +undeniable.</p> + +<p>As a compliment, Major Rogers had sent Pontiac a bottle of brandy. His +counselors advised him not to take it: "It must be poisoned," said they, +"and sent with a design to kill him;" but Pontiac laughed at their +suspicions. "He can not," he replied, "he can not take my life; I have +saved his!"</p> + + +<p class='center'>No. LI.</p> + +<p>But a far truer insight into the religious state of the American Indian +will be obtained by observing how peculiarly and emphatically he is, in +the words of the apostle, "a law unto himself." I mean, how distinctly +he evinces, in the whole moral conduct of his life, that he lives under +a strong and awful sense of positive obligation. It is of little matter +with what doctrines that sense of obligation connects itself. It often +appears to connect itself with none. The Indian can not tell why a +burden is laid upon him to act in this or that manner. He obeys a law +undefined, unwritten, but mysteriously binding upon his spirit. All the +compulsive force which what we call the law of honor had upon the +conscience of a man of the world—I had almost said which religious +sanctions have upon the man of principle—is scarcely to be paralleled +with that kind of moral necessity which seems in some cases to actuate +his proceedings. If religion be what its name implies, <i>id quod +relligat</i>, that which binds the will, and enforces self-denial and +self-devotion (be the object or motive held out what it may), then no +people taken in the mass is to be compared, in this respect, to the +savages of America. "After all," says Mr. Flint, "that which has struck +us, in contemplating the Indians, with the most astonishment and +admiration, is the invisible but universal energy of the operation and +influence of an inexplicable law, which has, where it operates, a more +certain and controlling power than all the municipal and written laws of +the whites united. There is despotic rule without any hereditary or +elected chief. There are chiefs with great power, who can not tell when, +where, or how they became such. There is perfect unanimity on a question +involving the existence of a tribe, when every member belonged to the +wild and fierce democracy of nature, and could dissent without giving a +reason. A case occurs where it is prescribed by custom that an +individual should be punished with death. Escaped from the control of +his tribe, and as free as the winds, this invisible tie is about him, +and he returns and surrenders himself to justice. His accounts are not +settled, and he is in debt. He requests delay till he shall have +finished his summer's hunt. He finishes it, pays his debt, and dies with +a constancy which has always been, in all views of the Indian character, +the theme of admiration."—Flint's <i>Geography of the Mississippi +Valley</i>, p. 125.</p> + +<p>In the expressive words of Penn, "What good might not a good people +graft, where there is so distinct a knowledge both of good and +evil?"—<i>Report on Aborigines</i>, 1837, p. 116.</p> + +<p>Mr. Merivale adds, "I would not insert the following high-colored +expression in a work edited by Washington Irving, were it not for the +remarkable agreement between all capable observers of the uncontaminated +races of Indians upon this subject. 'Simply to call these people +religious (some tribes of the Rocky Mountains) would convey but a faint +idea of the deep hue of piety and devotion which pervades the whole of +their conduct. They are more like a nation of saints than a horde of +savages.'"—<i>Adventures of Captain Bonneville.</i></p> + + +<p class='center'>No. LII.</p> + +<p>Catlin gives the same account of the appropriation of the Manitou or +guardian angel as Lafitau and Charlevoix. He applies to it the term of +Mystery, or Medicine-bag, and thus explains the derivation of the modern +term:</p> + +<p>"The term Medicine, in its common acceptation among the Indians, means +mystery, and nothing else. The origin of the term is, that in the French +language a doctor is called '<i>Médecin</i>;' the Indian country is full of +doctors, and as they are all magicians, and profess to be skilled in +many mysteries, the word '<i>médecin</i>' has become habitually applied to +every thing mysterious or unaccountable, and the English and American +have easily and familiarly adopted the same word, with a slight +alteration conveying the same meaning; and, to be a little more +explicit, they have denominated these personages 'Medicine-men,' which +means something more than merely a doctor or physician. The Indians do +not use the word 'medicine,' however, but in each tribe they have a word +of their own construction synonymous with mystery or mystery-man. Their +medicine-bag then is a mystery-bag, and its meaning and importance +necessary to be understood, as it may be said to be the key to Indian +life and character.</p> + +<p>"Feasts are often made, and dogs and horses sacrificed, to a man's +'medicine;' and days, and even weeks of fasting and penance of various +kinds are often suffered to appease his medicine, which he fancies he +has in some way offended. This curious custom has generally been done +away with along the frontier, where white men laugh at the Indian for +the observance of so ridiculous and useless a form; but in this country +(beyond the Rocky Mountains) it is still in full force, and every male +in the tribe carries this his supernatural charm or guardian, to which +he looks for the preservation of his life in battle or in other +danger.... During my travels thus far I have been unable to buy a +medicine-bag of an Indian, though I have offered extravagant prices for +them; and even on the frontier, where they have been induced to abandon +the practice, though a white may induce an Indian to relinquish his +medicine, yet he can not buy it of him: the Indian in such case will +bury it to please a white, and save it from his sacrilegious touch, and +he will linger around the spot, and at regular times visit and pay it +his devotions as long as he lives."—Catlin's <i>North American Indians</i>, +vol. i., p. 36.</p> + + +<p class='center'>No. LIII.</p> + +<p>Catlin says, "The tribes, so far as I have visited them, all distinctly +believe in the existence of a Great (or Good) Spirit, an Evil (or Bad) +Spirit, and also in a future existence and future accountability, +according to their virtues and vices in this world. So far the North +American Indians would seem to be one family, and such, an unbroken +theory among them; yet, with regard to the manner and form, and time +and place of that accountability—to the constructions of virtues and +vices, and the modes of appeasing and propitiating the Good and Evil +Spirits, they are found in all the change and variety which fortuitous +circumstances, and fictions and fables have wrought upon them.... These +people, living in a climate where they suffer from cold in the severity +of their winters, have very naturally reversed our ideas of heaven and +hell. The latter they describe to be a country very far to the north, of +barren and hideous aspect, and covered with eternal snow and ice. The +torments of this freezing place they describe as most excruciating, +while heaven they suppose to be in a warmer and delightful latitude, +where nothing is felt but the keenest enjoyment, and where the country +abounds in buffaloes and other luxuries of life. The Great or Good +Spirit they believe dwells in the former place, for the purpose of there +meeting those who have offended him, increasing the agony of their +sufferings by being himself present, administering the penalties. The +Bad or Evil Spirit they suppose to be at the same time in Paradise, +still tempting the happy; and those who have gone to the regions of +punishment they believe to be tortured for a time proportioned to the +amount of their transgression, and that they are then to be transferred +to the land of the happy, where they are again liable to the temptation +of the Evil Spirit, and answerable again at a future period for their +new offenses."—Catlin, vol. i., p. 159.</p> + +<p>Dr. Richardson says, "While at Carlton I took an opportunity of asking a +communicative old Indian of the Blackfoot nation his opinion of a future +state. He replied that they had heard from their fathers that the souls +of the departed have to scramble with great labor up the sides of a +steep mountain, upon attaining the summit of which they are rewarded +with the prospect of an extensive plain, interspersed here and there +with new tents, pitched in agreeable situations, and abounding in all +sorts of game. While they are absorbed in the contemplation of this +delightful scene, they are descried by the inhabitants of the happy +land, who, clothed in new skins, approach and welcome, with every +demonstration of kindness, those Indians who have led good lives; but +the bad Indians, who have imbrued their hands in the blood of their +countrymen, are told to return from whence they came, and, without more +ceremony, precipitated down the steep sides of the +mountain."—Franklin's <i>Journey</i>, p. 77.</p> + +<p>"C'est du côté de l'ouest, d'où les sauvages prétendent être venus, +qu'il placent le pays des ancêtres, ou des âmes. C'est, disent-ils, un +pays très êloigné, et où chacun est contraint de se rendre, après son +trèpas, par un chemin fort long et fort pénible, dans lequel il y a +beaucoup à souffrir, à cause des rivières qu'il faut passer sur des +ponts tremblants, et si étroits qu'il faut être une âme pour pouvoir s'y +soûtenir; encore trouve-t-il au bout du pont un chien, qui comme un +antre cerbère leur dispute le passage, et en fait tomber plusieurs dans +les eaux, dont la rapidité les roule de précipice en précipice. Celles +qui sont assez heureuses pour franchir ce pas, trouvent en arrivant, un +grand et beau pays, au milieu duquel est une grande Cabane, dont +<i>Tharonhiaouagon</i>, leur Dieu, occupe une partie, et Ataensic, son +ayeule, occupe l'autre. L'appartement de cette vielle est tapissé d'une +quantité infini de colliers de porcelaine, de bracelets, et d'autres +meubles, dont les morts, qui sont sous sa dépendance, lui ont fait +présent à leur arrivée. <i>Ataensic</i> est maîtresse de la Cabane, selon le +style des sauvages, elle et son petit fils dominent sur les mânes, et +font consister leur plaisir à les faire danser devant eux. Il y a une +infinité de versions sur le pays des âmes, mais ce qui je viens d'en +rapporter en est comme le fonds, où tout le reste se réduit."—Lafitau, +tom. i., p. 402.</p> + + +<p class='center'>No. LIV.</p> + +<p>"Un officier Français, qui parle la langue Huronne comme les Hurons +même, et qui connoît fort bien le génie des sauvages, m'a raconté un +fait, dont il a été le témoin ... Quelques sauvages intrigués, au sujet +d'un parti de sept guerriers de leur village, et dont tout le monde +commençoit à être en peine, prièrent une vielle sauvagesse de <i>jongler</i> +pour eux. Cette femme étoit en grande réputation, et on avoit vérifié +plusieurs de ses prédictions, mais on avoit beaucoup de peine à la +déterminer à faire ces sortes d'opérations, quoiqu'on la payât bien, +parce-qu'elle souffroit beaucoup. Comme elle avoit de l'amitié pour moi, +dit cet officier, je me mis de la partie avec les sauvages, ajoutant +néanmoins très peu de foy à ces sortes de choses, je la priai très +fortement, et je fis tant, qu'elle s'y résolut. Elle commença d'abord +par préparer un espace de terrain qu'elle nettoya bien, et qu'elle +couvrit de farine. Elle disposa sur cette poudre comme sur une carte +géographique, quelques paquets de buchettes, qui représentaient divers +villages de différentes nations, observant particulièrement leur +position, et les rhumbs de vent. Elle entra ensuite dans de grandes +convulsions, pendant lesquelles nous vîmes sensiblement sept bluettes de +feu sortir des buchettes qui représentoient notre village; tracer un +chemin sur cette farine et aller d'un village à l'autre. Après d'être +éclipsées pendant un assez long tems, dans l'un de ces villages, ces +bluettes reparurent au nombre de neuf, tracèrent un nouveau chemin pour +le retour, jusqú'à ce qu'enfin elles s'arrêtèrent assez près du village, +ou paquet de buchettes, d'où les sept premièrs étoient d'abord sorties. +Alors la sauvagesse, toujours en fureur, troubla tout l'ordre des +buchettes, foula aux pieds tout le terrain qu'elle avoit préparé, et où +cette scène venoit de passer. Elle s'assit ensuite et après s'être donné +le tems de se tranquilliser, et de reprendre ses esprits, elle raconta +tout ce qui étoit arrivè aux guerriers, la route qu'ils avoient tenue, +les villages par où ils avoient passé, le nombre des prisonniers qu'ils +avoient fait; elle nomma l'endroit où ils étoient dans ce moment, et +assura qu'ils arriveroient trois jours après au village, ce qui fut +vérifié par l'arrivée des guerriers, qui confirmèrent de point en point +ce qu'elle avoit dit."—Lafitau, tom. i., p. 387.</p> + +<p>"Quoiqu' aujourd'hui les Abénaquis fassent tous profession du +Christianisme, ils ne laissent pas encore d'avoir quelquefois recours à +cet art qu'ils ont reçû de leurs pères (la Pyromantie, ou Divination par +le feu). Ils s'en confessent néanmoins, à cause de l'horreur qu'on leur +en a inspiré, mais il s'en trouve quelques uns qui cherchent à le +justifier. Une sauvagesse disoit à un missionnaire, qui tâchoit de lui +faire concevoir sa faute: 'Je n'ai jamais compris qu'il n'y eût à elle +aucun mal, et j'ai peine à y en voir encore: écoute, Dieu a partagé +différemment les hommes; à vous autres François, il a donné l'écriture, +par laquelle vous apprennez lea choses qui se passent loin de vous, +comme si elles vous étoient présentes; pour ce qui est de nous, il nous +a donné l'art de connoître par le feu les choses absentes et eloignées; +suppose donc que le feu c'est notre livre, notre écriture; tu ne verras +pas qu'il y ait de différence, et plus de mal dans l'un que dans +l'autre. Ma mère m'a appris ce secret pendant mon enfance, comme tes +parents t'ont appris à lire et à écrire; je m'en suis servi plusieurs +fois avec succès, avant d'être Chrètienne, je l'ai fait quelquefois avec +le même succès depuis que je la suis; j'ai éte tenté, et j'ai succombé à +la tentation, mais sans croire commettre aucune péché.'"—Lafitau, tom, +i., p. 388.</p> + +<p>Some of the Indians seem to have been acquainted with the mysteries of +<i>clairvoyance</i>. "Ils croyent qu'il y a des personnes que les esprits +favorisent d'avantage, qui sont plus éclairées que le commun, dont l'âme +sçut, non seulement ce qui les concerne personnellement, mais qui voient +jusques dans le fonds de l'âme des autres, qui percent à travers le +voile qui les couvre, et y apperçoit les désirs naturels et innés, +qu'elle a, quoique cette âme elle même ne les ait pas aperçus; c'est ce +qui leur a fait donner le nom de Iaïotkatta par les Hurons, c'est á dire +<i>voyans</i>, parce qu'ils voyent les hommes dans leur intérieur."—Lafitau, +tom. i., p. 371.</p> + +<p>Charlevoix also relates instances of the successful exercise of magical +arts.—Vol. vi., p. 92.</p> + + +<p class='center'>No. LV.</p> + +<p>"In the neighborhood of Caughnawaga are the large tracts of land once +belonging to the Johnson family, whose possessions were all confiscated +at the period of the Revolution, in consequence of their adherence to +the British, who gave them compensation by grants of land in Canada. The +founder of this family is said to have acquired this fine tract of +country by a dexterous piece of management. He traded extensively with +the tribe of Mohawk Indians. Their chiefs were in the habit of applying +to him frequently for tobacco and rum, which they had, they told him, +dreamed that he was to give them. Johnson never failed to encourage +their strong faith in dreams, humoring their foible by acceding to every +request founded on them. Thus visits and dreams became frequent on the +part of the Indians. Johnson never sent them away empty handed. To every +request he replied, 'I will prove that you are right,' and presented +them with whatever they applied for, on the footing that they had +dreamed of it. At length the king had the conscience to dream that, if +he were invested with Johnson's military dress of scarlet and gold, he +should be as great a man as King George; and King George he soon in so +far became, for no long time elapsed before Johnson had him appareled as +he wished. But Johnson's turn to dream had now arrived, for he had all +the while attached the same weight to dreams. He dreamed that the nation +had, in consequence of his kindness to them, and in return for the +hospitality he had shown them, bestowed on him part of their territory, +which he had described, and which he of course took care should be +sufficiently extensive and valuable—in fact, one of the finest tracts +of land that it is possible to conceive. 'Have you really had such a +dream?' they exclaimed, with terror and alarm depicted on their +countenances. Being satisfied on this point, the chief or king convoked +his tribe, who deliberated, and then announced to the dreamer that they +had confirmed the dream. 'Brother Johnson,' they said, 'we give thee +that tract of land, but never dream any more.' The head of this family +was subsequently created a baronet, for his gallantry in the war, when +the French made an incursion from Canada in 1755."—Stuart's <i>America</i>, +vol. i., p. 71. See, also, Mrs. Grant's <i>Letters of an American Lady</i>, +for an account of Sir William Johnson's intercourse with the Indians.</p> + +<p>Lafitau and Charlevoix write at great length upon the Indian faith in +dreams; Lafitau gives the following curious illustration of the extent +to which this superstition is carried: "Un ancien missionnaire m'a +raconté qu'un sauvage ayant rêvé que le bonheur de sa vie dépendoit de +son mariage avec une femme qui étoit déjà mariée à l'un des plus +considérables du village où il demeuroit. Le mari et la femme vivoient +dans une grande union et s'entre-aimoient beaucoup. La séparation fut +rude à l'un et à l'autre, cependant ils n'osoient refuser. Ils se +séparèrent donc. La femme prit un nouvel engagement, et le mari +abandonné, par complaisance et pour ôter tout soupçon qu'il pensât +encore à sa première épouse, se marie avec une autre. Il reprit la +première cependant, après la mort de celui qui les avait désunis, +laquelle arriva peu de temps après."—Lafitau, vol. i., p. 364.</p> + + +<p class='center'>No. LVI.</p> + +<p>"C'étoit une loi générale chez certains peuples barbares de l'antiquité +(Ælian, <i>de Cois</i>, lib. iii.; Sext. Emp., <i>de Tybaren</i>.; Procop., <i>de +Etulis</i>., lib. ii.; <i>de Bello Gotico</i>; Stobæus, <i>de Massag.</i>, Serm. 122) +de faire mourir leurs viellards avant l'âge de soixante ou soixante et +dix ans, soit qu'ils ne voulassent point parmis eux conserver des morte +payes, qui consumassent le peu qui restoit aux autres pour vivre: soit +qu'ils se persuadassent rendre service à ceux qu'ils faisoient ainsi +périr, en leur épargnant par une morte prompte et courte, la tristesse +et les ennuis d'un âge avancé, dont les infirmités peuvent être +regardées comme une mort continuelle. Cela a été, dit-on, une loi +générale parmi quelques peuples de l'Amérique, et une de nos dernières +relations porte, qu'il y a une nation où il n'est pas même permis de +laisser passer aux femmes l'âge de trente ans; ce qui paroitra sans +doute bien rigoureux à celles qui veulent encore être jeune dans un âge +plus avancé.</p> + +<p>"Les Algonquins et les autres nations errantes sont plus sujets à cette +inhumanité envers les viellards que les autres, parcequ' étant presque +toujours en voyage, et plus souvent réduits à la faim, l'incommodité des +viellards qu'il faut porter et nourrir, devient alors plus sensible. Ces +pauvres malheureux sont souvent les premiers à dire à celui qui les +porte, 'Mon petit fils, je le donne bien de la peine, je ne suis plus +bon à rien, casse-moi la tête.' On ne les écoute pas toujours; mais +quelquefois aussi il arrive que le jeune homme epuisé de lassitude et de +faim, répond froidement, 'Tu as raison, mon grand père.' Il décharge en +même tems son paquet, prend sa hache, et casse la tête au bon homme, qui +sans doute est faché intérieurement d'être pris au mot."—Lafitau, tom. +ii., p. 490.</p> + +<p>In 1819, James writes thus of the same inhuman custom: "The worst trait +in the Indian character is the neglect shown toward the aged and +helpless, which is carried to such a degree that, when on a march or a +hunting excursion, it is a common practice to leave behind their nearest +relations when reduced to that state, with a little food and water, +abandoning them without ceremony to their fate. When thus abandoned by +all that is dear to them, their fortitude does not forsake them, and the +inflexible passive courage of the Indian sustains them against +despondency. They regard themselves as entirely useless; and as the +custom of the nation has long led them to anticipate this mode of death, +they attempt not to remonstrate against the measure, which is, in fact, +frequently the result of their earnest solicitation."—James's +<i>Expedition to the Rocky Mountains</i>, vol. i., p. 237.</p> + +<p>"This cruelty to living relations strongly contrasts with the +extravagance and self-sacrifice of their mourning for the dead. The same +people who expose a living parent because they can not carry him, are +often found to convey the corpses of their departed friends to 'the +festivals of the dead,' during many days of wearisome journeying."—P. +de Brebœuf, <i>Relation de la Nouvelle France</i>; Charlevoix: Lafitau.</p> + +<p>Catlin, one of the most partial observers, and the most zealous defender +of the Indian character, relates the following scene, of which he was an +eye-witness (in 1840): "We found that the Puncahs were packing up all +their goods, and preparing to start for the prairies in pursuit of +buffaloes, to dry meat for their winter's supplies. They took down their +wigwams of skins to carry with them, and all were flat to the ground, +and every thing packing up ready for the start. My attention was +directed by Major Sanford, the Indian agent, to one of the most +miserable and helpless-looking objects I ever had seen in my life—a +very aged and emaciated man of the tribe, who, he told me, was going to +be <i>exposed</i>. The tribe were going where hunger and dire necessity +obliged them to go, and this pitiable object, who had once been a chief, +and a man of distinction in his tribe, who was now too old to travel, +being reduced to mere skin and bone, was to be left to starve, or meet +with such death as might fall to his lot, and his bones to be picked by +the wolves! I lingered around this poor old forsaken patriarch for hours +before we started, to indulge the tears of sympathy which were flowing +for the sake of this poor benighted and decrepit old man, whose worn-out +limbs were no longer able to support him, and his body and his mind +doomed to linger into the withering agony of decay, and gradual solitary +death. I wept; and it was a pleasure to weep; for the painful looks and +the dreary prospects of this old veteran, whose eyes were dimmed, whose +venerable locks were whitened by a hundred years, whose limbs were +almost naked, and trembling as he sat by a small fire which his friends +had left him, with a few sticks of wood within his reach, and a +buffalo's skin stretched upon some crotches over his head. Such was to +be his only dwelling, and such the chances for his life, with only a few +half-picked bones that were laid within his reach, and a dish of water, +without means of any kind to replenish them, or move his body from that +fatal locality. His friends and his children had all left him, and were +preparing in a little time to be on the march. He had told them to leave +him; 'he was old,' he said, 'and too feeble to march.' 'My children,' +said he, 'our nation is poor, and it is necessary you should all go to +the country where you can get meat. My eyes are dimmed, and my strength +is no more; my days are nearly all numbered, and I am a burden to my +children; I can not go, and I wish to die. Keep your hearts stout, and +think not of me; I am no longer good for any thing.' In this way they +had finished the ceremony of <i>exposing</i> him, and taken their final leave +of him. I advanced to the old man, and was undoubtedly the last human +being who held converse with him. I sat by the side of him, and though +he could not distinctly see me, he shook me heartily by the hand, and +smiled, evidently aware that I was a white man, and that I sympathized +with his inevitable misfortune. When passing by the site of the Puncah +village a few months after this in my canoe, I went ashore with my men, +and found the poles and the buffalo skin standing as they were left over +the old man's head. The fire-brands were lying nearly as I had left +them; and I found at a few yards' distance the skull and others of his +bones, which had been picked and cleaned by the wolves, which is +probably all that any human being can ever know of his final and +melancholy fate. This cruel custom of exposing their aged people +belongs, I think, to all the tribes who roam about the prairies, making +severe marches, when such decrepit persons are totally unable to go, +unable to ride or to walk, when they have no means of carrying +them."—Catlin's <i>American Indians</i>, vol. i., p. 217.</p> + + +<p class='center'>No. LVII.</p> + +<p>"The child, in its earliest infancy, has its back lashed to a straight +board, being fastened to it by bandages, which pass around it in front, +and on the back of the board they are tightened to the necessary degree +by lacing-strings, which hold it in a straight and healthy position, +with its feet resting on a broad hoop, which passes around the foot of +the cradle, and the child's position (as it rides about on its mother's +back, supported by a broad strap that passes across her forehead), that +of standing erect, no doubt has a tendency to produce straight limbs, +sound lungs, and long life. The bandages that pass around the cradle, +holding the child in, are often covered with a beautiful embroidery of +porcupine quills, with ingenious figures of horses, men, &c. A broad +hoop of elastic wood passes around in front of the child's face to +protect it in case of a fall, from the front of which is suspended a toy +of exquisite embroidery for the child to handle, and amuse itself with. +The papoose (the Indian name for the cradle) seems a cruel mode of +confining the child; but I am inclined to believe it is a very good one +for those who use it, and well adapted to the circumstances under which +they live; in support of which opinion, I offer the universality of the +custom, which has been practiced for centuries among all the tribes of +North America, as a legitimate and a very strong reason. Along the +frontiers, where the Indians have been ridiculed for the custom, they +have in many instances departed from it; but even there they will +generally be seen lugging their child about in this way, when they have +abandoned almost every other native custom, and are too poor to cover it +with more than rags and strings, which fasten it to its cradle. The +infant is carried in this manner until it is five, six, or seven months +old.... If the infant dies during the time allotted for it to be carried +in this cradle, it is buried, and the disconsolate mother fills the +cradle with black quills and feathers, in the parts which the child's +body had occupied, and in this way carries it about with her wherever +she goes for a year or more; and she often lays or stands it against the +side of the wigwam, where she is all day engaged in her needle-work, and +chatting and talking to it as familiarly and affectionately as if it +were her loved infant instead of its shell that she was talking +to."—Catlin, vol. ii., p. 133.</p> + + +<p class='center'>No. LVIII.</p> + +<p>The following is Lafitau's description of this barbarous operation: "Ils +cernent pour cet effet la peau qui couvre la crâne, coupant au-dessus du +front et des oreilles jusqu'au derrière de la tête. Après l'avoir +arrachée, ils la préparent, et la ramollissent comme ils ont coûtume de +faire a celles des bêtes qu'ils ont prises à la chasse. Ils étendent +ensuite cette peau sur un cercle au ils l'attachent, ils la peignent des +deux côtés de diverses couleurs, quelquefois ils tracent du côté opposé +aux cheveux, le portrait de celui à qui ils l'ont enlevée at la +suspendent au bout d'une perche et la portent ainsi en triomphe. Ce +qu'il y a de surprenant, c'est que tous ceux à qui l'on fait cette +cruelle opération de leur enlever la chevelure, n'en meurent point, non +plus que du coup de casse-tête, dont on a crû les avoir assommés à n'en +plus revenir. Plusieurs en sont réchappés et j'ai vu une femme dans +notre mission, à qui après un semblable accident, les François avoient +donnée le nom de la Tête-pelée, et qui se portoit fort bien. Elle étoit +mariée à un François Iroquoisé, dont elle avoit des enfans." Lafitau +does not omit to notice the striking similarity between Indian and +Scythian barbarity; he cites the following passage from Herodotus as a +support and illustration of his own peculiar theory: "Un Scythe boit du +sang du premier prisonnier qu'il fait, et il présente au roi les têtes +de tous ceux qu'il a tués dans le combat; car en portant une tête il a +part au butier, auquel il n'a nul droit sans cette condition. Il coupe +la tête de cette manière. Il la cerne autour les oreilles et ayant +séparé le test d'avec le reste, il en arrache la peau, qu'il a soin de +ramollir avec ses mains, et d'apprêter comme un apprête une peau de +bœuf. Il en fait ensuite un ornement, et l'attache au harnois de son +cheval en guise de trophèe. Plus un particulier a de ces sortes de +dépouilles, plus il est considéré et estimé."—Lafitau, tom. ii., 258; +Herodotus, lib. iv., n. 64.</p> + +<p>"The scalping is an operation not calculated of itself to take life, as +it only removes the skin, without injuring the bone of the head, and +necessarily, to be a genuine scalp, must contain and show the crown and +center of the head—that part of the skin which lies directly over what +the phrenologists call 'self-esteem,' where the hair divides and +radiates from the center, of which they all profess to be strict judges, +and able to decide whether an effort has been made to produce two or +more scalps from one head. Besides taking the scalp, the victor +generally, if he has time to do it without endangering his own scalp, +cuts off and brings home the rest of the hair, which his knife will +divide into a great many small locks, and with them fringe the seams of +his shirt and leggins, which also are worn as trophies and ornaments to +the dress, and these are familiarly called 'scalp-locks.' ... As the +scalp is taken in evidence of a death, it will easily be seen that an +Indian has no business or inclination to take it from the head of the +living, which I venture to say is never done in North America, unless it +be, as has sometimes happened, when a man falls in the heat of battle, +and the Indian, rushing over his body, snatches off his scalp, supposing +him dead, who afterward rises from the field of battle, and easily +recovers from this superficial wound of the knife, wearing a bald spot +on his head during the remainder of his life."—Catlin, vol. i., p. +238.</p> + + +<p class='center'>No. LIX.</p> + +<p>Charlevoix gives the following account of some of the games of chance in +use among the red Indians:</p> + +<p>"<i>Le Jeu de Pailles.</i>—Ces pailles sont de petits joncs de la grosseur +des tuyaux de froment et de la longueur de deux doigts. On en prend un +paquet, qui est ordinairement de deux cent un, et toujours en nombre +impair. Après qu'on les a bien remués, en faisant mille contortions, et +en invoquant les génies, on les sépare avec une espèce d'aliene, ou un +os pointee, en paquets de dix; chacun prend le sien à l'aventure, et +celui, à qui échoit le paquet de onze, gagne un certain nombre de +points, dont on est convenu: les parties sont en soixante ou en quatre +vingt.... On m'a dit qu'il y avoit autant d'addresse que de hazarde dans +ce jeu, et que les sauvages y sont extremement fripons, comme dans tous +les autres; qu'ils s'y acharnent souvent jusqu'à y passer les jours et +les nuits.</p> + +<p>"<i>Le Jeu de la Crosse.</i>—On y joue avec une bale et des bâtons, +recourbés et terminés par une espèce de raquette. On dresse deux poteaux +qui servent des bornes, et qui sont éloignés l'un de l'autre, à +proportion du nombre des joueurs. Par exemple s'ils sont quatre vingt, +il y a entre les poteaux une demie lieue de distance. Les joueurs sont +partagés en deux bandes, qui ont chacune leur poteau, et il s'agit de +faire aller la bale jusqu'à celui de la partie adverse, sans qu'elle +tombe à terre, et sans qu'elle soit touchée avec la main; car si l'un ou +l'autre arrive on perd la partie, à moins que celui qui a fait la faute +ne la répare, en faisant aller la bale d'un seul trait au but, ce qui +est souvent impossible. Ces sauvages sont si adroits à prendre la bale +avec leurs crosses, que quelquefois ces parties durent plusieurs jours +de suite.</p> + +<p>"<i>Le Jeu du Plat, appellé aussi le Jeu des Osselets.</i>—Il ne se joue +qu'entre deux personnes. Chacun a six ou huit osselets, que je pris +d'abord pour des noyaux d'abricots; els en ont la figure et sont de même +grandeur, mais en les regardant de près je m'aperçus qu'ils étoient à +six faces inégales, dont les deux principales sont peintes, l'une en +noir, l'autre en blanc tirant sur le jaune. On les fait sauter en l'air, +en frappant la terre, ou la table, avec un plat rond et creux, où ils +sont, et qu'ils font pirouetter auparavant. Si tous en tombant +présentent la même couleur, celui qui a joué gagne cinq points, la +partie est en quarante, et on défalque les points gagnés, à mesure que +l'adversaire en gagne de son côté. Cinq osselets d'une même couleur ne +donnent qu'un point pour la première fois, mais à la seconde on fait +rafle de tout. En moindre nombre on ne gagne rien. Celui, qui gagne la +partie, continue de jouer; le perdant cède sa place à un autre, qui est +nommé par les marqueurs de sa partie. Car on se partage d'abord, et +souvent tout le village s'intéresse au jeu: quelquefois même un village +joue contre un autre. Chaque partie choisit son marqueur, mais il se +retire quand il veut, ce qui n'arrive que lorsque la chose tourne mal +pour les siens. À chaque coup que l'on joue, surtout si c'est un coup +décisif, il s'élève de grands cris: les joueurs paroissent comme des +fascinés, et les spectateurs ne sont pas plus tranquils."—Charlevoix, +vol. v., p. 386; vol. vi., p. 26.</p> + + +<p class='center'>No. LX.</p> + +<p>"The action in which Sir Richard met with his death is so extraordinary +that it well merits recital: its object was to surprise the Spanish +fleet when it rendezvoused at the Azores, on its return from America. +For this purpose, Lord Thomas Howard sailed from England with six of the +queen's ships, six victualers, and some pinnaces, Sir Richard Grenville +being vice admiral in the Revenge. Having set out in the spring, 1591, +they waited six months at Flores in expectation of their prize. Philip, +however, obtaining intelligence of their design, dispatched Don Alphonso +Barcau with fifty-three ships of war to act as convoy. So secure had the +English become by protracted delay, that this armament was bearing down +upon them before they had the least suspicion of its approach. Most of +the crews were on shore, providing water, ballast, and other +necessaries, and many were disabled by sickness. To hurry on board, +weigh anchor, and leave the place with the utmost speed, was their only +safety; and Grenville, upon whom the charge of the details at this +pressing crisis was imposed, was the last upon the spot, superintending +the embarkation, and receiving his men on board, of whom ninety were on +the sick-list, and only one hundred able for duty. Thus detained, he +found it impossible to recover the wind, and there was no alternative +but either to cut his mainsail, tack about, and fly with all speed, or +remain and fight it out single handed. It was to this desperate +resolution that he adhered. 'From the greatness of his spirit,' says +Raleigh, 'he utterly refused to turn from the enemy, protesting he would +rather die than be guilty of such dishonor to himself, his country, and +her majesty's ship.' His design was to force the squadron of Seville, +which was on his weather bow, to give way; and such was the impetuosity +of his attack, that it was on the point of being successful. Divers of +the Spaniards, springing their loof, as the sailors of those times +termed it, fell under his lee; when the San Philip, a galleon of 1500 +tons, gained the wind, and coming down on the Revenge, becalmed her +sails so completely that she could neither make way nor obey the helm. +The enemy carried three tier of guns on each side, and discharged eight +foreright from her chase, besides those of her stern ports. At the +moment Sir Richard was thus entangled, four other galleons loofed up and +boarded him, two on his larboard and two on his starboard. The close +fight began at three in the afternoon, and continued, with some slight +intermission, for fifteen hours, during which time, Grenville, +unsupported, sustained the reiterated attacks of fifteen Spanish ships, +the rest not being able to engage in close fire. The unwieldy San +Philip, having received a broadside from the lower tier of the Revenge, +shifted with all speed, and avoided the repetition of such a salute; but +still, as one was beaten off, another supplied the vacant space. Two +galleons were sunk, and two others so handled as to lie complete wrecks +upon the water; yet it was evident no human power could save Sir +Richard's vessel. Although wounded in the beginning of the action, its +brave commander refused, for eight hours, to leave the upper deck. He +was then shot through the body, and as his wound was dressing he +received another musket ball, and saw the surgeon slain at his side. +Such was the state of things during the night; but the darkness +concealed the full extent of the calamity. As the day broke, a +melancholy spectacle presented itself. 'Now,' says Raleigh, 'was to be +seen nothing but the naked hull of a ship, and that almost a skeleton, +having received eight hundred shot of great artillery, and some under +water; her deck covered with the limbs and carcasses of forty valiant +men, the rest all wounded, and painted with their own blood; her masts +beat overboard; all her tackle cut asunder; her upper works raised and +level with the water, and she herself incapable of receiving any +direction or motion except that given her by the heaving billows.' At +this moment Grenville proposed to sink the vessel, and trust to the +mercy of God rather than fall into the hands of the Spaniards—a +resolution in which he was joined by the master gunner and a part of the +crew; but the rest refused to consent, and compelled their captain to +surrender. Faint with the loss of blood, and, like his ship, shattered +with repeated wounds, this brave man soon after expired, with these +remarkable words: 'Here die I, Richard Grenville, with a joyful and +quiet mind, for that I have ended my life as a true soldier ought to do, +fighting for his country, queen, religion, and honor.'"—<i>Report of the +Truth of the Fight about the Isles of the Azores</i>, 4to, 1501, quoted in +Tytler's "Life of Raleigh."</p> + + +<p class='center'>No. LXI.</p> + +<p>"Pocahontas, before her marriage, was instructed in the principles of +the Christian religion, which she cordially embraced, and was baptized +by the name of Rebecca. Soon after, she set sail to visit England. As +soon as Smith heard of her arrival, he sent a letter to the queen, +recounting all her services to himself and to the nation, assuring her +majesty that she had a great spirit, though a low stature, and earnestly +soliciting her majesty's kindness and courtesy. Mrs. Rolfe was +accordingly introduced, and well received at court. At first James +fancied that Rolfe, in marrying her, might be advancing a claim to the +crown of Virginia; however, by great pains, this idea was at last driven +out of his brains. Mrs. Rolfe was for some time, as a novelty, the +favorite object in the circles of fashion and nobility. On her +introduction into these, she deported herself with a grace and propriety +which, it is said, many ladies, bred with every advantage of education +and society, could not equal. Purchas mentions meeting her at the table +of his patron, Dr. King, bishop of London, where she was entertained +'with festival state and pomp,' beyond what, at his hospitable board, +was shown to other ladies. She carried herself as the daughter of a +king, and was respected as such. She was accompanied by Vitamokomakkin, +an Indian chief and priest, who had married one of her sisters, and had +been sent to attend her. Purchas saw him repeatedly 'sing and dance his +diabolical measures.' He endeavored to persuade this chief to follow the +example of his sister-in-law, and embrace Christianity, but found him 'a +blasphemer of what he knew not, preferring his God to ours.' He insisted +that their <i>Okee</i>, having taught them to plant, sow, and wear a cork +twisted round their left ear, was entitled to their undivided homage. +Powhatan had instructed him to bring back every information respecting +England, and particularly to count the number of people, furnishing him +for that purpose with a bundle of sticks, that he might make a notch for +every man. Vitamokomakkin, the moment he landed at Plymouth, was +appalled at the magnitude of the task before him; however, he continued +notching most indefatigably all the way to London; but the instant that +he entered Piccadilly, he threw away the sticks, and on returning, +desired Powhatan to count the leaves on the trees, and the sand on the +sea-shore. He also told Smith that he had special instructions to see +the English god, their king, their queen, and their prince. Smith could +do nothing for him as to the first particular; but he was taken to the +levee, and saw the other three, when he complained bitterly that none of +them had made him any present. As soon as Smith learned that Pocahontas +was settled in a house at Brentford, which she had chosen in order to be +out of the smoke of London, he hastened to wait upon her. His reception +was very painful. The princess turned from him, hid her face, and for +two hours could by no effort be induced to utter a word. A certain +degree of mystery appears to hang on the origin of this deadly offense. +Her actual reproaches, when she found her speech, rested on having heard +nothing of him since he left Virginia, and on having been assured there +that he was dead. Prevost has taken upon him to say that the breach of +plighted love was the ground of this resentment, and that it was only on +believing that death had dissolved the connection between them that she +had been induced to marry another. I can not in any of the original +writers meet with the least trace of this alleged vow, and should be +sorry to find in Smith the false lover of the fair Pocahontas. It would +not also have been much in unison with her applauded discretion to have +resented a wrong of this nature in such a time and manner. I am +persuaded that this love was a creation of the romantic brain of +Prevost, and that the real ground of her displeasure was, that during +the two years when she was so shamefully kept in durance, she had heard +nothing of any intercession made in her favor by one whom she had laid +under such deep obligation, and really the thing seems to require some +explanation. It appears that when Smith at last was able to draw speech +from the indignant fair one, he succeeded in satisfying her that there +had been no such neglect as she apprehended, and she insisted on calling +him by the name of father.</p> + +<p>"It is said that Pocahontas departed from London with the most +favorable impressions, and with every honor, her husband being appointed +Secretary and Recorder General of Virginia. But Providence had not +destined that she should ever revisit her native shore. As she went down +to embark at Gravesend she was seized with illness, and died in a few +days. Her end is described to have edified extremely all the spectators, +and to have been full of Christian resignation and hope."—Murray's +<i>America</i>. See Smith, in Pinkerton, vol. xiii., p. 120-123; Beverley; +Prevost, <i>Hist. Gen. des Voyages</i>, vol. xiv., p. 471; Purchas, vol. iv., +1774.</p> + + +<p class='center'>No. LXII.</p> + +<p>"The historians of Virginia have left some records respecting this +unfortunate race, who have not even left behind a relic of their name or +nation. A rude agriculture, devolved solely on the women; hunting, +pursued with activity and skill, but rather as a pastime than a toil; +strong attachment of the members of the little communities to each +other, but deadly enmity against all their neighbors, and this +manifesting itself in furious wars—these features belong to the +Virginians, in common with almost every form of savage life. There are +others which are more distinctive. Although a rude independence has been +supposed to be, and in many cases is, the peculiar boast of the savage, +yet, when a yoke of opinion and authority has once been established over +his mind, he yields a submission more entire and more blind than is +rendered to the most absolute of Eastern despots. Such a sway had the +King of Virginia. 'When he listeth,' says Smith, 'his will is a law, and +must be obeyed; not only as a king, but as half a god they esteem him. +What he commandeth they dare not disobey in the least thing. It is +strange to see with what great fear and adoration all this people do +adore this Powhatan; at the least frown of his brow their greatest +spirits will tremble with fear.' Powhatan (father of the celebrated +Pocahontas; see Appendix, No. LXI.) had under him a number of chiefs, +who ruled as supreme within their own circle; and they were so numerous, +and covered so large an extent of territory, that Powhatan is often +dignified by Europeans with the title of emperor.</p> + +<p>"The priests and conjurers formed a separate order, and enjoyed that +high influence which marks a certain advance in the social state. They +possessed some knowledge of nature, and of the history and traditions of +their country, superior, at least, to that of their ruder countrymen. +Their temples were numerous, formed on a similar plan to those of +Florida, and each served by one or more priests.</p> + +<p>"Beverley was the man who made the most close inquiry into the Virginian +mythology. He did not meet with all the success he wished, finding them +excessively mysterious on the subject. Having got hold, however, of an +intelligent Indian, and plied him heartily with strong cider, he at last +got him to open his heart in some degree. As he declared his belief in a +wise, perfect, and supremely beneficent being, who dwelt in the +heavens, Beverley asked him how then he could confine his worship to the +devil, a wicked, ugly, earthly being. The Indian said that they were +secure as to the good being, who would shower down his blessings without +asking any return; but that the evil spirit was perpetually busy and +meddling, and would spoil all if court were not paid to him. Beverley, +however, pressed upon him how he could think that an insensible log, 'a +helpless thing, equipped with a burden of clouts,' could ever be a +proper object of worship. The visage of the Indian now assumed a very +marked and embarrassed expression. After a long pause, he began to +utter, in broken sentences, 'It is the priests;' then, after another +pause, 'It is the priests;' but 'a qualm crossed his conscience,' and he +would say no more.</p> + +<p>"Beverley had been so well informed upon this last point, in consequence +of a favorable accident of which he had availed himself. While the whole +town were assembled to deliberate upon some great state affair, he was +ranging the woods, and stumbled upon their great temple. He resolved not +to lose so favorable an occasion. After removing about fourteen logs, +with which the door was barricadoed, he entered the mansion, which +appeared at first to consist only of a large, empty, dark apartment, +with a fire-place in the middle, and set round with posts, crowned with +carved or painted heads. On closer observation, he at length discovered +a recess, with mats hung before it, and involved in the deepest +darkness. With some hesitation he ventured into this wondrous sanctuary, +where he found the materials, which, on being put together, made up +Okee, Kiwasee, or Mioceos, the mighty Indian idol. The main body +consisted of a large plank, to whose edges were nailed half hoops, to +represent the breast and belly. Long rolls of blue and red cotton cloth, +variously twisted, made arms and legs, the latter of which were +represented in a bent position. The reputation of the god was chiefly +supported by the very dim religious light under which he was viewed, and +which enabled also the conjurer to get behind him, and move his person +in such a manner as might be favorable to the extension of his +influence, while the priest in front, by the most awful menaces, +deterred any from approaching so near as might lead to any revelation of +the interior mysteries.</p> + +<p>"Smith alleges against the Virginians that they made a yearly sacrifice +of a certain number of children; but it appears clear, from the +statements of Beverley, that he misunderstood, in this sense, the +practice of <i>huskenawing</i>, a species of severe probation through which +those were required to pass who desired either to be chiefs or priests. +On this occasion, after various preparatory ceremonies, the children are +led naked through two lines of men, armed with bastinadoes, which are +employed with great rigor against the victims, who, after running +through this gauntlet, are more dead than alive, and are covered with +boughs and leaves of trees. If any expire under this trial, it is +esteemed that the Okee has fixed his heart upon him, and carried him +off. The rest are conveyed into the depths of a wood, and shut up into a +cage or pen, where they are plied with intoxicating drugs till they are +said to become for several weeks actually deranged. By this process +they are supposed completely to lose all memory of what they have seen +and known in their former life, and to begin a new and brighter era. +They must not, on their return home, recognize their nearest friends or +comrades, the most common objects, nor even know a word of their own +language; all must be learned afresh. If any indications of memory +escape, the youth must pass again through the dreadful ordeal. Above +all, he must be careful not to have retained the slightest recollection +of any property he may have possessed, and which the neighbors usually +consider a favorable opportunity to appropriate.</p> + +<p>"These Indians had not the least tincture of science, nor, of course, +used any form of writing. They made, however, paintings of animals and +other natural objects, by the form and natural position of which +information was transmitted; but it is to be regretted that none of the +Virginian paintings have been preserved to compare with those of the +Mexicans."—Murray's <i>America</i>, vol. i., p. 235. See <i>History of +Virginia</i>, by R. Beverley, a native and inhabitant of the place. 8vo. +London, 1702.</p> + + +<p class='center'><a name='link2' id='link2'></a>No. LXIII.</p> + +<p>The following is Hennepin's account of the voyage of the first vessel +built by Europeans on the American lakes:</p> + +<p>"It now became necessary for La Salle, in furtherance of his object, to +construct a vessel above the Falls of Niagara sufficiently large to +transport the men and goods necessary to carry on a profitable trade +with the savages residing on the Western lakes. On the 22d of January, +1679, they went six miles above the falls to the mouth of a small creek, +and there built a dock convenient for the construction of their +vessel.<a name="FNanchor_229_229" id="FNanchor_229_229"></a><a href="#Footnote_229_229" class="fnanchor">[229]</a></p> + +<p>"On the 26th of January, the keel and other pieces being ready, La Salle +requested Father Hennepin to drive the first bolt, but the modesty of +the good father's profession prevented.</p> + +<p>"During the rigorous winter La Salle determined to return to Fort +Frontenac;<a name="FNanchor_230_230" id="FNanchor_230_230"></a><a href="#Footnote_230_230" class="fnanchor">[230]</a> and leaving the dock in charge of an Italian named +Chevalier Tuti, he started, accompanied by Father Hennepin, as far as +Lake Ontario; from thence he traversed the dreary forests to Frontenac +on foot, with only two companions and a dog, which drew his baggage on a +sled, subsisting on nothing but parched corn, and even that failed him +two days' journey from the fort. In the mean time, the building of the +vessel went on under the suspicious eyes of the neighboring savages, +although the most part of them had gone to war beyond Lake Erie. One of +them, feigning intoxication, attempted the life of the blacksmith, who +defended himself successfully with a red-hot bar of iron. The timely +warning of a friendly squaw averted the burning of their vessel on the +stocks, which was designed by the savages. The workmen were almost +disheartened by frequent alarms, and would have abandoned the work had +they not been cheered by the good father, who represented the great +advantage their perseverance would afford, and how much their success +would redound to the glory of God. These and other inducements +accelerated the work, and the vessel was soon ready to be launched, +though not entirely finished. Chanting Te Deum, and firing three guns, +they committed her to the river amid cries of joy, and swung their +hammocks in security from the wild beasts and still more dreaded +Indians.</p> + +<p>"When the Senecas returned from their expedition they were greatly +astonished at the floating fort, 'which struck terror among all the +savages who lived on the great lakes and river within 1500 miles.' +Hennepin ascended the river in a bark canoe with one of his companions +as far as Lake Erie. They twice pulled the canoe up the rapids, and +sounded the lake for the purpose of ascertaining the depth. He reported +that with a favorable north or northwest wind the vessel could ascend to +the lake, and then sail without difficulty over its whole extent. Soon +after, the vessel was launched in the current of Niagara, about four and +a half miles from the lake. Hennepin left it for Fort Frontenac, and, +returning with La Salle and two other fathers, Gabriel and Zenobe +Mambre, anchored in the Niagara on the 30th of July, 1769. On the 4th of +August they reached the dock where the ship was built, which he calls +distant eighteen miles from Lake Ontario, and proceeded from thence in a +bark canoe to their vessel, which they found at anchor three miles from +the 'beautiful Lake Erie.'</p> + +<p>"The vessel was of sixty tons burden, completely rigged, and found with +all the necessaries, arms, provisions, and merchandise; it had seven +small pieces of cannon on board, two of which were of brass. There was a +griffin flying at the jib-boom, and an eagle above. There were also all +the ordinary ornaments and other fixtures which usually grace a ship of +war.</p> + +<p>"They endeavored many times to ascend the current of the Niagara into +Lake Erie without success, the wind not being strong enough. While they +were thus detained La Salle employed a few of his men in clearing some +land on the Canadian shore opposite the vessel, and in sowing some +vegetable seeds for the benefit of those who might inhabit the place.</p> + +<p>"At length, the wind being favorable, they lightened the vessel by +sending most of the crew on shore, and with the aid of their sails and +ten or a dozen men at the tow-lines, ascended the current into Lake +Erie. Thus, on the 7th of August, 1679, the first vessel set sail on +the untried waters of Lake Erie. They steered southward after having +chanted their never-failing Te Deum, and discharged their artillery in +the presence of a vast number of Seneca warriors. It had been reported +to our voyagers that Lake Erie was full of breakers and sandbanks, which +rendered a safe navigation impossible; they therefore kept the lead +going, sounding from time to time.</p> + +<p>"After sailing without difficulty through Lake Erie, they arrived on the +11th of August at the mouth of the Detroit River, sailing up which they +arrived at Lake St. Clair, to which they gave the name it bears. After +being detained several days by contrary winds at the bottom of the St. +Clair River, they at length succeeded in entering Lake Huron on the 23d +of August, chanting Te Deum through gratitude for a safe navigation thus +far. Passing along the eastern shore of the lake, they sailed with a +fresh and favorable wind until evening, when the wind suddenly veered, +driving them across Saginaw Bay (Sacinaw). The storm raged until the +24th, and was succeeded by a calm, which continued until next day noon +(25th), when they pursued their course until midnight. As they doubled a +point which advanced into the lake, they were suddenly struck by a +furious wind, which forced them to run behind the cape for safety. On +the 26th the violence of the storm compelled them to send down their +top-masts and yards and to stand in, for they could find neither +anchorage nor shelter.</p> + +<p>"It was then the stout heart of La Salle failed him; the whole crew fell +upon their knees to say their prayers and prepare for death, except the +pilot, whom they could not compel to follow their example, and who, on +the contrary, 'did nothing all that time but curse and swear against M. +la Salle, who had brought him thither to make him perish in a nasty +lake, and lose the glory he had acquired by his long and happy +navigation on the ocean.' On the 27th, favored with less adverse winds, +they arrived during the night at Michillimackinack, and anchored in the +bay, where they report six fathoms of water and a clay bottom. This bay +is protected on the southwest, west, and northwest, but open to the +south. The savages were struck dumb with astonishment at the size of +their vessel and the noise of their guns.</p> + +<p>"Here they regaled themselves on the delicious trout, which they +described as being from 50 lbs. to 60 lbs. in weight, and as affording +the savages their principal subsistence. On the 2d of September they +left Mackinack, entered Lake Michigan (Illinois), and sailed forty +leagues to an island at the mouth of the Bay of Puara (Green Bay). From +this place La Salle determined to send back the ship laden with furs to +Niagara. The pilot and five men embarked in her, and on the 10th she +fired a gun and set sail on her return with a favorable wind. Nothing +more was heard from her, and she undoubtedly foundered in Lake Huron, +with all on board. Her cargo was rich, and valued at 60,000 livres.</p> + +<p>"Thus ended the first voyage of the first ship that sailed over the +Western lakes. What a contrast is presented between the silent waves and +unbroken forests which witnessed the course of that adventurous bark, +and the busy hum of commerce which now rises from the fertile bottoms, +and the thousand ships and smoking palaces which now furrow the surface +of those inland seas!"—<i>American Tourist.</i></p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_229_229" id="Footnote_229_229"></a><a href="#FNanchor_229_229"><span class="label">[229]</span></a> There can be but little doubt that the place they +selected for building their bark was the mouth of the Cayuga Creek, +about six miles above the falls. Governor Cuss says "the vessel was +launched at Erie;" Schoolcraft, in his Journal, says, "near Buffalo;" +and the historian Bancroft locates the site at the mouth of Tonawanda +Creek. Hennepin says the mouth of the creek was two leagues above the +great falls; the mouth of the Tonawanda is more than twice that +distance, and the Cayuga is the only stream that answers to that +description.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_230_230" id="Footnote_230_230"></a><a href="#FNanchor_230_230"><span class="label">[230]</span></a> Now Kingston, Canada.</p></div> +</div> + +<p class='center'><a name='link3' id='link3'></a>No. LXIV.</p> + +<p class='center'><span class="smcap">Militia of Canada Before the Conquest in 1760.</span></p> + +<p>"All the inhabitants of the colony, by virtue of the Law of Fiefs +(except such gentlemen and other persons who, by their employments, had +the privilege of nobles), were militia-men, and enrolled in the several +companies of militia of the province. The captains of militia were the +most respectable persons in the country parishes, and were entitled to +the first seat in the churches; they also received the same distinctions +as the magistrates in the towns; they were held in great respect, and +government exacted from the inhabitants obedience to the orders they +signified to them on the part of government. If any of the inhabitants +did not obey orders, the captains were authorized to conduct them to the +city, and, on complaint, they were punished according to the nature of +the delinquency. When the government wanted the services of the militia +as soldiers, the colonels of militia, or the town majors, in consequence +of a requisition from the governor general, sent orders to the several +captains of militia in the country parishes to send a certain number of +militia-men, chosen by those officers who ordered the draughts, into +town, under an escort commanded by an officer of militia, who conducted +them to the town major, who furnished each militia-man with a gun, a +capot or Canadian cloak, a cotton shirt, a cap, a pair of leggins, a +pair of Indian shoes, and a blanket; after which they were marched to +the garrison to which they were destined. The militia were generally +reviewed once or twice a year to inspect their arms. The militia of the +city of Quebec were frequently exercised, and the company of artillery +every Sunday were exercised at the great gun practice, under the orders +and directions of the artillery sergeant major of the king's troops. To +excite the emulation of the militia-men, a premium was given to such as +excelled. The captains in the country were obliged to execute all orders +addressed to them by the governor general, and also all processes from +the intendant respecting the police, and also with regard to suits +touching fiefs. They were also obliged to execute all orders respecting +the roads from the grand voyer. It was customary for the governor +general to deliver to the several captains of militia every year, by way +of gratification, a quantity of powder and ball."—General Murray's +<i>Report</i>.</p> + + +<p class='center'><a name='link1' id='link1'></a>No. LXV.</p> + +<p>"When the French began their settlements in Canada, the country +exhibited one vast and unbounded forest, and property was granted in +extensive lots called <i>seigneuries</i>, stretching along either coast of +the St. Lawrence for a distance of ninety miles below Quebec, and thirty +miles above Montreal, comprehending a space of three hundred miles in +length.</p> + +<p>"The <i>seigneuries</i> each contain 100 to 500 square miles, and are +parceled out into small tracts on a freehold lease to the inhabitants, +as the persons to whom they were granted had not the means of +cultivating them. These consisted of officers of the army, of gentlemen, +and of communities, who were not in a state to employ laborers and +workmen. The portion to each inhabitant was of three acres in breadth, +and from seventy to eighty in depth, commencing on the banks of the +river, and running back into the woods, thus forming an entire and +regular lot of land.</p> + +<p>"To the proprietors of <i>seigneuries</i> some powers, as well as +considerable profits, are attached. They are by their grants authorized +to hold courts and sit as judges in what is termed <i>haute</i> and <i>basse +justice</i>, which includes all crimes committed within their jurisdiction, +treasons and murders excepted. Few, however, exercised this privilege +except the ecclesiastical seigneurs of Montreal, whose right of +jurisdiction the King of France purchased from them, giving them, in +return, his <i>droit de change</i>. Some of the seigneurs have a right of +villain service from their tenants.</p> + +<p>"At every transfer or mutation of proprietor, the new purchaser is bound +to pay a sum equal to a fifth part of the purchase money to the seigneur +or to the king; but if this fine be paid immediately, only one third of +the fifth is demanded. This constituted a principal part of the king's +revenues in the province. When an estate falls by inheritance to a new +possessor, he is by law exempted from the fine.</p> + +<p>"The income of a seigneur is derived from the yearly rent of his lands, +from <i>lots et vents</i>, or a fine on the disposal of property held under +him, and from grist mills, to whose profits he has an exclusive right. +The rent paid by each tenant is considerable; but they who have many +inhabitants on their estates enjoy a tolerably handsome revenue, each +person paying in money, grain, or other produce, from five to twelve +livres <i>per annum</i>. In the event of a sale of any of the lots of his +<i>seigneurie</i>, a proprietor may claim a preference of repurchasing it, +which is seldom exercised but with a view to prevent frauds in the +disposal of the property. He may also, whenever he finds it necessary, +cut down timber for the purpose of building mills and making roads; +tithes of all the fisheries on his domain likewise belong to him.</p> + +<p>"Possessed of these advantages, seigneurs might in time attain to a +state of comparative affluence were their estates allowed to remain +entire. But by the practice of divisions among the different children of +a family, they become, in a few generations, reduced. The most ample +share, which retains the name of <i>seigneurie</i>, is the portion of eldest +son; the other partitions are denominated <i>feofs</i>. These are, in the +next generation, again subdivided, and thus, in the course of a few +descents, a seigneur is possessed of little more than his title. This is +the condition of most of those estates that have passed to the third or +fourth generation.</p> + +<p>"The inhabitants, in like manner, make divisions of their small tracts +of land, and a house will sometimes belong to several proprietors. It is +from these causes that they are in a great measure retained in a state +of poverty, that a barrier to industry and emulation is interposed, and +that a spirit of litigation is excited.</p> + +<p>"There are in Canada upward of 100 <i>seigneuries</i>, of which that of +Montreal, belonging to the seminary of St. Sulpicius, is the richest and +most productive. The next in value and profit is the territory of the +Jesuits. The members of that society who resided at Quebec were, like +the priests of Montreal, only agents for the head of their community. +But since the expulsion of their order from France, and the seizure by +the Catholic sovereigns of Europe of all the lands of that society +within their dominions, the Jesuits in Canada held their <i>seigneurie</i> in +their own right.</p> + +<p>"Some of the domiciliated savages held also in the province land in the +right of seigneurs.</p> + +<p>"Upon a representation of the narrow circumstances to which many of the +<i>noblesse</i> and gentlemen of the colony were reduced, not only by the +causes already assigned, but by others equally powerful, Louis XIV. was +induced to permit persons of that description to carry on commerce by +sea or land without being subjected to any inquiry on this account, or +to an imputation of their having derogated from their rank in society.</p> + +<p>"To no <i>seigneurie</i> is the right of patronage to the Church attached; it +was upon the advancement of the pretensions of some seigneurs, founded +on their having built parochial churches, that the king in 1685 +pronounced in council that this right should belong to the bishop, he +being the most capable of judging concerning the qualifications of +persons who were to serve, and the incomes of the curacies also being +paid from the tithes, which belonged to him alone. The right of +patronage was at the same time declared not to be reputed an +honor."—Heriot's <i>Canada</i>, p. 98.</p> + + +<p class='center'>No. LXVI.</p> + +<p>"Louis Joseph, marquis de Montcalm de St. Véran, lieutenant général, +naquit au château de Candiac, près de Nîmes, en 1712. Sa famille, +originaire du Ronerque, joint ordinairement à son nom celui de +Gozon.<a name="FNanchor_231_231" id="FNanchor_231_231"></a><a href="#Footnote_231_231" class="fnanchor">[231]</a> L'éducation du Marquis de St. Véran fut confiée, ainsi que +celle de son frère aîné, enfant célébre,<a name="FNanchor_232_232" id="FNanchor_232_232"></a><a href="#Footnote_232_232" class="fnanchor">[232]</a> aux soins de Dumas, +l'inventeur du bureau typographique. Quoiqu'il fut sorti à l'âge de +quatorze ans des mains de cet habile instituteur, pour entrer dans la +carrière militaire, il avoit si bien profité de ses leçons qu'il +conserva le goût de l'étude jusque dans le tumulte des camps; et +l'étendue de ses connaissances justifia son ambition et son espérance +d'être admis à l'Académie Royale des inscriptions et belle-lettres de +Paris. Il ne vécut pas assez pour jouir de cette honneur.</p> + +<p>"Sa vie militaire a jetté un grand éclat. Il se distingua dès les +premiers pas dans la carrière, reçut trois blessures à la bataille de +Plaisance, et deux au funeste combat d'Exilles (ou de l'Assiette).<a name="FNanchor_233_233" id="FNanchor_233_233"></a><a href="#Footnote_233_233" class="fnanchor">[233]</a> +Il étoit alors colonel d'infanterie. Devenue brigadier il passa dans la +cavalerie et fut fait mestre-de-camp d'un régiment de son nom. +Maréchal-de-camp en 1756 il alla commander en chef les troupes chargées +de la défense des colonies Françaises dans l'Amérique +Septentrionale."-<i>Biographie Universelle</i>, art. Montcalm.</p> + +<p>The French troops that served in Canada, being desirous of erecting a +monument in honor of Montcalm, their general, who fell in the action at +Quebec, when we also lost the brave Wolfe, a French colonel wrote to the +Academy of Belles-Lettres for an epitaph to be placed over Montcalm's +tomb, in a church in that city, which occasioned the following letter +from M. de Bougainville, member of the academy, to Mr. Pitt:</p> + +<p>"Sir,—The honors paid, under your ministry, to Mr. Wolfe, assure me +that you will not disapprove of the grateful endeavors of the French +troops to perpetuate the memory of the Marquis de Montcalm. The body of +their general, who was honored by the regret of your nation, is interred +in Quebec. I have the honor to send you an epitaph made for him by the +Academy of Inscriptions. I beg the favor of you, sir, that you will be +pleased to examine it, and, if not improper, obtain leave for me to send +it to Quebec, engraved on marble, and to be placed on the Marquis de +Montcalm's tomb. Should such leave be granted, may I presume, sir, that +you will be so good as to inform me of it, and at the same time to send +me a passport, that the marble, with the epitaph engraved upon it, may +be received into an English ship, and Mr. Murray, governor of Quebec, +allow it to be placed in the Ursuline Church. You will be pleased, sir, +to pardon me for this intrusion on your important occupations; but +endeavoring to immortalize illustrious men and eminent patriots is doing +honor to yourself.</p> + +<p> +"I am, with respect, &c.,<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">De Bougainville</span>."<a name="FNanchor_234_234" id="FNanchor_234_234"></a><a href="#Footnote_234_234" class="fnanchor">[234]</a><br /> +</p> + +<p>Mr. Pitt's answer:</p> + +<p>"Sir,—It is a real satisfaction to me to send you the king's consent on +a subject so affecting as the epitaph composed by the Academy of +Inscriptions at Paris for the Marquis de Montcalm, and which it is +desired may be sent to Quebec, engraved on marble, to be placed on the +tomb of that illustrious soldier. It is perfectly beautiful; and the +desire of the French troops which served in Canada to pay such a tribute +to the memory of their general, whom they saw expire at their head in a +manner worthy of them and himself, is truly noble and praiseworthy.</p> + +<p>"I shall take a pleasure, sir, in facilitating every way such amiable +intentions; and on notice of the measures taken for shipping this +marble, I will not fail immediately to transmit you the passport you +desire, and send directions to the governor of Quebec for its reception.</p> + +<p>"I withal beg of you, sir, to be persuaded of my just sensibility of +that so obliging part of the letter with which you have honored me +relating to myself, and to believe that I embrace as a happiness the +opportunity of manifesting the esteem and particular regard with which I +have the honor to be, &c.,</p> + +<p> +<span class="smcap">W. Pitt</span><br /> +<br /> +"<i>London, April 10th, 1761</i>."<br /> +</p> + +<p>The epitaph was as follows:</p> + +<p class='center'> +Utroque in orbe æternum victurus,<br /> +Ludovicus Josephus de Montcalm Gozon,<br /> +Marchio Sancti Verani, Baro Gebriaci,<br /> +Ordinis sancti Ludovici commendator,<br /> +Legatus generalis exercituum Gallicorum;<br /> +Egregius et civis et miles,<br /> +Nullius rei appetens præterquam veræ laudis,<br /> +Ingenio felici, et literis exculto;<br /> +Omnes militiæ gradus per continua decora emensus,<br /> +Omnium belli artium, temporum, discriminum gnarus,<br /> +In Italia, in Bohemia, in Germania<br /> +Dux industrius.<br /> +Mandata sibi ita semper gerens ut majoribus par haberetur.<br /> +Jam clarus periculus<br /> +Ad tutandam Canadensem provinciam missus,<br /> +Parva militum manu hostium copias non semel repulit,<br /> +Propuguacula cepit viris armisque instructissima.<br /> +Algoris, inediæ, vigiliarum, laboris patiens,<br /> +Suis unice prospiciens, immemor sui,<br /> +Hostis acris, victor mansuetus.<br /> +Fortunam virtuti, virium inopiam peritia et celeritate compensavit;<br /> +Imminens coloniæ fatum et consilio et manu per quadrimum sustinuit,<br /> +Tandem ingentum exercitum duce strenuo et audaci,<br /> +Classemque omni bellorum mole gravem,<br /> +Multiplici prudentia diu ludificatus,<br /> +Vi pertractus ad dimicandum,<br /> +In prima acie, in primo conflictu vulneratus,<br /> +Religioni quam semper coluerat innitens,<br /> +Magno suorum desiderio, nec sine hostium mœrore,<br /> +Extinctus est<br /> +Die xiv. Sept., <span class="smcap">A.D. MDCCLIX.</span>, ætat. <span class="smcap">XLVIII.</span><br /> +Mortales optimi ducis exuvias in excavata humo,<br /> +Quam globus bellicus decidens dissiliensque defoderat,<br /> +Galli lugentes deposuerunt,<br /> +Et generosæ hostium fidei commemdârunt.<br /> +</p> + +<p>TRANSLATION.</p> + +<p class='center'> +Here lieth,<br /> +In either hemisphere to live forever,<br /> +Lewis Joseph de Montcalm Gozon,<br /> +Marquis of St. Veran, Baron of Gabriac,<br /> +Commendatory of the Order of St. Louis,<br /> +Lieutenant general of the French army;<br /> +Not loss an excellent citizen than soldier,<br /> +Who knew no desire but that of true glory;<br /> +Happy in a natural genius, improved by literature,<br /> +Having gone through the several steps of military honors<br /> +With uninterrupted luster,<br /> +Skill'd in all the arts of war,<br /> +The juncture of times, and the crisis of dangers,<br /> +In Italy, in Bohemia, in Germany,<br /> +An indefatigable general.<br /> +He so discharged his important trusts,<br /> +That he seemed always equal to still greater.<br /> +At length, grown bright with perils,<br /> +Sent to secure the province of Canada,<br /> +With a handful of men<br /> +He more than once repulsed the enemy's forces,<br /> +And made himself master of their forts,<br /> +Replete with troops and ammunition.<br /> +Inured to cold, hunger, watchings, and labors,<br /> +Unmindful of himself,<br /> +He had no sensation but for his soldiers;<br /> +An enemy with the fiercest impetuosity,<br /> +A victor with the tenderest humanity.<br /> +Adverse fortune he compensated with valor,<br /> +The want of strength with skill and activity,<br /> +And, with his counsel and support,<br /> +For four years protracted the impending fate of the colony.<br /> +Having with various artifices<br /> +Long baffled a great army,<br /> +Headed by an expert and intrepid commander,<br /> +And a fleet furnished with all warlike stores,<br /> +Compelled at length to an engagement,<br /> +He fell, in the first rank, in the first onset,<br /> +With those hopes of religion which he had always cherished,<br /> +To the inexpressible loss of his own army,<br /> +And not without the regret of the enemy's,<br /> +<span class="smcap">XIV.</span> September, A.D. <span class="smcap">MDCCLIX.</span>, of his age <span class="smcap">XLVIII.</span><br /> +His weeping countrymen<br /> +Deposited the remains of their excellent general<br /> +In a grave,<br /> +Which a fallen bomb in bursting had excavated for him,<br /> +Recommending them to the generous faith of their enemies.<br /> +</p> + +<p> +—<i>Annual Register</i>, 1762.<br /> +</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_231_231" id="Footnote_231_231"></a><a href="#FNanchor_231_231"><span class="label">[231]</span></a> "La famille de Montcalm joint ordinairement à son nom +celui de Gozon, sons lequel elle s'illustra au quatorzième siècle; le +grand-maître de l'ordre de St. Jean de Jérusalem, qui obtint cette +dignité pour avoir délivré l'ile de Rhodes d'un dragon qui la ravageoit. +Les grans bois de la terre de Gozon, vendu domainalement, portent encore +le nom de dragonnières, d'après la tradition que c'est là que le +chevalier Dieu Donnè exerçoit ses chiens à la poursuite d'un dragon +artificiel avant d'attaquer celui que désoloit l'ile de Gozon. La même +tradition de la famille Montcalm a conservé le nom du fidèle domestique +qui accompagna ce héros; il se nomma Roustan. On grava sur son tombeau +cette courte inscription, 'Draconia Extinctor.' Plusieurs critiques ont +cherché a jeter des doutes sur le combat de Gozon. On peut voir dans le +Dictionnaire de Chaufepié, les raisons qu'on leur oppose, tirées de +l'existence de serpents monstreux, prouvée par l'accord des historiens +anciens, et par les récits des voyageurs, comme par le témoignage des +monuments contemporains, des Chroniques de l'Ordre de Malte, et enfin +d'une tapisserie sur laquelle est représenté le mémorable combat de +Gozon."—<i>Biographie Universelle</i>, art. Gozon.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_232_232" id="Footnote_232_232"></a><a href="#FNanchor_232_232"><span class="label">[232]</span></a> "Le frère aîné de Montcalm, Jean Louis Pierre Elizabeth +de Montcalm de Candiac, étoit un enfant célébre, qui attira l'attention +et les hommages des savants à Nîmes, à Montpellier, à Grenoble, à Lyons, +à Paris. Sa vie n'eut que sept ans de durée, et cependant outre sa +langue maternelle qu'il connoissait par principes, il avoit des notions +assez avancées de Latin, de Grec, et d'Hébreu, il possédoit toute +l'arithmétique, savoit la fable, le blason, la géographie et plusieurs +parties importantes de l'histoire sacrée et profane, ancienne et +moderne. Il étoit l'élève de Dumas aussi bien que son frère; sa mort fut +causée par une hydropisie de cerveau."—<i>Biographie Universelle</i>, art. +Candiac.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_233_233" id="Footnote_233_233"></a><a href="#FNanchor_233_233"><span class="label">[233]</span></a> "Le Comte de Belleisle avoit la promesse du bâton de +Maréchal de France s'il réussissait de pénétrer dans le cœur du +Piémont avec l'armée du Dauphiné. Le 19 Juillet, 1746, à la pointe du +jour, il commença l'attaque mémorable et sanglante, où tous les prodiges +de la valeur Française furent vains. Quatorze bataillons Piémontais +défendaient le col de l'Assiette qui couvroit, à la fois, Exilles et +Fenestrelles. Désespéré du mauvais succés d'une attaque désapprouvée par +les généraux les plus expérimentés, le Comte de Belleisle se mit à la +tête des officiers de l'armée, dont il forma une colonne, et qui, +presque tous, vinrent se faire tuer au pied des retranchemens. Blessé +aux deux mains, Belleisle tachoit d'arracher les palisades avec les +dents, lorsque il reçut un coup mortel. Les François repoussés et sans +chef firent leur retraite sur Briançon."—<i>Biographie Universelle</i>, art. +Belleisle.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_234_234" id="Footnote_234_234"></a><a href="#FNanchor_234_234"><span class="label">[234]</span></a> Jean Pierre de Bougainville was Secretary to the French +Academy of Inscriptions. He died in 1763, at the age of forty-one, of +asthma, brought on by intense application. His brother, Louis Antoine, +the celebrated circumnavigator, who had been Montcalm's aide-de-camp, +retired from the service in 1790. He was afterward made a count and a +senator by Bonaparte, became member of the National Institute, and of +the Royal Society of London. He died at Paris in 1811, at the age of +eighty-two.</p></div></div> + + +<p class='center'><a name='link4' id='link4'></a>No. LXVII.</p> + +<p class='center'><span class="smcap">Memoir of General Wolfe.</span></p> + +<p>James Wolfe was the second son of Colonel Edward Wolfe, who was +afterward colonel of the 8th Regiment, and died on the 27th of March, +1759, but a short time before the death of his gallant son. Colonel +Wolfe had served and won honorable estimation, under Marlborough in +early life; on his return from the continental wars he married Miss +Harriett Thompson, sister to the then member of Parliament for York. The +inhabitants of that city made a vigorous effort to appropriate the honor +of James Wolfe having been born among them, and a controversy in prose +and verse, neither of them of a very brilliant description, was long +carried on in the periodicals of the day, between the capital of the +North and the quiet village of Westerham. Whatever the merits of the +writers upon either side may have been, and their power of wit and +argument, there were a few lines in the parish register of the Kentish +hamlet which proved more convincing than any thing else; James, son of +Colonel Edward Wolfe, was baptized on January 11th, 1727. On a tablet +erected to his memory in Westerham Church, it is stated that he was born +on the 2nd of January, 1727.</p> + +<p>The vicarage house of the village was the place of Wolfe's birth, then +leased to his father by the Reverend George Lewis, the vicar, whose son +was vicar when Wolfe died, and wrote the inscription for his monument. +The elder brother of this gallant general died young; he himself was +sent to a respectable private school in the neighborhood, where, +although an ardent and clever boy, he was not distinguished for any very +remarkable characteristics.</p> + +<p>When only fourteen years of age he embarked with his father, who was +engaged in the expedition to Flanders under Lord Cathcart; the youth, +however, who was then and always of a very delicate constitution, fell +ill, and was under the necessity of being landed at Portsmouth. After a +little time, his health being somewhat re-established, he joined his +father on the Continent, and at once began to read the lessons of +military art in the stern school of reality.</p> + +<p>On the 3rd of November, 1741, Colonel Wolfe caused his youthful son to +be appointed to a commission in a battalion of marines which he himself +commanded. On the 27th of March, 1742, James Wolfe removed into the 12th +Regiment as ensign, and fought at the battle of Dettingen in that same +year. In April he appears to have been on leave, traveling probably for +health; in this month he writes to his mother, dating Rome, a grateful +and affectionate letter. On the 14th of July, 1743, he was promoted to a +lieutenancy in the same regiment, while serving with the allies behind +the Scheldt, and in 1744 was engaged under Wade in his inglorious +operations; in that year he was given a company in the 4th Regiment; in +the following, he fought under the Duke of Cumberland in the fatal but +glorious battle of Fontenoy. Up to this time Wolfe had been with his +regiment in every engagement in which it had taken part, and had already +gained greater distinction than can usually fall to the lot of those in +the junior ranks of the army. In 1746 he fought under Hawley in the +front line at the disgraceful rout at Falkirk, and his conduct, even in +that unfortunate occasion, called forth the praise of his superiors. In +the same year his services were transferred to a service more worthy of +his future fame than the obscure and painful struggles of a civil war; +he served and gained new approbation under the gallant Ligonier at +Liers.</p> + +<p>On the 5th of February, 1746-7, he was raised to a majority in the 33d +Regiment. This step of rank afforded new opportunity to this gallant +youth; at the battle of La Feldt, in the same year, he distinguished +himself in so remarkable a manner, that the British general-in-chief, +the Duke of Cumberland, publicly thanked him on the battle-field. On the +5th of January, 1748-9, he removed into Lord George Sackville's, the +20th Regiment of Foot.</p> + +<p>Wolfe commanded this regiment during the absence of the colonel for a +considerable time, and soon brought it into a state of the highest +discipline. Wherever he went, he received the praise of the different +general officers commanding, and gained the esteem and regard of all who +became acquainted with him in civil or military life. His regimental +orders, which are still extant, are admirable, and furnish ample +evidence of zeal for, and knowledge of, his profession.</p> + +<p>In February, 1748-9, Wolfe served at Stirling, in Scotland; in April, at +Glasgow; in October, at Perth. March 20th, 1749-50, he was made colonel +of the regiment which he had for some time so admirably commanded; in +October he was at Dundee, in November at Banff; and remained in Scotland +till 1753, when he removed to Reading, where his regiment was reviewed +and highly commended by the Duke of Cumberland. In December in that year +he was at Dover Castle. In 1755 he was at Winchester and Southampton; at +the end of October he marched to Gravesend, and in December to +Canterbury. While in the south of England, he constantly practiced his +regiment in such evolutions as might be necessary to oppose the landing +of an invading army, and wrote an elaborate code of instructions, to be +acted upon in case of any attempt being made upon the coast. At the same +time, a number of his trained soldiers were withdrawn to fill up the +ill-fated ranks of the 44th and 48th, then about to sail for America +under Braddock, where many of them perished miserably and ingloriously.</p> + +<p>Early in 1757, Lieutenant-colonel Wolfe was selected, on account of his +known merit, by Mr. Pitt to serve as quarter-master general of the force +sent against Rochefort, under Sir John Mordaunt, the general, and Sir +Edward Hawke, the admiral. While the expedition lay motionless in Basque +Roads, from the untoward dissensions between the naval and military +officers, Wolfe landed one night alone upon the hostile shore, and +walked two miles up the country. He found that there were no real +difficulties in the way of debarkation, and that no preparations had +been made to oppose it. When he returned to the fleet he reported the +result of his observations, and strongly, but vainly, urged the general +to land, and at once attack Rochefort. Finally, he pledged himself to +carry the place, should three ships of war and 500 men be placed at his +disposal. The proposal was neglected: however, the zeal and daring shown +by the gallant young soldier on this occasion confirmed Pitt in the +estimate which he had formed of his character. Some more days were +wasted in inaction, and at length the expedition, having destroyed the +unimportant fortifications of Aix, returned ingloriously to England. +Wolfe's merit was thrown out in strong relief by the incapacity of +those under whom he served; while they were despised, he was honored. +The rank of brevet colonel on the 21st of October of that year was his +first reward.</p> + +<p>On the 23d of January, 1758, Mr. Pitt made Wolfe brigadier general, and +gave him the command of a brigade under Amherst, in the expedition +against Louisburg, disregarding the mere official routine of seniority. +Events soon proved the wisdom of the selection. From thenceforward +Wolfe's biography is English history. However, it may be added that he +was made colonel of the 67th Foot on the 21st of April, 1758. In +January, 1759, Pitt again selected him for service. This time he was to +command in chief: he was gazetted as major general, and intrusted with +the conduct of the arduous expedition against Quebec.</p> + +<p>It is a painful duty to repeat here an anecdote of Wolfe, which stands +recorded by the high authority of Lord Mahon. The young general dined +with Mr. Pitt shortly after his appointment to the command, a third +person only being present. After dinner, when the conversation turned +upon the approaching expedition, Wolfe became unreasonably excited: he +strode about the room, flourished his sword, and broke forth in a style +of vaporing altogether surprising in a man of real spirit. When he at +length departed, Mr. Pitt remained dismayed at having intrusted the fate +of the country and of the ministry in such hands. Happily, he did not +suffer new doubts to alter his former arrangements.</p> + +<p>For some time Wolfe appears to have been unsuccessful in a suit which he +pleaded to Miss Lowther, and, in consequence, his naturally domestic +mind was re-strung to the harsher tones of ambition. Subsequently, +however, he became engaged to this lady, and the marriage was to have +been celebrated immediately on his return from the expedition against +Quebec. After his death Miss Lowther became Duchess of Bolton, but +tradition says that she always wore henceforth a pearl necklace which he +had given her, covered with black velvet, in memory of the departed.</p> + +<p>Wolfe was a plain man: his features were sharp, his forehead somewhat +receding, his hair sandy or red, and, contrary to the fashion of the +time, was not powdered; his skin was coarse, fair, and freckled; but his +mouth wore a smiling and gentle expression, and his eyes were blue and +benignant. He was delicate from early youth, and the seeds of fatal +diseases were displayed in his constitution. At first his address and +manner were unengaging, but he invariably endeared himself to all with +whom he was familiar. All his thoughts and actions were influenced by a +deep religious feeling. When a courtier remonstrated with the king upon +Wolfe's appointment to command the expedition against Quebec, saying +that "he was mad" (meaning that he was over-religious), the king +replied, "If he be mad, I wish he would bite some of my other generals."</p> + +<p>Wolfe was assiduously and conscientiously attentive to his profession, +and was constitutionally and steadily daring. His mind was clear and +active, his temper lively and almost impetuous; he was independent +without pride, and generous to profusion. "He never caviled with his +instructions, or hesitated to obey orders; exact in discipline himself, +he was always punctual to obey. His judgment was acute, his memory quick +and retentive, and his disposition candid, constant, and sincere. The +union of the gentle and the bold, of ambition and affection, formed the +peculiar charm of his character. His courage never quailed before +danger, nor shrank from responsibility."</p> + +<p>Little is known of Wolfe's private life. Dr. Southey contemplated the +task of writing his biography, but abandoned it from the want of +materials. To Lord Mahon and Mr. Gleig we are indebted for some very +interesting particulars, and for a few judiciously selected portions of +such of the hero's letters as are still extant. It only remains to +conclude this imperfect memoir with a few of these selections.</p> + +<p>On first assuming the command of a regiment, Wolfe writes, "I take upon +me the difficult duty of a commander. It is a hard thing to keep the +passions within bounds, where authority and immaturity go together. It +is hard to be a severe disciplinarian, yet humane; to study the temper +of all, and endeavor to please them, and yet be impartial—to discourage +vice at the turbulent age of twenty-three."</p> + +<p>His letters breathe a spirit of tenderness and gentleness, over which +ambition could not triumph. In writing to his mother on the 28th of +September, 1755, he says, "My nature requires some extraordinary events +to produce itself. I want that attention and those assiduous cares that +commonly go along with good nature and humanity. In the common +occurrences of life I am not seen to advantage." So far back as the 13th +of August, 1749, he writes also to his mother from Glasgow, "I have +observed your instructions so rigidly that, rather than want the word, I +got the reputation of being a very good Presbyterian by frequenting the +Kirk of Scotland till our chapel opens." Again he writes to his mother +from Inverness, November 6th, 1751, "There are times when men fret at +trifles, and quarrel with their tooth-picks. In one of these ill habits +I exclaim against my present condition, and think it the worst of all, +but coolly and temperately, it is plainly the best. Where there is most +employment and least vice, there should one wish most to be."</p> + +<p>On the 18th of February, 1755, he writes to his father, "I find that +your bounty and liberality keep pace, as they usually do, with my +necessities. I shall not abuse your kindness, nor receive it +unthankfully, and what use I make of it shall be for your honor and the +king's service—an employment worthy of the hand that gives it." His +amiable temper strongly inclined him, from an early age, to domestic +life; in the letter, November 6th, 1751 (before quoted), he declares +that he has "a turn of mind that favors matrimony prodigiously; I love +children, and think them necessary to people in their later days." He, +however, struggled with these wishes, and for a long time overcame them, +from his ardent love of fame.</p> + +<p>Of Wolfe's life we know but little; the waves of oblivion have closed +over it, but the story of his death remains forever treasured in +England's grateful memory.</p> + +<p class='center'>"Annual Register," May, 1760.</p> + +<p>Some gentlemen in the parish of Westerham, in Kent, have erected a plain +monument to the late General Wolfe, in the inscription on which the +extraordinary honor intended his memory by his sovereign is hinted at, +and the impropriety of a more expensive monument in that place justly +shown. The table is of statuary marble, beautifully executed by Mr. +Lovel, near Cavendish Square.</p> + +<p class='center'> +JAMES,<br /> +Son of Colonel Edward WOLFE, and Henrietta his wife, was born in<br /> +this parish, January 2d, 1727,<br /> +And died in America, September 13th, 1759.<br /> +<br /> +"While George in sorrow bows his laurel'd head,<br /> +And bids the artist grace the soldier dead,<br /> +We raise no sculptured trophy to thy name,<br /> +Brave youth! the fairest in the list of fame.<br /> +Proud of thy birth, we boast th' auspicious year;<br /> +Struck with thy fall, we shed a general tear;<br /> +With humble grief inscribe one artless stone,<br /> +And from thy matchless honors date our own."<br /> +"<span class="smcap">I Decus I Nostrum.</span>"<a name="FNanchor_235_235" id="FNanchor_235_235"></a><a href="#Footnote_235_235" class="fnanchor">[235]</a><br /> +<br /> +"Annual Register," October, 1773.<br /> +</p> + +<p>On an oval tablet on front of the sarcophagus of General Wolfe's +monument in Westminster Abbey, just opened, is the following +inscription:</p> + +<p class='center'> +To the memory of<br /> +JAMES WOLFE, Esq.,<br /> +Major General and Commander-in-Chief<br /> +Of the British Land Forces<br /> +On an expedition against Quebec,<br /> +Who,<br /> +Surmounting, by ability and valor,<br /> +All obstacles of art and nature,<br /> +Was slain,<br /> +In the moment of Victory,<br /> +At the head of his conquering troops,<br /> +On the 13th of Sept., 1759,<br /> +The King<br /> +And the Parliament of Great Britain<br /> +Dedicate this monument.<br /> +<br /> +"Annual Register," 1762.<br /> +</p> + +<p>The Right Honorable the Earl Temple has lately dedicated a most +magnificent building at Stowe, of the Ionic order, <span class="smcap">Concordiæ Et +Victoriæ</span>.</p> + +<p>In the pediment of the portico is a fine alto relievo, representing the +four quarters of the world bringing gifts to Britain. In the portico, or +ante-temple, two medallions, <i>Concordia fœderatorum</i>, <i>Concordia +civium</i>. Over the door, <i>Quo tempore salus corum in ultimas angustias +deducta nullum ambitioni locum relinquebat</i>. In the inner temple, in a +niche facing the entrance, the statue of <span class="smcap">Britannia</span>: over which, +in a tablet, <i>Candidis autem animis voluptatum, præbuerint in conspicuo +posita, quæ cuique magnifica merito contigerunt</i>. On the walls, fourteen +medallions, representing the taking of Quebec, Martinico, &c.; +Louisburg, Guadeloupe, &c.; Montreal, &c.; Pondicherry, &c. Naval +victory off Belleisle, naval victory off Lagas, Crevelt and Minden, +Fellinghausen; Senegal and Gorce, Niagara and Crown Point, Beau Sejour +and Fort du Quesne, Cherburg and Belleisle. On a hill at a distance, in +a diagonal line, runs an obelisk above a hundred feet, inscribed</p> + +<p class='center'> +<span class="smcap">To Major-General Wolfe.</span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Ostendunt Terris nunc tantum Fata.</i><br /> +</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_235_235" id="Footnote_235_235"></a><a href="#FNanchor_235_235"><span class="label">[235]</span></a> Is in white marble letters, inlaid in a ground of black +marble.</p></div> +</div> + +<p class='center'>No. LXVIII.</p> + +<p>"Lord Howe always lay in his tent with the regiment which he commanded, +while the rest of the army were quartered in the town and fort of +Albany. This regiment he modeled in such a manner that they were ever +after considered as an example to the whole American army. Lord Howe +laid aside all pride and prejudice, and gratefully accepted council from +those whom he knew to be the best qualified to direct him. Madame +Schuyler was delighted with the calm steadiness with which he carried +through the austere rules which he found it necessary to lay down. In +the first place, he forbade all displays of gold and scarlet in the +rugged march they were about to undertake, and set the example by +wearing himself an ammunition coat, that is to say, one of the surplus +soldiers' coats cut short. This was a necessary precaution, because, in +the woods, the hostile Indians who started from behind the trees usually +caught at the long and heavy skirts then worn by the soldiers; and, for +the same reason, he ordered the muskets to be shortened, that they might +not, as on former occasions, be snatched from behind by these agile +foes. To prevent the march of his regiment from being descried at a +distance by the glittering of their arms, the barrels of their guns were +all blackened; and to save them from the tearing of bushes, the stings +of insects, &c., he set them the example of wearing leggins, a kind of +buskin made of strong woolen cloth. The greatest privation to the young +and vain yet remained. Hair well dressed and in great quantity was then +considered as the greatest possible ornament, which those who had it +took the utmost care to display to advantage, and to wear in a bag or +queue. Lord Howe's was very full and very abundant; he, however, cropped +it, and ordered every one else to do the same.</p> + +<p>"The austere regulations and constant self-denial which he imposed upon +the troops he commanded were patiently borne, because he was not only +gentle in his manners, but generous and humane in a very high degree, +and exceedingly attentive to the health and real necessities of the +soldiery. Among many instances of this, a quantity of powdered ginger +was given to every man, and the sergeants were ordered to see that when, +in the course of marching, the soldiers arrived hot and tired at the +banks of any stream, they should not be permitted to stoop to drink, as +they generally inclined to do, but be obliged to lift water in their +canteens, and mix ginger with it. This became afterward a general +practice, and in those aguish swamps through which the troops were +forced to march, was the means of saving many lives. Aunt Schuyler, as +this amiable young officer familiarly styled his maternal friend, had +the greatest esteem for him, and the greatest hope that he would at some +future time redress all those evils that had formerly impeded the +service. The night before the march they had a long and serious +conversation. In the morning Lord Howe proposed setting out very early; +but, when he arose, was astonished to find Madame Schuyler waiting, and +breakfast ready; he smiled, and said he would not disappoint her, as it +was hard to say when he might again breakfast with a lady. Impressed +with an unaccountable degree of concern about the fate of the enterprise +in which he was embarked, she again repeated her counsels and her +caution; and when he was about to depart, embraced him with the +affection of a mother, and shed many tears, a weakness she did not often +give way to. A few days after Lord Howe's departure, in the afternoon, a +man was seen coming on horseback from the north, galloping violently, +without his hat. Pedrom ran eagerly to inquire, well knowing he rode +express. The man galloped on, crying out that Lord Howe was killed. +Shrieks and sobs of anguish re-echoed through every part of the +house."—<i>Letters of an American Lady</i>, vol. ii.; p. 73.</p> + + +<p class='center'>No. LXIX.</p> + +<p>"Le troisième de Juillet de cette année Samuel de Champlain fonda la +ville de Quebec, capitale de la Nouvelle France, sur la rivière +septentrionale du fleuve St. Laurent à six-vingt lieuës de la mer, entre +une petite rivière qui porte le nom de St. Charles et un gros cap, qu'on +appelle le Cap aux Diamans, parce qu'on y trouvoit alors quantité de +diamans assez semblables à ceux d'Alençon."—<i>Fastes Chronologiques</i>, +1608.</p> + +<p>"Cape Diamond abounds with very fine specimens of quartz, or rock +crystals. I have myself, in walking on the banks of the river at the +foot of the rocks, found many of them. They are discovered from the +brilliancy of their reflecting surfaces: they sparkle like the diamond, +and hence the place had its name. On examination, I have generally found +that they are pentagons, terminating in a point, and possessing +<i>naturally</i> much of the brilliancy and polish of a cut diamond; and +they are so hard, that, like a diamond, they cut glass."—<i>Gray's +Canada</i>, p. 68.</p> + +<p>"The mountain on which Quebec is built, and the hills along the River +St. Lawrence, consist of it for some miles together on both sides of +Quebec. About a yard from the surface this stone is quite compact, and +without any cracks, so that one can not perceive that it is a slate, its +particles being imperceptible. It lies in strata, which vary from three +or four inches to twenty thick and upward. In the mountains on which +Quebec is built the strata do not lie horizontal, but dipping, so as to +be nearly perpendicular, the upper ones pointing northwest and the lower +ones southeast. From hence it is, the corners of these strata always +strike out at the corners into the streets, and cut the shoes in pieces. +I have likewise seen some strata inclining to the northward, but rather +perpendicular, as the former. The strata are divided by narrow cracks, +which are commonly filled by fibrous white gypsum, which can sometimes +be got loose with a knife, if the larger stratum of slate above it is +broken in pieces; and in that case it has the appearance of a thin white +leaf. The large cracks are almost filled up with transparent quartz +crystals of different sizes. One part of the mountain contains great +quantities of these crystals, from which the corner of the mountain +which lies to S.S.E. of the palace has got the name of Pointe de +Diamante, or Diamond Point."—Kalm, in Pinkerton, vol. xiii., p. 678.</p> + + +<p class='center'>No. LXX.</p> + +<p>"The Cherokees are planters and farmers, tradespeople and mechanics. +They have corn-fields and orchards, looms and work-shops, schools and +churches, and orderly institutions. In 1824, when the population of the +Cherokees was 15,560 persons, it included 1277 negroes; they had 18 +schools, 36 grist-mills, 13 saw-mills, 762 looms, 2486 spinning-wheels, +172 wagons, 2923 plows, 7683 horses, 22,531 black cattle, 46,732 swine, +2546 sheep, 430 goats, 62 blacksmiths' shops, &c., with several public +roads, and fences, and turnpikes. The natives carry on a considerable +trade with the adjoining states, and some of them export cotton to New +Orleans. A printing-press has been established for several years, and a +newspaper, written partly in the English and partly in the Cherokee +language, has been successfully carried on. This paper, called the +<i>Cherokee Phœnix</i>, is written entirely by a Cherokee, a young man +under thirty. The missionaries among them declare that the converts +generally are very attentive to preaching, and very exemplary in their +conduct. Public worship, conducted by native members of the church, is +held in three or four places remote from the station. The pupils are +making great progress at the schools. Many of them are leaving the +schools with an education sufficient for life. New Echota is the seat of +government of the Cherokees. The provisions of the Constitution are +placed under six heads, divided into sections. The trial by jury is in +full operation. The right of suffrage is universal; every free male +citizen who has attained the age of eighteen years is entitled to vote +at public elections."—Stuart's <i>Three Years in North America</i>, vol. +ii., p. 143.</p> + +<p>"The Creeks, Cherokees, and Choctaws certainly hold out a promise of the +gradual attainment of civilization.... The recent invention of written +characters by a full-blood Cherokee,<a name="FNanchor_236_236" id="FNanchor_236_236"></a><a href="#Footnote_236_236" class="fnanchor">[236]</a> consisting of eighty-four +signs expressing all the dominant sounds of that language, and the great +number of half words among them, are both favorable to this change of +life. The best proof that they are advancing from their savage state to +a higher grade is, that their numbers increase, while almost all other +tribes spread over the American continent far and near are known to +diminish in numbers so rapidly that common observation alone would +enable any one to predict their utter extinction before the lapse of +many years."—Latrobe, <i>Rambler in America</i>, vol. i., p. 163.</p> + +<p>The Stockbridge Indians (so called from Stockbridge, Massachusetts) are, +upon the whole, considered to have made greater attainments in the +useful arts of civilized life, and also in the Christian religion, than +any other tribe of the aborigines. They heard the preaching of Brainard +and Edwards, and have enjoyed Christian privileges and education with +little interruption for more than ninety years. The Stockbridge Indians, +and the Oneidas, under the celebrated Oneida half-blood Mr. Williams, +were the principal of those unfortunate New York Indians who were +persuaded, on the faith of solemn treaties, to leave their homes in New +York and form new settlements among the wild Indian tribes beyond the +Mississippi. One of the visitors to these new settlements, after the +Indians had been a few years established there, thus describes the +improvements they had effected in this remote wilderness: "On the east +bank of Fox River they had in the course of some half dozen years +reared a flourishing settlement; built houses and barns in the usual +style of the white settlements under similar circumstances; cleaved away +portions of the forest, and reduced their farms to an interesting state +of improvement; organized and brought into solitary operation a +political and civil economy; established schools, and in 1830 were +building a very decent Christian church; had erected mills and +machinery; exhibiting, in a word, a most interesting phasis of +civilization, along with the purest morals under the simplest +manners."—Colton's <i>Tour among the Northwest Indians</i>, vol. i., p. 203. +This American writer is justly indignant at the cruel and dishonest +policy of the American government in driving these unfortunate wanderers +away from the new home solemnly promised them into the wild and dreary +regions of the Far West, as soon as the settlement at Fox River was +ascertained to possess sufficient natural advantages to entitle it to +form a part of the Union.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_236_236" id="Footnote_236_236"></a><a href="#FNanchor_236_236"><span class="label">[236]</span></a> "It is remarkable that a red Indian should have been able +to accomplish that which no civilized societies have accomplished during +thousands of years. He had already attained to manhood when he invented +an alphabet of his own language, having no knowledge of any other. The +idea of writing Cherokee struck him on hearing several whites boasting +of their superiority over the Indians, and adding that they could do +many things which the red man never dared attempt, particularly in +committing to paper a conversation, so as to make it understood by all, +even in the most distant parts. He determined to try if it was not +possible. At first he saw no other chance of executing his project than +to make a sign or figure for every sound, which he partly learned by +heart himself, partly gave to his own family to learn and remember; but, +after working at it a whole twelvemonth, he found that the number of +signs already amounted to several thousands, and that it was impossible +to retain them in the memory. He now began to divide the words into +parts, and then discovered that the same syllables might be applied to a +variety of words. Exulting in this discovery, he continued his exertions +with unremitting zeal, and directed his attention particularly to the +sounds, and thus discovered at last all the syllables in the language. +After working upon this plan for a month, he had diminished the number +of sounds to eighty-four, of which the language at present consists. He +first wrote them on sand, afterward cut out the signs in wood, and +finished by printing them such as they now are in the Cherokee +Phœnix."—Arfwedson's <i>United States and Canada</i>.</p></div> +</div> + +<p class='center'><a name='link6' id='link6'></a>No. LXXI.</p> + +<p>Articles of Capitulation demanded by M. de Ramsay, the king's +lieutenant, commanding the high and low towns of Quebec, chief of the +Military Order of St. Louis, to his excellency the general of the troops +of his Britannic majesty.</p> + +<p>"The capitulation demanded on the part of the enemy, and granted by +their excellencies, Admiral Saunders and General Townshend, &c., &c., is +in manner and form as hereafter expressed:</p> + +<p>"I.M. de Ramsay demands the honors of war for his garrison, and that it +shall be sent back to the army in safety, and by the shortest route, +with arms, baggage, six pieces of brass cannon, two mortars or +howitzers, and twelve rounds for each of them. The garrison of the town, +composed of land forces, marines, and sailors, shall march out with +their arms and baggage, drums beating, matches lighted, with two pieces +of French cannon, and twelve rounds for each piece, and shall be +embarked as conveniently as possible, to be sent to the first port in +France.</p> + +<p>"II. That the inhabitants shall be preserved in the possession of their +houses, goods, effects, and privileges.—Granted, upon their laying down +their arms.</p> + +<p>"III. That the inhabitants shall not be accountable for having carried +arms in the defense of the town, forasmuch as they were compelled to do +it, and that the inhabitants of the colonies, of both crowns, equally +serve as militia.—Granted.</p> + +<p>"IV. That the effects of the absent officers and citizens shall not be +touched.—Granted.</p> + +<p>"V. That the inhabitants shall not be removed, nor obliged to quit their +houses, until their condition shall be settled by their Britannic and +most Christian majesties.—Granted.</p> + +<p>"VI. That the exercise of the Catholic, Apostolic, and Roman religion +shall be maintained, and that safeguards shall be granted to the houses +of the clergy and to the mountaineers, particularly to his lordship the +Bishop of Quebec, who, animated with zeal for religion, and charity for +the people of his diocese, desires to reside in it constantly, to +exercise freely, and with that decency which his character and the +sacred offices of the Roman religion require, his episcopal authority in +the town of Quebec, whenever he shall think proper, until the possession +of Canada shall be decided by a treaty between their Britannic and most +Christian majesties. The free exercise of the Roman religion is granted, +likewise safeguards to all religions persons, as well as to the bishop, +who shall be at liberty to come and exercise, freely and with decency, +the functions of his office whenever he thinks proper, until the +possession of Canada shall have been decided between their Britannic and +most Christian majesties.</p> + +<p>"VII. That the artillery and warlike stores shall be faithfully given +up, and that an inventory of them shall be made out.—Granted.</p> + +<p>"VIII. That the sick and wounded, the commissaries, chaplains, +physicians, surgeons, apothecaries, and other people employed in the +service of the hospitals, shall be treated conformably to the cartel of +the 6th of February, 1759, settled between their Britannic and most +Christian majesties.—Granted.</p> + +<p>"IX. That before delivering up the gate and the entrance of the town to +the English troops, their general will be pleased to send some soldiers +to be posted as safeguards upon the churches, convents, and principal +habitations.—Granted.</p> + +<p>"X. That the king's lieutenant commanding in Quebec shall be permitted +to send information to the Marquis de Vaudreuil, governor general, of +the reduction of the place, as also that the general may send advice +thereof to the French ministry.—Granted.</p> + +<p>"XI. That the present capitulation shall be executed according to its +form and tenor, without being subject to non-execution under pretense of +reprisals, or for the non-execution of any preceding +capitulation.—Granted.</p> + +<p>"Duplicates hereof, taken and executed by and between us, at the camp +before Quebec, this 18th day of September, 1759.</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Charles Saunders, George Townshend, De Ramsay.</span>"</p> + + +<p class='center'><a name='link5' id='link5'></a>No. LXXII</p> + +<p>Extracts from "Lettres de M. le Marquis de Montcalm, G.G. en Canada, à +MM. de Berryer et de la Molé, 1757-1759. Londres, 1777."</p> + +<p>In 1757.—Letter 1. Montcalm informs M. de Berryer that he carries on a +correspondence with the English planters by giving them a few prohibited +articles. "They dupe their own people, who think they dupe us; their +letters discover to me many curious political secrets. Our governors of +Canada have neglected the only means of making the country prosperous +... another system is indispensable."</p> + +<p>S.J., of Boston, writes to Montcalm, "The cause of your non-progress +lies in the genius of your nation. Your governors were French gentlemen, +hating and despising commerce—wealth, commerce, and strength are +inseparable—your skeleton colony has lost more in a year than it can +regain in ten. Your commerce with us ought to be free and unfettered.... +We shall soon break with England for commercial reasons."</p> + +<p>Montcalm observes on the foregoing, "Let us beware how we allow the +establishment of manufactures in Canada; she would become proud and +mutinous like the English. So long as France is a nursery to Canada, let +not the Canadians be allowed to trade, but kept to their wandering, +laborious life with the savages, and to their military exercises. They +will be less wealthy, but more brave and more faithful to us.</p> + +<p>"We may lose Canada—no great loss, if we keep some port in North +America for fishing and trade.... The English settlers are as hostile to +their mother country as to us. The state of their country is +singular—not a city is fortified. The English governors often wished to +fortify, but the people objected. If Canada be in the hands of an able +(French) governor when the certain quarrel comes on, it will repay us +for all former cost. England made a great mistake in not taxing these +colonies from the first, even ever so little. If they now attempt +it—revolt."</p> + +<p>Letter from M. de Montcalm to M. de Molé, Premier Président au +Parliament de Paris, 1759:</p> + +<p> +"<span class="smcap">Monsieur et cher Cousin</span>,<br /> +</p> + +<p>"Me voici, depuis plus de trois mois, aux prises avec M. Wolfe: il ne +cesse jour et nuit de bombarder Quebec, avec une furie qui n'a guères +d'example dans le siège d'une place qu'en veut prendre et conserver. Il +a déjà consumé par le feu presque toute la basse ville, une grande +partie de la haute est écrasée par les bombes. Mais ne laissa-t-il +pierre sur pierre, il ne viendra jamais à bout de s'emparer de cette +capitale de la colonie, tandis qu'il se contentera de l'attaquer de la +rive opposée, dont nous lui avons abandonné la possession. Aussi après +trois mois de tentative, n'est il pas plus avancé dans son dessein qu'on +premier jour. Il nous ruine, mais il ne s'enrichit pas. La campagne n'a +guères plus d'un mois à durer, à raison du voisinage de l'automne, +terrible dans ces parages pour une flotte, par les coups de vent qui +règnent constamment et périodiquement.</p> + +<p>"Il semble qu'après un si heureux prélude, la conservation de la colonie +est presque assurée. Il n'en est cependant rien: la prise de Quebec +dépend d'un coup du main. Les Anglois sont maîtres de la rivière: il +n'ont qu'à effectuer une descente sur la rive, où cette ville, sans +fortifications et sans défense, est située. Les voilà en état de me +présenter la battaille, que je ne pourrai plus refuser, et que je ne +devrai pas gagner. M. Wolfe, en effet, s'il entend son métier, n'à qu'à +essuyer le premier feu, venir en suite à grand pas sur mon armée, faire +à bout partant sa décharge, mes Canadiens, sans discipline, sourds à la +voix du tambour, et des instrumens militaires, dérangés par cet escarre, +ne sçauront plus reprendre leurs rangs. Ils sont ailleurs sans +bagonettes pour repondre à celles de l'ennemi: il ne leur reste qu'à +fuir, et me voilà, battue sans ressource. Voilà ma position!... Position +bien fâcheuse pour un général, et qui me fait passer de bien terribles +momens. La connaissance que j'en aye m'a fait tenir jusqu'ici sur la +défensive, qui m'a réussi; mais réussira-t-elle jusqu'à la fin? Les +évènemens en décideront! Mais une assurance que je puis vous donner, +c'est, que je ne survivrois pas probablement la perte de la colonie. Il +est des situations où il ne reste plus à un général, que de périr avec +honneur: je crois y être: et sur ce point je crois que jamais la +postérité n'aura rien à reprocher à ma mémoire; mais si la Fortune +décide de ma vie, elle ne décidera pas de mes sentimens—ils sont +François, et ils le seront, jusque dans le tombeau, si dans le tombeau +on est encore quelque chose! Je me consolerai du moins de ma défaite, et +de la perte de la colonie, par l'intime persuasion où je suis, que cette +défaite vaudroit un jour à ma patrie plus qu'une victoire, et que le +vainqueur en s'aggrandissant, trouveroit un tombeau dans son +aggrandissement même.</p> + +<p>"Ce que j'advance ici, mon cher cousin, vous paroitra un paradoxe; mais +un moment de réflexion politique, un coup d'œil sur la situation des +choses en Amérique, et la vérité de mon opinion, brillera dans tout son +jour. Non, mon cher cousin, les hommes n'obéissent qu'à la force et à la +nécessité; c'est à dire, que quand ils voyent armé devant leurs yeux, un +pouvoir toujours prêt, et toujours suffisant pour les y contraindre, ou +quand la chaine de leurs besoins leur en dicte la loi. Hors de là point +de joug pour eux, point d'obéissance de leur part; ils sont à eux; ils +vivent libres, parce qu'ils n'ont rien au dedans, rien au dehors, qui +les oblige à se dépouiller de cette liberté, qui est le plus bel +appanage, la plus précieuse prérogative de l'humanité. Voilà les hommes! +et sur ce point les Anglois, soit par l'éducation, soit par sentiment, +sont plus hommes que les autres: La gêne de la contrainte leur déplait +plus qu'à tout autre: il leur faut respirer un air libre et dégagé; sans +cela ils sont hors de leur élément. Mais si ce sont là les Anglois de +l'Europe, c'est encore plus les Anglois d'Amérique. Une grand partie de +ces colons sont les enfans de ces hommes qui s'expatrièrent dans ces +temps de trouble, où l'ancienne Angleterre, en proye aux divisions, +étoit attaquée dans ses privilèges et droits, et allèrent chercher en +Amérique une terre, où ils puissent vivre et mourir libres, et +presqu'indépendents; et ces enfans n'ont pas dégénerés des sentimens +republicains de leurs pères. D'autres sont des hommes, ennemis de tout +frein, de tout assujettissement, que le government y a transporté pour +leur crimes. D'autres, enfin, sont un ramas de différentes nations de +l'Europe, qui tiennent très peu à l'ancienne Angleterre par le cœur +et le sentiment, tous en général no se soucient guères du roi ni du +Parlement d'Angleterre.</p> + +<p>"Je les connois bien, non sur des rapports étrangers, mais sur des +corréspondances, et des informations secrets, que j'ai moi-même ménages, +et dont un jour, si Dieu me prête vie, je pourrais faire usage à +l'avantage de ma patrie. Pour surcroit de bonheur pour eux, tous ces +colons sont parvenu dans un état très florissant; ils sont nombreux et +riches; ils recueillent dans le sein de leur patrie, toutes les +nécessités de la vie. L'ancienne Angleterre a été assez sotte, et assez +dupe, pour leur laisser établir chez eux les arts, les métiers, les +manufactures; c'est à dire, qu'elle leur a laissé briser la chaine de +besoins, qui les lioit, qui les attachoit à elle, et qui les fait +dépendants. Aussi toutes ces colonies Angloises auroient depuis long +temps secoué le joug, chaque province auroient formé une petite +république indépendante, si la crainte de voir les François à leur porte +n'avoit été un frein, qui les avoit rétenu. Maîtres pour maîtres ils ont +préferé leur compatriotes aux étrangers, prenant cependant pour maxime, +de n'obéir que le moins qu'ils pourroient; mais que la Canada vînt à +être conquis, et que les Canadiens et ces colons ne fussent plus qu'un +seul peuple, et la première occasion, où l'ancienne Angleterre +sembleroit toucher à leurs intérêts, croiez-vous, mon cher cousin, que +colons obéiroient? Et qu'auroient-ils à craindre, en se revoltant?</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>"Je ne puis cependant pas dissimuler que l'ancienne Angleterre avec un +peu de bonne politique pourroit toujours se réserver dans les mains une +ressource toujours prête pour mettre à la raison ses anciennes colonies. +Le Canada considéré dans lui-même, dans ses richesses, dans ses forces, +dans le nombre de ses habitans n'est rien en comparaison du conglobat +des colonies Angloises; mais la valeur, l'industrie, la fidélité de ses +habitans, y supplie si bien, que depuis plus d'un siècle ils se battent +avec avantage contre toutes ces colonies: dix Canadiens sont suffisants +contre cent colons Anglois. L'expérience journalière prove ce fait. Si +l'ancienne Angleterre, après avoir conquis le Canada sçavoit se +l'attacher par la politique des bienfaits, et se le conserver à elle +seule, si elle le laissoit à sa religion, à ses loix, à son language, à +ses coûtumes, à son ancienne gouvernement, le Canada, divisé dans tous +ces points, d'avec les autres colonies, formerait toujours un pais +isolé, qui n'entreroit jamais dans leurs intérêts; ... mais ce n'est pas +là la politique Brittannique. Les Anglois font-ils une conquête, il faut +qu'ils changent la constitution du pays, ils y portent leur loix, leur +coûtumes, &c., &c.... Voilà les Canadiens transformés en politiques, en +négocians, en hommes infatués d'une prétendue liberté, qui chez la +populace tient souvent en Angleterre de la licence, et de la nardin.... +Je suis si sûr de ce que j'écris, que je ne donnerai pas dix ans après +la conquête de Canada pour en voir l'accomplissement.</p> + +<p>"Voilà ce que, comme François, me console aujourd'hui du danger éminent +que court ma patrie, de voir cette colonie perdue pour elle.</p> + +<p> +"Du camp devant Quebec, Jan.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Montcalm.</span><br /> +<br /> +"24 d'Août, 1759."<br /> +</p> + + +<p class='center'>THE END.</p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Conquest of Canada (Vol. 2 of 2), by +George Warburton + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CONQUEST OF CANADA (VOL 2 OF 2) *** + +***** This file should be named 34862-h.htm or 34862-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/4/8/6/34862/ + +Produced by Dianna Adair, Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe, Graeme +Mackreth and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images +generously made available by the Digital & Multimedia +Center, Michigan State University Libraries.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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